Where is the higher education in TN going?

Call me a sore loser or an activist, i am up sleeves to vent my pent up frustration on the goings of so called Autonomous colleges in TamilNadu.
Much things happen in the months September (setting question papers for November end semester exams) and January, February, March (setting question papers for April end semester exams and being part of practical exams).
It was much better when we had non autonomous colleges. Everything was centralized (to maximum extent, leave some hiccups now and then)and the choice of examiner or question paper setting was strictly according to seniority and rotation basis. I mean, the professor would get a chance only once in a year to a college to conduct practical exams and at times the professor would not get a chance for next couple of years or so. Also, as there were little number of autonomous colleges, the need to churn out question papers was less.
Now comes the scene of granting academic autonomy to colleges by the parent universities. Every college has a controller of examinations and every college frames syllabi of its own choice to cater to the growing need of the real world.
There comes the glitch, the administration part of the academic autonomy!! Lobbying, sounds gross huh, yeah, this is what is happening! It is kinda question paper mafia!! I wonder how many question papers a person can set a semester!With the kinda contacts ppl have, everyone sets question papers for so many colleges, so many papers, and so many branches(even if the subjects sound so remote with respect to their degree, some how contrive the question papers). Eventually, if we are not thorough with the subject, we do not cherish setting the question paper and end up in a non creative, dumb stuff!!!
Subsequently, those who set the question paper for end semester exams have to value the answer scripts as external examiner. Though, you set question papers at random hours, many college have the valuation period more or less at the same time. So, if the person happens to go to two (or more at times!!!) colleges on the same day for correction, i leave it your guess, the gravity of correcting 100 or more university exam papers on the same day!!! Government rules say that no person can claim DA(dearness allowance) more than once in a day!! (coz, the remuneration for correcting papers include DA! Who cares, damn!!!
The scene on the practical exam side is,all the more worse! i think there is dearth of professors around!! :P, same person hops around, and exhausts his/her full quota of OnDuty stipulated by Govt in conducting practical exams in the colleges in and around city!Result is, students never get to see strict examiner (forgot to mention, if u r strict, and stick to rules you will not be called next time as examiner! :) )and this dilutes the system further and there comes a vicious cycle!!! Well, unless you are a kinda person to capitalize your resources (read as contacts!!) or go get person, i swear, you would never become an external examiner in any college!!!Also, everyone will maintain the appointment of external examiner in a college as a military secret, phew!!To top it all, if the person does have another appointment, then he/she will choose his/her friend in their place!! No appointment orders required, just call up the friend on the other end and post this friend there!!!
Now, i feel that, having known what is going around in autonomous colleges, the university cannot keep mum and wash its hand saying that it had granted autonomy. If the grant is been mal-utilized or ill - utilized, then, the university should step in and lay out some rules so that the "academic fiefdom" is been set right!!!!

Day out with my husband's Boss and his Sister!

