The concept of I

So yes I am a postgrad student now. “Learnings”, “appreciate the process/theory/application”, “Optimisation” are a few terms/jargons/phrases out of an odd fifty that surface in every conversation at class, mess tables, normal chit chats, presentations, assignment write-ups etc. (I am sure you got the gist!) more often than not.

But what remains to be asked is, do we really understand these phrases? Aren’t we using the word “learnings” to cover up for things we haven’t learnt? Are we really appreciating the process/theory/application or are we just sitting like zombies in class looking vacantly at the screen and nodding? Have we “optimised” the resources at our disposal? Let’s see!!

So a few days back a friend said “why are we always taking examples of all the successful stories? Why aren’t we talking more of failures ‘cause those are the things we shouldn’t do? This got me thinking, food for thought: One guy out of a population of 700 (including staff and every living soul on campus) thought of this. Pretty astonishing! "Are we, even worse - our thoughts, caged by social stigma?

I thought about this at length and finally after several days of brain picking I stopped at “I”. It’s a single unsuspecting letter but very potent. With due respect to the ‘You-approach’, I say this: “Why are we learning the you-approach in the first place when people don’t even know how to do the I-approach justice?

The I-approach holds the power to bring out the best in everyone if done correctly (and here I am talking about a balance not extremities like narcissism and self-obsession). As it is nobody follows the you-approach nowadays, it’s only a theory, so the curriculum might as well teach students where to strike a balance with the I-approach.

Although we are taught to quit the I-approach. It is only I that would understand myself best, love me irrevocably, see my flaws, pride in my intensities, embrace my drawbacks, adore my goof-ups and learn from them, revel at my glories, wonder at my growth and worship my inner-being to the last cell. No one else would selflessly do the same for me because everything else is temporary! I could be my own source of joy… and it is very positive. It is only when I know myself best, can I be the best for others.

So no, we are not optimizing. Why you ask? Simply because we are not so much as challenging the theories as gulping whatever is offered. We are not applying reverse psychology to these theories, we are not asking why!! We are simply covering things we haven’t learnt with unsuspecting words like “learnings”

LoveJ

Cheers to finding ourselves

ADITI