BORN TO STAND OUT! (TALES OF INCLUSIVITY) #WriteAPageADay
Our mother was like a
shining star, exuberant, vivacious and hard to pin down, a Leo to the very hilt,
with all the attributes, good and not-so-good, that made the star sign stand
out. Only our father could hold her by the foot when she was flying high and
bring her down to Mother Earth with one smiling word.
The above quote by
Dr. Seuss could have been written for her. She was born to stand out.
Our world came
crashing down when, one January night, our father suffered a myocardial
infarction and left us bereft. It was a period of intense trauma, and yet, our
mother who suffered “the most unkindest cut of all”, and who did not get a
chance to bid farewell to the person who held her heart in his hands, rose
phoenix-like, and decided to take matters into her own hands.
In one fell stroke,
she turned into mother and father to her three daughters, turned her attention
to the running of the fledgling school she and her husband had begun, and
thereby hangs another tale.
A tale of how one
woman created a school that was, until then, quite unheard of in the small town
of Thrissur, and went on to take the town by storm through the tempestuousness
of her personality. She shocked people out of their wits when she strode around
in jeans and red pants, caring not a whit about what anyone said, turning a
deaf ear to all the rumours that only served to create a further aura about her.
She was born to stand
out! And she did just that!
She was exclusive,
but she brought in a school that was inclusive. Children from all walks of
life, rich and poor, were welcomed with open arms. Teachers who taught from the
heart, sometimes even without degrees in education, were trained by her
painstakingly. She had little use for fancy degrees and HiFi Methodology. All
she wanted was for her teachers to love the little ones and teach them in ways
that were exciting, unique and often, crazy. “Go down to the level of the child
and teach from there!” was her motto, and boy, did it work!
We watched her with
awe as she worked her magic, as slowly but steadily, she metamorphosed into a
force to reckon with in the little town. The colony around school was named
after it, the land value around our house sky-rocketed and an entire room in
school housed the numerous awards that she received at regular intervals. Her
prowess as a Kathakali dancer, her passion for the arts, literature and drama,
and of course, her innate instinct for what would work in school, won her the
Kerala Sangeet Nataka Akademi Award for choreography, as well as the Guruwar
and the Derozio Awards for excellence in teaching and education.
What else is
inclusivity if not all this? Putting forth one’s repertoire to the use of little
ones, and inviting them to share a world quite unique and magical? Creating a curriculum
that keeps children in a state of constant excitement as they discover new words
and worlds, both so significant in a world that has been torn apart by a virus so
threatening.
Finally, the most
important lesson our mother wanted her children to learn was not academic. She
wanted them to blossom out through activities that were extra-curricular and
turn them into personalities in their own right. As she put it, “Let us create citizens
of the world who will go out there and make the world their oyster.”
Even today, at the ‘young’
age of 84, our mother still stands out in her zeal to make things around her
work, be it the flowers at home that fill the air with fragrance, the online classes
that her teachers strive to fill with excitement and enjoyment, or even the two
little pugs who gambol about her feet, waiting for their quota of rusks at teatime.
Sometimes, she does let her enthusiasm run riot, as she strives for perfection
and quite railroads the people around her. But whatever she does, she does with
the same passion as when she was a little girl.
The rest, of course, lies in ‘Que Sera Sera’ – Whatever will be, will be!
Credits: Pinterest
Dedicated to our amazing, tempestuous mother, Nalini Chandran!
This is such a heartwarming piece, Deepti! A big salute to your spirited mom and my heartfelt respect to her. She is indeed an inspiration for all of us and there is so much to learn. Thanks for writing and sharing this ♥️
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