National Channel and Nelson Mandela

It was nice to watch a very interesting program about Nelson Mandela on our National Channel (TV) this morning. 18 July is his birthday. He was greatly influenced by legendary personalities like Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Martin Luther King Jr. In 1993, He and F W de Klerk jointly won their well deserved Nobel Peace Prize. 

Guru Pournima 2014

12 July was an important day for Hindus. It is known as Guru Pournima on which Shree Veda Vyaasa Maharishi, who wrote the great epic `Mahaabhaaratha', is worshiped. 

This evening I had the pleasure of watching a Bhajan performance by Anup Jalota, one of my most favourite Bhajan performers, on Sankara TV. (I remember with nostalgia as to how I happened to hear his "Rang de Chunaria" for the first time in a friend's house in South Africa many years back). 

Welcome, Mr Narendra Modi

I think that our new prime minister Mr Narendra Modi and his team will succeed in rooting out corruption completely. (I had the pleasure of working in Vadodara, a few years back. It was a nice experience to live in the city with very nominal auto-fares at a minimum tariff of Rs 7). 

Comedy programs on TV

Good comedy programs on TV have become rare these days. One comedy program which seems to be very interesting is telecast on Chandana. It involves common down-to-earth issues that surround many of our households. The lead actor who plays `Hanumantha Rao' acts excellently and so do others. They perform naturally with no over-action. Let me leave you with a few screenshots from one of the episodes of this comedy serial `Adechangaagi Kshamisi' (which I think is somewhat like that of R K Narayan's `Malgudi Days').

(I tried to provide a link to the program in accordance with the  hyperlinking policy of the channel, but couldn't).

  

It is good that the Delhi University versus University Grants Commission problem has ended amicably (according to last night's TV news reports) and that students can continue pursuing their 3 year degree programs.  

Degree in doldrums?

Recent confusion over Delhi University's decision to extend its 3 year degree courses by one more year is an example of how our decision makers in higher education systems function. DU should not follow what American Universities do without proper analysis and planning. Science curriculum that students study in their 1st and 2nd year of their 4 year Bachelor's degree Courses in the US and the one that students in our Higher Secondary Courses study are not very different in terms of sheer content. What makes the difference is in terms of quality. Every knowledgeable educator knows that what we have in our HS Courses is quantity without much quality (except in the Indian School Certificate Syllabus). I think that our decision makers in Education should make changes only after in-depth analysis of all relevant issues involved, including any possible impact on students.

Standards of recruitment and sub-standard textbooks

Last week I had a phone call from Orient Longman (Publishing Company), Chennai, in response to my email seeking a freelance editing position. (I sought a freelance position which would allow me to work from my home so that I can take care of my mother).

The guy asked me to let him know of a convenient date and time on which I could take an editorial test in their Office. I told him that I'd let him know after some time. He replied that he would call me in half an hour's time. But he didn't.

In 2008, I had applied for an editorial position at Oxford University Press, Chennai. I attended their editorial test. After a few days, I was called for an interview at a 5 star hotel in the city. The interviewer was an individual (no panel). This guy who was as old as I am, said that he didn't believe that a good writer could also be a good editor. The result of the interview was obvious: I was not selected. I heard that a young person with no experience in K-12 classroom teaching or curriculum development wasn't selected for reasons known to market (instead of quality) oriented K-12 textbook publishing industry.

Well, one of the main reasons as to why our textbooks are not as good as those developed in the West and countries such as Singapore may be that many of our textbook publishing companies are headed by non-academics.

When I was working in the Chennai regional office of Macmillan India Limited from 1998 to 2002, my regional vice-president (to whom I had to report) was a non-academic with no teaching or curriculum development experience. He had a lot of experience selling FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) other than school and college textbooks. Regional office of Orient Longman situated next door was headed by someone qualified in architecture. (Oddly enough, such a trend exists in many of our K-12 school systems, which are managed by people with no relevant experience in classroom teaching or educational administration).    

Our textbook publishing companies should aim at quality, plan appropriately and recruit right professionals at all levels so that our textbooks can be toned up in quality. Our textbook publishing industry has a lot to learn from Singapore and Western countries, develop stringent standards of recruitment and avert sub-standard textbooks. Otherwise, our textbooks may continue to contain conceptual and linguistic mistakes thereby misleading children (and teachers who don't have adequate time to review and develop their own lessons). 

Koorma Jayanti

Today is an auspicious day for Hindus. Once upon a time, Lord Shree Mahaa Vishnu incarnated as a tortoise on our planet. This day is celebrated as Kurma Jayanthi. `Kurma' means `tortoise' in  Sanskrit. 

Shree Narasimha Jayanthi

Today is a very auspicious day for Hindus worldwide. This is the day on which Shree Mahaa Vishnu incarnated as Shree Narasimha billions of years of back to destroy evil (Hiranyakashipu) and establish good (Prahlaada). This day is celebrated as Narasimha Jayanti.