Importance of Role Models in One’s Life

Importance of Role Models in One’s Life

As the saying goes,”lead by examples” i.e you need to be perfect enough in your efforts or deeds to be taken up as an example by others. Everybody in this world follows one or the other for some act of theirs.

But the question is – who is a role model?

An athlete who has set up an unbreakable world record in his/her game? A famous film star who has played innumerable ideal characters in his movies? A politician who has done various reforms for the upliftment and betterment of the society?

I guess, everybody will have different opinions for selecting a role model for self.

A role model for us, is the one who is perfect in whatever he/she does.

Anybody whom we can look up to or get inspired by, becomes an ideal example to follow. Now, the next question is , if the idol of perfection is a role model, then is it necessary that it would be someone who is rich, famous successful, has fame and has successfully achieved the desired goals in life? Or, a role model can be our next door neighbor, a local grocery vendor, a barber, a cobbler, a salesperson, a shopkeeper, and the list goes on.

Can’t these people become our models of perfect life? If most of the people answer in negative for the above mentioned question, then my argument is – they can’t be role models for our life, just because they either belong to a lower strata of life or simply because they might be somebody ‘in the crowd’, but are nobody ‘over the crowd’. That they are just plain and simple people, just like you and me and all those people who come together to form the society.

There are times when we either out of curiosity read biographies or auto-biographies of famous and successful people. And many a times we are asked to read about them so that we can learn something from their life experiences.

How can we learn from someone else’s experiences? How can we relate with those situations which we haven’t faced? Every individual, every situation is different. Every one’s viewpoints differ from one another. What might sound positive or ideal to one, might not be the same with another.

Since childhood, our brain is channeled to follow the other person. Our parents compare us with our own brothers and sisters, saying, ‘look up to your brother’, ‘try to be like your sister’. ‘You should learn from the hardships of your father’ and so on. In school, our respected teachers also do the same. “If Raman can score well in this subject, why can’t you?” “If Priya can speak so fluently, why are you so shy?” – Learn from them.

Learn from him or learn from her – but nobody says “Learn from yourself”.

As nobody asks us to learn from our own selves – we start looking for people, with whom we can relate to and find their situations similar to ours and hence, we end up believing that they are our role models and in our sub-conscious selves, start following them or imitating them.

Delights and Usefulness of Walking

Delights  and Usefulness of Walking

Experts say “Walking is the best exercise.” It has been proven to be true since time immemorial. Our great ancestors emphasized on the benefits of walking barefoot on dew-wet-grass early in the morning. Walking barefoot not only made one relaxed and rejuvenated but also the wet grass, the fresh dew made the whole exercise delightful. As babies grow, they try to take a few steps every now and then. They are encouraged to walk not only for their mobility but also for the development of their body.

People walk for various reasons. Some of us walk because we have to reach our destination. Some of us walk to while away our leisure time, while others walk to burn out those extra calories and stay fit and healthy.

Whatever may be the reason – walking has so many benefits. When Gandhiji was fighting against the Britishers, he invited all the Indians for a Dandi March. This protest could have been in any other form but he opted for walking. Today it needs no mentioning, what that walking did for all of us and for our nation.

Times have changed and so has our lifestyle changed. Thanks to the sedentary lifestyle that everyone has adopted. Every second person you meet will be complaining of stress, fatigue, lack of time and full on extra-unwanted calories - which has furthermore added on to the frequent appointments with the doctor. Since everyone owns a vehicle, and is always in a hurry – there is no time for walking. Even if someone has to go to a next lane grocery store, one will opt for a vehicle instead of going on foot. We all want to save time and energy.

People are of the notion that walking will deprive off their energy, which they need for finishing off their chores. However the fact is entirely different. As a matter of fact, walking gives us energy, it boosts up our spirits, it freshens up our mind and body, it increases our stamina, it helps build up our metabolism and above all this, most importantly it offers us the “feel – good” factor.

