We live in a world, of vagaries and ambiguities, of lop-sided attitudes and obscure visions. Intelligence, is it the wisdom to live in this world? Then we require it badly to thrive in among the inadequacies of this little world. Values and good thoughts are eroding from the society in general. Succumbing to ethics is considered as weakness in the practical world. The priority is success, success by what ever means. What ultimately matters is the destination, success, and not the path, the means to achieve it. So what gives people the courage to do wrong in spite of knowing that these are wrong? It’s the majority because majority is thriving on the filthy. The greed for power, fame and money exists in various forms in various grades in the society. The role models for this generation are icons who therefore achieve success and stand in the pedestals of victory. What’s wrong? For any man would want to be successful. ‘Might is right’ is the rule prevailing in this part of the world where the successful and the mighty expand their empires and no one for sure has a voice.
India is a sacred land of saints. And there was a saint who spoke at Chicago and changed the norms and prejudices of the western world. Ours is a great nation but in deep sleep. We have lost our identity and demoted our selves as the blind followers of the west. The richness of our tradition, cultural values and social ethos are fast lost to be the alien. Why to ape the west? Is it just because they are successful? They are successful due to their dreams, their attitude and their work. We were fragmented. Now also the situation is not different. We are fragmented on the basis of religion, caste, creed, colour, language and sex. When others focus on their frailities and plunder over the world to become the super powers, we in India are still asleep absorbed in such filthy things, not having a greater picture. Years back, foreigners looted our land and made us slaves. Today we are ready to become slaves in any other country which offers us a better opportunity, better exposure, and rescues us from the clutter that prevails within. Who is to blame? We needed foreign rulers to awaken us from our slumber. Which monster can whip us from this insensitivity? India has come a long way since independence. Our country has the potential and talents to emerge as the global power. So what is needed to gear up?
Clarity of mind, clarity of vision, prudence of thoughts and the philosophies which one clings to are needed for a righteous living. Therein lies the relevance of education. In this world of fierce competition where only performance matters, education is relegated to a saleable commodity which increases one’s marketability. Educational institutions have unfortunately demoted themselves to business centres or factories churning out commodities, the so-called degree holders or catering to the whims and needs of global markets. Is our educational system strong enough to impart the right knowledge? So the concern is not of mere degrees which is relevant, but the right kind of education, values and ethics inculcated in a generation. How many educational institutions are now focusing on this aspect, in a system fraught with blind competition where marks, grades and intellectual capacities out-weigh the basic human feelings? The only aim seems to survive the brutal struggles of life and emerge successful. To consider the larger picture, our country as a whole, things are really disheartening. The so-called visionaries and policy-makers in the process of nation building are to decide for reservation in Parliament for the so-called weaker sections of the society. But who made her weaker? There were also reports that Indian schools are worst because of the caste-based prejudices of teachers. How many buds have been scorched down by the very hands that have to nurture them? So who is to be educated? Such contradictions prevail and are rampant in India alone . As a Chinese saying goes, “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, Teach a man fishing and you feed him for life”. Our focus should be on humans as resources for developing the nation and not as feeds for the rusty politics where corruption never ends. In future one should be identified by his qualities and not by the labels attached to him by birth, on which one has no choice or control. It is what one has achieved through in his life, the right kind of living that one should be recognized for. Long back, there were days when there was no hardwired or heavy syllabus. So what guided people then? Religion? Is it a significant one? What the Bible, the Koran and the Geetha preach is relevant in today’s world.
Religion is mysterious when furled in, admirable when unfurled, the intricacies inexplicable. Religion preaches for the purity of mind and sanctity of thoughts. Thoughts frame and mould you to the person you are. Religion assists a person in breeding better thoughts and for that matter a better living. A truly religious person follows what is being preached in by the predecessors and what he believes in. The atheist also is a follower, following his school of thought, what his mind says is right. The difference lies in whether one is a blind follower of religion or understands the true essence of religion. The essence of what religion is all about. Else we have blatant followers struggling and indulging in violence to fetch a piece of land for ‘God’ oblivious of what ‘God’ symbolizes, forgetting opportunistically that he should reside in their mind and not confined to a particular region. No religion is framed for human suffering or to discard it into the dungeon. And no religion should violate the individual’s freedom of thought or living. The boundary that demarcates religion and atheism vanishes then. When it is said that ‘I don’t believe in a particular thing, it is that ‘I believe’ in some thing else, may be quite contrary to some prescribed thoughts or actions. But then certainly ‘I believe’. This belief or faith is the true essence of religion. Faith which is not blind but framed after a thorough understanding of what was preached added with your own thoughts and wisdom as inputs. So the question is what you believe in. When Science is the quest for knowledge about the world, religion is the quest for the self, the divine soul in each one of us.
