IQ Is Not Set In Stone

An Intriguing Question

I had never been perfectly sure whether exposure to puzzles, mental challenges, and high-level language skills do indeed change the reckoning of a child's Intelligence Quotient with the help of one of the standardised tests.

Measurement of IQ is not easy, it is a highly specialised task of a qualified psychologist. All available IQ tests have been subject to criticisms of various types. The actual IQ scores are also said to vary from time to time. It is said to depend on the mood of the test-taker at the time of the test. It depends on the companions or peers taking the test with the individual. Their individual cultural, racial, ethnic differences appear to vary the results.

However, one thing that I had observed throughout my life was that young people did appear to build up certain strengths within themselves if either by themselves or through the influence of peers, or of capable parents or Mentor/teachers, they widened their horizons, strengthened skills, and applied their knowledge to solving practical problems with forethought and capabilities.

The thousands of students who have gone through the programmes of THE GENIUS over the last 21 years bear testimony to this. Those who declare that you are born with a certain level of intelligence, and that no power on earth can change it must accept that this is just true! This certainly is good news to all the young people who desist from wasting their time with inane television entertainment, or insipid conversation with ignoramuses.

In this connection do visit the web-page at this link: IQ Isn't Set In Stone and listen to experts telling us that the right exposure at the right time does add to your cerebral capacities!

One other point: a child's intellectual development begins at birth. Early exposure to thinking skills, and mental challenges will bring forth an entire generation of geniuses, I am sure!

Send me your comments, if you have any. I shall publish them with my reply.
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And, for those who are interested in an instant mental challenge, here's a problem for you to solve:

What are the next two numbers in this sequence?

7, 14, 17, 21, 27, 28, 35, 37, ?, ?

Happy puzzle-solving!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prasan Wilfred

THE GENIUS REUNION

On the evening of Saturday, the 25th June 2011, we had our first real REUNION in 21 years! Anand Wilfred, Aunty and I met twenty-two of our past students on our premises at Saket, Indore. Envisaged by Shriya Gupta and made possible with the help of Shreya Raj, the evening turned out to be a truly memorable one.

All of them took time off their busy schedules and came over to let down their hair, re-introduce themselves to old friends, re-live some of the beautiful memories of their earlier days at THE GENIUS, and also to play a couple of games. It was nostalgic to listen to Prasad Kawathekar reciting the story "Peace at Last" that they had learnt while in Class 3 or 4. Some of them recalled the words of "The Charge of the Light Brigade" recited with vigour and a flourish.

Everyone enjoyed a game of "Scattergories" which they had never played at THE GENIUS during their days. This was a new game we had introduced a year ago in our effort to develop thinking skills in new ways.
It was a great evening and we hope we would be able to repeat such occasions more often.

All the photographs with captions can be viewed at this link on Picasaweb.

OPEN DAY IN DUBAI

Someone very rightly called our 'education system' as a mere 'examination system'. Schools appear to make concerted efforts to help children to stop thinking and learn the ready-made regurgitated notes, to learn facts by rote, and to repeat everything verbatim in test papers.
For an elaboration of this thought please read my post at http://the-genius-blog.blogspot.com/2008/03/raison-dtre.html.

We devised our system of fun and games with an intellectual content so that children would begin to think for themselves, be able to understand what they learn, develop capabilities beyond what is envisaged by the pedagogues, and express themselves with their own ideas and opinions.

We are now trying to reach out to Dubai in the hope that we can contribute our bit to the development of the children of this region.

OPEN DAY in DUBAI -

Scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon on June 11, 2011
Venue: Mankhool, Bur Dubai

Telephone: DUBAI 050-4693191 -- Call Veathika Jain

ISHITA GARG DECLARED GENIUS OF THE YEAR 2011

The Greatest Evening of the Year 2010 - 2011

ISHITA GARG DECLARED GENIUS OF THE YEAR 2011

The Annual Awards evening this year took place on three separate days: 27th March for the Vijayanagar unit, 2nd April for the junior children of Saket, 3rd April for children from group Alpha (classes 9 to 12) to group E (Class 4).

The spirit of the evenings was just fun and laughter, loads of books for the successful children interspersed with some interesting performances. This year the children ended the festivities with a mass performance of the energetic dance "STEP IN TIME".

Click here to see the children come in small and large groups in sheer exuberance.

Here is a clipping of the Book Review on A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. This will give the viewer a sample of the quality of work the children do at The Genius.

THE coveted GENIUS OF THE YEAR 2011 AWARD winner was Ishita Garg. It consisted of a Certificate, a silver trophy, and a set of books.

Here Ishita Garg holds her trophy, her proud parents on the stage equally honoured, and the books -- the full 60-volume set of The Britannica Great Books of the Western World -- displayed for all to see.

This picture is of the children of Group E [Class 4] performing "The Energy Rap".

The students of the Alpha Group [Classes 9 to 11] displayed great talent performing a small spoof on Shakespeare's great "MACBETH". Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-PClBQILko.

It was, as usual, left to my lot to speak a "few words of wisdom" to my audience of parents. I chose just a few queries to which the children desired answers from their parents. You can see this speech by clicking on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Fky72hS4FI.

We ended the year on a note of joy with a repeat performance of "Step in Time" and hope to re-start our work in earnest in July 2011.

