ScooNews May 2016 by ScooNews

Volume 1

Issue 2

May 2016 IGNITING MINDS

Children must be taught how to think, not what to think Margaret Mead

THE

LEDE Editor Juhi Shah Assistant Editor Meenal Singh Reporter Hridya Narang Website Team Rolika Chamyal Contributors Deepak Kalra, Manjari Singh, Seema Kumar, Shobhita Rajagopal, Vinay Singh Art Direction Rexsu Cherry Design D Sharma

Editorial Advisor Shobhita Rajagopal

Challenge of balance CEO & Co-Founder Ravi Santlani Head National Sales & Marketing Ankur Verma Asst Vice President Sales Vanya Lodha Asst Manager Sales Jaspreet Kaur

EDITORIAL OFFICE EduPulse Media Pvt Ltd, J-3, Jhalana Institutional Area, Second Floor, Jaipur 302004 India Email: editor@scoonews.com FOR ALL SALES QUERIES Ankur Verma: +91-9057409515 sales@scoonews.com FOR SUBSCRIPTION +91-9057409501 subscribe@scoonews.com PRINTED AND PUBLISHED by Ravi Santlani on behalf of EduPulse Media Pvt Ltd PRINTED AT Navpack & Print, Dainik Navajyoti Building, Amrapali Circle, Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur 302021 India, www.navpacknprint.com and PUBLISHED AT EduPulse Media Pvt Ltd, J-3, Jhalana Institutional Area, Second Floor, Jaipur 302004 India

he case, just days ago, of Shalom Hills International School, Gurgaon striking off the names of 40 students fromschool rolls after their parents allegedly refused to pay the “increased fee” being charged by the school has brought into sharp relief similar parental discontent simmering since January in the state of Rajasthan. It is a fact that the cost of private school education of a certain ‘standard’ in India has reached a level incomprehensible till even a few years ago; in some places costing as much as, or even 40% more than the tuition fee of undergraduate courses abroad. The parents, those who dare to speak out, say they are not against the fee hike and they definitely do not want to extort free education for their kids. But they do need a justification for the amount being charged and transparency from the institutions their wards attend. And that is a reasonable expectation. It is to match this expectation that the government of Rajasthan has brought in a new fee regulation, passing much of the ‘fee-decidingpower’ into the hands of the parents. But how much of a game changer will the Act be remains to seen considering that it is yet to be notified and, once notified, open to court action from unaided private school bodies, itching to take their gloves off. That Rajasthan parents are not as vocal or bold as their NCR counterparts in taking the fight to the finishing line is also a factor in this messy issue where increasingly the payer is being held to ransom by the payee for the lack of choices available to them and the tortuous process that new school admissions are. That is what governments, especially those elected with overwhelming mandate, first need to take note of (before pushing ideological agenda) and strengthen the delivery of public education system to the point that private players have no choice but to go into correction mode. In the hope that this comes to pass in this writer’s lifetime, at least, I remain, yours humbly...

Published for the month of May 2016 Total number of pages 96, including Covers

FIND US ON

May 2016

CONTENTS

22 COVER story

Rajasthan government leaves private schools fuming TRENDING: Higher, stronger, faster!

The recent fee regulation Act brought in by Rajasthan has once again thrown up the fundamental question: can private schools raise fees every year as per market forces or should the government play the role of regulator?

IN FOCUS: The CBSE norms on reducing the weight of school bags has again drawn battle lines between schools & guardians

SCHOOL OF IDEAS: Floating schools in Asia, Africa and Latin America showcase innovation

TEACHER TALKIES: Poster boy of PM Modiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Digital India dream tells ScooNews just who Imran Khan is

GET SET, GO: Juniors run to good health!

14 NEWSMAKER: Actor by the week, Ishita Sharma turns self-defence mentor/ instructor by the weekend through her initiative for young schoolgirls from slums in Mumbai

38 UNBOXED The Radiant samaritan She has had to move the school six times since 2012. But do you think she has let that faze her? Not Aparnaa Lakshmi. She continues, full steam, schooling those who have little or no access to education

PRINCIPALS ON BOARD Dear principals, your views matter to us. Do write in. Is holiday homework necessary for students? In what ways can children be engaged during the summer vacation? How do you think children should spend their holidays? Principals can send 150-200 word responses to editor@scoonews.com, along with their photographs. They should also mention their name, school, address and contact details.

May 2016

YOURS TRULY LET’S MAKE OUR KIDS HUMAN FIRST! Kudos to your great efforts, team ScooNews! Reading The Heritage School’s principal Seema Sapru’s message was so heartwarming. But I wonder if parents, principals and teachers would actually understand her message. Why do we push our wards into the rat race? Have we already forgotten how it felt being forced to perform? Extra-curricular and sports activities too can help a student gain success. Who remembers Sachin Tendulkar’s marks? It’s right not everyone will be a Tendulkar, but why make a child forget what he/she actually wants? Let’s help a child grow into a human being and not a computer. Malthi

But with many private schools behaving as though they are completely unaccountable, where education has become a money-laundering method for businessmen and not for grooming our future generation, does the government really have a hold on the way these schools function? A concerned mother PUNE

PLANT THE SEED OF RESPONSIBILITY Congratulations on the first issue of ScooNews. Pleased at the effort. Wonder why a two-sided magazine!

SEEING WITH THE EAR The first issue is a cause for celebration! Small celebrations leading to something big, that’s life. And I wonder how these blind students of Kolkata see life, when their power to listen becomes their bridge to the world of seeing. It must be courageous for these blind photographers to be passionate about clicking pictures, and then not being able to see what they are so passionate about! Congrats to Chandan and Gungun, the ones who taught them, developed their power to visualize. They surely have helped the blind ‘see’! Joyce Thakur MUMBAI

So, it’s that time of the year that gives jitters to parents, specially those whose children would be seeking admission to school for the first time—parents’ interview, their annual income, background. And in the process, some bright children lose out to things that are not under their parents’ control. Some parents get their children admitted as per their financial standing into government schools that fail to provide quality education. Some others simply fail to qualify for good schools for reasons completely unknown to them. Can this situation be positively handled? Sure, it can be and double shifts are one answer.

DELHI

FLYING THE COOP, BUT WHY? Through you story ‘Have wings, will fly’, I came to know that many students and parents are not happy with the path Indian school education system is on, with most of such students preferring to go abroad. While I agree reservation is definitely a setback, I just cannot fathom why people think India does not offer education as good as the rest of the world. There are several institutions across the country that offer topquality education. In fact, I also believe that the quality of the college a student gets admission in totally depends on the student. A teacher can only guide them, not make them study.

KOCHI

ADMISSION TIMES, JITTERY TIMES

conserving electricity and creating awareness about all of these. Planting trees, however, is still not as popular. I’d suggest to teachers and parents to making it mandatory for their wards to plant trees this session, say as soon as they rejoin school after the summer break; parents can insist on siblings planting a sapling every Rakhi. What say? Small efforts, small children, great results! Madhuban Bansal

Really liked the cover story from one end, ‘Go on, go green: We can save our planet’, and couldn’t help agreeing with Rashmi Dickinson when she said people of our generation are quite used to the way things are, have a ‘chalta hai’ attitude, which thankfully is not as prevalent in our younger generation. It’s really great to see so many youngsters actively participating in such events. I see many students stopping passers-by from littering while at malls, or being conscious about not throwing garbage out of their own cars. And this gives us elders a little more hope, seeing them doing their bit for nature—saving and reusing water, helping save sparrows,

Also, the tough competitions are there for a reason. At a time when the population of India has exploded and the IQ level of children has reached astounding heights, high cut-offs are a requirement. And we must not forget every university issues multiple cut-off lists too! Being part of a developing nation, I strongly believe that the Indian education too is at par with the rest of the world. Getting admission to good colleges many a time seems tough, which is leading to an inequality in incomes. Sometimes, those who don’t deserve get admissions and hence better job offers than the truly deserving. It thus becomes imperative for the government to realize the divides it is creating and thus the discord in society, which ultimately leads to brain-drain. It is becoming a vicious circle, gradually increasing the gap. A parent who happens to be an educator KOLKATA

TALK TO US

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May 2016

Please recycle this magazine and remove inserts and samples before recycling

TRENDING

Making every drop count

Two years back, like the rest of Maharashtra, City Pride School in Pimpri, Pune, reeled under a severe water shortage. Cleaning the campus, washrooms, or watering the plants became impossibly tough, and getting water tankers difficult due to budget constraints. But what a beautiful solution did the school come up with to grave issue? It was a rather easy and simple thing to do, yet highly effective. While analyzing the situation, the school environment committee, headed by geography teacher Sakina Bootwala and including students, noticed that most of their 1,650 students had some water left in their bottles by the end of the day that was ultimately thrown as waste, which, however, could be utilized elsewhere. So, why not in the school itself ? The school placed around 12 buckets at various exit points for the students to pour in the water from their bottles. The collected water gave a new life to the school, it looked cleaner and greener. Here’s what Bootwala said, “We had had to close down our kitchen garden project. Now, with availability of water, students have harvested tomatoes, ladyfinger, spinach and many such vegetables. This learning has been shared by the students at home, where parents are trying to implement ways to save water in their societies.”

Cycle Guru takes schools to the darkest corners of Lucknow

May 2016

These teachers care, and teach!

As they care for their students, these Kerala government school teachers have a lesson to impart to their counterparts in other states. The headmaster and seven teachers of Fort UP School, Thiruvananthapuram, shell out `5001000 out of their salaries to provide nutritious food to 60 economically backward children of their school, as “the money the government gives is simply not enough,” they say. It is a shocking fact that government schools with a strength of 150 students were being granted `5 per student per month for their mid-day meal. Does the amount, even when raised to a ‘high `8’, seem enough to feed a child well? The teachers say it takes `15 per student per day for a meal and have come together to do the needful.

JUST FOR KICKS... Two Teach For India alumni, Neha Sahu and Vikas Plakkot, have started an initiative, Just for Kicks, for students from lower income groups to develop values and life skills through football. “We are working in over 120 low-income schools with more than 1,000 kids across Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad. While it is about football, the kids learn as they play—that you win some and you lose some. We believe sport teaches them to handle stress and emotions, and breaks down barriers of gender, community, class and caste.” JFK organizes inter-school football tournaments called School Football Championships. Like most Indians, Plakkot, 26, studied engineering. But he knew that was not his calling. He believes that sports taught him a lot more than a school or college education did and so he used it as an aid when he began to teach. He and Sahu, a graduate of New York University, now have eight full-time employees and 25 certified coaches.

Cycle Guruji is a moniker that conjures up images of a typical baba in ochre robes, vermillion on his forehead and a mystic smile. You will be amazed to know the man behind this image. It is Aditya Kumar, a science graduate from Lucknow, who cycles around 40 miles with a heavy payload of books and his meagre possessions on the back of his battered old bike to educate slum kids. This science graduate has dedicated his life to teaching in the slums of Lucknow, home to deprived communities, and hence the tag Cycle Guruji. He charges nothing for his lessons, which he delivers all over the city, simply parking his cycle and converting the surrounding areas into an impromptu classroom.

‘One should understand Sanskrit is the only language which can compete with C++, Java, SOL, Python, Javascript... All computers in India using languages like C+, Java, SOL, Python..should b declared antinational once IITians learn working in sanskrit.’

Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia making a dig at Smriti Irani on Twitter after Union HRD minister informed Lok Sabha that IITs have been asked to teach Sanskrit language for facilitating study of science and technology.

“A lot needs to be done before parents understand the importance of education for girls. When I talk about girls’ education, they are mostly dismissive. Why would they want to listen to an 18-year-old, that too a girl?” So worries Karishma, who fought for herself first (and earned her way to education), then for her sister and now many other girls too! A father who deserted the family, a mother who was swept away in the local river, and being left all alone in the world with her younger sister at the ripe old age of 12, to say Karishma was stranded is an understatement. When all she wanted was education for herself and her 10YO sister, Swati, her relatives and neighbours wanted to marry her off. Not only did this braveheart have the courage to stand up against this crime, she took the plunge and began working in the fields to keep the home fires burning and take medical care of her grandparents. All this while, she also continued to attend school, and pushed her sister to do the same! Karishma credits Magic Bus, an NGO that ‘steers children towards a better life’ for helping her find a leader in herself. Having faced difficulties throughout her childhood, today she is fighting the same adversities for other girls.

THE MAGIC OF KARISHMA!

Higher, stronger “Ashima is one of the most talented sport climbers I’ve ever seen. I admire her determination, patience and incredible ‘lightness of being’. I’m happy that she is the most accomplished young climber to date— male or female!” So says Lynn Hill, an international rock-climbing legend who, in 1992, achieved the first free ascent of the Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, about Ashima Shiraishi. A week before turning 15, Shiraishi successfully climbed Horizon (level V15) at Mt Hiei, Japan, becoming the first female to climb a boulder problem rated V15! Way to go, Ashima!

Not dolls, it was a toilet she wanted While Ashima was climbing heights in Japan to create records, Lavanya of Tumkur, Karnataka, was fighting! And this schoolgirl staged a 48-hour hunger protest to get her demand fulfilled. And what did she demand was a mere toilet in her village. However, her protest caused such a revolution in her village, Sira Taluk, that a toilet was built right at her home and a few more in the village. She says that it was her parents who enraged her enough to stage the protest as she had always found it embarrassing running to the fields at every call of nature. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan had also educated her enough to realize the importance of hygiene and sanitation practices. Although her fami-

ly took time to relent, the gram panchayat interfered and helped built the toilet. Now, as Lavnaya had a toilet at her home, others too have realized its importance and built their own toilets!

May 2016

TRENDING

A bright student once, househelp by day now, teacher next!

When Suchita Baraik, 18, says, “My father is bedridden, my mother brought me up single-handed, I studied till Class 8 but was forced to drop out as money was a problem. I wanted to become a teacher,” she might sound a bit upset. In fact, she’d have all the reason to be upset. But she isn’t, this Ranchi girl is rather emboldened. With her father ill, it was up to her mother to bring Suchita up and ensure she studied as much as she could. Though when the mother too got was injured in an accident, Suchita had to take up odd jobs as house-help. But Suchita still managed time to be tutored, and for her matriculation exam, too! Not satisfied with this, she soon began visiting the slums around the airport along with another daily wage worker, Sikandar Lohra, to persuade others to send their children to school, which they planned to start at Suchita’s home. There were no supporters initially but now the enterprising duo has 60 students, age 6-14 years, enrolled in the makeshift school. Her work as a maid continues alongside. But her hectic schedule is not something that troubles her. Money does. Or rather the lack of it. Says the 18 YO teacher, “it is difficult to teach children in rain. My house cannot accommodate more than 10 students. I have asked my former teachers to allow us to use two classrooms in the evening for two hours. The school has agreed to consider our request. I also plan to approach the local ward councillor for help.”

‘Feminists are not saying that girls are better than boys, they’re just saying that women should be equal... Once I discovered feminism, I felt like I was more prepared for the world and what it was going to throw at me and I wasn’t just going to be a stereotypical person...’ Sixth grader, Brigid Banks in her powerful presentation, “More than a Pretty Face” on TED-Ed Talks. She spoke about prevalent gender stereotypes such as hearing boys being told to ‘walk it off’ when they get hurt playing sports, or having a pink-themed nursery room as a baby.

Ministry sets up ranking review panel The Union HRD ministry has constituted a nine member expert committee to analyze feedback on its first ever ranking of the country’s educational institutions (released earlier in April), and review parameters and suggest improvements. The committee is headed by secretary of higher education Vinay Sheel Oberoi. “A lot of feedback is about classification of the institutions. We have to think whether there can be more categories for other disciplines like say law,” a

May 2016

senior official said in an agency report. The committee is to invite representatives from educational institutions for a more comprehensive look at the issues. Among the terms of reference are review of ranking structures, rationalization of parameters, setting up a national institutional ranking framework cell and also examining the possibility of loading all data related to educational institutions, on the All India Survey of Higher Education and a parallel website.

GET SET, GO

Juniors run to GOOD HEALTH! Sunday, 24 April. Jaipur was awash in a sea of yellow as the little champs took to the roads to prove their mettle in every which way ScooNews Correspondent writeback@scoonews.com

unday morning... When the world prefers to sleep till late, Jaipur buzzed with energy as the youngsters of the city crowded the heart of city as early as 5 in the morning of 24 April. With Gurgaon Road Runners (GRR) calling, more than 3200 children had gathered at Amar Jawan Jyoti to participate in Juniorun, a running event organised specially for Jaipur youth, dressed in bright GRR yellow t-shirts and infectious energy.

May 2016

And it wasn’t just Jaipur, but the entire state of Rajasthan that perked up. The very first winner of the marathon, Adhyayan Choudhary, who came out to be faster than the organizer himself at 37.15min for 10km, had come all the way from Mayo College, Ajmer. Flagged off by Jaipur member of parliament, Ramcharan Bohra, the marathon had other eminent guests like Sunil Singodiya (Shri Krishnam Group), Nirmala Rawat (Indo-Swiss Charitable Hospital) in attendance, each one of them awestruck with the way the slow city had suddenly got energetic. Impressed with the huge turnout, Bohra said, “Jaipur is already a smart city, and what makes it smarter is not just the infrastructure but also its people. There have been several marathons organised, however, a run specially organised for kids is the first time. And I take this opportunity to congratulate GRR, the organizers, for a wonderful event.” Parents, bucking up their children, were as enthusiastic. A mother of two young girls, students of classes LKG and UKG, opined that though her girls were too young to win, her entire family had prepared for Juniorun! The marathon was organized for three different age groups, 415, 8-18, 12-18 to run for 3km, 5km, and 10km, respectively, all of which saw active participation. There was yet another category for age group, 0-12 years, which was more of a costume fun run, than a race. Organizer Siddharth Choudhary, who initially found the city slow, soon realized that “there’s a lot of potential in the city. People take time to get energized, but then they don’t give up without trying. All the city needs is a motivator,” he said. The energy was such that costume run judge, Nirmala Rawat, teared up seeing the tiny tots running around, however, she opines that there’s a lot more to be done as “children are so engrossed in electronic gadgets these days that they are spoiling their health, most of them are never fresh mentally, which sets them back. But then, this morning has brought so many children out of their beds, away from their gadgets, is a positive sign and I am definitely falling in love with this morning. We hope to see Juniorun taking our children to the next level now!” And it doesn’t end there. The enthusiasm towards a healthy lifestyle was the most visible in the students of Disha, a school for intellectually and physically challenged. This team of around 20 students, some on wheelchairs, others not able to grasp the reason for so many people to gather together, were all too zestful to run the marathon, and they did. Successfully!

