WHO will bell the cat???
Few years back Britney Spears sang - "don't preach me papa".. Now probably its time that somebody starts preaching his/her older ones. Not because there is a generation gap, but there is a black hole which would gulp all of us if we are not able to cool it down right now.
Are we heading towards a day when probably the next generation wants to discuss all taboos, secretly kept under the carpet till date? If the recent posts are anything to go by, there is a furor amongst the teacher community about imparting sex education among the students at an age till now considered being inappropriate for such discussions. This is probably a rare situation where the teaching community is feeling insecure about something which the government is trying to go ahead keeping in mind the danger that AIDS is spreading across India. But, this time again the "irrational majority" is against it.
As usual there are supporters and protesters in this issue and as my friend says "everybody has a right to protest". The neo liberals or the ultra modern liberals would jump guns because they think that it is of utter nonsense to keep something hiding from somebody just because of his/her age. The conservatives say this puts too much unwanted pressure of choice on that small head and also it won't be right to leave every interpretation to the mercy of an immature brain. Someone like me who safely passes staying in the middle faces a larger problem. This is of deciding whom to follow.
I mean, my biggest apprehension about this stems from the fact that the teachers themselves are unsure about the education. It's not that I rate teachers in India very highly. To be extremely honest, barring a few instances, where yours truly has been really moved by the aura and character that a teacher posses, most of the times they have been disappointing. This is without diluting the service that they provide to the society and keeping in mind the hardship that they have to face in our country. If the master is not sure of the path then even god couldn't save the disciple.
As a matter of principle and policy, I do support the sex education policy which is being prescribed by the WHO and the NACO. The fact of the matter remains that if we have to reduce certain taboos (which are harmful for the society in general), we need to break certain traditions also. It is a different matter that as a society we are still testing the waters instead of directing the action. But, the time is running out fast.
India houses the 2nd largest numbers of HIV+ patients (official record - unofficially, considering the taboo that we have, it might be much more than those) and also exposes a huge number of people to this deadly virus because of sheer lack of knowledge. People would argue that even the most economically and socially developed countries are also facing the same danger and so, there could possibly be no link between sex education and AIDS. But I beg to differ.
Not that I am very comfortable in answering such questions to the younger ones, but if it comes to improve their knowledge through gradual education then probably we have to start somewhere. We, for a long time, have been living under thousand such preposterous and irrational taboos. And it is not only related to the field of human relations or religion only - it starts from arts, cinemas, and anything which touches our senses but shows no end of this. Only today I was very pleased to read in TOI that some devout Muslim in Britain has asked for the "right to offend" which he believes is important in world democracy. Not long ago, we had nation wide debate about what is permissible in art, cinema and other such public displays - and what constitutes as unlawful in evoking sentiments. The challenge lies in handling too much sensitive people. The day we are able to move beyond the fears of such en mass moral code of conduct we would solve most of our problems.
I have always believed that, narrow knowledge only restricts the passage of fresh ideas and that is not a healthy sign for any vibrant society. If we leave the moral code of conduct to individual discretion (or at max as a family matter) then such transparency becomes easier.
I am for abolishment of censor board as it serves no purpose other than titillating the curiosity of adolescent citizens. How on earth could someone else judge my ability to segregate the good from the bad? What guarantee does he/she produce to satisfy my emotional and moral needs? I simply refuse to put so much faith and responsibility on another person on my behalf. Long ago, the best movie director that India has ever produced had commented that - we cannot make great movies on human relationships as we are forced to see the other way and we never give credit to the sensibility of the en mass viewers. I think, this is mightily true.
For long we have lived in fears - fears of antagonizing our elders, fears of offending our respected ones, fears about destroying the traditions and mostly fears about doing the unconventional. The result is there for everyone to see. We have a confused generation which lacks direction and motivation, we have teachers who are not brave enough to tell students the truth and we have society fearful of coming out of the closet. The suffocating wind has started polluting our lungs and not for long would we be calling ourselves living.
