Alien rights

Should students from other countries be treated differently? They are not familiar with our system, culture and expectations and therefore may require time to adjust. As a student in America I never got any special treatment and I am thankful for that. But should every foreign student be judged by the same yardstick? The problem is that many of them don't take the initiative or do it very late in the day.
Thai students who suddenly arrived in July 2005 posed a different challenge. The were very timid and unfamiliar with English and it took them a year to gather the strength to come forward and ask for help.
Today, when there is a debate on how to integrate the foreign students into the mainstream, there seems to be no consensus. There is an ad hoc strategy based on individual cases and that does not augur well. We, of course, need to discuss the issue with the stakeholders as it is important for everyone to feel part of the University and be proud of it.
 

Show Time

It is always nice to know about the progress of your students. but when they come together to give a stunning performance it gladdens your heart. the three years of student life in a college is the time to learn, experiment and grow up. friendships are forged and promises made to keep in touch. real life after college leaves no scope for keeping in touch. work, new colleagues and harsh life takes its toll.
It therefore sounds so surreal when so many of them work for a passion and keep the fire going. love for theater may have brought them together but to sustain and pool in their resources for a brilliant performance is truly incredible. there is a great legacy that satya shourie and her troupe have joined. starting with chaitanya, aravind, shibu, rajesh, arif, gautam, rahul, malyaban, nayantara to satya it has been a growing crop of creative, bold and enthusiastic young people reaching for the stars.
The department and college is proud of you guys and acknowledges this achievement. may the flock grow and multiply for we want to be entertained purposefully. Silence! the court is in session was the latest in this endeavour and wishing twisted arrows all the very best and hoping to see more of them in the future.we would of course support you with our presence.

yes, primeminister

PM manmohan singh is making news, yet again. this time he is featured in the washington post. we indians are getting used to making world headlines but we still have a long way to go in dealing with criticism. the post has rightly refused to issue an apology for attacking the leadership of our pm. it is their prerogative and everyone has their viewpoint. just like praising someone all the time does not guarantee a good image, criticism is not going to bring down the image. a person will be judged by his/her work and we have 8 years of upa rule under manmohan singh to judge him.
Whether manmohan goes down as the most incompetent pm or not is a mute issue. the reaction, knee-jerk at that, by the congress adds to the apprehension that this government will utilize every opportunity to silence the free expression. image managers in the government just have to convince a few people at the helm of affairs to change their attitude towards governance- it is not a license to do what they want. just when one thinks that we had the worst case of corruption, another pops up. these are just those that have slipped out- who knows how many are still waiting to explode on the public scene?
When will the governments understand that it is difficult to fool people all the time- action speaks louder than words. act firmly, not after being forced; get rid of all the tainted ministers- there are a lot with dubious records languishing due to their clouts(satraps); get out of the election mode and concentrate on governance.

Freedom Blog

The debate in class on freedom of speech and expression was enlightening. Just imagine if there was any restrictions on expressing the thoughts on need for freedom or even curbs on them in certain contexts. A free discussion of the issue of freedom of speech presupposes freedom to express without any constraint/restraint.
Religion and religious sensitivities is one of the main reasons for many of us accepting the need for restraints on freedom of speech. We are very touchy if someone points to flaws in our religious practices. There is an immediate call for blood and retribution. Which religion has ever suffered due to criticism? In fact it helps in rectifying the outdated, biased and ritualistic practices. Challenging the given is a must for individual and societal progress. Otherwise we will end up perpetuating the wrongs in the name of tradition and culture.
It is always better to have more freedom rather than less of it. A healthy society is based on open and complete faith in freedom. Everything else can be compromised but not the ability to express freely. Of course, there will be abuse of freedom but that is no reason for curbing the same. There are many flaws with our democratic system but that is no reason for doing away with democracy as such. Freedom and democracy go together- democracy cannot exist without freedom.

question time

Came back exhausted from the seminar at iijnm. heard and spoke to phillip turner, bureau chief cnn, new delhi. our students made me proud. they asked appropriate questions and in a proper manner. someone has rightly said that, "to ask questions is an art".
Many of the questions thrown at turner were badly worded and inappropriate. a person who has been with cnn for more than 26 years needs to be asked about his news channel. why do we need validation of our news channels from a foreigner? every country gives rise to its own unique media, situated in its culture, tradition and ethos. it therefore will be highly improper to compare one with that of another country.
CNN has benefited from closeness to the state department. it not only gets access to top politicians and bureaucrats but many stories are broken through the channel- a quid pro quo. the channel is accused, rightly so in most cases, of giving a western nay american perspective to news- is there any other way of looking at events?
Most of our 24 hour news channels take their cue from cnn. the presentation style, the use of technology and the format of programmes are all inspired from cnn. the cnn effect was seen in the coverage of the 26/11 mumbai attack. people all around the country were taking vicarious interest in the violent drama unfolding before their eyes right in the living rooms.cnn says it has learnt from the past; hope we do too.

the north-east

The first time i encountered a person from north-east was when in response to my ad for house-on-rent opendra singh innocently asked whether he will get the house? Opendra is from manipur and had found it difficult to get house for rent due to his distinct features that marked him out. he turned out to be an exemplary tenant for four years.
The unrest in parts of assam had their reverberations in bangalore. the killings of muslims at the hands of bodos in the ethnic riots a few days back was used to paint the entire population from north-east with the same brush. people who had nothing directly or indirectly to do with the killings in assam were threatened with dire consequences in other parts of india, especially in bangalore. holding the entire community responsible for the actions of a few is a dangerous precedent.
Fear is irrational and nobody can be blamed for taking the decision to flee that led to the large exodus of north-eastern people from bangalore in the last one week. life is the most precious thing and this threat to life, however ill founded, created this mass hysteria. we all have a lesson here- learn to get along with one another, after all we are part of the same society.

the Word

Wanted something to shoot from my hips. the title has to be justified. no point in saying the obvious and going along with the others. people are conditioned to say the right thing. it is considered to be in the interest of everyone. now, how can repeating what one wants to hear be in the interest of the society. everyone is busy skirting the issue in the hope that time will heal and set things right.
Assam is burning and burning again. the trigger may be different each time but the issue is the same. politicians will not do anything to solve the crisis as it can be used again and again to whip-up communal/ethnic frenzy. vote-bank politics is seen as the sure-fire way of staying in power. a few hundred lives lost, a few thousand people displaced is well worth the sacrifice to hang on to power.
Solutions are not easy. but they like justice has to be obtained. for how long will we keep referring to them as people from North-East. like the rest of us they are also Indians and we need to make them feel they are in the same motherland.