Learning

LEARNING

By Rimpy Shukla 

15 May 2023 Nagpur

It’s a surreal experience. I am trying to make my maid learn, starting with numbers. Today is Mother’s Day and I remembered the day when I taught Shreesh to hold the pencil for the first time. Its same with her. And I could see her earnestness and dedication as she practiced her writing letter 1 for first time. She brought her practice page to show me, and I observed first time its an art to learn to write beautifully. One must learn to follow the dots and then try to write without guidance. Its like slowing down and observing every moment where one is going. Its mindfulness in practice.

Multiple emotions surged within me as I saw her writing and trying to focus on her book. I am privileged to be born in a family where I could go to school and my father supported me till my higher education. How many females are there in this world who would give anything to be in my place.

My maid, Gudiya was born in a poor Muslim family where it was difficult to make the ends meet. One day her mother sent her to school and paid thirty rupees for it. When her father came back home after drinking, he beat her mother so much that her mother’s both hip bones were broken. After this episode Gudiya could never dare to look at school and resorted to a life of working in fields and living on basic cooked rice offered to her at the end of day.

We all want to learn something in our daily lives. That is why platforms like You Tube are thriving. Its man’s hunger for evolution and learning that millions of people are watching videos all the time. Even when we are watching a movie our brains are trying to get deeper into emotions and trying to navigate situations along with protagonists. The brain wants to learn on every level it can. Only the mode of learning varies. A newborn child is learning when his mother smiles at him and trying to communicate in her own language. Schools and colleges are active ways of learning and watching or observing someone in action is passive way. When we learn something, we get a sense of accomplishment that today was a day, well lived.

When my son was four or five years old, I couldn’t understand why he was hooked to cartoons and stuff. That’s when my husband told me that he is daily learning something and this medium is easy for him as well as entertaining too. Then I decided to choose films and cartoons for him which would impact him in his formative years.

Today looking at Gudiya I feel both joy and a sense of satisfaction. It was my husband Ashish who first thought about educating Gudiya and brought books for her. I am not sure how long she will be able to keep up her journey, but I am sure that the process will be meditative for her. When we throw a small stone in a river, the ripples go far in all the directions. Similarly, a small act of kindness goes a long way in changing someone’s life.