The fear was also there when we were deciding about our careers - we all played safe and did only what majority showed. Over a period of time all the energies flowed into technology and medicals. The result is dangerous - we have teachers who are basically people who had no other choice so took up this profession and then we have engineers and doctors who are nothing but a product of routine affairs. So, we lost on both counts. Now we are in search of a doctor whom we could rely upon, in search of engineers who could build this country and most sadly, badly in search for teachers who would take the responsibility of making us a great human being. All these because we all did what our brain whispered and not what our heart cried out. I am not too convinced about the pay off that we have generated.
I know, I might have diverted a bit in discussing the important issue of imparting basic and important education to save our dear ones. But I believe all these are interrelated. As a nation and as a society we have been too deeply engrossed within our own world that we forgot to keep our eyes open. The saddest part is, we keep comparing us with people less flexible than us and think that we are doing more than fine. But, the problem in human psychology is that it doesn't allow compartmentalized emotions in a single entity. If you are not open enough about your own self then how could one expect you to be dignified about others views?
Its time that we start looking at things from a different angle and always keep the perspective in mind. This time again the majority is wrong in not taking the risk and as usual probably government would bow down to the vote bank politics.
Are we heading towards a day when probably the next generation wants to discuss all taboos, secretly kept under the carpet till date? If the recent posts are anything to go by, there is a furor amongst the teacher community about imparting sex education among the students at an age till now considered being inappropriate for such discussions. This is probably a rare situation where the teaching community is feeling insecure about something which the government is trying to go ahead keeping in mind the danger that AIDS is spreading across India. But, this time again the "irrational majority" is against it.
As usual there are supporters and protesters in this issue and as my friend says "everybody has a right to protest". The neo liberals or the ultra modern liberals would jump guns because they think that it is of utter nonsense to keep something hiding from somebody just because of his/her age. The conservatives say this puts too much unwanted pressure of choice on that small head and also it won't be right to leave every interpretation to the mercy of an immature brain. Someone like me who safely passes staying in the middle faces a larger problem. This is of deciding whom to follow.
I mean, my biggest apprehension about this stems from the fact that the teachers themselves are unsure about the education. It's not that I rate teachers in India very highly. To be extremely honest, barring a few instances, where yours truly has been really moved by the aura and character that a teacher posses, most of the times they have been disappointing. This is without diluting the service that they provide to the society and keeping in mind the hardship that they have to face in our country. If the master is not sure of the path then even god couldn't save the disciple.
As a matter of principle and policy, I do support the sex education policy which is being prescribed by the WHO and the NACO. The fact of the matter remains that if we have to reduce certain taboos (which are harmful for the society in general), we need to break certain traditions also. It is a different matter that as a society we are still testing the waters instead of directing the action. But, the time is running out fast.
India houses the 2nd largest numbers of HIV+ patients (official record - unofficially, considering the taboo that we have, it might be much more than those) and also exposes a huge number of people to this deadly virus because of sheer lack of knowledge. People would argue that even the most economically and socially developed countries are also facing the same danger and so, there could possibly be no link between sex education and AIDS. But I beg to differ.
Not that I am very comfortable in answering such questions to the younger ones, but if it comes to improve their knowledge through gradual education then probably we have to start somewhere. We, for a long time, have been living under thousand such preposterous and irrational taboos. And it is not only related to the field of human relations or religion only - it starts from arts, cinemas, and anything which touches our senses but shows no end of this. Only today I was very pleased to read in TOI that some devout Muslim in Britain has asked for the "right to offend" which he believes is important in world democracy. Not long ago, we had nation wide debate about what is permissible in art, cinema and other such public displays - and what constitutes as unlawful in evoking sentiments. The challenge lies in handling too much sensitive people. The day we are able to move beyond the fears of such en mass moral code of conduct we would solve most of our problems.
I have always believed that, narrow knowledge only restricts the passage of fresh ideas and that is not a healthy sign for any vibrant society. If we leave the moral code of conduct to individual discretion (or at max as a family matter) then such transparency becomes easier.
I am for abolishment of censor board as it serves no purpose other than titillating the curiosity of adolescent citizens. How on earth could someone else judge my ability to segregate the good from the bad? What guarantee does he/she produce to satisfy my emotional and moral needs? I simply refuse to put so much faith and responsibility on another person on my behalf. Long ago, the best movie director that India has ever produced had commented that - we cannot make great movies on human relationships as we are forced to see the other way and we never give credit to the sensibility of the en mass viewers. I think, this is mightily true.
