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There is, therefore, a different approach that one should take in inculcating valuesthrough the use of this book. In the first place let us be clear that we are notcommunicating a set of theories in the abstract to a ‘class’ which is another abstraction.On the contrary, we are helping Vinay see what happens when one does not keep apromise; we are pointing out to Meera all that she suffers when she gets hurt about smallthings that seem big to her; we are asking Aslam and Shefali to look into whatrelationship is, what sharing and cooperation are. To another child who is highlycompetitive, a new trend of thought may occur in the understanding of little Hameeda’splight in the episode On Competition. Most pieces deal with the different states of theirown mind, their little dilemmas, the struggles they go through and so on. My point is thatit is in understanding one’s own thought processes and feelings that a perception of whatis false and what is true occurs.There are also passages that endeavour to help children become aware of theirenvironment, of society and its problems, of the country and the world. There are otherpassages that ask them to care for the earth for it is theirs, their heritage. Throughout, themovement is towards the development of a concern for the country and its people,particularly the poor and the weak, and for mankind. It attempts to bring to the fore thatwhich is human in humanity.How would one go about teaching the book? Don’t teach it. Let it speak to you and tothe children if there be anything of worth in it. By that I mean do not turn it into yetanother textbook to be studied assiduously. On the contrary use the passages for dialogueand discussion. You could take the liberty to build around a piece other instances relevantto your group of children, keeping to the trend of the piece. The temptation to be didacticor to moralise should be avoided at all costs. It is in the dialogue with your class thatmuch of what is of significance to children in their own lives will get revealed, thushelping the teacher to understand the child better.Then again, as is hinted in the book itself, in various parts perception leads to feelingand action. Aditi sees for herself the injustice in ill treating girls and women feelsconcerned and acts. The children grasp deep within themselves the ugliness of throwinggarbage around and act. And so on. Likewise, apart from dialogues and discussions onecould take up projects and activities, if your school is flexible enough to allow that. Atany rate, do not be in a hurry to finish the book. Dip into it leisurely and build upon thevalues being communicated, gently, patiently, taking one passage and its ramificationsover two or three lessons or even more. The intention is that such an approach could betried as resource material in classes VII, VIII and IX. Hence there are included some easyepisodes and ideas and some more complex issues. You can choose what is most suitedfor each age and not feel tied down to the order in the book. One can envisage thatteachers may be faced with one or two problems. First of all, when does one use thisbook? It could be used to say, a culture class to be set apart once a week or even once afortnight for this purpose. In some schools that is being tried. Otherwise, one has to findopportunities to divert the class from the learning of a subject to a discussion of this kindonce in a while. Or, perhaps, some other teacher is absent and you are deputising for herand that happens so often. Take a small piece and generate a discussion, the mostsatisfactory arrangement is, of course, to schedule one period per week in classes VII toIX for purposes of general discussion on such themes.