Our past students now grace the portals of the world's leading Universities, and contribute in a great way to making India a proud country. Many of them do keep in touch with us and we are happy that our small contribution is adding so much to the quality of education that is now being described as an 'examination system' as opposed to an honest 'education system.' All our Mentors and I have truly earned kudos all along for our work, and it is my hope that we would have the energy and the intellectual ability to continue our work for many years!

CRYPTOGRAM # 6

Here's another interesting Cryptogram.
These immortal quotations in coded language are given to our students to decipher -- each is a mental challenge that should assist and accelerate intellectual growth.

"VHCQVOR DVSI XDIRI VASVHXVWIR JSIB QVH: XDIE HISIB DIVB XDI FOJFP RXBCPI, XDIE ACI LCXDJGX VHE CAIV JY AIVXD, XDIE DVSI HJ XIVFDIBR VHA KBIRFDIBR XJ CHRXBGFX XDIQ, XDICB OVRX QJQIHXR VBI HJX ACRXGBUIA UE GHLIOFJQI VHA GHKOIVRVHX FIBIQJHCIR, XDICB YGHIBVOR FJRX XDIQ HJXDCHW, VHA HJ JHI RXVBXR OVLRGCXR JSIB XDICB LCOOR" -- SJOXVCBI, KDCOJRJKDIB (1694-1778)

CRYPTOGRAM # 5

Here's the next Cryptogram:

TW GIO ZTNCWA: CW RMTJMW, VRM YGICBM TFM UFCVCZR, VRM BRMHZ TFM HFMWBR, VRM QMBRTWCBZ TFM AMFQTW, VRM IGJMFZ TFM CVTICTW, TWO MJMFNVRCWA CZ GFATWCPMO UN VRM ZXCZZ. CW RMII, VRM YGICBM TFM AMFQTW, VRM BRMHZ TFM UFCVCZR, VRM QMBRTWCBZ TFM HFMWBR, VRM IGJMFZ TFM ZXCZZ, TWO MJMFNVRCWA CZ GFATWCPMO UN VRM CVTICTWZ.

DOES YOUR PARENT HAVE TIME FOR YOU?

PARENTS ought to read this ...

If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in — Cleveland Abbe (American meteorologist, inventor and astronomer)

Is this quotation relevant to today's families?
Does every child have an adult at home with whom he/she can discuss things that are learnt in school, the news that newspapers publish, and the activities that The Genius exposes them to for the first time in their lives?

One of the important things we do is to have Mock Press Conferences, where each student acts out the part of a leader, a decision maker, and the rest of the group becomes press correspondents, and come prepared to fire away questions.

Our politicians often kick up an infernal ruckus in the sacred precincts of the parliament instead of having an intelligent debate. They would be put to shame by the tactful and well-informed manner in which some of our young students handle the questions that they are asked!

When these competitions are in progress, we can identify children whose parents are too busy to be of active intellectual assistance. We also observe children whose attention spans have been nearly destroyed by the importance given to television serials and movies of pedestrian tastes in some homes.

Parents who read this would do well to contribute to children's development on a daily basis, and proffer them quality conversation time as often as they can.

One eventful day at The Genius

Not really just one day - it's a series of events every weekend for four or five weeks, but to each child, it is just one day - one day of great expectations, looking forward to specially prepared dishes - enchiladas, cannellonis and the works - all served in courses from soft drinks through soup, cutlets et al until a succulent dessert appears on the table at the end of a scrumptious repast. Appropriate bowls, plates, spoons, forks and knives are laid out for each course, and they are not served by flunkies (we have no flunkies at THE GENIUS), but by Mentors of exceptional calibre, especially trained - not in table service - but in development of thinking skills. Visit http://the-genius-blog.blogspot.com/2008/03/raison-dtre.html and you will understand why we need to do stuff that parents and schoolteachers ought to be doing.

To cut it short, I shall just say that THE GENIUS is indeed the whole enchilada! (..."the whole enchilada" is an idiomatic expression referring to something that is complete in itself. Refer to a good dictionary before you use it in writing or speech).

If you wish to see some of the pictures of one of the evenings, please click here.

CRYPTOGRAM # 4

Another Cryptogram for the enthusiast --

LY LYPLX, IKJJWGC GKULCLILXYH PKY'C TK CK VXLU; HKNM TK CK GXJULXNMYC. LZ CEMR XJM ... FKCM-SXYA CEWTH, CEMR NXR MFMY SMIKNM IXSLYMC NLYLHCMJH -- JXFL HEXYAXJ

YOU need a Dictionary too!

Anu Garg [whose http://wordsmith.org/ has reached phenomenal subscriber numbers] says:
"There's a new exhibit here in Seattle, showcasing props from the Harry Potter series. As I make my way through it, I see kids holding magic wands in their little fingers and pretending to cast spells. If only we all had a book of spells we could use to make things happen!
"It turns out we do. It's called a dictionary. It has all the magical words we need (though some assembly is required). We can use them to convince (from Latin vincere: to overcome), to motivate (from movere: to move), to inspire (from inspirare: to breathe [life] into), and more."

A Dictionary is a tool of the trade for those who seek to speak fluently, to speak using words that are appropriate to the context, and to those who desire to write impressively. We at THE GENIUS recommend that every child from the very youngest possess a dictionary, and learn all aspects of using it.

Older students may also subscribe to http://wordsmith.org/ for a daily dose of words and their interesting origins.

