TeluGlobe » Youth

Indian Football, Its first victory against the British Team on July 29th, 1911 with bare feet.

My3e — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:55:03 +0000

Bengal is considered to be the home for Indian football. Its first victory was in the year 1911. The reason behind the true spirit which those 10 players had was the just the thirst for freedom laid strong in their heart. If we observe the events which occurred in Bengal during the period of 1909-1912 there was an evolutionary progress happening in the thought process that lead to the slow realization in the people and sense of understanding about the non-violent struggle for India’s independence. The historic game happened during this period.

In the year 1905, partition of Bengal took place in order to suppress the Bengal Hindus participation in the governance, but this triggered an religious rift between Hindu’s and Muslims. It almost created a national anti-British movement that involved non-violent and violent protests, this was undone in the year 1911 by the new governor, Charles Hardinge. This was the first action of retract, though the turmoil still existed in people they were slowly realizing the strength in united struggle. In parallel, the thought process of people in Bengal was also being influenced by the writings of Aurobindo and Baghvan Das whose articles delivered a message of not only a non-violent struggle but also the need for unity among Hindus and Muslims. These are just a record of few events which happened during that time.

Just imagine the state of mind of the people when they got a chance to play against the British team. Today just a cricket test match is enough for us to stay awake at night, wonder what level of anxiousness the viewers had who watched the game ! And the happiness of the victory they had felt, it was just not about the game; it was about their Freedom!

Loss = Gain; Is it a Balanced Equation? Give it a Thought !

My3e — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 01:11:21 +0000

The equation I mentioned above relates to the psychology of people staying away from India. We are excited to come here (Away from our country) and study and then initially miss our family and later we decide to stay? Money, comfort versus family, friends, relatives and hometown and our own nationality. Does one realize the true happiness for one’s life? Some of my friends said its because of the money and comfort which made them decide to stay back in here, and few said its because of the peace we have here. I was surprised with the word peace? and they explained it as the independent life with none interfering in their business. But do they really mean that they are quiet happy with the life here? Having spent 22-24 years in an environment surrounded by family, friends and relatives does not give us any strong motivation to go back? spending an year or two here in US would wipe out all the dependent thoughts. Are people back in India not happy and satisfied ? are they not at peace? If this is the case then our Indian culture wouldn’t have existed at all !

According to me I believe that though you always have a choice from which you decide, we look at it as a single option. Though we consider decision making as a “VARAM” the ability to use it is always a tough task. To stay back in US or go back to India are two choices we have, But we consider them as only one option i.e what are we presently used to and what would we loose if we leave US. Cant one think that this is an opportunity to gain back what they have lost? those are the only precious and priceless things which we have lost during the journey to the false paradise !

The other day I had listened to a talk given by Sheena Iyengar in TED about art of choosing (I have given the website link below) and was really surprised about the people’s perspective of looking at their choices. I wondered if its related to our decision to stay back and yet have a dissatisfaction of not being in our country. Though the statement can be implied other way too !

Satisfaction and Happiness is something more than comfort and enjoyment. I would like the readers to give it a small thought !

Watch Sheena Iyengar’s TED talk below:

As a part of my initial effort to write an article, I would like to thank TG for giving me this opportunity. I hope you find my first article interesting !

Summer Sun

Suguna — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:46:52 +0000

I am extremely happy that summer is here, but sad that it is so quickly coming to an end. Living through the cold, somewhat dreary midwestern winter has given me a new appreciation for warmth and sunshine. I grew up in Colorado, where there was never any shortage of sunshine, and I always took it for granted. In the Midwest, sunshine is a commodity in the winter. Generally, the outside world is gray, and it is the type of weather that makes me want to stay in bed all day. Unfortunately, I’m in school, so winter hibernation is never a feasible option for me. I get up every day and drag myself to school, cursing as the wind blows through my five layers of clothing and gnaws at my bones, and all the while, I’m wishing that summer would get here faster.

There is something magical about the warm weather and the feeling of freedom that I always associate with summer. That might have something to do with the fact that I’ve never had a full-time job. For me, summer has always meant a welcome change from the drudgery of the rest of the year. Whether it is liberation from the strict schedule of school or the prospect of an exciting adventure, summer has always been my favorite time of the year. This year is no different. I’ve been looking forward to the summer since last November, eagerly anticipating all the fun I’ll have and all the new things I’ll learn.

