TEACHER
AS A TORCH - BEARER OF CHANGE
[Talk
delivered at Ahmedabad Management Association on 17-12-2003]
Dear Mr. Joshi, Mr. Sunil Shah, teachers, students,
parents and all the people who have gathered here,
dear Friends,
It
is always a pleasure to come to AMA and talk to the
enlightened audience. The subject is very interesting
and very important "Teacher as a torch bearer
of change". Just now we had an introduction from
Mr. Joshi who said as to how our great patriots and
educationalists have worked for nation building and
carried out work in the field of education which was
congenial for nation building. What is the present
scenario of education? What is the role of teachers
in nation building? Why are they called torch-bearers?
This is what we have to consider.
TYPES
OF TEACHERS
The
word 'teacher' is an English word and the Sanskrit
word for teacher is "Guru". Guru comes from
two letters 'Gu' and 'Ru'. 'Gu' indicates darkness
and 'Ru' indicates that which removes the darkness.
Etymological meaning of the word Guru is one who removes
darkness. Torch bearer is the appropriate word for
guru rather than 'teacher'. One who removes ignorance
is a torch bearer; one who takes the disciples from
darkness to light and from ignorance to knowledge
can be called a torch bearer. According to Mundaka
Upanishad this knowledge is of two types namely "Apara
Vidya" and the other is the "Para Vidya".
Whatever we know is the Apara vidya that is, the study
of physics, chemistry, history, biology etc as well
as the knowledge of scriptures and Vedas. Para vidya
however is the knowledge of the self i.e. the transcendental
reality. Unfortunately, most part of the knowledge
that we possess is the former i.e. the Apara vidya.
This means that although we have the knowledge of
the whole world, we do not have the knowledge of our
own self. This self knowledge, the knowledge of the
supreme reality which is beyond time, space and causation
comprises of what is called the Para vidya.
In olden days both these Vidyas were simultaneously
imparted to the disciples in educational institutions
called the "Gurukulas". But these days what
we find is that in the modern educational institutions
only Apara Vidya is being imparted with no impetus
being given to Para Vidya. Self-actualization, self-transcendence
have been completely neglected. Even the true meaning
of the word GURU has been forgotten and the word is
used in a much cheaper sense today. Today we use this
word to represent management Gurus, karate gurus,
music gurus etc which clearly is a cheap usage of
the word which represents a person who removes darkness,
ignorance and a person who gives the knowledge of
self by bringing the light of the divine.
Sri
Ramakrishna used to say 'Sacchidananda' only can become
a Guru. So how does God impart knowledge? In two ways.
At the micro level, He inspires an individual from
within. At the macro level sometimes God himself comes
in the form of an incarnation. Some of the prominent
incarnations are Sri Rama, Sri Krishna, Sri Shankracharya
Christ, Buddha, Mahavir etc. and the most recent one
is Sri Ramakrishna who incarnated in order to solve
the problems of the modern world created by the demonized
forces like materialism, consumerism and fundamentalism.
Along with Him came the Holy Mother Sri Sarda Devi
and Swami Vivekananda.
These
incarnations are the greatest teachers of mankind.
In the second category of teachers we find prophets
and messengers like Guru Nanak, Prophet Mohammad etc.
In the third category we have saints like Kabir, Meerabai,
Narsi Mehta etc. next we have the realized souls,
human beings who have practised and realized the truth.
They become gurus and they give the spiritual knowledge.
Then we have the teachers who are involved in imparting
secular knowledge. Mostly, when we say 'teachers',
we mean persons who are working in schools or other
educational institutions. The spiritual teachers mentioned
above of course bring about a change; they transform
the whole world. But what about ordinary teachers?
Can they also become torch bearers? This is the point
to be discussed.
For
the time being I will confine myself to the discussions
on those teachers who teach in schools, colleges etc.
Can they become the torch bearers of change? What
changes do we require? Is there a necessity for change?
THE
PRESENT SCENARIO --- URGENT NEED OF SPIRITUAL CULTURE
All
over the world there is a lack of peace of mind. UNESCO
is very much concerned about it. They had given the
mandate of "education to be" rather than
"education to do" because a lot of youngsters
go drug addict or commit suicide besides contacting
harmful communicable diseases like AIDS. "The
Final Exit" a book by writer Derek Humphrey,
a bestseller in America gave guidelines on how to
commit suicide. Even in Japan sometime ago the bestseller
was a book named 'The Complete Manual on Committing
Suicide'! 3.5 lakh copies of the book were sold in
one year and many committed suicide with the book
in their hands. In France also the book "Suicide-
User's Manual" was a bestseller. In our nation
today we have a lot of problems such as unemployment,
poverty etc. even then the rate of suicide is not
as high when compared to the suicide rate of the so
called developed countries. So far we thought that
'H' is directly proportional to 'M'- where H is happiness
and M is money i.e. more money means more happiness.
