PROBASHI- A Cultural News Magazine Volume 2 Issue 2 | Page 25

Probashi-Cover Theme

Interview with Moloyashree Hashmi

Lahore. In Delhi he was very active
in the bank trade union. I was born
in Delhi, and studied in Convent of
Jesus and Mary and subsequently in
Lady Irwin School, which much later
realised, was a progressive school.
For my parents, education was
never been about securing good
marks; it was about independence
of thought and action.
You took the untrodden path. How
did that happen?
I think life just unfolded, I did not
hanker after “success”, but would
rather do something which I
enjoyed and was valuable. Children
and how they learn has always
fascinated me.
I went to Neel Bagh in Karnataka,
an experimental and innovative
teaching learning place which was
started by David Horsburgh. Here
children learnt at their own pace;
there were no exams; there were
no formal levels of classes; a place
where
children
demanded
homework; where learning maths
was as exciting and important as
pottery - a very different setup
from the present schools. Here I
spent two years learning how to
help children learn. My profession
and my passion are working for
children and theatre is half my life.
People who inspire you, put you at
awe and make you strive to pick
up a page from their life’s
notebook.
Role models evolve as you grow up.
There have been many influences
in my life. Among the earliest was
Ms Damayanti, my English teacher
in school. She was able to not only
teach us the language very ably but
push us into learning beyond what
seemed to be our capacities and
yet there was never any pressure or

JANAM at Jhandapur on 4 Jan 1989, three days after Safdar was killed, comp