This article has been due for a while. These days I have been busy beyond compare, with my work and academics. But, if you have to write something, you will, whatever be the case. With the same spirit I’m writing this article, amidst of a busy week.
Quite often than not, you see people neglecting others, but get offended when others start neglecting them. Everyone wants to be loved, cared and treated well. But how many people really are willing to show the same attitude towards others? Here’s a short story I had read as 10 years old, which throws some light on this subject matter. Guess these adages are more effective at that age and as we grow up, we tend to forget their importance and move on.
Once, a little boy named John went alone to woods. He hardly saw anyone there. This probably got him annoyed and he started uttering swear words, aloud. Quite to his astonishment, someone used the same swear words back at him. He felt terrible about being in the woods and returned home. He described his experience to his mom. His mom realized what went on in the woods and asked John to go back to the same woods and this time instead of swear words, asked him to try using some pleasant words. Little ones often follow what is taught to them blindly and the next day as expected he went to woods and started giving complements to the woods. In return, he heard the same complements back. John went back all happy this time and hugged his mother. His mother said, “This is how it works in life. When you use kind words at others, they will use kind words at you. When you do some good deeds to people, people will do some good to you. It’s simple, when you stand in front of mirror and make a frown face, obviously your reflection will not be smiling”
Probably, little John understood this dynamics of life, but alas, we grownups seem to have forgotten it. It will be only fair to expect others to behave in the same way, the way in which we behave with them. That’s life. The principle of echoing and mirroring may have got a lot to do with science, but this principle holds good in our day to day life as well.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Mother Tongue: A Natural Advnatage
After giving it a miss to post any article in the month of May, here I am back with this one. May was just too busy for me initially with academic work and later part with travel.
Well, it’s a long standing debate whether a child learns better in mother tongue or not? This view point is extremely important from our country’s perspective as an overwhelming majority of students do not study in their mother tongue. For most, there is no alternate to English, when it’s a question of successful career for their future generation. Of course factors such as globalization, our ties with US and the never ending colonial effect, make English the de facto choice as the medium of study.
But well, what’s the thing which we lose out when we go in for English, or any other language which is not our mother tongue, for learning. Regardless of how many languages one speaks, it’s a known fact that humans internally translate every language into their mother tongue and understand it. Enough practice makes a person good at a language and masks the mother tongue impact, with time. But, then, there is this extra effort. So, along with the learning effort, the internal translation effort also needs to be considered. But we can do little or nothing about it as this is the lesser evil among the available choices.
There is probably one alternative which I remember reading in an article by Swaminathan Aiyar (a noted Economist and Columnist with the Times of India), which didn’t appeal to me then. That was to make children learn in their mother tongue until their fourth grade and when they seem to understand things better, switch over to English. Today, I find this solution more appealing because of an incident that I experienced recently. While attending a seminar in one of the courses I have opted for, an American student who is technically sound, delivered a seminar effortlessly. His communication (obviously in his mother tongue), but not his technical skills, made that seminar sound outstanding. I have seen several other International students, who are technically as good as he was, but cannot do, as good a job in delivering a lecture. Probably not being able to speak in their first language does them in. I would say, I envy the Brits and the Americans, who by several means and past history have left others with no choice than to learn their mother tongue. This probably is going to keep others second in the race, all the time, because of the obvious advantages.
Well, it’s a long standing debate whether a child learns better in mother tongue or not? This view point is extremely important from our country’s perspective as an overwhelming majority of students do not study in their mother tongue. For most, there is no alternate to English, when it’s a question of successful career for their future generation. Of course factors such as globalization, our ties with US and the never ending colonial effect, make English the de facto choice as the medium of study.
But well, what’s the thing which we lose out when we go in for English, or any other language which is not our mother tongue, for learning. Regardless of how many languages one speaks, it’s a known fact that humans internally translate every language into their mother tongue and understand it. Enough practice makes a person good at a language and masks the mother tongue impact, with time. But, then, there is this extra effort. So, along with the learning effort, the internal translation effort also needs to be considered. But we can do little or nothing about it as this is the lesser evil among the available choices.
