58.When a musician thinks…

Yet  even today  Copernicus’ are born questioning  traditional beliefs…We  may oust  Galileos but   as long as civilization exists the inner conscience of a society will continue  to  question our acts  and   time the great healer will  ensure  that  we  people who  commit mistakes  atone  for  their  mistakes …if  societies are to thrive.

…A  philosopher  making  a lot of noise?  No  those  are  elegant thoughts  from a  carnatic  vocalist….Can’t  believe it? …Me too...

A couple of weeks ago,  I had taken special permission from the Principal of my college to attend the inaugural-cum-plenary session of a Multi- disciplinary research conference organized by the University of Kerala. I particularly wanted to attend the talk entitled Music, Science and Society  which was to be delivered by  Sri TM.Krishna.

Prior to  the  talk,  I have had occasions to listen to   vocal renderings of  his music  which  has an ability to enthrall.  Initially,  I  was unsure  whether  the carnatic music vocalist would be capable of  illuminating my thoughts too… But I was wrong, in fact  the words  quoted  above   are  food for thought  from TM.Krishna’s talk.

Here are  a  few more  from my  scribbling  pad  which I am still trying to make sense of …

Have you ever asked yourself  whether there is any relationship between  music, science and society?

Let me begin by identifying   similarities if any between music and science:

*Both the musician and the scientist is  engaged in a  form of investigation-  The scientist tries to use tools to invent new things; The musician tries to  invent new music  by  handling  melody, rhythm and text.

*Both the  musician and the scientist  are driven  by  a human desire to express… to contribute  something to the  society.

So  what  can the musician draw from science? In composition of  a  musical piece, the  musician is   working on the acoustics of  science.  He/ she  in trying  to find out  why a  combination of  sound works   or  why it  enthralls  the listener. This  is  in a way  related  to  the application of logic  commonly found in  science. Good music has a logic of its own and  a  musician  in composing  good  music is in a constant struggle to  discover   a  structural enigma… a  beauty  detached from ones own self. 

A scientist   in an attempt to understand  something   as for  instance  when he/ she tries to   establish the relationship between  the    cause and effect of something, the effort  he/ she is engaged in is a struggle! But  the moment of discovery of the cause and effect of what  one was trying to find out, would  naturally  bring out  a  shriek of joy…. as it happened in the case of  the cry  ‘EUREKA’!!!  Now  ask yourself,  was the  cry ‘emotional’  or ‘intellectual’  …. Did  not  the  scientist  experience  something? Did he/she   not  employ  a  technique  for finding  the solution?....Was it  not similar  to the struggle of the  musician to find the right combination of rhythm, melody and text  to produce  an experience of  joy..

So  you  see  what the  musician produces and what the  scientist discovers   ultimately  turns out to be useful  to  society… 

‘Musical’  thoughts indeed!!

57.Any takers for Children’s Film?

In 2008,  inaugurating the Kerala State Children’s Educational Film Festival organized by the State Institute of Educational Technology (SIET), the then Minister for  Law and Parliamentary Affairs,   Sri.  M. Vijayakumar opined:  children should be taught film-making and film appreciation at the school level.

Years have passed  and  some schools  did  encourage their  students to make short films.

Now its  Film Festival fever in the capital city of Kerala!

Two film reviews caught my attention  this year:

1. Sebastian  Schipper ’s   thriller- Victoria, made in a single take.  Schipper is reported to have quoted a diary entry of Kafka that says: ‘Went to a cinema, cried’ believes that a film should be watched by the nervous system not the heart or brain.

2.Sean Baker’s  comedy drama Tangerine,  shot on an iPhone 5.

The film Festival   advisory committee Chairman Shaji N.Karun who  handpicked the films  for this year had this to say:  Films like Tangerine trigger an  eruption of technology in film making: “They do it with so much technical expertise and elevate the levels of film-making”.

Will  teachers  in Kerala take the cue   and consider  assisting  their  students  in  making  films with  their mobile phones?

56. From Equality to Quality

Hello All,

Most of the topics  on which  I have written  in this Blog are the direct outcome of  encounters with  unique thoughts either  triggered or suggested  through encounters with individuals, incidents  or  by watching TV or while reading. For the last couple of days I was busy getting  write-ups ready  for  posting in  a Blog  created exclusively for an International Conference  on Standards and Benchmarks for Excellence in Learning, Teaching and Research.

