Saturday, August 15, 2009

The thought Vs The action

Ideas have a tremendous power to transport us to an entirely different plane, into the future. Its amazing how sometimes when an idea grips the imagination it reveals to us a world of unlimited possibilities, how we can envision a new world emerging from even the seemingly simplest of ideas.

Its even more amazing though when we let ideas compel us to act. Now, there may be many a slip between the idea and the execution, we might land up far short of what we had dreamed, but what is also amazing is that when we let the ideas take over for a time we always keep at it. It is the force of ideas that helps us strive to make better.

Ideas alone though are not enough. There are times when implementation is more relevant than having a far sight into the future. Some jobs just need get done, and its not surprising if time and again we find ourselves doing only that and not looking beyond.

Then again, we seek inspiration from creation a lot of times. What has already been done inspires us to think beyond. While popular beliefs might point at inspiration giving birth to creation, I believe more often than not it is what already has been created that inspires us to make new.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

ForestTop

What iF, every building on this planet had a garden atop it?

What iF, the Govt. makes its mandatory for every building to maintain a garden or something like it on its terrace?

What iF, enough incentive is devised for the builders or the societies to do it in the first place?

I have been wondering about this since sometime now. Imagine, every city in the world covered in green from atop. All the vegitation displaced due to urbanization could return to the land in a very different way. It could encourage local farming, improve evapotation, consume more CO2, ...

On the other hand, one has to consider the energy spent in getting the garden up there in the first place. Then there is mainetnance costs, water cost, ... that we need to consider.

There are lots of factors to consider, but I guess there is no harm in trying to figure, what it takes to get atleast one building there.

I am thinking of doing or searching a similar feasilibility study on the same. And need a loads of people to help me do it. You guys can buzz me at ankit.vision@gmail.com. Would love to get this going.

Ankit Mehta


Thursday, March 19, 2009

A prespective, of everything and everybody

We have to kill time and everything we make, do or not do is only a manifestation of this compulsion.

Ankit Mehta

Friday, February 20, 2009

A New Wave

An essay i wrote for the new Knowledge Commission Essay Contest. :)

(http://knowledgeportal.in/contests/node/144)


I am not in the thick of the things when it comes to Education as a whole in India. Thus I will not presume that I fully understand all the aspects of the problem we are addressing in the country. But I have been a student not so long ago. Maybe in part I am one today as well. My thoughts here are a reflection of how things could have been, for me to be “me” as best as I could have been.

 

I have often wondered, “What is it that our education wants us to be?” We cannot have and it possibly cannot be that everyone is at the helm of some field pushing the frontiers. Those might actually be a very few of us because many and more have to serve the society and the environment where there are other glories to be had. Beyond enabling us to comprehend much in the world by teaching communication, the educational system should not be biased. The world may not have sufficient means to accommodate people with similar skills. Neither should the system be narrow. Only through enabling wide exposure and experience can we truly know what someone enjoys and is best at. It may even be a disservice to society if the system cannot spot and encourage genius. Should not education want us to be living a life where we do what best we could while being useful and content. A system that nurtures excellence and provides meaningful education should:

 

a)     Teach communication: To a level that allows for comfortable communication and the ability to grasp the basic rights and laws of the society. It should also be taught at a level that supports the understanding of other major skills that could be learnt by someone. For example, to learn physics at the graduation level one must have the grasp of English (as an example) to at least the level of a 12th grader today. Communication is a means to support a person’s growth in any given field.

b)      Provide Exposure and Experience: All the aspects of human expression, knowledge and skill should be laid bare to people for them experience what it is like to be a part of something. There are many practical constraints to this. Resources and availability of such means as to accomplish the above task are few of the major concerns. Though the catch here is that we not only need to expose people to the immediate experience but also allow them a glimpse of the real life up that career path.

