will we get there?

The wind in my hair, riding along those winding roads with the open sky ahead seen through the canopy of trees and the constant exhaust note in the back. And just ahead on the same bend are three other bikes heading in the same direction with my closest buddies riding. My entire group is crazy about going for bike rides and a lot of our time goes in discussing the fun on the last trip or planning the next even longer ride. And as we are at it, more often than not the discussion turns to F1, football, tennis and eventually to what is happening in everybody's life. Also the talk might focus around our dream cars and bikes and taking trips togehter after each one of us has acquired our own. But after getting a taste of the real world and seeing how some of us are flourishing, some are struggling, some are confused and still others are focussed on work so much that I hope they just dont pass life by a question arose. Will we get there? All of us? I have absolutely no clue as to whether what I am doing pursuing is right/wrong and where it will land me. Similarly there are certain things which are perceived to be right in the society and I have a feeling that I am stuck in that rut. I havent made an impact that is really me. Its all run of the mill. People have the conviction and confidence to think unusual and weird and follow it with every particle of belief. Trapped in a world of "little above average" but mediocrity none the less, is how I feel right now.

I started writing the above paragraph almost a year ago but hadn't finished it as I could not bring it to any conclusion. And now on the cusp of entering into the corporate world, with a dream job (not a dream pay I must say), in a reputed company, I ask myself what has changed? The answer is still plain and simple as before: Trapped in a world of the "little above average" but mediocrity none the less. The BIG TICKET IDEA still eludes me. I guess that is a quest I have to now embark upon and on the way maybe somewhere I will find an opportunity to really break free and make the impact I want.

All of my friends are already well on their chosen and distinct paths. Some rats in the race like me, some headless chickens wandering, some following their dreams, while still others who have achieved their father's dreams but not their own. In this myriad of different journeys some will succeed and some won't, but who decides this? Who cares if the majority doesn't feel that you have arrived? I guess what will matter in the end is what your own conscious tells you. It all boils down to knowing your limits and then pushing the envelope constantly to improve. Success depends on what you had set out to achieve PERIOD. If you get what you want, then its done. YOU ARE THERE.

So here is the answer I figured out: YES all of us will get there. It is just a question of WHEN.

Keep at it people -------> La Sfida (Pursuit of Dreams)

long time, have i run out of opinions?? have i lost myself??

Its been almost six months since my last blog and I am ashamed for not being active for the duration. Felt like asking myself "Have I no opinion anymore?". One of the major things which have changed in the past 6 months is that I seem to have lost my knack for reading. I do take in a lot of new information but honestly speaking there has been no drive to really devour any pages. My sweetheart gifted me a wonderful book on my birthday but haven't got around to reading it as yet (whats even sadder is that I left it back in Pune). And the reason for this slacking of is that there is absolutely nothing that is stimulating me internally and intellectually. I do my work well in time and put in my best effort (don't know whether the outcome generated is the desired one or not), but work stays in office. Nothing gets done when I get back home. I have seen my colleagues also doing the same things as me but they are growing as people day in and day out where as I get a feeling of stagnation. Have gotten to know a lot about how the pharma industry works in the past month but then again its all profession based, no personal growth. I just feel like I am wandering. Maybe it is because of a sense of losing myself in this wilderness of corporate pressures (its just GAS jargon but you know what I mean) and loss of focus on whats real. One thing that brings a lot of discipline and focus is exercise and I have already started doing that again after a pretty long hiatus, hope that the paved jogging track at Shivaji Park will lead me back. I should just bite the bullet and jump start my life again. I am getting back bit by bit and to my relief I found out that meeting family and friends and doing what is closest to your heart helps. Having ajji over on the weekend really helped and so did just picking up a book and reading a few pages. Having a chatty night out with friends also shed a lot of light on the person I had become and then I had that eureka moment. I need people I love and care for around me. I need those late night phone conversations with a certain special some one. I need to touch base every now and then. I need my college friends and that chaos. And I also need a routine with exercise forming a part of it. This revelation just made just made somethings very clear, in order to sustain your true sense of identity all you have to do is think straight and simple. Its those small tweaks that matter in the long scheme of things. I am hoping this is an interesting read (I am pretty sure it will be boring), but guess what? I am on my way back.... and I still have an opinion.

the poem I was talking about in class

The Teacher:

I took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it one day-
And as my fingers pressed it, still
It moved and yielded to my will.

