2 - Oceans of milk and treacle

Summary

In 1835 the historian Macaulay investigated whether there was anything in the traditional Indian systems of learning and education that could be used in the training of native personnel. In fairness to Mr Macaulay, we must remember that those were days long before the writings of a Tolkien or a Mervyn Peake. He came to the devastating conclusion that people who believe in oceans of milk and treacle had nothing to offer to a modern system of education. A straightforward, realistic assessment in an age that believed in science and realism! The effects were far-reaching. Traditional Indian ways of looking at the world were written off as obsolete. India was provided with three universities (Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, founded in 1857) as the hothouses to nurture a custom-built, English-speaking Indian intelligentsia. A new age began for India, and two of its inevitable consequences were the demand for independence and the production of atomic bombs and satellites by the post-independent Bhārat.

Historical developments carry their own justification and I am not going to argue with Mr Macaulay. Instead, I would like to introduce you now to a lady. Perhaps in a different age and with the feminine touch she may bring to bear on the issue, our own perception of those marvellous oceans might be different. It is the World Woman, as she is known among the Jains. In terms of our own metaphorical journey, this is one way of presenting the ‘landscape’ that we are going to explore, as seen through the eyes of the ‘natives’ (see Figure 1).