64.Release of ‘The Journal of Social Empowerment’

 

To honour  and disseminate  the writings of the  Hindu sage and social reformer,  Chattambi Swamikal (1853-1924),  recently the   Shri Vidyadhiraja  International Study and Research Centre   was set up   in his birth place, Kannamoola, Thiruvananthapuram.  Yesterday, Sep 05,2023,  four books and two journals  were  released at a function held in the centre.

 As  Associate  Editor, of the Journal of Social Empowerment,   I had  penned an article entitled ‘Empowerment initiatives for the public :  Critical review of  100 years  old official documents of the state of Travancore’.

 

Abstract

European   and Indian historians   who studied the lives of the people of  Kerala have  documented the  plight of the backward communities particularly  of the  nineteenth  and the early twentieth  century.  Thanks  to social reformers like  Sree Narayana Guru, Chattambi Swamy and  Sri Ayankali,  a slow  transformation happened in the lives of  members of the backward   communities. One significant contribution of these leaders was the attempt at sensitizing  their  communities to the need for education for empowerment.

There  are  several  definitions of  empowerment and  writers  like Adams  have  pointed out  the perils of focusing on just one  definition. A minimal definition of empowerment  which   one  may adopt  could be one which implies the capacity of individuals, groups and/or communities to take control of their circumstances, exercise power and achieve their own goals. (Wikipedia)

The  investigator   while  attempting  a  review of  narratives  of empowerment in Kerala, noted the emergence of a pattern.  Most such narratives  seldom  presented the empowerment process  as  the coming together  of  two parties- one desirous of  empowerment   and the external agency making the realization of  empowerment a smooth process. For instance, narratives of empowerment particularly by the newly  empowered   attributed their success  entirely  to  own  sacrifices  punctuated  by   struggle  and  oppression. Similarly there  are  narratives  that  project the view that it was solely  by conversion  to  Christianity that  certain depressed classes  became empowered. And in modern times we have  come across assertions that it was  open  resistance to the indignities  of inequalities  through grass root level political  struggles  that  empowerment happened in Kerala. A critical reading of such narratives gave the investigator the impression that  such narratives  are slightly biased,  or even lopsided.

But when the investigator  stumbled upon certain official documents,  published 100 years ago, in the  southern state of Travancore,  a  completely different picture began to emerge. The entries in the documents underscored the  enlightened vision of the  rulers  who assiduously attempted  empowerment of own subjects through policies and  legislations.  This prompted  the investigator  to  engage in a quest for historical truth.

This paper  attempts    a  review of  three significant official documents  published  one hundred years  ago. The review  besides providing  an insight into the socio-economic  conditions of the 19^th and early 20^th century,    reveals  how   the   vision,  the  passion and the  sense of  concern for  the well-being of own people displayed by the  rulers of the  state of  Travancore, opened up an avenue for empowerment. This   along with the  steps initiated  for   transforming  the  educational  scenario  led to  a  complete transformation  of the socio-economic well being of  the backward  communities in  Kerala. The  investigator  concludes  by attributing the  current status quo  and the  privileges  which the  once  termed  backward communities enjoy now, partly to  the vision,  initiatives  and support provided by the rulers of the state of  Travancore.  

Key  words:  Backward classes, Education,   Empowerment,  Travancore, Vision

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Cover  page of antique  books  which formed the primary source of the  study

 

 

63.Film and Life

 I  am very selective  in  watching films. This is particularly so during Film Festivals.  As a principle, I  view only  three  films  on a  single day  and in extreme cases  view four with  a  gap for rest between films.

 Normally,  I choose  the films to watch by reading the  Handbook supplied prior to the Film Festival.  The one which  concluded recently (27^th International Film Festival of Kerala 9-16 Dec 2022) was no different.

