Learning in context ……
It was late evening when I walked down the hills from Kempty town, near Mussoorie , Uttaranchal. I stopped intermittently to watch a movement in the bushes ( a bird or a butter fly) and also to take in as much of the quietness around me! The terraced hill side was being prepared for the next growing season. I watched as women and men carried gobar to each level of the land and poured them down to form cone shaped heaps almost at equidistance.
The path was rugged , narrow and I had to watch each step of mine. The bell toll from the distant temple and the caressing breeze gelled coherently with the serene ambience.
I heard foot steps behind me. I turned around to see a kid with a bucket in his hand. He held the bucket high lest it touched the ground! He walked past me to stop at a point where I saw water trickling down from a broken pipe on to a cemented surface and running off it.
I stopped to watch the kid .He put the bucket down and seriously got to work. He picked up a couple of fallen leaves and started positioning them to give the water an extra jet. Not happy with his job he changed the direction of the flow, secured the leaves in position till he got the
right jet of water flow. He allowed the muddy water to drop down and placed the bucket under the jet making sure that clean water collected in it. All this took a cool 10-15 minutes. The kid all along was totally engrossed in his task and was never bothered by my presence. Now all the kid had to do was to wait patiently until the bucket filled! What would he do?? Jump here and there …. start playing with stones.. or would he saunter back home to come later? I thought. But no, what he did was totally different.
He now started splashing water from a tank close by and started scrubbing the platform in his tiny hands. Every time he splashed the water, it reached farther from before and he seemd to enjoy it all. All the time he was careful to see that he put his foot carefully on the edge of the tank , he should slip into it!! At this time I had started recording his actions which he was again unmindful!!.There was a purpose in his act which was fun .I moved slowly away from the scene leaving the child still engrossed in his cleaning (act) play! ( What made the child clean the place he was never expected of ??)
This episode may look all very trivial for a casual reader. But look at this way
A kid of less than five year old was asked by his mother to fetch water.
This may make any child activist raise a hue .. OH ! MY ! Child Labour!!
“How insensitive parents could be” .. would lament a child lover ??
But here, I was, a person trying to fathom the meaning of how and why of learning since two decades.
Here was a child in action which exhibited his intelligences in logic, aesthetics and spatial and intrapersonal areas. All his learning was contextual and meaningful. I am yet to see a learning session in our class rooms that would match this kind of experiential learning. The day learning ( as in schooling ) was separated from real life, spontaneous and meaningful learning has taken a back seat!
Another episode (which I witnessed a couple of days later ) that follows may make the reader clarify what I am trying to say.
This was in a Third AC compartment of the Dehradun- Delhi train. My accompanying passengers were all girls form classes IX – XII, from an elite school in Delhi ,who were returning after their 4 day trip to Mussoorie ( Including Kempty of my first narration)
The journey was of five hours. What they did all these hours is any body’s guess. But what shocked me most was the condition in which they left the compartment!
Swanky boxes of their break fast, packets of confectioneries they ate , mineral water bottles, bits and pieces of fruits , lay strewn all around the compartment. My rather humble reminder to them of who is going to clean up the place received glares and the very thought that they should tidy the place they so far occupied was disgusting to them!! The teachers who accompanied them were totally oblivious of the scene.
Was there any learning here for me…..
Quite a lot……What about you??
Thursday, June 19, 2008
A significant learning experience!
Reading the news letter of SIDH, I am prompted to write me reflections on my first encounter with the organization as a participant of the SIDH theater workshop held from May 7 – 14. 2008.
Coming from a small town Tumkur in Karnataka( South India), I like living in quite places. So the remoteness of the SIDH campus was very welcome. Though a teacher by profession I had come with an open mind of subjecting myself to the “ conditioning “ of being a learner and mentally prepared for a disciplined schedule.
Thankfully it was one such kind inclusive of eating and sleeping schedules ( both qualitative and quantitative) ! Any free time in-between two schedules was used for personal chores and or catering to my passion of bird watching and spending quality time with individuals who graciously obliged to share their thoughts.
Very apprehensive was I about the nature of the workshop I was to participate in. But as if by magic I was thoroughly uninhibited from day one . Thanks to the suitable ambience the facilitators created to the already existing natural serenity around. So true I had to be to my self, no excuses would validate being otherwise.
At every session the nuances of play was unfolded not by imitation but by encouraging and demanding originality or least by improvisation. The passion of the facilitators towards the art form was very visible and contagious too! This helped us all to bring out our best at that given moment.