But statistical data reveals that the opposite is
true. In developed countries like America, Japan,
Sweden etc.; the per capita income is very high but
they also are the toppers in the number of suicide
cases. These countries even have more numbers of mentally
ill people. I do not mean to say that we should stop
earning more money, rather, I think, that in India
economic development should be given the top priority
but let us remember that money alone cannot solve
all our problems. Some more statistics will help you
get a clearer picture of the current state of affairs
all over the world.
Ø
54% of the deaths of youths in America, Japan and
Sweden according to UNESCO were due to suicide.
Ø According to the Japan Health Ministry 44%
of the Japanese executives aged 42 and above suffered
from mental disorders.
Ø Dr. R D Laing, a psychologist in UK said
that an average young boy or girl in England has ten
times more chances of entering a mental hospital rather
than a higher education school.
Such
is the present scenario. So we really have to think
as to what can be the role of teachers and what can
be the role of education to bring about a change.
A radically different education system from the present
one has to be employed; spiritual culture has to be
introduced. A paradigm shift must take place. Value-
education should be given the top most priority. Swami
Vivekananda had warned that if spiritual culture is
not followed, ours will be an extinct race in three
generations. So there is an urgent need for introducing
spiritual culture. A new civilization has to emerge
based on the spiritual values otherwise incidents
like Columbia school will increase. If we have to
have mental peace and world peace, we must have spiritual
culture.
INDIA'S
GIFT TO THE WORLD --- SPIRITUAL CULTURE
Swami
Vivekananda said that India has got the special role
of giving this spiritual culture to the world. Each
and every country has got a special role to play.
It is in this context, we appreciate what Swami Vivekananda
said "India shall conquer the whole world by
its spiritual power." Someone asked Swamiji that
being a monk he should be above nationality, then
why is he talking so much about India, about patriotism?
To this swamiji replied that for him all nations are
equal but the world has to be saved from the jaws
of materialistic culture. The world cannot be saved
unless and until India is saved, because India has
got the special role of spreading the great spiritual
culture. We have got a great Indian heritage which
we will have to give to the whole world as the whole
world is waiting for it. In fact, whatever swamiji
predicted has come to be true. He was not an astrologer
but a visionary. In 1897 he said that India shall
become independent within 50 years under extraordinary
circumstances. At that time Gandhiji had not yet returned
to India from South Africa and nobody even thought
of the non-cooperation movement. But it actually happened
in 1947, and exactly after 50 years we got independence.
So many other things he said also came true. In 1893,
at the place of Prof.John Henry Wright, a professor
at Harvard University, USA he said that after the
British leave India, there is a great danger of China
attacking India. Nobody at that time ever dreamt that
the British may ever leave India let alone China attacking
India after that, but this did happen in 1962. Swami
Vivekananda also predicted that the first proletariat
movement will come from Russia or China. Karl Marx
himself thought that the first movement will come
from Germany since they had some organised labour
there, in Russia there was no organised labour; still
Swamiji's prophesy came true.
So
whatever swamiji had said has come true. But one thing
has yet to happen. Swamiji predicated in 1897 in his
speech in Chennai that India shall conquer the world
by its spiritual power. This is yet to come. But slowly
even this is happening. The whole world is now turning
towards the Indian spirituality, through meditation,
yoga etc. The 9th August issue of 'Time' magazine
shows that Americans are now desperately seeking meditation.
It has been reported that for peace of mind some ten
million Americans are regularly meditating; also there
were newspaper reports that Americans were going gaga
over yoga. According to another report 92 out of 122
medical schools in the USA are having regular courses
on alternative medicine including yoga and meditation.
In a way, Indian spirituality, Indian heritage is
now being adopted by other countries. Now if India
has to take up the role of world teacher, to give
that spirituality, one thing comes in the way and
that is our 'developing nation' status. Unless our
nation becomes a developed nation how can we become
their teachers? That is why there is an urgent need
for nation building.