Winners in the 10-km category 12-14 years boys n Ashok Kumar n Adwitya Goenka

15-18 years boys n Adhyayan Choudhary n Lokesh Verma n Rakesh Babawal

15-18 years girls n Kanishka Aggarwal n Shivangi Kumar n Aakriti Nigam

May 2016

NEWSMAKER Actor by the week, Ishita Sharma turns self-defence mentor/instructor by the weekend through her initiative for young schoolgirls from Mumbai slums

THE

Mukka Maar

GIRL

Manjari Singh writeback@scoonews.com

t was just another night when Ishita Sharma was returning from work and six boys on motorcycles chased her down a busy road, harassing her. “It was just 9.30 pm and the road was bustling, which left me wondering if a girl driving a car faces this, think of those little girls who have to be on foot all the time,” said the film and television actor. And that is how MukkaMaar came into being in January 2016, an initiative to train underprivileged girls in martial arts for self-defence. There are now 70 girls between 5-15, Ishita told ScooNews, who wake up early on weekends and reach Versova beach without fail to learn self-

May 2016

defence techniques from her and her trainer using everyday school objects like their pencils, schoolbags, etc. It has been hardly three months and ‘Ishita didi’s’ initiative is already topping the popularity charts in Mumbai. But getting the girls to learn the art was not easy, even when it was absolutely for free. Ishita went door to door only to listen to responses like—‘She is a girl, she should learn dance and music, what’s the use of self-defence?’ ‘How can we send our daughter alone?’ But that did not deter the pretty actor and dancer and finally a few parents from the slums nearby agreed to send their daughters to Versova beach. “I would ask them, what is the connection between being a girl and music and dance? It’s not that their daughters would be made to dance and sing after marriage,” Ishita said.

Much to her surprise, though the girls and their parents were aware of the harassments that the girls faced on the streets yet they would insist on their sons being trained in self-defence instead! “They thought it was for their sons whereas it was their daughters who needed it more,” she said, the amazement still evident in her voice. “They said they would send their daughters only if their sons were allowed too,” Ishita, who agreed. But that soon posed another problem. Other girls would not come if there were boys! Gradually, one parent agreed then another and finally many parents realized the benefits to their daughters in learning. That fateful night Sharma shouted back and drove her tormentors away. She shouted because she could but she advises young girls to use the wisdom to know when to retaliate and when to keep quiet.

NEWSMAKER But getting the girls to learn martial art was not easy, even when it was for free. Ishita went door to door...

Her love affair with the martial arts may be new but she has been acting since she was in class eight. “My mother thought I looked pretty so she took me to studio to get my pictures clicked and then, with the help of her friend, I got my first advert and since then there has been no looking back,” she told us. She might have been modelling and acting for long but she made sure to complete her education. “I took a break after wrapping up my films and completed my masters,” she informed.

“Suppose there is a group of four guys, chances are there that all four cower and run away if you respond boldly to their lewd remarks. But when there is a group of 8-10 guys, it’s quite probable that two of them might try to avenge your boldness,” she explained adding that it is always good to be cautious. There is no young girl who has not been harassed or molested or groped at least once in her life but “the catcalls and remarks are meant to be forgotten, no point lugging them around,” Ishita counselled.

“I want all students to learn something that they can do just for themselves, it could be dance, music, just anything,” she said, telling us about her other love— Kathak, an art form that is very close to her heart, once which has inspired her to open a dance studio by the name Aamad. However, despite her own interest in a classical dance form, Ishita does not advocate forcing down classical arts down youngsters’ throats. “You can learn anything you like as long as it is different. If Zumba works for you, go for it, if you like Bharatanatyam, learn it,” she advised. But “Yes, one needs to use the mind and heart to master classical dance and music while contemporary is more or less just for fun,” she signed off.

Ishita, who studied in Dehradun up to class six, discovered her love for martial arts just one-and-a-half year ago but it still feels like love at the first sight, she smiled. “That’s why I don’t teach the girls myself, I am just there. There are so many techniques even I am not aware of, for instance the ones that require pencils and schoolbags.

In her own words “Last night, I saw something, that made me feel absolutely sick within. Of course, it’s about the countless issues in society today, rapes, molestation, eve teasing, sexual abuse, the list is endless. I couldn't sleep properly till I came up with an idea; the prelude of which is as follows. I have always been a little scared driving alone post 11 pm even in a city which is apparently the safest one in India, Mumbai. I carry a pepper spray at all times, keep the car locked, windows rolled up, and never stop or slow down for anybody. Then somehow I started attending Sir Alex Fernandes’ Kung-fu class. I cannot bash up people, I still don’t take panga with anyone, still keep my car locked and carry the spray. But something has changed. The other day, there were 3 bikes with 2 boys each who were literally peeping into my car and giggling away. I did not like the look on their faces. This was at 10:30 pm, in quite a bustling area, Shastri Nagar, the road with Kokilaben; the roads were not vacant. And yet, the boys kept following me. I slowed down to let them pass, they slowed with me. I stared, they laughed. I moved faster, they moved with me. I stopped, they stopped. In the next moment, I found myself shouting at them with the window almost rolled down, and in the next second, they were gone. I’m not saying that’s the wisest thing to do, coz immediately after, I too, took another route and made a few phone calls. But, what I’m saying is this. When THEY know you have courage, they too are scared. I think the one thing that we need at this point is COURAGE. To stand up, to make some noise, to tell people to shut up.” —Ishita Sharma January 2016, Facebook

May 2016

IN FOCUS

E U S S I Y T H G I E AW The recent CBSE directives on reducing the weight of school bags has once again drawn battle lines between schools and guardians ScooNews Correspondent writeback@scoonews.com

ecently in April 2016, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) asked schools to “reduce the burden of school bags by various measures such as discouraging students from carrying heavy reference books”. School bags and their growing weight have been a concern with most parents, and some schools, too. Under the Right to Education Act 2010, which was quite clear on the issue, and earlier CBSE circulars, the norm for a school bag weight has been set, at the max, at 10% of the student’s weight. CBSE recognizes heavy school

May 2016

bags as a major contributor to stress—not only have the number of books and notebooks been increasing but students have to carry heavy reference books, too. Institutional concern for this weighty issue is not new. In the last two plus decades, the government has set up two high-level committees to examine the issue-the 1992 national advisory committee under the chairmanship of Professor Yash Pal (former chairperson of UGC), which led to the formation of yet another group, under YN Chaturvedi (additional secretary, education), which examined ‘the feasibility of implementing the recommendations made by the Yash Pal committee. This year, CBSE has revised its own norms

formulated in 2006, then in 2007 and 2008, all of which directed schools “to restrict the number of textbooks students carry to school”. CBSE directs that learning should not only be about textbooks, but more about knowledge-creation and problem solving, which can be developed by working in groups. It suggests some measures, like asking schools to ensure that the curriculum supports more activity-based, ICT-supported learning for all the main subjects in all classes, as much as possible. It has also recommended homework “be staggered to prevent overload’ and be monitored by academic coordinators/supervisors. To ensure the balance of bag weight throughout the academic session, the board has

Collateral A damage

bout 5,000 children visit emergency rooms each year in the US because of backpack-related injuries, and at least 14,000 kids are treated for them. here in India, while not every kid will go to the hospital because of heavy backpacks, overweight loads can cause neck, back and shoulder pain and more. Here is what is so dangerous about kids carrying heavy backpacks and what parents can do about it.

Neck and upper back Heavy backpacks create a forward trunk lean (rounding of upper back) which causes a forward head posture with extended neck, creating neck and shoulder pain and making it difficult for muscles and ligaments to hold the body up.

Fit and sizing Material

Forward head posture

Choose backpacks made for kids, which are made of more lightweight fabric than backpacks for adults.

Proper posture

Close to the body The backpack should be close to the body with minimal space between the back and the pack itself.

Shoulders Shoulders aren’t made to hang things on. When a heavy load is put on kids’ shoulders, joints get tight, muscles tighten down, it alters bio-mechanics, and creates potential strain.

Length It should be the length of the torso and the bottom should be two inches below the waist.

Hips Hips can become sore if a child is bending forward to compensate for the backward pull of their backpack.

Extra support Use both shoulders The backpack should always be worn on two shoulders so that there isn’t too much stress on one side of the spine.

Waist strap Kids should always use the waist strap (preferably a thick one) to help distribute the weight.

Knees Knee pain is possible because of a change in walking pattern and body posture due to an overweight backpack.

Lower back A change in posture by leaning forward to compensate for the weight of the backpack can result in lower and mid back pain and muscle tightness.

Weight Distribution Use backpacks with multiple compartments to help distribute the weight of contents. Pack the heavier things low and towards the back, closer to the body.

Ratio Backpacks should be 10-15% of a kid’s weight.

May 2016

IN FOCUS asked to incorporate co-curricular activities as part of the school’s daily schedule. CBSE has also suggested provisions of lockers “where reference books, sports equipment/uniforms, etc, can be safely stored without needing to be carried to school.”

Calculate your child’s school bag weight n A child carries around six-seven books.

With each weighing 500gm the estimated weight would be 3.5kg

While principals and teachers have welcomed the CBSE notification of 18 April, they are quick to make clear their compliance. “We have never had heavy school bags in our school,” said Rama Dutt, principal, Sanskar School, Jaipur, adding somewhat radically that school bags do not add much to ‘education’ and are more or less just a weight to dragged by children. “We keep bags of children till class four in the school itself,” she said, though CBSE recommends that for only up to class two. Ditto for Jamnabai Narsee School, one of Mumbai’s top schools and a trendsetter in many ways; the school has set up a committee of teachers to keep a check on the bag weight, informed Gayatri Bhandari, who has two boys, Veer (10) and Rohan (7), studying in the school. On the other hand, DAV Public School, Faridabad, has worked out a different method to keep the weight in check. “In our school, care is taken that the timetable is framed in such a way that bags do not get heavy, with subdivisions of subject clearly mentioned,” senior teacher Nalini Mathur told ScooNews. “If the teachers wish to take up some other book,” said Mathur “the students are informed beforehand.” But it is also a fact, she rued, that sometimes students do not leave the extra books at home and carry extra notebooks to complete their pending work. Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls’ Public School, Jodhpur also claims to be following the norms set by RTE. Sapna Gupta, formerly HOD English and currently HOD exchange programme, informed us that the school had a policy of no-homework in all the subjects, which means there is only one written and one oral homework given per day. “So all the books and notebooks are left in their desks,” she smiled. Strangely enough there are parents who are not at all averse to their child carrying a heavy bag to school, though they do add the rider, “as long as it is not exceptionally heavy”! A parent, choosing to stay anonymous, while admitting that his child, enrolled in a prestigious school of Rajasthan, “does carry a bag heavier than acceptable,” said in effect that it was alright because “it makes him understand the logic of carrying what he needs and wants!” Besides, he said, “It makes his shoulders strong.”

n With one book, a child carries one exer-

cise book, thus taking the number to six-seven. With each weighing 200250gm, the total weight would be 1.6kg

n Homework copies, drawing books, diaries come to around 1kg

n Extras like pencil box, geometry box,

drawing and painting instruments add another 700-800gm

n Lunch boxes, assuming they are the

lighter variety, should be 300-500gm

n Water bottle is on an average around 900gm

n A school bag thus comes to around 8kg But this example is hardly representative. A working mother, Veena Mehta* is quite perturbed about the number of kilos her class five-going son, Ambar* carries on his back daily to his IGCSE school in Jaipur. “More often than not, he disappears beneath his heavy bag,” she said. So, why did she let him carry all that weight, ScooNews asked her, why not discuss it with the school? The school “requires him to do carry more than is needed, teachers make them carry textbooks, classwork notebooks, homework notebooks.... Why can’t they ask for classwork notebooks only? And let the homework notebooks be at home?”she questioned in exasperation. Veena is not alone. Jessica*, a journalist, had a similar problem some years ago with her then school-going daughter’s bag, and this despite the child having been in a so-called progressive school. Mother and daughter would have daily running battles on the amount of weight she carried to her CBSE school with Jessica losing the battle every single time. Nupoor refused to leave any textbook, workbook, or notebook behind for fear of her teachers randomly picking any topic rather than following the timetable. There was no provision for Nupoor to leave the books behind at school either, though CBSE directives clearly state the need for schools to provide locker facilities to help students keep their books and belongings safe in the school. While most schools nod in happy acquiescence to this, it begs the question how many of the do actually have the facility. And then, if they

May 2016

do decide to provide lockers, there is the question of the cost, which would, in most cases, be passed on to the parents. Would parents be happy to bear the additional financial burden? Some parents suggest schools should rather embrace the digital world, with smart classrooms and e-books. But what about that adding to the screen time our young already spend in a day? “Don’t they already wake up with gadgets in their hands,” counters an educator? Point taken! Schools, while accepting that while occasionally they might ask for more books than laid down by CBSE, advise parents to focus not only on the weight of the bags but also on their wards’ health, including their BMI (body mass index), the amount of junk food they consume, and the shape and the quality of the school bag they purchase; asking them to ensure their wards carry scientifically designed bags that distribute the weight evenly over the body rather than on one shoulder, as is often the case. Schools also advise parents to keep a check on what their wards are carrying to school as many students tend to carry almost every book to the school, including those of their coaching/tuitions. However, if only both parties would understand they are on the same side rather than indulging in name-calling, perhaps it would benefit their objects of concern more. * Names changed on request

COVER STORY

Big Brother leaves private schools fuming in Rajasthan POWER TO THE PARENTS

The new Rajasthan School Fee Act has again thrown up the fundamental question: can private schools raise fees every year as per market forces or should govt play monitor? And, how much is too much, for either side?

May 2016

Rajasthan Fee Act 2016

DECODED

Juhi Shah

juhi@scoonews.com

s expected, the new Rajasthan Schools (Regulation of Fee) Act 2016 has stirred up a hornet’s nest among the private schools of state, which are calling it an ill-conceived piece of legislation neither school nor parent-friendly, enacted in a hurry and without adequate homework. They allege through this Act, the State has cleverly pushed the schools and parents into a boxing ring to fight it out. The Act, they say, is directly in violation of the fundamental rights of private schools and judgments pronounced by the Supreme Court. And, they claim, unequivocally, that the very position of the government on the objective of bringing in this new legislation is fraudulent—that it was not enacted to remove the deficiencies of the existing Fee Regulation Act of 2013 rather that it is a completely new legislation. The earlier Rajasthan Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, 2013, had provisioned for a single, state-level fee determination committee for over 35,000 private schools, which in its 18 months’ tenure fixed the fees of less than 5,000 schools due to the tedious process. Meanwhile, the private schools increased fees every year, citing inflation, with no checks on them. The situation resulted in frequent conflicts between the school management and teachers. The matter became so controversial that both BJP and the Congress promised a strict regulation in the last assembly polls of 2013. Finding that a single state committee “cannot determine the fee of all such schools in a proper manner in time,” (see Box: ‘Our stand clear’ for interview of Prof Vasudev Devnani, state minister of education) the Vasundhara Raje government by the 2016 Act has devolved the authority to a school-level committee with violation convictions being punishable with a fine of `50,000-`2.5 lakh or twice the amount taken in excess of fee, whichever is higher.

Private schools now bound to set up an executive committee of parents and teachers to approve fees proposed by the management. The Fee Committee will determine all kinds of fees, including academic, hostel and transport. The Act ends all monopoly over sale of textbooks and prohibits change in uniform for five years

Powers While the committee has no quasi-jud icial power, the Act, however, empowers parents to have equal say in deciding the school fees.

Redressal The school management can appeal to the divisional committee but only whe n the difference between the fee proposed is more than 15%.

Feasibility The success of this model will depend upon the parents’ competence to check prof iteering among schools. The committee will consider n Infrastructural facilities n Teacher qualification, perfo rmance & salaries n The hike in proportion to the consumer price index (CPI) and inflation.

Vital stats n n n n

No of private schoo ls in Rajasthan: 35 ,500 No of fee committe es: 35,500 No of divisional co mmittees for redres sal: 33 No of students in private school: 60 lakh

So, why are private schools outraged? The new Act provides for the approval and/or determination of school fee by a school-level fee committee comprising five parents selected through lottery, three teachers, the principal and one management nominee. The committee has to consider infrastructural facilities, teacher qualifications and performance, salaries, etc while deciding the amount. The committee may also consider the hike in proportion to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and inflation. “If the difference between the fees decided by the management and the fee approved by the committee is more than 15%, the former can appeal to the divisional fee regulatory committee,” reads the Act. The Act empowers the fee committee to approve the fee proposed by the management or determine it afresh.

May 2016

COVER STORY And this is precisely why the private schools are up in arms. “The role and authority of the school management has been reduced to proposer with limiting the management’s representation to one out of 10 in the school level fee committee,” a very miffed Damodar Prasad Goyal, president Society for Unaided Private Schools of Rajasthan told ScooNews. Private schools are not ready for this kind of arrangement. The magazine called up many schools, and while some professed ignorance, others refused to speak on record. Certainly, the point of conflict in many schools is that fee hike based on the CPI model will only allow them an average hike of 5-6% annually. And, the onus will be on the schools to explain in detail the expenses and the kind of facilities they have added to the school. Goyal questions the authorization of the fee committee with “this sweeping power” without even determining if there was actually an element of “profiteering”. “The school level fee committees, loaded with non-management members, have to decide the fees without any clear guidelines. This is bound to create problems between parents and teachers,” he feared. “This weird format for fee fixation will bring parents and schools face to face with each other. Our experience says that working parents or businessman expect good annual growth but ignore that good, performing teachers also expect the same,” said Kishan Mittal—secretary, Swayam Sevi Shikshan Sansthan Sangh, Rajasthan, a private association of Rajasthan Board of Secondary Schools—also taking a stringent view of the new legislation in a news report.

