A Step towards Bright Future

A Step towards Bright Future

Published in University Grants Commission, New Delhi Recognized Journal No. 41311 ISSN: Print: 2347-5021 ISSN: Volume VII, Issue VI: June 2019 Online: 2347-503X

Author – Rekha Khandelwal

BSC, LLM, NET, Research Scholar, University of Rajasthan, (Rajasthan) India

Table of content show

Abstract –

It is a well known saying that “our children are our future”, so there is a need of extensive care of today’s children from the very beginning. When a baby takes birth, it is nothing. It is free from feelings of ego and selfishness. Therefore it is said that children are form of God. Then what happens due to which one child makes his life useful when grown up and other useless. The reason is differences in their nurturing, their family environment, their social environment, their education, etc. which resulted in wide differences in them. Therefore, such an education is needed from the very beginning that they can know there talent, become confident, able to take self decisions, get connected with nature, able to hear the inner voice, able to establish coordination between heart and mind and take decision that what can they give to the country, a good doctor, a good engineer, a good teacher or serve the country in any other manner. Then only they will be able to enjoy their studies and their work and will definitely get success and always remain happy and will not get diverted towards unwanted activities or wrong path. The children of present time are neither sensitive nor having feelings of love towards nature, animals, plants and even human beings. So, there is a necessity to develop these attributes in today’s children. Not only parents should think in this regard, but also government should do something. There is a program namely “Brighter Minds: Enriching Young Minds” which may be useful in this regard which is also in easy approach of everyone. “This program aims to provide the right environment and training to the children to improve their brain functions related to observation, perception, attention and sensory augmentation. This program module is for children between the ages of 5 to 15 years.

I want to suggest that government should apply Brighter Minds Program as a part of studies. It will definitely be a gift for lifetime not only to child ren, but also to their parents and even the country and the whole world. Then it will be truly a step towards bright future.

Key words: Children, Bright future, Brighter Minds Programme

Today parents are having much expectation from a child. Right from his birth, the parents decide that their child will become a doctor or an engineer or a businessman. In future, these expectations are forcefully put before the children due to which they remain in pressure of fulfillment of those expectations. Due to this, the inner talent of children, their choices, their decision making power, their happiness, etc. get adversely affected. They have to think from the mind of their parents, society and relatives instead of their own mind and inner-self. This creates pressure on them as they have to choose their career on this basis and not on the basis of their inner talent and interest. Due to this, they are unable to give their best and resultantly some go into depression and even some commit suicide and some become offenders. Therefore, such an education is needed from the very beginning that they can know there talent, become confident, able to take self decisions, get connected with nature, able to hear the inner voice, able to establish coordination between heart and mind and take decision that what can they give to the country, a good doctor, a good engineer, a good teacher or serve the country in any other manner. Then only they will be able to enjoy their studies and their work and will definitely get success and always remain happy and will not get diverted towards unwanted activities or wrong path.

The children of present time are neither sensitive nor having feelings of love towards nature, animals, plants and even human beings. So, there is a necessity to develop these attributes in today’s children. Not only parents should think in this regard, but also government should do something.

Introduction of Brighter Minds

There is a program namely “Brighter Minds: Enriching Young Minds” which may be useful in this regard which is also in easy approach of everyone. “This program aims to provide the right environment and training to the children to improve their brain functions related to observation, perception, attention and sensory augmentation. This program module is for children between the ages of 5 to 15 years.”ⁱ

“There are several benefits of this program. It will help our child in the following ways:

intensify focus,
boost confidence,
sharpen observation
enhance inclusion,
deepen empathy,
strengthen memory
improve comprehension, etc.”

Every child is unique and comes into this world with his destiny. Learning is a continuous process throughout its journey on earth. The role that parents or facilitators play is to enable the child to reach his/ her life’s purpose. The child looks upon the words with a sense of wonder and enormous opportunities to learn and grow. Possessing a sense of infinite potential, it has the confidence to learn everything. Children predominantly perceive the world through interaction, be it with elders, siblings, friends or even pets. They have a natural ability to learn and learning something new is a matter of great joy.

