The other day I was having coffee at workplace and the aroma instantly reminded me of the time I attended CSR activity at my old branch's nearby government school. Manager gave everyone school stationeries and since it was Saturday, which is half day to them, school was almost over and they were waiting for their Saturday Brunch. It's usually Mid Day Meals or Lunch on weekdays but It's served at around 11:30 on Saturday, so brunch it is. After all the presentation of stationeries, photos etc, we were leaving and the Teachers asked us to stay for lunch to have with kids since the kids were all happy with the bank's gesture of CSR activity which involved their school. We sat along with school kids and had our lunch. After it was over, Head Madam asked Manager Sir to talk few motivational words about studies since Baroda Foundation Day was around their school tests. Manager Sir talked for few minutes and importance of planning, dedication and involvement in any plan or exam to succeed. After that, Sir asked me to talk something about their school tests etc. I became nervous and didn't had any experience of public speaking, so I was shocked for a while. But then I thought, since the audience are kids, I almost have nothing to worry about. So I started with simple questions.
First of all, I asked name, class, and their favorite hobby to random students. Everyone was in happy happy mood and everyone gave answers with great energy. I asked few general knowledge questions, some riddles etc and some kids answered the question, and for unknown questions they were very eager to know the answer. Later at that stage, I asked them Does in Everyone believe in God? As a random government school mixture of students, everyone said Yes, but their answer Varied from Vishnu to Jesus to Allah to Buddha etc. So, I went further and asked if they are aware of the Genie and everyone said yes they were all curious to say their answers on what would they ask if a genie appeared and was able to grant three wishes. Since all of them were below 12 years, everyone asked for better marks, good jobs in future, their desire to be cricketer, actor etc. So, as per my opinion, I gave an outline on what should be one's wish list if any genie appeared out of nowhere and they should be prepared for it.
1: Past Mistakes: Everyone makes mistakes, while some can be corrected and some couldn't. Since human evolution, humans have made tons of errors, looting other countries, declaring war, colonisation and so on. We may think we can always invent a time machine to go back and correct the mistakes of the past. But theoretically, that's not how time travel works and it shouldn't be one's motive in life. Making mistakes is okay, but owning them and accepting the mistake is how we grow and evolve. There was a time when women weren't allowed to vote. Decades later, we realised it was wrong and now women are almost everywhere in every working industry and working side by men and in some areas they're far better than men. So, I informed the kids, even though making mistakes is wrong, somewhere we have to think and proceed on how to correct past mistakes.
2. Present Scenario: We may like Gulab Jamun today, but if we eat Gulab Jamun everyday for the rest of the year, we may not like it so much. Similar incidents happen throughout life because Uncertainty is the only certain thing to happen in life. So, when we are making a decision, especially big decisions like moving to new city, marriage, career change, not only we have to consider the positive outcome of today, but also the impact of it on our future selves.
3. Future Adventure: When I was young, I wanted to be a sportsperson like Narain Karthikeyan, popular F1 Race Driver. For longest period of time my dream goal was changing from Astronaut to Actor to Teacher to Prime Minister etc. 20 years later, today I work at a Bank. If I knew this 20 years ago, I wouldn't have believed myself. Also, I unknown infinite number of possibilities had me try at least towards one or two dream jobs I had. As someone said, birth is a gift and death is a surprise gift. One may not agree and consider death as a gift, but it sure is a surprising event. We can never ever be prepared for it. We know when and where did we born, but we never know the end of our story. Think about it, we don't know what happens tomorrow also, obviously we may have a vague idea that we'll go to work or trip to Goa and so, but plans can happen and gets cancelled anytime. To conclude, future is a surprise question, part of it's answer is revealed to us everyday.
And thus, I asked the students to form their three wishes with Genie to involve something from their past, present and future. They all felt confused and Manager sir said its time to go. At that moment I realized I was daydreaming about public speaking to kids and snapped back to reality. And I thought, anyway, it was nice to go on a imaginary trip associated with real event that stayed in my memory over a cup of coffee. The story of me talking to kids might be fictional but philosophy of Genie and Three wishes made me write this. Although I don't believe in Genie and all, I better keep my three wishes ready, you know, just in case. Moving On.
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