Sunday, November 25, 2018


                  LEARN TO STUDY OR STUDY TO LEARN?



 
They have the grit of steel. They are no less nor do they think themselves to be. But they face a humungous challenge: to compete in a non-level field. I am talking about my students of St Francis Home Society, which is a school for disabled students. Students who are deaf, mute, and hard of hearing or who have diseases such as cerebral palsy get educated here. The school also provides boarding facilities for girls.
The education system in India is fairly skewed and archaic. The purpose to impart knowledge has been obfuscated by the need to score high. It will definitely not be an exaggeration to say that one’s capabilities are judged solely by one's academic scores. Many of us have already adjusted with the system and many are under the process to do so. But the process of adjusting and aligning is very difficult for children with disabilities, who are fighting to secure a place for themselves in this fiercely competitive world.
I had the first-hand experience of the difficulties faced by the children while teaching them at St. Francis. I could see that the students were literally scared of mathematics. When I was a student, I used to dislike studies but love math but the hostility of students towards mathematics didn’t amaze me because I had a sibling who was scared of mathematics. What surprised me was the inability of students to comprehend and perform simple calculations and understand relatively simple concepts. In no way, I mean to undermine the sincere efforts being taken by Father Joseph and his team in providing education to the children. Father’s sincerity and dedication are absolutely unquestionable and his efforts have led to the creation of opportunities for the children to learn and evolve. I want to question the quality of teachers and students our system is producing and the skewed curriculum that doesn’t provide a level field.
During my interaction with father, I came to know about the challenges he has been facing in finding suitable teachers for the school. Father has been stringent in accepting only the teachers who have the required credentials to teach in such schools. But the sad state is that the teachers applying for have all the “documented qualifications” to teach in the school but not the actual skill set required.  With so much still to do so for basic primary education in India, the goal to provide education to disabled children have not gained the required momentum. There are virtually no incentives to acquire the necessary skill set to provide education to such children.
The students know that they need to pass intermediate to get a job. The teachers are also aware of the fact. All that the teacher's endeavor is to make sure that the students get the required passing marks and get promoted to the next class. So the skewed education system plays ugly and impedes the children from all the miracles that they can create. While teaching my students, I see in them the desire to learn and understand. They have limited interaction with people in the outside world because of the language barrier, and thus have lesser opportunities to learn via interactions than the rest of us. So education is the most important element of learning for them. Due to the absence of qualified teachers in the field and the system’s focus on grades, their experience of learning has been cumbersome. They have started dreading subjects that they don’t understand.
I would like to conclude that by not nurturing our children properly, we are losing critical human resource and making them dependents. An investment in them today is an asset tomorrow. Volunteers and NGOs have a very crucial role in facilitating education to the children. Let us all take a step towards the same and not shy away from our social responsibility.

