There are the quotes I collected from the posts of the great
human Iqbal Latif on his facebook page which you can visit via this link:
https://www.facebook.com/ikelatif
I stole these writings of Iqbal sir from his facebook timeline without his permission. But Im sure that, Iqbal sir being so great a humanist, will bear with my antics!
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| Lifelong learner Iqbal Latif sir |
So here are the words of wisdom:
1. I
run an open page; everyone in the
world is a friend. No one is a follower.
Few things I realized very early on in life; I
was not interested in guru ship or any kind of leadership only learning
curiosity and being a student until my last breathe, therefore I never
encouraged any following but only egalitarian exchange of formative ideas.
2.
Children:
The schools will dumb them down, you and yes
you only can unlock their true potentials.
Teach them humanism, love for all, History,
Geography and Astronomy, anthropology, teach them world sans borders, and the
Universe, once they will know our people and the planet and our Universe they
will know the world better.
Teach then love, bring them up as a human
first not anything else first works. Curtail in them the streak of flagrant ego
and false pride and instill in them humility and respect, watch them how they
treat people who can give them nothing. That is defining part of a personality.
Don't make them opportunistic, teach them to reach-out and be a game changer.
These
are basic lessons from university of my little life, I tell you please one last
thing when on being mean, meanness is like a Karma it returns like a boomerang,
it will destroy your partnerships, your life and your love. Just never ever be
mean. That is one lesson you need to ram in their heads hard.
Every
child is a born genius, this is the key lesson we took on board from our
experience. Once you unleash “creativity sky is the limit it is as important as
literacy.” The standard definition of creativity is “having original ideas that
have value.” My wife and I learnt that the national curriculum is an arbitrary
standard by which to measure a child’s progress. The classical Greek conception
of schools was that they would be cultivating and deepening young minds
where-ever possible.
Unfortunately
in the modern day parent’s simply “outsource” their children’s education to
schools without further thought; antithetical to the original ideal.
The
secret of our life is quality of your daily agenda. The walls around us are
there to be scaled. ‘Staying hungry and foolish’ are contrasting demands but
one can do it; it is the power within that makes people not the external
manifestation of it.
We
taught the basics truth of life to our children, drawing on your inner strength
is what makes a person, we need adaptation, our philosophies need a new define
and our outlook towards the world necessarily needs to change with changing
times. Talk sense, not drivel; make coherent statements, read coherent
thoughts; add History, Geography, Anthropology, Literature, Science and
Astronomy with any of your favorite subjects as a matter of routine.
Dump
the myths and legends that our forefathers have bequeathed in us, question and
query elegantly, find answers that may satisfy the multiversity of sciences and
logic.
I
think society must do more to encourage the cultivation of talent and inspire
imagination in our young. The rigorous repetitive and standardized curriculum
that we judge and measure them by is a crime committed under the banner of
“organised education” and “academic excellence”. These false gods spur on
academic inflation, further reducing the tottering credibility of the education
system.
Genius
does not arise in a vacuum for the budding artist, who if neglected as a child
and left undiscovered, deprives mankind the marvels of his work.
“Try
again. Fail again. Fail better.” The stress on Academic excellence is extensive
has led to society stigmatizing mistakes. Mistakes must be made for without
them we cannot learn. We forget that all children are born artists and
dreamers, they must be invested with the tools to express their innate talent.
Every education system has a hierarchy of subjects, which encourages academic
ability and “useful subjects” for practical application.
Education
is increasingly dominated by job requirements and many highly talented children
who fail their exams are junked forever.
The
first task of any school, and failing that any parent, is to discover the
latent talent of every child. Adopt Greek Academy way of learning: In today’s
environment, hoarding of knowledge ultimately erodes your power. If you know
something very important, the way to get power is by actually sharing it.
3. I am
not designed to look at fault of others. I have enough of my own, my line of
thinking is to correct my own cesspool instead of pointing fingers at others.
Once I am busy mending my own court and if everyone else does that the
neighborhood shall improve considerably, that is my rationale behind this thinking.
