Unschooling…….

I guess before I delve into this I should give a brief of what unschooling is all about. Well simply put “No more School” :-) :-) :-) How I wish I knew about this when I was in school. So what is bad about schooling? The above two images gives you the answer to the effect of schooling. I know this is one topic that is going to raise a lot of eyebrows and invoke sentimental thoughts like “what a stupid, foolish thought process?” However if each of you take a moment to put yourself in ‘Neutral’ mode and reflect upon the above pictures and think un-biased, I am very sure you will agree to my thought, well if not agree atleast start a thought process within yourself.I would say ‘we don’t need more professionals who are on the lookout for a job’; ‘we need individuals who are creative, independent and an entrepreneur’. If it were not for the non-math, non-science and non-commerce folks who are generally termed ‘a bit crazy’, who indulge in areas of art, culture, sports, social service, etc the world would have been worse than a prison. In the words of Sri Devi Prasad (an Indian artist) “We know that science has also been made a slave; it has been used for creating the most destructive kind of weapons of war, which every minute threaten even the survival of life on the earth. It has also provided human kind with all kinds of means of luxury and indulgence, which have resulted in grossly aggravating the inequalities that exist in society, instead of eradicating them. And yet people are not able to be discreet in the management of science. They want education to be totally geared to the physical sciences.” “Human beings start experiencing creativity from a very early stage in life. Unfortunately, the inherent creativity of childhood gradually disappears in later years. Given the social structure and values nurtured by the so-called modern educational system, which ignores the role of art in the development of the personality of the child, his or her natural creativity tends to end with the beginning of adolescence. If that quality in children is to be retained, the educational system that exists today must be totally overhauled, nay, revolutionized.” “Gandhi and Tagore had a vision of a liberated human being. That vision can be realized only through an educational approach, based on creativity in which the aim of every activity is the affirmation of the unity within the individual's personality and, at the same time, the unity of all humanity. In other words, art has an essential role to play in the educational process, the aim of which is human unity.”This is so true, all through my career I have often heard from my manager('s) asking us to be ‘Creative’ and ‘think out of the box’; what a joke, we lost our creativity the moment the child in me started recognizing and sensing my surrounding and people; day by day I learnt to not-trust anyone including ‘Myself’; I learnt that freedom was a ‘myth’;I learnt happiness was ‘momentary'; I became aware that the human in me took the backseat somewhere on the way. I learnt that keeping others happy was the best way to remain un-troubled by them. The vicious animal in me raised its head, the vicious rat race to be the No. 1!Schooling is also about being compartmentalized, right from day 1 the virtual walls/boundaries start building one after another, knowledge gets instilled(implanted), there is a curriculum/ excercies/ending with an examination, the scheduling begins, the comparisons start, the competition sets in, stress becomes a part of life, there is a need to have a career plan and with that the sleepless nights to clear competitive exams(which always comes with extra classes, specialized tuitions' as an addon). In between all this doing some extra curricular activities can gain extra marks or considerations for admissions..... By the time one leaves school, the transformation from a human being to a machine has been partially completed, couple of more years in graduate schools and the perfect career driven machine with un realistic goals sets forth to conquer the "world of maya", brushing aside the fact that his/her predecessor had failed miserably before him/her. After many years of struggle, with the external and internal world, some reach a stage when realisation sets in that the purpose of this life is something completely different from all this and that the ultimate happiness is deep within and no amount of external happiness can come anywhere close to the internal one.True unschooling is all about not at all going to school and allowing the child to follow his/her interests, allow natural learning to happen, realizing experiences, in the process understanding that the world is full of opportunities, live life to the fullest along with nature. Excellent, however my thought process is a bit different though, else our present social system would immediately outcaste such an individual; and ensure that the individual fails.Therefore after some basic years in schools, why not look at Open Schooling? The first question that pops up in almost everyone' mind : Well isnt that for children with less IQ, or physically or mentally challenged, or who are not good in studies.The National Institute of Open Schooling(NIOS) that started as a project of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)way back in 1979. In 1989 the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India set up the National Open School (NOS) to cater towards Open Basic Education. NIOS offers programs at 3 levels, A(class III), B(class V) and C(class VIII). It also has a Secondary(Class X) and Senior Secondary(XII) program. I am sure not many are aware of such an option. There is a choice and children get to choose from a variety of subjects like painting, Business Studies, Psychology, Indian Culture & Heritage at Secondary level(Class X), Library and Information Science, Mass Communication, Introduction to Law, Environmental Science as part of Sr. Secondary (Class XII).Don't force your child/children to study what they do not like. Let them study something that is aligned to their passion and interest at their own pace and gain knowledge rather than just passing exams, and being toppers. Let education be about knowing the self, about knowing the way of righteousness, experiencing the knowledge, being informed, have enough wealth***, and remain human!***enough for our needs but not enough for our greed. Let wealth come in a purified form(legitimate and moral). Earn that which has not yet been got, put in efforts to preserve what has been got and increase the same, the surplus can then be given to the deserving.

