A couple of chats

A few days back I had a chat with one of my good friends. He is a great guy but he was very sad about how he performed for his exams. But, the matter of fact is, we both performed almost the same in almost all the exams. However, that chat session was a real gem and I would like to share it with you.

Yesterday, I had another chat with another of my friend. This one was a short one but I wasn't quite expecting such replies from such a brilliant (perhaps a bit wacky but brilliant) girl. That one doesn't have much but just a single point that I would like to highlight. But a very important one nevertheless.

The original conversations were in "chat-language", so I had to edit them. I'm publishing only the relevant (but continous) parts and have added some clarifications in [ ] but apart from that, these are 100%  honest and real conversations.

Him:	I did way below my expectations for the exams
	and I'm totally disappointed
Me:	which exam?
Him:	That may be pulling me back.
	The exams that we wrote a month ago. Have you already forgotten?
	"THE ENTRANCES"

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Education, Supernaturalism and Madness!!

Today, we had our formal farewell function at school but just before that we had 3 to 4 hours of pooja ( its a Hindu ritual like an invocation).

I think I can safely say that my position on such things are clear for most people who know me (otherwise it will be as you read along) but what disturbed me the most is not the fact that most of the students didn't even care what was going on but the fact that even when the teachers are "trying" their best to help the students (through the pooja) the students still remained unruly and kept played pranks on each other. What's the point of prayers if you cant behave well to our friends and elders?

Well, I couldn't bear all this, so I said so to my class teacher and moved out of the room. A nearby classroom was empty, so I just went inside and found a note book lying around. Inquisitive as I am, I started reading the book and guess what?
I found even the answers of an 8th standard student revealing!!

It was the English (as in English subject) notebook. The first page was an essay on positive attitude. (Too bad I don't remember the contents of the book exactly. They were much better. But I'll try my best to convey the meaning). It said , in the first line,

 "Positive attitude may not make much of a change but the fact that I annoys people enough makes it worth the effort." 

The teacher had circled 'annoys' but I am of the opinion that she (the child) was very much right. Notice the word 'enough'. That conveys that it (annoying) actually performs some function other than just for the sake of annoying. Sometimes people just wont listen to reason but something annoying certainly catches any ones attention!

I continued flipping through the pages and I came across another revealing essay.
It  was about "Supernatural vs Realism". The first paragraph was about supernatural. It said (approximately)

"These days we see a lot of rituals and functions to move away negative energies, so I believe that supernatural exists".

The second paragraph was about realism which said (again approximately)

"Realism is the tendency to view or represent things as they really are. ...( some other stuff that said something like realism is to how things really are etc. ) .... I believe in the supernatural than realism!! 

That last comment made me think, what are we teaching our children. Whose ideals are the real and true ideals. Who is right about anything when it comes to such controversial topics. Most will believe what they hear without giving it a second thought. But what I find unacceptable is the fact that if we feed small children with certain thoughts or opinions, especially by people whom they trust completely (like their teachers) then it will stick to them. They will never even think about question it. They will never have the power or will to break out of that web which weaves around their mind! That box which closes itself pretty tightly! Well, most don't. Some however do, and when they talk, the others say "he's mad"

Remember Horton Hears A Who the elephant who heard little people on a clover? In it the mayor tells the city council that their centennial celebrations have to be postponed because of the anomalies caused by their moving home. And the council is too engrossed in celebrating that they forgo the safety of the citizens and says that the Mayor is a "boob". Horton (the elephant) who is the only person who can hear the people on the clover (by virtue of his large ears) too faces a similar dilemma. Nobody believes him and says (in effect) that he is mad.

For some reason, I seem to be able acknowledge such comments about me. Over the years I have heard it many a times from many of my close friends and my reply is yes. After all madness is relative. One man's madness might be another's genius!

Getting on with the events of the day, we had the formal function where some school authorities and the principal and teachers were present apart from us 99 students and a couple of juniors. We heard a couple of speeches and all the while the phrase "Good Education" kept turning up. And then one of the teachers said, 

'You should listen to and obey your teachers always. They might be wrong sometimes but you have to listen and obey no matter.' 

These two phrases totally cranked my head up.


What is a good education? For the most part of it, there is a good consensus but as in the case above, what is right is a question that can always rise up once in a while. But then people go with the majority opinion. But is the majority always right? Certainly not! Just because a hundred people solves an equation wrongly doesn't make the wrong way the 'right way'. It just makes it an attractive (and deadly) hideout.

On to the second point, how could any one justify obeying an advice that you know is wrong? Making mistakes is not a fault but (in my honest opinion) saying that one has to blindly listen to anyone ( a teacher or parent or any other for that matter) seems absurd to me. If in doubt, ask them for their justification. It may just be that they might have taken an accidental wrong turn in their thought process. Work it out. Reason and justify as far as possible. As the heroine of a Bollywood movie said (in the movie Jab We Met) 

"It is better to live life according to your own opinion. That  way, if something doesn't turn out right, you wouldn't have to blame others for your failure !"

