“Off with their heads!” The Queen of Hearts is well and thriving, but would she have been allowed to survive? Lewis Carroll would have probably had to delete the interesting character that the Queen was, had he been alive in India today. In fact, a number of his wonderful creations would have had their heads chopped off, especially with the number of thin-skinned politicians and bureaucrats who seem to dominate our country, determined to rid her of her funny bone!
So the Thorat committee has taken a pair of giant scissors and ridden roughshod over NCERT textbooks, like the bull in a china shop, destroying what it does not understand — the thin line between good humour and stringent lampooning!
The advisers on the political science textbooks cautioned readers at the start that “the attempt is not to hand over a definite opinion to students, but to enable them to think on their own!” Mere wishful thinking, it seems as even the immortals in the rarefied realms of politics seem to have forgotten to think!
Why else would such gems be done away with? A picture is worth a 1000 words, and a well-scripted cartoon makes one laugh and think as well! Yet, the snipping goes on, along with the harping and the carping, and the tendrils of gentle humour are yanked by their very roots and thrown into the dustbin.
The two offending cartoons that opened a Pandora’s box have disappeared, and a number of others which have enlightened so many students are also on their way out. The reasons are flimsy — politicians and institutions may not be represented as animals (which get rid of the use of the popular allegory), regional sensitivity is paramount, the role of the bureaucracy shall not be misinterpreted and no ambiguity will be permitted! All very ambiguous indeed!
So it is back to the old boring textbook that drones on and on about dry facts and trivia, and the student is at liberty to fall asleep, as his mind begins to lose that creative spark and energy fuelled by cartoons! The NCERT, which had tried to be original, has now had to backtrack, all because politicians have suddenly turned into pedagogues, who think they know everything. Unfortunately, many of them know little enough of what is happening in their own constituencies, let alone in the hallowed sphere of education.
Let us applaud the lone dissenter on the committee, M.S.S. Pandian, who firmly avers, “What is perceived as ‘politically incorrect’ need not be ‘educationally inappropriate.’ The textbooks should be used as they are.”
What are we finally losing out in the long run? Ever since I was able to read a newspaper, my first instinct has been to glance at the cartoon on the first page, which always evokes a smile, and kick-starts my day, along with my funny bone! Aren’t we being selfish to deny our children the same, even as we try to curb their curiosity and nip their ability to judge what is humorous and thought provoking?
The Spectator Pandit Nehru loved a good cartoon, and a good cartoonist! Maybe, that is the difference between a great statesman and a mediocre politician!
(The writer’s email is deepsmenon_7@yahoo.com)
A well-written and well-composed article by a social well-wisher.Thank you.We all appreciate your open resistance against indulgence of half-ignorant politicians into the political stream-a stream which is totally the opposite of political dramas.I don't know what makes these politicians raise their brows against such thought-evoking and interesting cartoons which make child even of age below ten clearly understands the total matter at a few minute glance.Whether are they really respectable of their ancient ancestors or are they bewildered the next cartoon may be of theirs is something to ponder about.
Our politicians are becoming less tolerant it simply shows the deviation they have from the Indian culture of tolerance and fraternal realtions present in the society.The common man which particularly is represented by middle class is least bothered about the cartoons and the pandemonium raised.Although cultural capital is mostly boasted by the middle class itself ,in the present economic turmoil they are facing the price rise and unemployment issues which matters them.The issues raised by esteemed parliamentarians who are crorepatis simply deviate the nation from real issues and thus creating a false consciousness.
>Let us applaud the lone dissenter on the committee, M.S.S. Pandian, who firmly
avers, “What is perceived as ‘politically incorrect’ need not be ‘educationally
inappropriate.’ The textbooks should be used as they are.”<
what an irresponsible statement from an academician !! and what to say about those
who celebrate it?
There is no doubt that pictorial and graphical supplements not only enhance the interest of
the reader but also foster an easier assimilation of the subject matter and strengthen its
retentivity and recall. The cartoons in the NCERT textbooks were not designed by the
authors as specific auxiliaries for these texts but were the works of political
cartoonists(Shankar and Laxman),intended as adult menu in senior political news papers or
magazines.There may be some truth in the critics' observation that these vintage cartoons
might therefore carry an altogether different message to adolescent children as against
mature adults and therefore needed the expunge. But the Thorat's Committee seems to
have missed the brighter side of apolitical cartoonish supplements to the texts and has gone
to the other extreme of their summary exclusion.That decision,itself,can be the subject
matter of a political cartoon much more direct and derisive than presented in this piece at the
beginning!!!
If "politicians and institutions may not be represented as animals" the day is not far when
Panchatantra and Aesops fables are banned in our country.
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