Free from School

Free from School

The Project Gutenberg eBook, Free from School, by Rahul Alvares
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Copyright (C) 2003 by Rahul Alvares. May be redistributed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License version 1.1 or later.

Title: Free from School
Author: Rahul Alvares
Release Date: January 3, 2004 [eBook #10347]
Language: English
Character set encoding: Latin1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREE FROM SCHOOL***
Free From School
Rahul Alvares 22nd August 2003
It's not every day that a 16 year old writes a book. In fact, girls and boys of that age are supposed to spend their time studying what other people write. It is presumed that at that age they do not themselves have anything significant or interesting to say. And the education system guarantees just that. The best rewards go to those who can parrot set answers to set questions in examination halls. Those who try to use their imagination or reply differently are often punished with low grades.
Rahul Alvares did not set out to write a book. Under the encouragement of his parents, he consciously set out to try his hand at learning things outside the school framework and you might say as a result, Free From School actually came looking for him! After his SSC, unlike his other classmates, he opted out of schooling to follow his instincts: fond of reptiles, he chased them up at the Pune Snake Park and at the Crocodile Bank at Mamallapuram. In the process, he also picked up trails of spiders, earthworms and turtles. He caught snakes in the company of Irula tribals. He got bitten by hot-tempered reptiles. He came out of it all grinning and wiser. 'Free From School' is his story of a year out of school, when the learning graph of his young life went up leaps and bounds. He wrote it to encourage other boys and girls his age to move out of the sterile school and college environment offered by India's antiquarian educational system, if they wish to experience another side to life and learning. He lost nothing but gained a lot. So did his parents. When you read his story, so will you.

This book has been originally published by the Other India Press, Mapusa, Goa. Copies of the print version are available from [email protected] or The Other India Press, Above Mapusa Clinic, Mapusa 403507 Gao. Tel. 0091.832.2263306
Copyright (c) 2003 Rahul Alvares
Permission is granted to copy of distribute this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. The author however requests anyone downloading this book to make a donation (recommendation $2 or Rs 50) to a group working for the cause of wildlife, particularly in Goa. If you would like to know of Rahul Alvares' preferences on which group could be supported, contact him at [email protected].
CONTENTS

Chapter 1
: A Fish Shop in Mapusa
Chapter 2
: Learning a Bit of Farming
Chapter 3
: Plant Festivals
Chapter 4
: Learning about Mushrooms
Chapter 5
: A Trip to Kerala
Chapter 6
: Snakes Alive!
Chapter 7
: A Vacation within a Vacation
Chapter 8
: Earthworms
Chapter 9
: Spiders
Chapter 10
: Crocodile Dundee
Chapter 11
: Learning to Teach
Chapter 12
: You Have Sight, I Have Vision
Chapter 13
: Surveying a Forest
Chapter 14
: Chief Guest At Belgaum

Chapter 1
: A Fish Shop in Mapusa
You must try to understand that when I finished school I was as raw as raw could be. I had never travelled anywhere on my own, never purchased a train ticket, since like most kids my age I had only travelled with my parents or relatives and they made all the decisions. I had no experience of how to handle money (my knowledge being limited to spending the 50 paise or one rupee I would receive as pocket money now and then).
So while I had set my sights on travelling far and wide my parents wisely thought that I should begin by learning to manage on my own within Goa itself. It was also the rainy season and travelling around the country would be much more difficult they explained.
So I started out by helping at an aquarium shop in Mapusa, the town nearest my village. The proprietor of the shop is Ashok D'Cruz, a college friend of my father's. I must tell you about Ashok. He is no ordinary businessman: keeping fish is a passion with him. He is far more interested in chatting with his customers about fish than making money selling them. I have never seen him forcing any of his customers to buy from