Day 22 of 30

When I was wondering what do i write for my blog..this topic came up to my mind and also was reminded of this with something i was reading my night time reading book(oh yes..i picked up another book!!!)

Education. And what has become of it. I did my schooling in the '80's and early '90's and went to a convent. It was the days when not everyone was either a engineer or a doctor, those were the days when parents wanted their kids educated unlike today where the parents monitor their kids grades with a fanatic approach. I have a couple of cousins about 12 yrs younger to me and i saw her schooling and felt very very sorry for them.

I am still not so familiar to North American approach of education, so i am talking mainly about India and specifically south India.

When i was at school, we had a subject called 'Moral Science' and i liked it a lot coz, there was no exam for this subject. It was basically to imbibe moral values in the children. How important it was, more important than maths and science. It is somehow forgotten that living with morals is as important as living as humans. As humans we are blessed with something called 'free will' and no one teaches us how to use it. One story i remember vividly even today is that of the woodcutter and the axe. what a great way to teach children that greed is no good.My cousins never had this subject. I feel sorry for them for all the valuable moral lessons they missed at the tender age, where they register in mind much faster and stay longer.

And we had 'Music' class...oh yes, and we were taught songs in different languages. Even if you sang in tune or not, it dint matter, we all at the top of voices repeated what our music teacher crooned. It was a great experience, no pressure to perform better or rather outperform others. I still remember some of the songs we learnt..one of the songs we learnt was 'eklaa chalo eklaa chalo' by rabindrantah tagore and another song is 'yee maro mathi..matti ke sumilo...'a assamese patriotic song...what a great way to introduce different languages of the country and help develop respect for all, as opposed to claiming each one's language greater than others..Oh well, my cousins did not have this class too...time is too precious to be spent singing is the motto of modern day schools

And we had another class 'SUPW/Needlework' , I don't quite remember what SUPW meant , but it was like the crafts class and yes 'needlework' meant that...everyone had to sew, no matter if you were a guy or girl...but our teacher did cut some slack and gave choice of sewing or crafts. I learnt my basic stitching skills in that class and now helps mend a broken button now and then.

And we had 'Games' class, this was to get out in the large playground we had and play a game of any choice..and no, we did have the choice to sit and talk under the trees, you had to be mobile. Thanks to that i played badminton and tried my hand at volleyball. wonderful way to keep everyone active and healthy.

We had drill every Wednesday when multiple classes were combined for the drill.
My cousin's schooling was carrying heavy books to school early in the morning and coming back home late in the evening, after Grade 7, you have no life. study all the time(mug the subjects to a point that you remember every line in the textbook), but no ability to apply it to a situation or in real life.What a waste of precious childhood and adolescence. The impression forming years are passed by without any education that will last a lifetime.

Back in my schooling days, on some days, some adventurous teachers to take the class outdoors, under the shade of the trees, my cousin's dint have that privilege, they don't even a single tree in the school premises and forget the playground.They are still not graduated yet and they have stress related problems, BP, tension and anxiety and the undue pressure of the parents to excel in maths or science is doing no good either. I was never a star student, 70% was great percentage for me, my cousins get over 95% and still are not happy and neither are their parents.

Sometimes i wonder if in the name of education, we are ruining childhoods and robbing them the opportunity to learn the life in the race to excel in maths and science. Shouldn't schools be a place a good human being is raised , shouldn't it be the place a teacher imparts knowledge in every thing essential to be a good person? Why is this little detail overlooked.

Now that i have a daughter who in a few years will be going to school, i wonder what education she would get....

Day 21 of 30

Oh well...i havent been sick all along...me and everyone else at home got better a while ago and neither did i abandon my 'project 30' that i had so enthusiastically started, but something else is taking my time and attention, wondering what , its 'man-eater of malgudi'. I havent been able to keep this book down, R.K.Narayan's simple yet very vivid descriptions kept me hooked. I usually write my blog, after dinner, when A sleeps and i have 'my time' for about 30-45 mins and now that time was hijacked by the 'man-eater of malgudi'. I finally finished the book yesterday night and am hoping, wont pick up any book until i finish my 30 days(well, thats the plan, but who knows!!!)

There were a few things i wanted to write when i was sick ,but dint feel like sitting in front of my computer, around the womens day, i came to know about a sorry state of a woman, and felt helpless at the fate of a woman and how another woman(man's love interest) was cause of it, and how another woman(mother in law) made it miserable and another woman(daughter) even in condition to help, was afraid and hoped the man would change.We all talk about how women needs to be empowered in our society and all the while we fail to see how woman is the reason for woman's anguish.Who can help, what can be done...the truth is, not the govt, not the society, its the woman herself who needs to decide how she was going to live. Is it going be as a victim or is it going to be as a survivor.The choice is given to all, some take it and dont care about the wrath of the world, and some dont and cry at their own fate.

