Department Farewell Function Address to the Students

on FAREWELL-10/02/2013 Bidding farewell brings to my mind Gabriel Okara’s poem Once Upon a Time where he says, “I have also learnt to say, ‘Goodbye’ When I mean ‘Good-riddance.’” Indeed, in a world where we ‘laugh with our teeth’ and ‘shake hands without hearts’, it is understandable that we lack sincerity and warmth of feelings when we say,’farewell.’ However, when out-going students are bidden fare well by the Department, it’s a sincere wish that they be fair in their dealings en route to fairing well in their life and career. Teachers, of course, feel flattered if it turns out in due course that they and the Department have been a value-addition to the students’ development. This official farewell notwithstanding, I must say that the students were much ahead of the times in that much before this occasion, they took French leave of us-they just stopped coming to the classes! Yet, I don’t regret that for I believe in the wise saying that a good teacher is one who makes himself gradually useless! Therefore, when students stop coming to my class I am on cloud nine. The gradual disappearance of the students from my class is enough empirical evidence of the fact that I am a good teacher! Good teachers don’t remain useful eternally. They gradually back off leaving their students capable enough to fend for themselves. In addition, I am not one of those advocates of having a captive audience in the classroom by hanging the sword of attendance percentage over the students’ heads. Nevertheless, I am sure the students know that if they fail to prepare, they must prepare to fail. The second option will not come into play, I am damn sure! For there’s no use digging the past. It’s about utilizing what is left before you. You still have a few days and a few nights before your examination which is your immediate goal. “Though much is taken much abides.” I am sure, you are a bunch of young men and women ‘strong in will’ ‘to strive, to seek, to score!’ Even then, in the intervening period between this moment and your final exams if you realize that I am still useful-there by proving me not good- you can always get in touch for remedial measures. You know you can get in touch with me on any highway, be it real or virtual (more so the virtual).

RESPECT IN EQUAL DAILY INSTALMENTS

Every teacher likes to be ‘pen’pared and ‘booked’ on Teachers’ Day. This addiction, though, at the College level is a recent phenomenon. When we were college goers, Teachers’ Day was considered ‘schoolish’. However, things do change. This Teachers’ Day brings to my mind the delicate image of the House Sparrow. When we were college goers, we didn’t hear of the House Sparrow Day which is celebrated today on the 20th of March every year. The fact that the bird is slowly going the dodo way has demanded the spread of awareness through such ‘Days’. Is the species of teachers too going the House Sparrow way that it needs conservation through awareness via the celebration of a ‘Day’? No doubt, the teachers have faced challenges at different stages of human history. However, the resilience of the teacher is remarkable. Therefore, there’s no cause for concern. One of the first challenges to the relevance of the teacher was posed in the ‘Dvapara Yuga’ itself when Ekalavya achieved mastery with distinction in his discipline through self study. But Drona cleverly kept the teacher’s flag flying by getting Ekalavya’s thumb chopped off by taking recourse to the ‘guru dakshina’ stratagem and rendering him incapable of practicing his art to perfection. Since then, the relevance of the teacher has rarely been challenged. However, in recent times, another bigger challenge has come to the breed of teachers. We call the monster ‘Google.’ The teacher’s relevance is once again questioned as the student can get all his questions answered and doubts clarified by summoning Mr. Google. A mobile phone with a Rs 99/- per month GPRS pack can give the teacher a run for the money. Again, it’s the thumb that’s the villain of the piece. One just needs to press the thumb on the mobile QWERTY key board to summon up Mephistopheles Google with all his answers. Perhaps, this is the reason why teachers see red when students use the mobile phone on campus. You can’t, after all, get all those thumbs chopped off. So now, the target is the gadget. Teachers have other weapons too to face the challenge. You can google your way to knowledge, but you can’t google your way to the examination hall. Here you need attendance, and that too 75%! Therefore, teachers are bound to get a captive attendance with the threat of low attendance constantly staring at the students! To make a long story short, even Google can’t outsmart the teacher. The teacher will always remain relevant. So there’s no worry even if a Teachers’ Day or too is sabotaged by occasions like the Tithi of the Saint. However, on a serious note, the teacher’s goal should be to make himself gradually irrelevant. Only when the teacher has made himself irrelevant, can one say that the student has come of age. Continued relevance of the teacher is not a positive comment on the teacher. To come back to the threats, there’s not to panic. We are too smart to be outgoogled. Meanwhile, let’s just bask in the glory of the day. At the same time, let’s hope that the students don’t spend all their respect and love for us on this day. For you need love and respect in equal installments on all 365 days of the year.

