February 2015

MAGAZINE ON EDUCATION

VOLUME 2 ISSUE 9 February 2015

Managing EditorDr. Varghese Panthalookaran CMI

EditorJames Paul

Associate EditorDr. Prasant Palackappilly CMI

ColumnsK. L. MohanavarmaDr. K. N. RaghavanDr. Jos Cletus PlackalSajit MalliyoorSebastian Menacherry

Marketing ManagerVarghese Kachappilly CMI

ArtSajo Joseph

Contact:Rajagiri Media, Rajagiri Valley P.O,Kakkanad, Kochi-39.Phone : 0484 2973979Mob: +91 9497711010Mail : [email protected]

Writing on the wallThe 10th Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2014,indicates some major concerns and drawbacks of the Indianeducation system.

It has a similar story as in previous years: rising enrolment, poorlearning levels in reading, Mathematics and English.The report,essentially, has a lot of key observations which are a mix ofpositives as well as negatives.

The report points out that just a small proportion of third-gradersare able to read even a text from a lower grade. Any improvement inlater years is at best marginal, says the report. The fact is thatreading skills are not imparted as part of classroom activity.

Considering Nobel laureate Amartya Sen’s caution regarding theinsecurity that people face over a lifetime due to the deprivation ofbasic education, the Report calls for a hard look at the situation. Itsfindings amount to a distressing catalogue of the failures inherent inthe pedagogic methods of instruction in vogue. The foremostamong them is the overemphasis on a curriculum that is geared tooutcomes in the form of examination results, at the expense of aprocess of learning that is oriented to a mastery of concepts.

One of the most attention-grabbing observations is the students’understanding of subjects such as Arithmetic and English. Pupilsfrom the higher classes are unable to perform even simple tasks ofdivision or subtraction. The all-India (rural) figures for basicarithmetic have remained virtually unchanged over the last fewyears. For example, only 44.1% of Class 8 students in rural Indiamanaged to do a division in 2014, as against 46% in 2013. In 2012,26.3% of Class 3 children could do a two-digit subtraction. Comingto English—perhaps the most widely used (spoken and written)language in our country after our national language—the overallscenario in the ability of school children to comprehend English toois seeing a drop. In 2014, about 25% of children enrolled in Class 5could read simple English sentences. This number has remainedvirtually unchanged since 2009. The situation is not so good even inmiddle schools.

Ad hoc teaching methodologies, lack of defined curriculum andabsence in diligence and training of teachers can be viewed as fewmajor reasons for this scenario. Acknowledging these criticalissues, the Indian education system needs to change its routinetechniques and invest into a much effective and interactivepedagogy that is fun, creative and, at the same time, gives thechild a potential to think, learn and grow.

The Report also states some of the positive points. The percentageof Class 5 children who can at least read a Class 2 level text hasrisen from 46.8% in 2012 to 47% in 2013 and further to 48.1% in2014. Further, the ability to do division has increased slightly from24.8% in 2012 to 26.1% in 2014. Therefore, there is still a ray ofhope and room for some optimistic changes. The Indian educationsystem, thus, needs to take a firm step to augment and improvethe literacy rate with a unique curriculum. We carry a detailedanalysis of Annual Status of Education Report in this issue.

FROM EDITOR’S DESKFROM EDITOR’S DESKFROM EDITOR’S DESKFROM EDITOR’S DESKFROM EDITOR’S DESK

CONTENTS

0 4 Pallikkutam | February 2015

10COCOCOCOCOVER STVER STVER STVER STVER STORORORORORYYYYY

Value Inversion

Value inversion: truth, fiction,concern and opportunity................................ 12

Change in values -its effects ..........................................................

Each generation is a new society coming to life. All cultureschange over time; it is cultural evolution not devaluation.Values are known to change with time and region. Thesevalues are often the building blocks of how an entiregeneration perceives and pursues things.

Jed Metzger

Deepa Varma K

Shift of values alongwith time...........................................................

To be or not to be,that is the question..........................................

K. Jayakumar

Col. GPV Nair (Retd.)

Value addition onhuman beings...................................................Damodaran Pillay Santhi Kumar

EXPERT COUNSEL 30EXPERT COUNSEL 30EXPERT COUNSEL 30EXPERT COUNSEL 30EXPERT COUNSEL 30

Dr. K.N. Raghavan

PERSONAL 33PERSONAL 33PERSONAL 33PERSONAL 33PERSONAL 33

Dhoni deserves betterfarewellCricket history will record Dhoni asthe first ever wicket keeper whowas also a successful captain atinternational level.

My husband is nice witheveryone else except me

15

18

20

24Sajit Malliyoor

Domestic violence or abuse is stillbeing discussed in our society withhushed tones or regularly brushedunder the carpet.

GUEST COLUMN 58GUEST COLUMN 58GUEST COLUMN 58GUEST COLUMN 58GUEST COLUMN 58

Erosion of values

K. L. Mohana Varma

We live in a golden age oftechnological, medical, scientificand social progress.

05

FEBRUARY 2015

NEWS................................. 06NEWS................................. 06NEWS................................. 06NEWS................................. 06NEWS................................. 06

INSIGHTS.......................... 08INSIGHTS.......................... 08INSIGHTS.......................... 08INSIGHTS.......................... 08INSIGHTS.......................... 08

CREACREACREACREACREATIVE LIVINGTIVE LIVINGTIVE LIVINGTIVE LIVINGTIVE LIVING............................................................ 42 42 42 42 42

INFO TECH....................... 45INFO TECH....................... 45INFO TECH....................... 45INFO TECH....................... 45INFO TECH....................... 45

INNOINNOINNOINNOINNOVVVVVAAAAATIONSTIONSTIONSTIONSTIONS............................................................................................... 52 52 52 52 52

Pallikkutam | February 2015

ASER: An eye-opener or just another annualreport?

Dr. D. Dhanuraj

Regeneration of education in a V-A-C-U-U-Mworld

CAREER............................. 50CAREER............................. 50CAREER............................. 50CAREER............................. 50CAREER............................. 50Smile makeover through facial aesthetic surgery

Dr. Jos Cletus Plackal

REGULARSREGULARSREGULARSREGULARSREGULARS

ASER has been making wave in the educationcircles for quite a number of years and has been areference point for the academicians, administratorsand investors these years.

A multidisciplinary approach is required to analyse,evaluate and treat patients for better facialaesthetics.This includes Maxillofacial surgicalprocedures, Orthodontics and Cosmetic dentistry.

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EDU TRENDS 54EDU TRENDS 54EDU TRENDS 54EDU TRENDS 54EDU TRENDS 54

According to Family Systems Therapy the individualis the product of the wider system called family. Thefamily values, emotional input, parental modeling etc.determine the content of family members’ character.

TURN TURN TURN TURN TURN TTTTTO PO PO PO PO PAAAAAGE 65GE 65GE 65GE 65GE 65

For online subscription, log on towww.pallikkutam.com

BOOK SHELFBOOK SHELFBOOK SHELFBOOK SHELFBOOK SHELF.............................................................................................................. 28 28 28 28 28

REFLECTIONS REFLECTIONS REFLECTIONS REFLECTIONS REFLECTIONS .................. 66.................. 66.................. 66.................. 66.................. 66

RAINBORAINBORAINBORAINBORAINBOWWWWW.................................................................................................................................. 62 62 62 62 62

HEALHEALHEALHEALHEALTH MONITTH MONITTH MONITTH MONITTH MONITOR 38OR 38OR 38OR 38OR 38

STORIES OF LIFE 36STORIES OF LIFE 36STORIES OF LIFE 36STORIES OF LIFE 36STORIES OF LIFE 36

From individualism to family ecosystem

Dr. Binu Augustine

Sebastian Menacherry

The acronym v-a-c-u-u-m is used here in a differentperspective to summarize the challenges our childrenwill be facing when they come of out of theseeducational institutions.

NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWSNEWS

06 Pallikkutam | February 2015

Scholarships will directly go tostudents’ accounts

All central scholarships would becredited straight into the students’bank accounts under

the Direct Benefit Transfer(DBT) programme, thegovernment said.

The move is being initiatedto safeguard the interests ofstudents and to prohibitdiscrimination andharassment.

In a recent communication,the University GrantsCommission (UGC), whichgoverns higher education inthe country, has asked allrecognized universities andcolleges to ensure that thescheme is implemented in a “befittingmanner”.

For this, UGC has asked the institutes toregister themselves with the PublicFinancial Management System (PFMS)which serves as a common central portalfor registering implementing agencies andbeneficiaries.

This will help them verify the applicationsof the students received online to enable

the HRD ministry to disburse scholarshipsto the students directly into their bankaccounts under the DBT programme.“The uploaded applications on PFMSportal need to be validated by theinstitutes online without any delay tosafeguard the interests of students and toprohibit discrimination and harassment of

any student,” it said. UGC has also askeduniversities to display scholarship

schemes and newinitiatives of the HRDministry on the home pageof their websites.

Meanwhile, minorityaffairs minister NajmaHeptullah has written toall chief ministersrequesting them to takenecessary initiatives fordisbursing post-metric andmerit-cum-meansscholarships for minoritiesthrough DBT. The saidscholarships are centrally-sponsored programmes,having a funding share of

75:25 between the Centre and the states.

The government has also decided to extendthe DBT mode of payment to beneficiariesunder pre-metric scholarship scheme forminority students and directly credit theamount to their bank account from thecoming academic session.

Stem India plans Rs 3,000crore on 100 schools

Academy of Stem India said itwill open 100 schools over thenext 10 years across the country

that would attract an investment of Rs2,500-3,000 crore.

“We have already acquired land for eightlocations in Howrah, Baruipur, Rajarhat,Guwahati, Bikaner and Jaipur. These

schools would be operational in nextthree years,” Stem India Chairman VinodDugar said at the inauguration of firststem world school at Barrackpore inNorth 24 Parganas district of WestBengal.

Stem is a teaching methodology which isadopted from US to help students tofoster greater interest among young kidsin science and maths.

Cynthia A Brickton, RegionalSuperintendent of DeKalb CountySchools, Georgia US, said, STEM isacronym for Science, Technology,Engineering, Mathematics and theeducation integrate these four factors topromote real world experience, Academyof Stem India is a Section 25 company.

Success rate inCA final exams

increases

The pass rate in the charteredaccountancy final exams hassteadily risen in the last two

editions. In the November 2014 exams,8.23% candidates passed nationally, upfrom 7.29% in the March 2014 exams. InNovember 2013, the pass rate was just3.11%.

Over 36,000 students appeared in thelast exam. Prafulla Chhajed, vicechairman, board of studies, ICAI, said,“Though we do not have a record on thenumbers of students who do not have aformal degree, the possibility cannot beruled out. Some students who arefocused may choose to pursue CA aftertheir class XII.” Students usuallycomplete the entrance test (CPT) and theintermediate exam (IPCC) and then thearticleship before the finals.

NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWSNEWS

07Pallikkutam | February 2015

CBSE schoolsdouble in5 years

The number of CBSE schools inTamil Nadu has more thandoubled in the last five years. In

2010, around 250 schools from the statewere registered with the Central Boardof Secondary Education (CBSE), anumber that has now touched 580.

A senior CBSE official in Chennai saidthe applications for affiliation to theboard peaked in the last two years. “In2013 and 2014, we gave affiliation tonearly 150 schools across Tamil Nadu.We received the highest number ofapplications over the last two years,”the official said.

Chennai and Coimbatore have the mostCBSE schools in the state. The two

cities account for more than one third ofthe schools. Chennai has around 100CBSE schools, while there are close to80 in and around Coimbatore, the boardsaid.

The rise in numbers is linked to theimplementation of the Samacheer Kalvisyllabus aimed at providing uniformeducation in state board, matriculation,oriental and Anglo Indian schools in thestate. Samacheer Kalvi, implementedunder the Tamil Nadu Education Act,2010, received mixed reactions,especially from private matriculationschool managements.

1,571 nursery seats forspecial kids

As per the Directorate ofEducation’s records, there are atleast 229 schools in Delhi that are

capable of teaching students with someform of disability or the other. In theschools that havedisclosed thisinformation toDoE, there are over1,571 nursery seatsfor children underthe ‘special needs’category—someschools areexclusively fordisabled children,the rest aremainstream ones.The DoE hasuploaded data onseats, category of disability the schoolscan handle and fees—which it collectedfrom schools last year—on its website forapplicants to use as reference.

Both the National Progressive Schools’Conference and the Action Committee forUnaided Recognized Private schools havementioned children with special needs intheir suggested guidelines. While few

schools have mentioned disabled children intheir nursery admission policy to beginwith, even at those that have, reservationfor this category has been implementeddifferently. At some, seats for this group

are outside the25% EWS-DG(economicallyweaker section-disadvantagedgroups) category.At Springdales,Pusa Road, forinstance, there arethree seats fordisabled candidatesthat aren’t part ofthe 25% EWSquota. “Wenormally get many

applications from this group every year,over 50,” says principal Ameeta MullaWattal.

Some schools have carved a 3% reservationout of the 25% EWS-DG one as childrenwith special needs (or CWSN) form one ofthe “disadvantaged groups”; this wasrecommended in the Action Committeeguidelines as well.

Central team visits site forproposed IIT in Kerala

A five-member team deputed bythe Centre inspected the siteidentified by the Kerala

government for the proposed IIT to beset up in Palakkad district and said adecision on the matter would be takensoon.

The team led by K Amarjith Singh,additional secretary in the department oftechnical education, visited the site atKunissery village panchayat in thedistrict.

A long-pending demand of Kerala, thestate government had identified over

1,200 acres in Kunissery for developingthe campus of the IIT.

After the visit, team members held ameeting with education minister PKAbdu Rabb, opposition leader VSAchuthanandan, who represents theMalamapuzha seat in the assemblywhere the site is located, and electedrepresentatives of the district.

Singh said the team would submit areport and a decision taken on the matterwithin a fortnight.

INSIGHTSINSIGHTSINSIGHTSINSIGHTSINSIGHTS

Early care giving hasenduring effects

Researchers at the University ofMinnesota has found that sensitivecare giving in the first three years of

life has definitive and enduring influence onan individual’s social competence andacademic achievement. The results arepublished in thejournal ChildDevelopment.

Sensitive caregiving is defined asthe extent to whicha parent respondsto a child’s signalsappropriately andpromptly. It ispositively involvedduring interactions with the child, andprovides a secure base for the child’sexploration of the environment. Individualswho experienced more sensitive care givingearly in life consistently functioned bettersocially and academically during the first

three decades of life, the study found.Although families’ economic resourceswere important predictors of children’sdevelopment, it didn’t fully account for thepersistent and long-term influence of earlycare giving experiences on individuals’

academic success.

The study underscoresthe importance of theearly parent-childrelationship. Becauseindividuals’ success inrelationships andacademics representsthe foundation for ahealthy society,programs and

initiatives that equip parents to interactwith their children in a sensitive mannerduring the first few years of their children’slife can have long-term benefits forindividuals, families, and society at large,concludes the study.

Music learning improves kids’ brains

Children who play violin or study piano could belearning more than just Mozart. Researchers fromUniversity of Vermont College of Medicine have

found that musical training help kids focus their attention,control their emotions and diminish their anxiety. Theirresults are published in the Journal of the American Academyof Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

As children age, the cortex - the outer layer of the brain -changes in thickness. The cortical thickening or thinning inspecific areas of the brain reflects the occurrence of anxietyand depression, attention problems, aggression and behaviorcontrol issues even in healthy kids - those without adiagnosis of a disorder or mental illness. The researcherswanted to see whether a positive activity, such as musictraining, would influence those indicators in the cortex.