Is the Act unconstitutional? Private school bodies term the Act in violation of Supreme Court rulings and are waiting for the notification to move the court. “The Act proposes the transfer of rights of management to the parents, which is not acceptable and not legally tangible,” they said. They cite the 11-judge bench Supreme Court ruling in the TMA Pai Foundation & Others vs State of Karnataka case, which upheld the fundamental right of every citizen to establish and administer an educational institution and autonomy of the private unaided institutions in fixing the fees chargeable from their students. “The apex court, exercising powers under Article 142, had laid down that the decision on the fees must necessarily be left to the private educational institutions that do not seek and which are not dependent upon any funds from the government,” Goyal pointed out. Though he conceded that there could be no profiteering and capitation fees (for which SC had earlier directed respective state governments/concerned authorities to set up a committee headed by a retired high court judge nominated by the chief justice of that state), he argued that the fee structure for each school is fixed keeping in mind the infrastructure and facilities, the investments made, salaries paid to the teachers

The law binds the committee to base the proposed fee hike on the salary of qualified staff, infrastructure, maintenance expenditure and a reasonable surplus. To increase fees beyond these enumerators, the format demands that parents be well versed in accounts and taxation, besides a fair understanding of school needs for its growth. There is also an inherent contradiction, the private schools say, in the provision of the committee-determined fee being binding for three years and the stipulation of the management submitting a fee proposal six months before commencement of every new session. It is also provided that the school fee committee meet at least four times in year. “For what?” questioned Goyal. “To monitor the functioning of the school? Have a supervisory role over the administration and management of the school?” in effect, questioning the government’s big brother act when the said private schools are not taking any government aid. Even the provision of the two appellate committees has not found favour with the Society, loaded with government officials as they are. Goyal fears bias or prejudice in the highest committee as also delays in decisions in the absence of the secretary elementary education, its de facto chairperson. “These committees of government officers will never be able to dispose of the appeals before them with all the regular work that they already have,” Goyal said, sceptical that political considerations would guide the nomination of schools’ and parents’ representative in these appellate committees. The Association of Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education, which has 20,000 member schools has warned that if the Act is not rolled back they will take to the streets to voice their concerns democratically. The Christian missionary schools have also raised their objections citing the privileges that minority school enjoy.

May 2016

REVISION COMMITTEE

members chaired by secy, elementary education

DIVISIONAL FEE REGULATORY COMMITTEE

members chaired by divisional commissioner

School Level Fee Committee

members chaired by divisional commissioner

‘OUR STAND CLEAR’ and staff, future plans for expansion and/or betterment of the institution, etc. “It is the job of the state to regulate the fees and to eliminate the profiteering. By passing the buck to parents, it has run away from its responsibilities,” said a school educator from Jodhpur on condition of anonymity. No individual, guaranteed fundamental rights under the Constitution of India, can be asked to share the said rights with any other citizen or body, nor can they be waived, argue unaided private school associations. “The state has taken a dangerous step to impose a compulsory association on an independent entity,” Goyal added, claiming that there was no law for such an imposition of participation in determining the face value of a service or product. “Will it (the government) now allow users to participate in fixing the price of mobile and data services? Or in fixing rates of doctors and medical facilities?” It is undisputed that parents and school management will have divergent interests. Obviously, parents would desire that the best facilities and faculties be available to their wards at a minimum cost. Within parents themselves, there is no guarantee of a consensus on various issues-for instance, provision of a particular sport facility, the need for an auditorium, air conditioning, organizing of excursions, library subscription, participation in tournaments and competitions, perks to the principal and staff... the list is endless and potentially contentious. Has the govt understood the PTA concept? Private school bodies also allege that the government completely misunderstood the concept of parent-teacher associations (PTA). In the US, they say, where the concept pioneered to facilitate the school community interface, school education is largely state-provided and PTAs assist government schools in developing the school, collecting funds and communicating with teachers for better education. Nowhere in the world, are PTAs involved in the administration and management of private schools, they point out, citing the US, European and even African countries. For this reason also, “parents cannot be vested with the authority to regulate, monitor or interfere in administration and management of institutions,” Goyal said. It is well-established that private schools in India have grown at a faster rate on account of the failure of government to provide quality education in its schools. That parents have lost faith in government schools, even in rural India, and prefer to send their children to private schools is also documented by various external agencies. “The frustration and unrest among them about private schools’ fee arises because of the gap in their aspirations and the inability to afford it,” Goyal pointed. When school fee ranges from a few thousand a year to more than 10 lakh per annum, obviously the infrastructure, facilities, teacherpupil ratio, and co-curricular activities would also vary enormously from school to school.

Vasudev Devnani, Rajasthan minister of state for education, tells ScooNews Under your new Act, you have reduced the school management to merely the ‘proposer’ of school fee... Education and health should be beyond politics and profiteering; they are social welfare activities. The earlier regulation did not allow for any amendments, revision or even appeal, which troubled all the private schools. We tried to understand their problems, the parents’ stand, as well the court’s view when we designed the new Fee Regulation Act. Parents are the only stakeholders who do not profit when it comes to the school business. (The schools should be happy that) the new Act demands lesser government involvement. School fee should be more about parents, teachers and management. We have done away with the old cumbersome process. In the last three years, the fee determination committee under Justice Shiv Kumar Sharma managed to fix the fee for only 10,000 schools, although there are about 35,500 private schools in the state. It would have taken another eight-nine years to fix the fees for the remaining schools: neither would this have resolved the parents’ problem, nor given them any relief. Besides, from what date would the committee have fixed the fee retrospectively? If (as all are agreed) education is non-profiteering, why should the management feel the need to hide anything from the parents? That is why we decided on constituting the school level committee with parental representation. And it is not as though the schools are not represented adequately. School managements claim teachers and principals are just employees, not their representatives... Most of the school managements are happy with the new Act though there are some (interested sections) that are not, maybe because the power to decide the fees is now between the giver and taker. In any case, there is a three-tier system for appeal if all the parties do not agree. The government’s stand is very clear that a fee hike should not lie with the management alone. And, after all the mutual decision-making, if some parents still feel that the fees is too high for them, they can opt for government schools, where the fee will be comparatively low. This way, the standard of government schools would also (automatically) be raised, which (improving quality) we are working on in any case. Every institution has a fundamental right to manage the school as per its rules, so the schools find the imposition of parents unconstitutional. There is still is no binding on schools as far as the fee is considered. If the entire committee agrees, the school can raise the fee. If there is nothing wrong, why not bring your cards out in the open? Contd on p27

And what do parents say? A recent longitudinal study by the Azim Premji Foundation clearly states that “contrary to general perception, fee-charging private schools are not able to ensure better learning for children....” The ambiguities entailing the true outcomes of private schools have also been highlighted by the global DFID (Department for International Development) comprehensive review of the functioning of private schools as cited by the Economic and Political Weekly in July 2015. Pic: ScooNews

May 2016

COVER STORY There are 60 lakh students in Rajasthan’s private schools, as per DISE (District Information System for Education) and parents, largely, have given a thumbs-up for Rajasthan Fee Act. When ScooNews spoke to them, many termed it democratic while others said it meant saving money, “exorbitantly charged by many private schools”. Peeysuh Verma*, whose son is at Jayshree Periwal International School, Jaipur found it unbelievable. “I am sure this model will work,” he said. “It will allow us to see the balance sheet of schools; they can also hear out our concerns over the fees. This will certainly reduce the animosity between the parents and schools,” he said happily while stressing he did not have much of an issue with his child’s school.

facilities provided among themselves. Since they were unwilling to come on record for fear of harming their children, ScooNews will protect the confidentiality of their identities and will also not mention school names. But, in several conversations, they alleged draconian measures by the school authorities to get them to exit parental WhatsApp discussion threads, apart from exclusion of their wards from school activities, singling them out in class, or checking their bags etc when all the parents wanted was a dialogue with the management without any legalities or media attention, they say. And they did quit considering the lack of options and the difficulties involved in changing schools.

Optimistic words, these. The path ahead is fraught with many a thorny issue as can be seen in the confrontation recently witnessed between schools and guardians over astronomical and irrational fee increase by some schools in Gurgaon.

With inflation up, parents and guardians understand fee has to go up too but in a reasonable manner. The Supreme Court too, in its 2012 ruling, had laid down that education is an act of charity therefore educational institutions cannot make it an instrument for profiteering implying that income from it cannot line individuals’ pockets but should rather be invested back in the development of the school and improvement of the quality of education. In the matter of the DAV fee hike case too, the apex court ruled that an educational institution can earn 10% of profit from the fee charged for the education of one child.

Whatever be the rights and the wrongs of the Act, or the concerns voiced by the unaided private schools, it is clear that one

School fees at a glance*

2.47 Lakh

* These are approximate figures as per school websites. Actual figures may vary. The selection of schools is random and is not as per any ranking.

Non Refundable

0.65-0.77 lakh

Refundable

Tuition Fee

La Martinière for Boys, Kolkata. 1836 (Day / Boarding)

Non Refundable

0.05 Lakh

0.50-1 lakh

Refundable

Tuition Fee

Jamnabai Narsee School, Mumbai. 1971 (Day)

Non Refundable

0.85 lakh

Refundable

Tuition Fee

Bombay Scottish School, Mumbai. 1847 (Day)

1.86 Lakh

0.80-5 lakh

2.57 Lakh

Non Refundable

Refundable

Mayo College, Ajmer. 1875 (Day / Residential)

Tuition Fee

Non Refundable

0.17 Lakh

3-4 lakh

0.05 Lakh

Refundable

3.32 Lakh Sahyadri School, Pune. 1995 (Residential)

3-4 lakh

0.75 Lakh

Pan India Non Refundable

Refundable (Caution fee deposit)

Tuition Fee

0.76 Lakh

May 2016

The Lawrence School, Lovedale, Ooty. 1858 (Residential)

Non Refundable

4-5 lakh

Tuition Fee

Bishop Cotton School, Shimla. 1859 (Residential)

0.5 Lakh

Refundable

Non Refundable

4-5 lakh

Refundable

Tuition Fee

Rishi Valley, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh. 1926 (Residential)

1.96 Lakh

Non Refundable

4-5 lakh

Tuition Fee

Refundable

1.75 Lakh

Not just this, parents of children studying in certain top schools in Jaipur allege harassment by school authorities and veiled threats to their wards after parents began to discuss the raise in the fees vis-à-vis the quality of education and

The Scindia School, Gwalior. 1897 (Residential)

8-10 lakh

Tuition Fee

The Doon School, Dehradun. 1935 (Residential)

“In Delhi, private schools have been hiking their fees by 30-40% annually in the last couple of years, therefore the strikes and court cases,” informed Ashish Malik, admin head, New Era Group of Educational Institutions, Ghaziabad. “The high court fixed a 10% hike and has ordered now for DDA’s involvement since school land belongs to DDA. It is imperative to fix a percentage of increase,” he added.

Tuition Fee

3 Lakh

Non Refundable

3 Lakh

Refundable

Matters did not come to such a head in Jaipur but they have been simmering for a while, particularly after the sudden arbitrary hike in January of up to 20% in nearly 40% of the state’s 11,000 private schools once the physical verification of free seats reserved under RTE had been completed for the 2015-16 session. As reported in The Times of India, senior education officials suspected that fees could have been increased in the records to claim inflated reimbursements from the government.

Yes. But these private schools are not taking any aid from the govt, so why should such laws bind them? Yes, they are not, but still, education is not a business. The government is accountable to parents. If parents agree to the fee, why would the government interfere? Schoolbooks, uniforms... why are the schools so fixated about such things? Parents have a problem with it (buying from only fixed sellers and not the open market), and that is why they have raised their voice.

party is being ground between the twin millstones of schools and regulatory authority and with as little hope of emerging whole, and that party belongs to our children.

The Act itself is inherently contradictory. For eg, the school fee committee’s decision will be binding for three years, while the school will propose the fee annually? This three-year rule is for any new school. If a committee is formed, it has to meet; and new schools will come up. Every school, new or old, will have a new committee each year.

It is imperative therefore for the government, now that it has decided to right the anomalies in our education delivery system, to go in for the long haul and strengthen it to the point of no return from fairness to all parties concerned. And that includes improving the quality of government schools, all matters of ideology kept aside. It certainly has the mandate from the people.

Private schools find the Act an infringement of their fundamental rights... If anyone feels the new Act is against their fundamental rights, please appeal to the court, challenge us. If there is scope and it is feasible, if the demanded change is worth it, we would welcome it. We analyzed the other regulations, talk to the states that are already implementing them. But the Rajasthan Act is not a blind copy of the Maharashtra law, it has been made suitable for our state. Most schools have welcomed it.

With inputs from Meenal Singh and Erum Shakeel *Names changed to protect identity

The role & authority of the school management has been reduced to proposer... with limiting the management’s representation to one out of 10 in the school level fee committee.

Government has misunderstood the PTA concept. Isn’t including PTA in fee committee infringing school rights? PTA has not been given any rights. The formation of the committee is under the Act. Other than that, PTA can do whatever is right for them. Having said that, don’t you think a school will develop better with the stakeholders’ involvement? If you can’t convince the parents, how will you ever be able to manage the school? But parents usually keep quiet fearing a backlash on their wards... That’s the reason we have put a lottery system in place. See, the government should not be involved in fee determination; schools should be happy that they now have a better say in deciding the fee hike than under the last regulation.

Damodar Goyal,

May 2016

0.18-0.25 lakh

* These are approximate figures as per school websites. Actual figures may vary. The selection of schools is random and is not as per any ranking. # Boarding charges not available.

Tuition Fee

St Mary's Convent Sr. Sec. School, Udaipur. 1950 (Day)

0.14-0.26 lakh

Tuition Fee

Sophia Senior Secondary School, Ajmer. 1919 (Day)

0.21-0.27 lakh

Tuition Fee

St Paul's Sr. Sec. School, Kota. 1964 (Day)

0.29 Lakh

Non Refundable

0.24-0.27 lakh

Refundable

Tuition Fee

St Xavier's Sr Sec School, Jaipur. 1941 (Day)

Non Refundable 0.15 Lakh (Approx)

0.52-0.55 lakh

Refundable

0.10 Lakh

Rajasthan

Tuition Fee

Maharani Gayatri Devi Girl's School, Jaipur. 1943 (Day / Residential)

Non Refundable

1-2 lakh

Refundable

Tuition Fee

Neerja Modi School, Jaipur. 2001 (Day / Residential#)

0.65 Lakh

0.60-3 lakh

0.15-0.40 Lakh

Refundable

Non Refundable

School fees at a glance*

Tuition Fee

Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls' Public School, Jodhpur. 1992 (Day / Residential)

0.59-0.72 Lakh

Non Refundable

2-4 lakh

0.05 Lakh

Refundable

Tuition Fee

0.54 Lakh

Vidya Niketan (Birla Public School), Pilani. 1944 (Residential)

Non Refundable

3-4 lakh

Tuition Fee

The Sagar School, Alwar. 1995 (Residential)

0.80 Lakh

Refundable

Non Refundable

0.73-3.95 lakh

0.30 Lakh

Refundable

Tuition Fee

Jayshree Periwal International School, Jaipur (Day / Residential)

President, Society for Unaided Private Schools

TEACHER TALKIES

India is in the hearts of the

A simple math teacher from sleepy Kathumar in Alwar, Mohammad Imran Khan became the poster boy of PM Narendra Modi’s Digital India ambitions at Wembley late 2015. This self-taught programmer of 52 mobile apps talks to ScooNews on the sidelines of cha.T Meenal Singh

meenal@scoonews.com

Imran H Khans

e steps up to the podium, simple, pleasant, not a very prepossessing idea of a tutor to the urban teens who have gathered to hear him out. But when he begins to talk at cha.T (Changing Tomorrow, an endeavour to help young people catalyze change) at Jaipur in late April, he has them hooked.

This 37-year-old math teacher in Alwar’s Sanskrit education department, who had no idea of computers and had never even seen a smartphone to say little of mobile applications, is now globally recognized with as many as educational 52 apps to his credit, all of which he has donated all

May 2016

to the ministry of human resource development. He has also developed more than a hundred websites. No wonder then, that the Indian PM lauded this simple teacher at an international platform in November 2015. Describe the moment when Modi took your name at an international platform? I was in deep slumber, it was midnight then! The next morning, it was a shock to me; there was all kind of media gathered outside my home and that’s when I got a call telling me about it. It started to feel good gradually, only as it sank inside me did I realize what was actually happening. You teach a subject considered tough and boring by most kids. How do you make it interesting for them?

How can math be fun and easy? Math is difficult because all that is taught in schools is formulae, there’s nothing related to life. Children will always find easy to understand everything that they can relate to. The traditional method of teaching math therefore makes it dull; bring in play-way methods and math becomes easy. Help them relate the subject to real life and they start taking an interest in it. How do you view girls’ performance? Girls are considered to be slow in math, physics and chemistry. But that is not true. I believe girls are equally smart, in fact better than boys; and in fact, have left nothing for the boys to excel in! However, there’s a reason why girls don’t seem to have an aptitude for math. This subject needs time but most girls of our country, especially rural India, have to help out at home. Where is the time for them to sit and understand the logic inherent in mathematics? That said, there are several all-girls schools in the country where they are opting for math and doing exceptionally good. Look at the number of women engineers there are now! Where do you see your students heading? There are huge gaps between rural and urban schools, which need to be bridged. There are huge gaps between the experiences of students. While some schools have all the facilities, there are others that have none. This gap needs to be bridged. How many rural schools do not have even a single teacher? If we can develop the technology to reach the deepest areas of our country, students can help themselves to study via apps. One of the apps that I have developed helps students prepare for competitive exams while travelling. What do you think of our current system? I think this discrimination wherein private education dominates is the greatest reason why our country is still not achiev-

ing big despite our capacity. There should be one education system from villages to cities with equal education for all and state board examinations. I know it is not easy to do but it has to be done some day so why not start now. The ministry (HRD) has its task cut out. What about use of technology? I believe it can bring all the students on one platform where there is enormous scope of learning and exploring together.

I did not even know what an app was till the collector gave me a demo on his smartphone! I want to contribute to the Digital India dream Imran Khan, Teacher, app developer

Who is Imran Khan and how would he like the world to remember him? Imran Khan is a simple teacher. And that is way he would like the world to remember him-an honest teacher who remained true to his passion and his desire to see technology infused into education.

May 2016

SCHOOL OF IDEAS

ON THE BOAT...

