Pallikkutam : April 2014

MAGAZINE ON EDUCATIONVOLUME 1 ISSUE 11 APRIL 2014

Managing EditorDr. Varghese Panthalookaran CMI

EditorJames Paul

Associate EditorDr. Prasanth Palackappilly CMI

ColumnsK L MohanavarmaDr. K.N. RaghavanA.G. MenonSajit Malliyoor

Marketing ManagerVarghese Kachappilly CMI

ArtSajo Joseph

Contact:Rajagiri Media, Rajagiri Valley P.O,Kakkanad, Kochi-39.Phone : 0484 2428249, 39 Extn : 232Mob: +91 9497711010Mail : [email protected]

FROM EDITOR’S DESK

Food for thoughtThroughout the world, major shifts in dietary patterns are occurring,even in the consumption of basic staples towards more diversifieddiets. Accompanying these changes in food consumption at aglobal and regional level have been considerable healthconsequences. Populations in those countries undergoing rapidtransition are experiencing nutritional transition. The diverse natureof this transition may be the result of differences in socio-demographic factors and other consumer characteristics. Amongother factors including urbanization and food industry marketing,the policies of trade liberalization over the past two decades haveimplications for health by virtue of being a factor in facilitating the‘nutrition transition’ that is associated with rising rates of obesityand chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.Future food policies must consider both agricultural and healthsectors, thereby enabling the development of coherent andsustainable policies that will ultimately benefit agriculture, humanhealth and the environment.

Changes in agricultural practice over the past 50 years haveincreased the world’s capacity to provide food for its people throughincreases in productivity, greater diversity of foods and lessseasonal dependence. Food availability has also increased as aconsequence of rising income levels and falling food prices. Thishas resulted in considerable changes in food consumption over thepast 50 years

Organic food production places a strong emphasis onenvironmental protection and animal welfare. Recently, the demandfor local, sustainable and organic food production has increased.Organic farming tends to improve biodiversity and sustainabilitywithin rural communities and has become one of the fastestgrowing segments of agriculture in many parts of the world.

It is important when considering future food policy that asustainable pattern of food consumption be considered, ensuring asufficient supply of staples and of micronutrient-rich foods withoutencouraging excessive consumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poorfoods. Food systems that diversify beyond subsistence farming andinclude fruits, vegetables, legumes and animal products result inimproved nutritional status. ‘Healthy’ agriculture must be the goalwhereby nutritional considerations become part of multinationalagricultural policy-making, and at the same time, agriculturalconsiderations must be incorporated into the improvement ofnutrition and health.

Food policies will only be effective if they are developed with inputfrom both the agricultural and health sectors, thereby enabling thedevelopment of coherent policies that will ultimately be beneficial toagriculture, human health and the environment.

As Virginia Woolf said: “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well,if one has not dined well.”

CONTENTS

27COVER STORY

Food for thoughtNearly 80 per cent of all diseases are a result ofour bad eating habits. You should eat to live andnot live to eat. If you are one of those who haslittle time to eat or have irregular meal times ortend to snack on junkfood, here’s your realitycheck.

32Rice was no more the exclusivechoice of Malayalis’ gastronomicaltreat. Although people could notthink of an absolutely riceless life,our dependence on it did mellowdown.

35

13

STORIES OF LIFE16

Dr. Jos Cletus Plackal

Anatomyof an Affair

The changing food habits

A plethora oftempting delicacies

PEDAGOGY

April: thepoetry month

Jose K. C.

18 PERSONAL

Diet is importantin CFS treatment

Sajit Malliyoor

Poetry is not alien,nor distant, if wewill. It is with us,among us, about us.Then why notcelebrate the monthof April, devoted tothe Muse.

Parents, watch outfor early signs ofdisaffection, dis-gruntlement ordisruption in yourchild’s emotionalworld. It’s a wake-up call for you

CFS is a complexdisorder, withvariable levels ofawareness andacceptance amongthe members of thepublic and even themedical community.

Pallikkutam | April 2014

P K G Tharakan

Vineetha Varma

The youth of Kerala growing upwith a different set of food habitsthan that of their parents. Theubiquitous plastic packets with theireye-catching contents havereplaced the bharanis in manykitchens.

04

38 New-gen kids missthose good-old days!

Nirmala Lilly

The fast food retail chains influenceour kids a lot. An advantage is thatkids can live anywhere in the worldnow because of the multiple foodhabits.

CONTENTS

05

23 NOTES ON CREATIVITY

Dr. Varghese Panthalookaran CMI

Sustain the heroism

42

GUEST COLUMN62

52

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EXPERT COUNSEL20

Dr. K.N. Raghavan

The golden boot

Les Misérables

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It would require an initiative of thissort to kick-start the process ofrejuvenation of Indian footballwhich could ultimately lead to therenaissance of Indian football andplace the nation back in the worldsoccer map.

“Heroism at the starting point”characterizes a large number ofcreative minds. They of course getsufficient initial capital from thecreative trigger.

BOOK SHELF

Introducing one of the most famouscharacters in literature, JeanValjean - the noble peasantimprisoned for stealing a loaf ofbread - Les Misérables ranksamong the greatest novels of alltime.

54

POLICY WATCH

Dr D.Dhanuraj

Skill vouchers:The next big thing

On one hand the traditional andconventional channels of educationfail to meet the demands of theindustry, on the other hand, labourintensive sectors lack the suitable setof the employable youth of lesseducation profile.

INVESTIGATION

India’s researcharticle output bestamong BRIC;China trails behind

50 RESEARCH

Providing highereducation is a challengein India: Report

NEWS

06 Pallikkutam | April 2014

Infosys honcho sees disconnectbetween classroom, industry

There is a disconnect between what istaught in classrooms and what is being

practiced in the industry. Academia mustencourage students to look at howtechnology has impacted life and how itcan change the future, said executivevice-chairman of Infosys KrisGopalakrishnan.

Speaking at the valedictory function ofthe Pan IIT Alumni Leadership Series2013, Gopalakrishnan said, “There is adisconnect between what is intextbooks and what is needed on theground, because things have changeddramatically in the 21st century. Everyaspect of our life needs to be re-engineered and re-imagined in the 21stcentury.”

He said that the 21st century teacher’s jobhas changed from transferring knowledgefrom text to the student, to one thatinvolves helping students implement orpractice what they’ve learnt in theclassroom. “Today the student has equalor more access to resources than the

teacher. The classroom should become anactuarial lab,” Gopalakrishnan said. IIT-Madras director Bhaskar Ramamurthi saidthat in Germany it is common for people

to switch roles between academics andindustry. This is not the case in the US, butthey manage to overcome the problem bynetworking between experts in industryand academia. This may not be possible inIndia, but colleges can help bring the realworld to the classroom by interacting with

industry people who are thinking ofjoining academia.

Tamil Nadu commissioner for technicaleducation Kumar Jayant said that teachers

have to motivate students to learn ontheir own. “Teachers have to get over theidea that they are the only sources ofknowledge, or even that they are theprimary sources of knowledge, andencourage students to access otherresources and learn on their own.Students won’t do it unless teachers tellthem to do it,” he said. He said that hefound that large groups of students inengineering colleges in the state are notable to access computers with freeinternet on campus during their freetime. The PALS 2013 series wasconducted to share the expertise and best

practices of the IITs with neighbouringengineering colleges in the city. Tenengineering colleges, including AlphaCollege of Engineering and VIT UniversityChennai campus, partnered with the IITsto benefit from the event.

SAP University partners 100 InstitutionsSAP India, a subsidiary of SAP AG

(NYSE: SAP) has announced thesuccess of signing 100 universities acrossthe country through the SAP UniversityAlliances programme. The milestonecomes with the latestaddition of UniversityVisveswaraya Collegeof Engineering, a topEngineering College inBangalore.

Students at 100 topcolleges in India nowhave access toInformationTechnology training benefiting more than2, 50,000 students from 1,500 universitiesthat have already participated in the SAPprogram across 120 countries worldwide.As per company press release, “Alignedwith SAP’s mission to contribute toeconomic growth, the SAP UniversityAlliances Program supports-engineering,

business and Information Technology,programs in universities and colleges inIndia by providing students and lecturerswith access to SAP software and training.It believes in 5 pillars of Learn, Apply,

Share, Recruit and pursuing CSR to helpthe student community to acquire relevantskillsto meet the industryrequirements.The SAP training coursesenables students to pursue SAPcertifications and eventual hiring by SAP,partners and customers. This in turnaddresses the industry skills shortage by

providing a pool of IT graduates who arealready trained with hands-on practice ofthe SAP software.” “Talent has becomethe de facto requirement in the technologyindustry today and SAP sees merit in

contributing to talentenhancement effortsand help meet thegrowing skill demandof the industry,” saidCrispian Tan, DirectorSAP UniversityAlliances Program forthe Asia Pacific &Japan region. “Thislandmark achievement

reflects our commitment of ensuring thatthe next generations of graduates are readyand able to make an immediate impact inthe job market and support SAP’s Globalfocus of Inspiring Millennials to See SAPas the Employer of Choice or Dream Bigto become Entrepreneurs”, he added.

NEWS

07Pallikkutam | April 2014

UGC selects 4colleges for

Excellence AwardThe University Grants Commission

(UGC) has selected four colleges fromdifferent parts of the country for theCollege of Excellence Award.

The four colleges are -St Xavier’s inMumbai, Loyola in Chennai, St Joseph’sin Bangalore and St Xavier’s in Kolkata.

The award comes with a grant of Rs 2crore to be spent over five years forspecific purposes by these colleges.

St Xavier’s College in Mumbai hadbagged the Potential for ExcellenceAward in 2006, and received Rs 2.5 croreover eight years. A few months ago, theUGC announced a sequel, the College ofExcellence Award.

“The UGC expert committee appreciatedour progress made during the period ofthe Potential for Excellence Awardstatus,” said Fr Frazer Mascarenhas,principal, St Xavier’s College inMumbai.

Bangalore University affiliates30 new colleges

Bangalore University has affiliated 30more colleges thereby increasing the

total number of colleges to 530 from 500.

Thesyndicatemeetingheldrecentlyrecommendedto givefreshaffiliationto 30collegesand torenewaffiliationof 500collegesFollowingLocal Inquiry Committee (LIC) reports.The university received 550 applicationsin total. Of that, 502 were seeking renewal

NRI quota: private medical colleges approach SC

Association of privatemedical and dental

colleges (APMDC) hasapproached the SupremeCourt of India over newseat allocation rules for postgraduate seats in MadhyaPradesh.

According to APMDCrepresentative Dr YogeshUprit, new rules differ fromthe process adopted inprevious years. The majorconfrontation is over onhow institutions will beallowed to fill up to 15 percent of the sanctioned seatsfor NRI candidates only.

Earlier, private medicalcolleges were permitted tofill 15 per cent of the seats

through this category withoutdepartment or course-wisesegregation. It allowed privatemedical colleges to filllucrative clinical seats and thusremaining non-lucrative seatswere left for government quotaallocation in private medicalcolleges. According toDirectorate of MedicalEducation (DME) officials,the institutions are stillallowed to fill up to 15 percent seats by NRI candidates.

“We are only followingdirectives of admission and feeregulatory committee beforethe counselling and this hasbeen permitted by SC videorder datedJanuary 24,” saidone of the officials.

of affiliation and permanent affiliation and48 applications sought fresh affiliation(new colleges). Among them, the syndicate

cleared therenewal of500 collegesand 30 newones. BUViceChancellor,Dr BThimmeGowdasaid, “Themajority ofcolleges thatapplied forfreshaffiliationwere fromrural areas.

We have been liberal in providing affiliationto rural and women’s colleges,”.

NEWS

08

MHRD funds NAAC forQuality Renaissance Initiative

The Union Ministry of HumanResource Development (MHRD) has

approved theallocation of Rs17 Crores for theNationalaccreditation andAssessmentCouncil (NAAC)for ‘NationalQualityRenaissanceInitiative’.

The projectApproval Boardunder theMHRD hasreleased Rs 4Crore as the first installment for thecurrent year. The Initiative is aimed forbetter quality control and accreditation

being central to enhancing the quality ofhigher education institutions.

R P Sisodia, JointSecretary MHRD, who is also theMission Directorhas pointed outthat the affiliationwould beadvantageous inthis process ofquality renaissancewherein theuniversity systemthrough its affiliatestructure candefine qualityparameters and

forge linkages with other institutions tobring about quality renaissance.

VCs of universities should be in 35-40 age group: Sam Pitroda

Sam Pitroda, adviser to the PrimeMinister on public information,

infrastructureand innovationhas said that in ayoung countrylike India, ViceChancellors ofuniversitiesshould be in the35-40 age group,and not 60-plus.

Pitroda concededthough, thatthere’sresistance to anysuch change, andrued that no onein the countryhad put forth such a demand.

“The university education system is beingrun by old people. The rules andregulations are made by people who are 60years old while the customers’ average age

is 20 years. There is a total disconnect.Can’t we have Vice Chancellors aged 35 to

40 years?” heasked.

He also allegedthat none of theVCs andprofessors in thecountry hadbothered to readthe KnowledgeCommissionreport.

If young peopleare not givenexposure in allfields, they woulddevelop the ideasand thinking of the

older generation, he said. “In this country,everybody knows the PM’s job. Butnobody knows what his job is,” hecommented.

GATE 2014:decrease incandidatesnumbers

The declaration of Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering(GATE ) results has brought into noticea lot of alarming facts about theentrance exam.

This year the number of candidateswho appeared for the test went downby 10 per cent. Last year, 9, 84, 855candidates sat for the exam. It hasshown a significant drop in the numberof female candidates who appeared forthe exam in the year 2014. According tonewspaper reports, one reason beingassumed for this drop could be theapplication fees. While, the femalecandidates did not have to pay anapplication fee in 2013, this year, theyhad to pay Rs 750/- as the fee.

This was the first batch that had togive all 22 papers of the exam incomputer based mode. GATE scoresare used for admissions to various postgraduate programmes in IITs, NITs andother engineering colleges in India.

More than 8.89 lakh candidateschecked their results and only 1,49,694 candidates qualified the exam85,063 are from General category,42,287 are from OBC (NCL), 17,085from SC, 4,224 from ST and 1,035Persons with Disability. Only 31, 431female candidates (from all categories)have qualified.

A total of 2,16,367 candidatesappeared for the electronics andcommunications engineering paper thisyear, the general cut off for which was25.56. The second highest turnoutappeared for mechanical engineeringpaper amounting it to be 1, 85, 578.The general cut off for this paper wasset at 28.86. The computer science andengineering paper was attempted by 1,55, 190, and the cut off was set at 25.Also, 1,41,799 candidates appeared forthe electrical engineering test, with acut off of 25 points, while 90,872candidates sat for the civil engineeringtest, for which the cut off was set at26.57 points.


NEWS

09

University of Chicagoopens centre in Delhi

The University of Chicago has opened acentre in New Delhi as a collaborative

attempt between the UnitedStates and India to boostresearch and training in diversedisciplines.

Robert J. Zimmer, presidentof University of Chicago, waspresent at the inauguration inNew. The centre was openedto promote research, trainingand scholarship programmesunder three broad disciplines:business, economics, law andpolicy; science, energy,medicine and public health;and culture, society, religionand the arts . The centre willalso be an intellectualdestination, enabling theUniversity of Chicago to better supportresearch and scholarship that will benefitfaculty, students and society, said a

statement. The center located atConnaught Place will be the hub for

conferences and seminars as well as theseat for faculty offices and study areas. Itwill host Indian and South Asian students

and scholars, serve as a base for Universityof Chicago students and faculty working inIndia and throughout the region, and engage

alumni and parents in India andSouth Asia. Delhi is the thirdcentre for the university after acentre in Beijing, opened in 2010,and the centre in Paris, opened in2004, in bringing togetherresearchers and students tocollaborate across the academicspectrum. The centre in Delhi is awholly-owned foreign enterpriseoperating under the name ofUChicago Center in India PrivateLimited.

US Ambassador to India NancyPowell said the number ofstudents’ visa applications fromIndia is going up and currently

more than 100,000 Indian students arestudying in the US.

Kerala VC issuesnotice to registrar

Kerala University (KU) Vice Chancellor,Prof P K Radhakrishnan has issued a

show-cause notice to Registrar KMohammad Basheeer for his alleged failurein convening a meeting of various branchofficers on March 24.

Reportedly, theunprecedentedaction and its falloutis understood tohave figuredprominently in thediscussionsEducation MinisterP K Abdu Rabb hadwith the ViceChancellor. The VChad communicatedto the Registrar’soffice on March 15that a meeting of allbranch officers, including the Registrar,Controller of Examinations, Director ofPlanning and Development and Director of

College Development Council, should beconvened on March 24. The meeting wasaimed at formally conveying the VC’sviews on streamlining the administrativeprocess after a series of preliminarymeetings he had with various officials andemployees. It is learnt that the staff in the

Registrar’s office failed toconvey the message toBasheer who was busywith the Senate elections.

As per reports, theRegistrar has been askedto furnish the reason fornot convening themeeting and whydisciplinary action shouldnot be initiated againsthim. “Since it was myfirst meeting with theEducation Minister after

taking charge, I discussed certain adminis-trative issues in the University with him,’’Radhakrishnan said.

Principal arrested forcheating and forgery

Nagpur Police has arrested a collegeprincipal for his alleged role in

cheating and forgery in a case registeredlast month. Tejsingh Kirad, who wasproduced before court, is co-accused in acase of fraud registered against a formersecretary and teacher of NavpratibhaSchool, Siraspeth. Kirad was arrestedafter his name surfaced during investiga-tions into a fraud at the Siraspeth-basedschool, where he worked as a teachersome years ago. Former secretary of theschool, 74-year-old Vijay Vaid, has beenbooked earlier along with his daughter-in-law Anagha, for conniving to dupe thegovernment to the tune of severalthousands. The case was registered atImambada police station after a com-plaint by the school management. It'slearnt that Kirad helped Anagha and acouple of others to procure fakemarksheets of BEd against heftypayment. Police said Kirad had acceptedRs 60,000 from Anagha to arrange for afake BEd marksheet for her.


INSIGHTS

10

Adult white lies adverselyaffect child’s honesty

A majority of parents tell innocent liesto their children even as they maintain

that honesty is an important value.According to the results published in thejournal Developmental Science, adultdishonesty does make a difference, and notin a good way. They found that childrenwho are lied to lie and cheat morethemselves. Lying by an adult affects achild’s honesty. In acontrolled experimentthe researchersobserved that themajority of primaryschoolchildren towhom theexperimenter lied oncukies cheated inanother gameconducted undersurveillance.

The reason for suchbehaviour is notimmediately clear. Itmay be that children were simply imitatingthe behaviour modelled by the adult, or itcould be they were making judgmentsabout the importance of honesty to thisadult. Or, it could be that the children did

not feel the need to uphold theircommitment to tell the truth to someonewho they perceived as a liar.

But it didn’t seem to make any differenceto the younger set, the preschoolers,whether they had been deceived by theexperimenter earlier. They peeked and liedat about the same rates. That may be

because 3- and 4-year-olds don’thave verysophisticatedtheory-of-mindabilities yet.

What happenswhen trustedcare-givers do thelying also remainsan open researchquestion. But theresearchers of thestudy, Carver andHays, are still

urging restraint. Even if it’s expedient foran adult to lie—to get cooperation throughdeception, for example or to get children tocontrol their emotions—it’s probably abad idea in the long run.

Well-planned homework improves student learningThe researchers of Rice University and

Duke University have shown thatsimple changes in the pattern ofhomework can spare elaborate andexpensive changes in the curriculum toboost student learning. The results arepublished in the journal EducationalPsychology Review.

The researchers demonstrate howtechnology and cognitive science can becombined to develop inexpensive buteffective educational changes that requiredno changes to course curriculum. In thetest case the instructor changed his regularpattern of homework assignment andfollowed another pattern thatincorporates insights from cognitivescience to reap better educationaloutcomes. The instructor has followed apattern of homework for years, in whichone homework assignment was given perweek, which was graded and returned the

following week. In the modified style ofhomework assignment which was calledthe “intervention,” he incorporated threekey principles from cognitive science,which have been shown to promotelearning and increase long-term retention.They were implemented in the followingway:

• Repeated retrieval practice: In addition toreceiving the standard homeworkassignment, students were given follow-upproblems on the same topic in twoadditional assignments that counted onlytowards their course participation grade.

• Spacing: Rather than giving all theproblem sets for a week’s lectures in oneassignment, the researchers spaced theproblems over three weeks of assignments.

• Feedback: Rather than waiting one weekto learn how they did, students receivedimmediate feedback on intervention

homework, and they were required toview the feedback to get credit for theassignment. The researcher found thatgiving students multiple opportunities topractise retrieving and applying theirknowledge on new problems is a verypowerful way to promote learning,especially when this practice is spacedout over time. Feedback also is critical tolearning, and previous studies haveshown that students will often skiplooking at feedback. The researchers splitthe class into two groups and assignedeach group standard homework andintervention homework during alternatingweeks; in any given week, half of thestudents were assigned to theintervention and half to the standardpractice homework. The research showedthat students scored about 7 percenthigher on the portions of the final examsthat were taught with the intervention.