NATION-BUILDING THROUGH CHARACTER-BUILDING
How can this be done? Dr. Radhakrishnan said beautifully,
"You cannot make or build the nation by just
bricks; you have to establish the minds of the young
people. Then alone can the nation-building take place."
Swami Vivekananda also said that the nation building
or national reconstruction must be preceded by the
character-building of the citizens. We cannot change
the scenario of the nation by any parliamentary laws.
We may have new acts in the parliament but by that
alone our nation will not develop fully. The day the
new act passes, ways to defy them legally as well
as illegally will be found out.
So,
national reconstruction cannot be done unless character-building
of citizens takes place and until and unless corruption
goes away. There was a naughty boy and once in order
to keep him busy while he was working, his father
tore a map of India into a number of pieces and giving
them to him asked him to put the map of India together.
The father thought that the boy having limited knowledge
of geography will take the whole day to do so and
thus will not prove a hindrance in his work. To the
father's surprise the boy came back within only a
few minutes with the whole map perfectly pasted together.
When queried, the boy told the father that while he
was struggling to put the map together, he suddenly
saw a man's picture on the back of the map. Then he
put the pieces together to make the complete picture
of the man. As soon as the picture of the man became
perfect, the map of India too simultaneously got perfectly
formed. Similarly Swami Vivekananda also told to make
the man perfect first; the nation then automatically
will become perfect. So nation-building must be preceded
by character-building of citizens, otherwise the country
cannot get united. That is why Swami Vivekananda repeatedly
said that what we need is man-making and character-building
education. But after independence, in spite of so
many reports of Dr. Kothari commission, Dr. Radhakrishnan
commission, Prakash committee etc. recommending the
importance of value education, these have not been
implemented. What I sometimes jokingly say is that
it seems as if our education now is not man-making
but demon-making! Bhartrihari in his famous book 'Niti
Shatakam' says that there are four types of people
in this society, namely- firstly the 'Satpurusha'
who serve others unselfishly, secondly the ordinary
beings who try to do good first to themselves and
then to others, thirdly the 'Rakshasas' who look like
humans but who have demonical qualities since whatever
they do, they do for their own selfish interest caring
less about the harm they may cause to others. They
are available widely in our society today. For example
an engineer during the construction of a dam, bridge
or any house takes bribes and allows the contractor
to mix extravagant quantities of sand in the cement
mixture. In doing so the engineer has served his selfish
interest in money but when the rains come and the
dam bursts or the bridge collapses, hundreds are killed
and thousands are rendered homeless. But the engineer
is happy since now he has a nice bungalow. His selfishness
has cost many lives and precious money of the nation.
Similarly there are some doctors who are not at all
interested in curing the patient but only in the amount
of money they receive. Then there is the fourth type.
About them Bhartrihari says that they are such that
he cannot even name them since they are still worse
than the Rakshasas. These are the people who like
to harm others even if it does not benefit them. Bhartihari
narrates about only the four types. Now we can add
one more type to this and these are those people who
feel such a great joy in hurting others that they
do it even if harms themselves e.g. the modern day
terrorists. At present we have got majority of the
third and fourth and fifth type of people. The second
type is really less and the first type rare. That
is why Swamiji's ideas of man-making education are
so relevant today.
CRISIS
OF THE NATION --- CRISIS OF CHARACTER
Today
the crisis of the nation is the crisis of character.
On the 16th of April I was with Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam,
our honorable president of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
I told him that even if he brings the wealth of the
World Bank to our nation our poverty is not going
to go away due to the prevailing corruption. He agreed
and asked me as to what is the possible solution.
I said that the only possible solution is the implementation
of the messages of swami Vivekananda of imparting
man-making and character-building education to the
young students. I then congratulated him for showing
a keen interest in inspiring the students and told
him about the special projects of Ramakrishna Mission
concerning value-education. He was really happy to
know all this and said, "Swamiji let us work
together for this cause".
HOW
TO DEVELOP CHARACTER ?
There
is a saying --'sow a thought, reap an action; sow
an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character'.
According to Swami Vivekananda character is nothing
but a bundle of habits formed through repeated acts.
It comes through 'samskaras' or past impressions.
