STUDENT

                                                                                               STUDENT 

         “I wish education was more empirical and outdoor. Yes, a student must learn things not only from books, but from everything, every walk of his life and even from other students. Because not all the answers for the challenges, one faces in his life are available in books. Books are only sources of information about things we cannot approach physically, until the time comes when we have to deal with them directly. So understand my dear, that books are only a part of our education. We gotta deal with many other things to make our education complete and more meaningful. And also remember that books can only give us knowledge, but not wisdom!

          And as students, we no need to have a grudge-full competition with other students. Because, no two students will have the same destination or future prepared. One will be a scientist and other will be an engineer or someone else tomorrow. So, why to compete with a train on other track? You may as well say, you are studying the same subjects and obviously there’s place for competition. Yes, you are right! But, what I say is that, there must be competition, not between you and another student, but between you yesterday and you today! Compare your yesterday’s progress with today’s, because the person, who stood as your competition may not be with you till the end and even if he stays till the end, he may not be a competition at all. But it’s you who stays with you always. Self-motivation and self-competition serve better! A simple logic we might have been ignoring since ages, but it really works once we start practicing it!

                   

           And it doesn’t mean you won, just because others lost.

           “You can still be a loser among a thousand losers and...

             You can still be a winner among a thousand winners!"

        It doesn’t mean you have reached your destination, because the train on the other track broke down. You are still where you are!
          So to be a winner, analyze your life yesterday, sort out things, minimize your mistakes to have an error free today and a peaceful tomorrow! Destroy the idea that top-scorers alone can get through life. What you study at school or college is quite different from what you have to deal with in future or after you get into a job.

          Lemme give you an example for a better understanding…       

       Tony topped Sciences all through his schooling and D’Souja used to fail now and then in Sciences. D’Souja always had doubts bubbling in him, which distracted his attention from his exams. But for Tony, exams were the end of the competition. He never thought about the topics he read, once the exams were over. He used to kick away the rails left behind once he had driven across them. After a few years both met at a trek in the woods. Tony was married and his kids came along with him. He was hostile with D’Souja and threw up attitude whenever D’Souja approached him in a humble way. Suddenly an unidentified snake came into the scene from nowhere, stinged one of Tony’s kids and vanished from the scene in no time! Tony immediately dialed 108, crying and gasping out of fear. He knew, he must first aid his kid, but didn’t know first aid of which kind should he carry out, for he didn’t know what kind of snake it was. But, D’Souja very composedly drew the belt out of his pants, tied it to the kid’s leg above the stings and sucked the venom out of him. His presence of mind saved the kid. Ambulance arrived!
        Tony was thinking about the snake, while D’Souja was thinking about the kid! ‘Priorities’ and ‘presence of mind’, which books cannot demonstrate! Poor Tony didn’t know the same first aid goes for any kind of snake bite! What good will it make if our education doesn’t come to our rescue when we need it, and if we don’t have the guts to use it wise at the times of challenge?! Tony had knowledge. D’Souja had wisdom!
            So, think buddy… “Nature gifts the smartest, not the first!”
          Tony learnt a lesson from D’Souja. Yes, we are still students even after our studious life in school or college or whatever it is, is over. Life still teaches us the biggest lessons, books cannot!
                         "And the competition is not yet over!

Regards... K J Sudhira Spurthi.