real and unreal

this post is inspired by a conversaton with kundalini (sorry g i don't know how to type your name as a link!!) and an interaction with a very unique two-year-old. this child did not know what chocolate is, she had just tasted ice-cream for the first time, and she thought of five ways of using a balloon-stem without being asked. she has never watched telly. seems unreal.

her parents are educated, well-off and wonderful people who live and run a resort in the mountains of uttaranchal. they have consciously brought her up without the influence of TV, play groups, amd malls. they want her to learn what the real india is about. so her friends include flora and fauna as much as children. her toys include stones, twigs and things available in the house as much as dolls and wooden doggies. she has learned the names of flowers by touching and seeing them, rather than their pictures. she curves the balloon- stem and is able to call it a U on the one hand, a moon on the other (she does not say ' crescent', but you realise she means it). and she speaks in hindi though she knows the english alphabet as well.

is this relatively 'natural' way of bringing up a child better than the 'modern' way? the facets that the child is exposed to and socialised in is perhaps what makes the difference. will this prepare the child for the 'real' world? what is this 'real' world anyway? only competition, violence amd strife?

more questions. what is holistic upbringing? how can this be made possible? is keeping it simple a way out? packing a child's life with dance and drawing classes (or whatever else) in addition to school tuitions, i think is more likely to turn them into androids rather than complete individuals. i don't have any answers, and am aware that there is no one 'right' way. i just think that we need to question how we (will) bring up our children. for we will shape our own reality and that of our chldren.