Punitive Expansion

Growings older allows the registering of how personal lives criss-cross fault lines in history. A visit to Guntur led to the discovery that some of India's most fertile cropping lands around Guntur would make way for the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. Of course new states must have new capitals, but do they they have to be constructed over the irreplaceable arable land that feeds everyone? Clearly our leaders draw in strange ways from our antiquity. Indraprastha, the fabled home of the Pandavas, was built when Dhritrashtra allotted Khandavaprashtha to them and bid them to live and rule over it. A forest was burnt and subsequently levelled. The tribes and species of birds and animals inhabiting it were smoked out. Those who did not perish in the hostile environment were killed in active combat. To build themselves a magnificent palace, the Pandavas enlisted supernatural help. The architect of the gods came down and built it for them. Krishna, the avataar himself, did field duty with Arjuna and helped initiate the sacking of the forest. There were protests: in fact the extended generational war with the serpents is another story curled up at the edges of the Kurukshetra war narrative and Indra, to whom the forest belonged, hurled his thunderbolt at Arjuna. To propitiate him the new city was subsequently called Indraprastha. Honorary mentions effectively soothe the very gods. Modern India has less metaphysical happenings. Most of our gods now rest within stone temples or concrete edifices. What is visible now is the grabbing of land by land mafias and ambitious political satraps. We need able administrators and apparently the administrators ably take land away from those who need to feed us. The countryside around Guntur is also home to ancient sites of worship and memory. All of this is slated to disappear under the onrush of building, expanding new capitals. Meanwhile,I worked hard to persuade my reluctant son who being "higher educated" at a hostel in another new city capital Naya Raipur. Three years after wearing down continual resistance, we planned a trip to his hostel and to sections of Bastar. The touchdown at Raipur airport was unremarkable. Moving out of a fairly modern building flanked by Jindal's metallic men, we headed out to the Hidayatullah National Law University(HNLU) . Stretches of green land on either side, fenced and dotted with the occasional date palm greets the eye. The only people on the road are the two of us and Deepak who is driving us. After a long green silent interval. I see men and women working at some construction. One green stretch is scheduled to become a railway line. I am shown a large fenced in stretch of land where the station will be housed. Eventually we reach HNLU and head for the boys' hostel. we stand at the entrance of a nondescript building, having half circled the academic block.The eye meets green fields beyond. The courtyard of the hostel is unapologetic concrete bricks . There are buildings half finished on the campus. Three years ago these were to be blocks housing invitees visitors and parents at HNLU. Like every good idea, this one apparently has been taken off the list. After coaxing the guards on duty to allow him to leave his suitcases in his room, (three days before term ),I was allowed a hurried look at the facilities on the premises. Tiny rooms, almost cubicle sized that can be locked, with a table and a bed and a deep stone shelf in the wall. Add to this, functional common toilets and a shabby common room. The threadbare state of the hostel extends to the outside as well. The college is far away from any other habitation. To buy groceries, provisions, eat something different, watch a film, everyone at HNLY has to head for the town. A bus service is provided for students. Surely a residential university should be doing far more for its residents? We drove out soon in the direction of Dighapur. Small shanty towns dot the road. there are miles and miles of cultivated land with delicious green rice paddy and lots of water bodies. This is stunningly beautiful country. the land stretches out on either side of the road and there are green fields that touch the ends of the sky.

Na Rahega Vishvavidyalaya, Na Rahenge Shikshak.!!!

