SPARKS WORTH THE SMOKE?

Its three days after Diwali, and yet, the noise of the firecrackers is incessant. Today, I finished my evening walk and returned home to my block of apartments, when I saw Diwali still being celebrated full-swing. 5 flower pots being smoked up at once, you might call it a pretty sight! But the fountain of sparks, itself lasting for hardly 10 seconds, leaves behind enough smoke to last for as long the earth lasts...more and more being added every minute…

The whole scenario got me wondering. If one really wants to verify the conviction behind the most eloquent talks about pollution and ozone layer depletion, all one has to do is be in town for Diwali! Where are all the no-smoke campaigns? Where did all the no-noise-pollution speech-makers disappear? Are they bursting crackers themselves? Most likely. “But it’s a celebration, yaar” many would whine, but is there no better way to celebrate, I ask? Sending off rockets zooming in all funny directions, sounding like a true UFO, right in the middle of a gully as narrow as a classroom bench, with rows of shabbily constructed buildings lining both edges, and cars and cycles honking right on the “celebration” sight is not really my idea of celebration! But, apparently, it is for many Bangaloreans!

Sitting at home, I end up wasting half my time waiting for the 10000-walas and 50000-walas to finish speaking their minds; and the sight of the “pretty” blasts of rockets in the night sky is not one bit “pretty” for me! The only picture that comes to my mind is that of millions of homeless little kids toiling away in dark godowns and the earth enveloped in smoke and more smoke and more smoke…and we left to perish…
Consequences of our heartfelt “celebrations”??

BHARGAVI

DRUGS N DILEMMA

It was a normal day as usual. Madhav was grateful for 45 minutes of free time after two consecutive periods of physics and chemistry. He shook his head at the thought and later smiled at the free time he was now being given. It is not everyday that one gets a free period. Being a studious sort, he took out his math notebook and started working on his assignment. Though just a minute ago he had sighed at the thought of one and a half hrs of physics and chem, the thought has vanished when he remembered the math problems his teacher had given him to solve. Math was his passion. Head bent, he worked on, scribbling furiously in his notebook.

The class was noisy as hell; as usual; and though he hated the noise, he was now used to it and it dint bother him anymore. Alok, his friend (a physics freak) and assignment-partner sat next to him. They sat on the second bench in the far left row. A bunch of girls sat huddled together at the back of the class, gossiping and giggling in the far right row. Not one of them interested him. A couple of nerdy ones sat in the front. They were more bearable. The back of the class was infested with the gang of rowdies. All they did was hoot for anything and everything that was said, and whose prime motive in life was to disrupt every class. They respected none and none respected them, at least Madhav didn't. They dared each other to ask girls out (though what fun they had in that he could never figure out… At least the girls weren’t stupid enough to take them seriously!), to stand up in the middle of an important lesson about parabolas to yell “Hey teacher, you suck!”(only to be heard by all and NOT the teacher – what losers!), to see who has more porn on their mobiles. Most of them had girlfriends and messaged each other (even if they were sitting just two seats away) in the middle of every class. Most of them had bad grades.

They had tried to pull Madhav into all their “fun” when he had first come to this PU college, but when they found out his real nature, safely left him out of all this. That was when he had given them an idea about what he really thought about them; not yelling, but quietly and firmly. They exchanged furtive glances with each other for a couple of days and tried to pacify him. But when he dint budge, they labelled him a loser and dint bother about him ever since.

Mayank was the only other person he respected in this place, other than Alok. Alok was a true nerd, even by his standards, but he did his work well and didn’t make a fuss about anything. Mayank was OK, he sometimes hung about with those guys, but he was an interesting person to talk to. The three had lunch together and often discussed various things, ranging from wars to physics to deep-sea-diving. Four months had passed this way.

Today, Madhav and Alok were deeply into their work, when Mayank came over, his face quite pale, and asked them to put their pens downs. They both looked up, startled, for Mayank never disturbed them when they were working. At such times, when they had a free period, he hung out with the back-benchers, laughing with them. But today, he looked serious, and had interrupted them. They put their work away and he squeezed in with them in their desk. He said in a quiet tone, “I have learnt something freaky, dude.” When they asked him what it was, he said “I think those guys are on drugs, man…”.

Alok visibly shuddered, but Madhav merely lifted his eyebrows. Alok started stammering and started questioning Mayank madly. His usual silent character vanished. He was thoroughly excited. Madhav was quiet, listening to it all. Alok went “Are you sure, dude? How do you know? Did you hear them say so themselves? Are all of them on it? How did they say it feels? Sheesh, dude! I thought they only smoked and went to pubs occasionally...but DRUGS!! I can’t imagine! You must be wrong, man…However silly they might be, no one will ever do drugs! Most of them are soo rich, what reason would they have for doing drugs? I don’t believe it!”

He was not 100 percent sure, Mayank said, but he’d been having many hints suggesting the same. For instance, they kept referring to this place called “Black Dip”, which he had assumed to be some pub till now...but two days back he had heard someone say it was a dealer’s hideout. And they did talk a lot about grass and weed. They were not too tight-lipped about these words…and they did have more than one meaning. After college, they kept signaling each other slyly with signs only they knew…Madhav had noticed it too, but yesterday Mayank had seen something he couldn’t quite make out. Riyaan, the leader of the gang, the loudest and tallest of the lot, had got something out and passed it around. They had not noticed Mayank in their excitement. They all looked at it and sighed wistfully. But Riyaan then said they could all “have a shot at it” and their faces immediately lit up.

That evening, they signaled each other a lot more than usual, and went off one by one in the same direction. Mayank had watched all this. He thought of following them, but decided it was too dangerous and went worried back home. He decided something had to be done about all this and had thus told Madhav and Alok. And now, Alok was acting loony.

* * *

That lunch, all they discussed was “What is to be done?”

Alok: I think we should tell the authorities, man. This is serious stuff.
Mayank: Are you mad? If these guys find out its we who’ve split, you can be sure we’ll be dead the next day.
Madhav: I’m not so sure. First of all, they need not know its we who’ve split. And even if they do, I don’t think they are strong enough to do anything about it.
Mayank: You don’t know them, dude! I hang around with them much more than you do. And, I’m telling you, they can be pretty nasty! Dangerous even.
Alok: I heard they cut their own hands and parts of their bodies with bloody words to have permanent scars...
Mayank: Yes, that’s right. I’ve seen them do it. They even asked me to, but I said no..
Madhav: They may do all this, but that doesn’t show they are strong enough to do any serious damage to anyone but themselves and others who are as dumb as them. They are just highly jobless jerks.
Alok: So should we tell the authorities?
Mayank: I don’t know…the risk is too high.
Madhav: I don’t know if its worth our time and effort. Its their life, at the end of the day. Not ours. And there are enough warnings about drugs and things given to us daily, by our teachers and parents. If they are woolly-headed enough not to take them seriously, its their problem, after all, isn’t it? Why should we waste our time and effort on such losers?
Alok: But they are our classmates, dude! Don’t you care about them?
Mayank: So, what do we do at last??

* * *

This is a situation faced by many students in schools and colleges world-over. What is your take on the issue? Have you ever faced this dilemma? What do you think Madhav, Mayank and Alok should do?

BY BHARGAVI

AS A STUDENT...

I am a student, and a part of the present day Indian education system. Hence, I am thoroughly exposed to the benefits and flaws of the system. As an intrinsic part of the whole affair, its flaws naturally seem magnified in comparison with its benefits (the negative is always the mountain and the positive the suggestive dawn behind it!). Also, the information and ideas I have of other education systems in the world, such as those in the USA and the UK, makes them seem more superior to the one prevalent now in our country. But, this would be a biased judgment, as I have no first-hand knowledge of the systems there. The lack of complete knowledge prevents me from drawing any conclusions based on any comparisons I may make between them. And, anyway, the grass always seems greener on the other side!

As far as I can see, there is no established system in this world that is completely flawless; be it on the political, cultural, economic or scientific scenario. In such a case, one would not expect the education system, which lies as a root and a consequence of the rest, to be an exception. However, I am of the strongest opinion that the number and intensity of the negatives in the current education system can be reduced. Note that I am dealing only with the Indian one in this article.

We all know that the literacy rate in India is comparatively low and has been struggling to rise. Coupled with poverty, unemployment, population explosion etc, we enter the ever-so-famous vicious circle of economic and social degradation. I shall not deal with that here. The government, NGOs and many investors are taking steps towards improving the situation, and I shall not concern myself with that part of the system, though it being one of the pithiest parts. What I am going to do in this article is to portray my views drawn out of personal experience in the profit-making private schools of the urban areas, their methods and what I would like to change about them.

We are seeing a marked rise in the number of graduates our country is producing, and most them come from private schools and institutes of higher studies. In the light of India fast emerging as a global power and more and more Indians going abroad and representing our country, strong and practical methods of imparting education is a must.
The basic learning required to pass most of the exams today can be done by rote, and that is all that is asked of the students mostly. Understanding is not the focus of the system, as far as I can see. This kind of system highly benefits the truly interested, who make an extra effort to understand, and also learn by rote, as is required for the examinations. So, they have the most benefit. But the majority, who does not bother to “understand” (as they can get by just as well with only rote-learning), are at a loss, unseen at this stage, but felt later in their work-environments. Thus, the system has its positive side, but felt most only by the very dedicated.

The quality of teachers is not very good, either. It is not specific to “this” system alone; and is a major drawback. This happens in the public and private sector of education. There is another vicious cycle involved here. Bad teachers lead to drop in interest on the part of the student, which means low performance, thus less competence, and hence low probability of getting a good job. At the same time, there is an acute lack of teachers in the society. More demand and less supply leads to employment of lower quality teachers. The ones who don’t have great jobs resort to this profession as a last hope and there we go, more bad teachers...I guess you get the picture...and the vicious cycle is established. There are few people who are passionately interested to teach and take up their jobs as a teacher. You should consider yourself very lucky even if you have one such teacher. Such is the lack of good ones! In your life, if you don’t come across even a single good teacher (the probability of which is very high), then you tend to draw the conclusion that the term “teacher” itself connotes something negative, and hence, you might be unwilling to get into that profession. It becomes a kind of dogma; teachers come to be looked upon as pedagogues, and one cannot blame you for your impression, as it is probably the truth! (That exceptions do exist, we must remember.)

This problem is prevalent at all levels of education; primary to the doctorate level. Only, it’s much more damaging at the primary and secondary levels, as teachers form an essential part of a child’s development. The spirits of thousands of kids are destroyed everyday by the irresponsible and I-don’t-give-a-damn-about-these-kids attitude of hoards of teachers. The kids are left unmotivated and lose their interest in their most essential work at that stage – studying and understanding. This leads to a moral corruption and overall depravity.

We hardly see innovation these days. Even with the invent of multimedia, teachers here are slow to catch up. Most of them still rely on age old methods of droning in front of the blackboards, only concentrating on how soothing their ‘lullaby’ is! We are discouraged to ask questions, thus crushing our curiosity; we are not encouraged to prove the science fundas we learn through experimentation (there is not enough time, you see), classroom discussion is hardly encouraged (same reason) - overall personality grooming? (OH FORGET IT!!) I don’t need to tell you how bad teachers can be, I’m quite certain you would have experienced it first-hand.


