February 2015 by james paul

FROM EDITOR’S DESK

Writing on the wall MAGAZINE ON EDUCATION VOLUME 2 ISSUE 9 February 2015

Managing Editor Dr. Varghese Panthalookaran CMI Editor James Paul Associate Editor Dr. Prasant Palackappilly CMI

Columns K. L. Mohanavarma Dr. K. N. Raghavan Dr. Jos Cletus Plackal Sajit Malliyoor Sebastian Menacherry Marketing Manager Varghese Kachappilly CMI Art Sajo Joseph

The 10th Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2014, indicates some major concerns and drawbacks of the Indian education system. It has a similar story as in previous years: rising enrolment, poor learning levels in reading, Mathematics and English.The report, essentially, has a lot of key observations which are a mix of positives as well as negatives. The report points out that just a small proportion of third-graders are able to read even a text from a lower grade. Any improvement in later years is at best marginal, says the report. The fact is that reading skills are not imparted as part of classroom activity. Considering Nobel laureate Amartya Sen’s caution regarding the insecurity that people face over a lifetime due to the deprivation of basic education, the Report calls for a hard look at the situation. Its findings amount to a distressing catalogue of the failures inherent in the pedagogic methods of instruction in vogue. The foremost among them is the overemphasis on a curriculum that is geared to outcomes in the form of examination results, at the expense of a process of learning that is oriented to a mastery of concepts. One of the most attention-grabbing observations is the students’ understanding of subjects such as Arithmetic and English. Pupils from the higher classes are unable to perform even simple tasks of division or subtraction. The all-India (rural) figures for basic arithmetic have remained virtually unchanged over the last few years. For example, only 44.1% of Class 8 students in rural India managed to do a division in 2014, as against 46% in 2013. In 2012, 26.3% of Class 3 children could do a two-digit subtraction. Coming to English—perhaps the most widely used (spoken and written) language in our country after our national language—the overall scenario in the ability of school children to comprehend English too is seeing a drop. In 2014, about 25% of children enrolled in Class 5 could read simple English sentences. This number has remained virtually unchanged since 2009. The situation is not so good even in middle schools. Ad hoc teaching methodologies, lack of defined curriculum and absence in diligence and training of teachers can be viewed as few major reasons for this scenario. Acknowledging these critical issues, the Indian education system needs to change its routine techniques and invest into a much effective and interactive pedagogy that is fun, creative and, at the same time, gives the child a potential to think, learn and grow.

Contact: Rajagiri Media, Rajagiri Valley P.O, Kakkanad, Kochi-39. Phone : 0484 2973979 Mob: +91 9497711010 Mail : editor@rajagirimedia.com www.pallikkutam.com

The Report also states some of the positive points. The percentage of Class 5 children who can at least read a Class 2 level text has risen from 46.8% in 2012 to 47% in 2013 and further to 48.1% in 2014. Further, the ability to do division has increased slightly from 24.8% in 2012 to 26.1% in 2014. Therefore, there is still a ray of hope and room for some optimistic changes. The Indian education system, thus, needs to take a firm step to augment and improve the literacy rate with a unique curriculum. We carry a detailed analysis of Annual Status of Education Report in this issue.

CONTENTS GUEST COLUMN 58

CO VER ST OR Y COVER STOR ORY

Erosion of values We live in a golden age of technological, medical, scientific and social progress.

K. L. Mohana Varma EXPERT COUNSEL 30

Dhoni deserves better farewell

Cricket history will record Dhoni as the first ever wicket keeper who was also a successful captain at international level.

Value Inversion Each generation is a new society coming to life. All cultures change over time; it is cultural evolution not devaluation. Values are known to change with time and region. These values are often the building blocks of how an entire generation perceives and pursues things.

Value inversion: truth, fiction, concern and opportunity................................

Jed Metzger Dr. K.N. Raghavan PERSONAL 33

My husband is nice with everyone else except me Domestic violence or abuse is still being discussed in our society with hushed tones or regularly brushed under the carpet.

Change in values its effects ..........................................................

Deepa Varma K

Shift of values along with time...........................................................

K. Jayakumar

To be or not to be, that is the question..........................................

Col. GPV Nair (Retd.)

Value addition on human beings................................................... Sajit Malliyoor 04

Damodaran Pillay Santhi Kumar Pallikkutam | February 2015

FEBRUARY 2015 STORIES OF LIFE 36

From individualism to family ecosystem According to Family Systems Therapy the individual is the product of the wider system called family. The family values, emotional input, parental modeling etc. determine the content of family membersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; character. Dr. Jos Cletus Plackal HEAL TH MONIT OR 38 HEALTH MONITOR

Smile makeover through facial aesthetic surgery A multidisciplinary approach is required to analyse, evaluate and treat patients for better facial aesthetics.This includes Maxillofacial surgical procedures, Orthodontics and Cosmetic dentistry. Dr. Binu Augustine

REGULARS NEWS................................. 06 INSIGHTS.......................... 08 BOOK SHELF ...................... 28 SHELF...................... CREA TIVE LIVING ............ 42 CREATIVE LIVING............ INFO TECH....................... 45 CAREER............................. 50 INNO VATIONS ................... 52 INNOV TIONS................... RAINBO W.......................... 62 RAINBOW REFLECTIONS .................. 66

POLICY WATCH 47

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ASER: An eye-opener or just another annual report?

TURN TO P AGE 65 PA

ASER has been making wave in the education circles for quite a number of years and has been a reference point for the academicians, administrators and investors these years. Dr. D. Dhanuraj EDU TRENDS 54

Regeneration of education in a V-A-C-U-U-M world The acronym v-a-c-u-u-m is used here in a different perspective to summarize the challenges our children will be facing when they come of out of these educational institutions. Sebastian Menacherry Pallikkutam | February 2015

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NEWS

Scholarships will directly go to students’ accounts

ll central scholarships would be credited straight into the students’ bank accounts under the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) programme, the government said.

This will help them verify the applications of the students received online to enable

The move is being initiated to safeguard the interests of students and to prohibit discrimination and harassment. In a recent communication, the University Grants Commission (UGC), which governs higher education in the country, has asked all recognized universities and colleges to ensure that the scheme is implemented in a “befitting manner”. For this, UGC has asked the institutes to register themselves with the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) which serves as a common central portal for registering implementing agencies and beneficiaries.

the HRD ministry to disburse scholarships to the students directly into their bank accounts under the DBT programme. “The uploaded applications on PFMS portal need to be validated by the institutes online without any delay to safeguard the interests of students and to prohibit discrimination and harassment of

Stem India plans Rs 3,000 crore on 100 schools

cademy of Stem India said it will open 100 schools over the next 10 years across the country that would attract an investment of Rs 2,500-3,000 crore.

schools would be operational in next three years,” Stem India Chairman Vinod Dugar said at the inauguration of first stem world school at Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. Stem is a teaching methodology which is adopted from US to help students to foster greater interest among young kids in science and maths.

“We have already acquired land for eight locations in Howrah, Baruipur, Rajarhat, Guwahati, Bikaner and Jaipur. These

Cynthia A Brickton, Regional Superintendent of DeKalb County Schools, Georgia US, said, STEM is acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and the education integrate these four factors to promote real world experience, Academy of Stem India is a Section 25 company.

any student,” it said. UGC has also asked universities to display scholarship schemes and new initiatives of the HRD ministry on the home page of their websites. Meanwhile, minority affairs minister Najma Heptullah has written to all chief ministers requesting them to take necessary initiatives for disbursing post-metric and merit-cum-means scholarships for minorities through DBT. The said scholarships are centrallysponsored programmes, having a funding share of 75:25 between the Centre and the states. The government has also decided to extend the DBT mode of payment to beneficiaries under pre-metric scholarship scheme for minority students and directly credit the amount to their bank account from the coming academic session.

Success rate in CA final exams increases

he pass rate in the chartered accountancy final exams has steadily risen in the last two editions. In the November 2014 exams, 8.23% candidates passed nationally, up from 7.29% in the March 2014 exams. In November 2013, the pass rate was just 3.11%. Over 36,000 students appeared in the last exam. Prafulla Chhajed, vice chairman, board of studies, ICAI, said, “Though we do not have a record on the numbers of students who do not have a formal degree, the possibility cannot be ruled out. Some students who are focused may choose to pursue CA after their class XII.” Students usually complete the entrance test (CPT) and the intermediate exam (IPCC) and then the articleship before the finals.

Pallikkutam | February 2015

NEWS

1,571 nursery seats for CBSE schools double in special kids

s per the Directorate of Education’s records, there are at least 229 schools in Delhi that are capable of teaching students with some form of disability or the other. In the schools that have disclosed this information to DoE, there are over 1,571 nursery seats for children under the ‘special needs’ category—some schools are exclusively for disabled children, the rest are mainstream ones. The DoE has uploaded data on seats, category of disability the schools can handle and fees—which it collected from schools last year—on its website for applicants to use as reference. Both the National Progressive Schools’ Conference and the Action Committee for Unaided Recognized Private schools have mentioned children with special needs in their suggested guidelines. While few

schools have mentioned disabled children in their nursery admission policy to begin with, even at those that have, reservation for this category has been implemented differently. At some, seats for this group are outside the 25% EWS-DG (economically weaker sectiondisadvantaged groups) category. At Springdales, Pusa Road, for instance, there are three seats for disabled candidates that aren’t part of the 25% EWS quota. “We normally get many applications from this group every year, over 50,” says principal Ameeta Mulla Wattal.

The team led by K Amarjith Singh, additional secretary in the department of technical education, visited the site at Kunissery village panchayat in the district. A long-pending demand of Kerala, the state government had identified over

Pallikkutam | February 2015

he number of CBSE schools in Tamil Nadu has more than doubled in the last five years. In 2010, around 250 schools from the state were registered with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), a number that has now touched 580. A senior CBSE official in Chennai said the applications for affiliation to the board peaked in the last two years. “In 2013 and 2014, we gave affiliation to nearly 150 schools across Tamil Nadu. We received the highest number of applications over the last two years,” the official said. Chennai and Coimbatore have the most CBSE schools in the state. The two

Some schools have carved a 3% reservation out of the 25% EWS-DG one as children with special needs (or CWSN) form one of the “disadvantaged groups”; this was recommended in the Action Committee guidelines as well.

Central team visits site for proposed IIT in Kerala five-member team deputed by the Centre inspected the site identified by the Kerala government for the proposed IIT to be set up in Palakkad district and said a decision on the matter would be taken soon.

5 years

1,200 acres in Kunissery for developing the campus of the IIT. After the visit, team members held a meeting with education minister PK Abdu Rabb, opposition leader VS Achuthanandan, who represents the Malamapuzha seat in the assembly where the site is located, and elected representatives of the district. Singh said the team would submit a report and a decision taken on the matter within a fortnight.

cities account for more than one third of the schools. Chennai has around 100 CBSE schools, while there are close to 80 in and around Coimbatore, the board said. The rise in numbers is linked to the implementation of the Samacheer Kalvi syllabus aimed at providing uniform education in state board, matriculation, oriental and Anglo Indian schools in the state. Samacheer Kalvi, implemented under the Tamil Nadu Education Act, 2010, received mixed reactions, especially from private matriculation school managements.

INSIGHTS

Early childhood shyness signals teen anxiety

nfants who frequently react to unfamiliar objects, people, and situations by becoming afraid and withdrawing are referred to as having a behaviorally inhibited temperament. As these infants grow up, many continue to be inhibited or reticent when they experience new things, including meeting new people. Inhibited children are more likely than their peers to develop anxiety problems, especially social anxiety, as they get older. A new study has found that behavioral inhibition that persists across early childhood is associated with social anxiety in adolescence, but only among youth who were insecurely attached to their parents as infants. The study found that children who were both insecurely attached to their parents as infants and who were inhibited throughout their childhoods went on to have higher levels of anxiety as adolescents, specifically social anxiety.

Early care giving has enduring effects

esearchers at the University of Minnesota has found that sensitive care giving in the first three years of life has definitive and enduring influence on an individual’s social competence and academic achievement. The results are published in the journal Child Development.

three decades of life, the study found. Although families’ economic resources were important predictors of children’s development, it didn’t fully account for the persistent and long-term influence of early care giving experiences on individuals’ academic success.

The study underscores the importance of the early parent-child Sensitive care relationship. Because giving is defined as individuals’ success in the extent to which relationships and a parent responds academics represents to a child’s signals the foundation for a appropriately and healthy society, promptly. It is programs and positively involved initiatives that equip parents to interact during interactions with the child, and with their children in a sensitive manner provides a secure base for the child’s exploration of the environment. Individuals during the first few years of their children’s who experienced more sensitive care giving life can have long-term benefits for early in life consistently functioned better individuals, families, and society at large, concludes the study. socially and academically during the first

Music learning improves kids’ brains

hildren who play violin or study piano could be learning more than just Mozart. Researchers from University of Vermont College of Medicine have found that musical training help kids focus their attention, control their emotions and diminish their anxiety. Their results are published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. As children age, the cortex - the outer layer of the brain changes in thickness. The cortical thickening or thinning in specific areas of the brain reflects the occurrence of anxiety and depression, attention problems, aggression and behavior control issues even in healthy kids - those without a diagnosis of a disorder or mental illness. The researchers wanted to see whether a positive activity, such as music training, would influence those indicators in the cortex. It is found that music practice influenced thickness in the part of the cortex that relates to executive functioning, including working memory, attentional control, as well as organization and planning for the future. A child’s musical background also appears to correlate with cortical thickness in brain areas that play a critical role in inhibitory control, as well as aspects of emotion processing. A violin might help child battle psychological disorders even better than a bottle of pills!

Pallikkutam | February 2015

INSIGHTS

Personality outshines intelligence

ecent research at Griffith University has found that personality is more important than intelligence when it comes to success in education. Out of all personality traits Conscientiousness and Openness had the biggest influence on academic success. The results have been published in the journal Learning and Individual Differences.

than an average student in this regard. Understanding how personality impacts on academic achievement is a vital when it comes to helping students to be successful, suggest the study. The best news for students is that it’s possible to develop the most important personality traits linked with academic success. Personality does change, and some educators have trained aspects of students’ Conscientiousness and Openness, leading to greater learning capacity. By contrast, there is little evidence that intelligence can be ‘taught’, despite the popularity of brain-training apps.

