A School Kid’s First Responsibility
Questioner: Namaste Acharya Ji. I am in class 7. Acharya Ji, my question is: as I'm going to become a teenager, I'm often torn between my own emotions, my parents' advice, and the backlash I face from my peers. So sir, what is your advice regarding this and how can I become a good human being?
Acharya Prashant: The books that you have in your syllabus might sound a bit boring to a seventh grader, but the books that you have in your syllabus are very sufficient in providing you the basic level of mental nourishment you need. The first thing is to master your textbooks.
Fortunately, we still have a system in which the curriculum that's designed for you is quite decent. The first level of your nourishment must come from there — the history, literature, of course, maths, science, the languages that you are studying there. If you can master them at your stage, 12 years or 13 years of age, it goes a long way because you have laid a good foundation for yourself. And those who don't have this good foundation, they often struggle throughout their life.
So you talked of your emotional entanglement, you said you would be a teenager soon. All that is in the future and all that is quite secondary. The first thing is: as a student, here you are and here are your textbooks. Indian textbooks and the Indian system, I'm not saying that the teachers are necessarily very competent, but at least the books that you have, if you can immerse yourself in them, you'll go a long way. And a lot of questions that you ask, they'll be answered by the books themselves.
Also, what more to study, where else to go — that too will open up once you become true to the books.
We often ask, “Where to go?” “What to do?” but the answer might be quite close to us as a student. And the textbooks are something that are often not given their due; they are disregarded, taken as a bit of a formality — “Oh, this is just the due process that one has to go through to keep gaining the next grade, from seventh I'll move to the eighth, and for that I have to use the book.”
No.
The book is not just about passing exams and moving to the next class. The book turns you into the individual that you would be. Therefore, be very, very affectionate towards your books. Very affectionate!
Just as you dress up for school, please ensure that your books are also nicely dressed up. And you don't just dress up; you also want to prepare yourself well, you want to have good substance within. Similarly, your relationship with the books must not be just superficial — 'My books are all neatly covered, but I never open them to read anything.' No. The books, your textbooks, first thing, must be your first circle of friends. After that can come the next level of books or acquaintances or next sources of knowledge. But the first thing is always textbooks.
It is a bit funny if we disregard our textbooks and ask for other things. Yes, other things are important, but even those other things open up from the textbooks themselves.
So, for example, in my father's library there was this Freedom at Midnight, The Wonder That Was India, Lapierre, Basham — these authors were all there. And I was lucky to meet them at your age. In fact, I was younger than you when I first started reading those books, big books. Then there was Nehru with his Discovery of India — all quite epic volumes.
But I could read them only because first of all I had read my textbooks. I was a very keen student of history. And for history I was not going to the internet, there was no internet. I was not rushing to the libraries. I was in Lucknow then and I didn't have the membership of any library. The only library I knew was my school library. So I was not going anywhere. Still, I could strike a relationship with the great authors and their great works.
Why?
Because first of all, I had mastered my textbooks. Textbooks lay the foundation, and then you can raise a beautiful building and keep adding stories. But without textbooks, nobody will speak to you. No author will be able to relate to you.
Questioner: Sir, actually I also wanted to ask something regarding the backlash I face from my peers. When I try to make them understand many topics about geopolitics, history. The way they react, their reaction is such that I feel very sad because even when I tell them that, they all start saying bad things to me, and then a whole drama is created just because I say something that doesn't match their thoughts.
Acharya Prashant: So why do you need to say such things to such people? See, this is not your age still to teach or preach. It is your age to learn. And if you dissipate your time and energy engaging with unresponsive people, then your own growth will be hindered. Aap samajh rahe ho?
When you are small and you pick big weights, that's not advisable. No doctor or physio is going to advise that. When you are small, then your first responsibility is to build yourself. And if you grapple with too heavy a weight, then in fact your own growth might be stymied. So if people don't want to listen to you, you already have enough at your hands.
Sit in the library, be with your books, discuss with worthy people, and watch decent content on the net. You don't need to explain geopolitics to someone who doesn't want to know.
