January 2015 by james paul

FROM EDITOR’S DESK

Overdose of information MAGAZINE ON EDUCATION VOLUME 2 ISSUE 8 January 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 Dr. Augustine Thottakara Sajit Malliyoor Marketing Manager Varghese Kachappilly CMI Art Sajo Joseph

Information pollution is the contamination of information supply with irrelevant, redundant, unsolicited and low-value information. The spread of useless and undesirable information can have a detrimental effect. It is considered one of the adverse effects of the information revolution. As new technologies made it easier for information to reach the furthest corners of the planet, we have seen a democratisation of information sharing. This is a sign of progress and individual empowerment, as well as a positive step to bridge the divide between the information-poor and the information-rich. However, it also has the effect of increasing the volume of information in circulation, making it more difficult to separate valuable from worthless material. Media scholars are conducting research to promote awareness of information overload. Kyunghye Kim, Mia Liza A. Lustria, Darrell Burke, and Nahyun Kwon conducted studies regarding people who have encountered information overload while searching for health information about cancer and what the impact on them was. It discusses how health information should be distributed and that information campaigns should be held to prevent irrelevant or incorrect information being circulated on the internet. There are many books published to encourage awareness of information overload and to train the reader to process information more consciously and effectively. Books like “Surviving Information Overload” by Kevin A. Miller, “Managing Information Overload” by Lynn Lively and “The Principle of Relevance” by Stefania Lucchetti all deal with the topic. Information pollution can exist without technology, but the technological advances of the 21st century and, in particular, the internet have played a key role in the increase of information pollution. Blogs, social networks, personal websites and mobile technology all contribute to increased “noise” levels. Some technologies are seen as especially intrusive, for example instant messaging. Sometimes, the level of pollution caused depends on the environment in which the tool is being used. For example personal e-mail is likely to cause more information pollution when used in a corporate environment than in a private setting. Mobile phones are likely to be particularly disruptive when used in a confined space like a train carriage. At a personal level, information pollution can affect the capacity of the individual to evaluate options and find adequate solutions. In the most extreme case it can lead to information overload and this in turn to anxiety, decision paralysis and stress. There are also some negative effects on the learning process.

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

Aside from its impact on the individual, some authors argue that information pollution and information overload can cause loss of perspective and moral values. This argument has been used to explain the indifferent behaviour that modern society shows towards scientific discoveries, health warnings or politics. Because of the low quality and large quantity of the information received, people are becoming less sensitive to headlines and more cynical towards breaking news.

C ONTENTS CO VER ST OR Y COVER STOR ORY

Information inflation 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.

Pollution of thoughts and overflow of information........................................................................ 16 K. L. Mohana Varma

Excess information and knowledge polluting mind....................................................... 20 Thomson Skariah

Internet and inner net............................................. 22 P. Sasidharan PED AGOGY 09 PEDA

EXPERT COUNSEL 24

PERSONAL 27

Should the bard be in?

Lessons from How can I control Phil Hughes tragedy anger ?

This is an imaginary chat between two curriculum enthusiast in the wake of the removal of the Shakespearean plays from the Bhutanese school curriculum.

The tragedy that befell Phil Hughes is a warning to the cricketing community and administrators of the game.

A certain amount of anger, therefore, is necessary to our survival. However, the society places limits on how far the anger can take you.

Jose K. C. 04

Dr. K.N. Raghavan

Sajit Malliyoor Pallikkutam | January 2015

JANUARY 2015 STORIES OF LIFE 30

Caught up in the net!

NEWS..................................................................... 07 INSIGHTS.............................................................. 12

Dr. Jos Cletus Plackal INFO TECH........................................................... 38 CREA TIVE LIVING ................................................ 42 CREATIVE LIVING................................................ INNO VATIONS ...................................................... 47 INNOV TIONS......................................................

HEAL TH MONIT OR 33 HEALTH MONITOR

Memory - the essence of cognition

REFLECTIONS ..................................................... 66

Dr. Jagath lal Gangadharan

YOURS TEA CHERL Y 52 TEACHERL CHERLY

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Never-ending process of trial and error in education

My experience with English

TURN TO P AGE 65 PA

Dr. D. Dhanuraj

Rinjima Ravindran

POLICY WATCH 40

Pallikkutam | January 2015

Being a Malayalam medium student to pass English language was a Herculean task.

LETTERS

Tribute to teachers Thanks for the feature on Ramanathan sir. I was a student of Ramanathan sir. He is an excellent teacher and a role model. Appreciate your attempts to pay tribute to teachers like him. Please showcase the contribution of teachers in various schools and colleges in Kerala. My suggestion is to dedicate more pages for teachers. There are lots of magazines for general public, but a few for teachers. The society need to recognise the efforts of teachers to mould the next generation. I believe, Pallikkutam can do a lot for this. K Ravikumar, Kochi

Excellent expert counsel I am a regular reader of your magazine. I like the observations of Dr. KN Raghavan. He is at his best while writing about sports. I still remember his article about Imran Khan. He was very critical about Imran even though appreciating him as a capable cricketer. Features “Personal and Stories of Life” are useful and interesting. John Abraham, Kozhikode

More space for students

Why are you so serious? More to improve

Please write about career guidance as you did in the beginning. It was very useful for students like me. I like your articles about students’ achievements. The new column “Science Facts” is also interesting. Please include more features for student community.

Your magazine is dealing with serious subjects. Please include some light reading material also. Personal, Stories of life and KL Mohanavarma’s column are very good and make good reading. Please include more columns like that. Gurudhakshina is also very interesting.

B Sudhakar, Delhi

Suma Babu, Mumbai.

I have been reading the online version of Pallikkutam for the last one year. I find it very interesting. The language and presentation is good. Even then lot more to improve. Please include columns for kids also. Current issues needs to be addressed. Please give more importance to career, personality development and higher studies. Sanadakumar, Dubai

Relevant cover stories

Keep it up

Appreciate your selection of themes. I have not seen any other magazine discussing such themes. Cover stories give us an in-depth view about the subject. All the topics are relevant. Health column is very useful. Design is also good.

I am a regular reader of KL Mohanvarma’s column. His language and style of writing is excellent. He is a good story teller. He has a good observation skill. All your features are insightful. Keep it up. Sunitha Menon, Bangalore

Smitha VK, Kochi.

Congratulations! My hearty congratulations for the Pallikkutam team to make it a big success. It is highly informative and readable. Your logo says: Express, Enrich and Entertain. You really did it. Insights, Innovation and InfoTech are up-to-date. I recommend these columns to all teachers and students. Creative Living column is also interesting. Best wishes to Pallikkutam.

Pallikkutam helps me to improve I am a teacher and I confess that Pallikkutam helps me to improve my teaching. The column “Your’s teacherly” is very good. Other columns for teachers like Pedagogy and Gurudhakshina are also interesting. I have asked my colleagues to read the special edition of Pallikutam on teachers, “The good teacher”. Your editorials are insightful. This magazine is a must read for all teachers. My wishes. Bindhu KK, Kottayam.

Dr. Lydia Thomas, Kollam

Inbox us to: editor@rajagirimedia.com 06

Pallikkutam | January 2015

NEWS

India: an educational hub for SAARC countries

ndia has become an educational hub for students from the SAARC countries, including Afghanistan and Nepal.

The South Asian University in New Delhi is providing scholarship programmes in various disciplines to the South Asian countries. The varsity offers postgraduate and doctoral programmes in various disciplines that include economics, computer science, biotechnology, mathematics, sociology, international relations and law.

challenges,” said Mahdi Frough, a secondyear student of MA (Economic Development Studies) in South Asian University. “Poverty is another problem. Human development, education sector,

India not only provides education to Afghan students but also supports in building up schools, besides assisting in the development of medical education in Afghanistan.

Out of 437 students from the SAARC countries, 30 of them belong to Afghanistan and 27 students from Nepal. The South Asian University was founded in 2010 with an aim to promote peace, security and harmony in the SAARC region. South Asian University president Kavita A. Sharma, who was earlier associated with the Delhi University, recalled that there were special provisions for students from Bhutan and Nepal there. “And the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has rightly said that greatest aid perhaps we can give to Afghanistan is to educate and so there were large number of students who came to Delhi University also. And I think it would benefit everybody if education spreads in this region in a large way,” she said. The students from Afghanistan look towards India for better prospects. Omar Sadar, who is pursuing his PhD in International Relations from the South Asian University, said Afghanistan needs to invest in the education sector. “And as I mentioned before Afghanistan does not have that much of capacity domestically to invest on. India is offering one thousand scholarships per year through different channels for Afghanistan. Besides that, many people come from Afghanistan with their own financial support to study in India,” he added. The Afghan students pray for early return of peace and normalcy in their country so that education and infrastructure can be built. “Peace is the main concern in Afghanistan. Every single person in Afghanistan they want peace and security in Afghanistan that’s the pivotal matter and once you have that you can overcome other

Pallikkutam | January 2015

“I believe India has its role in building capacity in Afghanistan through educating the young generation by providing so many scholarships annually and through opening its gates and their hubs for the Afghan students,” said Jamal Ahmad Mahmood, a student of Masters in Bio Technology.

health sector and infrastructure is lacking,” he added. India provides 1,000 scholarships to students from Afghanistan every year.

India plays a major role in educating Nepalese students by providing scholarships to them. “The main challenges are political instability. There are a lot of loop holes in the education policies otherwise. The other major challenge is that the youth are moving out for higher education. There are other students who have left Nepal for further studies. The main issue is that the youth is moving out of the country,” said Vegsha Gautam, a first-semester student of Masters in Development Economics.

IISc, IIT-B make it to top 100 in varsity rankings

ndia’s performance inched up in an international ranking of universities in Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and 17 other emerging economies. In the top-100 ranks of the table prepared by the UK-based Times Higher Education (THE), it has 11 institutions, led by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), as compared to 10 last year. Overall, retaining the toptwo slots, China’s representation went up from 23 institutions last year to 27 top-100 entries this time, with Peking University on the first rung followed by Tsinghua University. IISc is ranked 25th, followed by IIT Bombay at 37th, IIT Roorkee at 38th place, Panjab University

at 39th and IIT Kharagpur at 43rd. Among Indian institutions in the study, IISc leads on the research front (39.5 score) while Jawaharlal Nehru University scores ahead in teaching (39.4), Panjab University in citations (84.4), and IIT-Madras, in industry (71.7). The new annual rankings are based on the same 13 indicators used to create the world university rankings (WUR), covering teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. “But they have been specially recalibrated to better reflect the character and development priorities of universities in the emerging economies,” says the publisher.

NEWS

IIT students turn down $125,000 offers for domestic firms

omestic offers seem to be gaining traction among some IIT Delhi students, who have turned down international offers with over $125,000 per annum packages to work within the home country. As per details of the annual placement drive shared by the premier engineering institute in Delhi, the first six days of placements have seen a 30 per cent increase in the total number of campus offers by companies this year. Nearly 50 per cent of the batch got jobs during this period, said a statement issued by IIT Delhi. “Some students rejected

international offers including those with over $125,000 per annum as base pay this

firms with domestic offers on campus,” it said. A number of technology companies showed up in the first week rolling out high packages of over $100,000 per annum as base pay for international positions. A few core companies also rolled out international offers. Many Japanese companies visited the campus in the first week to recruit students. However, most of the offers have been for India with an overall increase in average packages for domestic profiles for the first week in the year opting to accept offers from either the range 20-30 per cent, the statement said. company’s counterparts in India or other

Smriti Irani emphasizes on development of skills

he Union Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD), Smriti Irani emphasized the need to develop skills in Higher Education while inaugurating the Workshop on Skills in Higher Education organized by the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry in New Delhi. She exhorted the States and the Union Territories to adopt the Credit Framework for skills and Education and the Choice Based Credit System in Universities. This would give choices to students and also provide respectability to skill programmes. The Minister added that there would be teachers who would want to bring about change in the society and there will always be students

talking about transparency and Know Your College Portal created by the Ministry of HRD to strive towards the same. The portal will help the students make informed choices, she said. Not only that, Union HRD Minister informed that some 200000 hours of lectures have been uploaded for students for various courses and disciplines. The Minister of State for HRD Upendra Kushwaha that the purpose of the Workshop on Skills in Higher Education is to link today’s youth with employability. The Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Satya N. Mohanty said that Knowledge, Education and Light does not accept fragmentation, they require expansion and that Skill Development and Higher Education should be seen in broader perspective.

FB offers Rs 2 cr package for Bombay girl

IT-Bombay student Aastha Agarwal’s Facebook job offer with Rs two crore package is perhaps the highest offered to an undergrad. The 20 year old Jaipur girl is a third-year computer science student. Her family has been celebrating ever since she broke the news. “Since I did training with Facebook in May-June in California, they were aware of my work and selected me during pre-placement,” said Aastha. “I was supposed to develop software. They were satisfied with my work and offered me the job right away. Later, when I consented, they sent me the confirmation letter.’’ She said she was eagerly waiting to complete her fourth year to join Facebook by October next year. Aastha was earlier selected to represent India at the Junior Science International Olympiad in 2009. Her mother, Shobha Agarwal, said her only aim was to provide better education to her daughters. Five IIT-Bombay students had got a package of Rs 1.42 crore during campus placements earlier.

Pallikkutam | January 2015

PEDAGOGY

Should the bard be in? Jose K. C.

This is an imaginary chat between two curriculum enthusiast in the wake of the removal of the Shakespearean plays from the Bhutanese school curriculum A: Good morning. Last time our talk ended with your wishful thinking that Shakespeare could be brought back to the new English Syllabus of the high schools, which to me is a rare possibility.

has a weak standing in terms of its potential for teaching and learning?

B: I do respect that ‘learned group’, (led by some Canadian professors) who had the geographic and ethnic advantage of having B: I know mine is a wishful thinking. But I read and watched Shakespearean canon. Frankly speaking, on this count I myself still have the right to hold fast to what I think is right. But, I am really scared of the would stand a sorry below. But, some of our Shakespeare supporters in Bhutan and suggestion that we shall come back with Shakespeare after “a short retirement” as India have at least the advantage of having some educationists suggested. This guinea- taught the Asian student at least more than half a dozen plays and read a couple more. pig treatment of a nation’s curriculum, I dread. Really I dread !!!! Do we have such This should have a legitimate weighting in determining the relevance or otherwise of luxury of time? Shakespeare in the Asian curriculum. A: Why don’t you get from that suggestion the overtones of Shakespeare’s A: I may be pardoned if I say that your Shakespeare – love is a vestige of your exclusion permanently? Isn’t it because there is a learned group – a curriculum core post-colonial psyche, not based on other relevant factors. group – who had read all the plays of Shakespeare and even watched many of his B: You are readily pardoned Sir, because it plays live. Theirs should be an informed does not mean even a nut. Just now, when decision that Shakespeare in the curriculum

Pallikkutam | January 2015

you sounded the imperialist tones, then only – yes, only then – did I remember that Shakespeare is a British writer. Let me make it clear that I don’t think of the nationality of the writer of soul-touching literature. Nor do I encourage students to rack their heads with the biography of an author unless it has some direct bearings on the text they are dealing with. A: Isn’t it Shakespeare a part of the concerted, ulterior motive to bring the colonized countries to the western frequency of thinking, whereas these countries already had their own indigenous, rich languages and literatures? B: Perhaps it was, in the beginning. But, Shakespeare has something, which transcends these parochial imperialist goals. It has survived the test of centuries and it will in the millennia to come. We have treasured Homer, Sophocles and Dante for more than two to five thousand

PEDAGOGY

Many teachers believe that Shakespeare’s work conveys universal values, and his language expresses rich and subtle meanings beyond that of any other writer Shakespeare in the Changing Curriculum, 1989, chapter 7, para. 7.16)

curriculum smells of a possible similar move in not-so-distant-a-future. A: But, didn’t even Dryden say in 1679, “many of his words, and more of his phrases, are scarce intelligible”?

B: Yes, my dear friend, any good literature is easily absorbed to the national cultures. But, no other literature does that as best as Shakespearean literature. I quote:

As to the invigorating power of literature and poetry, the Italian statesman, Machiavelli (1469) tells his prince that one can restore and preserve life only by bringing back the drama to its original glory. The poetry of Moses, Job, David and Solomon inspired Jesus, who in turn ignited Shakespeare. P. B. Shelley’s vehement Defense of Poesy (1821) is a defense against Peacock’s (1820 ) “impious daring attempt to extinguish Imagination” and “a parricidal and selfmurdering attempt.”

“…Many teachers believe that Shakespeare’s work conveys universal values, and his language expresses rich and subtle meanings beyond that of any other writer… Almost everyone agrees that his works should be represented in a National curriculum…” ( Lesley Aers’

Shakespeare, at least has, wonderful poetry. High poetry, to Shelley, is “as the first acorn, which contained all oaks potentially.” I am shocked that in some Universities and School Boards, Poetry is an optional area of study. The Shakespearean dismissal from our

years, not because we have Greek Hellenistic leanings but because they stand for universal values that sustained humanity in the dark ages. By the same token, Shakespearean canon has already blended in the cultural tapestries of many a nation. A: But so does the modern canon. Plus, there is no proof that literature stood mankind in good stead in times of crisis.

B: Dryden said it as a justification of his revision of Shakespeare. What we use today are mostly the revised versions. Besides, I have seen my Level IX, X, XI and XII students getting moved visibly, physically excited in my Shakespeare lessons rather than in lessons on any other writer. I didn’t see here any language or cultural barrier. Once the students overcame the minor language barrier in, say, two weeks’ time(in Level IX where the bard is introduced), Shakespeare was seen universal and literally swaying the readers. This is true at least in Indian and Bhutanese schools. I don’t know about schools elsewhere.

