The national holidays have always been important for me. Back in school it used to be the prestigious NCC parade; and after that a flair for patriotic films and music.
I didn’t expect 15th august 2008 to be so different in spirit. This unusual national holiday came to me thanks to the late train booking that saw me on-board Ahmedabad Passenger train from Surat to Ahmedabad. This was my first time on this kind and as usual I’d booked myself online and was carrying the sheet along as the testimony of my constitutional and legal right towards seat number 35 in S1. Constitutional rights - b**lls. Legal rights - ditto.
After claiming my seat from a man and a child (no poetry here), I was surprised when the kaka started to rant that it doesn’t matter who booked the ticket, the whole of train is a common one for all passengers. And finally I was awestruck when a couple of ladiez claimed my seat as well. I was in half-mind whether to fight and push them off from my seat or to bear their presence on the crammed seat. I found myself fighting them off and showing them the ticket that bore the number in question; with the lone support of a passenger in my coupe.
I couldn’t help but think how a fresh civil engineer would feel in presence of a toughened and experienced supervisor! Foolish is one way to put it. I know I was down ‘cause I didn’t dare to push them off my berth and so atleast managed to make them feel guilty (or so I believe) by emphasizing my right on the seat they were on. What was absolutely stunning was that the people around (which also included the usual nuisance pass-holders) assumed it their right to encroach upon someone’s seat rather than requesting and getting that leeway! As a result, on a seat of 2, we were 5 people crammed up – though I had had the best share of the seat!
I can’t still make up my mind whether I was right in feeling the disbelief cum anger cum frustration towards them or not! I still am torn between Ayn Rand and Jawahar Nehru…
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Sunday spoilers - or more. . .
They shouldn’t do it you know! They shouldn’t jeopardize lazy Sundays of ordinary people like me. One moment I was happily flipping channels and another, I tuned on to India TV.
One of the widely accepted masala news channel was featuring an interview of representative of Shiromani Akali Dal. This religious outfit is the newest entrant in the Great Indian Moral Police League. They are reportedly against forthcoming Akki flick – Singh is Kinng.
Mr S A D (no I don’t expressly term him as sad, I’m just saving many a mouse clicks to write the complete Shiromani Akali Dal) said onscreen he’s not against the depiction of Akki as a Sardar. S A D has a problem with Akki dancing and monkeying around a little too much in the promos – that’s not how the Sikhs behave! He also says that the Sikhs have been mocked at in the film.
My brain had to observe a minute’s silence after watching it; but guess it ain’t required here. A minute hence I realized I was abjectly against the S A D representative. As far as I remember, my Sikh friends used to tell me they look out for the slightest pretext to break into a jig. Singing and dancing has always been an integral part of all Indian communities, including Sikhs. The splendid Bhangda and Gidda dance forms are unknown to none; neither are their wonderful music and folk songs. Speaking technically, the movie has not released yet and there’s no way you would know what all things are represented in the film.
The program also hinted that a committee has been formed to preview the film and ascertain whether there’s anything objectionable about it. But the S A D rep said his outfit doesn’t recognize any committee except for Shiromani committee and that they gotta see it first and pass it. Also, if it’s released without their consent, they things will get out of hands and they will take to streets on this issue.
I don’t say the water has gone above the head – because I think it has happened a long back. I can’t even count on my fingers how many such instances have already happened where one or the other group springs up with such petty issues and disrupts daily lives. It ranges from a ban on M F Hussain from returning to India to protesting n number of films to burning posters and computers in public. I don’t have the answer to the question about Freedom of Speech and whether or not these actions fall in it (or out of). But a mob wielding swords out on the street against a fun film is sure no definition of freedom of speech or thought.
A lot of people, it seems, are mistaking going far with going ahead.
One of the widely accepted masala news channel was featuring an interview of representative of Shiromani Akali Dal. This religious outfit is the newest entrant in the Great Indian Moral Police League. They are reportedly against forthcoming Akki flick – Singh is Kinng.
Mr S A D (no I don’t expressly term him as sad, I’m just saving many a mouse clicks to write the complete Shiromani Akali Dal) said onscreen he’s not against the depiction of Akki as a Sardar. S A D has a problem with Akki dancing and monkeying around a little too much in the promos – that’s not how the Sikhs behave! He also says that the Sikhs have been mocked at in the film.
My brain had to observe a minute’s silence after watching it; but guess it ain’t required here. A minute hence I realized I was abjectly against the S A D representative. As far as I remember, my Sikh friends used to tell me they look out for the slightest pretext to break into a jig. Singing and dancing has always been an integral part of all Indian communities, including Sikhs. The splendid Bhangda and Gidda dance forms are unknown to none; neither are their wonderful music and folk songs. Speaking technically, the movie has not released yet and there’s no way you would know what all things are represented in the film.
