Why Read Textbooks and not 'Notes'

I may be wrong but most business management students I have come across in the recent years seem to be sceptical of the value of investing time studying. It is definitely not that they are bad students or that they do not want to do well in life. On the contrary, most students in the classes I teach are way better than what we used to be.

In my opinion the blame lies with the education system; the regulatory bodies, the colleges and universities, the faculty and even the parents.

If a student is demonstrated a clear advantage of doing something it is safe to assume that most students will do it. It is then obvious that if you want a student to attend classes and prepare for exams, you just have to demonstrate the benefits of doing so. That said, just telling them that it is for their own good is not good enough! We need to make changes to our teaching and evaluation system where the students who do bother to attend classes and prepare for the exams are actually better off than those who do not! And as of now, I can confidently say that the teaching and evaluation at business schools (at least the second rung schools) is not doing that.

But that does not absolve the students. Working hard persistently is a habit. That is why most achievers have been that consistently throughout their student life. My experience as a student and as a faculty tells me that student performances do not see dramatic improvements even though dramatic falls are possible. Most of us keep scoring in a particular range throughout our student life. In fact, marks during 10+2 and graduation can be good predictors of academic performance during postgrad courses.

So being an achiever or a dud becomes a habit!

Then there is this issue of many of my students telling me that studying theory is futile and that when the time comes, they will deliver!  I am sure some might, but most wont. The reason is simple. Human beings are creatures of habit. Working and achieving is a habit and so is not working and failing. Our habits affect all aspects of our life. It is next to impossible to expect someone to deliver a sterling performance in the industry when the poor soul has not been able to get more than 60% marks ever!!

Then should all those who have scored less than 60% give up??? No…… They should make radical changes in how they work and study. If they keep doing the same things, the results will remain the same.

The changes can be many and in most cases, customised solutions will be needed. Till then, they can start by believing in themselves and start by developing the right “habits”!! One good way is to do the only job they have today. STUDY!!

A Woman and a Cat

Every morning I witness a piece of magic!

A middle aged Indian housewife walks up to the roof of her rather humble house to water the plants. There, she meets a cat and transforms into a beautiful young girl and both put up a riveting display of affection and playfulness! On days when the cat would not be there to greet her she waits for it, looks around impatiently and at times calls out to it. But when it is there, they meet like long lost friends and the metamorphosis of a regular middle aged Indian housewife into a happy young girl happens! Then as if answering to an unseen alarm bell, she transforms back to the serious, busy, unkempt self. Moments later, her family starts to emerge from their slumber. For the remainder of the day, this woman will remain the housewife she is and even though the cat will always be there, she would not even notice it! She cannot! She is a wife, a mother, she is responsible! Her family needs her to cook, wash, clean and not play with cats.

I do not know her or her family but I can see that she is a housewife and a mother of three. Socioeconomically, the family seems to be very close to what late Dr. C. K. Prahalad would describe as the bottom of the pyramid. Her husband never seems to be in a hurry and even though that is a state worth aspiring for, it is not a good sign if you actually have to earn your living in the current social setup. The kids I am sure go to school. Everybody goes to school in Kerala.

Back to the magic. Unlike her husband, I have never seen this woman at ease. Be it morning, noon or evening, I always see her busy with household chores. I have never seen her get ready or groom herself.  She is always dressed in a house gown which has seen better days. It is quite apparent that she does not step out of her house much and that she has enough on her hands to think about herself.

Not that it is a surprise; the job of a full time homemaker is one of the most thankless jobs a woman can be in India. We all know how deprecatory the title ‘housewife’ can be made to sound. Even the most liberal minds around me have at times made statements that reveal a moderate version of Mr. Mohan Bhagwat’s application of the theory of social contract to explain the institution of marriage. Even though Mr. Bhagwat was criticised for his suggestion that it is only natural that women remain at home and look after the household, the idea finds sympathy in a very large percentage of Indians.

