Learning Home

This was my 1^st visit to "learning home". What is this learning home? Ummm… should I call it a school? Nope! Is it an educational institute? Yes… but it still sounds a very big word… I would rather say that it is a small and beautiful homely world - just for children!

Many of us must have experienced in our school days when just for the purpose of some inspection or any minor visit, we all were requested or ( scolded?) to sit neatly, in perfect rows, according to height, and then unanimously say " good morning" or " namasteeeee"…

Gone is that ideology! Learning home has no such army rules. When I was little awkward to enter a group, one small boy said, "hi! Come! Sit here with me!". such a warm greet! Then I joined them. I played a small game with those 1^st and 2^nd standard students, listened to their stories, songs.

The first thing I noticed was the harmony among those students and also between them and their "taai" ( don't want to call her a teacher!). All were active participants and no one was left out. They were thoroughly enjoying each and every moment. Songs were interesting with lot of humor and acting in it. All were moving, dancing, jumping, and clapping according to their own wish. If anyone doesn't want to move so much, he was free to choose his own way of expression by all means! The whole environment was as fresh as those little champs!

After some time I moved to another group of 4^th standard students. All students were engrossed in writing some essay except one who welcomed me by his own style. " why are you here? Who are you? What is your name?" he fired with his AK- 47! I was little fumbled. Such an arrogant attitude! But before I could settle myself to give him a few answers, the same boy held my hand and said, " will you chat with me?".

His name was Rutu. Anyone can easily notice the difference between him and other children. He was sitting on a chair with few cut pieces of sponge. Rutu was unable to walk on his own or even sitting independently without support was not possible. He is a victim of "cerebral palsy". It occurs due to brain lesion in early years of life before myelination of the brain gets completed. Though he was not participating in classroom work, he was all with them! Everyone was taking his care. One small girl came and wiped his mouth. The other came and took all efforts to make him sit properly in a chair. Those small children were taking care that Rutu should never feel that he is not exactly like others, he has certain problems, limitations. If children of year say 7 or 8 can have such a high emotional quotient, why do grown ups not understand such small things? Do they think little more or not at all?? Don't know but " the little prince''(a book written by Antoine De Saint-Exupery) correctly says, " all grown-ups are like that"! I was taken aback by Rutu's knowledge about car. He was no less than any 4^th standard student in that class room except certain motor skills. Today, how many children with cerebral palsy go to the school? There are many such patients coming for physiotherapy treatment in our pediatric dept. Very less parents are enthusiastic about their child's education. This attitude is because of physical limitations. So even transport, compliance of the school teacher pose a problem. But here, Rutu was getting mixed up with all. He was happy and energetic! I remembered one incidence from "Tottochan"( a book written by Tetstuko Kuroyanagi) where the headmaster of "Tomoii" school took all efforts to get takahashi and yaasukichan ( both had certain physical limitations) their best physical abilities. Afterall what is school? It is the first exposure to the external world. Here we learn not just the syllabus but also different ways to tackle the problem, different ways to handle the situation, different styles of behaviors, does and don'ts in a particular situation, different angles of looking at life. So, how can we ignore children with physical limitations? Mixing with all types of people, acceptance of minute adjustments and a very positive approach towards self and life! Rutu, along with all his classmates are really becoming " good human beings" !! No need of special lecture on " moral education"!

In one corner one taai was making hard efforts to make student learn some mathematical concept. Giving her as much time needed, leading her towards correct definition, giving her hints, telling her the same concept in different ways and if still not understood asking her to think about it and come up with her own logic! That girl then came up with her own definition and logic. I would not say that it was illogical but atleast it was difficult to understand for taai and me! At the end taai was somewhat successful in coming up with an acceptable definition.

There were many charts, drawings attached to the wall. One chart captured my attention. The title was " when do I laugh and when do I cry?" Children had written wide variety of reasons. Such an easy technique of self analysis! Psychology lessons start here!