I
always urge my own self to look at my own ugliness and try mend it instead of
finding it in others! It is the most rewarding and soothing thing in my life,
seeing my naked reflection in the mirror with all its imperfections. It applies
to me and equally extends on to the society that I live in. I work hard to
improve the imperfections of my own and my milieu. I apply my critics to my own
daily life.
I
am at peace after losing mostly all my small battles, I have no more accounts
to settle as I have won the ultimate war of taming my unbridled ego.
4. Take
a position in life, don't act like an eunuch! Say something and stand for
something. Life is just not about watching events from the side lines, make an
impact and be the harbinger of change you want to see.
5. My mantra of life...
Learn,
unlearn and relearn every day, be a voracious seeker of knowledge and
understanding, be flexible and bending and have humility. Don't let others set
your agenda of intellect. Be culturally open, sound and switched on. Meet
everyone with equal verve and love. Don't meet people to extract benefit rather
meet people to extract essence of their life and their experiences. Shun
outdated dogma and medieval ignorance. Whatever dogma you are born in yours is
outdated, just pack it in. Be a human, treat everyone as a human, that is one
code that is going to work fine, keep your drama of belief with you don’t
impose it on others it doesn't resonate logic, everything it contains is
claptrap.
Be
a net risk taker. If you’re not a risk taker, you will never break the glass
ceiling, if and when you break the glass ceiling and all you think is only
goals, please know well that it is the not goals you live for, it is the life
that has to be lived and enjoyed, the goals need always to be subservient to
the life to be lived at full. Enjoy the people in life, the people are best
teachers.
Life
living at full is realizing its basic code of humanism i.e. sharing and caring.
Reach out and serve people who need you, people who cannot do anything to you.
Don't become a celebrity whore, show same love that you show to a celebrity to
an ordinary person in your life. Instill in yourself a desire to change the
world in your own little way whichever way you can, when you fail don't worry
too much try again, the success shall come, success is a plant that needs
continuous watering of failures, chase your vision with vigour and not alone
for the money, be a doer, and just not a dreamer.
6. Someone asked Iqbal sire "How do I
make my children human?" and this is his reply:
Put
a big global map in the bedroom of the children early on, teach them geography
every night like oceans, rivers, mountains, countries, and cultures, languages
and traditions of the world. Huge
big map on the wall let them learn the expanse of the world every night before
they sleep..
Just
15 minutes every night, in 15 years when they will be in early teens you will
see the difference. They
will know their world better, we don't teach planet earth better enough to our
children in the cradle, it is in the cradle where formative mind is being
formed, it is in these cradle uselessness of wars based on 'man made
boundaries' be highlighted and the need of prejudices to be eliminated and
universal human love instituted instead should be emphasized.
Let's make the mind of our future generations
akin to a mind of an astronaut, the way he sees our Mother Earth from his space
shop , without all these national boundaries. Hopefully these prejudices and
mental barriers one day shall disappear as we educate our future generations better.
They will know their world better, we don't
teach planet earth better enough to our children in the cradle, it is in the
cradle where formative mind is being formed, it is in these cradle uselessness
of wars based on 'man made boundaries' be highlighted and the need of
prejudices to be eliminated and universal human love instituted instead should
be emphasized.
Let's
make the mind of our future generations akin to a mind of an astronaut, the way
he sees our Mother Earth from his space shop, without all these national
boundaries. Hopefully these prejudices and mental barriers one day shall
disappear as we educate our future generations better.
You
need to prepare your future for a new age, free of baggage of heavy duty dogma;
choice is yours, open minded or blinkered future.
7. Keep it simple silly; don't make yourself
so problematic that it may need an enigma to decrypt you. Be vibrant, be
transparent, be convincing, be uncluttered and let the world fathom the way you
are. Stay foolish for the world; stay hungry to learn for yourself. Along the
way gem of people will add new clarity, new luminance and color to your live.
