Brain Vs Heart

The Brain vs Heart is an age-old debate, yet to have any definite and final conclusions. When one is having any problem, one is often advised to follow one’s heart. But the mute point I want to raise here is: What is it to think with brain and to think with heart? Should we give free reign to our heart while deciding some of the most important decisions of our life?

Most people believe that those who think with their brain or mind are more often than not calculating or shrewd people, devoid of any feeling or sensitivity towards others. In contrast people who think with heart are supposed to be merciful and benevolent, devoid of any malevolent intentions towards any one. If we think deeply, we would realise how far we are from the truth vis-à-vis taking recourse to the brain and the heart.  In fact when one thinks of any issue with heart, one is bound to ignore some of the most important facts thereof. And here lies the danger. Ignoring some vital facts may be convenient for the present purpose but it may prove highly dangerous in the long term.

On the other hand, taking help of the brain or mind while tackling any problems help us see the problem in totality and think straight. Thinking with heart often hinders our capacity to reason. We feel like everything in the garden is rosy. The most important decisions of our life are not made with heart and heart alone. They are made with the brain. It doesn’t mean heart is not important at all. But one has to be cautious while taking recourse to the heart. Thinking with heart sometimes makes us do stupid things which not only harm our life but also the lives of the people whom we want to see happy.

In a nutshell, I can say that while there can be no denial of the role that heart plays in our life, what makes life hassle free and worth-living is the application of our ability to think clearly and that comes from the brain. It always pays to heed what our brain has to say on any given situation of our life. 

English teachers and role of text-books and classroom activities

I have been teaching English for the last eighteen years and the question that has always puzzled me all these years is: Why, after learning English for so many years, do our students find it difficult to deal with the English language?  When it comes to expressing their ideas in English whether in writing or while conversing, they cut a sorry figure. How can this happen? In my opinion the answer lies with the kind of the syllabus we design for the learners. Long ago one my colleagues asked me what kind of reforms I wished in English subject text-books. I had replied the text-book which has less content is the best for the teacher and for the student as well. After all these years in English teaching I have realised that prescribed text-books, rather than proving helpful to the teacher, become a stumbling block to him. What is the role of a teacher? The role of a teacher is to make sure that his students learn the subject he is teaching and master it to a satisfactory level. But what is happening in the classrooms is completely distressing. We see English teachers busy teaching the units included in the text-books. Their primary worry is to complete the course! It is natural he diverts from his original role despite his strong desire to fulfil that role honestly. And what happens to the learners? They are tired memorizing the question-answers for the three-hour exams. Where is the romance of teaching and learning in this scenario?

Why is English or, for that matter, any language is taught in schools? What is the purpose? The purpose is to make the students competent enough to express their ideas at whatever forum which maybe an ordinary day-to-day conversation or appearing in the interview or delivering a speech at a particular occasion. But are they competent enough at the end of their schooling? English medium students have the edge over those studying in regional language medium schools because they have studied all subjects in English and have good command over vocabulary. It is often seen that the students coming from English medium schools adjust themselves without much problem to English medium colleges while those who took their education through regional language medium find it much more hellish adjusting to English medium colleges although initially. As the subject of this article is not the medium of education, I would not dwell much on that. Having said that I would like to add that parents who want their children to command a good mastery over English language, need not take this which-medium-is better- for-my-kid question too seriously.  Psychologically, it is proved that the use of mother tongue in schools makes the learning easier for the child at primary level. It also enhances cognitive growth.

While discussing the role of a teacher, Gandhiji, in his autobiography ‘The Story of My Experiment with Truth’, has noted that the teacher himself is a text-book. He believes that when text-books become mandatory ‘the living word of the teacher has very little value. A teacher who teaches from text-books does not impart originality to his pupils’. English or any language as a subject is quite different from other subjects taught in schools. While designing the course for any language, it is vastly important to keep in mind its utilitarian aspect. More so when it is English language which is completely different from Indian languages. A glance at our textbooks is enough to see that there is no leeway for the teacher’s role. He becomes just a pawn, always worrying about finishing the course before the due dates given to him. Now there may be times when the teacher wants to teach his students about a particular aspect of a language, but where is the time for that? As for the students, they are following what their teachers are teaching in the class. If they are supposed to memorise the questions-answers, they would happily or unhappily do it. They want to pass the exams with flying colours after all. This is a rut we teachers and our students have got into.

