“I have sent a telegram to their guardians as well as their parents. Be careful" 🥺

A Cyclone and Its Havoc | in MCC School

31st October 1994

“If any boy out here wishes to support his friend, and hides the truth…”

#memoriesfromdiaries

#hostelpranks #headmasterthunders #cycloneinmadras

#mccschool #hostelyears #hscdays

On this particular day, 31st October 1994, a huge cyclone with a windspeed of 132 kmph, hit Madras (today: Chennai), between 1 am and 2 am, resulting in widespread havoc and destruction across the City.

Added, because of the cyclone, we did not have our routine morning jogging in the playground. 

This gave me an extended time on slumber mode till 6.40 am 😊

Then, after having ‘booris’ for breakfast, we went to the playground, with a teenager’s excitement and curiosity all over us. We were surprised to see the entire playground resembling a beach!

For the first time, we saw our playground in knee-deep water.

Some of our mischievous hostelers – Regi and Ganesh were carpe-dieming on the opportunity, by indulging in all sorts of pranks - letting all our slippers float on the water, etc., and some had even gone to the extent of bursting crackers in the dormitory, to celebrate the holiday that was declared for the city.

That’s when trouble bombed on us, you see! 

By 11.30 am, Rajan Sir, our warden, came to our dormitories and announced over the Public Address System that, our Headmaster Mr. Jefferson Christopher wanted to meet all of us.

We were all worried!

And as A. G. Gardiner says in his short story titled, “All About A Dog” -

I saw trouble brewing! 

Well, you see, the HM doesn’t come visiting us, unless it’s something serious. Hence we were all awaiting his arrival with anxiety writ large on our faces! 

Quite soon, as expected, our Headmaster marched into our dormitory, and thundered -

“If any boy out here wishes to support his friend, and hides the truth, one day, I will note down and find the suspecting boys and dismiss them!”.  

He then cited the case of Prince, Reggie, Jim and Dinesh, who were dismissed from the hostel, just the past week, for violating hostel rules.

“I have sent a telegram to their guardians as well as their parents. I have dismissed them from the hostel. Be careful”, he roared.

PS: In the good ol’ past, say 30 years ago, a telegram [not the cloud-based mobile and desktop messaging app] 😊 was the best way to convey information quickly to the intended recipient. It was a written message [usually an urgent letter] that was transmitted using an electric device. Back then, telegrams were the only alternative to the private telephones and whatsapps of today.

"Rufus, many borrow books, but only a few even bother to return them!" ❤️

On Returning & Referencing | Books

#memoriesfromdiaries

31st October 2000

This day, 23 years ago

From my personal diary entries

Well, while doing my PG Programme in English, I was also simultaneously doing my PGDCA Programme in the afternoon session.

Interestingly, one of our Professors, had also joined the PGDCA Course along with me. She had borrowed my book titled, Digital Computer Design to prepare for the upcoming PGDCA Semester exams, and on this particular day, she had promptly returned it as promised!

Something that I cherish a lot! Keeping her word!

Dr. Nirmal Selvamony used to share this concern with me quite often.

‘Rufus, many borrow books from my precious library collection, and I for my part, gladly give it to them for their reading, and referencing. However, quite sadly, only a few even bother to return them, and that too in good condition’, he used to say!

Interestingly, today, one of our vibrant past students, Ganesh came to see me, after fixing an appointment with me, to return the book titled, Critical Voices: South Asian History, Culture and Literature, edited by D. E. Benet and Samuel Rufus.

I appreciated him on two counts. First, for returning it as promised, and second, for returning it in good condition.

From the Preface to the book, Critical Voices

Then we had an interesting discussion on strategies to help preserve good old vintage journals like the Sangeet Natak, & The Indian Museum Bulletin for posterity.

This in fact, tempts me to discuss a little on this vibrant book!

The book titled, Critical Voices is a Seminar Volume, that evolved out of a National Seminar organized by National College (Autonomous), Tiruchirappalli, in September 2016.

Back then, the organisers of the Seminar had promised the participants that selected articles would be published in the Conference volume within four months’ time, after blind peer review and critical scrutiny.

We had also mandated that, authors who submit their papers, give their citations from the latest research journals, and latest critical material on the subject. They had gladly obliged.

This volume took us three months of intense labour of love to see the light of day.

