You're Only Cheating Yourself
I remember as a school kid, cheating in an exam was absolutely shameful. This belief is prevalent even today. It’s in the news all the time – kids are cheating in school in new ways and at unprecedented rates.
Should someone be caught in a public exam be it at the SSC, Inter, Graduation, PG level or any competitive exam, they face immediate and severe punishment of a rustication or getting debarred or whatever. It affects the students life, and mars his/her future for a long part of their life. I really don’t know what happens afterwards. While I feel sorry for them, I am definitely not advocating that such an offence go unpunished.
I feel it is a little too harsh, because in recent times, a lot of businessmen – like in the case of Enron, Satyam, Union Carbide in the case of the Bhopal tragedy, and then the innumerable case of scams 2G, 3G, Fodder scam, match fixing, land scams, Adarsh Society, and the many cases filed by CBI etc. in India and God knows how many cases like this are reported through out the world, the list can go on endlessly, and all of these people are ‘cheaters’ outright blatant cheaters. All cases of cheating and massive one’s at that, but the people accused, involved in these cases and the one’s behind these cases are all either politicians, bureaucrats, army officers, retired judges, etc., enjoy immunity. Trials go on in courts with evidences piling up, and the courts asking for newer and more evidences, all cases drag on for months and years again costing the exchequer a ‘fortune.’ We are mere helpless by-standers, who only talk this for the sake of being in the know of things, that’s all, and keep saying that its of no use. Should they come out on bail like Ramalinga Raju of Satyam is now, he might perhaps want to write a book of the way he grew in a village and then went on to conquer the world till he met his ‘Waterloo.” It will sell a million copies, who knows, and may be honored by the same society that shunned him for all the cheating. He might even make a comeback and this time as a knowledgeable honest author and people applauding him for his honesty, guts, openness etc., and some shameless physcophant might even compare him with the likes of “Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandella,’ etc. Poor people, their memories are far too short.
Going back to cheating in the school ad college level, getting barred for a few years, then making a comeback in life, finishing the exams honorably now, applies for a job, and of course, struggles to get on. In the interview he honestly explains the gap in education etc., saying he was caught ‘cheating’ in the exams. The interviewers will make note of this and may not select the candidate too. This after serving the punishment. How devastating and bad this can be. Isn’t is bad for us to have such a mind-set and myopic thinking. We act without any conviction or courage. This I think is even more shameful than being caught and punished for cheating. Absolute sickening double-standards isn’t it, but yes, this is the truth.
One of the reasons is the way schools and parents deal with or ignore the underlying issues of integrity and character. For instance, a popular thing adults say to discourage kids from cheating is, “You’re only cheating yourself.”
Of course cheating damages credibility and character, but it’s also dishonest and unfair. Cheaters don’t just cheat themselves. They cheat everyone affected by their cheating including honest students who are put at a competitive disadvantage and college admission officers and employers who think a student’s grade accurately reflects his or her competence. What’s more, cheaters dishonor their families, teachers, and schools.
When we tell kids they’re cheating themselves because they aren’t learning the material, we have to remember that most kids who cheat think what they’re asked to learn is unimportant. They’re quite comfortable not knowing the value of X or the capital of Zimbabwe. As to mastering skills, cynical and coldly pragmatic students believe that learning to cheat is more useful than learning the material.
Finally, it’s dangerous to promote self-centered, cost-benefit calculations about cheating in a way that ignores or minimizes the crucial moral issues of honesty and honor. Nearly two-thirds of high school students cheat on exams because they’re not afraid of getting caught and they get better grades.
To address the problem, we must promote integrity, not self-interest, and we must tell kids that whether they get away with it or not, cheating's wrong.
Of course, it helps if we really believe that.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Are we Living or Leading a Life
I've been asking this question of myself and to the others too Are we Living? or Leading a Life!
There is a difference between the two - when we ask ourselves Are we Living? The answers expected are yes, to the fullest, on my own terms etc., and Leading a Life would mean - am not in control, it is directed by someone else, I've no choices but to let things go on without affecting the routine etc.
Living life of your terms is like playing tennis the way champions like Federer, Djokovic, Nadal, Sampras etc., play, hitting hard, dominating and not allowing their opponents even an inch, and finally forcing them to a defeat and another title added to their kitty. Whereas living is like a kite in the sky being manipulated by one holding the string on the ground.