Around the same time, was witnessing a discussion about a woman, by a bunch of other women..None were sparing her, the way she spoke was problem, the way she looked was a problem, the way she conducted her life was a problem. Who are we to judge? And how often do we see a group of men bitching about a man, talking about the clothes he wears, the way he speaks or the number of women he is rumoured to be seeing. Why its us, the woman who are so vocal about another woman, the poor lady dint do us any harm, it was purely our choice to look at her, hear her and then criticize her. And another interesting thing is, a lot of women who were judging this lady, were sympathizers of the woman i wrote above. We like to sympathize, offer solutions and in a second retort to finger pointing and using harsh words.Is it our genetic makeup , or are we inherently averse to other people's happiness?

I am blaming everyone including myself, coz i commented on the lady's way of speak and dressing. Only to realise after, why do i care? Its her life, why am i being the judge.Will i go and give her money when she needs it? Will i console her when crying? Will i feed her when hungry? If the answers are no, why is the answer Yes to 'Will i find fault with her?' . I always though i was a feminist and a strong supporter of woman and look at me, how unknowingly i was one of woman i attributed as the cause in the first cause, am i any less than the horrible MIL or the 'other woman' or the helpless daughter..Something for me to ponder over and correct.

Day 20 of 30

Still a little sick...not that my brain or my fingers dont work when i am sick, its just i dont feel like thinking anything... and without thinking how can i write...now dont ask me if all the junk i churn out is with thinking...


'Kavyakantha Ganapathi Muni' ..have you heard about this man before? It was in one of chaganti garu's discourses about ramana maharshi, i heard about him and was curious to know more and bought a book about him written by his grandson. I am wonder-stuck at how many wonderful people lived and walked India, it is not so long ago, early 1900's, and a man so spiritually inclined. I woould tell my mother before marriage and now D after marriage that i will go to Himalayas and sit in a cave and meditate and will never return(by now, they both figured, it is just a vain warning) and here this man would wander off and find a cave to meditate.

He did intense 'Tapas' and was a learned and a very highly accomplished spiritual person, an excellent astrologer, avadhaani, beautiful poet and a relentless freedom fighter. When we talk about India's freedom, only a few names comes up as forerunners leading the fight to freedom. But Ganapathi muni is the one who relied on spirituality and dhyaana to try to liberate the country from foreign rule. He give speeches motivating fellow Indians to participate in the struggle for freedom, so much so that the British empire had spies behind him and wanted to arrest him, they never could.

Its a shame how such accomplished people get lost in the books. They are like diamonds who need to be mined with great difficulty.
If you get a chance read about him.A poet extempore, earned the title 'Kavya Kantha' defeating a stalwart poet in Bengal.

He is a devoted disciple of Ramana Maharshi and what attracted to me most is how he explained 'sukhlaam bharadaram...' with respect to Ramana Maharshi. I could write here, the literal meaning of this sloka and his interpretation with respect to Ramana Maharshi. But wont, i want you to go and find out more about him and.

It is only in a millenia people such as him are born and blessed is Mother India, to have such a son.

Day 19 of 30

No..no.no..i havent given up on my 'project 30', but cough and cold blessed our family and we are currently being good hosts to these guests. To accompany that, sore throat came to see me, so in having to care for all these 'cant ignore' guests, i am having to neglect this project. As soon as these folks are gone, i will be back with my routine..

Day 18 of 30

'Dulha bikta hai bolo kharidoge
yee jo sansar hai, chor bazaar hai
dhoka bikta hai, bolo kharidoge'
{TranslationGroom is for sale, anyone wants to buy?
This world, is a market of thieves
Cheating can be bought, Do you want to buy ?}

A song i used hear long long time ago, we had a kishore kumar hits cassette and this was one of the songs on it(These were the days, when families had good old tape recorder and we religiously bought the cassettes and played them everyday, long before Ipod dawned on the world).I like and dislike this song. Love the way it says about state of things and hate the fact that its true.The magical voice of kishore da and the music by Bappi da and lyrics by Farooq Kaiser, bring tears everytime i hear this song.

Though this song primarily focuses on the dowry issue, if you notice, it is true of a lot of things that are currently happening around us, everything is available for sale, and somehow we all are living in a mirage thinking everything can be bought, that everything is up for sale.

I keep hearing about how parents are partial to money giving son....are we living in a time, where parents affection is up for sale.
I keep hearing how a wife, keeps belitting her husband, because he cant buy her luxuries, like other men are doing for their wives. Is the affection between man and his wife up for sale.
Its no secret that poor aging parents are abandoned...Is the respect for elders up for sale
A husband, hits and humiliates his wife for dowry and other weird reasons , is responsibility up for sale
Sinners,to absolve their sins,fill the hundies in temples,churches, madarsas all over the world, is the divinity up for sale

They say its 'Kali kaalam', we seem to be heading towards a time, where maybe Sun and Moon will refuse to shine on earth, where mother earth will refuse to bear our burden.

Another couplet from the same song...
'aye zamane bata , ye hai kiski khata
vaada bikta hai bolo khareedoge'
{TranslationTell me ,Oh world, who is to be found at fault
A promise is up for sale, Do you want to buy ?}