Workshop on English and Empowerment...!

Our next workshop will be held as scheduled this Saturday, 30 JUNE 2007 at Selaiyur Hall Indoor Stage, MCC from 9.30 am to 12.30 noon, with a tea n snacks in between. Come and be a part of the Empowerment series. Admission is free and this programme is exclusively for my students, past and present.

Kudos for honoring the teacher's word: The special few

Daniel Jesudoss, J
Judaeleazar, J
Palleti S.Santhi Swaroop
Sam Benjamin, J
Sushant Anugrah Ekka
Christina Susan
Gifty Varghese
Irene Grace
Jennita Queeny
Kalaiarasi
Karan
Koil Thangam Addlin
Mercy Mary
Noeline Shirome
Sayujya Sankar
Sherine Allena Joseph
Shipporah Jayaseeli
Smitha Susan

Keep up the good work! God bless you!

Principles for my life - I BA English students come out with the principles they cherish in their life:

Supriya - Never gets angry and never hurts anybody.

Priya - Wants to lead a meaningful life.

Karthik - Never says lies.

Laxman - To live every second as it were my last.

Nancy - I pray to God daily.

Thirumurthy - Self motivated and think postively always.

Sylvia - I follow good behaviour.

John Jeba - Follow Christ.

Stanley - I want to be the best example in front of my friends.

Navitha - To live my life as it comes and never worry about anything.

Shloka - I practice Yoga daily in the evenings.

Dayanand - I use my potential to the maximum.

Riyuktha - ___

Ankitha - ___

Nigel - Follow God.

Arunan - Serve the society.

Isaac - Follow the Word of God.

Kalpana - To work hard in whatever I do.

Madhavan - To be happy. To live every moment of life happily.

Mezay Louis Ugbo - Every morning I sing for one and half hours and help people in whatever way I can.

Dolly - I forgive and forget.

Arun Prashanth - Never to judge people by faceworth.

Shruthi - I never interrupt when two people are in conversation.

Nadhiya - I never use offending words against anybody.

Thamilvaanan - I do the best I can.

Vivek - Share the feelings of others.

Mainar - Always be punctual.

Samuel Gnanaseelan - To be friendly with others.

Roshan Joseph John - I'll never take drugs, smoking or drinking.

Ebarish Rebe - I'll be good to others. Not hurting anybody.

Sudha, M - To respect elders.

Sheela, R - Daily I pray to God.

Baskar - I help other people, cos my aim is to become a social worker.

Prabhu Raj - Following rules and regulations.

Rajesh Kumar - I wont get addicted to any bad habits.

Ashitha Jacob - ___

Abner Charles - Make others happy as much as I can.

Martin - To become like Jesus Christ.

Nancy - Every morning I pray to God.

Sudha, S - Respect the feelings of others.

Jaison - I will not cheat my girlfriend.

Rajesh - I hate people using drugs.

George - I'll try my level best to be a gentleman.

The Social Ethics class was a bundle of dynamism, with students taking part with commitment and zeal, in telling their principles for life. All the best dear students...! May these principles that you stand for, sustain you and make you a beter person in Society. Good principles establish a strong Value base, and a strong value base establishes a strong society.

Corrections, if any, can be brought to my notice.

Thanks Laxman for the minutes. It was lovely.

"Read n React..". The II BA English class does it with aplomb!

Will we meet to-night?
I don't know.

Come with me to-night.
Where?
Anywhere. For a walk.

I Don't want to walk.
Why not?

I want to go somewhere else.

Where?
I Don't know.

What's wrong with a walk?
I Don't want to walk.

What do you want to do?
I don't know.

Do you want to go anywhere else?
Yes.
Where?
I Don't know.

Do you want me to buy you a drink?
No.

Come for a walk.
No.

All right. I'll take you on a bus to the town. I know a place. My cousin runs it.

NOW FOR THE RESPONSES:

According to Mercy, "The setting is the MCC Cafeteria, and the conversation is between a guy and a girl. The guy is relatively very cool and calm. The girl however is restless."

Gifty added thus: "It's a kinda fight between two lovers. where the girl's presumed to be from Martin Hall and the guy's from Heber, and the conversations take place through sms."

Irene responded thus: "The whole conversation is between a counsellor and a patient. The counsellor is trying to take the girl to her cousin's psychiatric clinic a little further down the road."

Kalaiarasi had this to say: "It is an attempt at a compromise between a boy and her girl, because the previous night they both had a fight. The boy is willing to make amends, but the girl is a bit adamant and stubborn."

Smitha reacted thus: "It's a telephone conversation between a priest and a drug addict, and the victim here has a sincere heart to get rid of the bad habit."

Blaison said thus: "It could be a conversation between a father and son. While the son insists that he study only BA English literature, the father makes him choose Engineering."

Siddarth gives his response in this manner: "It might be a possible conversation between two old friends, both of them girls, one a bit depressed, and consoled by the other. The setting is a beautiful park."

Shippora gave her views thus: It might be a dialogue between a daughter and her step-mother, in a home, both not in good terms with each other. The setting is obviously their home."

Rinila put forward her views thus: "The conversation takes place in a cartoon strip, between a haughty cat and an innocent dog, in the portico of a house."

Smitha says "It's between two politicians of opposite parties having a clandestine meeting in the latter's house over a bottle of liquor."

Sidharth says, "It's a conversation between two soldiers of opposing countries, say, Iraq and the US."

The session was a means to bringing out the creativity latent within the Literature students, and at the end of it, I could say with all contentment, "The class has tremendous potential, lying untapped." Hope the day is not far off to unleash their enormous potential.

Thanks to Bestin for taking the minutes in a clear and concise manner. Thank you dear Bestin.

For Our Academic Calendar follow this link...

Dear Students, This link (from our older web site) gives you the Academic Calendar of MCC. You also get a host of other materials like notes for the current semester in Part - II English etc.
Regards, Rufus

Our next Communication Workshop - Saturday, 30 June 2007

Dear Students, Our next Power Communication Workshop will be held on Saturday, 30 June at East Tambaram. It is a free half a day workshop from 9.30 am to 12.30 noon.

Surprise gifts and prizes for surprise events, games, HR presentations, listening to songs, group discussions and Newspaper Reading will form part of the agenda. Those who wish to participate may sms me with their name and class before Thursday, 26 June 2007.

The Power Communication Workshop is exclusively for my students, past and present, who have the potential within.

In the City today... Thursday, 21 June 2007

Free MBA Counselling on June 25, Monday between 3 and 5 pm at the Madras School of Social Work, 32 Casa Major Road, Egmore.

Free College Books and prize distribution for meritorious students on JUNE 21, at 4 pm at jaigopal garodia Vivekananda Vidyalaya Matric Hr Sec School, 6, 7th St, U Block, Anna Nagar. For details, 26206261

Lecture on "The Surest Way of Rising to the Top", Hotel Accord Metropolitan, T.Nagar, JUNE 21, 6 pm.

Welcome back...

Dear Students, Welcome back for another prosperous, happy and eventful year filled with peace, hope and academic blessings. Have a happy and prosperous academic year ahead.
Regards,
Rufus

A Review of the Communication Skills Workshop held today - Saturday - 10 June

The Workshop on Soft Skills, held in East Tambaram was a revelation of sorts. Many of my students, who had previously been a bit passive while in their College studies, were at their creative best, displaying rhetorical skills with such aplomb that I was really surprised at the patience and fortitude that they had developed painstakingly to hone their latent skills to perfection.

As they say, Potential is 100 % innate within a person, but our Performance out of that is a mere five per cent. Consider the huge difference in terms of Potential and Performance.

After an ice breaker which had a couple of games, and an initiation into the field of HR, Etiquette, and Group Discussions, the students were introduced to some three good old English country songs.

Given below are excerpts from the GD which was a model to behold, by any standards. Kudos to all the participants who made it a splendid success and showed the world that they can rise to dizzying heights on such occasions.

Group Discussion held on Saturday - Excerpts

Leader: Thank you dear friends, for electing me as your leader. Now, the topic before us is : Can we, as a Nation, become a Super Power by the year 2020, in the present circumstances. Now, confident that you have all understood the topic, I throw the forum open for discussion.

