I’ve been an avid user of Facebook for many years now (8 to be exact), and I can look back and see how my relationship with this site has changed. It started at the end of my teen years, where the initial source of pleasure resided in the increasing number of ‘friends’ that you had. Over the college years, it moved to witty status updates, the ones that you felt strongly about, and yet also enjoyed seeing the number of likes go up. In the last few years, it’s become more about engaging in fleeting dialogues about social issues around the world – a way to shout out against the injustices and appreciate the nicer events.
But recently, it’s changed again. Now, it’s no longer about national or global issues. It’s not about political or social change. It’s about something that I’ve come to realize is so much more important to me.
It’s about individuals. And their stories.
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It started with a simple ‘like’ of the Humans of New York (HONY) page after having read a few of the anecdotes that were shared on it. A few months later, I came across of Humans of Bombay page, and decided to like it too. And then a Humans of Bangalore. And then, one day, I decided to search for ‘Humans of’ on Facebook, and decided to follow almost every page I came across: Humans of Vizag, India, Karachi, Dilli, Delhi, Singapore, Toronto, and probably a few others.
And every day, I found myself waking up to stories of friendship, love, inspiration, tears, struggles, death, smiles, passion – stories that resonated with me no matter which part of the world they belonged to. And each time I read and shared one of those stories (and trust me, there were a lot), I’d find myself thinking – why isn’t this stuff used in classrooms? Why do we read stories that have been created especially for the purpose of education, but ignore the stories where the real education is found?
I mean, imagine a classroom where one such story is shared with students on a daily basis – how much would they open their minds to the diversity that begins in their home and cuts all borders? And imagine the students themselves going out and talking to people and getting such stories – how could they not learn from such a direct and raw experience?
See, the thing is – stories have a power. And I don’t know if this is more true for me than for others, but stories are the only way I’ve ever learnt. The only way I could understand the digestive system was to think about what happens to the morsel of food from the moment it enters our mouth. Ask me to relay any sociological or development theory that I’ve learnt in the last two years, and I’ll draw up blank. But tell me the story of the worker who is forced into slavery by working in the brick kilns of Pakistan (Humans of New York), and I’ll never forget it. I’ve never been able to remember the structure or function of the government that we learnt in civics despite numerous attempts (my dad will attest to that), but the story of the old woman in Vizag who travels daily to the city to sell eggs because her entire family deserted her leaving her with no other source of income – I think I’ll always remember that.
I mean, imagine a classroom where one such story is shared with students on a daily basis – how much would they open their minds to the diversity that begins in their home and cuts all borders? And imagine the students themselves going out and talking to people and getting such stories – how could they not learn from such a direct and raw experience?
See, the thing is – stories have a power. And I don’t know if this is more true for me than for others, but stories are the only way I’ve ever learnt. The only way I could understand the digestive system was to think about what happens to the morsel of food from the moment it enters our mouth. Ask me to relay any sociological or development theory that I’ve learnt in the last two years, and I’ll draw up blank. But tell me the story of the worker who is forced into slavery by working in the brick kilns of Pakistan (Humans of New York), and I’ll never forget it. I’ve never been able to remember the structure or function of the government that we learnt in civics despite numerous attempts (my dad will attest to that), but the story of the old woman in Vizag who travels daily to the city to sell eggs because her entire family deserted her leaving her with no other source of income – I think I’ll always remember that.
Increasing research is now suggesting that stories are the best way for a person to learn, because that's how our brains are wired. Think about it - HONY, in a single trip to Pakistan, has probably been able to tell the world more about this country than any history book or media coverage ever could!
And I've been trying to figure out what it is about stories that appeals to me that I can't find through information and data or even my favourite Wikipedia. And I think it boils down to stories being about people. About individuals. They may tell tales of political upheavels and social change; they may be about large events in history; they may be about complicated concepts; but they are still stories of individuals. And crazily enough, as violent and disruptive and thoughtless as we humans seem to be when we act as a group or a mob or a nation, as individuals, we’re very different. We become people who care, people who struggle, people who learn – people who feel. The concept of slavery in the states doesn't hit you as hard until you hear about the stories of individuals who suffered. Why did The Kite Runner become so popular? Not because it had a great plot (which it probably did), but because it gave us all a glimpse into life in Afghanistan from a single person, a glimpse that the media never could give.
And it doesn't matter if it' fiction or non-fiction - it's the story told through the eyes of the person that matters - a story that draws you in, makes you feel the fear and the hope of the protagonist to the extent that you know it'll never completely leave you. I mean, imagine if the Harry Potter books were just a series of events describing the magical world into which this new person has entered to fight the Dark Lord, without us ever experiencing it through Harry's eyes, and feeling his wonder, his confusion, his doubt, his determination?! (Okay, don't imagine that. It's shudder-worthy).
So where does this leave me?
It leaves me with a firm belief in the power of stories, and yet surrounded by textbooks that emphasize historical events and scientific concepts over stories. Sure, the NCERT has attempted to move in the direction of stories, but these stories are still limited, because they focus on creating a fictional story whose sole purpose is to introduce the topic of addition or fractions. They are stories created for a purpose - a purpose of teaching something (a whole other blog post needed on that topic). Whereas the stories that stay with us - the stories of HONY and Harry Potter and The Kite Runner - these are stories that were told just because someone wanted to tell them.
And those are the best kind.
