THE LEARNER—TEACHER

One Man Two Missions

WITHIN a few days of landing in Bombay, a young Spanish priest by the name of Henry Heras found himself in the presence of St. Xavier’s College, Bombay. He met the principal of the college. The young priest was a historian, and had a degree in Spanish history. “Which branch would you like to teach?” the principal asked him. “Indian History”, Father Heras replied. “What do you know about Indian history?” the principal asked. Father Heras said he knew nothing.

“Then how are you going to teach it?” “I shall study it”, Father Heras answered.

To those who knew that he had a degree in history from Spain, it might have seemed strange that he did not just choose a branch of the subject with which he was thoroughly familiar, then settle into a comfortable teaching routine which would bring him his salary with the minimum of effort. Strange indeed, until one discovered that his purpose in doing so was to bring him into contact with the widest possible range of young people in order that he might more effectively pursue his mission. It was essential that he should have a permanent base from which to work, and this kind of teaching assignment was ideal in that it gave him the opportunity to function both as a teacher and a missionary.

So intent was he upon carrying out his mission that he did not once baulk at the enormity of the task that lay ahead. It meant learning the history of a whole subcontinent—and that too, which dated back to the most ancient of times, and into which were interwoven the histories of many peoples. The complexity of the task was intensified by the lack of documentary evidence for certain important periods of Indian history and the fact that much had to be pieced together on the basis of archaeological discoveries. But he set about his task with such thoroughness and determination that he became not only an accomplished teacher of history, but a historian of repute of the same class as Sir Jadunath Sarkar and Dr. Surendra Nath Sen. He died in 1956, but his work is still commemorated by an institute in Mumbai which is named after him: The Heras Institute.

It is when one has a great and over-riding mission in life that no task seems too difficult, no hardship too great. That is when temporary gain loses its attractiveness and loss seems of little importance. There are many Muslims in the world today who let it be known that they are ‘interested’ in doing missionary work. But are they ready to make the enormous sacrifices and engage in the unremitting toil which true missionary work demands?