Aditi Mathur and Ratnesh Mathur
When i walk slowly, I see more.
When i eat slowly, I relish more.
When i swing slowly, I sing more.
When i read slowly, I imagine more.
When i do slowly, I think more.
When i achieve slowly, I enjoy more.
When i learn slowly, I learn more.
Poorva is learning slowly. She takes time to climb the rock. She tries different routes, styles. She is okay with giving up. She is fine with doing less. She has no image to live up to. She has nobody to compete with – except herself. She has no rock to conquer – except herself. For her, learning is not an objective, it is a way of enjoying life.
Dhrupad is learning slowly. He is absorbed in the pictures in his book. There is no deadline to finish the book – he can revisit it as many times as he wants. Every time he visits, his mind ventures into new fantasies. He persists with them. There are some words he does not know. There is no hurry to know them. He lets the context drive the meaning, as of now. He creates his own meanings. For him a book is like life, it never gets over till it gets over.
The facilitator and the children – all belong to an alternate school, Aarohi, based out of Bangalore, of which the authors are an integral part. Check out their website www.aarohilife.org.