PEG-I
I don't take any risk while pegging !
my wife will be busy cooking in the kitchen by the time I go home !
I here some sound on the shelf !
I tiptoe into the house without making any sound !
I take out the bottle from my black cupboard !
I do everything secretly!
Because I don't take any risk!
An unused glass
Kept in the bathroom shelf I take out carefully!
I pour a peg into the glass and drink to my throat !
After washing the glass cleanly I place it back in the shelf!
Of course! I do wash the bottle too and keep it back !
Ganghiji is giggling from the photo!
I then go to the kitchen to see!
My wife is mixing the dough!
I do everything secretly!
Because I don't any risk!
Me: Is Reddy's daughter's marriage finalised!
My wife from the kitchen: He himself is a big loafer, his daughter is really unfortunate!
PEG-II
I again come out of the kitchen!
Some one is calling from inside the black cupboard!
I take out the rest of the bottle without making any sound !
I pour a peg into the glass and drink to my throat again!
After washing the glass I keep it in the bathroom!
Of course! I keep the black glass in the shelf!
I do do everything secretly!
Because I don't take any risk!
Me: by the by is Reddy's daughter grown up to be married?
My wife from the bedroom: What, grown up? She ia as old as two asses together!
Me: (Resisting myself from saying...............) is it?
PEG-III
I again take the dough from the black cupboard!
Cupboard has changed its place!
Taking the bottle out from the shelf!
I pour a peg into the bathroom!
Gandhiji is laughing loudly!
After keeping the shelf in the dough!
I wash Gandhiji's photo and keep it in the cupboard!
My wife places the bathroom over the stove!
The bottle does everything secretly!
Because I don't take any risk!
Me: (angrily) How dare! you call Reddy an ass?
My wife from the cupboard: Stop blabbering nonsense, just get the hell out of here!
PEG-IV
I take out the bottle from dough!
Getting into the black cupboard I take a peg!
After washing the bathroom I keep it back in the shelf!
My wife is laughing at me from the photo!
Gandhiji is still busy cooking in the kitchen!
Reddy does everything secretly!
Because I don't take any risk!
Me: (laughing) What Reddy married an ass?
My wife from the bottle: Just shut up, go and help Gandhiji in the kitchen!
I peeped into the kitchen again and came back!
I sit calmly inside the shelf!
The glass is also in the shelf!
I here the bottles making a lot of sound outside the kitchen!
I get out of the bottle and see!
My wife busy taking peg on peg in the bathroom!
The donkey does everything secretly!
Because Gandhiji doesn’t take any risk!
Reddy is still busy cooking in the kitchen!
I keep laughing at my wife from the photo hung on the wall!
The bottle does everything secretly!
Because the peg doesn’t take any risk!
(Originally written in Marathi by an unidentified poet and the Telugu version of it written by Harish G was published in Telugu daily Andhrajyothi recently)
Monday, August 25, 2008
BIDAR: A POTENTIAL TOURISM DESTINATION AND SUGGESTIVE MEASURES TO TAP THE POTENTIALITY
INTRODUCTION
Bidar is a city and taluka in Karnataka state, India. It is the administrative seat of Bidar District. Bidar is also know as Karnatakda kerita.
Bidar city is known for its unique Bidri handicraft products. Manjeera is one of the main rivers supplying drinking water for Bidar. Historically prominent centre and boasts of historical monuments and religious places of importance. Has every feature of being a potential natonal and international spot of tourism.
GEOGRAPHY
Bidar is located at 17.9° N 77.55° E[1]. It has an average elevation of 615 metres (2017 feet).
BEST TIME TO VISIT
The best time to visit Bidar is between October and March.
HISTORY
The first Rashtrakuta capital, Mayurkhandi, was in Bidar district. The regal capital was later moved by Amoghavarsha I to Manyakheta in the present Gulbarga district.
Kalyani (today called Basavakalyan, after Basaveshwara) in Bidar district was the capital of Western Chalukyas, who were also called Kalyani Chalukyas after their capital. The Kalachuris continued with Kalyani as their capital.
Later, Bidar was ruled in succession by the Sevuna Yadavas of Devagiri and the Kakatiyas of Warangal, before being invaded by the armies of Allauddin Khilji, Malik Kafur and Muhammad bin Tughluq.
The generals of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq who were nominated as viceroys of the newly conquered Deccan region broke up and formed the Bahmani Sultanate under Allauddin Hasan Gangu Bahman Shah.
The Bahmani capital was shifted from Ahsanabad (Kalburgi or Kalubaruge, pronounced as Gulbarga by the Muslim newcomers), to Muhammadabad (Bidar, as it was called then), in 1425 and remained capital until the Sultanate's breakup after 1518. It then became the center of the Barid Shahis, one of the five independent sultanates known as the Deccan sultanates, that were the successor states to the Bahmani kingdom.