How does, then, an ideal English language classroom look like? In an ideal classroom a teacher should be given a leeway to conduct a class in the manner he wants. There should be less outside constraints on him. It is he who has to decide what his students would be learning and how. Once all these constraints are removed the teacher will feel the freedom and boost his confidence. He will have space to make new experiments with his students. He doesn’t need costly equipments to do these experiments, but he has at least a TV, a tape recorder and a DVD at his disposal. Classes would be more interactive because they would be filled with a lot of fun-loving activities where students will feel the warmth of the language. They will be aware of the utilitarian aspect of the language. Of course, the teacher will have to be more and more ingenious to make this possible. He will have to come out of the rut and take recourse to all types of material that can be helpful to him to make his class interesting and fruitful to the students. There are enough books available in the market that can help our English teachers to do so. Besides, there are regular training provided by different state-level teacher training agencies. The MHRD is also doing a lot to provide training to English teachers.   

As said earlier the role of a teacher is very important. We need talented teachers who are fully aware of how a language should be taught. Considering the dearth of such teachers it is important to make organise fruitful training programmes for them. During my short stint as a resource person (RP) for District Centre for English (DCE), Rajkot (Gujarat), I had opportunity to train English teachers of my district. While I did come across some brilliant teachers, there were may who themselves were poor English users. I wondered what would they be teaching to their students inside the classrooms if they themselves can’t speak English properly? Grammar was their strong point, but grammar isn’t the be-all and end-all of English language teaching (though none can deny its important). Grammar is just one aspect of learning English. If you master it, fine but other aspects should also be emphasised like pronunciation, vocabulary(graded according to the level), listening (songs, stories, interviews, serials, news, movies speeches, group discussions) reading (stories, essays, articles), speaking (simulations and role-plays, mock interviews, debates)  and writing (essays, articles, stories, songs, drama scripts). Such teachers should realise that it is the time they pulled up their socks and do some worthwhile with their students. Considering the teaching-aides in the form of CDs, games etc available in the market now, it doesn’t seem impossible to do. What we need is just will to do better.

When I think of an English teacher, I think of a teacher who knows his subject well and has complete plan on how to teach his subject to his students. I never doubt his capabilities. If he lacks the capabilities, I hope he will master it sooner or later. All I want for our teachers is freedom from the textbooks, partial if not complete. I have no doubt that given a chance to teach the language on his own terms, he would bring a sea change in their students covering all the aspects mentioned above. The only thing needed is teacher-friendly textbooks which allow a leeway to the teacher and give him freedom to follow his own course. And I am sure he would do wonder with the students.

Guests at Home

The other day while I was working on my pc in my room upstairs, I found that the dust-bin had been knocked down and all the rubbish was scattered on the floor. A bit surprised as no one except me visits this study-room, I put the rubbish back into the dust bin. The next day I noticed the same thing. The rubbish was scattered everywhere. Surely someone rummaged through the dustbin in my absence in search of something, I concluded. But who could do that? It didn't seem to be the handiwork of a rat. It was beyond his capacity to knock down the dustbin. It had to be something bigger. I searched the room to find the culprit but could find nothing.

The next day the same thing happened for the third time. I was forced to don the garb of Sherlock Holmes and search the room following some of his observation tactics described in his stories. This time the culprit had left the clue. And the clue was the poop of the cat, awfully smelly of course. I started searching for the cat and instead found three kittens in a corner. How pretty and cute they were! They looked like cubs (Sinhbal). They got frightened the moment they saw me. Two started running away from me. One hid itself in the corner behind the door. When I opened the door, it snuggled in the corner and closed its eyes as if I won't be able to see him if it closed its eyes! The other took stairs but fell down half the way, not being used to stairs. I wanted to get rid of them but this fear and flurry aroused pity in me. I made a way for the kitten that had fallen down on the stairs but it could not climb up. It was too small and weak to learn that. At last I had to pick it up in order to put him amidst its siblings.

When my mom came to know about them, her first reaction was: "We can't keep them up there or anywhere else in the house. You know, the entire house will be smelly with their poop and who will keep cleaning up all the time?" She opened the gate to drive them away with their mother. We saw two dogs outside. I said, "See, these dogs are ready to pounce upon them if we drive them out at this time. And the kittens are so small that they won't be able to run to save themselves." Thus, the kittens were allowed to stay till they are old enough to fend for themselves. In the meantime I enjoy their company and increase my knowledge on "Catology". After nearly a month, both the mother cat and kittens have put their faith in me. Now they don't run away from me as they did on our first meeting.

