The Indians Are Back

Am I worth the bill?

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 02:02:00 +0000

There have been many teacher educators and each one of them has different perspectives and theories of how to about teaching. Being a teacher myself for the last two decades, I often think of the methods I employ in classrooms to transfer the contents to my students. I realize that, to my shock, I have rarely made use of any Teaching methods, approaches and techniques prescribed in pedagogical textbooks. I have always gone in my own way which has no connections of whatsoever kind with those AMTs (approaches, methods and techniques). Mine is, I feel, purely personalized – solely depended on my personality. There are times I feel that a teacher is nothing but a drama. He is, in other words, a performing artist. He got to be damn good at it.

Very recently, I was invited by an institution to talk to its teachers on teaching. My talk was based on the points listed below. Some of the teachers agreed with these in toto, some of them in parts and still others did not with any of these. They felt that these are too subjective. But, what to do? After, I always deal with ‘subjects’.

01. GET TO KNOW THE STUDENTS

To know your students is to make your job easy and effective. The ‘comfort zone’ you maintain with your student clients help you establish professionalism in the classroom. Our profession is learning facilitation.

02. CREATE CONFIDENCE

Students come from various social, economic and cultural backgrounds. They come from different mediums of instructions too. They enter college for the first time. Create and nurture confidence in them. Subject knowledge can wait.

03. LISTEN TO YOUR STUDENTS

Confidence is gained while expressing one’s ideas. Make them speak. Let them tell you about themselves, or anything they like. Give them a patient hearing. When they know you care to listen to them, they respect you. Goal is half achieved.

04. BE AN EXPERT IN WHAT YOU TEACH

When the learning climate is set, start teaching your subject. Students, however weak in their intellect, are blessed with an insight to recognize real merits of a teacher. When you teach well, they know it. When you don’t teach well, they know it too.

05. HAVE YOU DONE YOUR HOMEWORK?

Venturing into classroom without preparation is to start a business without capital. The business is bound to fail. There is nothing worse than cutting a sorry figure of yourself in the presence of your students. Do your homework thoroughly.

06. BE DEMOCRATIC

It is reliably learnt now that interactive and participative classrooms are the most productive classrooms. Don’t try to be pedantic [in the manner of an all-knowing expert] and didactic [in a propagating way] in your approach. Involve them while you develop the content.

07. ARRANGE YOUR PRESENTATION

Do you have a plan of your delivery? Delivery is as important as conception. Be time conscious. Be strategy conscious. Be content conscious. And, be student conscious. A well-planned class is a whole, complete in itself.

08. MAKE SURE IF LEARNING TAKES PLACE

Design Formative Assessment Tasks at the appropriate places during your lecture. The faculty needs to be informed and creative to design his own FA Tasks. FA is pedagogy. Summative Assessment [SA] is evaluation.

09. YOU ARE NOT A CONSULTANT BUT A COUNSELOR

You are not a professional consultant who charges a whopping fee to throw a few tips at his client. Students are your concern. They are your duty. They are your profession. What you make out of them is what you make out of you. Be available to redress their grievances.

10. AVAIL ALL THE HELP YOU CAN

Teaching is not any more a one man job. To facilitate learning, technology has given way to many assisting tools. Avail as many of them as possible. Just make sure that they are appropriate in the given context. Technology is not for technology’s sake. They are for the sake of learning and growing.

11. TALK TO THEIR MIND, NOT OVER THEIR HEADS

What you know is not important. What is important is what your students come to know from you. “HOW” is as vital as “WHAT”. Talk in their ‘language’. DINAMANI failed whereas DHINATHANTHI is a huge hit with the mass. Connectivity is everything in teaching.

12. YOUR SCHEDULE COULD BE FLEXIBLE AS LONG AS IT IS PRODUCTIVE

A faculty is an empowered expert. He is not a word-minting machine that works to a set command. You can be flexible in terms of content covering, strategies adopted, evaluation methods, etc. Just make sure that your flexibility is for productivity.

13. ARE YOU COMMITTED?

Teaching is not any more a six-hour job. It is 24X7. When you ignite a spark, the mind can start burning at any moment. When it burns, be there to stoke it. The fire that is not stoked is as good as a deadwood.

14. ARE YOU A HAPPY TEACHER?

None is more dangerous than an unhappy teacher. When you don’t enjoy teaching that is infectious. The students won’t enjoy their learning too. Teaching is not the only means to survive. I won’t remain a teacher if I don’t want to be one. Teaching is my choice. For you?

15. I AM OKAY, YOU ARE OKAY

Develop the mindset that you are a contributor. Not a contractor. There is so much to give these young minds. Find out that real happiness lies in giving, not in taking. When you give, you produce. When you take, you consume. Be an important chunk in the chain of man-making process.

A Late Quartet – review by Philip French, The Guardian.

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 04:06:00 +0000

Musical groups, coming together, working harmoniously, splitting up, reuniting, provide one of the great metaphors for human activity. In the cinema we encounter them in such different forms as the real-life bandleaders Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey feuding and going their different ways in The Fabulous Dorseys; Bing Crosby's inner-city priest reforming delinquents as a choir in Going My Way; Fellini's allegorical Orchestra Rehearsal presenting Italy as a musical rabble that can only function when submitting to a firm conductor; or Dustin Hoffman's recent Quartet, which sees elderly singers burying old differences to recreate their celebrated quartet from Rigoletto.

A Late Quartet, written and directed by the American documentarian Yaron Silberman, is a major contribution to this continuing cycle. A subtle, intelligent picture with a suitably resonant title, it quietly observes the internal dynamics of the Fugue String Quartet, an internationally acclaimed musical group founded and based in New York that has been playing around the world for 25 years. We encounter them as an entity, working together thoughtfully, a trifle self-regarding perhaps, and then we get to know them as individuals.

Their founder, the cellist Peter Mitchell (Christopher Walken in an uncharacteristically pensive role), is a quiet, paternalistic figure, whose wife, a well-known concert singer, has recently died. The second violin, the impetuous, overweight Robert Gelbart (Philip Seymour Hoffman), is married to the quartet's graceful, composed viola player, Juliette (Catherine Keener), whom he met as a student at Julliard. Both are in their 40s and have a daughter, Alex (Imogen Poots), herself a student of the violin. The fourth member is the first violinist, Daniel Lerner (Mark Ivanir), an intense central European immigrant of great technical brilliance, who makes bows, rebuilds violins and is a highly demanding teacher, one of whose pupils is Alex.

We sense the tensions between them but appreciate that they have been subsumed into their quarter of century of playing together. They have found satisfaction not in discarding their individuality but in unselfishly contributing to a collaborative endeavour. Their unity is expressed in the music and also in the joint filmed interview that illustrates, a little too demonstratively perhaps, the face they present to the world. But all this is to be disrupted, the quartet challenged both singly and as a group.

Early on, the somewhat melancholy Peter introduces his student class to Beethoven's Op 131, the String Quartet No 14 in C sharp minor, which is to figure centrally in the film, and he precedes it by delivering the first 10 lines of Burnt Norton, first of TS Eliot's Four Quartets. But he speaks the lines in a conversational manner quite unlike Eliot's sepulchral, Anglican-pulpit style. He's talking of time in music and life, of continuity, circularity, eternity. And he goes on to point out that this late quartet has seven movements instead of the customary five, and that Beethoven demanded that it be played attacca, that is without any pause between movements. Both Op 131 and attacca become key elements in the film's dramatic structure.

Peter has been having trouble fingering the strings of his cello, and a sympathetic doctor (a gentle performance by Madhur Jaffrey) diagnoses early signs of Parkinson's disease, and while he accepts this with resigned equanimity the quartet is thrown into confusion. In facing an uncertain future, they begin to consider their own careers as musicians and individuals, and Peter himself is involved in seeking to find a cellist who'll replace him and assure continuity. Fissures occur, fears are released. The first violin seeks equality. Robert and Juliette's marriage is threatened. Their daughter turns against them and embarks on an affair with Daniel, the first violinist. Although a punch is thrown and bitter words exchanged, this is about a buried turbulence that registers forcefully on the civilised seismographs of the characters' minds and hearts.

The film is set during a bitter but deeply romantic New York winter. Central Park is covered in snow. The warm, welcoming interiors contrast with the outside world, reflecting the feelings of the leading figures and the futures they face. There's a particularly expressive scene at night when Juliette, Daniel and Robert leave a meeting with the isolated, stoical Peter, knowing that his Parkinson's will soon take him from the quartet. They stand in the street, the snow falling in the night, talking reservedly of what lies around the corner. As the rotund Robert gets a little too frank about his intentions, his wife and Daniel draw away from him in moral disgust and each walks off in a different direction. He's left alone, bewildered, frozen out in the enveloping dark.

The cinematographer Frederick Elmes, a frequent collaborator of both David Lynch and Ang Lee, has made a wonderful job of locating the characters in their domestic environments – the plain wood of Peter's spacious brownstone apartment, the seedy hotel where Robert finds temporary refuge when his marriage is threatened, the messy student bedsitter where the rebellious young Alex has a confrontation with her judgmental mother. There are also lovingly staged scenes in the concert hall at the Metropolitan Museum, at a Sotheby's musical instrument auction, a visit to the Frick Collection, where Peter communes with a late Rembrandt self-portrait, and a drive into the countryside for Daniel to buy horse hair for the bows he crafts.

A Late Quartet is visually and musically rich. But above all there are the performances, individually and as an ensemble, and they're pitch perfect. It's a minor moment, but there's one scene that particularly sticks in my mind. It's when Philip Seymour Hoffman pulls himself together for a crucial concert by shaving off his unkempt beard. In that simple act of looking in the mirror, putting on the soap and wielding his razor you witness a life being rethought.

WHY TAMIL IS A CLASSICAL LANGUAGE? -GEORGE L HART

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 12:25:00 +0000

Professor Maraimalai has asked me to write regarding the position of Tamil as a classical language, and I am delighted to respond to his request.

I have been a Professor of Tamil at the University of California, Berkeley, since 1975 and am currently holder of the Tamil Chair at that institution. My degree, which I received in 1970, is in Sanskrit, from Harvard, and my first employment was as a Sanskrit professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1969. Besides Tamil and Sanskrit, I know the classical languages of Latin and Greek and have read extensively in their literatures in the original. I am also well-acquainted with comparative linguistics and the literatures of modern Europe (I know Russian, German, and French and have read extensively in those languages) as well as the literatures of modern India, which, with the exception of Tamil and some Malayalam, I have read in translation. I have spent much time discussing Telugu literature and its tradition with V. Narayanarao, one of the greatest living Telugu scholars, and so I know that tradition especially well. As a long-standing member of a South Asian Studies department, I have also been exposed to the richness of both Hindi literature, and I have read in detail about Mahadevi Varma, Tulsi, and Kabir.

I have spent many years — most of my life (since 1963) — studying Sanskrit. I have read in the original all of Kalidasa, Magha, and parts of Bharavi and Sri Harsa. I have also read in the original the fifth book of the Rig Veda as well as many other sections, many of the Upanisads, most of the Mahabharata, the Kathasaritsagara, Adi Sankara’s works, and many other works in Sanskrit.

