Contextualising Republic Day Celebrations

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Contextualising Independence Day Celebrations in Schools

While different schools celebrate annual days in different manners…its not the same for Independence Day.

The ‘worst’ school in the country, with so called ‘ill trained teachers’ and ‘incompetent’ Principals, and the ‘best’ school in the country, with the most motivated teachers and the most innovative Principal, celebrates independence day in the same manner.

They hoist the Indian flag, sing some patriotic songs, may be do a fancy dress competition with kids turning out as Gandhi and Nehru. Some may go a step forward and do a proscenium play around Bhagat Singh. But essentially it’s the same…whether it’s a village or a city school, a non-progressive or a progressive school.

The small kid sitting in the auditorium or even the teenager is least moved about independence by all these. Despite the fact that the school has spent enormous amount of time rehearsing for that event. Over a period of time…we lost focus of the child and got involved in various other peripheral things.

The art teacher takes all the pains to do up the school with Indian flags and put up photos of Bhagat Singh et al on all the notice boards…to give the theme of independence to the school. The innovative art teacher puts saris of the tricolour all over the school (to impress the Principal) And that’s not it…we have become petty over a period of time. The Principal and her able staff often spends the entire afternoon deciding on whether the welcome of guest should be done with flowers or with a shawl. Whether the photograph of Bhagat Singh and Gandhi ji should be adorned with a fresh flower garland or the other ‘long lasting’ one. The music teacher is bothered about the fact whether the patriotic group song…would be sung wearing the school uniform or the more fancy ‘kurta pyjama’ of pre independence times.

Oh! And I forgot…the chief guest…the father of the Managing trustee. The Principal is relieved to know in time that the father of the Managing trustee is a diabetic and would hence have tea without sugar. Sugar free biscuits are then arranged.

Excuse me for getting sarcastic. But, as you see…everything has been taken care of…except the little boy sitting in the auditorium…Nobody thinks…what he will take home.

Does this Independence Day celebration give him any taste of the independence movement? It’s not difficult to answer the question.

Anyhow…I started off on my own journey to reinvent Independence Day celebrations. Started thinking on what do we relate to regarding independence…protests, freedom fighters, ‘Quit India’ movement etc. What remains of the independence movement now? What came to my mind immediately were the freedom fighters and I knew that there would be some in every part of the country. Why don’t my kids actually go and meet the freedom fighters?

Why don’t we call the freedom fighters over to the school for interacting with our kids? Then began my search for freedom fighters. I knew, it would be easy to find freedom fighters because most got pensions. But getting the list of freedom fighters from the pension office was a pain in itself…didn’t happen (can’t tell the story here).

So, finally I reached the Freedom fighters association of India office at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and got the contacts of a few freedom fighters in Delhi. Must mention their names here as they blessed this project of mine. Subhadra Khosla was 13, when she got arrested in Lahore taking part in the Quit India movement. An old lady…she was the first person to actually give me the energy to go on with the project. To my surprise…she was more than eager to meet the kids. Same was the case with Mr Hari Ram, who was 90 years old and an Indian National Army veteran. The interactions of these people with the children were amazing. The children didn’t ask many questions as I had expected but they were visibly moved and so was the entire staff of the school…which wanted to meet these freedom fighters. I don’t want to write much about that interaction…you can imagine it. When was the last time…you (the reader of this book) met a freedom fighter? Another thing which I did was that I took the kids to visit Jantar Mantar…not the monument but the road next to it…where people from all walks of life gather everyday to …’protest’. People sing songs, shout slogans, go on aborted marches to the Parliament, just sit there for a ‘cause’. Interestingly everyday there is one or the other protest happening there. Since, independence movement is also a movement of different forms of protest…I decided to give a taste of the same to the kids as well. The kids were left at Jantar Mantar in groups and asked to interact with the protestors with a few questions in mind – Why are you protesting? What’s your issue? Do you think this protest will have an effect? Why did you choose this form of protest?

So, the kids met the Bhopal protestors, some CPI (M) protestors against the Nuclear Liability Bill and a horde of protestors from BJP rallying against siphoning of SC/ST funds for the Commonwealth games.

It may be the case that still there were kids in the group, who may have found this exercise boring but I am sure the experience will remain etched in their minds for a while and may connect to some other experiences in life to create a learning experience.