Such beliefs in a predominantly masculine testosterone driven society ensures that we bring up our girls as passive, mute receivers of whatever our society chooses for them. The past few weeks have seen vigorous debate and discussion on women’s issues. Admittedly, problems are there and the good news is sections of the society seem to be looking for a solution for many of them.

But in my opinion, even the call for gender equality irrigates the deeply entrenched feeling that women will need to be granted equality for they naturally are not. A woman sacrificing her career, her aspirations and desires for the sake of her family is considered normal and that I think is where the patronising attitude towards women stems from. So many successive generations have been brought up trained to ignore their feelings that now being submissive is almost second nature to women. Whatever may be your address, your income or howsoever understanding your spouse may be, the Indian woman has been told that she is the one who has to make sacrifices.

Maybe the housewife I see every day is happy the way she is. Maybe it is all her choice. But if it were, why does she don a glass slipper before the crack of dawn everyday and transform into this beautiful, happy, carefree girl who plays with her cat?

What the blind see....

Why is he happy??? He is always smiling. An almost apologetic, sloppy grin! The worn out, out of style dark glasses and the white cane tells me that he is blind and shouldn't that make him sad, angry and maybe frustrated..... Anything but happy.

He walks everyday from the railway station to where ever it is he works and I often see him at a rather busy and tricky crossroad. Kerala boasts of enviable literacy rates in India but all that education does not seem apparent on the road. The traffic here is chaotic at best and murderous on days.

He walks through this impatient chaos everyday. I try to imagine myself on these roads with my eyes closed and quite frankly, I don't really 'see' much to smile about! Even otherwise, isn't blindness a good enough reason for someone to be miserable enough to stop smiling? Look at us. We find it so difficult to smile! 'There has to be a reason....' says a colleague with 6/6 vision.

So...... We with the gift of sight do not see enough reasons to keep smiling but a blind man does! Hmmm....

For All Parents and Teachers

Let me begin with a thought I just had, "Aren't all parents, teachers too?!??" We may not have asked for that job but my experience as a parent has taught me that "being a teacher" comes with the turf!

I read a statistic on news site today and in my opinion, if there is one statistic worth worrying about, this may be it.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/in-2009-8-children-committed-suicide-every-day-67655?pfrom=India

I am thankful to the almighty that I got to live in times when children were free. Free to live out their childhood to the hilt! Some of us were good in sports, some in academics; some were born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouth, some from rather humble families, some aspiring doctors, engineers and some like me....... with a new aspiration every week......

But despite such diversity, we had one thing in common; we all had a happy & carefree childhood.

Is it possible that in our quest for to ensure a brighter future for our children we may be unwittingly offloading our unrealized goals and aspirations on their shoulders?

Even if we are not, could we have allowed pressures of extreme competition to affect our children? Is it possible that we may not even know our kids any more? Do we talk to them? Or Do we “tell” them or may be “instruct” them?

Is it possible that the trials and tribulations of a free market economy may have made us overlook festering emotional sores in our young ones? Do our children talk to us or do seek the comfort of faceless digital networks?

Why does CBSE have a helpline for emotionally stressed students every year before and during the boards? Why did a student in class four tell me that she lacked confidence? Who told her that? Because when I asked her if she knew what the word “confidence” meant, she did not.

Why do kids in schools and colleges make a beeline to the “counselor’s” office at the drop of a hat? Why do schools and colleges need to hire “trained” psychologists to “take care of the children”? Weren’t we the parents and teachers supposed to that?

When did we outsource parenting?

Am I being paranoid, making a mountain out of a molehill? Or do we really need to look carefully at our parenting and teaching.

A Letter to Indian News Channels!

Dear Indian News Channels

Let me begin by placing on record my gratitude for the proactive reporting you guys have been doing for some time now. Although at times I have felt that your coverage of issues is rather selective and sometimes seems a bit biased to my untrained mind. But today I am writing to share some concerns I have had for quite some time now.

