Phase of Life at AIM (Part 1 out of 4 - Initial Struggle)

It was my first day at Hansraj Morarji Public School in the 5th Std; I remember just before recess this person enters our class and starts explaining about a Karate class which is going to be held after school; the positives of remaining fit, active,strong was explained and after about 15-20 minutes everyone is given a form to be shown to the parents. On reaching home that day I give the form to my mom and I forget about it and merrily go down to play; of course after explaining to my mom that I was not interested in joining any kind of class.

The next day after school I see my mom at the gate; she gives me a smile that I will never forget to this day and says to me 'I am about to change your life sonu; 10 years down the line you will thank me for doing this; of course today you are going to cry and curse me might I add!' Confused I start following my mom and she takes me to the school gymnasium, and to my extreme horror I see the karate classes being held there!

Before I continue....

My life, I was soft, I was protected, I followed my mom everywhere like her shadow, basically I was a "bacchha" , 'kaccha limbu' of sorts.

Ok I can continue now....

My mom without asking me enrolls me into the karate classes, and I cry like a baby!! The first day in my uniform White shirt and brown shorts I start doing the warm ups being shown by a senior ahead... punches are demonstrated... blocks are shown .... after 2 hours, the class finally end ...and after almost getting dehydrated due to litres and litres of tears flowing out my eyes and nose... I don't talk to my mom for the whole day...I throw away the 'Eclaires' she gives to cheer me up...and I cuddle up to my dad asking for freedom!

That very day my parents explain to me why learning Karate would help me...the next day I finally decide that I would continue and give it a try...

And my phase of life at AIM begins.......

(to be continued......)

**** I am writing my experience just to share how Jagdish Sir and AIM friends and family have helped me tremendously; and have played a major role in shaping up to what I am today****

IPL the IPL ------ (I Personally Like the Indian Premier League)

IPL the IPL (I Personally like the Indian Premier League)  2008--Novel, Good-------2009-->controversial, better----- 2010---> excellent, exposed. A wise person once said that if people start criticizing you; you are on a path to success. Sounds so true when compared to the resounding success of the Indian Premier League. Mr.Lalit Modi envisioned, shaped and moulded the new format of cricket in a smart way by combining Glamour,Business, Passion and garnishing it with pure unadulterated Power. Introduce IPL the format which gripped many many people, gave a chance to see a new combination of players playing for respective states of India, hence seeing 'micro patriotism' for their states. I have been following the IPL since the very first year and I have become a fan of the same. 3 hours of pure entertainment, millions tune into watching the game and quarreling with friends about who would win and why 'my team' is the best because of this particular player.

But IPL 3 which I feel is the best season amongst all; we get to hear in each and every news channel debating about the black money balloon, betting racket, irregularities in setting up franchises, a certain Minister favoring his girl friend, and also the commissioner more hungry for power and hugely inflated egos. Debates (more like high volume kids fighting to make points) on news channels asking why Lalit Modi is the biggest fraud, why the government fails to do anything about it, how players have stopped playing for their country and started making money, how attending late night parties etc. is affecting their performances. Yeah like they are robots who are expected not have lives and keep blowing sixes all the way and expected to win all the time.

The crux of the matter is that the IPL has managed to create the global brand, managed to grip millions and managed to give fresh entertainment to everyone. IPL has managed to bring a smile on marketeers face since it provides an excellent platform to establish a brand. IPL has also participated in many social causes and helped create awareness, raise money for the same. IPL has a done a lot of good and yeah in the process made loads and loads of money; nothing wrong about that actually. IPL has also and it happens to be the important of all ; shown quality cricket, exposed some brilliant and quality talent.

Yes irregularities exist and they must be investigated and things should be cleaned out, but that does not mean that the format and the idea of IPL should be corrupted and tainted. I am sure like me there will be million other people who would like to see the IPL reach newer and better heights, want the IPL to expose newer and better talent across the country, want better cricket being displayed by competitive franchises, want IPL to compete with other leagues of the world. IPL is a beautiful concept and it should continue because "IPL the IPL!!"

Right To Education Act

The other day I was watching a discussion on a certain news channel where Mr.Kapil Sibal was addressing the concerns on the Right to education act.

Before witnessing the discussion my opinion about the act was that it is a wonderful act which is a big step forward in a progressive yet orthodox (quite an oxymoron) country like India. But my judgement was based on certain generic assumptions and excitement of the right step taken forward.

During the course of the discussion on the show there were certain very true concerns and statistics that I came to know about. 220 million go to school, but a staggering 202 million do not go on to college level education every year. Out of the total schools in India 93% are government schools and the rest are private and majority of students going on to college level education come out from private schools. There are a total of 55 lakh teachers in India still there is a gap of 5 lakh teachers vacancy that need to be filled. The teacher student ratio in India stands 1:30 seems far fetched but true and if I am not mistaken the total figure for the implementation stands at 175,000 cr.

What do these statistics mean, it throws light on very real ground level problems. How will the ground level implementation happen, how will the act be deemed successful and how would we define this success. The question does not lie with the government alone but it lies with us.

The government particularly Mr.Sibal has done his major part of the job of implementing the wonderful initiative as a fundamental right, now in order to make use of this we do not have to look at them for more added support, it is us the society to shun the bias, shun the elitist thinking, shun the ego. and do the right thing come out in full support of the act and its successful implementation. Contribute, share, let us make sure that this is truly successfully implemented.

Concerns like quality of education provided by the teachers, methodology adopted by teachers and many more concerns like these are going to be addressed by the government. Concerns like the funding problems, concerns of parents protesting in schools silently to discourage under privileged children to be admitted to high profile schools, wide spread setting up of schools across the country with the proper infra structure should be the collective responsibility of the society at large.

In conclusion the possibility of this act being successful seems real. Because it is very well understood that we cannot afford not to make this possible and that is the bottom line.

"Education is not the answer to the question. Education is the means to the answer to all questions." -- William Allin