Teaching 'Indigo': Why Gandhi Still Matters in the Classroom

Day before yesterday, I was teaching  Chapter: Indigo to my Class 12 students. It's a part taken from the biography of Mahatma Gandhi written by Louis Fischer.

And it’s one of my favorite chapters from the main course book of CBSE i.e. Flamingo. It's my favourite not just because it’s about Champaran, but because it’s about Gandhian ideology in action — courage without violence, truth without aggression.

For me, Gandhi represents something rare. Like Lord Krishna in the Gita, he believed in winning through strategy, patience, and moral strength, not weapons. Both understood their times deeply. Both were master planners who chose the path of principle over force. 

Teaching this in Punjab comes with its own weight. I know opinions about Gandhi are not always the same here. Many views are formed from things people have heard, not from reading his own writings or understanding the context of his decisions. That’s why in class, my goal is not to tell students what to think, but to ask them to read first.

During the discussion, one student from Class 12 Science asked me, “Sir, wasn’t Partition Gandhi’s fault? My family says so.”  

I smiled and told her: “Beta, don’t believe anything blindly. Read first.”  

The truth is, Partition had many causes — political, social, and historical. Gandhi himself was against the division. He even suggested making Jinnah the first Prime Minister of a "United India" to avoid it. When that didn’t work, he was sidelined, and the country was divided into India and Pakistan.

What I try to tell my students is this: You don’t have to agree with everything Gandhi did. But you should know what he actually did.  

He fought for a nation where people are treated equally — without casteism, without religious discrimination. He wanted us to rise culturally and economically. He opened a path of Satyagraha that an ordinary person could walk on. Not everyone can be a Bhagat Singh. But everyone can follow truth, discipline, and non-violence.

As a teacher and a family man, I often think before I speak on such topics. Words can be misunderstood. But being in education also means daring to speak truth, backed by facts and books, not just opinions.

So my request to students — and to all of us — is simple:  

Read. Question. Understand and then form your opinion because freedom from fear also means freedom from misinformation.

Routine Kills Intelligence

This is something I personally believe. 

 

I have always gotten bored with daily routines, ever since childhood. I am constantly looking for something that challenges my mind and intellect. But obviously, that challenge should be within my level of understanding and capacity, because I am not someone who is intellectually gifted with strong reasoning.  

Yes, but I am good at comprehending abstract ideas. I can think beyond people's perspectives. I can invent new ideas based on practical, day-to-day solutions. They may seem weird or challenging in the beginning, but they turn out to be effective once implemented.

Till now, I have written about pessimoptimism and procrastination including its types. We all know that life is not a bed of roses and, therefore, we should prepare ourselves for rainy days both physically and mentally. It's a good approach. It helps us not to be blind and gives us the wisdom of the great Buddha. Same is with procrastination. It may seem quite usual and most of us presume that a person who procrastinates is lazy but it, too, has many causes. One may lose interest. One may feel stressed or overwhelmed. Or one may become too much optimistic towards life and himself. And now I come to my today's topic: Routine and Discipline. 

Most people believe that following a routine with discipline ensures success. And yes, it does ensure success — but at the cost of your natural drive to learn. Slowly, we lose that drive completely. We become like machines, conditioned to old beliefs and ideas that are not even ours.  

It is called the end of creativity.  

It is called slow suicide which the society, community and family offer us. 

That’s why Paash said, “The most dangerous thing is to go to the office from home and to return to home again.”  

He, too, was saying that routine kills your natural tendency to think.

As a teacher, I sometimes wonder why students remain so excited throughout the day, and how they listen to even the most common things with amazement. We adults ask, “Why are they so excited?”  

The answer is simple: They are full of life. We, on the other hand, have already spent half of our lives, so most things seem ordinary to us.

But remember what Lord Krishna said to Arjuna. He said that he who sees everything with amazement can see the ultimate truth.  

