When I was growing up (I still am..) there were a lot things that used to bother me in school. There was absolutely nothing I would take or learn without being absolutely sure of it. They even went on to say that I’m from Venus coz when I was 14, I insisted how everything that WE had learnt was required for life on a planet existing on Venus inspite of which there was no life (known to us) on the planet, which according to me meant either of the two –

  • We were missing out on a critical neccessity for life to exist.
  • There is life on Venus, unknown to us.

As it turned out, I was the only one who had as much inclination towards Venus when everyone else was busy learning their own set of stuff.

And thats how I became the Venus species. And this wasnt the only thing, there was always a fuss about something or the other… like the revolution that broke out on me insisting on not paying for some kids’ fair tickets being sold in the school, or the thing about the value of pie… which was just TAKEN by others and I would need an explanations of what Pie is and why is it part of so many formulas and how do we figure out its value in the first place… and I actually conducted a few experiments to find out its value….. realizing that I needed a lot better equipment and a lot more accuracy than that to be able to do that.

All these stories lead to one thing, my teachers telling me just to gulp what was being served, or to take it OFFLINE which apparantly never happens. And that where I got the real lesson, if you wish to know or understand something and dont have anyone to guide you through it, you have to find a way yourself to do that… whether its a book or an experiment or anything. The good part it that now when I get all these questions when attending any training or any such session, I just jot it down thinking.. ‘Hmmm, I could just google it later’.

I wonder why is it that all teachers insist on students not analyzing the subject being taught beyond the stuff being covered there. I also remember the fact that most of my batches would take down EXACT answers to most questions that could arise from any chapter being taught and any other or any twisted questions in the examination from that chapter were just considered as Out Of Syllabus. And that wasnt enough, something that never struck me was how everyone prepared for mathematics. The whole idea of finishing all the exercises of a certain book and the other one was not something I really related to. I mean, get a grip, if you read or understand the fundamentals thoroughly, you are just good to go. Atleast that how I thought it works.

Anyways, my way of learning as turned out just fine for me till now, I dont know about the rest… they have done fairly well in their careers though I am not sure what they think about their learnings from the school. Really feel the need for a overhauling in the way education is approached in our schools.

May be I should consider a career there…. and going back to school in a different role, may be… hmmmm