TO HOPE Childhood is a magical time, and these innovative architects across three continents decided nothing, not even the lack of land or roads, should keep children away from school

May 2016

ater, water, everywhere/ And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere/Nor any drop to drink. Or for that matter, so much water all around that the very basic requirements for a full life become a challenge. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a little hard to imagine in drought-hit regions of the world like ours but that is what happens in countries that are so water-locked and, whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more, so lashed

by rain through the year that land becomes short, roads go underwater and lakhs of people lose their livelihood. How do communities then manage the day-to-day activities of a routine life? What do they do for schooling their children, for instance? ScooNews took a look at countries that wage a war against water all the time like Bangladesh, Cambodia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Nigeria, Zambia and Argentina, submerged for most part of the year. The havoc that water wreaks here affects

schooling for children in ways we cannot even imagine, no land for schools, for one. But necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention and the floating schools are an answer to this problem. Environmentally sound in their use of locally sourced material and labour, these schools are an excellent example of responsible and sustainable development. At the same time, they are a brilliant example of architectural best practices for community Take a look..

SCHOOL OF IDEAS “I saw dolphins on my way to school this morning. My village is very pretty with lots of green trees and small ponds, and it’s surrounded by water,” says a girl student of a BRAC floating school

Colourful classroom: This is the scene in a BRAC-run floating school

Bangladesh Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, founded by architect Mohammed Rezwan in 1998, took up the challenge to make schools reach children, instead of making children reach school, with the first boat going afloat in 2003. Every day, a boat starts off as a bus to collect the students and when all the students are aboard, it becomes a schoolroom. Each boat is solar powered and has an internet-connected computer system to make education more interactive and also to keep the children updated on the latest developments across the world. When he built the first boat, Rezwan sourced wood from native shala trees and iron from local vendors, hiring villagers to turn flat-bottomed local boats into 55-foot long monsoon-resistant school boats. Now Shidhulai has over 110 boats, whose design has been replicated in parts of the Philippines, Nigeria, Gambia, Pakistan, Vietnam and Cambodia, according to Mashable India. Not just that, the project resonates with 670 similar BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) floating schools across the country, under a programme that includes training for boat manufacturing, teachers, parents, teaching and creating management communities. These floating schools have the potential to help

May 2016

Innovative classroom: Why shouldn’t imagination soar then? others whose lives have been uprooted by increasingly violent monsoons, Rezwan believes. Besides, they are also a means to sensitize communities to education, discrimination and unequal educational opportunities for women. Now “girls are taking full advantage of the education that the floating schools bring right to their doorstep-allaying the concerns of their parents and guardians,” says Rezwan.

SCHOOL OF IDEAS

The bottomline: Life jackets may part of the uniform here, but the kids get to learn and that’s the important thing.

Cambodia

old teacher, Hem Duong Chanden. Making it easier for the teachers too, the schools have residential facilities for them.

Cambodia is flooded round the year more often than not, and hence the Cambodian government, along with NGOs like BRAC, has helped build several schools on water in the country. These schools are built of water-resistant bamboo, with students reaching them by boat or bamboo bridges partially submerged in water. Part of such floating schools are small mobile libraries, tethered close by. The schools here are held in shifts, so as to accommodate maximum number of students. Interestingly, classes have students of multiple ages; a class can have a seven-year-old student as well as a 14YO. “I like it here. This is where I am from and I like the fresh air. I want to share my knowledge with the children from this area. Therefore I volunteered to teach here, even though it is a remote place where nobody wants to go,” says a 20-year-

May 2016

“This is where I am from & I want to share my knowledge with children. Therefore I volunteered to teach here, even though it is remote,” says 20YO Hem Duong Chanden

Argentina Even though Argentina is far more developed than the other countries, parts of it reel under the destruction wrought by severe rains and floods. Tigre Island’s La Concepcion School in the Parana river delta, running in the chapel for lack of funds, was identified by the Grand Circle Foundation when it took on the task of rebuilding parts of the school after the 2005 floods. Considering the way the island was submerged under river water, the Foundation decided to build three classrooms on stilts. When the island was flooded in 2010, these three floating classrooms were the only ones to be spared destruction. Now, as and when the meteorological department predicts bad weather, the school shifts to these floating classrooms.

Small carbon footprint: Airy schoolrooms are the perfect answer to power-scarce Nigeria.

Nigeria “Every child deserves an education wherever they are. We are on water and that doesn’t mean that we can’t go to school. We have to.” These are the hopeful words of Shemede Noah, headmaster of the only school in the slums of Makoko, Lagos lagoon. Hope! That is what this floating school is for the slum dwellers. Fighting poverty and water, Makoko slums are the Venice of Africa, with a difference, of course. With

more waterways than roads, boats are the basic commute of residents here. And even as they fear eviction from their watery slum dwelling, they hope to see their younger generation educated. “I was born and brought up here so I know how the people suffer, I feel their pain, I feel their cry and I also know their happiness,” says a student better known as Big Babba, “...If there are more schools, I believe there is going to be changes in the community.” Functional since 2013, this three-storey

school, this brainchild of architect Kunle Adeyemi, founder and principal, is made up of wood and plastic barrels to keep it afloat. The school, which today is the largest building of the slum, has 47 students. The pyramid-shaped solar-powered school features a playground on the ground floor, main classroom on the first, and an additional open-air smaller classroom on the second; it is very well-ventilated and has a rainwater catchment system. The success Makoko Floating School has tasted has now empowered the team to expand the project to a few more similar boats.

Architectural marvel: Makoko slum school under construction.

PV cells Ventilated roof Natural ventilation Roof terrace Louvres for shade Classroom Local building materials

Green and open space

Floatation platform

Water line

May 2016

PAY IT FORWARD They had their life set. Working for MNCs. Doing good. A cushy life in the US of A. So, what made Chris and Prakalpa give it all up and come back to their roots?

They found their calling Hridya Narang hridya@scoonews.com

hinking of going abroad? Earning loads of greenbacks? Having a successful career, a luxurious life? the works? Chris and Prakalpa Bastianpillai are sure to bring about a change in your foreign dreams. Chris who? Prakalpa who? Working to bring about a change in India since 2013, this couple returned to mother country choosing self-satisfaction above lucrative jobs abroad. They are the minds behind Robominds, a robotics institute for kids, which not just trains but also gives a hand-on learning experience in robotics educational technology. Prakalpa, in her career span of 15 years, has worked with several prominent multinationals in the US, like Daimler-Chrysler, Microsoft,

PerkinElmer, etc, while Chris, with a BSc in electronic engineering from London himself had a successful career with significant engineering and manufacturing management experience in the bio-medical, computing, military-aerospace, and telecommunication sectors. Who ever leaves such comfortable lives to return to the hardships of India? Some do, and among them was this duo, who took 18 years to realise their dreams when Prakalpa started missing the sense of belonging to a land. “I had climbed the ladder but despite being there for 18 years I couldn’t adopt that country as my own. Something was amiss, something I couldn’t write down on a piece of paper, something ‘my own’… the desire to do something for India was there in me,” she said. And Chris, coming from Sri Lanka and understanding what deprivation meant, was on the same platform when it came to ‘belonging.’ With a dream to do something for keeps, of lasting value and something they could also be passionate about, the couple spearheaded Ek Aastha, an NGO that they set up in the US in 2008, working towards encouraging and supporting education of underprivileged children in India. Finding it tough going along with their demanding corporate

One happy huddle this is: The kids at Robominds dream big like these Horcruxes

May 2016

jobs, they finally decided to listen to the call and headed back to the Subcontinent. Reminiscing the hard times, Prakalpa tells us what inspired them to set up Ek Aastha, “I lost my father at 19, and was in dire need of financial support, when my college principal offered me 50% off the fee but only if I scored a distinction,” which made her study hard and excel. Chris too had his share of instances of people going out of their way to help him establish a successful career in the US. And this is what the couple is doing to others today... backing those who need it the most to grow. This is how Robominds happened, though both Prakalpa and Chris agree, it was more because of their kids. Back from the US, their kids, struggling with languages like Hindi, missed studying robotics. Chris too felt the lack of practical training as part of the school curriculum in India, one reason that put many Indian students on the backfoot internationally. So, Prakalpa and Chris decided to teach robotics to children from all walks of life. And, so dear is the cause to their hearts that they have reserved their weekdays for training the underprivileged children while the affluent wait for their turn on the weekends. “It is heartwarming what these kids are capable of,” said Chris, who enjoys teaching kids of 10 years or above. “They come to us knowing nothing and some of them haven’t even seen a computer, forget robots and within a year or two, they are programming difficult stuff and winning these competitions!” Some of the kids they teach come from families that don’t even have running water, parents are typically uneducated and none of them know English, the language in which courses are developed. Yet, most of the children want to be people with a hold on their lives, like a cop (the most authoritative figure that the kids have seen in their lives). There is also a 12-13-year old among them who ‘dreams of being an entrepreneur one day’, selling his own products, Chris informed. Chris looks out for such children, with the fire in the belly to do something big. That fire to seek opportunity, said Chris, is what differentiates such kids from the children of affluent families who know they’ll get it all with money. The gogetting spirit, giving them a hands-on experience that ‘breaks and eventually makes them’, is what the Sri Lankan finds most satisfying. Prakalpa gives it another word. Rewarding

The struggle continues: But Chris and Prakalpa find it rewarding is what she calls these small success stories of the last three years after nearly two decades of a “fantastic and ‘satisfying’ career as a woman engineer in a male-dominated world”, because, “I know I am creating something.” Adding another feather to their cap, to their satisfaction, are a group of youngsters call-

They come to us knowing nothing and some of them haven’t even seen a computer, forget robots and within a year or two, they are programming difficult stuff and winning these competitions! Chris Bastianpillai, Change maker

ing themselves Horcruxes who trained at Robominds and were recently selected for FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO League: Open European Championships 2016 (FLLOEC) for which the young minds are all set to leave for Spain. This team of seven, Horcruxes, a name that was inspired by the Harry Potter

series, qualified in the regional championships of FLL 2015 and was ranked in the top positions in the national FLL in 2016, which opened the gateway for the Open European Championship. FLL-OEC is a major championship, with over 300,000 children from over 80 countries participating annually. But achieving all this wasn’t easy for the couple who had seen their share of struggle, from leaving everything behind to setting up and operating Robominds from one room in a rented house. Struggling for Ek Aastha and Robominds, it wasn’t easy on the personal front either. Except for Prakalpa, the family was uncomfortable with the language in Pune. Their kids, Siddharth and Kanish, then 12 and nine, had to adjust big time—from food to temperatures to culture, and scoring low in languages (Hindi and Sanskrit)! For Chris, who doesn’t know Hindi or Marathi, language was a challenge, but a minor one. “We have reached a stage in our life where probably we have everything, so the focus was on how we could give back to the community,” Chris shrugged off the difficulty. This was the time, he smiled, to realize what Reinhold Niebuhr meant when he said, ‘Change is the essence of life; be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become’.

May 2016

UNBOXED She has had to move the school six times since 2012. But do you think she has let that faze her? Not Aparnaa Lakshmi. She continues, full steam, schooling those who have little or no access to education

Nothing â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;formalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; about her

The Radiant

SAMARITAN

May 2016

Have wings, will fly: Yoga, dance, music, art, robotics are some of the extra-curricular activities for the migrants’ children.

Seema Kumar

writeback@scoonews.com

nuj, 14, very shyly said he wanted to become a teacher when he grew up. In total contrast was 15-yearold Divya, who brightly announced that she wanted to become a politician. Bubbly and full of life she talked about how she got to learn something different at Radiant Kids’ Multi Activity Centre. “We have a computer in our school but don’t always get to work on it. Here we get to work on it regularly and now we are learning robotics, which is exciting,” she enthused. Radiant is a school for underprivileged children in Gurgaon by Aparnaa Laxmi under the aegis of Eco Lib Foundation, the NGO she co-founded in 1996. Eco Lib focuses on non-formal education and has been working with the vulnerable

India needs more like her: Aparnaa at ‘her’ school.

and marginalized segments in both rural and urban settings. The school was opened in 2012 to give non-formal education to children of migrants, rag pickers, construction workers, maids and vegetable vendors. Located in Jharsa village, the school that began with 45 children has 140 children with five teachers today. Apart from them there are other teachers who come to take extra-curricular classes such as yoga, robotics, dance, music, art, etc. “Since they are mainly migrant children, the number keeps fluctuating,” said Aparnaa. She held her first class an illegal settlement of Bangladeshis and had a tough time getting parents to agree to send their children. She coaxed, cajoled, scolded, pleaded and finally managed to get some to start classes in a corridor. “It was tough. Parents didn’t want their children, rag pickers by day, to ‘waste’ their time. Some of them were hostile to the extent that when it was time for class they would turn the TV on full. But we managed. From there we moved to a small rented place but there too we had issues. You see, people here earn more by renting out one room to families of patients of Medanta or Artemis. Why would they want to rent out an entire floor to me for a school? I have shifted the school six times since I began in 2012,” said Aparnaa whose zeal for teaching these children is inspiring. So attuned is she to each child that she knows which one is sick or bunking one class to be in another. “Of my students 60% come for remedial classes. The remaining 40% are children of migrants. Since they don’t stay in one place for long their chil-

It flows in her genes It was her father who made Aparnaa the way she is. A journalist and freedom fighter who helped people in need, irrespective of his own means, he inspired her and continues to. “He was retrenched from National Herald but nothing fazed him. His social work continued. He died a pauper but he ensured it did not affect our studies,” Aparnaa remembered. Her mother sold her jewellery and a mango orchard that the family owned in Malihabad and their education continued. “My father taught me to give. Even as a child. I have always been helping people: teaching children, helping the needy with my pocket money....” And it continued even after Aparnaa’s marriage and a move to Kolkata. “Then we moved to Gurgaon and the rest is history,” she smiled. Herself a mother of three, Aparnaa’s older two girls help out at Radiant and now even her 12-year-old boy, a black belt in junior karate, is raring to go do his bit with his mother’s school.

May 2016

UNBOXED

The three Rs and more: Instruction is given every day 3–6 pm in English, math and computer skills.

dren also miss out on school,” she rued when ScooNews visited her. The truth is that migrants do not even know that education is their children’s basic right. It makes more sense to them to put their child to work, at grocery stores, tea vends, even construction sites or rag picking for a little extra family income.

teacher explaining the intricacies of robotics. While some worked out the mechanics of the robot they had made others were trying to make the robot run through remote commands from the laptop. It appeared to be a tussle between the boys and the girls and clearly girls seemed to be winning hands down.

The school has children from five to 17 and the classes are divided as per age from prenursery to 12; there is also vocational training for the mothers during the day. Classes run from 3–6 pm to suit all students who receive instruction in English, math and computer skills apart from extra-curricular activities.

The new building that they have rented out is slightly than the earlier buildings and Aparnaa has many plans. “I am a professional beggar,” she laughed informing that she was now looking for support to make a small auditorium on the terrace for the children’s dance and music performances. “I am also going to make a compost pit along with a kitchen garden. The children will be taught to take care of it,” she added.

“If you ask them the alphabet they wouldn’t know but say A, B, C and they immediately understand,” Aparnaa laughed, adding that they were trying to bridge this gap too. Like any other school, regular tests are part of the routine with parents being called in for their child’s poor show (less than 50% marks). “This is our way of making the parents also accountable,” she pointed out. Obviously, the parents take pride in their children learning beyond expectation. I was instructed to converse with them in English and it was a pleasure to see the confidence that some of the children exuded and hear Divya’s mother call out to her, ‘Come beta let’s go,’ when it was time for them to leave. “Girls are given a lot of support here and they are taught to stand up for themselves,” said Divya. As we chatted, students clustered around a

Till about two-and-a-half years ago she funded the herself but with support coming in she does about 60%. But the “support is more material than monetary. I am still taking care of the monetary part,” she informed. Nothing fazes her. Not brickbat from hostile neighbours, nor people making fun of her. “People used to laugh at me. Yeh to gali gali ghoomti hai bachchon ko dhoondne ke liye (she roams the streets looking for children) they used to say. But I am fine with that. If I am able to take care of a child’s education and change the child’s life then I have served my purpose. I don’t care what people have to say,” she signed off. More power to Aparnaa. And many more such women.

Out of the classroom Non-formal education became part of the international discourse on education policy in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Related to the concepts of recurrent and lifelong learning, non-formal education is about ‘acknowledging the importance of education, learning and training which takes place outside recognized educational institutions’. In the 1970s, four characteristics came to be associated with non-formal education: Relevance to the needs of the disadvantaged Concern with specific categories of persons A focus on clearly defined purposes Flexibility in organization and methods In many northern countries the notion of non-formal education is not common in internal policy debates – preferred alternatives being community education and community learning, informal education and social pedagogy.

n n n n

Dance like no one’s watching: Truly, Aparnaa and her team of dedicated teachers embody the spirit of good samaritarianism.

May 2016

THE INTERVIEW

In dreamland: Nayanika Mahtani with her hero Ruskin Bond at Jaipur Lit Fest this January Juhi Shah juhi@scoonews.com Ruskin Bond finds Ambushed a “captivating, heartfelt tale”. High praise, indeed from the emperor of children’s literature in India. How does that feel? It feels like ‘Don’t wake me from this dream, not yet, please’! And, on another level, it feels like somehow Ambushed was meant to lead me to Ruskin Bond to discover something truly precious. In my growing years, my late father often told me that the character ‘Suri’ in Bond’s The Room on the Roof’ was based on him. (He didn’t seem to mind in the least that he was described as ‘bespectacled and owlish with an almost criminal cunning’!) Knowing Dad’s penchant for pulling my leg, I was never sure whether or not to believe him. And then at the Jaipur Lit Fest where I was invited to speak about Ambushed, I got the chance to meet Ruskin and find out. “Of course, it was him,” said Ruskin, recalling his association with my father when they were both adolescents in Dehradun, over 60 years ago. “Forever spying on courting couples, that Suri was! He was a wicked chap, but in the nicest possible way.” And then he wrote a few words for me in his book. It was, for me, as if an unfinished story had found a beautiful end. Valmik Thapar suggests Ambushed should be part of school reading. Do you think prescribing texts as a one-off can actually

TRAPPED! In the eye of the tiger A copywriter by day and storyteller by night, Nayanika Mahtani tells ScooNews how children can actually turn around the tiger’s fortune & why they should not be kept away from gritty subjects make youngsters unlearn years of environment unfriendly (much wasteful consumption) upbringing Indian families seem to generally give their offspring? To have Valmik, one of the world’s leading tiger conservationists, write that in the foreword, was hugely humbling; and I do believe his suggestion can go a long way. I think our kids are at risk of growing up in a bubble, partly because we adults are living in that bubble. Give a child a book that in a fun, non-prescriptive way reminds her or him about the larger picture and watch the magic happen. I have been blown away

May 2016

by the response of children to Ambushed and the issue of tiger conservation. Just last month, a group of year five kids in a London school were so moved by the story, they raised a staggering £4000 for Tiger Watch. You draw an unlikely collaborative friendship between the urbanized Tara and Satya, a poacher’s son. Is it possible? Do children of vastly differing backgrounds actually form such bonds? In this day and age? Not easily, in most cases! In today’s world,

THE INTERVIEW I find that not only our kids, but even we as adults, end up interacting with those who have such similar backgrounds, education and outlooks, that, in my view, it saps originality and makes for very dull conversation! As a family, we have lived in India, Africa and now in the UK and our daughters have interacted with children from completely diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, and been the richer for it, I think.

