Some time ago, I was skimming through this snippet of rather staggering news. It was about two girls in a women’s hostel, managed by a warden, who was a true-blue martinet. The lynx-eyed warden, it seems, would always be on the lookout for those who flouted the hostel rules. Upon finding them, she’d then mercilessly make them do all menial jobs like mopping floors etc, as a mean penalty for their misdemeanours. No wonder, she was like the dreadful bête-noire, detested by everyone around her.
Once, the aforesaid hostel girls, in high-jinks, tried hoodwinking her, by hopping outside hostel gate in the forbidden night hours, just to have some fun. But lo! As luck would have it, they got mugged by some men, who not only grabbed all their money and mobiles but also tried molesting the girls who somehow managed to flee from there. This spine-chilling incident had sent shock waves among the hostel residents, making them slowly realise the reason behind their warden behaving like a ruthless disciplinarian. The discipline was, after all, for their own safety and security.
Here, I’m reminded of my yesteryear college principal, a deadly dynamic lady, who despised those students, displaying dereliction in their student duties. Behind her bellowing voice and browbeating presence was a beautiful persona, brimming over with compassion. During her stint, she succeeded in sculpting the success stories of several students. That was when students discerned it was her stringent discipline that had made them surge ahead in life.
Be it at home, at the workplace, at various offices, it is the discipline that makes things work in a decidedly organised fashion. Imagine the roads without traffic signals/lane discipline, or the banks sans a queue system! It would be a pandemonium galore! Not to discount, the food and fitness discipline for a holistic, healthy lifestyle.
Whether it is in the student’s life, professional or personal life, ‘discipline’ is kind of synonymous with a structured routine, systematic working pattern, super-efficiency, and at times, even safe, secured and successful life. Without this, life would indeed be rudderless!