The Oracle of Delphi

With much happiness, thanks to my host George Soultis in Athens, I was at Delphi today. The bus was most comfortable, the up and down journey being nearly 6 hours with a little over 2 hours to see the archaeological site. Enough time to slowly take in the landscape, to reflect on why one feels like going to this ancient place, enough time to ponder the commentary and my own life, it's vagaries, changes, questions.
Daphne our guide spoke smoke wise words. The Oracle if Delphi only answered questions regarding nations and for groups of people. The answers were never direct. They could be interpreted either way. One king about to fight the Persians asked what would happen. He was told that a big army would lose. He assumed that it would be the Persians. His army lost!
In one of the explanations it was mentioned that even though the Romans redirected Delphi is influence waned after the Roman invasion in the 2nd century B.C. The reason mentioned is that, though respected, there was no more say in the political decisions.
How interesting that God men and women are popular and powerful  onlyas long as the powers that be value them, only as long add they have power.
Do we seek power? Each of us, in our own way? Or do we worship power, the places from where influence flows? And like the king who sought guidance, do we look for answers we desire? And this do we ignore real guidance?
Our is it that we wish to place on some external power our confusions, thus absolving ourselves of the responsibility for the action we choose?
The myth of Oedipus was another eye opener. Far far into the future he discovered his folly. His journey also began with a prophesy and advice.
Can we take counsel from ourselves? Through observation, understanding and careful consideration, knowing we are fallible human beings?

The more ancient hills, the landscape replete with myths and history, the warmth of the people despite the slowdown ...

Our roads and our choices ….

India grows and develops. There is sign of feverish activity and movement in every turn of the road. The road is possibly the most important thing that claims pride of place in the development effort of the nation. Roads spell access, energy spells production and lifestyle and both don't come cheap. And together they represent infrastructure development. Ports and airports come next on the list.

It may be important to ask whom is this development for? It may be too easy to say 'for the whole nation'. A closer examination may reveal some disconcerting facts. Let us start with cities and small towns. India is producing more cars than ever each year and 2 wheelers. All consume diesel or petrol, a non renewable resource that is dying out, rapidly. India, as a symbol of its development makes it easy for anyone with a bank account to acquire a vehicle and pay for it slowly over years. The financing mechanism is good for banks and for vehicle producers and certainly makes things accessible. Therefore more production, more consumption and greater mobility, and the non renewable national resource consumed at greater rate than ever before.

If the resource belongs to all then should not one who does not have access to vehicles have a say in how it is used? The road is similarly a public property. Should not all road users have a say in how it is used. I am sure many of us have wondered on seeing large numbers of vehicles parked on public roads. Does the road belong to the person, agency whose vehicle is parked on it? Buses are all parked in their depots and most apartments have parking spaces for vehicles. But today with wide runaway access to finance who checks if the owner has private space to park his personal possession. The main roads get choked if vehicles are parked, and so they are cleared, even if ineffectively, by police authorities. This puts pressure on side roads, where there is no regulation except the 'No parking' sign in front of gates. Soon habit decides the parking spaces, and shopkeepers decide which spaces are theirs. And the vehicles are getting bigger, and more space is needed for parking. And where a large SUV or a van or a luxury vehicle is parked there is less space for the others.

The ones who suffer most are the ones who run their vehicles on renewable bio energy, the pedestrians and the cyclists. The pavements do not exist on side roads and are reduced to apologies on main roads. The pedestrian is reduced to an abject person, scurrying for cover from the unleashed hounds, watching the road, the uneven pavement and the signal, all at the same time. The cyclists also have to run an obstacle course when on a road, dangerously moving to the centre of the road, whenever there is a vehicle parked. Should a speeding motorcycle brush him / her it is quite clear who is in the wrong and who will not only get injured, but also abused.

Who asked the pedestrian or those with cycles what the roads should be like? Once a car manufacturer advised the Government to improve roads to have 'world class cars'. The road is a public resource, built on public money, should not the pedestrian be cared for, and the cyclist? Or is the road the hidden subsidy to auto industry to sell vehicles with policy blindness towards egality and justice?

The metaphors of the roads are even more interesting, though offering an unflattering view of human beings and our society in the 21st century. For instance, there is lawlessness at each queue, and a sleight of hand, tricks to get ahead. If there is a long queue of vehicles, there will surely be those who will squeeze on the left between or over the pavement and others who will go right to the front on the right on the wrong side of the road. India's drivers are surely restless to get ahead, get on! And it does not matter if you drive a moped or motor cycle, a small car of a premium brand SUV. It is the driver who needs to get ahead, as soon as possible. This approach turns all other road users, not into partners but adversaries. The one who is ahead is someone who is 'blocking you'. The one who does not give way is an enemy!

