Zero is Hero

“Zero is Hero” may sound like a contradictory phrase, as we always have the highest regard for a hero, whereas we have the lowest regard for a Zero. But I look at Zero as a real Hero, when it comes to the success of any mission. Let me try to explain my viewpoint.

We all know the number Zero is considered as one of the important inventions. Without the invention of the number zero, mathematics wouldn’t have evolved so far. Not so many mathematical theories and calculations would have been possible. Even in computers, the software programme is coded in binary language which is a combination of 0s and 1s. So Zero, is a significant digit, in spite of the fact that it does not have a value on its own.

While we all agree that zero has no value, we also know that the digit zero added to any number increases its value manifold. For instance, the No: 1 has very minimal value, of its own, but when we add zero to it, it becomes 10. When you add one more zero it becomes 100 and one more zero it becomes 1000. So, unless the Number One is supported by many Zeros its value doesn’t increase exponentially.

Same is the case with any organisation. Every organisation exists to fulfil a purpose, and the purpose can be achieved only by its people. Now let us assume that the purpose is No: 1 and the people who work for the purpose are No: 0. The purpose by itself finds little value, unless it is supported by people. Now, when we add the No: 0 to the purpose, its value increases. When we add more people to the purpose, it increases even further.

Let me illustrate, with an example. Gandhi was an ordinary man, but he grew up to so much of significance because he aligned himself to a purpose - the purpose of getting freedom for his countrymen. In the process, there were so many other people who supported him and laid their lives for the cause. There were so many martyrs of freedom, whose name are not popular. They lost their lives but in the process attained freedom for the country. To them, the purpose was more important than fame, family or even their life. According to me, these insignificant people, who lost their lives for the cause they believed in, are the real heroes. Such types of leaders are truly exemplary.

 When the purpose is bigger than the person, the person may not be significant but without the person the purpose cannot be achieved.

Also Zero implies an egoless state. An egoless state is what it takes to be a great leader. When it comes to an organisational vision or mission, the person should subdue his ego to the cause, so that the purpose of the organisation is achieved. When it comes to an argument between two people, the deciding criteria shouldn’t be “who is right?” but “what is right?” When people of a team, work with such a mindset, then the purpose becomes more easily achievable. A beautiful quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, goes like this: “There is no limit to what can be accomplished if it doesn't matter who gets the credit.”

This is not the case today, in many social organisations,  that are meant to function to serve a purpose. They have lost its focus on the purpose as the leaders are too concerned about developing their personal identity rather than subordinate themselves to the purpose. Such types of organisations don’t serve the purpose, nor grow in value. They soon find a dooms day, with too many leaders and no followers. Without the Zeros, there is no big accomplishment.

So, let us learn to respect the “Zeroes as Heroes”.

 D. Senthil Kannan,

Managing Trustee, PALMS, Tuticorin.

Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com

Towards a Better Education System

The Education system in India, has been widely acclaimed as one of the best in the world. Yet, on taking a closer look, I would say that it is the intelligence of the Indian’s that has given the merit and not the learning system itself.

 

One of my important observations, when I visited Finland as a Rotary GSE Team member in 2006, was the system of education, which has been rated the No.1 in the world by PISA - Programme for International Student Assessment.

 

I had the opportunity of meeting and interacting with the principal of a teacher training school in Rovaniemi. She shared a lot of useful information of which one point caught my attention.  She said that, “the failure of the student is the failure of the teacher”. The child comes with a raw mind to learn and it is the duty of the teacher to teach the child the way, he/ she understands. There is no justice in classifying a child as bright or dull, without the teacher taking enough efforts to bring out the best in the child. The inefficiency of the teacher, surfaces on the results of the student. But the teacher comfortably shifts the cause to the inefficiency of the child.

 

When it comes to education the Parents - Teacher – Student form the 3 vertices of the magic trio. Everyone has to play their fair part. While it is true that the child has to put in its share of effort to study and present well, it is the duty of the teacher to create an interest of the subject in the child by some innovative means and it is the duty of the parents to create a good learning atmosphere.

 

In Finland, teachers have strong methodical autonomy, which means they do not have to fall into a glue of a fixed teaching pattern. They therefore think of new ways of teaching and make the learning process as fun and experiential as possible.

 

Throughout the education students with learning difficulties are paid special attention to. There is a strong favour for individual learning guidance. This is possible because the number of schools as compared to the number of student is high. A classroom has a maximum of 20 students, therefore personal attention is possible.

