Indian Students and Exams

I recently came across an article in the New York Times about Indian high school students competing for top colleges:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/world/asia/24test.html?WT.mc_id=WO-SM-E-YT-SM-VID-ICE-032610-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click

I am impressed with these students’ ambition and determination to get into the best college programs. The parents are as involved as the students are in this process and it creates a culture of responsibility for learning. However, I am concerned that the tough competition and rigid grading system is giving these over-ambitious students skewed lessons about life and success.

In the United States too, for most upper middle class or wealthy families, there is increasing pressure on their children to get into the top colleges or Ivies. There are several very expensive tutoring services for these students to prepare for these colleges. This is especially evident in some of the prestigious high schools across America. In some cases, this pressure starts from gifted kindergarten programs to the top high schools. Nevertheless, most ambitious American students are just as competitive in other areas such as Sports or Music. In addition, most American parents don’t chart their children’s career destiny like many Indian parents do. Thus, ambitious students are likely to excel in fields that they choose.

The situation in India seems too focused on paper grades and rank. There is also pressure to get into engineering or medicine, whether or not the students have any interest in these fields. This creates a culture of robotic students whose only aim is to focus on the future, instead of living in the present. In addition, high financial cost of achieving their goals leave out the majority of the Indian population who live under poverty.

This competition extends to prestigious colleges too. The plot of a recent Bollywood movie called "3 Idiots" revolved around the theme of competition at a prestigious engineering college. The tone of the movie was more of disdain for this system, so it seems like many Indians are waking up to realize the problems with this system.

This generation of Indian students will eventually enter the corporate world. If they continue to look to their future as an extension of their educational system, they will be in for a huge disappointment. Leadership skills, empathy, creativity, time management, maturity, critical reasoning, and a variety of other skills cannot be learned in this rigid system. They may also have to start learning how to live in the present once in a while.

Dancing Snowflakes

Yesterday morning, I watched the snowflakes outside my window dance to the music of Mozart in my room. The day before that was a day of misery in the city, a day of rain and snow combined that caused a vicious combination of slushy sidewalks, cancelled trains, and hopeless waits to even catch a yellow cab. Then, came the 'snow day'.

'Snow day' is the most favorite day for every school children. I still have memories of being eagerly glued to the television in the wee hours of the morning waiting for the closing announcement of my school district. As soon as the name of the school district came out of the announcer, it was music to my ears and the snow seemed more beautiful than ever.

For all the snow days to come, there will always be a childhood memory, and while you trek through the snow, drive through it, or take a slow bus to get to work, you will remember that it is another ‘snow day’, your favorite day.

A breath of fresh winter air

December is a time when the weather gets bleak and there is not enough sun or daylight. Amidst the freezing weather, it is the spirit of being with family, a warm cozy crackling fireplace, or an occasional cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows that helps the mood. Then, comes the New Year, a time to reflect back on the past year and think about what went well and what could be done better. We all have resolutions and plans and everyone hopes to follow them. However, not everyone follows their resolutions and somehow their busy lives start to take over.

People usually think about their lives when they are not busy. “Busyness” is a culture that is seen as glamorous and idolized in the United States. Everyone is always “busy”. If you are not busy, somehow you must be a looser or not successful. When did we start to associate success with “busy”? Also, when did we start thinking that “busy” people are more productive? The real answer is that constantly “busy” people are not the most productive. If you have good time management skills, you will not be busy 24 hours a day. Also, many people spend too much time on unproductive things and don’t know how to prioritize their time. This leaves them in the busy cycle all the time. The concrete jungle of New York is a haven for “busy” people. They fill every minute of their day with things to do and love to over-commit themselves. They also tend to look down on people who are not as busy as them.

In the workaholic world that we live in, sometimes it is good to take time to breathe. Once in a while, it is nice to take time to enjoy the aroma of a morning coffee or to pick up a tiny snowflake and see what it looks like. Once in a while, it is good to be a little child that sees wonder in little things.

