War vs Peace - Ayushi Chowdhry

Today, I want to talk about a fundamental question that has plagued humanity for centuries: war vs peace. This debate has been at the heart of human history, with each side presenting compelling arguments.

War has been a brutal reality throughout human history. It has destroyed cities, ravaged communities, and claimed countless lives. The consequences of war are devastating, leaving deep scars that can take generations to heal.

But despite the horrors of war, it has also been a driving force behind human progress. War has spurred innovation, driven technological advancements, and shaped the course of human history.

On the other hand, peace has been an elusive dream. It has been the subject of countless prayers, poems, and songs. Peace has the power to bring people together, to foster understanding and empathy, and to create a world where differences are celebrated, not feared.

But peace is not just the absence of war. It requires effort, commitment, and sacrifice. It demands that we work together to address the root causes of conflict, to promote understanding and tolerance, and to create a world where everyone has access to the resources they need to thrive.

So, what can we do to promote peace?

 First, we must recognize that peace is a collective responsibility. It requires that we work together, as individuals, communities, and nations, to address the challenges that face us.

Second, we must promote education and cultural exchange. By learning about different cultures and ways of life, we can break down stereotypes and build bridges of understanding.

Third, we must address the root causes of conflict. This means working to reduce poverty and inequality, promoting human rights and dignity, and addressing the environmental challenges that threaten our planet.

Finally, we must recognize that peace is a journey, not a destination. It requires patience, persistence, and a commitment to working together towards a common goal.

In conclusion, the debate between war and peace is complex and multifaceted. While war has been a brutal reality throughout human history, peace remains an elusive dream. But by working together, promoting education and cultural exchange, addressing the root causes of conflict, and recognizing that peace is a journey, not a destination, we can create a world where peace is not just a dream, but a reality.

Ayushi Chowdhry
Sunbeam Bhagwanpur

Importance of Self Respect - Prakash Dangi

Self Respect is a quality which is extremely important for the dignity, confidence and personality of an individual. People with self-respect have the courage of accepting their mistakes. They exhibit a certain toughness, a kind of moral courage, and they display character. Without self-respect, one becomes an unwilling audience of one’s failing both real and imaginary. A self-respecting person accepts responsibilities for one’s own life and its this source from which self respect springs. Such people are always willing to accept risks. They invest something of themselves in what they undertake to do, and when they play, they know the odds. 

Self-respect is a kind of discipline, a habit of the mind that can never fail an individual. Need to remember that respect for ourselves guides our morals, while rasped for others guides our manners for winning the respect of others, we need to respect our own selves first. There are endless potentialities in each of us. Hence we need to believe in our strengths, and we need to repeat! Only when we love ourselves, gain confidence in our abilities believe in them, and when we have a positive, healthy self-image will others respect us.

Prakash Dangi

The Fabindia School

pda@fabindiaschools.in

Aggression in Sports - RP Devgan

There has always been great hype by the media about Indian sportsmen lacking the killer instinct at the world level and losing important matches because of lack of aggression. The latest to add to this theory, a week or so ago, was the former Captain of the English cricket team Nasser Hussain who said that the Indian cricket teams of the past were too nice to their opponents and often smiled at them!

All the talk about this ‘killer instinct’ needed to win was much talked about at the time of “ABC” of tennis Vijay Amritraj, Borg, and Connors were making a mark at the world stage. This also included the fiery McEnroe. It was mainly aimed at Vijay Amritraj because he couldn't win grand slams like the others did. 

The ‘killer instinct’ theory has been propounded by the Press world over that to win at the top level, aggression is a must. I remember a coach of an American International School advising his team going in to start a soccer game  with the words ”Go kill them.” Some advice!

As a bit of a sportsman myself, I have never subscribed to this theory. What confirmed this and broke the myth was when I was in Indonesia on a Sabbatical in 1990. It was a pleasure to see the gentle, modest and well behaved Indonesian shuttlers. Indonesia at that time ruled the Badminton world in the Men's and Women's categories. The players went about their business with great determination, skill and a will to win.  They threw no tantrums, showed no emotion or aggression on or off the court and went on to beat the best in the World.

When one looks back at the legends of Indian sport right from the time of Dhyan Chand, they were all highly talented and great role models.

It is only now that we see the Indian star cricketers swearing and shouting at every given opportunity. The present Indian cricket team is not winning matches because of their aggressive and at times unbecoming behaviour but because of the immense talent they possess. We have won series and matches on the cricket field with cricketers like Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Dravid, Kumble and Dhoni as perfect role models. Gavaskar was rightly upset by Nasser Hussain’s frivolous remark.

My personal opinion is that skill, perseverance, diligence and determination win matches, not swearing and shouting and making a spectacle of oneself. Sporting icons should be gracious in defeat and modest in victory and be good role models to the younger generation of school children.
There is enough aggression in the world today and our sporting icons should be examples of dignity and grace to the millions of followers of whom a large percentage is a school  and college-going children.