I say this not because I wish to show my erudition, but rather to establish my fitness for judging whether a literature is classical. Let me state unequivocally that, by any criteria one may choose, Tamil is one of the great classical literatures and traditions of the world.

The reasons for this are many; let me consider them one by one.

First, Tamil is of considerable antiquity. It predates the literatures of other modern Indian languages by more than a thousand years. Its oldest work, the Tolkappiyam,, contains parts that, judging from the earliest Tamil inscriptions, date back to about 200 BCE. The greatest works of ancient Tamil, the Sangam anthologies and the Pattuppattu, date to the first two centuries of the current era. They are the first great secular body of poetry written in India, predating Kalidasa’s works by two hundred years.

Second, Tamil constitutes the only literary tradition indigenous to India that is not derived from Sanskrit. Indeed, its literature arose before the influence of Sanskrit in the South became strong and so is qualitatively different from anything we have in Sanskrit or other Indian languages. It has its own poetic theory, its own grammatical tradition, its own esthetics, and, above all, a large body of literature that is quite unique. It shows a sort of Indian sensibility that is quite different from anything in Sanskrit or other Indian languages, and it contains its own extremely rich and vast intellectual tradition.

Third, the quality of classical Tamil literature is such that it is fit to stand beside the great literatures of Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Chinese, Persian and Arabic. The subtlety and profundity of its works, their varied scope (Tamil is the only premodern Indian literature to treat the subaltern extensively), and their universality qualify Tamil to stand as one of the great classical traditions and literatures of the world. Everyone knows the Tirukkural, one of the world’s greatest works on ethics; but this is merely one of a myriad of major and extremely varied works that comprise the Tamil classical tradition. There is not a facet of human existence that is not explored and illuminated by this great literature.

Finally, Tamil is one of the primary independent sources of modern Indian culture and tradition. I have written extensively on the influence of a Southern tradition on the Sanskrit poetic tradition. But equally important, the great sacred works of Tamil Hinduism, beginning with the Sangam Anthologies, have undergirded the development of modern Hinduism. Their ideas were taken into the Bhagavata Purana and other texts (in Telugu and Kannada as well as Sanskrit), hence they spread all over India. Tamil has its own works that are considered to be as sacred as the Vedas and that are recited alongside Vedic mantras in the great Vaisnava temples of South India (such as Tirupati). And just as Sanskrit is the source of the modern Indo-Aryan languages, classical Tamil is the source language of modern Tamil and Malayalam. As Sanskrit is the most conservative and least changed of the Indo-Aryan languages, Tamil is the most conservative of the Dravidian languages, the touchstone that linguists must consult to understand the nature and development of Dravidian.

In trying to discern why Tamil has not been recognized as a classical language, I can see only a political reason: there is a fear that if Tamil is selected as a classical language, other Indian languages may claim similar status. This is an unnecessary worry. I am well aware of the richness of the modern Indian languages — I know that they are among the most fecund and productive languages on earth, each having begotten a modern (and often medieval) literature that can stand with any of the major literatures of the world. Yet none of them is a classical language. Like English and the other modern languages of Europe (with the exception of Greek), they rose on preexisting traditions rather late and developed in the second millennium. The fact that Greek is universally recognized as a classical language in Europe does not lead the French or the English to claim classical status for their languages.

To qualify as a classical tradition, a language must fit several criteria: it should be ancient, it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly on its own not as an offshoot of another tradition, and it must have a large and extremely rich body of ancient literature. Unlike the other modern languages of India, Tamil meets each of these requirements. It is extremely old (as old as Latin and older than Arabic); it arose as an entirely independent tradition, with almost no influence from Sanskrit or other languages; and its ancient literature is indescribably vast and rich.

It seems strange to me that I should have to write an essay such as this claiming that Tamil is a classical literature — it is akin to claiming that India is a great country or Hinduism is one of the world’s great religions. The status of Tamil as one of the great classical languages of the world is something that is patently obvious to anyone who knows the subject. To deny that Tamil is a classical language is to deny a vital and central part of the greatness and richness of Indian culture.

(Signed:)
George L. Hart
Professor of Tamil
Chair in Tamil Studies

what ROMAN HOLIDAY is to poornima....

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 12:08:00 +0000

A REVIEW ON ROMAN HOLIDAY by one of the students in my classrooms.....

A week long of pact making and royal parties in pointed heels leads princess Ann to a nervous breakdown. It is then she is administered sedatives to sleep her frustrations away. But Ann feels that daring a plot of escape into the city of Rome for a ‘Roman Holiday’ could very well be the antidote to her ‘burn out’.

In this night of escape, she meets Mr.Bradley on his return from a bad game of cards. He helps her in sheer concern for her age and evils it could attract and later allows her to stay for a night in his apartment which she exclaims as an ‘elevator’.

The next day dawned for Mr.Bradley at 12 noon with a realization of the ‘missed’ interview with the princess. Later in the day, he barges into his office with yarns of the interview ‘attended’ - only to get bombarded with the news about the illness of the princess, the cancellation of the ‘attended’ interview and the discovery that the woman who has sought asylum in his dingy flat is, in fact, Princess Ann herself who had blanketed her identity in the name Annya.

The scoop-mongering nature of the shoddy press and preying paparazzo is well established with the news-starving Mr.Bradley challenging his boss with an indigenous scheme of doing an exclusive story on the secret life of the princess. This, he feels, would help him not only to sustain his job but would also get him a one way ticket to the States.

Meanwhile, the princess gets on with what she always wanted to do - sleeping in pajamas, ambling in comfortable sandals, a hairdo of her choice, a breakfast on the roadside café, fun of a gelato under the sun and a fitting finale of ‘the roman holiday’ with a cut-loose dance over the river. Narratives of the entire film is exciting and fast paced spiced with panorama of major tourist attractions in Rome - all done on a scooter ride with Mr.Bradley who slowly endears himself not only to the princess but also to every audience of this celluloid classic.

The fun reaches its climax at the dance party when Ann attempts an escape from the Royal Guards and it soon nosedives into its anti-climax with Ann having to return to Embassy House - thus bringing her ‘Roman Holiday’ to its poignant end.

This film is really about the ‘escape’ everybody dreams of but only a few of us dare to realize. Breaking away all those chains charged upon us is sheer thrill that instills in us a hope of daredevilry. While most of us are all spineless escapists, we find Ann an intrepid adventurer of the finest order.

In fact, this film is not just about a holiday. It’s about a girl finding ‘the woman’ in her. Many of us, by oversight, would tend to believe that Ann’s exploration of Rome is interesting and fun-filled. Nope. Ann has the guts to explore within herself to find out a woman of exemplary character and fortitude who decides to follow the trail her mind and heart ask her to. If life were all about making decisions and their executions, Ann has, indeed, grown very tall during this ‘roman holiday’ to live her life fully.

The final frames of the film could not have been better as they unfold with a shocking twist in the ballroom of the Embassy House. Mr.Bradley with his friend reveals to the Princess his real identity which is acknowledged by Ann with a tinge of furtive majesty - at “Meet-the-Press” function .

After all, hasn’t she become a woman now?

TO STUDENT WITH LOVE...

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 12:01:00 +0000

Dear Jyoti,

Trust this finds you in good health and other members of your family in cheerful disposition. I am in receipt of your three mails and the contents of them have been duly noted. Thank god that you are blatantly frank in enlisting what you consider your problems.

At the outset, I would like to tell you that you are not justified in feeling so dejected comparing yourself to the girls in the new environ. That they are good in so many things including studies just tells me about the exposure they have had by virtue of studying in Rosary since the start of their schooling and the number of hours that they put in honing up their skills in the respective fields. All you need is more number of practice hours in the fields you want to shine and shimmer.

And, I would like to tell you that I have, in a career spanning two decades, seen umpteen numbers of girls and boys who would stun their listeners when they speak. Coupled with neutral accent, their fluency and certain expressions would hook their audience. But, surprisingly, when it comes to writing, they invariably cut a pathetic figure and their write-ups would be dotted with all types of grammatical fallacies. So, there is no justification for one to get intimidated by what one is given to understand by the superficialities. Investigation and examination of a phenomenon alone can unearth the hidden facts. Having known your flair for language and resilient spirit, I genuinely feel that you can easily outshine every one of them if at all you start to put in more number of hours in what you want to excel. Do not try to be good at everything; choose your favorite domains and start putting in more number of hours. You might wonder why I attach so much stress on “putting in more number of hours”. I tell you. I don’t believe in genius. The people with the greatest IQ have miserably failed in life while persons with much less IQ have vanquished all the odds against them. The way to the top floor is always the staircase and not the elevator. By choosing the former, not only one does reach the top floor but also avoids certain impending medical ailments. Besides, one reaches the top as a healthier man. By choosing the latter, you may reach the top quicker but that always depends on factors that are not under your control. I would always advise you to prefer staircase to the elevator.

Also I want you to remember the people who made it very big in their life, starting from scratch. Take my case, for instance. I was a small time boy, studied in Tamil medium government run schools up to Twelfth Standard. English was Latin and Greek to me when I was ushered into the first year of my graduation. Everywhere around me were packs of students who hailed from the top-notch schools and the way they spoke English frightened me to the core of my being and I would often think of running away from the unfriendly ambience. Indeed it took not less one complete year to come to terms with those boys and the voluminous books. Once some familiarity was struck, then there has been no stopping. None of my degree classmates could pursue their academics as deeply as I did and none of their career is related to English now. I could tell you, from what I have gone through, that you are on right track and if at all you are ready to put in more number of working hours, there is no stopping you.

As for the variations in the lifestyles of other Rosary students and that of yours, I feel, there is nothing to feel ashamed of. Do not allow these physical peripherals to deter you from your focus. If at all there should be a comparison, then why doesn’t that be with tens of thousands of boys and girls studying in the government run higher secondary schools for whom even the cheapest footwear turns out to be their biggest luxury. Lifestyle is a relative term and you cannot define one particular type of lifestyle to be the ultimate. After all, I wanted you to spend a couple of years at Rosary not because I wanted you to make comparative analysis of lifestyles but because I wanted you to imitate better samples of spoken as well as written English. This is an apt green room before you enter the centre stage like St Stephen’s. I do remember one particular text I sent to all my friends some days back, “In the long run, how you spend your attention affects your life far more profoundly than how you spend your money”. Nobody could have said it more beautifully than Alan Cohen. Down the line, you would be evaluated not by what brand of jeans and shirts you were sporting but by what have you made of your youth and time. To put it in a nutshell, don’t get jolted by the riches of your schoolmates; derive motivation from their cheerfulness and enthusiasm to counter the course of the given day.

And, I wanted you to take up English Literature because I thought you would make one of the finest teachers of language and literature. I could see that in you. When it comes to choose careers and marriage partners, reliability and emotional security must be the yardsticks; not the instant compensation and the accompanying lifestyle.

Looking at the things as they are, the world is very tough with you, for the time being at least. You got to fight your battles singlehandedly and there is absolutely no point in brooding over your loneliness. Keep yourself engaged with books, music and well-meaning friends. Better develop a definite idea on what you want to become and work towards it diligently.

