Okay, that's great. Heavenly Father, we just thank you so much for this morning. Thank you, God, for this time where we can learn and learn from your word. God, I pray that you would just help us learn to take in and that when we hear your word, God, it's like a seed that is planted in us. And God, I pray that it would just grow and then it would produce for God. Thank you, Jesus, for helping even Pasadipika. She teaches us your word, God. Give her the word to say and the wisdom. Thank you, Lord. And Jesus, name of the word. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Oh, yes. We are almost done with Ephesians. So today we will cover chapters five and six. Yeah. Now, the midterm assessments, I will try and post sometime during this week, at least maybe by the end of the week. So, Galatians and Ephesians is what you would have as your portion for the midterm assessment. And maybe I would give a time limit of maybe three weeks or so, you know. So, you know, you would have more than enough time and moreover, it's just multiple choice questions. So, you just have to pick the, you know, correct answer. And the only condition that is laid is that students are not supposed to consult each other and just take the answers from each other. Apart from that, you are allowed to look at your notes. You're allowed to look at your Bible. You're allowed to, you know, go back to the videos and see if the answer is there in the video. You can do all of that because the idea is that you kind of revise, you know, during this whole exercise, during the midterm assessment, you kind of get to revise all the things that have been covered so far. And you also, you can also assess yourself and see how much you have, you know, grasped and retained of the theory part of it. So, I will try to put up the midterm assessment, at least by the end of this week. So, it will be on the e-platform as well. So, for those who know who would be watching it, who would be attempting this thing later. So, yeah. So, you know, just kind of keep an eye on that. And whenever that thing is posted, you can open it and start working on it. All right. So, we are now in Ephesians chapter 5. At the end of chapter 4, we kind of looked at, yeah, we didn't have time to look last time, but actually the last portion of chapter 4 is where, you know, Paul now comes to the practical instructions for Christian living.  That's the wording that is used in the NIVI actually.  So, don't go back to the things that you used to do earlier, but rather he says put on a new self. And in fact, he explains what he means by a new self. He's talking about a renewed mind, a renewed perspective. So, you consciously choose to put on a new mind. You choose to think the way Christ would think. You align your thinking to scriptures. You do all of that. So, he says, in different practical ways, every single day you choose to put off your former lifestyle, your former way of living, your former way of responding to things. And now you put on a new self, you know, which looks at everything, approaches everything through scripture. You think, you ask yourself, how would Jesus deal with this? And you respond accordingly. So, he gives some practical instructions on, you know, how a believer would be putting on their new self. So, he talks about how we should not lie to each other. He talks about how when we are angry, we should not allow that anger to grow into wrong sinful attitudes. He talks about the importance of working hard and sincerely, rather than stealing the way some of them used to do earlier. So, he talks about all of those practical things. And then in chapter 5, he continues with those instructions. So, chapter 5 kind of continues these practical instructions. And there is a slight emphasis on the attitude that we should have. Even as we are doing these things. Because he's kind of moving into instructions on how people should be interacting with each other, you know, in a family setup. And so, he introduces this new idea of what kind of an attitude we should be having, even as we, you know, take up our Christian walk. So, we kind of look at that. Yeah, what do we, okay. Well, yeah, I hope that Kennedy is able to log in once again. And be able to hear what is being said. Well, yeah, yeah, he's come back. Hopefully, Kennedy, you're able to hear now. I really hope so. Oh, good. Okay, that's a relief. Okay. All right. Yeah. So, if we can have someone read out for us, Ephesians 5 verses 1 and 2. Can you read faster? Yeah. Yeah. So, he starts off now by saying that we should be following God's example. And how, in what way are we to follow God's example by walking in the way of love?  So, he says you adopt this kind of the way of love. Now, what is this way of love that Christ adopted? You know, just to kind of reflect on that, it says Christ loved us, gave himself up for us. So, it's talking about how even though Jesus Christ was entitled legally, legitimately to having certain rights and privileges, he gave himself up, it says, you know, he gave up all of those things for our sex, so that, you know, he could sacrifice himself for us. So, the way of love, even though it is entitled, even though the person is entitled to something, you know, legally, that is the privilege which they have been given. It belongs to them, but they choose to give up those privileges, they choose to give up those rights to instead walk in the way of love, where they are placing the other person's interests, you know, before their own interests. So, if we, you know, if we were to look at, okay, maybe we can get to that later. You know, because you have this Philippians passage, right, where it talks about how, you know, Jesus Christ, even though he was equal with God, he still chooses to humble himself. Okay, he chooses to, okay, we'll get into that a little later, maybe when we are talking about this whole passage about how Christ submitted to the Lord and all of that. All right, so for now, it's enough if we can, you know, think about the way of love as being a way where you choose to give up your rights and your privileges, and you make, you sacrifice those things for the benefit of others, for the, you know, well-being of other people. So, when we do that, it says that that is like a fragrant offering to the Lord. So, the sacrifices that you are willingly making just to help other people, just to benefit other people, those sacrifices are like a fragrant offering that you're giving to the Lord. So, in following all these instructions which are now given, you know, chapter 5 onwards, this is the basic attitude that we would be adopting where we would choose to act in the way of love. Yeah. So, if we can have someone read out, you know, these instructions, there are quite a few of them. We can maybe go all the way from chapter, from verse 3 up to verse 7, because there's something very important being mentioned over here. So, I think maybe it's good for us to read these particular instructions. Verse 3 to verse 7, please. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it be, not be once named among you as becoming saints, neither filthness nor foolish talking, nor justing, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. But this, you know, that no poor mongrel, nor unclean person, nor covetous man who is an idolator had any inheritance in the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these things, come at the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not you, therefore, the partakers with them. Now, this particular passage is saying a lot of things. And yeah, you know, at least for this particular passage, maybe a simpler English would have helped because the words which are used in the KJV, we would not even understand what those words are meaning in our, you know, current day English. So he's basically targeting three specific kinds of sin over here. And in fact, he says that, you know, even if a believer, because you see he's very much talking to believers over here, he says a believer who's indulging in these three things, you know, there's a danger that he may not inherit the kingdom of Christ. So it's something very serious that he's talking about over here. And, you know, if we were to look at it, look at these three things using the other, you know, Bible translations where the wording is more simple, we see that he is targeting, you know, he says there must not be even a hint, you know, it says in NIV. There should not even be a hint of these three things. And what are these three things? One, of course, is sexual immorality. And then it goes on to say any kind of impurity is the second one. And the third one is greed. So, and then the same thing is repeated again in verse five, the same three things. It talks about immorality. Again, it talks about impurity, and it talks about greed. And in verse five, it explains the reason that such a person, you know, may not even inherit the kingdom of Christ is because these three things are equal to idolatry. These three things are almost equal to idol worship. So a person knows, you know, if they turn their back on Jesus Christ and they go back to worshipping the idols, you know, that they used to worship earlier. It's a very clear indication that they no longer want to be part of Christ. So we know idolatry would obviously not be regarded as something acceptable by the Lord. So here Paul is saying these three things, if you do them, that is also equal to idolatry and you are in danger. So he says there should not even be a hint of these three things in your life. Okay, so that's the warning that he's issuing.  But what does it mean? What does the second one mean? It just says any kind of impurity. So over here, I think any kind of impurity is talking about the things which are mentioned in verse four, where the person has not committed an act of immorality, but other things, things which are indecent or offensive, you know, like here in verse four, it talks about, you know, cheap talk where, you know, course jokes are being used. So that kind of offensive, indecent talk and actions, you know, even maybe dressing, cheap form of dressing, you know, all of those things. I mean, by doing those things, how are we representing ourselves? You know, if we are showing ourselves as being part of the world, and we are doing this on a habitual, regular basis, because our conscience is not even pricking us regarding these things. It goes to show that maybe we have, you know, turned our back completely on the Lord and His ways and what He regards as good. So it wants us against immorality. This passage wants us against other kinds of impurity. And the third is greed, where your obsession with something is so strong that you love that thing more than you love the Lord. And usually, of course, greed, you know, is what we would use with reference to money, with reference to status, with reference to material things. You know, so you gather all those things just to show yourself as being great.  