Why Study?

This is an article that I recently wrote for my school juniors, to be published in a souvenir that my school (De Paul School, Berhampur, Odisha) is bringing out on the occasion of its Silver Jubilee. You are requested to think from the perspective of a high school student (Class 9-10) while reading this article.

I happened to come across a TEDx talk by Simon Sinek, the author best known for developing The Golden Circle and popularizing the concept of Why, that inspired me to write this article. Simon narrated this interesting story:

All of us know the Wright Brothers - the men credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane. But most of us do not know Samuel Pierpont Langley. In the late 19th/early 20th century, when building a powered flight was a hot topic of research and development, Samuel Pierpont Langley had everything of what we assume is the recipe for success. He had money; he was given $50000 by the War Department to design a powered airplane (that would have been more than 24 lakhs Indian Rupees today; this ofcourse was sometime around 1900). He had a seat at Harvard and the Smithsonian institution, and had access to the best infrastructure and facilities available during those times. He hired the best minds and the best talent that money could find to work for him. The New York Times used to follow him around everywhere, and everyone was looking up to him to make this 'flying machine'. Then how come we have never heard of Samuel Pierpont Langley?

A few hundred miles away were the Wright Brothers - Orville and Wilbur. They had none of what Langley had. They had no money; they paid for their dreams from the earnings from their bicycle shop. Not a single person in their team had college education, not even Orville or Wilbur. The New York Times followed them nowhere. But they were driven by a cause - a belief that if they could figure out this flying machine, it will change the course of the world. Samuel Pierpont Langley was different; he wanted to be rich, he wanted to be famous. The people in Langley's team worked for the result - the riches. Those with Wright Brothers worked for the cause - the belief. And eventually, on December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers took flight. And for proof that Langley was motivated by the wrong things, here's the most shocking fact - the day the Wright Brothers took flight, Langley quit! He could have said, “That's an amazing discovery, guys! Now let's improve upon this technology.” But he didn't. He wasn't first, he didn't get famous, so he quit! Despite having the money, the infrastructure, the resources, Langley couldn't be successful.

This made me realize that we, as students, are often motivated by the wrong things, just like Langley. We often make the mistake of pursuing the result; we study because we want to score 100%, we want to win the first prize, we want to be the topper wherever we go. And we go mad in our pursuit of the result. We resort to rote learning. We follow the herd to attend all kinds of tuitions. We do whatever it takes to reach the top. And as a result, in this crazy world of competition, we don't find a breathing space to actually enjoy our studies.

The real fun of education lies in appreciating its significance and learning its practical uses (and by practical use, I don't mean scoring marks in exams). Every subject that we learn in the classroom has something useful to teach us, something that aids us in understanding this world and this universe better, something that makes us a more capable person. We need to realize and appreciate this "something", only then can we understand the significance of what we are learning, and only then can we love our subjects and have the right motivation to study them.

How often do we bother to figure out the importance of what we learn in classrooms? We study History - the ancient age, the medieval period, the modern world; but how many of us can answer why we study all of that? Just because it's part of the curriculum? Nah, that can't be the only reason! We study Chemistry - we balance chemical equations, we write oxidation and reduction reactions, we study properties of compounds - but why? Do we know if those things really matter in this world? We study Mathematics - we learn set theory, we solve quadratic equations, we multiply matrices - but do we really know how and where these things can be of any use in life? If not, then why are we studying them in the first place? Just because our parents send us to school and our teachers give us homework? Is that our only motivation?

The trick to enjoying our subjects lies in finding the right motivation. And nothing can be a better motivation than a reason to love our subjects. It might be a tad unfortunate that we get to choose to study the subjects of our choice only after Class 10 or beyond, which means that until Class 10, we are constrained to study the subjects and topics that are prescribed for us by someone else, whether we like them or not. But with the good belief that our curriculum has been designed by wise and experienced people to impart us all-round education, we must find the right motivation to study within these constraints. Whenever we study a topic or a chapter, we must try to figure out its practical significance, or its conceptual elegance, or any other good reason to love the subject, and that will help us in enjoying our studies - and that, my dear friends, will automatically spur us to do well.

