Find your tribe and territory

This again is the time of the year (in India) when most of the children who appeared in class XII board examinations would be seeking a seat in a college of repute. In many a cases it may not be the college of their interests but because the past records make them to believe that anybody who graduates from that particular college does well in life, which may not be the correct impression. The children should (and be allowed by the parents) to pursue the course and the activity they may be good at. Today`s discussion is based on the same issue and here I share my views on the same with all of you with an expectation of your critical response which will definitely make me wiser.

  This has been a common saying that the company of a person affects the personality a lot and that is why people suggest being in good company. All agree that every child comes in this world with a lot of energy and if that is put to proper and appropriate use it will evolve a successful individual who would be a pillar of strength and a panacea for all the ailments. If all are like that, then the qualities of individual with the support of others will touch new heights. Now the question asked is that how does somebody decide about the company? Does it come by choice or accident? I found this question quite curious and significant and by virtue of being a teacher, it has been observed many a times that the child who joins a school settles in his group unknowingly without realizing it. Somebody who was considered to be good at previous place is found in the company of the child/children who might have been tagged of possessing an unseemly behaviour. The parents and the teachers find it difficult to change that despite best of their efforts. There may be many reasons for the child to have got in that company good or inappropriate. Though we all agree that all children are born fine and they would like to be appreciated and known for being and doing the good deeds. Ken Robinson writes that everyone tries to find in their tribe. Whenever somebody finds his/her tribe then he/she excels in that field. This field of excellence may or may not be appreciated and accepted by the society, is a different issue.

Today I would like children, parents and the teachers to restrict themselves for the good work done by somebody or to be done in the future. This is true for creed and caste that all parents want their children to be successful in life and they do everything possible for their children. But sometimes the concerns towards their children become so intense that the parents and the teachers tend to interfere too much in their life. The role of the parents and the children is to provide the environment which helps their child to perform better and that too happily and enjoy the same. The meaning of the word ‘TRIBE’ used earlier may be taken as the company of the person. If somebody has to really find his/her element (the areas of someone`s interest and aptitude) then there are two important things as explained by Ken Robinson in his book, the element. One is the idea of domain and the other is field. ‘Domain’ is the kind of activities and disciplines one is involved in. For example being a teacher, actor, architect, painter doctor and so on. ‘Field’ refers to the people who may be involved in the same kind of activities. For example, domain of Shahrukh Khan is acting and the other actors around him are the field. Then he changed his domain from acting to cricket and there also he found field in the form of other people involved in the same activity. Now if the domain and the field are in the same area then a person is more likely to do better than otherwise. I take another example of an individual who is very good in mathematics but gets the company of the people who might be good in cricket or painting. Though this individual might do well but this is for sure that he would have been more successful if he was in the company of the people involved in field of mathematics. So, what I conclude from here is that the field is almost the same what we call as the company. The field of the person will always make a difference in the life of individual and also others. This happens for both who are in the company of each other. This is also true that a more powerful field will affect the weaker one. You may take an example from physics. When two charged particles are kept near each other (in the field of each other) then both have the effect but the one which has higher field would impact the other one more. Take another example from the field of thermodynamics. Two bodies having different temperature when placed close to each other release heat energy but the one at lower temperature increases its temperature and hence appears to have been influenced and affected by the body at higher temperature. Similarly, when a child joins a new school and goes to a particular class for the first time he is also likely to be affected by the fields around. If the child had been in certain areas and a disciplined one and he gets the same kind of field in that class, he is very likely to do well. If the area of his domain does not match with the field of the class then there may not be much of success and the child might find that class of less interest. At times, the area of domain is lost in the field of the class and the child who had been doing so well earlier come down all of a sudden. If the child goes to a class which has a teacher of the area of his domain then also he would perform very well. So, the responsibility of the teachers and the school is that the children are exposed to the field of the area of their domain. Now somebody might ask that if the child is with so called negative traits or domain then what to do. As I said earlier that no child is born with those negatives but get influenced by those fields he might have been exposed to before. Hence, it is very possible that if the same child is put in a field which might help him discover his area of domain, then all those negative traits will automatically get removed. This word field used here might be taken as the environment created for the children. The parents should also try to understand the area of the domain of the children and encourage them to grow in a field conducive to them. Another important thing is that do not change the field around very often because that would not let the domain of the child get stronger. The most important thing for all to understand is that the children should not be forced to do something which they may not be good at. When children do things of their liking and interest they do better and progress in life.