Thinking out-of-the-box? What's that?

Recently, faced with the eternal problem of the dismal number of submissions to the school newsletter, we- the newsletter committee- put our heads together to come up with- what we thought- was 'the' solution to the problem. We decided on a few topics that we thought were the talk of the nation- or of the youth at least- and we told each student to write at least a paragraph about what thoughts came to their mind when they heard the given topics. I mean, how could that go wrong? Everyone seemed to have quick opinions about everything, and how difficult would it be to put a few of those down in words?


But somewhere, our assumptions went horribly wrong.


The first problem? "What am I supposed to write?" Quite understandable, I said to myself, as this was the first time that the newsletter was doing something of this sort. As I explained that they just had to put down their opinion, the confusion only seemed to grow- "But... but am I supposed to write for or against the topic?". As I repeated the answer I had given earlier, adding 'it is completely your decision'- there was a marked indifference on the faces.


If the start was dismal, the results were even more so. As we scanned paragraph after paragraph submitted by all the classes ranging from 6th to 12th- we tried hard to mask the disappointment with some humour ("Okay, so let me predict what the next paragraph will start with..." and such). But the truth was, any one could have written those paragraphs (barring a few). Because all of them seemed to have the same opinion- and most of them even started with the same sentence! We had given topics like 'The school food', and 'The effectiveness of the Indian Education System', and 'Live-In Relationships'- expecting, at the very least, some mixed responses from the students. But the first two mostly drew articles unabashedly glorifying the school food and our education system, quite contrary to what one would hear down the corridors, or in the class. And the topic of 'Live-In Relationships', which seemed to attract so much conversation in class and outside it- with people being equally vociferous in defending it as well as opposing it, managed to draw just the one article!


As I took my stock of editing home, and went through more piles of the same things I had read so many times over, my first feelings were those of frustration, and bitter disappointment in the inability of the students to express their honest opinions when given the platform.


It was not until I had a good cry, and the whole house knew about my disappointments, that I realised that they were probably misdirected- and even a wee bit unfair. Maybe, just maybe- they weren't completely at fault.


How can they be blamed when, all their schooling life, they've been told what exactly to write- complete with the exact number of words they need to write it in? What else could explain the fact that most of the students use 'guides' for literature of a particular subject- something that is so purely supposed to be left upto interpretation? How can they be blamed when they've been told all their life what exactly their opinion about a particular piece of literature should be?


How can they be blamed when expressing dissent has never been something that's been encouraged? Afterall, going with the norm seems to have its proven awards- students who seem to be unable to even carry out a conversation in a language have been known to score the highest marks in a paricular exam- especially if it happens to be a nationally reputed 'board' exam. Learning by rote seems to have its obvious advantages. And for people who actually have another opinion? Hard luck mate!

But its not just the board exams that encourage our tendency to 'go with the tide'. An inbuilt fear of rejection- that of non-acceptence- seems to be a commonly known trait of the entire human race. So are we afraid of taking a stance? Are we too used to playing it safe?


And what exactly are we moving towards? A society where our real opinions have been covered with what people want us to think? Or one where there's a complete lack of the former? And why?

In a country like ours- a democracy that thrives on the motto of 'of the people, by the people, for the people'- how can we expect positive changes if we just don't hold opinions, or are too busy playing it safe? Why do we not believe in the fact that voicing our opinions- especially if they are different- can bring about some concrete changes?

Why are we afraid to stand out- to be unique? Will there be a day when we will be as uniform- as indistinguishable- as french fries coming out of a structure with a huge 'M' over it?