In this entire exercise the teachers were not stressed with things and kids were completely interested in it. So, we managed to do a very nice school event with focus on the kid and without the teachers’ getting bothered about bouquets and saris. In fact a number of teachers walked up to me and thanked me for giving them that experience.

(The above is an extract from Shankar Musafir's forthcoming book on school education titled 'To,The Principal...yours sincerely' published by Leadstart. Look out for it at stores in July 2011)

Serpent in the city

One often reads stories in newspapers in the city columns, of some wild animals venturing into the city...and then some wildlife NGO rescuing them. They are stories until...one day you find yourself in the middle of one.

I live in Dwarka and was driving home one afternoon. Dwarka has very good roads, three lanes on each side of the road with a road divider in between. I was driving in the middle lane...having to go straight.

And suddenly I find this 'something' wriggling on the road. In a second I had applied the breaks when I realised that 'something' was a snake. It was crossing the road from its edge to its centre towards the road divider or median. The taxi in the lane right next to the road divider had also stopped. I looked at its driver and smiled as the snake crossed our part of the road and went straight on to the road divider. There was a pruned bougainvella plant there...and the snake climbed that bush and settled there on the road divider...in the middle of the road.

The taxi driver pulled away and something happened to me and I parked my car on the side of the road. It was a special day for me that day. Had just finished the Landmark Education Advanced course on Sunday. At such moments the past comes in front of you immediately...lets go home...the snake will find its way. Who will get into the rigmarole of saving a snake? Can it be saved? It will involve a lot of time to do it? I dont even know how to do it etc. etc. and...my favourite line..."Are yaar kaun pade iss pachre men' i.e 'Who wants to get into this botheration?'

But as they say in the advanced course…one puts the past behind and new possibilities arise. Where was my possibility? I knew that if the snake tried to get out of the road divider and start to cross the road on the other side…it will get crushed under somebody’s car. Or even if the drivers were considerate on the other side. People would get together and kill that confused snake.

But as I had parked my car aside…I had decided I wanted to save the snake.

The traffic on the road had smoothened and every body was zipping by, oblivious of the fact that there was a serpent on the road divider. A few passer bys who had seen the snake were looking into the bushes identifying in which bush it had gone. There were others who were curious about what were the people looking at. They were equally excited, when they got to know that there was a snake in the bush.

Anyhow, the first thing which came to my mind was the brandname ‘Friendicoes’, a popular NGO in Delhi, which rescues dogs and other such animals. I wasn’t sure if they were into snakes but still I made a call to my wife to get their number. My wife had got some dog pups rescued from near her office as they were starving. Wife replied that she would sms me Friendicoes number in a second.

Within that second I thought of my favourite number – ‘eight times 2’ of Just dial. Called them up and asked for numbers of NGOs who rescue animals. The first name was the NGO- ‘Wildlife SOS’. I knew they were the ones who could rescue that snake. But would they respond?

I made a few calls and got in touch with this person from Wildlife SOS called Kartik Satya. The guy was sweet. He first appreciated me for having made a call to them and second he said that there was a rescue team at the International aiport…which would come to Dwarka immediately. He just requested me to just stand around that bush with a stick in hand so that the snake does not come out.

I was scared but I did stand near the bush. But the traffic was zipping by at full speed. What if the snake decides to take the plunge…it would be crushed in seconds. Delhi gives you ideas and suddenly one came in my mind. How many times driving across Delhi have we seen some workers blocking one of the lanes on road due to some reason…may be for sweeping near the road dividers, or tankers giving water to plants on the road dividers or may be even some minor repair work on the road…or may be even a car breaking down. All that you find on the road in a stone or some branches of a tree. And sometimes a man standing and moving his hands signing you to move into the next lane.

I decided to do the same…take the city in my hands. I decided to block the lanes right next to the road divider. So that even if the snake tries to come out in a split second…we have some breathing space to distract it and get him back inside.

There was a vegetable vendor on the side of the road..who was kind enough to give his plastic crate and I placed it in the middle of one of the lanes along with a branch of a tree. So, one lane was blocked. On the other side I put some stones and whatever I could lay my hands to near the road. Some dry branches, a broken wash basin, a polythene with something. But still some zipping cars just broke my assortment of stones and everything got spilled on the road.