Obesity is one problem which has engulfed the whole continent. All the medical experts voice out one common opinion for all – Walk. It is the easiest and the cheapest advice that can be utilized for the best results. Walking does not require you to have a fixed time-schedule (however a fixed one will benefit more). It does not require any equipment, it needs no technical know-how, it needs no trainer.

All you need is the will power and determination and a pair of good shoes for a smooth and enjoying walking experience. If you have a walking partner, the experience can be more fun and entertaining, however, even if you are alone, you can enjoy being one with nature.

The youngsters plug in their earphones and make theirs a musical exercise. Once you start off with this fun activity you will enjoy it – not only as an activity but also its benefits. You can easily check out the health and mind improvement. There’s no need of a doctor to tell you that you are doing good because the ‘feel-good factor’ is keeping you energetic, lively, ten times more happy, composed and relaxed.

Another health defect which is the mother of most of the ailments/illnesses is – lack of sleep. A person who is deprived of a good sleep cannot have a healthy mind and body. This unhealthiness shows up on the face, physical health and mental temperament. It is recommended to have a sound sleep and a good sleep for 7-8 hours. If any person is not getting ample sleep, that person will always be feeling giddy, will lack concentration, will be out of focus and that person’s working potential will be on a constant decline.

If walking is introduced to such a person – the person is bound to have a good night’s sleep and his performance will shoot up to an all time high. Such are the miracles of walking.

However, as exceptions are always there, here too, certain Terms and Conditions are applicable. There are a few points to keep in mind.

The first and the most important, the technique of walking. If we are walking, just for the sake of it and not maintaining a good posture; our body will start complaining of stiffness. Since the posture is not right, the stress would be more on the joints and the bones. Many people complain of back pain, knee-pain, joints pain, neck pain, shoulder pain etc. after walking. Hardly realizing the fact that it was just the posture of the body that is creating hurdles in enjoying the pleasures of walking.

Our body needs to be straight and tension free. We should be wearing loose and comfortable clothes, so that nothing comes in between walking and enjoying. And as they say, “Shoes are a man’s best friends”. One must wear good, fitting and comfortable shoes, so that walking is over, you don’t end up having sore feet or aching heels.

The other technique is of pace. Are you walking at a normal pace, are you brisk walking or are you jogging? Many people tend to start with a brisk walk – half-way, they start running short of breath, - in order to pacify their thumping heart, and they slow down. This is an ideal example of unplanned move.

Then there are other groups of people who think that the heavier the brisk walk is – the shorter will be the time consumed. For the calorie conscious lot, a high speed brisk walk will lead to more calories burned. This again is wrong notion. The hard truth is that one needs to maintain a constant pace. This holds especially true for people who mix up brisk walking with jogging. Such people start as if they are preparing for a marathon or best – as if they are doing a noble cause for the society. For all such people, the secret is ‘to walk and to walk at a constant pace’. A pace that they can be easy, comfortable and not out of breath. Walking is a complete exercise. It helps the brain functioning, proper blood circulation, heartbeat, lungs and liver functioning, it relaxes the muscles, provides strength to the bones, increases stamina, makes us one with the nature and relaxes our mind and heart from all sort of stress and fatigue. It helps cleanse our body system inside out. It clears all the emotional vents out of the heart, it clears our mind to have a fresh approach towards our mentally tough situations. Walking gives us time to thank God for the beautiful colors and sounds, for the various shapes and sizes that are all around us. It gives us time to enjoy the bounties of nature.

“How to inculcate reading habits among school children?”

In the yesteryears, reading only meant – books, newspapers and magazines. And in the modern era, reading means any form of written text – be it e-books, e-newspapers, e-magazines, e-mails, text messages etc.

What is this “e” that is being talked about?

With globalization, with modernization, with scientific and technological advancement comes “e” as a freebie. This “e” stands for “electronic”. Needless to say that with so much of technological advancement today, the electronic market is full of various electrical gadgets. Man from a social being has turned into a gizmo. Man no longer speaks or talks but he is expressing his views or voicing out his opinions through an electronic gadget called a ‘mobile’, ‘tablet’, ‘computer’ or a ‘laptop’.

