What
happens when the big dreams get fulfilled? What
happens when you become rich and famous? Will
you attain an enduring state of fulfilment?
Will you then be able to live happily ever after?
Or, will there be some something vital missing,
something that you need to address now, when
you are young and full of life? Is there not
a deep truth in the old saying of Jesus: What
does it profit a man to gain the whole world
and lose his own soul?
When I pose these basic questions to the students,
they feel uncomfortable — but usually
not sufficiently to question seriously their
direction in life. The majority are too heavily
“programmed”; one cannot really
blame them for their strong sense of insecurity
and discomfort, and inability to address the
question. There appears to be too much at stake
in the rat race of life, and it takes considerable
courage, even just to pause and reflect, especially
when one has travelled far and got ahead in
the race. It becomes even more difficult, if
not impossible, as one grows older. The dreams
of our brightest and best students are ones
that have been consciously and unconsciously
ingrained in them by our social conditioning,
by parents and teachers. Their dreams are but
a faithful reflection of the prevailing materialistic
world-view.
Is
this the best our education can offer today?
Are we not completely evading certain key issues
in life?
