CWG2010: Another Prospective

भारत खेले खेल

आधिक आनंद के लिए निम्नलिखित लिंक को देखें:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umvp8jXA3Xw

१९वें राष्ट्रमंडल खेलों का आयोजन मीडिया के लिये एक मसाला और गप्पबाजों के लिये एक रोचक व्यायाम बनकर रह गया है। पढें और सोचें

आज कल जिसे देखो दिल्ली में ३ अक्तूबर २०१० से अरंभ होने वाले राष्ट्रमंडल खेलों के विषय में ही सोच रहा है, उन्हीं के चिंता में खोया हुआ है – जैसे बाकी सभी समस्यायें, सभी चिंताएं, सभी विघ्न-बाधाएं मिट गयीं हैं, गौण हो गयी हैं। कुछ और सोचने को है ही नहीं। केवल यही चिंता हमें खाए जा रही है कि हम ये राष्ट्रमंडल खेल सफलतापूर्वक सम्पन्न करवा पाएंगे अथवा नहीं। ये हमारी राष्ट्रीय अस्मिता का प्रश्न बन गया है, अथवा बना दिया गया है। हमारी उन्नति, हमारी सम्पन्ता, हमारा विकास सब कुछ केवल इसी एक बिंदु पर आ कर टिक गये हैं – ये खेल सफलतापूर्वक संपन्न होंगे या नहीं। इसी एक प्रश्न ने सब को जकड़ रखा है, सबको परेशान कर रखा है; कहीं कोई दुर्घटना न घट जाए, कुछ अनिष्ट न हो जाए। इलेक्ट्रानिक एवं प्रिंट – दोनों संचार माध्यमों पर बस यही एक गर्म खबर परोसी जा रही है – खेल मंत्री एम। एस। गिल ने क्या कहा? दिल्ली की मुख्य मंत्री श्रीमती शीला दीक्षित ने खेल-गाँव के दौरे के बाद क्या निर्देश दिये? कौन से स्टेडियम में क्या हो रहा है? हमारी भूख-प्यास सब इन सवालों के आगे कुछ अर्थ नहीं रखतीं।


लगभग सात वर्ष पूर्व यह निर्णय लिया गया था कि १९वें राष्ट्रमंडल खेल भारत की राजधानी दिल्ली में आयोजित होंगे। तब से लगभग साढे़ छः वर्ष तक हम सब सोए रहे। संभवतः हम में से अधिकतर लोगों को तो यह बात मालूम ही नहीं थि, या फिर याद ही नहीं रही। इस व्रष जून-जुलाई में कुछ सिरफिरे खोजी पत्रकारों ने अपनी दूकान चलाने के लिए न जाने कहां से यह समाचार खोज निकाला कि १९वें राष्ट्रमंडल खेलों से संबंधित आयोजन-समिति अपना काम ठीक ढंग से नहीं कर रही है। फिर क्या था! पत्रकारिता के क्षेत्र में जैसे भूचाल सा आ गया। समाचारों से संबंधित सभी टी। वी। चैनलों पर चर्चाएं-गोष्ठियां आयोजित होने लगीं –यह देखने के लिए कि अभी तक कितना काम हो चुका है और कितना भाकी है। आयोजन-समिति के अध्यक्ष श्री सुरेश कलमाडी़ जब सवालों के चक्रव्यूह में फँसे तो बिफर कर कहने लगे कि मीडिया का तो काम ही है उल्टी सीधी खबरें फैला कर पैसे बनाना। लेकिन कहते हैं, “बात निकलेगी तो फिर दूर तलक जाएगी”। सो ये बात पहुंची हमारे संसद सदस्यों तक। वे ठहरे जन-प्रतिनिधि। चुप कैसे बैठ सकते थे! संसद में खेल मंत्री को घेरने के अनेक प्रयत्न किए गये लेकिन हमारे हँसोढ़ खेल मंत्री ने कहा कि ये हमारे काम करने का अनूठा ढंग है, हमारी कार्यशैलि है। भारतीय शादी में जिस प्रकार आकिरी समय तक तैयारियां चलती रहती हैं लेकिन अंत में दूल्हा-दुलहन मिल ही जाते हैं, वैसा ही कुछ इन खेलों में भी होने वाला है। चिंता की कोई आवश्यकता नहीं है।

लेकिन खोजी पत्रकारिता का क्या कीजिये। कुछ पत्रकारों के दिमाग में खोज की खुजली लग गयी थी, सो वे खोजते रहे। “जिन खोजा तिन पाइया, गहरे पानी पैठ।“