Yesterday I was a fly on the wall in one of the most bizzare live TV shows in recent times. Called Smriti ki Pariksha,the stage had jaunty panels with photographs of the prime minister wearing many hats (one hat and several decorated headdresses since accuracy is a value). Smriti Irani, the HRD minister, was late and on arrival evinced surprise that the show was for a two hour period. Apparently the organizer had only asked for half an hour of her time. Anyway, the show began with the anchors posing inconsequential queries regarding the ministerial visit to Amethi. The minister was at an advantage. Her years of training in media ensured that she called the shots, corrected assumptions, fielded questions, bowled googlies with her replies and left the anchors feeling compelled to defend the integrity of the show. At this stage, the anchors gripped their roving microphones, would not invite any of the assembled teachers for a discussion on politics and higher education and continued to aggravate the situation further The show morphed into a Jan Adalat. A student who spoke of SOL students no longer being allowed to attend regular college was told the minister would accompany him to the vice chancellor's office. The problems faced by SOL students have been compounded by semesterization, which has sealed off mobility for all SOL students ever since. Supporting her governments decisions as non-bhagua, the minister informed the nation at large the the president of the DUTA was from a left group and often came to the HRD seeking solutions to problems at the university. Ministers with affiliations to political parties are as difficult to persuade as members of the AAD who insist on referring to the DUTA leadership as DTF-led-DUTA. The DUTA President and yet another colleague did firmly communicate that every teacher. irrespective of affiliation. was opposed to the introduction of CBCS. Partisan politics has no place in the context of the grave academic disaster staring Delhi University and the rest of India in the face. The issues plaguing the university were not voiced. There was no opportunity to ask the minister that when the ground situation was the same as last year; why were unprecedented academic reforms being rushed in post haste, without discussion, debate or consultation with teachers. Meanwhile, the minister committed herself to a personal appearance to address the differential in fee structure for a visually handicapped student at a campus college. Oddly, complete silence surrounds the role imagined for teachers even at the level of school education. We were told of the online system where NCERT books could be downloaded from websites. These downloads apparently are to be soon available as as mobile apps. So in the near future, all the country's children under fourteen years of age will receive all their education via downloads on mobile phones. "What an idea Sirjee!!" Clearly, providing teachers to train and develop minds and imaginations is not a part of this scenario, wherein technology is the undisputed king. No lessons need to be learnt from the laptops uselessly stockpiling all over Delhi university colleges. Looking at how teaching vacancies are being filled at Delhi University; arbitrary appointments or none at all; it is not difficult to envisage that the university teacher will be entirely dispensable in the scheme as it unfolds. This would explain why the CBCS is being brought in unders the most peculiar and unfair circumstances. A good liberal education, a nation of thinking people, academic standards and rigor will be the only casualties.

A Memory and a Journey

Many decades ago, on a railway track en route to Chennai, our train slowed down and halted. Across us, on the next track was a goods train with endless bogeis. One of them was open and loads of baskets covered with gunny sacks had tumbled out. Men were lifting the baskets and trying to put them down back in the bogie, while we watched idly from our window. There is always a lot to see from a train window, sometimes even, when the train is not moving. One of the men looked in our direction and saw three children staring out of the window. He reached out for a large mango from one of the baskets which seemed to have fallen apart, and walked across the track to hand it to my brother, who gazed at it and after being given permission, accepted the mango. It was an enormous green mango, and we had not seen a mango fruit of this size before. At this point, our train began to move, and all that remained of this unexpected tableau was the outsize green mango that a small boy clutched with both hands.

On a recent visit to Guntur, in the hot month of May, I spotted mangoes similar to the basket of fruit we had seen from the window of the train. Vendors with smart carts sold them to passers by, cut into thick chunks. They were large in real life and their size fleshed out an old memory. I discovered that they were called "cobbara-mavadu." 'Cobbara', possibly from the tamil(copra) and malayalam(coppara) means coconut and this particular variety has the dimension of a tender green coconut. Mavadu is a term that describes tender young mangoes soaked in brine and red chilly water. The picture here of three cobbara mavadus, unfortunately, provides little scope for anyone to marvel at their size. The name suggests that this raw mango is rather like the coconut. When cut, the flesh is cream-coloured and crisp,pulpy and non fibrous. The raw fruit is delicious, and tastes of the summer. Since it is not sour, the cobbara-mavadu makes for a great salad accompaniment with celery, chopped onions, tomatoes and grated carrots. There are hundreds of varieties of mangoes in India. Most of us get by with identifying around ten or twelve varieties of the ripe fruit. The raw fruit varieties are far less known. The kili mooku or the parrot nosed green mango is another well known variety. This is sour and is a seaside favourite all over Tamil Nadu. It is much tastier when raw, and as the picture below shows, recalls the parrot or the kili from which it borrows its name.