The study suggests that educational institutions need to focus less upon intelligence and instead, pay more attention to each student’s personality. For example, a student with the most helpful personality will score a full grade higher

Quality sleep boosts performance

study by researchers at McGill University and the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Montreal suggests that a good night’s sleep is linked to better performance in math and languages subjects that are powerful predictors of later learning and academic success. The findings are published in the journal Sleep Medicine. The researchers reported that “sleep efficiency” is associated with higher academic performance in those key subjects. Sleep efficiency is a gauge of sleep quality that compares the amount of actual sleep time with the total time spent in bed. With greater sleep efficiency, the children did better in math and languages but grades in science and art weren’t affected. The findings underscore the

Pallikkutam | February 2015

importance of identifying sleep issues that may otherwise go unnoticed, suggests the study. That doesn’t mean parents need to rush out and have their kids tested at sleep clinics - but it does point to a need for pediatricians to incorporate questions about sleep into routine checkups, concludes the study.

Cascading decisions in social networks

he way in which information, decisions, and behaviors spread through a network is a fundamental social phenomenon. The process is analogous to biological contagion. But the spread of behavior is based on individual decision-making. It exhibits richer and more complex behavior than the more direct mechanics of biological contagion. How to initiate a cascade with the end goal of maximizing the expected number of ‘favorable’ decisions? Insights into this problematic is available in a recent study published in SIAM Journal on Computing. For example, a company might be trying to guide the adoption of a product by word-of-mouth effects, or a political movement might be trying to guide the success of its message in a population. Cascades of this kind are sensitive to the order in which people make decisions. For instance, the consequences of some early decisions can be amplified due to the effect they have on the rest of the population. Success of the cascade is often greatly affected by this choice of timing, suggests the study. With the right timing strategy, the cascade can have a good likelihood of spreading the message widely, while with the wrong strategy, it can have very little chance of going far.

Value inversion â&#x20AC;&#x153;We live in a world where unfortunately the distinction between true and false appears to become increasingly blurred by manipulation of facts, by exploitation of uncritical minds, and by the pollution of the language.â&#x20AC;?

Arne Tiselius

Information inflation

Each generation is a new society coming to life. All cultures change over time; it is cultural evolution not devaluation. Values are known to change with time and region. These values are often the building blocks of how an entire generation perceives and pursues things. What kind of decisions they make and if or not they thrive. Do you see a significant difference while comparing the values in your generation to that of the generation before you? If yes, is that change good or bad?

COVER STORY

Value inversion: truth, fiction, concern and opportunity Jed Metzger

his essay aims to spend some time considering the question of how values are changing; are we in fact witnessing an inversion of basic values. Time will be spent understanding what is meant by the term “value”, understanding how this term is a moving target, exploring the threats to positive values in today’s youth culture and finally thinking about some opportunities that we have in the face of today’s value systems. As with any subject we must begin by coming up with an agreement on the subject. When thinking about values, one interesting thing that is happening around the globe is a discussion of an erosion or inversion of values. Often this fact is presented as a part of a political agenda and follows the script of saying that since the society is witnessing a decline in values we should elect a particular candidate to office. This is an interesting idea since there seems to be a clear rise in the number of public officials caught in some ethical scandal or another. In fact the valueless political figure is now a frequent villain in the plot line of both Western and Bollywood films. Regardless, when listening to these claims, what is understood is that there is a deterioration of family values. Again this is often poorly defined and sometimes seems to be a code phrase for a moral agenda. Let me explain, one universal value is “thou shall not steal”. So the question would be if we are seeing a rise in theft in the past 25 years (roughly the age of a generation). The answer is mixed, up in some locals, down in others, but in general there does not seem to be a worldwide increase in theft. How about the value of sending a thank you note after receiving a gift? I was raised to do just that, so my aunt gave me a gift, I would use my best penmanship and send of a letter of appreciation to her. This behavior does seem much reduced,

seemingly less a victim of a value inversion than the increase in the price of stamps and the availability of more rapid forms of communication making the socalled ‘snail-mail” less of an appealing option. Perhaps where there may be wider agreement would be in the increased use of advertisement enforced consumerism that depicts women in sexualized clothing. India, long a stronghold of modesty now has a proliferation of increasingly suggestive billboards. Western television commercials are ripe with the same as well as large numbers of advertisements for sexual enhancement medications. This visual imagery is often cited as both evidence and a cause of a value inversion. On this point you will get no argument from me. The question is if the prevalence of these images is causing a value shift? More on this in a moment, but let me conclude with one more point and that is there are some things that are presented as value issues by some and human right issues by others. As there seems to be at least some evidence of society values deteriorating the question what is driving it? It would seem that each generation accuses the generation that follows as loosening the social fabric and the value base. However, it is hard to find direct evidence that what are changing are the values. Clearly though, the globalization of commercialism is having an effect and since a huge part of the marketing is directed at youth, the youth are responding differently than they a generation ago. The youth of today carry a computer in their hand in the form of a data phone. With it they see images of what others have and are doing and respond by

Pallikkutam | February 2015

COVER STORY

The greatest threat to values is the culture that tells us the solution is in buying things. Globally this has far reaching effects.

seeking to obtain or do the same. In many ways this author sees the greatest threat to values is the culture that tells us the solution is in buying things. Globally this has far reaching effects. In the West, youth are increasingly cut off from the process of working hard to earn a reward and instead replacing it with mass consumption of items that are not really needed. In the East men are leaving their families in large numbers to work in the Gulf States so that their families can â&#x20AC;&#x153;keep upâ&#x20AC;? with the consumerism that has gripped the East. Opponents to the position I present would say that this is the nature of democracy, to that I respond that democracy and capitalism are not the same thing. One is a system of participation in the governance of the society and the other is a system that that purports that there is greater value in greater money. The first helps people gain equality, I argue the later negatively effects families and children. To be clear, there is evidence that there always has been and most likely will be tension between generations, but at the end of the day the moral codes of the generations are not that different. What is different today is that massive attack of the advertisement industry on the minds of the youth, especially female youth, to purchase their way to enlightenment, beauty, or popularity. This is the real danger. It is not the youth; it is what the youth are facing. What the youth are facing comes not from the youth but from adults using them to line their own pockets. This then presents the opportunity. Our job as adults and as parents is to educate. In order to be good educators we need to be educated ourselves. We

Pallikkutam | February 2015

COVER STORY

We need to seek to understand youth and not blame them. We need to stay in conversation with them. They need to hear from us what our family values are. They need us to have regular mealtime where we can sit and dine and communicate with each other. need to understand that the pressure youth are under today is intense. Note the January 2015 edition of this journal which was dedicated to Information Inflation- the pressure of too much information too much of the time on our youth. We need to seek to understand youth and not blame them. We need to stay in conversation with them. They need to hear from us what our family values are. They need us to have regular mealtime where we

can sit and dine and communicate with each other. If we are professional educators, we need to spend time discussing how to maintain values in the face of consumerism. The complexity of the global world is hard to grasp, and the youth are doing the best they can with it. They need the generations that came before them to take an interest in them and their lives and help them make the choice to live the values that they have been raised in. As adults we have to accept and

own the world that we have created and not blame the youth, but work to stay connected to them while they go out and stake their claim to the world. Change is the constant, but the core values of honest living and respect can remain as long as we are interested in providing an avenue for their expression.

The author is Associate Professor of Social Work at Nazareth College in Rochester, USA.

Pallikkutam | February 2015

COVER STORY

Deepa Varma K

Change in values - its effects

hat is value? Literally, value means something that has a price and is precious. The term value comes from the Latin word ‘valere’ which means “to be of worth”. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines the term value as the worth, desirability or utility of a thing. It is worth or importance of a thing. In India’s philosophical tradition, the widely accepted concept of value is Truth, Goodness and Beauty (Sathyam, Shivam, Sundaram) Values are primarily ethical, social and subjective and are based on respect for human dignity. They act as forceful tools for the cultivation of social good. Values are the essence of life. For example, kindness, love and tolerance are values practiced even by animals and birds.

Values are primarily ethical, social and subjective and are based on respect for human dignity.

Pallikkutam | February 2015

According to Indian thought, values are created by man from out of himself in the course of manipulation and control of the external physical world and the external social environment. Bertrand Russell says, “The Machine as an object of adoration is the modern form of Satan, and its worship is the modern diabolism. …..Whatever else may be mechanized, values are not, and this is something which no political philosopher must forget.” So, if values are to be defined, it becomes clear that values are not mechanical and consequently do not proceed from external physical nature. Then what can be values? It must be spiritual; and we must search them in the depth of human nature itself. Vedanta holds that man creates value from within

COVER STORY

Love, compassion, dedication and the spirit of service are positive virtues which together constitute our value system.

himself in the context of his life and work; that control is provided by the two external environments, natural and social. The modern era has witnessed a “knowledge” revolution with significant scientific and technological progress which in turn, has led to great progress in the current materialistic society. However, along with that, we are seeing a decline in our values. Values as mentioned earlier are not mechanical, and the effect of new machines and technology does not always translate to better values. In fact, a technological ‘revolution’ cannot produce values in society; nor can we generate love in the hearts of man himself. Love, compassion, dedication and the spirit of service are positive virtues which together

constitute our value system. Values and virtues are not hereditary, rather, they are learnt. When our value system is not in tune with our real nature, it ends up in tragedy. The story of King Midas is a great example. We all know the story of the greedy king named Midas. He had a lot of gold and the more he had the more he wanted. He stored the entire gold in his vaults and spent his whole time counting it. One day while he was immersed in counting, a stranger came from somewhere and said he would grant Midas a wish. The king was very delighted and said, “I would like everything I touch to turn to gold.” The man asked the king, “Are you sure?”

The king replied, “Yes, Yes, Yes.” The stranger said, “Starting from tomorrow morning with the sun rise you will get the ability to have the golden touch.” The king thought he must be day dreaming, this could never be true. The next day he woke up before sun rise. He waited for the sun to rise. As soon as it rose, he touched his pillow. It turned into gold. Whatever he touched, it turned to gold. He was exhilarated. He sat for breakfast and the moment he touched his food, it turned into gold. He was getting hungry. He said to himself, I can’t eat and drink gold! Then his daughter came running and out of love he hugged his only daughter and alas she turned into a gold statue. No smiles left. The king started crying. He could not bear

Pallikkutam | February 2015

COVER STORY

We are embarking on an era where our capabilities, life style and relationships as a society, all are evolving rapidly.

And to quote Albert Einstein, “Try not to be a man of success but rather try to be a man of value.” We all know that the universe is everchanging and so are we and our value systems. But, there will always be some universal values which are perpetual. Responsibility, integrity, commitment and patriotism all may be old values but they are universal and eternal. “Where the vision is one year, cultivate flowers. Where the vision is ten years, cultivate tress. Where the vision is eternity, cultivate people.” (Oriental saying.)

it any more. Then the stranger who gave the wish came again and asked the king if he was very happy with his golden touch. The king said he was the most miserable man in the world. The stranger asked, “What would you rather have, your food, drinks and your loving daughter or gold and the golden statue of your daughter ?” The king could not control his pain and cried for forgiveness. King said “I will give up all my gold. Please give me my only daughter without her I have lost everything worth having”. The stranger said to the king, “You have now realized what value and price are. You have become wiser than before.” The stranger reversed the spell. The king got his daughter back in his arms and he learned a lesson what value is. See the moral of the story. Distorted values lead to disaster!

Pallikkutam | February 2015

Values are intrinsic to our lives. They add strength to our character and the righteousness of our beliefs. Emperor Asoka was one of the greatest Indian rulers. But his early success was based on much violence. He reached the throne after killing nearly ninety kinsmen. One day, in the middle of the battle, he realized that there were no true victors in war because so many died on both sides. He became a follower of Buddha and changed his entire life. He served his people in wonderful ways. He understood that the purpose of man is to live not just a life, but a good life with values. Even today, Ashoka is honoured and remembered not for his empire, but for his transformation and good deeds.

parents, to provide a strong moral foundation to our children. We should be inculcating in them, those eternal values like love, respect, kindness and compassion. We should teach them to live a life of integrity and honesty. Make them responsible citizens of this world by teaching them the values of patriotism and service to society. Let us provide them with the tool to succeed in life by teaching them to be self-confident, be motivated and always be perseverant. Let us impart our kids the wisdom handed down to us by generations who preceded us. And above all, let us teach them that in this era when everyone is running after “prosperity”, we are prosperous when we are happy, not necessarily when we have what we “want”. Let us strive for teaching the next generations, the values we learned from our forefathers and from our life experience, but also keep an open mind in understanding and appreciating their perspectives.

The author is a post graduate in Computer Applications and working as Technical Lead in a software company.

This is the age of technology. The world is seeing unprecedented progress in human capabilities due to the scientific and technological development. We are embarking on an era where our capabilities, life style and relationships as a society, all are evolving rapidly. With this progress, also come challenges. Intergenerational conflicts and confusion on social values are increasing. In that context, it is imperative for all of us

COVER STORY

Shift of values along with time K. Jayakumar

We were told that marriages were made in heaven and not to be broken. To a great extend it was practiced by our elders. Children used to show great respect to elders including parents and teachers.

alues are closely integrated with human life. Human life is not possible without values. Each and every living being has certain values. Proportion of positive and negative values separates good and not good. Positives such as love. forgiveness, compassion etc., and negatives such as hatred, greed, prejudice etc. Every human being is born clean with no mindsets. But it receives values from family, educational institutions and society. We are a country known for its high standard of values in which we respect elders, teachers, otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s feelings, otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s freedom. We are a country with many beliefs, culture, languages and so on. We were taught to respect each other. We always had respect to our parents and Gurus. We never wanted to do anything that hurts their feelings. Politics in the beginning were for the country and its people by honest and committed people with great vision. There was no intervention of religious or any other forces. Their only task was to improve quality of the country and offer a decent and cultured life for the people. Our modern generation likes to avoid definitive statements of values, whether it is parents, children, students, teachers, politicians, merchants, priests and on and

on. Everyone is looking only for their own benefit. No respect towards the society. We were told that marriages were made in heaven and not to be broken. To a great extend it was practiced by our elders. Children used to show great respect to elders including parents and teachers. Teachers loved their students more than their own children. Parents were the guides for their children, Our National leaders used to show the common people how to live in peace and harmony. They were real heroes. Even the dramas and films also had a message to the general public. Neighbours used to love and respect each other irrespective of religions or language. Look at the current scenario. Marriages are broken for simple reasons, which can be avoided in many cases, by a simple understanding and respect of values. They are not ready to take any advises from elders as they often believe, they are always right. Children these days end up in all kinds of trouble, mainly because of low value systems they inculcate from the society. Misuse of technologies, use of drugs, misinterpretation of rights etc., Parents are also in one or other way culprits of these changes. Many of them do not find time to interact with children.

Pallikkutam | February 2015

COVER STORY

“ Believe in the world that there is meaning behind everything”

Now politics is based on religions, languages and other factors. Political parties have become obedient servants of religious powers. Religious leaders decide, who to rule the nation. Human values have no relevance in the current scenario. Leaders fight for their own benefits, throwing dirt on each other. Showing disrespect to Parliament and assemblies were believed as temples of democracy. Entertainments such as films have lost their way. Very few films are made for family audience. Majority of them have no values and cannot be watched along with family. I do not know who to blame.

