An Evening with Jane Goodall - @ the British Council - 22 Jan 2007

The Deputy High Commissioner was there..., and the Key Speaker of the evening Ms.Jane Goodall was soon on the dais - and she began her forty five minute talk with a beautiful onomatopoeic sound of the chimps. She said that every individual chimp had its own distinct voice.

Excerpts from her inspiring talk..:

"My loving mother encouraged my interest in animals" she began. "So i was about eight, when i started reading Dr.Doolittle, who spoke the language of animals, and i too desired passionatley to learn it, and i'd even pretended to my friends that i understood and recognised animal language. " she said to an eager crowd of passionate animal enthusiasts and research scholars.

"Then i fell to reading Tarzan, king of the apes. When i expressed my desire in animals, at that time, it was considered an absurd idea since i was a girl. Everyone said, "Why dont you do something else?"

"When you work hard and never give up, you will surely find a way," she said to rapt attention of ardent listeners.

Jane Goodal then gave a detailed narration of her life story.

Just think about the different choices we make each day in our lives. Think how it will impact the people, how it impacts the animals etc.

Ms.Jane finally summed up her lecture on 'Reason for Hope' in the following words:

If you can see with your eyes, feel with your heart, with an indomitable spirit within you, you can achieve anything - and almost nothing will be difficult for you in this world.

"Every problem is being tackled by a person or a group of dedicated passionate people who are prepared to risk their life or lose their life for the purpose. That's the reason for hope in this planet," concluded Jane Goodall.

PS: Well, obviously, it was an evening worth its time and effort @ the British Council, Chennai.

Well, anticipating a high turnout, we had reached the venue much ahead of time @ around four twenty itself. I took along with me Murali (III Stats), Solo (II Phil), Micosteen (II Phil) etc in our car. Met up with Dr.Nirmal, Rayson, Prof.Cherian etc and reserved seats for them too, as luckily we could make it a bit early.

A SMILE in Appreciating Others...!

Let others cheer the winning man,
There's one I hold worth while;
'Tis he who does the best he can,
Then loses with a smile.
Beaten he is, but not to stay
Down with the rank and file,
That man will win some other day,
who loses with a smile.

I Wish...!

"I wish I were big enough honestly to admit all my shortcomings; Brilliant enough to accept praise without it making me arrogant; Tall enough to tower above deceit; Strong enough to welcome criticism; Compassionate enough to understand human frailties; Wise enough to recognize my mistakes; Humble enough to appreciate greatness; Staunch enough to stand by my friends; Human enough to be thoughtful of my neighbors; and righteous enough to be devoted to the love of God."

Our Deepest Condolences:

We deeply mourn the sudden demise of Ms.Vaishnavi, III BA English in a tragic road accident yesterday. Most of us, as a Dept, went to her house to pay our last respects to the departed soul. May her soul rest in peace. ! A very charming and dynamic girl, she made everyone around lively and she never hurt anybody.

Jan 12, DO - I - (B)Log

Everyone in class had his/her newspaper with him/her. Hacked today's jumble, and Jan-Feb, and Mar-April together came out with the answer. Then, moved on to the editorial part and discussed words and phrases in two editorials. Then, moved on to pronunciation and the nitty gritty of reading aloud.

Taught my GC class the intricacies of lateral thinking. Gave them instances like, "imgaine we have time-bound money, like your money expires by June 07." Using the PMI parameters in Lateral Thinking, asked them to come out with possible answers. It was a phenomenal hit among the students and they hit it off immediately. 'All cars should be painted yellow from next month' was the next hypothesis and a lot more. Students came up with very creative ideas and we had a very meaningful and lively interaction together. It's a good class.

We deeply mourn the sudden demise of Ms.Vaishnavi, III BA English in a tragic road accident yesterday.

Most of us, as a Dept, went to her house to pay our last respects to the departed soul. May her soul rest in peace. ! A very charming and dynamic girl, she made everyone around lively and she never hurt anybody.

Jan - 11, DO - VI

Congrats Ashwin of I BSc Zoology for hacking today's jumble right. He gets Rs.50/ as bonus rightaway.

Introduced Bertrand Russell's Happy Man to them, and also introduced what lateral thinking of Bono is all about.

Had I GC had Exp of Litt C.A.

Poetry Reading Session @ British Council...:

The Poetry Reading Session at the British Council today, was to start at Six. So we were all there in time, and Dr.Ganesh joined us here.

Miss. Patience Agbabi enthralled all of us by a lovely recitation of her poems. Some were personal, some were feminist, and some others added a racist slant to it.

But almost all the poems had a beat, excepting a handful which was in free verse.

The first thing she did was to transport Chaucer's Wife of Bath to a Nigerian Wife of Bath, to the delight of the audience.

