“तमसोमा ज्योतिर् गमया।”
"Tamaso mā jyotir gamaya" is a line of
the Shanti Mantra from the “बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद्” Brhadāranyaka
Upanishad. It means "From darkness, lead me to light".
The journey from
darkness to light cannot be accomplished without the help of a stick. The
journey from ignorance to wisdom can only be accomplished with the help of
knowledge. But how to get knowledge?
Let us travel back to my
childhood. In the village on the terrace of my house, my mother by my side, the
vast black umbrella studded with stars accompanied by the moon.
She as usual narrated a
story of Eklavya. A student deprived of schooling, who learned archery by the
inspiration he received from the idol he created of his ideal teacher
Dronacharya. As a child I enjoyed the
emotion in the story, and felt connected to Eklavya.
Light and heat are
associated with each other like two side of a coin. Knowledge like Heat travel
from one destination to the other almost similarly.
- Conduction (Physical
contest) Knowledge is imparted by the Teacher Student togetherness.
- Convection (Through
a media) Knowledge is imparted with the help of books and e-books.
- Radiation. (Without
a media) Knowledge is imparted the way the light from the sun reaches the
earth.
During my assignments I
have always addressed DTM Rose Joseph George as a person designed to receive
adjectives by default. People call him as walking dictionary, talking dictionary
etc. It would not be exaggeration if I say; he is a person who radiates
knowledge.
He was assigned as my
formal mentor but learning never happened to me through one on one discussion
(Conduction). It happened by observation (Radiation). Hardly have we
communicated for one or two speeches. But I used to watch him keenly and listen
to him attentively. His focus on the topic, his choice of appropriate words,
his tone, sense of humor and empathy for the addressee are some areas which
have benefited me a lot. My communication track in the Toastmasters has
finished but I still can continue to learn by observing him. I believe learning
is a life-long, never ending process.
As a man of 57 I have
understood the essence of the story of Eklavya and the intention of the
storyteller “My mother”
See you next time with another story; A story of DTM Sushil Kumar Agrawal.
No comments:
Post a Comment