Need for speed?

Every time I feel I have heard it all, my ears are subjected to an outrageous statement. Or at least what I think is outrageous. The scary part is that there is an actual thought process behind such a statement.

Last week, a few professionals including me were invited to talk about their respective careers to a bunch of class 10 kids by a Mumbai school. After we finished our speeches at the event, we were ushered in to different classrooms so that interested students could pose their queries to us individually.

A bubbly student, interested in writing (or so he claimed) asked me whether it would be advisable to be a tech columnist (since he loved technology, no points for guessing that), or a regular journalist. When I offered details of the job, along with pros and cons of both, and told him that columnists need to prove their specialty, he just waved his hand saying that it would be a 'side thing' for him, indicating that his main profession would be engineering. So far so good.

His parting shot was the shocker. "So, let' say I finish my engineering in three to five years after 12th..." at which point I interjected and told him that the bachelor's programme was of four years duration and the master's another two.

"Okay, so six years. Don't you think that it's a little to late?" Whoa! What? A little too late for what?

"To start my career?"

Utterly flabbergasted, I was glad that I fumbled only inwardly to find my words. On he outside I seemed calm and in deep thought. I really want to believe that. This child is smart, intelligent, does well at school and has not missed a single year of academics... is there a way where he can really get there earlier than that? I explained to him, patiently and in detail that he could not do it faster than that if he chose a career via academics. I'm not sure he was convinced. 

My shock was shared by a doctor, who had also addressed the students earlier. The doctor had a student claiming that it was futile for her (the student) to pursue an MBBS since she wanted to become a skin specialist. She wanted to know if there was a 'shortcut' to the specialisation in any institute throughout the country.

I get that these are children who are ill informed, and need to be handled with care and patience. But isn't this the generation with information at their fingertips? So what's making them think towards such shortcuts? The glamour of success and money? Perhaps. It does have something, however, to do with the rat race. Fortunately, we could try to reason with these two students rationally. The unfortunate part is that we have no clue why increasingly, more and more students of this generation are thinking like that. There, we have no answers. Only questions. 

Happy moments

Picture courtesy: matnonline.wordpress.com

We all work for satisfaction. In modern times, it is quite a juggling act - to find a balance of financial and job satisfaction. In either case, there come moments which reassure you that you made the right choice. For a teacher, these moments come for several reasons, especially when her students deliver well.

Last year, for a communications assignment, my PG advertising students had to make a piece of communication (could be anything - poster, story, article, movie, skit, so on) with a pre-decided response. That is, they had to ensure a particular response from the audience, and design the piece of communication accordingly. They did, and how. Their work just blew my mind away! Our youth has so much potential to think and do, but unfortunately only a fraction of it is tapped. The rest is lost somewhere in the system of education. Anyways, woes later. Right now, time to check out some of the work here.

In another class that I taught last year, a bunch of aspiring journalists worked on a magazine for my editing class. With limited resources and contacts, the work they turned in was almost professional. It is not that I want to take credit for their work, but I can't help smiling and being proud. It is one of those moments. 

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a class I taught last semester for one last year-end revision. After listening to me in class in theory last semester about skills and grooming, they had a taste of the real world and wanted a few questions answered. Little did I know that the trek up to the venue (yes, it is far for me, and  I think of it as a trek) would so be worth it. One of the students came up to me in the break and told me how all I had taught in the last semester helped her. It so happened that she was unaware of a presentation due for another subject, and had not prepared. She went over everything she had learnt in my class in her head, and presented anyways. Not only did she think fast, problem-solve and do the job, she did it well because she paid attention in class and learnt the skills. It is one thing when we strive and strive to get our students to see the bigger picture, and another to actually have them come up to you to thank you for doing that. I had to behave like a dignified teacher so I patted her back and encouraged her at the time, but with that, in my heart I did a little jig. I must be doing something right :)

That something right showed up a few days after the incident, when sitting with a friend at McDonald's at Phoenix Mills last week. A couple of my students took the seat next to ours, I greeted them, talked to them for a bit and went back to the discussion with my friend. A while later, a bunch of their classmates showed up with the programme head greeting me with a cheer! I thought they too wanted to add to McDonald's business, so thought of vacating out our table for them, since we were almost done. They said they came there just to say hi. They were at another outlet in Phoenix, and heard I was around and had to see me. What's more, the rest of the classmates dropped by in a few minutes for the same purpose. One of them did mention, "Shraddha, you must be feeling really popular today." Yes, I was.

