A Melting Pot

A school is a melting pot of families, cultures, languages, but especially ideas. Learning is really the yearning to explore the other side. A school is a tree shade to ideate with friends, it is a stage for emotion and expression, it is a cosy chair to read and discover, it is a conversation, it is banter, it is squabbling and laughter. A school is home for our children, and a place to know about those who are unlike them. A child is introduced to friends who feel differently, who think in stark opposition, who debate and challenge, who love differently, who are unlike their own. A mind that can hold diverse ideas, that yearns to learn, that can adapt to new environments, is a well formed mind.

A society is a conflict of ideas, a rope tugged from various sides, by different people, who have different needs, and a well tugged rope creates a balanced society. Similarly, what is a school if not the thread for conversation, a platform to exchange values and thought, the tussle between opposable ideas. A school is a well strung thread, that when amply pulled between passions and impulsions, ambitions and vocations, non-conformity and uniformity, creates a balanced mind.

The child learns to challenge information – to analyse a proposition and dissect subjects using one’s own mind, to challenge convention – to not simply accept what is told to one and to seek one’s own answers, to challenge one’s past– to introspect on one’s own beliefs, to inculcate the tack to learn new ideas, but more importantly, to unlearn bygone traditions, and relearn that which can be adapted.