Parents as rolemodels for healthy

habits

Kids whose moms encourage them toexercise and eat well and model

those healthy behaviours themselves aremore likely to be active and healthyeaters, according to researchers at DukeMedicine.

Their findings, published online in theInternational Journal of Obesity, remindparents that they are role models for theirchildren, and underscore the importanceof parental policies promoting physicalactivity and healthy eating.

Exercise and healthy diets are critical infighting childhood obesity. The homeenvironment and parenting can influencea child’s health by shaping dietary andphysical behaviours, such as providingaccess to fruits and vegetables orencouraging kids to play outside.

Similarly, limiting access to junk foods athome and parental policies supportingfamily meals increased the amount ofhealthy foods kids ate. Overall, the homeenvironment had more influence on thechildren’s dietary habits than on theirphysical activity levels.


INSIGHTS

11

‘Playscapes’ facilitates learning in kindergartenUniversity of Cincinnati researchers are

reporting on the educational and healthbenefits of specially created outdoor playenvironments for children. Typicallycalled playscapes, these settings aredefined as an intentionally designed,dynamic, vegetation-rich play environmentthat nurtures young children’saffinity for nature. Unliketraditional urban playgrounds, theycan promote more learning,physical development and socialskills. The results are published inthe International Journal of Play.

The researchers say that onaverage, children are spending lesstime on playgrounds as well as lesstime in just play. “The advantagesof building playscapes overtraditional playgrounds areconsiderable,” suggest the authors.“Children have opportunities tolearn about scientific inquiry, mathematicsand other embedded concepts as requiredby curricular methods.” “Not only does itengage children in science, technology,engineering and maths (STEM) educationat an early age, but it also fosters futurestewards for a sustainable environmentwhile providing a developmentallyappropriate play and learning venue forthe 21st century,” the authors state in thearticle.

The article highlights other countries—Sweden, Australia, Scandinavia, Germanyand the United Kingdom among theexamples—which are making strides inreconnecting children with nature throughplay venues in natural settings, as well asinternational research indicating that these

environments not only sharpen attentionskills but also reduce depression andsymptoms of attention-deficit disorders.

“They provide a sense of play that alsoaddresses parental concerns about safety,creates pleasant play environments,supports child development and nurturesnature exploration, setting the stage forenvironmental stewardship.”

University of Cincinnati has alsodeveloped own PlayScape, with some ofthe following special features:

• A tree house to elevate children into thetree canopy and give them a clear viewwhere they play.

• An open lawn for running, rollingand even sledding.

• A controlled water feature forchildren to drink and use for playand learning.

• A log fort for children to play, hideand look out over the landscape.

• A sensory garden for children toplant, grow and harvest vegetablesand herbs.

• A “bird blind,” which is a discreetobservation area where children canwatch birds in action.

• Gathering decks for children to play,draw, do dramatic work or projects or rest.

• An observation post for educationresearchers to examine how this naturalsetting enhances learning for youngchildren.

• A perimeter fence, providing a safe andsecure environment for children to explorewithin the PlayScape.

Teaching children lessons in safetyOne of the biggest worries for any

parent is keeping their child safefrom injury. It’s pretty simple when thechild is young, because parents directlysupervise him (or her). But what aboutwhen the child gets older, becomes moreindependent and goes out on his own?That’s when the responsibility forstaying safe transfers from the parent tothe child. And that means the child hasto be able to assess the danger ofsituations.

Now, a team of researchers at theUniversity of Iowa who analysed in anew study how children take stock ofvarious real-life scenarios and howmothers can help them assess potentialhazards. Their conclusions: Children andmothers regularly don’t see eye-to-eye onsituational dangers. Because of that it’s

critical that mothers explain why asituation is dangerous, beyond simplyadministering a verbal slap on the wrist.

Parent-child conversation is the bridge.

Of course, children can learn to be morecareful by simply trying stuff. But theresearch team wanted to know whether

parents could pre-empt that and, if so,how. It has to do with parent-child talks.

“Saying to your child, ‘Don’t do that’or ‘Stop’ or ‘Be careful’ doesn’t reallywork,” Plumert says. “I mean, it’s okayto say that, but the next step is to saywhy not. You shouldn’t assume thatyour child knows why not, even if itseems obvious to you.”

Parents could, for example, point outthe dangerous elements in the situation,and explain how those current dangerscould cause the child to get hurt.

Still, there are some children who areprone to injury, no matter what. Theseare the risk-takers, and the researcherslearned that these children are more likelyto view a situation as less dangerous thantheir peers.


INSIGHTS

12

Your ideologydetermines your

health!According to a study, published in the

journal Social Science and Medicine,there exists strong connection betweenideology, social capital and health. Thestudy finds that those who live in liberalstates tend to be healthier. Similarly, thestrong communities also foster betterhealth.

It found that states with high levels ofliberalism and those with high levels ofsocial trust have higher levels of health andwell-being.

To measure a state’s social capital, Herianand his colleagues used data from a surveythat asked “If you lost a wallet or pursethat contained $200 and it was found by aneighbour, do you think it would bereturned with the money in it or not?”

To assess states’ political profiles, thestudy used an index that scores each of the50 states of America on their relativeliberalism versus conservatism. The indexis based upon factors such as interestgroup ratings of congressional members,voting records and election results incongressional races. It is designed not onlyto assess partisanship, but the extent towhich politicians favour liberal socialpolicy.

Health and well-being were measured withquestions from the behaviour risk surveythat asked respondents to rate their healthand to report how frequently poorphysical or mental health prevents themfrom carrying out daily activities. Theresearchers also took smoking habits andbody mass index into consideration.

The researchers said the study hasimplications for health policy at the stateand local levels.

‘Traffic light’ promotehealthy food habits

The use of colour-coded “traffic light”food labels and changes in the way

popular items are displayed appear tohave produced a long-term increase inthe choice of more healthful food itemsamong customers in a large hospitalcafeteria. A Massachusetts GeneralHospital (MGH) team reports in theAmerican Journal of PreventiveMedicine that the previously reportedchanges in the proportions of more andless healthy foods purchased in themonths after their programme beganhave persisted up to two years after thelabelling intervention was introduced.

The first phase involved the applicationof “traffic light” labels— green for thehealthiest items, such as fruits, veg-etables and lean sources of protein;yellow for less healthy items and red forthose with little or no nutritionalvalue—to all items in the main hospitalcafeteria. Several weeks before the labelswere introduced, cafeteria cash registersbegan to identify and record eachpurchased item as red, yellow or green.

The second “choice architecture” phase,started three months after the labels wereintroduced, focused on cold beverages, pre-made sandwiches and chips—all of whichwere rearranged to display more healthfulitems where they were most likely to beselected. For example, bottled water, dietbeverages and low-fat dairy products werepositioned at eye level, while beverageswith yellow or red labels were placed atlower levels.

The current study analysed purchasepatterns for the 24 months following theprogramme’s implementation and foundthat the overall purchases of “green” itemshad increased 12 percent, compared withthe pre-intervention period, and “red” itempurchases dropped 20 percent. Purchasesof “red” beverages—primarily sugar-sweetened beverages—dropped 39percent, while “green” beverage purchasesincreased 10 percent. The changesremained similar for all types of employ-ees, and overall cafeteria sales during thetwo-year period were stable.

Gesturing with handsboosts maths learning

Children who use their hands to gestureduring a maths lesson gain a deep

understanding of the problems they aretaught,accordingto newresearchfrom theUniversityofChicago’sDepartmentofPsychologypublishedonline inPsychologicalScience.

Previousresearch has found that gestures can helpchildren learn. This study in particular wasdesigned to answer whether abstractgesture can support generalization beyond

a particular problem and whether abstractgesture is a more effective teaching toolthan concrete action.

“We foundthat actinggavechildren arelativelyshallowunderstandingof a novelmathsconcept,whereasgesturingled todeeper andmoreflexible

learning,” explained the study’s leadauthor, Miriam A Novack, a PhD studentin psychology.


PEDAGOGY

Jose K. C.

April: the poetry month

The father of English poetry, GeoffreyChaucer hails April of sweet

showers. Later, his great grandson inliterature, T. S Eliot’s waste landers findApril the cruellest month. We in India, ofcourse not in a waste land, would joinChaucer. As I told my students, India haspoetry alive all around and Indians arepoetic in a Wordsworthian spirit – the landand its people with spontaneity. G. N.Mehra’s words: ‘Nature in all its grandeurand unspoiled virginity is still extant inIndia, the dragon land’ still hold true. The‘grandeur’ and ‘unspoiled virginity’ appealto the little Wordsworths all of us have.The cryptic ‘dragon land’ haunts you andme as the medieval mysteries didColeridge.

If one goes beyond the traditionalsemantics of ‘poetry’, life is poetry iflived with passion and compassion. Ourmother’s lullabies are poetry withsomnolent sound and rhythm; our folkloreteems with poetry with its magic fairylands and yetis. Our fathers’ sweat dropsrefract light into rainbows. And, our heartsleap when we behold the rainbows. Andwe learn the eternal truth – which anygood poetry does – that hard work has alasting fruit for the salt in the sweatpickles it.

People in our villages – shepherds, woodcutters and leech gatherers – are inconstant interaction with nature. So, goingby the Romantic preference for theselection of language really used by men,India has poetry in her villages, her loftymountains and dancing rivulets. TheAntakshari contestants of the yore werepoetry lovers and magnificent poetrypractitioners. The poetry students oftoday – be it of the school or the college –should attend passionate Antaksharisessions as a pre-requisite to the study ofpoetry.

Poetry is not alien, nor distant, if we will. It is withus, among us, about us. Then why not celebrate the

month of April, devoted to the Muse. Such ajubilant festival suits to a T today’s utilitarianworld, where one is alarmed by some School

Boards’ suicidal attempts to make ‘Poetry’ as anoptional genre in the curriculum. Let us revisit such

moves by organizing some Poetry activities tounderline the pleasure-giving, edifying, humanizing

effects of poetry.

Pallikkutam | April 2014 13

14

PEDAGOGY

If ‘exaggeration’ is a rhetoric figure inpoetry, my cousin uses it along withmetaphor, “Do you really eat this hill offood?” His comment was on my gluttony.I laugh; he laughs; so do all others. For,poetry delights. That’s why we enjoy thehyperbolic verbal duel between Hamletand Laertes in Shakespeare’s graveyardscene. Our grandparents use poetry inday-to-day situations by means of irony:‘If you sleep like a pig, you will score highin the exams.’ The message is crystal clearto the ‘you’ in the statement. So is theirony in Austen’s opening sentence of herPride and Prejudice: ‘It is a truthuniversally acknowledged that a singleman in possession of a good fortune mustbe in want of a wife.’ It is not uncommonto hear amidst ourselves, ‘Tom’s points areconvincing; Jeet’s are not less convincing.’

We thus use ‘litotes’ among us as well asTennyson.

Put briefly, poetry is not alien, nor distant,if we will. It is with us, among us, aboutus. Then why not celebrate the month ofApril, devoted to the Muse. Such ajubilant festival suits to a T today’sutilitarian world, where one is alarmed bysome School Boards’ suicidal attempts tomake ‘Poetry’ as an optional genre in thecurriculum. Let us revisit such moves byorganizing some Poetry activities tounderline the pleasure-giving, edifying,humanizing effects of poetry.

Suggested activities for Classes IV –VII

1. Poetry catechism - get at the heart of apoem simply through Socratic questioning /

teasing between the spirited teacher (likeSocrates) and groups of students.

2. Adjective snowball – get students to addan adjective alphabetically Roll Number-wise to a given sentence. For instance,‘Aunt Mary has a puppy.’ Roll No 1 mayadd: ‘Aunt Mary has an active puppy.’

Roll No 2 may rewrite it as: ‘Aunt Maryhas an active, big puppy,’ and so on. Atthis level, the teacher’s focus should beinciting the imagination of the kids, notnecessarily the order of the adjectives. Theintention is to trigger a love for descriptivewords and word pictures, an essential partof poetry.

3. Poetry recitations - set a tune to theverse under study and do group readings/echo readings/ relay readings.

People in our villages – shepherds, wood cutters and leech gatherers – are inconstant interaction with nature. So, going by the Romantic preference for theselection of language really used by men, India has poetry in her villages, her

lofty mountains and dancing rivulets.


15

PEDAGOGY

4. Verse complementation – after listingdown some of the irresistible memories inlife, students are encouraged to write thesecond line to the first line provided tothem on those memories.

Suggested activities for Classes VIII andabove, including colleges

5. Poetry definition contest – thecontestants can make their own, less-than-ten-words definitions, modelled on any twopopular definitions.

6. Psychomotor Poetry – preparation andexhibition of handiwork/ drawings/ modelsthat illustrate poems of students’ ownchoice

7. ‘Talk to the poet’ – an end-of-the-month‘impersonation’ of a poet of students’choice in which students answer questionsfrom the audience or an interviewer.

8. Poetic touchstones – display andillustration in art of a striking passagefrom a poem. The group that displays

If one goes beyond the traditional semantics of ‘poetry’, life is poetryif lived with passion and compassion.

should justify the choice of their passage,the touchstones (after Matthew Arnold)

9. The symbols I see – students go around,observe and report to their friends thesignificance of the various symbols theyencounter around them.

10. Poetry shopping – student groups runshops of poems in all sub-genres (sonnets,elegies, lyrics, and odes etc.) by differentauthors, which they recite upon demand bythe public/fellows, who if interested buy thepoem by paying, say Rs. 5/- per poem. Thegroups that impress the customers earnmore.

These can be some of our humble tributesto Poetry in this April. To crown it all,let’s celebrate the birth day of the greatestpoet of all times, Shakespeare on 23 April(or 24?) through poster or banner contests.

As the Bard said, ‘… age cannot wither her(poetry) nor custom stale Her infinitevariety.’ This is one way we appreciateour own infinite variety in India and amongthe Indians. There lies the poetry of ‘onenation; one people’ despite the variety.

The author is lecturer in English, College ofeducation, Samtse, Bhutan


16

Dr. Jos Cletus Plackal

STORIES OF LIFE

Anatomy of an Affair

Love is the most mystical, magical of allrealities, so deep and dynamic; it is

synonymous with life itself. Love has beenthe object of zillions of studies and yet it’slike a drop in the ocean. Scientific researchesand religious books as well as literary workshave all gone on to explore and extol thedifferent facets of this most amazing diamond called love. There is an alarmingincrease in tragic events related to loveaffairs, sometimes involving minors! Formany a family, an affair itself is a tragedy!Unlike in the West, in India there exists aninvisible yet most powerful bond among thefamily members. Loyalty to the family isessential since the family’s ego is moreimportant than that of the individual. Thefamily ego is crystallized through beliefsystems put into practice for generations,caste, customs, clan, cultural milieu etc. Thepresent study is an attempt to understand alove affair from a psychological point of view

with all its complexity and implicationsfor the extended family, and to thelovers themselves.

Lynda (not the real name), 22, complet-ing her postgraduate studies, lives in thecollege hostel. She shows signs ofdistraction and disinterestedness ineverything including studies. Lately shehas started feeling isolated from herclassmates and teachers. Occasionallyshe picks fights even with her bestfriend! At home Lynda feels moremiserable in that she is very lonely andlost and her older sister gets on hernerves, all the time. Lynda complainedthat her parents sided with the oldersister all the time and felt that she wasnot worth anything at home. Besides,the older sister was working overtimefinding fault with Lynda. And recentlyshe has been working day and night as a

detective to find all the secrets of her‘naughty’ younger sister’s cyber crimes!No wonder Lynda laments, “How I wish Icould run away from this “terrible three-some”! Lynda’s older sister’s painstakingpursuit of detective work paid offfinally. She briefed her parents of the latestdevelopment that Lynda was having anaffair with a boy who is from a differentcaste and that they do chat a lot etc! Thatwas like a bomb explosion and the familyego was ruined. The anxiety about theshame that might befall on them if theextended family came to know about thisled to many sleepless nights! The ensuingsocial stigma was unthinkable… The wholefamily dynamics went berserk and thefamily was at the edge of an emotionalprecipice. It is at this juncture that Lyndawas brought into counselling.

At the counseling Lynda was quite

Parents, watch out for early signs of disaffection, disgruntlement or disruptionin your child’s emotional world. It’s a wake-up call for you to address; seekoutside help, and don’t wait endlessly for an avalanche to hit your family.


17

STORIES OF LIFE

The author is licensed clinical psychologist(HRT), Jeevas Centre Aluva.

defensive, and accused her parents ofcollusion with her sister who alwayswanted to put her down. She expressed heranger and frustration at her parents fortheir continued neglect and indifferencetowards her from her childhood onwards.Ensuing sessions saw fierce outbursts ofanger and frustration expressed in tears andterse words. After the catharsis there camesome clarity about the sorry state ofaffairs that led to Lynda’s seeking solaceoutside the family of origin. The parentsrealized their share in the genesis of theproblem and Lynda began to relent. Thefollowing sessions focused on restructuringthe family relations, with special attentionto redress the painful theme of neglect byparents. The older sister was brought intotherapy as a protagonist. She was helpedto understand the precarious situation thather younger sister was in.

Therapeutic strategy centered aroundinclusion of the younger sibling startedpaying off. At this stage the entire familywas willing to work hard for restructuringtheir destructive behaviour patterns withsome help from the therapist. Lynda, forthe first time in life, felt included and lovedby her parents and by her sister. Shefinally accepted that she was actingrebellious and was fighting against the restof the family to test whether they reallycared for her or not. The affair, sherealized, was her last desperate attempt tohang on to life. Lynda was willing to revisither affair, analyse the relationship and takeup a decision. After much painstakingintrospection, appraisal and consultations,she decided to call it quits. With someassistance from the family Lynda was ableto work it out with her friend and in spiteof his initial resistance, convinced him toback off from the affair.

PS Parents, watch out for early signs ofdisaffection, disgruntlement or disruptionin your child’s emotional world. It’s awake-up call for you to address; seekoutside help, and don’t wait endlessly foran avalanche (an indiscriminate affair) tohit your family.

Lynda was willing to revisit her affair, analyse therelationship and take up a decision. After much

painstaking introspection, appraisal andconsultations, she decided to call it quits.


\

18

Sajit Malliyoor

PERSONAL

Relaxation and dietimportant in CFS treatment

“I am a 19-year-old girl, studying for BScChemistry in a central Kerala college. Myproblem started after joining the course.My college is about 50 km away from myhome and I have to take three buses toreach it. During my initial days, afterreaching back from college, I used to bevery tired and couldn’t study anything. Asthe days passed, my tiredness increasedand a few months later I was so tired formost part of the time that I couldn’t even goto college. I was unable to attend the classproperly or focus on what the professorwas saying. Later on, I found that Icouldn’t recall what was taught. Mymemory was impaired. Most often I hadheadaches which lasted throughout the dayor occasionally for days on end. I wouldhave pains in my joints and my sleep wasalso disturbed. I was taken to the doctorand given some medicine. It didn’t seem tohelp me much and then I was taken to aspecialist. After administering several tests,he said I didn’t have any physical problemand advised me to cut down on travel.Then I moved to a hostel near the college.Initially, it seemed to have positive effect onmy condition and I was relativelysymptom-free for a few weeks. But theeffect soon wore out and I started gettingthe symptoms again. Though I amattending the classes, I couldn’t performwell in my last semester exam. Most of thedays I become very tired towards theevening and occasionally it laststhroughout the day. On most days, I willhave severe fatigue and muscle pain. Onedoctor suggested that I might be sufferingfrom chronic fatigue syndrome and that Ishould consult a clinical psychologist.

Kindly advise me on how to deal with mycondition.

Your letter is quite descriptive. However, Iam afraid that the information is notsufficient to make a clear diagnosis. If theinvestigations were thorough, then youdon’t have any physical problem causing

tiredness. I also assume that you are notlosing weight or you don’t have anynutritional issues. If all the probablephysical conditions are ruled out, then theball comes to the psychological arena. Apsychologist would look for the signs ofdepression or anxiety disorders, whichcannot be commented upon with theinformation from the letter. Absence of anydiagnosable physical or psychologicalconditions may point towards thepossibility of having chronic fatiguesyndrome (CFS). CFS is a complexdisorder, with variable levels of awarenessand acceptance among the members of thepublic and even the medical community.CFS refers to profound and continuoustiredness that is not directly caused by anyother medical conditions. Unlike generalfatigue, you wouldn’t improve with takingrest. Despite resting adequately, youcontinue to experience fatigue. On theother hand, your symptoms might worsenwith even a small bit of exertion, whetherphysical or mental. CFS symptoms eitherpersist or come and go frequently, oftenwith no clear pattern for months or years.The mean duration of illness is 16 months,with some cases reporting illness for aslong as 13 years.