CRYPTOGRAM # 3

An irresistible temptation

When I come across a good quotation - that is, one that does not preach to us from a high pedestal, but has a bit of tongue-in-cheek humour as well, and a sprinkling of truth spiced with satire, I am sorely tempted to share it with the many students and Mentors at THE GENIUS as well as with other friends and well-wishers. I posted the last Cryptogram only two days ago, yet here's another one - swiftly following the last one.

Here's Cryptogram # 3:

SYVT XRP XGTP GX QPJYDK XV XJQO PAPYU NRGQC TJOPK J CYPJCSMQ DMGKJDNP VS GXKPQS EU JKOGDH 'ZRU?'. XV KXVI XRGK DMGKJDNP KVNGPXU GDAPDXPC J TJYAPQQVMK KUKXPT NJQQPC PCMNJXGVD ZRGNR EYGDHK XV JD PDC XRPGY CPKGYP XV JKO XRJX LMPKXGVD. XRP SPZ SJGQMYPK VS XRGK KUKXPT JYP ODVZD JK KNGPDXGKXK -- KGY RPYTJDD EVDCG

I am publishing only the names of the first two all-correct solvers. I need your opinions if I ought to put up the solution as well. I had thought of avoiding display of the solution in order that anyone who visits the page ought to have the mental challenge of the puzzle without the solution available. If anyone finds it difficult to solve a Cryptogram and would like me to send the solution, please put in your comment saying so, and you will receive it directly by mail as quickly as possible.

Happy deciphering!

CRYPTOGRAM # 2

Here's another Cryptogram for you to solve. Unfortunately the author of this humorous line is unknown. So just solve it and click on "Comments" and put down your name and the complete solution.

TZCVDSFN GQL NZ SFBLCCSULFB BDGB OSBDSF ZFCK G JLO OLLRN ZJ IGVBSPSBK, BDLK IGF BQGSF G DEYGF HLSFU BZ NBGFT GB BDL PLQK LTUL ZJ BDL VZZC GFT BDQZO BDLY JSND.

10-year olds and above ought to try their hand at decoding cryptograms.

You can use the Comments section for any messages that you wish to send us.



Prasan Wilfred, THE GENIUS
October 30, 2010

CEREBRAL CHALLENGES & CRYPTOGRAMS

Message from Prasan Wilfred!

Here's something exclusive for those who love mental challenges like the children of THE GENIUS do!

Here's the first CRYPTOGRAM [a simple substitution code] -- put on your thinking caps, decipher the quotation, and send me the solution as quickly as you can by clicking on "Post a Comment" below.

FMGS HMWDT VDFMNV VP AMRT MWDBGNFV PX XMBDS XWPA DSF PDSFW, MRY DSF GMRYBYMDFV VHFRY VP AIGS DBAF AMOBRQ FMGS PDSFW'V VHFFGSFV, DSMD UT DSF DBAF FNFGDBPR YMT BV HMVD DSFWF BV RPDSBRQ AIGS DP YP VMLF DIWR DSF VBDDBRQ WMVGMNV PID MRY NFD M RFZ QMRQ BR -- S. N. AFRGOFR

I have been, from time to time, personally mailing Cryptograms to a large number of current and old students of THE GENIUS, as well as to our Mentors and others interested in this kind of cerebral challenges.

Henceforth I will not mail it to anyone but I shall display on this blog new Cryptograms for you to solve from time to time.

Have fun!

The Greatest Evening of the Year

All of us at The Genius look forward at all times to the Annual Awards evening. The last couple of years we have had to spread this over two evenings, as we have over 800 children with their parents joining us to celebrate their children's attainments.

We spent our two evenings on 3rd and 4th April 2010 at the beautifully renovated and refurbished Ravindra Natya Graha, Indore.

The spirit of the evening was just fun and laughter, 60 to 70 cartons of books (from the UK, USA, & Australia) given away as prizes and a final dance of sheer ecstasy as was echoed in the spirit of the universal favourite Do-re-mi to which the entire lot including a few Mentors danced with glee.
Click this link to see it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nVww0Rc9lw

Well-wishers from around the world wrote to congratulate us when they saw the video, and we have had to clarify that dance forms no part of our work whatsoever. Music, yes; poetry and humour, yes; and anything that is enjoyable for children and yet is intellectual is part of our repertoire! The dance was just a spontaneous joyous release of energies.

Vacation now until we re-assemble mid-July 2010, refreshed, refurbished, re-enthused. That would usher in another nine months of wonderful evenings picking each other's brains, challenging little children to reach out higher and to aim for new learnings and even greater attainments.

It has been [as Robert Browning put it so aptly] "Roses, roses all the way" for everyone connected with THE GENIUS.

My WONDERFUL TEAM OF MENTORS and my family thank our universe for the extraordinary support.
Many new Mentors will be with us while some of the senior ones leave us for various universities, some to different lands seeking fulfilment in new mental challenges. The children who benefited from the cerebral inputs of these Mentors carry an eternal imprint in their neurons - an imprint that will forever bear the names of those who influenced them.

THE GENIUS 20th ANNUAL AWARDS 2010

12-YEAR OLD RISHABH JAIN WINS THE GENIUS OF THE YEAR 2010 AWARD

The 20^th Annual Awards function [The picture: L to R - Rishabh Jain's parents, Rishabh, Aunty Shobha & Uncle Prasan Wilfred] of The Genius was celebrated with great enthusiasm over the last weekend. It was held on the 3th and 4th April 2010 in the Ravindra Natya Graha auditorium attended by the elite of Indore.

