TO BE AN ICONOCLAST

My periodic meetings with the pupils have let me observe certain similarities amongst them. Everyone seems to have a yearning for art in some way or the other. In the refreshment time everyone would go and fetch colours of their choice and start drawing their imaginations: some would draw houses, some would trace silhouettes on the paper, but some are consummate sketchers. Ankit is one of them. The sketch I’ve shared is his magnum opus-The Ironman. I asked him where he took help from, to which he replied he drew it on his own without looking at any pictures. At the first instance nobody would believe him, neither did I. It was then when he drew a sketch of doraemon in a jiffy that left me awestruck. By doing so he defied the belief that children from marginal family groups can only make good workers. I sensed a scintilla of iconoclasm. Do you sense the same?

While I was talking to them, Nisha asked me, ”ma’am, do you wear jeans when you go out?” I said I do. She smiled and said that she wears jeans too and that she loves wearing them. I was baffled, perturbed with this incident. Is wearing jeans a luxury for her or a sign that she’s free?  Long back when jeans were introduced girls were not allowed to wear them, for they were western and could be revealing. But I never knew that we’re still struggling to oppose the harsh society norms set for women. I can never crack the logic of restricting jeans but being completely fine with blouses. I was still pondering over whatever happened, completely oblivious that another such incident was waiting at the door. Tanya, another art lover, was colouring what she drew. When I appreciated her work, she said,”I want to be an art teacher but my mother won’t allow me to. She doesn’t want me to work but marry as soon as I grow up.” Needless to say I was disheartened. It’s hard to draw a picture of a happy nation in your mind when you see dreams shattering in front of you.

The society is a hypocrite- it’ll question men and women exchanging their workplaces- making it difficult to let a man survive in the kitchen and a woman in the office. The society is a malefactor- it’ll try to kill your dreams, demoralize you, ask you to follow what’s being followed since ages.

Not everyone is courageous like Galileo to challenge the society belief, but not everyone becomes a legend like he is. It’s up to you how you raise above all, be an iconoclast and jump up the ladder of your aspiration.