For long we have lived in fears - fears of antagonizing our elders, fears of offending our respected ones, fears about destroying the traditions and mostly fears about doing the unconventional. The result is there for everyone to see. We have a confused generation which lacks direction and motivation, we have teachers who are not brave enough to tell students the truth and we have society fearful of coming out of the closet. The suffocating wind has started polluting our lungs and not for long would we be calling ourselves living.
The fear was also there when we were deciding about our careers - we all played safe and did only what majority showed. Over a period of time all the energies flowed into technology and medicals. The result is dangerous - we have teachers who are basically people who had no other choice so took up this profession and then we have engineers and doctors who are nothing but a product of routine affairs. So, we lost on both counts. Now we are in search of a doctor whom we could rely upon, in search of engineers who could build this country and most sadly, badly in search for teachers who would take the responsibility of making us a great human being. All these because we all did what our brain whispered and not what our heart cried out. I am not too convinced about the pay off that we have generated.
I know, I might have diverted a bit in discussing the important issue of imparting basic and important education to save our dear ones. But I believe all these are interrelated. As a nation and as a society we have been too deeply engrossed within our own world that we forgot to keep our eyes open. The saddest part is, we keep comparing us with people less flexible than us and think that we are doing more than fine. But, the problem in human psychology is that it doesn't allow compartmentalized emotions in a single entity. If you are not open enough about your own self then how could one expect you to be dignified about others views?
Its time that we start looking at things from a different angle and always keep the perspective in mind. This time again the majority is wrong in not taking the risk and as usual probably government would bow down to the vote bank politics.
My only hope is to hope against hope and I am counting on my prayers.
Labels: Jehadi
14 Comments:
The most unstructured post and by extension the best one. I could not disagree on any one of the counts.
But of course, people who have the right to protest will exercise their choice. So, you need not worry.
And remember, Indian women do not kiss, nor do they have sex, let alone pre-marital and children in India are born out of flowers and trees.
1.2 billion and counting. Yet, we live in self-denial. Great country and even greater people. Quoting Oscar Wilde "The best way to resist temptation is to yield to it". Wonder when people will accept it.
I have thought about this problem of dearth of teachers and how to solve it. I dont think that paying more money would solve it. Its got something to do with the attitude of our society which does not view teachers with respect. And I doubt whether this will change - at least in the near future.
@ Spiderman...
The unstructured part is totally agreed upon. Even while reading I myself gulped about the flow of thoughts. It started for something else and then probably gravitated towards generalization of ideas.
As far as the idea of sex or in general public discussion of physiological instincts are concerned, I am not saying to follow the US model but neither do I support the "hush-a-thing-under the carpet" attitude. If something is dangerous for us then it needs to be brought out in public discussion. Else, when the danger breaks, we would be found wanting. That is exactly what I am fearing.
About the dearth of teachers my own philosophy has figured out certain reasons to think about. They are -
1. Teachers are not given the value in real life even though we do glorify them at all possible virtual associations.
2. People became teachers bcoz they had nothing to choose and hence the passion was missing. I can bet on my life that a passionate teacher evokes the greatest respect from the pupils.
3. The teacher-student relationship is not valued by either party and hence, it dies a natural yet untimely death.
4. Finance is one of the reasons, or should I say the difference in pay scale is.
5. Obviously last but not the least, politics and en mass indifference towards the profession and towards nation building as a whole.
I guess, there might be more (or even less) reasons but still the negatives are only too fatal for a society which had such wonderful tradition of gurukul.
1&2. Agreed
3. I think the blame should go mostly to parents. They are the ones who do not trust the teachers and fix up private tuitors for their wards from a very early stage. Which sends out the message that the teachers at school can be discounted and dispensable.
4. The profession never had money. Now, it does. At least, enough to lead a decent life. Of course, our fixation with the USD would lead us to think otherwise.
5. Absolutely ! We do not love our country the way an American or an Australian or a German does.
All our traditions were wonderful in times which were very different. Unfortunately, we have kept up those traditions without knowing what they stood for and have forgotten to question whether it is still relevant today or not.
@ Spiderman...
