"Creating Supportive Institutions!" ❤️

Gender Ideologies | & The Problem

Today’s The Hindu

16 October 2023

#newspaperinlearning

Today, let us look at yet another insightful article written by Sonalde Desai, Professor at the NCAER & University of Maryland.

So what is the Problem foregrounded in this article?

The gender pay gap in the workforce!

And what pray, is the reason for this gender pay gap?

Gender ideologies!

What is the possible solution to the problem, offered by the Professor?

Creating supportive institutions!

***

Prof. Sonalde Desai’s article has all the ingredients of a good academic paper, with authentic statistics, reliable historical evidence, citations from illustrious writers including Nobel Laureates and feminists.

The author concludes her write-up offering a possible solution to the crisis [problem], under the subheading, ‘Reshaping the environment’.

Says Prof. Sonalde Desai –

While increased male participation in household work and childcare would help, we must also find ways of reshaping both the work and social environment so that they are conducive to developing a work-life balance for both men and women.

This means having work structures that are respectful of workers’ time and do not emphasise very long work hours.

This makes both social and economic sense.

Stanford economist John Pencavel has shown that longer working hours do not mean more productivity and, in some jobs, lead to increased mistakes and injuries.

But if we need to rein in the greedy workplace, we also need to rein in a variety of institutions that demand more and more of our time.

This includes schools that rely on parents to supervise homework and urban developments that place homes far from workplaces.

Until we can create these supportive institutions, it will be hard to write the last chapter for the grand gender convergence in labour market outcomes that Claudia Goldin advocates for so fiercely.

"After 48 years! The sun is young as ever!" 😍

A Blessed Homecoming | St. Mary’s College, Tuticorin

#memories

This news coverage by The New Indian Express is close to my heart for several reasons. 😊

That’s also the reason for this little nostalgic post, down ‘sentimental’ lane!

Well, I was so happy when I got a call from Professor Sumathi, with the Department of English, St. Mary’s College, Tuticorin, requesting me if I could deliver a Talk in their National Seminar on South Asian Literature, on 11th October 2023.

Since a Seminar plays host to innumerable researchers and vibrant faculty members,  I wanted to focus on a topic that would appeal to researchers and faculty alike, in the realm of South Asian Studies.

That’s how I choose the topic, “Heterotemporal Sensibility and Textual Materiality in the Teaching Machine”.

While elucidating on the concept of ‘Home’, I emphasized on the need and the importance of ‘understanding our homes’ which in turn impacts and influences our identities to a great extent.

‘Home’ connotes a ‘sense of belonging’ which in turn becomes a key factor in ‘identity formation’!

Vestiges from the Past!

On this note, I confided something to the distinguished luminaries and academics gathered there –

Well, I wish to let out a secret at this juncture. When I told my Mom that I’m going to St. Mary’s College, Tuticorin, to give the key-note address at the National Conference organized by the Department of English, her joy knew no bounds.

That’s because she had studied for six long years in this prestigious college, right from her PUC, to her MA in English, emerging class topper as well.

And Mom immediately started reminiscing on her fond teachers, who taught her in this very same College, 50 years ago, including Sr. Teresita Mary, Sr. Eucharista Mary, Dr. Sulochana, Dr. Shenbagavadivu, and a host of other professors, who had taught her Shakespeare, Milton, amongst others.

So your College is such a blessed College, I said, to cheers from the audience.

Coming back -

Well, the Pearl City Express was supposed to arrive at 6.30 am in Tuticorin – Pearl City.

However, the train had arrived a wee bit early – by 5.45 am itself.

So when I stepped onto ‘mother’land, I was soon surrounded by a host of autorickshaw anneys, whose primary focus was on getting their traveller into their vahana by all means.

I politely refused their constant coaxings, and quite soon, walking my way out of the railway station, I ordered a cup of coffee (Rs.12/-) at the nearest coffee shop.

There, again, auto rickshaw anney was standing just next to me, waiting for me to finish my cuppa. No sooner had I finished my last sippa off my cuppa, than he started asking, ‘Anney, vaarialaa’? 😊

Thanking anney, I said that, the place is quite close by, and so I can walk across!