Pallikkutam | January 2015

PEDAGOGY

Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety; other women cloy the appetites they feed, but she makes hungry where most she satisfies. A: While nobody disputes the greatness of Shakespeare, one develops cold feet at the thought of burdening our school goers with the heavy stuff. B: Then are we going for the light stuff, which E. M Forster lamented: Bestsellers, electrical – organists, funny – faces, dream-girls, and mickey – mice… The past is often uncongenial as far as its statements are concerned, but the trained imagination can surmount them and reach the essential. Dante seems to me a test case. If people are gibing him up… will reach the further bank sans Dante sans Shakespeare and sans everything. (para. 4, 5 of Does Culture Matter?)

Macbeth: I am in blood Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er. (Macbeth 3.4.ll. 135-7) How justified are we to shut the doors on our students on such wonders of literature? A: Do you thereby assert that Milan Kundera and other moderns are literary pygmies in comparison?

The “trained imagination” helps in Shakespeare comprehension. After all, the Bard said, “Light winning makes the fruit light.”(The Tempest, 1.2.453)

A: But you didn’t comment on replacing Shakespeare with modern writers. B: Not replacing, of course. Yes, I adore people like Derek Walcott, Milan Kundera and Seamus Haeney etc. They are great, but not as great as Shakespeare. Which modern writer can excel Shakespearean beauty, for example:

Pallikkutam | January 2015

And listen to Rey Buono (2009), Columbia, Thailand: I have taught Shakespeare as literature and directed Shakespeare productions. In all cases, the challenging, rich, alive nature of his language, while difficult for students and actors at first, ended up enriching their everyday English usage. Once they had conquered their fear, they were far more confident as English speakers and writers. I think of my own experience with Latin in high school. Reading Virgil, Cicero, Ovid, and other “dead white males” certainly improved my grasp of language, and enriched my own writing.

A: But we can have a middle path – neither too heavy nor too light. What about modern writers like Milan Kundera and Gracia Marques etc. as suggested on the BO letter already referred to? B: What’s the degree of heaviness you are complaining about in Shakespeare? If Shakespeare could move the Elizabethan groundlings for three hours, captivate the spectrum of spectators from the royalty to the peasantry, how relevant is the hue and cry on his difficulty? That too, in the presence of the trained teacher-facilitator? Most Shakespeare supporters warn us against a blind Shakespeare-phobia purposefully created by, most often and interestingly, those who haven’t taught at least 3-4 plays to our students. I call it a malaise of “You stop who saw it; let me speak who heard of it.”

B: First, Shakespeare’s uniqueness: (a) the universality of themes, insights into life and characters etc. (b)the Shakespearean rhythm catches on the readers like gradual ignition (c) One Shakespearean play hooks every one reader, catering to the heterogeneity as in a classroom.

A: But in this 21 century the Middle English Shakespeare cannot further one’s language skills. B: Not at all. Not that I love them less, but that I love Shakespeare more. Kundera’s works (‘Lightness of Being’ or ‘Immortality’) can have independent study, divorced from the iron curtain imperialism just as Shakespeare’s plays independent wholes. Kundera says: “Every novel, like it or not, offers some answer to the question: What is human existence, and wherein does its poetry lie?” or Arundhati Roy’s “a funnel of mosquitoes like an inverted dunce cap, whined over her head.” (p. 269 of The God of Small Things)

B: If we are driven by utilitarian standards for language and literature study, as Stepehen Gosson did in 1579 in his School of Abuse, and as you sound now, we are short-sighted as academics. This academic untilitarianism is a modern trend of the ELT industry, particularly in the ESL context.

A: But your Arundhati Roy has a dig on Shakespeare when her Comrade Pillai “tried to kick-start Shakespeare” (p. 274)

And, I would enjoy Shakespeare’s beauty with as much passionate relish as Mark Antony would have Cleopatra’s:

B: That’s the age-factor. At least Shakespeare came to his memory despite his senile amnesia.

Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety; other women cloy the appetites they feed, but she makes hungry where most she satisfies.

A: So, what is your objection to replacing Shakespeare with these modern literary beauties?

A: So, finally, what do you say? B: Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bard! No hungry generations tread thee down.

The author is Senior lecturer, College of Education, Samtse, Bhutan.

INSIGHTS

A mathematical Writing skills in the digital age? mirage! nundated with written words streaming mediation” technique, where a caregiver is

s it comes to mathematics, what you think you are may not match with what you really are, suggests a research study published recently in the Journal of Personal and Social Psychology. About one in five people who say they are bad at math in fact score high in an objective math test. But one-third of people who say they are good at math actually score low. People tend to miscategorize themselves based on their skills in mathematics. Those people who think they’re good at math have a numeric competency that may be helpful in some real-life situations. At the same time, they may get stuck with a difficult math task. On the other hand, those who consider themselves weak in mathematics may just skip questions instead. This has important implications for everyday life. People who are low in subjective numeracy may not do their taxes on time or they may not make thoughtful choices on their health insurance because they just give up when faced with a lot of numbers.

across smartphone, tablet, and laptop screens the children of the Information Age may lose interest to develop writing skills. However, a new study by Tel Aviv University published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly highlights the importance of imparting the preschoolers with sufficient writing ability - even before they make their first step into a classroom. The study assessed the merits of early parental mediation of children’s literacy and language and recommended useful techniques to that end. The study recommends a “grapho-phonemic

Gift card giving: versatility v/s personalization

The study reveals different types of numerical competency. One is objective numeracy, which is what most people think of when they think of “being good at math.” This is the ability to work with numbers and score well on traditional math tests. The second was subjective numeracy, which is people’s self-reports on their ability and preference to work with numbers. This was measured by asking people to answer questions like “How good are you at working with percentages?” The third is symbolicnumber mapping, which is the ability of some people to estimate numeric magnitudes quickly in their head and map them to a number line. This skill would allow a carpenter, for example, to quickly estimate how much wood he would need to put in a hardwood floor in a complex room with intricate corners.

actively involved in helping a child break down a word into segments to connect sounds to corresponding letters. For example, parents using a high level of graphophonemic mediation will assist their children by asking them to “sound out” a word as they put it to paper. This contradicts the traditional model of telling children precisely which letters to print on a page, spelling it out for them as they go. “Scaffolding,” or parental support, plays a crucial role in developing early literacy skills. Only in this way one could usher a child towards the digital world, concludes the study.

University of Cincinnati research on gift card giving has come up with apparently counter-intuitive results. It shows that recipients prefer more versatile, less personalized gift cards, regardless of the giver’s thoughtful effort. This result can help even the most thoughtful gift giver avoid the mistake of overpersonalization and keep that card from being banished to the bottom of a purse or hidden deep inside a wallet for the next six months. The study suggests 3 important clues for effective gift card giving: 1. Don’t overdo it with personalization. For example, a giver might personalize a gift card for a friend who loves sports by getting him a gift card for his favorite sporting goods store or a local sports venue. However, the sports lover might prefer a more general gift, as it would allow him to purchase sporting equipment, tickets to a sporting event or anything else that he might want or need.

2. Think romantically, but shop for versatility. When it comes to choosing gifts for close others, like romantic partners, givers try especially hard to be thoughtful and demonstrate their knowledge of their partner. Ironically, these attempts to be thoughtful can backfire: We find that givers tend to choose more specific, less versatile gift cards when shopping for romantic partners than friends, but that recipients prefer more versatile gift cards regardless of how close they are to the giver. 3. Focus on what recipients would like, not what they are like. Consider their current wants and needs rather than their traits. When choosing gift cards, givers may focus on recipients’ stable traits and choose gift cards that are tailored to those characteristics, whereas recipients focus on their variable wants and needs and prefer gifts with greater versatility. Go for more versatile rather than personalized gifts!

Pallikkutam | January 2015

INSIGHTS

Pros and cons of peer support to harassed youth

ew study, published in the Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, looks at depressive symptoms and delinquency among harassed youth to evaluate the pros and cons to the support that victimized teenagers get from their friends. Depending on the type of aggression they are exposed to, such support may reduce youth’s risk for depressive symptoms. Adolescence is an important time during which youth establish their social identity. Experiences of peer victimization can therefore have an effect on their social relationships and lead to various psychological and social adjustment problems. Peer victimization may take several forms, including overt victimization, which happens when someone is physically

attacked or verbally threatened by a peer, become more prevalent during adolescence. and relational victimization, which The support of peers generally influences happens when someone’s relationships are the effects of peer victimization. However, this moderating effect differs depending on the form of victimization teenagers are subjected. Among teenagers who suffered from relational victimization, the more support they received from their friends, the lower their feelings of depression. Such support, however, did not have an effect on the moods of those who were overtly victimized. This may be because relational victimization, as opposed to overt manipulated through rumor spreading or victimization, damages relationships during social ostracism. Overt victimization is a time when youth are trying to establish more common among younger children, their social identity within the peer group, while relational victimization tends to observes the study.

Kids seldom tell truth under threat of punishment!

hildren were less likely to tell the truth if they were afraid of being punished than if they were asked to tell the truth either because it would please the adult, or because it was the right thing to do and would make the child feel good, suggests a study conducted by the McGill University. The researchers also found that while younger children were more focused on telling the truth to please the adults, the older children had better internalized standards of behavior which made them tell the truth because it was the

Pallikkutam | January 2015

right thing to do. “The bottom line is that punishment does not promote truthtelling,” says Victoria Talwar, the lead researcher on the study. “In fact, the threat of punishment can have the reverse effect by reducing the likelihood that children will tell the truth when encouraged to do so.”

Distractions that do not damage learning!

aybe distraction is not always the enemy of learning. A new study by researchers at Brown University published in the journal Psychological Science, challenges the idea that distraction is necessarily a problem for learning. According to the study, inconsistent distraction is the real problem. As long as our attention is as divided when we have to recall a motor This is useful skill as it was when we learned it, we’ll information do just fine. Consistent distraction may for all not distract as much! Most learned motor parents of tasks – driving, playing sports or music, young learning to walk again after an accident – children and occur with other things going on. Given for the the messiness of our existence the brain professionals like teachers may be able to integrate the division of attention during learning as a cue that who work allows for better recall when a similar cue with them and want to encourage young is present, observes the study. The children to be honest. If you want your study distinguishes between two child to tell the truth, it’s best not to processes: process of learning a motor threaten to punish them if they lie. task and that of recalling it.

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

COVER STORY

K. L. Mohana Varma

Pollution of thoughts and overflow of information

The invention of alphabets and words to express the already existing knowledge in a curious and different unfriendly form numbed millions of brain cells in every child permanently for centuries. I’ve traveled the world twice over, Met the famous; saints and sinners, Poets and artists, kings and queens,

printed and packed in attractive friendly book form of our choice, there ended the flexibility.

Really the basics of thoughts originated from the five senses of awareness and Old stars and hopeful beginners, communication inherent in our body I’ve been where no – one’s been before, physique. Eyes, nose, ears, tongue and fingers are the Panchendriyas which Learnt secrets from writers and cooks identified color, smell, sound, taste and All with one library ticket touch and guided our thoughts. But gradually sound outwitted others and To the wonderful world of books. created a new version of its own, the The wisdom and information flow from words, for interpretation. The result was written words and words controlled our oral lingua and it started controlling us. thoughts. It was oral initially when it could The oracles and orators became intellectual be altered, adapted and updated to the supreme. But the craving for lines and needs of time and place and almost rigid copying it pictorially could not be stopped when it became written. When it was and written formats for these spoken

words took shape. Written word had its own advantage and disadvantage. The first disaster, according to 21st century thinkers, now in the midst of dream-like technological explosion in communication arena, is that the words had in almost all cases not even distant resemblance to the ideas conveyed and the whole thought process is therefore confined to and controlled by an elite minority, the literates. Bill Gates of Microsoft has clear thinking on the subject. The invention of alphabets and words to express the already existing knowledge in a curious and different unfriendly form numbed millions of brain cells in every child permanently for centuries. Whenever they read any writings,

Pallikkutam | January 2015

COVER STORY

The history of human thoughts is a record of only illusions and as Tolstoy sighed, “Man suffers from thinking than anything else”. Actually most of the wars and struggles of mankind were very often caused by it. all these cells are fully engaged only in the conversion process of lines to the real object and thus it reduces the effectiveness of brain thus minimizing the originality of human thoughts. This written knowledge was capitalized by the minority few literates and human thoughts were controlled by them in all civilizations. The result is that we are now living 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 crystallizing in pollution of thoughts. This led generally to care for and look for only the material pollution which

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directly harms human life, animal life and plant life. It is like the material pollution in the branches of a tree. We disregard the seed or root which was instrumental to the growth of the tree. The seed is really the thought pollution in the minds.

struggles of mankind were very often caused by it. Darwin advanced his theory of human existence wherein man is evolved in a struggle for survival. This evolution was for the fittest just as in case of lower animal species.

But the pollution is part of us. We read in Old Testament, Proverbs Chapter 23, verse 7, “As he thinks in his heart, so is he”. Marcus Aurelius said, “Life is thought, our life is what our thoughts makes it.”

When the Machine Age began, the commerce and industry based on science made man almost a machine. Now the advent of computer has revolutionized every sphere human activity. The evolutionary struggle for survival and struggle within the man-created political systems, occupied human thoughts. We face the really dangerous and heavy pollutants in these areas.

The history of human thoughts is a record of only illusions and as Tolstoy sighed, “Man suffers from thinking than anything else.” Actually most of the wars and

COVER STORY

Swartz helped create RSS, the nearly ubiquitous tool that allows users to subscribe to online information. He later became an internet folk hero pushing to make many Web files free and open to the public. Can an overflow of information and knowledge now accessible to all, bring solace? Or will it increase the predicament?

Two stories, both real ones, gave me an insight. Aaron Swartz was a wizardly programmer who as a teenager helped develop a code that delivered ever-changing Web content to users and he later became a steadfast crusader to make that information freely available. He was found dead in his New York apartment a couple of years back. Suicide or murder, in the existing conventional code, whatever it was, was immaterial. To me, the victim was technology at its best. At 14, Swartz helped create RSS, the nearly ubiquitous tool that allows users to subscribe to online information. He later became an internet folk hero pushing to make many Web files free and open to the public. In July 2011, he was indicted on U S federal charges of gaining illegal access to JSTOR a subscription-only service for distributing scientific and literary journals, and downloading 4.8 million articles and documents, nearly the entire library. He built surprising new things that changed the flow of information around the world. The overflow of information created a catastrophe which was really socially mind-changing than WikiLeaks and Assange. There is no possibility of even

making a rough assessment of the pollution trip that day. Duggoo woke up and I heard him calling his grandmother in loud voice . he might have created in the thought processes of the generation, present and “Ammoomma, what is this packet?” coming. My wife might have been in the kitchen. Now, the second one. She shouted back. It is a personal one and still I wonder “It is some grapes somebody brought how to deal it. yesterday night.” A few months back. A Saturday morning. I had a programme at Kasargode in the evening and I was getting ready to catch the morning train. Every Friday, my youngest grandson, six year old Adwaid, pet named Duggoo, come and stay with us. He woke up late that day since our usual holiday ritual of feeding the hundreds of pigeons at Durbar Hall grounds in the company of 99 year old Justice Krishna Iyer was not possible due to my railway

There was a heavy packet of 10 kilos of grapes a friend of mine had brought as a gift to me from his garden in Tamilnadu. It was late night when it was brought and Duggoo was already sleeping at that time. One minute. He was trying to open the packet. Then his shout. “Ammoomma, we will make grape juice.” I became alert. Duggoo did not tell we will eat. In our childhood we had never heard of grape juice and we would never have reacted in this manner. We would have said: “Ammoomma, we will eat it. Diggoo, juice is not possible.” I don’t know how to make it and even if I try it, it will not be OK in our mixie. Duggoo’s suggested.

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COVER STORY

Barack Obama, Pope Francis and Narendra Modi, the present powerful world leaders are the first three top in twitter and they are all positive, friendly, accessible through internet, responsive to ideas and above all came up from lower strata of society. “Ammoomma, don’t worry. I will make it.” “You? Do you know anything about it?” “No. But there are people who do it.” “Do you know them?” “No, But one minute, I will find it.” After a minute I came out from the bathroom. Duggoo was handling my mobile. I asked him. “What are you doing?” Google-search. Ammoomma wants to know the address of people who make juice. I know if we gave grapes they make juice and give you. I typed Kochi MG Road Grape. Appooppa, what is the spelling of juice? I didn’t know how to

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respond positively. I am still thinking. But I am sure the coming generation will be successful even without groping to know the spelling of Kochi by intelligently using the overflow of information to create a better society. We have seen the end of world wars, capitalist and communist philosophies, Berlin wall, and apartheid. The end religious fanaticism is around the corner. The high-brow intellectuals are becoming archival attractions and a generation of children finding out their talents and inventing new ways to better themselves and the society is coming up. Barack Obama, Pope Francis and Narendra Modi, the present powerful world leaders are the first three top in twitter and they are all positive, friendly, accessible through

internet, responsive to ideas and above all came up from lower strata of society. It is a welcome change which could not have been dreamt even 100 years back when air travel, gramophone records, telephones, radio and films started the real thought revolution. Now it is on the cards. There will be tools coming up in the system for instant and automatic deletion of pollution of thoughts! The world will be a happier one. The author is a Kochi-based novelist, short story writer and former chief editor of Malayalam daily, Veekshanam. He is a regular columnist and a highly regarded speaker on contemporary politics, business, sports, literature and social themes.

