Does India live in its villages? Does asking this question 62 years after Independence make its rural economy and population more relevant? No, sadly, it doesn't very much. But the village definitely has potential. What lives in the villages is India's massive votebank. Repeatedly abused, often ignored and rampantly (mis)used. A recently released study by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) looks at infrastructure, governance and other challenges facing India's cities and metros and proposes, amongst other policy reforms, a sweeping overhaul of the way cities are managed (including appointing CEOs and the like) and pumping in massive amounts of funding to make them ready for the 590 million-odd people that will reside in them by 2030. A detailed analysis of the migration from the village to the city or the semi-urban area, an all-too-common phenomenon for lack of opportunities/growth prospects/survival mechanisms in the villages linking it to such studies will go a long way in addressing these critical issues.
However, as much as I am a city gal (skyscrapers do make my head spin and Lutyen's Delhi has spoiled me beyond words), my heart and sanity to a large extent are beginning to need a regular infusion of the gaon. There's a purity in the air there that cities cannot match. I am not just referring to the weather but to attitudes as well. Depending on one's definition of quality of life, I'd say, its so much better in many rural areas than in our cities! Yes, its difficult to get power and water a lot of the times. And many village folk do not have access to basic services including primary health care centres, toilets, banking, grocery stores. But the food always tastes nicer, people are kinder and gentler, there's plenty of greenery (in most parts), lots of animals and beautiful birds, a sky full of bright stars. So the gaon also gives me a sense of hope. One day, I hope to muster up the courage to spend an extended period of time there (I still fall prey to the city's offerings: pools and nice roads, nice cars, shopping) and in the process learn about the way villagers lead their lives, with respect for the environment, in today's concrete, urban-centric world.
At the stroke of the midnight hour
02 June 2010
13 May 2010
Yatra, Zimbly Zouth
My cousin recently hinted that I needed to blog a lot more on my travels than wax eloquent on the state of the nation. S, I'll oblige, quite happily! Work took me to Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Tamil Nadu (TN) last month - yes, yes, I know, *not* the best time. But heat and humidity notwithstanding, it was a very 'warm' visit.
Traveling across India is a fairly unique experience: its at once overwhelming, overcrowded (for the most part) and at times overbearing. However, what's omnipresent is a sense of genuine hospitality and belonging; right from the humble village lady who offered us a home-cooked meal to the luxury hotel staff who went out of their way to make us comfortable. It didn't matter that I had not visited those regions earlier or that I spoke neither of the local languages...there's a familiarity in the everyday surroundings and happenings: from the ubiquitous chaiwallah to the coconut seller to the barber in his makeshift workspace on the pavement to the utterly unproductive task of a municipal corporation employee sweeping away at a busy street intersection (the Rozgar Yojana on display, if you will) to the numerous street dogs who just know the perfect spot to catch a nap on a hot and dusty afternoon to mothers everywhere hurriedly ferrying their children to the school auto / bus and back home.
Then there's comfort food. As much as I adore my ceviche, injeras, sushi and prosciutto with melon, this I will confess: bad Indian food is still way better than bad food anywhere else. Maybe its the intoxicating aroma of the cooking oil and ghee or the fact that most of us live to eat. Or just the fact that for a vast majority of the population, there is still no substitute to actually cooking a meal from scratch. It unites strangers (picture a roadside dhaba where truckers congregate to break bread after a long day), it brings family together, even provides fodder for budding romance! Even I, who do not normally enjoy a meal of rice, tucked into the Hyderabadi biryani, the bisi bele bhaath and curd rice with gusto on this trip. I suppose, in India, there's comfort in food.
