Balance between rest and study essential for students: Indian PM Modi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday gave valuable suggestions and advice to students preparing for exams, emphasising the importance of sound sleep, nutrition, resilience, decisiveness, written work, physical fitness and regulating screen time.

The Prime Minister took questions from students, teachers and parents from different parts of the country during the seventh edition of Pariksha Pe Charcha (PPC) held at Bharat Mandapam and also dwelled on the role of challenges and healthy competition.

During the interaction, the Prime Minister made several comments in a lighter vein evoking smiles and clapping from students.

Dwelling on the significance of hard work and sound sleep, the Prime Minister gave his example and said he gets deep sleep almost as soon as he hits the bed.

Noting that habits like screen time are eating into the required sleep which is also being strongly emphasised by modern health science, the Prime Minister said less sleep is not good for the body.

"Just like a mobile requires charging to function, similarly it is very important to keep the body recharged because keeping the body healthy is very important for a healthy mind. For this, getting proper sleep is also very important," he said.

He emphasised maintaining a balanced lifestyle, avoiding excess of everything and taking the required amount of sunlight.

"Do not underassess the value of sleep, when your mother says 'go to sleep', do not consider it interference... Whether you get proper sleep or not, it is very important, you should pay attention. Get the required sleep and also see if it is sound sleep or not. It should be very sound sleep," he said.

He said sometimes people can find it difficult to get sound sleep after they go to bed.

"...365 days, no exception, as soon as I get to bed, within 30 seconds...that I have not gone towards sound sleep, this does not happen. It takes me 30 seconds...why because, the time I am awake, I stay fully awake," he said.

"Jab jagrit hun to poori taraeh Jagrit hun, jab soya hun to poori taren soya hun (when I am awake, I am fully awake, when I am asleep, I am fully asleep)," PM Modi said, emphasising the need for "balance".

Answering queries, the Prime Minister said that questions regarding cultural and societal expectations have come up in the Pariksha Pe Charcha programme.

He emphasised the role of teachers in mitigating the impact of added pressure from external factors on students and urged students to become strong and capable of handling pressure.

"My approach which I found useful is that 'I challenge every challenge'. I do not wait passively for the challenge to pass. This gives me an opportunity to learn all the time. Dealing with new situations enriches me," he said.

"My biggest confidence is that I have 140 crore countrymen with me. If there are 100 million challenges, there are billions of solutions. I never find myself alone and everything is on me, I am always aware of the capabilities of my country and countrymen. This is the fundamental crux of my thinking. The more I enhance the capabilities of my countrymen, my ability to challenge the challenges improves," he added.

PM Modi said that decision-making becomes easier when the resolve to do something is strong.

Throwing light on the power of positive thinking, the Prime Minister said that it gives strength to look for positive outcomes even in the most negative situations.

He further urged the students, families and teachers to collectively address the issue of external stress rather than implementing a systematic theory. He also suggested that families of students should discuss different ways that work for each of them.

Addressing the issue of peer pressure and competition among friends, the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of competition and said it should be healthy.

He pointed out that often the seeds of unhealthy competition are planted in the family situations leading to perverse competition among siblings.

PM Modi asked the parents to avoid comparison among the children and noted that doing well in exams is not a zero-sum game.

He urged students to compete with themselves and called upon parents not to compare their children with other children.

He also asked them not to make the achievement of their children their visiting card and called upon students to rejoice in the success of their friends. "Friendship is not a transactional emotion," he said.

Throwing light on the role of teachers in motivating students, the Prime Minister underlined that music can relieve the stress of students.

He said teachers should not give priority only to bright students in a class, be accessible and build a healthy rapport in the class from the beginning of the session.

(ANI)