 

The parents seem to be very co-operative with the teacher and the child in terms of the child’s interest development.  There is no imposing of the parents on the child as to what he or she should become at the end of his education.

 

In Finland, there is a uniform curriculum throughout the country, in alternate to our system of multiple curriculums such as ICSE, CBSE, Matric, State Board etc. This uniform curriculum establishes a national standard and eases student migration, from one part of the country to the other.

 

One noticeable and appreciable part of their education is there is no ranking system in school.  The school is considered as a place of learning and not as place of competing. No child fails in class. Therefore no emotional damage is caused to the students during the learning period. No complexes are developed.  There are no public ranking lists. Entrance to Colleges based only on Entrance Test.  The Entrance test is again, not a place where you get rejected. The entrance test is more or less like a general aptitude test, wherein the student’s subject preference is evaluated. At the end of the entrance test a counselor sits with the student and discusses, the suitable options for the student based on his interest and skill level. The student then chooses the field of study based on this evaluation.

 

In Finland, all education institutions are run by the Government. There are no private schools. While in India, the students studying in Government schools are considered unfortunate, in Finland the Government is able to provide the best of education for its students and also be ranked as No.1, in the world.

 

 

 

 D. Senthil Kannan,

Managing Trustee, PALMS, Tuticorin.

Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com

No God? Are You Sure?

Off late, it is had become more common for people to self-declare themselves, as Atheists.  I tend to hear it more often among youngsters. I was curious to understand why this shift in pattern of thought. Is it just a trend? Or is it the excessive reliance in Science and technology? Or is it just the over confidence of in one’s own self? I was clueless.

I made a quick search on google to check some statistics.  I was surprised to find, that about 16% of the world population are Atheists, making them the 3^rd largest population, after Christianity and Islam. What was more alarming to see, was that the number of Atheists are proportionately increasing year after year. It was a bit of puzzle to me, because on one side I am able to witness the religious shrines of all the religions, getting over crowded with devotees, day after day and here on the other side is a contrasting figure of the number of people choosing to be  non- believers.

So what does, Atheism mean. The word “Atheism” itself is differently understood by different people and as such even an Atheist finds it difficult to explain, as to which classification of Atheism, he/she belongs too. For example, there are the agnostics, the antagonist, the secular, the non-religious and also a combination of one or more. The term, “Atheism” originates from the Greek word, “Atheos” which means “without God”. So, to put it simply, Atheist are people who don’t feel the need for God. On the contrary, “Theist” are those who believe that that there is something supreme beyond them to guide them, which they call God.

So “Atheists” and “Theists” are two contrasting sects of people, who have contrasting beliefs. For example:

• To an atheist, an idol is just a piece of rock, but to a theist it is an identity of God.
• To an atheist, it is absurd to think of God in a human form and give it a name, but a theist finds it as the best way to personify God.
• To an atheist, the universe was formed as a result of the big bang, but to a theist it was a creation of God.
• To an atheist, everything that happens in the world has a Science behind it, but to a theist, there is a divine force operating beyond it.

There are so many such contrasting beliefs. In a way, “Atheism” and “Theism” are just two different forms of spiritual enquiry. While the Theist, starts from the presupposition that there is God and finds evidence to substantiate his belief, the Atheist starts from the presupposition that there is no God and finds evidence to prove there is no God.  As it the nature of the human mind, to see only what it believes, both are right from their own experiences.

I have been an atheist myself, at one point of time. I have argued against the existence of God, but when I came to read and hear about some of the greatest thinkers, scientists, mathematicians, social workers such as Einstein, Ramanujan Mahatma Gandhi and many more, I became aware that they were ardent believers of God. All these people were far more intelligent than the common man and they belief in something beyond their intellectual comprehension, made me to think, that I could be wrong. This thought furthermore strengthened, when I became a member of an organisation called JCI, which had it’s first tenant as follows: “Faith in God, gives meaning and purpose to human life.” I pondered on this and could relate it as well.

One of the senior trainer of JCI, Mr. K.V. Ratnam, once quoted, “Science has an answer for all the questions. But man has not learned enough Science to know all the answers. Till then let us believe in God”. This was a new and interesting perspective.

