Miracles do happen. You are one!

1. Education (System): You Are Marvels Not Machines

Our education system primarily aims at orienting students and scholars towards a mindset whereby they get a degree or certificate that presumably fetches them a job in a company or organization.

We tend to produce machines not marvels, because the kind of genius our kids have, remains underutilized or untapped.

They get entrapped in the glitter of power, position and lifestyle that in turn consumes the generic social, humane character that is meant to do the righteous, acknowledge the failures (of your own), and appreciate the successes (of others).

Our focus mostly remains a petty monthly paycheque that blindfolds us to the real-life experiences. And, it is only such experiences that make all of us ‘us’ (unmatchable self).

Unmatchable, because, nothing in the animal kingdom is blessed with the kind of strong physical, mental, emotional, psychological traits that humans have.

Even our genetic pursuit demands contentment, adjustment, fair-play but, unfortunately, we get swayed away by material-mania that kills the spirit of being.

Don’t let the spirit die inside of you. Enlighten your intellectual self and you see miracles happen.

2. Career Selection: Your Passion Not Your Position Should Drive You

How many of you want to be IAS or KAS and why? What do you feel when you hear a siren while you are stuck in a traffic mess and you see the traffic personnel making every possible effort, clearing the way for the person sitting in that vehicle behind your lane?

Just think…

Here the sarkaari gaadi takes a turn, here you make a comment. “Issey kya jaldi hai? Hum bhi to kab se rukey hain.”

Don’t you agree?

The officer sitting in that car is a civil servant. He has a lot to do in his office. He has to visit places, meet people, listen to peoples’ grievances, provide solutions to problems. His is a busy day.

Our reaction, “Life ho to aisi

Now see the other shade

There is an ambulance too. That too had a siren buzzing.

Nobody said, “Arrey, ambulance bhi to thhi na?

Don’t forget the ambulance driver. He too has a busy schedule. He too is transporting a very critical patient who is fighting for his life. A little delay can prove fatal. He has another call where a pregnant patient is having labour. Imagine, the rush hours he has to endure.

I do not have anything against the officer nor do I have anything for the ambulance driver. I am just presenting two different shades of life before you.

We may say the officer’s life is luxurious and the driver’s miserable. The fact is, both signed up for their respective jobs and both work really hard. And, both are seamlessly performing their duties. And, when both are home, I am sure, both enjoy a sense of contentment.

The officer would say, today was a very productive day. Got a scheme launched to benefit the farmers. The ambulance driver on the other hand would say, thank God, I saved another life today.

This is possible only when you are passionate towards your work.

Shahrukh Khan in his movie ‘Raees’ says a line, “Koi dhandha chhota nahi hota, aur dhandhe se bada koi dharm nahi hota”. And, his mother further tells him, Lekin jab tak uss sey kisi ka bura na… tab tak”.

3. Opportunities: Explore Options Not Opportunities

In life we all get OPPORTUNITIES, but those opportunities may not necessarily be the OPTIONS you were looking for or you had a longing for all your life.

You got an opportunity while travelling, or may be, in your school or college to meet a person, but that person is not the one you want to be friends with. So, what do you do? You search better friends (here your better options) whom you can trust and whom you can count on.

Similarly, when you have a career very clear in your mind, just strive for that. Work hard, be focussed. Trust me, the same option you had wished for all your life will land in your lap the way you could never have imagined of and that you were looking an opportunity for.
So, your options decide your career trajectory not the opportunity.

4. Counselling and Guidance: Practice Self-Motivation and Increase Your Will-Power

At a certain stage of life, most of us are, more or less, confused as to what will be my future like? What will I do if I secured a lesser percentage than what my family, especially my parents expected? We do not have enough resources, how will my family manage my higher studies? What if my friends got selected in some professional course and I could not? These are very common and pressing questions that each one of you might have in your minds. Right?

Just let this all go. You will have only what is meant for you. If you are meant to be a teacher, you can’t be a doctor. If you want to be a writer, you will be a writer only, not an engineer.

But, who is responsible here to orient our children towards what exactly they have an aptitude for?

Parents and teachers have an important role in doing so.

First, your parents have seen you grow and blossom. They have keenly observed your activities. They still cherish your mischief. They are also aware of how inquisitive and how creative you have been. If your parents have seen a skill in you, they should encourage you in pursuing that. It could prove a life-changing vocation in the end.

How a teacher can help, I have a story to share.

There was this girl who wanted to be a lawyer. After class 12, she wanted to pursue law, but her parents insisted on MBBS. She was not motivated, instead she was pressurised or forced to opt for that. Basically, she was not given a second option.

She gets her admission, but slips into depression. She starts getting suicidal thoughts. But, her parents still want her to be a doctor. Her depression aggravated so much so that she had to consult psychiatrists across states as she was not improving.

Now her parents started realising that she was under tremendous pressure and she needed critical care.

Since, she was self-motivated and she had the will-power, she somehow shared her thoughts with her teacher discussing the whole matter

The teacher knew what she was good at and he persuaded her parents to admit her not in a hospital but in any social sciences subject as she was more inclined towards humanities.

Today, she has no depression. She did her bachelor’s with good grades. Then her master’s making it to the toppers’ list. She then did her B. Ed. Got herself registered for a Ph. D Programme. Applied for NET-JRF

Once she is done with her Ph. D, she will hopefully make it as a professor.

We tend to forget that we too were at a stage like this where we too wished someone would listen to us and ultimately guide us to a certain degree where motivation comes first and options take a timely pause.

We have to try and understand what our children want. Not that they wish a SpaceX trip to the Moon or Mars and back right its next launch. But, we can at least inspire them how SpaceX propels its launches, carrying astronauts and payloads to the International Space Station (ISS) and back to the Earth -- orient them towards the science behind the whole process. That will make them think more and that will inspire them to learn more about space exploration, astronomy, physics, or engineering.

Teaching or counselling and often both have a mind-changing, and sometimes life-changing potential when applied practically. Just listening to someone can be so magical in changing someone’s mindset that you will see overwhelming results in building one’s capacity and shaping one’s personality.

That is how, when parents and teachers coordinate, we can see miracles happen. And, miracles do happen. You are one!

The author works as Public Relations Officer (PRO) at University of Kashmir