Pallikkutam | February 2015

Even neighbours these days look at each other suspiciously. There is no trust between people for many reasons. To conclude, it is high time to have a detailed debate on this subject and arrive at a compromising formula to move together. Reminds me a quote of Swami Vivekanada – “ Believe in the world that there is meaning behind everything”

The author is a businessman, associated with social, cultural and charitable organizations.

COVER STORY

To be or not to be, that is the question Col. GPV Nair (Retd.) rotating on its axis in double time”. My friend smiled and said, “OK, I gave you something to ponder about, you start cracking”.

amlet in me asked, “To be, or not to be, that is the question Whether tis Nobler in the mind to suffer. The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,

If I have to do research on value inversion I should know what do the words value and inversion mean. Oxford dictionary says ‘values’ is the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth or usefulness. For common man like me the word ‘values’ means the unwritten perceptions on virtues one has to be aware of and abide by, though not prescribed in

Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles” Neither do I bemoan the pains and unfairness of life nor I acknowledge the alternative might be still worse, for I am one of those who always see the light at the end of the tunnel.

An over view of value inversion will suggest hundreds of positive effects as also negative impacts in equal measure in our day today life.

Why this weird thought that perplexed Hamlet crept to my mind? May be because I was asked a difficult question by a knowledgeable friend of mine “whether there is any scope of salvation from the dreadful disease (?) of ‘value inversion’ that spreads like cancer in every cell of our harmonious living in a multi-textured society of ours”. Couple of minutes passed, Hamlet in me slowly disappeared in thin air. I looked firmly at my friend and asked, “So what if there is value inversion? It is inevitable, it is happening from time immemorial, only difference is that we feel the effects more pronounced now because the earth is

Pallikkutam | February 2015

COVER STORY

My grandson doesn’t come to me to hear bed time stories, instead he would watch Jack and Jill on Cartoon network, where as I have not slept a night without hearing stories and lullabies from my grandma in my childhood. on something bugging him because there are thousands of Google pages, which give them better answers and suggestions. My grandson doesn’t come to me to hear bed time stories, instead he would watch Jack and Jill on Cartoon network, where as I have not slept a night without hearing stories and lullabies from my grandma in my childhood. No one is saying that these changes of attitude and inclinations are not welcome, they are! But the most important thing that we, in the 21st century, should comprehend is that there is a wide gap in the values, perceptions and realities between 20th and 21st, centuries. This gap pronounced by the variations or changes in our responses to our values, as you may call, are for better and not for worse. The matter of fact is that we, especially the senior citizens need to adjust our mindset to cope with the speed

in nanoseconds, that is the order of the day. An over view of value inversion will suggest hundreds of positive effects as also negative impacts in equal measure in our day today life. A friend of mine retired as a senior engineer in BSNL told me “ Sir, you please get me placement where I can be from 9 am to 5 pm, I demand no remuneration! At home I have become a ‘baby sitter’ cum ‘go getter’, which I have never done in my 35 years of service!! “ It says all about the value inversion in normal day to day life. But the most significant but disquieting fact is the adverse impacts that had been brought in by value inversion in other facets of public life, especially in governance. Governance: In a parliamentary democracy the governance of the country is in the hands a

constitution, for the well being of the society that one lives in. Inversion means change of status in the opposite direction. ‘value inversion’, therefore, denotes aberrations and deflation of those values that we have adored for centuries. The spectrum of values that we Indians venerate is so vast that it will be a Herculean task to research on the effects of value inversion on all walks of life. Also the connotation of ‘values’ differ from religion to religion, continent to continent, nation to nation, culture to culture, state to state, gender to gender, age to age and so on. Hence, a detailed discourse on value inversion, I fear, becomes endless leading us nowhere!. The real reason why this has become a subject of discussions is the computer and internet revolution that shook the world in the last three decades. This so called revolution has really turned the world upside down and our perceptions and behavioral patterns have undergone a thorough overhaul! My children do not come to me and ask my opinion or advice

Pallikkutam | February 2015

COVER STORY

In his address Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam deliberately coined two terms, political politics and developmental politics, which have very significant relevance to our democratic process. band elected representatives fondly revered as politicians. The present day politics in our country, to a great extend, personifies the words of George Bernard Shaw “Politics is the last resort for scoundrels”. The mere fact that 186 of the 540 Members of Loksabha have criminal cases against them speaks volumes of erosion that had taken place over the last 67 years in the Political fraternity. Corruption and nepotism have become the hallmark of our political spectrum. It is shameful happening in a country, which boasts of Prime Ministers like Jawaharlal All Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri who earned worldwide acclaim as leading lights of Parliamentary democracy. You may recall that in 1957 the pocket sized Railway minister of India by name Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned from the cabinet owning moral responsibility of

the infamous Ariyaloor train accident in which 144 human beings lost their lives. Since then the silent majority of this highly rated nation, which include you and me, is on eternal wait for another political leader to emulate Shastri. Not only that no other Shastri emerged, we have our hands full with ministers and leaders accused of scam after scam. We have raised our bar of acceptance to a level no other country can match! We have reached a dumb state and we succumbed to the ever - widening “sab chaltha hai” attitude without a whimper. Criminality is not the only trademark of the politicians. Unforgivable callousness in governance is the prime reason why the progressive measures that are promised during election times is the characteristics of Governments for a long time irrespective of party affiliations. On 25th January 06, on the eve of our 57th Republic Day President of India, Dr.

APJ Abdul Kalam addressed the Nation as is customary for every President on this auspicious occasion. It was surprising that his address was brought on live only by Doordarshan. No other TV channel I know of had carried President of India’s address live on the 25th January. The most surprising and disgusting fact was that no news paper which I could lay my hands on, both English and regional, did carry the full text of President’s Address. In his address he deliberately coined two terms, political politics and developmental politics, which have very significant relevance to our democratic process. The former, he referred to the game of politics that politicians play on the common man in an uneven ground where every time the common man will bleed to death to glorify his political idol. The president did not totally denounce the party based politics at the time of elections and agreed that this is an unavoidable practice every democracy has to live with. The second term, the developmental politics that he coined with lot of passion, sensitivity and sensibility talked about a subtle operational model of a political system beyond party affiliations and interests explicitly focusing on the development of the Nation. This new concept that President

Pallikkutam | February 2015

COVER STORY

The president did not totally denounce the party based politics at the time of elections and agreed that this is an unavoidable practice every democracy has to live with.

suggested assumes greater significance since this had never been preached or practiced by our political pundits before in the center or in the states. It pointed to a convergence of all political parties and their leaders into a workable political model that would have the commitment and earnestness to achieve overall development of the society and the Nation in a faster pace. The worst part is that is that the political class gave scant respect to Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s suggestions and till date no discussion was reported to have gone through on this.

The author holds masters degree in Defense Studies from the Madras University and served Indian Army for more than 24 years as a communicator in corps of signals.

Pallikkutam | February 2015

COVER STORY

Value addition on human beings Damodaran Pillay Santhi Kumar

oral values are the standards of good and evil, which govern an individual’s behavior and choices. Individual’s morals may derive from his own self, society and government or religion. People generally apply moral values to justify decisions, intentions and actions, and it also defines the character of a person. An individual with high moral values typically displays characteristics of integrity, courage, respect, fairness, honesty and compassion Moral values derived from within one’s own self are clearly demonstrated in the behavior of older infants and young toddlers. If a child has been forbidden something, they wait to see if they are being observed before touching said object. There is no need for this behavior to be taught; it is instinctive. Once, however, any form of discipline is applied to modify the child’s behavior, the child gains the capacity within himself to distinguish his right behavior from his wrong behavior. Now, the child can make correct choices based on his own knowledge. The choices that are made by an individual from childhood to adulthood are between forbidden and acceptable, kind or cruel, generous or selfish. A person may, under any given set of circumstances, decide to do what is forbidden. If this individual possesses moral values, going against them usually produces guilt. Needless to specify here that the child’s values are that of the parents. Most religions have built-in lists of do’s and don’ts, a set of codes by which its adherents should live. Individuals who are followers of a particular religion will generally make a show of following that religion’s behavioral code. It is interesting to note that these codes may widely vary; a person whose religion provides for polygamy will experience no guilt at having more than one spouse while adherents to other religions feel they must remain monogamous. In the past it was

Pallikkutam | February 2015

COVER STORY

Today, ‘moral’ is a word which is just limited to the moral books of some primary classes. It is no longer a valid word for an Indian mind too, just as it has lost its meaning in the western world, several years ago. Morals have become a word sleeping in the dictionary. rare to see couples who lived together without the benefit of a legal matrimonial ceremony. In recent years, couples that set up household without marriage are nearly as plentiful as traditionally married couples. But, not only are such couples more plentiful, they are also more accepted by our society. As society moved into the modern era, that earlier system of laws became more and more eroded. Take the case of minority sexuality. The complexities surrounding same sex marriage are multifaceted and include a broad range of areas such as: legislation; institutional, social, and religious views; personal beliefs and biases; civil rights, and above all ethics and values. The most common argument against same sex marriages is that it is sterile and unnatural because it cannot result in procreation. However in the modern times, degeneration of values and ethics has become very rampant. Where have all our morals gone. Today, ‘moral’ is a word which is just limited to the moral books of some primary classes. It is no longer a valid word for an Indian mind too, just as it has lost its meaning in the western world, several years ago. Morals have become a word sleeping in the dictionary. The one who exhibits or acts with his or her morals becomes a laughing stock. So eventually he loses belief in them and starts resorting to corrupts means. Reverences, obedience, kindness, love, affection, were some of the values but in the present scenario these have been substituted by lust, greed, hypocrisy, hatred ans so on... We can no longer tolerate our own parents who taught us the morals and values, because they have become obsolete. So we lovingly move them to the comforts of ‘Loving old age homes’, where the word ‘love’ varies in proportion to the money we pay. We have started working for the salary we

Pallikkutam | February 2015

COVER STORY

Our teachers, students, doctors, engineers, public servants, social workers, all have lost their real goal, moving towards only one thing in their lives ‘money and fame’. are paid. We quit our first job and join a new firm for a small rise in salary. Employers use employees and vice versa. It is all a matter of convenience. The politicians who postrate in front of us and begs for our votes, start looting us as well as the state on his being elected. And we are made to postrate in front of him for our lawful and genuine needs. Our bureaucracy has ceased to serve but is focused upon shredding their responsibilities. Our leaders are vying with each other to be the architect of biggest scams in history. From Rs 64 crore in Bofors, they have reached to Rs 170,0000 crore in 2G. and no, the hundreds of aircrafts Air India bought while sinking into bankruptcy and preposterous sums

spent on arms deals that have made India the world’s second largest arms buyer. Total Scam Money (approx) since 1992 is approximately, 73 Lakh Crore, when we can’t provide food and healthcare to 60% Indians. Our judiciary is no longer dictated by books of law but by loads of money. Our teachers, students, doctors, engineers, public servants, social workers, all have lost their real goal, forgotten their real identity, moving towards only one thing in their lives ‘Money and fame’. In India today we face many challenges. Unscientific and complicated tax and licensing systems, too many regulations and regulatory bodies, a bureaucracy without transparency and unlimited draconian discretionary powers,

Government Institutions with monopoly in certain areas of goods and services movements and laws which are very difficult to abide by in certain cases. These are the some of the major reasons for corruption in India today. There is no real Indian sage anymore. Only scandals remain. There is no reliable media, which works for people’s welfare and awareness. Here in India, a child sees all around power and money as objects of admiration, praise, respect and clout, all withstanding. A child, as he is growing, sees that only the end matters, not the means. He sees incompetent people holding positions of power and how others who are better qualified, cultured or valueoriented, are treated by those holding power and position and how they capitulate before them. People also see that it’s sycophancy not merit, which pays and is rewarded, in politics, bureaucracy, associations or even in defense forces. It is easy to get used to

Pallikkutam | February 2015

COVER STORY

Let us revamp our system of value education which covers characterbuilding, discipline, civic sense, courtesy and regard for fellow citizens, sense of belonging and many other virtues which work towards the making of a better human being and in turn, a better society.

money and high life which money can buy but mere thought of it being taken away, can lead a person to do anything for survival - corruption, crime, dishonesty, cheating embezzle or pilfer. Sincerity, concern for society and sense of belonging, which all stem corruption, are at a great discount. There is only one remedy. Let us revamp our system of value education which covers characterbuilding, discipline, civic sense, courtesy and regard for fellow citizens, sense of belonging and many other virtues which work towards the making of a better human being and in turn, a better society. Whole stress in our Education System is on Professionalism which, in turn, gets converted into money making capacity of the individual.

The author is the Director of Kaaizeen Meditech Private Limited a trading organization in Kerala dealing with Medical implants.

