School is standing on the game

I was wondering why is it that a 200 year old education system is still used despite being broken.

After reading a lot to find the answer to this question, I was finally able to get a satisfactory answer. Here it goes-

Today, very few children are studying for the sake of learning while most do it to get a good percentage, then a good college and eventually a good job.

In other words everyone is playing the game of Education. A game in which if a student swallows everything up and vomits it out exactly as swallowed on the day of the exam, he succeeds.

By a date sheet and syllabus students have a set number of books to swallow before a particular date. Much like one has to accomplish time based goals in a game.

The level is constantly increasing. In 1st grade we were expected to learn ABCD and number names, by around mid school 5 point answers and by the time one reaches the last years of high school you reach god level where you are expected to rote learn entire books.

I’m not sure the amount of learning has increased but the amount of stuff to rote surely has.

Education is no longer about learning. It’s about the game of getting a rank in class/school, it’s about getting a fancy college. That’s also what everyone cares for. But is this the way education should be?

A big no. Education’s primary motive is to spark curiosity in a child’s head and make him/her ask questions that leaves the teacher dumbstruck. It is not to hone their memorization skills.

We are living in an age where everything is saved on our little devices kept in our pockets, where is the need for memorization skills?

But does the system equip students to thoughtfully question the realities of life. No it doesn’t. Rather it encourages them to accept things the way they are and part of the reason is that if they get this skill of thoughtfully questioning then education system would be one of the first things to be questioned and taken down.

I don’t know till when will we keep playing this meaningless game. But one thing that I know is that only a game better than the present one will make the shift towards meaningful education happen.

I don’t know when and how will this new game be designed. But I hope it comes soon enough before “wasted” flashes on your screen.

-ChoubeySahab

Cautious empathy (micro blog)

Firstly, what is empathy? The ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and then preanticipate their reaction to a particular situation.

Empathy is an invaluable skill. Very few actually have it but those who do need to ensure they use it cautiously. Falling into over empathizing is common.

It is not always that the person on the other end understands and values your empathy. Some don’t really care for how you are trying to monitor your behaviour in order to not hurt the sentiments of the other person.

This is when one starts to feel bad about empathizing with someone. But you need to understand that the real problem is with your judgement of where to emphasize and how much.

Empathizing everywhere doesn’t help as all have their set of problems and concerns while you have your own. Thinking about their’s may lead you into undermining your own set of concerns.

Cautious empathizing is extremely important else it will be very often that you’ll be left feeling sad and dejected for empathizing with the wrong person.

Always remember that if you are good to people then people don’t have any obligation to be good to you in return. Empathize carefully at the right place with the right person, only then will you start reaping the benefits of a true empath.

-ChoubeySahab

Marijuana legalized in Canada

On 17 October ‘18, marijuana (a drug illegal in almost all countries) was legalized in Canada. They believe marijuana is not much different from alcohol and if alcohol is legal then so can be marijuana.

Though the legalization comes with some limitations like-minimum age of consumer should be 19, only 30 grams of the drug can be purchased at once, a family can grow upto 4 marijuana plants.

The only (legal) way to purchase marijuana is a dedicated website set up by the government which then delivers the drug to the consumer.

Canada was always known for it’s non restrictive and open minded way of governance and this legalization confirms this further. The move is expected to increase tourism as foreigners will flock to legally get high on the drug.

It’s not even a week yet since the drug became legal and the warehouses are already struggling to keep up with the demand.

This move seems nothing short of insane when we look at it from the Indian perspective (a country with states like Punjab unable to handle alcohol).

Marijuana, like any other drug, is harmful for health and has severe impact on brain activity. Canada, in my very personal view, is trying to act cool by legalizing it or maybe the officials are themselves high on the drug.

-ChoubeySahab

Capitalism is fair (miro blog)

There are so many who argue against the capitalist nature of our society. They want a more equal distribution of resources and wealth.

But something we never ask ourselves is- Are we all contributing equally to the society? Are we all putting in the same amount of hardwork? The answer to both these questions is a clear no. Then why do we want a socialist society where everyone is (unfairly) treated equally.

It turns out that the educated prefer to take the moral high ground on any issue, hence the advocacy of equal wealth despite it not being practical. The wealth distribution is highly lopsided in our society but that’s because so is the amount of effort and risks someone is willing to take.

The only thing that we can do as a society is to try to bring in Universal Basic Income (UBI). This would not only ensure the basic needs of everyone but also encourage more people to take more risks and do what they want to. Which would give everyone a fair opportunity to win at capitalism. Let’s not demand free wealth, rather an equal opportunity to make more wealth.

Capitalism is justified and is here to stay.

This is a race- you’ll either win or lose or stay somewhere in between. So stop complaining and start running as the race has already begun.

-ChoubeySahab

Why are we so scared? (micro blog)

99% people want to play it safe . They don’t want to take any risks . I was trying to figure out the reason why are we so scared and I found out.

The only reason this is so is because we all have 1 life and we are all over possessive about it. We don’t want to loose this 1 life at any cost. This discourages one from taking risks.

But then when you see up there to the 1% people who actually made it big in life were the ones who risked a lot to get there. While I’m sure that there would be so many more who risked and failed but atleast they gave it a shot.

Let me put it in black and white for you. If you want to live a life less ordinary then be ready to do things less ordinary. If you want to live a 1% life then be ready to do the 1% things.

It’s sure not easy. But I’ll give you a hack. Just follow what your heart says. Because your brain in programmed by the society to play it safe. Your heart is crazy, it can make you do crazy things.

Don’t be scared just because you have 1 life. Remember you can get up everytime you fall. But you won’t get this life back once you die.

Live it!

