Think you are a feminist? Think again.

Every morning, I take the metro to my workplace. I walk from one end of the metro station to the other, where the women's compartment stops, because it is relatively empty. I wait for the train, it whizzes into the platform, I get in, and the doors close in. The continuous announcements on the train make sure there is no silence.
"Next station is..."
"Doors will open on the right..."
"Please mind the gap..."

A little while later, I hear, "Please do not sit on seats reserved for women."
Wait, what? So, we not only get a whole compartment to ourselves, but we get separate seats in the general compartments too? And this is fair, how?

The other day, one of my friends was telling me what she wants in a man. She starts the conversation with, "I am a feminist of course." Ten minutes into the conversation, she says, "I expect my boyfriend to be chivalrous; to be protective of me, to open the door for me, to pull my chair for me, to give me his jacket, because, come on, I am a girl!"

I had almost no problem with all the things she expected from her boyfriend, till she said "because I am a girl", which irked me.

How can someone call oneself a feminist, while expecting more-than-equal treatment? Do me a favour, and STOP PRETENDING TO BE A FEMINIST. You are insulting the whole movement by calling yourself one.

Feminism is NOT "Women are better than men." It stands for EQUALITY. Equal rights. Not women being protected because they are women, but a human being protected, loved or respected, irrespective of gender.

If I am standing in the metro, carrying five huge bags, it would be great if someone offers me a seat, because they see another human being in need of it, not a woman who is entitled to better treatment by virtue of her gender. Gender inequality was caused by such preferential treatment to a section of the society. The last thing we need is running around in circles. And that is what we are tending towards. First, we had men thinking they are superior, and now, if women think they are superior, then the whole human race is just a dog chasing its tail. Here is some visual aid for you:

The other day, someone asked me, "Why does India have no protection for men being raped. Isn't it unfair? Won't the women start abusing the law, and the men will have no protection at all? I mean, look at what happened to Tarun Tejpal! What if what she is saying is wrong, and she is saying it just to bring him down?"


Laws in India , be it against rape or adultery, are not gender neutral. This is a large, gaping hole in our justice system. Aimed at appeasing the women of this country, such female-centric laws are slowly turning into our enemy. Men are turning resentful at what is slowly being perceived as "over-protection" of women. So I would like to clarify: Women are NOT better. Women are NOT goddesses. We are as human as the men. Men are also prone to rape. Why can't we recognize that?



Coming to the next part of the question. "Won't the women start abusing the law?"
Much as I support equality, let us not forget the fact that we come from a patriarchal past. But questions like this make me wonder, is it really the past or are we still in a patriarchal present? We, including many women, are so quick in thinking that women might misuse a law. What about the abuse by men? What about the instances when the girl said NO but the boy pressed on, thinking, "Ah never mind, she just means not yet"? What about that misuse?

The problem is, India is now in a state of transition. A severely patriarchal society, we are taking baby steps towards a society where equality is the norm. Or are we? We are in that dangerous stage where there is tendency to piss off the people who enjoyed the safety, the respect, the treatment that everyone deserved, but did not get, because they did not contain the Y chromosome. The question that needs to be addressed is, when do we stop becoming "protectors of the women of the country" and try to look at equality instead?

We need to understand, sexual harassment is wrong, irrespective of gender. Rape is wrong, irrespective of gender. When a person says no to something, the person's choice must be respected, irrespective of gender. For what Tarun Tejpal allegedly did, if proven to be true, he should be punished.

Have we forgotten that law should be objective? A victim of sexual harassment should be seen as a human being, irrespective of gender. Only then can we say that the society has truly grown.

A woman wants to be seen as a fellow human being. We do not want to be put on a pedestal. We do not want to be worshipped. We do not need protectors We want to be seen as equals. We do not need chivalry. We want you to remove your jacket when you think it is cold NOT because we are women, but only because it is cold and you love us enough to sacrifice your jacket for it. It is not chivalry that we are looking for, but love and compassion. We do not want a seat just because we are women. We can open car doors as easily as you can, thank you very much.

People who do not agree with this and call themselves Feminists, please, stop it. You are embarrassing us. You are destroying everything that feminists are striving for. Go home, lie down, close your eyes and try to think.

The Four Year Itch

The alarm blasts through the crisp morning air like a knife slicing a freshly picked apple. I wake up with a start... For a few seconds, I am confused where I am. Still groggy, the room slides back into focus. Oh yes. I am in my hostel room. And I have an exam today. Reluctantly, I get out of my warm bed, slide my feet into slippers, and proceed to get ready for another tiresome day.