She answered all the questions posed by the audience with elan, and some amongst us also fired questions at her.

January 4, D.O - I

Students of I Pbt / Zoo came geared up with the day's newspapers, and the few who didnt were asked to purchase one rightaway. The test started at 11.30 and students were so engrossed in their newspapers that they did not notice what's going on around them. One good thing that i noticed today about my students was that, each one was so engrossed in his answer sheet that they did not turn around here or there. The Jumble in page 15 was indeed a challenge to them.

Well, the answers can be found in tomorrow's Indian Express.

Yet another encouragin thing that i observed today was the interest of the students in the question paper. One could find most of the students glued to their answer sheets till around 2.15, which is 45 minutes behind cut off time.

While some were disappointed cos of their inability to hack the jumble right, some others had an aura of achievement writ large on their visage. Kudos dear Pbt / Zoo class! keep it up...!

January 3, D.O - VI Heralding the new year...!

I began my first class this new year for the Tam/Phil class by asking for their resolutions which they had taken. All the forty enthusiastically spoke out their resolutions, prominent among them were:
I should never get angry this year...
I should help others
I should become a good musician... etc.
Finally, i gave a public challenge asking anyone to sum up the resolutions of all the forty. Adlin from II Phil volunteered and bagged Rs.50/- as prize for his endeavour. He was able to make it 97%.

The II B.A Rhetoric class was also lively. Gave around eight topics for the next batch of students (3 girls & 3 boys).

The cream of the day was the I Pbt / Zoo class, where all the students spelt out their new year's resolutions..
Prominent among them were:
I should not get angry this year...
I should not quarrel with my sister...
I should not fight with my parents...
I should help others without making them lazy...
I should get my internship for BBC etc.
More info on a detailed Resolutions list of all the students will be out shortly...

As regards I C.A, equal importance will be given to class work and newspapers for all Part II English classes that i handle.

I wish my students all the best..!

Keep posting ur comments and suggestions periodically...!!!

Newspapers in Language Teaching / Testing

Students of the I Pbt / Zoology Class were all geared up with their day’s newspapers in hand, and the few who didn’t were asked to purchase one right away.

The test started at 11.30 am, and students were busy sifting through the reems of articles to get their answers right!

A good thing that I had observed today about my vibrant students was that, each one was so engrossed in their answer sheet that he/she did not turn around here or there at any point of time.

The Jumble in page 15 was indeed a challenge to most of them.

Yet another encouraging thing that I had observed today was the interest of the students in the questions given to them today.

One could find most of the students glued to their answer sheets till around 2.15, which is 45 minutes behind cut off time.

The snap here, shows my students taking their first C.A based on the day's newspapers.

D.O - II Friday 15 December 2006

It was a day when most of the students were deep into the yuletide spirit, and most of them were dreaming of their homeward journey for the same.
For Tam/Phil class, had handwriting practice (afflic) and then,
in the Rhetoric class, it was the turn of two students to speak. A lot of questions were asked and the session was really interesting for the students. One among them was indeed a revelation. At the end of their speech, we discussed the five parameters of public speaking, the canons of rhetoric, and explained important terms in rhetoric side by side.

Rains hold sway the whole day...

For the I Pbt & Zoo class, many had gone to pay the fees and so i gave permission for latecomers. Three "golden boys" were sent out for ever out of my class for disturbing others and the teacher for half an hour at a stretch. The same three were under observation for the past two weeks and this was my final step in that direction. Had newspaper quiz and General quiz. Taught the lesson on Dr.Radhakrishnan, "An Ideal before the Youth"
May-June : 80 pts
Nov - Dec : 35 pts
Jan - Feb : 20 pts
Mar - April : 10 pts

Catching up with Deepwoods '06

It's the time of the year when MCC gets into a different kind of frenzy altogether... It's neither the Margazhi utsav nor the Yuletide spirit, but it's something on a higher plane - higher in everything... in creativity, in crowds ( and crowd management), in canteens etccc and the C list goes on and on and on....

The first day of Deepwoods was more of an aesthetic treat than an intellectual one.
The edifice of Samson, ironically with wings on his back, tied to pillars, in snow white was a treat to behold. The entrance was a bit different compared to the past couple of years, the threshold being adorned with hues of pink and white, quite obviously part of the hutch campaign. Entry was restricted to students having their id cards on them. Participant colleges started trickling in one by one, and for the first program at Thomas's, AD-ZAP we had around ten colleges.

It was a crowd unparalled in the recent past for the first day's events. Students were at their best when it came to organisation and discipline.

The quadrangle was overflowing on all sides for the mega event of the day - the Fashion show.

To sum up, it was a lovely day worth every penny spent, deep out there in the woods...!

