LEARNING, UNLEARNING AND RELEARNING

 

“The illiterate of the future

are not those who can’t read or write,

but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

Alvin Toffler

 

One of my favourite songs is from the movie –- ‘The Greatest Showman’. The movie is a beautiful musical, in which each song is mesmerising, inspiring. But, the song I remember today, in the context of today’s blog, is –- ‘A million Dreams’. Here are a few lines…

'Cause every night I lie in bed
The brightest colors fill my head
A million dreams are keeping me awake’

Well, I remember this song, today, because, my head, too, is filled with a hundred little stories, even though they aren’t made of the brightest colours. Nevertheless, as the lyrics go, I, too, can sing: “They keep me awake.”

In these ten days, when I did not share a single post, I could relate to the song… There were a hundred stories I wanted to share; but, strangely, I decided not to…

“Gerry, are you there?” one of my ardent cheerleaders asked.

“Yes, I am there,” I replied.

“Share some of the stories your head was filled with during these ten days,” I was nudged.

“There are a hundred stories… and, how can I?” I expressed my apprehension.

Then, I thought of sharing just three of them…

Soumya and Shankar were siblings. More than thirty years ago, they were my students. They came from very ordinary homes, with little financial means; they studied in local schools (state board), went to one of Mumbai’s colleges (R.A. Poddar)… both completed Chartered Accountancy and moved to different cities. Soumya, being passionate about teaching, parallelly started teaching young college kids in Delhi. The other day, she called me to discuss a business proposal from one of her friends. This friend of Soumya was planning to come up with Career App and was persuading Soumya to partner with. But, Soumya, aware of her own background -– and how she and her brother had figured out their own career paths and passions –- was not at all convinced about this whole ‘app business’…

“Sir, what is your advice to me… Should I involve in this project?” Soumya asked me.

“What does your heart say?” I asked.

“It says ‘No’,” Soumya did not blink.

“That’s my advice, too,” I rested the case.

Gopal was my student, too, some twenty-five years ago. He was raised by his grandmother. This woman was 10, when came from Pakistan’s Sindh Province as a refugee. From the barracks of refugee camp, she, eventually, made a one-room house by her hard work and determination. One of her major goals was to make Gopal a post graduate.

Some days ago, I bumped into Gopal after a very long time. The first thing I asked him was: “How’s your grandma?”

“Sir, she passed away some years ago,” Gopal told me.

“What a determined woman she was,” I remembered Gopal’s grandma, “She would come to me, every month, to enquire about your progress.”

“Sir, I was the first in our entire family to complete tenth standard,” Gopal said, “She distributed sweets to the entire building when I cleared my tenth… She was the proudest soul on earth when I became a graduate, and, later, a post graduate… That’s her dream.”

Last night, I was talking to Meeta over the phone. Again, I had taught her close to thirty years ago. She had difficulty in numbers. Hence, she couldn’t clear my subject (Financial Accountancy). I taught her that subject all over again, and she ended up clearing it. “Sir, you were kind enough to teach me that subject again, free of cost, showing loads of patience, without giving up on me,” Meeta remembered those days. “I was, always, a people person; I loved meeting and communicating with people… It took some hard knocks in life to figure out where my heart was calling me,” Meeta said to me, last night.

“Hard Knocks in life?” Yes, Meeta’s life was going great with her husband’s prosperous career. They had one school-going son. For many years, Meeta (and their little son) lived abroad with her husband. Then, keeping son’s schooling in mind, she decided to come back to India with her son, while husband continued to climb the career ladder even more. Then, one day, the news arrived about the husband’s death due to multiple cardiac arrests…

Meeta wasn’t working. Son was in class six. The world had caved in unannounced…

“Sir, I was 42 when this happened… I had no work experience… My head was bloated with pride, saying, ‘My husband was a corporate honcho’… I had to demolish that pride… Start from the scratch… To unlearn what I had learnt, and relearn, again.”

I remembered the ‘Career App’ which Soumya’’s friend was planning to launch… I remembered how she and her brother had chosen the path of Chartered Accountancy (and even teaching)… I remembered Gopal’s grandma, who, without even going to school, had ended up making her grandson a post graduate… and, I remembered how Meeta, had figured out, through the hard knocks of life –- how to go where her heart was calling her…

These three stories… I thought of sharing, today, out of a hundred stories that kept me awake on my bed… Yes, during the last ten days…

“Gerry, are you there?”

“Yes, I am there.”

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

*All names changed

 

Pic’s: Pixabay 1. Sasin Tipchai  2. Frauke Riether

Video: Varash Nusantara/The Greatest Showman