Fourth Year at Law School seemed so easy. Back when I was in the First Year, I would see my seniors playing scrabble, go jogging, watch movies, and I would wish to go to the last years of law school as soon as possible. My innocent 18 year old mind had no idea that it is going to be the exact opposite.

With the completion of the degree looming near, people around you start panicking and getting frantic about getting a job or getting a scholarship for higher studies. Panic is severely contagious. Two minutes into a conversation with a batchmate about instant noodles, and soon, you are talking about future plans. Ten minutes later, the person leaves and you sit and stare at a point in space, swaying back and forth, biting your nails, wondering what the hell you are going to do with your life.

First, I tried to keep calm. Sounds easy? Try not to get fried while swimming in heated oil. That is easier. If there was a bacteria that caused pessimism, Law School would be the breeding ground for it. 

"Oh my god, the market is at an all time low! We are not going to get any jobs!!!"

"Didn't you hear, ABC firm recruits only people that have a CGPA of 9.5 on 10!"

"Oh, that professor? You really think he is going to mark us well? No matter how well we write, he is going to fail us. We are doomed, man. Doomed."

Not to mention, jealousy:

"Did you hear? She applied to be his Research Assistant! She is going to get an awesome job now, dude!"

"Why are we even bothering? He's going to be approached for the job. We don't have moots and debates and journals on our resume! Everything is hopeless!"

And then there are times when life is downright unfair, like when a comparatively undeserving person gets a coveted position in some committee, board, department or society, merely because he or she is dating a person in the selection committee, or some such ridiculous reason. Then you start wondering too, what IS the point of working like a donkey, when having contacts wins always?

But then, you have to just look the other way and keep trying...

So you keep applying for posts, keep writing papers, keep studying to keep your grades. In others words: slog.

The question "Is all this worth it?" keeps popping in your head like a warning message for low battery. So, I read this, and convince myself:

"A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for," said Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper.

Pin Drop Silence

I was a student of a Convent-run-school till my fourth grade. At that age, nothing can stop us from chattering, about everything under the sky. Our teachers had a very tough time trying to keep us quiet. As a remedy, they would ask us to put our heads down on the desk. We did not stop at that. We would continue talking with our heads down. So, the teachers came up with a better idea: put your head down and EVERYONE face the windows.

Fast forward about fifteen years and things have changed drastically. I am at the gym every morning, at 7. There are about 20 other people working out at the same time. I've been going to the gym since almost a month, yet I do not know the name of a single person. I attempt to smile at a few, and get back a horrified look, like I am from Pluto. It is sixty minutes of silence, only broken by fast paced music playing on the speakers, and my strict trainer asking me to do two more sets of some back breaking exercise.

It seems like we have fallen into a rut. No one talks to anyone anymore. Even if they do, we will all go in kung-fu mode, imagining the person winning over our heart and running away with all our hard-earned money. And if we don't think that way, some incident will make sure we do.

The other day, I was on the bus back home from office. An elderly man was sitting beside me. Somehow, we got talking. He asked me what I do, and I told him I study law. He told me that he was just coming back from a court hearing. His family had some land dispute and it was going on from the past many years. I nod and sympathize with him. As my stop approaches, he suddenly VERY CREEPILY asks me for money in order to eat some food. I am taken aback. He didn't seem like the kind who can't afford food. It starts to feel odd that only after I told him that I am a law student did he say that he is coming back from a legal matter of his own. Fortunately, my stop arrives and I flee as fast as I can.

Maybe he was genuinely in need of money, maybe he was a fraud. I will never know. But we all learn from the people around us and the incidents that we hear about, "Better safe than sorry".

Yet, I wonder if we will ever get out of this rut, into which we seem to fall deeper and deeper.

The Legal Battle for Icecream

It's been a long time, right? Well I needed some serious issue to get me back here, away from my exams and  internship and more importantly, out of my warm blanket.

The other day, I attended an International Conference. It was in an amazing huge hall, great place. I was VERY impressed. 

And then, the Programme started. The Inauguration session went on forever, spilling into the time slot set for the Sessions. The Garland-putting, Hand-shaking, Speech-giving and felicitating seemed to go on and on and on. 

