PEOPLE LIKE THEM

She’s wasting her time playing in the park like this,” Sunita fretted as she watched her two-year-old daughter chasing a ball. “It’s time we somehow got her into a preschool.” Having always believed that unstructured play time often has a more lasting educational impact than an open textbook in a classroom, I felt that the longer her child could stay out of school, the better. When I said as much to Sunita, she clearly disagreed. “These days, even playschools require toddlers to know their ABC,” she said. “Neither my husband nor I are educated; the only way we can provide proper stimulation to our child is by sending her to school.” My ensuing conversation with Sunita made me realise that going to school these days was no child’s play.