Would you Send your Child to a Government School?

My neighbors have been extremely worried since the last few months – the reason being their four-year-old daughter’s education. The major tussle was regarding the selection of a private school over a government one. “We just couldn’t risk a government school for our daughter,” is what they have to say. Unfortunately, they are not the only ones who have to go through this turmoil of parenting (deciding on the right school).

Even worse, this problem is not a recent development in the Indian education scenario in spite of the fact that the present government spend per child per month is more than the fees in 80% of the private schools. But still, the government schools in rural India are a pitiable sight. The scenario certainly differs a lot in the semi-urban and urban areas in terms of proper infrastructure, but the peril right now is that as much as 80% of the funds allotted to government schools is spent only on infrastructure and teacher’s pay and not on enriching the way education is imparted. Using it as an advantage, the private schools have managed to gain popularity among the parents.


Cut to the metros and there is a sea change in the way parents look at the type of schooling they want for their children. Most, if not all, believe that they should rather spend more and send their children to the nearest DPS (Delhi Public School)or an Oakridge International School instead of a government-run school. As one of the parents( a couple in my colony) points out, “I want my son to get educated in the new westernised method where there is much more than mere classes of English, History and Maths. Public schools have classes like mental maths, playing with ceramics, fashion and textile, and teachers are readily available for counselling to help build up the personality of a child.” In fact, these parents believe that the teachers in such schools are helpful and are willing to extend help even beyond class hours. But this is possible only for those who can afford such form of education. Thus, the question remains: What about the major part of the population that still can’t afford to send their children to these "plush" private schools?

But the reason is more deeply rooted. The lag is in the accountability. For example, autonomous bodies like Kendriya Vidyalayas, which also are aided by the government, perform really well in managerial level, financial accountability, output from students and parents satisfaction. And the reason is that they are answerable to their authorities as well as to the parents. Thus, the only way in which the educational quality of the government-run schools can be improved is by setting benchmarks in terms of output.

The Black Book By Orhan Pamuk-My Favorite.

The Black Book is a gigantic work. And, in the way that I suspect most readers might understand the term, there is no plot. Suffice it to say that Galip wakes up one morning and his wife has disappeared. He assumes she has gone off to seek out her first husband, Celal, a well-known newspaper columnist. Galip sets off to find Celal and, he assumes, his wife, but strangely the journalist has also disappeared. As a means to help him track down the two missing people, Galip immerses himself in Celal’s life, his writing and, gradually, his very identity. Effectively he becomes the person he is seeking. He re-reads his past work and discovers unknown things about his own, his wife’s and her former husband’s past. By then, however, we cannot be sure if we are dealing with reminiscences of Celal, Galip’s interpretations of them, Galip’s reworking of them, or, indeed, Galip’s own words presented as if they were those of Celal.But the plot in The Black Book is almost irrelevant. It’s not a book that one reads to discover what happens. It’s a book that’s replete with flavour, experience and history, and the reader feasts on vast helpings of all three.Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul – let’s face it, there is no other city on earth that has been named three times and where, on each occasion, that name has passed into language as an expression of political, strategic, religious and economic pre-eminence. It’s a city that bridges continents, ideologies and faiths. Nowhere else on earth has a greater claim to the very quintessence of humanity than Istanbul. And yet modern Istanbul is a Turkish city, and perhaps its most fascinating aspect is its potential to mirror contemporary debates on religion versus secularism, tradition versus modernity, imperial past versus global present.The Black Book has thirty-six chapters, each having its own title and prefacing quotation. The form, at least in part, is its content, in that each chapter could be read as if it were an article written by Celal or by Galip impersonating Celal. There is no linear narrative. We experience what inspired the writer and there is no ordering of time or place. But we feel we are in that city. We feel we are living its history, whatever that might be. And we feel we are experiencing contemporary debates on its and its people’s identity. The city is central to everything in the book, with its multiple histories and allegiances mixed into the melting pot of its contemporary form.Throughout, Galip finds he gradually becomes his quarry, Celal. He trades identities and roles, but never permanently, never for sure. In this way the characters become the city, whose sense of place and multiplicity of identities pervade all, thus mirroring the apparent confusion of its – and humanity’s – complexity. But the people eventually are always welcomed by some aspect of the city’s – and humanity’s – multi-faceted nature.The Black Book is a work that demands to be re-read, but not because it is in any way a difficult or impenetrable read. I have never been to Istanbul, but like the book, I feel it will be an experience that, once tried, will demand to be re-visited.

Eat More Eggs For Better Health.

A little over a fortnight ago I found myself on a footpath, sheltering under trees from rains kicking in the monsoons. Motorcyclists caught unawares by the showers hastened likewise to the trees, water dripping off their faces. The drizzle strengthened before thinning out. It takes a few drizzles before umbrellas begin to make an appearance each rainy season.Parked alongside was a rickshaw carrier, with “Eat More Eggs For Better Health” displayed prominently at the back. Lest those unfamiliar with English miss the message, the vernacular version in Devanagiri script ensured the non-english speaking Marathi manoos would not let up on the hens either. The Marathi version is read in the above picture.

Mars Dust Devil Has Colorful Effect in Image Series

Scientists have combined a trio of shots taken seconds apart through different colored filters to create a special-effects portrait of a moving dust devil on Mars.

The panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit was taking exposures through different filters during the 1,919th Martian day of Spirit's mission (May 27, 2009) as part of constructing a large color panorama. Three westward shots, with several seconds intervening between them, caught a whirlwind in motion. A composite image combining the three exposures to make a color image of the Martian ground shows the dust devil in different colors, according to where it was on the horizon when each exposure was taken.

Dust devils occur on both Mars and on Earth when solar energy heats the surface, resulting in a layer of warm air just above the surface. Since the warmed air is less dense than the cooler atmosphere above it, it rises, making a swirling thermal plume that picks up the fine dust from the surface and carries it up into the atmosphere. This plume of dust moves with the local wind.

More than 650 dust devils have been recorded by Spirit since its operations began in 2004. The mission is currently in its third season of dust devils on Mars, which typically begin in Martian spring.