MIS-education : The side effects of education

Orthopedic surgeon: Did you see that limping man? I think his ankle is fractured.

Physiotherapist: I think his ligament is ruptured.

Limping man: Bhai, koi baat nai hai.. meri chappal toot gayi hai! (Brother, nothing has happened.. my slippers have broken)

This incident reminds me of a side effect of education, that is, to interpret things in accordance with what you have studied. An economist would take the lack of money as the root of all evils; an M.A. in Philosophy would take money as the root of all evils. When the only tool you have is a hammer, all the problems look like nails. Education is such a hammer.

Do not take your education as a 'treat all solution'. Take it as a guide for certain situations in life. Mathematics can solve problems of physics, accounts, business, but not the problems of relationships. In a relationship, 1+1 can be 11 or even 0, while in maths it's always 2.

Another side effect of education is that it gives you a feeling of supremacy. If you are more educated than someone, you'd think of yourself better than him. May be you are excellent in your area of education, but a complete newbie or an amateur has fresh eyes which probably you wouldn't have. This makes that amateur better than you when encountered to situations needing a different angle. Your education traps you in a belief that you are better than others, and prevents you from learning more. And when you're not learning more, you're actually not just stagnant but your worth keeps falling. Time passes by, your age grows but net knowledge remains at the same level because of 'education trap'.

William Herschel was a musician and had no background in astronomy. He did not have a professional telescope, but he discovered several moons and Uranus planet.

Srinivasa Ramanujan never went to college. He turned out to be one of the greatest mathematicians in centuries.

Always try to stay a learner throughout your life. You may learn more from an amateur's question than from a superior person. Respect freshers and let them question you. Remember, there are no stupid questions, just stupid people. Do not be a stupid by thinking that your education has given you all that you need. Ten different perspectives of the same problem is more useful than a single view to ten different problems. Freshers are called fresh'ers' due to the reason that they have fresh eyes. Try to view things from their eyes.

The worst side effect of education according to me is that it makes you closed minded. Anything which you don't understand becomes false for you. Anything that you are unaware of, makes you skeptical.

Two ghosts were talking.

Ghost 1: I saw humans today! They are scary!
Ghost 2: Ah! I don't believe in humans.

And apart from being skeptical, it makes you  an incorrigible critic. A Freudian psychologist would defend the teachings of Freud even at the cost of criticizing Buddha's or Krishna's teachings. They won't give themselves a chance to try anyone who is not based on Sigmund Freud. This factor actually comes from deep down their insecurity. Throughout the major and important part of their education, they would have studied, followed and adulated Freud. Suddenly, when someone tries to shake their belief or show them a thing beyond what they know, a fear develops. Fear of breaking the "idol" of their "ideal". Hundreds of years ago, how they killed the man who said that the earth was round.

Do not take your education as a thumb rule to anything. Do not take it as something perfect. Do not let it be your destination. Let your education be a milestone in your journey and keep moving. MOVE ON. Do not sit on that milestone.

Education is a privilege, a great tool if used properly and if you save yourself from its side effects.

When Thomas Edison was a child, he was told by his school teacher that he was too stupid to learn anything.

Einstein was told by his teachers that he would never amount too much and was advised to drop out of high school.

Steven Spielberg applied to USC cinema school twice and was turned down both times. He is one of the most famous directors of the world.

And I don't think that I need to tell about the education of Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Abraham Lincoln, Dhirubhai Ambani, and so many.

Unfair to life

On every step taken up on the ladder, he forgets to celebrate. But on every fall, he doesn't forget to whine.

On every achievement, he forgets to be grateful to God. But on every failure, he doesn't forget to blame God.

Isn't it being unfair to life?

When he is in school, he's told to study all day to secure his future. "Son, you're in 10th, it's the base, study hard. So you wouldn't have to work too hard in +2."

"Son, you're in 11th, study hard, so that you wouldn't have to break your head in 12th."

"12th is very important. Study hard. You can have fun in college."

"College isn't for fun. You have to work hard to get a job."

"Work like an ass for 2 years, so that you secure your position in the job."

"Work harder, you got to marry and have kids. It takes money to run family."