Although we didn't spend much time in either of the metros Hyderabad or Chennai, I liked what little I saw. Hyderabad has a spectacular new airport with a very efficient connector toll road to take you right into the city. For years, most roads in South India have been better than those in other states and the newer highways are built like international roadways. Now if we could only find a way and a reason to clear the filth and garbage at a macro level, our cities would look so much more presentable and would definitely be more 'livable'. Chennai feels like an older city, with a stronger colonial hangover than Hyderabad and quite different from the Rajdhani with its brashness and over-the-top show-and-pomp requirements. In many ways it reminded me of Pune - the traditional stronghold that one senses and sees - mogra gajraas, silk sarees (yes, indeed, even in 40c+ weather), the many old (Anglo) colleges and educational institutions, lots of female drivers on the roads and sadly, horrendous traffic patterns. Disclaimer: I do not wish to imply that there is any correlation whatsoever between the gender of the driver and the utter lack of traffic structure :-)
I need to write more about my visits to the rural areas in the states...next post on this for sure!
Traveling across India is a fairly unique experience: its at once overwhelming, overcrowded (for the most part) and at times overbearing. However, what's omnipresent is a sense of genuine hospitality and belonging; right from the humble village lady who offered us a home-cooked meal to the luxury hotel staff who went out of their way to make us comfortable. It didn't matter that I had not visited those regions earlier or that I spoke neither of the local languages...there's a familiarity in the everyday surroundings and happenings: from the ubiquitous chaiwallah to the coconut seller to the barber in his makeshift workspace on the pavement to the utterly unproductive task of a municipal corporation employee sweeping away at a busy street intersection (the Rozgar Yojana on display, if you will) to the numerous street dogs who just know the perfect spot to catch a nap on a hot and dusty afternoon to mothers everywhere hurriedly ferrying their children to the school auto / bus and back home.
Then there's comfort food. As much as I adore my ceviche, injeras, sushi and prosciutto with melon, this I will confess: bad Indian food is still way better than bad food anywhere else. Maybe its the intoxicating aroma of the cooking oil and ghee or the fact that most of us live to eat. Or just the fact that for a vast majority of the population, there is still no substitute to actually cooking a meal from scratch. It unites strangers (picture a roadside dhaba where truckers congregate to break bread after a long day), it brings family together, even provides fodder for budding romance! Even I, who do not normally enjoy a meal of rice, tucked into the Hyderabadi biryani, the bisi bele bhaath and curd rice with gusto on this trip. I suppose, in India, there's comfort in food.
Although we didn't spend much time in either of the metros Hyderabad or Chennai, I liked what little I saw. Hyderabad has a spectacular new airport with a very efficient connector toll road to take you right into the city. For years, most roads in South India have been better than those in other states and the newer highways are built like international roadways. Now if we could only find a way and a reason to clear the filth and garbage at a macro level, our cities would look so much more presentable and would definitely be more 'livable'. Chennai feels like an older city, with a stronger colonial hangover than Hyderabad and quite different from the Rajdhani with its brashness and over-the-top show-and-pomp requirements. In many ways it reminded me of Pune - the traditional stronghold that one senses and sees - mogra gajraas, silk sarees (yes, indeed, even in 40c+ weather), the many old (Anglo) colleges and educational institutions, lots of female drivers on the roads and sadly, horrendous traffic patterns. Disclaimer: I do not wish to imply that there is any correlation whatsoever between the gender of the driver and the utter lack of traffic structure :-)
I need to write more about my visits to the rural areas in the states...next post on this for sure!
01 May 2010
Each One Teach One
We've all probably heard these before....each one, teach one / when you educate a man, you educate a person; when you educate a woman, you educate a family. Well, after seeing so many rural women in India get trained on basic writing and math skills and in turn getting more empowered and self-confident and taking charge of their household finances and other key decisions in the past few months, I've been meaning to attempt the same within my own little community. Yesterday, out of the blue, my cleaning lady asked me simply, is today the 30th? I replied in the affirmative and then asked her if she knew whether this month had 31 days or not. She didn't have a clue! So I decided that this was the moment for me. My moment to teach one and I thought I should get her started with reading numbers and interpreting a calendar.