THE GENIUS, now quite renowned for its intellectual enhancement programme for school children, declared 12-year old RISHABH JAIN of Class 7 (now in Class 8) the winner of The Genius of the Year Award 2010.

The Award included a silver trophy, an artistically crafted certificate, and a 22-volume set of the World Book Encyclopedia worth over Indian Rupees 40,000 ($800).

The criterion for the Award is high intellectual potential and consistent meritorious performance in all areas of cerebral activity.

THE GENIUS, located in Saket and Vijayanagar, has been catering to the intellectual needs of over 800 bright children from twenty different schools. They undergo one-hour-a-day sessions of intense, yet fun-oriented, intellectual games that challenge their thinking skills, exercise their mental muscle, and contribute to their growth in areas not covered by school curricula.

The outstanding prize winners at the gathering were Samarth Agarwal, Rakshit Jain, Benimadhav Agrawal, Kartikey Jajoo, Tanishq Kishnani, and Ishaan Manudhane.

THE GENIUS stimulates the curiosity of young minds, and assists development of mental agility, and high awareness levels.

We now await the great day!

Expectations run high before the great day. The children of all groups are trying to guess who the winner of "The Genius of the Year Award 2010" would be. We have to select one child from among a galaxy of intelligent, quick-witted, and ambitious youngsters.

All our students are mentally agile, gifted with immense intellectual energy, and they cast a glow on all those who come in contact with them - a daunting galaxy indeed!

Try to guess who would be the winner, it is no easy task. One might as well dig atop the summit of Mount Everest for that one perfect snow-crystal.

The Annual Awards will be as usual on the first Saturday in April - and, now that we have to cater to about 800 children, it spills over to the following day as well. The winner would receive a silver trophy, a certificate, and an encyclopaedia worth over Rs. 40,000 ($ 800).

If you wish to know what THE GENIUS is all about, click on "raison d'etre" that I wrote while introducing this blog two years ago.

The Genius Annual Awards 2009

This year's annual gathering of parents and students for the 19th Annual Awards of THE GENIUS had to be spread over two evenings (April 4 & 5, 2009) in the Takshila Auditorium of the DAVV (Indore University). Almost every one of the 800 students participated in a skit, or a song, or recitation of a poem.

They were two wonderful evenings of happy faces, heart-warming entertainment, achievement rewarded with thousands of valuable books from the UK, the USA and Australia, and intellectual self-confidence shining in the eager young eyes. They had carried the spirit of learning through fun and games.

The climax came on the 5th April when The Genius of the Year Award was taken by not one, but two outstanding students whose performance had been consistently and pre-eminently superior - Anshul Gupta of Class 9 (Satyasai Vidya Vihar) and Aashna Bhatia of Class 6 (Bhavan's Prominent School).

The Award as usual was a silver trophy to each winner, but the usual encyclopaedia was replaced this year by a set of the 50-volume World's Great Classics (Grolier) - a masterpiece collection of the greatest cerebral outpourings of the world's intellectual giants of the last 30 centuries of civilisation.

It was a special day for the select team of Mentors who had put in tremendous effort to meet the lofty goals we set ourselves to facilitate the development of children through superior thinking skills.

FREETHINKERS CAN SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT TOO!

Libertarians & Communists, Capitalists & Socialists

Anand Wilfred has devised a new project for the students of Class 7 and 8 – an exercise in opinion-forming – unconnected with the run-of-the-mill academic routine in their schools. When asked to speak on topics concerning sociological problems or political matters, children's opinions often simply reflect that of their parents, except in cases where parents took the time and the effort to enlighten their children through intelligent conversation. Many such parents allow the youngsters to form their opinions too.

Teams of our students fanned out among the folks in their neighbourhoods asking adults for their opinions about their political beliefs and social values. They carried questionnaires seeking ideas and leanings. Presently, they are plotting the results of the opinions gathered from socialism to capitalism on a horizontal axis and social values from absolute freethinking (close to anarchy) through conservatism to stern control on a vertical axis. Some of them will make pie charts or bar graphs to depict their results.

The entire exercise gave them opportunities to discuss the topics with dozens of adults, some of them highly enlightened professionals with clear ideas. They have encountered contradictions, come across differences, seen a rainbow of opinion. It proved to be an interesting exercise, and we are looking forward to the results to be plotted on graphs and presented by the eight teams to their groups one after another.

Elections would be upon us in the State of Madhya Pradesh and also for the Indian Parliament quite soon. These innocents will probably know what to do if they were given the power to vote!

Global Warming & Our Environment

Political opinion apart, one other area on which we lay great emphasis is the protection of the environment. Mandvika Rathore worked on a plan to get the students of Class 5 and 6 (children aged just 10 and 11) to survey their neighbourhoods asking families for information on their petrol needs, quantum of electric power consumed, and garbage management. They have all seen Al Gore's compelling and obligatory movie "An Inconvenient Truth" and their minds are already at work on how each family can contribute to make the environment safer for the future.

We live in a city where garbage remains uncollected for days and is spread around by rag-pickers (mostly very poor children) for whom pieces of plastic salvaged from the garbage will provide the wherewithal for the next meal.

A big motor-car carrying a single student to school is not an uncommon sight. (Ads on buses in Mumbai carry the legend: One bus carries as many people as 48 cars do!)

The act of switching off lights in a room is often considered infra dig among the upper middle class. A sad commentary indeed in a country that has become an economic power house, that has the power to change the global threat to the environment.

