At the spoken Sanskrit classes that I am attending now, there are about 10 people all middle-aged and old. All of us are so conscious of our learning that we take a long time to frame a question or provide an answer. And even when we do, we play very safe by using the names and verbs that other had just used rather than come out with something new.
Yesterday, we had a new participant, a lady who had come with her 8-year-old son. The mother was, like most of us, quite reticent. But the boy was full of boundless energy and really made it up for the lack of knowledge of the verbs and the phrases. Whenever the teacher would ask a question, this boy would jump and respond loudly without any inhibition. Initially, he gave incorrect answers because he did not know but once he did, he was unstoppable.
That his responses were not making sense did not deter him from trying again and he tried so many times before getting it right. He reminded of all of us when as infants we learnt walking by falling down several times.
He really inspired me and gave me a live demonstration of what it means to participate without wanting to look good or avoid looking bad to others!!
