Exploring to Learn

Waiting for my turn outside my son's classroom,at the parent-teacher meet,it felt ....how should I put it? Awkward? After years of teaching at the same school,and being on that side of the table, here I was, in a queue , with a dozen other impatient parents,exchanging pleasantries and comparing notes. "She's taking so much time with every parent," remarked a young parent, "doesn't she realise it's a working day for us?" Well, that remark came as a surprise to me. Here was a teacher, giving all the time she could , to each parent,only trying to do her job well. Surely,a parent-teacher meeting isn't supposed to be just an obligation, a formality!I've always thought that it's a great opportunity to find out how your child's doing at school.And even voice your suggestions ,if any. Perhaps,I was still looking at it from a teacher's perspective.Perhaps,this parent had a real busy schedule and had great many important things to do after

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When we set out on a journey, we meet several people on our way, interact with them for as long as the meeting lasts and then carry on ,on our respective paths. These days, one is too pre-occupied with one's own concerns to smile at a fellow passenger and strike up a conversation.One needs to be wary, in these times of terrorism and criminal behaviour breeding everywhere, of even sharing a cup of tea with a stranger sitting next to you on a train.No one's sure of another's intentions any more. What surprise then, that even at work, people do not step out of a self-created border? Coming to myself. I have grown up in the little North-eastern town of Shillong,where everyone is friendly with everyone else,where people smile and nod at virtual strangers they meet on their way,where doors can be left unlocked for the entire day with nothing amiss, where helpfulness is a way of life, where you can talk for hours with an absolute stranger without inhibition..... get the idea? Imag

Here's a list of my top five ways to get injured.These have climbed their way to the top on the basis of my experiences in the past few months.Needless to say, I've learnt it the hard way. Number 5: Spilling a plastic cup of piping hot tea on yourself while trying to express yourself animatedly on some issue. Number 4: Traveling in a rickety Maruti Omni at the speed of 100 kmph driven by an insane driver credited with having overturned a truck at break-neck speed.Surviving right-angled turns at top-speed. Number 3:Rushing to class in another building 50 metres away with just seconds to spare , a heap of bricks and mortar lying strewn along the way and groups of students relaxing on the stairs. Number 2: Absent-mindedly opening the aluminium door to an electrified cabin. Number 1:Falling off a camel's back.Decidedly No.1 on my list. This post is dedicated to all my colleagues who have been with me through the last six months and will surely vote for my top five ways to get

Once again, a lot of unnecessary hue and cry over a name.No sooner was the Bandra-Worli sea link christened after former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, than waves of criticism lashed out against the announcement. Newspapers carried articles on the issue while news channels held debates on whether a certain political dynasty was going too far by naming every other construction in the country after its family members.The internet too,saw umpteen forums and blog posts dedicated to the issue. I really do not want to dip my finger into this messy pie (long gone stale). What struck me as a refreshing view on this non-issue, however,was my little son's candid remark while he watched some pro-Savarkar political leaders airing their views. In the most matter-of fact manner, my wise seven-yr old asks, " Mom,if China can have a "Great Wall of China", why can't we have a "Great Sea Link of India"? Why do we have to name it after someone?" I was at a loss for w

Ever since the web has entangled us in its sticky embrace, we have,most of us,been victims to the 'playing at work' syndrome. Eyes glued to the flickering screen, working hard, for others, and hardly working otherwise,we explore endless domains. It all begins in the garb of the harmless pc game/checking for some news on Google.The obvious excuse is - taking a break from work. Slowly and surely work starts getting lesser while the break gets larger in size.In no time,we're working, but in fits and starts. All thanks to the immense possibilities offered by the web. Checking mails, interacting on social networking sites,googling,checking out online courses ,blogging,buying,selling,sharing pictures,...so much to do and each option more enticing than the other. With electricity playing rogue this summer, we realized our dependance on this non-renewable resource anew.Even in this sweltering heat,one could manage without the AC but not without the internet connection! I do believe