There is probably one alternative which I remember reading in an article by Swaminathan Aiyar (a noted Economist and Columnist with the Times of India), which didn’t appeal to me then. That was to make children learn in their mother tongue until their fourth grade and when they seem to understand things better, switch over to English. Today, I find this solution more appealing because of an incident that I experienced recently. While attending a seminar in one of the courses I have opted for, an American student who is technically sound, delivered a seminar effortlessly. His communication (obviously in his mother tongue), but not his technical skills, made that seminar sound outstanding. I have seen several other International students, who are technically as good as he was, but cannot do, as good a job in delivering a lecture. Probably not being able to speak in their first language does them in. I would say, I envy the Brits and the Americans, who by several means and past history have left others with no choice than to learn their mother tongue. This probably is going to keep others second in the race, all the time, because of the obvious advantages.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Unending Love
Felt like posting something, but couldn't write anything on my own. What better than An awesome poem, by the great Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, would do! Written in 1890 this master piece gives so much warmth when you read it...
I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times…In life after life, in age after age, forever.My spellbound heart has made and remade the necklace of songs,That you take as a gift, wear round your neck in your many forms,In life after life, in age after age, forever.
Whenever I hear old chronicles of love, it's age-old pain,It's ancient tale of being apart or together.As I stare on and on into the past, in the end you emerge,Clad in the light of a pole-star piercing the darkness of time:You become an image of what is remembered forever.
You and I have floated here on the stream that brings from the fount.At the heart of time, love of one for another.We have played along side millions of lovers, shared in the same Shy sweetness of meeting, the same distressful tears of farewell-Old love but in shapes that renew and renew forever.
Today it is heaped at your feet, it has found its end in youThe love of all man’s days both past and forever:Universal joy, universal sorrow, universal life.The memories of all loves merging with this one love of ours – And the songs of every poet past and forever.
I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times…In life after life, in age after age, forever.My spellbound heart has made and remade the necklace of songs,That you take as a gift, wear round your neck in your many forms,In life after life, in age after age, forever.
Whenever I hear old chronicles of love, it's age-old pain,It's ancient tale of being apart or together.As I stare on and on into the past, in the end you emerge,Clad in the light of a pole-star piercing the darkness of time:You become an image of what is remembered forever.
You and I have floated here on the stream that brings from the fount.At the heart of time, love of one for another.We have played along side millions of lovers, shared in the same Shy sweetness of meeting, the same distressful tears of farewell-Old love but in shapes that renew and renew forever.
Today it is heaped at your feet, it has found its end in youThe love of all man’s days both past and forever:Universal joy, universal sorrow, universal life.The memories of all loves merging with this one love of ours – And the songs of every poet past and forever.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Ineffective Symbolism
It’s again been a while since I posted some stuff here. These days, I read a lot of interesting stuff, yet am not able to express my views or add on something to it. Partly, I need to blame twitter, which is super short and convenient way to express opinions or make comments. Yet, the fun of writing an article is unparalleled.Here, I have written about two of the latest trends that caught a lot of attention in neoteric media. One, about the ‘Earth Hour’ and two, about the ongoing debate about ‘bottled water’.
For beginners, ‘Earth Hour’ began in 2007, in Sydney where in most businesses and homes turned off lights for an hour. This was initiated by World Wide Fund for Nature. Well, now the question arises on why it’s done and how does it help our planet earth? A partial information from Internet about it reads out like this “Earth Hour is known to result in drop of energy consumption. But not one power generating station has reported lowered production of energy. Statistically, this relates to a zero effect on change of carbon emissions.” In Indian context, we don’t really need to participate in ‘Earth Hour’ as such. Our cities consume negligible amount of energy as opposed to cities like New York, Sydney or San Francisco. This is mere symbolic gesture which creates some media sensation, but is of no real use. We all were taught that drops of water makes the mighty ocean. So, instead of displaying this symbolism, why can’t these major cities do something on a regular basis to curtail the energy consumption? My point is simple… By doing one good deed per year, you are not going address any issues. Do it on a regular basis and work effectively. This holds good for everyone at every juncture.