That the facilitators exhibited traits the modern educationists demand of teachers in class rooms was very revealing . Well, I learnt that they both had been trained in the traditional guru shishya parampara and if they were trying to emulate their gurus so be it! This goes to show that the traditional way of transference of skills or any learning could have been child centric and child specific! Mind you the group was heterogeneous and the facilitators had no clue about the interests or background of the participants! But yet every body felt that they were respected and guided as the need be and hence the learning that took place in these seven days was very significant!
That our schools do not meet the objective it sets for its students is because the context and the mode of transference of skills and the assessment of learning is at fault. The facilitators did not fear demanding accountability of each participant which if done in today’s schools is termed as stress and being insensitive ( that which has to be reexamined). The stress is because the child is clueless about what and why the demands are made. In turn the teachers are most of the time penalized for the child being not accountable! In the work shop everybody was valued for what he/ she sincerely attemped to do and not on what he/ she could not! Why can’t our classrooms ambience be like this? It is possible, if we start valuing an individual for what he/ she possess( all faculties inclusive) and guide him/her to grow as a responsible individual. That is giving all their self worthiness . Such an individual shall be sensitive to inadequacies around him/ her and energizes to work towards becoming a Human and creating a humane world!
Isn’t that the main aim of education??
Thank you SIDH for the wonderful experience . Thank you too, Father Anand and
Sri. Vivekanand Brahmachari, the two efficient facilitators of the theater workshop.
Reading the news letter of SIDH, I am prompted to write me reflections on my first encounter with the organization as a participant of the SIDH theater workshop held from May 7 – 14. 2008.
Coming from a small town Tumkur in Karnataka( South India), I like living in quite places. So the remoteness of the SIDH campus was very welcome. Though a teacher by profession I had come with an open mind of subjecting myself to the “ conditioning “ of being a learner and mentally prepared for a disciplined schedule.
Thankfully it was one such kind inclusive of eating and sleeping schedules ( both qualitative and quantitative) ! Any free time in-between two schedules was used for personal chores and or catering to my passion of bird watching and spending quality time with individuals who graciously obliged to share their thoughts.
Very apprehensive was I about the nature of the workshop I was to participate in. But as if by magic I was thoroughly uninhibited from day one . Thanks to the suitable ambience the facilitators created to the already existing natural serenity around. So true I had to be to my self, no excuses would validate being otherwise.
At every session the nuances of play was unfolded not by imitation but by encouraging and demanding originality or least by improvisation. The passion of the facilitators towards the art form was very visible and contagious too! This helped us all to bring out our best at that given moment.
That the facilitators exhibited traits the modern educationists demand of teachers in class rooms was very revealing . Well, I learnt that they both had been trained in the traditional guru shishya parampara and if they were trying to emulate their gurus so be it! This goes to show that the traditional way of transference of skills or any learning could have been child centric and child specific! Mind you the group was heterogeneous and the facilitators had no clue about the interests or background of the participants! But yet every body felt that they were respected and guided as the need be and hence the learning that took place in these seven days was very significant!
That our schools do not meet the objective it sets for its students is because the context and the mode of transference of skills and the assessment of learning is at fault. The facilitators did not fear demanding accountability of each participant which if done in today’s schools is termed as stress and being insensitive ( that which has to be reexamined). The stress is because the child is clueless about what and why the demands are made. In turn the teachers are most of the time penalized for the child being not accountable! In the work shop everybody was valued for what he/ she sincerely attemped to do and not on what he/ she could not! Why can’t our classrooms ambience be like this? It is possible, if we start valuing an individual for what he/ she possess( all faculties inclusive) and guide him/her to grow as a responsible individual. That is giving all their self worthiness . Such an individual shall be sensitive to inadequacies around him/ her and energizes to work towards becoming a Human and creating a humane world!
Isn’t that the main aim of education??
Thank you SIDH for the wonderful experience . Thank you too, Father Anand and
Sri. Vivekanand Brahmachari, the two efficient facilitators of the theater workshop.
Then the mound of the dead, today it is the living!
Then the mound of the dead, today it is the living!
Our history text books and the people who romanticize the past speak proudly of the great cities of the Indus( saraswati?) culture. Of their sense of hygiene, sanitation, the drains of each house connected to the main drain etc. What is not possibly spoken is the efficient administration and the sensitive people that made it happen. Our school volunteered for a project , floated by CSE Delhi, wherein we were to document the supply of water and disposal of sewage in the city we reside. The survey and the visits we made threw light both on the ineffective distribution system and the apathetic attitude of the public!
How many of us know as to on what basis is the demand of water estimated? What are the norms followed in the distribution system? The role of the politicians and general public in manipulating norms thus making the system ineffective and chaotic is evident everywhere!Yes , UGD is a must for good sanitation. But are the public educated about its use and its maintenance? The officer showed us a list of items that choke the drains .. solids of all sorts .. bisleri bottles, hospital gloves, syringes, cotton waste, disposable cups, plates, spoons, junk food packets , iron rods, gunny bags…..the list goes on….It was moving to hear to the officer saying..: ‘ madam cleaning the drain is worse then lifting night soil and it is hazardous!!” Surprising how all such items enter the closed drains?Simple the person who gives connection to the UGD feels it convenient not to use wire mesh and a p trap that stops such items entering the drain!
Wasn’t proper waste disposal a part of our culture? Cleanliness and hygiene has different meaning in our Indian understanding. Cleanliness for us was very restricted to ablutions and madi. As we adopted modern style of living,we failed to educate ourselves about the need to understand the demanding definition of it. So Hon Kalam. it is easy to understand why people who visit Singapore can only say that country is so clean … and not practice it in their own lives when they come back! ( the new menance of speaking loudly in cellphones in public places , transport comes as no surprise to us! until a law is made!!) The plague of Surat, the floods in Mumbai , Chennai and Bangalore soon fades from public memory .A harappan walking down the streets today may see people living in conditions that might put him to shame and agony! He could also wonder as to why the culture of cleanliness and sanitation not passed on… what mighty force stopped it from being passed on!! Any answers??
Our history text books and the people who romanticize the past speak proudly of the great cities of the Indus( saraswati?) culture. Of their sense of hygiene, sanitation, the drains of each house connected to the main drain etc. What is not possibly spoken is the efficient administration and the sensitive people that made it happen. Our school volunteered for a project , floated by CSE Delhi, wherein we were to document the supply of water and disposal of sewage in the city we reside. The survey and the visits we made threw light both on the ineffective distribution system and the apathetic attitude of the public!
How many of us know as to on what basis is the demand of water estimated? What are the norms followed in the distribution system? The role of the politicians and general public in manipulating norms thus making the system ineffective and chaotic is evident everywhere!Yes , UGD is a must for good sanitation. But are the public educated about its use and its maintenance? The officer showed us a list of items that choke the drains .. solids of all sorts .. bisleri bottles, hospital gloves, syringes, cotton waste, disposable cups, plates, spoons, junk food packets , iron rods, gunny bags…..the list goes on….It was moving to hear to the officer saying..: ‘ madam cleaning the drain is worse then lifting night soil and it is hazardous!!” Surprising how all such items enter the closed drains?Simple the person who gives connection to the UGD feels it convenient not to use wire mesh and a p trap that stops such items entering the drain!
Wasn’t proper waste disposal a part of our culture? Cleanliness and hygiene has different meaning in our Indian understanding. Cleanliness for us was very restricted to ablutions and madi. As we adopted modern style of living,we failed to educate ourselves about the need to understand the demanding definition of it. So Hon Kalam. it is easy to understand why people who visit Singapore can only say that country is so clean … and not practice it in their own lives when they come back! ( the new menance of speaking loudly in cellphones in public places , transport comes as no surprise to us! until a law is made!!) The plague of Surat, the floods in Mumbai , Chennai and Bangalore soon fades from public memory .A harappan walking down the streets today may see people living in conditions that might put him to shame and agony! He could also wonder as to why the culture of cleanliness and sanitation not passed on… what mighty force stopped it from being passed on!! Any answers??
Learning outside school
Learning outside school.
I am just very curious to know as to when was the phrase .. today's children are tomorrow's citizens coined?Did a generation produce the adults it wanted( or is it the adult population they wanted to produce)??....What example of a citizen do the children have to emulate?There is also an adgae ..as you sow so you reap. In what ambience do the children grow?What is their perception of a citizen's rights and duties..??The adults of today had education not different from the children of this day. What examples are they setting to the future generation??
Come environment day.. the children are asked to dream and draw of a serene place of which they have no clue!The organisers of these days cannot think beyond these activities. Children paint and write slogans and go round the town/ village....crying feebly about saving forests, wild life etc.,People hardly listen!I find it rather out of place when children in the rural areas enact the same like those of their brethern in the urban areas( who comparatively consume more resources. Their heroes are BIG consumers!!)..What are the adults doing on that day?? And every day??
They continue to throw garbage on the streets,use water indiscriminately, create noise pollution, accept the bad roads..inefficient water supply.....accept/ give bribe , flout traffic rules, building laws, wildlife laws..........The message is loud and clear... this is how you live!What you did in school I also did. Do it . Forget it! What your school says need not be followed!
a child was writing a persuasive essay on .. conserve electricity......