Now, seeing with amazement does not mean staying excited all the time and being ready for party mode. I am not talking about that kind of amazement. Nor does Krishna favor that. Such excitement only shows how hollow we are from inside. 

My amazement is about being curious. About being inquisitive.  

And those who have lost it can never unveil the mystery of the cosmos. 

May Lord HariHar bless us with a curious mind and an inquisitive approach.

A Badge of Honour: Aalok Raj Singh Brings Glory to Family and Ayodhya

I am absolutely enthralled to know this. Indeed, it is a remarkable achievement and it must be celebrated at a grand level!  

It is a matter of great honour and pride for us. Our youngest and dearest nephew, Aalok Raj Singh (aka Sanskar) has passed his High School IGCSE Board exams in Singapore with excellent marks, securing approximately 90%. By scoring 97 out of 100 in Mathematics, he has not only made his parents proud, but has also brought glory to the entire family, village, district (Ayodhya) and community.  He adds a badge of honour to our people, community, district (Ayodhya) and family. I felicitate him for his great, marvellous, outstanding and spectacular achievement.  

All credit goes to Mrs. Anjula Raj Bhan Singh (aka Baby Dii) and Jija Ji, Most Reverent Shri Raj Bhan Singh Ji, who provided him with the best educational opportunities and environment.  

I strongly believe that kids these days are more talented and gifted, and it adds a feather to their cap when they get good educational opportunities along with good parenting. I also have a strong belief that he will keep bringing laurels to our community, people and district.  

Please accept my best wishes for his great future ahead.  

May his prospective life be full of prosperity, abundance and jubilance!  

May the Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient God bless you with robust health, an affluent life and endless possibilities in your prospective life.

Keep shining, my dear Aalok Raj Singh Singh.

About IGCSE

International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an English-medium secondary qualification equivalent to the UK’s GCSE. It was developed by Cambridge International Education and is recognized worldwide as a standard for secondary education.

What If The Right Hands Had Been Given A Free Hand?

Today afternoon, I came across my own Facebook post from 2011.  

“B.J.P leader Arun Jaitley not only showed the mirror to the government but also told P.M that if you want to fight against corruption you need only a Political Will which our present government don't have.”

Back then I was criticizing the UPA Government. It was a time of power alliances, interference from coalition partners, repeated terrorist attacks, and walking inflation. As an individual, I have always admired Dr. Manmohan Singh. He was a legend and a great economist. Even during the global crisis, he safeguarded the Indian economy with great skill and prudence. What he did on the economic front was unparalleled.  

But politics doesn’t run on economics alone.  

Safety was a major concern too. News of terrorist incidents kept coming from many states, even from Punjab and my own district Ludhiana. That unrest made us question the ruling government. 

Looking back, I also feel Congress made one strategic mistake that cost them dearly. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee was the other name with the same level of statesmanship and economic prudence as Dr. Singh. But instead of giving him a larger role in governance, Congress sidelined him by making him President, perhaps to clear the way for a new face -- Mr. Rahul Gandhi. That one decision had big consequences. Congress ended up losing power for more than a decade.

Sometimes I wonder: what if Mrs. Sonia Gandhi had not interfered so much in politics? Dr. Singh might have got more autonomy and taken bolder decisions.  

And then I think bigger.  

What if both Dr. Manmohan Singh and Mr. Pranab Mukherjee had been given a free hand?  

What if Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had become President again for one more time?

Imagine Kalam, Singh and Mukherjee working together. Three minds rooted in knowledge, integrity and service. Perhaps the face of our country would have been very different --- more progressive, more stable, more aspirational.

Today, when we are facing galloping inflation and worrying about a future prognosis of hyperinflation, those “what ifs” feel heavier. 

Criticism is easy when you are outside. Governance is hard when you are inside. But leadership is about giving space to competence, even if it outshines you.

That 2011 post came out of frustration.  

This 2026 post is reflection.  

Because in the end, nations don’t grow by alliances. They grow when talent is trusted.