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Chaos to Creativity

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Pramana

(Compiled from my posts on FB)

"Pramana" is an important aspect of every individual. Pramana literally means proof, an important facet between science and superstition. However most of us may not be even aware that "Pramana" means 'ways by which knowledge is gained' and is more of obtaining accurate and valid knowledge, .... it is not necessarily a proof! The 'means to knowledge' is of 6 forms - Pratyaksha(Perception), Anumana(Inference), Upamana(Comparison), Arthapatti(Postulation or presumption), Anupalabdhi(Non-existence), and Sabda(Verbal testimony)

Pratyaksha(Perception)

A very interesting area :-) Everything is a perception, including our very own existence!!! I perceive that I am sitting on a chair in a room alone. If the room is dark then I can only feel the chair in which I am sitting, I may not be able to perceive anything else; however the moment there is light I am aware of the light bulb and many other objects around!!! Similarly perception can be internal and external. The external is linked to our 5 senses. When any of the senses come in contact with their respective objects, there is awareness and knowledge. Internal (mind) can be attributed to things like pain, pleasure, anger, hate, knowledge/ignorance of an object, etc. In every direct perception when a person is seeking awareness of an object in his mind, the urge kind off flows/emerges out through the sense organs and kind of forms an invisible envelope around the available lit up object(in the presence of light). This gets presented as a thought creation in the mind of the knower, who then identifies the object!!! The combined process of the mind & sense organs must be happening extremely fast. The sun rises and sets every day, now, isn't that a perception, after all we know that in reality the sun is always there...... Hmm, so it means there is a requirement to validate (every) knowledge by other means too....

Anumana(Inference)

The dictionary states that inference means a conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning. Well inference is a close definition or translation of Anumana, simply because the western thought process is different from the west. The best example for anumana is smoke and fire. Both are related to each other, with smoke we can be sure that there is fire, not necessarily the other way. This means that perception is kind of the basis or foundation for anumana. Let's take an example to understand this. I see smoke coming from the room - evidence by perception. Wherever there is smoke fire will be there - concomitance*. So I can conclude that there is fire in the room. So Anumana is deduction from what is seen or partial perception.

*concomitance - the fact of existing or occurring together with something else.

Upamana(Comparison)

I will like to know what a 'Gaur' is, so I ask a forest guide. He tells me the gaur is like the cow. For me I am familiar with the cow, ie I have sufficient knowledge of a cow. However we need to understand that a gaur also called as Indian Bison, the largest existing bovine(cattle family) is not exactly similar looking to the domestic cow. So it is more like seeing one object and recalling another, very often used in day to day life(e.g. He looks exactly like his father). So whenever I see a gaur I will be able to recognize. This knowledge(Upamana) has been gained as I was told by an authoritative person(forest guide), hence it is a valid knowledge.

