Om Ashram

The last thing i remember him telling me was, "Go to the udupi mess and tell them I'd sent you." He loves eating; he spent half an hour describing the lunch he used to have at the udupi mess every afternoon. On thursdays, they make heavenly chiroti. He is 86 years old, his wife died in a boat mishap 60 years back and he's still in love with her. He used to work for the Karnataka State Transport and Rajnikanth worked for him - "He's a nice boy and is doing well. God bless him."

The sun rises with trepidation here for it knows it can't match her fury. She joined the freedom movement very early in her life and  fought alongside the names we read in our history books. She was a brave soldier and a close aide of Indira Gandhi. Everyone clamors to hear her sing and she readily obliges by singing her favorite song - 'Vande Mantaram'. She stopped counting how old she was a long time back because it doesn't really matter. She looks into the distance and her empty eyes reveal the sorrow that's seeped into her life.

Many people at the twilight of their lives stay at Om Ashram, off Bannerghatta Road.


They are as diverse as any other group would be. There are singers, freedom fighters and homemakers. Some can't see properly whereas some cannot walk without help. But it is the commonalities that bind them so closely. They know they have been abandoned by their families, they realize that they are unwanted by the ones they unconditionally loved and they know all they have for the rest of their lives are others like them. 

It is easy to spread a little joy in their lives; all they want you to do is listen to them. They look at you with curious child-like eyes and tell you stories like we were all stuck in a time bubble in the 1960s. They regale you with stories from their youth and not once do they complain about their families - "they must have had some difficulty with me. Anyway, i am not dependent on them." Sometimes they ask you if you are treating your grandparents well.

As i was leaving, she who could barely hear, held my hands, came close to my face and whispered, "I'll never forget you."

[Photos from one of my visits]

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Twilight

                     

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Rethinking Education

Education is a subject close to my heart and there is no question there is a crisis in the field. We should rethink how we want to proceed and answer fundamental questions like what does education mean and what should it try to achieve.

What is education
All scientific principles can be whittled down to a few basic axioms. Peter Brook, a director, said the following about the most basic elements of theater -
"... a man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and that is all i need for an act of theater to be engaged."
What are the most basic elements of education? You need someone eager to learn about a subject they love and you need someone to help them learn it. To paraphrase Peter Brook,
"... a man studies what he loves whilst someone else is facilitating him, and that is all i need for an act of education to be engaged."
You can take away the designated teacher, the classroom, the examinations, the textbooks and yet, you can have education. Don't bring in language, compulsory subjects, homework or fees, and yet, we can have education. That is a very liberating thought.

What should education aim to achieve
Education cannot work in isolation, of course. It is an integral part of society and it has to play the most important role in employability. Today's education system is based on the industrial revolution and the need for engineers and scientists. It is arcane and doesn't make any sense anymore. The world has changed unrecognizably since then (unlike my aunts who insist on asking me if i recognize them every time i see them) and it is imperative that education catches up. The opportunities for employment in this new world are tremendous - the world of art has opened up, the internet has cut across all sections, sports is under a greater spotlight than ever before and the world is in dire need to inspirational leaders. If education provides a launch pad into new careers like being a musician, a web designer or an entrepreneur, the prospects of making a viable living increase dramatically. Vocation training won't be something a person takes up because he couldn't get into an engineering college, anymore. The real world also works in a manner different from what is taught in schools today. Education should enable one to be a fantastic team player, to interact with and relate to diverse cultures from across the world, to learn to work with schedules and deadlines and to take decisions with systematic thought.

Sir Ken Robinson tells a story about a little girl in a drawing class. The teacher walks up to her and asks her what she is drawing and the girl tells her that she's making a picture of God. The teacher says, "But, no one knows what God looks like" and the girl replies, "In 10 minutes, they will". Today's education system systematically kills the innate creativity that everyone is born with. Education should encourage individualism and creative expression. It should compel children to question the norm and to think independently. It should facilitate original thinking and provide avenues to express ideas.

Technology is omnipresent in our lives today and education has to use it. We have to inculcate elements of social interaction, electronic communication, rich media and the vast resources on the internet while educating children. It is something they have grown up with, can relate to and is something that comes naturally to them. There are already an ubiquity of websites that promote learning through technology - right from open source textbooks to open universities and everything in between. We must be careful to not get too carried away by this though, and must realize that technology is but the catalyst and not the crutch. Technology is not the panacea to our ills and it needs to get out of the way once it has served its purpose.

We always aim to educate children for a world vastly different from the one we live in and it is hard to predict the future. But, basing it on the past is not the way forward.

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Why Don't We Donate?

