Blissfully ignorant!

Who is the smartest person according to you? Who is the dumbest? At times I see a thin line separating them; at times the line just disappears!
Here are some basic questions we all should ask ourselves. This is not some general knowledge test. This is your identity. If you don’t know, it’s fine. It’s no blasphemy; there are no penalties. If you know, it’s no big deal, again, because you need to know it.
You might be the smartest people you could think of. You know your books, you handle your finance well. You are good at what you do. You give excellent presentations or come up with bug free programs. You are even street smart! You know cab fares and vegetable prices. Then answer me these!
What’s the name of our country? How many states and UT’s does it comprise of? Do you happen to know their capitals? Who is the president of the Republic of India? Who is the Prime Minister then? What is the capital of India? This stuff is stupid. Any kid in any school will tell you these, you might think. Or is it so?
When was the last time you read something other than page 3 news? When did you read anything (in the name of a book) other than Chetan Bhagat or Shidney Sheldon?
I volunteer to teach for a school on Saturdays. The 6th std. kids of my Kanada medium, Government primary school were surprised when an impromptu quiz contest was conducted. Team girls versus team boys. I tried my level best to come up with the most basic and easiest of the ‘general knowledge’ questions. What’s the capital of Maharashtra? Islamabad was the reply. What’s the full form of USA? Some mumbo jumbo Africa (‘A’ in USA is apparently Africa). What’s the capital of China? Canada. I was grossly disappointed. They did get the national bird, the national flower and the national animal of India correctly though. I was ecstatic when someone came up with the answer “It was believed to be 9, but there are only 8 planets now”.
After the fiasco, I had a very obvious question for them. “How many of you read newspapers at home?” Out of a 40 strong, one hand went up. The boy sounded honest when he told me (with much pride) that he, in fact, reads the newspaper once in a while. I was happy for him.
I can’t compare the schooling that I had with theirs; not that mine was an international school. Having said that I am but to wonder how and why this ‘situation’ here is so pathetic. As a kid I was aware of these things. History and geography were interesting and I learnt as I went thru those books. Has it changed now? Has the spirit of learning died out amongst the young and the old alike? Or is it only these kids in my school who are so ill equipped? Is it the medium which is restricting them? That seemed a futile thought.
What’s a school if it’s only marks and grading? Where’s the overall development? How will these kids grow up as well aware people? Why are the teachers and parents not encouraging them to ‘learn’ what’s in their books and even beyond?
I was shocked, dumbfounded and appalled when a colleague of mine didn’t know the capital of India! You heard it right. He doesn’t know (a hell lot of) many other things too. Isn’t he supposed to be the urbane, the uber cool, the trans smart one? The kids in my school have grown up to be blissfully ignorant and ‘educated’ citizens like him!
In an age where ‘news’ is just celebs hooking up and breaking up, we have lost it. Completely! Socializing is just Facebook. At the best visiting a mall and ‘hanging out’. Many of my friends I know read the newspaper but they tend to take only those news which are catchy. The rest of the ‘political jargon’ is marked out mercilessly.
Our shallow knowledge on the basic things we ought to know can still be nourished. It takes just a click away for a person sitting in a well furnished apartment to really ‘learn’ something. A school student needs to be nurtured not only thru books but are to be encouraged to read. They have so many things at their disposal. Internet is a blessing for those who have access to it. A school with a library is again a blessing. Teachers and parents need to encourage their wards to read and learn not only things which are taught in school but also otherwise. A good newspaper is again a blessing. Kids are to be encouraged to read what’s not only on the front page or the sports page but everything else. In a span of time, they should be able to decide for themselves what needs to be read and when. A well informed student, a professional, a citizen and a person can make better informed decisions.