COVER STORY

Excess information and knowledge polluting mind Thomson Skariah

Our stomach is a finite space, but our mind is an infinite realm. There is no limit to what can go in and how much can go in. And once information has been consumed, there is no getting it out of your system – forever.

hat was a sumptuous meal! but enough, I can’t have any more. There is a limit to how much we can feed ourselves. Besides watching our own weight, we have a space constraint too the stomach. We control what we feed our body, we control what we eat to stay healthy and look fit. In short, we restrict our body from being “polluted” – we put filters to what goes to our stomach in our own way. The world around us is pretty much an open buffet, with a countably infinite spread – we know too well what happens when we take more than what the plate can hold – chaos. Not knowing how to restrict what to take on our plate is a

reflection of chaos in the mind, reflects as chaos in the plate; and translates to chaos in the stomach. Neither nutrition nor flavour – just a superficial feeling of having had a meal. All we need to do is place a check on what goes on to our plate and thus a check on what goes into our stomach. Just as we place a check on what goes into our stomach it is imperative that we put a double check on what goes into our mind. Our stomach is a finite space, but our mind is an infinite realm. There is no limit to what can go in and how much can go in. And once information has been consumed, there is no getting it out of your system – forever. With every moment passing, a variety of information channels are being created, and with this increasing

verity and ever increasing flow, our minds are just soaking it all up. So as they say in our times, there is an ever increasing volume, variety and velocity of data. One thing that is crucial to gain control, comes with the fourth ‘V’ – veracity; the most important of them all. With a conformance of opening our mind to only what is relevant and not dwelling on the irrelevant; we will overcome the undesirable situation where all that is flowing around can sink into our minds and clog our purpose of being. When it comes to information, there is and will always be an excess flow of it. While the relevant ones you capture will feed your mind, the irrelevant ones allowed to

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COVER STORY

If there is one single skill that we need to train ourselves on and enable the next generation to be ready with it is conformance check – filters for the mind. flow in will feed on your mind; you will be stagnant – and there in your mind will be pollution.

‘control of pollution’, lets be conscious of what we broadcast, for it does echo pretty well. And to take care of ourselves, let us be aware of the importance of filters for our mind.

The realisation we need today is that the filters are not there or they are broken; and we need to get them, or get them fixed. Lets get the right filters fixed, in place and If there is one single skill that we need to switched on! When you enable only the train ourselves on and enable the next information that is relevant to you to find Consciously, painstakingly choose to filter generation to be ready with it is you, all the excess information that can what our minds feed on, it is only difficult conformance check – filters for the mind. cause pollution is blocked out – and there initially. With practice you will filter the The point is that there was always excess my friend is a solution to have a mind free excess of information smoothly. Once we around, we have kept pace and have been of pollution. rewire ourselves right, then we can be filtering it. But today we are not giving priority to filtering information, we are just wireless fine. With time, filtering out the irrelevant will become second nature, the generating it and broadcasting it! Every The author is the CEO of ACELR excess information that is out there will person is equipped to be an information Tech Labs, a product development continue to flow around you; but thanks generating tool today; with new platforms company focusing on content in the social space and ease of access at any to your efforts and filters in place – you management, cloud computing and given time, most of us just are on a content will stop it from getting to you and enterprise analytics. polluting your mind. creation spree. To participate to this

Pallikkutam | January 2015

COVER STORY

Internet and inner net P. Sasidharan

The new generation babies are internet oriented and you would remember how one loved the advertisement of child born for internet.

y friend wanted me to write about over flow of information in internet which pollutes the natural thinking process. As I am in line with the same thought I agreed. Wrote, re-wrote and I was happy about the outcome so to speak off. I then saw my one and a half year old granddaughter swiping the I pad and getting into her favourite songs through Youtube. This made me a re- analyze the entire article. Many of the old sayings get challenged, for example we say the dog’s tail can never be straightened. I saw a dog few days back with a straight tail that too upwards; it was swinging like the hump of a camel. Similarly, watching TV and using computers are not good for children. If somebody internet is bad, he will be

shoo away two of them from my window. An army of them landed within few minutes and it was a sight to see. A bird formation. They took over the place as I had to leave next day. They knew they owned the place and that is a flat I paid for! A cow is a domesticated animal. So peaceful and lovable. We won’t even think anything wrong when our little ones go in front of them. I have seen the most loving cow which was eating from my hand turn so violent, only because it’s child was being attacked by dogs. The cow literally roared and chased away the dogs and came back to comfort the child. You need to see to believe it.

considered as primitive.

We should take care of our own children otherwise they will be directed by today’s internet.

You call humans “bird brain” and you insult the bird. I was attacked by a legion of pigeons only recently when I tried to

Barring all the puns let us face it. We talk about inter planetary travel, image transpondation, material transmission etc.

but the discovery of computers followed by internet communication is here to stay and progress. The new generation babies are internet - oriented and you would remember how one loved the advertisement of a child born for internet. Information on internet is updated. The information is useful at the same time there are terrors on the other side also. It is very much necessary to control the accessibility of such information. India as a country stands at 30th position in controlling web accessibility in world ranking. There is pressure to remove such restraints. This is a dangerous move. Numerous examples of children and youth going astray and the society getting criminalized. Today rapes, molestations, terrorism etc. are getting rampant and a lot of it has direct connection with internet and chat rooms. The so called social media is completely commercial and adds insult to injury. There was a time when you didn’t start the day

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COVER STORY

The brain is filled with electrical impulses of knowledge similar to the internet. The only difference is that few people had the opportunity to unlock the brain power as against the internet which you can do with a keyboard. without reading news papers. On those days, the front page of newspapers always carries positive news. Today you dread to look at the paper or the TV for news as it always project negativity. Even the cartoons for children are full of violence. One may not be able to get out of this situation as this world is and will remain a world of nets. I would like to tell stories to my grand children. But when we are all going to e-governance, e-commerce, e-tailing your expectations could be categorized as nostalgia! Where do we need control? Some time back I read an article about the energy wastage and pollution being created by unwanted usage of messaging vis a’ vis forwarding messages. It was a surveyed information and stated that 75 percent of such mails are totally mindless forwards, the power consumed can light up the entire Mumbai city for a week; no talking about the emissions or health hazards. The information available needs to be

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segregated and monitored. Google is now coming out with an app for children only. How much it will work? Only time will tell. The mindless googling and surfing curtails the need and wish for thinking which automatically affects your creative thinking and power to dream. All inventions came through dreamers. They always read books which is becoming a rarity. With in the human body the only area unused fully is our brain. Nature or almighty doesn’t waste anything. Humans do. The brain is filled with electrical impulses of knowledge similar to the internet. The only difference is that few people had the opportunity to unlock the brain power as against the internet which you can do with a keyboard. Activating the power of brain as against the computer doesn’t require external power. Use the inner net more and try to beat the internet. Our ancestors looked inside our soul to find

the inner net and created all the knowledge in abundance which helped to create even the internet. The world at large is talking about going back to yoga, meditation and holistic solutions for mind and body. Recently an American company owner and CEO who provides information 24/7 stated that meditation is the best cure for stress, as if we didn’t know! All of us cannot be Ramakrishna, Vivekananda or Mahatma Gandhi. Let us at least become an Obama, Narendra Modi or Ambani! I know you don’t believe me. Go Google and live happily ever after. But find yourself first which will make your dependence on outside information lesser. Have a good laughter. Yes. Always.

The author is the CEO of Shamel International

EXPERT COUNSEL

Dr. K.N. Raghavan

Lessons from Phil Hughes tragedy

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EXPERT COUNSEL

The tragedy that befell Phil Hughes is a warning to the cricketing community and administrators of the game that it is not wise to change the fundamentals of the game to cater to the requirements of television channels.

he tragedy of Phil Hughes has sparked a debate about the safety aspects of cricket which has seen some experts and observers even suggest that bouncers should be banned in all forms of the game. Without doubt, what happened to Phil Hughes was a grave tragedy, the likes of which has visited the cricket field only rarely and is bound to leave its mark for some time to come. But we before one jump to conclusions about banning bouncers and recommending better helmets one should try and understand how the injury happened so that its recurrence can be prevented. Bouncer, in cricket parlance, means a short pitched ball bowled at great speed, which after pitching is intended to pass above the shoulder height of batsman standing upright at the batting crease. In other words the ball is not delivered with the intention of striking the wicket of the batsman, but is instead aimed at the upper portion of the body of the batsman either to create discomfiture from fear of physical injury or to rush him into playing a shot that results in a catch. The batsman responds to the bouncer by either leaving it all alone or by playing the “hook” shot which involves hitting the ball from the front of his face. Without doubt, this is the most thrilling shot in the game and nothing can excite spectators more than a well executed hook shot played against a quick bowler attempting to bully the batsman into submission by bowling bouncers. The fast short pitched delivery aimed at the body of the batsman has attracted controversy from long back. The Infamous “Bodyline” series where England’s captain Douglas Jardine devised a strategy whereby his bowlers, led by Harold Larwood, pummelled Australian batsmen, including the legendary Don Bradman, into submission, by peppering them with short pitched balls pitched on the leg stump and aimed at the body, almost threatened to break of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Though laws were introduced to restrict intimidatory bowling following this, Australian and West Indian fast bowlers made use of the very liberal interpretation and application of the laws involved by home umpires when matches were staged in their respective countries and continued to bowl bouncers aimed at the body of the batsmen, far in excess of what was permitted by the laws of the game. An example of this was the test match that India played against West Indies at Kingston in 1976 where India had to declare their second innings closed after only five wickets had fallen as all other batsmen

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EXPERT COUNSEL

Unfortunately Hughes took his eyes off the ball and turned his head, as a result of which the ball hit on the back of the head, below the area guarded by helmet, and the impact caused the rupture of one of the arteries that supplied blood to the brain. were injured by the bouncers and beamers hurled at them by Caribbean fast bowlers led by Micheal Holding. However one vital aspect that deserves mention is that despite this being the era before arrival of helmets and other good quality protective equipment, no batsmen had suffered the fate of Phil Hughes, though the bowlers of those times were equally quick. This was because the batsmen of that generation were technically more proficient, having honed their skills through continuous practice in manner prescribed in the coaching manuals. The absence of protective equipment of the type that is used today ensured that batsmen would have to rely solely on their skills and technique to avoid physical harm while facing fast bowlers. Thus barring Nari Contractor, who suffered bleeding inside the brain after being struck on his head by a bouncer bowled by Charlie Griffith in a tour match in West Indies in 1962, no other batsmen of the pre protection equipment era had suffered grievous injury while facing quick bowlers. Subsequent amendments to the laws of the game bringing restrictions on the no: of bouncers and covering of wickets have made the game more friendly towards batsmen. The advent of limited overs cricket and its smaller cousin the T20 matches, both of which have become hugely popular in a short span of time, defanged the bowlers even more by placing restrictions on the no: of overs and the placement of fielders. The use of high quality protective equipment, which has become commonplace since 1990â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, made the batsmen less worried about their physical safety. This in turn made batsmen more adventurous and innovative and new

shots such as upper cut, reverse sweep etc have become part of cricketing lexicon. Simultaneously, there has been an increase in the number of matches being played, mainly to cater to the demands of the televisions channels, who had started pumping big money into the game resulting in its rampant commercialisation. All these, together with the success of money

spinning ventures such as Indian Premier League (IPL) has made cricket appear more like part of an entertainment industry than a hard fought game between bat and ball. Unfortunately, these developments led to one major casualty, which was the decline in the technical prowess one attached to batsmen playing at the international level. In earlier days, it would have been unthinkable for a batsman playing first class cricket to take his eyes off the ball, whereas these days, one sees batsmen

turning their back to fast bowlers even in international matches. It was one such moment of indiscretion that caused Phil Hughes his life; had he kept his eyes on the ball, it would have at worst hit his face warranting a couple of stitches but would never have taken his life. Unfortunately Hughes took his eyes off the ball and turned his head, as a result of which the ball hit on the back of the head, below the area guarded by helmet, and the impact caused the rupture of one of the arteries that supplied blood to the brain. Despite being rushed to the hospital and provided the best medical care possible, he could not recover. An injury of this nature would not have occurred to a batsman of the yore, who did not have a helmet in his cricketing kit, as he would not have taken his eyes off the ball. Thus, one comes to the conclusion that the villain of the piece responsible was not the bouncer but faulty technique, brought in by too frequent changes in laws and playing conditions and a false sense of security offered by the equipments. And the remedy lies not in banning bouncers but in ensuring that players develop the skills to tackle them. The tragedy that befell Phil Hughes is a warning to the cricketing community and administrators of the game that it is not wise to change the fundamentals of the game to cater to the requirements of television channels; commercial considerations, though important, should not be allowed to override the spirit of the game and its traditions.

The author is the Commissioner of Customs in Kochi, Kerala

Pallikkutam | January 2015

PERSONAL

How can I control anger ? Sajit Malliyoor

A certain amount of anger, therefore, is necessary to our survival. However, the society places limits on how far the anger can take you. You are not expected to lash out at everything that annoys you.

et me begin by drawing my background. I am a male, aged 19 years, studying for a Business Management Course. I am quite an athletic person, having won several district and even state level prizes in athletic events. I lead a healthy lifestyle, maintain a healthy eating habit and exercise regularly. I have several good companions and love hanging out with them. My father is a strict disciplinarian and he has brought us up in quiet upright ways. I take pride in myself being always an honest and straight forward person. I usually don’t mince my words when expressing my opinions, whether it is about situations or people. And I think that is where my problem begins. Sometimes, when I feel that the other person is not acting fairly, I get

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uncontrollably angry. It happens mostly with my friends and occasionally even with my family members. But I would like to emphasize that I am not the explosive kind of person, I never go violent with anger outbursts. But all the same, it does interfere with my relationships, occasionally. A recent incident involved my girlfriend, whom I found out to be lying for not keeping an appointment. I know it is only a frivolous incident, yet, at the moment I got really angry and hurt her with words I should never have uttered. When I discussed this problem with a close friend, he is of the opinion that one shouldn’t try to control the expression of anger severely, lest it would lead to physical and mental problems. Is there any truth in it? Should I

try to reduce my anger and if yes, how should I go about? Often, we are judgemental about the natural things that there are neither good, nor bad in it. The emotion of anger is one such thing. It is perfectly healthy and normal to feel angry when you have been mistreated or wronged. It is an adaptive response to threat perceptions, both physical as well as psychological. It inspires you to act powerfully, often aggressively, to fight and defend yourself when you feel that you are being attacked. A certain amount of anger, therefore, is necessary to our survival. However, the society places limits on how far the anger can take you. You are not expected to lash out at everything that annoys you. The feeling of anger isn’t the problem – it is

PERSONAL

Calming means not only just controlling your outward behaviour, but also controlling your internal responses by taking steps to lower your heart rate, calm yourself down and let the feelings subside. what you do with it that makes the difference. Anger becomes a problem when it harms you or the people around you. We adopt a variety of both conscious and unconscious processes to deal with the feelings of anger. Psychologists speak about three important approaches in dealing with the emotion; namely, expression, suppression and calming. Expressing you angry feelings in an assertive – not aggressive – manner is the healthiest way to express anger. Assertiveness is the skill of clearly expressing what your needs are and how to meet and fulfil them, without hurting the other person. An assertive person is neither pushy nor demanding; he is only respectful to himself and others.

Your question here is related to the second method of dealing with anger, that is, suppression. Suppression takes place, when you hold in your anger, stop thinking about it and focus on something positive. The aim here is to convert your anger into more constructive behaviour than lashing out at the object of anger, and thereby avoiding the negative consequences. However, there is some truth in what your friend opined about anger suppression. It can cause long term problems in the person who is constantly suppressing the natural outward expression of anger – that your anger can turn inward – on yourself. There is considerable evidence to prove that people who constantly suppress outward

expression of anger suffer from problems like hypertension, high blood pressure, digestive problems and even depression. And these physical problems are by means, not the only danger of the unexpressed anger. A still more undesirable effect is that it can alter your very personality and make you a perpetually cynical and hostile person! This occurs through a pathological expression of all the pent up anger; called passive aggression. You tend to get back at people indirectly, without telling them why, rather than confronting them head-on. People who are constantly putting others down, criticizing everything and making cynical comments haven’t learned how to constructively express their anger. I don’t have to explain

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PERSONAL

Once you recognise the presence of the triggers and warning signs, you can act quickly and take steps to prevent it from spinning out of control. how this is going impact your social desirability quotient!

several distinct signs and symptoms. By becoming aware of your personal signs that your temper is boiling, you can take Now, don’t mistake me that I am steps to avoid it going out of control. The advocating an intense expression of anger most common signs are that your heart to avoid all those above mentioned beats faster and the breath rate quickens. problems by restraining yourself! There is You might also notice other signs such as a third method of dealing with the feelings clenching your hands or jaw, knots in of anger, that is to calm yourself down stomach, or tension in your shoulder inside. This is the subject of most of the so muscles. called ‘Anger Management techniques’, those self-help guides profess. Calming Once you recognise the presence of the means not only just controlling your triggers and warning signs, you can act outward behaviour, but also controlling quickly and take steps to prevent it from your internal responses by taking steps to spinning out of control. Simple relaxation lower your heart rate, calm yourself down tools such as deep breathing and calming and let the feelings subside. The first step imagery can help calm down angry in any effective Anger Management feelings. Deep, slow breathing helps Technique is developing the skills to be counteract the rising tension. Breathe out aware of your anger warning signs and longer than you breathe in and relax as you triggers. Since anger is a normal physical breathe out. Another method is to slowly response, it fuels the ‘flight or fight’ count from one to ten. Focus on counting system of the body and it comes with to let your rational mind to catch up with

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your feelings. You may also excuse yourself out the situation and take a brisk walk around. It would release the pent up energy so that you can approach the situation with a cooler head. Once you have calmed down sufficiently, you can reappraise the situation by asking yourself questions like, how important is the issue and is it really worth getting angry about and ruining the rest of my day? These methods we discussed here are by far not the exhaustive armamentarium that psychologists’ possess to help you out of the problem. There are several books, courses and other resource materials solely dedicated to the topic of Anger Management. If none of the methods worked, you may seek professional help from a competent psychologist.