Pallikkutam | February 2015

BOOK SHELF

The old man and the sea Ernest Hemingway “But man is not made for defeat,” he said. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”

t one level it is the tale of a man and a fish, at another, a story of man versus nature, at yet another, the story of the culture of manhood, courage, bravery in the face of existence,

and at yet another a history of what life was like when individuals were more the central actors on the human stage and not groups or organizations. At the most basic level the very elderly fisherman, Santiago,

goes out in his small fishing boat after 84 days without hooking a fish. He goes far out, and hooks a gigantic 18 foot long sword fish. The battle then begins, and the fish drags the small boat and Santiago far out to sea. For two days they battle, and Santiago wins that battle, but then loses the great fish on the way home to the scavenger sharks who find him easy prey. Hemingway celebrates the courage and raw guts of this old man, even recounting a time in Casablanca when he had spent an entire day in an arm wrestling match with a much larger man in a seaside tavern. Hemingway celebrates a concept of humans as beings who go it alone, fierce, brave, courageous without even thinking about it, oozing strength from the nature of the best of the species. Plot The Old Man and the Sea is the story of a battle between an old, experienced fisherman, Santiago, and a large marlin. The novel opens by telling the reader that Santiago has gone 84 days without catching a fish, considered “salao”, the worst form of unluckiness. He is so unlucky that his young apprentice, Manolin, has been forbidden by his parents to sail with him and been told to, instead, fish with successful fishermen. The boy visits Santiago’s shack each night, hauling his fishing gear, preparing food, talking about American baseball and his favorite player Joe DiMaggio. Santiago tells Manolin that on the next day, he will venture far out into the Gulf Stream, north of Cuba in the Straits of Florida to fish, confident that his unlucky streak is near its end. On the eighty-fifth day of his unlucky streak, Santiago takes his skiff into the Gulf Stream, sets his lines and, by noon, has his bait taken by a big fish that he is sure is a marlin. Unable to pull in the great marlin, Santiago is instead pulled by the marlin. Two days and nights pass with

Pallikkutam | February 2015

BOOK SHELF

The story is told with incredible economy of words and description, yet nothing is sacrificed which drives home the power and inner strength of this man, who just takes it as what he does, what it is to be a serious fisherman. Santiago holding the line. Though wounded by the struggle and in pain, Santiago expresses a compassionate appreciation for his adversary, often referring to him as a brother. He also determines that because of the fish’s great dignity, no one shall eat the marlin. On the third day, the fish begins to circle the skiff. Santiago, worn out and almost delirious, uses all the strength to pull the fish onto its side and stab the marlin with a harpoon. Santiago straps the marlin to the side of his skiff and heads home, thinking about the high price the fish will bring him at the market and how many people he will feed. On his return, sharks are attracted to the marlin’s blood. Santiago kills a great mako shark with his harpoon, but he loses the weapon. He makes a new harpoon by strapping his knife to the end of an oar to help ward off the next line of sharks; five sharks are slain and many others are driven away. But the sharks keep coming, and by nightfall the sharks have almost devoured the marlin’s entire carcass, leaving a skeleton consisting mostly of its backbone, its tail and its head. Finally reaching the shore before dawn on the next day, Santiago struggles to his shack, carrying the heavy mast on his shoulder. Once home, he slumps onto his bed and falls into a deep sleep. A group of fishermen gather the next day around the boat where the fish’s skeleton is still attached. One of the fishermen measures it to be 18 feet (5.5 m) from nose to tail. Tourists at the nearby café mistakenly take it for a shark. Manolin, worried about the old man, cries upon finding him safe asleep. The boy brings him newspapers and coffee. When the old man wakes, they promise to fish together once again. Upon his return to sleep, Santiago dreams of his youth – of lions on an African beach. The story is told with incredible economy of words and description, yet nothing is sacrificed which drives home the power and inner strength of this man, who just takes it as what he does, what it is to be a serious fisherman.

Pallikkutam | February 2015

EXPERT COUNSEL

Dhoni deserves better farewell Dr. K.N. Raghavan

If the national team can repeat in 2015 their triumph four years ago; it would not only redeem Dhoni in the eyes of cricket lovers but also provide him with the fitting farewell that he so richly deserves.

ahendra Singh Dhoni dropped the biggest bomb shell in Indian cricket in recent times when he informed the world through Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) about his decision to retire from test cricket at the end of the third test against Australia at Melbourne on 30 December 2014. Though this announcement brought forth an array of responses ranging from shock to bewilderment to even elation in certain quarters, the question on everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lips was â&#x20AC;&#x153;why now, in the middle of a test series?â&#x20AC;?. In a style that is now seen as typical of the man, Dhoni withdrew from public gaze and refused to give any reason for either the decision or its timing. BCCI and the selectors moved quickly and appointed Virat Kohli as captain for the remaining test in Australia while at the same time confirming that Dhoni would lead the squad that would defend the World Cup title when the championship starts in Australia and New Zealand in February 2015. Ever since he made his debut for the country in the winter of 2004 as a strapping long haired youngster, Dhoni had chosen to ride along a path that he himself had carved out. His audacious stroke play, unorthodox yet effective style of batting and wicket keeping, total fearlessness, complete disregard for reputations and an amazing ability to retain monk like calm even in the most

tense of situations marked him out as being different from the other cricketers of his generation. Hailing from Ranchi, a virtual cricketing backwater, he did not possess any powerful supporter within the corridors of BCCI and had worked his way to the national squad and established his position there solely on the strength of his performances on the field. He was a surprise choice for leading the side for the inaugural T20 cricket World Cup held at South Africa in 2007. India had not recovered from the shock of early exit in 2007 ICC World Cup and BCCI had expressed their lack of interest in the shortest version of the game that ICC was trying to popularise by conducting a World Cup championship. Rahul Dravid had announced his decision to quit as captain and none of the seniors appeared keen to play in this championship where India was not expected to work any wonders. The mantle fell on Dhoni and he grabbed it with both hands. He displayed his innate leadership instincts, ability to carry the team together and an incredible ability to trust and back his instincts at critical junctures in the game. In the initial round India was on the verge of being knocked out when Sreesanth bowled three dot balls in the last over to salvage a tie. And in the finals, when it appeared that Pakistan had the trophy in their bag, he called Joginder Sharma to bowl the final over and the bowler delivered the goods to getting

Pallikkutam | February 2015

EXPERT COUNSEL

The World Cup win was the true icing on the cake and the whole nation rejoiced as the captain, who had bravely promoted himself in the batting order, sealed the victory by clubbing a six with his trademark helicopter shot. exceptionally gifted youngsters into a team of world beaters. His role in achieving this transformation, his cool and calm The victory in T20 World Cup changed the demeanour and his ability to act as a bridge fortunes of the game within India in a way between the senior member of the side and few would have imagined. BCCI was quick to seize the opportunity to cash in on the popularity of this new format and the result was IPL, the biggest money spinning sports event in the history of the game. Dhoni moved up the ladder to lead the nation in One Day Internationals and he again proved his mettle by winning the three nation series in Australia in 2008. Thus, when Anil Kumble announced his retirement from the game towards end 2008 after a brief tenure as captain, there was not even a whisper about any contender for the top job in Indian cricket other than Dhoni. Misbah Ul Haq to scoop a catch to Sreesanth at fine leg.

The 18 month period from December 2009 to April 2011 when the nation held top position in world test rankings and won the ICC World Cup in style would always be written in golden letters in the annals of Indian cricket. It appeared during this period that Dhoni could do no wrong as he converted a squad comprising of cricketing giants and

Pallikkutam | February 2015

the newer generation won wide acclaim. The World Cup win was the true icing on the cake and the whole nation rejoiced as the captain, who had bravely promoted

himself in the batting order, sealed the victory by clubbing a six with his trademark helicopter shot. It would have been evident to Dhoni, even at that time, that the World Cup win was, in all likelihood, the high peak of his career. Retaining the trophy after four years was not going to be an easy task especially since India was set to lose the services of many senior players during the interregnum. The retirement of senior players, all of who were batsmen of rare calibre, was bound to affect the test side more as they provided the runs that helped to set up wins outside the Indian sub continent. As the person who possesses one the sharpest brains in contemporary cricket, Dhoni would have seen from the pinnacle at the top in 2011 that there was only one way to go, which was down; but even he would not have expected the suddenness with which the descent took place. Loss of eight consecutive test matches in England and Australia followed by a series loss against England at home weakened his position and for the first time ever critics started questioning his captaincy style. He hit back with some

EXPERT COUNSEL

ICC World Cup, which is set to start in February 2015, would be Dhoni’s swan song as leader of the side that he built up from scratch during the last 2-3 years. memorable performances with the bat, which included a career best double century against Australia in the home series that India won in style, but the question marks about his poor record abroad post 2011 refused to go away. However, it was the happenings off the field that dented the reputation of this cricketer who had bested even Sachin Tendulkar in popularity charts as well as revenue from advertisements. Dhoni’s reign as Indian skipper coincided with Srinivasan taking over the reins of administration of BCCI, first as its Secretary and later on, as its President. Dhoni, who had started without any backer in BCCI, moved very quickly to Srinivasan’s camp. He was nominated as captain of Chennai Super Kings, the team owned by Srinivasan’s Indian Cements in IPL, after which he shifted residence to Chennai and later joined that company as its Vice President. When Chennai Super Kings got mired into controversy over the

involvement of Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of Srinivasan and “team principal” of the side, in betting allegations, some of the mud that was thrown around found its way to Dhoni’s face also. Srinivasan’s total disregard for public opinion enraged cricket lovers in the country and most of them found in Dhoni a convenient outlet for their anger at the shenanigans of BCCI President. In the final bargain, Dhoni appears to have lost more on account of his association with Srinivasan than gained from it; a sad case of getting tainted by association. It is unfortunate that Dhoni’s stupendous achievements and stellar contributions to Indian cricket have been forgotten in the wave of popular anger directed against Srinivasan. Cricket history will record Dhoni as the first ever wicket keeper who was also a successful captain at international level. Similarly Indian cricket would remember Dhoni as the first cricketer from a small town to lead the

country, apart from the various laurels and trophies that brought to the nation. All this reminds us that he is entitled to a farewell befitting his stature and eminence. ICC World Cup, which is set to start in February 2015, would be Dhoni’s swan song as leader of the side that he built up from scratch during the last 2-3 years. If India retains the trophy they won in 2011, the cricket loving public would erase from their mind the memories of innuendos and allegations hurled at Dhoni and restore him to the demigod status that he occupied there till recently. It would be the biggest tribute for their skipper if the national team can repeat in 2015 their triumph four years ago; it would not only redeem Dhoni in the eyes of cricket lovers in the country but also provide him with the fitting farewell that he so richly deserves.

The author is the Commissioner of Customs in Kochi, Kerala.

Pallikkutam | February 2015

PERSONAL

Sajit Malliyoor

My husband is nice with everyone else except me...

Domestic violence or abuse is still being discussed in our society with hushed tones or regularly brushed under the carpet, allegedly for the sake of family cohesion. Whatever you choose to call it, domestic abuse is a reality.

happened to read your article on family conflict resolution that appeared in the magazine Pallikutam, which was very pertinent to me. My problems have similarity to the issues dealt with in that article. I am a twenty eight year old married woman and the mother of a child of four years old. We are married for seven years. My husband works for a private firm in an executive position.The problem I have is that he gets angry with me very easily. He is nice with everyone else except me. We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any problem in the initial years of marriage. But soon after the birth of our child, I started noticing changes in him. He started criticising me for not contributing to the family expenditure. I was working in the initial years following the marriage but after the pregnancy and childbirth, I was unable to work. Quiet often he brings up the topic of escalating life expenditure and the problems of being the only earning member of the household. I also feel guilty that he is working hard to make the ends meet I am not able to help him out. But whenever I oppose him by bringing out some arguments, he goes into a fit of rage which ends up in throwing things out or breaking something. He doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t allow me to make purchases for the family saying that I am extravagant in my tastes. I have to wait for the weekends to buy up even the most essential provisions. Lately, nothing that I say or do can please him. My anxiety goes up uncontrollably in the evenings by the time he returns from work.I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know how to handle the situation. Please advise me.

Pallikkutam | February 2015

PERSONAL

Whatever form it may take, the sole purpose of all these behaviour is to dominate and maintain control over the partner. An abuser doesn’t ‘play fair’. Your problem, I am afraid, is not entirely in the domain of a psychologist. It has legal implications too, for this is a case of domestic abuse. Now I am sure, many of you who read this column may not altogether agree with my branding of this issue. Domestic violence or abuse is still being discussed in our society with hushed tones or regularly brushed under the carpet, allegedly for the sake of family cohesion. Whatever you choose to call it,

domestic abuse is a reality. When we discuss about domestic violence, often we refer to physical abuse of a partner. The picture that pops into our mind is that of a partner, usually a woman, with bruises all over the body. These are tell-tale signs of a crime and the police have the authority to protect you and the society readily recognises it. But not all abusive relationships involve violence. Just because you are not battered and bruised

doesn’t mean that you are not abused. There is another form of abuse, which is unfortunately often minimised or overlooked and which is no less destructive – emotional abuse. Emotional abuse or alternately psychological abuse, can take several forms. Most often it starts with verbal abuse such as yelling, name calling, blaming, ridiculing, or throwing in threats

Pallikkutam | February 2015

PERSONAL

The scars of emotional abuse are very real and they tend to run deeper. In fact, emotional abuse can be even more damaging than a physical abuse. of physical violence or other repercussions if you don’t do what they want. It may also include keeping a partner from contacting their family or friends, withholding or controlling money, or stopping the partner from getting a job. Whatever form it may take, the sole purpose of all these behaviour is to dominate and maintain control over the partner. An abuser doesn’t ‘play fair’. He

or she is only interested in wearing you down and keeping you under their total authority. Our society maintains several myths associated with the domestic abuse. Often we are in denial or tend to believe that it occurs only in uneducated classes. But the fact of the matter is that it can happen to anyone. It affects people from all socioeconomic, educational and religious backgrounds. Although both men and women can be abused, most victims are women. We may also like to believe that it is less dangerous than physical abuse since it doesn’t leave you hospitalized or with the scars of the injury. But, the scars of emotional abuse are very real and they tend to run deeper. In fact, emotional abuse can be even more damaging than a physical abuse.

apologise for the abuse and may promise it will never happen again. This is usually followed by a period of normalcy where the abuser acts as nothing has happened. This peaceful phase may give the victim hope that the abuse is over and incentivise the decision to stay inside the relationship. But it lasts only until the next abuse. This cycle can happen hundreds of time in an abusive relationship. It is important to remember that not all the domestic abuse fit the cycles.