Along with the persistent fatigue, you mayalso have pain in several joints, musclepain, headache etc. You may alsoexperience cognitive function difficulties.Attention and concentration can beimpaired, and you will find difficulty infocusing in an activity. Memory can alsotake a hit. Short-term memory is usuallymore affected. Sufferers may also havetenderness in the lymph nodes and sore

CFS is a complex disorder, with variable levels of awareness and acceptanceamong the members of the public and even the medical community. CFS refersto profound and continuous tiredness that is not directly caused by any other

medical conditions.


19

PERSONAL

Please send your queries [email protected]

throat. Sleep disturbances are reportedoften, with difficulty in falling asleep,frequent waking or waking unrefreshed. Inorder for a diagnosis, the symptomsshould persist for more than six months.Diagnosis is based on exclusion: by rulingout any other condition that could becausing the fatigue and related symptoms.There is no laboratoryprocedure to confirm theillness’ presence.

The cause of CFS is notknown. There are varioustheories, but none hasbeen proved. A populartheory is that a viralinfection may trigger thecondition. It is wellknown that fatigue is asymptom that can persistfor a short time afterhaving certain viralinfections; however, mostpeople recover within afew weeks from thefatigue after the infection.Also, the symptoms ofmany people with CFSdo not start with a viralinfection. Factors that arethought to contribute tosome people developingCFS include: inheritedgenetic susceptibility, exhaustion andmental stress, depression, a traumaticevent such as bereavement or divorce, poordiet, environmental pollution etc.

Treatment of CFS presents a significantchallenge both to the patient and thephysician. As yet, there has been noknown cause, cure or universal treatmentfor CFS. Until a treatment is developedwhich will improve all the symptoms ofCFS, or correct the underlying cause,therapy is based upon the individual’spresenting symptoms. With the advent ofthe science of CFS, the treatment optionshave moved from the exclusively

psychological therapies to increasinglyusing various medications. These includemedications for pain, sleep disturbances,digestive problems such as nausea, flu-likesymptoms and, if present, depression andanxiety. Managing your functions and thequality of your life should be givenimportance along with the medications.

Any changes in your sleep pattern, forexample, may actually make your fatigueworse. Rest (rather than actual sleep) isvery beneficial. You should introduce restperiods into your daily routine. Theseshould ideally be limited to 30 minutes at atime and be a period of relaxation.Relaxation can help to improve pain, sleepproblems and any stress or anxiety youmay have. There are various relaxationtechniques such as Jacobson’s ProgressiveMuscle Relaxation and guided imagery,which you may find useful when these arebuilt into your rest periods. Diet is alsoimportant. Care should be taken to avoid

any foods and drinks you are sensitive to.Eating small, regular meals which containsome starchy foods is often beneficial.

There are two specific approaches fromtwo different disciplines that areempirically proven to be effective in thetreatment of CFS. Physical therapists use

graded exercise therapy,which is a gradual,progressive increase inexercise or physicalactivity such as walkingor swimming. The level ofexercise depends uponyour symptoms and thecurrent level of activity. Itwill be tailored to suiteach individual and ideallybe supervised by aphysical therapist.Clinical psychologists usea treatment approachcalled CognitiveBehaviour Therapy(CBT) in the managementof CFS. It is based on theidea that certain ways ofthinking can fuel certainhealth problems. CBTaims to change anythoughts or behavioursthat are harmful or notadaptive. The use of CBT

does not imply that the cause of an illnessis psychological. Although it does not aimto cure the condition, it helps to improvethe symptoms, coping strategies and day-to-day functioning. For people with CFS,the core components of CBT wouldnormally include: energy/activitymanagement, establishment of sleeproutine, goal setting and psychologicalsupport. You may consult a specializedcentre for a comprehensive assessment andmanagement of your problem.

There are two specific approaches from two different disciplines that areempirically proven to be effective in the treatment of CFS. Physical therapists

use graded exercise therapy, which is a gradual, progressive increase inexercise or physical activity such as walking or swimming. Clinical

psychologists use a treatment approach called Cognitive Behaviour Therapy(CBT) in the management of CFS. It is based on the idea that certain ways of

thinking can fuel certain health problems.


Dr. K.N. Raghavan

20

EXPERT COUNSEL

The golden boot

The poor standards of the game in the country pained them but except for theoccasional magic weaved by Baichung Bhutia and IM Vijayan, there was

precious little about Indian football that offered cause for cheer.

Kerala recorded their maiden SantoshTrophy triumph in 1973, when the

championship was held at Maharaja’sCollege ground at Ernakulam. The victoryof the home side brought forth a great dealof celebrations; it also brought in its wakea new generation of foot ball lovers whichincluded children like me, then studying inclass V in Rajagiri High school. With all theenthusiasmof a neoconvert, Istartedscouringthenewspapersandmagazinesfor articleson footballand I wasthrilledwhenIndianjunior sideled byShabbir Alireached thefinals ofthe Asian Youth Championship in 1974.One thought that the fortunes of Indianfootball were on an upward path and timewas not far off when India would also takepart in the FIFA World Cupchampionships.

However it did not take too long for thesedreams to come crashing down to groundearth. The mauling that the national sidereceived during the Asian Games atBangkok in 1978 opened one’s eyes to theshortcomings that plagued Indian football.

The half hearted measures initiated byAIFF such as hosting an internationaltournament named Nehru Cup withparticipation of some national teams fromAsia and Africa sustained the interest ofthe fans of the game through the 1980’s butdid not contribute to improving the qualityof football played in the country. With theadvent of satellite televisions channels, fans

in India sought solace by watching FAleague and other high quality matches beingplayed in Europe, South America and otherparts of the world. The poor standards ofthe game in the country pained them butexcept for the occasional magic weaved byBaichung Bhutia and IM Vijayan, there wasprecious little about Indian football thatoffered cause for cheer. The nationalchampionships had lost its charm andlustre and even the Federation Cupmatches that used to be played before

packed stands found few takers exceptwhen played in football crazy centressuch as Manjeri in north Kerala.

It is in this atmosphere where the horizonof Indian football is filled with dark cloudsthat a silver lining has appeared in theform of victory of the small state ofMizoram from north east in the national

championships.Mizoram isnot the firststate fromthat part ofthe countryto winSantoshTrophy;Manipurhad wonthe titlemore than adecade ago.The mannerin whichMizoramoutplayedtheir rivalsduring their

progress to the title was impressive; butwhat merits greater appreciation is thesolid work put in by the Associationwithin the state to mould a team capableof winning the championship. As thesecretary to the Association put it, theyfocussed on three aspects- starting a localleague to give opportunities for all playerswithin the state, educate the referees toensure proper conduct of matches and toimprove quality of coaches to raise theperformance levels of the players.


The author is the Commissioner of Customsin Kochi.

21

EXPERT COUNSEL

On the face of it, this three point formulaof Mizoram may appear to be simple butits significance arises from the fact thatnone of the other states have managed toimplement it till date. Even a state likeKerala which has a history of producinghigh quality players and teams is planningto start a league for sides within the stateonly this year whereas Mizoram started itin 2012. Mizoram has three astro turfsurfaces for conduct of matches while evenexisting grounds in most states are in astate of disrepair. No association hasfocussed on improving the quality ofreferees and coaches without who it isimpossible to produce good football. Thesuccess of Mizoram in this regard shouldserve as an eye opener for all other stateassociations who have been in a state ofdeep slumber all these years. Mizoramgovernment also deserves credit forproviding the required infrastructure- thethree grounds with astro turf with onemore on the way shows the commitmentof government to encourage the game in abig way.

The victory of the state side in the nationalchampionship would boost the popularityof the game in Mizoram and encouragemore and more youngsters to take upfootball as a serious career option. Thestate government and the local associationshould do everything within its means toensure that players benefit financially forthe efforts they put in and are alsoprovided a good post retirement package.A player would be able to put in his bestonly if he is free from worries about hisfuture and finances and it is the job of theassociation to safeguard the interests of theplayers. Getting more financial supportthrough sponsors and arranging lucrativedeals for individual players are some of theoptions that have been tried with successin other games and they can be consideredhere also.

Finally, it would indeed be a gloriouschapter in the history of independent Indiaif the north east, a part of the country thatis always considered to be away from thenational mainstream and which is usually

in the news on account of insurgencyrelated problems, is able to provide thelead in starting a “football revolution” inthe country. There is no reason why anation of billion plus people has tolanguish at the bottom of the pile when itcomes to this game, which is easily themost popular sport in the world. All thatis required is a well conceived plan ofaction to unearth and encourage talent andindividuals with the commitment andpassion to implement them. Mizoram hasalready shown the way where other stateslike Bengal, Goa and Kerala had slippedup. If the other six states in the region canjoin hands together, then the combinedimpact that they would be able to produceon Indian football would be such that otherstates would follow suit. It would requirean initiative of this sort to kick-start theprocess of rejuvenation of Indian footballwhich could ultimately lead to therenaissance of Indian football and place thenation back in the world soccer map.

It would require an initiative of this sort to kick-start the process ofrejuvenation of Indian football which could ultimately lead to the renaissance

of Indian football and place the nation back in the world soccer map.


NOTES ON CREATIVITY

Dr. Varghese Panthalookaran CMI

23

Sustain the “heroism at the startingpoint” till the end of the race!

“A magic dwells within each beginningProtecting us it tells us how to live.”

“Heroism at the starting point” characterizesa large number of creative minds. They ofcourse get sufficient initial capital from thecreative trigger. They begin really well. But

sooner or later they shift their interest tosomething else, without fulfilling their life’s

projects. But they keep things half-done, half-cooked and half-hearted.


NOTES ON CREATIVITY

24

Is well begun half done?

The Nobel Laureate in Literature (1946),Hermann Hesse writes in his poem,“Stufen” (English: “Phase”):

“Und jedem Anfang wohnt ein Zauberinne,

Der uns beschützt und der uns hilft, zuleben.”

Translated:

“A magic dwells within each beginning

Protecting us it tells us how to live.”

The poet speaks about phases of lifeimbued with a multitude of creativepossibilities. Initiated by their originalimpact, one shall pass over these phaseswith great mastery. A certain magical spelldirects those creative drives within,towards rightful fulfilment of the projectcalled life, suggests Hesse.

The idiom, “Well begun is half done”,suggests such magical power of initialcreativity capital. Those ideas arepowerful enough, that they can change the

world. And the original creativity capitalalready signifies the half work done!

But half is half! The other half is stilllaborious. It demands a great amount ofelaboration to make a creative insightperfect. Many creative thinkers fail inelaboration of creative ideas born to them.They do not brood over the creative ideasso that they blossom and bear fruits in thecourse of time. They do not bring theirtinkering thoughts to perfection. They loveto wander from one creative idea to theother, chasing the mirage of novelty.

“Heroism at the starting point!”

In Malayalam, such people are ridiculed aspossessing so called, “Aarambhasuratwam”, “heroism at the startingpoint”. This reminds of the improperlytrained long-distance runners, who speedup prematurely at the starting point andduring the initial laps and loses the race inthe end. “Heroism at the starting point”characterizes a large number of creativeminds. They of course get sufficient initialcapital from the creative trigger. Theybegin really well. But sooner or later they

shift their interest to something else,without fulfilling their life’s projects. Butthey keep things half-done, half-cookedand half-hearted.

They begin to dream wild anew. They giveup their projects and programs in the faceof perceivable adversities. They sufferfrom lack of perseverance. They fail toperfect their ideas into concepts and toconvert their concepts into usefulproducts. They do not take pains toperfect creative ideas and communicatethem to others in a powerful andconvincing manner. The world is agraveyard of many creative ideas becauseof the timidity of its creative minds. Theyhave “heroism at the starting point”. Butthey fail to keep the heroism till end andthus fail to reap fruits. Creative ideas arejust like beautiful flowers for them. Nosooner do they bloom, than they fadeaway. They are short-lived. They do notproduce sustainable fruits.

Sufficient resistance to premature closureshould be developed for creative projects.This involves prior knowledge of the

The world is a graveyard of many creative ideas because of the timidity ofits creative minds. They have “heroism at the starting point”. But they failto keep the heroism till end and thus fail to reap fruits. Creative ideas are

just like beautiful flowers for them.


NOTES ON CREATIVITY

25

possible challenges to the creative concepts and remediesto combat them. Due to this reason elaboration becomesa necessary component of creative thinking andnecessary prerequisite for its successful realization.

Elaboration is essential

The fourth aspect of creative thinking as suggested byJ.P Guilford, the creativity pundit, is “Elaboration”: theability to convincingly communicate creative ideas ascreative products. Elaboration is given to the creativespark in order to carry it to fruition. It acts upon aninspiringly original idea to complete it. It enhances ideasby providing more details, in terms of finishing touchesor packaging. Those additional details and clarity make itreal, more perfect, understandable, and aestheticallypleasing. They improve interest in and understanding ofthe idea by others. With sufficient elaboration, a creativeconcept will be market-ready. It sells!

Many creative ideas are often rejected as “crazy” byothers due to the lack of sufficient elaboration. Peoplecount them as weird and eerie ideas and fail to connectwith them. In order that creative ideas make additionalappeal to as many people as possible, it should beexpressed and communicated suitably. Elaboration is amethod of making creative ideas catching.

Elaboration consists of activities that make the creativeidea whole. It includes filling the gaps, tying up looseends, avoidance of resemblances, highlighting theuniqueness, etc. The entire process of elaboration is tomake the creative idea into a concept understood andappreciated by as many people as possible. It may notconvince everybody. But sizeable adherents to thecreative concepts alone make it sustainable. It takes agreat deal of elaboration to sell an idea and to ensure itsdecent acceptability.

Elaboration includes steps that just affect quantity of acreative idea. Elaboration in this sense includes activitieslike to add, to embroider, to expand, to build, to enlarge,to extend, to embellish, to enrich, to stretch, etc. Newdetails are added, fanciful additions are embroidered,different aspects of the idea are given suitableexpansions, new arguments are built up, certain aspectsof the idea are enlarged, some other aspects are extendedto include new horizons of meaning, new information isadded to embellish it, weak aspects of the idea areenriched, some aspects of the idea are stretched toconnect to other aspects, etc. All these activities aregeared to make the original creative idea total andintelligible.

Elaboration also includes actions that improve thequality of a creative idea. It includes activities like to

The entire process of elaboration is to make the creative idea into a conceptunderstood and appreciated by as many people as possible. It may not convince

everybody. But sizeable adherents to the creative concepts alone make itsustainable.


NOTES ON CREATIVITY

26

How to develop elaboration skills

The result of elaboration is observed in thegreatest human achievements as diverse asthe great sculpture of Pieta, a smart phone,or constitution of a democratic nation.Each of these projects and products startedfrom a simple creative concept and grewinto an impressive final product. Theprocess that allowed the simple concept totake shape is elaboration.

assess, to critique, to determine, toevaluate, to grade, to judge, to measure, toselect, to test, etc. Different aspects of theidea are assessed on their merits, critique ismade on logical structure of the idea, thelimits and possibilities of ideas aredetermined, the efficacy of the idea isevaluated, the relative advantage of the ideais found out through proper grading againstsimilar concepts, careful judgement of themerits and demerits of the idea isdeveloped, the contextual fitness ismeasured, etc. All these efforts are orientedto improve comparative worth of thecreative idea and concept over othercompeting ideas and concepts.

Elaboration makes creative ideas fit forcommunication. Half-baked ideas lackselling points. The elaboration processnurtures the original trigger contained inthe novel idea to a level, which liberates itfrom the apparently ‘“crazy” world ofcreativity and make them palatable toordinary minds also.

During elaboration lateral thinking skills ofcreative minds meet their linear thinkingskills. A synergy between lateral and linearthinking skills is the secret of successfulelaboration procedures. In other words,even though creative thinking is born out

of lateral thinking skills, linear thinkingskills assumes important roles in the finaldevelopment of creative thinking. They aretwo aspects of the same process, twosides of the same coin.

Elaboration is essential not just in thedevelopment of an idea. It is equallyimportant in the sustainable developmentof a project, in the building up of aninstitution or in the creative developmentof a movement. They might be born out ofcreative spark of some creative minds.They might be emanated from the dreamsof some charismatic personalities. Trueelaboration in the course of time isnecessary to keep the original spirit ofthese projects, institutions or movements.They will wither away in the absence oftimely and suitable elaboration. Thuselaboration is creativity in nurture.

It is possible to train oneself in the art ofelaboration. It has a lot to do withimagination and power of visualization.Elaboration is done by asking all kinds ofquestions of linear thinking to the creativeidea. Clarity and distinction in thinking isthe key to the success in this process. Theart of addressing divergent concerns andintegrating a multitude of perspectives is atstake here. To develop elaboration skillsone should learn the art of optimallyasking the fundamental questions of linearthinking, namely, five Ws and one Hquestion, which were immortalized byRudyard Kipling in his “Just So Stories”(1902) through the following verses:

“I keep six honest serving-men

(They taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When

And How and Where and Who.”

In addition to training in these fundamentalquestions of linear thinking, one shouldalso familiarize oneself with a multitude ofquestions directed to improve both thequantity and quality of elaboration assuggested above. Armed with excellentelaborations skills, a creative mind willharvest the richest fruits of creativity.

A synergy between lateral and linear thinking skills is the secret of successfulelaboration procedures. In other words, even though creative thinking is bornout of lateral thinking skills, linear thinking skills assumes important roles in

the final development of creative thinking.


FoodFoodFoodFoodFood f f f f fororororor thought thought thought thought thought

No to toxic food

Yes to safe food

COVER STORY

Eat right

Nearly 80 per cent of all diseases are aresult of our bad eating habits. You should

eat to live and not live to eat.

If you are one of those who has little timeto eat or have irregular meal times or tendto snack on junkfood, here’s your reality

check.

The Japanese way

The Japanese diet is the healthiest,according to dieticians.

A typical Japanese lunch comprisesnoodles in broth, vegetables and rice balls

wrapped in seaweed and fish for lunch. Nofried items, no desserts, no colas.

If people replace carbonated drinks withgreen tea and drink 7-9 glasses of waterevery day, half their problems will be

solved.

Fast food junkies

Most youngsters eat twice as much asthey need to, usually out of boredom or

habit.

A decade ago people got high bloodpressure, cholesterol, diabetes and heartdisease in their early 40s. Today most ofthe afflicted are in their 20s, and it all has

to do with bad lifestyle.

Strictly avoid

Sugar and limit intake to 10% of dailycalories.

Snacking after dinner.

Calorie restricted diets which are known toeffect memory and concentration in the

long run.

Overdose of caffeinated beverages.

Carbonated drinks. Replace with six, sevenglasses of water.

Daily desserts. Have fruits instead.

Be disciplined

Eating healthy is the easiest thing in theworld, all you need is some discipline and

will.

Breakfast should be light, limited or fatfree. It should include diet rich in protein

and carbohydrate. A light lunch whichshould include brain power foods like fish,

grains and veggies is the ideal spreadrecommended. Dinner should be the

lightest.

Foods that are a must in your food cart

What should your fruit and vegetablebasket look like? Nutritionists across the

world have come up with a dreamshopping list that comprises 21 food items

that help you fight ageing and disease.

Broccoli, carrots, chilli peppers, spinach,mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic, beans, soy

and tofu, strawberries, papaya, pineappleor kiwi fruit, mangoes, citrus fruits,

cantaloupe, apricots, bananas, tea, salmonand flaxseed.

Tried and tested

It’s easy to say ‘cut the oil, salt and sugar’. But, at a time when there are multipletheories about what’s good and bad, it’s

best to stick to the tried and tested.

Experts vote for foods that ensure thatyou’re covered for all vitamins, minerals,omega-3s and phytochemicals—all known

to be long-life ‘supersavers’.

Eat because you have to

Eating for sustenance, eating for pleasure,and eating from boredom.

Most health experts agree that we cannotafford to eat from boredom. Eating for

pleasure is allowed occasionally. For eg,the daily dessert must become a weekly orfortnightly tryst for those who want to be

fit.

Make time for meals

Overworked professionals tend to skipbreakfast and eat heavy meals later.

According to nutritionists, city folks couldcut up to 200 calories from their daily diet

if they ate at the right time.

You are what you eat

Here’s how poor nutrition can lead toodd behaviour

Followers of fad diets, beware. Apart fromaffecting your physical wellbeing, studieshave suggested that nutritional deficienciesand an imbalance of bacteria in your gutresults in several behavioural problems.The reason food has an immediate andlasting effect on mental health is because ofthe way it affects the structure andfunction of the brain. Your gut has theability to influence your mind, mood andbehaviour.This is whyyou findyourselfthinking fromyour stomacheach time youare hungry.Here, we pickthree vitaminsand explainhow theirdeficiency inthe body cancause abehaviouralproblem.