Send queries to malliyoor@outlook.com

STORIES OF LIFE

Caught up in the net! Dr. Jos Cletus Plackal

Pallikkutam | January 2015

The virtual world takes over the harsh world of reality and carries the person over onto exhilarating fantasy world, leads to a state of intoxication and ends up in pure toxic numbness!

arents know too well about the potential dangers of computer world. There are many instances where the unsuspecting, innocent youngsters are caught up in the vicious jaws of the omnipotent computer. Manmade though, computers can have complete and comprehensive mastery over humans, leading to abject slavery, through addictive conditioning of the worst sort. The momentary magical exhilaration takes on a fantasy flight that even cuts the roots of reality and releases one to wander endlessly in the infinite sky like a kite cut off from its line. Thus the virtual world takes over the harsh world of reality and carries the person over onto exhilarating fantasy world, leads to a state of intoxication and ends up in pure toxic numbness! Let’s walk along a young person who made this (horrendous) joyride to nowhere. Jewel, 17 years, older of the two children, has one sister who is four years younger, is quite smart, sociable, athletic, above average in studies, much loved by all the members in the family, affable and good looking too. Jewel attends 11th Standard and, of late, has started feeling tired and disinterested in studies. He himself asked his father to take him to a counselor. So Jewel was ready to meet a counseling psychologist and the initial interviews went on very well. Jewel presented a lot of problems that he was facing, including his younger sister who always complained to parents about him and invariably the parents would believe her! This ongoing fight was quite upsetting to the boy and he roughed up his sister whenever he got a chance to. But then mother reported these, verbatim, to father, and he would get mad. Jewel also complained about the mistreatment he receives from his grandfather. So, Jewel concluded that he was not the “jewel” of the family but a mere smoldering charcoal! As for the parents, they didn’t have too many problems with their dear boy. The boy was not interested in study, he picks up some fights with mother, sister and grandfather. They were more anxious about his studies than anything else. From parents we collected some significant factors, such as the early separation of the baby from father and mother, the blame game by grandpa, “you are such a bad luck”, “Ever since you were born, our fortunes went topsy-turvy”, etc. There was a death in the family at the time of Jewel’s birth. Early separation and the relentless blaming messages eroded the child’s self worth and created a defensive front, an unhealthy position in life, “I am not OK, You are not OK”. This indeed, is a very dangerous position, psychologically.

Pallikkutam | January 2015

Jewel’s dear parents had no clue as to what was happening in the inner world of this young man. Two-pronged therapeutic strategy was employed. First, rapprochement between Jewel and the family of origin, second, de-addictive behavior modification therapy for regaining balance and emotional freedom. By now, Jewel began to trust the psychologist deeply, and together we did some deeper probing and sifting of facts for discovering the missing link that would give a vital lead for resolving life’s jigsaw puzzle. And then, Jewel dared to open his most guarded secret, his addiction with visual images in the internet and his distorted sexual habits. It was like a Pandora’s box… No wonder, Jewel could not attend to his studies, he was carried off his feet and the exhilaration of surging synaptic waves triggered by the gushing of testosterone led him to another world, a virtual world of Narcissistic pleasure. But it also cut his roots from the tree of life. Jewel felt disconnected from his family, friends and studies, he had difficulty facing girls, uncontrollable emotional upheaval, guilt and what not. Jewel’s dear parents had no clue as to what was happening in

the inner world of this young man. Twopronged therapeutic strategy was employed. First, rapprochement between Jewel and the family of origin, second, deaddictive behavior modification therapy for regaining balance and emotional freedom. The first part was achieved by the cooperation of the parents, and the second part, without the family ever knowing about it. Jewel was very cooperative and it showed in the outcome. In the follow-up sessions he showed remarkable progress in the addictive pattern of behavior. He doesn’t feel the urge to surf through the ‘bad n’ cites, caconcentrate on his studies, no fights with sister, etc. Contract for future behavior was made and Jewel has decided to take control of his life. The family has been alerted about the net-use and agreed to be

responsible users, keeping some checks and bounds for monitoring the same. Netizens as we are, we must use computers and other gadgets for modern living. Being computer literate is a must for all parents. Checks and bounds are a must. Age-specific controls and monitoring structures must be worked out with children’s involvement. A mutually agreed, workable contract will take into consideration the need and responsible behavior of the members. The house rules on the use of computer, TV, mobile phone, etc., must be worked out when children are in the formative. The author is licensed clinical psychologist (HRT), Jeevas Centre Aluva. He is also provincial of Sacred Heart CMI Province, Kochi.

Pallikkutam | January 2015

HEALTH MONITOR

Memory - the essence of cognition Dr. Jagath lal Gangadharan

Our memory helps make us who we are. It is the process in which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved.

t was 5 pm on a Friday evening and the officers were clearing their desk after another hectic day in the bank. Mrs. Grace, the officer dealing with NRI accounts was biting her nails as she waited in front of the manager’s chamber. She was often rewarded for her sharp memory and ability to recognize customers with the credit they had with the bank. Nowadays, she has developed a habit of taking off on most Saturdays when the bank was hustling with activity. The reason for her demeanour was Jonathan, her second child who was studying in a top English medium school in the city. Her husband, Mr.Peter was a busy sales executive and would most often travel in the weekends, forcing the mother to attend all the parent- teacher sessions in the school on Saturday mornings. The class teacher was very critical about Jonathan that he was not performing like the other children in her class. She often found his answer papers incomplete. He was quiet in the class, but she was never sure whether he understood anything that she was teaching. He often found it difficult to answer a question

Pallikkutam | January 2015

based on something that she had taught a few minutes back. She did not mince words to call him the ‘dumbest’ student she had ever had. Grace was getting frustrated on this. She could not digest why a child who could recognize any song from the first few syllables of music or could clearly narrate the whole story of a movie watched many years back be called

‘dumb’. She remembered that her daughter, Catherine, a medical student now, used to be more systematic in her studies. Though she was not as smart and playful as Jonathan, she never had to attend a painful ‘open house’ on Catherine’s behalf. The rebuke did not dishearten Grace. She took Jonathan to her best friend and

psychologist, Sicily. After hours of analysis, Sicily inferred that Jonathan was born intelligent but was not quite focused on things he did, more so on his studies. She concluded that Jonathan had not got into the groove of learning. She suggested some simple tips and gave advice on improving his memory and recalling them. Jonathan was quick to adapt and slowly started to improve. Grace’s prayers worked and her Friday evening excursion to manager’s chamber came to an end, much to the relief of her colleagues in the bank. Our memory helps make us who we are. From fondly recollecting the time spent with your childhood friends and family to remembering where we left our car keys, memory plays a vital role in every aspect of our lives. Memory is the process in which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. Encoding allows information from the outside world to reach the five senses in the forms of chemical and physical stimuli. In this first stage the information must be changed so that it

HEALTH MONITOR

A synapse is a structure that permits a neuron to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another cell. It is widely accepted that the synapse plays a role in the formation of memory. may be put into the encoding process. Storage is the second stage of this process. This entails that information is maintained over periods of time. Finally the third process is the retrieval of information that has been stored. Such information must be located and returned to the consciousness.

you were able to remember were stored in long term memory. This is a more or less permanent store. Later, this information that is stored here can be “copied” and transferred to the short-term store where it can be attended to and manipulated.

Human memory has three separate components: 1. sensory register 2. short-term store 3. long-term store Sensory Register: During every moment of an organism’s life, environmental stimulus or sensory information is being detected by sensory receptors and processed by the nervous system. It lasts just long enough to be transferred to short-term memory.

Semantic memory contains general factual information and knowledge related to your world. Examples are:

Short Term Memory:

♦ The concept of a book

Short-term memory, also known as primary or active memory, is the information we are currently aware of or thinking about. As with sensory memory, the information that enters short-term memory decays and is lost, but the information in the short-term store has a longer duration, approximately 18–20 seconds. People can store between five and nine items in short-term memory.

♦ Understanding of multiplication

♦ The meaning of a word

♦ Knowing the game of football Episodic memory consists of our memories of personal experiences and specific

Synapse formation A synapse is a structure that permits a neuron (or nerve cell) to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another cell. It is widely accepted that the synapse plays a role in the formation of memory. As neurotransmitters activate receptors across the synaptic cleft, the connection between the two neurons is strengthened when both neurons are active at the same time, as a result of the receptor’s signaling mechanisms. The strength of two connected neural pathways is thought to result in the storage of information, resulting in memory. This process of synaptic strengthening is known as longterm potentiation. ‘Synaptic plasticity’ is the term used for denoting the adaptation of neurons in the brain during the learning process. The basic mechanism for this increase in synaptic efficacy arises from the presynaptic cell’s repeated and persistent stimulation of the postsynaptic cell. The theory is often summarized as “Cells that fire together, wire together”

♦ Avoid stress: Research has found that extended exposure to stress can actually interfere with neurotransmitter function. Other studies have found that stress shrinks neurons in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus.

Long-term memory

♦ Remembering what happened at the last football game you saw in TV.

How do you strengthen your synapses?

Working memory deals with information you need to “work” with, such as step-by-step instructions, the things you need at the store, or a problem you’re trying to solve.

Try to recall what happened in the last three minutes in your life. You are able to remember every detail of the events including what you felt in your mind. Now try to remember what happened in a particular day in the last week. You may remember some things like when you wake up, what you had for breakfast, how you travelled etc. but you are not able to recall everything that went on. Those things that

♦ Remembering the first time you met your partner

events that have happened in the past. Examples are: ♦ Remembering your first day in the new school ♦ Remembering the last meal you ate

♦ Avoid drugs, alcohol, and other neurotoxins: Drug use and excessive alcohol consumption have been linked to synaptic deterioration. Exposure to dangerous chemicals such as heavy metals and pesticides can also cause synaptic loss. ♦ Get Plenty of Exercise: Regular physical activity helps improve oxygenation of the

Pallikkutam | January 2015

HEALTH MONITOR

The actual ability to smell is highly linked to memory. When areas of the brain connected to memory are damaged, the ability to identify smells is actually impaired. brain, which is vital for synaptic formation and growth.

assimilated into long-term (potentially lifelong) storage over time.

♦ Stimulate your brain You’ve probably heard the old adage “Use it or lose it.” Well, it turns out there’s a lot of truth to that when it comes to memory. Researchers have found that elderly adults who engage in mentally stimulating activities like chess, puzzle or Sudoku are less likely to develop dementia. ♦ Maintain a well-balanced Olfaction (smell) and memory diet with natural antioxidants and optimum Have you ever noticed that a particular intake of water scent can bring forth a rush of vivid memories? The smell of ripe mangoes The anatomical basis of memory – the might remind you of playing with friends hippocampus: at your grandmother’s house during The areas of our brain involved vacation when you were a small child. inmemory are the hippocampus, Why does smell seem to act as such a the amygdala, the striatum and powerful memory trigger? the mammillary bodies. They are thought First, the nerve concerned with smell to be involved in specific types of memory. In addition to this, the prefrontal (olfactory nerve) is located very close to the amygdala, the area of the brain that is cortex appears to be crucial for the connected to the experience of emotion as monitoring and control of memory processes, both at the time of encoding and well as emotional memory. The actual ability to smell is highly linked to memory. at the time of retrieval. Studying information in the presence of an The hippocampus is a horse-shoe shaped structure of the brain that plays an important role in consolidating information from short-term memory into long-term memory. It has a distinctive, curved shape that has been likened to the ram’s horns of Amon in Egyptian mythology. The hippocampus is involved in such complex processes as forming, organizing, and storing memories. The amygdala is thought to be involved in emotional memory or those associated with emotional events. We all know that the more emotionally charged an event or experience is, the better it is remembered.This phenomenon is known as the memory enhancement effect. Patients with amygdala damage, however, do not show a memory enhancement effect. Following any learning event, the long-term memory for the event is not formed instantaneously. Rather, information regarding the event is slowly

Pallikkutam | January 2015

odor actually increases the vividness and intensity of that remembered information when you smell that odor again. In order to identify a scent, you must remember when you have smelled it before and then connect it to visual information that occurred at the same time. When areas of the brain connected to memory are damaged, the ability to identify smells is actually impaired.

Failing memory Functioning of the hippocampus and amygdala can also decline with age. Twenty percentage of the neuronal synapses in the hippocampus may degenerate as an individual reaches his eighth decade of life! This can be reflected in their performance on memory tests. Avoiding stress, leading an active lifestyle, and remaining mentally engaged are important ways to decrease your risk of memory loss during old age. Having a strong sense of self-efficacy has been associated with maintaining good memory abilities during old age. ♦ Transience stored memories can degrade with the passage of time. It follows a general pattern where the information is rapidly forgotten during the first couple of days or years, followed by small losses in later days or years. ♦ Absent mindedness Lack of attention (focus) can cause failure of memory. Without proper attention, the information cannot be stored. It is impossible to retrieve information that is not stored. Interference, which occurs when some memories compete with past memory, can cause a failure in memory. A teacher used to constantly call one particular girl by a wrong name in the beginning of a new school year. This was because, the girl’s older sister was in the same teacher’s class in the previous year, and the two looked remarkably similar. It is the memory of the older sister that made it so difficult for her to recall the younger sibling’s name. Other cause of forgetting includes intentionally trying to forget things associated with a troubling or traumatic event. Amnesia is the term used to denote any acquired deficit in memory. They are of two different types: ♦ Anterograde amnesia: This involves the loss of the ability to form new memories. This can be caused due to damage to both sides of the hippocampus as in brain injury. ‘Ghajini’ was a recent Aamir khan

HEALTH MONITOR

In addition to aiding in memory, sleep also plays and essential role in learning new information. Recent research has shown that taking a nap after you learn something new can actually help you learn faster and remember better. starrer where this condition was clearly depicted. The film explores the life of a rich businessman who develops anterograde amnesia following a violent encounter in which his love interest was killed. Sanjay, his character loses his memory every fifteen minutes. Systematically, he uses photographs, notes and tattoos to recover his memory and avenge for the loss. ♦ Retrograde amnesia: Involves losing the ability to recollect past memories, although the ability to create new memories may remain intact. ‘Innale’ was a Malayalam movie directed by Padmarajan,in 1990, in which the character Gauri (Sobhana), the sole survivor of a tragic bus accident loses her past memory. She starts to move with courage, towards her new-found self, after struggling within herself. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) accounts for 60% to 70% of cases of dementia. It is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gets worse over time. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events (short term memory loss). As the disease advances, problems with language, easily getting lost, mood swings, loss of motivation, not coping with selfcare and detachment from normal daily activities develop. As a person’s condition declines, they often withdraw from family and society. Movie depicting Alzheimer’s dementia The life story of Ramesan Nair in Blessy’s ‘Thanmathra’ masterly enacted by Padma Shri Mohanlal shows the plight of a middle class family when the breadwinner of the family develops Alzheimer’s disease. Ramesan Nair was a sincere and honest secretariat employee. His biggest ambition is to see that his son gets into the Indian Administrative Service, something he himself had failed to achieve despite being a brilliant student. But fate plays role of a spoiler in this loving family as Ramesan starts to develop problems with his memory. What starts as common place omissions and absent mindedness, quickly grows into handicapping cognitive and

behavioral impairments. How the family adjusts to this Alzheimer’s patient forms the rest of the movie. Some of the most common causes of amnesia include:

Again try to recall the words. You could probably remember far more of these words after organizing based on category. Chunking is the process of taking

♦ Trauma: A physical trauma, such as a car accident, can cause the victim to lose specific memories of the event itself resulting in post traumatic amnesia. Damage to brain due to hypoxia or diseases can also cause amnesia. ♦ Drugs: Certain medications can be used to cause temporary amnesia, particularly during anaesthesia. Once the drugs wear off, the individual’s memory returns to normal functioning. ♦ Alcohol: Long term use of alcohol compounded with vitamin deficiencies can cause various kinds of amnesia and cognitive deterioration. A word memory recall test: In the following demonstration, look at the list of words below for two minutes. Memorize as many words as you can in this amount of time. Next, turn off your computer monitor and get out a sheet of paper. Give yourself two minutes to write down as many words from the list as you can. How many words did you get correct? Despite having two minutes to memorize

the words, you may find it surprisingly difficult to later recall even a handful of the words. This experiment demonstrates some of the limitations of short-term memory. According to researcher George A. Miller, the typical storage capacity for short-term memory is seven plus or minus two items. Let’s see how we can significantly increase memorization and recall. Now, observe the following for two minutes after the rearrangement.

individual units of information (chunks) and grouping them into larger units. Probably the most common example of chunking occurs in phone numbers. A phone number sequence of 4-2-1- 4-7-1-13-2-4 would be chunked into 421-4711324. Chunking is often a useful tool when memorizing large amounts of information How to study? Learning effective study habits is one of the best ways to minimize stress and frustration in students. 1. Study regularly in a place free of distractions such as television, music, and other diversions. ♦ The Two Hour Rule: The general rule is that for every hour of time you spend in class, you should spend two hours of your own time at home, studying the material. ♦ Plan your study time: You should set aside time each week for reviewing study materials. At the beginning of week, consider the material you need to cover and estimate how long you will need to complete your assignments, readings, and reviews. ♦ Schedule study time: You should schedule a specific period of time devoted to each subject, even when you are busy, to revise your class work. Research has shown that students who study regularly remember the material far better than those who do all of their studying in one marathon session.

Pallikkutam | January 2015

HEALTH MONITOR

Educators have also discovered that having students actually teach new concepts to others enhances understanding and recall. 2. Study actively ♦ Think critically: To study effectively, you need to analyze and understand the material than just reading the assigned text and skimming through your notes.

use highlighters or pens in different colors to group related ideas in your written study materials. 4. Study alone initially and then in groups

♦ Take notes: Read through your materials slowly and write down key points. Write down any questions you have about the materials that you can later discuss with your classmates or teacher. ♦ Test your Learning: Quiz yourself on the material you have just read. If you struggle with certain questions, make note of these areas for additional study. ♦ Summarize: Once you have studied, identify the main concepts covered by the material. Think of your own examples of each theory, problem or concept. Try grouping similar concepts and terms together and use mnemonics.

♦ Individual Study: Your initial study sessions should take place alone. By doing

Pallikkutam | January 2015

In addition to aiding in memory, sleep also plays and essential role in learning new information. Recent research has shown that taking a nap after you learn something new can actually help you learn faster and remember better. One study found that sleeping after learning something new actually leads to physical changes in the brain. It helps to build synapses in your brain and consolidate what you have learned. In one study, researchers found that depriving students of sleep after learning a new skill significantly decreased memory of that skill up to three days later. So the next time you are struggling to learn new information, consider getting a good night’s sleep after you study.

