The burden of formal education

I was shocked to see a five year old girl in school uniform standing inside the crowded metro compartment at 7 pm. It was peak hours and the compartment was packed with office crowd. The young mother was struggling to find some space .She was carrying the child’s loaded school bag in one hand and held the child’s hand with her other hand. While making the little girl sit next to me I asked her mother why was her child so late from school. In my ignorance I had assumed she was coming directly from school .Her mother briefed me that this was her usual time since she leaves school at 4 pm and goes for tuitions directly from school. I was astounded. The girl was only five years old ! My heart cried out for this little child .What kind of society are we living in where tired little children have to compete with adults to find a foothold in crowded spaces?  Why can’t we give children a less burdened existence?

The other day when Prof Sugata Mitra had proclaimed so confidently that our education system had collapsed I was a bit cynical. But looking at this little girl I realized the brilliant professor had reasons for saying so. Though many parents who had attended Prof Mitra’s lecture that day were highly skeptical about his views, most of them agreed that the situation was gradually going out of control with some universities asking for a 100% cut off mark for admission at UG level.  

Nowadays tuitions start as early as UKG level and continue up to PG level. Recently while shortlisting candidates for a post I was looking at a particular CV where the candidate had completed BCom degree with Honours in Accountancy. I later came to know that the person knew nothing about the subject since he was engaged in odd jobs during college hours. He had got this degree without attending any classes and had hardly studied the subject. Obviously the candidate had figured out that he did not need in-depth subject knowledge to do entry level office job. Hence he had used his time the way he wanted. In a way students like him were rejecting the conventional system of formal classroom education.

If students need the support of secondary props to acquire their formal qualifications then the current system of pedagogy and instructional methodology definitely need a complete overhaul. Why should parents pay twice over at every stage? Why should students attend classes twice over?

Most of us who studied during 60s-80s did not get additional tuitions at every stage in our school or college life. Students who were weak in maths or other subjects got some guidance from tutors and that was it in most cases .Our parents did not have the means and most of us did not belong to double income, single child families. So we had to struggle and find our ways. But we had time to go to libraries and enjoyed doing so. Probably we are not that smart or that knowledgeable as today’s kids. But we had more freedom and less pressure.

The image of the little girl will haunt me for some time and add to my growing middle age  frustration with life.

Beware of online fraud

I have known Dr Madhavan who is a professional librarian for sometime now. He travels frequently between Vancouver where his family stays and Jalgaon where he is on an assignment. Summer months are unbearable in Jalgaon and a good time for him to escape to Vancouver. Sometimes he comes to Kolkata to meet old friends and colleagues. This time when he came to my office he was carrying a bunch of papers with him. We exchanged pleasantries and then he mentioned that he was here on a purpose. He had got a job offer from a hospital in the UK. But he was a bit sceptical about the authenticity of its source since he was being asked to transfer a small amount of 300GBP to an account in the UK. So he thought of coming and checking this out with me. I could immediately sniff scam. This was not new to me . I had met similar job aspirants before.

I asked him to show me the documents that he had received from allegedly the hospital’s HR department.  The documents looked fine though the telephone address did not match with the details mentioned in the hospital website. I asked him to show the mail id from where the emails had generated. It confirmed my suspicion .The id was a personal id. I showed him the healthcare groups email id and explained to him that a genuine offer letter should have been sent from the company’s email id and not from a personal email id .Such a mail coming from a personal id was almost a certain indicator of fraud. I also asked him whether he had been interviewed by the company authorities. He mentioned that he had been sent a questionnaire which he had filled up and returned and then almost immediately he received a contract letter which had to be signed and mailed back to them confirming his acceptance. Again this had left him a bit puzzled. How could they recruit him without going through a proper interview process?

To clear his doubts and for further verification I put him in touch with the hospital helpline through our internal communication channel. I could hear him speaking to various officials as he was being guided to the right department who could help him. Finally he took down an email address .While he wrote I could see that it was a valid official address in the standard format which was mentioned in the company website. He had been asked by the authorities to forward the email that he had received to this address.

Madhavan thanked me profusely .He was leaving for Vancouver the following day. He promised to call me and let me know the final outcome. This week the Reserve Bank of India has issued a notice warning citizens of fraud being perpetrated in the name of RBI by luring gullible recipients with fraudulent emails promising transfer of huge sums of money to their accounts . Most of us have received such emails in the past and will continue receiving such mails in the future in our spam box . The practice has become so rampant that the RBI had to issue a notice in the interests of public good. However the funny thing is there will still be people and some very qualified ones too who will continue to be tempted by such offers. 

A social entrepreneur

I find it extremely rejuvenating when I come across selfless people, selfless in the true sense of the term. When Nityamuktaprana Mataji of Sarada Math invited me to attend their mega event for young women, I was a bit sceptical. I wondered what a   middle aged lady would gain out of a youth summit. Mataji had insisted that I should come and obviously I could not say no. I had one more excuse to visit North Calcutta and the Sovabazaar Rajbari which never fails to attract me with all its magical charm and romanticism from a bygone era. While attending the event I realised once more that learning never ends at any point of time.