After ‘Earth Hour’ drama, the ‘bottled water’ saga is making rounds. It does have some substance. Like facts such as just one in every five bottle is recycled, millions of barrels of fuel is burnt in producing bottled water, et al. That accepted, but unsubstantial claims like drinking bottled water would make your bones brittle, would make you more vulnerable to diseases are again media sensationalism. Bottled water is one such thing, which cannot be done away with. In our country, the tap water is definitely not safe. In such a case, how can we stop drinking bottled water? Just because Shekhar Kapur is making a movie called ‘Paani’ and has made some interesting observation, we cannot buy everything he wishes to sell. For that matter, driving cars is a big evil as so much fuel is burnt and so much pollution is caused. So, have we given up driving cars and instead prefer bullock-carts as a more environment friendly mode of transport. We require modernization. If modernization brings in some negative impact, we cannot stop it. Instead we need to find smarter solutions to such problem.
Any solution that is offered to address such issues should not be mere symbolic or too impractical to implement. The trick lies in our understanding of the issue and resolving it in such a way that we not only make progress, but also don’t harm our planet.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Mind Without Fear
An interesting poem by the great Rabindranath Tagore, which suits to the current situation of the world, and probably beyond!
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up
into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action---
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up
into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action---
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The Two Diminishing Communities
Year 2010, the Chinese year of Tiger, has seen some efforts from our Government as well as people to save two special communities that are feared to be extinct in years to come. The Parsis and the Tigers.Apart from decreasing numbers, there are some other similarities in between the Parsi community and the Tigers. Like Tiger is our national animal, the Parsis introduced us to our national symbol, cricket, which is more of a religion in our country. Like the Tiger attracts a host of foreigners, the Parsi business houses such as the Tata’s, the Godrej, the Mistry’s etc have managed to attract a lot of foreign investment.
The underlying reason for both the problem is urbanization and modernization. Let me start pointing out the reasons for the acute decrease in the number of Tigers in our country. Firstly, with human population explosion (no wonder ours is truly a land of Kama Sutra) forests have been on decline and the concrete jungles are fast replacing the real ones. This affects the natural habitat of the Tigers. Also, the human greed to make business out of anything possible, Tigers have been poached for their skin. With guns being invented, hunting-for-bravery became a great hobby, which considerably contributed in reducing the Tiger population.
Even before we achieved our Independence, Parsis were among the most influential people in our society. Their uncanny ability, be it in business, science or law, their inherited wealth and their life style, set them a cut above the rest. Mahatma Gandhi once quoted “In numbers Parsis are beneath contempt, but in contribution, beyond compare” That’s how each Parsi-run business house has made India proud in ways more than one. Then why this community suddenly started declining in numbers. Obviously with such a background, they acquired modern thinking. Modern thinking for most of us means a blind imitation of the west. This resulted in high divorce rate and some people opted-out of the institution of marriage. This sort of individualistic and modern attitude probably resulted in catastrophic consequences.
A recent study by a scholar from a reputed business school in the US shows that the self-oriented values (such as comfortable life, exciting life, pleasure, social recognition, capable, intellectual, social power, daring, and others) becoming more important, while others-oriented values (such as true friendship, wisdom, helpful, loving, polite, sense of belonging, loyal, honoring parents and elders) becoming less important.
I have observed this is phenomena in the present generation. But it would be wise to foresee the consequences, before it gets too late. The reducing number of Parsis and Tigers, tale should serve as an eye-opener to us. Remember, modernization means a progressive advance, which would make us, as well as our future generation, proud and not a mindless growth which would eventually cause the fear of extinction!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Relative Choice!
Before you read this one, want all my readers to know that this is NOT my original work. I’m rewriting a story which I had heard as a teenager (ages back). The story goes something like this…
Eons ago, there lived a king in Greece. He was known for his administrative skills and his generosity. But he had this policy, if he felt something was good for him, he would enforce that as a law and expected people to practice it religiously.
