30 May 2006

THE INDIAN SCHOOLING SYSTEM: DOES IT RESTRICT THE GROWTH OF THE BRIGHT KID?

Just a thought about how to train a person.

I keep wondering I had so much trouble getting the best mark in school. It seems that I was not mentally or biologically suited for school coaching.

Take school coaching. The coaching tries to bring all students into the same bent of mind. It tries to mould them into a single mould without much concentration on the innate skills of the student. I think the logic is, bring the students to a common mindset and then let them grow from there to higher planes. But what if a student was already on a higher plane? What is a student was on a plane which was more effective than any school curriculum could seek to achieve? In such a case, wouldn't the student be stifled?

Wouldn't thinking be restricted to a box? Because I have found that thinking out of the box does not ensure good marks. That I think is because the teachers have to handle those who think out of the box on a separate plane. They have to evaluate the student on a different set of parameters. They do not know those parameters, because for each student who thinks out of the box, some parameters will have to be drafted anew.

Perhaps the schooling system will never be able to achieve this in the short run. But I think this is understandable. Our goal as a country is to educate as many students as possible. And given such a goal, a system will have to be drafted that will suit the majority of students. And I think that is the case. And it is absolutely correct from the country's point of view. Perhaps the logic is that the bright students will figure out what they have been missing, shun the restrictive ways of thinking and think on the different plane they were born to think on. I think that's a fair assumption to make.

Of course, the country could also do well to ensure that it's bright students can get brighter. That will be a challenge for the education system. To have a less-populated education system where the bright students can tap their innate skills and grow them from an early age, AND to have a parallel system for the masses, which caters to the needs of this country as a whole....


31 May 2006

MY SYMBIOSIS VACATION – DAY 0
(All arrays start with ‘0’!)

Today has been a very eventful and memorable day. I have not witnessed such a day in my recent history.

5:00 am
Wake up. Oh, man… in a few hours time, I will be in Pune. Gosh, the feeling is settling in only now. Ok, all packed, all assignments ready… except the 20 minute presentation… drat! Will think of that on the plane.

7:30 am
Darn crampy Maruti Omni. No space in the boot to keep my two huge suitcases. Have to concede leg room, to one of them. Hey, driver! The shox suck!

9:05 am
Yipeee!! My laptop’s Wi-Fi works!! I’m going to download Visual C# and Visual C++ Express editions now! Wow,.. done already? Kewl!

9:35 am
Boarding delayed by 10 minutes. Why am I not surprised? Jet Airways? Still.
Just looked at a business man using his laptop. I don’t believe it, he’s using Lotus Notes!

10:30 am
Ok, we’re airborne. Hey, nice cold sandwiches! Finally, Jet Airways is serving some tasty food.

11:00 am
We’re at Bangalore airport.

Hey, why are so many ground staff running to the cargo area of this plane?
Thud! Thud! Man, they’re really offloading a lot of luggage. I wish they would be a little more careful.

11:15 am
Oh ho… what is the captain doing at the re-fuelling point under the wing? Looks like there’s a refueling problem. We’re going to be delayed. Hmmm… the problem doesn’t look like it’s getting solved. The captain’s on pins and needles, you can see that.

Goodness! The guy is only in his 20’s! Is he trained enough to handle all situations? I hope so.

Hey, those trolleys with the luggage have no protection against the rain! What happens if it suddenly rains? There will be no cover for the luggage. Not very inspiring in terms of confidence.

Ha Ha haaa…There’s a Kingfisher airline next to ours. The air hostesses have the hottest uniform among the Indian liners. The hostesses just went up the stairs to the craft. You should have seen the ground staff guys, they just stood down watching them go up…

12:00 pm
Lift off. Onward to Pune.

12:15 pm
Hmmm … lunch. Good lunch. Coffee is lousy. Dessert is a rasamalai in custard, or something. Innovative, but I’m not a rasamalai fan. Chicken’s tasty.

Luggage at Bangalore
No Cabs
Going to rain

700 Rs waste

Luggage comes in. Handles missing, Cover missing. Clothes wet inside.

Subu sees my jocks!!



3 June 2006
Today was the induction. A very memorable induction. Subu explained that he knew the course was stressful and intended to keep it that way. We are paying them a lot and they will do their best to plug all loopholes in our time schedule. They want to make sure that there is enough opportunity for us to take away something from this institute. He called himself and the staff of the institute “rapists of the mind”. In contrast, the director of the health center, Dr Rajiv called himself a gynecologist.. :D Which, actually, he is.

