Art is long, Life is short

The Latin expression Ars longa, Vita brevis, itself a Latin translation of a statement of wisdom originally from Greek, rendered in English as Art is long, Life is short, also attributed to the Greek physician Hippocrates (460-370 BC) has its relevance for all times, particularly so in the present context of the land’s economic scenario in which its mass of not only the educated youth but also the labour force struggling to make both ends to meet as it were have to be enabled with skills far more productive than current level, but more talked about in public domain than acted upon. While the country’s institutes of technology are not lagging behind in training the youth with capabilities close to global standards, the same cannot be said about most of the Universities across the country. The need of upgrading the teaching skills of their faculty is being highlighted by speakers from the academic world itself from various platforms. The seeds of that daunting task have to be sown at the school stage with a sense of urgency.

Considering the rich legacy of knowledge and output of the country’s many generations of long past in different fields reflecting their skills that leaves anybody feeling amazed, it may be a rewarding exercise to discover the intricacies of their system of building skills that endured for several centuries.

The most important shortcoming in the outlook of the land’s people at large, barring exceptions, is tolerating, nay accepting, dismally low levels of quality in working and the outcome in virtually all areas of human activity, among which only about the work quality of teachers at all levels is talked about in various circles. The roads with crater-like pits and buildings collapsing even during their construction causing loss of life and limbs, as reported regularly in dailies are classic examples of neglecting the skill-building side of the country’s economy. The currently hyperactive rogue elements in different regions of the world carrying out destructive explosions with precision, killing innocent people, seem to serve as role models in the department of skill, although in a negative sense.

All said and done, there is no cause for despair as the land hosts people with extraordinary capabilities drawing from their skills of highest norms in different fields of the economy. Their presence has to exhort others to emulate them against all odds, particularly the influence of undesirable elements in society.