WHAT MAKES THE GLASS TOUGHENED?

Pic.:Sherry Haridas

“For a tree to become tall and tough, 
it must grow tough roots among the rocks.”

-         Friedrich Nietzsche

          

There is a garden, barely some distance away from my classes. It is known as ‘Chimney garden’... and, I really do not know why it is called so. But, just go and look there, early in the morning: it is packed to the brim with students, who quietly sit and study there for their up-coming exams. I have been watching this scene for years now; and let me tell you, it gives me great hope! For, I have no doubt in my mind when I say this: these are the kids who value their education... who know what a square-foot of land in Mumbai city really means... what it means for a large family to live in a single ten-by-ten room – where they cook, sleep, bathe, change clothes, watch TV, entertain and accommodate their guests, even accommodate some distant relatives from their village who come to study or work in this city... These are the kids, who know what a square-meal really means, how valuable their father’s one-month salary is... what patience and waiting really means, when they have no choice but to experience it outside their common toilets, right through the year...

Back home, in Mangalore, when I was growing up as a kid, we had no electricity. (It was so for almost t all kids of my age!). A small kerosene lamp, with a wick, provided light to us. It makes me smile, when I recall this lamp... Yes, we called it: ‘Chimney’!

Maybe, that’s the sentimental reason, why I am so proud of these young-kids around, who study in this ‘Chimeny Garden’!

“Keertimaan bhava... Ayushmaan bhava!”

There, on another side, just some distance away, there is a popular reading room run by a local organization. Please go and have a look there: you won’t find there a single seat vacant! I have been watching this scene for years now... And, I am not exaggerating when I say this: some of the finest doctors, engineers, advocates, chartered accountants, teachers, businessmen and professionals have come out of this place... These kids live in very, very small houses, often, just a single room. For them, this reading room is manna from heaven. Precious!

There is, also, a glass called ‘Toughened Glass’. Today, go and find out what Wikipedia says about it:

“Toughened or tempered glass is a type of safety glass processed by controlled thermalor chemical treatments to increase its strength compared with normal glass. Tempering puts the outer surfaces into compression and the inner surfaces into tension. Such stresses cause the glass, when broken, to crumble into small granular chunks instead of splintering into jagged shards. The granular chunks are less likely to cause injury.

As a result of its safety and strength, toughened glass is used in a variety of demanding applications, including passenger vehicle windows, shower doors, architectural glass doors and tables, refrigerator trays, as a component of bulletproof glass, for diving masks, and various types of plates and cookware.”

Well, our kids are no different from these glasses. While every generation desires and works hard to provide the ‘best’ for the next generation... yes, the best homes, the best study facilities at home, the best schools, the best coaching classes and private tutors, the best comforts like chauffer-driven cars to ferry them around, the best gadgets, the best food and club-memberships... and the best extra-curriculars... Yes, all these with the noble intention of raising our kids to be the best in life...

But, mostly, what happens, in the process, is... that the glass comes out as a fragile one!

Now, I am aware of the reality here. My parents desired and worked hard to give their sons a better life than what their parents could give them. And, now, as parents, my wife and I have been desiring to do the same for our only son... give him a life better than what our parents could give us... And, that’s what all parents would do... That’s what every kid, who studies there in the chimney garden or the public reading-room would do, tomorrow...

That’s how life has, always, been...and, will be!

Today, a young-kid has prompted me to write this Post. He lives in one of the swanky apartments around, goes to one of best ISC schools around, comes to my class in a chauffer-driven car, who is sent to a private tutor for every subject that he learns... Yes, when - in spite of my years and years of teaching, training, writing, inspiring and mentoring - I was unable to make any difference in this kid... it compelled me to keep all my tools down, take a long breath... look out of my two windows – one towards the chimney garden and other towards the public reading-room... and, do some hard introspection of my own self:

“What could be the reason?”

As a teacher, I am supposed to love, care and accommodate all raw-material in my own processing unit... But, I know, what makes the glass a toughened-one is a very, very valuable process...

Thought, I would recommend it to my students, as well...

GERALD D’CUNHA