IN LIFE, THERE IS ALWAYS A 'SPECIAL' SCHOOL FOR EACH ONE OF US
Several years ago, we used to have our annual picnic to Gorai beach.
Those were the days of no mobile phones… Colour TV hadn’t come, yet... leave alone
internet and digital cameras… There were no video games and Candy Crush saga…
multiplexes weren’t born… So, a picnic like ours – which was well-organized –
would appeal to one and all… the affluent and the middle class, the local-college kids and the town-college kids, all alike… The challenge for us was to bring together all these young
college boys and girls, right from 11th standard to TY, who belonged
to different colleges and did not know each other – yes, the challenge was to
knit all of them together through series of volunteers’ meetings. A core
leadership-group would call these 40-50 volunteers to animate the rest – about
500 to 600 young boys and girls - to take them to Gorai beach and bring them
back… yes, ALIVE!
For almost ten long years, we went for
those Gorai picnics… Mind you, college boys and girls going to a beach… and,
leaving right on dot and reaching back right on dot… with no mobiles to co-ordinate and no parents to do the helicopter work…
Just the young, motivated and trustworthy
kids making it work!
I am proud to say this: The Dawn Club was
born on the sands of Gorai beach on 10th Dec., 1988. That was close
to three decades ago… And, I feel truly nice whenever the thoughts come back to
me!
Well the reason for bringing up this memory?
When the core committee would ask the
volunteers to introduce themselves, I used to delightfully watch this
difference: those from the ‘Town’ colleges – H.R., Jai Hind, K.C., Sydenham,
and Poddar - used to proudly declare... “Hi, this is Kunal from H.R.” or “Hi, I am
Simran from R.A. Poddar"…
For those who are clueless, H.R. and Poddar
were great Commerce colleges and they still are… Hence, you know what would
make the young-ones feel so proud of belonging to such great institutions!
What would make me watch it with delight
was the response from the students of other colleges – “SO?”
Yes, so what if you are from H.R. or R.A.
Poddar? Come on, tell us: What makes you ‘special’… the so-called ‘the chosen
one’?
Poor young boys and girls! They had to prove
they were from H.R. and Poddar!
Well, that grilling was purely for fun to
become good friends for our Gorai picnic… But, there was a very valuable lesson
to all, including me:
Great institutions have become great
because of great students and great teachers... and, yes, their great founders. Neither
the students nor the teachers, who die
to join these institutions, become ‘great’ just because they ‘join’ them…
Today, I get to teach so many of these ‘Best-Commerce-college’
students… and, I have no hesitation in saying, that most of them carry the
same-old herd-mindset…
“What is your contribution to your college?”
I, often, challenge my students, “Are you just a care-of?”
For most, the ‘dream’ was to ‘join’ these
colleges… Once in, it is all over… Hardly a few show some exemplary qualities
to excel… the rest run from one coaching class to another… with all the ‘big’
talks!
“The fire in your belly… the fire in your
belly,” I keep poking my students, “If you possess it, it doesn’t matter which
institution you hail from.”
Fortuanately, some understand what I try to
convey… but, many just don’t. That’s really sad!
Last evening, I was with two gentlemen. When I enquired about the only
son of the first gentleman, I learnt, that after passing his tenth-standard
board-exams from a boarding school, the young boy had now joined H.R. college.
“He must’ve scored well in tenth?” asked
the other gentleman.
“ 95%”
“And, you did not tell us such a great news
about your son?”
“Why blow the trumpet?”
I joined in: “Excellence is a continuous process…
Let the young-ones enjoy the experience.”
I was pleased to witness the low-key
reaction of the father of the well-groomed young-man. He seemed aware of the
reality: unless the process of ‘greatness’ is continuous, no percentage and no
institution could make his son ‘great’…
And, this morning, I chanced upon one more
video carrying the story of 13-year-old Mariam. I wondered, what made this
little girl so sensitive and so confident… so clear and so compassionate… so mature,
above all?
In Life, there is, always, a ‘special school’
for each one of us… That, if we enroll in it, I believe, ‘Greatness’ is bound
to be enshrined!
GERALD D’CUNHA
Video/Zee News/YouTube
Pic.: Azriel D'Souza
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