It’s paradoxical that children’s literature is so overlooked, given the crucial role it can play in shaping the world we want to live in. We need to give kids’ lit the space it deserves in bookstores, in libraries, in festivals, in people’s minds, in children’s lives.

The tribal boy in the book (Satya), is based on a little boy called Satto, the son of the lady who used to clean our house. Despite our best efforts, he refused to go to school. So I started seating him along my (then pre-school) children and keeping them occupied, while his mother did her work. Satto never ceased to amaze me. He had spent his early years in the village where his grandfather was a carpenter, and could whittle a block of wood into almost any shape you named, whistling nonchalantly. He found the lot of us pretty unimpressive I’m sure, but the one thing that earned his unadulterated awe was the computer. He would watch it entranced by the unlimited possibilities it held! I believe all royalties from Ambushed go to Tiger Watch, a Ranthambhore NGO, for a school for the kids of Moghiya tribals. Helping poachers’ kids and conserving tigers, some may find that at cross-purposes... It does sound that way at first, isn’t it? But when one takes a slightly longer look, it becomes apparent that the only way to stop poaching is to rehabilitate poachers—by giving them a window to alternate livelihood. And this is what Tiger Watch is doing as well through their school for the kids of ex-poachers from the marginalized semi-nomadic tribal community of Moghiyas. Today, there are about 21 boys who are enrolled, but Dr Dharmendra Khandal, a conservation biologist who heads Tiger Watch, hopes to see this number not only swell but include Moghiya

girls as well. His wife Divya runs Dhonk, a craft collective where she provides free vocational training to Moghiya men and women to give them a sustainable means of income. On my visit to Ranthambhore while doing the research for my book, I had the chance to meet some of these Moghiya men, women and children who can now hold their heads up high thanks to Tiger Watch’s support- and it was an unforgettable experience. And what is your take on the people vs parks conflicts? Especially in view of the rapidly shrinking habitats of our wildlife? It is the crux of the problem. But it can be resolved, as we are seeing in Ranthambhore and in the Sunderbans for instance. The key is empowering the locals with the skills, equipment and, most importantly, the responsibility to protect both themselves and the tigers and forests that they, more often than not, revere. This is proving to be an excellent solution for both humans and wildlife. Once the villagers own the conservation, our problem is half solved right there. How can children help with this cause? Particularly, those in Rajasthan who are geographically closer to Ranthambhore? Within the last century, the world has lost 97% of its wild tiger population. Experts say that the tiger will be extinct in 15 years. However, from all my school visits in India and London, I am so immensely heartened by the children’s engagement with Ambushed’s story and with tiger conservation; I just know that this generation of children will not let the tigers die out. So three quick tips to save the tiger would be: n Spread the word about tiger conservation amongst your friends and family. By saving tigers, we are really saving the forests and the water cycle and ourselves; it’s all inter-connected! n Raise funds—arrange a bake sale/ a ‘tiger’ run/ a sponsored read/ let your imagination go ‘wild’ and support projects and NGOs like Tiger Watch who have dedicated their time here to help save our planet.

The tiger cubs found their way into Ambushed

May 2016

THE INTERVIEW n Start a signature campaign—to stop the illegal trade of tiger skins and body parts especially in countries such as China and Malaysia who breed tigers on farms to kill them (this is how these countries sidestep the wildlife laws that ban tiger trade as these tigers are then not considered ‘wild’ tigers but their own property!) I have absolute faith that today’s children will not let India’s national animal and the world’s most majestic big cat become extinct. YOU can save the tiger. And I just know you will! Writing for children is a greater challenge, even well-known children’s authors like Paro Anand say so. Did you feel that? Especially when you debuted as a writer with children’s fiction? I think retaining a child’s interest is harder so you really have to work at keeping them engaged. An adult may put up with a few pages that don’t hold their interest but a child will drop the book the minute it seems prescriptive or dull or just well, not as fun as the Xbox or the Wii or the million other distractions available! Also, an adult who reads does so out of choice but some children are still deciding whether reading is worth their time or not (even if mama, papa or their teacher say it is!) Which is why I’m over the moon when kids who are reluctant readers tell me that they breezed through Ambushed and go on to ask when I’ll be writing more stories. The subtext of Ambushed has a sort of dysfunctionality in the protagonist Tara’s parents: a father who wants to return to his roots mid-career and a mother to whom life without city lights is anathema. Do you think writing about gritty subjects for 9- 10-year-olds easily gets past editors, parents, or even schools for the book to reach children? And then, children are also the toughest critics? I get the feeling that increasingly, us grown ups (the self-appointed gatekeepers!) are realizing that we need to have a conversation with children and young adults about even the gritty subjects, because the world isn’t perfect. Childhood is supposed to be this magical place of discovery but as we well know, sometimes the discoveries can be, well, not so happy. Books can be the lever to prise open the world with and try and make sense of stuff. And they are a terrific icebreaker for those difficult conversations, that we sometimes need to have. Kids are the toughest critics but what is wonderful is that they are also the most honest. I value a child’s criticism immensely. I wish we listened more to kids’ opinions about the kind of books they would like to read. Their take on the world and flights of imagination never fail to impress me.

Cricket is big game too: Moghiya children of ex-poachers now attend the school set up by by the NGO Tiger Watch in Sawai Madhopur. What do you think of mainstreaming YA fiction? Does it need “prominent platforms” to discuss the serious business of children’s literature? It is paradoxical that children’s literature is so overlooked, given the crucial role it can play in shaping the world we want to live in. The mainstreaming really needs to happen. We need a movement! To give kids’ lit the shelf space it deserves in bookstores, in libraries, in book festivals, in people’s minds, in children’s lives. And hopefully that exposure will make it much more financially viable for publishers, bookstores, festivals and authors to keep trying to engage more children with the wonderful world of the written word. Incidentally, in recent years, it is children’s literature that is keeping publishers in business. It really needs to be given its rightful place in the sun. And how much of a role did your own Taras (your daughters) play in the crafting of Ambushed? An absolutely invaluable role! It wouldn’t have happened without them, partly because it was written for them, but mostly because it was written with them, and they came up with all the best ideas! My daughters were aged 11 and 9 at the time I finished writing the first cut and they were the first to read it. Their feedback was that it was ‘alright but could do with more hiccups and mystery’ and then proceeded to give me some excellent suggestions for plot possibilities! And told me to try a bit harder in my next draft! Which I tried to do!

May 2016

Project Tiger: Your to-do n Spread the word about tiger

conservation amongst your friends and family. By saving tigers, we are really saving the forests and the water cycle and ourselves; it’s all inter-connected!

n Raise funds—arrange a bake sale/a

‘tiger’ run/a sponsored read/let your imagination go ‘wild’ and support projects and NGOs like Tiger Watch who have dedicated their time here to help save our planet.

n Start a signature campaign—to stop

the illegal trade of tiger skins and body parts especially in countries such as China and Malaysia who breed tigers on farms to kill them (this is how these countries sidestep the wildlife laws that ban tiger trade as these tigers are then not considered ‘wild’ tigers but their own property!)

There were my consultants on Tara’s gadget geekiness and her strategies to survive exasperating adults (that seemed strangely familiar!). And, given how tech-challenged I am, they became my in-house studio crew - creating a book trailer for Ambushed for me to take on my school tours and to the Jaipur Lit Fest, etc and also a Fur-ocious Tiger Quiz PowerPoint, both of which really seemed to connect with all the many wonderful kids I’ve met on this exciting adventure!

MAY MAY

Guru Rabindranath Tagore’s birthday; World Red Cross Day, Mothers’ Day

World Laughter Day, May Day (Labour Day)

MAY

Press Freedom Day, International Sun Day, World Asthma Day

MAY

Buddha Purnima; Anti-Terrorism Day

MAY

Commonwealth Day

International Migratory Bird Day

MAY

World Athletics Day MAY

World Missing Children’s Day

International Family Day MAY

World AntiTobacco Day

May 2016

MISSION MARS

Earth sure has come a long way since India’s first man in space, Wg Commander Rakesh Sharma , chatted with PM Indira Gandhi over the static of TV uplink. ScooNews brings you...

Scott’s year in space

ScooNews Correspondent

writeback@scoonews.com

part from being just like Earth and slow Internet, what else is space like, we wonder. How is it living a year in space? We decided to scroll through Commander Scott Kelly tweets to see how he stayed in touch with Earth, updating us about his and his colleagues’ daily lives, slow internet connections or not. A team of three, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka, embarked on a year-long journey on 27 March 2015 to analyze how a human body would react to a long duration stay in space. Although, the exact effect on their bodies after a year in space will only be clear in the coming few years, the NASA team, in the meanwhile, has been comparing the changes in his body and mind with that of his twin brother, Mark Kelly, also a retired astronaut, stationed on Earth while Kelly was in space. A veteran of space flight, Kelly accepted the opportunity to participate in NASA’s unprecedented year-

long space station mission, whose goal was to understand how the human body reacts and adapts to the harsh environment of space. During the 340-day mission, almost 400 experiments were conducted on the station. Data from the expedition will be used to reduce risks to the health of crew as NASA prepares to advance space travel beyond low Earth orbit. Kelly broke the American record for most cumulative time in space during his one-year mission, accruing 520 days, including his 340 days there in this mission. “Records are meant to be broken,” Kelly said. “I am looking forward to when these records in space are surpassed.” “Scott took part in experiments that will have far-reaching effects, helping us pave the way to putting humans on Mars and benefiting life on Earth,” beamed Brian Kelly, director of NASA flight operations in Houston. All grand missions aside, read on to know how Earthly concerns dogged the two bravehearts through year, be it long workdays, packaged food, fostering international ties, growing flowers and falling in love... with the beauty of Earth!

via Twitter Scott Kelly @StationCDRKelly My last #sunrise from space. 4 of 5. #YearInSpace

May 2016

Scott Kelly @StationCDRKelly Our plants aren’t looking too good. Would be a problem on Mars. I’m going to have to channel my inner Mark Watney.

It was on 16 January this year when Kelly tweeted a picture of a blooming zinnia with the legend ‘First ever flower grown in space makes its debut! #SpaceFlower #zinnia #YearInSpace.’ Showing his funny side, Kelly quipped about how the flowers were new company to him and Kornienko, an energy booster to help them continue for a few more months in space. Scott Kelly @StationCDRKelly First ever flower grown in space makes its debut! #SpaceFlower #zinnia #YearInSpace

term that can become fatiguing.” And if escaping work was impossible for the duo, so were the ‘luxuries’ of life on Earth, like returning to family at the end of the day, jumping into the pool with a bunch of friends, “running water, the ability to go outside...” and beer too! How would beer react in a body in space? Well, he tweeted: “It would be nice [if we had beer, but we don’t]. One problem of any kind of carbonated beverage, when you open a beer or soda on Earth the carbon will come to the top and out of the bottle. When we do that in space it would just stay liquid; it wouldn’t rise to the top. So you’d be drinking a beverage that would have a lot of gas in it, so that’s not ideal.” But what was it like for the two, one US citizen and the other a Russian, old Cold War adversaries, to live together for one whole year? No animosity, at least not in space! They relied on each other “up here on the space station, literally for our lives. We are great friends, professionals, colleagues, and it is not something that ever comes up in conversation, or should it... these are great guys and I wouldn’t want to be flying with anyone else... what we’re doing is very important and we’ll leave those discussions to those that make that their job.” Among other things, Kelly sure displayed his funny bone as he tweetchatted with none other than POTUS, President Barack Obama. The bromance:

The moon

That beautiful water

And the shapely ice

Highest mountain range

President Obama @POTUS Hey @StationCDRKelly, loving the photos. Do you ever look out the window and just freak out? All the while that the astronauts were busy helping Earth plans to colonize Mars, they also gave the Earthlings insights into space and its real ‘nature’. He started with joking how he was loving ‘the fresh air in space’, and the aroma of coffee thanks to the newly-arrived coffee machine on the International Space Station. “We have a lot of activity going on right now with the dragon resupply ship that just brought the machine up to the station. So, with that, and all the other science going on, we still haven’t had the opportunity to get into the espresso machine,” he tweeted. And with coffee came association of neverending workdays: “One thing that I find least appealing is that you’re always at work. So imagine yourself, regardless of what kind of job you have, that you never leave. So it always feels like you’re working, that you’re always on. So over the long-

Scott Kelly @StationCDRKelly I don’t freak out about anything, Mr President. Except getting a Twitter question from you.

Why forget the desert

and then President Obama @POTUS Welcome back to Earth, @StationCDRKelly! Your year in space is vital to the future of American space travel. Hope gravity isn’t a drag!

Art? No, Earth

Scott Kelly @StationCDRKelly @POTUS Thank you, Mr President. For your support & for your phone call as I fly home at a lower altitude tonight! What better place to watch Gravity than in space!

May 2016

ON THE BALL

IPL ALL YOU DON’T KNOW

ScooNews Correspondent writeback@scoonews.com

here is no denying the Indian Premier League has changed the way cricket is seen and played across the world, a bit like the way Kerry Packer revolutionized the game back in the 1970s with his World Series Cricket (WSC gave cricket world ODIs as we know st them today, remember?). As 21 century’s

game changer gets halfway into its ninth edition, you will have seen several impressive reputations demolished, new heroes emerging, milestones achieved, and a bank of memories created. While you all are upto-date with the info around IPL, here’s some trivia you may have missed.

only 10 during IPL-1 (2007) when the first IPL was played, at 17 he was playing along with Gayle, de Villiers, Kohli! When playing against Rajasthan Royals in IPL 8, this Royal Challengers Bangalore cub was pitted against Pravin Tambe, the oldest Indian IPL player at 43 years 198 days.

IPL cub

He’s on the ball!

Sarfaraz Naushad Khan was the youngest IPL player at age 17 years 179 days for IPL8. You know that? There’s more! He was

Piyush Chawla, Kolkata Knight Riders right-arm leg spin all-rounder, has bowled as many as 360 overs in the league, yet no

May 2016

As IPL gets halfway into season 9, ScooNews gets you some trivia about cricket matters you may have lost sight of in all that frenzy and the waving of the cheergirlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; pompoms! Read on, discover...

no-ball. But he also has the dubious distinction of conceding the maximum number of sixes in IPL!

Best friends forever? Both Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey have played four different IPL teams, however, their own partnership has remained unbroken for all the seasons till now. In the year 2008, they played together for Mumbai Indians, in 2009-10 for RCB, 2011-13 for Pune Warriors India and 2014-26 for KKR.

Strugglers Delhi Daredevils have till now not reached the finals of any IPL season despite finishing as table toppers in two seasons-2009 and 2012.

Winnersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; hat trick Yusuf Pathan and Rohit Sharma are only two to have lifted the trophy thrice, which is the maximum for any player in the league.

May 2016

ON THE BALL Talk IPL, and it veers round to WAGs, the hot wives and girlfriends of the demi gods that cricketers are in this land. With season nine in full swing now, the WAGfever is waxing too as cricketers dole it out on the pitches. Meet some of the most celebrated of them, not just for their partners but reasons all their own.

The WAGs have it

Sakshi Dhoni

Mashoom Singha

Sakshi Dhoni Well, us Indians, we cannot get over la familias Dhoni, neither MSD, nor wife wife Dhoni, or baby Dhoni. Sakshi was recently in the news for her tweet asking people to stop bursting crackers right outside her home as the celebration would wake up baby Dhoni.

Ayesha Mukherjee Ah! Girls drool over Shikhar Dhwan, and the hunk drools over wife Ayesha Mukherjee. Jealous? Mukherjee, 12 years elder to Dhawan, is an amateur kickboxer.

Mashoom Singha Australian hot-shot bowler, T-20 specialist, Shaun Tait, got lucky in 2014, and thousands ate their hearts out, as he married his girlfriend of four years. Singha is, however, not just a WAG, there’s more to her. She is a successful swimsuit model and wine entrepreneur.

Sania Mirza Love her or hate her, you simply cannot ignore her. The Indian tennis champ married Pakistani all-rounder Shoaib Malik in 2010 and has probably never known peace since then, being trolled often on social media, especially during India-Pak matches. Does she care? Sania is ranked no 1 in women’s doubles rankings!

Mayanti Langer Sania Mirza with Shoaib Malik

A woman sports journalist was rare once, but Langer and a few before her changed it all. A TV presenter and a sports journalist, Langer has hosted many sports shows and tournaments, Married to Indian all-rounder Stuart Binny, she has Football Cafe, 2010

Tara Ridgeway FIFA World Cup, 2011 Cricket World Cup, 2014 Indian Super League, 2015 Cricket World Cup in her kitty.

Tara Ridgeway Dating Eoin Morgan, England’s limited-overs captain, for the past five years, this beauty from Australia is a law and public relations graduate and a part-time model.

Danielle Swart When the cricket fanatics jump and dance for AB de Villiers, he is all about his wife, Swart, to whom he famously proposed in the shadow of the Taj Mahal, the epitome of love.

Umme Ahmed Shishir A graduate from University of Minnesota, software engineer by profession, Shishir is married to Bangladesh’s Shakib Al-Hasan. While the Bangladeshis are seen as the upcoming team, AlHasan has already caught the eye of the cricketing world.

Candice Falzon A professional ironwoman, surf-life saver and a model, this Australian-origin woman had everything to hook the explosive David Warner! She is the youngest ever professional to feature in the Ironman series at age 14. By 16, she was crowned the NSW state champ!