Technology has invaded our lives completely. Over the last decade, our world seems to have shrunk drastically. It wouldn't amaze me to find one day,kids thinking that the world exists on the other side of the computer screen. I think I was in Class Eight when we were first introduced to computers. We'd religiously take off our shoes before entering that hallowed room which beheld the wonder of wonders.....computers! Now, Gen Y,don't you snigger! It was a kind of a wonder to us then.The school had signed a contract with some private computer institute to issue us certificates. A rare thing in those days. I know I should've felt lucky to be able to get such an opportunity.But the Basic program, honestly, was quite a bore....Run...Go To...Return...so many stupid commands! The internet had not even cast its shadow, at that time. However, it was a novel experience coupled with the fact that our computer teachers were young, pretty and very friendly.I still remember the t

Year:1987. Place: Shillong (the scenic capital of Meghalaya, NE India) I was in Class Seven then. About 12 years old. School used to be fun. Friends, activities,games, studies... in that order.One bright summer day, life came to a sudden grinding halt. The friendly faces of my tribal friends changed overnight. The city reeled under agitation by the local tribals who wanted the non-tribals like me, out of their city. Their city? I wondered....Even my grandpa had been born here....I didn't understand any of it. School was closed indefinitely as curfew was announced amidst a long series of demonstrations,bandhs and attacks against non-tribals. How did we manage to study that year? We had no on-line learning to help us through. On every saturday, we'd go during the curfew relaxation hours, get our assignments for a week, and submit them next week. This went on for about four months. At the end of the year, we gave our annual exams as usual and sailed on to the next class. Necessit

Finally the day ear-marked for fathers all over the world, is over. The excitement so visible from weeks ago, screaming out from banners outside greeting card shops, billboards, hoardings at strategic locations, advertisements on television, FM channels, newspapers, magazines................daring you to miss it, has died down. I wondered what my father's reaction would be, had he been alive today, and I'd wished him Happy Father's Day with all the outpourings of a daughter's heart in a delicately designed greetings card and a box of his favourite assorted biscuits. His typical reaction would have been, "Father's Day?Eshob abar ki biliti dhong?Kintu biscuit gulo ene khoob bhalo korechish, Ma." To my Baba(that's what I'd call him), celebration of such days were no more than a westernized fad.The biscuits, rather than the occasion they were meant for, would make him glad. To me, every day I thank my dad for what he has been to me, is Father's D

I was glad to learn, the other day, that Delhi University had become one of the first central universities in the country, to conduct an online examination for its undergraduate science students.The Common Admission Test(CAT) too, you must have heard, will go online this year. In other words, India is taking to e-learning in a big way.This isn't surprising, considering how comfortably and firmly the internet is ensconced in the lives of the urban Indian, today. Look at how Google has become almost synonymous with the verb 'search'. I heard a child , the other day, referring to a gentleman as Googleji, because he would always be found looking for kids who were upto mischief. What do we do these days when we can't understand the meaning of a word? Google it. And bingo! Before you can even blink, you have multiple meanings of the word.That's not all,an array of websites offering synonyms,idiomatic expressions,pronunciation,articles line up attractively before yo

Darwin's famed term ,the Survival of the Fittest, coined to explain the evolution of man , is now more relevant on a socio-psychological plane. Gone are the days of hunting down one's prey,long gone indeed. We live in a day when head-hunters abound! The term ,Survival of the Fittest, today, would mean survival of someone who has all it takes to survive in this big,bad world of the meanest of the mean, someone who does not succumb to the pressures of the man-eat-man world , someone who is unnerved by the most demeaning acts, can hold his own come what may, if need be, stooping to the lowest levels of morality. Try looking around for those who qualify as the 'fittest' in this mean world.......do I see you equal the term to 'most successful'? Guess that's what it is, then. And ,would you like to be successful? 'Who wouldn't?', you smirk, a silly question to ask. We all would, given the opportunity and fortune, love to be on that Time 100 list of mo

So many people, so many opinions....we live, we learn, we grow. Here I am too, people, with my own share of random thoughts cosying up in this space that's mine. I intend to pen down stray thoughts that come my way in an attempt to learn more about myself, the people I interact with and share my experiences with others. Watch this space for more........and wish this effort of mine the best. Yours Randomly, "..."