It is found that music practice influenced thickness in thepart of the cortex that relates to executive functioning,including working memory, attentional control, as well asorganization and planning for the future. A child’s musicalbackground also appears to correlate with cortical thicknessin brain areas that play a critical role in inhibitory control, aswell as aspects of emotion processing. A violin might helpchild battle psychological disorders even better than a bottleof pills!

Early childhoodshyness signals

teen anxiety

Infants who frequently react tounfamiliar objects, people, andsituations by becoming afraid and

withdrawing are referred to as having abehaviorally inhibited temperament. Asthese infants grow up, many continue tobe inhibited or reticent when theyexperience new things, including meetingnew people. Inhibited children are morelikely than their peers to develop anxietyproblems, especially social anxiety, asthey get older. A new study has found thatbehavioral inhibition that persists acrossearly childhood is associated with socialanxiety in adolescence, but only amongyouth who were insecurely attached totheir parents as infants. The study foundthat children who were both insecurelyattached to their parents as infants andwho were inhibited throughout theirchildhoods went on to have higher levelsof anxiety as adolescents, specificallysocial anxiety.


INSIGHTSINSIGHTSINSIGHTSINSIGHTSINSIGHTS

Personality outshines intelligenceRecent research at Griffith

University has found thatpersonality is more important than

intelligence when it comes to success ineducation. Out of all personality traitsConscientiousness and Openness had thebiggest influence on academic success. Theresults have been published in thejournal Learning and IndividualDifferences.

The study suggests that educationalinstitutions need to focus less uponintelligence and instead, pay moreattention to each student’s personality. Forexample, a student with the most helpfulpersonality will score a full grade higher

than an average student in this regard.Understanding how personality impactson academic achievement is a vital when itcomes to helping students to be successful,suggest the study.

The best news for students is that it’spossible to develop the most importantpersonality traits linked with academicsuccess. Personality does change, andsome educators have trained aspects ofstudents’ Conscientiousness andOpenness, leading to greater learningcapacity. By contrast, there is littleevidence that intelligence can be ‘taught’,despite the popularity of brain-trainingapps.

Quality sleep boostsperformance

A study by researchers at McGillUniversity and the DouglasMental Health University

Institute in Montreal suggests that a goodnight’s sleep is linked to betterperformance in math and languages -subjects that are powerful predictors oflater learning and academic success. Thefindings are published in the journal SleepMedicine.

The researchersreported that “sleepefficiency” isassociated withhigher academicperformance in thosekey subjects. Sleepefficiency is a gaugeof sleep quality thatcompares theamount of actualsleep time with thetotal time spent inbed. With greatersleep efficiency, thechildren did better inmath and languages -but grades in scienceand art weren’taffected.

The findingsunderscore the

importance of identifying sleep issues thatmay otherwise go unnoticed, suggests thestudy. That doesn’t mean parents need torush out and have their kids tested at sleepclinics - but it does point to a need forpediatricians to incorporate questionsabout sleep into routine checkups,concludes the study.

Cascadingdecisions in social

networks

The way in which information,decisions, and behaviors spreadthrough a network is a fundamental

social phenomenon. The process isanalogous to biological contagion. But thespread of behavior is based on individualdecision-making. It exhibits richer andmore complex behavior than the moredirect mechanics of biological contagion.How to initiate a cascade with the endgoal of maximizing the expected numberof ‘favorable’ decisions? Insights into thisproblematic is available in a recent studypublished in SIAM Journal on Computing.

For example, a company might be tryingto guide the adoption of a product byword-of-mouth effects, or a politicalmovement might be trying to guide thesuccess of its message in a population.Cascades of this kind are sensitive to theorder in which people make decisions. Forinstance, the consequences of some earlydecisions can be amplified due to theeffect they have on the rest of thepopulation.

Success of the cascade is often greatlyaffected by this choice of timing, suggeststhe study. With the right timing strategy,the cascade can have a good likelihood ofspreading the message widely, while withthe wrong strategy, it can have very littlechance of going far.


Informationinflation

“We live in a world whereunfortunately thedistinction between trueand false appears tobecome increasinglyblurred by manipulationof facts, by exploitation ofuncritical minds, and bythe pollution of thelanguage.”

Arne Tiselius

Value inversion

Each generation is a new society coming to life. All cultureschange over time; it is cultural evolution not devaluation.

Values are known to change with time and region. These valuesare often the building blocks of how an entire generation

perceives and pursues things.What kind of decisions they make and if or not they thrive.

Do you see a significant difference while comparing the values inyour generation to that of the generation before you? If yes, is

that change good or bad?

COVER STORYCOVER STORYCOVER STORYCOVER STORYCOVER STORY

Value inversion: truth, fiction,concern and opportunity

This essay aims to spend some timeconsidering the question of howvalues are changing; are we in fact

witnessing an inversion of basic values.Time will be spent understanding what ismeant by the term “value”, understandinghow this term is a moving target, exploringthe threats to positive values in today’syouth culture and finally thinking aboutsome opportunities that we have in theface of today’s value systems.

As with any subject we must begin bycoming up with an agreement on thesubject. When thinking about values, oneinteresting thing that is happening aroundthe globe is a discussion of an erosion orinversion of values. Often this fact ispresented as a part of a political agendaand follows the script of saying that sincethe society is witnessing a decline in valueswe should elect a particular candidate tooffice. This is an interesting idea sincethere seems to be a clear rise in the numberof public officials caught in some ethicalscandal or another. In fact the valuelesspolitical figure is now a frequent villain inthe plot line of both Western andBollywood films.

Regardless, when listening to these claims,what is understood is that there is adeterioration of family values. Again this isoften poorly defined and sometimes seemsto be a code phrase for a moral agenda. Letme explain, one universal value is “thoushall not steal”. So the question would beif we are seeing a rise in theft in the past25 years (roughly the age of a generation).The answer is mixed, up in some locals,down in others, but in general there doesnot seem to be a worldwide increase intheft. How about the value of sending athank you note after receiving a gift? I wasraised to do just that, so my aunt gave mea gift, I would use my best penmanshipand send of a letter of appreciation to her.This behavior does seem much reduced,

seemingly less a victim of a valueinversion than the increase in the price ofstamps and the availability of more rapidforms of communication making the so-called ‘snail-mail” less of an appealingoption.

Perhaps where there may be wideragreement would be in the increased useof advertisement enforced consumerismthat depicts women in sexualizedclothing. India, long a stronghold ofmodesty now has a proliferation ofincreasingly suggestive billboards.

Western television commercials are ripewith the same as well as large numbers ofadvertisements for sexual enhancementmedications. This visual imagery is oftencited as both evidence and a cause of avalue inversion. On this point you willget no argument from me. The questionis if the prevalence of these images iscausing a value shift? More on this in amoment, but let me conclude with onemore point and that is there are somethings that are presented as value issuesby some and human right issues byothers.

As there seems to be at least someevidence of society values deterioratingthe question what is driving it? It wouldseem that each generation accuses thegeneration that follows as loosening thesocial fabric and the value base.However, it is hard to find directevidence that what are changing are thevalues. Clearly though, the globalizationof commercialism is having an effect andsince a huge part of the marketing isdirected at youth, the youth areresponding differently than they ageneration ago.

The youth of today carry a computer intheir hand in the form of a data phone.With it they see images of what othershave and are doing and respond by

Jed Metzger



seeking to obtain or do the same. Inmany ways this author sees the greatestthreat to values is the culture that tellsus the solution is in buying things.Globally this has far reaching effects.

In the West, youth are increasingly cutoff from the process of working hard toearn a reward and instead replacing itwith mass consumption of items that arenot really needed. In the East men areleaving their families in large numbers towork in the Gulf States so that theirfamilies can “keep up” with theconsumerism that has gripped the East.Opponents to the position I presentwould say that this is the nature ofdemocracy, to that I respond thatdemocracy and capitalism are not thesame thing.

One is a system of participation in thegovernance of the society and the otheris a system that that purports that thereis greater value in greater money. Thefirst helps people gain equality, I arguethe later negatively effects families andchildren.

To be clear, there is evidence that therealways has been and most likely will betension between generations, but at theend of the day the moral codes of thegenerations are not that different. Whatis different today is that massive attackof the advertisement industry on theminds of the youth, especially femaleyouth, to purchase their way toenlightenment, beauty, or popularity.This is the real danger. It is not theyouth; it is what the youth are facing.What the youth are facing comes notfrom the youth but from adults usingthem to line their own pockets. Thisthen presents the opportunity.

Our job as adults and as parents is toeducate. In order to be good educatorswe need to be educated ourselves. We

The greatest threat to values is the culture that tells us thesolution is in buying things. Globally this has far

reaching effects.



need to understand that the pressure youthare under today is intense. Note theJanuary 2015 edition of this journal whichwas dedicated to Information Inflation- thepressure of too much information toomuch of the time on our youth.

We need to seek to understand youth andnot blame them. We need to stay inconversation with them. They need to hearfrom us what our family values are. Theyneed us to have regular mealtime where we

can sit and dine and communicate witheach other. If we are professionaleducators, we need to spend timediscussing how to maintain values in theface of consumerism. The complexity ofthe global world is hard to grasp, and theyouth are doing the best they can with it.They need the generations that camebefore them to take an interest in them andtheir lives and help them make the choiceto live the values that they have beenraised in. As adults we have to accept and

The author is Associate Professor ofSocial Work at Nazareth College inRochester, USA.

We need to seek to understand youth and not blame them. We needto stay in conversation with them. They need to hear from us

what our family values are. They need us to have regularmealtime where we can sit and dine and

communicate with each other.

own the world that we have created andnot blame the youth, but work to stayconnected to them while they go out andstake their claim to the world. Change isthe constant, but the core values of honestliving and respect can remain as long as weare interested in providing an avenue fortheir expression.


Change invalues - its effects


What is value? Literally, valuemeans something that has aprice and is precious. The term

value comes from the Latin word ‘valere’which means “to be of worth”. TheConcise Oxford Dictionary defines theterm value as the worth, desirability orutility of a thing. It is worth or importanceof a thing. In India’s philosophicaltradition, the widely accepted concept ofvalue is Truth, Goodness and Beauty(Sathyam, Shivam, Sundaram)

Values are primarily ethical, social andsubjective and are based on respect forhuman dignity. They act as forceful toolsfor the cultivation of social good. Valuesare the essence of life. For example,kindness, love and tolerance are valuespracticed even by animals and birds.

According to Indian thought, values arecreated by man from out of himself in thecourse of manipulation and control of theexternal physical world and the externalsocial environment. Bertrand Russell says,“The Machine as an object of adoration isthe modern form of Satan, and its worshipis the modern diabolism. …..Whatever elsemay be mechanized, values are not, andthis is something which no politicalphilosopher must forget.” So, if values areto be defined, it becomes clear that valuesare not mechanical and consequently donot proceed from external physical nature.Then what can be values? It must bespiritual; and we must search them in thedepth of human nature itself. Vedantaholds that man creates value from within

Change invalues - its effects

Deepa Varma K

Values are primarily ethical, social andsubjective and are based on respect

for human dignity.



himself in the context of his life and work;that control is provided by the twoexternal environments, natural and social.

The modern era has witnessed a“knowledge” revolution with significantscientific and technological progress whichin turn, has led to great progress in thecurrent materialistic society. However,along with that, we are seeing a decline inour values. Values as mentioned earlier arenot mechanical, and the effect of newmachines and technology does not alwaystranslate to better values. In fact, atechnological ‘revolution’ cannot producevalues in society; nor can we generate lovein the hearts of man himself. Love,compassion, dedication and the spirit ofservice are positive virtues which together

constitute our value system. Values andvirtues are not hereditary, rather, they arelearnt. When our value system is not intune with our real nature, it ends up intragedy. The story of King Midas is a greatexample.

We all know the story of the greedy kingnamed Midas. He had a lot of gold and themore he had the more he wanted. Hestored the entire gold in his vaults andspent his whole time counting it.

One day while he was immersed incounting, a stranger came from somewhereand said he would grant Midas a wish. Theking was very delighted and said, “I wouldlike everything I touch to turn to gold.”The man asked the king, “Are you sure?”

The king replied, “Yes, Yes, Yes.” Thestranger said, “Starting from tomorrowmorning with the sun rise you will get theability to have the golden touch.”

The king thought he must be day dreaming,this could never be true. The next day hewoke up before sun rise. He waited for thesun to rise. As soon as it rose, he touchedhis pillow. It turned into gold. Whatever hetouched, it turned to gold. He wasexhilarated. He sat for breakfast and themoment he touched his food, it turned intogold. He was getting hungry. He said tohimself, I can’t eat and drink gold! Thenhis daughter came running and out of lovehe hugged his only daughter and alas sheturned into a gold statue. No smiles left.The king started crying. He could not bear

Love, compassion, dedication and thespirit of service are positive virtues

which together constituteour value system.



it any more. Then the stranger who gavethe wish came again and asked the king ifhe was very happy with his golden touch.The king said he was the most miserableman in the world. The stranger asked,“What would you rather have, your food,drinks and your loving daughter or gold andthe golden statue of your daughter ?” Theking could not control his pain and cried forforgiveness. King said “I will give up allmy gold. Please give me my only daughterwithout her I have lost everything worthhaving”. The stranger said to the king, “Youhave now realized what value and price are.You have become wiser than before.” Thestranger reversed the spell. The king got hisdaughter back in his arms and he learned alesson what value is. See the moral of thestory. Distorted values lead to disaster!

And to quote Albert Einstein, “Try not tobe a man of success but rather try to be aman of value.”

We all know that the universe is ever-changing and so are we and our valuesystems. But, there will always be someuniversal values which are perpetual.Responsibility, integrity, commitment andpatriotism all may be old values but theyare universal and eternal.

“Where the vision is one year,cultivate flowers.

Where the vision is ten years,cultivate tress.

Where the vision is eternity, cultivatepeople.”

(Oriental saying.)

Values are intrinsic to our lives. They addstrength to our character and therighteousness of our beliefs. EmperorAsoka was one of the greatest Indianrulers. But his early success was based onmuch violence. He reached the throne afterkilling nearly ninety kinsmen. One day, inthe middle of the battle, he realized thatthere were no true victors in war becauseso many died on both sides. He became afollower of Buddha and changed his entirelife. He served his people in wonderfulways. He understood that the purpose ofman is to live not just a life, but a good lifewith values. Even today, Ashoka ishonoured and remembered not for hisempire, but for his transformation andgood deeds.

This is the age of technology. The world isseeing unprecedented progress in humancapabilities due to the scientific andtechnological development. We areembarking on an era where ourcapabilities, life style and relationships asa society, all are evolving rapidly. Withthis progress, also come challenges.Intergenerational conflicts and confusionon social values are increasing. In thatcontext, it is imperative for all of us

parents, to provide a strong moralfoundation to our children. We should beinculcating in them, those eternal valueslike love, respect, kindness andcompassion. We should teach them to livea life of integrity and honesty. Make themresponsible citizens of this world byteaching them the values of patriotism andservice to society. Let us provide themwith the tool to succeed in life by teachingthem to be self-confident, be motivatedand always be perseverant. Let us impartour kids the wisdom handed down to usby generations who preceded us. Andabove all, let us teach them that in this erawhen everyone is running after“prosperity”, we are prosperous when weare happy, not necessarily when we havewhat we “want”. Let us strive for teachingthe next generations, the values we learnedfrom our forefathers and from our lifeexperience, but also keep an open mind inunderstanding and appreciating theirperspectives.

We are embarking on an era where ourcapabilities, life style and relationships

as a society, all are evolving rapidly.

The author is a post graduate inComputer Applications and workingas Technical Lead in a softwarecompany.



Shift of valuesalong with time

K. Jayakumar

Values are closely integrated withhuman life. Human life is notpossible without values. Each and

every living being has certain values.Proportion of positive and negative valuesseparates good and not good. Positivessuch as love. forgiveness, compassion etc.,and negatives such as hatred, greed,prejudice etc.

