Ashok Singh
Although many books have been written by great scholars and brilliant minds with vast experience but I have honestly strived hard to present ‘distilled wisdom’ in a capsule to learn the mental pains and plights of my fellow beings by awakening them spiritually to alleviate their sufferings and wipe out their tears and encouraging them to tread consciously and carefully on the path of their faith. Universe is a big school, where we learn through observation step by step. Everything becomes crystal clear provided we keep our eyes clear from the dust of attachment, and remove cotton of laziness from our ears to listen carefully. What we observe through our eyes is called ‘sight or scene’ and what we hear through our ears is sound. Both sight or scene and sound are the objects of our knowledge and life is a book that gives us important lessons for self-improvement, self-discovery, and self-mastery.
Humanity is a school, life is a book, time is a teacher and classroom teaching or learning is important to get acquainted with the language and develop mental faculties through thinking and reasoning and learn the art of writing something on the paper. The art of reading and writing goes a long way which makes us a good citizen. We earn good respect in the society on the strength of our learning. Though classroom learning is within the four walls of the institution in a formal way under the watchful eyes of our teachers who tailors our personality and channelize our energy properly to gain positive knowledge and become better person, better breadwinner, bread earner, help us to stand on our own feet firmly. While teacher at times may reprimand and correct and castigate us to remove undesirable propensities. He admonishes us to bring us on the right path so that we may ‘rise and shine ‘in life and make our career bright and brilliant.
School learning only gives us direction to walk carefully in life, to meet the challenges cheerfully, to act wisely and be cool headed and patient in the unavoidable vagaries that life throws at us. Only few teachers become our role model out of majority. Reason being that to become a role model, one has two labour hard to cultivate abiding values through self-effacement. A role model teacher must possess his high sense of punctuality; devote his time to self-learning, self-improvement, and high sense of responsibility. A multi coloured butterfly who is fussy of his dress, spent lavishly on his clothes cannot be a role model.
An ideal teacher gives more knowledge than a book or library. People learn more from his conduct, body language and meaningful talk and thoughts. After leaving the threshold of our educational institution and on acquiring the formal education, we enter in some profession, to earn our livelihood. This is the time when our ‘caught education’ or practical education begins. The caught education is acquired from the school of humanity where we roll like a pebble on the chessboard of life. Throughout life, we become a teacher and a student. Some people copy us to become our substitute and when they fail to replicate us, they turn hostile towards us out of sheer frustration, become leg pullers though flattering us at our face, bark at our back but they cannot bite us and sometimes poison the ears of others against us. Its these worthless people who are good teachers as they teach us, how to deal with the fools. Our whole life becomes a book, opening new chapter each new day.
Time is a good teacher that opens our eyes, it helps us to diagnose the pulse of life like an experienced Doctor. It provides us medicine to heal our wounds, assuages our pain and provide us all relief and respite from our sorrows and sufferings. Many stiff-necked boastful nincompoops, who behave like a chameleon have been set right. However strong or powerful one is, none can resist the tide of time whose current sweeps away everyone. Time dispenses equal justice to all, punishes equally both the wealthy and the pauper.
Time erodes and corrodes quietly at very slow pace, its actions are unseen imperceptible, hard to explain and unchanged. Its icy hand is placed on our head silently and keeps us in its clutches all the time. None can escape from the hawkish eyes of time. It spares none, whosoever tried to challenge the authority of time, got crushed under its cruel wheels. It has the power to iron out all pride within no time even those who walk with majestic gilt.
On the road of life, like a supercilious camel, are transformed into a humble being after a little shock and stroke. The wheel of time moves very quietly and steadily. It takes no time to snatch away crowns and thrones, mighty empires get reduced to rubble, inexhaustible treasures get depleted, people become homeless, fugitives and they have to eke out their livelihood to thrive and survive in perilous situations. All bookish knowledge and wide learning fail us to solve the complicated problems, to wriggle out successfully from the predicament of domestic entanglements. We may read all the books of library but without flicking the book of our own life, good sense cannot prevail and wisdom cannot be attained. Every individual both literate and illiterate has to read the book of his own life. Our entire life depends upon the smile and frown of time. When time turns hostile, the well-knit family gets disintegrated, brothers become blood thirsty of each other over trivial matters of property disputes, the tree of family unity withers away, its roots get dry and its leaves fall off, husband and wife are forced to lead cat and dog life, neglect their children, forget their past, get separated and move in opposite directions. The ignorance does not know the power of time and gets swept away in its tide.
Time is a God, use it wisely, do not waste its golden coins in meaningless debates and discussions, avoid bad company. Do not find time to quarrel with the fools, maintain distance from those who do not understand your point of view. Time is the most precious wealth and those who fritter away time in idle pursuits, meaningless bubbling and hard headed discussions, must suffer. Loss of time cannot be compensated as the wheel of time cannot be reversed and golden moments once lost are lost forever. Time governs our entire from womb to tomb.
(The author is Divisional Sports Officer, J&K Sports Council and dedicates the article ‘Learner’s Curve’ to his life partner who filled the house with happiness long ago which is an everlasting bridge in-between the immortal souls).