In a few minutes I was doing an assignment…I had never imagined I will ever do in my life. Standing on the road and directing the cars to move into the next lane like the one I explained above.

A kind rickshaw wallah, his name was Gautam helped me out in getting the road blocked, as a number of other people just watched the show.

In all this action, I was also keeping an eye on the snake in the bush. He was rolling away to glory with his tongue coming out and going out as they do in discovery.

Well….lets cut it short…in no time the rescue team was there and I was all set with my mobile camera to record the action. But don’t know what happened…my phone stopped working… ‘hang ho gaya’.

The rescue team came in a Tata 207 truck with two dogs in the lorry in cages. And out came four people with some sticks and all…probably to handle the snake. Their leader asked me…where is the snake. I pointed towards the bush. He almost peeped into the bush. He face was so close that I wondered…what would happen if the snake just shot at him. And just as I was thinking about it…he put his hand in the bush and pulled out the snake with his bare hands. The snake wriggled and actually wrapped around his tummy. Was this man mad…I thought. And suddenly it dawned on me that perhaps it’s a non poisonous snake. I asked him and he replied in affirmative.

Well the snake was rescued and put in a piece of cloth to be released in some jungle area of Delhi. I signed a form of the NGO, made a small donation and was at home in no time.

When I reached home…I had two thoughts in mind

I checked my mobile and found that I had made the call to Wildlife SOS at 3.18 pm and the time in my mobile at that time was 4. 20 pm. Which means the entire operation was over in just an hour. And I was thinking of shying away from it… ‘kaun iss pachre men pade’. The entire ‘pachda’ was just for an hour. I seriously don’t mind giving an hour to rescue a snake…any day. And moreover, what stops most of us from doing it is that we think..we don’t know and it may take a lot of time to rescue an animal. I think I would have also driven by had I not done the Landmark Advanced Course…where you learn to live in the present and leave the past behind. I parked my car aside and just jumped into action because there was no past stopping me to say ‘it will take a lot of time’ or ‘I wont be able to do it’. I just lived the moment and did it. Thanks Landmark
The second thought I had was that had I known it is a non-poisonous snake. I could have myself rescued it and released it somewhere. All of us read and brag about the fact that 90% of the snakes in the world are non-poisonous. But we panic when we see one. Most of them are killed just like that. If there is one snake expert in one region of the city…a lot of these snakes could be saved…as people would call up the snake expert and rescue snakes. Now I am planning to ask Wildlife SOS…if I can learn to identify snakes by volunteering with their team for an year or so. I think in an year…people in Dwarka and areas around can certainly bank on me.

I need to stop now and write a mail to Wildlife SOS.

P.S – If you see the picture of the snake above…I am sure you will also think it’s a dangerous snake…so did I. I thought it was a cobra…but it was a rat snake.

- The phone number of Wildlife SOS in Delhi is 9871963535

Gandhi School Satyagraha

Here's an interesting project on Gandhi going to be executed in schools soon.

ACTIVITY 1 – LETTER TO GANDHI The children of the school starting from class 4 will be given the following assignment in classroom. Write a letter to Gandhi: - You must have heard a lot about Gandhi…and you must be having an opinion of Gandhi. Now write a letter to him and write whatever you feel like writing. No instructions will be given by the teacher. I did an experiment with class 5 kids in Millennium School, Noida...and what came out were 'original communications' between students and Gandhi. Have a look at some excerpts from these letters. Now the plan is for the entire school to write letters to Gandhi.

ACTIVITY 2 – HATE GANDHI Write 5 things that you don’t like about Gandhi?...and say why you don’t like those 5 things? Find a person…who doesn’t like Gandhi? And ask him why? Speak to him? Interview him?

ACTIVITY 3 – PERSONAL APOLOGY Find 5 areas of your life where you are concerned about, where you are not ...'what you want to be' For example: - You may find that you are concerned that you don’t get good marks in Maths. And you want good marks in Maths. So, then Maths is an area of concern in your life. -

Or another example: You may find that you are not smart enough…you are not able impress friends teachers etc. But you obviously want to be smart. Now write at least one reason/s (what you think) why you don’t perform in Maths? Or why you are not smart?. You can write more than one reason. The concern could be petty - you think you are lazy. And you don’t want be lazy. So give one reason…you think…why you are lazy.

