"Farmer"

Good morning!

“The first farmer was the first man. All historic nobility rests on the possession and use of land.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.

It’s Friday and I believed it is the best day to be in office. And I never want to miss Friday and it’s certainly like the happy ending of contemporary rom-com Hindi movie. Nevertheless, I have had a good week and now I'm ready to enjoy every bit of my weekends by the end of the day.

Many years ago, my family tree occupation used to be farmers until my dad joined State Bank of India in the year 1987. Even now, my mom excels in growing all sorts of vegetables in garden back home. It is not an exaggeration because she is my mom… :) When I was growing up, I have experience the joy of harvesting grain in paddy field with friends and families in the month of November and December. The hindsight of harvesting season is like a rat race for all the farmers. Whoever has harvested the largest quantity of grains becomes the talk of the village throughout the harvest season unless another farmer beat the record. In order to determine the quantity of grains, gunny sacks are filled with the grains fully. Then, the counting starts and the counted sacks are loaded in a truck.

My parents used to scare me by saying, “if you don’t do well in your school examination, you’ll land up becoming farmer.” I do understand their point because majority of the households from my village are engaged in agriculture as occupation. It is not easy run a family throughout the year with farming as occupation. Living in a small village invisible from the map does not offer many opportunities or any viable long term solution in order to substitute farming or change the occupation. In addition, the economy status of my state Manipur does not give enough importance to invest in agriculture. Whenever I'm home during the summer vacation, I've seen many farmers waking up early in the morning to make sure the river water reached their respective fields so they can cultivate. Or else, any shortage of water can easily go downhill and they will be unable to cultivate on time. I just hope the state government will at least invest in irrigation system to make sure no farmers bear the consequences of drought.

As agriculture is the primary source of livelihood, we'd always hope the weather god to be fair with all the hard work invested. Of course! Cities are miles and miles apart from villages when it comes to opportunities to earn and live an ordinary simple life as “Aam aadmi.” The thoughts creeping in my mind inspired by the plights of farmers however cannot be definitive yet debatable. It is this strong feeling on the farmer dedication and work ethics which I felt are incomparable with the way we work in any organizations. Believe it or not, a farmer will keep on working despite the scorching heat of the sun. And although, we are comforted in office with air-condition, drinking water, loo, transportation (pick and drop), cafeteria, etc., but seldom have we remembered the work we do in office is for our bread and butter.

The irony of our role in an organization is nonetheless similar with the role of a farmer. Yet, the farmers are passionate, dedicated, and very committed with their work knowing very well the outcome will be the livelihood for his family. Our education and knowledge may have gotten us the easy job ahead from those who do not have a degree. But the question is, “Do we love our job and do we have the characters of a farmer?” The bitter truth is that we don’t deserve to be part of an organization as a workforce if we do not understand why we are working. Only if we were passionate about our work like the farmers with the understanding that the work I do is my livelihood, I’m sure everyone will be undeniably rewarded by the end of the year. And that’s when we can stage harvesting festival in an organization… :)

Food for Thought: “There is no gilding of setting sun or glamour of poetry to light up the ferocious and endless toil of the farmers wives.” Hamlin Garland.

FYI: The dawn of the millennium revolutionized education in my village. I’m very proud of my root because my parents have learned from the hard ways and encourage us to move forward with time. The good news about my village is that 100 % of children below 16 are going to school every day. We have a bright future and I'm sure we will create our own opportunities within our boundary to help grow one another rather than to move to cities.

Thank you. Have a good day!

"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!