How doomed are we? July 29, 2010
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I am the content writer of myEshala, a complete educational package. Currently, I am working on the Geography textbook of class 10. The textbook is based on natural resources and if you look at the index page you will see topics like Human Resources, Water Resources, Forest Resources, Land Resources, etc.
Now – when I write a lesson , I first read the textbook and then I try to visit government websites about the projects that are mentioned in the book. That way I understand what is going on first and then I can research about specific details and try to make it interesting and easy to understand. And I was so shaken as I did this!
The first topic I did was Human Resources – there we tell the kids that the population is going out of proportion, we have a skewed sex ratio, high percentage of illiterate population and no awareness of family planning. Then, in the next topic, Water Resources, we tell the children that we have lots of irrigation projects, but they aren’t enough. Moreover, our water resources are dwindling and we really have no plan in place. The River Linking Project is an excellent idea, but it is completely stalled because the government is not really a. dynamic and b. interested at all. So basically, no one cares and let’s see what happens. The next lesson is forest resources – which is another gloomy picture. We need 33% forests, but we have only 29% – and even those are on their way out. The only reason we have the forests that we do are because those areas still haven’t seen development. Once they do, its bye bye jungle! Then I worked on the lesson Land Resources. There I kind of tell the children that we have only so much land, but we have more and more people, more and more industry and businesses and homes . And along with all that we are messing around with what little we do have and making it unusable!
After doing the first five lessons I started thinking – we are telling 14 and 15 year old kids all this about our country. What are they going to think? Will they be scared? Will they think this is normal? Will they subconsciously decide that this is not where they want to be? Or will they decide that they will make a difference and do something for the environment, this country and the planet?
Well, the last question seems to idealistic and farfetched. Most probably that is what the kids are thinking. They will start with these great ideas and then the real India will let them realize that its better if they stick to their cushy jobs and leave the ‘others’ to manage the government. And sadly – looking at the government data and statistics, that is most likely to happen. Things will only get worse. Sigh!
So, how doomed are we, exactly?
Does your culture depend on the education you have? January 16, 2009
Posted by coupleofthoughts in arpita.Tags: culture, education, upbringing
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I have to interact with many kinds of people from all segments of society and the different kinds of attitudes that I get from different kinds of people are amazing. Most of the people are highly educated but send off very different vibes. I have seen two kinds of people. The ones who are really intelligent and smart and the ones who think they are very intelligent and smart.
The really intelligent ones are a pleasure to talk to. They are usually quite witty, have so much information about so many topics, they are passionate about their hobbies, they have no hang-ups usually, and oh yes, without an exception their humility is something one has to appreciate. They are brilliant, they know it, but they are matter of fact about it. They have achieved a lot in their field and don’t mind sharing ideas. Even the suggestions that they come up are very good and possible to implement. These people know how to be polite and put their thoughts across. Even when they have a complaint, they word it properly and politely and usually always get their problem solved. I just love hanging out and interacting with such people. When they come to talk, we invariably end up discussing something very interesting and exciting. It is an enriching experience just talking to them.
I have come across really smart women who are a pleasure to talk to as well. Some are housewives who have chosen to be housewives to spend time with their kids. Some women are full time or part time professionals and are doing an amazing job managing two fronts. They are very helpful and co-operative and do the best for their children. Their kids are flourishing too.
Then there is the other kind – the ones who think they are very intelligent and smart. And sad to say, there are more women in this category that I have come across than men. It disturbs me because I used to think that women are more balanced and sensitive and therefore it follows that they should have more people-sense. But it seems not to be that way. These people are so loud and arrogant, they end up irritating the people they talk to. Almost even before you have heard what this person wants to say, you have decided that you don’t want to help him. The people associated with such people also suffer as they never get their problems solved because no one wants to help them out. The ‘I think I am smart’ types lose out on every front. Their kids usually suffer as a result. As the parent interferes and speaks arrogantly, the kid gets embarrassed. When the parent blows up issues out of proportion, the child slowly loses friends. Moreover, the child also gets the wrong message – he will probably be just like that and lose out on the finer things in life.
But what completely baffles me is, how can one not realise that this attitude is wrong and then try to change it. Do you not know when you are being rude and arrogant? Is not possible to self analyze that the person you are talking to is annoyed with you and is shutting you out? Can you not make out from the expression on the face of the person that you are talking to that your communication method is failing?
So, that made me realise that just having educational qualifications and fancy degrees doesn’t give you the basic values. They are part of your culture, your upbringing, the kind of friends you have, the way your parents have behaved. Probably that is where intelligence comes in – a well developed emotional intelligence. That is what is necessary to be a good, pleasant human being.
A busload of sadness November 6, 2008
Posted by coupleofthoughts in arpita.Tags: corruption, india, pune, sadness
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My present project involves making video lessons for the kids so that they can be shown exactly what we are talking about. So when the kids learn that stone breaks down to form soil I try to show a video, an experiment or an animation along with the voiceover so that the kids see and hear about it at the same time. It has good effects – a kid feels like he is watching a show and even if he forgets the audio he will most probably remember the video and will be able to reproduce the information almost accurately.
Well, so there was this statement about conservation of natural resources and how we should save petrol and diesel by carpooling and using public transport. So I thought what better way to let kids know this than showing them the public transport in Pune. So I hiked with my tripod, camera and sister to the nearby bus stop and stood there ready to capture a bus on tape.
I knew I would get a few curious glances, but in Pune the bus service is not so good. The buses do not run on regular schedules and they are not maintained properly either. So it is mostly the very low income group that travels by bus, unlike Mumbai. In Mumbai buses are quite convenient, clean and regular – in stark contrast!