Just a fortnight ago, my husband's boss from Sultanate of Oman came to Chennai. He was here to be with his niece who came for an emergency operation. My husband requested me to give him a call and if possible a courtesy visit. As I was doing a refresher course in Madras University, Guindy campus, I decided to meet them. Coz, the hospital was relatively close by. I called him to his local number and confirmed his availability and went to the hospital.It was his on third day in Chennai i met him for first time.
I was expecting a man in early sixties or late fifties as my husband said he is his boss! To my surprise he is in late thirties!He was in blemish less Omani dishdasha complete with kumma/kimma. I thot he would not talk much with me as he did not know me. Also, he is miles away in position compared to my husband. So, i was little irresolute what to talk. But, he was quite friendly and responsive. Contrary to Arab men (he is actually Omani) he was freely talking with me about his niece's health, My husband, Omani culture and of course few things about Our India!
1. Food. Omanis are not used to chilly and tamarind. So, he had to starve! It was facetious when he said his tongue was burning after taking a Rasam! ( wondering what if he had been served karakkuzhambu!!!! :) )
2. Autos!!! I could see his head spinning !!!
3. He had rented a flat for three months near the hospital so that his niece can stay over der after the surgery for recuperation. He asked me innocently how much can he give for that flat. I told him may be around 500 Omani Rial (around 60000 rs) as he is a "sheik" ( we Indians never recognize the different types of menswear among the men from middle east, so naturally tend to call every middle easter as sheik). It was my turn to get dizzied down when he said he forked out 1800 RO ( nearly Rs 2.1 lak)!!! (May be the house owner guy will pay one year's EMI)
4. It was on my second visit. I requested him not to get offended if i told him something. He told me to go ahead. I told him not to go out in Arab Costume. Coz our ppl think that all Arab are kings!! His reply was a guffaw!!!!
5.I requested my friend Shyamala to prepare non spicy chicken briyani for them. She said,"as such i am not a good cook. And asking me to prepare a non spicy chicken briyani(?!), may be all the more disastrous". But the he liked the food very much and was really happy!!!!
6. After two days he called me and asked whether i could get him traditional Indian dress (extravagant ones) for his daughters aged 12 and 13. As I did not know how they will look, i did not want to risk! I told him if he or his sister would come with me, i can help them out! Both of them gladly accepted my suggestion. Next day i went to the hospital to pick them up. I thot of taking them to Express Avenue or High Style perungudi. But to my consternation, he said he wanted to go to a exuberant souk (market) called "teenager"!!! (driver translated "teenager" as T Nagar to me!!!). The duo splurged 25k on just 4 slawar khameez and a couple of leather handbags at Pothys!!!!!
7. From Pothys we headed to KFC. He ordered for a family pack. He was altruistic in the sense called the driver too to join for the meal. He made the driver sit next to him, and served him first. I told him right at the beginning that i wont eat non veg, so got a Pepsi and veg burger! There was a huge poster behind me and his sister in which some funny equations were written. He started reading them aloud. Like, one chicken bucket = girl friend, blah blah and finally one family combo meal (which he ordered) = one girl friend + her sister's dating!!! Tapping on the table, he said " i am going to ask for this" with a mischievous smile!!!. When we came out of KFC, he gracefully handed out Indian currencies that had denominations less than 100 to the beggers! (Around 400 Rs)
8. He wanted to see an elephant. We checked with Children's park, but, it did not house one! As it was already around 4pm, i could not take him to vandalore. He loved to see Marina Beach. So, took them through the old and new secretariats, harbour and marina!
9. He loved the books and some games that i got from Odyssey for his four children during my previous visit. So, he requested me to take him to Odyssey, so he could get similar books and games for his children. Just like that he billed for around 10k!
10. Around 7 pm i dropped them in their flat. His sister was really very happy and both of them invited me to their home in Muscat. Both of them thanked me profusely for a lively "around Chennai in ten hours". They were little guilty that i had spent the entire day with them leaving children at home.
11. He swiftly inserted big Indian rupee notes in the driver's pocket and thanked him. I returned home around 9 pm.
12. I went meet him a couple of days later to collect the casserole. Met his niece. She was fine. After sometime, i took leave. Next morning he and his sister were leaving for Muscat. He came with me till the auto stand. On the way I said, he was leaving India with two of his wishes unfulfilled. Asked him what were they? He chuckled and said, elephant and KFC offer!! I said, the offer must be valid in Oman too!! His pink and peach complexion turned crimson!!!
13. After coming home i got to know that he was clueless about hiring a taxi to airport. So, i gave him Fastrack number and informed them.
14. He smsed me that he beholden to me!!!
Nowadays "humility" is becoming almost extinct in human beings that we can even consider the word superfluous. Very few ppl could practice it. He never carried the high-handedness throughout.
"He stands tall by all means in my heart!"