So the next time you attend any class, make sure you know why you're studying whatever you're studying. When your teacher asks you to write an official letter in a Language class, know that the exercise is to make you improve your letter-writing skills, as you'll be required to write a lot of important letters (emails) in your professional career. When your teacher explains you the world regions in a Geography class, know that it is to make you appreciate the differences in culture, landscape, social life and other aspects that exist among the different regions, so that you can comfortably interact and collaborate with people of different nationalities later on in your professional life if and when the need arises. When your teacher explains Total Internal Reflection in a Physics class, know that the phenomenon is something that forms the backbone of optical fibers and the internet, and is something without which you couldn't have checked your emails or used Facebook or chatted online with friends. When your teacher makes you study something which you really don't know why you should be studying, dare to ask, because unless you know it, you can't love the chapter, you can't have the right motivation to study. Studying just because you need to score good marks is like pursuing the result, like Samuel Pierpont Langley did; studying for the love of the subjects is like pursuing the cause, like the Wright Brothers did - the choice is yours.

I am reminded of these lines by Robert Frost that I had learnt in the holy premises of De Paul in Class 8 (way back in 2001-02), and which, I must admit, have had an indelible impact on the way I have looked at life and work ever since.
  

But yield who will to their separation,
My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.
Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For heaven and the future's sakes.

(Two Tramps in Mud Time, st. 9)

How Not To Be A Bad Teacher

I aspire to become a teacher sometime later in my career. I have already had the privilege of taking several classes* in a formal classroom setting and I must say, it feels good to face the other direction of the class; it feels special!

I have attended more than 2500 hours of classes at IIT Madras alone and in the process, I have realized that certain practices of teachers turn off students easily and therefore be best avoided. And this article is about a few of them.

Note that I have intentionally not titled the article How To Be a Good Teacher, because that is an entirely different topic and something that I don't have the experience yet to write about. But the first step to be a good teacher is to not be a bad teacher. And here's how.

When I become a teacher, I would strongly try to follow these points myself, and therefore, I have listed them out in the form of strict instructions to myself. The readers are requested to view them as mere suggestions and make appropriate use of them.

1. Don't arrive late for your class. Be present at the scheduled start-time. An occasional delay is acceptable, but on a regular basis, any delay more than 2 minutes reflects very badly on your professional ethics.
   
   
2. Don't humiliate students in classroom, especially if they arrive late to your class. The late-comer might have arrived after breaking his alarm clock that didn't ring at the right time or after puncturing his cycle on the way or after not getting a piece of (so-called) dosa in mess despite standing in the queue for 15 minutes - don't make him feel worse by humiliating him as soon as he enters the class.
   
   
3. Don't come unprepared. You may have been teaching the same course for the last 10 years, you might have taught the same topics just a week ago, but do spend some time to prepare every time before coming to a class. You may spend anything between 2 minutes to 2 hours or more, depending on your level of comfort with the topic, structure, content and style of presentation, but never walk into a class hoping for stuff to come out of your mouth all by itself.
   
   
4. Don't dish out petty rules and regulations. Asking students to switch off cellphones in class is okay, but asking them to stop using cellphones in life is definitely not okay! Don't thrust too many regulations and restrictions on the students. Don't make stupid rules on how they should enter the room, how they should sit, how they should wink or how they should breathe in air. Maintain your sanity, give them their space.
   
   
5. Don't make a mess on the board. Be neat with your handwriting, be clear with your notations. Use the board well. Don't make spelling mistakes. And for God's sake, please don't spell the title of your course wrong!
   
   
6. Don't harp on attendance. Your institute may have attendance regulations for students, and as an ethical/law-abiding teacher, you may have no option but to take attendance every class, but never use attendance as a crutch for making students attend your class. If your teaching is not a reason good enough, then your classes don't deserve to be attended anyway.
   
   
7. Don't bluff. You are not God; you are not omniscient. It is never a shame to say, "I'm not sure of this right now" or "I'll think about it and get back to you in the next class". Never bluff to hide your ignorance; the next-gen students don't take long to figure it out!
   
   
8. Don't throw high sounding jargon. You know the subject better than the others in the classroom and that is exactly the reason you are there as a teacher; don’t try to prove it. Think at the level of the class while introducing new terms and concepts. Don't show off; don't be rude.
   
   
9. Don't talk to the walls. Your students sit right in front of you; look at them while you're explaining. Be interactive; don't deliver a monologue. Don't sound monotonous too; modulate your voice well. And please don't talk facing the board.
   
   
10. Don't stretch your class beyond the scheduled end-time. You may take a couple of minutes more to wind up the last topic you were discussing, but every extra minute beyond that will reduce your popularity by half. And never try to take advantage of your students' respect for you by asking questions like "Can I take 5 more minutes?"; they will always nod their heads in approval just to save you from humiliation (Can you imagine how you would feel if all students answer a unanimous "No" and walk out of the classroom?).

*2 as Summer Research Fellow at IISc, Bangalore (Summer 2010) + 5 as Teaching Assistant for EE6110: Digital Modulation and Coding at IIT Madras (Fall 2010) + 3 as Teaching Assistant of EE6170: Introduction to Wireless and Cellular Communications (Spring 2011). Kudos to the concept of Teaching Assistantship for Dual Degree students at IITs!