 The first film I chose to view was Life in Silence.(La Vida En El Silencio) Mexico/2022/Colour/125’/Spanish

Director and Screenplay: Rodrigo Arnaz

 

Sometimes  films are chosen  based on earlier reviews  which I have  read,  awards won previously,  and of course the  name of the Director.  In this case however it was the summary which  lured me to watch the film. The summary in the Handbook reads:

 “A young musician who is a single parent battles everyday to communicate with  his autistic son through music, until one day the kid’s  mother  shows up after eight years of absence, only to reveal  that he is not the kid’s biological father.”

 I must  admit  that  it was my   background in Education as a discipline  and  the  relationship between  music  and communication which  made me  choose the film for viewing.  But  after watching the film, I found that the summary  did not  capture  the  essence of the film so  I thought  I should write  about it. So here goes:

 A  devout  father  patiently  looks after  his  autistic  son  who  only communicates  by  uttering the sound “aaannnnn” in a high pitch voice. For the father, each day is a struggle in trying to  bathe/dress  and feed the boy. The child is sent to a special school where lucky for  the father,  an understanding  Special Education teacher  takes  care of the  child. 

 

There is one  scene in which  the  father  meets  an old  lady who adores  the  child and father.  I guess it is either the man’s mother or  elderly aunt (?) The father asks   :  Don’t  you think that my son  sees me only as  a robot that feeds  him every day? To this the elderly lady who is very understanding by nature,  replies  that  even though the boy doesn’t talk  he  feels  everything!

The father is a musician but does not have a steady job. He  plays  live music in several restaurants to earn a living. But unable to pay  for the tuition fee, the son is kicked out of school.

 One  day  while  feeling low, the father  plays on the piano an adored possession which he has in his home.  The son is  rarely receptive to music, and on that particular day the child  seats  himself beside his father and  plays  just  one  key ‘G’ continuously at  regular  intervals.  This the father notices  and  tries to catch  the boy’s  attention by  playing other  keys  during the intervals thereby  creating a musical note. But  sadly for the boy,  the  sound it produces when he  presses the key or  utters ‘aaannnnn’ is the sole thing that matters. The  rest for  the father and the viewer  is  nothing but ‘silence’.

 So  what is the message of the film?  The father was  trying to add  interesting  aspects of  life  for the boy when  it  remains  silent even though the father’s own life is full of silence  as he has to take care of an autistic child  after  being ditched by  his wife.

 Perhaps the  film  was  indirectly  giving the message  that  it up to us to add variety to  a life in silence. As an extension I would like to add that the  Smart Phone we all have  access to and without which it is hard to live is like  the piano that provides  music.  When one  opens ones  Facebook page  one gets  addicted to it . But the Smart Phone also has other apps,  for news, for games,  for learning a new language, for entertainment and what not…If one discreetly chooses the different apps (Keys for Piano) one gets  a variety of  input!  But it is  up to  individuals to choose how to add variety to the  input  available on ones  Smart Phone…In short one has to choose  discreetly.

 The child acted  so well  and deserves an award.  The  message of the film  thrilled me… Hope you  too will like the film.  Do watch the  official trailer to get a feel of the film:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvJcY38-rwk&ab_channel=PrimeVideoM%C3%A9xico

 

62.In Memoriam… Flowers

 

In the time line of the existence of our Universe, the lives  of  human beings   on  planet  earth, is likely to be  only a tiny dot. In that  single  existence some  become  ‘emperors’  conquering  vast  territories   decimating  all those  who oppose  them physically, intellectually or materially. Some others   pile up wealth more than what one needs this life time  and some  after growing  up  to  a ripe old age, cease to exist! They would  all  have  in their  childhood  brought   joy to  own parents; in  ones  youth   made  a  sweetheart  miss a heartbeat and  in  ones old  age,   if  lucky  enough  to have caring  children, made them feel  proud of  having  an adoring parent. And finally  when  it’s  time to  take ones  last breath,  whether  consciously or by some misfortune through  a freak accident  wrung out of one’s  body…so long as one  brims with life, if  one  lives  spreading   joy for   a  few  people,  one should  consider one’s  life  fulfilling!

Why such  philosophical musings?...Well, I  adore  flowers  which  have a  miniscule  life span when compared to humans. They  don’t eliminate  other flowers nor  hoard honey and  fragrance  as  humans  pile up  wealth. And while they  exist  ...they spread infinite  joy to those  willing to  receive their  enthralling beauty,  sublime fragrance  or succulent honey…and at the end of a day  when a gentle breeze  knocks  them down, they  fall in silence and  in  a  day or  two merge with the soil.

This comparison with human beings have often made me wonder  why humans  don’t learn anything from flowers…There will be  tombstones  for  humans  big and small  but  nothing  for  a  flower  which gave everything  without  receiving…This prompted me to  capture  the  images  of  flowers  which  drew my attention  wherever I go,  with my mobile camera….I have been liberally uploading  them on Blog posts  as  a memoriam  for  their  gracious existence….

Would you like  to see  a  sample…Please view Edufruit  Blog

 http://edufruit.blogspot.com/?view=flipcard       which has a template that displays  over a hundred flowers  which I uploaded one at a time…As  you gaze….do   ask yourself : Am  I  spreading joy  too, like flowers?

61.A State of Equilibrium

Equilibrium:  the state   of a chemical reaction in which its forward and reverse reactions occur at equal rates so that the concentration of the reactants and products does not change with time.

                                                                  -www.dictionary.com

Atrocities against women is  increasingly becoming a regular news item  in  local Malayalam dailies…

“What we need   is  a   healthy dialogue  between the sexes… Outright  denunciation of  one  sex  for  crimes  against the weaker sex  does  not  get us anywhere…”  said           Dr. Divya S.Iyer  IAS, Deputy Collector, Thiruvananthapuram, inaugurating ‘Chaya-2017’, the  Women’s  Day  programme of the Govt. College of Teacher Education, Thiruvananthapuram. Ms. Divya  went  to  add : “ when there is  a   sharing   of ideas  on  an equal   level…similar to the one  seen in  a  state of equilibrium of  a chemical reaction … there is  greater  harmony….”

To  a query posed by a student  on why with a  MBBS degree  she opted for joining  the Civil Services,  Ms.Divya  said she “likes to face challenges…”

60. Seminar excerpts –Education at the Crossroads

As a member of the Executive Committee of  the Council for Teacher Education, Kerala State Centre, I was assigned the task of documenting the proceedings of the International Seminar on Education at the Crossroads: Tilting Social Equations (edu@tse-17) and XV annual convention of  CTE, Kerala Centre  organized by St. Thomas Training College, Thiruvananthapuram  held from 02 to 04 February 2017.

Here are a few excerpts from the  speeches made by invited guests and Resource Persons:

In Dr.C.P.Sreekantan Nair, President of CTE, State Centre, in his presidential address of the inaugural function, lamented the current social scenario in India and opined that teachers have failed in their duty to instil proper values in students. It is a pity he said that we are being led by ‘intellectual dwarfs’ and ‘academic pygmies’ leading to the fall in educational standards. Dr.Nair expressed his hope that seminars of the kind organized  by CTE would  help improve teacher education in the State.

Mr. TP. Sreenivasan, former ambassador of India commenced his inaugural address with a note of caution...   “Education, today is the most dangerous thing to talk about”.  He pointed out that  during his tenure as Vice Chairman of the Higher Education Council of Kerala State, he had an opportunity to study the  educational  system in the country and  realized that several Commissions of Education and great  men from Swami Vivekananda to Sam Pitroda have spoken about strategies and solutions for addressing the educational  problems, but pitifully enough failed to pursue the ideas suggested.  It is as if we have diagnosed the patient, prescribed the medicine but failed to administer the medicine.

Mr. Sreenivasan pointed out that autonomous educational institutions  though few in number is needed  to improve  the standard of education but  in Kerala State it is  perceived as unsuitable. The use of technology for educational purposes, the change of the University Grants Commission from a  funding agency to a real Education Commission,  the pursuit of educational research,  the equipping of  children to meet the demands of the 21^st century are things that should happen if educational standards are to improve in the country.   Sri Sreenivasan was  rather  saddened by the fact that Higher  education in the state is politicized.  He said that a new mind set is essential without which seminars of this kind  cannot make real change.

Dr. Sukumaran Nair, the former Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University, in his key note address recalled the long educational tradition in India with world class universities  centuries ago. He said that we have had great teachers like Dr. Radhakrishnan and several Commissions  of Education have advocated the changes to be implemented in India. But unfortunately,  education has failed to progress along proper channels resulting in our Universities maintaining a low level in world ranking.  It is a pity that though new ideas have been suggested in education, what we see is the strengthening of outmoded educational practices.    Dr. Sukumaran Nair concluded his speech by  pointing out  that we should  move  from peripheral levels to deeper levels and  force quality into  educational practices whereby knowledge will be created. Such meaningful implementation, Dr. Sukumaran Nair opined  has to be  followed up by social auditing. 

Dr. A. Abraham, Director, Neurolinguistic Programming and Life Coach, delivered a talk on Neurolinguistic  Programming.  In his talk, Dr.Abraham sensitized teachers to the need for familiarizing themselves with learning styles, learning preferences, learner attitude and the necessity of adjusting and adapting ones own teaching to suit  individual learner need.  The importance of  providing activities for brain gymnastics and states of mind that  affect learning was also referred to in his talk.

Dr.D.Babu Paul IAS (Rtd)  a former Additional Secretary of the Govt. of Kerala delivered a talk on the theme ‘Teacher as Mentor’. Dr. Paul began his talk recalling the special role once  teachers  had namely that of a worker of God, but, today  this has been replaced by  the birth of teachers who  like industrial workers  fight for their rights. Teachers  rarely become an experienced and trusted advisor and guide. 

Dr. Paul pointed out that as a mentor, the teacher has several roles to play: Identify special skill of each child, help them choose an appropriate career, help children find a worthy  purpose in life  and  also help  them  acquire the skills necessary to achieve that purpose.  More importantly teachers have to help learners imbibe  an appropriate value system. Given the fact that we live in a knowledge society,  the changed role of a teacher as mentor would be: Guiding children how to learn, how to unlearn and how to re-learn and for this,  in the modern age technological resources can come to the aid. It is only when a teacher becomes a mentor  he will  be performing his real role and will be remembered with gratitude by  ones own students.

Dr. Achuthsankar S. Nair,  Professor and Head of Bioinformatics, University of Kerala,  delivered a talk on Teaching in the Google Age. He began  by pointing out that  teaching and learning  has become very exciting with the growth of technology. This is particularly evident in the teaching of Mathematics which students in schools usually approach  with a sense of fear. The multitasking habit of children today and the reduced attention span Dr. Achuthsankar  said can to a large extent be addressed through  modern learning gadgets including the smart phone. He concluded by affirming  the use of technology which has become the prime parameter for teaching in the Google Age.

During the  Valedictory address of the seminar the chief guest, Dr.Kuncheria P. Isaac, Vice Chancellor, Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam  Technological University referred to the ability of great teachers who could  teach complex topics in an easy manner. He stated that his philosophy of teaching is : “Teach very little, stop teaching and learn a lot”. He also pointed out that  creativity is not  fostered in our schools  and went on to ask a thought provoking question: “Why don’t we teach Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in a creative way... perhaps using drama or theatre?” Before concluding he hoped that teachers will try to properly prepare school children before they  enter  Higher Education institutions. He reiterated the need to foster among  school children Critical thinking skills and Problem solving skills.

Over sixty papers were presented  by teacher educators, research scholars and students of Education.  Here is a   PPT slide shot of a paper entitled Morality at the Crossroads: The necessity of addressing changing cultural equations  through teacher education: