Upside down, inside out

I took a tour of a heritage monument with some interior design students, the other day. And I realised just how often youngsters look at things that adults cannot (do not) see. These students talked indignantly about how people do not actually see or ‘experience’ heritage sites that they visit. They simply go through the motions one-dimensionally – just look around, read some of the plaques, take some photographs. I do the same, I argued, and I ‘experience’ all historic sites well enough. “Do you run your hands over the walls to get a feel of the stones and texture?” they challenged. 

I had to admit that I do not. (I generally keep my hands to myself in crowded, public places and use my ever-handy sanitizer if I happen to touch anything, I added mentally. I didn’t dare to voice this, on seeing them diving into deep discussion after running their hands over the stones of the structure. They wouldn’t understand this perspective of caution. They were design kids, with the wind in their hair and minds bustling with ideas.)

A chat with these kids made me look back at all those instances over the years, where students have opened a new window for me to look through. It shouldn’t take Einstein to tell us that ‘If you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got.’ Our students tell us this ever so often.

There was a student in my class who was known for his genuine concern for everyone around him. I saw him, quick to anticipate others’ needs, lending his classmates his notes, explaining complicated concepts to others before examinations, giving up his spot in the lunch line to anyone in a hurry…  Everyone liked him – simply because he was genuinely nice to all. However, one day while I was chatting with him idly, asking him about anything he would like to change in his school life, he said, “Oh yes! I am tired of being referred to as ‘sweet and kind’. I read and can discuss so many authors, I play chess, I love discussing history – why can’t anyone talk about all that?” He taught me that kids want to be known for their achievements, more than their personality. From where I was looking at him, I would have thought he would be happy to be known as a ‘good guy’. Clearly, he was not happy about it. It, kind of, made me rethink the identities of my students. And I ended up seeing many of them in quite a new light!

Some time back, I had accompanied some students to a residential school in another city for a debating competition. It was a beautiful location, so after all discussions were done with my students, I took off for a long walk around the lovely campus. That’s when I was accosted by a student from another participant school. She asked me if I would help her to prepare for the debate, since she was at a loss for points of argument.

Her request put me at a loss for words. I was there to help my own students win, in fact I was on duty to do just that. And yet, here she was, a member of an opposing team, asking for my help – now that was a new point of view. Surely, in an ideal world, any student can ask any teacher for guidance, without restraint? And yet, there I was, standing at an ethical crossroad, muttering excuses, offering platitudes.

On a lighter vein, there are some perspectives whose freshness is off the charts! For instance, a student known for her aversion to bathing told me once (in all earnestness), “Bathing is a concept created by soap companies who want to sell their products. We don’t really need to bathe every day.” Uh huh.

And then, of course, I see this ex-student of mine shining in the media every so often – the one who answers “I live” or ‘my best” whenever anyone asks him what he does in life. 

P.S: Now, that’s another way of looking at life.