THE TREASURE WITHIN
Interview by BELA RAJA
Analysis :
· The chapter ‘The Treasure Within’ is an interview with Hafeez Contractor taken by the writer, Ms. Bela Raja, the editor of Sparsh, a newsletter from the Resource Centre, The Valley School, Bangalore.
· This interview is a sneak peek into the life of Hafeez contractor describing his personality, life, achievements and the making of Mr. Hafeez Contractor into one of India’s leading architects.
·
The chapter highlights how the hidden talent which is a treasure within
a person can be explored, polished and nurtured.
·
It gives the message that no matter how bad a student is, he always
possesses a treasure which is his hidden talent and it needs to be explored and
developed. In order to explore this treasure within a change is required in
teaching practices and methodologies. We can learn more by doing than what
academics would teach.
·
Right guidance, sensible approach and encouragement of each student
equally is what is needed most.
·
Every child is a potential achiever and is different from other children
in her/his style of learning and area of interest.
·
Summary / Synopsis:
Hafeez
Contractor was an unhappy school boy. He loved doing things in practical life
but detested mechanical learning and bookish knowledge. He was very bad at
languages, Science and geography he could deal with but Mathematics gave him shivers and he used to get continuous
nightmares about appearing for a Math examination. In third standard, he lost
interest and stopped studying. He took interest in games, running around,
playing jokes and pranks on others. He would copy in class during exam times as
he could not remember things taught in class. He used to bunk classes and was
quite indisciplined with regard to his studies and homework that’s he used to
receive caning. But, he never bothered about it and went out to play. Students
used to book his textbooks for next year because they were almost brand new as
he had hardly opened them one day before exams.
His life
took 360 degrees turn, when his Principal in his 11th std. told him about
his family conditions and the problems his mother was facing to look after his
life and his studies in absence of his father. He also influenced him deeply
saying that he was good student but he never studies. He had taken care of him
but now, he had to take care of himself.” and motivated him to work on his
strengths.
He was a
very good sportsman, had been the senior champion for so many years, and the
cricket captain also. But after talking to the Principal he stopped playing
sports and took his studies seriously. As a result, he got a
second class, 50 per cent in his SSC, 12th std.
After 12th he wanted to join army as he got only
50 percent and no college was giving admission below 85 percent. But, his aunt
tore his admission letter for army. On his mother’s advice to do graduation he
went to Jaihind College in Bombay. Though he had studied French for seven
years, he did not know seven words of French so he took German in college. Due
to sudden demise of German teacher he had to learn French again. He used to go
to an architect’s office to learn French from his cousin, she was an
architect’s wife. There in the office he corrected the drawing of a window,
which was wrong. His cousin’s husband was surprised. He asked him to draw few
things, which he immediately did. He asked him to design a house and he did
that, too. He asked him to drop everything and join architecture. He got an
‘A+’ in the entrance exam of the architecture. He stood first class first
throughout in the college.
He had never made a plan, but he knew how something looked
like, from the top. He did not know what a section was, but knew how a cut plan
would look like. All this understanding came from what he used to play and do
during school when he used to have competitions with his friend, Behram Divecha
for designing forts, guns and ammunition.
In his third
standard, his teacher, Mrs. Gupta recognized his talent and told me that he was
useless in everything else but his sketches are good and suggested him to
become an architect. Later, after he became an architect, he went to meet her
and tell about his achievement.
He agreed
with Bela Raja that giftedness and learning disabilities go hand in hand giving
examples of some students from his class, who always stood first or second and
were doing ordinary jobs. He learnt more by doing than what academics taught
him. If it started raining, I would think how to build a dam to block the
flowing water and how much of water the dam would be able to hold. When a student
lost a button while playing or fighting, he would cut a button from chalk,
using a blade, for him.
He decides
the choice of structure for a client after looking at the client’s face, his
clothes, the way he talks and the way he eats as these things tell his taste
and choice. He could relate to people using his instinct and Mathematics. He
told, Putting design, construction, psychology and sociology together and
making a sketch from all that is ‘mathematics’.
Bela Raja
concluded that they have come to a full circle where Mr. Contractor derived his
own interpretation of Mathematics — from
a subject he hated to a subject he now loves dealing with.
Important Question Answers
Q1. How did the Principal’s words influence Hafeez
Contractor?
Ans.
The
Principal was a sensible man. He had been seeing Hafeez from day one. He thought
it as his duty to guard him on right time. So, when Hafeez approached his
eleventh standard, he called him and told him that he was a good student but he
never studied. He had lost his father and his poor mother had worked hard to
bring him up and pay his fees. It was the time now to rise to the occasion and
study. These words of the Principal influenced Hafeez deeply. He forgot games
that year and studied day and night. As a result, he got a second class, 50 per
cent in his SSC. His Principal was very happy because he had got 50 per cent in 12th std.
Reference
to Context:
“See, you
are useless in everything else but your sketches are good. When you grow up you
become an architect.”
(a) Who is the speaker?
(b) Who is the speaker speaking to?
(c) How was the listener related to the speaker?
(d) What made her advise him so?
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