The fruit, thanks to Safal is now found all over New Delhi at innumerable Mother Dairy outlets.However, the kili mooku is disappointing as a table fruit.In its more tart earthy avatar, with salt and red chilly powder, it is more tantalising. Naming a fruit and thereby fleshing out a memory is an enriching experience. It is also rooted in very culture specific practice. As a nation we seem to be moving in the direction of a nameless uniformity. Can diversity be sustained through such odds? The loss of fruit and vegetable names should concern us because the first obliteration, that of memory,subsequently allows for the loss of the fruit itself.

column for The Chandigarh Tribune which was published today,

MUSINGS The Speaking Self Ratna Raman http://images.tribuneindia.com/cms/gall_content/2014/12/2014_12$largeimg05_Dec_2014_225300810.jpg . The human child sees herself/himself for the first time in a mirror and learns that she/he has a separate self. This is a magical moment. Subsequently, children respond to names and lisp them for indulgent adults delighting in baby prattle. Inching towards adulthood, post schooling, the young person is constantly required to introduce himself/herself, in public, in private, in professional capacity and sometimes over the telephone. The most flamboyant introduction ever is that popularised by England’s well-loved secret agent 007. ‘Bond, James Bond’, he says in a laid-back manner and dazzles everyone. Of course, Bond’s spectacular looks and gizmos add to the allure. Most of us have to introduce ourselves in the social sphere without the celluloid advantages available to James Bond. We must begin at ground zero by listing incorrect practice and steering clear of faux pas (false steps). At interviews, candidates often get off on the wrong foot. When introducing themselves, they incorrectly prefix the word ‘myself’ before the actual name. Far more males are guilty of this than females. Possibly, men have a stronger sense of self in patriarchal societies or perhaps there are far more men in the public sphere. For a correct formal introduction, it is sufficient to offer a name and a surname, eg, “My name is Jatin Das.” At an informal social gathering, it is enough to mention a first name. If the person being addressed seems reticent, maybe two half sentences would be most effective. The correct response would be: “I’m Subhash, and you are…..?” Or “My name is Nikhila, what’s yours?” Prefixes such as ‘myself, Dr, Mr, Mrs, Ms, etc., are best avoided. Inform someone that you have a doctorate if your pay scale depends on it. If it doesn’t, prefixing a degree to a name is pedantic. Only in case of a medical emergency is there a requirement for a doctor. In social gatherings, personal qualifications or marital status need to be revealed only when asked for. Look at how stilted and awkward conversation becomes with incorrect usage: “Myself Kamal Kumar ....and what about your good self….?” Or "What is your good name?” Sentences such as these are best expunged from memory. It is important to remember that preliminary introductions only permit the exchange of names. All names are chosen with care and must be presumed good. Only prolonged association enables the discovery of good and bad selves. Telephone callers often make strange statements such as , “Harish, this side,” leaving the listener curious as to whether numerous sides exist on a telephone line. The correct usage when speaking on the phone should be, “This is Harish or Rekha.” If it is not a personal call then the caller could say; “This is Harish Dhawan from Watercare. Could I speak to Mr. Sondhi? It is incorrect to dial a number and interrogate whoever responds with: “Who is speaking? (“Kaun bole raha hai?”) The exasperated reply can only be: “Why should I tell you?” Equally annoying are geographers enquiring: “Where are you speaking from? (“kahan se bol rahe ho?”) A friend who was woken up with this asinine query responded icily: “I speak from my mouth. What about you?” (“Mae mooh se bol raha hoon. Aap kidhar se bolte hain?”)