So there I was standing and being stared at, when a few bold onlookers decided to approach me. They asked me what I was doing. I just told them that I was waiting for a bus, I wanted to record a public transport vehicle. Actually that was what I precisely wanted to do. Do you know how many different directions people thought in after that one statement? One asked me if I was exposing how badly maintained the buses are, another thought I was making a documentary on the plight of the common man, a third said it was good – I could show how irregular and without schedule the buses were. People wanted me to capture the crowds and show how insufficient the number of buses were. Some thought I was exposing the corruption and some even thought I was launching a crusade against poor public transport systems. Each one, without exception, was extremely happy that someone was doing something about the situation and wished me good luck. Most people thought I was affiliated to a news channel. When I told a few people I was doing it for the kids, again they thought it was to tell them about corruption.
Now, I would love to launch a crusade and get things straightened out and have a good public transport system set up in Pune. However, I have a job that keeps me very busy and I also believe that there is not much I can do in that area – I lack the mindset and my attitude is all wrong too. But what really surprised me was that how corrupt our system is, is a fact that everyone knows and has accepted and is very casual about it. Everyone felt strongly about it but people were also very casual and matter of fact – almost as if it has been accepted as an everyday thing. Isn’t that really scary? It really disturbed me. Even as I write this I feel really sad that there is really almost nothing that I can do. My way of fighting corruption is that I will never cheat anyone myself. I will do good work, sell good products and always render good service.
But that isn’t going to change the world. It will only change the way the people who use my educational services – they will be at the receiving end of a very sincere effort. That is pretty much what I can contribute to decrease corruption – I can make sure that I do not become part of the corrupt population! Who would have thought that going to video shoot people using the municipality bus could be so depressing?
My entry to the blog world! November 1, 2008
Posted by coupleofthoughts in arpita.Tags: arpita
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This is my first blog entry ever! I am a very opinionated person and have a strong thought on anything and everything that is going on – I also love to argue and if a logical argument is presented in opposition, I have no issues about changing sides either. So I am opinionated, I try to always be right, but I am quite graceful about accepting my mistakes and try to improve.. that’s what I think I am, I am sure my husband, brother, sister, parents, in laws and friends have a different opinion of their own.
I am now in the ‘business’ of education. I am not making a lot of dough, but I call it my ‘business’ because I do not have a boss in the true sense of the word and I am the one who mostly does the innovation and give direction to my staff. And what I am trying to do now is try to bring business life cycles, evaluation, benchmarks, progress milestones, check points, documentation etc. into the process of education. I am starting with the classroom education part and then will slowly extend it to other aspects of school as well.
I am about to finish ‘Winning’ by Jack Welch and have thought of many ideas that I have implemented this year and have got fantastic results. One of them was trying to predict what would happen in the future and to be ready for it. The other was optimising staff and putting them under the bell curve. I have allotted tasks accordingly and again, got astonishing efficiency. I have dared not to be a conventional school and am trying to make a model that can be as easily taken somewhere else and implemented, which will be a good thing as a vast multitude can benefit from the methodology that we are implementing.
I have seen different kinds of people – the very poor economic status families, the middle class (upper and middle) and the very rich families as well. All of them react to the way a child is receiving and responding to education differently. Their reactions are interesting and probably parents should think of this aspect before they choose their child’s school as well. Please bear in mind that I am not criticizing any particular group, they all seem to be doing fine in later life. I am just noting down what I have observed. Also note that I use the pronoun ‘he’ or ‘his’. This is just for convenience. I am a female myself and find no difference in the sexes, only it is a pain to keep writing he / she all the time!
Many times, the very rich families are not too bothered about what their children are learning, most of the time. They usually have businesses that their children will be taking over. It doesn’t matter if they do not learn a certain fundamental or if they do not exhibit certain behaviour. They want their children to have a great time. Most of the time the fathers are not involved in their child’s life on a day to day basis and the mothers aren’t all that particular either. The school the child goes to has to be ‘prestigious’ and filled with other people who share their social standing. The school also usually offers some glamourous and expensive activities which the parents can discuss when they meet as well. The quality of education is not that important. It is important for the child to develop good contacts for his entry into the business world.
The middle class family has enough money to spend on medium luxuries and has no shortage of basic necessities. They have large budgets for their child’s education and have usually made provisions for their child to go up to a post graduate level. The parents juggle their schedule so that they can spend time with their children, help them in their academic work, chauffer them around for extra curricular activities and are very interested in their child’s day. These children are the ones that I love to have around. Every educational experiment is readily absorbed, feedback given, new targets set and benchmarks regularly raised. Information and ideas are eagerly devoured and it is so exciting to make new plans and new strategies to coach this group! The parents are excited as well and the whole team gets a positive energy. If this is the sample group, an educational revolution will always keep happening!
The lower socio economic group has numerous problems, most of them related to day to day survival. For them, having the child is good enough and if the child keep passing to the next level, its more than they could ask for. If a child is self motivated, he will come out of that system by studying well and then eventually getting a good job, but such cases are rare. Most of the time they reach the high school level and drop out. Some may pass out of school but few will land up in decent paying and regular jobs.
The middle class is what excites me and most of what I will be saying and talking about will appeal to them. By middle class, I mean the ‘modern’ middle class. These are people who have improved financially on basis of their academic skills. They may be into businesses, but these are businesses that they have developed through hard work and academic orientation. They have strong financial backgrounds, but they have a middle class attitude. They still frown upon wastages, will always know what their children are up to, will know their friends, will be involved in their children’s lives and will want to do the best that they can for their kids. So when I say middle class, I mean the mentality more than the bank balance.
Phew! That was a very lengthy introduction to identify my target audience! And as you read my articles, please do let me know whether you agree or disagree and your reasons. I would love feedback and would enjoy criticism. In fact, criticism would be enjoyable as it sets the brain to work!
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