A tale of two mela

The Dhamtari field institute of APF has organized a series of bal-mela in primary schools around Dhamtari district in preparation for the official launching of the district institute wherein a mega-mela was organized.  

One of the major objectives of the melas was to provide children with an environment where they can have fun and learn at the same time.  In the melas, various stalls were organized based on a theme or subject.  We had six stalls, viz. science/math, language/art, mask-making, origami (hat making), clay modelling/pottery and fun corner.  Each stall was coordinated by resource persons from the foundation where they prepared various activities aimed at certain learning benefits for the students.

Between the first and second mela, we have changed our approach towards the organization of the mela, and the differences that changes in approach make to the children, the environment and the learning is, in one word, amazing!

The first mela in Doma was a well-organized, well-coordinated mela where each and every student had the opportunity to participate in each and every activity.  Before the start of the mela, the students were divided into six groups based on six stalls, and the groups were rotated every 45 minutes during which they participated in all the activities planned by that stall and then moved to another stalls. The final outcome is that it was a well-orchestrated mela where each and every student got a chance to participate in every activity and learn what was planned for them to learn.

The second bal-mela in Mandroud was based on our experience in Doma. There were no changes in the stall and activities planned, and the resource persons were the same but our approach was different. Children were no longer divided into groups, and we set them free.  They were free to go wherever they want to go, and do whatever they want to do. The children can drop-in and join in the activities, or leave the activities when they want to. The final outcome was that it was a major success with fun-filled learning and exploring experiences for both the students and the resource persons.

Why I said the mela at Mandroud was a major success compared to the well-coordinated mela in Doma is that children in Mandroud are free and happy, and most importantly they learned what is interesting to them.  Even though the students in doma are happy and learning, they were no free to do what pleases and interest them; they are bound by the group and its schedule.

If we are talking about the accumulated learning, the one in Doma will perhaps be a better mela because each and every student participated in all the activities planned for them, and learn what is planned for them to learn.  But that learning is of the resources person’s and the students never owned the learning outcome and process.

 

But if you look at the meaningful learning that occurred, the learning in Mandroud would be more meaningful and useful for the children because a free and happy learning environment is an ideal and priceless environment!

A Tale of Two Schools

When visiting Limtara and Puri M/S to coordinate the painting/drawing of greeting card for teacher’s day, I cannot help comparing the students and their learning environment of the two schools. One of the schools is a ‘model’ school with all the basic infrastructures including library and computers in place whereas the other school is struggling to meet basic infrastructural requirement.  Besides the infrastructure difference, when it came to drawing/painting, the freedom with which the children expressed their imagination was contrasting between the two schools.  

Which of these two drawings exude more creativity?

In both the schools, before we started, we told the students (class VI to VIII) the purpose of the drawing, and encouraged them to ‘draw/paint/write whatever they want’ telling them that the blank page in the greeting card was for them. 

The first school that was struggling with basic infrastructure and has a ‘lesser reputation’ compared to the other, showed two observable features. Firstly, there was little interference from the teachers, which can be interpreted in different ways, i.e. the teachers didn’t care, or that the teachers trust their students, or that they expected us to interfere on their behalf. Secondly, the drawings of the children came out very vibrant and colourful, and most importantly, very original in such a way that just by looking, we know that the drawing come from their own imagination.

On the other hand, the students of the ‘model’ school saw lots of interference from the teacher, beginning with one of the teacher twisting our words to tell the children that it was a painting competition and the best will get printed in the newspaper. The teachers also played vigilant, checking the drawings from time to time and telling the children ‘what to do and what not to do’.  One of the teachers also apparently advised the students to ‘copy’ picture from their textbook resulting in majority of the drawing being a reproduction of the illustrations from their text-book like the solar system, human digestive system, etc.  

In more simpler words, in the model school, the students were more dependent, in the sense that they were waiting for us to guide them and tell them what to do, and asking us from time to time if what they did was right or wrong; and most importantly, the ‘fear’ of being wrong or being reprimanded was observable which was not there in the other school. 

Incidentally I recognized the Head-teacher of the ‘model’ school as one of the participants in a CCE Review meeting I attended earlier wherein he argued about the need for disciplining students.  And, from my observation of the two schools, it is apparent to me that the kind of environment in the school (i.e. interfering teachers, disciplining) can breed dependency and kill all confidence the children have in their own ability and capacity, and thus kill their curiosity and creativity. 

Refugees in their own country....

The images of my fellow north-east people in Bangalore railway station in my screen made me shudder, and the voice of the newscaster keep repeating that all those people clamouring for a tiny little space inside the already packed Assam bound train are running away from an ‘unknown enemy’ when she didn’t use the word ‘rumours’.

The image brought me to tears, but the words used by the newscaster made me angry.  The more appropriate words would have been unwanted, failed, discriminated, abused, exploited, prejudiced, despised, refugees in their own country!

Can 30000 people who had already left the southern cities of India for their home in the north-east be such fools to run away as soon as they heard some random stupid rumours?  Are they saying that these people are not able to assess their own situation and their own security taking in to account the attitude of the police and the people in authority?

Have their lives in mainland India has ever been secure, equal and devoid of discrimination that they would need a rumour to leave it?  The attitude and treatment of the police and the people in authorities towards the north-east has never been free of prejudice.  We have been always discriminated and every move we made, every piece of cloth we wear, every parts of our body are judged, commented, whistled, hooted, and mocked every single day.

Or maybe there is more than just a rumour, if not a direct threat?  How about a group of people, who had thrown up their hands and given up, because of the constant discrimination they faced, and are waiting for a trigger to go home, even before the rumour spread?

The congress government at the central has kept ‘assuring’ that they would trace the source of the rumours and take stern action.  Why not start with the illegal Bangladeshis immigrants who have occupied the indigenous tribal land in Assam?  What did/does the central government said about them? Not a single word!

The Lesser Indian?

What do you say, when certain section of the society, run in fear and panic despite repeated assurance from all sections of the authority not to panic?  It simply means that there absolutely is no trust in the people who give you that assurance!

Now ask why they don’t trust the people who assure them not to panic, the answer is obvious! They have learned their lesson not to trust the politicians and police from their past experience. 

The Police in Bangalore and Pune have claimed that not a single complain was registered so far regarding violence or assault of north-east people in their respective cities dismissing that the fear and panic of the north-eastern people are a result of some rumour! 

Was that so surprising when every north-east male showed up in the police station, he was seen as a substance abusing trouble maker and whenever a north-eastern female showed up in the police station, she was seen only as an immoral, characterless slut? So why would any sane person showed up in the police station to complain only to be accused of being moral-less?

When a north-eastern student was beaten to death; he was dismissed as a drug addict by the police, when a north-eastern student was raped; her character was questioned by the police!  If such grave cases that involve the north-eastern people were considered not worth registering as a valid police case, now tell me how can we trust the police?

Perhaps the panic in Pune and Bangalore is caused by rumour, which certainly is not, but why would a person in his right mind who have experienced systematic discrimination in their everyday life in mainland India take a chance of trusting the perpetrator of such discrimination???

Anyhow how can we complain about discrimination that comes in various forms?  There are the spoken and unspoken discrimination that each and every north-eastern people face in their everyday life in the mainland. Now tell me how would we register a case about a man who abruptly started singing some vulgar song with a sneer in their face as we passed them? How would we register a case against someone who suddenly looked away and started crying ‘chowmein’ as soon as we passed them?

By the way, what has the authorities (Central & State) do to ease the situation beside giving a hollow assurance? The central government gave assurance of safety to the north-east student, but why is it silent about the illegal migrants who caused the whole thing in the first place? Isn't silence about the illegal migrants being a sign of support and preference when all they gave to the north-east people is verbal assurance?

To my north-eastern friends, I want to say don’t panic or fear, but don’t take your chances either! It’s about time we consider our position in India –are we the lesser Indian as we often feel?  The answer to that question will not make you any safer, but it will at least tell you what to do next!

Some News

1. Indian Express: Thousands More Flee Bangalore/Pune Despite Govt Plea for Calm

2. Hindustan Times: NE Exodus Continues, Cops Probing Source of Rumours

3. Times of India: Northeast Migrants Flee Pune-Bangalore-Chennai