Open Letter To Delhi University's Vice Chancellor

Dear Sir, Having been weighed down since the time you annexed our university and made it part of your extended private empire, I took the liberty of writing to you. Also, things are moving from hot to heated and worse in the month of June. Of course you are not sorry about the fact that thousands of young people and middle aged teachers are not taking a much needed break or reading something that would add to their lives. Instead they have spent the entire summer protesting in public spaces about how you have jeopardized lives and careers by violating Education Commission Guidelines and reducing higher education to a mere shadow of its once resplendent stature. I recall how you contributed to the destruction of the seasons at Delhi University. In the best teaching months of the year,November and December, you egged on students to take semester exams and then cool their heels at home in gorgeous weather. Since you rarely attended classes, or took them in the recent public past, you had little compunction about getting everybody to attend college and teach and learn well into hot April and then give exams in the excruciating heat of May and June, when scientifically productivity is at its lowest. No, we don't hold you responsible for Delhi's extreme weather, only for making the worst possible use of it, and "worst possible use" of everything conceivable has really been the high-point of your tenure as Vice Chancellor. Sidelining elected teacher representatives, pretending that the DUTA was an illegal, unofficial body was a misplaced move, on par with your sidelining of statutory decision making bodies such as the Academic and Executive Councils. The decision to design academic curriculum, instead of assisting and enabling through infrastructural support, which is really the role of university administration, was another frightful mistake. During this round, you incarcerated all departments rendering democratic teacher's general bodies in each department null and void. You took our subject specializations away from us and served show cause notices to any one who dared to dissent. We found ourselves out of an academic environment, neck deep in a rat-race, principals who had turned into FYUP salespersons supervising handpicked syllabi makers motivated by all sorts of incremental rewards. No vice chancellor can be a subject expert in every subject taught at the university. Setting up a new chain of command and getting handpicked teachers to report directly to you and frame syllabi is far removed from best practice. It qualifies as worst practice, as does your constant refrain that due process was observed in the Academic Council and the Executive council. You organized an academic congress and set up a task force to achieve your ends and this was distortion and manipulation of due process. Do keep your courtiers apprised of this small detail. They seem to have lost sight of this fact altogether. Possessing academic sovereignty as central university teachers in Independent India, we have never required a task force in university environs in peace-time.The truth was, you had waged war on everything the university stood for. The foundation courses you initiated compels belief that it was brought on because you studied under the older 8+3+3 scheme. If only you had done the 10+2+3 as many of us have, you could have studied in greater depth and detail some of the shabby compulsory foundation courses that you recently piled upon the heads of hapless students. These students studied all subjects and took exams in class X and then spent two years training for specializations they could opt for as undergraduates. It is also a great pity that the insights of political science after class VIII were denied to you. It might have enabled you to distinguish between state and university and led you to realize that they are constituted differently and subject to altogether different rules. As of now,seers Sibal, Tharoor and Pitroda, who sponsored your Trishanku-like ascent into the Upperworld have fled the scene. Even the worshipful secretaries and doting UGC officials(the only people whom you took into confidence while you conned us)have begun to look beyond your personal charisma and seriously examine paperwork,in many instances, possibly for the first time. Shouldn't you, in your own interest, listen to what the cosmos is telling you? Sabre-rattling and getting your meager troops together is unlikely to set any streets ablaze, even in this weather. This is worrying.. even more worrying than the elephant ride you undertook to the campus inaugural, unheeding of our antardhvani. Who rides elephants when they own feet and especially after luxury cars have been invented? Shouldn't we be done with all this now, your riding on elephants and riding roughshod over Delhi University? Let us not prolong this agony. We shall let bygones be bygones if you will allow us to believe that you too will soon be gone. It is going to need a lot of hard work to put Delhi University together again.

Delhi University's Autonomy

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it, always. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) 

We need a quick recap of the events over the past several years at Delhi University.   One hot summer , Vice Chancellor Pental received responses  from Delhi University's eighty odd undergraduate colleges who had been asked about  the introduction of semesterization. Most colleges replied in detail after deliberations in staff councils that they were not in favor of semesterization. 
In any university with a fair measure of academic autonomy, the perspective of the teacher's collective should have prevailed. Pental persisted in making CDS listing the  pros and cons of semesterization and then quickly pushed this change through in the Academic Council. Arguably, Pental was getting his orders from elsewhere. Nevertheless, he succeeded  in destroying a very integral  component of Delhi University. 

