What values would you choose?

When I enter my class every day, there's a string of complaints that I am bombarded with; sometimes the fans don't work, no electricity, two students hitting each other, one student checking his partner's bag because he thinks he stole his pen.... the list goes on... I could easily just shut them up with my teacher presence, teach whatever English and Math I have to for the day and not think about teaching them as to why it is important to not hit, or to trust that your friend wouldn't steal. But then I couldn't live with myself because I would have done really bad job being their teacher.

I recently showed a video of a man called Nick Vujicic to my class of 5th graders. Nick is a victim of the tetra-amelia syndrome (a rare disorder characterized by the absence of all four limbs); in spite of which he plays football, swims and is completely independent. He is a motivational speaker and earns a pretty good living. My students were awestruck looking at the video. What struck out to them the most was that in spite of his condition, he was smiling all the time.

Being a teacher is a huge responsibility.. because teachers don't just teach English, Science and Math but also build characters and personalities. By showing my students the video I wanted them to believe in the sense of possibility. I wanted them to believe it doesn't matter where you come from but the places you go; it doesn't matter what you are blessed with but what you make of what you are blessed with.

With the kind of underprivileged backgrounds that my students come from I am not surprised that they have never learnt how to trust or to appreciate the beauty of life because life has been anything but fair to them; wherein a lot of them have grown up in cramped spaces, have been subjected to domestic violence, molestation and many may have even witnessed heinous acts of crime.

In spite of this I have taught them to Dream…

But they also know that to achieve their dream they will have to work very hard and believe in values and principles… After showing them the video I asked my class that as a class what values would we follow to make sure that each of their classmates would be able to fulfill their dreams like Nick did. The four values that they told me were punctuality, helpfulness, determination and being happy all the time. I was amazed at how they could arrive at these values especially since these are difficult to implement even by adults let alone 10 year olds!!!

I am sure it’s going to be an uphill task for them to internalize these values but I’m sure they will do it because they know this is the only path that can lead them to fulfill their dreams.

We often underestimate the importance values have in our life. But I think what would make us better equipped to achieve that dream or just make us happier would be if could find the answers to these questions –

What is that matters to me the most eventually?

(money, ambition, love, etc.)

What values will I need to get what matters to me the most?

What values and principles I may tend to ignore to get what matters to me the most?

I underestimated the power of finding answers to these questions until I became a teacher and realized that my words and actions could directly change 52 lives!!! But more importantly I realized that my words and actions impacted one person the most… ME!!!

So I gave a shot at finding the answers for myself…

What is it that matters to me the most eventually?

-         Relationships… with myself and with people I meet along the way…

What values will I need to get what matters to me the most?

-         Patience, honesty, determination, realism, gratitude

What values and principles I may tend to ignore to get what matters to me the most?

-         Honesty and gratitude

It is not just important to find these answers but it is more important to reflect upon them periodically to realize that you have deviated from what you believed in and how would you change that?

I am not saying that everyone should walk on the path of righteousness by following the values to the tee, but don’t deviate from the path so much that you forget what mattered to you the most in the first place and you fail to recognize your own personality and character.

Lastly, understand that it will take time for you reach there… to truly devour that fame, money or love (whatever matters to you the most)… But the discipline of delayed gratification is one of the most powerful habits of successful individuals.*

*Jason Nazar, founder of Docstoc

Let's Start Making Small Differences...

As India celebrated it's 66th Independence day, I taught my 5th grade students the importance of celebrating this day. I told them the importance of sacrifice that their forefathers had made for India to be a free independent country - free from the tyrannical British rule to become a democracy.

My students absolutely love singing and I thought what better way to imbibe a spirit of patriotism in them than by teaching them a national song. I taught them 'सारे  जहान  से  अच्छा , हिंदुस्तान  हमारा ...' The song says that India is the best country in the world. But is it now? I wanted to tell my students that India is truly what the song stands for, the best country in the world!!! But I couldn't lie to them...

We have always been taught, 'Be satisfied with what you have'. As Indians, we truly live by this philosophy. We are satisfied with the current state of affairs in our country... with sky rocketing inflation, poor infrastructure and an even poor quality of life... as a matter of fact one of the poorest in the world. UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) ranked India 136th on its Human Development Index (a measure that denotes the human development in a country) in its March 2013 report from a list of 187 countries. India has fallen two places on this index since 2011. 

So India is definitely not the best country in the world.
But can we make it the best? Of course we can… Most of us have given up hope. Most of us have said this statement a million times, 'इस देश का कुछ नहीं हो सकता ...' or that 'This country is going to the dogs...'  Maybe it is... 
But is it just the government's job to save it? My parents believe that only a God sent Messiah can save India from a downward growth spiral. My dad believed that things would improve once the new RBI governor came into office which was in sync with the investor sentiment (both the Sensex and the Rupee revived a bit the day he joined as the new governor of our Central Bank). But can one person genuinely make all the difference???

There is absolutely no doubt that the government and the policy makers play a major role in how a country is run but I believe that in a democracy people have the power to make a difference too. And we have 1.2 billion such units that can make a difference... OK, maybe majority of our population is helpless or maybe even unaware of the gravity of the situation that India is facing... but we have ~125 million people who are literate, can speak English and I believe understand the situation that we as a country face. Even if this force is mobilized, it can make a huge difference and we know it, we are just too lazy to act upon it. 
It's always easier and cheaper to bribe the local traffic havaldar than pay the fine... it's always easier to throw the cigarette butt in the parking lot or the side of the road instead of the dustbin... We have all done it.. a few maybe less often than the majority... 

But today I urge each one to take that extra step... to put in that effort that can make a difference... Because it's efforts like these that will stop corruption from trickling to the lower levels... that will make India cleaner... that will improve the quality of life for us...

Maybe I am overly optimistic and naive in believing that these efforts will make a difference. Some would even argue that the situation we face is far worse than that stupid bribe to the police... I have absolutely no doubt that this is true. We need structural and policy changes to move ahead. But then I don't see any harm is taking these small steps that will definitely make a difference no matter how small it is...  

And one day I'm sure, my students will proudly sing 'सारे जहान से अच्छा हिन्दुस्तान हमारा...'