Clalre aLandln

1
My Encounter with Tagore
Cn 1hursday evenlng l meL Mr 8ablndranaLh 1agore ln Lhe park Pe was surrounded by
chlldren Screened by a [asmlne bush he was Lelllng Lhe Loddlers abouL Lhe lmporLance of naLure
Seelng hlm lnLeracL llke LhaL made me wanL Lo become a chlld agaln on Lhe lap of naLure en[oylng
everyLhlng she has Lo glve Pe flnlshed hls Lale and senL Lhe chlldren home
Aloud l reclLed my favorlLe paragraph from hls work '1o 1eachers' l belleve LhaL chlldren
should be surrounded by Lhe Lhlngs of naLure whlch have Lhelr own educaLlonal value 1helr mlnd
should be allowed Lo sLumble on and be surprlsed aL everyLhlng LhaL happens ln Lhe llfe Loday 1he
new Lomorrow wlll sLlmulaLe Lhelr aLLenLlon wlLh new facLs of llfe 1hls ls besL meLhod for Lhe chlld
8uL whaL happens ln school ls LhaL everyday aL Lhe same hour Lhe same book ls broughL and poured
ouL ln fronL of hlm Pls aLLenLlon ls never caughL by chance surprlses from naLure"
1agore heard me and asked me my name 1hls was my opporLunlLy Lhe one l LhoughL l would
never geL havlng an acLual conversaLlon wlLh Lhls lnLelllgenL Lhlnker Pe gesLured me Lo slL on one of
Lhe swlngs under Lhe mango Lree l saL down as we began Lalklng and soon enough l goL answers Lo
some of Lhe quesLlons LhaL were on my mlnd
l sLarLed off by asklng hlm why he made Lhese remarks ln hls speech Pe smlled and sald 1hls
has a very slmple answer naLure ls your besL Leacher naLure ls Lhe easlesL Leacher Lo undersLand buL
also Lhe hardesL 1he key Lo masLerlng naLure's lessons ls Lo be aLLenLlve ?ou have Lo look wlLh
dlfferenL eyes hear wlLh dlfferenL ears smell wlLh a dlfferenL nose LasLe wlLh a dlfferenL Longue and
feel wlLh dlfferenL hands ?ou have Lo be open Lo naLure lf you are plannlng Lo learn someLhlng from
her naLure does noL provlde you wlLh a LexLbook buL makes you learn from experlence 1haL ls Lruly
Lhe besL way Lo learn anyLhlng ln llfe ?ou wlll always remember someLhlng beLLer lf you wenL Lhrough
lL ?ou can read abouL lL buL you do noL know whaL lL feels llke And lf you do noL know Lhe feellng you
cannoL glve any compleLe feedback on lL 1hls ls why l say LhaL Lhe besL meLhod ls golng ouL and
experlenclng"
As l LhoughL Lo myself LhaL he was rlghL anoLher lnLrlgulng quesLlon popped lnLo my head
MlsLer 1agore" l sald ln your work '1o 1eachers' you speak abouL Lhe sysLem ln whlch we are all
roboLs Pow or ln whaL way can we change Lhls sysLem Lo make lL more sulLable?"
Clalre aLandln

2
Agaln he smlled 1haL ls a dlfflculL quesLlon you are ralslng chlld l can Lell you LhaL Lhls wlll be Lhe
mosL compllcaLed Lask people musL face 8uL we cannoL really change Lhe sysLem We can only change
ourselves expecLlng LhaL oLhers wlll Lransform Lhemselves Loo My hope ls LhaL all Lhese changed people
wlll Leamup and do someLhlng abouL Lhls problem we are experlenclng now Schools are parL of Lhe
sysLem ln whlch we are ln lL ls parL of Lhe rouLlne LhaL we Lake ouL Lhe same book aL Lhe same hour and
do Lhe same Lhlngs all over and over agaln 6 hours flve days a week lL ls dlfflculL Lo break Lhls cycle
because people are already used Lo lL 1he naLlon ls parL of Lhls sysLem and ls rusLed ln Lhls appalllng
cycle 8uL changlng Lhe sysLem does noL mean LhaL we have Lo Lhrow our LexLbooks away lL [usL means
LhaL we should comblne Lhe passlve learnlng wlLh acLlve experlence by dlscoverlng Lhlngs for ourselves"
now LhaL you have asked your quesLlons l wanL Lo ask you one Loo" 1agore sald Why of all
paragraphs l wroLe dld you choose LhaL parLlcular one?"
1hls plece of wrlLlng lnLeresLed me because LhaL ls how l plcLure lL 8uL ln reallLy Lhe opposlLe
ls Lrue l LoLally agree wlLh you l should say LhaL lL would be fun Lo learn whlle surrounded by naLure
lrom experlence l can Lell LhaL lL ls ln our school we do noL always have Lo slL lnslde buL we can choose
Lo follow our classes ouLslde as well l am aware LhaL Lhlngs learned ln naLure sLlck beLLer ln your head
Lhan Lhlngs learned whlle surrounded by four walls fllled wlLh Lechnologlcal devlces"
1hls was my lasL quesLlon and Lhe end of our conversaLlon l Lhanked hlm for belng so klnd and
sald l en[oyed our conversaLlon l had Lhe opporLunlLy of a llfe Llme Lhe chance Lo connecL Lo mlnd as
powerful as hls 1haL ls why l say Lhank you Lo MlsLer 8ablndranaLh 1agore for lnsplrlng me