Four factors play an important role in developing
one's samskaras. Number one is the samskaras the person
has inherited from past birth. Second, the samskaras
or the impressions gathered through the genes gathered
from the parents and through their training. Third,
the samskaras from the society -- the environment
around the person. Fourth and the most important factor
is the 'teacher'. That is why teachers are the torch-bearers
of change. The only way we can change the nation is
by the character building of the citizens and for
this character building we require a strong foundation
just as a strong foundation is required for a strong
building. The foundation for character-building has
to be laid at a young age. It is easier to build the
character of a person when he/she is a student. Thus
the most important agent for building the character
of a person is the teacher.
Dr
A P J Abdul Kalam, our honorable president in his
book 'India 2020:A Vision of The New Millennium' writes,
"If you are a teacher in whatever capacity you
have a very special role to play because more than
anybody else it is you who are shaping the future
generation." So here comes the role of the teacher
as a torch-bearer. If you want a change at the macro
level, it is to be preceded by a change at the micro
level. If we want to save the nation we must have
the development of the character of the people of
the nation. Otherwise the nation cannot prosper. There
was a case in the Supreme Court in which the Supreme
Court Judge Shri Hansaria gave the judgment against
CBSE and ruled that Sanskrit language should continue
to be an optional subject and cannot be dropped altogether
from the syllabus as it is the very foundation of
the Indian culture. While giving an example as to
how important it is to protect the culture of the
nation he cited an example. There was a war going
on between UK and Germany. A Cambridge university
professor was engrossed in reading something in his
study room when a soldier entered the room and charged
him saying that the soldiers were fighting for the
nation while he was there, sitting and doing nothing.
The professor asked the soldier what he meant by protecting
the nation. The soldier said that it meant protecting
the geographical boundary of the nation. The professor
asked whether it was that only. The soldier thought
for a while and said that it also meant the protection
of the nation's people and the culture. The professor
said that he was protecting the culture of the nation.
Hearing this, the soldier saluted the professor and
went away.
EXAMPLES OF TEACHERS AS TORCH BEARERS
Here
are a few examples of how ordinary teachers can bring
about extraordinary transformation in the society.
Shri Mahendra Nath Gupta was an ordinary teacher.
Once, he went to Dakshineshwar in Kolkata by chance
where Sri Ramakrishna used to live. At that time he
was having a lot of problems in his family and he
was thinking of committing suicide. Incidentally he
entered Sri Ramakrishna's room. He met Sri Ramakrishna
and got so much peace of mind that he dropped the
idea of suicide. He started going to him regularly
and noted all the conversations Sri Ramakrishna had
with the devotees in his diary. When Swami Vivekananda
came to know about it, he was very happy and said
that this diary had important conversations and should
be printed in the book form. Later this diary was
published in the book form first in Bengali with the
name 'Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita' and was then translated
into English and was published as 'The Gospel of Sri
Ramakrishna'. After this it got translated to Hindi,
Gujarati, Tamil, Telegu, Marathi, Kannad, Malayalam,
Oriya, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Dutch, Greek, and
French and in so many other languages of the world.
Millions of copies have been sold and millions of
people are getting peace of mind and the spiritual
light for the last hundred years. Many have also been
saved thereby from committing suicide. Swami Vivekananda
in a letter dated 24th November 1897 congratulated
the writer who modestly styled himself as 'M' and
wrote, "Socratic dialogues are Plato all over.
You are entirely hidden. Moreover the dramatic part
is infinitely beautiful. Everybody likes it, here
or in the west." The great Savant Aldous Huxley,
in the foreword of this book wrote, "Making good
use of his natural gifts and of the circumstances
in which he found himself, 'M' produced a book unique
so far as my knowledge goes in the literature of hagiography."
Today this book is serving as a great medium of value
education to the society.
Another
example is Sister Nivedita (1867-1911). Her real name
was Miss Margaret Noble and she was working in England
as an ordinary teacher. She got greatly impressed
by the speeches of swami Vivekananda. Swami Vivekananda
could see the talent behind her and told her to sacrifice
her life for India because he felt that our country
cannot develop unless and until the condition of the
women is improved and the condition of the women cannot
improve until they are educated. At that time only
one percent of the women were educated. He wanted
to start a school exclusively for women. Nobody came
forward. So he wrote in an inspiring letter on 7/6/1896
to her '…….Awake, awake, great ones! The
world is burning with misery. Can you sleep? Let us
call and call till the sleeping Gods awake, till the
God within answers to the call…….Who will
give the world light? Sacrifice, in the past has been
the law; it will be, alas, for ages to come. The earth's
bravest and the best will have to sacrifice themselves
for the good of many, for the welfare of all…….."
