Thinking is one thing I can do for hours at an end. I come across some idea and I become so caught up in it and get all excited about it, but then after a few days, it vaporizes into thin air. I wish I can put into action all these thoughts! But we all are bound by restrictions. Limitations. Financial and emotional. Societal and Philosophical. How I wish I had the resources to make my dreams come true! Ah well…one of those dreams or thoughts I must say, hit me today with full momentum. I really feel the urge within me to make this happen. I know I can make this happen. I just do not have the resources or the time at this point in my life. But this particular dream requires a lot of planning and a lot of gauging friends, family and interested parties and so I am willing to spend time on that aspect, if it were to ever come true. Ahhh…what am I rambling on about? Education in india….more specifically, my idea of establishing an innovative school system in India, starting with my native place – Visakhapatnam. Sound crazy yet? But wait…there’s more!

“Instruction ends in the school-room, but education ends only with life” – Some wise man said it and we all heard it. We might have even used it in one of our college essays But how many of us know who said it? Well, that was not part of the syllabus huh! Well, just for the record, it was Frederick W.Robertson.

I heard this somewhere and it stuck with me – “Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me, and I may or may not remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand”. Somehow, the education system in India, where we grew up, does not place too much emphasis on the “involve me” part. I cannot speak for the education system in the US since I did not study here at the elementary, secondary and high school levels. I did my Masters here but 2 years is hardly enough time to judge an entire system, especially when you are trying to simultaneously cope with factors such as living away from your house for the first time in your life or earning money on your own doing odd jobs to be able to pay the fees each semester. My emphasis today is on the foundations of education, where it all begins. I can speak about my Masters life another day.

Right from first grade, it is all about cramming up your lessons for us Indians. The teacher comes into the room and writes on the blackboard. The students listen and take down notes. Nothing wrong with that approach but that has been the approach since thousands of years now. For students living in an electronic age, how far is this approach justified? Abstract sciences such as Math, Physics, Chemistry form the foundations. We all became very good at theory. Give us a problem. Be it algebra, integration or calculus – we know our formulas and our prescribed procedures. The problem gets solved much more easily than a kid would do it here. Good stuff. Everyone needs to get their theory right. But there are those very few moments when we actually felt learning was fun and that we really applied the theory and built something useful out of it. We became nervous at practicals, often fumbling and doing much worse than a kid would do here. When I say these, I speak of the average student.

I want to start off by establishing a school in vizag that offers revolutionary system of education. Something that makes kids feel education is fun. Something that encourages them to be practical and build something useful. A school that conforms to the modern era of electronics and computers. The best place to start would be vizag.

More details in tomorrow’s post.

Sugar! How Sweet? Not! How can something that even a baby knows by naturality of taste be your worst enemy?

How about this link:

http://www.rheumatic.org/sugar.htm

or this:

http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/sugar.htm

Instead of me posting me research here, why don’t you as a reader go google it for yourself and learn something important? I am cutting down sugar from today..lets see.