Then I met Prerana taai Walimbe who is the head of "Learning Home''. She gave a brief idea about the basic principles and philosophy of "Learning Home''. We all must be knowing Ramesh Panse who is an educationist. He runs an NGO called 'Gram-mangal'. learning home is one of the educational institutes run by Gram-mangal. Basic principle on which it runs is " brain based education" and " multiple intelligence theory". To say in brief, it is a cognitive learning process. It takes into account child's various skills and intelligence and tries to stimulate them by variety of techniques. It tries to achieve multidimensional growth of the child. It means educating the child according to his/her need. Afterall education is one of our basic needs. It is a food for our brain! Learning home does not follow SSC board syllabus blindly. But it definitely takes into account what all abilities are to be developed for each standard student. So, they work to develop 'Abilities….. '

Examination methodology is different from that of typical 'SSC board' type. It goes on checking the development of a particular ability. No terms called 'pass' and 'fail'. Detailed evaluation of each and every student is given to the parents. This is possible because of less number of students and personal interaction with each student and parents.

At the end, while coming down from the stairs, I got the last shock! Many students were sitting in a big circle around our state map deeply involved in finding something.. I said 'bye' to them and one smart girl asked me, " do you know the names of the rivers which flow through Nandurbar district?" I just smiled and then came out with a masked face! I had definitely understood the need of many more "learning homes"!

-Mukta Gundi

First attempt: What does Arun Deshpande do?

PART 1

What is Sustainability?
If we analyse our way of living we see that we need energy for fulfilling many of our needs. Everything that we do is driven by energy. Let us look at our most basic needs.

1. Food:
Energy of the sun is used by plants and through photosynthesis it is converted to certain carbon derivatives, which we can eat. If we pluck a fruit from a tree and eat it, we get some energy. It is nothing but solar energy in another form. Energy is required for our sustenance. However we do not always pluck fruits of the tree and eat it. Sometimes, we also eat Alphonso mangoes which reach us all the way from Ratnagiri. A lot of energy is required, for preservation of these fruits, transporting them all over the world etc. Thus much more energy is expended in post production work.

Where does this energy required for processes such as transport etc. come from? Today most of this energy comes from fossil fuels i.e. petrol, diesel etc. So, today our lifestyle is completely dependent on these fossil fuels. Our entire existence is possible only because of fossil fuels.

Can we keep living he way we are today (totally dependent on fossil fuels)? The answer is a clear NO because of 2 reasons that I can think of.

a. The fossil fuels are limited: Fossil fuels are formed by the decomposition of vegetation over millions of years. That means the fossil fuels we are using today took millions of years to form. Either we wait for a million more years before the next deposit of fossil fuel is formed or we find some way in which this cycle of millions of years be reduced to a sustainable time period.

b. They are environmentally hazardous: When does something become environmentally hazardous? Firstly it is poisonous the second reason is a little involved. I will need to elaborate.

If we observe things around us, everything in nature is cyclic. Elements such as carbon, nitrogen etc. flow through a cycle. Let us take the example of carbon. Its present in the air as Carbon dioxide. Plants take in the carbon dioxide and convert it to carbohydrates. When we consume plants, we get carbohydrates which when oxidized, release energy and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide returns to the air and the cycle completes. If we break this cycle, then we will not be able to sustain.

Life depends on the flow of energy and materials. If we break this flow, life cannot sustain. Our Current life is not sustainable.

With this background, we need to ask the question, are we living a life which is sustainable? If not, then what should be done to make it sustainable.

There could be a hundred ways to make our lives sustainable. It is necessary that we start thinking in that direction. Arun Deshpande has done just that. He has also started implementing some of his ideas.

The project at Ankoli is a step towards establishing a model of life which is sustainable.



PART 2
As I am wondering about sustainability and writing about a new lifestyle altogether, I feel that people who wrote the Ten Commandments or the religious books must have gone through a similar exercise. It is exactly like setting up a code of living for which I believe the religious books were written. The difference is that the codes that we are about to set will have to displace the existing lifestyle. This makes it all the more challenging. Arun kaka has taken up that challenge!!

