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Indian School

India is a variegated society. The coexistence of so many different value systems, religious beliefs, language groups becomes an interesting study for students of sociology or for observers of society.

This coexistence is not always peaceful. There have been awful violations of human dignity in the recent past in Gujarat, Kashmir…yet Indian School showcases how most of India lives, a ‘salad bowl’ not a ‘melting pot’. Each community preserves its unique flavour, rubbing off on every other community, all the elements in this vast, deep country contributing to a crunchy, fresh, sweet and spicy combination.

One of the advantages of polytheism is that there is always the possibility of one more god, one more way of looking at life. In the ‘poly’ approach we can agree to disagree, and maybe both of us can even be right.

Why is this episode called Spiritual Journey? I suspect because of the Indian stereotype: India is a spiritual place. Is it? I have my reservations about that and I wish Lion TV had not reinforced that stereotype. I believe that all places are spiritual. How can they not be? How can one country or region have some kind of monopoly on the ‘spirit’? Every place has its spirituality, as well as its ugly side. Let’s not glamourise spiritualism and make it into a commodity in the globalised marketplace.

About the author

Madhavi Kapur is the head of the Rewchand Bhojwani Academy, one of the schools featured in Indian School. She has been a principal for 21 years and has worked as consultant to school projects across India.

Blogging about

Indian School

As Joe Jackson said “Don’t you know that it’s different for girls?” This episode examines the areas of gender equality, sex education and internet dating! A heady mix that’ll resonate with anyone involved in the British education system. The same issues that preoccupy teachers and students in the UK are as prevalent in India.

There’re some very strong role models in the film but they’re caught in the turmoil and contradiction of life. There is equality, but within written and unwritten rules. The girl whose brother acts as her bodyguard is a spirited person who you can sense is feeling trapped in her lifestyle. Interestingly, the parents are happy for her brother to have the mantle of ‘protector’. Everybody falls in with the gender stereotypes and tellingly their father says the boy can do whatever he wants. You can observe the same types of brother, sister relationships in the UK acted out at home, schools and universities every day.

One of the teachers says ”I am 25 and need to get married.” This illustrates very well the pressure that’s heaped upon parents and their children to do everything correctly and within the prescribed timescales.

The sex education was quite liberated and graphic. This in itself seems a contradiction in that this often taboo subject is addressed without too much concern. Yet the cultural niceties around marriage and dating are far harder for families to come to terms with and accommodate.

About the author

Billy Khokhar is an assistant director with the Open University, and an expert on cultural awareness and diversity. Billy used to be a teacher, and is interested in how education in India compares and contrasts with the UK.

Blogging about

Indian School

School teachers everywhere lament the dilution of language. There are many reasons why languages change and perhaps they should and must change. In India the cross-fertilization by 23 official languages and scores of dialects, including the newest Bombay Bollywood speak, has resulted in Hinglish, Pinglish, Binglish, Minglish… a whole range.

Inevitable or not, as a teacher I don’t enjoy correcting notebooks any more. SMS-style spelling is quite a strain for the English teacher, in India and everywhere else I am sure...

The English language was a tool of government under the British Empire. Facility in the language was a ladder to material success. Good English is still perceived as an economic advantage what with BPOs (Business Process Outsourcing, i.e. call centres) snapping up English speakers. What is more, the right kind of English gets you entry into the right kind of circles. As anywhere else in the world, class is expressed through accent and intonation.

Multilingualism is our greatest strength. Our children learn a minimum of 3 languages in school. The standards are questionable no doubt, but communication is happening, and plenty of it, even if in grammatically flawed sentences.

About the author

Madhavi Kapur is the head of the Rewchand Bhojwani Academy, one of the schools featured in Indian School. She has been a principal for 21 years and has worked as consultant to school projects across India.

Blogging about

Indian School

The need to speak English is recognised by the teachers and the pupils. However, even more important is the need to speak it fluently and with flair, understanding and elegance. To support this there're literary weeks and debates designed to enhance vocabulary, understanding and elocution.

As always in India everything is competitive and pressurised. No free and easy debating society here. The pressure to succeed is ever present and the teachers don`t do anything to alleviate this. In fact, they go so far as to 'assist' with the speeches to ensure that their students are competitive and the prestige and honour of the school is upheld and enhanced.

'the pressure to succeed is ever present'

These earnest young men and women, with no room in their lives it seems for levity or the joy of youth, prepare slavishly for their debating competitions. If they're not engaged there, they're creating political groups and are highly politicised at an early age. It's tempting to compare and contrast the children with their peers in the UK and see if the children here are as aware of the political environment around them. It seems in fact that for the Indian children the politics and the debating and the pressure is the enjoyable part of childhood. This is what they're used to and expect ever since they come into school.

About the author

Billy Khokhar is an assistant director with the Open University, and an expert on cultural awareness and diversity. Billy used to be a teacher, and is interested in how education in India compares and contrasts with the UK.