The Learner-Teacher

him into contact with the widest possible range of young people in order that he might the 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 intra and extramurally. 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 sub-continent—and one, 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 archeological 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 Bombay 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. □ One who gives receives “Every day, two angels visit the servants of God on earth. One of them prays: “lord, reward those who spend,” while the other prays, “lord, destroy the wealth of those who withhold.” (Hadith: Al-Bukhari, Muslim)