On wasting time in life

 

On wasting time in life …

It took 14 years of my school life to improve my handwriting. Only to be typing on smart phones and keyboard! Seriously?! What a complete waste of time!!! Criminal indeed.  

I dinned into my head and learnt algebra and geometry and all kind of Mathematics with formulae, from Form 6 onwards at high school, barely managing to scrape through my final exams and swear I never ever used any of that which I learnt then, during my life of 60 years. What a tension and severe stress load that was for me! Phew!!Merely recollecting that itself seems so stressful.

I remember there was a subject called history in school and I am sure it need not have been thrust on everybody to learn it, all through school life , as it mattered nothing to me as to who ruled India first and who succeeded. The history of Mughals, Chola period, Dravidians and what not were not my cup of tea. I don’t know even my own family lineage up to 4 generations or more, which would have even benefited me when the doctor asked if there was a history of cancer or any ailment that was hereditary. What a shame! Knowing one’s lineage in both parentage is far more important.

We were taught Shakespeare English, God knows why. We could as well have been taught skills as gardening, stitching, or painting, which could come in handy as a skill later on to generate work in life. Why on earth was prose and poetry in English given such significance, when we were not imbibing such deep thoughts in expressing the same in the first instance via our mother tongue or local language? It beats me as I stand today, ignorant of the local script, fumbling my way through with my mother-in-law who was adept at the local language, and being content being just a third standard.

I must admit, my MIL had more sense and being a drop out at 3^rd standard did not make her feel edgy at all. She was so talented in real life skills as cooking and was able to cook daily for a large family for nearly 70 years, stitch her own blouses and petticoats and that of her children too. She had the experience of looking after 10 children and managed the home-front so well. Myself albeit being MBA with a distinction in some subjects couldn’t do justice to even half the things that she did, as they were all life-skills that were deprived and I could only claim my studies as a credit that went to adorn my business card, after my name. O shucks! I didn’t even know how to make rice in the cooker, prepare a vegetable or even know which rice was specifically meant for idlis or the grades of rice until I was 32 years of age. College-goers in general, as is invariably the norm, claim to be knowledgeable and have a snooty nose-in-the-air attitude as if doing PG or a PhD would enable us reach the sky and moon instantly.  We are forced to study only to get a good spouse …. Marketable commodity! My grandmother too was akin to my MIL and I have fond memories recounted time and again by my mother which go to prove how women of yester years were far more practical, managing the home ministry.   Makes me wonder how accomplished they were to head the large department of HOME single handedly! Today it is invariably a single child syndrome but yet its so tedious for the woman to attend to home and office parallel and every child was trained to look after their next in line.

But then, for today’s children – the less said the better.  They don’t know an iota of what life has in store and are of the belief that it is the prime duty of parents to execute and provide for everything for having given birth to them. They are ignorant of what life is all about, nor do they exude responsibility that comes automatically with reposing themselves to tasks at hand. They cram for their exam and have time for little else.  Couped at home, glued to their indispensable, electronic gadgets, they have never experienced extracurricular activities as a passion. Swimming, Dancing, Tennis, badminton, jogging is all only existing as words that they come across. These outdoor sports and forms of exercise are good for health but where do they have the time, energy and space  in the first place for such activities?

Reading was a lovely hobby in my time and authors were cherished in our hearts as we went about to buy the next edition of their writings and savor it.  Every author had a distinct and an exuded flavor that was an inimitable style with them and life was seemingly ecstatic as we went about the completion of a novel that had a nail-biting finish. Ah! Such a pleasure to re-wind on the same yet again after some months!! Now at 60, when the eyes seem blurred, the longing is curtailed by reminiscences of the past, coupled with a fond, gleeful smile that invariably lights up the cheek when the fingers rummaged the pages of a book.  How true that time and tide wait for no man.

Many things I wished I had learnt or made an attempt at, to pursue during my childhood days and repent now at leisure.  The art of Bonsai , Ikebana, Origami ,  … well , my  list is endless.  Regret every moment of time wasted on efforts that had little or no lasting impact on one’s life.  Unknowingly we spend a lot of time on frivolous activities and when the yearning comes, we are not geared to face it. Life moves on. I ardently wish educationists and decision makers at the helm would see eye-to-eye on how education can really augment the capacity of the individual, keeping in mind his /her interests. Subjects as life-skills must be made mandatory as practical life situations matter most, especially more so in the event of an impending calamity or disaster due to the demise of a parent, which is when the child can comfortably sail through life without too much worry or anxiety and stress.  Small noting but a big difference.

Every high school goer must learn to be adept at handling home affairs (applicable to both sex), for it is by these that he / she shall be judged to cope with life. Basics in Carpentry, plumbing, electrical work at least enough to handle matters in an emergency at home, fundamentals in cooking, a bit of kitchen gardening, maintaining a clean home, accounts, ledgers and book keeping, art in some form as a stress buster, and not to forget, an early spiritual discipline, are all lessons which will stand good in life and run unparallelly in comparison to what the current standard of education dictates.   Each child must be allowed to pursue their choice of interest at school level in the subjects they wish to learn, so that they get geared to be competitive when they excel in that chosen field. They should be allowed to change over in case at a later date they lose interest and nothing must get too complicated that can’t be overcome.  Most children of the current gen are spontaneous to determine their interest, when it comes to that.

Let’s hope their life is more meaningful and they don’t recount wasteful experiences ever in life. In a way home-schooling is best, is what my gut feeling says. Crazy are those parents who long for admitting their children in pre-school at 2-3 years, when they ought to bond with the child during those precious years of growing up!  Again, this can be construed as qualitative time that is lost forever, if not conceded to, and is at the stake of a child’s upbringing.  Consequences that can have an effect/ bearing on the child later on, in the years to follow as time is the most precious commodity on earth that has an expiry date.  The day 22.2.22, too when you reverse is the same and is a historical one, which just went past, can never be retrieved.  Every minute we spend on earth , we are accountable to the Almighty as we are sent here on a specific purpose. The faster we realize that and accomplish what is ordained and set out for us, the better it is. 

So  discover what is your mission on Earth  and go about it with an abundance of Divine grace. All the very best . May all be blessed. 

 

Malini Kalyanam