ONE SAW THE MUD, THE OTHER SAW STARS

"Two men looked out from prison bars;

one saw the mud, the other saw stars.”

Dale Carnegie in ‘How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.

Attitude is, often, called ‘outlook’. Shall I say, it is “How we look outside?”

Whatever that is and however you define it, in every situation we have the same two options: to see the brighter side or to see the darker one!

This lockdown time is not something we have chosen for ourselves; it is something that has been forced upon us… yes, for our own good. So, it’s called ‘quarantine’ and not ‘imprisonment’. It’s like the ‘house arrest’… Right?

Whatever…

The point I want to make, today, is this: All of us are, presently, looking out from our ‘prison bars’… Some of us see the mud, and some of us see stars…

What else is there to see?

I have been teaching some of my students online ever since this lockdown started. My students, mercifully, are not the children of those migrant workers, whose images tear our hearts. My students are sons and daughters of well-educated, well-fed families… They go to some of the finest schools and colleges. But, when it comes to their attitude – their motivation – yes, either I see them looking at this ‘distant learning’ as a pain or a gain. Period.

Those who want to live cribbing, will always do so… And, those who want to live with purpose, also, will always do so…

A little boy from class 7, who comes from a decent family and goes to a decent ICSE Board school, has a problem with his spellings and writing. The school teachers and his parents had been trying their best to help him. One of the things they did, towards this, was, that they enrolled him for our summer programme on Personality Development. But, the little fellow’s need was specific – a little help in learning to write well and set right the spellings. So, I took a special interest in this boy and started helping him out, one on one, right since early February. I was absolutely impressed with this boy’s attitude… He was very earnest and committed… He was enthusiastic and prompt. During these lockdown days, we still continue to do our things through social media platforms… I give him simple tasks, and he follows through. Sunday is the rest day… But, the rest of the days, I do not have to push and pull this little young man… He knows what he wants, and gets it. Period!

But, everyone is not like this boy, you see. There are many older students of mine, who still do not know ‘what they want out of themselves’… They think, that they have been ‘forced’ into doing these little assignments. So, they keep cribbing, keep giving excuses…

Can I do anything here?

I doubt…

If boys and girls – the young adults coming from decent families, schools and colleges – do not understand the meaning of these ‘unusual and uncertain’ times, then, I am sorry to say this: no teaching, whether online or offline, can help them…

For, in Life, two men will always see from their ‘prison bars’… where, one will see the mud, while the other will see stars!

What else is there to see, from our ‘prison windows’, right now?

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: gettyimages

Video: Mark Knopfler