Reading Mindsets

The approach towards education has changed keeping in view the changing needs and mindsets of the youth. The attention span of little babies, children and youth is very limited. They change gears every two minutes. The availability of mobile phones, tablets, laptops and TVs teach even little babies that things can move at a very fast pace. With the flick of a finger or click of a button we can move speedily from one screen to the next, flick channels on TV, toggle between websites, switch between work and play, listen to music, paint virtually, dictate, analyse data etc. and do many of these simultaneously as well. Whether so much toggling in life is for better or worse is debatable.

The speed at which the human brain can switch between this, that and the other is not even measurable. Human memory can dig out instances and incidents from decades ago. There is no ‘save’ button, but many memories are saved in the human memory.

The world acknowledges the fact that ancient Indian knowledge and wisdom was way beyond what is known to us presently. The numerous invasions by the Moghuls, destroying our universities, temples, monuments, architectural marvels left ruins all over the country. The British further demolished a lot. The history of India tells us that foreign aggressions have been many. Our culture and ethos has been the subject for envy for many. Our country has been plundered several times. But we have still managed to be a force to reckon with.

The inauguration of the Nalanda University marks a moment in history. When the Nalanda University was set afire in in the 12th century by Mohd. Bakhtiyar Khilji, it burned for six months. That indicates the quantum of text that was available there. So much wisdom, research data was burnt down. In today’s times data is stored digitally. Even then it is susceptible to hacking, cybercrimes, etc.

This is the way creation was planned I guess. There are people who construct and those who destruct. There are those who believe in God and goodness. And there are those who believe in the devil and indulge in evil. To each his own.

This reminds me of a little story. Someone set a building on fire. Amongst many fire-fighters, a sparrow filled its little beak with water from a nearby pond. She flew over the fire and dropped water on it. She made many trips from the pond to the inferno to drop water in her effort to douse the raging fire. Her wings were charred by the heat. Her throat was parched. She was tired and hungry. A crow sitting on a tree called out saying that whatever water she was putting into the fire was insignificant so she may as well relax because her contribution was quite useless anyways.

The sparrow, amidst her huffing and puffing and said, “When the story of this fire shall be written, my name shall be amongst those who helped put out the fire; not amongst those who just watched the drama and criticized.”

The story is much beyond sparrows and crows. Everyone knows who all have worked to make our country more stable, safer, stronger, improve its economy, living conditions, and its respect in the world. We also know those who have just made trouble, ridiculed and criticised. Those who plundered India centuries ago, are waiting to pounce yet again.

Each person’s Dharma and Karma is their own. Each one’s journey of life is their own. All of us have to die one day. When God verifies if we performed our dharma or not, what would He decide?

We believe in the cycle of birth and death. Our karma shall decide our further birth. The journey of the soul continues till it merges into divinity. Till the moment of mergence, let us be mindful of what we are doing.

Do share your thoughts if possible :)

This piece has been published in HT on 23.06.2024. It can be viewed here https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/sunraysreading-mindsets-101719077659726.html