I came again when days were past
The bit of clay was hard at last.
The form I gave it, still it bore,
And I could change that form no more!

I took a piece of living clay,
And gently fashioned it day by day,
And molded with my power and art
A young child's soft and yielding heart.

I came again when years were gone:
It was a man I looked upon.
He still that early impress bore,
And I could change that form no more.

These few lines are very close to my heart. For me they capture the essence of a teacher. Only the other day in class, we were talking about the current educational system and how it could be changed for the better. All the members in my group made very m,any wonderful suggestions but except one person no one really spoke about the need for quality teachers.

The poem above says that: He still that early impress bore, which signifies how important a part the teacher plays in shaping a child. This cannot happen with teachers who feel that the Wagah Border is the design you see on the back of a tiger, or who don't know the name of the person who wrote our national anthem.

The word EDUCATION is derived from a Latin word which is e-ducere which means- to draw out/ to lead out. Now if you look at it from this perspective then it becomes so blatantly clear that if a child has to draw out the best of learning and knowledge, then the source from where he/she draws it out should have that kind of quality to provide within it. Then it became apparent to me that providing facilities, chucking the marking system, changing learning pattern, reducing the importance given to exams, giving more weightage to practical experiments would only go so far. All this would only be sustainable, and work for the better only if the educators themselves were amply trained in their respective disciplines and were motivated to teach of their own free will.

I agree we don't need experts, but we sure as hell need people who know what they are doing and feel that theirs is a noble profession.

Taarein Zameen Par

"Har ek ungli pakad kar lagien usko lamba bananein mein", this dialogue from TZP really struck me while watching the movie. I found it to be so relevant when i reflect on our education system. Does the beggar child at the traffic light need to know how to solve sums on integration and derivatives? Do the little kids who are now homeless because of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada need to learn the kinetics of chemical reactions? We are so busy focusing on what other people's children are doing that parents forget that they are destroying their own child's individuality. If your son or daughter loves to play outside all day long, climbing trees and scaling the compound walls, do we think anymore that he will make an amazing mountaineer some day?
What i feel parents should understand is that becoming an engineer, doctor, ca or for that matter even graduating isn't everything. Classrooms are just not for everyone. Rather than making machines out of every single child why can't we let children grow up as individuals. Also taking into account the trials and tribulations of under privileged youngsters why can't we equip them with the skills necessary to survive, teach them something relevant so that they are able to stand on their own two feet and earn a livelihood. teach them how to weave or make handicrafts, repair small appliances or a skill like carpentry. They do not really need to know what is 2 to the power 5 or what happens when light passes through a prism.
The same problem comes to light when I see adults interacting with children who have a learning disorders or similar problems. What is 5 for normal people is usually as hard as 10 for these children but we still expect them to cope up. Why not encourage drawing or music which these children might be good at. Make them computer literate so that they can apply themselves easily doing data entries or other relatively easier things and gradually keep on adding more skills with increasing level of complexity and side by side honing their previous skills. They will get a sense of achievement which is so satisfying which you and I know so very well. I speak about this as this kind of an exercise has worked wonders with my own sister who is a slow learner. But the pride I see on her face when she types a letter, teaches my mother to write an email, is by far unparalleled. The joy she derives from working part time in small IT firm and the confidence she has gained by dealing with the world as an independent being is far more satisfying and joyous to watch. These little self experiences do not seem so trivial when you put them in perspective.
I am not at all saying that scrap education entirely. Basic level of literacy should be achieved, but it need not be done in 3 languages (English, Hindi and Marathi/Gujarati/Tamil etc), 10+2+3 or many more years. It should be done with keeping in mind that education should liberate people and not burden them with expectations of the world. We are born as individuals, but why not remain as individuals? Remember, people do not come off a production line, but rather they are custom made masterpieces which fulfill specific and equally important duties, however significant those activities may seem to you or me.