The program also hinted that a committee has been formed to preview the film and ascertain whether there’s anything objectionable about it. But the S A D rep said his outfit doesn’t recognize any committee except for Shiromani committee and that they gotta see it first and pass it. Also, if it’s released without their consent, they things will get out of hands and they will take to streets on this issue.
I don’t say the water has gone above the head – because I think it has happened a long back. I can’t even count on my fingers how many such instances have already happened where one or the other group springs up with such petty issues and disrupts daily lives. It ranges from a ban on M F Hussain from returning to India to protesting n number of films to burning posters and computers in public. I don’t have the answer to the question about Freedom of Speech and whether or not these actions fall in it (or out of). But a mob wielding swords out on the street against a fun film is sure no definition of freedom of speech or thought.
A lot of people, it seems, are mistaking going far with going ahead.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
education - a leveller
I have learnt a lot of chapters of history but don’t remember having learnt a lesson from it. Today, however, is different. I think I have had a very strong glimpse of the fact that education is a leveler – it is one of the children of development that remove barriers between people and put them on an equal footing.
Raghu met me a couple of days back, and again yesterday with the request of teaching him English; and Dilip joined in. both of them are fulltime house elves (no intention of comparing their state with those in HP). They got pens and old diaries. What next? I asked them to sit down. J And I could not possibly teach them if they were sitting on the floor. So naturally I sat with them on the table. This would not have been a big thing – if it would have happened EVER BEFORE. This was the first time when I was sitting on the same table with 2 of our house servants and it came to me as a surprise how smoothly we came over on the same footing as soon as we tried to connect with each other through the bond of learning.
But I have to confess I don’t know how to teach them from the beginning. Guess I will have to seek help from Neha, one of my students, who teaches tiny tots at Fountainhead. Now again this idea hits me – Neha teaches at Fountainhead, Vardan Kabra’s school. He claims to be adopting the methods and techniques of highest standards. How smoothly, again, these techniques will be replicated to teach a couple of absolutely uneducated kids.
I will sign off with an adaptation of Plato’s thought – “You get every wisdom at a small effort of thoughts.”
Friday, January 18, 2008
the end of patronage
In the last 7 years of my stint with management reading, education and profession; I have always come across cases and situations where the quality is given utmost importance. IF one delivers quality, they say, the long-term prospects are sure to be very bright. The front page of today’s ToI covers Anil Ambani’s mopping up 8 trillion bucks is a testimony of that principle.
But the article on page 9 is shocking – in more than one ways. IITs, it reports, doesn’t have enough funds to pay the next month’s staff salaries! It refers to the same IITs that are around for more than half a decade and making us proud in all corners of world through its alumni, its innovations and through Asok. IITs have nurtured and churned out best of the intellectual property in the country. Its admissions test JEE is considered one of most competitive and challenging tests in the country alongside UPSC and CAT exams. But now it falls of greenbacks to pay its teachers, and it is as sick as it can get.
But why has this happened? And how to counter this problem?
The education of IIT students is highly subsidized and the government spends a he sum on educating each one of them. This is one of the reasons why their going abroad to ‘contribute’ to western world and their switching over to management side have been considered blasphemy. The cost incurred by IITs is budgetary allocation given from the government (read taxpayers’) funds. Some money would definitely be coming in from the alumni and from the industry projects and consulting work taken up by the IITs. But still not enough.
I don’t mind government shelling out more moneys to support IITs even though this money is going out of my pocket. Not doing this will be e bigger loss to the country, a bigger crime. But for how long can this model be sustained? The costs burden, I am sure, will keep mounting. And will further stain the budgets. While writing these pages, I peeped into some articles written by Pankaj Jalote of IIT-K and the very well-known P V Indiresan. Both are of the view that the cushy days of government support are over.
So what is the way out?
For one, why not increase the fees (taking cue from the principle of premium education)? On the first thought, if this is done, a lot of well-deserving brilliant brains will find be unable to pay such high fees and will be lost in the crowds. My recommendation is to ask the banks to lend them money. And the banks will be glad to do so realizing they are investing in very high quality assets. This is one of the ways IIM aspirants have managed all these years!
Another way out will be to increase the output of the IITs. As Jalote points out, the output in IITs is 1.2 B Tech students per year per faculty as against 2 in any elite US engineering college. It is again not rocket science to understand the economy of scale. And also not to confess that the capacity expansion requires a budgetary outlay – though this one will be more productive in the long run.
