Value of Silence - Sharmila Vijayvargi

It is said that silence is golden. This statement highlights the importance of silence in our lives. There is a deafening noise all around us. Vehicle horns and engines whizzing Jet aircraft screeching machines and blaring loudspeakers create so much of noise that we have forgotten how silence feels like, so much so that whenever there is silence we feel uncomfortable. Modern life affords little time for enjoying the bliss of silence that prevails in nature. People have no time to stand and stare. Have you gazed at stars on a calm and placid night or viewed the calm blue waters of a lake on a beautiful day? Have you enjoyed yourself of the music of nature just as the famous poets Wordsworth and Keats used to? There is so much noise around us especially in the cities that we have created special silence zones at places where silence is indispensable example hospitals, schools and colleges, libraries and prayer halls.

No prayer or meditation is possible where there is deafening noise that is why the sages in the ancient times preferred caves, forests and mountain tops for the meditation. But little children love to make noise. They are too young to know the importance and value of silence in life. Their noise at play may be an expression of their excitement and joy but it may disturb others. Therefore let us realize the importance of silence in our life. Let us learn to observe it, for it is an integral part of the discipline in life when we observe silence peace prevails all around us 

Everything goes on smoothly just like the planets move silently in their orbits. When silence is not observed there is chaos, for everyone wants to be heard but nobody is ready to listen. The atmosphere becomes unhealthy and unpleasant. A very small incident may turn into an ugly brawl  We must learn when and how much we ought to speak and when we must keep quiet. We must always observe the etiquette of silence wherever we are at home, in our classroom, in the library or when visiting an ailing relative or friend at the hospital. 

The conversation is a two-way process. We must learn to listen if you want to be heard.No one likes a talkative person. Therefore we should not waste time in idle talk. Time thus saved can be better utilized and productive work. If the silence can say it, why waste a word? Communication is not all the noise that's heard. Silence too speaks. A language of its own. Discover its power, respect every silent zone.

Sharmila Vijayvargi - The Fabindia School <svi@fabindiaschools.in>

Humility and Appreciation - Byju Joseph

Humility is a humble nature to be possessed by everyone. It is one of the personality

traits. A humble person will always be loved and respected by others. He never expects any reward from others for doing any favour. We can observe this virtue in all great people.  Humility has its own attractive power. Humility in a person can make several changes in others. There was a real incident in Mother Teresa’s life. When she was serving in the slums of Calcutta she had some orphan children with her.

One day it happened that they did not have anything to eat. Mother Teresa called the children and told them, “We have nothing to eat today. So let’s pray to God, He will give something to us.’ After a while, she told them, “Come let us go and start to beg. The children followed her. She saw a shopkeeper and humbly asked him to give something to eat. But the shopkeeper hated Mother Teresa and he angrily spits saliva on her palm. She slowly wiped the saliva with her sari and said, “Thank you for what you have given for me. Will you give something to my children?” The shopkeeper was astonished at these words. He was shocked at the humility of Mother Teresa. He apologized for his misbehaviour. At that time onward he changed entirely and started helping the orphan children and it continued regularly. This is one of the most heart-touching real examples of humility.

Humility is a golden value which always entitles appreciation. The person who is humble will be appreciated everywhere. When we appreciate anyone, we value him and respect him. Appreciation is a beautiful gift that we can give to others for their service. It provides happiness and satisfaction to them and the same effect will be there towards us.

Being educators it is our duty to inculcate these values in our children. But these cannot be taught by lecturing. Teachers are role models for them. They are copying the behaviour, attitude and personality of teachers. So it is very important to be humble enough for them. For their minute contributions and humble acts, appreciation is important. We should appreciate them and make them aware that they are precious in their life.  Then they also will learn to appreciate others. These attempts will surely motivate them and that will inspire them to do many useful things in their life.

Byju P. Joseph

The Fabindia School

bjh@fabindiaschools.in

Patience and Courage - Byju Joseph

Patience and Courage are connected to each other in some ways. We need the courage to be patient. At the same time patience leads us to be courageous. If we analyse the social life at the present time we can understand that we are losing the value of patience day by day. Patience is the way to simplicity and it is the key to success. Beyond all discoveries, inventions, productions or any attempts, there must be patience and hard work for many days. It is time-consuming. In the present world, nobody is ready to waste precious time.

The world is running fast with technologies and everything is available instantly. Everyone is influenced by the scenario and getting addicted to consumerism.  We are also acquiring the tendency to gain without pain. We are not thinking of the consequences and thus we are becoming jealousy and impatient. Impatience may lead to dangerous situations. We need to stand courageously and patiently to work against the present-day issues that we face. We need to overcome them effectively and to do maximum for the betterment of the coming generations.

Patience depends on our self-discipline and self-control while courage depends on our confidence. Confidence depends on our knowledge. It is very clear that patience and courage together make success. There are many such examples which are inspiring everyone. Albert Einstein could not speak until he was four and he could not read until he was seven. Teachers thought he was slow and that’s why he was expelled from school. Later the world identified the most genius person in him. Thomas Alva Edison’s teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything”. So he was also expelled from school and his mother took him off the school and taught him herself. Later he became one of the greatest inventors of all time having more than a thousand patents. He invented the bulb. During his attempts to invent it, he failed more than ten thousand times. From these, we can understand how much patience and courage they possessed which ultimately led them to success.

I would like to bring your attention to a small creature which I used to observe mostly in my childhood. It was a spider and it was so interesting for me to observe the weaving of its web. During its attempts to make the web, it fails many times. But it never gives up till it accomplishes. It tries many times patiently to achieve the goal. At that time it was not very thoughtful for me. But later on, I read a story of the king of Scotland named Robert the Bruce. In the story, it states that he fought against England six times and he was defeated in each war. The king escaped to a cave in the forest. There once he noticed a spider weaving its web. Six times the spider failed to throw its thread to the next end of the cave but it did not lose hope. It tried again and in the next attempt, it succeeded.

The king got inspired by the act of spider and as a seventh attempt, he collected and trained his soldiers to fight against England. He waited patiently and all arrangements were done and he became confident. The patient preparation and courageous step to the battle led him to golden success.

Byju P. Joseph

The Fabindia School

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