Are you the 4th Idiot?

Last weekend, I watched the movie 3 idiots for the third time in two weeks. I always get fascinated by relating movies with real life and exploring relevant messages and lessons from them. When I saw 3 idiots the first time, I knew that I’m at it again! So I watched the movie again and again and here are some of the lessons and messages that could be applicable to a lot of us in academia…. (or...stay as you are and become the 4th idiot!).

1. Keep It Simple, Stupid!

Life is need base not want base. Our desires have no limits. Simplicity is way of life and our Indian culture highly stresses on simple living and high thinking, and this is the way of life: ‘Deepen your roots and broaden your vision’.

2. Follow Passionately and Reach the Heights of Excellence

When you follow your passion, you’ll surely become great in that profession. When your leisure pursuit becomes your profession and follow it with passion, you will be able to excel in the life. You derive pleasure from it and the outcome would be job satisfaction, love and joy..

3. Life Is Not Just Intelligence Management, But Emotion Management

Regular studies and memory skills are important and it helps you in leading a successful life. You’ll be able to survive even if you can make some mark in the path of the life. By artificial means you may be able to taste short-term success, but it cannot replace how skillfully you manage crisis situations.

4. Power of Words in Communication

Every word we use has certain impact and value in communication. One mistake in using a word or wrongly emphasizing wrongly or pausing at a wrong place in communication it creates undesirable effect. This is very well illustrated in this film.

5. Celebrate Life!

Don’t live a dead life. Life is for enjoying and celebrating every moment to the fullest. Sign of life is enthusiasm and happiness.

6. Out of the box thinking

Sheer need puts you under pressure and compels you to invent something or to come out with some innovation. In this movie, Aamir Khan, makes use of the vacuum pump at the last moment and demonstrates this principle.

7. Learning Is Very Simple

You learn every moment and this is very simple. Those who teach might fail; but Learners seldom fail. Learning is simple; it’s never a complicated or difficult phenomenon.

8. Leadership Styles

The Dean of the institute in 3 idiots is characterized with a very distinctive leadership style. He follows his own ideology, principles, belief systems and values, and therefore he leads the entire institute in that manner. Institutional leadership is all about this. In the present scenario, many institutes are entangled in Square thinking. What we need is, perhaps a Spherical thinking.

9. Love is Beyond the Dimensions and Scope of Time or Space

Love is the universal truth. It is not time bound or space bound. Love is boundary free, time free and space free as was in the many cases from the mythology – Laila and Majnu, Meera and Krishna, etc.

10. Learning should be Pleasurable

The present system of education that we follow is creating and accumulating stress on students’ mind. Regulatory systems and University framework are necessary but can these be at the cost of the life?

...there could be some more lessons that are not addressed above... those who find any..are welcome to add 'em to this blog...