Archive for September, 2009

Bye Nikhil,we shall always miss you!

{ September 29, 2009 @ 11:23 am } · { on and off }
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Its a sad day for its never easy to tell an abrupt goodbye to what you thought would be a long story. Nikhil Kamath as the batch of 2005 of PSBB would remember was an exceptionally brilliant guy,an achiever in every sense of the word and who had the potential to get what he wanted. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to meet some very talented people but perhaps the class of 12B was by far the most gifted set of people I have ever been lucky enough to be associated with.Nikhil was one of the best.There was always an aura of confidence about him , a cocksure attitude about his ability and he was always on the mark.This is as I remember him from four years ago and I have met few like him since then.
I always looked at the honor board in the school with a fond memory, now I shall remember Nikhil and what could have been. In a sense his loss , its just not fair. He was exceptionally gifted and motivated and these guys dont come often.
When I look back and think of Nikhil I think of brilliance,amazing mathematical skills,an excellent quizzer,motivated,achiever and whom we all thought would really go places.It has indeed been an honor to have shared a classroom with him once.He did in a sense achieve what many dont in a long time.Its a loss that we collectively mourn. This quote from Anish best sums it up for all the people who knew him and his friends…

“I thought I had all the time in the world to catch up with him.. he was a great person and a good friend.. we’ll miss u, Nikhil!!”

Its Del Potro’s time to grab

{ September 16, 2009 @ 8:03 am } · { Sampras, djokovic, federer, nadal, sports, tennis }
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The just concluded US Open is memorable in many ways. It had Kim Clistjers come back from a 2 year break to win the US Open,Melanie Oudin revived the Great American dream while the British saw theirs sink for yet another time,a host of top players including Serena,Fed and Rafa burst at the umpire with Serena making it the highlight of her this year’s campaign.The greatest and most visibly outrageous one is Del Potro’s win.

Federer was in such imperious form , it was a treat to watch him.Against Soderling he was shoddy but Djokovic’s match was brilliant.I did not think Del Potro could win him. But win he did with that big serve and stinging forehand. The way Del Potro treated Nadal was almost funny. Nadal was just out played and unless he finds a different technique Del Potro will be the same as he himself is to Federer.Ironically the topspin that troubles Fed so much is rendered ineffective against Del Potro’s height. I am not convinced by Fed’s greatness he just got lucky in the past two slams -no Nadal. Unless he wins Nadal and reverses their head to head record he cannot and should not be the all time greatest player.But undoubtedly he is the most consistent athlete ever in any modern competitive sporting era. And that is something that will never be replicated probably.

Kim won, good for her a tremendous achievement indeed.But really women’s tennis sucks these days. we have to wait for the crop of young players to grow up.there was a time some 8 years back when the Williamses entered when women’s tennis was exciting and highly competitive and they are the only ones who retain that spirit even now. And clearly the rankings are so much of a mockery now that no one takes it seriously except probably Safina.

Lastly, Del Potro is exciting but lets wait and watch lest he goes the Safin way. Really in all this Safin has been forgotten. He is an example of so much talent gone waste. This guy had the game to whip Sampras,Had it in him to beat Federer(he did that too mind you) but he was destiny’s prodigal son really.Such a regrettable act. Why? is the only thing I think when i see him play. If only he had lent some wee bit of that talent to his more balanced sister she could have managed to lay her hands on a grandslam trophy .

Serena’s little outburst is really passable.Come on cut the female some slack. she was losing a match and generally does not go about abusing umpires. I think past record(not in that day’s match alone) should be taken into consideration while handing out penalties in matches of importance like a grandslam semi final on a match point.

Melaine Oudin really is a talent. I like the way she plays and think she has the game to go great places.She requires consistency,self belief and some tweaking.

A memorable open of upsets, really.

And so the tenth boards take a bow!

{ September 1, 2009 @ 12:01 pm } · { on and off }
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Its an interesting decision. In a country obsessed with point one percentiles and ninety eight percentages its a rare occurence,this one. Its a welcome one. I am not biased against the board exams, I performed very well in both of mine,however I have never seen the point behind both the boards. A continuous assessment however is a tougher nut to crack.It demands that you be on your feet,up and going throughout the year.The change will work only if the public’s mentality changes.the obsessive competition and craze to crack the IITs , if they exist the current situation would only burden the child more.
To be frank tenth standard CBSE boards is not a very formidable task at all. Anyday I would pick the board exams as they are easy to crack.its only the pressure associated with it thats burdensome. the exams as such are not very difficult.
Here’s why..
1. Different schools have different yardsticks to measure a student’s capability.The level of toughness of exams varies. The interest of the school also varies.Some schools are very exam centric,some stress on an overall development and if the performance of the students is used as the standard to guage the school’s strength ,the latter ones would be at a disadvantage.
2.If CBSE is to introduce standardised papers throughout the nation its like repeating the board saga at multiple points in a year.
3. The syllabus is anyway not very great so a grading system would not make much of a difference in the improvement of a student’s learning.
4.the Indian school education itself is marks oriented hence this step would not lead to a coherent relationship between knowledge and evaluation.

It has a few definite advantages though
1. It removes the pressure off a 15 yr old’s back.Experts agree that by far the toughest exam for an age group is the tenth boards because of the pressure associated with it.
2.Tenth boards are not mandatory. they can be dispensed with and they have been. thats good always.
3.it can be seen as the first legitimate step towards a much needed reform of the Indian education system.

However, the Government needs to tread with caution. Review boards judging the competence of school papers is necessary.Even if that were to be the case the schools can always bypass the board by training their students suited to the questions they set.This would exacerbate the situation and remove any semblance of actual learning from schools.infact I feel the government has gone about it the wrong way.it seems to be a top-bottom approach,just like it did with the OBC reservations. A revamping of curriculum,appointment of proper faculty, reducing the work load of children,concentrating more on lab work than rote learning,a change in question pattern,diversity and flexibility in the subjects taught,encouragement of the arts and pure sciences are all mandatory steps necessary.If none of these is implemented and board exams are scrapped,it would only spell disaster.
These are interesting times nevertheless and I am so glad I got my boards behind me!