"The Parrot’s Training" by Rabindranath Tagore

 "The Parrot’s Training"

Rabindranath Tagore

Text of the Story:

ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS a bird It was ignorant. It sang all right, but never recited

scriptures. It hopped pretty frequently, but lacked manners.

Said the Raja to himself: ‘Ignorance is costly in the long run. For fools consume as much food as their betters, and yet give nothing in return.’ He called his nephews to his presence and told them that the bird must have a sound schooling.

The pundits were summoned, and at once went to the root of the matter. They decided that the ignorance of birds was due to their natural habit of living in poor nests. Therefore, according to the pundits, the first thing necessary for this bird’s education was a suitable cage.

The pundits had their rewards and went home happy. A golden cage was built with gorgeous decorations. Crowds came to see it from all parts of the world. ‘Culture, captured and caged!’ exclaimed some, in a rapture of ecstasy, and burst into tears. Others remarked: ‘Even if culture be missed, the cage will remain, to theend, a substantial fact. 

How fortunate for the bird!’

The goldsmith filled his bag with money and lost no tune in sailing homewards.

The pundit sat down to educate the bird. With proper deliberation he took his pinch of snug: as

he said: ‘Textbooks can never be too many for our purpose!’

The nephews brought together an enormous crowd of scribes. They copied from books, and copied from copies, till the manuscripts were piled up to an unreachable height. Men murmured in amazement. ‘Oh, the tower ofculture, egregiously high! The end of it lost in the clouds!’

The scribes, with light hearts, hurried home, their pockets heavily laden.

The nephews were furiously busy keeping the cage in proper trim. As their constant scrubbing and polishing went on, the people said with satisfaction: ‘This is progress indeed!’

Men were employed in large numbers and supervisors were still more numerous. These, with their cousins of all different degrees of distance, built a palace for themselves and lived there happily ever after.

Whatever may be its other deficiencies, the world is never in want of fault-finders; and they went about saying that every creature remotely connected with the cage flourished beyond words, excepting only the bird. When this remark reached the Raja’s ears, he summoned his nephews before him and said:

‘My dear nephews, what is this that we hear?’ The nephews said in answer: ‘Sire, let the testimony of the goldsmiths and the pundits, the scribes and the supervisors be taken, if the truth is to be known. Food is scarce with the fault- finders, and that is why their tongues have gained in sharpness.’

The explanation was so luminously satisfactory that the Raja decorated each one of his nephews with his own rare jewels. The Raja at length, being desirous of seeing with his own eyes how his Education Department busied itself with the little bird, made his appearance one day at the great Hall of Learning.

From the gate rose the sounds of conch-shells and gongs, horns, bugles and trumpets, cymbals, drums and kettledrums, tomtoms, tambourines, flutes, fifes, barrel-organs and bagpipes. The pundits began chanting mantras with their topmost voices, while the goldsmiths, scribes, supervisors, and their numberless cousins of all different degrees of distance, loudly raised a round of cheers.

The nephews smiled and said: ‘Sire, what do you think of it all?’ The Raja said: ‘It does seem so fearfully like a sound principle of Education!’ Mightily pleased, the Raja was about to remount his elephant, when the fault-finder, from behind some bush, cried out: ‘Maharaja, have you seen the bird?’

‘Indeed, I have not!’ exclaimed the Raja. ‘I completely forgot about the bird.’ Turning back, he asked the pundits about the method they followed in instructing the bird. It was shown to him. He was immensely impressed. The method was so stupendous that the bird looked ridiculously unimportant in comparison. The Raja was satisfied that there was no flaw in the arrangements. As for any complaint from the bird itself, that simply could not be expected. Its throat was so completely choked with the leaves from the books that it could neither whistle nor whisper. It sent a thrill through one’s body to watch the process.

This time, while remounting his elephant, the Raja ordered his State ear-puller to give a thorough good pull at both the ears of the fault-finder.

The bird thus crawled on, duly and properly, to the safest verge of inanity. In fact, its progress was satisfactory in the extreme. Nevertheless, Nature occasionally triumphed over training, and when the morning light peeped into the bird’s cage it sometimes fluttered its wings in a reprehensible manner. And, though it is hard to believe, it pitifully pecked at its bars with its feeble beak.

‘What impertinence!’ growled the kotwal. The blacksmith, with his forge and hammer, took his place in the Raja’s Department of Education. Oh, what resounding blows! The iron chain was soon completed, and the bird’s wings were clipped.

The Raja’s brothers-in-law looked black, and shook their heads, saying: ‘These birds not only lack good sense, but also gratitude!’ With text-book in one hand and baton in the other, the pundits gave the poor bird what may fitly be called lessons!

The kotwal was honoured with a title for his watchfulness, and the blacksmith for his skill in forging chains.

The bird died.

Nobody had the least notion how long ago this had happened. The fault-finder was the first man to spread the rumour.

The Raja called his nephews and asked them, ‘My dear nephews, what is this that we hear?’

The nephews said: ‘Sire, the bird’s education has been completed.’

‘Does it hop?’ the Raja enquired.

‘Never!’ said the nephews.

‘Does it fly?’

‘No.’

‘Bring me the bird,’ said the Raja.