Every human being is born clean with nomindsets. But it receives values fromfamily, educational institutions andsociety.

We are a country known for its highstandard of values in which we respectelders, teachers, other’s feelings, other’sfreedom. We are a country with manybeliefs, culture, languages and so on. Wewere taught to respect each other. Wealways had respect to our parents andGurus. We never wanted to do anythingthat hurts their feelings.

Politics in the beginning were for thecountry and its people by honest andcommitted people with great vision. Therewas no intervention of religious or anyother forces. Their only task was toimprove quality of the country and offer adecent and cultured life for the people.

Our modern generation likes to avoiddefinitive statements of values, whether itis parents, children, students, teachers,politicians, merchants, priests and on and

on. Everyone is looking only for theirown benefit. No respect towards thesociety.

We were told that marriages were madein heaven and not to be broken. To agreat extend it was practiced by ourelders. Children used to show greatrespect to elders including parents andteachers. Teachers loved their studentsmore than their own children. Parentswere the guides for their children, OurNational leaders used to show thecommon people how to live in peace andharmony. They were real heroes. Eventhe dramas and films also had a messageto the general public. Neighbours used tolove and respect each other irrespectiveof religions or language.

Look at the current scenario. Marriagesare broken for simple reasons, which canbe avoided in many cases, by a simpleunderstanding and respect of values.They are not ready to take any advisesfrom elders as they often believe, theyare always right.

Children these days end up in all kindsof trouble, mainly because of low valuesystems they inculcate from the society.Misuse of technologies, use of drugs,misinterpretation of rights etc., Parentsare also in one or other way culprits ofthese changes. Many of them do not findtime to interact with children.

We were told that marriages were made inheaven and not to be broken. To a great

extend it was practiced by our elders.Children used to show great respect

to elders including parentsand teachers.



Now politics is based on religions,languages and other factors. Politicalparties have become obedient servants ofreligious powers. Religious leadersdecide, who to rule the nation. Humanvalues have no relevance in the currentscenario. Leaders fight for their ownbenefits, throwing dirt on each other.Showing disrespect to Parliament andassemblies were believed as temples ofdemocracy. Entertainments such as filmshave lost their way. Very few films aremade for family audience. Majority ofthem have no values and cannot bewatched along with family. I do not knowwho to blame.

Even neighbours these days look at eachother suspiciously. There is no trustbetween people for many reasons.

To conclude, it is high time to have adetailed debate on this subject and arriveat a compromising formula to movetogether. Reminds me a quote of SwamiVivekanada – “ Believe in the world thatthere is meaning behind everything”

“ Believe in the worldthat there is meaningbehind everything”

The author is a businessman,associated with social, cultural andcharitable organizations.


To be or not to be, thatis the question

To be or not to be, thatis the question

Hamlet in me asked,“To be, or not to be, that is the question -

Whether tis Nobler in the mind to suffer.

The Slings and Arrows of outrageousFortune,

Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles”

Neither do I bemoan the pains andunfairness of life nor I acknowledge thealternative might be still worse, for I amone of those who always see the light atthe end of the tunnel.

Why this weird thought that perplexedHamlet crept to my mind? May bebecause I was asked a difficult question bya knowledgeable friend of mine “whetherthere is any scope of salvation from thedreadful disease (?) of ‘value inversion’that spreads like cancer in every cell of ourharmonious living in a multi-texturedsociety of ours”.

Couple of minutes passed, Hamlet in meslowly disappeared in thin air. I lookedfirmly at my friend and asked, “So what ifthere is value inversion? It is inevitable, itis happening from time immemorial, onlydifference is that we feel the effects morepronounced now because the earth is

rotating on its axis in double time”. Myfriend smiled and said, “OK, I gave yousomething to ponder about, you startcracking”.

If I have to do research on value inversion Ishould know what do the words value andinversion mean. Oxford dictionary says‘values’ is the regard that something is heldto deserve; the importance, worth orusefulness. For common man like me theword ‘values’ means the unwrittenperceptions on virtues one has to be awareof and abide by, though not prescribed in

An over view ofvalue inversion willsuggest hundredsof positive effectsas also negativeimpacts in equal

measure in our daytoday life.


Col. GPV Nair (Retd.)


constitution, for the well being of thesociety that one lives in. Inversion meanschange of status in the opposite direction.‘value inversion’, therefore, denotesaberrations and deflation of those valuesthat we have adored for centuries.

The spectrum of values that we Indiansvenerate is so vast that it will be aHerculean task to research on the effectsof value inversion on all walks of life.Also the connotation of ‘values’ differfrom religion to religion, continent tocontinent, nation to nation, culture toculture, state to state, gender to gender,age to age and so on. Hence, a detaileddiscourse on value inversion, I fear,becomes endless leading us nowhere!. Thereal reason why this has become a subjectof discussions is the computer andinternet revolution that shook the worldin the last three decades. This so calledrevolution has really turned the worldupside down and our perceptions andbehavioral patterns have undergone athorough overhaul! My children do notcome to me and ask my opinion or advice

on something bugging him because thereare thousands of Google pages, which givethem better answers and suggestions. Mygrandson doesn’t come to me to hear bedtime stories, instead he would watch Jackand Jill on Cartoon network, where as Ihave not slept a night without hearingstories and lullabies from my grandma inmy childhood. No one is saying that thesechanges of attitude and inclinations are notwelcome, they are! But the mostimportant thing that we, in the 21st

century, should comprehend is that there isa wide gap in the values, perceptions andrealities between 20th and 21st, centuries.This gap pronounced by the variations orchanges in our responses to our values, asyou may call, are for better and not forworse. The matter of fact is that we,especially the senior citizens need toadjust our mindset to cope with the speed

in nanoseconds, that is the order of theday. An over view of value inversion willsuggest hundreds of positive effects as alsonegative impacts in equal measure in ourday today life. A friend of mine retired as asenior engineer in BSNL told me “ Sir, youplease get me placement where I can befrom 9 am to 5 pm, I demand noremuneration! At home I have become a‘baby sitter’ cum ‘go getter’, which I havenever done in my 35 years of service!! “ Itsays all about the value inversion in normalday to day life. But the most significantbut disquieting fact is the adverse impactsthat had been brought in by value inversionin other facets of public life, especially ingovernance.

Governance:

In a parliamentary democracy thegovernance of the country is in the hands a

My grandson doesn’t come to me to hear bed time stories, instead hewould watch Jack and Jill on Cartoon network, where as I have

not slept a night without hearing stories and lullabies frommy grandma in my childhood.



band elected representatives fondlyrevered as politicians. The present daypolitics in our country, to a great extend,personifies the words of George BernardShaw “Politics is the last resort forscoundrels”.

The mere fact that 186 of the 540Members of Loksabha have criminalcases against them speaks volumes oferosion that had taken place over the last67 years in the Political fraternity.Corruption and nepotism have becomethe hallmark of our political spectrum. Itis shameful happening in a country,which boasts of Prime Ministers likeJawaharlal All Nehru and Lal BahadurShastri who earned worldwide acclaim asleading lights of Parliamentarydemocracy.

You may recall that in 1957 the pocketsized Railway minister of India by nameLal Bahadur Shastri resigned from thecabinet owning moral responsibility of

the infamous Ariyaloor train accident inwhich 144 human beings lost their lives.Since then the silent majority of thishighly rated nation, which include youand me, is on eternal wait for anotherpolitical leader to emulate Shastri. Notonly that no other Shastri emerged, wehave our hands full with ministers andleaders accused of scam after scam. Wehave raised our bar of acceptance to alevel no other country can match! Wehave reached a dumb state and wesuccumbed to the ever - widening “sabchaltha hai” attitude without a whimper.

Criminality is not the only trademark ofthe politicians. Unforgivable callousnessin governance is the prime reason whythe progressive measures that arepromised during election times is thecharacteristics of Governments for a longtime irrespective of party affiliations.

On 25th January 06, on the eve of our57th Republic Day President of India, Dr.

APJ Abdul Kalam addressed the Nationas is customary for every President onthis auspicious occasion. It wassurprising that his address was broughton live only by Doordarshan. No otherTV channel I know of had carriedPresident of India’s address live on the25th January. The most surprising anddisgusting fact was that no news paperwhich I could lay my hands on, bothEnglish and regional, did carry the fulltext of President’s Address.

In his address he deliberately coined twoterms, political politics anddevelopmental politics, which have verysignificant relevance to our democraticprocess. The former, he referred to thegame of politics that politicians play onthe common man in an uneven groundwhere every time the common man willbleed to death to glorify his politicalidol. The president did not totallydenounce the party based politics at thetime of elections and agreed that this isan unavoidable practice every democracyhas to live with.

The second term, the developmentalpolitics that he coined with lot ofpassion, sensitivity and sensibilitytalked about a subtle operational modelof a political system beyond partyaffiliations and interests explicitlyfocusing on the development of theNation. This new concept that President

In his address Dr. APJ Abdul Kalamdeliberately coined two terms, political politicsand developmental politics, which have very

significant relevance to our democraticprocess.



suggested assumes greater significancesince this had never been preached orpracticed by our political pundits beforein the center or in the states. It pointed toa convergence of all political parties andtheir leaders into a workable politicalmodel that would have the commitmentand earnestness to achieve overalldevelopment of the society and theNation in a faster pace.

The worst part is that is that the politicalclass gave scant respect to President’ssuggestions and till date no discussionwas reported to have gone through onthis.

The author holds masters degree inDefense Studies from the MadrasUniversity and served Indian Armyfor more than 24 years as acommunicator in corps of signals.



The president did not totallydenounce the party based politics atthe time of elections and agreed thatthis is an unavoidable practice every

democracy has to live with.


Value addition onhuman beings

Moral values are the standards ofgood and evil, which govern anindividual’s behavior and choices.

Individual’s morals may derive from hisown self, society and government orreligion. People generally apply moralvalues to justify decisions, intentions andactions, and it also defines the character ofa person. An individual with high moralvalues typically displays characteristics ofintegrity, courage, respect, fairness,honesty and compassion

Moral values derived from within one’sown self are clearly demonstrated in thebehavior of older infants and youngtoddlers. If a child has been forbiddensomething, they wait to see if they arebeing observed before touching said object.There is no need for this behavior to betaught; it is instinctive. Once, however,any form of discipline is applied to modifythe child’s behavior, the child gains thecapacity within himself to distinguish hisright behavior from his wrong behavior.Now, the child can make correct choicesbased on his own knowledge. The choicesthat are made by an individual fromchildhood to adulthood are betweenforbidden and acceptable, kind or cruel,generous or selfish. A person may, underany given set of circumstances, decide todo what is forbidden. If this individualpossesses moral values, going against themusually produces guilt. Needless to specifyhere that the child’s values are that of theparents.

Most religions have built-in lists of do’sand don’ts, a set of codes by which itsadherents should live. Individuals who arefollowers of a particular religion willgenerally make a show of following thatreligion’s behavioral code. It is interestingto note that these codes may widely vary;a person whose religion provides forpolygamy will experience no guilt athaving more than one spouse whileadherents to other religions feel they mustremain monogamous. In the past it was

Damodaran PillaySanthi Kumar


rare to see couples who lived togetherwithout the benefit of a legal matrimonialceremony. In recent years, couples that setup household without marriage are nearlyas plentiful as traditionally marriedcouples. But, not only are such couplesmore plentiful, they are also more acceptedby our society. As society moved into themodern era, that earlier system of lawsbecame more and more eroded. Take thecase of minority sexuality. Thecomplexities surrounding same sexmarriage are multifaceted and include abroad range of areas such as: legislation;institutional, social, and religious views;personal beliefs and biases; civil rights, andabove all ethics and values. The mostcommon argument against same sexmarriages is that it is sterile and unnaturalbecause it cannot result in procreation.

However in the modern times,degeneration of values and ethics hasbecome very rampant. Where have all ourmorals gone. Today, ‘moral’ is a wordwhich is just limited to the moral books ofsome primary classes. It is no longer avalid word for an Indian mind too, just asit has lost its meaning in the westernworld, several years ago. Morals havebecome a word sleeping in the dictionary.The one who exhibits or acts with his orher morals becomes a laughing stock. Soeventually he loses belief in them andstarts resorting to corrupts means.Reverences, obedience, kindness, love,affection, were some of the values but inthe present scenario these have beensubstituted by lust, greed, hypocrisy,hatred ans so on...

We can no longer tolerate our own parentswho taught us the morals and values,because they have become obsolete. So welovingly move them to the comforts of‘Loving old age homes’, where the word‘love’ varies in proportion to the moneywe pay.

We have started working for the salary we

Today, ‘moral’ is a word which is just limited to the moral books ofsome primary classes. It is no longer a valid word for an Indianmind too, just as it has lost its meaning in the western world,

several years ago. Morals have become a wordsleeping in the dictionary.



are paid. We quit our first job and join anew firm for a small rise in salary.Employers use employees and vice versa.It is all a matter of convenience.

The politicians who postrate in front of usand begs for our votes, start looting us aswell as the state on his being elected. Andwe are made to postrate in front of him forour lawful and genuine needs. Ourbureaucracy has ceased to serve but isfocused upon shredding theirresponsibilities. Our leaders are vying witheach other to be the architect of biggestscams in history. From Rs 64 crore inBofors, they have reached to Rs 170,0000crore in 2G. and no, the hundreds ofaircrafts Air India bought while sinkinginto bankruptcy and preposterous sums

spent on arms deals that have made Indiathe world’s second largest arms buyer.Total Scam Money (approx) since 1992 isapproximately, 73 Lakh Crore, when wecan’t provide food and healthcare to 60%Indians. Our judiciary is no longer dictatedby books of law but by loads of money.Our teachers, students, doctors, engineers,public servants, social workers, all havelost their real goal, forgotten their realidentity, moving towards only one thing intheir lives ‘Money and fame’.

In India today we face many challenges.Unscientific and complicated tax andlicensing systems, too many regulationsand regulatory bodies, a bureaucracywithout transparency and unlimiteddraconian discretionary powers,

Government Institutions with monopolyin certain areas of goods and servicesmovements and laws which are verydifficult to abide by in certain cases.These are the some of the major reasonsfor corruption in India today.

There is no real Indian sage anymore. Onlyscandals remain. There is no reliable media,which works for people’s welfare andawareness. Here in India, a child sees allaround power and money as objects ofadmiration, praise, respect and clout, allwithstanding. A child, as he is growing,sees that only the end matters, not themeans. He sees incompetent peopleholding positions of power and how otherswho are better qualified, cultured or value-oriented, are treated by those holdingpower and position and how theycapitulate before them.

People also see that it’s sycophancy notmerit, which pays and is rewarded, inpolitics, bureaucracy, associations or evenin defense forces. It is easy to get used to

Our teachers, students, doctors, engineers,public servants, social workers, all have

lost their real goal, moving towardsonly one thing in their lives

‘money and fame’.



money and high life which money canbuy but mere thought of it being takenaway, can lead a person to do anythingfor survival - corruption, crime,dishonesty, cheating embezzle or pilfer.

Sincerity, concern for society and senseof belonging, which all stem corruption,are at a great discount. There is only oneremedy. Let us revamp our system ofvalue education which covers character-building, discipline, civic sense, courtesyand regard for fellow citizens, sense ofbelonging and many other virtues whichwork towards the making of a betterhuman being and in turn, a better society.Whole stress in our Education System ison Professionalism which, in turn, getsconverted into money making capacity ofthe individual.

The author is the Director ofKaaizeen Meditech Private Limiteda trading organization in Keraladealing with Medical implants.

Let us revamp oursystem of valueeducation which

covers character-building, discipline,

civic sense, courtesyand regard for fellow

citizens, sense ofbelonging and manyother virtues whichwork towards themaking of a better

human being and inturn, a better society.



