pallikkutam : march

MAGAZINE ON EDUCATIONVOLUME 1 ISSUE 10 MARCH 2014

Managing EditorDr. Varghese Panthalookaran CMI

EditorJames Paul

Associate EditorDr. Prasanth Palackappilly CMI

ColumnsK L MohanavarmaDr. K.N. RaghavanA.G. MenonSajit Malliyoor

Marketing ManagerVarghese Kachappilly CMI

ArtSajo Joseph

Contact:Rajagiri Media, Rajagiri Valley P.O,Kakkanad, Kochi-39.Phone : 0484 2428249, 39 Extn : 232Mob: +91 9497711010Mail : [email protected]

FROM EDITOR’S DESK

Choose a job you loveNext year we may not be commuting to work in flying cars yet, but itwon’t really matter—many of us won’t be commuting to work at all.

Work is no longer a place. It’s no secret that telecommuting, flexiblework arrangements, distributed teams and even entirely virtualcompanies have exploded over the past few years. We’re bringingthe work to the workers, reversing the almost antiquated model ofbringing workers to the work. And in doing so, the way we work ischanging rapidly, with everything from organizational structures andteamwork flows to career paths and education undergoing radicalshifts.

Technology is rapidly democratizing where and when we work, andeven who we work for. To see rapid disruption in our expectations ofwhat employment looks like, you have only to recall the backlashthat Yahoo’s work-from-home ban caused in February 2013.

In the past, being highly specialized in one thing wasn’t usuallyviable; there just wasn’t enough volume to support it. Today, theinternet is cracking open the potential market available tospecialists, creating a long tail of opportunity that not only supportsthem but seeks them out. Just as Amazon.com created a market forlesser-known books, online workplaces are doing the same forspecific experts not commonly available in many local markets.

To support this career specialization, education will become morecustomized as well—it will be broken down into smaller, morefocused units of learning. We have already witnessed the rise ofonline coursework. This shift towards modular, highly personalizededucation will enable professionals to learn the specialized skillsthey’ll need to be competitive and keep pace with the rapidlychanging skills landscape.

Selecting the right career is very important. Jobs for life may be aluxury of yesteryear but with new opportunities opening up in brand-new sectors and more employers increasingly seeking out, or atleast accepting professionals with unconventional and ratherunrelated CVs, the environment is rife for individuals to explore thetopic of career satisfaction in a serious and creative and originalmanner.

Every job has its ups and downs, its good days and days you wishyou stayed in bed; so don’t expect perpetual euphoria; but if you arein your element you will know it. When you love your job it will feellike an extension of your identity, not a gruelling chore or ordeal youare committed to from 9 to 5. You will on most days wake upwelcoming the tasks ahead of you and take the challenges as theycome, with calmness and humour.

The most important thing to realize is that you are in control of yourcareer. Confucius said, “Choose a job you love and you will neverhave to work a day in your life.”

CONTENTS

30COVER STORY

04 Pallikkutam | March 2014

Career DecisionsThere are many influencers on a teenager’scareer decision. Sometimes a game they playedwhen they were young or a character on atelevision show can spark a lifelong interest in ajob. Find out who the main influencers are andhow they affect a young person’s decisionmaking.

Deepak Poulose

Choosing a career thatsuits you

32Explore yourself. If you want acareer that will really make youhappy, you should have a clearunderstanding of what you wantand what you enjoy.

35It is now a great time to be foranyone on the threshold of acareer. However, in the finalanalysis the ones who do well arethe ones who choose, not work thatis only financially rewarding, butwork that they truly love.

37

13

STORIES OF LIFE16

Dr. Jos Cletus Plackal

Mom’s heartachecauses son’sdyspepsia!

Career options for today’syouth

Thomas Chacko

A career in life

Brigadier NV Nair(Retd)

The choice of a career isconsidered the first step towardsadulthood. Besides the childrenthemselves, parents are the nextinterested stakeholders inchildren’s future and therefore inthe selection of their career too.

PEDAGOGY

Just listen– Half ofthe delinquenciesmelt !!

Jose K. C.

18 PERSONAL

Meaningful waysto manage ADHD

Sajit Malliyoor

One’s guru wasborn clutching acane in his righthand while the leftheld a pinch of snuffbetween the thumband forefinger.

The real story ofsuch a mother-childdyad and howdangerously closethey came to killingeach other!

For many peoplewith ADHD, thesymptoms ofhyperactivitybecome more subtleand internal as theygrow older.

CONTENTS

05Pallikkutam | March 2014

23 NOTES ON CREATIVITY

Dr. Varghese Panthalookaran CMI

Think original to capture‘eureka moments’ in life!

27

ASPECTS54

GUEST COLUMN62

42

Dr. Augustine Thottakara

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To be original means to be oneself! Be what you arewith all your talents, dreams, confusions, defects,expectations and level of enlightenment!

EXPERT COUNSEL20

Dr. K.N. Raghavan

It’s cruel to let radiocommentariesdie by sheer neglect!

Generations of cricket lovers had depended on AIRcommentary to get a ring side view of the proceedingsinside the stadia; it would be cruel to let it die by sheerneglect.

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Atmavid:Knower of the Self

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When your food is pure, your beingbecomes pure; when your beingbecomes pure, then your memorybecomes strong; when your memorybecomes strong, all the knots of yourheart will be broken.

NEWS


CCE has improved scores, not teachingSchool standards in the country remain

fairly low with CBSE’s subjectevaluators rating 49.8% as average and9.11% in need of improvement . Theanalysis of school level assessmentdoesn’t paint a rosy picture either. Nearly35% of schools don’t do their summativeassessment evaluation strictly asper the board’s marking schemeswhile 38.1% don’t use sufficienttasks and tools in co-scholasticassessment.

CBSE’s first report onContinuous and ComprehensiveEvaluation (CCE) since itsintroduction in 2009 shows thatthe performance of schools hasbeen a mixed bag. There has beena marked improvement in studentscores and the overall passpercentage since 2010 hasimproved by 9.48 percentage points toreach a record 98.76% in 2013. But on theflip side, CBSE officials have found thegeneral classroom teaching methodologywanting. Tasks given to students in 54.6%of the schools are of average quality andthe difficulty level is also average or belowaverage in 86% of schools. Nearly 8% ofthe schools did not adhere to the marking

schemes and had inflated marks or grades inthe summative assessments.

Parents and teachers, though, seem happywith CCE. TOI was the first to report inNovember 2013 that students who skippedthe class X Boards in 2011 (the yearBoards were made optional) fared better in

their class XII exams than those who wrotethe external exam that year. The newanalysis is based on evidence collectedfrom 5,552 schools. Studies commissionedby CBSE; Management DevelopmentInstitute, Gurgaon; National University ofEducational Planning and Administration ,and National Council for Educational

Research and Training have shown that60% of the parents and 90% of theteachers are happy with the new schemeof assessment and the related reforms.

CCE has been around in CBSE schoolssince 2000 but it was extended to thesecondary level in 2009. At present, it is

being followed across 14,647schools, including government andprivate unaided schools. The schemecovers more than 22 lakh students inclasses IX and X. The Board has alsotrained more than 3,000 mentorssince 2010 in India and abroad totrain teachers. While the results haveimproved significantly , CBSE wasforced to introduce many changes inthe scheme, such as mandatoryappearance in both the summativeassessments (SA) and also aminimum requirement of 25%cumulative scores to qualify the

examination. Earlier, students werepromoted to a higher class on scoring 33%in the complete assessment , whichincludes four formative assessments andtwo SAs. There used to be no minimumpass marks for the SA, which is thewritten examination conducted at the endof the two semesters.

GRE exam takersincrease by 70%

The GRE Program has seen impressivegrowth globally in 2013, ending the

year with the second highest annual GREtest volumes in the program’s history -7,31,000.Volumes in the United Statesincreased by 5 % and students in Europeand Asia tested in record numberscompared to 2012, with the mostsignificant increase occurring in India.

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE)is a standardised examination conducted byEducational Testing Services (ETS), basedin the US.

The GRE measures candidates’ aptitude forgraduate school and universities abroaddemand these test results for the purposeof admission in streams such as graduatestudies, fellowships programs and researchprograms.

Nancy Powell calls for moreIndian women students in US

Asserting that the US was stepping upefforts to increase the number of

young women studying in her country,Ambassador to India Nancy Powell onFriday said it is paramount that morewomen from India receive an internationaleducation.

“It is of paramount importance to me thatwe increase this number and see morewomen taking advantage of theopportunity to receive an internationaleducation. We can and we need to dobetter,” Powell said during her address ata girls’ school in the city.

Observing that education has become oneof the main pillars in the India-USbilateral partnership, Powell said the USis stepping up its efforts increase the

number of young women studying in thecountry.

“We now have ‘Education USA Centers’in seven locations throughout India tohelp you get clear and accurateinformation about opportunities to studyin the US. We also have a number of USGovernment sponsored programmes forstudents,” she said.

She also said that only 30 percent ofabout 100,000 Indian students studyingin the US are women.

“We all share a responsibility to ensurethat all women are provided equalopportunities and welcomed as partnersin global progress. When women succeed,communities and countries succeed,”added Powell.

NEWS


Shift in teaching methodologystill a challenge: Joshi

It has been five years since CBSEintroduced Continuous and

Comprehensive Evaluation at thesecondary school level. Under the same setof reforms, Class X boards were madeoptional besides other exam reforms likevalue-based questions, open text-basedexams and a proficiency test . And theperson presiding over these changes isCBSE chairman Vineet Joshi. Before hetook over the reins, he served as the CBSEsecretary.

While the results in classes X and XII haveseen a marked improvement, both in termsof the overall pass percentage and the

number of high scorers , the CCE reportshowed much more effort was needed tointegrate the teaching, learning andassessment process .

In an exclusive chat with TOI, Joshi said,“We faced two big challenges when we setout to introduce CCE—the strategy forimplementation and taking the school intoconfidence as well as clearing the doubts inthe minds of students, parents andteachers . We successfully overcame thoseproblems. But, even five years down theline, the challenge that remains is the shiftin teaching methodologies in classrooms tointegrate the teaching, learning andassessment process. That continues to be afocus because the teachers find it difficultto understand how all these can becombined.”

The chairman, however, feels manyschools have successfully adopted theCCE scheme. He also explained how CCEhas brought a paradigm shift in teaching.Earlier , teachers would instruct, giveexams and allot marks to evaluate thestudents’ progress. Joshi, however, laysstress on learning through interaction andself-study , with the teacher acting as amediator . “Suppose there is a chapter ondemocracy or on inertia . The teacher willspeak on the subject and then hand anassignment or a project to all studentsindividually or in a group. The studentswill go back and engage in some self

learning . The next day the groups willcome to the class prepared and explain theideas to each other. The teacher will sitback and take note of the activity; if thestudents are able to explain the subjectproperly, the assessment is done. If thestudents falter, remediation can beimmediately done. This is the crux of thereforms,” said Joshi.

As the standards of schools vary, theassessment process is bound to differ aswell as the results, which the CCE report2014 showed with ample evidence. Joshithinks the mandatory accreditationprocess, introduced by the board from thisyear after its pilot run in 2013, will go along way in improving the standard ofschools.

CBSE studentscan get answers

rechecked

Ushering in one of the most radicalexam reforms, the Central Board of

Secondary Education will allow Class XIIstudents currently appearing for theboard exams to not only get a copy oftheir evaluated answer sheets, but alsoseek re-evaluation instead of just arecount of the marks.

Students can also specify whichquestions they want to be re-evaluatedon. The facility will be open to those whoapply for it and will be completely online— from availing a copy of theanswersheet to requesting for re-evaluation.

According to CBSE sources, the examcommittee has approved the move.However, as of now, it will be availableonly for English, Hindi, physics,chemistry, mathematics, political scienceand economics. There will also be a capon the number of questions sought to bere-evaluated.

After a Supreme Court ruling, CBSE had,last year, provided photocopies ofanswer sheets to candidates who hadrequested for it.

However, dissatisfied students had to becontent with ‘verification’ of marks,which meant retotalling of marks given foreach answer.

The provision of verification of marks/grades and obtaining photocopy of theevaluated answersheets will also continue.But in place of photocopies, candidateswho apply will get a digitized version ofthe answersheets.

“In the first year we are starting withseven major subjects. The facility will beextended to other subjects fromsubsequent exams. The board is in theprocess of finalizing the mode of deliveryof the digitized answersheets. In caserelatively low numbers of students applyfor the answersheets, these can bedelivered via email. Otherwise they willbe allowed for download from the board’swebsite,” said a senior official in examcommittee.

NEWS


No Indian university in top 100 global list,Harvard voted best

None of India’s 700 universities and35,539 colleges has made it to the top

100 list of the Times Higher EducationWorld Reputation Rankings releasedrecently.

This means that academics don’t think toohighly of the capabilitiesand work of our highereducational institutions.The ranking, drawn on thefindings of an invitation-only academic opinionsurvey, is based on thesubjective judgment ofaround 60,000 senior,published academicsconsidered as “the peoplebest placed to know themost about excellence inour universities”.

Harvard University, the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology and StanfordUniversity in the US lead the list followedby the UK’s University of Cambridge andthe University of Oxford. Agency reportssaid that Punjab University, the alma materof Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, found

a place in the unranked section of 226 -300. It is followed by the IITs in Delhi,Kanpur, Kharagpur and Roorkee betweenranks 351 and 400.

Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore isranked highest among Indian institutions,

at just below 200, from its 130th place lastyear. IIT-Bombay figures among the 210-220 group, and IIT-Delhi and IIT-Kanpurare ranked below 250.

The US has the most representation withmore than 45 institutions figuring in thetop 100 followed by the UK with 10institutions, Germany with six and Japan

and Australia with five. India is the onlyBRIC country that is not represented inthe top 100 list. China has two of itsinstitutions on the list while Brazil andRussia have one each.

Though based on perception experts saidthe reputation rankingcannot be taken lightly. Inhis article ‘Credit check’ onthe website, Times HigherEducation Rankings editorPhil Baty said thatreputation is the currencyof global higher educationtoday, and is accepted byscholars, students, donorsand industry.

“In today’s academy,reputation is the currency:

research has shown that institutionalstanding is the top consideration foracademics when moving jobs, is vital forthe formation of internationalcollaborations, and is essential inpersuading philanthropists to give andindustrial partners to invest,” Baty said.

Banaras Hindu University introduces MSc inforensic science

Banaras Hindu University will be thefirst in the country to introduce a

masters course in forensic sciencein collaboration with a Hyderabadbased laboratory and two foreignuniversities. The department ofchemistry, BHU will also play amajor role in this endeavour whichwill see participation of as many as37 more departments of thevarsity. The course will be startedfrom the next academic session(2014-15).

According to the vice-chancellor ofBHU, Lalji Singh, the course willalso be available online for theprofessionals from law, police,government and private investigatingagencies. There will be no age limit for theonline module of the course. The V-C alsoinformed about the soon to be started

DNA fingerprinting and moleculardiagnostics facility in the university. “The

DNA fingerprinting and moleculardiagnostics facility along with the forensicscience study and research will give theregion much needed investigative facility toprovide forensic services, including DNA

profiling, document verification, disputedfingerprints, cyber forensics and crime

scene investigation, incidentreconstruction, failure analysis,psychological evaluation and audio-visual identification andauthentication. We will inviteexperts of international repute tocome and train the faculty and otherstaff here,” said Singh, who played amajor role in establishing the Centrefor DNA Fingerprinting andDiagnostics (CDFD) at Hyderabadunder the department ofBiotechnology, Government ofIndia.

“It will help for betterment of crimeinvestigation scenario as there is acutedearth of such advance facilities not onlyin the region but across the country,”observed the V-C.

NEWS


MBA still most preferred postgraduatecourse choice in India: survey

Master of Business Administration(MBA) is the most preferred post-graduate course choice in India, especiallyin metro cities, says a survey byuniversity search engineIndiaCollegeSearch.

Most of the undergraduates try to grab anMBA degree as the qualification holds a lotof promise and importance.

Moreover, many believe that acquiring anMBA qualification is one of the best waysto get a better job.

As per the report, MBA is more popularin metro cities than in smaller ones,IndiaCollegeSearch CEO Anirudh Motwanisaid, adding that in India the proportion ofpeople with professional experience issmaller as compared to that of freshgraduates joining the stream, which iscontrary to global trends.

When asked about his views on the survey,Sidharth Agarwal, Director, SpectrumTalent Management said, “People whohold an MBA degree find different typesof employment opportunities, bothdomestically and internationally, addingthat it is estimated that 70 per cent of thesenior managers or board of directorsworldwide are MBAs.

An MBA programme is a great way toacquire a diverse set of knowledge in ashort period of time and enables graduatesto take up challenging and responsiblepositions in the corporate world.

But students should be careful whilechoosing the B-school as brand doesmatter, experts feel.

On the pay package part, experts are ofthe opinion that though MBA salarieswere stagnant in 2013 as compared to2012, the prospects this year look brighteras market conditions are likely to improvepost elections.