So when we indulge in these three things, Paul wants that it's almost equal to idolatry. And so we are told in verse 5, four of this you can be sure, you know, it's the wording used over there, of this you can be sure, no immoral, impure or greedy person, such a person is an idolator, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. And then in verse 6, it goes on to say, let no one deceive you with empty words. Okay, so people may, you know, argue and say these are very human things, these three things are very human. It's like humans are programmed to, you know, do these three things. So if you slip up in these three areas, it's all right, it's a human thing to do. It's an okay thing to do, you know, it's what people may come and say to us. And so here Paul wants in verse 6 and he says, let no one deceive you with empty words, you know, because whatever they may be saying to support this kind of activity, the fact remains that God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient in these areas. So people who are indulging in these things are automatically under the judgment of God, irrespective of what kind of words and arguments they are using to support what they are doing. So these three kinds of sin are insupportable. Whatever argument you may use to back up what you are doing, the fact remains that God's judgment is literally hovering upon the people who are doing these three things. And therefore he says, do not be partners with them. So if there are people who are kind of, you know, excusing this kind of activity and saying that it is okay that it is all right, then it is better for us to break our partnership with them so that they don't drag us into sin and, you know, literally drag us into hell along with them. It's a rather serious matter. So this very strict warning is given after he talks about how we should be living in the way of love. So one of the things about the way of love is this where we choose to sacrifice anything which would even give a hint of these three things. We completely cut ourselves from such things. We sacrifice all of such things so that we would be like a fragrant offering to the Lord. And then he goes on to talk about, you know, relationships in the family. So you have a rather few, you know, instructions given there, but then, you know, just quickly to get into the versus 21 onwards. So maybe we could have one person read out versus 21 to 24 please. If someone could please read out versus 21 to 24. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit yourselves on husband as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife. As Christ is the head of the church. His body of which is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Yeah. So this section on, you know, relationships in the family, it starts off with this, with these words, verse 21, where it says submit to one another. Okay. So here, here very specifically, it's talking about husbands and wives, and it says submit to one another. And why should you be doing that? Why should you submit to one another out of reverence for Christ? So then it goes on to talk about the wife submitting to the husband. So our versus 21 and the other versus which follow contradicting each other. Because we get the impression from verse 22 onwards that it's only the wife who should be submitting. But the opening words, the very opening sentence, it says submit to one another. As though God is saying that even the husband should in a way submit. Now it does not seem to make sense. It almost looks like a contradiction. And so it kind of helps us to understand in terms of Jesus Christ and his relationship with the church, just to understand in what sense, you know, Jesus Christ submitted. So yeah, maybe now we could kind of, you know, bring in that Philippians chapter two passage and look at how Jesus Christ dealt with this whole issue of submission. And we see that right?  So if we could have someone read out for us, Philippians chapter two versus five to eight, Philippians two five to eight, please. Can I read? Philippians two five, let this be in mind in you, which is also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of this. And and being found in a period as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Yeah, we someone could also read out Mark chapter 10 verse 45 Mark 10 45. Yeah. Even the sermon came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as an answer for All right, it's for many. Okay. Yeah. So here we see, you know, in Philippians chapter two verse five, it almost is saying the same thing which, you know, we just saw in efficiency in your relationships with one another. Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus in efficiency says have the same way of love which Christ is using. So that's the way we should be conducting our relationships. And then it goes on to explain in verse six that Jesus Christ was in the very nature God. He was equal with God and knowing fully that he is equal with God.  Okay. So status wise, he is completely equal to the Father and fully knowing what his status is, he voluntarily chooses to submit to the Father. And to what extent does he submit to him? You know, it goes on to say that, yeah, he did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. And so he says he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a do loss. Okay. So NIV tries to avoid the word slave in a whole bunch of places and maybe because it may be NIV people feel that, you know, we will kind of get the wrong idea if the word slave is used. Because slaves were not treated in the way they were, you know, in the USA back then when they had that whole system of human slavery. So maybe NIV people are worried that when we think of the word slave, we would think of slavery in that kind of a sense because slaves back in biblical times were not really considered as something lower or something really bad.  So slaves will almost like family members who have, you know, pledged themselves to serve and be part of that household for the rest of their lives.  So they are dependent on the master for their food supply. They are dependent on the master for all decision making. So in that sense, they have no freedom of their own. They are completely dependent and at the mercy and under the, you know, control of their masters. And so over here, Jesus Christ, he empties himself to the extent that he takes on the very nature of a slave. So Jesus Christ in status, he knows that he is completely equal with the father and knowing his status, having full awareness of his equal status. He voluntarily chooses to submit himself to the father to the extent that he becomes almost like a slave. And having become a slave, choosing, voluntarily choosing to become a slave and, you know, to be someone who is serving, he serves to the point. He humbles himself to the point of death. You know, we looked in Galatians how the most degrading kind of punishment that was available at that time in that society was the death of the cross. No one would even like to mention the word cross because it was considered a bad word and Jesus was willing to humble himself to that extent. So this is the mindset that we are being asked to have in our relationships. So it says in Philippians chapter 2 verse 5, in your relationships with one another have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. And we also looked in Mark 10 45 where it is explained to us that what was the mindset of this Jesus Christ. It says, this Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life. So he did not come to be served, but he came to serve and to give his life. So in that sense, even the husband over here is being asked to submit. So the husband chooses to serve his wife because he recognizes that he is the slave of Jesus Christ. So in that sense, all humans, I mean all believers, humans I suppose they are under the slavery of sin and Satan. But we believers are supposed to be slaves. Paul uses the term bond servant. At least that's the English translation. It just basically means slave. So believers are supposed to be the slaves of Jesus Christ. So the husband recognizes who he is, he recognizes that he has volunteered to become, nobody forced him. At the point of salvation, it's a choice that he made. He said, yes, now onwards I choose to have Jesus Christ as my master and I will be his willing slave. So he recognizes this position that he has voluntarily taken upon himself to be a slave to Jesus Christ. Like it says in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 21, out of reverence for his master, out of reverence for Jesus Christ, he chooses to submit to Christ and serve his wife.  So both of them are doing this submitting to one another, recognizing the fact that they both are slaves of Jesus Christ and they must revere him in the way they treat one another. So all that is said in that passage rests upon this basic fact that they are doing it out of reverence for their Lord and Master Jesus Christ. So from there if we move on into the next verse, maybe we can look at the rest of the verses and then we will connect the whole thing together. So if someone could read out verses 25 to 28 please, 25 to 28. Husbands love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her having cleansed her by the washing of water with the water, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor without scot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without rematch. In the same way husband should love their wives as their own bodies, he who loves his wives loves himself. Okay so here it is explained, it goes on to explain how the husband is serving his wife and how she is supposed to be submitting to him. So the explanation for that is given by comparing the relationship that Jesus Christ has with the church. So we see that Jesus Christ, he serves the church to edify it, to build it up. He talks about how he has cleansed it and how he has presented the church to himself as a radiant church. So he has chosen to sacrificially build up the church. In the same way the husband over here is urged to serve his wife in such a way that he edifies her, that he builds her up. So his main function is supposed to be to serve her in such a way that she is built up, so that she is blessed and benefited. On the other hand, the wife, now what is her role? It is supposed to be the same role as that of the church. If the church says, Lord we don't want to abide in you, we don't want to submit to you, we don't want to cooperate with you, then the Lord is unable to edify us. So we choose to submit to him, we choose to cooperate with him so that he can edify us, so that he can build us up. So we understand, we realize that what God has in his heart for us is godly and good. And we willingly choose to submit and cooperate with Jesus Christ so that he can bless us and build us up. Now here we are told that the wife should have the same attitude. I suppose that will come in, not able to find the exact verse, just a minute. Verse 28. Pastor your mute. I am so sorry. Yeah, it must have got muted on its own. So yeah, Ephesians chapter five, the last verse it says, you know, a wife should respect her husband. So not only is she submitting to him, it's the attitude with which she submits. Okay, so the church does not submit to Christ grudgingly, you know, resenting him, you know, being angry with him. We do it out of an attitude of trust. We trust our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. And so, trustingly, with deep respect, you know, we submit to whatever he says. And so here the wife is being asked to submit with that kind of an attitude of respect. Now, having understood this, the husband should be selfless, he must serve and he must serve to build up his wife. And having understood that the wife must submit and cooperate so that the husband is able to build her up. He cannot do that if she is refusing to cooperate. And so