There’re many more recommendations thrown out here and there by the columnists with whom I can agree only halfheartedly. These include mandatory 1 year stint for IIT graduates in teaching/ at grassroots/ as trainees; a corporate adopting a certain number of students and bearing their cost; etc.
Whichever way is taken off this road-to-nowhere, it better be taken VERY soon.
But the article on page 9 is shocking – in more than one ways. IITs, it reports, doesn’t have enough funds to pay the next month’s staff salaries! It refers to the same IITs that are around for more than half a decade and making us proud in all corners of world through its alumni, its innovations and through Asok. IITs have nurtured and churned out best of the intellectual property in the country. Its admissions test JEE is considered one of most competitive and challenging tests in the country alongside UPSC and CAT exams. But now it falls of greenbacks to pay its teachers, and it is as sick as it can get.
But why has this happened? And how to counter this problem?
The education of IIT students is highly subsidized and the government spends a he sum on educating each one of them. This is one of the reasons why their going abroad to ‘contribute’ to western world and their switching over to management side have been considered blasphemy. The cost incurred by IITs is budgetary allocation given from the government (read taxpayers’) funds. Some money would definitely be coming in from the alumni and from the industry projects and consulting work taken up by the IITs. But still not enough.
I don’t mind government shelling out more moneys to support IITs even though this money is going out of my pocket. Not doing this will be e bigger loss to the country, a bigger crime. But for how long can this model be sustained? The costs burden, I am sure, will keep mounting. And will further stain the budgets. While writing these pages, I peeped into some articles written by Pankaj Jalote of IIT-K and the very well-known P V Indiresan. Both are of the view that the cushy days of government support are over.
So what is the way out?
For one, why not increase the fees (taking cue from the principle of premium education)? On the first thought, if this is done, a lot of well-deserving brilliant brains will find be unable to pay such high fees and will be lost in the crowds. My recommendation is to ask the banks to lend them money. And the banks will be glad to do so realizing they are investing in very high quality assets. This is one of the ways IIM aspirants have managed all these years!
Another way out will be to increase the output of the IITs. As Jalote points out, the output in IITs is 1.2 B Tech students per year per faculty as against 2 in any elite US engineering college. It is again not rocket science to understand the economy of scale. And also not to confess that the capacity expansion requires a budgetary outlay – though this one will be more productive in the long run.
There’re many more recommendations thrown out here and there by the columnists with whom I can agree only halfheartedly. These include mandatory 1 year stint for IIT graduates in teaching/ at grassroots/ as trainees; a corporate adopting a certain number of students and bearing their cost; etc.
Whichever way is taken off this road-to-nowhere, it better be taken VERY soon.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Feminism
Heard anything? Or better put – read anything? Sunday Times of India (13 Jan ‘08) reports that as per a Delhi court – “Sex after false promise of marriage is rape”. Even if I were not a feminist, I’d have taken a sigh of happiness thinking that one more ill has been squashed by the honourable magistrate.
Blame it on the too-tempered-with grey cells; I’m tempted to look at another angle of this story. Does this premise mean that if a couple plans to tie the knot, and then has physical relationship; the guy is in a soup if he then wants to back out (especially if the damsel has read Sunday ToI in question)! No Sir – I am not against THIS judgment as the case facts clearly indict the man here. But what if some other case comes up which is as per the example I’ve quoted above? Does this mean that it’s only the guy who cannot back out of a relationship; and that the girl sure can? Does this also mean that in a society where premarital sex is still a taboo and a matter of guilt, the responsibility of maintaining this moral equilibrium is entirely on the man? So if that is so, is the court trying to say that the fairer sex is weaker or powerless? And if that is so, doesn’t THIS line of thought account for gender bias?
Do I now have some votes from the feminists?
Blame it on the too-tempered-with grey cells; I’m tempted to look at another angle of this story. Does this premise mean that if a couple plans to tie the knot, and then has physical relationship; the guy is in a soup if he then wants to back out (especially if the damsel has read Sunday ToI in question)! No Sir – I am not against THIS judgment as the case facts clearly indict the man here. But what if some other case comes up which is as per the example I’ve quoted above? Does this mean that it’s only the guy who cannot back out of a relationship; and that the girl sure can? Does this also mean that in a society where premarital sex is still a taboo and a matter of guilt, the responsibility of maintaining this moral equilibrium is entirely on the man? So if that is so, is the court trying to say that the fairer sex is weaker or powerless? And if that is so, doesn’t THIS line of thought account for gender bias?
Do I now have some votes from the feminists?
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Honour – misread
It doesn’t happen too often with normal people (as you and I like to call ourselves) to feel sorry about our own name that would have been spoken, heard, written, read zillions of times across the years. Considering myself normal, it never happened with me, till 10 minutes back.
