With Love From Father To Son

As we look forward to the beginning of a new academic year at E-Cube, our first batch of students are ready to leave for their Second year at Newcastle. I am sure they are excited about it and also a little nervous. Advices from parents, teachers, relatives and friends must be coming in plenty.  The scenario reminds me of a scene from William Shakespeare’s play ‘Hamlet’.

I have never read Hamlet, but this one was part of my 9^th grade English subject and I want to share it on this blog since it aptly fits the current situation of our students at E-Cube.

It is a dialogue where father (Polonius) is giving advice to his son Laertes before Laertes heads back to his school in France.
And this is it....

Yet here, Laertes? Aboard, aboard, for shame!
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,
And you are stay'd for. There, my blessing with thee.
And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportion'd (inappropriate) thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried (tested),
Grapple (fasten) them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel; but being in,
Bear't (keep in mind) that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous, chief in that (their apparel).
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry (money management).
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell. My blessing season this in thee!

Since it is old English and hard to understand, To put it in simple words, its summary in simple English is :

The father wants the son to understand and remember a few things when he is on the foreign land.

He tells Laertes that he must hurry to his ship but then delays him by giving him a great deal of advice about how to behave with integrity and practicality.

Polonius warns Laertes to keep his thoughts to himself, restrain himself from acting on rash desires, and treat people with familiarity but not with vulgarity.

He advises him to hold on to his old friends but be slow to embrace new friends;

to be slow to quarrel but to fight boldly if the need arises;

He wants his son to listen more than he talks;

to dress richly but not gaudily;

to refrain from borrowing or lending money;

and, finally, to be true to himself above all things.

With Best Wishes and Heartiest Congratulations to the students I wrap it up.

Samiksha Deotale

Faculty Computing Science