Miss Noble came, dedicated and sacrificed her whole
life in the service of India. That is why swami Vivekananda
gave her Brahmacharya Diksha and gave her the name
'Nivedita' - meaning the one who has dedicated oneself.
Her biography is worth a read. She started a school
in Kolkata. Now it has become a famous school and
has been renamed Sister Nivedita Girls School. Recently
the centenary celebrations of this school took place
when Shri Narayanan, the former President of India
was also present. But the school also has seen days
of severe struggle. Initially due to the prevailing
social customs, people hesitated in sending the girls
to the school. Sister Nivedita had to go from door
to door and promise that the girls will be taken to
school and brought back safely by her. The food was
supplied free and there was no fee. She took personal
care of each child and knew each student by her name.
She used to write in her diary about each student.
At that time Shri Rabindra Nath Tagore and Shri Aurobindo
used to call her 'Lokmata Nivedita'. She was the inspirer
of many revolutionaries. In spite of her busy schedule
she was always there for the girls and was an ideal
teacher. Just imagine how an ordinary teacher inspired
everyone. Inspired by Sister Nivedita and others the
whole revolutionary movement started in Bengal culminating
in the independence of India. How strange that a teacher
of UK played such an important part in the struggle
against the British rule! Once she had gone for a
dinner at Jagdish Chandra Bose's place. Suddenly she
remembered that Prafullamayi, one of the students
who was a widow and was fasting that day, that day
being Ekadashi and she had to give her fruits. She
excused herself from that place immediately and went
back to the school and gave her the fruits and apologized.
Such was her dedication.
Swami
Premeshanandji (1884-1967) was also an ordinary teacher.
He inspired so many students, many of whom later became
great writers, poets etc; many have become monks too
and are heading the centers of Ramakrishna Order in
Hollywood, Delhi and other important places.
An
ordinary teacher can perform great deeds, that is
why the teachers should be given the utmost respect.
Unfortunately these days we have a trend reversal.
Somehow or the other a vicious circle has been created;
since teachers are not behaving in a dignified way,
utmost respect is not given to them and since respect
is not given to them, they think that they are like
ordinary people. They think that if the other people
in the society are after money why should they be
left behind. They forget that they are not supposed
to follow the society; they are here to lead the society
being the torch-bearers. If this vicious circle has
to be broken, the teachers will have to sacrifice.
So sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice in the past has
been the law and will be for ages to come.
URGENT NEED OF ELECTRIC SHOCK
I
have said nothing new as yet. All of us already know
this. The difficulty lies in practicing what we preach.
Our condition is like that of the drunkard who was
feigning as dead. There is an interesting story. Once
in Kolkata five drunkards got together. It was late
night and they were drunk a little more than usual.
They thought of a funny plan of taking out a fake
funeral procession. So one of the drunkards slept
on a cot and pretended to be a dead person. The other
four lifted the cot on their shoulders and started
walking towards the cremation ground while chanting
the slogans at dead night. When this procession reached
the crossroad the drunkards in the front started pulling
the cot in one direction while those at the back started
pulling the cot in the opposite direction. Because
of all this higgle-hoggle the drunkard sleeping in
the cot got up and asked why they were doing so. The
carriers replied that some are saying that the cremation
ground is in one direction and the others are saying
that it is in the opposite one, and due to this confusion
they have this higgle-hoggle. The man on the cot then
said to the other four that they all were fools since
they didn't know such a simple route even. He then
added that he knew the way to the Kevadatala cremation
ground as well as the Neemtala cremation ground but
he couldn't tell them the way because he was acting
as a dead man! This exactly is our problem. We know
the solution of all our problems but we cannot practice
what we preach. You know, it is easy to awaken a person
if he/she is asleep but how to awaken the one who
pretends to be asleep? The only way is to give an
electric shock. And we will get this shock by reading
the books of Swami Vivekananda. The French Savant,
Romain Rolland- a noble laureate wrote about the impact
of Swamiji's books, "……..His words
are great music, phrases in the style of Beethoven…
I cannot touch these sayings of his, scattered as
they are through the pages at a thirty years distance
without receiving a thrill through my body like an
electric shock……"
When
Swami Vivekananda came back from his tour America
and other countries after four years of preaching
of Vedanta, wherever he went, there was a grand reception
and in response to the receptions, he gave fiery speeches,
the gist which was compiled in the form of a book
"The Lectures from Colombo to Almora. In another
beautiful book "My India, the India eternal"
also we find those inspiring speeches. A boy studying
in the ninth standard in Cuttack read the book of
Swami Vivekananda and decided to sacrifice his life
for serving the nation and later was known as Netaji
Subhash Chandra Bose. Dr. Radhakrishnan used to say
that when he wrote letters to his friends he used
to quote letters of Swami Vivekananda, because during
that time the British Government used to look with
suspicious eyes towards the people who were reading
those books. In almost every revolutionary's house,
the Intelligence department after a long search for
bombs used to get something more dangerous than bombs--
the books of Swami Vivekananda. So intelligence department
had recommended to British Government that Swami Vivekananda's
books should be banned. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said
that, in their times, hardly any young person was
there who did not get inspiration from the books of
Swami Vivekananda. Mahatma Gandhi had come to Belur
Math (our headquarters) on 30th January 1921. When
Gandhiji was asked to give lecture, he said "I
have not come here to give lecture; I have come here
only to pay my respect to Swami Vivekananda. I will
tell only one thing to the youths present here, please
don't go empty handed. Take some inspiration from
this great place. Read the books of Swami Vivekananda.
