Living Learning: Here and Now

This morning at 7:00 I got into a bus which goes from my village to the nearby town, Kottayam. At the next bus stop there were about ten persons waiting to board the bus. About half of them were senior citizens, including Devakiyamma, who is about 80. There were also three school girls, whose uniforms made it clear which school they went to. 

As soon as the bus stopped, there was the usual competition to get in first. At that time, there was only one vacant seat and one of the school girls grabbed it. In fact, she ran like PT Usha to ensure it. In our bus, 50 percent of the seats are reserved for women, at least in the 7:00 AM trip. I looked at the plight of Devakiyamma. She requested another senior lady for some space to sit, who graciously gave up her seat for the older person.

During the rest of the journey, my thoughts were around the winner girl. Her school’s motto is ‘Towards Excellence’, which is written even on the buses they own. I felt sad that nobody in the school taught this girl the meaning of this often misunderstood word. To ‘excel’ does not mean ‘to do better than others’. The competition for excellence is directed towards oneself. I must do better than how I did earlier, I must score higher than my last exam’s score!

Our schools teach competition, not cooperation. There are students who do not share their notes with their classmates, or even know their classmates’ names. Knowing your classmates is not part of the syllabus, no examiner will ask them if they know their classmates, or what it is that they appreciate most in them. There is no syllabus to teach the children that they should be considerate to the sick and the elderly.

Long long ago, in a country far far away, the King decided to a marathon between its communities, in which all the members of the community were part of the team. The community that reaches the finishing point first with all their people, or the maximum number of people would be the winner. This was not an easy task as each community had its share of the old, sick, pregnant etc.

Three communities reported at the starting point. The first had a strategy, let all run. It was every person for himself. Inevitably, the young made it to the finishing point quickly but the rest were left behind. They lost.

The second community took lessons from the first and altered their strategy. They decided that all men should run and the women should take care of the elders and the children, while providing refreshments for the runners. As you might have already guessed, this was the decision of the men, and the women did not agree to it. There ensued a debate, which took up all their time. They too lost the race.

The third community had a different strategy: everyone should run and simultaneously take care of those who cannot run. Of course, this team moved very slowly, holding hands, carrying the sick and the elders in chairs or stretchers. But they enjoyed the race which was almost an ‘evening stroll’.

The King was pleased to give the laurels to the leaders of the third community.

They won with others, while the other two communities were trying to win over others.