Arthapatti(Postulation or presumption)

Postulation, or postulate literally means to suggest say a theory or idea which would form the basis of starting a discussion. Presumption means a belief that something is true although it has not been proved. Both of these are slowly diminishing or vanishing in today's education system. We have been forced to believe that what has not been proven is not true, science or superstition! Hence this is why I firmly believe that we need to strive to gain knowledge and not education. Now if we consider the human body we are made to believe that there are different parts of the body that functions kind of independently, not in isolation and that the brain kind of coordinates everything. This is what we have learnt from science, however our traditional learning knows that it is not so, is made up of Pancha Bhoota. So for Science this concept of Pancha Bhoota can be Arthapatti. There is another popular example of Arthapatti which I read - 'there is a person who does not have food, or let's say that no one has seen him having food. We know that a person cannot be healthy without food, but then this person is healthy and looks like a well-fed person. So this person must be having food in the night.'

Anupalabdhi(Non-existence)

How can non-existence be a means to knowledge would be the primary question in everyone's mind. We generally force ignore or give little importance to something that is non-existent. Sometimes non-existence is a reason for anxiety or fear of something un-pleasant to come. At times non-existence is can be information or knowledge to larger issues that may be forthcoming. Now if I look at anupalabdhi a little more deeper, I can say that it is what I do not perceive. So I can say that everything is either existing or non-existing, present or absent, positive or negative. In the last example of positive or negative, it is important to understand that it is how our senses(pacha indriya) perceive an object. For e.g. let us assume that there is a banana kept on the table. Looking at the banana my senses can perceive that it is a banana. At a closer look I can also determine if the banana is ripe and if it is edible. If it is over ripe then my senses tell me that it is not edible.

Sabda(Verbal testimony)

Verbal testimony, is an experience that we go through every day. I can state that when it comes to a particular issue or fact, each person could have a different opinion, however we also know that only a competent person possessing knowledge can impart accurate knowledge about the issue or fact. Such 'knowledge' needs no verification, unless of course there is doubt about its reliability. This is so true because if I were to wait for confirmation or every verbal testimony, then the bulk of my knowledge will have to be regarded as baseless! In this regard we find a stark difference in the thought process of Western and Indian philosophy. In India majority of our philosopher's recognize' verbal testimony' as valid and an independent means of knowledge, whereas only a few Western philosopher's accept this concept.

An understanding of 'Verbal testimony' cannot be complete without an underlying knowledge that a combination of words can only be called a sentence when it complies to four factors; namely akanksa (expectancy), yogyata (consistency), asatti (contiguity) and tatparyajnanam (significance or knowledge of purpose).

Verbal testimony - Sabda, an independent means of knowledge.

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Kashi Yatra

Many years ago a Kashi Yatra was considered a difficult journey from which many would not return. It was also considered like the final journey. With all the worldly developments, today it is considered an agenda on a travel itinerary. Like I had mentioned in one of my earlier blog's, I firmly believe that there is nothing called coincidence, incidents in life that are to happen will happen, the only aspect that will separate or join them is 'Time'. Like every project planning is inherently uncertain in nature, Life's Master Project Plan is only uncertain to the individual. After having lived in Kolkata for 25 years, I had never visited Benaras or even thought about it. However the last one year there was an inherent urge to spend some time in Varanasi. Just to clarify, Kashi is known by many names. No one really knows how old this place is. Historians could have defined an age based on various tests and findings. I certainly think it is much older than what we know of. IIT Kharagpur recently declared ”Varanasi, the holy town has been a continuous human settlement since the days of the Indus Valley Civilization, around 6000 years ago.”

Someone had told me many years back that one cannot be in a place until the place wants you to be there. Although at that time I had taken it with mere shake of my head, over the last few years, I have been keenly observing this phenomena of being at places when one least expected, meeting with all kinds of people(who somehow was there at that 'Time'), expecting to meet someone and the person not there(and deep within I really did not want to meet the person!), coming across different kinds of information which made no sense at that 'Time', gaining skills which will have no use in this life(atleast at that 'Time' it looked like).......... and as 'Time' passed by each of these prior events had something to contribute to the present, stuff that looked stupid and made no sense, just fell in place – The Master Project Plan. So the time has come for the visit to Kashi, the visit that will ignite invisible sparks within……..