Are We Addicted to Our Problems?

Most of us are attached to our problems.  

Sounds strange? But think about it. We complain about them, talk about them, carry them with us — and yet we don’t let them go. Sometimes, we even create new ones.  

One big reason behind this is procrastination. And procrastination, I feel, is often the side effect of over-optimism.  

When we delay work, deep inside we feel: “I’ll manage it at the eleventh hour. I’m smart enough. I’ve done it before.”  

That’s not just confidence. That’s over-confidence. We trust our last-minute magic more than our planning.

But not every delay comes from ego.  

Sometimes we procrastinate because we are stressed. The task feels too heavy.  

Sometimes we procrastinate because we’ve lost interest. The work no longer excites us.  

So the problem isn’t just “laziness”. The problem is: we don’t pause to ask why we are delaying.

We need to analyse ourselves deeply.  

Which category do I fall into?  

Category 1: Am I delaying because I’m over-confident?  

Category 2: Am I delaying because I’m overwhelmed?  

Or 

Category 3: Am I delaying because my heart is no longer in it?  

Once we know the root, we can fix it.  

I. Over-confidence needs discipline.  

II. Stress needs rest and breakdown of tasks.  

III. Loss of interest needs honesty — maybe it’s time to change direction.  

Problems will come. But let’s not get attached to them.  

And let’s not hide behind “I’ll do it later.”  

Because later rarely comes.  

The eleventh hour only teaches us panic, not progress.

Stay Intellectually Young

17 Aug. 2020

"It is by a constant inner growth that one can find a constant newness and unfailing interest in life. There is no other satisfying way." 

~ Sri Aurobindo

I found this line on 17 Aug. 2020 while checking assignments of my Class X-C students.  

One notebook. One quotation. And it stopped me.

People may ask: Why do we need to be intellectually young?

It is because age can wrinkle the skin, but only routine can wrinkle the mind.

An intellectually young person doesn’t see the world through borrowed glasses. They see it through a new lens every morning. They are not burdened by “what will people say” or “this is how it’s always been done.”

They have the courage to speak their perspective, even if they are misunderstood.  

I did that when I introduced the term "pessiomoptimist" and questioned the very popular idea of blind optimism. People call it risky. I call it real. Because safe paths may feel comfortable, but they never lead to fresh ground.

Intellectually young people don’t choose easy.  

They choose the hardest, the toughest, but still the new. They keep growing from inside, so life keeps feeling new from outside.

That’s what Sri Aurobindo meant. Constant inner growth is equal to constant newness.  

Without it, we stop learning. We stop questioning. We stop living and just start repeating.

So today, check yourself:  

When was the last time you disagreed with a popular opinion?  

When was the last time you chose the tough path because it felt fresh?

Stay curious. Stay uncomfortable. Stay young -- not in years, but IN MIND.

Simple yet Complex and Vice Versa

"The highest form of peace is to have zero desire to be understood, admired, or even known."

I read this thought in the WhatsApp story of my friend and colleague, Mr. Jitish Batta. He is young not just physically but intellectually too.

When I read it, it simply struck me. Yes, this is the state of a person who has known the highest form of truth. It doesn't matter if one is Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, none of them or all of them, all can achieve this highest level of consciousness. 

Rather, I would speak one step ahead, anyone, even an atheist and agnostic, can achieve this state, regardless of who or what they are. It's that much simple. However, it is not simple for complex minds, and most people are complex because they wear many masks. 

They are afraid to show their weaknesses and this confirms that they are afraid to be misunderstood. They are afraid to bleed on paper.

The truth is, we all have weaknesses, not just one or two, but many. But this does not mean we can never achieve that state of mind. We can. Anyone can. But first, they must have the courage to confront society without a mask. 

We all are destined to achieve that state of mind because that is our very nature. Sooner or later, we all will achieve this and some of us have already achieved it but when you will reach that state of mind, you will learn that you are not mind. There is no mind... no words... no thought... nothing...