Education shapes us, before anything else does.

For education is necessary in one’s life; the way it leads us to, determines whether we actually replenish the inherent need of our mind or are we filling a blank slate with invisible ink.

Philosophy in action is what we may term as education. The real dilemma lies in whether we are interested in converting our beliefs into reality or are we content in letting it be as mere dreams. A person who is physically, mentally and spiritually fit is said to live in an ideal manner and we term him as ‘Educated’.

Each day, we learn so many things like understanding how to solve mathematical problems, to speak different languages, to operate computers and so on. Are these enough for us to face the challenges of life? There is no doubt that we need knowledge but without wisdom, are we not just like a boat without oars?

Parents and teachers often give advice. Many students get so fed up by these ‘boring lectures’ that a derailment suits them just fine. It is not like they are not aware that their parents want them to excel in life but sometimes too much pressure can become a curse in itself.

Parents look for the best for their child, but what does a child look for as he grows up? Is it just success and financial gain? Perhaps that’s why some selfish streak tells him that the only refuge he can find to shirk off the ‘added burden’ is by sending his parents off to an old age home. If we go to schools only to be blinded by greed, then what is the use of such education? Can we actually identify this with ‘successes?

Just like the proverb ‘charity begins at home’; education also begins from home. Parents are our first role models. Books may be important for attaining knowledge but they cannot be at par with what experience teaches us. Some schools have made it compulsory to include Moral Science as a subject to be taught in the curriculum but can books replicate life? This is one question we need to ponder about. Moral radars are a part of the character; books are just filling the gaps. What we need is a mentor who walks us through these gaps before they become pitfalls.

The essence of the phrase ‘joy of learning’ has got lost somewhere amidst the desire for commercial gains. People are so engrossed in running after materialistic things that they ignore all the beautiful moments in their lives. Mankind invented education to make our lives meaningful, not to make it worse. Love has power, the power to create. We should learn to draw this power. If our expectations emerge from love, we are slaves to them. To gauge the difference between the power to create and the power to destroy makes an individual educated in the true sense of the word.

Nature is the best teacher. Ants teach us to persevere, birds teach us to be independent, and water teaches us to be fierce as well as calm. Nature provides us with everything and we show our gratitude by polluting our environment. If people can’t appreciate the value of our Mother Nature, such education stands vindicated.

No one dares,
To care or spare,
To preserve and to protect,
The dwindling beauty of nature.
We wait for the future,
With no worries or fear.

What is the use of fraternity?
When it is lost in maturity.
We are no longer humans,
For we are worse than demons!

Education inspires mankind. Many lives have transformed due to education. The world didn’t end in 2012. Maybe God wanted to give us a second chance to mend our ways. Before education can lead a person anywhere, we need to make an effort to lead education to its right path.

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