The Difficulty of Being Good

A couple of days ago, my college had taken us for a guest lecture at the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU). We met the head of the English Literature department and his second in command. The talk was incredibly fascinating as they explained to us how the Modernists were influenced by their environment; how literature attempts to show us the inadequacies of communication; how we might be saying the same thing, but our meanings might be completely different. The professor had a strange manner of speaking, maybe a speech defect of some kind. What shocked me was the way some of the students just made fun of him, imitating and mocking him. It's a disability, he's not doing it on purpose. And yet most of the class seemed to find it funny.
Why is it that we mock those who aren't as lucky as us? How cruel can we be? Mocking people without a limb, with a stutter, with a lisp. Even those who are mentally handicapped. This man, who's probably smarter than the entire room put together, took time out especially for us, and instead of being grateful to him, we mock him? What does that make us? We call ourselves civilised? We call ourselves educated, sophisticated? Really? That's what this behaviour is called? I wonder what savagery is then.
Cruel nicknames, bullying, verbal and physical violence, mulishness, is that a part of a civilised society? I thought it was respect, kindness, compassion, intelligence, level-headedness. It honestly makes me wonder whether we are actually receiving an education. Because education isn't just about the textbooks or the marks you score, it's about shaping you as a good person. If our teachers, our parents can't show us the right way, how else will we learn? How can we expect to treat others with respect, if we don't have role models who set such examples for us? Yelling at a waiter in a restaurant, throwing things at people, resorting to bad language or violence at the drop of a hat, acting as though being smug and narcissistic is very cool, talking down to everyone, saying terrible things about others-this is what the norm seems to be. Anything else is just an exception. My mother has always told me (I have a nasty temper), treat people the way you want to be treated. If you treat everyone badly, don't expect everyone to treat you like you're God's greatest creation. The first step in the right direction is to treat everyone around you with respect. There's no need to be a sycophant, just be your normal self. Its not hard; you just have to imagine what it's like to be at the receiving end of an insult or bullying.

We Aren't Kids Anymore

The education system in India is quite strange. I'm in my first year of college and yet I'm still being made to bring my parents to collect my memorandum of marks. I mean, really? I'm 19. They need to let go sometime.
While talking to my mom, who complained about having to come meet the teachers, she told me that the system has mollycoddled us to the point of suffocation. It doesn't let us make decisions for ourselves. It even commits the mistakes that we should have made ourselves to learn a lesson. What can the teachers tell my mother that she doesn't already know? You can't grasp our hands with an iron fist. We're no longer the little kids who need babysitting all the time. Sure, we won't make great decisions all the time. However, that doesn't mean we shouldn't make them. When I was a little kid, probably 5-6 years old, I fell and scraped my knee pretty badly. My grandmother told me to stop crying, reasoning that I fell because it was life's way of toughening me up. We can't be protected from everything. As much as my mom would love to shelter me from the world, it isn't possible.
Now, I don't think this issue of the marks memo, arises out of some misplaced protective instinct. It arises out of the stupidity of our education system. We're all so set in our ways. Stick to the textbook. Nothing further. Your answers should be three sides at least. Doesn't matter if you fill it with crap as long as your subheadings are correct and its neat. We've become so focused on the textbooks that when it comes to practicality we're stumped. I'm not saying that being book smart isn't important. I value it above most things. But what's the point of being book smart if you can't explain it in your own style and actually implement it? Einstein once said that if you can't explain a matter in simple words, you haven't understood it. Exams are a test of memory and conceptual understanding. I think we also need to be taught how to actually use all those lessons that almost made us die of boredom. Coming back to my original point, do you want us to grow up or not? Do you want us to make you proud? Do you want us to smile and remember you fondly? If yes, let us go. We're not children anymore. And for god's sake, we can be trusted with a report card.