Independence Day celebration

It was a long weekend and I happened to be spending it at my in-laws' house in Lakkidi, Thrissur district. For those of you unfamiliar with the name, this place is about 25 kilometres from Palghat town and is famous as the home of some literary greats of Kerala – including Kunchan Nambiar. This is also famous for the Sri Rama temple at Thiruvilvamala, and more importantly for Aivar madom – a temple where you perform the last rites to propitiate the soul of your deceased family members.

And like the rest of much of Kerala that I have seen, this is a place that is soothing for the eyes with its verdant landscape, traditional "nalukettu" houses, and pretty women!!! And with practically no industry to speak of, Kerala is an idyllic place – one that has an absolutely calming effect on the mind and soul.

And so it was here, that Independence day found me, off on a long walk, enjoying the cool breeze and overcast sky – one that prevented the sun from coming up and making it a hot and humid day! I set off from home, taking the paths less trodden, in an attempt to get familiar with the terrain and allow my legs to meander in synchronization with my mind.

And this sight, this picture that you see stopped me on my tracks. Here, in this sleepy village, on an obscure corner of a road, which no google map will be able to show you, was a small celebration of Indian Independence. There were about fifteen or twenty villagers, mostly kids, with one of the older boys (the almost man) organizing a street-corner event. Very solemnly they stood around, sang the national anthem, hoisted the Indian tricolor and distributed sweets. I stood in proud silence while they sang the national anthem, watching in amazement the very voluntary and uninhibited show of nationalism. There were no chief guests, no one gave any long speeches about the freedom struggle, no politicians trying to gain mileage out of this…just a bunch of kids having fun!

I was reminded of a recent lecture by Ramachandra Guha which I attended – where he talked about why India was one of the most exciting places to live in. He had mentioned five different revolutions that were taking place … all at the same time! And how we were fortunate to be in such a time…a rare occurrence, which no other country had witnessed before. I remember he talked about nationalism and patriotism being two of the revolutions – along with things like the industrial revolution and the green revolution. I guess, I did not quite get what he was talking about at that time. But standing now, watching this event unfold, I just might have begun to make sense of what he meant.

I accepted very gratefully the chocolate and the flag they offered me, very proudly pinned the flag on to my t-shirt, and resumed my walk. Jai Hind!

To Sir, with Love

What would it be like to become the Headmaster of one of Chennai's most famous institutions at the age of 27? An onerous responsibility for sure, but it would seem like an equally challenging opportunity to carve the destiny of a school. And that was exactly what Mr. Kuruvila Jacob did. As this school turns 175 years old, all old boys of MCC School will definitely salute this man, who made this school one of the most prestigious institutions in Tamil Nadu, probably even in India. For the students of MCC School who studied from 1932 through 1962, he was a powerful force who influenced them, and to put it in the words of more than one man of that time – "Made men out of boys". And we are talking of people who are doyens of Indian Politics and industry; but yet to hear them talking of their teacher is truly inspiring.

And so yet again, August 3^rd was a day when people from different walks of life gathered to pay tribute to one of India's finest teachers. What makes this gathering so unique is the manner in which they choose to pay tribute to someone who inspired them during their formative years. A group of students belonging to this era have come together to create a trust that goes by the name "The Kuruvila Jacob Initiative for Promoting Excellence in School Education". This has been formed with the objective of encouraging schools adopt a more holistic concept of education that allows students to develop a well-rounded personality. One of the key objectives is to act as a catalyst in aiding schools adopts innovative methods and techniques in the learning process. Towards this cause, they have launched an Education Leadership Program that provides senior teachers of various schools to gain exposure in advanced teaching methodology and training methods. The CII Institute of Quality and IIT Madras (whose director Dr. MS Ananth is an old student himself) have been largely instrumental in designing the TQM program and the web-based learning programs, while the Eduction Leadership program is being conducted in conjunction with CEMD, Delhi. They have been taking these educational methods to Government-run schools and supporting the teachers create a more effective mechanism for increasing attendance in schools and reducing drop-out rates. (http://www.kuruvilajacob.com/school.htm has more information about this)

The web-based learning project is yet another initiative that is set to transform the way teachers teach. In a move to make education more student-centric, there has been a lot of emphasis on creating an environment where the teacher is the facilitator and allows the student to explore and discover knowledge. In the collaborative environment that is the classroom, this knowledge is shared and discussed, thus creating new knowledge. Even in the days when the Guru was considered the sole resource person, our ancient texts said the knowledge was the cumulative process of combining the teaching of the guru with introspection, interaction and experience. Today's challenge is to make available the cumulative experience of the class so that the student's learning goes beyond the experience of just one individual. From that perspective, web-based education, rightly-harnessed will allow for greater collaboration among schools and in the process greater sharing of knowledge. It is hoped that this learning process will not duplicate a typical classroom learning experience, but harness the power of the internet to make the resource available in a manner that facilitates and encourages the student to explore and create his knowledge base.

"When I graduate, I'll probably have a job that doesn't exist today". This quite aptly sums up the challenges of the students of the Net generation. In his best-selling book "Grown up Digital", Don Tapscott talks about the this generation of learners thus: "They seek choice, customization, collaboration, fun, speed and innovation in their learning… they expect to learn how to learn, not what to learn." Students will use technologies in collaborative inquiry-based learning environments with teachers who are willing to assist them in transforming knowledge and skills into products, solutions, and new information. How well will our schools be able to transform themselves and adapt to the new pedagogy – the intersection of pedagogy, content, knowledge and technology?

As long as we have far-sighted teachers like Kuruvila Jacob, we can rest assured that schools will face up to this new challenge too.