Swami Vivekandanda's Score Card And Proficiency In English; What Does It Talk About Education
New Delhi:
India is commemorating Swami Vivekananda's birthday which is January 12 as National Youth Day and country is celebrating it with various programmes. Hindol Sengupta, journalist and author, in his new book "The Modern Monk: What Vivekananda Means to us Today", about which he talks about as "It is an argument about why Vivekananda is relevant today", carries some interesting insights about Swami Vivekananda, who was an Indian monk, a chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna.
Swami Vivekananda's English language skills captivated thousands but his marks in the subject in the three university examinations he took were far from impressive, says the new book on the 19th century philosopher-monk. "Born in the family of a rich lawyer, he was able to get pretty much the best available education - including studying at the famed Metropolitan Institution school in Calcutta. This was perhaps why he spoke and wrote English with the fluency of the British," the book, published by Penguin, says. The author, however, goes on to say that Vivekananda's marks were not reflective of his skills, particularly those in English.
"For a man whose erudition and English language skills were impressive enough to captivate thousands, not least the Americans at the Parliament of Religions and afterwards, his marks were dismal," he says. "He took three university examinations - the entrance examination, the First Arts Standard (FA, which later became Intermediate Arts or IA) and the Bachelor of Arts (BA). His scores in the English language were 47 per cent at the entrance level, 46 per cent in FA and 56 per cent in BA," he writes.
His marks in other subjects like mathematics and Sanskrit were also average. Quoting from various sources like Vivekananda's writings, his letters and speeches, Sengupta mentions how the monk loved French cookbooks, invented a new way of making khichdi and was interested in the engineering behind ship-building and the technology that makes ammunition among other interesting facts.
Swami Vivekandanda's score card and the famous person he had become do not add up to the conventional norms of education where society only talks about good marks and good grades. Check Swami Vivekananda's marks in other subjects also, you will find his marks were average.
On Tuesday, University Grants Commission had asked universities to organise programmes to promote digital payments to commemorate National Youth Day.
(With inputs from PTI)
Click here for more Education News
Swami Vivekananda's English language skills captivated thousands but his marks in the subject in the three university examinations he took were far from impressive, says the new book on the 19th century philosopher-monk. "Born in the family of a rich lawyer, he was able to get pretty much the best available education - including studying at the famed Metropolitan Institution school in Calcutta. This was perhaps why he spoke and wrote English with the fluency of the British," the book, published by Penguin, says. The author, however, goes on to say that Vivekananda's marks were not reflective of his skills, particularly those in English.
"For a man whose erudition and English language skills were impressive enough to captivate thousands, not least the Americans at the Parliament of Religions and afterwards, his marks were dismal," he says. "He took three university examinations - the entrance examination, the First Arts Standard (FA, which later became Intermediate Arts or IA) and the Bachelor of Arts (BA). His scores in the English language were 47 per cent at the entrance level, 46 per cent in FA and 56 per cent in BA," he writes.
His marks in other subjects like mathematics and Sanskrit were also average. Quoting from various sources like Vivekananda's writings, his letters and speeches, Sengupta mentions how the monk loved French cookbooks, invented a new way of making khichdi and was interested in the engineering behind ship-building and the technology that makes ammunition among other interesting facts.
Swami Vivekandanda's score card and the famous person he had become do not add up to the conventional norms of education where society only talks about good marks and good grades. Check Swami Vivekananda's marks in other subjects also, you will find his marks were average.
On Tuesday, University Grants Commission had asked universities to organise programmes to promote digital payments to commemorate National Youth Day.
(With inputs from PTI)
Click here for more Education News
