A Teacher who made a Big Difference

Today is Vijaya Dashami, a day that is dedicated for offering prayers and seeking blessings of Saraswathi, the Goddess of Knowledge.  In my place, it is considered auspicious to start the process of any new learning on this day.  I take this opportunity to fondly remember one of my teachers, who made a big difference in my life - Bhaskaran Master of Government High School, Panayappilly.

In 1983, when I was a student of sixth standard, Bhaskaran Sir taught Mathematics and Malayalam.  He was a tough teacher, who never compromised on issues relating to studies and discipline.  Since he used to severely punish erring students, we were all afraid of him.  But he was a great teacher who used to make the process of learning highly interactive and enjoyable.  While he would make us solve many interesting puzzles in Mathematics, he would lead us deep into a story or poetry during his Malayalam classes.  I must say, we used to wait for his classes and miss him whenever he was on leave.

One day he took me to the staff room and told me that an organisation was conducting a district level competition in public speaking for the upper primary school children and he had selected me to participate in the same.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Though I used to be one among the top students and had participated in some school events in the past, I had never represented my school in a competition outside.  At the same time, there was a student in the seventh standard who used to represent the school in such events.  I managed to gather the courage to ask Sir why he was not sending that senior student.  Then he told me that he wanted to give a chance to me and he was confident that I would do well in the competition.  Next day Bhaskaran Sir handed over a three page speech to me and asked me to learn and practice it.  (I vividly remember Sir's hand-writing even today).  Within a week, I was supposed to give a mock speech in front of him and few other teachers, which I did reasonably well.   Bhaskaran Sir gave me lot of suggestions for improvement and encouraged me by patting my shoulder.  But I was still tensed.

Within a few days the news came that the competition was cancelled for some reason.  When Bhaskaran Sir told me this, I could see the disappointment on his face.  Though I was also unhappy, I probably felt a great sense of relief.  What Sir did after that was more touching.  We used to have cultural programmes at the end of every month.  During the next such programme, he kept my speech as the main item.  The interest that I developed towards public speaking at the tender age of 11, grew over the years and helped me win prizes in various competitions, including the state-level college youth festival.

What is more important is that the interest in public speaking took a serious turn and led me to become passionate about teaching.  Today, whatever little I have achieved, it all started with Bhaskaran Sir.  Even today I am puzzled as to how and why he could identify the hidden talent in me!  Though many other teachers have greatly influenced me, Bhaskaran Sir enjoys a special place in my heart.  I am sure each one of us has a teacher like this.  On this days of Vijaya Dashami, I offer my greetings and gratitude to Bhaskaran Sir, who initiated me to the world of teaching.



   

    

Complexity or 'Simplicity Complex'?

'Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex and more violent.  It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction' - Albert Einstein.

The above statement made me think about various systems around us, which were intentionally made complex.  For example, most of the government systems are highly complex with multi-layer approvals.  As a student of commerce, I remember reading the principle of multi-layer checks and balances in order to prevent irregularities.  Thus, with good intentions, we created huge, complex and multi-layer systems.  And what was the result? We have a system where the files move from table to table endlessly; there is unusual delay in most of the projects; the efficiency is highly compromised; and most importantly, we have corruption at each level!  So, like the Frankenstein's monster, a system that was designed to keep irregularities away, itself resulted in corruption at a larger magnitude!

Another problem with such systems is that they become cumbersome and difficult to understand for the common man.  This gives rise to a new breed of professionals who offer simple solutions in the complex system.  We first create a complex system and then build many sub-systems around it to simplify the same!  Let us take for example, the taxation system.  It became so complex over the years, with multiple rates, differential rates, variety of exemptions and umpteen number of modifications.  Tax evasion became a creative activity and many people thrived on the loopholes inherent there.  Finally, we needed a Tax Reforms Committee to suggest that the whole system be made simple and straight forward.    

A third problem with such a system is that it kills creativity.  Any creative activity requires certain degree of flexibility, which these systems never allow.  Let me look at the initiatives that are being taken at the higher education system.  Due to various regulatory requirements, we have so many standardized procedures to follow and documents to prepare, that a teacher works more like a machine and less like a teacher.  While people take pride in saying that they are an ISO certified institute, I wonder, whether teaching can ever be standardized to suit the ISO requirements!