Number 7 (Mr. Murali): We are well developed in many aspects, but the proposition that we can achieve super power status by 2020 is a bit doubtful and I have my own skepticism on that issue. 1 min.

Number 15 (Mr.Vinodh): What exactly makes us super powers? Is it determined based on the GDP etc. Let us first come to an agreement on that point. 40 sec

Number 14 (Mr.Sakthivel): I appreciate the point just made by Mr.Vinodh. We should channelize each and every area of importance, especially Education, Agriculture, Military, Space travel and research etc. Young minds need to be ignited and motivated in this regard. 1.15 sec

Number 3 ( Mr.Partiban): I agree with what the last speaker said just now. Yeah, India will become a super power for sure because of our huge man power resources. At the same time we should note that we are lagging behind in terms of Health, Infrastructure, compared to China. As Dr. Kalam rightly said, every individual youth has a major role to play in the scheme of things. If we, as a nation, give due importance to Economic Growth, Non violence etc, we can achieve it with ease. 2.10 sec

Number 8: Certainly right. Youngsters have a major role to play. They should have the vision in their mind, and more importantly, they have to shine in their respective fields. 1 min.

LEADER: We should be proud that almost 68 to 70% of the population in our country is the youth. In this regard, we lead from the front compared to any other country. If we control violence and motivate the youngsters, I strongly feel that this proposition will become a sure possibility.

Number 7 (Mr.Murali): I personally feel that quality matters more than quantity. With 70% of the youth, we should have been able to deliver good products.

Number 3 (Parthiban): That’s what our former speaker was trying to say and you’ve said it.

LEADER: Our growth rate is indeed quite high. What the United States has achieved in 300 years, we have been able to achieve in 60 years. China, according to me, is our only competitor.

Number 14 ( Mr. Sakthivel): I would like to quote a famous person called JF Kennedy whop once said, “Ask not what the country has done for you, but ask what you have done for the country.” How can potential be developed? What we need at the moment is good guidance. Look at the alarming increase in KPOs and BPOs. There seems to be a sudden boom on the Industry front, but we are not able to manage this sudden uprising because we have not geared ourselves for it. As much as 65 per cent of our population still thrive on Agriculture. There are a lot of burning problems in the guise of SEZs and Industrialisation.

We need to bring policies, suggestions, ideas, and proper coordination. Take for example the Educational reforms bill. It is as old as 1986 and never revised or updated. We need to concentrate on resources like Oil and Energy. We should also give importance to the Defence Establishment (Military).

Number 7 (Mr. Murali): Mr.Sakthivel, my question is that, a country like Singapore doesn’t have a good army, yet it is a super power. What do you say to that?

LEADER: Excuse me, we are deviating from the main agenda to Military establishments. Can we stick to the main issue, please…


Number 14 (Mr.Sakthivel): Russia has achived enormous power just because of its military.

LEADER: Super power means it includes all spheres and not necessarily the Defence Establishment alone.

Number 15 (Vinodh): The defence establishment depends on a strong Economy. Today, the Services, Manufacturing etc are doing very good. We just have to give real thrust on Agriculture, Basic health care, Basic Education etc. We need to concentrate more on the concept of Knowledge Economy.

Number 5: Most villages have no proper infrastructure or electricity. Then how come India can develop into a super power?

Number 3: I request the leader to ask everyone to speak out and contribute.

LEADER: Please, I request all of you to contribute to the group discussion.

Number 17: Globalisation has resulted in a large number of MNCs coming over to India due to privatization. The govt sectors do not match with the private sectors in the level of growth.

Number 16: India has all the potential but what about Brain Drain? Don’t you all think that it is eroding the intelligence unit of the country?

Number 15: In the year 1991, we had to mortgage to get foreign exchange, so in one way Brain Drain is good.

Number 6: Why cant these people work for our companies instead of working for foreign companies?

Number 3: It is not Brain Drain, it’s actually Brain Gain, cos we tend to get a lot of power as result of brain drain. We spread all over the world to gain power for ourselves.

Number 6: But why cant they work for us? Are there any specific reasons for it?

Number 14: in the 94th Science Congress held in Chidambaram recently, our PM Dr. Manmohan Singh said that people go abroad as there is no standard in Higher Education in India, and everything is cut, copy, paste etc.,

Number 3: Yes, but at the same time, people come back and invest in India, like the CEO of IBM.