Vitamin B3, orniacin, is anessentialvitaminrequired forprocessing fatin the body,loweringcholesterollevels, andregulating blood sugar levels. It is learntthat a deficiency of niacin leads to pellagra,a condition characterised by diarrhoea,dermatitis, dementia, inflammation of themouth, amnesia, and delirium. Even a slightdeficiency of niacin can lead to irritability,poor concentration, anxiety, fatigue,

restlessness, apathy, and depression. Infact, niacin found in large quantities in rice,wheat bran, chicken and peanuts isregarded as a secret treatment forpsychological disorders such as attentiondeficit disorder, anxiety, depression,obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalpsychosis, which affects one’s socialbehaviour.

Lack of fermented foods leads to:Memory loss

Eat: Idlis, dhoklas

Be it idli, dosa, raita or dhokla, fermentedfood have been a staple in practically allour diets. They play a crucial role inmaintaining of gut health. In fact, most age-related problems like memory loss stemfrom lack of protective intestinal

microbiota (the microbe population livingin our intestine). In a recent study,polyamines (low molecular weightaliphatic polycations, highly charged andubiquitously present in all living cells),found in foods such as wheat germ,fermented soy, and matured cheese, wereshown to prevent memory decline in fruitflies. Medical experts explain, your bodygets polyamines from three sources:Endogenous biosynthesis, intestinalmicroorganisms, and through diet.

They adviseeating a richsupplementof highqualityprobiotic ornonpasteurised,traditionallyfermentedfoods tomaximise thevariety ofbacteria in thediet.However,eatingfermentedfood alonemay not beenough if therest of yourdiet is poor.The gutbacteria arean active andintegratedpart of your

body, and are vulnerable to your overalllifestyle. If you eat a lot of processedfoods, your gut bacteria are going to becompromised because these foods willdestroy healthy microflora and feed badbacteria and yeast.

Be it idli, dosa, raita or dhokla, fermented food have been a staple inpractically all our diets. They play a crucial role in maintaining of gut health. Infact, most age-related problems like memory loss stem from lack of protective

intestinal microbiota.

COVER STORY


Besides, your gut bacteria are sensitive toantibiotics, chlorinated water, antibacterialsoap and pollution. So if you’ve been MrForgetful of late, you know which factorsmay be at play.

Omega 3 deficiency leads to:Irritability

Eat: Oily fish, soy, nuts

One nutrient in particular that is essentialfor optimal brain functioning is omega-3fatty acid. The brain relies on a mixture ofcomplex carbohydrates, essential fattyacids (EFAs) — particularly Omega 3 andOmega 6 — vitamins and water to workproperly. Highly processed food containshigh levels of transfats, which can assumethe same position in the brain as the EFAs,without delivering the proper nutrients.

This nutritional deficiency could hamperthe body’s production of amino acids,which are vital to good psychologicalhealth. Neurotransmitters, made fromamino acids, are chemicals, which transmitnerve impulses between the brain cells.

Serotonin, a key neurotransmitter made bythe amino acid tryptophan, helps toregulate feelings of contentment andanxiety, as well as playing a role inregulating depression. Many adults do nothave sufficient levels of tryptophanbecause their intake of nuts, seeds andwholegrains is low. A deficiency of thissupplement is known to change the levelsand functioning of both serotonin anddopamine (which plays a role in feelings ofpleasure), as well as compromise thebloodbrain barrier, which normally

protects your brain from unwanted mattergaining access. Omega-3 deficiency canalso decrease normal blood flow to yourbrain, an interesting finding given thatstudies show people with depression havecompromised blood flow to a number ofbrain regions.

High omega-3 deficiency can be acontributing factor to deteriorating mentalhealth along with vitamin D deficiency,which also plays an important role. Inaddition to consuming fermented foods,eliminating most sugars and grains fromyour diet is also of importance as theseincrease your risk of insulin resistance,which is also linked to psychologicalproblems such as depression and violentbehaviour.

Serotonin, a key neurotransmitter made by the amino acid tryptophan, helpsto regulate feelings of contentment and anxiety, as well as playing a role in

regulating depression. Many adults do not have sufficient levels of tryptophanbecause their intake of nuts, seeds and wholegrains is low.

COVER STORY

Pallikkutam | April 2014 31

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32

The changingfood habits

P K G Tharakan

If a Malayali is to pray for food, he wouldgo global, multicultural. His own native

preparations have been put in sleep mode.International takes centre-stage

“East or West, home is best”

As with our dress style and hairstyle,behaviour and conduct, thoughts anddeeds, our cuisine preferences too standhacked by all kinds of alien influences theworld over with the result that traditionalstuff has turned museum pieces. We areMalayalis namesake just as we gatherourselves along the dining table. Timeschanged transforming us unaware. And wepainfully realize we have come so fardown the line that a return to the lovelyold is impossible, rather undesirable.

In olden times, our food was all fromhome-grown stuff, grains to cereals tovegetables to meat. The courtyard andbackyard of each household grew varietiesof plants and trees, all giving their yields ofvegetables and fruits in the proper season,

enough and more. In the corner of theproperty, safely distanced from the house,was the cowshed and poultry corner.There were several ponds in the stretch ofevery compound, one in the front fordrinking water and others in the backyardused for cleaning utensils, washing clothes,taking baths and for watering plantations.Fish in the ponds helped keep the waterclean by consuming food waste. Otherwaste-management was through compostpits alongside. Each home was wholesomein itself, like a mini-municipal corporationof its own.

Food was lavish and healthy, thanks thefertility of our soil and the never-failingrainfalls. Excess crop used to be stored or

distributed to relatives and friends, nearand far.

Rice used to be the staple food. Snacks andside dishes were rice-based. Both wholegrains and powdered forms made it to theutensils. Permutations and combinations ofrice flour, cereals, vegetables and producegrown over ground and underground wereaplenty. Milk derivatives such as curd,buttermilk, butter, ghee and cream wereused on a large scale to enrich quality andtaste. Every dish however was distinct andunique in itself.

Coconut played a pivotal additive role.Grated coconut made its way to chutneyand to mixed veg curry endeared as viyal,coconut-milk flowed to make dessert andsweets and dried coconut providedcoconut oil used extensively for frying.


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33

Our flair for spicy dishes is phenomenal.Aromatic spices enriched the taste andsmell of our dishes. Cooking utensils wereof clay or pottery. Water storage was inmetal jars and pots made of copper andbrass. Aluminum and steel made a lateappearance but took over completelyreplacing the rest when the natural tastefrom earthenware became history.

Breakfast usually was common stuff—idli, dosa, vada with sambar and coconutchutney—wholly vegetarian. Lunch wassteamed rice, either raw or parboiled, withseveral side dishes, some dried, somesolid, some flowing, some with a gravybase.Predominantwerevegetablepreparations.Meat and fishwere justescorts.Evening sawcooked sweetpotato,tapioca, yamand similarundergroundproducesmaking upsnacks. Innerwas eitherrice and curryor rice souplovinglycalled kanji. Afull rice mealhad a lastcourse for a dessert—a finger mix of rice,curd, smashed banana and sugar—a kindof Kerala finale. Alternately sweetpreparations called payasm, made of riceor lentils or with rice flakes or vermicelliwith a concoction of milk, sugar,cardamom, resins, nuts and ghee,appeared during festival time invariably atparties and gatherings.

Towards the middle of the 1950s, riceproduction did not catch up withburgeoning demand and people started to

feel the pinch grimly. The then firstCommunist Government decided to dilutethe state’s dependence on rice andimported large shiploads of macaroni fromItaly and other countries of Europe. It wassaid to be richer in terms of proteins andmineral salts but the state, eternallywedded to the taste of rice, rejected thestuff outright blatantly. It was a drasticmisadventure of the part of theCommunist Government.

By the early 1960s, rice production in thestate crashed and rice availabilitydwindled. Seeing no end to the misery ofthe people the Government introducedretail rationing. Demand for rice was far

above the ration supplies and a near-famine situation haunted the state. Thatwas when wheat from North India slowlystarted its way into Malayalis’ kitchens. Itwas in ready supply and priced low incomparison with rice. That solved theissue of hunger but eventually changed thetaste preference of the masses. Corn andmaize too showed up but wheat and wheatflour had established strong roots.Chapati, poori, wheat dosa, atta (flour)preparations et al poured out as ifmonsoon rain. It was a repeat of Darwin’s

theory of evolution within Malayalis’alimentary canal. Rice was no more theexclusive choice of Malayalis’gastronomical treat. Although people couldnot think of an absolutely riceless life, ourdependence on it did mellow down.

Large numbers of Malayalis startedmoving out of the state and nationalboarders in the 1970s to the West and theMiddle East. There, they were exposed tototally different food styles and foodhabits which they had to accept, bydefault. They also learnt of the negativesides of our culinary art vis-a-visoccidental and continental preparations—

our nativedishes beingextravagantlyoil-based,their aroma attimes turningpungent whilefried, the stinksticking todress andstaying oncutlery andutensils and,worse still,the table servenot lookingmodern,stylish orpresentable.Overseesworkershome-comingon holidaysevidently

turned responsible in refining the foodstyle and habits of our state.

Media publication too accelerated the foodrevolution in our state. Every newspaper,weekly and magazine carried recipes offreshly tried cuisine. A passion starteddeveloping in our households for fresh andnew preparations. Books and authorscompiled long lists of dishes. Tasteresearch and exploration grew boundlessand food was no more a thing of pastmaking but of progressive creation.

Rice was no more the exclusive choice of Malayalis’ gastronomical treat.Although people could not think of an absolutely riceless life, our

dependence on it did mellow down.


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34

Chinese dishes performed an aggressioninto our kitchens, down South from theHimalayan warfront. Chinese soup ‘tomyong kung’ (meaning hot and sour) had gotmigrated to Kerala. Sizzlers served on hotplate, steaming and fuming, happened tofill Malayalis’ night dreams.

Continental and American eateries openedup their outlets and our youth and kidslove to be sleeping there. Arabic stuff suchas tikka, shawarma, broast and Mandi toostay close behind their Westerncounterparts. Much before globalizationtook over the economic front, it hadpenetrated into our abdomen.

That the eating habits and lifestyle ofchildren has drastically changed from thoseof previous generations is a major concernnot just in Kerala but for many countriestoday causing negative effects primarily onhealth. Poor eating habits and sedentarylifestyles consuming artificial colouringmaterials, preservatives and health-

Media publication too accelerated the food revolution in our state. Everynewspaper, weekly and magazine carried recipes of freshly tried cuisine. A

passion started developing in our households for fresh and new preparations.Books and authors compiled long lists of dishes.

threatening materials such as ajinomottoare some of the contributing factorssounding alarm bells in the area of generalhealth management.

Providing healthy and nutritious food tothe children should stay above tasteconsiderations. Hotels and restaurants,however star-studded they may be, neednot be taken as granted for health andhygiene all the while being finger-licking,yummy-yummy. Fresh food is key tohealthy living. Fresh vegetables are to beprimary stress. Non-vegetarianpreparations should, if unavoidable, beminimal or sparse. Children should betrained to be prudently selective withregard to food intake—more of rice, less ofmeat, adequate sugar, eggs and milksupplies and lots of vegetables and fruits.A concerted effort from the homefrontalone can salvage the culinary culture ofour times from going suicidal. An activelifestyle should be promoted so that thechildren may spend a lot of time outdoors

in having picnics, sports and games thatmake their lives less sedentary.

Fast food chains make our lives easier andless stressful. But that should be just for achange from routine home stuff. Most ofthe diseases today are results from deviantlifestyles. Cardiovascular diseases such asatherosclerosis, hypertension and strokehave taken an undue toll over us.

Life and food are made for each other. Forlife to run, we need food. To make food,we need to live and work. For a healthylife, healthy food is the key. For healthyfood, we need to strive hard judiciouslyand take pains at home. A home-centricfood style will follow a health-centric lifecycle.

Taste is a horizon in itself. Stay around theshores; never try to cross over. It has noends.

Eat to be fitMom’s food is best


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35

Changing eating habits and aplethora of tempting delicacies

Vineetha Varma

As a 30-something working mother of ayoung lad with a voracious appetite

and a discerning palate, I find it a challengeto feed him something that is appealing tothe eye, tasty, nutritious and ready in notime all rolled into one.

It takes me back to my childhood daysgrowing up in a large Keralan householdwhere food was an integral part of dailylife. My earliest happy memories werealways associated with various sounds andaromas that arose from the kitchen of theancestral home. Those were the days whenadvanced culinary skills were de rigueur forany self-respecting matriarch and with anarmy of domestic helps and fresh produce

from one’s own land, a staggering amountof varied delicacies was churned out on adaily basis. Eating out was looked downupon and seasonal snacks werepainstakingly made and stored away inlarge bharanis to be savoured throughout

the year. Refrigeration was unheard of andevery meal was freshly prepared fromscratch. Each meal session was sheerpleasure for the taste buds.

Things have changed, and how! Gone arethose days where full-time domestic helpwas within easy reach. With nuclearfamilies living in apartment blocks andtiny homes, coupled with the lack of time

when parents are working full time tomake ends meet, it is indeed a challenge forany mother to be able to provide tastynutritious meals as did her mother orgrandmother. With urbanization, numerousbakeries, supermarkets and eateries have

now bridged that gap—savouries anddelicacies which were once rare andrequired hours of toiling have now becomereadily available. For those mothers whodon’t have an option to spend hours in thekitchen, the instant gravies, spice mixesand powders are all means to be able toprovide good food to one’s familieswithout the guilt. Meals can be made muchin advance and stored in large refrigerators

The youth of Kerala growing up with a different set of food habits than that oftheir parents. The ubiquitous plastic packets with their eye-catching contentshave replaced the bharanis in many kitchens. Where earlier breakfast meanthours of soaking, grinding and fermenting for idlis and dosas, it’s now a snap

with boxes of colourful cereals, bread, jam, cheese and butter.


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36

for days to come. This has resulted in theyouth of Kerala growing up with adifferent set of food habits than that oftheir parents. The ubiquitous plasticpackets with their eye-catching contentshave replaced the bharanis in manykitchens. Where earlier breakfast meanthours of soaking, grinding and fermentingfor idlis and dosas, it’s now a snap withboxes of colourful cereals, bread, jam,cheese and butter. Instant noodles save theday when you run out of time and ideasfor the evening snack or even tiffin! In thisera of advertising, where children are oftendecision-makers in many purchases it is

difficult for parents to resist impulsepurchases of colas and biscuits and chipsat supermarkets. Many vegetarians havenow developed a taste for non-vegetarianfoods with the emergence of numerouseateries serving typical Kerala non-vegdishes with Kerala parathas! While onecannot deny and avoid this conveniencewhich has now become part of our lives, ithas come at a heavy price. The prevalenceof obesity in children aged 6-15 in Keralahas been on the increase especially amongmiddle- and high-income groups. This canlead to health problems especially whencoupled with lack of physical activity,

excessive snacking on fried foods and theregular consumption of empty calories likesoft drinks. Overweight children also runthe risk of being made fun of by their peerswhich may cause self-esteem issues asthey grow into adulthood.

The choices the youth of today have interms of food are like never before, and astempting as it may seem—moderation andgood old-fashioned outdoor play would bea better way forward.

The choices the youth of today have in terms of food are like never before,and as tempting as it may seem—moderation and good old-fashioned

outdoor play would be a better way forward.


The author is Executive Housekeeper atKumarakom Lake Resort, She is an alumnafrom the Institute of Hotel Management &Catering Technology, TVM.

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37

‘Nutritious food for all’should be our motto

“Availability of nutritious food for all”should be our motto, says M M Abbas,general convener of Organic Kerala andpresident of Co-operative Hospital,Kakkanad, Kochi. “Agricultural land inKerala has become poisonous mainlybecause of the extraordinary use ofchemical fertilizers. It is almostimpossible to cleanse food productsavailable in the market which are fullyloaded with fertilizers. Kerala hadwitnessed a drastic change in cultivationin the early 1950s when we shifted fromfood crops to cash crops”, he says. Thesaying “rice is life” reflects theimportance of rice as a primary foodsource to Keralites. During 1985-86nearly 6.78 lakh hectares of land in Keralawas under paddy, but it went down to2.90 ha in 2004-05. Thus within twodecades, there was a decline of nearly 3.88lakh hectares. The gross area of paddy inKerala comes to 7.46 percent of the totalgeographical area. There is a decline of57% of the area under paddy during this

period. The state is well known for itsproduce like rubber, coconut, arecanut,tapioca, coffee, cardamom and tea. Kerala isthe single largest producer of a number ofother crops like cashew, ginger and turmeric.

Its cropping pattern is characterized by apredominance of perennial crops. “Wedepend fully on other states for food crops.We used to cultivate various crops, almostenough for our needs. Our food is mainly

We depend fully on other states for food crops. We used to cultivate variouscrops, almost enough for our needs. Our food is mainly rice and rice products.It was not so earlier. Kerala had a diversity of food products locally. We had

rice and rice products once in a day earlier. This pattern has changed from the1970s.

rice and rice products. It was not so earlier.Kerala had a diversity of food productslocally. We had rice and rice products oncein a day earlier. This pattern has changedfrom the 1970s.” There is a tremendousdecline in the cultivation of paddy, tapiocaand other cereal substitutes in the state.The production of cash crops like gingerhas registered an increase. Production ofrubber and coconut has also increased. Butthe percentage contribution of these cropsto the total production shows a downwardtrend.

The country should achieve food securityby preserving agro-biodiversity. “Foodsubsidies and tax relaxations on ‘junk foodproducts’ should be withdrawn so thatlocal foods get a better exposure. The long-term impacts of genetically engineeredfood crops should be monitored,” saysAbbas. He stresses the need for effectiveutilization of the food value of variousspecies of lesser-known crops to obtainfood security at the local level.


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New-gen kids missthose good-old days!

Going down memory lane, I recall myschooldays when my five siblings and

I, coming back from school, used to throwour bags and shoes and run and gather infront of the dining table to eat. Do youknow what we used to get to eat? If it wasa combination of boiled arrowroot, yam,chembu, kaacchil and sweet potato(different types of root vegetables) withchutney, a mixture of red chilli and smallonion smashed in coconut oil, as a sidedish. It would be tapioca and fish curry orkadachakka (a variety of jackfruits) withidi chammanthi (another type of chutney)the next day. Another day it would beboiled beans with grated coconut and pulsemixed with coconut. And then there wouldbe seasonal fruits—mango, jackfruit,pineapple etc. Yummy! Delicious! Thevery thought of it now makes my mouthwater! Most of those vegetable roots anditems were cultivated in our own backyard.

Mind you, nobody would help you to cutthe mango or take out the jackfruitcompletely out of the skin; everyone got a

piece. We would then have to find our ownways to eat it. At the end of it, our hands,face, body and dress would be in a mess.You had to have a quick shower and changeof clothes. It was absolute fun and anenjoyment of nutritious, healthy food.Such good old days are our greatestmemories. I pity our new-generation kids:they are not having even a fourth of whatwe used to enjoy or experience. They arein the “e”-world. They enjoy fast foodsand bottled juices. Are they healthy?

There are many companies which producea wide range of Mediterranean foods thatare served or sold in cafes, takeaways,kebabs, shops, restaurants, schools andsupermarkets. These companies are takingadvantage of children by giving freebies inschools and colleges. Many of these comefree with other items of purchase. Slowlythis will become a habit. Then kids will getaddicted to them. I know many kids whoare fond of crispy items and soft drinkswith lots of preservatives. Eating modernfoods has become a habit with many kids.

Munching something while watching TVor playing computer games is a verycommon affair. Many kids are addicted tohaving foods from pavement shops(thattukadaas) and chatting at the mobilevenders’.

The fast food retail chains influence ourkids a lot. An advantage is that kids canlive anywhere in the world now because ofthe multiple food habits.

By having meals together, children learnhow to eat by watching their parents.Meals which include low proteins, low-fatdairy products, whole grains, fruits andvegetables should be prepared at home.Then children would less likely eatunhealthy snacks and use soft drinks.

Remember that it is our children and theirhealth matters to us. “Eat healthily, sleepwell, breathe deeply and moveharmoniously”. (Jean-Pierre Barra)

The fast food retail chains influence our kids a lot. An advantage isthat kids can live anywhere in the world now because of the multiple

food habits.


Nirmala Lilly

The author is Sr. General Manager,Wonderla Holidays Ltd.

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Healthy Eating Habitsfor Your Child

By teaching your children healthyeating habits, and modeling these

behaviors in yourself, you can help yourchildren maintain a healthy weight andnormal growth. Also, the eating habitsyour children pick up when they areyoung will help them maintain a healthylifestyle when they are adults. Yourchild’s health care provider can evaluateyour child’s weight and growth and let you

know if your child needs to lose or gainweight or if any dietary changes need to bemade. Some of the most important aspectsof healthy eating are portion control andcutting down on how much fat your childeats. Simple ways to reduce fat intake inyour child’s diet and promote a healthyweight include serving:

low-fat or non-fat dairy products

poultry without skin

lean cuts of meats

whole grain breads and cereals

Also, reduce the amount of sugarsweetened drinks and salt in your child’sdiet.

