SOME LEARN AND TEACH WITHOUT GOING TO SCHOOL

Pic.: Nishtha Narryani

“In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn,

 the door is there and the key is in your hand.

Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself.”

- Jiddu Krishnamurti

  

My maid servant is quite an elderly lady. She has been working at my office and classes for the last twenty years. A few things about her have, always, impressed me. Here are those things:

1. She would not remain absent without informing me before hand. But, if she has to, she would make it a point to call me and tell. I haven’t ever asked her to do so!

2. If she takes my permission for a break of, say, two days, it will be only two days. She wouldn’t take the third-day break without asking me. I haven’t ever asked her to do so!

3. In all these twenty years, she has never, ever asked me to raise her pay, leave alone cribbing for a Diwali bonus. I, on my own, have done it, time to time... And, she has accepted it gladly. Not that the amount what I have been giving her is ‘large’ by any standard!

4. If she has taken a small loan from me, she reminds me to deduct the monthly ‘EMI’, whenever I forget to. If I say, “Let it be,” she insists!

5. There are many small temples and Gurudwaras in lanes around my classes. Every time a ‘Mahaprasad’ or a ‘Langar’ is served there, she would bring, without fail, one plate, specially, for me... Often, a big glass of iced rose-milk... And, I have to accept it, gladly. If I am busy teaching, she would, quietly, leave it covered in my office... And I have no option but to smile in my heart, when, later, I see it!

6. For a year or so, she has been using a cell-phone (Someone has gifted her a secondhand basic-model). She never, gives me, or any one, a ‘missed call’. If she misses my call, she would never fail to call back. Yes, I haven’t asked her to do so!

There are many more things to say. But, for this Post, these are enough.

I am the Hon Chairman of our Housing Society. The man, who cleans our chambers (gutters), has been there for close to fifteen years. Whenever, a call is placed, he would give a word, and stick to it. If he is unable to carry it our, for some reason, he would not hesitate to convey it to us. He would never, ever give a ‘missed call’ or fail to revert on a ‘missed call’. Yes, none of us has told him to do so!

Why am I making a virtue out of these, apparently, mundane things?

My elderly maid and the chamber-cleaner have never been to school in their lives. So, are they ‘uneducated’? I don’t see these fine qualities even in some highly-educated professionals around me... They earn a bomb, carry two three high-end cell-phones with them... But, they go about giving missed-calls, never bother to revert... haggle on fees and pay, all the times... They see everyone around them with suspicion... Yes, I said, “some of the so-called ‘highly-educated’ professionals around me!”

‘Highly-educated’?

Jiddu Krishnamuti – hailed as one of the most sensitive world-teachers – failed again and again in his school exams! He was a total ‘flop’ when it came to conventional education of this world... Yet, he has founded some of the finest schools in India and abroad to ‘educate’ young kids by being highly sensitive to their surroundings... by looking at the trees and the birds, the sunset and the moonless night... by looking at the frightened mind and the conspiring fellow-man... by looking at the simple dignity of an elderly maid or a chamber-cleaner... and by looking at the greed of a high-priest or a ‘highly-educated’ professional... 

So, where does true ‘education’ come from? Listen to the ‘teacher’, all over again:

“In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn,

 the door is there and the key is in your hand.

Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself.”

I have taught thousands of students for over three decades... of all class, castes and creed... But, who has taught my elderly maid-servant and the chamber-cleaner... that, it is not a ‘nice idea’ to save money by giving  ‘missed calls’?

GERALD D’CUNHA