More confusion was created when, finally done with the inauguration, we were told to proceed for lunch, which wasn't the plan. I went to the lunch area and saw everyone getting ready to pounce on the food, only to be disappointed by one of the organizers telling them that the announcement was wrong.

Finally, the Working Sessions started.

The first one was related to Human Rights and Terrorism. Sure, great topic. I eagerly waited for the promised Foreign Delegates to speak and present their point of view. Three hours of obvious-fact-stating ("we must combat the evil of terrorism", "Rights of people are being affected", "This is a great conference and I am very grateful to be here" "blah blah blah"), I gave up hope. There was NOTHING substantial in ANY of the speeches. The lowest point of the session was when a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court, snoring loudly beside me, woke up in the middle of the speech of one of the speakers, and said, "What is wrong with you people? Its 2.30! We want to have lunch man!" That did it for me. I walked out.

(The next session, was thankfully, a much productive one, on Intellectual Property Rights. It even got me thinking about taking up IPR as my Honors course.)

The next day, I was to present my own paper. When I reached the venue, the session was on. The topic was "Freedom of Press". I sat down, skeptical about the quality of the session. The Majority of the session was dominated by one advocate, who clearly loved his own voice. I wouldn't have minded, had he spoken ANYTHING connected to the issue at hand. My blood was boiling. I almost threw a shoe at him when, making a foreign delegate wait for 10 minutes, he introduced some random guy, and proceeded to congratulate him for some post he got. He did not stop at that. He proceeded to have a discussion on some caste getting into power, for the next 15 minutes. The foreign delegate, poor chap, was politely nodding his head and smiling, assuming they are talking about Freedom of Press.

The Lowest Point of the whole conference was the Lunch. While students stood politely in line, awaiting their turn, Senior Advocates and Judges and other "dignitaries" literally elbowed their way to the ice-cream station. One could mistake the table where ice cream was being served, as a place where maybe free gold was being distributed. And when the plates got over, the indignant looks on their faces brought my blood to boil.

I threw my spoon back on the table and walked away.

Talking like a layman in a conference meant for in-depth discussion of a serious legal matter, Fighting for Mango Ice-cream, Talking about Caste Politics (not the ill effects of it, but in fact PROMOTING and ENCOURAGING it), Careless accusations and calling a certain country a "terrorist country"... If THIS is the quality of our Senior Advocates and Judges, it does not surprise me one bit that our courts and our cases are in such a pathetic state.

My post is not meant to degrade the said conference, or to, in any way, degrade our justice system. I am merely stating facts. In fact, my post is one of the many trying to get people to realize that we need to uphold the dignity and sanctity of the courts and of the profession as a whole. My post is to show MY realization and observations regarding the low intellect regarding real legal issues, in our legal fraternity, and the dire need for a sense of dignity and sophistication that our Lawyers, Judges, Law Experts and others in this field, need, for the sake of the judiciary and the respect it deserves. 

DemoCRAZY?

Yet another defamatory cartoon. Yet another arrest.

It hasn’t been even 24 hours since my last post and I get yet another instance of another kind of vicious cycle.

Corruption has been our problem since a long, long time. It is neither an old concept nor one that is specific to India. It has been, and is, there in every country. From time immemorial.

What has changed is the awareness of the people. People were earlier carefree. “It is none of my concern. As long as nothing happens to ME and MY property, why should I care?” This attitude has let the situation grow from bad to worse. And now, my generation and my future generations are in a situation of uncertainty, deceit, and anger pouring from all sides and corruption right from the hunt for a class monitor to the seat of the President.

Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi was arrested for making a ‘seditious’ cartoon, depicting the national emblem as three wolves, and the words “Bhrashtameva Jayate” (Corruption alone triumphs) inscribed below.

Is that too extreme, you think? Or is his arrest too extreme?

Let me state my views.

The government thinks it can get away with hard earned taxpayers money washed away by the dirty, grimy waters of corruption, while we stand and watch silently, letting them take it all away? How long did the politicians expect to get away with it? Certainly they did not believe that it was going to last forever? That is over confidence, and under estimation of the power of the voice of your people, isn’t it now?

You expect people to stand up and salute to a parliament which is filled with crooks and criminals, when we know that we sweat and bled to earn the very money that is spent in the maintenance of these politicians and the plethora of scams? It doesn’t help that the people at the most important posts are silently watching the tamasha and doing nothing, not even trying to convince us properly with a justification.

So the people revolt. But there is a method even in madness. There is a way in which you emphasise your views.

