"Student died of punishment"..."Teacher made student stand in the hot sun for two hours"..... These are some of the latest news on the cruelty prevalent in Indian Primary Education system where forgetting alphabets become a non bailable offence.The impatient and frustrated teachers, the parents who insist only on result and the society which allows such things happen are all responsible for these extreme acts of sadism.When a teacher thinks oneself as a dictator who can do anything with the children whom he or she think ignorant is totally unfit for such a job because teaching is never a uni dimensional process.
In a class room,a teacher explains things to the children.For the younger ones, he/she is someone who know everything.But a good teacher is one who never stops learning.A question from a kid may provoke the teacher to think in a new dimension.The story written by a prodigy in the class may surprise him/her.The very love and respect a teacher gets in exchange of few hours of explanations of "how","what" and "why"is a priceless treasure.So teaching is a process where in the end both the student and teacher get enriched.
"Knowledge shines when shared".The education system demands exchange and cooperation.Its a mean to ensure the bright future of the society.The job of a teacher is highly demanding as he/she is responsible to shape up character.When people who did not get admission in any other professional courses end up in teaching, quality take a back seat.Any profession becomes productive when people with right aptitude choose it.People should understand that teaching is such a responsible and noble profession.Once upon a time, GURU or Teacher was the most respected person in society.In between the job lost its charm but it is still the most responsible job one can think of.
One excellent teacher of mine(a physical trainer) always show how to do things by demonstration..Another one, a musician never was afraid of making mistakes by herself and she was always ready to accept suggestions...So one cannot put general qualities for a teacher.The only thing is teacher should take the student along with him/her from darkness to light.He/she has to be careful not to be in darkness.Everyone who share and transmit good will are worth calling teachers.KABIR was right when he wrote:
"GOD and GURU standing
whose feet shall i touch first
but, of course GURU"s!
who told me about GOD first"
Let us not let cruel minds to torture the kids in the name of teaching...
LET THERE BE LIGHT......................
When Mumbai was attacked by terrorists,people started to search sollutions for bringing about communal harmony.The media debated on terrorism.Then came the pub attack incident in Mangalore, and the new hot topics were "cultural invasion" and "women's liberation".Now it is Varun Gandhi's speech and everybody is talking about communalism.But watching closely,all this incidents points towards intolerence and more than that FEAR.........
Fear is a basic human emotion.Most of the time we fear things which we are not familiar with because we do not know what will happen.Sometimes a familiar tyrant can also create fear in our minds based on the past experience or social conditioning.The fear of the unknown is more dangerous because it can lead to prejudices.This feeling can easily become communal and people may think about preventive action.There are people who take up arms in this regard whom we call terrorists.But there are others who have all this feeling but will not show them open.Fear make them communal and the same fear prevents them from expressing it.
How the fear start? well, if we worry too much about mistakes, fear will be there.Anybody who cannot take failures as a learning experience will have fears. People who have no guts to take the responsibility of their failures will end up concluding that others are responsible for what went wrong.So the fear of failure slowly gets converted to deeper emotions.When someone who want to fish in troubled water tells that one's failure is the result of another person or community the seeds of hatred is sown.
What people do to channelise the fear?One easy way is to associate yourself with symbols of power.People try to associate themselves with people who have power or try to excercise power over anyone whom they think are weaker.One general character of people with fear is that they like to obey and command at the same time.The logic is ,if i am obedient my master will not attack me and the same way if i show my power, my subordinate will not attack me..People who are fearful need the protection of hierarchy.They cannot tolerate democracy and equality where everyone have freedom to choose.They are afraid that if they give freedom to choose,things will go out of their control and their position will be shaken.They are afraid of everyone who are different from them("modern women, minorities, anyone).
So it is this fear of losing their position which make people communal,chauvanistic and even terrorists.Fear does not allow one to face reality.So the most important thing in the fight against intolerence is the eradication of irrational fear.If one is courageous enough to face life,he/she will not try to blame others for their mistakes and they will understand that the real power is the courage to stand up for oneself ,not bullying others.Parenting becomes all more important because self respect, self reliance and courage are only be taught at home.
So it is at home, a communalist is being born,society only play a passive role..Parents of the future,please make your children self reliant and tolerant.That is the only thing we can do for a better tomorrow with lesser violence based on intolerence...............
LET THERE BE LIGHT
Women of India are facing a stage of transition now.The society is debating about the length of her dress,the time of her outings,the limits she should not cross etc.Every Government Doccument mentions women empowerment.The 33 per cent reservation for women in higher level politics is also being talked about.But will allocation of something result in empowerment?
People try to associate machoism with empowerment often.So women who dress upin jeans and talk rough are empowered?Certainly not.......
Empowerment is nothing but power to make choice.In Indian situation,it is difficult for many,not only women as a category.We have a tradition of elders deciding for their kids.This very idea rejects the concept of empowerment.That is why even educated and well employed people have a mindset of slaves.An empowered person will be the one who know what he or she is and one who enjoy every moment of life....Real empowerment leads to confidence and compassion.
I heard a Baul singer one year ago.She amazed me with her voice and rhythm sense.Recently when i saw her performance again,I understood what an empowered person is.With the help of two instruments, she sings and dances taking the audience to new heights of spirituality.Her songs reflect a free spirit,a child like innocence and unconditional love.She may not talk about empowerment,but she is an epitome of it.
When I watched Sudha Ragunathan performing recently,I felt the same sense of empowerment.She was quite at ease,interacting with audience,fully on command and rendering songs with excellent versatility.She looked like a very normal Indian lady yet that power from within was easily perceivable.
It is strange that I find two singers as empowered women.Singing per say has nothing to do with empowerment but when an empowered person sings it is different.It communicate more clearly to you and it takes you to a different level of apreciation and enjoyment.
I am sure that these two great artists of India have understood the supreme being through their musical journey which ultimately makes them empowered. So which ever way you choose,if it help you to find yourself your soul is liberated and you are empowered.Go ahead,decide what you want:nobody else can empower you.
Let there be light...............
When Buddha talked that there is pain in this world,he does not mean that there is only pain in this world.He was trying to find out the cause of pain and the answer was-DESIRE...Does that mean we should not have any ambitions? we all should become hermits and wanderers? Certainly not! But when the idea of getting something becomes an obsession and it starts ruling all your senses, it can cause tremendous pain..So much of attachments to things can cause pain when something unexpected happens..If someone desires things within one's capability,the level of pain will be lesserBuddha talks about 8 fold path of salvation which include right thought and action..This is the most interesting of his teaching because the application of right things are different for various people...There is no universal right things to do..Each person should achieve salvation through the right path designed for him/her.This ultimately is a life long search of self.This is the ultimate development of personality.When you try to be someone else, forgetting the things in which you are good at, the journey(safar),becomes suffer and the mismatch between your desire and your actual life increases.When people do things which are not comfortable for them ,the level of success reduce automatically and their life will be of pain.They will radiate only pain and they will receive the same in return.Many believe that, these things are not PRACTICAL..They simply forget that being practical is doing things which you can do.For a marathon runner,42 kilometer running is a normal affair and for majority, it may not be practical...So the point is, there is no absolute answers applicable for everyone.Find your destiny,live life to the fullest.LET THERE BE LIGHT..................
