Jnana - pure knowledge

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14 Engineering colleges in Karnataka have received financial assistance of more than Rs. 10 Crores each. Though the program in question called Technical Education Quality Improvement Program (TEQIP) is initiated by Government of India, large part of the funds has come from World Bank.

The broad vision of TEQIP is quite appreciable. It aims to help institutes achieve their own set targets for excellence and sustain the same over long time. One of the interesting clauses in this program is that the institute cannot spend lot of the funds in civil works. Instead they are encouraged to acquire excellence in specialized areas and emerge as world-class institutions.

One of the paths set to achieve this is by granting autonomy to institutes. The process for autonomy is already underway and come next academic session, these institutes will become academically autonomous. There is a visible excitement in these campuses regarding the newfound freedom.

But how many colleges are really geared up for this enormous task? Faculty, who till now had to teach according to a given syllabus, now have to face the task of preparing one. How many of them are up to the challenge? There is a belief that curriculum will fix the loopholes and match current trends. Will that happen?

One of the main objectives of TEQIP is to help institutes network and share the resources they have. In the coming days this will be very crucial. There is (at least theoretically) the possibility of transferring credits between institutes. But given the present situation where even the colleges in same city do not interact much, the above mentioned level of cooperation looks impossible.

With hardly few months to go into autonomy, there is no signs of colleges coming together to discuss some common framework for framing syllabi. In the absence of any discussion between institutes, we may end up with institutes teaching different subjects for the same program.

At the institute level, each college needs to frame syllabus for all programs, set the evaluation process and do so many other things. These tasks have been traditionally done at university level and college faculty (save a few) does not have any exposure regarding this.

I am quite skeptical whether this era of autonomy will achieve anything substantial. I fear that colleges will blindly accept the existing norms regarding syllabus, evaluation and other things; may be with minor changes, for the want of time and expertise. If that happens, we will be committing a historical blunder.

This is critical time for technical education in India. What happens in this academic year will impact the state of engineering studies in times to come. It will be interesting to see how colleges will react to their first brush with autonomy. By utilizing their newfound freedom properly, they can take India to leadership position in technology. Let’s hope they’ll do it.

When I watched Guru, I was completely carried away by its narration style. This was so different from the earlier movies of Mani Ratnam. I quite liked the character Gurukant Desai till one stage. The villager becoming visionary was good; but visionary wanting to become winner at any cost was not. Then I began to take sides with Shyam Saxena and Manikdas Gupta. I somehow felt letdown by Guru and soon Shyam was my hero.

The much famed climax irritated me a lot. I could not make sense of the argument Guru put forward before the commission. Though it could be appreciated for its cinematic values, I completely reject it. For me the better ending would have been a transformed Guru accepting his mistakes instead of trying to defend his awful business tactics.

Equating his act of bending rules to Gandhi’s fight against British was stupid. I do not know how one can accept this. Gandhi broke law for larger social good. But what Guru did was only to meet his ends. If breaking law for one’s good is accepted then we will witness a completely anarchic state.

Guru says it is not only he who made money. He proudly says that he benefited his shareholders. So he is making them as partners in crime. This is to say that a thief should not be prosecuted if he shares his booty with poor people. Every bad man wants to project himself as Robin Hood!

I read someone saying that Guru personifies new, global, confident India’s attitude. I do have problems projecting Guru as role model for wannabe entrepreneurs. I do not teach entrepreneurship but I talk about some issues regarding this in my class. I am not comfortable telling my students to follow Guru’s way.

Guru, in his final argument, asks the commission why he is punished. He wants to know whether making first quality polyester is a crime. Certainly not; but from what I understood from the movie, Guru seemed to evade taxes and overrode certain licenses granted to him. Should he go unpunished for breaking laws?

Though there was a sense of balancing in story by announcing fines on Guru, the larger picture was that he emerged victorious. By asking commission to mouth lines such as - “What else can we do? We can’t hang him, can we?” the director signals that they concede defeat before Guru. By later projecting Guru as speaking to his shareholders and filling them with new dreams, the director further glorifies the character.

It is precisely this part that was not acceptable for me. I did not like Guru being celebrated despite everyone knowing that he did evil. That showed people do not feel guilty by following any route to make more money. Guru says India is moving forward with him. If this is progress, I do not want India to part of this.

One thing which constantly irks the teaching fraternity is academic dishonesty. From straightforward copying in exams to submitting assignments directly taken from net, cheating is one phenomenon common across all kinds of educational institutes. Universities have been trying to cope with this problem in many ways. But none of the known solutions are effective.

