Be Proud of Being Literate! Job toh mil hi jayega :-)

677th BLOG POST -->>

            I don't know how many of you are aware of this but I would like to talk about the day. Yesterday- 8th September is celebrated as International Literacy Day. It was first celebrated in 1966 after being announced by UNESCO on 17th November,1965. The aim is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies. According to some of the stats that I have collected from Internet(as usual), 775 million adults lack minimum literacy skills. 1 in 5 adults is still not literate and 2/3rds of them are women. 60.7 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out. Literacy contributes to peace as it brings people closer to attaining individual freedoms and better understanding the world, as well as preventing or resolving conflict. The connection between literacy and peace can be seen by the fact that in unstable democracies or in conflict-affected countries it is harder to establish or sustain a literate environment. 

             If you'll observe keenly, you'll decipher that a person who excels academically is respected the most in society. Being literate means having good education. And the one who has good education is an all-rounder. In our respective syllabuses, we have different kind of subjects. If one student passes all the examinations successfully and passes out with most number of degrees, you tend to respect him without any efforts. Though we keep on saying that "Every dog is an Engineer or MBA today" but still when someone says that I'm an Engineer, you start seeing him as someone from whom you can learn something. And you yourself know the expression you give when someone says that I have passed so and so degree with distinction. :-) 

              Though talented people are celebrated as if some Super-humans have landed up on the Earth but still an Educated person gains the kind of respect one needs in life. I, personally don't feel any kind of abuse, taunt or harsh words as an Insult but if someone says that "Tere ko kuch nahi aata" or calls me an Ignorant or any thing of that kind, it hurts. If someone calls you a FAILURE(in studies), you do feel insulted. For once, one may hear something about his character and say,"Ye toh public hai kuch na kuch bolti rahegi" and ignore it but one cannot get himself crowned as a Stupid in terms of academics and studies. Once heard something of this sort, one starts studying silently at home without informing any of the friends. And later on, proves it to everyone that "I am good for everything. Yes. Every damn thing". I have many examples of my childhood friends who weren't great students then. They were being insulted in our colony for being in the poor students' category. But later on, the insult got turned into a fury and passion. They started studying by cutting short the time for which they slept and scored marks of the level which even the so called studious children also couldn't touch. Such is the power of being termed as Illiterate or Ignorant or Stupid. How important being Literate is!

             When a teacher tells in the class that he/she has won a Gold Medal in the particular course, we ignore all the bad points in the teacher that we kept on pricking every now and then. Suddenly, respect prevails against judgement. Just because the person announces that "I'm educated at the best". When one has a mother with great education, he/she likes to boast that both of their parents have studied and are even working professionally. How proud the moment is! There used to be a time when only educated parents were known for educating their children but now-a-days we do hear that uneducated parents are also sending their children to high-end colleges for education. Salute!!! Today, I'm a Graduate. Currently, struggling to be a Post-Graduate. Even after this if I'll not get job, I won't be ashamed of myself, ever. For the only fact that I am a Literate. Just unsuccessful. And being Successful is just one of the two options. If not in the first, one automatically ends up falling in the second one. So being an Unsuccessful literate is far better than being an Illiterate. 

             Let's hope that our India will head towards betterment in the terms of Literacy and we will find the percentage growing every year. We have many children still unaware of what school is. This is a serious issue. Until and unless we will not focus on the education of the Generation Next, we will never ever see our nation standing high in comparison to the remaining world. There are many NGOs that work for providing education to poor children, girls etc. Know about them through Google, if possible end up donating some amount of your pocket money and help some children get education. I do donate books. But as it is said- Charity should not be branded like Being Human :-), I mostly don't speak about this. Hence, I would like to stop the topic now. Just, get yourself educated, your family educated, your friends' family educated and help everyone around you get at least basic education. 

   HAPPY LITERACY DAY!!!

   Thanks.

   ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU