Kuch kuch Quota hai!

This is what Amul had come up with on the proposal seeking increase of reservation quotas for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Central Universities and premium institutions like IIMs & IITs in April '06

Simply superb!

I got my sole painted!

A follow up of last post.

I said that is was not yet another workshop. It was a different experience.

Vasundhara (see pic- the girl in the green outfit) had organised it well.
The atmosphere was cool (yes, air-cinditioned!), the music inside the room was pleasant, the display of shoes painted by Vasundhara, her cousins and friends was inspiring!

She talked about the philosophy of 'Soul Print'. Spiritual. Yet, this young lady had put her heart and soul into what she was doing.
Her scrap book told us about the extensive research she had done on the designs for shoes. She insisted that we did not copy those designs but drew our own designs.

Well, it was fun all through the three hours.

I only wished there were more kids and young people to encourage her.

I have dispalyed the shoes I painted.

Vasundhara is coming back to conduct another workshop in October. After all the need for educating the under previliged requires perseverance.

If you think that you want to do something for this cause and encourage the younger generation to address such issues, just spread words.

That's all.

Not just another summer workshop. . .

Ever since I started listing the activities for kids, I scan the newspapers from a different angle.
I go through the listings, read articles on special workshops and summer camps. I don't even skip the ads.
One such ad in today's Adyar Times, a neighbourhood newspaper sounded different.
'Paint your sole and touch a soul' - a creative workshop. . . contribute towards education for the under previleged' said the ad.
I have heard that Summer Camps and workshops mint money these days. Some good souls host free camps at the most. But this one made me curious.
And this was enough for me to call the organisers.
I called up the mobile phone number. No answer! I had almost given up gathering more details. But then came the return call. A girl started explaining about what is that 'sole printing' all about with a lot of enthusiasm.
"It's painting on a canvass shoe, the theme matching your personality. If you wear them, it will reveal your personality. This shoe will be a designer one and so will be your exclusive possession"
When I wanted to know more if we have to bring the materials and how much is the charge, she introduced herself as Vasundhara and wanted my introduction.
She has the very pleasing manners, I should say.
Vasundhara is a school student, now in Class 12, living in Adyar but studying in Bangalore staying in hostel. This project is for helping a school in the slum close to Kotturpuram.
She says that her friend's mom is involved in a NGO helping this school. On hearing that they are in need of funds, all Vasundhara could do was to think of something useful with her love for arts. Thus born was the workshop.
Here is a teenager, who thinks about the society, the under previleged children and the ways to extend a helping hand.
I appreciate her spirit. Vasundhara is a student, who has taken up arts. Not in the rat race of so called 'professional' streams. But she has the heart. The mind to think of ways.
I would also like to congratulate her parents. Nurturing is more important than seeding.

The workshop is for two days on May 10 and 11 and is open to all. The fee charged is Rs. 600 inclusive of cost of materials. (And she must have foregone one participant's fee for the ad in the newspaper!)

I will be a part of this little girl's mission. Anyone wanting to join me can call Vasundhara at 24490225. And see you at the workshop!

Why Kaavya Viswanathan should go ahead, get corrected and make a career

I did not want to be the nth person to talk about Kaavya Viswanathan and this is not a criticism about Kaavya, the young author's writings - I would still prefer to call her an author! - But a little research into how this all happened made me think that I should blog about this.

(Photo courtesy - http://www.bookpage.com/

The Harward Independent, the student online weekly poses the question - Did Opal Author Plagiarize or Was It Her Handlers?

"I was surrounded by the stereotype of high-pressure Asian and Indian families trying to get their children into Ivy League schools," she told the New York Times on April 6. caught unawares, the Viswanathans sought the help of a professional college-counselling firm, IvyWise, which costed "$10,000 to $20,000 spread over two years."
They hired Katherine Cohen, founder of IvyWise and author of "Rock Hard Apps: How to Write the Killer College Application."

So one needs an agent to write the college applications in the days of companies like monster.com writing your CVs for jobs!

Kaavya started cello lessons at the age of five, studied four foreign languages beginning at the age of six, had near-perfect SAT scores and was president of three honours societies in high school. She has been writing as a passion, even from her school days. No doubt, she is talented. And some of her former professors agreed that she "had enough talent to become a teenage author"

Then why plagiarise?

After the charges of plagiarism were all out, Kaavya said she had read McCafferty but called herself "the victim of a photographic memory"

I would call her - the victim of faulty education system, the victim of parental pressure, the victim of engaging paid agents for admission to top-notch colleges and a typical misguided youth.
Mr. Chip Scanlan, please pardon this kid!
And the latest news is that 'The Record' is all set to investigate the two dozen articles she wrote as a summer intern at the newspaper in 2003 and 2004! And they have plans to vet her articles through LexisNexis, a public records database!
I would like to go back to my earlier posting.

If it is not Ivy League, it is not the end of life. I believe each bird has its worm in this huge world and each one of us is created for a specific purpose.
And in the language of any religion in this world, we have the right to do the duty and not to expect the benefit.
Let us teach the younger generation that they all have talents of their own and never they require to do anything which is not their cup of tea!

Come on Kaavya, you have your own space in this universe and there is always success after failure!

Typically IITians!

An open confession : This is a post unduly delayed!

'May you be tough as a rock' - a quote from Rig Veda introduces the new political party of the 'educated' India to you. You guessed it right - I am talking about Lok Paritran.
The party is busy as the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu are almost a fortnight away. Every college kid talks about the party and takes part in the rallies and campaigns organised by the party. The 'bike rally' on May 1, attracted many such kids!
It is really a good sign that people of Tamil Nadu have felt the necessity of change in the system. And to see the 'learned lots' don't mind standing in the queue to get their names to the voters list, is heart warming.
When I was reading the interview with a few members of the party in The Hindu, I just could not stop relating their words with their educational background.
1. Their website is another page of 'online learning'. Have a look at the diagram and explanations about each line of their slogan in their 'philosophy' page!
2. To a question about their chances to win - Santhanagopal Vasudev says, "... But all I can say is there is a chance of winning." Tanmay Rajpurohit seconds it in the IITians' language - "There is a non-zero probability" Now it is time every voter knew about the 'probability axioms'!
3. To a question on the decision about the constituencies they fight, Tanmay again puts forth all the statistics -
"There's been an 18 per cent to 20 per cent drop. In Mylapore, last election the voter turnout fell from 59.4 (in 1996) to 41.6 and in Chepauk, the voter turnout fell from 58 per cent to 42 per cent." - Just short of explaining statistical variabiliy!
4. They promise good governance, tranparency, accessibility and freedom from coruption. But commented "we don'r have a clean delivery system." Hope they were not talking about Nuclear weapon delivery systems!
5. They have confessed that their technical knowledge is not going to be of much use. But I suggest that they update their website at least once a week with the help of volunteers. After all they have a host of youngsters working for them. A few of the 'mentally strong - physically weak' can be deployed in a air-conditioned computer rooms instead of biking for the party in the hot summer, which is always worse than the previous year. Their 'Upcoming events' page is last updated on Feb. 5!
6. About the resources they have, here is what they say -" Tanmay: We have about 2,000 volunteers and 750 members. There are 1,116 streets in Mylapore. If we allot 10 streets for groups of two, we can easily cover it pretty soon." Worth taking a tutorial on Permutations and combinations!
Am sure, Sudhish Kamath would have smiled all through the interview with these 'Davids'. (though he had tough time managing - mark isuak, who kept commenting to his post of April 15!!!)
But I would definitely agree with these youths that RDB (I have not seen Yuva.) is badly conceived and one can't see a movie and go out to float a party - Typical IITians' roar of laughter at the end of the interview!

About the first line - I am an ardent lover of Marie Corelli's works and it is borrowed from the title of her book - An open confession to a man from a woman - published posthumously in 1925!