If You Think Marks Are Everything In Life, You Need To Think Again!

[V.Balasubramani]

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Source: face book

 

[sarang]

How quickly Dirubhai Ambani is forgotten. Walchand sold bedsheets but set up several industries including HAL. Many such people have thrived and grown despite unfavorable industrial environment.

 

[V.Balasubramani]

'The focus can't just be on scoring high marks'

'Indian universities are giving out PhDs without adequate evaluation,' charges Dr Satya Narain Jatiya, MP.

Dr Satya Narain Jatiya, MP, who heads the parliamentary panel on Human Resource Development, recently tabled a report in Parliament raising serious questions about the quality of PhDs in the country.

In an exclusive interview with Rediff contributor Rashme Sehgal, Dr Jatia emphasised the need for a major overhaul of our educational system.

Your panel has raised serious questions about the quality of PhD holders being produced in the country?

We have raised serious questions regarding the quality of many of our PhD holders. Every year, there are over 7,000 research scholars being awarded PhDs and yet the quality of their research has been found to be not up to the mark.

Otherwise, why would we have a situation where such a large number of teaching posts in our colleges and universities continue to remain vacant?

These research scholars should have been hired to fill these posts, but many high level educational institutes complain that they find most of these candidates to be unsuitable for the post.

Read more at: 'The focus can't just be on scoring high marks' - Rediff.com Get Ahead

 

[Jaykay767]

JR Ji – Thanks & appreciate your feedback !

VB Ji, Renuka JI –

Well, we will have to agree to disagree. Whether one likes it or not, scoring marks is linked to “getting a job” in today’s world.

My view is during the school / college years, the kid has to focus only on studies.. all the piano lessons, boston marathon learnings, etc… can all be done after the studies are successfully completed & one gets a Job.

Once “one’s livelihood is secured”, they can learn from what life has to offer… etc…

if the kid gets into other activities during school/college, they will get distracted & lose the focus on studies which will impact them all their lives.

Parents have to inculcate this “singular focus on studies & marks” to the kids.

 

[sarang]

Anyway first level of filtering for entry level jobs is by marks and rank. In our days, we had lok for advts from public and private sector companies for trainee posts and make multiple applications, and if called attend interviews. Now no company advertises for entry level and campus interview is the norm. And if the company is not smart enough to catch good students by nov-dec, they will get only rejects and leftovers by march. Of course the students too decide which company they want to work for.

There is a strong correlation between good marks and suitability/performance; exceptions are there but difficult to identify in mass interviews. For middle levels, the head hunter palys a big role in identifying and wetting suitable candidates.

Many engineering graduates (some with jobs) have become adequate entrepreneurs in computer (earlier) and on mobile (now) business - simple repairs to app development. At this stage it is irrelevant whether they got good marks or not.

 

[V.Balasubramani]

Though we produce more engineers than any other country in the world and yet we do not have a single world class institute. Why?

 

[Jaykay767]

Campus recruits are always in the “top 20” students, rest do not get any offer or from smaller, unknown firms. IIT / IIM topper gets a salary of 1.7 CRs INR per year or more, so this guy or girl can retire in 3 yrs, & then they can “learn or do what they want in life”. They can even go to Boston memorial to learn the so called "great humanity" story at leisure instead of working like a “yerrumamadu” for 30+ yrs !!! LOL !!

Scoring high marks indicates the “depth of learning” which will stand in good stead all through life. Why would top companies hire people with such high marks??? – they pay top dollar for top talent. Top talent will almost always deliver!! All of us have seen “top scorers” almost always are the “top performers” – of course there are always exceptions.

Would you want a “pass mark” student to be your doctor OR a top talent to be your doctor ???

Our Brain is like a “advanced analytics engine”, the more you “learn extremely well”, the more data it has to leverage on to make “incisive & brilliant decisions”. That’s why a Narasimha Rao at the late age of 79 yrs, could usher in the path breaking reforms.

Entrepreneurship is unsustainable in the long run given the huge pressures unless the “adventure” becomes big like Infosys – then onecan hire professional managers to manage the firm. How long can a person work hard every day every hour without fail to run his business so that he gets money for his daily sustenance.???? Not to mention, with all this hardwork, the business can lose big money due to wrong decisions or unfavorable conditions..

