Back after a long gap!

Wow! my last post was in 2012. Can't believe that so much time has lapsed. I'm not sure if my laziness kept me away or was I so caught up with things going on in life that I didn't realise time passing me by.

Come to think of it, a lot was actually going on...I was doing a 2 years full time M.A in Psychology which I completed last year in May. Thereafter, I moved back to Bangalore-the city of my youth!
After almost 10 months of moving back, it finally feels that life in Bangalore is slowly falling into a well defined routine and the movement from Mumbai is finally done.

Niharika, my 6 years old (soon to be 7) daughter too has settled down well much to my relief. She likes her school and is close to her teachers. She's pretty upset that she's now moving on to 2nd std and keeps mentioning at least once in a day that how much she's going to miss them.

Post her school, she goes to her day care where she's busy what with Taekwondo, dance, abacus classes on twice a week basis. She loves being in the day care and trust me am not saying this cause I need to justify my point as a working mother, not at all. My daughter will ensure she conveys the message very clearly if she doesn't like something.

I still remember the first time, I shouted at her and she turned around and told me " Please say nicely". I was flabbergasted that a tiny little thing could put me to place with such innocence. This however does not mean that I have completely stopped shouting at her. She still gets her fair share however it comes with a rational behind it. She takes it quietly when she knows why she's getting the chaff.

To think that last year, I was part of the Holy Cross Church Choir, Kurla during the Holy Week makes me realise that a lot has changed even in the last few months. The Easter weekend is already here and both Niharika and I'll be attending the masses at Holy Cross Church after so long.

Happy Easter people and yes I have just written all the above for the heck for writing since it has indeed been a really long time ;-)

Quality in Education-Reflections of a Student

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school” -Albert Einstein

How many of us can recall the dates, names, formulas, scientific names and anything in detail that we studied ages ago in school? Of course, there will be few amongst us who would remember precisely what was taught but the majority of us fall in that category who tend to forget everything once the exams are over. But, what all of us do remember are the incidents of the teaching learning process-the way the mathematics teacher taught us, the way the history teacher helped us remember the dates or the way the science teacher created a sense of mystery in her class and so on and so forth. While there can also be instances where we don’t recall any particular teacher or much of our academic lives which is absolutely normal because the teachers didn’t contribute much to our learning… well, at least, not apart from the necessary curriculum per se.

The scenario hasn’t changed much since the time we last attended school. It’s the

same old concept that the educational system follows unless there has been new developments that I’m unaware of. The schools continue to have a written evaluation system in every class, the teachers are as always scampering to finish their portions, and the progress of a child is measured in terms of academic excellence alone.

The concept of all round development of a child in true spirit is just a concept after all. Apart from few co-curricular activities that the school thinks is good enough for helping the child develop his/her talents and equipping them with life skills there isn’t much that happens to actually draw out the best from within every child. The focus most of the time is on the limitations of a child rather than the potential of the child. Teachers easily categorize or rather easily label a child as someone who is “capable of doing it” or “just not fit to do it”. The ones in the middle are not given much thought and are left to fend for themselves very often.

Where exactly does the problem lie? Is there a flaw in our educational system? Our Indian educational system was set up  by the British and though the British have long gone away and much has changed around the world we live in, the same can’t be said in terms of our educational system. Except for a few tweaks and changes in the curriculum here and there not much has changed and it’s high time the educational system undergoes a complete 360⁰ revamp.

Along with the educational system the attitude of the teachers too needs to undergo a change and this is of utmost importance because it’s said a teacher affects eternity.

A man was selling gas balloons of all colours.  Once,  he  felt  his  jacket  being  tugged  by  a  little  boy  who  asked  him,  “If  you  release  a  black  balloon,  would  that  also  fly?”  The  man  replied  with  empathy,  “It  is  not  the  colour  of  the balloon,  it  is  what  is  inside  that  determines  how  high  it will go.”  Therefore,  the  need  of  the hour  is  that  every  teacher  must  be  aware  of  and  fully  develop  her  own  talents  to  bring  out  the  best  in  her  students. “A  lamp  can  light  another  lamp  so  long  as  it  continues  to  burn  its  own  flame.”

