Thursday, January 29, 2009
First day at CSC Hyderabad
Friday, January 23, 2009
College versus Education
Never let your college interfere with your education.
This altered statement of Mark Twain is self-realized guideline in mine learning throughout past years.
I am giving you a little disoriented but true thought of my mind on this jolly topic. My idea of education is to unsettle the minds of the young and inflame their intellects. There is only one Education, and it has only one goal: the freedom of the mind. I felt that more you give attention to the academics ,greater will be the intellectual property loss. Academics in India (Partialy IITs &IIMs) is like Wahhabi Islam. You have to submit to teacher with blind faith(closure of mind) and complete loss of scientific temper. Most of the teachers do not change with time and makes education boring. They ensure that more emphasis on written work than learning concepts. They bring same yellow pages of notes to dictate lectures over years.
Student feel academics as:''The sad mechanic exercise, Like dull narcotics, numbing pain.'
The age of innovative thinking and curiosity is dumped down in classes. Securing threshold attendance has became primary objective of the student community. The learning curve will follow a negative slope reaching nearly to zero. From the word "go" in college life, the motto of most student is just to pass and get the degree of freedom.Commitment for studies become zero in coming years. Loss of passion and self motivation for improvement is major disease prevailing in most of the colleges. Its not loss of reason or logic but loss of enthusiasm that bring pessimism inside you. An anger is agglomerated inside student against unjust and inefficient system. A sincere and logical student behaves as irrational in mob or group due to this frustration.The lament of teachers on lack of discipline is correct but no other way is possible. You cannot expect reformation of religion from the priestly class. Similarly, the administrators do not want to evolve with changing times.
So what are the choices remaining for the students in this passive environment?
Student politics damage more career of the student than college property destruction in universities. All of the student submit to the will of management in professional courses.But this is not the way to have inefficient people upper edge to you. I personally stands against the system. No system is perfect, we can not make it perfect also. We have to try for excellence with limited resources.
No man who worships education has got the best out of education.... Without a gentle contempt for education no man's education is complete. ~G.K. Chesterton
Both the student administration have to cooperate with each other with. Questioning on authority should not be taken in negative percepts by administration. Transparency in both economic & administrative decisions should be there with involvement of alumni, students and teachers, not just few self proclaimed youth leaders. If neither of us stand up against minor unfairness, nor we will have enough courage to stand against bigger crimes.
India vs U.S. education system: Sabeer Bhatia view here---
The Indian system of education is “knowledge-based”, while in the U.S. it is “inquiry-based”. The former encourages rote memorization, whereas in the latter students are encouraged to ask questions. In a fast-changing world, where knowledge is becoming obsolete every few months, it is more important to have “thinking” individuals who ask questions and create new products/ processes than individuals with a lot of knowledge. The other aspect of U.S. education is that educational institutions attract the best and brightest from all over the world. So, you get a very competitive environment, which brings out the best in one. The mantra of “meritocracy” extends beyond education. As a result, you have great companies where merit and ability are more important than seniority. Institutions in India tend to value experience and seniority over intellectual ability and creativity.
Bottomline: The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think - rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men. ~Bill Beattie
Previous brilliant articles by author about teacher and student relationship--Young Minds & Teachers and Movies for Teachers. For more quotes about education, read this;
This altered statement of Mark Twain is self-realized guideline in mine learning throughout past years.
I am giving you a little disoriented but true thought of my mind on this jolly topic. My idea of education is to unsettle the minds of the young and inflame their intellects. There is only one Education, and it has only one goal: the freedom of the mind. I felt that more you give attention to the academics ,greater will be the intellectual property loss. Academics in India (Partialy IITs &IIMs) is like Wahhabi Islam. You have to submit to teacher with blind faith(closure of mind) and complete loss of scientific temper. Most of the teachers do not change with time and makes education boring. They ensure that more emphasis on written work than learning concepts. They bring same yellow pages of notes to dictate lectures over years.
Student feel academics as:''The sad mechanic exercise, Like dull narcotics, numbing pain.'
