When we shifted to Chennai from Pune in 2016, I felt that Tamil Nadu had changed a lot. I found people (especially Taxi drivers) were polite and the there was not trace of the famous "Madras Tamil". I felt that my apprehensions about Tamil Nadu were not well founded.
But that happiness appears to be short lived. For the last couple of months I have been "listening" to the so called "voices of the Tamil' people. As in the past there is NO culture in the language used by these "saviors" of Tamil. A small group of people, perhaps without any root, create a havoc, culturally and socially. They do not show even the basic respect for other human beings; they divide the society in terms of language - Tamils and Non-Tamils (e.g. Telugus, Kannadigas, Malayalis etc. - we had one Malayali, two Telugu and one Kannadiga as Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu), in terms of caste - Brahmins and non-brahmins (the age old trick of the Dravida Parties and we had at least three Brahmin Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu) and in terms of religion, mostly bashing the Hindus and leaving the other religions un-touched. These guys do not have mass following; but have enough time in TVs and space in the social media, giving an impression that they represent the Tamils. It is unfortunate that the voices that question such divisive forces are not given their due in TVs ; TV debates are always tilted to the advantage of the divisive forces, as they get the maximum representation (each small group gets a representative while the largest group gets only one representative and many times the anchor appears to be a part of the divisive forces !). Tamils, however, are smart and they do not give their votes to such divisive forces. Be alert ! these guys appear to force on us a situation like Tamil Eelam, calling themselves Prabhakran's brothers !
Tuesday, 19 June 2018
Tuesday, 29 November 2016
My dear Brother
I can't imagine that Chandra is no more. I spoke to him on 12 July 2015 before leaving for Aurangabad. He said he had some breathing problem. He had been eliminating various causes for breathlessness. He said the Doctor had told him that it was not because of heart. Since he had the problem of bloating tummy, he felt that it could be due to either a liver problem or a prostate problem. He was to consult the doctor.
I returned from Aurangabad on 16 July 2015 evening. At around 1.30 in the afternoon Dr. Sekar telephoned to me to inform me that Chandra was found unconscious on the bed and the doctor advised them to take him to a hospital. Hence they were taking him to a hospital in an ambulance. In a short while I got a cryptic message from Dr. Sekar: "We are returning". I messaged back: "Is he alive or dead ?". There was no reply. I called his phone and he handed the phone to Mani. Mani informed me that Chandra was dead; the hospital pronounced that he was brought "dead".
Mani informed me that I should carry out the rituals of cremation and the other Karmas as Cheena was not in India. We rushed to Chennai, catching the late night flight. We could not get the 3.40 pm flight because by the time we got the confirmation it was already late for the tickets and there was in fact no ticket available in that flight. The flight was delayed and we at last departed from Pune at around 2.00 am. By the time we reached Maya's home it was almost 5.00 am. We had a quick rest and started for Virugampakkam in the morning. We reached there at around 8.00 am., on the 18 July 2015.
All the near and dear were there. Chandra's body was kept in a refrigerated box. His face was calm and quiet. A smile was there on his face. When I looked at his body I could realize that he left this world peacefully. A blessed soul ! Somehow I was feeling that he had been breathing and his heart was beating. I felt that his chest was moving gently. I came to know from Maya that she and Indhu also had similar feelings. God has ordained that I did the Karma's for Chandra - more of a friend than an elder brother. Poor Manni ! I felt bad for her. She has to face the life alone ! God should give her the strength to live a peaceful life.
I learnt from Manni and another friend of Chandra that he had a lot of love and affection for me. He had a sort of pride in my being his brother. I had not spoken to him in the recent past as a brother; but as a friend. In fact during our last telephone talk he even cracked a "blue" joke, after a lot of hesitation and after getting my permission, clearly showing that not only did he love me but also had respect for me.
When we were young, say when we were at Nellikuppam and Pettavaithalai, Mani and Chandra were strangers to us. Chandra was studying at the ER High School, Trichy, staying with Swayambu Mama (i.e. my mother's mama); later he studied at the National College, Trichy, and then at the New College, Chennai. Hence he was always away from home. Mani also had a similar pattern; he was with RK Thatha, and then moved to Islamiah College, Vaniambadi. We used to see them only during holidays. Contacts with Chandra improved only after Appa retired and Chandra moved to Nellikuppam. I had visited him quite a few times when he was in Nellikuppam. He was always curious to know new things and about new products in the market. He used to cook at his house before marriage.
