The more you learn, the more places you can go is the old maxim that my parents used to tell me growing up. Their emphasis on education was no hollow adage, but rather a family motto that has endured through generations. Education is a constitutionally protected right in India, where they house the third most extensive education system in the globe. From the lessons people learned in classrooms to the childhood memories that taught lifelong values, education pushed my family] towards opportunity and growth. Education is what transformed my great-grandfather’s small plot of land into a successful industrialized farm with the introduction of new engine technology, …show more content…
In the 1940s India, it was uncommon for people to pursue higher education, the literacy rates stood around 27 percent for males and the rate was about 9 percent for females. Consequently, my great-grandfather Kanniappa Reddy saw little value of formal classroom instruction, opting to learn instead about new advancements in agriculture while working on his farm. In fact, despite his lack of schooling, Reddy “always desired to learn about what was happening all over the world.” Moreover, this intense cognizance of world affairs by word of mouth, allowed my great-grandfather to learn about new irrigation advances happening as far away as England as early as 1930. He “capitalized on new infrastructure such as the Petter oil engine and electric engines, which were new advancements in England at the time.” These advancements replaced the arduous and laborious task of irrigating fields by drawing water out of a well with bull. Instead, these kerosene-powered engines took the small family farm to a large-scale industrialized farm that produced abundant amounts of rice and vegetables. My great-grandfather exemplified the value of education about advancements in technology even in unorthodox forms such as word of mouth. He served as the quintessential model of how education, even in its most rudimentary forms could revolutionize a family. My great-grandfather, who was able to keep up with England’s industrial revolution, using only the knowledge he gained from speaking with his colleagues, was able to use that knowledge to ascertain that investing in these new oil engines was well worth exponentially maximized agricultural output. Furthermore, these investments, a product of his persistence in self-education, eventually resulted in the dramatic industrialization in farming that helped elevate his family’s