After taking charge as principal, Miss Andrews shifted from the small room to the principal’s residence

 Miss Andrews was the principal of St. Thomas High School. She lived alone in the school campus. Her two Alsatian dogs were her only companions. She had employed a maidservant Massey, who looked after the household chores for her. She was an old lady of sixty-fiver years now. But when she had joined school thirty-eight years ago she was a young girl of twenty seven.

 One day watchman brought two small Alsatian puppies, saying that the mother had deserted the two children. Kind as she was Miss. Andrew took great care of them and the two dogs remained with her. Her daily routine was to be in the school from early morning till mid afternoon. Then she came back to her cottage. She ate lunch and rested for some time. Her evening tea was sharp at four, when Massey brought her a tray of tea and biscuits. In the late evenings, Miss Andrew took a walk to the market. Spoke to the local residents and nine she had finished her dinner and was ready for bed. During the vacations Miss Andrews tented to her garden, took walks and read books and journals. She hardly ever went out.

 Once she had planned a trip England to meet her sister. But she did not enjoy much. Since then she had avoided going anywhere. The school and her residence was the only place she knew of.

 Life, for Miss. Andrews, was going on at convenient, gradual pace, when one incident shook her out of her stupor. It so happened, that one day during the board meeting, the president of the school management committee did not agree with her on certain points. `You are growing old Miss Andrews, I think you need some rest,’ he casually remarked. Before she could retaliate the topic was changed, but she could sense a certain degree of uneasiness in the room the topic was changed, but she could sense a certain degree of uneasiness in the room. She excused herself and came out of the room.

 Miss Andrews now started realizing and admitting the fact to herself that she was too old to stay on as a principal. The school needed a fresh face with fresh, new ideas. She submitted her resignation before the summer vacations. There was a flicker of hope that management would not accept her resignation. But, it seems that everybody was expecting it.

 A new principal was appointed and Miss Andrews was given a tearful farewell. The worst thing for Miss Andrews was parting from her students. She shifted her belongings top a small room allotted to her inside the school campus. She was still living in the school campus but was no longer a part of it.

 One day the district Magistrate of the state happened to pass through that way. He had been a student of St. Thomas High school and was taught by Miss Andrews when he was in class four. Being informed that she had retired and was staying close by, he walked into her room. He stopped short at the sight of an old frail woman in front of him. He bent down and introduced himself. He narrated one or two incidents and immediately the old lady’s eyes lit up. She recognized him. They had tea together. Massey was still with her. Before leaving the old lady tapped her student’s shoulder and said quietly, `Please come again. It gets quite lonely over here.’ The sadness in her eyes did not need any more words to express her emotions.

Swami Shivananda once visited a school. He met the principal and told her that he was working with people to help them get rid their tension, by putting time to maximum use. The principal agreed and felt that it would be useful, if Sage talked to the children and the staff members. The principal then took him to the staffroom and introduced him to the teachers. Then Swami asked each class-teacher to make arrangements for his talk. It was decided to start with Std. Ms Mehroo was the class –teacher of that class.

 Class: good morning, teacher!

Ms. Mehroo: listen children today, we have a very distinguished guest Sage Shivananda of Chitanya mission. He was lots of information and experience. He will tell us how to utilize our time gainfully and lead a life free of tension.

 Class monitor: Namaste swami! May I ask a question?

Swami: please do ask. I shall be happy too answer your question rather than give lecture!

 Class monitor: we have so much to study, so much work to do. Our parents are displeased if we get less mark even in a single subject. And yet they send us to all sorts of classes, tuition, music, dance, and gymkhana. All this makes us very tense. We do not get much time to play or relax.

 Swami: you are right, but your parents do it with good intention, to ensure you’re all round development. Are they wrong? I do not think so; I do realize that some children have taken the pressure so seriously. Some of them have even committed suicide.

 Meena: is it not dangerous to give us so much tension?’

Swami: the tension can be avoided by developing some good habits and by thinking positively. You can discuss your problems, instead of thinking of committing suicide.

 Savita: we all think that in ancient times the children did not have so much tension. Is it true?

