Growing up with the Mother

Student Admissions

In January 1972, I spoke with the Mother about the admission policy of our Ashram school. Because the subject is very specific, I am putting the conversations here in this section, which deals with general questions about education. The first two conversations were recorded by me in my notebooks and then seen by the Mother. The third text (January 28) is a note written by the Mother. The final long conversation on January 29th was tape-recorded; some of my remarks have been abridged, but the Mother’s comments are complete.

26 January 1972

Tara: Sweet Mother,

I had something to ask you, but I did not put it in the form of a question.

To try out the new methods you speak of, we must have a limited number of students for each teacher. We cannot do it with a large number, can we?

And then there is the question of the New Group which I wanted to put before you. I feel that psychologically it is not fair for the children of the same school to have different treatment for physical education. Some have beautiful grounds to play on, enough captains and a good organisation. They have buses to go to the sportsground, while the others have to go on foot and they don’t have enough grounds and Captains and so on.

Isn’t there a solution to this?

The Mother: The solution is not to take any more children. But I don’t know — there is pressure from both sides. There are the parents who insist that we take their children. Naturally, if we could tell everybody that we will no longer take anyone, without exception, then it would be possible.

Tara: But, Mother, when we make exceptions they say that you wanted them.

The Mother: Well !!!

(after a pause) To try the new methods, there is only one solution: it is not to take any more children until we have absorbed those who are already there. If you like, I can write this in your book.

The Mother writes: From December 1972 and for an indefinite period, no new student of any age will be admitted to the Ashram’s Centre of Education (School and Waiting School). It is understood that we will not, under any circumstances, accept students in the middle of the year, that is to say, from 16 December 1971 to 16 December 1972.

I have asked Tara to show what I have just written.

Tara: Mother, you just told me that to try the new methods, this was the only solution. Wouldn’t it be good if you wrote this down too.

The Mother: Oh no! We must do this even without trying the new methods. Otherwise, people will say that we should take children without trying the new methods.

You should type out what I have just said and I will sign it. It should be sent to those who ask us to accept their children for the next year.

When Kireet has recovered, it is best that you show him your notebook, so that he can read it in the notebook itself.

27 January 1972

Tara: Sweet Mother,

I have heard that if we accept the Government Grant, we have to take at least a hundred new students each year. Is this true?

The Mother: I receive money for the teachers. It has nothing to do with that. If we take a hundred new students, a hundred have to go. I am hearing this for the first time. I am the one who receives the money from the Government to pay the teachers. I don’t know.

Tara: Mother, besides the money we receive for the teachers, there is the money we get for the school.

The Mother: I don’t know about it. Do you have a question?

Tara: I wanted to know, Mother, whether we should have only a limited number of children, considering the facilities we have at school and the playground.

The Mother: Did you write down everything I said?

Tara: I tried, Mother, but I am not sure.

The Mother: Give me your notebook, I will write it.

The Mother writes: Naturally, the school can take only a limited number of students because the space we have available is limited and we cannot increase the number of classes. Therefore, according to the number of students who leave the school at the end of the school-year, we have to determine the number of students who can be taken the following year. And all the students who are already waiting in Sailen’s Waiting School must be taken before the newcomers. This is what I wanted to say.

I do not know the number of students who are in the school, nor the number who leave each year, nor the number who are waiting with Sailen, so I cannot say anything definite.

It would be very useful if these figures were given to me regularly; then I would have an accurate idea of our possibilities and would be able to determine the best way to organise things with maximum efficiency.

Blessings.

The Mother: So, if you bring me these figures, you will do me a favour.

* * *

28 January 1972

The Mother writes: It is impossible for me to determine the number of students we can take in the School and the playground, because I don’t know the possibilities and I don’t want to decide anything arbitrarily. With the space we have available and the possibilities at our disposal, I want to know the number of students that can comfortably be taken and then we can decide. I must know the facts as they are.

* * *

29 January 1972

(Tape recorded)

(This conversation begins after the Mother has listened to statistics indicating the number of students in the different sections of the school.)

The Mother: I saw Tanmaya today. He told me that he no longer has anything to do, that he no longer has any classes because they have taken in too many students, and that it is impossible, it is impossible to continue this way. Then I told him to tell me himself how many children he thinks can be taken in his class. Is he here?