I always try to be outside as much as I can during the summer. It makes me happy to see the bright sunshine and enjoy its warmth. I can’t quite tell if that is the Vitamin D starvation talking or a genuine love of the sunshine, but either way, I am much happier and more energetic during the summer than I am at any other time of year. The city is alive and I feel more like a person and less like a skeleton wrapped in twenty pounds of insulation.

Now that the summer is nearing its end, I feel like I haven’t enjoyed my vacation to its fullest. I’ve been busy working and doing other things that are required of me, or so I tell myself. As school comes into sight, I realize that I’m not ready to go back to the bitter cold and long days of studying inside our dungeon of a library. So, I’ve come to a decision. No, I’m not moving to the Bahamas. I’m going to make a vow to do one hour of fun things a day that I will not be able to do after school starts. Whether it be reading a book on the beach or playing tennis outdoors, I’m going to store up some summer happiness to get me through the rest of the year.

It is estimated that over 30% of adults in the United States are Vitamin D deficient*. Deficiency can cause symptoms of lethargy and depression. Getting a few minutes of sunshine every day can help your body produce sufficient Vitamin D. So, I hope you’ll enjoy the warmth and sunshine of summer while they last!

*Holick, MF. High prevalence of vitamin D inadequacy and implications for health. Mayo Clinic Proc. 2006; 81(3): 297-299.

Another Student gets killed

Bhanu Prakash — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 03:00:54 +0000

This time in Connecticut. I feel sad, someone needs to tell the kids to be careful. Sometimes it happens no matter how protective you can be, like that Indian scientist who was killed in his “Safe Neighborhood”. I really feel bad in my stomach.

Read the news via eenadu.net

Professor Mulpuri on Middle School Education – Part 2 of 2

Mohan — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:58:59 +0000

Hope you caught Part 1 of this interview with Prof Rao. In this second part on Middle School education, the following issues/topics were addressed:

What about summer camps?
How to manage our tendency to force over indulgence?
What about magnet schools?
Pidakala Veta a comment on Rao’s old student – Ram Gopal Varma
Kids’ internet policy eMail and blog etiquette
Impact of frequent moving, and how it affects kids’ education
Leaving the college choice to kids

Rao garu answered calls from: Lakshmi, Gowri, Madhavi, Haritha, Surya, Sunil, and Durga

Originally broadcast on TeluguOne Radio on: 2010-02-06

Audio Language: Telugu

Professor Mulpuri on Middle School Education – Part 1 of 2

Mohan — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:58:54 +0000

“Am I doing the right thing for my kid? What if I am wrong?” Have you ever second guessed yourself like this as a parent? Don’t worry, we are not alone. We all have done this. Second guessing ourselves about the kids is our second nature. All we can do is make informed decisions and hope that lead to prudent choices which will in turn make our kids’ lives better.

Professor Rao Mulpuri and I sat together to talk about the following issues related to middle school education.

Is education better in India, or USA?
Fostering creativity
Extra curricular activities
Middle school foundation. Basic math and science profession
To Kumon or not to Kumon
Vocabulary development
Importance of physical education
What about sex education in schools?
After school activities?
Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and other non-school activities

No right or wrong answer. Rao garu and I have some opinions for you to CONSIDER. Hope you like our little chat (in Part 2 of this interview, Rao garu answered caller’s questions)

Audio language: Telugu

Tuition Hike for Students, Pay Cuts for Professors (Updated with a Video)

Mohan — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:52:20 +0000

Students Protesting Tuition Hike, Fall 2009 (AP Photo)

The two largest items US consumers spend on are 1) Health Care and 2) Education

Since the days of 2008 presidential campaign, so much attention has been focused on rising health care costs. The Great Recession (this is how they are referring to the current economic climate) has left many state budgets in such a disarray that the states are doing everything they could to cut their budgets. Well, the axe is falling on school and college funding.

Except may be in Alaska, the story is the same for schools and colleges in Arizona, Texas North Carolina Virginia, New Jersey, new York or Massachusetts, – not to mention the state that could bring down the next leg of worldwide panic – California.

