Woman – a thunderstorm with a touch of lightening
Women in India have a voice that is heard all over the world. Not that their silence went unheard because it was that deathly quiet that has probably given birth to movements like ‘beti bachhao, beti padhao’ and slogans like ‘Equal rights are not special rights‘, ‘Woman is the companion of man’, ‘Gifted with equal...
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...
Your degree is never enough
Most of us believe that education is getting hold of a degree in one or the other field and that any reading that extends beyond relevant textbooks is something that is just another pastime. It isn’t. Real education, let me add here, happens through well-written books. Even Dr Seuss tells us that ‘the more that...
Good management seeks stable but simple solutions
Problems remain problems until someone insists on a solution. So yes, every solution does begin its life as something that appears insignificant and most of us could be tempted to discard pursuing it as useless, intimidatory, and a drain on time and resources. But there will invariably be one individual, quite probably a visionary in...
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...
Turning the other cheek for another slap
If Gandhi-ism is about turning the other cheek for another slap, I am sure the fundamentalists, the terrorists, the arsonists, the agitators, the rioters, the criminals, and even the hooligans and violators are going to smile and wish every law enforcement personnel steps out in white dhotis and a few mild words every time they...
The NSEW of education
Education is a word that has many deep layers that not everyone understands. The word ‘education’ includes other concepts like ‘inspirational’ and ‘useful’ besides basic literacy and numeracy. Yes, education shoots up the earnings-premium of a person and one reports puts this figure at 70 percent when compared to those who do have an education...
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...
Making today better than yesterday
I’m unsure if Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow are brothers but they certainly hang out together in the pub where only time cocktails are served. This may sound rather mundane, boring, and repetitive but it is not. The three, I believe, are just data collectors who neither create nor act on anything, smartly stay away from...
The story of NEP 2020 is ready to change mindsets
National education Policy 2020 is now a story where the plot has already been decided, the theme is clear, and even the pace at which incidents will happen and weave a form has been given a format. The NEP2020 isn’t any more in the ideation stage but will soon have words and sentences falling in...
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...