The bird was brought to him, guarded by the kotwal and the sepoys and the sowars. The Raja poked its body with his finger. Only its inner stuffing of book-leaves rustled. Outside the window, the murmur of the spring breeze amongst the newly budded asoka leaves made the April morning wistful.

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Detailed Summary of the story "The Parrot's Training"  by Rabindranath Tagore

The Parrot's Training is a satirical short story by Rabindranath Tagore that criticizes the rigid and mechanical system of education. Through the story of a parrot that is supposedly being educated, Tagore exposes the foolishness of an educational system that values memorization, rules, and appearances more than true learning and intellectual growth.

The story begins in a kingdom where a parrot lives freely and happily. It sings songs, flies through the forests, and enjoys its natural life. However, the king believes that the bird is ignorant because it spends its time singing and flying instead of studying. He orders his scholars to educate the parrot and make it knowledgeable.

The scholars gather and discuss how to train the bird. Instead of understanding the nature and needs of the parrot, they decide that education requires books. They conclude that the bird must be surrounded by learning materials. First, they build a magnificent golden cage for the parrot. The cage is beautifully decorated and admired by everyone in the kingdom. Craftsmen, goldsmiths, and officials become involved in the project, and huge amounts of money are spent. Ironically, more attention is paid to the cage than to the parrot itself.

Once the cage is completed, scholars begin the process of education. They copy countless books and place them near the bird. Soon they start tearing pages from the books and stuffing them into the parrot's beak. The bird is forced to swallow page after page. No effort is made to help it understand or learn. Education becomes a mechanical process of cramming information into the bird rather than encouraging thought, curiosity, or experience.

As time passes, many officials are appointed to supervise the training. Inspectors, teachers, and administrators constantly report on the success of the educational program. Whenever someone questions whether the parrot is actually learning, they are ignored or punished. The authorities are more interested in maintaining the appearance of success than discovering the truth.

Meanwhile, the parrot suffers greatly. Confined within the cage, it loses its freedom and happiness. It can no longer sing or fly. Its natural instincts are suppressed, and its physical condition deteriorates. Yet the scholars continue to praise their methods, claiming that the bird is receiving an excellent education.

Eventually, the king decides to inspect the results. The officials proudly present the parrot as a model student. By this time, however, the bird is dead. Its body is filled with scraps of paper, and there is no sign of life. When the king taps the bird, there is no song, no movement, and no spirit—only the rustling sound of dry pages inside its body. Despite this obvious failure, the officials declare the educational experiment a great success.

Through this tragic and ironic ending, Tagore reveals the dangers of an education system that destroys creativity, freedom, and individuality. The parrot dies because its natural growth has been replaced by meaningless memorization and excessive control. The story serves as a powerful warning against treating students as machines that simply absorb information.

The Parrot's Training is a brilliant satire on traditional education. Tagore argues that true education should nurture curiosity, imagination, and independent thinking rather than force-feed facts and rules. Through the fate of the parrot, he shows how an education system obsessed with discipline, examinations, and outward success can ultimately destroy the very life and creativity it is supposed to cultivate. The story remains relevant today as a critique of any educational approach that values rote learning over genuine understanding.

Themes of The Parrot's Training by Rabindranath Tagore

1. Criticism of the Education System

The central theme of the story is the criticism of a rigid and mechanical education system. Tagore attacks a method of teaching that relies on rote memorization rather than understanding. The parrot is forced to swallow pages from books, symbolizing how students are often burdened with information without being encouraged to think independently.

2. Freedom versus Confinement

The parrot initially lives freely in nature, singing and flying happily. However, it is later imprisoned in a golden cage. This contrast highlights the theme of freedom versus confinement. Tagore suggests that true learning requires freedom, while excessive control and restriction can destroy a person's natural abilities and creativity.

3. Appearance versus Reality

Throughout the story, everyone praises the educational project because the cage is beautiful and the procedures appear impressive. In reality, the parrot is suffering and eventually dies. Tagore exposes the gap between outward appearances and actual results, showing how institutions often focus on image rather than genuine success.

4. Suppression of Individuality

The parrot's natural instincts, talents, and happiness are ignored. Instead of nurturing its unique qualities, the educators try to force it into a fixed system. The story emphasizes the importance of respecting individuality and warns against educational practices that suppress personal growth.

5. Bureaucracy and Blind Authority

The story satirizes officials, scholars, and administrators who blindly follow rules without questioning their effectiveness. Even when the parrot is clearly suffering, they continue to praise the system. Tagore criticizes bureaucratic institutions that value procedures and reports more than actual outcomes.

6. The Importance of True Education

Tagore presents an ideal of education that encourages curiosity, creativity, understanding, and personal development. By showing the failure of the parrot's training, he argues that education should help individuals grow naturally rather than merely fill their minds with information.

7. Materialism and Wastefulness

A great deal of money and effort is spent on building the golden cage and maintaining the educational machinery. However, none of these resources contribute to the parrot's well-being. This highlights the theme of misplaced priorities, where material achievements are valued more than human (or living) development.

8. Loss of Creativity and Joy

The parrot's songs symbolize creativity, imagination, and the joy of life. As the training progresses, these qualities disappear. Tagore suggests that an oppressive education system can kill creativity and reduce learning to a lifeless routine.