Humanisation- The Diminishing Trend

I arrived in Mumbai, just a few days back and the culture here seems indicative of a trend becoming more and more popular, and it is terribly disappointing. I daily see hoards of people running from day till the night (which is not the disappointing part) trying to sustain themselves. What is disappointing is the coldness, the mechanised approach to life. Treating life like an assembly line, where each component has its own specialised function, and is well connected by networks. Here most people would argue that networks provide economical solutions to daily and business problems. However, they fail to see that networks drain the vitality from communities and families.

This trend is prominent in every aspect of the culture that we see today.

•          Beginning from education, we are pitted against each other and taught to compete and thus we prepare alone which is a very solitary, lonely experience.
•          The best indicative of the strength of a culture is its kitchen. For it is in the kitchen that a language is spoken that addresses the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue and even the skin, all five senses, something that all of us are exposed to since childhood but few of us realize. A traditional Indian kitchen was a sacred place. But today it seems like a factory with all gadgets, clean and quick, just like a chore or an industrial activity.
•          Have a problem, consult a specialist, because you are not qualified enough to solve it. This trend arises from the need of the networks that requires surrendering of all judgement except the one that is of interest to the network.
•          Nuclear families are on the rise where everyone is with each other only out of necessity and not due any kind of emotional bonding.
•          We see a decreasing number of people going to the park/garden for rejuvenation. And if they do, no interaction with each other until and unless instructed by their yoga (art of living, etc) teacher.
•          Increased addiction to televisions and laptops that acts as a hallucinogenic drug. The definition of spending quality time with your loved ones means watching a movie together.

As an impact of these trends we see more and more people going to the psychiatrists, living a lonely, depressed life. A research states that the ‘happiness levels’ of people in today’s time is even lesser than the one ‘s during ‘The Great Depressions’ of the 30s. This is because the fragmentation caused by excessive networking creates a sense that our lives are out of control-----and they are.

Aristotle once said that “The only way to become completely human is by participating in a complex range of human affairs”

A Radical Thought

I read a cartoon the other day in which a kid, looking at all the socio-economic degradation, deforestation and all the ills in the society says " I wonder if it is possible to refuse inheriting this world" and I wonder the same.

We observe the injustice prevailing in the society around us and we learn to live with it. We adjust because we can not find a way to correct the system. But a very radical thought struck my mind the other day.....What if we shun the system all-together, rather than trying to patch it up every now and then. What if we try to build the system from the scratch. Design it again??

However designing OUR OWN system and running it under the nose of our own government requires guts (first of all) ,tolerance and the strong belief in the system, so much so that even if doing the right thing requires to break certain laws, we are ready for it.

The power always lies in the hands of community and when the people realize this it is possible to create a new world a better world. A parallel governance, parallel economy and a parallel society is the need of the hour.

Those people who are up for the challenge and believe they can create a better world. Who have faith in themselves more than the people who always try to rule them, control them, suppress them and exploit them, please share your ideas....Comment or send me a mail..... I am a maverick....are YOU!!!!!!

Wakeup Call

The race is on for putting children in elite schools equipped with state-of-the-art technology and brilliant infrastructure.The parents today want their children to study in the grandiose schools even if it means they have to pay for it through their noses.But the question that most of them forget to ask before they plunge is......Will such schools provide a true and all round education?

"Ofcourse it will....It has a computer on every desk, a very nice sports facility center, cctv cameras, digital boards and what not...it can compete with any international school..!!" they say.And when in spite of all this, if the child fails to perform, he/she is emotionally tortured.."Do you realise how much we pay for your education?You seem to have no sense of responsibility......." etc etc.

My question is, Is the bombardment of information sufficient?Is not the purpose of education to equip the students with a mindset which can enable them to collect,decipher and implement that information all by themselves?While these kind of schools rank high on facilities criteria, most of them rank quite low on teaching criteria.The teachers are hardly concerned about the development and prosperity of the student, except for the Parent-Teacher meets where they pretend to show a lot of concern.

And how can they be concerned?With a class of 40 to 60 students, one hardly gets time to know and help each student individually.While the management is busy churning out strategies to evade paying taxes and hiding black money in bogus accounts, the students are everlastingly ignored.At the same time, parents believing that they have finished their duty by paying schools fees, accuse their children of insincerity.

If the scenario continues to be the way it is, we will be seeing more and more of "dumb" students.Students that might know a lot but understand a little and can utilize nothing.Students that are qualificationally superior but ethically apathetic.Students who,trained in consumerism, care only about profit and loss and not about anything else.If this is to be prevented, we individually need to take responsibility to spread awareness about the capitalistic nature of most of the schools and vow to educate ourselves ,adopt a sceptical attitude and strive to become self-made.It is time to WAKE UP!!

Insight

Come the board exams and all hell breaks loose.Student helplines constantly ringing,newspapers filled with news about suicide attempts and the rise in the depression rate of students.The question is why so much fuss about a mere examination?Answer is quite simple.It is because we have been educated to treat everything like a means to an end and nothing else.It is because our learning is constantly led by either greed or fear.Greed to secure rewards/fame and fear of not doing well in life.And this takes out all the fun out of learning.

