Once the father of a young boy was very busy at his work. The boy kept on interrupting him again and again. The father then devised a plan. He tore a map into pieces and asked his son to rejoin it back in shape. He thought it would take his son a long time to finish this task, but the boy accomplished the task within two minutes. Surprised, the father asked him how he was able do it so quickly. The son’s reply was, “It was so simple. There was a picture of a person on the other side. I just completed the picture of the human being and turned the paper over. The map of the world emerged intact automatically.”

What we learn from the above story is that one human being is a micro version of the whole world. We cannot succeed while trying to solve the problems of the world by tackling them at the macro level as large global problems or massive social problems. Instead, it is more feasible and effective to address the problems within individual human beings. That’s why there is a saying, ‘Change the self to change the world.’ This can only happen when individuals are balanced, value-based and self-consistent.

Spirituality and Value Education plays a pivotal role in bringing basic change at individual level, as it demonstrates the power of an individual to influence society through self example.

There is a saying, ‘actions speak louder than words.’ People tend to act in an honourable way when presented with an example of high standards. Hence, examples can give powerful inspiration and motivation, because people copy what they see with little effort, whereas they shy away from spoken or written proscriptions. That’s the reason why the words of a guru or a teacher are transformative for their students or followers.

Today, the need of the hour is to integrate value education with curriculum at all levels that would perfectly equip people to live a positive social life. People with greater awareness can then contribute to shifting deeply entrenched social negative traits including the general acceptance of corruption, bribery and nepotism as part of life; and direct or indirect antagonism against women, children or people of a lower caste.

Such enlightened attitudes can also boost the confidence of socially disadvantaged individuals and encourage them to restore their self-respect with confidence. This form of knowledge empowers people to resist their tendencies of greed, selfishness and violence in thought, word and action. People then become sensitised to the value of nature and towards taking proper care of the natural environment, thereby becoming more sensitive towards the ideals of a society that is rich in human, moral and spiritual values.

So, let us work towards educating our children in value education as a living example through spirituality and empower our future in true tradition of our culture and heritage.