'Rock-Star' educationist of Ladakh

 My Ladakh visit actually happened in 2021...its just that this blog entry comes a bit late.

One couldnt miss the iconic Pangong lake of Ladakh and as you do it...you also cant miss the numerous stalls on its banks which sport scooters and seatings inspired from the film Three idiots. It was an entertaining film with an educational message but the educationist in me wasnt happy looking at a tourist destination commercialised because of the film. I was looking at the education though.

We were also urged to visit the Druk Padma Karpo school aka Rancho school

where the last scenes of the film were shot. The school being practical and perhaps fed up with the number of visitors, has made a corner for tourists in one corner of the school where one could click a picture with a wall resembling the scenes of the film. But I think the best educational message was in the  film rather than these touristy places.

Flashback...while driving out of Leh towards Pangong had seen a board saying "Ladakh Rock and Mineral Museum', which had stayed with me. As we go free from the Rancho school a bit early, we headed to town and as we passed the museum board, I asked my wife if she would want to give the  museum a try. It was  a nod.

And soon, we were greeted with a flight of stairs with a stone lying there asking us to try and pick it up. My friend with me tried but it just wouldnt move. The stone was small but it couldnt be moved. As we moved up the stairs to the first floor, we saw stones of various sizes, shapes and colours. Some instructions asked us to bang the stones to create sounds.

Soon, we were greeted by a man who said he started the museum because of his interest in rocks and had collected the rocks himself. He  took us through the museum sharing a lot about rocks and got us interested. Its a simple museum with Rocks around.

 Now the educationist in me got interested...and I was hooked when he shared that he often takes students on 'rock tours' and even though many of them are doing great in geography, I ask them to identify a igneous or sedimentary rock...they are unable to do that....as their knowledge is bookish.

He showed us fossil rocks and a number of other rocks which  are used as minerals including the famous rock extract 'shilajit', which he sells as well.

It was  a practical geography class happening and I felt that the person was a true educationist who had taken on educating people about rocks even though he had no academic backround in geography or geology. I asked his name and he said Its 'Phunchok'...Phunchok Angchuk. I told him he is a true Phunsuk Wangdu that people come looking for in Ladakh. In fact a 'Rock-star' Phunchuk.

See a video of his here and dont miss out his museum, when in Leh. Its near Samkar Gonpa. There are two numbers on the ticket: 9419178704 and 9622976050. I had told him to write his email id on the ticket back side so that when I write this blog I will email him. The blog is being written after almost 2.5 years.

Take your kids there to learn practical geography. As he says in the video...its important to know practical than theory.

Khaike paan Banaras wala...khuli jaye band akal ka taala

So...there is much noise around the popular Bond figure Pierce Brosnan endorsing Paan Bahaar paan masala.

Most 'modern' Indians thing its inappropriate, funny and all other words in the dictionary ranging from 'Ehhh' to ' Uhh'.

Most of these paan masala despising people with a strong colonial hangover find it funny to share it on facebook posts without realising their colonial hangover that allows them to do that. Many are also unaware that Rajnigandha sponsored the Jaipur Literature Festival this year. Read about Paan masala at Jaipur Literature Festival. and a very nice tweet mentioned on Wall Street Journal, sizing it up all:

Braking news : 94% of #panbahaar consumers don't know who#PierceBrosnan is & 97% of those getting agitated by the ad don't eat pan masala.

Anyways...

Whats the problem with Bond endorsing paan masala....when people often talk about him endorsing alcohol brands....his drink 'shaken not stirred'.

So, alcohol is cool and paan masala isnt. You will have to put the 'spitting argument' aside for some time. The reality is that a large part of India does endorse popping something into the mouth and keeping it while another large part of India endorses popping a liquid like beer or whisky into their mouth. While both are bad...but beer is something which comes from the developed worlds while things that you put in the mouth is hardcore Indian. Most of the alcohol consumed in India is called English wine and nobody cares about Indian wines or promoting things like mahuli or tadi. Its not cool because its hardcore Indian.

Indians are very happy endorsing brands which are not rooted in India... whiskies, scotch. But when a Irish guy endorses something which is very Indian...its not acceptable. Bond can endorse Scotch but not paan masala.

The problem with us Indians is that some things are so blatantly rejected despite their Indian origin that it becomes uncool to endorse them...until some white skinned people tell us that its actually cool and it becomes cool. This is nothing but our colonial hangover of looking up to something which is endorsed by white skinned people.

Wait until Bond endorses beedi.

I have seen very many non-Indians liking the beedi but its sad that nobody wants to promote it.

Everything is wrong with Indian stuff...right from sari, alcohol, designs, language, eating with hands, speaking in Hindustani. All of them are uncool unless somebody tells us its not.

Am glad paan masala is getting some endorsement now.

It may however, be said and acknowledged that paan masala is injurious to health and so is tobacco and alcohol.

I am sure we can find a solution to the spitting issue. I know of many highly educated Indians consuming paan masala and gutka and being proper with it. Its just that its not mainstream to eat paan masala.

I would also love Bond to endorse paan itself...the Banarasi paan....which is a delight I tell you.

And I hope more and more Indian eat paan Banaras wala so that khul jaiye band akal ka taala.

Come on guys embrace India...There is nothing wrong in consuming paan masala or paan. Its as wrong as smoking cigarettes and consuming alcohol.

and I would have loved to write this article in Hindustani.

Indian Independence Day in a British agency

 In 2012 I joined a British Government Agency in New Delhi. It was just a normal transition into new job until the nationalist in me got triggered.

Its normal in India to see the tricolour and remembrances of freedom fighters in the run up to Independence Day. Its more marked in the school education sector, where I come from. 

The first trigger was a display of paintings in the office corridor. Made by school students during summer, some of them had the tricolour and portraits of nationalist leaders like Gandhi, Nehru, Radhakrishnan and Ambedkar. It was interesting to see pictures of Indian nationalists in a ‘British’ space.

Little did I realise that I would be triggered, yet again, soon as Independence Day was around the corner.  