Now, I don’t know what your available options are! I have no information on your financial status or the friends or family you have to reach out to, but I believe that you do have options. I discussed your situation with a social worker colleague of mine and she opines that there are NGOs Domestic abuse can lead to several working in the field who extend helps to psychological problems like depression, the domestic violence victims. But they are anxiety, panic attacks, substance abuse or largely concentrated out of the post-traumatic stress disorder. Studies metropolitan cities and I don’t know point out it to be one of the prominent where you are hailing from. Unlike in the reasons behind the attempted suicide western countries, In India we do not have episodes. It also affects the children who a Domestic Violence Helpline where one are exposed to domestic violence. They can get in touch with a counselor. Why I tend to have more psychological problems, am saying this is because you alone can’t developmental and educational difficulties, make the situation better, since it is not aggressive behaviours and low self-esteem. your fault. In order for your husband to fix Another dominant belief is that alcoholism, the things, he would have to accept that he stress or mental illness is causing domestic is doing something wrong. The only way abuse. But, domestic abuse happens when to break the cycle of violence is to take an abuser has learned it as an effective action – the earlier, the better. The more method to control the partner and chooses you stay in an abusive relationship, the to be an abuser. Alcoholism and mental greater the emotional toll is. The most illness may go along with abuse, but they important starting point is in recognizing rarely cause a domestic abuse. It is not due that you are in an abusive relationship. to the abuser’s loss of control over his or Start by telling someone about the abuse. her behaviour rather it is an intentional act It can be a friend, a family member or to control the partner so that they can get anyone with whom you feel close enough what they want. to reveal yourself. Alternately, you should look for a competent family counselor or If you are in an abusive situation, you social worker. The bottom line is that no might recognize that it follows a pattern; one should be afraid of the one they love what the social scientists call as a cycle and no one deserves to be abused. Period. of violence. An abusive episode is usually followed by an expression of some remorse or guilt. The abuser may try to Send queries to rationalise what he or she has done. The malliyoor@outlook.com person may come up with a string of (Sajit Malliyoor regrets he can not excuses or more often blame you for enter into personal correspondence) whatever has happened. They may

Pallikkutam | February 2015

STORIES OF LIFE

From individualism to family ecosystem Dr. Jos Cletus Plackal

The family values, emotional input, parental modeling etc. determine the content of family members’ character.

alling in love with someone you like is nothing new and it began from time immemorial. All the Western countries have adopted a stance that is conducive to dating and courtship and has accepted it as normative practice of family building. While talking to a group of 8th Graders in a U.S. school about the social system of arranged marriages, its subtle, multilevel match-making processes, etc., as practiced in India, the whole class joined in unison to oppose and disprove such a system. The entire class was acting so hostile and resisted every attempt to present an alternative to the current marriage practices prevalent in the West. In contrast to the individual-centered, independent profiles of personality, the Indian family perspectives offer an interdependent, collective profile of personality as normative (“Family Ego”). This becomes more evident from a Family Systems Perspective (Bowen Murray,1960-1999). This theory conceives family as an emotional unit, and

an individual’s behavior is informed by and is inseparable from his/her family of origin. Systems theory and therapy insist on the importance of family relationships as an important factor in psychological health. Besides, the overt and covert messages from family members validate each individual’s inherent self-worth. So, there is a general awareness and agreement among psychologists to, “avoid excessive individualism and excessive collective egoism”. Both extremes are symptomatic of stunted growth. The former is called a “Narcissist” and the latter an “Undifferentiated Ego Mass”. The following case study is an attempt to analyze the interactive influence of two families whose children fell in love with each other. Jithin (name changed) is 17 years old, 12th Grader, good at academics and other activities, sociable, handsome, has a younger brother, very loving and caring parents… Lately, Jithin appeared to be disinterested in studies, depressed,

Pallikkutam | February 2015

STORIES OF LIFE

One thing is for sure, a narcissistic personality and an undifferentiated ego mass personality are unfit for maintaining a healthy romance nor real lasting relationship. dejected, didn’t want to go to school. Sometimes he thinks, “Why should I live”? It was Jithin’s mother who insisted on consulting a counselor. In the private session the youngster began to burst into tears, lamenting about the broken affair with a very beautiful person, who was smart and courteous etc. From Jithin’s teary tale it was clear that they had a very romantic relationship and the two got along very well and got closer every day. Jithin’s family took kindly to his version of the affair and told, “It’s OK to get attached but concentrate on your studies now”. But that was not the case with Christina’s (name changed) family. They all banded together to fight it out. The entire family

Pallikkutam | February 2015

multifaceted and complex. It is extremely important to understand a family system before entering into it for life. Whether it be an affair or an arranged marriage, understand the dynamics of the family of origin for a better living. A psychological Horoscope is sine qua non for pre-marriage preparations. One thing is for sure, a narcissistic personality and an undifferentiated ego mass personality are unfit for maintaining a healthy romance nor According to Family Systems Therapy the real lasting relationship. It’s time to pay individual is the product of the wider more attention to the multifaceted, system called family. The family values, dynamic and life - giving reality called emotional input, parental modeling etc. Family Ecos. determine the content of family members’ The author is licensed clinical character. Affair at an early stage in life demands greater attention and parental care psychologist (HRT), Jeevas Centre Aluva, Kerala. since the dynamics involved are was up in arms against the hapless girl who was threatened with dire consequences, isolated and deprived of all means of communication. The worst was yet to come. Her mother threatened her with suicide if she went ahead further with the boy! Days of agonizing isolation and emotional deprivation led Christina to decide to cut off the relationship, and she told so to Jithin.

HEALTH MONITOR

Smile makeover through facial aesthetic surgery Dr. Binu Augustine

Pallikkutam | February 2015

HEALTH MONITOR

A multidisciplinary approach is required to analyse, evaluate and treat patients for better facial aesthetics.This includes Maxillofacial surgical procedures, Orthodontics and Cosmetic dentistry. An aesthetic approach to patient care creates the best facial and aesthetic beauty.

n attractive face with a captivating smile is everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dream. Many would like to change the way they look and smile. Some would like to change their gummy smile, protruded teeth, complaints of invisible teeth while smiling, small or large jaw or simply correct their irregularly aligned teeth. A fresh computer graduate girl came with her parents for a consultation. She had a good job opening but was reluctant to take up the job. Her protruded gums and teeth were the reason for her fear of facing new colleagues at work. After alignment of her teeth with braces followed by surgical correction of her gummy smile, she regained her confidence. Correction of these types of myriad problems requires a systematic and comprehensive approach. Standard aesthetic principles are based on proper alignment, symmetry and proportion of face. A multidisciplinary approach is required to analyse, evaluate and treat patients for better facial aesthetics.This includes Maxillofacial surgical procedures, Orthodontics and Cosmetic dentistry. An aesthetic approach to patient care creates the best facial and aesthetic beauty. Goals of smile makeover

Components of aesthetic appearance The perfect integration of facial composition and dental composition produces excellent results.The hard and soft tissue of the face includes the facial composition. The teeth and their interrelationship to gingival tissues include the dental composition. A smile design should always include the evaluation and analysis of both facial and dental composition. Smile designing for the dentition Smile designing is an integral part of face makeover. Designing and alignment of teeth requires planning and treatment which may take multiple visits to the dental office.This may take a few days to more than a year depending upon the complexity of the situation as some cases requires a combination of Orthodontics and Maxillofacial surgery. Popular techniques include crown lengthening procedures, Orthodontics for mal-aligned teeth,replacement of lost teeth with implants or fixed bridges. Shapeless teeth can be restored with crowns, ceramic veneers or tooth coloured restorations. Techniques and materials are also selected to suit the patientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s budget as some of the

The attempt of aesthetic makeover is to develop a stable masticatory system, where the teeth tissues,muscles, skeletal structure and joints all functions in harmony. When planning for aesthetic cases a comprehensive approach to the patient care is done.To achieve a successful, healthy and functional result needs an amalgamation of all the supporting oral structures which includes the muscles, bones, joints, gingival tissues and occlusion.

Pallikkutam | February 2015

HEALTH MONITOR

Analysis is done for facial characteristics like the position of the lips, nose, cheeks, eyes and the overall facial appearance for planning the procedure.

treatments require expensive materials. The size and shape of the teeth can be designed by following the principles of smile design. A mock up model can be prepared and shown to the patient prior to starting the treatment. Facial composition Facial appearance mostly depends on the skeletal framework of the face. Classically many measurements are used to study facial symmetry, the face is divided into halves vertically by (line A) which is the midline. It should run through the centre of the nose and lips and ideally between the central incisors. Horizontally the face is divided into approximately equal thirds at the hairline,brow lines, base of the nose and tip of the chin (line C).The base of the nose to where the lips meet (Line D) should be one third of the lower third of the face. Vertically for the perfect facial width according to the ancient Greek criterion can be divided into five equal divisions (line E) Orthognathic surgery and other facial aesthetic surgeries Maxillofacial aesthetic surgeries are done in the mouth, face and jaws to improve facial

aesthetic appearance. Gummy smile, protruded or retruded upper or lower jaws can be corrected. Lip lines - the amount of teeth and gums exposed when smiling can be brought into proper relation by surgical procedures considering the golden proportions of the face. Analysis is also done for other facial characteristics like the position of the lips, nose, cheeks, eyes and the overall facial appearance for planning the procedure. Orthognathic surgery, nasal corrective surgery - Rhinoplasty, cheek augmentation, injectable cosmetic treatments like Botox are also utilised to improve facial aesthetics. Orthognathic surgery Orthognathic surgery is done either in maxilla, upper jaw or mandible lower jaw or on both jaws to align the skeletal discrepancy as the case requires.The

surgery also will bring changes to the soft tissues of the face and can bring desirable results to overall appearance of the face and smile. The main maxillary osteotomies-surgeries are Lefort osteotomies and anterior maxillary osteotomy. The main lower jaw osteotomies are sagittal split osteotomy, genioplasty and anterior segmental osteotomy. Excessive gum exposure â&#x20AC;&#x201C; any gingival exposure of one fourth of the height of the upper anterior teeth is classified as mild gummy smile and any exposure greater than the height of the anterior teeth is classified as severe gummy smile. Gummy smile is often a complaint given by many. Mild gummy smile can be corrected by gingivectomy and cosmetic dentistry procedures. Severe cases can be corrected byorthognathic surgery. Many a time there is a short period of orthodontic treatment done for subtle and fine detailing of the tooth position. He advantage of orthognathic surgery is that immediate results are seen. This type of surgery is usually approached from inside the mouth and there will not be any

Pallikkutam | February 2015

HEALTH MONITOR

Many beauty queens including Bollywood and Hollywood stars have made their smile beautiful by using smile designing procedures. visible scars on face.Orthognathic surgery produces a balancing effect on bite for patients with occlusionaldiscrepancy(bite defects) and can be a defining factor in smile design.

get them particular features of a certain film star or a Madhuri Dixit smile copy. Smile makeover techniques and aesthetic surgeries are planned for each person individually and there are limitations to it.

When the jaws are correctly positioned after surgery, the architecture of facial skeleton is changed. Harmony between the facial features is achieved and the resulting facial profile will be pleasing. Many beauty queens including Bollywood and Hollywood stars have made their smile beautiful by using smile designing procedures. However it is good to know that this type of surgery is not meant to transform a person to a stunning beauty or

Each person differs in physical appearance and the key is to address the specific issues and attempt to get the best possible result. It is difficult to exactly predict the surgical outcome. Some softwares are available but they are not cent percent accurate. These are major surgeries done under general anaesthesia and require hospital stay for about a week. The surgery should be done in a well-equipped hospital only. Most importantly the

Pallikkutam | February 2015

instructions of the surgeon should be followed. Such surgeries and smile makeover techniques are highly rewarding for persons who experience psychological stress over their facial appearance and can dramatically increase their quality of life.

The author is the Consultant and HOD,MaxilloFacial surgery, Rajagiri Hospital, Aluva and formerly the Professor and Head of Maxillo Facial Surgery, MOSC Medical College, Kolenchery.

CREA TIVE LIVING CREATIVE

Expand your horizons with powerful analogies Dr. Varghese Panthalookaran

A useful analogy reveals the deep commonalities beneath superficial differences between the source and target. Analogies are usually created by elaborating the similarities and the differences between the source and the target.

glance into the history of innovations reveals its driving potential: curiosity or inquisitiveness, which expands the horizons of our knowledge and knowhow. Humans endeavour to transcend limitations encountered in our thoughts, words and deeds. Efforts to surmount the difficulties to fully comprehend the whole reality gave birth to various sciences, philosophies and religions. Literature and arts were born out of the attempts to overcome limitations in self-expression. Engineering and Technology emerged out of exertions to surpass the limitations encountered in human activities. It complimented, substituted or optimized effects of human deeds. All these spheres were fertile ground for human creativeness to sprout, continually extending human reach and significance.

The power of analogy The single most powerful tool used by creative minds in this effort is analogy. The power of analogy triggered creativeness. The word analogy derives from the Greek root analogia. It stands for a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject (called analogue or the source) to another particular subject (called the target). A source usually remains in the purview of observation and experience, whereas the target is beyond human comprehension, expression or activity. A useful analogy reveals the deep commonalities beneath superficial differences between the source and target. Analogies are usually created by elaborating the similarities and the differences between the source and the

target. In using an analogy, we take what we know of the source and transfer some of it to the target. According to Dedre Genter, a psychologist from Northwestern University, this process is like â&#x20AC;&#x153;bootstrapping the mindâ&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;&#x201C; elevating ourselves into the realm of new knowledge, using the knowledge we already possess to pull ourselves upward (Cognitive Science, 2010, Vol. 34, pp. 752-775). Thus analogy allows a transition from what is known to what are yet-to-be-known, thereby expanding horizons of human existence. Let us, for example, take an epoch-making invention of the atom model by Rutherford (his complete name is: Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson). To explain total reflection of positively charged alpha particles by a thin gold foil, (the famous Gold Foil Experiment)

Pallikkutam | February 2015

CREA TIVE LIVING CREATIVE

Analogy gives path-breaking insights into the heart of the matter, into the mystery of religion and into the heart of morals. It allows engineers to pursue their innovations; provides lovers ways to express their love. Rutherford proposed a novel model for atom opposing all existing theories of matter of the time. He depicted atom to be made of a very small positively charged nucleus containing much of the atomic mass orbited by electrons, low-mass negatively charged particles. In postulating such a model for atom, Rutherford drew a powerful analogy from the well-known solar system, where the heavier sun remained at the centre, lighter planets orbiting it. Later on, Niels Bohr adapted Rutherford model to the Plank’s quantum theory finally to develop the modern understanding of the atom, the fundamental building block of matter, validated millions of time through various experiments in the course of time. We observe here an example for a simple bootstrapping of the mind powered by a suitable analogy. It triggered a direct transition from the known to the unknown, pushing the horizons of knowledge to a realm which is beyond direct experience, to the very heart of the matter. A beautiful example showing how analogies expand the horizons of human exploration into the reality! Sun is a powerful analogy in many religions too, representing God, the transcendent or immanent reality, the be-all and end-all of everything else. In Greek mythological religions, Apollo is the name for sun god. Similarly, Mithras was the Iranian/Persian sun god. Surya, the sun god of Hinduism rides the sky in a horse-drawn chariot across the horizons. The sun was also depicted as goddesses in other religions. For example, Amaterasu was the sun goddess of Japan, Sol (Sunna) was the sun goddess of the Norse, who again rides in a horse-drawn solar chariot. In Christianity too sun is a

Pallikkutam | February 2015

powerful analogy for Christ, the Saviour. For example, that Jesus is believed to come again as the Sun of Justice from the Eastern horizon to judge the living and the dead. Anticipating the second-coming of the Christ, the Christian churches are generally built looking east. All these God concepts consist of an analogous movement from what is known about the sun from the human experience to the unknown supernatural reality, God. To posit new concepts, philosophies also resort to analogies. For example, consider

see them. Goodness is the divine cause of the nature and the purpose of all things in the universe. Human knowledge about Goodness is inadequate. The dignity and power of Goodness is ineffable. Just as the sun bequeaths its light and illumines the reality around us enabling us to see them, so Goodness illumines the intelligible with the good. Analogies also drive technologies as evidenced by the development of aeroplanes by the Wright brothers (Orville and Wilbur Wright) in 1903. While other engineers worked to improve the power of engines, Wright brothers focussed on simulating birds and on efficiently designing and building wings and propellers. Their efforts gave them success and as the US patent suggests, invented “a system of aerodynamic control that manipulated a flying machine’s surfaces”. The quest to express deep emotions of adoration and love humans often resort to analogies. So did Romeo of Shakespeare to describe the entry of Juliet (Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”): “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!

the definition of Goodness given by Socrates in “The Republic” (VI, 507b–509) of Plato. Responding to the request of Glaucon to define Goodness, Socrates rather resorts to an analogy of Goodness with the Sun. Goodness is analogous to the sun. It is Goodness that gives order to things that are known and the power of human reason to know them. It is analogous to how the sun gives life to everything on earth and the light for us to

Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief.” In short, analogy gives path-breaking insights into the heart of the matter, into the mystery of religion and into the heart of morals. It allows engineers to pursue their innovations; provides lovers ways to express their love. It allows mortals to extrapolate the known into the realms of the unknown. It enables them to answer to the difficult ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions. It

CREA TIVE LIVING CREATIVE

Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Inc. had a natural obsession with user-friendly design. He drew a powerful analogy with a desk in every study, with retrievable files to develop his first Macintosh desktop computers. extends their horizons. Analogy is the way humans manage the mysteries of life and of the world around them. As David Hume once wrote, “All our reasoning concerning matters of fact are founded on a species of analogy”.

flowing through pipes. As Dudley Field Malone has suggested, “One good analogy is worth three hours discussion.”