in fact, she's harming herself if she does not submit. So it is good for her to submit and trust and respect her husband so that he is able to fulfill his role of serving the entire family. So they need to cooperate with each other in doing this. But what happens if a person, a couple is in a marriage where the husband is completely self-centered and he is not at all interested in serving his wife or any of the family members. He only thinks about his own interests or what if he is violent, what if he is that kind of a person? Then what would the wife do? She would continue to have reverence for Christ. Because the opening line that's what it said, we submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. So she continues to be submissive and show respect to her husband out of reverence for Jesus Christ. And he is the one who will edify her and build her up. The husband is failing to do his part. He was supposed to be the instrument through which God would build up the wife and edify her and all of that. But now he's unwilling to cooperate. The husband is not cooperating. He is ungodly or maybe he's not even a believer. So she just continues to perform her role. She continues being submissive and respectful in her attitude knowing that the Lord will take care. So the Lord will edify her and build her up. In the same way, what does her husband do? If his wife is refusing to cooperate, if she is being very domineering and she is being very disrespectful, he chooses to continue serving lovingly because out of reverence for Christ. So he just continues performing his role. And then because of his obedient attitude towards Jesus Christ, the Lord will build up his home. It would be much easier for him to build up his home if he had his wife's cooperation. If he could take decisions for the family with her active support. But if she is being domineering, if she is being disrespectful and she is not cooperating, he is going to find it difficult to build up his home, build up his family, take the decisions for the family because he does not have a cooperation. But because he is continuing to maintain an attitude of love, the Lord will build up that family. He will help, he will intervene. So the husband and wife can have this deep assurance that as long as they are living in reverence to Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ will take care. So the one exception which is usually mentioned is with regard to the wife. If her life is in physical danger, if she is being violently being physically attacked, then it is good for her to leave. She no longer has to submit to physical abuse. She has the freedom to leave and seek protection elsewhere. In fact, she has the right to even take legal action to protect herself. So in that case, submission is not required. And the other exception which is always mentioned is that if the husband is asking her to do something which goes against biblical values, again in that case she would not submit because she would submit to Jesus Christ. And whatever he has said. So if the husband is saying, don't pay the taxes, show false figures and asking her to bend scriptural principles in some way, she would say no. In these things they cannot submit because I must stand up for Jesus Christ out of reverence for him. So except for these two things where she would not need to submit it would be good if she can be respectful in other things. Trusting Jesus Christ, trusting him to take care of whatever lack they may be. The same with even the husband, whatever lack they may be in his wife. He chooses to continue doing his role because he trusts that Jesus Christ will ultimately take care of his family. So we need to have that kind of an attitude of obedience and trust. Then in the next chapter it talks about relationships with children, relationships between parents and children. And that maybe we can have someone read out verses 1 to 3. Yeah, someone could please read out 1, 2 and 3. Children, obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with a promise. So it may go well with you and that you may enjoy a long life on the earth. Amen. So it says here that this is the first commandment with a promise. So if the children choose to obey their parents then it says that it will go well with them. God will see to it that everything goes well with them. So children are meant to obey the Lord and then it goes on to say in verse to honor your father and mother. So as the children grow up, as they stand on their own feet and they learn to support themselves and they move out of the family unit. Now they are no longer under the full control and authority of their parents. So at that point of time they may choose to obey certain things and they may choose not to obey certain things because now they are accountable to God directly. They are now running their own families. So they may no longer obey their parents in all kinds of decision making but they would have to continue honoring them. So when it comes to younger children who are still under the authority of the parents, they would have to obey them in everything. But after they stand on their own feet and they are no longer under the parents covering but now they are directly accountable to God and they are under his covering. Then they may not obey any longer in all the decisions that the parents take but they would have to continue maintaining an attitude of honoring the parents. So if younger children and the grown up children have this right attitude, it says God will see to it that everything goes well for them and that they would enjoy a long life. So that's the promise that is made. Yes, Brother Shai, go ahead. I actually have three questions but let me just stick to one or two. Let me just say two. Verse chapter six. So it says children obey your parents in the Lord. I have heard some preachers say this is parents, spiritual parents in the Lord. I do not negate the fact that this is not just restricted by a logical parents. Well, I want to say literally from scripture, does this mean in the Lord pertaining to things that align with Christ we should obey? Or does this mean parents who attempt to be spiritual parents that we obey them? I don't know which of them. And then in that case, therefore, how does a child or how do children, which is my second question, how do children, you know, navigate their way with them? With their parents who are unbelievers, yet they still have to obey them. But there are certain things they're told to do that are completely opposite of the expectations of Christ. How does such a person still obey or not their father and mother in this case? Those are just two questions. Thank you. Yeah. So, yeah, of course, you know, what you said is right because over here it very clearly says obey your parents in the Lord. So anything that the Lord does not approve of and the parents are asking you to do something that is not approved by God, then obviously you would not, you know, need to obey in those things. So you would only obey your parents in the Lord as long as the things that they are asking is in line with the scripture. You would obey.  So if the parents are saying, you know, you have to go and do the puja, you know, you have to participate in the idol worship. Then the children can say, can choose to say no, I will not participate in this because now I have become a follower of Jesus Christ. So they would not obey those things which are not in the Lord and regarding spiritual parents. Here, this particular passage, you know, if we look at the overall context is very much talking about a biological family. But of course, the principles apply because you have other Bible passages which talks about how we need to, you know, submit to those who have been placed in authority over us in the church setup. So yes, in that sense, we do submit to those who are above us, who have been placed by the Lord himself above us, you know, in the church setup. And they are imparting to us in that sense, they are spiritual parents. But we wouldn't take this particular passage and apply that, you know, to those church relationships because it kind of gets complicated then. Because you see in a family unit, those children are under the covering of the parents and the parents are the ones who are slogging day and night and providing for them and taking care of them. And these children have a responsibility towards those parents. They can't be going around doing their own thing. In a church setup, you know, we all are kind of under the mentoring of our spiritual parents and leaders. But then we all run our own family units and we take decisions regarding personal matters on our own.  I think all of you just come and sit in the church and fast and pray. It's a choice that you would make with your family, whether you want to go ahead on your vacation or you want to join in the church prayer for that particular month. So church leaders who begin to interfere in all kinds of personal matters saying that I am your spiritual parent and so you must do what I say. That becomes a little bit dicey. So I would not use this particular passage to talk about spiritual parenting. So here it's talking about kids who are living in that parent's home and those parents are doing their best to be godly parents and provide for those kids and all of that. Those kids have an obligation to their parents. They must respect them. They must obey them. So one day when that child grows up and stands on his own feet and goes and gets a job and says, you know, see, now I'm living on my own. I have my own family unit. Fine.  Let him continue to honor his parents, but he can take his own decisions and which job to take up its city to move to. You know, the parents say, no, no, you have to stay in the same city with us. He can choose, you know, prayerfully to either take their advice or he chooses to move out. So I would prefer to use this passage only for biological families because when you start applying it too much to spiritual parents and the entire church setup, it could get very complicated. It could open the door for spiritual leaders misusing their spiritual authority. And that is the reason why I would not use this passage in that context. Yeah, we have another person Charles raising his hand. Yeah, maybe you can ask your question and then we'll take a break, you know, and we can discuss the answer after that. Go ahead. Yes. It's not a question, Pastor. Excuse me. Can you hear me? Oh, perfectly. Yeah, go ahead. Okay. It's not a question, but I was trying to respond to what Christopher was asking. I think it was Christopher about children or being their parents and whether they are spiritual children, parents or biological parents. The whole thing is coming from the Old Testament in the book of Exodus. Moses receiving the Tablets and bringing and the first command that has a promise is that command of children or being their parents. And now when Paul says in the Lord, it continues to be parents that are biological, but now what the children are supposed to obey are godly.  Yes, the child is supposed to obey you, but that is not godly. Then that means the child will not obey that, will disobey that. So the things that Paul is talking about that children obeying your parents in the Lord, it is in that perspective that there have been things that are going to give God the glory. But also when it comes to the spiritual parents, even when they become spiritual parents, then they are going to do something that is ungodly. Then the children are not supposed to obey. We have heard some of the pastors who are sleeping with the people they are ministering to. They are not supposed to do that. You are giving an example of a wife who is supposed to obey the husband. But in the Lord again, if a husband tells the wife that do not pay taxes, the wife will not do that. The wife will be able to pay taxes because is an example of obeying the authorities. So that is my input that they wanted to put across about children obeying their parents in the Lord. I submit. Very true because the same principles apply when it comes to spiritual parenting as well. So only if there is something in the Lord that they are advising, then we choose to act on that. Just to kind of point out, in spiritual parenting it is the advice which they are giving. They cannot issue commands and orders. That would not be right. There is a limit to spiritual parenting. You cannot order and command. You are talking to grown-ups who are responsible to the Lord. There are limits and boundaries which spiritual parents should maintain. They should not become dictators controlling the people that God has placed under them. We will go for a break and we will come. I have eaten up into your time. If we can all log back in at 10. At 10. We will log back in. Thank you.