If aggression and the so-called “ killer instinct” were important traits to win, then I wonder how swimmers, divers and shooters manage to win Olympic medals. Abhinav Bindra is a good example of a cool and collected and determined a sporting role model.

Aggression and loss of temper only lead to embarrassment sooner or later as in the recent incident involving Djokovic at the US Open Tennis. A real shame that he was disqualified from the tournament because in a fit of temper he inadvertently slammed a ball in the neck of a helpless linesman.

Sport should be played with sportsman spirit, dignity and grace. Sporting icons must not forget that their actions affect millions of young followers who look up to them as heroes.

Rajinder Pal Devgan
Chairman Learning Forward India
<rpdevgan@gmail.com>

International Literacy Day - Prerna Rathod

International Literacy Day is celebrated every year on 8th September. Its main aim of this day is to highlight the importance of literacy to all individuals, communities and societies. Several initiatives are taken by the Government and people from educational background to highlight the improvement in world literacy rates and reflect on the remaining literacy challenges.

International Literacy Day was declared by UNESCO on 26th 1966 at 14th session of it’s General

conference. The first time it was celebrated in 1967. The scale of literacy is very low in the world. So this day was started keeping in mind the importance of literacy which is a matter of dignity and human rights. The basic aim is that each individual acquires the basic skill of reading and writing. If people are educated then, they can live a proper life, earn a livelihood for living, contribute to society, country and world in promoting peace, eradicating poverty, removing gender inequality, and many more. Every year different themes are used to celebrate this day. Some previous year’s themes were “The Power of Women’s Literacy”, “Literacy and Health” and “Literacy for Peace”, “Literacy and Multilingualism”.

This day is celebrated both at national and local levels at various schools, NGOs and community centres. Events like great authors are invited to speak; competitions are organized for children so they can earn scholarships as a reward and get a chance to attend school.

This year’s theme is “Literacy Teaching and Learning in the Covid-19 Crisis and Beyond”. It lays emphasis on the role of educators and changing pedagogies. The main focus is on youths and adults. There were many loopholes in our education system and with Covid-19 crisis education was affected a lot. Due to these programmes were developed which could be used during pandemic time and beyond.

If the literacy rate increases not only the individual’s future is brightened but also the nation’s development and growth increases.

Prerna Rathod
The Fabindia School
prd@fabindiaschools.in 

Dignity of labour: RP Devgan

With the lockdown , children are spending all their time at home with the parents. It is a good time as any to pass on two qualities the children can benefit from in their later years. The qualities being Dignity of labour and Adaptability.

Some of the children coming from affluent homes who have not been to boarding schools are very snobbish about menial jobs. They feel it is below their dignity to do them. For example, sweeping and washing dishes or digging in the garden would be considered sacrilegious. 

In my experience, it is largely the parents who are to blame for these kind of thoughts. I have known of children who go home after school and expect the domestic help to take of their shoes. In the day schools I have headed, the first thing I did was to stop all students below 18 years of age coming to school driving a two wheeler or a car. Once I caught a boy guilty of driving - parking his car 100 yards away from school. I suggested that since he didn’t live too far, he could easily take a cycle rickshaw to school. His reply stunned me when he said that only poor people used cycle rickshaws. Such is the mindset of many of our younger generation who are born with a golden spoon in their mouth. It is upto the parents and then the school to drill some humility in them. Now is the time for parents to teach their children that no work is below anyone’s dignity. We are all human beings and should be able to do our own work; especially now  during lockdown when no outside help is available the children must share the household chores.

I must admit that most residential schools do a good job of teaching dignity of labour to the children. In one particular school all the workers went on a lightning strike and the students, staff and their wives ran the school till the workers put up their hands and came back to work. During those days, everyone got together as a team and worked, right from cleaning toilets to cleaning the campus, washing utensils and cooking meals. It’s genuine social service boarding schools do that make the students self reliant.

Adaptability

In todays world if you adapt, you succeed, if you don’t, you perish.

Lockdown is a good time to learn the great skill of adaptability . Adaptability is the skill to make the best of what you have and do so happily. The world is not going to change for you so the sooner you learn to adapt the happier you will be. Children at home today have learnt to adapt even without making an effort. With a complete lockdown , fast food has not been  available. Those who thrived on ‘Fast food’ had to stick to ‘ Mama’s cooking’. 

It's a part of life that when there is no choice, one has to adapt. Indian students not willing to adapt often suffer when they go overseas to study. The biggest hurdle is the food they eat. To expect rajma chawal or parathas at every meal is just not possible. It’s in school that they should learn to accept and eat all kinds of food and be prepared for the future. The same goes for adapting to different cultures and people.

Once again diversity comes in. Children and students who can handle diversity adapt easily. 

- Rajinder Pal Devgan

Chairman of Learning Forward India