The age of innovative thinking and curiosity is dumped down in classes. Securing threshold attendance has became primary objective of the student community. The learning curve will follow a negative slope reaching nearly to zero. From the word "go" in college life, the motto of most student is just to pass and get the degree of freedom.Commitment for studies become zero in coming years. Loss of passion and self motivation for improvement is major disease prevailing in most of the colleges. Its not loss of reason or logic but loss of enthusiasm that bring pessimism inside you. An anger is agglomerated inside student against unjust and inefficient system. A sincere and logical student behaves as irrational in mob or group due to this frustration.The lament of teachers on lack of discipline is correct but no other way is possible. You cannot expect reformation of religion from the priestly class. Similarly, the administrators do not want to evolve with changing times.
So what are the choices remaining for the students in this passive environment?
Student politics damage more career of the student than college property destruction in universities. All of the student submit to the will of management in professional courses.But this is not the way to have inefficient people upper edge to you. I personally stands against the system. No system is perfect, we can not make it perfect also. We have to try for excellence with limited resources.
No man who worships education has got the best out of education.... Without a gentle contempt for education no man's education is complete. ~G.K. Chesterton
Both the student administration have to cooperate with each other with. Questioning on authority should not be taken in negative percepts by administration. Transparency in both economic & administrative decisions should be there with involvement of alumni, students and teachers, not just few self proclaimed youth leaders. If neither of us stand up against minor unfairness, nor we will have enough courage to stand against bigger crimes.
India vs U.S. education system: Sabeer Bhatia view here---
The Indian system of education is “knowledge-based”, while in the U.S. it is “inquiry-based”. The former encourages rote memorization, whereas in the latter students are encouraged to ask questions. In a fast-changing world, where knowledge is becoming obsolete every few months, it is more important to have “thinking” individuals who ask questions and create new products/ processes than individuals with a lot of knowledge. The other aspect of U.S. education is that educational institutions attract the best and brightest from all over the world. So, you get a very competitive environment, which brings out the best in one. The mantra of “meritocracy” extends beyond education. As a result, you have great companies where merit and ability are more important than seniority. Institutions in India tend to value experience and seniority over intellectual ability and creativity.
Bottomline: The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think - rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men. ~Bill Beattie
Previous brilliant articles by author about teacher and student relationship--Young Minds & Teachers and Movies for Teachers. For more quotes about education, read this;
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Books read in 2008
I am enlisting the names of books read by me in 2008 with their background and my feedback.I also embed here their original language of creation and mine language of study (either Hindi /English). This is done because I believe that the thinking pattern of author is reflected much in original language of his writings. The emotional binding content between reader and book is somewhere lost in translation / transliteration. Ratings are highly personal.
A Thousand Splendid Suns-Khaled Hosseini-English--7.5/10
Slow paced and Heart wrenching story of a woman in Afghanistan.
It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life-Lance Armstrong-English--8/10
Inspirational autobiography of a sports person.
Lajja-Taslima Nasreen-Bangla(Read in English)--8/10
Story of Hindu family living in Bangladesh in religious riots.
Midnight's Children-Salmaan Rushdie-English--8/10
Facts interwoven with Fiction.Beautiful art of story telling with post Indian sub-continent independence background of a Muslim family.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn-Mark Twain-English-7.5/10
Journey of young and rebel boy in 1870's American dropout with strong remarks on orthodox society practices with ton of laughs.
Smaran ko pathey banane do -Vishnukant Shastri-Hindi-7.5/10
Detailed and poetic autobiographic epilogue of important personalities that influenced the writer's life and literature.
Ghumakkar Shastra-Rahul Sankrityayan-Hindi-7.5/10
An inspiring push for young minds to travel in the world with his autobiographical experince.
Animal Farm-George Orwell-English-9.5/10
A deep and sarcastic look at Stalin era communism with simple narrative and absolute masterpiece.
Sanvatsar- ‘Agyeya’-Hindi-8.5/10
4 brief psychological essays on time and human consciousness.
Garden of Essays-Firaq Gorakhpuri-English-8.5/10
Essays for all the seasons of life with wide diversity in topics.
Kim-Rudyard Kipling-English-7/10
Adventures of young English boy with Buddhist monk across India in 1900;
The Pearl-John Steinbeck-English-7/10
Short novel about Poverty,Lust and Luck of a mankind intertwisted with a simple story.