So ma'am, I have been following you since my PG Prep days, so I was a regular follower or subscriber of your YouTube pundit because I had done my bachelor's and master's in literature and I was quite confident about it, so I would have probably gone for self-preparation, but because I had a very severe time constraint, I felt that I need some support. I wouldn't be able to manage it all on my own, so which is why I decided I resonated with your teaching methods since the very beginning and I felt that the most interesting part was how interesting you make all of it sound. So there were times when I was not enough motivated, of course all of us go through that, but then I would just ask a simple question, if not study what else would I do and the options would be I would either scroll through reels or I would watch a movie and I would be like isn't reading about novels as interesting as watching a movie and that became possible because of the interesting video lectures. So I think that was a big motivation factor to study because you made it sound interesting and I resonated with that method, so I think that really worked for me. Hi Bhakti. Hello ma'am, it's so good to see you in person virtually. Thank you so much, lovely seeing you and you have such a sweet smile I must say. I was very happy to see your name in the list, Bhakti as a name is very very near to my heart, so we are very religious, my entire family is very religious and Bhakti is a word which we speak so many times in the day symbolically, so you have a very beautiful name and a very beautiful smile. Ma'am that's very kind of you, thank you so much. So I'm going to have a long conversation with you, I have a bunch of questions lined up which I would want to ask you so that a lot of other aspirants could get inspiration from your journey. So but then before that a big big congratulations on Clearing Neck, not just from me but from the entire team of arpitafkarma.com, we all are very very proud of you. Thank you ma'am, thank you so much and you know I have troubled your team so many times but they have been very kind and patient to always respond on time, so thank you for all your help. Thank you so much, we as teachers as a team it is our job to be of the help of all the students because I know that you know preparing for a competitive exam is a difficult task in itself and as teachers it is our moral duty to make it as easy as simple as we can for the students so that you know with our guidance and your dedication you can crack it in like with a big celebration. So firstly I would want to know more about you Bhakti, I want to know from where are you, where have you done your graduation, post-graduation, how has been your you know this journey with figuring out that you want to appear for this exam, so how this all happened? Yes, so I'm basically from Ambravati, it's a small district place in Maharashtra near Nakhur, that's where I did my schooling till 12th standard, I appeared for all the engineering entrances, GE, MAIN, SEDVAN, CET, I did it from science and then I shifted to literature, I did my bachelor's in English literature from Pune and thereafter I did my master's from Savitri by Phule Pune University and I just did my master's this year or last year should we say it and then I appeared for NET, so this was my third attempt, in my previous two attempts I had not qualified NET but in this attempt I cleared for JRF and I was also working so I prepared with a job, job oh my god that is such a big inspiration because clearing JRF and that too with like with the limited time that you get after you're already occupied with the job is a big thing and there are so many so many things that I think all of us together are going to learn from your story because not qualifying two time and then still not giving up and sitting for the third attempt getting a JRF, it is a it is really really inspirational because a lot of people they kind of leave NET halfway since they are not able to like clear it in first second attempt and there are people who don't even think it is possible to clear NET with job or with you know if there's a lady who's a housewife or if there's a boy who is currently going through post graduation doing his MA so because of the time constraint people think that it is nearly impossible so your story of getting a JRF in spite of like so many things that happened which wasn't very suitable for a student so to say it is so inspirational so thank you so much for joining us today thank you for my pleasure thank you so much for having me thank you thank you great so we'll start from the very beginning I want to first understand from you that you know the moment you decided that okay you're going to appear for NET so very first time when you saw the syllabus on the site of UGC what was your reaction and what did you think that how are you going to begin the preparation right so ma'am the reason I could not clear my previous attempts was the fact that I did not take it very seriously because I did not know what opportunities it kind of opens up for you so I feel as a student I lack that awareness of where this exam would take me which is why it was a kind of mindless activity that I performed I just went along with my peers to appear for the exam but this was the attempt where I actually seriously prepared for it and when I saw the syllabus I think every aspirant would relate to me I thought you know why did they not simply mentioned anything and everything under the sun because it's almost everything they have to get all the genres and all the periods so I felt that it was humongous and I was overwhelmed in the beginning but as I gradually progressed I started to get a hold of the syllabus and I actually started enjoying it very honestly wow that is wonderful enjoying the process of preparing for a competitive exam I think is the most beautiful thing that can ever happen to an aspirant because see this clearing net clearing GRF is a very momentary happiness in the scheme of life if you look at your life a time span of 70 80 years that you spend on earth these little success moments of success that we kind of have multiple times in our life they're just momentary but then the preparation and the journey that leads to the success is a very very long stretch journey you have in yourself seen three attempts and a good one one and a half years of preparation span which we're going to talk about so yes making that beautiful making that enjoyable is a great great thing yes and that goes to you for that yes I can't really agree more to you I think it's the journey that matters more than the destination I had always loved literature but I think during this process I fell in love with it even more and now when I look back I don't feel as if you know those were very difficult days and I'm so glad they're over I just have a smile on my face and I feel those were good days that I spent in the company of literature and that was really one of the best phases of my life the preparation phase I really enjoyed that phase I really want that anybody who's going to listen to this interview actually pauses here and just reflects back and takes a pledge that okay if they can make literature their passion then this journey is going to equate them with so many new writers so many beautiful stories so many undiscovered philosophies which is going to change their perspective change their outlook towards life towards society and that is what literature is all about like I remember back then in 2018 when I started this platform it was on 14th of February which was Valentine's Day as well as Basant Panchmi so Basant Panchmi is symbolic of goddess Shruti who is the debut of knowledge and Valentine's Day symbolic of love so I always had this unending love for literature so I wanted that why not just keep a day reserved for a romantic relationship why not look at from a very different lens and see that okay how can we love so many other things in life literature for that matter can be one of the most precious relationship that we can cherish through our life and the way you've been narrating your story I can actually so much resonate with my own story and I can see those you know those threads joining which is so beautiful to see and I'm so glad that you qualified J.R.F. and you're going to teach so many brilliant minds on this earth and I can just tell you how overwhelmed I feel when I see that okay teachers like you are going to take the lead of Indian education system and going to inspire so many minds out there I'm your one of the greatest inspirations for that I think you reflect a lot of passion while teaching and it's natural that the same is reflected in your students as well going ahead in future. Thank you so much thank you so much and all credit I would give to my teachers from school time I think all of them have kind of made this possible to I would not say that they kind of just inspired me to take literature and lecture worship as a career option but they kind of present them themselves as an epitome that I feel I felt that okay why not I can be one of them if they can have such a strong imprint on my mind I would love if I can have such imprints on the minds of other young minds in India so yeah I would just pass on your thanks to them okay so the next thing that I want to talk about is your daily schedule daily structure but before that I want to also want to know from you that how was this journey of giving three times net different from each other so what what changed in this course of time? Yes so as I said the first attempt was almost unworthy of counting it wasn't a serious attempt the second one collided with my MA final exams with my semester and exams and I was very very serious about my semester and exams so I could not really donate much time for net prep so again I was short of time but this time I had decided and also because my job was of teaching so I used to teach in a college so I that is where you know when I actually started teaching and I interacted with my students I learned what a joy it is to interact with such young minds and