Tuesday, April 17, 2007

बी आणि खत

कुठल्या न कुठल्या निमित्तानी हा कितीही उहापोह केला तरी उत्तर न मिळणारा प्रश्न डोकं काढतोच. मुळात बियाणं चांगलं असेल, तर कुठलंही खत घातलं तरी काय फरक पडतो? मुळात मातीच चांगली असेल तर सामान्य कौशल्य असलेला कुंभार सुद्धा सुबक मडकं करू शकतो का? गळा चांगला असेल तर कुठल्या गुरुकडे गेलात याल कितपत महत्त्व आहे?

एक मात्र खरं; खत, कुंभार, गुरु यांची मुळात गरज असते हे मात्र कोणी नाकारू शकत नाही!

तर परवा चर्चेचा विषय होता की आपल्या जडणघडणीत आपल्या शाळेचं किती योगदान असतं? आपल्या मुलाला अमुक एका शाळेतच प्रवेश मिळावा असा हट्ट धरणं खरच कितपत योग्य आहे? "अति तिथे माती" या न्यायानुसार, कुठलाच अवाजवी हट्ट धरु नये हे जरी खरं असलं, तरी शालेय शिक्षण बर्‍याच बाबतीत महत्त्वाचं असल्यामुळे "शाळा चांगली हवी" यात तथ्य आहे न?

मला माझ्या शाळेचा खूप अभिमान आहे. माझ्या जडणघडणीत माझ्या शालेय शिक्षकांचा, मैत्रीणींचा आणि शाळेच्या वातावरणाचा फार मोठा वाटा आहे असं मी मानत आलेय. यात शाळेच्या दगडी जुन्या इमारती, लाकडी जिने, मोकळी मैदानं, बुचाची झाडं, भलं मोठं सभागृह, थोरलं ग्रंथालय आणि त्यातली नकाशांनी भरलेली खोली, पाण्याची टाकी सगळं आलं! दरवर्षीच्या स्पर्धा आल्या, हस्तलिखितं आली, निवडणुका आल्या, स्नेहसंमेलनं आली! "मुळात तुमच्यामधे जे काही गुणावगुण असतील त्यात शाळेच्या शिकवणुकीमुळे खरंच किती फरक पडतो?" या प्रश्नाला उत्तर देताना हे सगळं माझ्या डोळ्यापुढून भर्रकन् सरकून गेलं. या सगळ्या गोष्टींचा माझ्यावर खरंच किती ठसा उमटलाय हे व्यक्‍त करायला बहुतेक मी अपुरीच पडले.

पण "तू दुसर्‍या कुठल्या शाळेत गेली असतीस तर खरंच तू वेगळी व्यक्‍ती झाली असतीस?" किंवा "तुझ्या शाळेत जाणार्‍या सगळ्यांनाच असं वाटतं?" या प्रश्नांचं ठाम उत्तर तर मी किंवा कोणीही देउ शकणार नाही. काहीजण स्वयंपूर्ण असतात, तर काही गुरुस्पर्शानं धन्य होतात. कधी भेट न दिलेल्या शक्यतेच्या जगात कुठलं बियाणं कसं उगवलं असतं हे कसं सांगणार?

6 comments:

Anand Sarolkar said...

बी कितिही चांगलं असलं तरी पण त्याला योग्य ख़त, पाणी अणि हवामान हे लगतंच. मला तरी असा वाटत कि आपण कुठल्या शाळेत जातो हे खूप महत्वाच आहे. ताली एक हाथ से नही बजती। :)

KedarsThoughtsWork said...

तुला wild flowers अावडतात का गं?

Sumedha said...

प्रश्न मला रानफुलं आवडतात का हा नाही रे! नर्सरी मधे फुललेल्या फुलाला विचार, "का रे बाबा, तुला रानात वाढायला आवडलं असतं का?"

Monsieur K said...

you have started the debate really well.
how a child or a person develops during his/her formative years depends on 2 factors -
a) internal or inherent factors like in-born talent, intelligence, etc
b) external facilitating factors that aid his/her growth & include school, teachers, books, friends & even parents

the questions i have are

1) does the individual have any choice between any of these 2 factors?
- i dont think so.

2) do parents have any control on any of the factors?
- they have no control over inherent factors (unless u decide to marry Einstein and hope that your offspring has his brains - just kidding)
- they try to control the external factors like choosing the best possible schooling, buy the best possible books, offer the best possible career guidance that they can AFFORD, and everything else that is available to them.

a few Qs that you have raised
1) how much difference does schooling have on you?
- results vary with individual. but you can notice the difference the schooling has on each individual.
e.g. i was not surprised to learn that a smart & confident 18 year old boy had done his schooling from Scindia School, Gwalior - his schooling & upbringing showed in the way he carried himself in front of 15 MBA grads who were atleast 5 years elder to him.

2) if i went to a different school, would i be a different person?
- a friend of mine who did his entire schooling in Oriya can today speak very confidently in English. however, he believes that had he done his schooling in English, the transition would have been easier. who knows, he might have been a different person (pls note i am not saying better - just different - i have no intention of stirring a hornet's nest by supporting English medium over regional medium of schooling - in the end, it is a personal choice)

3) do all people in my school think like this?
- i was hurt to see a discussion forum called "teachers i hated in school" in the Orkut community of my school. i admit that not all the teachers i had in school were the best - but that doesnt mean that i should "hate" any of them. i am what i am today, because of the efforts put in by each one of them when i was a child. unfortunately, not all people think like this.

coming to the last comment from kedar & your reply to that,
a wildflower or the flower in the nursery - both have only 1 life each. unfortunately, they dont make the choice of where they want to grow - the gardener ("He") makes the choice for them. they are content in simply growing up with their friends, until they grow up and realise that there exists a different world elsewhere. :)

KedarsThoughtsWork said...

First off, it is a pity on my part that someone has to remind via an e-mail to me to look at a blog. So, before I start, I must register that e-mails are still more popular than blogs :)

Having said that --

All this is too complex for me. I just believe that "it's Nature, not nurture" as someone has said. And regarding learning I like Oscar Wilde's quote the best -- "Everything that is worth learning can hardly be taught".

BTW, the things are the way they are! I am not sure if they can "really" be changed. In a way this relates to the famous theory of causation :)

Lastly, sincere apologies for selecting the Roman script and English Language to post comments on Marathi Blog. The "Work Language" syndrome and lack of better tools -- I can blame it to them. But frankly, I am deeply frustrated by that.

Sumedha said...

To your point, Kedar, if you "really" loved to use a particular script, tools (or lack their of) should not matter. Just like if you are a born "natural"... etc.

Just kidding :)