Thursday, April 23, 2015

"Mistake"

"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." Albert Einstein.

Good evening!

It all starts with ABC.., 123..., A for apple, etc., from kindergarten. And it's amazing now that we are able to read and write almost everything. I wondered if we have learned ABC incorrectly from kindergarten and our teachers forgoing all our mistakes rather than correcting us to read and write correctly, I think the institution of education is no less than idiocy as per the given scenario. I believed the interpretation of Education is the guidance to right path which ultimately helps us to differentiate between right and wrong.

Mistake is one of the qualities that completes us as a human being setting us apart from robots or computer. The ability to accept mistake and to be able learn from mistakes is the education which starts from the very beginning, i.e., kindergarten. After all, we were not born with all the alphabets and numbers preset in our brain. The fact is that we are able learned alphabets and numbers with proper guidance from our teachers despite making umpteen times of mistakes. After all, what is the point of being an educated person if we do not accept our mistakes? Mistake does not come with a skull mark rather it presents an opportunity to learn. However, it seems we are unable to tolerate our own mistakes rather preferring the alternative blame-game card which clearly display our coming of age in reverse cycle.

Ratan Tata, one of the most influential name in business world admitted that the marketing of Tata Nano car as the cheapest car was a mistake. He went on to explain, the stigma surrounding with the word "cheapest" was the mistake with the marketing of Tata Nano. In fact, the word "cheapest" influenced the major outcome of lukewarm reception from the public on Tata Nano car. And if I were in his place, I would have blamed the marketing team or the board of directors who have given the green signal for the marketing tag as "cheapest car". But I know deep inside, I'm just trying to save my own skin and it is completely unjustified to let the other person take the fall for my mistake. In the end, rather than accepting the mistake and learning from it, I'm also throwing away my self respect and integrity.

I guessed that's the difference between us and Ratan Tata who have the guts to admit his mistake regarding the final decision he made in marketing Tata Nano car as the cheapest car. In kindergarten, if a student reads the alphabet as A, B, D, F, I, and so on, obviously the teacher is there to correct the student and to help identify the mistake. Thus, not only we learned the alphabets correctly but the real substance that we learned is about accepting the mistakes identified by our teachers so we can read and write properly. It is just my simple evaluation on education, and I'm not sure at this stage if we require our teachers to help us identify our mistakes once again. However, as we grow older, we are becoming more and more hostile with our mistakes. Henceforth, we are only nurturing ourselves to be our own worst enemy.

I thoughts the 1st and 3rd law from the Newton's three law of motion can be applicable as well in philosophy of life. The first law states, every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it. And the third law states, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. I guessed the above mentioned are not only theory but also proven practically. The first law can be related with our daily routines. If something is wrong, there is a always a reason behind it. Therefore, identifying the reason and finding the resolution is almost same as accepting the mistake and learning from it. Anyway, what's the harm in accepting mistake when you also have the opportunity to make make it right?

The third law, just think about it! Have a good night!

Thought for the night before sleep: "Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something." Morihei Ueshiba.

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