Vinayak Lohani founder of Parivaar( http://www.parivaar.org/)is an amazing person. Dressed in white linen clothes like a brahmachari he walked past the awed onlookers while speaking to Mataji who welcomed him warmly. He addressed the audience in English and Bengali. As he spoke about his work I felt proud that India still had such talented young men and women who dared to live a life of renunciation and selfless karma.  An IIT, IIM alumni Vinayak chose to set up a home for destitute children when he realised that he could “contribute” much more by changing and shaping lives of children who had no one to help them, than working for his corporate bosses. He made a distinction between “contribution” and “achievement”. He also spoke about Swami Ranganathanandaji’s teaching about  the three kinds of energies or strengths in human beings  –“bahubalam”, “buddhibalam” and “atmabalam” – and the supremacy of ‘atmabalam’ over the rest .(For more detailed explanation on the topic check out the following link http://www.rkmathnagpur.org/new_temple/significance_temple.htm) .Vinayak had started with three children in a rented home and now has his own place with over 700 children to keep him company.  Greatly influenced by Swamiji’s teachings the young man looked every inch a true follower of Swamiji. During the initial days Vinayak coached students to make ends meet but now receives overwhelming support from friends to run his organisation which is growing everyday.

India needs more people like Vinayak who are educated, intelligent and entrepreneurial to form such self-help groups for social empowerment. Today as I sat and completed a UNICEF sponsored KPMG run online survey on fund-raising environment in India I realised that the culture of donating for social causes is yet to catch up in India in a big way. Successful Indians spend thousands on their personal interests and pleasures but think twice before contributing to social causes. In a country where people make a mockery out of PDS systems meant to serve the poorest of the poor, citizens are naturally suspicious of self-help groups/NGOs that approach them for funds. Some time back while completing an online course on fund raising I came to know that in UK more women donate than men though men tend to donate larger sums. Engagement with donors is a professionally managed business with high levels of accountability built into the entire system. I wonder if we will ever have such environment in India. However people like Vinayak should be encouraged and supported by all well meaning individuals who would like to “contribute” in their own small way.

Children of single mothers

How do children from broken families fare in life. Usually someone from my times would tend to feel sorry for them specially if they are being brought up by a single parent or unsympathetic step-parents, guardians, foster parents.  But my perceptions are changing as I come across more and more such young people who have been brought up by single parents, mothers in most cases. 

Recently I had an opportunity to meet five such young men and women from different parts of India.  In all cases the mothers had not married and had independently brought up their children. A young girl said when their father left them it was difficult for them in the beginning but now she, her sister and mother were fine. Their father had left them and had never bothered to keep any contact with them. One young man said his elder brother was more than a father to him and he had never felt any vacuum in his life.  Another lively girl from the north-east mentioned that her mother was a hard working woman and now she was trying to find her place in this world. 

All these young men and women were well educated, confident and extremely candid about their life situation. While listening to them it did not once strike me that the adverse circumstances had broken them. They had accepted their life situation with maturity and calmness. They were proud of their mothers and were determined to prove themselves in life. I guess the lack of a father figure over and above their lives had made them practical and down to earth. I felt pleased and would have loved to congratulate these brave mothers.

In our times it was a rarity to come across such people. In my entire life I have not had a single friend who had come from a broken home.  Children used to make fun of parents who fought bitterly all the time but it was an accepted way of life. In middle class homes hardly any couples separated because of conflicting self interests. The world was a much more stable place. However those days are gone. In the past ten years I have met so  many young men and women in the workplace , in my extended family  and in my friends circle who have married and broken up . Some have remarried. But I know in case of several women it has not been easy to find someone appropriate. Most of these ladies are single and have not yet felt the necessity to remarry. 

Two lovely films

Am not a movie buff. Yet managed to see two wonderful movies this month – Datta vs Datta and Life of Pi. Seated in multiplexes with the right environment around you, watching good films can be almost a poetic and cathartic experience. It was my first experience of watching a full fledged 3 D movie in a multiplex. I enjoyed every bit of it. Though I must confess I screamed spontaneously at times like many others around me. The young boy’s adventure on the sea with a tiger as his only companion was fascinating to view. I was completely immersed and was spellbound by the beauty of nature which came out so brilliantly in a 3D photography. I have earlier seen and laughed at fancy photographs of people trying to mimic deep sea explorers on custom made holidays – nervous city bred young people, middle aged people and even old men and women behaving like clowns in skimpy outfits trying to imagine themselves as deep sea divers. I have also seen some documentaries of marine life. But I was not prepared for anything like this .The beauty and grandeur of marine life seen in 3D was at the same time a terrifying and sublime experience. With its lethal combination of brilliant nature videography and human drama, Life of Pi is a must watch for all and can be enjoyed by all age groups.

Dutta vs Dutta is an autobiographical movie and entirely a complex human drama narrated and picturised by the talented Anjan Dutta. The music is beautiful and the acting brilliant. The film’s underlying theme -the strength of family ties amidst all the chaos, the triumph of art as a celebration of life- cannot be missed. The father son love hate relation around which the plot is woven has been told beautifully and smartly  with no judgement passed on anyone or anything. I loved it.

