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Revati

She has just turned thirteen, a teen in a true sense. Revati studies in eighth standard in a reputed ICSE school. She has no siblings. Her father is an engineer by profession and fitness freak. Runs marathons, and takes his daughter on treks regularly. His fitness routine has rubbed off on Revati as well. She played football for a while and is also trained in athletics.

Revati’s mother has a post graduate degree in dance. She is a well known Bharatnatyam exponent. She teaches Bhartnatyam regularly in classes. Needless to say, Revati is also learning Bhartnatyam from her mother and becoming quite good at it.

I was talking with Revati last week and was struck by her maturity which defies her age. Studying in an ICSE school has an advantage. One can learn three languages right from first to tenth standard. They also have choice of dropping Science and Mathematics in ninth and tenth standard if you decide to choose a career in streams other than Science. Revati does not particularly like science but is determined to give it a try till the tenth standard and is confident of doing well in exams. Speaking of school, two years of covid were tough for kids. Sure, they had a slice of online education, but kids did not like it. Revati said that covid took its toll on teachers also. Many teachers of her school resigned after covid as they could not handle the stress. Revati prefers going to school proper every day. Like current kids of her age, she is an expert in using all electronic gadgets, though she is still waiting for her first mobile. Youtube is her current preferred choice of information. She also keeps in touch with what is happening in the world through newspaper website on her laptop. She does not read newspapers, but is an avid reader otherwise. She buys variety of books from bookstores, from Harry Potter to history books. History and Geography are her current interests. But she is also fully updated about economics and politics. Just to remind you, I am talking about a twelve year old kid, who has just turned thirteen.

Surprisingly, she does not have any close friends. She complained about bullying by the boys from her school. The school she goes to is a high-profile school and there is a class distinction even among the kids. Kids also get into unsavoury habits at an early age these days, especially if parents have too much money and no control over their kids. Revati is very unhappy about this but has learned to ignore such distractions.

There was a big surprise in store for me when the discussion turned to the future. When I asked her what she wanted to do in her life she said she has many options, but science is not one of them. She also seemed not inclined to pursue careers in dancing like her mother. Though she loves dancing, but not as a career choice. Nor is she interested in becoming a sports person, though she follows football.

First thing she said that she wants to become the education minister so that she would change the current education system. Coming from a thirteen year old, this should be an eye-opener for our educationists and politicians. Our education system is in a complete mess. According to my nephew who has passed out with distinction and currently working, the education system converted the students into machines which could crack the exam tests. But it imparted very little education. Revati echoes this sentiment.

Revati’s current interest is archaeology. Many kids of her age would not even know what it is. Again, her source of information is books and youtube channel devoted to archaeology. Things she told me about archaeology was an education to me. The reason she wants to study archaeology is her conviction that it will tell us a lot about ancient India. She thinks India was a very advanced society until Mughal invaders destroyed it. She is particularly angry about the distorted Mughal history that is currently taught in schools these days. She feels there is a definite anti-india bias in teaching. She said that teachers were especially abusive about the Maratha emperors like Shivaji and Sambhaji while glorifying the Mughals. Again, coming from a kid, it is very telling comment.

Revati is fluent in languages. Like all kids, she is fascinated by the action heros created by Marvel studios. She said she is trying to write a story based on them. She told me a sort of a plot which was way above my paygrade, since my knowledge in this field is practically zero. She is also trying to write marathi poetry.

All in all, Revati defies her age in all respect. Honestly my readers, tell me. What were you at the age of twelve???

शशांक पुरंदरे 10/10/2023