“The year 2013 was dull for recruitmentsand thus its impact was also seen on salarypackages of MBA freshers. But, it isexpected that market conditions willimprove after general elections of 2014 andthus MBA pass outs can expect some

good opportunities coming their way,”Agarwal added.

According to the report, the average salaryof students passing out from collegesaccepting CAT (Common Admission Test)score in 2013 was Rs. 2.79 lakh perannum, marginally up from Rs. 2.72 lakhin 2012.

On the other hand, the average salary ofstudents passing out of colleges acceptingCMAT (Common Management AdmissionTest) score saw a minimal increase, movingup from Rs. 2.20 lakh per annum in 2012to Rs. 2.23 lakh in 2013.

Admissions to IIMs under cloud aswrit alleges irregularities in CAT

Alleging large-scale irregularities inthe manner in which the prestigious

Common Admission Test (CAT) foradmission to 13 Indian Institutes ofManagement (IIM) is conducted, a writpetition by eight IIM aspirants hassought a stay on the entire admissionprocess this year.

Justice R Subbiah,before whom thepetition jointly filedby eight aspirants,all hailing fromChennai, came upfor admission onThursday, directedthe Union humanresourcesdevelopmentministry and theCAT Centre 2013 atIIM-Indore toreserve one seat eachto all petitioners who had moved thecourt. CAT is the first step for joiningany of the 14 IIMs in the country, andsome other top management institutionstoo use the scores for their admissions.After a 20-day exercise at 40 centresthat began on October 16 last year, theCAT results were published on January14.

The petitioner-candidates assailed theexamination format and said: “Thecomputerized format of CAT 2013 wasconducted over a period of 20 days andthe obvious consequence of it is varyingstandards of difficulty in presented tocandidates. The level of difficulty wasdifferent for each slot of each day of the

testing period. Themethod of ‘equating’,‘scaling’ and‘normalization’ usedby the authorities inthe process of scoringin CAT 2013 tonormalize the scores ofthe petitioners islawful and erroneous.”

The process ofequating and scaling,which is otherwiseknown asnormalization ofscores, has caused

grave irregularities in the scores obtainedby students, it said, adding: “It has beenproved that candidates who have notattempted even a single question havebeen awarded a percentile of 55.46 andthis, in turn, implies that more than 50%of the 1.7 lakh candidates who underwentCAT scored zero or even less.”

INSIGHTS


Money can havepsychologicaleffects too!

Money is necessary to lead a decentlife. It allows us to meet our material

needs. It pays for our survival and forentertainment. But does money influencepersonal performance, interpersonalrelations or helping behaviour? A recentstudy suggests so.

Psychologists Kathleen D Vohs of theUniversity of Minnesota, Nicole L Meadof Florida State University and Miranda RGoode of the University of BritishColumbia found that personal performanceimproved and interpersonal relationshipsand sensitivity towards others declinedwhen money was involved in the decision-making.

The results, recently published in CurrentDirections in Psychological Science, provethat a test candidate exhibits decreasedinterpersonal skills and increased personalperformance when they were motivatedwith money.

Participants who were exposed to moneyspent less time helping a person in need,sat farther away from another person andpreferred work alone. They also asked forothers’ help less frequently and reluc-tantly.

However, they revealed an increased desireto take on more work and showed greaterpersistence in difficult tasks.

Money obviously plays a large role inhuman behaviour and there is not enoughexperimental research on its psychologicalinfluence. It is high time to study thecognitive, motivational and behaviouralconsequences of money.

Master “21st-century skills”Modern students are expected both

to master school subjects and toexcel in areas such as problem-solving,critical thinking and communication -abilities oftenreferred to bysuch labels as“deeperlearning” and“21st-centuryskills.” A reportfrom theNationalResearchCouncil (US)suggests theimportance of21st-centuryskills forstudents.

Deeper learning is the process throughwhich a person develops the ability totake what was learnt in one situationand apply it to new situations, says thereport. Through deeper learning, theperson develops transferableknowledge, which includes both

expertise in a particular subject area andprocedural knowledge of how, why andwhen to apply this knowledge to solveunique problems in that subject. The

report refers tothis blend oftransferablecontentknowledge andskills as “21st-centurycompetencies.”

The reportidentifies threebroad categoriesof 21st-centurycompetencies: thecognitive domain,which includesthinking and

reasoning skills; the intrapersonal domain,which involves managing one’s behaviourand emotions; and the interpersonaldomain, which involves expressing ideasand communicating appropriately withothers.

Comforting skill is the key!Most women are less forgiving of other

women who lack comforting skillsthan of men who lack such skills, accordingto new Purdue University research oninterpersonal relationships.

“Stereotypes say women should be bettercomforters. So, we expected to find thatwomen would hold women to a higherstandard, and when women did not meetthese expectations, they would not beliked by others. However, this standarddid not seem as important to women whoconsidered themselves to be the mostfeminine.”

How women valued their gender identitymade a difference, he says. For example,women who were deeply attached to atraditional feminine role preferred femalecomforters to men.

“Sometimes people who are well-intendedcome across as insensitive when they failto listen to a friend or when they giveunsolicited advice,” Burleson says. “Forexample, if a friend recently broke up with

her significant other, then it would beinappropriate to say, ‘You’re better offwithout him,’ ‘There are more importantthings to worry about,’ or ‘Don’t worry,there are more fish in the sea.’

“Comforting is not effective when it’s aform of unsolicited advice, consideredcritical, or perceived as a put-down. Theperson is trying to help, but the approachis counterproductive. By imposing one’sown frame of reference, the advice-giveralso is failing to recognize the friend’sfeelings and pain.” Burleson says peoplecan improve their comforting skills bymaking a commitment to listen rather thanto give advice.

“Listen for your friend’s perspective,” hesays. “Ask ‘How are you feeling?’Acknowledge the person’s pain. Peopleremain upset because they can’t makesense of their feelings or the meaning of theproblem. That’s why it is important toencourage persons who are hurting toarticulate their feelings so they can workthrough the pain.”

INSIGHTS


Self-regulation game to improvekindergarten achievement

Early childhood development researchers have discovered that a simple, five-

minute self-regulation game not only canpredict end-of-year achievement in maths,literacy and vocabulary.

Claire Ponitz from the University ofVirginia and Megan McClelland of OregonState University assessed the effectivenessof a game called the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS) task, which is a newversion of the Head-to-Toes task devel-oped by researchers at the University ofMichigan. Both tasks have provedeffective at predicting academic skillsamong preschool-age children. Theirresults were published in the newest issueof the journal, Developmental Psychology.

In the HTKS game, children are asked toplay a game in which they must do theopposite of what the experimenter says.

The experimenter instructs children totouch their head (or their toes), but insteadof following the command, the children aresupposed to do the opposite and touchtheir toes. If children pass the head/toespart of the task, they complete anadvanced trial where the knees andshoulders commands are added. TheHTKS task is a measure of inhibitorycontrol (a child must inhibit the dominantresponse of imitating the examiner),working memory (a child must rememberthe rules of the task) and attentionfocusing (must focus attention to thedirections being presented by the exam-iner).

The researchers found that students whoperformed well on his behaviour taskachieved strong scores in reading, vocabu-lary and maths, compared to students whohad low performance on the task.

Social skills are necessary to manageschool-to-work transition

The social skills of students developedduring their university studies

contribute to their success in thetransition to work,suggests ProfessorKatariina Salmela-Aro, the principalinvestigator of aresearch projectfrom HelsinkiCollegium forAdvanced Studies.The researchproject investigatesinto the relation-ship between thesocial strategiesstudents develop atuniversity and howwell they help them to cope with work-related challenges.

Social skills have an impact on workengagement and early-career coping withworking life, the study concludes. Workengagement is defined as a positive,motivating work-related state of mind

characterized by vigour, enthusiasm anddedication.

The results of the research project alsosuggest that socialwithdrawal andavoidance duringuniversity studies areindicative of a distantattitude towardswork and anincreased likelihoodof exhaustion andburnout after thetransition to workinglife.

According to Salmela-Aro, social skills havefar-reaching implica-

tions for future success. Good interper-sonal skills, an active social approach anda sense of community and involvementcan equip students with the personalresources necessary in making thetransition to everyday work and thecompetitive world of career-making.

Emotions are butbridge-builders

Emotional intelligence can supportimproving one’s interpersonal

relationships, even though it may notserve a measuring tool for evaluatingsuccess in life, suggests Keith Oatley,author of Emotions: A Brief History anda professor in human development andapplied psychology at the OntarioInstitute for Studies in Education of theUniversity of Toronto.

In his book, released this month byBlackwell Publishing, Oatley goesbeyond the hype of emotional intelli-gence tests and explains that emotionalskills can be developed to enhance aperson’s relationships with others.Emotional intelligence is defined as a setof skills that enable individuals tounderstand their own and other people’semotions so they can manage their livesand their relationships, he says.

Oatley’s book also details the history ofemotions across different cultures andtheir impact on society and individuals.

INSIGHTS


Career discriminationagainst women exposed

According to a study published inPsychology of Women Quarterly,

women candidates who present themselvesas confident andambitious in jobinterviews areperceived ashighly compe-tent but aslacking in socialskills. On theother hand,women whopresentthemselves asmodest andcooperative areappreciated; butthey areperceived as lowon competence.

The study was conducted by Julie EPhelan, Corinne A Moss-Racusin andLaurie A Rudman of Rutgers University.

In contrast, confident and ambitious malecandidates are viewed as both competent

and social and therefore possess betterchances to be hired as a manager than eitherconfident or modest women.

The results showa clear discrimi-nation againstambitious,competent ormodest women.Their excellentsocial skills gotequated withapparent lack ofcompetence.

According to thisresearch, womenwho seekmanagerial rolesare doublydisadvantaged.

In order to be viewed as sufficientlyqualified for leadership, they must presentthemselves as confident and ambitious. Butif they do so, they risk prejudice for acting“unfeminine,” which can result in hiringdiscrimination.

Positive bias towards girls inacademic performance revealed

A recent study published in the currentissue of Journal of Human Resources

suggests that the classroom behaviour ofgirls promotes teachers to assign girlshigher grades thantheir male counter-parts.

A student’s‘approaches tolearning’, which is arough measure ofwhat a child’sattitude towardslearning is, includessix items that ratethe child’s attentive-ness, task persis-tence, eagerness tolearn, learning independence, flexibility andorganization. Girls are found to possessbetter “approaches to learning”.

The study shows that the genderdisparities in teacher grades start earlyand uniformly favour girls. In every

subject area, boysare represented ingrade distributionsbelow where theirtest scores wouldpredict. Thisdifference can havelong-reaching effects,says Cornwell.

“My argument isthat this has alwaysbeen true about boysand girls. Girlsdidn’t all of a suddenbecome more

engaged and boys didn’t suddenlybecome more rambunctious,” Cornwellsaid.

Peer relationsare not trivial

It is not just child’s play! Therelationships kids form with their

peers from the young age of six monthsthrough adolescence exert enormousinfluence on their lives, reports GaryLadd, professor of psychology andhuman development at Arizona StateUniversity, in his book, Children’s PeerRelations and Social Competence: ACentury of Progress. Be it fostering ofpositive feelings through friendship, orcontributing to school-adjustment andlater-life problems through bullying andrejection, peer relation has a say.

The book discusses different topicsincluding peer acceptance and rejection,friendship development, schooladjustment, bullying, self-esteem,loneliness and the roles that sexdifferences, emotions and culture playin peer relations.

As early as preschool, children facesuch challenges as making a new friend,maintaining existing friendships, fittinginto peer groups and avoiding bullies,and all of these interpersonal skillsrequire both complex thinking andbehavioural skills, he says.

Some of the skills children learn throughtheir peer relationships includeassertiveness, conflict management andhow to earn respect and controlaggression. Research also indicates thatplay with peers provides children withimportant opportunities to discussfeelings, expand thought processes andknowledge and experiment withlanguage and social roles.

PEDAGOGY

LISTEN !! Just listen – Half ofthe delinquencies melt !!

Jose K. C.

I used to think that one’s guru was born clutching acane in his right hand while the left held a pinch ofsnuff between the thumb and forefinger. He took adeep inhalation before proceeding to flick the caneon whatever portion of myself was available for the

purpose. I really had no idea what I was expected todo or not do to avoid it. I could never imagine that asimple error of calculation in addition, subtractionor multiplication (I never knew which) would drive

anyone hysterical.


PEDAGOGY

The novice-teacher in me noticed then the impact of listening andcounseling; he who came as lion was humbled as a lamb. That

incident was a crucible of transformation for Paul. For, he is todaya gem of a responsible citizen.

My first period that day was a lesson inChemistry in Class VIII. In fact,

Chemistry was thrust on me (as greatnesson Shakespeare’s Malvolio), as anappendage, extra to my ‘English’. That day,I was confident with ‘balancing of equations’because I had had ample help from the veteranChemistry teacher, Mr. Chettiar of theneighbouring School.

But, as I neared the classroom, I saw all girls(only four of them) and a couple of boys(out of the total eight boys) standing outsidethe classroom. I asked them why.

“Stinking, Sir, stinking,” some said half inanger and half in revulsion, whereas two ofthe girls evaded my question.

A classroom stinking? In baffled wonder Istood there. The academic space called the

classroom, which should be wafting thefragrance of knowledge and skills …!!??

“Sir, our Paul (not the real name) hasvomited…My God! Sir, he is drunk,” one ofthe evader-girls informed me in a volley ofwords, drenched in disgust.

Though I could not believe my ears, I enteredthe classroom and saw a huddle of Paul insound sleep at his desk, his morningcontribution - the vomit – lying at his feet ina puddle. Yes, the room did stink.

I asked Lobsang, the strongest of the boys,to carry Paul to the hostel. He did. And, wesoon cleaned the room. The rest of mystudents – a manageable eleven of them –actively washed and mopped. After all, theyexcelled in non-academic exercises thoughthey struggled in studies.

Now, the classroom, we felt, was pure as anun. I thought I would teach my confident‘balancing of equations.’ But then, the otherevader-girl could not control, “Sir, these boysshould not drink, no Sir?” A sweepinggeneralization, indeed! And a legitimate moralanguish.

She went on at some length on the sacrilegethat Paul had committed. I listened with fondcuriosity at and interest in her honest,innocent outburst like a grandpa would listento his grandchild’s moral outrage.

Then, I, keeping aside ‘balancing’, talked onthe pros and cons of drinking, citing examplesof accidents and family wreckagesprecipitated by drinking.

I assured them that Paul’s case would bediscussed in a staff meeting and due action


PEDAGOGY

taken. In a minute, the bell rang and I did not‘balance’.

As our Principal had been away, theOfficiating Principal called a staff meeting,in which Paul’s suspension from the schoolfor a week was agreed on. Therefore, anunusual assembly was held, which Paul –now apparently sober – too attended.

No sooner was his suspension announcedthan Paul (one of the tallest of the lot)shouted from behind, “You hopelessteachers, why a suspension? What did Ido?...”

The bewildered staff dismissed the assembly.Paul went on and on with his rabid rantingamong the scattered students. Soon, a coregroup of teachers was formed as‘counsellors’. Each of them listened to Paulturn wise. (It is but a secret that some of

them coaxed, advised and threatened too.)At last, he relented and came up with a longapology letter, punctuated with‘unpunctuations’, misspellings, run-ons,fragments, whimsical articles and tense shifts.

The novice-teacher in me noticed then theimpact of listening and counseling; he whocame as lion was humbled as a lamb. Thatincident was a crucible of transformation forPaul. For, he is today a gem of a responsiblecitizen. His teachers’ patient listening to hissoul and his nurture was like a soothingshower on the parched soil of his soul. Thatwas the miraculous healing touch. Listen inempathy – not sympathy: it works wonders.

Epilogue: But…but, have we the luxury oftime? Haven’t we got misplaced prioritiesthat rob off our time? Much of our mindsetabout discipline is rooted in the philosophy

of the cane. Many of us are sadisticdisciplinarians. In the words of R. K.Narayan:

I used to think that one’s guru was bornclutching a cane in his right hand while theleft held a pinch of snuff between the thumband forefinger. He took a deep inhalationbefore proceeding to flick the cane onwhatever portion of myself was available forthe purpose. I really had no idea what I wasexpected to do or not do to avoid it. I couldnever imagine that a simple error ofcalculation in addition, subtraction ormultiplication (I never knew which) woulddrive anyone hysterical.

The author is lecturer in English,College of education, Samtse, Bhutan

A classroom stinking? In baffled wonder I stood there. The academicspace called the classroom, which should be wafting the fragrance of

knowledge and skills …!!??


Dr. Jos Cletus Plackal

Mom’s heartache causes son’sdyspepsia!

STORIES OF LIFE

The mother-child dyad, the symbioticrelationship with mother and child, the

invisible yet ubiquitous and pervasive bondof the umbilical cord etc have beeninvestigated in depth, yet we need to know alot more. The following is the real story ofsuch a mother-child dyad,how intricate and intimatethey were, and yet howdangerously close they cameto killing each other! Theimmense power of theinvisible umbilical cord mustnever be underestimated. Cutonce physically yet thisbond needs to be revisited,mended and nurtured many atime, psychologically, evenspiritually. The long andarduous evolutionaryjourney from an emotionalbundle called baby to amature adult is enmeshed inthis intricate, intimate,lifelong bond betweenmother and child.

