The Art of Discernment: Ms. Rashmi Malhotra Redefines Education

In an age where information is infinite and intelligence is automated, what, to you, does it truly mean to be educated?

To be educated today is to remain deeply human in a world that keeps redefining intelligence. In a time when facts are instantly available, being educated is less about retention and more about interpretation – knowing how to sift through the noise, recognize nuance, and find coherence where everything seems fragmented.

Education, to me, is the slow art of sense-making – the discipline of pausing before reacting, doubting before concluding, and questioning before accepting. It’s about cultivating depth in a culture that glorifies speed and awareness in a world built on distraction. An educated mind is one that can hold complexity without collapsing into certainty, one that can navigate contradiction without cynicism. That balance – of intellect and restraint -is what separates thought from reaction, and wisdom from mere cleverness.

Automation has made brilliance effortless; it has not made wisdom common. The real task of education now is to teach discernment – to help young people recognize what deserves their attention, and what doesn’t. That cannot be programmed. It’s a discipline of thought, empathy, and self-awareness – the ability to think clearly and feel deeply in equal measure.

So when I think of being educated, I think less of mastery and more of perspective – the ability to see patterns, contradictions, and possibilities all at once. In a world obsessed with answers, perhaps education’s highest purpose is to teach us to question.