-ChoubeySahab

Make yourself uncomfortable (150th micro blog)

Remember the last time you were at a party. What did the host tell you? Most probably, “Make yourself comfortable”.

But if life were to be a party then God (host) would tell you the exact opposite. That is to make yourself uncomfortable.

This is because to enjoy the party of life you’ll have to take on unexplored paths. Doing what everyone else is doing will feel boring and dull.

The party of life can only be enjoyed by adding a bit of thrill to it. How to add thrill? you ask. Just do something that you really want to do but which has 50-50 or lesser success ratio. Give all you have to get success in such risk rich situations.

You put a lot at stake when you try to do something risky. It’s very often that this makes you uncomfortable. You feel uneasy and want to escape the situation. But this is where your real growth happens. You grow in difficult situations.

This is the reason why some are disproportionately better than others at the same age. It is because some of them weren’t scared to go out of their comfort zones. They faced failure more often than the ones who chose comfort.

Those extra failures, extra struggle, extra setbacks is what sets them apart and above the rest.

Don’t be scared to do what makes you uncomfortable. If you have stage fright then go on the stage whenever you get a chance and face your fear head on. Don’t run away from it.

Make yourself uncomfortable. This is only way real growth happens.

Since you are in this party of life, don’t get too comfortable in here.

-ChoubeySahab

Patience is a super power

Lately I’ve come to the realisation that nothing is more important than patience when it comes to getting success. If you are working on a project then you need to keep working on it even if the results don’t show up instantaneously.

This isn’t easy in practice. We all seek instant results/validation but we don’t get it immediately more often than not. Which results in dropping out of the project and terming it as a failure. You need to realize that the project didn’t fail but you did as you didn’t show the patience to see the results showing up.

I see that no one ever taught us this skill of patience. I wish school stressed on making me learn this skill better. I wish school didn’t discourage failure as it’s inevitable in the real world and the only pathway to success.

I want you to know this, results don’t come at the speed you want them to. They might be stuck in a traffic jam somewhere. If you really believe in what you’re working on, results will show up sooner or later.

Just be patient.

-ChoubeySahab

Entitlement is a curse

There was a time when I used to feel bad for the things that I don’t have. I always had people around me who had much more than me and I felt jealous. I felt that they were lucky to be born in a rich family and it’s because of the money their parents have that they are getting all their materialistic dreams fulfilled.

It’s only now that I’ve started to realize that I was wrong. Being born in a middle class family taught me the art of frugality. It taught me to drive happiness in the most trivial things.

While on the other hand, I have started to think that those of my friends who had all they wanted are actually disadvantaged. Getting whatever is desired without craving for it, with working for it, without shedding tears for not being able to have it essentially never made them realize what things are worth.

If ever something devastating happens. Say a natural disaster strikes and we all have to start from zero again. I think I’ll be winning to those people, because i’ve seen and experienced this world more closely than them. I was not sitting in a car being transported to places but standing in a public transport waiting for a seat to get vacant. Now that none of anyone has anything, I know how to survive and build up from zero while the one who was entitled from the very birth is dumbstruck with this situation.

I want you to understand that the more problems you face in your childhood years, the more limitations that are forced on you, the more you crave for stuff is what teaches you how to get what you want on your own money. It forces you to think of unthinkable ways of making money just because you are desperate to fulfill your dreams.

If you were poor/middle class in your childhood/teenage years. You are luckiest of the lot.

And if you were from the entitled group. I feel sorry for you mate. There’s a lot of learning you’ve missed out on.

Entitlement is a curse. Period.

-ChoubeySahab

The #metoo movement

MeToo, a campaign involving women coming out and reporting inappropriate behaviour from men . The campaign first started in America when women started reporting harassment from the US President Trump (then President candidate). Which followed several women from Hollywood, media and many other industries to come out and report any such malicious behaviour from men.

Now, the MeToo movement has touched the Indian shore with Tanushree Dutta reporting harassment by Nana Patekar (a popular Bollywood actor).

This started a whole bunch of women from media to politics leveling charges against men. Even the “Sanskari” Alok Nath is being alleged of harassing women.

Even 10 year old incidents being taken out in the open. The movement is at its full peak. But something that I still doubt is what action/investigation will take place in all these cases. The charges are severe and a lot of careers depend on them.

I hope the government is keeping a close watch as these charges are being levelled and a special team is made to look into all these.

It’s good to see the MeToo unfolding in India. Atleast now workplaces will be more safer for women as men know that women are no longer scared to report any ill behaviour.

I hope to see quick and strict action on all these cases. Let this not be something that dies down and forgotten with time. For once, let justice not be delayed.

-ChoubeySahab

Jauhar

A practice of the Rajput women who burnt themselves in huge numbers when being informed about defeat in a war.

A defeat means that most/all Rajput men (their husbands) are dead and hence there is noone to protect them from the enemy.

Rajputs were known to hold their esteem above their lives. This is the reason why Rajput women preferred burning in fire over being raped, exploited and enslaved by the opposing clan.

Jauhar as we know it today is primarily because of the much controversial movie Padmavat which filmed one such jauhar which took place in 1303 when the Rajputs lost the war to Allaudin Khilji.

Till date there are 3 known instances of jauhar carried out by Rajput women. This means that 3 generations of all women sacrificed themselves to fire in order to conserve the prestige of the Rajputs.

As we look back it today, on one side there is a feeling of pride that this country had people with so much value for their community while on the other I feel sad for what we are today and what we once used to be.

I won’t comment if jauhar was the right thing to do or not. For it is history now. History worth remembering and taking lessons on honour and prestige on one’s own identity.

But yes I hope history doesn’t repeat itself when it comes to jauhar.

-ChoubeySahab