The boy comes for a rural area where there is no power for at least 10 hrs a day.When questioned about it he innocently said.. no akka, people in the town have to run industries .. so there is 24 hrs power supply !Where did the child learn this??He has already sacrificed his share of power for the ( rich) brethren of the town before he has experienced it!He thinks this is how it is !Can the lesson on citizenship dare tell him that he has equal rights to power??( electricity!!).. clean water.. good health.. quality education??
When ever there is a talk of morals it is a head of a mutt or a sect .. who is invited. the speaker boldly says... today's education is destroying the moral fabric of the society. I am yet to hear about a report on amoral being a part of the curriculum or any teacher indulging in teaching children about it . It is not what goes on in the school that influences the child strongly .. but what happens outside it! There is more( amoral) learning outside school then in school. The children come to school only to write and pass exams. It is the society that has reduced the school to a machine.Not the teachers alone!It is the only profession where the private teachers make less money than the government brethren and where there is accountability demanded from all!Chances of making fast buck through bribes are very less!Being a teacher is not lucrative!! A teacher’s job is insignificant.
I am just very curious to know as to when was the phrase .. today's children are tomorrow's citizens coined?Did a generation produce the adults it wanted( or is it the adult population they wanted to produce)??....What example of a citizen do the children have to emulate?There is also an adgae ..as you sow so you reap. In what ambience do the children grow?What is their perception of a citizen's rights and duties..??The adults of today had education not different from the children of this day. What examples are they setting to the future generation??
Come environment day.. the children are asked to dream and draw of a serene place of which they have no clue!The organisers of these days cannot think beyond these activities. Children paint and write slogans and go round the town/ village....crying feebly about saving forests, wild life etc.,People hardly listen!I find it rather out of place when children in the rural areas enact the same like those of their brethern in the urban areas( who comparatively consume more resources. Their heroes are BIG consumers!!)..What are the adults doing on that day?? And every day??
They continue to throw garbage on the streets,use water indiscriminately, create noise pollution, accept the bad roads..inefficient water supply.....accept/ give bribe , flout traffic rules, building laws, wildlife laws..........The message is loud and clear... this is how you live!What you did in school I also did. Do it . Forget it! What your school says need not be followed!
a child was writing a persuasive essay on .. conserve electricity......
The boy comes for a rural area where there is no power for at least 10 hrs a day.When questioned about it he innocently said.. no akka, people in the town have to run industries .. so there is 24 hrs power supply !Where did the child learn this??He has already sacrificed his share of power for the ( rich) brethren of the town before he has experienced it!He thinks this is how it is !Can the lesson on citizenship dare tell him that he has equal rights to power??( electricity!!).. clean water.. good health.. quality education??
When ever there is a talk of morals it is a head of a mutt or a sect .. who is invited. the speaker boldly says... today's education is destroying the moral fabric of the society. I am yet to hear about a report on amoral being a part of the curriculum or any teacher indulging in teaching children about it . It is not what goes on in the school that influences the child strongly .. but what happens outside it! There is more( amoral) learning outside school then in school. The children come to school only to write and pass exams. It is the society that has reduced the school to a machine.Not the teachers alone!It is the only profession where the private teachers make less money than the government brethren and where there is accountability demanded from all!Chances of making fast buck through bribes are very less!Being a teacher is not lucrative!! A teacher’s job is insignificant.
Events in history are important to certain sections of society/ groups . Leaving out any part hurts their sentiments . In that milieu all events get compressed and codified in complex sentences which the child finds to comprehend.Even if a conscientious teacher makes an effort to reach the material to the children she has the bureaucratic sword hanging over her head……. finish the syllabus.History could be made more relevant by asking the children to identify the changes that have occurred in people’s lives since the stone age in all spheres of the life and the conditions in which they happened.This will initiate them into being aware of the struggles and triumphs (at the cost of the other?) of the groups of people and the achievements of the individuals of the generations before them and the birth of biases and prejudices people all over the world carry for each other.
How do we begin all these?
A child of class VIII was writing a persuasive essay on .. conserve electricity...... The boy comes for a rural area where there is no power for at least 10 hrs a day.When questioned about it he innocently said.. no.., people in the town have to run industries .. so they have 24 hrs power supply! Where did the child learn this? He has already sacrificed his share of power for the ( rich) brethren of the town even before he has experienced it!He thinks this is how it is !Can this be the starting point? Does any body dare deconstruct the child’s learning?How many dare tell him as to how should he acquire equal rights to power??( electricity!!).. clean water.. good health.. quality education??And when the statistics speak that 53% children drop out of school at Class VIII, what they learn is what they see or experience. These kids are not exposed to their rights as these lessons are taught in class X!
