What is wrong with the Indian education system?
9th standard:PTA meetingPhysics Teacher: Your son is very smart. He is hardworking too. Dad: Thanks sir! He studies well. He is passionate about physics.Physics Teacher: Yes. He has what it takes to be an IAS Officer. Prepare him for Civil Services. He would be a great officer.Dad: That's good to hear sir. I am just a 9th standard guy. All I knew was that I loved applying physics to daily life activities. I knew I loved Maths too. But I did not know about my future. I did not know what I would be or what I wanted to be. I approached my teacher the next day.Class - the next day:Me: Sir. I like physics. What is its future.Physics Teacher: The future of physics is full of possibilities. There is infinite scope for exploring the field.Me: Then why did you want me to be an IAS Officer.Physics Teacher: Its a very stable job. You get security. You can get others to do your work for you. You will have many servants. You can earn very much. Even though the salary from government is less, you get lots of gifts (not so subtle). If you pursue physics, you can't earn much. Home:Mom: How did the meeting go. Dad: Great! His teacher told me that he has what it takes to even crack Civil Services.Mom: He's too young. Let us give him a few years before we push him towards his goals. (My mother is a professor. I am lucky. Not all are lucky to be afforded this freedom.)Conclusion:I tell my teacher I like his subject. He tells me it has good future. But money is the ultimate objective and it has less scope to earn money. He tells me to pursue another field. I feel there is something fundamentally wrong if we educate our younger generation that one field has more priority over another. All are equal. It just depends on one's passion towards a field and a drive to pursue it.As someone said: "Where would they be if Lata Mangeshkar picked up a cricket bat and Sachin Tendulkar became a singer."
What do you hate most about modern life?
The thing I hate most about modern life is the constant distraction caused by our smartphones, and the zillion apps apparently meant to make our lives better.Mind you, I am not blaming the smartphone makers or the app makers. Not at all - the fault is entirely mine. But I still hate it, and I am determined to ruthlessly bring my smartphone usage under control.There was a time when I could work for 12–14 hours at a stretch without any disturbance. Even in the glorious days of BlackBerry, as a McKinsey consultant, I was able to focus on work quite well. Maybe the the intense work pressure also helped.But now with the smartphone, it has become harder than ever to focus. We are just reacting to information bombarded at us rather than doing deep thinking and spending time on things that really matter.And finally the curse of social media. Don’t get me wrong. I am no anti-technology luddite. There are some small benefits in the way social media helps us to connect with each other, and occasionally we may get some useful information.But it comes at a huge cost, and personally, I find it unacceptable. It has fundamentally compromised our ability to focus and do quality work, for which you need a few hours without any disruption. Is that happening? Not for me!I stopped using Facebook three years ago. I have not used Twitter for years. I don’t have an Instagram or any other social media account. I have switched off most notifications on my phone. I am not part of any WhatsApp groups other than those related to work. Even my phone is always in vibrate or silent mode (I don’t recommend it though).Despite all this, it is still highly distracting! For one, WhatsApp is a big nuisance. Unfortunately, at my startup (ConceptOwl), we use it for all internal communication between our team members. So WhatsApp is useful but also very distracting as it creates a constant urge to check messages.My goal is now to bring down smartphone usage to a minimal level. Maybe check Whatsapp every 3 hours only for work, and no more. I am going to bring down the hammer of discipline and crush this waste of precious time, which will never come back. Everyday is a blessing, and is too valuable to be wasted like this.Our mission should be to slay this monster of smartphone distraction, and take control of our time. That is what I intend to do over the next 4 weeks. We need discipline and focus back in our lives.
Are Indians forgetting their culture?
I don't know if am suitable to answer. However let me give a try, I can tell you minor example.I was born and brought up in a very remote area of Uttarakhand. When we had ceremonies and function we use to use these leaf plates for eating.Today, same village use these plastic platesIt was not the story of just my village but thousand other parts of India had different virson of these plates.Pam leaf platesBanana leaf platesToday, nobody use them. Even people in my village think, “we have developed and became modern”.Everybody has moved up and use plastic. Plastic plates, plastic bag, glass, spoon everything plastic.Now let me tell you while Indians found it so uncool some westerner have adopted it. They considered it very cool beacuse these leaf plates are so eco friendly.While India Is Getting Over Its Traditional Leaf Plate, The World Seems To Be Catching OnInterestingly, a few people in Germany got really inspired by this age-old Indian traditional trend and started manufacturing plates and bowls made out of leaves and leaf-based compounds. This company, called Leaf Republic , is currently being run by a small group of people that consists of a team of engineers and designers to create products that are as aesthetically pleasing as they are eco-friendly.Leaf PlateThese days I see a lot of debate on plastic. We are desperate to find some innovative ways to reduce plastic but we forgot these simple traditions which had a robust answer.I know plastic problem is very serious and can't be eradicated completely but at least a small intiative at our personal level can bring a huge change, if 1 billion Indians are willing to change even .01%I request everybody to start giving some importance of such positive news instead of some TRP hungry media, useless debates and negative reports.Thanks
What are some of the best examples of "beauty with brains"?
Raghuram RajanI thought of writing an introduction myself ,but Shobha De has done an awesome job already, so I am just quoting her ."The guy's put 'sex' back into the limp Sensex. That makes him seriously hot. So hot, in fact, he has made it to the Amul hoarding (a first for a chap in his lofty position). But nobody is calling the man a Billboard Bimbo. You know why? Because this man knows his onions.And right now, onions are playing a major role in our lives. Forget our obsession with gold. We are hoarding onions now.All hail the freshly minted 23rd RBI Guv — the very dishy Raghuram Govinda Rajan — the Messiah of Markets. At 50, Rajan is young (come on, SRK at 48 is still playing lover boy), brilliant (IIT-IIM-MIT vaghera, vaghera) and on the ball (ex-IMF chief economist). That his chiselled features are as sharp as his brain, add to his current status as the Poster Boy of Banking.Funny how quickly Rajan has been slotted as a much-panted-after sex symbol (he took over from Duvvuri Subbarao on September 4). He's the guy who's got the groove. I plead guilty, too.Recklessly and happily, I went ahead and tweeted (will this woman never learn?) about his appointment, calling him the Ranbir Kapoor of Banking (note the spelling — banking, there's an 'a' in this word, not an 'o'). Why not? Rajan's sex appeal has propelled him straight into the league of movie stars. He can easily top 'India's Most Desirable' lists.Had he not been in this tricky, ultra conservative (let's be upfront here, and call it tight ass) assignment, he'd have been instantly snapped up by smart celeb managers and signed juicy endorsement deals. Sorry, Raghu. But you are stuck. Deal with it.The media has declared Raghu the latest sex symbol in the land. He should lie back and enjoy the attention. It's not often that one gets an RBI Guv who makes hearts (not just female ones) go dhak dhak each time he strides into a room. I entirely endorse the positioning. Why should only comely ladies in the rarefied world of finance get branded and walk away with all the compliments?Source -http://articles.economictimes.in...