Once, this is exercise is done…the students are asked… - Is it fine for somebody to hate you for what you are not? So…if someone hates you because you are not performing in Maths…is it ok for somebody to hate you? The kids will obviously say no. Why? Because you have a reason for that non- performance. By this logic…it is also true that the person…whom you hate or dislike for something…also has a reason for his or her behaviour…no matter how small or petty the reason is. So, just as you wont like somebody hating you for some discrepancy in you. The person…whom you hate also has some reason of his or her own.

Also, just think...the moment we have a negative thought in your mind about someone...your brain becomes a dustbin with 'bad thoughts' about everyone. Why dont we love everyone and have hatred only for the 'negative action or behaviour' of someone? And as you have studied in school that thinking bad about someone is wrong…why don’t we actually identify 5 people in our lives …whom we think are wrong and we dislike. And apologise to them for two reasons:

- To dislike them because of some reason of ours

- For being dishonest with them…disliking them and not telling them…why you dislike them. Being inauthentic.

Find 5 people whom you dislike most in life or practically hate them? Be true to yourself…whom do you actually hate or dislike? It could be an old friend…whom you think…did something wrong to you.? It could be a teacher in your school…whom you hate or dislike for some reason.

Go and speak to these people? Go and speak to the teacher.

- Write a frank an open letter to these people about what you dislike them for and apologise in the letter.

- Finally go and meet these people…and tell them on their face that you didn’t like them. Tell them what do you dislike them for…Be frank…open and do not hesitate. Finally apologise to them for being dishonest with them and not telling them the truth

- Ultimately tell that person…that now the success of that person is in your hands and you will do all that is possible to make that person successful and happy.

Remember…this meeting is to be done alone with person…there should be no one around. Also, don’t show the letter to anyone. Just give it to the person it is meant to be given.

This is a unique Gandhi project in school in which we experience the principles of honesty, truth and authenticity in action. To feel what Gandhi meant by ‘honesty’ and ‘truth’ This would be done from Class 4 onwards in all schools.

Sharing: Later at a class level…there would be sharing by students about who these five people were and how was their experience of doing it. Later…based on the sharing session…teachers are going to choose students who did the best sharing.

School sharing: These people are then going to do the sharing in the morning assembly or any such gathering.

ACTIVITY 4 – COMICS WORKSHOP Some of these chosen people, who did the best sharing, will undergo a one day comics workshop on their experiences. The comics that they produce would be on their experiences doing the project. The comics coming out of the exhibition will then be displayed in the school gallery.

ACTIVITY 5 – DANDI MARCH AND SCHOOL APOLOGY The whole school will vote for the person they dislike or hate most in the society… it could be a politician…it could be a MCD employee…whom they hate because of the potholes in the city. Or whomever they hold responsible for some ill in the society. Finally on 2nd of October (now we will have to think of a new date)…the school students will do a Dandi March to meet this hated person in society…whom they hate most. A letter will be drafted by the school kids to the person they hate most…which will tell the person…why he is hated most…and finally apologise to that person…for hating him and keeping a bad feeling in our minds for that person. The letter will finally give full support of the school in ensuring the success of that person. Apart from that letter…one of kids will do a prepared speech to that person …may be read out that letter to him publically…when they go to meet him or her. All the kids will together tell the person…that they are with him… and will help him in all possible ways…for that person to achieve success in life. The Dandi March will be a silent march with some placards. And just to symbolize Gandhi in it…every child will carry a stick in his or her hand (or do suggest some other ideas) In both the personal apology and the public apology campaign…the other person will get a chance to respond only after… ‘we’ have finished our communication. And this project will not only include the students…but also the teachers…and the administrative staff…and the mali…and the guard…and the Principal. Even the school security guard would find 5 people and speak to them.