The last few weeks have been full of such moments, and I could not feel happier. When Priti and I concluded our personality development workshop last Sunday afternoon, I found the cherry to put on top of my cake. In all the downpour and floods, the students showed up, and one of the feedback remarks said, "If you could make me wanna get up on a Sunday and I want to come to class, and not miss it, you've got to be really amazing..." 

Many years ago, I remember requesting testimonials and recommendations from professors, ex-teachers and supervisors to apply for the Fullbright Scholarships and then later to apply for studying abroad. Little did I know then, that one day, I will be writing such testimonials for my students. Today is that day. And when I think about it all, even if for a few minutes, I am in heaven.

Wasted chances

In India, for almost everything you do (or rather don't, in this case) you have an out. For a student who does not do well at an exam and fails it, there is always the ATKT system. Or the re-examination situation. A sort of second chance for those who could not make the most of their first. Should educators be against it? I am not sure. It depends, and I have not checked any research or analysis to claim either way. 

Am I against it? Big time. And I talk here merely from my own experience in the classes that I teach. Since I teach at autonomous and private institutions, for once, the University cannot be blamed. Except of course for allowing the ATKT system to thrive, since all the other institutes follow a similar pattern. There was a moment, a couple of months ago when I wanted to punch someone. Of course, I didn't. It was when I was informed that I had to set a paper for the ATKT exam. I stood there, shocked. 

Let me explain. I do not teach a theory paper. I teach classes on skills - communication and presentation, among others. I also teach editing to postgrad journalism students. And none of these subjects can be tested in the purview of an exam! How am I going to test a student's body language in a written paper? And his or her ability to cross check facts when editing a written piece? 

Finally, I was able to explain the programme heads and course coordinators that an exam was not possible, I never conduct one even in my regular classes. I try and adopt a constructivist approach to my class, and have set up a continuous evaluation process based on a mix of take-home, group, individual and in-class assignments. These are based on real life situations and encourage the students to think. 

Even then, I had to do something about giving those students another chance, who had failed in my class in the first semester. So I did. I set another assignment. It was not the extra work that bothered me. It was not the fact that it was just expected that a second chance would be given without a valid reason, though these were and remain major concerns. 

It was the fact that you could have it so easy when it is an ATKT. The students in question had failed for a reason. Not attending class. Not submitting assignments on time. Not paying attention to the details (which is an absolute must in many cases). And most of all, not working at all on the assignments at hand and turning in extremely shoddy work. And in one stroke, just like that, they had another chance, working on which was much easier than the first. One assignment, hundred marks. So much easier that their peers who worked hard on multiple projects. 

That's not even the worst part. The students made the same mistakes again. Neither of the ATKT students submitted work that was good enough to pass. But pass they will. Why? Another feature - called 'grace marks'. The deficit between what you need to pass and what you have. Just donated to you. And with this grace they will go home with a diploma. What is it's worth? Only the industry will tell. I am just concerned with a very short-term and straight forward thought. How can I even compare the 50/100 scored by these ATKT students to another sincere student's 64/100? More importantly, how do I live with it?

It's Mumbai University alright!

Beauty without.... Mumbai University!
Photo courtesy: Ajay Kamalakaran

It was a moment of great pride when an ex-student referred me to deliver a lecture to a master's level class of journalism and communication at the University of Mumbai. Although I knew better, I accepted the offer over the phone, in spite of the fact that their budget for a guest lecture by a person with industry experience was quite meagre. In a period of two days over my discussion with this student, I realised that my lecture was a part of the assignment given to the students - to arrange for a guest lecture before a certain deadline to clear a particular subject/ course. 

I went, all prepared with photocopies of news stories and pieces I'd wanted to share and reading up on material I thought I had become a little dusty in. From that point on, everything else was a challenge. I entered the classroom quite happy to see it full! To my dismay, the students seated there did not belong to the class I had to teach. They were not even willing to budge to vacate the classroom for me to conduct the class. Finally I managed to locate a bunch of students which belonged to my class, only to realise that they were racing against time to complete an assignment and were not interested in sitting for the lecture. The course coordinator was nowhere to be found. 

After 20 minutes of making no headway, I told the girl who had invited me to call off the lecture, since there was no point. She then took me to the faculty member whose assignment the others were working on, and he had to threaten the students to sit in my class! He also came by to the classroom and drove away the students occupying it. When leaving, he asked me to approach him if there was any other trouble. By now I was reasonably mortified. Once in class, I gave the students an out. They could leave, as there was no point in forcibly making them attend. A few left. About 15 stayed, rather sceptical about the next hour. Once I started the class, talking freely to them, and encouraging them to discuss issues, I was glad I stuck it out. This interested lot was willing to share opinions and question other comments. This, after a good 45 minutes had passed it getting it all together. By then, I had lowered my expectations to such a level, that I would have been happy with mute listeners. What I had was much better. It was exactly what I feel happens with our university time and again, for many matters - too little, too late.

