Swamy Vivekananda's birth anniversary falls on January 12. Absolutely unique individual he was! However much we may read about him, and from whichever angle, newer and brilliant aspects of his superb life emerge.
Hence it irritates me that his birth anniversary gets celebrated as the Youth Day! No, sorry, I am NOT being cynical nor dismissive. Honestly though, the young today hardly inspire you to associate such a wonderful person with them.
In a way, I could say that I should know. I teach senior college and post-graduate students. Very very rarely is there THAT spark. Most are over pampered. Most hence think no end of themselves which is a very sad "attitude" at any age, but surely BAD when young. It stultifies one's growth as an individual, I think.
Let me give you a concrete example of this attitude. Last year, there was this student who always behaved as if he is better than Goethe at German. Poor soul! He could not manage the simple most accusative case, nor could he remeber the basic most usage regarding the placement of verb in a German sentence!
Personally I am of the opinion that one should never throw one's weight about, and surely not in a classroom. Students, however, are so blase that it is unbelievable. Most all times, they know next to NOTHING, but their absolute superiority complex both amuses, and, oh, yes, worries me!
Yes, there ARE a few promising exceptions, but they prove the rule! For immediate temporary pleasure, most young can stoop down to any level. No, I never try to advise anyone. As it is there are bothers enough in life! Why compound them, right?
Yet one feels their despair, too, and then one continues to worry, given the radical shift introduced by the quite fatal, current change at the paradigm level! Here is wishing all the youngsters the Vivekanda spirit, his courage and his ability to think through in new ways!
pratima@ Being always youthful in head, heart and soul is the real meaning of life, right?
Quote of the day: "Arise, awake, and stop not until the goal is reached, " asserts Swami Vivekananda.
Word of the day: Demographic dividend. Demographic dividend, as defined by the United Nations Population Fund, is "the economic growth potential that can result from shifts in a population’s age structure, mainly when the share of the working-age population is larger than the non-working-age share of the population".
Let us learn grammar: Better not to use any article with proper nouns, that is the specific name of a person or a town/city, for instance. Here are a few examples. Shakespeare's sonnets are as beautiful as his plays. Pune is already a metro.
Even then to indicate the uniqueness, the definite article may get used. Let us look at a few examples. He is trying a natwarlal on you. He is quite the Veeru amongst the siblings!
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