As I understood, he is not just trying to develop a sustainable model, but also fighting against the prevailing lifestyle. The idea is of a 'Rurban Lifestyle'. The motivation is that urban and rural lifestyles, each have their own shortcomings. Let us develop a lifestyle which eliminates the shortcomings of both these and is sustainable. Just to name a few, the shortcomings of the cities are that they consume much more that they produce, they are environmentally hazardous. Simply put they are extremely unsustainable. On the other hand, the current village system has its own shortcoming, such as lack of education, social problems (caste, andhashraddha etc).

Another very interesting thing to keep a note of is that many conclusions that we will draw will be in line with Gandhi's philosophy. I have not done an in depth study of Gandhi's philosophy but the little that I know has a lot of similarity. Also what was the motivation behind Gandhi's philosophy is not know to me but our motivation is sustainability. I would like to treat this similarity as a coincidence at this point. :))

First I will write about those things which I understood well

1. Water: A very important requirement. For water Arun kaka has developed the project of Water Bank. As the name suggests it is a place where you store water. Keep all the excess water that you have. What ever water comes in the form of rain is stored in the water bank. The water bank is designed depending on the no. of people it is made for. It is lined with a plastic sheet, so that water does not percolate. (Yes it is different from Pani Adwa, Pani Jirwa). On the contrary water is pumped out from the wells and stored in the water bank. A particular chemical is put on the water which minimises the evaporation of water. This water is then used for the farming as well as domestic needs.

2. Housing: Arun Kaka has developed fantastic dome structures which can be made out of bamboo. They are also called geodesic domes. They are very strong structures and are environmentally friendly. The best part is that we can build our house on our own in one day :)))). So Housing is a solved problem.

Now some of the things that I am still unsure about.
3. Food: Hmmm.... We need to grow what we need. Or all that we need must be grown in our Panch Kroshi. This needs more elaboration. Ankoli junta, help me out with this.

4. Other Needs: This is where the real challenge is. How does one's needs such as education, health etc. get satisfied. Actually this aspect puts me to think about another very fundamental thing in today's world. That is MONEY. What I am thinking about is that if all people start living like that, what will be the source of money?? Basically what will be the medium of exchange. I am actually stuck here, because in this kind of lifestyle i don't see any occupation or dhanda which will fetch me money.I have reached a very dreamy conclusion, that the new medium of exchange will be energy.

**I really need to understand this MONEY thing.
Well this much for now. More in a few days as I myself build a little clarity. Those who visited ankoli please add to what ive written.

-priyadarshan

Khuda Ke Liye

The first emotion I experienced after seeing the movie was of extreme relief. When some long standing conflict that you are facing suddenly gets resolved, a heavy burden you are carrying suddenly gets released, the air you breathe suddenly fills your lungs completely without being obstructed in any way... Thats how I felt and am still feeling as I write. Conflict, violence, wars on the basis of religion, the current religious intolerance around the world has worried me for a long time now. I was unable to find a solution to this, because I felt that the problem was in the fundamentals of the religions. That two religions cannot coexist was a fundamental truth and that was what was written in the texts of the religions. But I was WRONG. The movie made me realize this which is why the relief :))

Varied Interpretations

Many religions today rely on texts. What is written in the texts is believed to be the truth. But is it possible to put truth, 'satya' into words? Can words capture the truth and convey its completeness? This is the risk we run when we write about higher concepts, and which is where the scope for interpretation enters. How true it is when they say 'to read between the lines'!! A set of words can be extrapolated in so many ways!! What needs to be done is to bring out peaceful interpretations, tolerant interpretations. This is exactly what 'Khuda Ke Liye' does. An interpretation which is as powerful, if not more to the fundamentalist interpretations of Islam which are in vogue today.