Two outstanding young actors have emerged on the movie screen which is excellent news .Hope to see more of these actors. Specially Ranadev – I hope the directors make right use of his talents.




Image above: "musicjagat.com"

IT is not the only option for you

A young Punjabi couple sold their flat in our apartment block and left for Pune this month. Originally from Delhi the husband used to work in a reputed IT company in Kolkata. Since there were no important projects coming to Kolkata in recent times he was utterly frustrated. A bright young man, he was stagnating and wanted to get out of this situation at any cost. His wife who was a teacher in an engineering college had to give up her job and move to Pune for her husband’s sake. He was unhappy and for her it was important that he should be happy. He was the principal provider for the family . Pune was a better place and they were looking forward to settle there. Their daughter was still quite small so school admissions hopefully would not pose a major problem in the new city. When I last spoke to them they had already signed off mentally and were eagerly looking forward to start a new chapter in their lives . I do not think they will ever miss the city .

Another young guy who till last year was working in a top IT organisation is now without a proper job .He is currently freelancing while his wife continues to work in his old organization. It was a workplace love and romance for them and they were pretty happy with their circumstances till the guy left his job. Or was he sacked ? They were still managing and not doing too badly. However the wife has been transferred to Bangalore recently and they are now in a complete fix. Last week while waiting for transport I met another young man at the airport. A qualified doctor he was at present working with a multinational group in Hyderabad .Being a local boy he missed the city but had limited options before him . He had a young family and  had almost bullied his parents to live with him so that he did not feel too homesick in Hyderabad. So now his parents also visit the city once in a while.Their house is partly rented out and their old driver works as a driver –cum- caretaker , ferrying them around whenever they come back to Kolkata. A wonderful solution I thought for miserable souls like him.

Sector V is not shining any more. Campus recruitments are slow and engineering institutes are struggling to find recruiters. Our friend’s son is in his final year in an engineering institution in Kolkata and the parents are extremely worried about their son’s future. This year many companies have refrained from holding campus interviews at several institutions and even if they have the vacancies are limited. Thousands of square feet office spaces are lying empty in Kolkata’s IT city. There are no takers. I am told that there is now a renewed interest amongst students for PSU jobs.

On the other hand a young lady in her final year PG Economics, who had never left Kolkata for the sake of higher education or attended any job oriented coaching centres, recently cracked a difficult campus interview session to win a position in the research division of a foreign bank. Her middle class parents had provided her with good schooling and had allowed her to live the way she wanted to. She had attended a govt college, so fees were low. She was not a topper and her parents had never bothered to thrust their wishes on her. There are others like her who have stuck to mainstream studies and done fairly well. Another bright kid I know, has moved straight into an integrated PHD course in TIFR after completing graduation from a city college. The handsome monthly stipend she gets is good enough to sustain her for the next few years.

While it is important for our IT sector to grow and keep on generating employment opportunities for our young men and women, it is equally important for our young people to keep their options open and focus on areas in which they are interested in and feel confident about pursuing. There are numerous opportunities available for them to explore and numerous vistas to conquer. I hope chemical engineers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, marine engineers, finance specialists and others will soon stop joining the IT bandwagon en masse.

Ref: picture above "kolkata.olx.in"

A Government Job for a Cab driver

It was getting late and I was struggling to find a cab. Finally I gave up and walked down A J C Bose Road to the RS metro station. At times like these I know why the expanding metro network with all its current irritants will one day become Kolkata’s lifeline. I was lucky. It was an AC car and I found a seat.  I love small privileges such as these seats reserved for ladies in public transport systems. Working women with nine to five jobs are amazing. They manage husbands, kids , elders at  home , truant  maids, all household jobs and then dress beautifully in colour coordinated schemes , share their sorrows and blisses with friends and colleagues, laugh ,bitch , backbite and earn money . If they are alone they look indifferent but the moment they are with friends they light up.

I can never stop admiring these ladies whenever I am with them. The ladies zone in the metro was no different and I was having a lovely time listening to the mindless chatter around me. My attention was suddenly diverted towards the exit. A young man was smiling looking at my direction and trying to say something. It took me some time to realise that this co –traveller was one of my loyal cabbie brothers from my previous taxi booth. He looked tired but seemed happy. He was also returning home from work. I was interested .What work and what happened to his cab?

He and his brother owned several cabs .He was a graduate and had been trying hard to get a government job as a professional driver. Ultimately he had succeeded in getting a job with the state transport department. He found the hard life of driving on long distance routes better than driving cabs on city streets though he owned his vehicle. Most cabs on the streets are driven by hired drivers or by drivers who rent cabs from owners.  

Bengalees are not entrepreneurs by nature. To the average  Bengalee, having a govt job with regular pay and other benefits and zero accountability, is better than running your own enterprise .This man was no different. He felt he was blessed now that he had a permanent “Government job”.  He had got his daughter admitted to a good school in Kolkata and shifted his nuclear family to the city. He does not have time to visit his parents, his extended family in the suburbs where he used to go every week earlier. He does not seem to mind. He has a government job.

Ref: Pic above
http://thekolkatanews.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/metro_thekolkatanews.jpg