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Journalism of Courage
One would think that lessons could only take place in a classroom. Notreally, I discovered when my maid persuaded me to teach her English. She hadnot had much of schooling in her village in Himachal Pradesh. So started ourlessons while she did her chores and I did the cooking.
I would converse with her in English, the sente-nces simple and practical,related to the environment in this case the kitchen. So it was 8220;Rekhaplease cut these beans into small pieces8221;. Her reply would be 8220;Memsaab, isthis okay?8221; We built up each day8217;s lear-ning with a recap of the new wordslearnt the previous day. I always used the word 8220;please8221; when I wanted herto do something and a 8220;thank you8221; when it was done. Rekha was quick toobserve this and made it a point to say 8220;th-ank you8221; whenever I gave hersomething.
Rekha soon learnt that daliya was more nutritious than bread or cake. Shewould observe carefully when I made vegetable upaa or carrot or palakparathas and felt that these would make a much better meal for her childrenthan the biscuits she fed them. The learning process was more throughawareness. Everyday there was something new to learn. She would grumbleabout water and electricity problems and I taught her to conserve whatlittle was available without wastage.
She was frustrated with the garbage around her home and expected thesweepers to keep it clean. I gently explained that it was also herresponsibility to ensure that she did not throw garbage around.
In our home it was 8220;say no to polybags8221; and we slowly coaxed Rekha to usea cloth bag, and a tiffin box to carry food. I explained that education alsomeant understanding what was good and correct and inculcating it in everydayliving. She was on top of the world when I explained that she could make adifference in her colony and that others would learn from her.
Rekha was totally clued up on the latest products for beauty care thanksto the visual media. She considered me old fashioned for using traditionalconcoctions. Rekha was fair strapping lass of the hills and had her owncharm. I often complimented her on her neat and clean appearance and clearcomplexion. She would blush and say 8220;thank you8221;.
I even explained the logic that a healthy body and complexion depended moston one8217;s diet and not on layers of cream. She would question me about theproducts sold and ponder over what I said. Suddenly out of the blue one daywhen I was busy making an apple pie, Rekha burst out 8220;memsaab, youcorrect8221;. I asked her 8220;about what8221; and with a sweet smile she said, 8220;youtell about good food for good skin8221;.
Rekha has been with me for two years and the learning pro-cess is carryingon. There are hu-ndreds like Rekha with half-ba-ked knowledge which, if cha-nnelised correctly, would produce more effective results 8220;in education forall8217;. A non-formal system of educating would show better results in ourcountry, proving that learning need not be confined to classrooms alone.
This takes me back to February 1997 when I was doing a story-telling projectwith NBT in Sarwad Rajasthan. A fruit-seller at the bus stop from whom Ibought fruits every day asked me, Memsaab, aap sab bachon ko kahani sunatehain aur padne ke liye kahate hain, aur kitaab bhi de rahein hein; mainunpad hoon, mere liye koi kitaab hein? I was moved to tears, I thought forjust a second, took out a beautifully illustrated Hindi alphabet book andgave it to the fruit-seller. He smiled with gratitude and lovingly put thebook into his bag.