I do not know if this is a long mail. I do not know if you considered its contents boring either. But this is what I wanted to tell you in person - looking at your eyes. Now that we don’t get to meet often, I earnestly hope this letter would do what I would have done in person.

Be happy, Jyoti. You deserve to be that way.

Love.

the movies i enjoyed watching..

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 11:48:00 +0000

1. 17 again

2. 27 dresses

3. A beautiful mind

4. a love song for bobby long

5. A view to kill

6. Alexander the great

7. Almost pregnant

8. babel

9. Bachelor party

10. barabaros

11. Basic instinct

12. Beauty of the beast

14. benhur

15. Brave heart

16. breaking and entering

17. Bride and prejudice

18. Bridge on the river qwai

19. Bridget jones

20. casablanca

21. Collateral damage

22. Come september

23. dancing with the wolves

24. Dirty pretty things

25. Down with love

26. downfall

27. End of days

28. Eyes wide shut

29. freedom writers

30. Gladiator

31. Going steady

32. Gone with the wind

33. Gorgeous

34. Hamlet

35. Helen of troy

36. Hide and seek

37. History of the world i

38. Hitler

39. How to love a guy in 10 days

40. Importance of being earnest

41. Indecent proposal

42. Jfk

43. Just married

44. kramer vs kramer

45. Lawrence of arabia

46. Lolita

47. main in manhattan

48. match point

49. Merchant of venice

50. Moby dick

51. monalisa smiling

52. My boss’s daughter

53. My fair lady

54. Oliver twist

55. Omar mukhtar the lion of the desert

56. one flew over the cuckoo’s nest

57. Pride and prejudice

58. Roman holiday

59. Samson & delilah

60. Saving private ryan

61. scent of a woman

62. Schindler’s list

63. scoop

64. Serendipity

65. Seven samurai

66. Sex, lies & politics

67. Sexual life

68. Shanghai moon

69. Sleepless in seattle

70. Some like it hot

71. spartacus

72. Stealing beauty

73. Taken

74. Ten commandments

75. terms of engagement

76. the devil’s advocate

77. the english patient

78. the family man

79. The french connection i & ii

80. The girl next door

81. The great escape

82. The great train robbery

83. The honeymooners

84. The hot chick

85. The last temptation of christ

86. The life of adolf hitler

87. The meaning of love

88. The odyssey

89. the painted veil

90. The pianist

91. The piano teacher

92. The scarlet letter

93. The sound of music

94. The sweetest thing

95. The three musketeers

96. The time machine

97. To sir with love

98. Von ryon’s express

99. War and peace

100. What a girl wants

FOR A BEGINNER - ON LANGUAGE AND READING

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 11:38:00 +0000

ENGLISH LANGUAGE, LEXICOGRAPHY, GRAMMAR AND USAGE

1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary – 7^th Edition

2. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

3. Collins Cobuild English Dictionary

4. Bloomsbury English Dictionary

5. Random’s House English Dictionary

6. Rapid Review of English Grammar by Jean Praninsky, Indian Economic

Edition

7. Usage and Abusage by Eric Patridge, Penguin

8. Chambers 21^st English Dictionary

9. Macmillan English Dictionary

10. Oxford Concise English Dictionary

11. Oxford American Dictionary

12. Cambridge Pronouncing Dictionary

13. Newbury House Dictionary of American English

14. Oxford Synonyms and Antonyms

15. Write better Speak better by Reader’s Digest

16. Word Family Finder by Reader’s Digest

17. The Wordsworth Dictionary of Homonyms by David Rothwell, Wordsworth Reference Books

18. English Idioms and How to Use them by RC Coffin, OUP

19. Instant Vocabulary by Ida Ehrlich

20. Dictionary of Foreign Phrases and Abbreviations by Kevin Guinagh, Pocket Books

21. Dictionary of New Words by Willy Thomas, Pentagon Press

22. The Macmillan Dictionary of Contemporary Phrase and Fable, Macmillan

23. Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English, OUP

24. Oxford English-English-Tamil Dictionary

25. Reverse Dictionary by Reader’s Digest

26. Dictionary of Slang – Walter Thomson Ƥ by Goyal Saab, New Delhi

27. A Teacher’s Grammar of English _ KR Narayansamy

28. Enrich Your English – Thakur KBP Sinhe

29. Business Vocabulary in Use – Bill Mascull

30. Oxford Concise Thesaurus

31. COBUILD English Grammar, Collins and Birmingham University

32. Longman Essential Activator, Longman

33. Remedial English Grammar for Foreign Students by FT Wood

34. How Language Works by David Crystal, Penguin

35. Dictionary of Word Origins, published by Flavell

36. ABC of Common Grammatical Errors by Nigel D Turton

37. A Textbook of English Phonetics for Indian Students, Balasubramanian, Macmillan

38. Good Word Guide, published by Bloomsbury

39. Advanced English Grammar – Martin Hewings

40. University English Grammar – Randolph Quirk

41. The Use of English, Randolph Quirk, ELBS

42. The Complete Plain Words, Ernest Gowers published by ELBS

43. Practical English Usage – Michael Swan, Published by ELBS

44. Basic English Usage - Michael Swan, Published by ELBS

45. Modern English – WH Mittins, Published by Faber and Faber, New York

46. Modern English – Krishnaswamy (Macmillan)

47. A Guide to Patterns and Usage of English – AS Hornby, ELBS

48. Effective Communication Skills – Omkar Kaul & Kamal K Sharma

49. Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms, Cambridge Press

50. Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs, Cambridge Press

51. Hutchinson Dictionary of Difficult Words, Published by Hutchinson Ltd.

52. Longman Essential Activator, Published by Longman

53. Living English Structure – W Stannard Allen, Published by Macmillan

54. English Conversation Practice by Grant Taylor, McGraw Hill

55. Advanced Grammar in Use With answers by Martin Hewings; Cambridge University Press

56. Focus on Grammar, (Student Book, Advanced Level) by Jay Maurer, Pearson ESL

57. Grammar and Vocabulary for Cambridge Advanced and Proficiency: With Key (Grammar &

Vocabulary) Richard Side, Guy Wellman, Longman

58. Advanced Language Practice: With Key (Language Practice) Peter Sunderland (Editor),

Michael Vince; Macmillan ELT

59. Cambridge English Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy

FICTION, NON-FICTION, MEMOIRS, BIOGRAPHY, REFLECTIONS, ETC.

60. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

61. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

62. Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat

63. One Night At A Call Center by Chetan Bhagat

64. Three Mistakes of My Life by Chetan Bhagat

65. Two States – The story of my marriage by Chetan Bhagat

66. They Came to Baghdad – Agatha Christie

67. The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Penguin

68. Powers and Prospects by Noam Chomsky, Viva Publishers

69. Why I am not a Christian by Bertrand Russell

70. Key Concepts in Communication, Cultural and Media Studies by John Hartley, Routledge

71. The Google Story by David A Vise, Macmillan

72. Biology As Politics by Somnath Zutshi, Seagull Publishers

73. Through the Corridors of Power by PC Alexander by Harper Collins

74. The Great Indian Dream – Malay Chaudhri

75. Indira – Frank Catherine

76. Bachelor of Arts – RK Narayan, Mysore Publications Ltd, Mysore

77. The Financial Expert - RK Narayan, Mysore Publications Ltd, Mysore

78. The English Teacher – RK Narayan, Mysore Publications Ltd, Mysore

79. The Guide - RK Narayan, Mysore Publications Ltd, Mysore

80. My Days - RK Narayan, Mysore Publications Ltd, Mysore

81. Malgudi Days - RK Narayan, Mysore Publications Ltd, Mysore

82. The Street Lawyer – John Grisham

83. Rich Man Poor Man – Irwin Shaw

84. Rage of Angels – Sidney Sheldon

85. My Story – Kamala Das

86. Heart to Heart – K Natwar Singh

87. Autobiography – Bertrand Russel

88. Marriage and Morals – Bertrand Russel

89. Gandhi A Sublime Failure – SS Gill

90. Freedom at Midnight – Dominique Lapierre & Larry Collins

91. Freedom and Independence India - Dominique Lapierre & Larry Collins

92. India – From Midnight To Millennium – Shashi Tharoor

93. India Unbound – Gurcharan Singh

94. Code Name God – Mani Bhaumik

95. 100 Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

96. Collected Short Stories – W Somerset Maugham

97. To Sir With Love – ER Braithwhite

98. The God Delusion – Richard Dawkins

99. God Is Not Great – Christopher Hitchens

100. The Catcher In The Rye – JD Salinger

WHY I SEND THOSE MISSIVES... - IV

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 14:53:00 +0000

01. A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task, will do him little good. – Samuel Johnson.

02. DISCRETE / DISCREET: While the former means separate, or consisting of distinct parts, the latter means wary, circumspect or prudent.

03. COMPERE / EMCEE: While the former refers to a person who introduces the acts in a variety show, the latter refers to a Master of Ceremonies. Emcee can be used as a verb also.

04. Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt. William Shakespeare in Measure for Measure.

05. ISOGLOSS: In Linguistics, a line on a territorial map marking an area having a distinct linguistic feature.

06. POLEMICS / RHETORIC : While the former refers to the art or practice of engaging in controversial debate or dispute, the latter, the art of effective or persuasive speaking and writing.

07. HEALTHFUL / HEALTHY: Healthful means promoting health. Eg. One must take healthful food. Healthy means in a state of good health. Eg. One must try to be healthy always.

08. The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. - General Douglas Arthur.

09. QUIXOTIC: excessively idealistic and unrealistic. Its origin is in the novel DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA, EL INGENIOSO HIDALGO by Cervantes in 1605.

10. Calico, cambric, damask, denim, muslin, poplin, satin, worsted, corduroy, lace, velvet, silk, taffeta, tweed – name of some fabrics.

11. HUSK /CHAFF: While the former refers to the dry outer covering of some fruits or seeds, the latter refers to husks of grain or other seeds separated by winnowing or threshing.

12. PEOPLE / PEOPLES: When PEOPLE refers to body of persons sharing certain characteristics, it can be distinguished from another body of persons sharing different characteristics. These two groups then become PEOPLES.

13. PEOPLE / PUBLIC: People is a political term and Public is a civil term meaning the community as a whole. E.g. People show their support to their political leaders. The cricket team enjoys public support.

14. COMPARE TO / COMPARE WITH: While the former is used to force a comparison between two normally dissimilar objects, the latter is used to put aside two objects that are normally similar.

15. ACQUIREMENT / ACQUISITION: The former denotes the power or faculty of acquiring; the latter, the thing acquired. E.g. His acquirements in music are greater than his acquisition of riches.

16. EPISTLE / LETTER: Do not use the former as an exact synonym of the latter. An epistle is a formal or didactic or literary or elegant letter.

17. EMIT / INMIT: The former is to put, or send forth, to utter; the latter, to put or send in, to insert or introduce.

18. COMBAT / CONTEST: A combat is a fight, a struggle between enemies; a contest may be merely a competition, and is often between neutrals or friends.

19. The antique name of Scotland is Caledonia. China-Cathay. France-Gaul. England-Albion. Ireland-Hibernia. Russia-Muscovy.

