DANCING IN THE RAIN
AZIM H. PREMJI
ANNOTATIONS:
- Robbing children of their childhood is a criminal act, and our society must weed this malaise out from the root.
Lesson And Author:The given lines are taken from the thought provoking essay ‘Dancing in the Rain’ written by AzimPremji, who is an Indian tycoon and philanthropist. His speeches and articles on education and innovation are insightful and inspirational. AzimPremji devotes a lot of time and resources to improve the educational system in India.
Context and Meaning: Here, AzimPremji opines that depriving children the pleasures of childhood is inhuman. The essay deals with the excessive burdened both physical and mental that is imposed on children. It opens with a disturbing report on child labour. The report highlights the pathetic condition of children employed by Zari factories. The writer expresses deep concern and adds that it is a crime to exploit children in this manner. It is blot on society and we must eliminate this evil from society totally.
Critical Appreciation: If our children are exploited and robbed of their childhood they cannot have a healthy growth mentally or physically.We must allow them to dance in the rain i.e. to enjoy their childhood freely.
- When I look at children, I wonder whether they have time to play with friends, to meet interesting people, to explore the world, and to follow their curiosity.
Lesson And Author: The given lines are taken from the thought provoking essay ‘Dancing in the Rain’ written by AzimPremji, who is an Indian tycoon and philanthropist. His speeches and articles on education and innovation are insightful and inspirational. AzimPremji devotes a lot of time and resources to improve the educational system in India.
Context and Meaning: Premji expresses his deep concern and doubts whether children have any time to play with friends, to meet interesting people, to explore the world, and to follow their curiosity. Some children are overburdened with their academic activities whereas others are shackled by poverty and hunger and are forced to work in inhuman conditions. He cites the example of a class nine student whogets only half an hour of free time every day. In both the instances, children have no free time to enjoy their childhood.
Critical Appreciation: This line reveals the excessive burden both mental and physical imposed on children. It is a harsh reality prevalent everywhere in India. This evil must be eliminated from its roots. Teachers and parents must encourage children to blossom and realize their true potential.
- Gandhiji said that greatest lessons in life are learnt from children, not from learned man.
Lesson And Author: The given lines are taken from the thought provoking essay ‘Dancing in the Rain’ written by AzimPremji, who is an Indian tycoon and philanthropist. His speeches and articles on education and innovation are insightful and inspirational. AzimPremji devotes a lot of time and resources to improve the educational system in India.
Context and Meaning: In this context, Premji reminds himself of Gandhiji’s words that lesson in life are learnt from children and from learned man. Throughout the process of learning, a child fearlessly tries before fiving up unlike adults who fear failure and give up even before they try. A child is inherently curious about the world, and wants to understand how things work. The preconditioned self of the adults prevent them from truly exploring without prejudice. For a child what he or she does is meaningful in its own right whereas adults link every action to an external reward or recognition.
Critical Appreciation: It is the fact that adults should learn a lot from children. Parents, teachers and children should be joint learners as they discover and understand the world.
- India will be radiant when our children are free to dance in the rain.
Lesson And Author: The given lines are taken from the thought provoking essay ‘Dancing in the Rain’ written by AzimPremji, who is an Indian tycoon and philanthropist. His speeches and articles on education and innovation are insightful and inspirational. AzimPremji devotes a lot of time and resources to improve the educational system in India.
Context and Meaning: Here, the writer opines that India will have a bright future if only her children are free to dance in the rain. India will progress in the true sense of the word if the children are free from the evils of poverty and hunger. They should not be overburdened with excessive academic work. We must empower our children who are the most vulnerable section of the society. We ought to take a strong decision to give our children the freedom of childhood.
Critical Appreciation: A country’s growth and prosperity depends on the way the children live. They will grow into healthy and mature adults if they are provided the simple joys of childhood.
PARAGRAPH QUESTIONS;
- What kind of freedom does AzimPremji recommend to the children of India?
Ans: AzimPremji’s thought provoking essay “Dancing in the Rain” is an Indian business tycoon and philanthropist. His speeches and articles on education are insightful and inspirational. Premji describes the pathetic situation the children of our society are in. He wants us to stop burdening them and keep encouraging them to be spontaneous and creative. He eagerly looks forward to seeing children dance merrily in rain.
Adults are robbing their children of their precious childhood. It is a criminal act. Both at factories and at educational centers, children suffer a lot. Children should be given complete freedom in order to grow in a healthy manner. They should be free to play and meet interesting people. They must be encouraged to explore the world and follow their curiosity. Poverty, hunger, parental aspirations and social conditioning should not restrict their freedom. Children should be free to dance happily in the rain. Only then we can flourish as a society.
- According to the writer, in what ways is a child different from adults?
Ans: AzimPremji’s thought provoking essay “Dancing in the Rain” is an Indian business tycoon and philanthropist. His speeches and articles on education are insightful and inspirational. Premji describes the pathetic situation the children of our society are in. He wants us to stop burdening them and keep encouraging them to be spontaneous and creative. He eagerly looks forward to seeing children dance merrily in rain.
Throughout the process of learning, a child fearlessly tries before giving up unlike adults who fear failure and give up even before they try. AzimPremji points out that parents and teachers should learn from children, because children always are being deprived of the simple joys of childhood. A child is inherently curious about the world, and wants to understand how things work. The preconditioned self of the adults prevents them from truly exploring without prejudice. For a child what he or she does is meaningful in its own right whereas adults link every action to an external reward or recognition. Many valuable lessons can be learnt by observing a child.
- What does the writer expect from parents and teachers?
Ans: AzimPremji’s thought provoking essay “Dancing in the Rain” is an Indian business tycoon and philanthropist. His speeches and articles on education are insightful and inspirational. Premjidescribes the pathetic situation the children of our society are in. He wants us to stop burdening them and keep encouraging them to be spontaneous and creative. He eagerly looks forward to seeing children dance merrily in rain.
AzimPremji expects that parents and teachers should learn from children, because children always are being deprived of the simple joys of childhood. They are crushed by parental aspirations and societal conditioning. Adults should realize that children can teach them many things. He also stresses the need that even the teachers should learn from their students. Similarly, Premjiopines that our teachers could grow enormously by learning from students. If the students and the teachers are joint learners, they understand their world fairly well. Then, they will refrain from pushing knowledge into the young minds and begin the democratic process of being join6t learners. AzimPremji believes that a powerful force for empowerment of children is to have motivated teachers who are learners first, teachers second. Then, we will stop trying to mould children into our “adult” likeness, and let them blossom.
- What kind of change does the writer visualize in homes and schools?
Ans: AzimPremji’s thought provoking essay “Dancing in the Rain” is an Indian business tycoon and philanthropist. His speeches and articles on education are insightful and inspirational. Premji describes the pathetic situation the children of our society are in. He wants us to stop burdening them and keep encouraging them to be spontaneous and creative. He eagerly looks forward to seeing children dance merrily in rain.
AzimPemji emphasizes that children should be free from the burden of parental aspirations and the norms of social conditioning. Children should not be overburdened with academic activities. They should be allowed to play with friends, to meet interesting people, to explore the world and to follow their curiosity. Premji strongly believes that our schools should change from being textbook prisons to laboratories of exploration and our homes from being tuition centres to playgrounds of sport and art. We should resolve to give our children the freedom of childhood.
English Study Material 