Jeevan (not the real name ) isin the seventh grade, very shy and sensitive,above-average in studies, very close to hismom. He has a brother four years younger,“naughty”, “nosy,” “michievous” and whatnot! Certainly Jeevan can’t get along withthis “impish” character! Add to his woesmom’s ‘partiality’. “Mom always takes hisside”, laments Jeevan. In spite of all thisturmoil Jeevan loves his mom so dearly, seeks

Jeevan is also close to his dad, is very unhappy about the family feud.Defeated and exasperated, mother continues her battle with her husband’sallies, the in-laws. Lately Jeevan’s mom had begun to observe remarkable

changes in her son’s behaviour. His grades were steadily going down, hewas withdrawn and sad.

out her strokes, asks for her loving careetc. His dad works abroad, and so hasbeen absent from home ever since hewas a child. Dad comes home once ayear and stays for a few weeks. Duringthese visits there would be many fights,

arguments etc between mom and dad.Mom would get to her teary best at theend of dad’s vacation! Both of them useself-defeating games, dad’s is “it’s allyour fault”, and mom’s, “miserable me,because of you”…After the fieryvacation, mom and dad part their waysand continue their fight over the phone.Jeevan is also close to his dad, is veryunhappy about the family feud.

Defeated and exasperated, mothercontinues her battle with her husband’sallies, the in-laws.

Lately Jeevan’s mom had begun to observeremarkable changes in her son’s behaviour.

His grades were steadilygoing down, he waswithdrawn and sad. Andthen one day Jeevan’smother was called to theschool by the HM. She wastold about her son’s suddenand very painful stomachache, vomiting, nausea etc.As this situation could notbe brought under control thematter was referred toprofessional assessment andtreatment. The boy wastaken to a neighbouringhospital and later to a super-speciality hospital. All theelaborate diagnosticprocedures wereprofessionally done and noorganic dysfunction wasdetected. All this time the

violent stomach crams and theconsternations attended on them continuedunabated, sinking the family into deepermisery.

The boy was brought to counselling at thisstage. He had no clue whatsoever as towhat was happening to him, and his familywas groping in the dark. Since the medicshad categorically ruled out any organic


STORIES OF LIFE

The author is licensed clinical psychologist(HRT), Jeevas Centre Aluva.

Jeevan’s mother was apprised of the inner turmoil that her son wasundergoing and his constant fear of losing her, especially when he was atschool etc. When she came to know the depth of her son’s love for her

she became remorseful and teary-eyed.

dysfunction, the psychologist was duty-bound to go some extra miles in theinvestigations. A patient and painstakingclinical interview assisted by clinical testsbrought the following vital facts to thefore: a) Jeevan was quite fond of both hismom and dad, and their constant fightingnagged him on internally; b) The thoughtthat mother was more fond of his youngerbrother bothered him day and night; c)This painful thought prompted him toprovoke mom and put her to severe‘loyalty tests’ which she almost alwaysfailed (most mothers fail these subtletests); d) This battle of nerves reached itszenith in the morning when Jeevan shiftedinto low gear. He was so slow ineverything to the point it upset his motherterribly. At her wits’ end she would blurtout, “If you keep on behaving like this,you may not see me when you comeback”! It was this death threat that turned

out to be, so to say,’ the last straw thatbroke the camel’s back’! In school Jeevanwould ruminate about mom’s words ofdoom, and a sudden surge of negativeenergy gushed into his guts turning it into avortex of untold agonies. “Will she be therewhen I return home?” “If somethinghappens to her what shall I do” etc? Thefear of losing one’s dear ones can triggerthe worst forms of anxiety attacks.Because of excruciating pain and mentalagony, Jeevan was desperate to reach homebefore he could get some respite. Oncehome, Jeevan was totally normal andcompletely symptom-free. Jeevan and hismother had a very painful, confused andcontorted symbiotic life. Mother wasmany times on the brink of disasterbecause of rejection and neglect fromfamily. She was afraid of losing her babyduring pregnancy and delivery. Thisgenetic predisposition to separation

anxiety is mutual, intense and alive.Jeevan’s mother was apprised of the innerturmoil that her son was undergoing andhis constant fear of losing her, especiallywhen he was at school etc. When she cameto know the depth of her son’s love for hershe became remorseful and teary-eyed.With the guidance of the therapist acontract was made in which motherpromised that she would never abandonher son, and she would not make deaththreats and would be at home for himalways. Mother did attend some sessionsfor understanding her own inner world.This was a fresh beginning for mother andson

Jeevan became symptom-free, morecomfortable in school and began tosocialize...

\


I am a 23-year-old woman married forone and a half years. I am writing this

for my husband. He is 29 and is amechanical engineer working for a privatecompany. Soon after our marriage, Istarted noticing some peculiarity in hisbehaviour. Healways seems to bein a hurry. Hewould be trying todo many things ata time. He is alsovery careless andoften would upsetthings. Hewouldn’t payattention to what Iam saying andwould forget thethings I asked himto bring. When thisleads to quarrelsbetween us, hereadily agrees tohave consultationswith a psychiatrist.The doctor said hehad anxietydisorder and wasput on medication. He has been onmedication for more than three monthsnow, but we don’t think it is helping him todo any better. While searching the Internet,I happened to read about Adult AttentionDeficit Hyperactivity Disorder. When Iread about it, I thought the descriptionmatched many of his symptoms. I am alittle hesitant to ask my doctor to changehis diagnosis, but could you pleaseenlighten us on the possibility of himhaving Adult ADHD?

Sajit Malliyoor

PERSONAL

The hyperactivity component of ADHD in adults can look the same as it doesin kids. You may be highly energetic and perpetually “on the go” as if driven bya motor. For many people with ADHD, however, the symptoms of hyperactivity

become more subtle and internal as they grow older.

There are meaningful ways tomanage attention-deficit disorders

I appreciate that you are spending time toread and research the problems yourhusband might be facing. But we have amajor limitation here. It is difficult todiagnose Adult ADHD even in a one-to-one consultation, and when the

consultation happens through letters, it isnext to impossible. Hence I would describewhat the condition is and you shouldprobably consult the doctor again for areview of the diagnosis.

In adults, attention deficit disorder oftenlooks quite different from what it does inchildren—and its symptoms are unique foreach individual. Adults with ADD/ADHDoften have difficulty staying focused andattending to daily, mundane tasks. Theymay be extremely distractible. For

example, you may be easily distracted byirrelevant sights and sounds, quicklybounce from one activity to another, orbecome bored quickly. Paradoxically, theymay also have Hyperfocusing, a tendencyto become absorbed in tasks that are

stimulating andrewarding.Hyperfocus isactually a copingmechanism fordistraction—away of tuning outthe chaos. It canbe so strong thatyou becomeoblivious toeverything goingon around you.For example, youmay be soengrossed in abook, a TV show,or your computerthat youcompletely losetrack of time andneglect the things

you’re supposed to be doing. When youhave adult ADHD, life often seems chaoticand out of control. Staying organized andon top of things can be extremelychallenging. They may be poor inorganising things, having a tendency toprocrastinate, frequently forgettingappointments and deadline.

Another major symptom is Impulsivity.You may have trouble inhibiting yourbehaviours, comments, and responses. Youmight act before thinking, or react without


PERSONAL

Please send your queries [email protected]

Many adults with attention deficit disorder have found meaningful ways tomanage their symptoms, take advantage of their gifts, and lead productiveand satisfying lives. There is a lot you can do to help yourself and get your

symptoms under control.

considering consequences. You may findyourself interrupting others, blurting outcomments, and rushing through taskswithout reading instructions. If you haveimpulse problems, being patient isextremely difficult. Many adults withADHD have a hard time managing theirfeelings, especially when itcomes to emotions like angeror frustration. Commonemotional symptoms of adultADHD include: a sense ofunderachievement, poorfrustration tolerance,hypersensitivity to criticism,short and explosive temper,irritability and mood swings.

The hyperactivity componentof ADHD in adults can lookthe same as it does in kids.You may be highly energeticand perpetually “on the go” asif driven by a motor. For manypeople with ADHD, however,the symptoms ofhyperactivity become moresubtle and internal as theygrow older. Commonsymptoms of hyperactivity inadults include: feelings of innerrestlessness, agitation, troublesitting still, constant fidgeting,tendency to take risk, cravingfor excitement, talkingexcessively, racing thoughts,and trying to do many thingsat a time.

The wide-reaching effects ofAdult ADHD can lead toembarrassment, frustration, hopelessness,disappointment, and loss of confidence.You may feel like you’ll never be able toget your life under control. That’s why adiagnosis of adult ADD/ADHD can be anenormous source of relief and hope. Ithelps you to understand what you’re upagainst and realise that you’re not toblame. The difficulties you’ve had aresymptoms of attention deficit disorder—not the result of personal weakness or acharacter flaw.

Having a thorough understanding of thechallenges of ADHD is the first step inyour attempt to conquer the problem.Many adults with attention deficitdisorder have found meaningful ways tomanage their symptoms, take advantage oftheir gifts, and lead productive and

satisfying lives. There is a lot you can doto help yourself and get your symptomsunder control. Here are some of thestrategies advised by an online help guide.Consider a repeat consultation with atherapist, if these strategies don’t producethe desired results:

Exercise and eat right. Exercisevigorously and regularly—it helps workoff excess energy and aggression in apositive way and soothes and calms the

body. Eat a wide variety of healthy foodsand limit sugary foods in order to even outmood swings.

Get plenty of sleep. Whenyou’re tired, it’s even more difficult tofocus, manage stress, stay productive, andkeep on top of your responsibilities.

Support yourself by gettingbetween 7-8 hours of sleepevery night.

Practise better timemanagement. Set deadlines foreverything, even for seeminglysmall tasks. Use timers andalarms to stay on track. Takebreaks at regular intervals.Avoid piles of paperwork orprocrastination by dealingwith each item as it comes in.Prioritize time-sensitive tasksand write down everyassignment, message, orimportant thought.

Work on yourrelationships. Scheduleactivities with friends andkeep your engagements. Bevigilant in conversation: listenwhen others are speaking andtry not to speak too quickly.Cultivate relationships withpeople who are sympatheticand understanding of yourstruggles with ADD/ADHD.

Create a supportive workenvironment. Make frequentuse of lists, colour-coding,reminders, notes-to-self,

rituals, and files. If possible, choose workthat motivates and interests you. Noticehow and when you work best and applythese conditions to your workingenvironment as best you can. It can help toteam up with less creative, more organizedpeople—a partnership that can bemutually beneficial.

Dr. K.N. Raghavan


EXPERT COUNSEL

One of my favourite activities duringchildhood was to listen to running

commentary broadcast by All India Radio(AIR) covering all important cricketmatches. As I grew up I learnt to tune in toBBC and Australian BroadcastingCorporation and listen to cricketcommentaries and Testmatch special broadcastsby them. When AIRstarted the practice ofalternating betweenEnglish and Hindicommentators in 15-minute slots, we startedlearning Hindi morevigorously than ourteachers in school couldpersuade us to do. Radiocommentary was aquintessential part ofgrowing up for sportslovers of my generation asone used to listen to livecommentaries of hockey,football and even tennismatches, in addition tofollowing cricket all around the world.

Though Doordarshan had startedfunctioning in 1959, televisiontransmission found its footing in Indiarather slowly and it was only in the early1980s that all cities in the country gotlinked to the television network. So onecould watch the Los Angeles Olympics of1984, the World Series Championship ofcricket in Australia in 1985 that India won,

Doordarshan had started functioning in 1959, television transmission found itsfooting in India rather slowly and it was only in early 1980’s that all cities in

the country got linked to the television network. So one could watch LosAngeles Olympics of 1984, the World Series Championship of cricket in

Australia in 1985, that India won, and all other major sporting events throughthis medium.

It’s cruel to let radio commentariesdie by sheer neglect!

and all other major sporting events throughthis medium. However after the initialeuphoria of watching live action, onestarted noticing or hearing the commentarythat television dished out and found that itwas substantially inferior in quality towhat was provided by the unglamorous

radio. And surprisingly, despite the manytechnical advances etc which have resultedin improved viewing pleasure, one stillfinds that television commentary,particularly for cricket, is still very much inthe 1980s phase.

Radio commentators had the task ofdescribing the whole atmosphere on theground/stadium so that the listener couldimagine in his mind the happenings there.

They were required to announce theposition of fielders and changes inplacement made thereof, so that theaudience could visualize the scene solelyby listening to the commentary. They hadto keep on repeating the scores, of teamsand individual batsmen, and bowling

figures as that was theonly way the listenerscould keep track of thisvital information. Theyhad to keep on talking,irrespective of whetheraction was taking place inthe ground or not, asotherwise the commentarywould appear listless anddull and lose the attentionof the listening public.And most importantly,they were expected to bemeasured and moderate inhis choice of words andrefrain from making anyobservations that mightprovoke unrest amongstthe public. It is to their

credit that the commentators and theexperts on the panel of AIR and radiobroadcasting agencies performed their jobwith finesse before moving aside quietlyas television took centre stage in matchcoverage.

There is no requirement of livecommentary in television as the viewerscan follow the action on the field. Insteadthere is a panel of experts who give their

The author is the Commissioner of Customsin Kochi.


EXPERT COUNSEL

Generations of cricket lovers and followers of other sports and games haddepended on AIR commentary to get a ring side view of the proceedings

inside the stadia; it would be cruel to let it die by sheer neglect.opinion about the events unfolding in thearena, through the format of a discussion,where, besides providing inputs about thegame, they also pass on small nuggets ofinformation that would make listening amore enjoyable experience. But one findsthat there are many experts who are indeep love with their own voice and insiston describing the happenings on the fieldthat the viewer can see for himself.Further, there are certain others with acapacity for the hyperbole; these arepersons for whom each shot is atremendous hit and every ball not scoredoff is a superlative delivery. Discussionsthrowing insights about the quality of thegame or about the strategies of each sideare rare; nor are there any observationsthat only experience can provide. Insteadone is forced to keep on listening todelirious shouts of “DLFMAXIMUMMM” and“TRRRRRRRRRRRRREMENDOUSEFFORT”, till forced to switch on themute button for some peaceful viewing ofthe game.

Yet another type of expert tries to imposehis views (invariably wrong) on thelisteners. He finds fault with umpires,scorers, ground authorities, players andjust about everyone else other than hisown paymaster. He interprets rules, argueswith his colleagues and often has noqualms about questioning the decisionsgiven by an umpire. While criticism of thevalid kind is appreciated even by thosewho are being criticised, statements madeby some of the “experts” would take theform of downright defamation. It is hightime ICC stepped in to regulate theseexperts sooner than later as they are boundto cause serious difficulties by theirintemperate and incorrect observations. In1969, AIR had removed Devraj Puri fromits panel of commentators following theriots caused in Mumbai stadium onaccount of his observation that the umpiregave an Indian batsman out by mistake.But it appears that the present-daybroadcasters have neither the guts nor thecommitment to public and principled

approach that AIR used to display when itcame to covering sporting events.

One has to accept that changes areinevitable as life moves forward and onemust learn to take them in their stride. Butit pains to see the slow demise inpopularity of radio commentary by AIR,unlamented and unrecalled, at the altar oftelevision coverage and the culture of loveof Mammon that it cheers. Generations ofcricket lovers and followers of other sportsand games had depended on AIRcommentaries to get a ringside view of theproceedings inside the stadia; it would becruel to let it die by sheer neglect. I hopethat, like the FM stations that havesuddenly become popular, by some sheermagic, the number of listeners of radiocommentaries of sports events’ registers anincrease in the near future and they regaintheir erstwhile pre-eminent position forcoverage of all sporting events

NOTES ON CREATIVITY

Dr. Varghese Panthalookaran CMI


Think original to capture‘eureka moments’ in life!

We are born unique. There are noreplicas of us in the world. So could

be our thoughts also, if we arecareful. It could be unique, original,fresh and refreshing. To be originalmeans to be oneself! Be what youare with all your talents, dreams,confusions, defects, expectationsand level of enlightenment! Think

original to capture “eurekamoments” of your life!

Originality a mirage?

Modern information age runs the risk ofdeserting people in a jungle of ideas, wherethey are left alone bewildered, confusedand lost. Out of multibillion bits ofinformation in circulation round the globeevery other second only few are original.Others are carbon copies of alreadyexisting ideas. Novel information is ararity; path-breaking concepts are scarce;original thoughts are scant. Repeaters ofold concepts and followers of existingideas are large in number. We are oftencontent with registering our “likes” and“recommending” others’ ideas. The worldtoday seeks novel thoughts and conceptsto redeem it from the shackles ofcelebrated but fast-redundant ideas of thepast. New perspectives are wanted;novelty is sought after; originality issolicited.

Originality is a precondition to get ideasprotected under copyright. The rationalebehind copyrights is to protect originalideas and to reward creativity. That is thelegal connotation of originality. Todistinguish between the original andduplicate ideas is proving an extremelydifficult task today.