It may be interesting to remember that India is reeling under scams, in other words 'ill gotten gains' defying frameworks of law and decency. Under law people are supposed to have equal rights. Under decency, one shares and makes way for another using one's judgement and graciousness. Public life at every turn seems afflicted and it is seen on the roads as well. Who has not seen a speeding vehicle not giving way to a bewildered child trying to cross the road, or an elder bent person, on our city roads!

I am sure the people who make laws must have asked if private transport should be the priority investment or public transport? The ills of runaway private transport have hit a vast nation like USA with 3 times the land India has and ⅓ rd population. Is our vision of a good society driven by the short adventure of 500 years of USA? Or do we have a deeper history, a more caring understanding of our society?

Has the metaphor of war and collateral damage overtaken other metaphors, those of coexistence and peaceful living together? The sorrow of those who are part of the collateral damage will surely speak one day, may be sooner than later. The defenceless and the voice denied, do find expression, as Kabir says…

as I walk past people ....

Today is Deepawali, a day of celebration with sweets, new clothes and sharing. A day also of noise and mindless consumption. Chennai, Tamilnadu, is much afflicted by vector borne diseases. On the one hand there are vast number of people living in small tenements lining the banks of the Cooum and Buckingham Canal, and then there are those who have more permanent dwellings. I find it difficult to sleep with mosquitoes and wonder how the many sleep, those cannot go beyond the reach of mosquitoes. I see signs of celebration at the doorsteps of the small temporary homes with little or no sanitation. I see the same signs, of kolams at the doors of the more secure homes.
There is the grandfather or grandmother playing with a small child and there are shouts of children. Vast disparities in access, resources and comfort. All human, but some with so much more, and many with so little, hardly anything! I cannot help thinking, "Is the best we could manage as a race, a society?" One reads of the transition in China. Finally it is official - corruption afflicts China. Everything from appointment to Govt offices to contracts for infrastructure has a price. Princelings rule a vast nation where the disparities between the haves and have nots has grown 68% in the past decade. I wonder what thoughts go through the political minds, in the states and at the Centre in India. Some glee, "We are not alone!" Some philosophy, "There is no other way! The wheel of karms cannot be denied!" Some shamefaced smiles, "Just when Anna Hazare and Kejriwal have been hounding us, we just needed this to highlight our own shameful corruption!"
The farmers in Vidharbha will not get direct respite by way of support for agriculture. It has to come via subsidy to fertilizer companies. The farmer will not get enough life support to grow food for the nation, but a Vadra will receive 68 Cr loan from DLF (interest free). If I need to open an account in a neighbourhood bank, not only do I need to submit all manner of proof, but a foreign bank will facilitate some Indians to open bank accounts in foreign countries. Not only will small fry be hauled over the coals for small economic crimes, the big cats will be warned by eminent ministers and let off with low taxes and no slur to their names.
It is now official, not from the East but Obama's West. The rich have to pay higher taxes. Surely In India the weathy must be thinking, "Thats what you think! We have ingenuity on our side and it will be at least another decade before the tide changes here.

For teacher colleagues - from The School - Sep 2010

This is the first decade of the 21 C - many things around the world are changing / have changed. Global power shift are happening. China and India have stood up. In India - upheavals, Kashmir, Maoists, SEZs, nuclear energy and also movement in education.
Flexibility in approach, a thrust towards engagement rather than accomplishment, schooling as an experience rather than meant mainly for certification, the right of each child to schooling, the right of each child not to be failed, the thrust to inclusion, compulsory inclusion of the disadvantaged into the private schooling institutions...
The nation, woken by a complex set of circumstances doubled the allocation for Education to 4% of the national budget. This has set in motion a scramble for showing some result other than the complacent status quo. The status quo has a compelling logic - if nothing has changed since 1947, how can we hope for any change! But the logic of money is even more compelling. If a country spends thousands of crores, however imperfect the democracy, there is an impatience to see some movement.
Also, however imperfect a democracy when the divergences become unendurable the push for movement grows stronger. Inclusion and the rights of an individual, each individual, get attention and a society seeks solutions. We, human society, seem to know little about this. In this situation we have entered the zone of lurches and jerky movement, discomfort and wishes for a new order, an impatience to find a new space of security and comfort.
We have simultaneously entered the zone of life long learning. And this means living in a culture of change and movement. Our agrarian roots are being shaken to the gills and the song of the hunter gatherer is heard again. (or is it the the whistle of the dragon riders?)
For the teacher, the educator - learner, not the guru or wise person in a gurukula, this is a time of crises and reexamination. "Who am I? What am I to do? What is my relationship to the student, to knowledge and to the institution? So much is shifting, do I really wish to be here?"
For us who are in a K school - what does all this have to do with Krishnamurti? Some may say 'everything' and others 'little'.
In the hands of the teachers Krishnamurti has left certain imperatives. One can even call them injunctions - thinking for oneself, working together, get off the pedestal, question everything, cultivation of a religious mind and being responsible for the whole. He also urged his listeners to 'move'.
This is a time which will be attractive only to the bravest, boldest - those who wish to find out how to live in these times, circumstance and with these teachings.
For us who are at The School, some new, some here for a quarter of a century, this is a special year. We have together started a new school, Pathashaala - and will launch the ABL school shortly. This teachers' day for me is marked with a lot of feeling for colleagues with whom i have shared many voyages of discovery, shared work and experiences and above all an atmosphere of working together that has been tinged with something very special - a concern for the large good, for the larger questions of life and eucation.
I wish you a continuing wonderful journey as a teacher.