Number 15: The concept of reverse brain drain is the need of the hour. The government has the responsibility to tap the potential of these intellectuals. There are a lot of Socio/ Economic Indicators to be taken into consideration here. Unless we improve our HDE, Sanitation, Health Care, we cannot gain super power status.

Number 14: Do you think, in a set up where there is a lot of domination by regional parties, this is feasible at all?

Number 15: Yes, but the Centre doesn’t have the political mandate though it has able people in its portfolios. For this, political will is necessary.

LEADER; Excuse me, I’m just waiting for comments from those who didn’t say any thing.

Number 11: there is a lot of comparison being made between India and other countries on the Economy and the military front. Only when this comparison is stopped, India will become a super power. It vouches to the fact that we are good in discussions, but never good at implementations.

Number 5: But we do need a lot of criticisms from all fronts in order to improve, and in this respect, comparisons do us a world of good.

LEADER: Comparison is ok to an extent, when it does not get to alarming proportions.

Number 14: Consider China, why does it bag a lot of medals? Mainly because of early childhood training, and a focus right from the beginning to achieve. Proper training, and proper goals without diverting, is very important.

Number 7: We have become slaves to foreign investors in India, like what we were fifty years ago, by working for them. We should generate employers more.

Number 15: I slightly disagree with you on that point. Because, when TATA bought Corus Steels, we became employers and England became employees. It’s actually these people who’ve bought out latent talent. From 1947, till now it was a mere 3 per cent, but now we are aiming at a double digit growth rate.

Number 6: In today’s scenario, the rich have become richer and the poor become poorer mainly because of the adverse effects of Globalisation.

Number 15: In the present context, everything else can wait but not agriculture. Cos it’s the backbone of the Indian Economy.

Number 14: Could you please give us a few tips on improving the standard of Agriculture in our country?

Number 15: We need to do a tightrope walk so that the interests of the Agriculture Sector is dealt with properly. Farm Loans, Credits, Subsidies should continue, and farmers’ suicide should be prevented by taking a lot of beneficial measures for the Agriculture Sector.

Number 14: We almost left out on an important point, that is, water. They say that the Fourth World War will be fought for Water.

Number 3: I think we are diverting from the main topic of the day.

LEADER: Australia is on edge of attaining super power status, but they’re drinking recycled water.

Number 16: But take the case of Japan, which has no water, but it has increased in terms of the super power status.

LEADER: We should utilize our water to benefit our farmers.

Number 14: In India, we have the Northern and the Southern Peninsulas. While the Northern Peninsula has sustained water capacities, every January, we suffer and fight for water. I feel that the inter-linking of rivers is very essential for better agriculture.

Number 3: How do you think we can eradicate the conflicts between states?

LEADER: Every state should say “We are Indian”. Patriotism to the nation should eclipse all other loyalties. I also request my non-talkers to cooperate by participating in the proceedings.

To continue…

The Workshop on Soft Skills, held in East Tambaram was a revelation of sorts. Many of my students, who had previously been a bit passive while in their College studies, were at their creative best, displaying rhetorical skills with such aplomb that I was really surprised at the patience and fortitude that they had developed painstakingly to hone their latent skills to perfection.

As they say, Potential is 100 % innate within a person, but our Performance out of that is a mere five per cent. Consider the huge difference in terms of Potential and Performance.

After an ice breaker which had a couple of games, and an initiation into the field of HR, Etiquette, and Group Discussions, the students were introduced to some three good old English country songs.

Given below are excerpts from the GD which was a model to behold, by any standards. Kudos to all the participants who made it a splendid success and showed the world that they can rise to dizzying heights on such occasions.

City Info & News Today

Pooram Short Story Lovers' Club - discussion on English Short Stories,today at 5 pm at 18, South Mada St, Triplicane.

Engagements in the City...!

Lecture on "Globalisation and Creative Industries", on JUNE 06, @ 5.30 pm at the Indian School of Folklore, No.505, Fifth Floor, Kaveri Complex, 96, Mahatma Gandhi Road,Nungambakkam.

