Education

EDUCATION

11 November is celebrated as Indian National Education Day. Commemorating the birth anniversary of eminent educationist- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (also the first education minister). Today, while flipping through the pages of the national daily- I came across an advertisement- that’s when I knew the significance of this otherwise very normal day. It compels one to think of the relevance that ‘education’ holds for this nation.

Ours is a young country. The maximum population is less than 35 years of age. Yet, we fight plagues of infant mortality, food insecurity, poverty, sanitation, diseases. Cases of gender crimes against females point at a sinister male chauvinistic attitude. We struggle to save lives to any disaster taking its toll. Most of these ills have plagued many a civilizations- time and again. Then giving up on one’s own people is neither any solution nor is it education. The idea is to annihilate our culture of depravity and the onus of which lies on the shared will of each of us.

Education calls for my fellow citizens to be prepared in the face of a natural calamity to help themselves. But further more- to assist in helping those who are vulnerable. What system of education can teach one brotherhood, harmony and sympathy? Is it any system at all? No, it’s what we as individuals are bred of. What we have seen and what we have learnt. Every country needs leaders in its populace. Time is right to cultivate the leader within ourselves to take initiative to let our education be empowering.

Education is supposed to emancipate those in quest of the same. The purpose is to obtain wisdom. This isn’t taught, nor is it preached- it is only manifested. It is meaningful when people of all genders have equal opportunities. Vices of bias and hypocrisy are forgotten. Freedom of choice and thought reign for newer ideas to flourish in the community. The only objective being in favor of humanity. When truly we mean what we pledge- all Indians are my brothers and sisters.

The pace of life will only increase ahead, and such times have come where one generally does not stop to take a look at what’s fallacious or not. Social ills, not questioning the wrong, intolerance and tolerance to injustice alike are wrong doings in their own sense. They deprive one of the fruits of education. After all education is supposed to liberate from the shackles of ineptitude. Education entails taking responsibility for the self and the society.

This is the founding base of a vibrant social set up. It serves the same purpose as the legacy that one would want her child to inherit. Morality, social sensibility, human conscience is the most fragrant aspects in the personality of an individual. A learned human is one who has control over himself, one who shall never subject his subordinates to suffering. Collectively, such are the people that a thriving civilization is sustained by. I’d want such a neighbor for myself…it’s only fair to pledge the same on my part.

-Tanesha