How do we begin all these?
A child of class VIII was writing a persuasive essay on .. conserve electricity...... The boy comes for a rural area where there is no power for at least 10 hrs a day.When questioned about it he innocently said.. no.., people in the town have to run industries .. so they have 24 hrs power supply! Where did the child learn this? He has already sacrificed his share of power for the ( rich) brethren of the town even before he has experienced it!He thinks this is how it is !Can this be the starting point? Does any body dare deconstruct the child’s learning?How many dare tell him as to how should he acquire equal rights to power??( electricity!!).. clean water.. good health.. quality education??And when the statistics speak that 53% children drop out of school at Class VIII, what they learn is what they see or experience. These kids are not exposed to their rights as these lessons are taught in class X!
The deaf dance to the music, the audience applaud!
How prepared are we to watch a performance by the deaf? We have to be there to assess our mindfulness. In a recent show of a dance performance by the renowned Contemporary dancer and choreographer Astad Deboo and his troupe of seven deaf and dumb girls, held in my town, the deaf danced to the music and the audience applauded. It was only when the choreographer reminded that the music was for the audience and that they have to raise their hands in applause did the crowd( of which I was a part) really felt mindful! I came out of the brilliant performance pondering, ‘ Who and what is handicap?’
How prepared are we to watch a performance by the deaf? We have to be there to assess our mindfulness. In a recent show of a dance performance by the renowned Contemporary dancer and choreographer Astad Deboo and his troupe of seven deaf and dumb girls, held in my town, the deaf danced to the music and the audience applauded. It was only when the choreographer reminded that the music was for the audience and that they have to raise their hands in applause did the crowd( of which I was a part) really felt mindful! I came out of the brilliant performance pondering, ‘ Who and what is handicap?’
In a history class on Jainism, children of class VII and I had discussed the five vows of Jainism(Non- violence, speaking the truth, Not to steal, chastity, detachment) and the austere practices that devoted Jains follow even today. Wanting to evaluate their application skills, I posed a question which ran like this,What occupations do you think the Jains would not follow and why? A student’s response was , “Jains would not be in business because being in business implies telling lies”
Absence of value education is the root of all evils in the society.How far fetched is the statement! I am yet to read a report where in students are taught to do the vices that are rampant in the society.
In a simulation( only a game) of democracy of the Greek times , in class VII ,children asked whether they could bribe ( influence) the citizens to give the verdict in their favour. How ( ill?)well are they informed about the government!!?? What impact will the lessons on Indian governance have on them.?
The syllabus that the people of the city and the village study are the same. What sense do the lessons on conservation of water , hygiene and cleanliness make to the children who themselves have to fetch water from far, or have very minimum supply of water. Or the schools they go to have no sanitation or drinking water facility??
Also we have elite schools who have exhibitions on water harvesting and for all you know the children come from homes where precious water is drained for washing their cars, lush lawns, porticos…….. When asked the children said “ what to do , our parents do not mind !? So what is done in school is not supported at home.
What is the message that is conveyed … what you read in books is to pass exams…. not to bring any behavioural change as education is supposed to do. The adult population also passed their school exams. .. with no behavioural change! So the cycle goes on……
Coming to environmental education less said the better. How do you have classes when children reel out celebrities name who flout wild life laws… with what moral authority can a teacher discuss these lessons? How do we convince the children about the justice of the land?
The row about history textbooks time and again has done at least the teachers one great help. A conscientious teacher can take this opportunity to educate the children about the different perspectives to an event .. thus the children will be introduced to the concept that history is interpretative. This could help the children take decisions, analysing the events critically and not just swayed by vote wooers.
Have u ever wondered why ID DAY, REP DAY , world environment day…. Are all meant for mostly school,going kids.??These are all reduced to ritualistic ceremonies … and to be forgotten soon after school! There is a talk of introducing human rights education to children in schools…… but where does the power of exercising it lie??
There is a strong mismatch about what the child reads in the text to what it experiences outside. Since experience is the best teacher what gets repeated in the society is what the child learns through experience.
In a simulation( only a game) of democracy of the Greek times , in class VII ,children asked whether they could bribe ( influence) the citizens to give the verdict in their favour. How ( ill?)well are they informed about the government!!?? What impact will the lessons on Indian governance have on them.?
The syllabus that the people of the city and the village study are the same. What sense do the lessons on conservation of water , hygiene and cleanliness make to the children who themselves have to fetch water from far, or have very minimum supply of water. Or the schools they go to have no sanitation or drinking water facility??