Somehow, he had been having a running "feud" with Sharada Manni. I don't think that ended till his death. He had written many of the "controversies" in his blog, which I happened to write for him in the initial stages; later he started writing his own blogs. Through these blogs "Tambiku Vambu", he has been communicating with me all his views, opinions, issues, happenings around etc. This blog was active for almost two years between 2007 and 2008; later he stopped writing blogs. I have just gone through some of them after his death; they remind me of his presence even now.
I returned from Aurangabad on 16 July 2015 evening. At around 1.30 in the afternoon Dr. Sekar telephoned to me to inform me that Chandra was found unconscious on the bed and the doctor advised them to take him to a hospital. Hence they were taking him to a hospital in an ambulance. In a short while I got a cryptic message from Dr. Sekar: "We are returning". I messaged back: "Is he alive or dead ?". There was no reply. I called his phone and he handed the phone to Mani. Mani informed me that Chandra was dead; the hospital pronounced that he was brought "dead".
Mani informed me that I should carry out the rituals of cremation and the other Karmas as Cheena was not in India. We rushed to Chennai, catching the late night flight. We could not get the 3.40 pm flight because by the time we got the confirmation it was already late for the tickets and there was in fact no ticket available in that flight. The flight was delayed and we at last departed from Pune at around 2.00 am. By the time we reached Maya's home it was almost 5.00 am. We had a quick rest and started for Virugampakkam in the morning. We reached there at around 8.00 am., on the 18 July 2015.
All the near and dear were there. Chandra's body was kept in a refrigerated box. His face was calm and quiet. A smile was there on his face. When I looked at his body I could realize that he left this world peacefully. A blessed soul ! Somehow I was feeling that he had been breathing and his heart was beating. I felt that his chest was moving gently. I came to know from Maya that she and Indhu also had similar feelings. God has ordained that I did the Karma's for Chandra - more of a friend than an elder brother. Poor Manni ! I felt bad for her. She has to face the life alone ! God should give her the strength to live a peaceful life.
I learnt from Manni and another friend of Chandra that he had a lot of love and affection for me. He had a sort of pride in my being his brother. I had not spoken to him in the recent past as a brother; but as a friend. In fact during our last telephone talk he even cracked a "blue" joke, after a lot of hesitation and after getting my permission, clearly showing that not only did he love me but also had respect for me.
When we were young, say when we were at Nellikuppam and Pettavaithalai, Mani and Chandra were strangers to us. Chandra was studying at the ER High School, Trichy, staying with Swayambu Mama (i.e. my mother's mama); later he studied at the National College, Trichy, and then at the New College, Chennai. Hence he was always away from home. Mani also had a similar pattern; he was with RK Thatha, and then moved to Islamiah College, Vaniambadi. We used to see them only during holidays. Contacts with Chandra improved only after Appa retired and Chandra moved to Nellikuppam. I had visited him quite a few times when he was in Nellikuppam. He was always curious to know new things and about new products in the market. He used to cook at his house before marriage.
Somehow, he had been having a running "feud" with Sharada Manni. I don't think that ended till his death. He had written many of the "controversies" in his blog, which I happened to write for him in the initial stages; later he started writing his own blogs. Through these blogs "Tambiku Vambu", he has been communicating with me all his views, opinions, issues, happenings around etc. This blog was active for almost two years between 2007 and 2008; later he stopped writing blogs. I have just gone through some of them after his death; they remind me of his presence even now.
Wednesday, 17 September 2014
Kick Start again
I have been silent for over one and half years.....no excuses for not writing blogs....many things happened in between.....
