George S. Arundale

December the 1st, 1978, marks the birth centenary of George Sydney Arundale, a great Englishman who made India his home, loved her as his motherland, and gave to her service, his gifts of intelligence, capacity and inspiration. He was the youngest son of John Kay, his mother having been a Miss Arundale before her marriage. She died giving birth to him and her elder sister, Francesca Arundale, adopted him as a baby and, therefore, he was known as George Sydney Arundale.

Having taken his Master’s Degree in the Cambridge University, he was also admitted to the Degree of Bachelor of Laws and he had early visions of being a journalist or a lawyer. But all his thoughts of the future underwent a total revolution when he heard Annie Besant’s lecture on “Theosophy and Imperialism” in the Queen’s Hall in London in the year 1902. Annie Besant had already made India her home for nine years. She had an unshakable conviction regarding India’s place in the comity of nations. She said in 1898: “India in the past was given by the Supreme the one great duty among the nations of the world, to be the mother of religion, to be the cradle of faith, to send out to all other peoples the truths of the spiritual life.”

In 1898 Annie Besant had already started work for the establishment of the Central Hindu College at Varanasi, her Indian home. In 1902, she invited George Arundale, then a young man of 24, and his adopted mother, Miss Arundale, to come out to India to help her in her project. She wanted Dr Arundale to be Professor of English in her new college. Without a second thought, they wound up their affairs in England and came to India in February, 1903. India was to be their home to the end of their lives – hers till her death in 1923 and his, till he passed away in 1945. He lived to see the dawn of freedom over India, a freedom which he had worked so devotedly to achieve.

In the Central Hindu College, he was Professor of English and from 1904-’07 he was the headmaster of the Central Hindu Collegiate School. Then on the retirement of Dr. Richardson as Principal, he was appointed Principal of the college and during his term of office he made that institution reach a peak of excellence which no college has reached in this country before or after that time. He had discovered a cause to which he could give the whole of his enthusiastic self. It was a period of high seriousness and dedication. Annie Besant had provided the college with a group of English workers who were devoted to her ideals and under George Arundale’s leadership the college became a training ground for all that was best in Indian tradition. Many of the leaders in many walks of Indian life – in politics, education, in the law and other branches of national activity – were students of the Central Hindu College.

In 1913, Annie Besant handed over the Central Hindu College to Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya to form the nucleus of the Hindu University, which, today, is one of the biggest universities in India. When this was done Dr. Arundale came over to the South and made Adyar his home. Dr Besant had become the second President of the Theosophical Society in 1907 and was living at Adyar. In keeping with his own natural predilections and encouraged by Annie Besant’s perennial interest in education, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Theosophical Educational Trust of which Dr Besant was the President. This charitable society established schools and colleges all over India, some of which are in vigorous existence even today. The Besant Theosophical College in Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, acknowledged as the best college in the jurisdiction of the Sri Venkateswara University, was one of those establish­ed at that time. A school was established in Coimbatore and one in Kumbakonam. A school was established in the estate of the Indian section of the Theosophical Society, at Varanasi, where a girls’ college was also started. In Varanasi where a girls’ college was started the society for the promotion of National Education was registered and under its aegis the National University at Adyar came into existence. Of this university Dr Rabindranath Tagore was Chancellor and Dr S. Subramania Iyer, great jurist, and retired judge of the Madras High Court, was Vice-Chancellor. Dr Arundale was the Rector and was also the Principal of the wonderful Teachers’ Training College of that university. This college produced notable educators, one of whom, M. T. Vyas, established first the Fellowship School and then, the New Era School in Bombay. The New Era School is one of the best known progressive schools now functioning in Bombay. The Fellowship School under its Principal for many years, Sri Upadhyay is another notable Bombay school. The last of the institutios which he established was what is today the Besant Theosophical School which he established in June 1934 as a memorial to his Guru, Annie Besant, who had passed away in 1933. Notable among his contributions to education was the warm and enthusiastic support he gave to Rukmini Devi in starting and maintaining Kalakshetra. He was convinced that education becomes alive only when art energises it and gives it meaning. He was also convinced that the greatness of a country depended on the greatness of its art and culture. The second momentous contribution he made was in inviting Mme. Montessori and her adopted son, Mariot, to India in 1939. They were his guests at Adyar and he made possible their training courses and materially helped in laying the foundations of Montessori education in India.

