Inherent Simplicity

‘ Begin with the End in Mind’ , is the Second Habit of Highly Effective People advocated by Steven Covey in his book Seven Habits of Highly Successful People .  The various esteemed speakers at the 2 nd Annual Conference on School Education reminded us of the magnitude of this statement.  Speakers proposed through their arguments that the purpose of education is ‘ that of preparing our children through a holistic exposition for child development to become leaders and value-creating citizens of their generation’ . This proposition is a worthy but audacious vision.  But do we comprehend the purpose effectively and in all its dimensions?  What would the next generation of the world be like – in terms of economy, politic, sociology, technology? How would the challenges of that day and age be different to the challenges that are facing the adults today?  What would be the state of technology and the effects of globalization in the...

Five Point Someone -- For the Novice Readers Following the release and success of the movie ‘3 Idiots’, this book received more than its share of coverage – some good and some belligerent.  It was at that point I decided to pick up a copy.  This is my review of the book entitled Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat. Set in the present time, situated within the campus of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.  This novel is Chetan Bhagat’s exploration of life and quality of IIT education through the eyes of three academically struggling mechanical engineering students, portraying a dark and chilling depiction of this premium institute.  It outlines the dominance of the institute over personal life and how important choices are made under pressure and stress.  Some critics have related Hari’s character to Chetan’s experiences and learnings.  Bhagat maintains that he penned this novel to ex...

Even before I had reached the city highway, the slow moving and blocked traffic indicated what was in store for us during our ride to work from North West Delhi to Gurgaon, a 40 km drive. We set upon the journey, fighting the strong rainfall and rather arrogant traffic snarls, not realizing the extent to which nature would test our patience. Sitting comfortably in the Maruti SX4 with my friends, we did contemplate to take the day off, and rather head to a coffee shop or a restro-bar, instead of venturing on the unforgiving roads of Delhi . Alas, that was not to happen, and with total dedication we headed towards our workplace in Gurgaon on the morning of 09/09/09 . The benefit of Delhi roads is that there is always more than a few ways of getting from one point to another. The expansive, rather circular city, with well developed road network offers varied options for the journey. There are atleast 5-6 ways that we have experimented with between Gurgaon and Rohini. The challeng...