Monday, October 1, 2018


The Legacy Of Mahatma



Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s contribution to our country needs no elaboration. His persistent struggle freed us from the shackles of servitude and took us to the path of independence, both individual and political. The nation, much obliged by his contribution, referred him as “Baapu”, meaning ‘father of the nation’ and “Mahatma”, meaning the enlightened soul.
Mahatama’s deeds encompassed a much larger sphere, going beyond the realms of politics and boundaries. He, in his lifetime, made remarkable changes to the Indian society and left trails that have been influencing large sects of people, who proudly recognize themselves as “Gandhians”. His notions of Satya and Ahimsa have even revolutionized the western thinkers, and he is venerated by one and all.
0n 2nd October, this year, we would be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the great soul. Many announcements have been made to commemorate his anniversary and pay tribute to the Mahatma. Amongst all the pomp and show, the basic question is have we kept his legacy?
Gandhi used Satya and Ahimsa as ‘weapons’ against the colonial rule; a rule which was atrocious and repugnant. Although being tortured and jailed, he didn’t give up to the oppressive regime and followed his principles to the core. He spoke the truth, regardless of the consequences, and the same can be seen in his biography “My experiments with truth”. But the Gandhian ideology of truth doesn’t seem to find much of place in our society. The rampant use of falsehood in both public and private spaces has contradicted Mahatama’s teaching, leading to a corrupt and insensitive system. India has one of the world’s worst rankings in asia-pacific in the global corruption perception index for the year 2017, and it has deteriorated from the previous year.  Even media, which is a pillar of our democracy, doesn’t speak and show truth due to its nexus with the offenders. Our country has been named among the "worst offenders" in terms of graft and press freedom in the Asia Pacific region.
Mahatma's teachings of Ahimsa have taken the most severe hit in the past few years. Needless to say, Mahatma was no ordinary man and had the grit of steel. He never bent to any sort of injustice but never resorted to violence. He was a strong advocate of religious harmony and was not a blind promoter of majoritarian views. But contrary to his teachings, the extreme religious sentiments in our country have been affecting the peace and harmony. The public lynching of people of different segments is a blot on a civilized society and has also earned disrepute for us in the international community. The killing of activists and journalist is an assertion of muscle power. What the feeble looking Mahatma could achieve using non-violence, is being condemned by these tiny goons by flexing their muscles.
There are several anecdotes about Gandhi which are mere reflections of his compassionate and ideological personality. He went on a fast when one of his bitter critics was attacked by a mob; went on a fast when the majoritarian section was opposed to the inclusion of all ; even coaxed his wife to stand with his cause of cleanliness. While we have made considerable progress in the later, I am aghast on the youth’s attitude towards the Mahatama.
Weaknesses are to humans as heat is to the sun. Every human being is prone and is in possession of certain weaknesses. Gandhi himself brings out this in his biography. But rather than appreciating his strength of openly accepting his weaknesses and emulating the core strength of his ideology, a section of people have been trying to malign Gandhi and mislead our youth. Lies are being spread on the social media and false campaigns are being run. The youth needs to read authentic information about the Mahatma and practice his teachings to understand the force behind them. The elderly should disseminate the information that they have learned from the ‘Gandhians’ and prevent the youth from the smear campaign so the youth they have a true encounter with Gandhigiri.



Sunday, August 12, 2018

Exoneration


I never wanted to leave you
But did it because of you
       I still remember the past
       The past we were together
       And promised to live forever



      Your cherubic face and smile
      That made the world worthwhile
                                       Your cute big eyes and little nose
                                       Your hair coming with a different pose

I adored you like a child
You accepted it with a smile
Why you had to grow up so fast
And make the past, a past


You said you had nothing left
But thats not the way I felt
I never wanted to leave you
But had to do because of you.
                               


BROTHERS IN ARM

One of my brothers in arm asked me, “Ye log Afzal Guru or Yakub Memon ke support me naarein kyu laga rahe hai, wo to terrorist the na?” I had no answers for this stark but real question.
Mohd Afzal Guru was a terrorist who was involved in the attack on the Indian Parliament. Evidence proved his role which he later confessed. He was sentenced to death by the Honourable Court. Yakub Memom was convicted for his role in 1993 bombings and was declared the mastermind of the bombings by the Honourable Court. He too was sentenced to death.
I pen down my thoughts on the day when two of my brothers in arms, Capt Pawan Kumar and Capt Tushar Mahajan sacrifice themselves for their motherland, for my motherland. And this happens when intellects of my country, intellects because what they say is understood best by people of their wit and not by extremely ordinary soldiers like me, claim that trial of Afzal Guru wronged the right to justice.
This happens when in the capital of my country, the place where Prime Minister of India proudly hoists National Flag on Independence Day; people raise anti-India slogans and are recorded on camera and telecasted on Televisions. This happens when a section of intellectuals support these people and admonish the government not to curb the right of dissent.
Capt Pawan and Capt Tushar sacrificed their life when one community disrupted and stirred lives of many; burned malls, shops, ATMs and proudly boasted about the same on social media asking for quota in getting cushioned chairs in government offices.
Sitting in icy cold winters in a part of Jammu&Kashmir, I just wonder can I still call India as our country instead of my country or that too would call dissents among the intellectuals. I wonder what Capt Pawan and Capt Tushar wanted for their life, would they be satisfied with what they have done or sitting in heavens they would be watching all the brouhaha and thinking is this what they sacrificed themselves for?

                                                                        Written in sub-zeros of Leh in 2016
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