Is anyone out there hearing this message loud and clear?

It is amazing how much an improvement in the earning capacity mobile phones have brought in for the poor in India. The mobile penetration and the low rates have done much more to empower the auto driver, the priest, the jasmine seller, vegetable vendor, the house maid, the petty shop owner, the plumber, the electrician than any NREG or Nehru Rozgar Yojana scheme that the government uses to dole out freebies. To say the truth, the poor have leveraged the mobile much much more than the educated and the rich in India to further their economic interest. For them, it is a tool to earn more rather than a social networking tool. And that is as it should be. The mobile revolution has also enabled them to network professionally for now each one of them has created a network of other trade craftsmen/women to offer an integrated service to their clients. And they have not done a MBA to understand this concept. This stresses the importance of having better grass root level infrastructure to eradicate poverty rather than taking the route of welfare economics.

Is anyone out there hearing this message loud and clear?

Irregular blogging

Blogging will be a bit irregular for the next one week or so. Kindly bear with me

Mr.President and Madam Prime Minister

Eyebrows have been raised about the Congress ticket to the President Pratibha Patil's son Rajendra for the Maharashtra assembly elections, with the local Congress leaders rebelling against the party. But few know that the real power centre within Rashtrapati Bhavan is the President's spouse Devi Singh Shekhawat, better known as Hukum. The Thakur and a former Professor hailing from Rajasthan had earlier sparked a controversy when he insisted that he should walk ahead of the President as was the ritual in his native state. He was gently reminded about the Presidential protocol and he backed off. While rumors have been doing on the Raisina Hill about the President's spouse's erratic behaviour, insiders say that bureaucrats in Maharashtra have been called up at the behest of Shekhawat telling them Mr President wanted to speak. So with Mr President exercising real powers, it is hardly surprising that the local Congress leaders wouldn't dare to ignore a call from the Mr President seeking a ticket for the son to contest the elections - ( Source : India Today)

Thus we have a Mr.President to compliment the Madam Prime Minister or should I say, Madam Super Prime Minister?

Did I not read somewhere in Management books that there should not be Authority without Responsibility?

Post Mortem and course change

Though one should not read too much into one defeat against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy, the defeat is a pointer to certain basic fault lines in the current Indian Side.

True, we went in without Sehwag, Yuvraj and Zaheer. Still, one needs to question the wisdom of packing the team with the so called 'aggressive' batsmen for the one day team. Rahul Dravid, till he was tragically run out by Harbhajan, did maintain the chase and remember India at that stage wanted only 67 from 49 balls.

This brings to question as to why we are not going in for conventional batsmen, but tend to pack the side with 'hitters'. There is hardly anyone who can build an innings barring Rahul and Sachin. And Rahul is just back from a hibernation. Yuvraj, Raina, Rohit and now Kohli all sustain their place in the team by playing one brilliant innings out of 5. Maybe we can give an exemption for Yuvraj, but then he had more chances than what he actually deserved at one point in his career. Opportunities denied to others. Whatever happened to S.Badrinath? Here is a batsmen who was with the team and played a match winning cameo last time (perhaps the only time he was given a decent chance). We didnt give him opportunities when he was scoring runs by the ton. Now, it could just be another case of a bright talent poorly handled. Or is it something to do with Dhoni and Badri not getting along well? There are rumours to that effect floating around for a while. M Vijay is another lovely stroke player opener who again did well when he was selected for the Test Team. Pushing Vijay up with Gambhir with SRT, Dravid, Badri and Dhoni to follow would have been ideal. Then there is the strange case of Mohd. Kaif. We have invested so much in Kaif that surely he deserves another look in. In fact any one is better than Raina, a much pampered blue eyed boy of Indian Cricket along with Rohit Sharma. And Dinesh Karthik has no place in the national team as a pure batsman nor does Yusuf Pathan. Pray tell me when did Yusuf Pathan score a decent 50 last time around in a one day match and he really released the pressure by bowling loosely when Pakistan were 130 for 3.