My brief experience with you guys showed me that what news will be carried and what perspective will be presented was always decided by the political affiliations of our masters. It was a rude realization that the fourth estate was not free at all! The masters were an eclectic collection of socio-economic institutions controlling either political power or money. I have seen how you compromised standards of your profession to metamorphosise into the vengeful vigilantes you guys have come to be known as today. I must admit that your proactive activism did bring cases and issues into the limelight and hasten their conclusion. But I often wonder whether this activist approach to journalism is your true nature or whether you are selective about the wrongs you choose to highlight.

Take the Commonwealth Games as a case in point. Despite the fact that you have done a commendable job in revealing the underbelly of the Indian democracy, is it also not a fact that you have conveniently chosen to ignore many human aspects of the story. Why were the story of forced eviction of the urban poor not highlighted more than the mere passing references which you may given. You went to London to uncover the tracks of corruption but did you find out what happened to the people we drove out of Delhi? Why did you not cover the pseudo ghettos crated to cover the ugly sores of humanity that we otherwise see and disregard everyday in cities across India? Why was the issue of possible pool contamination not highlighted? Why was the mishap with the Ugandan team just given a cursory reference? Why did you wait for the Sports Minister to formally apologise to the team before you spoke a word about it? Why is a team accusing us of all things, racism? And why are we not overly concerned about the accusation? Is it possibly because of the wrong skin colour the said team sports? Had it been an Australia or an England rather than a Uganda, would your coverage have been more intense? I think yes it would have been so. Not even you it seems are free from the national obsession for the fair skin! When you behave in this fashion, do we even need to wonder why the best business in India are the ones that can either make you fairer or can teach you English!

I do not condone terrorism in any form and I do not condone violence by Maoists but take a look at your coverage of the Maoist problem. Have we not successfully (and somewhat justifiably, I admit) demonized a large chunk of the citizens of our country? I do watch news daily and I do not remember a single program that presented their side of the story. I am sure even you will admit that the biggest mistake the Maoists are making if that have not hired a good PR agency out of Delhi! The result is that almost everyone I meet knows that there is a “Maoists problem” and that “Maoists are terrorists”. But when asked about what could have triggered such a movement, no one seems to have any idea of the injustices meted out by the land mafia and mining mafia. And for some reason no one seems too comfortable dwelling upon the fact that such widespread plunder can never occur without active support from the state governments and a criminal disregard by the center. Then why do we wonder why the youth in Kashmir or the North East or Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh feel wronged enough to pick up the gun?

I must say that I am getting tired of your pseudo nationalism too! I quit watching one you only because of the rather accusatory tone one gentleman uses while talking to guests on his talk shows! It is an embarrassment to see you be so judgmental and your propensity to pass verdicts! If you have the conviction to invite a Pakistani on air and then use your show to accuse him rather than ask or talk to him, then have enough courage to get your ministers on air and ask them about fake encounters in Kashmir.

I can go on but I guess, I will leave you with a question a wonderful friend of mine has posed on her Blog (http://bit.ly/9KKc87)....... Where the hell were you guys when the authorities were sleeping over the games???........... Don’t you think you guys woke up a bit too late???............... Have you guys woken up at all?....... And if indeed you have woken up, could you be responsible enough to show us what "should" be shown rather than what the establishment allows you to? And for God's sake Arnab, watch BBC for a couple of days and observe how they interview people!!

With regards
Ashish K. Pillai

A Letter to Dr. Lalit Bhanot

Dr. Lalit K. Bhanot
Secretary General
Organising Committee
Commonwealth Games 2010


Sub: A humble request

Dear Dr. Bhanot,

It is after a long time that I am feeling like this. As the Commonwealth Games 2010 approach, I am getting the same feeling I used to have as the Parent Teacher meet at my school would draw near! Never have felt such tangible fear of facing insult! I wish I am wrong but I fear that the games are going to be the greatest insult I have seen my country suffer at least in my life till today! But that is not what I am writing to you for…..