they were actually my source of inspiration and which is why I decided that this time I have to clear it and my daily schedule was something like my day started quite early around 5.30 in the morning because my working hours were 7.30 to 1.30 so I had to work in a college from 7.30 to 1.30 I used to have around three to four lectures every day so for that I had to prepare a lot as well apart from my working hours so initially that used to consume a lot of my time and I couldn't find time for preparation but then I made it a routine that somehow I find time in college and I just tried to wrap up my lecture prep in college time so that I can devote remaining time for net preparation so my afternoons were devoted to net say from 2 p.m to around 6 p.m 5 p.m was for net and then I used to work out also for around an hour or hour and a half in the evening and then again revise at night and then go back to sleep so this was more or less the routine for three or four months I hardly took breaks there were no weekends or anything but I honestly I did not really miss out on anything I did everything that I wanted I was also pursuing my hobbies alongside so I didn't let this exam over occupy my life in a way I took it very practically I devoted whatever time I could and I did I tried to make it as optimum as possible instead of letting it occupy all of my mindset and my life that is that is wonderful like balancing so many things together it is such a great quality that a person can have and I really loved to hear when you said that I did not take any breaks any weekends and yet at the same time you made time for important things like working out your hobbies so so you know it is such a holistic thing that you holistic routine that you followed for the last four months very very nice and I'm really impressed and as a working professional I would also want to understand that what challenges did you face like one of them you mentioned that you had to prepare for the lectures which was very time consuming other than that like there must be some administrative commitments in the college or there might be times when you have to stay longer in the college for some meetings so how how did you find time during those days yes actually ma'am my colleagues or my mentors all of them were very very supportive even my students were extremely supportive so I was really blessed in that regard and I really want to take this opportunity to thank all of them but he has having said that you do encounter challenges just a couple of days before the exam I faced a very difficult challenging situation at my workplace which took a heavy toll on my mental space and it also sort of translated into a physical pain I had heavy headache and all of those things but then at the same time my colleagues my students they were all there to support me to say that you know we have got your back and you have to do this so I really cannot be enough thankful to all of them I think I'm very very fortunate to be working in such a cordial and cooperative environment apart from that of course time constraint was definitely there but I realized that it's not always necessary that you give the 100% it's only important that you are giving your 100% what I mean by that is the ideal 100% for this exam would be studying six to eight hours a day but for me it wasn't possible with my work in my commitments I could only devote three to four hours now that might not be the ideal 100% but that was my 100% and I did that question ever if you decide to write a book or to publish a blog or anything which you make public ensure that you put this line this is so beautiful and I'm really touched okay that it is important to give our 100% just like we say all these great leaders said that you are your biggest competition you don't have to look here and there to see okay who is going ahead who is ahead in that lane of competition you have to see where were you yesterday and have you made any progress today that is all what counts so in those similar lines I remember you saying the same thing that it is important that we give our 100% it can be different for everybody but still like if we devote our 100% that I think the entire universe conspires to help us support us and in in Hindu mythology we have this beautiful word called so that is just universal ways of saying that you're giving your best child and I'm there with you I'll support you with all what I can that is so beautiful wonderful wonderful very touching um next thing that I want to talk about is um you know how did you balance your preparation between paper one and paper two how much time did you devote to both the papers and how important do you think are both of both of these papers are in the preparation is it that any one paper you feel is more important should be given more time to or is it equal yes first of all in terms of importance I think both are equally important because both the questions carry two marks each there's no difference in that but I'll be very honest that I really did not prepare a lot for paper one because paper one was always my strength I was good at it since the beginning even in my previous attempts I failed because I scored very poorly in paper two my score in paper one was always decent so that had been a sort of a good area for me so I did not really think a lot about it but I did prepare I referred to this book that everybody knows about it was by Kavya Smadan and I used to solve it whenever I used to get time I did not really focus a lot on people and development and environment and all those things because that was something I wasn't good at and I had decided my strategy was to play on my strengths and not on my weaknesses because I had time constraint so aptitude DI that was my kind of strength so I decided to shape that better and score in those areas instead of focusing on the topics which I'm already weak at because I did not have the time to time time yeah and I think this is very very rightly said by you that it is important that we play on our strengths even in life the reason why most of the people are successful in their own fields be it Latamageshkar, Sachin Tendulkar, Dupika Padukone any any field you take and why are these people successful they kind of understood that what they are good at and they worked more upon that Sachin Tendulkar would not have done as brilliantly as what he did in cricket if he decided out okay let me be a consultant or let me be a banker because that was not his strength so he kind of realized it you have to definitely work upon your strength just like you said that paper one is equally important you have put in efforts to get those marks in paper one as well but then you are realizing that okay let me not just go and look for those two three questions on current affairs which is going to be very very time consuming but not very great in terms of cost benefit analysis that okay the time I put in and the number of questions I get correct based on that time is very very low that's so true so true now my favorite part of the interview I would want to talk about paper to preparation and I know that the answer that you're going to give like even before you start speaking I know that all of them are going to come from a very wise mindset where you have kind of given a lot of thought to how do you want to channelize your preparation so that you don't you don't commit mistakes which cost you marks so from that angle a lot of students who might be doing certain mistakes in their preparation journey there are there must be students who are either devoting too much time on topics which are not relevant so they are kind of going to get guidance from you so my first question in this particular series of paper two is that how did you decide that okay this is how I'm going to plan my four months so when you saw the syllabus how did you decide that okay this this is the portion I'm going to cover in the first month second third fourth yes my simple strategy was the division of labor so you break it into smaller parts in my earlier attempts I had referred to source books it was Routledge and Abrams and I would split up pages I would set a target that I have to complete these many pages in this attempt of course I was taking help from the coaching right the online coaching that you offer which is wonderful so I had set up a target of number of lectures I have to complete around 40 or 40 lectures per day I would make notes and I would revise them so I had broken it up into really really small fragments a monthly target weekly targets and then daily targets and I used to try and follow those targets every day and keep a check on every say week or month so that was wonderful like breaking down bigger targets into smaller actionable steps again is something that is very very helpful in any kind of big milestone that you want to cover so very rightly said and again going back to paper to that which topics are areas why preparing or before even starting your preparation did you think are the most crucial ones where you you're going to focus more of your energy on yes so I had focused almost most of my energy on four topics British literature literary theory literary criticism and I also did Indian literature because I saw that it is gaining more and more focus by net in previous few years so these are my four areas of focus of course British literature consumed most of my time and energy so I devoted my entire dedication to that while I was doing that then I started with criticism and theory and then I moved on to Indian literature having said that it doesn't mean I didn't want to touch other topics but again I had the time constraint so I had to make sure that I'm really good at what I'm doing instead of doing everything so I focused on these four topics and one very important thing that you just said that giving your 100% so you kind of realized that okay looking at the time that I have let me first touch upon the most important topics and what you did was wonderful because British literature for any net aspirant who goes through PVC or paper he can very vividly see that 50% paper comes from British literature about 20 to 25% paper comes from criticism and theory and as you said Indian literature is gaining more prominence so we can expect about 10% paper from that section so you kind of cover 80% and you left 20% but this 80% you worked so so properly covering it thoroughly that you kind of cleared your just based on the 80% knowledge that you had you didn't have to like go through the entire 13 module thing that is wonderful wonderful so what study materials and resources did you use for paper to preparation oh yes as I said before this attempt route legend a Brahms were my fundamental resources which I have been using since my PG prep but this time I heavily relied on your classes and the notes that you provided because again I had decided to trust one entity and not look for a lot of material because that is also very puzzling at times so I had decided to keep my faith in one place and just go with it and I'm very happy that it truly worked for me thank you so much again another interesting you know thing that I kind of want to emphasize more on is that trusting any one source so I would not say that my resources are better than what others are providing in the market definitely there are different teachers having different teaching methodology and I appreciate all of us who are working in the same