NOTES ON CREATIVITY


In the World Wide Web, there are alreadymechanisms to track plagiarism. The aim isto promote original ideas. Many web-based services and programs enable usersto identify copying of ideas or to limitthem to a minimum.

However, can authenticity of originalcontributions be conclusively proven? Isit not true that synergy of old ideasgenerates new and effective ideas? Havenot ideas and concepts undergoneevolutionary changes in the course of time?Can we ascribe patency to ideas that hadbeen in circulation for ages to a singleperson?

According to famous German-Swisspainter Paul Klee, creative people are justlike a tree. They draw minerals of personalexperience gradually processing them intonew concepts. Creativity is a play withown experience. It consists of synthesis ofnew ideas in the mould of experience. Itinvolves synergy of many ideas,transforming them into a powerful andnew idea. It is like delving deep into thesea of vast personal experience to collectpearls from under the sea. It need not be

creation of something out of nothing, exnihilo, rather it is a creation of somethingout of the chaos of lived experience. It is adiscovery of something that was hidden.

Abraham Lincoln once commented:“Books serve to show a man that thoseoriginal thoughts of his aren’t very newafter all.” That might be our experiencetoo. We often find our own thoughtsreflected in old texts! Does it suggest thatwe have inherited them from thosesources? Sure! But it might also includeour contribution through synergy. Or asRalph Waldo Emerson once jokingly said,is it true that “All my best thoughts werestolen by the ancients.” Is originality amirage?

What is originality?

J.P Guilford, the famous creativity expert,considers originality as one of the fourpillars of creative thinking, others beingfluency, flexibility and elaboration (FFOE).The ability to develop original thoughts, tosynergize different ideas, to shape newconcepts-approaches-outlooks-methods-practices-strategies-praxes is essential tocreative thinking.

Originality can be defined as the ability togenerate something that is unique or firstof its kind: to produce ideas and productsthat have not existed before. Often it issomeone’s spontaneous originality thatmakes us call them “creative”. Originalityis the pinnacle of creativity. Of the fourFFOE skills, originality is most difficult toforce. It can only be reinforced. It oftengrows out of fluency but involves greaterrisk-taking.

An original idea is also delightful.Something original is a joy forever. Itcreates effects akin to the sudden turningon of a light, firework in the sky or gushingof torrents in a waterfall. The onlookersare enlightened, enthralled and refreshed atthe sight of it. It may trigger laughter or atleast an inner smile.

Originality can be distinguished fromcreativity. Originality refers to theproduction of a novel idea, withoutdistinction whether it is useful or not. Acreative idea is not only original but alsoworthwhile, useful, effective and efficient.

Brainstorming is a usual technique used totrigger original ideas. The golden rule of

Originality can be defined as the ability to generate something that isunique or first of its kind: to produce ideas and products that have not

existed before.

NOTES ON CREATIVITY


brainstorming states: “No idea is a badidea”. This attitude develops a positivespirit that boosts generation of a largenumber of original ideas. Creativity is onestep ahead. It looks for effectiveness andpracticality of ideas.

How to cultivate originality?

Original thoughts are often viewed assporadic and serendipitous. It appears justlike winning a lottery. Our lives are oftenframed around routines. Our daily choresare repetitions. It is only natural that ourminds are not fizzing every day with newideas. We seldom win a lottery.

However, there are ways and means toequip oneself for original thinking. Originalideas are not usually thunderbolts from outof the blue. Originality could be nurturedand stimulated. You cannot force it, butyou can create the right conditions togerminate it. You can create enough sparksto ignite it. New thoughts are born with afire in the brain. Neurons of our brainliterally fire as you mull over an original

idea. It is the way the brain gives birth to anew idea. Feeding fresh information intothe brain thus helps to create an ecosystemfor originality. It expands the horizon ofyour imagination. Some useful tips tofacilitate originality are:

• Change your music: If you hear rapmusic, go for jazz; if you favour classical attimes switch over to modern.

• Develop new tastes: If you love pizza,try also pasta; if you favour Chinese, trycontinental.

• Make new contacts: Make it a point tomeet someone new, encounter a strangerand get in contact with him.

• Read new subjects: If you usually readromance try science fiction. If younormally read fiction, read business books.If you usually read business books, tryphilosophy.

• Alter your routines: Change yourpattern of exercise, do yoga rather than gorunning, play golf instead of tennis.

Routines have negative influences onoriginal thinking.

• Change your attitudes: Change thechair you regularly sit on in a meeting: ifyou have a habit of sitting at the back, tryto sit in the front row. If you are usuallyquiet, speak up. If you are usually loud, bequiet and listen.

• Keep your curiosity alive: Explorenew words, understand new concepts andengage in life-long learning.

Schools are supposed to be nurseries oforiginal thinking. Open acceptance andrespect for original ideas is vital tonurturing students’ originality. How peersand teachers react to ideas can make orbreak originality. Most students will bereluctant to speak out original thoughts, ifit risks themselves of being looked at as“crazy” by peers or “undisciplined” byteachers.

Schools shall not reduce themselves to theplaces of “right answers”. They must be

Schools are supposed to be nurseries of original thinking. Open acceptanceand respect for original ideas is vital to nurturing students’ originality.How peers and teachers react to ideas can make or break originality.

NOTES ON CREATIVITY


places where students are trained to ask“right questions”, rather. Originality is thecrux of innovation and it should benurtured in schools by teaching students toask right questions rather than stuffingthem with right answers.

How to overcome mental blocks?

Roger von Oech in his book, A Kick in theSeat of the Pants (New York: HarperPerennial, 1986) has identified a number ofmental blocks that kill original thinkingskills. He suggests six ways to setourselves free from the mental blocks andto engage in original thinking:

1. Use soft thinking than hardthinking: “Soft thinking” is more diffuse,more lateral, more able to deal withcontradiction, and the most appropriatefor creativity. “Hard thinking”, on theother hand, is more focused, linear andprecise. These two poles of commonthinking can be described by the followingpairs: Metaphor-Logic, Dream-Reason,Humour-Precision, Ambiguity-Consistency,Play-Work, Approximate-Exact, Fantasy-Reality, Paradox-Direct, andGeneralization-Specific. A shift from hardthinking to soft thinking is marked by ashift from the latter attribute to the formerone in the pair.

2. Look beyond the right answer:According to Emile Chartier, “Nothing ismore dangerous than an idea, if it’s theonly idea you have.” We shall not limitour search to the “only right answer”;rather we need to search out for the“multitude of right answers”. It allows youto adapt solutions to the life situations.

3. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes:The fear of going wrong has to be removed.You should not be afraid to be wrong.

Mistakes can be stepping stones to theright solution. As Thomas Edison hasrightly mentioned: “Many of life’s failuresare people who did not realize how closethey were to success when they gave up.”

4. Think ambiguously: Many problemscan be tackled using different viewpointsposited by ambiguous thinking. A little bitof ambiguity in thinking provides you withsufficient flexibility for creative thinking.

5. Adopt roles: Entering into the shoes ofsome role models could liberate you fromthe mental blocks. You may take the rolesof a “joker” or a “magician”. The “joker”was the court jester in the palaces of kings.He had an important role to play in theproper functioning of the palace. He issupposed to save kings from falling intothe traps of “yes-men”. Through hisinterventions, he is supposed to providenew perspectives. The “magician” dealswith symbols which can boost creativity.The magician often “proves” that nothingis impossible.

6. Break rules: Very often we are limitedby our perception of boundaries. It isimportant to go outside accepted norms inorder to reach solutions. This sometimesmeans breaking rules.

Originality: Challenge of beingoneself!

We are born unique. There are no replicasof us in the world. So could be ourthoughts also, if we are careful. It could beunique, original, fresh and refreshing. To beoriginal means to be oneself! Be what youare with all your talents, dreams,confusions, defects, expectations and levelof enlightenment! Think original to capture“eureka moments” of your life!

According to famous German-Swiss painter Paul Klee,creative people are just like a tree. They draw mineralsof personal experience gradually processing them into

new concepts. Creativity is a play with own experience.It consists of synthesis of new ideas in the mould of

experience. It involves synergy of many ideas,transforming them into a powerful and new idea.

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Extended family

Older brothers or sisters maystrongly influence younger members of thefamily.

Family work traditions or familyaspirations for the future, such as “I wantthem to have a better life than us”, “ Idon’t want them to forget where theycome from”, influence a young person’scareer decisions.

Negative beliefs such as “He’ll neveramount to anything”, or “I’m a failure andso is she”, can negatively impact on ayoung person’s decisions.

Friends

Peer pressure can sometimes limityoung people’s career aspirations.Encourage your children to think aboutwhen school is over - will it matter whattheir friends think?

Many young people stick to careersthat are safe and known. Give themexamples of outsiders who have done wellfor themselves.

Boyfriends and girlfriends can be animportant influence on where a youngperson chooses to study, or whether theymove to a certain town or city.

Culture

Where we live, and the values thatare held within our own subculture, ethnicgroup and society influence a youngperson’s career path.

Financial priorities such as sendingmoney back home to family, or saving foryour retirement, or taking an overseasexperience (OE) are culturally specific.

Government policy and economicsboth local and global can also impact on ayoung person’s career decision.

There are many influencers on a teenager’s careerdecision. Sometimes a game they played when theywere young or a character on a television show canspark a lifelong interest in a job. Find out who themain influencers are and how they affect a young

person’s decision making.

Teachers/career adviser

A great teacher can set a student on alifelong love for a subject. Many peoplecan relate a chosen career back to aninfluential teacher.

Teachers might see talents thatparents or students themselves mightoverlook.

Careers advisers in schools can offerresources and guidance.

Media and information

The media provides someinformation about careers, but it is notalways accurate and doesn’t provide fullcoverage of all jobs. For example, catwalkmodels, sportspeople and musicians areoften covered. But what about jobs thatdon’t get media attention? Has your childconsidered those as well?

Use websites or your local library tofind accurate information.

Parents

Parents are the most importantinfluencers on a young person’s careerdecision.

What parents do for a living; wherethey live; their education, knowledge andskills; what they earn; and how theyspend their time and money have a hugeinfluence on their child’s career decisions.

Choosing a career that suits you

COVER STORY


Deepak Poulose

Choose a good career and you have wonhalf the race. For choosing what is

good for you, you should know what yourtalents are and also should be clearly ableto identify what your talents are not.Mukesh Ambani cannot choose to becomeDhoni and Amitabh Bachchan cannotchoose to become Dr Abdul Kalam.

But how to choose? For a good careertoday, students must possess knowledge,qualifications and skills that set them apartfrom others. They must start exploringtheir interests and developing their skills

now! But career preparation should be anongoing process throughout one’s life. Oneneed not settle in one career area. One maychange directions when new areas arediscovered. The key here is to arrive at ajob that is so enjoyable that one does notfeel that one is going to work every day.There are hundreds of websites, careerfairs and resource centres providinginformation about jobs, positions,strategies and other relevant issuesavailable. Hence I don’t want to interferein your elimination skill as you know youbest.

I will confine myself to a few tips on thelesser-known brother ”How to choose acareer that suits you”.

There are four areas to be considered. Letus take a look.

First one. What Are Your Interests?

Turn your hobbies or something you loveinto a future career.

Think about what you would do if youdidn’t have to work. If you had Rs 25 lakhand you could do anything, what would

Explore yourself. If you want a career that will really make you happy,you should have a clear understanding of what you want and what you

enjoy. It means taking some time off to decide what is important to you.

COVER STORY


you do? Your answer to that question may give you insightinto what you should do. If you want to be a music star,consider going into audio engineering or music composition.If you want to be an actor, consider going into thebroadcasting media or filmmaking. If you like playing videogames, consider becoming a video game designer,programmer or QA specialist. If you like drawing or art,consider becoming a graphic designer. If you like sports,consider going into teaching and getting certified as a coach.Search within yourself what you enjoy now or enjoyed inschool. Academic subjects translate well into future careersbut may require more schooling than other types of careers.Your favourite class in high school could very well launchyou into your future career provided you are willing to workfor it. For example, if you loved chemistry, you could lookforward to a future career as a lab technician or a pharmacist.If you liked English classes, consider becoming an editor or acopywriter. If you enjoyed maths, consider becoming anactuary or an accountant.

Second one. What Are Your Skills?

What are your limitations?

Think about what you are or were good at in school. Thinkabout the subjects or skills in which you excelled in school.If you are particularly good, say in such skills as fixingthings or making things, this can provide you with a greatfuture career. Innovations and expertise in carpentry, autorepair, construction and electrical work all benefit frompeople who are good at fixing things or working with theirhands. Consider your interpersonal skills. If your skills liemore in helping and communicating with people there arecareers as social workers or in marketing and similarbusiness positions. If you don’t think you’re good atanything, ask your parents, other family members, friends,or teachers what they feel about you. Their ideas maysurprise you.

Third one. What Is Your Current State?

Explore yourself as an outsider.

Explore yourself. If you want a career that will really makeyou happy, you should have a clear understanding of whatyou want and what you enjoy. It means taking some time offto decide what is important to you. One is your financialsituation. Careers may hinge on your financial ability. Somecareer paths require expensive special schooling, but nowlots of Government programmes are available to help out.But if there are time-limitations or other restrictions, consultcareer counsellors to find what options are available to you.You can even think about returning to school for filling in aparticular type of training to perfect your skill.

Certain jobs are also always indemand or frequently unstable. Youwill need to consider if the career

you choose is stable enough for youand your desires for the future.

COVER STORY


Deepak Poulose is the Chairman cumManaging Director of JNB Marketing, aleading distribution house in Kerala. He isalso founder Chairman of HosNcaT. He is awell known speaker and an avid sports fanhaving represented the University of Keralaat Cricket and Athletics.

Fourth one. What Is Your Future?

Identify your situational advantages.

Consider what career options are availablefor you to easily move into. Joining thesame organization as of your parents orthe family business or working for a friend.But if options are limited, choose a careerwhich you can quickly enter. Considerwhether the career path you choose willprovide you with an acceptable level offinancial security and job stability. Jobmarkets fluctuate as society needsdifferent things at different times. Certainjobs are also always in demand orfrequently unstable. You will need toconsider if the career you choose is stableenough for you and your desires for the

future. If you like complete freedom andfreelancing, say, as business consultant,lawyer or writer, you may sometimes haveplenty of work but not comparablefinancial returns till you are established.Working in this way requires a certain levelof determination and discipline and is notfor everybody.

The general impression amongst recruitersall over the country and abroad is thatthough students from Kerala areacademically proficient, they are foundwoefully lacking in soft skills andetiquette. There are organizations likeToastmaster’s International that give ampleexposure and put one through a structuredand regimented programme of practicalexercises in communication and leadership

skills into even the most timid of itsmembers. In Kochi alone there are sixToastmasters Clubs. It would beworthwhile to try out these clubs whichanyone can attend three times as a guest.

Remember: The day you start to love yourjob, you don’t have to work for the rest ofyour life. Choose and prepare for a careerthat suits you. All the best.

Career preparation should be an ongoing process throughout one’s life. Oneneed not settle in one career area. One may change directions when new

areas are discovered. The key here is to arrive at a job that is so enjoyablethat one does not feel that one is going to work every day.

COVER STORY


Career options for today’s youthThomas Chacko

Good jobs were once difficult to comeby and youngsters had to choose from

engineering, medicine, and charteredaccountancy. That has changed. Youngsterstoday are very fortunate. They can (andshould) choose work they like or are goodat. They shouldn’t let economicconsideration alone determine their career.

What are the options that youth hastoday? The traditional ones – engineering,medicine and chartered – are still there.They continue to be as rewardingfinancially as they have always been. Buttoday there is a host of other activities thatone can pursue which are financiallyrewarding such as:

1. Computer Programmers. Thiscontinues to be financially rewarding, butthe difficulty lies in the long and odd hoursoccasioned by working simultaneouslyacross many time zones.

2. Company Secretary. A key post inmodern Indian companies, aspirants mustpass the final examinations of the Instituteof Company Secretaries of India to getmembership of the institute. The greatadvantage here is that students can pursue

their studies while working on another joband on qualifying candidates invariably getcatapulted early into senior management.

3. Hospital Administration. Largehospitals are now appointing people asCEOs to oversee clinical units,departments or the entire hospital. Theseprofessionals manage personnel, financesand facility practices and procedures. Inthe old days administrators were doctors.That is changing. Institutions likeSymbiosis in Pune and ManipalUniversity now offer MBA courses inhospital management.

4. Hospitality industry. This industry isbooming in India. It is already among thehighest foreign exchange earners and isexpected to become the leading oneshortly. That means a lot of openings inboth general management and culinary. Onecan pursue a hotel management course atinstitutions such as the WelcomegroupGraduate School of Hotel Administrationwhich offers graduate and post graduatedegree courses in hotel management. Thereare also MBA courses specialising in hotelmanagement.

It is now a great time to be for anyone on the threshold of a career. However,in the final analysis the ones who do well are the ones who choose, not work

that is only financially rewarding, but work that they truly love.

COVER STORY


Those with culinary skills can opt for acareer as a chef, which is now very wellpaid and recognized.

5. Legal. Now increasingly a very goodcareer path especially in the areas ofcorporate law. With top institutions likeIndian Law School, Pune and NationalLaw School Bangalore, the profession hasreally taken off.

6. Creative fields.

A whole array of courses youngsterswith a creative bent can follow. Theseare:

a. Fashion Technology. NationalInstitute of Fashion Technology atcampuses in New Delhi and 14 otherIndian cities. With India’s strong textilesector, this is a field in which talentedpeople will do very well.

b. Jewelry design and gemnology

India is today the main supplier offinished diamonds in the world. Courseslike Gem Identification, DiamondGrading, Cut Design and Analysis andPearl Grading are available. Youngstersqualifying in these can find highly paidwork and if they have a nose for it.

c. Graphic art.

Graphic artists are recognized for theirskilled work and there are good jobs inthe field of advertising. Many graphicartists are setting up their own studios.

It is now a great time to be for anyone onthe threshold of a career. However, in thefinal analysis the ones who do well arethe ones who choose, not work that isonly financially rewarding, but work thatthey truly love. In the process they willenjoy every moment of their working lifeand, because they will naturally be goodat what they do, will automatically dovery well in their career.

The author is an adventurer, motor sportsenthusiast, published author and qualifiedcompany secretary.

Large hospitals are now appointing people as CEOs to oversee clinical units,departments or the entire hospital. These professionals manage personnel,

finances and facility practices and procedures. In the old days administratorswere doctors. That is changing.

COVER STORY


A career in lifeBrigadier NV Nair(Retd)

It was the late 1960s. The junior collegeboy enjoyed marching in the NCC

squad in unison steps on the lush greengrounds of Sacred Heart College, Thevara,Kochi. The gentle breeze from adjacentVembanad Kayal soothed hisperspiration. The level of enjoyment wasthe same for him as a senior under-officerwhile supervising the drill of NCC cadetson the central pathway in Maharaja’sCollege, Kochi, one or two years later.His passion for uniform and hard worktook him to the portals of the Indian

Military Academy for training as an officercadet. His passion and NCC backgroundstood him in good stead to undergo therigours of pre-commission militarytraining. He became a Flag Officer and putin 35 years of long meritorious service inthe Indian Army. I myself was that boy. Imentioned this to establish the linkbetween passion and a successful career.

The dictionary defines ‘career’ as ‘a wayof making one’s living’. It is somewhatimperative for everyone to engage in acareer for living. For those lucky people

who had inherited the means for a decentliving without working for it, a career maybe to ward off the boredom of inactivity.

Confused about career?: For mostpeople, education is a route to a career. Itis generally at the end of schooling that oneis confronted with the career choice. Onehas the choice of professional courses aswell. It is a fact that youth on thethreshold of college-level education are in adilemma about a suitable career for them.Unfortunately, most of our youth lackoriginal thinking or self-realization which

The choice of a career is considered the first step towards adulthood. Besidesthe children themselves, parents are the next interested stakeholders in

children’s future and therefore in the selection of their career too. The unsureand inexperienced children have to be carefully guided by their parents.

COVER STORY


could assist them to select the right‘career’. Objective professional guidance isalmost nonexistent.

Malady of our education system: Theeducation system existing in India is stillon the lines introduced during Britishcolonial raj. The main requirement of theeducation system then was to churn out‘babus’ for the non-executive rung of thethen bureaucracy. They did not encourageoriginal thinking or consider the variedpotential of individuals. English educationweaned us away from our traditionalknowledge base contained in our ancientscriptures. The system popularised was afar cry from career-based education.

Career selection: Anyone can doreasonably well in any career withdedication and hard work. But if the jobdoes not suit your interest, you will notenjoy doing it. Every person is unique.Each has his/her own natural talents,values, interests, aptitudes andpersonality. Therefore, the first andforemost requirement is to ‘knowyourself’. It shall be a win-win situation ifone can land the career that suits him/herbest.

Career advisory service: There is generalagreement on the importance of theaptitude assessment of a person forselection of a suitable career. One has tofirst find out one’s natural talent, egscience, arts, writing, precision work,observation skills, manual dexterity, spatialabilities etc. One should be assessed alsofor individual traits, motivational drives,needs and attitudes. There are lots ofmaterial and scientific tools available toassess the above-mentioned aptitudes.These assessments should form part ofcareer counselling at appropriate schoollevels. Parents and children should be madeaware of these tools and encouraged toutilise them.

Every person is unique.Each has his/her own

natural talents, values,interests, aptitudes andpersonality. Therefore,the first and foremost

requirement is to ‘knowyourself’.

COVER STORY


The author is an alumnus of Sacred HeartCollege and Maharaja’s College. Served theIndian Army for 35 years

Parents’ role in career selection: Thechoice of a career is considered the firststep towards adulthood. Besides thechildren themselves, parents are the nextinterested stakeholders in children’s futureand therefore in the selection of their careertoo. The unsure and inexperienced childrenhave to be carefully guided by theirparents. Parents have to stay positive andnot shout down the ideas put forward bytheir children. Parents should discourageexpectations like “Things will work out bythemselves”. They seldom do! Do notalways expect miracles or divineinterventions. Parents should be ‘involved’but not ‘control’, ‘advise’ but not ‘decide’,‘support’ but not ‘dominate’.

Early entry into career: Late entry into acareer is a handicap to an otherwisesuccessful career. One will have an addedadvantage if one makes up one’s mindearlier, enters a career and ensures a longerservice profile. It may be of interest toknow that our present defence servicechiefs were the younger in the lot ofeligible select group of the same batchconsidered, outliving others!

I will advise our children:

♦ Identify your capabilities andlimitations and choose a career accordingly.It will be a pleasure if your passion is yourwork.

♦ Do not wait till the last minute to takea decision.

♦ Be regular at work. Desist from the “Iwill work hard next time” syndrome.

♦ May select not very popular careers.More chances of success due to lesscompetition.

Finally, work hard wherever you are.

The dictionary defines‘career’ as ‘a way of

making one’s living’. It issomewhat imperative foreveryone to engage in a

career for living.

COVER STORY


Five reasons candidates fail to impress ininterviews

1. Poor preparation: Employers have donetheir homework to find you and they expectyou to do yours on them too. Candidateswho arrive at an interview knowing littleabout the company, the industry and/or therole are in a poor position to compete withwell-prepared professionals who will spendthe compressed interview time preciselypositioning themselves for the employer’sexact requirements. Employers want toknow you are curious, energetic, resourcefuland inspired and what better proof of thatthan arriving fully prepared and with keeninsights into the employer and their brand/positioning/problems/news etc. If you havedone your homework right you will be ableto hit the ground running in the interviewwith answers that display how you areuniquely positioned to add value from theget-go given the company’s particular

culture, positioning, objectives,circumstances and situation.

2. Displaying a negative attitude: Attitudeplays a crucial part in defining character andinfluencing the employment decision.Warning signs of bad attitudes that are sureto alienate a potential employer includebadmouthing previous bosses, companiesand colleagues; defensive or rudely evasiveanswers to key interview questions; orovertly aggressive answers, posture anddemeanour. Remember people hirecompetent people they think they will reallyenjoy working with and who will spread agood positive vibe within the organisationand to external clients and stakeholders.Employers are very cognisant that badattitudes are highly contagious and will be farfrom receptive to candidates with less than

an exemplary attitude towards work, life andthemselves.

3. Lack of enthusiasm in the company: Fewthings can alienate an employer more than acandidate who is lukewarm or disinterestedabout their company and its brand andobjectives. The interview is not the time todoze off and deliver tired answers that smackof boredom with your audience nor is thetime to wax lyrical about how much yougenuinely prefer all the competitor brands.Employers are looking for nothing less thanpassion. If you cannot convince theemployer that you will be as passionateabout their company and line of work asthey are you will not be seen to possess thestar quality they are looking for nor will theyplace excessive trust in your long-termloyalty, stamina or staying power.

Employers are looking for nothing less than passion. If youcannot convince the employer that you will be as passionate

about their company and line of work as they are you will not beseen to possess the star quality they are looking for nor will they

place excessive trust in your long-term loyalty, stamina orstaying power.

COVER STORY


Face the interview with confidence

4. Vague, coined or dishonest answers: Theinterview is not the time to practice yourevasiveness skills no matter how expert youare. Employers can see right through acoined, text book answer and dishonestanswers are more than likely to be discernedsooner or later and to backfire. By all meanskeep the conversation positive andconstructive and don’t dwell over pastfailures or negative circumstances or eventsbut also be vigilant that the employer wantssomeone real, someone they understand andcan trust, and they are likely to keep digging

till they are comfortable they reallyunderstand who you are and what drives youand what your real strengths and weaknessesare.

5. Lack of clarity on personal USPs: If youare not very clear about what you arebringing to the table for a particular job rolein a particular company, chances are theemployer will be even less clear. Theemployer is not a mind reader and your job isto make his/her life as easy as possible inmapping your key strengths, skills andcompetencies to the requirements of the role

you are discussing. Be very precise andarticulate when it comes to spelling out whatyour personal strengths are, why you arecompetitive and what sets you apart andmakes you uniquely qualified to add value inthat specific context. Practice beforehand.Make a list of all your strengths and findclear examples from your past achievementsthat demonstrate each of them and whichyou can be ready to discuss in a professionalconcise manner at the interview stage.Remember to be relevant and to focus ontransferable skills that are immediatelyapplicable to the role being discussed.

1. Be yourself: Do not try to be someoneyou are not. The interviewer is an expertof his job and will immediately catch holdof any dishonest statement or action youportray. Do not pretend to be someoneyou are not.

2. Maintain aneye contact: Oneof the best toprojectconfidence is tomaintain an eyecontact with theperson who isinterviewing you.Do not look hereand there or upand down for itshowsnervousness.

3. Bodylanguage: Mostof thecommunication that we do during aninterview is non-verbal. Sit straight. Donot shake your legs or tap your feet innervousness. Do not fiddle with your hairor rub your hands. After all, the

interviewer is also just another humanbeing. He is sure to have some flaws too.

4. Dress appropriately: Remember, youare going for an interview, not a fancydress competition or party. Dress smartly

and neatly. Do not wear a lot of jewellery.If ladies are wearing a saree, pin itproperly. Do not walk in for the interviewshabbily. Tuck your hair properly. Do notwear any uncomfortable dress. Wearing

formals is always suitable for appearing inan interview.

5. Know you CV, job andcompany: Have a firm grasp on your CV,the job you’re applying for and the

company. Bespecific about yourachievements andyour growth so far.Set examples ofevents that set youapart from others.Think of a reasonwhy the interviewershould hire you.Give them a reasonto choose you. Also,know the companywell. You arerequired to work forthem; therefore theyexpect you to bewell-informed of the

organisation, its products, services andindustry as a whole.

First impression may or may not be thelast one, but it definitely is a lastingimpression. Make sure, you get it right.

Be specific about your achievements and your growth so far. Setexamples of events that set you apart from others. Think of a

reason why the interviewer should hire you. Give them a reason tochoose you. Also, know the company well. You are required to

work for them; therefore they expect you to be well-informed ofthe organisation, its products, services and industry as a whole.


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kzo‰nsb {i≤n-®-Xv. Du¿÷-kz-e-bmb Ipń. ]Tn-°m≥ anSp-°n. ¢m n¬

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s∏-́ n-cn-°p-∂p. Ihn-fn¬ IÆo¿ Nmep-Iƒ.


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]Øn-cp-]Xv h¿jw apºsØ Imcy-am-Wv..

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""kzo‰n'' Rm≥ hnfn-®p. AhƒtIń-√. Rm≥ ho≠pw hnfn-®p.ASp-Øn-cp∂ Ipń-Iƒ Ahsf Xń

hnfn®p. Ahƒ ]nS-s™-gp-t∂-‰p.apJw XpS-®p.

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Ahƒ an≠n-bn-√.

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s_√-Sn-®-t∏mƒ Fs‚ ]n∂mseAhƒ Ãm^v dqan-te°v h∂p.

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Sn.

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sIm√p-Itbm? Bcv?

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bn√.''

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A∂v sshIp-t∂cw Rm≥ B Ipń-bpsS hoń-te°v t]mbn.

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Imcy-ßƒ ]c™v t_m[y-s∏-Sp-Øn. AXym-h-iy-Øn\v ]Whpw sImSp-Øp.-

IIT-Delhi has been ranked 13th of the best universities.


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Rm\-hsf Hcp _©n-en-cp-Øn.

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sImSp-Øp.

A¬∏w Ign-™-t∏mƒ Ahƒ

kw`-h-ß-fpsS Npcp-f-gn-®p.

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ÿew hn´p. C\n Ft∏mgm

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Ahƒ s]mń Ic-™p.

A∂v sshIp-t∂cw Rm≥ B

Ipń-bpsS hoń-te°v t]mbn.

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F¶nepw kt¥mjw tXm∂n.

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hmßn Pbn-®p. ]n∂oSv Ct∏m-

gmWv ImWm≥ Ign-™-Xv.

Ahƒ X∂ B Kpcp-Z-£nW

Hcp henb \n[n t]mse Rm≥

Ct∏mgpw kq£n-°p-∂p.

INNOVATION


Water filter made of sapwood in tree branchesAn MIT team of researchers have

shown that a low-tech filtrationsystem producing up to four litres drinkingwater per day could be made of thesapwood of trees. They show that xylemtissue in sapwood of pine tree can filterbacteria from contaminated water.

In a paper published recently in the journalPLoS ONE, the researchers demonstratethat a small piece of sapwood can filter outmore than 99 percent of the bacteria E. colifrom water. Xylem tissue, which facilitatestransport of sap up the length of a tree,contains nano-sized pores, which allowwater through while blocking most typesof bacteria.

Researchers believe that sapwood is apromising, low-cost, and efficient materialfor water filtration, particularly for ruralcommunities where more advancedfiltration systems are not readilyaccessible. The wood is comprised of

xylem, porous tissue that conducts sapfrom a tree’s roots to its crown through asystem of vessels and pores. Each vessel

wall is pockmarked with tiny pores calledpit membranes, through which sap canessentially hopscotch, flowing from onevessel to another as it feeds structuresalong a tree’s length. The pores also limit

cavitation, a process by which air bubblescan grow and spread in xylem, eventuallykilling a tree. The xylem’s tiny pores cantrap bubbles, preventing them fromspreading in the wood.

In an experiment with red ink, theresearchers have proven that they cannaturally filter out particles bigger thanabout 70 nanometers.

However, in another experiment, the teamfound that sapwood was unable toseparate out 20-nanometer particles fromwater, suggesting that there is a limit to thesize of particles coniferous sapwood canfilter.

The research group now plans to evaluatethe filtering potential of other types ofsapwood. In general, flowering trees havesmaller pores than coniferous trees,suggesting that they may be able to filterout even smaller particles.

Non-embarrassingfull-body scanners

in the makingTo undergo full-body scanning at

airports or metros is not fun. It isoften time-consuming and uncomfortableexercise to many travellers. It also raisesprivacy concerns. According to a reportpublished in The Journal of PhysicalChemistry Letters, a more precise anddirect method for using that “terahertz”(THz) technology to detect explosivesfrom greater distances could be developed,making full-body scanners obsolete.

THz spectroscopy uses beams ofelectromagnetic radiation that lie betweenmicrowaves, like those used in kitchenovens, and the infrared rays used in TVremote controls. In addition to screeningpeople for explosives, it is used at drugcompanies for quality-control purposesand, most recently, to study the layers ofpaint of ancient works of art. With recentadvances, the technique is becoming astrong candidate for detecting substancesfrom a distance. Other researchers havedeveloped remote-sensing THzinstruments, but they combine it with asecond method to identify substances.

Artificial heart in vizier!A team of researchers at Harvard’s

Wyss Institute for BiologicallyInspired Engineering and Harvard’s Schoolof Engineering and Applied Sciences(SEAS) has developed a low-cost,programmable soft actuated material thatmimics thecomplexmotion of theheart muscleand could leadto betterimplantablemedical devicesand flexiblerobots. Theydemonstratedthe material’spotential byusing it toreplicate thebiologicalmotion of the heart, and also developed amatching 3D computer model of it, asreported in Advanced Materials.

The heart moves the way it does becauseof its bundles of striated muscle fibers,which are oriented spirally in the samedirection and work together to effectmotion.

What’s missing in the new gadget is theessential twisting motion that the heartuses to pump blood efficiently.

To mimic those muscles’ fibres, the teamfirst developed a modified pneumaticartificial muscle (PAM), made entirely

from soft material —silicone elastomer,with embeddedbraided mesh — andattached via tubing toan air supply. Uponpressurization,PAMs shorten, likebiological muscles,but in one directiononly.

The team thenembedded several ofthese artificialmuscles within a

matrix made of the same soft siliconeelastomer.

By changing their orientation andconfiguration within the matrix andapplying pressure, they were able toachieve various motions in more than onedirection, mimicking the complex motionof the heart.

INNOVATION


Onion-like structure improvesabsorption efficiencies of solar cellsResearchers from North Carolina State

University have developed a“superabsorbing” design that is expectedto improve the light absorption efficiencyof thin film solarcells and drivedownmanufacturingcosts.

