The last month has been an amazing ride, and I’m still reeling from excitement. I think my head is still in the right place but I can’t be too sure 😛
The first week saw the run-up to the TEDx@Coimbatore, where I was chosen as one of the three idiots as part of the Youth Icon contest.
Getting up till there was fun – I submitted a video, had an interview and multiple chances to to ‘elevate your pitch’. There were rehearsals and I was struggling to fit my talk as headstrong-unschooler-beginner in the meagre 2 minute slot. If you’re aware of unschooling and its huge challenge towards the prevailing culture and beliefs, you’d know that there is A.LOT.TO.SAY.
The big day arrived and went on well. I loved every bit of the stage and the showlights;the extra minute that no one could stop me from taking, and the attention of 300 people whose basic beliefs about education were being challenged. But what I enjoyed most were the conversations with people I had afterward. A surprising number of “successful” people agreed with and congratulated me – but I had a fair share of skeptics raining down on me. Most questions echoed with the ring of ‘What more is there to life after quitting school?’ In my opinion life in a sense starts AFTER school.
The talk also had two journalists interested in this Phenomenon of Unschooling. The result was Unschooling her way to happiness by Gautam from Deccan Chronicle (Thank you!) and It can be cool to unschool by Vaibhav (Thank you so much!). I wasn’t as happy about having my pictures in the papers as I was about the acceptability of my decision that this gave me. The newspaper is a credible platform and surely this unschooling thing can’t be that bad – I’m sure these thoughts prevented a large number of people from shooting questions (without the slightest intention of listening to what I had to say about my life and education) and giving me their opinion of what education should be. Anyway, a lot remains to be explained – which I plan to do by doing. Wish me Besto!
Aditi Parekh 