Rights of Admission Reserved ...

It is that time of the year again! The parents of two and three somethings are tense- nursery school admissions are a hot topic.

There are those that have a son, a first born. They thanked the God above for a healthy child when he was born.He hears well, enjoys music, is entire in limb and sight- no disability. Or may be their elder child is a daughter who is in a girls' only convent school. They score ZERO for being a HEALTHY... ABLE... BOY... whose sibling is not in the same school. They are out of the race even before it started! They lose 40+ marks based on these 'transparent' criteria. And there would be quite a few like these. Where can these parents and these children go?

Many good schools are displaying notices- No seats available for nursery admissions. "House Full!" When you go for a rave movie and find this sign, you are disappointed but end up buying a ticket for the next available show. Or... you give in to that agent who is selling the tickets at a premium ( Black is a great movie but a politically incorrect word!). The current scenario of school admissions leaves the parents with little choice. They make the politically incorrect decision. Or would they much rather wait for the next show? Next year?

Has the number of children grown so dramatically that with the seats full in most good and medium grade schools, there still are a lot of children left high and dry without a seat to sit on? Where are the children who are filling the 'filled' seats?

There has to be an explanation. It has to be logical.

I am fortunate. I decided that my children MUST go to a school that is close to my house. It should be a reasonable school. Notice here that I am not saying reasonably good. Only reasonable. It should prepare my children for their life. I chose to send them to a school that is 5 minutes drive from our home. The children take about 15 minutes in the bus. I did not choose my own alma mater only because it was farther than this institution.

There are parents who want the school to be an announcement of their status. Agreed there would be schools that justify the snob value attached to their names. Is it this snob value or our own commitment as parents that is going to prepare our children for their future?

While the Ganguly Committee tried to put some sense into the system, it only ended up making the whole process more chaotic than ever before. The siblings should study together when possible. It makes sense to allocate additional marks for that. Where do, however, the first borns go? The differentiation between a girl and boy child is not an issue in a city like Delhi. It may still be important in villages. Allocating additional marks for a girl child seems very inappropriate. Where do boys go?

Special needs children have traditionally been educated by Special Educators in a few very good schools, including my own alma mater- Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan. What is more the department worked extra hard to include these special children in the mainstream. Unless a school has specially trained special educators allocating marks for special needs children will only set them back further. It will not promote inclusive education... only further alienation. Where do 'ordinary' children go?

Are there any solutions that can be just set out for babus to follow? Can we not lay down criteria which are fair and inclusive? Rather tahn exclusive and questionable?

We need to strengthen our system to INCLUDE more and more children to be educated... not EXCLUDE deserving children from the system. This might even promote a 'parallel' 'economy' and will seep into our system blackening the very water we spray the tiny saplings with.

Can the noise stop?

Everyday lakhs, if not millions of Delhi population hits the road- and gets assaulted by noise.

Typical scene is that of a busy road being motored on my busier people. Patience? Not one of the virtues Delhi can boast of! Signs like Speed thrills but kills are common place. It does, too... only when the drunk drivers manage to drive fast in the wee hours of late nights or early mornings. The mangled remains of the reputable cars are splashed on the front page of newspapers- unrecognisable as a car- let alone the brand! For the rest of us ordinary mortals, we have to commute on roads infested with vehicles like a crowd in a mela- each individual fighting for the space to put his foot or take the next step. The melange of cars of various sizes and configurations along with the ubiquitous autos and the out of control buses, not to forget the two wheeler motor-cyclists or even scooterists, makes sure we all crawl.

Better the road, more our expectation from the people moving on it. "Get the hell out of my way!" The horns blare. What makes the honkers assume that blowing high decibels into the surrounding will make the car ahead of them go any faster or even get out of their way? With another car in front of it and another one ahead of it almost endlessly, who CAN move? Can we not follow the reminders not very subtly projected at us at most traffic junctions- RELAX! Notice that the Red light reads it loud and clear! Plainly in view. There are those who choose to literally SIT on their horns even at traffic junctions!

Is this the capital city of a country known the world over for meditative reflection?

Also not to be missed is the early morning scene of mothers/ fathers dropping their children off to school. Such parents are always in a hurry. They will be late. The taxi drivers that some parents trust their tender hearts with are even worse. There are no red lights and no rules. They move with the singlemindedness of a bee attacking a thief putting his hand into the hive. Just try and get into a line of taxi drivers! You might hear very colourful epithets- regardless of your right of way or your gender. In Fact, if you are a lady, you will get looks that can wither even a cactus in the dessert. A lady overtaking a taxi driver? Impossible! How dare she! HONK! HONK!! HONK!!!