And as promised, we published it in December 2016.

This book hence gets its uniqueness not only because of its variety, but also because of its scrupulous attention to detail. Moreover, the editors had also taken care to ensure that, new articles were printed only towards the right side (on odd pages) of the book. 

Impeccable in its typography, layout, and in its citations as well, the book serves as a paradigm for all conference proceedings. 

In this regard, I wish to make reference to yet another Bulletin that I happened to purchase at the Indian Museum, titled, Indian Museum Bulletin, during my visit to Kolkata this year.

The articles that were published in each of the volumes are of such high standards. And yes, as for the citations in these bulletins, I am reminded of Dr. Nirmal Selvamony, Dr. Joseph Dorairaj, Dr. K. Ganesh and Dr. Felix Moses, who used to emphasise on citing a minimum of at least ten print sources, with at least five of them from the latest journals.

From the Indian Museum Bulletin

Giving us all a visual treat into one such volume from the archives of the Indian Museum Bulletin, 1994, a rare volume that I happened to come across at the Indian Museum, Kolkata, this year.

Indian Museum, January, 1975

This five-page article, has references running to three pages.

To sum up this post, then - 

Citations are an essential part of academic writing. They are little acts of acknowledging your sources. They not only add credibility, accuracy and authenticity to your research, but also help in making your paper look genuine, original and reliable.

PS: On a related vein, you may want to look up a good ol’ book published in the year 1889, that’s there in the MCC Library, on our past post HERE.

You may also want to order a copy of Dr. Joseph Dorairaj’s book titled, FAQs on Research in Literature and Language on Amazon HERE.

The Power of Your Post & Signpost ❤️

Facilitating Active Learning Process in the Classroom

From Lecture Halls to Learning Halls

Importance of Using Signpost Words | Discourse Markers in Writing

#newspapersinlearning #discoursemarkers

30th October 2023

This blogpost highlights the importance of using sentence connectors [signpost words] in an essay, academic or otherwise, to help increase variety in writing.

They are otherwise called signpost words, since it helps in guiding the reader through the author’s writing in an effortless, coherent and logical manner.

Moreover, they help the reader in keeping track of the author’s argument, ‘link’ the relationship between their ideas, and then ‘connect’ what exactly the author is arriving at.

That’s hence they are also called ‘linking words’ or ‘sentence connectors’.  

In short, they are the ‘glue’ that help in sticking together a piece of writing.

An essay would seem less coherent, without discourse markers, since the connections between the different sentences and paragraphs would not be logical.

This article in today’s Times of India, Chennai Edition, by Professor Edamana Prasad, IIT Madras, foregrounds a problem, and the author drives home his opinion, using an impressive array of discourse markers, like ‘however’, ‘further’, etc.

The problem that the author foregrounds is –

The sharp reduction in the attention span and retention span of learners, especially after the pandemic.

Then the author proceeds to address the issue/problem by suggesting alternative models for engaging the learner in the classroom.

In the traditional classroom, the teacher acts as a content provider, and the classroom is also designed that way. There will be a podium, a table and a chair.

However, in modern times, the teacher’s role is to focus more on assisting individuals on how to learn and carry out the assessment, than providing content.

This is very difficult to achieve in the current classroom structure, and hence the need to modify the present classroom structure, to make it more learner-friendly, says the author.

To sum up this blogpost in a nutshell –

The power of your post lies in your signposts! 😊

"The year is 50 BC. Gaul is entirely occupied by the Romans. Well, not entirely... One small village of indomitable Gauls still holds out against the invaders..."

‘Uppuma, Newspaper, Retreat’ – Repeat… 😊

MCC School | Blessed Hostel Years

Action | Artefaction | Abstraction | Habituation

#mccschool #hosteldays #memoriesfromdiaries

29th October 1994

[This day, 29 years ago, from my personal diaries]

A reflective trip down memory lane is sure bound to double up as a nostalgic and a therapeutic trip as well. 

This post intends to describe the concept of ‘habituation’ with reference to an event in the past!

Habituation – a form of non-associative learning – is ‘a process of acquiring ‘habits’ by repeatedly engaging in actions of a similar type!’.

Habituated actions or habituated states of character are not states we are born with.

Rather, we are born with the ability to acquire such states, states that form a person’s “second nature” and that are difficult, though perhaps not impossible, to change.