Children will have the power to change attitudes in their families, where adults may fail! The planet would be safe in their hands.

Know your roots!

A Message to my Students, age 12 and above

You will observe, as you grow older, that reading school books and learning for examinations do not help to develop vocabulary after Class 8. That's it -- you have to do this on your own, no teacher can help you.

One of the ways is to understand how the English language grew into the mighty ocean of words and synonyms and antonyms the way it is today, with a total vocabulary of over a million words, and probably even more if we count the technical, chemical, and other terms that professionals use in their work. Why did Hindi not keep pace with it? Why not Tamil or Telugu, and not even French? Recent history answers the question.

Some of the influential speakers of these languages did not wish to have their languages 'polluted', or made 'unclean' with words from other languages. I remember the fanatical enthusiasm with which the Hindi-speakers sought to chase Arabic, Persian, and Urdu words out of the language of the people of India. I remember the virulent speeches rendered by the 'Dravidian' leaders of south India when they spoke of the defilement, desecration, and contamination of Tamil when many common words had evolved from Sanskrit, or were rooted in Sanskrit.

Young people must understand that languages grow naturally through the way people use them, and they evolve into magnificent means of communication with a wide vocabulary when no group, no specific religion, no particular nation claims it as its own. English had this advantage ever since the British Empire spread its tentacles around the globe 200 years ago. And, English grew to fill a vacuum. This language simply absorbed words from other languages throughout its history, accelerated the pace since 1400 A.D., and can now be called the world's most preferred language of communication.

I had been wanting to write on words, their origins, and the interesting stories of how they evolved. Visit my blog at http://wordroots.blogspot.com/ for some words and their roots, which I shall keep posting from time to time. I can neither make this exhaustive nor can I make my posts a school lesson nor college lecture. I do try to make my posts readable, humorous, satirical, or interesting. If you will write your ideas into the comments box, I would have a feedback of your feelings on my blogs and their usefulness.

Get yourself a good dictionary (edition as recent as possible, definitely not over 5 years old), and commence looking it up for every new word that you come across. See your word stock grow - it is a process that will not stop till the end of your days! One of the first chapters in most dictionaries is a brief history of the language. Read it and see for yourself how interesting it all becomes thereafter. I wish you happy times with English words!

Julius Caesar & the Dictionary are fun

When I started our first Vacation batch as I launched The Genius in 1990, I did not dream of presiding over an institution that would take root and reach legendary proportions. No, we haven't grown into a Leviathan - uncontrollable, unwieldy, unwept, unhonoured, unsung - nor into a factory relentlessly producing success stories by the dozen that we can splash in colour ads in newspapers!
We have remained a home for fun for hundreds (nay, thousands!) of young people from age 5 to 17, people who grow up, spread around the world, and occasionally come back to us through their emails, their occasional visits, sometimes with a bouquet on my birthday, and sometimes with an invitation for a wedding where Aunty and I become honoured guests.
Our Summer Programme (tradition holds me back from shortening it to the more rational spelling) started from 1st May 2008, and temperatures soon soared to 43 C. Coolers pumping in air at lowered temperatures didn't really help much!

A month has gone by, and I am retrospecting ...
The students of class 7 to 12 watched a 30-minute clip from the 55-year old film "Julius Caesar" starring Marlon Brando, James Mason, John Gielgud, and such other Shakespearean actors. We showed them the assassination scene and the funeral orations thereafter. We chose Brutus' speech - "...not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more!" - for students from class 9 upward to learn up and declaim. The younger ones were given Mark Antony's famous words that end with "Mischief thou art afoot; take thou what course thou wilt!" What a show there was, my readers, whilst all of us felt the words take hold of our hearts and minds and take them to the great historic scene in glorious Rome on the Ides of March, 44 BCE past Shakespeare's Globe, bypassing Plutarch, and all those that dealt with the historic event and the memorable scene.
Anand, Mandvika, and Garima are now planning a fun session with the Dictionary. All the students would bring their dictionaries, and for the first time in their lives, they would look at the symbols that indicate the way a word is pronounced. I do not feel proud when I use the words 'for the first time in their lives' - it is the unfortunate lot of so many of them that most homes and schools do not teach them how to accent the words, how to discover pronunciation for themselves, and also, to read up meanings of the new words that they encounter in the course of their education.
In our session, students would be handling words that are commonly mispronounced - dais, memento, bizarre, chameleon, tortoise. English is not a phonetic language like Hindi is and hence it cannot be picked up, it needs to be learnt. We do not teach the language, but we do show our youngsters how to learn it for themselves.
In the next post, I shall tell you about all that we do with the children of class 6 down to Kindergarten.

Stories from a budding genius

Here are two stories by Aakash Wilfred, aged 8. He will be 9 in July.

I reproduce them without editing either the language or the formatting. I am sure my readers will enjoy the originality and the expression. I particularly enjoyed the happy ending that he contrives so cleverly.

