It was nice to hear from two of my best friends in the past week. These two gentlemen are a generation apart by age and worked with me in different periods of time. One of them is Jos. He and I taught at a school in Bhutan from 1978 to 1981. We are nearly of the same age. The other is Sreejith. He is a brilliant young flash programmer in his late '20s (or early '30s). He and I worked in an e-learning Company in Madras a few years back. Today is Sreejith's birthday. 

Wish you a very happy birthday and many happy returns of the day, Sreejith.

Science in a social context: Speeding train and centripetal force

Educationists all over the world agree that basic education is important to all people. It is reflected in K-12 school systems that include core sciences and social sciences across the curriculum. It is also generally agreed that not only professionals taking up scientific or technical careers but also skilled and semi-skilled workforce needs to be well versed in basic science concepts and their practical applications that are useful to communities. If we teach the applicability aspect of textbook concepts effectively to students in K-12, it is possible that they become scientifically literate.

Day before yesterday there was a newspaper report about an accident due to derailment of a high speed train in Spain. In middle school physics, we come across a concept known as `centripetal force'. This force acts on all objects that travel in curved paths. The force increases when the object's mass or square of its velocity increases. In this accident, the velocity seems to have doubled. This means that the square of the velocity has increased four fold. This means an enormous increase in the centripetal force which would have probably derailed the train as illustrated in this example.  

I think that it is important not only to learn textbook concepts but also analyse their application aspects and use them for the benefit of communities. It is good if people in responsible positions such as the driver of this train understand basic science concepts and apply their knowledge to avert accidents.

Nearly 30 years back, there was an interesting science curricular project in the UK known as `Science In a Social Context' (popularly known as SISCON) that worked with applicability aspects of textbook science concepts.

If I were still teaching Physics in a high school today, I would have asked my students to discuss the news report from their physics point of view.

I share a viewpoint shared by most people in our country (India): Though we have law and order rules and regulations on paper, in reality our country remains to be one of those topping the list of corrupt countries if we go by authentic multinational sources of information. Well, every community has good and evil people and every country is corrupt to some extent. The density of corrupt people and corrupt organisations in a country (or in any community for that matter) makes all the difference.

I was recruited by a Delhi based K-12 Educational Software Company (with its Main Office in the US) last September as Curriculum Specialist on a reasonably decent salary and perks (which I demanded) and worked as hard as possible and to the best of my knowledge and abilities (even on Sundays). I was provided with a proper written Agreement between me and the Company. 

But, after working for several months, communication channels between me and the MD of the Company (to whom I reported on almost daily basis via Skype) ceased. Moreover, the Company didn't pay my salary for a few months (Rs 40 000 per month is not a small amount).

I communicated to my employer over phone, by email as well as via Skype but never received any response. One fine morning the Company removed its presence from the World Wide Web. 

I communicated to all officials concerned explaining what happened and seeking justice. However none of them including Delhi Police, have responded.

I think that our law and order agencies including Police and Justice Departments should strive to implement law and order strictly in practice.

History TV18 and The Eagles

On past Friday and Saturday, History TV18 telecast a 2 episodes show on `The Eagles', one of the most famous rock music bands of the '70s and '80s. I'm sure it would have brought back acoustic memories of `Wood Stock' reflecting psychedelic lighting, flamboyant musicians and electric guitars to numerous people of my age group who were in their 20s and 30s then. That was a time when hippie cult was popular among youngsters in general and drug addicted guys and gals in particular, with many of them turning towards spirituality. Probably that was the time when West to East migration was at its maximum.

I was so interested in the band's music that I used some of their songs with good lyrics in my ESL classes.         

As I write this post, though my Googling `The Eagles' isn't difficult, downloading their videos or songs certainly is (due to the limited digital capability of my humble notebook).

As all Western rock music fans would know, it is not uncommon to find numerous bands performing not only their own songs but also those by popular bands such as The Eagles. Let me leave you with a rendering of `Hotel California' (which propelled The Eagles to popularity) by one such rock band.

UNESCO World Heritage Session in Phnom Penh

UNESCO World Heritage Committee's 37th session was held from 16 to 27 June in Cambodia. Hope you like the webcast of the sessions that includes Cambodian music performed by popular local artistes. Some of these songs took me on a nostalgic virtual journey to Phnom Penh and other places in Cambodia. Hope you like them too. 

Newspaper nuisance

I find Sunday supplements of newspapers to be more interesting than newspapers themselves because of less political content and commercials. But nowadays even these seem to be deteriorating in standards with meaningless write ups such as this one.  