May 2016

Danielle Swart with AB de Villiers

ON THE BALL It’s cricket as usual, this summer with the IPL stars hogging airwaves. With every season, new cricketers become gods of this cricket-mad nation, high on superstar status, while we completely forget our women cricketers, denying them their due. While WAGs get all the attention their better halves bring them, here are a few women who scorch the pitch for entirely different reasons, reasons all their own!

Ellyse Alexandra Perry

They are women. They know their game! Ellyse Alexandra Perry

Sana Mir

There’s something extra in this Oz woman. She isn’t just a cricketer but also a footballer, and a rather pretty one at that! Into professional cricket and football since age 16, she first played international cricket in 2007. At 25, she is one of the youngest representatives of Cricket Australia and also the first woman to be playing both cricket and association football world cups. And she is not merely playing, she has been winning various titles too. An all-rounder, she bats and bowls with ease though she started out as a batswoman. In football, Perry plays defender.

Pakistan’s top-rated cricketer debuted in international cricket in 2005 and has since done every thing to change the face of Pakistan’s women’s cricket. At 30 now, she herself handed over the captaincy, which she had held since 2009, preferring to play the game as a regular team member. With women like Mir in the team, cricket is now seen as a medium of women’s empowerment in the nation. Winning the Player of the Tournament in 2008 Women’s World Cup qualifier, it was under her captaincy that Pakistan won the Asian Games gold in 2010 and 2014. A big fan of Waqar Younis, Imran Khan, and Jonty Rhodes, she has combined the quality of all the three in her game. She is the first woman cricketer to receive PCB woman cricketer of the year award in 2013.

Dane van Niekerk All of 22, Van Niekerk is one of the key players of the South African women’s cricket team. She started young, getting selected for the national team in 2009 as a leg-spinner. Since then, she has been a constant feature in the team, playing the first World Cup in 2013, and World T-20 since 2009. Her best hauls are her 3/11 against Sri Lanka, 5/28 against West Indies, and 5/17 against Pakistan, which made her the first SA woman to achieve two five-wicket hauls in ODI. In 2013, she became the first woman to add a hat-trick to her list. And it’s not just bowling that she excels at. Niekerk has developed into an all-rounder over the years. She made a smashing half-century against Pakistan in World Cup 2013 as part of a 128-run partnership with Marizanne Kapp. Her stand of 90 not-out in an unbroken partnership with Lizelle Lee against Pakistan also brought her laurels. To add to her list of achievements is her selection in the Eastern Province cricket team academy (men’s team)!

Dane van Niekerk

Mithali Raj It is not for nothing that she is called Lady Sachin. Leading the Indian side against New Zealand in 2015 ODI, she scored a smashing 81, which led her team to victory, also making her the second international woman cricketer and the first Indian to score 5,000 runs in ODIs. The first was Charlotte Edwards from England. Raj started playing cricket at age 10, getting selected into Indian team at 17 with her debut against Ireland in 1999. In her very first international match, she scored an unbeaten 114. While she debuted in 2001-02 in tests, it was playing her third test in 2002 that she broke Karen Rolton’s record of world’s highest individual test score of 209, scoring a new high of 214 against England.

Sana Mir

Mithali Raj

May 2016

COVER STORY

A cartoon by

any other

name does not

A CARTOON make

Yes, GenY! We’re talking to you. And it’s not an ‘us grownups’ versus ‘you kids’ thing but if only you would get past your gadgetry, watch a few cartoon shows back from the 1980s, you might get what we’re talking about

May 2016

Team ScooNews

writeback@scoonews.com

artoons.... What pops up in your mind at the mention of the word? An integral part of your childhood? Everyone’s childhood? Colourful... animated... funny characters with personalities that are so human, that make you snigger, giggle, guffaw, give you fun unlimited, in other words? But are the cartoons of the day, the digital age that you live in, really as fun-filled as the cartoons of the 1980s or 90s? (Psst: We won’t even go back to the the times of your parents, forget your grandparents, when the original cartoons came into being!) Of course, you love all that gadgetry, the effects, robotics and of course the 3D animation. Indeed, motion pictures have gone beyond what could even be imagined back in the 1920s when they were first dreamt up by people like Walt Disney; all this technical wizardry that you expect when you enter a darkened theatre for a Deadpool or The Jungle Book. Seriously? No, no, we don’t have a problem with what you like. But give this a thought—have the cartoons of this age, your times, the simple charm of earlier times? With almost human foibles, eccentricities, and, yes, lovable traits that could be identified with this oddball uncle or that crazy cousin in the family? With personali-

ties that even today remain part of generations’ consciousness? Or, have they gone too techie? Are they not they just the tiniest bit too perfect to be called ‘cartoons’ any more? Where is the ‘personality’, the traits that draws you to a character? ScooNews asked around, talking to today’s kids and came across interesting answers. Eleven-year-old Aayushmaan Singh’s favourite cartoon character is Ben Tennyson aka Ben 10—the animated boy wonder who acquires a watch-like alien device (the Omnitrix), which allows the wearer to transform into 10 different alien creatures. And the reason for Aayushmaan’s obvious preference is not hard to divine... it’s Ben 10’s watch! Yes, this Sanskar School student loves his Ben 10 because of the power that the gadget gives his hero, a regular boy like himself otherwise, to save the world! “I love his watch and want to possess it,” he told us wistfully. Cousins Sanjam Preet Singh and Sahaj Preet Singh, both 13 years old and both of St Anselm’s Pink City School, have almost the same reasons to love Doreamon. Huge Doraemon fans, it’s the gadgetry in the show that has them going back for more. And while Sahaj does find the Japanese manga character interesting for his ‘personality’, Sanjam said, “I like Doraemon because of the different gadgets he takes out from his pocket just to help his friend Nobita.”

One cannot deny the superb animation of these cartoons of your times. The cartoons of today are technologically better than ever before. In fact, the technical wizardry— the background, the fight sequences, the light and sound effects—the perfection of it all leaves us speechless. But that’s the problem really

ScooNews also found, typically, that while the young guys were spellbound by the gadgetry, girls were inclined towards the fashion sense of the characters. And if any talk of girls has to veer round to fashion, it has

May 2016

COVER STORY

Mr. Slicker Mickey Mouse dailies 1930

Generations across the globe have grown up on a diet of Duck Tails or the shenanigans of beloved Mickey. But there was a lot more to the man than just someone who gave us Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the first cartoon character to spawn the concept of ‘personality animation’ in which cartoon characters were defined as individuals through their movements, mannerisms and acting, instead of through design. Meet Walter Elias ‘Walt’ Disney, entrepreneur, animator, voice actor, and film producer

May 2016

Mortimer Mouse Mickey’s Rivel 1936

Montmorency (Monty) Rodent Mickey Mouse comics 1941

Mortimer Mouse House of Mouse 2001

Mortimer Mouse

Mickey Mouse Works 1999

Mickey Mouse Works Episode “Mickey and the Goatman” 2000

‘I want my characters to be somebody, not just a drawing’

alt Disney dropped out of school at the age of 16, forged his birth certificate so he could join the Red Cross ambulance corps, the minimum age for which was 17! And if you think animation was his first love you couldn’t be further from the truth. Disney wanted to be a newspaper cartoonist, the passion for which brought him to Kansas City where he started out by creating advertisements for magazines and movie theatres; the interest in animation only came about gradually. And then, it did not all start with Mickey Mouse; Mickey wasn’t his first successful character! It was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a character he created under the aegis of Disney Brothers Studio, which brought his name into the limelight. Soon enough though he lost the rights to Oswald on top of which many of his employees were poached in a corporate dispute. And so, it was in response to this that a new character was born, who happened to be… Mickey Mouse! But Mickey was not Mickey at first. He was christened Mortimer Mouse but Walt’s wife, Lily, found the name “pompous” and suggested “Mickey” instead. And the rest, as they say, is history. Seems like things weren’t too different back in the 1940s from office situations of today. When Disney was nearby his employees would use a special code for him, “man is in the forest”, as a warning. The code originated when they were working on the movie Bambi in 1942 where the man is the villain. Walt Did you know Disney measured distance in terms of the time it took him to eat a hot dog… ?! Well, trash cans at Disney World were placed 25 steps away from hot dog stands for this reason. And that’s not all about Walt Disney and hot dogs. HOT DOGS were the first words ever spoken by Mickey Mouse! And yes, Disney was mad about trains. So great was his fascination with trains that he laid half a mile of rail tracks at his home in the Holmby Hills of Los Angeles in 1950. Donning a train driver’s uniform, he would give his visitors rides on his Carolwood Pacific Railroad, named for the street he lived on. He is credited with receiving extra Oscars for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs—one regular Academy Award and seven miniature statuettes. Disney was personally involved in the development of Disneyland and so he kept an apartment on Disneyland’s main street, which is kept just the way it was, with his papers still on his desk. When she died, his housekeeper was a millionaire…! Thelma Howard, his live-in housekeeper for 30 years, was given holiday bonuses by Disney and on her demise her estate was found to be worth more than $9 million—half of which went to her son and the rest to homeless and disadvantaged children. Disney was a longtime smoker and died of lung cancer in 1966. After his death rumours started floating about his body being cryogenically preserved, that he’d been frozen with the hope to bring him back to life but the rumours were shortlived once it was discovered that he had been cremated and his ashes interred in a mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.

May 2016

COVER STORY also to veer round to... Barbie. Yes, all you 80s’/90s’ kids, know that the childhood love of most girls, Barbie, is now in her cartoon avatar, has been since 2012, in fact. Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse showcases the life of Barbie the fashion icon with her sisters and pet in a large pink mansion called ‘the Dreamhouse’. But if you thought technical stuff was out of this sugar confectionary of a cartoon, think again! The gloriously pink world of Barbie houses Ken, her boyfriend, a gadget freak who keeps inventing things to make life easier, simpler for his lady love, including clones, who can represent the super model at all the various socially useful things that super models must do!

Eight-year-old Stuti Sharma is so fascinated with the fashionista that all this young lady wants are her glamorous outfits and the accessories that go with them. “I wish I could have all her dresses,” said this worshipper when ScooNews walked in to her house one afternoon to find her watching what else but Barbie on her mum’s laptop! (The series of computer-animated shorts debuted in May 2012 and is available on Barbie.com, Netflix and YouTube.) “I love the episode when Ken invented clones of Barbie just to ease her work,” said this diehard groupie.

Bet you did not know these!

POPEYE AND OLIVE OYL WERE REAL PEOPLE! Well, they were based on real people. When Elzie Segar introduced Popeye in a 1929 comic strip, he drew his inspiration for the sailor from a character from his hometown of Chester, Illinois–a one-eyed man named Frank ‘Rocky’ Fiegal. Fiegal, who shared IT WAS MICKEY’S FIRST sound Popeye’s fondness for fighting and pipe-smoking, was cartoon, Steamboat Willie, which apparently rather flattered by his link to the cartoon: premiered on 18 November when he died in 1947, his gravestone was inscribed with the 1928 that shot him to fame, words “inspiration for Popeye”. Olive Oyl was based on which is why that day is celeanother of Segar’s neighbours–a very tall, slim woman named brated as the birthday of Dora Paskel, who usually wore her hair in a bun. POPEYE CONMickey and Minnie. VINCED AMERICAN KIDS TO EAT SPINACH As all Popeye fans MICKEY MOUSE’S ears are know, whenever the sailor feels in need of some extra strength, he always perfect circles. simply downs a tin of spinach, and instantly sprouts bulging biceps. During the Great Depression, a 33% increase in spinach WALT DISNEY originally called consumption was widely attributed to the character’s popuMickey “Mortimer Mouse” (see larity and his famous fondness for the green stuff. Rather box: I want my characters... for endearingly, spinach was also listed as the third favourite Mortimer’s evolution). His wife food of American children at the time (after turkey Lily persuaded him to change it. and icecream). However, the cartoon’s link between spinach and rapidly expanding muscles actually THE FIRST WORDS Mickey ever had its roots in a scientific mistake: due to a misspoke in a cartoon were “hot dogs” placed decimal point in an 1870 medical jourin The Karnival Kid in 1929. nal, many people in the Thirties believed THE WOMAN who dubbed for Minnie spinach held 10 times more iron Mouse, Russi Taylor, married the man than it really did. who voiced over for Mickey, Wayne Allwine, in 1991.

May 2016

Then again, if parents think all of GenY is thoroughly taken in by st all the manga stuff and the rest of the 21 century’s answer to the Tom & Jerrys or the Uncle Scrooges of yore, the answer is a resounding NO! They aren’t impressed. In fact, many of them do not even watch cartoons and even if they do they find them “notso-interesting”, including our own native take, Chota Bheem! “I don’t like Chota Bheem, it’s too boring, there is nothing much to see,” intoned Sahaj. Kushaan Lodha shares the same opinion. He is 10 years old, too old, he says, to watch Chota Bheem—touted as our national ani-

mated hero, who flies in to aid helpless kings, bravely, strongly and intelligently! BORING AND KIDDISH... that is the unstinted dismissal of India’s answer to Percy Jackson by this wise guy from Neerja Modi School! And it is not just Chota Bheem that Kushan has an aversion to. Shin Chan also makes the grade (or fails to, depending on the way you look at it!) on Kushaan’s list of what not to watch as far as cartooning is concerned. For starters, he dislikes the language of the five-year-old character written and illustrated by Yoshito Usui. And the only somewhat older Kushan has a point. Often castigat-

DONALD DUCK was created by Walt Disney when he heard Clarence Nash doing his “duck” voice while reciting Mary Had a Little Lamb. Disney wanted a character that was more negative than Mickey Mouse, so the bad-tempered duck was born. “Donald, I can’t understand a word ya say,” Mickey Mouse says. Nash voiced over for the character from 1934 to 1983, training Tony Anselmo to take over. DONALD DUCK, who usually wears a sailor shirt, cap, and a red or black bow tie, but no trousers, is the only popular film and TV cartoon character to appear as a mascot for the sports team of a major American university, namely, the Oregon Ducks at the University of Oregon. WALT DISNEY said of the character: “One of the greatest satisfactions in our work here at the studio is the warm relationship that exists within our cartoon family. Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, and the whole gang have always been a lot of fun to work with. But like many large families, we have a problem child. You’re right, it’s Donald Duck.”

BEN TENNYSON’S middle name is “Kirby”, did you know that? IN THE ORIGINAL PLOT for Ben 10, he was supposed to turn into 10 different superheroes instead of aliens. GWEN HAS AN older brother named Ken, who Ben is quite fond of.

Who is Carl Barks? Who is Carl Barks, you may ask? Well, even if you don’t know his name, you’re probably familiar with his work. If you’ve ever seen a cartoon featuring Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, or any of the duck clan, then you know the work of Carl Barks even if you don’t know it! Hehehehe... Carl Barks is a Disney legend and an American cultural icon! His career as both a cartoonist and artist spanned a truly incredible 60+ years. Carl Barks began working for the Walt Disney Studios in 1935 as an “in-betweener” in the animation department. Upon leaving the studios in 1942 and until his retirement in 1966, he single-handedly wrote and drew nearly 500 Duck Stories for the Disney Comic Books: Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories, The Donald Duck Adventures, and The Uncle Scrooge Adventures!

May 2016

COVER STORY They brought Tom & Jerry alive Creators of the evergreen Tom and Jerry, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera were former MGM animation directors who founded Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc, an animation studio that dominated American TV animation from 1957 to late 20th Century. Hanna joined a California engineering firm after studying engineering and journalism. He switched to cartooning in 1930 and joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a director and story man in the animation department in 1937. Barbera began as a bank accountant with the Irving Trust Company in New York City in the early 1930s when he started submitting cartoons to magazines; he sold his first to Collier’s magazine and decided to forsake banking for good, joining MGM as a sketch artist in the same year as Hanna. At MGM, Hanna and Barbera first collaborated directorially on the Academy Award-nominated Puss Gets the Boot (1940), which served as the basis for the popular Tom and Jerry series of short subject theatricals, ultimately producing more than 200 films in the series between 1940 and 1957. In 1957, Hanna and Barbera set up their own studio and found great success with their next few projects, The Huckleberry Hound Show and Yogi Bear. From there followed The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo,

Where Are You?, and The Jetsons, among many other classics, making Hanna-Barbera a legendary animation studio. Hanna-Barbera was one of the first studios to successfully produce cartoons especially for television.

On to Duck Tales Scrooge was born in the comics, specifically those written and drawn by the legendary Carl Barks. Though he began life as a cantankerous old misanthrope in the story ‘Christmas on Bear Mountain’, he quickly evolved into the old duck we know and love now. The basic premise of ‘DuckTales’, along with many of the characters, locations, and concepts from the show, are straight out of the Barks’ comics. Barks even has a writing credit on some episodes (like ‘Back to the Klondike’) that are directly adapted from his stories. Had the show followed the comics more faithfully, Donald would definitely have been a part of the Duck Tales gang. But the Disney producers had decided that they really wanted the focus to be on the stingy Scot, so they took Donald out of the equation.

ed for his occasionally weird, unnatural and inappropriate use of language, as well as his mischievous behaviour, the Japanese manga cartoon is not someone parents voluntarily agree to letting their children watch. “Shin Chan only talks, talks and talks... there’s nothing I like about it,” complained Sanjam, on the same page as Kushan, and countless, hapless parents, we might add. So, mixed reviews, all in all, but have you ever wondered what the earlier generation thought about their cartoons? Were they as dissatisfied? Let’s take a look at the 90s’ scene....

May 2016

Scooby Dooby Doooooo, Dee Dee get out of my laboratory, Hello mayor what can we do for you… these are the fruity voices of the cartoon characters that the 80s’ or 90s’ kids would never forget. Their world of cartoons was an enthralling one, one they can still get lost in even almost two decades later. Take Rolika Chamyal, 90s born, and now in her mid-20s. “Unlike today, watching cartoons was an essential part of growing up back then,” she said. “If I look at what passes for ‘cartoons’ I can’t help but think how much better ours were. They are as entertaining even today,” she laughed, happy to recall childhood joys once more.

