COURAGE THE COWARDLY WORD

Isn't the title contrasting? I deliberately wrote it that way because from the conversations I have heard over the years, disappointingly, they point to the fact that people are being misled to lend their trust to the word courage. The conclusion that I have come to is that the ones involved in such actions just showed off their definition of courage to gain what I call very naive impression from others. They leave a disgusting impression because all they can do is backbite and when it comes to walking the talk, they become the innocuous spectator who thought that the reputation which they had earlier will do the trick. Foolish folks (I hate these impression-seekers)!

Imagine the common scenario in our school. When we feel that our subject teacher is not proving his intellectual ability and the teaching style is not promising to make the students absorb the subject matter effectively, all we do is dig up his flaws when he is writing something on the board. Inspired from the soap-operas, we backbite and, if possible, are ready to spend 24 hours discussing that the teacher needs serious improvements or in extreme cases, we feel we should kick him out. We do so either to ensure that the backbites will be heard by the teacher himself or to make our peers fall into the impression that we can do such big talks as we have the advantage of being a reputed academic intellect. Seldom do we realize that it does not even have a one in a billion chances to produce the projected result. That is why we should think twice before we let others feel that we have the guts to talk big but deliver nothing. 

It takes real courage to act as you wish to and impressions don't come in the way.

Whatever I am saying have already been a part of my life. There were moments when my peers thought that coming to a verbal conclusion only among us would show the solution to our problem. Moments when we just stared at the ceiling or stood tirelessly at the side of our bed right after our supper (in a large group, of course!) telling how rubbish the ideas presented in the class were and that the teacher been criticized should have never taught us. In contrast, Pain filled our bodies when we pictured ourselves standing even for a brief two minutes sharing the drawbacks that we had gathered after a thorough Hercule Poirot styled investigation directly to the teacher in question.

Sometimes, creepy thoughts like audaciously presenting the drawbacks to the concerned teacher or writing a letter of no confidence delineating the problems swirled in my heads. They began to pile. It was only after a very long time that I was capable of breaking loose from the chains of I-thought-you-a-good-student thought that I pictured of the teachers having about me. It occurred to me that if someone at the present state doesn't stand up, then the next set of students would have to live through the torture of organizing a forum to find ways to spot his weaknesses. The thought of acting courageously carried no importance to me. All I cared was for my peers and my brothers to ease the pressure a bit. Luckily, with the help of some of my friends, I was able to bring the issue into light (trust me, it was the hardest yet damn care thing I had done in my life). 

Don't fall into the idea of me bragging about my definition of courage. As simple as defining the term, it is crucial for us to move ideas into action. With the initiative from one of us, it will be passed down to others and cordial relationship will be established. Even the folks enjoying the amenities of standing on a better academic ground should DO something about the issue. Don't fear about your impression being ruined when you talk to your teacher about his drawbacks. Just believe that the teacher will gladly accept your opinions. After all, he is wise enough to teach you that all humans make mistakes and it is necessary to correct them before others fall into its impression. 

It is thus necessary to use the word in a benign way. Courage,says Ambrose Redmoon, is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. We should be selfless in this situation. Do not regret losing the chance you had when your person in question was cool and you had all the support from your friends. Be courageous enough to lure him into committing an effective teaching display the next time he visits your class. And it is not the case of pinpointing drawbacks to your teacher only, the courage in you should sprout whenever the situation demands. That, I believe, is a greater virtue than merely displaying courage. Until then, don't bring a disgrace to Courage.