Sometimes people don't like us when we they do something wrong and we tell them that what they do is wrong. I think that this is true with all effective principals. However, I think that some times school principals need to be tough if school quality is to be maintained. It is interesting to read a Fiji based newspaper report that endorses my viewpoint. 

Koorma Jayanthi

Today is an important day in the Hindu calender. It was on this day that Shree Mahaa Vishnu took avatar as Koorma and protected Vedas (Hindu scriptures) from demons during Churning of the Ocean. During the process, Shree Shiva drank the poison that emerged in the churning in the beginning, to protect all creations of The Almighty. Shiva contained the poison in his throat and that is why He is also known as Neela Kanta (Kanta meaning throat and Neela meaning poison).

Sculptural depiction of Churning of the Ocean can be seen not only in Hindu temples in India but also in many countries such as Cambodia in South East Asia with strong religious, economic and cultural ties dating back to 12 century A.D. Let me leave you with a photograph of Angkor Wat, one of the most important remnants of history, built by king Suryavarman II in Siem Riep province of Cambodia, during his regime from 1112 to 1152 A.D . It was basically built and worshiped as a temple of Shree Mahaa Vishnu on a 500 acres land. Those who have visited this UNESCO heritage site would have seen wall sculptures that depict scenes from Hindu scriptures. These sculptures include Churning of the Ocean and Koorma Avathaara.

Angkor Wat

  

Nrusimha Jayanthi

Today is a very important day in the Hindu calender and is celebrated as Nrusimha Jayanthi. It was on this day when Shree Mahaa Vishnu took avataar as Shree Nrusimhaa to kill the demon king Hiranyakashipu and protect the king's son `Shree Prahlaada', one of the greatest devotees of Shree Mahaa Vishnu.

Hiranyakashipu didn't believe when Prahlaada said that Shree Vishnu shines in each and every object including the pillar nearby. When the demon king kicked the pillar out of anger, Shree Mahaa Vishnu emerged immediately in his ferocious form as Nrusimha, plucked Hiranyakashipu, placed him on his laps, tore him, killed him instantly thereby establishing good over evil.

Though Shree Mahaa Vishnu never needed to come from His Abode in Vaikuntaa to planet Earth to kill Hiranyakashipu, it is said that He did so to prove what Prahlaada had always said. In other words, His Almighty proved that his devotee's faith was well founded.    

Stories for children

Though many people call themselves as `story tellers' for children and market their stories flamboyantly, any adult with reasonable sense of judgement would find that many of these stories are junk.

I view it not as a phenomenon confined to any one community or nation, but as a common infection affecting the world at large. (A few years back, a children's novel written by a South Africa based female writer of British origin gained international popularity. As with most novels in the Western hemisphere, a wide range of multimedia versions of the novel followed. I have seen many of my colleagues and friends taking pride that their children liked the material.  Not many people would have known that the ideas contained in the novel were copied from ancient Indian texts and were not the author's own).

This morning's `Young World'  supplement of THE HINDU newspaper as usual contained a few stories and the usual marketing stuff from the so called `child - friendly' material development companies (about some of which I have mentioned in my previous posts). 

Sometimes we judge about a person from what people say without realizing that these people may have projected a wrong or exaggerated image of the person.

It is common knowledge that when some information about someone keeps spreading from one person to another, fabrication etc. get into the communication channel, depending upon how good or bad are the people involved in spreading the information.

We may sometimes find that our value judgement about a person is wrong once we get to know about the person from our own experience instead of simply believing what others say.

Two stories published in today's Young World reflect this fact excellently. The first one (`Doosra') outlines how Uncle Patnaik's skewed notion about shoe-shine boys gets straightened. The second one (`Mayuri Express') shows how Ankita's pre-conceived notion about her step-mother turns out to be wrong. Interestingly, these stories illustrate that people of any age can form wrong perceptions about others.

After reading the above two stories, I couldn't help reading Nimi Kurien's Just a taste of honey. But to be honest, I could understand neither the content nor what the writer tries to convey. (If this is the case with a professional with near native competence in English, I wonder how it will be to children). I think that it is important for people like Nimi Kurien to empathize with prospective readers, set clear objectives and write in simple English so that the story is not only interesting but also meaningful in the fullest sense. If they can't do these, it is better not to write.

Any story for children should contain a moral for children to follow. Otherwise, the material would be nothing but trash.     

I wish Ramendra Kumar and Rachna Chhabria write more such stories and if possible, get them published as books so that numerous children (and adults) can derive the benefit.