India is a sacred land of saints. And there was a saint who spoke at Chicago and changed the norms and prejudices of the western world. Ours is a great nation but in deep sleep. We have lost our identity and demoted our selves as the blind followers of the west. The richness of our tradition, cultural values and social ethos are fast lost to be the alien. Why to ape the west? Is it just because they are successful? They are successful due to their dreams, their attitude and their work. We were fragmented. Now also the situation is not different. We are fragmented on the basis of religion, caste, creed, colour, language and sex. When others focus on their frailities and plunder over the world to become the super powers, we in India are still asleep absorbed in such filthy things, not having a greater picture. Years back, foreigners looted our land and made us slaves. Today we are ready to become slaves in any other country which offers us a better opportunity, better exposure, and rescues us from the clutter that prevails within. Who is to blame? We needed foreign rulers to awaken us from our slumber. Which monster can whip us from this insensitivity? India has come a long way since independence. Our country has the potential and talents to emerge as the global power. So what is needed to gear up?
Clarity of mind, clarity of vision, prudence of thoughts and the philosophies which one clings to are needed for a righteous living. Therein lies the relevance of education. In this world of fierce competition where only performance matters, education is relegated to a saleable commodity which increases one’s marketability. Educational institutions have unfortunately demoted themselves to business centres or factories churning out commodities, the so-called degree holders or catering to the whims and needs of global markets. Is our educational system strong enough to impart the right knowledge? So the concern is not of mere degrees which is relevant, but the right kind of education, values and ethics inculcated in a generation. How many educational institutions are now focusing on this aspect, in a system fraught with blind competition where marks, grades and intellectual capacities out-weigh the basic human feelings? The only aim seems to survive the brutal struggles of life and emerge successful. To consider the larger picture, our country as a whole, things are really disheartening. The so-called visionaries and policy-makers in the process of nation building are to decide for reservation in Parliament for the so-called weaker sections of the society. But who made her weaker? There were also reports that Indian schools are worst because of the caste-based prejudices of teachers. How many buds have been scorched down by the very hands that have to nurture them? So who is to be educated? Such contradictions prevail and are rampant in India alone . As a Chinese saying goes, “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, Teach a man fishing and you feed him for life”. Our focus should be on humans as resources for developing the nation and not as feeds for the rusty politics where corruption never ends. In future one should be identified by his qualities and not by the labels attached to him by birth, on which one has no choice or control. It is what one has achieved through in his life, the right kind of living that one should be recognized for. Long back, there were days when there was no hardwired or heavy syllabus. So what guided people then? Religion? Is it a significant one? What the Bible, the Koran and the Geetha preach is relevant in today’s world.
Religion is mysterious when furled in, admirable when unfurled, the intricacies inexplicable. Religion preaches for the purity of mind and sanctity of thoughts. Thoughts frame and mould you to the person you are. Religion assists a person in breeding better thoughts and for that matter a better living. A truly religious person follows what is being preached in by the predecessors and what he believes in. The atheist also is a follower, following his school of thought, what his mind says is right. The difference lies in whether one is a blind follower of religion or understands the true essence of religion. The essence of what religion is all about. Else we have blatant followers struggling and indulging in violence to fetch a piece of land for ‘God’ oblivious of what ‘God’ symbolizes, forgetting opportunistically that he should reside in their mind and not confined to a particular region. No religion is framed for human suffering or to discard it into the dungeon. And no religion should violate the individual’s freedom of thought or living. The boundary that demarcates religion and atheism vanishes then. When it is said that ‘I don’t believe in a particular thing, it is that ‘I believe’ in some thing else, may be quite contrary to some prescribed thoughts or actions. But then certainly ‘I believe’. This belief or faith is the true essence of religion. Faith which is not blind but framed after a thorough understanding of what was preached added with your own thoughts and wisdom as inputs. So the question is what you believe in. When Science is the quest for knowledge about the world, religion is the quest for the self, the divine soul in each one of us.
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