20.DEFINITE / DEFINITIVE: While the former implies that a thing is precise, the latter means that something is final beyond criticism or refutation.

WHY I SEND THOSE MISSIVES... - III

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 14:34:00 +0000

01. In order write well, you have to forget about grammar. Though, of course, in order to forget it, you have to first know it. – Andrey Tarkovsky, Russian Filmmaker.

02. Language is a tool for overcoming powerlessness. It exerts hidden power, like the moon on the tides. – Douglas Brown.

03. Making English grammar conform to Latin rules is like asking people to play baseball using the rules of football. – Billy Bryson.

04. Language is the means of getting an idea from my brain into yours without surgery. – Mark Amidon.

05. A different language is a different vision of life. – Federico Felini.

06. COLONIALISM / REVANCHISM: While the former refers to a policy of acquiring political control over another country, the latter, the policy of retaliating to recover lost territory.

07. The English language is nobody’s special property of the imagination: it is the property of the language itself. – Derek Walcott.

08. Art could be said to be a symbol of the universe, being linked with that absolute spiritual truth which is hidden from us in our positivistic, pragmatic activities. – Andrey Tarkovsky.

09. TACITURN / GARRULOUS: while the former means ‘saying little’, the latter means ‘excessively talkative’.

10. SYBARITE / LIBERTINE : While the former refers to a person who is self-indulgently fond of sensuous luxury, the latter refers to a person who is freely indulgent in sensual pleasures.

11. MALIGN / VILIFY: While the former means ‘to speak ill of’, the latter means ‘to speak or write about in an abusively disparaging manner’.

12. ANXIOUS is not to be used as a synonym of EAGER or DESIROUS; but it is permissible for SOLICITOUS or EARNESTLY DESIROUS. – Eric Patridge.

13. BENEFICIAL / BENEFICENT: While the former indicates useful advantages, the latter means kind. E.g. Edward’s reforms were beneficial to his subjects. 2. Edward was a beneficent monarch.

14. FLOCK / HERD: Flock is of small animals. E.g. A flock of sheep. Herd is of large animals. EG. A herd of cattle.

15. WILFUL / WILLING: Wilful means obstinate. E.g. Ram is a willful boy. Willing means cheerfully ready. Eg. Ram is willing to do any work.

16. Read not to contradict or to confute; nor to believe and take for granted; but to weigh and consider. –Francis Bacon

17. PUN: The use of a word, giving more than one meaning and producing a ludicrous effect. EG. An ambassador is an honest man who LIES abroad for the good of his country.

18. The English language is rich in synonyms. Synonyms are not merely word equivalents. They have developed fine shades of meaning which distinguish one from another. – E Carter.

19. EXPECT / HOPE: You don’t expect a bad thing. Expectation is one of desire. Hope is grounded on facts, but falling short of certainty.

20. FALSEHOOD / LIE: Falsehood is general. Eg. John can never be accused of falsehood. Lie is particular. Eg. John told us a lie.

WHY I SEND THOSE MISSIVES... - II

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 13:48:00 +0000

01. ILLUMINE / ILLUMINATED: The former is used in figurative sense “of throwing light on some obscure point”. The latter means to “to light up, brighten”.

02. BEAUTY: the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit. – Aiswarya Subramanian, in The New Indian Express, on November 1, 2010.

03. ANGUISH / ANGST : While the former refers to severe mental or physical pain or suffering, the latter refers to a strong feeling of general anxiety or dread about the state of the world or the human condition.

04. NOR: The most common use of NOR is as part of the paired conjunction neither..nor. it can be used with other negative expressions as well. E.g. She didn’t say anything, nor did the others.

05. CONSIDER: Consider is generally not followed by ‘as’ or ‘to be’. ‘Consider as’ has a different meaning – ‘examined’ or ‘discussed’.

06. CORPSE / CARCASS: While the former relates to a dead body – especially of a human, the latter relates to the dead body of an animal – especially one prepared for cutting up as meat.

07. ANCIENT / ANTIQUE: While the former means ‘old in time’, the latter means ‘old in fashion’.

08. DROWN ONE’S SORROWS: The meaning of this phrase is ‘forget one’s problems by getting drunk’.

09. VACANT / EMPTY: While the former indicates place, the latter, space.

10. The place of English must continue to be what it has been these 200 years in schools, colleges and offices. C.Rajagopalachari in The Indian Express on 29-12-1958.

11. GRACIOUS / GRACEFUL: To be gracious is to be merciful. To be graceful is to be lovely, beautiful.

12. GOOD / WELL: Good refers to quality. E.g. He looks good. (appears to be virtuous). Well refers to appearance. E.g. He looks well.

13. English today is the language that makes it possible for Indians, generally, to obtain a wealth of information and to make their own contributions known to the world. A.Lakshmanaswamy Mudaliar, Formerly VC, Madras University.

14. Now English has spread so much among the people, particularly in Madras State, they should take full advantage of it and acquire more knowledge. – C.Subramaniam, Formerly Union Minster.

15. Though English has a great literature, it is not for this reason that it is studied all over the world. It is learned because it is the most useful of all languages. – The Hindu (Editorial) on 30-12-1958.

16. RECOLLECT / REMEMBER : Recollect is to bring back to mind with an effort. Remember is to bring to the mind or keep in mind without effort.

17. ECONOMIC / ECONOMICAL: The former relates to the economy or economics as a branch of study. The latter stresses prudent management, lack of wastefulness, and use of things to their best advantage.

18. I was look for the key for years. But the door was always open. – Kabir.

19. Pity the nation that needs to jail those who ask for justice, while communal killers, mass murderers, corporate scamsters, looters, rapists and those who prey on the poorest of the poor, roam free. – Arundhati Roy.

20. Experience is something you get just after you need it.

WHY I SEND THOSE MISSIVES...

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:44:00 +0000

I do not exactly remember when I started reading books beyond the scope of school syllabus. It must have been even earlier to the time I had joined formal schooling. My parents, as both are teachers in a nearby elementary school, had started teaching me alphabets both in Tamil and English, small words and stuffs like names of animals, flowers, countries and rivers. I could even surprise the visitors with the names of capital cities of most of the countries.

When I was in Standard Second or Third, magazines like Ambulimama, Bommai Veedu, Gokulam (all children’s mags) would reach home promptly as my father was keen to make subscriptions to these and to many other journals – the names of which may be unfamiliar to many. (Kanaiyazhi, Deepam, Kalaikathir and so on). I was encouraged to read all of them and somehow, I should say, the fantasy element in these stories made me spin my ‘own’ stories to my friends. Comics, detective fiction, thrillers, romances, serious fiction and non-fiction – thus evolved my reading habit. I started reading stuffs in English when I was through the middle years of teen and during my graduate study, I was quite passionate about romances and soft-to-medium-to-hardcore porn.

Right from the very beginning, I used to jot down any catchy line I would come across in books. I honestly believe that this practice accounts for whatever retentive memory capacity I am famous for among my friends. When they complimented me for my memory power, I could understand that all the lines that I used to write down in many a notebook over the years stayed somewhere in my cognitive faculty and do pop up, on its own, mostly at appropriate instances.

I am now 40 and looking back and within, I realize that the lines I have jotted down in those little notebooks in the last 30 years or so mostly pertain to language and anti-establishment sentiments. And, very many of them are related to “systems and counter-systems”. This could be, I figure out somehow, because of the martinet in our home, my father. That gentleman believed in discipline for its own sake, I guess. He would prescribe incredible disciplinary norms and with this bulging prescriptions grew my indiscipline and audacity. Thanks to my father, I stand today very proud against anything that has anything to do with discipline. Oh, enough of my father and his discipline!

Some months back, one of my friends came up with the idea that I should bring my scribbles to the notice of our friends and my students. He felt that BSNL’s concessional tariff on SMS texts is the right shot to bring them to light. Though I was quite hesitant on one point. What I have jotted down are the lines and ideas of very many great people and publishing them on my blog will be a plagiaristic operation. Moreover, the space constraints of SMS texts will not allow these ideas/messages be reflected in their holistic form. Most of them are lengthy, running to many lines or even paragraphs in print. Then he suggested that I should work on selection of ideas and chiseling them down to the maximum size of 150 fonts’ space.

Thus began the Odyssey of these texts. I send them to around 50 of my friends and to students. On some days, I shoot around 10 texts and on others days, none. Some of the recipients are cut-throat frank in telling me that they do not read as they are too busy for stuffs like mobile messages. High-voltage professionals as they are, I tell them that they should not mind these intrusions and need to learn how to neglect a SMS text that sits on their mobile unheralded. But, having nothing to do (teaching does not require any brains, you know! It is, after all, a parrot’s job), I retain the privilege of testing the patience of my busy buddies. Some of my fellows, on the contrary, feel that these texts are not only okay but are informative also.

I know that any compliment that comes the way of these texts is attributed to all the giants I loved reading. Eric Patridge, WH Mittins, Michael Swan, K Subramanian, KS Yadurajan and scores of others have inspired me with their opinions on language accuracy and appropriateness. What I have done is a little pruning to make the ideas fit into the space limits of a phone text.

These texts are published here for a larger spectrum of readers and, of course, for posterity. And, this is what I have read so far, and given the chance any more times, I would read them all – again and again.

Wish you happy reading!!

The Oxford Comma: In the list x, y, and z, the second comma after y (before and) is called the Oxford Comma or the serial comma. It is advisable to use this comma though you rarely find writers using it.
TOWARD /TOWARDS: These are merely variant spellings of the same preposition. There is no difference in meaning or implication.
LESS / LESSER: These two are often synonymous. However, LESS suggests amount; LESSER suggests degree. LESS is also used in non-comparative sense.
CLIMATIC / CLIMACTIC: The adjective of climate is climatic – means related to the climate. The adjective of climax is climactic – means related to climax.
WHETHER / IF: Former implies alternatives and the later, uncertainty. 1. I do not know whether I should appear for the CAT or the MAT. 2. I do not know if I should take the CAT this year.
People think that I can teach them style. What stuff it all is. Have something to say and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret of style. – Mathew Arnold.
When you say: A THOUSAND APOLOGIES, you don’t mean 999+1 apologies. You are using an exaggerated expression, (figure of speech) hyperbole.
SUBSTANDARD / NON-STANDARD: The former is pejorative expression. Avoid it and use the latter.
NOT POSSIBLE / IMPOSSIBLE: The first one is just factual; the second one a bit emotional, emphatic.
ACCEDE / CONCEDE: With ACCEDE, A agrees to do something that B has been demanding. With CONCEDE, A accepts B’s point of view though, initially, he might have been opposed to it.

MY FRIEND WANTED THIS ...

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 07:49:00 +0000

One of my friends, Mr.Naina of Attur – a practicing English teacher, has come out with a book titled ‘Social Functions in English’. It attempts to train the Tamil Medium students in conversational practice in English. Like most of the books in the genre, this one also has presented its content under different functional skills in Conversational English. But what is special about the book is its narrative excellence. One feels that he is involved in reading an interesting situation rather than solving a language exercise.

This book is to be released sometime in January 2011. Mr.Naina is working out at its cover price. I will let you guys know as and when it is released.

