The last of a dying breed

When did you last watch a good cricket match and said yourself, “What a match!”? Must seem ages, despite the flurry of T20 slogfests.

Thanks to the “Tallest man in world cricket”, as Gavaskar puts it, we all enjoyed a breathtaking innings, maybe of a lifetime.

The physical fitness and mental toughness of Sachin are admirable, if not adorable. What style, what composure, what character! What a man he is!

Critics might argue that he once again failed to take the team to the finishing line. But what are the other ten in the team doing? Perhaps they were mesmerized by the magical batting skills.

Whatever be the criticism, everybody ought to accept one thing. That Sachin is the best, perhaps the last of a dying breed called cricket genius. Until another genius is born, we’ll all have to be content with mediocrity, showmanship, and slogfests.

Periyasamy Thooran

Recently, I read about one Periyasamy Thooran – a versatile scholar and a genius, whom The Hindu compared to Lewis Carroll. ‘Isaiperarignar’ Periyasamy Thooran’s birth centenary is being celebrated (?!) and quite naturally most of us are unaware of this great man. This great man did not sit for the final examination for his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at Presidency College – not because he wasn’t prepared, but to show his protest against the hanging of Bhagath singh.

Periyasamy Thooran is a multi-faceted personality. He has written short stories, poems, dramas, and essays. He is a Bharathi scholar, and most important of all, he has spent 20 precious years of his life to compile the first ever encyclopaedia in Tamil. He was the Chief Editor of the Tamil Encyclopaedia under the Presidentship of Sri. T.S. Avinashilingam Chettiar. The encyclopaedia came out as 10 volumes of 750 pages each. Then worked as the Chief Editor of Children's Encylopaedia in Tamil which was also published in 10 volumes of 100 pages each.

When the living ‘legends’ torture us with their birthday parties and large-scale celebrations, a true legend’s birth centenary is being ‘celebrated’ silently. After all, who wants his cut-outs installed all over the city roads. He never worked for fame.

The best thing we can do is to wipe the dust from those old volumes of encyclopedia and think for a while, about the pains a man has taken to compile knowledge in a beautiful language.

Google Blooper

Pretty odd!

When you want to view something labeled "Your Stuff" but you're not allowed to view it! :-)

From my Google Reader page

How to open multiple instances in Acrobat Reader

A little bit of technical stuff to share.
Suppose you're using Acrobat Reader 5.0 or 7.0, and you've already opened a pdf file. Now, you want to open another pdf file in a new window. Chances are that the second pdf file opens in the first window. Embarrassing, right?

Here is the solution:

Step 1: Open an Explorer window. Shorcut: Windows key + E (Or you can just open My Computer or My Documents). In this example, I've opened the My Computer window.

Step 2: Select Tools-Folder Options

Step 3: Click the File Types menu

Step 4: In the Registered file types section, scroll down and select PDF and select Advanced button

Step 5: Click Open and then click the Edit button

Step 6: Place the mouse cursor inside the Application used to perform action box, press the End key, and then add /n before the text "%"

Step 7: Click OK, another OK, and finally Close.


Done.

You can now open multiple instances of pdf files. Keep rocking!

Vinayagamania

Ganesh chaturthi has become a high profile event over the past few years, thanks to the Shiv Sainiks et al, and the discount offers ranging from mobile phones to brand new cars.

Lord Ganesha is rather a down-to-earth sort of God. He doesn't ask for luxurious temples. Even an 'arasa maram' becomes sacred when Ganesha idol is incorporated underneath the tree.

Maybe we should entitle Vinaayaga "Lord of the People" for His humble residence, ready-as-you-go blessings, and charismatic personification.

People make all sorts of vinaayaga idols, keeping Him updated of the current affairs and their priorities. Kargil Vinaayagar is one classic example.

And the delicious dishes people make on this occasion is chanceless. The sundal with coconut scrapes, the white 'kozhukkattai' with a sweet semifluid inside, and an onion-shaped 'chuwingam' (not chewing gum) are the special declicacies of the day. As I go for my evening walk, the streets are clean - swept and washed, and unusually fragrant. Seerkazhi Govindarajan's high-decibel, inimitable voice echoes, 'Vinaayaganae, vinay theerpavanae...'

The sad part of the rituals is when they immerse the beautiful idols in water. But like Phoenix, Ganesha will emerge - not from ashes, but from clay - into different forms, but with the same spirit of religious symbolism and revival.

Living in a Conundrum

What leaders do after retiring is a case to study. When most of our leaders in India never retire (Even when they want to retire, they make their sons or daughters their political successors), leaders of other countries often surprise us by pioneering or participating in meaningful initiatives.


Charismatic
Bill Clinton is a charismatic leader who pioneers. Some charismatic ones like Vladimir Putin take up alternative leadership roles. And the likes of Tony Blair are often seen as a fading star, but still they’re stars.

Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez enjoy much public respect and admiration of their people in spite of the negative projections foreign media make about them. Charisma has always been a major factor in the success of leaders.


Deserving Respect
Some leaders, though not charismatic, are still role models and make things happen. They are the DOERS, insisting persistence and perseverance. T.N.Seshan, who revolutionized the Indian electoral system, is one such leader. He was praised by the common man but often seen as a villain by politicians.

Kiran Bedi is a rare breed made of both charisma and administrative skills.


Brave and Beautiful, she made things happen, wherever the political iron hand tried to dump her. Transformation in the Tihar jail will tell what she achieved.

When we look at the East, Wen Jiabao and Hu Jintao demonstrate how to run a country without compromising on self-respect and integrity.

Looking back at India, I see the government run by the Prime Minister, who is run by the Congress leadership.

I see the Chief Minister making government portfolios his family possessions.

I see the ministers who don’t even attend 50% of the Parliament sessions and those who don’t even ask a single question there.

I see statue mania.

I see the petty politics leading to water wars between the states of my country.

I hear about voters being bribed, harrassed, or just ignored with their names not figuring in the rolls.

I read about the ‘donation’ collected by ministers through their colleges and schools.

I experience the lack of information and reluctance of public servants to provide information to the public.

I ask why the government bus driver drives so slowly, to get the answer that he, like every one else, has bribed a few lakhs of rupees to get the job. He can’t take any risk until he ‘earns’ at least the money he has put in.

I realize that I have to bribe two thousand rupees to get the thirty thousand rupees due to us after our grandfather’s death.

What has happened to this land of Gandhi?

I live entangled in a corrupt conundrum.

I wonder what makes this country go on?

It’s a miracle.

Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction

As a Content Writer, I sometimes need to update myself with the supposedly 'acquired' skills. One such skill is to remember the contribution of Robert M. Gagne, an educational psychologist and a pioneer in Instructional Designing. He devised his theory about the nine events that take place during an instruction. Popularly (at least within the e-Learning circles) known as Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction, this theory explains what goes into an effective instructional strategy.

I know this is one of the first lessons for experienced Instructional Designers. For others, I hope, this may be helpful.

Here is a short description of each of Gagne's nine events:

1. Gain Attention
Always start with auditory/visual stimuli, thought-provoking question, or an interesting fact. Curiosity motivates students to learn. These stimuli serve better than traditional modes because they enable the content to easily get registered in the learner's memory. And it's easy to retrieve than say a BIG paragraph.

2. Inform learners of objectives
I should know what I'm going to read before I start. And I should know what I will be able to do after learning the course. List the learning objectives at the start of every lesson. The objective must be self-explanatory, creating expectancy in the mind of the learner. All your assessment modules and certification must be based on these objectives.

A common syntax used is something like "Upon completing this lesson, you will be able to…".

3. Stimulate recall of prior learning
This is where all our favorite teachers score over the disliked ones. The good teachers give you real life examples so that you can relate the concepts to something practical. Take into account the learner’s personal experience and knowledge relating to the subject of discussion. This enables the learner to store information in long-term memory. Instead of merely explaining the sections of a money order form, you can create a lookalike form, introduce the purpose of the form, provide a scenario, and ask the learner to fill up the form. In an e-Learning environment, this is child's play.

4. Present the content
The course shouldn't look like an unedited movie, leaving it to the learner to make sense out of it. Chunk and organize content so that it makes sense. Add multimedia to enhance learning experience. Use audio, video, and graphics with text.


5. Provide learning guidance
In addition to the content, provide examples, case studies, graphical representations of data, mnemonics, and analogies. Make the presentation more appealing - visually and conceptually.

6. Elicit performance by practice
Make the learner practice the new skill or behavior learned now. Doing this verifies and confirms their correct understanding. And repetition is likely to increase retention. Practice until you perform should be the mantra.

7. Provide feedback
Practice without feedback doesn't make sense. Provide immediate feedback of the learner’s performance. You must provide specific feedback for every possible answer. Concentrate on comprehension and not on scoring during the tutorial. Provide ‘formative feedback’ in the form of additional information and explanations for each correct and incorrect answer.

8. Assess performance
A post test or a final assessment is as important as the instructional module itself. No assistance in the form of feedback or hint this time. Set a benchmark for the learner to achieve mastery. Normally, the level of mastery is achieved by scoring 80% to 90%.

9. Enhance retention and transfer to the job
Create instructional aids such as job aids, references, templates and wizards to aid the learner’s transfer to the job. Focus on performance through course design that enhances retention and hence performance.

You can see all these nine events happening right before your eyes and experience effective eLearning when you're reading a well-constructed e-Learning course. Good luck!