What An Idea Sir ji
Saturdays With Shivani
We all love success stories. We cheer even if we just sniff a potential victory. No wonder the Indian edition of Shark Tank was a runaway success. It featured a 13-year-old, Anoushka Jolly, who won Rs 50 lakh funding for pitching her anti-bullying app ‘Kavach’. The idea had taken root when she witnessed bullying in school, having faced some of it herself.
Then there is Josh Wardle whose word game Wordle was recently acquired by The New York Times for an undisclosed price in the low-seven figures. Initially designed for his girlfriend, the game had 90 players by 1 November, within a month of making it public. Three months later the game had 300,000 daily players, which rose to two million by the following week!
How often have we been told, it’s the idea that sells and these two are the literal examples of how true that statement is. When an idea becomes a blockbuster, in our eagerness to lap it up, we rarely talked about how that idea actually travelled on the path to its execution.
What bothers me more is that everyone wants to hitch on to the trends’ bandwagon but not many think of becoming trendsetters. There is too much risk involved, no guarantee of success and taking the easy route is encouraged. Originality is often smothered the moment it takes root. Out of the box thinking is rarely, if ever, appreciated. Most of us do not know how else to handle it and we are more concerned that our encouragement may lead to failure. Either which way, we are doing a disservice to these brilliant minds and to the society that could have been so much richer if innovation was encouraged.
I know a child who can rattle off dinosaur names in alphabetical order but when the teacher asks her to recite the alphabet, she refuses point blank. The teacher assumes the child doesn’t know and disapproves. I recently overheard another child who wanted to paint the grass blue and the trees red because the art teacher had instructed to the class to ‘use their imagination’. By the time I turned around to see how it goes, the mother was already nodding in admonition and insisting how grass is ALWAYS green and trees brown. If disappointment had a face, it would be that child’s.
These incidents may seem insignificant but imagine when everyone around us, our parents, our teachers, schools, our religion, is intent on beating us into obedience and following the much-trodden path, what can we expect? The whole world has somehow conspired and come up with a code on how to curb originality. If we can’t make things simpler for the gifted, can we atleast not make it tougher for them.
Instead of making them jump hoops or putting hurdles in their way, what if we heard them out. I know it is not easy. Often it comes from a place of concern when all we want for our loved one is to avoid failure but we forget that success is not a promissory note. We can only teach them to get back on their feet every time they stumble and fall.
For teachers too, it might be too much to expect to pay attention to each and every kid. However please be kind. If you see a spark do not rush to blow it out. Share your observation with the parents and encourage them to follow it up. Who knows where it might lead?
Signing off with a prayer from my school days that I have often leaned on in times of doubt. It would do us all well if we could imbibe its spirit and pass it on to the next generation.
स्वयं विधाता हो हे मानव, अंतर में विश्वास जगाओ
चलो न मिटते पद चिन्हों पर, अपने रस्ते आप बनाओ
(Generate that self-confidence in yourself so you can be the creator of your destiny. Do not walk on the fading footsteps, forge your own path instead.)