The following is the Foreword that I wrote for the book. This may give you an idea of what this is all about.

I am very pleased to be able to write an introduction to this book as it gives very careful thought to what learners should be learning. I could understand, at the very outset, that a great deal of thoughtful work has gone into the preparation of this book on English in Social Functions.

Conversation skills can be explained as language abilities needed to interact in social situations. Language abilities include speaking with appropriate vocabulary, pronunciation, tone, intonation, rhythm, pauses, politeness and timing. Added to these are social skills, culture knowledge and non-verbal communication skills.

Even at the tertiary level of school education, our students find it difficult to use English for their social interactions. Many students are often timid in expressing their viewpoints. This could be due to any one or all of the following:

Students don't have an opinion on the subject
Students have an opinion, but are worried about what the other students might say or think
Students have an opinion, but don't feel they can say exactly what they mean
Students begin giving their opinion, but want to state it in the same eloquent manner that they are capable of in their native language

The author of this book addresses to these lacunae very effectively by bringing in very many contexts that are intended to improve students’ conversational skills. As each chapter focuses on one particular social function, the students, while learning it, are freed from having to express their own opinions. In this way, students tend to concentrate more on production skills and less on factual content. It is interesting to note that the author has, quite subtly, veered away from literal translations, thus helping the students understand the cultural behavior of English and its native speakers.

I find this book very essential tool for all those students who are studying in Tamil Medium and have difficulty in using English in day-to-day contexts. Books like this one, contemporary electronic and print media in English are all excellent courseware for our Tamil medium students in their attempt to master English language.

FROM ELITE SUPREME TO ENFANT TERRIBLE

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:32:00 +0000

Since this man has entered the Indian polity, he has been exhibiting a high degree of penchant to be in the news – all for the wrong reasons. He is, no doubt, a damn good writer. As long as he remained a writer, his analytical acumen exhibited on the pages of literature that he produced commanded respect and people had no doubt that his is a brain to watch out for. People will remember for a long time his magnum opus “INDIA FROM MIDNIGHT TO MILLENNIUM” for its correct and succinct commentary on the Indian political life since the nation was freed from the Imperial Raj to its entry into 21st century. For those who are interested in the aesthetics of language, this piece was a feast. One could understand the caliber of this man as a writer – his prose establishing properties of high-class narrative discourse.

Everyman, on coming to know of this gentleman from the headquarters of UN, was proud to know that he is from India, and he is from Kerala and he is from Palghat. Reading certain lines from his magnum opus, one could not miss the tone of subtle sarcasm and cynicism about the leaders of this land and their polity. No doubt, he is an elite supreme whose tastes and range of intellect had few match here in the subcontinent.

With all the support that was apparently coming his way, he dared to contest the UN Secretary Generalship elections only to know that it is still a long way from him. Bitten by the failure and with the burden of one broken marriage and another ruptured relationship, he entered India with offers for his intelligence and affluence at international political spectrum. Congress, headed by Sonia, negotiated with this formerly UN official and struck a deal that sent the man to Trivandrum to contest parliamentary elections on a Congress ticket.

These Malayali voters were a frenzied lot over his candidacy. In fact, there was euphoria in the Malayalam media about this man choosing Kerala to go to Delhi and most of them thought that it would be so great to be represented by none other than - unarguably the best Malayali brain of the age. Voters of Trivandrum parliamentary constituency exercised their franchise strongly in the favor of this man from UN and the corridors of Indian parliament were excited to receive a high-ranking world-famous bureaucrat.

Everybody thought that he would be the next Cabinet Minister of External Affairs. Media, both print and electronic, predicted his political ascendency that would stand unparallelled in the recent times. But, somebody, in the highest rung of decision-making bodies in the Congress, was incredibly clever cum prognostic and invited the wily old warhorse from Bengaluru to head this sensitive portfolio. This man from UN and Trivandrum was curtly asked to be the deputy of this Bengaluru man. Considering SM Krishna’s experience and street-smart strategies, many felt that this UN gentleman would find it difficult to flaunt his cumbersomely accrued intercontinental diplomatic acumen.

Curtailed by gargantuan stature of his Cabinet senior and suffocated by the hullabaloo of Indian political rhetoric that is nothing short of third class, this gentleman from UN & Trivandrum started looking for smarter platforms to air his rare wisdom and, in a little while, struck gold at twitter.com. The hangover of having been one of the best non-fiction writers of these times was still lingering in the cerebral cortex of this alumnus of St.Stephen’s and he started to vent his frustrations over the alleged abysmal standards of murky Indian political theater over twitter.

His twitter on political probity in matters of spending public money and calling the so-called champions of Indian politics derisively as ‘holy cows’ did not go well with his bosses and they reprimanded him. But he appeared to be basking in the publicity his twitter line brought him rather than decrypting the unmistakable cues his bosses emitted. Before this one cooled off, the Congress had to take, once again, a defensive position owing to the comments made by this Minister of State for External Affairs on certain Nehruvian policies. The political opponents of Congress, primarily the Communists and the Right Wing, were bemused to find an ‘enfant terrible’ in this UN bureaucrat who often provided ammo to their rhetorical cannons.

It is true that he is nowhere near the likes of Pranab Mukherjee whose survival instinct and exemplary astuteness have ensured their unassailable presence on the political scene for over five decades. But he could have sustained on the political theater if he had aped, at least, the lesser mortals like PC and Ghulam Nabi Azad.

The latest episode of this “enfant terrible” could very well be his last one. That he could have promoted the cause of his ladylove from the valleys of Kashmir in the IPL auction for the Kochi team sounds plausible and convincing. All the information that has come out so far in this connection unmistakably points to this “Elite Supreme-turned-Enfant Terrible” from the parliamentary constituency of the capital of “God’s Own Land”. In case he is in a relationship tangle with one Sunanda Pushkar and if it is to be proved that he is the one whose political clout and ministerial stature brought home certain percent of stakes in the IPL deal for this Kashmiri lady, then these are not the standards that he advocates for Indian politician in his magnum opus. This is, surely, way below the standard that he proposed to set.

And he has to go. Or else, he should be shown the door.

You could have been there - of a very different kind, Mr.Sashi Tharoor!

WHAT A WORK IS MAN!

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:42:00 +0000

It has been more than sixty years since we are in charge of deciding our destiny and in these very many years we did not manage to pack all our children to schools. Even those children who have been sent to school are abysmally poor when it comes to the basic three ‘R’s. Now this is a problem not only about quantity but also about quality. Our Mass Literacy Programs have failed to educate every Indian child and even among those who are educated, their level of achievement is pathetic. As a practicing teacher, I do come across cases where a boy/girl, after attending school for 11 years and some months, does not know how to spell his/her name in mother tongue correctly.

Our governments, like any other government in the world, are damn good in manipulating stats. But, even by their standards and from their own information pool, the details one gets are scary and unbelievable. A non-governmental organization, named Pratham, does educational surveys every year and these are endorsed by our governments as ones reflecting on-field conditions closely. This is presumably the largest survey considering the number of states and respondents it takes into account to arrive at the findings and recommendations. This survey categorically states that the children in our schools have not attained even the very fundamental linguistic and arithmetic skills at Standard V. And, on expected lines, the state of Tamil Nadu has gone well below the national average. Only around 30 per cent of the children could read their vernacular text books. The other 70 percent come to school in the morning and go their homes in the evening. The state government looks after them impeccably, arranging transport to reach school and way back, luncheon, pencils, slates, texts, notebooks, money and big eggs – three times a week so as to inspire them to deliver one still bigger in their exams. Tamilnadu is the third last in the skill index!

On assessing mathematical ability of the children, the state of Tamilnadu stands at the very bottom of all states. Only 19 per cent of the children in the state could read simple words in English. No parent, whose ward is sent to the government schools, seems worried about the abysmal standard of their children. They rarely go to school to get to know what is happening there.

If one is not able to pick up the basics, where does the problem lie? Is it with the children, teachers, parents, the government or with the system? The fact is that everyone in this list takes the share – the children being the last to blame. Every teacher should be made accountable for what he/she does in the classrooms. We do not need great teachers to educate our children. Honest teachers will do. Great teachers may inspire the children but everyone is not blessed with the Midas’ touch. But every teacher can be honest in his work ethics and should be bound by stringent quality control norms.

The officers at the block, educational district and revenue district level are no better either. They are very few and are laden with copious mundane official chores and to ensure quality control in these government run schools is very clearly out of their focus. They barge into schools, once in a blue moon, to make an impact but every teacher and headmaster is immune to these spurious jolts meted out to them from time to time.

On its part, the government is not willing to spend the amount the educational scene really deserves. In fact, one could see a macro conspiracy at work. Crude may be this perspective, the governments do not want all the children to be given quality education. Every possible strategy has been deployed to keep the children of dalits and economically vulnerable at the lowest strata of the society because every upper class person would need some menials to work for him. The conspirators appear to think that the government schools could supply menials the royals need - the purpose of government-aided education stands superbly served.

The little competition edge that was present in the name of examinations has also been taken off to ensure that not a single dalit and lower-strata student should get into executive/professional employment market. Please mind that the main catchment layers for the government schools are the children belonging to dalits and the deprived. They are going to be restrained with little ability and that makes them the finest menials the new bourgeoise Bapus are in need of.

Having practiced teaching at both the ends – elite schools as well as government run schools – I cannot but find India Divided. India is very clearly divided in terms of knowledge. Those who know and those who know not. And this divide is widening with every passing day – reaching a point of forming separate and exclusive worlds. Consequently, there will be revolts, riots, violence and questions if this widening bridge is not addressed to on war footing. The intellectual cream of this land will be exterminated untraceably when the knowledge-deprived starts reacting to the callous attitude of THE ESTABLISHMENT AND THE EDUCATED. There will be a sort of holocaust and thereafter a new order.

Andre Breton, the famous French Surrealist, said once: “There is not one of us who does not wish power to pass from the hands of bourgeoise into those of the proletariat.”

Instant Justice

noreply@blogger.com (Arjun) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:10:00 +0000

My mom was telling me a story. No not a story, but a real incident which happened on 27^th November. She was coming back home from her office, in the Coimbatore-Thrissur passenger train, in the evening. Since Bakrid was celebrated on 28^th November in Tamil Nadu, she was having a holiday the next day.

In Tamil Nadu, people are given rice under the ration scheme for Rs. 1/- or Rs.2/- a kilogram. Sometimes it so happens that some Keralites do the purchasing in bulk order, under some Tamilian’s name or ration card, take the rice to Kerala and uses it or sometimes even sell it. It so happened that some women from Kerala used to do that and take some 50 or 60 kilos in that particular train, frequently. It used to be unknown whether they are gonna use it or sell it. On 27^th Nov, it so happened that the police caught them near the Walayar border. The policemen took out big lathe sticks and beat them rough and tough. No mercy dude, it is instant action against the crime. Among them, there was one Muslim lady, perhaps she was from Kerala. She has got a wonderful gift on the day of Bakrid, maybe for trying to satisfy the hunger of her children and her family. She bent down and fell on the policeman’s feet, who was not at all looking at her and was showing off all his anger at her, with all the people sitting around and watching. My mom stopped the story saying that this lady was bleeding from almost many of her body parts and that my mom couldn’t speak for half an hour after the situation. Neither was I interested in knowing what had happened further.

