In the course of learning…

Each of us would love lessons that transcend halls of learning. Nevertheless, we value a piece of paper that awards us degree than ‘life lessons.’ Better we would reserve the next two quarters of life for such learning unlike Oscar Wilde says, “I wasted one-fourth of my life in education learning how to waste the next three-fourth.” Thus, the moment we enroll for a professional course, the sword of rich rewards and job prospects is hanging against our hefty investment. Declaimer: returns and investments are subject to individual perception!

Alas, learning is not possible when so much is at stake, time and monetary investment, scholarships, job prospects, competition, reputed institute, campus interviews…man the list is endless. Those who have bagged the job would enroll for some course for upgradation and learning takes a backseat again…we all know how tough it is to balance this tightrope walk.

As my life wasn’t any different from a Plain Jane whose life was not as aspirational and competitive. Yet, I wasn’t averse to enrolling for a course that would offer some scope for learning sans any competition. Thus, I happily enrolled for a master’s course in yoga, in distance education, needless to say. Through this course, I had nothing to lose as I didn’t set my eyes on any gain. As things got into the groove, I started enjoying it as well. Yes, a typical student lurking in me would sneak during exams and I would not allow that competitive spirit to ruin the ‘learning’ joy.

In the meanwhile, my liking for yoga had to go through the strange admixture of institutionalisation of yoga stream and possible adulteration of its ‘holiness’ that came into its trail. Yes, like many, I, too, passed out with flying colors as after all, the beauty of the colour, too lied in the eyes of a beholder. Of course, I was bombarded with the question what next?  I had no clue what was in the store for future. Some sympathized, “No course is in vain. The course must have taught you something.”

To a few, my import from the yoga course was in question as it they told me it should be either reflected in my profession or behavior. Some suggested me to teach yoga but my only learning interfered with that suggestion, it was, ‘There could be no pedagogy to yoga teaching as yoga can be learnt but can never be taught.’

Yes, yoga required a great degree of unlearning and fortunately, there was no school which would teach it.  Thus, I hope this certificate makes a difference of kind and not of a degree.


Well, there are many vacancies in the school of hard knocks, who wants to apply?
- -         KanChan

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Living Alternatively: A Blog Series with Those Exploring a Different Way of Life Caught in the midst of meeting professional deadlines, family and social commitments, and securing our future emotionally and financially, most of us seem to have embraced stress and the rising insecurities of modern-day life as the new normal. However, we try to walk that thin line; balance eludes most of us as life slips through our hands. While catastrophes like limited resources, climate change, conflicts, and the sword of war hanging between countries can strike us unheralded, a minimalist life or an alternative way of living seems like a myth. This new blog series seeks to interact with those who have been 'leading a different way of life.' Natural Rhythm of Life: Chitra Nandan Let's start with Chitra Nandan, a humble, unassuming person who loves to explore places, nature, and people. Self-proclaimed friend of nature, we would often mistake her simplicity and introvertedness fo...
Read more

Old Monk in New Bottle

Image
And the mystical monk landed on the shores of the Wiseland, which he had left four decades ago in the pursuit ‘Enlightenment’   A sea of people had come to receive him… what if ‘atheist’ government had issued orders to ban monasteries and forced many ‘monks’ like him to return to their motherland… This mystical monk was sure of the ‘grand reception’ in the Wiseland, his motherland… He had hoisted his sails when the wind was just right… The monk had harbored the thoughts of offering sermons and discourses to the men of Wiseland as he guessed they would be in the need of ‘Wise words from the mystical man’ He had prepared to talk about Life, God, Spirituality, Relationships, Meditation, Laws, Beauty and Death ‘Wait, hear us out before you speak, said the First Citizen of the Wiseland ‘We have heard a lot of discourses. We know Sermon on the Mountain. We have heard of Vedas and yes, also read the ‘Prophet’ by The Kahlil Gibran’…. ‘We are a civilized country. We are li...
Read more

In good faith

It’s no child’s play to keep a tradition going and if one breaks, it comes as a rude shock. Dramatic closure of Britain ’s 168-year-old tabloid, News of the World, has stunned the world. It hurts even more knowing the reason. Facing allegations of illegal phone hacking of a murdered girl, rape victims, families of dead soldiers, politicians and celebs, the revered British tabloid will print its last edition on Sunday, July 10, free of advertisements, focusing maximum on content. Media baron and owner Rupert Murdoch maintains that given the enormity of scandals and owing to mounting public pressure, closure is the only way out… How does it look? Is it just another incident? I cannot look at it that way. No, not only because it’s concerned to my fraternity. When I look at it from humanitarian point of view, I can see that the entire chain of events has wider, deeper and vaster implications. A lot is happening behind the curtains and when I say this, I am not limiting myself to the incide...
Read more