Dancing in The Rain

One often hears of the high prevalence of child labour in our country.
Of the many reports I have read, perhaps the most disturbing was a
report on the condition of children employed by zari factories in Delhi,
Mumbai and other parts of India.

It grieves me to imagine children exposed to such inhumanity in an
evolved society like ours. Robbing children of their childhood is a
criminal act, and our society must weed this sorrow out from the root.

But where does the root lie? Before you attempt an answer,
let me give you an anecdote from the other end of the social
spectrum.

A colleague in Wipro has a child studying in standard nine of a reputed
school in Bangalore. This child wakes up 5 a.m. and studies for an
hour before going to school. She returns from school at 4 p.m. and
rushes for her IIT entrance exam coaching class. At 6 p.m., she has
tuitions for 2 hours. Post dinner, she spends an hour or more on
homework.

I asked her when she gets time to play. She replied that she does not
play. She gets half - hour of free time each day, which she spends
watching her favorite serial on television. She also added that board
exams and entrance exams are very important, and that you only get
one chance.

Let me ask you: is the condition of this child different from
that of the child in the zari factory?

When I look at children, I wonder whether they have time to play with
friends, to meet interesting people, to explore the world, and to follow
their curiosity. When the first monsoon showers begin, I would think
that the streets would be full of children rushing headlong into the rain,
dancing and playing.

However, I think today, the rains fall on empty streets. This, my friends,
is the new Indian reality in our villages, in our slums, and in our
metropolitan high -rises. Whatever the reasons poverty, societal
aspiration, apathetic individuals and organizations, or just the burden
of circumstances the reality is that our children are straitjacketed,
thus stifling their natural growth.

The final indicator of a countrys independence is the way
its children live.

Are children free from the malaise of poverty and hunger? Are they free
from the burden of parental aspiration? Are they free from norms of
braindynamic.com
By : Azim Premji
Dancing in the rain
social conditioning? Are we ensuring the curiosity of our children
continues to burn and is not stamped out? Are they free to explore the
world, to realize their unique potential , and thereby, help discover the
true potential of the society itself?

Gandhiji said that the greatest lessons in life are learnt from
children, not from learned men. A child will fearlessly try
before giving up.

As adults, fearing failure, we give up even before we try. A child is
inherently curious about the world, about relationships, about wanting
to understand how things work. As adults, our blinkered and
conditioned-self prevents us from truly exploring without prejudice.

For a child, what she does is meaningful in its own right. As an adult,
we usually link every action to an external reward of money or
recognition.

I did not learn how to be a father from manuals. Whatever little I learnt
about being a parent,

I learnt by observing my children and letting them teach me.

Similarly, I think our teachers could grow enormously by learning from
their students how to be a good teacher. We will then refrain from
pushing our knowledge down their young minds, and begin the
democratic process of being joint learners as we discover and
understand our world.

I believe a powerful force for empowerment is to have
motivated teachers who are learners first, teachers second.

Only then we will stop trying to mould children into our adult
likeness. Only then we will let them blossom, developing on the already
mature qualities of their childhood.

If India has to develop economically, socially, intellectually, and
culturally, we must empower those most vulnerable to social diktat i.e.
our eminent n potential children.

Let us resolve to give our children the freedom of childhood; let us
change our schools from being textbook prisons to laboratories of
exploration; let us change homes from being tuition centers to
playgrounds of art and sport.

India will be radiant when our children are free to dance in
the rain.

www.braindynamic.com - Makes you more successful
By Azim Premji

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One often hears of the high prevalence of child labour in our country.

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