Once, I was discussing with people, the essence of education system. The kind of ideas popped up really bothered me. I was wondering if it is just about professor entering the room, taking attendance, opening notebook, and begining to read and something like photocopying the notes or is it like stuffing information into the child's head to be vomited during the examination to get more & more marks, ranks and seats in IITs and leading medical and business management schools & securing wealthy careers , something motivating us to compete & compare with others. This was not enough, when somebody at the back said, “It’s more about turning us in to delivery machines”. I felt like there is something deeply wrong, certainly with the whole education system. There is no point in 'reforming' ; it’s a question of 'revolutionizing'. I was amazed by how beautifully British government succeeded in their propaganda; they never wanted to create an intelligent 'people'. In fact, I think no government wants intelligent people. They want people to remain retarded; that way, it becomes easier to exploit, to rule, to avoid any revolution. It then becomes easy for ordinary people to become 'leaders' -- they never want people to ask assertively “if they are capable of doing anything , of delivering the goods”? I speculate if our governments will ever think to do anything about the educational system. Coming back to the above ideas, if I analyze the current education system, I think it takes care only of the mind & this is shallow because the whole being means the body, the mind, the heart & the soul. Unless education takes care of all the four in a balanced way, it cannot create an authentic being, ‘a whole being’. When I say taking care of the body, it means body should be given adequate exercise. We live in the body but nobody thinks about what we are eating, the bodies should be given a chance to achieve their natural potential. When I say mind, I think real education has the power to open a mind but for that we need to understand the idea of ‘intelligence’. It simply means the ability to respond. To come out of all prisons is intelligence & never to get in to another again. We need to ask if we are aware enough to see what is demanded of us, can we act according to the situation or do we need ready-made answer? Do we have the courage to think, question & respect our insight, our own self? Can we undo what society has done to us? Intelligence brings freedom, it becomes spontaneity, and this is how the heart & soul grows. I was pondering if we can nurture the essence of meditation in the system to rediscover intelligence. There are some ideas left, “delivery machines”, “wealthy careers”, “comparison”, these ideas ask me to talk about one essential organ of our educational system, “our teachers or gurus”, but then who is a guru? The word “guru” means , one who has gravitation. The feeling is that you are being pulled towards them & at the same time you are being pulled inwards. This is strange but true that the closer you come to your guru , the closer you come yourself & the more you become independent. A guru never imposes lifestyle because they understand that each person has to find its own lifestyle & can never be a carbon copy. They have the power to teach that money is a need but it cannot be the goal. They can help you understand the difference between ‘making a living’ & ‘living a life’. I think now we can easily ask if that pull is creating boundaries or liberation. Well, lastly I feel, we should ask “how can one go on avoiding life”? How can one miss it? We have to think beyond socially constructed mechanical structures. We need to cherish that it’s beautiful to be on a farm with animals, with trees, with sky & with the sun. I am not against the educational system working on the material plane but when I say the “growth of your life”, I want to highlight that we need to understand the being as a ‘whole’ first. I dream of a system which can teach us to unlearn and at the same time help us understand “what to preserve”. If we can feel that our life is an inspirational book of humanity. If the ideas at the beginning can be transformed where education is seen as a key to unlock the door of freedom, love, compassion, curiosity , creativity, cooperation & empowerment and I feel that’s the journey towards “LIFE”. - Shristi Gupta ([email protected])
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June 2016
AuthorsAshique Ali T |