As an aside, I refrain from calling her my "maid" because she is so much more..she's one of the first persons I meet most mornings: a hardworking young Bengali lady, unfailingly punctual, honest and trustworthy, with a smile on her face and genuine affection for our cats (yes, that is very important :-)), ready to start her job, sadly, for not a whole lot of money. In spite of paying her 'significantly above-market' fees, praising her for her work and offering her paid leave (much to the chagrin of some of my neighbours, who chided me for 'spoiling' her), I still think we vastly underpay our hired help. Too much supply? Perhaps. That's only because of the lack of opportunities in the regions of their origins. I suspect I learn a little bit from her everyday - about tolerance, humility and living within one's means. About being calm in the face of adversity and sharing joys and sorrows. Maybe she's actually the teacher and I the student.
Back to my role as the teacher. Why the humble calendar? Its a ready reckoner for so many possibilities. I would like her to keep track of her own monthly activities, income and expenses, important dates and events. I want her to create milestones for herself and her family, which she can then record. I wish I could get her to remember her birthday, but that, unfortunately, is not a day worth taking note of for her or countless others like her. She tells me she's probably around 35 and already a grandmother of an 18-month old boy. That's right, its the same old story: she was married off at 14, became a mother at 16 and has repeated the cycle with her own daughter. I want her to eventually manage her own time and not be a slave to the demands of everybody else on her time.
Today is May 1st and its celebrated as Labour Day in India. So I will dedicate this post to all our hired help who make life so very easy for us and to hired help everywhere. May they get all the dignity they deserve.
As an aside, I refrain from calling her my "maid" because she is so much more..she's one of the first persons I meet most mornings: a hardworking young Bengali lady, unfailingly punctual, honest and trustworthy, with a smile on her face and genuine affection for our cats (yes, that is very important :-)), ready to start her job, sadly, for not a whole lot of money. In spite of paying her 'significantly above-market' fees, praising her for her work and offering her paid leave (much to the chagrin of some of my neighbours, who chided me for 'spoiling' her), I still think we vastly underpay our hired help. Too much supply? Perhaps. That's only because of the lack of opportunities in the regions of their origins. I suspect I learn a little bit from her everyday - about tolerance, humility and living within one's means. About being calm in the face of adversity and sharing joys and sorrows. Maybe she's actually the teacher and I the student.
Back to my role as the teacher. Why the humble calendar? Its a ready reckoner for so many possibilities. I would like her to keep track of her own monthly activities, income and expenses, important dates and events. I want her to create milestones for herself and her family, which she can then record. I wish I could get her to remember her birthday, but that, unfortunately, is not a day worth taking note of for her or countless others like her. She tells me she's probably around 35 and already a grandmother of an 18-month old boy. That's right, its the same old story: she was married off at 14, became a mother at 16 and has repeated the cycle with her own daughter. I want her to eventually manage her own time and not be a slave to the demands of everybody else on her time.
Today is May 1st and its celebrated as Labour Day in India. So I will dedicate this post to all our hired help who make life so very easy for us and to hired help everywhere. May they get all the dignity they deserve.
16 April 2010
Cricket's Chump Change...
....this is not. Fact: IPL is valued at over $4 billion (to put things in perspective, that amounts roughly to half of the government's allocation to NREGA or equals its outlay to agriculture and allied activities this fiscal year, more on that in another post). Two new franchises, Pune and Kochi, are worth more than the original 8 teams put together. Admittedly, Kochi's fate is now on a sticky wicket and murky(ier) details of the deal are expected in coming days. Unfortunately, the numbers involved are so large that nobody is going to give up without a fight and several third umpires will be called upon to reach a settlement. Kings XI Punjab is up for grabs at..hold your breath....$300 million! Every franchise is set to make a profit of Rs. 25 crores (over $5 million) at the end this season. Not surprisingly then, barely 3 years old, some look upon IPL as a major corporate entity, the kind that draws attention from around the world. SK told me that major basketball leagues in the US are valued at several hundreds of millions of dollars, however the NBA is a well-established, long-running institution in its own right, it has been built and strengthened over several years and when "in season", is the cause of major grief (for me) owing to its all-pervasive nature: TV, streaming over broadband, chat fora, etc. etc.