In this context, it is pertinent to note that everyone thinks differently and therefore everyone has the right to choose what they want to be, and just because I am an Theist , I am not against the Atheist. It is just my appeal to Atheist, to periodically revisit our beliefs, from time to time. Because, while there is no hard and fast rule to believe in God, there is nothing we lose by believing in God.

It is purely our choice to be a Theist or an Atheist. What is more important is not to mock anyone’s belief. We should learn to respect this difference and give each other the space and freedom to be themselves, rather than argue and try to prove that we are right.

 

 D. Senthil Kannan,

Managing Trustee, PALMS, Tuticorin.

Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com

Man’s search for Immortality

In one of the whatsapp group in which I am a part of, we were discussing the concept of immortality. So, I was able to realise that everyone has this innate desire to leave a mark in this planet which will be long remembered.

Stephen Covey, states that the purpose of human life is to live, to love, to learn and leave a legacy. By saying, leave a legacy he says that human beings are capable of leaving a strong footprint in this planet, by doing something significant that the future generations will remember them for.

As I ponder, on this I am able to think of a number of ways, by how human beings can make their presence felt in this earth, even after they die.

Eponym: Eponyms are terms, laws, theories or any findings named after a person. For example, Newton’s law, Darwin’s theory, Archimedes Principle are some of the many. So, people by virtue of inventing or finding something, create a name for themselves, which is forever remembered by their name.

Being an Author: Though we may die, our thoughts can continue to live on this earth as words, as long as it is worth being read. For example, Thiruvalluvar who lived over 2000 years back, is still remembered through his Thirukural, which stays relevant even today. Similarly, there are many poets, philosophers, scholars who have etched a mark for themselves by their valuable thoughts in words.

Work of Art, Music and Architecture: Leonard da Vinci is remembered for his paintings. Beethoven continues to live in the memory of people, through his symphony Shahjahan is remembered for his great work on marble - the Taj Mahal. Many Kings and Rulers, engaged in creating masterpieces of architecture, art and music,  to be remembered in the annals of history.

Statue & Memorials: Putting up a Statue or a Memorial in honour of great leader or a noble man is also an way, for that person to be remembered by the future generations.

Naming of Road or Area: It is quite common to see some road names, street names or an area in the name of some political leader, in India. For example, many towns in Tamilnadu have a Annanagar ( in memory of the past Chief Minister of the State). This trend continues.

Founders of a religion or a cult: Founders of religion or some religious cult, have attained the status of immortality through their preachings. Some examples includes:  Jesus Christ, Buddha, Mahavira, Bodhidharma and Sai Baba.

Through Charity: People donate their money or service to educational or social institution, and as a mark of honouring their contribution, a  building or a part of the building is named after them. It is yet another noble way of leaving the name, in the minds of people.

Donating Eyes and Organs: One more people continue to live after they die is  by donating the organs to a needy person. Though this may not exceed for a long time, it still makes an impact in the life of the person who benefitted by it and brings a good name for the person who donated it.

Having and Nurturing Children: One of the simple ways, a man remains immortal is by having and nurturing good children. In India, we have this concept of ancestral worship too, which makes it possible. A parent who has left a good name, fame and fortune for his family will be remembered for atleast 3 generations, which may be a timeline of 200 years.

So, my assumption is that, History doesn’t remember most of the people who lived in this earth for more than 200 years. A very few have lasted in the memory for 2000 years. So, even this concept of immortality has a time frame. But, my thought is that, all those people who are looked up as immortals today, perhaps didn’t have a desire to be an immortal. They just did their work with great passion and as a result of their achievement or contribution, they have attained this stature. So, let us just continue doing our best in whatever we do. Who knows? We may attain this stature of immortality too.

 D. Senthil Kannan,

Managing Trustee, PALMS, Tuticorin.

Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com

Exceptions are not Examples

One of the common debates, we tend to hear in the current context is ‘How important is education, in the success of an individual?”. The general sentiment today seems to be in favour of NO. We believe that schools and colleges of today, is not preparing leaders for tomorrow, rather it is just preparing a bunch of clerks.

While I understand the reasons for this changing mindset, I am still in favour of formal education. Let me substantiate this with some points.

I often tell people, that this country can develop into a strong nation, only when educated people enter politics and take up leadership roles. One of the counter argument, I hear when I say that, is that, “It is not necessary for a person to be educated to enter politics, rather that person should have good intentions” . The political leader often cited to substantiate this claim is, former Chief Minister of the state Thiru. K Kamaraj. While this is a valid example they are making, let us ponder as to how many such good exemplary leaders do we really have? On the contrary, can we ever discount the contribution of so many educated leaders such as Gandhi, Jawaharalal Nehru, Sardar Vallabbhai Patel or Ambedkar and so on?