1. My arthritis appears to be under "control"....pains do appear once a while...but tolerable. My assessment is that I am "OK" at least 95 %. My "diabetes" also appears to be under control (with medicines). We had gone to "Kaivalyadam" at Lonavla for a weeks Yoga programme; I have been doing the Yoga exercises without fail everyday all these days. I also bought a "reclining cycle"...which I am supposed to use every day - I have failed to meet the expectation and am "cycling" only once a while
2. I have been invited to be a member of the Sustainability Board of Hindalco Industries (Aditya Birla Group)...from July 2014; I am also helping Vodafone on their efforts on e-waste.
3. I have four more Ph.D. Students from August 2014; the first one who joined me in 2012 had vanished !
4. I have been keeping me busy with CII-Greenco Awards (assessed manufacturing units of companies like Tata Motors, Kirloskar Pumps, Breaks India, Hindustan Unilever, Godrej Interio, Coca Cola) and NABET assessment of EIA consultants (at least about 30 in the last two years)
5. After a long wait, as the Chairman of our housing Society, we have won the case against a defaulting member, in the process getting Rs.2100000/= to the Society. For the first time members of the housing Society met for Lunch along with their family...
6. In these one and half years my weight had swung from 98 Kg to 83 Kg and back to 96 Kg.....I don't know the reason ! I only hope (and pray) that it goes back now to 83 !
7. I have become an international correspondent to the Environmentalist published by IEMA (I don't know the meaning of this...at least one of my despatches has been published)
I just wanted to start the blog and hence this one.....may not be a good one...but I have to start
1. My arthritis appears to be under "control"....pains do appear once a while...but tolerable. My assessment is that I am "OK" at least 95 %. My "diabetes" also appears to be under control (with medicines). We had gone to "Kaivalyadam" at Lonavla for a weeks Yoga programme; I have been doing the Yoga exercises without fail everyday all these days. I also bought a "reclining cycle"...which I am supposed to use every day - I have failed to meet the expectation and am "cycling" only once a while
2. I have been invited to be a member of the Sustainability Board of Hindalco Industries (Aditya Birla Group)...from July 2014; I am also helping Vodafone on their efforts on e-waste.
3. I have four more Ph.D. Students from August 2014; the first one who joined me in 2012 had vanished !
4. I have been keeping me busy with CII-Greenco Awards (assessed manufacturing units of companies like Tata Motors, Kirloskar Pumps, Breaks India, Hindustan Unilever, Godrej Interio, Coca Cola) and NABET assessment of EIA consultants (at least about 30 in the last two years)
5. After a long wait, as the Chairman of our housing Society, we have won the case against a defaulting member, in the process getting Rs.2100000/= to the Society. For the first time members of the housing Society met for Lunch along with their family...
6. In these one and half years my weight had swung from 98 Kg to 83 Kg and back to 96 Kg.....I don't know the reason ! I only hope (and pray) that it goes back now to 83 !
7. I have become an international correspondent to the Environmentalist published by IEMA (I don't know the meaning of this...at least one of my despatches has been published)
I just wanted to start the blog and hence this one.....may not be a good one...but I have to start
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
The Year that was...2012
It is more than one year since I wrote my blog here. The first resolution that I have taken this year, 2013, is to start writing again here, registering my thoughts and views. What else to write on the first day of the year, except the summary of the last year....here I go.
2012 was an eventful year...the main points are:
a) Affected by Rheumatic Arthritis
b) Got my first Ph.D. Student
c) Fulfilled Sheila's long standing wish
In January 2012, on a trip to Chennai for a NABET assessment I noticed that my thumb was swollen and it was so painful that I wondered if I could carry out the assessment on the second day. But to my surprise, the swelling and the pain disappeared once I reached the site of assessment. I could complete the work; but I did not realize that that was an indication of what to follow. In the next few days the pain spread throughout the body, on all joints - knuckles, wrist, shoulder, knee, elbow, ankle, jaw - one after another. My doctor thought it was a virus attack and treated me with antibiotics; I was OK...only for a few days. One day when I was at IndSearch, I could not move my leg; I had to be helped to move to the car; on reaching home, I had to be in bed as the pain was unbearable. My doctor advised rest and to take "combiflam" whenever pain was unbearable; and it did work. I was OK in a couple of days and started my routine, only to be bed ridden again in a week with unbearable pain in both the knees. Again Dr. Pandya advised rest and said that we would consult a specialist too. Once I was able to move, I consulted Dr. Parikh, an orthopaedic specialist; he advised me to take a test for the RA factor; the RUBY HALL test report indicated negative for RA factor. Dr. Parikh declared that it was NOT Rheumatic Arthritis. He asked me to do more exercises and to walk a lot to avoid getting pain in the knee; he confirmed that it was nothing to do with bones.
