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Can Humanity Live in Harmony? Author: Hareshwar P. Singh On the 3rd of December I (Hareshwar P. Singh) took my students to the Indian embassy in Jakarta to participate in a speech competition held on the occasion of National Integration Day. We were told by the embassy staff that they had organized yet another event in the third week of November on the occasion of Communal Harmony Day. I have since been thinking over the challenge of communal harmony in India and how lack of social harmony eventually threatens world peace. As a matter of fact, issues related to national integrity and communal harmony are closely linked. The dictionary meaning of communal harmony is: peaceful and friendly relations between people from different races, religions, or language groups. It is quite interesting to note that communal harmony is an issue peculiar to modern times; it was not a problem in earlier times. In order to appreciate this fact let us look at this issue first in a historical pe

Let Education Shape a Global Mind Author: Hareshwar P. Singh What is education in its broadest sense and what is its fullest scope for students in this volatile world? One cannot deny that the basic function of education is to impart the bulk of knowledge to learners and equip them with the skills which are vital for their survival in the contemporary competitive world. Without such educated professionals the ever-widening needs of society and the commercial world cannot be fulfilled. However, this cannot be the only or ultimate purpose of education. A holistic education, especially at school level, must strive to create a new mind which refuses to function in the narrow grooves of racial, nationalistic, linguistic, and sectarian sentiments. Can our education help students cultivate a mind that has a global perspective and is therefore not constrained by the stifling confines of caste, colour and creed considerations? If educational institutions fail to accomplish such a task, t

Religious Mind with a Secular Outlook Author: Hareshwar P. Singh The ultimate purpose of human life is not the mere pursuit of fleeting pleasures and egocentric gratifications but the quest of eternal Truth, which is in fact at the core of all religions. It is in the discovery of this Truth beyond time and space that one can experience a sense of vibrant peace, everlasting joy and ultimate fulfilment. Life is an indivisible homogeneous whole and in spite of being myriad mortals, we are all manifestations of this single imperishable divine reality. After this revelation as a self-discovery we naturally become affectionate and compassionate to all our fellow beings, even while competing with each other for our survival in this increasingly competitive world. After all, we have no choice but to play the game of life in all earnestness, maintaining a sense of detachment at the same time. One has to be serious in all one’s actions but be ready to accept their results in a non-serio

My Educational Philosophy in a Nutshell Author: Hareshwar P Singh Education, in a wider perspective, is not merely the accumulation of knowledge and information in various academic disciplines, which is nevertheless essential in order to earn one’s living and survive in an increasingly competitive world. In its holistic sense, education is a means of total development of a pupil—physical, intellectual and emotional/spiritual development. True education must lead one from knowledge to wisdom, and ultimately to a profound sense of intelligence and enlightenment. Such an educated person has a great insight not only into the way human mind works but also into the ways of the world, and therefore is capable of living sanely in this seemingly insane world. Taking a more pragmatic view, it is the function or role of education to keep society supplied with various kinds of skilled professionals needed for the smooth functioning of a nation. In the contemporary educational landscape,

Teachers as Role Models Author : Hareshwar P Singh Ideally, teachers should be role models for their pupils. In reality, however, there are few teachers today who can legitimately claim to be a positive role model for their pupils. The majority of teachers in the contemporary world are only professionals who are paid in exchange for their instructional inputs. Given the fact that cultural and religious values vary from society to society it is difficult to imagine a person who can universally fit in to the frame of an ideal teacher and a perfect role model. For instance, in a country like India people usually expect school teachers—or the prime ministers and presidents—to be a  teetotaler  and a non-smoker in order to be considered as a role model. In the West where there are stark demarcations between your professional and personal life such parameters will be scorned and rejected outright. Throughout the world teachers are expected to be their pupils’ role models. It is, ho