Two Different Teachers

I had a wonderful realization happen to me this week.

During one of my Piano classes, I made an error in the piece I was playing. Once I finished playing, I looked up and apologized to my teacher. He knew that I had felt bad for ruining the piece and in response, he said this:

“Just because one of the grapes was bad, does not mean you throw away the entire bunch.”

He proceeded, “ You can apply this quote to your life too. Just because you made one tiny error does not mean that you will completely ignore all the good things you have done in your life.

Just because one part of your day was unlucky or bad, doesn’t mean the entire day has to to be bad.

Don’t worry about the error. It sounded just fine.”

I smiled.

I smiled not just because what he had spoken was extremely profound but also because this wasn’t the first time I had heard this quote about “bad grapes”.

When I was in high school, one of my teachers had mentioned something along the same lines. But the context and conclusion was entirely the opposite of what my Piano teacher mentioned.

My high school teacher said something like this:

“One bad grape is enough to ruin the entire bunch. If you let a bad grape sit among the bunch, you will find that the entire bunch has been rotted.”

She proceeded to say, “I have seen some girls walking around with their boyfriends in the school corridors. I have also observed some brilliant and academic children create deep friendships with such girls. To all the studious bunch, always remember, one bad grape is enough to spoil the bunch”.

What she said, was the exact opposite of what my Piano teacher had explained.

She chose judgement, sarcasm, fear and a lack of empathy while my Piano teacher chose love, patience and understanding.

She supported “separation” and “isolation” of people just because it didn’t match her ideology of what was right and wrong while my Piano teacher showed compassion even while knowing that I had made an error.

If I ever had to approach a teacher to ask my queries or share something important, it was extremely clear on whom I would chose today.

This made me realize that a single quote or a proverb could have an entirely different meaning when it came from different people. Different people can have different perspectives based on their ideologies and what they were raised to believe.

I feel glad that in addition to adults, my Piano teacher also teaches small children. At a young age, he would be able to guide children towards a more compassionate and positive future than something filled with negativity and separation.