I have been used to office spaces being decorated with Indian flags and its colours, a couple of days before Independence Day. I knew I will surely miss it in my current office with it being a British agency. But then how can an official agency of Britain celebrate Indian Independence Day…as the very concept of Independence in India is anti-British…and it has to be since we got independence from the British. Being a nationalist historian as well, interesting thoughts started crossing my mind.

Indian nationalism has been constructed on a variety of pillars and one of the pillars is definitely on how British colonialism exploited us and how we came out of it with our freedom struggle. No doubt every Indian child is shown numerous films and plays of how we fought with the British. Children read books about it and all of this gets together to support our nationalism.

It was that pillar of Indian nationalism, which was triggering me…and making me uncomfortable to celebrate Independence day inside a BritishGovernment agency, being an employee. A couple of us friends just joked around…perhaps we should go around the office shouting slogans - British Quit India!

At the same time I was thinking how difficult it would be for Britain (or Britisher) to be a part of Indian Independence Day celebrations.  While Britainrespects India’s independence, how can it support a day in India, which is all about criticising what Britain did to India? I wonder if Britain sends India Independence Day greetings.

I immediately started admiring the modern world and the current world context. On one side, we Indians do take pride in having fought the freedom struggle against Britain and on the other side, a supposed nationalist Indian works for a British agency. And then the nationalist writes in English (the language of the people whom we won the freedom struggle from) for a English newspaper.

The journey of Britain from a coloniser to a development aid partner in the last 66 years is interesting to note. And that’s what I admire about the modern world that the notions of traditional nationalism do not exist now…though some of us may want to tag along with them.  Perhaps, we need to redefine the way we celebrate Independence day and contextualise it in alignment with the newer paradigms of the modern world.

I wrote this piece onyear, and thought I must share it with the British Government Agency top boss before I make it public. However, the agency did not allow me publish it saying that it may jeopardise Indo-British relations. Well these are some last hurdles we have to cross in this post -colonial world.

A conversation with a British...actually Scot colleague reminded me of what I had written and I thought I should publish it now having moved on from that job established myself in the new one. We had something called a 'Scot-xit' referendum and then Brexit, which prompted my Scot colleague to use the term Inde-exit for Indian Independence... jokingly. Another, Canadian colleague corrected that it was not an exit but a rejection of colonisation. But, the incident got this article out of my archives at least.

Right now I am trying to choose the right words so as not to offend either Indians or British. Be politically correct. How silly? Training of being part of an inter-governmental body. Why do we humans have to be politically correct and not speak our minds...even for fun. And while my national identity was taken aback by Inde-exit, it did put me on a thinking track.

Also, what I am thinking is that if Kashmir becomes another country and gets freedom (which I wouldnt want)...would a Kashmiri be writing a similar article about India House in Srinagar and I call it Kashmirexit.

Interesting thoughts!

JNU has always been 'seditious' and we are proud of it.

JNU is a very seditious university if I go by the Indian Penal Code.

I have had my time discussing and arguing about independence of Kashmir with some of my Kashimiri acquaintances, when I was a student there. And of course we talked about Pakistan also, when we talk about these.

If the current government had its way, most of my batchmates would have been in jail on charges of sedition.

JNU has produced a number of bureaucrats and diplomats and as part of the job they have to have many seditious discussions with people around the world. I guess what happens at JNU is just a practice session for time to come. JNU Presidential debate and many other forums exist for this and I think thats what makes JNU different from many other universities. It contributes to relevant debates and issues of the country.

Though I have no sympathies for Afzal Guru in any manner (I do contemplate whether, death sentence is a viable punishment ), but to arrest the JNUSU President or for that matter any student of the university because he is raising his or her opinion is tyranny. If some people in this country think he shouldnt have been hanged, let them say atleast. After all most of us commenting didnt see the evidence or follow the court hearings.

Everybody has a right to express opinion, no matter how obnoxius it may sound. We allow mullahs and pandits and granthis in India to express their defiling opinions and not arrest them. Somebody declaring to destroy a temple or a mosque is bigger sedition in India than somebody supporting Afzal Guru, considering that we are a secular republic as put in the constitution. We never said in our constitution that India is a nationalist republic.

Lets change our colonial penal code for sedition.

I am courting arrest by current government of India for the following reason very close to my heart:

1. Our national anthem doesnt inspire me and it should be changed. None of the Indians understand it. let our national anthem be Saare Jahan se Acha. Iqbal's masterpiece. So what if he chose Pakistan. At least people understand it.

Sorry...got a little emotional.

Just want to add for all the people out there slamming JNU. One incident at a university doesnt merit all the criticism. JNU has contributed a lot to the nationalist and secular fabric of this country. Of what all that made you a nationalist...that textbook in school was written by Bipan Chandra, Irfan Habib and Romila Thapar.

I am a proud nationalist JNUite.
P.S - Lots of jokes going around. I was hurt. One of my JNU friends commented Joke is Joke. Joke is koi jaat nahi hoti. So, I started enjoying these jokes. Let me share one from a friend who needs to be heading a top advertising agency in India but isnt. JNU should be named Jinnah National University. Ha Ha Ha.

Paan Masala at Jaipur Literature Festival: A nationalist and environmentalist's POV

Disclaimer: I dont endorse paan masala, though I do consume it occasionally. I have never visited the Jaipur Literature festival. I never edit or re-read my posts. Issued in the interest of paan masala consuming people and environmentalists.

Dont know if the eminent literary personalities at JLF paid any heed to what was printed on the huge bill boards claiming themselves to sponsor the festival. Rajnigandha was one of them. Its a renowned brand of paan masala in India. For the non-Hinustani speaking and non-South Asian literary personalities, colloquially called firangs by the paan masala eating community, paan masala is a concoction of betel nut and some other stuff, the consumption of which is supposedly injurious to health.

But this is not a blog entry of a WHO professional. So, lets come to the point straight.

