Decline of Reading habit among youth.

When you talk to any young person,you realize that the one habit that has taken the maximum hit due to other temptations of the modern world is "reading".

It seems that the youngsters have simply either given up reading, or have restricted themselves to the narrow niches of their professional needs. Broad, generalist readers are a diminishing community. If things go the way they are, it's just a matter of time before a fitting RIP is written for this tribe!

Some of the reasons, why it's happening: 
 Since a lot of youngsters spend a lot of time doing social media networking, there is a false sense of having done a lot of "reading" directly or indirectly through social media itself! Nothing could be far from the truth. The superficial, cursory and utterly peremptory scanning of the written content on Facebook or Twitter can hardly qualify as genuine reading. Still, many feel so! 

The lifestyles of many do not allow clear reading time slots. There's just so much noise. The mobile ,fast speed net, the iPods, the earplugs, the incessant chatter online, whatsapp ,etc... it kills the very concept of locking oneself in a corner of your home/room and dedicating some time to pure reading pleasure. This gradually develops into a pattern - people just give up reading. And when it is indeed available, the depth of silence feels too heavy. 
Reading is like tilling a land.. you stop and it degrades. 

College and schools do not inspire youngsters much when it comes to reading. Neither do seniors who can drive young people through sheer example. So a kind of societal stamp is acquired unknowingly and the bad habit of poor reading proliferates!

The impact or damage that this does to youngster is immense. Some pointers:

Today's youngsters just do not understand issues as deeply as they should,scratch below the surface of claims being made, and you realise there's little gravamen below. It's positively scary. 
More we know about the world around us, the better we can connect the dots and move ahead in a more concrete fashion, thus decision making process becomes a "function" of your awareness and knowledge. Think of yourself in a complicated decision making situation. And imagine that you knew a lot more about the world, its working components, human behaviour, the economy, the nations in turmoil, and so on. There's a fair chance that you will react much better to the challenges facing you.

All these are rather demoralising facts! But no damage is permanent. And you can do a lot to rebuild the edifice. Some simple suggestions:

 

Start small ! Fix a slot of 20 minutes religiously, per day, that you'll devote only to yourself, sitting in a corner/on your study table, with serious reading stuff. Let this time slot grow slowly, gradually. There's no hurry. 

Try reducing your social media time! While it is wrong to ask of anyone to eliminate TV from their schedules (given the amazingly high quality content that appears frequently on TV nowadays), there's a lot of sick and ordinary stuff that cuts into precious time you could devote to your self-development.

Read what you like, first. Don't get into reading things that do not instinctively interest you. As you grow in stature as a reader, your interests will grow too. 

Last but not the least, get into debates and discussion. Nothing stimulates your desire to read more than a pleasant experience of "showing-off" your knowledge in a discussion -:)  I mean that in a positive and healthy way. So get into debates with intelligent people often. Talk about what's happening in the world - the US-Sino trade war, the resurgence of oil and coal, Karnataka Fiasco, the problems facing developing nations, gender equality, financial planning, etc. It'll stimulate and grow your existence manifold.

 

In my opinion,reading was, and remains, the best self-development tool. Do not underestimate its importance. Start now - it's not too late. Invest slowly, steadily and let it work for you. All the best!

Most common mistakes while learning Mathematics for the exams like IIT JEE

Disclaimer: The observations made in the following article are my own personal observations as a student of Mathematics, however they are not exhaustive. The intended readers of this article could be Aspirants / Math's Lovers or Students.
I draw the experience  mostly from my own endeavor , where I qualified IIT twice ( AIR 1252 (JEE'05) & AIR 3462 (JEE'04) ) primarily due to mathematics; Olympiad; Secured a single digit All India Rank in Ramanujan Memorial Mathematical Contest (Conducted by Ramanujan Society) . I believe , in my humble capacity, I can make some contribution for the students fraternity , in the subject. [ Disclaimer Ends].

The nature of subject is bit different from other two subjects that is Physics and Chemistry. Mathematics at times is bit abstract. Situation becomes more complex when a student tries to extend his/ her , rote method of learning, nurtured by the Indian Schooling system in last 10 years to IIT JEE kind of paper. Following are four common mistakes made by aspirants , with their possible wayouts:

Mistake1: Whenever you see a problem , you approach it by "which formulae can I apply"? This whole notion of  "which formulae can I apply?", is the biggest barrier in understanding Mathematics. The possible wayout from this menace is to understand the derivations involved in the process, by going to its core. By doing so, a student not only gets a better insight on the subject , but would be in more comfortable situation in IIT paper, where examiners come up with new problem by tweaking here and there in derivation stage itself.