Then I started walking across the road that’s adjacent to the Railway Station.

I was quite reminded of a lovely line from Jack Kerouac’s On the Road –

“…because there was nowhere to go but everywhere, keep rolling under the stars.”

Yes! I just wanted to take this long morning walk, relishing the serene morning air, looking on either side of the East Coast Road, for some vestiges from the past, that could be ‘offered’ as photo memories to Mom via WhatsApp!

My messages for Mom!

I could click a few of such memorable relics from the past and the beautiful sunrise just opposite to College, along the way as well.

The Sun! As Young as Ever! 

Then, I had yet another coffee, at a tea shop quite close to College, and then went to the Guest House that was meant to host me for the day.

From there, I came out, and strolled my way across the College – the College where my Mother had studied some five decades ago! 

When I sent some of the snaps to Mom, her joy knew no bounds. She was simply overjoyed.

Well, Mom, and her three sisters had done their English Literature at St. Mary’s, which proved a great launchpad for their illustrious academic lives ahead. 

All of them went on to become illustrious Professors and teachers of English Language and Literature in their respective places. 

Mom’s elder sisters - Dr. Ananthi was Professor of English at Jawaharlal University, New Delhi, Dr. Usha was Professor at Bokaro Steel City College, Bokaro, while Mom taught Literature in Tamil Nadu. In fact, Dr. Ananthi and Dr. Usha had even taught at St. Mary’s College, for three and four years respectively, before moving over to join their husbands.

While talking with Dr. Joachim, Dean of Arts with St.Xavier’s College, Tirunelveli, [who was part of the Conference], we both were having a casual chat on the important role of women’s colleges - Colleges that played a great role in educating, empowering and emancipating the girl children, who later on went ahead with confidence and boldness, to make a mark for themselves in their respective fields, as shining stars, and luminaries, shining their best lights - not only for their families but also for their societies.

I feel, I’ve imbibed to a little extent at least, my Mom’s literary temper and spirit!

St. Mary’s College, Tuticorin then, has been the revered holy ground that has shaped Mom to what she is today, which in turn has impacted us - her children to a great extent!

In fact, we her children can never match her literary acumen – which is simply way beyond phenomenal!

So proud of you, Amma!

And full credits to St. Mary’s College, Tuticorin for having played a pivotal role in shaping Amma’s literary sensibilities.

Amma used to say that, Dr. Srinivasa Iyengar, author of the renowned book titled, ‘Indian Writing in English’, has also visited their Campus to give lectures.

The Principal was so happy when she heard about this news. She gave a special invite for the four sisters, and also requested the four sisters to write articles for the Platinum Jubilee Special Issue of their College Magazine. I gladly passed on the information to all the four sisters, and they’ve happily agreed to write articles on their blessed memories with St. Mary’s!

Was so happy to know that Dr. Sudha, a good family friend, is also part of the Souvenir Committee, and the Editor of the Platinum Jubilee special volume of the College Magazine.

Bespeaks to the need and the importance of ‘understanding our homes’ which in turn impacts and influences our identities to a great extent.

We all, ‘dwell’ in various homes in our journeys on planet earth.

The home that we were born in, the home we migrated to! The home we settled in! All these homes have given us our ‘identities’, and they have also influenced our ‘language’ to a great extent, Ain’t it!

Every home that we inhabit, gives us a unique ‘culture’, a unique ‘variety of language’, a unique ‘identity’, etc.

That bespeaks volumes to the latent pluralities within us all! 

So let’s join with Tennyson’s Ulysses and say in unison –

I am a part of all that I’ve met! 😊

What’s your ‘Problem’, Professor? 🧐

The Professor’s ‘Problem!’ 😊

#newspaperinlanguagelearning

15 October 2023

Well, Feature articles and Opinion articles written by College / University Professors are a class apart! 😊

They have an attested aura of authenticity and excellence writ large on their lines.