AAKASH WILFRED

CROCS & ALENK

One day, two crocodiles were resting in the sun. Their names were Crocs and Alenk. Crocs woke up and then he woke up Alenk. He said '' We should hunt in the forest.
I am tired of fish now.'' ''Well'' said Alenk, ''If you want to eat deer; I shall come too. I am going to eat some deer too.’’
As you know crocodiles are fast runners and it did not take long for them to reach the forest. Crocs and Alenk hid behind a tree and waited for a deer to pass by.At last they saw a deer come by.Crocs and Alenk pounced on it. Crocs killed the deer by hitting it with his tail and Alenk dragged it back to the river in which they lived. They had a very good dinner, indeed.Then, one day Crocs said''Alenk, should we have the same dinner like last time?'' Alenk said ''Okay I suggest we should, but won't it be better if we had a different dinner like buffalo or something?'' asked Alenk. ''Well,I do think your idea is good'' said Crocs. On their way to the forest, they met a tiger. He was looking for food too. ''What is your name?'' asked Crocs. ''My name is Tanger. Who are you two?'' asked Tanger. '' My name is Crocs and his name is Alenk'' said Crocs. ''I was hunting deer but the deer
which I was hunting suddenly disappeared.'' said Tanger. ''Heh,heh so your deer suddenly disappeared
into thin air'', laughed Alenk. ''It's not funny Alenk. The last time I was hunting deer it disappeared strangely. Do tell me Tanger, did this deer which you saw disappear, did it have stripes that were of golden colour?'' asked Crocs. ''Yes, it did, do you know where that deer lives? If we could find it we could have a reward'',Tanger said.Before anybody could say anything, the deer suddenly came by. Tanger, Crocs and Alenk leapt upon the deer. Crocs and Tanger killed the deer by hitting it on a tree trunk.
They dragged it back to the forest river where the lion was with his followers.
''Where have you been, Tanger, Crocs and Alenk?'' demanded the lion.
''We three have hunted the Disappearing Deer for you'' Alenk said.''Good , now you all do deserve a reward. All three of you'll will have 17 kgs of meat delivered to your houses everyday.Now, goodbye'', the lion said.
They had a lovely time because they did not have to hunt.And so, the story ends in a good ending.
Bye,Bye

Aakash Wilfred Class 3
Hyderabad Public School , Begumpet

This is Story # 2

CHESTNUTS

Fawny was a young deer who liked to play and have fun with his friends.And he did not have to worry about tigers because he was a very friendly deer.His father had a friend who was a tiger.So the tiger's son and Fawny were friends.The tiger's son's name was Torger.One fine day Torger said ''Fawny, why don't we collect some chestnuts from the woods.I will take my basket and we shall set off. Tell your father and my father that we are going to collect some chestnuts.And when we come back we will roast them.'' Fawny said ''Good idea Torger! I shall tell him immediately.''
Fawny bounded of as quick as lightening and asked his father whether he and Torger could go out and collect some chestnuts. His father agreed and Fawny set of to Torger's house. Torger was already waiting for him there. '' Father said to bring him some chestnuts too'' Fawny said. ''Well, good idea. Now, let's start and let's hope that there are no snakes to bite us'' said Torger who was really afraid of snakes.
The two went to a deep part of the forest. They walked for a long time until they came to a huge chestnut tree. ''Wow'', exlaimed Torger, ''These chestnut are twice as big as the ones I saw before.'' ''Well really, I should think that we would and we will collect a whole basket '', said Fawny who was pleased to see such big chestnuts. They collected lots and lots of chestnuts until the basket was to full to collect any more chestnuts. ''Come on, let's go home now and roast the chestnuts'' said Torger who was happy that they had collected lots of chestnuts. They carried the basket full of chestnuts back home. Fawny's father was pleased to see that the youngsters had gone deep into the forest without fear.Torger's father was there to.''How did you two go into the forest without getting hurt?'' questioned Torger's father. '' Ah, it was nothing'' said Fawny. '' Torger and I even jumped over a snake'' he said. ''You naughty kids!'' scolded Fawny's father. ''You should not do things like that'' he said.
''Okay'' said Torger's father.''Come on, let's roast the chestnuts.'' They had a wonderful meal of roasted chestnuts.You know, that when you sit around the fire on a cold winter's night, it's nice to eat chestnuts and talk stories.''Yummy! Torger did you ever think that chestnuts tasted super delicious when you dabbed them in pepper sauce'' said Fawny.
''Well try this: you dip a chestnut in a little sauce and then you dip it in a little bit of pepper sauce'' said Torger. Fawny tried it, but he yelled becuase it was so spicy. ''You should not try that again!'' said Fawny's father who was laughing with tears in his eyes. ''Oh, it is not funny'' said Fawny. ''Well let us play Hot Hands for a little while'' he said.They all played for a long time till Torger was out. Then Torger's father said, '' Since you two are good boys, you'll can go out and play.
They had a wonderful time playing because they had been good and brave. So the story ends in a good ending.
Bye,Bye
Aakash Wilfred Class 3 B

Hyderabad Public School , Begumpet

Flamingos and Garbage Bags

Man, the Great Polluter

CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO ENLARGE THEM

The Gulmohur Tree
We visited Sirpur Lake before sunrise this morning. The Delonix Regia (the Royal Poinciana) commonly known as gulmohur trees are in full bloom. They remind me of my home city - Bangalore. These ornamental trees were probably imported by Tipu Sultan from Madagascar. Now they brighten up the avenues of Bangalore, thanks to the efforts of Dr. M Visveswaraiya and Sir Mirza Ismail, and are a wonderful sight from the air.

Many flamingos (also spelt flamingoes), along with a horde of other tropical migratory birds have, again this year, made the mistake of landing in Indore. The Portuguese word flamengo (meaning flame-red) is the root of this word, for these birds have pink to red plumage, a pink beak that turns downward at the tip.