Mistake2: Suppose you open a book of mathematics (say Hall & Knight , Loney or Maron) and you read it like a novel. During this, you feel that-"yes this makes sense, this is obvious" , etc, and you find that you have understood the concepts, which is exactly not the case!

In Maths & Physics, problem solving is the key and only when you start solving the problems based on the concept which you just read, then only you will be forced to think about the concept and its application. In this process , you are bound to make mistakes and then you have to read the theory again or consult your teacher (if you have one). For those aspirants , who undergo the organized training or caching for these exam, the theory part is mostly done by the instructor. Still ,if you have time, I would suggest , to read theory from the text books.

Mistake 3: Say you solve a problem and somehow you reached to its answer ( this phenomenon is more pronounced , in case of objective exams), but you are not very sure about each and every step involved in it, eg- why am I opening the modulus? Why am I keeping these limits on integration?, etc. There could be many such ambiguous steps in the solution but once you get the answer, you feel very happy and you move on! This is the biggest trap. Answer is just a means to an end, not an end in itself...the end is the proper understanding of the topic.

 Ask yourself, Did you understand every step involved and the logic behind it? If no, then take 15 minutes extra to do brainstorming on the problem again and try to understand the steps involved. If required, read the concept / theory again or consult the teacher.

Mistake 4: "Not Reinforcing or Repeating"

What I mean by this, is, lets say you get a really tough problem and you spent say half an hour and finally you managed to solve it, with reasonably good approach. At that juncture, in your mind, its like a thin / half baked brick wall, which would collapse with little gentle push. But you require a strong and sturdy wall. Meaning for a tough problem, even if you get the answer, don't stop there.

Solve the same problem again, I repeat, same problem again, after couple of days and believe me on this, mostly likely , you will make a mistake again, but this time your understanding will be much better and deeper ( like a 2ft thick sturdy wall!) . In a nutshell, you have to reinforce yourself by solving same thing again.

I hope this helps.  

My Kochi Experience so far

I came to this part of  India about five months ago.
On my first day on the job, I was as nervous as little boy on his first day of school. The butterflies in my stomach were not there because I was starting a job in new city but because I was scared of whether people (students) would accept me. My irrational fear was because I looked different, I spoke with an accent and I just felt strange in this new state. But the moment I walked into the classroom, students looked at me. To my relief, they were all smiling.
I know it sounds silly to give so much importance to a smile. Trust me when I say this, we take smiles for granted. A smile is the first step in acceptance. The genuine smiles that I saw on my colleagues’  and students' faces made me feel a little more welcome and a lot less anxious.
The weeks went by and I received amazing assignments and batches to work on. My colleagues were extremely supportive and understanding of my strengths and weaknesses, although I must say it took some of them a while to pronounce my name correctly!
Over time I started to get to know more people in the building and to be honest, it felt wonderful. Yes, there were awkward moments of silence – meeting a person from a different culture can put you in a spot where you are thinking of not saying anything that might offend the other person. It’s like an auto correct function in your brain, only much faster and less reliable.
I love our intellectual discussions from politics to sports to mathematics. I always call one of my colleagues my Kerala History teacher and the other my little ray of sunshine.
I knew I had come to the right place only because I was surrounded by the right people who had accepted me for who I was. These were the people who made me feel at home away from home.
Acceptance is the first step!

Book Review: Revolution 2020- By Chetan Bhagat

Disclaimer : Recently I have read "Revolution 202" by Mr. Bhagat, here is an honest review (according to me). This review is an independent one , views are my personal and has no correlation with any publisher/advt. (disclaimer ends)!

The book revolves around struggles of a protagonist (actually antagonist) Gopal and how he gives in to the condemnable system. The landscape of Revolution 2020 also weaves the lives of Aarti & Raghav into Gopal’s life.

The plot, set against the backdrop of small town Varanasi, paints the aspirations and scrambles of Gopal’s life. Gopal is ambitious about earning money. He wishes to be rich but doesn’t know the right path. Gopal falls in love with Aarti and the only thing he dreams of is becoming her lover. His career goals go for a toss, if his friendship with her is not going well. She however is in love with Raghav. Raghav has a dream for his country and courage to chase his dream. He is passionate about the values that he upholds. Raghav aspires to be a journalist who does meaningful journalism for his city’s welfare.