Similarly, when we talk about education as an important factor to be successful in career, people tend to defend by saying, “Not necessarily “ and cite examples of people like Bill Gates, who was a school dropout or Dirubhai Ambani, who had no formal schooling.  Well, these people have undoubtedly made it great in life, but again how many of such examples do we have. On the other hand, think about the many educated people who have been highly successful in their careers, such as Steve Jobs, Narayana Moorthy, Indra Nooyi or Sundar Pichai.

In all the cases, it is clear that the educated people dominate the list of highly successful people. If we look at ratio of successful people who are not educated versus the successful people who are educated, the ratio may be something like 1:10 respectively. This is just a wild guess.

While it is true that there are exceptional cases of people, who are illiterate or didn’t have formal schooling but who have made it big in life, it still doesn’t make a valid point of contention. So, the point I wish to make is “exceptions shouldn’t be taken as examples.”

Now the question is, if that is the case, why do we often glorify such people rather than the educated and successful people. The answer is this.  These types of exceptional leaders are rare and it is a general trend that we tend to appreciate what is rare and what is not common.

Moreover, the fundamental reason to nurture these thoughts is to inculcate hope in the minds of people, who have not had the capacity to pursue academics or who have met with less academic success. That is to say, when someone is not successful in education, we don’t need to completely give up on them, rather motivate them with these examples, which give them a hope that they too can become successful people.  

This sort of inspiration still continues to build successful entrepreneurs and leaders and that is a good thing. While leadership seems to be an inborn trait, found in anyone irrespective of whether that person is educated or uneducated, Education certainly provides the competency one needs to be a more resourceful thinker and therefore lead more effectively.

So, while we admire these exceptional people, let us not take them as examples, rather commit ourselves to be a master of our craft, by conscious effort of learning and building our skills.

All of us are planted with the seed, which has an innate ability to succeed. Education is just like a nursery, which nurtures the seed to bloom into a flowering plant.  When an tested and trusted framework is available, why leave success to chance.

 

D. Senthil Kannan,

Managing Trustee, PALMS, Tuticorin.

Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com

Training Aid, not Trainer’s Aid

The schools of today take pride in calling themselves smart class enabled schools, as they have an audio- visual educational facility with educational content in multimedia format.

Research states that learning happens through different sensory organ and the most dominant is the through visual which contributes to 75%, listening contributes to 12% and the balance 13% through, touch, taste and smell. Therefore when multiple sensory organs are engaged in the learning progress, learning is enhanced and better retained in a child’s memory. I therefore, think it is a wonderful idea, to introduce such innovative ideas to classroom learning. Classroom becomes more fun and interesting.

So far the children have only used the listening to lectures, which certainly has a limitation for them to understand difficult and complex concepts. Now with this media, the students can see the process in wide detail, which helps them to understand better, ‘how things work’. For example, when they talk about digestive system, earlier the teachers would have found it difficult to explain, where each part of the digestion process takes place. But now a video can pictorially explain how the food travels in the digestive system and what function, each internal organ functions in aiding the digestion process.

My point of concern is that, these innovation learning systems should only work as a support to the student’s learning process and not a support to the teacher.  In other words, these systems are primarily aimed at making learning easy and not teaching easy. Teachers cannot therefore afford to totally rely on these fancy systems and go unprepared to class. These systems cannot be a replacement to the teachers, basic teaching skills.  You cannot assume that with so much of clarity in the teaching process, there can be no questions from the students. In fact, with more understanding comes more questions and the teacher has to be a level above to clarify the doubts, of the students.

Why am I saying this? It is because, one of the major problems a number of schools are facing today, is lack of quality teachers. When I say quality teachers, I mean the teachers who are 100% committed to their student’s progress. There are teachers who have taken up this profession, just for a livelihood, without actually understanding the important role they play in the lives of young children. A school cannot get away with the idea, that they can mask the inefficiency of their teachers, by using such novel systems.

Jci. Sen. K.V. Ratnam, Past National President and a leading trainer of JCI India, used to often mention in his ‘Train the trainers’ workshop, that LCD projector or any Audio Visual medium should be used as a training aid and not a trainers aid.