I myself have gone through his books. After going
through his books my patriotism has become thousand-
fold". So there is a great power in the books
of Swami Vivekananda. They will act like an electric
shock and awaken the teachers, and remind them that
they are torch beaters. They do not have to follow
in the rut. The officers, businessmen, ministers etc
can afford to go for money; they may be forgiven but
the teachers cannot be forgiven because through their
bad example thousands of students may be affected.
Swami Vivekananda gave the mantra "be and make"
that is first we have to build our own character and
then help others to build their character. The students
may become great or demon like by the influence of
teachers. It all depends upon how they get inspired.
In case of the students what we tell them is not important
but what we are is more important. Values are never
taught, but they are caught. Now-a-days, the students
are intelligent. They know the teachers well; what
they do after class etc. If you tell them to speak
only the truth and not practice it yourself, it will
not have any effect.
You
might have heard this story. Some children were playing.
A teacher, who was passing by, asked them what they
were doing. They told that they are playing a game
in which whoever tells the greatest lie will be awarded
a prize. The teacher asked them not to play such a
game and always speak the truth. He also added that
in his whole life he had never spoken a lie. Hearing
this all the students clapped and shouted together,
"Sir, you get the first prize". Therefore
what we say is not important but what we do is more
important.
SUCCESS
MANTRA FOR TEACHERS
During
my talks with teachers I give the following formula
for success:
S
= 3D + 3Q
Where S= Success in teaching life
D= Dignity, Dedication and Devotion
Q= IQ (Intelligence Quotient)
EQ (Emotional Quotient)
SQ (Spiritual Quotient)
Wherever
I go I give the following mantra while talking to
the teachers which should be repeated ten times daily.
The mantra is-'I am a teacher'; it may sound simple
but how it is chanted makes all the difference. Whenever
I ask teachers, "what do you do?" they say,
"I am a teacher" with such a morose face
as if they have become teachers by compulsion. Instead
one should be proud of being a teacher and say "I
am a teacher, I am a nation builder, I am a torch
bearer, how great am I, how responsible am I".
I feel that the best and the greatest profession in
this world is that of a teacher, because the future
of the nation primarily does not depend on the type
of ministers, IAS officers, scientists etc but on
the teachers who shape the future ministers, IAS officers,
scientists etc. Moreover, this profession is best
suited for practicing 'Karma Yoga' for manifesting
the divinity within. Every teacher has to chant the
mantra 'I am a teacher, how great am I and what great
responsibility I have'.
So,
the equation is like this. A=B, B=C, C=D, so D=A.
Teachers are the torch bearers of change because the
whole world can be saved if India can be saved; because
India's role is to give spiritual culture. If the
world has to be saved, India must be saved; if India
has to be saved, India must prepare the students as
enlightened citizens, and teachers play the most important
role in shaping the students as enlightened citizen.
As Nani Palkhiwala says, "Enlightened citizens
cannot be produced in the factory; it has to come
through education." Thus teachers are the torch-bearers
of change, change for the whole nation, for the whole
world.
I
thank the AMA for giving me this opportunity to meet
all of you. Let us always remember the powerful words
of Swami Vivekananda - "Arise, awake, and stop
not till the goal is achieved!"