Most of the paan masala eating community in India must have never heard of JLF, even though there money was being spent on the festival. Afterall, Rajnigandha was the second biggest sponsor of the event. Dharampal Satyapal, the original owners of Rajniganda, must surely have had a reason to sponsor the festival and to promote the silver pearls product (silver coated cardomom seeds) rather than the popular Rajniganda paan masala.

And more interestingly, the so called literary creatures of India and elsewhere, would never ever think of getting on stage with Rajnigandha paan masala in their mouth. Its not the in-thing to do at a literary festival, even though that very company is the second biggest sponsor. Interestingly, Rajnigandha was the key sponsor of the ignored cousin, Delhi Literature Festival.

It would not be wrong to presume that JLF is primarily aimed at English Literature and not Hindustani literature, even while taking cognizance of the fact that some of my friends performed dastangoi at JLF and the fact that this blog is in English and not Hindustani. Taking sheer economics in light, the paan masala eaters would rather have wanted their money spent on a mushaira or dastangoi than perhaps listening to the so called literary guys, who shy away from speaking in Hindustani and would rather not want to be seen eating a paan or paan masala. But that is for Dharampal Satyapal group to decide.

It is worthwhile to mention that the environmental cost of eating paan masala and spitting it, is surely less than consuming a bottle of mineral water, the container of which (read plastic bottle) will never ever get recycled in Jaipur and would perhaps be buried on this planet for million of years. I wonder why the average JLF goer shies away from popping Rajnigandha and rather drink some coke or mineral water from a pet bottle. Let me add that Rajnigandha was one of the first companies to introduce paper packets for its products. Pic Below of plastic pet bottles at JLF

Even after having said the above, it doesnt stop a writer from expressing the fact that perhaps more needs to be done at an Indian Literature Festival (meaning based in India) to make it more Indian than merely doing it at the Diggi Palace and inviting some firangs to spend a nice winter in Jaipur basking in sunlight. Pothi padd padd jag muya...pandit bhaya na koye. Stop using these plastic bottles...you literary people.

Also, we need to think if its an effort of Rajnigandha to become cool or JLF to become more Indian.

Muh men Rajnigandha...Kadmon men duniya #JLF2016

P.S - Even Zee TV the main sponsor is more Hindustani than English...though one colleague from Jaipur tells me that Zee English is coming soon.

Talk about dating & love in a Mathematics Class. Yes...you read it right.

What is this entry on 'Love'' doing at an educator's blog. Well...it has a reason, as it concerns Maths.

I work for an agency, where education for Peace and Sustainable Development is our mandate. I have been dong some basic level research for the last year or so on how to utilise mainstream subjects like Maths and Science to teach Peace and Sustainable Development. My aim was to embed these elements in the curriculum of these subjects. The primary aim was to utilise Maths and science as tools for Peace. You know boring stuff we do as peace educators (this sentence is only meant for students reading this blog)

So, it was as simple as turning a simple mathematical question like 240-18 =? into

Bharatpur Sanctuary has 240 species of birds and 18 of them have gone extinct. How many are left.

Same question but the context is different. Though I wonder how interesting a context is that for a kid.

Its the usage of Maths as a tool engaging social aspects that makes it come alive. I have been a strong advocate of mathematics being taught through its application in real life. A whole chapter in my book is dedicated to that.

Anyhow...

An email took me the Hannah Fry's TED talk on 'The Mathematics of Love', wherein she uses data from a dating website to predict the effectiveness of finding a partner. Its the sheer use of big data, if I may call it, and mathematics to decipher love patterns and dating patterns.

For me it was a fun video to watch...interesting insights... until she started talking of divorces and mathematical equations to predict them.

I was zapped when she made an analogy between countries at war....and boom it was Maths for Peace...that she was talking about. Something I was up to in my job.

While several single people may get benefitted by this video to find a date...fortunately I have one. But for sure Mathematics has the potential to bring peace on the planet....and love too.

Wonder what if we start a Maths class for young teenagers like that...wouldnt they be interested in Maths. The Maths class would be a super hit. I think its an interesting video to be shared in Maths classrooms of  senior grades... as they start dating.

And perhaps an interesting context to begin talking about peace. Love takes us to peace.

Do watch this amazingly interesting video.

I will not let an exam result decide my fate: A letter to the recent Class XII passout

Hi Dude/Damsel,

So, I am not writing to you to give you some advise or Gyan...as the entire world must be giving you now...including some of your 'wise' friends.

Just want to share myself with you as your pal. Its just that I am way too older than you.

Anyhow, I guess you passed the exams. Perhaps there's another letter to be written to those who didnt. But I will leave that for another day.

Either you got great marks or average or dismal. I know you wanted more...everyone...even the ones who got 100. Thats human phenomena...we want more. No matter we dont know what to do with those extra.

My brother once told me, "Paise kabhi poore nahi honge life men" or "You will never have money enough in your life". He was perhaps true, no matter how much I earned in life, I always wanted a little more... so that I could buy a better phone, better car or a better house.

Its the same with marks I guess. Even if, you would have got a percent or two more...life would still be the same...you would want more. Thats the reason of these ads Ýeh dil maange more', Aur dikhao...aur dikhao

Now you may tell me to cut the crap...that you wont get admission in a college


...but let me tell you it wouldnt matter in the long run.

Go out interview your relatives...a little older...who are now finished with their education and ask them what really matters to them in life. Definitely it wont be the Class XII results! I will love to hear in the comments below on what they shared.

Ok! Ok!

I get it...you are there and you have to face it. and you dont want another homework of going around talking to people.

So...face it. But Face it powerfully.

Dont let it kill you man. You are much more than your examination result...even if you are a 100%, 90%, 80%, 70% or 50 %

As Suli Breaks sings...I will not let an examination result decide my fate.

And let me tell you a truth I realised long time back...and bloody well wrote it on the last page of my book. I dont even remember 5% of what I read in school university and college and whatever I am doing right now...I could have done right after grade 10.