Tara: Yes, Mother, he is here.

The Mother: We shall see.

Tara: Chitra does not have a room for her class. After 8:45 when the music classes are over, she has that room for her class, but until 8:45 she does not have a room.

The Mother: So what does she do?

Tara: She takes her class anywhere, on the verandah or in the courtyard till 8:45.

The Mother: That isn’t suitable.

The Mother: Tanmaya was telling me that they were forced to increase the number of teachers considerably, and some of them were absolutely unfit to teach. He said that they should stop teaching, that they will have to. I asked him to give me all that in writing.

Tara: Mother, Kireet Joshi wanted me to tell you that we could take a larger number of students in the “Forward Towards Perfection” classes, if there was a better distribution of rooms.

The Mother: We must come to an agreement.

Tara: We have 1021 members in physical education.

The Mother: Oh, that’s terrible!

Tara: There are 180 children in the school who are not in any group.

The Mother: So they are nowhere?

Tara: They are in the school’s New Group, but they don’t have physical education. They have some sort of recreation to keep them busy in the late afternoon, but no physical education.

The Mother: They don’t go to the playground for physical education. When they come here they simply continue in another group.

Tara: Yes, Mother, but as soon as they reach a certain age, they are being pushed into another group, and in groups E, F, G and H we have no number limit. In groups E and F, that is to say, those who are over twenty-one, they do individual activities, they have a choice; so there there is no limit, we can take any number. And Mother, each year we are taking approximately fifty new students into the school.

The Mother: We can continue like that.

Tara: Yes, Mother, we have to continue, but we also have to stop taking new students in the school; and to be able to take those who are...

The Mother: Who are already there, we must not take any new ones.

Tara: Yes, Mother, but there are already 180 who are waiting to enter the group, and that is the problem. So either the school has to reduce its number by 180 or physical education has to increase its number. But there has to be a limit. We cannot increase 180 in physical education; it is impossible. But if you give a limit that you think is right we can try to compromise.

Pranab: I won’t go for a compromise.

Tara: Pranab says he will not compromise.

The Mother: Who?

Tara: Pranab, Mother.

The Mother: He is right.

Pranab: If I compromise, Mother, it will disturb my programme.

The Mother: Yes.

Pranab: What is best is that they do not take any more new people and slowly it will be absorbed in three, four, five years’ time.

The Mother: I see that there is only one way: it is to take nobody new until...

Pranab: The number becomes normal.

The Mother: Yes, I’m sure it is the only right solution

Pranab: Yes, Mother.

The Mother: And we should... well, I would like to see Tanmaya again, and I will see with him what he can do. And then I would like to see Kireet and tell him that it is like this and it should be like this, and then because I know very well that he wanted to increase rather than decrease the number. But I haven’t seen him for a long time, he was sick. Is he all right now?

Tara: He is coming tomorrow, Mother.

The Mother: He is coming tomorrow. Then you leave your notebook, the one in which you have written all this. I would like to see it with him and tell him that I don’t want to take students in the school until it is stabilised: the number has to be stabilised. And it is only when enough students have reached the age when they can go freely that we will be able to take new ones again.

Tara: Mother, there may be another problem if we don’t take new students for some years till the number is stabilised: there won’t be a Kindergarten any more.

The Mother: But in the Kindergarten we take children, don’t we?

Tara: But as soon as you take them in the Kindergarten, the number will continue to increase here, Mother.

The Mother: How many go from the Kindergarten to the school every year?

Tara: I am not sure, Mother, but I think that according to the figures it must be twenty or twenty-five.

The Mother: And how many leave the school every year?

Tara: Kireet told me that it might be about fifty in 1972.

The Mother: Fifty! And then, you say the children here are...

Tara: From twenty to twenty-five, Mother.

The Mother: Well then, that’s enough. That means twenty- five fewer every year.

Tara: Yes, Mother, so that means you will take new students only in Kindergarten.

