The Lessons that were Never Taught

Oscar Wilde once said that 'nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.' I disagree. I believe that the most important lessons can and should be taught, especially at school level. I am not concerend here with the variety of subjects that are offerred or the exam system, all of which are undoubtedly important issues. I am concered here with the way in which we are taught to 'identify' ourselves. I studied in a middle to upper class Tamil Brahmin school which, ostensibly, tries to, inter alia, 'enable children to imbibe our rich cultural heritage and values.' What this means is that we are taught to see ourselves as Tamil Brahmins who come from a middle/upper class background. We were never told explicitly to think of ourselves as Tamil Brahmins but most of what we were taught and almost everything we were exposed to ensured that we defined ourselves that way. We had 'Vedic Heritage' classes but we were never told that many scholars believe that this 'heritage' was only for a select few and that it wasn't something universal; we were made to listen to innumerable speeches on how India had a glorious past which was perfect for everybody and therefore, all of us should return to our 'old ways' so that everybody can be happy (there was even one gentleman who gave a rather long speech on how ancient India (if there is such a thing - some argue that India was 'born' on August 15th 1947) had planes, missiles and, if I am not very much mistaken, even nuclear weapons) but we were never told that the ancient period had its own share of imperfections and interestingly, none of the speeches touched on the Medieval period (popularly and incorrectly percieved as the 'Muslim' period). Therefore, the exposure was clearly one sided. However, it would indeed be unfair to blame the people incharge of the school entierly for the simple reason that perhaps they too were exposed to only these ideas. The problem, I believe, is systemic and therefore, more dangerous.

If we are taught to think of ourselves as 'Hindus' or as 'Tamil Brahmins' the problem is not only with the school but with the general idea that if a person happens to be a Tamil Brahmin, chances are that she will think of herself primarily as a Tamil Brahmin. This is more obvious in the case of Muslims. In the Afzal case for example, the issue seems to have taken centre stage not because people believe he did not have a fair trial or even because people are against capital punishment per se (these groups protest at every instance of capital punishment whether it be that of the people involved in assasinating Rajiv Gandhi or Dhananjay Chatterjee) but because he is Kashmiri and a Muslim. Therefore, if you are a Muslim, you better oppose the death sentence. Thus, it is because people are forced to give importance to their Muslim identity above all else that so many issues acquire a communal hue. Every person, as Amartya Sen argues brilliantly in his recent book, has multiple identies. A person can be a Tamil Brahmin, a lawyer, a carnatic musician, a critic of Hindi movies, an ardent fan of the Australian cricket team, a staunch Marxist and a feminist, all at the same time. So forcing a person, either overtly or covertly, to give priority to a particular identity will clearly violate her freedom. Therefore, one must recognize that each person can have multiple identities and that each person can, by a process of reasoning, decide which identity she will give importance to in any given situation. This will ensure that a person will not be compelled to oppose the death sentence awarded to Afzal because she is a Muslim because in this case, she may choose to believe as a lawyer (for instance) that the trial was fair hence the death sentence is alright.

How will we ever make people think in this fashion? School education, according to me, should help students understand that they have multiple identities and that they have the freedom to choose which one should be prioritized in a situation. It is improper and dangerous for them to try and make the students believe in a particular idea; they should rather help the students imagine themselves in any way they choose to as long as they have considered various other alternatives. Therefore, instead of making it seem like ancient India was a wonderland, the school should ensure that the students know that some people/scholars believe that it is. This will make the students think about the implications of such a view and also give them the freedom to define their identities. The schools therefore, have an important responsiblity of ensuring that students learn to understand that they have multiple identities. Therefore, this idea that is certainly worth knowing should most definitely be taught.