I'm quite convinced that this is a bubble. IPL is on a high only because of the financial backing they have (thus far) from business houses, Bollywood biggies (admittedly a debatable tag) and the like. However, it has a weak foundation of new and emerging talent. They are fortunate to have some of cricket's best (err..old) players currently playing across all teams, but there's scant attention being given to developing a talent pool that we can draw from in the coming years. Hayden, Gilchrist, Jayasuriya, Ganguly have been off-colour for the most part and newer players exhibit more style in their hair than in their stroke play and swing/spin.
Where is fair play in all of this? I was quite excited when the IPL was launched back in 2008, it was an Indian brand that overseas players wanted to be associated with. We finally didn't need to show off the odd English county association. It commanded credibility and attention. Modi and company (MAC for lack of a better acronym) need to be (re)told the story of the hare and the tortoise. The Tatas and Birlas and Ambanis certainly didn't build their empires in a day and its a lesson MAC would do well to heed. IPL shouldn't crumble like the Kotla pitch, but its repute is on a downhill slope and it can redeem itself only by focusing on the sport, not just the game.
BCCI, with its bursting coffers, can well afford to take a step back to reevaluate and redesign its long term association and strategy with IPL. Also ,what this controversy should lead to is a tightening of the bidding and selection process through enhanced transparency and accountability, i.e. good governance. It needs to serve also as a warning when there comes a time to launch another major sporting league in the country. IPL must be saved, if nothing, then for giving us a reason to turn on the idiot box every evening after work and watch the United Nations of the cricket world converge on a level playing field.
I'm quite convinced that this is a bubble. IPL is on a high only because of the financial backing they have (thus far) from business houses, Bollywood biggies (admittedly a debatable tag) and the like. However, it has a weak foundation of new and emerging talent. They are fortunate to have some of cricket's best (err..old) players currently playing across all teams, but there's scant attention being given to developing a talent pool that we can draw from in the coming years. Hayden, Gilchrist, Jayasuriya, Ganguly have been off-colour for the most part and newer players exhibit more style in their hair than in their stroke play and swing/spin.
Where is fair play in all of this? I was quite excited when the IPL was launched back in 2008, it was an Indian brand that overseas players wanted to be associated with. We finally didn't need to show off the odd English county association. It commanded credibility and attention. Modi and company (MAC for lack of a better acronym) need to be (re)told the story of the hare and the tortoise. The Tatas and Birlas and Ambanis certainly didn't build their empires in a day and its a lesson MAC would do well to heed. IPL shouldn't crumble like the Kotla pitch, but its repute is on a downhill slope and it can redeem itself only by focusing on the sport, not just the game.
BCCI, with its bursting coffers, can well afford to take a step back to reevaluate and redesign its long term association and strategy with IPL. Also ,what this controversy should lead to is a tightening of the bidding and selection process through enhanced transparency and accountability, i.e. good governance. It needs to serve also as a warning when there comes a time to launch another major sporting league in the country. IPL must be saved, if nothing, then for giving us a reason to turn on the idiot box every evening after work and watch the United Nations of the cricket world converge on a level playing field.
13 April 2010
East and West
What a great weekend! The lazy kind with a movie date night and al fresco dining and lots of cricket. I still cannot get over how 'posh' cinema halls have become in India. Multiplexes with fancy food counters (hot dogs with mustard..since when did mustard replace chutney, and more importantly perhaps, why?), ushers, unbelievably comfortable seats, Dolby surround sound and so on. All this with a hefty price tag..Rs. 530 for 2 tickets. In real terms, that's about 12 USD, and possibly $25 in PPP terms. Not cheap by any measure. The average urban middle-class Indian spends a significant portion of disposable income on such evenings, in addition to expenses on food and drink.
If we could move so far ahead in setting up and embracing this spanking new movie viewing experience, how about changing our mindset and subsequently our behaviour a little bit? Its really a pet peeve with me. In recent times, I have never watched a film in India without being disturbed by the incessant phone ringing that goes on in the hall. Followed by either obnoxiously loud chatter or the hasty whisper "mein cinema mein hoon, baad mein phone karta hoon"...err, seriously? Worse still, you politely ask somebody to zip it and they respond with a standard 'amagancy hai'. Aarrggghhh. Whatever happened to common decency? Its getting better though...the last time, a lady was actually reprimanded by her fellow movie goers for yapping away. We saw Hurt Locker which opened here this past weekend. I enjoyed it, but didn't really think of it as a film, its more in the docu-drama category. That was my 'West fix' for the day. Funny how my Hollywood connection is getting weaker and weaker - the last time I watched an English movie (Inglorious Basterds with the brilliant Brad Pitt) was last October. Its Bollywood with a Bang these days. When in da Rome, do the Romans :)
We tried out a relatively new restaurant 'Emperor's Kitchen' for dinner. The name conjured up mouthwatering images of steaming, light dimsums, scented jasmine rice, duck curry, green tea. Whoever said location is everything knew what they were talking about. Its in the green and quiet 'Mahrauli' neighbourhood with the Qutab Minar for company. We got a table in the courtyard right by a giant TV screen beaming the Mumbai Indians / Rajasthan Royals game. Unfortunately, the menu turned out to be more Thai than Chinese (I love Thai food, but Thai High is an excellent restaurant in the same locality for this cuisine!). Decent appetizers, mediocre entrees, lovely dessert (you can't go very wrong with creme brulee). The service was almost too eager to please. India has come a long way since our Veg-Nonveg-Mughlai-Chinese phase and the dining scene in Delhi is indeed second to none, but this place needs more work. The lamb was perfect in bits but chewy and rubbery in others. And the rice..can we please get over our Basmati fixation when pairing it with exotic non-Indian dishes? It just doesn't click. But my 'East fix' wasn't all bad; our drinks were refreshing and it was a fun couple of hours. I love watching people and post 9.00 pm is the time when Dilli ke dilwale step out in all their finery. Mummy, Papa, Bua, Tauji, Chachu, little Chintu, Bunty, etc. etc. One BIG happy family. There's a lot of wealth in this city and people aren't afraid to flaunt it. The Mercedes C class, parked next to the BMW which was next to the Audi Q7 all bore testimony to this fact. East and West converged that evening, proof that we are riding the wave of change.
If we could move so far ahead in setting up and embracing this spanking new movie viewing experience, how about changing our mindset and subsequently our behaviour a little bit? Its really a pet peeve with me. In recent times, I have never watched a film in India without being disturbed by the incessant phone ringing that goes on in the hall. Followed by either obnoxiously loud chatter or the hasty whisper "mein cinema mein hoon, baad mein phone karta hoon"...err, seriously? Worse still, you politely ask somebody to zip it and they respond with a standard 'amagancy hai'. Aarrggghhh. Whatever happened to common decency? Its getting better though...the last time, a lady was actually reprimanded by her fellow movie goers for yapping away. We saw Hurt Locker which opened here this past weekend. I enjoyed it, but didn't really think of it as a film, its more in the docu-drama category. That was my 'West fix' for the day. Funny how my Hollywood connection is getting weaker and weaker - the last time I watched an English movie (Inglorious Basterds with the brilliant Brad Pitt) was last October. Its Bollywood with a Bang these days. When in da Rome, do the Romans :)