Thesuperabsorbingdesign coulddecrease thethickness of thesemiconductormaterials used in thin film solar cells bymore than one order of magnitude withoutcompromising the capability of solar lightabsorption.

The structure they propose can absorb 90percent of available solar energy using onlya 10 nm thick layer of amorphous silicon.

In cross-section, the new design looks likea rectangular onion. The light-absorbing

semiconductor material coats a rectangularcore. The semiconductor, in turn, is coatedby three layers of anti-reflective coatingthat do not absorb light.

In order tomaximize solarabsorption, theyfound that thereshould be a matchbetween the amountof solar lighttrapped inside thestructure and theamount of solarlight that could be

absorbed. The onion-like structures helpedresearchers to match their light-trappingefficiency with the absorption efficiencyof the semiconductor materials in thin filmsolar cells.

The research team looks forward to workwith industry partners to implement thisdesign in the production of next-generationsolar cells.

Blood test thatcan predict

impending death!

Can a new scientific blood analysispredict short-term mortality? A test

on different biomarkers seen toannounce pending death of themetabolism at least five years ahead intime has been identified by theComputational Medicine ResearchGroup in cooperation between theUniversity of Oulu and the Universityof Eastern Finland.

Mortality was related to fourbiomarkers in the blood: levels of twoproteins (albumin and alpha-1 acidicglycoprotein), lipid metabolism variables(size of large lipoprotein particlesresponsible for lipid metabolism in thebody) and citric acid concentration.These biomarkers relate to normalmetabolism and are present in the bloodof all people, but according to the study,their relative amounts are crucial.

The biomarkers were independent ofknown mortality risk factors such asage, smoking, alcohol use, cholesterol,obesity, and blood pressure. Thebiomarkers associated with mortalityalso in healthy subjects with nodiagnosed diabetes, cancer or vasculardiseases.

The new method gives hope that in thefuture it would be possible to identifyincreased risk of death at an early stage,so that people could be directed toappropriate follow-up examinations andtreatment.

This study is the first of its kind in theworld. More research is needed forpossible clinical applications in healthcare.

Offshore wind farms a protectionagainst hurricanes!

Computer simulations by ProfessorMark Z. Jacobson of Stanford

University have shown that offshore windfarms with thousands of wind turbinescould have sapped the power of three real-life hurricanes, significantly decreasingtheir winds and accompanying stormsurge, and possibly preventing billions ofdollars in damages. He found that the windturbines could disrupt a hurricane enoughto reduce peak wind speeds by up to 92mph and decrease storm surge by up to 79percent.

The study, conducted by Jacobson, andCristina Archer and Willett Kempton ofthe University of Delaware, was recentlypublished online in Nature ClimateChange.

The researchers simulated three hurricanes:Sandy and Isaac, which struck New Yorkand New Orleans, respectively, in 2012;and Katrina, which devastated NewOrleans in 2005.

They found that when wind turbines arepresent, they slow down the outerrotation winds of a hurricane. In the caseof Katrina, Jacobson’s model revealed thatan array of 78,000 wind turbines off thecoast of New Orleans would havesignificantly weakened the hurricane wellbefore it made landfall. For HurricaneSandy, the model projected a wind speedreduction by 35-39 meters per second(between 78 and 87 mph) and as much as34 percent decrease in storm surge.

Jacobson acknowledges that, in theUnited States, there has been politicalresistance to installing a few hundredoffshore wind turbines, let alone tens ofthousands. But he thinks there are twofinancial incentives that could motivatesuch a change.

Current turbines can withstand windspeeds of up to 112 mph, which is in therange of a category 2 to 3 hurricane,Jacobson said.

INNOVATION


In fight against stealingmalwares

Researchers at Georgia Tech havecreated a piece of prototype software,

Gyrus, that takes extra steps to preventmalware from sending spam emails andinstant messages,and blockingunauthorizedcommands such asmoney transfers.

Current protectionprogrammes mightrecognize theoriginal user’s intentto send email,transfer money orengage in othertransactions but cannot verify thespecifics such as email contents or amountof money. Without context, it isimpossible to properly verify the user’s

full intent, regardless of whether thesoftware is protecting a financial transfer,an industrial control system or a wide

range of other user-driven applications.

There are two keycomponents toGyrus’ approach.First, it capturesthe user’s intentand interactionswith an application.Second, it verifiesthat the resultingoutput can bemapped back to the

user’s intention. As a result, theapplication ensures accurate transactionseven in the presence of malware.

Malwares thatmine for Bitcoin

exposed

A team of computer scientists at theUniversity of California, San Diego,

took an in-depth look at how malwareoperators use the computers they infect tomine Bitcoin, a virtual currency whosevalue is highly volatile.

Researchers examined more than 2,000pieces of malware used by Bitcoin miningoperations in 2012 and 2013. They wereable to estimate how much moneyoperators made off their operations andwhich countries were most affected.

The computer scientists report that therevenue of 10 of the mining operationsthey studied reached at least 4,500 Bitcoinover two years. This may not seem likemuch, but Bitcoin’s value increased fromabout $10 to about $1,000 during thattime, with a peak of $1,100 in November2013. One Bitcoin is currently worthabout $618.

Bitcoin mining is particularly attractive formalware operators because of its low costand because it requires little to noinvestment in any kind of infrastructure.

The study is part of a larger effort bycomputer scientists at UC San Diego tobetter understand how malware operatorsmake money, from sending spam tostealing personal information, such ascredit card numbers.

The study was conducted in partnershipwith George Mason University, UCBerkeley and the International ComputerScience Institute.

The researchers found that the most of theinfected computers were located inEurope. But the malware could be foundin Asia and Latin America as well. TheUnited States was not immune either.

Sprouting garlic has medicinaleffects

“Sprouted” garlic — old garlic bulbs withbright green shoots emerging from thecloves — is considered to be past itsprime and usually ends up in the garbagecan. But scientists are reporting inJournal of Agricultural and FoodChemistry thatthis type ofgarlic has evenmore heart-healthyantioxidantactivity thanits freshercounterparts.

Jong-Sang Kimand colleaguesnote thatpeople haveused garlic formedicinal purposes for thousands ofyears. Today, people still celebrate itshealthful benefits. Eating garlic or takinggarlic supplements is touted as a naturalway to reduce cholesterol levels, bloodpressure and heart disease risk. It evenmay boost the immune system and help

fight cancer. But those benefits are forfresh, raw garlic. Sprouted garlic hasreceived much less attention. Whenseedlings grow into green plants, theymake many new compounds, includingthose that protect the young plant

against pathogens.

The researchersfound that garlicsprouted for fivedays had higherantioxidantactivity thanfresher, youngerbulbs, and it haddifferentmetabolites,suggesting that italso makesdifferent

substances. Extracts from this garlic evenprotected cells in a laboratory dish fromcertain types of damage.

“Therefore, sprouting may be a usefulway to improve the antioxidant potentialof garlic,” they conclude.

INNOVATION


Climate change has brought IndusCivilization down!

Climate change may have contributed tothe decline of a city-dwelling

civilization in Pakistan and India 4,100years ago, according to new research.

Scientists from the University ofCambridge have demonstrated that anabrupt weakeningof the summermonsoon affectednorthwest India4,100 years ago.The resultingdrought coincidedwith the beginningof the decline of themetropolis-buildingIndus Civilisation,which spannedpresent-dayPakistan and India, suggesting that climatechange could be why many of the majorcities of the civilisation were abandoned.The research, reported online recently inthe journal Geology, involved the

collection of snail shells preserved in thesediments of an ancient lake bed. Byanalysing the oxygen isotopes in the shells,the scientists were able to tell how muchrain fell in the lake where the snails livedthousands of years ago.

The results shed lighton a mysterysurrounding why themajor cities of theIndus Civilisation(also known as theHarappanCivilisation, afterHarappa, one of thefive cities) wereabandoned. Climatechange had beensuggested as a

possible reason for this transformationbefore but, until now, there has been nodirect evidence for climate change in theregion where Indus settlements werelocated.

Why are breastfed babies smarter?Loads of studies over the years have

shown that children who werebreastfed score higher on IQ tests andperform better in school, but the reasonwhy remained unclear.

Is it themother-babybonding time,something inthe milk itselfor someunseenattribute ofmothers whobreastfeedtheir babies?

Now a newstudy bysociologists atBrigham Young University pinpoints twoparenting skills as the real source of thiscognitive boost: Responding to children’semotional cues and reading to childrenstarting at 9 months of age. Breastfeedingmothers tend to do both of those things,said lead study author Ben Gibbs.

The BYU researchers note that the mostat-risk children are also the least likely toreceive the optimal parenting in earlychildhood. Single moms in the labor force,for example, don’t have the same luxuries

when it comes tobreastfeeding andquality time withthe children.

Parents with lesseducation don’tnecessarily hearabout research-based parentingpractices, either.

It makes it harderto think abouthow we promote

environments for disadvantaged homes.These things can be learned and they reallymatter. And being sensitive to kids andreading to kids doesn’t have to be done justby the mother.

What bringssuccessful youngmen to suicide?

Suicide among young men is a majorpublic health concern in many

countries, despite great efforts to findeffective prevention strategies. Byinterviewing close relatives and friendsof apparently well-functioning youngmen who unexpectedly took their ownlife, Norwegian researchers found therehad been no signs of serious mentaldisorder. This contradicts previousresearch which suggests that depressionor other mental illness is an importantrisk factor in suicide.

The researchers interviewed closerelatives and friends of ten young menwho, in spite of accomplishments andsuccesses, had unexpectedly taken theirown lives in young adulthood abouthow they knew the deceased andunderstood the suicide.

The main finding suggests thatdevelopmentally, these young menappeared to have compensated for their

lack of self-worth by exaggerating theimportance of success, thus developinga fragile, achievement-based self-esteemin adulthood which left them vulnerablein the face of rejection and perceptionof failure.

Such situations generate a strong senseof shame and of being trapped in anger.This develops into unbearable thoughtsthat the vulnerable person cannotregulate or manage, and leads to afeeling of a life not worth living. Theformer strategy, which involvedcompensation with continual increasedefforts, does not work anymore, andsuicide becomes a way out of asituation of unbearable psychologicalpain, infers the study.


HEALTH WATCH

Summer diet tipsMercury levels are rising and summer is at its peak, and the scorching sungives us enough reasons to constantly hunt for soothing foods which can

comfort us in the heat. You can get dehydrated easily due to excess sweat andperspiration and that’s the time when you feel like reaching out for something

cold like sodas, beverages or even cold water. This is where we go wrongbecause anything extremely low in temperature can constrict our blood vessels

affecting the heat loss process from our body. Follow these diet tips for ahealthy living in this summer.

Increase your water intake. In highhumidity, you do not sweat adequately

due to which you cannot release heatefficiently from your body. That is thereason why you need to drink enoughwater at regular intervals even if you arenot thirsty, to cool your system.

Eat lot of fresh fruits, raw salads andlightly spiced foods. Fruits and veggies areeasy to digest and high in water contentwhich helps in hydration. Avoid fried andjunk foods as they take time to digest andrequire a lot of water. Spicy foods can alsoincrease body heat.

Drink naturally cooling beverages likecoconut water, lemon juice, buttermilk,sugarcane juice, etc. rather than aeratedsoft drinks, caffeine, and alcoholicbeverages as they contain sugar and otherpreservatives which act as diuretics(increase the flow of urine) and can causeloss of water from the body.

You can add sabja (tulsi/basil seeds) todrinks as it has a cooling effect on thebody. Curd is excellent for summers as itincreases friendly bacteria in the gut andimproves digestion and boosts immunity.

Add veggies like cucumbers, tomatoes,carrots, spinach, beet, etc to add toincrease the water content in your body.Avoid heavy meals at one time as it cancause acidity and affect digestion. Rather,eat small meals to feel light and keep yoursystem active.

Raw mango is a special fruit in the summerseason and is extremely good to preventsunstroke and weakness. Raw mango juicecan help balance electrolytes in the body.You can also have raw mango in any formlike adding it in salads or making a dish outof it.


HEALTH WATCH

Water therapy: An effective practiceto follow in daily basis

Water therapy is an excellent way ofpreventing diseases and maintaining

one’s health. After undergoing this naturaltherapy people have experienced a feel ofpositive change in their body and day today routine. One may not believe in itsadvantagesbeforepracticing thetherapy but it isfor sure that itwill give amagical effect incuring andpreventingvarious commondiseases.

During thewater therapy,after waking upfrom the bed,one needs todrink about 1.5liters of water atime, i.e. 5 to 6liters a daywithout evenbrushing theteeth. After this, one may also opt to washhis or her face with clean water. It is veryessential, not to eat or drink anything fornext one hour. You may brush and clean theteeth. You should use filtered and boiledwater for the purpose. In the initial period,while starting the natural therapy, one may

find it difficult to drink so much of waterat a time but should try to have it in ashort interval may be in a 2 minuteinterval or so till the time one gets used toit gradually.

Undoubtedly, water therapy has severaladvantages and is useful in curing variousdiseases. It provides relief from stress,glowing skin, weight loss and many otherencouraging effects on one’s health. Thisnatural therapy is very much popular in

Here’s a sample summer diet thatyou can follow:

Breakfast: Eat 2-3 fresh fruits asthey can help neutralise yourstomach acids and make you feel lightand active. They are natural sourcesof energy.

Mid-morning: Have a glass ofbuttermilk/ coconut water to refreshyou.

Lunch: Have a bowl of salad with 1-2rotis, veggies and thin dals (You can

add or subtract the rotis as per yourappetite and requirement).

Evening: Have fruit yoghurt/fruitsmoothie. They are filling, nourishingand very cooling.

Dinner: Always have a light dinner,especially during summers.

The above mentioned diet is low in fat,medium in protein and high in goodcomplex carbs which help controlobesity, blood pressure, cholesterol andmany other ailments. So this summer,stay healthy and cool by eating right.

Japan and is quite useful for serious andold diseases and modern illness.

While one is practicing the water therapy,one must not consume any sort ofalcoholic drinks previous night and be

particular regardingthe eating timethroughout the day.After takingbreakfast, lunch anddinner one must noteat or drink anythingfor next two hours.

Water therapy iseffective in curingdiseases like highblood pressure,diabetes,constipation andmore. It providesrelief from bodyache, head ache,fatness, fastheartbeat and lots ofother such problems.The thing that thisnatural therapy does

is that it renders colon to the body moreeffectively by forming new fresh blood.This makes the body to take the nutrientsfrom the food effectively and to boost thehealth of a person. All this tunes up thebody and cures various issues that a manfaces with respect to his fitness.


MOOC- The Game Changer?

It is told that there are six types ofYou Tube interfaces which adjustautomatically according to the gadgets

and connectivity speed. With such mindboggling provisions in the internet) and theavailability of cheaper smart phones andtablets, the education sector is undergoingtremendous transformations in the recenttimes.

Many years ago, the focus in most of thedeveloping countries was to enrollmaximum number of students to collegegoing level so that the growing economy ofthese countries will have direct benefitsout of it. With the opening up of theborders, trade and services, therequirement of the skilled and trainedmanpower facilitated the mushrooming ofthe higher education institutions in India.Even though the move to allow privateand self-financing educational institutionsto operate in the higher education levelwas welcomed, the quality of theeducation imparted dented many of theirchances to establish and brand themselvesas the institutions of excellence in therecent past.

According to All India Council forTechnical Education (AICTE), more than1.5 million engineering graduates aretrained in India. But the recruitments frommany of these institutions are very poorand sometimes zero leading to the strainsin the socio economic milieu of many ofthe families across the country. With themushrooming of these institutions,irrespective of the income levels and thesocial back ground, parents bet on theirchildren by sending them to theseinstitutions thus hoping for both socialand economic liberation sometimes fromthe murkier social past.

It is not only the unemployment but alsothe under employment sending out theworrying signals in the sector. Recentstudies show that it is not only confined

to Engineering field, but covers the entireeducation sector. India produces around 5million graduates every year. Here also,the under employment is the dominatingfactor as majority of the graduates are poorin their subject understanding, analyticalskills, English speaking abilities etc. Indiahas a rotten system of learning conceptswith prominence to theories and has lessrelevance to practical and interdisciplinary

approaches. Teaching lacks the exposureto the functional skills that would bedeployed in the industry. It is heard that,while they select faculty for Engineeringcolleges, qualified people with moreexperience in the industry are lesspreferred to those without any industryexposure at all, but having prior teachingexperience. How can one get acquaintedwith the practical issues and industrystandards, if not at all exposed to theindustry? How can such a faculty impartknowledge on practical wisdom andindustrial standards to his/her students?

Degrees and certificates are issued for thesake of giving it.While the industryeducation tie ups are encouraged toovercome these challenges prevailing in the

education sector, questions are raisedabout the improvement in teaching. Thefaculty improvement programs/qualityimprovement programs are doubted fortheir quality and seriousness. The teachingaids and methods are not updated formany years. In the modern wirelessworld, sometimes students are havingsuperior knowledge denigrating theposition of the teachers causingembarrassment to the institution and themanagement. At the same time, given thepoor quality of the education offered,many of the self-financing colleges areunder threat and fear the shutdown. Tocomplicate the situation, parents are notwilling to shell the amount of money thatthese colleges demand for the fear ofunemployment and underemployment oftheir kid.

