Thursday, March 27, 2008

The Strange world of Ms. Twitty. Episode 2 - Deadly Combo

Actors:

Ms. Twitty - Twisted mind female
Mr. Flummoxed - lets just call him another poor victim

Setting: The office lunch room

Mr. Flummoxed swaggers in to Ms. Twitty's table.

Mr. Flummoxed: Guys have you ever tried beer and grapes, it is a deadly combo.
Ms. Twitty (deadpan expression): Have you ever tried sex and marie biscuits?
Mr. Flummoxed: ......

Scene fades with Mr. Flummoxed still trying to get the concotion right in his mind.

The strange world of Ms. Twitty - Episode 1: Sex Appeal

Actors:
Mr. Victim – 30 year old virgin male
Ms. Twitty – Twisted mind female

Setting: office lunch room. Mr. Victim and Ms. Twitty having a conversation.

Ms. Twitty: Why have not shaved today?
Mr. Victim (touching his stubble in a macho manner): This is my sex appeal.
Ms. Twitty: Sex Appeal? YOU better appeal to court for some sex.
Mr. Victim: ……

Scene fades with Mr. Victim eating food quietly and probably still thinking how to draw some blood.

Not for today post and there is no tomorrow

Enamored by now.

A society as it progresses gets more and more self engrossed with the present. And the same gets inflected in the individual. Only the immediate realities get any attention from us.

Our choices bring forth this uncomfortable truth - choices from the inane to less inane. It is uncomfortable to look or think about the future. Art, culture, literature become victims of our existentialist thinking and living.

Everything gets compromised. Look at our cinema of today, we create escapist worlds or reflective cinema - Inane humor or dark realities. Unquestioning, unthinking worlds or sinister inner realms. Those 24 frames per second illusions are about us and are us. We root for the evil, brooding psychopath and not for the conscientious cop. The old villain is the new hero.

Literature is boring. We have no time to waste time on these fictional narratives. We would rather spend time reading the biography of the Richard Branson than peek into tormented soul of Edgar Allen Poe. We relish the one liners of Oscar Wilde while his foreboding warning of a egocentric, narcissist world catches dust in a corner. We would never see any correlation or debate about the George Orwell’s ominous Big Brother and the www.

Silliness , stupidity and ridiculousness of our discussions.

Imagine Paris Hilton is a celebrity while we have no idea who is our Vice President. We would know the names of our favorite actors dog or grandchildren or have an opinion about their choice of clothes but would have no talk about the Nandigram or Nihari Killings except the unmeant, insincere tutt tutt. Go tutt tutt yourself.

Have you ever wondered how economic disparity impacts your life?

Think why you are scared of the guards who guard your house? Or why you clutch your purse a little tighter when you see under-privileged? Or where the rampant consumerism is taking us?

Ever in passing has it ever crossed your mind, how hollow your life is? Or why moving from one mall to another is entertainment or probably your only hobby today?

Future is invented today and today we have no future.

We are today petty minds, with petty needs and pitiable lives.

Probably this was not the place you wanted to be for your daily high. Thank for reading and forgetting is faster than you read.

Goodbye and good luck.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Why not?

Fathers and sons.

They have their small talk, healthy discussions, heated arguments but do they really ever have a conversation?

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Teach to contribute

It is sometimes amazing to think how our education system is skewed towards mediocrity. And when you look around it is so tragic to find we as people are so oblivious to this glaring fact.

This mediocrity which gets ingrained in our way of thinking from the cradle then cascades and permeates every facet of our life – work, thinking, living.

The question is where does this mediocrity stem from?

The mediocrity stems from the role educators give to the reason for education. The primary stress any institution delves on is “success”. We are trained to succeed.

And how do you succeed?

Simple, beat the average.

It doesn’t matter whether you beat the mean by 0.1 or by 49.9 as long as you are above the average you succeed.

It regresses our mental approach to survival and not evolution.

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will die. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle; when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."

If you have attended any business school this is the first adage you hear and are taught.

This is the current spectrum.

Imagine another spectrum where the focus is not on succeeding but on contributing.

Contribute.

It doesn’t matter which field you choose, what subject you study, what profession you pick, a child is taught to contribute.

Envisage a scenario where the teacher tells his class your chosen field today stands here, can you push it further? Improve not manage.

It no longer is about the capability of your peers, it is challenge to you?

Individualistic.

Your potential, your capability, your courage, your mind, your body.

This way of education is with a purpose and can start at every level.

Anything you are taught are small building blocks leading towards a bigger picture.

You are not taught to remember 1, 2, 3 but the meaning of numbers.

Imagine.

The only field where this approach is applied is sports. You have landmarks, benchmarks, bars which athletes, sportsperson are constantly thriving to beat and better. The coaches remind you constantly about these goals, these legends. These legends are used as tools of inspiration for child as well as a professional sportsperson.

If it can happen in sports why won’t the same tool be applicable in education?

Twice

Some books need to be read twice.
Some stories need to be told twice.
Some lives need to be lived twice.
Some faces need to be looked at twice.
Some people need to be beaten twice.
Some chances need to be taken twice.
Some chances need to be given twice.
And some friendships need to be made twice.