It was in April 2008. The new health center at St George’s College, Mussoorie, was being inaugurated. Young boys were seated at the front of the building. Late Bishop Patrick Nair, then in his late 70s, was to open the health center. As he came forward the boys cheered him with loud claps and high spirits. As one of the oldest alumni, he was very much at home and relaxed with the boys. The setting was all informal and he began to share a few anecdotes with the boys in a very humorous way. He stood in front of the students and talked matters close to his heart in his casual style. He told them in a rather thoughtful mood, “You have no past, but you have a future. I have a past, but I have no future. The point is that the young and the old have to work together. ” As he proceeded with his informal lecture, the boys were bowled over by the cuteness with which the late bishop shared important life lessons. 

Old age speaks of wisdom, collected from memory and lived experiences. The youth look for insight, expressed through dreams and hopes. The young have a chance to learn from the experiences of the old – the good deeds that they did, what they failed to do for one reason or other, and the mistakes they made. The old must see the ambition of the young and appreciate their zeal to go forward and open new avenues for the future. It would, in fact, be mutually beneficial if they can listen to each other in a spirit of search, without the young condemning the old and the old putting too many speed-breakers in the way of the young. The old may insist upon the formalities of the past years, while the young may have their eyes on what are the current needs. In any case, this is a collaborative approach in which intelligent ventures cannot be replaced. People’s need to realise their potential too cannot be ignored. To maintain a balance, there must be lots of listening, evaluation, less condescension and more willingness to search and accept new ways. 

In this context, one of the important requirements is curiosity. Feed curiosity that will feed the brain. We cannot learn anything without curiosity. We need curiosity to make our brain function intellectually, socially, morally, and spiritually. When we say curiosity, it doesn’t mean peeping into each others' private matters. Instead, curiosity is the desire to learn. Learning is an intellectual exercise that mainly involves filing information from different sources in a continuous process. Any serious intellectual work looks for data through a systematic approach. In this context, the word curiosity has only a positive meaning and is deprived of its negative nuance and connotation.

Similarly another major requirement in today’s times is smartness. It is an innocent yet sharp quality that even children possess. A child's eyes glimmer with eagerness and brilliance. In the case of newborn babies, they keep their eyes wide open to experience the world they see around them. Little wonder photos of little ones are used for advertisements to bring in the cuteness factor. Though cuteness is mostly applicable for children, it is valid for youth and adults as well. There is a clear element of humour in smartness and cuteness, which is lively and relaxing, and all love it.