Firstly, one mustn’t push it.

Let me give you a simple illustration of ‘pushing it’:

We have 6 classes of 50 minutes each. By the end of the day, all of us are tired, and in no mood for any more lectures. As soon as the lecturer of the last class enters the class, certain students, maybe in the ridiculous belief that it is good for the class, start immediately demanding for a free class. On some days when we actually needed a free class, it was justified. Then it went out of hand. Now, regardless of whether we need a free class or not, these students invariably yell and demand one.

When you harp the same old tune, however melodious it is, after some point of time, it gets annoying, irritating and downright infuriating. When you use the same technique over and over again, its value decreases.

This has what has happened with our ‘movement against corruption’.

Secondly, do not take advantage of the leniency of the other side. Going back to my ‘free-class’ example, the said teacher granted a couple of free classes owing to an exam, and a project submission due on that date. She was considerate. Just because she did that, does not give you the right to demand for a free class every single day.

Similarly, the government has given you freedom of speech and expression. Do you really want to misuse it so much and force them to take that away from you? It goes back to my previous post about self fulfilling prophecies (http://ashrisingphoenix.blogspot.in/2012/09/we-are-problem.html). Media is not helping either. Harsh words and atrociously defamatory and inciting headlines splash across the pages and flash across the TV screens all over the country. Again, I pray, let’s not push it, forcing the government to take steps that essentially take away our freedom to revolt, freedom that let us voice our opinions in the first place.

Thirdly, aren’t they the ones WE voted for? If you have to audacity to make a satirical cartoon of our National Emblem, then you could use that courage and guts to enter into the ‘rat race’ and replace those politicians. But let’s face it, that is not entirely practical. That is another murky field which we need an alternative method to clean up. Like making people aware of their voting rights. No, I do not mean go and tell them “X is a crook, do not vote for him.” That is for the voter to decide, not you. Your job, concerned citizen, is to make the voter aware of the consequences of his voting. Show him, at a personal level, how the system actually works. Let him know how, if he votes for the bad guys, it’s his own grave he is digging. Help him make an informed decision, do not put words into his mouth.

It is again, a vicious cycle. The government is giving us more and more reasons to get infuriated and act in a way democratic people aren’t expected to. And we, the citizens who are voicing are opinions, are stepping out of line.

So the solution to this problem has to come from both sides. The age old solution of stopping corrupt practices, as always, still stands. But along with that, we need to find mild ways to get the message across. Lets not get carried away by the power in our hands, the power to uproot the government. Remember, the phrase “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” applies to both sides.

WE are the problem

The people around me astound me many a times. Why do we behave like a bunch of idiots? Why do we attack others? Why do we want land, gold, money, food, water..., so much that we are ready to kill for all of it?

Over the past few days I watched a few documentaries regarding battles. The one issue that caught my attention was the Palestinian issue. No, I am not going to speak on that topic, It has been already spoken about enough. I want to find out the reason behind such occurrences.

The Arab-Israel fight over Palestine, the India-Pakistan fight over Kashmir, the Srilankan LTTE issue... the list is endless. And it exists from time immemorial. Even epics go on the same lines. Ramayana was the fight for a woman, which started with the greed over the throne. Mahabharata happened because of the ego of one man, who wanted everything to himself.

Everything points to one reason, in my eyes- self fulfilling prophesies.

Let’s take a look at the Arab-Israel issue, as that is fresh in my brain. Originally, the Jews lived on that land. Judea, home of the Jews in ancient times, was conquered by the Romans and renamed Palestine. Palestine was later conquered and inhabited by Arabs for over a thousand years. The Zionist movement arose to restore the Jews to Israel, largely ignoring the existing Arab population. Then World War I happened. Following the Balfour Declaration in 1917, Palestine was granted to Britain as a League of Nations mandate to build a national home for the Jewish people. The Arabs resented the Jews coming in to take their land. Led by Grand Mufti Hajj Amin El Husseini, they rioted repeatedly and later revolted, creating a history of enmity between Jews and Arabs in Palestine. Britain stopped Jewish immigration to Palestine. Following the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis, pressure on Britain increased to allow Jewish immigration to Palestine.   In 1947, the UN partitioned the land into Arab and Jewish states. The Arabs did not accept the partition and war broke out. The Jews won a decisive victory, expanded their state and created several hundred thousand Palestinian refugees. The Arab states refused to recognize Israel or make peace with it. Wars broke out in 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1982, and there were many terror raids and Israeli reprisals. Each side believes different versions of the same history. Each side views the conflict as wholly the fault of the other and expects an apology.