Also we have elite schools who have exhibitions on water harvesting and for all you know the children come from homes where precious water is drained for washing their cars, lush lawns, porticos…….. When asked the children said “ what to do , our parents do not mind !? So what is done in school is not supported at home.
What is the message that is conveyed … what you read in books is to pass exams…. not to bring any behavioural change as education is supposed to do. The adult population also passed their school exams. .. with no behavioural change! So the cycle goes on……
Coming to environmental education less said the better. How do you have classes when children reel out celebrities name who flout wild life laws… with what moral authority can a teacher discuss these lessons? How do we convince the children about the justice of the land?
The row about history textbooks time and again has done at least the teachers one great help. A conscientious teacher can take this opportunity to educate the children about the different perspectives to an event .. thus the children will be introduced to the concept that history is interpretative. This could help the children take decisions, analysing the events critically and not just swayed by vote wooers.
Have u ever wondered why ID DAY, REP DAY , world environment day…. Are all meant for mostly school,going kids.??These are all reduced to ritualistic ceremonies … and to be forgotten soon after school! There is a talk of introducing human rights education to children in schools…… but where does the power of exercising it lie??
There is a strong mismatch about what the child reads in the text to what it experiences outside. Since experience is the best teacher what gets repeated in the society is what the child learns through experience.
Pondicherry… Puducherry from now.. a place for spiritual experience.
On the move….…..
The day journey about 300 kms from Bangalore by Volvo bus was uneventful,watching a Tamil movie. There was not much to see along the road.Tamarind trees lined most part of the stretch.very similar to our parts.What caught my sight was the huge green combined harvesters like the ones I had seen in Punjab! So the farming community was large which could also mean large acres under one ownership.( I learnt later that they were rented to the farmers by the government!) A look at the Gingee fort brought some vague memories from the pages of history… felt bad for not having done my home work.
In the town……
Entry to pondy is announced by its huge columns …nothing Indian about them!.. very neat and quite streets even on a Friday evening. The road clean and broad…The rickshaw driver was very courteous and was honest enough not to swindle the new arrivals.We checked into the guest house in the heart of the city.
By the sea…..
In the evening I strolled along the promenade along the rocky beach which is nearly 1.5 kms long .Sorry, no place to play beach volleyball! The other side has stately French buildings three stories in height, all in pure white…which now houses either a hospital or a guest house a hotel or a govt office. I walked along listening and watching the unending roar of the surf against the boulders. I sat on the rocks. The dusk colours slowly changing into darker shades of grey and black. I sighted a lone boatman maneuvering his tiny vessel which to us looked every minute of his life a bonus won from the death !For, the boatman who could be in his early twenties, appeared and disappeared between the waves. Marveling at his skills I from the plains found my life too laid back with hardly any excitement or adventure ….coming home not run over by any vehicle ( if u happened to live in a city) is the maximum man made risk I was exposed to!
J.N. STREET..
Yes. This is where I went next to the famous J.N. street of Pondicherry….but believe me this is no where like in streets of Bangalore…you feel safe! It struck that pondicherrians were sensible in naming their posh shopping area after J.N. than M.G.( as is the case in many cities!) as the former was more flamboyant and modern than the latter, in the materialistic sense! What strikes one about the traffic is the large number of bicycles in use by both men and women of all ages and all dresses…... shorts to sarees!
The stay……Ashram’s guest house….
The guest house was self sufficient…more than an average house! The furnishers of the room had not overlooked even a small thing. Right from a platform to leave your foot wear , a stand to hang clothes , taut ropes to dry small clothes in the toilet, study table with a draw many of these are not found in some homes and star hotels!?! The others things like cots with stainless white sheets and a cupboard to store …etc.,That the room was meant for serious study was evident with a neatly folded mat kept on the hanger stand!A room fit for an aspiring sadhak!So every thing in its place… austere .. simple and decent! No TV and telephone! So the inmate gets into the mood or ambience of study/sadhana just by being there! The walls are neat with a lone picture of the Mother..with the words..’ the world is ready for a change, do you want to help?’
The ashram dining room….
The dining place of the ashram ( a few blocks away from the guest house), is unique in many ways…it is not one big hall but a mansion with many rooms some used as serving bay, dining place, washing area, storage etc., It is amazing how 2000 people are served in orderliness( not at the same time though) and the place isn’t messy at all!! A lot of experimentation must have gone in to finally evolve a system that has brought in quality both in service and maintenance of the place while in use. The quietness has to be heard to be believed! What also impressed me were the long mats spread dispersed with low stools… and tables and chairs placed appropriately for people who find it difficult to squat.The new comers have to just be observant to quickly fall in line to help maintain the discipline. The food that is served is sumptuous and sattvic in nature to be in tune with the sadhak’s life. One just falls into the routine of eating meditation without much ado!The familiar sight of volunteers serving, washing, wiping vessels (as in ashrams), here , has an uniqueness of its own.