Jayam and Co Anna Nagar, and me

I bought two godrej ac in Jayam and co anna nagar, chennai. Of the two one works well. The other one, which slipped the quality check (!), came out the factory with a broken blower unit. On the very day it was installed, it gave a huge noise. The technicians told us that “the blower” was broken. After a week long hunting for a blower, it was replaced. The problem persisted. I had to make repeated phone calls to Jayam and Co. In turn they made me to run from pillar to post to get in touch with Godrej people to rectify the mistake. Again after a week, the technician who attended it said, the bush that supported the blower unit had friction and that went off. Even after replacing the bush, the air conditioner made a huge noise. Technician who attended the problem washed his hands stating that the blower unit does not sit properly on the bush.
In this context, when I spoke with a Godrej person, he told that he would send a senior engineer to check the A/C and replace as I was totally dissatisfied with the product which escaped a quality check. But, to my surprise, he again sent another set of mechanics to rectify the mistake.
My contentions are,
1. When I paid the full money, am I not entitled for new A/C?
2. As, the product came with an inbuilt fault, and did not even run for an hour, the question of warranty and rectification of mistake do not arise. I need a replacement.
3. Having bought the A/C a month ago, that too paying in one go, why should I beg around everyone?
4. In the process, I had to waste my time roughly 20 man hours, when the mechanics attended the problem. It was highly agonizing and disgusting. I was forced to reschedule my work hours and wait for the mechanics to come. I was forced to sweat for one month gaping at the “new”ly bought A/C.
5. When I made a phone call at 5.45 pm today, I was made to wait indefinitely stating that they would not register a complaint. I was forced to wait for a long time, stating that I may have to register a complaint with Godrej and not with Jayam and Co. I literally had to make so many calls which were transferred to nowhere. As, I have purchased the A/C, with Jayam and co, they have to provide me a solution.

I do not understand, the problem of Jayam and Co. All they need to do is just let Godrej that the ac was a faulty one and replace. It would have saved the grace and time of everyone. Now, after so much of heated argument with everyone I totally lost faith in the consumer service in India.

Everywhere u go in India, the consumer, the voter aka general public is at the receiving end. Still i keep my fingers crossed!!!!!!

Magnificent translation (translator unknown) - Original poem Kalidasa

Every dawn marks a new beginning.
Every dawn, a celebration.
Each day, unique in the magic it holds for change and growth.
A bow to nature's lavish colours, a palette of a million rich shades that are used with such elan, no two displays are similar.
A green meadow dotted with a hundred shades of bright yellow-orange,colours so special you'd have to invent names for.
A deep pool in blatant azure, red blooms line the edge,
a designer couldn't have done any better.
With a display in deep browns and oranges, a desert dazzles,
an instant feast for the eyes.
A waterfall dances and skips, a sonata in lush jade,
as it carves a path to the sea.
No man made feature this,
a perfectly formed arch by a white shore.
A symphony in white and gold, mountains clothed in show for the season.
Each day, unique,
Each day, a feast of colours.
And wrapped up in endless possiblity.
Such is the salutation to te Dawn.
Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and ralities of your existence:
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendour of achievement,
For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is just a vision,
And today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore to this day!
Such is the salutation to the dawn.