Parents are also a product of the same society. But yes, if we say about each parent contributing and accumulating the actual slump then I do agree. The ridiculus rule of judging people by their success is what I hate the most. In my view, our basic thinking is flawed and so the ultimate result also is.
To give you an example, even though far fetched and inappropriate to most of us, if money is the greatest value driver in any relationship (I guess u understand what I am trying to hint) then there is no point in blaming the person being morally zunk or intolerable, becoz that's what we didn't checked only assumed that money would automatically solve all those.
We are all fixated with the luxary that money provides, never realiziting what it takes along. We all are testimony to that.
The problem is that we have only been successful in identifying our roots but have failed miserably in deciphering the spirit.
@ Spiderman
The contention is not what Indian Women do so what were you trying to achieve by saying that is probably known only to you.
I am not going to debate whether a free society necessarily means disrespect to our traditions.
@ Stambhit
The contention is again not knowledge or education but age. So we should stick to that. Age is debatable. Some may say 2 years before some may say 5 years after. An equilibrium will come out from here.
I am still not sure how many teenagers are HIV affected because of lack of sex education in schools. Getting emotionally overwhelmed is one thing and doing an objective study to identify the root cause is another.
I remember our Std IX biology book was a pretty comprehensive textbook on everything including AIDS and other sexually transmitted disease. I am not sure what else needs to be fed to a forteen year old.
If you give it to the liberals they would include porn in kindergarten because there is a Khajuraho. So these things are not to be decided on gut feeling or Platonian instincts.
But I agree that there needs to be an added stress on the campaign. It is probably not reaching where it matters. Irony is that we are still not able to solve how education would reach all.. and the question is how sex education would reach all...
See the same problem with teachers... First we need to have enough teachers to have a luxury of having good teachers. Once the post becomes lucrative good people would come. That can only be done through private schools... May be with some financial assistance from govt. I don't see govt solving this problem.
@ GKA...
First and foremost - age is debatable only after you have decided to put some action on the charter (and I guess we are not talking about kindergarden schools here), here we are yet to fix on if we ahould have it at all or not !!
Assuming that we all decide about the importance and necessity of putting something in action, the modus operandi would only be an operational detail.
I will try to broadly discuss about the apprehensions that you have highlighted.
The problem is not for teenager or for that matter particular to a section of the society (who we all call carriers of the AIDS). The problem, as I see it is much more deeply rooted and that's why I am apprehensive about the solution.
Most of us know how biology works, what constitutes a rape or say how AIDS is transmitted. The trouble is in opening up and implementing. We are still uncomfortable uttering condom in public, we see sex as a taboo outside the 4 walls and we indirectly encourage unsafe measures by breeding curiosity. We are yet to fathom that brothels exist because there is a demand from the "educated society" and not because some hapless girl wants money to live off. So, the blame needs to be squared off - both politically and socially. Dissemination of knowledge is the idea, but the flow is not smooth.
Education needn't always be in the methodical or standard way to be effective (our history is testimony to that), but it needs to be in sync with time and psychology of the present generation. That's where government comes into the picture. If the intention is good then the power of influencing the mass rests only with the government.
As far as teachers are concerned, I am not sure if only money would make it lucrative. It's just that we are all fixated with the idea of show-off and couldn't carry on with a teacher. You can respect your teacher but would prefer a classy boy friend. I guess you understand what I am hinting.
The mental blockage is the root of all evils - be it AIDS or social integration.
@ Stam
I have not yet raised any apprehension. I was trying to say that we might not be attacking where it matters.
"...are still uncomfortable uttering condom in public, we see sex as a taboo outside the 4 walls and we indirectly encourage unsafe measures by breeding curiosity.."
So, is curiosity the root cause behind AIDS in India ??
Yes.. I agree that implementation needs to be better. Which only re-affirms my point that there should be more objective analysis of root cause. Biology is a very good medium to convey such messages. When u already have that in education then u need education itself to spread.
"...It's just that we are all fixated with the idea of show-off and couldn't carry on with a teacher. You can respect your teacher but would prefer a classy boy friend..."
Money is an important factor. Although in the current scenario availibility of enough posts for teachers in itself is a bottleneck. I am sure there are more teachers than the system could absorb. The problem mounts because noone wants to teach in rural areas because of lack of incentives.... Do realize that non-availibility of teachers in rural areas does not mean that the posts are vacant. It is more often absenteeism.
