Archive for category: Value Based Education

Today, people are in such hurry to get success, that, they impatiently take any shortcuts that come across their way and bypass the process of acquiring skill. Momentarily we feel happy but unfortunately after taking such short cuts the task goes beyond our abilities and comfort levels. So, the key to any long-term success is to take the necessary steps to acquire the skills and steadily progress towards the goal.

Right from childhood, those children who work hard constantly and have regularly increased the practice hours at different stages in life are the ones to be the most successful and create history. But if the students take short cut then they have to face lots of consequences. The pile of concepts not learnt, or skill not acquired during the formative years becomes too difficult to cope up and finally as they move to the higher standards, more and more hours of studies would be required to acquire what is missed. Increase in stress, tension and becoming ignorant of learning are some ill effects of short cuts. Following are a few from the long list of successful people who have persistently put efforts:

1. Mozart, for example, famously started writing music at the age of six. Mozart had started composing when he was 6 and the earliest of Mozart’s composition that is now regarded as a masterwork was not composed until he was twenty-one: by that time Mozart had already been composing concerts for ten years.
2. India’s Grand Master Vishwananthan Anand started playing chess when he was 6 years old and he became the India’s first Grandmaster at the age of 18. He won the first World championship at the age of 31. So it took him 12 years to earn the Grand Master Title and then another 13 to become the World Chess Champion.
3. Bill Joy an American Computer Scientist co-founder of Sun-Micro Systems in 1982 just at the age of 28. He started programming at a very early age, just after graduating from high school. The programs that he wrote in Unix are used till date as the base of programming in assembly line language.

History also presents to us numerous examples of achievers whose achievements were due to the fierce struggle they did in life and had the attitude of never give. For example, Tenzing Norgay could achieve world fame, only after making dozens of unsuccessful efforts at conquering the Mt. Everest. Our country India would never have achieved independence by taking shortcut. It was the battle of 200 years by our freedom fighters. Let me share with you an interesting secret about the Chinese bamboo. A tree that grows really tall — to a height of over eighty feet. It takes around five years and three months to grow to its full height. But here is the interesting bit. For the first five years of planting the seed, we see nothing, absolutely nothing. Except perhaps a little shoot springing out of the bulb and struggling to grow.

And then, in the next 90 days, it shoots up to a towering eighty feet. That is, for the first 60 months, all the growth is invisible, below the surface. The Chinese bamboo’s roots create a complex network. It is these strong roots that, when fully developed, helps the trees to grow to a very big height. In the next three months it literally takes off and becomes as tall as eight feet.

Often, too often, we do all the hard work and when we are perhaps just a step away from success, we walk away. Trouble is we seldom know that we are only a step away, just a step away from realizing our dreams. In this era of instant coffee and fast food, get-rich-quick schemes and lose-weight-quickly medicines perhaps we all need to take a pause and take a lesson from the Chinese Bamboo. Patience and persistent hard work has its rewards. Nothing happens in a magical way. Persistence always pays. Success in all our endeavours is what we all want, but most of us forget that the road to success is not always sprinkled with roses, it could be thorny and very long!

We may possess the talent but hard work helps us to nurture the talent and make us unconsciously competent by imbibing the skill. Hard work has changed the fortunes of mankind. If we delve deeper into the life of stars like Ratan Tata, Dr. Abdul Kalam, Narendra Modi, Sachin Tendulkar, Michael Jordan, Lata Mangeshkar, Pandit Zakir Hussain, Amitabh Bachchan, Marvan Attapatu, etc. we will realize that they are unconsciously competent in their fields of expertise. They were able to achieve this because of their persistent hard work.

The question is, are we ready to put in persistent efforts required to achieve success. 

The narrative of this creative assembly rests on the inspiring life of King Vikramaditya. The Sundaram House students (Dharmit Mistry, Paavan Shah, Sahjik Trambadiya, Mantavya Ambaliya, Deep J Patel, Uttkarsh Patel) role-played the characters of the drama and relived a few incidences from King Vikramaditya’s life which demonstrated how much just, kind and religious a king he was! They presented the accounts of Vikramaditya’s incomparable sense of justice and his unparalleled quality of being benevolent. This creative assembly presented him as the king of the era who has created the glorious history of Hindus and would be an incessant source of inspiration. Every incident in the life of this great hero is a witness to his brilliant capability which he wisely invested for the welfare and prosperity of others.

Sundaram House celebrated the entire week by elucidating different inspiring qualities of this great king and shedding light on his overarching personality. The regular morning assemblies by Sundaram House members highlighted King Vikramaditya as a role model who was characterized by a commitment to justice and kindness. Students were explained through presentations, videos, documentary and special talks and speeches that a true leader and a successful person should live a life like that of king Vikramaditya.

Thus, the students recognized the relevance of the tales of King Vikramaditya in their lives today and the worth of adopting qualities of fair-judgement, sagacity, valour and charity.

