ABOUT A COUPLE OF BOOKS !

“That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly. It is dearness only which gives everything its value.”

My last week was a very eventful one for me. I moved to a place closer to my office. It just takes me 5 minutes of travel from office to reach my room. I was saving a lot of time and energy. I utilized it effectively to read and to contemplate.

Usually I go with one book at a time, complete it, and then move on to the next. But I tried something new this time around. I was reading two books in parallel. One was ‘Emotional Intelligence’ (EI) by Daniel Goleman and the other was ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ (RDPD) by Robert T. Kiyosaki. It made for an interesting recipe and I must say that the content of both the books have been real eye openers for me. It was very draining as I was learning so many new things in such a small time frame.

Both the books spoke about becoming ‘rich’ in life. While Emotional Intelligence talked about the importance of growing rich emotionally, RDPD was about becoming rich financially. Though there may be feeling that both the books are on entirely diverse topics, I found that there was a lot in common. Both the books had the onus on ‘learning’. Both of them made me realize some of the fallacies in my thought process.

EI (I am yet to complete few chapters of this book) has added a new dimension to my thinking. After reading this I have started to look at people around me differently. It compels us to think more about what we feel and in the process helps us to be more honest with emotions. How does the author do it? By explaining scientifically which parts of the brain are responsible for which emotions and by listing out and explaining various life experiences which we can easily relate to. The book aims at explaining how Emotional Intelligence is more important than the conventional IQ to succeed personally and professionally in our lives.

The book helps us understand the rationale behind various emotions and the root causes of many of the ills in our families and society. What goes through the brain when we are in a fit of rage and when our performance is at its peak, why are usually girls more vocal about their emotions, why do some people connect easily with people, why some people are so emotionally nourishing, why are sincere empathizing and listening skills so important for any relationship to flourish are few of the many things which are elucidated in the book. No, he doesn’t generalize but definitely brings out a perspective with intuitive scientific and social facts to support the ideas expressed.

It was a little boring for me at places when the author went into the technical details of the functioning of the brain but it was worth persisting for it gave me an exhilarating experience of understanding ourselves, our relationships, people and society. I hope to put to use what I have learnt!

"I have never met people who have fallen in love who have never had their heart broken and I have never met someone rich who has never lost money."

The other book ‘RDPD’ has also been a quite a revelation for me. One of the best books I have ever read. I never thought about Money the way it is explained in the book, may be that is partially due to the background I have come from. Some of ideas came to me as a total surprise.
The book is primarily about having us realize the importance of strong financial knowledge which as the author points out is never taught in our schools. What is an asset and what is a liability, how to have money work for you instead of you working for money, why are the skills of marketing and selling so important to acquire? - These are few of the ideas conveyed using simple but motivating words and examples.

It talks about having a ‘rich’ life but without ever becoming a slave to money. The author says that the education given in schools is inadequate because handling finances, investing and risk taking are never part of the teaching menu. He recommends people to seek work for what they learn and not for what they earn. It made a lot of sense to me and forced me to think altogether differently about job and money. As I read the book, I felt, for a moment, handicapped and hallow for all the things I didn’t know and understand.

There were quite a few times when I felt the content is repeated but it didn’t bother me so much. The book was truly inspiring and enlightening.

As always happens with every book I read, these books also instilled new thoughts and new ideas in me and reminded me of the innumerable things that I am ignorant of. It requires practice and implementation of the ideas and thoughts very consciously every minute and every day till they become a way of life.

I feel at times intimidated by the amount of the effort I need to put in and some other times motivated by the results it will fetch.

After reading the two books, I watched the movie ‘In Pursuit of Happyness’ for the nth time. It was a satisfying experience as I could easily relate to the content in both books to the movie.

I strongly recommend reading both these books.

“Education is more valuable than money, in the long run”

A CHILD'S WORLD !

As I was reading a book and slowing retiring to sleep this Saturday afternoon, I felt a sudden rush of activity in my home. It was Bitto, as he is fondly called in our apartment, a one and half year old boy whom his mother brought to our home. I and my sister are fond of kids and this fact is well noted by Bitto’s mother.

My sister brought him to the room where I was sleeping and I immediately jumped onto my feet to take him into my hands. I started to jump, laugh, dance and cry with him. Kids fascinate me. It just takes a sight of a kid for me to turn into one. Their energy, inquisitive nature and memory simply amuse me. How wonderful it would be if we could retain some of the qualities of a child forever?

He started to pull all the things around him and was exploring all possible ways of dissembling objects. He had a special affiliation for pressure cookers. His mother always talks about him playing with them. So, I took him to the kitchen and let him spot one. He carried it all the way to the hall where his mother was seated and I followed him. I brought some more utensils and joined his party even as my mother was worried about us damaging the cooker and messing up the whole place. We played for some time and it was time for him to have his afternoon nap.