Dhoni has to understand that he needs 5 quality bowlers to win matches. Harbhajan is proving to be a liability. True, he took a fiver in the final against Srilanka, but that was after donkeys years. Anyone who is a threat to Harbhajan is quickly sidelined. It happened to Kumble, Murali Karthik and now Pragyan Ojha. Ojha was magnificiently attacking when he bowled last for India, but he is in the dust bin now. We need an away spinner, either Ojha or Amit Mishra, the big hearted leg spinner. Definitely, Sehwag and Yuvraj are not the answers to the 5th bowlers slot, not Yusuf Pathan. One might argue that we need an extra batsmen. For what? The old adage that "if 5 plus the wicket keeper batsman cannot win matches then the extra batsman is not going to" holds good.

Now comes the saddest part of the story. The much acclaimed pace attack of India. What Praveen Kumar is doing in that line up, only the selectors and Dhoni can tell. He, with Karthik in the 14 has severely limited Indias options should they want a change. Nehra has been a yo-yo. Brilliant one day but leaks runs, as does RP Singh. Dhonis brain wave to bowl the quickest bowler Ishant as first change is a clanger, to say the least Your fastest bowler should bowl first up- there is no question about it. And what happened to Sreesanth? No one in their right mind can say Praveen Kumar or even Nehra is a better option than Sreesanth. True, his antics are atrocious. But that is something that should be handled easily by the bloated support staff. If they cant do some simple man management, then they should not be there in the first place, and we have a sports psychologist to boot. It was clear that Sreesanth will never be picked for India again after Harbhajan slapped him, for it is well known in Indian circles that Harbhajan and Sachin are great chums and between them they have ensured Sreesanth is kept out. Sreesanth is a rare talent, that has been handled badly by himself, the team and the board. It is likely he will end up like Karthik, Maninder, Sadanand Viswanath and Sivaramakrishnan - all mavericks.

If Sehwag and Yuvi are fit, then the team should be

Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Zaheer, Sreesanth, Ishanth, Ojha and Harbhajan, with back up in Badri, Kaif, Vijay, R P Singh and Amit Mishra

In their absence, the team should be

Vijay, Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar, Badri, Dhoni, Ishanth, Sreesanth, Ojha, Harbhajan and R P Singh - with Rohit Sharma (he is a wonderful talent but has a lousy attitude), Kaif, Mishra and Nehra as back up

Mission Impossible or are we seeing the light at the end of a very dark tunnel?

Moily's 'Mission': Cut case life from 15 years to 1 year

Law minister Veerappa Moily is attempting the unthinkable -- reducing the life of litigation from an average 15 years at present to one year, and that too in just three years from now.

The `Mission Document', which his ministry is preparing to be used as a `roadmap' for judicial reforms, backs up this high-spirited plan with measures like setting up 5,000 new courts across the country that will work in three shifts -- morning, day and evening. "The infrastructure will remain the same but we will get the work of 15,000 courts to liquidate the 2.74 crore cases, which are pending in trial courts clogging the wheels of justice and entailing a litigant's endless wait for a decision in his case," Moily said.

To start with, there will be Gram Nyayalays, which will be functional from Gandhi Jayanti on October 2 this year, he said. "In the coming three years, we will set up 5,000 more courts with a clear mandate that from the time of filing of a case till its decision, no more than six months time should be taken," he said and hoped that a substantial percentage of the pendency would be wiped off. These additional courts will be backed by a solid case management plan that includes clubbing identical cases. Importantly, a judge cannot keep his judgment reserved for a long time.

"While cutting down delay in completing the trial procedure for each case, there will be a time limit put on every judge to deliver his verdict," Moily said, adding, "The time limit for giving judgments after completion of hearing will also be applicable to judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court."

In making functional the additional 5,000 courts, the services of retired judges will be requisitioned both in the trial courts and the High Courts, which are also reeling under a pendency of nearly 40 lakh cases. A retired district judge, whose services are requisitioned, could expect a fixed pay of Rs 50,000 per month (Source : Times of India)

"We will train and equip trial court judges, provide them with laptops. Information technology will play a huge role in faster disposal of cases with the help of additional courts," Moily said.

Can he pull this audacious scheme off? If he can achieve 50% of what he aims to, he should be given a Bharat Ratna. Any change for the better in our judicial system is welcome.