The old man and the seaErnest Hemingway

“But man is not made for defeat,” he said. “A mancan be destroyed but not defeated.”

At one level it is the tale of a manand a fish, at another, a story ofman versus nature, at yet another,

the story of the culture of manhood,courage, bravery in the face of existence,

and at yet another a history of what lifewas like when individuals were more thecentral actors on the human stage and notgroups or organizations. At the most basiclevel the very elderly fisherman, Santiago,

goes out in his small fishing boat after 84days without hooking a fish. He goes farout, and hooks a gigantic 18 foot longsword fish. The battle then begins, and thefish drags the small boat and Santiago farout to sea. For two days they battle, andSantiago wins that battle, but then losesthe great fish on the way home to thescavenger sharks who find him easy prey.

Hemingway celebrates the courage and rawguts of this old man, even recounting atime in Casablanca when he had spent anentire day in an arm wrestling match with amuch larger man in a seaside tavern.Hemingway celebrates a concept ofhumans as beings who go it alone, fierce,brave, courageous without even thinkingabout it, oozing strength from the nature ofthe best of the species.

Plot

The Old Man and the Sea is the story of abattle between an old, experiencedfisherman, Santiago, and a large marlin. Thenovel opens by telling the reader thatSantiago has gone 84 days withoutcatching a fish, considered “salao”, theworst form of unluckiness. He is sounlucky that his young apprentice,Manolin, has been forbidden by hisparents to sail with him and been told to,instead, fish with successful fishermen.The boy visits Santiago’s shack each night,hauling his fishing gear, preparing food,talking about American baseball and hisfavorite player Joe DiMaggio. Santiagotells Manolin that on the next day, he willventure far out into the Gulf Stream, northof Cuba in the Straits of Florida to fish,confident that his unlucky streak is near itsend.

On the eighty-fifth day of his unluckystreak, Santiago takes his skiff into theGulf Stream, sets his lines and, by noon,has his bait taken by a big fish that he issure is a marlin. Unable to pull in the greatmarlin, Santiago is instead pulled by themarlin. Two days and nights pass with

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Santiago holding the line. Though woundedby the struggle and in pain, Santiagoexpresses a compassionate appreciationfor his adversary, often referring to him asa brother. He also determines that becauseof the fish’s great dignity, no one shall eatthe marlin.

On the third day, the fish begins to circlethe skiff. Santiago, worn out and almostdelirious, uses all the strength to pull thefish onto its side and stab the marlin with aharpoon. Santiago straps the marlin to theside of his skiff and heads home, thinkingabout the high price the fish will bring himat the market and how many people hewill feed.

On his return, sharks are attracted to themarlin’s blood. Santiago kills a great makoshark with his harpoon, but he loses theweapon. He makes a new harpoon bystrapping his knife to the end of an oar tohelp ward off the next line of sharks; fivesharks are slain and many others are drivenaway. But the sharks keep coming, and bynightfall the sharks have almost devouredthe marlin’s entire carcass, leaving askeleton consisting mostly of its backbone,its tail and its head. Finally reaching theshore before dawn on the next day,Santiago struggles to his shack, carryingthe heavy mast on his shoulder. Oncehome, he slumps onto his bed and fallsinto a deep sleep. A group of fishermengather the next day around the boat wherethe fish’s skeleton is still attached. One ofthe fishermen measures it to be 18 feet (5.5m) from nose to tail. Tourists at the nearbycafé mistakenly take it for a shark.Manolin, worried about the old man, criesupon finding him safe asleep. The boybrings him newspapers and coffee. Whenthe old man wakes, they promise to fishtogether once again. Upon his return tosleep, Santiago dreams of his youth – oflions on an African beach.

The story is told with incredible economyof words and description, yet nothing issacrificed which drives home the powerand inner strength of this man, who justtakes it as what he does, what it is to be aserious fisherman.

The story is told with incredible economy of words and description,yet nothing is sacrificed which drives home the power and inner

strength of this man, who just takes it as what he does, what it is tobe a serious fisherman.

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EXPERT COUNSELEXPERT COUNSELEXPERT COUNSELEXPERT COUNSELEXPERT COUNSEL

Dr. K.N. Raghavan

Dhoni deservesbetter farewellIf the national team can repeat in 2015 their triumph four

years ago; it would not only redeem Dhoni in theeyes of cricket lovers but also provide him withthe fitting farewell that he so richly deserves.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni droppedthe biggest bomb shell in Indiancricket in recent times when he

informed the world through Board ofControl for Cricket in India (BCCI) abouthis decision to retire from test cricket atthe end of the third test against Australia atMelbourne on 30 December 2014. Thoughthis announcement brought forth an arrayof responses ranging from shock tobewilderment to even elation in certainquarters, the question on everyone’s lipswas “why now, in the middle of a testseries?”. In a style that is now seen astypical of the man, Dhoni withdrew frompublic gaze and refused to give any reasonfor either the decision or its timing. BCCIand the selectors moved quickly andappointed Virat Kohli as captain for theremaining test in Australia while at thesame time confirming that Dhoni wouldlead the squad that would defend theWorld Cup title when the championshipstarts in Australia and New Zealand inFebruary 2015.

Ever since he made his debut for thecountry in the winter of 2004 as astrapping long haired youngster, Dhonihad chosen to ride along a path that hehimself had carved out. His audaciousstroke play, unorthodox yet effective styleof batting and wicket keeping, totalfearlessness, complete disregard forreputations and an amazing ability toretain monk like calm even in the most

tense of situations marked him out as beingdifferent from the other cricketers of hisgeneration. Hailing from Ranchi, a virtualcricketing backwater, he did not possessany powerful supporter within thecorridors of BCCI and had worked his wayto the national squad and established hisposition there solely on the strength of hisperformances on the field. He was asurprise choice for leading the side for theinaugural T20 cricket World Cup held atSouth Africa in 2007. India had notrecovered from the shock of early exit in2007 ICC World Cup and BCCI hadexpressed their lack of interest in theshortest version of the game that ICC wastrying to popularise by conducting a WorldCup championship. Rahul Dravid hadannounced his decision to quit as captainand none of the seniors appeared keen toplay in this championship where India wasnot expected to work any wonders. Themantle fell on Dhoni and he grabbed it withboth hands. He displayed his innateleadership instincts, ability to carry theteam together and an incredible ability totrust and back his instincts at criticaljunctures in the game. In the initial roundIndia was on the verge of being knockedout when Sreesanth bowled three dot ballsin the last over to salvage a tie. And in thefinals, when it appeared that Pakistan hadthe trophy in their bag, he called JoginderSharma to bowl the final over and thebowler delivered the goods to getting


The World Cup win was the true icing on the cake and thewhole nation rejoiced as the captain, who had bravely promoted

himself in the batting order, sealed the victory by clubbinga six with his trademark helicopter shot.

Misbah Ul Haq to scoop a catch toSreesanth at fine leg.

The victory in T20 World Cup changed thefortunes of the game within India in a wayfew would haveimagined. BCCI wasquick to seize theopportunity to cashin on the popularityof this new formatand the result wasIPL, the biggestmoney spinningsports event in thehistory of the game.Dhoni moved up theladder to lead thenation in One DayInternationals and heagain proved hismettle by winning thethree nation series inAustralia in 2008.Thus, when AnilKumble announcedhis retirement fromthe game towards end2008 after a brieftenure as captain,there was not even awhisper about anycontender for the topjob in Indian cricketother than Dhoni.

The 18 month periodfrom December 2009to April 2011 whenthe nation held topposition in world testrankings and won theICC World Cup instyle would always bewritten in goldenletters in the annals of Indian cricket. Itappeared during this period that Dhonicould do no wrong as he converted a squadcomprising of cricketing giants and

exceptionally gifted youngsters into a teamof world beaters. His role in achieving thistransformation, his cool and calmdemeanour and his ability to act as a bridgebetween the senior member of the side and

the newer generation won wide acclaim.The World Cup win was the true icing onthe cake and the whole nation rejoiced asthe captain, who had bravely promoted

himself in the batting order, sealed thevictory by clubbing a six with histrademark helicopter shot.

It would have been evident to Dhoni, evenat that time, that theWorld Cup win was,in all likelihood, thehigh peak of hiscareer. Retaining thetrophy after fouryears was not goingto be an easy taskespecially since Indiawas set to lose theservices of manysenior players duringthe interregnum. Theretirement of seniorplayers, all of whowere batsmen of rarecalibre, was bound toaffect the test sidemore as theyprovided the runs thathelped to set up winsoutside the Indian subcontinent. As theperson whopossesses one thesharpest brains incontemporary cricket,Dhoni would haveseen from thepinnacle at the top in2011 that there wasonly one way to go,which was down; buteven he would nothave expected thesuddenness withwhich the descenttook place. Loss ofeight consecutive test

matches in England and Australia followedby a series loss against England at homeweakened his position and for the firsttime ever critics started questioning hiscaptaincy style. He hit back with some



The author is the Commissioner ofCustoms in Kochi, Kerala.

ICC World Cup, which is set to start in February 2015, would beDhoni’s swan song as leader of the side that he built up from

scratch during the last 2-3 years.

memorable performances with the bat,which included a career best doublecentury against Australia in the homeseries that India won in style, but thequestion marks about his poor recordabroad post 2011 refused to go away.

However, it was the happenings off thefield that dented the reputation of thiscricketer who had bested even SachinTendulkar in popularity charts as well asrevenue from advertisements. Dhoni’sreign as Indian skipper coincided withSrinivasan taking over the reins ofadministration of BCCI, first as itsSecretary and later on, as its President.Dhoni, who had started without anybacker in BCCI, moved very quickly toSrinivasan’s camp. He was nominated ascaptain of Chennai Super Kings, the teamowned by Srinivasan’s Indian Cements inIPL, after which he shifted residence toChennai and later joined that company asits Vice President. When Chennai SuperKings got mired into controversy over the

involvement of Gurunath Meiyappan, theson-in-law of Srinivasan and “teamprincipal” of the side, in bettingallegations, some of the mud that wasthrown around found its way to Dhoni’sface also. Srinivasan’s total disregard forpublic opinion enraged cricket lovers in thecountry and most of them found in Dhonia convenient outlet for their anger at theshenanigans of BCCI President. In the finalbargain, Dhoni appears to have lost moreon account of his association withSrinivasan than gained from it; a sad caseof getting tainted by association.

It is unfortunate that Dhoni’s stupendousachievements and stellar contributions toIndian cricket have been forgotten in thewave of popular anger directed againstSrinivasan. Cricket history will recordDhoni as the first ever wicket keeper whowas also a successful captain atinternational level. Similarly Indian cricketwould remember Dhoni as the firstcricketer from a small town to lead the

country, apart from the various laurels andtrophies that brought to the nation. All thisreminds us that he is entitled to a farewellbefitting his stature and eminence.

ICC World Cup, which is set to start inFebruary 2015, would be Dhoni’s swansong as leader of the side that he built upfrom scratch during the last 2-3 years. IfIndia retains the trophy they won in 2011,the cricket loving public would erase fromtheir mind the memories of innuendos andallegations hurled at Dhoni and restore himto the demigod status that he occupiedthere till recently. It would be the biggesttribute for their skipper if the nationalteam can repeat in 2015 their triumph fouryears ago; it would not only redeem Dhoniin the eyes of cricket lovers in the countrybut also provide him with the fittingfarewell that he so richly deserves.



Sajit Malliyoor

My husband is nicewith everyone else

except me...

I happened to read your article onfamily conflict resolution thatappeared in the magazine Pallikutam,

which was very pertinent to me. Myproblems have similarity to the issuesdealt with in that article. I am a twentyeight year old married woman and themother of a child of four years old. Weare married for seven years. Myhusband works for a private firm in anexecutive position.The problem I have isthat he gets angry with me very easily. Heis nice with everyone else except me. Wedidn’t have any problem in the initialyears of marriage. But soon after thebirth of our child, I started noticingchanges in him. He started criticising mefor not contributing to the familyexpenditure. I was working in the initialyears following the marriage but after thepregnancy and childbirth, I was unableto work. Quiet often he brings up thetopic of escalating life expenditure andthe problems of being the only earningmember of the household. I also feelguilty that he is working hard to makethe ends meet I am not able to help himout. But whenever I oppose him bybringing out some arguments, he goesinto a fit of rage which ends up inthrowing things out or breakingsomething. He doesn’t allow me to makepurchases for the family saying that I amextravagant in my tastes. I have to waitfor the weekends to buy up even the mostessential provisions. Lately, nothing thatI say or do can please him. My anxietygoes up uncontrollably in the evenings bythe time he returns from work.I don’tknow how to handle the situation. Pleaseadvise me.

Domestic violence or abuse is still being discussed in our societywith hushed tones or regularly brushed under the carpet, allegedly

for the sake of family cohesion. Whatever you choose to call it,domestic abuse is a reality.

PERSONALPERSONALPERSONALPERSONALPERSONAL



Your problem, I am afraid, is not entirelyin the domain of a psychologist. It haslegal implications too, for this is a case ofdomestic abuse. Now I am sure, many ofyou who read this column may notaltogether agree with my branding of thisissue. Domestic violence or abuse is stillbeing discussed in our society with hushedtones or regularly brushed under thecarpet, allegedly for the sake of familycohesion. Whatever you choose to call it,

domestic abuse is a reality. When wediscuss about domestic violence, often werefer to physical abuse of a partner. Thepicture that pops into our mind is that of apartner, usually a woman, with bruises allover the body. These are tell-tale signs of acrime and the police have the authority toprotect you and the society readilyrecognises it. But not all abusiverelationships involve violence. Justbecause you are not battered and bruised

doesn’t mean that you are not abused.There is another form of abuse, which isunfortunately often minimised oroverlooked and which is no lessdestructive – emotional abuse.

Emotional abuse or alternatelypsychological abuse, can take severalforms. Most often it starts with verbalabuse such as yelling, name calling,blaming, ridiculing, or throwing in threats

Whatever form it may take, the sole purpose of all thesebehaviour is to dominate and maintain control over the partner.

An abuser doesn’t ‘play fair’.


of physical violence or other repercussionsif you don’t do what they want. It mayalso include keeping a partner fromcontacting their family or friends,withholding or controlling money, orstopping the partner from getting a job.Whatever form it may take, the solepurpose of all these behaviour is todominate and maintain control over thepartner. An abuser doesn’t ‘play fair’. He

or she is only interested in wearing youdown and keeping you under their totalauthority. Our society maintains severalmyths associated with the domestic abuse.Often we are in denial or tend to believethat it occurs only in uneducated classes.But the fact of the matter is that it canhappen to anyone. It affects people fromall socioeconomic, educational and religiousbackgrounds. Although both men andwomen can be abused, most victims arewomen. We may also like to believe that itis less dangerous than physical abuse sinceit doesn’t leave you hospitalized or withthe scars of the injury. But, the scars ofemotional abuse are very real and theytend to run deeper. In fact, emotional abusecan be even more damaging than a physicalabuse.

Domestic abuse can lead to severalpsychological problems like depression,anxiety, panic attacks, substance abuse orpost-traumatic stress disorder. Studiespoint out it to be one of the prominentreasons behind the attempted suicideepisodes. It also affects the children whoare exposed to domestic violence. Theytend to have more psychological problems,developmental and educational difficulties,aggressive behaviours and low self-esteem.Another dominant belief is that alcoholism,stress or mental illness is causing domesticabuse. But, domestic abuse happens whenan abuser has learned it as an effectivemethod to control the partner and choosesto be an abuser. Alcoholism and mentalillness may go along with abuse, but theyrarely cause a domestic abuse. It is not dueto the abuser’s loss of control over his orher behaviour rather it is an intentional actto control the partner so that they can getwhat they want.

