EXPLORE AND EXPRESS, FREELY!

When I was in my 20’s, I studied Literature. After that, I changed tracks and studied Advertising, subsequently working in the Advertising Industry for a few years in Mumbai. Post that, I worked for an NGO back in my hometown in Jaipur before going off to Film School in Los Angeles and returning to Mumbai for a decade to work in various capacities across Film & Television. But that wasn’t the end of my exploration & experimentation. I finally moved back to Jaipur in 2013 and have been working as a Communication Skills Teacher & Writer ever since! Do I propagate and endorse this way of life, of repeatedly changing tracks & careers? Of course not. But do I feel that in the one life we have, it is worth deeply scrutinizing & finding one’s passion and then following it, no matter what the odds are? The answer to this question is a resounding yes!

We are lucky enough to live in a free country. Yet, we seldom reward ourselves with true freedom! The leeway to become actualized adults that are complete yet unique realized yet open and whole yet differentiated, is seldom granted to us, and especially today, to young students and children. Freedom to explore, and of thought & expression, to me, is the essence of individual freedom. However, in my observation, while our schools and educational institutions have ‘improved’ by leaps and bounds, sadly, these enhancements have been largely infrastructural, technological, digital, and for the most part – superficial. Smart Classes to Air Conditioned rooms & buses, state-of-the-art laboratories to the lavish sporting framework. But where is the evolution in the embedded philosophy or the ethos of education? Where is the strategy behind what kind of human beings we are producing to lead us into the future? Where is the identification and manifestation of the unique passions and talents of an individual? I believe that along with all the wonderful progress that has been made by schools, and the ability of families & parents to provide greater exposure and tools to children, there must also be a very specific mandate to support, encourage and develop Exploration & Expression. But how does one do this?