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Days 5 & 6 offered us new perspectives as we explored the complex concepts of discipline and love. It’s funny how life gives you reality check sometimes, and one of the most important lessons we learned was that life is challenging. The irony is that the difficulty seems to lessen as soon as we completely understand and embrace this fact. Knowing life’s challenges reduces their complexity, much like deciphering a hidden code.

As we investigated the ideas of legitimate and illegitimate suffering, our inquiry into the understanding of pain took an intriguing turn. Even while I debated calling some illegitimate pain unjustified, I couldn’t argue against the need of accepting and recognizing it. Maybe I simply dislike the fact that some pain is so disregarded by society that its cause becomes logically insignificant to the person too leading them to repress it. 

Discipline turned into a focus, and a fellow member said something that stuck with me- love is a verb which is an action word, and love as an action, necessitates discipline. It was quite beautifully put according to me. Our investigation of the four discipline tools –  delaying gratification, acceptance of responsibility, dedication to truth, and balancing – opened up a world of introspection. My group was assigned the task of explaining acceptance of responsibility, which turned out to be not only entertaining but also extremely insightful.

According to Scott Peck, the discussions on love were equally fascinating, ranging from personal definitions to debunking misconceptions and exploring non-examples. Love, as we discovered, transcends conventional notions, and it was eye-opening to challenge our preconceived notions about it.

We concluded the day by watching the film “Fair Play.” Even though I didn’t particularly like it, it did a good job of portraying the harsh reality of the power relationships between men and women. It served as a sobering reminder of how intricately relationships are constructed. All in all, I had a great time during these sessions, and I want to express my gratitude to the school and our facilitators for providing such a rich educational environment. We are continuing to explore the complexities of life, and I am grateful for the insights and lessons gained. I am looking forward to the next and sadly our last 2 sessions with great anticipation.

I grew up knowing about the 7 Habits as an FS Alumni, however, experiencing them as an adult under the guidance of Sufiyan Sir and Jyoti Ma’am was an entirely different story. These two days consisted of a combination of reflection, teamwork, and self-discovery.
We began with a recap before moving on to Habit 4: Think Win-Win. We played games and spoke about scenarios that helped me view these tendencies in a more mature light. Habit 5 was the next topic, which was seek first to understand and then to be understood. We had a listening circle for this and it dealt with verbal and nonverbal communication as well as the essence of listening. Parag Sir and the entire listening circle imparted a lot of wisdom to us on its importance in this noisy world. I realised that genuine listening is somewhat uncommon today.
Next was the outdoor adventure at KG Farm, with an emphasis on Habit 6 – “synergy.” However, we initially became overly fixated on winning the games. We learned the value of teamwork through the intense, entertaining, and even rowdy gameplay, especially tug of war. We tackled Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw, which is about taking care of yourself so you last longer, just like an axe. The way we studied listening through role-playing and games struck me as the most significant aspect of these days. We developed these behaviors because of the atmosphere in the classroom.
Thanks to Jyoti Ma’am and Sufiyan Sir for making these two days not only jam-packed with knowledge but also incredibly entertaining. I would also like to thank Fountainhead School for sustaining this educational process not just for the students but also for the staff. Now that the 7 Habits journey has commenced, I’m eager to see what lies ahead.