So I am starting to think that cheating should be legitimized. In a way the system of education which we are following is responsible for this problem. We overemphasize on individual achievements and so students try to reach super achiever status by all means. By using a common yardstick we try to measure each student’s ‘capability’.

But we know each student has a unique trait which makes him special. So why tell him to leave his individuality to meet the success parameters set by us? Can’t we think of alternate evaluation mechanisms which take into consideration the diverse abilities of our students?

Perhaps we can. Think what we expect from students once they come out of college. In workplace, we want them to find answers to questions as a team. To know where to get the answer from or whom to ask is more important skill. But this is academics is called ‘cheating’.

What we can do is tell students to get the ‘best’ answers from wherever they can. Tell them to search everywhere for answers. In the class let them disclose the sources. In that way the knowledge can be shared. Over a period of time, students will not only know where and how to get answers from but also know the criteria for good answers.

Cynics may question the validity of such logic. Won’t this system create students who know where to get answers and will not be able to problems themselves? No, I am not completely rejecting the existing system. What I am suggesting is encouraging students to adopt “cooperation” strategy instead of “competition”.

Now that the World Cup debacle of Indian cricket team is discussed at length by everyone from pappu to parliamentarians, I want to put forward a critical question – “Is Indian cricket team really INDIAN?” This question is important for me because I am fed up listening to people who are referring to team’s early exit as national shame.

Since BCCI does not have a official website, we have to rely on other sources to know the nature of BCII. According to information available in Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (Government of India), BCCI was formed in December 1927 with its headquarters in Delhi. The same site says that BCCI got affiliated to ICC in 1929.

The Wikipedia entry for BCCI says that it is a society, registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act. According to the affidavit submitted by BCCI to Supreme Court in 2005, it said it was a non-profit making, autonomous association restricted to its members.

Well, whether BCCI makes profit or not is not my concern right now. My question is this – If BCCI is autonomous body, then how is the team that it selects becomes national?

In a significant ruling in 2005, Supreme Court ruled that the BCCI was not an organ of the "State" but an autonomous organization. They also noted that the BCCI could not be held a State only because of the popularity of cricket in the country.

Please read the affidavit of BCCI which says clearly that “It is governed by its own rules and regulations independent of any state...it organizes matches with its members or the team members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), which is also an autonomous body….”

What does all this mean? Well for the starters, what we call as Indian team is really a BCCI team. Just like your local club, BCCI too is a private and autonomous body. As per Supreme Court it is not the organ of state. So there is nothing remotely Indian about the team it selects except for the fact that it is registered in India.

It takes players by contract and they play for BCCI. No where is it mentioned that players “represent” country. The matter is simple. The state (Indian Government) does not pay them, BCCI pays them. So they represent BCCI as they are its employees.

So wake up guys….don’t bring in patriotism and national sentiments in the game. It is just another private affair between private clubs. So please stop equating BCCI team with INDIA.

Still not convinced…..Ok…I think you have heard that Subhash Chandra will start India Cricket League. Now if this becomes big in international scene, then will you call the team from India as INDIAN team? Then what about BCCI team?

My opposition to colas (Pepsi and Coke) stems from my ideological beliefs. I have for long believed that consumption of these drinks should not be encouraged. Moreover I strongly believe that people (mostly) do not drink them to quench their thirst but to make a statement.

The attempts to ban the use of colas in my college campus were met with stiff resistance. The canteen people told me that they will better shut down the shops rather than stop selling colas. Frustrated by their reluctance, I approached the members of my college canteen committee. They were sympathetic towards my views but were not ready to issue necessary directions to canteen authorities.

The canteen committee members asked me to support my claims with evidence. I started searching for newspaper reports regarding this matter. I got one in “The Hindu” dated Thursday, Dec 21, 2006 in this address. It very clearly noted that –

“Mr. Ashok said the Government, which issued the earlier ban on soft drinks on August 9 under the Food Adulteration Act, withdrew it on December 15 because of legal problems. Now it had imposed the ban under Article 162 of the Constitution that provided executive power to the State in certain matters “

But the canteen committee members were not ready to act on the newspaper report. Fair enough, I thought. I then tried to persuade canteen authorities explaining them the negative effects of soft drinks on the health of people. They seemed to be very obliging when they listened to me. But to my utter disappointment, they continued to sell colas.

I then thought of tacking the issue at a different level. I tried contacting the distributor who was supplying colas to our canteens. That guy talked very rudely to me. When I told him that there was a ban he contested saying it was withdrawn. I tried explaining him that earlier ban was under different act and now the fresh ban is imposed from December 18, 2006. He was adamant and was having the proof to prove his point. The proof happened to be a newspaper clipping about lifting the ban.

When I tried to tell him that after this there was a fresh ban, he was in no mood to listen. What followed was a heated argument between two of us. Then I firmly resolved that I should take this issue to its logical end. I had to get hold of that Government Order dated Dec 18. I started looking for the website of Health and Family Welfare. I was not able to trace it. So I devised a algorithm (after all I am a Software guy!!) to track the Government Order (GO) which looked like -

• Contact THE HINDU office and speak to journalist who filed the report which I referred above
• If I don’t get the GO there, go to all major Government Hospitals in Bangalore (Because the same report said colas were banned in Hospitals also)
• Go to Vidhan Soudha and contact the Health Minister
• Contact Chief Information Officer

So, today morning I started out with this big plan. What happened in the day, I will record in chronological fashion –

9.45 AM – I was in THE HINDU office. The security person asked me to wait till 10.00. I waited till 10.05. He then asked me whom I wanted to meet. I did not know any name. I just said I wanted to meet any reporter. He asked to come after 11.00 because everyone comes to office only at that time. I had time. So I went to next spot

10.30 AM – I reached BOWRING & LADY CURZON HOSPITAL. I was inside this place for first time. Not knowing whom to contact I just wandered a little reading the boards. Surprisingly I saw a board which read “May I help you” just left to the main entrance. I wanted one desperately, so I went to that table. There was an old gentleman who was reading files there. I asked him what I wanted. He answered me very nicely telling the directions to the administrative block. I went to the place. People were hardly seen in the chairs. One elderly gentleman nodded his head in negation when I questioned him about this GO. I asked him whether they sell colas in their campus. He said there is no question of that because Hospital does not have a canteen!!!

11.00 AM – I reached Vidhan Soudha. Today is the Budget day. I was told to meet the SI to get permission. When I went there, there was a long queue of people who wanted to get in. Police there were asking for passes. I thought I should go back because I did not have one. But I just remained in queue hoping for best. When my turn came I explained what my intention was. The police let me in. I was very happy. But when I reached the main entry point, I was told that no ministers would be present at this time because of assembly session. The police there also was very nice to me. He told me to come back at 3.00 and told there should be no big hassles in meeting the minister.

11.30 AM – Since I had time, I thought of going to VICTORIA HOSPITAL. Now I knew where to go. I landed there and asked directions for administrative block. The Secretary of the hospital entertained me and heard my story. He sent me to concerned person in the office. But the lady in question was not there. Apparently she had gone to attend a marriage function. People there promised me that she would be back at 2.00. Despite the wait, I had some good news in store here. The secretary confirmed that they have that GO. So I was ok with waiting

12.05 PM – I knew that VANI VILAS HOSPITAL is adjacent to this one. So I thought of visiting that place. If VICTORIA had the GO, I was confident VANI VILAS will also have it. On reaching there, I just checked the hospital canteen. To my relief there were no colas in the display area. Happy and elated I went to administrative block. I met a very interesting fellow there. He showed keen interest in the matter and ordered his subordinates to give me the information. I asked whether I should apply for the info under RTI. He said no it was not required. We discussed lot of philosophy! Meanwhile his junior got the file. That contained the office order and not the GO. After receiving the GO, the hospital had issued orders to its canteens to stop selling colas. But I wanted GO. The man there was helpful. He traced the file number which contained this GO. He then asked me to go to Directorate of Medical Information as they are the nodal agency.

12.45 PM – I thought I will go to BANGALORE MEDICAL COLLEGE. I knew that should also ban colas in campus. To my utter disbelief the staff in the college said such orders would be lying somewhere in dustbin as no one cared for them. Asked why such negligence towards GO, he said they do not have canteen from past 3 months!! So where is the question of banning colas?

1.00 PM – I could make out that students and staff of BMC missed college canteen as I went to nearby restaurant for lunch. There were white aprons all around me. I had lunch and checked back at VICTORIA HOSPITAL

2.00 PM – The lady whom I was expecting in VICTORIA promptly came in. Being very accommodative, she instantly pulled out the file which contained the GO. I was in heaven when I saw the file. But unfortunately that was the Aug 14 order. I knew this was not GO I was looking for. But anyway I had some success. I asked for a copy of it. The lady told me just to write a request letter and get it attested by hospital secretary. I promptly did this and yes, they gave me a copy. I offered to pay for Xerox but they denied. A special mention has to be made about the staff there. They were really nice and respected my views.

2.30 PM – I came to HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE OFFICE situated in Anand Rao Circle. I managed to make my way to a swanky building which was labeled as “Information Centre”. The staff there informed me that this particular facility was not completely operational. But it looked great. When it gets going, I know where to go for such information!! They guided me to Personnel Department. I went in and checked with secretary to director. He said very confidently that PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTE (PHI) will have this information.

I was just roaming around in that building when I saw the Directorate of Medical Education office board. I went there to enquire about this GO. The people there were not aware of this matter. They too directed me to PHI. So I started to proceed there.

3.00 PM – I just checked into Directorate of Collegiate Education. The manager there took trouble to check with all files and finally told me that they have not received any such order. So my last resort now was PHI

3.30 PM – I entered PHI asking for anyone related to HFW department. I was directed to many places. That place is filled with so much lab equipment that I was completely lost. Finally I was asked to meet one chief chemist. She happened to be very nice lady. When I told what I want, she promptly called and asked someone to get a copy of that GO. No RTI required? I asked. She said it was not required as it was published in Gazette. I was in seventh heaven when I received a copy of it in next 2 minutes. Finally I had the copy of GO which I was looking for.

As I write this piece, the joy inside me is unexplainable. The PHI guys have told me to inform them in case my college authorities do not stop selling colas in campus. I feel my college administration will promptly agree. Or else I know whom to call!!!!!

It has been such a rewarding experience. All the reluctance I had to approach bureaucracy is gone. I was mentioning RTI in all offices and people were reacting to it. It is a good sign. As in my case, in many places people do give information without hassles. I am happy to say that I did not pay even a paisa to get what I wanted. No one asked me for bribe.

I think people in government offices are not all that bad as people say. I mean, my interaction with government machinery is very little but I think it’s not that brittle. What have I learnt from this episode? I now have very little reluctance to approach government offices for information. I know there are ready provided your approach is correct.

Want to see the GO I have? Try yourself…….you now have an optimized algorithm!!!!

“It is a promise that I make for myself that in next one year I will write 300 posts so that I take the count to 500 by the time this blog celebrates its second birthday.”

Well that’s what I wrote last year while celebrating this blog’s first anniversary. Now that the day has come, I know I have not done that. But it’s ok. I take this opportunity today to just put in some of my thoughts about blogging which have changed ever the years.

Do I write for someone to read? That’s the question every writer will ask himself at some point of time. Well it is not the problem only with writers. I think every performer displays his skills in public for that one “rasika” who can appreciate his art. Similar to marketing people who try to create a “customer”, creative persons imagine a perfect audience who will listen to them any time they perform.

Blogging, by and large, depends on this notion of “participating audience”. Through comments, they are provided with a channel to send their responses. Will the singer sing better if he receives more applause on stage? Seasoned singers may say that best thing a singer can do is to sing for himself. Well, not everyone can reach this level of detachment. Mere mortals like us do get happy when someone appreciates us (and vice-versa).

In this context, blogging is an interesting medium. A writer who has the habit of publishing his works in printed form often knows the frustration he has to go through waiting to know the response of audience. But blogging provides an easier way to this. Theoretically, anyone has the freedom to publish anything he wants and get responses from entire world.

That is what we say about blogging. In fact, when I started blogging before 2 years I too believed this. It was believed that bloggers will soon replace the more traditional ways of news reporting. There was no stopping of views due to editorial stands. There was an option of “debating” also.

But over the years I have recognized that this “debate” does not help much. I am not rejecting the age old practice of accepting only by questioning. But I have developed hatred towards what is normally called as “intellectual debates” fuelled by media (mainly news channels). In fact I have totally stopped giving my opinions on anything under sun, which I was doing earlier.

Now I am using this blog only as a publishing medium. Yes, reader feedback does matter to me but I have grown to overlook some of them. The obsession with number of hits and quantity of posts has stopped. I take these as natural developments.

For someone like me who suffer from “compulsory writing disorder”, blogging is a good therapy. For now I do not feel any need to stop blogging. It is fun writing here and would like to continue as long as I like it. And yes, no promises for next year.

Happy birthday blog!!!