Soon after George Arundale came to live at Adyar in 1913, Dr Besant started her movements for India’s freedom. In 1914 she bought a Madras newspaper, then called “Madras Standard”, and renamed it “New India.” This became the chosen instrument for the expression of her political views. The Home Rule Movement gained rapid momentum. Dr Arundale was one of Dr Besant’s chief assistants in the “New India” and with her travelled all over the country lecturing on Home Rule. The Home Rule League for the first time in the history of the movement for freedom carried that message to the masses of the people. On 16th June, 1917, the Government of Madras served orders of internment on Dr Annie Besant, Mr. G. S. Arundale and Mr. B. P. Wadia. Their place of internment was Ootacamund. This aroused a great storm of protest and the release of the leaders from internment was announced on 17th September, 1917.

Mr. Arundale’s interest in the Scout Movement stemmed from his commitment to education. He actively helped Annie Besant to start the Indian Boy Scouts Association. He kept his connection with it after its amalgamation with the Baden Powell Movement. When, however, a national movement was separately started again, at the request of Pandit H. N. Kunzru, he became the Provincial Commissioner of the Hindustan Boy Scouts in Madras. This movement received his support, both materially and spiritually, till the very end.

Along with B. P. Wadia and T. V. Kalyanasundaram Mudaliar, Sri V. V. Giri, and Sri Chelvapathy Chetty and others, he was one of the founders of the labour movement in India. The Madras Labour Union was the first labour union in the country and he was the President for some years.

When Annie Besant passed away in 1933, Dr Arundale was elected the Third President of the Theosophical Society and was installed in that position in June, 1934. Humility was a predominant characteristic in him. He was devoted to Dr Besant and considered himself her disciple and her son. She had similar feelings of deep affection for him and had warm appreciation of his loyalty and appreciated the vigour of his support. He was conscious that to succeed Dr Besant in any capacity was not easy. But with characteristic enthusiasm and energy he plunged into the work of the society. Recognising brotherhood as the main Theosophical principle, he initiated a campaign for understanding and friendship. “Together differently” was his motto. He kept this prominently displayed on his desk where he worked long hours. He travelled all over the world lecturing on Theosophy, India, etc. “Let understanding be the law” was one of the titles of his lectures. He brought about many material changes at the headquarters and was responsible for many improvements. In all the work that he did, Rukmini Devi was constantly at his side and participated in all his projects. In 1939 when the Second World War began he was a deeply committed individual. He believed with all his heart that in order to achieve the freedom of man, through which alone happiness can come, totalitarian tendencies in governments should be destroyed. He therefore felt that the Allied governments should be fully supported by all right-thinking people. On the other hand he felt and said with all the strength at his command that for India to participate in the war, she should have the promise of freedom, for only those that are free can fight for freedom. In his paper entitled, “Conscience,”he wrote strongly on these matters not bothering at all about how popular he was, so long as he was on the side of truth. His advocating freedom for India did not please the British and he was under the constant threat of having to close down his paper. His support of the war effort did not please the Indian public at large. But these considerations did not bother him at all.

He felt the suffering of people forced on them by war conditions. The misery caused to the women and to the families of the dead were a nightmare to him. During nights these thoughts occupied his mind. The strain of the world situation undermined his health more than anything else. He was a strong, vigorous man. But his physical vigour was eaten into the anxieties of the world which he took upon himself. But ill or well, his deep concern for the poor never left him. Every morning he used to go to the dispensary in the estate of the Theosophical Society and watch the doctor treating the poor people who came in large numbers for medical assistance. He paid for the treatment of those who had no money. This was a self-imposed task which was perform by him without fail. Slowly the point of no return was reached and as the news came through of the Allied victory he passed away after having instructed his secretary to send a cable to the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, urging him to grant freedom to India without delay. He was great in death as he was in life and it will be long before India will find another servant like him so gifted, so entirety devoted and committed to her service.