The former greeting – “Hi! How are you?”, these days has turned into – “Hi! Hw r u?”  The shorter the sentence the better. The minimal words indicate the absence of feelings, emotions and sometimes also of ideas. Whereas, before the advent of such electronic gadgets and gizmos, one’s life was a little more organized. During the free time people used to read and they read quality stuff. By quality, I mean great works of great writers, poets, novelists. These literary people were icons and role models of the common man. Through their works they contributed in the upliftment of man’s knowledge in general and society as a whole. It’s a pain to see little school children spending hours and hours in front of T.V. or on the computer. They are not interested in studies as they know that they can access every information on the internet. They don’t want to read as they feel that it’s a sheer wastage of time. Instead they are sitting on their computers or mobile phones and playing games online.

Our grandparents and parents always insisted that “Books are a man’s best friend”. 

Alas, this does not hold any good in today’s present world. By saying that today’s generation is more prone to using the electronic media, I am not denying the fact that they are not sensible in deciding for themselves what to read. There are books and books available in the market. Thanks to the cut throat competition amongst the youngsters – the market is flooded with all sort of books. Now one has to decide what to read and what not to. This obviously is a great decision, however there is a pool of dull, drab and lazy lots who just by looking at books give up the idea of reading them.

Since reading has become such a tedious task these days, there is an alarming concern as to how to inculcate reading habits among school children.

Reading helps in improving mental health, removes narrow thinking, provides pleasure, keeps mind fresh broadens outlook, and helps cope with stress. All these healthy benefits of reading are losing their charm. Knowledge is wealth and we gain this wealth in the form of books. Books can be in any form – comics, magazines, books of poetry, religious books, novels, drama, books of wisdom – to name a few. Our grandparents were not literate, but they were educated enough to recite the shlokas from the great Gita, Ramayana or Mahabharata. They chanted verses in Sanskrit or Devnagiri – verses of Kalidas, Valmiki, they recited dohas of Kabir. Inspite of being illiterate, they were highly educated, they had great knowledge and high wisdom – because they knew what to read and how to read. They tried to instill the same habits of reading in us. They taught us the importance of reading. They brought us to the world of books showcasing their knowledge and wisdom of which they have earned from reading quality books. Today, we are reading what we want to read and that too on internet, in the form of blogs. We are running away from the actual paper book which is declining in number due to the low demand of our dear readers.

Every paper book has been replaced by an e-book. The language has been distorted. There is no appreciation of the writing style, the coherence of ideas. What one is concerned while reading is – saving of time and quick understanding of the content. Everybody is writing blogs these days. The youngsters are getting confused. They are not understanding the real worth of books. There is a great challenge.

Earlier, the revolution was to transform every book into an e-book and today, another revolution needs to be instigated, of transforming that e-book back to the paper book of good old times. We need to limit our access of electronics into our lives. We need to adjust our lifestyles such that we can afford to have some leisure time. Only then the leisure time would mean spending our time with our best friends (i.e. books). The school education system also plays a vital role in this process. Schools of today are busy assessing the students with their overall development. In this process they have overlooked the fact that the students are not getting enough time for themselves. The school students no longer spend their time with family or friends. All they complain of is – lack of time. If we cannot do anything with the prevalent education system; we can at least resolve to ourselves to make our school children at ease during their vacations. We can introduce them to a whole new array of books – some religious, some with historical events, some with funny and hilarious stories, some full of thrill, adventure and mystery, some with scientific knowledge, some with inventions and the variety of books goes on.

We need to ensure that we are not forcing the students to read; instead we are encouraging them with some good reading habits and we also need to make sure that reading does not become monotonous or boring, instead it should be fun and exciting. Once the students get on with the habit of reading, the they need to be taught the importance of good reading. The melancholy of the modern day man can only be overcome if we get to read books and share the knowledge amongst ourselves.

We will not only be valuing the worth of books but also we will be transforming ourselves into better citizens of the society.