We tried out a relatively new restaurant 'Emperor's Kitchen' for dinner. The name conjured up mouthwatering images of steaming, light dimsums, scented jasmine rice, duck curry, green tea. Whoever said location is everything knew what they were talking about. Its in the green and quiet 'Mahrauli' neighbourhood with the Qutab Minar for company. We got a table in the courtyard right by a giant TV screen beaming the Mumbai Indians / Rajasthan Royals game. Unfortunately, the menu turned out to be more Thai than Chinese (I love Thai food, but Thai High is an excellent restaurant in the same locality for this cuisine!). Decent appetizers, mediocre entrees, lovely dessert (you can't go very wrong with creme brulee). The service was almost too eager to please. India has come a long way since our Veg-Nonveg-Mughlai-Chinese phase and the dining scene in Delhi is indeed second to none, but this place needs more work. The lamb was perfect in bits but chewy and rubbery in others. And the rice..can we please get over our Basmati fixation when pairing it with exotic non-Indian dishes? It just doesn't click. But my 'East fix' wasn't all bad; our drinks were refreshing and it was a fun couple of hours. I love watching people and post 9.00 pm is the time when Dilli ke dilwale step out in all their finery. Mummy, Papa, Bua, Tauji, Chachu, little Chintu, Bunty, etc. etc. One BIG happy family. There's a lot of wealth in this city and people aren't afraid to flaunt it. The Mercedes C class, parked next to the BMW which was next to the Audi Q7 all bore testimony to this fact. East and West converged that evening, proof that we are riding the wave of change.
07 April 2010
Education and the Public Good
Two announcements were made recently. The first (in chronological order), to allow foreign universities to set up campuses in India (University of California at Panipat, anyone?) and the second, the Right to Education (RTE) Act, whereby all children aged 6-14 can avail free and compulsory education. Two plans, initially aimed for two completely different groups, the haves and the have-nots. But I think the beauty of this is that should RTE take off (and by that I mean, have long term impacts, e.g. probable changes in the composition of our labour force), we will see a greater proportion of our children being able to complete on a global platform, right here in India. A tall order, yes, but brimming with possibilities.
Dr. Manmohan Singh announced on national TV last week that education is what has made him while recounting his humble beginnings and restated the importance of this opportunity for every child in the country. For a Prime Minister to say this is actually heartening, especially when we've had to get used to living with politicians of dubious distinctions: criminal records including fraud allegations, rape charges, smuggling, organized crime, etc.
Let me start with RTE. So what's the problem here? Quality. We can build a million schools, but if our teachers don't teach well and our students don't study well, we can't build a nation. Teacher absenteeism and lack of quality training still plague the country's schools and thus sadly, over half of our primary school-going kids are unable to read or write correctly. What a waste of public resources, both human and financial. Part of my job requires me to examine the counter-factual. i.e. what would happen in the absence of this initiative / scheme / hypothesis? What would happen if the RTE were not implemented? Sure, we'd still probably see hoards of kids making their way to school in all sorts of weather and terrain, some sitting under the roadside lamp to study in the wee hours of the morning, some reading their textbooks while helping their mothers prepare an evening meal for the family. But the RTE in theory presents an opportunity to cut down their travel time to the school (1-3 kms restriction), and in fact make more schools accessible to more poor youth by reserving a proportion of seats in private schools.In short, really, its aimed at creating a more conducive 'learning environment'.
The key to success of this programme is two-fold: (1) to incentivize the system such that leakages (of time, money, supplies) are plugged (better pay, better infrastructure, cutting down on the deprivation that we've seen all too often). So many of our people have gone without so much for so long that its almost impossible to see well-stocked classrooms with blackboards and chalk sticks and wooden benches without expecting them to be taken away at some point. (2) to make all stake-holders accountable to the system through better testing methods, by grading teachers on performance (of their own teaching and outcomes of their students) and by making students understand the meaning of 2+2 rather than spoon feeding the answer to them.