The solution to the problem of inter religious conflicts lies in the study of religious texts not just by people who follow the particular religion but by people who follow other religions as well. Not just by men but by women also. By rich, poor, young, old; all people. Let all these interpretations come out and from them, form the power of collective wisdom, let the truth emerge!!


Nasseruddin Shah

Waah!! What a performer! I wonder how the process must have been when he was delivering his dialogs in the court scene. I would have really liked to witness how he practiced his dialogs and how the path to perfection was!! This movie has done some fundamental research of Islam without which this last court scene which is the essence of this movie is not possible. My respects to the director (Shoaib Mansoor) and the researcher for bringing this interpretation and to Nasseruddin Shah for his capacity to carry off such a powerful message.

Summary

The movie has described how the world views Islam and how there is diversity in how Muslims themselves view Islam. It is necessary that people such as the one represented by Nasseruddin Shah speak up and bring to the open their interpretations and understandings. Its necessary for us all to understand each other and to do so understand each others beliefs too. Otherwise its just not possible to understand why a person thinks or acts in a particular way.

A must watch!!

-Priyadarshan

The Reply and the Learning

This is a follow up to the article that I wrote about How to file and RTI. You can read it here!! I got the reply to the RTI application that I had filed. Mr. Joglekar who gave me the relevant documents was a very friendly person and was the first Public Information Officer for IIT when the RTI Act was passed. He explained to me how an organization can be proactive and make as much information public so the the need for filing for information does not remain. For example IIT can maintain a website where all the developmental activities that it is doing can be put up for people to read.

Reply Summary

About 250 trees have been felled at various locations across IIT. The purpose of felling of these trees is for new constructions such as hostel extension, new department, convention centre etc. What is interesting to note is that if we have to cut a tree then we have to inform the Tree Authority of BMC first, then they survey the area and mark the trees that need to be cut. Only after that can the trees be cut. Also for every tree that is cut, two new saplings need to be planted and a deposit of the order of Rs. 5000 per tree is to be kept with the BMC. A regular update of survival of these trees is to be given to the Corporation and after a period of three years, if the survival rate is found adequate, the deposit is returned. This was some of the factual information.

Whether any alternate solution was studied, the reply plainly says that no alternate solution was found.

This is the section which used to be completely covered with trees

Insight

This experience brought up so many points that I wouldn't have learnt otherwise.

• Functioning of a government machinery

The government machinery has a clear hierarchy in its functioning. If we want that something be done in a different way, we have to make sure that we are heard by the most upstream person in the decision making. For example, in case of the cutting of trees, it is the Dean of Planning activities in IIT who takes these decisions. The Horticulture department will execute the orders given by the Dean. They are not directly responsible for taking any decisions.

• With not Against

Many a times certain things have to be done. For example, the capacity of students in IIT needs to be increased. Now its the responsibility of the Dean to fulfill this requirement. The Dean has no other option but to build new buildings which means cut more trees. So its necessary to have communication with Deans without which it would be unfair to assume that the decision makers are not concerned about the environment. It would be more fruitful if we can convince the Dean and work with him.

• Development Vs Environment?
  

The classic question!! A difficult answer. If we want to stop certain developmental activity because we feel it is harming the environment, we must have an alternate solution ready. Otherwise our argument has not strength. But, will there always be an alternate solution? Maybe not.. And then what do we do?

• Politics? hmmm....
  

With this one act of filing for information, I realized the power of being in a position of power. What if the Dean was a proactive person really concerned about environment. What if he put efforts to study the campus, demarcate areas which will be maintained green, develop a proposal which will study how much expansion is possible in the campus, make sure all new buildings coming up are built taking into account energy efficiency.

More importantly what if I was the Dean? Why do I not want to be in a position of power, if that is the best possible position to be in to make a difference? I don't have the conviction to answer this question.

• One small step by thousands of people?
  

