Freedom from Class
Year:1987.
Place: Shillong (the scenic capital of Meghalaya, NE India)
I was in Class Seven then. About 12 years old. School used to be fun. Friends, activities,games, studies... in that order.One bright summer day, life came to a sudden grinding halt. The friendly faces of my tribal friends changed overnight.
The city reeled under agitation by the local tribals who wanted the non-tribals like me, out of their city. Their city? I wondered....Even my grandpa had been born here....I didn't understand any of it.
School was closed indefinitely as curfew was announced amidst a long series of demonstrations,bandhs and attacks against non-tribals.
How did we manage to study that year? We had no on-line learning to help us through.
On every saturday, we'd go during the curfew relaxation hours, get our assignments for a week, and submit them next week. This went on for about four months. At the end of the year, we gave our annual exams as usual and sailed on to the next class.
Necessity is the mother of invention, they say. I still remember that year fondly. It was a year marked by freedom from regular classes.Even at a time when there were no cellphones or computers in every home, it meant fun. Yet we managed to learn all that was taught to us.
Today, when I run my eyes down the long list of online courses on my computer screen, I know there are millions who cannot go to regular classes and would have been deprived of further education had it not been for such a remarkable technology.
Place: Shillong (the scenic capital of Meghalaya, NE India)
I was in Class Seven then. About 12 years old. School used to be fun. Friends, activities,games, studies... in that order.One bright summer day, life came to a sudden grinding halt. The friendly faces of my tribal friends changed overnight.
The city reeled under agitation by the local tribals who wanted the non-tribals like me, out of their city. Their city? I wondered....Even my grandpa had been born here....I didn't understand any of it.
School was closed indefinitely as curfew was announced amidst a long series of demonstrations,bandhs and attacks against non-tribals.
How did we manage to study that year? We had no on-line learning to help us through.
On every saturday, we'd go during the curfew relaxation hours, get our assignments for a week, and submit them next week. This went on for about four months. At the end of the year, we gave our annual exams as usual and sailed on to the next class.
Necessity is the mother of invention, they say. I still remember that year fondly. It was a year marked by freedom from regular classes.Even at a time when there were no cellphones or computers in every home, it meant fun. Yet we managed to learn all that was taught to us.
Today, when I run my eyes down the long list of online courses on my computer screen, I know there are millions who cannot go to regular classes and would have been deprived of further education had it not been for such a remarkable technology.
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