If you are unsure about how to select andprepare a variety of foods for your family,

Try to make mealtimes pleasant with conversation and sharing, not a time forscolding or arguing. If mealtimes are unpleasant, children may try to eat

faster to leave the table as soon as possible. They then may learn to associateeating with stress.


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consult a registered dietitian for nutritioncounseling.

It is important that you do not place youroverweight child(ren) on a restrictive diet.Children should never be placed on arestrictive diet to lose weight unless adoctor supervises one for medical reasons.Other approaches parents can take todevelop healthy eating habits in theirchildren include:

Guide yourfamily’schoicesrather thandictate foods.Make a widevariety ofhealthfulfoodsavailable inthe house.This practicewill help yourchildren learnhow to makehealthy foodchoices.Leave theunhealthychoices likesoda and juiceat the grocerystore. Servewater withmeals.

Encourage your children to eat slowly.A child can detect hunger and fullnessbetter when they eat slowly. Beforeoffering a second helping or serving, askyour child to wait a few minutes to see ifthey are truly still hungry. This will givethe brain time to register fullness.

Eat meals together as a family as oftenas possible. Try to make mealtimespleasant with conversation and sharing,not a time for scolding or arguing. Ifmealtimes are unpleasant, children may tryto eat faster to leave the table as soon aspossible. They then may learn to associateeating with stress.

Try to eat only in designated areas of your home, such as the dining roomor kitchen. Eating in front of the TV may make it difficult to pay attention

to feelings of fullness, and may lead to overeating.


Involve your children in food shoppingand preparing meals. These activitieswill give you hints about your children’sfood preferences, an opportunity to teachyour children about nutrition, and provideyour kids with a feeling ofaccomplishment. In addition, children maybe more willing to eat or try foods thatthey help prepare.

Plan for snacks. Continuous snackingmay lead to overeating, but snacks that areplanned at specific times during the daycan be part of a nutritious diet, withoutspoiling a child’s appetite at meal times.You should make snacks as nutritious aspossible, without depriving your childrenof occasional chips or cookies, especiallyat parties or other social events.

Discourage eating meals or snackswhile watching TV. Try to eat only indesignated areas of your home, such as thedining room or kitchen. Eating in front ofthe TV may make it difficult to payattention to feelings of fullness, and maylead to overeating.

Encourage your children to drink morewater. Over consumption of sweeteneddrinks and sodas has been linked toincreased rates of obesity in children.

Try not to use food to punish or rewardyour children. Withholding food as apunishment may lead children to worrythat they will not get enough food. Forexample, sending children to bed withoutany dinner may cause them to worry that

they will gohungry. As aresult,children maytry to eatwheneverthey get achance.Similarly,when foods,such assweets, areused as areward,children mayassume thatthese foodsare better ormore valuablethan otherfoods.

For example,tellingchildren that

they will get dessert if they eat all of theirvegetables sends the wrong message aboutvegetables.

Make sure your children’s mealsoutside the home are balanced. Find outmore about their school lunch program, orpack their lunch to include a variety offoods. Also, select healthier items whendining at restaurants.

Pay attention to portion size andingredients. Read food labels and limitfoods with trans fat. Also, make sure youserve the appropriate portion as indicatedon the label.

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Ayurveda Tips

Ayurveda recommends vegetarian foods which gives more nourishment to the

body than the non-vegetarian foods.Simple food makes the body strong anddiscords diseases. Overeating may causeobesity and may invite diseases.

Night meals should be taken 2-3 hoursbefore going to bed. This will help inproper digestion of food.

What we eat has a profound effect on ourmind as well as the body. It is not onlyimportant as to what we eat but it isequally important as to how we eat.

Following are a few tips on diet whichhelp in getting the best out of what we eat.

Fresh ginger with a small amount ofsalt should be taken 10 to 20 minutesbefore food.

The diet, especially hard substancesshould be properly chewed.

Wherever possible intake of curd orbuttermilk should follow food.

The food should be tasty, fresh andgood in appearance.

It should neither be very hot norabsolutely cold.

Water should be avoided at least 15minutes before food. The quantity of

water after food should be small. Let it bedrunk often.

Heavy (Guru) food should be takenin a limited quantity.

Heavy food should not be taken atnight. The proper time of night meal is twoto three hours before going to bed. Afternight meal, it is better to go for a shortwalk, of say hundred steps.

Heavy work or exercise should beavoided after food.

After meals, heavy mental orphysical work should be avoided. Somerest is advisable for proper digestion offood.


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BOOK SHELF

Les Misérables is a French historicalnovel by Victor Hugo, first published

in 1862, that is considered one of thegreatest novels of the 19th century. In theEnglish-speaking world, the novel isusually referred to by itsoriginal French title, which hasnot been successfullytranslated from French(attempts ranging from TheMiserable, The Wretched, TheMiserable Ones, The PoorOnes, The Wretched Poor andThe Victims, to TheDispossessed). Beginning in1815 and culminating in the1832 June Rebellion in Paris,the novel follows the lives andinteractions of severalcharacters, focusing on thestruggles of ex-convict JeanValjean and his experience ofredemption.

Examining the nature of lawand grace, the novel elaboratesupon the history of France, thearchitecture and urban designof Paris, politics, moralphilosophy, antimonarchism,justice, religion, and the typesand nature of romantic andfamilial love. Les Misérableshas been popularized throughnumerous adaptations for thestage, television, and film,including a musical and a film

adaptation of that musical. The appearanceof the novel was highly anticipated andadvertised. Critical reactions were diverse,but most of them were negative.

Commercially, the work was a greatsuccess globally.

Synopsis

The major plot involves Jean Valjean whois released from prison, andthrough the kindness of FatherMyriel, becomes a new man. Hegets a new name via associationwith Myriel and his obviouskindness and generosity toothers and gradually builds asuccessful and prosperous lifefor himself with a renovation ofthe jet-work industry inMontreuil-surmer. One of hisemployees is-although unknownto him-fired by the head mistressbecause of an illegitimate baby.Fantine goes from oneoccupation to another, finallybecoming a prostitute.

A minor incident takes place inthe streets, and Fantine isarrested by Javert. Valjean, whohas become known as MayorMadeleine, forces Javert torelease her and takes her into hisown house when he hears herstory. Fantine is in extremelypoor health, however, and dieswithout ever seeing her childagain, even though Valjean hadpromised to get the child.Meanwhile, another man hasbeen arrested and mistakenly

Introducing one of the most famous characters inliterature, Jean Valjean - the noble peasantimprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread - Les

Misérables ranks among the greatest novels of alltime. In it Victor Hugo takes readers deep into theParisian underworld, immerses them in a battlebetween good and evil, and carries them onto the

barricades during the uprising of 1832 with abreathtaking realism that is unsurpassed in modern

prose.

Les Misérables


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identified as Valjean. Valjean appears incourt, revealing the truth and losing bothhis business and his position in Montreuil-sur-mer. Although he is arrested, he breaksout long enough to hide his fortune. Hespends additional time in prison, workingaboard a ship. Eventually he escapes againand retrieves Cosette from the evilThenardiers whom Fantine had trusted totake care of the child. Then begins 10 yearsof hiding, moving from place to place,always staying just ahead of Javert. Sevenor eight happy years are spend in aconvent where Valjean works with thegardener and Cosette attends a girls’school. Feeling that Cosette must haveopportunity to experience all of life,they leave the convent when she isabout 15. Valjean is nearly betrayedand recaptured due to the insidious ifsomewhat unwitting deeds of theThenardiers.

While Valjean is continuously on thelookout for people who might haveguessed his identity and makes theirhome always in out of the way places,Cosette becomes aware of her ownfemininity and beauty. She and Mariusspot each other and fall in love.

Marius is a college student who hasbeen raised by his grandfather after theold man had disowned his son-in-lawfor supporting Napoleon. Mariusdiscovers the truth about his fathershortly after his death and enmitydevelops between himself and hisgrandfather. With little income, Mariusin unable to marry Cosette and preventValjean from taking her away again, and hisgrandfather refuses to give consent for amarriage to someone he assumes is beneathhim. In Paris, politics, work issues, andvarious unsatisfactory conditions aregradually bringing a faction of workers andcollege students to the point of revolt. Aninsurrection takes place; Marius joins inhoping to die since he will not be able tohave Cosette. Valjean joins the insurrectionbecause he believes he is losing Cosette’slove and because, although he hates himbitterly, he intends to try to protectMarius for Cosette. When the barricades

are finally overtaken, Valjean rescuesMarius and escapes through the citysewers. Marius is unconscious and doesnot know who rescued him. When hishealth returns, he insists once again onmarrying Cosette, and this time thegrandfather relents. Old wounds are atleast partially healed. As Javert is alsodead, it would seem that Cosette, Valjean,Marius and his grandfather could all formone happy family. Cosette and Mariusmarry, but Valjean reveals the truth ofhimself to Marius who gradually banisheshim from even seeing Cosette.

The Thenardiers are a continuous nuisanceand occasionally a real threat throughout

the book, but in spite of Thenardier’sintention to bring harm to Valjean, heactually reveals the truth of Valjean’shistory to Marius. Valjean dies in the end,but it is with contentment after a joyfulreunion with Cosette. He is content toknow that Cosette and Marius have“forgiven” him, although it seems asthough Valjean himself is the one who hasthe right to be on the forgiving end ofthings.

History

Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables” waspublished in 1862 and English translations

of the five parts that constitute the novelbegan to appear in America by year’s end.Hugo had begun the sprawling novel in the1840s, put it aside, and come back tocomplete it between 1860 and 1862. Hewas an opponent of slavery, and in 1859defended John Brown. “Insurrection,” hesaid, was a “sacred duty.” In the novel,Hugo name-checked Brown in a list ofcelebrated revolutionaries that includedWashington, Bolivar and Garibaldi. Hugo’sfocus was the July Revolution of 1830, butit is possible he had the American conflictin mind when he wrote, “Civil war … Whatdid the words mean? Was there any suchthing as ‘foreign war?’ Was not all warfare

between men warfare betweenbrothers?”

Criticism:

Whatever Hugo thought of the battleraging in the United States, the novelwas popular in America and receivedwidespread attention in newspapersand journals. The Atlantic Monthly,having finished only “Fantine,” thefirst of five parts, proclaimed that “itis impossible to escape from thefascination it exerts over the mind.”Readers could not help beingimpressed by the grandeur of thework, but the reviews were mixed. TheNew York Times called the novel“remarkable” and “brilliant,” but in thesame notice labeled Hugo “a prosymadman.”

“There is a great deal of trash mixedwith the good: long and worthless episodes,not sufficiently connected with the story,”claimed The Christian Advocate. The NewEnglander was harsher still: “The wholecareer of Jean Valjean presents a series ofimpossible cases, of strange incongruities,and stands in continuous antagonism withthe principles of truth and honor whichought to be every honest man’s line ofconduct.” By the time The ContinentalMonthly got to “Marius,” Part III, thereviewer concluded that he might wellunderstand if it was the readers who calledthemselves miserable. While Hugo may nothave had the Civil War in mind, American

the novel elaborates upon the history of France, the architecture and urbandesign of Paris, politics, moral philosophy, antimonarchism, justice, religion,

and the types and nature of romantic and familial love.


IIT-Delhi has been ranked 13th of the best universities.

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reviewers certainly did and many viewedthe novel through the prism of the war. InMarch 1863, The Times published “WhatIf Your Uncle Had Been Your Aunt?” Thearticle mocked Hugo the historian, whothroughout the novel raises questions ofcontingency. For example, he states thatthe Battle of Waterloo would have turnedout differently had it not rained in themorning. This focus on “what ifs,” thewriter lamented, had become the refuge ofNorthern Democrats, who used it todistract the public mind from what wasactually happening. “Supposing Lincolnto have swallowed his tooth-brush on the3d and to have died of it on the 4th ofMarch, 1861, we are willing, for the sakeof quiet, to concede that this countrywould now be in the enjoyment ofprofound peace,” acknowledged thearticle. But none of these “impossible orridiculous premises” are true and it istime, the writer declared, “to secureattention to the real business before us.”

If Northern writers had reservationsabout “Les Miserables,” Southern criticsembraced the novel, despite Hugo’sabolitionist sympathies. In July 1863,The Southern Literary Messengeradmitted that “[f]or M. Hugo theabolitionist, we entertain a sincere pity.”But the reviewer called the novel the“greatest and most elaborate work ofVictor Hugo’s fruitful genius.” “To us,”he said, “it is a Bible in the fictitiousliterature of the nineteenth century.”

The writer went on to apply the novel’sChristian principles to the iniquitiessuffered by Gen. John C. Pemberton, whohad recently surrendered Vicksburg to U.S.Grant and was vilified for it. Pemberton’s“loyalty, his capacity, his fidelity” were allquestioned and he was persecuted becausehe had been born in Pennsylvania. But“why should any innocent be visited, in acentury boasting of its humanity andChristian civilization with the sins of itsparents?” Like Fantine, Pemberton hadbeen treated as an illegitimate child andmade into a pariah. Explore multimediafrom the series and navigate through past

posts, as well as photos and articles fromthe Times archive. It was not only literarycritics who contemplated Hugo’s book.Soldiers took the novel with them intobattle. James A. Black, an assistantsurgeon with the 49th Illinois infantry,wrote on April 1, 1863, “In camp all dayreading ‘Les-Miserables’ by Victor Hugo.”An example of how thoroughly Hugo’scharacters entered the culture emergesfrom the diary of James Parks Caldwell, a

Confederate prisoner held on Johnson’sIsland in Ohio. In January 1864 he wrote,“water carrying is a great bore, and hasprocured me the Soubriquet of Cosette,”the novel’s heroine, who hauls water in thenight. One Confederate soldier, JohnEdward Dooley of the First Virginia, alsoat Johnson’s Island, turned critic: “there isa great deal of absurdity in it altho’ theinterest of the narrative is pretty wellsustained.” Perhaps the most dramaticexample of how the novel filtered into the

imagination of the soldier came from WilkyJames, the younger brother of William andHenry James. Wilky joined theMassachusetts 44th and then the famousblack regiment, the 54th. In spring 1863,he wrote, “Today is Sunday and I’ve beenreading Hugo’s account of Waterloo in ‘LesMiserables’ and preparing my mind forsomething of the same sort. God grant thebattle may do as much harm to the Rebelsas Waterloo did to the French.” That

summer, Wilky was seriously woundedin the assault on Fort Wagner.

The novel attached itself in other waysas well. After the war, the southernwriter John Esten Cooke, who hadserved on J.E.B. Stuart’s staff, explainedits popularity among Confederatesoldiers and how the Army of NorthernVirginia came to be called “Lee’sMiserables”:

The name had a somewhat curiousorigin. Victor Hugo’s work, “LesMiserables” had been translated andpublished by a house in Richmond; thesoldiers, in the great dearth of readingmatter, had seized upon it; and thus, bya strange chance the tragic story of thegreat French writer had become knownto the soldiers in the trenches.Everywhere, you might see the gauntfigures in their tattered jackets bendingover the dingy pamphlets — “Fantine,”or “Cosette,” or “Marius,” or “St.Denis,” and the woes of “Jean Valjean,”the old galley-slave, found an echo in thehearts of these brave soldiers, immersedin the trenches and fettered by duty to

their muskets or their cannon …. Thus,that history of ‘The Wretched,’ was thepabulum of the South in 1864; and as theFrench title had retained on the backs ofthe pamphlets, the soldiers, little familiarwith the Gallic pronunciation, called thebook “Lee’s Miserables!” Then anotherstep was taken. It was no longer the book,but themselves whom they referred to bythat name. The old veterans of the armyhenceforth laughed at their miseries, anddubbed themselves grimly, “Lee’sMiserables!”

Whatever Hugo thought of the battle raging in the United States, the novelwas popular in America and received widespread attention in newspapers andjournals. The New York Times called the novel “remarkable” and “brilliant,”

but in the same notice labeled Hugo “a prosy madman.”


INNOVATION

46

On winners and losers in globalizationGlobalization has made the world a

better and more equal place for manymore people than was the case a fewdecades ago. However, it has also createdtwo well-defined worlds of poor countriesand wealthy nations, according to VanesaJordá and José María Sarabia of theUniversity of Cantabria in Spain. In anarticle published in Springer’s journalApplied Research in Quality of Life,they studied the distribution of well-being over the last wave ofglobalization between 1980 and 2011.

Well-being is generally described as thestate of being happy, healthy orprosperous. The researchers used theUN Human Development Index as anindicator of quality of life. It offers arealistic perspective of the nationallevels of well-being of 130 countries,covering almost 90 percent of theworld’s population. The Index alsotakes into account non-incomedimensions such as education andhealth. It shows that globalization hasbrought higher levels of development tomore countries than was the case 30years ago. However, the intensity bywhich well-being has increased differsacross countries. This has created twowell-defined clusters: one of leastdeveloped countries in especially Sub-Saharan Africa, and another of highlydeveloped countries. At the same time,

medium developed nations, such as Chinaand India, have caught up with theadvanced economies. Overall, incomeinequality across countries has only beenreduced by less than 10 percent. Becauseof the so-called “poverty trap,” poorercountries struggle to rise to the top withinthe competitive common global market.Such efforts are hampered by difficulties in

acquiring supplies and public services inleast developed countries, which makeaccessing global markets difficult. Foreignmoney is also invested heavily in oil-exporting countries rather than in countriesthat do not export oil.

Leader countries in each region of theworld are able to overcome such obstaclesand experience higher levels ofdevelopment compared with the nationsaround them.

The greatest decrease in disparities wasfound in education, which presentsreductions of up to 64 percent. This isthanks to enhanced efforts towards

education in developing countries overthe last 40 years, especially in Asia. It isconsistent with the belief thatglobalization promotes investment ineducation and helps countries todevelop. On the health side, no realcatch-up or convergence was seen duringthe nineties. However, this is changingover the past ten years thanks to theexpansion of health technology andmedicines. Greater access to HIV/AIDSmedications, tuberculosis treatment, andinsecticide-treated mosquito nets toreduce cases of malaria are of benefit.

“The benefits of globalization haveincreased a number of aspects of well-being in most countries. However, theseadvantages have not reached a group of

countries which are not able to overcomethe human development barriers in healthand income. They are being trapped in alow pole which shows little sign of theircatching up or converging to the generaltrend,” conclude Jordá and Sarabia.

Solar energy plus lunar energy can make a differenceA new type of collectors that could be

used to trap moon’s energy has beendeveloped by German architect AndreBroessel. This invention will facilitategeneration of renewable energy also duringthe night bridging the energy gap. Theelectric vehicles could be charged withgreen energy, day and night!

The solar-lunar collector consists of atransparent glass sphere of about onemeter diameter filled with distilled waterconnected to a source of light. The systemis named Beta.ray by the companyRawlemon in Barcelona, which plans tointroduce the product in the marketshortly.

At the focus of the glass sphere the lightwill be concentrated up to about 20,000

times. The concentrated light will be madeto incident on photovoltaic cells and heat-absorbing mini-generators, both of themconverting light energy into electricalpower.

Andre Broessel chanced on the concept ofBeta.ray as he was having his breakfastwith his little daughter. She was playingwith a glass marble in the egg-basket. Heobserved that the light focus constantlychanged in the egg-basket from which hedeveloped the idea of using such structuresto focus light. It was the birth moment ofthe company, Rawlemon.

This method is found to produce fourtimes more electrical power than thatproduced by usual photovoltaic cells undernormal conditions. The efficiency of

conversion reaches up to 44.7%, incontrast to ordinary photovoltaic systemswhose efficiency ranges between 17% and20%.

The major attraction of Andre’s concept isthat it could utilize the energy of moon andcould be put into operation at night. Thecollector is provided with a micro-trackingsystem to keep the glass sphere facing thelight source. Beta.ray thus couldconcentrate even on the moon’s energy,paving the way for lunar energytechnologies working in conjunction withsolar energy technologies. The day-and-night production of electrical power isattractive as it solves the diurnalintermittency attached to solartechnologies.


INNOVATION

47

Bio-mimicking leads to lightweightconstruction materials

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology(KIT), Germany, has come out with a

micro-structured lightweight constructionmaterial of the highest stability. Althoughtheir density is below that of water, theirstability relative to their weight exceedsthat of massive materials, such as high-performance steel or aluminum. Thelightweight construction materials areinspired by the framework structure ofbones and the shell structure of the bees’honeycombs. The results are presented inthe journal PNAS.

The KIT scientists observed that naturealso uses open-pore, non-massivestructures for carrying loads. Examples arewood and bones. At the same density,however, the novel material produced in

the laboratory can carry a much higherload. A very high stability was reached bya shell structure similar to the structure ofhoneycombs. It failed at a pressure of 28kg/mm2 only and had a density of 810 kg/m3. This exceeds the stability-to-densityratio of bones, massive steel or aluminum.The shell structure produced resembles ahoneycomb with slightly curved walls toprevent buckling.

