LIFE IN INDIA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22905, 12 June 1936, Page 15

LIFE IN INDIA

ADDRESS BY REV. C. F. ANDREWS

The Rev. C. P. Andrews, who is making a tour of the Dominion under tho auspices of the Student Christian Movement and the World Student Christian Federation, gave an address to the students of the Home Science School yesterday afternoon. The speaker was introduced by Professor Strong, who stated that they had been interested in his work for many years, and that they had been especially interested in India. Mr Andrews said that he desired to paint for them a picture of India which would make them love it more than ever. India was a very lovable place and the Indian people were a very lovable race. He had lived in India for 33 years, and had, perhaps, been brought into closer contact with the people than possibly anybody in the Empire. Mr Andrews then proceeded to tell the story of the settlement, or religious home, founded by the father of the famous poet, Tagore. He said that he had been impressed with the beauty of the Dominion. It seemed very close to India in certain aspects. They should ,he able to live in the open air, with 'God's sky above them, as they did in India. At their settlement they had a family of nearly 400, including the children of th" school, the girls of the college, and the teachers, and they had a big agricultural farm on which they grew rice, etc., for their wants. It was a wonderfully peaceful life. In New Zealand there were still many open spaceß. That day he had seen Dunedin. He had seen the clearness of tho atmosphere. It was marvellous. He had never seen such a wonderfully clear atmosphere anywhere in the world, except in the Himalayas, where one could easily see 145 miles in the distance. Mr Andrews then told of how the wonderful Indian settlement had been chosen. How Tagore's father had at last come to Bengal and had said that this was the' place that God had chosen for him. It was given the beautiful name in India of " Tho Abode of Peace." An outline was given of the daily life of the children and the people. The early hours of the day were devoted to meditation, and Tagore himself, the youngest son of the old founder, took part. Mr Andrews said that he had seen Tagore sitting in meditation from 3 o'clock till 7 o'clock in the morning. For four hours he would never move—just remain entranced with the beauty of God. They had not that rush of life which prevailed in the West, and America was far, far more hurried than Europe. In America it was one continual rush. The people in " The Abode of Peace" had their intellectual activities in the morning, and then manual work in the afternoon. The finest beauty in the world was done by the human hand, and the finest music in the world came from the human voice. Though they could not possibly in the West go back to the old life, they might, nevertheless, learn many things from the East, and the work of their hands was one of these. They should do something every day with their hands. The speaker spoke of the beauties of Indian moonlight nights and of the dark nights, with the sky spangled with stars, and concluded by saying that it was a great joy to be with them that afternoon and to learn that they were tryimr to keep in touch with India and in a way to keep the Indian people.— (Applause.)

A vote of thanks to the lecturer was carried by acclamation.