One morning the first-year English Major students were in a mischievous mood. Independent opinions were fun; it was both alarming and exciting to be able to say whatever one liked about literary selections. But! Any statement had to be starched with reason and substance. An opinion was not enough. So, just before being tested on Browning’s poem, “Pippa’s Song,” we, a class of 18 students, agreed amongst ourselves to submit insolent answers. “How would an Indian in the subtropics know what Spring is?” “The birds in the morning are a nuisance”. “God may be in Heaven but what’s right with the world?” and so on. We planned a written mutiny and felt terribly grown-up and independent. After all, our gentle teacher, about twice our 17 years in age, was always ready for a laugh. Wasn’t she? Oh yes, we could push our chances with her. She had warned us that we would be answering the test in her absence because she would be on medical leave, but still…
A week later By the time she returned, our bravado and self-congratulatory mood had diminished somewhat. We were the talk of the college and not for noble reasons; we knew we had hurt her, and when she entered, cloaked in silence, a shiver of apprehension went through the class. She had made an effort to come back to work that day despite her recent illness. Why? Because it was September 5, Teacher’s Day. She placed her books on the table, faced us and said, “Well, I expect you’re proud of yourselves for being rebellious, but I want you to know that everyone else thinks that what you did was ridiculous. I explained it away saying that you were, after all, barely out of school. Now, anyone who is not prepared to think needn’t attend my classes. I’m here to teach young women, not silly school girls. That’s all.”
Our teacher had flipped a couple of pages and taught us a lesson on the very day we should have been offering her our respectful thanks.
Bad Karma Look around you — increasingly, it is becoming considered cool if you dare ‘to be different’ and ‘express yourself fearlessly’. Sometimes this can take the form of snubbing or pouring scorn on his beliefs or ideas, either electronically (a glance at views beneath ‘be the first to respond’ online journalism is enough to make a reader shiver) or in person. Even where no real damage is done, and where the injured party chooses to be philosophical or good humoured about it, the aggressor is in a morally weak spot.
If the person who is targeted cannot retaliate because of economic or social weakness the put-downer piles up even more bad karma.
It is not enough merely to think or debate about ethical issues as part of an academic requirement. We need to act them out in real life and take steps to correct ourselves if we go wrong. Thinking for yourself doesn’t have to mean being cheeky or disrespectful to a parent or teacher. That kind of behaviour merely brings out the malignant side of you which takes some cheap pleasure in attempting to sink another person’s self-esteem. Can you disrespect another without also eroding something within yourself ? Thousands of years ago, Rabbi Hilel was asked if he could stand on one leg and recite the Torah, the Jewish scripture. He said that no such display was necessary; all of the Torah could be summed up in one instruction: treat others as you yourself wish to be treated.
Awareness What do you, as a young person feel about what I have described? Many unseen influences compete with families for moral authority which could lead young people in troubling directions, and one of the ways anyone can help is if we can get young people to think about their choices and responses.
I began with a reference to poetry and will end with four lines of it by R.S. Thomas. Do you have to be a student of Literature to understand that it is about a shared experience?
I have seen the sun break through to illuminate a small field for a while, and gone my way and forgotten it A question to answer silently: Do you change when you are in a group? Or can you remain yourself and influence the group?
Email : minioup@gmail.com