ACTIVITY 6 - Gandhi School Satyagraha Competition: This project will also include all schools. A competition will be done about the best sharing by a person. The competition is about who apologises best to the person…whom he hates most. This apology experience would then be shared in the competition. Each school will have two entries for ‘sharing their experience’. Posters will be made and letters would be sent to all schools in Delhi. The apologies would be rated on the basis of the following: - How potent was the hatred towards that person? - How frank was the sharing about the hatred? - How genuine was the apology? The genuineness of the project would be rated on the basis of Were you able to touch, move and inspire the person by your confession. Get the person along for the competition. Another criteria would be …what did you get out of it? The contestants would be rated by a panel of Gandhians including Director of Gandhi Smriti and Prof. Krishna Kumar, Subhadra Khosla, freedom fighter and Gandhian and some more people. Each participant would be given 7 minutes for sharing. Entries will be in the following categories: - School students - School teachers - School Principals - School administrative staff This competition would be the biggest event of the campaign. The competition would be called Gandhi School Satyagraha competition. This big gathering would also have a comics exhibition made by kids and would also have some of the best letters to Gandhi on display.

Terms and Conditions: Each child participating in this campaign would have a buddy. It will be announced that this campaign will be successful only if your buddy also does it. Kids will be made into teams of buddies. And if the buddy does not do the assignment…it is your responsibility. And you would fail if your buddy fails. Even if you succeed in doing your assignment…you will be considered fail if your buddy fails to get it done. So, you have to ensure that everyone does it. The buddies will be assigned randomly in the school. And anybody who asks for a change of the buddy will also fail. So, you have to work with whatever buddy you have.

Planning to drop the ‘Dear’

Of the many things in life that we take for granted…one of them is the word ‘Dear’…but in a special circumstance. 

If your boss’s name or head of Institution's name is Kate and one day you walk up to her and say “Dear Kate…Can we discuss the upcoming project”. You are sure to get a frown from her…because its not the way we greet someone. I guess the most usual thing to say would be “Hi Kate.” But if you were to write the same lines in a mail i.e “ Dear Kate, Can we discuss the upcoming project”. You will definitely not be frowned upon.

That’s the strange thing about the word ‘Dear’. When you start a letter or mail with it…its all right…but the moment you utter it in a conversation…something’s wrong. I guess…it has to do a lot with the school education most of us got…where all letters started with ‘Dear something something’ and even “Dear Sir”. How can someone you call ‘Sir’ be ‘Dear’ to you. Its the legacy of education system that brought us up and we perhaps need to shed it in the times of Email, in the 21st Century.

A few days back someone sent me an SMS saying “ Thanks dear…I got your mail”. I was a bit uncomfortable. May be its time to stop the strangeness around ‘Dear’ and evolve to a much healthier ‘Hi’ or ‘Hello’…which you use in your daily lives. Lets start using ‘Hi’ and ‘hello’ in the e-mails and letters we use rather than the strange ‘Dear’.

Not convinced… Then be honest with using ‘dear’ and … the next time you meet your CEO or Director General in the elevator…Say “ Dear Samantha (or whatever)…how are you?”. 

 All the best!

P.S 1 - I wrote this piece in 2010...thats what my blog tells me...and the title was 'Planning to drop the 'Dear'. It is December 2021 that I am writing this post-script and I still havent implemented my plan. I have been using 'Dear' pretty generously all these years with a mixture of 'Hi' and 'Hello'. May be, because the office environment never allowed me to go any other way.

But I guess its high time now that I implement what I planned. Having spent years in offices, I know I will have to justify it...so I will be putting this blog link in my signature for emails starting today. I never use signatures but this one has to be there as a disclaimer lest my bosses and higher ups think of me as a frivolous colleague trying to be too casual...unprofessional. Also, may try using 'Dear' with some super formal correspondences with ambassadors, ministers and people in the government, who may not have the time to read my signature link.

Plenty of articles on the net that give a nod for dropping the 'dear'. The link to my favourite one seems to be not working as of now. So, a more balanced one is from 2012 in Forbes: I guess I was still a couple of years ahead of time in terms of the idea if not the execution. 

And very lastly...I think if its a chain of emails you are responding, there perhaps is no need to add 'Dear X' or even 'Hi X' again and again. Takes time. Its ok to just reply without naming the person. With the overload of emails it will save some time. It is not disrepectful at all...if you are respecting work. 