In one of the documentaries I saw, the narrator showed how much the Israelis have terrorized the Palestinians in their own homeland. When the guy questioned one Israeli official about what justification they had for it, he started the same old monologue about terrorism. Without actually saying it, he implied that those Arabs are terrorists. "And after 9/11, the world should be ready for a new kind of terrorism", he said, “Nuclear terrorism”.

The documentary showed how the Israelis are treating the Palestinians as if they were animals: stray animals that have stranded into your private land, and you’re forced to keep them there. Horrifying stories about pregnant women not being allowed to get to the hospital to deliver the baby, forcing them to do so in the vehicle they arrive in, forcing them to watch their babies die, were narrated in the documentary.

You do all this, and expect them to keep mum? Would YOU do the same in this situation? 

You speak of protecting yourself from the terrorism, and thus justify your acts of oppression. Aren’t you driving them into doing the same?

In psychology, there is a concept of ‘self fulfilling prophecies’. To understand this concept, we should know something called “schemas”. Everyone has certain theories, pre-conceived notions about everything, in their head: these notions are called schemas. One of the flaws of these schemas, is that they tend to be self fulfilling. 

Suppose I perceive a certain person to be aggressive, in reality he is not. Due to the schema I have, regarding his aggressive tendency, I act in a certain way towards him. I talk to him as if he is a lowly creature, because I don’t like his ‘aggression’. I try putting him behind bars, to prevent any harm to myself. Such acts will simply push him into doing the exact thing that I was worried about in the first place! And at the opportune moment, he might take revenge for all the trouble I put him through just on a mere notion that something existed, when in reality, it did not.

This is exactly what is happening, not only in Israel, but throughout the world. We think we know everything. We create our schemas and act in a certain way. Country Y positive, without an inkling of doubt, that X country is a threat to them. So they arm ourselves in anticipation of an attack. Looking at them, the poor country X feels threatened and arms itself too. And Y then carries a smug smile, saying “I told you so!”

No. You did not. You created the god-damn monster! Your acts, your words, your propaganda, your torture, your oppression, your stupidity, YOU.

The cycle is a viscious one. It HAS to stop. There HAS to be a break in chain. The link must be broken at SOME point. What the human race needs today is that point in time when we break the circle, break the link. Let us not kid ourselves with the illusion that we know the solution to everything. By our actions, we may in fact be creating that very problem which are 'solving'.

I-M-Patience.

It has been a very long time since I last wrote. I was caught up in work. I still am neck-deep in work, but I really need something to take my mind off of things. This semester is my fifth, out of ten long semesters. And it has been quite a challenge so far. Emotionally. No, none of the boohoo crap. It’s my tolerance. It has diminished to an extent that makes me doubts its existence. I shall talk about that in another post, maybe. Point is, I needed to blog again or else my head would just explode. And so, I shall talk about, ironically, PATIENCE.

This is quite a challenging topic for me, considering I have a very low patience level of my own. But sometimes, even I feel like some people really need to have patience, in certain relationships. Especially the romantic kind.

Why are we in such a hurry to get things done? Maybe in an era of fast food, fast communication and fast forwarded lives in general, we expect our problems and their solutions to fast forward too. I have news my friend. Not gonna happen.

In a very short span of time, several friends of mine had a glitch in their relationships. And they just gave up. Too soon, I felt. It got me wondering. One cannot just enter into a relationship and assume it to work on its own. You need to work it out. And the solving will take time too. You can’t just snap your fingers and expect everything to get back to normal.

True, some of the fights are small. You can sleep it over and it gets solved the next day. But not all spats are of the same magnitude. Some need sorting out. Voluntary sorting out. Laying down bare facts on the table. A voluntary dispute resolution, if I may say so. Coming to an agreement. Setting a limit, extending others.

Patience is the key. And there are no duplicates. And you can’t pick this lock. So no instant solutions either.

Another feature I saw common in these occurrences, for want of a better term, is best described by a concept in law called “volenti non fit injuria”. In colloquial words, it is best explained as, “you had it coming”. If this element is proved by the party you are suing, you can kiss your case goodbye.