To compensate for state budget cuts, colleges across the country are planning for tuition hikes: about 5% in Texas to over 30% in California. Tuition is almost certain to go up at George Mason University, which is where I teach. The following excerpt is from Huffington Post:

“We’re one of the largest economies in the world, and we can’t fund the basics,” said Mike Scullin, 29, a graduate student in education who plans to become a high school teacher. “We’re throwing away a generation of students by defunding education.”

The steep economic downturn has forced states to slash funding to K-12 schools, community colleges and universities to cope with plummeting tax revenue.

Experts said schools and colleges could face more severe financial trouble over the next few years as they drain federal stimulus money that temporarily prevented widespread layoffs and classroom cuts.

Protest actions were held at most of the 10 University of California campuses, 23 California State University campuses and many of the state’s 110 community colleges.

Come Fall, you can expect even more widespread protests or even riots across many college campuses in US. Much like the October 2009 protest at UCLA.

On the other hand, the second e-mail I got from my ultimate boss, the (new) Governor of my state (Commonwealth of Virginia) has no mention of tuition hikes. But, I was told to expect furloughs, pay cuts and/or cuts to pension and retirement account contributions.

Pay cut or pension cut, I am thankful that I at least have a job. However, what pains me the most about this is to see an unemployed parent being squeezed even more to pay for the tuition of his/her kid.

Looking at the brighter side, I am so glad that I did my part to let the bankers have their bonuses for last year. Imagine a world where those hard working smart guys of the world being denied their rightful earnings.:)

I would love to talk about this subject on my March 5 Mohana Muralee GaanaLahari show? Any takers?

[Update: March 8, 2010]

I missed this news. More riots happened at UCLA last week. (Video)

Olympic Excitement

Suguna — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:20:00 +0000

The Olympics only come around once every four years, and the two weeks of excitement seem too short to make up for all of that waiting. Although I am not much of a sports fan, I love watching the Olympics, because to me, the Olympics is a competition celebrating our global interconnectivity. Athletes from all around the world come together to celebrate sports.

As I do every time, I watched most of the Olympic coverage this year. Since I don’t have a TV (I’m a poor graduate student), I timed my exercise schedule so that I could watch the Olympics while running on the treadmill. It was a lot of fun watching athletes compete on an international stage, and even though I normally don’t have a lot of “American pride,” I found myself getting caught up in the spirit of the games and cheering for my fellow countrymen in the competition.

As closely as I follow the Olympics, I almost never see an Indian presence at the games. Sure, there have been a few Indian competitors here and there over the years, but the Indian delegation is never very substantial. I’ve always wondered why.

Economic development is, of course, an important factor. The majority of athletes in the Olympics either come from developed countries or live and train in developed countries. India is still very much a developing nation, and because of this, it is reasonable to assume that many Indians do not have the financial resources to pursue sports. Until India fully develops a socioeconomic middle class, its athletic presence in the world will be minimal. However, I think that there are other equally important reasons.

Growing up in the United States, I’ve noticed that there is a strong emphasis on athleticism. Nearly all of my friends in middle school and high school played some kind of sport, and whether out of peer pressure or actual liking for athletic activity, I was also fairly involved in athletics throughout much of my middle and high school career. It was sometime in middle school when I realized that my cousins’ school life was much different than mine. When I visited India, I noticed that none of them were involved in extracurricular activities. In India, the emphasis seems to be on book learning, not a well-rounded education. Because of this, there are relatively few Indians on the global stage.

My friends and I joke that we Indians are notoriously unathletic. Too much physical activity makes our bodies hurt, so we say that we are better at using our brains than our bodies. I, for one, have never been any better than terrible at any sport that I have ever tried, and I don’t have a problem with that. I hypothesize that this is because modern Indian culture does not value athleticism very much. Education is highly valued as a means of escaping poverty and and securing a financially comfortable life, but little thought is given to the importance of physical health. One of the advantages of playing sports is that it provides regular exercise. Playing competitive sports instills a competitive spirit and an appreciation for teamwork in people, and this is useful in all facets of life. Despite this, Indian culture seems to place relatively little emphasis on athletic prowess.

With the increase in emigration from India seen in recent decades, Indian culture is starting to absorb elements of global cultures, a product of NRI influence. Sports are a part of global culture that already seem to be catching on. For example, there is a professional cricket league in India now, similar to American sports leagues, and this shows that Indian culture is changing and coming to value athleticism more strongly. I have no doubt that in future generations, we will see more Indian athletes competing both in Indian sports and on the international stage with more success. Then when I watch the Olympics, I’ll have two countries to cheer on.