Even at an individual level, we all make many things around us highly complicated.  Just look around, and I am sure, we would all be amazed to see how complex some of our daily activities are; and more interestingly, we have only made them so!  The word 'complex' has a different meaning in Psychology.  Carl Jung defines 'Complex' as 'personal, unconscious core pattern of emotions, memories, perceptions and wishes organised around a common theme'.   Here the common theme must be 'simplicity', that drives us to create simple and straight forward systems which are highly efficient.  So, what we really need is 'Simplicity Complex' and not simple complexity!

My Tributes to Two Great Men

About a month ago, I read in the newspaper, Mr. N R Narayana Murthy suggesting that the country should honour Sri. Verghese Kurien, the father of White Revolution, with Bharat Ranta.  Though I have spent two years in Ahmedabad, very close to Anand, I never got a chance to meet Kurien.  But I heard a lot about the miracle called 'Anand', which led the growth of co-operative movement in India.  So, I immediately ordered a copy of Kurien's autobiography - 'I Too Had A Dream'.  As I was reading the book, the news of Kurien's death appeared in the media.  I finished reading the book in one sitting; and let me tell you what an experience it was!  Kurien, indeed, did what many others could not.  The book narrates, how an initially reluctant Kurien, transformed the lives of millions of farmers.  It narrates the tale of creating a great brand 'Amul'; the strategies that he devised to fight the mighty MNCs like Nestle; his constant endeavours to keep the politicians and bureaucrats away from taking over the reins of successful co-operatives; and the story behind the Institute of Rural Management (IRMA).  He took the country from a milk deficient nation to the largest producer of milk; and in the process, provided economic freedom to the millions of farmers.  His life and work are not just another example of creation of a great brand; but it is far more, as it resulted in the transformation of the socio-economic fabric of thousands of villages.  He was a no-nonsense man and a hard task master, who knew how to get what he wanted.  And all along he kept saying that he was the 'employee' of the farmers; which he truly was!


Two weeks ago, I was saddened to read the news of Prof. N S Ramaswamy's death.  Prof. N S Ramaswamy was the founder director of IIM Bangalore.  But to describe him that way would be an understatement, as the directorship of IIMB was only one facet of this multifaceted personality.  Unlike Kurien, I had the opportunity of interacting with Prof. Ramaswamy at various occasions.  I met him first in 1999, when he visited my institute to address the students.  I was amazed by his ability to quote from vedic literature to explain the concepts of management.  He was a scholar par excellence, who, at a moments notice, could speak at length on any issue.  Coated with humour, he would enthrall the audience for the whole day and they would remain in rapt attention.  He was the founder of Indian Heritage Academy and the Centre for Action Research and Technology for Man Animal and Nature (CARTMAN), which made him popularly known as Cartman Ramaswamy.  He did extensive research to improve and modernise the slaughter houses and bullock carts.  He was an academician, vedic scholar, environmentalist, animal-lover, orator and much more, bundled into one individual.  He often used to make the participants of his programmes repeat the following words - 'the time to be happy is now; the place to be happy is here and the way to be happy is by making others happy'.

I was filled with the thoughts of these two men, when I found so many similarities: they both lived almost during the same time (Kurien - 1921-2012 & Ramaswamy - 1926-2012);  Kurien was awarded Padma Vibhushan and Ramaswamy, Padma Bhushan; while one created a whole industry around cattle and its products, the other designed better bullock-carts and slaughter houses; both were institution builders (IRMA & IIMB); both were Keralites, whose area of activity was outside Kerala.  Among all these similarities, I could find a marked difference, while Kurien was a strong atheist, Ramaswamy was highly religious!

I dedicate my first post in Reflections to the memory of these two great men.

Welcome to Reflections

When I started blogging using Finsight, I had made a promise to myself that this blog would exclusively be used for discussions on topics related, directly or indirectly, to Finance.  I am happy that I could keep this promise.  I am also delighted by the fact that many of my students, ex-students and friends participate actively in the discussions.  However, off late, I had to resist my temptations to express my views on matters that do not strictly come under the purview of 'finance'.  This led me to the idea of creating a separate blog for expressing my thoughts on any thing other than 'finance'; and thus was born this blog, 'Reflections'.

Reflections - as the name suggest, would be a platform for me to reflect on issues that keep coming to my mind randomly.  It may be about a social issue, or about a book or article that I read, or my memories of some events, or my impressions on known personalities, or the lessons that I learnt from my experiences and so on and so forth.  

I welcome you all to Reflections.  I request you to kindly read my posts and tell me whether you enjoyed it or not; and whether you agree or disagree with me.  I hope you would show the same interest and enthusiasm to Reflections, that you have shown towards Finsight.

Welcome once again.