And I can bet it its true for most adults whether they admit it or not. 80% of adults will fail if I ask them a Grade 7 maths algebric equation. And they have the gall to tell you...perform better in Maths.  They never used that Maths and will never use it. And by the way neither will you. Its just that we have to do it still.

Seriously, this education is a pre-decided game made for you to pass your time and fail...no matter what. It doesnt make you think. It doesnt make you happy? A Board cannot decide who you are and who you arent? Is it only education that matters? Then why didnt these 100% guys or toppers really mend the roads in India or the poverty around the world. The system has failed us. Dont let a failed system decide what your worth is?

Ok Admissions!

Does it mean that if you dont get the right marks, you dont get to study what you want...what you really want to do? If you are really passionate about what you want to do...you will do it anyways.

Go ahead guys...enjoy your life and make this planet a better place to live. If 80% or 90% is bad then those who got 70% should commit suicide....right! but would it be worth it ? NO. NEVER

Enjoy whoever you are? whatever you are?

Life is like a series of 1 day internationals, T-20s and test matches. No matter you got a duck in the world Cup Final. But you still keep playing?

Remember even if you didnt perform your best in this World Cup (read Class XII boards)....there are many more World Cups to come in your life.

A for Almirah, B for bedroom,D for Door: Home is the best design for a pre-school

Was reading John Dewey in his School and Society, very interesting book and may I say a must read for Early Childhood Educationists. I have been hearing a lot about Maria Montessori and Reggio Amelia in the early childhood domain, but I saw John Dewey to be straight away hinting at what early childhood education should be.

He says that there is very stark change from a home to a school for a child. The school is totally different from the home, in its appearance, warmth and practices. You don’t do at school what you do at home. They are two completely isolated places, which do not want to connect with each other. While John goes on to fully explain, how he wants the school to be connected to the society, I got my idea of an ideal pre school from his thoughts.

 Imagine a school or rather a pre-school, just like the flat next to yours. Same...Ditto. Drawing room, dinning room, three bedroom, kitchen, toilets and the balconies. When you drop the kid to this school. It will be like leaving him in another flat in the neighbourhood or rather just like your home. The child will not feel alienated and would be at home in this home pre-school.

If we look at the primary objective of a pre-school in the society, we find that all the society requires is that the child learns some basic hygiene and may be start muttering the alphabets and numbers. I see no reason why this cannot be taught in a preschool whose architectural design is similar to the house.

The walls of the drawing room could be used to put whatever you want to display. All items in the house have to be marked starting from the door. Alphabet D should be written on the door and also

Door along with it. Its weird that we say A for Apple and then show an Apple even though in many parts of the world Apples don’t grow and aren’t available. To make education contextual instead of putting a chard of A for Apple, this home pre school would have the alphabet A written on an almirah. K fo Kitchen. T for Toilet. B for Bedroom. R for refridgerator. I am clear the alphabet would be in their hearts in no time. The teacher wouldn’t have to introduce alphabets also.

The basic aim of teaching alphabet and numbers would be achieved in no time in this school. Even the rest of the agenda or lets say curriculum of preschool education can also be taken care of appropriately in this set up. Everything taught in terms of hygiene will be taught at the appropriate places.  Hand washing at the washbasins. Eating at the dining table. The kids may even sleep if they feel sleepy in the bedroom. I am not trying to comment right away on the pedagogy of early childhood education adhered to in the schools, but strongly believe that such an environment and set up would be most conducive to the learning, which we intend to happen in a preschool.

The obvious question hearing this idea is that how do we see this ‘home-school’, if I may use that term, convert into a full fledged school model. Would the children continue to stay in this home-school?

How this home-pre school will transition into a school is also organic. One of the rooms in this home pre-school would be a study, where you will have books and a table and a chair. This is the room that will later transition into what we call a traditional classroom. I can envisage the home preschool till early childhood and as the child grows up, the study grows larger and larger until it transforms into a library of sorts with individual workstations for each student. This will also prepare them to take up professional life, when they come out of school.

At the policy level, there hasn’t been much done in India, pre-schools are not governed by any rules, so there should be no issues with opening a school in a flat. Moreover, it requires minimal capital investment and logistics to start a school. Only thing required is a bent of pedagogy. Though I know the larger chain of pre-schools will criticise this pedagogy as they have invested a huge capital in their infrastructure, nevertheless, the idea cannot be shunned just like that.

Most of my ideas are based on actual experiments done on the ground. However, this idea is yet to be tested. But so much is the strength of this idea I believe that even after implementation, its core is unlikely to be changed. There would be a lot of improvisations which may happen in terms, of where the maximum amount of learning will happen, how it will happen but the premise of the preschool to be just like a home wont change. I wish this idea is taken up by some school chain and pray that I take up this idea soon, so that I am able to theorise this and present it to the larger educational fraternity.

Book Shops, Smoking, School Library et al

It took me a while to decide, where I should be putting this blog entry...on my personal blog or on this 'professional' blog. Finally decided to put it here because the subject matter is about a book shop and book shops surely influence education.

A group of enthusiastic educators from Dehradoon invited me for a book reading to the city in a book shop. For me it was just another book shop until I entered it and engaged with it. I had read about the smoker's room in the bookstore on the web and was interested to explore it. A bookstore which boasts of a smoker's room is something interesting.

I was introduced to the charming store owner, Mr Ashish and I started with the enquiry about the smoker's room. It took me no time to find out the reason of the smoker's room...the store owner himself was a smoker. But the moment I entered the smoking room...it was clear that I was perhaps in my world of judgement and opinions. And...I recollected what somebody shared with me a few days ago at a chai shop. A person who recently got to know that I am an author was smoking there and he offered me a cigarette. I politely refused saying that I dont smoke (I had quit at that time). He wondered and said "Writers are usually smokers. How come you dont smoke?". There is perhaps a connection between writers, readers and smokers. A painting in the smokers room actually connected it to artists as well.

