Tagore's 'Kabuliwala' iconic
A story that takes us to lands scenic,
Tells of stranger-danger bias
Overcome by a child's welcoming cries,
Shows the common bonds love for family
Shared by all of humanity.
This tale we set out to search for
Publishers we found galore.
Written first in Bengali and translated into English,
Many a translation we found remiss.
Kindle seemed to be the new in-thing
And bookshops stored more of Ruskin Bond's inkings.
This 1892 public domain story found home in collections many,
Alas! publishers charged exorbitantly.
It makes one wonder what is affordability
How do we ensure for all information accessibility?
Is it to be that kindle is the way to go?
Ebooks rather than paperbacks will grow?
So perhaps we must
Give teaching a new thrust:
Include reading skills on gadgets
To ensure information reaches the masses
To be inclusive in affordability
We might need our materials to tweak.
Studies aplenty describe paper's quality
Of information in our brain's survivability.
But we need to perhaps make way for strategies
To teach retention despite processing digitally.
Perhaps we need to stop moaning about the old days,
Perhaps we need to carve out new educative ways.
Said Tagore on educating a child:
"Don't limit a child to your own learning,
For he was born in another time",
This was the Nobel Laureate's insistence:
"The highest education... makes our life
In harmony with all existence".
Today's methods rooted in mindless tradition he would deplore
He would urge us to new territories with objectivity explore.
This man, a synthesis of civilisations -
Hindu, Mohammaden and Western -
Being ever rational and respectful in disagreements,
One who lived his life on his own terms.
His copious work not available easily is a pity,
His thoughts need to be disseminated more widely.
- Written on 17 November 2019.
- In reaction to trying to find an affordable Kabuliwala to gift 40+ people in these last 03-04 days. ЁЯЩДЁЯЩДЁЯЩД
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