Excuse Me Teacher... I want to say something...(part 2)

Mochi always wants to speak out something or the other. He either likes to ask questions to the teacher or whenever teacher ignores his questions, he is busy chatting with other friends through words and gestures. He is one who uses all forms of communication.. :)

Teacher started her class - "Today we are going to learn about..... Mochi, are you listening?"

"Today we are going to learn about.. Mochi, stop looking here and there."

"Today we are going to see... Mochi can you shut up!"

One more he is going to be out for sure. I wonder why can't my teacher stop talking for the whole class and ask us all to share our thoughts and views. I pity her. She has to speak almost the whole day. So isn't it sensible to allow us to explain what we have learnt, make us think on different concepts. The other day teacher was going on and on about plants and its parts. Mochi turned around to me and said - "I know all this! Shall I ask her if I can explain this!"
I wish he could do that. So I was motivating him to suggest this idea to the teacher.

"MOCHI! are you listening?"
"Yes mam. I was thinking if I could explain this concept to the class. I know this mam."
"GET OUT"

Poor guy the suggestion only landed him outside the classroom but, I guess he had a good time observing the outdoors. In fact after the class he came to me and shared what all he observed. he was talking about the ants going in line, he was talking about the vehicle sounds and so on.

I was happy he had some real learning without sitting in the class! Let me wind up. I need to study the different parts of the plant. I have a test tomorrow.

So far...

Excuse Me Teacher... I want to say something...

Our Mathematics class was just getting over. It was time for a quick test. My mathematics teacher,Murugan, said "Here is your problem." pointing towards the board. "Now do it without using tables." And immediately Mochi, my friend, who is known for his funny actions and comments in class, immediately jumped out of his place and went straight in front of the class and sat on the floor. Murugan sir immediately asked "Why did you come here?" And I still don't believe Mochi had the guts to say what he said - "Sir, You only said not to use the tables!"
And that's it, the whole class was laughing out loud. Bell Rang at the very same time. And Murugan sir just walked out with astern face. Mochi came back to his place rolling in laughter.
We didn't have much time to laugh, because our EVS teacher was already in. She is always known for her punctuality. And the routine was to take out the textbook and start reading the lesson. Teacher would ask few questions and then proceed with questions and answers. The lesson today was about Festivals. Wow! I was glad. I had already gone through the textbook, and I was so thrilled there were so many interesting things in there! So I was hoping my EVS teacher would probably break out of the routine and at least have some nice activities or discussions in class.
And the teacher asked us to open up the text and read it aloud one by one. At one point, there was a question - "What sweets do you have in your house during festivals?" I remembered last time when we had Diwali at house, mom had made beautiful Jalebi's. They were so delicious. Mochi was already remembering his Laddus and acting out as if he was eating those laddus. He was making an eye contact with Smitha who sits in the next row and was asking her if she wants those Laddus! And Smitha just turned her face away from him! :)
I saw glow in most of my friends as they were all ready to share what they wanted to say.. Teacher then saw her watch and then she said - "We all eat Kheer in our house right during festivals?" And I could see some of my friends agreeing with her reluctantly. I did not understand what Kheer was! So I did not show any reaction. Mochi was putting his tongue out in disgust and holding his neck with his both hands as if strangling himself, as soon as he heard the word kheer!
And the teacher said - All of you write 'Kheer' in the blank space provided!
I wanted to say something to my teacher - but I did not have the guts to say it. So, I opened my personal diary and wrote this out
"Excuse me teacher.. I don't know what kheer is! I shall anyway go home and find out from my parents. You asked us what sweets we eat during festivals. I wanted to share with you that my mom makes delicious Jalebis. She is so skillful in making them. My grand-mom also makes a dish called Modaka. I like to eat both of them. And Mochi wanted to say that they make Laddus in their house. I wish you had enough time to listen to us. I don't know why suddenly bell rings and you go out and another teacher comes in. She again tries to speak with us, but then again the bell rings and she goes off. Last class you even asked us to do some research on festivals. My grand-mom has given me so many points. I want to share with you. But wish in your next class the bell doesn't ring and you do not look into your watch because I want to say something to you and even Mochi has something to say. Thank you."

