The Jesuits, while evolving the basic goal of education in 1599, called ratio
studiorum, developed the triple-goal: reading, writing, and arithmetic. Francis
Bacon said: “Reading makes a full man; Conference (ie. ability to discuss and
talk) a ready man; and writing an exact man…”. Reading and writing shape up
your thinking and mould your character. Great legendary leaders like Abraham
Lincoln (1809 –1865), Winston Churchill (1874 –1965), Mahatma Gandhi
(1869 –1948), John F. Kennedy (1917 – 1963), Nelson Mandela (1918 – 2013),
Martin Luther King Jr (1929 –1968) have been mesmerizing orators. And all of
them have written inspiring books like My Experiments with Truth (Gandhi),
Profiles in Courage (John Kennedy), Long Walk to Freedom (Mandela), The
Audacity of Hope (Barack Obama), The Annihilation of Caste (Dr Ambedkar)
etc. All have had tremendous personal and social impacts.
They became great and memorable because
i. Reading led them to rhetoric – One becomes clear and convinced of his/her
beliefs;
ii. Accumulation of knowledge leads to understanding others, thereby building
lasting and meaningful relationships;
iii. One evolves from variety in reading to veracity of values, which form them
as men and women of character; and
iv. Evolution of Character formation culminating in social leadership.
The ultimate outcome is social transformation and you are the architects of that
new society.
The more you read, you come to realize that there are only a few philosophical
thoughts as the basis of all other noble thoughts and expression of lives to
emerge. They are such as: be good and do good; know yourself in order to
understand the other; justice delayed is justice denied; you reap what you sow
etc. And all others, for examples millions of books and speeches are the
permutations and combinations of these basic philosophical thoughts. What is
important is that you evolve the dictum that would propel your life. For Buddha
it was being conscious of yourself and others – Consciousness of yourself
brings in wisdom and consciousness of others ushers in compassion.
Consciousness and compassion are the two eyes of the world to live
meaningfully and fruitfully.
Let me concentrate on reading books: Right now I am reading the novel The
Return by Nicholas Sparks. In a conversation he talks about the honey bees – I
have now learnt a lot about the honey bees: Queen bee, nurses bees, guard bees,
worker bees, killer bees, drones etc.
When I like an author I tend to read all his books. That way, I have read the
novels by Thomas Hardy with the central theme: your first love is the strongest
love in life. I read all off Paulo Coelho’s novels with the fundamental insight
that you have infinite power within. I love to read the novels by Dan Brown just
to decipher how facts and fictions are woven seamlessly. I read books in Tamil,
English, and German to keep my linguistic fluency. I also read the Bible in
Malayalam.
You need inspiration, model, and momentum in life. The books you read would
inspire you much. And the personalities or characters you meet in those books
would become your models inspiring and inducing momentum within you. The
insights become inspirations, and inspirations spread wings as achievements.
I recommend that you read books especially about or by great people and in
particular about persons who made impacts as orators because they digest the
needs of the people and give shape in a convincing way. But read books
critically. You should subject what you read to your analytical and experiential
thinking. The more you read, you more you become an expert in using the right
word in a particular context with exact meaning. Then, you begin to write and
speak – Do not fall a prey to the telegraphic language of WhatsApp messages.
When you begin to write, it could be even a letter to your friends and family
people or an essay or assignment for academic purpose, you are able to organize
your thoughts well. When you prepare to speak, keep the audience in mind –
You should say not simply what you know but what your audience would need
and understand. Writing and speaking would have the ripple effect just like a
small ripple in a big pond that would reach the banks.
The teachers play a role in forming the students. I always remember my 2 nd and
also my 9 th standard class teachers. One day my 2 nd standard teacher asked me to
memorize a few pages about the life of Jawaharlal Nehru. When that was done
within a day, he gave me practice in intonation, articulation, and gestures. In a
couple of days, I was the main speaker for the Children’s Day with an audience
of 3,000 people, that is the entire village. And in the 9 th standard, when I was
going home for Deepavali holidays, the class teacher asked me to come back
with one or two pages of writing (I was given the choice of topic). After
breaking my head for a day, I wrote ‘The Story of a River’ – My imagination of
the village river from its origin in an unknown mountain till its merging into an
unseen ocean, meeting on the way a variety of birds, animals, fishes, people,
and watering trees, bushes, flower plants etc. That was the first article that saw
the print in the School annual magazine. You could try as well to speak in
public and write in journals and magazines. Just add a pinch of the Jesuit magis
spirit – What you do, do better than the previous time. And do everything for
the good of others.
So my dear students, read well, think better, speak clearly, and do everything
excellently well. Your teachers would journey with you and you could count on
them. All the best.