"What is Wrong and What is Important?"

…. The lack of a value system, self-respect and decency is what was apparent during New Year celebrations this year. Uprooting road signs, trashing police booths, driving around drunkenly and generally creating mayhem, wanton destruction of public property – Behaviour like this does not “just happen”. It is programmed to happen because personal integrity is not given as much importance as, say, academic achievement; because children have too few role-models outside cinema and television; because the law is too lazy to track down the vandals; and, above all, because the disapproval of society is not expressed loudly and clearly.

On the first day of 2008, the only people who were not thoroughly disgusted with these graphic pictures of wanton destruction were probably those same youth. They may have been pleased to have made it to the front pages!

Why is it that violence and destruction are the chosen ways to express a whole range of emotions for some youngsters? When a popular political leader dies, they break windows; when they are protesting a new rule, they burn buses and break into shops; and when they celebrate, they break whatever comes to hand. And every time, they brazenly break the rules!

What is wrong?

There may be a temptation on the part of some, even the police, to let this New Year eve vandalism go as “harmless fun”. This temptation must be resisted, because such behaviour is neither harmless nor fun.

There are three major things wrong with this behaviour.

One, they equated ‘celebration’ with destruction and dangerous behaviour.

Two, they did not care who saw them and they did not fear punishment.

Three, they did not regret their actions even in the clear sober light of the following day.

The first shows lack of a good value system; the second shows lack of self-respect and accountability; the third shows lack of decency and a willingness to change.

These young men have probably done this sort of thing before, and will probably do it again. There are others like them, many others, who will be encouraged to join in, if society or the law-enforcers display indulgence and apathy. Just like a few discordant notes can ruin the music of an orchestra, elements like these debase society. When these things happen often enough, we all get “used” to them, and after a while we don’t even stop to think about it. It becomes part of the “scene”, part of society as we know it.

Mindless vandalism masquerading as “fun” is every bit as a dangerous to society as major crimes… in fact, more so, because they sneak in “under the radar” as it were, and eat away at public standards of decency.

- From the article, “Breaking in the New Year?” by Malini Seshadri in the ‘Young World’, The Hindu, January 11, 2008

- (My grateful thanks to Ms Malini Seshadri for this lucid, analytical, thought-provoking and wonderful article)

Words of Wisdom-38:

A nation is advanced in proportion to education and intelligence spread among the masses - Swami Vivekananda

Some Aspects of Human Excellence

One can develop one's personality only through manifestation of human excellence by achieving the various divine dimensions of a person. Some of these dimensions are: Strength and Fearlessness, Self-confidence, Courage, Discrimination, Compassion, Concentration, Self-sacrifice.

-Swami Paramarthananda

Path to Human Excellence

Our youth has intelligence and energy. In our current education, they miss one important item of all true education, namely, character-building. A combination of knowledge and character alone can make path for Human Excellence. That character comes from the manifestation of the divinity always present in every human being and finds expression in the spirit of love and service of humanity, irrespective of caste and creed, gender and nationality. We have Indian character excellence, Western character excellence, and Chinese character excellence. But today we need a human character excellence.

- Swami Ranganathananda

"Moral Education: A Practical Approach" by Professor K.Rama Rao

Opinions & Reviews:

This book on what, why and how of moral education is a product of the author's practical experience as a teacher of a moral education course meant for B.Ed.students. It contains... the rich practical observations of an experienced and dedicated teacher. Its readability is an additional reason, why it should find a place on the shelf of every library. (Prabuddha Bharata, Vol.93, May 1988)

The author has suggested five broad approaches for imparting moral education - The Direct, the Integrated, the Incidental, the Activity and the Demonstration Approach. He has suggested two techniques under the Direct Approach. The first one is based on 'Reasoning' and the second on 'Discovery'. Both these have been illustrated by several examples... Prof.Rama Rao has stressed the importance of a comparative study of religions....The work fulfils a long-felt need in the methodology of Moral and Spiritual Education. (The Indian Express, Dec.2, 1986)

The decline of moral values in modern day India, the cynicism with which virtues are talked about and the way society treats its super-rich even when it knows, that the money is ill-gotten all contrast sharply with the reputation for integrity and honesty, we the people of India, had in olden days.. can moral education in our schools help eradicate the malaise? Shri Rama Rao attempts to answer the question in this book. (Bhavan's Journal, Vol.33, No.24, July 16-31, 1987)

This book is not a bundle of dry precepts but a scholarly exposition of the necessity for moral education for children. It has in it effective means of transforming them. It contains the meaning, objectives, curriculum for different age-groups in the subject, and teaching-learning techniques. The author deserves to be congratulated. (Taranga, June 28, 1992).

"Moral Education: A Practical Approach"
by Professor K.Rama Rao
Published by Ramakrishna Institute of Moral and Spiritual Education(RIMSE), Mysore-570020
pp.377
Price: Rs.60/-

Violence, Virtues, Values and Children : Where did we go wrong?