Anyways, coming back to the main story, I complimented Ashish (pic below) on this unique venture and he started sharing his perspective on book shops. He shared such interesting insights on a book shop that I actually put my mobile phone on a recording mode. Fundamental No. 1

"You don't choose a book...a book chooses you"
As I started thinking about this, he shared that most often people just walk into a book shop, just looking around and suddenly you find an interesting book to buy. I agreed somewhere as I am in the habit of picking up a book randomly. He shared that he had deliberately not created marked sections in the shop, placarding the subject matter of books. The customers were supposed to just go around and explore.

Fundamental 2
'A book shop is a place to relax and to have a conversation'
He says that you need to find a shop, where you can go and have a conversation with the owner and generate love.

Fundamental 3
'I dont blame the readers, if they dont come to book shops. The book shops need to generate interest. And thats what I am up to'

My conversation with Ashish moved me to start thinking of opening a book shop.

Anyways...

Linking this to education is my job here. I have shared my bit on school libraries in my book.

If children are not interested in reading in a school, its the problem of the librarian not the children. A librarian perhaps needs to a friendly person, who just engages with children and shares books that interest them. Unfortunately, most schools recruit librarians, who are the most un-interesting people around. They may have a degree in library sciences but they cant figure out the interest of children. A true librarian for me is a person, who can generate that interest in children to read.

I would want to see the school librarian in the playground, sharing books about Sachin Tendulkar and Dhoni with cricketers, so that when they visit the library, the pick up that book. Thats where reading will start.

Also, just as Ashish has a smoking room in his book shop. In a school library, you could have a section, where children can talk. You cant expect them to be silent all the time. May be they want to share about an interesting book with fellows.

P.S - 1. I do not endorse smoking in any manner.
2. I also never edit my writings. Please bear with typos etc.

Happy Schools

My Dad used to say...I know what everyone wants in life...Happiness. And each one of us gets Happiness through different things. Someone gets it from work, some from leisure. Some from music, some from sports. But the truth is that everyone wants happiness. Its unfortunate for us that some people in this world get happiness out of violence.

Anyhow, Happiness is a very much sought after thing. In the development world, though the discourse has primarily been around 'well-being' rather than 'happiness' for the simple reason that it is very difficult to objectify or perhaps quantify happiness.  Bhutan  as a nation has been grappling with the concept of Gross Happiness Index and has set parameters for it but its yet to establish itself as a credible index.

All said and done, one cannot deny the fact that the moment you hear the word 'Happy', there is a smile on your face. I happened to be at a seminar yesterday and there was a seminar going on in the next room called the Happiness Seminar. People were all cheerful and happy.

Its for this reason that when I first heard that UNESCO Bangkok office has started something called the Happy Schools Project, there was a smile on my face and I was interested immediately. Forget well being...I want be happy"- thats what a child would perhaps say. Thats the precise reason, I like that its called the Happy Schools Project rather than another serious educational terminology.

They are doing a survey to find out what a happy school is for you...which is a good thing...its participatory. You can take the survey here and its in different languages as well:

http://www.unescobkk.org/news/article/how-can-we-make-schools-happier-places-you-tell-us/

I was happy to find an option of a 'student' in the survey options. Despite the fact that everybody talks about a child centric education, everybody forgets to listen to children... what do they want.  I have been a strong protagonist of participatory learning and execution processes and have advocated a lot about participatory curriculum making, where children make their curriculum. I would be really happy if this project takes a participatory approach.

I was just posting about this survey on facebook and what I wrote on my status is...what does a Happy school look and feel like. If I were to take a cue from there...thats the first question which comes to mind. A survey may then be a limiting exercise. It should be extended perhaps to a drawing competition or a essay competition amongst children to draw what a happy schools looks like. What does a child in Vietnam imagine a happy school to be? What does he see children and teachers doing in it.? It will be good to compare the paintings drawn in Vietnam, Mongolia, India or any other place.

Every school should be asked to do an exercise with children in a participatory manner and send a report of what the school children envisage or imagine a happy school to be. It could be a Happy Schools Report.

It could be an interesting exercise in listening to the imaginations of children across the world.

Let the children create this project and let it be child led. After all...whom are these Happy Schools for...and whose happiness are we talking about? 

The Problem with Packaging

God knows why I haven't written about it till now as I have been practicing this for over a decade now. A debate on facebook triggered me to write about it now. Someone was doing a campaign against unnecessary packaging around Diwali...gift wraps etc.

Though I have been terming such initiatives as pseudo-environmentalism but I think its a lack of critical thinking and sense of enquiry amongst people, which make people relate to environmental issues superficially. So, I am not a Holy Cow. But just let me vent it out guys. Also, do read this piece on illogical environmentalism around Holi - http://educationandenvironment.blogspot.in/2013/03/save-water-on-holi-illogical.html

Anyways, let me get to packaging.

Packaging became essential in history when products produced enmasse needed to be preserved and transported. Leaves, Wood and rope were primary packaging materials used at some time. Then came paper and it was paper packets we had to deal with along with Glass to pack liquids. As these packaging materials were not durable, the thirst of humans took them to plastic and pet.

Thats when the problem started. biscuits, chips etc started getting packed in plastic packets and so did liquids in plastic and pet bottles. Packets became sachets and we littered everywhere. Initially it was less but then even the basic groceries started coming in packets - pulses, paneer, spices and even dahi.
Today you cant even think of buying groceries without packets.

While we thought we were getting cleaner, nicely packed items. we started throwing things here and there. You would find a chips packet even on a trek in the mountains and in fresh water streams. And this would lay in the jungle for ages, never to be degraded. And I dont think even 5% of these packets are recycled. Mixed with wet waste, they lie in the landfills of cities and dumping sites near towns and villages.

There have been movements to ban plastic bags. But thats just perhaps 20% of the entire plastic waste. The real culprits are the packed big companies products that you consume.Nobody dare ban them. Himachal Pradesh High Court was going to take a decision to ban them but I think the case has gone in cold box now. After all its the economy of so many companies involved.

We can deal with this at a personal and policy level.

