WHILE GIVING A FISH TO A HUNGRY MAN, TEACH HIM HOW TO FISH, TOO
Pic.: Neerja Panchal
For me, one of the most endearing sights about Ganeshotsav, here in our Mumbai city, is: the Pandals outside every building, every housing society. If there are five buildings in a Society, you may even see five Pandals! You, sometimes, get annoyed with such things… but, then, soon, you learn how to smile and go with the flow…
Hey, more the buzz, the merrier!
Some twenty-five years ago, when
I first came to start my classes in the Society where my classes are located,, the
young-ones (many of them were my students) living in the Society were very
active in erecting the Pandal outside.
It continued for many years… and, when those youngsters started working, got
married etc, they found no time to concentrate on organizing the Gunshotsav.
Suddenly, they stopped and we had no celebrations outside for a couple of
years.
There was no second-line. The
youngsters in those days had to groom their juniors so that when time came, the
baton could be passed on easily…
Since last year, I am happy to
see a new bunch of young residents, here, taking initiative, once
again, to organize the festivities. Seventeen-year old Prateek is in the
forefront. The other day, when he had come to collect my contribution, I told
him two things.
One, they should groom their juniors
as a second-line command. Trust them, involve them… train them… so that, when
time comes, the juniors are ready to take on.
Two, they should show
accountability. Prateek is a sweet, dependable young-kid, whom I have known
well since he was born. So, even though I had no issue about how our youngsters
used the money collected from the well-wishers, it was extremely important that
they should learn accountability. That would help them win over the trust of
all the residents and immensely help them to organize the events smoothly in
the future.
Prateek had come with another
young-man. Both of them got the two points I was trying to make…
I could have given my
contribution and kept quiet. But, that would have been like feeding the
youngsters for one day. Being a teacher, it came naturally to me to make young
Prateek and his friend sit down and learn the two important lessons I wanted to
teach them…
Yes,
for thousands of years, the old Chinese proverb has been urging us to do the
same:
“Give a fish to a man,
you feed him for a day;
teach him how to fish,
you will feed him for a life-time.”
Comments
--- Umesh
-- Girish A