Free from School

Free from School

The Project Gutenberg eBook, Free from School, by Rahul Alvares
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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,