TO BE, TO DO, TO HAVE, TO GIVE

 

In the recent times, I had the privilege and honor of attending the felicitation of one of the war heroes of India, a Param Veer Chakra Awardee. It was Param Veer Vandanam. The highlight of the program was our hero sharing his experiences during the war. I could not hold back my tears. The pride in his eyes and the strength in his voice spoke volumes about his love for his motherland. Joining the army at the age of sixteen and participating in the war at the age of nineteen, needs extraordinary courage. Since his being was filled with immense love for his country, he had the courage to join the Indian army at a very young age, and his patriotism gave him the readiness to sacrifice his life for his country. This clearly explains, “To be to do to have to give.”

Anything that we wish to give, we need to have. To have, we need to do. For eg; If we want to be healthy, what we should do is, eat the right food and exercise regularly. To top the class, we need to have a scheduled study time. To be punctual every day, we need to get ready early. And, to do, we need to be. We need to get the being right. Do we have the discipline to do all of these consistently and not once in a way? If we get our being right, we will be able to do the right action so that we will have what we want to give.

 On becoming an educationist, I had to work on myself first. I had to transform my core being, by changing my thought process. The journey of transformation began thus.  I knew that I could give to the world only what I had. I was in a profession where I had to lead by example. I started filling myself with positive qualities by sitting in Silence every day. A school being a temple of transformation, it was much needed. There were a few areas to work on. I began embracing my higher tendencies. I was able to get my being right and thus began the joy of giving, which is an experience, that cannot be explained.

  Everything begins with a shift in the core being. This holds good for parents and teachers, who influence the younger generation. We first need to get our being right. A profound statement made by the great teacher, Dr. Abdul Kalam, in his eleven-point oath says, “I will constantly endeavor  to fill my mind with great thoughts and spread nobility in thinking and action among my students.” A very lofty thought indeed. The oath is all about a teacher getting the being right, which all of us read, before we start our work for the day.  If we want to create a world of holistic abundance, we need to be the change we wish to see. The life we live should be a message to our children.

 

                         “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world

                          “Today I am wise, so I am changing myself” - Rumi

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