Please view     http://aiaerconference2015.blogspot.in/

One of the  invited  Plenary Speakers  for  the Conference, was      Dr. Achuth Sankar S. Nair, Professor and Head (in charge), Department of Bioinformatics, University of Kerala. The talk mode in which Dr.Sankar delivered his lecture  prompted me to post the notes  which I prepared while listening,  in this Blog…

Incidentally, I have had the opportunity of listening  to this  erudite but thoroughly unassuming gentleman-scholar, Dr. Achuth Sankar,  speak on several occasions. His unique ability to put across ideas which make us ponder on them,   I must admit, is simply superb! 

Dr. Sankar began his theme talk  lamenting our urge for ‘casual judgment’  when it comes to  assessing  Quality…. For instance,  there is great window dressing when the NAAC Peer Team visits  educational institutions  for  assessment.  It can  sometimes  reduce itself  to  our competing   with  a  neighbouring  institution. This was illustrated with a fine  local metaphor:

Sometimes  the coconut tree in your backyard may be  yielding  a crop of  five coconuts once in two months, while your  neighbour’s may be yielding only  three coconuts. You may be feeling elated at the fact  that  yours is a superior coconut tree compared to your neighbours… But throughout your life you would be oblivious of the fact that hardly 25 Kilometres away  from the place you live,  coconut trees  are yielding  25 coconuts  every two months!

Once Dr.Sankar had  asked the Principal of  the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, how good is the college? Well … the Principal stated…Its doing quite well….Last year the placement was 90% and this year it is 95%....  But Dr.Sankar knew for certain  that numbers do not reflect  Quality….because almost one  hundred percent of the Civil Engineering graduates of the college were recruited by  the IT industry where  the knowledge and expertise  they gained in the course about construction  of bridges and  skyscrapers  are never ever utilized!

Yet another  conveniently  ignored  aspect relates  to  campus   politics… Neither the University nor our  highly politically conscious student population have ever noticed the  following statistics of the University of Kerala :

85% of the  students studying  for different courses are women.

52% of the PhD’s   produced by the University are by women.

45% of the faculty of the University are women.

A vast majority of the staff of the Office of the University are women.

And 100% of the librarians  are women…

Yet for both College Union and University Union elections the Vice Chairperson seat is reserved exclusively for women!!

Dr.Sankar also pointed out the rather  primitive approach to treating cases of malpractice  in examinations…An erring student is  always perceived as a criminal while  proper counseling  would have been a more meaningful   option…

Spiced with humour, the  great Indian tradition  and the ‘Gurukula system’ came up  for scrutiny too,   during the talk:

*’Professor Sandipini’ used to take a noon nap,  resting his head on the thighs of his endearing student, Krishna while yet another amiable  student,  Kuchela would  be pressing the feet of the guru.

*’Professor Parusurama’  is reported to have  dismissed his exemplary  student  Karna for producing a false ‘upper caste’ certificate.

*’Professor Dronacharya’ had demanded the thumb of his brightest pupil, Ekalavya, because he had already decided  to award the first rank to his favourite   upper caste  student, Arjuna.

Imagine a modern day teacher emulating the great gurus of ancient times!...We  have to draw the best from our great tradition and adapt it to suit the present age…

In Kerala,  caste-based schools were started  decades ago, such that every community now  has  a school.  And today we have  58 lakh seats  for  a student population of 38 lakh…Yet the policy of  reservation of seats  continue….

It took  over three hundred years for a Black man to become the president of the United States….but in Kerala University,  it took only 40 years to give an opportunity  for representatives from different communities to hold several high level posts in the University. It is indeed admirable,  opined  Dr.Sankar…so shall we not  focus on Quality henceforth , instead of Equality!

Please feel free to offer your comments…

55.Time to Invigorate

During the  Pooja  holidays (22 to 24 October  2015),  I attended a Film Appreciation Workshop jointly organized by the Chalachitra Academy, Kerala and the CineMass Film Society. The  slightly high registration fee, and the restricted seats ensured that only  those seriously interested in films  could attend. The invited Resource Persons for handling the sessions included
 Mr.KB Venu (Film Director),
 Mr. Vijayakrishnan (Director and Film critic), 
Mr. Louis Mathew  (faculty, Prasad Film Academy) 
and 
 Mr. I.Shanmughadas (Film critic). 
  Film screening  and discussions  were  also part of the Workshop.

At the time of  self-introduction of participants,  I noticed that  a majority  comprised college students, and   those pursuing research in films.  Some had ambitions of producing  short films  while  a couple of them were keen on animation and direction.    When one of the Resource Persons  asked  the participants  to choose one film which  they would prefer to take with them if they are  incarcerated, many choose  the Malayalam  films  of  Priyadarsan.  True, those films are  visually pleasing and  of course humourous… But can serious film buffs  choose such films?

