Are we politically correct?

They say there’s a mere thin line difference between a leader and a follower…leaders think!

As a toddler I was constantly “made” to do things, who does not go through the “sing song” phase of childhood when parents literally packed us up in uncomfortable clothes and took us to loud birthday parties or elderly get togethers where every second person requested us to recite a nursery rhyme in a sing song manner, may be they thought that’d make us look good and probably that was the discipline of  being. I now wonder whether they actually did that to know how much we’ve grown or did they do it to entertain themselves?

When it was time to be admitted in a school, yet again I was trained how to answer questions like “child! What is your favourite game?” I mean how was I supposed to choose one among the 1000, when that was all I did at the age of 3, may be that’s how small kids are tested, and supposedly I have still not figured why I needed to be tutored for that…

Now that I’ve passed school, I wonder as to, on what basis was I selected, was it because of my “parentally” correct answers or for who I actually was. Well then how does it matter if I behaved like a greedy and annoying kid, who snatched a handful of candies when they were offered to me?

Then when I reached the “exam giving” phase, all that I remember about it was that everybody was completely stressed except me. I mean 2 and a half minutes before the exam sheet was going to be distributed, we were asked to “stand up, join our hands and close our eyes” and recite the early morning prayer, how does it matter if some of us dint even know the exact meaning of the verses, even though that was a ritual and the right thing to acquire positivity.

I used to wonder why we need to study, and how could an examiner possibly give me marks on how much text my brain retained from the textbook. What if I was rather interested to know what happens to the burst clouds after rain, than mugging up texts about what happens to an electron cloud when it collides with another one.

I still cannot figure out of why such small things which we can’t see at all get really important. Because all this while when we are completely boggled and nervous to find out what’s inside the smallest unit like and electron, we are actually missing out on all that we can already see. Now that I am off the school phase, I hardly remember any lectures of physics and chemistry, but I definitely remember moments that led me into deep introspection.  I may not recall what I studied during exam times. But I certainly remember every dialogue of the theatre performance in our school which made me realize how less aware I was.

I was never interested to study about the facts and figures of chemistry but I can recall everyday of shock while watching news when the 26/11 attack took place. It was then that I began to “think”. It was then that I realized that all this while I was only progressing mechanically. The growth of a person begins when he or she begins to THINK and not when he is made to LEARN…

School was not just about studying, it was larger than life, now that I “think”, I realize that there’s so much it takes to know and realize what is wrong and it takes only a little “thought” to become a leader…

For the youth today, the only mantra is “think and act” because may be during the school exams we were helpless and had no option but to write was was learnt, but now it’s in our hands.

For how long will we sit back and watch the wrongs only because we need to be “politically correct”, we certainly need to be who we really are and be informed, aware and empowered to the outside world, other than texts…

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”