Grading System :
(a) Conversion of marks to Grades :
Actual marks secured by a group of candidates are converted into Relative
Percentile (R) before conversion into Relative Letter Grades. The maximum
Actual marks (i,e. Highest mark) (M) secured in a particular Group is converted
into 100% and other actual marks (A) secured by the students of the same groups
are converted to the Relative Percentile.
R= (100 / M)XA where R= Relative Percentile
M= Maximum (Highest) marks in the class
A= Actual marks of a student who passed I.e., if the
actual marks is not less than 30%
(b) Conversion Table for Relative Percentile into Letter Grades and Grade points.
Range of Relative
Percentile
Letter Grades Grade point
90-100
75-89
55-74
40-54
30-39
If A / or F is below 30 %
A
B
C
D
E
F
10
8
6
4
2
0
(C) Conversion of Grades of CGPA & CPI :
Grade point average (GPA) is used as a numerical survey of academic
achievement, First, Grades are assigned to points in a 10 points scale as follows:
A= 10 points, B= 8 points, C= 6 points, D= 4 points, E= 2 points, F=0 points.
Secondly, the hours of credit for each course are multiplied by the Grade point
value to determine the honour points. The honour points are then added for all the courses
/ papers in a Semester. The same of honour points in a given semester is then divided by
the total number of credits.
Example :
Course No. Course/
Paper
Credit Grade Point Honour
Point
Chem-401 12 A 10 120
Chem-401 12 B 8 96
Chem-420 12 C 6 72
Chem-60X 8 D 4 32
Chem-430 Laboratory
work
16 A 10 160
60 480
Grade point average (GPA) = 480 / 60 = 8.0
Cumulative Performance Index (CPI):
The final result of a four Semester Course is expressed as the average Grade
points obtained by the student in the entire course:
CPI = (CPA) Sem-I+ (GPA) Sem-II (GPA) Sem-III+GPA Sem-IV / 4
(d) Conversion Formula: for m Grades to P.C. of marks for Humanities and Social
Science:
For CGPA upto 9.5 : (5XCGPA)+20
For CGPA above 79.5 : (65XCGPA) -550
So, for c lass-I minimum CGPA be 8
For class –II minimum CGPA be 5
For other subjects / disciplines :
For CGPA upto 9.00 : (10 X CGPA)-5
For CGPA above 9.00 (15 X CGPA)-50
In order to qualify for a P.G. degree a student must secure CGPA of minimum 5.0
(equivalent to 45% marks).

Time present and time past...

Each time there's a peccadillo or a horrific act committed by some misled young men, the oldies get down to their characteristic bashing of the present, as if all was hunky dory when they were young. They start haranguing the youth with their pet lecture on the degeneration in all spheres-culture, morality and what not? Macaulay rightly talks about the fact that society, while constantly moving forward with eager speed, constantly looks backward with tender regret."If we were perfectly satisfied with the present, we should cease to contrive, to labour... ...And it is natural that, being dissatisfied with the present, we should form a too favourable estimate of the past." So fair enough, guys. But i still don't find a convincing answer from these revivalists as to the causes of this 'degeneration'. I know Indian hockey degenerated post Astro turf. But what has caused the degeneration in other spheres? Some introspection on the part of both the old and the young is needed perhaps, instead of the bashing.
But we should take this revivalism with a pinch of salt, to put it mildly. Ranade's words should be paid heed to by the revivalist-"...What shall we revive?...The men and the gods of those old days ate and drank forbidden things to excess in a way no revivalist will now venture to recommend. Shall we revive the twelve forms of sons, or eight forms of marriages, which include capture and recognised mixed and illegitimate intercourse? Shall we revive the Niyoga system of procreating sons on our brother's wives when widowed? Shall we revive the old liberties taken by the rishis and by the wives of the rishis with the marital tie? Shall we revive the hecatombs of animals sacrificed from year's end to year's end and in which human beings were not spared as propitiatory offerings..."(Indian Social reform, cited from The Past and Prejudice by Romila Thapar)