A day after the Workshop,  the  reputed Polish film director, Krzysztof  Zansussi   addressed  film lovers in Trivandrum city.  And  the  next day  the following  news  item appeared in the Mathrubhoomi Daily  dated 26  October 2015. 

The director  observed that  the standard of film criticism has come down!

This observation did not come as a surprise to me because during the Workshop, when one of the  Resource Persons  posed the question  “What is the climax of  the  Malayalam film ‘Kireedom’”,...

...the majority comprising college students reeled off: … the  scene in which,  Sethumadhavan (Mohanlal), squashes to pulp  the goon, Keerikadan!

Almost 95% of the participants  held this view. So it took the Resource Person,  Mr. Louis, quite some time to convince the  participants that the  real climax is the  scene in which   Achuthan Nair (Thilakan) asks his son  Sethu (Mohanlal) to drop the knife!

Perhaps  you all are  aware that the  count down has  begun for the 20^th International Film festival of Kerala, IFFK.

 

I hope  college going students in Kerala  who are  lovers of  good films will make a  diligent effort to invigorate their skill of  appreciation  by watching  acclaimed films during IFFK!

Please feel free to offer your comments…

CP

54.Onam thoughts

Its festive season in Kerala… and the  cover page of  a magazine which the women folk in my house reads  captures it well!

In July 2015, I was directed to teach in the PG department of Govt.  College of Teacher Education, Thiruvananthapuram. And the advantage… I could join my  family  in  preparations for Onam.

This year the Onam celebration in the college was special in every way.. For the first time in  its 103 year history,  two regular batches  each of BEd and MEd is studying in the college at the same time owing to the government decision to commence a two year BEd and MEd course  from 2015 onwards.

Its customary to celebrate Onam in the college prior to the ten-day Onam vacation. Speakers  during  the  function this year,  recalled   “…a time of prosperity…days in which people were treated as equals… when there was joy everywhere….” BUT...   “times  are changing… Onam these days in Kerala has reduced itself to adorning of new dress… the traditional Kerala  saree by women and dhoti and jubba by men…”

Incidentally unlike in previous years the date of celebration of Onam in the college  did not slip my mind,  and so I   arrived in college,  donning the  Kerala attire for the celebration held on  Tuesday, 18 August 2015 in  the auditorium shared by the Govt. Model Boys HSS and our college. In fact one of the speakers, did notice this and even  appreciated my gesture of donning the Kerala  dress,  particularly because  all the other male teachers of the college had worn the usual pants and shirt.  I was naturally beginning to feel elated when the speaker continued…   “These days during Onam, flaunting  the traditional attire, gulping down the  Onam meal, polishing off the banana leaf on which the meal is served and not forgetting to emanate a gust of air in satisfaction, one usually  struts  home, oblivious of the fact that millions  in India, go hungry without  a square  meal even on Thiruvonam day!”…The speaker even exhorted that something needs  to be done for the marginalized sections!

For a  couple of minutes,  the  cheerful mood in the auditorium appeared to disappear…but when the cultural programmes commenced…things were back to normal.But by then… I had  lost my appetite and  sat cringing on the front row.

 

The programme over, I was  leaving the auditorium when a new portrait  caught my attention. It was  that of Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam with the words…  “On 28.06.2012, Dr.Kalam spoke in this auditorium”

Soon I was beckoned to the  corridor  where the traditional Onam meal was served… and as I tread slowly, I  was reminded of the   video recording of an extract of the speech made by Dr.Kalam in the European Parliament,  played  during the college assembly when the nation  mourned the death of that great soul…  Here is the text…and I think  its a  befitting message for Onam too…

…As we say in India…

Where there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the character

When there is beauty in the character, there is harmony in the home

When there is harmony in the home, there is an order in the nation

When there is order in the nation, there is peace in the world…

It’s a speech worth listening to…Please view:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e23Evyrzdic

53. A sense of sacredness

Its almost three months  since the 120 students of  Government Brennen College of Teacher Education, Thalassery  elected its College Union. Following the  two months vacation (April-May)  and the  available  dates  for  an eminent  guest,   it had  been possible to  conduct  the inauguration of the College Union  and  the  Fine Arts  Day celebration  only on  25 June 2015.

The occasion was quite special for all the  students of the  college and ofcourse  some of the teachers too… for, the main  speaker  invited, turned out to be the  highly distinguished  Malayalam novelist,  Sri. M.Mukundan who  recently served as  Chairman of the Sahitya Academy and was  honoured by the government of France with  Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres medal for  contribution to Malayalam Literature in  Kerala State, particularly Mahe which was  once a  French colony. For me it was a moment of honour too because I was directed to offer felicitation for the function.  Incidentally,  in my entire teaching career, I had never ever shared the stage with a distinguished author!