Earning a Degree is NOT the Same as Getting Educated

Mohan — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:31:40 +0000

Earlier today I was having a chat with Kanaka Prasad. The issue of education (adult and kids) came up in our discussion. A bit later I went to a recruiting event organized by our University, where I talked a bit about degree requirements in our program etc. I came back to my office and checked a few things on the blogosphere I follow. I came across a piece by Karl Denninger on education. I just couldn’t resist the urge to say these few words on education.

Degree is (almost) essential for making a living. The current education system in most countries, including India and the United States helps you get a degree and make a living. What about education? Perhaps, a better question is, “What is education?” Education is accumulation of knowledge. I don’t think that the education system I am used to encourages knowledge accumulation.

I follow Karl Denninger for his insights on financial markets and economic outlook. I have a few areas of disagreements with him. However, as an educator, I couldn’t agree more on the basic premise of his latest piece on Education (Our Educational System’s Primary Failure). It’s all about being curious and learning things on our own! Excerpts:

To succeed a young person needs to be able to do three things – read, write, and understand mathematics. The fourth ingredient is that the innate desire to learn must not be destroyed in their first few years of school.

All children start life wanting to learn. Ever watch a baby? It’s a curious being, is it not? It reaches, it fondles, it touches, it experiments. We put plastic caps in our electrical outlets because one of the experiments a significant number of babies and toddlers will perform is inserting a kitchen fork into said outlet, with bad results.

So how do we go from that to a surly vegetative kid at the age of 9, 10 or 12?

We do it by failing in the essential purpose of education – giving our children the foundational understanding they need, and then getting the hell out of their way!

We want to mold educational experience. To teach “as we want them to learn”, instead of “as they wish to synthesize.”

We’re fools. You, I, our school systems. All of us.

I have one piece of advise to parents with young children. Encourage your children to be curious and learn things on their own, and to pursue what they are passionate about. Don’t force your wishes on to them. To demonstrate to you that I know what I am talking about, I will give you one personal example. In February 2003, when space shuttle Columbia blew-up in the atmosphere during reentry, I was watching TV with my son. I said a couple of things I knew about the space shuttle. He picked up from there and said a whole lot more about the space shuttles – how they are made, launched into orbit, docked in space, re-enter earth, transported from California to Florida as a piggy-back ride on Boeing 747 etc etc. I was not aware of a lot of details he said.

Even though I am a proud father, I do not want to take credit for his knowledge, which he gained on his own. However, some credit is due to my wife and myself, for, we clearly did some things right. When all this happened, none of that stuff about space shuttles was in any of his classes. My son was just 9 year old.

If this sounds like I am bragging about my son, ABSOLUTELY! [I am sure he or his sister will give me a hard time when he sees this. That's OK.]

I also have one advise to those of you who are young and open minded enough to take and use a good piece of advise. Be on continuous quest for knowledge. Knowledge is vast and almost infinite. How much knowledge you can accumulate and about what? My answer: as much as you can and about the things that interest you and you are passionate about. Some of those things that SHOULD interest you is about yourself, your family, your past and your heritage. i.e. history!

Seeking knowledge is like going to a huge lake with a bucket. The maximum you can get is what the bucket can hold. The practical maximum is what you can carry. What is shameful is, returning with an empty bucket from a trip you only get to take once! That’s why they say, the mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Prof Mulpuri on MMGL: Primary Education in US 1 of 3

Mohan — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:09:07 +0000

My colleague and friend, Dr Venkata Rao Mulpuri is a professor of Electrical Engineering at George Mason University, in Fairfax, VA. He is also very actively involved in the local Indian community in conducting special classes for elementary and middle school students to achieve academic excellence. He donates all the proceeds from his tuition efforts to help Ekal Vidyalaya, a non profit organization, which helps kids in remote rural areas of India get education. He joined me to discuss primary education challenges for Indian parents raising their kids in the US. He answered questions from several callers.

Broadcast date on TeluguOne Radio: 2008-08-08.

Callers/e-Mailers:

Madan Mohan, Kanaka Prasad, Chennasri, Veni, Nagesh, Anjani, Vamsi, Madhavi, Lakshmi and Hema

Download/smart phone link: Mulpuri on Primary Education 1 of 3