How do we create an environment conducive to the child’s learning? First and foremost, it would be by creating an atmosphere of joy and harmony around him or her, where the child feels no artificial barriers to learning. It is important to remember that every child learns at his own pace that is natural to its state of his development. The next step towards encouraging a child’s learning would be to channelize their interest in the growth- oriented direction.

The program is designed in such a way that the children are exposed to an environment conducive to learning by providing various activities, where learning meets fun; in the spirit of ‘do and learn’, ‘read and enjoy’.ⁱⁱ”

“Children are very sensitive to people and environment around them. They learn from things around consciously and unconsciously. The environment of love, positive thoughts and attitude helps children open up and creates willingness to grow and develop feeling unconditional love all- around, makes them self confident, calm and thoughtful towards others.ⁱⁱⁱ”

“The parents and schools of today strive to guide their children to achieve overall excellence by providing them with outstanding education, positive learning environment, professional mentoring of academic talents, platform to explore several extracurricular activities, avenues to build

social awareness and life skills, opportunities to participate in community development services, and harness creativity.

While the support received by children from parents and schools is immense, it has been observed that they are susceptible to several real-time challenges that restrain them from achieving overall excellence. The children of today receive less individual attention, face excessive peer pressure and composition, become perceptive to the rapid social and cultural changes, remain distracted due to digitalization, and are exposed to social unrest at a tender age. This leads to children being insecure and emotionally unstable; being stressed, aggressive, restless, and distracted; being more reactive than responsive; and live in a state of discontent.

The current scenario brings to our attention the gap that exists between education and excellence – the gap in preparing the child to excel in the world of today and tomorrow. Indeed, it is said that the limit of excellence is set by the level of one’s personal development.^iv”

“Most people utilize only a fraction of their potential, several hidden capabilities are controlled by the right brain. The purpose of education is to draw out one’s innate and higher abilities. Education should foster human evolution and awaken the mind, creating ‘open-mindedness (left to right brain shift). The focus is not just academic achievement; this approach can have excellent results in creating a gentle and harmonious mind. Children will exhibit richly nourished sensitivity, humanity, imagination and creativity.”

According to Shichida, love, when expressed through positive suggestions, attitude, thinking and praise, stimulates and ‘opens’ the inter-brain area (a region between the left and right hemispheres), which in turn sends positive signals to open and relax the mind. This leads to optimum and balanced brain function. Similarly, in spiritual philosophy love is the key element in the transformation of human being, be it young or old.^v”

“Neuroplasticity: The science behind Brighter Minds

Neuroplasticity means that the brain can repair, regenerate or change from any stimulus, which can be sensory, motor, cognitive, or emotional experiences. This plasticity of brain is much better in children and decreases as they are grown. Hence, it is important to expose children to appropriate stimuli early in life while their brain is developing to ensure optimum utilization of brain functions.

The different levels of frequency, at which brain waves can be founds, are categorized as follows:

Gamma : very busy, active conscious state of mind
Beta : Alert ,busy, dominant in normal awake state of mind
Alpha : Relaxed state of mind
Theta : Light sleep and meditation : gateway to learning and memory
Delta: Very deep meditation, dreamless sleep: healing and regeneration are stimulated in this state, and that is why deep restorative sleep is so essential to the healing process.

As part of the Brighter Minds program, music has been specially designed with the integration of subtle vibrations at alpha-theta frequencies to help bring a child’s mind to a state of optimal functioning. Children are taught various techniques to stay calm, centered and composed. This helps them focus and use their energy efficiently and naturally.^vi”

Team of the Brighter Minds Program^vii

The inspiration for Brighter Minds came from the need to leave the world a better place for the next generation. The passion for this cause has led the team to explore the area of Neuroplasticity and discover the unlimited potential of the brain. Combining these learnings with the spiritual values of Love, Joy and Positivity, their aim is to make the world a brighter place, one kid at a time.

The core team comes from diverse backgrounds of technology, public health, neurosciences, child health and development, research, finance, marketing, media and communications, etc.

Nagaraja N S, CEO & Director

Nagaraja N S has been in IT industry from last 20+ years. He is interested in software architecture, product design, cognitive development, meditation and science of brain in general. He likes to learn and explore new ideas. Within Brighter Minds, he is leading the product design and research through harnessing latest advances in health, neurosciences and technology.