The payment system proved it as well. I delivered the lecture in October 2012. That day, I filled out a form, followed protocol at the University Department, and was asked to wait for my cheque (for the meagre amount after deducting tax) which would take a few weeks. I am still waiting. Calls to the student who invited me to deliver the lecture have not helped. Not that I need the amount, but I wanted to check. Verify my theory of too little too late, since the University has always treated students in a way that seems like that. Only, in this case, there is neither little nor late. There is nothing! 

Do teachers deserve this?

Teaching is a noble profession. Really? So what are teachers and their families supposed to survive on? Nobility? 'Cause the system sure ain't paying them enough. Or stealing a little even from what they rightfully deserve. The strike by the college and university teachers in Maharashtra is a case-in-point this year. These teachers claim they were promised the clearance of their arrears by the government last year, but the state government has not adhered to the promise. They say that they have taken to the last resort - boycotting the final exams. The result? Thousands of degree college students are left hanging about their impending exams. They don't know whether the hanging sword called 'exams' will actually fall on them or not this year. 

Well, that's just one case. In another example, an experienced and qualified teacher, great with tiny tots, applied to a new 'internationally affiliated' pre-school (which is yet to start operations). She was offered a pay of Rs 5000 a month (no, I haven't missed a digit there) for working seven hours a day. All she could do is gape that the interviewer, keep a level head, and run the hell away from that place. I can safely say that in many cases, our house help earns more than that! No wonder no one in their sane mind wants to take up teaching! 

While my talkative self went about quoting these examples to anyone in the industry who would care to listen, there was yet another. Boy they keep coming. A private institute offering media and other courses, has officially asked its faculty members to cut down on the number of lectures they had been allotted to teach their subjects this semester. Budget constraints of course. God alone knows how much they will save on cumulatively cutting out about 10 lectures from each course. Needless to say, students gain to lose a lot. And here we are talking about industry professionals who actually take the time out to teach the students. They are not even full time teachers. 

Well, these ramblings can go on. And we sure can have some more from the other side, since we cannot vouch for the quality of every teacher. But you know what? If you throw peanuts, you will only get monkeys. And despite that fact, I am proud to do my bit to the best of my ability as part of the monkey troop. True story.

Marshall and me

'The medium is the message' - Marshall McLuhan

 Okay, the title is a blatant copy from a blog of the same name. But it is also about me and Marshall McLuhan in my Theories of Communication class.  By the time I reach to the session on McLuhan, students are quite used to the format of the class, and the theory bit of it. Always, I am the one super excited about this class, since there is (or so I think) a great assignment (the final one, at that) lined up after the class. It is one that makes students think hard, and use their mental faculties to the utmost.

McLuhan statement, 'The medium is the message' brings forth some really classic facial expressions as instant reactions. Ones that could be, if possible, preserved for posterity. They range from 'has she lost it?' to 'OMG, I don't believe I have to sit through this'. I know they are confused in the beginning. I also tell them that. But I expect them to be with me through the class and get a clearer picture at the end of the session. Invariably, that happens. They realise, comprehend, and learn to interpret in their own capacities. And if that happens, my aim is reached. It is what I have always encouraged them to do. After that, I hit them again - by telling them the assignment is also about one of the best selling novels of modern India - Amish's The Immortals of Meluha. Yes, they have to read the book. Half of them just give up then.


I understand completely that I am throwing them in the deep waters by basing an important assignment on a short class of only a couple of hours with McLuhan's work. Although I expect that they will refer to McLuhan's work outside of the class, it is too much to expect. If a few of them do, I consider myself lucky! But I equip them with a float too. I tell them that they can go to the farthest stretch of their imagination in interpreting McLuhan and using his statement for their work. There is no right or wrong, all they need to do is to convince me (the reader of their papers) in favour of their arguments.

It would be clichéd to say that a lifetime is not enough to study McLuhan. I'm sure it is, only, I do not have an additional one to try and find out. So, I maintain, that the time I have in my life is not enough to study McLuhan thoroughly. I am, however, grateful that I was introduced to this man. Educator, philosopher, and scholar—a professor of English literature, a literary critic, a rhetorician, and a communication theorist. Isn't that perfect? Well, to add to that, he was a man who also coined the term 'global village', which is overused now! But most importantly, he predicted the existence of the World Wide Web almost 30 years before it was invented. And that's where students need to be in awe of his foresight.

There's lot's we talk about, about inventions being the extension of human faculties - physical or psychic. About the wheel being the extension of the foot. Clothes being extension of the skin, and the internet being the extension of consciousness. 

Later, there are students who tell me they get nightmares of McLuhan. One student stated the class as the most boring moment of class, saying it was 22 slides of snooze. In my defence, there were only 16 slides. But there are a few who remember the man and his work. And when at the end of a particular class a student says "I now can think of so many instances I can use in my assignment!" And that's what makes it all worthwhile. Makes McLuhan my favourite session to teach. :)

A proactive student - a rare occurrence

Well, my title can be misleading. Here's the disclaimer: I do not mean that students who improve themselves of their own accord are rare, but that it has, until now, been a rare occurrence in my classes.

Last week, I hiked all the way up to Vashi to teach a class, (yes it felt like a hike!) and I am dreading the days I have to head to Kharghar. Anyways, during introductions, it was great to meet an eclectic batch, with whom I thought I could have some interesting sessions.

One student entered late, almost by the time we were done with the introductions. As is usual in all my classes, students had to introduce themselves with their names, and tell the class one thing about themselves that no one in the class knew. That's when usually the BS is cut out, and the nervousness creeps in. You'd be surprised to know that some of them are completely out of their depth when it comes to telling others something new about themselves, something they have not memorised by then. On many occasions, I have received questions like "What to tell?" or statements like "I don't know what to say." About their own selves. With whom they have spent over 20 years. Imagine.  

Getting back, however, to the student who entered late. She was the last one to introduce herself, and told us that she is also a psychology student at a college in Dhobi Talao and the commute from there was why she was late. She went on to talk about herself, quite eloquently, and at a time when the class thought she would not stop, she happened to say, "I have never talked like this in the presence of so many people, this is definitely a first for me." 

From the several sentences she said then, her articulation about what she said was quite evident. It was in the break that she approached me, and told me that she had a huge problem in conversing in English until she joined college, because teachers in her school did not pay attention to detail when using correct English. It was not a grievance, merely a statement.

She went on to tell me that when she went to college and rubbed shoulders with those who could converse well and be to-the-point, she realised she was lacking in some way. Luckily for her, she had made some great friends and asked them to help her in improving herself. She made it a point to use correct language the way they asked her too, but most importantly, she went on to read books suggested by her friends. She gave all credit to the books that helped improve her language skills and articulation. "You know," she said, "all that I have said in this class today, is thanks to my reading! Otherwise I would be talking in Hindi, not English." 

I was surprised at her revelation, but soon happiness took over that surprise. The benefits of reading are not unknown to me, but when a student comes and lists them to me proactively, I am going to gloat. Just for the fact that it validates all my efforts in getting my students to read some material every day - anything that interests them. I was pleased to know that for her social work project in college (okay, it is mandatory for her, but she is putting in the effort to do it well) she is teaching English to economically disadvantaged children from vernacular schools. In fact, she even asked for a few tips to resolve difficult situations with them.

Just when I was feeling extremely satisfied with my conversation with her, she narrated her problem. "Shraddha, my old friends from school do not understand me now that I go to this college. The minute I start talking in English, or let them know the correct way of saying things, they put me down by making sarcastic remarks about my college and me. I am at a loss." She has stopped saying much in their presence now.

It is a situation that may of us face, where we can happily correct strangers, but not those who are near and dear to us. We are afraid of hurting them. It is simple. You put your priorities straight. When communicating with friends, the relationship trumps the correct use of language. So you just leave it at that. And that's what I told her as well.

Learning from a stalwart

The ever-inspiring Prof Bhushan

In life, one gets few chances to learn from stalwarts in his or her chosen field, and I think I grab each one that I get! Yesterday presented one such opportunity for me. I was in the office of Prof Y K Bhushan, who I can safely name as one of the 'Grand Old Men' of higher education in India. Although he is 77 years old, he is truly young at heart, and I experienced it in person over the hour and a half I spent with him. Well, Grand Old Man is just the expression, not only for the sake of the language, but also because he is quite grand in his thoughts and their execution. His picture here may justify that tag that I have given him, but does not tell you the many stories behind all the trophies, plaques and awards that adorn his office mantle at IBS in the Hiranandani Knowledge Park in Powai, Mumbai. In many ways he reminded me of the professor whom I called my Santa Claus, Columbia University's Dr Frank Moretti.