Before I wrap up, I would like to narrate one more incident of the day. We all were expecting to receive our hall tickets today, but later came to know that we would have to go get it on another day. So, when I got some time, just before the beginning of the function, I went and talked to my English teacher who was about. I asked her if she knew why we were not given the hall tickets that day and she replied she didn't know and said that the "person who gives the orders" (the Principal) said so and so, it is so. Then I asked her if she could ask the Principal to give us the Hall tickets today and what she said next really annoyed me. She said "When you grow up and live your life, you come to realise that there is something called self respect and that it is sometimes better to keep quiet." That may be true to some extent but it sounded like a lame excuse for not doing things that you know are true but you are too 'shaken' or 'afraid of retribution' to speak up about. Then I just told her that

"That is what always happens. We know what is right and we 'talk about talking about it' (its not an accidental repetition but exactly what I meant) but never do so. Actions are what we need, not words."

That just about wraps up a most revealing day!! What do you think?


P.S. Reading this article, please don't conclude that I don't respect my teachers or mentors. I do respect all my teachers from the bottom of my heart for their commitment and dedication and make my best efforts to not sound disrespectful.

The Menacing looks and chocolate wrapper?

Been a while since my last post. Sorry for that,been very busy. Still am, but found a couple of patches of 30 seconds that I could use ;) 

First up, took this shot a couple of days back. Who would've guessed grasshoppers were so serious about taking their photos taken! The weird thing is, when I showed this to my father, he said , referring to my obsession about nature that I'd probably marry a 'dragon fly or a grasshopper' (It sounds better in Malayalam)

At school, we have a chapter about AC (alternating current) in physics. One day, one of my friends asked me, "Do these stuff really exists?" and it struck me how badly our education system is proceeding. Many are unaware of many of the things that are easily available around us. Since I had a pretty good collection of 'stuff' at my house, I took a couple of stuff to class under a request from my teacher.

Well, needless to say, upon seeing a transformer which I took to break apart to show the insides, I got all sorts of guesses as to what it was... I almost heard every component that we learned in that chapter (or atleast what they remembered).

After I took off the cover, a couple of girls (who also suggested all the names I mentioned before) got to work (sadly during the class). In between they called me and showed me this(below). It looks pretty real from afar( the thing at the back; like a chocolate wrappper). It is in fact the cover around a transformer.( I put a red arrow showing that but I guess it is a bit too small, oops!) Pretty creative, aren't they? What's more, they ensured that they wrote their names on the back!!

Well, I guess that's all the time I've got. Will write up a some stuff about education soon...

Who is a Teacher?

Who is a Teacher?

Is it one who knows everything? One who teaches you everything?

Where did the question come from?

The other day I was reading a chapter about how Albert Einstein was kicked out or rather quit his school, fed up with the school routines and how his teachers were very irritated with his attitude towards education. A teacher asked him his view about education and he replied that he believed that education is not learning facts that can be read from books but learning new things.


So, who is a teacher?
Certainly, not ones that I mentioned at first.

To me, a teacher is anyone who can teach you anything. He/she maybe bad at all other things but maybe able to assist you in a particular thing. To me, every friend of mine is a teacher, even strangers who can teach me something is a teacher. Moreover, a teacher is one who is ready to accept, when asked something unknown to them, that they don't know it. I find this to be the most important quality of a good teacher. A good teacher is an eternal student.

In fact, I've had a few experiences where I asked our teacher a doubt and was almost scolded for it. And my mind simply refuses to accept such "teachers".Even a person who doesn't know "much" can be a good teacher if he/she can induce in their students a genuine interest in the subject and ignite their minds with imagination beyond words and the thirst for knowledge.

So, what does a teacher mean to you?

The Cover of the Book

I'm sure all of you have heard "Don't judge the book by the cover" ..... but today I experienced it....

Somedays I come back from school by bus and today it was raining heavily.There is a small shed at the stop and me , a few friends of mine and 2 men were sitting inside.We were all having umbrellas.One of the men looked kind of rough....... Well,what taught me my lesson was the moment a lady came by and started waiting for the bus.It was raining heavily and she was trying desperately to cover her head with the end of her Saree to keep dry but to no use. Then the man (whom I thought was rough!!) stepped up and lent his umbrella to the lady for using then. I was having an umbrella in my hand and nothing passed my head even vaguely near that.

I was absolutely amazed and thoroughly ashamed that even after being educated and being educated and EVEN after listen to a speech about the values of education ( about which I shall be writing a post, [its a bit late now]) and Gandhian values on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti, I failed to realize the duties I ought to have carried out.........

Will make a dedicated effort to better myself!!!!!!!!!!!

Physics.....Experiments??????