Srimadbhagvadgita-???-Sanskrit(Read in English)-10/10
Is anything needed to say about this larger than life book?
Srimad Dayanand Prakash-???-Hindi-7/10
Biography of Dayanand Saraswati.
Anamdas ka Potha-Hazariprasad Diwedi-Hindi-7/10
Struggle to know the ultimate truth by a young sage in ancient India.
Gunahon ka Devta-Dharmveer Bharti--Hindi-7/10
Compelling novel about man-woman relationships and traditions set in Allahabad of 1960's.
Volga se Ganga tak-Rahul Sankrityayan--Hindi-9/10
Chronological migratory detail of human from 6000 BC to 1940 AD ;15 short stories with focus on social and cultural evolution in India.
Life is no bargain-Indira Goswami-Assamese(Read in Hindi)-7.5/10
Autobiography of this prolific writer and inner views of changing times in her life.
Freedom at Midnight-Larry Collins & Domanic Lapierre-English(Read in Hindi)-8.5/10
Honest opinion and detailed account of Indian partition and Independence.A must read for learning about Indian subcontinent in 1947;
The Old man & the Sea-Ernst Hemingway-English-7/10
Saga of constant struggle of man and nature depicted with only 2 main protagonists.
A Thousand Splendid Suns-Khaled Hosseini-English--7.5/10
Slow paced and Heart wrenching story of a woman in Afghanistan.
It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life-Lance Armstrong-English--8/10
Inspirational autobiography of a sports person.
Lajja-Taslima Nasreen-Bangla(Read in English)--8/10
Story of Hindu family living in Bangladesh in religious riots.
Midnight's Children-Salmaan Rushdie-English--8/10
Facts interwoven with Fiction.Beautiful art of story telling with post Indian sub-continent independence background of a Muslim family.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn-Mark Twain-English-7.5/10
Journey of young and rebel boy in 1870's American dropout with strong remarks on orthodox society practices with ton of laughs.
Smaran ko pathey banane do -Vishnukant Shastri-Hindi-7.5/10
Detailed and poetic autobiographic epilogue of important personalities that influenced the writer's life and literature.
Ghumakkar Shastra-Rahul Sankrityayan-Hindi-7.5/10
An inspiring push for young minds to travel in the world with his autobiographical experince.
Animal Farm-George Orwell-English-9.5/10
A deep and sarcastic look at Stalin era communism with simple narrative and absolute masterpiece.
Sanvatsar- ‘Agyeya’-Hindi-8.5/10
4 brief psychological essays on time and human consciousness.
Garden of Essays-Firaq Gorakhpuri-English-8.5/10
Essays for all the seasons of life with wide diversity in topics.
Kim-Rudyard Kipling-English-7/10
Adventures of young English boy with Buddhist monk across India in 1900;
The Pearl-John Steinbeck-English-7/10
Short novel about Poverty,Lust and Luck of a mankind intertwisted with a simple story.
Srimadbhagvadgita-???-Sanskrit(Read in English)-10/10
Is anything needed to say about this larger than life book?
Srimad Dayanand Prakash-???-Hindi-7/10
Biography of Dayanand Saraswati.
Anamdas ka Potha-Hazariprasad Diwedi-Hindi-7/10
Struggle to know the ultimate truth by a young sage in ancient India.
Gunahon ka Devta-Dharmveer Bharti--Hindi-7/10
Compelling novel about man-woman relationships and traditions set in Allahabad of 1960's.
Volga se Ganga tak-Rahul Sankrityayan--Hindi-9/10
Chronological migratory detail of human from 6000 BC to 1940 AD ;15 short stories with focus on social and cultural evolution in India.
Life is no bargain-Indira Goswami-Assamese(Read in Hindi)-7.5/10
Autobiography of this prolific writer and inner views of changing times in her life.
Freedom at Midnight-Larry Collins & Domanic Lapierre-English(Read in Hindi)-8.5/10
Honest opinion and detailed account of Indian partition and Independence.A must read for learning about Indian subcontinent in 1947;
The Old man & the Sea-Ernst Hemingway-English-7/10
Saga of constant struggle of man and nature depicted with only 2 main protagonists.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Swades:5 years onward...