It is in this context, Massive Open OnlineCourses (MOOC) offered by the topuniversities from Europe and America shallbe looked upon. The idea behind MOOC’sis to bring education to the masses,enabling anyone throughout the entireworld with access to the internet, theopportunity to study college or universitylevel courses, gaining a quality educationalexperience. In one of the review reportspublished by U K Government on MOOCin the recent times describe MOOC as“They see opportunities for brandenhancement, pedagogic experimentation,recruitment and business modelinnovation”. Famous MOOC platformsinclude Coursera, Udacity and edX. Thereare many Indian players are also testingthe water who are successful at the schoollevel. Though these courses startedgenerating interest not only among thecollege going students, it has becomepopular among the employees in order toimprove their skill sets on various aspectsof job competitiveness. As in every case,MOOC has also not escaped from thecritics of traditionalists. Learning is a

MOOC opens up plethora of innovations in the Indian context. Availability offree education materials could challenge the conventional establishment

practices in the sector.

Dr D.Dhanuraj

POLICY WATCH


complex social and emotional process thatpromotes Critical Thinking, say MOOCScritics. How can MOOC replicate the classrooms while they offer Online course; theyask. They are simply an advanced form ofthe distance learning of the yesteryears,they claim. But in the limited time periodMOOC started operating, most of theseplatforms were able to encourage meet-upsand group learning among the studentsfrom the same city. While some of thesecourses are offering Certificates subject tothe successful completion of theassignments and pass in the online writtenexam, many others prefer to opt forMOOC platforms to improve the learningand understating of the subject theypursue for their career development.Unlike the system in India where thesyllabus updation takes ages, MOOCsyllabus are updated regularly and peerreviewed thus giving the participates anunique opportunity to access the pool ofreading materials and other toolkits toenhance their subject learning andprocessing. They report positively onlearning experiences and innovativeformats of pedagogy, and spotlight themessuch as access, empowerment, relationship

building and community among theparticipants and academicians. Though it ispositively discriminated in favour of thenet savvy participants at present, it isanticipated that improvements in onlinetechnologies would reduce the disparityamong the participants in regard to access,content, quality, accreditation, pedagogy,poor engagement with weaker learners, andexclusion of learners without networkingskills.

MOOC may not replace the educationinstitutions very soon. But the messageand intent are welcome. This not onlydemands the improvements in class roomteaching with the better aids and contentimprovement. Both the teachers andstudents can avail MOOC to benchmarktheir learning and understanding on thesubject taught and graduated. It also offersthe students the opportunity to addresstheir doubts and go beyond the class roomoriented reading lists. For the managementof the institutions, MOOC gives avenuesfor innovating, maturing, deepening leadingto expansion of the courses they offer.They can also build business models wherethe industry tie ups and support for

certain courses using online platformslearning from MOOC experiments. Maybe, the industries can also be encouraged tolist the successful completion of thecourses by the job applicants on MOOCplatforms along with the certificates fromthe colleges given some weightage in thejob recruitments.

From the policy perspectives, MOOCopens up plethora of innovations in theIndian context. Availability of freeeducation materials could challenge theconventional establishment practices in thesector. This could alter the nature and typeof the educational institutions and theircapital investments. This could be also bemodified to provide better avenues formillions of college going students to raisetheir hopes in their careers who otherwisemay not get any opportunity of experiencethe fruits of education. May be its hightime to tweak the discussion on ‘Educationis Mass Industry’ taking the advantages ofthe online platforms such as MOOC whiledesigning the future policies of theeducation sector.

MOOC may not replace the education institutions very soon. But the messageand intent are welcome. This not only demands the improvements in class

room teaching with the better aids and content improvement. Both theteachers and students can avail MOOC to benchmark their learning and

understanding on the subject taught and graduated.

The author is Chairman, Centre for PublicPolicy Research

POLICY WATCH

Dr. Augustine Thottakara

ASPECTS


Atmavid:Knower of the Self

The two protagonists of the followingstory are two great Vedic sages and

saints, Sage Narada and Sage Sanatkumara.

About Narada we could say the followingthings: (i) He was an eternaltraveller; a mendicant, always on themove. He was the most-travelledsage of the Vedic times. (ii) He wasa great musician; he was alwaysdepicted with a veena in hand. (iii)He was a great devotee of Visnu; healways sang the glories of Visnu withthe accompaniment of his musicalinstrument. (iv) He was a verylearned man; one who knew theVedic lore, epics, puranas and allieddisciplines eminently well. (v) Hehad also the reputation of creatingtrouble among the people; to makepeople quarrel with each other. Thishe always did with good intentions,either to teach a lesson to arrogantand haughty bigwigs, or for thecommon good. (vi) Two works areattributed to him: Narada-smrti, abook of the Codes of Law (ca. 200CE), and Narada Bhakti-sutra, atextbook on bhakti, devotion, whichwas written several centuries later.Evidently these authorships are onlyattributions; the real authors of thesetexts are not known to us. There isalso a purana in his name, theNaradiya Purana, which isconsidered to be the second part ofVisnu Purana. (vii) Sage Naradaappears mainly in the Ramayana andBhagavata-purana.

Sanatkumara was one of the four mind-born sons (manasa-putra) of the creatorBrahma. The other three were Sanaka,Sanatana and Sanandana. These are not the

physical sons (aurasa-putra) of the creatorgod. They were created by his intentionsand mental desire. They were basicallyteachers; they roamed around the world

together teaching dharma to people. Thesefour sages were eternal celibates. Theywere also great devotees of Visnu. Theywere eternally liberated selves (nityas);still they found bliss in the devotion and

service to Lord Visnu. Brahma taughtSanatkumara the stories and secrets of thepuranas. He later imparted this wisdom toNarada. Narada in his turn taught this

sacred knowledge to Vyasa, whowrote the 18 great puranas.

Now the story is this: InChandogya Up. VII.1 the great sageNarada approaches the guruSanatkumara, and begs him for theknowledge of Brahman.

“Om. ‘Revered Sir, teach me’ – thussaying Narada approachedSanatkumara. Sanatkumara said tohim: ‘What do you already know:declare that to me, and be mydisciple’. Narada said: ‘Revered Sir,I have learnt Rg-veda, Yajur-veda,Sama-veda and Atharva-veda as thefourth; all the epics and puranas asthe fifth; then grammar, rules ofancestor worship, mathematics,science of portents, knowledge oftreasures, logic, ethics, knowledgeof divinities, knowledge of Vedicmantras, knowledge of elements,science of war, science of stars,knowledge of serpents andknowledge of celestial beings - allthis I know, revered Sir. Such am I,revered Sir; but I am only a knowerof words; and I am not a knower ofAtman.1 Indeed I have heard fromgreat persons like you that aknower of Atman goes beyond grief.I am in such a state of grief.Revered Sir, make me cross over

this (ocean) of grief’.

Sanatkumara replies: “Whatever you havestudied, really it is only the names”. Heinstructs Narada to transcend the names,and go up in an ascending scale, travelling

When your food is pure, your being becomes pure; when your being becomespure, then your memory becomes strong; when your memory becomes

strong, all the knots of your heart will be broken.

ASPECTS


through speech, mind, manas (mind), will,intelligence, contemplation, understanding,strength, food, water, fire, akasa (space),memory, aspiration (asa), and prana (vitalbreath). All these faculties and psycho-somatic realities originate from prana andare sustained, supportedand permeated by prana.Prana gives them life andmeaning of existence.Prana is atman; thosewho know prana knowatman; those who knowatman (atma-vid) willcross over the ocean ofsorrows.

A guru like Sanatkumarais brahmavid or atmavid,and such a person is alsobrahma-nistha,established in Brahman.They are Jivan-muktas(Advaita Vedanta) andBodhisattvas (MahayanaBuddhism). For the olderUpanisads knowing isbecoming. KnowingBrahman means youbecome Brahman.Brahmavid apnoti param,“one who knowsBrahman attainsBrahman” (Taittiriya Up.II.1.1). But this knowinghappens on a higherplane, in the realm ofspirit, and not in theambit of senses, mind andintellect. This is the stageof the supreme wisdom(para vidya).

In fact, by bringing together two veryeminent personalities of the Vedic age asguru and disciple, the Upanisad wasstressing the need of a spiritual preceptorfor all those who wish to attain theknowledge of the Self (atmavid). Only aworthy teacher can give a deservingdisciple this third eye of wisdom.

One of the classical paths for eternalliberation is the path of knowledge (jnana-marga). Advaita Vedanta advocates thatthe surest means of salvation is this pathof knowledge. Systems like Samkhya,Nyaya and Vaisesika too support this

view. This knowledge, of course, is notobtained by sense perception, or byinference (intellect), or by the testimonyof scriptures and instructions of teachers.This knowledge is anubhava, the intuitive,experiential, mystical experience of theDivine.

The entire sixth chapter of ChandogyaUpanisad is this conversation betweenNarada and his guru Sanatkumara. It endswith a practical exhortation to the readers:

“When your food is pure, your beingbecomes pure; when your being becomes

pure, then yourmemory becomesstrong; when yourmemory becomesstrong, all theknots of yourheart will bebroken. Thus thereveredSanatkumarashowed toNarada, after allhis impurities hadbeen washed off,the further shoreof sorrows.People callSanatkumaraSkanda (learnedperson). Yes, theydo call himSkanda”(VII.26.2).

A commonsaying states,“Salutations tothe revered guru,who has openedthe inner eye ofthe disciple, whowas blind with thecataract ofignorance, withthe collirium stickof knowledge”.2

3 ChUp. VII.1.3. so’ham bhagavomantravid eva-asmi na-atmavid /

4 ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakya /

caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sriguravenamah //

All these faculties and psycho-somatic realities originate from prana and aresustained, supported and permeated by prana. Prana gives them life and

meaning of existence. Prana is atman; those who know prana know atman;those who know atman (atma-vid) will cross over the ocean of sorrows.

INFO TECH


Microsoft to launch low-cost Windows tabletsMicrosoft will launch low-cost

Windows tablets in the comingmonths, specifically made for consumersin India. The tablets, which could sell foras low as Rs 10,000, will help Microsoftachieve price parity with Android devicesin the market.

The tablets will likely be made byMicrosoft’s traditional computerpartners like HP and Dell as well asby local Indian firms like Karbonn andLava.

In India, the market is dominated bydevices running on Google’s Android,mostly because these tablets arecheap, affordable and easy to find. Indeveloped countries like the US,Microsoft competes with Androidtablets with Surface devices, which thecompany believes are too expensive formarkets like India.

“We are reducing our required hardwarespecification for Windows to bareminimum that is needed for goodexperience. We want to be price

competitive with Android. We want to getthe bill of material for Windows tabletsdown,” Amrish Goyal, director ofWindows business group said.

“We will probably not sell a tablet for Rs

5,000. But yes, we will sell tablets with aprice of around Rs 10,000 by middle ofthis year,” Goyal added.

While Goyal refused to confirm thatMicrosoft was slashing licence fee itcharges from its hardware partner for

Windows 8.1, there were reports that tohelp companies create low-cost tablets thesoftware giant might slash its Windowslicence price by up to 70%.

For devices that cost less than $250, thecompany would reportedly charge$15 for Windows instead of usual$50.

With the personal computer market,where Microsoft is very strong,almost entering negative growthphase, for Microsoft as well as itshardware partners, tablet market isvery crucial. So far, Microsoft hasbeen slow to address this market.

Most of the Windows tabletsavailable in the market currently aretargeted at “pro” users and sell for a

hefty premium compared to iPad andAndroid tablets. Most of these tablets costaround Rs 30,000 or more. In comparison,Android tablets like Nexus 7 (olderversion) are available for less than Rs10,000.

Apple steps up hiring in China for new products: WSJ

Faced by reducing market share andincreasing competition, Apple seems

to be gearing up for faster and morefrequent product releases.

According a report inThe Wall Street Journal,the iPhone maker isrecruiting hundreds ofengineers and supplychain managers in Chinaand Taiwan.

The hiring pushreportedly started in thesecond half of 2013,with the companypoaching engineers fromrival smartphone makerHTC and otherTaiwanese technologycompanies including its own suppliers likeQuanta Computer and Inventec Corp.

The hiring seems to be intended atstrengthening the company’s team inShanghai and Taipei. AnApplerecruiting email says, “Apple is building an

engineering team in Taipei to drive newiPhone product development.”

Apple reportedly already now has over

600 engineering and operations employeesin China.

The IT giant is rumoured to be working onnew product lines, including a smartwatchand an HDTV, along with the next versionsof iPhone and iPads. Speculation is rife

that the company will launch two big-screen iPhones this year.

According to the report, while the coredevelopment willcontinue to be drivenfrom Apple’sCupertinoheadquarters, the newhires in China willliaise with suppliersover hardwaredevelopment fortouchscreens andcameras, softwarequality assurance andelectrical engineering.

The WSJ report says,“Apple is moving tostrengthen its

manufacturing base in China even as thecompany moves a few production linesback to the US.” The company hasfactories in US, where it develops MacPro computer; it also has a factory whereit will reportedly manufacture sapphireglass displays for next iPhones.

INFO TECH


Facebook in talks to acquire dronemaker: Report

Facebook may be in talks to acquiredrone maker Titan Aerospace as part of

its efforts to bring internet access to theunconnected under Internet.org, which thecompany backs.

According to aTechCrunchreport, the socialnetworking giantis in talks to buyTitan Aerospace,which makesunmanned dronesthat stay near theearth’s orbit,powered by solarenergy. Thewebsite citessources as sayingthat the price forthe acquisition isclose to $60million.

The online publication has said Facebook islikely to use these drones to provideinternet access to parts of the world that

are not connected to the internet, startingwith Africa. It adds that Facebook wouldbuild 11,000 “Salora 60” drones, orunmanned aerial vehicles.

A video posted by Titan Aerospacesuggests that the drones could potentiallybe used for weather monitoring, disasterrecovery, earth imaging, or

communications. The company’s websiteexplains that the Salora drones are capableof supporting a wide range of voice anddata communications and can be used to

extend the range of‘line of sight’communication anddata systems.

The drones comewith an internalbattery back to storeenergy harnessedfrom the sun. Theycan remain at a heightof 20km above sealevel for five yearswithout needing torefuel or land.

Facebook dronesmay work just likeGoogle’s Project

Loon initiative under which the internetgiant intends to provide internet access toremote places through hot air balloons.The company is testing the balloons inNew Zealand as part of a pilot project.

Twitter sends password reset emails to some users dueto ‘system error’

Some Twitter users on Monday receiveda password reset email that was

triggered by a ‘system error’.

Twitter confirmed that it had sent theemails out by mistake, with aspokesperson clarifying, “Weunintentionally sent some password resetnotices tonight due to a system error. Weapologize to the affected users for theinconvenience.”

According to Re/code, the number ofaffected Twitter users was less than onepercent of the total user base. The reportnoted that the users who had received thepassword reset request emails werelocked out of their accounts temporarily,and were also not informed about the exactreasons of the password reset.

The password reset email sent by Twitterwas said to have read, “Twitter believes

that your account may have beencompromised by a website or service notassociated with Twitter. We’ve reset your

password to prevent accessing youraccount.”

In February last year, anonymous hackersattacked Twitter and gained access topasswords and other information for as

many as 250,000 user accounts.

Twitter had confirmed the news on its blogpost and revealed that the passwordswere encrypted and that it had alreadyreset them as a ‘precautionary measure’.The blog post claimed that Twitter wasin the process of notifying affectedusers.

Twitter said, “This attack was not thework of amateurs, and we do not believeit was an isolated incident. The attackerswere extremely sophisticated, and webelieve other companies andorganizations have also been recentlysimilarly attacked.”

Other popular service like Snapchat,which is a photo messaging app, is also nostranger to security scares. Earlier thisyear, details of 4.6 million users of thepopular mobile photo-sharing serviceSnapchat were reportedly leaked.

INFO TECH


Microsoft reportedly plans tooffer a free version of Windows

Bill Gates reclaims world’s richest title fromCarlos Slim: Forbes

Bill Gates has returned to the top ofForbes magazine’s annual list of the

world’s richest people, as rising stockmarkets swelled the ranks of billionaires,which included a record number of women.

With a net worth of $76 billion, theMicrosoft Corp co-founder reclaimed thetop spot after a four-year hiatus, topplingMexico’s telecommunications mogulCarlos Slim Helu, who placed second at$72 billion, Forbes said in announcing thelist on Monday.

Amancio Ortega, the Spanish founder ofclothing conglomerate Inditex SA, whichincludes the Zara fashion chain, rankedthird at $64 billion.

Investing icon Warren Buffett, who runsBerkshire Hathaway Inc and is a frequentbridge partner for Gates, was fourth at$58.2 billion. Oracle Corp chief LarryEllison came in fifth at $48 billion.

Gates has topped the list in 15 of the last20 years.

A record 1,645 billionaires with a total networth of $6.4 trillion made Forbes’ list, upfrom 1,426 last year.