If you are in an abusive situation, youmight recognize that it follows a pattern;what the social scientists call as a cycleof violence. An abusive episode is usuallyfollowed by an expression of someremorse or guilt. The abuser may try torationalise what he or she has done. Theperson may come up with a string ofexcuses or more often blame you forwhatever has happened. They may

apologise for the abuse and may promise itwill never happen again. This is usuallyfollowed by a period of normalcy wherethe abuser acts as nothing has happened.This peaceful phase may give the victimhope that the abuse is over and incentivisethe decision to stay inside the relationship.But it lasts only until the next abuse. Thiscycle can happen hundreds of time in anabusive relationship. It is important toremember that not all the domestic abusefit the cycles.

Now, I don’t know what your availableoptions are! I have no information on yourfinancial status or the friends or familyyou have to reach out to, but I believe thatyou do have options. I discussed yoursituation with a social worker colleague ofmine and she opines that there are NGOsworking in the field who extend helps tothe domestic violence victims. But they arelargely concentrated out of themetropolitan cities and I don’t knowwhere you are hailing from. Unlike in thewestern countries, In India we do not havea Domestic Violence Helpline where onecan get in touch with a counselor. Why Iam saying this is because you alone can’tmake the situation better, since it is notyour fault. In order for your husband to fixthe things, he would have to accept that heis doing something wrong. The only wayto break the cycle of violence is to takeaction – the earlier, the better. The moreyou stay in an abusive relationship, thegreater the emotional toll is. The mostimportant starting point is in recognizingthat you are in an abusive relationship.Start by telling someone about the abuse.It can be a friend, a family member oranyone with whom you feel close enoughto reveal yourself. Alternately, you shouldlook for a competent family counselor orsocial worker. The bottom line is that noone should be afraid of the one they loveand no one deserves to be abused. Period.

Send queries [email protected](Sajit Malliyoor regrets he can notenter into personal correspondence)

The scars of emotional abuse are very real and they tend to rundeeper. In fact, emotional abuse can be even more damaging than a

physical abuse.



From individualismto family ecosystem

Dr. Jos Cletus Plackal

Falling in love with someone you likeis nothing new and it began from timeimmemorial. All the Western

countries have adopted a stance that isconducive to dating and courtship and hasaccepted it as normative practice of familybuilding. While talking to a group of 8thGraders in a U.S. school about the socialsystem of arranged marriages, its subtle,multilevel match-making processes, etc.,as practiced in India, the whole class joinedin unison to oppose and disprove such asystem. The entire class was acting sohostile and resisted every attempt topresent an alternative to the currentmarriage practices prevalent in the West.In contrast to the individual-centered,independent profiles of personality, theIndian family perspectives offer an inter-dependent, collective profile of personalityas normative (“Family Ego”).

This becomes more evident from a FamilySystems Perspective (BowenMurray,1960-1999). This theoryconceives family as an emotional unit, and

an individual’s behavior is informed by andis inseparable from his/her family of origin.Systems theory and therapy insist on theimportance of family relationships as animportant factor in psychological health.Besides, the overt and covert messagesfrom family members validate eachindividual’s inherent self-worth. So, thereis a general awareness and agreementamong psychologists to, “avoid excessiveindividualism and excessive collectiveegoism”. Both extremes are symptomaticof stunted growth. The former is called a“Narcissist” and the latter an“Undifferentiated Ego Mass”. Thefollowing case study is an attempt toanalyze the interactive influence of twofamilies whose children fell in love witheach other.

Jithin (name changed) is 17 years old, 12thGrader, good at academics and otheractivities, sociable, handsome, has ayounger brother, very loving and caringparents… Lately, Jithin appeared to bedisinterested in studies, depressed,

The family values, emotional input, parentalmodeling etc. determine the content of

family members’ character.

STORIES OF LIFESTORIES OF LIFESTORIES OF LIFESTORIES OF LIFESTORIES OF LIFE


dejected, didn’t want to go to school.Sometimes he thinks, “Why should I live”?It was Jithin’s mother who insisted onconsulting a counselor. In the privatesession the youngster began to burst intotears, lamenting about the broken affairwith a very beautiful person, who wassmart and courteous etc. From Jithin’steary tale it was clear that they had a veryromantic relationship and the two gotalong very well and got closer every day.Jithin’s family took kindly to his versionof the affair and told, “It’s OK to getattached but concentrate on your studiesnow”.

But that was not the case with Christina’s(name changed) family. They all bandedtogether to fight it out. The entire family

was up in arms against the hapless girlwho was threatened with direconsequences, isolated and deprived of allmeans of communication. The worst wasyet to come. Her mother threatened herwith suicide if she went ahead further withthe boy! Days of agonizing isolation andemotional deprivation led Christina todecide to cut off the relationship, and shetold so to Jithin.

According to Family Systems Therapy theindividual is the product of the widersystem called family. The family values,emotional input, parental modeling etc.determine the content of family members’character. Affair at an early stage in lifedemands greater attention and parental caresince the dynamics involved are

The author is licensed clinicalpsychologist (HRT), Jeevas CentreAluva, Kerala.

multifaceted and complex. It is extremelyimportant to understand a family systembefore entering into it for life. Whether itbe an affair or an arranged marriage,understand the dynamics of the family oforigin for a better living. A psychologicalHoroscope is sine qua non for pre-marriagepreparations. One thing is for sure, anarcissistic personality and anundifferentiated ego mass personality areunfit for maintaining a healthy romance norreal lasting relationship. It’s time to paymore attention to the multifaceted,dynamic and life - giving reality calledFamily Ecos.

One thing is for sure, a narcissistic personality and anundifferentiated ego mass personality are unfit

for maintaining a healthy romance norreal lasting relationship.

STORIES OF LIFESTORIES OF LIFESTORIES OF LIFESTORIES OF LIFESTORIES OF LIFE


HEALTH MONITORHEALTH MONITORHEALTH MONITORHEALTH MONITORHEALTH MONITOR

Smile makeover throughfacial aesthetic surgery

Dr. Binu Augustine



An attractive face with a captivatingsmile is everyone’s dream. Manywould like to change the way they

look and smile. Some would like to changetheir gummy smile, protruded teeth,complaints of invisible teeth while smiling,small or large jaw or simply correct theirirregularly aligned teeth.

A fresh computer graduate girl came withher parents for a consultation. She had agood job opening but was reluctant to takeup the job. Her protruded gums and teethwere the reason for her fear of facing newcolleagues at work. After alignment of herteeth with braces followed by surgicalcorrection of her gummy smile, she regainedher confidence.

Correction of these types of myriadproblems requires a systematic andcomprehensive approach. Standardaesthetic principles are based on properalignment, symmetry and proportion offace. A multidisciplinary approach isrequired to analyse, evaluate and treatpatients for better facial aesthetics.Thisincludes Maxillofacial surgical procedures,Orthodontics and Cosmetic dentistry. Anaesthetic approach to patient care createsthe best facial and aesthetic beauty.

Goals of smile makeover

The attempt of aesthetic makeover is todevelop a stable masticatory system, wherethe teeth tissues,muscles, skeletal structureand joints all functions in harmony. Whenplanning for aesthetic cases acomprehensive approach to the patient careis done.To achieve a successful, healthy andfunctional result needs an amalgamation ofall the supporting oral structures whichincludes the muscles, bones, joints, gingivaltissues and occlusion.

Components of aesthetic appearance

The perfect integration of facialcomposition and dental compositionproduces excellent results.The hard andsoft tissue of the face includes the facialcomposition. The teeth and theirinterrelationship to gingival tissues includethe dental composition. A smile designshould always include the evaluation andanalysis of both facial and dentalcomposition.

Smile designing for the dentition

Smile designing is an integral part of facemakeover. Designing and alignment of teethrequires planning and treatment which maytake multiple visits to the dentaloffice.This may take a few days to morethan a year depending upon thecomplexity of the situation as some casesrequires a combination of Orthodonticsand Maxillofacial surgery.

Popular techniques include crownlengthening procedures, Orthodontics formal-aligned teeth,replacement of lost teethwith implants or fixed bridges. Shapelessteeth can be restored with crowns, ceramicveneers or tooth coloured restorations.

Techniques and materials are also selectedto suit the patient’s budget as some of the

A multidisciplinary approach is required toanalyse, evaluate and treat patients for betterfacial aesthetics.This includes Maxillofacial

surgical procedures, Orthodontics andCosmetic dentistry. An aesthetic approach to

patient care creates the best facial andaesthetic beauty.



treatments require expensive materials.The size and shape of the teeth can bedesigned by following the principles ofsmile design. A mock up model can beprepared and shown to the patient prior tostarting the treatment.

Facial composition

Facial appearance mostly depends on theskeletal framework of the face. Classicallymany measurements are used to studyfacial symmetry, the face is divided intohalves vertically by (line A) which is themidline. It should run through the centre ofthe nose and lips and ideally between thecentral incisors.

Horizontally the face is divided intoapproximately equal thirds at thehairline,brow lines, base of the nose andtip of the chin (line C).The base of thenose to where the lips meet (Line D)should be one third of the lower third ofthe face. Vertically for the perfect facialwidth according to the ancient Greekcriterion can be divided into five equaldivisions (line E)

Orthognathic surgery and other facialaesthetic surgeries

Maxillofacial aesthetic surgeries are done inthe mouth, face and jaws to improve facial

aesthetic appearance. Gummy smile,protruded or retruded upper or lower jawscan be corrected. Lip lines - the amount ofteeth and gums exposed when smiling canbe brought into proper relation by surgicalprocedures considering the goldenproportions of the face. Analysis is alsodone for other facial characteristics like theposition of the lips, nose, cheeks, eyes andthe overall facial appearance for planningthe procedure. Orthognathic surgery, nasalcorrective surgery - Rhinoplasty, cheekaugmentation, injectable cosmetictreatments like Botox are also utilised toimprove facial aesthetics.

Orthognathic surgery

Orthognathic surgery is done either inmaxilla, upper jaw or mandible lower jawor on both jaws to align the skeletaldiscrepancy as the case requires.The

surgery also will bring changes to the softtissues of the face and can bring desirableresults to overall appearance of the faceand smile. The main maxillaryosteotomies-surgeries are Lefortosteotomies and anterior maxillaryosteotomy. The main lower jawosteotomies are sagittal split osteotomy,genioplasty and anterior segmentalosteotomy.

Excessive gum exposure – any gingivalexposure of one fourth of the height of theupper anterior teeth is classified as mildgummy smile and any exposure greaterthan the height of the anterior teeth isclassified as severe gummy smile. Gummysmile is often a complaint given by many.Mild gummy smile can be corrected bygingivectomy and cosmetic dentistryprocedures. Severe cases can be correctedbyorthognathic surgery. Many a time thereis a short period of orthodontic treatmentdone for subtle and fine detailing of thetooth position.

He advantage of orthognathic surgery isthat immediate results are seen. This typeof surgery is usually approached frominside the mouth and there will not be any

Analysis is done for facial characteristics like the position of thelips, nose, cheeks, eyes and the overall facial appearance

for planning the procedure.



visible scars on face.Orthognathic surgeryproduces a balancing effect on bite forpatients with occlusionaldiscrepancy(bitedefects) and can be a defining factor insmile design.

When the jaws are correctly positionedafter surgery, the architecture of facialskeleton is changed. Harmony between thefacial features is achieved and the resultingfacial profile will be pleasing. Manybeauty queens including Bollywood andHollywood stars have made their smilebeautiful by using smile designingprocedures. However it is good to knowthat this type of surgery is not meant totransform a person to a stunning beauty or

get them particular features of a certainfilm star or a Madhuri Dixit smile copy.Smile makeover techniques and aestheticsurgeries are planned for each personindividually and there are limitations to it.

Each person differs in physical appearanceand the key is to address the specificissues and attempt to get the best possibleresult. It is difficult to exactly predict thesurgical outcome. Some softwares areavailable but they are not cent percentaccurate. These are major surgeries doneunder general anaesthesia and requirehospital stay for about a week. Thesurgery should be done in a well-equippedhospital only. Most importantly the

instructions of the surgeon should befollowed.

Such surgeries and smile makeovertechniques are highly rewarding forpersons who experience psychologicalstress over their facial appearance and candramatically increase their quality of life.

The author is the Consultant andHOD,MaxilloFacial surgery,Rajagiri Hospital, Aluva andformerly the Professor and Head ofMaxillo Facial Surgery, MOSCMedical College, Kolenchery.

Many beauty queens including Bollywood and Hollywoodstars have made their smile beautiful by using

smile designing procedures.


Expand your horizons withpowerful analogies

Dr. Varghese Panthalookaran

A glance into the history ofinnovations reveals its drivingpotential: curiosity or

inquisitiveness, which expands thehorizons of our knowledge and knowhow.Humans endeavour to transcendlimitations encountered in our thoughts,words and deeds. Efforts to surmount thedifficulties to fully comprehend the wholereality gave birth to various sciences,philosophies and religions. Literature andarts were born out of the attempts toovercome limitations in self-expression.Engineering and Technology emerged outof exertions to surpass the limitationsencountered in human activities. Itcomplimented, substituted or optimizedeffects of human deeds. All these sphereswere fertile ground for human creativenessto sprout, continually extending humanreach and significance.

The power of analogy

The single most powerful tool used bycreative minds in this effort is analogy.The power of analogy triggeredcreativeness. The word analogy derivesfrom the Greek root analogia. It stands fora cognitive process of transferringinformation or meaning from a particularsubject (called analogue or the source) toanother particular subject (called thetarget). A source usually remains in thepurview of observation and experience,whereas the target is beyond humancomprehension, expression or activity. Auseful analogy reveals the deepcommonalities beneath superficialdifferences between the source and target.Analogies are usually created byelaborating the similarities and thedifferences between the source and the

target. In using an analogy, we take whatwe know of the source and transfer someof it to the target. According to DedreGenter, a psychologist from NorthwesternUniversity, this process is like“bootstrapping the mind”– elevatingourselves into the realm of new knowledge,using the knowledge we already possess topull ourselves upward (Cognitive Science,2010, Vol. 34, pp. 752-775). Thus analogyallows a transition from what is known towhat are yet-to-be-known, therebyexpanding horizons of human existence.

Let us, for example, take an epoch-makinginvention of the atom model by Rutherford(his complete name is: Ernest Rutherford,1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson). Toexplain total reflection of positivelycharged alpha particles by a thin gold foil,(the famous Gold Foil Experiment)

A useful analogy reveals the deep commonalities beneath superficialdifferences between the source and target. Analogies are usually

created by elaborating the similarities and the differencesbetween the source and the target.


CREACREACREACREACREATIVE LIVINGTIVE LIVINGTIVE LIVINGTIVE LIVINGTIVE LIVING

Rutherford proposed a novel model foratom opposing all existing theories ofmatter of the time. He depicted atom to bemade of a very small positively chargednucleus containing much of the atomicmass orbited by electrons, low-massnegatively charged particles. In postulatingsuch a model for atom, Rutherford drew apowerful analogy from the well-knownsolar system, where the heavier sunremained at the centre, lighter planetsorbiting it. Later on, Niels Bohr adaptedRutherford model to the Plank’s quantumtheory finally to develop the modernunderstanding of the atom,the fundamental buildingblock of matter, validatedmillions of time throughvarious experiments in thecourse of time. We observehere an example for asimple bootstrapping ofthe mind powered by asuitable analogy. Ittriggered a direct transitionfrom the known to theunknown, pushing thehorizons of knowledge to arealm which is beyonddirect experience, to thevery heart of the matter. Abeautiful example showinghow analogies expand thehorizons of humanexploration into thereality!