खोज की खुजली जब भ्रष्टाचार के दानों को खुजलाया तो वे फूट पडे़। उन दानों में से सत्य की जिस सरिता का उद्गम हुआ, उसके बहाव में आयोजन-समिति के अनेकों कर्णधार बहने लगे। कलमाडी़ ने अपने पाँव जमाने की बहुत कोशिश की। वे बच तो गये किंतु निश्क्रिय से हो कर रह गये।

मौसम ने भी भ्रषटाचार की इस सरिता में कुछ योगदान करने की सोची और झमाझम पानी बरसने लगा। इतना पानी बरसा कि यमुना में उफान आ गया। आयोजन-समिति को जैसे इस विभीषिका में तिनके का सहारा मिल गया। समिति कहने लगी, इसी बरसात की वजह से हमारी तैयारियों में कुछ देरी हो रही है वरना हमारी तैयारियों में कोई नुक्स नहीं। देश के वर्तमान कर्णधार श्री मनमोहन सिंघ ने आनन-फानन में मंत्रियों का एक समूह बना दिया जिसका काम खेल-तैयारियों की निगरानी करना था। लेकिन मंत्री-समूह तो भारतीय शादी में बाराती बनने के विचार से ही रोमांचित होता रहा और वह समय बिल्कुल निकट आ पहुँचा जब विदेशी बारातियों [खिलाडि़यों] को खेल-गाँव पहुंचना था। विदेशी खिलाडी़ पहले से ही सावधान थे। उन्होंने खुद आने से पहले अपने प्रतिनिधियों को इस बात की जाँच करने के लिए भेजा कि खेल-घाँव कैसा है। पता लगा कि जहां किलाडि़यों को ठहरना है वहां फिलहाल कुत्ते बिल्लियां आराम फरमा रहे हैं। क्यों न हो! हम भारतीय इतने पशु-प्रेमी जो हैं। लेकिन विदेशी खिलाडी़ इस अनावश्यक पशु-प्रेम से बिदक गये। उन्होंने सोचा हमारे हिस्से का सारा प्रेम यदि जानवरों को दे दिया गया तो हमारा क्या होगा? खूब बखेडा़ मचा। इसी बीच एक आध और दुर्घटनाएं घट गयीं। हम तो ऐसी दुर्घटनाओं के अभ्यस्त हैं मगर शायद विदेशियों को इस की आदत नहीं। बेचारे विदेशी खिलाडी़! घबरा गये ज़रा सी बात पर। हमारे गृहमंत्री ने बहुत समझाया कि ऐसी गोलियां तो यहां शादियों की शोभा बढा़ती हैं। सब कुछ ठीक-ठाक है। चिंता की कोई बात नहीं है। विदेशमंत्री ने भी यकीन दिलाया कि सुरक्षा से संबंधित यहां कोई समस्या नहीं है। यहां की पुलिस का चोरों से बहुत पुराना रिश्ता है। इस लिए वे दुर्घटना से बहुत पहले ही जान लेते हैं कि कौन कहां कब वारदात करने जा रहा है। उस वारदात को रोकना या न रोकना हमारे ही हाथ में है।

लेकिन खोजी पत्रकारों की खुजली से भ्रषटाचार के दाने फूटते रहे और भ्रष्टाचार की सरिता बहती रही। थोडी़-बहुत चीख-पुकार के उपरांत विदेशी खिलाडी़ भी जान गये कि इन तिलों में तेल नहीं है। उन्होंने भी परिस्थितियों से समझौता कर लिया और दिल्ली के खेल-घाँव में इकट्ठे होने लगे।

किसी तरह ये खेल हो ही जाआएंगे। और फिर हम सब कुछ भूल कर रोज़मर्रा के कामों में लग जाएंगे – जैसे कुछ हुआ ही न हो। खोजी पत्रकारों की खुजली भी किसी न किसी मरहम से रुक ही जाएगी। लेकिन हमारे देश की जो जगहँसाई हो रही है, क्या हम उसका प्रतिकार कभी कर पाएंगे?

Teaching people with dementia

New information by singing might

Enable them to live independently for a bit longer

by Nora Schultz

 

Singing to elderly people with dementia helps them form new memories, one of the first skills they tend to lose. Music is known to aid memory, especially recalling autobiographical information. For example, people with Alzheimer's disease are better at remembering events from their own past when music is playing in the background. It was less clear whether tunes could also help them learn.

Brandon Ally at Boston University and his team were inspired by the report of a man with Alzheimer's who could recall current events if his daughter sang the news to him to the tune of familiar pop songs. They decided to try it out for themselves.