Crisis of analogy at schools

Children are fond of the ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions. Clinging to the fingers of their Analogy in business development parents, they ask really deep questions, which grown-ups often find hard to cope Drawing analogies with other successful with. Children are born-philosophers! business has triggered innovations in Analogy as a pedagogical tool They are born-scientists! They are bornbusiness strategies of many a companies. poets and artists! They are also curious to Analogy is also an excellent pedagogical For example, the company Ford developed know the ‘how’ of things. They want to tool. Carefully drawn analogies are used by the concept of production based on learn new tricks to outwit their playmates. masters to bring home to students difficult assembly lines, from the successful They build their own designs and concepts. Analogies are used by great butcheries. Butcher houses of the time artefacts. They are born-engineers too! masters like, Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi, etc. used ‘T-lines’, where animal carcasses However, as they grow up their ‘why’ They are regularly invented and utilized by moved by on overhead trolleys, while a questions often dry up. They become passionate teachers world-over. Let me cite series of butchers performed specialized more comfortable with exploratory an example of analogy from my own tasks in sequence as carcasses advanced. questions like, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’, chemistry teacher while teaching covalent Drawing inspiration from butcher houses, etc. Those asking ‘why’ or ‘how’ bonds. According to him, covalent bond Ford introduced “Model T” production at questions are often branded ‘childish’, has much to do with school lunch:Those Ford, which doubled its car market share. ‘inexperienced’ or ‘immature’. Creativity who share their lunch with others Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Inc. had a is looked down upon at schools today. constitute a non-polar covalent bond; an natural obsession with user-friendly unequal sharing of lunch is a polar covalent design. He drew a powerful analogy with a Students shy away from asking the pathbreaking questions. They shun drawing bond; stealing some one’s lunch is a codesk in every study, with retrievable files powerful analogies that bridge the ‘known’ ordinate covalent bond. to develop his first Macintosh desktop with the ‘unknown’. computers. It is however extremely Similarly, the fractions could be better important to draw useful analogies and to It is high-time to reclaim the child-like taught to a child by allowing him/her to avoid superficial ones to stay in business. innocence of students, that promotes the visualize a pizza or pie with some of the The collapse of Enron is often attributed ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions at schools. It is slices removed. Or, the propagation of to their ‘bad business analogy’ which led high time to revert to the child-like radio waves in air could be taught by to a frenzy diversification. Unjustifiable creative thinking. It is high time to comparing it to the ripples on water when analogies across business sector usually reengage with analogies, the key tool in the you drop in a stone. Or, you may teach end in business tragedies! creation of new knowledge. electricity by drawing analogy with water

Pallikkutam | February 2015

INFOTECH

Useful Android Apps 1. Clean Master

4. DU Battery Saver

Have you ever thought of an app that can speed up your phone and free the memory space? Then you need to check out the clean master app. This is one of the top

The best apps for android is the DU Battery Saver app. This app helps in coordinating the background as well as running the various apps to save the juice and power of the battery.

Other best Android Apps of 2015 The following are some of the innovative top android apps 2015 that could further boost your Android phone usage:

5. MS Office Mobile

android apps 2015. Not only this app protects the phone from various vulnerabilities and malicious applications, it also removes the unwanted and junk files, boost the speed of the CPU and can be easily used to remove apps. You can avoid using this best android apps in case if you have already installed the CM Security Applock and Antivirus, as both have the same functionality. This is one of the must have android apps 2015.

Like the name suggests, this is a MS office application for Android phone users. Using this best android app, you can edit, access and view various MS office documents like MS Excel, Word, Powerpoint, etc; on the Android phone. MS office is must have android apps 2015 for the students. 6. AirDroid: This is one of the best android apps 2015 also called as must have android apps 2015 which makes managing your Android phone easier and simple. You can easily transfer files online from your PC or

Flipboard: One of the most popular and best android apps 2015 which can help in catching up on various news, browsing articles and reading stories all around the world and checking out the photos, articles, etc shared by your friends. News Republic: This is one of the most needed apps for your Android Smartphone. MX Player: One of the useful android apps that allows users to watch videos in any format. Shazam: With the Shazam app, all you have to do is tap the button of your Android phone and recognize the music or tune that is playing near you. TrueCaller: This app helps to identify unknown numbers and block the SMS and calls from unwanted and spam numbers.

2. CM Security AppLock Antivirus Another best android apps in 2015 is the CM Security. This app helps in protecting

TuneIn Radio: The Radio app allows you to hear to the live radio stations. Not only that you can podcasts the live feed from other countries. Laptop to the Android device without using any kind of USB cable. 7. Appy Geek – Tech News

your Android phone from various unwanted threats. In addition, the app can manage your device better by scanning and removing all kinds of threats and viruses from the SD card and your device. It will boost up your memory, lock apps, blocks unwanted calls and assist in finding the phone when it is missing.

One of the famous apps among people, this is a technology news app – Top Android Apps 2015. A perfect app for those individuals who are tech geeks and freaks. 8. News360 – Personalized News This is one of the useful android apps for people who like to read news. It aggregates blogs and stories around those topics that interest you.

3. ES File Explorer File Manager

9. Adobe Reader

One of the favorites among people is the ES File Explorer app. This is the must have best android apps 2015 which assists in the easy accessing and navigation of the files present in the Android Smartphone.

Just like its name, this app helps you to read all kinds of PDF documents on the Android phone. It is also in the category of “Must Have Android Apps 2015”.

Pallikkutam | February 2015

WhatsApp: The most popular and instant mobile messaging app is the Whatsapp. This app helps to keep in touch with your friends and buddies. Candy Crush Saga: A favorite gaming app among people is the Candy Crush. It is the best apps for android gaming which never makes you feel bored. Pixlr Express: This is a versatile photo editing app from Autodesk which is free to use. SuperBeam: The fastest and easiest means to share files between Android Smartphones. Netmediablog: This is the official app of the famous Netmediablog which is a technology blog. If you enjoy reading blogs related to various topics, then this is the perfect app to install.

INFOTECH

E-commerce fuels India’s commercial property boom

nternet retailer Amazon and its fastgrowing local rivals are driving a boom in commercial property leasing in India as their storage needs rise, with shoppers in the country going online to buy everything from televisions to groceries.

lease 3.25 million square feet of office space in Bengaluru from developer Embassy Group, making it one of the biggest commercial property leasing deals ever. “There will be large requirements from these kinds of companies,” said Jitendra Virwani, chairman and managing director of Embassy, adding such deals were few, but growing. While e-commerce companies comprised less than 5% of the 30 million square feet

of offices leased in 2014, they are expected to drive demand over the next three to six years. Uptake of total warehouse space is likely to more than double to 4 million square feet in 2015, as more Indians shop online. Revenues of e-commerce companies in Asia’s third-largest economy are expected to rise to $1.5 to $2 trillion over the next 10 years, says Cushman. India already has the world’s third-largest population of internet users.

Flipkart to revamp tech infrastructure Demand from e-commerce firms, a tiny fraction of India’s retail industry, accounted for as much as 40% of 1.7 million square feet of warehouses leased in 2014 — a seven-fold increase from 2013, according to consultants CBRE South Asia. Warehouse rents have risen by a quarter over the past year. Other estimates indicate office rents in India’s tech hub Bengaluru could rise by as much as a fifth in the next six to nine months as e-commerce companies add to demand. The result, say developers and analysts, is a speedier than expected recovery for India’s commercial property sector, badly dented by two successive years of sub-5% economic growth. “The best has yet to come for the sector and that will have a snowball effect on the property sector with increased appetite for office space, logistics and warehouse,” said Sigrid Zialcita, managing director, research for Asia Pacific at consultant Cushman & Wakefield. In October, online retailer Flipkart , one of India’s largest market place sites, agreed to

lipkart is ramping up its technology infrastructure by investing $10 million in new servers from Dell to build a private cloud, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

which runs IT infrastructure not just for itself but also for thousands of other companies, Flipkart has yet to build a strong technology platform that is reliable enough during peak seasons.”

“Flipkart’s Big Billion Day sale made it realize that its current IT infrastructure is not capable of supporting such massive spikes in traffic,” said one of the people.”The company therefore decided to work towards building a robust private cloud by working with Dell.”

During the Big Billion sale, many customers complained about order cancellations after making payment, sudden changes in product prices and errors on the website. Flipkart said although it was prepared for 20 times surge in traffic, the actual traffic was a lot higher, with 15 lakh customers trying to visit the website. Founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal had to make a public apology about the incident.

Dell first signed up with the country’s largest online retailer to build a private cloud in February last year. However, following events such as the Big Billion Day sale and Xiaomi Mi3 flash sale, the current infrastructure was found to be inadequate to support the surge in traffic. The result was frequent outages and customers were unable to shop. “Technology plays an important role for Flipkart as it competes with Amazon,” said the second person. “Unlike Amazon,

Flipkart then decided to further scale up its infrastructure by buying higher-end servers from Dell, in what is considered one of the largest server deals in India for 2014. The company is trying to further expand its technology capabilities as it starts scouting to buy technology-focused startups.

Pallikkutam | February 2015

POLICY WATCH

ASER: An eye-opener or just another annual report? Dr. D. Dhanuraj

ASER has been making wave in the education circles for quite a number of years and has been a reference point for the academicians, administrators and investors these years.

nnual Status of Education Report (ASER) for 2014 was released by the ASER Centre mid-January. This is their tenth report which in their own words “a way summary of what we have observed over the tenures of UPA I and II. It is also a baseline for the new government and what it has to deal with”. ASER has been making wave in the education circles for quite a number of years and has been a reference point for the academicians, administrators and investors these years. Every year, there would be a debate around the report when it gets published and in a few days time, it becomes a routine and goes to oblivion. This year, the report also tried to compare ASER and National Achievement Surveys (NAS) conducted by NCERT every year. The comparative study concludes that “estimates generated by these assessments neither cover the same populations nor assess the same content, their results are not comparable” for both ASER and NAC. Like in school level education, there are many rating reports for college education published by different media houses over the years. They may not be comparable but these have opened and widened the scope for the informed discussion and choice among the stake holders to improve the system. But how well are we utilizing this information for the betterment of the system? Various reports in the market place indicate various trends in the education sector. Some may highlight the lack of infrastructure and absence of teachers while others will discuss on the poor quality of education and lack of incentives for the parents to send their kids to schools. In a multi culture society, this cannot be addressed by the Government alone. It demands the

Pallikkutam | February 2015

POLICY WATCH

With the aspiring mass of the society on the rise, they are open and informed about the status of the education through various channels. They are very careful in decision making. participation of various stake holders and transparency. In every ASER, there will be the results which would be agreed and disagreed by many. But these results are considered as a reflection of the Education System in India. For eg; ASER 2014 states that India is close to universal enrollment for the age group 6-14, with the percentage of children enrolled in school at 96% or above for six years in a row. Universal enrollment was a question that everybody including the Government wanted to address for so many decades. Now this mission has been accomplished; but what next? If the question on enrollment took many decades and crores of rupees of expenditure to be solved and achieved, one should turn back and ask whether we reached the fullest potential and efficiency through an efficient and systematic manner? We should retrospect whether the practice that we adopted for achieving this goal was the best possible one? - If we don’t assess and learn from the past, there is no way we can improve any system and we may tend to build on the same practices. As said, ‘those who do not know history’s mistakes are doomed to repeat them’. Are we ready to accept failures in the implementation of policies in the past, if we find some or do we disregard them and dumb them in trash box? This is a question of meaningful governance and policy making. Once we attain the goal of universal enrollment, what about retaining the trend and quality of education? What if, the methods and policies that we adopt to

address these issues also take a few decades to accomplish the mission? Can we afford such delays and expenditures any further? According to ASER report in 2014, 30.8% of all 6-14 year old children in rural India are enrolled in private schools. This number is up slightly from 29% in 2013. Five states in India now have private school enrollment rates in the elementary stage that are greater than 50%. These are Manipur (73.3%), Kerala (62.2%),

Haryana (54.2%), Uttar Pradesh (51.7%), and Meghalaya (51.7%).For a policy maker, it is a very useful information and more than a trend. This exposes the myth that the parents would seek Government assistance to educate their kids or it is only through the overnment support, poor can be educated. With the aspiring mass of the society on the rise, they are open and informed about the status of the education through various channels. They are very careful in decision making. Here comes the question of the Government spending and

Pallikkutam | February 2015

POLICY WATCH

Kerala is a classic example of successful conduct of school education system. But there again, the quality of the education is derided as it was not let go by the administrators for the choice of markets. planning for the status of the education system through their own channels believing that everything would be alright if more money and resources are spent. This is indicated in another portion of ASER report, “only 6% government schools do not have toilets but an additional 28.5% do not have toilets that are usable. 18.8% Schools do not have girls’ toilets and 26% have girls’ toilets that are not usable or were locked. So, meeting this target should be relatively simple…". This is mostly true with various schemes and plans in the school

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education field. So the question is how do we fix these fallacies? In the earlier columns I had argued for the decentralization of the power structure of the regulatory systems in the education sector. Kerala is a classic example of successful conduct of school education system. But there again, the quality of the education is derided as it was not let go by the administrators for the choice of markets. Superimposing structures and institutions alone cannot make improvements in the Education Sector. At one set, we need edupreneurs and

innovative tools to improve the system. Whether it is through the aided school system or the voucher system or through skill vouchers, the scope of participation and accountability could be enhanced and scaled up rather than spending the limited resources on unaccountable systems. Let’s hope the results of the ASER 2014 will guide us in the right direction rather than becoming another bunch of paper published every year.

The author is Chairman, Centre for Public Policy Research.