This change in attitude can be brought about not by any policy but if we are aware and clear as to why we choose to be in this noble teaching profession. People  are  defeated  in  life  not  because  of  a  lack  of  ability,  but  because  of  a  lack  of  wholeheartedness. If we are ready to be the change that we want to bring then nothing can ever stop us.

So  you  and I  have  a commitment  to  bring  out  the  best  in  our  students  so  that  they  in  turn  may someday  bring  out  the  best  in  their  students  as  a  famous  quotation  reads: “ Teachers  are  those  who  use  themselves  as  bridges,  over  which  they  invite  their  own  students  to  cross;  then  having  facilitated  their  crossing,  joyfully  collapse,  encouraging  them  to  create  new  bridges  of  their  own.”

Please note: This article was written for the college alumni magazine.

The National Seminar @ Kishangarh

I was really looking forward for the seminar at Kishangarh since its in Rajasthan and I guess one of the few places that I have never been to. The two day seminar was on "Value Based Education" and I wasn't too happy with the paper I had prepared nevertheless the excitement was too much to put me down.
That was the scene before I left for Kishangarh on the night of 18th Oct. Today is the 23rd of Oct. and I just got back this morning at 6:00 am. Besides the seminar I had a blast since I got to visit the Dargah Sharif at Ajmer and the famous Pushkar where the Pushkar Fair takes place every year.This year too its scheduled for the 2nd week of November.
The seminar was a classic example of what usually happens in a seminar. The paper presenters are given 5 minutes to present their paper but once they start the presentation they are cut short or rather asked to stop hardly after 2 minutes. There were supposed to be 65 paper presentations per day for 2 days but on the first day hardly 12-15 people presented their papers and on the next day a meager 6-7 people. Inspite of that the time limit for each speaker was not exceeded to more than 2 minutes. Then, there were few speakers who inspite of being asked to stop went on and on without paying any heed. The seminar was on value based education and everyone had something to say about why there is a decline in values amongst youngsters and students today but I guess the ones who really need value based education were the participants themselves.To add to all this the people who came to attend the seminar were all from the field of education-teachers, educators, deans, principals and so on and so forth but the way they pushed and scoffed during lunch was a sight that could put anyone to shame. My friends and I stood and gaped at the wonderful behavior of the 'architects of India'.There was a mass exodus of people after lunch and there were just a handful that stayed back for the paper presentations. It appeared that the people had come only to get a free lunch.
The next day after the valedictory was even more astounding. There was a tsunami of people who came to collect their certificates for presenting the papers. What could not go unnoticed by anyone present there with even a little conscience was that how could there be so many people collecting the certificates when hardly 20 people presented their papers. The funniest part however was that there were people assigned to collect certificates for the entire groups of 15 to 20 people who weren't even present for the seminar.
An absolute sham of a seminar and really perturbing to see that these are the one who are responsible for molding the future citizens of India.This itself is the scene in a field that's considered to be one of the noblest and people are talking about Lok Pal and corruption issues.
This seminar was sponsored by UGC. It would be nice if they had some parameters to judge the quality of the seminar and not just look at the quantity that would be shown on a paper or a report that would be submitted at the end of the seminar.
Its difficult to bring a change alone but its better to start some where and my friends and I made it very clear to the organizers and people present at the seminar that values have to start from us. If we ourselves don't display any how can we expect our children to exhibit any at all. I know some people were hurt and miffed with us but hey we are not here to please anyone, we have a responsibility and I don't know about others but I got to be true with my profession."Stand up for anything that's wrong, stand up for what's just and even if you are the only one, stand up...someone might just take a cue"-Choden

On my way...

