Like several fortunate FOBs, I have had the opportunity to study both in India and in the United States and every time I think about education, I thank god/fate (if there is one) that my early years of education were spent in India and my later years in the U.S. Briefly put, this was the only time when I did the right things at the right time.
There are several wonderful aspects of the Indian education which I pity the Americans do not receive here in the U.S. Yes, they do have the resources and the money, but that cannot make up for a great early education system. India, like several countries begins educating its children (those who do get educated) from a very young age which is when children are like "sponges" (More about the reach of our resources is reserved for another time). They can suck up and retain any amount of information you provide them. Like several of my peers, by the age of 7 when children's speech starts to make sense, I could already speak and read 2 completely different languages (Tamil and English). The importance of language learning on the intellect of a child cannot be overemphasized. For parents who have not given a thought about this (who think their children can blend with the American community (if you are in the U.S.) or the modern world (if you are in India) only if they spoke English at home), I would implore you to read some literature on bilingual education research. By the age of 14, most us could fluently read, write and speak 3 languages, all structurally and etymologically different from each other.
Apart from languages and having an early start, we also grew up with some positive aspects of the British educational system. Sure, they ruled and depleted our resources for about a century, they are shameless enough to keep the things they plundered from us in their London museum till date and wouldnt even think of returning them, call ALL our 4000 and odd foods, for the lack of a better imagination, as "curry",... But they did give us some great gifts, the most important of those being their language. To read Blake, Byron, Shelley, Wordsworth, Keats, Shakespeare, Dickens, Maugham, Wodehouse, and several others is a priceless experience! Our love for languages probably stems from our Indianness, and we sure do know how to appreciate a language!
When we studied regional languages, we learnt some phenomenal literature, some of which dated even as early as the 2nd century B.C. such as the thirukkural, silappadikaaram, aathichoodi, naaladiyaar,... These works taught us our culture and the philosophical meaning of life, such as how to lead a righteous life, the responsibilities of a human towards his/her society, family, as a parent, as a son/daughter and many more. The two liners from thirukkural hold as true today as they held in 2nd century B.C. (more about Thirukkural another time). Apart from these, there were phonetic, grammatic, and structural aspects of languages that were taught.( Since I am a Tamilian, I can comment only on the languages I studied. I imagine the same would hold true for a Telugu or a Marathi. )
Even today, we pride ourselves as having the best ancient literature and culture. We Indians can boast of two classical languages, one of which is still spoken by over millions of people in several countries and has an active literature scene. We have given the world some of its oldest but still living music and dance forms and classical traditions. Kalidasa's Shakuntalam, Bharatanatyam, and Kathakali are widely studied and taught by faculty all over the world in theater or South Asian Culture classes. Our classical dance forms have captivated audience worldwide that dancers such as Alarmel Valli have been awarded the Chevalier des arts et des lettres.
And yet, when it comes to higher education, we shun the arts as a major field of study. Children who major in fine arts, painting, dance, music, literature, or culture, in most cases, tend to be children of established artistes or do so because circumstances did not let them choose a technical major (which could range from getting married once an undergrad degree is completed and becoming a full time home-maker to not being academically motivated). Try telling an Indian parent that their child is interested in doing research in the ancient arts of India or in Indian philosophy. But before you do so, ensure that you have first-aid handy because they will panic and start palpitating. This sends a message to them and their friends that either their child is academically challenged or he/she is an idiot. That smirk they would get from a neighbour who meets with the answer, "My daughter is majoring in the performing arts of North-East India" for the question, "My son is majoring in computer engineering. What is your daughter up to?" would be unavoidable. But so what if people do not understand that every individual is different? Isn't it more important that your child has the life he/she can be satisfied with, rather than the desire to avoid explaining to the neighbour why he/she took a different path?
Yes, there is a financial factor involved. Every parent wants his/her child to be rich and in a good job, and majoring in arts might not make them so, at least at the outset. It might be a difficult path to take. It might mean not getting a bride/a groom who might be an Engineer/ going to America for an M.S./getting that fat paycheck every month or a company car/commanding that respect among relatives that you are a winner in their terms. But isn't it important that the child be genuinely interested in that profession because he/she would probably be doing it his/her entire life? I can understand if children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds do not want to go into the arts realm because their priorities are different, but why thrust the same on children from well-to-do families as well?
We respect math and science so much that we are blinded by other things that form a part of our life. We gave the world Vivekenanda, Ramanuja, Buddha, Mahaveera, Kabir, Gandhi and many more philosophers who said that respect your fellow humans, service to humanity is service to God, and materialistic pleasures such as money cannot fulfill your life. When did we turn into a society that only respects money? When did we turn into people who poke fun at someone because he/she is different and stands for his/her beliefs? When did money and position take priority over life and passion? When did our ravenousness start winning over our respect for fellow humans? If all of us turn into software engineers or doctors, who will carry on our tradition and our philosophy? Who will be a scholar of that beautiful Meghadhootham or the righteous Ulaganeedhi?
There are performers. Yes, there are several performers. Go to Chennai during the December season and you will get Carnatic musicians and Bharatanatyam dancers for a dime a dozen. But you cannot find researchers of these arts that easily (at least of Indian origin). You can also find actors, VJs, DJs, and so on for less than a dime a dozen. But I am not talking about them. I am talking about people in the real "arts" disciplines. This is true not just for the step motherly treatment our arts studies receive, but also for the-worse-than-step motherly treatment meted out to other disciplines such as agriculture, homeopathy, siddha, women's rights, and many more.
Our education system teaches us the importance of math and science, sometimes a tad too much! So much that we do not even consider doing what we really want to do with life. At the end of the day, no one wants to look back at their life after they are 50 and say, "I would've made a good performer had I chosen to pursue it as a career". After all, several experiences, good and bad, spice up our lives. But regret about the lack of a passionate life, should not be one of them!
There are several wonderful aspects of the Indian education which I pity the Americans do not receive here in the U.S. Yes, they do have the resources and the money, but that cannot make up for a great early education system. India, like several countries begins educating its children (those who do get educated) from a very young age which is when children are like "sponges" (More about the reach of our resources is reserved for another time). They can suck up and retain any amount of information you provide them. Like several of my peers, by the age of 7 when children's speech starts to make sense, I could already speak and read 2 completely different languages (Tamil and English). The importance of language learning on the intellect of a child cannot be overemphasized. For parents who have not given a thought about this (who think their children can blend with the American community (if you are in the U.S.) or the modern world (if you are in India) only if they spoke English at home), I would implore you to read some literature on bilingual education research. By the age of 14, most us could fluently read, write and speak 3 languages, all structurally and etymologically different from each other.
Apart from languages and having an early start, we also grew up with some positive aspects of the British educational system. Sure, they ruled and depleted our resources for about a century, they are shameless enough to keep the things they plundered from us in their London museum till date and wouldnt even think of returning them, call ALL our 4000 and odd foods, for the lack of a better imagination, as "curry",... But they did give us some great gifts, the most important of those being their language. To read Blake, Byron, Shelley, Wordsworth, Keats, Shakespeare, Dickens, Maugham, Wodehouse, and several others is a priceless experience! Our love for languages probably stems from our Indianness, and we sure do know how to appreciate a language!
When we studied regional languages, we learnt some phenomenal literature, some of which dated even as early as the 2nd century B.C. such as the thirukkural, silappadikaaram, aathichoodi, naaladiyaar,... These works taught us our culture and the philosophical meaning of life, such as how to lead a righteous life, the responsibilities of a human towards his/her society, family, as a parent, as a son/daughter and many more. The two liners from thirukkural hold as true today as they held in 2nd century B.C. (more about Thirukkural another time). Apart from these, there were phonetic, grammatic, and structural aspects of languages that were taught.( Since I am a Tamilian, I can comment only on the languages I studied. I imagine the same would hold true for a Telugu or a Marathi. )
Even today, we pride ourselves as having the best ancient literature and culture. We Indians can boast of two classical languages, one of which is still spoken by over millions of people in several countries and has an active literature scene. We have given the world some of its oldest but still living music and dance forms and classical traditions. Kalidasa's Shakuntalam, Bharatanatyam, and Kathakali are widely studied and taught by faculty all over the world in theater or South Asian Culture classes. Our classical dance forms have captivated audience worldwide that dancers such as Alarmel Valli have been awarded the Chevalier des arts et des lettres.
And yet, when it comes to higher education, we shun the arts as a major field of study. Children who major in fine arts, painting, dance, music, literature, or culture, in most cases, tend to be children of established artistes or do so because circumstances did not let them choose a technical major (which could range from getting married once an undergrad degree is completed and becoming a full time home-maker to not being academically motivated). Try telling an Indian parent that their child is interested in doing research in the ancient arts of India or in Indian philosophy. But before you do so, ensure that you have first-aid handy because they will panic and start palpitating. This sends a message to them and their friends that either their child is academically challenged or he/she is an idiot. That smirk they would get from a neighbour who meets with the answer, "My daughter is majoring in the performing arts of North-East India" for the question, "My son is majoring in computer engineering. What is your daughter up to?" would be unavoidable. But so what if people do not understand that every individual is different? Isn't it more important that your child has the life he/she can be satisfied with, rather than the desire to avoid explaining to the neighbour why he/she took a different path?
Yes, there is a financial factor involved. Every parent wants his/her child to be rich and in a good job, and majoring in arts might not make them so, at least at the outset. It might be a difficult path to take. It might mean not getting a bride/a groom who might be an Engineer/ going to America for an M.S./getting that fat paycheck every month or a company car/commanding that respect among relatives that you are a winner in their terms. But isn't it important that the child be genuinely interested in that profession because he/she would probably be doing it his/her entire life? I can understand if children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds do not want to go into the arts realm because their priorities are different, but why thrust the same on children from well-to-do families as well?
We respect math and science so much that we are blinded by other things that form a part of our life. We gave the world Vivekenanda, Ramanuja, Buddha, Mahaveera, Kabir, Gandhi and many more philosophers who said that respect your fellow humans, service to humanity is service to God, and materialistic pleasures such as money cannot fulfill your life. When did we turn into a society that only respects money? When did we turn into people who poke fun at someone because he/she is different and stands for his/her beliefs? When did money and position take priority over life and passion? When did our ravenousness start winning over our respect for fellow humans? If all of us turn into software engineers or doctors, who will carry on our tradition and our philosophy? Who will be a scholar of that beautiful Meghadhootham or the righteous Ulaganeedhi?
There are performers. Yes, there are several performers. Go to Chennai during the December season and you will get Carnatic musicians and Bharatanatyam dancers for a dime a dozen. But you cannot find researchers of these arts that easily (at least of Indian origin). You can also find actors, VJs, DJs, and so on for less than a dime a dozen. But I am not talking about them. I am talking about people in the real "arts" disciplines. This is true not just for the step motherly treatment our arts studies receive, but also for the-worse-than-step motherly treatment meted out to other disciplines such as agriculture, homeopathy, siddha, women's rights, and many more.
Our education system teaches us the importance of math and science, sometimes a tad too much! So much that we do not even consider doing what we really want to do with life. At the end of the day, no one wants to look back at their life after they are 50 and say, "I would've made a good performer had I chosen to pursue it as a career". After all, several experiences, good and bad, spice up our lives. But regret about the lack of a passionate life, should not be one of them!
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