Freedom and Peace (Session 8 for the Happy Teachers JOL Cohort 2022)
Present: Anvesha Rana, Arav Agarwal, Guneet Kaur, Jugjiv Singh, Jyoti Tadiyal, Kunal Rajpurohit, Laxmi Kant Bhatt, Monisha Dutt, Mridula Renjit, Preeti Mahajan, Rishona Chopra and Roopa Bhattacharyya.
The takeaway from the learning session:
Students need to understand what Freedom is in its true sense and how Freedom makes us different from animals, adding to our humanity. Freedom means to be able to do what we want but within the limit of the social fabric.
Freedom is a state of mind where you have the right and Freedom to do what you can think of, but at the same time, we should remember that our Freedom should not disregard the rights of others. Freedom in its most proper form should not affect or alter the needs of others.
When we have to be culturally unique, some amount of Freedom takes courage to disregard the current norm and beliefs of society. मनुष्य स्वतंत्र जन्म लेता है परंतु सर्वत्र बंधनों में जकड़ा होता है।
Freedom, to some extent, is contextual also; what a child is free to do in sports, period, may not be allowed in an academic one. We are born free, but the constraints that we allow are:
Be non-judgemental and let others also be free
Be responsible for your decisions, for your choices
Be clear about what you want to be free about
Humans do not need Freedom, but animals, birds and trees need Freedom. For example, if we keep an animal in a cage for some time, it will start feeling uncomfortable and making noise, but when we let it out, it will be happy. So, with Freedom comes joy and Peace. Facilitates individuals in realising their true selves and is crucial for pursuing happiness.
With great Freedom comes great responsibility, but to be free, you need to return to society in some way or another. Ask the students to do whatever they want in these margins for specific rules and regulations.
Responsibility makes you accessible; let them ask, think, and do, but let them be themselves. Try to find out the problem, accept it wholeheartedly and work on it, giving Freedom to the children for their reflections. The definition of Freedom is ever-evolving.
Freedom of thought and Freedom of choice gives us confidence. The aim of Freedom should be to provide us with Peace. Freedom from disturbance, anxiety, war and distress, tranquillity. Peace makes us confident. तनावमुक्त, भयमुक्त वातावरण ही शांति प्रदान करता है।
It's a feeling of pleasure, satisfaction, fulfilment and joy. Peace is Freedom from the noise and disturbance in our minds. Peace is to be in harmony with yourself, with everyone around you and with the entire world. "The more in harmony with yourself, the more joyful you are, and the more faithful you are. Faith is not to disconnect you from reality. It connects you to reality."— Paulo Coelho.
Peace cannot come without Freedom, and Freedom cannot come without the ability to make your own decisions and choices. Nobody can give us Peace. It is something we create. Peace and Freedom are our choices, and we can be peaceful and free only by choosing to be.
- Big thank you, Anvesha Rana, for this report. Our Interns at My Good School do us proud.