We spend so much time on structure of the syllabus that we lose sight of substance of the syllabus. Pondering over whether a class 10 student needs to take a "Board" exam or not is hardly optimal. At the age of 15, musn't the student have a solid grasp on math, sciences, languages and literature anyway, irrespective of the testing body or methodology? Its a collective failure if that isn't achieved! And when teachers and students can focus their energies more on 'education' than on 'exams', its definitely going to be more rewarding for both. And for the country at large. Imagine nurturing a talent pool of highly skilled labour that is far greater than all the top-notch professionals we lose to the West every year? India, now that is worth the investment.
Moving on to foreign varsities. I'm hesitant because I am not entirely clear about this initiative. Is the purpose only to hand out Ivy League or other degrees (with a 'Made in India' disclaimer?) or are schools really going to invest here? The last thing we need is another group of utterly unemployable grads, albeit with fancy tags. Will they develop infrastructure here or piggy-back off exiting systems? What it should do is increase competition in the market and raise standards of local universities. There's also a chance it might crowd-out some of the smaller domestic players. My suggestion for these varsities is to collaborate with precisely these small players who might already be reasonably well-established in their fields of study or/and geographical regions. A joint venture of this kind might just pay off. Its probably not enough to retain those kids for whom a foreign degree is merely a step towards migration, but if it can impart quality education to others, that's good for the public.
Dr. Manmohan Singh announced on national TV last week that education is what has made him while recounting his humble beginnings and restated the importance of this opportunity for every child in the country. For a Prime Minister to say this is actually heartening, especially when we've had to get used to living with politicians of dubious distinctions: criminal records including fraud allegations, rape charges, smuggling, organized crime, etc.
Let me start with RTE. So what's the problem here? Quality. We can build a million schools, but if our teachers don't teach well and our students don't study well, we can't build a nation. Teacher absenteeism and lack of quality training still plague the country's schools and thus sadly, over half of our primary school-going kids are unable to read or write correctly. What a waste of public resources, both human and financial. Part of my job requires me to examine the counter-factual. i.e. what would happen in the absence of this initiative / scheme / hypothesis? What would happen if the RTE were not implemented? Sure, we'd still probably see hoards of kids making their way to school in all sorts of weather and terrain, some sitting under the roadside lamp to study in the wee hours of the morning, some reading their textbooks while helping their mothers prepare an evening meal for the family. But the RTE in theory presents an opportunity to cut down their travel time to the school (1-3 kms restriction), and in fact make more schools accessible to more poor youth by reserving a proportion of seats in private schools.In short, really, its aimed at creating a more conducive 'learning environment'.
The key to success of this programme is two-fold: (1) to incentivize the system such that leakages (of time, money, supplies) are plugged (better pay, better infrastructure, cutting down on the deprivation that we've seen all too often). So many of our people have gone without so much for so long that its almost impossible to see well-stocked classrooms with blackboards and chalk sticks and wooden benches without expecting them to be taken away at some point. (2) to make all stake-holders accountable to the system through better testing methods, by grading teachers on performance (of their own teaching and outcomes of their students) and by making students understand the meaning of 2+2 rather than spoon feeding the answer to them.
We spend so much time on structure of the syllabus that we lose sight of substance of the syllabus. Pondering over whether a class 10 student needs to take a "Board" exam or not is hardly optimal. At the age of 15, musn't the student have a solid grasp on math, sciences, languages and literature anyway, irrespective of the testing body or methodology? Its a collective failure if that isn't achieved! And when teachers and students can focus their energies more on 'education' than on 'exams', its definitely going to be more rewarding for both. And for the country at large. Imagine nurturing a talent pool of highly skilled labour that is far greater than all the top-notch professionals we lose to the West every year? India, now that is worth the investment.
Moving on to foreign varsities. I'm hesitant because I am not entirely clear about this initiative. Is the purpose only to hand out Ivy League or other degrees (with a 'Made in India' disclaimer?) or are schools really going to invest here? The last thing we need is another group of utterly unemployable grads, albeit with fancy tags. Will they develop infrastructure here or piggy-back off exiting systems? What it should do is increase competition in the market and raise standards of local universities. There's also a chance it might crowd-out some of the smaller domestic players. My suggestion for these varsities is to collaborate with precisely these small players who might already be reasonably well-established in their fields of study or/and geographical regions. A joint venture of this kind might just pay off. Its probably not enough to retain those kids for whom a foreign degree is merely a step towards migration, but if it can impart quality education to others, that's good for the public.