They ought to really keep on coming here, nest and breed to their heart's content and fly back to wherever they came from. A neighbour tells me that some of them come all the way from central Africa too. Large numbers of flamingos nest and breed in the Great Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, just south of Pakistan. Some migrate to the lakes and water bodies of Maharashtra and even to the marshes around Sewri, Mumbai (Bombay).

But I think it is an awful mistake - their coming to Indore - because Indoreans do not treat these very beautiful birds as guests. Those who live around Sirpur Lake need to be educated to be more hospitable to them!

Plastic bags filled with kitchen waste litter the banks of the lake; people wash clothes and bathe in the water; we even see them relieving themselves on these banks. Newspapers (Hindustan Times and Free Press and some others) carried pictures of some of the birds, but they did not indicate the depths of degradation to which Indoreans are taking this sort of pollution.

The first thing one notices in Sirpur so early in the morning is that the sun scheduled to rise at about 0545 over Indore becomes visible only twenty minutes later as its rays have to climb a few degrees above the horizon to be able to peep out to us over the thick grey miasma, a soup of corrupt air, that hangs over us, thanks to the factories as well as the Municipal conservancy staff burning garbage on street sides everywhere.

THE PICTURE TO THE RIGHT SPEAKS FOR ITSELF

The sun appears only half an hour after scheduled sunrise!

CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO ENLARGE THEM. In the picture below, you will see a few flamingos on a mound - a tiny island - in the water]

SMOKE RISES ON THE WESTERN BANK OF THE LAKE - THE BURNING OF GARBAGE IS A COMMON SIGHT IN INDORE

Temperatures have been at a scorching 40 C and above for quite a few days now, and so the thousands of birds that are swimming (or flying around) so gracefully must be tropical birds. Other red beaked wild fowl foraging near the marshy banks make a beautiful sight too. I must take an ornithologist along the next time I visit Sirpur Lake.

The Influence of the Mentors

When words travelled from India to China and Greece
A verse from the ancient Indian classic Manu Smriti says, “The King desirous of trying cases must enter the assembly composed in manner, together with Brahmans who know the Vedas, and mantrins (or counsellors).”
An agreement made in 1522 by the Portuguese with the Rey de Sunda [King of Sunda, Malaya] contains the words – “ . . . and for this purpose he sent one of his chief mandarims” [India Office manuscript].
The Encyclopaedia Britannica says that mandarim is a Portuguese word derived from ‘mantri’, the Malay word for a counsellor or minister of state. It derives from the Sanskrit root ‘man’ meaning: mind, thought, human.
Interestingly, the most widely spoken language in the world is Mandarin Chinese. Persons of influence (mandarins) are said to have given this form of language to China. 70% of the Chinese peoples speak the language.
In the country of its origin the word gave rise to other Indian language derivatives like ‘mantra’ (= a charm, spell or magical incantation) and ‘mantri’ (= a minister or a counsellor). The Tamil equivalent is pronounced ‘mandiri’.
The English word Mentor is also derived from this root. This idea is borrowed from the wise Mentor that Ulysses appointed to teach, and train his son Telemachus when he was leaving for the Trojan War.
“THE GENIUS” has no teachers to pour knowledge into the heads of unsuspecting children. Mentors, trained to develop the thinking skills of eager learners use fun methods, guide them, play with them. A Mentor is indeed a person with a trained mind, who advises his/her wards and guides them in a friendly manner. The common definition is a faithful counsellor, a friend, philosopher, and guide.

CHILDREN ATTEND AN ETIQUETTE SESSION - MENTORS SERVE THEM FOOD, AND GUIDE THEM IN OBSERVING PROPER TABLE ETIQUETTE

SENIORS HAVE A MOCK PRESS CONFERENCE. YASH BABAR PLAYS THE ROLE OF THE SHIV SENA LEADER BAL THACKERAY, WHILE THE GROUP BECOME REPORTERS WHO GRILL HIM WITH QUESTIONS

MENTORS AT A GET-TOGETHER WHERE THEY LET THEIR HAIR DOWN, AND PLAY BRAIN GAMES, AND RECOUP THE SPIRIT OF CHEER AND FUN FOR THEIR WORK!

AUNTY (ESTHER WILFRED) IS ON THE RIGHT IN THE PICTURE BELOW

UNCLE AND AUNTY JOIN THE MENTORS IN A DANCE

Crazy English

One source of amusement for me is my nose for errors on signboards and public notices. Every city in the world has its share of goofs. If you watch out for these, you will never get bored. You can always extract a chuckle from what you see around you.

The one on the left below is from the city of Bangalore. It took me a while to decipher the cryptic message, until a burly man with black oil on his hands and face walked up to me and said, "Sir, you want puncher work or wallkenosing, we are experts. Just tell us what you want to do, and we do it for you!"

No, he wasn't offering to punch some one's nose for me - he was looking at the tyres of my car as he spoke, and it dawned on me that he was speaking of 'vulcanising' and 'fixing punctures'.

This one's from Canada
The picture on the right is one that I took in the Royal Kennebecasis Yacht Club, Rothesay, NB, Canada. The confusion between you're and your is a common one around the world. I think the reason is simply that they are homophones.

Read "Eats Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss

An Inconvenient Truth

I borrow the title of Al Gore's Oscar winner for this post. I was convinced of the need for all the effort that we as individuals can throw in (except 'the kitchen sink' as the democrats might scream from their rostra) to save our precious world, when I saw the way my family members in Canada took it all seriously enough to separate their organic waste from plastic garbage, kitchen refuse from paper, trash from cardboard and metal cans.

