Stray Thoughts of Dr. Y. V. Rao- 15
Dr. Yerneni Venkateswara Rao
M.Sc., Ph. D
Retired Principal
GUDIVADA- A.P yernenivrao@gmail.comh.
When
dignity of work is denied, underperformance in over compensated and, worse
still, laziness is rewarded either under coercion or out of levity or through
force of habit , custom or repetition, life loses its meaning and structure and
society suffers through stultification. Isn’t it what is happening in our
country today?
B3-9
Guilt and
privation age men, and work a change in their appearance by adding lines to
their faces and silver to their hair far faster than the mere hand of time
could do.
Simplicity and contentment on the other hand
stall and sometimes even reverse the ravages of age and make men look younger
than their years far more effectively than hair dyes and other cosmetic props
could ever establish.
B3-10
If
success goes to head, it is bad, they say. But if failure does so, its worse.
B3-11(B3-2)
Discipline
should be both stringent and flexible—stringent enough to prevent unruly
behaviour and disorderly conduct, which are inimical to peaceful functioning
and harmonious growth of any organized entity, be it an institution , society
or nation, and appropriately flexible to leave enough scope for the free play
of imagination and experimentation leading to the blossoming of creativity and
flourishing of excellence in all their dazzling brilliance through the free
expression of conflicting ideas, ideologies, isms and visions. Stringency and
flexibility have to be the two sides of the same coin, for they complement
rather than contradict each other. The organization that has mastered the
delicate art of holding the scales evenly (striking a judicious balance)
between stringency and flexibility without ever letting the balance tilt too
far either way is destined to be strong, stable and restrained and at the same
time, resilient and progressive and vibrant.
Discipline sans flexibility is sterile, and
discipline without stringency is futile. Ideally, the caution to be disciplined
must come from within, and not superimposed from without. In the same vein, it
can be said that democracy and discipline are the obverse and reverse of the
same coin. Democracy without discipline , degenerates into anarchy and
discipline without democracy degrades into tyranny. The former is what the
country is witnessing atleast for the present while the latter is what obtains
most of the time in Pakistan
B3-12
It is
amazing how much we pay to get ill and how much more we again pay to get well.
B3-13
Whoever
allows himself to be tyrannised by rationalism will come to grief whereas for
one who uses it in the full knowledge of its limitations, its blessings are
many.
B3-14
One thing
good about a senior citizens’ meet is that it affords a golden opportunity for
“the have-beens , the have-nots, the still-haves, and the never-have-hads” lost
in a world of nostalgia to come together in an ambience of buddy-buddy ness,
and remember the good times by walking down the memory lane, back to the
by-gone days of another era to dip into one’s childhood and youth for fading
memories and to relive the simple pleasures of another time.
Retrieving and reliving the past is something
of a solace. Having thus performed the seemingly impossible task of travelling
back in time , they may even steal a few moments to revel in a bit of fun and
frolic someness if youth smiles on them again by paying them a second visit.
Their collective memory embellished with individual faith and fancies,
personalized fables and myths and romanticized images acquires a life of its
own together with a personality, which gets charged with a new charm , charisma
and alarm each time they visit it. In short, too much of their own mind gets
imprinted on it. It becomes as real as anyone of them is—a never failing friend
and en ever needed source of comfort and solace in their failing years.
Most important, if only they had been able to
transport through this time reversal process some of the wisdom acquired in
their sunset years to their youth , what a world of difference would it have
made in shaping their lives according to their cherished ideals and fond
dreams?
In any case, to spend time there is to
revisit an age gone by and to regain a paradise lost. Besides , who can resist
the temptation of being transported to an idyllic world where kids can be kids
and elders can merrily get back to being kids again to savour the real joys of childhood?
Not withstanding all that is said, one must
admit that all those nostalgia trips , however magnificent and fascinating they
be, are but innocent indulgences in romanticising the past as the golden age by
bathing it in a false glow. In the logical words of the well-known historian ,
EH Carr “ to love the past may easily be an expression of the nostalgic
romanticism of old men and old societies, a symptom of loss of faith and
interest in the present or the future. It looks like he’s not entirely correct
though. Senior citizens , being bridges between the past and the present , must
necessarily be interested in the present and to a certain extent in the future
too, if not for their own sake, at least for the sake of their offspring and
their progeny; only it should not be a faithful reproduction of their past.
But then, it is also true that “those who
cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”, as George Santayana
rightly warned. And for the matter of that, what a dreadful and boring life it
would be if one did not have memories to live by and go back to , every once in
a while? Nostalgia may not be a good thing but it is not a bad thing either;
what we make of it decides what it is. Our “past can remind us, guide us, teach
us or warn us ; it should not shackle us.
So one may delve deep into the past once in a
while, not to tarry too long nor to make it one’s abode but only to learn
lessons and pick up values that light one’s path in the present and help one
see far into the future , “for the best is yet to be.” (Robert Browning)
B3-15
Charity and expectation of gratitude go ill
together. Yet , it is good to remember that “ there is expiation for the most
despicable sinner imaginable but none for an grateful wretch”, as rightly
pointed out by Lakshmana to Sugreeva in Ramayana.
Also, “charity, big or small, should be given
in a pleasant manner without hurting the feelings of its receivers, and with
the thought that we are only discharging a religious duty from the wealth God
has given us”, as Prophet Mohammad (Sal-am) so aptly said .
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