COVER STORY But, what made them special? Why do people still have a soft corner for ‘their cartoons’? What is it that had such a great impact? What is missing today? And why does GenY find cartoons of today ‘boring and kiddish’? Well, to begin with... The cartoons of earlier days were definitely far more substantial, had more depth to them in their characterization, and without compromising on their fun quotient in any way at all. Uncle Scrooge may be the stereotypical rich, miser of an uncle but when it comes to the crunch it is always family above everything, even if it is his pesky nephews! And his character is drawn so brilliantly that we can’t help but identify with him. Take boy-genius Dexter, the inventor with a secret laboratory, who forever battles his sister Dee Dee to keep her out of the lab. He also engages in a bitter rivalry with his neighbour and fellow-genius Mandark. Though highly intelligent, Dexter often fails at what he has set out to do when he becomes overexcited and makes careless choices. Sounds familiar, hunh? Do Shin Chan or Chota Bheem compare in any way where storyline or characterization is concerned? To be honest, they seem,

especially Chota Bheem, to go rather the way of the ‘saas-bahu’ sagas with their melodramatic, weak, lacking in ideas plots that thrive on repetitiveness. Take Chota Bheem. You watch two episodes and... yawn... and this hitherto cute dhoti-clad desi superhero’s tale just seems another over-the-top story of a village don, who takes on demons, other evil forces and what not out to destroy his village Dholakpur. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, Chota Bheem is quite as lovable as his namesake, the real Bheem of the Mahabharat fame, with his super strength and fondness for laddus! But it ends there. There are no layers in the characterization, all good, no grey. And today’s kids are too smart to accept a boy their age who is all good. You are not ready to accept someone who is all bad either. Yes, you got it. Shin Chan, the 5-year-old who has no agenda but to make his parents’ lives miserable with his (mis)deeds and bad language. All he does is converse. Like Sanjam said, he talks and talks and talks! And that’s all. On the other hand, take a look at a duck, who is a millionaire (DuckTales); a cat and a mouse as protagonists and antagonists (Tom & Jerry); two talking squirrels, one logical and the other dimwitted, living together (Chip ‘n’ Dale), a dog talking and fighting with aliens (Courage, the Cowardly Dog)… sounds fun, doesn’t it? Well, if YES, then undoubtedly you understand that cartoon characters like Shin Chan, Chota Bheem or even your very favourite school-going blue cat, gumball (The Amazing World of Gumball), none of them could match the level of the earlier ones. Now let’s talk about animation. One cannot deny the superb animation of these

DORAEMON’S LITTLE SISTER, Dorami, is actually a stronger robot! DORAMI IS ABLE TO produce energy for 10,000 HP as compared to Doraemon that can only produce 129.3 horsepower. DORAEMON’S ORIGINAL colour is yellow. Doraemon had a pair of ears, but lost them to rats who bit them off.

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SO DORAEMON BECAME DEPRESSED and drank a potion labelled ‘sadness’. As he cried, his yellow tone faded into the lovable blue we know today. THE DORAEMON MANGA SERIES was first published in December 1969 in six different magazines. A total of 1,345 stories were created in the original series, extending to 45 volumes.

COVER STORY age for her to think about all this? Isn’t it the age to giggle, to laugh and be free of all thoughts of materialistic pleasures? Are these the only two options that you girls have to aspire for? Compare that to the simpl(er) pleasures of the sound of her laughing at the antics of Tom, out to outsmart Jerry and failing every time! Or giggling over Chip and Dale quarrelling with each other in squirrelspeak. Imagine an irritated duck quacking! And the way his irritated voice is dubbed is remarkable… almost make you feel his irritation. Now compare that to the mindless ding ding ding, ding ding ding of Ninja Hattori. Capisce? Apart from being a complete entertainment package, the cartoons of the past had a lot to teach you the good stuff even as they tickled your funny bone without your even realizing it. Unlike Doraemon who has to speak to teach you values!

cartoons of your times. The cartoons of today are technologically better than ever before. In fact, the technical wizardry—the background, the fight sequences, the light and sound effects—the perfection of it all leaves us speechless. But that’s the problem really. The ‘perfection’ is so perfect that the cartoons lose the essence of being cartoons. Take Ben 10. Many of you love him. Undeniably. And the way the show is shot makes you marvel, at the fight scenes, especially... so perfect that they make you want to go out and destroy all the intergalactic bounty hunters you can find, or, at the very least, beat the Vilgax in your life to a pulp. Like Sahaj, who told us, “Watching Ben 10 makes me feel like beating up my rivals. I feel like banging their head and beating the hell out of them.” But, think about it. Do you want to be like that? Beating up whoever crosses you? And girls, you just love the unlimited perfection of Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse, right? The beautiful Malibu world of Barbie and Ken, and Skipper, Stacie, Chelsea and their pets? Barbie, who has it all: a wardrobe of designer gowns, a Corvette and even a dream house? That you just adore watching on Netflix? The hair, the fashion, the dream home... Barbie is the centre of your world, igniting your imagination and encouraging you to follow your dreams. ‘You can be anything!’ she tells you, ‘You can be anything you want to be. If that means being driven around in a limousine or getting pampered all day long.’ It is all too beautiful to be even described here. But, hang on, think this over. Is life really like this? Is that what you want your little sister to grow up wanting? ‘Being driven around in a limousine or getting pampered all day long’? Is that the right

May 2016

Did Popeye ever tell you about the benefits of eating spinach? No! All he ever did was to down his handy tin of spinach whenever in need of instant energy to take on the hulking Bluto or a rigorous physical task. And, in the process, inspired millions of children all over the globe to eat good, eat healthy, avoid junk food. The endlessly fighting Tom and Jerry showed how to put all differences aside to stand up together to face a common enemy. Not only this, they also taught that every beautiful relationship has its difficult moments, which really only strengthen the bonds. And if all that is not reason enough for you to rush to hunt out all these guys from the past on YouTube or your nearest DVD store, do it just for the laughs, crazy rib-busting laughs. You won’t regret it, we kid you not!

Cirrus

DID YOU KNOW

All about

Highest of the common cloud formations, these delicate wisps are made up entirely of ice crystals. They may signal bad weather. Cirrocumulus

CLOUDS

The names of clouds come from Latin from a time when Latin was the international language of science. Clouds are of four types, masses of water droplets and ice crystals really that form on particles in the air when humid air cools enough for water vapour to condense. The three main types of clouds are categorized according to shape: cirrus, cumulus, and stratus. Scientists have described around 10 different combinations of these three main forms. Clouds are also classified according to their height above the ground (measured from the lowest point of the cloud). High-level clouds, called cirrus, can reach up to 20,000 feet/6,000 meters, are thin and usually made up of ice. They do not produce rain but since they arrive in advance of the frontal system or tropical cyclone, they indicate deterioration in weather conditions. At the mid level (between 6,500 feet/2,000 meters and cirrus) are the ‘alto’ clouds—altostratus or altocumulus, depending on their shape.

Layerlike rippled clouds. Cirrostratus

Highest of the layerlike clouds. Altocumulus

(Altostratus clouds are flat; altocumulus clouds are puffy.) They frequently indicate an approaching storm.

Cottony rows of gray clouds. Altostratus

Low-level clouds lie below 6,500 feet/2,000 meters and are called stratus clouds. They’re often dense, dark, and rainy (or snowy) though they can also be cottony white clumps interspersed with the blue sky.

Thin, filmy gray clouds. Nimbostratus

The most dramatic types of clouds are cumulus and cumulonimbus, or thunderheads. Rather than spreading out in bands like other clouds, they rise to dramatic heights, sometimes well above the level of transcontinental jet flights!

Dark gray, layered, low-lying clouds.

Cumulus clouds are fair-weather clouds. When they get big enough to produce thunderstorms, they are called cumulonimbus. These clouds are formed by upwelling plumes of hot air, which produce visible turbulence on their upper surfaces, making them look as though they are boiling.

Rows and flows of angel hair And ice cream castles in the air And feather canyons everywhere I’ve looked at clouds that way I’ve looked at clouds From both sides now From up and down, and still somehow It’s cloud illusions I recall I really don’t know clouds at all

Stratocumulus

Fluffy but patchy gray to white clouds. Stratus

Low-lying blanket of gray clouds. Cumulus

Fluffy white clouds. Cumulonimbus

— Excerpted from ‘Both Sides Now’ by Neil Diamond

May 2016

Towering clouds formed when a warm, rapidly rising column of air meets a layer of cooler air—fluffy at the top and flattened below. They often develop into dark thunderheads.

The lead in your pencils, really graphite, is made of the exact same thing as diamonds. Both are pure carbon, which just formed under different pressures and temperatures. Intense heat and pressure turn the carbon atoms into crystals making diamonds, while lesser heat and pressure form the carbon into sheets making graphite. Imagine, your pencil could have been made of diamond!

Frogs blink to push their food in. Frogs swallow in the whackiest way. Once they catch bugs in their mouth, they blink. Why pray? Because this presses their eyeballs down against the roof of the mouth, bending it and thus the bug into the stomach. All in the blink of an eye! But you must never kiss a frog even though princesses may kiss frogs and turn them into handsome princes. In real life, most kinds of frogs are poisonous, and their skin tastes awful.

Manhole covers, the lids that cover sewers, are always round. Why? The round cover rests on a lip that is smaller than the cover so it can’t drop through the opening. A square or rectangular cover, no matter how it was made, could fall through. Now, that’s a good cover-up!

You are not the same height all day long! Don’t believe us? Take the shrink test. And make your your friends take it too to see if you all shrink at the same rate. This is what you must do. n Carefully measure your height when you first wake up in the morning. n Measure again in the afternoon. Any change? Why? Your backbone is made of separate bones called vertebrate, and sandwiched between the vertebrate are soft cartilage discs which act as cushions. Standing squeezes out liquid in the discs which accumulates at night. Now do this experiment on others and ask yourself these questions. n How long does it take to shrink? n Do tall people shrink more or less ? n How about old persons vs. young ones ?

Snakes have the most disgusting table manners, opening their mouths very, very wide when they eat. Often they stuff in a whole, live animal—anything from a rat or rabbit to an entire pig or goat. Even worse, they swallow without chewing! You can sometimes see the bulge as the animal passes through the body. Yuck? Probably. One redeeming factor is that most snakes don’t need to eat very often. One big meal can last for many months. Well, what do you call a rabbit who comes near a snake? Dinner! The mighty Olympus Mons on Mars is the second highest known mountain within the Solar System. It is the youngest of the large volcanoes on the planet, having formed during Mars’ Amazonian Period. It has a height of nearly 22km by one measure and stands almost three times as tall as Mount Everest’s height above sea level. Mars has two known moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are small and irregularly shaped. The two moons were discovered by American astronomer Asaph Hall over the course of a week in 1877.

Earth, Sun & the family n One million Earths could fit inside the sun? And that when the sun is considered an averagesize star! n Comets are leftovers from the creation of our solar system about 4.5 billion years ago—sand, ice and carbon dioxide is what makes them up. n You wouldn’t be able to walk on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus or Neptune because they have no solid surface! n If you could fly a plane to Pluto, the trip would take more than 800 years! n Sunset on Mars is blue. Turtles were here long before the dinosaurs. The dinosaurs have been gone for 65 million years now. But turtles are still around. Slow and steady does it, eh?

May 2016

DID YOU KNOW Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad

Jatinga, Assam With a population of around 2500, this village is known worldwide for its bird suicides! Most visiting migratory birds never leave the village, dropping dead for no rhyme or reason at all on the streets. The case gets even curiouser with the birds always plummeting to their death between 6–9.30 pm on moonless nights of September and October, and then, only on a specific 1mile x 600 feet strip of land. This phenomenon is said to have occurred year after year without a break for more than a century. Many theories have been offered by scientists, the most popular one being that these birds are attracted to and then confused by village lights. None of them have yet been able to prove any of the theories behind this phenomenon though.

One of the biggest film cities in the country, this place is home to many hotels that are controversial because of the reported ‘paranormal activities’ in and around them. Witnesses report that studio lights keep falling off; that lightmen, who sit high up, have been pushed many times suffering grievous injuries; that food left in rooms is often found scattered around the room with strange prints left on the mirrors.Interestingly the ‘ghosts’ are women haters too, since women seem to be targeted more than men! Many women have reported an invisible force tearing their clothes

off, some said they felt someone knock on their washroom doors while the rooms remain locked from the inside. Many preventive measures have been taken but in vain.

Haunted!

Dying birds, ghostly lights, deserted towns... this ancient land of ours is replete with such tales and more of intriguing mysteries

Ross Island, The Andamans An earthquake in 1941 forced the British to shift their Andaman headquarters, leaving Ross Island to its own devices. It now functions as a pleasant tourist attraction for its ancient and mysterious insides, comprising mossy settlements and Amazonian attractions.

Aleya lights of Sunderban Aleya lights, also known as marsh ghost lights are the unexplainable ghost lights reported in the Sunderbans, generally by local fishermen. Said to confuse fishermen into losing their bearing, they can lead to drowning if one starts following the lights moving over the marshes. In fact, locals attribute the many bodies washed ashore on these swamps to the deadly Aleya lights. Locals believe that these strange hovering marsh lights are in fact lights representing the ghosts of fisherman who have died fishing.

May 2016

Kuldhara, Rajasthan Kuldhara is a famous ghost town whose bizarre history still hasn’t been solved. The people of the town mysteriously disappeared collectively around 300 years ago and were never seen after. It now stands as a strange testament to the weirdness of our towns.

Chiktan, Ladakh This castle in Kargil is like Dracula’s lair in real life. Located at the top of an isolated mountain, it juts out, looming eerily overhead and casting a shadow of abandon along the lower areas.

COOK IT OUT

Fruity fun skewers

Your fix these hols. Make ’em, eat ’em

Fruits, the source of all things good, will keep you fresh, happy and energetic all throughout hot summers, so we’ve brought this fruity recipe for you. So put on your chef hat, storm the kitchen with this simple and easy-to-make recipe and have your own pretend cocktail party with fruit juice et al.

Summers are here, your vacs are round the corner. Well, one more thing to be added to your holiday to-do list can be cooking. Try out our simple recipes and, who knows, you may be set for chefdom!

YOU NEED: 4-5 large strawberries, 1 apple cut into bite-sized pieces, cantaloupe cut into six into small

HERE’S WHAT YOU GOTTA DO: Pierce the skewers through grapes, strawberries, apple, cantaloupe with at least 2 pieces of each fruit. And here they are… your Fruity Fun Skewers, all ready to be served up with the fresh fruit juice of your choice.

Simple sponge Love eating cake? Now make it yourself these vacations. Start out with this easy recipe and get ready to turn baker with your own cakes for friends and cousins. YOU NEED: 1 cup white sugar, 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup butter, 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder, 2 eggs, ½ cup milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. HERE’S WHAT YOU GOTTA DO: (But before you begin, please make sure you are doing everything

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sizes, grapes and skewers. You can also take fruits of your choice other than these and yeah… get mom or dad (!) to help you chop your fruit.

May 2016

under your parental guidance). Preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C). Butter and flour a 9x9 inch pan. Tap the bottom of the container so that the flour is evenly spread all over the container. Next, take a bowl and cream together softened butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs one by one and finally add in the vanilla. In another bowl, sieve flour and baking powder, add it to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk to make the batter smoother. Pour or spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes in preheated oven.

Fluffy French toast Summertime, vacation time, so how ’bout surprising dad with a quick breakfast on a Saturday morning? Give it to him on a tray in his bed. A hot cup of coffee and a spray of jasmine in a little vase on the side will be a nice touch! YOU NEED: ¼ cup all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 cup milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 pinch salt, 1 tablespoon white sugar, 3 eggs, 10-12 slices of bread. HERE’S WHAT YOU GOTTA DO: Take a large mixing bowl and put in the flour. Slowly whisk in the milk, add salt, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla extract and sugar to it and whisk till smooth. Next, heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add a little olive oil. Now dip the bread slices in the batter one by one until saturated. When the pan is hot, fry them until a rich brown on both sides. Some pepper crushed on the top will finish off your toast nicely.

Do you know what

is the fourth largest agricultural product in the world? It is, yes you guessed it, banana! Over 100 billion bananas are produced every year. Who eats all those billions of bananas?! More on The smell of this fruit can make you forget hunger. Yes, you read it right, with just its smell. Yikes!! A study conducted at the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago showed that some food odours can convince the brain that you’ve actually consumed them, and banana is one of those. Niiiice for dieters no? Other than using for the skin, you can also chuck fruit peel into your garden beds. It works brilliantly as a slug repellent. Wait a minute, did I hear you planning to throw it on that irritating classmate? Whoa! Okay, how about this factoid? There are over 600 orange and more

bananas.

orange peel

grape,

8,000

7,500 apple

than (more than 2,500 in the US alone) varieties available worldwide. Apples are part of the rose family and one person eats 65 apples on an average each year. Nearly 100 varieties of apples are grown commercially in the US. Apparently Red Delicious is the most popular. Ever tried Well then, do you know the sticky juice this pungent root produces can also be used as an adhesive? Adhesive that you can use to stick together delicate things like glass. So,

garlic?

peeling

the next time you break something fragile, you know what to do… just crush the garlic and get the sticky stuff! As for the smell, you can remove it by rubbing a stainless steel object under running cold water! Don’t believe me? If it doesn’t work, there’s always lemons.

Strawberries, by the way, are the only fruit to have seeds on the outside. And the average number of seeds on one strawberry is 200! And there’s a museum dedicated to it in Belgium! Now, how about your favourite vegetable?

Potato is so high in starch content that it is comparable to rice, pasta and bread in terms of nutrition! The funny thing about potatoes is, we think we know all about ‘em. In fact, there is a lot of misinformation about potatoes; sometimes people think of them as a fattening starch, when in reality, they’re a healthy, fresh vegetable.

TAKE2 Why do farmers love this beetle? Many people are fond of ladybugs because of their colourful, spotted appearance. But farmers love them for their appetite. Most ladybugs voraciously consume plant-eating insects, such as aphids, and in doing so they help to protect crops. Ladybugs lay hundreds of eggs in the colonies of aphids and other plant-eating pests. When they hatch, the ladybug larvae immediately begin to feed. Also called ladybird beetles, there are about 5,000 different species of these insects. But not all of them have the same appetites. A few prey not on plant-eaters but on plants like the Mexican bean beetle and the squash beetle destroy the crops mentioned in their names.

CHINA is the largest producer of garlic, producing over 20 million tons and accounting for over 81% of world’s output. Watch out Vampires!

INDIA is the world’s largest producer of bananas, producing nearly 22 million tons in 2007. Do you hear that Minions? VARIOUS cooking methods include boiling, simmering, steaming, sautéing, pan frying and deep-frying. So now, can you tell what The Rock is cooking?

