I haven't blogged for a while. I have been composing more letters, filling more applications, drafting more proposals and writing more emails than ever before . The joy of paper work . Imagine being a lawyer , your romance is constantly with legal jargon on bond sheets , in black and white clothes in stinky courtrooms or offices filled with papers, files and books.
I constantly drift from one thought to another, simply because they are all connected and unfortunately we are only taught to think in compartments. I wish, having a garden was compulsory for every IT geek, or every student was also asked to survive in a forest or a village for a month before writing their board exams in math and science. Wish we were taught to cook and be kind to animals . To dance in the rain without ties around our necks. Wish we were taught the joy of teaching, where every student went to a child and taught him how to read. Wish we were taught how the physically and mentally challenged felt and made our school accessible to everyone.
Wish we had been to a mosque , a gurudwara , a church and more and learnt to appreciate the beauty in all these faiths. Wish we were taught to recycle plastic and paper and glass and cloth . Wish we were taught the joy of walking or cycling. Wish we were taught how to conserve our lakes ,rivers and wells. Wish we were taught how to nurse the wound of a human being , a dog or a dying squirrel. Wish we were taught to leave the wild animals alone and appreciate their beauty respecting their space. Wish I had bird watching as a subject, I would have loved to stare out of the window at cuckoos ,mynas and more. Wish a teacher had told me how to observe bugs ants, grasshoppers , caterpillars and learn the art of living from them. Maybe sculpting, carpentry, weaving in schools would have made me a different person . Why is Bill Gates richer for being good at what he does and why is an artisan who takes six months to embroider a piece of cloth living in rags for being the best in the world? Sometimes the simplest things are taken for granted like cloth, shelter and food. Like nature, wild and woods.
Education is such a silly thing! telling us how to grow . The joy of experiencing is lost in this arduous task of learning. The perception of the world as a living being and as a social being seem world apart. The more we put ourselves in a bubble the more isolated we become. I wish we could change this, I wish I could change.. But how? But how? But how?
Here is a beautiful picture shared by one of my dear friends Lalitha. You have to spot the frog in this picture . To look at the most beautiful things prevalent around us , we have to learn to take time to observe, experience and appreciate its beauty.
I constantly drift from one thought to another, simply because they are all connected and unfortunately we are only taught to think in compartments. I wish, having a garden was compulsory for every IT geek, or every student was also asked to survive in a forest or a village for a month before writing their board exams in math and science. Wish we were taught to cook and be kind to animals . To dance in the rain without ties around our necks. Wish we were taught the joy of teaching, where every student went to a child and taught him how to read. Wish we were taught how the physically and mentally challenged felt and made our school accessible to everyone.
Wish we had been to a mosque , a gurudwara , a church and more and learnt to appreciate the beauty in all these faiths. Wish we were taught to recycle plastic and paper and glass and cloth . Wish we were taught the joy of walking or cycling. Wish we were taught how to conserve our lakes ,rivers and wells. Wish we were taught how to nurse the wound of a human being , a dog or a dying squirrel. Wish we were taught to leave the wild animals alone and appreciate their beauty respecting their space. Wish I had bird watching as a subject, I would have loved to stare out of the window at cuckoos ,mynas and more. Wish a teacher had told me how to observe bugs ants, grasshoppers , caterpillars and learn the art of living from them. Maybe sculpting, carpentry, weaving in schools would have made me a different person . Why is Bill Gates richer for being good at what he does and why is an artisan who takes six months to embroider a piece of cloth living in rags for being the best in the world? Sometimes the simplest things are taken for granted like cloth, shelter and food. Like nature, wild and woods.
Education is such a silly thing! telling us how to grow . The joy of experiencing is lost in this arduous task of learning. The perception of the world as a living being and as a social being seem world apart. The more we put ourselves in a bubble the more isolated we become. I wish we could change this, I wish I could change.. But how? But how? But how?
Photo courtesy Lalitha Venkat
Here is a beautiful picture shared by one of my dear friends Lalitha. You have to spot the frog in this picture . To look at the most beautiful things prevalent around us , we have to learn to take time to observe, experience and appreciate its beauty.
Spotting lil froggy was never more fun.... love the way u question things.... and change is much faster than we see and much more internalised than we can feel.... it is as never as radical as we imagine it to be.... but it is lovely to initiate change that we believe and then seeing it bear slow and juicy fruit.... its like waiting to catch the exact moment a flower blooms... its not easy and nothing is more beautiful.... hold on and god bless....
ReplyDeleteI agree with all ur wishes veena.
ReplyDeleteTHere are people who live theses wishes but mostly in isolated communities.
I too think the school education as we know is irrelevant and would go to the length that it is one of the most dangerous institution because the original purpose of this system was really to dumb people down and accept the authority and go against one another.
john taylor gatto has written in lengths about the history of education after 12 year research.
I think mainstream will never catch this as george carlin said it is called a stream because it is shallow.
pls post your thoughts on money or the monetary system we live in when you get time
thank you
kiran
Well written and thought provoking one Veena.
ReplyDeleteAt first I was about to type 'Where is the frog? I couldn't find it even after looking for it for a few minutes.'
Then somehow I felt I would give it one last glance. And what should I find there perchance :)? And now when I see it, I just can't not see it :)
Keep writing ...
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Vinay