spectrum with the same mindset that we want to help students out in their journey the only thing is you have to kind of figure out which teaching methodology you resonate with like I am a very visual learner so if you've seen my video lectures just started all of them are made with an intention that those images those mind maps those charts they get imprinted in your brain so that it becomes easier for you to memorize so many facts and figures about so many novels so that is my teaching methodology I don't change it because that worked for me and I have seen that working since past six years for so many aspirin there might be somebody other who has a different teaching methodology you have to choose and decide that okay I kind of connect more with this teacher so like I want to again go back to this thing that how did you choose us like how did you research and select that okay our online coaching platform will suit your needs the best yes so ma'am I have been following you since my PG prep days so I was a regular follower or subscriber of your youtube pundit and honestly if I wasn't working I wouldn't have considered a coaching option because I had done my bachelor's and master's in literature and I was quite confident about it so I would have probably gone for self-preparation but because I had a very severe time constraint I felt that I need some support I wouldn't be able to manage it all on my own so which is why I decided I resonated with your teaching method since the very beginning and I felt that the most interesting part was how interesting you make all of it sound so there were times when I was not enough motivated of course all of us go through that but then I would just ask myself a simple question if not study what else would I do and the options would be I would either scroll through reels or I would watch a movie and I would be like isn't reading about novels as interesting as watching a movie and that became possible because of the interesting video lectures so I think that was a big motivation factor to study because you made it sound interesting and I resonated with that method so I think that really worked for me. Thank you so much I think our team is putting in so much efforts to get these videos out because it is a very very laborious task and doing it for so many writers and so many works it's a very herculean task but then the energy that we get to make this possible because it's a very heavy on budget project also so many people are involved and all the bad is happening but then we just made this possible because the kind of feedback we get from students like you who love to study and our lectures make them study even more or make them not feel bored so that is the kind of motivation that you know just moves us forward that okay there are 100 videos that we've done let us just make next 100 this month and we've successfully completed 700 so far and I think sustaining the 700's journey could not have been possible without the wonderful feedback we've got from you guys so thank you so much for supporting the video lectures I I really love the kind of feedback I'm receiving thank you so much and thank you so much for being so vocal about it because at times you know we are also humans we we kind of want to hear from our students that okay ma'am we studied for two more hours because the lectures was interesting I thought of sleeping or scrolling through Instagram but then your lectures were interesting enough so I decided to like listen to five lectures rather than strolling through leaves that is a motive like that is a big motivation for us so thank you so much for that you really make us you really make our day thanks to you ma'am all thanks to you thank you thank you okay so next thing that I want to ask you I think would be what was your note making strategy like did you make notes and how relevant were your notes in your preparation ma'am I think I 100% based my preparation on note making I made notes for everything that I read because I think this is a very subjective thing for some people different things might work you have to figure out for yourself what works for you in my case I felt that I really need to have something in a written format and that too in my own handwriting because then I can revise it very quickly the revision process takes very less efforts if I had the notes and again because of the time constraint I had to make sure that I'm saving as much time as possible note making is a is an extremely time consuming process to begin with but if you get that done it saves a lot of time afterwards so I made exact I had around say 500 to 600 pages notes and even on the exam day I had to leave by 6 30 in the morning but I woke up at 3 in the morning and I revised all of those 500 600 pages and which is why I was feeling quite relaxed and calm while I was appearing for the exam because I had just brushed it up very recently so I think notes have definitely helped me a lot in my job Wow wonderful and what you just said makes so much sense now that initial process is very time consuming but the kind of relaxation you get after your notes are there and how quickly you revise it just like you said that six o'clock you had to leave for the exam center in three to six in three hours you kind of revise the entire syllabus it is such a big relaxation on the exam day that you throw with everything and you're ready to tackle that paper wonderful wonderful again one important thing about self-study just since you've prepared two times on your own like why did you feel that there was a need to join a coaching institute in your third attempt yes so again I would say I'm not saying that it's impossible to do it by self-preparation as I said I would have also done it if I had the luxury of time but this is so humongous that sometimes it's easy for people to get misled sometimes you cannot really figure out what is important what is it's very important to know what topics to leave as you know to know what topics to study in depth so I think sometimes the preparation can be misleading sometimes you end up giving a lot of time or a lot of attention to unimportant areas so I think for that a coaching can be really helpful yours was definitely helpful for me so that my focus and my exam oriented mindset was maintained because for people like me who love literature sometimes we get so engrossed in reading that we keep reading a single novel for say eight ten days and then we realize oh we are here to prepare for that and not to do PhD on a single novel I think that was also a challenge so which I think that was kept in limits and the exam oriented mindset was maintained very well throughout the preparation wonderful wonderful I think that is that is what any coaching institute I would not say what they aim to do but then that is where a coaching institute kind of fits in your preparation journey telling you what to study how much to study what to escape and what to focus more on so that that is something that is really really helpful when you don't have so much time in your hand because then you don't have time to study non-relevant topics at all you every minute so you cannot just have that luxury of time another interesting thing is about revision because I I kind of I love this word revision I've spoken about it so many times in my lectures and I keep telling this because a lot of people they kind of feel that the syllabus is covered and that is where the job of the student is done but what I think is that all the people who sit in the net seriously do the syllabus once in a while whatever they study every person defines what my syllabus is from the ocean I have to cover it but then those who top and toppers like you who not just clear net but also kind of swear by a revision so what was your revision story like what role of what was the role of revision in helping you clear the net yes ma'am I don't think I need to say it again that revision is as important as accumulating knowledge it certainly is but I would again be very honest that I could not really manage the best revision strategy I used to hear interviews I have heard your story that you had revised seven times before you appeared for net and I would slightly get intimidated by such stories because I felt that I don't have that kind of time so I did not revise so exhaustively but what I did was I tried to make learning a continuous process as in of course I'm devoting only three or four hours every day but then while I'm working out while I'm traveling I'm just asking questions what did I read today which author came first and then who came the next what were the order of the works what is the theme of this work so my mental revision would keep going on throughout the day even if I was doing something else so I think I compensated my lack of revise a lot of times by this mental strategy of revision and then again I managed to do it a few times before the exams I must have revised it at least three or four times before the exam and one last preparation on the exam day as I said so I really cannot stress enough on revision I think you might read a lot but if you don't revise it's almost like not having read it at all so I think definitely important I think so far the kind of answers that you've given resonate so much with my learning philosophy and I would want to stress again on the points that all these things that anybody is listening to it is very important that you kind of make a note of it and try to inculcate it as a habit because those who are not very keen on revising they kind of ignore it and they'll do it just right before the exam by the time it is too late because you've already forgotten so much information and it is very very disheartening but I think that is also because revision is a very difficult task to do it's mentally exhausting you get very tired by the end you know you challenge your mind so many times you force it to recall and remember so I think it's a tiring activity exactly it is just like workout right because yeah in the entire day we kind of go here and there we move we move our hands legs everything but it is not tiring but then when you're doing strength training when you're putting dumbbells resistance bands that one and half hour or one hour of intense training session kind of exhausts you so much but that is where the muscles are built like even if I go around doing all the household work my muscles are not going to get built but that one hour that I spent in the gym which is very very taxing very hard on my muscles that is where the muscles are built so I think that is how it is no pain no gain philosophy true true and how did you handle that stress and anxiety that students generally feel a week before the exam when they are kind of nervous they they know that it is approaching you still have an idea that okay this is a portion which I've not touched upon and I'm just banking on these four units that I'm thorough with and I'm going to go and sit in the paper based on the knowledge that I required so far yes I think ma'am even I had a similar experience I remember I called my sister one week before the exam and I said that you know I think my strategy has gone wrong and I wouldn't be able to make it to JRF this time so probably I'll do it again another time because I wasn't remembering very well in the mobs I felt that I'm forgetting some of the points and which is why I was becoming very anxious but then I realized that anxiety