I have been dealing with this at a personal level for quite some time. I avoid packed products as far as possible. So, very rarely would you find me consuming packed biscuits and chips. I would rather eat biscuits from a local bakery or naan khatai in a paper packet. I know I miss out on life and Kurkure, but I am ready to give that much for environment. I remember at a party I hosted in my house, what a pain it was to get fresh juice from a local shop to serve fresh and get open or khulla paneer. I was a radical then. Now I know there is as much  I can do. But I try and do the best.

Many people laugh at me, open a packed chips packet and offer me saying...now its not packed. But I am clear I want to do it.

Its the same with liquids. You buy coke mobile and then throw the pet bottle away, which is unlikely to be recycled and even if it gets recycled it will create nuisance in terms of gases emitted during recycling. I say...where have the glass coke bottles disappeared. Why cant we consume in glass bottles and get a refill. No damage to environment. Milk used to be sold in bottles in Delhi at sometime. Why cant it happen now? World Conferences on environment happen and pet bottles of drinking water adorn the panelists tables. What the hell is such environmentalism for?

I carry a water bottle and there are some interesting initiatives of refill going on. Read http://publicsolutions.blogspot.in/2013/02/refill-your-water-bottlecola.html

I think Modi's campaign of cleaning up India is well intended but we cant live by cleaning up and hiding our litter. What happens to the litter in the dustbin is the key question if you are talking of real environmental sustainability.

I invite everybody to take responsibility for the waste they generate on a daily basis. Quit packaged products. Lets talk to companies and promote sustainable packaging.

Parle G biscuits were once packed in paper packets. Why cant Coke and Pepsi promote glass bottles. I know its difficult and perhaps may even cost more to the company. But tell me, is it ok to do a karma which will be there in this world for centuries.

Lets clean up and do the karma, which liberates us and the world. Lets avoid and perhaps quit packed products.

BLACK HOLE INFORMATION SYNDROME

I watched Alia Bhatt's Genius of the Year video yesterday and found it to be hilarious...a number of laughable moments...but at the same time as an educationist, I found it disturbing underneath. It takes so much for a girl to prove that she's not dumb.

It speaks a lot about our society's obsession to know trivia of general knowledge...and also the impact it has on people who dont know this trivia called general knowledge. It has a huge cost especially if you see from an educational angle. Thousands of teachers despise their students when they dont know whats obvious...and not all students reach the Dumb Belle Mental Gym.

Knowing or not knowing something doesnt make a zilch of a difference as far as education is concerned. And the biggest mistake an educationist can do to make somebody learn is to mock that person about not knowing something.

Now I know she said Prithvi Raj Chauhan was India's President or something and I dont know why she said what she said. And you could consider it as an information important enough. But frankly speaking how does it matter if she doesnt.

Though it was a spoof kind of thing, but when Alia cried in the end. It was all the pain of the person, who has to prove herself...prove herself for what. Thousands of people make this effort to attain trivial general knowledge to prove that they are cool. They dont even know the pain they are in...of having to know everything...because its endless. Thats what I call Black Hole Information Syndrome. Are you suffering from it.

I was just sharing with a friend how annoying it is to sit with people who know everything...music, politics, films, international affairs, food, science, history etc. And then my friend remarked...actually all these people must perhaps be very lonely in life and have nothing else to do but to gather information. Dont know if thats true...but I am sure they are out there to prove...they are not dumb.

Guys you are not dumb...stop gathering this information...stop proving yourself.

Its all right to know something and not to know something.

On a different note and I have written a lot about it earlier...Quiz is the most dumb thing educationists created. Testing people on information they memorised. When I was in school people memorised country capitals and currencies. Why would any sane person do it? What use is this information? But somehow Quizzing has reached our DNA...Imagine KBC. We enjoy us being challenged around the information we have? Its a sport or a game to get more marks or less? Hardly do we realise that in this game of information gathering we kill the real learning? No wonder then the information gatherers are in IITs and in IAS, while the real learners do some odd jobs. Ha ha.

P.S- The movie also has a pedagogical discourse on teaching methods...teaching through dance etc. Enjoy the film...even if you are not an educationist. Its meant to entertain not to educate.

Learning from Conflict

The entire country and especially Bangalore is protesting the rape of a 6 year old in a school. Parents are out protesting on the road demanding action. CM’s remarks are making the news. All parents with school going children know about the issue and are talking about it at home, office and public places…everywhere.

But what about the children? Somehow we tend to leave children out of all conversations with regards to the ugly side of the society. For most parents and even educationists, children must live in a cocoon, not only unharmed but even uninformed about what’s happening in the society.

But do you think a child doesn’t get to know when the parents fight? Of course they do because they have been watching you closely. However, the same may not happen when it’s a social issue. Children often get misinformed or illinformed, making their own meanings of a situation.

Having said that, what most of us parents and even educationists miss out is the opportunity available to us to talk about these issues with children at such points and consequently impact their learning. This is the time for parents to talk to their children about the menace of rape.

I checked with a fellow educator friend. Thankfully, she told me that she spoke to her daughter about it but not the son. She now plans to have a conversation with her son as well.

Krishna Kumar, former director NCERT had taken this matter up beautifully in the book ‘Learning from Conflict’. He shares that every time there is a riot or bomb blast in the city, while everybody talks about it, the schools remain silent. The teachers don’t talk to the children about it. I am told that’s what’s happening in Bangalore.

While the entire media is talking about the issue, all that the schools around India are doing is gossip about it in staff rooms and corridors. It’s a time for schools to ‘learn from this conflict’ and engage students in a discussion around the issue, appropriately. There is a lot of learning which will happen in the process. They will be surprised of what comes out of it. At least get the teachers in a room and have a discussion on the issue.

There is a lot of discussion around the issue of sex education in this country and its still a big taboo in the top schools of this country.  People see the Bangalore incident as related and desist from the topic. It’s the same mentality of women not talking of abuse. But what would explain the schools not discussing the Muzaffarnagar riots or the Gaza invasion and killings?

