Independent Learning

I now move on to something I believe has strongly influenced me as an academician and also my academic achievements so far in my career. And this is the concept of ‘independent learning’.

I essentially define this as the achievement of a state where one has learnt how to ‘learn’. Thereafter, it becomes very easy to learn, understand and apply just about any topic that can be thought of. It then becomes a question of interest and determining what topics to learn as to augment one’s skill set or one’s tastes. This would certainly open up a wide range of career options to choose from, not inhibited by whether one has the required ‘aptitude’.

There is no doubt that my two years at IIM-A steepened my learning curve immensely and I am indebted to this great institution for the same. However, it is important to note that the seeds of ‘independent learning’ were sown very early on in my childhood. I was pushed very early on to study by myself, encouraged to be inquisitive and take interest in my studies and develop a logical framework for understanding concepts; all very essential ingredients to develop ‘independent learning’.

My motivation behind writing on this topic is neither to just introduce this abstract concept nor to boast about my learning capability. Rather it is to urge those thousands of parents who insist on sending their children to tuition classes for each and every subject from the primary level itself. Besides the various other obvious concerns (which I shall not discuss on this post), not allowing your child a chance to study by herself and experiment will destroy her ability to ‘learn’ and may be detrimental to her intellectual development, not allowing her to exploit her full potential.

So parents, please give your child the freedom to explore her studies independently and focus on equipping her with the tools needed to develop ‘independent thinking’ so that she can then do whatever she wants and is needed in life.

Your child has grown up!

It is not uncommon to find sudden tensions in the airs of many a familial environment when the child in the house suddenly stops ‘listening’ to elders and acts as if she is all-knowing. There is suddenly a lot of ‘You will not understand’ and ‘Whatever’ with the ‘child’ revolting and rebelling against the smallest of things.

This is the period during which the ‘child’ is in the transition phase and growing towards becoming an adult. She is like the fledgling trying to take off with her wings having grown. She is like a butterfly trying to break free and fly into the heavens above. The manner in which parents handle this phase of their ‘children’ goes a long way towards not only their own relationships with their children but also the emotional and mental development of the ‘child’.

Many a time, parents do not accept that their child has grown up. As a result, seeing their ‘child’ rebelling and being more expressive creates a sense of panic in the parents and they tend to step up their efforts of overprotecting their child. Being treated even more now as a child, the child reacts and rebels even more and thus a vicious cycle is established.

Once this vicious cycle is established, it has implications for the way the parents and child see each other and behave with each other. The relationship can become strained with each person getting on each other’s nerves. The child may start seeing the parents as ‘children’ with whom they cannot share their feelings and experiences and who do not ‘understand’ them. A negative environment is created at home which is mentally stressful. Taken to its extreme, it may result in the child leaving her parents and going her own way.

So I would urge parents and would-be parents to take a step back and think about whether their child has grown up!!!!

Introduction

Hi Friends

This blog is an attempt on my part to pen down a few of my thoughts. I am starting this blog after a friend advised me to do so saying that she liked my writing style.

I have no idea as to the categories or topics I will be writing about. Rest assured, for those who know me, the topics are going to be quite random and diverse, from philosophy to current affairs to principles of life to economics to anything else that catches my mind. My writings will most certainly draw on my life experiences and I hope you enjoy reading them.

I welcome comments and criticisms from you.

Thanks for reading my blog!!!

-Akshay Ravi (IIM-A, 2011)