There was a time I used to find each horn sounded crashing into my consciousness and destroying my peace of mind. Then I happened to visit an EU country. It is not as if the traffic is not there. It is not even as if the traffic moves slowly. But the people just DO NOT BLOW HORNS! They simply follow the rules. They stick to their lanes. they stop at red lights. They drive within the stipulatetd speed limits and donot use their horns. Pedestrians in these places do not Jay-walk either. The flow of traffic is smooth. It stops only when it has to. In this case all involved understand horns will not make the person ahead move- because he cannot.

There is an interesting concept in the US. They celebrate "International" Noise awareness day and on that day- at two o'clock- what ever anyone is doing, they become SILENT. No noise for two minutes.

Can we bring about a little patience, a little awareness on our roads? Can we stop what we are doing and listen to the Kenyan who says he comes from a country that is less noisy than India?

Can we stop these deafening decibels? If only for a little while?

May be the Metro and the Mono rail will make commuting easier and take a few vehicles off the road.

May be... just may be... we will stop the deafening decibels before they stop us in our tracks- deaf and unable to hear the noise we generate.

What kind of a tree is victory?

Life in the city has become so noisy that it has drowned peace, silence and soul.

Waking up to an alarm that should be loud enough to bring us back from slumberland, we start our wakefulness with cacophony. Rushing through the morning ritual of getting the children and their tiffins ready for school makes time fly. Is there a way to slow it down? Recently we, my children and me, were going through a routine morning when we started discussing phonics. My four year old is showing interest in books and wants to put sounds together. He mentioned enthusiastically that ,"it is W for victory!" Was it Chak De? Where had he heard the word? When English wants to denote w and v, both, to say the same sound, can you flaw the thinking of a small child?

I explained, " No, bitta, it is V for victory and w for watch. It is getting to be seven. Now let us get ready." I was there with him... but not quite. I wanted to pull him into the race against time. School gates will close. We have to get there in time, etc. etc.

He, then said something which stopped me dead in my tracks. "Mama," he asked innocently after pondering for a few seconds, " What kind of a tree is vicTREE?" The emphasis is the way HE said it. Four year old. What kind of a tree is victory? He waited. He knew I would answer. No matter what I am doing or how much in a hurry- if my children ask- they recieve an answer. Even if it is sometimes just to acknowledge the question. I thought. What should I tell him?

"Victory, Moksh, is winning..."? Na! Boring. Where is the imagination? Where is the playfulness? Where is the spark to start a fire? To set him thinking and wanting to learn more? I smiled," Moksh, that is a wonderful question! ( that gave me a few seconds to put my thoughts together) Victory is the tree everyone wants to climb. This tree gives a fruit people find sweeter and more delicious than the mango," I replied earnestly. Then I rounded it off with the unimaginative- "Victory is winning".

Within a few seconds a four year old had managed to slow down time. He made us pause and think. He brought us back to now- rather than just running to catch the next moment. Never really managing it because each moment leads to another one which then needs to be caught. Why can we not learn from the children? Why can we not be simple-hearted and live NOW? I could honestly not read beyond the first few pages of Eckhart's Now. This may be a politically suicidal statement. But- I could not. I do not even remember the few pages I did manage to read. My son brought the Now much more sharply into focus and made time stop.

Mornings used to be for gentle awakenings. For leisurely morning walks. For deep breaths and deeper prayers. Where did those mornings go? Those mornings when, during vacations, we woke up at midday and had lunch without thinking about breakfast are long gone. Now the children who are learning music or skating or have to leave for those tuitions or ... numerous other things... that they fill their time with. They are busy! Where is their childhood? Where are the pithhoo, the paalaa, the staappoo and the kho- kho? And would you allow your child to play Hide and seek in the public park? Did we ever think somebody could kidnap us? Were all strangers monstors? Where have we arrived? Is this the price we pay for progress? Is this progress?

As a parent and a well-meaning adult, I want to make this locality, this city, this country, this world a safer place for children. I want to make it safe for children to run a sweat playing in the park once again. I want the children to enjoy a picnic in open and safe spaces. I want them to laugh freely, to raise their heads in wonder and see how beautiful the world really is. I want to make it beautiful.

Are there others who think like me? I am sure there are. This posting may just start a movement. I hope it does. I pray it does.

Here's to living in the present moment- happily, safely, with eyes full of wonder and soul full of curiosity.