Going by these lines, he got a bed made of gold, for his special guests. He ordered the length of the bed to be exactly 5ft 7inches. Once the bed was ready, he took the test nap and felt that bed was the best ever on which one could sleep, as he exactly 5ft 7inches tall. So anyone who would be his special guest was expected to sleep on that bed. Then how did he manage to solve the problem of fitting in either taller or shorter people, on that bed. Simple, he created this rule, if someone was taller, his legs would be chopped off or if someone was shorter wooden piece equivalent to the difference in length, would be nailed into the guest’s legs. Over a period of time, there were instances of both, shorter and taller guest, suffering from this idiocy of the king. Yet, a couple of them who measured 5ft 7inches enjoyed the king’s hospitality.
This goes on to show only one thing. “What is perfect for one, maybe harmful to others. What is most harmful to some maybe perfectly suitable for some one else” Another conclusion some sages have drawn from this adage is that “Creating rules and expecting everyone to fit into it is the biggest mistake in the history of mankind” Most choices in life are relative and that’s the way it should be! Generalization seldom works.
Though we have come a long time, this concept of generalizing things has hardly changed. Take this example… Just ask some of your friends, “Would it be wise to live in the US or in India?” Blindly, an over whelming majority of them will hum “Of course! US” Truth is, neither the US nor India is a perfect paradise. It all depends on your preferences and priorities. By rigidly holding onto a mindless notion, ignoring personal preferences and expecting people to abide by it, are we not making mockery of our (so called) evolved society?
Eons ago, there lived a king in Greece. He was known for his administrative skills and his generosity. But he had this policy, if he felt something was good for him, he would enforce that as a law and expected people to practice it religiously.
Going by these lines, he got a bed made of gold, for his special guests. He ordered the length of the bed to be exactly 5ft 7inches. Once the bed was ready, he took the test nap and felt that bed was the best ever on which one could sleep, as he exactly 5ft 7inches tall. So anyone who would be his special guest was expected to sleep on that bed. Then how did he manage to solve the problem of fitting in either taller or shorter people, on that bed. Simple, he created this rule, if someone was taller, his legs would be chopped off or if someone was shorter wooden piece equivalent to the difference in length, would be nailed into the guest’s legs. Over a period of time, there were instances of both, shorter and taller guest, suffering from this idiocy of the king. Yet, a couple of them who measured 5ft 7inches enjoyed the king’s hospitality.
This goes on to show only one thing. “What is perfect for one, maybe harmful to others. What is most harmful to some maybe perfectly suitable for some one else” Another conclusion some sages have drawn from this adage is that “Creating rules and expecting everyone to fit into it is the biggest mistake in the history of mankind” Most choices in life are relative and that’s the way it should be! Generalization seldom works.
Though we have come a long time, this concept of generalizing things has hardly changed. Take this example… Just ask some of your friends, “Would it be wise to live in the US or in India?” Blindly, an over whelming majority of them will hum “Of course! US” Truth is, neither the US nor India is a perfect paradise. It all depends on your preferences and priorities. By rigidly holding onto a mindless notion, ignoring personal preferences and expecting people to abide by it, are we not making mockery of our (so called) evolved society?
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Humility
I'm writing here after a while. My schedule has been packed with work and academics. Along with these, some short-term and long-term planning has also contributed in keeping me off from writing! Phew...
The latest inspiration of this article comes from my Professor, whose wisdom, be it any walk of life, is unquestioned, has a plethora of information, helpful yet unbelievably modest. Not only computer science, but you could take some of the best lessons on humility from him.
I have always observed this astonishing phenomenon. Mostly, the brightest student in class is very humble and helpful (however exceptions are prevalent). But the 'so called' or 'self proclaimed' intelligent ones are exactly opposite of it. Same probably is true with teachers. The best ones don't want to force you respect them by scaring you, but they 'earn' it by the aura they carry around them. Even offices are no different. A situation where your Project Lead is very harsh, Project Manager is gentle and his boss is very friendly, is not very uncommon.
My father, who is wise and well-read, is another such person who often inspires me by his humility. People in his age group tend to brag about their past glories and wisdom. I have never seen him indulging in such behavior. He leads by example, instead of lecturing, indirectly forcing you to admire him.
