SELF EDUCATION IS A LIFELONG OPPORTUNITY

To begin with, Self-Education can be defined as an art of "skilling oneself with new learnings either in the form of new hobby/new knowledge/new type of habit or anything that can make an individual gain control over a particular activity without any formal schooling for the same". This implies that anything that we learn on our own which can help us in the long-run, can be regarded as 'Self-Education'. However, self-education need not mean bookish knowledge alone.

We often hear or ourselves say that - "I learnt to swim on my own" or "I began to sing by merely listening to music" or "I read one book and from there started reading as a habit by itself".

What are all these? Few examples of self-education itself. Why just these ones? How about a newly born infant whose only way of expressing itself would be by crying? Did it attain any coaching class to learn to cry? Certainly Not.

So, we mastered the art of 'self-education' from a young age itself.

Let's look at some of the renowned individuals who serve as right examples for self-educated ones.

Smt Sudha Murty was the lone girl student in her Engineering college and was not welcomed with a warm friendship from her classmates initially, who were all boys. But her determination to study Engineering, kept her in the orbits of the campus. So, in her very 1st year of engineering itself, she began to make notes by herself, didn’t skip any class and thereby learnt the art of self-reliance. This not only helped her to emerge out as a University topper but also built in confidence in her to face world with inbuilt knowledge and hard-work.

Another example comes from the National Award winning movie 12th Fail’s real hero - IPS Manoj Kumar Sharma Sir, whose words of “I’ll take care of the family Dad. You don’t worry” were uttered by him, when his Father visited him during his preparation days. That sense of taking responsibility of the entire family like a leader, instilled in him traits of leadership at a very young age itself.

In both the instances - whether the art of ‘self-reliance’ or ‘leadership’, may not be hobbies which we discussed in the start, as that of singing/reading/swimming etc but we need to understand that ‘self-education’ is a term which can include diverse aspects within itself. Anything that helps one to grow and prosper in one’s life can be treated as ‘self-education’.

Well, what instances can make somebody teach herself/himself? There are numerous reasons as such.

One’s own experiences can serve as a best source for ‘self-education’. For eg:- the crucial decision taken by Banquet manager of Taj Hotel - Mallika Jagad at the time of Mumbai terror attack , helped her save many lives due to presence of mind . Being able to make efficient decisions all by oneself also directs to self-education.

Idolizing someone or seeking inspiration from somebody. Latest example can perhaps come from RCB Women team’s Shreyanka Patil, who despite being the youngest player of the team, emerged out as a great bowler. She may have inspired millions of girls to pursue cricket as a career.

What are the advantages of ‘Self-education’?

As the title of the essay itself says that ‘Self-Education is a lifelong opportunity’,it serves as a best guide because if one becomes capable of educating oneself, she/he need not spend any money on institutions or join any course.

At the same time, it does not come with any conditions attached with defined number of weeks or months. Thus, one can educate oneself at any point, anytime, anywhere, at any stage of his/her life. Self-education empowers us to take timely decisions and direct ourselves towards progress. It helps us to assess our shortcomings and provides a chance to improve. It saves us from facing unpredictable circumstances too with wisdom and intellect.

When you’re busy educating yourself, you also tend to forget to scroll down reels on social media unconditionally, thereby helping you to limit your screen-time as well. Students these days are more often found entangled in the ‘social-media epidemic’, busy making their presence felt; through posts, reels, Q&A’s etc. Such ones can focus more upon personality enrichment by becoming Teachers for themselves through self-education.

We learn to communicate well, enhance our body-language, change our perspectives, and build an impressive personality.

As rightly quoted by the drafting committee chairman Dr.Ambedkar - “Education is the milk of Tigress. Once consumed, she is ought to roar!” Aligning with the similar quote resides a famous story of a woman from Rajasthan who lost her husband. Thus, the only way forward was to earn livelihood based on skills she knew. She learnt tailoring on her own & began to teach other women too from her community. Slowly and steadily, it turned into a huge group of ‘helpless women’ being converted into “self-reliant budding entrepreneurs of the Nation”. Today, we can proudly regard them as - “Roti Earners from Roti Makers”. Although married at an age when they had to play ‘House-House’, today these are the ones who RUN “Houses”! All thanks to ‘Self-Education’.

Self-education gave them confidence to aim and attain success without depending upon external resources. All they needed was a needle and a thread!

Next we’ll head onto the current digital world. Here, one can learn to prepare tasty Paneer Masala too by merely listening or watching online videos and/or can also learn different coding languages like C/C++/Java etc.

Though you may question saying it does not fall under the category of ‘self-education’, I say - it does. It falls under this group because you are learning it all by yourself with the teacher guiding you virtually free of cost, and with you jumping to different other channels/websites for free learning by pausing, writing, fast-forwarding etc. You may learn bits & pieces from one teacher and then club it up with another teacher, or seek assistance from several websites to crack your code. These days, even learning foreign languages online is in trend. All thanks to free availability and accessibility of vast information online at an affordable timeline.

Let’s quickly recollect a small story which can serve as a great example for self-education. We all know how Ekalavya sacrificed his thumb to his beloved Guru Dronacharya. It was Ekalavya’s devoted worship to his Guru which made him give away his right thumb too. But how did he develop the art of Archery in himself? By mere observation and through crisp hearing. Guru Drona never accepted Ekalavya as his student and never taught him any formal archery in an official manner like how he did to the rest of his students. Yet, Ekalavya’s interest to learn archery, made him pursue the skill relentlessly, sparing no pain. The outcome of such a practice was - his shots used to always strike sharp and straight at the target, with no deviation or distraction. That whip-smart, witty performance speaks volumes about his self-education. Infact he was so good at it that even Guru Drona had to approach him and request him to not participate in the archery contest, just so his students didn’t have to face a tough competition.

Sometimes, the geographical locations where we live also contributes to self-learning. People in Himalayas learnt it by themselves that wool obtained from sheep can fetch them Pashmina Shawls. This art of making shawls had begun from stitching/weaving to protect oneself from cold. But it has become a source of livelihood today as it earns them good money through trade and tourism.

Dating back to Stone-age when homo-sapiens lived a nomadic life, these nomads discovered on their own that rubbing two stones produced fire and this fire could be used to evade wild animals or help make food or protect from harsh climate etc.

Having said that self-education is a boon, it is not untrue that self-education can cause harm to society too. Especially in the Cyber world where privacy of individuals/multi-national companies can be breached through learning hacking techniques. Here, one must understand that the amount of time and energy spent in learning ‘how to hack?’ if was applied in learning same skill to assist National Security by enrolling in Security Forces/Intelligence bureau, it could have generated income for oneself too and so as for the Country too. Too often when we read cases of theft/robbery in newspapers, we all feel awe-shocked knowing the tactics used by robbers. But what these robbers fail to understand is that robbery may perhaps make them rich for a short-time but due to strong democracy and statutes, they will have to lead their later lives as Prisoners. Instead, if had they made use of their tactics appropriately, they would breathe a sophisticated lifestyle full of dignity,respect and honour in the society.

Ultimately, ‘knowledge is an infinite sphere, of which, the Centre is everywhere, and the circumference, nowhere!’

Thus, let us all, as “knitters of the society, knit, little ornaments of knowledge, and pearls of awareness, by supervising ourselves and our intelligence”.