And we have already seen what govt can do to schools. So, the best thing a govt can do is to support and not restrict.
@ GKA...
"Curiosity kills the cat" - you must have heard that. Why do you pick n choose a part of statement? I never said curoisity is the only cause. What I indicated was that lack of proper dissemination leads to curiosity which might not always be helpful.
You must be aware about the problem of unsafe adoloscent sex that India is currently experiencing. Even if we don't relate it to AIDS directly, that is a cause of concern. Right?
Governmrnt could play the role of supporter but then these very people would cry about private enterprises making profits out of such calamity. You cannot have the cake and eat it too.. Our society is still not matured enough to handle private enthusiams through large corporates. That's why government is a safer option. But yes, the danger of political manuvering is there and ultimately it might lead to only vote bank propaganda. That's a call we need to take.
A teacher earns equally well with a rookie IT guy. Right? So, atleast money is not the main cause. Glamour is. If you are not passionate enuf about teaching then you are not cut out for it. It's not an IT job yaar where it doesn't matter what bull shit you do, you can pass the buck and carry on to onsite. When it comes to building a society, you need to have knowledge and courage.
Look at the input to the profession. All the good students are running behind something else. Even professor is hard to find these days man. And then we blame people like our profs that they are not good enough.
We ourselves are having double standards. So why blame money?
As I have said - mentality needs to be changed from within.
@ Stam
It seemed as if u are advocating "sex education" as lack of it builds curiosity leading to AIDS.
No.. a teacher does not earn as much as an IT guy. I doubt if he starts even with half of what is given to an IT recruit.
( Moreover if IT was that shallow a field then it wouldn't have survived so many years. )
@ GKA...
I am not advocating sex education, but iff and as WHO reports suggest that spreading of awareness leads to lowering of spread of AIDS then I will not oppose it like the majority - in the guise of morality and embarrasement.
A teacher with masters degree earns 9k as starting. Add other government benefits to it. Central govt pays much higher.
U took me wrong. I am not saying IT is a shallow field. I only said, it is much tough to be a successful teacher or professor than to be in our field. Teaching is a tougher profession to excel because of the responsibility.
I am sorry and I apologize if I have offended millions in my last comment.
@ Stam
You need not feel sorry for anything. You are free to believe whatever you want irrespective of how people feel.
@ GKA...
I know I can but I also believe in trying not to missuse my independence. I neither support what strong protestors do nor the cause of the action. Independence is always cherished but with a pinch of responsibility.
Obviously, its upto individuals to follow this. And if somebody is not following we shouldn't turn ourselves into judges. [:)].
That's all I can say.
Stam:
Agreed 100% with you.
Completely off the point:
Sometimes I really think that the RSS and its half-brothers would do more harm than good to India than anyone else. I always had this dilemma whether intellectual regulation is more detrimental to a nation or economic regulation. Would have to refer to history for that.
Some days back I came to know that in a RSS shakha, boys and girls call each other as "bhaiyya" aur "behen" and it is nearly imperative for girls to tie rakhis to every boy !! Have to laud that for purely population control methods than for anything else.
@ Stam
".. lowering of spread of AIDS then I will not oppose it like the majority - in the guise of morality and embarrasement.,,.. "
Can u quote an incident when a serious awareness campaign was thwarted by ur "majority". Noone has opposed the condom ads coming on prime time even. Why would then there be an opposition to a campaign?
"..A teacher with masters degree earns 9k as starting. Add other government benefits to it. Central govt pays much higher.."
This is not lucrative enough for good people. A new IT guy gets 25K straight away. + What are the incentives for working in rural areas?
@ Spiderman
If u are trying to say that it is the RSS which is stopping people from promiscuity than you are over estimating the strength of organization.
As far as Ban is considered as I have sent u in the mail too, all political parties are responsible. Who imposed a ban on FTV recently? Was it RSS? No it was congress. In Madhya Pradesh too it is a unanimous decision, which includes people who have not done enough damage as they have indulged only in "economic regulation". So your logic of seperating RSS, in the first place is flawed.
Yes, you can always say whether ban itself is a necessity. In that case also you cannot single out one organization.
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