♦ Make Effective Class Notes: Practice taking brief, effective notes that summarize the key points of what was discussed in the class.

♦ Visualize Concepts: Pay attention to the photographs, charts, and other graphics in your textbooks. Draw charts or figures in the margins of your notes or

♦ Group Study: Once you have a good grasp on the material, utilize review sessions with classmates or study groups to refresh your knowledge. Educators have also discovered that having students actually teach new concepts to others enhances understanding and recall. Sleep and potentiation of memory:

3. Be Active in Class

♦ Prepare for the Class: Reading the assigned chapters before class will help you to participate in class discussions in a better way.

studying. Relate new information to things you already know.

Finally, a little planning now can save you from a lot of last-minute stress. this, you will concentrate on the material in a better way and focus on correcting your deficiencies. Focus your attention on the materials you are studying. Elaborate and rehearse the information you are

The author is Consultant and Head, Department of Neurosurgery, Rajagiri Healthcare and Education Project, Aluva, Kerala.

INFOTECH

PM Modi most searched personality on Yahoo India in 2014

rime Minister Narendra Modi and industrialist Mukesh Ambani feature amongst the most searched personalities online this year, according to search engine Yahoo.

Industrialist Mukesh Ambani made a second appearance at the No. 1 spot as the nation’s most influential people, followed

According to the seventh edition of Yahoo India’s ‘Year in Review’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the list of ‘High and Mighty: The Political Top 10’ in 2014, followed by his aides Arun Jaitley (Finance and I&B Minister) and BJP President Amit Shah.

“The slew of reforms and Modi’s efforts to improve diplomatic ties were of ongoing interest to Yahoo users. ‘Make in India’ made it to the top of the list of Biggest Financial Events of the Year,” Yahoo said.

Two high-profile deaths in the corporate world – the mysterious plane crash of French oil major Total’s CEO Christophe de Margerie’s in Moscow and the death of Tata Motors’ MD Karl Slym in Bangkok – were among other top searches in this category. Sachin Tendulkar, with his much talked about autobiography, topped the cricketers of the year list, followed by Phil Hughes, MS Dhoni and N Srinivasan. Sunny Leone was the most-searched celebrity for the third year in a row, along with names like Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Hrithik Roshan and John Abraham.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu and BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav have also been named in the list. The review is based on users’ daily search habits and an editorial selection of what they read, recommended and shared most on Yahoo in India.

Flipkart’s Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal and Snapdeal’s Rohit Bansal.

by Tata Group boss Cyrus Mistry and Gautam Adani, chief of Adani Group of Industries. This year’s top finance newsmakers include Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Infosys CEO and MD Vishal Sikka,

In the tech category, Yahoo users searched for Apple iPhone 6, Samsung Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4, Microsoft XBox One, Amazon Kindle Fire, Sony PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Surface Pro 3. Most popular cars in terms of online search were Hyundai Xcent, Tata Zest, Hyundai Elite i20, Maruti Ciaz and Diesel powered Honda City.

Free Wi-Fi launched at New Delhi Sony working on e-paper watch railway station

lose to five lakh passengers travelling via the New Delhi railway station, the busiest in the country, will now be able to connect to the Internet through the Wi-Fi service, which was launched at the station. Terming Internet as a “new necessity”, Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said efforts are on to make maximum use of science and technology, particularly information technology to provide better facilities to passengers. People thronging the station can now access Wi-Fi Internet on any of the 16 platforms free of cost for an initial period of 30 minutes after which they would be required to register for the same using their mobile phones. Beyond 30 minutes, the user would have to purchase scratch cards costing Rs.25 for 30 minutes and Rs.35 for an hour and valid through 24 hours, which will be

made available at 24X7 Wi-Fi helpdesks on the concourse at the Paharganj and Ajmeri Gate sides of New Delhi railway station. Prabhu said Railways is planning to provide the facility at all major stations, and trains also to connect the common man. “Our Prime Minister’s dream is that there should not be hi-fi but Wi-Fi. It should not be limited to only a few people but to common people also. We are trying to provide this facility to more and more stations as soon as possible”. “We are finalising an action plan for this and besides stations, we will provide it on trains also. This is a beginning today, but it will not be confined to one station only,” he said. The project is being implemented by RailTel, a railway PSU which is mandated to provide the service.

ony Corp is developing a watch made out of electronic paper for release as soon as next year in a trial of the company’s new venture-style approach to creating products. The watch’s face and wrist band will be made from a patented material that allows the entire surface area to function as a display and change its appearance, sources said. The device will emphasize style, rather than trying to outdo more technological offerings like Apple Inc’s watch and Sony’s own Smart Watch. At stake is more than a win against Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. A decade of cost reductions and job cuts has soured Sony’s culture of innovation, once celebrated for the Walkman and the Trinitron television. CEO formed a business division this year under his direct control to fast-track promising products, and the watch is one of the effort’s first results.

Pallikkutam | January 2015

INFOTECH

Indian Telcom want to suppress WhatsApp

he Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) apparently wants to try wringing money out of messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Viber, Skype and WeChat on behalf of itself and mobile service providers who feel that they have the right to be compensated for revenues lost when people use such apps instead of making phone calls and sending SMS messages. This is the same sort of logic that leads certain countries and municipalities to impose taxes on home solar panels because local coal-fired power plants are losing business.

services is bad for everyone involved – Internet users, entrepreneurs, and the tech economy as a whole. We need to be even more concerned that these service

providers are trying to put themselves in a position of power over their competitors. Yes, long-distance telephony revenue has fallen thanks to VoIP, and people send

fewer SMS messages because free Web messengers are available. So what? Business landscapes change all the time. Everyone needs to adapt, not cling to the past. Cellular operators are not expected to compensate landline phone companies for the reduced usage of public payphones. Besides, the operators don’t provide 2G/ 3G connectivity for free; there are monthly charges as well as data usage charges, and they aren’t particularly fast, reliable or cheap.

One issue here is that service providers are banding together to try to extract more money than they already get because they sense an easy target. Another is that they’re trying to use a neutral government agency to ‘regulate’ their own competition. More importantly, the ideal of network neutrality is now under threat, because certain services might be burdened with some sort of tax or fee just for the privilege of being able to conduct business as usual.

Smart app brings 4,000 govt services to your fingertips

TRAI’s plans are similar to recent moves by Internet service providers in the USA to lobby for the ability to set up Internet ‘fast lanes’ and charge those companies able (if not willing) to pay more for priority (read: non-degraded) consumer experiences. Web startups and smaller companies would have a tough time surviving if they had to pay ISPs in order for consumers to be able to use them regardless of the fact that ISPs are already being paid fees by users who should be able to use their bandwidth quotas in any way they like.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about mobile governance, we have responded by making it a reality. Karnataka will be the flag-bearer for digital India. Digital India commences from Bengaluru and it is our hope it will be emulated in other states too,” chief minister Siddaramaiah, who also holds egovernance portfolio, said during the launch of mobile governance in the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee.

There’s no question that handing service providers the ability to throttle certain

Pallikkutam | January 2015

arnataka MobileOne is the new mobile app launched by Karnataka government to connect to the people of the State. This mobilegovernance tool provides citizens access to over 4,000 services - both public and private - through handheld devices.

Citizens can access 632 government-tocitizen services and over 3,500 businessto-consumer services at their fingertips by downloading Karnataka MobileOne app,

available on Android and iOS platforms, or dialling 161. Be it applying for a passport or driving licence, paying income tax or utility bills, access to healthcare or getting prior information about water supply or power cuts, this app touches every aspect of a citizen’s life.There’s also a unique app M-Power to make women feel safer. During emergency, a woman can send alerts through the app with location tags. The alerts will be forwarded to the nearest police station. Another app, i-Care, promises to bring citizens closer to government in resolving civic issues. “Soon, Metro Rail users will be able to pay for their ride from their phone itself. Once the legal formalities are completed by the judiciary, we can even consider filing FIRs from the comfort of your home or office. Today, presence of the citizen is required to sign documents in front of a police officer,” Siddaramaiah said.

POLICY WATCH

Never-ending process of trial and error in education Dr. D. Dhanuraj

The students of the government schools are most vulnerable to the trial and error processes in the education sector that the various Governments follow.

t will not be an exaggeration when I say, ‘the Union HRD Minister and her ministry are always caught in controversy’. The decision to end German Language learning in KendriyaVidyalayas and impose Sanskrit in its position was imperious to a secular and democratic nation. In between there were suggestions to introduce common syllabus at the national level. Even in the case of UPSC exams there were controversies towards the end of UPA tenure. Many are settled for the time being but vulnerable for inconsistent policy decisions and the desired outcomes. India, according to many experts could be one of the world’s leading economies (among the first four) in another decades time. Everyone is pleased to hear this whenever and wherever the jubilation is around. But many forget to understand that for any growing economy, one of the key supplementing factors is the‘quality education’ provided to the young generation. In this country, as stated above, most of the times the discussions, debates and controversies are around the imposition from the above and least about the flexibility and innovation that could bring a sea change in the sector. I started using internet by 1998 and the mobile

phones by 2005. It was expensive to use both of them and luckily others were funding me on these at that time. But the neither so called funders nor the educational institutions of that time bothered to teach me how to use them. I belong to the generation that witnessed

the growth and development of desktop computers to Laptops to Tablets. In the phone segment, we have experienced the basic bar phones to smart phones of different features. I remember one of my friends presenting a note on the future of computer taking the photographs of the users in the early years of development of desktop computers. At that time we did not understand his arguments but today I use my tablet to document all the events and functions that I attend ignoring the costly camera I had bought a few years ago. This teaches me the valuable lesson of informed choices and access to opt them.

Imposed learning is not always the right choice to many. How did this happen; there is an element of spontaneous order in the whole business of evolution, adaption and maturity. It takes time but with interesting results at the end. Why not apply the same logic in a modified way in the school education providing opportunities to the stake holders to innovate and be flexible? Where are we missing the link? In the school education sector in India, many consider and it is a fact that there is a division on the quality of education received in rural and urban areas. Students who come from the urban middle class are sent to elite schools where they are taught the prerequisites of reasoning, analytical skills, interpersonal skills, mental ability and all that is required for management and engineering education. What about those in rural areas and the backward regions; they are catered by the government schools which are normally dysfunctional and the teachers do not show up. The students of the government schools are most vulnerable to the trial and error processes in the education sector that the various Governments follow. In the state of Kerala, these issues are largely addressed through a systematic

Pallikkutam | January 2015

POLICY WATCH

Let us hope for an India where all children, irrespective of whether rich or poor or from urban or rural areas are empowered to have umpteen options to choose from, for their education. reform in the education sector. Density of the schools is very high in Kerala where the competition among the government, private and aided schools ensure the quality outcome, transparency and accountability among the stake holders. But this is not true for many other states. The kids are forced to study in educational institutions/government schoolsas they can’t afford the education in private schools. While the philanthropy in school education system in various forms (which also played a major role in the development of the sector) are known for many decades, the eco systems are not so encouraging at other parts of the country. Most of the times, more than the syllabus and the content, it is the class room environment and teaching methods bother the parents. While the choice and option are still out there, the poor and rural folks find it difficult to send their kids to the best quality schools around for the lack of money and support systems. While the state governments offer scholarships and grants to the needy students, the work and effort to get them on time which are confined to the benefits of governmentschool do not help the aggrieved parents.

educational therapies, textbooks, and private schools. In fact, parents do not have to send their children to private school at all. For example, they can use a combination of homeschool lessons, virtual school classes, and individual public school classes1. ESA allows individuals to deposit up to $2,000 per year in an educational savings account for an eligible beneficiary (child) without being taxed on earnings from interest, dividends, appreciation, etc. – as long as the child uses the funds before the age of 30 for qualified educational expenses. The account must be started and all contributions made before the child is 18. The age 18 and age 30 limitations are waived if the beneficiary has special needs. This waiver allows the ESA to be funded after age 18 and allows the assets to remain in the account after age 30. This system helps the corporates and the individuals who fund for the kid’s education can

monitor the progress and the quality imparted. This in fact made it very competitive informed choice for the parents and kids to choose from among the different practices. Let us hope the trial and error processes that our ministries follow start focusing more on the actual issues in the Education Sector that are stumbling blocks to our development. Let us hope for an India where all children, irrespective of whether rich or poor or from urban or rural areas are empowered to have umpteen options to choose from, for their education. Footnotes: 1

http://goldwaterinstitute.org/article/newday-school-choice-education-savingsaccounts-turn-3-years-old

The author is Chairman, Centre for Public Policy Research.

In the case of the United States of America, the education sector has tried to offer many innovative solutions to these challenging problems. One early proposal was that of ‘Vouchers’. A school voucher is a coupon or certificate awarded to parents or to a private school on behalf of a parent so that a child can attend a private school. This has raised protests from the teachers union across the states. Also it denied opportunities for the special need students. Further innovation in the domain has led Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signing education savings accounts (ESA, officially called “Empowerment Scholarship Accounts”) into law on April 12, 2011. A critical feature of the accounts is that they enable parents to purchase a variety of educational products and services. With ESA, parents can choose from a wide variety of online classes, personal tutors,

Pallikkutam | January 2015

CREA TIVE LIVING CREATIVE

Churn the ocean of information for creative outcomes Dr. Varghese Panthalookaran

Today is an age of information, characterized by the whirlpool of information fluxes. The internet is an ocean of information. Multibillion bits of information get deposited in the internet daily. Mythical Samudramanthan Bagavata Purana of Hindu Mythology describes the episode of “Samudramanthan” or “Churning of the Ocean of Milk”. The story goes like this: As a punishment for his uncontrolled ego and disrespect of others sage Durvasa cursed Indra, the King of Devas (Demigods) and together with him all the demigods (Devas) to be bereft of all strength, energy, and fortune. Consequently Devas were defeated by Asuras, the demons, under the leadership of King Bali, who gained control over the universe. At the advice of Vishnu, Devas entered into an alliance with Asuras to jointly churn the ocean for the nectar of immortality (Amrita) to regain their lost fortunes. Against the agreement that the amrita shall be shared equally among them, Vishnu assured Devas that He would ensure that amrita does not reach the hands of Asuras, which would impart them with immortality. The churning of the Milk Ocean followed an elaborate procedure. It required a churning rod and the Mount Mandara agreed to be the churning rod. It required a churning rope and Vasuki, the king of serpents, who abides on Shiva’s neck, offered himself to be the churning rope. The demigods and demons pulled Vasuki back and forth causing the mountain to rotate and the ocean of milk got slowly churned. However, once the mountain was placed in the ocean, it began to sink. Lord Vishnu came to the rescue. He assumed the form of a turtle Kurma and supported the mountain on his back. And the churning of the Ksheeresagar (ocean of milk) continued. During the churning process different things popped up from within the sea of milk, both useful and harmful things. One among them was a lethal poison known as Halahal. This terrified both the gods and the demons alike because the poison was so powerful that it could destroy all of creation. Gods approached Shiva for protection. Shiva volunteered to consume the poison in an act to protect the universe. But his wife Parvati rebelled and pressed her hand on Shiva’s throat to save him. As a result, the color of Shiva’s neck turned blue. For this reason, Lord Shiva is also called Neelakanta (the blue-throated one; “neela” = “blue”, “kantha” = “throat” in Sanskrit).

Pallikkutam | January 2015

CREA TIVE LIVING CREATIVE

In the year 2014, it is estimated that 2.3 zettabytes (2.3×1021) of data are created in the internet on a daily basis. They are collectively called Big Data. It is the modern Ocean of Milk, the Ksheerasagar! All kinds of herbs were cast into the ocean to make it clean and to recover the original goodness of the ocean. Consequently, fourteen Ratnas (gems or treasures) were produced from the ocean, which were divided among demons and demigods. There also emerged Goddesses from the ocean. They accepted the gods or demons according to their tastes and inclinations. For example, Lakshmi, the Goddesses of Fortune and Wealth, accepted Vishnu as Her eternal consort. Similarly the Apsaras chose the demigods as their companions. Varuni or Sura, the goddesses and creator of alcohol took demons as companions. Some supernatural animals also emerged from the ocean. They were appropriated by gods or demons according to their taste and attitudes. Kamadhenu, the wishgranting divine cow was taken by Vishnu. Airavata, the elephant was taken by Indra, the leader of devas. The Uchhaishravas, the divine 7-headed horse, was taken by demons. Finally, Dhanvantari, the heavenly physician, emerged with a pot containing amrita, the heavenly nectar of immortality. A fierce fight broke out between demigods and demons over the nectar of immortality. The demigods appealed to Vishnu, who then took the form of Mohini, a beautiful and enchanting damsel. Mohini distracted Asuras with her enchanting dance and took the amrita, and distributed it among the demigods, who drank it. The story ends with the rejuvenated Devas defeating the Asuras. Churning of the ocean compares well with the process of definite integration of different realities to create something unseen, unheard of or unexplored. People get connected to these mined gifts in lieu of their attitudes, orientation and life-vision. Some of them are truly poisonous and harmful like the Halahal, which could destroy the entire creation. They need to

Pallikkutam | January 2015

be safely segregated from the sphere of life. Some others are truly valuable, values of which are perceived differently by different people. According to their tastes and inclinations, people would accept or reject them. Those supernatural gifts will also choose and possess the right and appropriate people. Some other gifts emerging from the sea of milk are rather invaluable, like Amrita, the nectar of immortality. Everybody values it .Everybody is after it. But only few deserve it, who will eventually inherit it.

Churning the Big Data: the modern Samudramanthan Today is an age of information, characterized by the whirlpool of information fluxes. The internet is an ocean of information. Multi-billion bits of information get deposited in the internet daily. In the year 2014, it is estimated that 2.3 zettabytes (2.3×1021) of data are created in the internet on a daily basis. They are generated by meteorology, genomics, connectomics (comprehensive maps of connections within an organism’s nervous system), complex physics simulations, and biological and environmental research, etc. Added to it are those information gathered by ubiquitous information-sensing mobile devices, remote sensing, software logs, cameras, microphones, radio-frequency identification (RFID) readers, and wireless sensor networks. They are collectively called Big Data. It is the modern Ocean of Milk, the Ksheerasagar! Big data can be

described by the following characteristics: Volume – the quantity of data that is generated; Variety – the category to which Big Data belongs to; Velocity – the speed of generation of data; Variability – the inconsistencies hampering analysis; Veracity – the quality of the data being captured; and Complexity – due to multiple sources involved. It is a new generation challenge to capture, cure, search, share, store, analyze, transfer and visualize the Big Data, keeping in view the requirements of inviolable privacy. It can be mined to develop creative ideas and novel concepts. It is a big deal. Mining of the bigdata can be, for example, used as a powerful tool to analyse market behaviour and to develop suitable products tailor-made to the taste of the customers. It facilitates, for example, spotting of business trends, preventing diseases, combating crime and so on. As we explore the Big Data in the Internet using the prominent search engines like, Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask.com, AOL.com, Blekko.com, Wolframalpha, DuckDuckGo, archive.org or ChaCha.com, we are actually churning the large ocean of Big Data. The challenging question of the day is: “How to derive something creative by churning the Big Data?” “How could we make sense out of the world of information and derive useful concepts to make a new world?” As with the churning of the Sea of Milk, objects of different values and preference will pop up during such efforts. Some of them may be extremely harmful and poisonous just like Halahal, the deadly poison that popped up during Samudramanthan. It could poison your minds and adulterate your attitudes and annihilate your vitality. They may lead you to unethical conclusions and illegal practices. The new generation seekers need to be equipped with the skills of extreme discretion and right judgement to overcome such situations. There should be measures in the Internet also to safeguard the fickle-

CREA TIVE LIVING CREATIVE

New generation creative minds shall be equipped with powerful tools of analysis: the tools of integration. They shall be equipped to integrate pieces of information and develop new knowledge, new concepts and new insights. minded from harmful influences of venomous ideas, like Neelakandas of the myth. Integration of ideas: the key to creativity

intuition of Einstein to integrate ideas and to provide an engineering insight to build the LASER. The first LASER, the Ruby Laser was eventually made in 1960.

The same happened to Denis Gabor, an English engineer, when he ventured to When Albert Einstein conceived the idea of make the first Hologram. He made use of LASER, he did not identify something the well-known phenomena of interference which is totally foreign and totally new. of light to record the whole of information He writes in his letter to his friend Michele contained in a light beam on to a recording Besso on August 11, 1916. “Es ist mir ein medium. Holography [Holos (Greek) = prächtiges Licht über die Absorption und Total (English) + Graphe (Greek) = Emission der Strahlung aufgegangen. Es Recording (English)] means the “Complete wird Dich interessieren.” (Translated: A Record”. Denis Gabor decoded the splendid light has dawned on me about the encrypted information from within a absorption and emission of radiation. It hologram by reconstructing the original will be of interest to you). That “splendid scenario using the well-known phenomena light” was LASER. In fact, the theory of of diffraction (the bending of light by laser was hidden within Plank’s theory of obstacle on its path). Nothing is really new black body radiation, which described the in theory, except for the integration of two fundamental interaction between matter well-known concepts to provide insight to and radiation. Matter absorbs radiation and a new engineering marvel. it also emits radiation – all based on the A similar observation could be made with Quantum Theory developed by Max respect to William Lawrence Bragg, who Plank. But as Einstein revisited Plank’s developed the theory of X-ray diffraction theory and reflected over absorption and by crystals. Based on the principles emission of radiation once again, there involved in a reflection from a plane emerged a new concept – the concept of mirror, he could develop a powerful stimulated emission of radiation, the reason for LASER emission. It required the method of crystal analysis using the X-ray

Spectrometer developed by his own father. Both the son and father Bragg together were awarded with Nobel Prize in 1915 for their scientific contributions. The excellent synergy between generations added to the power of integration of ideas, aided the Braggs to pave way for a new and powerful method of X-ray-based crystal analysis. Different examples cited above allude to the key skills required of a creative mind to surf internet, the modern Ksheerasagar, the ocean of milk. New generation creative minds shall be equipped with powerful tools of analysis: the tools of integration. They shall not be overwhelmed by the magnitude of information defining the Big Data. They shall be equipped to integrate pieces of information and develop new knowledge, new concepts and new insights. They shall install internal firewalls to filter out lethal information. They shall also wear right attitudes, values and discretion, to be able to choose the right things that emerge out of the Samudramanthan. They shall rather churn the ocean of information for creative outcomes!

Pallikkutam | January 2015

BOOK SHELF

Don Quixote Don Quixote is one of the few books that merits casual references with the definite article, and additionally is one of the few books to spawn a universally-recognized adjective

hat can anyone say about Don Quixote that hasn’t been said? The book’s been around for four hundred years, has inspired virtually every literary movement from the eighteenth-century picaresque to the most obscure works of twenty-first century postmodernism, and has provided the impetus for critical works by everyone from Thackeray to Ortega y Gasset. How do we approach Don Quixote? Don Quixote is one of the few books that merits casual references with the definite article (“The Quixote”), and additionally is one of the few books to spawn a universally-recognized adjective (“quixotic”). How to even approach a book like Don Quixote, a book that has been, at some time or other, all things to all people? How to evaluate a cultural monolith? Sure, there are rough patches, yet: the mini-novels that interrupt the narrative of the first part for a hundred-odd pages would have been easy targets for some modern publisher’s blue pencil, the long essays on arms or piety can ring strangely to reader sensibilities, the descriptions are sometimes a vague mess, and Sancho Panza’s brief solo adventures read like the winners of a “Find-The-Best-Tired-Fable” competition and are best forgotten. And yet the basic story, the basic concept holds up: even the irascible Nabokov, in his Lectures on Don Quixote (intended as a six-lecture trashing of the novel), is forced to admit that there might be something to the central character after all. It’s hard to stay mad at Don Quixote: as frustrating as the plot can be at times, some archetypal lure lurks within the world of Cervantes’s Spain, some magic that draws us in, much like the world of chivalry that continues to draw Quixote himself through the progressively more painful wringer of situations.

Pallikkutam | January 2015

The concept of the novel is simple: Alonso Quijano, landowner from La Mancha, is obsessed with his library of chivalrous books. Driven mad by the inconsistencies of plot, character and philosophy that fill each volume of these seventeenth-century precursors to the fantasy novel, Quijano resolves to restore dignity to the lost profession of knight-errantry, assembles a

Cervantes introduces Sancho Panza, Quixote’s gullible, bloated and homilyspouting squire, who in conjunction with Quixote provides the spark for endlessly bizarre discussions in which Quixote’s heightened, insane conception of the world is brought crashing to earth by Sancho’s sly pragmatism (discussions which occasionally end with Quixote threatening to pummel Sancho in order to shut him up). The original comic duo: Don Quixote and Sancho Once joined together, it’s very difficult to imagine Don Quixote and Sancho ever being split apart: the two are the original comic duo, locked into perpetually and mutually exclusive views of the world, and in and of themselves – whether Sancho is being asked to give himself hundreds of lashes in order to disenchant Quixote’s swineherd love interest, Dulcinea, or whether Quixote is mixing a potion based on olive oil and bitter herbs that will, in theory, cure all of Sancho’s Quixote-caused earthly wounds – the Knight and the Squire personifies the thematic conflict that propels the work.

In general, this is why Don Quixote remains one hell of a read – even today. The reader faces, in the same moment, an rudimentary sword, suit of armor, and ideal view of the world (the world as horse (the eternally-suffering-and-spavined enchanted, antiquated, idyllic) and the Rocinante), and sets out into Spain in his brutal facts of the actual world (the world quest for glory. as material, modern, loath to believe in In return for this act of hysterical faith, he knights.) finds violent innkeepers, malevolent Quixote hacks at the belly of ogres in an thieves, cynical shepherds, sadistic inn basement, and is rewarded by a jet of nobility, and even (due to Avellaneda’s wine in his face and a hefty bill for false sequel to the book’s first volume, one damages. He tries to rid the land of giants, of the most famous pieces of fan-fiction and is spun, lance-first, by a powerful ever written) an inferior (and, in the novel, windmill he spears in the attempt. He invisible) Quixote impostor. attempts to liberate a statue of the Virgin The first few scenes involve Quixote alone Mary, which he believes to be a damsel in against the contemporary world, but distress, from her captors, and in return is before a hundred pages have elapsed beaten up by priests.

BOOK SHELF

We read not only for page-after-page, but for year-after-year, century-after-century, pulled by the cognitive dissonance that surrounds the knight like his own cloud of malicious enchanters. Throughout, Sancho is there to say exactly what the reader is likely thinking – those aren’t giants; Dulcinea isn’t beautiful; none of this can be real – only to be rewarded with a lecture from Don Quixote about how he is beset by enchanters, who frustrate his every move by replacing the facts of his world, at the last moment, with devil’s illusions that bear an uncomfortable resemblance to our own reality. It’s a single joke repeated across a thousand pages, and yet it’s strong enough to bring a laugh every time. Measured Madness: Don Quixote Quixote’s insistence on his own madness in the face of innumerable arguments to the contrary, many of which take the form of cat scratches, cracked bones and missing

teeth, makes him an interesting character because we know – or we think we know – that Quixote is just wrong. Yet, despite all of the pain he suffers in pursuit of that wrong, he continues to believe that he’s right. So we read on page-after-page, waiting to see how much more the man who believes himself a knight is able to take before he gives in – whether, in the end, Quixote will give in at all. We read not only for page-after-page, but for year-after-year, century-after-century, pulled by the cognitive dissonance that surrounds the knight like his own cloud of malicious enchanters. In the process, just as Quixote builds his castles from inns and criminal campfires, so we build castles of speculation from what we find in Cervantes’s Spain, at once so brutally real

and so dream-like, the realm of archetype and myth founded on dreary life. We, like Don Quixote, are driven to hallucinate by what might be, in the end, just a very good story. With Don Quixote, Cervantes has accomplished an enduring act of literary alchemy: just as Quixote is combined with Sancho, so is fantasy combined with reality, the eternal with the everyday, and like the combination of matter and antimatter, the explosion of aesthetic power is, in magnitude, infinite, propelling readers from the earth – at first facing inward at what was left behind on the page, then, forgetting the earth, outward into meaning – farther and farther toward the dream-like stars.

Pallikkutam | January 2015

INNO VATIONS INNOV

The return of Germanium

orld’s first transistor developed by the Bell Labs in 1947 used the purified germanium semiconductor provided by a laboratory at Purdue University. Now Purdue researchers are once again on the forefront of a new germanium milestone. The team has created the first modern germanium circuit – a complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) device – using germanium as the semiconductor instead of silicon. The results are presented in 2014 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting. Germanium was superseded by silicon as the semiconductor of choice for commercial CMOS technology. However, the industry will soon reach the limit with regards to the size of

Climate change drives northward exodus of species

new study from University of British Columbia published in Progress in Oceanography predicts that climate change will push marine species from sharks to salmon northward an average of 30 kilometers per decade, shaking up fish communities and shifting fishing grounds. The study predicts an exodus of species leading to the disappearance of species from southern regions of the world. The study anticipates warm-water species such as thresher sharks and chub mackerel becoming more prominent in the Gulf of Alaska and off British Columbia. Some predators such as sea lions and seabirds, which rear their young in fixed rookeries or colonies, may find the fish they usually prey on moving beyond predators’ usual foraging ranges. Shifts in marine communities may be most pronounced in high-latitude regions such as

the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea, which the study identifies as “hotspots” of change. Cold-water species such as salmon and capelin have narrower temperature preferences than warmer water species, making them more sensitive to ocean warming and likely to respond more quickly. The researchers used established global climate models to project how the distribution of the fish would shift by 2050 as greenhouse gases warm the atmosphere and, in turn, the ocean surface. Some species shifts are already being documented as West Coast waters are warming: predatory Humboldt squid from Central and South America have invaded the West Coast of North America in recent years, albacore have shifted to more northerly waters and eulachon have disappeared from warming waters at the southern end of their range.

Wearable organic medical sensors Silicon transistors. Germanium enables the industry to make smaller transistors and more compact integrated circuits. Compared to silicon, germanium is also said to have a “higher mobility” for electrons and electron “holes,” a trait that makes for ultra-fast circuits. In new findings, Purdue researchers show how to use germanium to produce two types of transistors needed for CMOS electronic devices. Germanium had previously been limited to the development of P-type transistors. The findings show how to use Germanium to make N-type transistors by developing a doped N-type contact. The findings announce the return of Germanium in computers and electronics.

Pallikkutam | January 2015

he engineers at UC Berkeley have developed a new technology, which future fitness trackers would love to use. They have developed a cheap and wearable medical sensor, pulse oximeter sensor, to measure levels of blood-oxygen levels. The device measures arterial oxygen saturation and heart rate as accurately as conventional, silicon-based pulse oximeters. The findings are reported in the Nature Communications. UC Berkeley engineers have created a composed of all-organic optoelectronics that uses red and green light. The red and green organic lightemitting diodes (OLED) are detected by the organic photodiode (OPD). By switching from silicon to an organic, or carbon-based, design, the researchers were able to create a device that could ultimately be thin, cheap and flexible

enough to be slapped on like a Band-Aid during that jog around the track or hike up the hill. The engineers put the new prototype up against a conventional pulse oximeter and found that the pulse and oxygen readings were just as accurate. A conventional pulse oximeter typically uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to send red and infrared light through a fingertip or earlobe. Sensors detect how much light makes it through to the other side. Bright, oxygen-rich blood absorbs more infrared light, while the darker hues of oxygen-poor blood absorb more red light. The ratio of the two wavelengths reveals how much oxygen is in the blood. For the organic sensors the researchers used red and green light, which yield comparable differences to red and infrared when it comes to distinguishing high and low levels of oxygen in the blood.

INNO VATIONS INNOV

Plight of Taj Mahal

he iconic marble dome and soaring minarets of the Taj Mahal gradually loses its dazzling appearance. The scientists now know why. Researchers from the United States and India are pointing the finger at airborne carbon particles and dust for giving the gleaming white landmark a brownish cast. Knowing the culprits in the discoloration is just the first step in cleaning up the Taj Mahal. Scientists now must determine where the particles are coming from to develop strategies for controlling them. The results are published in the journal Environmental Science &

Technology Built in the 1600s by Mughal 130 feet. Attracting millions of visitors emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third each year, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. Beginning in the 1970s, observers noted a brownish cast to the white marble that makes up the structures.

wife, Mumtaz Mahal, the structure is a mausoleum that includes a massive marble dome 115 feet high and minarets that reach

Potato extract to curb obesity

he rate of obesity rise unbridled. Obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Now the scientists at McGill University have discovered that a simple extract of Irish potatoes may limit weight gain from a diet that is high in fat and refined carbohydrates and reduce weight gain to a surprising extent. It is also found that it could be a solution for preventing both obesity and type_2 diabetes. The team plans to patent the potato extract. Popularly known for its carbohydrate content, the potato is also a source of polyphenols. In the famous French diet, considered to be very healthy, potatoes – not red wine – are the primary source of polyphenols. In North America, potatoes come third as a source of polyphenols – before the popular blueberries. Potatoes have the advantage of being cheap to produce, and they’re already part of the basic diet in many countries. The researchers chose a cultivated variety that is consumed in Canada and especially rich in polyphenols. The daily dose of extract comes from 30 potatoes. The investigators made an extract to make it available as a dietary supplement or simply as a cooking ingredient to be added in the kitchen.

Now that researchers know what’s discoloring the Taj Mahal, the next step will be to identify the sources of the particles and plan control strategies. The sources could be local - and the government has already taken steps to reduce vehicle and industrial emissions in the area - or the particles could be coming from longer distances away from the region.

Golden Ratio offers a unity of science

esearchers at the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Pretoria suggest that the “Golden Ratio” designated by the Greek symbol “ (letter Phi) with a mathematical value of about 1.618 - relates to the topology of spacetime, and to a biological species constant (T). They have identified the Golden Ratio within the spiral structure of the cochlea ear-bone in a 2-million-yearold fossil hominin from the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in South Africa. They correlate it to the logarithmic spirals of inter-stellar galaxies, the structure of DNA, the growth of many plants, and even in the Periodic Table of the elements. The study investigated questions mainly relating to the mathematical number (1.618) in the context of chemistry, physics, space-time, relativity and quantum mechanics. Meteorologists also

recognize the number 1.618 in the spiral structure of hurricanes, while astronomers claim that the structure of certain spiral galaxies can also be identified with Phi. They also have identified remarkable cosmic occurrence of this number with reference to spacetime, relativity and quantum mechanics. He claims that concepts associated with relativity and quantum mechanics can be integrated, through the number 1.618. The researchers say that the “time has come to recognize that relativity and quantum theories can be integrated, and linked numerically to the value of a mathematical constant - whether in the context of space-time or biology”. It is hoped that the Golden Ration would unify different sciences.