THOUSANDS of people are struck by lightning every year. Direct lightning strikes are usually fatal. No wonder, they say ‘Lightning never strikes the same place twice’. Because you won’t be alive for a rerun! TELEVISIONS first went on sale in the late 1920s. And women are still talking about it. CREDIT cards were first used in the United States in the 1920s. Right after the televisions went on sale?

May 2016

WATER can be easily used for fun. Water sports are a very popular recreational activity and include things like swimming, surfing and waterskiing. Also Holi. Kab hai Holi? MOST of the dust in your home is actually dead skin! Yuck! MOST adults have 32 teeth. Most! THERE is no word that rhymes with orange. Strange!

YOUR heart beats around 1,00,000 times a day, 3,65,00,000 times a year and over a billion times if you live beyond 30. Our calculator stopped working after 30, it said it needed some breathing space! Our calculator stopped working after 30, it said it needed some breathing space. A HIPPOPOTAMUS may seem huge but it can still run faster than a man. Call me a hippo now! GPS (global positioning system) is used to either track the movement or get directions to a location. So, if my GPS is off does that mean I am Giving Parents the Slip (GPS)? DID you know, kangaroos cannot walk backwards? No moonwalking for them, eh?

BORED OF THOSE OL’ SHOES?

WELL, HERE’S A DIY

Want to know how to make your plain canvas shoes more interesting? These shoes are super easy to make and definitely an attention grabber. Trust us, you DIY them and you will be asked all the time where you bought them, or did you really make them! They are super simple and just require a few materials and some time.

YOU NEED Any old canvas shoes Markers (one black fine tip and broad tip coloured markers in red, blue, black, purple, etc)

HERE’S HOW

Colour just the toe box of each of your shoes. Go over the toe box a few times to ensure you have a nice even colour.

Abe Lincoln kidnapped after death? Did you know Abraham Lincoln was kidnapped after his death? History’s tallest president of the United States, standing proud at 6’4, had quite a life. Even after he died, his story didn’t quite end. In 1876, a group of counterfeiters wanted to hold Lincoln’s body for ransom, at a hefty fee of $200,000 in gold and the release of one of their accomplices. They were caught and sentenced to a year in jail!

Albert Einstein... president of Israel??? Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952, which he declined, saying, ‘I know a little of science, but nothing about men’. The Nobel Laureate – whose parents thought he was retarded because he could not speak fluently as a child – would not only play the violin to relax when he became stuck in his thinking process, he would also play socially at local recitals or join in with groups such as Christmas carollers who stopped at his home.

Grab your fine tip sharpie and doodle to your heart’s content. This can be as intricate or as basic as you would like. If you are getting stuck, search doodle ideas and browse through images to get your creative gears churning.

Sachin Tendulkar fielded for Pakistan once! Yes! Yes, that’s true! It happened in 1987 when, ahead of the Test series, India and Pakistan were playing an exhibition match and Imran Khan’s team was short of fielders. It was then that a 13-year-old Sachin was asked to field for Pakistan.

Mary Kom’s family found out about her boxing interest through a newspaper Boxing was not considered appropriate for a woman in her family and so, Mary Kom tried to hide her passion for the sport. But the penny dropped when she won the Manipur state championship and a newspaper published her photo that her father saw.

This step is the most time consuming, but also the most fun! That’s it… put on your new shoes and wear them around the house or to the mall! PS: We wore these out in the rain and the colours did not run… so, go on, wear them in any weather!

His family missed Rajyavardhan’s Olympic moment The entire country saw Major Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore winning the silver in men’s double trap at the 2004 Athens Olympics but for his family! They could not view the magical moment because of a cable operator’s strike. His wife got updates from a DD reporter over the phone.

May 2016

TAKE2 READ Island of Dragons (The Unwanteds) by Lisa McMann Adventure. Action. Thriller. This adrenaline-rusher is the next in New York Times bestselling The Unwanteds series. Alex and Aaron Stowe, the much-loved twins, test their destinies as they save the cities of Quill and Artimé from the worst ever enemies. The smart, brave and natural leader of Artimé, Alex Stowe, some of his friends and a surprise ally fight together to keep their magical city Artimé safe from enemies. However, the enemies make a secret comeback, plotting against the city. Will Artimé be saved? Will Alex prove to be a successful leader? Will Alex win?

Demigods & Magicians: Percy and Annabeth Meet the Kanes by Rick Riordan A new world is created as Percy Jakcson and Annabeth Chase meet Carter and Sadie Kane for the first time. A world of magic where weird creatures appear at weird places. Demigods and magicians have to get together, battling, to take the weird animals down. As they battle the enemies, they realize they have a lot more power than they could have believed possible and once they team together, they find their power together can work wonders. Yet the question is... will the four be able to fight an enemy who brings Green and Egyptian incantations to bear? Rick Riordan, as spellbinding as always, creates a magical story around magic in this new offering.

HOT OFF THE PRESS HOT OFF THE PRESS HOT OFF THE PRESS HOT OFF THE PRESS HOT OFF When We Collided by Emery Lord Hardcover, 352 pages Published: 5 April 2016 by Bloomsbury USA We are seventeen and shattered and still dancing. We have messy, throbbing hearts, and we are stronger than anyone could ever know…. Jonah never thought a girl like Vivi would come along. Vivi didn’t know Jonah would light up her world. Neither of them expected a summer like this…

Flamecaster (Shattered Realms #1) by Cinda Williams Chima Hardcover, 535 pages Published: 5 April 2016 by Harper Collins The first in a thrilling new four-book fantasy series from NYT bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima is set in the same world as her beloved Seven Realms series, a generation later. Adrian sul’Han, known as Ash, is a trained healer with a powerful gift of magic—and a thirst for revenge.

Twenty Yawns by Jane Smiley & Lauren Castillo Hardcover, 32 pages Published: 1 April 2016 by Two Lions Featuring lyrical text and beautiful illustrations, this bedtime tale evokes the splashy fun of the beach and the quietude of a moonlit night, with 20 yawns sprinkled in for children to discover and count. As her mom reads a bedtime story, Lucy drifts off. But later, she awakens in a dark, still room, and everything looks mysterious. How will she ever get back to sleep?

The Glittering Court by The Glittering Court

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown Hardcover, 288 pages Published: 5 April 2016 by Little, Brown Books

Series: The Glittering Court #

When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. Why is she there? Where did she come from? And, most important, how will she survive in her harsh surroundings? Roz’s only hope is to learn from the island’s hostile animals. —Courtesy Goodreads

May 2016

Hardcover, 416 pages Published: 5 April 2016 by Razorbill Big and sweeping, spanning from the refined palaces of Osfrid to the gold dust and untamed forests of Adoria, The Glittering Court tells the story of Adelaide, an Osfridian countess who poses as her servant to escape an arranged marriage and start a new life in Adoria, the New World. But to do that, she must join the Glittering Court.

TAKE2 WATCH Dhanak Direction: Nagesh Kukunoor Writer: Nagesh Kukunoor Producer: Shiladitya Bora Release date: 10 June 2016 Starring: Swastik Ram Chavan, Krrish Chhabria, Vibha Chhibber

Alice Through the Looking Glass Direction: James Bobin Writer: Linda Woolverton Movie studio: Disney Release date: 27 May 2016 Starring: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Mia Wasikowska Tim Burton, director of Alice in Wonderland comes back as the producer of the Lewis Carroll sequel. As in the earlier version, Alice returns to the whimsical world of Wonderland and travels back in time to save the Mad Hatter as James Bobin brings his imagination to life. The star-studded cast of the global hit part one is back too with Johnny Depp as Mad

Hatter once again, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska and Helena Bonham Carter along with the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall. But the film is up on the excitement quotient with new characters: Zanik Hightopp (Rhys Ifans), Mad Hatter’s father and Time himself (Sacha Baron Cohen), a peculiar creature who is part human, part clock. In the enthralling trailer, released in March, we saw that when Alice wakes up in Wonderland she must travel through a mysterious new world to retrieve a magical sceptre that can stop the evil Lord of Time before he turns forward the clock and turns Wonderland into a barren, lifeless old world. With the help of some new friends, Alice must also uncover an evil plot to put the Queen of Hearts back on the throne.

Dhanak is an uplifting, enchanting, magical fable set in Rajasthan that reinforces the belief that life is beautiful. The story revolves around the wonderful relationship between orphan 10-year old Pari and Chotu, her 8-year old brother. Chotu is blind but he is anything but sad. As children sometimes do, Pari promises Chotu that he will be able to see by the time he turns nine. On their weekly trip to the neighbouring village to see a movie, Pari sees a poster with Shah Rukh Khan appealing to people to donate their eyes. Convinced her reel life hero can help her fulfil her promise to her brother, Pari writes to SRK pleading Chotu’s case and to hurry since Chotu’s ninth birth is just two months away. She doesn’t hear back but this doesn’t deter her and she writes to SRK every day. One day, Pari hears SRK is shooting on location about 300kms from her village. And this takes the children on a magical journey across the sand dunes.

HEAR Artist: Meghan Trainor Album: Thank You Release date: 13 May 2016 Label: Epic Records Twenty-two-year old singer and songwriter, Meghan Trainor, who released her song ‘No’ in March, is back with a bang this month with her full album Thank You. The singer recently released the entire list of the album that is sure to be a major hit as evident from the success of ‘No’, that debuted at number 21 on Radio Songs, becoming the highest debut on the chart since Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’. Not only this, but the song also succeeded in getting

to number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. The album, all set to release on 13 May, is Trainor’s tribute to all her inspirations as she said in one of her interviews recently. “I wanted to go big, I wanted to get all my influences in there and show everything from my Caribbean side to my love for Bruno Mars and Aretha Franklin and even some Elvis vibes, anyone I grew up listening to.” All you Trainor fans, you’ll not only get your fave crooner but also Yo Gotti (‘Better’), LunchMoney Lewis (‘I Love Me’), R. City (‘Thank You’) and, above all, her mother Kelli Trainor, fittingly on a deluxe edition track titled ‘Mom’.

May 2016

TAKE2 Hridayeshwar Singh Bhati All of 13, this Jaipurborn lad is a powerhouse. At 9, a patient of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, he had invented a six-player variant of chess, which he had patented in 2012 to become the youngest Indian patent-holder.

I want to be like Stephen Hawking, who became a famous scientist despite suffering motor neuron disease. Hridayeshwar Singh Bhati Who inspires you? Anyone who wants to make a trip to zenith and take the world along inspires me. I see my shadow in Stephen Hawking’s shadow. Sometimes, when I read my interviews, see my chessboards, I inspire myself! Beyond all this, I believe inspiration should come from the immortals, the Gods. Viswanathan Anand or Garry Kasparov? Your favourite player? Out of these two, Viswanathan Anand. But my favourite is Magnus Carlsen. Your first checkmate? When you checkmated life? Life itself has checkmated me, once and then several times. I see it as a chess game, full of never-ending and ever-increasing checkmates, never to be checked off before the ultimate checkout. My body fails me, but my family gives me what I need, motivation, to keep going, to innovate. Who do you like playing against the most? Though I enjoy the game the best with myself, it is most interesting to play against my friends. How did the 6-, 12-, 60-player chessboard happen? Playing with my friends had always interested me the most. But playing chess with all of them was not possible, that’s when I thought of a chessboard on which

more than two people could play. World’s cheapest mobility van, how did that come about? What’s special about it? Isn’t it a shock that till some years ago, India had no comfortable vehicle for the handicapped ? People who suffer are the best judge of comfort and it was seeing the Maruti Eeco with its sliding doors that the idea of a mobility van struck me. It is now the lowestpriced power steering, wheelchair accessible mobility vehicle at just `4 lakh, including the ramp. What do you fear the most? I used to fear a lot of things earlier. Before I realized my physical limitations, my parents had lifted my morale, never letting me realize I had boundaries. And now, I am not afraid of anything. We all are afraid of only two things, not being alright and the end of being. I believe everything will be alright in the end and if it is not alright, then it is not the end. Sparsh Shah, achieving so much from his wheelchair; Jessica Cox, an armless pilotlicense holder... what does reading about such people do to you? And there’s Wilma Rudolph! Yes, knowing about them, about the existence of such courage, such dedication, such love for life and success, it gives me a sense of belonging that there are such courageous people around us. You have achieved beyond children of your age, been called the young Stephen Hawking, applied for yet another patent. Do you feel disabled in any way? Yeah, I know, I am often called the mini Stephen Hawking as I cannot move my body, yet move the world of innovations, like him. Disability is not in the body, but in the mind. So, no, I do not feel disabled in any way. People who cannot walk can fly with their attitude. Disability is out of one’s control, but discovering different abilities inside and helping others is optional.

Q&A

May 2016

— As told to ScooNews Correspondent

The 50-star American flag was designed by 17-year-old Robert G Heft, as a part of a school project. For his effort, he received a grade of B. When his design was chosen and adopted by presidential proclamation, his teacher changed his grade to an A!

In 2005, George W Bush was nearly assassinated in Georgia by a man named Vladimir

When Barack Obama was named the 44th president, he was really only the 43rd because Grover Cleveland is counted twice (as the 22nd and 24th president) because he was elected for two nonconsecutive terms.

Only 12 US presidents have been elected to office for two terms and served those two terms. Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to office four terms prior to the TwentySecond Amendment to the US Constitution. John Kennedy is the youngest elected US president at 43. Ronald Reagan is the oldest at 73 (in his second term).

The tallest US president was Abraham Lincoln at 6'4?. The shortest US president was James Madison at 5'4?.

May 2016

TAKE2 There was an Old Man with a nose,

SAY IT... IN ONE WORD

Who said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you choose to suppose That my nose is too long, you are certainly wrong!â&#x20AC;? hat remarkable Man with a nose.

There was an Old Man with a beard, Who said, "It is just as I feared!Two Owls and a Hen, four Larks and a Wren, Have all built their nests in my beard.

nose whose y d a L s; Young her toe a o t s steady, a d s w e a h e w c r a t e c e h T ndu at it r hose co long th w , o y s d s a a W ld L ed an O r i ose. h e h erful n So s d n o w y that To carr

There was a Young Lady whose chin Resembled the point of a pin; So she had it made sharp, and purchased a harp, And played several tunes with her chin.

May 2016

TECH IT OUT The availability of more than 150 million education videos has made YouTube the number one visual learning platform for math, science, history, DIY projects, music, tying a tie or even how to make a robot... anything

How you can use

YouTube

learning & knowledge for

development

Vinay Singh

writeback@scoonews.com

ouTube was launched in May 2005 and allows billions of people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe. Like any self-paced training YouTube offers several key advantages. These include convenience, cost, consistency, unlimited group size, roll-out speed and geographic coverage. The sweet spot of YouTube lies in quick bursts of videos that allow users to continue self-actuating their own experience. Research has shown that computer-based instruction enhances learning and fosters positive attitudes toward instruction (Kulik & Kulik, 1985) as well as offers the opportunity for conceptual understanding through visualization. Visualization is a powerful instructional tool, which has been found to be an effective cognitive strategy to facilitate learning (West, Fanner, & Wolff, 1991).

May 2016

DK Instant Expert

How you can use YouTube to advantage Dwyer (1994) has reported that student achievement improves when visual cues properly designed and positioned are integrated into instruction. It has been observed that YouTube promotes self-awareness, meaningful collaboration, cognitive growth and users feel empowered to engage based on the following applications in education and learning: n YouTube videos can be used as quick tutorials for labs in science so that a teacher doesn’t have to spend an entire class period explaining how to do the experiment. Before class, students can be asked watch such a video. n Students can use YouTube videos to study when the teacher is unavailable or the student hasn’t had the time to previously abosrb the information into their mind. n Parents and teachers of junior school utilize YouTube more often because students at that age are more visual learners. n Younger students could watch videos to learn about the alphabet or different techniques such as learning how to count. n Students in high school could use it to do a science project or learn different mathematical equations or research for their history project. n YouTube videos show students a more fun side of the lesson. n By viewing content in their own time students have more opportunities to reflect on their learning, rewind and review difficult areas, ask questions and develop deeper understanding. n Students are able to watch a video and put questions directly to the person who created it. n Teachers across the globe are using YouTube videos as a teaching aid and many people—from students learning the material for the first time to adults who just want to learn something new—are benefiting from it.

n Teachers can also add text annotations to their videos, which can include additional explanations, suggested activities, and links to other video content or websites. n Students are able to communicate directly with the source of the material unlike with a textbook. n If you have a question or a problem, you can email the video creator directly or leave a comment in the video to get a response. A lot of teachers now use hooks, so they start with the short YouTube video to get kids engaged before starting with the actual ‘boring’ lesson.

A word for parents Always be aware of what your children are watching on YouTube. Join them and watch it with them. In case they won’t let you join them, subscribe to these channels on your own and be aware of what the child or teen is watching. You must enable Restricted Mode, a feature that lets you specify that you don’t want to see potentially objectionable content on YouTube. YouTube offers a filter called Safety Mode that limits the unsuitable stuff for children. Simply scroll down to the bottom of any YouTube page. See where it says Safety? Click it on.Please do study the resources available for educators, parents and teens on using YouTube responsibly at their Safety centre (http://bit.ly/1SL5Opp) In a world where you say the word ‘education’ and a lot of young people don’t want to sit down and learn, that’s where technology inspires people to learn. There’s no way that online video can replace physical classrooms led by educators. However, judicious use of YouTube can be an amazing resource and revolutionary support mechanism.

May 2016

This online reference allows teachers to become ‘instant experts’ in the classroom with reference material featuring DK’s award-winning series. Motivational mini-lessons introduce key concepts while gorgeous PowerPoint presentations help science and social studies topics come to life. The high-quality, engaging content is perfect for interactive whiteboards.

Stick Pick This app randomly chooses a student from your class to answer your question. Settings include Bloom’s Taxonomy or English Language Learners, and the degree of difficulty can be chosen beforehand to match students' learning abilities. Where: iTunes* Cost to you: $2.99

Merck Periodic Table of Elements Merck’s Periodic Table of Elements app displays the periodic table in an engaging way, and includes relative atomic mass, melting point and boiling point, density, appearance, and additional properties for each individual element. Teachers can also connect their device to the TV, making it easy to share the elements with the whole classroom. A must-have for any chemistry teacher! Where: iTunes* Cost to you: None * For iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.