Snehreal’s Weblog

Cesar, Cleopatra, Alexander the great, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Michelangelo are just a few names who made an impact on world history and on me. But all this didn’t happen in a classroom in school but thanks to a grandmother who understood the importance of growing up well rounded.

You see, Indian schools may produce great scientists, engineers and mathematicians but they will seldom produce great artists. Why…because art isn’t a medium to make money in India. You will never hear stories of parents coaxing children to read Charles Dickens or making trips to Florence to appreciate architecture because chances are they themselves don’t know anything about it. Don’t get me wrong. I am not belittling Indians. It’s just that unless you are a natural talent, the Indian educational system doesn’t nurture creativity.

So what got me initiated into this fascinating world of art and history? A vacation to Europe after my eighth standard. Till then I hadn’t known Michelangelo from Da Vinci or what the Mona Lisa was! But while the rest of my group got busy clicking pictures of the surroundings, the architecture, the sculptures and the beauty of Florence seduced me.

Once hit by the thunderbolt, there was no looking back. This is not to say that I became an intellectual. I still love my Harry Potters. But it still does make me wonder…Why aren’t we as kids taught about the Roman Empire or the American Civil war in school? Why is it that when I stood in front of the Pyramids of Giza, I didn’t have clue about its origin? How could I not know anything about Octavian or Pompey? Why does the Helen of Troy elude me till Brad Pitt decides to make a motion picture on it?

I have no answers to these questions. Today, as I look around and see the dumbing down of our educational system, I wonder whether a time will come when these great characters will be lost in history. Cheers!!