THE COUNTRY’S FUTURE IN THE HANDS OF THE TEACHER

Thus spoke an ex President
And the press reported it faithfully!
It has been said before!

Glory to the teacher,
who shapes against all odds
a person, a personality, a leader!

But, May I differ? I a teacher of 20 years!
May I speak, and
break the conspiracy of tame silence?

When showered with such words,
It is churlish to protest,
But protest I must

Lofty words hide truths
and shameful facts, always
And this is no exception

Have you hear it said,
The most important things in life cannot be taught?
And that life teaches in strange places?

Why then the teacher,
why the good sounding words
of importance and value?

Is it because, like a kept vassal of a king
needs to be acknowledged,
his loyalty sealed again?

Is it because he handles the sorrow
of values loftily spoken
But betrayed in daily acts!

Not by a few, but many, may be most
Live by deeds
That they don’t wish for their young!

And then they send their children
to teachers to learn values
to lead a good life.

The teacher decides each day
if he will engage with the tower of corruption
and lull the minds of the young!

Or, will he stand away and point
to a way of life, unsupported by parents
who send their children?

If truth be the basis,
and there is little else,
One can bank on

Our history, our experience
and the sorrow we carry
of man’s follies on earth

Then the teacher’s dilemma stands stark,
and he stands alone
exposed and unarmed!

Does he speak to the children, the youth
a truth they do not see in their lives
and invite the wrath of society?

Does he speak the truth, a nourishing truth
of the sordidness of human greed and ambition
and invite retribution?

Does he speak and run the risk
of losing his job and becoming
an outcaste whom no one will touch?

Does he echo the values of the marketplace
the idiom of success
assured shelter, food and clothing

… There will be token respect accorded
as to toothless elders
Harmless and impotent

And eulogies will be sung
in lofty words, bestowing
a kept legitimacy, a part of the corruption!

If truly the words mean something
will the village grow the child
by example?

Do the parents love their offspring enough
to forsake gold and land and fame
for right, dignified conduct?

Does society uphold
egality for all,
including those with little resource?

Do people speak truth
and act the way
they want their children to?

If not, the words mean little!
An invitation to humiliation
and a warning!

You have to support this edifice!
Stray away and see what happens!
Beware, O teacher!

So stand away I must
from the lofty eulogization of the teacher
and speak a different truth

The real teacher will not teach,
as there is little to be taught
but individuals may learn…

If truth be told
lofty words hide much corruption, uncertainty,
bestowal conceals hollow intentions.


G.Gautama
9 Aug 2010

Failing children in school

If a child is unable to pass despite having been in school for years, who has to take the responsibility? School and teachers, unless the child is very badly off.
Assuming that child is bad academically, failing the child is acceptable, with some provisos, if the teachers can guarantee, not just a pass, but high improvement. Can the teachers guarantee this? Failing a child without taking responsibility for the circumstances is morally wrong! Failing a child without guarantee of passing is even worse.
There is one more point, possibly the biggest of all. Nothing has been of greater sorrow to human beings than being ostracised, being excommunicated, being thrown out the tribe. Even if we can guarantee a pass in the next year, what mechanisms, structures do we have for taking care of the child's sense of self esteem? If we cant deliver confidence, the least we can do is not to cause injury?
Our society creates the same age fixed membership classroom - a sense of belonging is developed. And for some silly reason a child is banished into a shameful existence. Failed, punished and cast down, is it surprising that we breathe injustice with every failure of this kind.
With RTE schooling is elevated to the status of a right and an experience. A further long awaited move by CBSE to erase the pass fail line. Education is a life long experience and cannot be easily assessed by short term digital evaluation. If I cannot ensure that child can read and write 3 cogent sentences and do simple arithmetic through years of schooling, it is not the child who needs to experience banishment! It is the system that needs reexamination for its basis, emphasis and its outmoded processes.
Today we have arrived into the Rights era and the challenge for schools is immense While most schools languish in the dark age metaphors of discipline and obedience and uniforms, the ground has shifted. Schools are required now to do justice to all children, each child! Schools cant get by with a 'by and large'.
The judgement of the court is a welcome move restoring a child to his rightful class.
But surely there have been solutions that allow children to learn at heir own pace - only these cannot coexist with a 'class' and prizes and ranks and celebrations

A timely question - where do problems begin?

http://mediavigil.blogspot.com/2010/05/civil-societys-response-to-chidambaram.html