The Mother: Only in Kindergarten. And I will not take everybody. I will take mainly the children from here, the Ashram children. We will not even take twenty-five every year. If I take only those from the Ashram, there won’t be twenty-five children every year; like that the number of children won’t increase. In Auroville they have their education and that doesn’t concern us, but here there are not twenty- five children every year. Not so many. It will end quickly, you see. If I say that I am taking only Ashram children, we will soon stop increasing the number.

Tara: There are families who are coming to live here.

The Mother: Not so many. Two, three, four may be. But I will see. If the decision is taken, I will see that we don’t take people with small children. And I will tell the big ones, “I am sorry, but there is no school.” No, you see, with the playground, I feel supported because I know that Pranab feels the same way. So for me it is very easy: I say “no” and then “no”, and there you are! For the school, I must convince Kireet to take only the children coming from below, those who are already with us. Not to take new ones. That is the only way—but I must have the papers.

Tara: Yes, Mother, I am leaving the papers for you. There is one statistic per subject.

The Mother: This is very interesting, it is very interesting, oh it is very interesting. Like this I can arrange things. Now this year should continue as it is because it has already started, hasn’t it? We cannot send students away now, so it will continue. But for these few months till the end of the school year, it will in any case be necessary to arrange everything, to begin the thing really as it should be at the end of the year, next December. So we will warn those who say, “I want to put my children...” and all that, and we will send a letter to everybody saying that because we have no space we can take no more than a certain number of students and it is impossible to take any new ones. There! We will prepare a letter to send to those who ask for the next year. There! Like that it is all right. There is no other way. It becomes a mess. Now I have to see Kireet to find out what he has to tell me. It is not that I am going to change my opinion, not at all, because that is impossible. I know that this is the only way to...

(Note: Here there is a big gap as one side of the tape was over and I realised it a bit late.)

The Mother: There are not enough English teachers?

Tara: Only for the Higher Course. And also for geography and history.

The Mother: I know they don’t have enough. Oh, History is not so important. Geography is quite necessary.

Tara: For the whole school there are only three geography teachers.

The Mother: Three! (Laughter) Geography, one should be able to teach geography with maps. We don’t have maps? We don’t have what we need?

Tara: Yes, Mother, I think we have everything. We are well equipped in the school.

The Mother: Only we need people who will give their time. How many geography teachers do we need?

Tara: I don’t know, Mother. There are two hundred students.

The Mother: It depends on the age of the children.

Tara: And also on how many hours each teacher will give.

The Mother: One teacher can take forty students if he is intelligent. That means six teachers would be enough, six geography teachers. But we need... all that, good, we’ll have to arrange that for the end of the year, for the beginning of the next school-year. We have time to prepare and anticipate.

Only the problem of the playground remains.

Tara: Mother, if the number decreases by twenty-five each year, the problem will be solved by the end of six or seven years.

The Mother (laughing): Six or seven years!

Tara: Maybe less, now that we no longer give certificates.

The Mother: Yes, that is the only way, there is no other way. We can’t send away those who are already here. That is the only way. We will see, tomorrow we will see what Kireet will say.

It is only this story that you told me, but it was the first time I heard it. We have made promises to the Government? I don’t think so. I never promised anything.

Tara: No, Mother, I asked Kireet and he told me it wasn’t true.

The Mother: Ah, then it is all right. Then it is very simple. It is like this, it will be like this, and... Or else, they will have to tell me not to interfere in anything any more. But if I continue to decide, it is decided. And when I have an idea in my head, it doesn’t budge. There!

Tara: In 1960, Sweet Mother, you had said at the playground, that when you look into the affairs of the school, you will upset everything.

The Mother: If they want me to look into things, it will be like that. There! It is good, it is very good. You have done some good work. It is very useful. This (tapping the papers), you have worked well. It is all right. Good bye my child.

Tara: Good bye, Sweet Mother.

The Mother: It is very good, you have helped a lot.

30 January 1972

The Mother made an oral comment as well: I have told Tanmaya, I have found a project to get going the students that are here. I told him—all those students who want to learn to succeed in life and make money are not wanted here. We want only those who want to live a higher life. The children have to decide whether they want to belong to the new life or to be “successful” and live an ordinary life. I think that some of the children will go away...

I have signed copies. You will ask him to show you when he will come to you this evening.

This, this makes the situation absolutely clear.