Editor’s note:

 

For the past few weeks we have been discussing out-of-the-box ideas for different and interesting classes the kids would like to see introduced in school. Suggestions ranged from forensic science to languages like Spanish, to solving crime. This week Kanupriya writes about her choice: Etiquette in different countries. Here's Kanupriya:          

 

            This week I wanted a class on different kinds of cultures and etiquette. For the younger kids I wanted the course to range from different ways to eat, like using chopsticks, and just general well mannered behavior. Also, did you know that there are seven different stages of formal dining - each more formal and complicated than the one before it? Therefore, as my physics teacher told me when my pencil point broke and I didn’t posses a sharpener, “you must be prepared for such…..calamities!!”

  

The classes must also include some common traditions and values about systems adopted in foreign countries. This should be included as, with airfares getting cheaper by the day, more and more people are traveling abroad. When most people travel overseas, they are very likely to find out all sorts of things -  except the culture. This is one of the reasons why Americans are considered so ignorant; they often end up mocking and insulting the culture of the other person. Indians too are beginning to be known for the same thing.

 

In China gifting a book is considered an offence. Not to mention the French who have ten million ‘rules’ which have to be followed or you don’t belong to good  society. Whenever you go to Africa the golden rule is just watch and don’t comment.Yet we could learn the significance of these things if we would understand better and not think of them as so absurd.

 

The other people also agreed with my idea and thought it would be really nice if we had a class on this subject. We went on to discuss different Indian rituals and fasts. We also discovered that there were lots of rituals concerning the younger girls in the family; they were implemented to stop the killing of young girl children. Many of our traditional rituals have been found to have scientific significance now.

 

I end with a quote you must keep in mind when learning about foreign culture

 “Whenever I have confronted that which was unfamiliar to me, I constantly sought neither to praise, nor to condemn, but only to understand.”

                                                                       -Spinoza

 

 

 

 

 

Editor's note: Please go to the page on Beauty to read other Midis' views on the subject !

 

In last week’s class, we discussed what we thought was beautiful.

 

First Anikaa said that she thought the buildings on Marine Drive looked beautiful because they were old, dirty and looked burnt. She also mentioned that her three favourite buildings were on Marine Drive. After this, Miss discussed that some people genuinely like the set-up on Marine Drive because it looks historical and looks like it has been there from the Mughal Empire !

 

Then Dishti said she thought that Singapore was beautiful because it was clean and it looked good. We discussed that Singapore was picturesque and enthralling because it had many great buildings and it had banned anything that had the potential to dirty the city.

 

In the end, Sahaj said that he loved his football and thought it was beautiful. He said that it was a great stress-reliever because he could kick as hard as he wanted and nothing would happen to it. He also said that he played with the football when his mother was not there, but when she was there he studied, so his mother thought he was always studying. We discussed how many people liked a football and most of the class agreed.

 

I think anything is beautiful when we like it. Also, we should never judge anybody / anything from their outer appearances. Many people may be ugly but good at heart. For examples, the freedom fighters and politicians who won us our independence were not very good-looking, but the world loved them because they were great leaders.

 

 

 

 

This is what my friends and I discussed on the 8th of July 06.

 

Last week's class was a fun class. We first played a game, "Double word improvisation". In this game, the two teams each enact 2 scenes. The teams choose compound words (eg.butterfly) and in each one of the scenes, one of the words must be in the dialogues.

Eg the word" butter " should be in any of the dialogues of scene 1 and the word "fly" in scene 2.

 

TeamA enacted the word "bullfight", whereas team B enacted the word "anthem". (an-them)

            

After this, we learnt about "ACCEPTANCE & TOLERANCE".

 

Very often in our lives, we find ourselves judging another human being, listing his faults and criticizing him, either out loud or in our heads. It is very easy to do this.

 

But remember: DON'T JUDGE ANOTHER PERSON UNTIL YOU HAVE WALKED IN HIS SHOES.

 

We have not been through what another person has: we don't know the circumstances of his life, or what has made him the way he is. So, if we can greet another with love and acceptance instead of judgement and criticism, maybe we can give him the chance to change, to progress. If we want others to recognize and respect us, to accept our faults and failings, we must do the same to them.

    

We , thus, learnt a lot in this class and along with that we even played games and had loads of fun.

 

We all know how much of a problem teachers can be. In the last class, as you all know, we all wrote down our problems, and this week we decided to tackle those which concern teachers, as we all deal with them at least once in our lives. So lets go on to the:

 

 

     P  R   O   B   L   E   M   S  ! ! ! !

 

Problem: If you have any troublesome teachers like a Hindi teacher who threatens to fail you and screams loud enough to make your eardrums blast, like one of our friends in class. She also gives you bad marks in your internals if you’re in her class. The worst is that she’ll fail you in your exams even if you’re not in her class.

 

We Say: Try to talk to her regarding your problem and maybe there is a reason behind her behavior. She may just be motivating you to try and do better in your internals. When striking up this conversation try not to sound angry or spiteful but speak with all due respect to her. All of us strongly feel that getting the point across well is the best solution. You may also make another teacher be present as a mediator.

 

Problem: This teacher hits them if they don’t understand or come up to her with their queries. She also takes them to the principal’s office for laughing or covering their faces. Which is not fair to the innocent girls.

 

 We Say: our sources inform us that this teacher went through a lot of emotional struggle by losing both her daughter and husband with just a few months’ gap. Again we suggest that the students directly go to the principal and inform her about this teacher because the principal may appreciate it more if the students directly approach her. Once again we would like to make it a must that you directly go forth and speak to the teacher with all due respect.

 

Problem: the headmistress is the main problem over here. She confiscates their books, cards when they play after finishing their work!!!! Which is not at all fair. Also she does not allow them to play at all, or she gives them very little time. She has also made singing graded that is why the grades of many people get pulled down a lot. They are not even allowed to go to the classrooms or corridors of their friends or higher classes. She often gives remarks or calls their parents to school.

 

 

We Say: that you should go forth and consult the counsellor so that she can find a solution to the problem.

 

*              *              *                   *                *