Education- key to India's destiny

Right from ancient times India has been the beacon of knowledge and wisdom for the entire universe. India holds the secret to harmonize all the different facets of human and natural aspects of life. Our ancient Rishis-Vishwamitra,Vashishtha,Shukracharya,Bhargava Parshuram and others had the power and knowledge to bring down the heavens on earth. Even the Gods had to come to them whenever they were faced with any dilemma. These ancient Rishis who composed the Vedas and the Upanishads were in contact with universal forces and could control any natural or supernatural phenomenon.The secret of this power was unflinching Tapasya and a single-minded pursuit of their goal-benefit of the whole universe.
To attain impossible feats it is imperative that one should have absolute control on all his senses. One should not be subject to any passing desire or weakness. Brhmacharya which means absolute control on the sexual impulse is absolutely essential to acquire true learning and knowledge. Sex does have its place in life but it should not become the over-riding factor in life. All the great men in India like Ramkrishna Paramhans,Vivekananda,Sri Aurobindo,Lokmanya Tilak,Babasaheb Ambedkar,JRD Tata,Allama Iqbal and Sardar Patel had total control on their faculties.They were single-minded in pursuit of their objective-glory of their motherland and benevolence towards humanity. They were absolutely indifferent to their personal needs and requirements. Great devotion and dedication is needed to attain anything significant in life.
Coming to the present times unfortunately for several reasons India has lost sight of its true destiny. The Government should seriously consider overhauling our entire Education policy and bring it in tune with the requirements of our society and our future objectives. There are still many learned,knowledgable and cultured people in India who if given an opportunity can re-vitalize our entire society. However they prefer to stay away from the limelight and continue to do their work silently.
Education has several facets-physical,moral,mental,vital and above all spiritual. A healthy body is essential for a healthy mind. Regular physical exercise is absolutely essential to keep oneself fit and active. Swimming,weight-lifting,wrestling,tennis,hockey,badminton,kabaddi,rifle-shooting,archery and kho-kho should be encouraged and given state patronage. Parents should take care that children are prevented from eating unhealthy foods and given only proper diet and nourishment. The State should ensure that the children of under-priveleged parents are provided the essential needs like food and education.
The Teachers in schools have a tremendous responsibility towards society because they along with the parents are responsible for the proper upbringing of the children. They should observe the highest standards of propriety and should be the role-models for children to emulate. Children should be encouraged to read the Ramayana,Mahabharata,Shakespeare, and other writings of both Indian and International authors. All the Sciences,languages of the world and Indian,Mathematics and IT should have a place of importance while drafting the school curriculum.
If the intellegentia,scholars,educationists and the academicians keep the objective of making India the Guru of the world,the rest will follow!

Where The Mind is Without Fear




WHERE the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Rabindranath Tagore

Learning

Education is essentially about acquiring knowledge. Due to the present utilitarian culture prevailing all over the world,education has become obsessed with equipping a person for a career rather than helping him to become a better human being! Career,success and money have become the sole criteria in determining the quality of education imparted to a student.
In ancient India,the sole objective of the teacher used to be to awaken the learning instinct in a person. The teacher was the Guru and was regarded as sacrosanct. Every person was left the choice to choose his Guru. The student would stay in the Guru's home and was regarded as a member of the family.There he was taught literature,science,music,martial arts and even domestic chores. His whole life was regulated to the sole objective of acquiring knowledge,At the end of his training,he was expected to give Guru-Dakshina,a token payment,as a mark of his gratitude to the Guru.Students from all over the world came to India to learn.
In Modern India today education has become totally commercialized and has become the exclusive preserve of the wealthy.The culture of capitation-fee has become all pervasive.Children are encouraged to join coaching classes right from a very small age.The pressure to succeed has become so strong that many adolocents are committing suicide every year.Education instead of being a joy and delight has become a burden.A person's qualification has become the criteria for fixing his dowry.
As a result there is hardly any originality or independent thought found in India.The quality of literary works,scientific research or artistic talent  is very poor! The teacher has lost respect in society and is only pre-occupied with receiving his emoluments.The present system suits the ruling class very well as it ensures that only robots are produced and not human beings.

The need of the hour is a revolution to revamp the entire scenario,so that India can take its rightful place in the world as a center of learning!