To produce the lightweight constructionmaterials, 3D laser lithography wasapplied. Laser beams harden the desiredmicrostructure in a photo-resist. Then, thisstructure is coated with a ceramic materialby gas deposition. The structuresproduced were subjected to compressionvia a die to test their stability.

Policy framework for age-friendlytechnologies needed

From smart phones to smart cars, bothpublic and private entities must

consider the needs of older adults in orderto help them optimize the use of newtechnologies, according to the latest issueof Public Policy & Aging Report (PP&AR)from the MassachusettsInstitute of TechnologyAgeLab.

Joseph Coughlin, PhD,reports on the promiseand prevailingshortcomings of linkinghigh-tech devices to theneeds and interests ofolder generations.Fascinating innovationsare coming out of labsaround the world.However, there is still ashortage of consumer-ready solutions. Coughlincalls for the training of anew-generation engineersin tech and aging.

Chaiwoo Lee discusses some of thechallenges faced by both designers of smarttechnology and older adults as actual orpotential users of that technology. Sheindicates that a mix of technological,individual, and social factors is at work.

Thus, potential usefulness of a devicealone is not enough to ensure success. Leeenumerates a series of factors challengingadoption, such as usability, affordability,accessibility, confidence, independence,compatibility, reliability, and trust.

Using technology safely isthe focus of the discussionby Bryan Reimer, PhD,which addresses thegrowing sophistication ofdriver-assistedtechnologies moving in thedirection of highlyautomated vehicles. Heconcludes that it is criticalto recognize that increasedautomation in cars requiresmore, not less, drivereducation.

“Although automatedvehicle technologies willultimately save lives, theremay be unavoidable issues,and even loss of live, on

the way to full automation,” Reimer states.“It is essential to begin framing the issue ofautomation as a long-term investment in asafer, more convenient future that willrevolutionize, in particular, the experienceof old age.”

Sustainableproduction orE3-production

Scarce and expensive raw materials,rising energy prices, climate

protection and demographic shifts leaveindustrial production with a lot tocontend with in the coming years.Researchers from Fraunhofer Institute,Germany, have come out with some path-breaking concepts in sustainableproduction. They call the manufacturingconcept E3-Production.

The three “E”’s represent the areas offocus that bring together Fraunhoferscientists from 12 institutes. Newmachines, technologies and processesconserve Energy and resources – andpave the way for an Emissions-neutralfactory. Ergonomics in manufacturingcompletes the set.

Energy- and resource-efficient productionrequires combining different productionstages to save time, resources and moneyin the process. Researchers willdemonstrate, for instance, how themanufacture of a hood of a car, normallybroken down into an outer section andseveral reinforcing parts, can now becombined into a single process.Emissions-neutral factory requireskeeping the emissions generated byproduction processes to a minimum. Youneed to be able to detect harmfulsubstances and document their levels overtime and area. One needs to monitor andcontrol the levels of volatile organiccompounds (VOCs), ozone, carbonoxides, nitrogen compounds, ammoniaand methane in the surrounding air.Researchers will be showcasing the E3-Research Factory for resource-efficientproduction at Hannover Messe,Germany.


INNOVATION

48

Controlling seemingly uncontrollablephenomena

Can one control global financialmarkets, human brains or network of

friends? They are imposingly complexsystems. Unlike the kind of system thatexists in your car that has beenintentionally engineered for humans touse, these systems are convoluted andnot obvious how to control. Economiccollapse, disease and miserable dinnerparties may result from a breakdown insuch systems, which is why researchershave recently been putting so muchenergy into trying to discover how bestto control these large and importantsystems. Justin Ruths from SingaporeUniversity of Technology and Designand his brother Derek Ruths of McGillUniversity have suggested that allcomplex systems, whether they arefound in the human body, in internationalfinance or in social situations, actuallyfall into just three basic categories, interms of how they can be controlled.Their article is published in Science. Theyreached this conclusion by surveying theinputs and outputs and the critical controlpoints (parts of the system you have to

control to grasp full control of it) in a widerange of systems that appear to function incompletely different ways. For example,for a cell in the body, the control point

may correspond to proteins that we canregulate using specific drugs. Onegrouping, for example, put organizationalhierarchies, gene regulation and human

purchasing behaviour together, in partbecause in each, it is hard to controlindividual parts of the system in isolation.Another grouping includes social networkssuch as groups of friends (whether virtualor real), and neural networks (in thebrain), where the systems allow forrelatively independent behaviour. Thefinal group includes things like foodsystems, electrical circuits and theinternet, all of which function basically asclosed systems where resources circulateinternally.

“What we really want people to takeaway from the research at this point isthat we can control these complex andimportant systems in the same way thatwe can control a car,” says Justin Ruths.“Our work is giving us insight into whichparts of the system we need to controland why. Ultimately, at this point wehave developed some new theory that

helps to advance the field in importantways, but it may still be another five toten years before we see how this will playout in concrete terms.”

Emotion detectors make driving saferTechnology now allows us to read facial

expressions and identify which of theseven universal emotions aperson is feeling: fear,anger, joy, sadness, disgust,surprise or suspicion. Thisis very useful in video gamedevelopment, medicine,marketing and, perhaps lessobviously, in driver safety.We know that in addition tofatigue, the emotional stateof the driver is a risk factor.

Irritation, in particular, canmake drivers moreaggressive and lessattentive. Scientists haverecently developed an on-board emotion detectorbased on the analysis offacial expressions. Tests carried out usinga prototype indicate that the idea couldhave promising applications.

It’s not easy to measure emotions withinthe confines of a car, especially non-

invasively. The solution explored byscientists is to use an infrared cameraplaced behind the steering wheel to capture

the changing moods. The problem was toget the device to recognize irritation on the

face of a driver. Everyoneexpresses this state somewhatdifferently—a kick, an epithet, anervous tic or an impassive face.To simplify the task at this stageof the project, Hua Gao and AnilYüce, who spearheaded theresearch, chose to track only twoexpressions: anger and disgust,whose manifestations are similar tothose of anger.

Detecting emotions is only oneindicator for improving driversafety and comfort. In this project,it was coupled with a fatiguedetector that measures thepercentage of eyelid closure. Thecamera also detects other states on

drivers’ faces such as distraction and on lipreading for use in vocal recognition. Theresults are promising.


INNOVATION

49

Economic issues hold key towin swing voters

New research from two University ofIllinois economics professors who

study election trends analyses howpolarization on social issues affectscompeting candidates’ economicplatforms.

In the paper, co-authors Stefan Krasa andMattias Polborn develop a theory ofcandidate competition that accounts forthe influence of both economic andcultural issues on individual votingbehaviour. The researchers test theirtheory using what they term a“differentiated candidates framework” inwhich two office-motivated candidatesdiffer in their ideological position andchoose a level of government spending and

Superconducting graphene sheetsNanoelectronics is a branch of

engineering derived from the electronicproperties of certain nano-materials likenano-tubes. Nano-tubes are made out ofgrapheme sheets rolled into the shape oftubes. Researchers of Stanford Universityhave discovered a potential way to makegraphene superconducting, a state in whichit would carry electricity with 100 percentefficiency.

Researchers used a beam of intenseultraviolet lightto look deep intothe electronicstructure of amaterial made ofalternating layersof graphene andcalcium. Whileit’s been knownfor nearly adecade that thiscombinedmaterial issuperconducting,the new study offers the first compellingevidence that the graphene layers areinstrumental in this process. Thisdiscovery could transform the engineeringof materials for nanoscale electronicdevices. The researchers saw how electronsscatter back and forth between grapheneand calcium, interact with naturalvibrations in the material’s atomic structureand pair up to conduct electricity withoutresistance. They study is published

recently in Nature Communications.Graphene, a single layer of carbon atomsarranged in a honeycomb pattern, is thethinnest and strongest known material anda great conductor of electricity, amongother remarkable properties. Scientistshope to eventually use it to make very fasttransistors, sensors and even transparentelectrodes.

The classic way to make graphene is bypeeling atomically thin sheets from a block

of graphite, a formof pure carbonthat’s familiar asthe lead in pencils.But scientists canalso isolate thesecarbon sheets bychemicallyinterweavinggraphite withcrystals of purecalcium. Theresult, known ascalcium

intercalated graphite or CaC6, consists of

alternating one-atom-thick layers ofgraphene and calcium. The discovery thatCaC

6 is superconducting set off a wave of

excitement: Did this mean graphene couldadd superconductivity to its list ofaccomplishments? But in nearly a decadeof trying, researchers were unable to tellwhether CaC

6’s superconductivity came

from the calcium layer, the graphene layeror both.

implied taxes to maximize their vote share.Vote-maximizing politicians have a clearincentive to cater to the interests of these“swing voters”—that is, voters who arevirtually indifferent between the rivalcandidates—rather than the electorate ingeneral, the authors say.

In the paper, Krasa and Polborn alsoanalyse changes in the parties’ culturalpositions as well as in the distribution ofcultural preferences that affect thecandidates’ equilibrium economic policies.Candidates will always fight tooth-and-nailto win over swing voters. However,crafting an economic policy that appeals toall of them is complicated, Krasa said.

In search ofsmallest buildingblock of matter

Higgs particle is the smallest buildingblock of matter known today.

However theories predict existence ofstill smaller particles. An exhaustiveanalysis of these theories suggestsexistence of the yet-unseen smallerparticles of matter. “I gave them a verycritical review “, says Thomas Ryttov,particle physicist and associate professorat the Centre for Cosmology and ParticlePhysics Phenomenology, University ofSouthern Denmark. According to him,there are no flows in the theories thathave been put forward for the existenceof particles in the universe that aresmaller than the Higgs particle. “Thereseems to be no new or unseen weak-nesses. My review just leaves them juststronger”, he says.

“There must be a force that binds smallerparticles together to create somethingbigger than themselves, somethingcomposite, a Higgs particle. It musthappen similarly to quarks bindingtogether to form protons and neutrons. Ifwe can understand this force, we canexplain and predict new physicalphenomena like new particles”, explainsThomas Ryttov.

Gravity has the ability to keep twoobjects close together. The effect ofgravity depends on the fact that the twoobjects are not too far from each other,and the closer they are to each other thestronger the force of gravity will be. Thestrong force has the opposite effect: It isweak when two particles are close toeach other, but strong—extremelystrong—if you try to pull them apart. Astill unknown force is expected to bindthe still fundamental particle of matter.

Thomas Ryttov and his colleaguesbelieve that the so-called techni-quarkscan be the yet-unseen particles, smallerthan the Higgs particle. If techni-quarksexist they will form a natural extension ofthe Standard Model which includes threegenerations of quarks and leptons. Theseparticles together with the fundamentalforces form the basis of the observedmatter in the universe, suggest theresearchers.


50

Providing higher educationis a challenge in India: Report

Due to failure of state as well as centralgovernment in providing higher

education, private institutions have comeup and most of them are offering poorquality education, says the recent reporton higher education authored by DrAbusaleh Shariff of the Centre forResearch and Debates in DevelopmentPolicy, NewDelhi and AmitSharma,research analystwith theNationalCouncil forAppliedEconomicResearch.

As per thereport, “Inter-Generationaland RegionalDifferentials inHigher LevelEducation inIndia” that themean year ofschooling ofadults is as highas 13.3 years inthe USA andjust 4.4 yearsin India.

Talking aboutthe Gross Enrollment Ration the reportsays Higher Levels of Education (HLE) inIndia is about 10 per cent of Universityage, while China enrolls about 22 per cent.

The report also highlights the regionaldifferences in India related to access tohigher education as it shows that the highereducation is easily accessible to people inSouthern India and Northern India whilethe situation is worst in North Central

(Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal)and North Eastern India.

It emphasizes that the Indian economy isshowing vibrancy and double digit growthmainly through the support of twoimportant inputs, i.e., higher levels ofeducated resource and better adaption andassimilation of technology. It is critical

therefore that higher education becomesaccessible to all citizens across India,irrespective of economic, social, linguisticand regional differentiations.

Technical education

The higher education report states that theshare of persons attending technicaleducation is more than 33 per cent of the

total enrolled in any higher education inboth rural and urban areas of SouthernIndia, which is quiet high when comparedwith other regions.

In contrast to Southern Indian, “only 3 percent of those enrolled in higher educationin rural parts of North-Eastern India areenrolled in technical courses and the share

of its urbancounterpart isalso low at 10per cent ascomparedwith otherregions ofurban India.”

It states thatunlike otherregions, thereis no gap inproportionsof rural(33.2%) andurban(33.9%)sectors ofSouthernIndia whichstronglypointstowards‘equal’proportion ofawareness, of

and participation in, technical education inrural and urban parts of southern India.

The report says, “Even regions such as theNorth and West (unexpectedly) and NorthCentral (expectedly) have shown lowpenetration of technical education.”

Cost of Technical Education

The report states that the cost of technicaleducation is considerably high compared

Talking about to need to provide opportunity to private sector, the reportstates that private institutions have filled the demand supply gap in the highereducation industry. One advantage of private higher education institutions hasbeen that they offer a variety of skill promoting courses, which are not usually

included in the curriculum offered by government run institutions.

RESEARCH


51

with non-technical degrees. The per annumcost for technical education ranges fromaround Rs. 30,000-35,000.

Comparing southern India with North itsays, the cost of technical education isrelatively low in low in North-Central andNorth-Eastern regions. It states, “This mayagain reflect the qualitative differentials ineducation suggesting poor quality technicaleducation in these regions compared toother regions of India.”

Private players in higher education

As per the report the educational provisionin India is based on a kind loose pyramidstructure which links elementary-levelschooling to successivelyhigher levels such as matric,pre-university, universityand technical education. Thereport states that providinghigher education is achallenge in India. “SinceIndia is a growingpopulation theinfrastructure needs isgrowing by the day.People’s aspirations arechanging fast, which is alsoboosting the demand foreducation at levels includingthe HLE and technicaleducation,” says the report.

It further comments thatwhile during the earlyperiod after independence the stategovernments established the HLEinfrastructure, the facilities could notsustain and failed to ensure access toeligible citizens due to demand pressurecaused both by an increase in youthpopulation and also increasing higher leveleducational aspirations. “But, while beingcostly they seem to often impart low-quality education compared with thestandard government run institutions,”report commented.

Talking about to need to provideopportunity to private sector, the report

states that private institutions have filledthe demand supply gap in the highereducation industry. One advantage ofprivate higher education institutions hasbeen that they offer a variety of skillpromoting courses, which are not usuallyincluded in the curriculum offered bygovernment run institutions. It says, theprivate higher education institutions needsto be supported by creating enabling andpromotional role by the government witha strong regulatory mechanism to set thestandards of education.

Huge north-south divide

The Higher education report highlightsthat it states that southern India’s urban

population has improved at the fastestpace leading the region to showcase mostpromising growth in higher education incomparison with urban parts of all otherregions.

Talking about northern India, it says thatthe urban population in northern Indiawas at the top in both the generationswhile in the past generation it had secondhighest prevalence for its ruralcounterpart, which in current generationhas also made it to the top.However, thereport states that North-Eastern India onthe other hand has the least share in higher

The report points that the younger generation has evolved to be moreaware of the value of higher education and the shares of respective

populations in higher education in each socio-religious group as well as inurban, rural, male and female groups have significantly increased over the

past generation.

education as per cent of its population forboth the generations and according togender.

The report also states that now Englishhas become a mechanism to overcomeserious socially motivated differentials;and also the contemporary globalizingeconomic system is anchored in Englishlanguage.

As per the report, the difference betweensouthern India and rest of the regions interms of English medium educationalaccessibility is very huge for both thegenders.

Higher education’s role in employment

The report highlightsthe share of illiterateworkforce is 30.7 percent in the year 2009-10, which is twicetheir share of 15.2 percent contribution tothe GDP. While, onlyabout nine per cent ofthe HLE (graduatesand above) contributesabout 29 per cent ofthe GDP.

It says, “Thisadequatelydemonstrates thepower of educationwhich enhances

productivity and economic value both atthe individual level and when aggregated atthe level of a nation. It suggests the impactof education on GDP is prominent andthey are highly correlated.”

The report points that the youngergeneration has evolved to be more aware ofthe value of higher education and theshares of respective populations in highereducation in each socio-religious group aswell as in urban, rural, male and femalegroups have significantly increased overthe past generation.

RESEARCH


52

Dr D.Dhanuraj

POLICY WATCH

Skill vouchers: The next big thingfor employability

The nation is going to polling booths toelect its 16thLokSabha and the debate

is entrenched on the type and nature ofthe policies that would accentuate theeconomic growth that the newGovernment will adopt. The newbuzzword in campaigning is‘entrepreneurial climate’. Irrespective ofthe political ideologies, almost all of thepolitical parties are trying hard to winover the young voters by promising jobs,investment friendliness andentrepreneurial climate once they are intopower.

Poll promises in manifestos need not betranslated into the policy work in 100days. It will be a huge challenge to convertthe poll promises to policies in such ashort spans, as itdemands innovativeaction plans and out of box thinking. AnyGovernment considering these pollpromises as political agenda may not beable to achieve what the country desires.Itrequires comprehensive handholdingarrangements among all the stake holdersto benefit the youth at large. While

various initiatives like Operation BlackBoard, Sarva Shisha Abhiyan, Mid DayMeal Schemes etc might have propelled toreduce the school drop outs, mere increasein numbers of the school enrollment doesnot reflect the quality and skills impartedin the education sector. It is moredismissive at the highereducation level.More than 50 lakhs studentsare graduatingin India every year.

1According to the findings of the ‘NationalEmployability Report - Graduates(Annual Report 2013)’ by ‘AspiringMinds’, the employability of graduatesvaries from 2.59% in functional roles suchas accounting, to 15.88% in sales relatedroles and 21.37% for roles in the businessprocess outsourcing (BPO/ITeS) sector.The issues are plenty at the recruitmentlevel; poor English language skills, lackofanalytical or cognitive skills etc,. Thereport also says, “Not more than 25% ofthe graduating students could applyconcepts to solve a real-world problem inthe domain of Finance and Accounting. Onthe other hand, on average, 50% graduates

are able to answer definition-based/theoretical questions based on the sameconcept. This shows that even thoughstudents have got exposure to theconcepts, they really do not understandthem or know how to apply them”. Thisissue with the educated and college goingstudents is only one sideof the coin.Theother side of the coin is the less educatedyouth of employable age who alsocompletely lack employability andskillability. On one hand the traditional andconventional channels of education fail tomeet the demands of the industry, on theother hand, labour intensive sectors lackthe suitable set of the employable youth ofless education profile.

India’s labour markets have been stuck forthe last 20 years with 12 percentmanufacturing employment, 50 percentself-employment, 90 percent informalemployment and 50 percent agriculturalemployment. The benefits of demographicdividend have been discussed widely overthe last two decades. While thedemographic dividend presents us with the

On one hand the traditional and conventional channels of education fail to meetthe demands of the industry, on the other hand, labour intensive sectors lack

the suitable set of the employable youth of less education profile.


53

The author is Chairman, Centre for PublicPolicy Research

POLICY WATCH

huge pool of the man power, the economicslowdown has affected the job creation.The lack of employability is addingpressure to already dull job market tomake things even more worse. With thethrust on the manufacturing sector gettingdominance, ready to deployable labourforce is essential for overall growth of theeconomy. In fact, The NationalManufacturing Policy aims to create 100million additional jobs in the next decade.Data shows that 10 lakh youthjoin thelabour force every month for the next 20years. If we don’t capitalize on this phase,the fruits of Demographic Dividend willremain as a distant dream.

The setting up of National SkillDevelopment Corporation (NSDC) as apublic – private parternship to train skilledwork force is a commendable initiative bythe Central Government. Its objective is tocontribute significantly (about 30 per cent)to the overall target of skilling / upskilling500 million people in India by 2022,mainly by fostering private sectorinitiatives in skill developmentprogrammes and providing funding. It hasset up 29 sector skill councils at theregional level. Vocational Education andTraining (VET)has been the major thrustarea of the council over the years. But thesuccess rates of these training programs arequite complex in terms of benchmarkingimprovement in the learning outcomes of

those undergone training. Moreover, it is inthe clutches of the bureaucratic controlswhich focus onthe quantity over thequality in their process. There is noincentive for the individual trainingaccording the requirement and expertisedemanded by the industry. The presentstructure limits the competition andchoices among the students whileincentives for the providers to offerfocused results and placement orientedprogrammes is also missing. This scenariopresents the idea of skill vouchers to putin practice for better and effective servicedelivery in the skill training program.

2A skill voucher is an instrument given toan individual or an enterprise whichenables the recipient to sign up for VETfrom any education institute accreditedwith the provider of the voucher. Paymentfor tuition of the VET is made with thevouchers. The additional amounts are paidby top-up contributions made by thestudent/learner. Once training is completed,the accredited institution redeems thevoucher from the Government. This wouldencouragemore private institutionswhichare closer to the market activities totake up the challenge of imparting skilltraining for both highly and less educatedyouth The scheme can be more profoundin encouraging the private companies to setup their own Finishing schools in theirown areas of work. Students can join there

and would be absorbed by the respectivecompanies most of thetimes or by theircounterparts. The benchmarking will bedone by the recruiters while the trainedstudents carry the brand logo of theprivate companies who trained them. Thiswould be different from the Governmentoffered skill training programmes wherethe gap between the industry and potentialemployment opportunities may still exist.