Impropriety at its worst

Rajendra Shekhawat, son of President Pratibha Patil was in the list of the 159 candidates announced by the Congress for Maharashtra Assembly polls - Though, as a registered voter of Maharashtra, there is nothing to prevent him from contesting the Assembly elections, questions have to be asked as to how proper is it for the incumbent Presidents son to be a canidate of a political party. Can an ordinary citizen be faulted if he were to question the Presidents neutrality viz a viz the ruling party. This is disgusting to say the least.

But this is not the first time an incumbent Presidents son has contested. Way back in 1970s, the then President V V Giri's son, Shankar Giri won on Congress ticket from Madhya Pradesh. It is no coincidence that it took another 30 years and A P J Abdul Kalam to bring back the dignity of the Presidents office.

And we have the absurd case of M S Gill, the Chief Election Commissioner, another Constitutional head, getting elected to Rajya Sabha on a Congress ticket and then becoming the Minister for Sports and youth affairs.

We should draw a line somewhere or else people will lose faith in our democratic institutions. Congress, more than any other party, has systematically destroyed many democratic institutions.

Have we really progressed?

This is how our grand parents lived 50 years ago. Agraharam comprising of houses with common walls in a linear manner.



And this is how we live today! Apartments comprising of houses with common walls on both the sides and on top & bottom stacked vertically.

Can we call this progress?

Considering the social advantages one had living in an agraharam that meant community living, the isolated life in an apartment is akin to a prison.

Burying one's head in the sand will get us nowhere

Prime Minister Manmohan today said that the media was playing up the reports of Chinese incursions across the border out of proportions - Here is a belligerent neighbour intruding into Indian territory and creating havoc in Arunachal Pradesh. It is no denying that China has intruded into the Indian Airspace and into Indian Territory. Even if they have so much as landed one foot into our territory, we should repulse it with all our might. That is what any 'self respecting' country in the world will do. But then our honourable Prime Minister do not know the meaning of the word 'self respect'.

We have been burying our heads into the sand for a long time now. For how long?

Carrier pigeon for faster data transfer

This week, a South African call-center business, frustrated by persistently slow Internet speeds, decided to use a carrier pigeon named Winston to transfer 4 gigabytes of data between two of its offices, just 50 miles apart. At the same time, a computer geek pushed a button on his computer to send data the old-fashioned way, through the Internet.

Winston the pigeon won. It wasn't even close.

"Winston arrived after two hours, six minutes, and 57 seconds," says head of the information technology department at Unlimited Group, a call-center business based in Durban. As for the Internet data transfer, he says, "when we finally stopped the computer, about 100 megs had transferred, which is about 4 percent of the total."

WTF story of the day

The WTF (What The F**k) headline of the day is from Times of India ,

Rahul Gandhi joins austerity drive, travels by Shatabdi Express -Taking a lead from his mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in practising austerity, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today travelled to Ludhiana in the chair car of Shatabdi Express. Rahul refused to accept flowers presented to him at the station, saying it was the privilege of the executive class passengers and also demanded that he be served water in a plastic cup like other passengers. Railway officials said that Rahul will be served 'paranthas,' curd, 'idli,' 'vada' and fruits. However, this menu was exclusively for him, the officials said, adding that any specific requests by Rahul will be gladly met. Rahul is going to the city to inaugurate a four-day camp of young Congressmen.

Now, now - I thought Shatabdi Express was up there amongst the Rajadhani as the PREMIUM Indian Train, completely Air Conditioned. How does travelling by Shatabdi become an austerity drive? Would have appreciated him travelling in 2nd class in the Delhi-Ludhiana Passenger in an unreserved compartment. Or does he think that the Ordinary Indian people all travel Air conditioned? And what is this thing about him being given a 'Special' menu exclusively made for him?

Anyway, What The F**k?

Father of Green Revolution in India

Not many know that India was fighting against insufficient foodgrain production in 1950s. The irrigation dams were being constructed, but the farmers were still following a monocrop policy that was rainfed. The productivity per acre was very low. The threat of famine loomed. We were dependent on US for feeding our people.

We always talk of the right man at the right place. For Indians, that person arrived on the scene by mid 1960s. The farmers did not have a clue as to how to exploit the benefits of better irrigation to improve agricultural production. In their midst walked in Dr.Norman Borlaug, an American, who had done considerable work in the famished Mexico amongst the peasants with considerable success. Was he the messaiah?

