For My Graduating Students-Class of 2021

Chigwell, England

August 6th?2021

My dear students:

How amazing is that you are going to graduate in a couple of days. It is indeed a time for you to celebrate with your loved ones who supported you through this journey.?

Never will I forget going through the class roster, looking at your photos and then meeting you for the first time albeit virtually. In days and months to come you helped me grow and I appreciated your presence through every turn we took in our classes.

I deeply admire each one of you for taking the plunge and planting the sapling of lifelong learning at the height of COVID. While most people went into risk averse mode, you charged forward like a 'true superhero'. Not only did you work on unwrapping your best-self; you helped your peers in realising their best-self too.

Now take a minute to reflect on the time when you took the seed and planted the sapling of learning. Every day you watered it, everyday you guarded it and now it has grown into a beautiful tree. With roots now firmly established, it has benefited not only from sunshine (which has come in the form of new knowledge) but also by being part of the orchard (your peer group, which I know for many of you is now like your extended family). This tree and orchard of yours is very dear to my heart and I am grateful for the opportunity to connect with both of these.

Through this message I would like to share four of my wishes for you:

1. Firstly, it is my wish that you continue to nourish this beautiful soul of yours by giving it the gift of love, gratitude and care on daily basis. Don’t forget not only the freshness and fragrance of your favourite flower every morning, but also gently remind yourself that when you lean forward to smell it, you must touch it softly since it is very delicate.?By this I mean the ‘duty of care’ you have towards yourself. May you exercise this 'duty of care towards yourself'. Renew this promise every morning and before you go to bed. As you move towards graduation, I feel assured that you will remember the role of loved one’s - friends and family in nurturing your life to date. Remember that they are also the same flowers: who you need to nourish with love and care and yes on daily basis. In return you will earn their fragrance.
2. Second, while nourishing this compassion, I wish that you remember the role of fertilizer you use in your flower bed. This fertilizer is the thoughts you plant in your mind on daily basis. As you know, but please allow me to repeat it: ‘It is our thoughts that shape our being, and our relationships with family and world beyond.’ Hence as you graduate may I remind you to take good care of what thoughts are entering your mind. Try to reflect on this every day before you go to bed. As Swami Vivekanand, the revered Indian sage said:?"We are what our thoughts have made us; so, take care about what you think.?Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far."
3. Third, as you look forward to 2021 and beyond, I wish that you be blessed with 'resilience'. There is no doubt that you will encounter challenges – personal and professional. They are part of every one’s life. Question how well prepared you are when you face them and what can you do today to grow your resilience. If you start taking good care of your consciousness and your internal being, you will without doubt sail through rather than being submerged in them.
4. Finally, my dear one’s I wish that you pay attention to the legacy you are building every day.??None of us are going to be here forever but what will be here for long is what we leave behind. This may be in the form of your footprint of your service both to the community, to the institutions, and to your family and your friends.

So my dear students, go and 'unleash your true mettle'

With gratitude for the gift of being your teacher in this lifetime.

Yours truly

Prof. Ajay Bhalla?