 Swami: in ancient times the children stayed with the Guru and he educated them. This system was called Guru Shishya Parampara or the Gurukul system. The Guru had full freedom. The children were taught to live a highly disciplined life. They did not have traffic problems and distractions of modern-day life. They did not have the made competition we have today. The graduation stage was reached under the close supervision of the Guru. He always provided opportunities for them to participate in discussions and prove their abilities. So there were no problems of admission and getting a high percentage of marks. At the same time, they were busy from dawn to dusk with studies and with the work assigned to them by Guru and his wife.

 Ramesh: it is great! That means, there was no problem of coming to school on time. Last week a boy was coming by train to the school. He had to go over the railway footbridge to reach the school. As he was already late, he tried to cross the tracks, and knocked down by an oncoming train. He was killed on the spot.

 Swami: it is for this reason that we have to start early enough to avoid all the hurry and risks.

Mahesh: swami, what is actually this concept to time? Why is time so important?

 Swami: it is a very good question. This is exactly what I wanted to speak to you about. Look at nature. Just imagine if the sun did not rise, what would happen? We would not get solar energy. If we do not have rain in time or if it comes unexpectedly, there is a great loss to the crops. For instance, we got grapes less this year because of rains at the wrong time. Onions also became costly because onion crops were destroyed by uneven rains. Everything in nature is governed by time-the seasons, the day and the night, years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds. Everything in nature is a time-cycles.

 Mehabuba: swami, it is said that our body also has a time-cycle. Can you tell us about?

 Swami: yes, certainly. Our heart beats, our circulatory system, our respiratory system go on in a cycle, continuously. If there is any disturbance in the rhythm, we become ill. That is why, we have to lead a disciplined life and be regular in our habits.

 Vicky: swami, can we avoid tension by a disciplined life?

 Swami: first, we should have a balanced diet, take proper exercise, do our work in time and sleep well. It is rightly said, `Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.’ We can avoid tension by making use of our time properly.

 Ahmed: swami it not difficult to be punctual and free of tension, with trains begins late. Traffic jams and all other problems?

 Swami: we can avoid all these delays by starting early enough. Yoga and relaxation exercises can help in reducing tension and in improving concentration. So children remember `time is precious’. We cannot get back the time once we have wasted it. Time has to be used carefully and gainfully. We will be able to find time for everything.

 Kavita: swami, time is important in poetry, music and dance also, is not it?

 Swami; very good! You seem to be a lover of fine arts. In poetry, we have meter, in music and dance we have Tal.

 Class monitor: swami, we learnt a lot from this interview. We certainly can make our life better with punctuality and proper use time.

 Teacher: swami, we are deeply thankful to you for all the information you have given us. You have given us food for thought and a plan for development.

 Kavita: we are still young, but you explained everything to us in such a simple way, that we could understand it all. Thank you very much, sage. We seek your kind blessings for our progress.

 Sage bids good-bye and leaves for the next class with the class-teacher of that class.

A social worker, from a women’s organization, Mrs. Kamala, was conducting a study on the problems of school girls. As a part of her study, she was visiting girls. As a pert of her study, she was visiting schools and talking to the girls. On one such visit, she had an open and free discussion with the girls about their problem. The dialogue between the social worker and the girls was as flows-

Mrs. Kamala: Girls, there are many ideas and traditions that need to be changed in our society. You all are living in families and have had many sweet and bitter experiences, which you could not understand. Some actions of the elders are not acceptable to you. I would like you to freely discuss with me, so that we can find out how to solve these problems. I assure you that your views will be kept confidential.

Meena: Last week my mother gave birth to a baby sister. She is so cute and sweet and tiny like a doll. I was very happy but my mother was sad. She was weeping. My granny and my aunt did not even bother to visit her. Why did they do this, teacher?

Mrs. Kamala: some elder people think that if a girl is born, is burden on the family because they eventually go to another family through marriage. If a boy is born, hr is considered lucky for the family. So, elderly folks sometimes blame their daughter –in-law for giving birth to a girl.

Kavita: at the age of fourteen, girls in our families are asked to wear purdah. Our activities and movements are also restricted. Boys are free to go where they like. They are not asked to do any work but we have to do all the house work.

Mrs. Kamala: it is sad thing that purdah system is still enforced in many families. Gradually, things are changing. Many girls in purdah are going in for higher education.