That’s because the Professor’s Pen always raises a ‘Problem’ of some sort or the other!

To reword it, there’s always a ‘Problem’ in the Professor’s Pensive Pen! 😊

Gives us all—researchers and academics—a clue and a cue, to writing an impactful academic / research article, ain’t it?

Yes! Writing an academic article always requires a ‘Problem’!

Only when there’s a ‘Problem’, there can be a ‘Possible’ ‘Solution’ to the Problem, ain’t it?

This blog post seeks to highlight the various ways in which the Professors here, have effectively foregrounded their ‘Problems’ before giving possible solutions to their ‘Problems’ thus raised! 

Former VC, Delhi University, & Adjunct Professor of Mathematics, University of Houston, US - Prof. Dinesh Singh, has written a short and impactful article on the need to ‘Expose Students to the Power of Data in Daily Life’, in today’s Sunday Supplement to TNIE!

Prof. Dinesh Singh foregrounds the ‘Problem’ in his opening sentence itself.

Says he -  

One of the most tragic ironies of the programmes that run across our land relates to data in the curriculum. As far as I can tell, there has been an almost abysmal neglect of the use, appreciation and importance of data in our everyday lives in undergraduate programmes.

I have often expressed strong opinions on the harm that results in myriad of ways to not just students, but also society and the nation.

Let me begin by illustrating the importance of data in language and literature.

Back in 1843, American author Edgar Allan Poe published a short story titled, “The Gold-Bug”.

The tale won a competition and was hugely popular in its time.

The crux of the story relied on what seems to be the first use of data in English literature. More importantly, it engendered a bit of a culture of creating and deciphering secret codes. “

For whatever reason, Poe was aware that the letter ‘e’ occurs with the greatest frequency in the words of the English language.

In the story, Poe makes the protagonist use this knowledge to crack a secret code that leads him to a hidden treasure.

Many years later, Arthur Conan Doyle uses the exact same idea in the short story The Adventure of the Dancing Men featuring Sherlock Holmes.

These two stories illustrate the use of frequency analysis to crack secret codes. Deciphering codes is of extraordinary importance for governments and the corporate sector, and frequency analysis as well as a felicity with languages plays an important role…

says Prof. Dinesh Singh.

Yet another lovely article by Utkarsh Amitabh, [Chevening Fellow with the University of Oxford], titled, ‘Do Good, to be and feel Good’, also foregrounds a ‘Problem’!

Says he -

Some suggest that the source of our troubles is that we reflect too much. Others claim that we reflect too little. In both cases, the focus of our reflection is our own self.

I suspect that is a problem.

To understand the conundrum of happiness and well-being, I reached out to my professor of moral philosophy at Oxford, Dr Jeff McMahan.

He shared that being a morally good, and somewhat self-sacrificing, person is one of the best ways to have a life that is not only objectively good, but also subjectively satisfying.

Being less self-absorbed and devoting time to projects that don’t necessarily serve our own interests leads to personal fulfilment of a higher order. He suggests a helpful practice:

Think about the people you genuinely look up to and model your behaviour based on the attributes that make them admirable.

The people McMahan admires are mostly philosophers from the past such as John Stuart Mill, Henry Sidgwick, Samuel Johnson, Aldous Huxley and George Orwell.

In addition to being reflective in a way Socrates would have approved, they got closer to the truth than most others and lived their lives according to their core values, even if it involved significant sacrifice.

This is something that the modern happiness industry often misses. It is so focused on helping us become the best versions of ourselves that it leads us into an unhealthy self-obsession.

If we truly want to enhance our well-being, we need to look beyond ourselves. We need to make service our core value.

Of course, we need to take care of ourselves and ensure our needs are met, but that’s a start. Self-fulfilment is a start, not the goal of our reflections, actions and dreams,

says Amitabh!

And so, to conclude,

When a ‘Problem’ is effectively foregrounded, and put forth in a very clear, concise and precise language, the writer can then proceed boldly to try and solve the ‘Problem’ in their own ways, using examples, illustrations, evidence, allusions, statistics and case studies, and present them to the lay reader in a convincing way!

