government school

When did you last visit a government college or school in India? I had to get some certificates attested by a Gazetted officer. I know these kind of requests are very weird, time consuming and out of place. But still some systems demand these. So, i walked into a shop and asked him who on this earth can be called a Gazetted Officer. He pointed me to a "Sub-registrar office". I repeated my story. The peon said, just across the street there is a "Government college". Principal of that college can attest your documents. Religiously following his instructions, i went into the college. Nobody checked me. I walked directly into a small but spacious building. There is a good open space in the middle of the building covered by plastic sheet to reduce direct exposure to sun. I guess the same open space doubles as a prayer hall. Classrooms are somewhat dark, without any lights. Classes are very noisy. Class rooms have pretty minimal furniture inside as is the gray matter inside the teachers. I waited outside a classroom where this "Principal" is teaching accountancy 101 to students. I could overhear some terms like "Share price", "Base price", reading balance sheets etc., I am absolutely certain for most of the students these would mean nothing in their real life. I am more than certain that most of the students have never traded in stockmarket, nor read a company prospectus. I am also certain that their genealogical ancestors wouldn't have traded in these modern instruments (mans creation to equal the ingenuity of God with a small difference - God makes it simple, and man makes it complex). Looking at the class, it reminded me of my childhood, the uiseless classes i used to live through. It was kind of dejavu. I convinced myself that this kind of education would be useful in the future. After all who am i to comment on these. This reduced my depression a bit. A bell rang which disturbed my thoughts. I sat there reflecting a bit about education and what i would really envision it, if i had it all my way. I thought i would first remove the bell. Fill the classrooms with light. Reduce the contentious/continuous evaluation we do of students, which fill them with fright. Let the students interest fly and find their home. Have a space for teachers so they can speak out their heart. This is what my heart tells me. What i found is exactly opposite. Both the teacher and students have no freedom at all. How can we say, we are free. We are not free after all. We are slaves of a system that we defined and created. Suddenly principal finished his class and reached his room. I hurried inside got my certificates attested, thanked him. I returned happily since my work is done. But that system remains, taking away the creativity from scores of people. It turns more and more students, teachers into prisoners, who would latter create more and more of the same. I am shamelessly one among those.

what is waste

What is waste? Have you ever pondered over this question? I have and i don't have a definitive answer. What is wasteful in the short term may be of use in the long term. Carbon waste over time could become diamonds. Animal waste over time could become manure. This is all known knowledge. When i started living in my home 5 years ago; there were two small tree saplings just in front of my house. Instead of cutting them as usually the case, i let them grow. Unfortunately these two trees are not fruit-giving trees of some value. They are trees from forest, which drop their leaves Feb-May; during the other times they are fully green. Everyone would suggest me to cut those trees since they are waste and they don't have any value. There would always be a litter of dried leaves in front of my house which have to be frequently cleaned. After some push, i really started to entertain the thoughts of cutting those trees. Couple of days back, i was seriously reading a book and suddenly i heard sounds similar to those made by hen. I came out to investigate it further. To my surprise there were 7 to 8 white cranes on top of the trees which i thought were pure waste. They were lovely white cranes blissfully sitting on the branches of these trees and swinging back and forth. I started paying little more attention and i saw couple of squirrels have made this tree a home. They would eat the fruit of the tree which is not fit for human consumption - but looks like squirrels can happily feed and live on them. You could realize nothing is a waste, provided you can pay proper attention and wait a little longer. I hope the same thing turns true in my life as well.