Of good health, good hygiene, good habits
| Date :20-Oct-2019 |
IN THE midst of the common societal concern about helping our youngsters acquire good health, good hygiene and good habits and keeping them away from addictions and afflictions of various kinds, some examples shine out and shout for attention and appreciation. These examples involving youngsters -- mostly in their teen years -- are so wonderful and energising that they make you feel good about our youths. This may be a lopsided picture, so to say, since only a minority of youngsters is represented by them. No matter that, knowing these examples does make you feel good, happy. Here is one such story -- of a teenager who has chosen swimming as his sport of excellence.
He is truly good at it, winning medals and prestigious competitions. He rises well before dawn and gets into his pursuit of excellence the very moment of his waking. He gets ready and leaves when it is mostly dark -- straight for the swimming pool, where is works with utmost focus on what he wants to achieve on that given day. Back home after three hours, he gets ready in precise movements and actions and leaves for school. In the early evening, once back from the school, he goes back to the swimming pool where he hones his skill and his strength. By the time he is back home around 8 in the evening, this boy has every reason to feel tired. But that is not the case with him.
He studies, keeps himself up-to-date in scholastics, before retiring finally for the night. In this whole schedule, very tight by any standard, he has little time to peep into his mobile phone or seek a resort to internet. And more importantly, he has made a conscious choice not to attend any tuition classes -- which is the fashion of the day. Yet, this lad concentrates on studies a few days before each examination and scores very well, making his parents and family and friends extremely happy. His idea is simple: He does not want to waste time in tuition classes.
“And we are also not worried since he scores high marks in all his exams,” his mother says. True, this boy -- whose name I will not write since that is not what I do here -- does miss an exam at times if he is participating in a competition outside town. On some occasions, the school agrees to offer him a delayed examination all for himself, and on other times, it does not offer the concession. In that case, this lad has to work extra hard to make for the average by doing better in the remaining of examinations. And each time that happens, his scores remain good enough to give him a high average. This is not a fictional account; this is a real-life story. I know this boy very well.
I know his parents very well, because one of them is my colleague. And each time they speak of him, their eyes shine in pride. This is also the case with kids of a few other colleagues as well. These kids boast of truly good health, truly good hygiene, and truly good habits -- making their families proud. Yet, let us not miss the other part of the reality that these are only rare cases in small numbers, while most other teenage kids are victims of addictions and afflictions of a diabolical nature. Our societal worry is about this majority. It is time we all worked together to find effective solutions to these issues.