What The Kids Taught A Didi.

When I was 10 years old if anyone had said to me "why are you studying?" I would have looked at them as though they were asking me why the sun rises in the east and answered plainly, "because I have to" and went back to watching Shinchan on the TV. It seems too obvious to have said that because really, in my world I was told that I had to study without giving a fair explanation as to why, until I was old enough to analyse. To someone like me who has always heard "what are you studying?", "where are you studying?" and "how are you studying?", the word 'why' was alien. Do you have a better answer?

I reckon most of us will agree on one point - to earn money and do well in life. That is exactly what I came to think of when I was no more a 10 year old. But then a certain boy whom I spoke with a month ago did have a different answer and I daresay it was a better one.

Me: What's your name?
Boy: Tom Cruise (sorry, I forgot his name)
Me: How old are you?
TC: 10 years old.
Me: Which standard are you studying in?
TC: 5th
Me: Okay Tom Cruise, why are you studying?
TC: I want to bring a change.
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(it took me a minute to match his age with his answer, which of course was being judgmental)
Me: That's nice! What kind of change do you wish to see?
TC: I want to put a ban on alcohol and prevent the drunk from falling ill.
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(I was still not sure if he was a 10 year old)
Me: And how do you think education is going to help you do it?
TC: I'll read about the government's rules on alcohol and the damage that can happen to the body and then make a change.
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(mind blown!)
TC: Okay, my class is going to start, bye!
Me: Bye!

And all I thought as a 5th grader was which label to stick on the school books, Pokemon or Hot Wheels.

At one point of time we must have got tired of listening to "you're still a kid" and in a hurry to grow old, and accomplish big tasks, I'm afraid we've lost the spark of magic inside us. A spark that forced you and me to explore rather than follow the instructions. A spark that could dream without having to think practically. Even I told my parents and teachers as a child I'd become an astronaut/ a doctor, but this lad hadn't sounded the same; his words were more than true and his eyes had a twinkle I never had. 

I believe all of us are born equal, but the way we were raised in the society differs and that's what makes each of us so unique. And I say our Tom Cruise here is not someone you'd find everyday. While all of us are aware of the problem, the boy had already started on his quest to solve it, taking one step at a time. I don't know where will I see him again in the next 10 years, but I'm glad to know he has found his light and will try to chase it.

In the last couple of weeks I happened to come across many of such kids who were, I thought, geniuses in disguise. A friend of mine was telling me about a group whose teacher asked them,

Teacher: How important it is to know the purpose of one's life?

To this the children answered, (I forgot all their names)

Hector: It is very important.

Hagrid: It is also important to find this purpose at an early age.

Teacher: Why at an early age?

Hagrid: Because then we can learn a lot of things and we'll have a lot of time to work for the purpose.

Teacher: What if we get late in finding the purpose?

Hawkgirl: It is okay to be late, find it whenever you can, but you have to work harder then.

Yes, these are 10-11 year olds.

Only after I met these kids I realized that Dr. Suess made more sense than anyone else when he said "sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple." And in an attempt to teach the kids something, I have learnt about quite a bit that I have missed out in the process of growing. I remember once saying in a class "Soumya didi loves sweets." and was surprised to see a girl come up to me in the lunch break with a sweet in her hand. She said "Didi, this is for you." I don't rememeber the last time I did something like that for a friend, let alone a stranger. 

There was nothing better than seeing the girl smile watching me eating her sweet. Probably we need to untangle ourselves from the complex notions of ego and its siblings and go back to the simple silly ideas to get away with life's realities. And these little things might escape your way if you're too busy being an adult; take it as an advice or whatever it is, don't let them escape. Don't say it's too stupid or childish. You have no clue what childish can turn out to be. Because "all grown-ups were once children....... but only few of them remember it." ~ The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint Exupery.

Moral of the story: Growing old is inevitable, growing up is a choice.