Eklavyaism is not just about referring to the legend of the Master Learner - Eklavya. It is also not limited to your becoming a dedicated and determined learner in some skill or art. You cannot even restrict this -ism to be a motivator. Then what it is which runs as the undercurrent in Eklavyaism? It is the COURAGE that we take to be Creative and to be an Eklavya.
We all have our own calling sometimes. There has been an unending journey towards our personal legend. This is not a philosophical thing. Factually, we are yet to declare that this is what we wanted to do. The urge and curiosity to do more-learn more are fundamental to our intellect. While we read a quote or see a painting, we feel there is something we identify with. We also scribble and put some random lines on the sands or on paper. That is where we defy the dead order of the world and tend to be creative. Our impulses and our worldly interests, all serve our creative instincts. You know it or not, someday you shall have that encounter and that calling to have the Courage to Be Creative.
Our own interpretations sometimes paint things in a different colour than the one they actually meant for. The change that we invent or insist on, the daring we choose is the result of that fundamental urge to CHALLENGE the status quo. We are not, in fact, permanently settled with our own perceptions. Change is contagious and attracts us each moment. However, in this learning of Eklavyaism, we are distributing the gift of 'incremental change'. The way I have learnt to be dedicated and determined has been based on the unique concept of PUCP.
I fondly remember how my mentor Anoop Lather shaped hundreds of us. There are many of us who have been able to earn a good space for the skills and talents we got inculcated in us. He used to speak of his PUCP concept and made us the commandants of that school of learning. PUCP - Positive Utilisation of Creative Potential - is what has been the primary need for education in India and elsewhere as well. There is an energy in us. If we fail to make use of it; fail to channelise it to something useful, it is bound to go to waste or shall push us into some negative zone. The only place where we can actually develop this understanding of Creative Potential is an educational institution. Being with others of the same age and thought, it is possible to inculcate a creative culture.
The primary attribute of Creativity is not being a rebel who denies everything. The sense of appreciation and the determination to engage in things to change them is what we take as the first attribute to Creativity. Creative people are not the ones who simply move to isolation and paint something that the world never comes to know. Rather than that,
Unfortunately, not many could see this need and kept killing the fertile landscape available in the classrooms. Once pushed out of the mind and mention, this is not an easy thing to rekindle. However, this is not forbidden and can surely be rejuvenated. The curriculum does not need to adhere to any creativity but we do. There is no style sheet or training manual to inculcate creativity. It is the facilitation that we need to do. First for ourselves and then provide support to others. You know, a much-known man once said:
Creativity is contagious, pass it on.
― Albert Einstein
Creativity does not demand us to overtake someone. This courage is not a thing that can diminish. And if this is not under a threat, there is no fear and subsequent insecurity. It is our own asset and if we use it is active; if we do not leverage its presence, it goes waste. The pace and perfection are our own assets and do not need any competition.
“Everybody has creative potential and from the moment you can express this creative potential, you can start changing the world.”
It is a feeling of content and pride when we are able to do something which breaks the cliched acts. However, the act of Courage must not be a thing against discipline. We cannot afford to sponsor a disaster. Just be realistic, rational and also rebel in generating ideas.
Take an idea, make it your life and live on it - to make it a Life Lesson for others.
