WHITE COAT MANIA

Right from the times the modern white coat was introduced by Dr. George Armstrong in the early 20^th C it has been the insignia of the status conscious clinician. Wikipedia claims that the white coat emphasized the transition to the more scientific approach to modern medicine contrasting the quack and the mystic from the scientific physicians. The influence of the coat and its impact on our social stature goads thousands to land in their ‘dream profession’ of medicine and allied subjects at any cost. The euphoria of elitism coupled with the conceit of superiority has made this protective barrier a ‘dress for all seasons’ that can be flaunted in civilian domains without any forethought. The lady doctors have literally made this their ‘third skin’ claiming protection from prospective voyeurs.

 The primary and sole purpose of this noble wear (or apron as it’s fondly called in the Indian context) is to function as a shield against contagion, clearly indicating its wear only in a clinical room and not anywhere else (other than a laboratory to save from spills and other contaminants). The proponents also claim that the white coat can effectively differentiate a medic from a civilian in a hospital setting thus aiding the uninitiated to approach one. But this is no justification for the ubiquitous presence of the apron- clad lot milling around in public spaces including cafes, malls (!) and cinemas (!). The glamour associated with it is short changed for the umpteen types of microbes dissipated in these public places putting many people at stake and even favouring the outbreak of an epidemic in dire circumstances! 

It’s routine for authorities of medical academic institutions to decree constant wear of apron even in theory classes and the like which is sometimes supported by the faculty too. This springs from a psyche that still cling-on to the ‘pride and prejudice’ that phantom the profession. The white coat is mandatory in an active clinical and laboratory setting but it should be kept completely out of all non-clinical domains as there are better ways now to contrast the quack from the scientific.    

Rote has not yet rot!!!

A recent WIPRO-EI study had some shock waves in store for the initiated and the scholastic. The shot in the arm was the finding that even the so called elite schools opt for rote learning. If this is the status of the high brow schools then the image is sure going to be bleak for the lesser schools where our country’s majority study.

The study also highlighted that some children showed a disturbing insensitivity to social issues such as gender equality and religious/cultural diversity. This clearly shows that the hedonistic youth of today alone cannot be blamed for their stoicism towards social and environmental causes. The cradle of their development, the school, has totally failed to seed the much needed social sensitivity and responsibility in to the child’s psyche.  Who should be blamed for this decadence in quality education? Are the present day parents able to fill the gap? The insouciance seen all around gives a nay.

Some of the other findings of the ‘Quality educational study’ by Wipro and Educational Initiatives (EI) point towards the lack of critical thinking, creativity and application in such a system. This can have a toll on their rational thinking and discrimination capacity to differentiate between good or bad in social and ecological issues. Signs of bias were also noticed among the students that may grow over time into dangerous prejudices.

In a county where hierarchy rules and youth and women are subdued entrenchment of social sensitivity can lead to fatalities. If the child is denied of a source from where he/she can tap social consciousness the future of such a state is in quagmire. It’s high time we root the rote out of our school/college curriculum.

What women want?

The release of ‘Saat khoon maaf’ is timely with the commencement of World Women’s Day or probably Vishal Bhardwaj wanted it that way. The movie, an adaptation of Ruskin Bond’s novel, explores the mind of a woman through its protagonist Suzanna and throws us the query, ’what a woman wants from any relationship?’. Suzanna goes through seven relationships and yet ends as a vapid soul yearning for more. It’s that poignant and perennial dilemma that many Suzannas face in life and if they end up bloodying their hands who’s to be blamed?

Vishal/Bond took to surrealism to essay his character but it’s not tad unrealistic for in reality many will gladly opt for it if given a chance. So what did Suzanna want? She goes on a killing spree every time she finds out that her choice is wrong. Her picks ranged from the mundane to the cavalier to the artistic to the poetic to the nerd to the puerile. Yet she couldn’t come up with one that can balm her soul. She ends her quest in the Holy Son in who she hopes to find the solace that evaded her six times.

Suzanna is not a metaphor but the real woman amongst us who is in a never ending quest for unconditional love. She is used and abused every day and yet left wanting by a misogynist society who is still at a loss when it comes to giving. The callous patriarch has invented ways to wallow in kitsch while he conveniently relegates all trouble to her. Working woman is expected to run the house and office with a panache that can put a CEO to shame.

The patriarchs are given the unique privilege of ogling her without the risks of chastise and shame as she is state property and of public use. They are followed, visually undressed and raped many a time before being abused in person. The ‘haven’ of family is no exception wherein she is tormented conveniently and expected to perform even in the oddest of situations. Her plight deepens in a joint family where she is ‘worshipped’ as the many armed devi.