The more frequently a person does a certain type of action, the more one becomes that sort of person; and then, in turn, the more one becomes that type of person, the more one is liable to do that sort of action.

For this reason, Aristotle emphasizes that it is most important to acquire the right sort of habits right from one’s youth.

Desmond Morris, in his insightful book titled, People Watching, highlights on the difference between action, artefaction and abstraction.

All animals perform actions and most do little else.

A great many also make artefacts – constructed or manufactured objects – such as nests, webs, beds and burrows.

Among the monkeys and apes there is also some evidence of abstract thinking. But it is only with man that artefaction and abstraction have run riot.

This is the essence of his success story.

With his massive brain, man has increasingly internalized his behaviour through complex processes of abstract thought – through language, philosophy and mathematics,

says Desmond Morris.

He then proceeds to explicate on the broad classification of the Types of ACTIONS –

Inborn Actions – Actions we do not have to learn

Discovered Actions – Actions we discover for ourselves

Absorbed Actions – Actions we acquire unknowingly from our companions

Trained Actions – Actions we have to be taught

Mixed Actions – Actions acquired in several ways

This diary entry of 29 years ago is ample evidence to the concept of ‘Absorbed Actions’ – how we acquire unknowingly certain actions – say habituated actions – from our friends and companions.

Some of the habits that have sweetly stuck to me for years and years, thanks to good friends, who initiated me into those good actions.

Like reading the day’s newspaper first thing in the morning. 😊

On this particular day, being a Saturday, we were given the privilege of waking up a bit late into the morning.

Our warden Mr. Parthiban came to our dormitories and our cubicles and announced the news that all of us had to go for the retreat at the Visual Hall.

Something that we HSC students found a bit boring, monotonous, and tedious, on a Saturday morning.

If not for this kinda ‘boring’ Retreat, we would have gone shopping or enjoyed watching movies, or enjoyed our swimming sessions in the lovely swimming pool constructed at the MCC-MRF Pace Foundation near the ‘railway station’ entrance to the school.

Well, Sai and Sunil were my trusted and regular companions in reading the day’s newspaper.

He was also a great fan of Asterix, Tintin, Tinkle, Champak, Hardy Boys, Satyajit Ray’s Short Stories, MAD, Target, etc.

Hence our spare time discussions always revolved around the various fictional characters that were featured in these books.

Each of these favourite books had a certain function associated with it. For example –

The Asterix comics was known for its pleasant opening, and how it transports us in one sweep into the world of magical realism. 😊

Sample the opening lines of Asterix –

The year is 50 BC. Gaul is entirely occupied by the Romans. Well, not entirely... One small village of indomitable Gauls still holds out against the invaders. And life is not easy for the Roman legionaries who garrison the fortified camps of Totorum, Aquarium, Laudanum and Compendium…

Likewise, Tintin was known for its memorable characters, including Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock, Thompson and Thomson, Bianca Castafiore, Professor Calculus, etc. Each was known for their memorable, inimitable characteristic expressions as well.

Like – Captain Haddock’s ‘Billions of blue blistering barnacles…’, ‘Thousands of thundering typhoons’, etc.

Tintin’s ‘Great snakes,’ Thompson & Thomson’s ‘To be precise…’ etc.

Interestingly, all Tintin comics came to THE END in exactly 62 pages – not more, not less!

Coming back to habituation,

Says James Clear, in his much popular book titled, Atomic Habits,

You get what you repeat!

So yes!

For us, on any given Saturday, it was –

‘Uppuma, Newspaper & Retreat’ – Repeat… 😊

PS: You may want to read our past blog post on ‘Sunil runs off with Champak’, HERE. 😊

When Tendulkar Scored a Sensational 141 and 217 ❤️

Jyoti Basu Quits | Sachin Delights | Rajnath becomes CM

28th October 2000 | 1999 | 1998

#memoriesfromdiaries

[This day, 25 years ago, from my personal diaries] 😊

28th October 2000

After leading the State for 23 years, Jyoti Basu, one of the most prominent leaders of the Communist movement in India, stepped down as Chief Minister of West Bengal on 28th October 2000. He was succeeded by Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the Deputy Chief Minister.

Interestingly, on this very same day, 28th October 2000, Rajnath Singh [present Defence Minister of India] took over as the 19th Chief Minister of India’s most populous and politically significant state, Uttar Pradesh.