Pallikkutam | January 2015

CAREER

Open world for mechanical engineers Rahul Raj K

Mechanical engineers can work on all stages of a product, from ideation to final finishing stage, research to design, manufacture and to installation and final commissioning.

xford Dictionary defines Engineering as “A field of study or activity concerned with modification or development in a particular area”. This area defines each branch of engineering. Mechanical Engineering is a branch in engineering which deals with basic physics to complex designing using engineering skills. One who pass out from a recognized institution as a mechanical engineer will be capable of applying his knowledge in almost all fields of engineering, including IT. There are a plenty job opportunities on offer for skilled mechanical engineers which is only because of its wide diversity. The basic problem we notice in a fresher is that he/she is not aware of this opportunity. Branches Talking about mechanical engineering, many of us may think about automobile. There is much more than automobiles in this beautiful field of engineering. It includes automobiles, space research, aeronautical, energy and utilities, air conditioning, bio-mechanical industry, oil and gas, defence and many non-engineering institution like banking, teaching, etc. In the government sector, mechanical have positions reserved in Public Works Department (PWD), Public Transports, Defence, Space and other technological research departments. These engineers can

Pallikkutam | January 2015

also handle high managerial positions in government as well as non-government sector according to their field of expertise and educational qualifications. Industries of employment for mechanical engineers Mechanical engineers can work on all stages of a product, from ideation to final finishing stage, research to design, manufacture and to installation and final commissioning. There are employment

mechanical engineer is different and depend on the area of specialisation and the industry they are working for. In broad terms, the job profile of mechanical engineers may be classified as following functional segments: • Research and Development (R&D): Engineers whose role is to do research and then plan and propose new production technology, process for production, machines and their constituent parts, etc. • Design: Design engineers are responsible to draft technical drawings, manually or with the computer aided programmes.

opportunities available in a wide range of sectors, such as the manufacturing, power, construction and medical industries. Skilled and experienced mechanical engineer can be involved in the management of people and resources, as well as the development and use of new materials and technologies. Even though mechanical engineers have a wide opportunity let’s look at the present trend after degree. Situation of Mechanical Graduates Roles: Mechanical engineering (ME) is considered as the mother of Engineering. In this view the roles and responsibilities of a

• Production: The manufacturing of mechanical components and machines are done under the control of a production Engineer. • Analysis and testing: The major problem in an industry is regarding the failure in production line due to various reason. Mechanical engineers analyse and test different types of machines and their parts to ensure that they function flawlessly. • Installation: Mechanical engineers are responsible for the installation of machines and mechanical parts at the client location. • Maintenance: Maintenance engineer, a mechanical graduate whose primary role is to ensure that machinery is working as per specifications.

CAREER

Highly skilled mechanical engineers can easily command pay packets as high as Rs 40-45 lacks per annum. Public Sector Undertakings and Mechanical Engineers

• Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL)

As of now there are around 250 PSU’s in India, candidates can write various government entrance examinations after completing B.Tech or any equivalent graduation in Mechanical engineering, which are conducted by State PSCs, SSC, UPSC, Postal departments, Railway departments, Defence, etc. And also can appear in GATE exam conducted by IIT’s during their final year of course. Many PSU take GATE score as a criteria. Graduate engineers can even apply for various public sector bank officers’ examination. The aspirants can also write exams of Indian Air Force, defence sector, etc. Another option for these professionals are to take up jobs in various government universities and colleges. As a fresher, the professionals can join as Junior Engineers. Gradually they can go up in positions of Assistant Executive Engineers and higher with experience.

• Mazagon Dock Ltd.

Public Sectors hiring mechanical engineers based on their GATE score: Among the 250 PSU the following public sector undertakings have signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the GATE organizing committee, for using GATE score as a screening tool for recruiting engineers at entry level positions: • Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. • Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. • Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. • National Fertilizers Ltd. • Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd. • National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd. • National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. • Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. • Vizag Steel Plant

• Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd.

field of science and technology can opt for M.Tech, M.E or M.S after a B.Tech or B.E.

• National Aluminium Company Ltd.

Some of various branch of master’s degree after Mechanical graduation are

• Rail India Technical and Economic Services Ltd.

1. Mechanical engineering

Many other PSUs are also processing the MoU and these are in progress, no doubt the list will only expand.

3. Nanotechnology

Payment

5. Structural Analysis

The average monthly pay for mechanical engineers who are new to this field is approximately between Rs.10,000 and Rs.25,000. Campus placements can fetch even better packages for skilled and capable students. Mechanical engineers who have a post-graduate degree from any reputed institute has a chance to get better offers than diploma and graduation degree holders.

6. Kinematics

The annual pay packet depends on a number of factors such as the skill possessed, experience, expertise, the employer, nature of roles and responsibilities, etc. Highly skilled mechanical engineers can easily command pay packets as high as Rs 40-45 lacks per annum. About a post-graduation in Mechanical Before coming to the topic, many students who are pursuing there under graduation in engineering, especially the final years, the next thing they would think is whether to go for a PG in management or carry forward the technical qualification with an M.Tech. It is a fact that both the options offer good career opportunities. But the decision of what to study is never an easy one. That goal is purely based on the goals/ aspirations of the candidates in the question.

2. Mechanical Design

4. Micro Electro Mechanical Systems

7. Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing 8. Production Engineering 9. Turbo machinery and Combustion Systems 10.Mechatronics and Robotics 11.Computational Fluid Dynamics and Acoustics 12.Rapid Prototyping 13.Mechanics 14.Thermodynamics and Thermo-Science In India or Abroad ? The eligibility criterion for pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering in India, is to hold a bachelor’s degree in (B.E/B.Tech) in mechanical engineering or any other equivalent degree, given by any approved university. And for studying in any of the primer institute and most of the college in India a candidate should appear for Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) and should have appreciable score.

GATE is conducted jointly by the IISc and seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Continue in technical field… Madras and IIT Roorkee) on behalf of the Post-graduation after a degree in mechanical National Coordination Board – GATE, engineering is a better option than entering Department of Higher Education, Ministry into an industry just after your degree. of Human Resource Development Those who are willing to continue in the (MHRD), Government of India.

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CAREER

A B.Tech. from an IIT with an MBA from an IIM is the dream combination as widely approved. And it need not be a B. Tech. from an IIT too; any student passing out from IIMs can get up to 15-20 lakhs per month. Graduates who are interested to pursue M.S. must take exams like TOEFL/IELTS (English proficiency tests) and GRE to get scholarships. Now a day most of the foreign universities are offering graduate courses at affordable costs and many banks are providing loans for doing higher studies. GRE: The Graduate Record Examination is a standardized test that is an admissions requirement for many graduate schools in English speaking countries. It is created and administered by the Educational Testing Service. The percentile scored in this exam will determine whether you can do M.S in foreign nations. The GRE revised General Test measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking and analytical writing skills. TOEFL: The Test of English as a Foreign Language evaluates the potential success of an individual to use and understand Standard American English at a college level. It is required for nonnative applicants at many Englishspeaking colleges and universities. A TOEFL score is valid for two years and then is deleted from the official database. IELTS: International English Language Testing System, is designed to assess the language ability of candidates who want to study or work where English is the language of communication. The IELTS tests candidates in writing, reading, listening and speaking sections. Management Degree A degree in Management is primarily for honouring up the management skills which is needed to prepare for generalist roles in various Non-technical industries offering new opportunities for an otherwise technical person. MBA opens up avenues like consultancy, finance, banking etcâ&#x20AC;Ś which are not technology driven. The main advantage that the student feels in choosing a course in management is that there are wide number of career opportunities as compared that of going for an M.Tech. It is also known that the

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difficulty levels and rigours (strictness) are lesser with MBA degrees as compared to that of M.Tech. The number of openings in any industry for an MBA grad is more than the career openings for an M.Tech grad, because in a Technical industry the companies would like to prefer an experienced candidate. The next a student can go for after completing an MBA is either they can go for an PhD or any Certificate course according to the Interest of the candidate.

Test (MAT) for admission to MBA and Allied Programs of over 414 Business schools. Test consists of 200 questions on Language Comprehension, Mathematical Skills, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning and Indian and Global Environment.

The author is final year mechanical student at Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology.

However, if one is more interested in working in the management aspect of companies rather than engineering line, one should go for the MBA degree. The focus today is on acquiring multiple skills and cross functionality rather than specializations. MBA will enable to work from the management front where they can manage the resources for the benefits of various aspects of the business. A B.Tech. from an IIT with an MBA from an IIM is the dream combination as widely approved. And it need not be a B. Tech from an IIT too; any student passing out from IIMs can get up to 15-20 lakhs per month. In addition, one takes an MBA after M. Tech too, but it is the getting into top B-Schools that matter. CAT conducted by the IIMs (Indian Institute of Managements) is considered as the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s toughest exam even though the syllabus is just the portions up to standard 10 in school. Some of the B Schools are conducting their own entrance examination and some are conducting common entrance like MAT. Entrance exams: CAT: Common Admission Test: The Indian Institutes of Management will conduct Common Admission Test for admission into PG programs in management in all IIMs. The exam is designed with 65 questions in two sections: Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation and Verbal Ability and logical reasoning. MAT: All India Management Association (AIMA) conducts Management Aptitude

YOURS TEA CHERL Y TEACHERL CHERLY

How I became a teacher

My experience with English Rinjima Ravindran

Being a Malayalam medium student to pass English language was a Herculean task. Yes, I hated this language and it got revealed through the advice given to my friends “we should not learn this language, it is the mother tongue of our born-enemies – the Britishers”.

o me, teaching was not a passion but a fascination during childhood. Like any other girls who are born in conservative families, me too imitated the teachers who were long haired and beautiful. Me along with my girl cousins wore old sarees of my mother, tied one end of the bath towel to our head as the rest covered our backs touching the ground as long hair. Children’s magazines were our teaching material. We could play this no ‘enact’ this (I should say) without sarees or even without the false hair but it was unimaginable without the ‘cane’ as it was the inevitable part o four teaching .We rejoiced ourselves by beating the plants and trees of our garden.

Its leaves were the stretched out hands and we asked ‘them’ not to do many things like our parents who said ‘no’s and ’don’t’s to most of the things we did at that time. Once during the vacation I got enough from my mother with the same stick as we destroyed the whole garden by beating but all my companions had left the place and I was the one who suffered the consequence. I cried my eyes out and looked at the garden. Through my blurred eyes I could see the forcefully fallen leaves and blooms. All my fancy for teaching ended up there. This is only a memory of my childhood and of course it has nothing to do with me becoming a teacher. Once an old lady of about sixty, a foreteller came home and proclaimed that I

will be teacher in future. My mother laughed hearing the same and I was sure that she was laughing at. My face grew pale as I myself knew that I was not an outstanding student to become a teacher but just an above average. Even though I could score good marks in all other subjects the total remained 60 to 70 percentage as my second language acted as the villain. Being a Malayalam medium student to pass English language was a Herculean task. Yes, I hated this language and it got revealed through the advice given to my friends “we should not learn this language, it is the mother tongue of our born enemies – the Britishers”. The situation remained the same even after me reaching 8th std. During that academic year one of the teachers of English taught

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YOURS TEA CHERL Y TEACHERL CHERLY

I am not sure whether my experience makes someone inspired but I assure, we cannot make miracles unless and until we are determined. mother called me aside and told that I am worthy to become a teacher and it was her wish too. Thereafter it is the tale of hard You may think that this incident was the work . Now let me tell you proudly that I turning point to make me a teacher of serve as a PG teacher of English in Sree English. But it was not. This hatred sankara vidyalayam senior secondary remained for two more years till I reach the school, Vaikom. Whenever I meet with a higher secondary level. new batch I share this experience with them because it helps me to vanish the gap Meanwhile I have started reading books The very next day when the teacher came and gradually it became a passion. The fact between my students and myself. to the class, I examined her face. There was that I read only Malayalam books is out of I am not sure whether my experience no tinge of an expression than usual. Still I question. I confronted with a new ray of makes someone inspired but I assure, we couldn’t relax. Added to my tension she light when I was sixteen. The teacher of cannot make miracles unless and until we started giving away the answer sheets one English was a priest and he proved to be are determined. by one. Then it was my turn. She worthy of shaking the stone. He unveiled ‘cordially invited’ me to the front and told the soul of poetry and fiction. In pursuit to read the answers to the rest. I staggered. of this new horizon a change over occurred The author is teacher of english at She read the question and asked them to and I started reading English books. With Sree Sankara Vidyalayam Senior listen to an ‘intelligent’ answer. There was this interest I joined for B.A. English Secondary School, Vaikom. no hope to escape. I started reading the literature and scored good marks which Manglish answer. The whole class went brought me to the third position. My us the story of ‘The Prince and the little swallow’. I could follow it but the dilemma occurred when the class test was conducted. Even though I knew the answers I couldn’t write a single sentence in English as it was alien to me. A solution was found soon. I wrote all the answers in Manglish!! You can imagine the rest.

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into a loud laughter. Tears were rolling down my cheeks.

CURRENT AFF AIRS AFFAIRS

O tempora! O mores! (Oh what times, Oh what morals!) Adv. PKG Tharakan

Following the carnage in Peshawar School

No war has ever settled any issues, on the contrary every war has created more damaging issues crippling human culture and world’s future.

orning hours on Dec 17, 2014 and innocent students prepare for their classes peacefully, comes in armed killers shooting them indiscriminately on a mission of vengeance. The whole world froze to this dastardly act of pure barbarism. Still more devilish was an underground group of cold blood buddies taking credit for that “bold” act as if murdering is sacred, honorable or valiant.

Such insanity of the wildest order and we lament with the Great Cicero: O tempora, O mores!

round and around. And some ignition somewhere by someone’s fault and it is fuming hell fire to live on and last long.

Whether we are aware of it or not, such satanic acts are what protracted hatred breeds ultimately. A series of such isolated acts going upstream and then it is a war from where there is no going back possible anyway. Hatred is like fuel. Spread it

Let us wake up to the realization that hatred, howsoever mild or innocent, is nascent war. War is a devastating wild fire that the bon fire of hatred could trigger. Check hatred and its spread, war has been checked effectively.

Pallikkutam | January 2015

CURRENT AFF AIRS AFFAIRS

Every effort has to be made to control teaching and preaching of hate philosophy from grass root level, be that in the name of almighty or almightiness. Check hatred and its spread in human hearts and war has been conquered.

History has it that war waged anywhere anytime, has been the end product of hate and mistrust among individuals, communities or nations followed by a will to subdue the hated lot and a surge of greed to take absolute control over such. The second world war was the culmination of hatred towards Jews. AntiSemitism had spread far and wide the world over for almost 200 years preceding

WW2 to such great an extent that some world leaders believed the only option was to shave off the entire community of Jews from the planet. The Holocaust – annihilation of Six million Jews and fifty four million non-jews in all – is what years of such “hate philosophy” could naturally and eventually deliver. Today, with blunt ‘like’ for a Faith and absolute ‘dislike’ for apostates, infidels and the rest of the world, stage is once again as at the old ignition point of that deadliest war in human history that ran amok long six years and the difference is that any war triggered now will never linger on; it would end in no time, within micro seconds - thanks to the he\huge cache of atomic and nuclear arsenal in the hands of the advanced and rich nations that vie for power and supremacybe that economic, political or spiritual. Danger of total extinction could be any moment. In WW2, the head of Third Reich Hitler could capture space and time to commit suicide comfortably. It won’t be so any more. The IS, the Taliban, Al Qaeda and similar fundamentalist outfits thrive on hate philosophy and it is sad they take cover under their Faith System. Rightful followers of that Faith unfortunately have to carry the blunt of the filth such deviant groups perpetrate on them as well as over humanity. Maybe they could decry louder. Violence begets violence more severe and more than disastrous. That is the prognosis. “There is no problem on the planet that can’t be solved without violence”, said Andrew Young. Gandhiji proved yet more that non-violence can win better than fighting and killing would ever. Gandhiji’s opinion that strict adherence to the principle “eye for an eye” would make the whole world blind is

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intriguing indeed demanding a paradigm shift. Similar goes the principle after a kafir. Cherishing charity to all as Lincoln said may not go beyond our lips but harboring malice to none should become real, factual. Bertrand Russell said it all “either co-existence or no existence”. It is time the conscious and the sober raise their voice against “hate philosophy” in any form, in any creed or in any place. We need to re-write human attitude the world over against hatred and war. “Those who want peace, let them prepare for war” does not defend any de facto war, it says of preparedness just, not of waging a physical war. No war has ever settled any issues, on the contrary every war has created more damaging issues crippling human culture and world’s future. Wars subvert life and invert progress. Checking insurgency has to start with checking for the elements hatred within hearts, individually. Every effort has to be made to control teaching and preaching of hate philosophy from grass root level, be that in the name of almighty or almightiness. Check hatred and its spread in human hearts and war has been conquered. A review of the series of horrors WW2 put life throughout the globe and of its horrendous aftermath that tarries on still now could scourge belligerency trends from erring minds. Call it the just war or the moral war that takes place within human hearts – a war without arms and ammunitions, without disasters or destructions, without cries and wails, one that builds up never ever wraps up.

The author is presently heads the panel of a Corporate Consultancy firm in Kochi. He is also into social activism, public speaking, HR training and column writing.

INTERVIEW

95% of the universe is still unknown Because of several reasons, the most popular theory regarding the origin of universe is Big Bang theory. It says the universe stared with a Big Bang i.e., a big explosion.

r. Sanjit Mitra is Assistant Professor (Scientist E) at the InterUniversity Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune. He has done researches in the areas of Gravitational Waves (GW),Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), Computational Astrophysics and Cosmology. He was awarded fellowship by NASA, USA for Planck postdoctoral , LIGO thesis prize - Honorary mention, 2007 post-doctoral fellowship awarded by CNES, France and 2001 - 2006 Junior and Senior Research Fellowship awarded by CSIR. He visited SH Colleges Thevera to participate a seminar recently and Dr. Joe Jacob, from Department of Physics, Newman College, Thodupuzha interviewed him.

ways. They wanted to predict where they going to see the next planet. But that is not all about Astronomy. It is more fundamental. Because we wanted to understand how nature works. That is not just predicting where the planet is going to

Could you please tell us what Astronomy is all about? From the very beginning of mankind, human beings wanted to understand the night sky. They interpreted it in their own

be tomorrow, but why is it there. It is not about planets only. Initially it was about things which we can see with our naked

eye. But with the development of technology and computers, we are going deeper and deeper in our understanding. Previously, with our naked eye, we were limited to few light years. Now we can reach to a few billion light years. Even then we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a full picture of the universe. Astronomy in general has very big impact in the society. It was an ancient science, it did not require any experiment to start with. There is lot of social activities associated with it. It plays a bigger role in the society like medicine. The satellites, CCTVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, GPS etc are directly or indirectly motivated by Astronomy. The whole humanity is working to find out why we are here and what is going to happen to us. Astronomy has a much bigger role to solve this problem. Can you differentiate theoretical Astronomy and observational Astronomy?

Pallikkutam | January 2015

INTERVIEW

Big Bang theory absolutely has no idea about what happened before that. I personally do not agree with this differentiation. But generally astronomy has two parts: first we see something and to explain it. Both require expertise from the same set of people. Some people put more effort in getting the observations and others spent more time in explaining that. The observers need a good idea about the theory and a good theorist need very good observation. Then only it works properly.

You mentioned about dark energy. Can you elaborate on it?

Over the last 20 years we have perform several experiments and then we have entered into an era, which is known as precision cosmology where many parameters are measured with high precision and we had a very good understanding of cosmos. But on the other hand, very good understanding is far from How do you evaluate the role of Hubble a complete understanding. We understand only about 5% of the constituents of the space telescope in Astronomy? universe. We have no idea about dark Hubble telescope played a crucial role. It energy which is about 75% of universe. showed us up to a distance which we Please tell us more about Cosmology. could not even think of at the time of its installation. It showed us galaxies which Cosmology is about how study of the are extremely far away. We knew about universe as a whole from a very early stage dark energy now. Astronomy has to the present era where we see galaxies, immensely benefitted from Hubble stars etc. It is the study of cosmos. In telescope. But it is not the only telescope cosmology we have to observe different which contribute to astronomy, there are objects of recent times, pictures of older other instruments helped the growth of universe and universe of our time. Then we this science. develop a theory about universe.

Pallikkutam | January 2015

Is there any widely accepted theory about the formation of the universe? Because of several reasons, the most popular theory regarding the origin of universe is Big Bang theory. It says the universe started with a Big Bang i.e., a big explosion. The space and time suddenly started expanding. even though it is the most popular theory, we have absolutely no understanding of certain major components of it. We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know how the Big Bang happened. But if there was Big Bang, we can put theoretical assumptions and models to extrapolate to the current scenario. Even then there are missing links. For example, we need a phase which the universe expanded extremely rapidly and ceased to inflate further, without which the big bang theory cannot be complete. Big Bang theory absolutely has no idea about what happened before that. So we canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t say Big Bang theory is the correct theory of the origin of universe, even though it is the most popular one.

ASPECTS

Animals and birds as teachers: The Story of Satyakama Jabala Dr. Augustine Thottakara

The teacher said: “No one who is not a Brahmana can speak thus. Dear boy, bring the sacrificial fuel; I shall initiate you as a brahmacarin, for you have not deviated from truth.” He duly initiated Satyakama for Vedic and Vedantic learning.

he story of Satyakama Jabala is narrated in Chandogya Upanisad IV.4-9. Satyakama was a smart and intelligent boy. He lived with his mother Jabala. He had no father. The boy slowly developed taste for spiritual life and quest for knowledge, and wanted to go to a guru for education. He said to his mother: “Mother, I desire to live the life of a celibate student of sacred knowledge in the teacher’s house. Of what lineage am I?” (IV.4.1) He wanted to know his family lineage. Jabala said to him that she did not know the lineage, and that he was born to her in her youth. Presumably she had relationship with many men, and Satyakama was born out of wedlock. She told her son to tell the guru that he is Satyakama, son of Jabala. The boy approached the famous guru Haridrumata Gautama, and requested him to initiate him

for Vedic studies. Guru asked him about the lineage. Satyakama replied as his mother has instructed him. “Sir, I do not know of what lineage I am. I asked my mother; she replied: ‘I, who was engaged in many works and in attending on others, got you in my youth. Having been such, I could not know of what lineage you are. However, I am Jabala by name and you are named Satyakama’. So Sir, I am Satyakama Jabala” (V.4.4). The teacher said: “No one who is not a Brahmana can speak thus. Dear boy, bring the sacrificial fuel; I shall initiate you as a brahmacarin, for you have not deviated from truth (IV.4.5).” He duly initiated Satyakama for Vedic and Vedantic learning. The guru, however, did not give the new disciple any instructions. On the contrary, he selected four hundred lean, weak and

frail cows, and asked Satyakama to tend them in the forest. The boy willingly obliged and drove the cows to the forest. He vowed that he will not return to teacher’s house till the cows become one thousand. He lived in the forest with the cows for a long time. Then one day the chief bull addressed the boy: “Satyakama!’ “Yes, revered Sir”, thus he responded. ‘Dear boy, we have reached a thousand; take us to the house of the teacher” (IV.5.1). The bull then said: “Let me instruct you about one foot of Brahman also (IV.5.1).” The bull said that there are four quarters for Brahman. The first quarter (foot) consists of the four quarters of the Universe. One who meditates on this first quarter, that is, on the four quarters of the Universe, will win the radiant regions in

Pallikkutam | January 2015

ASPECTS

“Dear boy, you shine like a knower of Brahman; who is it that has instructed you?” “Beings other than men. But I wish, revered Sir, that you would teach it to me” the next world. In the evening, after penning the cows, he kindled the fire. Then the fire volunteered to instruct Satyakama about the second foot of Brahman, which has also four parts, namely, the earth, the sky, the heaven and the ocean. One who meditates on this quarter with four parts will win the endless and undecaying regions. Satyakama continued his journey with the cows to the guru’s home. On the way the swan flew to him, and said that he will instruct him about the next foot (quarter) of Brahman. The third foot consists also of four parts, namely, fire, sun, moon and the lightening. One who meditates on this quarter obtains effulgent regions. The fourth foot of Brahman was explained by the Madgu bird (a kind of diver-bird), which, again has four parts, namely, prana, eye, ear and mind. The

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tradition and particular Dharma-sastra tradition. Thus there are Rgvedic families, Black Yajurvedic and White Yajurvedic All these things happened on the way to families, Samavedic families and the teacher’s house as he was driving the Atharvavedic families. In the same way thousand cows. Finally he reached the families belong to specific Dharma-sastra house of the teacher. “The teacher tradition. According to sage Yajnavalkya, addressed him, “Satyakama!” “Yes, there are twenty Dharma-sastras. In fact, revered Sir”, he responded. “Dear boy, you the actual number of Dharma-sastras is shine like a knower of Brahman; who is it much higher. Some of the important that has instructed you?” Satyakama Dharma-sastras are: Manu, Yajnavalkya, assured him, “Beings other than men. But I Apastamba, Gautama, Vasistha, wish, revered Sir, that you would teach it Baudhayana, Parasara, Narada, Brhaspati, to me (IV.9.1-2).” The teacher then taught Katyayana, Kautilya, Harita, Angirasa, him the same doctrines, which were Daksa, and Visvamitra. The cast Hindu already imparted to him by the bull, the families belong to one of these traditions. fire, the swan and the Madgu bird. When a man or a student introduces himself to an authority or to a teacher, he Observations: has to mention his family name with the ♦ The issue of family lineage: The caste Vedic and Dharma-sastric lineages. Hindu families belong particular Vedic result of this meditations is the attainment of extensive regions in the next world.

ASPECTS

“He who dwells in the earth and is within it, but whom the earth does not know, whose body is the earth and who controls the earth from within, He is the inner Controller; He is your Self, the Immortal” ♦ The guru of Satyakama was Haridrumata Gautama. We could discern two important characteristics in the behaviour of the guru Gautama. His compassion outweighed the dictates of tradition and scriptural injunctions. The eligibility for the learning of a particular branch entails two things: Firstly, the genuine desire to learn this science . In the case of Satyakama it was there. Secondly, freedom from impediments and worthiness to enter into this sacred realm (samarthya). To learn Vedas and Vedanta, one should be a male member of one of the three upper castes. Only these are eligible for initiation, and only the initiated can take up the sacred Vedic and Vedantic studies. Though the parentage and lineage of Satyakama was unknown, and though it was known that the boy was the son of a woman of bad reputation, the guru was courageous and generous enough to initiate him for the sacred studies. He might have said to himself ‘one becomes a Brahmin not by birth but by deeds’. More than erudition and eloquence what a guru really should possess is compassion. The all-pervasive compassion and benevolence have precedence over the merits and demerits, talents and stupidities, eagerness and mediocrity of the student. Guru is like the sun. The sun shines on the virtuous and wicked, on the intelligent and idiot alike; it’s shining rays make no distinction between the palace of the king and the hut of the beggar. Like that ‘good preceptor show mercy to even useless beings’.1 Sankaracarya in his Vivekacudamani makes the guru utter the following words of consolation: “Fear not, O learned one, there is no danger for you. There is a means to cross over this sea of existence I shall show you the very way by which the sages have traveled to the other shore. There is a way to put an end to your fear of samsâra Through that way you will be able to cross the ocean of existence to the supreme bliss” (vv.43-44). In the same text Sankara qualifies a guru as the ‘best of

the knowers of Brahman and an ocean of mercy’ (v.15).

♦ The discerning power of the preceptor stands out. He intuited that the boy is stainless and earnest and his desire is genuine and intense. He saw in this aspirant for spiritual perfection a genuine seeker of the knowledge of Brahman, and a future guru. In fact, later he became a great guru, and Chandogya Up. IV.10 ff. depict Satyakama as an eminent Upanisadic teacher. It should also be noted that Gautama did not instruct Satyakama immediately. He tested the candidate’s willingness and bodily and mental preparedness by giving him some arduous household duties (tending the cows of the

comes to the seeker not only from the sacred scriptures, not only from the mouth of the teacher, not only by perception and inference, but also from different objects of this wonderful world. Life and vision of life of modern world have lost contact with the nature and its wonders. We need to reinvent and re-establish this salutary relationship with the nature and elements.

♦ Brhadaranyaka Upanisad narrates a

debate between Yajnavalkya and another Upanisadic philosopher named Uddalaka, the son of Aruna. Uddalaka asked Yajnavalkya about the inner controller of all beings. Yajnavalkya replied by enumerating a long list of things and said that Brahman is the inner controller of all and that all these things form the body of Brahman. He begins with the earth and said: “He who dwells in the earth and is within it, but whom the earth does not know, whose body is the earth and who controls the earth from within, He is the inner Controller; He is your Self, the Immortal”. The philosopher then repeats this sentence and says that God is the inner Controller and inner Self of water, fire, midspace, air, heaven, sun, all the directions, moon and stars, ether, darkness, light, all beings, vital breath, speech, teacher in the forest). Then only he eye, ear, mind, skin, intellect and semen. imparted the sacred knowledge. Yajnavalkya concludes his long discourse with the following statement: “He is never ♦ The most important message of this seen, but is the seer; He is never heard, but story is the fact that sources other than is the Hearer; He is never thought of, but is human can impart knowledge and wisdom. the Thinker; He is not known, but is the The teachers of Satyakama were five: the Knower. There is no other hearer than He, bull, the fire, the swan and the Madgu bird there is no other thinker than He, there is and the sage Haridrumata Gautama. How no other knower than He. He is the inner do we know objects? According to Indian controller – your own Self and the philosophy there are four main means for Immortal. Everything else besides him is right knowledge (pramana). They are: sorrowful”. In short Yajnavalkya was Perception (pratyaksa): direct knowledge saying that all the great elements by which of objects through senses; inference the universe is constituted, all the sense (anumana): knowledge arrived at by organs of knowledge, all the organs of reasoning and arguments; verbal testimony activity, and finally all the individual (sabda or sastra): knowledge gained by the selves, all these things, form the body of medium of spoken or written words; and God. God is the inner Self of everything, analogy (upamana): knowledge through beginning from the non-conscious, 2 analogy and comparison. Knowledge

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ASPECTS

All religions attribute also, in varying intensity, sacredness to water, fire, wind, mountains, rivers, trees, etc. and use them symbolically in their religious worship. We may call these elements and elemental objects as cosmic symbols used in a religious and cultic context. changeable matter and ending in the conscious, immutable individual selves. I am tempted to quote a beautiful passage from Mahabharata the great Epic poem of India: The father of all creatures, God, made the sky. From the sky he made water and from water he made fire and air. From fire and air the earth came into existence. Mountains are his bones, earth is the flesh, sea is the blood, sky is his abdomen. Air is his breath, fire is his splendour, rivers are nerves. The sun and moon which are called Agni and Soma, are the eyes of Brahman. The upper part of the sky is his head. The earth is his feet and directions are the hands.

♦ Eco-spirituality tries to seek and find God in and through nature and creation. It tells us that the way to God is not only prayer and meditation, sacraments and scriptures, rituals and rites, but also this

Pallikkutam | January 2015

universe in which we live, move and have our corporeal existence. All religious traditions of this world unequivocally confess and declare God’s presence in this cosmos, and no religion preaches use of violence against nature. God is present in cosmos, some said, through his power and knowledge. ‘God pervades everything in nature’, says the Upanishad: isa vasyam idam sarvam. The pantheists would say God is everything and everything is God. Some said that cosmos is the ontological extension of God. It is his body, etc. All religions attribute also, in varying intensity, sacredness to water, fire, wind, mountains, rivers, trees, etc. and use them symbolically in their religious worship. We may call these elements and elemental objects as cosmic symbols used in a religious and cultic context. Therefore, acknowledging God and his supremacy in and through nature is a matter of fact and

a concern of every religion. It should also be noted that much before God revealed himself to humanity through scriptures, or, long before God inspired human agents to write down his messages and instructions to the world in written texts sacred to respective religions, he personally wrote his own scriptures, namely, the nature, and he keeps this sacred book always open so that the humans may read it and imbibe inspirations and insights from it for their own happy existence and for the happiness of all beings. Our ancestors were better disposed and eminently inclined to respect and safeguard this sacred book of God. Unfortunately our age has miserably failed to recognize the sacrality of nature, and the fact that this planet is the locus where we have to bring about the eschatological goal of our existence, and we are reaping the outcome.

RAINBOW

Science facts

Physics Facts

heck out these fun physics facts . Learn about a wide range of cool topics such as gravity, electricity, light, sound and much more. Enjoy the world of science with our amazing physics facts.

♦ Because of differences in gravity, a 200 pounds person would only weigh 76 pounds on Mars.

♦ Electric eels can stun both predators and prey with electric shocks of around 500 volts.

♦ Energy from food is usually measured in joules or calories.

♦ Light from the Earth takes just 1.255 seconds to reach the

♦ Sound travels at a speed of around (1,230 kilometres per hour). ♦ When traveling at 80 kilometres per hour, cars use around half of their fuel just to overcome wind resistance.

♦ Water can work against gravity, moving up narrow tubes in a process called capillary action.

♦ A magnifying glass uses the properties of a convex shaped lens to magnify an image, making it easier to see.

♦ A scientist who studies physics is known as a physicist. ♦ Uranus is the only planet in our solar system that rolls on its side like a barrel, while Venus is the only planet that spins in the opposite direction to Earth.

♦ The fastest land animal in the world is the Cheetah, clocking a max speed of around 113 km per hour.

♦ 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics was won by Albert Einstein for his work in the field of photo-electronic effect.

Pallikkutam | January 2015

RAINBOW

Quiz 1. When light bends as it enters a different medium the process is known as what? 2. A magnifying glass is what type of lens? 3. Electric resistance is typically measured in what units? 4. A person who studies physics is known as a ...........? 5. Metals expand when heated and do what when cooled? 6. What is the first name of the famous scientist who gave us Newtonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s three laws of motion? 7. What state of the art computer technology is used to train pilots when wanting to copy the experience of flying an aircraft? 8. Electric power is typically measured in what units? 9. The most recognized model of how the universe begun is known as the ..........? 10. Who is the Hubble Space Telescope named after? 11. The wire inside an electric bulb is known as the what? 12. Theoretical physicist James Maxwell was born in which country? 13. Infrared light has a wavelength that is too long or short to be visible for humans? 14. What kind of eclipse do we have when the moon is between the sun and the earth? 15. True or false? Iron is attracted by magnets. 16. What is the earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s primary source of energy? 17. Conductors have a high or low resistance? 18. Electric current is typically measured in what units? 19. What scientist is well known for his theory of relativity? 20. Earth is located in which galaxy?

Chemistry Quiz Answers 1. Hydrogen

6. Chemistry

11. True

16. False

2. A nucleus

7. Au

12. Nuclear fission

17. Base

3. True

8. Potassium

13. Water

18. Isotopes

4. Nitrogen (around 78%)

9. Electrons

14. Argon (around 1%)

19. True

5. False

10. Mercury

15. Reactants

20. Carbon

Pallikkutam | January 2015

REFLECTIONS

The Pain Passes, but the Beauty Remains Jose Panthaplamthottiyil

Once his artist friend, Henri Mattise asked him, “Why do you paint when it causes you so much pain?” Then Renoir replied with a smile, “the pain passes, but the beauty remains”. What Renoir said about his painting is also true about our life. ierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) grew up in a working class family in Limoges, France. As a young man he started his work in a porcelain factory. Pretty soon he enrolled in an art school and started painting. Initially he was not financially successful. But slowly his “impressionist” painting in full color made him rich and famous. The fact that in 1990, his two paintings – Bal au Moulin de la Galette and Montmartre – were sold for $78.1 million shows how well respected and admired his works are.

when it causes you so much pain?” Then Renoir replied with a smile, “the pain passes, but the beauty remains.” What Renoir said about his painting is also true about our life. There is so much pain and suffering in our life. The pain passes, but the impact of our suffering will last. Think about the troubles and the sufferings the parents go through in bringing up their children. Their troubles and sufferings don’t last. But the impact of the sufferings they undergo will last. That is the beauty of suffering.

By 1892, Renoir was afflicted with severe arthritis. However, he continued to paint on a regular basis even when it caused him stabbing pain. Once his artist friend, Henri Mattise asked him, “Why do you paint

During the Indian Independence Struggle Mahatma Gandhi and other national and local leaders had to go through much suffering and pain. Many of them were arrested and put into jail for many years.

However, their suffering brought us freedom. If we are enjoying the fruits of political freedom now it is primarily because of their commitment to face any amount of suffering for the cause of freedom. Look at the suffering and death of Jesus. Jesus underwent excruciating pain during his death on the cross. He suffered so much as well depicted in the movie, Passion of the Christ, produced and directed by Mel Gibson. His suffering brought so much beauty to our life, giving us hope in an everlasting life after death. No suffering is meaningless. It always has a redeeming value. Let us always try to look at our own sufferings in the context of its redeeming value.

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