Live In Full Energy
Greatest Words Ever Said
I am somewhat amused by film actor Imran Khan’s Bollywood valour-driven move to file a PIL to lower the “drinking” age in India. Would that lead in any way to creating the “new” Indian? Specious arguments are being floated that since the voting age is 18 and the age of marriage is 21, the age of being allowed to freely access alcohol should be likewise reduced. Of course, we all realise only too well that the liquor companies who are behind Imran’s campaign to make bigger mega-bucks would be the only ones to wholly benefit! I am of the firm opinion that 18 is too young for any kind of decision-making—it is more intelligibly arguable to increase the voting age to 21! Also, at 18, pumping in alcohol to further mess with the already pumping hormones will lead the young on tracks of violence and misbehaviour. All this when we have carefully crafted a society that has inbuilt systems promoting violence on women! Imran’s case is thus totally spurious. And one hopes that all political shades of opinion can converge on this issue.But on the other hand can we begin to think about what values we would like the “new” Indian to have? Is there any agenda we can adopt that can lead us to that recast national? As an artiste, I live in constant hope. And so these are my ten-point agenda that all “new” Indians must achieve by the age of 21 (before they vote, marry or drink):
1.Visit a rural working farm and spend at least one working week sweating it out with them;
2.visit one tourist destination beyond your native state and place of domicile;
3.visit a forest to enjoy the pristine aspects of nature; 4.volunteer for a social activity for at least one week of your life;
5.visit one place of prayer other than your own;
6.visit a home of any person belonging to a religion/caste other than your own and have a meal with them;
7.donate one thing you love to someone else who may not have it;
8.learn to say these common word-phrases in ten different Indian languages: mother/father, brother/sister, husband/wife, uncle/aunt, hungry/ not hungry, water; milk, can you please help me?, I am lost, thank you;
9. watch at least 5 classical dance forms in live performances and learn to tell the difference;
10.listen to 5 live music concerts and be able to discuss what you liked/did not like.
These are simple things to do. Most can be done with very little advance planning. Some of the others will require some planning and investment. But each of them will surely raise the bar for citizenship and craft a “new” Indian. Unless we invest in directing our youth to the values that these 10 things represent, we will not create a country with vision or visionary leaders.One of my favourite sayings remains: One preserves/ cherishes what one loves, and one loves, what one knows, and one knows what one is taught! Don’t you agree that it is high time we revisited what we are teaching our youth today? Not through vacuous moral lessons or by berating them endlessly.The young persons of today have a surfeit of information on all issues under the sun. But a society must be crafted not on information, but on the bedrock of values. And values must be the keys to unlock the knowledge embedded in information. As all dancers know, values are the key instruments in any classical dance studio. Unfortunately, values are not fashionable in other forms of education in our country.The writer is founder-president of Natya Vriksha, Delhi. She is both a performer and teacher
Greatest Words Ever Said
Ten things you must do before 21
Courtesy:
The New Indian Express/Magazine July 03,2011
1.Visit a rural working farm and spend at least one working week sweating it out with them;
2.visit one tourist destination beyond your native state and place of domicile;
3.visit a forest to enjoy the pristine aspects of nature; 4.volunteer for a social activity for at least one week of your life;
5.visit one place of prayer other than your own;
6.visit a home of any person belonging to a religion/caste other than your own and have a meal with them;
7.donate one thing you love to someone else who may not have it;
8.learn to say these common word-phrases in ten different Indian languages: mother/father, brother/sister, husband/wife, uncle/aunt, hungry/ not hungry, water; milk, can you please help me?, I am lost, thank you;
9. watch at least 5 classical dance forms in live performances and learn to tell the difference;
10.listen to 5 live music concerts and be able to discuss what you liked/did not like.
These are simple things to do. Most can be done with very little advance planning. Some of the others will require some planning and investment. But each of them will surely raise the bar for citizenship and craft a “new” Indian. Unless we invest in directing our youth to the values that these 10 things represent, we will not create a country with vision or visionary leaders.One of my favourite sayings remains: One preserves/ cherishes what one loves, and one loves, what one knows, and one knows what one is taught! Don’t you agree that it is high time we revisited what we are teaching our youth today? Not through vacuous moral lessons or by berating them endlessly.The young persons of today have a surfeit of information on all issues under the sun. But a society must be crafted not on information, but on the bedrock of values. And values must be the keys to unlock the knowledge embedded in information. As all dancers know, values are the key instruments in any classical dance studio. Unfortunately, values are not fashionable in other forms of education in our country.The writer is founder-president of Natya Vriksha, Delhi. She is both a performer and teacher
No comments:
Post a Comment