won't add up to my knowledge anymore what we'll do is probably a pinch of optimism so I decided that I would be 100 optimistic because that would enhance my chances of getting selected so I was very positive and I decided to go ahead with it give it my 100% and surprisingly on the exam day I was extremely calm because I was quite confident that I have again I have given my 100% I have done whatever I could do and also I had quite a practical approach to it so even if I couldn't have done it unfortunately I think I would have picked up again and appeared again I don't think I would have attached my words to this exam of course it's important that is so wonderful and that is you kind of just said what a lot of people will kind of realize internally after a long therapy session therapy is this basically most of us they we struggle with the self-image issue that anything that we're not able to accomplish we kind of relate it attach it to our self-worth that oh I'm not able to do it I'm not able to do it I'm not able to do it I'm not able to do it all of these words that we kind of associate with ourselves which is very natural also but what you said makes so much sense that pinch of optimism not having this thing that when you attach so much value to one thing we kind of get that that much I would not say fear fear is a very very small word it feels as if the entire world is going to crumble down you have the societal thoughts at time we face so many students who are not in our coaching but from us youtube or social media through connect the people who are preparing themselves they are somehow convinced that they have worked so hard that now they will take out jrf and because of any reason they are not able to get that jrf and they feel that but it is always important that you have a plan be in place you know that it is just an exam that is the reason why I always have this thinking I put in something for students who do not qualify because I know but as teachers it is important because potential kind of a mistake has happened if they work upon it then six months you have given more of your life so it does not matter in the span of 70 years six months we look at our life in a very small form we focus only on today a lot of things are very important remember my mother telling me this always that sometimes you have stress over anything in life always think that what is this thing that I am stressing on today it will matter after 10 years if it matters if your mind answers yes it's going to matter as much as it is matter it matters today I know 10 years later I will not even remember it so here is one thing that is another thing very very nice that I really loved this part of the interview where you you showed your vulnerable side where even you had those second thoughts let me not just sit for the exam let me just sit for the next exam it is that vulnerable moment where we have to be a little optimistic and say that it is okay let us see what will happen it is not clear it is not clear it is a big deal that is very nice very nice and again one important thing that how was your experience this time when you sat for the paper did you feel that paper was easy moderately difficult very very challenging what were your thoughts yes ma'am I feel what happens during the exam is as important as what happens before true those three hours they have to be your best three hours so I had gone to the paper with a very optimistic mindset I had prayed that you know let my brain be in its best capacity let me use it to the fullest let me be the most creative and with that thought I had entered the exam hall of course there is a bit of anxiety and stress that you have because the environment is very serious if I may say so but by attending the questions there was a point I vividly remember I had attempted around say half questions of paper too and I had a feeling it was happening but then I panicked a little towards the end because my strategy was to take three rounds of the question paper in the first round I would attempt the questions that I am almost 90 to 100 percent sure about in the second round I would attempt the questions which need more time for me to think about it or I am confused between two options or I have to use the elimination technique so I would attempt those questions and the third round would be the pure guessing round because there's no negative marking so you have to make a guess random guess yes so I used to attend the exam in three rounds but in second round I had left the di questions from paper one for the second round and unexpectedly they took a lot of my time so which is why I had to haste a little through the third round so that kind of made me a bit anxious but then again I somewhere I was feeling that it was a good experience but I wasn't confident enough to sing it out loud so that was the overall feeling that I had regarding difficulty level I think one thing one thing that I want to like just cut you in the middle I want to again focus on this point that even though the di section took a lot of your time but before but before that you have already completed those questions that you were 90 to 100 percent sure of yes that kind of helped you get out of that moment where you felt stuck that pushed you out of that because you knew that you have done your best in the first round and there are so many questions that you know that are going to be right so that was an amazing strategy I must say first completed the questions that you're 100 percent sure about that's nice yeah please continue you were saying something yes that is about it I think the difficulty level it's a very subjective thing and most of the times had I not been on top I wouldn't be knowing the difficulty level now I can take the luxury of saying that oh it wasn't very difficult had I not qualified I would have said that oh it was very difficult so I think that's a very subjective domain but if you're prepared enough I don't think nothing anything you say you say it right or impossible for you true true wonderful and last and my favorite question that I I though it wasn't there in this interview list so to say but then after having this lovely chat with you I think you're the perfect candidate to whom I would want to take this opportunity to ask this question that this entire net preparation what valuable lessons did you learn while you were preparing for net because you have such a nice philosophical bend that I think that you were the perfect fit to answer this question yes ma'am as I said the most valuable lesson that I learned from is would be that your journey is as important and as beautiful as the destination of course I was very happy when I received my result and I saw that I have pure jrf but there are many moments from my preparation journey which I remember where I felt really happy just because I had read something good that day or just because I had completed my daily target so I think my journey was equally beautiful as the destination and that is something that I would try to maintain afterwards also in life I would try to make the journey as beautiful as possible and secondly I think the list of what literature has taught me would be unending net has given me this opportunity to fall in love with literature all over again this simple thought that you sitting in one corner of the world in your four walls and reading about the mindset and internal discovery of somebody across the world I think it's such a fascinating thought and reading all of those works in about all of those writers there were points when I would tell myself that you know probably I would never read this work again so let me invest my 100% while reading it for the net prep today so I think that my love for literature which has been strengthened by this journey I think that will stay with me till my lifetime and I truly truly cherish this and I would really want that the passion with which you are saying these things if you can just I know you've been sharing it with your students in your college where you teach you must be sharing it on a regular basis but please keep sharing that because this platform that we created harpatakarva.com we created with an intention that we want to create teachers who love teaching so that they can generate students who love learning and I find you as a perfect fit a perfect example who can take this legacy forward can inspire so many brilliant minds to dive in this world of literature and to know how ideas can shape the world can change the society can make this world a better place yes thank you so much for being such a brilliant student I just can't thank you enough and pass on my regards to your family members especially to your mom and dad tell them that we all are very proud that you have done a fantastic upbringing thank you ma'am that means a lot thank you so much and again one interesting story I would want to tell you so there was a time in my life when I stayed in Akula which is very near to Amravati yes it was that time when I kept on hearing about Amravati a lot because I am not from Maharashtra I'm from Rajasthan and Assam so that was a time when a lot of discussions used to happen that okay people are going to go to Amravati it was just a I think a drive of two to three hours from Akula and from from that point Amravati had a very special place in my mind and after meeting you today virtually I think that bond has strengthened so you have a quality and you're always welcome there absolutely absolutely and I would want to welcome you to Jaipur as well a beautiful city and I know that it has a very rich heritage very rich culture a lot of people love visiting here going around seeing those palaces and Hava Mahal and a lot of other beautiful places that we have so anytime you're in this town please let us know we just one phone call away our address of our office is mentioned on the website so even if you come at odd hours when nobody is there to pick up the phone you can directly drop into our office and you'll see some or the other person that love to meet you that's very sweet thank you thank you so much Makhti and thank you so much for this interview means a lot to me I'm wishing you best of luck for all the future endeavors and the way you smile right now and the kind of that charisma that you have inside you I hope that you get more wings to go to places to fulfill your dreams and may god bless you dear thank you ma'am thank you so much thank you thank you so much thank you bye bye I'll see you very very soon yes in Jaipur or in Amravati 100% looking forward to that save you bye bye