In the 1980s, the optimal decade of the teachers movements,  the number of elected teacher representatives  in the AC was identical to the number in the AC that Pental presided over in 2007. Pental's coup reduced the elected  teacher representatives in the Academic Council  to a minority of numbers. For the first time in the university 's history, it became unnecessary to hear out elected teacher representatives.  The Vice chancellor's men and women would always outnumber elected teacher representatives  in the AC. This brinkmanship  was very ably exploited by Pental's successor Singh who learnt quickly under Pental's stewardship. Singh used his mathematical ability to create a whole set of numbers outside of the Academic Council. Pental's  opening gambit of riding rough shod over the interests of undergraduate teachers was used far more insidiously  by Singh, who set aside not merely  elected representatives but also Heads of Departments in his systemic disempowerment of the Academic Council. He set up special meetings and then instituted special empowered task forces and  committees at will, eroding the rights and  authority  invested in staff councils  and  duly constituted committees all over the university. 

 Pursuing a cloak and dagger policy, Singh managed to bring all modes of   academic and democratic dissent within the university to a shuddering halt.  Pretending that the DUTA was  a defunct group of busybodies with no academic credentials , and serving show-cause notices to dissenting teachers, Singh set about reinventing university academic life with his own band of handpicked acolytes.  

The acolytes received  their brief and   accomplished Mission Demolition. Their work and the subsequent rewards  received are  all now in the public domain.   Discipline I courses were substantially diluted and Discipline II courses are to be rendered irrelevant. The compulsory Foundation and Application Courses were some sort of cruel joke  played upon academic life at the University
 We need to remember that  when  DU's Vice Chancellors' took University  autonomy in their own hands, wrung its neck and proceeded to do pretty much as they pleased, they received able assistance from Callous Kapil, Showstopper Shashi and Roving Rajus.
 A semesterization where annual courses were trimmed and bifurcated swung into action first for  science students and in the subsequent year for students of  humanities and commerce. Semesterization was the first body blow dealt to SOL in place of   sorting out the mess and making it a learner friendly institution, which would benefit those who had been contributing to the University coffers with minimal returns. The dual degree system was set in play, contravening statutes that deemed it obligatory for the university to  offer  a single degree.

Anomalies already  existed in the  laborious evaluation process  of a humongous number of student scripts. Individual  internal assessment marks from colleges needed to be factored in. In recent years, a mysterious moderation committee at the university inflated or deflated  internal assessment marks to everybody's chagrin, bolstered entirely by student inability to protest.
To this was added the punitive measure of centralizing exam corrections for  all undergraduate honours examinations. Teachers correcting MA scripts,  did so at home. Teachers evaluating undergraduate scripts did an  exaggerated prescribed minimum of twenty-five per day   at ghastly  correction centres  with little air and water and even less food and sanitation. 
Under the Dinesh regime exam reforms involved  the disbanding of the secrecy clause whereby college identities became public knowledge. An eleven digit roll number, a declaration of the student's date of birth and  the invigilating officer's  name and countersignature  became important examination totems  upgrading evaluation quotient This was followed up by a surreal three part correction  of every examination script whereby  holistic student welfare ceased to be anybody's responsibility.


 None of these issues: violation of due process, marginalization of  democratically constituted decision making bodies , death of pedagogy, systemic decay, review, debate and discussion and a total incineration of student well-being cut any ice with all the movers and shakers who were involved in  L'affaire University . While bureaucrats sighed over Singh's good looks, believing in the outdated adage that "handsome is as handsome does," the more dexterous politicians turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the unending erosion of university autonomy. Today, one year after FYUP has generated acute distress in every quarter of the university community, the writing is now  clearly visible on all possible walls. Those who now talk of the university's autonomy, after trampling it   underfoot for many years in succession only highlight the sycophancy and fear that remain sharp undercurrents in university life. Autonomy for Delhi University can never be equated with one political party's dictat replacing the excesses of another. Autonomy for Delhi University involves enabling it to set its house in order. Autonomy involves restoring to the Delhi University Teacher,Student and Karamchari community the rights and dreams enshrined in its statutes and ordinances. Autonomy for Delhi University means going back to an era when all authority was not concentrated in the hands of Vice chancellors while the rights of everyone else were simultaneously rescinded. Autonomy for Delhi University is allowing the University to function within the framework of guidelines outlined by a more liberal constitution and the guidelines of the Education Commission. Autonomy for Delhi University involves creating spaces for dialogue and welcoming dissent and debate. Autonomy for Delhi University involves a serious engagement with its teachers in all its duly constituted academic forums. Autonomy for Delhi University means a robust academic life for all its students and its teachers. In that  haven of hope and possibility, may Delhi University find itself.