I also have a suggestion on how to make the presentation better by using a wireless presenter. The problem is, I have to find one in India which they can buy. I have to work quickly on it.

In the evening I went out with Anjali and Andrea to FC Road. Went out shopping with them. I needed to buy a bed spread. During the walk down FC Road, also met some other girls, Harmeet, Megha and Kushboo. They were out shopping too. Later in the bus back met a couple more, Radhika and Rithika. Not bad for a start.

04 June 2006

Got up at 5.00 for the outbound learning. The whole first years were taken to a nearby stadium. Apprently that was where some commonwealth games were held some years back.

We were split into groups and our group was of 13 members in size. We named our group “V” as in “we” and “victory”. Good mix of people, Ashwin, Mohit, Pushpa, Amrita, Hersh, Sruti, Shaval, Shallini, Aditya, myself, Rahul, Arvind. Arvind was our captain. Had to go through games like Chariot, Three-legged walk, Cobweb and a few more. Had good fun. A lot of the games involved a lot of funny postures, but were necessary to complete the course.

We were supposed to have a campfire in the night but it was cancelled.

6 June 2006
Thinking about Research Methodology

What is Research Methodology?
Let’s say we what to find out the truth about an observation: “Babies who are given Cerelac for more than 2 years turn out to be obese”.

Let’s say a pediatrician has made this observation among a small population of his clients. He has to test out this statement of his before he can make a presentation to the doctor fraternity.

In order to do this, he must conduct research.

Lets take the three stages of his research: Specify Research Objectives, Collect and Collate Data and Analyse the data for deriving valid information for better decisions.

Research Objectives:
When the specifies research objectives, he must be as objective as possible. He will have to specify the scope of the study. Let’s try and draft the scope in this case:
(Read More: We need some examples of the scope of a study.. need to read more)

After defining the scope, he should proceed to define the assumptions, the premise behind the study.
(?: Are the assumptions of the study the same as the scope of the study? Or are they nothing but the hypothesis itself?)

The doctor must now identify his target population. His target population would be the babies who are from 1 ½ to 4 years old. Are we done? Think again, I do not think so. He must now choose the region which he will study the children. He has to decide whether factors of race determine it. Also look at obesity in the family to rule out the possibility that the obesity is hereditary. He might have to differentiate between single parents and double parents. He might have to analyse other food habits. He might even have to control the eating habits of his test subjects. Well, he will even have to figure out what is considered to be a good size of the population, so that his findings are accurate. Maybe even test the hypothesis internationally.

Besides this, the doctor has to decide what variables he is going to measure. Is it going to be the weight, or by fat percentage, or by BMI? This might seem a trivial exercise in some cases, but it is best that this is done in the earlier stages. It is best that it is written down. Statements which are written down greatly enhance clarity of thought and thus effectiveness of the researcher.

Now the doctor has to test his assumptions on a smaller scale. He can start by consulting fellow researchers and bouncing his ideas and thoughts off them. He can also read existing papers which talk about this.

Finally the doctor can do a pilot test to check his progress so far. He can refine and debug the problems before he attacks the bigger population.

Collect and collate the data
Out doctor has to collect the data. While collecting data, the doctor should know about the problems behind the collection of statistical data.

Again, there are a number of ways of collecting data. The doctor can use any combination of the existing techniques to collect data. He may even devise a novel new way to collect his data, if it is not obtainable through the regular means.

Analyze and Interpret the Data
After data has been collected, the doctor can now apply statistical techniques to analyse the data. After that he will be able to draw valid conclusions from the data. He will have to apply the relevant techniques of statistics in order to gain credibility for the report.

11 Jun 06
Today I broke my record. I slept in the financial accounting class for (what elvin described) as 45 minutes. Man, it was a class talking about the basics of accounting. Could not stand to keep awake.

18 Jun 06
Crashed for the first time. Feeling homesick for the first time. I am asking myself these questions: Why am I here? It could have been better sitting in ProdEx. Why did I have to come all the way here. Can I go home now?

It’s so depressing having to get up every day in the morning and run for the non-acads, followed by class, get back to hostel and readm then wash clothes, do assignments till late night and then go to sleep again for the whole cycle to repeat.

Ahh.. but then I asked for this. This is what I wanted to experience. I wanted to experience what it felt like to be away from home. What are the pains of being away from home. This is my objective and I have succeeded.. No problem it should pass away with a long sleep.


19 Jun 06
Just got sick for the first time. The omlette sandwich at the D hostel cafeteria did not agree with me. Indigestion followed by diarrhoea like symptoms. Did not go for the first two classes. The class mates were shocked to see me missing for the class.