और फिर प्रारंभ हो जाता है दौर त्योहारों का। हरियाली का उत्सव हरियाली अमावस्या से लगाकर नाग पंचमी, रक्षाबंधन, कृष्ण जन्माष्टमी, गणेश चतुर्थी, नवरात्री, दशहरा, दीपावली आदि–अदि… क्या ये सभी उत्सव पृथ्वी को हरा-भरा रखने और सरिसृप(सांप) सहित संपूर्ण प्राणी जगत की सुरक्षा का संदेश देते हुए हमें ये नहीं बताते हैं कि वनस्पति और प्राणी जगत एक-दूसरे के बिना अधूरे हैं ?

त्यौहारों की शृंखला के में एक और कड़ी जुड़ जाती है जो जल-झुलनी एकादशी के रूप में ख्याति प्राप्त है। यह अद्भुत और विशेष त्योहार आर्यावर्त (भारत) में कई नामों से जाना जाता है जैसे- परिवर्तिनी एकादशी, पार्श्व एकादशी, वामन एकादशी, डोल ग्यारस आदि ।

वर्षा काल के दौरान चिरकाल तक भ्रमण के अवसर की सुलभता न होने के कारण अल्प-विहार का संदेश देता यह खास पर्व आत्मीय विद्या मंदिर में भी प्रतिवर्ष की भांति इस वर्ष भी मनाया गया। चिरप्रतिक्षित जल-झुलनी एकादशी का उत्साह विद्यालय में पौ फटने के साथ ही नज़र आने लगा। सूर्योदय के साथ ही नन्हें-नन्हें बालको का भगवान सहजानंद के प्रति धर्मानुराग आज विशेष रूप में देखा गया। प्रभात वेला की ईशवंदना के बाद क्या किशोर और क्या वयस्क, आबालवृद्ध समूह प्रातःकालिन अल्पाहार में केवल राजगिरा और मालकांगनी के पकोड़े खाकर दैनिक कार्यों में प्रवृत्त हुआ। विद्यालय में रविवार का अवकाश होने के कारण विद्यार्थीयों इस उत्सव को लेकर खासा उत्साह देखने मिला। छात्रों ने भी मध्याह्न के भोजन में भी छाछ भाजी और फलाहारी पूरियों का सेवन किया। इस प्रकार आराधनपूर्ण इस दिवस की कब सांझ हो गई, ज्ञात ही नहीं हो पाया।

और अब ! आखिर आ ही गया समय का वो प्रतिक्षारत खंड, जिसका पिछले सप्ताहभर से भक्तों को बेसब्री से इंतज़ार था। करीब चार बजे पूरे उत्साह और उमंग के साथ औत्सुक्यपूर्ण वातावरण में भगवान स्वामिनारायण और उनके साथ शास्त्रीजी महाराज, योगीजी महाराज और प्रगटगुरूहरि हरिप्रसाद स्वामी महाराज की प्रतिमाओं को देवालय से आदरपुर्वक बाहर लाकर श्रद्धा एवं सावधानी के साथ पालकी में बैठाई गई। भगवान की जय-जयकार से विद्यालय प्रांगण गूंजायमान हो उठा। इस शोभायात्रा की शोभा तो बस देखते ही बनती थी। छात्रों एक जत्था पूर्ण जोर-शोर से जोश के साथ वाद्ययंत्रों का वादन कर रहा था तो दूसरी ओर अन्य छात्र भजनों के गायन से माहौल को भक्ति से ओत-प्रोत कर रहे थें।

और इस तरह से यह यात्रा विद्यालय के तरणताल तक जा पहुँची जहाँ पर सर्वप्रथम भगवान का शुद्ध जल से अभिषेक किया गया तत्पश्चात् विद्यालय परिवार के पूज्य बालुकाका, पूज्य वल्लभमामा एवं प्रधानाचार्य डा. विजय पटेल ने पूजन और आरती की। शाम का वातावरण अत्यंत सुहावना था। विद्यालय के सभी छात्र शिक्षक एवं अन्य कर्मचारीगण को संबोधित करते हुए डा.पटेल ने इस पर्व के महात्म्य पर प्रकाश डाला और कहा कि ‘जिस प्रकार किसी नदी या सागर को सुगमता व सरलता पूर्वक पार करने में एक तरणी(नौका) कितनी सहायक होती है, ठिक वैसे ही ये जीवन भी एक सागर जैसा है जिसमे विषमता की समय-समय पर अनेक लहरे आती रहती है जिनका सामना कर सफलतापूर्वक इस भवसागर को पार करने में संत हमारे लिए नाव की भांति सहायता करते हैं और हम जीवन का सुगमता और सरलता से निरवहन कर सकते हैं’। प्रधानाचार्यजी के इस उद्बोधन ने गागर में सागर भरने का काम किया।

फिर कनिष्ठ छात्रों से लगा कर वरिष्ठ छात्रों तक सभी ने भक्ति के साथ अत्यधिक उमंग द्वारा बारी-बारी से श्री हरि को जल में विहार करवाया। कार्यक्रम के अंत में ऋतुफल खीरा(ककड़ी) का प्रसाद वितरण किया गया तथा इस तरह से जल-झुलनी एकादशी के इस उत्सव को आत्मीय विद्या मंदिर में सरसता के साथ मनाया गया। खुब भक्तिपरक और प्रचुर रोचक ऐसे अग्रीम जल-झुलनी एकादशी के उत्सव की प्रतिक्षा मे…