Swades:We, the people(2004)
...aka Desam (2004) (India: Tamil title: dubbed version)
...aka Our Country (2004) (International: English title) (USA)
...aka Desam (2004) (India: Tamil title: dubbed version)
...aka Our Country (2004) (International: English title) (USA)
Swades is a kind of movie which grows bit by bit after watching every time…Personally,anything good spoken about Swades is less;For me its SRK’s career best till date. I did not watch it with the help of download culture of college but walked into theater for first show. I walk out of the hall being a different person. Three hour feels like a journey for rediscovering of own roots.
A masterpiece in Indian Cinema;Why?
Cinema is an art. Art express truth by false symbols. It tells us about abstract ideas or ground reality through eyes of filmmaker. Film is technical artistic medium. Art provokes our thinking and emotion.The medium can be cinema, literature or painting. It brings a change in our thinking pattern and view of the world. Swades has changed the life of various NRI and they return to India for making it a better place. It pushed a idea of change into practical reality. Change offered by film on society should be fundamental criteria for evaluation of movie. But most critics venture into land of surrealism, not reality.
This movie is simple story devoid of all makeup required for a beauty of movie. It is a cinema of documentary style but simplicity was its high point. It was not well received at box-office as people were not yet over with Lagaan hangover. It connected very well with the NRI audience because it was narrated through their perspective.
Movie deals with problem of India and Indians: We the people.
There are no iconic or mythological representation of hero or villain in this movie. There is no mind twisting plot or hostage situation. The characters are real and no larger than life concept is introduced. It is a story of protagonist return to his native land. His views are evolving by becoming part of the ground realities and a feel of self realization. The conditions surrounding characters are not only in reel life but exist in our real life. Person in the movie turns from a esteemed position to push society for overall development, not only growth of few elite or privileged groups within society.
Mostly in typical bollywood movies, filmmakers tries to issue a problem and then gives a fictional/innovative solution. Most of the solution provided by them are violent and abrupt. Every film exaggerate the situation and points few people as villains. They eliminate them by violent means in the end and establishment of ramrajya/utopia is presented to viewers. Just Pure hypothesis and spoon feed of escapism. There are ups and downs but a consistent gradual change is missing. The world is not simply black or white but has a variable shades of grey in each individual's action or words. It makes the world more puzzling and perplexing choice between right or wrong. Hence, most of the films fails to reflect the facts and became propaganda of fictional solution.
They only move society for revolt against corrupt system. Revolt is not the solution but a zenith phase to dismantle old system. The working of new system will again fall into the persons with different faces but same thinking patterns. An individual revolt against the working system because he has nowhere to run or hide. He is suppressed or tortured and with all resources, hope is taken out from his life. He is pushed for the last option: Revolution. Rebel person lives on fringes and he fights for survival not living. Still the eternal recurrence of problems occur in society because the solutions are not accepted by the people. But a stable society needs to flourish where an individual and his thinking not just exist but also grow.
Several movies left vivid influence on ours life. But they exist just as an idea in the trenches of memory. They are only used in philosophical/cinematic discussion. Only dialogue spitting from commercial films are widely accepted by masses and idea of struggle against unjust system excite the intellects. Talks only,no implementation....
Remember, Swades is the next generation of cinema.Why?
We have to remember that tall peaks are not always better than long plateaus as true greatness must include protracted excellence. Its a consistent and gradual path of self realization.
Swades is the new level of maturity in our views. It tries to reform the society not by guns but by education, awareness and rebuilding infrastructure. The reformation is more essential for growth of society and civilization. It helps in eliminating unjust laws and orthodox tradition by non violent methods. This movie does not enforce mutation but offers a gradual evolution in our view toward cinema, life and everything. It is middle of path movie which is neither artistic nor typical bollywood. It was not a pardesi venture of Brit/American/NRI but swadesi attempt by Mr. Ashutosh Gowariker and heavy accolades to him for his sincere efforts........
For better depth of discussion go through this weblink on pfc.
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