All the while I was travelling for various purposes; on a trip to Surat I found that I could not sit on a chair; my shoulder was so painful that I could not lift my arm; I was lucky that at least the other should was OK. But by the night the pain moved to the other shoulder too. It was unbearable; but I had to travel from Surat to Baroda, Baroda to Mumbai and then from Mumbai to Pune in one go. Immediately after returning to Pune, I had to travel to Delhi; while in Delhi, suddenly my right foot got swollen and I could not wear the shoe. I managed the day with my bathroom chappal and travelled to Pune with chappals on. After returning to Pune I had again gone through a set of tests and found that there was no RA factor in the blood serum.
At this point I decided to give a try to Naturopathy; I went through a 6 day Naturopathy programme - it consisted of different treatments like full body massage, partial massage, magnetic therapy, wax therapy, mustard padding, steam bath etc. I had taken a month training programme on Yoga (I could attend only 20 days); I had also taken a week's Ocupuncture treatment. All these gave me some relief; but they were useful to the extent of managing the pain but not to avoid the pain. The Yoga training helped to develop a daily regime of exercises for about 30 to 40 minutes every morning. That did give me some relief and the occurrence of sudden pain in various joints had come down significantly.
In the meanwhile, around July/August 2012, I suggested to Dr. Joshi that I should be relieved from my regular job at IndSearch so that I can take care of my ailment; he readily agreed (probably he was also waiting for such an opportunity !) with a request to continue as a Professor, need not be as an employee. Once it was agreed, there was a relief all over; all my near and dear have been advising to quit IndSearch as it was not adding any value to my life.
By October I thought I should check for arthritis and approached Arthritis Research Centre in Pune; they confirmed that my problem is Rheumatic Arthritis; their blood test did indicate RA factor. Till today I am at a loss to know why /how Ruby Hall tests indicated negative RA factor. If this had been known we would have started the treatment at least four months ago and by this time I would have seen some effect.
Dr. A. Chopra of Arthritis Research Centre appears to be a confident person; he gave me an assurance that I will be OK in four months (two and half months are over now); there appears to be some improvement with his medicines and with the additional physiotherapy programme. Now I have added the exercises taught to me under physiotherapy into my exercise regime and it now goes for an hour. I see some improvement in pain management.
That is about the first point...it is a work in progress.
The second point is that I got a student for Ph.D. under my guidance....but it is a farce. The student is from an influential family and he is not interested in Ph.D., but in Civil Services. Even though I had two vacancies, I did not get the second one as it is reserved for Scheduled Caste/Tribe and no such candidate had appeared for the interview ! As of now, my entry as a Ph.D. Guide is in a limbo.
This is also a work in progress......I can take up to 8 students for Ph.D. at a time and I have time till 65 to take students Let me see how this progresses.
The only thing that happened as per plan is fulfilling the long term wish of Sheila; indeed it had been fulfilled in spite of my pain and her health.
Overall, 2012 had been a average year
2012 was an eventful year...the main points are:
a) Affected by Rheumatic Arthritis
b) Got my first Ph.D. Student
c) Fulfilled Sheila's long standing wish
In January 2012, on a trip to Chennai for a NABET assessment I noticed that my thumb was swollen and it was so painful that I wondered if I could carry out the assessment on the second day. But to my surprise, the swelling and the pain disappeared once I reached the site of assessment. I could complete the work; but I did not realize that that was an indication of what to follow. In the next few days the pain spread throughout the body, on all joints - knuckles, wrist, shoulder, knee, elbow, ankle, jaw - one after another. My doctor thought it was a virus attack and treated me with antibiotics; I was OK...only for a few days. One day when I was at IndSearch, I could not move my leg; I had to be helped to move to the car; on reaching home, I had to be in bed as the pain was unbearable. My doctor advised rest and to take "combiflam" whenever pain was unbearable; and it did work. I was OK in a couple of days and started my routine, only to be bed ridden again in a week with unbearable pain in both the knees. Again Dr. Pandya advised rest and said that we would consult a specialist too. Once I was able to move, I consulted Dr. Parikh, an orthopaedic specialist; he advised me to take a test for the RA factor; the RUBY HALL test report indicated negative for RA factor. Dr. Parikh declared that it was NOT Rheumatic Arthritis. He asked me to do more exercises and to walk a lot to avoid getting pain in the knee; he confirmed that it was nothing to do with bones.
