EDUCATION SYSTEM OF INDIA - PART 1- BY RAHUL THAKUR

 

Chapter 1: Education System of India-Part 1

“Education is defined as realization of our on self”

I was sitting in the exam hall (March 25,03), experiencing Nuclear bombings, I mean my Sanskrit exam and invigilator none other than the Don of my school –Mausmi ma`m.

Suddenly Sanskrit teacher enters and tells me “Rahul, come on get off from your place, take your belongings with you, your dad is here to pick you up”. As I heard this my joy knew no bounds, I felt highly blessed by the almighty to be saved from a dangerous experience of giving Sanskrit exam. As I went outside the classroom full of joy and thinking of enjoying the whole day with cricket and my guitar, dynamite was ready to attack me outside.

Pandey sir: Do you know how disgusting and irresponsible your son is. You send all your idiots to my school to waste our time and efforts. It is because of you people that our school loses its reputation. And moreover, you Mr. X (my dad) have not paid your dues for over a year and you expect us to teach your child? Get your son out of here now.

 Dad: ………..speechless , (only tears had a word to say).

                       First time in my life I didn’t have an answer for a situation despite being a phenomenal speaker. ( Hey!!! I am not boasting about myself, honestly)

I was bewildered at the situation and thought should I cry or should I laugh in this situation.

                       And as this thought had besieged my mind, I reached home with my dad on the second hand scooter which my mom had gifted my father. I was still not able to grasp the situation .Two three days later my friends came home and asked “come on! What happened Rahul? Won`t you play cricket even today .You have not played since three days”

Actually they couldn’t digest the fact that I missed to play cricket. I mean the boy who can forget to take his breathe for a day, forget to wear his undergarments, forget to eat but can never ever think of missing cricket for a single day and to be precise single act of playing cricket right from establishing the stumps in the ground to clearing the pitch .

This fact was indigestible by my friends and after they asked me some questions I just told them to please leave me alone. And that was the end of my cricketing career (who aspired to be a great cricketer like Sachin and Glenn Mc Grath.)

 Then several serial blasts were waiting for their terror, I mean the process of getting admission in some other school.

 Oh God! If somebody would challenge me to hit the fastest century I could have promised to achieve this feat but giving exam and that too in other school with unknown people seemed horrible and life threatening to me.

 Anyways, was helpless so sat for the exam and those two hours of exam, my God!!!! It was like sinking in an ocean with no help, struggling for a tiny single breath, with blood circulation matching that of an F 1 Racing record top speed.

 Finally the race ended and I wished for some magical transformation in my answer sheet, but my wish was soon ended with the entry of the examiner in the principal`s chamber

 Mrs S… Sharma (The DON of My School, Principal ): Can you guess how much marks you have obtained?

I answered 0 or 1(to myself of course! Because this was my capability, not even a single marks greater)     

Mrs S…. Sharma: Let me answer this question my son. Its 1

           (And as I heard this I and was about to scream that yuhoooooooo. I guessed it right, my eyes went into my parents eyes filled with tears and I was sssshhhhhhhhhhhh…..speechless again.)

 S.Sharma: Son, do you deserve to be admitted in our school? Tell me! I think Mr. And Mrs. Thakur (Dad & Mom) your child would not be given admission in any school. Take your son along with you and teach him on your own.

 As my parents were about to utter something with a very heavy heart, I brought my eyes that were  into my parents tears right into my madam`s eyes and said-if I am given the admission I will top the class within a year otherwise throw me out of the school whenever you wish. And then the scene was unimaginable. Everybody looked at me as if they were going to eat me.

                       I still don’t know how come I got that much strength and said it with such a great conviction. Maybe due to cricketing challenges, because whenever somebody challenged me I wouldn’t rest for a single moment unless I proved them wrong.

           S.Sharma: Are you sure? You know your marks, and still?

                       I said “I am damn sure.” I have nothing else to say, and I don’t know why princy admitted me despite my poor marks. But she had seen something that day in me that I understand now when I recollect all those moments. Now I can very well understand why people say “Behind every successful man there is a woman” whether she does or doesn’t have 36-24-36 figure or is single or commited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(Just kidding!!!!!!)

 Now I promised because of my really bad trait of loving challenges, but didn’t know how to achieve this.

In my early days whenever I tried to study it seemed like batting with a cricket bat being bowled at by a football, I mean the combination was like that of a 17 year old beauty with an 80 year old wrinkled model.

But whenever I felt giving up, I just remembered one saying “you can`t be defeated unless you accept your defeat” and remembered my parents tears which gave me the strength to fight back again. Tried & tried and tried but unsuccessful to grasp the concepts.

 Then one day I was walking down the roadside ( a habit from which I made plans for all my important matches and field placing ) I asked myself what do the toppers do and what is the difference between me and that breed of toppers. I thought if I could get the answer for this question I too could be the topper. I looked for the answer for quite a number of days and realized that there is actually no difference and when there is no difference why can`t I top the class.

 Then I began my real match with studies. It bowled me bouncers, Yorkers, googlies, low full tosses, I was clearly bowled out for few days but soon started out to take singles and after some time even started to hit boundaries I mean started to grasp the concepts like L.C.M , different mathematical formulae, etc.