Certain other shortcomings I have taken note of are the choice of career streams one has to make at a very early stage, at the end of class 10 itself, when one is hardly knows where one’s real interest lies. One is forced to choose between the science, arts, and commerce streams, when one is hardly prepared to make decisions, especially affecting one’s course of life…
Also, there are numerous syllabi (CBSE, ICSC and each state with its own different syllabus) operating in the country at the school level, and the disparity in the content and level of each causes much confusion. Also, the syllabi themselves are politically motivated and altered. Every time, a new party comes to power, we see a change in syllabus! It calls for a unification of boards and moderated alterations.
What a child is really interested in is almost never taken into account. There is no flexibility of subjects, in school, pre-university or college levels. If you take up science in the PU level, then the whole focus is only on science, which is naturally as it is intended to be. But I feel that this should not be the case, as most of us are interested in more than just one particular field, such as science, or arts, or commerce. There should be more choice and more combinations.
There is an immense amount of latent talent. But the lack of teachers and the lack of interest in them fail to recognize it. Overpopulation is the reason for this.

We must realize that if these vicious cycles are removed, then the country is bound to improve for good. The overall outlook towards life of the future citizens of the country will improve, thus naturally increasing the productivity of our Nation. As all these problems are entwined in a crooked mess and a vicious circle, any difference can be made only if we take off tangentially from it. A team of morally responsible persons with a fire to make a difference must emerge ( I think it has already started emerging, as I do see many nowadays interested to teach, their own experience of bad teachers being one of their prime reasons!!). Politics will definitely come into the picture, hindering the process as much as possible, but it can be overcome. If the cause is right, for progress, for the better and is taken-up with dedication and perseverance, it WILL succeed, come what may!

BY BHARGAVI

PATHS...

As we chart the paths of our lives, we often are thrown into confusion. At different points of our life, we want different things out of our lives. And sometimes, we want so many varied things out of our lives that we have no clue which ones to pursue. To contrast this, by times we also have times of blissful contentment where we could ask nothng more of life. The funny thing is that these feelings sometimes have nothing to do with our life itself at that point, they seem to just be a state of mind.

How different would it be if the choice were taken out of our lives? I look at so many people, and see that their activities are not due to choice, but due to compulsion. And their complaints are endless. But we, who can exercise choice in our lives, are our complaints and grumbles any fewer? Some others, their activities are due to choice and yet, we may not know the compulsion behind their actions. At times, it seems to me infinitely simpler to have your path charted out and to follow it. But this is only in times of extreme weariness. When the 'ifs' and 'buts' and 'what-happens' are too contradicting and burdensome. At other times, it seems like the greatest gift in the world to have the freedom to make your own choices. To be aware of all the paths around you, and choose the one that you would like to travel by. Because, at the end of the day, maybe there is no right path, its just the way you walk on it....

BY NANDINI

THE NEWS...TODAY

I generally love reading The Sunday Times, because Sunday is the only day of the week (apart from Friday, when I have college late) that I get to read the paper in some depth. Also, they do run some interesting columns and supplements (for a change) on Sundays. Today’s special report, however, was on ‘Newspapers being harmful as they report only negative news items’. This seemed to me the height of inanity, if there’s such a word.

I don’t know about newspapers being harmful or not, but this much is true. No newspaper gives a completely impartial view of any event. Except maybe the robberies and such events, which come on the second page, and run only to two lines anyway. Even otherwise, the comments of people paint the event in one light or another. Maybe its inevitable and your opinion just seeps into your writing, as it does when I’m writing now. But this same opinion will influence the thousands who are reading the journalist’s writing. And that’s why they say that a journalist needs to exercise responsibility.

Also, the selection of news items that are run and the sequence in which they are run seems highly laughable at times. Sometimes, the news items themselves are laughable. And this occurs mainly in the 24 hour news channels, which having to run news 24 hours a day, seek news in everyday matters. I mean, since when did Preity Zinta going to Vaishnodevi become a news flash? (I seriously saw this on Headlines Today). Also, at times when they do get a piece of news, it is totally irritating the way they run the same news bits and interviews again and again for days together. It also causes small events to be blown totally out of proportion as there is so much news time spent on non issues, and also not to mention the non issues covered due to people canvassing for publicity.

Anyway, coming back to the topic of newspapers reporting only negative items, such a thought should be out of question if newspapers were totally objective. Because as a journalist you are supposed to write it as you see it. And most people do see the positive and the negative.