I was just wondering, is it that high status, success teaches such people to be humble. Or is because these people have always shown humility they have risen in ranks? As a sign off quote for this article, I selected this one… "Always be humble to people on your way up, you never know when you will meet them on your way down"
The latest inspiration of this article comes from my Professor, whose wisdom, be it any walk of life, is unquestioned, has a plethora of information, helpful yet unbelievably modest. Not only computer science, but you could take some of the best lessons on humility from him.
I have always observed this astonishing phenomenon. Mostly, the brightest student in class is very humble and helpful (however exceptions are prevalent). But the 'so called' or 'self proclaimed' intelligent ones are exactly opposite of it. Same probably is true with teachers. The best ones don't want to force you respect them by scaring you, but they 'earn' it by the aura they carry around them. Even offices are no different. A situation where your Project Lead is very harsh, Project Manager is gentle and his boss is very friendly, is not very uncommon.
My father, who is wise and well-read, is another such person who often inspires me by his humility. People in his age group tend to brag about their past glories and wisdom. I have never seen him indulging in such behavior. He leads by example, instead of lecturing, indirectly forcing you to admire him.
I was just wondering, is it that high status, success teaches such people to be humble. Or is because these people have always shown humility they have risen in ranks? As a sign off quote for this article, I selected this one… "Always be humble to people on your way up, you never know when you will meet them on your way down"
Friday, January 8, 2010
Cubbon Park
To any Bangalorean, Cubbon Park is such a familiar name. Though it would not be fair to compare the Cubbon Park with the Central Park located in Manhattan, it would not be completely unfair to make comparison in between their respective statures in their respective cities.
I have always loved Cubbon Park and visited this place numerous times, at various times of a day. This is what my observation revealed. If you happen to go there by morning, you will see a bunch of rich people who drive miles in their posh cars for their morning walk. A little while later, the young and vibrant employees who work in fancy locations use this road as a ‘short-cut’ to reach their offices. A little later, by around 11:00, that is when the people from small villages around Bangalore visit this place, either for picnic or as a getaway with their ‘could-be’ soul-mate. This is the scene till evening, until IT sector employees get back from office. After that time, people who want a shady place for shady activities are commonly found here.
What amazes me is; why the naïve population from villages doesn’t feel like coming over for a morning walk in Cubbon Park. Or why the rich don’t make this place their getaway during day time, instead of a park restricted only for their morning walk. If shady activates are prevalent during late evening, why nothing is done to stop it? Well I never found any logical answers to these questions. To me, Cubbon Park will always be a place where I can sit peacefully and think calmly, when I’m distressed. In fact I composed this entire article sitting there.
If you are wondering, why I posted this article now, the answer is… I had written this article back in June 2009, with some editing needed. This time my New Year resolution was to give up procrastination and nail down incomplete tasks. That’s exactly what I’m doing now!
Wish all my readers a very happy 2010 and beyond!
I have always loved Cubbon Park and visited this place numerous times, at various times of a day. This is what my observation revealed. If you happen to go there by morning, you will see a bunch of rich people who drive miles in their posh cars for their morning walk. A little while later, the young and vibrant employees who work in fancy locations use this road as a ‘short-cut’ to reach their offices. A little later, by around 11:00, that is when the people from small villages around Bangalore visit this place, either for picnic or as a getaway with their ‘could-be’ soul-mate. This is the scene till evening, until IT sector employees get back from office. After that time, people who want a shady place for shady activities are commonly found here.
What amazes me is; why the naïve population from villages doesn’t feel like coming over for a morning walk in Cubbon Park. Or why the rich don’t make this place their getaway during day time, instead of a park restricted only for their morning walk. If shady activates are prevalent during late evening, why nothing is done to stop it? Well I never found any logical answers to these questions. To me, Cubbon Park will always be a place where I can sit peacefully and think calmly, when I’m distressed. In fact I composed this entire article sitting there.
If you are wondering, why I posted this article now, the answer is… I had written this article back in June 2009, with some editing needed. This time my New Year resolution was to give up procrastination and nail down incomplete tasks. That’s exactly what I’m doing now!
Wish all my readers a very happy 2010 and beyond!
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