Shefali Shah was the star guest at the launch of P&G Shiksha’s “nationwide movement” to bring to attention the banes of the ‘Invisible Gap’ that plague most students. The CSR programme of P&G India aims to address this and arrest it. A short film with little Bindiya as the protagonist was aired to emphasise how the #InvisibleGap can undermine a student’s growth and how identifying it and actioning a solution can give the kid wings to fly. Post the launch, The Telegraph caught up with the award-winning actress on the initiative, education in the real sense of the word and her mantra in life.

Imparting education is the best gift you can give someone, right? The initiative is a great one, right?

When I read about the entire concept and I saw this film, my first thought was why did no one tell this to my parents or my teachers or why did I not know about it when my kids were struggling. At the same time, I felt, thank God, somebody is being able to articulate it.

Do you think, as a result, a whole generation has grown up to be underconfident and suffered because of this?

I am sure they have and it is not about how well they landed up doing in life, touchwood, I think I have done half decent, but you know almost all your traumas go back to your childhood and when you think, feel and are made to believe that you don’t know, you start believing it and start thinking, ‘Maybe, I am not good enough, maybe I don’t know and everyone else knows better than me and I should become invisible’. That really messes with a child’s confidence and self-esteem and today we have the tools to recognise it and we are discussing mental health and we can ask for help. Some time ago, it wasn’t even considered a problem.

Where do you think real education really begins? And, what is real education?

There is a difference between studying and learning. In school, we were probably forced to study, but were we learning, I don’t know. I have never used Pythagoras’ Theorem in my entire life... but, I think it starts very early, from seeing your parents, from your home, from the way you are raised to what is going on in school, to encouragement to acknowledgement to conversations about various things. When I was younger, we wouldn’t have such open conversations. Today, (with) my children, we can talk about anything under the sun and they have the freedom to come and share whatever they want with us.Then to use your education to what you are learning, I think it also has a lot to do with the interest you have because you can’t expect everyone to be interested in maths. For your understanding (you should know) the basics of maths and languages, there should be an introduction to all of these subjects so that a child can go ahead and pick what they want or pick what they definitely don’t want to do.When I passed out from college, I had only three options, either I could do science and become a doctor or I could be an accountant or a CA or I could do Arts which wasn’t even considered (a subject). Now, I look back and feel I wish I had done Arts, whether it was Visual Arts or literature or psychology and I think I would have been far better at it. There was really nothing worth mentioning about my education. I passed and had a distinction, but I don’t know how much I learnt from it.And, it is a continuous process.

When you look back at your foundational years, what are some of the lessons learnt that have stayed with you?

I come from a lower middle-class background and I have seen my parents struggle and have seen the strength they have and seen them work hard. I don’t come from a family that is privileged and come from a family that has a lot of humility and all of that has contributed to who I am today.

Shefali Shah at the P&G Shiksha event

Who were your favourite teachers? What was your favourite subject?

Nobody liked me. I was bullied and did not have any teacher who liked me and I don’t think I was the favourite of any teacher. I barely had friends in school and I was a backbencher and almost either ignored or almost like ‘Ah! Who’s going to be friends with her?!’ I wasn’t the cool kid, but my favourite subjects were biology, Sanskrit, arts, and literature.

The world we grew up in is very different from the one the next generation is growing up in. What is the need of the hour? What should you teach them?

Humility is something you really need to teach because they are so privileged and they actually believe that it is their birthright. I am talking about kids from cosmopolitan cities. I’ll tell you what I told my kids. One is, pick something that you love to do because that way you’ll never have to go to work. You will love it and you’ll be able to give it all of yourself. If you decide to stand outside Jehangir (Art Gallery, Mumbai) and paint, understand that you are not going to get a Mercedes out of that money. So, if you are aiming at wealth, then you pick a job. Pick something you’ll be able to live with for the rest of your life and enjoy it.Third is, you are lucky you are privileged, but don’t assume it’s going to last forever. You’ve got to build your own life.

What are the tools they will need to be equipped further with, to navigate the world?

The thing that struck me the most about the film was the teacher acknowledging, understanding and registering that there was a problem. All these years when I was in school or my kids were in school... they are in university now, at least 50 per cent if not 70, were considered not to be attentive and focused for years and generations. But today while having this conversation, I suddenly thought itne saare bachche toh galat nahin ho sakte hai, na? Have we considered the way of teaching might be boring? It has to be interactive, interesting and hands-on.For a couple of years my kids were studying abroad, they went to the school called Waldorf and everything was hands-on. You don’t just learn about photosynthesis from books. (It has to be) about knowledge that is going to help you and then making the choice of what interests you earlier on because then you can start pursuing much earlier.

Finally, how does one live with so much passion like Shefali Shah?

I am a passionate person and feel in extremes and won’t do something I am not interested in. So, if I don’t believe in it, I won’t be a part of it.