It was a dull routined weekday morning. The students slumbered about their tables while the teacher bore on the topic of "science". Some of their eyes were fixed blankly at the whiteboard full of ugly scribbles; others looked about everywhere: the ceiling which had a cobweb at the corner, the notice board which had been decorated by the class; and some eyes were obviously closed.
This are the lives of all the little children aged eight to nine; trained to sit quietly in a room, gaze blankly at the teacher and the whiteboard, while trying to cram all the "knowledge" into their tiny heads.
Something unexpected happen today. A break out of the sit-and-stare blankly routine. A bird swooped into the class through the window by accident. The students all jumped up and squealed with delight. They got off their seats and followed the bird around the classroom. When the bird flew a little closer to their heads they ducked down with excitement, shrieking with laughter. That was something they never experienced, they never got so close to an animal before. All they know about birds and animals were from textbooks and pictures they saw, and from the ugly whiteborad that they were made to stare at.
The teacher felt out of control in the midst chaos. She raised her authoritative voice, and the booming voice instructed the kids to restrain their happiness to get back to their seats. Using a broom she chased the bird out of the room. Order was back, the children were subdued. There felt a dull thud in their hearts. The excitement lasted only for a minute. And now, back to their oppressive routine.
The girl who sat next to the window was more privileged; she stared longingly into the garden that was beside the school, wishing everyday she could be there playing with nature, studying nature in the garden as part of the science curriculum, instead of having to see words on the white board replace nature to learn about science......
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Does the story sound a tad familiar to you? Well, thats how I grew up, and I was the girl hoping to get away from the classroom.....
