Three million students have been and are related with Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas. The book describes the life of the students, teachers and all other concerned with one of the biggest and most successful schooling system of India. It’s not a story of an individual but an image of the system itself. It tells how the students are groomed in the institute, the obstacles they face, the struggle they do and the voices they raise. Book enables the reader to visualize the scenario of the schools pointing out the reasons of failure and success of the system. It’s the very first book of its kind giving out firsthand experience of growing and learning in the prestigious institutes.
Professional Reviews
Searching for a book to read ? This one is..
An Insight Into Navodaya – a book by young author Navjeet Singh Sandhu
An Insight Into Navodaya is not just another book at the stands. Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, established under Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti in 1986, have made almost around three million people in India a part of themselves. Now with more than 565 Navodayas functioning and many others in the line of establishment, JNVs have become one of the biggest schooling systems of India.
The book is all about the inmates of JNVs which include students, teaching and non-teaching staff. The author admits in the beginning that the aim of the book is to put every aspect related to the life of the inmates of the institutes in front of the readers. The book begins with introducing the grooming of the author in his JNV while talking of the issues which keep the students busy and conversations against the administration and teachers alive. Every sentence is written in the simplest form, but conveying complete meaning. A very personal approach is seen in the writing which makes the book – a picturesque.
The author, while writing as if he was still in the shoes of a school student has also worked over putting his two years of observations outside the wall of Navodaya very neatly in the text. He has talked about both advantages and limitations of the system, clearly pointing out the areas where there’s a scope of improvement. It discusses every aspect of the student life from every angle while discussing the reasons why some students are able to proliferate themselves in the system while others are not.
In every topic the author has tried to give a glimpse of the way a Navodayan thinks and the way they analyze the things. When a certain issue is right or not irrespective of this conclusion, the author has extracted some beautiful optimistic views and he has proudly accepted that such constructive and positive attitude is one big thing that makes learning in Navodaya special. Many sentences point towards the fact – there’s a lot of difference between growing and studying in city based schools and Navodaya.
“Spending seven years at the same place with same people around you and that too the years of maximum mental and physical growth, all these factors count in for enabling the navodayas to have an upper hand in shaping your personality, bringing up a responsible attitude.”
The book is categorized into small but interesting topics written in no specific order. The sentences are short and straight.
“You listen to a wide variety of views regarding a single issue, putting you in dilemma. What to do? Whom to follow? You have to put them to a scale and choose the best out of it. But who is best? This all depends on the scale you construct to measure their righteousness.”
The style of writing may not be very professional but it’s a blend of philosophical touch and emotional words together in a text giving a taste of picturesque.
“Out of all the schooling systems we have in India, I suppose, it’s the teachers of navodaya who work the hardest. They are paid for being teachers but they are not only teachers; they are a lot more than that. They are our teachers, our tutors, our mentors, our ‘pseudo’ guardians. They are artists who fill a blank picture with colors, colors of gratitude, of knowledge and of unshakable confidence. No doubt, other teachers do same but ‘wide variety’ exists only in navodayas; if not only, perhaps, the most.”
The text is widely put in three parts; first part gives a formal introduction to the system as the people know it and the government wants them to know it. Second part comprises of author’s experiences and observations penned down with an intention to cover almost all the topics related to the student life of a Navodayan. The different approach towards life that develops in a navodayan has been talked about and the reasons have been explained. Reasons for the success and failure of the system in different fields have been discussed. In a nutshell second section provides a firsthand experience of living and growing in the institutes in a story telling manner picking up topics at random and discussing their impact on the student’s life.
The third section gives views of the alumni (taken at random) regarding the system. It has been added to support the point that problems discussed are common to all (or most of) the vidyalayas. The views given also signify that whether a student is from J&k, Punjab or from Kerala or Jharkhand, all develop a similar kind of attitude towards life and all consider themselves as one. It also includes some news items both in favor and against the system. So both critics and people who are in love with the system have a lot to get from the book. The biggest thing is it’s the first write-up regarding the system by an alumnus.
In all it is a good piece of work by a budding author. At a small price of Rs 195/- the words of the young author of 20 years of age are worth reading. The author is the youngest author in Chandigarh.
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