Dealing with Social problems - The Chanakya way

Once Chanakya and chandra Gupta Mourya were taking a round around their kingdom. Chanakya stepped on a thorn.. He immediately removed it from his foot and threw it aside. Then, plucked the thorn plant out and threw it aside. They both continued their path...
The next day both of them were back on the same path. But this time Chanakya got a pot of milk with honey mixed in it. He reached the same spot where the thorn plant existed. He emptied his pot of milk in that exact spot. Chandra Gupta was very surprised. He asked "Chanakyaji, may I know the reason behind pouring that pot of milk in that place?"

Chanakya said -'Chandra Gupta, you remember yesterday there was a thorn plant over there and I had plucked it out. Thorn is a problem... When I removed the plant I had addressed the problem to some extent. But, there is more chance for the plant to grow back in that same place in a weeks time and again harm any other people who pass by this way. When I pour the milk mixed with honey, the root remains of the plant would observe the milk. And this would attract ants and insects and they would finish off the remaining root parts completely. A leader has to operate not just in the effect level but he has to also operate in the cause level. He has to go to analyze the root cause of any problem and try to eradicate the cause and not just the effect."

Most of the social problems ultimately drill down to education as the cause.. abandoned children, abandoned elders, female infanticides, etc. are basically because of lack of 'right' education. And by education I do not mean the education system that is prevalent widely right now in our country. By education I mean the right knowledge, skill and attitude imparted to an individual to help him lead a peaceful life. An education that not just raises the standard of living but also the standar of life of people.

By setting up orphonages, old age homes, etc we are majorly addressing the effect... And if we ignore to address the cause, i.e. 'right education' ... well... any logical mind can guess what would happen..

Please do not mistake me.. We definitely need people to operate in the effect level. I am not criticizing that.. but over here I would request people to also give more importance to address the issues in the cause level.. Put your efforts to clean up the mess in education.. Voice out your concerns.. participate in building better educational instituitions..

Even a child knows what has to be better in school or what has to be changed in education.. But unless parents wake up to the 'right' education required, the system will not change...

Anybody can pick a paper lying down and throw it in the dustbin.. But it needs a lot of effort to go and educate thousands to throw the waste in the dustbin...!

Educating takes time.. but it is long term..

Let's not just be missionaries.. But let's also be visionaries...

Excuse me...

In the coming few blogs I am going to share some excerpts from the book 'What do you really want for your children?' by Wayne W. Dyer

I am choosing this below excerpt because it deals with what we are exactly talking about -'How to let the child blossom' and not inhibit...

Typical child and parent behaviours which INHIBIT inner development. 


punishing children for telling the truth, thereby making lying and blaming much more sensible alternatives, in their eyes for the future.

Being a person who uses excuses and blames others. "I never got anywhere in life because of - my spouse, my parents, the economy, or whatever."

Using "Its not my fault" as a regular part of your vocabulary.

Using pills and medicines for all sorts of pains and troubles, and encouraging your children to believe that pills will make them better.
(I especially liked the above point. That's something I too believe in strongly.)

Doing their homework for them because it is too hard for them to tackle.

Putting the major emphasis in life on being right. Encouraging aging children to never admit to being wrong by never ding so yourself.

(What a point! :) When I joined EZ Vidya I had a major block on whether what i am doing is right or wrong. And I would be surprised that the organization believes that 'its ok to be wrong!'. When I go and train teachers, I can see the same block even with the teachers. And they would be surprised that in our sessions we would emphasis that mistakes are part of learning and its ok to be stupid!')


