Quest for knowledge is the only relevant quest for man. For, in that (quest) lies the true meaning of life. The quest for knowledge is self-sustained and continuous
I tried to put this theory to test in the last year or so. Before you read-on through the passage, I must confess that the ‘realisation that I treaded the path of knowledge and that it would lead me to something was not a forethought’
I asked myself … ‘ when was the last time that I learned something new’ and realized that it was donkeys years earlier .. maybe sometime in college. I know that we keep hearing the phrases such as ‘life teaches you in every step’ ; ‘we learn something or the other everyday’ etc etc. There is a difference between this form of learning (which is to learn something new based on your existing knowledge) and the form that I am referring to .. i.e. to learn something new.. I mean from scratch….. just like when we were kids.
So, coming back to my story.. When I came to Bangalore I needed personal transportation , buying a car and driving it to office was the next natural progression ( for someone who drove the Activa at a little over 30 kmph in Delhi roads and who still does not know how to drive a geared two-wheeler .. you may call that as a ‘leap’ rather than a progression). Obediently, I enrolled myself in a car-driving school. It was a 10 day course .. 1 hour each day. The teacher , in his early 20’s, the best thing that could have happened to me – I thought – same age group you see !! Within 10 minutes of training on Day-1 I realized that the going would be tough. Somehow my Activa days were flashing in front of me as a monster that would not allow me to move forward ( > 30 kmph). The first gear was the toughest. At first the teacher was nice.. ‘you need to release the clutch gently, while you accelerate ( gently again)’ . The subtlety of the exercise was too much for me .. no less than doing a in-vitro-fertilization (IVF) with naked eyes. The teacher’s patience broke in the 9th minute.. thereafter he started dealing with me like a kindergarten kid. Each driving nuance was drilled into my head.. with absolute disdain to my ‘age’ or ‘stature’. At the end of 10 days I realized that my confidence level was exactly as it was in Day-1.
The second story started in office .. my colleague mentioned that he was going to learn Spanish .. I simply piled-on. It is easy I thought to learn a new language considering that I have a “finesse” to grasp new languages. The teacher on the first day mentioned that the ‘key to learn Spanish is to stop translating it from English’ – incidentally that is exactly what I do to learn new languages .. My most potent weapon was barred from being used. . Every time my Spanish teacher looks at me, I see in her eyes the words that say .. “ How can you be such a moron.. what you are learning now is something that children in Latin America learn before they join school”. Two months on and am still struggling. Not sure how many more years it would take to get there ..
These two experiences have left profound impression in me. When I am learning I keep my baggage of arrogance outside the class… All what I am outside the class in kept outside the class! If not anything, these two experiences have taught me to be more enduring and humble. To be child-like .. I say ! So the message to me was loud and clear .. keep learning .. for the quest of knowledge will keep me grounded and humble.
Many of us would begin to opine … and would ask .. If you keep learning all your life, when would you reap the benefits of what you learn.. or to put it differently .. ‘the measure of how well you have learned is the success it yields… ’ hence success is an essential element of learning or quest-for-knowledge. Where I differ with the above theory is .. Being successful or famous is the not the most important thing, 99 % of the people are not famous and it is stupid to have an aim / goal to be famous and successful.
The quest for knowledge is the most important thing .. Success is the by-product and it becomes so inconsequential when the journey (of learning) is so enchanting.
I tried to put this theory to test in the last year or so. Before you read-on through the passage, I must confess that the ‘realisation that I treaded the path of knowledge and that it would lead me to something was not a forethought’
I asked myself … ‘ when was the last time that I learned something new’ and realized that it was donkeys years earlier .. maybe sometime in college. I know that we keep hearing the phrases such as ‘life teaches you in every step’ ; ‘we learn something or the other everyday’ etc etc. There is a difference between this form of learning (which is to learn something new based on your existing knowledge) and the form that I am referring to .. i.e. to learn something new.. I mean from scratch….. just like when we were kids.
So, coming back to my story.. When I came to Bangalore I needed personal transportation , buying a car and driving it to office was the next natural progression ( for someone who drove the Activa at a little over 30 kmph in Delhi roads and who still does not know how to drive a geared two-wheeler .. you may call that as a ‘leap’ rather than a progression). Obediently, I enrolled myself in a car-driving school. It was a 10 day course .. 1 hour each day. The teacher , in his early 20’s, the best thing that could have happened to me – I thought – same age group you see !! Within 10 minutes of training on Day-1 I realized that the going would be tough. Somehow my Activa days were flashing in front of me as a monster that would not allow me to move forward ( > 30 kmph). The first gear was the toughest. At first the teacher was nice.. ‘you need to release the clutch gently, while you accelerate ( gently again)’ . The subtlety of the exercise was too much for me .. no less than doing a in-vitro-fertilization (IVF) with naked eyes. The teacher’s patience broke in the 9th minute.. thereafter he started dealing with me like a kindergarten kid. Each driving nuance was drilled into my head.. with absolute disdain to my ‘age’ or ‘stature’. At the end of 10 days I realized that my confidence level was exactly as it was in Day-1.
The second story started in office .. my colleague mentioned that he was going to learn Spanish .. I simply piled-on. It is easy I thought to learn a new language considering that I have a “finesse” to grasp new languages. The teacher on the first day mentioned that the ‘key to learn Spanish is to stop translating it from English’ – incidentally that is exactly what I do to learn new languages .. My most potent weapon was barred from being used. . Every time my Spanish teacher looks at me, I see in her eyes the words that say .. “ How can you be such a moron.. what you are learning now is something that children in Latin America learn before they join school”. Two months on and am still struggling. Not sure how many more years it would take to get there ..
These two experiences have left profound impression in me. When I am learning I keep my baggage of arrogance outside the class… All what I am outside the class in kept outside the class! If not anything, these two experiences have taught me to be more enduring and humble. To be child-like .. I say ! So the message to me was loud and clear .. keep learning .. for the quest of knowledge will keep me grounded and humble.
Many of us would begin to opine … and would ask .. If you keep learning all your life, when would you reap the benefits of what you learn.. or to put it differently .. ‘the measure of how well you have learned is the success it yields… ’ hence success is an essential element of learning or quest-for-knowledge. Where I differ with the above theory is .. Being successful or famous is the not the most important thing, 99 % of the people are not famous and it is stupid to have an aim / goal to be famous and successful.
The quest for knowledge is the most important thing .. Success is the by-product and it becomes so inconsequential when the journey (of learning) is so enchanting.
1 comment:
Anand, I completely agree with you that the quest for knowledge is eternal but that success is by product of this quest seems to be out of context. Success as they say is a journey and is a result of one's ability to apply the knowledge so acquired towards a positive and desired outcome.
There is a substantial differnce between acquiring knowledge of something and learning about somethin ;the latter determines the applicability to certain extent
Today you have learnt to drive and hence you could confidently drive a crooked fourwheeler that not only consumes all your limbs but demands a seamless coordination between the four of them and 2 eyes, one brain and countless nerves in absence of which any or all of them can break
You acquired knowledge of Spanish to certain extent, but would you say you have learnt it?
Life teaches you a lesson every day and you learn from life every day, I feel there is a world of differenc in these two things, the latter is the quest of knowledge and the former is the manifestation of a platonic teacher by a weak mind that is habituated to being fed and being directed- The follower kinds
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