Why does knowing about how ships were steered throughout history help us understand ways we thought about the world? Welcome to the Endless Knot. Today, we continue our discussion of ways of knowing with a look at metaphor and try to answer that question. When you hear the term metaphor, you may think of high school English classes and the many literary terms you had to memorize. But metaphor, the implied comparison of one thing with another, is a fundamental way of thinking about the world. We often make sense of the world around us by using metaphor. This is something we begin in infancy, when a baby spends hours putting a block in a box, taking it out and repeating these actions endlessly, she is constructing a mental schema of inside and outside of a container, a schema we later apply to the world around us. When we say we are in trouble, we are conceiving of trouble as a container. This is a metaphor, a way of understanding some new, more complicated thing by comparing it to something we already know. Large scale cultural metaphors such as the journey of life affect and are affected by our whole world view. Over time, the use of this metaphor in the Western world has changed, mirroring our changing cultural attitudes to our place in the world. What I want to explore in this video is the intriguing parallel between the literature of travel and exploration and the world views it reflects and the development of sailing technology in Europe. Because the narrative metaphor of travel and exploration reflects cultural change from the ancient world to the modern, it often describes man's relation to the world in which he lives. And I'm afraid that for most of the authors I'll be speaking about, it really is man's relation to his world, so that's the language I'll use here. This narrative is symbolic of man's place in the universe, and the use of this narrative metaphor changes over time to reflect different beliefs about man's place in the world, as well as practical changes in the way we move through that world. In the Odyssey, one of the oldest recorded travel narratives in Western literature, we see human beings at the mercy of the elements and the gods. Odysseus and his crew are constantly driven about against their will by the elements. This reflects a common idea in Greek mythology that humans are at the mercy of capricious gods, which in turn reflects the usual Greek view of humanity's place in the universe. Crucially, this is entirely consistent with ancient sailing technology because the ancients had square sails. Now the important thing about ships with square sails is that they are not very maneuverable. Essentially, you go in the direction that the wind blows you. If the wind is blowing the wrong way, you're out of luck, and you have to wait for a favorable wind. Sure, you have aura so that you can row, but that won't take you very fast or very far. If a storm blows up, you use the aura to row quickly to shore if you can. And this in fact happens at one point in the Odyssey. Thus, in ancient Greece, sailors were at the mercy of the wind, and so we see a sense of helplessness in the Odyssey. This connection between worldview and narrative of travel stands out when we look at what later writers did with the Homeric story of Odysseus. The same story has three different meanings for Homer, Dante, and Tennyson. Homer's Odysseus is simply at the mercy of the gods. While he does take some interest in the things he sees along the way, his journey is not a product of his own will. In fact, he's very unhappy about it. His journey and his life are both determined by the fates and the prophecies about what will happen to him. In the Greek mythological world, man can't control his own fate. In the medieval text, the divine comedy in contrast, the great Italian poet Dante places Ulysses in hell, being punished for his arrogant exploration of the world beyond the boundaries of Greece. For Dante, Ulysses' journey was an act of will. Dante hadn't actually read Homer himself. From Dante's Christian viewpoint, willfulness was sinfulness because man shouldn't try to control his own fate, as that was up to God. And finally, for the 19th century English poet Tennyson, in his poem Ulysses, the hero's journey is also an act of will, but it is more positive. Tennyson exalts his purposefulness and striving. In the poet's view, man should try to control his own fate. Thus for Homer, sailing out into the ocean is an action already subject to the capriciousness of the gods.  Backtracking to the Middle Ages for a moment, there was relatively little advance in sailing technology from the ancient world, so we can see a similar metaphor used to describe the journey of life. However, the characterization is different in the Christian worldview. For instance, in the old English elegy, the seafarer, harsh exiles pictured in terms of a lonely journey in a boat, and the moral and religious implication of this exile slash pilgrimage is that the Christian soul's ultimate destination is back to God. God is the only goal to steer towards. Similarly, in the later Middle Ages, in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the man of law tells the story of Custace, who is set adrift at sea by her antagonists to get rid of her. She puts her faith in God, in him Tristee and in his That is to me sail and ache my steer. God is her sail and her rudder, her means of propulsion and steering. Again, this is a metaphor of the relationship between the Christian soul and God, and therefore of man's place in the world. Though as in the ancient world, man does not control his fate, it is not a capricious God to whom he is subject, but one who is the best steersman because he alone can actually guide the ship correctly. In a parallel but slightly different culture of the time, the Vikings, known as great sailors in the earlier part of the Middle Ages, who really only had the square sail, cheated a bit by lowering one end of the sail to allow for greater maneuverability. But for the most part, they made due with very simple means and no sophisticated navigational equipment. They were often blown off course, and as described in the Vinland sagas, it was often due to accident that they made discovery such as Greenland and Vinland, in other words, North America. Interestingly, there's quite a mix of chance, fate, luck, both good and bad, pagan and Christian worldview in the Vinland sagas. Things started to change in sailing technology in the late Middle Ages or early Renaissance when the triangular Latin sail began to be used in Europe. Triangular sail works like a wing, high pressure on one side, low pressure on the other, and it allows a ship to sail almost directly into a headwind. By tacking in a zigzag pattern, ships can go in any direction and are no longer at the mercy of the wind, as long as there is at least some wind. Ships also started using stern post rudders rather than steering with an oar hanging off the right side, starboard, literally the steering side as opposed to the left side called port, which was the side toward the dock, also known as larboard or loading side. The stern mounted rudder made it possible to steer larger ships, and larger ships could carry more provisions, including, most importantly, fresh water. These, combined with the old square sail to take efficient advantage of favorable winds, as well as improvements to navigational technology, allowed for real exploration to begin at the end of the Middle Ages and throughout the Renaissance, kicking off the European Age of Discovery. These advances are reflected in the imaginative literature of the period. This is the age of humanism when the cultural focus shifted from the purely religious to the world of man. People began to define their place in the world in terms other than solely spiritual ones. The 18th century, for instance, is full of travel literature, like Jonathan Swiss Gulliver's travels. Gulliver goes out into the world ostensibly to discover things about other people and places, but in fact reveals to the reader much about his own country in the process. Mankind now defines itself through its exploration of the outside world and especially through its ability to direct its own course in the world, though shipwreck is still a danger. This is a radical shift from the medieval seagoing metaphor as demonstrated most clearly in Chaucer's Custons, who is really only defined by her relationship to God and is completely unable to control her own journey. The humanist shift in cultural focus goes hand in hand with the seagoing technological shift. With the 19th century, we enter the modern era, in which the biggest technological advance in seafaring was the steam engine. Suddenly ships were no longer dependent on wind at all. Even if there wasn't any wind, a steam ship could still go. The technological progression of the square sail to the triangular sail is completed with the advent of the steam engine. This is dramatically demonstrated in Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, in which just such an incident happens. When the winds die down, the steam engines are fired up, and at one point Philius Fogg nearly burns up the ship itself in an attempt to win his race against time. This is the ultimate expression of man's desire to control his own fate. Fogg overcomes all obstacles thrown in his way in order to win the bet, and that includes the obstacles of the natural world and the elements. This reflects the Victorian elevation of man's ability to control his world. In this worldview, man has a special place in the world. He is at its pinnacle. He even seeks mastery over nature. Nature is now something to be tamed or controlled. And it is in the late 19th century that science is really beginning to challenge religion with the realization that the geological age of the earth is vastly longer than the Bible accounts for, and Darwin's evolutionary theory challenging the biblical creation story. Victorian man did not adapt to his surroundings. He adapted the surroundings to suit himself, and this is subtly commented upon in Verne's novel with the description of the British Empire which sought to impose its customs and organization often unsuccessfully upon the world. Furthermore, there is a shift from the age of exploration to the age of tourism. The world has been largely explored by Europeans, and fog is really more of a tourist than an explorer. Because the world is now a much smaller place, man's stature seems the larger. Instead of defining himself in relation to the world, man redefines the world in his own image. At the dawn of the 20th century, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness stands out as the most striking example of the travel and exploration metaphor. Now instead of a journey outwards, it is a journey inwards. Instead of defining his place in the world, man is defining himself. Man's relationship to the world becomes his relationship with his own inner psyche. Since sailing technology is no longer a limiting factor, the metaphor takes a new direction. Man's attempt to control nature and the world around him becomes his attempt to control human nature and the world within him. But this sense of control is an illusion since he has no real self-control. Now, well into the 21st century, we continue to grapple with abstract concepts using concrete metaphors. But yet again, the metaphor is in the process of being redefined for a new era, which is notably self-referential and solipsistic. The story I've just summarized follows the transformation of the travel metaphor as enacted in the literature lives of mostly men, only through the European world, and only into the 20th century. I'd love to find examples of this connection in women's lives, in other cultures. How is life like a canoe trip, or for more recent times? Do we now write stories in which life is like a transatlantic flight, or an actual flight into space? Let me know what you think in the comments, or tweet me at ataliterative. Subscribe to this channel to see more videos about metaphor, language, and history. You can also read more of my thoughts at my blog, The Endless Knot. So now, I'll leave you with this little bit of obscure, though apropos verse. Leave to heaven in humble trust all you will to do, but if succeed you must, paddle your own canoe.