Young Descartes
[Dhrithi is an eight year old with a quick brain and her own brand of unbeatable logic. She does not accept facts that are handed down by her teachers or parents. She deduces her own truths about the world with deep intuitive reasoning. I am just a regular mother. I often find myself in a precarious position, trying to match my hand-me-down knowledge with my daughter’s rhetoric. Here is a slice of conversation between us during a long car drive home. I am driving after a long day at work, it is late evening, a good time to raise basic questions about life that we take so much for granted.]
Dhrithi: Ma, ma guess what! We are learning about living and non-living things in school. After we go home I need to make a chart.
Me: Hmm. So tell me, what are living things and non-living things?
Dhrithi: A living thing is something that can breathe, grow, multiply and die.
Me: Good. But what does multiply mean?
Dhrithi: It is something like ‘grow’. I did not understand properly. We learnt an action song. For ‘breathe’, we all breathed loudly, for ‘grow’, we stretched upwards and raised our hands, for ‘die’ we had real fun. I held my stomach and rolled on the floor, Sethu stuck out his tongue and dropped down on this chair, Icy and Dimpy fell on top of each other, Ma’am held her head and acted like she would faint.
Me: (smiling) What about multiply?
Dhrithi: We rolled our hands fast like a wheel! Me: (laughing) Your teacher has good imagination! ‘Multiply’ means to have babies.
Dhrithi: Oh! (After a pause) But I don’t have babies mom and I know that I am a living thing.
Me: Right. But all humans can have babies when they grow up.
Dhrithi: Aha! But boys and men can’t have babies, so are boys and men not living things? No ma. Multiply cannot mean have babies. It must mean some thing else.
Me: Ok! I am sure you teacher will have a better explanation for ‘multiply’. Dhrithi: (excited)Hey, I know a way to find out what is a living thing and what is non-living. Look here, look here... I got it mom!
Me: You know I cannot look at you when I am driving. Tell me, I am listening.
Dhrithi: All man-made things are non-living... All things that nature made are living things!
Me: Good definition for a start. But let’s see if this is a correct assumption. So what are some examples of living things?
Dhrithi: Who doesn’t know! Plants, birds, dogs...
Me: Good! What are some non-living things?
Dhrithi: Easy! Tables books, cars....
Me: Is an apple a living thing?
Dhrithi: Not when I eat it. It is a living thing before it is plucked from a tree... See, that’s nature. But when it comes from a box in the super market it is man-made or non-living.
Me: Wow! That’s a good one.
Dhrithi: Hey ma! How could I have been so cruel! I have not played with my Teddy for three days! He must be missing me! Drive faster mom!
Me: Don’t worry. It’s just a toy.
Dhrithi: No ma. I am sure he will be missing me.
Me: It is nice to believe that toys and other things have feelings but they don’t. Toys are non-living right?
Dhrithi: Teddy loves me very much.
Me: Scientific minded eight year olds should know better. A Teddy Bear is a non-living and it does not have feelings.
Dhrithi: Is God a living thing?
Me: That’s a big question! What do you think?
Dhrithi: God must be a living thing! Because a non-living thing cannot make living things. And God made all of us! And I think all natural things are living things because like us, they were made by God.
Me: Think carefully. Stones, water and air are natural right? Are they living?
Dhrithi: (thinking deeply) No ... they can’t breathe. (Suddenly) But I know they do die. Like the lake that dried up near our school! My Teddy is a living thing ma. I just know it is.
Me: Does your Teddy breathe?
Dhrithi: Yes you can hear it if you listen very carefully.
Me: Does it grow?
Dhrithi: May be it needs time.
Me: It wasn’t born, it was made and it will not die...
Dhrithi: He might just decide to run away if you continue to speak this way! I am sure his feelings will be hurt!
Me: Let’s use your own definition for a minute... is your Teddy man-made?
Dhrithi: Yes.
Me: All man made things are...
Dhrithi: Non-living? Noooooo! Wait a minute! I got it! I think we all got wrong till now. All things are living things!
Me: Huh?
Dhrithi: Teacher’s got it all wrong too. In Value Education , she said that God is there in everything ... Everything means EVERYTHING! Nature things, animals, plants, man-made things, the moon, the sun and the whole universe! So if all things are made of God and God is living...
Me: Yes?
Dhrithi: Ma’am must have been wrong about non-living things in the Science Class! There is no such thing as a non-living thing! All things are living and have feelings. So mama, my Teddy bear is a living thing. Give him some respect.
Q.E.D. (At least for now!)
Dhrithi: Ma, ma guess what! We are learning about living and non-living things in school. After we go home I need to make a chart.
