"...It means no worries, for the rest of your days. It's a problem-free philosophy - Hakuna Matata."
I'm sure she's never heard this line. She probably couldn't even say Hakuna Matata (apparently it's quite a tongue-twister for 7-yr-olds). But without any conscious effort on her part, Shreya Pawar has embraced this philosophy in her life.
In a class filled with 45 screaming kids all vying for your attention, Shreya hardly stands out. That might be partly because she is NEVER trying to get your attention. She's content in her own world, with the few people around her, and never seems to need more.
But she did stand out to me, initially because of one simple feature - her smile.
Shreya is the smiliest kid - scratch that, smiliest person - I have ever met. In the no-smiling competition that I love to have with her, she can barely hold out for 2 seconds. Her eyes light up in pure unadulterated delight while crinkling up in the edges, and refuses to leave her face for the longest time. In fact, I think she's probably the only kid in my class who I've never seen crying even once! Once I found her sitting outside class with blood dripping from her knee, and the smile never left her face even as she recapped the incident of how she got hurt.
But if you think the smile is a reflection of her naivete and innocence, then you're definitely in for a ride!
Any new topic I teach, she gets it in a flash (although I doubt she's even listening). And as much as I appreciate the light bulb going on, the side-effect is that she spends the remaining time disrupting my already-disrupted class. Sometimes it can be as tame as whipping out her art book and drawing a gorgeous scenery, but more often than not it involves arguing and fighting with the students sitting around her. But to Shreya's credit, she never complains about the other students - she handles all the bullies on her own!
When I initially started noticing her cheerful attitude, I assumed she was one of those rare kids in my class that faced no hardship at home or with her family. Maybe she does, I don't know. What I do know is that her parents and siblings live far away from Mumbai in a small village, while Shreya lives near the school with her grandparents and aunt and uncle. She was one of those "lucky" kids that was given the opportunity to go and live in the city to get a good education. Whether that education is worth the separation from her family - only one person can answer. But good luck trying to discern the emotions behind that million-dollar smile.
I said earlier that in a class of 45 screaming kids all vying for your attention, Shreya hardly stands out. That's not exactly true. Shreya hardly tries to stand out. Yet she does. Her creativity, her talent, her defiance, her headstrong take-no-shit attitude, her curiosity, her cheerfulness, and her most genuine smile - with all these combinations, how can she not stand out? How can she not inspire?
"Some people try not to stand out, and they don't.
Some people don't try to stand out, and they do."
 |
| Headstrong... |
I'm sure she's never heard this line. She probably couldn't even say Hakuna Matata (apparently it's quite a tongue-twister for 7-yr-olds). But without any conscious effort on her part, Shreya Pawar has embraced this philosophy in her life.
In a class filled with 45 screaming kids all vying for your attention, Shreya hardly stands out. That might be partly because she is NEVER trying to get your attention. She's content in her own world, with the few people around her, and never seems to need more.
But she did stand out to me, initially because of one simple feature - her smile.
Shreya is the smiliest kid - scratch that, smiliest person - I have ever met. In the no-smiling competition that I love to have with her, she can barely hold out for 2 seconds. Her eyes light up in pure unadulterated delight while crinkling up in the edges, and refuses to leave her face for the longest time. In fact, I think she's probably the only kid in my class who I've never seen crying even once! Once I found her sitting outside class with blood dripping from her knee, and the smile never left her face even as she recapped the incident of how she got hurt.
But if you think the smile is a reflection of her naivete and innocence, then you're definitely in for a ride!
 |
| The million-dollar smile |
When I initially started noticing her cheerful attitude, I assumed she was one of those rare kids in my class that faced no hardship at home or with her family. Maybe she does, I don't know. What I do know is that her parents and siblings live far away from Mumbai in a small village, while Shreya lives near the school with her grandparents and aunt and uncle. She was one of those "lucky" kids that was given the opportunity to go and live in the city to get a good education. Whether that education is worth the separation from her family - only one person can answer. But good luck trying to discern the emotions behind that million-dollar smile.
I said earlier that in a class of 45 screaming kids all vying for your attention, Shreya hardly stands out. That's not exactly true. Shreya hardly tries to stand out. Yet she does. Her creativity, her talent, her defiance, her headstrong take-no-shit attitude, her curiosity, her cheerfulness, and her most genuine smile - with all these combinations, how can she not stand out? How can she not inspire?
"Some people try not to stand out, and they don't.
Some people don't try to stand out, and they do."
Aaah yes...that does sound like Shreya! ;)
ReplyDelete