Twenty-five ways to say it

Huge amounts of money — unimaginable perhaps only a decade or so ago — have been pumped into the Northeast to bolster its economic development in the hope that quick economic transformation will create a sense of membership stronger and wider than the divisive narrow allegiances. And there is large-scale scepticism about how this money has been spent.

This scepticism is fed by the perception that apart from sporadic cosmetic changes, and some sudden growth in the service sector in places like Guwahati, there has been little or no improvement. There has been no attempt on the part either of the Centre or of governments in the states to address the scepticism. This only adds to the general sense of despair and helplessness — particularly among the youth.

It is sometimes claimed that the great diversity of the Northeast, in spite of the irritations, unrest and anxiety it has caused, is also the hidden strength of the region. Take the case of language. Of all the allegiances, one’s allegiance to one’s native language perhaps is the strongest. It is language that opens up the world to the child, and it is in language that the child gets inducted into the right and wrong, the good and bad of the community. Language shapes emotions.

Language gives the child its specific vision of the world. This vision is not self-enclosed; it can expand and be enriched by other visions. The interesting thing about the Northeast is that most people in the region are naturally multilingual. They are, as it were, natural citizens of a multi-visionary world. This explains at least in part the fact that before the coming of modern state-centric politics — both colonial and post-colonial — there was relative harmony and a great deal of mutual respect.

It seems to me that the multilingual character of the Northeast must find a secure place in the educational enterprise. It will require bold innovative thinking and action by the community, the state and creative thinkers of the region.

The Northeast has seen, in recent years, a substantial increase in the number of institutions of higher education. Much emphasis has also been laid on technical education. But the purpose of education cannot just be to prepare our boys and girls to take effective part in the great economic adventure the country has embarked on.

The primary developmental role of education is the enhancement of the self. Education facilitates such enhancement by enabling the individual to gain active and critical membership of communities of ideas, traditions of thought, access to a range of perspectives on the world. The important thing about such membership and such access is that the self — the individual’s self or the self of the community — is enabled to engage creatively in reflection about itself and converse mindfully with the Other whether the Other is another self, another community of ideas or a different perspective on the world.

With so many central universities in the Northeast and generous flow of funds to them, they must come together and engage creatively in the pursuit of this inclusiveness.

The writer is former vice-chancellor of NEHU