Upbeat with his visit to Pakistan last week, Prof Bhushan narrated some of his experiences as part of a panel representing India there. A while later, he added his personal reason - he was born in Peshawar, and although that was many years ago (well, 77 to be exact, since you already know) he does feel a strong bond with the land where he breathed his first on this Earth. From the minute he started talking, his passion for what he does, and the reasons for doing it all were all evident. 

I was there to meet him with an agenda, to understand his vision for my paper (The Free Press Journal's Knowledge) for which he is going the Guest Editor in October. We discussed themes, and macro and micro issues that plague higher education in the country today. The difference, however, was that with every problem that he stated (or I interjected with), he had something positive to say for the system and it students. He told me to look at the pros and work on them, rather than against them. He was sure that some of the 'old school' teachers cannot piggy back on the positives of the new generation, and end up complaining more than complimenting. "So what if students today are up until 3 am? We need to rejoice in the fact that most of them are up working, and not whiling away their time," he believes. And that's why he is young at heart!

Prof Bhushan talked about several things, but the one that touched the educator in me was that education was all about learning, not about teaching. "We can teach as much as we want, but in the end, only the learning will be effective. Therefore, I have always striven to take my teaching as close to learning as possible to bridge that gap." It is an idea that I have always worked upon, and not that I needed validation, but it doesn't get better than getting it straight from a stalwart's mouth.

Despite his occupation with institution building, which by his own admission has taken him away from teaching, he confessed to overbooking himself with conferences and panel discussions. They give him a chance to keep up with the field. "Then I am all over the place, and pushing myself to deliver on various platforms," he said, with a glint in his eye that indicated that he was not complaining. As I mentioned, he is just back from Pakistan, and all set to go to Malaysia in a few days.

Prof Bhushan's idea of leaving something that the next generation can look forward to is where one can see the foresight. Why be selfish now? Think of sustainable solutions in education, and you can leave behind some legacy for your successors. Towards the end of our meeting, when he saw my passion for the field, he said I reminded him of his grand daughter. Only a person who shares a similar passion for anything can understand the sentiment. And what he says about legacy... he demonstrates in every way. It took me one simple text message to contact him and it was he who called me in return. A simple request is all it took for this busy man to grant me this meeting. No other questions asked. Which other Campus Head and educationist with 56 years of teaching experience would offer his car to a media person to be dropped off at the nearest train station after the meeting is over? In 10 years of working in the field, Prof Bhushan is my first. So what's wrong if I aspire to be like him?

Dealing with the BBM syndrome

Pic courtesy: Gulf News

It was just another day in class, and the subject that day was 'Indianisms' in the English language and how to avoid them. The class had a gala time laughing at sentences like: 'I will sit on your head' and 'Eat your breakfast fast fast'. It was a point when we came to one of the funniest ones - 'Come again'. The way I said it in class, I had them in splits, and I am sure some imaginations ran a little further than necessary in the span of those 30 seconds. In my list of Indianisms, right after 'Come again' was 'What to do now?' The minute I said it, they shouted in unison 'Come again!'

There was no going back. It was too funny to control my laughter, so what if I was the instructor? I am, after all, only human :)

On that funny note, I gave them their break, about 15  minutes ahead of time since there was no way I could deal with this class, every member of which was in splits.

It that fun mood, 15 minutes and numerous sandwiches, samosas and tea cups later, we rejoined to finish the class. I started, and noticed a student in the front row busy BBM-ing away. My eyes met his, and he realised, so I let it go, and continued with class. A few minutes later, it was like the reel was rewound and replayed, eye contact et al, and once again I let it go for I was in no mood to deliver a lecture on discipline and manners. Plus, I did not want to dissipate the hilarious mood of the entire class. When it happened for the third time, I could not control myself, I just coolly walked to his chair, took the phone away and went back to my desk, my walk calm yet purposeful. It could have gone either way, but I decided to take the fun route, and I told him that I was going to auction his phone away and donate the money to charity. Of course, he was allowed to bid for it too! He took the warning pretty lightly at first, sure that he was getting his phone back. When after over half an hour later, class went on smoothly, he realised that I meant business.