Karthigai deepam and colourful memories

I had my childhood in a small but beautiful village called Sengalipuram near Kumbakonam. It was a joint family with more than dozen members including the mischievous lot of four, me, my younger sister, and two cousins.
Every house in the street would have min of four school or college going children. So, it would be a great fun in the morning to look at us going to school coz it would be seem as though it was a mobile school. Unknowing the corollary of laughter (read as laughter therapy), we used to guffaw even for the most "kadi" joke. And most of the time we would be busy finding out who had got what for lunch. Guess! most of us would bring curd rice and the pickle alone would be different. Rarely some of our friends would bring some variety rice and in no time on the way to school we would finish that!!!!!!!!!!! And during the festival seasons we used to take sweets and savouries and eat them on the way to school. So, going to school means " sevikku unavu illadha bothu vayitrukku eeyappadum" kinda experience for us.
Of all the festivals Karthigai Deepam is close to my heart. Of course i do like diwali and pongal (especially that is very famous in villages). But, somehow Deepam takes the first place in my heart. Coz, it is three day long festival. First day, "Chinna Karthi". Just few earthenware lamps. Second day is "Periya Karthi or Big Karthigai deepam". All the earthenware lamps from the attic would be cleaned. As a custom a dozen or two new lamps would be bought. The brassware big ornamental lamps like " Aanai vilakku, paavai vilakku, sara vilakku, kai vilakku, ambari vilakku, kuthu vilakku, malayala vilakku" etc would be cleaned by tamarind and brick powder and would sport blemishless look. After that all the lamps would get nice dots of sandalwood paste and vermilion powder. A glittering array of lamps would be kept on every house's "thinnai". And guess, what we would do! We, even much after the protest from our grandma and great grandma would hold the oil can run around to refill the lamps! Funny times!!!!!
Epitome of this karthigai deepam is the "chokka paanai". I think this is a local ritual in the villages of then Tanjore Jilla. Every temple in the village would arrange for this "chokka paanai". Hearsay is that this "chokka paanai" ritual is associated with King Mahabali. A middle sized tower kinda structure would be raised using straw and other stuff. After lighting deepam in the respective temples, the pujari would light the chokka paanai. All men in the village would hold a torch with vegetable tallow and would get that ignited by the chokka paanai fire.
The point here is, they have to run fast and light the main vilakku at home. We used to stand at the end of the small street leading to temple and referee who comes first. It would be of a great fun to find my father, uncle, why even grandpa trying to come first. If anyone of our family members comes first means, next day on the way to school ur the heroine!!!!!!!!!! This reminded me of the nice film "pasanga" in tamil. coz, we used to persuade men in our family to run fast and come first.
After this chokka paanai galatta, deepam poojai would be done at home. At the end of the poojai, "naivedhyam". Pori urundai, adai, paruppu payasam are the standard items in our circle. Eating crisp pori urundai almost around 9 PM was a jollity. With so many friends around, eating that too without fussing was indeed a pleasure. Evergreen memories twinkle in my eyes!!!!!!!!!!!

Writing in blog and missing interests

I created a blog long back. After a short stint, i made my first post. Then i did not know what to write. Now, i have so much to write. Yet, at times we cannot say why somethings do not occur. I think my interest for net is in complete oblivion. Somehow i steered some interest to write and till this moment i keep typing whatever is coming in my mind. Hopefully i do not end up abandoning this post.
Well in Cheyyar, we live in a peaceful place. Nowadays i could not refrain talking about cheyyar. Much ironic to my initial disappointment now i feel that cheyyar is home away from home. It did not happen all of a sudden. But, once i started looking my life from a position of strength it gradually dawned on me that place is a real heaven. Truly rustic. It is just hundred and odd kilometers from chennai. Yet, unzapped by its nearest metro's influence. True innocent people. You can ask ur neighbour for some green chilly and coriander when ur fridge runs out of them. Strentght of pleasureable neighbourhood is well seen here. Life full of life. No pretentions. They believe less on optic fibres or microwaves. Simplicity is real sophistication. It touches ur heart easily. Slowly i feel that a persistent question "what am i here for" would be answered.
So, it is not about missing interest but about shifting to interesting intersts!!!!!!!!

New College, New Place and New life!

So, after a strenuous orientation course in Chennai, we all got prepared to join our respective colleges that are scattered all over TamilNadu. I was in a state of despondency as I have to live out of suitcases. I have to leave my children behind in Chennai as they are in the middle of an academic year (of course, if i take them out the school in which currently they are studying, it is would be next to impossibility to secure them seat again).
On August 6th I joined Aringar Anna Govt arts college, Cheyyar in the department of Physics. Cheyyar is 100km from Chennai and still farther from Chennai's lifestyle. Have you ever heard of cultural shock? I experienced it there as I found real good mannered students there. It is a good college with better amenities and a best set of staff force. hmm, it was a pleasant cultural shock, as i witnessed well mannered students. College timings is really fantastic. We three, me, mrs.prameela and mrs.kavitha enjoy our life in the rented house in cheyyar. We have plenty of time to discuss literature as the duo is from department of English. Very much away from city's hussle and bussle.
"Whatever happened, happened for the good; whatever is happening, is happening for the good; whatever will happen, will also happen for the good only. You need not have any regrets for the past. You need not worry for the future. The present is happening... "
As Lord Krishna said, the present is really "happening"