01 April 2010
Counting the Crores..and then some
We are a country of over a billion people, about 130 crores at last count. The decennial extravaganza that we remember as the "census", is all set to begin its ambitious journey today to tell us exactly how many more Australias we have added to the world, besides other things. Its a potential goldmine for people working with household level data. This is no April Fools' joke!
Touted as the world's largest demographic exercise, India's 2011 census will be rolled out amidst talk of a population database, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDIA), security concerns such as cross-border illegal immigration and new parameters such as the measurement of phone and PC usage, the spread of financial (e)services and availability of drinking water. Get ready to be asked questions of economic, social and cultural implications, except one obvious dimension: your caste. In a country where caste-based reservations play a crucial role in our everyday lives, from getting admits into schools and colleges to even being eligible for certain jobs, authorities have decided that self-reported data on caste beyond SCs and STs is not credible enough and therefore not worth recording. Huh? How exactly do you then get a caste certificate? How is that process credible? I've long believed that opportunities should be created for individuals on the basis of economic need, not solely on the basis of one's lineage. A poor Brahmin child deserves as much of a push as does a poor Adivasi child. Won't they together contribute toward our demographic dividend and build the pyramid? Good points now. Biometric information will be collected - fingerprints, etc. eventually feeding into the National Population Register (NPR), which in turn will help generate unique 16-digit IDs for all legal citizens, so we are finally rid of the one million ID proofs that we currently need to furnish for the simplest of tasks. Not to mention getting rid of the middleman - for attestations, validations and all those related yet completely unproductive tasks. I can hardly wait!
I've often heard overseas visitors remark "there are so many people everywhere" and they seem rather overwhelmed by the mass of humanity at railway stations, bazaars, tourist spots, places of worship and elsewhere. This is our human capital and how we nurture it today will reflect in tomorrow's gains. What some call a liability, we need to use as an asset. This leads me to my next post on quality education and equal opportunities for all. But that’s for another day. Till then, happy counting!
Touted as the world's largest demographic exercise, India's 2011 census will be rolled out amidst talk of a population database, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDIA), security concerns such as cross-border illegal immigration and new parameters such as the measurement of phone and PC usage, the spread of financial (e)services and availability of drinking water. Get ready to be asked questions of economic, social and cultural implications, except one obvious dimension: your caste. In a country where caste-based reservations play a crucial role in our everyday lives, from getting admits into schools and colleges to even being eligible for certain jobs, authorities have decided that self-reported data on caste beyond SCs and STs is not credible enough and therefore not worth recording. Huh? How exactly do you then get a caste certificate? How is that process credible? I've long believed that opportunities should be created for individuals on the basis of economic need, not solely on the basis of one's lineage. A poor Brahmin child deserves as much of a push as does a poor Adivasi child. Won't they together contribute toward our demographic dividend and build the pyramid? Good points now. Biometric information will be collected - fingerprints, etc. eventually feeding into the National Population Register (NPR), which in turn will help generate unique 16-digit IDs for all legal citizens, so we are finally rid of the one million ID proofs that we currently need to furnish for the simplest of tasks. Not to mention getting rid of the middleman - for attestations, validations and all those related yet completely unproductive tasks. I can hardly wait!
I've often heard overseas visitors remark "there are so many people everywhere" and they seem rather overwhelmed by the mass of humanity at railway stations, bazaars, tourist spots, places of worship and elsewhere. This is our human capital and how we nurture it today will reflect in tomorrow's gains. What some call a liability, we need to use as an asset. This leads me to my next post on quality education and equal opportunities for all. But that’s for another day. Till then, happy counting!
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