Page 18 - Y Mind

Tony George SJ

JUNIORATE IS FOREVER

oday I recall my Juniorate days here Darjeeling, and Sri-Lanka provinces. There
Tat Vinayalaya from 1972-1973. I re- were English, Scripture, Ignatian Spirituali-

member the anecdote which accompanies ty, Art Appreciation, Music and Film Appre-
me often as a Jesuit. It is very apt for all ciation, World History classes throughout
that I want to express about the Juniorate. the Year. I was fascinated by William Shake-
It happened once that when Bapu- speare, Gerard Manly Hopkins, Emily Dick-
ji, Mahatma Gandhi was with Rabindranath enson, Robert Frost, T.S. Eliot, Rembrandt,
Tagore at Shanti Niketan. In the evening they Van Gogh remain my favourites even to-
both used to walk near the Ganges. Bapuji day. Mozart, Bach, Tchaikovsky are still very
was very particular and punctual about their powerful when the shadows of darkness sur-

time for the walk. Tagore used to be often round me. Gerard Manly Hopkins’ poems
late. Bapuji after two / three days said to Tag- are a great soothing balm in troubled times
ore, “Why can’t you keep to the time, why do and Rembrandt makes me reflect on my own
you spend so much time in decorating your- life through his self-portraits (He is the only
self. There is no need to comb and trim your one, who has more than 100 self-portrays and
beard and to see from all sides your long dress sketches). His master- piece ‘The Return of
that you wear.” To that very calmly and gen- the Prodigal’ has been my eternal inspira-
tly Tagore replied, “It is good to look neat and tion. Tagore’s Gitanjali is my handy spiritu-
tidy. By the way Bapuji, for our people of In- al aid. These and many Maharashtrian saints
dia, you stand for TRUTH and I am trying to and reformers have come to stay with me.
stand for BEAUTY”, and he laughed heartily.
Truth, Beauty and Goodness have to go

hand in hand never SEPARATE. That’s what
we in India refer as Satyam, Shivam and Sund-
aram. सत्यम – Our quest for justice our hun-
ger for knowledge िशवम- our thirst, our long-
ing for wholeness, goodness, welfare of all,
सुंदरम – our yearning for BEATY, all that cov-
ers the field of Aesthetics. Literature, Dance,
Drama, Poetry, Art, Architecture, and Music.

Those were the days of a new vision and a new
challenge of the GC 32. Our dear Fr. General
Rev Fr. Arrupe had just visited Vinayalaya. He
made it quite clear as to what is expected of the
Jesuits of the present times and in the future. For me JUNIORATE stressed language
Fr. Bertie Philipps was our dean. We and culture. Both are very important in
were scholastics from Bombay, Pune, Goa, our Life. They are not merely definitions

17 Young Minds 2020