The Present

More and more we hear of students committing suicides.. is this a pointer towards the 'fragmented' support system today.. with nuclear families, rising stress levels and paucity of time, are children able to feel the 'security' they essentially need from the adult world..

If everything we do is for our children and their future.. somewhere we have discounted the import of our own presence as a crucial part of their lives.. between rushing from one 'activity' class to another.. tuitions.. school.. how many of us actually spend some time getting to know them.. their interests.. their needs.. what they want.. what does 'childhood' really mean today.. except a cramming of frenzied activities spanning sometimes 'fads' as the norm.. or a total of necessary 'talents' in our comprehension..

activities that used to be a part of every school.. drama.. art.. music.. exercise.. singing.. debates.. sports.. branching out into many more.. all seemingly constricted to imparting education.. an 'education' that still needs tuitions for every subject.. what roles are the schools and universities of today playing.. except granting a 'degree'.. the teachers and professors maybe over-worked.. maybe underpaid.. but if we question the 'ethics' of nearly every other profession.. maybe this one needs deepest scrutiny.. for it IS our children we are talking about.. and we cannot exploit their 'resilience' in such uncaring ways..

maybe it's time the 'curriculum' changes.. maybe it's time 'the Virtual' touched our children as secondary.. and they could enjoy the simple joyous moments of group play.. the outdoors.. working with their hands.. in ways that nurture and celebrate life.. with 'stress levels' leaving none untouched.. our Education System needs to encompass more than a handful of subjects.. it needs to 'strengthen' our children enough to cope with life.. and it's responsibilities.. an 'awareness' that grasps 'humanity' as singular..

Mr.Azim Premji relating child labour with the life of children today.. questioning our anger at one and apathy with the other.. wrote in this beautiful article 'Dancing In The Rain', "Let us 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 centres to playgrounds of art and sport"..