They gave 13 people with Alzheimer's and 14 healthy seniors the lyrics from 40 unfamiliar children's songs to read, half accompanied by the actual song and half by the spoken words. All the participants saw the lyrics again without audio and mixed in with lyrics from a further 40 unknown songs. Those with Alzheimer's were able to recognise 40 per cent of the original lyrics that had been accompanied by song but only 28 per cent of those read to them. The healthy seniors recognised 80 per cent of lyrics, regardless of whether they had been sung or spoken (Neuropsychologia, DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.04.033).

Very few things enhance new learning in people with dementia, says Ally. "It's really cool that hearing the lyrics sung did." He suggests that teaching patients new medication regimes via a song in the early stages of dementia might enable them to live independently for a bit longer.

We don't yet know why singing should help, but Ally says that music engages areas of the brain, including subcortical regions, that are typically spared until later on in dementia. Music may also improve attention, he adds.

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Teachers

Most of our classrooms are teacher-centred, with one-way communication from

the teacher to pupils. Here is what one needs to do to change it.

Teachers should ensure that their lessons and attitude make students

comfortable

Golden rule: Classes should be interesting

For effective teaching: The great charm of teaching that merges knowledge

and skill is relegated to the background, when examination scores become the

main priority. Some teachers readily recognise this and interact more with

students.

"He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches." This quote is a jibe from George

Bernard Shaw, given by him under the title Maxims for Revolutionists in his

renowned play Man and Superman (1903). At best, it is a censure on

ineffective teachers. It is not a universal truth. Teaching is a noble

profession that moulds the emerging generations.

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher

demonstrates. The great teacher inspires", said William Arthur Ward,

scholar, author, and teacher.

Often conventional teaching in schools and colleges degenerates into

drudgery for the teacher, which in turn becomes drudgery and dull drill for

the pupil. The great charm of teaching that merges knowledge and skill is

relegated to the background, when examination scores become not only the

first priority, but the sole objective.

This is not a new phenomenon. Perhaps when Mark Twain said that he had never

let his schooling to interfere with his education, he had the boredom of

school routine in mind.

A good teacher can make the teaching-learning process an enjoyable

experience, provided he has commitment to the profession. Dedication,

perseverance, and empathy with children are some of the essential traits.

There is a view, "teaching is not a profession; it is a passion".

Even gifted sculptors express their creativity by shaping lifeless blocks of

stone, wood, or metal. But a teacher moulds growing human beings with a

mind, a heart, and a soul. The sacred nature of a teacher's work is obvious.

The central aspect of education is learning. We know that teaching and

learning are two sides of the same coin. There is an enormous volume of

scientific literature bringing out the diverse features of institutionalised

teaching-learning processes. Let us extract from this treasury of knowledge,

principles that are of relevance and immediate application in classroom

teaching. Awareness of the possibilities of fine teaching will enrich

pupils' classroom experience as well.

The ultimate objective of any teaching is effective learning by the pupil.

Strategies for teaching have, therefore, to be designed on the basis of

relevant phases of the internal processes of learning. The phases are:

Getting motivated

Apprehending (the pupil coming face to face with the key points)

Acquisition

Retention (transfer from short-term to long-term memory)

Recall

Generalisation (applying the knowledge gained to new situations)

Performance (the pupil demonstrates through performance)

Feedback

The mental processes are influenced by factors such as the pupil's

questioning ability, and the availability of learning resources including

teacher's guidance. A teacher is an instrument that facilitates, promotes,

hastens, and influences the activities in the internal processes in the

pupil during learning.

When we find that a pupil experiences difficulty in learning a lesson, we

should analyse the reasons behind the difficulty. This can be done

effectively, if we keep in mind the different factors that influence

assimilation.

We should not forget that learning is a complex mental process. Many parents

often accuse their children for their poor scores in the examination,

without caring to appreciate the children's difficulty in assimilating new

ideas. If the parent can show some patience to imagine what feeling he would

have if he is asked to learn quickly a strange language like Korean or

Chinese, he may realise the child's predicament.

Some of the important factors that influence assimilation are the following:

Meaning (Unless the lesson makes sense to the pupil, he may not be able to

learn it easily)

Interest (Pupils should be properly motivated. Suppose a chemistry teacher

intends to teach 'conservation of matter'. Instead of defining the

principle, the teacher may ignite some spirit in a watch glass kept on the

classroom table, show the empty watch glass after the spirit has burnt, and

then ask the pupils how the spirit has disappeared. Slowly, the principle of

'conservation of matter' can be developed by graded questions, and answers

from the pupils. Once curiosity is aroused, pupils will get interested in

the concept. Deeper the pupil's interest in the lesson, better the

retention.)