That highlights the importance and the necessity of a ‘Problem’ to an Academic Paper, ain’t it?

So the next time, when your classmate sits down to write their academic/research paper, ask them,

What’s your ‘Problem’? 😊

That solves it! 😊

"Hate and contempt get hardwired into a million heads" #cricket

Ind vs Pak | Getting Worked Up About It? 😍

Language of ‘Sports’ | Today’s ToI

14 October 2023

The language used in sports reporting, is simply way beyond the ordinary!

It borders on the figurative, with linguistic inventiveness as its terra firma.

One primary criteria expected of all sports writing is that, the writer should make it interesting and exciting!

That’s simply because, sport in itself is interesting and exciting!

The reader hence expects the reviewer (or the feature writer) to give them the thrills through their takes!

As such, reading through the sports news / sports feature, requires a connect with the sophisticated variety of the language!

Sample this –

The Pakistan team seem to be less gung-ho than their Indian counterparts.

The Kiwis were sluggish in their attack.

Today’s Times of India, has an Editorial feature, from their own feature writer, Avijit Ghosh, who takes us on such a figurative ride through his engaging way with words, on the India vs Pakistan ‘bout’ today!

Please do take your morning’s cup of coffee in hand, relax and just enjoy the language of sports in all its grandeur!

Here goes –

The scene promises to be different when India and Pakistan face off on the same ground today.

The two contesting nations share the bad blood of history.

Toxic politics doesn't let the temperature go down.

Social media posts, designed to mock and hurt, are dipped in alphabets of arsenic. 

Hate and contempt get hardwired into a million heads. 

Many of us watch sports against each other through this prism.

  

The hysteria sweeps into other sports, as well, especially hockey. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Indo-Pak hockey encounters were fiercely contested and passionately-followed. 

But neither country seemed prepared for the looming structural changes that reshaped the game. Hockey became a faster and more fitness-demanding game once astro turf was introduced in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. 

Both countries went on the backfoot. 

Four lamenting decades passed before the country returned to the hockey podium. 

Demolishing Pakistan 10-2 might have brought added satisfaction, but then the country, currently in free-fall, is no longer part of hockey's high table.

The old rivalry is irrelevant now. 

The sub-continental rivalry has always been milked by television, especially in more recent decades. 

For most of us, an Indo-Pak game will always carry that extra edge of intensity. However, while celebrating wins and mourning losses, we should remember that sports are not substitutes for war. 

And well, if you are interested in reading more on writings and musings on Cricket, your best bet would be The Picador Book of Cricket! 

“What more does a teacher need?” ❤️

A Rewarding Day @ FDP | SDNB Vaishnav College

When your students make you so proud! ❤️

13 October 2023 | Today

I was so glad to be a part of the FDP [Faculty Development Programme] organized by the IQAC and the UG Department of English, SDNB Vaishnav College.

The FDP was so well-organised, and towards the end of my talk, the teacher-participants had some highly thought-provoking questions as well.

And to me, personally, the cream of the session was, when a faculty member from the audience, sprang a surprise, by saying to those gathered - 

Friends, I wish to say one thing about Rufus sir. I was doing my II BA English in MCC, in the year 2007-08, when sir had given us all an assignment and he had asked us to come forward and speak in front of the class.

Initially I was very hesitant to come, since I was quite a bit nervous about public speaking.

But sir came up to my desk, and motivated me to come forward and speak in front of the entire class.

Added, sir carefully noted down each and every word of what I spoke, and immediately, he put it up on his academic blog as well. I felt so motivated and overjoyed. 

That was the first time I really spoke in public to such a huge class, in the Selaiyur Hall Indoor Stage. That’s when I overcame my fear of public speaking. Today I’m so proud to say that I’m standing before you as a faculty member.

The teachers then gave her a standing ovation.

Well, literally Sujatha’s words so moved me and literally moistened my eyes.

“What more does a teacher need?” I said, standing before our own vibrant student who’s doing so well as a Professor at SDNB.