When we look at our books and the words, letters and sentences in it as dead objects incapable of bringing any significant transformation in our lives, we begin to find it boring.But a degree being a necessity to do well in lives and marks being a medium to 'prove' ourselves we strive to get marks.Some numbers on a piece of paper become an obsession...so severe that it causes depressions and suicides.But even if we manage to survive, the life doenst get any better.This mentality of treating everything as only a means to an end continues in the job.Everyday becomes hectic ,boring,lusterless,dull and prisonlike.....

If at all there is an urge to change things, the thinking must first change.Learning can be fun, it can be innovative ..ALIVE.Knowledge itself might not interesting, but if we combine it with out imagination to use it ,apply it,to alter the world around us,even if little, our learning becomes worth it.Creativity combined with knowledge can work wonders.Then learning no longer remains a chore, as you fall in love with it.Just as a 'not so famous' saying says:

Learning should be full of ideas instead of stuffed with facts

Friend In Need

Statistics show that student depressions are on the rise and what is worse is the hesitation the students face in seeking counselling from professionals or even friends.This has a pretty adverse effect on the life of the student as a whole.
With an aim to mitigate that situation ,I have asked for help from a consultant at SAATH (an ngo) to provide advise regarding Student Depression issues, parental pressures ,peer pressure etc.If you or any of your loved ones are facing any problems, study related , depression related, or otherwise and need support/help ,we at please write to us at my mail id jdthemaverick@gmail.com. We ,(a group of friends at Anpadhgenius), will strive to solve your problems.Your identity will remain anonymous in case you want it to be.
By getting involved in this initiative, you might be helping others as well as yourself.Please Spread the word.

Observing the Invisible

"This piece of land is a terrific deal..."says an amateur investor to his father "the area is posh, the prices are good...its a once in a lifetime opportunity".His father also an investor replies "But the police in the area is quite irresponsible...its prices might drop in the long run".Confused the boy asks his father "What has police got to do with realty..??"."Look son, if the police are not efficient it leads to increase in thefts and murders and other crime.It is then obvious that the people do not want to live in an area which is not safe...consequently the prices drop....".

There is a big difference between being literate and being educated.Literacy gives you the skill to read and write while education provides you with a mindset to look beyond what is visible.There are a number of places where this kind of thinking will be very useful

• Sitting for an interview if the candidate can grasp ,not the question, but what the question is asked to test, the candidate will crack it.



• Preparing for an exam if the ,by looking at the past papers, the student sees a pattern that is followed, exam becomes a cake-walk.



• Investing in realty,gold,mutual funds etc..if we can look at the factors that will affect the investment we can avoid many non-profitable deals.



• Negotiating with a person if we can comprehend,not his words, but his motives, we will not only understand the person better but might prevent a lot of troubles arising from misunderstandings

The list can be endless.History was created by people who saw what others did not.But the current education methods ,built on the herd mentality, impairs this skill in a student severely.Not being encouraged to question the rules and systems the institutions have invented kills the ability to grasp the 'why' of things.Understanding the 'why' of things gives us the power to solve all the problems and manipulate circumstances to our requirements.

As the school and college books dont teach us that we will need to take responsibility for our own education.And the only way to develop that skill is by being skeptical.Inquiring the reasons behind the protocols and deductive thinking is what will equip us to prosper....

Teachers Wanted!!!!

Every now and then we see ads in newspaper demanding qualifications like B.ed(for schools) and M.Phil(for colleges) but rarely do we see an ad demanding the most important requirement of teaching.......concern for the students.Teaching has become just an alternative for a job that,in people's opinion,demands minimum of efforts and least hassle.This type of notion has led education to the frustrating state it is presently in.
Some of the characteristics of teachers and professors in our college are:

• Too much arrogance to ADMIT their ignorance ...let alone working on it.
• An urging desire to get their egos pampered
• Utter lack of concern regarding betterment of students and their future
• Using verbal abuse as an important tool for teaching (thank god its not physical)
• Giving students meaningless writeups in the name of submissions.
• Using vivas as a tool to insult/demoralize students.
• Practising a grading system that is majorly based on impressions(the ability to flatter) rather than knowledge

The list can be endless.Most of the teachers in schools and colleges share their characteristics with those above mentioned.Some teachers in today's time even have a characteristic of ogling at the female students and others to the extent of molesting them.What is more fustrating is the parent's lack of intrest in their child's college/school.This has led to an alarming rise in student suicides ,teen violence, use of alchohol,cigarettes , drugs etc.....

Even if the institutes insist on treating educaton and learing as a business, we , their customers, should be allowed to draft ads in the newspapers like......

Teachers Wanted:

Lack of knowledge-not an issue but must not have a tendency to take out their frustrations on students and screw their lives.......

Jaago Grahak Jago!!!!