Half the Lesson, Only?

Whiling away my winter afternoon in the sun, an idle observation led to an interesting discussion. It is widely believed and ever so greatly assumed that “the purest and the most successful teacher is the one who is able to impart all his knowledge to his disciples without any reservations and prejudices”.

But then, the scene of the afternoon and the subsequent discussion compelled me to review this belief in a new light.

A cat is believed to be the guru of the feline family and the other members have, as a consequence, learnt their traits from it. But the one little lesson that the cat has, as unanimously agreed, conveniently decided to omit from the curriculum is the art of climbing trees. This is in conformity with the fact that “if indeed the cat would have been so generous as to teach it to it’s other kin, it would have probably meant threatening its own existence”.

So we come to the question. Should a teacher hold back? Or should she, as required, impart all her knowledge to her disciples hoping that it will all be absorbed in good faith? A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but what about an eclectic, compendium one? Can it be assumed to ascertain continued reverence and respect for the teacher and an all harmonic mutual coexistence? Or should it only be considered as an eventuality in itself?

This dilemma, assumingly faced by every teacher imparting lessons in life and living is what maintains the dangerous balance which sometimes tips to the wrong side. For after all, we wouldn’t have had a Harry Potter without a Professor Slughorn!

Work Hard. Or should we?

On a particular day of idle but tireless message forwarding I came across a quote which stopped me and got me thinking. It said “The world only rewards results, not efforts”.

Even at this moment, days after I first read it, it’s hard for me to decide whether I was amused to read it or just plain astounded! But nevertheless, it’s definitely something I couldn’t put out of my mind since.

From the moment we gain consciousness of the world; the good and the bad; the worthy and the worthless; the expectations and the rewards; the earned and the given; we are told to do our bit and leave the rest to the future. But now, reading what I read, I can’t help but question it.

But in the midst of it all what I’m having the most trouble accepting is if we are really there!? At that selfish and ambition driven level where all that matters is the end, regardless of the means and ways employed to achieve it. Has the purpose of working hard totally evaded us? Making us ever more centrally focused on “results”!?

I wish I could believe once more that all that really matters is giving our best shot and not the outcome, that it’s better to have tried than to not have participated at all, that winning or losing is secondary to “efforts”.

But I guess those days are long past me, lost in the carefree days of childhood because ironically, it was my dad who sent me that text!

To err is human, but to forgive divine?

“All this time I was waiting that you would turn around,

I have given enough chances but all you do is let me down….”

We all in our lives would have been let down by atleast a hundred times by the people that we love, but where do we draw the line and stop forgiving? Or do we just go on pretending like everything’s fine just so that we don’t have to deal with the repercussions of a reaction? Just so that we don’t end up drained and lonely?

To err is human but isn’t the person on the receiving end a human too? And what if you are that person who’s wronged? How do you move on from the time when you were hurt and were expected to forgive just because it’s the right thing to do? Don’t we even deserve to react? Do we have to keep suppressing our emotions every step of the way just so that we don’t offend anyone?

Even if forgiveness is the way to go, how much can a person take? Where does one draw a line? Where do we straighten up and stand up for ourselves? So many questions with barely enough answers!

From someone who has some idea, honestly it gets really hard at times, after some time; to be sweet and forgiving all the time. Because it starts feeling like fingers choking out every bit of air from within. Like screaming with all might possible and making sure not to make a sound. So the next time you make a mistake, before expecting forgiveness, ask yourself if you really deserve it.

Because it sure is easy to err; but divinity is a hard virtue to live with.

Hey everyone! Happy New Year..... :D

With all the many exams and busy schedules, there was barely enough time to even think about anything but course books. So though late..... still HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Hope the new year is going well for you all and will continue to be for the coming days as well. :)