Being concerned with impressing others in your dress, purchases and lifestyles.
(So true. In fact while I was teaching the higher secondary students for couple of years, I have observed that all that they are proud of is the latest gadgets they posses, the 'in thing' vocabulary they use, etc. And as part of my teaching I would stress a lot on 'Its not important as to what you have outside. but its more important as to what you have inside your head')

Demanding that they respect you and parenting out of fear.
(I am loving this... Its really true that most of us think, even unconsciously or subconsciously, that by instilling fear, people would listen to what I say and also that there is a lot of respect that i earn. But a little pause and a sensible thinking is all that is needed to understand that the respect that is earned through fear is not really going to help. In the last training that I had in one school I was having an interesting chat with one of the higher secondary teacher. She was complaining that few children were not learning well in her class. And the only question I asked her was 'Do you smile at those students? Do they like you?' Its not possible that we always scream at someone and expect them to well behave and learn well in our class when we are conveying the message that 'I care a damn about you. Better do what I say.' For any person who wants to be a sensible leader, this is a very key point.)

Making grades more important that knowledge...

Well, i am going to stop here. Let's internalize these points for now. I shall continue with other points in my next blog...

Chalta Hei....

"It is just this small paper.. How does it matter if I don't put it in the dust bin. Let me throw it here itself. Chalta hei..."


"How does it matter if I pay an agent just 200 extra to get me a confirmed ticket during holidays! Chalta hei."


"How does it matter if I don't vote!"

"How does it matter if I jump the signal. any way police is not around. Chalta Hei."


It did  cost us a lot when we allowed the EAST India Company to establish itself and rule us comfortably for over 300 years! And it solely happened because of this Chalta hei attitude!


Even the other day I noticed a hand pop out of a car window and throw a fruit drink can right in the middle of the road!

It doesn't matter much if an uneducated guy does that. At least we have a reason he is 'uneducated'! But why do we as educated adults make these 'chalta hei' mistakes!

Take a look at the list above once again and let's reflect how much of those we have done or we continue to do! Though they seem seemingly small, it really magnifies in many forms at different levels.


It is this chalta hei attitude that cost the nation.. that has cost many lives.. and would come on us heavy if we don't realize its effect right now...

If you are worried about the corruption of CWG, 2G spectrum, Adarsh, etc. be more worried about such seemingly trivial behaviours by the common man which includes us...

it is important we don't fall under the chalta hei attitude and also wake up people around from such a thoughtless attitude...

It is also important that you leave a comment for this post... 'Don't think 'How does it matter if I do not comment!' It does really matter dear Gentlemen and women... :)

What do you do!

"What do you do?"
" I work in an organization that is working in the education sector. We have a curriculum. We train teachers. We come up with lot of interesting and innovative teaching methodologies to make learning engaging and effective."
" Oh so you are a teacher"
" No. No. I kind of teach the teachers."
" Oh"

I have kind of explained what I do in as many ways as possible to my relatives, but ultimately the maximum that they can understand is that I am a personality development guy!

On a casual chat with other colleagues of mine, they too shared the same pangs..

Not to blame anyone, but the field of training, education consulting, etc. is so new in India that there are many people who are yet to recognize it as a respectable way of employment!

My mom still thinks I am kind of doing some social service. :)
Not just in the education field but in many other field, many new and varied courses have come in. Honestly I was not aware that such a stream of work exists when I finished my +2. Even now I am sure many youngsters in our country are not aware of the varied opportunities available in this 21st Century.


And isn't it true that we are actually preparing our students to the future and not just for the present! With the kind of technological advancements happening at lightning speed across the globe we need to surely expect drastically new and different kinds of job profiles that would be awaiting this generation of learners.

Having understood this, it is important as educationists and parents to allow the child to explore and innovate different opportunities.

And so, there is somebody waiting at my door to understand what I do.. Let me try my best now..
                                                                                                            (courtesy: http://www.toothpastefordinner.com)
Let the child blossom to face the future and not just the present!