Raindrops on roses andwhiskers on kittens...... my heart hummed in the weekend as i tripped off to kolkata nee calcutta, city of my childhood. Does it really matter where you were educated? which is the way to school? Is it through a meadow or a dark frightening street? Everyday as you dragged yourself to school what exactly did you see? On the way?
Do we even consider these questions when we think about educating children or people? This blog is about education and i am trying to bridge the gap between reality and theory. Theoreticians are accused of missing reality , so i feel that i must write in a way that all of us can think about. Those of us who are thinking can really now have more to think about.
I went to school in kolkata. Being a boarder, my life was confined to the ancient school building which is a heritage building. Those days La Martiniere for girls boasted a green lawn. On the other side was busy Lansdowne.In the midst of Mary Poppins and Mariah's antics we managed to hang on to our very Indian roots.
I still dont know how they did it. Calcutta is a maverick city so i guess, it came rather naturally. So we played the piano and fought over football and gorged on flury's cakes and rum balls. Those were the flavors of my education. The indulgence of a life rich with music, songs ,poetry mingled with the guilt of poverty which hid itself in every corner of my poor country. I have retained the enthusiasm for art.
Sensory stimulation is an integral part of the process of education. We tend to retain that knowledge which we can apply easily. application and understanding is helped by memory to a large extent. Which is why, it is so important to know the sensory world around you and within you.
Kolkata to me is the universe that lies within me. As i sat in the airport , toying with filter coffee fellow Bihari Dr Ranjit came along. He added sleep as an important stimulus. Sleep tends to help us recover difficult facts. I quipped," Are you talking about active sleep? I thought that was possible only when we are 6 feet under."
Dr.Ranjit smiled his enigmatic smile.Inching towards the security check for his connecting flight to chennai , he quipped," sleep is the only essential.' I have decided to incorporate various conversations about this phenomenon affecting education between us. It will be an absolute eye -opener for all.
On the way back i bumped into Shashi Tharoor. I simply gawked at him . He is , for me at least one of the best writers in Indian English writing and being an ardent fan of his the rest is irrelevant. This chance encounter was certainly a stimulant for an adult ,such as me. I am glad that i can and sometimes will, be an ardent fan of someone. Shashi Tharoor looked every bit the dapper gentleman that he appears like in print.Coupled with that is the gamine charm. I looked and felt every bit like the prize idiotic fan. I wallowed in my admiration, literally.
Very few people look exactly like their posters ,so i guess, that's another thing to admire in him.Trying to fit in my bulk in my seat i muttered one of his famous phrases. Cattle class. That's what economy travel is all about. Thanks Shashi. You have given me a word stimulus which will help me cope.
Do we even consider these questions when we think about educating children or people? This blog is about education and i am trying to bridge the gap between reality and theory. Theoreticians are accused of missing reality , so i feel that i must write in a way that all of us can think about. Those of us who are thinking can really now have more to think about.
I went to school in kolkata. Being a boarder, my life was confined to the ancient school building which is a heritage building. Those days La Martiniere for girls boasted a green lawn. On the other side was busy Lansdowne.In the midst of Mary Poppins and Mariah's antics we managed to hang on to our very Indian roots.
I still dont know how they did it. Calcutta is a maverick city so i guess, it came rather naturally. So we played the piano and fought over football and gorged on flury's cakes and rum balls. Those were the flavors of my education. The indulgence of a life rich with music, songs ,poetry mingled with the guilt of poverty which hid itself in every corner of my poor country. I have retained the enthusiasm for art.
Sensory stimulation is an integral part of the process of education. We tend to retain that knowledge which we can apply easily. application and understanding is helped by memory to a large extent. Which is why, it is so important to know the sensory world around you and within you.
Kolkata to me is the universe that lies within me. As i sat in the airport , toying with filter coffee fellow Bihari Dr Ranjit came along. He added sleep as an important stimulus. Sleep tends to help us recover difficult facts. I quipped," Are you talking about active sleep? I thought that was possible only when we are 6 feet under."
Dr.Ranjit smiled his enigmatic smile.Inching towards the security check for his connecting flight to chennai , he quipped," sleep is the only essential.' I have decided to incorporate various conversations about this phenomenon affecting education between us. It will be an absolute eye -opener for all.
On the way back i bumped into Shashi Tharoor. I simply gawked at him . He is , for me at least one of the best writers in Indian English writing and being an ardent fan of his the rest is irrelevant. This chance encounter was certainly a stimulant for an adult ,such as me. I am glad that i can and sometimes will, be an ardent fan of someone. Shashi Tharoor looked every bit the dapper gentleman that he appears like in print.Coupled with that is the gamine charm. I looked and felt every bit like the prize idiotic fan. I wallowed in my admiration, literally.
Very few people look exactly like their posters ,so i guess, that's another thing to admire in him.Trying to fit in my bulk in my seat i muttered one of his famous phrases. Cattle class. That's what economy travel is all about. Thanks Shashi. You have given me a word stimulus which will help me cope.
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