The Varanasi plan was for about 10 days. The few people who came to know of the plan, asked "Ten days????? What are you going to do ?" I do not know was my answer, which was true. I had some plans for some photography and sight seeing, apart from that nothing really for 10 days. Was travelling along with a cousin who is an experienced professional photographer. We arrived late in the evening after a long train journey, a 'negotiated auto' drive and finally arriving at Godaulia Chowk, where our guest house representative met us to take us to the stay. After walking for a couple of minutes on the road, we got into the narrow alley. In the dim street lights one gets to see closed shops on both sides, resting cows, dogs both moving around and lying and some casual walkers. Since our guide was in a rush had to keep pace with him and our luggage, and ensure that we do not get lost!!!!

The next day morning stepping out of my hotel alley, into a main alley, I was confronted by a speeding two wheeler. To avoid being hit I quickly jumped aside; as I raised my head to look, my eyes made contact with the large black eyes of a calm huge cow whose eyes had the un-said words ' बेटा, लगता हैं नए हो बनारस में. कोई बात नहीं , एक दो दिन में आदत पद जायेगा.'(looks like you are new in banaras, don't worry you will get used to this in a day or two). Slowly took the space between the cow and the right wall to move forward, to find another speeding two wheeler almost in front, this time kind of squeezed myself to the wall and the bike passed through. Like the cow before this time there was a dog facing who had saved itself from the bike. Again the unsaid words ' ज्यादा फिकर मत करना, सिर्फ सामने से हट जाना '(don't bother much, just don't get in their way). Another step and almost missed stepping into dog excreta, so the next few minute were spend in hop, skip, and jump saving oneself from different forms of excreta, slush and what not. By this time reached a slightly wider place in the alley and heaved a sigh of relief, looked above to thank who ever, and lo behold, so many monkeys around, watching all the fun, chuckling to themselves, these beings think that they are the most evolved and call us primates!!! Bringing the vision down to eye level, was wonderstruck with numerous shops on both sides of the alley. From eateries, serving local delicacies, to provision stores, to hair cutting saloons, to shops selling musical instruments, clothes, artifacts, and the list goes on; amongst these were people's houses. However the most interesting was the numerous small temples, almost every shop or house had their own exclusive small temple. After spending couple of minutes more managed to reach the main road leading to the Dashashwamedh Ghat, supposedly the most happening ghat after Manikarnika...

 

 

 

Walked slowly down to the Ghat and had the first glimpse of the Majestic Ganga. The mighty Ganga arises in the imposing Himalayas, as Bhagirathi from the foot of the Gaumukh Glacier at Gangotri, about 3900 m above sea level. (note : Gaumukh is the second largest glacier of India after Siachen.) The Bhagirati is joined by the Alakananda at Devaprayag. From Devaprayag the river acquires the name of Ganga, flows south then east through the Gangetic Plains of Northern India and then Bangaladesh emptying itself into the Bay of Bengal through the vast Ganga delta wherein lies Sunderban. Sunderbans, a complex ecosystem comprising one of the three largest single tracts of mangrove forests of the world. Apart from this it is also noteworthy that the Ganga is the third largest river in the world by discharge.

The Dashawamedh Ghat is the popular and busiest amongst the ghats. The name Dash-Ashwamedh is too have been derived after yagna or offerring by Lord Brahma that consisted of 10 horses!

Slowly walking down the steps of the ghat one gets the first glimpses of the Sadhus and the Panda's (also know as Tirtha purohitas). As the feet soaks in the cool waters of the Ganga, there is an associated quick flow of coolness through the body. Cupping both palms together to form a bowl, I quickly gather some water,....... it is crystal clear despite all the activities of devotees having their quick dips nearby. It is said that the waters of the Ganga have an inherent capability to keep itself clean. After spending a couple of minutes decided to visit the Lord at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Walked from the ghat towards Godaulia Chowk, the entrance to the temple comes on the way. It is said that there was no road here earlier and this used to be confluence place of the Ganga and Godaulia river(before 1863). The Godaulia was originally a stream by name Godavari that drained from the Veni lake(now this place is called Benia), and the city of Varanasi was derived from "Baranasi" the capital of the Kashi kingdom, a magnificent city which had walls 12 leagues around(a league is about 5.6 km).

Kashi yatra cannot be summarised in one episode…. so will come back later with more,until than लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु (Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhanvantu)

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