Manipulating the developing mind - A brief glance at the Indian Education System.

Written by Sakhi

Edited by Mehul Shah

Illustrated by Spoorti Gowda

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Imagine this. 

You are a 6-year-old studying in grade 1.

Your art teacher tells you to paint a scenery of your choice.

You do as told.

You draw a horse that flies,

A river that floats, 

A sun that throws darkness instead of light,

And an orange sky.

You receive a grade F.

Your parents are called to school,

and the teacher scolds your lack of attention,

lack of concentration and lack of learning. 

Alas, the assignment was to ‘create a scenery’.

A scenery consisting of all things that are real. 

You go home,

You are scolded,

shouted at,

You see your parent’s disappointed faces,

As they proceed to tell you that what you had drawn,

was but a figment of your imagination,

not reality.You are told to follow the ‘guidelines’

and abide by what is taught

And your 6-year-old mind sends a note to self,

“Draw what you have seen.”

“Follow what the teacher says.”

“Imagination is not real.”

And as the years pass by,

Your History teacher in the seventh grade,

Announces the highest mark,

You refer to the ‘toppers’ answer sheet,

Every answer is like a screenshot of the textbook’s pages,

The words written on the paper match the printed ones,

Every answer follows the concept of memory retention.

You make a note to yourself,

“If I mug up and learn every page, I might be the next topper.”

In the 12th grade,

Your English teacher asks you to provide a summary, 

Of a poem in your English textbook,

You recite an answer based on your own interpretation,

and understanding.

Your teacher scolds you,

She goes on to recite a summary based on the ‘textbook language’.

“Give textbook answers”

“Put in the keywords”

“Do not put in your own opinion”

You note these down in your notebook,

and mark them as important points to remember.

The seasons fade,

Days turn to night,

A college degree turns in a graduation certificate,

Jobs turn into retirement,

And throughout this journey,

Your mind keeps on taking notes,

On how and what to do,

Forgetting the why.

The mind, 

Built to follow, 

Not to question,

Built to oblige,

Not resist,

Built to do,

Not imagine.

And just like that,

You’ve lived your life,

the way you were told to,

not the way,

You may have wanted to,

For the idea of an individual want,

Never came into existence.

Now ponder about this, 

Could you truly imagine the picture drawn by this piece of poetry?

Could your mind visualize every sentence, word or syllable?

Were you able to create a story after its end? 

And most importantly,

Did you question whether this piece of poetry, 

Was truly a source of awareness, 

Or just another mean, 

to manipulate the already-developed mind.

#Education #IndianEducationSystem #Conformity #Schooling #Learning