I might have been in class II or III, when, in one of our drawing classes at school, we were given a sketch to fill in with colours. It was the sketch of a scenery with mountains, sky, sun, a bro-ok, hut and grass. All the children immediately started colouring the sketch.
When I had filled the mountains and hut in brown, grass in green, brook in azure and the sun in orange, I imagined how beautiful it would appear if the sky were in pink colour. So, painting the sky pink, I completed my piece of work. I then peeped into the sketches of my other classmates and found that everyone else had painted the sky blue. Momentarily, I felt proud. I still remember the particular shade I had chosen for the sky, how beautiful it looked and how confident it made me of receiving my teacher’s appreciation.
But absolutely contrary to my imagination, when I handed over the sketch to my class teacher, I was reprimanded with harsh words. Holding my sketch like a placard, she displayed my imbecility to the entire class along with derogatory remarks on my colour selection. I remember how my embarrassment came rolling down my cheeks.
Well, now as a grown up when I quite often get an opportunity to behold and capture the strokes of nature with unbelievable shades and tints, blending and melting into the sky, I pleasantly recall that particular shade of pink I had once chosen for my sky. I was not wrong, but my tender age just could not muster the courage to express that my imagination was drawn from the nature itself.
Also, as a mother of a 6-year-old, I ensure that while my son is painting, he chooses his own set of colours without any inhibitions; for there are indeed many more colours the sky can be painted in and I should let him paint the sky with his own imagination.
This is actually in accordance with the teaching that was quite often suggested by a professor of Human Development during my graduation years; on how, as adults, we should always desist ourselves from saying ‘No, don’t do this,’ or, ‘Hey, you should not do it this way,’ to the growing and developing, young minds.
Every mind has a unique kink. Engaging children in different tasks while applying the least possible and limitations, helps in shaping and broadening their minds. So, whenever possible, I try involving my child in all the things I do – be it watering plants, gardening, dish washing, car washing and sometimes even drawing rangoli – in his own uni-que ways,under deliberate supervision.
Sometimes, it ends up in a mess too. But those few minutes of extra work in cleaning up the mess are worth when it comes to learning. Learning is not always from books. For children, it is their own involvement that makes them learn and makes them happy. And, when children are happy, we are happy too!
