108

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108 the auspicious number in Hindu Mythology. The jap mala has 108 beads. The total 9 is a good number by Feng Shui and denotes the fame area or the fire element. As children the numbers meant so much. Dates and vacations and exams went hand in hand. If our parents had booked our train tickets then that date took a comletely new meaning.
Then it was marks. There were no grades when I was studying. Everything was broken down to numbers in black and white. No grey areas like today's schooling. The teachers justified why a student got X marks. In the literature and language papers, the answers were subjective. The best answer was read out in class by the student who scored the highest. There was a high level of fairness. No grades were cut because the child behave in a particular way in class or was talkative. The child s behaviour was separate from the child's marks and the teachers in our school understood that very well. Each spelling mistake was circled or underlined. There was no ambiguity.
Now, when I see my child's grades and try to fathom things out of it, there are no straight answers. The teachers say its the overall performance of the child in school. I don't want to compare but I want to know if the answers written were correct then why does the grade not match. Am I into marks? No. I feel bad because I am not a competitive mother and neither are my children so. To the extent that the children do not come and tell me who did what in class or what teacher said.
I see my friends who are teaching their children so much and I wonder what is wrong with me. I keep hearing from these Moms that the world is competitive and if we dont keep up, the child will be left behind. New Age moms are like this only and new aged moms are like me. Life is a number game.

Today is my Dad s birthday. May he live to be a hundred and three, its a Hap Hap Happy Birthday.

Comments

  1. MallikaDecember 14, 2011 at 3:16 PM

    Wow...!
    Amazing my Ben...:)Happy Birthday to Uncle.
    You have company here...i also never bother much about marks, more importantis that they are happy going to school, make good friends n hav a good conduct!
    Guess we are different...:))
    love lots
    Malli.

    ReplyDelete

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