To sign off the week, hereby a post about awesome coincidences (see end of post), proud papa feelings and linking this post to my favorite topic - education.
- The art piece above is made by my daughter Sahaana as part of a competition she participated in via her school a few months back. Just four years back - in "basisschool", as we call it here - Sahaana's art could be easily recognized in a ocean of other art by its ugly squiggles in black. I am not exaggerating; it used to look like a hundreds spiders came along, rolled around in agony on her art paper, split their stomachs and spread their inner goo on the paper. She took the jokes in good humor as her apparent lack of artistic skills never bothered her - it just wasn't important enough. When she entered "middlebare school", one day I saw her watching some videos on Youtube, about learning to sketch. "This is really interesting", she said. In the last three years, we have seen this skill develop and the above competition piece is just one example. There are other pieces she has done that made my jaw drop.
- To link this post to education and skills, all it took is a "this is really interesting" incident for Sahaana's art to go from Yikes to WOW in 3 years. This could happen with any type of learning. My opinion is that learning the rules of differentiation and the formulas of physics would be easier than learning art. Yet, we segregate kids at young ages and put them in segments - smart kids, not so smart kids - this kid should go to university, that kid shouldn't. There are no "not smart" kids - some of them just hasn't had their "this is really interesting" moment. It is not the kid but the system that has failed. Same thing at work - good performers, bad performers etc. Of course, the employee has a certain responsibility too but IMO, it is the organization that hasn't produced a "this is really interesting" moment for the employee. Maybe the organization needs to try harder, maybe the employee should go elsewhere. That's a different discussion.
- Proud papa - of course. Now I can finally look Nadella uncle and Pichai uncle in the eye and say "Haan haan, hamare bacche ne bhi bahut accha kiya" (Yes, my child is also doing very well). No really, naturally I am pretty chuffed.
- Finally, the amazing coincidence!!! The school - St. Marks Janakpuri
- is the school that I passed out of in 1993 - thirty years back. We are now in a different continent and she gets a prize in a competition organized by my old school in India. Priceless; I love it. I remember the manager of the school - whose signature is on that certificate - was a 11 or 12 year old kid when I passed out. His dad was the manager of the school at that time.
Here is to the "this is really interesting" moments that come to all of us sometime in our lives. It might or might not make us a lot of money but it gives a glimpse of what could be.