One of the problems the wheat farmers of North India was that the plants were long which meant it could not support the weight of the wheat at the head, leading to the plant slanting and finally falling off. The wastage due to this was phenomenal.

Norman did some out of the box thinking. He developed a wheat stain containing an unusual gene, leading to the creation of the 'semi-dwarf' variety of the plant. The shorter, more compact and durable plant was easily able to support the heavier weight of the grains without falling down. This innovative concept led to Indian wheat farmers improving the farm output four times over. The same concept was later extended to the rice farming.

This along with better irrigation, mechanization, modern farming methods heralded the Green Revolution in India. The rest, as they say, is history.

For once the Nobel Peace Prize judges were spot on when they elected him for the prestigious award in 1970.

The Nobel citation was ''More than any other person of this age, he helped provide bread for a hungry world. We have made this choice in the hope that providing bread will also give the world peace.''

Norman was active well into his 90s, training modern day agricultural scientists from the developing world, till his death a day ago.

The Father of Green Revolution is no more, but he leaves a legacy that is hard to beat.

Hypocracy - thy name is austerity

Much has been made of the Government's so called austerity drive that made S M Krishna and Sashi Tharoor vacate their 5-Star Hotel Suites, and asking Ministers to fly economy. This is nothing but a gimmick.

The non-plan expenditure has been spiralling out of control for decades now. Successive commissions have asked that the bloated bureaucracy be cut off its flab. The subsidy schemes and the social sector spending has been leaking with hardly any benefit for the beneficiary.

Despite the then FM's promise to reduce fiscal deficit 5 years ago, nothing has been done on this count, becuase the Government doesnt want to antagonize the vested interests. The much publicised National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is nothing but a means for local leaders to make money. It is a sham, but a sham that gets the votes for the Congress Party.

Congress Party, and for that matter all political parties in India, are spendthrifts and behave like feudal lords with utter contempt for the welfare of the common man. They believe in patronage, using public money. Otherwise, we would have had a world class Government Education, Healthcare and Agricultural system by now.

The current austerity drive is nothing but a self defeating hypocracy, that will hog the headlines for a few days with ministers reverting back to flying and living in style in a couple of weeks. Maybe, austerity can begin at home with Sonia, children and PM dispensing away with the Z-Class security which costs the nation a fortune.

Interesting Research Findings

Do you hate exercise? Do you prefer to laze about? Love chocolate? Do you swear and cuss? Do you get angry and show it? Great! You seem to be very healthy and will no doubt outlive all the polite, exercising, hardworking weight-watchers who never cuss or get angry, refuse chocolates and feel smugly superior. This is revealed by several recent studies. After years of painstaking research, meticulous Swedish researchers at the Stockholm Institute have found that lazy people live about 15 to 20 years longer than hard-working people with busy schedules. Hard work leads to an early death, they ruled, and should be strictly avoided.- What a relief!! So, all muscle men and brooding women, I shall be there at your funeral.

Even anger -- the declared enemy of the hypertensive -- is now a health aid. Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University believe appropriate anger helps you to feel in control, which keeps blood pressure normal - I have been making a great effort to keep my anger in check of late. Now I am pleased I don't have to do it.

According to a new research by Danish scientists, fat thighs may signify a long and healthy life. After diligent thigh-watching and much analysis, scientists at the University Hospitals of Copenhagen and Glostrup have suggested that thinner thighs may imply early death, especially if your thighs are under 18 inches in circumference - Can there be a more wonderful news than this for Indian women (and of course the Indian men who ogle)?

I am eagerly awaiting the next set of research findings.

Till then.................................

Off couple of days

Due to certain personal preoccupations, there wont be any blogging for the next couple of days

Radio is back with a bang

I have a special fondness for Radio. The GenX people might scoff at this for they are brought up on a diet of Television commercials and serials.

This has nothing to do with nostalgia. I have found TV news to be contrived, more often the news is because of the visuals and not the other way around as it should be. Radio cannot afford that. Their news and other programming has to hold the listeners attention through sheer quality of the contents and delivery. I remember walking into the legendary AIR Calicut Station in 1985 to do a Yuvavani program. Everyone there had passed an audition test and spoke in voices that had command and dripping with honey depending on whether they were male or female. This gave an inferiority complex to a guy like me with a squeaky nasal voice.

