KOLKATA: By now, you know that a one-year programme of special lecture series on ‘Decolonization of Knowledge and Decolonial Pedagogy: Looking Back and Moving Forward’ is being organised by the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies and Research, Sister Nivedita University, (CISRS), Kolkata from April 2025 onwards. Every month, an internationally acclaimed stalwart is gracing the lectureship programme. For the month of July, renowned theatre and translation specialist Prof (Dr) Ananda Lal delivered an insightful lecture on ‘Application of Tagore’s anti-colonialism in India today’. A retired professor at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, he is an expert on Tagore's works.
On Tuesday, Prof Lal demonstrated how Tagore explained cultural colonialism deeply embedded in our actions, desires and thought process. It was he who criticized the imposition of colonial education, language, and cultural norms, arguing that it marginalized and suppressed indigenous traditions and knowledge. He felt that this cultural domination led to a sense of inferiority among Indians and a disconnect from their own heritage. He felt British colonial education neglected holistic development and aesthetic and intellectual growth. This critique led him to establish Shantiniketan, his own school, based on principles of freedom, trust, joy, and cooperation, as an alternative to the colonial model. In the colonial era, we developed fear and greed and the British titanic power wanted to change without any empathy. Tagore was intensively critical of the abuse of the environment. This included ‘City and the Village’-on blasé urbanity and the romanticizing of the village, ‘Muktadhara’-on the redundancy of big dams and its harmful ecological impacts and his poetic piece ‘He Mor Chitto,’ which explored the interconnections and interdependence of humanity and opened the pathways towards universal values.
Prof Lal also talked about the drama ‘Raktakarabi’, as it crystallizes Tagore’s commitment and perseverance for ethical humanity beyond social hierarchies and the greed for brazen power. Also present on the occasion was Prof (Dr) Prof (Dr) Bula Bhadra, Professor Emeritus and Director, CISRS, SNU.