To change and to get things done we need to act. We should merely show that we are doing and keep ourselves busy doing routine mundane things, beucase mere motion isn't necessarily action. People who keep moving around busily are not necessarily accomplishing many things. We have in our township which is still under construction some people like the electrician, the plumber etc. When you see them walking briskly up and down the road or up and down the stairways you'd imagine they are desperately busy, but truly they just act as if they are busy. They do it to justify their earnings on a daily basis. Neither is their heart on the job nor is their mind. They do things without any clear purpose. There are many such people you would find n workplaces too. They could be seen staring at the computer screen for long hours, or on mobile calls, or may be moving up and down asking someone or the other something or the other just to show that they too are busy and are working. Pity such people accomplish nothing either on a dialy basis nor to do they on an annual basis.
So how does one act effectively.
It is an intense and highly focused effort, by putting one's heart and soul into what is being done and in a way doing as if their life depends on it. One gives it the best shot, by planning throughly, eliminating distractions and performing the task from a place of strength, giving every task the same attention and care.
At some other times it's inspired either by an external stimulant or from the inner voice. When this happens it is what one does with joy. Sometimes you don’t think it is work at all. You never feel burdensome at all, instead it is action that feels more like fun and you've hardly worked. Doing something like this can excites you and gets you going. It is action with a great sense of purpose. Inspired action is the small step that reflects your values and help you move towards your heart’s desires.
Another interesting aspect of effective action is that as you continue doing things on a regular basis, as if it is a habit, with focus and power, you start appreciating even the smallest things, like pausing in between to see the efforst of your action or creation. As you grow more and more in expereince with time going by, this appreciation turns the simplest acts into inspired action that gives you joy and fulfillment. If you are doing something with this sort of an attitude, like from a pedestal of joy and truth, you will get deeper and deeper into it and, whether you intend it or not, you will be in that zone where focus and flow come naturally, as it is second nature, or a habit. This is aptly summed up in the word of ~ Lao Tzu, “Great acts are made up of small deeds.”
There is a difference between the two - when we ask ourselves Are we Living? The answers expected are yes, to the fullest, on my own terms etc., and Leading a Life would mean - am not in control, it is directed by someone else, I've no choices but to let things go on without affecting the routine etc.
Living life of your terms is like playing tennis the way champions like Federer, Djokovic, Nadal, Sampras etc., play, hitting hard, dominating and not allowing their opponents even an inch, and finally forcing them to a defeat and another title added to their kitty. Whereas living is like a kite in the sky being manipulated by one holding the string on the ground.
To change and to get things done we need to act. We should merely show that we are doing and keep ourselves busy doing routine mundane things, beucase mere motion isn't necessarily action. People who keep moving around busily are not necessarily accomplishing many things. We have in our township which is still under construction some people like the electrician, the plumber etc. When you see them walking briskly up and down the road or up and down the stairways you'd imagine they are desperately busy, but truly they just act as if they are busy. They do it to justify their earnings on a daily basis. Neither is their heart on the job nor is their mind. They do things without any clear purpose. There are many such people you would find n workplaces too. They could be seen staring at the computer screen for long hours, or on mobile calls, or may be moving up and down asking someone or the other something or the other just to show that they too are busy and are working. Pity such people accomplish nothing either on a dialy basis nor to do they on an annual basis.
So how does one act effectively.
It is an intense and highly focused effort, by putting one's heart and soul into what is being done and in a way doing as if their life depends on it. One gives it the best shot, by planning throughly, eliminating distractions and performing the task from a place of strength, giving every task the same attention and care.
At some other times it's inspired either by an external stimulant or from the inner voice. When this happens it is what one does with joy. Sometimes you don’t think it is work at all. You never feel burdensome at all, instead it is action that feels more like fun and you've hardly worked. Doing something like this can excites you and gets you going. It is action with a great sense of purpose. Inspired action is the small step that reflects your values and help you move towards your heart’s desires.
Another interesting aspect of effective action is that as you continue doing things on a regular basis, as if it is a habit, with focus and power, you start appreciating even the smallest things, like pausing in between to see the efforst of your action or creation. As you grow more and more in expereince with time going by, this appreciation turns the simplest acts into inspired action that gives you joy and fulfillment. If you are doing something with this sort of an attitude, like from a pedestal of joy and truth, you will get deeper and deeper into it and, whether you intend it or not, you will be in that zone where focus and flow come naturally, as it is second nature, or a habit. This is aptly summed up in the word of ~ Lao Tzu, “Great acts are made up of small deeds.”
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