LEISURE

             ‘All work and no play remake Jack a dull boy’—thus goes the proverb. Ceaseless work truly begets boredom and fatigue. Leisure relieves and releases one from the drudgery of labour and the worries of duty. But for leisure, our existence in the haste and strain of modern life would have been almost unbearable.
             The thinkers have very aptly described leisure as the mother of culture at and philosophy. Life sans leisure can never create art. Work unites us with the outside world and affords the raw requisites for our existence. Leisure brings repose’ when we can shift these materials and select the ingredients to build something beautiful. Living in constant strain is not conductive to clear thinking. Relaxation from high tension grants the mind time and freedom for meditation. Art is. Thus, a fruit of leisure because creation of art is only possible when the mind is fully detached from other preoccupations and is unperturbed in a relaxed state of mental peace provided by leisure. Leisure is absolutely indispensable to culture and all sorts of creative urges. Men and women with profound leisure for the pursuits of art, culture and literature have succeeded in enriching human civilization.
             Leisure, however, must be properly utilized. Instead of wasting it in extravagent activities, it should be enjoyed nicely and purposely to make life worthwhile. Solitary amblings expeditions, outdoor games and various pleasant hobbies can make leisure interestingly enjoyable. They take pure attention off our strenuous duties. But, one must learn to discipline himself to turn one’s leisure into something really useful. Earning leisure is a way to the realization of the real value of life which is happiness. A happy man is always better than a successful man.

SOCIAL AWARENESS

             Social awareness is not merely an occasional feeling or a high- bounding jargon. It is a benevolent philosophy. No country can really prosper if her people do not cultivate social awareness. It is a pragmatist philosophy that instills in one fellow-felling, co-operation and a feeling of warm mutual indebtedness.
             We live in. society, society sustains us. Society is a big family. As we are indebted to our family for bringing us up tenderly and careful we must owe our indebtedness to society. From our formative years, we must train ourselves to recognize the unrestricted contribution of the society for molding our lives effectively and meaningfully. It is through social awareness that we can detect the realms of social incompleteness and then proceed to fulfill that void. Society needs healthy citizens. So, we must, from our seeding period, acquire health and keep maintain a sound body. Society needs educated people. So, we must, from our early student life, acquire sound education. We should always keep the adage in mind: means sane in corpore sano meaning ‘Sound mind in sound body’. Society needs obedience and ideals. So we must be obedient and persevering and open-minded and idealists.
             Besides these, we must, as socially aware, dedicate ourselves for the general upliftment of our countrymen. We must put all our endeavors to eradicate mass-illiteracy and diehard superstitions. We must educate our neighbours to maintain sanitation of the locality. We must learn to uphold the honour of our country. We must reform ourselves for from infringing the democratic rights of other persons. Sound awareness, thus gives us perfection as a man or a unit of the Society.

A NATION WITH NO EDUCATION

             India is the biggest democracy in the world and she has the second biggest population in the world also, next to China only. But the UNO’s statistics reveal two very dismal points. Before the 21st century India is going to be the biggest populous country of the world and, long before that, India is going to turn over the biggest illiterate population.
             But at the juncture even, India cannot be a nation with no education. The idea of a nation with no education denies our wildest conception today. It cannot be simply imagined. Today’s technology has, so to say, destroyed distance. The updated news-mediums dot the barriers and borders of the sovereign countries. Books and literatures of any country find inlets into other countries hoodwinking restrictions and censorship of all sorts. Inter-exchange of thoughts and cultures take place in spite of hydra-beaded differences in norms and forms of nationalism. These are the days of internationalism, and as such, a community, however backward, and a community however advanced, has to depend on other on many issues. People have thus come to realize, at the instance of others, the role of education. Only education can build up a nation.
             Great educators throughout the world have tried their best during their life-time to propagate education amongst their people. They formed or helped to form the conceptions of values, of ethics, of aesthetics, of culture and of the need of education. Many of these great heroes have scarified their lives for the eradication of illiteracy or fallacious education. But for them we have realized that true education and only true education, can bring about human emancipation.