The central theme suggests that India’s education system is flawed. Year after year, engineers are being churned out of private institutes with meaningless degrees. Bhagat satirizes the directionless youth and also the parents who try to squeeze their unattainable dream out of their children.The book depicts today’s Indian youth. It is a yours and mine story involving all neighborhood characters. Chetan’s writings are so figurative that one can mentally sketch out his descriptions. The sheer grace, with which he defines Varanasi, almost made the book a tourism campaign. Also, Bhagat magnifies human thoughts beautifully.
However, there is rawness in the story. The book is full of unfounded aphorisms about girls (No offence !). The end isn’t impactful. There is predictability in the plot, stuffed with clichés. When you name a book “Revolution 2020”, it is supposed to be ultra-radical, especially in times of Anna Hazare. However, the book doesn’t live up to its title. It delves deeper into the emotions of the protagonist forgetting the bigger picture. Revolution against corruption is only present in bits and pieces throughout the book. The major chunk is a sardonic sarcasm against the education system without any thoughtful solution.
However, we must pat Bhagat’s back for choosing to write on the most significant issue pertaining to education system. The effortless narration and flow of the plot are also commendable. He captures a myriad human shades suggesting that there is no black and white, it is all grey. All in all a light hearted novel which most youngsters would relate to.

My heartfelt opinion about the subject matter :
Youth, today are chasing unwarranted goals without putting much thought. Few of them, who are oriented, are incapacitated owing to the systemic inadequacies. The system is eclipsed by corruption. The despondency lies in the indifference of youth towards the insurmountable task of eradicating corruption. Youth should garner enough courage and initiative to uproot corruption. Their unstinted support is a “must have” for a better India!

Man insaan ka !!

Ek arsha hua neeche likhi chand lines ko...aaj post kar rha hun , un readers ke liye jo parkhi hain:

Chalo aaj yun hi kuch kehne ho;

zindagi beh rahi hai, behne do!

Pal Khushi ke bahut hi thode hain,

gham ke afsane aaj rehne do!

Phool to phool hain sookh jayenge;
sookhe patte to pade rehne do!
Main khud se mil ke darta hun;
aaiyna mere aage pade rehne do!

Baat duniya ki to roz karte hain,

aaj apni baat karne do!

Climatic Division

As the UN climate summit opens on Monday in Durban, some contours of the fight ahead can be discerned.

For many, the Kyoto vs anti-Kyoto Protocol line appears to be getting shaky. Small countries, including threatened islands and the European Union (EU), want to get to a climate deal quickly, in fact as early as 2015.

India, along with Brazil, Japan, Russia and Canada, has argued against haste. These divisions became apparent during the 12th meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate in the US earlier this month.

This coming together of climate change adversaries, so to speak, promises to create friction at Durban. While it's too early to speculate, it is possible that Durban may see no deal on the subject. Mutual lack of trust--always healthy in multilateral settings, where rivals can undercut each other--is ensuring a glacial pace of climate negotiations.

Why government Should not bail out Kingfisher ?

In last 2-3 days the Government of India is giving signals and are issuing statements in media and newspapers to provide financial assistance of Kingfisher Airlines Limited controlled primarily by Dr Vijay Mallya, Chairman of this Airlines. Here are some reasons why govt shouldn’t bailout kingfisher:

Firstly because it is a purely private enterprise with the sole motivating factor of profit, secondly because both the Kingfisher Airlines and its Chairman Dr Mallya have reputation of extreme consumerism, vulgar flamboyancy and personification of a luxurious life, with least public concern (Thanks to billion dollars F-1 and IPL). Many of the officials including Mr.Sanjay Aggarwal (CEO) of Kingfisher have blamed high Aircraft turbine fuel (ATF) pricing and state govt's sales tax and so called "irrational" airport duties for the losses of the airlines, but these norms are same for other players and some are making decent profits. Thus it seems to be a classical case of mismanagement.

In the recent past, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd had informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) about a Debt Recast Package (DRP) with lending banks, following a one-time relaxation in restructuring guidelines sanctioned by the Reserve Bank of India. I would also like to give reference about the McDowell Krest (an NBFC) under the umbrella of UB Group, where Dr Mallya has been alleged to have siphoned public money and later changed the name of company to Krest Finlease, and declared it Bankrupt.

Now coming to govt's part...why should it influence or try to influence the lending policies of banks (for this bailout) , which would be a gross violation of bank's sovereignty, under the circumstances when it says petrol price rise is not under its jurisdiction and is driven by OMCs.

Based on all these background information, I think Government of India shouldn't provide any financial package to Kingfisher Airlines which results in loss of public exchequer.