This brings me to a borrowed dream seen by many people in the past!! How will an individual be the change agent. How will every person stand up for the environment. But even before I start so many obstacles come in. Poverty, caste issues, religion, violence, population... and then when all of these are solved, we can start thinking about environment. Very true, sitting in my room in front of a laptop its very easy to lament about the state of the environment because I don't have to struggle for food everyday. Really, this world is complex and necessarily exploitative in nature. One can survive only at the expense of the other.

Its so difficult to find meaning to life, ain't it?

-Priyadarshan

Animal Farm

Comrades,

I finished "Animal Farm" by George Orwell in this week. I had read it in my childhood and had also seen the movie, but probably understood the novella in its truest sense this time.A fantastic book and a MUST READ for everyone.

The book is a satire of the Bolshevik revolution that took place in Soviet Russia in 1917 and the events that then folded up. A farm called Manor Farm owned by some Mr. Jones (Tsar of Russia) has many animals who are living in misery and suffering under the monarchy of Mr. Jones. An elderly boar on the farm, the Old Major (resembles Marx as well as Lenin) gives a passionate speech and incites the animals to fight for their freedom. As a result, the "Rebellion" takes place and Jones is driven out of the farm. Two pigs Snowball (Trotsky) and Napoleon (Stalin) then unite and lead the other animals. In the course of time, the rivalry and power struggle between these two increases and finally Napoleon captures the power. How does then the beautiful dream of Freedom, Self-governance, Equality and Happiness crashes is better to be read actually from the book than from me. The torment of the Proletariat (the lowest class of citizens) really astounds us. A glimpse of this can be seen from how the commandments that the animal originally decide for themselves are changed to suit the dictatorship of Napoleon.

The Original Seven Commandments

1. Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

2. Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend.

3. No animal shall wear clothes.

4. No animal shall sleep in a bed.

5. No animal shall drink alcohol.

6. No animal shall kill any other animal.

7. All animals are equal.

Written originally by Snowball, the Seven Commandments were the "unalterable" principles of 'Animalism'. Since not all of the animals can remember them (or read them), they are boiled down into one basic statement: 'Four legs good, two legs bad!' (with wings counting as legs for this purpose).

All of the Seven Commandments are eventually broken by Napoleon and his pigs for their own personal gain. Squealer (Napoleon's media manager) constantly changes the Commandments to the pigs' benefit, taking advantage of the other animals. For example:

• No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets
• No animal shall drink alcohol to excess
• No animal shall kill any other animal without cause
• All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

In the end, the pigs learn to stand on two legs and regard the four-legged populace as inferiors. They start to wear Mr. Jones' clothes, sleep in beds and drink alcohol. They brutally order the killings of all of the confessing animals who try to oppose the despotism (who are forced to confess to crimes they did not commit)

The Commandments' summation "Four legs good, two legs bad!" is changed to 'Four legs good, two legs better!' as the pigs become more human. Finally they start dealings with those humans whom the animals have been hating all through the course of their revolution. (Socialism kneeling in front of Capitalism may be)

I will definitely say that the allegory is extremely subtle and just too good. Reading the document attached with this mail will give you a detailed overview of the book as well as the real life significance of characters in the story which is very interesting.

I will definitely like to discuss various issues that are raised in the book. Anyone interested, please communicate.

In the end, a must read. Just go for it!!

- Amrut

How to file an RTI? How I filed an RTI

Currently I am in the process of filing an RTI. I filed for information on 28th Jan. 08. So I should be getting the information latest by 28th Feb 08. That means work is still under progress. As soon as I get the information, I will write another blog on it.

I am the power….

Being a student at IIT for the last 4 years now there have been many occasions where the topic of ‘The authority’ came up. The authority was something that we (student population) just addressed mails to :).. I wonder whether they even read those mails. Besides they were not required to respond to emails. How could I get to know what decisions are being made which are going to affect me and the environment around me? How can I keep a watch on whether things are going on well or not? Thats where RTI starts making a lot of sense.

The basic motivation for doing this is the idea of a change maker. The idea goes something like this.

Do I see something around me that I feel should not happen…. Is there something around me that I would like to change?.... then what am I waiting for…. Wake up and do something about it.