It was really strange that there are a hell lot of big cases that are pending to be verdict in our courts and instant justice is being applied for such silly cases. The nation will take its hat off if the police would have shown this vigor those bigger cases.

Come January

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:46:00 +0000

There have been no posts for the last many months and this fact was there in a corner of my mind - reminding me of my lethargy and lack of motivation to come out with my reflections on what affects hundreds around and me. The onset of new year just passed by and within time to realize that, a lot of fresher things hits one - Haiti tremors, at 7.3 in the seismological scale, being the worst one in recent times. We, in this part of the world, don’t appear to be shaken with what happened in Haiti but that does not surely lessen the human catastrophe there. The pictures, videos and stories coming from there are shattering - to say the least.

Karunanidhi is busy gearing up entire Tamilnadu for what he endearingly calls -Tamil Semmozhi Maanadu - to be held in Coimbatore in the month of June this year. Coimbatoreans are, in a way, very lucky to have this in their town as it would get a facelift only a by-poll constituency can hope for. Event of such magnitude means new roads, new hotels, new lampposts and renovated parks to the ordinary folk of Coimbatore and new business to hotelwallahs and other service providers there. Other than these, how Tamil will be benefited is one secret only Karunanidhi can reveal.

The new year is not very welcome for Narayan Dutt Tiwari. He was silly enough to let India know what he was busy with all these years in Raj Bhavan and in other government hospitality centers. A doctor’s husband who has been doctoring many a woman and a wily politician of many a decade has been, along the line, quite juvenile in allowing his sexual escapades to get exposed - by a woman who has reportedly been supplying objects of desire to the man decorated with gubernatorial gown. But the shocking fact is that this could not trigger an amount of sensation an expose of this nature would normally do. Probably, the people know the likes of ND Tiwari too well.

Another piece of news that hit me very hard in the first days of this new year is the demise of Mr.Velupillai under the custody of Rajapakse government. An octogenarian and the proud father of someone who had almost led his slave land to an unborn nation should have breathed his last with a heavy heart. I feel that the systems and governments that cry for human rights should be ashamed for not having done anything to secure the persons of Mrs & Mr Velupillai from the grip of Sri Lankan government since the end of Eelam War IV. How Rajapakse government would have treated Velupillais is anybody’s guess and what I could not guess is where these Human Rights Champions were all these months. The Head of the family that fought for a liberated land should die under the custody of their aggressor is something I cannot settle down with easily. The cause of Velupillais is movingly noble one and their sublime failure has magnificence and glory that many triumphs go without. Salutes to the departed soul!

Another welcoming news is the shock that Kapil Sibal has delivered on the 44 Deemed Universities. Ever since he took over the Ministry of HRD, Kapil Sibal has been hyperactive with many moves that jolt the existing structure of education in this country and nothing could be more welcome than this assault on the Deemed Universities. These institutions have been plundering the hard-earned sources of Indian Middle Class who have been selling up to their last paisa to see their daughter/son an engineer or doctor. They have, over the ears, become Holy Cows in the mould of Minority Institutions. No questions entertained: Pay what we command: Get what we throw away - this has been the approach of these DUs. Kudos to the minister! May God bless his generations and him!! Though, Sir, you have a long way to go!!!

On the entertainment front, National Awards have been declared and Bala, for very right reasons, has been chosen Best Director for his piece Naan Kadavul. He has, time and again, proved to be a sensitive filmmaker who has understood the language of cinema though one feels that he is yet to tell the world that he knows how to make films about normal women and men. He has been dealing with abnormal people only and he is damn good about it. Hope his next venture would be about you and me. Generally, this year has been not a year of controversial awards. Most of the awardees appear to be deserving what has been bestowed upon!!

Come January

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:40:00 +0000

Karunanidhi is busy gearing up entire Tamilnadu for what he endearingly calls -Tamil Semmozhi Maanadu - to be held in Coimbatore in the month of June this year. Coimbatoreans are, in a way, very lucky to have this in their town as it would get a facelift only a by-poll constituency can hope for. Event of such magnitude means new roads, new hotels, new lampposts and renovated parks to the ordinary folk of Coimbatore and new business to hotelwallahs and other service providers there. Other than these, how Tamil will be benefited is one secret only Karunanidhi can reveal.

The new year is not very welcome for Narayan Dutt Tiwari. He was silly enough to let India know what he was busy with all these years in Raj Bhavan and in other government hospitality centers. A doctor’s husband who has been doctoring many a woman and a wily politician of many a decade has been, along the line, quite juvenile in allowing his sexual escapades to get exposed - by a woman who has reportedly been supplying objects of desire to the man decorated with gubernatorial gown. But the shocking fact is that this could not trigger an amount of sensation an expose of this nature would normally do. Probably, the people know the likes of ND Tiwari too well.

Another piece of news that hit me very hard in the first days of this new year is the demise of Mr.Velupillai under the custody of Rajapakse government. An octogenarian and the proud father of someone who had almost led his slave land to an unborn nation should have breathed his last with a heavy heart. I feel that the systems and governments that cry for human rights should be ashamed for not having done anything to secure the persons of Mrs & Mr Velupillai from the grip of Sri Lankan government since the end of Eelam War IV. How Rajapakse government would have treated Velupillais is anybody’s guess and what I could not guess is where these Human Rights Champions were all these months. The Head of the family that fought for a liberated land should die under the custody of their aggressor is something I cannot settle down with easily. The cause of Velupillais is movingly noble one and their sublime failure has magnificence and glory that many triumphs go without. Salutes to the departed soul!

Another welcoming news is the shock that Kapil Sibal has delivered on the 44 Deemed Universities. Ever since he took over the Ministry of HRD, Kapil Sibal has been hyperactive with many moves that jolt the existing structure of education in this country and nothing could be more welcome than this assault on the Deemed Universities. These institutions have been plundering the hard-earned sources of Indian Middle Class who have been selling up to their last paisa to see their daughter/son an engineer or doctor. They have, over the ears, become Holy Cows in the mould of Minority Institutions. No questions entertained: Pay what we command: Get what we throw away - this has been the approach of these DUs. Kudos to the minister! May God bless his generations and him!! Though, Sir, you have a long way to go!!!

On the entertainment front, National Awards have been declared and Bala, for very right reasons, has been chosen Best Director for his piece Naan Kadavul. He has, time and again, proved to be a sensitive filmmaker who has understood the language of cinema though one feels that he is yet to tell the world that he knows how to make films about normal women and men. He has been dealing with abnormal people only and he is damn good about it. Hope his next venture would be about you and me. Generally, this year has been not a year of controversial awards. Most of the awardees appear to be deserving what has been bestowed upon!!

A BEDTIME STORY....

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:02:00 +0000

This is about a tribal leader. His subjects have been there in that land from the time immemorial. Long before he was born. Even long before his great grand parents were born. They were there always. They were known as LIMAT. This is the one tribe known for its hard work and peaceful living. It is said that they had moved from a ‘big’ land that is some scores of miles away from where they were living till recently. These people have been in close ties with their ‘motherland’, although they would never know that this motherland would connive with their aggressors in a later day to wipe them out. These people were so innocent that they would not know till the time they were completely annihilated by the combined diabolism of everyone - friends, neighbors, allies, enemies, opponents and who not..?

This is more so about the tribal leader. But let us get to know about some traits of these tribesmen. They were peace loving, generally. That is, till the time their peace was trespassed. There was another tribe - Eselahnis - living close by and they were not happy with this people. They claimed that this land is theirs and the Limats should go somewhere or live a servile life. I told you that this Limat is a peace loving tribe, you remember? So, this tribe started living a servile life compromising their inherent rights to live in the land. Not because they liked this life of servility, but because they have never been belligerent and truculent in nature. Not because they did not know how to resist but because they knew how to live in harmony.

This is particularly about the tribal leader. But before that, you want to know why there were so many troubles for his tribe, don’t you? This tribe, from the very beginning, was efficient and enterprising. They started schools, colleges and universities. They were becoming modern though they never gave up their extraordinarily long, rich heritage. They were exploring new spheres in contemporary knowledge. They were everywhere in the land - as entrepreneurs, teachers, doctors, engineers and the nation-builders. The money they earned was by means of their honest enterprise. Oh! I tell you, they were a happy people!

This is chiefly about the tribal leader. The fact that this tribesmen were flourishing was something that their neighboring tribe - Eselahnis - could not stomach. The neighboring tribe’s chieftains unleashed myths after myths - indoctrinating their people that they are the aborigines of the land and these Limats must either be completely annihilated or be yoked to chain of subjugation for all the times to come. It was in the blood of Limats to rebel against any attempt to enslave them, though they are cursed with any number of internecine groups and renegades and turncoats. In fact, Limats were destined to be self-destructive though none else can do any harm to them. Internecine truculence of Limats have been notoriously known to all other tribes in every part of the world, though they have, now and then in the annals of their history, produced the best of the men in the strongest of moulds. Troubles began for Limats sometime during the dawns of the last century. Eselahnis tribe - the tribe which claimed that they were the aborigines of the land - started attacking Limats. As Limats were substantially outnumbered by Eselahnis, they did not know what to do to allay the misgivings of Eselahnis people. There were some leaders in Limats; they were all mainly from their capital city - Naffaj. These leaders were trying to make peace with sanguinary Eselahnis leaders the most of whom were living in their capital city - Obmoloc. But this was not to be propitious to the Limats. Instead, the leaders of Eselahnis tribe turned murderous and started raiding Limat habitats. Thus began the bloodiest palimpsests of contemporary history superimposing the serene phases of their peaceful coexistence till then.

This is primarily about the tribal leader. It is interesting to know the stories about the appearance of this leader. Some say that he is the son of the SunGod - the Lord of Lords. They say he is the one who has no birth and death. They believe that he was always there and will be there always. Some others believe that he is the son of The Daddy. The Daddy had sent some messiahs before this leader to prepare grounds for him. There are another group of Limats who believe that this leader has no definite form and shape. They say none could see the leader and they could only feel his omnipresence. From all these, we can somehow sum up that he is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. People who have seen him said that he looked blindingly incandescent. People who have been with him say that he could not hate anybody though he would not tolerate aggressors and renegades.

This is largely about the tribal leader. He felt enough is enough. That too, when he was just a boy. He could not understand why his tribe tolerated the injustices of Eselahnis for so many years. He never believed that one could talk peace unless he becomes unconquerably combative. People still say that they could see flames of passion in his eyes. Boys, girls, men and women now knew that their messiah has finally arrived. He spewed fire on the enemies. The combative methods he innovatively manipulated against the enemies were unheard of in the pages of insurgent history of the world. Many tribesmen who were sort of intellectuals felt that he produced the liberation movement. They probably overlook the fact. Contrary to the intellectuals’ surmise, he is the produce of the liberation movement. In fact, he was the invention of historical necessity.

