Time out

I slowly graduated from teaching only English, to other aspects of learning too. I taught her simple ways of health care, cleanliness, child care and nutrition. She had twochildren, and she wanted the best for them. Rekha always th-ought that her little son could not speak because he was a slow le-arner, till I observed the child and realised that he could not hear. It took a long time to convince Rekha to take the child to the doctor and follow up with the treatment.

Rekha soon learnt that daliya was more nutritious than bread or cake. She would observe carefully when I made vegetable upaa or carrot or palak parathas and felt that these would make a much better meal for her children than the biscuits she fed them. The learning process was more through awareness. Everyday there was something new to learn. She would grumble about water and electricity problems and I taught her to conserve what little was available without wastage.

She was frustrated with the garbage around her home and expected the sweepers to keep it clean. I gently explained that it was also her responsibility to ensure that she did not throw garbage around.

In our home it was 8220;say no to polybags8221; andwe slowly coaxed Rekha to use a cloth bag, and a tiffin box to carry food. I explained that education also meant understanding what was good and correct and inculcating it in everyday living. She was on top of the world when I explained that she could make a difference in her colony and that others would learn from her.

Rekha was totally clued up on the latest products for beauty care thanks to the visual media. She considered me old fashioned for using traditional concoctions. Rekha was fair strapping lass of the hills and had her own charm. I often complimented her on her neat and clean appearance and clear complexion. She would blush and say 8220;thank you8221;.

I even explained the logic that a healthy body and complexion depended most on one8217;s diet and not on layers of cream. She would question me about the products sold and ponder over what I said. Suddenly out of the blue one day when I was busy making an apple pie, Rekha burst out 8220;memsaab, you correct8221;. I asked her 8220;about what8221; and with a sweetsmile she said, 8220;you tell about good food for good skin8221;.

Rekha has been with me for two years and the learning pro-cess is carrying on. There are hu-ndreds like Rekha with half-ba-ked knowledge which, if cha- nnelised correctly, would produce more effective results 8220;in education for all8217;. A non-formal system of educating would show better results in our country, proving that learning need not be confined to classrooms alone.

This takes me back to February 1997 when I was doing a story-telling project with NBT in Sarwad Rajasthan. A fruit-seller at the bus stop from whom I bought fruits every day asked me, Memsaab, aap sab bachon ko kahani sunate hain aur padne ke liye kahate hain, aur kitaab bhi de rahein hein; main unpad hoon, mere liye koi kitaab hein? I was moved to tears, I thought for just a second, took out a beautifully illustrated Hindi alphabet book and gave it to the fruit-seller. He smiled with gratitude and lovingly put the book into his bag.