CAREER

Thomson Skariah

Content about writing

Content writers were always there, they just gained prominence with the extensive need of quality content to feed the marketing efforts more effective.

o here you are, reading away something written by somebody sometime ago. So what could be the reason behind that writing, and what is the collateral impact of you reading it? Simple. To capture your attention, engage you completely, and subtly but surely pass on a message that you act upon. The collateral impact may be an awareness of a product, and the intended impact is possibly leading you to a purchase of the same. When this cycle is complete, the content broadcaster is content about the writer she has employed. Content writers were always there, they just gained prominence with the extensive need of quality content to feed the marketing efforts more effective. Not the marketing that you see as hoardings on the street; marketing that gets to you focused with an understanding of the preferences you have and based on the interests you share with your friends. Marketing efforts

that translate you into a customer through the screens on your smart phone, slowly but surely. These marketing efforts know how many times you have visited their channels, where exactly you spend time and how long. Dangerous as it may sound, content writers make the bullet that the marketing snipers shoot. So what does it take to be one? Talent ? To help you be a professional content writer, there is a lot that comes before you can focus and be proud, or worry about talent. For one, you need to have the interest to read a lot. And as you read well, you become well read; and your language

improves, and you get good with grammar, and you keep getting better. Your punctuations fall in place, and you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make spelling mistakes that leave a bad taste. With that clear, we must remember that no one has ever achieved any success in any field without focused efforts. Here too you need to stay focused, and be disciplined. Set out to be good at writing with two principles - write regularly and write for about the same time during the day. As you get better you will be surprised to see how much more you can write in the same time.

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CAREER

We need to realise how technology has changed and how new algorithms are developed that judges your writing and gives it a score. It is the effort you have to take to make sure your writing skills and outcome gets the deserving views and reads. So once you have the power to wield a pen or type away, how do you get about with influencing the masses? Now is where you have to wear your strategist’s hat. With the optimal use of strategic words - what they call keywords, your efforts will feature higher up the search engine results. After all anyone who is not sure about something will Google it, and your content appears - be it about anything. And you need to be updated about the keywords that are relevant to the topic

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you choose to write that day. We need to realise how technology has changed and how new algorithms are developed that judges your writing and gives it a score. It is the effort you have to take to make sure your writing skills and outcome gets the deserving views and reads. But overall if you just enjoy the journey of reading more and knowing more, creating genuinely all the more; you will find yourself as one of the most sought after by the top notch marketing team. And don’t worry about the algorithms; they are made

to find your genuine content and honour you. This is a field where as a professional you can really earn well, and qualifications won’t hurt; but your skills will always be tested. The simple formula that will take you the distance is to simply be content about writing... maybe it’s time I followed my own advice.

The author is the CEO of ACELR Tech Labs, a product development company focusing on content management, cloud computing and enterprise analytics.

INNO VATIONS INNOV

Breakthrough innovations of 2014

he journal Science has announced the scientific highlights of the year 2014. The first ever landing on a comet tops the list.

♦ Landing of Philae on a comet 67P: Launched in March, 2004, by the European Space Agency (ESA), the Rosetta spacecraft is now orbiting the comet 67P/ ChuryumovGerasimenko beyond Mars. The lander module of Rosetta, known as Philae touched down on the surface of the speeding comet in November, 2014. Even though the landing was rougher than expected, it was nonetheless the firstever soft landing on a comet. Its on-board camera, known as the Rosetta Orbiter Sensor for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA), has already detected water, methane, and hydrogen as well as some rarer species, including formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide, in 67P’s coma. Other 9 runner-up innovations listed without specific order are:

♦ Neuromorphic Chips: Mimicking the architecture of a human brain, computer engineers at IBM and elsewhere rolled out the first large-scale “neuromorphic” chips this year, which are designed to process information in ways that are more akin to living brains.

♦ Teaming of Robots: New software and interactive robots that, for example, instruct swarms of termite-inspired bots

to build a simple structure are proving that robots can work together without any human supervision after all.

♦ Beta Cells: Two groups pioneered two

different methods for growing cells that closely resemble beta cells, the insulinproducing cells of the pancreas, in the ♦ The Dinosaur-Bird Transition: Study laboratory this year, giving researchers an on the fossils of early birds revealed unprecedented opportunity to study diabetes.

♦ Manipulating Memory: Using optogenetics, a technique that manipulates neuronal activity with beams of light, researchers showed that they could manipulate specific memories in mice. Deleting existing memories and implanting false ones, they went so far as to switch the emotional content of a mouse memory from good to bad, and vice versa.

♦ CubeSats: Cheap satellites with sides that are just 10 centimeters squared, called CubeSats, really took off in 2014. Once considered educational tools for college students, these miniature satellites have started to do some real science.

♦ Expanding the

transition of dinosaurs into modern day birds. It explained how certain dinosaur lineages developed small, lightweight body plans, allowing them to evolve into many types of birds.

♦ Young Blood Fixes Old: Researchers demonstrated that blood from a young mouse can rejuvenate the muscles and brains of older mice. The findings have led to a clinical trial in which Alzheimer’s patients are receiving plasma from young donors.

Genetic Alphabet: Researchers have engineered synthetic E. coli bacteria that harbors two additional nucleotides—X and Y— in addition to the normal G, T, C, and A that make up the standard building blocks of DNA. Indonesian Cave Art: Researchers realized that hand stencils and animal paintings in a cave in Indonesia, once thought to be 10,000 years old, were actually between 35,000 and 40,000 years old, suggesting that humans in Asia were producing symbolic art as early as the first European cave painters.

Pallikkutam | February 2015

INNO VATIONS INNOV

New generation internet

he Internet has become a global communication infrastructure, with about one-third of the world’s population having access to the Internet. However, in the recent years the role of the Internet has shifted from a “communication channel” to a “communication and data processing repository”. It requires an overhaul of Internet architecture to adapt to this change. Researchers from the Tsinghua University, China have come up with new concepts to improve the existing internet architecture to meet its future needs. They have developed a novel evolvable Internet architecture framework. The results are published in SCIENCE CHINA Information Sciences.

Smartphone renders your thumbs superpowers!

he Cell Press journal Current Biology reports that when people spend time interacting with their smartphones via touchscreen, it actually changes the way their thumbs and brains work together. The researchers realized that our newfound obsession with smartphones could be a grand opportunity to explore the everyday plasticity of the human brain. While neuroscientists have long studied brain plasticity in expert groups - musicians or video gamers, for instance -smartphones present an opportunity to understand how regular life shapes the brains of regular people. To link

digital footprints to brain activity in the new study, researchers used electroencephalography (EEG) to record the brain response to mechanical touch on the thumb, index, and middle fingertips of touchscreen phone users in comparison to people who still haven’t given up their old-fashioned mobile phones. The results suggest that the electrical activity in the brains of smartphone users was enhanced when all three fingertips were touched. In fact, the amount of activity in the cortex of the brain associated with the thumb and index fingertips was directly proportional to the intensity of phone use.

Bedbugs are finally eradicated!

The proposed architecture addresses three major constraints of present-day Internet: a) the Evolvability constraint: constraints on scalability, stability and economic feasibility, b) the Economic constraints: Constraints on economic adaptability and features of the new network services such as the income of ISPs and users, c) the Manageability constraint: constraints on the network management and control issues such as the identity authentication of users and user-flow control with high-performance. The new Internet architecture also designs a general IP address platform, which is able to support multiple address schemes natively and make further evolution possible.

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ver the last two decades the common bedbug (Cimex Lectularius), once thought eradicated in industrialized countries, has reappeared as a global scourge. These nasty insects are infesting not just low-income housing but also expensive hotels and apartments, and public venues such as stores, movie theatres, libraries and even public transit. The researchers of Simon Fraser University have finally found a novel solution for the bedbug menace. They developed a set of chemical attractants, or pheromones, that lure the bedbugs into

traps, and keep them there. Results are published in the chemistry journal, Angewandte Chemie. After a series of successful trials in bedbuginfested apartments in Metro Vancouver, the researchers identified the bedbug aggregation pheromone to develop the first effective and affordable bait and trap for detecting and monitoring bedbug infestations. The drug is expected to be commercially available next year.

EDU TRENDS

Regeneration of education in a V-A-C-U-U-M world Sebastian Menacherry

The acronym v-a-c-u-u-m is used here in a different perspective to summarize the challenges our children will be facing when they come of out of these educational institutions.

. S. Eliot with a prophetic vision highlights the near impossible regeneration of the modern infertile world in his poem, ‘The Waste Land’: “The corpse you planted last year in your garden Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year?” Again in the same breath he sighs: “Unreal city, A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many I had not thought death had undone so many.” Is not the same true about the unreal schools we see around us? All the glamour and shine from palatial buildings, technosavvy systems, uniforms, ties, etc., do not prove any substantial vitality and vivacity. We have all run after the mirage of appearance and impressions, pitiably ignoring the soul and substance that will

equip our children to face the tough challenges of tomorrow’s world. In that sense the vacuum created by such degeneration is quite obvious in our education system. Such spiritual and moral degeneration and death reign supreme in these degree/certificate manufacturing factories of schools/colleges. Yet the acronym v-a-c-u-u-m is used here in a different perspective to summarize the challenges our children will be facing when they come of out of these educational institutions. Business leaders call today’s environment as V-U-C-A, a military derived acronym coined in 1990, to describe this highly complex, multifaceted and chaotic world. We can modify VUCA in order to more adequately depict today’s world and expand it as V-A-C-U-U-M. Let us examine what each letter stands for: V - Stands for Volatility of today’s word, the speed, rate and magnitude of change that is often most unpredictable. Volatility expresses the turbulence that is much

worse in today’s world in comparison with yester years. Digitalization, connectivity and globalization have caused turbulence at faster rates. A - Stands for Ambiguity, lack of clarity about the significance of any event and inability to explain and interpret accurately those events and phenomena. Are new inventions like smart phones, internet, etc., a boon or bane for students? C - Signifies Complexity of such situations where predictability is not simple anymore. Col.Eric Kail succinctly puts it as the ‘inability to accurately conceptualize threats and opportunities before they become lethal” U - Stands for Uncertainty that invariably follows the above situation. The volatile times of today make it rather strenuous for leaders to use past events and developments for accurate and proper decision making process. Coming events no more cast their shadows before as they used to.

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EDU TRENDS

Wisdom gives us a sense of proportion and enables us to choose the right things at the right time in the right way. Counter Points: VACUUM Prime: This is mostly based on the observations of Bob Johansen in order to counter the sick syndromes of the VACUUM World. According to him Volatility can be countered with Vision. It is truly established, “where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18) If our educational leaders do not know where they have to lead the young generation, it will be like “the blind leading the blind”. People at the helm of educational affairs should be chosen for their merit and resourcefulness rather than on populist considerations. Our HRD ministry has to make a thorough introspection to ensure that the right

people are put in the right places to implement policies and strategies that will ensure the moulding of a healthy generation of productive and proactive citizens in our country. Major political parties should rise above petty vested interests cutting across party allegiances and parochial concerns. This is one of the major factors that led to the outstanding success of Finland’s educational renaissance. Will our political parties pay heed to the importance of such a vision? Ambiguity can be countered with Clarity. Clarity not only in vision but in the process, perception and implementation. Clarity of focus and prioritization will definitely contribute in achieving the end success. Complexity can be countered with Agility. Eternal vigilance is the price of

U - Stands for another necessary outcome of all the above syndromes: Unscrupulousness – in which age old principles and ethical considerations are ignored and expediency and convenience are adhered to. Abraham Lincoln’s letter to his son’s headmaster is worth remembering where he pleads to the teacher “try to give my son strength not to follow the crowd. Teach him there is no shame in tears.” In contrast, today most parents encourage children for cut throat competition where material success is the only concern in pursuing careers. M - Stands for Materialism that has so rampantly crept into our views, beliefs and perspectives. It is the negation of those invisible principles of life that has become the greatest threat to modern world. As you sow so shall you reap is no longer relevant in the modern world. Descartes proposition “Cogito ergo sum” (I think therefore I exist) seems to have been replaced by “Consumo ergo sum” (I consume therefore I exist). Oscar Wilde aptly said,” Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing”

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EDU TRENDS

A teacher is not merely a knowledge worker nor a plain facilitator; she/ he is the one to transform the child into a fine human being equipped to face the complex challenges of the ‘vacuum’ world. not just liberty but of quality and excellence. So preparedness to meet challenges is of high importance. Remember, vision, clarity and agility are mutually complementing factors. Uncertainty should be tackled with Understanding. Understanding here stands for the final wisdom that surpasses all uncertainties. Wisdom gives us a sense of proportion and enables us to choose the right things at the right time in the right way. Unscrupulousness should be tackled with Upliftment of the mind, educating it in the comprehensive scheme of things which

includes moral evaluation and ethical considerations. If we do not walk the talk, children cannot be expected to rise above the worldly and empirical perspective and develop sound judgement in social, spiritual and moral spheres of life. Two men on a holiday, basking in the morning sun were sharing their success stories.

in my warehouse” The first one: “Great! But tell me how to start a flood?” This moral paralysis will slowly but surely spread among the younger generation as well. Child: “Dad can you please do my math homework?”

The first one: “What I enjoy today is what Dad: “Well I don’t think it will be right” I got from the insurance after a fire in my Child: “At least can’t you try?” factory” When we teach our children how to count, The second: “Same here. All that I enjoy it is equally important to teach them what now is the insurance amount from floods counts! Materialism that has eaten into the vitals of our lives should be countered with Maturity, intellectual and spiritual maturity that enables seeing the bigger picture that encompasses spiritual and meta-physical values. Materialism gives us a very myopic view of the world, hiding from our view the eternal truths and everlasting principles. T. S. Eliot rightly laments in The Rock: “Where is the life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?” A most revered Guru once said about his mission, “I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance” (John 10:10). The mission of educators is not different from this. The Role of the Teacher If this transformation has to effectively materialize, the most important role has to be played by the teacher. Sadly, it still remains the weakest link in the system and it is obvious the strength of a chain is decided byits weakest link! We have to restore the status and role of the teacher to the pristine state it once enjoyed – ‘Guru Devo Bhava!’ A teacher is not merely a knowledge worker nor a plain facilitator; she/he is the one to transform the child into a fine human being equipped to face the complex challenges of the ‘vacuum’ world. For this, society has to wake up and introspect our concept and expectations of teachers. Earlier we made a

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EDU TRENDS

Paulo Coelho has beautifully defined the teacher’s task: “What is a teacher? I will tell you: it isn’t someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give her best in order to discover what she already knows.” Yes, the teacher is the one who can ignite the minds. mention about the success story of Finland’s educational regeneration and the unanimous consensus of all major political parties to that end. Equally important is the respect and priority which the Government gives the noble profession of teachers. In Finland only the top 10% of undergraduates are allowed admission to the professional course for teachers. In India, it is perhaps the last resort of Naukari Knockers( Job seekers).Further, the Government supports them with generous stipends throughout their courses almost to the tune of 60% of the actual salary they will be receiving later. Such endowments and discretion will surely enhance the transformational process of education. It is time we review our situation seriously and took necessary remedial measures.