THE PICTURE SHOWS PAM AND MOHAN AT THE CITY DUMP DEPOSITING THEIR GARBAGE IN THE APPROPRIATE RECEPTACLES [SAINT JOHN, NB, CANADA]

Listen to the Birds

12- and 13-year-olds of THE GENIUS scripted a play called Listen to the Birds - I referred to this in an earlier posting on this blog. Here are some stills from the play they staged at The Genius Annual Awards - if you had watched it, heard the words spoken, and had a little feeling in you, you would have felt a lump in your throat as a little girl says, "We have much to do. We have to educate a whole city!"

Directed by Anand Wilfred and Aunty, the cast included the following (in order of appearance):-

Anshul Gupta as The Oracle Owl making dire predictions for Indore

Sharvil Thatte as Vladimir, an old crane from Siberia

Ishita Garg as Natasha, a young crane from Siberia

Ameya Dubey as Decci, the old tortoise that lives on the banks of Sirpur Lake, Indore
Sankalp Arora and Vedant Dhakad as the indifferent Lake officials

Somya Jain as the little girl Aditi who wishes to clean up all the garbage by herself

Kartik Vyas as Raj, Aditi's friend, initially indifferent, later converted to her way of thinking

Vedant Dhakad as Gerome, a moorhen who sees Aditi's bag of garbage and flies away

The choir - a group of 10- and 11-year olds who together sang The Conservation Song

GARIMA AND ANAND IN THE CONTROL ROOM OVERLOOKING THE STAGE

THE RESIDENT OWL IS THE ORACLE AT SIRPUR LAKE, INDORE

HE HAS DIRE WARNINGS FOR THE EARTH

THE CRANES, NATASHA AND VLADIMIR ARGUE OVER MIGRATING

TO THE POLLUTED INDIAN WATERS; BHARATPUR, THEIR TRADITIONAL

NESTING PLACE IN RAJASTHAN HAS NO MORE WATER!

AAAAAAAAAAAA
AT SIRPUR LAKE, THE RESIDENT TORTOISE CONVINCES VLADIMIR TO SPEAK TO THE HUMANS. HE SAYS, "ONLY HUMANS POLLUTE, AND ONLY THEY CAN SAVE THE EARTH"

VLADIMIR SPEAKS TO INDIFFERENT

LAKE OFFICIALS WHO SHOO THE BIRD AWAY

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

ADITI, A LITTLE GIRL PLEADS WITH HER FRIEND RAJ TO BE ON HER SIDE IN THE MISSION TO CLEAN UP THE CITY AND EDUCATE ITS PEOPLE. RAJ TAKES SOME CONVINCING, BUT HE IS WITH HER AT THE END

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
DISCUSSING STRATEGY:

NATASHA, GEROME (THE MOORHEN) AND DECCI.

VLADIMIR JOINS THEM

NATASHA SPEAKS TO ADITI

AAAAAAAAAAAA
THE CAST IS JOINED BY THE CHOIR AS THEY SING "THE CONSERVATION SONG"

THE CAST TAKES A FINAL BOW

An important comment ought to be made at this point - Siberian Cranes decided a few years ago to seek new water bodies rather than visit a country where there is little realisation of the need for their form of life, besides thousands of others. All rivers are sacred to the people of India, but most gutters and the waste from cities flow into these rivers! Things are changing. If more children would educate more adults, I am sure we would lead the world in a global race for conservation.

Supreme Court of India and Noise

Anguish that cannot be resolved

I write this at midnight - no, not exactly 12 yet, it will be in a few minutes. I remember the Supreme Court of India had spoken out on the Indian penchant for noise on special occasions, and issued orders: "... regarding use of loudspeaker, Court directed that noise level at boundary of public place, where loudspeaker or public address system or any other noise source is being used shall not exceed 10 dB(A) above ambient noise standards for area or 75 dB(A) whichever is lower – beating of drum or tom-tom or blow of trumpet or beat or sound of any instrument or use of any sound amplifier at night (between 10. 00 p.m. and 6.a.m.) except in public emergencies prohibited..." - http://esamskriti.com/rc_noise_poll_2.htm.

Silence after 10 p.m.?

It was only yesterday (Thursday April 17) that the High Court bench in Indore had drawn the attention of the Collector and the Superintendent of Police to the deplorable state of public discipline in Indore. Yet, here I am, at midnight, unable to shut the "kajra..re.." cacophony at probably 1000 deciBels at some wedding party close by, the police ignoring my pleas for help. I shall stay awake for another hour before the peaceful oblivion of sleep overtakes my tortured soul.

Note the Supreme Court's time limitation - 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. - if this has not been understood, and if the common man must tolerate this encroachment on his rights ... ... ?

As I come to the end of this post, a mass of drums and loud shouts have begun indicating the onset of more fun for the revellers of the night at the cost of the peace of mind of a thousand tormented people, some old, some sick, some just babies struggling to sleep through all this - and the lawkeepers ignore it all. This is what the Madhya Pradesh High Court compared to the apocryphal tale of Nero who fiddled while Rome was burning. Is anyone out there listening?

A Police Sub-Inspector told me last week: "Sir, if there is one single political leader, let alone a Minister or a bigwig, if just one leader of a political party is present at a wedding, the organisers will turn up the volume to what ever level they please, and no policeman, no, not even the SP will lift a finger!" I am now wondering if this damning comment is true after all.