In the last 10 minutes I went through the article saying some Prakash Thakur has filed a case against Sania Mirza for putting her feat pointing towards the national flag. Is it a sorry story for Ms Mirza who, knowingly or unknowingly, became the Indian pin-up tennis player, or for the honour that has been supposedly been hurt? More has been written about the former (and more read), I’m sure so I am, as I had wanted to, concentrating on the latter.
I sometimes wonder why the sensitive citizens and self-proclaimed moral police go for all possible things that garner best media attention! Sue a tennis starlet for her feet pointed towards the flag? So what happens to people who throw flags on the street or in the sewer after every national holiday? Sure they are numerous and can not be caught for filing against them! And those who do not honour for what the flag stand for (or they think it stands for)?
fyi, the case is filed under National Honour Act. I feel myself not wanting to dissect whether it is pity or obviousness that we can sense the dishonour only in symbolic things like the national flag and anthem and all the motionless idols across the country. And fail to sense it in senseless political vandalism, big-brotherly attitude of self-contained political outfits and offshoots; not to mention the other more conspicuous phenomena like corruption, illiteracy, degradation of health, etc.
I can think of numerous counts of such senseless petitions in recent times – the row over SRK smoking being the latest. I wonder what plays in the minds of such petitioners. Do they really think they are right in doing so? Or is it five minutes of fame? Or is it simply a high they get outta emphasizing the power of a citizen (aam aadmi) over a celebrity? I donno where does this khujli comes from! Mr Thakur is too insignificant to occupy so much of my mindshare. What I sure know is that the increase in number of such cases, because of too many “good folks” around, is putting burden on the judiciary system and frustrates me.
In the last 10 minutes I went through the article saying some Prakash Thakur has filed a case against Sania Mirza for putting her feat pointing towards the national flag. Is it a sorry story for Ms Mirza who, knowingly or unknowingly, became the Indian pin-up tennis player, or for the honour that has been supposedly been hurt? More has been written about the former (and more read), I’m sure so I am, as I had wanted to, concentrating on the latter.
I sometimes wonder why the sensitive citizens and self-proclaimed moral police go for all possible things that garner best media attention! Sue a tennis starlet for her feet pointed towards the flag? So what happens to people who throw flags on the street or in the sewer after every national holiday? Sure they are numerous and can not be caught for filing against them! And those who do not honour for what the flag stand for (or they think it stands for)?
fyi, the case is filed under National Honour Act. I feel myself not wanting to dissect whether it is pity or obviousness that we can sense the dishonour only in symbolic things like the national flag and anthem and all the motionless idols across the country. And fail to sense it in senseless political vandalism, big-brotherly attitude of self-contained political outfits and offshoots; not to mention the other more conspicuous phenomena like corruption, illiteracy, degradation of health, etc.
I can think of numerous counts of such senseless petitions in recent times – the row over SRK smoking being the latest. I wonder what plays in the minds of such petitioners. Do they really think they are right in doing so? Or is it five minutes of fame? Or is it simply a high they get outta emphasizing the power of a citizen (aam aadmi) over a celebrity? I donno where does this khujli comes from! Mr Thakur is too insignificant to occupy so much of my mindshare. What I sure know is that the increase in number of such cases, because of too many “good folks” around, is putting burden on the judiciary system and frustrates me.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
A crucial stage of applying to the university is over now. Did 2 applications on Friday and the last one on Saturday.
But then when I left to file the applications on the first day - Nisha's grafitti t-shirt flashed right in front of me - "There's not finish line". Even though a stage is OVER, this is the beginning of the preparations that I will have to start making for the inspection comimttee - that is due some time in March.
however - a nice SGU made me do a wonderful warm-up earlier last week.. I thought I will get the institute details, that I needed to fill in the form, at a centralized place - obviously at univ. the first contact pint was asst registrar - who directed me to syndicate - who in turn showed the way to statistics dept - from there to examination section - to academic section. Who finally - - - directed to asst registrar's office :)
duniya gol hai
But then when I left to file the applications on the first day - Nisha's grafitti t-shirt flashed right in front of me - "There's not finish line". Even though a stage is OVER, this is the beginning of the preparations that I will have to start making for the inspection comimttee - that is due some time in March.
however - a nice SGU made me do a wonderful warm-up earlier last week.. I thought I will get the institute details, that I needed to fill in the form, at a centralized place - obviously at univ. the first contact pint was asst registrar - who directed me to syndicate - who in turn showed the way to statistics dept - from there to examination section - to academic section. Who finally - - - directed to asst registrar's office :)
duniya gol hai
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