After he left for his home, I got back to reading the book and within few pages of reading I came across this paragraph – “The single most important contribution education can make to a child’s development is to help him toward a field where his talents best suit him, where he will be satisfied and competent. We’ve completely lost sight of that. Instead we subject everyone to an education where, if you succeed, you will be best suited to be a college professor. And we evaluate everyone along the way according to whether they meet that narrow standard of success. We should spend less time ranking children and more time helping them identify their natural competencies and gifts, and cultivate those. There are hundreds and hundreds of ways to succeed, and many, many different abilities that will help you get there.”

How true I thought.

I pictured Bittoo having to attend a school in a couple of years from now and having to going through the same rigors which millions of other children go through and felt a little uneasy about it. I thought, at the cost of being cynical, that though he might do well at school, there are equally good chances that he might not realize his true interests. The fact that our education system is so narrow minded bothered me.

Sometime back I was reading an article in Hindu ‘The inclusive world of children’ where the author talks about our rotten education system. There he talked about bright little children going to school with all eagerness and returning home with the sparkle in their eyes squashed. He said ‘As parents and as educators we take a child who is, and measure him against some mythic “typical” child who does not actually exist. And the child in question, the living, breathing, quirky little child in front of us slowly disappears.’

The author questioned why should any child’s first encounter with organized education be fraught with anxiety(he was referring to the admission policies of schools) and why should any child be asked to swallow the idea that he/she isn’t good for any school. He accused rightly that our classrooms are not communities for learning but arenas where competitors vie for prizes and that children are not encouraged to acquire knowledge for its own sake but for points.

I think he is right in saying that we treat syllabus as tenets and can never be tampered with. Learning is not a competition and children can take part in activities according to their capabilities not according to a preset notion of what they should be capable of. How can we expect same things from each child? How can we expect every child to be good at everything in school? If a child isn’t performing well, he is humiliated; teachers turn mean, saying things to him unacceptable for adults.

The author finally said that children should not be praised for intelligence but for their effort. He says ‘Intelligence is not in anyone’s control – why praise for it? Effort is. And effort almost always trumps intelligence.”

I understand that the issue is very complex and that there is a lot of scope for discussion. It is good that movies like 'Taare Zameen Par' are being made and that many articles are being written in magazines and newspapers to address the problem. This is too short a space to put in all my thoughts but I would like to conclude as follows-

The root cause of the problem lies within our education system and with the attitude towards education. It is the responsibility of both parents and teachers to put in an effort to explore and identify the true strengths of a child. And a proper education system is a requisite for facilitating the process so that a child identifies his prowess very early in his age and will be in a better position to make career choices.

Open to your comments !

Kick 'start'ing the RACE to 'end' it!

“I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners - an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.”

In case you haven’t recognized who mouthed these words, it is the America’s newly elected Democratic Presidential candidate – Barack Obama. I have picked up the following phrase from an article to describe him and his latest achievement – “Battle hardened mythic slayer of the famed and feared two-headed Clinton Dragon”

Over the last few weeks, which saw one of the famous and intense battles in America’s history for the Democratic presidential candidature, I had developed an interest in the electoral process in America. For me who has very minimal knowledge of American political and electoral process, the race between the America’s former first lady - Hilary Clinton and the ‘would be first’ American Black President(yes, I am positive) - Barack Obama was most intriguing for various reasons.

The foremost among them is the diversity factor that these two have brought to the elections that are due this November. Hilary adds the flavor of gender diversity and Obama accounts for the race diversity. While Obama sketches out his compelling life narratives as a metaphor for American dream, Hilary brings in all her experience as a former American First Lady to the fore. Contrasting yet influential personalities!

When two determined, competitive and forceful personalities clash for a top position it makes for an interesting observation. In one my pursuits to know more about these people I have come across the transcript and video recording of a campaigning speech by Obama. Here, he speaks with great conviction and purpose about the menace called racism and the ways to overcome it. And while doing this, he also addresses with ease the other areas of concern like unemployment, health care and quality education for the poor in America.

While urging the people of America to insist on full measure of justice to address their grievances he uses the follows words which I think, make sense not only in the American context but to each one of us –
“..it means taking full responsibility for own lives - by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny. “

The complete video recording and transcript of his speech is available at - http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/hisownwords

The story of ‘Ashely’ that he mentions at the end of his speech is truly inspiring. The choice and reasoning of the lady in the story are truly worth emulating.

The message is not far from applicable in the Indian context. We can pick a leaf or two from his speech to address the problems of caste, poverty and unemployment.

We Indians badly miss a leader like Obama – a genuine leader!

The grand finale – Obama Vs McCain … Keeping my fingers crossed.