Now what is the difference? There is a tendency of trainers to heavily rely on power point slides which are either created by themselves or borrowed from someone or downloaded from the internet. Without any preparation they come and present these programmes. They run the power point slides and just read the text from the screen, and give a translation of each word (as if the ones listening are language illiterate). Just in case there is no power supply, they feel stalled. They are unable to proceed further, because all their preparation is only in the PPT slides and not in the mind. Such unprepared trainers face embarrassing situations, specifically when they have a questioning person among the audience. They are unable to give the participant a satisfying answer. This is the reason, Corporate training sounds so boring in the present context and people have developed an aversion to it. In fact, training could be made very interesting by right usage of audio-visuals. There is a saying which says, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’. The trainer should take this clue. The picture or audio visual used should aid the training process and not serve as an aid to the trainer, himself.

So, dear Teachers and Trainers, please be aware that in this internet age, knowledge is in abundance. Every piece of information you provide is already available on Wikipedia or Encarta or YouTube. What should really matter is how well you are able to present the available knowledge, which is your valuable skill.

 D. Senthil Kannan,

Managing Trustee, PALMS, Tuticorin.

Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com

Increasing Consumerism
Leads to Increasing Junk

A definition of consumerism states, “the belief that the buying and selling of large quantities of consumer goods is beneficial to an economy or a sign of economic strength”. Well, the very definition starts with a hypothesis that it is a belief. So what is the real thing?  Is increased consumerism, really doing good to the economy. Let us consider this in the light of the following facts.

 

In olden days, a product that was bought usually lasted for a very long time. Anything for that matter, be it clothes, cutlery, furniture, electronic appliances or whatsoever, the durability of the product was a very important criteria in the buying decision. However, today things have changed. We are looking at fashion, trend, the latest in lifestyle, and other external parameters rather than the inside stuff. So, the concept of longevity of a product is not of vital importance, anymore.

This in turn has encouraged the manufacturer to make products of inferior quality, because he knows that the consumer is not going to use it for long. By doing so, the manufacturer gets a twin benefit.  The first benefit is; he is able to reduce the cost of production and is in a position to offer the product to the customer at a very cheap price. For example, in case of a mobile phone, the manufacturer is aware that the person is not going to use the same phone for more than 3 years. So he decides the components to be used for this product based on this criterion and thereby is able to produce the product at a much cheaper price. From the point of the consumer, the consumer is happy that he has got a product with maximum features, for a minimum price. The second benefit is; as the manufacturer uses inferior quality components, the product becomes non functional in a few days. Nowadays you cannot find anyone to get it repaired, so you are forced to go for a new purchase. This means added business volume for the manufacturer.

The concept of repair and mending is slowly moving out of our culture. Just the same way it happened to advanced countries some years back. So there is no much option except to “use and throw”.

Look at the ways our lives have evolved. Not very long back, we had cobblers who could mend our shoes, tailors who could alter our dress that did not fit, mechanics who would repair our Radio or TV. But today, when you take a product for repair, one of the common responses you could hear is, “You could get a new one for the cost of the repair”. If you ask, “So what do I do with this?” you will get an instant reply, “Just throw it as junk.”

The market for second hand products is drastically reducing. If you wish to sell your Old Computer monitor or Old TV, you will find absolutely nobody to buy. With technological updation taking place in every sphere, there is no preference for old technology products, and ultimately you have no option except to dump it as junk. Thanks to the discount offers, intelligently disguised as “exchange mela”, by retailers who want to woo customers to buy their latest products. The junk in your house now becomes the junk in the retailer’s warehouse, which goes on to become metal and plastic scrap.

What is the bottom line? It is a huge waste on natural resources and manpower of the country, which are our core assets.  We deplete the natural resources and waste human labour, imprudently. The consumer ends up spending more for less value, leading to depletion of his savings. The junk disposed becomes a major environmental hazard. Now tell me, is this beneficial to the economy?

The answer is a definite NO. Just because we have an increased affordability does not mean we should have a careless attitude, towards buying. Next time before you buy, ask yourself do I really need it. Don’t buy something, just because it is available cheap. Don’t be carried away with free offers. Nothing is offered free. The cost of the free has been built in the product price. Think twice before you buy.

 

 

  D. Senthil Kannan,

  Managing Trustee, PALMS, Tuticorin.

  Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

  Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com