Chennai Stopover - Beaches, Motels, Rajnikanth and Street Shopping

I have just spent at week at the Sadhana Forest (volunteer community) in Auroville. I now have to leave. I have a 3 hour morning bus ride from Pondicherry to Chennai. I ask one of the volunteers going into the city, to drop me off at the highway. I then jump into a bus, heading towards Pondicherry at the Toll Gate. I get down at the bus station in Pondicherry, and then purchase a ticket on the next bus to Chennai. I had a train from Chennai to Kolkata in two days time. I had a day to spare and decided to spend it exploring some parts of Chennai. When I reach Chennai, the first thing I need to do is to find a room, to keep my luggage in. So I walk towards some hotels near my bus station. 

How to choose the right motel?
The first motel, I checked, had all the basic necessities. It had a bed, table, T.V and bathroom. I see a bunch of cockroaches under the bed and the paint chipping of one corner wall. I walk into the motel next door, and this has all the basic necessities minus the cockroaches and chipped walls. I hire the room for the night, freshen up and then walk out to explore the city. I carry only my purse and wallet and they fit easily into pant pockets. It is so nice, to not have to carry, a heavy bag around with you. I've had enough of luggage carrying for a month.

Travelling in Buses and Rickshaws in India

I catch a bus to Mangalore outside the university entrance. My friends drop me till the entrance. Now the bus driver spoke Tulu, which was the local dialect. When I uttered a word to two in Tulu, they all said,

'Ah, aae nama nae'

Which translated into, 'He belongs to the same region.'

It was a public bus, and I was sitting in the front, with a group of men. My Tulu was not very good. But I told them I had to get down at the station. I asked them to help me out and to tell me where to get down. They nodded their heads. For the next thirty minutes, I just listen to their conversation and try understanding their world. I did not pick up too much. Eventually we reach and they urge me to get down with one of the other co-passengers. Trusting their counsel, I go along. It is 11 am, on a deserted street somewhere in mangalore. The co - passenger starts walking away. I run behind him and ask him where the station was. I thought he was going to help me. He pointed in one direction. I looked and it was this opening to a long road in front of us. There was not one soul in the street. 

Life in an Engineering College in India

I was in one of India’s best engineering institutes. My friend gave me his building number and room number and told me that he had left the room open for me. He had classes that morning and would meet me later in the afternoon. Once inside the university campus, I have to walk another kilometer or so, to find the right hostel building. I see some students, but I assumed most of them would be headed to their classes at this point of time. On reaching the hostel, the guard thinks I am a new student and directs me to my friends room. My friend turns up. Has he changed. Sure he has. College does that to you. College does that to everybody. You always want people to be the same. Especially friends you have grown up with. I wonder why people, change all the time.  I wish people never changed. They stayed the same. But that is not going to happen.

City as a School

Imagine the possibilities for Learning. When Every Individual in the City can become a Teacher. 

Imagine the possibilities for Learning. When Every Individual in the City can become a Student.

Mumbai has come alive. 

Over the next twenty days, this city is offering its inhabitants a world class Ideas conference (INK + 60 Talks), a Film festival (MumbaiFilmFest + 170 Films) and a Literature Festival (LitLive + 88 Sessions). Further details are listed below

At another city festival in Jaipur #HappyTimes

Here are three reasons why every Mumbaikar should be excited.

Learning from Table Tennis, School and Club Sports

I was first introduced to this game at the local sports club in my city. Two friends were playing the game. I observed curiously. This seemed like real fun. I picked up the racket one day, and hit a few shots across the table. They landed outside the table. A few months later, they finally landed on the table. A new game had entered my life. Table Tennis is defined as a sport in which two players hit a light weight ball back and forth using a table tennis bat. Ping Pong in short. A game I loved growing up. Here is what the game thought me and why sports has such an important role in a student's life:-

Observing - beauty in complexity?

Explore Observing

Creation - wealth before income?

Explore Creating

Lifeschool - What? Why? How?

 

What is Lifeschooling?

