According to me, Independence Day has lost its significance over the years. From being a day which celebrates the freedom of our nation it has been conveniently transformed into a holiday stuffed with lazying around.
And I am a 15th August holiday-maker.
Simply put, for me it's a day to laze around and unwind. Yes, the feeling of patriotism does surface. But that's about it.
If I were to be the Prime Minister,I would make an effort to change this. Everybody likes a holiday and with it comes the laidback attitude. But it is necessary to celebrate the historical day with enthusiasm since it is one of the only two days in a year when we celebrate our 'Indianness.' Like I said, on this day, patriotism comes naturally to most of us. But there have to be interesting ways to demonstrate this feeling. Holding 'national walks' could be one option. In this,people in different states can come together to walk towards one of the monuments associated with the freedom struggle situated in that state. If managing the large number of people on the road becomes difficult and since it can also cause traffic woes, maybe the walks could happen early morning or in smaller groups.
There could be poster-making competitions, creative writing competitions and prizes could be given out by me.
Adopting such ways will help to ensure that we celebrate 15th August with the same zeal as we celebrate a festival.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Untouched by comfort
I recently read about a school called the 'Shanti Bhavan'located near Bangalore. It imparts education to underprivileged children.
But this was not what gripped my attention. It was the fact that the children housed by this school belong to the lowest caste of what we call the 'untouchables'. Well, their lives seem to be living up to this very name. They are 'untouched' by any helping hand, or for that matter, even proper clothing, clean drinking water and other basic amenities. In such a scenario, a school like the 'Shanti Bhavan' comes as a blessing.
Quite evidently, adapting to a comfortable way of life is difficult for these children who have not had any access to the basic necessities and comforts of life like toilets, beds, etc. They have never had any kind of exposure to pre-nursery education. They have never held a pencil, nor have they been exposed to any form of educational stimuli.
The faculty has to start by socialising them.
The goal of this school, which takes in students when they are 4 years old, is to give them a world-class education so they can aspire to careers and professions that would have been totally beyond their reach, and have been so for generations. The students live on campus for a greater part of the year. Their parents visit them every three months, taking them home for short vacations twice a year.
What I found outstanding was the pre-admission procedure. Before admitting its students, Shanti Bhavan researches the families of each child over a period of five months in order to ascertain his/her socio-economic profile. The recruitment team consists of a social worker, a clinical psychologist, a paediatrician and the school principal. This way, the overall needs of the community are met in a more constructive way.
But this was not what gripped my attention. It was the fact that the children housed by this school belong to the lowest caste of what we call the 'untouchables'. Well, their lives seem to be living up to this very name. They are 'untouched' by any helping hand, or for that matter, even proper clothing, clean drinking water and other basic amenities. In such a scenario, a school like the 'Shanti Bhavan' comes as a blessing.
Quite evidently, adapting to a comfortable way of life is difficult for these children who have not had any access to the basic necessities and comforts of life like toilets, beds, etc. They have never had any kind of exposure to pre-nursery education. They have never held a pencil, nor have they been exposed to any form of educational stimuli.
The faculty has to start by socialising them.
The goal of this school, which takes in students when they are 4 years old, is to give them a world-class education so they can aspire to careers and professions that would have been totally beyond their reach, and have been so for generations. The students live on campus for a greater part of the year. Their parents visit them every three months, taking them home for short vacations twice a year.
What I found outstanding was the pre-admission procedure. Before admitting its students, Shanti Bhavan researches the families of each child over a period of five months in order to ascertain his/her socio-economic profile. The recruitment team consists of a social worker, a clinical psychologist, a paediatrician and the school principal. This way, the overall needs of the community are met in a more constructive way.
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