Coincidentally that day, class ended 10 minutes early, and all the other boys in class who wanted to screw the case of their BBM-ing friend, started chanting "auction, auctiON, aucTION, AUCTION!" I gave in, and we started with a 1000 bucks. I had one of the boys stating the technical details of the phone, and with each rising bid of 100, the owner broke into a new sweat. I added a little fuel to the fire by asking those who didn't have a smart phone to bid for one, and asking the mischievous ones to bid for the phone to get the juicy details of their friend! I knew the owner was not in completely agony or misery, but he was getting certain that the phone was not going to be handed over to him with a mere warning and nothing more.

Finally, in a sensible bid (as opposed to a sweeping bid to pull a friend's leg) that could be offered only in multiples of hundred, the figure reached Rs 7,000. At that point the owner slowly got up, each move calculated, upped the bid by a hundred bucks and simply asked his friends not to outbid him. No one did, and he walked up to me claiming the phone, making a smart comment that he'll donate the amount to a charity. He then made to move to take his phone form my desk. Not someone to let go so easily, especially when being fooled, I let out a sinister laugh and asked him to pay up. "Now or never." Realising there was no way other than shelling out the money, he agreed to withdraw it from a near by ATM and give it to me in exchange for the phone. At that instant, I yelled at him about manners and respect in a half-jest voice, but meant business. I gave him the phone against the deposit of Rs 500 and a warning that he would lose his phone the next time.

The idea was not just fun, but to teach them all a tough lesson, that teachers are capable of following their word through if decorum is not maintained. Following this incident, I still hear a few jokes flying around, saying, "Shraddha ke class mein phone haath mein mat rakh, auction ho jaayega!" As for the 500 bucks, the note is still neatly tucked away in the corner of my wallet, waiting to be returned to its rightful owner on the last day of class.

Who said college can't be fun?

It's all in the mind!

One of my favourite quotes is Einstein's "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
The dichotomy of this thought is not lost on me, since as an educator,my primary focus is knowledge, both acquiring and imparting it. Like the new Kaun Banega Crorepati ads, I have always propounded at knowledge being all-encompassing. And yet, knowledge seeks the help of imagination every now and then to make matters more interesting, to say the least. How otherwise, would be transport ourselves into the 16th century when reciting Julius Caesar, or want to eat the house made of sweet treats in Hansel and Gretel?

Last week, the students of one of my classes left me completely aghast at their inability to imagine. I had announced their assignment for the week, and asked them to make up some of the details, which somehow steered the discussion to imagination. As is the case usually in asking them questions that get them out of their comfort zone, I asked one of them to imagine he could fly and describe how that felt. My statement drew blank stares, not only from him but from a majority of the class. He parted his lips several times as if about to say something, and then locked them, fumbled a few times, and after a few minutes of awkward silence, said, "I'm sorry, I cannot."

So I left it at that and turned to anther student. I had mentioned Alice in Wonderland several times in this class, so as a flash of lightning, my mind went to it. "Imagine you were becoming shorter. What would that experience be like?" I'm sure he did not know the book, but once again, all I got was an awkward stare. This guy, however to his credit, could at least churn out a couple of sentences in justifying why he became shorter - like he ate something or for a scientific reason. I told him, that is not imagining that he became shorter. It is just a reason. He needs to tell us how it would feel. All he could say was, "Or I just go to an island where everyone else is a dwarf so that I do not look abnormal." I was at a loss, and when I was about to give up, a student volunteered, "I can imagine a big house, cars, girls, money, but not what you just asked."

I let out a sigh to wonder why a bunch of 20-somethings have no imagination. Why? Isn't it, like what Einstein said, the basis of anything new? Doesn't it encircle the world? How can they reach the dizzying heights they want to without imagination? Or do these heights end at the cars, house, money and girls? Where have things gone wrong? Or have they? I let these questions aside, and went on to give students the example of Harry Potter and that his existence and popularity depended totally on the imaginations of the writer and the readers.

Coincidentally, that evening I happened to come across the link to J K Rowling's Commencement Address at Harvard University. Though it was delivered in 2008, when I was but four hours away from where she was speaking, I chanced upon it only this week. It was apt, since the power of imagination was one of the key topics of her address. She clarified that she isn't basing it merely on Harry Potter, but many other experiences before Harry. "Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared."

For those interested, the transcript of the commencement address is available here.

Rowling ends with: "We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better." There is no doubt that it was a moving address. What was more important, it was based on life truths that made the delivery thoroughly moving. Somewhere in the middle of listening to her, my mind as always, started chasing thoughts and it paused a moment to think about Celine Dion's Power of the Dream. 
"Teaching lessons we must learn
To bring us closer to the power of the dream."
And that's when I had it. Teaching those lessons.