 

[Jaykay767]

How can a student who has wasted his school, college years in all activities other than studies do well in life ????????. Most of them will be struggling in Jobs, hopping from one job to another, etc... you need to look at the youngsters today, not about those of us who got govt. jobs, or the older private sector companies which were more closer to our public sector work culture..

If one cannot apply themselves & write an exam well, how can they “apply themselves” & do their Job well???????

People talk about exam stress, but Job stress is even higher… so if kids get used to the “exam pressure”, they will get used to the “Job pressure”..

It is all about parenting the kids the right way – on how to manage life’s pressures, all this other talk are “guaranteed methods for kids to fail or underperform in life”…

Please do not talk about exceptions… there will always be a “few students” who did not do well in school/college, but later worked hard in their Jobs…& did well etc..

 

[sarang]

Infosys narayanamury once said that it is easier to get into stanford than get admitted in any IIT. Will happen if the mindset and parental pressure transforms to pursuit of excellence than getting into a well paying job.

Though we produce more engineers than any other country in the world and yet we do not have a single world class institute. Why?

 

[Jaykay767]

for us middle class Indians, we are "not mentally geared" to manage life like the other races. people in the west will live on the road for years, live in their cars, do house cleaning jobs, etc.. go begging for days, travel to foreign countries & con innocent people here - LOL !!, collect food stamps for daily food, then they will die one day in some foreign land or on the streets. so "our only meal ticket" is studies, education, college degree, marks, marks, marks ....

 

[Jaykay767]

for us TBs, there is nothing other than "marks, marks, marks..." & excel in our studies, this is the only thing that will guarantee our livelihood. so we need to follow our ancestors who spent all their lives in studies... & not get sidetracked by the "new age wisdom" of learning things from life, become an entrepreneur, etc...LOL !!

 

[V.Balasubramani]

Jay Kay Ji,


While you advocate for ‘marks, marks more marks’ I am arguing for more than marks to learn to meet out the challenges encountered in the journey of life and to come out successfully. It is general mind set to secure more marks, be content with a nice placement and lead a happy life. This is the normal route which more people opt for. But what is suggested is quite different. Learn everything around you as one needs to be different, think and act differently and grow rich in mind and thus lead a quite distinguished life among the normal. This is quite possible only if you think differently and achievers do think differently. I just remember 'Chekku Madu', ox used during olden days to crush oil seeds to extract oil. The routine monotonous exercise. Things have changed now. While everything change why not our system of education.

Before my replying to other points, I would request you to please go through the following article with which I agree and which is self-explanatory:

Academic Teaching Doesn’t Prepare Students for Life

Academic Teaching Doesn't Prepare Students for Life

You are in favour of Academic excellence while we are advocating for values that are beyond Academic excellence.

In the words of the article, you are for ‘test takers’ and we are for ‘thinkers’.

It is termed that while Test takers are ‘followers’, thinkers are ’leaders’.

While our point is that one should become rich in mind and shine as a leader, your are arguing for one to become a mere follower. That is the difference.

Just think about it.

You would have come across the adage ‘கண்டதை படித்தவன் பண்டிதன் ஆவான்’. This has been rightly said by our ancestors as one is expected to learn everything besides academic syllabus. Go beyond the boundaries and learn everything and explore. Sky is the limit.

Instead of mugging up the texts and spewing them out in the answer sheet, one should think of going out for off the beaten track with an vision of outstanding performance, meritorious achievements, distinctions and come out with more flying colours ultimately in life. It is possible and there are lot of achievers who still made it out from the scrap. Let us learn from their biographies and apply the strategies practically and grow.

You will agree that on the part of the parents they should think in terms of children bringing in good fame and reputation to the family and definitely not more wealth to the family. Growing rich in mind and wealth should go in proportion.

For time being, I just conclude with the following quote in support of my contention:

“I've been making a list of the things they don't teach you at school. They don't teach you how to love somebody. They don't teach you how to be famous. They don't teach you how to be rich or how to be poor. They don't teach you how to walk away from someone you don't love any longer. They don't teach you how to know what's going on in someone else's mind. They don't teach you what to say to someone who's dying. They don't teach you anything worth knowing.”


― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones


Cheers.


P.S: It may be a cutting n pasting article. But what is important is the message that it convey which applies to all including TBs.
My mantra is think and grow rich in mind.

 

[Jaykay767]

VB JI - Pl take my post in the right spirit! This is not a criticism of you, it is a critic of us Indians who have this slave mentality for the whites!!

What is this fascination about the west?- Why should we listen to this Neil Gaiman fellow???, why should we learn from some Boston memorial about humanity where some people got bombed & they apparently got back to life with all the free medical care???.

100s of Millions of Indians go to bed every night hungry, suffer from innumerable diseases, they don’t know from where they will get money the next day to pay for food for their kids - these are real heroes, why should we learn from Boston about humanity, values, etc..???? Lets teach our kids about humanity from our people’s lives, our scriptures, our texts…

so coz this Neil fellow has spoken, we should start teaching “how to love” to 10 yrs old, 14 yrs old, 18 yrs old ….?? So we should discard all our text books & teach the kids to love, how to leave someone they don’t love, etc… then why even go to school or college ?? LOL!!!!

why quote some white person’s new found “maha tatvam” as though it is a gospel?. Why not quote our great Indian masters, the great masters of Japan, China, etc..??? all the western quotes are “stolen from the great eastern masters – they are just phrased in English – that’s all”!!

It is high time, we listen to our great heroes in India..& not bother about the whites, etc… To me, our next door Somasundaram, Jagadeeshan’s words are “more important” than some junk westerner… spouting some new found “life tatvam” – LOL !!

Frankly, there is nothing we need to learn from the west, they are a “corrosive & corrupt influence” on the world – coz of their junk influence, our people are discarding 1000s of years of ancient traditions.

Lets be proud of our race, our people, our glorious culture, scriptures, traditions, etc… & forget about the west... & its miserable lives..

 

[Jaykay767]

VB JI –

Our South Indian culture is “uru oda othu vazhu” – ie conformity to the society, be docile, do not show off , do not stand out, avoid fame (by the way,read my earlier posts – fame is actually a curse – it will bring innumerable problems), do not do things differently, follow the “known road”, do NOT go to the“unknown road” coz there will be many issues.. etc..

Obviously the western view is the “exact opposite” of our view – I mean it has to be right…LOL ! They want to rebel as though there is some greatness in it, they want to be totally different, they want to be very rich, very famous, they want “everything in life”, they want blah blah blah….

My view is anything one does “outside of our culture”, will lead to some or the other side effect in life. Take for eg, all our NRIs,they have lost their families completely to the west, their kids are lost at sea, they have huge identity crisis, etc… many of them are becoming comedians by making fun of themselves & us Indians… in front of some silly whites. What a pathetic existence… & now compare this “silliness” to our glorious temple traditions, Carnatic music, etc…

Those who follow the western view will ultimately meet with disaster, those who follow “our view”, will ultimately come out successful in life…

Also I would suggest you to meet & understand the lives of entrepreneurs, & you will realize “how tough” their work really is…& you will quickly realize, let our kids work for some company & take monthly salary – it is far easier in life.

Cheers,

 

[Jaykay767]

JR JI - To clarify, my above posts on NRI is not about you... not about your family, I know you are probably more conservative than many Indians here. yes, there are many such families like yours & I am not referring to them. I am talking specifically about the 2nd & 3rd generation Indians... in the west.. in the league of Bobby Jindal etc.. Cheers,

 

[vgane]

Please read what Bill Gates the school drop out Billionaire has to say about having a degree!

[h=3]The world’s richest man and Microsoft co-founder shows how college leads to a “much surer path to success”. In his recent blogpost he discussed why we need more college graduates.[/h] Here are a few highlights:

• This spring more than 2 million students across the US are doing something I’ve never done.
• They’re graduating from college. That’s an achievement we should all celebrate. Although I dropped out of college and got lucky pursuing a career in software, getting a degree is a much surer path to success.
• College graduates are more likely to find a rewarding job, earn higher income, and even, evidence shows, live healthier lives than if they didn’t have degrees. They also bring training and skills into America’s workforce, helping our economy grow and stay competitive. That benefits everyone. It’s just too bad that we’re not producing more of them.
• By 2025, two thirds of all jobs in the US will require education beyond high school… At the current rate the US is producing college graduates, however, the country is expected to face a shortfall of 11 million skilled workers to fill those roles over the next 10 years, according to a new study by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce.
  
  A grab from Bill Gates’ blogpost (Image courtesy: gatesnotes.com)
• More than 36 million Americans—a fifth of the working age population—have gone off to college and left without a degree.
• It’s time for higher education and the “real world” of employers to start working together to meet the demand for 11 million skilled workers in the US. If we’re successful over the next decade, we’ll do more than close the skills gap.

Here?s Bill Gates telling you about why you should not be like him, instead go to college and get a degree

 

[V.Balasubramani]

Jay Kay Ji,

This thread is in 'Chit Chat' section and hence no heated argument or debate. It is just a casual exchange of thoughts.

Shall reply to you in my next post.

Cheers

 

[JR]

JR JI - To clarify, my above posts on NRI is not about you... not about your family, I know you are probably more conservative than many Indians here. yes, there are many such families like yours & I am not referring to them. I am talking specifically about the 2nd & 3rd generation Indians... in the west.. in the league of Bobby Jindal etc.. Cheers,

Dear JayKay ji,

What you are saying about living in West (2nd and 3rd generations) is 100% true. What to do? When I married, I did not think about all this. So I see your point and in complete agreement with you. I actually feel proud of someone who thinks highly of all Indian values like simple living, charity, ahimsa for all, following traditions, not looking for fame or riches, etc. Keep going!

 

[V.Balasubramani]

Jay Kay Ji,

I think the thread is already derailed.

Any way let me discuss the points one by one:

I don’t know what do you mean by the slave mentality?

You talk about poverty, hunger, diseases, etc. I can write a lot on this. But to cite a sample, here. in India, more particularly in Tamil Nadu, we have a Party leader who, one fine morning adopts a son, conducts a wedding extravagantly and declare in court that all the expenses of the wedding was borne by bride's side during the trial of Disproportionate Assets case. One judge convicts her while the other Judge acquits her and all that is happening.

Why these leaders forget the hunger, poverty,diseases, etc which they promise to eradicate during the election campaign? Why they forget all these promises when they come to power? Why our people vote for them? What kind of mentality is this anyway?

You are talking about Indian scriptures, Indian scholars, etc. Do you have any knowledge as to how many of our school children read about Sushruta Rishi or Dr. Malcom Adiseshiah and his contribution to education and literacy in India?

Ask them about film actress or actors, they will give a list and a detailed life history of each and every popular actors and actresses though these information are not in the texts they study. It is general knowledge for them.

How many of our kids read lessons in their text about Indian scholars who have contributed a lot in various fields especially in Maths, Science, Astronomy, Economy, Politics, etc.??

Now answer my question as to why we teach our students in a foreign language medium?

What happened to our Indian languages?

We all wear pants and shirts which are not Indian style of dressing definitely. We don’t wear dhoti?

Our Government at the Centre was unable to introduce Hindi in Tamil Nadu, but teach English everywhere, push children to score more marks, ultimately drive them out of the motherland in search of greener pastures, colourful/bright future, etc

As for more marks, as discussed earlier, the present system is such that students with good memory power will win the race of Exams. There will be Advertisements with Viswanathan Anand recommending 'Memory Plus' to all kids for best memory power and there will be demand in the market for Vallaarai legium, tablet, powder, in any form.

Students who perform better in cramming and reproducing will score more and students who perform better in co-curricular activities will receive step-motherly treatment by the Parents, Teachers and the Society.

Who are to be blamed? Is it the Parents, Teacher or the Society?

Practically most of the students choose their career out of force or compulsion by parents and definitely not out of their own free will. This is an unfortunate state of affair prevailing in our country.

How are we going to over come this?

When are we going to produce students as a well rounded individual.

Cheers.

P.S:- As for your aversion over western countries I conclude with the quote of Venkataraman Ramakrishnan, nobel laureate said that 'We are all human being and our nationality is simply an accident of birth."