However if you see the major events reported in the news, they do have a lot of death and disaster. Is it because that’s what people want to read about? I wonder. I mean, isn’t it nicer to read about someone accomplishing or achieving something, than so many disasters. Doesn’t it make you feel better to read about honest officials than a corrupt one? But I have never yet come across an honest official in the news. Reading positive things just leaves you with that inner glow. Ya, of course, the point of news is to make you know what’s going on in the world, but isn’t it as likely that positive things are going on as much as disasters? Or maybe its just a rule of journalism, that you give importance to negative facts…then the article probably had a point….

BY NANDINI

FIRST GLIMPSE AT ABSOLUTE COMPETENCE

Many a time, I’d been asked about my role model. I never found any satisfactory answer to give. Not that I was so completely conceited that I was unable to look up to another. It was just that I had never found any person I could look up to with complete assurance of underlying competence. The answer I always gave was that there was no single person I held as my role model, but that I admired and sought to achieve certain qualities that I saw in certain individuals.

All these qualities were always kin of competence. The extensive knowledge and lucid mind of my father; the intrinsic musical capabilities of my grandmother and later, my brother; the uncompromising and highly successful values of my mother; the undying interest in the English language and active compilation of words and music by my grandfather are some of the attributes I admired. The model I had in each one of them and many others helped me to grow and understand myself better. But since I had not found a single personage who completely satisfied my ideals, I found my answer very suitable and truth-laden. It is something I stick to till date.

The word “role model” must not be taken in its literal sense. A role model is not someone you imitate blindly, nor someone whose exact role you play too. There is no such thing as absolute emulation or imitation of anybody in this world. A role model is solely a person who is capable of initiating and making you aware of your own capabilities. So is my definition of one. The person’s very way of leading his/her life is an eye-opener to you. It shows you the way you would like to lead your life. In this sense, one may have a positive or a negative role model; an illustration of a desirable way of living or an undesirable one.

It has always been my desire to attain the highest level of proficiency and perfection in any job that I do. It has also been one to find that job which I’d love and that which I’d be willing to do wholeheartedly. It was indeed something of a miracle when I realized that the one person I’d forever be grateful to and look up to, was in my life. She had been with me for a year before I realized the full value of her presence. She was the embodiment of utter competence. She was everything I’d ever wanted to be, in terms of professionalism, dedication and capability. She showed me everyday, without she herself being aware, the path I’d have to take in life, the steps I needed to take to get where I wanted to; and where she already was. She was my biology teacher. She became quite an important part of my list of role models, positive of course. She occupied one of the primary positions. Probably because every part of her was most completely faithful to her work or, at least, that was all I witnessed and took to be true. Her best was only what she revealed and all that I saw.

She, being my teacher, and so definitely professional, I got to see very little of her personal life. But, that did not at all matter. Her whole personality was candid and complete in her profession itself. She did not say anything about herself, nor expected us to reveal anything about our lives. But there remained a high level of understanding and
excellent rapport between us. She was acutely well-versed in her subject and could answer just about any question, however far from the topic in concern. She was surpassingly sure of the concept she dealt with and put it across just as succinctly and intelligibly. She was the best teacher I had ever had. The level of her dedication and commitment to her duty and profession was something I had never witnessed first-handedly anywhere. I had complete faith in her competence, and she has never let me down till date. And my own competence and professionalism increases every minute. Whenever I feel bogged down, all I have to do is think of her and my faith in my purpose and my capabilities come sailing back to me.

Well, role models, after all, are people who one chooses to help build one’s personality better and make one’s own principles more defined. Hence, at the end of the day, one should be able to look back and say, “Yes. I have taken one step forward today towards my purpose.” The assistance from the side of the persons concerned (role models) are unlimited as they do not have anything active to do for one’s benefit. The amount of progress one makes, ultimately, depends solely on one, the intensity of one’s desire to advance and the effort one puts in.

BY BHARGAVI