Are we educating our children?

Sometimes, we as parents and educators are so busy trying to provide the children with answers that the children lose the art of asking and approaching questions.

The focus of any successful teaching strategy MUST be to impart a sense of wonder, and adventure to everyday learning. Everyday learning should be a habit that the children enjoy not a task that they need to complete, forcibly.

The basic academic skills that are often talked of are the result of extremely loving nurturing teachers. Much more than student motivation, this requires a dedicated teacher. I would, thus probably put more importance on self learning ability.

On our recent trip to Rishikesh, we were taken aback by two things- on the road to Rishikesh. UP is FULL of educational institutions- schools and colleges and universities. Every second building that you see on the highway is a University. It has the well known premier institutions like the Regional Engineering College and the IIT Roorkie as well many many lesser known institutions that dot the landscape so densely that you can barely see the land. AND... yet... you have a population that can barely read, knows and shows little civic sense, is living from day to day in a rut they appear to have created for themselves with these numerous degree possibilities!

Will the University of XYZ equip them to deal with the new situations life will inevitably throw at them? Will a certificate or a piece of paper make sure they know how to LIVE?

Tough questions these, for educators and for us as citizens.

We need more teaching strategies like the ones Amir seems to be promoting in his recent flick- Three Idiots. As well as one that I am currently experiencing- Kumon. More on this a little later! It is we who have to make sure we make the children ABLE to SEEK and look for questions as much as look for answers!

Driving into the clouds...

21012010052, originally uploaded by naturewalker.

I drive down this road every day. Twice a day.
I know every turn, curve and bank on this road.

I knew where I was going even if all I could see ahead of me was a cloud of fog so dense that it could be cut with a knife and yet so nebulous that it seemed to part with the exhalation of each car cutting through it.

Visibility was down to only five feet or so. This picture was taken with my mobile from a moving car... the motion blur can be seen...

Yet- with the confidence that comes with habitual familiarity, I could go at a steady pace. Each few feet revealed a further few feet. All this while the road gone by was engulfed in the swirling fog again.

The goal was clear. Reach the hospital. In time.

The direction was clear. Sometimes a car ahead with the rear blinkers on made the progress faster. Mostly I could trust my driving ability and my familiarity with this path. I knew I would get there. Where ever there is!

Life's roads are often like this. You may not be able to see very far ahead. You simply have to start. Then, each step reveals more along the path. You must only define your goal and set the correct direction. The path ahead is revealed just as the past is swallowed. Sometimes one comes across some friend peer or guide who make the progress faster. They simply have to be moving in the same general direction. We must also let go when our directions diverge.

As Dory said in " Finding Nemo", "Keep on swimming. Just keep on swimming."

Is true love for real?

I was once asked this question... Is true love for real?

My answer...


True love is.

I have seen it in my grandmother's eyes when she was dying in my grandfather's lap after a long disabling illness.

I saw it in my grandfather's touch when, at the age of 80 he cared for my ailing grandmother. Untiringly.

I felt it in the suppressed sobs of my tough- hard- as-nails- father when I informed him of his father's demise.

I have basked in it each time I see my parents together- my father is nearing 70 and my mother is on the wrong side of 60. Even today when they look at each other- there is magic in the air! They still hold hands and laugh together as teenagers would! Their bright faces tell of a deeply felt strength and confidence for whatever life may deal out to them.

I have felt it when my husband can look at me across a roomful of people and speak with his eyes! It is as if everyone else just fades away and we are alone- together. The look, the touch, the smile, the care- it is all reassuring.

True love is atleast as much about being possessed as about possessing! It is atleast as much about being cared for as it is about caring for.

True love does not mean absence of conflict or even an occassional battle- whether of ego or of wits. True love is not even loving despite these conflicts. It is about there being no question about the love even in the bitterest of fights.

Love is everywhere... it is the feeling of being special for someone... a friend, a child, a student, a man or a woman... it could be anyone who wants to talk and share with you... who can lift your spirit when it is sagging and make you fly when you are already up... And you are often surprised at the human capacity to love so many people simultaneously in so many different ways that it is difficult to count!

Love is when a little child with crumpled flowers in his little hand wants to wish you a Happy Mother's Day on just about Happy any day! Love is also when your friend calls you in an ecstatic moment of glory and recognition and feels great at the appreciation you give... love is also when you can be together despite the distance!



True love is. I have found it.