Why pondy?
My visit to pondy was in connection with the education camp / workshop held by Sri aurobindo society.I had no clue as to what was in store for us.. except that we were expected to be familiar with the book ‘On education’, authored by the Mother and Sri aurobindo.The sessions were held from 8.30-12 noon and from 3-6pm. They included an hour and half discussion on the principles of integral education and the rest of the day we were made to experience this in practice in simulated class rooms.The group of 60 teachers from all over India were divided into 5 groups of 12 representing the north, south , east, west and the central zones. We named our groups according to the major river of the region.Each group was immersed in activities related to the topic “ INDIA” . We had to perceive India through our senses, art, music, EVS language , art and math.The facilitators of each theme were young girls around 18-20 years of age , with a pleasing personality. The atmosphere was non threatening , non judgmental in which we had no choice but to give up our inhibitions.There were many in the group who sang, drew and spoke ( public speech in english) , and even danced for the first time. The variety of activity they did for different groups facilitated to locate the participants inner strengths.What was visibe in the facilitators was the authenticity with which they stood before us and the realness they exhibited. . All this sent messages to us teachers to feel a classroom of such kind where learning took place spontaneously. The idea was to give us such an experience and compare that with the one we offer our students back at school! It was all learning by doing. As the Mother says...” No words.. ACT”.
The venue of the meet….
Living in a place far away from the sea.. it was a privilege that the sessions were held in a hall overlooking the sea.I lost no moments to take in of that as much as possible .When it rained one evening I ran to the terrace to watch the rain on the sea as the clouds engulfed it at the horizon.
FINAL WORD…
I call this a spiritual experience as everything .. was important…. Was cared for .. with utmost empathy. There was beauty everywhere. The early morning sky watch, the quiet nature walks, the solemn chanting sessions, the yoga time, the meditating breakfast and lunch sessions set a queer silence inside .. to let absorb everything but yet feel untouched! It is no surprise that the seventh sense of aesthetics was awakened in us all!
On the move….…..
The day journey about 300 kms from Bangalore by Volvo bus was uneventful,watching a Tamil movie. There was not much to see along the road.Tamarind trees lined most part of the stretch.very similar to our parts.What caught my sight was the huge green combined harvesters like the ones I had seen in Punjab! So the farming community was large which could also mean large acres under one ownership.( I learnt later that they were rented to the farmers by the government!) A look at the Gingee fort brought some vague memories from the pages of history… felt bad for not having done my home work.
In the town……
Entry to pondy is announced by its huge columns …nothing Indian about them!.. very neat and quite streets even on a Friday evening. The road clean and broad…The rickshaw driver was very courteous and was honest enough not to swindle the new arrivals.We checked into the guest house in the heart of the city.
By the sea…..
In the evening I strolled along the promenade along the rocky beach which is nearly 1.5 kms long .Sorry, no place to play beach volleyball! The other side has stately French buildings three stories in height, all in pure white…which now houses either a hospital or a guest house a hotel or a govt office. I walked along listening and watching the unending roar of the surf against the boulders. I sat on the rocks. The dusk colours slowly changing into darker shades of grey and black. I sighted a lone boatman maneuvering his tiny vessel which to us looked every minute of his life a bonus won from the death !For, the boatman who could be in his early twenties, appeared and disappeared between the waves. Marveling at his skills I from the plains found my life too laid back with hardly any excitement or adventure ….coming home not run over by any vehicle ( if u happened to live in a city) is the maximum man made risk I was exposed to!
J.N. STREET..
Yes. This is where I went next to the famous J.N. street of Pondicherry….but believe me this is no where like in streets of Bangalore…you feel safe! It struck that pondicherrians were sensible in naming their posh shopping area after J.N. than M.G.( as is the case in many cities!) as the former was more flamboyant and modern than the latter, in the materialistic sense! What strikes one about the traffic is the large number of bicycles in use by both men and women of all ages and all dresses…... shorts to sarees!
The stay……Ashram’s guest house….