D.O - VI - Wednesday, 06 December 2006

Had group discussion class for all the four groups at Exams hall gallery, and the students were seen immersed in their discussions. Four different topics were given for each of the four groups and they relished it.

Had Rhetoric class and two students spoke. The first one was given a bonus, 73 marks, as a gesture for taking the initiative. Then, students booked their topic for Elocution in advance.

For the First years PBT & Zoo students, three different competitions were held. One was the Newspaper round, followed by the Dictionary round. Then, Crossword round was postponed today due to time constraints.

At the end of the day,
May-June : 240 pts
Sept - Oct : 230 pts
Nov - Dec : 170 pts
July - Aug : 140 pts
Mar - April : 120 pts
Jan - Feb : 110 pts

A Day Deep in the Woods..: Dec. 07/2006

Deepwoods 2006

First Day’s Report

7th December 2006

It’s that time of year when Madras Christian College (MCC) transcends its usual rhythm.

It’s an energy that surpasses the tranquillity of the Margazhi Utsav and the warmth of the Yuletide spirit, reaching a higher plane of cultural frenzy.

This is Deepwoods - a festival soaring in creativity, in crowd scale (and the intricate art of crowd management), and in its food stalls. The ‘C’ list, indeed, goes on and on.

Today, the first day of this magnificent cultural extravaganza, was a true testament to the festival’s legacy.

The initial advertisements in the daily newspapers were the cynosure of all eyes, and soon enough, all roads led to MCC! And how!

Day One of Deepwoods proved to be more of an aesthetic treat than an intellectual one. The centrepiece, the magnificent edifice of Samson, ironically depicted with wings yet tied to pillars, rendered in pristine snow white, was a breathtaking sight.

The college entrance also offered a different visual appeal this year, its threshold adorned with vivid hues of pink and white - an obvious and eye-catching element of the Hutch campaign - the highly successful and iconic advertising campaign for the Indian mobile service provider Hutchison Essar, featuring a small boy and his loyal pug dog named Cheeka who followed him everywhere.

In fact, Business Today had featured this Ad as the Top Print Ad for 2003, and it is considered one of the most iconic and successful advertising campaigns in Indian history.

In a long time, the CUS Cabinet had done some real hard work resulting in the famous Hutch agreeing to co-sponsor the Fest!

What’s more! Quite interestingly, this ad has resulted in a “pug mania” across India, with the demand and price for pugs (often nicknamed the “Hutch dog”) having soared, with sales more than doubling across the country.

Entry into MCC and into the Quadrangle was strictly regulated, allowing only students with valid ID cards on them. Participant colleges soon began to trickle in. The day’s events kicked off at Thomas’s, starting with AD-ZAP, where, coincidentally, I served as the adjudicator. We had a robust participation of around ten colleges - a crowd size rarely seen for a first-day event in recent memory.

The student body excelled in organisation and discipline. The sheer volume of attendees was remarkable. By late afternoon, the quadrangle was overflowing on all sides, anticipating the mega-event of the day: The Fashion Show, that saw an overwhelming response from the crowds that were swelling by the number each passing moment.

To sum up, it was a truly lovely day, full of energy and spectacle. It was a day worth every minute spent, deep out there in the woods!

D.O - V - Tuesday, 05 December 2006

Each and every Tam/Phil student had brought his/her daily newspaper along, and so the newspaper quiz was a bit interesting today. Then, Had the usual word power sessions too...
B - 220
A - 140
C - 140
D - 90

D.O IV - 04 December 2006

I Pbt & Sci it was both newspaper quiz and general quiz today. Then, for II B.A left them ten min early cos of Mrs.Sujatha Bhat's Viva at Martin Hall. Dr.Ganesh, David and I coordinated the event.
The scores for I BSc PBT & Zoo - today:
Nov - Dec : 95
May - Jun : 70
July - Aug : 20
Sept - Oct : 10
March - April : 5
Jan - Feb : 0
we are really happy for Nov - Dec who have stood their word.. they are hopefully on a roll...

D.O 6 - 28 November - Group Discussions start with a bang...!

For the second year Phil & Tamil students it was a new kind of initiation- the class, with its four dynamic groups assembled at the Exams Hall Gallery and kick started their Group Discussion. Each group was seen engrossed deeply in the topic allotted for them.

For the First year PBT & Zoo, we had Dictionary time and Newspaper quiz.
Mar-Apr : 176
Nov-Dec : 110
May-Jun : 90
Jan-Feb : 50
Sep-Oct :40
Jul-Aug : 39

For Second B.A literature, it was Arrangement, in Rhetoric. Gave six topics for the first six, three girls and three boys, to speak on, in the next Rhetoric class.

