Let your spirit soar!

As a callow youth I used to think that all graduates - mostly lecturers and professors - were walking encyclopedias. During my long association with the academia I realized that even professors are not different from other human beings. Sometimes they knew next to nothing outside their subject area. You cannot blame them, can you?

Both educated and ordinary people have their strengths and weaknesses. However, the educated man has an advantage over the other because he has the gift of making intelligent guess. Sometimes even educated people can be found on the wrong side of an issue. When the Government was eliminating terrorism, they called it violation of human rights. Once a Harvard professor said, "There is a Harvard man on the wrong side of every question." Not only Harvard graduates but also other pundits can be found supporting the wrong side of an issue very often.

As a general rule, an educated man has the ability to make an intelligent guess when he does not have all the information. Unless he has ulterior motives such as fishing in troubled waters, he can take a stand amid all the uncertainties. This is precisely the reason why we have to educate ourselves and our children. True education should go beyond what you learn in the classroom. Education should embrace courage, understanding, empathy, and ability to make an intelligent guess when necessary.

When education is limited to the classroom, we tend to produce men and women who have no wisdom. A wise man, on the hand, can make an intelligent guess and is usually gifted with soaring spirit. He soars above his peers to achieve success in various fields of activity.

Even as a sick child Ralph Waldo Emerson had a multiplicity of interests. He could guess what might be the new discoveries in different fields. Thus he soared above ill heath and lived to be 78. He sets an example to anyone who has given up hopes simply because they are struck down by some illness or adversity.

If you do not try to soar above adversity, life becomes a humdrum existence. People with soaring spirit can be identified easily. They keep themselves busy acquiring new skills, learning languages, and associating with great minds. They have no time for gossip because they are preoccupied with principles and ideas. They cannot be suppressed because their spirits are elsewhere.

If you are excited when you come across a new book of poetry or fiction, you have a soaring spirit. You may have come across people who are only interested in eating, drinking, and gossiping. Such people simply do not know what the soaring spirit means. As I write this I see people jogging in the park nearby. This may be a good form of exercise. However, have they ever enjoyed long walks across paddy fields and footpaths in a village?

We have our own moments of inspiration. When we are inspired we forget everything else and pursue a particular interest. That is bound to give us happiness.

My friend Pandikorale, a retired banker, is excited whenever he comes across a new book on grammar on reading comprehension. He visits bookshops regularly and buys books he had never read before. While his spirit is soaring I see some teachers sticking to their uninteresting but well-thumbed text books, not paying any attention to new knowledge bursting in the horizon. For them the sky seems to be empty and motionless. But for people like Pandikorale the sky is bubbling with new inventions.

You can soar by means of the inspiration of other people. If you have a soaring spirit, you too can inspire others. Remember that everyone you meet has some interest you do not possess. If you really want to have a soaring spirit, there are some subjects that might help. Whatever you do, have an abiding interest in literature, philosophy, and psychology. These are regions of culture most likely to lift your spirit. If intelligent guessing is the hallmark of an educated person, soaring spirit indicates that you are above average. The world is full of average people. Therefore, be someone special!