We (at the ErdKinder environment, I mean 12 – 16 year oldsyoungs in our Montessori classroom) get (also) to ‘see’ a lot of  films and this ‘Our Daily Bread’ happened to be one of those. And,  we had some discussions centred around the film – and, the children had a written ‘test’ to boot a few days later, to collect their thoughts and reflections. More on this, and the content of the ‘question paper’ further down this post…

For anyone who is even remotely concerned with the  food (and by extension, our dear life)  related issues that our world is facing and especially the mass production and consumption angles – this film is a heart wrenching reminder of the grim situation. The film has little commentary, anyway the moving images speak volumes and volumes – technically also, it is one of the most canonically produced pieces of cinema verite.

dvd cover / wrapper image

Read the rest of this entry »

To make sense of this post, the previous post on the topic  should perhaps be read. It would at least, provide some semblance of a context and continuity.

Here are the frequently avoided answers to the (should be) frequently asked questions on rote…

What is ‘rote memorization?’

I would define it as the ability to recall in a snap, certain ideas (or ‘facts,’  if you will) with very little effort or thought (or ‘logical thinking,’ if you will) – to build on these basic facts and the ability to act upon them in applicable & relevant domains.

This would be in terms of arithmetic operations, instantaneous responses to emergent situations, recalling of applicable processes and logic, recalling of mapped entities etc etc. Read the rest of this entry »

Yes.

Rote memorization is an important aspect of learning and we do it all the time.

But most of us hate to admit to that – perhaps because it is not considered kewl to have such antediluvian notions. It is not postmodern. It is not hip!

Whenever one comes across this much maligned term called ‘mugging’ – the immediate thing which a given ‘avant garde,’  ‘knowledgeable’ & ‘alternative’ parent  (purely self assessment, so pardon them) does is to choke, gag and vehemently say that he/she is against all mugging… Read the rest of this entry »

This is a very fine essay titled ‘the six myths about engineering that you should know‘  – a MUST read for all the desperate & demon possessed parents, who want their children (most of whom, unfortunately & firmly are still tucked into the wombs of their mothers, reluctant to be born, very understandable too, given the helicopters) to become a dakkutor or an ingineeer or (god forbid) an IT goofball…

These parents want their wards to start preparing for IIT JEE (thru FightJEE, DieJEE, RamJEE, F**kJEE whatever) the moment the hapless children get delivered!

These parents obviously know that a valuable 9 months’ time has been completely squandered by their children, while they were rotting in the womb, doing nothing but floating around and generously kicking their mothers! grrr Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t normally participate in formal social gatherings and avoid like the plague, the ‘spiritual’ get-togethers – especially the ones that proclaim to teach some particular species of meditation or healing or, oh well, even the nirvana, if you will. There is no major reason for it, apart from perhaps a very personal and an intense sociopathic attitude.

Probably I am yet to grow up, and am childishly & endlessly curmudgeonly – these are very valid explanations too, I agree.

But, a few years back, I attended a gathering (of some good souls, many of whom happened to be thoroughbred Gandhians – except one, you know who that was) and there was this oddball chittering NRI (or was she a RNI?) young lady who kept looking at me, me with my flowing beard, unkempt hair, hardcore Tamil ‘saambaarrrr’ accent,  faded TShirt, tasteless jokes and a sagely pretension – lost in a reverie.   Read the rest of this entry »

Ross Douthat has written a rant (hat tip to Sriram Naganathan, for the article) – The secrets of Princeton. This is a reaction to the essay that an ex-Princetonian Susan Patton wrote: Advice for the young women of Princeton: the daughters I never had.

I would request all readers of this blog to read the above two articles – as they have a solid bearing and a few valuable insights. Ross’ has more incite than insight, that is – but in the name of preservation of perverse diversity and promotion of Armed Chair Intellectualism, I would give Ross his due too, though I want him to get his just desserts.

My own warped opinion follows:  The articles are an interesting read. They confirm my suspicions. Susan Patton’s essay is cool, honest & genuine.

I believe in meritocracy, elitism and all those politically incorrect & inconvenient terminologies – and of course in the basic ideas of that dismal science – Economics. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the nice things that we get to enjoy in our rural hinterlandish life is that, there is no constant invasion of our minds by TV channels and their screaming anchors & other such asinine louse souls, no offense meant at my dear donkeys, of course.

However, one does get to ‘see’ some bits of TV here and there, especially when visiting other folks’ homes  – and sometimes I do get to occasionally discuss some excesses of the TV reportage with our impressionable adolescents at the school – now,  hold your breadth, we discussed the voyeuristic coverage (and self-righteous condemnations) of the invasions into the privacy of  ’alleged’ young Nithyananda (who was perhaps merely affected by hormones, like it happens to the rest of us) and it was interesting to listen to the views of the adolescents. Many of them had either seen (!) the footage or had heard (!!) the details of the frames from others – and, more importantly, had their individual opinions… Read the rest of this entry »

… … or in sex education (oh no!), if you will…

I have the shared the following story many times over in the past, with groups of school-going children, fellow ‘teachers’ and sometimes in the random corporate ‘training’ sessions that I have conducted – all lost in the swirling mists of the past.

Ah, the memories, sweet dreams are of course made of these!

Anyway, over to the story.

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Many years ago – two children, siblings actually – one a 8 year old, the other 6 years of age were living in a distant suburb of Chennai – this suburb was quite close to the Meenambakkam Airport – and was more like a sparsely populated village in those days.

These children went to a happy municipality school close-by and were enjoying open spaces, clean air, safe environments… Oh those begone halcyon days of the past… Read the rest of this entry »