WHEN WE WE SURROUND OURSELVES WITH BRILLIANCE

 



“Most brilliance arises from ordinary people

working together in extraordinary ways.”

Roger von Oech

 

Early this morning, I saw a message from the mother of this 15-year-old boy. He studies in one of the top schools in Mumbai (IGCSE). These kids have my subject (Accountancy) right from class 9. I have been teaching this boy along side another couple of kids from  different international schools – all online. And, let me tell you this: compared to my B.Com students, these school kids, who are now in class 10, are brilliant!

Did I say ‘brilliant’?

Yes, I did.

But, brilliance, in my view, has nothing to do with one’s syllabus or school. It has a lot to do with one’s own outlook towards the task in hand.

You see, every task in hand can be done in the best possible way... with all the brilliance one’s heart possesses...

The mother who sent the message, early this morning, was asking me to take ‘solo’ classes for her boy just to focus on his MCQs. I smiled concealing my annoyance. “Okay ma’am,” I replied and planned a schedule for the ‘solo’ sessions...

Then, on the way to my workplace, I met another mother. She wanted to know if I could help her son for his MBA (Accounts). “He had taken BAF (Bachelor of Accounting and Finance) during his graduation,” she said.

“Ma’am, please don’t encourage him to take any classes for MBA (Accounts),” I said, “BAF gives the required foundation.”

“But Sir...” the mother was still insisting...

“Soon, he has to work somewhere, ma’am,” I put it firmly, “Spoon-feeding will do harm for his confidence.”

I don’t think, these over-concerned parents will buy my logic or advice... They refuse to think, that their young kids have brilliance waiting to be tapped...

Be it our academic subjects or be it our professional assignments – we shine only when we put all our heart and soul in the task in hand... do it with all the passions, commitment and dedication. Outside help should, always, be minimum. For, the more we depend on outside help, the lesser our brilliance shows up...





It’s nearly three weeks since the India-Australia Women’s cricket semifinals (ICC World Cup). I was watching this video posted by ICC. I had goosebumps all over me while watching this – watching not just the brilliance of our players and the Ian Bishop’s commentary, I had goosebumps watching the edit work of the team that had put together this video. I was going through the comments, and I realized, that comment after comment echoed my feelings...




Roger von Oech was right: “Most brilliance arises from ordinary people working together in extraordinary ways.”

Let’s reflect on the task in our hands... Let’s reflect on this extra-something called ‘brilliance’...  and, let’s watch together this brilliant piece of editing – just for some goosebumps... which, I believe, can tap the hidden brilliance in our own ordinary bosoms...

And, yes, just watch how brilliantly the little kids in this video have been captured!

Yes Sir, as Peter Gabriel says, it helps when we “Surround ourselves with brilliance”...

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: 1. www.verywell.com  2. djedj

Video: ICC

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BUT, NOT INTO EACH OTHER'S KEEPING...

Image
"If you can not love yourself, You can not love another.” I meet many young college students who are head-over-heals in relationship. They call it ‘Love’. One of the most difficult things to deal with in such relationship, for most of them, is: the desperate clinging of the other partner. “Why didn’t you call? Why didn’t you meet? Where did you go? What did you do? Who was there with you? Why can’t we go out? Why did you wear this? Why did you go there? Why? What? When? Who? Where? Whose?... Yes, all the possible ‘W’s’ in the world. Yes, in the world of our ‘Love Birds’. What starts as some romantic sweet-nothings, now is marred with endless probing, judging, accusing, blaming, sulking, fighting and pain. Most of them are unprepared to deal with this volatile shift… They end up hurting each other; more importantly, they end up hurting themselves. They begin to wonder: Where has all the sweetness gone? Why am I feeling so lonely now? Why is this suffocation? This fear? T...
Read more

THE SPANISH DANCE

Image
I remember reading this little story, many years ago. It was in Shiv Khera’s famous book: ‘YOU CAN WIN’. A man had a dog with an unusually special gift: he could run over water! Now, what a special gift that was, in deed! This man, obviously, felt proud about his gifted dog… and many, many people complimented him on it. He, undoubtedly, felt good about it. Then, one day, this man happened to meet an old, dear friend. He wanted to show this friend the special talent of his dog and took him along for hunting. They went to the countryside. There, he proudly demonstrated to his friend the unique talent of his dog. Every time he shot down a bird from the sky, the gifted dog, like a missile, would speed over the water, and fetch back the bird to his master. It happened repeatedly. “Did you see, my friend?” the man asked with immense pride. “Yes, I did?” replied the friend. “What did you see?” the man wanted to be reassured. “That, your dog can not swim!” Last night, I proudly ...
Read more

THEY NEED SUN, NOT TOO MUCH SHADE

Image
      “And stand together yet not too near together: For, the pillars of the temple stand apart And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s company.” Kahlil Gibran in ‘The Prophet’ I n his remarkable book, ‘The Prophet’, Kahlil Gibran’s famous lines might have been in response to the request – “Master, say something about Marriage”… Yes, it might have been used to emphasize on the need for ‘space’ in marital relationships… yet, in a larger context, ‘space’ is a universal thirst in every kind of relationship… You see, humans cannot grow in shade… They get suffocated, and die! In our summer programme on Personality Development, we, always, hold the Workshop on ‘Self-esteem’ first. The reason: a healthy self-esteem is the foundation for the healthy development of one’s personality… During the Workshop on ‘Self-esteem’, the facilitator (Swami Brahmavidananda Saraswati) helps the participants to reflect on the major parental messages that impact s...
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...