The College Union inaugurations  which I have hitherto attended after becoming a teacher educator  had  guests– some of them  writers,  whose  choice  of  theme  during  the  delivery of their address  leaves  a  deep impression  on the minds  of the listeners.   If my memory is correct, not one  speaker  ever came ill-prepared  for  addressing   students in  the teacher training colleges I have served,  simply because they know  that in the days to come, a large chunk of the audience  would be  becoming  full-fledged teachers  assigned the  job of moulding  young minds. I have also noticed that invariably  the intended message  of most speakers would dwell on the expected  role of teachers in society. 

Sri. Mukundan  began his speech  by referring  to  his habit of attending functions where he is invited to speak without  carrying a prepared speech…confessing  that  such  a   strategy   helps him choose  a topic depending on the mood, the likes and interest of the audience which he is able to see only when he mounts the stage  on the day of the function. It may be noted that on the day he  addressed the  students of the college, 80% of the packed auditorium  comprised women teacher trainees.

Sri. Mukundan  commenced by recalling a teacher of his who had deeply influenced him and with whom he used to discuss literature and philosophy. He also said that the greatest tribute which he could offer his teacher was to  create such a character in one of his own novels. But in the novel,  the  ‘teacher’ dies  and  though the  real life teacher had seen the manuscript of the novel and had appreciated Sri. Mukundan for a well written novel, the teacher expired  before the novel was published.   This  evoked a  queer feeling in the author  for having had the ability to foresee the  death of  a person  whom he revered  in one of his own novels! 

But Sri. Mukundan affirmed that the  best teacher whom he had ever come across happens to be a person who  will never  die….in fact,  that person  has lived  only   in his  novel and was his own creation. Then followed  a brief narration about the ‘teacher’ in carefully calibrated sentences…

The character is a world renowned Professor in an University. The  teacher had  huge  fans in the campus comprising  students both boys and girls  and of course the  teaching staff  too who  used to regularly spend  hours  engaging in  discussions.  The Professor, a bachelor who had  devoted his entire life to acquisition of knowledge was  completely  unaware  of  the way  society  perceived  him though he knew for certain that many admired him for his abilities. 

During one  regular interaction,  he evoked a profound interest in   a girl student who soon became turbo-charged  with admiration for the Professor and gets a bit too close with the Professor. On one such meeting, the Professor, oversteps his boundaries and   has  a sexual  encounter with the  student. Even as the Professor  engaged in  this  act which in the eyes of   the general public  is despicable,  he  took for granted  that  he has not committed anything wrong  simply because  the  girl in question happened to be a  willing partner and  he had never  ever  forced  the girl into have sex with him. 

To the Professor’s utter shock and dismay, the girl in question went public about the ‘deed’  plummeting  the  Professor’s reputation to the  depths of dishonour.  When the  news rapidly spread, the  higher-ups in the  University  considered ways of  covering up the matter, lest it brings shame on the faculty as a whole.  So the Vice Chancellor of the University called the ‘erring’ Professor to his  chamber and offered his willingness to save the Professor on condition that in a Press Conference, the Professor should denounce the whole ‘episode’  stating the girl had concocted everything with the malicious intent of slandering the reputation of the Professor and the University. But neither the Vice Chancellor, nor those who are keen on positions and power in the University have any inkling  as to why the ‘erring’ Professor refused to accept their ‘offer of help’…

Well… the Professor outright refused to  lie and insisted that he doesn’t think that he has done anything wrong and  affirmed that the ‘event’ took  place  through  the complete consent of the ‘girl’. Sri Mukundan’s  novel ends by  describing  what the Professor did… Following the meeting with the Vice Chancellor of the University, the Professor walks out of the University campus never to set foot there to serve as a teacher.  Instead the Professor walks to an institution which cares for street dogs,  takes up a job as a keeper of kennels… and continued living… nursing them! 

Following the narration of the plot of his own creation, the esteemed writer, immediately reminded the audience that its only a story… a story which will never get accepted if it happens in real life in Kerala and for that matter…in  India  too  where  teachers are seen next to God… ones who can never err! 

Before winding up his speech, Sri. Mukundan  recalled an anecdote... He was once invited to address a gathering at an University in France.  While being escorted to the room where he was to deliver  his address,   he  walked past  a  corridor  where a  girl student was seated smoking  a cigarette.  Even as  he was escorted, the Professor who was escorting, borrowed the same cigarette which the student was  smoking, took   a couple of puffs and returned it to the student and  the latter resumed smoking… Next Sri. Mukundan asked  the gathering…Can this happen in India?...He reiterated… the teacher-student relationship in our country  has a sense of  sacredness…