[There were too many anchors littering the text; moved all the links to the bottom]

Giving is a neglected industry in the world. The United States is at the forefront and yet, the annual donation is about 0.02% of the GDP[1]; other nations are worse. To put it in perspective, for every Rs.50,000, the most generous amongst us donate Rs.10. Are we inherently uncaring and inhumane? Or is there a deeper problem?


People don't give unless someone asks them to. Inherently, we think about our needs first and most of us are unsure if the money we have will fulfill them. More importantly, it is difficult to seek out an organization that has a cause that we specifically identify with[2] and to which we can donate consistently. So, very few people are proactive about donating - either time or money. Furthermore, only about 4% of the NGO websites talk about what they do with the money that people donate[3]. This lack of clear transparency demotivates a lot of people from contributing to a cause because they are unsure about whether their time and money is actually making any difference.

Think about this - what the last NGO campaign you can remember? I can think of the 'Jaago Re' and the 'Teach India' campaigns[4]. Nothing else stands out or even comes to mind. There are estimated to be nearly 2 million registered NGOs in India alone[5], and almost none of them stand out. To the average person, one is indistinguishable from another. In a recent study[6], a group of people were asked if they donated to the American Cancer Association. 34% of them said that they had, whereas only 14% had actually done it. They weren't lying; they had donated to some cancer association, they just didn't remember which one. An NGO does not think about brand building like a normal corporate does. It is either taboo or there aren't sufficient funds. But, there are many examples[7] of NGOs taking a huge leap by using simple, cost-effective marketing strategies. It only takes a little innovating thinking.

Most NGOs ask for money too early. It is important to first establish a trust relationship with a potential donor before asking for money. Several experiments[8] have confirmed the theory and state that a simple act of asking for time just before asking for money can make a significant difference in perception and in effect, the amount of money donated.

A lot of NGOs lack clear vision or their goals are too small and too insignificant to make any difference in the world. While they believe that they are being nobel, it is hard to convince a huge group of people about it and hence, get any significant time or money in return. It is important to be remarkable[9], have strong leadership, question long held assumptions and set out to make a dent in the universe. Most NGOs think too small and are satiated too soon.

Having said all this, the curious might be wondering why is giving important? It is, of course, a very selfish reason - the most important factor to personal happiness is the act of giving to others[10]. This simple act makes one happier than anything else, and the more we give (either time or money), the happier we are. This is probably why there is so much unhappiness in the world. Also, it doesn't hurt to make someone else happy once in a while.

"People will forget what you said or did for them, but they will never forget how you made them feel"


[1] - A current overview of philanthropy and the economy
[2] - The Role of Identity in Giving
[3] - Donation Usability
[4] - Jaago Re, Teach India
[5] - Wikipedia article on NGOs
[6] - Social Innovation Conversations - The Psychology of Giving
[7] - Light The Night, Zero Breast Cancer, Squeeze A Boob
[8] - The Time-Ask Effect
[9] - The Purple Cow
[10] - The Meaning of Happiness

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Why Is Volunteering Unpaid?

Volunteering for a social or environmental cause is nobel, fulfilling and influential. Sadly, it doesn't pay. Volunteering means choosing to do some work willingly and with no expectation of money. It does not necessarily mean that one should not get paid. Here, i'll try and argue that volunteers should be paid.

It is the perfect job. Think about it - volunteering is something you do from your heart, it is something you love. It has flexible hours - there is no obligation to turn up for work, you can go anytime and for however long you want. It is not monotonous - you can volunteer for different projects all the time. You make a dent in the universe - you change a life, save a tree, make a difference. And now, it pays well. What more could one ask for in a job?

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It is all inclusive. There is no retirement age and there is no minimum qualification required. No entrance exam, no job interview. Just pure enthusiasm and a desire to change the status quo. By the end of this decade, there will be half a billion youth, housewives and retired people in India. Even if half of them decided to volunteer for a cause close to their heart, we would turn the country around. This is also the segment of the population that does not really have a steady salary and would immensely benefit from being paid. Volunteering could also morph into a viable career option for a large number of people. As a nice side effect, the overall happiness quotient of the entire country will go up many notches.

The effect is multiplicative. Let us assume that a volunteer gets paid Rs.100 for an hour. The same Rs.100 could be used in two ways - buying half the textbooks required for an academic year for one student or to provide about 50 students one hour of good education. The same money, more often than not, goes farther in terms of impact and benefit and has a snowballing effect that will be hard to stop. This will have a similar, albeit bigger, impact as the age old arguments of paying teachers more and providing benefits to the people at the top of the pyramid.

Some people feel that money could 'taint' the act of volunteerism. As much as i disagree with that standpoint, i can probably relate to it. As everything else, taking the money is itself voluntary. People who wish to not get paid for their effort can choose to put the money back into the system; metavolunteering, this will be called.

So, there. It's time we start paying the people who bring a smile on millions on faces.

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In a future installment: where does this money come from?

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