(This article of mine will appear in The Last Bencher, a book of memories of the Class of 2011 brought out by IITM's Alumni Affairs Office.)

Dasvidaniya*

My list of 10 things to do before passing out of IIT Madras

Somebody commented that my blog articles are like Aamir Khan's movies - they come once in a year! For different reasons though. While the perfectionist Aamir takes a year to get his story right, I take my time to find a right story!

Being in the 5-year Dual Degree program, I always used to think that I have an extra year to do all the things that I ever wanted to do before graduation. Procrastination certainly gave me something to look forward to all the time. But looking forward now, I have just 3 more months and a lot of things to do before I complete my stay at IITM. This article will hopefully serve as a reminder and motivate me to start ticking things off my to-do list slightly faster.

1. Deliver a popular talk. For me, a talk is popular if it is on a topic interesting enough to pull at least a 100 people to the venue. Ok, I'll be happy with 50 too!
   
   
2. Write, compose and sing a song myself. This will be a tribute to all those who hold a broader understanding of music - that music is a way of expressing oneself, in whatever way it comes out, and not just making some words follow some sa re ga ma tune. And ya, by the way, I am not a singer!
   
   On a related note, it is somewhat disappointing to see the kind of Bollywood lyrics that is selling these days. Even some of the better lyricists in business are making shady Aahun Aahun sounds, using Ishq Ka Manjan and selling Tinku's Jiya, Sheila Ki Jawaani and Munni Ki Badnaami. God save bollywood lyrics!
   
   
3. Resume stand-up comedy. Greatly inspired by over three seasons of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, I had started doing stand-up comedy myself, even reaching the finals of Saarang 2007 Multilingual Laughter Challenge and winning the Best Individual Performance award at the NCC Annual Training Camp 2006-07 at IIT Madras for a stand-up comedy act. I never really had the opportunity or the enthusiasm to perform again, but I am seriously considering a comeback.
   
   
4. Write an article on How Not To Be a Bad Teacher. Having attended 187 credits of theory/lab classes at IIT Madras so far, I feel a strong urge to let the current/aspiring teachers know what are some of the things I feel they can do/avoid so as not to be dismissed as a bad teacher straightaway. Keep watching this space for the article; it's coming soon!
   
   
5. Pull off a complete conversation in Tamil. Many people know that I had picked up reading and writing Tamil pretty early in my IIT life (2nd sem), but I have always struggled with understanding it, and more so, speaking it. I have had several conversations that have lasted for multiple lines, like the following:
   
   Me (to shopkeeper): Idhu evalo?
   Shopkeeper: Pathu rupa
   Me: Aaru piece vennum. Irukka?
   Sk: Ippo illai Saar!
   Me: Seri, naan nalaikke same time varuven. Ok aa?
   Sk: Seri ok
   Me: Nanrri Saar
   
   But I have always wanted to pull off longer conversations with more complete sentences, and I hope I will be able to do that atleast a few times before I graduate.
   
   
6. Get my pics clicked at 5 of the popular "restricted-access" sites in insti. Possible options currently include the top of a Gajendra Circle elephant, the highest water tank, Tifanys roof, Diro's chair and Jhun's scooter. More/better suggestions?
   
   
7. Cheer India to a World Cup victory. Come February 19, and you'll find me more often in the common room than in my own room or department. With one of the strongest ODI teams ever, familiar subcontinental conditions and most of the squad in good form, if ever India had a chance to win the World Cup, then this is it! And I will play my part in taking India to the title.
   
   
8. Resume drawing and painting. I used to be good at drawing and painting during my school days, and had won several awards and prizes as well. But the two years of JEE preparations ruined it all. Even after joining IIT, I never found any incentive or motivation to get back to the art. But better late than never; I think I should put my pencils and brushes to action very soon!
   
   
9. Say a personal thank you to everyone who, during my stay here at IITM, has helped me, stood by me, made me feel special. I know it won't be possible to reach out to everyone personally, but I'll try to maximize my reach (Oh ya, I am solving an optimization problem currently for my Master's Thesis too!)
   
   
10. Finish my DDP in time. Last but not the least. In my quest for completing the above 9 tasks before passing out, I should not forget that I need to complete this 10th task too to actually pass out.
    

What do you want to do before bidding do svidaniya to insti?

*The title of this article is a pun on the list of ten things that I want to do before passing out of IIT Madras, and is derived from the Russian phrase do svidaniya, meaning good bye. There also exists a Hindi film of the same name.