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Karthik Rajan’s English language story.
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I was in 7th grade. To hold back my tears was a herculean effort. I cannot recall what my English teacher exactly said. All I can remember – the red circles on my English paper and how her well-intended words were piercing through my heart. As I lumbered back to my seat, my head cast down staring at my short pants, I swore to never let it happen again. It was not for lack of trying, English was not my forte. I needed a new tactic.
That evening, I asked for help. I reached out to my dad, a busy man. He thought for a moment and did one of the wisest things great dads do – he directed me to seek guidance of his godfather- Nataraja mama.
Nataraja mama, retired by then, visited our home everyday. Riding his bicycle, he swiftly alighted from his cycle at 10 AM and in one seamless motion he parked his cycle. He absorbed every word in the newspaper seated in the front patio. That is how I remember him. He turned every page with reverence; his face was often lost behind his outstretched arms holding The Hindu (English daily in the city of Madras, now called Chennai). When he was done, he folded it with the same care children fold their new clothes earmarked for a festival day.
When I asked him for advice, he peered sideways holding his newspaper the way he always did. I was half expecting him to give me tutorials in English every weekend. Instead, he placed the opened paper on the table. He turned to the middle pages of the paper. He pointed to two columns of editorials. “Read this regularly, these thought pieces are the pride of the editors” is all he said. Initially, some words baffled me. Yet, context was soothing to me. I could relate to this simple style.
In contrast, at school, I had found it hard to relate in English class. I hardly spoke English at home, some of the written materials were alien to the spoken English at school! “Thy” got jumbled with “you” creating discordant notes in my head. I often found my ejects from these eclectic narrations with my acronym- OMIT (my mix of English and Tamil for over my head– Over My Thalai). I was far away from the spelling bee whiz kids.
In middle school, English was my nemesis. I fell for words by accident –simple, contextual and elegant words. In return, I was blessed by propulsion of meaningful kind – connecting with people.
On the other hand, editorials clicked with me gradually and even worked wonders for me. Without realizing, I fell in love with the words and their poetry- words with evocative feel or interesting interpretation.
The beauty of life is that it came a full circle. The same English teacher taught me again. This time, I was wearing full trousers at school, gawkier with a crack in my voice. I was in 10th grade. She applauded me for work well done in front of my class. Teachers are so invested in students that they have gargantuan memory- hallmark of their involvement. “You have come a long way”, she said. Her thousand watt smile I still remember vividly.
The 4 year journey was one of my most cherished ones. I tip my hat in reverence to Nataraja mama, my dad’s godfather. He is in my thoughts forever for raising me to heights I never knew possible.
Why share this story now? Recently, I came to realize that I was myopic in my interpretation of this experience and what it could mean for our education.
Connecting the dots: Art of Communication
At the 2016 TED conference, I was listening intently to Linus Torvalds – founder of Linux, the open source operating system. He rarely, if ever, gives interviews. While he (reluctantly) spoke when the arc lights were cast on him, it dawned on me that he relished talking through his code. That was his poetry of communication. His eyes sparkled. He was in his elements. I could relate to his feelings. What words mean to me, code means to him. A smile dawned on my face.
All along, I considered Natraja mama as my English language coach. My aha, he was really my communication coach. And there is a world of difference in this subtlety. Here is why.
I do not know where the quote below originated, nor if the stats are accurate, the basic premise I agree with:“No matter what job you have in life, your success will be determined 5% by your academic credentials, 15% by your professional experiences, and 80% by your communication skills.”
If there is a modicum of truth to this statement, what happens if we re-pivot our thinking on education around art of communication rather than disparate subjects like english, math, science etc.
For the world to know the talent deep inside you, to radiate your thoughts with joy – we need to be aware of our own art of communication and those of others. The world could connect more in pursuit of success and happiness.
When we can relate, we connect. It is human nature. Could it be easier relating all subjects under a communication umbrella?
Could Personalized Learning be the future in our schools?
Ardent South Indian fans with their morning filter coffee in hand, in half jest, refer to the intellectually oriented paper as Maha Vishnu of Mount Road (loosely translated, god of well-being residing at a famous road in Chennai). That half jest remark has a bigger ring of truth in my life. Through fortuitous circumstances, by reading the editorials, I stumbled upon my groove.
Each one of us, have our preferred art of communication. A geeky programmer connects with fellow crafters through his code, many teenagers through their texts, some through emojis, great mathematicians through equations, orators through their spoken words, writers through their imprints, artists through their creations, and movie directors through their videos.
What happens if we (and students) get exposed to the other arts of communication formally in schools- not to be experts in all but listeners of many. Could it help connect with people meaningfully?
Circling back to the success metric between academics and communication, I do believe that academic pursuit provides the first spring board. Words said and unsaid, provide the platform to sustain growth in the long term.
If someone mentioned platforms, couple of decades ago, I would have thought of a railway station. Now the word is ubiquitous for social, software as a service, cloud etc. Could it be in our schools at the heart of what matters – a different and meaningful platform for communication, customized to our children’s strengths?
Bringing it all together: My summary and thanks
In middle school, English was my nemesis. I fell for words by accident –simple, contextual and elegant words. In return, I was blessed by propulsion of meaningful kind – connecting with people.
Why should the best things be fortuitous? If we have the vision, it can be deliberate part of children’s future.
Our schools are evolving. Common books are giving space to customized iPads. One teacher to many students communication coexist with one to one personalized coaching conversations.
For the world to know the talent deep inside you, to radiate your thoughts with joy – we need to be aware of our own art of communication and those of others. The world could connect more in pursuit of success and happiness.
Can the art of communication get the center stage it deserves in our schools? Can we have personalized learning platforms for communication?
Interested in your thoughts in the comments section.
I dedicate this post to” Grammar Goddess” Susan Rooks, Chris Morton and Charles Upchurch. Out of their good nature, they have sent me private notes to fine-tune my grammar. My public thanks to your private good will. People like you make the belief in humanity stronger. Thank you.
Adele adorns the cover art. If you wonder why, beyond her awesome talent, she enunciates every word from her heart with lot of feeling – her art of communication stands out. The title of the blog is inspired (partly) by one of her song lyrics.
I enjoy writing at the intersection of analytics and human relationships. This blog is a more personal take on education and human relationships.
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This article originally appeared on LinkedIn
Photo credit: Getty Images
The post I Let it Fall, My Words. How I Rose and My Aha for Personalized Education (and Our Success) appeared first on The Good Men Project.