A few months back I was desperately trying to find what I enjoy doing the most or to be more precise trying to find where I fit...funny but I guess I was always meant to be a molder and here I am a lecturer in a junior college doing just that...molding future teachers.
Sometimes things are right there in front of our eyes and we fail to see them. So true in my case. All the while I was pursuing the right field/profession but was out of focus.But I guess what's meant to be will be and no matter how good and strong a fight we put up, fate will bring us back to right where we are meant to be, so hey presto here I am doing what I guess I am best at.
It's just been a little over a month and I absolutely love my college and the subjects I'm teaching. It presents be a pretty good amount of challenge on a regular basis and I just love head butting them.
The best part about the college where I work is that there are only 5 lecturers including me and so there's no scope for playing dirty and everyone is very forthcoming.
After a long time I am happy and satisfied with what I am doing and so for the time being here is where I have pitched my tent and plan to harvest what I reap.

Books, letters and cards....memories!

Since am here at my parents place visiting for the summer, I just happened to open an age old box that contained many novels from school days, few diaries and loads of cards and letters.An entire afternoon was spent in going through the cards and letters that mostly dad and some close friends had written and sent many years back. The letters from Dad brought back memories of those days spent awaiting for a reply from dad while he was posted at Siachin Glaciers or at Kashmir or Arunachal. I remember how eagerly I would wait for his letters and with the same eagerness would sit down to reply to his letters. I have preserved every letter that my dad ever wrote to me and I must confess that every time I read them it makes me all emotional and feel all the more love for my dad. Now that we have internet and email ids the art of writing letters has disappeared and to be frank we are too busy to pen down few words to our near and dear ones. My dad is pretty tech savy and he's kept up with the changing times and emails on a regular basis.
I used to keep a diary while in school and that habit too has disappeared over the years. As I read through some of pages from my diary I felt silly to think that back then the problems that appeared "big" were after all not so big. However it was nice to have all those things flooding back from the memory and remember those school days -classmates, picnics, crushes, punishments, laurels, tears, heartbreaks and so on...
While most of the people that I used to correspond with through letters and cards have disappeared into oblivion there still remain one or two who remain close to my heart.
It was an afternoon that made me all emotional and touchy and I thought of mailing everyone and telling them how much they mean to be but then if we were so quick with our actions as our thoughts, life would be different am sure.

Advertising...My Passion!

It took me four years to figure out that the only field that I want to be in is Advertising. My two years stint as a Client Servicing Executive at Orchard, Bangalore before marriage was the best phase of my life...not because it was a cake walk but because every day was a challenge and a game of what's gonna happen today? It was fun in the sense I absolutely loved the pressure that came with work mostly from the client's side and sometimes from within-the creative, the studio and the finance dept. Running around for the operations, writing briefs for campaigns and trying to be in tune with the creative ideas put forth by the creative team is a great way to spend the time on a daily basis. Minutes turn to days and days into weeks and weeks into months and months into years and with every passing day you get to learn so much (most often from your own mistakes). Sometimes I wonder how did I so easily give it all up to settle down into being a homemaker? Now after 4 years I can't hold myself back...am rearing to get back into this great field and completely immerse and surrender myself into its unending abyss of colorful & exciting world. 

At Crossroads

M.Ed is done what with one paper left on 11th. May. Thereafter what I should be doing is a complete haze. Maybe a visit to Bengdubi, that's where my parents are posted right now, would help in clearing my muddled up thoughts and plans and give my overworked brain a fresh lease of life.
Am now a qualified teacher but I still feel there is lot for me to learn still and that am not yet ready to don the garb of a teacher. Am still a very restless, impatient, rebellious and a spoilt brat and still in search of what I really want to do in life. Am searching desperately to try and reach a balance in my personal and professional life. Mediocracy is not my cup of tea and to willingly accept all that comes my way is not my style. I have spent enough time to learn to accept everything that comes my way and make the best of it but I have figured it out finally that that doesn't suit me and that I had enough of trying to compromise. Not anymore. Henceforth I promise myself to do as I will and to do what makes me happy. I will no longer sacrifice my wishes and desires to please anyone or for the sake of someone else. Its required to be selfish at times and am ready to be selfish. If being selfish means being happy and content at the end of the day so be it. I finally see the light at the end of the dark tunnel, a way to my salvation.