Why RTI?

Around mid of January, many trees were cut behind my hostel. A large part of the IIT campus has good tree cover and these are forest kind of trees. There was just news in the air that a new hostel wing is going to be constructed. However there was no official information transfer to the students about it. Since I do not hold any institute post such as General Secretary I am not in direct contact with people who are responsible for activities such as planning, construction. So I did not have direct access to the correct information. So this was where an act like the RTI is of relevance.

• Correct, official, reproducible information

Using the RTI I can get the correct information from the official sources. It is the purest version of the information. This information has value because it is in written form and it can be reproduced wherever required.

When I filed for information, through many discussions with friends a point came up that why am I filing for information in this way? Why don’t I just ask our hostel General Secretary, if he does not know then the Hall Manager, further the warden and so on. What I feel is that all these people may have the information but it could be in diluted form. Besides they might not have the correct facts for e.g. the exact number of trees felled. Also none of these downstream people are responsible for the activities and will not give me in writing.

• Not the last option, its the first option

RTI is not the last option. It is not something we resort to if all other options of talking with relevant authority fail then we file for RTI. It is the first and the easiest option to get information. I feel this paradigm shift is essential so that we will rid ourselves from the fear of filing an RTI.

Process

What came as a big surprise to me was that the process was one of the simplest things I have ever done in life. From the IIT Bombay website, I had already found out who the Public Information Officer in IIT is. Besides the application is addressed to the Information Officer. Its not necessary to know who exactly that person is. All I did was wrote the following letter.

APPLICATION UNDER RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 2005

To,

Respected Information Officer,

IIT Bombay,

Powai, Mumbai, 400076.

1 Name of Applicant: Priyadarshan Sahasrabuddhe

2 Address: Room No. C309, Hostel 13, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076.

3 Required Information and it nature in question form:

1. How many trees have been felled as on 28^th Jan 08 and what are their locations?

2. How many more trees are going to be felled in next 1 year?

3. What is the purpose of felling of these trees at the different locations?

4. Is their any plan for planting more trees to compensate for the felling. If yes, where, when? Who is responsible for this? Is any money allocated for this? What type of trees are going to be planted?

5. For the buildings that are being constructed in these places, what steps are taken to make them energy efficient, environment friendly?

6. Who is designing these buildings?

7. Was any alternate solution discussed which would not require felling of trees? If yes, why was that solution not implemented?

8. Has any committee been formed for the above activities? How many members are there and what are their names?

9. Which department is responsible for looking after the trees in IIT Bombay?

10. Whose permission needs to be taken, before felling of trees in IIT Bombay?

11. What is done to the wood after these trees are felled?

12. Give details of the name of officers who have been appointed as information officers and appellant officer as per RTI Act in IIT Bombay.

13. Is there any separate ministerial body under Human Resource Department, which governs IITs? If yes give details.

4 I would like to collect the information in person am I am ready to pay charges for Photocopies of relevant documents, if such information is in documentary form.

Place: Mumbai

Date:

Signature of Applicant

Went to the office, asked whom to give the application to and went and gave it. The lady at the table wrote a receipt of 10 Rupees which I paid in cash which is a fee for the process. I had a copy of the application on which she wrote Original Copy and signed it. That’s it!!!!

So all you people out there who feel that filing an RTI will require some complicated forms or help from a lawyer (I had the same impression) etc. that is not the case. Its one of the easiest things to do and anyone of us can do it.

Finally information is our ‘RIGHT’. RTI has empowered us immensely. Who ever thought of this Act was a real genius. If all of us exercised this right, I feel many things around will start changing for the better.

Thanks to Panta (Amit Raut) and Kunal (Surdees friend) for for helping me out and lets see what results out of this !!

For a follow up of the response click here!!

-Priyadarshan

Welcome!!!

So this is the first entry on the blog... We will put one new blog every week.However to kick off the blog, lets put at least 5 articles. After that it can be weekly updated.

-priyadarshan