What I really enjoy is their behaviour. How they see things, what they do all day, how the mother cat cares for her young ones and how she trains them at night. Once they awoke me at 3 am by jumping on my bed during one such training session. When I give them something to eat, the cat would allow the kittens to eat and would just stand by them so that they can have the food without any fear. It is always mother that can take the real care of the young ones. Why? Maybe because for a mother, the young one is a part of her body literally, wherein the father has played a very minor role. Perhaps that's why it's said that God made mothers because he cannot remain present everywhere and every time.

With Dear Students

A click by a colleague

My Spoken English Class

Dr Singh said that

I collected around 40 quotes by Dr. A K Singh during my two years of MA. I used to jot down any statement by Dr Singh that appealed me in my notebook.Enjoy.


1)"I don't do anything puposelessly."

2)"Life is very simple..Our problem is that we make it complicated.
who said it?...Buddha..."

3)"Our department does not produce mediocres...It produces either fully sane individuals or fully insane."

4) “My problem is that my students take me seriously when I am light”

5) “ A good student must be like a monkey. Am I right? Have you ever observed the way a monkey eats?”

6) “ Poetry is ‘thought and art in one’ I didn’t say it. Who said it?...It was idiot Matthew Arnold”

7) “Philosophers and mathematicians also fall in love…!...see the irony….Kant lost one world but for him another world was still there. You see, that was the difference …the difference between Kant and those idiots.”

8) “Tell me if I am boring you. I am doing the most sinful thing by doing so.”

9) “ If they(Refering to students who have bunked the class) are not doing more creative work outside then they should waste their time inside the class-room…instead of roaming on the campus…”

10) “ Criticism is very systematic. Once you go through it, then there is no problem”

11) “ Kids become very busy when their parents start talking about throwing old baggage.”

12) “ All these _isms( referring to Socialism, Communism etc) have short life. If the writer thinks of them while writing a book then it may create problem.”

13) “ We (Indians) are masters of duplicates.”

14) Every book has at least something for us to add.”

15. “ Is this point clear to you or you just nod your heads because you are tired and want to get rid of this point?”

16) “ My professor used to say if you don’t agree with the author, you should read the book again.”

17) “ Not understood? ….Confused?... Very good. Now let us understand Wordsworth bt making him complicated.”

18) “ If you want to do something in everything, you will end up with nothing, but if you wish to do something in onething, you can do anything.”

19) “ Today I feel mentally tired…tired and not retarted…!”
"
20) "These swamijis and priests can afford living on fruits. We can't."

21) "In western, people take side honestly, they are less hypocritical. We tend to live pragmatically."

22) "If you want to understand life, Buddha will help you. Nobody else."

23) "Roderigo was an utter fool, and all those who are in onesided love-affairs are fools"

24) "He(pointing to a student) is always mentally absent in the class...personally I don't dislike it,but do something creative while being absent the class-room"

25) "The problem with me(while learning computer basics) is that when the computer doesn't obey my command, I feel like breaking it."

26) "Things cannot be simpler than this. Many have commited suicide while learning Structuralism and Post-structuralism and many have done the samething while teaching it."

27) "How igoistical these people(Nehru, Jinnah...etc) were to serve the country! It is pity that
after indipendence the reign of our country fell in the hands of such people instead of the people like Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Shingh,..Had it been so, the histo ry of India would have been diffent. But we can't do anything except discussing and making guesses."

28) " The problem is that you(students)don't read original essays(novels, poems etc)...and after all why you should read originals when your servants(guide wrriters..Raja Rao etc) are reading and explaining them to you"

29) "The paraphrase will always be at right side in your guides, as in life wrong things are always at right side."

30) "Don't look at my face. You will find ambiguity there all the time."

31) " You forget so early, so old things seem new."

32) "Whatever you are confused for, ask me. Don't remain confused."

33) " We should not complete 'Preface to Shakespeare' in just one day because if we did so, Dr Johnson will be angry with us."

34) "Whatever you do after MA is additional."


34) "(Pointing to medals on the cup-board in his chamber) These medals, you see, are not mine. One of my former students gave them to me to keep...Otherwise I have never won anything in life."