A tacit moral code follows her from childhood saving her from any derailments keeping her chaste and pure for the denouement called marriage. Even after watchful eyes follow her lifelong policing her in and out. The winner is the one who passes all these fire tests and end a loving and giving martyr. No wonder that we still worship a legendary Rama and earn for a Sita in every woman and dream a Ayodhya. The indelible tattoo of Ramayan is proof that it’s a genetic defect that will haunt our posterity for aeons to come. The untethered love of Krishna holds only less water in our daily lives as we want less of Radhas than Sitas.

So Suzanna you have no other choice but to fight it tooth and nail until you get what you want. You have to draw blood to be heard. Should we shift your celeb day from March 8^th to Friday the 13^th?

   

Sub texts in Suzanna’s tale

Saat Khoon Maaf is a poignant tale of humanism as seen through the eyes of a love lorn woman. The story probes the psyche of six males strategically placed in different parts of the globe yet connected in a unique chauvinistic way transcending the differences. It takes us in to the dark bleak world of the human behaviour and the extend of selfishness that the human (male) mind can come up with.

 Major Edwin Rodriques (Niel Mukesh), her first hubby, is cavalier and an achiever, winning even the ‘Paramveer Chakra’, but at the expense of his complex riddled mind. He personifies the mundane male with all his insecurities who is juxtaposed to his achievements paradoxically. He is unable to tackle the ghosts of his mind and easily falls prey to it. The portrayal subtly reminds us that the real achiever is the one who conquers himself before he sets forth for the outside conquests. No accolades can replace the victory on your self.

Jamshed Singh Rathod a.k.a jimmy (John Abraham) is the hedonist who incinerates his life in illusion and delusion. He is the escapist who eludes reality and tend to submerge all in a chimerical world. Relations are volatile here and to inject reality in to him takes some true grit than put him to sleep as Suzanna does. Jimmy showcases the abysmal levels dependence can take you to.  Suzanna contemplates his redemption briefly before taking the final step, as she sees the futility of such a human being.

Wasiullah Khan (Irrfan Khan) is her third muse whose intellectualism is juxtaposed with his sadomasochism. The sublime romanticism of the poet masterly hides his revulsive side giving an insight into the alter ego of creative writers and how it contradicts our very beliefs. It will not be subversive if I accuse that this portrayal has a shade of Islamophobia which has crept in knowingly or unknowingly and only Ruskin Bond can answer that. The hideous face of our many a writer can be as blasphemous as this but the narrow subtext of religious bigotry make it knave.

Nicolai Vronsky (Aleksandr Dyachenko) parodies the intercontinental truces which are cleverly scuttled by vested political interests. His tryst with Suzanna embodies similar inescapable ambivalence that has become one with his real self. He is neither faithful to his family in Russia nor to his new found interest in India making him as ludicrous as the fragile international friendships.

 Keemat Lal (Annu Kapoor) is that repugnant worm of our society feeding on its ethics and morale. He is that commoner we encounter every day in the corridors of bureaucracy waiting for an opportunity to feed on the hapless.

 Dr. Modhusudhon Tarafdar (Naseeruddin Shah) is the only character that appears bit contrived in the whole drama. His brainy endeavours could have been used to scan a psyche revealing some hither to unknown innards of the male mind. This character falls flat for want of more innovation and less haste in his making.

Wading from one relation to the other Suzanna’s odyssey makes it obvious that attaining unconditional love is near to impossible in a woman’s life time. Her seventh choice is also a trial that hopefully might materialise in to a fruitful one as the final waltz with the Holy Son symbolizes. The story demands a sequel essaying her tryst with holiness and its trappings and whether the holy institution is really equipped to deliver.

'Dhobi Ghat' a.k.a humanism

In a new world where callousness rules and sensitivity is passé Kiran Rao decides to wash laundry in an attempt to recap the lustre of humanism. The patina accumulated over years of insensitivity needs some real rinsing with a detergent no better than human ethos and values. That’s nothing other than a recognition of the human soul and an insight to palpate a fellow human being’s angst.

A clutch of videotapes expose Arun (Amir Khan) to a hapless woman whose joys and tribulations take him on a vicarious journey of humanness. A merciless metropolis throws the lives of many such people awry, sometimes to the point of no return.

Yasmin’s (Kriti Malhotra) story holds no value in a fast paced city. She’s just one among the dhobis, dabbawallahs and the like with no value and identity. But for a solitary humanist like Arun, who has developed a stillness in the chaos around him, Yasmin is important. Only through him she becomes an individual in flesh and blood, with hopes, aspirations and dreams of her own. Until then she’s just another woman who’s constantly ignored, snubbed, abused and treated like a ragdoll. Arun’s attempts to redeem her in canvas remain an 'abstract' when he shockingly discovers the intensity with which mundane lives are trampled by (un)civilized boots.

