An education

Education is important for a lot of reasons. Perhaps the best reason would be the fact that one develops a balanced outlook towards life, towards all that is happening around us, all the time. Education is also important because without an academic base it is difficult to converse with the person sitting next to you. Bookish knowledge is crucial but not the only aim. We strive for two different goals in the East and the West. Both are incomplete in many ways, so to say.

Some get their knowledge from textbooks, while a few others get it from experience. I have had the honour of combining both. My education is a mixture of bookish knowledge and practical experience. I have been blessed with humble parents who have principles which, although may seem rigid and difficult to apply in today's time and age, are imposed nevertheless. It has been a difficult journey for them and the learning hasn't stopped. The same applies to me. Everyday I learn new things, everyday I discover something unknown to me, everyday I am a little surprised at what lies beneath or out there.

The past three-four days have been another milestone. One minute my friend is sitting with me and we are all having a laugh, and in the evening, as we get together for another round of chit chat, I see this strange piece hanging down her neck and some red smothered on her hair line. She is married! How amusing. This experience, of getting to be a part of the so called 'Big fat Indian wedding', was a wonderful opportunity to know and reveal so much. A lot of happy moments, a few bitter ones included but, in the end, all that matters is I was there for my loved one.

Also, this may seem a bit weird but gaining a new perspective of things around me was an eye opener. I feel it is so important to respect and understand the other. We are all ethnocentrics of the same order. We are. Yet we hold on to our point of view as being the only correct way. Some are so engrossed in their make believe world that reality doesn't matter after a certain point. Some are so obsessed with an idea that everything else falls short in comparison. Even a good education.

To educate and to get educated. The learning never stops. For me atleast.