Basking in past Glory - Part # 2

.....continuation of part 1

If a cricket player visits a salon, he is traced by the TV News channels, if he sacrifices (read – kill) a goat he is traced (surprising that this cricketer is not yet arrested by PETA), if he dates a girl this is tracked, and the only places where a cricketer is not tracked is perhaps his visit to bedroom, bathroom or toilet!

These bring him more money in advts. Cricketers are provided with farm-houses on hill-stations even if they lose not to mention the money they mint in every match they play. While the cricketers sail on Mercs, pity other sports person straddle on local trains. Cricketers were given a juloos yatra for winning 20-20 but Anand was not even given a welcome by Indian Govt when he came to India after winning the World Title.

When a cricketer gets so much of attention why on the earth one should choose a career other than this? How many sports channel had covered hockey matches as they covered cricket? Can an average Indian recognize any of the hockey players who played for India? What is the contribution of these news channels to this who simply flays those hockey players?

All of the media cry shame of this defeat. Did they ever ponder what made this serious fall of one-time-glory? The present day team is full of youth players. They need motivation and not de-moralization. However, our media chose the other way! If a cricketer fails, detailed analysis is done on every news channel but they chose to ridicule when the same happens to hockey players.

The so-called King Khan, who was glorified by the media as the savior of Indian hockey (just for the reason he played the role of a coach in a fantasy-movie), is being asked about the India’s failure? What a stupidity? How can he answer this? In what way he is related to this? He has taken his share of money for the role he played. His relation with hockey has ended there. Now he is busy auctioning cricketers for IPL. Let him do his earning.

The media was stupid to term him as savior of hockey and now they flay these pity players. Simply by declaring this sport as national one does not make it excel in itself. We need a road-map for the improvement of our performance in hockey.

• Stop Basking in the past glory!
• Play to your strengths. Hone the skills of wrist game.
• Learn new skills. This starts from the grounds. Invite sponsors for building turf grounds.
• Government should allow sops for sponsors or pump in funds to their share.
• Identify those kids who show interest and skills in hockey.
• Conduct tournaments for Under 13, Under 15, Under 18 and Under 21.
• Do not limit tournaments to schools. (read – not only urban schools. Include rural ones)
• Priority to Meritocracy!
• No officials for IHF. Only past players can be officials. Limit their numbers from 1 to 3.
• Government should not target profit while telecasting hockey matches.
• Screen Chak De repeatedly. Not as entertainment but as lesson.
• Learn the lessons: India first, no place is granted, importance to meritocracy, Discipline, team-work, no individual is important etc.,
• Invite coaches from Europe (as to learn the tricks of turfs and their new defense style)

It is the high time we stopped basking in the past glory. Only aged people keep thinking of their past. Younger one never does as they do not have a past. They think ahead of future. India may be old but it does not mean we have to keep thinking of the past and let go slip the present and future from us.

If an aged guy learns to look ahead of future (beyond death), he is claimed as Sadhu. Similarly, India should now stop looking at its past. Think ahead! Turn the age as our strong point. Let us learn to be a Sadhu by thinking far ahead.

Peer Pressure on Indian Kids Part 2

Even my son is having SLD (Specific Learning Disorder). He is diagnosed as hyper-active kid with IQ level more than his age but he has the problems with phonetic (spelling mistakes) and vowels. Indian Government has schemes to identify such students and provide them training however seldom does all the school do this because there are not specialists! Here again, teaching is not a money-minting profession and none of us wants to pursue this career.

However, does the blame lie only with the parents? What is the contribution of the society to this problem? In all fairness, what drives the parents or even teachers to behave so?

Shall we say it is our education system? Whether we like it or not, one’s survival, more so in the middle-class people of India, is banking on the education credentials. During my school days, getting a bachelor degree is enough. However, with educational institutions mushrooming all around, we are getting graduates likes onions and potatoes in the market.

Result? One has to have a professional degree if you have to have an edge. Even that has become more common. We can find BEs, MBAs, CAs, ICWAs spread all over. As the supply-demand gap reduces, so is the price. An Art or a Science or a commerce graduate can only dream of a clerical career and nothing more than that.

Even these degrees do not reflect the Intelligence of the student. It is only the memory capacity of the student decides the numbers and these numbers decide the intelligence level. Are we measuring the right aptitude of the students? Many a times, students simply memorize the words without even understanding what they are reading. I used to interview candidates for my company and most of the times I found the knowledge levels have no relation to the marks one scores! Still, we go by the paper and not by the skills.

I have seen kids who do not know how to multiply numbers are manning automobile repair shops. Will the middle-class parents allow their kids to learn this technique? Unfortunately, in India, Vocational training has no meaning. Every one of us has a unique talent that is inherited. If we pursue that, we could have made our living irrespective of our educational credentials. However, in India, this is not encouraged stating caste reasons! It is another fact that now precisely this is happening around (like actors’ heir adapting this profession, so does politicians, doctors etc.,)

Let me not grope in to the issue of Reservation that throws one more spoke on the wheels of Indian education system. In the name of encouraging downtrodden people, meritocracy is thrown in the air. The system neither helped those who really deserved it nor those who has merit.

In nutshell, Indian education system is broad based but not core-competent based. Perhaps, the following story might explain you this better.

continued in 3rd part.....