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Thursday, October 06, 2011

31. What course of action will you take?


Gandhi Jayanthi  celebration is on this week [02 to 08 October]. Unfortunately the college cleaning programme  which the teacher trainees of my college undertake  every year is  likely to be postponed  as many of them have gone on a Study Tour. Usually a speaker from the local Gandhi Bhavan addresses the students of  the college this week. And on  such occasions we are reminded of the relevance of the  teachings of Gandhiji.


As a teacher  educator, I have tried my best to nurture in my trainees certain Gandhian values, particularly the ones related to the seven social sins which Gandhiji insisted we should abstain from:  Politics without principles; Wealth without work; Commerce without morality; Education without character; Pleasure without conscience; Science without humanity and Worship without sacrifice.

 Now... teachers, do we really ensure that our new generation learners imbibe  Gandhian values?

In July 2011, Dr.Shashi Tharoor MP,  delivered a special lecture organized by the Kerala Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, College of Gandhian Thought, Research and Action. The Lecture was entitled Emerging Kerala : Some Candid Thoughts.



The  programme was organized by  the Gandhi Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram. In the course of  his lecture, several facts and  figures were presented by  the honourable MP to support his line of argument. It made the audience feel that what we need is a sustainable model of development.

Given below are some  facts and figures  which would interest a  teacher-cum-curriculum developer in God’s Own Country, Kerala: 

·             *   Our social development indicator is remarkable...Life expectancy in the United  
         States is 72 and in Kerala 70 ; Literacy  in the US is   98% and in Kerala 96%
·     
*             *  It is a ‘Malayalee miracle’: Rights  have been given to workers and  to women.

 Yet Kerala failed to move...The best in the country flee, migrate...
·         
      * Kerala records the highest suicide rate and alcohol consumption rate.
·         
*    * We import work force  from Orissa and Bihar and we speak of  the educated   unemployed.
·         
*    * The  two crore eggs  and the tonnes of vegetables  we consume everyday comes from Tamilnadu.
·         
*   * We dump waste in places of  pristine natural beauty.



Before concluding his lecture, Dr. Shashi Tharoor insisted on the need for developing a competency in the English language. To illustrate  the necessity of becoming fluent in English,  the honourable MP narrated a story about cats and rats which  his parents told him as a child:

Once  there were some cats who used to be troubled by  rats. [or  cats that troubled rats?...my memory fails me] One day, a new cat joined the fold. On seeing the  fold, scamper after hearing a squeaking sound, the new cat cleared its throat and barked ‘Bow Wow’... and the rats fled. When a member of the fold asked the cat what was that, it said: “You’ll never know when  a new language would become handy!”.
Well,... I must  confess that I am incapable of  capturing  the impressive style of delivery of  the  highly acclaimed writer, Dr. Shashi Tharoor.  What I have done is to recall from memory certain facts and figures that got imprinted in my mind which I am sharing now. 


Well readers.., if  you are a teacher-cum-curriculum developer  what course of action  or development of our State would you take? How can Gandhian values be incorporated in the course of action you intend to take?







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