Image via Wikipedia

(sorry, a small prologue is essential)

The other day we had to do some high school physics practicals. We were given photostats of the experiments (thankfully) and had only to fill up the values as per our experiments. In the starting there was some confusion about which experiment goes to who and I got one and as is my nature I started doing it as I felt was fit and wrote down with pencil. After all, it was time for experimenting and why not use the time for it rather than wait for our teacher to come and explain and there were no delicate instruments involved.

But then she came by and told me that what I did was wrong and that the readings were wrong.(no surprise and no hard feelings). But then she told that I ought not to do such things, ie. do things on my own but wait for her explanation and that I wasted my time!!!!
I never felt so and will never do so either because every second spent in doing something on your own is a second worth of knowledge and wisdom......

I would like your comment and opinion on this.......... Please......

Exams Up and Disappointed.......

Image via Wikipedia

Exams are up and I'm disappointed and No! ,its not about my studies its about THE system. Nowadays , education is not aimed at knowledge but rather marks, after all , who wants knowledge when you can have marks without it?

Teachers are frantic,parents are frantic and students are frantic, all to get good marks. Students are trained but only to answer particular types of questions that are EXPECTED. Nothing else matters as long as they are able to answer these questions. The concept may not be clear but the syllabus has to be stuck to so run along even if you have no idea what that last chapter was all about.

The question I ask "Is that enough?" To me ,NO.The world has grown so much that we do not give much thought to what is Happening to US. Most just go along with flow,the strong currents of the world grabbing everyone they see along the way and pulling them into the same huge river they are trapped in. The world prefers "conformity" as the movie Dead Poet's Society suggests.Rudyard Kiplings creation Mowgli was later introduced to the vilage and the people tried to make him civilised and the same we see in most stories of fiction and reallife. The ones who get sucked in stay unkown and the world ignorant of hteir talents.THe ones who dared to resist the flow and think beyond stay atop and We know them as the great ones..........

So THINK BEYOND ,DON'T FALL PREY TO THE WORLD.........

Crazier than ever?????

If after reading the rest of my posts doesn't make some of you feel that I'm crazy this one probably will at least the people who know me thought so :)

Anyone likes to read books upside down?If there is then I have freinds with similar likes
So why do I do it?The question I have faced many a times but I have only one reason to satify their inquisitiveness

SIMPLY.Why NOT?
What difference does it make.Language is simply a set of symbols and it doesn't matter how you hold it,you just have to be able to read it and understand the messae that is being conveyed.RIGHT?
(Just to clarify,I CAN read normally :-)

An open mind

I felt like writing this because I have been fighting with someone over how I should be doing a part of my project..........

How important is it to have an open mind?
If you ask me ,I would say pretty important.

Why?

It is only with a wide open mind that you can take in new thoughts.As someone famous said ( I dont remember who)..........."You can only fill an empty cup."or in other words......"You can only enter a room with open doors" (Of course, there are other ways).So ,if you keep your mind closed how would new ideas be able to enter or emerge?

Keep your mind open,to all things,filter it out to what you feel is right and you only as much.I mentioned 'what you feel is right' because thinking for yourself is another part of opening your mind.In our present educational system,we are not making a "Thinking Population" rather a "Taking Population".We students are made to gulp down loads of texbooks ;) and put it down on an 'exam' paper.

What do we gain from it ?

For most people,this means that the science you study today will be history tomorrow ;)
so what are we doing wrong?

I would blame more of it on our teachers and parents than on our curriculum. Even when textbooks prescribe practical or activity based learning , in this fast paced and 'competitive' world of ours ,everyone is more interested in completing the portins no matter how and somehow get "very high marks",no matter the cost,even at the cost of the childs future.
The child may get the "very high marks" the others are expecting of him but the question to be raised is

"Did HE gain anything susbtantial OTHER than the high marks?"

With that thought I leave you...........

Remember ,each one of us have to change before wecan change the society

Nature and animals

well........
this seems to be a highly repeated topics and slightly controversial
But still I would like to present it

Is it right to hurt animals on sight??????

I have seen people running everywhere and smashing at insects and suchlike as soon as they
set their eyes on them!!!!!!
But whats so scary about insects ????
I can understand it when people see snakes they get scared.Of course,which is not always necessary.
But what to get afraid of these small beautiful insects.
As I understand it,this is because of their lack of knowledge and ..........

......the fault of our educational system!!!!!!!!!
Today children are asked to
1)Learn what is in the text books
2)Spend your time studying from books
3)Don't waste time looking at the nature and all..........

At least this is what I think most (not all) of our education is teaching us

and ..........
one more thing
follow and try to imitate as a much as you can some famous personalities

correct me if I am wrong
but I have very rarely heard anyone that I know of advising any student to make their own methods....Pave Their Own Paths........

If everyone is trying to be like a handful of people
then wouldn't everybody end up trying to be like everyone else and no one being unique????

Dont know if anybody understood any of this.............................