We have trained ourselves to see a make belief India sans poverty, subjugation and filth. The zillion plebeian that make our luxury possible stay out of focus. Like the dhobi (Prateik Babbar) of the 'ghat' they have reconciled to the fact that their identity is destined to be in the murky margins of the society. The sunglasses of convinience aid this myopic vision in overseeing the obvious and to wallow in minutiae. It’ll not be far that we replace those glasses with blinds that’ll forever shut out the light of reality and bless us with  the luxury of darkness. But a glimmer of hope like Kiran Rao will be there to poke holes to these blinds allowing real life and real people to seep in and disturb our blasé world!

Evidence Based Learning Techniques

Every year we face the same music of repeated failures in spite of stringent measures like mandatory library hours, monitored studies, emphatic rote learning and the like. The uninitiated or the lesser souls continue to be the same in spite of all the exercises and trials, until fate takes a U-turn to solve the issue.
Cognitive scientists, recently, have shown that a few simple techniques can reliably improve the student learning curve.
(Source: New York Times News Service)

1. By alternating study environments
Instead of sticking to one study location, alternating the room where a person studies improves retention. Sitting put in a specific place, a study room, or a corner of the library, can hamper the learning efficiency as per a classic 1978 experiment. The psychologists found that students who studied in two rooms, alternatively, fared better than the students who studied only in the same room.

2. Mixing contents
Rather than focusing intensely on a single thing, studying distinct but related concepts in one sitting is advocated. Varying the type of material studied in a single sitting seems to leave a deeper impression on the brain than does concentrating on just one skill at a time. Musicians often employ this in their practice sessions, mixing a combination of scales and musical pieces. Many athletes stick to this line by combining workouts with strength, speed and skill drills.

3. Spacing study sessions
Crash courses aim at intensive immersion in a limited time to master a skill. This can give a better grade on a given exam but hurried jam-packing can be likened to speed-packing a cheap suitcase that holds the load for a while, then almost everything falls out.
When the neural suitcase is packed carefully and gradually, it holds its contents far longer and much better too. Dozens of studies have shown that Intermittent or spaced studying improves later recall, without requiring the student to put in excessive effort or pay more attention.

4. Self testing
Cognitive scientists see self testing, practice tests and quizzes as powerful tools of learning, rather than exams. Human brain has to relearn some of what it has absorbed, before adding new stuff, whenever it revisits materials at a later time. This relearning itself is self-reinforcing, anchoring retention of the information.

A combination of all these techniques can sure assist the common student who finds it difficult to tackle the problem. These are simple techniques that can be employed by anyone without any expert guidance.

But finally what is most needed is MOTIVATION. Only then incorporation of these techniques can find a suitable portal. Cognitive evidence based learning techniques give students a realistic plan than the clichéd learning practises and the often unusable theorising.

Musings on a teachers’ day

Bill Gates in a series of cyber talks (www.ted.com/talks) recently commented on education and the importance of teachers. Among other things he opined that paucity of good teachers is very much an Indian problem too. We always want someone of importance to comment or the arrival of a special day to make us think of pertinent issues like education, health, love and the like. Without Gates’ cautioning we are well aware of the rickety state of our education system. This traverses from the primary to the professional levels eroding the very values purported by the constitution.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recalled some of his teaching days during the eve of Teachers’ Day while conferring awards to the National Teacher awardees. He counted his days as a teacher as ‘the most satisfying and fulfilling in his life’. He also noted that the teachers needed to accept change in keeping with the times, maintaining a fine balance between traditions and innovation.

But it’s a sad truth that beyond these words, projected to the teaching community during ‘special times’, nothing promising is happening. Professional teaching suffers the most due to the lack of committed and sincere teachers and the price is paid by the community. The non-commitment and callousness of today’s professionals can be attributed to the teachers who failed to instil any values or morals in their wards. When the teacher him/herself promote wealth oriented and job oriented education what more can we expect from the students?

Teaching whenever becomes a supplementary job is detrimental. To make ends meet today’s professional take up teaching along with practice. They merely end-up as ‘arm chair teachers’ who never budge from their place to make an effort to teach or demonstrate. Many of them are interested in the promotions and the positions tied to these posts and will attain it with no sweat.

Academic exercises like research, paper presentations/publications and the like should be made mandatory in promoting and designating a teacher. Student evaluation of teachers is another effective tool to rate the best from the worst. This Sep’ 5th let’s pay homage to all those conscientious teachers who made teaching a sublime experience. Jai ho!