This is principally about the tribal leader. He preferred to live in the jungles near Limat habitats. He taught the young boys and girls the ABCs of guerilla warfare. He taught them how to hurl hell on the invaders. Anyone who entered into the land of Limats exposed themselves to perils of startling nature. Over a period of time, no one dared trespass the area. People all over the world now understood that Limats are an unassailable force as long as this leader is there on the scene. More than anybody, the Eselahnis knew this.

This is truly the tribal leader. The Eselahnis had now started planting moles among the Limats. I told you already, you remember? Limats have always been betrayed by their own men. While Limats forge the best of men, the worst of men also come out of them. They were destined to be self-destructive. There were some turncoats who could not stomach this leader’s sky-high fame. They sold themselves to the Eselahnis. The leader who could defend his people for more than half and three decades from any external onslaught stood a little shaken by the perfidy of some of his own folks. Whenever this leader wiped such moles out of scene in the past, there were hues and cries about his megalomaniac tendencies. But, his actions stand immaculately vindicated now. He probably knew that his tribe and he would be felled by his own men and friends.

This is absolutely about the tribal leader. The ‘motherland’ whom he had to go against in the past as it was conniving with his aggressors was now happy to see the plight of his tribesmen, particularly his. Informed people say that this motherland helped his aggressors with whatever they were in need of to go for the kill against this tribal leader. His detractors said that he had flown out of the land long before the final battle started. They said that he lived in opulent bunkers and never would expose him to the dangers at the hands of his enemies. All these blatant while lies were aimed at maligning and vilifying his name and fame.

This is supremely about the tribal leader. Knowing that this one was the last battle, at least for some time to come, he along with his close warrior confidantes fought like never before with what seemed like apocalypsian daredevilry. People who were in the vicinity of the final days of the battle say that leader was everywhere in the scene infusing spirit and blood into his warriors. The warlord was at his best. There are legends about his favorite god and his exploits - Nagurum and Marahmas Arus. This leader’s latest battle could be compared only to that.

This is only about the tribal leader. No one exactly knew what happened to him in the battle. There are some who say that he was killed, his sons were killed, his wife and daughter were killed. There are some who say that he was not killed. Only his son was. There are still some who say that he is not only alive but also will come again to the very land of his tribes. He would ultimately get his men what they crave for - Malae, their land. Whatever is the truth, I tell you, my children, he is a rare occurrence in the human history. Men like him cannot be killed, in the real sense. They keep living, even after their mortal stay. In fact, they become all the more ominous after their mortal stay to the perpetrators of adharma, as they become philosophies. Philosophies are more haunting and overwhelming - even than the best of men.

What a better story can I tell you, my children!

MENACE CALLED PTA

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 11:45:00 +0000

Parents Teachers Associations in the government schools of Tamil Nadu have become the biggest menace in the running of these schools. As per the regulations that govern these associations, only parents of those children who are studying in the schools at the given time could become the members or office bearers of these associations. But the fact is far from this. Local politicos and those with exploitative mindset have usurped these associations and their interference in the day-to-day affairs of this schools is criminally destructive – to say in the least! These people have transformed the office of PTA into successful commercial ventures – without any investment.

The origin of PTA in Tamil Nadu government school dates back to 1964. The need for such an association was strongly felt by the then government in the hope that the local talents in the fields of arts, literature and sports could be identified and be effectively encouraged. It was also expected that such an agency would develop and foster the relationship between the school and the society. Punjab and Tamil Nadu were the first states to institute such associations in every government educational institution. (Punjab started these organizations in all of its educational institutions in the year 1960). At State level, its chairman is the incumbent education minister and at school levels, the Headmaster/Principal is the ex-officio secretary and parent is the chairman.

Every PTA is permitted to collect up to the sum of Rs.25/- as the annual subscription amount from all the students at the start of academic year. And no other amount should be collected from the students and if there is any need to collect any more, the concerned school should seek and obtain prior permission from the competent authorities. Not only this, the rule also states clearly that no donation should be collected in the name of school or PTA for the first six months from the start of the academic year.

But the PTAs of government schools in Tamil Nadu have thrown these norms to winds and they are bloodthirsty in extracting huge sums of money from the poorest of poor at the time of admission to Classes VI, IX and XI. The amount fixed is generally colossal and beyond the revenue capability of the parents most of whom are agricultural and para- agricultural laborers.

Moreover, the composition of PTA is interesting. With the change of government at Chennai, the composition of every PTA also undergoes a complete change. PTA is always in the hands of people who belong to the ruling party – with few exceptions. So bringing the Headmaster/Principal under their control is only a matter of power for these PTA men. After all, the Headmaster/Principal also has a family to look after. It is also true that in some cases, the untoward goal of these PTA is vitiated by these heads of institutions.

In many of urban government schools, the PTAs are resorting to fanciful techniques to milk money from the parents. Parents’ craze for English Medium of Instruction is cruelly exploited by these PTAs as they start English Medium classes within the campus of these state-run schools under Self-Finance mode. In such schools, the collection is exorbitant and merciless. So, the concept of “free education” is no more valid even in these government institutions. The government also has turned a blind eye to these atrocities and it is yet come out with a rock-hard policy on this “Self Finance” mode of education in its schools.

It is high time that the government came forward to look into this menace of PTA. It should come down heavily on these parallel establishments inside institutional campuses. May be the government should remarkably raise its budgetary allotments to Education and it should take up the entire responsibility of educating all children of this state.

Till that time, more stringent laws must be enacted and enforced to curb the plunderers of PTA. This must be done on war-footing. Only those who are the parents of the given time can take up the offices of PTA and its accounts must be properly audited at regular intervals.

Unless these are done, the government schools will continue to be an excellent source pool for these PTA bootleggers!

Love like never before!

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:35:00 +0000

The interesting scenes with regard to Valentine’s Day are just over and the observant Indian has completed watching one more tamasha around him.

There are two sides to this issue. Valentine’s Day should be celebrated. Valentine’s Day celebrations should not be allowed.

We have strong to very strong ‘ayes’ and ‘nays’ to either side. Some fresh terms have also come into vogue. Moral policing, cultural goons, corrupt youth and so on. The supporters of Valentine’s Day feel that their rights are infringed and some self-styled cultural gurus cannot pass dictums to them. After all, the young men and women have fallen in love for eon despite threats (in some cases, it is even from the Kings and their all-powerful courts) for their lives. So these Muthaliks are not new phenomena to come in the way of lovers. In fact, any loving pair needs these Muthalik Senas to strengthen their bonds.

Coming to see if there is any justification in the side of Muthaliks, their gesture of opposition can be, at its best, taken as eastern cultural resistance to western cultural invasion. But, this too is a weak support statement to their cause. Indian literature is replete with all types of romances – more so with illicit love. It appears, at times, that all the mythological heroes and heroines of this great land are into some sort of romantic or sexual demeanor that is a bit deviant or pervert. Very few have conducted themselves in the so-called exemplary way endorsed by Muthalik forces. Moreover, no other culture has delved so deeply into the art (or science?) of making love. One would wonder if there were any other people who could be so hedonistic and voyeuristic.

This is the legacy of these Muthalik Senas. The young lovers need not worry about these hooligan Senas and they should go all out - loving like never before. Having said this, I would like to offer a piece of warning too to these cupid-struck girls and boys. Have you made sure that you are not trapped by the maniacal consumerism whose only beneficiary is the set of barons thriving on commercializing the basic instinct of human species? Readymade hearts, expensive watches and other prodigal gifts are not the only ways to declare or confirm love to who your heart pines for. Just a hug would do the needful instead.

So….Romeos and Juliets… Love like never before! Muthaliks are always there to strengthen your cause!

Hartal

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:15:00 +0000

The hartal call given by all the political parties barring the major trio (DMK, AIADMK and Congress) to condemn the genocide of Tamils on Sri Lanka on the 4th of February 2008 brought the State to a ‘near standstill’. Closing down the shutters all over the State in condemnation of what is going on the northern part of Sri Lanka was objective of the hartal and this was largely achieved. It is bemusing what a section of the press came out with the next day morning. The Hindu was, for obvious reasons, of the opinion that the hartal could evoke only a lukewarm response and Dhina Thanthi and Dinakaran satisfied themselves with publishing what the Chief Secretary issued in his report. These three forms the largest of the total readership of dailies in the State and their reportage is far from the truth and contrived.

One could feel the rising sympathetic emotions of the public of the State for their brethren killed in the northern jungles of Sri Lanka. And this tilt is felt for the first time in the State since 1991. Most of the people I am talking to these days feel that something should be done to save the lives of Tamils who are caught in the hostility between Sri Lankan troops and Tigers. There is also an increasing feeling among the people that the world community including India should intervene and stop the fighting before it is too late.

Will they heed to the call?

Going to hospital "TO DIE"

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 05:03:00 +0000

This refers to the editorial published in The Hindu on 17th January 2009 titled REDUCING RISKS OF SURGERY. It brings to our attention to wanton negligence while preparing an operation theater before a surgery. It elaborates that if stringent procedures were adhered to for pre-surgery arrangements, debility rate and mortality rate (in more simple terms, hospital deaths) can beremarkably reduced. I personally know some incidences where patients got killed in hospital by utter negligence on the part of the docs. Very recently, an expecting mother who got admitted into a Salem hospital eventually succumbed because of ‘suspected infections’ she had contracted during her stay in surgical theater. Her bereaving husband is valiantly fighting for justice and compensation and knowing our judiciary works, I could only pity the man.

Of all the professions, it is the medical profession that needs to conform to the highest standards of ‘professional ethics’ as any lapse in it means either permanent debility or mortality to the person who, in all innocence, hands him over to the mercy of the doc. But the standard of ethics in the profession in India is appalling and nobody would have a second opinion on this. Why have the standards have fallen so abysmally low? Doctors who have direct bearing on the future of the person who is handed over to them seldom care for him with a genuine heart and for them, he is only a revenue outlet and they try to manipulate his person to make the most in terms of revenue. Can we get rid of this malaise? What could be the possible remedy? One plausible way out of this tunnel appears to be nationalization of medical education in the country. No private party should be allowed to run a medical institution of whatsoever kind.

At present, saving few government run under-equipped medical colleges, most of the medical colleges are under private interests and the rich and super rich alone have access to the medical studies in our country. Having spent around half a crore and five to eight years, a fresh medico comes of out of his college – ready to hunt down as many preys as possible in the shortest possible time to earn back what he had to give to the owner of his college. As he is in his blood-thirsty prowl, any innocent victim caught in his cage (read ‘hospital’) is torn into pieces and milked to no end. Getting lashed down by all the myopic medical jargons deftly deployed by the doc, the relatives of the unfortunate (read ‘patients’) run from pillar to the post to manage the astronomical sum the doc quoted very imaginatively and by the time the ‘unfortunate’ comes out of the hospital either alive or dead, his family would have spent its last paisa and lost all its future prospects.

A couple of years back, the Union Health Minister Dr.Anbumani proposed a plan of compulsory rural service by fresh medicos coming out of government medical colleges. This was even implemented, though partly. But medics opposed it so vehemently that its future lays uncertain. Dr.Anbumani is very correct in saying that the medical graduates who have undergone expensive education at the cost of public exchequer has moral obligation towards the public – more so towards to the underprivileged in our society. But the medicos are not inclined to give back to the society what it had given them. This is not a surprise considering our plummeting moral standards. Why should we single out medicos alone? We single out medicos alone possibly because of the reason that government does not spend so much on any other category of students.