All the while I was travelling for various purposes; on a trip to Surat I found that I could not sit on a chair; my shoulder was so painful that I could not lift my arm; I was lucky that at least the other should was OK. But by the night the pain moved to the other shoulder too. It was unbearable; but I had to travel from Surat to Baroda, Baroda to Mumbai and then from Mumbai to Pune in one go. Immediately after returning to Pune, I had to travel to Delhi; while in Delhi, suddenly my right foot got swollen and I could not wear the shoe. I managed the day with my bathroom chappal and travelled to Pune with chappals on. After returning to Pune I had again gone through a set of tests and found that there was no RA factor in the blood serum.
At this point I decided to give a try to Naturopathy; I went through a 6 day Naturopathy programme - it consisted of different treatments like full body massage, partial massage, magnetic therapy, wax therapy, mustard padding, steam bath etc. I had taken a month training programme on Yoga (I could attend only 20 days); I had also taken a week's Ocupuncture treatment. All these gave me some relief; but they were useful to the extent of managing the pain but not to avoid the pain. The Yoga training helped to develop a daily regime of exercises for about 30 to 40 minutes every morning. That did give me some relief and the occurrence of sudden pain in various joints had come down significantly.
In the meanwhile, around July/August 2012, I suggested to Dr. Joshi that I should be relieved from my regular job at IndSearch so that I can take care of my ailment; he readily agreed (probably he was also waiting for such an opportunity !) with a request to continue as a Professor, need not be as an employee. Once it was agreed, there was a relief all over; all my near and dear have been advising to quit IndSearch as it was not adding any value to my life.
By October I thought I should check for arthritis and approached Arthritis Research Centre in Pune; they confirmed that my problem is Rheumatic Arthritis; their blood test did indicate RA factor. Till today I am at a loss to know why /how Ruby Hall tests indicated negative RA factor. If this had been known we would have started the treatment at least four months ago and by this time I would have seen some effect.
Dr. A. Chopra of Arthritis Research Centre appears to be a confident person; he gave me an assurance that I will be OK in four months (two and half months are over now); there appears to be some improvement with his medicines and with the additional physiotherapy programme. Now I have added the exercises taught to me under physiotherapy into my exercise regime and it now goes for an hour. I see some improvement in pain management.
That is about the first point...it is a work in progress.
The second point is that I got a student for Ph.D. under my guidance....but it is a farce. The student is from an influential family and he is not interested in Ph.D., but in Civil Services. Even though I had two vacancies, I did not get the second one as it is reserved for Scheduled Caste/Tribe and no such candidate had appeared for the interview ! As of now, my entry as a Ph.D. Guide is in a limbo.
This is also a work in progress......I can take up to 8 students for Ph.D. at a time and I have time till 65 to take students Let me see how this progresses.
The only thing that happened as per plan is fulfilling the long term wish of Sheila; indeed it had been fulfilled in spite of my pain and her health.
Overall, 2012 had been a average year
27 years in Philips....a quick reflection
Hyderabad to Loni Kalbhor
"Why are you so late?"
This was the question of Dr. Vaid, the Chairman of the Selection committee for the post of Head, Materials Test Lab.
I was taken aback ! "Sir, I have asked to come for the interview at 4.00 pm and I have come at 3.00 pm". I showed the telegram that I had received from Philips.
