Back to Reality

           Something really important I realized during my trip back home last week was the need to go home. In every instance, I found myself perplexed with the question - "Is-this-where-I-came-from? and Is-this-what-I-truly-am?" It had been tow months since I went home. Studying in Hyderabad, away from home, it seemed like going into a new world. From the ecosystem of towering buildings amidst barren lands, wide roads with bustling traffic, travellers plugged with earbuds with a minding-their-own-business-mentality and the like, I felt a totally new and guilty feeling when I returned back home. Guilty because, I almost forgot who I was and where I had come from.
            The lush green fields on either sides of the road with stinking dung laying the divider and small and thatched huts decorating the boundaries, narrow roads with little traffic, a traffic constable who wishes you a Good-Morning rather than collect a fine and to top it all, a nice and ever caring family - that always thinks of me - irrespective of what they do.. all of these put together awakened the dying spirit of nativity. Infact, my mom asked me what she should cook the next day before I went to bed everyday so that she could make it by the time I woke up. Heights of love and care - and yes - with Mother's love - there is no heights.. It towers beyond imagination. I used to laugh at myself when I heard people say - "Never forget who you are or Where you came from?" and this had happened to me too..
          

Education for living - Not just for life

            The modern schools of learning that impart domain specific education and knowledge mould their students as experts in their domains. The students do cutting edge innovations and inventions in each field, but all this is to make a living. Every job, every profession is to make a livelihood. It is a source of income. Earning does not make an entire life. Two other important things that make a complete living is to do judicial and confident spending for a happy today alongside with a sensible savings for a secure tomorrow.  It is not just sufficient to learn to earn, but also to spend and save. And it is on the shoulders of the centers of learning that produce graduates or indirectly taxpayers into the economy every year to teach them to spend and to save and also pay taxes :P. Graduating students are the major portion of the country that begin contributing to the pool of taxpayers in the country. Paying taxes is another issue that majority of us would not like to do... Why is it that we pay the government the money we earned slogging like donkeys for our employers? is the question that often pops up in my mind. I do not feel shy to confess that many of us even do not know what it is to pay taxes and how they are calculated. When we pay taxes, we have every right to know how the money is being spent. But though we have access to that information, we are handicapped in understanding those details.
                    Coming to our institute, it is highly commendable that the governing body concentrates strongly on inculcating human values in the students. Measures like Jeevan Vidya, the Human Values sessions or the Humanities courses are being introduced to make students realize the importance of these values in life. True to the fact that life is not just about money, but about relationships and values, we should also agree that life is more about living rather than principles and values. And living includes earning, spending and saving. It is only when each family strives to develop its economic standards that the country's economy can grow. Having fulfilled its moral responsibility, it is also the economic responsibility of the institute to make its students aware of the economics of the country and our individual lives. It is not just the business schools that should pass on this education, but this responsibility vests in every institution that is producing graduates. In fact, it is due to this reason, that our lives are being controlled by some financial consultants (business school graduates) whom we do not know. The institute should teach us to spend our money, take our own decisions  and make a prosperous living leading to the development of the nation.
              In short, this is a request to the institute to introduce courses that teach the basics of economics, business and finance so that each individual need not depend on others for his living. He can make his decisions, save and spend according to his choice. Values and Spirituality can come at a later stage in life when one gets frustrated with money and living. This is a greater necessity and institutions should realize and take immediate action.What is the use of having Vedic Darshan or the human values when one does not get two square meals a day? It is more important to teach about money, about diplomacy and decision making rather than values. It is with these talents that today's students can develop into better leaders of tomorrow.