GIVE ME ANOTHER CHANCE... I WANNA GROW UP ONCE AGAIN

Pic.: Vincent D'Souza

A good friend of mine is a trustee in one of the well-known educational institutions. I received a phone-call from him a while ago. “Sir, I need your help,” he said in a genuine tone, “I want you to come with me, today, to one of our institutes to talk to a group of about twenty young-students who have been persistently misbehaving with other students, peons and even teachers.”

Apparently, some of these young kids had beaten-up the school peons, last evening, so badly that there was a demand from the staff and the management to take these young kids to the police and, if required, to expel them from the school.

It is the fag-end of the academic year. My friend, being the youngest trustee of this institute, was, somehow, not willing to take the extreme step. He hoped, that, if one more chance was given to these youngsters, coupled with good counseling, it would serve the true purpose of education… A holistic and reformative approach was the best approach in my friend’s view...

I, immediately, committed myself to my friend; and, so, I will be joining him, this afternoon, to talk to the ‘bad boys’… I am a die-hard advocate of the holistic approach… I am a die-hard believer in the essence of ‘The Prodigal Son’ story… Probably, like me,  most of the world is… Else, why did the world cry while watching and listening to the song in ‘3-idiots’ – ‘Give me another chance/I wanna grow up once again’?

I tell the young-ones – and, I tell it tirelessly, almost everyday, and all through the year – that they should be mindful of the company they keep. If they frequently move around with friends who have lofty goals in life, who have fine habits and discipline, who manage their time well, whose language is decent, who are hardworking, committed and passionate… Yes, if they move around in the company of this kind, their friends’ way of life would rub on them… They will be inspired to dream big, remain committed, hardworking and passionate. On the other hand, if they move around in the company of those who are ‘lost’… without any goal, ambition, zest, discipline and passion… whose habits are self-destructive, whose language is filthy, and whose life is ridden with distractions… Yes, if they frequently move around in the company of this kind, their friends’ way of life would equally infect them…

Nobody is spared from the age-old law of Universe: ‘Like attracts like’…

All of us are the products of influence. Whether we agree with it or not, we have become what we are, slowly but surely, only through the influences we have, wittingly or unwittingly, allowed to seep into our souls over the years… Yes, it is the Law of Attraction silently working in each and everyone’s life, here on earth… Whether we like it or not - Like will, always, attract like!

So, am I going to give this gyaan to our twenty bad-boys, this afternoon?

I will… but, in a language they would understand and connect with…

Am I hopeful?

Yes, I am… Just as my friend is…

Just as the world - that cries with the 3-idiots song – is!

GERALD D’CUNHA
Video courtesy: YouTube