It is very easy to talk against western countries, but the strange thing is we are all availing all benefits like enjoying Shakespeare plays, viewing repeatedly Academy Award winning movies like Ben-Hur, Bridge over river kwai, etc and going through best selling books of authors, viz. Robert Ludlum, Ken Follet, Frederick Foresyth, hearing music of Back Street Boys, Michael Jackson,etc.

 

[prasad1]

P.S:- As for your aversion over western countries I conclude with the quote of Venkataraman Ramakrishnan, nobel laureate said that 'We are all human being and our nationality is simply an accident of birth."

It is very easy to talk against western countries, but the strange thing is we are all availing all benefits like enjoying Shakespeare plays, viewing repeatedly Academy Award winning movies like Ben-Hur, Bridge over river kwai, etc and going through best selling books of authors, viz. Robert Ludlum, Ken Follet, Frederick Foresyth, hearing music of Back Street Boys, Michael Jackson,etc.

Yes.
And all other conveniences like A/C, refrigerator, car, Etc too.

 

[renuka]

Yes.
And all other conveniences like A/C, refrigerator, car, Etc too.

Internet...WiFi...Lap Top... to type in Forum "I HATE THE WEST"LOL

 

[renuka]

Now answer my question as to why we teach our students in a foreign language medium?

That means I am ultra traditional cos I did not study in English.I studied in my countries national language!

Jaykay ..are you reading this?LOL

 

[Jaykay767]

JR JI – Appreciate your candid comments!

VB Ji, Renuka JI –

One can endlessly debate this issue. If the western colonial thugs had NOT gone around demolishing all the magnificent kingdoms in India, Middle East, Africa, Latin America – famed Inca civilization, South east asian kingdoms, & allowed them to continue for the last 400/500 yrs, who knows – many of these inventions could have come from them.

So lets not go gaga over some of the so called modern comforts, some movies etc..

As far as the so called aversion that you are referring to – my answer is unequivocally yes – I have absolutely NO respect for any country, that indulges in such “open racism” against Indians, minorities etc...I have said this even earlier, while I do not agree with Mahatma Gandhi on almost everything – LOL, I totally agree with this “fight against racism” that he faced in South Africa.

I am surprised you would support the west, despite such terrible racism that has been exposed in the last 2 yrs !!!

Lets say your neighbor is very rich, but treats you very badly, will you talk highly about such a person????

Some will immediately jump into – oh Indians are the most racist…which I totally disagree.. so lets agree to disagree here & not get into another “endless circle” on the racism topic LOL !!

Cheers,

 

[renuka]

Lets say your neighbor is very rich, but treats you very badly, will you talk highly about such a person????

,

Dear JK,

I will tell you a neighbour story.

When I first moved into my own house in a fairly upper class neighbourhood...my neighbour was not my own race or religion.

She introduced herself to me and asked me if the house was my own or I was renting it.

From the tone of her voice she was sort of hinting as if I being not her race might not be able to own a house in such a location.

Then she was bragging to me that all the other Non Indian neighbours were graduates blah blah blah and no ordinary people stay here and so on and gave me weird looks as if I was some lesser mortal.

It was pretty obvious that she seemed to be a racist..so I did not say anything much to her cos I dont have anything in common with a racists!LOL

Then one fine day she saw me coming back to work wearing my white doctor coat.

The next day she asked me 'What do you work as? Are you a doctor?"

I said "yes"

then she said "OMG why didnt you tell me that beforehand so that I wouldnt have made a fool of myself by thinking everyone around here was more educated than you"

I told her "you never asked me what I work as then..so I did not tell you"

From that day onwards she hardly talks to me.

So you see I have no problems how people behave with me..its their problem..not mine! So why get so worked up?LOL

 

[renuka]

dear JK,

I have faced many weird situations that did not bother me.

Once I attended a wedding of a close friend..he was marrying the sister of a person who studied with me in college.

The invitation to me came from my friend and not from my college mate cos my college mate and I were not that close.

So when I attended the wedding..my college mate was shocked to see me and blurted out 'I don't remember inviting you..how come you are here"

Then I smiled at her and said "Ask the groom"

My husband was totally shocked with her question and asked me how come I did not get angry.

I said 'why bother..we are not here for her"

so you see JK..be cool in life.