Sun is a powerful analogyin many religions too,representing God, thetranscendent or immanentreality, the be-all and end-all of everythingelse. In Greek mythological religions,Apollo is the name for sun god. Similarly,Mithras was the Iranian/Persian sun god.Surya, the sun god of Hinduism rides thesky in a horse-drawn chariot across thehorizons. The sun was also depicted asgoddesses in other religions. For example,Amaterasu was the sun goddess of Japan,Sol (Sunna) was the sun goddess of theNorse, who again rides in a horse-drawnsolar chariot. In Christianity too sun is a

powerful analogy for Christ, the Saviour.For example, that Jesus is believed to comeagain as the Sun of Justice from theEastern horizon to judge the living and thedead. Anticipating the second-coming ofthe Christ, the Christian churches aregenerally built looking east. All these Godconcepts consist of an analogousmovement from what is known about thesun from the human experience to theunknown supernatural reality, God.

To posit new concepts, philosophies alsoresort to analogies. For example, consider

the definition of Goodness given bySocrates in “The Republic” (VI, 507b–509)of Plato. Responding to the request ofGlaucon to define Goodness, Socratesrather resorts to an analogy of Goodnesswith the Sun. Goodness is analogous tothe sun. It is Goodness that gives order tothings that are known and the power ofhuman reason to know them. It isanalogous to how the sun gives life toeverything on earth and the light for us to

see them. Goodness is the divine cause ofthe nature and the purpose of all things inthe universe. Human knowledge aboutGoodness is inadequate. The dignity andpower of Goodness is ineffable. Just as thesun bequeaths its light and illumines thereality around us enabling us to see them,so Goodness illumines the intelligible withthe good.

Analogies also drive technologies asevidenced by the development ofaeroplanes by the Wright brothers (Orvilleand Wilbur Wright) in 1903. While other

engineers worked to improvethe power of engines, Wrightbrothers focussed onsimulating birds and onefficiently designing andbuilding wings and propellers.Their efforts gave themsuccess and as the US patentsuggests, invented “a systemof aerodynamic control thatmanipulated a flyingmachine’s surfaces”.

The quest to express deepemotions of adoration andlove humans often resort toanalogies. So did Romeo ofShakespeare to describe theentry of Juliet (Shakespeare’s“Romeo and Juliet”):

“But soft! What lightthrough yonder window

breaks?

It is the East, and Juliet isthe sun!

Arise, fair sun, and kill theenvious moon,

Who is already sick and pale with grief.”

In short, analogy gives path-breakinginsights into the heart of the matter, intothe mystery of religion and into the heartof morals. It allows engineers to pursuetheir innovations; provides lovers ways toexpress their love. It allows mortals toextrapolate the known into the realms ofthe unknown. It enables them to answer tothe difficult ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions. It

Analogy gives path-breaking insights into the heart of the matter,into the mystery of religion and into the heart of morals. It

allows engineers to pursue their innovations; provideslovers ways to express their love.



extends their horizons. Analogy is the wayhumans manage the mysteries of life and ofthe world around them. As David Humeonce wrote, “All our reasoning concerningmatters of fact are founded on a species ofanalogy”.

Analogy as a pedagogical tool

Analogy is also an excellent pedagogicaltool. Carefully drawn analogies are used bymasters to bring home to students difficultconcepts. Analogies are used by greatmasters like, Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi, etc.They are regularly invented and utilized bypassionate teachers world-over. Let me citean example of analogy from my ownchemistry teacher while teaching covalentbonds. According to him, covalent bondhas much to do with school lunch:Thosewho share their lunch with othersconstitute a non-polar covalent bond; anunequal sharing of lunch is a polar covalentbond; stealing some one’s lunch is a co-ordinate covalent bond.

Similarly, the fractions could be bettertaught to a child by allowing him/her tovisualize a pizza or pie with some of theslices removed. Or, the propagation ofradio waves in air could be taught bycomparing it to the ripples on water whenyou drop in a stone. Or, you may teachelectricity by drawing analogy with water

flowing through pipes. As Dudley FieldMalone has suggested, “One good analogyis worth three hours discussion.”

Analogy in business development

Drawing analogies with other successfulbusiness has triggered innovations inbusiness strategies of many a companies.For example, the company Ford developedthe concept of production based onassembly lines, from the successfulbutcheries. Butcher houses of the timeused ‘T-lines’, where animal carcassesmoved by on overhead trolleys, while aseries of butchers performed specializedtasks in sequence as carcasses advanced.Drawing inspiration from butcher houses,Ford introduced “Model T” production atFord, which doubled its car market share.Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Inc. had anatural obsession with user-friendlydesign. He drew a powerful analogy with adesk in every study, with retrievable filesto develop his first Macintosh desktopcomputers. It is however extremelyimportant to draw useful analogies and toavoid superficial ones to stay in business.The collapse of Enron is often attributedto their ‘bad business analogy’ which ledto a frenzy diversification. Unjustifiableanalogies across business sector usuallyend in business tragedies!

Crisis of analogy at schools

Children are fond of the ‘why’ and ‘how’questions. Clinging to the fingers of theirparents, they ask really deep questions,which grown-ups often find hard to copewith. Children are born-philosophers!They are born-scientists! They are born-poets and artists! They are also curious toknow the ‘how’ of things. They want tolearn new tricks to outwit their playmates.They build their own designs andartefacts. They are born-engineers too!However, as they grow up their ‘why’questions often dry up. They becomemore comfortable with exploratoryquestions like, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’,etc. Those asking ‘why’ or ‘how’questions are often branded ‘childish’,‘inexperienced’ or ‘immature’. Creativityis looked down upon at schools today.Students shy away from asking the path-breaking questions. They shun drawingpowerful analogies that bridge the ‘known’with the ‘unknown’.

It is high-time to reclaim the child-likeinnocence of students, that promotes the‘why’ and ‘how’ questions at schools. It ishigh time to revert to the child-likecreative thinking. It is high time toreengage with analogies, the key tool in thecreation of new knowledge.

Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Inc. had a natural obsession withuser-friendly design. He drew a powerful analogy with a desk

in every study, with retrievable files to develop his firstMacintosh desktop computers.



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Netmediablog: This is the official appof the famous Netmediablog which is atechnology blog. If you enjoy readingblogs related to various topics, then thisis the perfect app to install.


INFOTECHINFOTECHINFOTECHINFOTECHINFOTECH

E-commerce fuels India’scommercial property boom

Internet retailer Amazon and its fast-growing local rivals are driving a boomin commercial property leasing in India

as their storage needs rise, with shoppersin the country going online to buyeverything from televisions to groceries.

Demand from e-commerce firms, a tinyfraction of India’s retail industry,accounted for as much as 40% of 1.7million square feet of warehouses leased in2014 — a seven-fold increase from 2013,according to consultants CBRE SouthAsia. Warehouse rents have risen by aquarter over the past year.

Other estimates indicate office rents inIndia’s tech hub Bengaluru could rise by asmuch as a fifth in the next six to ninemonths as e-commerce companies add todemand.

The result, say developers and analysts, isa speedier than expected recovery forIndia’s commercial property sector, badlydented by two successive years of sub-5%economic growth.

“The best has yet to come for the sectorand that will have a snowball effect on theproperty sector with increased appetitefor office space, logistics and warehouse,”said Sigrid Zialcita, managing director,research for Asia Pacific at consultantCushman & Wakefield.

In October, online retailer Flipkart , one ofIndia’s largest market place sites, agreed to

lease 3.25 million square feet of officespace in Bengaluru from developerEmbassy Group, making it one of thebiggest commercial property leasing dealsever.

“There will be large requirements fromthese kinds of companies,” said JitendraVirwani, chairman and managing director ofEmbassy, adding such deals were few, butgrowing.

While e-commerce companies comprisedless than 5% of the 30 million square feet

Flipkart to revamp techinfrastructure

Flipkart is ramping up its technologyinfrastructure by investing $10million in new servers from Dell to

build a private cloud, according to twopeople with knowledge of the matter.

“Flipkart’s BigBillion Day salemade it realize thatits current ITinfrastructure is notcapable ofsupporting suchmassive spikes intraffic,” said one ofthe people.”Thecompany thereforedecided to worktowards building arobust private cloudby working withDell.”

Dell first signed up with the country’slargest online retailer to build a privatecloud in February last year. However,following events such as the Big BillionDay sale and Xiaomi Mi3 flash sale, thecurrent infrastructure was found to beinadequate to support the surge in traffic.The result was frequent outages andcustomers were unable to shop.“Technology plays an important role forFlipkart as it competes with Amazon,”said the second person. “Unlike Amazon,

which runs IT infrastructure not just foritself but also for thousands of othercompanies, Flipkart has yet to build astrong technology platform that is reliableenough during peak seasons.”

During the Big Billionsale, many customerscomplained aboutorder cancellationsafter makingpayment, suddenchanges in productprices and errors onthe website. Flipkartsaid although it wasprepared for 20 timessurge in traffic, theactual traffic was alot higher, with 15lakh customers tryingto visit the website.Founders Sachin

Bansal and Binny Bansal had to make apublic apology about the incident.

Flipkart then decided to further scale upits infrastructure by buying higher-endservers from Dell, in what is consideredone of the largest server deals in India for2014. The company is trying to furtherexpand its technology capabilities as itstarts scouting to buy technology-focusedstartups.

of offices leased in 2014, they areexpected to drive demand over the nextthree to six years.

Uptake of total warehouse space islikely to more than double to 4 millionsquare feet in 2015, as more Indiansshop online. Revenues of e-commercecompanies in Asia’s third-largesteconomy are expected to rise to $1.5 to$2 trillion over the next 10 years, saysCushman. India already has the world’sthird-largest population of internetusers.


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Dr. D. Dhanuraj

ASER: An eye-opener orjust another annual report?

Annual Status of Education Report(ASER) for 2014 was released bythe ASER Centre mid-January.

This is their tenth report which in theirown words “a way summary of what wehave observed over the tenures of UPA Iand II. It is also a baseline for the newgovernment and what it has to deal with”.

ASER has been making wave in theeducation circles for quite a number ofyears and has been a reference point forthe academicians, administrators andinvestors these years. Every year, therewould be a debate around the report whenit gets published and in a few days time, itbecomes a routine and goes to oblivion.

This year, the report also tried to compareASER and National Achievement Surveys(NAS) conducted by NCERT every year.The comparative study concludes that“estimates generated by these assessmentsneither cover the same populations norassess the same content, their results arenot comparable” for both ASER and NAC.Like in school level education, there aremany rating reports for college educationpublished by different media houses overthe years. They may not be comparablebut these have opened and widened thescope for the informed discussion andchoice among the stake holders to improvethe system. But how well are we utilizingthis information for the betterment of thesystem? Various reports in the marketplace indicate various trends in theeducation sector. Some may highlight thelack of infrastructure and absence ofteachers while others will discuss on thepoor quality of education and lack ofincentives for the parents to send theirkids to schools. In a multi culture society,this cannot be addressed by theGovernment alone. It demands the

ASER has been making wave in the education circles for quite anumber of years and has been a reference point for theacademicians, administrators and investors these years.


POLICY POLICY POLICY POLICY POLICY WWWWWAAAAATTTTTCHCHCHCHCH

participation of various stake holders andtransparency.

In every ASER, there will be the resultswhich would be agreed and disagreed bymany. But these results are considered as areflection of the Education System inIndia. For eg; ASER 2014 states that Indiais close to universal enrollment for the agegroup 6-14, with the percentage of childrenenrolled in school at 96% or above for sixyears in a row. Universal enrollment was aquestion that everybody including theGovernment wanted to address for somany decades. Now this mission has beenaccomplished; but what next? If thequestion on enrollment took many decadesand crores of rupees of expenditure to besolved and achieved, one should turn backand ask whether we reached the fullestpotential and efficiency through anefficient and systematic manner? Weshould retrospect whether the practice thatwe adopted for achieving this goal was thebest possible one? - If we don’t assess andlearn from the past, there is no way we canimprove any system and we may tend tobuild on the same practices. As said, ‘thosewho do not know history’s mistakes aredoomed to repeat them’. Are we ready toaccept failures in the implementation ofpolicies in the past, if we find some or dowe disregard them and dumb them in trashbox? This is a question of meaningfulgovernance and policy making.

Once we attain the goal of universalenrollment, what about retaining the trendand quality of education? What if, themethods and policies that we adopt to

address these issues also take a fewdecades to accomplish the mission? Canwe afford such delays and expendituresany further?

According to ASER report in 2014, 30.8%of all 6-14 year old children in rural Indiaare enrolled in private schools. Thisnumber is up slightly from 29% in 2013.Five states in India now have privateschool enrollment rates in the elementarystage that are greater than 50%. These areManipur (73.3%), Kerala (62.2%),

Haryana (54.2%), Uttar Pradesh (51.7%),and Meghalaya (51.7%).For a policymaker, it is a very useful information andmore than a trend. This exposes the myththat the parents would seek Governmentassistance to educate their kids or it is onlythrough the overnment support, poor canbe educated. With the aspiring mass of thesociety on the rise, they are open andinformed about the status of the educationthrough various channels. They are verycareful in decision making. Here comes thequestion of the Government spending and

With the aspiringmass of the societyon the rise, they areopen and informedabout the status of

the education throughvarious channels.

They are very carefulin decision making.



planning for the status of the educationsystem through their own channelsbelieving that everything would be alrightif more money and resources are spent.

This is indicated in another portion ofASER report, “only 6% governmentschools do not have toilets but anadditional 28.5% do not have toilets thatare usable. 18.8% Schools do not havegirls’ toilets and 26% have girls’ toiletsthat are not usable or were locked. So,meeting this target should be relativelysimple…". This is mostly true withvarious schemes and plans in the school

education field. So the question is how dowe fix these fallacies?

In the earlier columns I had argued for thedecentralization of the power structure ofthe regulatory systems in the educationsector. Kerala is a classic example ofsuccessful conduct of school educationsystem. But there again, the quality of theeducation is derided as it was not let go bythe administrators for the choice ofmarkets. Superimposing structures andinstitutions alone cannot makeimprovements in the Education Sector. Atone set, we need edupreneurs and

innovative tools to improve the system.Whether it is through the aided schoolsystem or the voucher system or throughskill vouchers, the scope of participationand accountability could be enhanced andscaled up rather than spending the limitedresources on unaccountable systems. Let’shope the results of the ASER 2014 willguide us in the right direction rather thanbecoming another bunch of paperpublished every year.

The author is Chairman, Centre forPublic Policy Research.

Kerala is a classic example of successful conduct of schooleducation system. But there again, the quality of the

education is derided as it was not let go by theadministrators for the choice of markets.



Content aboutwriting

Thomson Skariah

So here you are, reading awaysomething written by somebodysometime ago. So what could be the

reason behind that writing, and what is thecollateral impact of you reading it?Simple. To capture your attention, engageyou completely, and subtly but surelypass on a message that you act upon. Thecollateral impact may be an awareness of aproduct, and the intended impactis possibly leading you to a purchase ofthe same. When this cycle is complete,the content broadcaster is content aboutthe writer she has employed.

Content writers were always there,they just gained prominence withthe extensive need of qualitycontent to feed themarketing effortsmore effective.Not themarketing thatyou seeas hoardings onthestreet; marketingthat gets to youfocused with anunderstanding ofthe preferencesyou have andbased on theinterests you sharewith your friends.Marketing efforts

that translate you into a customer throughthe screens on your smart phone, slowlybut surely. These marketing efforts knowhow many times you have visited theirchannels, where exactly you spend timeand how long. Dangerous as it maysound, content writers make the bullet thatthe marketing snipers shoot.

So what does it take to be one? Talent ? Tohelp you be a professional content writer,there is a lot that comes before you canfocus and be proud, or worry about talent.