The guest house was self sufficient…more than an average house! The furnishers of the room had not overlooked even a small thing. Right from a platform to leave your foot wear , a stand to hang clothes , taut ropes to dry small clothes in the toilet, study table with a draw many of these are not found in some homes and star hotels!?! The others things like cots with stainless white sheets and a cupboard to store …etc.,That the room was meant for serious study was evident with a neatly folded mat kept on the hanger stand!A room fit for an aspiring sadhak!So every thing in its place… austere .. simple and decent! No TV and telephone! So the inmate gets into the mood or ambience of study/sadhana just by being there! The walls are neat with a lone picture of the Mother..with the words..’ the world is ready for a change, do you want to help?’
The ashram dining room….
The dining place of the ashram ( a few blocks away from the guest house), is unique in many ways…it is not one big hall but a mansion with many rooms some used as serving bay, dining place, washing area, storage etc., It is amazing how 2000 people are served in orderliness( not at the same time though) and the place isn’t messy at all!! A lot of experimentation must have gone in to finally evolve a system that has brought in quality both in service and maintenance of the place while in use. The quietness has to be heard to be believed! What also impressed me were the long mats spread dispersed with low stools… and tables and chairs placed appropriately for people who find it difficult to squat.The new comers have to just be observant to quickly fall in line to help maintain the discipline. The food that is served is sumptuous and sattvic in nature to be in tune with the sadhak’s life. One just falls into the routine of eating meditation without much ado!The familiar sight of volunteers serving, washing, wiping vessels (as in ashrams), here , has an uniqueness of its own.
Why pondy?
My visit to pondy was in connection with the education camp / workshop held by Sri aurobindo society.I had no clue as to what was in store for us.. except that we were expected to be familiar with the book ‘On education’, authored by the Mother and Sri aurobindo.The sessions were held from 8.30-12 noon and from 3-6pm. They included an hour and half discussion on the principles of integral education and the rest of the day we were made to experience this in practice in simulated class rooms.The group of 60 teachers from all over India were divided into 5 groups of 12 representing the north, south , east, west and the central zones. We named our groups according to the major river of the region.Each group was immersed in activities related to the topic “ INDIA” . We had to perceive India through our senses, art, music, EVS language , art and math.The facilitators of each theme were young girls around 18-20 years of age , with a pleasing personality. The atmosphere was non threatening , non judgmental in which we had no choice but to give up our inhibitions.There were many in the group who sang, drew and spoke ( public speech in english) , and even danced for the first time. The variety of activity they did for different groups facilitated to locate the participants inner strengths.What was visibe in the facilitators was the authenticity with which they stood before us and the realness they exhibited. . All this sent messages to us teachers to feel a classroom of such kind where learning took place spontaneously. The idea was to give us such an experience and compare that with the one we offer our students back at school! It was all learning by doing. As the Mother says...” No words.. ACT”.
The venue of the meet….
Living in a place far away from the sea.. it was a privilege that the sessions were held in a hall overlooking the sea.I lost no moments to take in of that as much as possible .When it rained one evening I ran to the terrace to watch the rain on the sea as the clouds engulfed it at the horizon.
FINAL WORD…
I call this a spiritual experience as everything .. was important…. Was cared for .. with utmost empathy. There was beauty everywhere. The early morning sky watch, the quiet nature walks, the solemn chanting sessions, the yoga time, the meditating breakfast and lunch sessions set a queer silence inside .. to let absorb everything but yet feel untouched! It is no surprise that the seventh sense of aesthetics was awakened in us all!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
But yet I go on......Why?
i know
i don't chant a mantra
i don't quote a book
but yet i go on.. pleased with myself
why?
i don't write poems
i don't write prose
but yet i go on.. pleased with myself
why?
i don't paint a lisa
i don't build a taj
but yet i go on.. pleased with myself
why?
i don't sculpt a bust
i don't sew a dress
but yet i go on.. pleased with myself
why?
i don't sing a khyal,
i don't dance a step
but yet i go on.. pleased with myself
why?
i don't nurse a child
i don't caress a love
but yet i go on.. pleased with myself
why?
i don't cook a meal
i don't drink the wine
but yet i go on.. pleased with myself
why?
i don't chant a mantra
i don't quote a book
but yet i go on.. pleased with myself
why?
i don't write poems
i don't write prose
but yet i go on.. pleased with myself
why?
i don't paint a lisa
i don't build a taj
but yet i go on.. pleased with myself
why?
i don't sculpt a bust
i don't sew a dress
but yet i go on.. pleased with myself
why?
i don't sing a khyal,
i don't dance a step
but yet i go on.. pleased with myself
why?
i don't nurse a child
i don't caress a love
but yet i go on.. pleased with myself
why?
i don't cook a meal
i don't drink the wine
but yet i go on.. pleased with myself
why?
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