Letter-1:
The articles "Where did we go wrong?" and "Learning to kill for fun" (December 23, 2007, The Hindu) were timely and thought-provoking. When the Virginia Tech tragedy occurred, many of us were sure that such incidents would not occur in India. But we were wrong. It is difficult to restrict the use of guns only to law enforcers and to censor video games before allowing them to be sold in India. Also the increased popularity of shooting as a major sport in India has led to an increase in the sale of guns. Therefore the government should ban shooting as a sport. - A.Ibrahim, N.Parur, Kerala

Letter-2:
The incidents of violence among children are increasing sometimes with fatal consequences. This is a direct result of changing values of society and the excess of violence being portrayed on TV. Further, the older generation is also responsible as they want instant success and do not hesitate to resort to violence. From childhood, a child is exposed to violence and so he grows up to believe that there is nothing wrong in violence. - Mahesh Kumar, New Delhi

Letter-3:
Anjali Gopalan has rightly pointed out that it is the new generation of well-to-do parents who have no time to see how their children are growing up that is responsible for socially deviant behaviour. This shocking incident should serve as an eye-opener. Also, parents' caring attitude will also go a long way in helping shape the child's future. - K.R.Srinivasan, Hyderabad

Letter-4:
The questions raised by Anjali Gopalan and Mini Krishnan should be assimilated by parents. The visual media has a negative influence on young minds since many films and serials highlight violence and vengeance. As civilization advances, virtues and values seem to take a backseat. - Radhika Kannan, Karaikudi

Letter-5:
Two years ago, we traveled from Gurgaon to Jaipur by train. A large group of students with three teachers from an elite Gurgaon school were in our coach. The children occupied seats reserved for others and refused to vacate them. They were noisy and threw wrappers and empty bottles. When told to put their waste in the bin, they rudely replied that the government had employed sweepers for the purpose. The teachers kept mum throughout. These are students of a school that charges a six-figure fee; every student had a laptop. But apparently, they were not taught respect for law, civic sense or the respect and tolerance necessary to live in a community. - Dr.D.M.Mohunta, by e-mail.

Letter-6:
Modern parents do their best to insulate their children from poverty and the realities of life. They provide their children with money but do not teach them values. They choose the best schools for their children to score some brownie points in a kitty party or cocktail circuits. Aggression is eulogised, and encouraged. A nation such as ours cannot afford to wish away poverty. We need to realise that we are moving from deprivation to sufficiency not to prosperity. Imbalance needs to be addressed, if not our children will probably live in a socially volatile setting which will affect the coming generations. - Benedict Gnaniah, Chennai

Letter-7:
Anajali Goplan rightly emphasised the need of cultivating social values in children. Children are today witness to violence at home, alcoholism, in movies, television and news. Our society is filled with caste, religious and political antagonism. It is time to rebuild our social values and moral principles. We have to inculcate virtues like compassion, goodwill and cooperation in the minds of young children. - S.V.K.Chandran, Thiruvananthapuram

Letters to the Editor, The Hindu (Sunday Magazine), December 30, 2007

Words of Wisdom-37:

"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops."

-Henry Brooks Adams

Words of Wisdom-36:

The great need of our educational system and our educational institutions is inculcation of spiritual ideas along with technological knowledge. Man with mere material knowledge becomes selfish and self-centred. Therefore the present need is to give social purpose to education, so that educated people will not be exploiters of the not so fortunate but be friends and helpers of the poor, the weak and the downtrodden and be dedicated servants of our country and people. – T.S.Avinashilingam, Founder of Avinashilingam Deemed University and Sri Ramakrishna Vidyalaya, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India

Words of Wisdom-35:

That knowledge which purifies the mind and heart alone is true Knowledge, all else is only a negation of Knowledge. – Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa

Advice to Students from 'Infosys' Narayana Murthy

To those who become politicians:

Have integrity of Thought.

To those who become bureaucrats:

This is the time when your contribution is most needed, to reduce friction to business, to enhance quality of governance and to ensure that all programs that are aimed at making life better for the poor are implemented with efficiency on time and within the budgeted cost.

To those going abroad:

I am one of those who believe that a certain per cent of Indians have to go to new lands… Conduct yourselves as model citizens of those societies… and never do anything to damage the reputation of the country.

General:

Redeem on the pledge and sacrifices the founding fathers of this country took. … Hope is resting on your performance. Make this a country that you and the whole world can be proud of.

Excerpted from “Resurgent India is the responsibility of this generation: Narayana Murthy” by Sarah Hiddleston, ‘Education Plus’, The Hindu, Dec.24, 2007

(Speech delivered by Mr.Narayana Murthy, Chief Mentor and Chairman, Infosys Technologies, to management students from across the country gathered in Chennai for L'attitude, an annual management festival organized by Great Lakes Institute of Management - In my opinion, the advice holds good to all students).