I on behalf of at least ten odd fellow citizens of India would like to place on record our humble request to be spared of the insults you are heaping on us. I mentioned “ten odd” as I have not been able to meet more and I assure you that anyone who reads your comments regarding the hygiene issues at the games village will probably feel hurt.

The issue is not the shoddy state of venues for an international event of such import. The issue is not even the ridicule the whole country has earned due to the way the OC has been handling the games so far. In fact the issue is not even the unmasking of corruption and the rot within the OC.

The issue is that when we have already been disrobed in front of the international community, you still have the gall to make ridiculous and downright insulting statements. I honestly on behalf of my fellow citizens would like you to explain what you meant when you said that the issues being raised about the horrible hygiene standards at the games village are actually non issues. And that too because this India and that our hygiene standards are different from what “they” expect.

I admit it Dr. Bhanot that hygiene standards in India are pathetic but do you really have to be proud of that and use it to justify the extreme incompetence your team has displayed. How can you even suggest that that "hygiene" in an Australia or an England means exactly what it is; cleanliness and in India it means squalor and filth? And let us for a moment admit your patently insulting statement, don't you think that when we are inviting "them" we should prepare our home according to "them". Do we really have to highlight the filth we live in?

I am not sure what happens at your home, Dr. Bhanot but even we “unhygienic Indians” do not tolerate dog shit in our rooms and beds, paan spit on our walls and people urinating in our lawns.

Dr. Bhanot, I am sure you are a literate man! At least the prefix before your name suggests so! I request you to cross the divide between being literate and being educated. Let us not sweep the truth under the carpet. If you want to sweep any thing, I am sure there is plenty to sweep at the venues and the games village!

Bridges are falling, ceilings are collapsing, dog shit is stinking, the world is laughing and the Organising Committee is still singing “ALL IS WELL……”

Please stop insulting your country, pick up a mop and try to save what is left of this great nation’s pride.

Thank you.
Yours Sincerely,

Ashish K. Pillai
ashishpillai@gmail.com

What is Patriotism?

Any discussion on patriotism is bound to evoke passionate responses and a debate on the very meaning of the word would inflame passions! And as always one can count on the likes of my dear friend Kawardeep Singh Bajwa to spoils a perfectly good Sunday on Facebook by initiating such debates! But as usual issues he raises forces us to look inwards and question, evaluate, consider some of our closely held but rarely understood beliefs. I will try to answer his question, “What is Patriotism?” very briefly.
But let me admit that my views are my opinion and not facts with empirical evidence to support them. My views are the progeny of my observation & interpretation of events and inputs from people I consider authority on the subject. I have also decided to let this be an open letter to my friend Kanwardeep Singh Bajwa!!




Dear Kanwar

I must begin by saying that I can only imagine the storms of internal conflict living in a foreign land and still being in love with one’s mother land can cause. But I do understand that now you will have a reference point to evaluate your feelings for your country. I also would like to place on record my sincere gratitude for being able to sustain your desire to positively contribute to social change in India. A successful arrival anywhere in the western hemisphere has been known to be fatal to any such intentions!

I also like the fact that you usually choose to question rather than comment on issues. Now you may say that I am digressing from the issue at hand and am busy praising your philanthropic nature! But I assure you, I never lavish praise so easily. Here too I am using them to frame the point I intend to make.

But before I go any further, let me state in no uncertain terms that you Kanwar are as patriotic as they come. I believe that patriotism is mistakenly characterized as ones love for a territory defined by political boundaries. I believe that patriotism is more a love for who you consider “your people”. I must appreciate your friend Gurinder Saini on his wonderful exposition! Come to think of it, he is right! I am sure we all have yearned for company even in middle of large crowds! The desire to be in social groups is indeed a very natural trait we as Homo sapiens seem to have inherited. Ever since I read your post, I have been struggling to articulate my feelings and I was not able to lay my hands on the exact argument I wanted to put forth justifying my perception of patriotism. I have to thank Gurinder’s exposition on evolution and our need to converge in social groups for giving me the break I needed!

