A popular poem by Marathi poet Bahinabai Chaudhuri starts with the lines: अरे संसार संसार जसा तवा चुल्ह्यावर आधी हाताले चटके
तव्हा मिळते भाकर!
(O, life, life, like a tava on the flame, first you burn your hand and then you get the bhaakar/roti)
In the customary box giving the personal details, Wikipedia, under her ‘Education’ says – None. In our current way of looking at things we would have called her ‘illiterate’.
I thought this was a good topic for some deep reflection on the difference between Shiksha and Education.