Now he was taken aback !! "We had Dr. Sinha from NCL in the committee; he had left already as the interviews were over. We have shortlisted one candidate for the next stage. I am not sure if we can continue with interviewing you. Still we will give a try". He consulted his committee members and agreed to interview me. At the end of the interview, when I demonstrated my knowledge of analytical chemistry, resins, laminates, printed cirucuit boards etc., apparently Dr. Vaid and Dr. Bhide were impresssed (especially with my work on flexible laminates and phenolic foams) and selected me for the next stage. I am sure I spoilt the day for someone else - but that was not my mistake.
I was taken by Dr. Vaid to Shanbhag who was then the Plant Manager for the final interview; Shanbhag, mumbled something which I did not understand, but agreed to appoint me; while leaving he told Dr. Vaid in an authoritative tone to take care of the candidate who did not make it to the final interview with him. I knew by that who was the BOSS. I was asked to go to Mumbai to meet the HR guy to finalize my salary etc., the next day.
I landed at the Philips HQ at Shivsagar Estate, Worli, in time to meet Mr. HR. After making me to wait for the mandatory one hour (to show who is the boss and who is busy), this guy asked me wherefrom I was coming. On hearing that I was from Bakelite, he told me with empathy: "why are you joining this wretched company from an excellent company? You will regret your decision". It was a shocker....Here I am after 27 years with the "wretched" company, retiring without much of a heartburn. Lesson Learnt 1: Go by your decison; don't get confused by unsolicited advises.
House Hunt and Sheila's move to Pune
I joined the Central Chemicals and Materials Development Laboratory, Philips India, on 18 October, 1982; I left Sheila at Hyderabad and came to Pune alone to search for a place to live. The moment I joined I could see some people looking at me and behaving with me funny; the one to identify now is Hebbare....a "politician" out to create problems for a new entrant. I was also told by people in the lab to be careful about Sudhir Joshi, a hardcore union man. In the meanwhile Ranjan Joshi was helping me to find a place. I also visited Kalyani Athai (Aunt of my mother-in-law) seeking her help in getting an accommodation. Apparently nothing moved...time was flying. Ranjan Joshi offered me a Guest Accommodation at his house as he had a two bed room apartment and he was able to provide one bedroom for me (of course without any facility); I agreed to his offer with the condition that I would pay for the stay. Later I came to know that Hebbare tried to influence Ranjan Joshi not to provide me accommodation....so that he could see the fun of an "outsider" struggling to establish (Later I shall write about each of these characters that I came across at Loni). Lesson Learnt 2: No change is painless; there are people always out there to create hurdles in your way. Go ahead; don't be upset by these hurdles.
My search for a rented house took me to C.R. Venkataraman, Puchasing Manager, Philips Components, Loni. After the introduction CRV talked high of Bakelite and said the house where he lived earlier was ilable for rent in Ravi Bhatia, his assistant and the owner of the house, for further discussion. The house, located at Lulla Nagar, a God forsaken area, was the rear portion of a Bangalow with two bed rooms; it was OK for me and a deal was stuck. That enabled me to bring Sheila to Pune along with Indhu. Sheila was pregnant with Maya at that time and we had not announced the pregnancy to anyone till later in the year.
(Incomplete...published now so that I can complete it later)
Nataraja Service !
A blog post by Ashwin on his bus travel to/fro schoool inspired this short blog post.
The period is between 1959 and 1962.
Appa was transferred from Nellikuppam to Pettavaithalai in 1959. Mani was studying (?) B.Com at Vaniyambadi; I am not sure about Chandra - probably studying at ER High School, Trichy, staying with Swayambu Mama (Amma's uncle of sorts). Cheena and I came to Pettavaithalai with Amma and Appa. Cheena was in the 6th Class and so he was admitted in a High School at Kulithalai (a town some 6 miles from Pettavaithalai). I was too small to be sent to the High School. I was admitted to the "great" Pettavaithalai Higher Elementary School in Class 3. For the first few months we stayed at a big banglow near the school and I used to walk to the school without much of difficulties. In those days we did not carry Kgs of books to school; I had a slate and a few "balabams" in a yellow bag; may be a two or three books. Things were OK till we shifted to the Managers' Quarters. The new place was about two miles off the school (through short-cut). As Appa's Jeep would have left for the office much before I got ready for the school, it was almost always "Nataraja" service for me. Cheena, however, had his three wheeler van ferrying children from Pettavaithalai to Kulithalai and back. The Nataraja service, therefore, was unique for me. None of the managers, except Appa, living in that Quarters deemed it fit to put their children in the Great PHES. I was almost always alone to walk to / fro the PHES every day; I was also supposed to come back home for Lunch during the lunch break.
