A year back or so, I was given a task to teach the novel text to the students of 11th and 12th standard. The text which I enjoyed to teach after a while, however, seemed difficult to tackle primarily, as one has to orchestrate with the new ways---They say, “Old habits are tough to break.”  They are right in saying so, since you have a way with old ways. Many a times it has happened to me that subconsciously I have tread those routes that I was not supposed to take, given the routes were carved in my psyche--- So damn right are they in saying, “old itineraries are unforgettable.”

I was used to the old texts of 11th and 12th, almost had memorized all, given the span I was teaching, a decade almost. Chinar I&II , After twenty years, the introductory chapter of 12th standard, Bob and Jimmy, the characters, who during my teens had touched me deep, especially the character of Jimmy, who was to meet his hoary friend after twenty years,  with whom he had a bottomless attachment – But, prioritizes his job and honesty instead of his friendship.  Recalling an incident, when I was a fresh pass out from Kashmir University and was assigned the task to take the class of 11th standard, I was confounded and perplexed; as the students whom I was supposed to teach looked elder to me, their body and physique sent me shivers down my spine. It would be a sort of dishonesty, if I won’t admit, I was cogitated and flabbergasted, being a young chap who knew nothing than the books he had read and considered them the gory reality.  When I took the class, and tried to teach the way I was told to teach, I felt I am a failure; as the methodology and pedagogy did not work. So, that moment I realized the presence of mind is more important than the teaching aptitude I was taught back in my colleges and universities in the professional degrees.

Once an affluent man was asked by a journalist, “how did he become that successful?”  The man replied, “Right decisions.”  The journalist asked again, “how did you take right decision?”  The man answered, “Well, because of experience.” Not being satisfied with his answer, the scribe questioned again, “how did you get that experience?” The man smiled and replied, “I got it by wrong decisions.” So one should never be afraid of wrong decision as they are foundation of success. Things take time, one has to get synchronized with the things he wants to achieve, as Sheikh Saadi Sheerazi (AR) says, “Things are difficult till they become easy.” For a kindergarten child, holding a pen is difficult which although, is easy for a kid who is in nursery. Stuffs, take time, a man should never hope and become dejected as dejection is un-Islamic and sacrilege.            

 Change is the law of nature, every creature of the universe goes through change. I once came across an Arabic saying, “I suffered, I learnt and I changed.”  Suffering is a part and parcel of life, by suffering a man gets percolated and one must not be sad or gloomy as the darkest chapters of life provide the best lessons and always are the greatest phases which prepare for the toughest trajectories.

Comfort zones never hone the skills of a person, comfort zones are that toxins which noshes a person gradually, and does not let one know where it has stretched its dweller. The safe-haven, is the most cunning foe, which is being liked and adored by everyone, I consider it that dilettante which teaches and invites nothing but adversity. One should always fear it, as it’s not only dreadful but also calamitous. When my students ask me what keeps me so positive and motivated, I reply them with quotes, “When the disastrous has passed, start rebuilding your life and never look back.” And “Quitters never win and winners never quit.”  So you are born to win, provided you start believing in it as everything in the universe is based on belief and faith. That’s why it is said, faith can move the mountain.   

(The Author is RK Columnist and can be reached on:  mufti.jameel97@gmail.com)