In this poem, Catharine writes about how ‘educational’ materials – even as seemingly innocuous as grammar rules of opposites – often establish and reinforce binaries and hierarchies for children. Compounded by pedagogic practice that is unwilling to examine its rules and binaries, this leaves young people who are uncomfortable with the hierarchies, and whose lived experiences cannot be explained by/limited to the binary, with the difficult task of negotiating, unlearning, and dismantling these limiting ideas.

It started in class two, When the teacher said, “Sit together,
You and you.”

We sat hesitantly with our books, When the teacher said,
“Read out loud.”
And we shared looks.

“Opposites,” you mumbled, When the teacher said, “You, louder!”
I grumbled.

Said, I, “Big – Small,” When the teacher said, “That’s not it
Read them all”

“Big – Small Happy – Sad Strong – Weak Short – Tall”

I was almost done, When the teacher said, “Go on,
Another one.”

Girl – Boy,
When the teacher said, “That’s it for today” Oh, what joy!

But that’s where it started
What the teacher had not said
A slow creeping wall of difference That still hasn’t parted

You somehow got the first pick And you confidently said,
“You get slow, weak, small
I get strong, big, quick.”

And now that I think back to it How different things would be Had the teacher said,
“You are not opposites”.

Catharine Ananova is from Ernakulam, Kerala and is in the second year of a Bachelors in English Language and Literature from St. Teresa’s College, Ernakulam.