HOW TO REACH
By Air: Rajiv Gandhi International Terminal, Shamshabad, Hyderabad is Just 150 Kms away from Bidar District Head Quarters. Its just 3 hours drive from the airport to Bidar on NH9 till Zaheerabad and a diversion of 30 KMs after Zaheerabad.
By Rail : Rail facility is available from Bangalore and Hyderbad. Bangalore - Nanded Link Express Via Bidar, Departure from Bangalore at 9.50 PM. Secundrabad - Manmad Express from Hyderbad Departure at 6 PM from Secundrabad Station, Hyderbad. Hyderbad - Aurangabad Express from Kachiguda weekly thrice. One can also take Udyan express or KK Express from Bangalore reach Gulbarga and take a bus from there, its 105 KMS from Gulbarga.
By Road: From Bangalore many Govt Luxury Buses of KSRTC ply daily via Hyderbad, Its 16 hours journey from Bangalore via Hyderabad on NH 7 and NH 9. From Bangalore Via Gulbarga and Bellary its 20 hours journey. From Hyderbad Imaliban bus stand for every 15 minutes a Bus to Bidar is available from Plat form No 36.
One can take cycle-rickshaw or auto-rickshaw to move in the town
WHERE TO STAY
There are very few hotels and lodges in Bidar. Whatever accommodation is available is of mediocre standard.
TOURIST ATTRACTIONS
The following places of this District attract a lots of tourists all through the year although the influx is far below it potential.
Guru Nank Jhirar
Gurudwara Bidar is one of Holiest Place for Sikhs. Every Year this place attracts lots of tourists from all parts of the country particularly during the months of November and March. Legend has it that Saint Guru Nanak visited the place while the land was in the grip of a famine The Guru performed a miracle at the request of the locals and a spring of water from the laterite rock mountain burst out. Till this day crystal clear water flows from the laterite trap. The belief is that drinking of this water cures many ailments.
Papnash Shiva Temple at Bidar:.
As per the local traditional saying, the Shiva Linga idol in this temple is one of those installed by Shri RAM during the time of his journey back from Lanka. The location of the temple in a valley is mesmerising to the eyes. Every year at the time of Shivrathri festival lot of tourists visit this place. A natural spring flows into a pond in front of the temple which is called 'Papnasha'
Narshimha Jhira Water Cave Temple:
At this place the Powerful diety as per the belief here is situated in cave of nealy 300 meters. One has to wade through water upto chest height to have darshan of the diety. It will be thrilling experience with bats and owls sitting on the roof toop of cave but they will not do any harm to the devotees. In the year 1999 with efforts of an young IAS Officer Mr. M Maheswar Rao who was working as Assistant Commissioner and was incharge of this temple committee got the cave Air conditioned and Electrified.
Dev DeV Vana (Botanical Garden):
An Eco Tourism center 6 KM away from Bidar town on Bidar - Hyderbad Highway. With more than 200 medicinal plants, this vana is believed to be something of an unconventional temple of plants.
Veerbhadreshewar Jatra's at Humnabad & Changlare:
Two very ancient temples of Lord Veerbhadreshwara in Humnabad Taluk one at Humnabad and one at Changlara village attract lakhs of tourists in the Month of January and November respectively for the yearly Jatra and cart pulling Mohotsav's. The temple at Humnabad constructed in 1725 is famous for its moving pillar.
Manik Prabhu Temple at Humnabad:
It attracts lots of tourists in the Month of December at the time of Annual Celebrations. On the same occasion every year a Night long Classical Musical function will be held and till now the likes of Bhimsen Joshi, Zakir hussain and many others have come here for this annual jatra mahotsav.
Bidar Fort
Period of Construction: Built in 8th century, renovated in 1428 AD.
Constructed by: Sultan Ahmad Shah Bahamani
Originally built in 8th century and strengthened and renovated in 1428 by Sultan Ahmad Shah Bahamani, the Bidar fort boasts of a dominating presence in the Bidar landscape. Nestled inside this moated fort is the royal town dotted with crumbling ruins of the bastions and gates, royal baths and kitchens, audience halls, and pleasure pavilions.
Madrassa of Mahmud Gawan
Madrassa of Mahmud Gawan is an Islamic seminary built in 1472 by Khwaja Mohammad Gawan, the Prime Minister during the reign of Bahamani ruler Muhammad-III. This university was once a renowned centre of learning in the Muslim world for the scholars of Persian, Arabic, philosophy, theology and mathematics. The massive three-storey building housed a mosque, a laboratory, lecture halls, quarters for the teaching faculty and a students' hostel.
Chaubara
The Chaubara is a mighty 71-feet-tall tower located at the heart of the town. Built to function as an observation post, this cylindrical structure gives a commanding view of the entire city from the top.