And the life goes on... actually the life never started. Isn't it being unfair to life?

You use clay to make pots but it's the emptiness inside which you use to store water. You build house with bricks, but it's the space between where you live. You work for 10 hours but it's the remaining 14 hours for which you live, for which you earn. You earn for 6 days and it's for the 7th day for which you earn. You forget this fact and blame life for all the miseries. Isn't it being unfair to life?

Man waits for one big moment of happiness, one big house, one big car, one special person. He forgets that life is made of plenty of small moments of happiness and many special people whom you just need to recognize. I have seen so many such people. And when that big moment comes, they don't know how to celebrate! They would have completely forgotten how to rejoice life! Isn't it being unfair to life?

Maybe he's a man who has a big family to take care of and huge responsibilities on his shoulders. But what's the point of doing everything when his own shoulders are shivering with fatigue? When despite doing everything for so-called 'living', there's no life, isn't it being unfair to life?

And when you're unfair to life, how can you expect life to be fair to you?

I don't mind keeping my mind so open that my brains fall out

Rocky comes with a left punch! A right punch! A solid right again! He's hitting on the body! Jabbin' it hard! The southpaw comes with the left, right on the face! ... .... ... ... and the winner is Rocky Balboa!

No, I am not typing the subtitles of Rocky movie series. But each and every dialog of this movie series "Rocky" is something worth listening to. I have seen the whole series thrice. Some people think it's about boxing, but I feel it's about life. Boxing is just a medium to show it.

No, I am not typing the review of "Rocky". But this series touched me. I developed an affinity towards boxing. I saw plenty of boxing movies after that, "Cinderella Man", "The fighter", "Raging Bull", "Million Dollar Baby" and many others. So, I thought, 'why not learn boxing? It's good for physique, for learning self defense and it might be fun learning it.'

I started searching for boxing teachers around my place but to no avail. So, I 'OPENED' my mind and started searching for kickboxing teachers. After all, I'll be adding something (kicks) to boxing, that won't be a loss. I got phone numbers of plenty of kickboxing teachers. So, I started calling them. But one teacher had a voice which was completely different from how a strong, arrogant, experienced and physically colossal guy should sound like. He was the only one who asked me, "Ankur, why do you wanna learn kickboxing?" I said, "Fitness and self defense." (I didn't wanna tell that I am actually interested in learning boxing, but because I couldn't find a teacher, I am opting for kickboxing.)

I fell ill and I couldn't go to meet my (future) master for a month. But my excitement to learn kickboxing started growing. At last, I met him. It was directly a training class and there wasn't a slight mention of the word 'kickboxing'. I shirked at the thought, 'Am I learning karate or something? No, I don't wanna learn it. It looks so boring when people perform karate.' But again, I kept my mind 'OPEN'. I soon learnt that I am gonna learn kickboxing, karate, kungfu and maybe some more stuff, all mixed! I was on cloud nine with excitement. Then I grounded my mind and decided to devote a little part of my day, everyday, to practice Martial Arts. I love it, I love it more than I even thought I'd love boxing. I don't wanna just punch. I wanna punch, kick, grab, poke fingers, lock bodies and most importantly, feel close to God by doing something I love doing and to which I can put my whole mind and body.

As they say, 'Never forget how it all started'. It all started with few movies about boxing. And what propelled me? My 'OPEN' mind.

A little prayer as I end this article:

Dear God, Thank You for introducing me to Martial Arts and my teacher. Dear God, give me strength and courage to follow it throughout my life. Dear God, always keep me grounded, as I wanna learn everyday.