Thanksgiving week in Paris

I was in Paris this Thanksgiving week. The city of lights and love, fashion and culture, cozy cafes and holiday markets. Hundreds of years of history are packed into its wide boulevards and monuments. In the last three days, I was in the Latin Quarter area (le Quartier Latin), the intellectual hub of the city pulsing with curiosity, rows of academic bookstores, ethnic restaurants, and chatty cafes. One cloudy morning, I took a stroll along Rue de Saint-Jacques. Most of the stores were closed, but a few boulangeries were open and the warm glow of the light from them contrasted with the gray skies. Some cobblestone streets away, I saw a morning flower vendor slowly assembling different pots of colorful fresh flowers. A few elderly smiling faces were queing up to buy the morning baguette from the boulanger. A baguette in one hand, they quietly went about their lives. For a moment, I thought about my own fast paced life, and realized that time waits when you want it to. I never really felt like a foreigner and my minimal french did not discourage anyone from talking to me. You can walk into any cafe and in a few minutes you will find 'friends' who want to talk to you.

In the prestigiuous Champs-Elysees, the holiday markets had already opened up. The vendors were selling everything from stuffed animals (made of animal fur) and Russian Matryoshka dolls, to hot cholocolates and crepes. One afternoon, I climbed the 255 steps to the top of the Cathedrale de Notre Dame. I saw the city, with creatures that have been looking out to the city for hundreds of years with history etched into them - the gargolyes. When a stranger becomes a friend, a city will not feel as foreign or strange, but as a familiar place, a place you know you will return to.

Fall in Central Park

Homer and the Crayon

Homer, the character from the Simpsons - not the Greek poet, had a crayon stuck in his brain for all those years, which explained his below average intelligence. Apparently, it was stuck there because of a childhood incident that involved shoving crayons up his nose. After the doctor removed the crayon, Homer’s IQ improved considerably, enabling him to bond with this intelligent daughter, increasing his intellectual aptitude, and improving his logical reasoning. However, Homer soon found out that increased intelligence comes at a price. He was not enjoying normal activities and could not fit in with his friends.

Does high intelligence and reasoning come at a price? The answer is ‘yes’. People with high IQ scores tend to be analytical and think more than people with low scores. They reason and find more flaws in normal day to day activities. This impacts their ability to live and let live. In the end, considerably high IQ may also mean less happy thoughts because as many say, “ignorance is bliss”. The more you think and analyze, the more you realize that there are so many ways things and events can go wrong.

Unfortunately, schools and universities focus solely on IQ by giving standardized tests and other exams. They ignore one of the biggest predictors of future success – EQ or emotional intelligence. People with high EQ tend to know how to react and deal with everyday situations. They may not necessarily be the most logical or analytical, but they are smart with people and the world around them. The most successful of people are the ones who know how to use both forms of intelligence and create a balance.

In the Simpsons episode, Homer eventually had the crayon put back into his brain, because he could not deal with the world of intelligence. Being smart and reasoning with the world is not easy, but using our talents and intelligence in a way that benefits the world is essential. We are all different in our abilities and we all have different strengths. If you are highly intelligent, don’t reason or get disappointed with the world, but use it to the fullest and in the most creative ways.

Park Ave Samosa

Last week, walking along a wide boulevard sipping warm masala chai, I reached to grab a hot samosa from the to-go bag. While the aroma of potatoes and Indian spices were slowly filling the air, it dawned on me that I was walking on a prominent street, Park Avenue. The sophisticated patrons were giving me looks while I was munching on the samosa. No matter how many caviar canapes or lobster bisques I have, the best food to me is what I grew up with. Our culture is a part of us, and people who deny it are denying their own identity. In the world of ethnic assimilation, we all bring small identities with us, mingling, eating, and sharing different customs, but our core still remains; it is what makes us unique.