For one, you need to have theinterest to read a lot. And as

you read well, you become wellread; and your language

improves, and you get good with grammar,and you keep getting better. Yourpunctuations fall in place, and you don’tmake spelling mistakes that leave a badtaste.

With that clear, we must rememberthat no one has ever achieved any successin any field without focused efforts. Heretoo you need to stay focused, and bedisciplined. Set out to be good at writingwith two principles - write regularly andwrite for about the same time during theday. As you get better you will besurprised to see how much more you canwrite in the same time.

Content writers were always there, they just gained prominencewith the extensive need of quality content to feed the

marketing efforts more effective.


CAREERCAREERCAREERCAREERCAREER

So once you have the power to wield apen or type away, how do you get aboutwith influencing the masses? Now iswhere you have to wear your strategist’shat. With the optimal use of strategicwords - what they call keywords, yourefforts will feature higher up the searchengine results.

After all anyone who is not sure aboutsomething will Google it, and yourcontent appears - be it about anything.And you need to be updated about thekeywords that are relevant to the topic

you choose to write that day. We need torealise how technology has changed andhow new algorithms are developed thatjudges your writing and gives it a score. Itis the effort you have to take to make sureyour writing skills and outcome gets thedeserving views and reads.

But overall if you just enjoy the journey ofreading more and knowing more, creatinggenuinely all the more; you will findyourself as one of the most sought after bythe top notch marketing team. And don’tworry about the algorithms; they are made

to find your genuine content and honouryou. This is a field where as a professionalyou can really earn well, and qualificationswon’t hurt; but your skills will always betested. The simple formula that will takeyou the distance is to simply be contentabout writing... maybe it’s time I followedmy own advice.

The author is the CEO of ACELRTech Labs, a product developmentcompany focusing on contentmanagement, cloud computing andenterprise analytics.

We need to realise how technology has changed and how newalgorithms are developed that judges your writing and gives

it a score. It is the effort you have to take to make sureyour writing skills and outcome gets the

deserving views and reads.


CAREERCAREERCAREERCAREERCAREER

INNOINNOINNOINNOINNOVVVVVAAAAATIONSTIONSTIONSTIONSTIONS

Breakthrough innovations of 2014

The journal Science has announcedthe scientific highlights of the year2014. The first ever landing on a

comet tops the list.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Landing of Philae on a comet 67P:Launched in March,2004, by theEuropean SpaceAgency (ESA), theRosetta spacecraft isnow orbiting thecomet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko beyondMars. The landermodule of Rosetta,known as Philaetouched down on thesurface of thespeeding comet inNovember, 2014.Even though thelanding was rougherthan expected, it wasnonetheless the first-ever soft landing on acomet. Its on-boardcamera, known as theRosetta OrbiterSensor for Ion andNeutral Analysis(ROSINA), hasalready detectedwater, methane, andhydrogen as well assome rarer species,includingformaldehyde andhydrogen cyanide, in67P’s coma.

Other 9 runner-upinnovations listedwithout specific order are:

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Neuromorphic Chips: Mimicking thearchitecture of a human brain, computerengineers at IBM and elsewhere rolled outthe first large-scale “neuromorphic” chipsthis year, which are designed to processinformation in ways that are more akin toliving brains.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Teaming of Robots: New softwareand interactive robots that, for example,instruct swarms of termite-inspired bots

to build a simple structure are proving thatrobots can work together without anyhuman supervision after all.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ The Dinosaur-Bird Transition: Studyon the fossils of early birds revealed

transition of dinosaurs into modern daybirds. It explained how certain dinosaurlineages developed small, lightweight bodyplans, allowing them to evolve into manytypes of birds.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Young Blood Fixes Old: Researchersdemonstrated that blood from a youngmouse can rejuvenate the muscles andbrains of older mice. The findings have ledto a clinical trial in which Alzheimer’spatients are receiving plasma from youngdonors.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Beta Cells: Two groups pioneered twodifferent methods for growing cells thatclosely resemble beta cells, the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, in thelaboratory this year, giving researchers anunprecedented opportunity to study

diabetes.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ManipulatingMemory: Usingoptogenetics, a techniquethat manipulatesneuronal activity withbeams of light,researchers showed thatthey could manipulatespecific memories inmice. Deleting existingmemories and implantingfalse ones, they went sofar as to switch theemotional content of amouse memory fromgood to bad, and viceversa.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ CubeSats: Cheapsatellites with sides thatare just 10 centimeterssquared, called CubeSats,really took off in 2014.Once considerededucational tools forcollege students, theseminiature satellites havestarted to do some realscience.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Expanding theGenetic Alphabet: Researchers haveengineered synthetic E.coli bacteria that harborstwo additionalnucleotides—X and Y—

in addition to the normal G, T, C, and Athat make up the standard building blocksof DNA.

Indonesian Cave Art: Researchersrealized that hand stencils and animalpaintings in a cave in Indonesia, oncethought to be 10,000 years old, wereactually between 35,000 and 40,000 yearsold, suggesting that humans in Asia wereproducing symbolic art as early as the firstEuropean cave painters.


INNOINNOINNOINNOINNOVVVVVAAAAATIONSTIONSTIONSTIONSTIONS

Newgeneration

internet

The Internet has become a globalcommunication infrastructure,with about one-third of the

world’s population having access to theInternet. However, in the recent years therole of the Internet has shifted from a“communication channel” to a“communication and data processingrepository”. It requires an overhaul ofInternet architecture to adapt to thischange.

Researchers from the TsinghuaUniversity, China have come up withnew concepts to improve the existinginternet architecture to meet its futureneeds. They have developed a novelevolvable Internet architectureframework. The results are publishedin SCIENCE CHINA InformationSciences.

The proposed architecture addressesthree major constraints of present-dayInternet: a) the Evolvability constraint:constraints on scalability, stability andeconomic feasibility, b) the Economicconstraints: Constraints on economicadaptability and features of the newnetwork services such as the income ofISPs and users, c) the Manageabilityconstraint: constraints on the networkmanagement and control issues such asthe identity authentication of users anduser-flow control with high-performance.The new Internet architecture alsodesigns a general IP address platform,which is able to support multiple addressschemes natively and make furtherevolution possible.

Smartphone renders yourthumbs superpowers!

The Cell Press journal CurrentBiology reports that when peoplespend time interacting with their

smartphones via touchscreen, it actuallychanges the way their thumbs and brainswork together.

Theresearchersrealized thatour newfoundobsessionwithsmartphonescould be agrandopportunityto explore theeverydayplasticity ofthe human brain. While neuroscientistshave long studied brain plasticity in expertgroups - musicians or video gamers, forinstance -smartphones present anopportunity to understand how regular lifeshapes the brains of regular people. To link

digital footprints to brain activity in thenew study, researchers usedelectroencephalography (EEG) to recordthe brain response to mechanical touch onthe thumb, index, and middle fingertips of

touchscreenphone users incomparison topeople whostill haven’tgiven up theirold-fashionedmobilephones.

The resultssuggest thatthe electricalactivity in thebrains of

smartphone users was enhanced when allthree fingertips were touched. In fact, theamount of activity in the cortex of thebrain associated with the thumb and indexfingertips was directly proportional to theintensity of phone use.

Bedbugs are finallyeradicated!

Over the last two decades thecommon bedbug (CimexLectularius), once thought

eradicated in industrialized countries, hasreappeared as a global scourge. Thesenasty insectsare infesting notjust low-incomehousing but alsoexpensivehotels andapartments, andpublic venuessuch as stores,movie theatres,libraries andeven publictransit.

The researchers of Simon FraserUniversity have finally found a novelsolution for the bedbug menace. Theydeveloped a set of chemical attractants, orpheromones, that lure the bedbugs into

traps, and keep them there. Results arepublished in the chemistry journal,Angewandte Chemie.

After a series of successful trials inbedbug-infestedapartments inMetroVancouver,theresearchersidentified thebedbugaggregationpheromone todevelop thefirst effectiveand

affordable bait and trap for detecting andmonitoring bedbug infestations. The drugis expected to be commercially availablenext year.


Regeneration of educationin a V-A-C-U-U-M world

EDU TRENDSEDU TRENDSEDU TRENDSEDU TRENDSEDU TRENDS

Regeneration of educationin a V-A-C-U-U-M world

T. S. Eliot with a prophetic visionhighlights the near impossibleregeneration of the modern infertile

world in his poem, ‘The Waste Land’:

“The corpse you planted last year in yourgarden

Has it begun to sprout? Will itbloom this year?”

Again in the same breath he sighs:

“Unreal city,

A crowd flowed over London Bridge, somany

I had not thought death had undone somany.”

Is not the same true about the unrealschools we see around us? All the glamourand shine from palatial buildings, techno-savvy systems, uniforms, ties, etc., do notprove any substantial vitality and vivacity.We have all run after the mirage ofappearance and impressions, pitiablyignoring the soul and substance that will

equip our children to face the toughchallenges of tomorrow’s world. In thatsense the vacuum created by suchdegeneration is quite obvious in oureducation system. Such spiritual and moraldegeneration and death reign supreme inthese degree/certificate manufacturingfactories of schools/colleges.

Yet the acronym v-a-c-u-u-m is used herein a different perspective to summarize thechallenges our children will be facing whenthey come of out of these educationalinstitutions. Business leaders call today’senvironment as V-U-C-A, a militaryderived acronym coined in 1990, todescribe this highly complex, multifacetedand chaotic world. We can modify VUCAin order to more adequately depict today’sworld and expand it as V-A-C-U-U-M. Letus examine what each letter stands for:

V - Stands for Volatility of today’s word,the speed, rate and magnitude of changethat is often most unpredictable. Volatilityexpresses the turbulence that is much

worse in today’s world in comparisonwith yester years. Digitalization,connectivity and globalization have causedturbulence at faster rates.

A - Stands for Ambiguity, lack of clarityabout the significance of any event andinability to explain and interpretaccurately those events and phenomena.Are new inventions like smart phones,internet, etc., a boon or bane for students?

C - Signifies Complexity of suchsituations where predictability is notsimple anymore. Col.Eric Kail succinctlyputs it as the ‘inability to accuratelyconceptualize threats and opportunitiesbefore they become lethal”

U - Stands for Uncertainty that invariablyfollows the above situation. The volatiletimes of today make it rather strenuous forleaders to use past events anddevelopments for accurate and properdecision making process. Coming eventsno more cast their shadows before as theyused to.

Sebastian Menacherry

The acronym v-a-c-u-u-m is used here in a different perspectiveto summarize the challenges our children will be facing when

they come of out of these educational institutions.



U - Stands for another necessary outcomeof all the above syndromes:Unscrupulousness – in which age oldprinciples and ethical considerations areignored and expediency and convenienceare adhered to. Abraham Lincoln’s letter tohis son’s headmaster is worth rememberingwhere he pleads to the teacher “try to givemy son strength not to follow the crowd.Teach him there is no shame in tears.” Incontrast, today most parents encouragechildren for cut throat competition wherematerial success is the only concern inpursuing careers.

M - Stands for Materialism that has sorampantly crept into our views, beliefs andperspectives. It is the negation of thoseinvisible principles of life that has becomethe greatest threat to modern world. Asyou sow so shall you reap is no longerrelevant in the modern world. Descartesproposition “Cogito ergo sum” (I thinktherefore I exist) seems to have beenreplaced by “Consumo ergo sum” (Iconsume therefore I exist). Oscar Wildeaptly said,” Nowadays people know theprice of everything and the value ofnothing”

Counter Points:

VACUUM Prime: This is mostlybased on the observations of BobJohansen in order to counter the sicksyndromes of the VACUUM World.

According to him Volatility can becountered with Vision. It is trulyestablished, “where there is novision, the people perish” (Proverbs29:18) If our educational leaders donot know where they have to lead theyoung generation, it will be like “theblind leading the blind”. People at thehelm of educational affairs should bechosen for their merit andresourcefulness rather than onpopulist considerations. Our HRDministry has to make a thoroughintrospection to ensure that the right

people are put in the right places toimplement policies and strategies that willensure the moulding of a healthygeneration of productive and proactivecitizens in our country. Major politicalparties should rise above petty vestedinterests cutting across party allegiancesand parochial concerns. This is one of themajor factors that led to the outstandingsuccess of Finland’s educationalrenaissance. Will our political parties payheed to the importance of such a vision?

Ambiguity can be countered with Clarity.Clarity not only in vision but in theprocess, perception and implementation.Clarity of focus and prioritization willdefinitely contribute in achieving the endsuccess. Complexity can be countered withAgility. Eternal vigilance is the price of

Wisdom gives us a sense of proportionand enables us to choose the right things

at the right time in the right way.



not just liberty but of quality andexcellence. So preparedness to meetchallenges is of high importance.Remember, vision, clarity and agility aremutually complementing factors.

Uncertainty should be tackled withUnderstanding. Understanding herestands for the final wisdom that surpassesall uncertainties. Wisdom gives us a senseof proportion and enables us to choose theright things at the right time in the rightway.

Unscrupulousness should be tackled withUpliftment of the mind, educating it in thecomprehensive scheme of things which

includes moral evaluation and ethicalconsiderations. If we do not walk the talk,children cannot be expected to rise abovethe worldly and empirical perspective anddevelop sound judgement in social,spiritual and moral spheres of life.

Two men on a holiday, basking in themorning sun were sharing their successstories.

The first one: “What I enjoy today is whatI got from the insurance after a fire in myfactory”

The second: “Same here. All that I enjoynow is the insurance amount from floods

in my warehouse”

The first one: “Great! But tell me how tostart a flood?”

This moral paralysis will slowly butsurely spread among the youngergeneration as well.

Child: “Dad can you please do my mathhomework?”

Dad: “Well I don’t think it will be right”

Child: “At least can’t you try?”

When we teach our children how to count,it is equally important to teach them whatcounts!

Materialism that has eaten into the vitalsof our lives should be countered withMaturity, intellectual and spiritualmaturity that enables seeing the biggerpicture that encompasses spiritual andmeta-physical values. Materialism givesus a very myopic view of the world, hidingfrom our view the eternal truths andeverlasting principles. T. S. Eliot rightlylaments in The Rock:

“Where is the life we have lost in living?Where is the wisdom we have lost inknowledge?”

A most revered Guru once said about hismission, “I have come that they may havelife and have it in abundance” (John 10:10).The mission of educators is not differentfrom this.

The Role of the Teacher

If this transformation has to effectivelymaterialize, the most important role has tobe played by the teacher. Sadly, it stillremains the weakest link in the system andit is obvious the strength of a chain isdecided byits weakest link! We have torestore the status and role of the teacher tothe pristine state it once enjoyed – ‘GuruDevo Bhava!’ A teacher is not merely aknowledge worker nor a plain facilitator;she/he is the one to transform the childinto a fine human being equipped to facethe complex challenges of the ‘vacuum’world. For this, society has to wake upand introspect our concept andexpectations of teachers. Earlier we made a

A teacher is not merely a knowledge worker nor a plain facilitator; she/he is the one to transform the child into a fine human being equipped

to face the complex challenges of the ‘vacuum’ world.


mention about the success story ofFinland’s educational regeneration and theunanimous consensus of all major politicalparties to that end. Equally important isthe respect and priority which theGovernment gives the noble profession ofteachers. In Finland only the top 10% ofundergraduates are allowed admission tothe professional course for teachers. InIndia, it is perhaps the last resort ofNaukari Knockers( Job seekers).Further,the Government supports them withgenerous stipends throughout their coursesalmost to the tune of 60% of the actualsalary they will be receiving later. Suchendowments and discretion will surelyenhance the transformational process ofeducation. It is time we review oursituation seriously and took necessaryremedial measures.

A teacher asked the class, “What’s themost important part in an automobile”.Several answers came up such as engine,gear, tyres, etc. Finally, a small boy rightlyanswered, “Sir, it’s the nut behind thewheel” This is quite true about the role ofa teacher in the class.

