December 12, 2011
A thundering typhoon passed through the city yesternight. Not much of a windy affair, but the rain and thunder display were spectacular enough to wake early2bedders back up. All this rain during the traditionally dry season is confusing old timers with their memory almanacs.
May not be entirely weather related, but I woke up to a morning without electricity, water and internet connection. How many 21st century cities can provide you this amazing back to basics experience?!
The modem was visibly sick with all the bulbs blinking in feeble green...like an ailing alien trapped on a different planet. I can understand the irony in bulking internet connection along with water and electricity into the bundle of bare necessities. But I don't mind admitting that half my life is virtual. As soon as the sun was up, I was at Rema aunty's emailing folks that it is not another unannounced disappearance to the hospital.
By 7am, impatiently I call up Aji, the modem dude. Surprise! He answers the phone. Suggests filing a complaint with the service provider. "If they don't fix it by today, I will come in the evening" he promises.
8am: Human response at the customer service end. I get a complaint number. The knowledgeable lady there says our line is clear. The device is dead. I convey the message to Aji. "I will come in the afternoon, Sir, before that I will send Rajesh over. He works in your area"... this is good service, I note!
9:30: Rajesh comes over. He quickly finds out that the modem adapter is functioning. It is some internal fault that needs replacement. He calls up Aji asking him to bring replacement. The username is obtained from the service provider for new installation.
10am: Aji arrives with the new modem. Replacement. Wireless enabling. He notes down the new device specifications in the old receipt that was issued on the 11th of August. I was back online.
Service done within 3 hours of the first call. Free! Before leaving they warn me to unplug the telephone cable from the modem in case of rough weather. I give them my word. Service sector in India has come very far.
The manufacturing sector, not so much. I am not talking just about flimsy, frail modems or continuously bursting water pipes. Even with millions of engineers graduating every year, India's manufacturing growth index has slipped to a negative 5%. Looks like the global slowdown has finally caught up with India. Engineering and MBA graduates are seeking work in banks. The nationalized banks in India are not like the lucrative "financial sector" of the west. Yesterday there was a report that such graduates were joining Delhi Police as sub-inspectors. Delhi celebrated 100 years as the new capital city under the British. May be the dismal employment situation is a sign of all the "policies" that have come out of Delhi all these years.
A survey of school students in the top private schools in India revealed that they were below international average in 4th grade and at part in the 8th grade. When students in the nation's so-called top schools are only at par with average schools of other countries, it is time to pay attention! Survey revealed some hilarious results like nearly half the students thinking that a spider has six legs. I don't blame them. I don't think it is in the textbooks. We are a bookish country.
Much like how the rest of the world was in the ancient past. Aristotle had written that the housefly has 5 legs. Since it is Aristotle, I shouldn't say simply 'written'. In his case, it is always 'authoritatively stated'. Nobody bothered to check. Who would challenge the great Aristotle! So the 5 legged house fly lived in the books, taught in schools in the western world for 400 years before someone bothered to look at a dead fly!
Aristotles are not writing the textbooks here. It is usually the task of committees that make sure that the sentiments of no section of the society is hurt and none of the 'quickly offended' fundamentalist segments are displeased.
It is important for the Indian polity to keep all the 'diversity' segregated though most of the textbooks open with an obligatory anti-caste pledge. It is no wonder that over 18% of kids said that voting should be done along caste lines. I am sure this "education" is promptly delivered at homes as well. I am reminded of an overheard conversation from long back. A little girl coming back from school informed her mother excitedly that they have a new teacher at school. "Is she a Hindu or a Christian?" was the first response of the mom. The kid would forever have her priorities, I guess!
The article found it essential to mention that the ignorance about spiders was despite the word for spider referring to it as '8-legged' in almost all Indian languages. But Indian languages are a strict no-no in top schools and more so at the homes from where parents issue forth their children to top schools.Recently there was an interview with the lady who translated Kottarathil Shankunni's magnum opus, Ithihyamaala, into English from Malayalam. She said she did it because her son was comfortable reading in English only. It is definitely great that the work gets a wider audience in English, but a Malayalam writer not insisting that her kids develop Malayalam reading skills is, to me, a disappointing state of affairs.
If this is the case in top, private schools, one can imagine how things would be in the thousands of government run schools. The survey should be a relief to Kapil Sibal who has been worried about dissenting voices spreading through the internet. He has already abolished examinations. Now with this kind of "education", the possibility of a discerning population with thoughtful opinions is permanently removed.
5pm: Water starts to weakly drip from the faucets! Perhaps I shouldn't fret too much about the education in a nation that is still struggling with proper drinking water delivery!
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