PLACES AROUND BIDAR
There are a few places of tourist interest around Bidar. Basvakalyan, the capital city of the latter Chalukyas in the 10th century, is 80 km from Bidar, while Humnabad, 52 km from Bidar, is a famous pilgrim center and attracts thousands of devotees annually.
FAIRS & FESTIVALS
*Thousands of devotees throng to Humnabad during Veerabhadreshwara Jatra, which is a local fair. This annual fair is held for seven days during January-February.
*Bidar Utsav is organised to attract tourists.
WHAT TO CARRY FROM THE MARKET
BIDRI (a specialized metal handcraft) is done in Bidar. The basic material used is an alloy of 94% zinc and 6% copper. After moulding, the required article is filed and the surface smoothened. The design is then sketched and engraved on it. Pure silver wires and sheets are inlaid by hammering them into the engraved designs.
PRESENT STATUS OF TOURISM HERE
The present status of tourism in bidar is not its potential at all. having so many places of importance historicall as well as from the religious point of view it still doesn't stand out in the tourism map of india.
there is an array of problems attached to this starting from infrastructure to information. tourism industry could be the second highest income earner for the district if projected systematically and the present challenges are honestly won over.
SUGGESTIVE MEASURES TO TAP THE POTENTIAL TOURISM INDUSTRY TO ITS FULLER LENGTH:
A) Agressive Publicity Campaign
Tourism Department has not taken up any major publicity campaign
Although Bidar is declared a heritage city, Department of Tourism hardly gives any publicity to the monuments. So as to meet the demand department of tourism has to campaign aggressively to increase influx and create awareness.
B) Tourism Information and Promotion Building
The department never had a serious presence in the district even after having a building. At present, the building had been temporarily allotted to some other department. The department must start functioning from its building seriously to help the tourists and to create awareness.
C) E-Linking
Bidar could be a constant attraction for tourists but many of these monuments remained unknown to the outside world. E-Linking in collaboration with the tourism promotors from corporate sectors can also be wooved from across the globe.
D) Infrastucutre
_ Laying of bipass highway connecting Nanded with Bidar should be completed. It may be noted that NHAI has sought Rs. 40 crore for developing the Nanded-Bidar highway but it has materialised yet.
_Highway connecting Gulbarga city with Bidar should be converted into atleast two-lane for a smoother journey.
_Although the city is connected with railway line there are hardly two trains are run one from Bengaluru and another from Hyderabad. So there is need to increase number of trains and double line railway.
_This city has air force training centre but doesn't have its own airport. It may not be economically feasible to build an airport now but the future needs may make it imminent as Gulbarga and Hyderabad are growing at a great pace.
_ Beautification of these places by designing gardens and parks would also support the tourism development.
E) Accommodation
There is dire need of better hotels because of which tourists normally avoid touring Bidar even though its just 150 km drive from Hyderabad.
F) Places to relish
Bidar does not offer any special cuisine to the traveler. The restaurants and eating points offer traditional Indian dishes. This gives an opportunity for the hospitality industry to contribute its part. The department can start a food festival as well.
G) Tourist circuit within the district
A systematized tourist circuit should be developed to connect all the impotant places of interest for better access within the district with its headquarters.
H) Basava Peace Convention
The Basava Peace Convention must be immediately put to action to draw tourists from across the globe to participate in convention for internatonal peace and spirituality organised in the lines of philosophy propogated by the great social reformer and promoter of shaivism.
Bidar could be one of the important tourist destinations of north Karnataka if its potential is tapped properly. The government, hyderabad karnataka development board ,NGO’s and the locals must strive to materialise this impending fact. This tranformation would ultimately benefit the so called backward region of the software savvy state.
Bidar is a city and taluka in Karnataka state, India. It is the administrative seat of Bidar District. Bidar is also know as Karnatakda kerita.
Bidar city is known for its unique Bidri handicraft products. Manjeera is one of the main rivers supplying drinking water for Bidar. Historically prominent centre and boasts of historical monuments and religious places of importance. Has every feature of being a potential natonal and international spot of tourism.
GEOGRAPHY
Bidar is located at 17.9° N 77.55° E[1]. It has an average elevation of 615 metres (2017 feet).
BEST TIME TO VISIT
The best time to visit Bidar is between October and March.
HISTORY
The first Rashtrakuta capital, Mayurkhandi, was in Bidar district. The regal capital was later moved by Amoghavarsha I to Manyakheta in the present Gulbarga district.
Kalyani (today called Basavakalyan, after Basaveshwara) in Bidar district was the capital of Western Chalukyas, who were also called Kalyani Chalukyas after their capital. The Kalachuris continued with Kalyani as their capital.
Later, Bidar was ruled in succession by the Sevuna Yadavas of Devagiri and the Kakatiyas of Warangal, before being invaded by the armies of Allauddin Khilji, Malik Kafur and Muhammad bin Tughluq.