RAMBLINGS ON TEACHERS' DAY

Let me at the outset salute my teachers on the eve of ‘Teachers’ Day’-Hats off to those great souls. However, I would not overdo this show of respect by saying that all that I am today is thanks to my teachers. That would mean blaming my teachers. Much of all that I am today are failings and weaknesses. My teachers are not responsible for those glaring aspects of me.
The preparations for celebration of the occasion on campus by the students are fantastic. However, it reminds me of my school days. When we were college goers, Teachers’ Day was considered the exclusive property of schools. Of course, in the last decade or so may things in college have gone the school way. The College uniform is one such thing.
All said and done, everyone, including teachers, would like to be pampered on at least one day in the year. However, I would like to urge the students not to shower so much respect on this day that none is left for the other 364 days! One should not also respect others so much that there is none left for himself!
Teachers today are continuously at the receiving end. Every one teaches the teacher today. Intellectuals, pseudo-intellectuals, politicians, former teachers, assume the role of teachers, while it is the teacher who hardly teaches, for the poor soul is busy enhancing his A.P.I!
Besides, the teachers are constantly under the scanner. Every moment the teacher has nightmares of the cctv camera following him, and the installation of the punching machine. It’s a fact that all the logistics are towards reigning in the teacher. This surveillance grows in proportion to the teachers’ salary. Now that teachers are ‘rich’ post-revised scale, the knives are out. Indeed, to be ‘poor’ is a virtue in India.
However, the teaching profession was never thought of as a ‘hazardous’ one. However, a Times of India article the other day has proved to be a game changer. Teachers, it says, are at risk of allergies because of the chalk powder, they could also lose their voice dealing with large classes. Besides, the postures that a teachers need to take can have a toll on his body.
The utility of the teacher is also under threat. It was Ekalavya of Mahabharata fame who threw the first salvo by opting for Distance mode of education. The spurt in Distance education at present is a renewed threat to the relevance of the teacher. Of course, in one sense, the teacher has to make himself gradually irrelevant. Only then, he or she could be considered a good teacher. Talking of teaching, I am reminded of the saying, ‘an ordinary teacher tells, an average teacher explains, a good teacher demonstrates, a great teacher inspires.’ However, this is often misinterpreted and teachers merely inspire without teaching! Technology too is a threat to the relevance of the teacher. Now you learn everything if you just have a mobile with packet data connection. It is the ‘rule of the thumb’. Use your thumb, and the World Wide Web is your teacher.
These ramblings notwithstanding, let us spare a thought for the man in whose memory this day is celebrated-Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the second president of India. May his tribe increase. We need philosophers, and we need statesmen just as we need teachers. We need philosopher Kings-though not of the Machiavellian kind.

No.1esque performance

I have been a hard core cynic as far as Indian cricket is concerned, perhaps because of the media hype around cricket and cricketers in this part of the world. Still,have been following cricket keenly for donkey's years. And it's been always a case of India flattering to deceive in Tests! Team India has always been unstoppable at home-especially since the Azhar-uddin saga. Even Steve Waugh could not conquer the 'Final Frontier.'But wins overseas have been few and far between. For a long time, we had to recall the 1986 series win against England in England by Kapil's Devils to talk of India's overseas triumphs! But things have changed-changed indeed. The Ganguli-Wright combo heralded this change. We started winning in countries like England and West Indies( though today's Windies are a far cry from the indomitables of the 70s and 80s).We started winning in New Zea land too where even the mighty Windies faltered! Yet, the win at Perth was the only one we could show against Australia.A series win against Oz down under and a away win against the Proteus would surely make the No.1 status more convincing. But things are on the right track. The way India came back to win the second Test at Durban after the mauling at Centurion was No.1esque. And they are putting up a gritty show at Cape Town too. So the signs are there surely.

Knowledge as a Liability!

Bliss was it when I was a 404 man. Could easily dodge the mouse. But since turning literate, it's been difficult to ignore without intervening in the intellectually-bankrupts'assays. Earlier the ignorance was blissful as I was a Persona-non-Grata in the elite laptop flaunting circle. But one can't feign ignorance and tolerate idiotic work for long. one has to stand up and be counted. Knowledge here becomes a liability-not power. The more you see crap around you, the more you get involved in areas that could hitherto be avoided. Tolerance is indeed a virtue! For without this trait you are forced to squeeze time out to enlighten people on a plethora of issues, besides working yourself in the grave yard shift.