8. Date is a date, it is today 12/12/12; yes
we will not have 13/13/13 however; your fate lies not in numbers but in your
mind and in your hands. Change the itinerary of your life and path of your mind
and the way you function and you will see that your stars will realign
themselves. Carve your life lines and redraw them on your palm; enjoy the
beauty of life by having mental intercourse with people across the world. Don't
be a recluse, come out of your shell, you are 1 of 7.1 billion sentient being,
don't waste the opportunity, connect and grow. People love ordinary and
connective spirits, take the 'ego' out of your equation.
9. Life should NOT be a journey to the grave
with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body,
but rather to skid in sideways - glass of Bordeaux in one hand - chocolate in
the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming, "WOO
HOO, What a Ride!"
10. Life and its meandering course!
Life
is a continuous effort to learn and relearn. I work so hard to improve on my
failings that I have no time left to criticize others. I am my worst critic and
that has helped me formulate the meandering course of life far better.
The
only way I can prove that I am right is to give my problems the benefit of
hindsight and time, let time tell me if my approach has been right. No amount
of cajoling and convincing help settle issues.
Time
is the biggest healer and the principal settler of rows, but do we have time?
By the time, the time tells us we are right, we are history, so I changed
course, I make it happen now, I learn now. I try to learn my lessons in real
time i.e. now!
11. Taliban philosophy of intense horror based
on crutches of 'Ignorance' was the ultimate fatality and was knocked down when
'Malala' stood up for the first time. What 1000 drones and 100,000 army could
not do to 'eradicate moral equivalence' of terror she did it singlehandedly
with non violent resistance to unbridled terror . Amen.
12. Someone asked Iqbal sire, "I want to write , please help me with a
road map." and here is sir's reply:
"Either
write something worth reading or do something worth writing."
If
you would not be permanently forgotten or gone as soon as you are dead, either
write something worth reading or do things worth writing. The cyber specks that
you create shall remain an enduring emblem of your diminutive corporeal
existence on this earth. Leave some paw-marks of your cerebral power behind.
You
are so beautiful why you want to remain so nameless? It is not about posthumous
commemoration, that is inconsequential, it is mostly about the optimal utilization
of your present configuration of neural mindset that needs to mapped by your
written words, 'clothing' your thoughts with embroidery of words is a gracious
and a noble profession.
Our
life is an episode that needs encapsulation, writing epitomizes our exceptional
evolution, you are important and so are your observations. There is a
connection between creativity and inspiration, a writer needs to be equally
creativity and inspirational in order to break the writer’s block in their own
mind.
The
block breaks once you are not cognizant of 'what others think of you.' Once you
attain everlasting emancipation from the whims of the demons within and around
you, “chain reactions” in your mind shall ooze originality.
Create
an 'Academy' around you, follow the path of polymaths, and multiply the size of
your interests knowing well that life has million facets. Inspiration
definitely comes from your readership mostly. Monologues are not useful. Most
unfortunately it is here that the most writers face an uphill task. People are
intrinsically born not to remunerate or reward, they feel their comments are a
'favor,' they will hold on to those, it is inherent meanness stemming from how
we are designed as mean gene.
To
overcome unresponsiveness, coldness and indifference is a biggest stumbling
block for a writer, this is a hurdle that most cannot trounce, and most lose
interest. Just pay no attention to people who are indifferent, they are your
friends for no reason, it is kind of 'trendy' to have more friends, they are
not engrossed in your ideas or your interests, just don't give ever a damn
about number of 'likes' rather writer should not be a 'label whore.' Just
question do I need their opinion? You will get your own answer.
So
concentrate on your own self, encourage your own self, self admiration is
virtuous. Next with the help of those few who care, latch on to them and they
shall help you grow. Surmounting 'indifference' in this age of instant
gratification of your output is the principal challenge in a writer's life.
Don't
look for remuneration, reward or instant gratification; it is a long haul
process. Writing shall change your life. To become free, you should write. To
live audaciously and experience things fearlessly, writing provides an outlet.
Writing needs admiration of your own 'silence' those who are powerless to
comprehend your quiet will not be able to appreciate your words. Your eureka
moments of inspiration are triggered by those who read you, it is their
observations that help bursts of creativity, the biggest harm to a writer is
'indifference,' rest assure you will face it, ignore it initially otherwise
your skills fizzle out.