Just over 10 percent were female, with 172women compared with 138 a year earlier.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc heiress ChristyWalton was the highest-ranking woman, inninth place, at $36.7 billion. France’sLiliane Bettencourt, who got much of herwealth from cosmetics company L’OrealSA, was next among women at $34.5billion, and ranked 11th overall.

The Internet was well-represented. GoogleInc founders Larry Page and Sergey Brinranked 17th and 19th, worth a respective$32.3 billion and $31.8 billion, whileAmazon Inc’s Jeff Bezos was betweenthem at $32 billion.

Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg,29, more than doubled his net worth to$28.5 billion, and ranked 21st.

Former New York City Mayor MichaelBloomberg, who left office two monthsago, was 16th at $33 billion, built mainlythrough his eponymous media company.

Forbes said the year’s biggest loser was

Brazilian tycoon EikeBatista, whose net worthfell below $300 millionfrom $10.6 billion as his oiland natural resourcesempire collapsed amid toomuch debt and fallingoutput.

Roughly two-thirds of theworld’s billionaires, or1,080, were self-made. TheUnited States had the mostbillionaires, with 492,followed by China at 152and Russia at 111. Algeria,Lithuania, Tanzania andUganda joined the list withone each.

According to reports, to Microsoftplans to announce a free version of

Windows 8.1 in a bid to persuadecustomers to upgrade to the latest version.

Reports claimthe new version,called ‘Windows8.1 with Bing’,could be givenaway at adevelopers’conference inApril, a versionthat would havekey Microsoftapps andservices.

According to media reports, “Microsoft iscurrently experimenting with a free versionof Windows 8.1 that could boost thenumber of people using the operatingsystem.”

The firm has already made major changesto Windows 8 in a bid to make it moreappealing to consumers.

(Also see: Windows 8.1 Update 1 leakedvideo ‘confirms’ Start screen and Modernapp tweaks)

Microsoft hopes the new system wouldmake it easier fortouchscreen users,giving a similarexperience acrossMicrosoft’sphones, tabletsand PCs.

“Let’s make iteasier to startapplications in theway we are usedto,” Microsoft

former CEO Steve Ballmer was quoted assaying in The Verge.

The firm would bring back the start buttonwhich can let you boot straight to thedesktop, added media reports.

Ballmer also said the firm was notabandoning its start menu, adding that itwas slowly beginning to attract appdevelopers to Windows 8.

INFO TECH


Micromax Canvas Knight with octa-core chipset launched at Rs. 19,999

Micromax has launched its firstocta-core smartphone, the

Canvas Knight, in India at Rs. 19,999.

The popular domestic handset makerhas announced that the Canvas Knightsmartphone will be exclusivelyavailable via company’s online store.

The highlight of the Micromax CanvasKnight is its octa-core MediaTek(MT6592T) processor clocked at2GHz, coupled with 2GB of RAM.

The Canvas Knight offers dual-SIM (bothMicro-SIMs) support and runs Android4.2.2 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box. It comeswith a 5-inch (1080x1920 pixels) full-HDIPS display with a pixel density of443ppi.

The Canvas Knight comes with 32GB ofinbuilt storage, which is non-expandable. Itsports a 16-megapixel rear camera withOmniVision CameraChip sensor and M8Largan Lens, while there is a secondary 8-megapixel front-facing camera.

On the connectivity front, the CanvasKnight includes 3G, Wi-Fi, Micro-USB,and Bluetooth. The new smartphone fromMicromax packs a 2350mAh battery,which is rated to deliver up to 7.5 hours oftalk time and up to 175 hours of standbytime.

The Micromax Canvas Knight comespreloaded with apps such as BBM, Hike,GetIt, Truecaller, Spuul, Kingsoft OfficeSuite, Opera Mini, M!Live, M!Vault,M!Security and Games (RealSteel WRB,Where’s My Perry and Where’s MyWater).

The smartphone will be available in threecolour variants: Black, Black and Gold, andWhite and Gold. Commenting on thelaunch, Rahul Sharma, Co-Founder, Micromax said, “Canvas Knightis another milestone for Micromax to bringthe best combination of technology, styleand affordability for the masses.” Hefurther added, “With the launch of CanvasKnight, our first octa-core smartphone, wehave yet again raised the bar of affordableinnovation in the country”.

Dr. Finbarr Moynihan, GeneralManager, International Sales &Marketing, MediaTek Inc, said, “TheMT6592T enables consumers toexperience premium gaming performanceand enhanced web browsing. WithMediaTek’s tru octa-core MT6592T,users can enjoy heavy web downloading,hardcore gaming, high-quality premiumvideo viewing or other types of rigorousmultitasking without experiencing lagtimes or excessive batteryconsumption.”

Apple loses bid for permanent banon Samsung smartphone sales in

the USA U.S. judge rejected Apple’s request

for a permanent sales ban in theUnited States against some older Samsungsmartphones, a key setback for the iPhonemaker in its global patent battle.

U.S. District JudgeLucy Koh in SanJose, California,ruled that AppleInc had notpresented enoughevidence to showthat its patentedfeatures were asignificant enoughdriver of consumerdemand to warrantan injunction.

Apple and Samsung Electronics Co Ltdhave been litigating for nearly three yearsover various smartphone featurespatented by Apple, such as the use offingers to pinch and zoom on the screen,as well as design elements such as thephone’s flat, black glass screen.

Apple was awarded more than $900million by U.S. juries but the iPhonemaker has failed to sustain a permanentsales ban against its rival, a far moreserious threat to Samsung, which earned$7.7 billion last quarter.

The ruling on Thursday comes ahead ofanother patent trial set to begin later thismonth involving newer Samsung phones,and could frustrate any further attempt by

Apple to bar thesales of thosemodels as well.

An Applespokeswomandeclined tocomment on theorder.

In a statement,Samsung said itwas pleased withthe ruling. “We ...agree with itsobservation that a

few software features alone don’t driveconsumer demand for Samsung products -rather consumers value a multitude offeatures,” the company said.

Even though Samsung no longer sells theolder-model phones targeted by theinjunction request, Apple has argued incourt documents that such an order isimportant to prevent Samsung from futurecopying with new products “not morecolorably different” than the defunctmodels.

BETTER ENGLISH

A Guide to English Style and Usage- 11A.G. Menon

H


head In British English the word headcan mean a head teacher, headmaster orheadmistress who is in charge of a school.But in American English, principal is thecommon term in secondary schools,though headmaster and headmistressare also used. In some companies the mostimportant person like president,chairman, managing director ordirector is referred to as head, as in Head,Simpson and Company, Head-PurchaseDepartment, etc. In such cases it is betterto be specifc than vague, like Chairman,Simpson and Company; (Chief) Manager,Purchase, etc.

headache The word is a countable noun:Whenever I take alcohol, I get a headache(not ...I get headache); She woke up in themorning with a terrible headache.

headquarters The word can be singularor plural depending on the context: Theheadquarters of Sony Corporation is/are inTokyo; Headquarters has informed thebranches of the policy change. Please notethat there is no such word as headquarter.The short form of headquarters is HQ.

health The word is uncountable: I am ingood health, not I am in a good health.

healthful and healthy Though the twowords have almost the same meaning,‘having good health’ or ‘promoting goodhealth’, it is more common for healthfulto be used to mean ‘promoting goodhealth’, as in: Including a lot of vegetablesin your diet helps you (to) lead a healthfullife, and healthy to be used to mean‘having good health’, as in: His daughter isgrowing into a healthy child.

hear and listen to There is somedifference between hear and listen to.Hear means ‘to receive or become

conscious of a sound using your ears’.Listen to is ‘hearing and paying attention(to)’: The neighbours heard two of thesuspected thieves whispering but could notlisten to what they were saying; Thestudents listened carefully to the President’sspeech.

height Lakshmi is a medium-heightwoman should be changed to Lakshmi is awoman of medium height. Like that, sayThe man caught for the theft was ofmedium height.

help The expression can’t help...meaning ‘cannot stop yourself/oneself’ isfollowed by the ‘-ing’ form of a verb: Hecan’t help worrying about his son, not Hecan’t help to worry about his son. Help isusually an uncountable noun: If you want(some) help, please contact me. Howevernote the phrase be a great help: Thankyou for coming. You’ve been a great help;It would be a great help if you would buythis for me.

hesitance, hesitancy and hesitationBoth hesitance and hesitancy mean ‘thestate of being hesitant’: He showed somehesitance/hesitancy in explaining theGovernment’s new plan. Hesitation means‘act or instance of hesitating’: After someinitial hesitation he agreed to accept theoffer; I have no hesitation inrecommending her name for the post.

hire A Briton hires a car and engages achauffeur; an American hires a chauffeurand rents a car. In Britain, you also hire asuit, a meeting hall, a bicycle...usually for ashort period: Why do you want to buy asuit when you can hire one?; He showedme where I could hire a taxi.

historic and historical The former refersto events that are important in history:

The landing by two astronauts on the moonin 1969 was a historic event; The TajMahal is a historic edifice; In a historicdecision, Parliament approved the bill togive 50% representation to women in theHouse. Historic also loosely means‘memorable’: He had also participated inthe historic Quit India Movement of 1942.Historical means ‘relating to past events’:I am an ardent reader of historical novels;There are historical records to prove thatmany in the Government of the time hadsided with the foreign invaders.

hoard and horde Though the two wordssound alike, they are different in meanings.Hoard as a noun means ‘a collection ofsomething, usually illegally’: The policeunearthed a huge hoard of unaccountedmoney from the house. As a verb it means‘to collect large amounts of money,supplies, food etc, especially secretly’:When food became scarce during the war,many people had hoarded it. Horde is ‘alarge group of peple’: Hordes of activistsparticipated in the party’s protest march tothe Secretariat.

holiday The sentence Our neighboursare going on holidays next week is wrong.It should be rewritten as Our neighboursare going on holiday next week. Like that,say I am back after holiday (not holidays).However holidays are used with my/the/you etc: Where are you planning to go foryour holiday/s this time?: During thesummer holiday/s some students of Class Xof our school are going to Kashmir.Usually in Britain employees look forwardto their holiday. But students, especiallycollege students, have vacation.

home You arrive/go/leave/return home(WITHOUT at/to): I arrived home verylate after the function; Let me go home

homework means the work that teachers give their students to do at home: Use thecomputer after you have done your homework; Our maths teacher gives us a lot ofhomework. Housework is all the jobs that have to be done regularly to keep a house

clean and tidy: She has to do all the housework before leaving for the office.

BETTER ENGLISH


early as I am hungry; Subhash left home at11 to catch the 12 o’ clock train; Hereturned home after a 20-day tour of NorthIndia.

home from home is used to refer to aplace which one feels is as peaceful andcomfortable as one’s home: The hotelwhere we stayed in Kolkata was a realhome from home. In American English it ishome away from home.

homework and housework The firstword means the work that teachers givetheir students to do at home: Use thecomputer after you have done yourhomework; Our maths teacher gives us alot of homework. Housework is all thejobs that have to be done regularly to keepa house clean and tidy: She has to do allthe housework before leaving for the office.Both words are uncountable. Homeworkalso means ‘studying a subject or situationcarefully and thoroughly so that one candeal with it successfully’: It was clear thatshe had done her homework for theinterview: she has been ranked first; Itseems our External Affairs Minister haddone his homework well: he presented thecountry’s case well.

honorary and honourable The formermeans ‘given as an honour rather thanacquired through the usual channels orunpaid’: She received an honorarydoctorate from Calicut University for herexemplary social service; Mr Mohammed

Kutty has been elected HonoraryChairman of the group. Honourablemeans ‘honest and fair or deserving praiseand respect’, as in ‘an honourable deed’,‘an honourable man’. Honourable with acapital H is a title presented to some orused before the names of some people ofhigh social rank as in ‘the Honourable H KStevenson’.

hope The sentence I hope that he wouldchange his opinion about me soon shouldbe rewritten as I hope that he will changehis opinion about me soon. You hope thatsomeone will do something or change theiropinion, view etc or something will changeor happen (NOT would).

hopefully Many people do not favourthe use of the word in the sense of ‘it is tobe hoped that’, as in Hopefully we will getthe approval very soon. They say theword should be used only to mean ‘in ahopeful way’, as in The man lookedhopefully at me for a substantial donation.

hospital He was admitted to (NOT at/in)hospital last night; Last year I was in(NOT at/in the) hospital for two weeks;She has got a job in (NOT at) a cityhospital; Next week I’ve got to go (in)tohospital for an operation. In AmericanEnglish it’s I’ve got to go to the hospital...;He was admitted to the hospital; Last yearI was in the hospital for two years.

house full This is a sign seen ousidesome theatres that informs people that

there is no room inside: We returned homedisappointed after seeing the ‘house full’sign. Remember that it is house full, nothouseful which means a lot of people orthings in your house: We had a houseful ofguests yesterday.

how do you do? This is used only inspoken English as a polite way of greetinga stranger or someone you are not veryfamiliar with and is not used in writtenEnglish. How are you? is used in spokenand written English as an informalgreeting.

human and humane As an adjective,human means ‘of or relating to humanbeings’: The accident was caused byhuman error; It is human nature to commitmistakes; This food is not fit for humanconsumption. Human can also mean‘kindly’: The new manager is a humanperson. Human as a noun also means ‘aman, woman or child’. Humane means‘showing kindness, sympathy orunderstanding’: The country showed ahumane attitude to the prisoners of war.

humble pie If you eat humble pie, youretract a previous assertion, opinion orremark admitting you were wrong about it:Johnson was forced to eat humble pie andwas forced to apologize for his remarks. InAmerica it is eat crow, not eat humblepie.

healthful and healthy Though the two words have almost the same meaning,‘having good health’ or ‘promoting good health’, it is more common for healthful

to be used to mean ‘promoting good health’.

RESEARCH

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FORM IV

Statement about ownership and other particulars about newspaper

1. Place of publication Kochi

2. Periodicity of its publication Monthly

3. Printer’s Name Fr. Varghese Panthalookaran

Nationality Indian

Address Rajagiri Media, Rajagiri Valley PO, Kakkanad, Kochi-39

4. Publisher’s Name Fr. Varghese Panthalookaran

Nationality Indian

Address Rajagiri Media, Rajagiri Valley PO, Kakkanad, Kochi-39

5. Editor’s Name James Paul

Nationality Indian

Address CRA 25, Jees Villa, Eramath Road, Chempumukku, Kakkanad, Kochi-30

6. Names and addresses of individuals who own the newspaper and partners or shareholders holding More than one percent of the total capital.

I, Fr. Varghese Panthalookaran, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge andbelief.

Date: 15 March 2014

Printed and Published by Fr.Varghese Panthalookaran CMI on behalf of Rajagiri Media, Rajagiri Valley PO, Kakkanad, Kochi-39Ph: 0484-2428249. Printed at Anaswara Printers, Elamakara, Kochi. Editor: James Paul

ConfessionsSaina Nehwal

What is your idea of happiness?

Once you are satisfied with your goal, itis the real happiness. I become restless,grieved and annoyed if I lose the game.My happiness is linked with my win.

What is your greatest fear?

I do not fear anybody on the field orin society, but I fear at night when Iam away from my parents. I amscared of the unknown described inhorror movies.

What is your favourite virtue?

My virtue is my game. I’m a self-made person, with guidance from myparents, the hard work of coaches andwishes of millions of my fans.

What is the principal aspect of yourpersonality?

I am simple, disciplined andemotional.

What is your main fault?

I am proud that I do not have anyfault. I am proud of being myself.

What do you hate the most?

Inequality in society. I cannotbelieve there is caste system insociety; I cannot believe peopleare judged on the basis of theirprosperity.

What is your greatestmisfortune?

Missing a medal in the BeijingOlympics after being on thethreshold of a win — I considerit one of my greatestmisfortunes so far.

What is your most treasuredpossession?

My medal in the CommonWealth games, LondonOlympics 2012, and my beautifulcar BMWSX6.

What is your favourite colour?

Maroon

If not yourself, who would you be?

I am too satisfied; and I believe instruggles, not in a smooth life. I would bethe same anywhere.

Who are your favourite poets?

My knowledge in this field is zero.

What is the reform you admirethe most?

Equality and prosperity for all.

Which talent would you mostlike to have?

I am happy to be a player. It hasevoked interest in millions of youngpeople. Kids want to emulate me,so I am satisfied.

What are your favourite food anddrink?

I enjoy three meals a day and 90per cent of what I eat is vegetarianand home-made. I occasionally eatnon-vegetarian, and chickenpreparations are my favourite. Ilike sweets such as jalebis. What Icannot miss is ice-cream — afterevery win. I also like to drink lightcoffee (cappuccino).

How would you like to die?

I want to play for many moreyears, leading a happy, injury-freeand healthy life.

Saina Nehwal; born 17 March1990 in Dhindar, Ghaziabaddistrict, Uttar Pradesh, is the first

Indian to win a medal inBadminton at the Olympics. She

achieved this feat by winning theBronze medal at the London Olympics

2012 on 4 August 2012. She is the firstIndian to win the World JuniorBadminton Championships and was alsothe first Indian to win a Super Seriestournament, by clinching the IndonesiaOpen on 21 June 2009.

pallikkutam : march

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