Today, on January 22nd, Hindus celebrate Saraswati Puja: a festival dedicated to the Goddess of education, Saraswati.
On this day, Students pray to her to give them the motivation and strength to get them through their education path. They thank her for the opportunity given to them to learn and grow.
Parents pray to her for the prosperity of their children’s career.
Teachers pray to the goddess to bless them with more knowledge that they can share with the future of the nation.
Reminiscing Childhood Days
Growing up, Saraswati Puja was a big festival in my home town. The regular school schedule would be paused for that day. We would gather in the school assembly area in the morning at about 8 am. The entire school - faculty, students, and custodians - would gather as a family to thank the Goddess. Then, we would scatter to areas where the school would have lots of food and sweets available for us students to enjoy.
It wasn’t just MY school who did this. Almost every school in town would have food available for everyone so anyone was free to go around town visiting different schools and taking little food packets as a gift.
I especially loved eating Buniya, little chick pea sized balls of deliciousness. Abundant sweet treats were all my heart desired at that age so my friends and I made sure we visited as many schools as possible to collect all the goodies. 😉
Mixing Religion and Education?
Looking back, it almost seems like a bad idea to bring religion into an educational institution. However, the idea behind what we were doing makes sense.
We were being taught to be thankful for the opportunity to learn and receive quality education; especially in a developing country like Nepal where so many people never got a chance to even hold a book in their lives, back in those days.
We were being taught to show gratitude for what we are receiving.
For the rigorous South Asian schooling system that starts at a very young age, it was a day where the school could show us love all while teaching us how crucial education is.
Showing My Gratitude
The tradition is to pray to the Goddess to give you knowledge and wisdom. I'm not very religious but I know the power of gratitude. Showing how thankful I am, even for the smallest things in life, has worked extremely well for me.
Now, I'm not going to sit here and act like praying will solve all of my problems. I'm not going to leave everything up to this higher being and hope everything turns out well for me. I don't believe that good things will just come to me without me putting any effort at all. I work hard everyday, at school and at work, so I can have a good future.
It doesn't matter what religion someone follows or doesn't follow to be thankful for what we have. Expressing gratitude is a universal thing, despite the culture or religion. So, lets all learn to be thankful for what we have every day of our lives; doesn't matter how big or small.
So here goes mine...
From being able to come to the land of opportunities in hopes of receiving quality higher education, to discovering self-improvement platforms like Steemit, I am thankful for all the opportunities I've received in my life.
Nothing is more powerful than education and I can't thank my parents, my birth-country AND my naturalized country, my teachers, and the universe, enough.
So, regardless of what religion you believe in, what country you are from, how great your life is, how much you are struggling, anything, let's take a moment to thank everyone and everything that has made it possible for us to get the best education possible with the best available technology in the history of mankind.
Upvote, comment, and/or resteem if you liked my post! :)