The generals of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq who were nominated as viceroys of the newly conquered Deccan region broke up and formed the Bahmani Sultanate under Allauddin Hasan Gangu Bahman Shah.
The Bahmani capital was shifted from Ahsanabad (Kalburgi or Kalubaruge, pronounced as Gulbarga by the Muslim newcomers), to Muhammadabad (Bidar, as it was called then), in 1425 and remained capital until the Sultanate's breakup after 1518. It then became the center of the Barid Shahis, one of the five independent sultanates known as the Deccan sultanates, that were the successor states to the Bahmani kingdom.
HOW TO REACH
By Air: Rajiv Gandhi International Terminal, Shamshabad, Hyderabad is Just 150 Kms away from Bidar District Head Quarters. Its just 3 hours drive from the airport to Bidar on NH9 till Zaheerabad and a diversion of 30 KMs after Zaheerabad.
By Rail : Rail facility is available from Bangalore and Hyderbad. Bangalore - Nanded Link Express Via Bidar, Departure from Bangalore at 9.50 PM. Secundrabad - Manmad Express from Hyderbad Departure at 6 PM from Secundrabad Station, Hyderbad. Hyderbad - Aurangabad Express from Kachiguda weekly thrice. One can also take Udyan express or KK Express from Bangalore reach Gulbarga and take a bus from there, its 105 KMS from Gulbarga.
By Road: From Bangalore many Govt Luxury Buses of KSRTC ply daily via Hyderbad, Its 16 hours journey from Bangalore via Hyderabad on NH 7 and NH 9. From Bangalore Via Gulbarga and Bellary its 20 hours journey. From Hyderbad Imaliban bus stand for every 15 minutes a Bus to Bidar is available from Plat form No 36.
One can take cycle-rickshaw or auto-rickshaw to move in the town
WHERE TO STAY
There are very few hotels and lodges in Bidar. Whatever accommodation is available is of mediocre standard.
TOURIST ATTRACTIONS
The following places of this District attract a lots of tourists all through the year although the influx is far below it potential.
Guru Nank Jhirar
Gurudwara Bidar is one of Holiest Place for Sikhs. Every Year this place attracts lots of tourists from all parts of the country particularly during the months of November and March. Legend has it that Saint Guru Nanak visited the place while the land was in the grip of a famine The Guru performed a miracle at the request of the locals and a spring of water from the laterite rock mountain burst out. Till this day crystal clear water flows from the laterite trap. The belief is that drinking of this water cures many ailments.
Papnash Shiva Temple at Bidar:.
As per the local traditional saying, the Shiva Linga idol in this temple is one of those installed by Shri RAM during the time of his journey back from Lanka. The location of the temple in a valley is mesmerising to the eyes. Every year at the time of Shivrathri festival lot of tourists visit this place. A natural spring flows into a pond in front of the temple which is called 'Papnasha'
Narshimha Jhira Water Cave Temple:
At this place the Powerful diety as per the belief here is situated in cave of nealy 300 meters. One has to wade through water upto chest height to have darshan of the diety. It will be thrilling experience with bats and owls sitting on the roof toop of cave but they will not do any harm to the devotees. In the year 1999 with efforts of an young IAS Officer Mr. M Maheswar Rao who was working as Assistant Commissioner and was incharge of this temple committee got the cave Air conditioned and Electrified.
Dev DeV Vana (Botanical Garden):
An Eco Tourism center 6 KM away from Bidar town on Bidar - Hyderbad Highway. With more than 200 medicinal plants, this vana is believed to be something of an unconventional temple of plants.
Veerbhadreshewar Jatra's at Humnabad & Changlare:
Two very ancient temples of Lord Veerbhadreshwara in Humnabad Taluk one at Humnabad and one at Changlara village attract lakhs of tourists in the Month of January and November respectively for the yearly Jatra and cart pulling Mohotsav's. The temple at Humnabad constructed in 1725 is famous for its moving pillar.
Manik Prabhu Temple at Humnabad:
It attracts lots of tourists in the Month of December at the time of Annual Celebrations. On the same occasion every year a Night long Classical Musical function will be held and till now the likes of Bhimsen Joshi, Zakir hussain and many others have come here for this annual jatra mahotsav.
Bidar Fort
Period of Construction: Built in 8th century, renovated in 1428 AD.
Constructed by: Sultan Ahmad Shah Bahamani
Originally built in 8th century and strengthened and renovated in 1428 by Sultan Ahmad Shah Bahamani, the Bidar fort boasts of a dominating presence in the Bidar landscape. Nestled inside this moated fort is the royal town dotted with crumbling ruins of the bastions and gates, royal baths and kitchens, audience halls, and pleasure pavilions.
Madrassa of Mahmud Gawan
Madrassa of Mahmud Gawan is an Islamic seminary built in 1472 by Khwaja Mohammad Gawan, the Prime Minister during the reign of Bahamani ruler Muhammad-III. This university was once a renowned centre of learning in the Muslim world for the scholars of Persian, Arabic, philosophy, theology and mathematics. The massive three-storey building housed a mosque, a laboratory, lecture halls, quarters for the teaching faculty and a students' hostel.
