THE QUIET CONFIDENCE





















"And no one will listen to us until we listen to ourselves.”

-      Marienne Williamson

One reason why I took up teaching was to overcome my shyness and stage fear. The same was the reason why I started THE DAWN CLUB and have spent about three decades helping little ones and young ones to overcome their shyness and stage fear…


I still teach… I still help… yes, for the same reason.


What is the use of our education if we are not able to face our own fear of speaking in public? I haven’t overcome my own shyness and fear fully… I still feel nervous and anxious. But, that very state keeps me alive and going!


A greater section of mankind has the fear of stage. The ones who don’t have it… well, I consider them, really, fortunate!


I am nor a psychologist. Hence, I will not speak from that perspective… I will speak from my own experience and struggle. I had a childhood - and, particularly, youth - filled with self-doubts. It would make me extremely self-conscious… and cripple me whenever I had to face people… My hands and legs would tremble… sweat… voice would crack. But, because I was self-conscious, I was, also, constantly searching for answers. And, when, inspired by my own teacher and idol (Prof. B.S. Raman), I desired to become a teacher, I found the way to beat my fear, too. So, today, after all these years of teaching, training and writing, when I look back on my journey, I consider it to be a journey from feeling worthless to feeling worthwhile…


Is it not a fabulous journey… a fine education in itself?


Today, the students who come to learn from me come from half-a-dozen ‘Boards’. The schools and colleges they go to are claimed to be ‘top-class’… ‘world-class’… and, they cost them a bomb! But, what I don’t get to see in these kids – at least, in most of them – is the kind of sensitivity, curiosity and toughness possessed by many kids coming from government and vernacular-medium schools.


A few days ago, a 17-year-old girl, from a government school in Wayanad (Kerala), demonstrated this quiet confidence and sensitivity. Safa Sebin, a student of class 12, has won many a heart for what she did so spontaneously and so beautifully…


Safa has left me a lot humbled… with a lesson or two on quiet confidence!











GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: en.wikipedia.org

Videos: 1. Kerala online Media 2. News 18 Kerala

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