Free One-day workshop on COMMUNICATION SKILLS @ East Tambaram near MCC, on Saturday, JUNE 09, 2007 at 9.30 a.m. Limited space and limited seats. For free registration, contact me at the earliest. PS: This opportunity is exclusively for my students in MCC.

Now you can easily access a directory of 6,000 IT and ITES companies located in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, NOIDA, Pune, Gurgaon, and Trivandrum. CLICK HERE

Coma, Love, Hope & Technology...!

A Pole who spent 19 years in a coma has woken up and will now have to adapt to a country where the communists are no longer in power, a television station announced on Friday. Railwayman Jan Grzebski fell into a coma after he was hit by a train in 1988, the private channel Polsat said. In an interview, Grzebski said that he owed his survival to his wife, Gertruda. "She's the one who always took care of me. She saved my life," he said.
Grzebski was a father of four at the time of the accident. He is now making the acquaintance of 11 grandchildren. Doctors had not expected Grzebski to survive, let alone emerge from the coma.
"I cried a lot, and I prayed a lot. Those who came to see us kept asking: 'When is he going to die?' But he's not dead," said Gertruda. Poland's communist regime was still clinging onto power when Grzebski had his accident, only losing its grip the following year, in 1989.
On the brash neon-lit streets of new European Union member Poland, the period seems a distant memory. "What amazes me today is all these people who walk around with their mobile phones and never stop moaning. I've got nothing to complain about," said Grzebski.
News Courtesy: The Sunday Express, June 03, 2007, Chennai Edition

Of Courtesies and Calls...! A guide to being courteous in the 'mobile' era...!

This happened in a class, just over three months ago. A lady professor was taking class when one student's cell phone started ringing on three separate occasions. The professor finally stopped her lecture and asked for the offending student to stand up, but to no avail. Frustrated, she said, "I'm not going to give attendance to anybody today, unless the student owns up". So saying, she completed her lecture and moved out. Soon, a guy came rushing down to the prof, and asked for apologies, admitting he was at mistake and asked her not to withhold attendance for the class, as some were reeling under "acute shortage of attendance".
On another occasion, a lecturer, during his talk, was interrupted again and again by the ring tones of a student, that he said, "Why dont you answer that call, please?"
Just imagine this situation...! where are we heading towards? A few years ago this would never have happened.
People today can't separate their private life from their public behaviour.
How many times have we stared at the person sitting across us in the theatre, or in the bus or train, or restaurant who is talking in a loud voice without any thought to the people around him?
The problem, according to Dhar, lies in the fact that, phones have taken the globe by surprise and as a result good manners and etiquette have not had the time to develop in so short a time.
In Tamil, there is a proverb which comes to my mind, "Giving a Garland in the hands of a monkey...!"
The lack of mobile etiquette seems disgusting. There must have been at least one time when you have flouted the rules yourself, says Dhar.
Let's try to come to terms with "mobile" manners by beginning here.
First of all, talking in a theatre or a play or a concert is very rude. Switch off your cell phones people. ! The earth wont stop, nor will the sky fall. In case if it's a real emergency, or during a meeting, excuse yourself and go out.
Remember, when talking is taboo, so is ringing. Keep the handset on silent alert so you can afford to ignore unwanted calls wheareas keep track and not miss the important calls either.
Speaking softly is in general the way to go, and the latest phones have extremely sensitive microphones so you really have no reason to shout.
Talking on sidewalks or while in a immobile car is acceptable, if done cautiously.
Talking in cars, bikes while driving? It's stupid and illegal. If it's urgent, pull over. Nothing is more precious than your life. And let the phone go to voice mail when some one calls, you can always call them back after some time.
In the end, the onus of being a gentleman or lady falls on you dear reader. Please be responsible and courteous towards others. Your manners will only stand by you in good stead in the future and most definitely help in some manner or the other.
A simple thought to where you are, whom you are with, what others are doing should be enough for you to decide whether to make or accept a call.
With due acknowledgements and thanks to Prof.Dhar, CBH

Workshop on Communication Skills @ Tambaram

A Free One-day Workshop on Effective Communication Skills with Language Enhancing Techniques will be held on Saturday, 02 June, 2007 at East Tambaram. Those interested, mail me or call me for details.