Wednesday, May 14, 2008

New Blog on Bharatanatyam

http://natyavidya.wordpress.com/
I happened to know about this blog a couple of days ago from Vidya's father. Vidya is a cute, little, budding Bharatanatyam exponent. There are three posts so far, on Anusham Dance Group and Kalakshetra, but more instructive and interesting posts, I believe, are planned for future. Keep a watch on this blog.
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Sunday, May 04, 2008

School means leisure!!

The title says "mother knows best" but this article is about schooling - not the conventional one. It is about how some parents adopt different ways to educate their children.
From the article,
"People see their children suffering in various ways, bored with school, being bullied, insulted and demeaned by teachers. My feeling, based on my interaction with the online group over the past seven years, is that probably more people are turning to home education. I do know that about six people have joined the group every week—mostly those who are home-educating their children or are seeking the courage to do so."
"The Motwanis walk down to the Gateway of India every day. Whatever catches Mahuli’s (their four-and-a-half-year-old daughter) fancy becomes a lesson. A question on why the rocks are visible at certain times of the day and go underwater at others leads to a discussion on tides; an observation of various kinds of animal poop on the Colaba pavements triggers a conversation on scatology."
"It might seem ironical that a home-educated child would find it thrilling to top a competition—antithetical to the very concept of home schooling—but Nadisha (a home educated girl) is quick to point out her priority wasn’t so much to beat 175 others, as it was to give her best."
"Children need a sense of belonging. So, unless it becomes common enough in India, parents need to focus hard on peer interaction. In fact, I think the plus points of regular schools are the break-time or the bus journeys. Without adequate interaction with the outside world, there may be too much of the parents, even a danger of claustrophobia."
"It’s not for every child. Nor is it, obviously, for every parent. But for those for whom it works, it is the most meaningful thing in the world."
Links mentioned in the article
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Friday, May 02, 2008

Dilemma of Dichotomy

Fritjof Capra was asked,
Can you tell us about a unique experience that changed or shaped your spiritual beliefs?
And Capra's answer,
I have been through many such experiences, but one I would mention was my meeting with Krishnamurti, early on in my career. I had read him extensively, and he was both very convincing and fascinating to me. As I was moving to California after two years of post-doctoral work, I was facing a real problem: how could I embark on a career as a physicist and pursue science, which is about seeking knowledge, while abiding by Krishnamurti’s injunction to free oneself from the known, to go beyond rational teaching? He happened then to come to the University of Santa-Cruz where I was teaching. He was not keen on meeting people beyond his lecture, but as luck would have it, his assistant turned out to be French. I was married to a French woman at the time who befriended him and sure enough, we had an audience with the Master. I told him about my dilemma and without even blinking an eye he said "you are first a human being, only then a scientist". As a human being, we have to go beyond the known in order to deal with our existential problems. Then of course, as a scientist I could pursue knowledge in a more restricted environment. From then on the problem was gone, he had solved my dilemma. I have had that experience several times --- being ready to hear something and someone with a lot of personality and charisma shows up carrying that message, saying the right thing, at the right time.
You may read his full interview at Indian Express website.
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After a long gap ...

I am posting this after a long gap. Hope no one missed my posts. I did not post the things I had written due to connectivity problems, unwillingness, and various other reasons. Those problems still exist. I could see the grin on my well-wishers' expressive faces which would form a crescent only if all those countenances are placed next to each other. Ugh... Guh... Uhg... Hug... I will slowly initiate my postings again; will nudge my posts here and there to enter the world of web.
Hug. Hug. Hug the post. There comes Capra with Jiddu Krishnamurti.