Savita and Babita: Teacher, if a boy is not interested in studies but want to purse some other career, parents still insist on his studying without doing any work. Thought we are fond of studies, we are not allowed to study, but asked to fill water, prepare tea. Cook etc. for doing all these things we have to get up often even in the midst of our studies. Boys are sent out play, because they should have exercise, but we are allowed to go to play, only if there is no work in the house. When we ask our mothers, why we are asked to do all this work, in spite of exams, homework and other academic work, our mother says. `You are girls. This is all a girl’s work. When you get married, you will have to do all this work yourselves? That is why I am training you. Boys have to study, get good marks and good jobs.’

Mrs. Kamala: it is true, you have to help your mother in the household work but there should not be any difference between you and your brothers. Both boys and girls should be given nutritious food to develop into healthy men and women.

Savita: teacher, I am happy at home. My parents are broad- minded. We are two sisters and we have one brother. All of us are given enough time to study and play. We all share the work and do whatever work is assigned to us. There is no difference whatsoever between girls and boys in our home. All of us are given freedom equally. We are all free to learn and do what we like; we have only to take care that one person’s activities does not come in the way of the other members of the family.

Mrs. Kamala: I am happy to hear about Savita’s family. If you girls try, you can change the attitude of your elders. If necessary you can discuss with them and express you views, without hutting their feelings.

Mrs. Kamala had a discussion with some boys of the same school regarding their views about the equality of boys and girls.

Some of the boys stated that kitchen work should be done by girls only. They said that they did not know how to cook or even to prepare tea. They felt that these activities were below their dignity. Is a situation arose and their mothers or sisters were not there, they preferred to go to the hotel and eat, rather than doing all this work at home.

Mrs. Kamala: (listening to all the views patiently and reaching) you are not correct; you have to realize that girls are not inferior to you in any way. There is no work that is below one’s dignity. If work is shared, no member of the family is overworked. So the family is happy. Do not let the girls do the same type of work. Respect girls. Give them opportunities to develop and show their abilities.

All the boys: we are glad that you made us realize the abilities of girls. We heartily thank you for discussing freely with us and for making we see the reality.

Mrs. Kamala: thank you all for your cooperation. We have all gained a lot. Now let us act to change the negative attitudes.

Once there was a bus-big green bus. It went along the road. `Sound horned’ Kavita was in the bus.

Then the bus stopped. The driver got out. He looked in the engine. `Oh! Dear’ he said. `The bus won’t go. Please Will you get out and push?’ Kavita get out of the bus. All the other people got out of the bus. They pushed. But the bus wouldn’t go.

Then a white car came along the road. `Sound horned!’ Mrs. Reddy was in the car. She was stuck behind the bus. She got of the car and pushed the bus. But the bus would not go.

Then a blue lorry came along the road. `Sound horned!’ Ahmad was in the lorry. He was stuck behind the car and the car was stuck behind the bus. Ahmad got out of the lorry and pushed the bus. But the bus would not go.

Then a red motor cycle came along the road. `Sound horned’ Mohan was on the motor cycle. He was stuck behind the lorry. The lorry was stuck behind the car and the car was stuck behind the bus.

Mohan got off his motor cycle and pushed the bus. But the bus would not go.

Then a yellow scooter came along the road. `Sound horned’ Ramesh was on the scooter. He was stuck behind the motor cycle. The motor cycle was stuck behind the lorry. The lorry was stuck behind the car and the car was stuck behind the bus. Ramesh got ff his scooter and pushed the bus. But the bus would not go.

Then a black cycle came along the road. `Tring bell’ Kumar was on the cycle. He rode past the scooter and he rode past the motor cycle. He rode past the lorry and he rode past the car. He saw Mohan, Ramesh, Ahmad, Mrs. Reddy, Kavita and all the other people pushing the bus.

He looked in the engine of the bus. `There’s no petrol in it!’ he said. `I will go to the garage and get some. Kumar went to the garage on his cycle. Soon he came back with a can of petrol. They put the petrol in the bus. `Brrrrm!’ went the bus.

`Hooray’!’ shouted Mohan, Ramesh, Ahamed, Mrs. Reddy, Kavita all the other people. `Three cheers for Kumar’s bicycle! Hip hooray! Hip hooray!’

Away went the bus and away went the car. Away went the lorry and away went the motor cycle. Away went the scooter and last of all, away went Kumar on his wonderful cycle- nice cycle.