When we think of unity as a value, we
think of people coming together to form a team, despite their differences. We
imagine people working together in harmony, accepting and appreciating one
another. Man is a social being, COVID-19 has shown us how being away from
families and the pain of not meeting friends has affected our morale
and mental health. Family, Friends, neighbours and colleagues are not only required
to have fun or to talk; they all give us courage, strength, and hope, which
keeps us all united. It was only the care offered by doctors working
beyond their capacities, social workers trying to reach everyone in need,
employers being empathetic & supportive, and families being strong and
loving that united us all, even after the physical distance in between.
It is so true "United we stand, divided we fall."
and we've known how vital unity is since our independence. People can easily
break, crush, and hurl you if you're alone, but when you stand together, nobody
can touch you, and we can only be united by caring for each other.
Caring is to treat others as you would like to be treated yourself. I remember
one of our students who would spend most of the time alone and was not part of
any group, which was surprising because that is the age where we want to have
affiliations and groups. She was in the infirmary due to fever; another girl from
her class was also admitted there. This girl surprised us all by showing her
caring side. She would put a blanket over the other girl if no one is around and
she is sleeping. Help her to visit the washroom. She would do small stuff for
her even when she could have easily called for help.
In the class, even in organizations, people feel unified when leaders create a culture of care. We expect our teachers to be always in their best self, calm, composed, joyous, and energetic, but teachers too are human beings with their struggles, shortcomings, and bad days. We started 20 minutes of "Tea with MD sessions" before the start of the first period. We would just sit, pick one value and share our thoughts and experiences on it. These unbiased, non-judgmental sessions helped us break the ice; people who were not very open initially also started opening up. We talked about happiness, positive thinking, the law of attraction, kindness and much more. We also shared that one thing, which we keep procrastinating but not able to fulfil, resulted in aerobics classes for the ones looking to get fit, music and dance classes for the one’s wanting to learn that and a lot more. This exercise showed that we are cared for and helped us unite and imbibed the value of being caring in us. Hopefully, when we are back at our school, we will start it again. A beautiful poem by Abdulla Saeed sums up it all-
Neelam Waldia
The Doon Girls' School