The cricket commentary floating through SW 17 or 19 from Radio Australia or SW 31 or 25 through BBC World Service Test Match Special, the Wimbledon Commentary on BBC that took us through Bjorn Borgs epic final with McEnroe or the Football commentaries brought the game to our house and mind.

When I was in the primary school, we had a GEC valve radio kept on top of a wooden cup board. I used to drag a chair, climb on top of it to listen to the faint signals at 5.30 am in the morning. Nothing would induce me to move till the players broke for lunch of tea.

In retrospect, it is the hundreds of hours that I spent listening to the radio that enabled me to speak reasonably good english in the later stages of the life, for I never studied in a Convent and had my initial schooling in Malayalam medium. The Government Schools and Colleges never required you to speak in English in Kerala.

Much later in my life, while doing MBA, my Bush Transistor radio was my constant companion. I heard countless carnatic music concerts on it. The radio was the companion during the lonely hostel life away from home and the pocket radio during long journeys and of course during boring chemistry classes (we used to sit in the back bench listening to commentary in the class with the pocket radio glued to the ears and to think that I dont allow my students to even look at mobile phones during my classes these days makes me smile ruefully).

Then the radio vanished from my life for nearly 15 years, as I was caught up in the enthusiasm for the TV, like everyone else. The MW stations and SW stations were a thing of the past.

Then the radio reinvented itself in the FM format. Radio evolved into a beautiful chatty commercial medium, which is something television cannot do for commercial reasons, and I started enjoying the companionship it gave during long drives. The Radio chat shows gives amazing insight into various topics which the TV cannot. TV programs are superficial and lacks critical analysis. They dont make you think. But radio do. In India, the FM musical stations have become extremely popular and a boon for the rural population/truck/taxi drivers. With even the basic phones supporting FM reception, Radio is on the way back as the best medium to listen to music, news and other programs for people on the move.

Don't believe me? If you are in Kuwait, tune to 100.1 FM and listen to BBC in English for a week while you are driving. If you are not hooked to it by the end of the week, I will be quite surprised.

This and that

Tainted Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju was admitted to NIMS on Monday evening after he complained of chest pain - Isn't it strange that Ramalinga Raju who was hale and hearty playing badminton in the Jail till the other day should develop 'sudden chest pain' within a week of his mentor and the deceased Chief Minister YSR Reddy dying in a helicopter crash? Now, he will enjoy the luxury of a 5-star hospital (NIMS) for months. These things can happen only in India.

A flight scheduled to take off to Riyadh at 2 am, gets delayed and passengers are boarded at 4.30 am only to be disembarked due to a technical snag. Another wait of 6 hours and the replacement flight taxies at 10.30 am, only to stop in the runaway and passengers evacuated as the engine is on fire. The terrified passengers are brought back to the terminal and packed in a third aircraft at 4.30 pm, full 14 1/2 hours after the original flight should have taken off. It is a miracle that by then any of the passengers were brave enough to get into the aircraft. This is the airline that wants Rs 15,000 crores of tax payers money to bail it out. Why dont we just bury this Maharaja?

Look for angles

I have been enjoying watching US Open Tennis on the TV screen these days. Being the month of Ramadan, one can afford to watch late night matches.

Of late I am wondering where the genuine serve and volleyers have gone. They have become as rare as the Lion tailed monkey in Silent Valley, an endangered species.

Heavier balls, taller and stronger players, the switch to bigger composite racquets, luxilon strings, coaching academies churning out baseliners, profligacy of hard courts, the power centre shifting to Europe, and nearly two decades of top players who were baseliners like Borg, Wilander, Lendl, Courier, Agassi, ................. even Sampras, Federer and Nadal - all had a tremendous impact on the youngsters.

To really think of a last great serve and volleyer, one has to go back about couple of decades to John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker. The only serve and volleyer in the mens section today is Taylor Dent and there is none in the distaff side.

Despite all the brilliance of Roger Federer, one would wish he would come to the net more often. He has amazing touch, has a superb volleying techiniques and more importantly he has the best footwork - a much under rated aspect of his game. This would also be his key to correct his bad record against Nadal, for man to man Nadal is stronger from the baseline. Why RF doesnt adopt to serve and volley against Nadal is still a mystery.