CCTE (Continuous and ComprehensiveTeacher Empowerment) is of moreimportance than the much debated CCE(Continuous and ComprehensiveEvaluation) of students in schools. It isobvious if we are doing what we have beendoing we will be getting what we have beengetting. While scouting and advertising forteachers to teach various subjects inschools, let us not forget the mostimportant subject, the student! PauloCoelho has beautifully defined theteacher’s task: “What is a teacher? I will

tell you: it isn’t someone who teachessomething, but someone who inspires thestudent to give her best in order todiscover what she already knows”. Yes,the teacher is the one who can ignite theminds. Therefore, teachers’ focus shouldnot be on covering the syllabus but ratheron uncovering it and thereby discoveringstudents and themselves. An apt prayerwould be:

“From these degree manufacturingfactories of school boards anduniversities, Into that real world of totaltransformation, My Father, let my schoolsawake!”

Paulo Coelho has beautifully defined the teacher’s task: “What is ateacher? I will tell you: it isn’t someone who teaches something, but

someone who inspires the student to give her best in order todiscover what she already knows.” Yes, the teacher is

the one who can ignite the minds.

The author is former Chairman,Council of CBSE Schools in the Gulfand former Director of GovernmentModel Schools, Rivers State, Nigeria



GUEST COLUMNGUEST COLUMNGUEST COLUMNGUEST COLUMNGUEST COLUMN

Erosion of values

K. L. Mohana Varma

A friend of mine posted this story inmy WHATSAPP last week. It wasa sports stadium in Pune. 8 boys

were standing on the starting point of 100meters track. Ready. Steady. Bang. Soundof the pistol and all boys started running.Hardly had they covered 10-15 steps, oneboy slipped and fell down and startedcrying in agony. The other boys heard themoaning and suddenly stopped running,looked at each other for a moment andbounced back to their friend. All the 7boys together lifted him, pacified him,joined hands together and ran togethercarrying him to the tape and completed therace triumphantly. Even the injured boyforgot his pain and jumped together.Officials were shocked. Many eyes werefilled with tears.

The unusual behavior of the children wastouchy and many could not hide theirtears. But it did not surprise the onlookers.The race was a special one, conducted bythe National Institute of Mental Healthand all the boys were mentally retarded.

It was a lesson we generally are bound toforget. These children guided more bynatural instinct and emotional responsethan by reasoning, unconsciouslyconveyed it to us. We were forgetting thebasic values of living organisms developedinto the present brainy human psyche.Teamwork, humanity, sportsman spirit,love, care and equality. These mentallyretarded children reminded us that wecould also do this if we control our brains,ego and attitude.

20th century brought 20 times scientificand technological inventions of the last 20millennium’s human achievements. Thefirst decade of 21st century brought 10times the total inventions of 20th century.

The last four years quadrupledit and 2015 is going to multiplyit and the wealth of knowledgeand information being madeavailable by a soft touch of ourfinger tips or a movement of ourtongue will now be much aboveour wildest dreams.

We are now living in atransitional chapter of worldhistory, where for the first time,the nations of the world arebeing united on a literally worldwide scale. The marketeconomy have brought theworld to a stage where the timeold prejudices of race, languageand color have almost beenwiped out and the territorialaspirations of nations havebecome irrelevant. Now a stagehas come when the entireexisting equations inphilosophy, sociology, politics,economics, and every othersocial science have becomemeaningless and have to be re-cast.

We, who read this, have, byGod’s grace, better talent,leadership capacity and abilityto understand and adapt than 90percent of the brethren aroundus. Now, the world isincomparably richer than everbefore and there is anunprecedented prosperityaround us. But simultaneouslythere is abject misery,extraordinary deprivation andstaggering inequality among thenations as well as segments ofthe societies in the same nation.

We were forgetting the basic values of livingorganisms developed into the present brainy human

psyche. Teamwork, humanity, sportsman spirit,love, care and equality.



Let us by sieving and using thewealth of knowledge nowavailable, thanks to thetechnology, resolve to bringsocial justice to those whoneed it most.

But is it possible where thevalues are eroded or changed ina massive scale and we arealmost stranded in the middleof a desert with mirages andrainbows only to guide us?The philosophies are becomingredundant at a fast pacewithout any healthysubstitutes.

We live in a golden age oftechnological, medical,scientific and social progress.Look at our computers! Lookat our phones! 25 years ago,the internet was a creakymachine for geeks. Now wecan’t imagine life without it.We are on the verge of medicalbreakthroughs that would haveseemed like magic only half acentury ago: cloned organs,stem-cell therapies to repairour very DNA. Even now, lifeexpectancy in some richcountries is improving by fivehours a day. A day! Surelyimmortality, or something verylike it, is just around thecorner.

The notion that our 21st-century world is one ofaccelerating advances is sodominant that it seems churlishto challenge it. Almost everyweek we read about ‘new

hopes’ for cancer sufferers, developmentsin the lab that might lead to new cures, talkof a new era of space tourism and super-jets that can fly round the world in a fewhours. Yet a moment’s thought tells us thatthis vision of unparalleled innovation can’tbe right.

But alongside this was that extraordinaryburst of human ingenuity and societalchange. This is commented upon lessoften, perhaps because it is so obvious, ormaybe it is seen as a simple consequenceof the economics. We saw the biggestadvances in science and technology: if youwere a biologist, physicist or materialsscientist, there was no better time to beworking. But we also saw a shift in socialattitudes every bit as profound. In eventhe most enlightened societies before 1945,attitudes to race, sexuality and women’srights were what we would now considerantediluvian. By 1970, those oldprejudices were on the back foot. Simplyput, the world had changed.

Each generation is committed to a legacy.

The generation before mine fought forpolitical legacy – for freedom ofleadership. It took them a century to getthere.

Our generation fought for financial legacy –for better business relations,entrepreneurship, financial freedom, betterpolicies etc. While we have somewhatsucceeded, we can say we have set someexamples in the form of JRD Tata,Narayan Murthy and the like to let theyoungsters take over.

The current generation has a biggerresponsibility, and a more importantlegacy to pursue though. It is intellectuallegacy! Right from books we read to the

We live in a golden age of technological, medical, scientific andsocial progress. Look at our computers! Look at our phones!25 years ago, the internet was a creaky machine for geeks.

Now we can’t imagine life without it.



music we listen and the films we watch,India has made a major contribution to thislegacy over the years and it is time weprotect and safeguard this legacy and passit on to the next generation. We needpeople who will talk and write about ourlegacy as it is happening so that we canshare it with the future. No one sums upthe moral snares of materialism more

famously than St. Paul in hisFirst Letter to Timothy: “Forthe love of money is the root ofall evil: which while somecoveted after, they have erredfrom the faith, and piercedthemselves through with manysorrows.” Or as the Dalai Lamapithily suggests, “it is better to

want what you have than to have whatyou want.” We look for these things to fillan inner emptiness. They may bring abrief satisfaction, but it never lasts, and itis never enough. And so we crave formore. This paradox has a word inSanskrit: Upadana, which refers to thecycle of craving and grasping. TheDharmapada (the Buddha’s path ofwisdom) puts it: “The craving of onegiven to heedless living grows like acreeper. Like the monkey seeking fruits inthe forest, he leaps from life to life...Whoever is overcome by this wretchedand sticky craving, his sorrows grow likegrass after the rains.”

The search for fame, the lust for materialthings and the objectification of others –that is, the cycle of grasping and craving –follows a formula that is elegant, simpleand deadly. We cannot just brush it off.But we can develop and retain the basicvalues of mankind by following a fewsteps. First of all we should love and beloved. It requires courage to repudiatepride and get the strength to love others –family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances,God and even strangers and enemies.Only deny love to things that actually areobjectionable. The practice that achievesthis is charity.

First of all we should love and be loved.It requires courage to repudiate prideand get the strength to love others

— family, friends, colleagues,acquaintances, God and even

strangers and enemies.



Few things are as liberating as giving awayto others that which we hold dear. It alsorequires a condemnation of materialism.This is manifestly not an argument forany specific economic system. Anyonewho has spent time in a socialist countrymust concede that materialism andselfishness are as bad under collectivism,or worse, as when markets are free. Nopolitical ideology is immune tomaterialism. Finally, it requires a deepskepticism of our own basic desires. Ofcourse you are driven to seek admiration,splendor and physical license. But givingin to these impulses will bringunhappiness. You have a responsibility toyourself to stay in the battle. The dayyou declare a truce is the day you becomeunhappier. Declaring war on thesedestructive impulses is not aboutasceticism or Puritanism. It is about beinga prudent person who seeks to avoidunnecessary suffering.

Nothing is lost. We can still run and winaccolades. And helping our injuredcolleague to win along with us can bepracticed and perfected even now.

The author is a Kochi-based novelist,short story writer and former Chief Editorof Malayalam daily, Veekshanam.

Anyone who hasspent time in a

socialist countrymust concede that

materialism andselfishness are as

bad undercollectivism, orworse, as when

markets are free.


Electricity Facts

Science factsRAINBOWRAINBOWRAINBOWRAINBOWRAINBOW

Electricity Facts

Electricity plays an important role ineveryday life. Learn more aboutstatic electricity, electric eels,

circuits, lightning, electric shock, volts,amps and much more. Try to answer theelectricity quiz also. You can verify youranswers in the next issue.

♦ Modern society relies heavily on theconvenience and versatility of electricity.It powers your microwave and TV,lightens your house and much more.

♦ Electric current is measured in amperes(amps).

♦ Electric potential energy is measured involts.

♦ Two positive charges repel each other,as do two negative charges. Oppositecharges on the other hand attract eachother.

♦ When an electric charge builds up onthe surface of an object it creates staticelectricity. You have probably experiencedstatic electricity in the form of a smallelectric shock, which is what happenswhen the electric charge is quicklyneutralized by an opposite charge.

♦ Electric eels (a large freshwater fish ofSouth America) can produce strong electricshocks of around 500 volts for both selfdefence and hunting.

♦ A common way to produce electricity isby hydropower, a process that generates

electricity by using water to spin turbinesattached to generators.

♦ Electric circuits can contain parts suchas switches, transformers, resistors andtransformers.

♦ The world’s biggest source of energy forproducing electricity comes from coal. Theburning of coal in furnaces heats boilerwater until it becomes steam which thenspins turbines attached to generators.

♦ Lightning is a discharge of electricity inthe atmosphere. Lightning bolts can travelat around 210,000 kph (130,000 mph),while reaching nearly 30,000 °C (54,000°F) in temperature.

♦ Electricity plays a role in the way yourheart beats. Muscle cells in the heart arecontracted by electricity going through theheart. Electrocardiogram (ECG) machines

used in hospitals measure the electricitygoing through someone’s heart, when theperson is healthy it usually shows a linemoving across a screen with regular spikesas the heart beats.

♦ You may have heard of direct current(DC) and alternating current (AC). Thedifference between the two is in the waythe electrons flow. In DC electrons movein a single direction while in AC theychange directions, switching betweenbackwards and forwards. The electricityuse in your home is AC while DC comesfrom sources that include batteries.

♦ Back in the 1880’s there was even a‘war of currents’ between Thomas Edison(who helped invent DC) and Nikola Tesla(who helped invent AC). Both wantedtheir system to be used with ACeventually winning out due to the fact thatit is safer and can be used over longerdistances.

♦ Electric fields work in a similar way togravity with an important exception beingthat while gravity always attracts, electricfields can either attract or repulse.

♦ Benjamin Franklin carried out extensiveelectricity research in the 18th century,inventing the lightning rod amongst hismany discoveries. Lightning rods protectbuildings in the event of lightning byconducting lightning strikes through agrounded wire.

Physics Quiz Answers

1. Refraction2. Convex3. Ohms4. Physicist5. Contract

6. Isaac7. A flight simulator8. Watts9. Big bang10. Edwin Hubble

11. Filament12. Scotland13. Long14. A solar eclipse15. True

16. The sun17. Low18. Amperes19. Albert Einstein20. The Milky Way galaxy


Electricity Quiz1. Electric current is measured using what device ?

2. True or false: Batteries convert chemical to electricalenergy.

3. In terms of electricity, what does DC stand for ?

4. The wire inside an electric bulb is known as what ?

5. Conductors have a high or low resistance ?

6. True or false: The concept of electric fields was firstintroduced by Albert Einstein.

7. Electric resistance is typically measured in whatunits ?

8. In terms of electricity, what does AC stand for ?

9. Electric power is typically measured in what units ?

10. True or false: You can extend battery life by storingbatteries at a low temperature.

RAINBOWRAINBOWRAINBOWRAINBOWRAINBOW

Sudoku

Classroom Jokes


Murder of English1. Pick up the paper and fall in the dustbin.

2. Both of you stand together separately.

3. Why are you looking at the monkeys outside when I am inside?

4. Will you hang the calendar or else I will hang myself.

5. I have 2 daughters both are girls.

6. Give me a blue pen of any colour.

7. The Principal is resolving in the corridor.

8. All of you stand in a straight circle.

9. Open the window; let the ‘Airforce’ come in.

Send your classroom jokes to [email protected]

Jose Panthaplamthottiyil

REFLECTIONSREFLECTIONSREFLECTIONSREFLECTIONSREFLECTIONS

Printed and Published by Fr.Varghese Panthalookaran CMI on behalf of Rajagiri Media, Rajagiri Valley PO, Kakkanad, Kochi-39Ph: 0484-2428249. Printed at Five Star Offset Printers, Kochi. Editor: James Paul

From darkness to light

One of the best known religiouspoems in English literature is TheHound of Heaven. According to

commentator J.F.X. O’Conor, “It is thesweetest, deepest, strongest song everwritten in the English tongue.” It waswritten by Francis Thompson (1859-1907), who was a gifted poet. In this182-line poem, he compares God to ahound, yes a hound dog, chasing humansouls. The poem is really beautiful. Infact, it is the story of Thompson’s ownlife.

Born in Lancashire, England, Thompsonfirst studied at Ushaw College. Then hewent on to study medicine at OwensCollege which is now known as theUniversity of Manchester. While being amedical student, Thompson somehowpicked up the habit of using opium andpretty soon he really became addicted toit. His drug addiction totally destroyedhim. He became a beggar, earning a living

by shining shoes and selling matches. ButThompson was lucky to meet some goodpeople on the road and they helped himbecome a human being again.

In The Hound of Heaven Thompson sayshe was always running away from God.“He writes: I fled Him, down the nightsand down the days; I fled Him, down thearches of the years; I fled Him, down thelabyrinthine ways of my own mind; and inthe mist of tears. I hid from Him, andunder running laughter.” Thompson loveddarkness instead of light. He loved thegroggy pleasures of the world instead ofthe simple pleasures of life. He thoughtsubmitting to God would mean givingaway all the worldly pleasures. Hence, hecontinued to run away from God into moreand more darkness. However, God in hislove went after him and hunted him down.And Thompson found “All things betraythee, who betrayest Me.” He also found“Naught shelters thee, who wilt not shelter

Me.” Hence he decided to take his shelterin God. Thompson was extremely gratefulto God for saving him from darkness andbringing him back into light.

As Thompson experienced in his personallife, God is always full of love. He isalways rich in mercy and compassion. Healways goes in search of sinners. And Healways brings them back from darknessinto light and new life.

Like Thompson many of us also often runaway from God. We run away from lightto darkness. We often go after the sinfulpleasures of the world. But remember,God is always after us and he wants tosave us from darkness. He wants to bringus back into light and new life. LikeThompson let us allow ourselves to behunted by God, and thus find our realshelter and light in God.

God is always full of love. He is always rich in mercy and compassion.He always goes in search of sinners. And He always brings

them back from darkness into light and new life.

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February 2015

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