Rock garden and water stream

Rock and water are natural resources. They go together. We find them on mountain springs, rivers beds, waterfalls, etc.

We also find them in many educational campuses, hotels, resorts, tourist centers.It is one of the most common artificially created scenic spots.

Yesterday, the rock garden was bathed in a water stream in our campus after a break of four years. As I watched this visual feast at the main entrance of the college, with delight and surprise, I kept wondering about its significance in an educational campus.

Rock is solid and is a symbol of strength, stability and permanence. It is from rock, we get building blocks, blue metal for concrete mixture, road building, etc.Rock is a favorite tool for the artist to design and create sculptures that can portray history, human faces, sights and scenes. Its strength and solidness hold superstructures of building, bridges, underground tunnels, mountain passes, etc. It creates facilities and spaces for people to live in, pass through, do business, etc. by offering safety and security.  It creates form and space for structures.

Every academic institution creates form and space to learners, researchers, and scholars. A student who is an enquirer and an investigator needs the discipline of pedagogy, academic integrity, intellectual enquiry, and honest pursuit of rational and scientific knowledge. This happens in an academic institution through lectures, seminars, practical work at laboratory, etc. The teachers help students to process information and acquire knowledge. Equally the teachers become mentors to students to apply knowledge for social and philanthropic purposes. The user of knowledge gets formed into a person whose conscience is enriched by truth, moral values and spiritual pursuit. An academic institution forms and builds people to be foundations of human society and formators of civilization. 

Water is fluid and often flowing. Its origin is from glaciers, snow, rain, and from ground water. The reservoirs of water are lakes, rivers, wells and ocean. There is a vastness, variety and value in water reservoirs. The rivers and sea are a home for aquatic animals and plants.It provides a setting for swimmers and sailors to pursue their pleasure, adventure and trade. Water is the largest substance in human body and sustains human life, flora and and fauna. There is an unlimitedness to the role and function of water in nature. 

An academic institution is a such a resource of unlimited roles for shaping human destiny. The philosophers, scientists, designers, leaders, scholars, religious leaders, are created in academic institutions. It is a temple of learning and human formation. It is the seat of knowledge, nobility, civility and human civilization. An academic institution is a resource for society to become a home for humanity.

Rock and water are symbols of a the bedrock of stability, serenity and service, that characterize the role and function of an educational institution.   

M.C.Mathew( text and photo)