Note Book

Chapter-20

The whole ground filled with the parents. Even it has been told that meeting was only for the parents, some students also accompanied their parents. Anupama came along with her parents.

In the dais were seated principal, teachers and Niranjan. Niranjan has been made sit in a central chair and a mike was arranged to him to speak.

"Thank you all for coming to this meeting on this day." Looking at the huge audience before him, principal Mrudanga Rao said. "I did not expect this many number of parents do attend to this meeting." Mrudanga Rao really not expected that many number of people do attend to the meeting he arranged. He knew about the popularity of Niranjan but still was suspicious about the response.

"I think you all know very well our Ninranjan sir, a great meditation and personality development expert. He wrote many books, gave discourses at many places and now is giving his speeches in television also. We are all quite lucky that he is living just near to our school as such I can manage that he teaches meditation every day an hour to our students. You all may be known about that." Mrudanga Rao paused expecting a response from the audience.

"Yes,".........."Yes"........"We are happy with it" the response from the audience there was indeed pleased Mrudanga Rao.

"You all also know that he is not just a meditation expert but also a personality development expert and he knew many other matters also so well. I thought it would be so beneficial to all of us if I arrange a meeting like this especially with the parents of our school where Niranjan can say something useful. "

There was great response from all the audience once again which pleased Mrudanga Rao to the maximum.

"Now our Niranjan sir is going to talk. In the end parents are allowed to ask questions to him." he said and sat in his chair.

Niranjan adjusted the mike before him. "I am very happy that I can talk like this to you all in this way. Giving speeches is not new to me, but talking particularly with parents of high school children I am doing for the first time. If principal has not asked me to talk like this with you parents, I might have asked him to give me a chance to talk like this." he paused for a moment observing the vast audience before him. All of them were completely silent listening what he was saying with rapt attention.

"Because high school stage is such an important one in every boy and girl's life! When it comes to a girl it is even more important. Because it is the stage when most crucial body and mind changes take place in girls. Even the changes in boys are not as much as girls, they play a very important role in their lives also. Unless, otherwise children are put in knowledge about the changes, they make them bewildered, confused and thrilled also. Sometimes they do feel fear too. Unless they are guided in a correct way there are chances that they take wrong steps." He paused once again as if to give more stress to what he was going to say.

"Most unfortunately we don't give much importance to the changing factor at high school stage. We think crucial changes take place only at the intermediate stage. We give importance only to discipline the children until their high school studies are over. We just don't bother what is going on in their minds, with what type of confusion they are. We just force them concentrate on their studies and get good scores. By this, what happens is, whatever opinions and ideas have generated in their minds while they are in high school take form shape by the time they reach intermediate. It becomes impossible to change them then."

It seemed whatever Niranjan was saying going straight into the minds of audience there. Their expressions were clearly insinuating it.

"We first talk about girls who are studying in high school. It is the most crucial stage in a girl's life. Most probably, in more than ninety percent girls, they become women at this stage. They may step into the womanhood from sixth to tenth at any moment. Unless the girl is told about it before, she will be just confused. It is very important to let her know the changes that her body would undergo in before itself. If we wait thinking that it does not happen until her tenth class or later, we do mistake. There were girls who entered into their womanhood just at their sixth class also. There were girls who ran off from the house, committed suicide, just as they did not know what happened to them. It was just because that there was no guidance. It was just because that they did not know what happened to them."