18. Explanation of the lesson "The Treasure Within"

Apart from learning, Hafeez had several sporting interests. He was a great athlete. He had also been the senior champion for many years. He was also the captain of the cricket team and enjoyed playing cricket. Hafeez used to participate in all of the school's sporting events every year. However, after hearing his Principal's advice, he decided to prove himself. So he thought of studying, and he did not get onto the field that year. It meant that he had followed his Principal's instructions and showed an interest in academics rather than sports.

 

After that, Hafeez's daily routine started to change. He used to attend the morning prayers in school, and he would eat adequately and study well. Usually, in the exam, Hafeez used to copy from his friends, and once he reached his senior secondary, he realised that whatever he did was wrong and he should not copy from others. In general, copying is not a good habit. One should try their best to succeed, and copying did not give a piece of good knowledge. Finally, Hafeez realised his mistakes, and he started to study hard.

Usually, hard work never fails. The best example of that was Hafeez. Earlier, Hafeez had copied in all the exams. After his conversation with the Principal, he started to work hard. It gave him a good improvement in his studies. He passed his twelfth standard with fifty percent of marks. When he achieved second class in his board exam, the Principal told him to think that he had got distinction. Here, Hafeez got the second class, and the Principal asked him to feel as if he got first class. The reason behind his statement was Hafeez had worked hard to achieve, and he had achieved the second class. But the thing was that he had obeyed the words of his Principal and tried his best. So it was considered to be a worthy one. So the Principal said to him, “Son, consider yourself as having got a distinction!”

Hafeez shared his experience to Bela how he had scored fifty percent of marks in his board exams. He told her that he had done a lot of things to remember the concepts. He had the habit of forgetting things quickly and mainly forgetting the things which he had studied earlier. It was difficult for him to memorise the text in his course material as he would forget them quickly. To keep things in his mind, he saw them as photographs. He would read a book and remember it in the form of images but not through his mind. Here, "not through his mind" meant that he would not mug up the concepts; he would visually learn the concepts. That’s how it worked for him.

 

 

The architect took Hafeez to meet the college Principal after learning about his interest in developing plans. The Principal stated he would let Hafeez attempt the entrance exam, but he wouldn’t be admitted to the college if he didn’t perform well. Fortunately, Hafeez scored ‘A+’ on the entrance exam, and he continued to perform well throughout his course. He scored first class throughout the year.

 

Hafeez had never made a plan before, but he knew how things looked like, from the top. Likewise, he had no idea what a section was. A cutting across the body of a building perpendicular to the horizon line is referred to as a section. But he knew what a plan would look like if it were cut out into a specific shape. Throughout the year, he was always top in class.
 
According to Hafeez, his great understanding of architecture came from how he played and did all other activities in school. Hafeez told Ms Bela about one of his friends named Behram Divecha, with whom he used to compete about designing forts, guns and ammunition. Both of them would put in a lot of effort to be different and make their piece stand out.

 

 

Later, Hafeez told Ms Bela that he had a teacher named Mrs Gupta. One day, when he was in second or third grade, Mrs Gupta told him that his work was good after seeing his sketches. She acknowledged that he was useless in practically every other area, but she recommended pursuing a career as an architect when he grew up. Hafeez had no idea that he was going to be an architect at the time. So, when he became an architect years later, he returned to meet his old teacher, Mrs Gupta and told her that her predictions had come true.

 

Ms Bela mentioned that there was a belief that giftedness and learning problems are mutually contradictory. She inquired if Hafeez agreed that this was the case with him.

While hearing Ms Bela's point of view, Hafeez highlighted a few of his classmates who had consistently received first or second place in academics but were now working in ordinary occupations. Ms Bela agreed with Hafeez since she had heard from so many people who said that their class toppers were no longer doing anything special. The statement implied that those who applied logic and learned things without mugging would shine in the world. For instance, nowadays, to score high marks, people would mug up everything from the course book. It did not give an essential knowledge. After the exam, the child would forget everything. But if they were learning things in a logical way, they would remember it in their lifetime. It would make them succeed in life.

According to Hafeez, the kind of life he had at school made him street smart. Here "street smart" means smartly doing things independently or by choice rather than forcing anyone. It also meant that Hafeez had gained the experience and knowledge necessary to deal with the potential difficulties or dangers of life by becoming street smart.

 

Coming back to Hafeez situation, he had learned more by doing things on his own rather than what academics would have taught him. Finally, he said he became a famous architect by exploring a lot of things. Even though he was mischievous, he was interested in designing and drawing. His interest in understanding things in the form of images or drawing had made his life a pleasant one.