Chaubara
The Chaubara is a mighty 71-feet-tall tower located at the heart of the town. Built to function as an observation post, this cylindrical structure gives a commanding view of the entire city from the top.
PLACES AROUND BIDAR
There are a few places of tourist interest around Bidar. Basvakalyan, the capital city of the latter Chalukyas in the 10th century, is 80 km from Bidar, while Humnabad, 52 km from Bidar, is a famous pilgrim center and attracts thousands of devotees annually.
FAIRS & FESTIVALS
*Thousands of devotees throng to Humnabad during Veerabhadreshwara Jatra, which is a local fair. This annual fair is held for seven days during January-February.
*Bidar Utsav is organised to attract tourists.
WHAT TO CARRY FROM THE MARKET
BIDRI (a specialized metal handcraft) is done in Bidar. The basic material used is an alloy of 94% zinc and 6% copper. After moulding, the required article is filed and the surface smoothened. The design is then sketched and engraved on it. Pure silver wires and sheets are inlaid by hammering them into the engraved designs.
PRESENT STATUS OF TOURISM HERE
The present status of tourism in bidar is not its potential at all. having so many places of importance historicall as well as from the religious point of view it still doesn't stand out in the tourism map of india.
there is an array of problems attached to this starting from infrastructure to information. tourism industry could be the second highest income earner for the district if projected systematically and the present challenges are honestly won over.
SUGGESTIVE MEASURES TO TAP THE POTENTIAL TOURISM INDUSTRY TO ITS FULLER LENGTH:
A) Agressive Publicity Campaign
Tourism Department has not taken up any major publicity campaign
Although Bidar is declared a heritage city, Department of Tourism hardly gives any publicity to the monuments. So as to meet the demand department of tourism has to campaign aggressively to increase influx and create awareness.
B) Tourism Information and Promotion Building
The department never had a serious presence in the district even after having a building. At present, the building had been temporarily allotted to some other department. The department must start functioning from its building seriously to help the tourists and to create awareness.
C) E-Linking
Bidar could be a constant attraction for tourists but many of these monuments remained unknown to the outside world. E-Linking in collaboration with the tourism promotors from corporate sectors can also be wooved from across the globe.
D) Infrastucutre
_ Laying of bipass highway connecting Nanded with Bidar should be completed. It may be noted that NHAI has sought Rs. 40 crore for developing the Nanded-Bidar highway but it has materialised yet.
_Highway connecting Gulbarga city with Bidar should be converted into atleast two-lane for a smoother journey.
_Although the city is connected with railway line there are hardly two trains are run one from Bengaluru and another from Hyderabad. So there is need to increase number of trains and double line railway.
_This city has air force training centre but doesn't have its own airport. It may not be economically feasible to build an airport now but the future needs may make it imminent as Gulbarga and Hyderabad are growing at a great pace.
_ Beautification of these places by designing gardens and parks would also support the tourism development.
E) Accommodation
There is dire need of better hotels because of which tourists normally avoid touring Bidar even though its just 150 km drive from Hyderabad.
F) Places to relish
Bidar does not offer any special cuisine to the traveler. The restaurants and eating points offer traditional Indian dishes. This gives an opportunity for the hospitality industry to contribute its part. The department can start a food festival as well.
G) Tourist circuit within the district
A systematized tourist circuit should be developed to connect all the impotant places of interest for better access within the district with its headquarters.
H) Basava Peace Convention
The Basava Peace Convention must be immediately put to action to draw tourists from across the globe to participate in convention for internatonal peace and spirituality organised in the lines of philosophy propogated by the great social reformer and promoter of shaivism.
Bidar could be one of the important tourist destinations of north Karnataka if its potential is tapped properly. The government, hyderabad karnataka development board ,NGO’s and the locals must strive to materialise this impending fact. This tranformation would ultimately benefit the so called backward region of the software savvy state.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
TOURISM-RELIGION-DASA SAHITYA
An article on tourism studies in the age of Dasa movemet with its implicatons on the present day industrry is in the offspring(being edited and translated from an article in Kannada)........
