The story-tellers of Bhimbetaka
There is an explorer within each of us. There are those who move to the mountains and explore the sublime beauty of nature and capture their impressions for others to find solace in them. There are those who find joy in culture or history or even religion. The spirit of exploration is what keeps the...
The idea of well-being in education
Well-being isn’t a fairy tale that exists only in books and board-rooms… or as discussions and debates in the staff-rooms of colleges, if this sounds more appropriate. As Hans Christian Anderson once wrote: ‘Just living isn’t enough’, said the butterfly, ‘one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower.’ When I told a university professor...
It is time to step out of your comfort zones
Explore. Defend. Protect. Lead. Discover. Serve. These past few months have given us all an opportunity to see these words in action. We have read, and sometimes watched, our warriors venture forth into the unknown to turn a mere word (like the ones listed at the start) into an applause-worthy act. Our doctors and para-medical...
Idiot in a lockdown
Idiot. This one word tells you how most of us were made to feel during the lockdown. If you think I’m being unreasonable, just look at the sheer number of people who were updating and guiding you with facts that you never knew existed. Before you think I am trying to be cynical only towards...
Rankings and online education in the post-covid era
There will be 60 million students the world over who will be looking for the right courses in the right regions this season. I obviously mean the admission season. Students are smart enough to understand that they need to assess not just disciplines relevant to their career plans but also the best and safest options...
Only the doer learns
Talking about the art of cooking, Tom Colicchio wrote that ‘recipes tell you nothing. Learning techniques is the key’ and you’ll be surprised at how much these few words tell about what is relevant and what isn’t in the emerging world of online education today. Despite a fistful, nay, a wheelbarrow-full, of theories for effective...
The magic in our lives
The magic in our lives.You told me what magic wasI listened, nodded, and believedEverything from a stone spearTo this 200 gram smartphoneWas nothing short of magicAnd without caring a bit, continuedFractious arguments in virtual space. You said the way fashion evolvedAnd travel became easierWas as much magical as citiesThat were turned into smart entities.Yes, I...
Words can turn your world upside-down
Words can turn your world upside-down Words scramble, lunge, scoot,Fly around aimlessly, collide,And without us even knowingEnslave thoughts for their ride. From whatever the nation wantsTo wherever a quote or a misquoteDecides in all its wisdom, it isWords swimming to us from their boat. And all the time we assumeWe know where we want to...
The prosaic world of the poetry of doing nothing
The prosaic world of the poetry of doing nothing It surprises me to find everyone doing so much. The social media tells me that everyone is reading, writing, exercising, cooking, knitting, dancing, singing, sewing, sharing photographs, drawing, sketching… or even spending hours updating status in ways that makes everyone envious. Or trolling, arguing, being logical...
Will a post-covid India be any different?
Covid-19 Pandemic Will a post-covid India be any different? From learning to earning, from survival to career, from passion in relationships to passion in professions, from choices one wants to choices that exist, from what was to what is… this pandemic has the power to roll over and transform entire lifestyle landscapes, conceptual environment, and...
More monkey, less human
Much before humans of 2020 got pandemic-bitten, a friend looked up at the Delhi sky in disgust and said, ‘We’re really monkeying around with our environment.’ Well, he was right to some extent because many would feel that monkeys are still more human than humans because humans are forever monkeying around with disruptions. Talking of...
The double-helix of imagination and technology
Imagination is the most advanced technology that we have today. What is equally true is that technology today is also as imaginative as imagination can be… and so there is obviously no lockdown for an imaginative use of technology if one adds a bit of technology to imagination! There is a whole world beyond canoodles,...
