Dear readers,

Two summers ago, as I walked over the parched sands of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, a black beetle pinned itself to my left trainer. A young girl, a local, quickly came to my rescue and carefully pried the insect away, in a manner that suggested that the beetle was infinitely more valuable. Delivering a small discourse on the insect, now in her palm, the girl beckoned her by-standing mates and handed it over to be released afar.

A wave of pride washed over me that instant. Our children know so much – they have an intrinsic, inherent knowledge. This issue of G’nY brings forward many issues related to the education system, especially in the light of the implementation of the Right to Education Act, 2009, with effect from 1st April, 2010. But among the broader issues of free education for all, where lofty do’s and don’ts have been discussed – as an environmentalist, I have just one thought. Teachings are not what one learns within the closed doors of a walled room – it is out there in the open, before our very eyes.

Cities offer the worst kind of education – clinical, heartless and skewed. What was so seriously wrong with our gurukul systems that it was abandoned in totality? We could perhaps revamp everything - set up neighbourhood schools with parents as teachers for toddlers and preschoolers, and then, once a child is seven or ten, send them to gurukuls located away from the rush of cities for formal education, to learn from the surroundings the essence that is India. And, one last thought – let’s not make education a business. Happy reading.