Bharat- which carries literally fabricated name as India is synonimously referred to as holy land, vedic land and "Karmabhoomi".
it is indeed consodered to be great honour to take birth in this land nad its the result of selfless deeds one has done in many of his previous births.
india is the4 abode of cuktural heritage and religion is its spirit. religion plays an integral and undettachable part of the lifestyle of the people here. scores of scions,sadhus,saaints,sanyasies and godly gurus from various spheres have adopted and adapted and ascented to the hieghts of spirituality have tranfomed and purified this "Karmabhoomi"(the land of deeds).
this land is an ocean of wisdom into which flow streams of spirituality. religion is in every breath one takes and it forms the undeterred base of inhabitants. what is passed on to us fron our ancestors is this great heritage, inheritance of unmatchable ethoes, ethics finely woven into religious tolerance and practice.
the same philosophy of life and its essence was practised and proposed by every single sadhu, sant and sanyasi and dasa and sharana.
the enthusing features of religion can be concieved from the following lines from a sanskrit sloka:
dhruthi kshama damah ashtreyam
shuacham indriyanigraha I
dihi vidya satyam akrodha
darshakam dharma lakshanaam II
what's religion(dhatma)?there have been thousands of versions derived from time to time over a two thousand years. huaman race hasn't yet at a satisfactory conclusion which undoubtedly an unendinding process of search for truth.
its there in the blood of every indianess to render a helping hand to the fallen and help to satnd steady again. they call it, " its our DHARMA".
The point of discussion is not about the fallen-who, when, why, how and how much? becauase this wil lead us into a listless differential conclusions. if to uplift the fallen is Dharma, what attributes/traits the uplifter endoves. where does he imbibe these naunces from? an attempt to journey the alleys of untrodden meadows of Dharma renderes us all the answers because its from there metemorphosis commences.
let me unlock the complexities of subtle reality to make it simpler- brotherhood, sensibilty, integfrity, humility, co-operation, responsibility and truthfulness are infact the derivations of Dharma in the post medivial era.
what turns a 'human being into a parasite, unimpressive, uninspiring and gloomy is his dullness, stagnacy of thought process and lethargic acumenship.
the remedy to shun them all is to amke an indomitable approach towards pragmatic life style, to be part of the perennial soceity and participate in constructive endeavours and above all to travel across the country, nook and cornner of it. and then relate to the realities of the existence outside his chamber of mundaneness sandwitched between the crumbling walls. this process of realisation from relating and through the hard realities/enchanting experiences of travel result in the emergence of tourism literature. this is what an old adage in Kannada speaks about:
" Desha sutti nodu, Kosha odi nodu"
to be continued.......
Bharat- which carries literally fabricated name as India is synonimously referred to as holy land, vedic land and "Karmabhoomi".
it is indeed consodered to be great honour to take birth in this land nad its the result of selfless deeds one has done in many of his previous births.
india is the4 abode of cuktural heritage and religion is its spirit. religion plays an integral and undettachable part of the lifestyle of the people here. scores of scions,sadhus,saaints,sanyasies and godly gurus from various spheres have adopted and adapted and ascented to the hieghts of spirituality have tranfomed and purified this "Karmabhoomi"(the land of deeds).
this land is an ocean of wisdom into which flow streams of spirituality. religion is in every breath one takes and it forms the undeterred base of inhabitants. what is passed on to us fron our ancestors is this great heritage, inheritance of unmatchable ethoes, ethics finely woven into religious tolerance and practice.
the same philosophy of life and its essence was practised and proposed by every single sadhu, sant and sanyasi and dasa and sharana.
the enthusing features of religion can be concieved from the following lines from a sanskrit sloka:
dhruthi kshama damah ashtreyam
shuacham indriyanigraha I
dihi vidya satyam akrodha
darshakam dharma lakshanaam II
what's religion(dhatma)?there have been thousands of versions derived from time to time over a two thousand years. huaman race hasn't yet at a satisfactory conclusion which undoubtedly an unendinding process of search for truth.
its there in the blood of every indianess to render a helping hand to the fallen and help to satnd steady again. they call it, " its our DHARMA".
The point of discussion is not about the fallen-who, when, why, how and how much? becauase this wil lead us into a listless differential conclusions. if to uplift the fallen is Dharma, what attributes/traits the uplifter endoves. where does he imbibe these naunces from? an attempt to journey the alleys of untrodden meadows of Dharma renderes us all the answers because its from there metemorphosis commences.
let me unlock the complexities of subtle reality to make it simpler- brotherhood, sensibilty, integfrity, humility, co-operation, responsibility and truthfulness are infact the derivations of Dharma in the post medivial era.
what turns a 'human being into a parasite, unimpressive, uninspiring and gloomy is his dullness, stagnacy of thought process and lethargic acumenship.
the remedy to shun them all is to amke an indomitable approach towards pragmatic life style, to be part of the perennial soceity and participate in constructive endeavours and above all to travel across the country, nook and cornner of it. and then relate to the realities of the existence outside his chamber of mundaneness sandwitched between the crumbling walls. this process of realisation from relating and through the hard realities/enchanting experiences of travel result in the emergence of tourism literature. this is what an old adage in Kannada speaks about:
" Desha sutti nodu, Kosha odi nodu"
to be continued.......
