"First time, first day"

“The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” - Abraham Lincoln.

Good evening!

On 28 September 2011, I became an uncle for the first time after my nephew was born on that day. It is one of my happiest moments of my life which I will tressure it in my heart forever. And today is his first day in kindergarden. In the morning, he was really excited and eager for his first day in Kindergarten. I asked him, “What are you going to learn today in school?” He replied, “I'm going to play in school and learn ABC.” I’m very happy for him and I hope he enjoys learning starting from today.

He is 3 years and 6 months old and he is a smart kid. I'm just not exaggerating because he is my nephew... :) He knows how to download games from Google play store in Samsung tab. Somehow, I believe he has the idea of Wi-Fi connection because when the game doesn’t download, he will come running to me or my brother asking us to check whether the Wi-Fi connection is connected in the tab. Also, he can unlock his mom’s phone by entering the password. When I noticed him unlocking the phone for the first time; I was awe by his smartness. I tried comparing my childhood with his, and it’s hilarious even to think about it. One instance would be; I'd be still playing marble in the dirt with mucus dripping from my nose and my tongue doing the cleaning… :)

Now, here at my workstation, I am waiting for my shift to be over so that I can ask him whether he had a good day in Kindergarten or a sad experience missing his parents. I'm just hoping he had a good day. The only one thing I'm worried for him is that he does not know how to speak in Hindi. The language barrier is actually our fault. We hardly speak Hindi within our family boundary except for the Chiru and Meitei language. But I’m sure he will learn Hindi within 3-5 months. Everyone in the family was really proud and we wish him the best.

When he grows up, I hope he does not get into the pressure and stress our students nowadays are facing as the level of competition is like a rat race. But it is really hard to ignore the factual incidents of students committing suicide just because they didn’t get through the competitive examinations. The realities of students committing suicide are influence by society and families. Some of the parents are more worried about what the neighbors will think. And the society is eager to find out “who is” and “whose child” has failed the examination to gossip around. Therefore, parents should always stand by their children’s so they can rely on even if they failed, and encourage them to do better next time. They should be sensitive and sensible for their children future.

Otherwise, the students become more worried and pressurized themselves to make sure they clear the examinations. Gradually, the pressure of ambition caved in thinking whether they will be successful in future rather than learning. And when they failed, thus, they took the extreme measure by committing suicide rather than to face the disappointment of their parents as well as the society perception. The society factor is always perpetual in nature, and the best is to avoid the gossips and never give a damn about what they think. The stress on students is correlated to pressure. When the pressure builds up, the stress comes into play physically and mentally.

I believed the pressure of students from poor families is also enormous. And it is when the parents start telling their children, “You are my only hope”, “You have to get a job and look after us”, etc. The statements are huge responsibilities. Honestly, the student will be more pressurized about clearing the examination. However, believe it or not, the good children will always look out for their parents except for those uneducated even though they have the means and the knowledge. Education is not all about getting a lucrative job as soon as you are done with your college or Master degrees. But getting educated is a preparation unlike training, to be wiser in making decision, differentiate between logic and illogical and learning to live your life independently within our very own diverse world. And once we become educated, the possibility and opportunity to be successful will be out there.

Examination must be treated like a stumbling block we can easily overcome rather do or die situation. Whether we pass or fail, our future isn't decided on day of examination result. Even if we fail, we can always rise up like a fallen knight, and that’s our major strength as human. Our future is decided by our personality, attitude and how well educated we are. Knowledge is just a part of the education rather important but not at the cost of your life.

Food for Thought: “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” – Henry Ford.

Thank you. Have a good evening!