The attitude of gratitude

As we walked, searching our way to the theatre, we asked a stranger, "Bhaiya, M2K cinema kahan padega?" He told us the way and she said with a smile to that stranger, "Thank you bhaiya". I walked briskly, she held my hand and said, "Aren't you supposed to say thanks to that person?" I didn't give a heed to her.
Neverthless, I tried thanking someone. I was sitting in a dhaba and the waiter served me. I said, "Thank you uncle". He smiled back. That moment I realised how important it is to be thankful. I didn't lose anything by being thankful but someone gained a smile for a moment.
I was sitting with her a beautiful bookshop with a coffee house attached. There were lots of diaries in the stationary shelf. Enticed by the beauty of the handmade, chinese silk diaries, we bought two diaries for ourselves. She asked me, "What are we going to do with it?" I thought for a moment and said, "Let's call it 'thank you diary'. We will write in it every night before we sleep. We will write about all the things we are grateful to." She loved the idea and we started writing it.
"Thank you God for giving me prosperity that I can eat everyday."
"Thank you God for sending a stranger to show me the way when I was lost in the market."
"Thank you God for the wonderful family I have."
"Thank you God for good health."
"Thank you God for making me meet my soulmate."
We filled pages over pages. Every night, when we wrote about being thankful, the attitude of gratitude got engraved in us. She was always grateful to evrything and everyone. It was I who lacked it. But I learnt from her how to be thankful.
There are millions of things and hundreds of people to whom we can be thankful. Expressing that 'thanks' makes their day. How many people would say "thanks" to the watchman of their locality? Just one 'thanks' to him can bring a smile on his face.
With time, I stopped writing in my 'thank you diary'. And I regret it. My arrogance again took over my gratefulness and I stopped being thankful. I pledge to start writing it again. You may also give it a try. The best time to write it is night time before you sleep. With this, you sleep with positive thoughts. It's good to write because when you write, you do it with intention. Mere thinking won't help much. It also forms a discipline activity when you write in a routine. Let's try it!

Everyone should and must enjoy

On a college visit, Michael Dell was asked by a student, "Michael, you are the youngest billionaire. You can just sell everything and buy a beach house, girls around, own a yacht and have fun all your life." Michael Dell exclaimed, "That's sounds boring. You have any idea how much fun it is to handle a multi-million dollar company?"

These lines made me go deep inside myself. While watching a deeply intellectual movie, I often thought, 'I am enjoying this movie so much. I am glad that I can think so much. Can people who don't think such stuff or people who are just too dumb, enjoy so much like I am doing?'

I got my answer. I enjoyed pubbing long time back and then quit it because I stopped enjoying it. I am sure the people who are still in there might think the same: people who don't do pubbing, can they enjoy as much as we do?

Everyone has his own way of enjoying life. Some people enjoy action movies, some comedy, some romantic. Some people get high on rock music, some get fresh on ghazals. But there's one category of people who don't enjoy as much as others do. They're the people who don't do what they want to do. Someone might love travelling but can't do it because of parental or monetary constraints. Someone might love socializing but doesn't have courage or is shy to do so.

So what is it that makes you enjoy life?

Is it freedom? It could be physical freedom to move out of the home anytime you want. It could be financial freedom to spend however and wherever you want.

Is it courage? To have freedom one must have courage. So courage could be something one needs to enjoy life.

Is it open-mindedness? I was bored of my music collection. But I was open-minded enough to try out Bhajans and now I really enjoy them.

It came to me finally. It's "people". Yes, I love to watch movies but it's even more fun if I share it with people. Yes, I love to listen to music but it's even more fun when I listen to it with my friends or with my girlfriend. There's no fun pubbing alone. It's fun to dance. But the fun increases manifold when there are people around you. Even for the shiest person, dancing along with someone he knows is more fun than dancing alone in his room. There could be few things that are fun doing alone but that fun wanes off. Maybe a lot of people know this, but very few actually realize it and think about it. Those who do, they care for people because they know how valuable people are.

Two half moons made a full moon

I have a friend who spoke to stars
Sitting alone, she found friends in stars
May be she guessed, where is Venus and where is Mars?
May be she was not bothered about Venus and Mars

Then there was I, who saw the stars
Climbed the roofs, away from lights and cars
I looked for Venus and Mars
Why is Venus red but 'Red planet' is Mars?