Sunday, August 10, 2008
THE WORLD OF DIRECT EXPERIENCES AND LEARNING BY DOING
In a world of competitive freakiness fraught with the disease of capitalism, face of school education has enormously changed. Here comes the dire need to look into our schooling culture. A system that is slowly but steadily getting degenerated creating apprehensions of loosing out the generations to come into a world of ‘definitions’ instead of ‘applications’.
Since ages exceptional people have been trying hard to formulate a feasible working system of learning against ‘rote-culture’ on the principles of ‘thought provocation’, application, analyzing bend, appreciation, reasoning and practical approach of ‘learning by doing’.
‘Direct experiences and learning by doing’ are the age old alternatives for passive learning approaches being following followed by most of the schools across the nation. All though it’s making its slow and steady headway into some of the schools, the present pace would take decades to make these societies realize its importance. Unless the total existing system is revamped, the facelift will possibly be very slow.
Learning experiences should infuse the objectives of inquisitiveness, expression, reasoning , application , and appreciation. A great number of philosophers in the past have successfully experimented the same. The contribution s of Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindra nath Tagore, and Jiddu Krishna Murthy in this regard are of great scale.
Mahatma Gandhi during his stay in south Africa established Tolstoy farm, Rabindra anth Tagore opened Shanthiniketan –an international school with the philosophy of back to woods, J.K. started Rishi valley schools and Susaku the Japanese educationist commissioned the TOMO school.
These experimentations were holistic in nature and practical in nature with the principles of ‘back to nature' amidst which learning by doing and direct experiences were sincerely incorporated.
A child who appreciates the intensities of nature, a child who experiences anything directly, and a child who dares to experiment and apply them into its practical life by doing is unparallel in its composure, reasoning, expression and performance when put abreast to a child who is persistently injected with the doses of information.
A sudden peep into the nations which are technologically under privileged, socially not augmented, economically backward and commercially exploited would expose the hard realities of the handicapped state of education system.
India in the recent years has evolved itself to be the best sought after nation in the world for its finest brains, no doubt leading to economic resurgence but equally is the resurgence of corruption level. For a nation to make a mark, its not the bright assemblers we need but an army of inventors with a human face. Learning from and through direct experiences and doing combined with the zeal of imparting the socio-cultural values in the process of teaching- learning is the only proxy for us to resurrect ourselves from the tomb of degeneration.
Give the child two options and she would say, “ I would love to play in TOTOCHAN’s TOMO school than sit in Jack’s school and do arithmetic’s”. Hence the mantra of the system must diversify and change from ‘learn and then play to learn while you play’.
High degree of motor and cognitive development of a child(positively) will develop in an environment where she is let loose to reach up to the horizons and to bounce across the zeniths to discover and rediscover. Qualitative upsurge of a child’s thinking capacity to sprout has very less room left between the four walls and to the baritone of teachers.
We have come far off from the essence of ‘real learning’. A conscious effort to manure this unfertile soil of schooling by the think tanks to smell the dire demand of a progressive world ahead, we must adopt adapt to constructive system of deliverance.
In the words of Edward de Bono, “ almost all of what a child learns at school after the age of ten is totally irrelevant to his needs in later life…….. most schools do not teach thinking at all”.
In the past eight years or so, government of India has pumped in thousands of crores of rupees into ‘Sarva shiksha Abhiyaan’ programme , a comprehensive step in promoting primary education. Although its an accorded move, bringing children to the school alone is not education. The real and tougher task ahead is to transfer qualitative learning_ after a million Ifs and Buts we end up giving precedent answer of_ “There is still a lot do”.
Unfortunately the cozy world of globalization, liberalization, industrialization, urbanization and many more “zations” has yielded mechanical lifestyles creating compressed class rooms where children have to sit under a roof (the so called schools in the interior and remote regions of India are devoid of even that) suffocating all through the day for pumping in the “K” word to excel in multiple tests_helplessly and haplessly.
The result of all this is “ a great mess” that we tend to mess up with once these children formally get their degrees. Then we sit in coffee shop and talk about growing corruption, shunning of responsibilities, devaluating moral values and all sorts of contemporary and current drawbacks simultaneously hoping for a certain “visioneering” of a utopian visioneer to give us our breathing afresh again.
The services of the so called trained teachers are used in the preparation of study materials, question banks and hundreds and thousands of model papers. If the same energies of the same folks are invested in researching, in formulating activity oriented methods and in formulating creative approaches, no doubt there will be a sea change in our education system
Scientific temper, spiritual inclination, physical training, communicating abilities, vocational training and socio-cultural values were imbibed in the live4s of children of varied regions at “Tolstoy farm” and shantinikethan, best of the satyagrahis and the sharpest brains walked out of these premier schools of learning. Not a single prescribed book was used but all that’s required to be a successful human being was imparted simply practically.
Henceforth the whole army of educators need to introspect and rethink over the modus operandi of the lifeless schooling jammed with dullness and monotony.
to elevate standards of living with a liberated mind is torebuild the human society with a ocean full od peace and harmony, unlike the present state of affairs of unrest.
