I wonder if you’ve heard of the phrases“, You have to by heart all of the notes, or you’re going to fail,” or,” Nope, you have no other option but to mug it all up, if you want to pass.” Well, of course you have! I hear it every day at school.  Now- a –days it seems to be more about “passing a test” and in my situation…”passing tenth grade”…alive. But what about the real world? If mugging would help us throughout life, then well, I’d be darn jolly! But alas! That’s not the truth.

Life is all about application. Application of knowledge in real life.  Learning something just for the sake of it is pointless. For instance, in biology, we have learnt the composition of soil. Remember that moment during an exam wherein all of us would flip through our books at the nick of time? Now, what if in real life, we experienced a time wherein our plants were embedded in over- acidic soil? What would you do then? Stutter about your biology textbook? No. THAT is what you call mugging up. A practical person would make the soil basic. Pretty obvious, isn’t it?

Now, returning to our previous quote, read it again.
“The mind is not a vessel to be filled…” Get what I mean now? 
Our minds have the capability to do great things, to dream great dreams and to build the highest skyscrapers and at the same time, turn them to dust.
  Our minds aren’t just meant to be filled with knowledge you cannot apply, but just recite out like a tape recorder.

Think of this. There is one student who tops in academics all the time, and seems undefeatable when it comes to a general knowledge quiz, while, at the same time, there is an average student who actually experiences new things in real life and has more awareness of his surroundings. So what if he doesn’t know the definition of “Atom” or perhaps ignored the chemical equation for burning magnesium? Well, he turns out to be the most street smart person in town. How, you ask? Application. Just because he didn’t score a ten on ten in his slip test doesn’t mean he is not smart. Instead, he is apparently the most practical person, for, he isn’t just filling his mind like an empty vessel which needs some volume, but he is utilizing what he has appropriately. And hence comes the statement,”…a fire to be kindled.”

Human brain is one of the most dangerous, yet brilliant things ever made. But, it needs to be exercised, so as to develop. This brilliant ability of ours, this sacred gift from the heavens, is the fire inside of us. It stays bright and dazzling…until the time we stop kindling it.

Einstein once quoted, “Education is not the learning of facts, but training our minds to think.”
Our minds are the best thing that ever happened to us, the fire which gave us the warmth…the life. Next, comes its ability to gain the facts, but by the end of the day, it is up to us, whether to analyse it or just accept the way it is.
Experience is the quickest means to gain knowledge but that can be done only if cherished and well-thought of.  Experiences shouldn’t be treated as ordinary incidents.  They should be kept in mind, questioned, analysed and made much more fruitful every next time.

It is also essential to build a constant thirst for knowledge. It is different to read something for a reason and then to eject it out of our heads than to have a constant buzzer in your mind which goes on, when you question. Different questions evolve to new ideas which must be shared among groups of people so as to ignite minds together and create more curiosity.

As far as experience speaks, I know very well that any kind of gossip never gets erased. Well then, why not use Gossip as a means to spread knowledge and to share your beliefs and questions?

To keep the fire alive is to keep our curiosity alive. We need to question things, to find out reasons, to analyse a way to apply and experience the various feathers of knowledge in real life.  This keeps the fire inside us burning, to which, our curiosity and hunger to question for more, is the fuel.

Without question, there can be no creations, for answers lie in the hands of the questions.
Without questions, our minds can just follow, but never lead, for to lead, you must create.

Creation needs imagination. Imagination needs the ability to question and to think flexibly, to explore all the nooks and corners, peek down every edge until the fuel has been fed to the fire.

For, we all know, “Intelligence and Knowledge without Curiosity and Imagination is like a bird with no wings.”
We must set our minds on fire and seek the thoughts that fan our flames.

No. This fire, never shall die.