Me: Hmm. So tell me, what are living things and non-living things?
Dhrithi: A living thing is something that can breathe, grow, multiply and die.
Me: Good. But what does multiply mean?
Dhrithi: It is something like ‘grow’. I did not understand properly. We learnt an action song. For ‘breathe’, we all breathed loudly, for ‘grow’, we stretched upwards and raised our hands, for ‘die’ we had real fun. I held my stomach and rolled on the floor, Sethu stuck out his tongue and dropped down on this chair, Icy and Dimpy fell on top of each other, Ma’am held her head and acted like she would faint.
Me: (smiling) What about multiply?
Dhrithi: We rolled our hands fast like a wheel! Me: (laughing) Your teacher has good imagination! ‘Multiply’ means to have babies.
Dhrithi: Oh! (After a pause) But I don’t have babies mom and I know that I am a living thing.
Me: Right. But all humans can have babies when they grow up.
Dhrithi: Aha! But boys and men can’t have babies, so are boys and men not living things? No ma. Multiply cannot mean have babies. It must mean some thing else.
Me: Ok! I am sure you teacher will have a better explanation for ‘multiply’. Dhrithi: (excited)Hey, I know a way to find out what is a living thing and what is non-living. Look here, look here... I got it mom!
Me: You know I cannot look at you when I am driving. Tell me, I am listening.
Dhrithi: All man-made things are non-living... All things that nature made are living things!
Me: Good definition for a start. But let’s see if this is a correct assumption. So what are some examples of living things?
Dhrithi: Who doesn’t know! Plants, birds, dogs...
Me: Good! What are some non-living things?
Dhrithi: Easy! Tables books, cars....
Me: Is an apple a living thing?
Dhrithi: Not when I eat it. It is a living thing before it is plucked from a tree... See, that’s nature. But when it comes from a box in the super market it is man-made or non-living.
Me: Wow! That’s a good one.
Dhrithi: Hey ma! How could I have been so cruel! I have not played with my Teddy for three days! He must be missing me! Drive faster mom!
Me: Don’t worry. It’s just a toy.
Dhrithi: No ma. I am sure he will be missing me.
Me: It is nice to believe that toys and other things have feelings but they don’t. Toys are non-living right?
Dhrithi: Teddy loves me very much.
Me: Scientific minded eight year olds should know better. A Teddy Bear is a non-living and it does not have feelings.
Dhrithi: Is God a living thing?
Me: That’s a big question! What do you think?
Dhrithi: God must be a living thing! Because a non-living thing cannot make living things. And God made all of us! And I think all natural things are living things because like us, they were made by God.
Me: Think carefully. Stones, water and air are natural right? Are they living?
Dhrithi: (thinking deeply) No ... they can’t breathe. (Suddenly) But I know they do die. Like the lake that dried up near our school! My Teddy is a living thing ma. I just know it is.
Me: Does your Teddy breathe?
Dhrithi: Yes you can hear it if you listen very carefully.
Me: Does it grow?
Dhrithi: May be it needs time.
Me: It wasn’t born, it was made and it will not die...
Dhrithi: He might just decide to run away if you continue to speak this way! I am sure his feelings will be hurt!
Me: Let’s use your own definition for a minute... is your Teddy man-made?
Dhrithi: Yes.
Me: All man made things are...
Dhrithi: Non-living? Noooooo! Wait a minute! I got it! I think we all got wrong till now. All things are living things!
Me: Huh?
Dhrithi: Teacher’s got it all wrong too. In Value Education , she said that God is there in everything ... Everything means EVERYTHING! Nature things, animals, plants, man-made things, the moon, the sun and the whole universe! So if all things are made of God and God is living...
Me: Yes?
Dhrithi: Ma’am must have been wrong about non-living things in the Science Class! There is no such thing as a non-living thing! All things are living and have feelings. So mama, my Teddy bear is a living thing. Give him some respect.
Q.E.D. (At least for now!)
Salutations to Dhriti's VEDA.If we started respecting EVERY THING the world would have been more beautiful and a much better place to live in.
ReplyDeleteAmazing ! Frankly i'm dumstruck by the high philosophical outlook of the little child. Children have such unique crystal clear vision of things. Sigh, when do we start losing that divinity in us !
ReplyDeleteI am just sitting here gaping! What a genious! Hubby keeps saying I need to 'respect' things more, and keep arguing on what that means. But with Dhrithi's logic it is sooo simple and crystal clear! God bless her!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing how the mind of a child is never scared to explore what you and I would consider gospel truth! Wonder at what point we give up and merely follow.
ReplyDelete