High growth areas such as manufacturing,automotive, retail, trade, transport,construction, hospitality and healthcarehave the ability to provide the requiredexpanded employment. Skill vouchers arebetter solutions to the grumbling about thepoor quality of skilled labour, so that theprivate companies can investtremendously in the training aspect as it iswith engineering giant L&T now. This willhelp in potential demand driveninnovations to meet the skill trainingrequired to meet the challenges on theemployability front of the nextgen.

1. NATIONAL EMPLOYABILITY REPORTGRADUATES, Annual Report 2013,Aspiring Minds

2. Great potential of skill vouchers, http://jeevika.org/great-potential-of-skill-vouchers/

A skill voucher is an instrument given to an individual or an enterprise whichenables the recipient to sign up for VET from any education institute

accredited with the provider of the voucher.


54 Pallikkutam | April 2014

India’s research article output bestamong BRIC; China trails behind

A recent study prepared by Elsevierfor the UK’s Department of Business,

Innovation and Skills (BIS) and based onScopus data, shows that India has achievedsubstantial growth in research articlesoutput, increasing from 54 thousandin 2008 to 93 thousand in 2012 at anannualized growth rate of 14.4 percent. This is a rate higher than that ofChina (10.9 per cent), Brazil (7.9 percent), Russia (1.9 per cent) and theU.K. (2.9 per cent).

Over the same period from 2008 to2012, India’s share of the top 10 percent of the most cited articles – aproxy for high quality research articles– rose from 2.0 per cent to 3.1 percent at an annual growth rate of 11.3 percent, which is higher than Brazil (7.6 percent), Russia (8.4 per cent) and the U.K. (-2.7 per cent). Only China surpassed Indiawith a 13.8 per cent annual growth rate.

India’s field-weighted citation impact(FWCI) – normalized at value of “1” as theworld average – is below average at 0.75and is declining at a rate of 1.6 per cent per

year. China has a comparable FWCI toIndia, but is experiencing an upward annualgrowth rate of 2.4 per cent. The field-weighted citation impact is generallyconsidered to be a good indicator for

quality. The report indicates that whenIndia collaborates internationally, thearticles with Indian and international co-authors are associated with 111 per cent

greater FWCI than articles withsingle institution co-authorship.

India’s international co-authorship ismodest with a share of 16.2 per centin 2012, behind Brazil (24.2 percent), Russia (29.8 per cent) and theU.K. (47.6 per cent). Only China’sinternational co-author share is belowIndia’s at 14.9 per cent.

Dr. Michiel Kolman, Senior Vice-President of Academic Relations atElsevier, who is visiting Mumbai,New Delhi and Bangalore, said,

“India shows incredible growth in articleoutput, even surpassing China. On thequality side, although we see an overallimpact that is below the world’s average,

The report indicates that when India collaborates internationally,the articles with Indian and international co-authors are

associated with 111 per cent greater FWCI than articles withsingle institution co-authorship.

INVESTIGATION

55Pallikkutam | April 2014

there is a rising share of higher-qualityarticles from India. Articles from India thatresulted from international collaborationshow impressively high quality at morethan twice the impact of articles from asingle institute.” “More can be done tofurther advance India’s research excellence.Encouraging collaboration with theinternational research community will aidknowledge transfer between parties andbolster cross-border recognition,” said Dr.Kolman. On India’s performance inpatents, the number of patents granted to

India in 2012 is 3588, a figure that ishigher than Brazil’s (1027), butconsiderably lower than the numbers forthe U.K. (20,194), Russia (24,551) andmuch farther behind China (152,102).

Dr. Kolman also revealed that theproportion of Indian research cited inpatents is relatively low. The relativeshare of India’s patent citations to articlespublished from 2007 to 2011 is at 1.50 forthe UK, and generally lower amongst theBRIC countries: India (0.65), China

(0.54), Russia (0.42) and Brazil (0.44). Dr.Kolman went on to explain that many U.K.research articles have been cited inworldwide patents. “This indicates that theU.K. possesses the infrastructure andgovernance to produce research that laysthe foundation for innovation. In India andother BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia andChina), there are room and opportunitiesfor greater growth in both the number ofpatents and the research that leads topatents.”

U.K. possesses the infrastructure and governance to produce researchthat lays the foundation for innovation. In India and other BRIC nations

(Brazil, Russia and China), there are room and opportunities forgreater growth in both the number of patents and the research that

leads to patents.

INVESTIGATION

INFO TECH

56

Apple named most powerful techbrand of 2013

Apple is the most powerful brand inthe technology industry, a recent

report from CoreBrand has revealed.

CoreBrand’s analysis, which itthe most powerful tech brand,has come out with the list of 100most elite brands list for 2014.Apple was ranked the 10th in theoverall list, which was thehighest spot for a tech brand.

Apple was the only techcompany to rank at top 10 ofCoreBrand’s rankings this year.Apple has steadily grown inbrand power over the years; 18thspot in 2013 and 93rd in 2009.

Microsoft moved up 9 spaces to11th rank overall and secondhighest in tech. Google roundedup the top three with an overallrank of 26, moving up 90positions since 2008.

Marissa Mayer-led Yahoo is growing inpopularity, taking the 28th position in thelist and fourth position in the tech

industry. Ailing Japanese giant took thefifth position, with an overall ranking of31. US telecom giant AT&T lost four

places compared to 2013 and moved from29th to 33rd position, becoming the sixthmost powerful tech company in the list.PC maker Dell, which went private last

year, moved down one spot from lastyear’s ranking and took the 48th spot.

Samsung moved up 5 spaces overlast year and gained 52nd place outof 100 this year.

IBM’s brand power, on the otherhand, has steadily improved and ittakes the 49th place in overallranking and eight in the techindustry. Samsung has also movedup five spaces over last year andgained the 52nd place, making it theninth most powerful tech brand inthe list.

EBay has shot up CoreBrand’s listin recent years, gaining 58 spotsover the past five years. This year,it ranked 59th out of 100 overalland rounded up the top 10 mostpowerful tech companies.

The brand consultancy firm ratescompanies based on a survey of

more than 10,000 business executives.Brand power is measured in terms offamiliarity and favorability.

Gionee Elife S5.5 ‘slimmest smartphone in the world’launched at Rs. 22,999

Gionee has launched what it is callingthe ‘world’s slimmest smartphone’ -

Elife S5.5 - in India, at Rs. 22,999.

The Gionee Elife S5.5 made its firstappearance in February. Thesmartphone went on sale on March18 in China.

The Elife S5.5 flaunts a thin metalframe chassis and Gionee claims it tobe the world’s thinnest smartphone at5.5mm, beating the previous recordholder Vivo X3 at 5.75mm.

The Gionee Elife S5.5 is a single-SIMsmartphone that runs the company’sAmigo UI on top of Android 4.2 JellyBean. It features a 5-inch SuperAMOLED (1080x1920 pixels) displaywith a pixel density of 441ppi. The ElifeS5.5 is powered by a 1.7GHz octa-coreCPU coupled with 2GB of RAM. The

camera options on the Elife S5.5 include a13-megapixel rear shooter with LED flashand a 5-megapixel front camera for selfies

and video calls. The smartphone comeswith 16GB of internal storage with nofurther expandability option via microSDcard. Connectivity options on the Elife

S5.5 include 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-FiDirect, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and USB OTG.It packs in a non-removable 2300mAh

battery, which according to Gioneewill easily last more than a day.

The ‘world’s slimmest smartphone’measures 145.1x70.2x5.55mm, andweighs 130 grams with its metalchassis.

In December, Gionee had launchedthe Elife E6’s successor - the ElifeE7 - in India at Rs. 26,999 for the16GB variant. It features a 5.5-inchfull-HD (1080x1920) OGS (One-Glass-Solution) IPS display withCorning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.The 16GB variant is powered by a

quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800clocked at 2.2GHz coupled with 2GB ofRAM.


INFO TECH

57

IM app Hiketo get $14m

fundingInstant messaging app Hike is set to

receive another $14 million in fundingfrom Bharti SoftBank Holdings to scale upits operations at a time of huge expectedgrowth for such mobile applications whichhave become hot property the world over.

“The fresh infusion of funds will be usedto scale up Hike and enable it to becomeagile enough to dominate the instantmessaging space,” one of the people toldET. The second round of investment —after an initial $7 million funding in April2013 — comes as India-based Hike crossed15 million subscribers. Hike was launched

by Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal’sson Kavin Bharti Mittal in December 2012.

Bharti Softbank (BSB) is a mobile internetjoint venture between Bharti Enterprisesand Japanese telecom firm Softbank Corpto invest in social media, gaming and e-commerce. It works closely with mobileoperators, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafoneand Idea Cellular, to help them protectsome revenue from the SMS communica-tion channel by launching apps thatcombine data and SMS. Bharti Airtel andBSB declined to comment on the invest-ment. Messaging apps have become hugelypopular as more people use them insteadof text messages, cannibalising mobilephone companies’ messaging revenue.

Microsoft offers Windows Phone OSfree to Indian players

Desperate times call for desperatemeasures. With Windows Phone

failing to make a significant dent in themarket share of Google’s Android andApple’s iOS in the last four years,Microsoft is waiving the licence fee andoffering it to at least two Indian phonemakers for free.

Last monthat theMobileWorldCongress inBarcelona,Microsoftannouncedthat morephonemakers, including two from India — Lavaand Karbonn — will produce WindowsPhone devices in the coming months. Bothcompanies already make Android devicesusing Google’s mobile OS which is free touse. Their Windows Phone devices arelikely to hit the market in the next fewmonths.

Multiple industry sources with knowledgeof Microsoft’s negotiations with Indianphone companies told TOI that it was intalks with local firms to produce afford-

able Windows Phone devices since lastyear. But the agreements were clinchedonly when Microsoft agreed to remove thelicence fee it charges from phone makersfor its OS.

This is unprecedented. Microsoft didn’teven give the OS free to Nokia, which

agreed toexclusivelymakeWindowsPhone in2011. ItreportedlychargedNokiabetween $20to $30 for

each Lumia device the Finnish companysold. Making the OS free also shows signsof growing frustration within the companyat the lack of traction for Windows Phonein the market. Historically, licensing thesoftware has always been bread and butterfor Microsoft. While Microsoft is likely tooffer Windows Phone OS to othermanufacturers, including the globalcompanies, under similar terms, theagreements with the two Indian firms arespecific to them.

TCS top enterprise mobility servicesprovider: IDC

Indian IT bellwether Tata ConsultingServices (TCS) has been evaluated as

leader in enterprise mobility services byindustry market researcher IDC forsecuring highest scores in customersatisfaction, innovation and productivity.

“Of the 14 mobility service providersevaluated on 117 parameters, customersrated TCS high in resource scalability,HTML (hyper text mark-up language)skills, thought leadership and ability toimprove,” the US-based International DataCorporation (IDC) said in a statement. Though enterprises worldwide areinvesting more in building mobileapplications as part of their mission-critical business objectives, skills shortageand rising mobile infrastructure costs areimpeding them from achieving their

mobility goals. “As a result, enterprisesare looking to service providers like TCSfor mobility expertise and guidance tobuild, test and manage mobile applicationsmoving forward,” IDC spokesperson PeteMarston said, citing the report.

The Mumbai-based global software majorhelps its global customers in telecom spaceto leverage mobility to develop newbusiness models, reach new subscribers,create new channels and improve businessprocesses and workplaces. “As we are acustomer-centric organisation, focused onour customers’ success, they haveevaluated our execution capability inenterprise mobility services very high,”TCS digital enterprise global head SatyaRamaswamy said on the occasion.


INFO TECH

58

IBM in talks with telcos for usingdata analytic tools

Technology major IBM is in talks withIndia’s mobile phone carriers for

implementing data analytics tools to helpservice providers get more revenue out ofexisting customers and improve theirproduct offering by better understandingcustomer demands.With telcossitting on tonnesof informationabout each mobilephone user, VikasSehgal, IBM Indiaand South Asia’sdirector fortelecom industry,feels authorisedinformation canbe tapped into for giving more intuitiveand tailor made solutions to customers.“The technologies to bring data fromnetwork, call records, web, social mediause and internet use into a mode where itcan be churned and exploited to takedecisions that are much deeper andinformed, are picking up,” he said. Headded telcos were adopting new technolo-gies but for different reasons. Forinstance, some want to know whichsmartphones subscribers use to downloadwhat kind of content or which over-the-top (OTT) applications are subscribers

accessing on the network.IBM India and South Asia’s chieftechnologist, Ramesh Gopinath, addedtelcos sit on large amounts of data thatthey can’t touch, tremendously increasingthe risk of them becoming ‘dumb pipes’,unless they leverage data to understand

customers better.Gopinath, who isalso director ofIBM ResearchIndia, said thecompany hadbuilt Vibes, a toolthat can helptelcos to identifycommunities oflike-minded

people that can be targeted for specificpromotions.People in Motion, another tool, can beused to create trajectories of movementsof subscribers based on their locations,which can in turn be relied upon to offerpromotional offers. Globally, suchservices based on ‘geo-fencing’ are beingexperimented with for giving customersspecialised services, including discountcoupons or specific deals from a retailer ina small geographical area, for instance amall.

Netmagic launches new data centre in BangaloreData center Infrastructure Lifecycle

Management (DILM) serviceprovider Netmagic, an NTTCommunications Company, announced thelaunch of its new data centre at ElectronicsCity. The 100,000 sq ft data centre is thefirst time Netmagic and NTTCommunications have collaborated inbuilding an entire facility from the groundup, and thereby, draws from theircombined engineering and operationsexpertise, the company officials said. “This is second data centre of Netmagic inBangalore and eighth in the country. Wehave also got approval for another datacentre in Mumbai... So we will have totalof nine data centre very soon,” NetmagicMD & CEO Sharad Sanghi told reportershere. The company already has a datacenter at Information Technology Park

Limited (ITPL) in the city. He said: “Thecompany has over 850 employees in Indiaand has operations in Mumbai, Chennai,Bangalore, Noida as far as data centre goesand it also has R&D center at Pune.” “Wewill be building additional capacity in theselocations also, as done in Bangalore -where we have set up our second datacentre,” he said. To a question oninvestment on the new data centre and theone to be set up in Mumbai, withoutgiving any exact figures, Sanghi said: “Weinvest in phases...typically we spend closeto Rs 30,000 a sq ft on the built datacentre white space...this is going to haveclose to 50,000 sq ft of white space...”. “...Mumbai will be two and a half timesthis size, so it is quite significantinvestments that we are doing on datacentres in India,” he added. Stating that

company wants to be the part of globalseamless cloud that NTT would provideacross the world, Sanghi said: “We want tobecome the cloud provider of choice forglobal enterprises both India headquarteredor overseas headquartered...”.

The company said the new facility alsomarks the formal launch of the Nexcenterbrand of data centre services in India.Under this brand, NTT Communicationsoffers leading-edge data centre servicesacross the globe. In India, these servicesare offered through all 8 Netmagic datacentres. The data centre will deliverNetmagic’s entire suite of services,including managed co-location, dedicatedhosting, cloud computing, IT infrastructuremonitoring and management and security,company officials said.

Infosys wins dealfrom Volvo cars

Infosys has been selected by Volvo Carsas a strategic supplier to provide

application development services for itsglobal operations. This agreement buildson the long-standing relationship betweenthe two companies. Infosys has beensupporting Volvo Cars since 2010 torationalize and integrate its enterprisesystems.

The size of the contract was not disclosed.As part of the new agreement, Infosys willbring its global service delivery experienceand ability to drive innovation andtransformation. It will develop applica-tions to support multiple domains,including marketing and sales, customerservice, manufacturing, product develop-ment, and corporate functions. NiteshBansal, VP of manufacturing in Europe forInfosys, said, “We will be a strategicsupplier for Volvo Cars to deliver excel-lence and innovation to transform their ITlandscape to a modern architecture.”


INFO TECH

59

Apple files patentfor ‘transparent

texting’US tech giant Apple has filed a patent

for new technology that aims tomake texting while walking safer byreplacing the text background with a livevideo feed of whatever is in front of thesmartphone user.

Many smartphone users keep their eyesglued to the screens while texting andwalking which can cause them tostumble over or bump into obstacles.Apple’s ‘transparent texting’ aims tosolve this problem by overlayingmessages on a live video feed from therear camera of the smartphone. This willallow users to see what is happeningbeyond their phone and text at the sametime.

“A user who is walking whileparticipating in a text messaging sessionmay inadvertently collide with orstumble over objects in his path becausehis attention was focused on his device’sdisplay instead of the path that he wastraversing,” according to the patent filedin the US. The patent describes how thetransparency feature could be activatedby pressing a transparency buttonwithin a texting session that switches onthe video feed.

The feature would then ensure textbubbles appear overlaid over the livebackground video. The text bubblesthemselves could be opaque or semi-transparent, according to Tech Crunch.The patent, originally filed in September2012, details potential extensions of theconcept of transparent texting, includingreplacing the background of a webpagewith a live video feed, so that the text ofa website is overlaid over whateverenvironments the device user is movingthrough.

“Alternative embodiments of theinvention can be applied to virtually anycomputer-executable application inwhich text is presented over abackground,” the patent application said.A recent study by researchers fromUniversity at Buffalo in the US foundthat texting while walking may result inmore injuries per mile than distracteddriving.

Apple to release new iPhone inSeptember

Suppliers of LCD panels for Apple’snew iPhone will ramp up production

soon, in line witha timetable for a worldwidelaunch as early asSeptember.

The new phone, expectedto be called the iPhone 6,will likely be offered in4.7- and 5.5-inch versions,both of which are largerthan the currentgeneration’s 4-inch screen.

Manufacturers haveapparently begun makingsuch components asfingerprint sensors andchips for liquid-crystaldrivers.

Mass production of liquid crystaldisplay panels will start as early as the

April-June quarter at Sharp’s Kameyamafactory, Japan Display’s Mobara plant,

and elsewhere, accordingto sources. LGElectronics will supplypanels as well. The newhandset’s displayresolution is expected tobe significantly higherthan that of currentmodels.

Apple put the iPhone 5on the market inSeptember 2012, selling 5million units within thefirst three days. Butshipments have sincebeen lackluster. Last year,it introduced models in

the same series with different price pointsfor the first time with the 5S and 5C.

Android app by Indian developercaught mining bitcoins

Songs, an app probably used by a fewmillion Indian Android users, was

among the two apps recently caughtcovertly using smartphones for miningbitcoins and dogecoins.

Security researchers at Trend Micro, acompany that makes antivirus and othersecurity applications, recently wrote in ablog that ‘Songs’ and ‘Prized - RealRewards & Prizes’ were usingsmartphones to covertly mine for virtualcurrency.

Mining virtual currency like bitcoin ordogecoin requires lots of computing power.If an app uses a smartphone to minevirtual currency, the process is likely tokeep the processor running at 100%,resulting in poor battery life and heating ofthe device.Trend Micro said the appsbeing used for bitcoin and dogecoin miningwere injected withANDROIDOS_KAGECOIN, a malware.

“(Some) coin mining apps were foundoutside of the Google Play Store, but wehave found the same behaviour in apps

(Songs and Prized) inside the Google PlayStore. These apps have been downloadedby millions of users, which means thatthere may be many Android devices outthere being used to mine cryptocurrencyfor cybercriminals,” a Veo Zhang, a mobilethreat analyst with Trend Micro wrote inthe blog.

“Analyzing the code of these apps revealthe cryptocurrency mining code inside.Unlike the other malicious apps, in thesecases the mining only occurs when thedevice is charging, as the increased energyusage won’t be noticed as much.”

After the Trend Micro blog post, Prizedand Songs were removed from the PlayStore by Google. Of the two, Songs wasmore popular. It was downloaded five to10 million times and had a rating of 4 stars.Songs claimed to give users free access toBollywood and songs in regional languageslike Punjabi and Tamil.

On the Play Store, clicking on thedeveloper’s website specified in thedescription page of Songs let to an error.


BETTER ENGLISH

A Guide to English Style and Usage- 12A.G. Menon

I

60

When ‘I’ takes the back seat

I and me As the subject of a verb whenyou are the person speaking, I alwayscomes last. So the sentence I and Manjulawent to the exhibition yesterday isconsidered improper. It should be Manjulaand I...; My friends and I are planning atrip next week; Suseelan, Xavier, Vinod andI have plans to start a small-scalegarment unit. Thus it is someone and I(NOT I and someone).

In old-fashioned or formal writing incomparisons, it is I, he, she and they thatare used: None was as tall as she; She wasas worried as they; No one in the groupwas as courageous as I. But thisexpression sounds much too formal orpompous. So the following usage ispreferred nowadays: My sister is two yearsolder than me; Roy is stronger than him(NOT My sister is two years older than Iand Roy is stronger than I).

iced It is ‘iced coffee’, ‘iced tea’, ‘icedwater’ etc (having ice added to them), not‘ice coffee’, ‘ice tea’, ‘ice water’ etc.However ‘ice water’ is used in AmericanEnglish.

