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JAINA GAZETTE. [Aug. & Sept. lessons in geography more real than the ordinary twodimensional map.
Nor must I forget that wonderfully adaptable composition known as “ Plasticine,” which seems to combine the properties of clay and India-rubber. A mere lump of this is a Joy for ever to children young and old, since it can be picked up at odd moments and made into a thing of beauty, animal, vegetable, or mineral and then squeezed down again into its original undifferentiated state of a lump ready to be made into a new thing of beauty. At the time of my visit a whole class was silently absorbed in making plasticine daffodils, guided by a few of these exquisite flowers which stood on a table. I picked up several in different stages of construction, and they held together wonderfully, though the petals had been drawn out thin enough to overlap one another and reproduce the delicate curves of nature. The young artists had necessarily to be left much to themselves, as it was impossible for a teacher to give individual attention to ali the members of such a numerous class, and it struck me as convincing testimony to the real desire within the growing mind to learn as fast as it can, if only the lessons are made interesting and enable the learner to co-operate actively.
But the complaint from all the teachers alike is the same that they cannot get the best out of a child when so many have to be taken together. Classes must be smaller if they are to reach a maximum of efficiency, and this means more teachers, and salaries that will attract more men and women of ability into that profession on which the future of the nation most depends. As I watched the rows of serious but happy faces and the deft fingers working in harmony with the creative will, I wondered how long it would be before this rising generation influences the life of the community for enduring good. Who knows what revolutions this liberated sense of beauty in simplicity may introduce pre long in our industrial methods and social conditions? It is impossible to image anyone tolerating the night-mare of an overcrowded city whose eyes have once been opened to the inexhaustible
treasures of an English country lane. Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
