Friday, September 5, 2014

Modi: Reaching out to children and beyond!

On the dawn of the 68th Independence Day of India, we witnessed an outstanding roar from the red fort never heard before. We were really never bothered about the puppet whispering facts standing behind huge shields of protection. But this time was special, the Prime Minister was special. It was our beloved Narendra Modi for god sake. And the nation was not disappointed. In fact, it was way more than we had asked for. That voice, that energy and that vision...oh my god!

The nation was touched and felt proud of having such a man as our Head of the Government. And today we eagerly wait to see that vision come to reality as we move forward promisingly. And then recently he put forward his views of reaching out to all the children and teachers of India on the occasion of Teacher's Day. And the whole country waited again, eagerly and proudly. And at the end when it happened, we are clueless what to say of this man. We are so proud of our dear Prime Minister!

As we logged on to the television, we saw our Union Minister for HRD telling children a wonderful story with a lesson that learning is also a big part of the whole teaching experience and how our teachers must keep on their learning paths. As impressive as that story was the delivery and the texture of the language. She is a really good speaker, Smriti, let's see how she overhauls the educational framework in the times to come. And then there were couple of children with their energetic presentations but everyone really was looking forward to Modi getting up and conquering the dais. And then it finally happened.

He means business from the very first word he says and that tone continues till the very end. Modi talked about the sad reality of Indian society where the profession of a teacher is seen as a last resort by most of the people. They will try to get into every other avenue of employment and after exhausting all, they would start thinking about the possibilities of teaching. But why is that?. He tells us that the golden times where the teacher was the most respectful position has to be brought back into our times and rightly so. And a lot needs to be done in this regard.

Secondly, he emphasized a lot on the need to give special attention to the girl child and the urgent need to fill the vacuum created by the conspicuous absence of toilet facilities which are increasingly affecting their drop out rates. In one of the answers he argued that all must be seen as equals and how it is the responsibility of the teachers to address the special needs of the students and to include something for everyone in their lessons and lectures. Brilliant idea indeed. He went on to motivate children about saving electricity and conserving the atmosphere. He showed them the simple ways of becoming a good citizen and playing their parts in improving the status of the nation.

Modi also talked about how parents are responsible  to restrain their kids in certain domain. As soon as they are born, they are either labelled as an engineer or doctor leaving no space for free will. In this regard Modi warned parents against labeling their kids in any way. They should be given the freedom to choose their future. Modi also talked about creating a temperament in student so that they feel the responsibility towards their country. He illustrated by taking the example of a Japanese school where the student along with the teachers are responsible for the upkeep of the school toilets. That eventually develops a sense of responsibility in the students. Same must be replicated in Indian schools.

Then there were emotional and humorous moments as well when he talked about the mischief that children do and how it is very natural of them to do that. He went on narrating some of his own that cheered up all the little ones. And yes probably we would never have known this side of child Modi if not for today. Then on a deeper note, he gives a brilliant mantra. We should always think about what we want to do and not what we want to become. That would just mislead us. This clarity of thought has influenced me a lot and i am sure way too many people would also find it impressive!

Talking about his speech, one can easily see an altogether different approach from that from the red fort. This time the audience was different. And intelligently he had kept the speech short, simple and the tone and texture was entirely modified for the sake of children. In fact, he decided to give more time for the Questions from the students. And each answer he gave was so complete in itself. I wonder if we can write such answers in Mains! Anyways, another interesting thing was the use of video conferencing from various government schools. And the selection of places was also pretty strategic and correct viz. North East, South, Port Blair etc. The whole thing was pretty well managed. Kudos.

And lastly, the way he put forward that politics is not a profession and surely is more like a public service was legendary. Modi goes on to add that he feels that the whole of 1.25 billion Indians are his family and working for the benefit of these Indians motivates him a lot. And this is how public service to him is more like supporting a big family than a profession. And ergo he is always motivated to walk the extra mile. Ubercool. And also at the end he mentions that the whole idea behind this social experiment was to check the readiness of the networks to get connected with the rest of the country in case required, What a brilliant mind! To add to it, the terminal act to going among the children himself and asking them how did he do was epic, absolute epic!

So, i guess it is time to replace Chacha Nehru with Modi bhai  ehh!

I bow my head, to you, the legendary, Mr. Modi!



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