MyTake

Roughly around half a century back, Alvin Toffler was thinking and writing on how jobs, people, relationships and society shall change in the 21st century. Jack Ma might have barely started going to school by that time. During the World Economic Forum 2018 session, Jack Ma was talking about the future trend of work and sounding quite relevant when he was warning that automation would eat the kind of jobs that humans are doing today, so we need to have thinking shift and develop different kind of mindset. Ardent follower of Jack Ma, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the man behind Paytm, is the richest billionaire under the age of 40 in 2018 according to a recent report. These people reflect on the call of time as they could think much ahead of times when it comes to market. In this backdrop when we look at the environment today, we find existence of impermanence, dominance of technology, transient social values, changing work schedules, emergence of multitasking, generic work portfolios ...

The other day we were discussing among ourselves the motivation of students to study.  And some of the views of friends were really surprising. One of them said,  'these students are not really students, they are individuals, the class is a group of individuals, not really group of students'.  I thought let me think in my mind what ideally a student is. A student has a drive to learn new things, a student has urge to know more, a student has desire to excel, a student want to compete with others, a student raises questions, a student prepares and participates, a student engages him/herself in studies, etc etc. And then it struck to my mind, if a student is not doing either of this activity, one can not really call a student a student.   This is what gave me questions to raise and solutions to find for the problem that we, the teachers, are facing. Our experiences may not be generalised to all students at all geographies and I also wish that it is proved wro...

Knowledge is power said Francis Bacon. It is that strength for which others respect you, they listen to you, they consult you, they seek your advice, they believe you, they trust you. It is such a strong power. It was perhaps Michel Foucault who deliberated philosophically on the role and relationship between Power and Knowledge. He was of the view that power determines knowledge and it is powerful who take decision as to what should be considered as knowledge. There are different kinds of power and often it refers merely to positional power. Power that position gives you. If you leave that position you cease to enjoy that power. So the power is purely attached to a position. Such power dominates formal decisions as to what should be considered as knowledge, what information should be made public and what should be hidden from them. Concealing and revealing becomes the function of positional power. The flow of information is fully controlled. And as knowledge is created through or...

Saket District Court is going to announce the sentence to the accused in the GangRape case which happened on 16th Dec 2012 in Delhi. It led to numerous agitations at different locations in India which also included candle march at several places showing their solidarity for the cause of a strict and stringent law which could punish the accused with the capital punishment. The agitators demanded fast action from the court. Later the parliament passed a law which made provisions of punishing the accused with death penalty. That law is in action now. The question as to whether such laws would be able to control such heinous crimes in the times to follow keeps pondering over my head and I have a different take on this. We have several laws, many of them very strict. We have several institutions, very pious in nature, very committed to the cause of welfare of people of the republic of India. We have all kinds of bureaucrats and politicians who are involved in making laws as well as...

Today is teachers' day in India. On this day in 1888, Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan was born, who later became the President of India. He also occupied the office of Vice President of India apart from being the chancellor of University of Delhi before taking over as President of India. He was a great educationist, philosopher and statesman. Since 1962, this day is celebrated as Teachers Day in India. Teachers play very important role in the lives of people. They make or destroy generations. They shape or spoil the future of children. And this is a reason why their role further becomes more important. Some people become teachers on their own choice and for some teaching finds them. Some teach for livelihood and satisfy their daily needs out of the consideration that they get from their job. Just like any other job. Some make rules for themselves and at times they break rules for the cause of education and improving the well being of people. They are really regarded as great souls. I ...

Prof Man Mohan Singh, an economist turned politician and the prime minister of India while addressing the audience at the University of Mumbai on the occasion of its 150th anniversary mentioned - ‘Our university system is, in many parts, in a state of disrepair...almost two-third of our universities and 90 per cent of our colleges are rated as below average on quality parameters... I am concerned that in many states university appointments, including that of vice-chancellors, have been politicised and have become subject to caste and communal considerations, there are complaints of favouritism and corruption…We should free university appointments from unnecessary interventions on the part of governments and must promote autonomy and accountability. I urge states to pay greater attention to this aspect. After all, a dysfunctional education system can only produce dysfunctional future citizens!’  It is in these contexts that we need to have a re-look into the role of individual...

It was a great opportunity for me to attend this Conclave on Financial Inclusion, under the aegis of Meghalaya Basin Development Authority, Government of Meghalaya, Shillong. The beginning coincides with the beginning of the 12 th Five Year Plan of the Government of India and as was communicated it is coterminus as well.  Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) are the key players in helping and supporting the cause of financial inclusion.  Grameen Bank which was established in Bangladesh to help poor in improving their livelihood conditions has pioneered the movement of MFIs all across the globe.  SKS was a great success story for India, however its fate is not less known by its stakeholders as well as the patron of all, the government.  It is really nice to hear policy makers, bankers, MFI representatives etc who show their concern for poor and poverty through their talks and data support.  I shall like to vent my views on the issues discussed in the conc...