Incredible India Ad..

I saw this ad for the first time yesterday on Sun TV. The voice-over for Aamir in Tamil is pretty awful but I liked the content of the ad a lot. If our celebrities put their star-power to use for causes like these, it does go a long way...

Vices and People..

Some of the most entertaining and likeable people I know smoke and drink. Interestingly, all of them are men. They belong to different generations and some of them have quite a number of other vices as well -- women, gambling etc.. But they're charming rascals all the same! A lot of my strait-laced friends are quite interesting in their own way. But they lack that dare-devil, happy-go-lucky, crowd-pleasing charm of the former category.

Do entertaining/interesting people have vices because they're very open to new experiences and sometimes, these new experiences turn out to be addictive? Or does having vices generally gives you a certain perspective about human life that you become extremely tolerant and well-loved by other people?

Spare the rod and join anger management..

This child died because a teacher decided to punish her for not knowing the alphabet properly. Punishment in Indian schools is not new. I've been through it and so have many others. But I've never liked it and I count myself lucky that I survived. The principal of a government school in this article claims:

"Most children in my school are criminal-minded," says Dr. S.C. Sharma, the principal of a government school in South Delhi. "We have caught them stealing fans from classrooms and even the iron grills from the windows. How do you discipline such kids?" In Sharma's school the teacher-student ratio is 1:63, compared with a recommended ratio of 1:35.

Okay. Maybe government school teachers have it harder than most. And a child that steals should be disciplined. But why is punishment necessary in private schools? And that too, for silly things like not turning in homework or talking during class or drinking water in class or being late after recess. I've been "punished" for all the above reasons.

The concept of public humiliation as a means of correcting "unwanted" behavior stinks. It kills a child's self-confidence, makes him/her diffident and creates all kinds of insecurities and fears in an impressionable mind.

I think a harder line should be taken toward India's teachers in public or private schools alike. Most of the time, they are just venting their anger against a helpless section. If you had a fight with your wife, take it out on the kids. Sure, they can't hit back. They'll take it silently.

I am sorry to say this but I was never lucky to have great teachers at school. Sure, there were the rare exceptions once in a while. But I had a healthy disrespect for most of my teachers. I don't feel sorry for this teacher who killed a child. I think the case should be handed over to the police and let justice take its own course.