And like most Chief Ministers of UP, his tenure lasted only for only two years, after which, in the year 2002, he became National General Secretary of BJP, and subsequently, in May 2003, he became Union Minister of Agriculture.

28th October 1999

On this day, India and New Zealand played their third test match, and yet again, Sachin Tendulkar scored 217 runs, [on the second day i.e., 29th October 2000 - 29 4’s & 0 6’s] and became the Player of the Match, while Anil Kumble, taking 20 wickets giving away just 39 runs, was adjudged the Player of the Series.

28th October 1998

Even while pursuing my BA Programme in English, I was working part-time with The Hindu newspaper. Hence, after my regular classes, I used to go to the Hindu’s Regional Office for my work.

This day is specially important for cricket buffs, as Sachin delighted his fans by scoring a huge 141 runs, leading India to a stunning victory over Australia, by 44 runs, in the Mini Wills World Cup Knockout Match.

Since we were all watching cricket, today quietly bunked my Hindi class. 😊

Haircut back then, (23 years ago), was just Rs.20/- 😊

"The Urgent Need of the Millennium" | A Feminine View of the Economy 💜

Valuing the Work of Caring!

“Women can make the world better”

‘Must’ & ‘Need’

#newspaperinlearning, #upsc, #caregiving

The Editorial Page | Today’s The Hindu

28th October 2023

Consider these three sentences -

You have to come to class. [Official]

You should come to class. [Pointing out one’s duty/obligation]

You must come to class. [Said out of personal concern]

The first sentence, could be considered an ‘official’ statement, given by a person in power/authority. You have to come to class, else you will be punished/debarred etc.

In the second sentence the speaker points to the duty / responsibility / obligation of the student.

In the third sentence, the speaker gives out a personal statement, out of care and concern for the student, in the interest of the student and their welfare.

Now coming to the second part –

The author of this 995-word editorial feature in today’s The Hindu, Arun Maira, posits a problem.

A problem needs a solution.

I repeat!

A problem needs a solution.

The author hence, proceeds to use the word ‘need to’, or ‘needs to’ quite a few times, as possible solutions to the problem.

So the catchwords in this particular editorial piece are – ‘must’ and ‘need’.

This tells us about the importance of using the words ‘must’ and ‘need’ in the right place, for the right context, ain’t it?

So what is the problem posited by the author?

Well, the problem is –

Economic history has long been chronicled through a male lens, emphasizing the contributions of men and their viewpoints.

Now let’s look at the ways in which he tries to address this ‘problem’.

Firstly, he gives examples from the past, to support the ‘claim’ in his ‘problem’.

Just look at the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. It has been awarded to 90 men since 1969 — and just three women. 

The first, Elinor Ostrom, won in 2009 for explaining how local communities, most of them in developing countries, govern themselves. 

The second, Esther Duflo, won in 2019, for her experimental work in alleviating global poverty. 

Claudia Goldin was the third woman awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2023 for her work explaining why women earn less money than men even when they do the same work, says the author.

Secondly, the author gives research-based evidence to further authenticate his claim.

Claudia Goldin was awarded for her work explaining why women earn less money than men even when they do the same work. Ms. Goldin’s research reveals that women, who also attend to the caring work required for families at home, are considered less valuable in economic enterprises because they cannot commit to continuously working full time for their employers, which men can.

Thirdly, the author predicts major trends in the future of work in India.

Fourthly, he emphasizes on the need to invest more in care-giving services, by advocating a change in our approach. Complex problems must be solved bottom up, not top down, he says.

Fifthly, he posits the view that, the masculine view of the economy is a production machine driven by competition, while a feminine view of the economy is a society of human beings who care.

Sixthly, he advocates for a different paradigm, based on cooperation, equity, and sustainability, [as advocated by Nobel Laureate Ostrom] for realising the Promise of the Commons, which is the urgent need of this millennium.

Seventhly, he emphasizes on the need for a paradigm change in economics.

Paradigm changes always require a power shift which is difficult because people with power will not let go. Money gives power; political authority gives power; and formal education and science (PhDs and Nobel Prizes) give power too.

Finally, he concludes, by saying that, local communities must be given more powers for designing and implementing inclusive and sustainable solutions to their problems.