P.S 2- Due to a very strong opinion from one of my bosses despite my logic, I saw it prudent to drop my salutation policy in order to create a healthy working environment. So, for about 4 -5 months I guess after July 2022. As my boss moved on...I am moving on again back to my policy on 15th December 2022. It would thank him however for adding another perspective to my blog. My boss said "I read your blog but you see there is a difference between a spoken word and a written word". I guess he was right but the best thing for humanity is to minimise the gap between spoken and the written. Often humans are more cautious on what to write as they can be held to account. By bridging the gap, one may perhaps also provide power to whats the spoken word. A thought.

Why I feel uneasy about 3 Idiots?

Though 3 idiots is a good movie…I was always a bit uneasy about it. Couldn’t figure out why?

Met up with a professor friend of mine…who made an important remark, “School teachers are professionally qualified to teach…but University/College teachers are not. In fact school teachers use a huge variety of methods to teach... in B.ed. These methods are talked about. for a College teacher…there are no such inputs to help him/her become a teacher

That’s very much true. A college lecturer appointee just walks into the classroom, without any exposure to pedagogy or teaching methods. Our country only requires the person to qualify NET examination, which has no component on teaching methods.

That’s precisely the reason why University teaching in India is so drab. College professors and University seniors literally bore their students. Only a few whom the students consider good are nothing but good orators…who make their lectures interesting with anecdotes and examples.

On the other hand…though not very prevalent but most of us know of a huge number of examples where school teachers have used innovative methods to teach using activities. Teachers have shown the way to teach even though most conferences on pedagogy are filled with University Education Professors, who talk about using innovative techniques in school classrooms and bore their students doing the exact opposite in College classrooms.

Funny! But this is true and that’s where the link to 3 idiots comes from. 3 idiots is a story based on poor teaching methodologies in Colleges. And the answer it gives is in the form of an innovative school somewhere in Ladakh. Again the answer to a non-productive college teaching is a school…why not a college which has an innovative teaching style.

Its high time we make a specialized ‘B.ed.’ course…god knows what we will call it..for university and college teachers. Though this course isn’t an answer to the basic flaws of university teaching but it would be a start.

I hope it doesn’t get as boring as a ‘B.ed.’ is but I would certainly like to see more college teachers innovating with their teaching styles.

Classroom electricity meters

Long time back when I used to conduct trainings on environmental audits... a very introvert teacher from Ludhiana asked me a question, while I was explaining energy audits. He said "Sir...Can't we put sub meters in everyclass?". It took me a while to understand his question and so did the other participants. But when we all got it...we all stood up and clapped for the gentleman...how had kept the entire day in the training.

What he meant was why not put a small sub meter in every classroom and monitor its energy consumption. He promptly added later that a sub meter costs Rs 150 in Ludhiana.

Generations of school principals have given long speeches in the morning assembly asking studetns to switch off lights etc...but no one seems to care or bother.

Figure this out... what if we put a sub-meter outside every class...lets say 6th A and 6th B. At the begining of everymonth...take the meter to zero and tell all the students that at the end of the month...we will see who consumes more electricity. I bet this will certainly lead to getting those lights and fans swithched off promptly.

Well...thats my dream at the moment. To have a school, in which every classroom has an electricity meter.

Imagine the precision of a electric energy audit at this place and if the data is fed in a system...one would be able to know...which areas are consuming more energy.

And believe me a sub meter actually costs that low... I have personally done a survey in Lajpat Rai market(Chandni Chowk) about the same. The best one would be around Rs 600.

Try it...I am sure it will work.

Waste Auditing and Zero Waste schools

I have heard a lot of schools bragging about being zero-waste. But if you ask them...how did they come to a figure zero...they have no answers. After all in an equation, one needs to prove how everything = 0.
The truth is that most of the schools brag about their waste management systems of composting and waste segregation without having an idea about the exact amount of waste which is generated in the school.

Finding the exact amount of waste generated on a daily basis is actually called a waste audit.
There's a small film I have made on doing a waste audit. Do watch it on youtube at the following link. This is the first ever video documentation of a waste audit in India and perhaps South Asia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyICoDPPt58

Apart from it being an enviornmental activity...it has immense educational value of teaching scientific data collection as also social sensitivity towards fellow human beings, who help us keep our cities clean.