The FYUP Scam

As  members of  a College Academic Planning Committee we were responsible for charting out the devolution of the four year plan in its second year. The number of roadblocks we encountered must be put down  in order to draw attention to the utterly student unfriendly educational program that  the University Administration has brazenly conjured up.
 Some known facts; the much touted Discipline I courses across the university have been diluted and mutilated.  Mindless foundation courses , compulsory in nature, with no seeming direction have been cobbled for students.  The same goes for the more ambitious  application courses, where student attendance and participation has been minimized in its entirety.

 Sitting with five students to hear their presentation  in a makeshift classroom , a teacher  of foundation or Application courses can easily feel akin to a tattoo artist or some such skilled technician. The rest of the class don't want to hear their batch mates because they have other presentations to make and assignments to submit.  The VC's grandiloquent statements on the irrelevance of classroom teaching  have borne fruit through the ghastly courses that have been  put in place.

The course content is so gossamer and the learning so slight  that students feel they might as well as do other things with their time. Handing out excellence awards for innovative teaching of these courses is not going to improve them. After discrediting serious academics  and deriding classroom teaching as pedagogically flawed methodology, the university administration  has set out to ensure that students are academically damned  from their third semester altogether.

 Take for instance 125 students opting for Commerce as Discipline I. all of  whom opt for economics as Discipline II  in their third semester , which is when Discipline II courses are scheduled. If other students in college also ask for economics which is a popular subject, the  numbers can easily go up to 240 students. In this scenario, what can individual departments do? The Economics Department will have to run five sections. while other Departments will fall by the wayside as demand and supply chains meet.
 Alarmed  at this possibility, the Specially Empowered Group at DU handed every Principal a magic wand. " Go forth," they commanded, " Subject Options and availability are the prerogative of the college, and students will have the choice of complying with allotted courses."
 So with a wave of the magic wand student option forms were created.  Complementing the spirit of compulsory foundation courses, students were asked to fill up five  Discipline II options. in order  of preference.
 These were to be calibrated and then based on a merit list, some students would get their subject of choice, others would be miserable, but possibly no department would die out because down to the last unwilling student, each department would have the required minimum.
 While this will all be mathematically worked out, students need to pay attention to  the charade that is being staged before their very eyes. They need to understand that  no real choice has been made available to them at all.
  Earlier commerce graduates studied Economics as an integral part of their Honours course, FYUP has cheated them by making economics optional for them and by actually presenting Discipline II as rare  white goods that they have to stand  for in  lines since Economics will perforce be rationed to them
 The possibility of being a commerce graduate in four years with edited knowledge of  Commerce and none whatsoever  of economics  is very real. This is a pathetic prognosis for a program that promised "hands-on experience." The hands in question seem to be bent upon  wringing student futures.
 Imagine the state of the   student who does not get the  Discipline II Course  she\he opted for in the first place. They are for no fault of their own  in a course they do not want possibly for the second time.
 So by a clever  sleight of the hand and the wielding of the whip DU Administration continues to deny students the right to choose  the diluted courses they have set in motion, even in their second year at the university. This is very bad for student morale and remains a poor incentive to learning.
Bleaker truths will  continue to unfold for the poor FYUP ""guinea pigs". I mean no insult by this expression. This  term  was coined  to describe  freshmen\women by none other than the FYUP VC.
They were promised options of  two Discipline II Courses. This cannot happen since Discipline II courses have been graded semester wise  with ascending levels of specialization.
 Especially in the sciences a student studying  the first three units of one Discipline II course  in semester 3 4 and 5 and the last three units of another Discipline II Course in semester 6, 7 and 8 will be subject to  a  lopsided learning process. The shortage of rooms  and teaching staff will ensure  in all cases that no parallel classes can be run.
Those who will exit after semester four and semester six  remain of little significance  because according to DU administration these were after all  exit routes created to facilitate dropouts. We shall encounter  many muddled research paper writers  in the 7th and 8th semesters