Coming back to the issue of nationalization of medical education in the entire country, it will certainly be opposed by those barons in the industry who run ‘the best’ of hospitals for ‘the best of the milieu’. There should not be a second thought in bringing the entire medical industry under the direct purview of the state and so far as medical education is concerned, no private medical college should be allowed in operate in the land. MERIT should be the only gateway into these colleges though ‘social justice’ can still be done using the existing reservation formula. When medical education is provided absolutely free of cost to the deserving and the meritorious, they can be made to serve in the rural and the remote areas at least in the initial phase of their career.

Healthcare and education are two very issues a country like ours cannot afford to fiddle with. It is not the capitalistic states like USA or Canada who have accomplished medical care to all the sections of the society but it is the socialistic countries like Cuba and Venezuela who have taken medical care to the most downtrodden and underprivileged. In fact, doctor-patient ratio in Cuba is unarguably the best in the world and this enviable state is attributed to the nationalization of medical education there. There have been some positive inroads in recent times to bring a sense of social obligation from medics in India. Having brought them under the nose of Consumer Act is definitely one among them. But it is too little where too much needs to be done on war footing. Bringing elements of ‘accountability’ into their profession would make a world of good –to the docs and their clients as well. All said, I know this is my wishful thinking. India Inc. will not allow any of these happen within its jurisdiction.

“Manmohanomics” is obsessed with making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Manmohans and Chidambarams are too busy in churning out more Ramalingam Rajus and the ailing poor man wailing desperately for his life in the filthiest state-run hospital corridors does not feature in their blue print of INDIA SHINING. Long live India!!

Bypoll Lessons

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 06:06:00 +0000

Madurai Thirumangalam bypoll results are out and on expected lines, DMK has won it with a remarkable margin. With the result come certain interesting observations. In the first place, DMK was not happy when EC announced the election: DMK was evidently unhappy as the election and the date were announced by EC without consulting the ruling party. There were other reasons too for the DMK to dislike a bypoll at this point of time when the General Elections are just months away. A DMK debacle in this bypoll would have put it in an unenviable position. Jeyalalitha would have shouted from the rooftop that DMK has fallen out of electoral public of this state. So would have Vaiko and the Communists. Ramadoss would not have hesitated a moment to shift his 'famous' loyalty to the side of Jeyalalitha. (He visited DMK chief at his Gopalapuram residence on the very evening of election results on the pretext of Srilankan Tamils' crisis, but that's another issue).

But with the DMK win, everything has changed. Of course, in favour of DMK and Karunanidhi. This result has given DMK some renewed leverage to face the general elections. The important thing to notice here is the margin between the winner and the second comer. DMK has been polled 79422 votes against that of AIADMK's 40156. That is a massive difference of 39266 votes and the subtexts are too powerful from this reading. Vijayakant realizes to his despise that doing politics on the long run does definitely require more than cosmetics and loud rhetorics. And the pathetic case is that of a new comer into the electoral politics - Sarathkumar. He has been polled a mere 831 votes. It is better that he starts concentrating on his dwindling movie career.

This win is quite important for DMK on another count also. Most of the parties who were the parties in the alliance led by DMK have either deserted it or are standing on the precarious wall of neutrality. This win has made them contemplate their next moves. DMK chief attributes, quite understandably, this win to his elder son and has presented him a coveted party position too. How Alagiri would turn the south of Tamilnadu to the side of DMK will be very interesting to watch. Even within DMK, this win would mean certain subtle power tilting and it will take some more time to come to the public eye.

Apart from these, what else is there to read into this result? The ruling party has won, is it all? There are other readings also. First, the role of Election Commission. It has done a supremely commendable job, given the complex situation. A case has been booked against MK Stalin and that goes to disprove the Orwell's theory of "Some are more equal to others". The polling percentage is more than 85 and it is a record of sorts. The entire credit for this huge turnout should go to EC and the paramilitary wings deployed to Thirumangalam. No cry from anywhere about any booth capturing and unfair practices on the day of election means a largely fairly conducted election and that augurs well for the State as the General Elections are a just a few weeks away.

While the jubilations are going on over the DMK's win, Karunanidhi should not forget the plight of thousands and thousands of Tamil enmeshed in Northern Sri Lanka. All those who are genuinely worried about the Sri Lankan issue feel that Karunanidhi and his party DMK can do a lot more than what they are presently doing in this particular issue. Nobody knows better than Karunanidhi the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka. But, his response to this major crisis has been lukewarm and is far from satisfactory. He is probably under the compulsion of being in the goodwill of Congress top guns in Delhi. If this were the case, then it is indeed a sad one. I genuinely believe that if there is anyone in this part of the country who can do something very solidly to rescue the thousands of suffering Tamils, it is very easily Karunanidhi. It is high time for him to come all out for the rescue of Srilankan Tamils - any delay on his part would mean an absolute genocide in the island.

When he is busy celebrating DMK's win in the bypoll, he appears bypassing the real issues. And the most critical issue of lives of his Tamil brethrens. A strong warning from him might do the magic. He need not worry about the Tamil Nadu Congress leaders who would never understand that loyalty to Rajiv's family is different from doing one’s bit to redress the plight of Tamils in Srilanka. Neither Karunanidhi needs to worry about some brahminical ultra radicals who, in the blanket of intellectualism and objective neutrality, justify the ruthless genocide unleashed by Rajapakse government.

Let us go bypassing the bypoll!

Media War Cry

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 05:55:00 +0000

No country in this world would like to get in a mess like what India found itself in on the 26th of November 2008. Around 200 people should lose their lives to the meticulous and ruthless massacre superbly planned and minutely executed by a numerically negligible band of terrorists or "jehadists". Condemnations from all over the civilized world keep us reassured of the world's vision of safe future world.

But there is another side of the event that should not elude our eyes and minds. Has the Indian media acted responsibly in the wake of these attacks? Does it suffer from "reality TV" syndrome? Does the Indian media thrive on such gory events to further its interests? Is the Indian media interested only in catering to front benchers? Will it ever stop offering 'views' in the name of 'news'? There are some of the pertinent questions emerging from the unfortunate event 26/11.

I could even smell a hardcore trade rivalry among the Indian English Visual Media. Times Now, CNN IBN and NDTV 24X7 were maniacally pitted against each other in grabbing the better side of the cake. They were desperate to add more masala into the drama unfolding before them and before the eyes of media-glued middle class Indians. All the TV brands worth their names made the bivouacs before the Taj and Trident where the tension was mounting up by every minute. And, if there were any dull moments, they were salaciously compensated by the "war rhetorics" of the correspondents of these channels. Rajdeep Sardesai, probably fancying himself as the sole voice of India Beaten, kept on shooting all types acid questions on the governments - State as well as Central and their agencies. NDTV was not lagging behind, of course. High profile Barqa Dutt was there countering, in every sense, Mr.Sardesai.

The drama of 'rhetorics' scripted by these media men soon reached the verge of repulsion and disgust. The silliest aspects of the day around Taj and Trident were put to question and the media tried in desperation to portray that everything is wrong with governments, agencies and the people of India. Any Tom, Dick and Harry was interviewed and this chap goes on firing the PM and the CM. The worst thing is that anybody coming out of these 'spots' (Taj and Trident) was a 15 minutes celebrity and he/she would inform India about the 'hi-tech' terrorists and would go on warning India about any such future attacks. The mothers, fathers, uncles, aunties, maids and remote acquaintances of the aggrieved parties were not spared by this ruthless cameras and mikes. These aggrieved parties also, completely pushing their personal grief to the backseat, succumbed to 15 minutes fame - lashing at the governments and its agencies.

Rajdeep Sardesai was at his rhetorical best or worst? His bosom fried, an upright officer, Ashok Kamte lost his life while braving the terrorists and the whole nation mourns for the loss of such a gem. But the language and tenor manipulated by Sardesai is not definitely 'first-rate' - the mark of a senior correspondent from a responsible media house. He tagged the event "WAR ON INDIA" - thus propelling hyper duper emotional response from the 'all-believing Indian middle class'. NTDV 24x7 followed suit soon. Barqa Dutt championed herself the hero of the cause of the dead and kept on battering Political India with the help of a 'carefully selected panel'. (She still keeps on lashing at everybody who comes her way for 26/11). The Devil's Advocate Karan Thapar joined the band and gruelled Pranab Mukherjee. But the wily and street smart Bengali was very articulate and diplomatic in his responses leaving Thapar no chance to extract anything that could later be branded as 'sensational'.

If there were any responsible responses to the event of 26/11 in media, that is from some sections of print media. I would like to draw everybody's attention to the article by V R Krishna Iyer in The Hindu, some days after the event. He whipped up the Sardesais and Barqa Dutts for the hyper rhetorics while covering the event. And he is one of the first brave hearts to call a spade a spade. He questioned why the so-called media champions were prejudiced against the attack in railway station? How come the victims at the CST terminus were less important than the ones at the Taj and Trident? Maybe because the media elites found themselves more identified with the mortal elites at Taj and Trident. Ashok Kamte was Sardesai's friend that is the good enough reason why there was disproportionate time allotment for the martyrdom of Kamte. This is defnitely not to deride or devalue the cause of Mr.Kamte but to focus how the conceptual engineering of Indian Electronic Media Inc. works. The innocent people slain at the CST station is far less important than the ones wasted at Taj and Trident. This is the clear sign from these media barons and the gossip-mongering Indian Middle Class (or Indian bourgeois?) unequivocally endorsed it by ensuing the media-line endlessly in their office chats and discussions during their morning strolls.

Completely repelled by the media coverage of the event, I was looking for an effective remedy to get rid of the 'media hangover'. Moving out of my compound, walking into the street, I had to respond to the shouting of a mobile cobbler yelling for his service provision - "Seruppu repair! Seruppu repair!!" completely unaware of 26/11, Sardesais and Dutts.

Looking at this cobbler, I cannot but think that India might survive any number of attacks either by these idiotic terrorists or by Media India Inc. as its core and root keeps walking and repairing on its way any problem in marching ahead.

Intro

noreply@blogger.com (Prabhu) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:15:00 +0000

At the outset, I got to thank my dear student Mr.Arjun of Palghat for this opportunity to get to communicate to scores and scores of unknown faces and hearts. I am interested in English Literature, Media Studies and Current Affairs. I teach English to the students in their tertiary level of schooling. And I do handle coaching classes for CAT, MAT and TANCET aspirants. This being my first post, I would like to recommend my list of books to those who would like to become "readers" of some merit in English.

1.Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger.

2. Rich Man Poor Man by Irvin Shaw.

3.The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseni.

The above ones belong to the genre of fiction. And coming to non-fictional category... how about

1.The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

2.God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens and

3.The Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen.

The fictional work that is specified at the top of this list is an exceptional one both in terms of style and vocabulary and its theme is such that it would reach out and connect to millions of youngesters spread over the world cutting across any other parameters. Indeed, it has been a cult in North America for over past decades.

Enough of now. And I wish you a happy start to your "reading". Bye.