"A change is what brings in a deal of change".
Since ages exceptional people have been trying hard to formulate a feasible working system of learning against ‘rote-culture’ on the principles of ‘thought provocation’, application, analyzing bend, appreciation, reasoning and practical approach of ‘learning by doing’.
‘Direct experiences and learning by doing’ are the age old alternatives for passive learning approaches being following followed by most of the schools across the nation. All though it’s making its slow and steady headway into some of the schools, the present pace would take decades to make these societies realize its importance. Unless the total existing system is revamped, the facelift will possibly be very slow.
Learning experiences should infuse the objectives of inquisitiveness, expression, reasoning , application , and appreciation. A great number of philosophers in the past have successfully experimented the same. The contribution s of Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindra nath Tagore, and Jiddu Krishna Murthy in this regard are of great scale.
Mahatma Gandhi during his stay in south Africa established Tolstoy farm, Rabindra anth Tagore opened Shanthiniketan –an international school with the philosophy of back to woods, J.K. started Rishi valley schools and Susaku the Japanese educationist commissioned the TOMO school.
These experimentations were holistic in nature and practical in nature with the principles of ‘back to nature' amidst which learning by doing and direct experiences were sincerely incorporated.
A child who appreciates the intensities of nature, a child who experiences anything directly, and a child who dares to experiment and apply them into its practical life by doing is unparallel in its composure, reasoning, expression and performance when put abreast to a child who is persistently injected with the doses of information.
A sudden peep into the nations which are technologically under privileged, socially not augmented, economically backward and commercially exploited would expose the hard realities of the handicapped state of education system.
India in the recent years has evolved itself to be the best sought after nation in the world for its finest brains, no doubt leading to economic resurgence but equally is the resurgence of corruption level. For a nation to make a mark, its not the bright assemblers we need but an army of inventors with a human face. Learning from and through direct experiences and doing combined with the zeal of imparting the socio-cultural values in the process of teaching- learning is the only proxy for us to resurrect ourselves from the tomb of degeneration.
Give the child two options and she would say, “ I would love to play in TOTOCHAN’s TOMO school than sit in Jack’s school and do arithmetic’s”. Hence the mantra of the system must diversify and change from ‘learn and then play to learn while you play’.
High degree of motor and cognitive development of a child(positively) will develop in an environment where she is let loose to reach up to the horizons and to bounce across the zeniths to discover and rediscover. Qualitative upsurge of a child’s thinking capacity to sprout has very less room left between the four walls and to the baritone of teachers.
We have come far off from the essence of ‘real learning’. A conscious effort to manure this unfertile soil of schooling by the think tanks to smell the dire demand of a progressive world ahead, we must adopt adapt to constructive system of deliverance.
In the words of Edward de Bono, “ almost all of what a child learns at school after the age of ten is totally irrelevant to his needs in later life…….. most schools do not teach thinking at all”.
In the past eight years or so, government of India has pumped in thousands of crores of rupees into ‘Sarva shiksha Abhiyaan’ programme , a comprehensive step in promoting primary education. Although its an accorded move, bringing children to the school alone is not education. The real and tougher task ahead is to transfer qualitative learning_ after a million Ifs and Buts we end up giving precedent answer of_ “There is still a lot do”.
Unfortunately the cozy world of globalization, liberalization, industrialization, urbanization and many more “zations” has yielded mechanical lifestyles creating compressed class rooms where children have to sit under a roof (the so called schools in the interior and remote regions of India are devoid of even that) suffocating all through the day for pumping in the “K” word to excel in multiple tests_helplessly and haplessly.
The result of all this is “ a great mess” that we tend to mess up with once these children formally get their degrees. Then we sit in coffee shop and talk about growing corruption, shunning of responsibilities, devaluating moral values and all sorts of contemporary and current drawbacks simultaneously hoping for a certain “visioneering” of a utopian visioneer to give us our breathing afresh again.
The services of the so called trained teachers are used in the preparation of study materials, question banks and hundreds and thousands of model papers. If the same energies of the same folks are invested in researching, in formulating activity oriented methods and in formulating creative approaches, no doubt there will be a sea change in our education system
Scientific temper, spiritual inclination, physical training, communicating abilities, vocational training and socio-cultural values were imbibed in the live4s of children of varied regions at “Tolstoy farm” and shantinikethan, best of the satyagrahis and the sharpest brains walked out of these premier schools of learning. Not a single prescribed book was used but all that’s required to be a successful human being was imparted simply practically.
Henceforth the whole army of educators need to introspect and rethink over the modus operandi of the lifeless schooling jammed with dullness and monotony.
to elevate standards of living with a liberated mind is torebuild the human society with a ocean full od peace and harmony, unlike the present state of affairs of unrest.
"A change is what brings in a deal of change".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
