Digital
literacy is often seen in the limited sense of an individual’s
ability to use and benefit from modern electronic gadgets today.
However, there is also a need for people to know the true worth of
the vast array of gadgets which are at offer. This is especially true
for many of us who are used to selling our old wares to the local
scraps buyer or the kabadiwala. In this age of smart gadgets where
our mobile phones are lighter than our wrist watches and our laptops
weigh less than...
A peek into the world through my eyes
Monday, October 16, 2017
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
An Impetus to #StartANewLife
The biggest temptation to lie as children comes
up owing to the dread of retribution from our parents, elders or other people
in authority. Gradually with age, the propensity to lie grows stronger and
stronger due to increasing fears. The sole reason of one’s
inability to say the truth is due to the lack of confidence in facing the repercussions
of saying the truth. In many ways, it is the elders who encourage this habit to
lie by punishing excessively which in many ways discourages...
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Towards a more Inclusive #DigitalIndia
While the mid 18th century to
the early 19th century period saw the rise of the Industrial
revolution which transformed the way things were manufactured and produced, the
mid 20th century to the present 21st century is undoubtedly the age of the Information & Communication Technology revolution
where ICT has transformed the way humans think, act and live in the world
today.
However, despite...
Monday, March 30, 2015
#Together with a friend in Mumbai
There sometimes arrive times when we are so troubled and
bogged down that we do not want to get off our beds and want to sleep all day
hugging our pillows close to our hearts. I had felt the same not many years ago
when I arrived in Mumbai to pursue my bachelors in media studies. Far away from
home, I had led myself into living a monotonous life where I had no friends and
people to call my own.
My college was 45 kms away and my pursuit for a qualifying
graduate degree meant I...
Saturday, November 1, 2014
In search of My God
As a growing up child, I was always
forbidden from asking such questions as, “where is God and why should we
worship him?” My mother, the only person who would give me a hearing would
reassure me that their existed a superior omnipresent power who we all ought
to worship for all the good things we enjoy in life. And indeed, for this
reason I worshipped God (whenever the need arose, as most of us do) until
sometime around the age of 10 when I started to suspect that probably praying...
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Limits to using 'Technology'
My
experience of staying without gadgets, telecommunication, and the World Wide
Web after having gotten acquainted with all of them happened first when out on
my field trip to the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. The tribal dominated
district of Gadchiroli which falls on the eastern corner of the state is a
densely forested tribal district often known infamously as being the western
end of the...
Thursday, October 23, 2014
The Purpose of Education
“You don’t even
have an ambition. You do not like to wear good clothes, aspire to wear a nice
watch, or have a house and a car in the future. What is the point of your
studying so much? There is no point in your reading so many books and wasting
your time if you have no aim to succeed”, declared my aunt when delivering another
one of her long sermons when discussing my future.
Much irritated
as...
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Celebrating Diwali, Deepavali and Kali Pujo
https://www.gharwalidiwali.com/
I come from a multi-lingual background
where my mother is a Tamil and my father is a Bengali. Their distinct customs and
rituals meant that every festival in our house was celebrated in a manner in
which both their traditions were amalgamated in a way in which neither felt deprived
over the other. But Diwali was an exception owing to its distinct...
Monday, October 20, 2014
"Daddy"- The Birth of a Father [REVIEW]
Says Tuhin in his book, “If a woman can
juggle responsibilities so beautifully, I don’t see why we should be left
behind.” DADDY has a story to tell of how a man's inability to endure the physical pain of child-birth
doesn't in any way stop him from being his wife’s pillar of support. Reading it
indeed proves that sharing the responsibilities of parenting can be an amazing
experience.
The lack of a Paternity leave in India for
fathers means that a large part of the load of child care falls on the mother.
However, there are various other ways in which a father can help to ensure the
welfare of the new born.
The book is neatly divided into 6 Sections
with each of them being divided into separate chapters. Every chapter ends with
a ‘Things to Remember’ where the chief points of that chapter are summarized in
bullet-pointers.
Beginning with helping one to decide on
what the right time to become a parent is, the book goes on to explain what a
man is to do right upon knowing that his wife is pregnant. It highlights the
essentials that need to be ensured amid all the joy and delight of the good
news.
Successive chapters help to understand how
a man is to treat his wife during the course of 9 months of pregnancy. The
various fears about birth related complications expecting parents often feel are
dealt with in a thorough and comprehensive manner.
The author’s personal experiences during Labour
Day in the hospital and the baby’s homecoming are interesting and in many ways
an essential read. The boons and banes of the role played by
the grandparents have been justly represented and are undeniable. The book
deals with many anxieties that arise in the minds of first time fathers due to
the lack of proper medical knowledge and shows how most of these fears are falsely
based.
Also, rather than restricting his
discussion to the role of a father alone, Tuhin additionally and interestingly
discusses on the need for a father to work on his role of being a good husband as well.
Reconnecting the lost love between a couple post child birth is important too.
A happy family shall mean a healthy child.
A good part of the book is kept for discussing
the issue of disciplining and when to know that parental indulgence is spoiling
a child. Anxiety issues that arise in a child and other problems that can arise
in a child’s mind are discussed with solutions in an expert take penned down by
the renowned psychologist, Dr. Seema Hingorrany.
A chapter titled ‘Protecting your Baby’
highlights on the need for vaccination and the dos and don’ts to follow in the
event of common illnesses. Another expert take is offered here by pediatric
consultant and oncologist, Dr. Santanu Sen and pediatrician Dr. Ninad Hebbalkar.
The seventh and last section Fatherhood
Across Generations is an interesting emotional account that the author writes
about his relationship with his father. He further writes a 'Things I’d do differently' (as a father) column where he
delineates how he wishes to bring his child up. I think this last part was a
really informative column and something every father must take special note of, for as Dr. Hingorrany puts it “Health issues can be medically treated, but if
behavioral issues are left unattended, they can leave a significant impact on
the child's personality development which in turn impacts their success or failure in
life.”
This book is a PR sample but it has in no way affected my opinion on its content.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Social Work education in India
Studying in one
of the foremost and most prestigious (or so it’s called) institutes of Social
Work for Rural Development in Maharashtra for the past one year has enabled me
to structure my long held thoughts on education better. Education is no more a means
to apply knowledge and develop thinking capacities. Today learning has been
reduced to being just a medium to ensure one a secure financial...
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