Its high time we realise that we could utilise conflicts as great learning opportunities for us as well as our children. Are we really educating children merely to become great professionals (read Maths/Science) or are we educating them to become citizens of this world? who know how to deal with issues like hatred and conflict. Its time to reorient education. Its time for education for peace and sustainable development. 

India's new HRD minister Smriti Irani

Smriti Irani is India's new HRD minister and she is not a graduate. Thats the news and everybody is talking about it. Now I am not a BJP guy but an aam aadmi. Still I guess that shouldnt stop me from being on her side.

Now, let me tell you that I am one who thinks that India's sports bodies should be run by sportspeople and not politicians but I wonder why when it comes to education I am ok with a rather less educated HRD minister.

Perhaps because I am a pedagogue by heart and I put learning above knowledge. I think education is everybody's business. Everybody learns...even an illiterate. Perhaps the learning of an illiterate is more experiential than the lettered. And mind it experiential learning is what everybody wants.

I am thinking of giving some absurd examples of Shatrughan Sinha being a succcessful Health Minister and Lalu being  a successful Railway minister...but let me refrain from that logic and follow the pedagogic line.

What India requires is not a Hoxbridge educated person as the Education Minister but a person who understands learning. We talk about 3 idiots and about how the education is not delivering what is wanted because we put something else in the forefront rather than learning. We are more interested in having the correct definition of a machine and less interested in the simplicity of what it is ( 3 idiots style). Similarly, we are more interested in a educationally defined HRD Minister rather than a learning oriented HRD Minister.

I think academic qualification is no merit for being a HRD minister as long as a minister understands the learning needs of the people of India. That ways Raju Hirani or the script writer of 3 idiots would be a better HRD minister. And why not...what we want in India is someone sensible to be at the helm of affairs at HRD...and who knows it is Smriti.

Also, let me make it clear that I am not against a highly educated HRD minister but for me the first criteria is the person being open to learning. As I say many a times, a gold medalist in Physics may not be the best physics teacher. A second class in Physics person may be a better teacher.

I am not a great fan of Modi but I happened to listen to one of his speeches long time back (one of the numerous he made in the run up to the elections)..I think at a college in Delhi. And he reiterated that he would like to create the best teachers so that they can impact this country. Now if Smriti got that then I think a lot could be done in the HRD ministry because I am in for a strong teacher education oriented HRD ministry.

All the best Smriti.

Stellar Museum at Ambience Mall

With such a strong ad campaign...I couldnt stop myself but to be at the Children's Stellar Museum at Ambience Mall in Gurgaon.

I wonder why they chose to be called a Museum...may be because they thought parents would be happy to take kids to a museum than an entertainment centre.

Anyhow...here are my thoughts about the place.

Its basically a space with multiple areas where kids can entertain themselves and also get educated about some aspects. So, there is a space which has some dynamics of air...things fly, a place where you can build up stuff with blocks, a section...where you can play and channelise water...a place where you can play doctor doctor type games...some other sections where you can paint and play with clay...and other such activities


There are few more games...the most popular, where you can push some assorted straws to make some patterns. There is also a gear wall...which I was most amused with.

While its a good start by Indian standards...I think those guys need to do a need analysis with children and see what works and what doesnt as there are clearly some sections which kids are not at all amuse about.

I think a lot more can be added to make this place interesting. Right now as there is a vacuum in this arena...thats why this place has a foot fall...parents leave there children at this place..if they need to roam around the mall. Also, it seems to be a good place to do your birthday parties...saw many parents doing a reccee for a birthday party. The place also has a cafe.

While you should definitely take your kids to this place once...they need to do a lot to make this place happening. They need to be  introducing more stuff in the museum and may be stop calling it a museum and get some more hands on stuff.

Bihar and Bihar Curriculum Framework

Life took me to SCERT Bihar. A place which is the center stage of pedagogy in Bihar. And it was an experience to be remembered.

The place itself was awesome. The Bihar SCERT is housed in a palatial building ( as my friend Sushant puts it) and it is indeed palatial. Informal conversations revealed that some portions of the campus were used in World War II. That makes it historic.

But this isnt only about the historicity of the place.

For me it was surprising that a state of India, which is considered to be at the bottom of the development index is simmering with pedagogues, whether from SCERT or some small District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) in a nondescript place like Lakhiserai.

Most Indian pedagogues take pride in the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005 and it came as a surprise to know that Bihar was the first state to come up with its own Bihar Curriculum Framework. This was interesting news as Bihar is not considered any way up the literacy ladder.

No doubt that the people at SCERT took pride in it and the fact that they challenge the NCF and in fact made it add a chapter or two with inputs from Bihar.

I havent read the BCF or Bihar Curriculum Framework till now but its exciting that Bihar was the first state to produce its own Curriculum Framework.

I was also bowled over by the participation of the DIET teachers and Principals which attended a workshop done by my organisation. They were indeed grounded in pedagogy and towards the end surprised me as they summarised the learnings from a workshop which we conducted.

I have always felt that India would change the day Bihar changes and I am glad to know that it indeed is on its way in a bright way.

Sixteen - a peek into an urban teen's life

Sixteen is the latest flick at the box office, all about teens and their socio-emotional life.

One thing was clear for me while watching this film...that I need to spend some time with the teenager students in a school and understand their lives before writing articles as an educationist and pedagogue.

This is a film about four friends from middle and upper middle class studying in a upmarket school in Delhi. After a long time I have seen a film about schools where adults dont rule the movie. The four teens rule this film.

The film does not sermonise on how life should be but just presents it to the audience. Yes...the director has picked up some exclusive cases...perhaps not all teens go through the events shared in the film. But for sure...all teens would relate to the film in having portrayed their lives vividly.

The film shows the parent child relationship very beautifully and has a variety of parent characters starting from overtly strict/abusive parents to parents, who give a lot of freedom their kids.