The Nataraja service was great fun. The first thing I used to do, on the way, was to get some "raw" tamarind (Puliyankai) by the then available method of throwing stones to get the target down and stuff the "crop" in my drawer pocket. That used to give me some thrill on the way; of course I used to avoid all those trees which were supposed to be abodes of "Puliamara Pei" (clearly marked by nails fixed on their trunk with human hair wound over the nail head); luckily no Pei had ever objected to my fetching the Puliyankai. In those days of "barter system", the puliyankai was my currency to get "avichcha verkadalai" or "kodukapuli" or something like that from other students of my class. I used to wonder why my mother was not making Avichcha Verkadalai (Paththu !!!). My route to the school passed through paddy fields...full of snakes and frogs. In those days I did not have fear for the reptile. I don't remember as to what kind of slipper/chappal I was wearing; but I do distinctly remember that the half pants was always loosely stitched and it remained in its place because of the cross-belt attached to it.
.......I stop here now...as my memory is failing. But I am publishing so that I can complete it later.
(By the way, I visited this school last year... a great feeling to be there again!!!)
.......I stop here now...as my memory is failing. But I am publishing so that I can complete it later.
(By the way, I visited this school last year... a great feeling to be there again!!!)
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
Quality of IIT Students
I am amused at the observation by Narayana Murthy on the quality of IIT students; he says that the quality of IIT students has come down over the years. This is the same in every generation - each one putting the next generation down. This has been going on from time immemorial; at least I have heard of the same story in Aristotle's time.
I am not able to understand why someone who is remotely connected with education and educators, leave alone students, has to make such a comment (is he looking for a business opportunity here). Just because someone is successful in one field does not mean that he has the competence to comment on anything that comes his way. Narayana Murthy himself had not cleared the IIT entrance examination; he did his MTech in, if I remember right, Kanpur IIT. That is not something great. If he is asked to write the IIT entrance examination even today, I am sure he will fail.
Let us not under-estimate the present generation. They are born to fight and win. They have to face much more competition than what we faced in our times. It is finally the cream among the students that joins IIT. How can one say their quality has come down ?; does he mean to say that the cream does not opt for IITs and the next level gets into them ? Let us also not forget that students have to study more in less time now. There are many distractions now which were not there when Narayana Murthy was in his late teens. In spite of all these distractions these students do well.
I can agree with Jayaram Ramesh who said that the quality of faculty in IITs had come down and that their research output was not up to the mark. In spite of such a lower quality faculty, IIT students do well because of their inherent intelligence. Let us not demean them. In my opinion Narayana Murthy's comment is political; post retirement he is probably looking for an opportunity to be a politician. I would like to reject his thesis outright.
I am not able to understand why someone who is remotely connected with education and educators, leave alone students, has to make such a comment (is he looking for a business opportunity here). Just because someone is successful in one field does not mean that he has the competence to comment on anything that comes his way. Narayana Murthy himself had not cleared the IIT entrance examination; he did his MTech in, if I remember right, Kanpur IIT. That is not something great. If he is asked to write the IIT entrance examination even today, I am sure he will fail.
Let us not under-estimate the present generation. They are born to fight and win. They have to face much more competition than what we faced in our times. It is finally the cream among the students that joins IIT. How can one say their quality has come down ?; does he mean to say that the cream does not opt for IITs and the next level gets into them ? Let us also not forget that students have to study more in less time now. There are many distractions now which were not there when Narayana Murthy was in his late teens. In spite of all these distractions these students do well.
I can agree with Jayaram Ramesh who said that the quality of faculty in IITs had come down and that their research output was not up to the mark. In spite of such a lower quality faculty, IIT students do well because of their inherent intelligence. Let us not demean them. In my opinion Narayana Murthy's comment is political; post retirement he is probably looking for an opportunity to be a politician. I would like to reject his thesis outright.
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