Thoughts On Rails

Finally a good news from the education system!

I welcome the decision to stop publishing the merit lists - a major cause of excessive competition among students, and a reason for many fights and even a few suicides! Hopefully they are realizing that an exam is just an exam… 3 hours of writing cannot differentiate a good human from a great human. It can only tell how much one can remember and write under stress - it absolutely does not count the integrity, creativity, ingenuity and true intelligence.

I look forward to the day when a student is judged by his/her ability to deal with practical problems and the ability to learn the necessary skills rather than just the ability to mug up whole textbooks when they should be learning the concepts and ideas behind the working of the world.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Pune/No_merit_lists_for_SSC_HSC_from_this_year/articleshow/1068397.cms

It’s been a beautiful year….

Learnt so many things that I never knew about. Saw so many things that I never thought could exist. Loved a girl who never loved back. Went to places that I had only heard of before. Lost a lovely pet. Regained the confidence of a lost friend. Finally bought a dSLR camera - something I had been hoping for since last 3 years! Got the first big assignment in photography - completed it successfully. Got in touch with many classmates and buddies after years. Messed up with my education/degree once again- by not following up the correspondence course protocol. Made many new friends. Let go of angst against self-claimed enemies who don’t matter anymore. Made a few enemies while I went about my business of life. Bought a cellphone that does more than just make calls (smartphone). Encouraged a few students in their software projects. Got a new hairstyle, well… a few actually. Threw out a lot of stuff that had accumulated over the years - things that I thought could be useful sometime later, but never were actually used. Read too few books. Lost faith in most of the electronic media and news. Grew more concerned about Nature Conservation and my role in helping save the planet. Made up my mind that I would rather be a free, starving artist than a fat corporate slave. Modified my motorcycle enough to make it look very different from the original model - and it gives a more enjoyable ride too. Visited different culture and land (Rajasthan). Became slightly more aggresive about making my point - probably a side effect of becoming business-minded. Picked up fights with parents and brother for all silly reasons (sorry!). Held my first ever photography exhibition, people responded with good remarks. Found that loving someone without expecting much in return can be really tough, but still carrying on - hopefully the situation will change for better. Introduced a few people to the world of Open Source Software and also to Python programming language. Learnt a bit more about UNIX. Attended a course on photography from MSETI, Pune. Made another failed attempt at migrating all computers at home to FreeBSD. Assisted in the process of a funeral… learnt what exactly goes on behind the scenes when everyone else is crying. Taught myself to hold back my tears. Became more confident about driving my motorcycle on the highways. made a few promises, broke a few. But most importantly - started trusting myself to God more than before.

Hope this all counts as a great year. Some up and some downs… a good blend of it all! Looking forwad to enjoying life in 2007 too!

-Peace.

This Christmas I’m thinking of all the goodness I experienced in the past year… as the new year marches towards us, I’m gathering my experiences and I thank God for what I am today.

A year ago, I was much less sure about what I wanted to do with my life. I was much less sure where I wanted to see myself a few years from now. There were many things that I lacked at. The year 2006 has taught me a lot of things. It taught me to stand for my views and opinions, and to correct them if I was wrong. It taught me to learn even more from other’s experiences. It taught me to love without expecting love in return (I’m still trying to implement it… and so far I’m happy with my progress) . And it also taught me to value relationships more than things- something I had probably forgotten in the rat race of career. It also taught me not to run the rat race!

Because “the problem with a rat race is… even if you win, you are still a rat”…

I believe that I’m a better man than I was last year. If I’m right, I can be glad and try to be even better from now on. If I’m wrong, there’s so much more scope! Long before the New Year’s “resolution list fever” caught everyone, I had a list of things to be done on a high priority. Hopefully, I’ll be able to tick the list off soon.

I thank God for all the blessings that I have recieved. It is His Grace that has guided me all along.

The peace, tranquility and satisfaction that I find in Jesus… may you experience it too. Amen.

I was furious about the whole reservation issue! Furious about the senselessness of the public, the usual “let me make some money out of it” nature of [Television] media and the sick “my heart is where are my votes are” nature of politicians! But then I realized that what I hated most was the hatered that was being generated in the hearts of thousands of Indians. Hating hate is a difficult thing, so I kept my mouth shut till I found a way of putting my ideas in a better way.

Today it struck me that maybe, just maybe, I can say something that will make more sense than just lashing out at the people who are sowing the seeds of hatered. Here it is:
I believe that giving any particular section of the society a handicap (giving them a unfair chance to win) is bad for the complete society. Just look at all the hatered that is spreading over this issue!

If some sections are economically weaker, give them scholarships. Scholarships that include education fees, accommodation and books. Make it easy for people to earn and learn. Spoon feeding will never make good citizens out of students. Each person has to fight his/her own battles.

Here’s a small story that clarifies the doubts that are creeping in our mind right now!

The story is from Mary Manis Morrissey:

One day a man was in his backyard and noticed, on a tree limb, a butterfly emerging from it’s cocoon. He watched that little being struggle and strain and press up against the walls of its prison. The butterfly was having such a difficult time, and the man wanted to help, so he sawed off the tree branch and brought it into his house. He used a pair of very fine scissors to delicately clip the cocoon and create an opening for the butterfly. Sure enough the butterfly emerged easily. Then, as the man looked on in horror, it flopped around on the table, unable to lift its wings. Within a short time the butterfly died.

The man knew he must somehow have interfered with nature, and so he went to the library to do some research on butterflies. He learned that as it emerges from its cocoon, the butterfly presses and strains, which pumps fluid from its large body into its wings. This process strengthens the wings and shrinks the body. Without that struggle, the butterfly emerges with weak wings and an unwieldy body, and cannot survive.

This is our own life process as well. We may fear the struggle and wish to remain safe little caterpillars, yet the more we open, the greater the rewards. For us it’s not a single experience; we emerge over and over again, growing into a new way of being, exploring one way and then trying another until we find the right fit. No one can cut open your cocoon for you because it is through the struggle that you develop the strength to fly free.

This is how nature works. And remember, we are not above nature! We are a part of it, and our daily struggles and battles are what make us strong. If we interfere with the working of nature by skipping the struggles for some people we end up creating weak individuals. Do we want to make weak individuals? No! Not when we claim that we are doing all this to make them strong! What an irony!

Think again before you say that you are “for reservation”… because by saying that you truly do not understand the working of life!!

Acknowledgements:

• The story of the butterfly was taken from the website of Real World University