ID is any document to prove youridentity: He was asked to show his ID atthe gate. An ID card (identity card) is asustitute phrase for ID: The ticketexaminer asked him to produce his IDcard.

idea The committee had the good idea toinvite M T Vasudevan Nair to the literarymeet. This is wrong. It should be Thecommittee had the good idea of inviting MT... But you can say It was a good idea toinvite M T...

identical Both identical to andidentical with are allowed in modern

usage: The system is identical to/with theone used in other countries.

if and whether The words areinterchangeable in some places: She askedme if/whether I would like to visit hersister; I am not sure if/whether he’ll acceptthat job. But in some cases the wordscannot be interchanged: If anyone asks forme, please tell them I am out of town. Inthis sentence you cannot replace if withwhether. In the following sentence youcannot replce whether with if: I amwondering whether to have a meal or somesnacks. To refer to the future afterconjuctions such as if and whether, youshould use the present simple tense: If itrains (NOT if it will rain) I won’t go toschool today; I’ll phone you whether heaccepts (NOT he will accept) our offer ornot; I’ll talk to him whether you like (NOTyou’ll like) it or not.

if...was/were In the sentence If I wererich I would have bought that house, theverb were is in the ‘subjunctive’(‘subjunctive’ is a verb which refers to anaction which is a possibility rather than afact). In the example sentence, was canalso be used instead of were, but in formalwriting were is preferred.

ill and sick Though both words areadjectives and mean almost the same, ill,meaning ‘not well’, usually comes after averb: He told me he fell ill after his meal atthe new hotel; His father was admitted tohospital after he felt ill. Though sick alsomay come after a verb, as in He reportedsick, it usually comes after a noun: Hiswife is a sick (NOT ill) woman; The childis sick (NOT ill) by nature.

imaginary and imaginative The formermeans ‘existing only in the imagination’,‘unreal’: All the characters in the novel are

imaginary; The film is set in an imaginarycountry. Imaginative means ‘having orindicating a lively imagination’: Fromchildhood the girl has been veryimaginative; The novel is an imaginativerecreation of the Mahabharata.

immune means ‘protected against adisease’ or ‘not affected by something’. Inthis sense it is followed by ‘to’, not‘from’: The man seems to be immune tocolds; he never catches them. Immunealso means ‘not able to be punished (bysimeone) or damaged by something’. Herethe word is followed by ‘from’:Journalists, many say, must be immune(=protected) from prosecution.

imply and infer are often usedinterchangeably but they are different inmeaning. Imply means ‘to hint at’, ‘tosuggest’: Cicily thought Mary was implyingthat her brother was lying; She didn’t saythat she won’t attend the wedding receptionbut I thought she implied it. Infer means‘to deduce’, ‘to conclude’: What I inferfrom his silence is that he is not going tomarry her; I could infer from what he saidabout the company’s policies that he wouldsoon quit his job.

impracticable and impractical areconfusing. Impracticable means‘impossible to be done’: The project isvery good but is highly impracticable to beexecuted. Impractical means ‘not sensibleor realistic’: It is impractical to go toThiruvananthapuram, finish the work andcome back on the same day.

in If something happens in a city, yousay it happened in it: The accidenthappened in Mumbai. But if it happens ina particular locality in the city, you use at:The accident happened at Dharavi inMumbai. In British English it is in the

imaginary means ‘existing only in the imagination’, ‘unreal’: All the characters inthe novel are imaginary; The film is set in an imaginary country. Imaginativemeans ‘having or indicating a lively imagination’: From childhood the girl has

been very imaginative; The novel is an imaginative recreation of the Mahabharata.


BETTER ENGLISH

61

street, whereas Americans say on thestreet.

The sentence For two years he has beenstudying in Christ College is wrong. SayFor two years he has been studying atChrist College.

in case and if There is some differencebetween the two words. In case (or justin case) means ‘because of the possibilityof something happening’: Take anumbrella with you in case it rains; I don’tthink I’ll be asked to write a test but in caseI am prepared for that.

in-charge The expression Mr ThomasMathew is the in-charge of the company’sPurchase Department is not correct. Youcan say Mr Thomas Mathew is in chargeof the company’s Purchase Department.

India-born and Indian-born The formermeans ‘born in India of Indian or foreignparents’ and the latter ‘born of Indianparents in India or abroad’.

information Note that it is informationabout or on something, not informationof something: The police said they couldgive more information about/on theactivities of the gang after two days. Sinceinformation is an uncountable noun youcannot use informations: Today’sMathrubhumi carries an interesting bit/piece of information about a new insect

killer; I have reliable information that hehas married the film star. The verb informis followed by of or on. If you informsomeone of something, you tell them aboutit: I informed my friend of my plan to opena boutique; It was some youths of the areawho informed on the illegal activities of thegang. You can also say: He informed methat he was going to Bangalore.

informant and informer both refer to aperson who provides information. Theyare however used in different contexts. Aninformant provides more generalinformation: The company’s survey ofcustomer preferences is based on reportsfrom 1,200 informants. An informer is aperson who gives information to the policeor other authorities about criminals etc:The police arrested the gang after theyreceived tips from informers.

injured, damaged and woundedInjured is used only to refer to people andanimals: Three people were killed andseven seriously injured in the accident. Formachines, objects and plants you usedamaged: The vehicle was badly damagedin the accident. To wound a person or ananimal is to injure them using a weapon:Explosives used by the attackers badlywounded seven policemen; The blastwounded many people at the rally. Woundalso means ‘to make someone feel upset’:He was deeply wounded by her remarks.

in lieu of, in spite of and instead of Thefirst and third terms mean almost the same:We received double pay in lieu of workingon a holiday; I’m getting a day off onMonday in lieu of working on Sunday last;We should do something to correct thesystem instead of simply blaming thetechnician. In spite of means ‘despite’: Inspite of his injuries he said he would playin the semifinals; Rajani loved Mohan verymuch in spite of the fact that he wasjobless.

insist You insist on doing something:The employee insisted on speaking (NOTinsisted to speak) to the manager. You canalso say: The employee insisted that heshould speak to the manager.

instal and install Though the words areinterchangeable, install was formerlyconsidered to be the only correct spellingand perhaps is still the more common. Thenoun form is however instalment.

intense and intensive The first wordmeans ‘very strong’ or ‘very great’: Ferozeof late has taken an intense dislike to hisfather; He felt the heat in Hyderabad wasintense. Intensive means ‘concentrated’: Irecently attended a six-week intensivecourse in English; The farmers ofKuttanad have planned to introduceintensive methods of cultivation in the area.

immune means ‘protected against a disease’ or ‘not affected by something’. In thissense it is followed by ‘to’, not ‘from’: The man seems to be immune to colds; henever catches them. Immune also means ‘not able to be punished (by simeone) or

damaged by something’.


RESEARCH

sI F¬ taml\h¿Ω

GUEST COLUMN

62

D∏pamßbpw]nkbpw

Fs‚ ]Xns\m∂phb pImc≥ aq∂mw

t]caI≥ Aizn≥ sas√ ASpØph∂v clkyambn ]d™p.

A∏q∏m, F\n°v Hcp Xuk≠-vdp∏okv Xt∂.

F¥n\m \n\°v Xuk-≠vcq]m ?tXm°v taSn°m\m.

tXmt°m ? Rm≥ tXm°p hn´p.C‰okv ssN¬Unjv. CXv,CsXmcp k¿ss{]km.

F¥p k¿ss{]kv ?

AXv Rm≥ ]dbpIn√.cq]m Xt∂.

F¥n\msW∂p]d™mte cq]m Xcq.AXpwBhiyap≈XmsW¶n¬am{Xw. Bbncw cq]m!ssa tKmUv. F¥n\m\n\°v C{Xbpw cq]m?.

Aizn≥ A©p\nanjta BtemNn®p\n∂p≈p.Izn°v Unknjs\SpØp.

A∏q∏≥ AXns‚ {Xn¬ If™p.]dbmw. jphdt√, F¥n\msW∂p]dbmsX cq]m Xcns√∂p

]d™Xv ? tKmUv t{]mankv?

sbkv. jph¿.Kpcphmbqc∏\mtW Xcn√.

Hm sI. ]dbmw. A∏q∏s‚ lm∏n_¿ØvtUbt√ \msf. A∏q∏\vRßƒ Hcp {So‰v Xcm≥ t]mIphm.]nkm {So‰v.

ssIbnencp∂ sIm®nbnse ]pXnbtjm∏nwKv amfnse AXym[p\nI

]nkm Hu´vse‰ns‚ BI¿jIambt{_mj¿ \nh¿Øn°mń Nncn®p.

A∏q∏\v CjvSw t]mse ]nkm.{Km≥Uv k¨kns‚ _¿ØvtU{]k‚ v.

A∏q∏s‚ tlmfnhpUv]nksb°mfpw kzmZmbncn°pw.t\m°nt°m.

Rm≥ Fs‚ bphXzhpwB[p\nIXzhpw Im´m\mbn Fs‚t]c°pńItfmSv ]≠-v HcpAtacn°≥{]kwK]cyS\Øn\nSbn¬tlmfnhpÕn¬ t]mbn AhnsS HcpC‰menb≥ sdtÃmd‚ns‚ c≠mw

\nebnse Xpd∂_m¬°Wnbnencp∂v]nkm Ign® IY]dbpambncp∂p.FdWmIpfØv A\h[n]nkm ISIfp-mbn´pwCXphsc ]nkmIgn°m≥ tXm∂nbnń√.

Rm≥ kΩXn®p.`mhnbn¬ \√ Hcptem_nbnÃv BIm≥t_kv sa‰ocnb¬P∑\m e`n®ncp∂Aizns‚ ZuXyw

hnPbn®Xn¬ ssIbSn®v BlvfmZw]n∂n¬ \n∂pb¿∂p. at‰ aq∂pt]ca°fpw NmSn h∂v F\n°ptj°v lm≥Uv X∂p. PohnXØn¬BZyambn´mWv ]nd∂mƒ kΩm\we`n°m≥ t]mIp∂Xv. AXn\v cq]

cq]mbpsS A°°W°pIfn¬ \n∂v tamNnX\mIm≥ F\n°p Ignbp∂n√.

F\ns°∂√, Fs‚ Xeapdbnse B¿°pw. Aømbncw cq]bpsS jqkpw,

]Xn\mbncØns‚ Po≥kpw Ccp]ØømbncØns‚ sk¬ t^mWpw Hcp

e£Øns‚ hm®pw bphXeapd hmßp∂Xv Hcp tPmSn d∫¿sNcn∏pw c-≠p

ap≠-pw j¿´pw kp`n£sa∂v IcpXnb Xeapdbv°v kln°m≥ hnjaamWv.

an°t∏mgpw Ch¿ kz¥w hcpam\amWv Nnehm°p∂Xv F∂Xv IqSpX¬

hnjaap-≠m°p∂p. Ahsc D]tZin°Ww. ]s£ D]tZin°m≥ XpSßnbm¬

AXv IqSpX¬ AI¬®bn¬ Ahkm\n°p∂p.


GUEST COLUMN

63

Nnehm°ptºmƒ B cq]bpsShnebv°v A¿∞an√mXmbn. C∂phsc e`n°mXncp∂Xcw Hcpkt¥mjw Inń.

]nd∂mƒ BtLmjn°m≥Cdßnbt∏mƒ A©phb pImc≥ AssZzXvHm¿Ωn∏n®p.

A∏q∏m, s{IUn‰v Im¿sUSpØn´p-t√m.

F√mhcpw IqSn]nd∂mƒBtLmjn®t∏mƒ_n√v c-≠mbncØnap∂q‰n AºXmbn.Rm≥ A©pA™qdp cq]mt\m´pIƒ Aizns\G¬∏n®p. Aizn≥_n√p sImSpØvs_bdtdmSp ]d™p.

_me≥kv tN´≥ht®m.

\q‰ºXp cq]m Sn∏psImSp°p∂Xv I≠-t∏mƒ s\™nSn®p.]s£ an-≠nbn√. .

cq]mbpsSA°°W°pIfn¬\n∂v tamNnX\mIm≥F\n°p Ignbp∂n√.F\ns°∂√, Fs‚ XeapdbnseB¿°pw. Aømbncw cq]bpsSjqkpw, ]Xn\mbncØns‚Po≥kpw Ccp]ØømbncØns‚sk¬ t^mWpw Hcp e£Øns‚hm®pw bphXeapd hmßp∂XvHcp tPmSn d∫¿sNcn∏pw c≠-p ap-≠pw j¿´pw kp`n£sa∂IcpXnb Xeapdbv°v kln°m≥hnjaamWv. an°t∏mgpw Ch¿

kz¥w hcpam\amWvNnehm°p∂Xv F∂Xv IqSpX¬hnjaap-≠m°p∂p. AhscD]tZin°Ww. ]s£D]tZin°m≥ XpSßnbm¬ AXvIqSpX¬ AI¬®bn¬Ahkm\n°p∂p.

`£WØnemWv XpS°w.`£WØn¬ h∂psIm-ncn°p∂am‰w kaql]ptcmKXnbpsSicnbmb AfhptImemWv. .

Cu‰v B≥Uv d¨.

aIvsUm\mƒUns‚ap{ZmhmIyamWv. _¿PdpwtImfbpw s]m´t‰m Nn]vkpw.t\m¨shPn\v lmw _¿P¿.sh÷n\v Nokv _¿P¿.

Ccp∂v Ign°m≥ kaban√.ssIIgpIm≥ kaban√.

kz¥w hońse ASp°f∏Wns]¨h¿§Øn\v ISabpw

B¨h¿§Øn\v teiwA`nam\°pdhp≈]cn]mSnbpambmWv \mwIW°m°p∂Xv. F®n¬∏m{XwIgpIepw ASp°fhyØnbm°epw ]pcpj≥\nh¿Ønbps-≠¶n¬ sNøn√.]s£ Ign™ AºXp h¿jambntemIsØºmSpw IqSpX¬IqSpX¬ kv{XoIƒ hoń\p]pdØv iºfw In´p∂ tPmen

sNøm≥XpSßnbt∏mƒASp°fbn¬Nnehgn°m\p≈kabw Ipd™pIpd™p h∂p.]pXnb ]pXnb I-≠p]nSpØßƒ\miIca√mØ]g°w hcmsXkq£n°mhp∂C≥Ã‚pw Izn°pw^pUv]ckyßfpambncwKØp h∂p.

Fs‚ kplyØvIpcy®s‚ ]nXmhvIpd®p h¿jw apºv\q‰nbmdmwhb nemW acn®Xv.At±lw ]°m

aetbmcI¿jI\mbncp∂p.]yph¿ shPnt‰dnbm\nbncp∂At±lØns‚ Ipń°meØvI™nbpw D∏pamßbpw tN\bpwIm®nepw thhn®Xpambncp∂p{][m\`£Ww. ac®o\n t]mepw\ΩpsS ASp°fIfn¬FØnØpSßnbn´v \qdp sIm√taBbn´p≈p. tKmXºp s]mSn®vamhm°n AXp \\®v ]cØnN∏mØn D-m°p∂ hnZy \ap°v

Fs‚ kplyØv Ipcy®s‚ ]nXmhv Ipd®p h¿jw apºv \q‰nbmdmw

hb nemW acn®Xv. At±lw ]°m aetbmcI¿jI\mbncp∂p. ]yph¿

shPnt‰dnbm\nbncp∂ At±lØns‚ Ipń°meØv I™nbpw D∏pamßbpw

tN\bpw Im®nepw thhn®Xpambncp∂p {][m\`£Ww. ac®o\n t]mepw

\ΩpsS ASp°fIfn¬ FØnØpSßnbn´v \qdp sIm√ta Bbn´p≈p. tKmXºp

s]mSn®v amhm°n AXp \\®v ]cØn N∏mØn D≠-m°p∂ hnZy \ap°v

A\yambncp∂p.


GUEST COLUMN

64

A\yambncp∂p.

GImZin {hXØn\v AcnbmlmcwIgn°m≥ ]mSn√mØXn\m¬tKmXºpI™n D-≠m°m\mbnam{XamWv Fs‚ apØ»n tKmXºphmßn∏n®ncp∂Xv. Rm≥BZyambn Dcpf°ngßpwkhmfbpw sSmamt‰mbpw I≠-XvXncph\¥]pcØv 1951 ¬tImtfPn¬]Tn°ms\Ønbt∏mgmWv. Rm≥hf¿∂ sN∂nØebnepwtN¿Øebnepw Chsbm∂pwIn´pambncp∂n√.

`£Ww hni∏p am‰m≥ am{Xa√F∂p a\pjy≥ Adn™Xv XoIqń AXn¬ `£Wkm[\wthhn°m≥ XpSßnb ImewapXemWv. `£Ww Nh®vIWvT\mfØnseØn°m≥ ]√pam{Xw aXn. \mhv Nh®p]cpham°nb Iq´v Hcpan∏n°p∂kv]qWns‚ I¿Ωta sNtø-Xp≈p.]s£ \m°n\v Hcp {][m\ ]WnIqSn ssZhw \¬In. cpNnbpsSkt¥mjw. k]vXh¿Æhpwk]vXkzchpw t]msek]vXcpNnbpw a[pcw, Fcnhv,

kz¥w hońse ASp°f∏Wn s]¨h¿§Øn\v ISabpw B¨h¿§Øn\v

teiw A`nam\°pdhp≈ ]cn]mSnbpambmWv \mw IW°m°p∂Xv.

F®n¬∏m{Xw IgpIepw ASp°f hyØnbm°epw ]pcpj≥ \nh¿Ønbps-¶n¬

sNøn√. ]s£ Ign™ AºXp h¿jambn temIsØºmSpw IqSpX¬ IqSpX¬

kv{XoIƒ hoń\p ]pdØv iºfw In´p∂ tPmen sNøm≥ XpSßnbt∏mƒ

ASp°fbn¬ Nnehgn°m\p≈ kabw Ipd™p Ipd™p h∂p.

]pfn, D∏v, Ibv∏v, Nh¿∏v, HcpcpNnbpw tXm∂mØXpw. CuHmtcm∂ns‚bpwG‰°pdn®pepIfpsSkahmIyßfmWv `£WØn\vcq]`mhw am‰ns°m-ncp∂Xv.

aqhmbncØntesd h¿jßƒ°papºp tkmfa≥ N{Ih¿ØnbpsSImeØp \ΩpsS Cu ae_m¿XocØp\n∂p sN∂ncp∂IpcpapfIpw {Kmºqhpw C©nbpwtdmam \KcØnse kº∂cpsSASp°fbnse G‰hpwhne]nSn∏p≈`£ytNcphIfmbncp∂p.amwkØns‚ cpNnbpw aWhpwIq´m≥ `£Whn`hßfn¬sshhn≤yw C√mXncp∂A°meØv IpcpapfIpw C©nbpwAXy¥mt]£nXambn amdn. F¥phnesImSpØpw Ch hmßm≥tdmanse [\nIkaqlwXbmdmbncp∂p.

apΩq∂p sIm√w IqSptºmƒSm¿jnse ]S°∏epIƒ hgnsskU¿, S¿ XpSßnbcmPyßfnse ^n\njy≥ \mhnI¿C{ktben¬ Cu Nc°pIƒ

FØn®ncp∂p. c-≠mbncØnA™qdp sIm√w apºvssN\bpsS BflobKpcphmbI¨^yqjykv P\ßsf`£WØn¬ C©n tN¿°m≥DZvt_m[n∏n®p.

bqtdm∏n¬ ioXImeØvamwkmlmcw am{XamWv B{ibw.amwkw Ffp∏w No™p \mdpw.NobmXncn°m\pw Aev]wNo™Xns\ cpNnIcam°m\pw H‰am¿§tabp≈p. [mcmfw D∏pwIpcpapfIpw C©nbpw tN¿ØvIq‰≥ `cWnIfn¬ AS®pkq£n®p hbv°pI.

\Ωƒ {]mbambh¿ `£WØnseam‰Øns\ kt¥mjtØmsSkzoIcn°mw.

\ap°v IpńIƒ \¬Ip∂ _¿ØvtU ]nkbpsS kt¥mjwDƒs°m≈m≥ {ian°mw.\ap°n∂phsc e`n°mXncp∂]nd∂mƒ kΩm\sØ a\ ns‚{]mIyX°W°pIfn¬ \n∂vtamNn∏n°m\pw {ian°mw.


Printed and Published by Fr.Varghese Panthalookaran CMI on behalf of Rajagiri Media, Rajagiri Valley PO, Kakkanad, Kochi-39Ph: 0484-2428249. Printed at Anaswara Printers, Elamakara, Kochi. Editor: James Paul

Photo ShootDr. Joachim Nitsch

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Pallikkutam : April 2014