Page:Speeches And Writings MKGandhi.djvu/454

 364 EARLIER INDIAN SPEECHES

it may be admitted, are games full of interest, but if everything western had not captivated us, we should not have abandoned equally interesting but inexpensive national games, such as Gedidudo, Moi dandia, Khogho, Magmatli, Nadtutu, Kharopat, Navnagli, Sat tali and so on. Our gymnastics which exercise every limb of the body and our Kusti grounds have almost disappeared, If anything western is worthy of being copied it is cer- tainly the western drill An English friend rightly re- marked that we did dot know how to walk. We have no notion of marching in step in large bodies. We are not trained to march noiselessly, in an orderly manner in step, in twos or fours, in directions varying from time to time. Nor need it be supposed that drilling is useful for military purposes only. It is required for many acts of benevolence, e.g., there is a fire drill, there is a drill for helping the drowned to come to life, and there is a stretcher drill. Thus it is necessary to introduce in our schools national games, national gymnastics and the western drill.

Female education fares no better than male educa- tion. In framing the scheme of female education, no thought has been given to the Indian conception of rela- tionship between husband and wife, and the place an Indian woman occupies in society.

Much of the primary education may be common to both the sexes. But beyond that there is little that is common. Nature has made the two different, and a dis- tinction is necessary in framing a scheme of education for the two sexes. Both are equal, but the sphere of work is defined for each. Woman has the right to the queenship of the home. Man is the controller of outside manage- ment. He is the bread-winner, woman husbands the

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