Create
friends around you who may show some camaraderie to help flourish your skills.
Incubation of love of writing skills is the most difficult nurturing process.
People fear intellect and letters more than wealth and affluence or even a
Lamborghini, 'display your mind' not materials on the face book of your life.
Acquire wisdom and you will prosper within and it will reflect on you
externally.
Don't
be a hermit, but also don't become a proponent, prophet and prisoner of your
own thoughts.'
Pontification
of antiqued, archaic and lost ideas will soon be history. Thoughts' if durable
absolutely need no crutches, they have their own itinerary and trajectory, let
the thoughts and ideas have sex, they remain out there as your input to society
at large.
Thoughts
are all about to live and let others live. Be a learner not a teacher, share
and not impose and you will be a winner.
Our life is an episode that needs encapsulation,
writing epitomises our exceptional evolution, you are important and so are your
observations. There is a connection between creativity and inspiration, a
writer needs to be equally creativity and inspirational in order to break the
writer’s block in their own mind.
The
block breaks once you are not cognizant of 'what others think of you.' Once you
attain everlasting emancipation from the whims of the demons within and around
you, “chain reactions” in your mind shall ooze originality.
The
whole war is to take 'I' out of 'me and me.' Writing helps it a lot, therefore
I write profusely.
13. Breakfast discussions with a group of
friends, simple talks: Never forget the power of good karma, never forget those
who came in and out of your life.You are what you are today as a result of the
flock you decided to fly with. If you are happy and contented, know it well the
most negative of the people who came in your life has a big role in it. It was
their negativity and ridicule that helped you become a better or an intelligent
person.
I
was lucky, I realized very early on that my 'brain' is my biggest capital not
anything else, and that I can say modestly that with my limitations I super
concentrated on, as others would waste time I would read, my foundations rested
on insatiable desire for knowledge, it consumed me very much that I knew and
know so little, it consumed finely, my search of learning multiplied manyfold
my self-contentment multiplied too.
Modesty
in approach towards erudition and scholarship are the seeds that erupt and
blossom fruitfully. Learning takes pride out of you, pride is the deadly
scorpion venomous tail that destroys many a persons, true learning makes you
feel inadequate until you know it well, that never happens. That sense of
perpetual inadequacy leads to openness of mind as you let ideas have sex with
each other. This is why Newton and Michelangelo until their end remained
learner and not teachers. If they were learners until the very end, who are we
the children of lesser gods to claim any glory?
Think
good, think positive, even in worst of times never give up. Listen, life is a
movie, and a plot, in best of times thanks the moments when you were down and
out, and in worst of time think of moments that you were on top. That's an
'intrinsic drug of hope' that we are luckily genetically injected with.
Never
envy about people above you, rather learn from their successes, and emulate
their streak of adventure. Make big heroes like Steve Job and learn from them
the vagaries and up and downs of life, that is what brings perfection of
balance in your life. On a lesser level of existence, people like us should
think of those who are struggling even for a morsel and be grateful. Ordinary
people with perseverance of belief can move mountains can change the perceptions;
a girl in Swat wiped with single feat of uncommon valor the aura of mightiest
of egos and dogmatic demagogues.
Karma
is a reality like natural force of creation i.e. gravity, if there was no
gravity there would be no life, no universe. In life what you sow is what you
reap, you sow disrespect you will get it back in kind. Ever 'thankfulness '
submission' and knowing well it is 'not about you alone' is the road to eternal
nirvana. The way you treat your own parents, treat other parents like that, the
way you respect your own kids respect others that way. These are not old values
or old customs, this is the way that our world that is so interconnected will
change, we need to be that change and strive for it.
People
will listen to you if you open your heart and they can see through you. If you
have no time for past, if you have no time for others, if you are not giving
and sharing your time and your knowledge extensively your mind will stagnate.
If you are not prepared to share private moments of your thoughts you will
definitely have always a difficult time determining why contentment is missing
from your life sorely. You are the richest man if you know that you are
happy-within everything else will follow. You are the poorest if you have
billions and it is all about your vanity, it is just not about you.