Though these days the ground strokes can be an aggressive weapon, there is no greater thrill than when a serve and volleyer charges up the net and tries and puts pressure on the baseliner. Anticipating a pass, intercepting with an acute angle volley is an amazing scene. Attack vs Defence - the contrast, that is what makes the game so absorbing to watch. The acceleration toward the net, the cool angles that are created on the volleys, the fast pace and athleticism, and most of all the simple idea of cause and effect, risk and reward: oh! how I miss them all. I am convinced that serve and volley is still a viable strategy, even in the age of the ground-stroke missile and the dipping return. One just have to take the best young prospects and teach them that mindset from the beginning.

Who can forget the amazing racquet control of McEnroe at the net, or a Stefan Edberg gliding up with pinpoing volleys or Boris Becker diving around in the fore court. Amongst the modern day players, I have seen Roger Federer display unbelievable touch in the net - he is as comfortable picking up a half volley from the boot laces or volleying solidly on either side as he is on hitting his booming ground strokes. And he has one of the best serves in the Game. I can't see Nadal, Murray, Djokovic, Del Potro, Davidenko or any other top 10 venturing beyond the service return line other than to shake hands.

The Volley enables the player to use the angles very very effectively. If you have a doubt, just watch a good doubles match. When I started playing Carrom Board, I was taught to use the angles and I have found it to be the best advice I ever had. In fact I had carried forward that advice to my life as well - I am always aggressive, looking for the angles that will baffle others.

A thought provoking Article

I am not one for giving links to other articles unless they are really worth reading. A maverick myself, I love others of the same genre. Swaminathan Ankleshwara Aiyar, who has a weekly column in Times of India is known for his out of the box thinking. I have found many of his articles food for thought. This one, the link to which is given below on the future of Cars is worth reading. Though the concept of hybrid cars and electric cars is old hat, the narration is quite novel as it has an Indian angle to it. Should interest marketing students of mine.

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Swaminomics/entry/tata-motors-think-electric-for

Guruve Namaha

Na Guror adhikam adhikam tatvam, na Guror adhikam tapah
Tatva-gyanat-param nasti tasmai Sree Guruve Namaha

There is no higher truth than the Guru, no higher penance than (service to) the Guru, and there is nothing higher than Realisation of the Knowledge of the truth imparted by the Guru. My salutations to such a Gurudev, who is himself that very timeless truth (and who has taken up a form to bless his disciples like us with real knowledge).

A silent prayer to all my Teachers, both formal and informal, who have contributed to me becoming what I am today.

Today is 5th September, birthday of Dr.S.Radhakrishnan, celebrated as 'Teachers Day' in India.

The Disastrous Disaster Management in India

The unfortunate helicopter crash that killed the Andhra Chief Minister, Y S Rajasekhar Reddy has brought to focus again our inadequacies as a nation to do mount an effective SAR (Search and Rescue) operation. It is ridiculous that it took us 24 hours to reach the accident spot.

India, of late, never tired of shouting from the roof top htat is a super power in information technology, nuclear sciences and space. But when it came to locating a crashed chopper, we failed to levarage this.

It is not about SAR alone. As a Country, we pay scant attention to Disaster Management -both prevention and post disaster activities.

I was in Guruvayoor temple a while back. The temple is overcrowded at any point of time with millions of devotees thronging its sannidhi. At best a harrowing experience, some ingenious guy has found a way to put crude barricades to manage the serpentine queue using steel pipes. The confined barricaded queue goes on and on, zig zaging the East Nada with absolutely no way a person can get out once he enters the barricade, whether he be sick or holding a kid, he/she is forced to stand in the queue for anything between 4-6 hours with no exit. Ditto in Tirumala and many other temples.

Municipal authorities give scant attention to Fire Safety regulations. In developed countries, and even in Kuwait, one cannot get a licence unless proper precautions including clearly lit Exit which is free of obstacles is available. But in India, no one bothers. The tragedy in Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu a few years back when a school operating in thatched shed burnt with students charred to death unable to get away is still vivid in the mind.

