What Is Your Dna?

A teacher of Biology was teaching a batch of Class-X students about DNA. He told them that DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic Acid. It is a self-replicating material which carries the genetic information in chromosomes. It is found in the cell nuclei of nearly all organisms. He went on to tell them that DNA was responsible for the similarity in physical characteristics between parents and children. It was also the carrier of habits, character, traits and talents from generation to generation. He explained why it was that the son of a singer would normally have the inborn talent of singing and the daughter of a surgeon would more often that not, be interested in the medical profession.

For assignment purposes he told them, “Next week is Diwali, you have a week off from school. Each of you must bring with you, pictures of yourself with your father or mother or grand parents showing a similarity in features. Some of you may have features that are a mix of your father and mother. We shall prepare a study report on this. All the best and have a great Diwali!”

The next class after Diwali was an interesting one. All the students had brought photographs. They put them up on the pin-up board and they had a great interactive session on the subject. The teacher said, “Now tell me, about the habits or traits you have inherited from your parents. One by one, let’s start from the first row on this side.”

Teacher: Yes, Richa?
Richa: Sir, I have my mother’s flair for designing.
Bindu: Sir, I get my habit of bossing over others, from my father!
Abhimanyu: Sir, I have leadership qualities. My father is a politician.
Ritin: Sir, I have a short temper like my grandpa. This went on, till the bell rang and it was time for the next class.
The next class was, “Moral Education.” The teacher walked in. She raised her eyebrows looking at the array of pictures on the board. “What’s going on here?” The students were quick to tell her what the Biology teacher had told them.

“That’s interesting,” she said. She crossed her arms across her chest and said, “Alright, so you have all inherited some qualities from your parents, right?” “Yes, Ma’am,” they said in unison. “What have you inherited from God?” she asked.
No answer.
“Isn’t it true that God is our real father and mother? Think and tell me!”
Ragini said haltingly, “Ma’am, we have inherited, love for our fellow beings.”
“Very good! What else?”
The children were quick to gag on.
Noor: “Truthfulness and sincerity.”
Dayal: “Hard work.”
Gobind: “Duty and discipline.”
Megha: “Empathy.”

The teacher said, “Children, if your father is known to be an honest man, you are expected to be honest too. But if you are found to be dishonest, you bring a bad name to your father and you cause him hurt too, isn’t it? Similarly as the sons and daughters of God, you inherently have certain basic traits in your character like love, honesty, devotion, righteousness etc. If you behave in ways that are contrary to God’s basic nature, you bring a bad name to Him. You cause hurt to God, remember that. Besides what the Biology teacher taught you, let me tell you that DNA also stands for Divine Natural Attributes. You all have DIVINE NATURAL ATTRIBUTES in you though you may not realize this. Each of you is like a diamond having many facets. You just have to polish each facet of the diamond. With every facet becoming brilliant one by one, your Divine Natural Attributes shall shine forth and you shall be identified as children of God!”

Surely we all want to be or want our children to be well educated but let us not forget that the end of education is character and without it we can not act as true soldiers of God.

Baba says, “Recognize the divinity in you and share that experience with all. Use the divine power in you to cultivate virtues, which constitute the essence of education. Lead a life which will earn for you the love of the people more than their respect.”