A time to play

Everytime i read about schools or watch a mushy movie on school days and how kids enjoy their school life, i feel myself shivering for a second. Its no secret on how i view my schooldays. So i cant take mine as a case in study. As i look at how it had shaped my fellow mates, i couldnt help but wonder...is it really worth the struggle??!!

Everyone says marks don't make or break a kid, each parent being an example themselves. Almost all of my friends vow never to allow their kids go through the same struggle that they went through as kids and promise themselves to allow the kids to choose their own path. But the March month madness makes the slave driver in them to triumph over the parent self. It will be ages before a viable alternative is found and accepted. I guess, inherently it has been branded into all of us that, unless you sweat it out the results wouldnt be worth it. It is definitely true but can't working hard and concentrating go hand in hand with peace and happiness?

More than schools, i think playgrounds teach kids a lot. I have hardly seen any kid smile before their exams. But how much ever tired they may be, they never stop smiling on a playground. Even if they fall down and get hurt, they dust themselves off and get ready for the next round - the single most valuable lesson for life that no book can teach. They find innovative ways to keep themselves busy and invent new games. They form teams and without any one teaching realise the joy of sharing and power that is team work. Results are left behind on the play area itself and in the end no one worries about the statistics. Its almost always the fun that mattered.

Sadly schools nowadays hardly have any space for playgrounds. That includes the one i studied too. We had to walk all the way to the ymca ground from gaudia mutt road. Considering that the road was stuck with traffic even before the invention of locomotives, you can imagine how many PT periods we would've had. The rare ones were like so surprising and swift, even before you could realise it would be over. Considering my bulky size, never been a big fan of playgrounds for i always used to falldown and get hurt. And playgrounds being the favorite haunt for picking on students like me, it was kind of terror spot too. But what is school life if not for those fights and incidents that scar you for life :) Its kind of fun in its own way too.

There should be a school just for playing. A sports school, where the subjects are all sports and physical activities..something like the shaolin temple they show in movies. The kids who pass out of those schools should be considered for olympics and state meets and stuff like that. Not academies. But schools. Recognised, fully approved and run like a school with proper teachers. As vocational groups they can also include some science and maths and subjects that the kids can choose on their breaks between the games and stuff. Atleast the setup should change into something like half day in playground and half day in classes kind of model. It would be really nice if one can derive such a system, that balances out studies and play. Afterall, the kids need some strength to lift those bulky school bags all the way from home to school and back. What better way than making them sweat a little on the ground :)

P.S: Valentines day ku Children's day post nu paakreengala :D Athaan oor poora pink paint adichi celebrate panraangalla..varietyla vidhyasama irunthutu pogatumay :D