Newspaper headlines are not slogans for politicians
I still read newspapers. They educate, inform, and give a direction to the views that I hold. It is newspapers that print stuff that someone somewhere may never want to read in print. It is also the responsibility of newspapers to make sure that they do not filter out the unsavory facts that the powerful...
Thoughts as 2020 comes to an end
What does one say to an year that has made a lot of effort to remain at top of the unpopularity charts? Obviously, a big thank you… because trying times, tough moments, and all the wrongs ever inflicted on us by time invariably metamorphose into happy looking steppingstones that help us go across a struggling...
Abracadabra… education is a magical spell!
There is a relationship between education and magic. For instance, don’t you think creative thinking is more like the mind always up to some conjuring tricks? Or that what we call information is more like a portal that transports us from one plane to another? Jargon or the language understood by a small community of...
The idiot’s guide to shirking
The latest issue of The New Yorker has a toon with this caption: “Listen, when you give up, you can do anything!” This one is obviously a lampoon aimed to shame the shirker, the shammer, or the one who whines and avoids any responsibility. Such people are everywhere. I was one of this tribe once...
First you see and then you hit
Those who teach in colleges and universities will probably wonder what seeing and hitting has to do with teaching. A lot, let me add here, because good education is all about first learning to see what others cannot even see and then learning to hit what no one else can hit. You may also club...
Water isn’t just about water
Water is scarce because we are careless, casual, and callous with the way we treat everything related to water. Let me give you three examples. With every road layering or repairing exercise, the level goes up a few millimeters and after some years the little drain holes that had been carefully constructed on the sides...
Save water before it is too late
The switch box of humans, it appears, has been severely tampered with and as a result no one seems to understand things when put in a simple straight-forward language. Try calling terrorism bad and chances are you might end up being trolled for being an Islamophobe. Comment on why banning Chinese apps is a part...
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...
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...
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 subtle art of stepping away
Deciding to step away from one path or way of life is no reason for panic as another magically appears even before one realizes. So when one leaves the tarred road, a meandering path through meadows or forests may appear… maybe there will be a walk along a gently flowing river. This is what gives...
The paradox of being a common man
The month of May this year has been over-flowing with bold strokes and brilliant strikes. Yes, one can think of everything from cricket to politics and from nabbing terrorists to tickling the media at the right time. We have all realized that even ten seconds in front of a button can spell anything from prosperity...