Sometimes was run out in between the wicket I mean got stuck in the middle of mathematical problems but soon improved my running between the wickets by grasping the concepts more clearly. Then started some good field placements by learning the answers thoroughly .And started to win league matches I mean the unit test and weekly class tests

 I appeared for the first exam of std.VII and stood 6th in the class. Next match 3rd, then 2nd and my dear the finale I mean the annual exam topped the class with around about 91 % marks. I was called by the DON

S.Sharma: You remember the day Rahul when you had come for admission? I admitted you despite your poor marks? Don`t you want to know why?

           I said of course Ma`m

S.Sharma: Rahul, what impressed me that day was your self-belief and the conviction with which you promised me to top the class. Marks have never been the concern for me. The matter of concern is the real aim of education whether it means obtaining an A-grade in all the exams and completing projects and assignments on time?

                       I felt glad but was very immature that time (still I am, hey hey) to understand what she was trying to say. But now can understand a bit and from that very bit want to give you some message which you will be getting in the later snippets but first of all I would like to ask you all a very simple question     

 What is the Definition of education?

Is the education being imparted to us appropriate?

           And beautiful girls and smart boys like me, please don’t answer these questions to impress anybody. Answer these questions to yourself and to be precise your heart because you can impress others by telling a lie or by telling something that sounds good for the ear, but you just can`t bluff yourself.

Let me present before you something about education

 Let us try to define education. Let us ask our parents, teachers, elders & everyone we can, to know their views about it.

 “Real Education is the thing that remains with, when one has completed education”

This simply means when you have completed your education our various degrees, B.Tech, MBBS etc, what is built out of you who was once born without a single pairs of clothes. This process of transformation is actually done through so called education which plays the most vital and primary role in decorating our lives. This transformation includes:

 ●    Humane qualities                                       Primary Education     

●    Character building                                      Primary Education

●    Realization of one`s potential                      High School Education

  , talents

●    Transformation of the above                       Higher Studies (College)

●    Sharpening the above through                    Professional life

     Experience and to lead a life that is

    based on our CHOICES not

    COMPROMISES

Though all the above mentioned processes are lifelong but it needs to be completed as soon as possible for a peaceful life, to bring our heart, mind and body in synchronization with one another so that we can face any kind of situation in life.

 Let us now have a look at the current situation. I feel it may be defined as

“The process of transforming oneself so that one can earn and amass as much money as possible, the process of obtaining as much marks as possible, the process of impressing our bosses, parents teachers people in our social circle and so on…” 

 And if I am not wrong then ask yourself. Are you really satisfied with our current education system? We hear these days “go for marks, aim for 90% marks, projects assignments homework all round development, sports winning medals trophies” and so on. How many of us really participate for the sake of our happiness, to realize our limits, to discover our talents, to challenge ourselves, to test our potential?

 Let us highlight the importance of marks. Marks have their own importance but it is not the sole determinant of success and life. You can yourselves check the relationship between marks and success of some great personalities.

 You can very well figure out the relationship between their marks and their height of success. This needs to be clearly understood by parent, teachers as well as dear students. Parents and teachers need to understand that there is much more in life than marks, text books and exams and at the same time students and youngsters need to understand that marks and academics have their own importance as it will make you stand confidently in any sphere of life.   

 Most of the people don’t realize that n numbers of efforts are being made to bring about a change in people`s attitude towards education and education system. You all must have watched the movie “3 Idiots” which was the first movie of this kind that gave us a great message. So what do you think was it just for fun in real life? In my opinion the reel life is just a reflection of what is happening in real life.

 So how is this change going to take place? By reading as many books as possible like this, giving speeches or watching movies or just by blaming education system. Unfortunately, all the above fancy methods are not going to help. We actually need a united and very practical approach to bring about a change in our handicapped and biased education system.

 This may sound easy but it’s not that much easy I must tell you. The real challenge is not to change our system but to change people`s attitude towards education. If you go through our country`s history you will realize very clearly that whenever someone tries to change the society or to change a well established system it has been opposed by our own people due to a fear which holds them back. People become reluctant to change because after they become used to a particular system (irrespective of whether the system is right or wrong), they are afraid whether they would be able to adjust with the new system or not. And this very fear is the main culprit of our resistance to change.

 But let me tell you there is only one thing that is constant in the world and that is change. Change is inevitable. Anything in this world has to undergo a series of transformations or change; it is the rule of nature. And we are trying to go against the nature. Is it really possible to go against the nature????? Even if river becomes stagnant it loses its beauty and charm. The same way our society has lost its charm and beauty due to reluctance towards change.     

 Practical steps and Reminders

●    Define the meaning of education for yourself-the first step towards a successful career

●    Change your attitude.

●    Stop Compromising and start a life based on choices.

●    Stop cheating or be prepared to be cheated all along your life

●    Never say I Can`t, always say I`ll try and then give your best. 

 Meanwhile I forgot my old self I mean to say the craze for cricket, joys, guitar, love for Sketching , hanging out with friends, eating ,school life pranks etc. as I had started a new journey .The journey of discovering my-self and soon became Mr serious and boring though you don’t need to be the same to discover yourself ,don’t you people worry…..

 

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