Living In Harmony With Compassion: RP Devgan

What is Education?

Mr. Arthur E Foot, the first Head Master of The Doon School in 1935, explained education as follows:

If, at the time of graduating from school, the student cannot differentiate between what is right and what is wrong, they have had no education.

In today's world, where children chase success and marks, they tend to forget the very basics of education, which are human values and being good human beings.

Success comes to those who are kind and compassionate. We need to be considerate and respectful of our peers and the people around us. We often tend to be very selfish and only care for ourselves. Our first service should be to the community. We need to be grateful for what we have. Very often, gratitude is missing, and we end up complaining about everyone and everything.

I feel there is no excuse for rudeness or obnoxious behaviour; there is no need to insult or shout at others.

One must learn to be tolerant and respect the opinions of others. We live in a secular society, and we must have the patience and understanding to respect the culture and beliefs of everyone. Just because others' opinions and beliefs don't match ours, there is no need to be aggressive or intolerant. For example, a person who is a vegetarian is no better or worse than a non-vegetarian. Diversity is our country's strength, and we are proud of it—something we have always been proud of.

Achievements in academics, games and extra curricular activities are very important but just as important is being kind and generous to others. To live in harmony inspite of all our differences we may have in our cultures, religious beliefs and eating habits.

Our present situation can be summed up by taking the metaphor from the Piano:

You can make music with the white keys, and you can make music with the black keys, but to make music in complete harmony you need the black and the white keys.

RP Devgan is the Chairman of Learning Forward India, a long-serving teacher, and the head of schools worldwide.

Happiness and Tolerance - Prakash Dangi

I believe that tolerance is happiness. Tolerance can be defined as a fair and objective attitude towards those whose lifestyle differs from yours. When I am living without tolerance, I am fighting my own happiness. I have learned that everyone in this world is doing the best they can with what they have and with what they know. I have also learned that I do not always know or understand what another person is experiencing on any given day and that when I cross paths with someone who may seem selfish or rude, or intolerant, that person may be going through a rough period of life and experiencing severe pain, loss or grief.

Tolerance is one of those qualities that form the bedrock of society. The world is a much smaller place today.  More people from different nations, cultures, religions and lifestyles are working together and living in the same neighbourhoods than ever before. Tolerance does not mean giving up one’s own way of life. Tolerance is following the motto “Live and Let Live!” Tolerance just understands another person’s beliefs, practices and habits without necessarily accepting them or following them. It is simply being a little unselfish. It is adjusting to others a little, giving up just a little to make someone else happy. It understands that everyone has, more or less the same basic needs as oneself. It is realizing that ultimately everyone wants to be happy and peaceful.

Happiness doesn’t happen out of anywhere – it has to be worked on; it has to be produced, created, discovered, built from the ground up. And it has to be a decision in one’s mind: the decision to be happy. Happiness also is dependent upon how one spends their time, as in their job. Happiness has defied definition. Most people tend to equate happiness with fun, good living, plenty of money. If happiness were synonymous with this, entire rich people with all their luxuries and countless parties would be perpetually happy. But in actual fact, they are frequently acutely unhappy despite their riches and ability to indulge in fun activities at will. Fun is what we experience during an act-happiness is that intangible something we experience after an act. We may have fun watching a movie, going shopping, meeting friends-these are all activities that afford us fleeting moments of relaxation and enjoyment. Happiness, on the other hand, is a much stronger, and deeper. The meaning of happiness is contentment and satisfaction. Finding true happiness is a worthy goal. The problem is many turns to material possessions to reach that goal. 

Prakash Dangi

The Fabindia School