LISTEN LIKE YOU MIGHT BE WRONG

 

“I concluded, that in politics, as in life, the real struggle 

is not us-versus-them. It is us-versus-us.”

 Miles Taylor

 

During yesterday’s PD session, our young kids were debating.  Most of them have just cleared their class-10 and are seeking admission in what they believe to be the ‘best colleges in town’. It’s very interesting –-  even entertaining -– when you listen to them.

Some are fed-up wearing uniforms till now… So, they want to be free from it by joining some town-side colleges which have no uniform…

Some want to step out of their ‘suburban bubbles’… explore the joy and roughness of commuting by Mumbai local… “Nothing else teaches us how to be rough-and-tough,” they argue.

Some assume, that some of the downtown colleges will give them the ‘best’ teaching, while some think, that these colleges will help them with varieties of clubs… “Such exposure makes us confident in life,” they assert.

When these young kids debate on this subject, I, generally, do not throw my weight and bias on them. At their age, I had thought exactly the way they do now… Growing up needs innocence, half-baked ideas, hearsay and popular opinions and trends… “What is ‘best’, well, they will, eventually, discover for themselves,” I tell to myself… and, I ask this to myself: “Did I come this far because of my school and college alone?”

Schools and colleges –- teachers and piers –- yes, they have a tremendous impact on our lives. Yet, a lot depends on the kind of healthy worldview the young kids go about embracing in their lives. To put it simply -- an open, inclusive, progressive view of the world around them.

We will have to learn to live in a world of ‘differences’ –-  without causing divisions… It’s the finest lesson to learn for any young kid who plans to step out and sense freedom… “I am stepping out into a world of different cultures, languages, food habits, religious beliefs, attire –-  yes, everything out there would be different, and I will have to celebrate and thrive amidst this difference.”… Which institution or University is going to provide us with this kind of worldview?

Education is harmful, if based on prejudice –- particularly fear -- of any kind. Rabindranath Tagore’s prayer comes to my mind:

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

A while ago, I came across this amazing speech (by a Harvard student) and, instantly, got swayed by its depth and wisdom. For a young kid to articulate like this –- yes, yes, yes… it’s possible only because of an unpolarized, unpoisoned, and an absolutely supple mind. Again, with due respect to Harvard, I must say this: the young kid has nurtured this mind on his own. Listen to him… “Listen, like you might be wrong.”

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic: ar.inspiredpencil.com

Video.: Hook Global