Depth of impression (This can be improved by vividness in teaching; describe

to generate clear pictures in the mind.)

Association of ideas (Link new knowledge to an old piece of knowledge. Use

good sequence and logical development of the lesson)

Repetition (Not dull repetition, but repetition that offers pleasure or

satisfaction)

Frequency of recall (Use tests or assignments)

Prioritising (forget the unimportant and retain the essentials)

The classroom situation

Most of our classrooms are teacher-centred, with one-way communication from

the teacher to pupils, as in a radio broadcast. One may label it as

authoritarian and directive. Though it may be effective in preparing for a

formal examination, it is desirable that the classroom is made

pupil-centred, at least occasionally.

In a lecture-discussion, the classroom is not totally dominated by the

teacher. Instead, the pupils get opportunities for participation; there is

co-operative striving for a common goal. This situation boosts the

self-confidence of the pupils in facing life's challenges.

The overall style of classroom management should neither be totally

authoritarian or totally permissive. The teacher should strive to strike a

happy balance for ensuring effective learning with pupils' participation.

After all, the larger picture of the college classroom aims at development

of the personality of the pupils.

Some guidelines for effective classroom management are indicated below.

Follow the same rules for all students

Enforce your declared rules consistently

Know the names of students

Be tough in the beginning; may loosen later if all goes well

See that the pupils come prepared (mind and materials)

See that they listen

Use occasional humour. It makes children comfortable

Never insult a pupil in the classroom or elsewhere, whether it is for poor

performance or for other reasons

Do not ignore good performance; do tell them they did well

Submission of assignments on time. Also, return them after correction on

time

Develop good habits like punctuality through your style (be a role model)

Don't allow the tail to wag the dog. But be pragmatic.

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B.S. WARRIER

______

Please feel free to pass your comments, feedbacks & new ideas to the below

menntioned contact details.

Email:

saravanan.ramadoss1@gmail.com

saravanan_2008@hotmail.com

*******

"Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none."

William Shakespeare

------

Character can not be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of

trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and

success achieved.

Helen Keller

Commonwealth Games Theme Song

19^th Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi, India from 3^rd October, 2010 onwards, have been in the news more for the wrong reasons than for the real objectives of sportsmanship. Investigative journalists dug out so much dirt and mud on one hand and on the other hand, Monsoon is making a mockery of highly exaggerated preparations as claimed by the Organizing Committee under the chairmanship of Suresh Kalmadi, who has now been popular for controversies and scandals rather than for appropriate execution of plans and projects in order to smoothly conducting the games. However, here we would focus upon the 'theme song' of these games composed by the only Oscar winner composer of Bollywood – A. R. Rahman, who, claimed that the song composed by him would be more appealing and beautiful than the one 'waka waka' sung by Shakira for the FIFA World cup 2010 even before he composed it.

This theme song was released by A. R. Rahman on 28 August, 2010 in Gurgaon, Haryana in the presence of eminent personalities from different walks of life and the esteemed members of the Organizing Committee. The initial lines of the song are like this:

Oh yaaron, yeh India bulaa liya / Diwaano yeh India bulaa liya… bulaa liya / Yeh toh khel hai / Bada mail hai / Milaa diya… milaa diya...

Please listen to the song

Most of Rahman's fans are not very pleased with the song. The comments on different social networking sites about the song are not encouraging. Some of viewers have commented that Rahman has got a bit overconfident. It is his callous approach which brought him down on the popularity charts especially, for this theme song of commonwealth games.

Firstly, Rahman composes music chiefly for Bollywood and Pop Albums. This segment of songs is different from that of composing songs for special occasions. Therefore, it is not Rahman's fault that he could not live up to the expectations of the music-lovers of the Indian Subcontinent. The organizing committee made a mistake in awarding him the contract to compose the song. Composing pop music is totally different from composing a song to suit a specific occasion. The song of Asiad 1982 was composed by Pt. Ravishankar, the well-known classical music maestro of the international repute. His composition Ath Swagatam, Shubha Swagatam echoed the letter and spirit of Indian cultural heritage. On the contrary, Rahman's training of music is based upon Western tradition of music and hence he should not be expected to represent the Indian tradition of melodic beauty. In essence, the fault lies with the organizing committee. Rahman did whatever he could and the song is before us. In the song, there is every element of the popular music. But the Indian ethos is missing. It would have been better had the organizing committee assigned the responsibility to somebody from the field of Indian classical music. Pt. Ravishankar, Pt. Shivakumar Sharma, Pt. Jasraj, many names can be counted. Let us hope that Indian Government would not be so indifferent to the classical musicians of Indian traditions in the future.