I feel, we saw the same star sometimes
She prayed and I pried
She cried and I tried
I saw, the star moved, the book lied

Pole star moved, I snapped tight
Sometimes towards her left,
Sometimes towards my right
But the nature cannot have lied

The star found a way
To keep this dilemma away
The girl and the boy must follow the light
Who look at the same star every night

Her heart was open, my mind was
It was a half moon which told a half story
The story of her side
The strength of her heart's tide

A couple of years passed
She kept her belief
I wonder if that could be a relief
The lotus of my heart was about to open

The half moon rose again
This time telling the story of my side
This time I had the ride
And she agreed to share my side

Two half moons, made a full moon
The time of love, from night till noon
The star shined upon us while we hugged tight
From noon till night

We don't look at the star now, same and old
But we remember it, everytime our story is told
The star made us rich, how can we forget
By giving us each other's heart of gold

A letter to Shri Ram

Dear Ramji,

I know it doesn't make sense to write to you because whatever is in our hearts and minds, reaches you without us telling you. Still, I am writing this letter without any reason as most of the things I do without reason only. I rely more on intuitive abilities than reasoning abilities. Yes, I should strike a balance between the two. I'll try, next time.

I am a huge fan of your bhakt Hanuman. I wish I had faith in you as much as he has. Although I have faith in you but not as much as Hanuman has. That's why He could cross the ocean just by taking you name and I couldn't even clear any MBA entrance (till now). Apart from faith, the kind modesty Hanuman has really sweeps me off my feet and I become a bhakt of your bhakt. So much power, intelligence, knowledge,wisdom, 8 sidhis and 9 nidhis He has but He's always humble about it.

Few words about you, Ramji. I know you are infinite. "Hari anantaa.. Hari katha anantaa", still I want words about you to flow because 'words' are what we mortals rely on sometimes when love overflows. Yes, I love you. I know you love me too because you love everyone. Infact, you are love itself. You are the sun which spreads warmth and light everywhere without any bias. Whether we take that warmth or not is our choice, but you do shower it on us.

Sometimes, I do get disheartened and morose that I am not getting what I want. At that time, I think about you and I think that if you don't want it for me, I also don't want it for myself. In your will lies my happiness. Don't mind Ramji, but before thinking this, I do try to change your will by my own Karma. Your next incarnation, Krishna, gave this knowledge that God gave humans the power of Karma which lies in the hands of humans itself. Therefore, if your will is not what I want, if I don't get what I want, I can think of only 2 reasons: Either my Karma is not enough or it's not your will, sometimes both the reasons.

I know Ramji that you want the best for me and you have already written my life story. Unlike other people say that what is written can't be changed, I believe that you can change what is written if we change our Karma. My mentor, Narsingh Goenka, tells me that if I have to ask anything from you, I shall ask for Bhakti and Love. But I want to add an extra thing to it. Ramji, give me strength to take the blows of life and improve my Karma (I need to learn hard-work and perseverance). You must be knowing about that movie: ROCKY. It's my most favorite movie series. In the last part, Rocky says, "It's not about how hard you can hit. No matter how hard you hit, life can hit you back harder. It's about how hard you can get hit and still move forward." That is why Ramji, I asked you to give me strength.

Ok Ramji. I gotta go now. No no, I am not going anywhere where you can't reach me because such a place doesn't exist. You can reach me anywhere because you are everywhere. I gotta go to office to do my donkey work. I know you are teaching me hard-work, perseverance, acceptance and patience by sending me to that office where I work like a donkey without enjoying at all. I'll learn these things soon so that you get me out of it. I know this secret of yours. Whenever you want someone to learn something, you keep pushing him and make him do it until he learns. You put obstacles in our path so that we fall and learn to pick ourselves up. You put difficulties behind us so that we learn to run. You scare us with dangers so that we can stay awake. You actually make our job easier to reach our ultimate goal, but we fools don't understand.

Anyways, about the picture that I have placed in this letter, it's my favorite picture because it depicts you and Hanuman as one. I believe that Ram and Hanuman are actually ONE. "Swami" and "Sevak" or "Bhagwan" and "Bhakt" are just roles. Hanuman is the 11th incarnation of Shiva. You are the 7th incarnation of Vishnu. Shiva and Vishnu worship each other. Even in Vedas it is mentioned that someone who wouldn't understand the oneness of Shiva and Vishnu won't reach God. Shiva and Vishnu together symbolize all the aspects of LIFE. Thus, You and Hanuman hugging each other reminds me of your oneness. Thus, this picture is my favorite.

Your Bhakt,
Ankur Oberai