The
reason all great man write autobiographies is not for fun but for a reason i.e.
acknowledgement of how much they owe their success to their benefactors and
tormentors. Make your children read Mandela for learning forgiveness, and let
them watch Randy Pauch's 'The Last Lecture' to face the calamities of life with
hope and optimism. It is within 2-18 that their personalities will be made, you
really don't add much to person after 18, it is now that attitudes need to
entrenched and incorporate, undying love of learning and inspiration of
knowledge if missed at this age will never come back.
Please
discuss Universe, discuss Ideas that have changed the world, test them with the
wisdom of rationalism, logic, toleration and science. Open your/their minds to
History and Geography, Anthropology and the science of Hubble. Gazing the stars
frees the minds from the routines that we earthlings are normally caught with.
You may see what a change this waft of fresh attitude will bring to their living.
Think big in terms of knowledge, rest assure that is the only asset that goes
with you, it never extinguishes unless you are out. Nothing is more awesome
than an idea whose time has come and you support it.
Life
is either learning or teaching so that you become an iconoclast and implement
the change within and around. Never forget simple things open way to big
things, it is not the other way around. Compromise, flexibility and backing off
is as much an integral part of success as perseverance, fortitude and go
getting attitude.
Universal human love and unity cannot be
achieved through a stereotyped approach of our God is better than yours, it can
only be achieved by highlighting human values that do not need the hand of Gods
to interfere. go to your synagogues, temples and churches but leave some time
for the 'academy' that you should open in your mind. Life is a very fine
balance, we walk to our end earnestly looking for that balance, most of us will
be lucky if we can 'fine tune' it to the best wavelength, Amen.
14. I will quote from The Ascent of Man: 'Among
the multitude of animals which scamper, fly, burrow and swim around us, man is
the only one who is not locked into his environment. His imagination, his
reason, his emotional subtlety and toughness, make it possible for him not to
accept the environment, but to change it. And that series of inventions, by
which man from age to age has remade his environment, is a different kind of
evolution—not biological, but cultural evolution. I call that brilliant
sequence of cultural peaks in The Ascent of Man.'
The
world has changed far more in the past 100 years than in any other century in
history. With the help of creative ideas of minds such as Paracelsus,
Pythagoras, Galileo, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Gregor
Mendel and others, the potential humans have shown multiplying exponential
growth in deciphering Bronowski's Stratified Stability. In Bronowski's mind,
this ladder demonstrates different levels of complexity through the stages of
the world’s progression. Our prodigious and recurrent mounting perception of
our universe has given us the probable to further advance. Bronowski in his
book back in 1973 thought that “Humans or Homo sapiens, cannot do impossible
things such as harness the power of the stars or control the massive
temperatures.” In a way, this passage clarifies our abilities more than just
showing what we have done. Our constant climb up the ladder of complexity is
the key of our progress.
The
reason is not political or economic but technological — technologies that
flowed directly from advances in basic science. Stephen Hawking said that 'For
millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then something happened
which unleashed the power of our imagination. We learned to talk and we learned
to listen. Speech has allowed the communication of ideas, enabling human beings
to work together to build the impossible. Mankind's greatest achievements have
come about by talking, and its greatest failures by not talking. It doesn't
have to be like this. Our greatest hopes could become reality in the future.
With the technology at our disposal, the possibilities are unbounded. All we
need to do is make sure we keep talking.'
15. I notice that what turn people into a self
immolating moth is the single minded desire of becoming big and being credited
as big man, if one can curtail that foolish inkling, world is your oyster.
Seize the moment, if you are intelligent and can do something about the world,
start at your door step. just be contented and express your intelligence to
your own little neighborhood, all intelligence and change is local. Take out
negative influences from your life, add positive energies. Try to be contented
within you, there is a lot you can do without becoming big, just act your
normal crazy self, the best service begins from around you, that determines who
you are, change the milieu around you, please reach out and take care of those
who matter the most to you. The whole world will change, if we all change our neighborhood
into a positive force.
-Mahendranath R
7/7/2014
Chennai, India.
