Can you trust?

           

  Trust

Wild wind blew harder

Knowing no direction,

Following no milestones,

Taking its own course;

Roaring in the valleys,

Rafting over the seas,

Soaring in the mountains,

Sweeping the wide plains,

Rustling with the leaves

Ringing with the streams,

Singing through the harps

playing with the sands,

I saw all the nature in unison

In harmony following the ONE.

There is a wild world

Running like the mad herd,

Confused in hue and cry,

Fleeing away far and wide,

Smiling in others’ woes,

Friends faking as foes

Crying over the loss,

Making high over the fuss,

Crying with crocodile tears,

Selling neighbour’s leftovers,

Clinging to the dead remains

Over using the smart brains,

Warming oneself over other's pyre

Or caressing with a fake smile.

HE saw them running wildly

In all directions blindly

HE called them and said,

“Why do you run away?

Where will you go?

Don’t you believe in me?

Do you have better option?

Come to me; I will protect you

You are my children; I, your father

Have faith in your worship.”

Man Said, “Everything you say is alright,

But I can’t take any chance.”

And ran in bewilderment

                                                             HE stood in amazement.                                                               

                                                                                                                   - Poornima Singh 

Five Stages of Education

Five Phases of Education

Children are like young saplings and pass through various stages when they need different sort of tending and pruning. They should be treated differently at all the stages. The process of getting education can be classified into five phases.  The first phase is for the ignorant kids (1-8 yrs.), second phase is for the impatient adolescents (9-16 yrs.), the third phase is for the energetic youths (17-22 yrs.) and the fourth phase is for the career building age (23-30 yrs). The last phase is for the mature and elderly people as education is a continuous process of evolution and unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

            The first phase is best suited for moral education. Innocent and ignorant child imitates everything and blindly follows his immediate society and his mother is closest to him for blind follow-up.  In this age we can easily instil the essential values in the child by just making him cram the values and habits along with alphabets, tables and other basic things. We can make him learn the ideal list of dos and don’ts.  This is the responsibility of everyone around him (parents, family, society, school and other influencing agents) to give him the right atmosphere, conditions and inspiration. He imitates what he perceives in his close world. The parents should customize their behaviour and regulate their habits so as to present a guideline before the child. A beautiful life is in your hands and you are to give it a beautiful heart and a worthy persona.

            Second phase needs the education of discipline and culture.  An adolescent comes across unwelcome turmoil of emotions and senses. Education of discipline may set the emotional turmoil to an end. We should encourage him to develop self-discipline and allow him to manage all his things himself. Education of culture is the second most needed thing in this age. Parents should have a healthy culture of their family and inspire the children to abide by it. The subjects like History, Civics, Sociology, Philosophy and Political Science help him cultivate a culture in the children. They should not only read about their culture but also have faith in it so that they may not get easily persuaded by the foreign influences which are spoiling them as they don’t suit the present Indian society and mind set-up. They should be encouraged to read Indian epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata, Gita etc. which help them choose the right way when caught in dilemma. Religious scriptures sound profoundly even the ethics of war while now we say that everything is fair in love and war, that’s why in today’s world everyone is caught in the adverse winds of deceit, dissatisfaction and desperation.

            Third phase is the age of career building. It is divided in two stages. In the first half the youth should be given an insight before deciding his future. The youth should know himself and his pursuits. The children should study subjects of their interests and take up the courses of their inclination not the subjects according to their career options. They should choose the subjects of their interests and then decide their career, not the vice versa. If they choose the subjects and courses of their interests and then pursue the careers accordingly, they will certainly do good whatever they become in life. We should give at least twenty years of our age to education only.  In the second half of this stage the students should start pursuing their career after finding out their interests rather than first deciding their career option and then choosing the courses and disciplines according to that career option. Here is suggested that the parents should not force their children to pursue career of their interest and ambition. Youth means energy and energy should be guided into right direction and for the noble purpose. Youth should be persuaded by the teachers to read good literature which can bring emotional stability, sensual purgation and even the answers to the most difficult puzzles of young age.  Healthy education works as a firm foundation for building a sound career. Now, he should set priorities in his life and right education enables the children to know what they want in their life and thus choose their career. 

            In fourth phase one should realize his responsibilities towards his family, society, nation and the world. Education of KARMA helps a man to realize the dignity of work and applying the knowledge in his life.  The principles of Karma help us find the answers to the dilemmas of life – family vs. career, love vs. family, values vs. money, duty vs. temptations, love vs. ambition  etc.
         In fifth phase we should learn to accommodate with the new generation and bridge the gap to remove the differences and reduce the distance. We should give them the book of our experiences to read and let them write their own book. We should give the children our spectacles of experience but should not try to lend our viewpoint as some wise man says, “Teach your children how to think and not what to think.” They should see the beautiful world with their eyes only and have their own perspective so that one day THEY MIGHT PAINT THE WORLD IN THEIR OWN COLOURS.         

                                                                                                                    -          Poornima Singh

Life

Life

Sometimes, I wonder what life is …………

Life was a paper boat

That would float,

That would sink

Just in a wink.

Running in the water channels,

Babbling with the bubbles,

Dancing in the currents

Dangling in the torrents,

Taking the wows inside

Leaving the reminiscences beside,

Splashing with the innocence

would vanish in a glance.

Life is a flying kite

Scaling new height

Soaring into heavens

Teaching new lessons,

Kissing the skyscrapers

Amazing the kite lovers

Even when tied with a string

Demanding to have a wing

Battling with the mighty winds

And challenging even the gods

Snapping with a flutter

Fighting until it is a winner.

Life is a book of ours

With smiles and scars,

With stories unwritten

And songs unsung,

Timid or bold

with tales untold,

Recording our own actions

Reflecting our own emotions

Gets our destiny written

making us our own god

and, if once written,

cannot be changed.

 - Poornima Singh

A Longing

A Longing

The life is short

And the road is long,

The directions fail

And the signs depress,

I linger here;

I hang on there,

I wanna walk with you,

I wanna live with you.

When the night is dark

And the shadow is long,

When the light wavers

And the wind shivers,

When the beat is high

And the heart goes low,

I wanna speak with you,

I wanna live with you.

When the rumours hammer

And the feet stammer,

When the mirror doesn’t reflect

Nor the conscience detect,

When doubt is in the air

And no shoulder is there,

I wanna cry with you,

I wanna live with you.

-          Poornima Singh

Teaching is a blessing

A blessing

Life is a vast sky

Filled with patches of dark clouds,

And I always strive

To get away with these clouds –

Clouds of doubts, clouds of fear,

Clouds of pain, clouds of failure.

They roam over me

They all surround me,

Their thunder scares

Their lightening fears,

They apprehend my soul

They rain upon my goal.

But, then there is lightening for a while

And I can see a rainbow of smile;

I heard a thunder of voice

I heard a roar of noise,

All the clouds burst with a whim wham

I am welcome with ‘Good Morning ma’am’.

My lips expand

Instantly I respond,

I switched on myself

To the world of giggles,

I promised to myself

To laugh with the babbles

And again become a child

And roam like a cloud wild.

When my class became boring

And some started snoring,

I laughed at myself

And went on ignoring,

Listening their silliest hows

Answering their strangest whos,

Playing in their games

Dancing to their themes,

All questions flew with the clouds.

But I have my doubts:

‘Am I worth it?

Am I really worth it?’

-  Poornima Singh