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A teacher asked the class, “What’s the most important part in an automobile”. Several answers came up such as engine, gear, tyres, etc. Finally, a small boy rightly answered, “Sir, it’s the nut behind the wheel” This is quite true about the role of a teacher in the class. CCTE (Continuous and Comprehensive Teacher Empowerment) is of more importance than the much debated CCE (Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation) of students in schools. It is obvious if we are doing what we have been doing we will be getting what we have been getting. While scouting and advertising for teachers to teach various subjects in schools, let us not forget the most important subject, the student! Paulo Coelho has beautifully defined the teacher’s task: “What is a teacher? I will

tell you: it isn’t someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give her best in order to discover what she already knows”. Yes, the teacher is the one who can ignite the minds. Therefore, teachers’ focus should not be on covering the syllabus but rather on uncovering it and thereby discovering students and themselves. An apt prayer would be: “From these degree manufacturing factories of school boards and universities, Into that real world of total transformation, My Father, let my schools awake!”

The author is former Chairman, Council of CBSE Schools in the Gulf and former Director of Government Model Schools, Rivers State, Nigeria

GUEST COLUMN

Erosion of values K. L. Mohana Varma

We were forgetting the basic values of living organisms developed into the present brainy human psyche. Teamwork, humanity, sportsman spirit, love, care and equality.

friend of mine posted this story in my WHATSAPP last week. It was a sports stadium in Pune. 8 boys were standing on the starting point of 100 meters track. Ready. Steady. Bang. Sound of the pistol and all boys started running. Hardly had they covered 10-15 steps, one boy slipped and fell down and started crying in agony. The other boys heard the moaning and suddenly stopped running, looked at each other for a moment and bounced back to their friend. All the 7 boys together lifted him, pacified him, joined hands together and ran together carrying him to the tape and completed the race triumphantly. Even the injured boy forgot his pain and jumped together. Officials were shocked. Many eyes were filled with tears. The unusual behavior of the children was touchy and many could not hide their tears. But it did not surprise the onlookers. The race was a special one, conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health and all the boys were mentally retarded. It was a lesson we generally are bound to forget. These children guided more by natural instinct and emotional response than by reasoning, unconsciously conveyed it to us. We were forgetting the basic values of living organisms developed into the present brainy human psyche. Teamwork, humanity, sportsman spirit, love, care and equality. These mentally retarded children reminded us that we could also do this if we control our brains, ego and attitude.

20th century brought 20 times scientific and technological inventions of the last 20 millenniumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s human achievements. The first decade of 21st century brought 10 times the total inventions of 20th century.

The last four years quadrupled it and 2015 is going to multiply it and the wealth of knowledge and information being made available by a soft touch of our finger tips or a movement of our tongue will now be much above our wildest dreams. We are now living in a transitional chapter of world history, where for the first time, the nations of the world are being united on a literally world wide scale. The market economy have brought the world to a stage where the time old prejudices of race, language and color have almost been wiped out and the territorial aspirations of nations have become irrelevant. Now a stage has come when the entire existing equations in philosophy, sociology, politics, economics, and every other social science have become meaningless and have to be recast. We, who read this, have, by Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grace, better talent, leadership capacity and ability to understand and adapt than 90 percent of the brethren around us. Now, the world is incomparably richer than ever before and there is an unprecedented prosperity around us. But simultaneously there is abject misery, extraordinary deprivation and staggering inequality among the nations as well as segments of the societies in the same nation.

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GUEST COLUMN

We live in a golden age of technological, medical, scientific and social progress. Look at our computers! Look at our phones! 25 years ago, the internet was a creaky machine for geeks. Now we can’t imagine life without it. Let us by sieving and using the wealth of knowledge now available, thanks to the technology, resolve to bring social justice to those who need it most. But is it possible where the values are eroded or changed in a massive scale and we are almost stranded in the middle of a desert with mirages and rainbows only to guide us? The philosophies are becoming redundant at a fast pace without any healthy substitutes. We live in a golden age of technological, medical, scientific and social progress. Look at our computers! Look at our phones! 25 years ago, the internet was a creaky machine for geeks. Now we can’t imagine life without it. We are on the verge of medical breakthroughs that would have seemed like magic only half a century ago: cloned organs, stem-cell therapies to repair our very DNA. Even now, life expectancy in some rich countries is improving by five hours a day. A day! Surely immortality, or something very like it, is just around the corner. The notion that our 21stcentury world is one of accelerating advances is so dominant that it seems churlish to challenge it. Almost every week we read about ‘new

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hopes’ for cancer sufferers, developments in the lab that might lead to new cures, talk of a new era of space tourism and superjets that can fly round the world in a few hours. Yet a moment’s thought tells us that this vision of unparalleled innovation can’t be right. But alongside this was that extraordinary burst of human ingenuity and societal change. This is commented upon less often, perhaps because it is so obvious, or maybe it is seen as a simple consequence of the economics. We saw the biggest advances in science and technology: if you were a biologist, physicist or materials scientist, there was no better time to be working. But we also saw a shift in social attitudes every bit as profound. In even the most enlightened societies before 1945, attitudes to race, sexuality and women’s rights were what we would now consider antediluvian. By 1970, those old prejudices were on the back foot. Simply put, the world had changed. Each generation is committed to a legacy. The generation before mine fought for political legacy – for freedom of leadership. It took them a century to get there. Our generation fought for financial legacy – for better business relations, entrepreneurship, financial freedom, better policies etc. While we have somewhat succeeded, we can say we have set some examples in the form of JRD Tata, Narayan Murthy and the like to let the youngsters take over. The current generation has a bigger responsibility, and a more important legacy to pursue though. It is intellectual legacy! Right from books we read to the

GUEST COLUMN

First of all we should love and be loved. It requires courage to repudiate pride and get the strength to love others — family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, God and even strangers and enemies.

music we listen and the films we watch, India has made a major contribution to this legacy over the years and it is time we protect and safeguard this legacy and pass it on to the next generation. We need people who will talk and write about our legacy as it is happening so that we can share it with the future. No one sums up the moral snares of materialism more

famously than St. Paul in his First Letter to Timothy: “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Or as the Dalai Lama pithily suggests, “it is better to want what you have than to have what you want.” We look for these things to fill an inner emptiness. They may bring a brief satisfaction, but it never lasts, and it is never enough. And so we crave for more. This paradox has a word in Sanskrit: Upadana, which refers to the cycle of craving and grasping. The Dharmapada (the Buddha’s path of wisdom) puts it: “The craving of one given to heedless living grows like a creeper. Like the monkey seeking fruits in the forest, he leaps from life to life... Whoever is overcome by this wretched and sticky craving, his sorrows grow like grass after the rains.” The search for fame, the lust for material things and the objectification of others – that is, the cycle of grasping and craving – follows a formula that is elegant, simple and deadly. We cannot just brush it off. But we can develop and retain the basic values of mankind by following a few steps. First of all we should love and be loved. It requires courage to repudiate pride and get the strength to love others – family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, God and even strangers and enemies. Only deny love to things that actually are objectionable. The practice that achieves this is charity.

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GUEST COLUMN

Anyone who has spent time in a socialist country must concede that materialism and selfishness are as bad under collectivism, or worse, as when markets are free.

Few things are as liberating as giving away to others that which we hold dear. It also requires a condemnation of materialism. This is manifestly not an argument for any specific economic system. Anyone who has spent time in a socialist country must concede that materialism and selfishness are as bad under collectivism, or worse, as when markets are free. No political ideology is immune to materialism. Finally, it requires a deep skepticism of our own basic desires. Of course you are driven to seek admiration, splendor and physical license. But giving in to these impulses will bring unhappiness. You have a responsibility to yourself to stay in the battle. The day you declare a truce is the day you become unhappier. Declaring war on these destructive impulses is not about asceticism or Puritanism. It is about being a prudent person who seeks to avoid unnecessary suffering. Nothing is lost. We can still run and win accolades. And helping our injured colleague to win along with us can be practiced and perfected even now.

The author is a Kochi-based novelist, short story writer and former Chief Editor of Malayalam daily, Veekshanam.

Pallikkutam | February 2015

RAINBOW

Science facts Electricity Facts

lectricity plays an important role in everyday life. Learn more about static electricity, electric eels, circuits, lightning, electric shock, volts, amps and much more. Try to answer the electricity quiz also. You can verify your answers in the next issue.

♦ Modern society relies heavily on the convenience and versatility of electricity. It powers your microwave and TV, lightens your house and much more.

electricity by using water to spin turbines attached to generators.

♦ Electric circuits can contain parts such as switches, transformers, resistors and transformers.

♦ The world’s biggest source of energy for producing electricity comes from coal. The burning of coal in furnaces heats boiler water until it becomes steam which then spins turbines attached to generators.

♦ Electric current is measured in amperes (amps). ♦ Electric potential energy is measured in volts.

♦ When an electric charge builds up on

♦ Electric eels (a large freshwater fish of

♦ You may have heard of direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC). The difference between the two is in the way the electrons flow. In DC electrons move in a single direction while in AC they change directions, switching between backwards and forwards. The electricity use in your home is AC while DC comes from sources that include batteries. ♦ Back in the 1880’s there was even a ‘war of currents’ between Thomas Edison (who helped invent DC) and Nikola Tesla (who helped invent AC). Both wanted their system to be used with AC eventually winning out due to the fact that it is safer and can be used over longer distances.

♦ Two positive charges repel each other, as do two negative charges. Opposite charges on the other hand attract each other. the surface of an object it creates static electricity. You have probably experienced static electricity in the form of a small electric shock, which is what happens when the electric charge is quickly neutralized by an opposite charge.

used in hospitals measure the electricity going through someone’s heart, when the person is healthy it usually shows a line moving across a screen with regular spikes as the heart beats.

♦ Lightning is a discharge of electricity in the atmosphere. Lightning bolts can travel at around 210,000 kph (130,000 mph), while reaching nearly 30,000 °C (54,000 °F) in temperature.

South America) can produce strong electric ♦ Electricity plays a role in the way your shocks of around 500 volts for both self heart beats. Muscle cells in the heart are defence and hunting. contracted by electricity going through the ♦ A common way to produce electricity is heart. Electrocardiogram (ECG) machines by hydropower, a process that generates

♦ Electric fields work in a similar way to gravity with an important exception being that while gravity always attracts, electric fields can either attract or repulse. ♦ Benjamin Franklin carried out extensive electricity research in the 18th century, inventing the lightning rod amongst his many discoveries. Lightning rods protect buildings in the event of lightning by conducting lightning strikes through a grounded wire.

Physics Quiz Answers 1. Refraction 2. Convex 3. Ohms 4. Physicist 5. Contract

6. Isaac 7. A flight simulator 8. Watts 9. Big bang 10. Edwin Hubble

11. Filament 12. Scotland 13. Long 14. A solar eclipse 15. True

16. The sun 17. Low 18. Amperes 19. Albert Einstein 20. The Milky Way galaxy

Pallikkutam | February 2015

RAINBOW

Electricity Quiz

Sudoku

1. Electric current is measured using what device ? 2. True or false: Batteries convert chemical to electrical energy. 3. In terms of electricity, what does DC stand for ? 4. The wire inside an electric bulb is known as what ? 5. Conductors have a high or low resistance ? 6. True or false: The concept of electric fields was first introduced by Albert Einstein. 7. Electric resistance is typically measured in what units ? 8. In terms of electricity, what does AC stand for ? 9. Electric power is typically measured in what units ? 10. True or false: You can extend battery life by storing batteries at a low temperature.

Classroom Jokes Murder of English 1. Pick up the paper and fall in the dustbin. 2. Both of you stand together separately. 3. Why are you looking at the monkeys outside when I am inside? 4. Will you hang the calendar or else I will hang myself. 5. I have 2 daughters both are girls. 6. Give me a blue pen of any colour. 7. The Principal is resolving in the corridor. 8. All of you stand in a straight circle. 9. Open the window; let the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Airforceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; come in.

Send your classroom jokes to editor@rajagirimedia.com

Pallikkutam | February 2015

REFLECTIONS

From darkness to light Jose Panthaplamthottiyil

God is always full of love. He is always rich in mercy and compassion. He always goes in search of sinners. And He always brings them back from darkness into light and new life.

by shining shoes and selling matches. But Thompson was lucky to meet some good people on the road and they helped him become a human being again.

Me.” Hence he decided to take his shelter in God. Thompson was extremely grateful to God for saving him from darkness and bringing him back into light. As Thompson experienced in his personal life, God is always full of love. He is always rich in mercy and compassion. He always goes in search of sinners. And He always brings them back from darkness into light and new life.

Born in Lancashire, England, Thompson first studied at Ushaw College. Then he went on to study medicine at Owens College which is now known as the University of Manchester. While being a medical student, Thompson somehow picked up the habit of using opium and pretty soon he really became addicted to it. His drug addiction totally destroyed him. He became a beggar, earning a living

In The Hound of Heaven Thompson says he was always running away from God. “He writes: I fled Him, down the nights and down the days; I fled Him, down the arches of the years; I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways of my own mind; and in the mist of tears. I hid from Him, and under running laughter.” Thompson loved darkness instead of light. He loved the groggy pleasures of the world instead of the simple pleasures of life. He thought submitting to God would mean giving away all the worldly pleasures. Hence, he continued to run away from God into more and more darkness. However, God in his love went after him and hunted him down. And Thompson found “All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.” He also found “Naught shelters thee, who wilt not shelter

ne of the best known religious poems in English literature is The Hound of Heaven. According to commentator J.F.X. O’Conor, “It is the sweetest, deepest, strongest song ever written in the English tongue.” It was written by Francis Thompson (18591907), who was a gifted poet. In this 182-line poem, he compares God to a hound, yes a hound dog, chasing human souls. The poem is really beautiful. In fact, it is the story of Thompson’s own life.

Like Thompson many of us also often run away from God. We run away from light to darkness. We often go after the sinful pleasures of the world. But remember, God is always after us and he wants to save us from darkness. He wants to bring us back into light and new life. Like Thompson let us allow ourselves to be hunted by God, and thus find our real shelter and light in God.

Printed and Published by Fr.Varghese Panthalookaran CMI on behalf of Rajagiri Media, Rajagiri Valley PO, Kakkanad, Kochi-39 Ph: 0484-2428249. Printed at Five Star Offset Printers, Kochi. Editor: James Paul