Individual
effort is necessary to achieve goals and sustain success in life. There is a
story that illustrates this fact.
A
very elderly and a young man were immediate neighbors with only a wall separates
their houses. They planted two identical plants, one in each their respective
premises and beyond to nurture them. The young man supplied a lot of water and
plenty of fertilizers to his plant, while the elderly man supplied minimum
water and fertilizers to the plant in his premises.
After
a few months, the young man’s plant became a beautiful sight with lovely green
leaves. The elderly man plants thought not so beautiful, grew into a strong
structure.
One
night, there was a storm with heavy winds and rain. The next day, the two men
came to check the condition of their respective plants. The young man was
shocked to see that while his plant was totally uprooted, the elderly man’s
plant was unscathed and standing straight. When the young man asked elderly man
how this could have happened. The old man replied, “Son, you supplied the tree
with more resources than it needed and so, it never felt the need to go deep
into ground for its survival. On the other hand, I gave my plant only minimum
supply of resources so that it could barely survive. So to strengthen itself, it
had to spread its roots deep into the earth and by doing so it developed its
own strength. This could enable it to resist the winds and stand strongly. Increasing
one’s ability depends on one’s own effort and what other does for us provides
only a good base”.
This
story should be an eye opener to both students and teachers. Remember – A teacher
is only a ladder and not an escalator! Students should utilize the knowledge
imparted by the teacher as a strong base, show the zeal to go deep into the
subject and widen the scope of their knowledge. There is no elevator to
success. There are only steps. Climb them.
Also
the teacher should always be an inspiring model to the students with their
valuable in depth lectures.
Dr.
Radhakrishnan had said: “Teachers should be the best minds in the country”.
Good teachers are good learners. They keep learning new things all the time and
acquiring knowledge from different sources.
“The mediocre teacher tells;
The good teacher explains;
The superior teacher demonstrates;
The great teacher inspires.”
What
we need today are more and more great teachers. We need inspirational,
transformational leaders in our classrooms.
We
need teachers who have the required competence, confidence and commitment to
make a difference to the educational landscape of our country. At the same
time, students should also burning desire in their hearts to gain knowledge
from their teachers. Then only our country can grow. I am seeing in present days,
that fire is slowly decaying in students. But at least if one student inspires from this message, it will be great help to the nation!!!
Jai
Hind!!!
Always in the service of students,
With best wishes,
BNSS Shankar,
M.Tech (IITK),
MIE
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