As the posters tell you...this film is also about sex and how teenagers take to it. It somehow takes away all the significance that the society attaches to sex. The film has been given an A certificate, which means the average school going student cannot watch this film. Thats the irony as I would certainly want to screen this film in a school.

For all the adults who talk about how teenagers should be and those dealing with their lives...its a must watch. Perhaps you could take a lesson in parenting through the film.

Touching a variety of issues like peer pressure, teenage pregnancy, teenage delinquency and alcohol...its a delight to be in a teen's world for the duration of the film.

Watch it just to be in the world of an average urban middle class teen.

P.S - I would love to break the rule...screen this film for a group of teens and have a group discussion around it. Any takers.

As a pedagogue, the only thing I want to do is to go and have discussions with teenagers on issues raised in the film

Some of the scenes I enjoyed were:

1. Conversation between two teens as they are bunking the morning assembly...and the morning assembly goes on.
2. Conversations between the son and the father, who wants his son to be an IAS
3. Conversation between the daughter and father, who trusts her daughter not to let him down
4. Conversation between the drunk teenaged girl(Tanisha) and a young lad in the lawn of the house.

Tanisha is a star...I loved her.

Repairing-Restarting-Reusing: Teaching Innovation in schools

Everybody swears by innovation and wants innovation. We have numerous anecdotes and stories about how innovation happened...How some people created some new things/ideas/processes. But nobody knows how does anyone teach innovation.

There are exercises and activities to initiate people into thinking and creativity...But innovation is still far far away. But outcomes of these activities dont lead to innovation.

One thing that I noticed early on was that one key element in many innovations is a problem and then creating a solution to it. Another thing that I realised is that 'repairing' something is a key innovation activity.

Was glad to read about the 'Restart Project' being run in UK somewhere...where people get together to restart or repair something...(restart)old transistors and other electronic gadgets. The founders knew that this was a regular affair in developing countries but had perhaps died out in the developed world.

Also, repair has a lot to do with the environment as well...no wonder the tweet that led me to Restart project was tweeted by a environmentalist. 

But right now my effort is to bring environment, innovation and education on the same platform...and actually talk about the interface of all the three.

In my book...To, The Principal...Yours sincerely, I have talked of the idea of a 'kabaaad se jugaad' innovation lab...a lab at the interface of environment, innovation and education.

A lab full of all the tools (read screw drivers, spanners, springs, pulleys etc) and full of kabaad (read junk) old machines etc which are now junk. Using all of these to first get acquainted with how things work first and then using some of the material available to make something knew.

If children and left with constructive material to work with...even if it is junk...you dont need a Lego. Just old junk can work wonders with children and even adults. And the process of repairing leads to innovation. It could be even as simple as repairing a chair with a broken leg. 

My father was an Aeronautical engineer and often used to tell me that there are so many innovators in Old Delhi and Ludhiana that they could make a plane if asked to do. Dont think it was an exaggeration.

What the Restart project is doing is intrinsic and embedded in developing economies. 

I started on one such innovation lab in a school in Delhi. We asked students to get old material from home and we got some basic tools, screw drivers and spanners. It was fun dismantling stuff for all of them.

In subsequent classes we went on to take some specific items. We got a locksmith to our lab and got him to show us whats inside a lock...how do levers work. It was all fun.

Found out later that a Sweden based organisation called Snilleblixtarna is doing similar activities with children even in Grades 1 and 2.

Its just activities like these, which will get us to innovation as there is no specific path.

If we can teach innovation embedded in repair (reuse or recycle)...it will be best for the planet as we would be addressing the two most pressing needs of the planet envisaged in environment and innovation.

Suli Breaks Videos...Moving on from Ken Robinson's TED talks

I bumped into Suli Breaks on the net.

This man is up to something. As I watched ' I will not let an exam result decide my fate'...I was immediately able to connect to this guy.

The simplicity with which he talks about the issues of the education industry is amazing. No big jargon...just plain little talk.

What clarity.

 One thing that I immediately connected was the fact that we studied so much in school and university but dont remember even a tiny percentage of it. This resonated with something similar which I mention in my talks and in my book..."I remember just 5% of what i studied in school, university and college'

Ken Robinson was the rockstar in terms of great education related stuff on videos and I admire him a lot...but I am really excited about his new genre of videos from Suli Breaks. Though I also watched his first one on education i.e Why I hate school but love education. But this one ' I will not let an exam result decide my fate' is a block buster.

I particularly like the part when the kid tells the lady...that you were young at some point of time...but not right now.

I do have a dream of starting a Teachers' Band...which sings for the education revolution. But until that happens...and until we have quexaminations.

Watch Suli Breaks and connect with it as we revolutionise education.

Why aren’t our teachers fun? Why aren’t they mad sometimes?:Gangnam Style dance video by a Teacher

Teachers are folks who have to be serious. Whether we like it or not...thats the norm. Dare a teacher try to act anything but serious. The more serious you are, the better are the chances to go up the ladder.

While there are teachers who are friends with children but they never explore being fun with children. While its an established norm in early childhood education for teachers to do some mad drama for children...we believe that children don’t require that madness or drama as they grow up.

A tweet from Huffington post led me to  a video of a Head Teacher of a School who turned mad publicly...just to add fun and keep a promise he had made. This teacher had promised his students that if they keep up there grades, he will to a Gangnam style dance for all of them. The students got the grades and the teacher decided to do a video, which apparently is a hit on youtube. Find a link to the video in the end.

If you see the beginning of the video...he seems a serious teacher...the one I talked about. But its his dynamism that he had the courage to turn mad (read fun) for his students. I am sure his lectures will now be listened to and children will have fun being in his classroom...no matter he is serious in his classroom.

It takes courage to be mad and madness often helps with students...it brings fun, which is a necessary element of education.

I remember Aamir Khan doing Bum Bum Bole and some gimmicks for his class and remember the times when our teachers would shake a leg in some farewell party. I think I developed a liking for those teachers who could move out and be mad.

Inviting teachers around the world to experiment with madness.

Presenting the first mad video by a teacher in public