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Obey with the Heart

 A talk given by Shri Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari to students of Lalaji Memorial Omega School, Chennai On August 15th 2005, The anniversary of Indian Independence

Dear Children, Parents, Respected Dinesh Kumarji, Mrs. Dinesh Kumar,

It is a most auspicious occasion for Lalaji's parampara to be here—parampara means family. And on this most auspicious occasion that he should be here to raise the flag, I think indicates that the future of the school will be a bright one, a brilliant one, and a glorious one. Of course, you children have to contribute—that is what schools are for. Children must learn, not only what to do, but how to do it. ‘What’—the mind or the intellect will tell you. ‘How’ involves ethics, morality, principles of life—and that the heart must tell you. In modern education, the head is important, the heart is forgotten. In our education, here in this school to start with, we hope to give equal importance to the heart and the head. Children must therefore learn to obey with the heart, not with the head. Obedience means what? Obedience means listening and doing what you are asked to do without questioning why this order is given to us.

So I hope all of you children will benefit from this school, and your parents will support this education wholeheartedly. This is a new school. It needs your support—mentally, physically, morally and, of course, financially. As you perhaps know, our fee structure is probably the lowest in Madras, and we hope to supply the best education, give our children the most nourishing food and give them an environment where their growth will be natural, harmonious and future-oriented.

I congratulate the principal and her staff on this auspicious occasion, for doing so much in such a little time. You can see before you—the first floor is already up and the second floor will be up soon. They shall also be building two more blocks, hopefully before April next year, so that we can accommodate students in a hostel or a dormitory as you call it. We are planning to have about 800 students, at least, next year. So the year after this will be a very active one, because you have to learn while work is going on, and our elders, I hope, will appreciate that they will have to work while teaching is going on.

So, I pray for all of you. May Lalaji Maharaj, Babuji Maharaj, bless all of you and make you citizens of whom we can be proud.

Thank you.