Srinivas Thonse, Director

Dr Meghna is a paediatrician, currently working as a consultant in a private hospital setting in Bangalore. She holds a MD degree in paediatrics from the American board of paediatrics. After completing her postgraduate training in USA, she moved back to India and has been practicing paediatrics in Bangalore since 2007. She is highly interested in exploring the relevance of advances in brain neuroplasticity on child development and parenting and is a strong advocate of science and art of parenting for a wholesome child development.

Dr. Yatin Kher, Adviser – Neurosciences and Neural Health

Dr Yatin Kher works as a neurosurgeon in Jabalpur, India. He completed his MBBS and Masters in General Surgery (M.S) in Mumbai, Mch-Neurosurgery in Goa. His fellowship and primary focus has been on neuro-endoscopic surgeries where he has a no of publications to his credit. He is a young budding and enthusiastic surgeon, takes a lot of interest in harnessing latest advances in neurosciences and neural health for improved health and wellbeing of his clients.

Dr. Praveen Pankajakshan, Adviser – Research and Data sciences

Dr. Praveen Pankajakshan is currently working as the Principal Data Science Manager at a private organization in Hyderabad. He has worked as a scientific researcher for more than 17 years. His main research interests are in using Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for different applications such as Electrical Machinery, Power Systems, Life Sciences, Healthcare, Energy Industry and recently in Agriculture. He has been exploring the use of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) for quantifying impact of cognitive training and meditation. He received his B.S. Electrical Engineering from IIT Roorkee in 2002, his

M.S. Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station in 2005 and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from INRIA, France in 2009. He has to his credit several peer reviewed published articles in International Conferences and Journals, and many patents. He is a senior member of the IEEE.

Interview

I have interviewed some children of Jaipur City and their parents and they have shared their experiences. Some of them are as below:

Name- Chandramukhi Age- 12

Class- VIII

“Before joining Brighter Minds-

I was having low confidence. I used to be confused every time in everything. I couldn’t concentrate.

After joining Brighter Minds-

My concentration power has improved. I understood that my interest is in becoming a scientist. My sensitivity is increased. Now I doesn’t have any confusion. My creativity has also improved. Now I can write my own story, slogan etc. Now I can read books and identify colours of things blindfolded.”

Name- Aryan Age- 15 Class- X

“Before joining Brighter Minds-

I wasn’t good in studies. I used to be jealous of others.

After joining Brighter Minds-I became good in studies. My confidence level increased. My sensitivity, love towards others, decision making power and interaction also increased. My creativity also improved. Now I have fixed the goal that I want to become an engineer.”

Name- Divij Age- 9 Class- 4th

“Before joining Brighter Minds-

I became angry at small things. I had less confidence.

After joining Brighter Minds-

My confidence improved. I have a caring nature now. I understood that we should not spend our time with bad children.”

Name- Kshitij Age- 10

Class- 6th

“Before joining Brighter Minds-

I had very low confidence. When anyone uses to abuse me, I started crying. I couldn’t mix between others. I had negative thinking. As I had very less confidence, I couldn’t ask my doubts from teacher.

After joining Brighter Minds-

My confidence and creativity has increased. Now I can ask my doubts from the teacher easily. My creativity and sensitivity improved. Now I have positive thinking. Now if anyone abuses me, I ignore him.”

Being mother of Kshitij, I myself feel all the changes in my son Kshitij which are narrated above.

Name- Naman Age-15

Class-X

“Before joining Brighter Minds-

I couldn’t concentrate on my studies. I used to be afraid of dogs. I used to get angry on small things.

After joining Brighter Minds-

I can concentrate on my studies. My sensitivity is increased. Now I do not get angry on small things. I became more creative. My decision making power increased. I became a good speaker. Now I never get afraid of dogs. I can now understand others’ feelings.”

Name – Kuldeep Age – 12

Class – VIII

“Before joining BM

I had low confidence and couldn’t answer any question in class asked by teacher. I had less concentration on my studies. My sensitivity was less. I had less friends. I used to play games on mobile very much. I had fear from dogs.

After joining BM

I have confidence to answer a question in the class. My concentration and sensitivity increased. I reduce the use of mobile. Now I do not have fear from dogs. I enjoy my life now.”

Name – Pratap Age – 7

Class II