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There are so many things not right with the world today.
There are also an equal number of eminent people and great minds constantly at work to put them in order, as they deem fit. Obviously, someone as small and insignificant as me cannot dare to even question the choices and decisions of world leaders, though I often get a whiff of favouritism, discrimination, greed and selfishness in their choices.
Leaving the strategising and diplomatic machinations to those in power, closer home what I feel needs immediate attention and change is our primary school syllabi.
Over the years, I have had to relearn and review important pieces of information we were taught and made to painfully memorise as the gospel truth while in school. Mnemonics, rhyming sequences and other tricks were our passage to remembering difficult and challenging questions and data. Now I realise that all that heartburn and effort was quite unnecessary in a lot of cases.
If your 10-year-old comes back from the science class and tells you excitedly that the smallest particle of matter is the atom, which cannot ever be broken down any further, you may want to nip this piece of misinformation in the bud. The bombing of Japan in the Second World War by America was based on the chemical reaction of an atom being broken into its smaller parts and the resultant energy was what caused such massive devastation and damage. The unfortunate atom had quite a short-lived glory as the indestructible and unyielding part of our existence!
Drinking milk is essential to our good health; bulls hate the colour red; a bat is blind; the sky is blue; Pluto is a planet; chameleons can change their colour; only cold-blooded creatures hibernate; all this and more has now been challenged but we still learnt it as children. We memorised and innocently digested information, believing it was an end to our learning woes and nothing new would ever crop up to challenge it.
I suggest we include fiction, fantasy and stories into classrooms. At least they are not pretending to be otherwise.
Who said we learn from our mistakes? Clearly not. Vladimir Putin and American presidents, one after another, have put that phrase to test and to rest.
You reap what you sow. Political parties in India have been planting the seed of intolerance, hatred and fanaticism but are voted back to power, reaping accolades and dominance, year after year.
Hurry up, make hay while the sun shines. I did just that with my shares and equity and then sat back sullenly to watch the stock market rocket!
Slow and steady wins the race. Really? In today’s world you cannot afford to be laid back or casual because chances are that there is always a colleague breathing down your neck, ready to remorselessly yank the carpet from under your feet the minute you let up.
Good things come to those that wait. But then you just may miss the bus!
The only constant is change. Accept or perish. pallavisingh358@gmail.com
The writer is a Jalandhar-based freelance contributor
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