What if life was school? What if every individual you met could be a teacher? What if everything around could become a learning tool? What if every experience you have been through was a learning experience? What if we could bring all of the above situations to life. 

Then we have a Lifeschool.

Why Lifeschool?

Teachers – Please Listen to Us Too

The Good Students in Class

Some students knew all the answers. They were the smart ones. We all wanted to be like them.

The Worst Year of My Student Life – Part 2

Why was I so stupid?

Make a Friend Anywhere

You can indeed make a friend anywhere. Here is the story of one friend I made along the way.

8th Grade and the Prep School

I was really looking forward to the eighth grade. The class would be shuffled again and I would have new friends, new experiences and new things to learn. I was optimistic.

The first semester was not very different from my experience in the seventh grade. More rote learning. More Grades. Study, Do Not Understand. That is the objective. Stay Focused. If you do not suffer now, then what will you do in the real world? (…In my head…What in the world is the real world?...What world am I in now?.... Scratch my head and nod back with a smile…I have no clue what is going on!)

7th Grade and Super – Rote Learning

I was entering the dangerous years. I was becoming a teenager. There was uncertainty written all over my face.

Why don’t students' question more often - Andy’s Story

In Educational institutions you are considered a good student if you are very bright on the academic side and not very rebellious. But some students ask questions. Questions seem like a form of rebellion. Many of them are very valid questions. They are considered rebels. How dare a student question the textbook? How dare a student question authority?

Can’t authority be wrong sometimes? Can’t authority be questioned sometimes? As a student I was part of both the groups. I would not question, because I was worried it may have been wrong. But then I questioned my reasoning behind not asking more questions. Soon I was a menace in class.

Questions Students' Ask?

What do students think about? I was curious.  

7 Lessons Play Can Teach a Child?

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”
― Plato

Till the fifth grade, life mostly revolved around play. There were at least three - four hours of play everyday. The big open playground next to my house played a major role in making that possible.

Children of different ages from the 1^st to the 12^th grade would come together and we would self organize ourselves and play late into the evening. There was an element of intelligence and superior understanding in all that we did. There were various things I learned from play which include:-

Dear Teacher,

I am a student,
One Among 500 Million in this country.
I want to be heard,
Will you listen to me?

The world is so big,
The world is so confusing,
I need a friend,
I need a guide,
I am scared,
Will you help me?

A gift worth all the riches in the world,
That only you can give me,
You may ask,
What is this wonderful gift?

Assessment from a Student Perspective - Projects or Grades

Our objective as educational institutes is too make a life long learner that has marketable skills that can be used to add value to society in a variety of ways. 

I am a student. 20 years old and I write this to present the student voice on education, which I strongly feel has not been represented enough on national platforms and discussions related to Education in India. I believe students have a valid opinion and are a vital stake holder in Education.

Assessment and Students

Let us look at one such aspect of education from the perspective of a student. Assessment. 

All the assessment I went through at school and college was for the institute and for the government and not for me? When we assess with Grades, we assess to keep a record not to check the real learning of the students. Because before you assess you have to analyze the perspective of the student towards a particular subject. 

-Has the student understood why the subject is relevant? 

-Has the student developed a genuine interest in the subject?

Learning from Videos 1 - Walking, Writing and Acting

1) Hindol Sengupta - The Entrepreneurial Citizen - Question Everything. Change Your Ecosystem. Contribute to shift from measured democracy experienced democracy. You can be an entrepreneur too. In Hindol's words, 'I am going to speak about the idea of the citizen who begins to look at himself as an entrepreneur - which means that citizens realizes that he is no longer a by product of the mercy or angst of the state but is a by product of his own enterprise' Watch the talk here.

Review - Things a Little Bird Told Me and What Twitter and Biz Stone Taught me?

I picked up a book in the business section at the Crossword Bookstore in Oberoi Mall, Goregaon. The book was called, 'Things a Little Bird Told Me: Confessions of the Creative Mind.

There were 5 beautiful lessons I learned from this book.