Empowerment of Dalits and Adivasis: Role of Education in the Emerging Economy

Well friends, let me begin by narrating a short story. In the Indian epic Mahabharata, dated around one thousand B.C., there is a celebrated fable about Ekalavya, an Adivasi boy; some of you will certainly be aware of that. One day, this Ekalavya saw a group of young princes learning the art of archery and warfare from the famous guru Dronacharya. He tried to befriend the princes, but they were surrounded by armed guards who roughed him up. Ekalavya was warned that if he was ever seen again in the vicinity he would be killed, but curiosity got the better of him. He began rising at dawn to furtively watch the training of the young princes. He would strain to hear everything that was taught, and by night, in the moonlight, he would practice, reciting the instructions he had heard the guru tell, and soon he mastered the art of archery. One day the guru saw Ekalavya shoot a deer that was bolting at lightning speed. Amazed at the precision of the young boy dressed in rags, the guru questioned him and was shocked to discover that this boy was a tribal outcaste, an Adivasi. Ekalavya admitted his efforts – what Ekalavya was doing is what we call in the modern parlance “distance education” – Ekalavya admitted his efforts of distant learning from the guru and offered gurudakshina which, as some of you know, is a traditional gift offered to a teacher in gratitude. Ekalavya offered himself as the guru’s slave, but to his utter surprise and dismay, the guru asked Ekalavya for his right thumb instead. In his right thumb rested all the provess of archery. Nevertheless, Ekalavya calmly said that the guru was equivalent to a god and he would gladly do as the guru wished. So saying, he severed his right thumb and laid the bleeding stump at the feet of guru Dronacharya. Every Indian child hears this mythological story, and they call this a story about guru bhakti, “devotion to the teacher.”