Patriotism, Kanwar I believe is a love for individuals one recognizes as his countrymen. But that love may not necessarily be for a geographic unit defined by political boundaries. Had that been the case, one would not see preferential treatment by expatriate social groups and communities for people of their community. I am sure you may have seen that in Canada (like back home) most of the Indians may not be able to “help” another Indian beyond a certain point but if an Indian faces some kind of problem on account of being an Indian, a lot of people would be willing to be a bit uncomfortable but help another Indian. I have seen how people react to reports of violence from down under. We like Gurinder stated have inherited the “tribe” mentality. The members of the tribe bonded with one another rather than a territory. Similarly teams are about people, so is family, community, society and country. India is not a geographical unit but a group of people we know are “ours”. When we feel for our country, we are feeling for its people. Yes geography plays its role too but that role becomes too. After all you need to have a place you call home but we know too well that as when man was nomadic, even modern society has not been able to obviate migration. Some of us migrate from one locality to the other, some from a state to another and some migrate globally. When we do move, we adopt our new home and learn to love it the same way we used to love the one we left. Even if we discount such migration, we must still admit that as a nation we do not know India beyond what we have seen and feeling for that what we don’t know is only because we know we are supposed to! Even if we discount the fact that we cannot feel for what we don’t know, imagine, the political boundaries of India are still dynamic with at least three nations disagreeing with the political maps we used to use in school!

I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of people in the defense services and most seemed to scoff at the classical media driven, symbolic yet hollow concept of patriotism harbored by most civilians! We to have had the privilege of having had an Ashok Chakra winner in our friends circle. Most of the people I have met and discussed with claim that they do what they do as it is their job to do so and if they were to rank the intensity of their feelings for social groups, their unit and regiment take precedence over their country any day!

We Indians like symbols! We love our heroes and we love drama! Is it then a surprise that our patriotism is driven by stereotypical images of heroes who have mysteriously ceased to appear after 1947. My boss who himself was in the Indian Air Force suggests that “One who does not jump red light to honor the constitution of India and to prevent any injury to any fellow Indian is patriotic” He further goes on to describe a motley bunch of yoga aficionados he bumps every morning on his walk in the park. They would go through the motions and in the end raise loud slogans; “Bharat Mata Ki Jai!” “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and unfailingly the leader of the group then spits on the sidewalk! So much so patriotism! According to my boss, you are a good enough patriot if you have civic sense, are considerate for your countrymen and do break laws. A drive around Chandigarh highlights the issue of most civilians lacing civic sense. We park anywhere we feel like, jump lights, speed, break all rules and we do all that as if it is the natural thing to do!

I agree with Prof. Sudhir Diwan and I believe that a patriot is the one who loves his fellow country men, is a good neighbor, has civic sense, does not harbor extreme feelings towards any community, is positive and goes about his job in an ethical and socially responsible manner! You don’t have to a war hero to be patriotic. You can be a patriot by refusing to employ a child as a domestic help……you can be a patriot by not braking laws……. You can be patriotic by standing up next time you hear your national anthem play…. You can be patriotic by paying your taxes……you can be patriotic by not electing corrupt politicians to the parliament…..you can be patriot even if you opt to live in some other country…… In fact there are so many ways we can be patriotic! Why do we ignore the mundane and the ordinary and look for patriotism in great acts. Why can’t we be patriotic everyday everywhere? Why be selective and be patriotic by convenience? Why do we need to romanticize patriotism to subscribe to it?

I am sure we will need to explore further, deeper but inwards. Patriotism then may emerge as a function of our own perceptions, attitudes and values.

Pillai