“Match is against C section tomorrow. Come to
the ground at sharp 7am”.
“Tomorrow evening
we have a bet match against the next street guys at 4:30”.
“Come fast man,
are you still sleeping? Everyone has come”.
Those
were some of the phrases which one would frequently hear in my childhood days. The
day would start as early as 6:00 am. Armed with bats & stumps, catching up
2 more sleepy guys, reaching the ground in cycle by triples and pitching the
stumps when the rest of the world is still in dreamland were the routine on
weekends. The energy levels would be at its peak. We would walk back home
dragging the cycle along side with us, discuss the game played, have snacks at
the road side stalls and make fun of each other.
Those
days the term “Games” implied only outdoor games. PT was the most sought period.
Young bloods would be waiting like a hungry lion to showcase their talents.
This promoted sportsmanship and acceptance of defeat in the right manner &
spirit. We had studies and sports in the right mix. We would reach home at
around 4:30 pm, go out to play and return back at around 6:15 pm. After that we
would study (not always) for around 2 hours before winding up for the day. We had
teachers who taught us discipline, how to manage time, how to respect elders
etc. Our teachers would chide us whenever we committed any mistakes. Today’s
teachers fear to chide their students fearing the wrath of parents who shower
excessive pamper to their kids and thereby spoiling them indirectly in the long
run.
These
days I hardly find any kids playing outdoor games. They study throughout the
day and find no time to play due to shrinking play grounds and excessive
parental & academic pressures. Kids appear more sensitive & mature at
such a tender age. They hardly tolerate failure and throw tantrums whenever
their parents refuse them of their favourite toys, gifts. Those days’ tuitions
were meant only for kids who were hyperactive and couldn't concentrate on
studies or for poor performers, but nowadays all the students have started going for tuition irrespective of their performance, thanks to the burgeoning
commercial coaching centre’s and the rat race to catch the first place.
They
are more glued to cell phones, video games and idiot box thanks to the advent
of technologies. I rarely find children cycling their way to school. They can
be spotted zipping down the roads with their fancy bikes & scooters and
most importantly they carry their cell phones with them to school under the
guise of worried parents. We never carried cell phones to our school nor were
we monitored by our parents. We never suffered from obesity because we always
cycled to all the places and never had snacks in Mcdonalds, KFC, Dominos.
The
front page of newspapers are always published with sensational news on students
murdering their teachers, committing suicides, vandalizing public properties,
abusive teachers and much more.
Where
do the present day students lack?
I
once flunked in a school exam. Depressed I was walking down the road and
incidentally bumped into my favourite teacher. She read my eyes and said “It is
only failure of examination, not you”. I was too young at that time to realize
the power of those words and realized it when the same words were echoed by my
boss when I flunked twice in my professional exam.
So
who is to be blamed here for all the mess?
The
students, teachers, parents, movies, education system?
I
don’t want to sound like a politician.
The
veteran Journalist and Actor Mr. Cho Ramasamy rightly said “Those
days the streets were narrow but people were broad minded; now it has become
the other way”.