So is the case with relationships. You break a person’s trust, you can’t expect them to forgive you with open arms. If they do, congratulations, you’ve found yourself a keeper. If not, congratulations, you are dating a normal human being. No one is Mother Teresa. If you have ego, it is reasonable that the other person will have it too. Someone HAS to let go of their ego. Why not be the one? Do you not cherish your relationship? What is more important here?

However, one very important warning I HAVE to give is, do not take it too far. Yes, let go of your ego. But not so much that the other side starts taking you for granted. Let them know they cannot walk all over you, and expect you to stay still. DO NOT stay still. Don't become a doormat.

And with this, let me get back to raising my blood pressure over all the irritating people around me.

Observations of an idle mooter

I recently represented my college at a national Moot Court Competition, and during lunch, while we waited for the results of the rounds, I watched the scene around me... here is what I can remember, after 15 days:

Pile of Plates defying gravity;

Gaudily dressed girls prancing about in stilettos;

A group of participants giggling loudly;

An obnoxious team showing off;

Teams sucking up to the judges and laughing loudly at their pathetic jokes;

Confusion everywhere;

Students lined up at the icecream table;

The ones who got the icecream hogging the bad icecream;

Everyone concentrating hard on their plates;

People with plates loaded with food scanning the place for seats;

ONE PLATE DOWN, million more to go! An icecream cup falls and a spoon flies tangentially, someone steps on the spoon and sends the pieces flying everywhere, but the pile stands resolutely, determined not to fall. Newton's gotta watch this!

Teachers Day Special

Another Teachers Day, to thank our teachers for their selfless dedication to our education and that jazz....

Selfless dedication? I seriously doubt..

How many of us have had bitter learning experiences with teachers who target us just because they don't like us, or attend the whole class and listen with rapt attention and take notes to have our attendance denied just because we came to class 35 seconds late, or give a test and realise that all the practical examples you wrote in your answer sheet will give you no marks because the teacher doesn't like stuff that he did not mention in class to be written in your answers? All of us, i daresay.

"Rattafication", "By-hearting", "memorizing" is the order of the day.

Our teachers don't want practical answers that link what is happening in the world to what we 'learn' in the classrooms. They want us to swallow every word they utter in class and then vomit it out on our papers, WORD TO WORD. What use is that? That's the job of a STENOGRAPHER not a student.

What is the ultimate purpose of education? To make us ready for the real world. To apply the principles and rules in our life and make it better. What use is this system of rattafication if i cant remember a word of it after i am done vomiting out the nonsense? Imagine how disgraceful it will be if suppose a historian comes up to me and asks, "So what do you think about the Russian Revolution and its impact on our lives today?", expecting a very informed reply from me and i go, "Sorry sir, out of syllabus question!"

And seriously, you REALLY think that after Google and Wikipedia and whatnot, we'll bother remembering the date of some random war that we think doesn't even make a difference to us? Tell us HOW it makes a difference to us. The date is not important, the idea is!

The World is getting more and more competitive and that means our standard of education needs to be such that it prepares us to be the best, and that not in terms of how much we can remember word to word but how much we can understand and apply and how well spread the idea.

William A. Ward said, “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”

i have had the opportunity of having three Great Teachers in my school. Sadly, i am no longer in school and am seriously concerned about the quality of teachers and the standards of education of the present day.

And it is not only the standard of education i am talking about.

A teacher should inspire the student, and push him and encourage him to do better and better with each try. A teacher cannot impose his own ideas on the student, he must allow the student to come up with opinions, thoughts and ideas of his own. If a student wants to do law while the rest of the class is gearing up for Engineering, the teacher must encourage that student equally. A great teacher finds pleasure in the fact that his student is deciding a path because he WANTS to take it, not because the SOCIETY wants him to take it. You are a TEACHER for god's sake, not a DICTATOR.

Such 'teachers' are a disgrace to the word teacher.

Unfortunately, there is a misconception in society that more the number of degrees a person has, the better teacher he is. Dear Professors, sorry to burst your bubble, that's not always true. You may be a great Academician, but if you fail to let your student grow, LEARN, Apply etc., well, You -CENSORED-.

Calvin here says precisely what i feel.

So dear 'Teacher', please correct your definition of 'learning' and 'inspiring' and try it sometime. It really feels good to see your students doing well in life in the field they choose out of their interest, and not merely training to be excellent stenographers/secretaries who take dictation. I am sure not all of us want to be one.

And yeah, Happy teachers Day :) :P

Happy Earth Day!!

5 Easy Ways To Save The Planet

A small video to celebrate Earth Day