Essay writing

"Composition is the first lesson for Chinese to learn about telling lies," Han Han, a renowned writer and blogger, was quoted by Global Times.
Chinese students, as many in India, must write compositions exactly as per format in order to get good marks. Well, we all have heard this by now. But the reason is what surprises me. [ To stop them from making up stories, they should be encouraged to think more and experience more," she said.]
You experience more if you follow the straight and narrow path of essay writing-as-per-format???

continued..

The 'fundamental flaw' in our BSc courses is that it is neither fish nor fowl. I am repeating myself here. It is neither rigorous enough to cater to the would-be scientist, nor is it down-to-earth enough to give the students practical usable skills.
A graduate with a BSc in electronics cannot repair (let alone design) a cd player, someone with a BSc Chemistry cannot measure the pH of water in a pond.
There have been some proposals two years ago to address this, but nothing has happened on ground as far as I can see.

jobless?

Another academic year begins.
Students are still not very keen on joining for a BSc in life science subjects as seen by the fact that very few have applied for seats in our college for a life science course.
The reason is that a large number of Pharmacy colleges have opened in the last two years in AP.
Students (their parents more likely) prefer to get a BPharm degree to getting a BSc degree. The perception is that job opportunities are much more likely for a person with a BPharm.
Secondly, what does one do with a BSc? Do an MSc? Ok then what?Ummm....well, maybe a PhD? how many years is that? well....maybe 9 or 10 for the whole process....WHAT?
I don't blame them really, but it may mean we are out of a job in the next couple of years .....

School ethos

I studied for a while in one of those posh schools in the hills. Those days, they were run by British women missionaries. I joined in the 8th class . It was a boarding school, and all the girls were issued pocket money and stationery every Saturday. After one month, one Saturday, the class was made to give me round of applause. Why? Because I had consumed the least amount of stationery that month. I did not lose my pencil or eraser, did not spill my ink, did not waste my notebook pages...
Now that's a kind of achievement anyone, howsoever lacking in talent, can aspire to. It led me to achievements in academics. It also made a virtue of frugality.
Schools nowadays...at least the coaching-class kind, have no avenues for children to achieve in real terms. That's why those who do not get into a medical college/IIT are left with such deep emptiness...that a 18 year old should NEVER have to deal with. Such emptiness that comes with maybe losing ones parents or similar tragedy, these children face for no real reason.
We are producing tragedies out of happiness.....take a happy 13 year old, put him through 6 years of coaching - produce a deeply unhappy young man. A great recipe for a dysfunctional society!

R-H vortex

Some years back, I first came across an amazing phenomenon -- the Ranque Hilsch vortex. My physics is below pathetic level, but this concept I find really exciting.

An example they give for entropy and time in any video lecture...water poured out of a glass and water going back into the glass...
For a bath, I mix a bit of steaming hot water with some cold water....if I could reverse the process and get a little hot water and a little cold water from tepid water, how amazing that would be!
That's how this phenomenon is. It's amazing. Of course it's not the same, but the result says that's what has happened doesn't it?
I have seen that it is used for spot cooling but never for larger volumes.
Is it truly not possible to do this on larger scale to have eco friendly air conditioning? or is it just that no one has tried it out yet?

dying

In the last two months, I have had a series of aged relatives dying. They all went peacefully. One uncle aged 89 or so, just did not get up from a nap, my mother-in-law, was having a conversation, and just slipped away, another uncle just slipped away into death one afternoon...all were above 80. I am beginning to believe that once you cross 80 or so, the chances are, you die peacefully- the way we were meant to die....just not be alive anymore.
I hope I die like that.

what students taught me

One thing I learnt from students is how much more worldly wise they are than I.
On a train on a college tour, this student hangs out near the bathroom for almost an hour. I am a bit suspicious, but just let it pass. Turns out he's drinking. Policeman comes along and threatens to book him. Now I know the policeman wants to be paid off, but I don't know how the topic is raised. I just request him to let the boy off, since otherwise I will have to get down in some god-forsaken town in AP and go with him to the police station. Along come two of his friends, "Ma'm we'll handle this" and they manage to sort it out. I however, still do'nt know how to go about this bribery thing.