4 D.O - Monday, 27 November - Things Fall Apart - analysis

In Phil/Tam Class, students brought their daily newspaper and dictionary along, and we had a nice time with Quick Word Reading, and Newspaper quiz. Then, today's vocabulary of ten words was given. I also told them that the C.A might have a vocabulary component in it.
Group A : 120
Group C : 100
Group B : 60
Group - D : 30

In IIIB.A English, many participated in the analysis of Chapter II of Things Fall Apart. I told them that 50 marks in C.A will hereafter be allotted to class interactions. The class was exhorted to read Chapter III before the start of the next class.

3 D.O - Friday, 24 November 2006

Completed the Text on Civilisation, for I yr PBT /Zoo class. Had a language time, followed by quiz time. Points tally is:
Jan - Feb : 20
Mar - Apr : 20
Sep - Oct : 30
Nov - Dec : 20

In the Literature class, had a discussion on the various adventures which we come across in literature, and students responded with enthusiasm. A lot of adventurous novels were discussed. Completed with discussion, Chapter 1 of A Passage to India.

2 D.O - 23 November - Discussion on Culture...

Had a good discussion, if not the best, on culture, with the Third B.A English Students. Many came out with good inputs.. I was happy that some had really done their homework well. Almost the whole of the class had turned up with their texts, which was very heartening. Completed Chapter I, with an introduction. More discussions will follow. I asked students to give a reading of Chapter II, and come up with their ideas in the next class.
Introduced Jane Goodal's text for II Phil/Tam.
Completed the text "What to listen for in Music" for Experience of Literature class.

1 D.O - Wednesday, 22 November - Handwriting practice begins...

Gave Handwriting practice for the II Philosophy/Tamil Students, in which everyone participated with great enthusiasm. Later, asked the ones who are good at acting to meet me around 1.30 in the Staff Room, and to my surprise almost a dozen students turned up. I was enthused by the turnout. Gave each of them a copy of the small play to be enacted in class shortly. Also, fixed up a good time for practice.
In the Rhetoric Class, initiated the students into Definition of Rhetoric, and its five broad divisions. Also, reminded them about the three golden rules in my class which are to be effected from this current semester itself.
Explained to them the first division of Rhetoric, namely INVENTION.

In the name of LANGUAGE WORKSHOPS... Just a RUN FOR hard earned money... Nothing less, nothing more...!

Yesterday i was asked to attend a ELT workshop at a famous COUNCIL, which promotes it. Participants, mostly drawn from all parts of the State were there, and the program started punctually at 2 sharp... But that was the only sharp element in it... Three hours of elemental kidding for College Professors...to say the least... And at the end of this elemental kidding, we were poorer by 300 bucks... they had made at least half a lakh rupees for a single session. This set me wondering whether the whole exercise was just a money spinner, or was it a case of sheer callousness on the part of the organisers to take English language professors for granted?
Elementary school teachers would have profitted by the exercise to an extent.. but surely not at our level... I mean, the key speaker missed out on this fact...
Now this sets my mind thinking on whether programs like this really mean anything to us... without proper planning and proper resource persons the whole thing becomes nothing but a farce... and a lack of precious time and money for the participants...

Another sore spot of the day was that, most of the delegates were in their early thirties or late twenties… and the resource person, a lady was also in her early thirties… There was just one respectable senior professor amongst us, who was the victim of haughty onslaughts of the resource person. She was making fun of him time and again for no fault of his, which he took in his stride magnanimously, much to the consternation of most of the delegates. The way the resource person conducted herself in this situation was in very bad taste...It kept us wondering on whether such workshops are worth attending, in the near future, cos a respectable professor’s reputation goes for a six, in the eyes of compatriots and colleagues, by a resource person.

Why is culture with a Capital 'C' for the Africans alone...? (III B.A English...)

The Africans are supposedly the only people who use the word Culture with an upper case "C"... Why is it so? Is it just for the heck of it, or is there a method in their 'madness'.?
Try to relate your thoughts with Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

Three Golden Rules for Literature Classes... Reason and Scope...

This semester, after much interactions with friends, like-minded colleagues, students, and class representatives, i hit upon three golden rules for the Literature classes, which has met with great success for the past four years in our General English classes.
Now, the three Golden Rules framed thus, are:

Golden Rule No.1. Always come to class in time. Late comers will on no account be entertained, so don’t try to convince the teacher by giving any kind of excuse.

Golden Rule No.2. Passport is essential for entry into class. Without your text book (passport), entry is denied.

Golden Rule No.3. If the concentration of one student gets distracted because of you, you are out. And once you are out, that implies that you are out for the whole of that particular semester.
The scope of these rules in Literature classes, as i see it, are meant to make the students enjoy the spirit of the class, preserving its good old ethos.

Still, i throw the forum open for discussion...