Worth?
Posted 29th November 2007 at 12:30 AM by bharadiaraksha
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Worth?
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I came second in my class mum
She came in beaming
I should have said ‘Good’
Instead of
Who came first?
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In a split
I robbed her off her smile
Devalued her efforts
Trivialized her sense of self
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Her dropping face
Made me see my folly
I wanted to rush and make amends
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But something in me said
Halt!
I had to stop being a mom
And be a human first
Use the faculty of understanding
That we alone are blessed with
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I struggled with
What really is important here?
Why did the evaluation happen at all?
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To know whether she had understood the text
She had
Shouldn’t that have been victory enough?
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Why then the fact that someone else who had performed better
Belittle her learning
Does her understanding of the text become any lesser
Because ‘another’ fared better?
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I skewed the essence of education itself
And had become another rat running the race
Another cattle following the herd
Nudging my child to be one too
A rat!
A cattle!
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Should the reason to learn source from the outside?
Should the reason to perform be solely to win over others?
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The only competition that is worth pushing her is in
With her past self
And not
With others
With myself
Or my ambitions of her!
<o:p></o:p>
Raksha Bharadia
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<o:p></o:p>
Worth?
<o:p></o:p>
I came second in my class mum
She came in beaming
I should have said ‘Good’
Instead of
Who came first?
<o:p></o:p>
In a split
I robbed her off her smile
Devalued her efforts
Trivialized her sense of self
<o:p></o:p>
Her dropping face
Made me see my folly
I wanted to rush and make amends
<o:p></o:p>
But something in me said
Halt!
I had to stop being a mom
And be a human first
Use the faculty of understanding
That we alone are blessed with
<o:p></o:p>
I struggled with
What really is important here?
Why did the evaluation happen at all?
<o:p></o:p>
To know whether she had understood the text
She had
Shouldn’t that have been victory enough?
<o:p></o:p>
Why then the fact that someone else who had performed better
Belittle her learning
Does her understanding of the text become any lesser
Because ‘another’ fared better?
<o:p></o:p>
I skewed the essence of education itself
And had become another rat running the race
Another cattle following the herd
Nudging my child to be one too
A rat!
A cattle!
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Should the reason to learn source from the outside?
Should the reason to perform be solely to win over others?
<o:p></o:p>
The only competition that is worth pushing her is in
With her past self
And not
With others
With myself
Or my ambitions of her!
<o:p></o:p>
Raksha Bharadia
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Total Comments 7
Comments
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Hi raksha,
well written. loved it. definitely faring 1st or second is not the yardstick. whether the essence of education is understood is more important...and i really am not happy with our indian education system......Posted 29th November 2007 at 02:26 AM by Shanvy
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Enjoying your beautiful article dear Raksha...keep bringing more..so sweetly worded..Its probably a cultural thing..I consciously do not do it but have to watch ...so easy to get carried away..and it is a thin line between reasonable expectations and unreasonable pressure..I enjoy your blogs so much..do keep blogin...Posted 29th November 2007 at 05:06 PM by Anandchitra -
nice one, Raksha! comparison does damage more than anything else.this reminded me of an yester year movie song where they say that---all those who are victorious are not intelligent.sriniketanPosted 29th November 2007 at 09:10 PM by Sriniketan -
Hi,
Thatwas a nice one... Comparison, I dont like it myself... So, I dont follow that... Thhe effects of it, I know... My son will not do anything my daughter does... like keyboard or vocal... Though he likes it.. because, my daughter is good at... Though we dont compare, it has gone into... Why till date we couldnt find out.... So left it... We used to tell them, they have to put their 100% efforts, irrespective of the results. We ask them to analyse the results... So they understand where they have to improve and correct themselves....Posted 29th November 2007 at 11:35 PM by Vysan -
dear raksha,
lovely thoughts well penned, let the children be like cacti, have their spikes and be tender inside not letting the outer world affect their beauty of growth..sunkanPosted 30th November 2007 at 12:06 AM by sunkan
