Sacred Games of Mumbai

Mumbai was very much in the news during last month because of terrorist shoot out in leading hotels of the financial capital of india.

While covering the news Times of India made a oblique reference that such a large scale raid would not have been made possible without the tacit support of some of the underworld dons.

The very same subject has been dealth with Author Vikram Chandra in his now well know novel Sacred Games. Havenot any of our bureaucrats , politicians, and Police officials and Military men read the novel and if they have read what kind of preventive measures they have on hand as to ready to roll out plan.

The most important thing is that not a soul in any of their follow up news analysis ever mentioned about the Novel and its content.

What is happening i do not understand.

Inru oru seithi

Dear Friends
I have been reading that Prof Howard Gardner of USA has been working on the concept of multiple intelligences among children. I am being told that Schools in USA test the child's major slant of the Intelligence sphere and based on that start the schooling and learing activities process. I do not know whether any indian schools are adapting this process and take the kids on their discovery learning process thereby imbibing in them the JOY OF LEARNING.

Essentially most of the schools in indian context rely on rote learning and another problem is that most of the teacher's land in such a profession not because they love it or have a personal mission. They simply land the job of a teacher by accident and in many schools ( private schools)
Teachers are paid poorly even though when they have the required qualification. It is just an issue of market forces playing its role in terms of demand and supply. But Government school teachers are getting paid well but their dedication and qualityof teaching needs much improvement.
Incidentally i am also reminded of the fact that schools and parents too in general do not encourge the children to use their right brain. consequently i suppose that there is n't much appreciation of all domain of human endeavours pertaining to right brain use. In metro city school there are conscious efforts made by the school teaching faculty to cultivate the right brain usage as much as left brain. But in other mediocre government run schools i doubt any thing is being done in these directions. only a minority of priveleged children get access to school library and children literature and happen to see movies made for children..Luckily to fill the gap i suppose there is huge spread of TV viewing and i am hopeful many children would get to see some animated cartoon movies etc.
But in a nation where about 40% or more of the household is yet to get power connection what would happen to the children i wonder keeping my finger crossed . May be they would compensate by listening to stories as told to them by their grand parents which will enlarge their vision and ability to imagine things.
Let us hope that changes of inclusive nature soon comes in to the social fabric of india. Attempts are definitely being made by so many people. But the sheer size of the population and lakadeiscal approach of the public servants make the efforts not blossom fully.

What is happening to children and who is guiding them

I find in Karnataka state a lot of juvenile children buy a typing eraser fluid sold in the market place as part of stationery supply and i am being told they mix the thinner and thicker and inhale to get a KICK. I wouldnot know how it works. But i see this happening every day.

A month back one young boy who was doing this inhaling techique collapsed and died.
Children in a huge sub continent like ours especially those in the marginalised category of society simply do all kinds of things to carry on living like rag picking, working in all eateris, construction site as under paid young labourers.
Will some one study this phenomena and advise Eraze-ex manufacturers to look in to thier chemical composition of their products so that precious life at stake can be saved.

A whole generation of young people in India look up at life as a place where they are entitled for a great job and excellent pay and perks just by virute of their having got hold of a sheet of paper as a Degree given by some University . A Majoirty of them pursue courses not selected by them by their own voilition and ambitions in life or as a route map to reach thier professional goals. Since there is such a demand for all kinds of courses which is supposed to land them the graduates in to the land of Eldarado there is whole generation of entrepreneurs who are making a killing in the market place opening a number of colleges ans schools in private sector. This is a huge industry as such.( I do think this is happening in very many developing countries who are working over time to catch up with the advanced countries. Imagine a country like ours spending less than 3% of our GDP on education which is public funded.

Since their parents wants to live out thier life time ambitions through their children they select the academic course / career which their children should pursue with no scope for the student to decide as to what he wants to do in his life. This is very much inline with the indian parents thinking of they deciding whom their children should marry and on so many other issues of daily living and working etc.

As a consequence we simply churn out more often than not graduates and post graduates in various discipline who do not have any specific outstanding skill or passion for achieving something in their life which makes very personal meaning to them.

Almost parents own their children like properties at thier disposal because biologically they are their creators and simply rear them like circus animals teaching them various tricks of the trade ( i believe world wide this symptom is very much in existence - if am right in places likesouth Korea, Taiwan etc countries . REaders can Corrrect me if i am wrong ) which they believe their kith and kin will come to appreciate and that will give them( parents ) a social standing and money which they look at as a measure of success of life. An added element of parents in the last two decades is that thier children should go and settle abroad preferrable in USA . This craze for monetary success is one of the banes of capitalist society and that is one contributory reason for the melt down of american economy last year.

At this rate we seem to be simply encouraging mediocrity among our children rather than allowing them to blossom as a great talented individuals in thier own right.

What are we doing world wide?

Israel is is simply butchering Gaza strip citizens.. Ever after 500 years of dialogue and debate two sect of people are not willing to live together in peace.
Khalil Gibran the great Palestinian poet wrote so much about love to fellow human beings in all his writings. Has everyone read and forgot about it.

Similarly what is the world commuinity doing about the butchery taking place in Srilanka in the name of srilankan army trying to eliminate LTTE