Our emergency forces lack the equipment, training and the will power to manage any emergency including road accidents effectively. It is always the locals, good samaritans, who are seen taking leadership in the event of an accident, fire or a train mishap. But in the bargain, they unwittingly, destroy crucial evidence that can lead the investigators to the actual criminal or cause. The police and fire service take pleasure in throwing their weight around while hardly doing anything. Ditto the ability of the hospitals to handle large scale disasters. We often see critical patients lying on the floor in unhygenic conditions. And to add to the horror, it is next to impossible for the anxious relatives to get proper information for there wont be any hotlines or help desks, and even if it is there, one wont get a proper answer.

We value life cheaply. That is the root cause for this apathy. We talk about the need for disaster management for a couple of days after every disaster, and then it is back to status quo till the next disaster.

What is wrong with our schooling?

The Education Minister Kapil Sibal is in a hurry. Notwithstanding the fact that Education is a Concurrent Subject (meaning decisions can be taken only by the Centre and the States together) he has gone about tinkering with the system by abolishing the Class X exams (or making it 'optional', whatever that means) to reduce the stress of the students.

This is just treating the symptoms. Stress is an effect, the cause of which is not the Examinations.

The Japanese have mastered the art of Root Cause Analysis using many tools like the Fish Bone Diagram or by simple asking 'Why' five times. Our honourable minister has not even contemplated asking 'Why' even once.

If he cared enough to dig deep into the problem, he would have found out many things wrong with our schooling.

The syllabus is outdated. The system is extremely rigid and regimental. The teaching methodology is archaic to say the least. The student-teacher ratio is 1:50 in many of the lower classes, whereas it should be 1:15. The syllabus is too heavy at the primary schools. Added to it is the dreaded load of homework. Children hardly get time to play. They rarely indulge themselves in hobbies. It is a common thing to hear kids 6,7,8,9 to say that they are busy- with home work and exams. And I am talking about students studying in good schools. The plight of the Government Schools that take care of 70% of the students is pathetic. The infrastructure is poor, there are inadequate teachers and the system do not attract good teachers.

It is ridiculous that all the Children have to study the same syllabus of their stream, whether it be State Board or CBSE, till they complete 10th. A 15 year old is much more aware than what we were in their age. They have clear career choices. They should be encouraged to experiment at a much earlier age.

It is proved scientifically that the best time to learn languages is till one is 12. The other hard skills can be developed after that. Of late we are ignoring language and humanities. This is reflected in 99% of our students graduating without being able to read or write adequately. I teach many MBA students who have studied in English medium and are in mid 30s. Most cannot write one paragraph without a grammatical error in English. And their command over their mother tongue is still woeful. Why is it that we do not give an option for the students to study psychology, philosophy, music, arts in depth in the school. Many want to do that. It is not possible to study these subjects once they are in the College, for if they do it then, they will have to have a career in that stream, which they may not want.

My recommendation is to have common subjects till the 6th standard and give the students an option of minor subjects from 7 -10th. For eg: let us have 8 subjects of which only 5 will be evaluated. The balance optional 3 has to be done but there wont be any evaluation. But the student needs to show a certain level of proficiency in their optional subjects. This will ensure they learn this with enjoyment.

Finally, the instructor led lecture mode and learning by rote has to be scrapped from the LKG. Students should learn through experimentation. Kerala Government came up with a stunning plan to come up with a creative teaching methodology a decade back, but lack of commitment and prior preparation did not allow it to reach its logical conclusion.

We do not want our education system to churn out mediocre students who dont learn leadership, empathy, social awareness, communication skills or in general soft skills. What we want to create is a society that is vibrant with dynamic, inquisitive, decisive, knowledgable, risk taking young people who are multi faceted.

Making Class X examination alone is not the way forward.

Happy Onam

Yearning for those years of equality, integrity, honesty and prosperity............................................

Happy Onam to All of You

30 years and 30 seconds

Pablo Picasso ( 1881 -1973) was a great Painter and a Sculptor.

One day, a woman spotted him in the market and pulled out a piece of paper.


"Mr Picasso," she said excitedly, "I'm a big fan. Please, could you do a little drawing for me?"


Picasso complied and quickly etched out a piece of art for her on the paper provided.


He smiled as he handed it back to her, and said, "That will be a million dollars."


"But Mr Picasso," the flustered woman replied, "it took you only 30 seconds to do this little masterpiece."


"My good woman," Picasso laughed, "it took me 30 years to do that masterpiece in 30 seconds."