PROCRASTINATION

             Procrastination in interpretation is just opposite to punctuality. While punctuality is great virtue procrastination is a debasing vice. It kills ones precious time, spoils one’s ready broth, and ruins one’s other qualities.
             But procrastination like a dangerous virus lives unseen in our habit and, so to say — work-culture. It is never inherent in man. Man carelessly acquires this sickness of habit. One who is not properly trained to perform one’s work within the scheduled hour, one who loves to be engaged in absurd brown-studies, one who is wonton enough to indulge in nurturing the illusion of unlimited time in the future to execute one’s tasks leisurely and unobtrusively, is foolish enough to bring about one’s own execution through failures and failures all through life. Procrastination is truely an offshoot of laziness — the worst foe of man. It hinders the easy flow of rhythmic performance of tasks and duties and social commitments.
             To ward off this dangerous enemy we must cultivate the habit of punctuality. A well-regulated work-culture perked up with resolution only can vanquish this perversion of character. It’s a drug, its addiction dies hard. Regularization of delaying liability and of strict routines can only eradicate this curse.

THE GROWING UNREST AMONG STUDENTS

             One of the most common discussions annoying the elders is about the growing unrest among the students. There is a common complain that at the present age the students are more indisciplined than ever before. One should not forget that the students from the youngest section of our society and if they do not have an avenue to give vent to their feelings, they create unrest.
             But what must be accepted is that in the present age, there is comparatively worse unrest and indiscipline in every sphere of life. The students are very much an important part of the society and if there is unrest in society, there is bound to be a reflections of the same on the students. Corruption, injustice, poverty, unemployment, strike, disease, dirty politics — all have bad reactions on the minds of the students. And since these have become a part of our daily life, these affect the students all the more. The students olden lose their patience and menial balance and thus it can be said that the glowing disorder in the society is one of the main reasons for the growing unrest among students.
             The role of the teachers in this sphere is also vows important. They should set examples for .the students with their disciplined conduct. They should also inform the students about the various ill-effects which may come upon the students if they become too untruly. The most important thing is that they should teach the students to become ideal citizens. If these measures are taken by the teachers and the problems of the students are probed into with loving consideration and due importance. One hopes that the unrest among the students will surely conic down.

RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF A CITIZEN

             It is the duty of the government of any country that it should protect its citizen by providing the necessary. But at the same time every citizen should act in such a manner as they help the government to do its duties. It has to be a mutual effort because rights and duties go hand in hand and we owe to the society as much as the society owes us.
             While it is the duty of the government, through the police, to see that thieves, robbers and people in that category are strongly condemned, it is also the duty of the citizens to help the police to go about with their duties. He should be a champion of law and order He should be the first to come and help his neighbors when they are in trouble, like a fire in the house. He should inform the fire brigade. He should also do his best to keep his locality as clean as possible. He should play apart in seeing that the lawless elements of the society do not get a chance to do their misdeeds. It is absolutely essential that everyone should love his country and be proud to be a part of the great nation. And when this feeling comes to an individual, it is seen that h is willing to take a part in building the country. He should ensure that various public assets like parks, buses, trains should not be damaged. He should ensure that roads are kept clean and that the law of the road is obeyed. It is the duty of every individual to see that nobody takes the law into his own hand. Individual freedom is a precious asset and everyone should see that it is not encroached upon by someone else.

A DRAMATIC PERFORMANCE I HAVE SEEN

             The other day I went with my friend to see a play named Macbeth. This was the Bengali version of Shakespeare’s famous play of the same title in English. Our English teacher once recited in the class the famous lines from Shakespeare’s Macbeth —‘Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow’. He also told us the story of the play. When he was vividly enacting the sleep-walking scene of Lady Macbeth, we were charmed. Now, for the first time, the whole play was seen by me.
             Although in Bengali, It was quite enjoyable. The person who played Macbeth had a very good voice. The parts of the witches were a little overdone. I am not sure if they should be made so comical. Lady Macbeth was very effective in the Banquet Scene, and I liked her part. I enjoyed the play as a whole.
             My friend asked me on our way back whether I considered Macbeth a criminal. My answer was, and still is, both ‘yes’ and ‘no’. ‘Yes’ because Macbeth committed a very heinous crime. ‘No’ because he suffered a lot for this and was at war with himself. I feel pity for Macbeth, I also feel pity for Lady Macbeth. For she also suffered for the sake of her husband and could not bear the terrible tension.