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Let us consider how children converse at school. When you are together at recesstime, what do you talk about? Perhaps about how you spent your holiday, what you havejust bought, what you like to do. But when you talk, you will agree that several of youtalk at the same time. No one listens to the other. No one speaks in a soft tone. Very oftenpupils at a school shout. The art of conversation is different. It is not loud, idle chatter atthe top of your voice. It is good that there is so much energy, so much fun to share but itis sad that most of us do not know how to listen to each other; isn’t this so? Noticeanother thing. At school we invent a new language all our own. Sometimes it is slang orbad use of language; at other times it is casual, colloquial. Then when in adult companywe let slip words like ‘I’d like to go there, yaar’ or ‘It bugs me so’, ‘How b-o-r-i-n-g Isay’, and so on. You would of course know many more such expressions! Adults whohear you get worried about you.What about your own use of language? Have you observed how you converse withpeople? How sensitive are you? Is your conversation polite, respectful and courteous?Can you make conversation easily and naturally? Do you tend to so have you askedyourself why this should be so? Do you have a open mind, ready to see the other person spoint of view? Would you like to learn the art of conversation when you are in the midstof a conversation would you pause and watch yourself?8. The Joy of SharingAs Aslam and his best friend Arjun walked home from school that evening you couldsee that they had been deeply moved by the talk given by the lady from the organisationcalled ‘School on Wheels’. They had discussed with great excitement what they heardand by the time they reached home they had resolved that they would join the movementas volunteers.The lady who had come that afternoon to their school had pointed out the woefulconditions faced by the poor in the city and wondered if the boys and girls studying inthis school had any idea of the hard lives the poor had to lead. She described with greatfeeling the lot of the construction workers in the city, that is, those labourers, men andwomen, who worked for contractors at building sites, offices, workshops, etc. Theselabourers came from distant towns to the city to eke out a living. They were on dailywages which meant that if they did not go to work on a certain day due to illness; theyhad to go without their wage for that day. The men did most of the skilled work likemasonry, carpentry, welding, fitting, etc., while their womenfolk carried bricks, cement,earth and the tiles needed for construction. Their children who moved with them fromplace to place had no proper schooling. They played around, fought with each other orhelped their parents in little ways. It was tragic she said to see bright-eyed children, whoought to be in school, looking bedraggled and dirty. That is the reason some peopleorganised themselves with the help of volunteers and started a movement to giveeducation to these children. It had started in a small way a few years earlier but hadgradually gained in popularity. They had started with classes for children during the dayin one of the buildings and they used improvised materials. Gradually their fathers andmothers also became interested and there was a demand for a proper school for them. It