c)      Allow Choice: Having exposed the students to such experiences as to allow them a real understanding of what to expect of the life down a certain path, it is important to allow them the choice of then choosing a path for their own selves. It is not always possible to deliver a real understanding of everything and thus it is also very critical to guide and counsel students on that aspect. Maybe their immediate teachers could play that part along with parents. Only parents tend to be biased and only teachers will not understand a student’s life beyond his time spent at the school.

d)      Enable Speeding Through: Whenever someone shows spark in a field the learning for that person is accelerated and he or she might seek to move up in levels in that field faster than the usual process. For example, if exams were to be scheduled twice an year someone studying in 6th standard could be giving class 7th examinations at the end of the 6th year of study thus making him a standard 7th in one subject where as he might be at par with others in all the other subjects. Such a system will ensure greater acknowledgement of an individual’s genius and also allow him or her to create a distinct position in the society. A system such as this will ensure greater recognition of talent and individuals leading their spear of study and marching the society ahead by being faster at the helm thus allowing them more time in their chosen field of study to explore other matters.

e)      Recognize Skill: the level of education in the country is given official recognition at various stages, like the 10th and 12th standard boards, other degrees, etc. Though it is essential to have gradation of students it should be done for each subject and a separate overall certificate for people having completed the certification for all the prescribed/allowed subjects. This will allow people who have sped through a few subjects to graduate to higher levels in the subject without having restrictions on at least that field. Such a system will allow more flexibility and greater interest in studies by students. This also will help people who have followed the unconventional mould to create a footing for themselves in their field, fostering the entrepreneurial spirit amongst people.

f)       Allow a Beginning anytime: It should never be too late to learn anything. Some subjects could probably be taken up later and sped through levels. For example, if a student is not doing too well in history in his early days of study he could choose to learn the same subject after a few years in case he or she is willing to speed through the course at a later stage.

g)      Mentor: There is a lot students can learn from the people who have recently or long back graduated through their level. The importance of learning today can only be described by somebody who has the need of it later to build upon something. It will also ensure a healthy interaction between different age groups and avoid students stumbling blind into the next level of education. It is something that is seen working day in and day out in sports, maybe it should be extended to other aspects of education as well.

 

A lot of these desires could be inducted within the present educational framework of the county easily and others might take some time to evaluate in terms of effectiveness and caution with which to implement them. But I believe if we can model our education system such, we should be a country of happy citizens with most people doing either what their heart desires best or whatever they are best at doing.

 

The question of equal opportunities still remains with us. How can we ensure that every child born in our country has an opportunity so as to make the most of his or her life? Maybe the simple question of reaching every child in the country is more relevant to our country at this stage. The cost of reaching, beginning, teaching and sustaining are perhaps few of the many challenges that we might face in our country. I like breaking my problems into smaller bits. Can we ensure at this stage that every child in our country can at least read, write and understand simple language? Do we essentially need supply every part of the country with material to read, write and work or play with before education can begin? Can we not find local means to supplement learning?

 

Consider how kids learn to play cricket even with their erasers or handkerchiefs to make the most of their limited resources or space. Can we not supplement out tools for teaching as easily. Something that comes to my mind very simply is that we could probably encourage the use of normal coarse sand spread evenly in a normal eating dish as a tool to write on. Like kids are encouraged using the chalk and slate, similarly they could learn to use this simple writing pad with their fingers or twigs. Lo! Your cost of providing students with a chalk and a slate necessarily has suddenly gone. Moreover you can begin anywhere where a teacher is willing to go or can be found. At least basic writing can be taught in this manner. Maybe kids will have to graduate soon enough from this arrangement but this at least gives them a beginning which otherwise they might never have had. Of course, it might not be practical to implement something like this but it sure is worth a try. Could we do something like this for a lot of our problems of expansion?

 

What will make a lot of things work is probably our constant involvement. No one entity can alone realize all the desires for the children of our nation. There is a clear and pressing need for both the government and the people to grow commercial or social opportunities to help deliver the dream of an educated Indian.