In fact, I still treasure the beautiful personal email that she had sent me soon after her presentation in class. 😊

Reproducing it here below, dedicating it to all of us, teachers, in the noblest of vocations, who are so proud of our kids doing so well in life. 

More power to you dear Sujatha. You won’t know how proud we are, of you. So happy to know from your colleagues that you are doing so well, as a Professor. Keep up the good work.

I was so happy to see Prof. Paavai, a committed Professor, doing so well at SDNB. She was one of our best students, with such an amazing writing style.

You may want to read the entire article HERE.

I was also delighted to meet with yet another alumna of ours, Prof. Angela, who – the moment she saw me, said – Sir, you taught us Structuralism in our MPhil class!” 😊

So happy for all of you our dear students. Keep shining!

Today I also happened to meet with such a vibrant Professor Dr. Shankari, who gave a lot of valuable thoughts and ideas, on how to tap the creativity in the student, and make them engaged in academic activities.

Three points that she made were highly praise-worthy. Sharing those noble ideas here, so that, it will have the ‘butterfly effect’ and impact academia for the better.

The Word Bank is a game, in which each student has to deposit one difficult word per day into a box for a particular period of time [say a month’s time]. At the end of the month, the cards deposited in the Word Bank, will be taken out, and the students will be quizzed based on the words they’d deposited. If they answered all the words right,  they were appreciated and awarded prizes.

Yet another activity which sounded quite interesting, was the ‘peer-teaching’ method, wherein, students good at a particular subject, share their knowledge and learning amongst their classmates, thereby enriching each other in the process.

One more activity that was suggested by Dr. Shankari was – Students read a particular book and then post a review of the book on a blog. I found this to be a very innovative and highly laudable method by means of which students can make creative use of technology and at the same time, improve on their reading skills as well. More power to you, dear ma’am.

Dr. Karthika made an insightful observation, that, students felt happy when they were recognized and we followed up on their activities. But most of the time, we’d be having some added academic commitments when we are not able to follow up on their academics. I agreed with ma’am’s observations to a tee!

Journal writing was yet another good option suggested by a Professor.

‘Using Memes in the learning process’ as a pedagogic tool, was yet another lovely suggestion that came from a Professor.

Creating story outlines was yet another suggestion from another Professor.

I was so happy when Dr. Shankari and a few others said that they had read the article that I had posted just this morning at 6.50 am, on the day’s Editorial, from The New Indian Express.

And, finally, I was walking my way back with happy memories of the day, back to the car park, accompanied by Prof. Sujatha, when a research scholar came rushing towards me.

‘Rufus Sir?’ she asked, with a puzzled look!

‘Yes’, I said.

Sir, you remember me. Malini from QMC. I had asked you for guidance for my PhD, a few years ago. You guided me so well. Today I just finished my third DC here at SDNB, Sir. Just wanted to thank you, and this is the first time I’m meeting you personally, so wanted to say a hi to you, and thank you for your guidance, sir’, she said.

Best wishes for you, Ms. Malini. Keep shining!

And thank you so much dear Professors. Felt so happy. You really made my day today.

On the whole, a very rewarding day today at SDNB Vaishnav College, Chrompet.

And yes! even as I am writing out this blog, I am getting good news from our I & II MA students who have successfully completed their paper presentations at the Two-Day International Seminar on Social Sciences, Languages and Culture, organised by the Department of English, Crescent University today. 

Congratulations Lalitha, for sharing the good news! 

Congratulations, Jelshiya! 

Congratulations, Jennifer! 

So proud of you our dear students! 

Today also happens to be a memorable day for yet another reason. Dr. Alan, who was my student (my first batch) at American College, Madurai, and presently doing amazingly well, as a Professor in VIT, Chennai, (and guiding many of our MCC-ians as well), shared with me the good news that, he was given the Research Award today at their University Day 2023, for having the highest number of Scopus publications with the School of Social Sciences and Languages, VIT. More power to you, dear Alan. We are so proud of you. Keep up the spirit.