Interview with Turlapati Kutumbarao

                                         Poolabala with Trulapati

          Pride and Prodigy

          Pride of India and Prodigy of Telugu

Veteran journalist, virtuoso orator, intrepid speaker, éclair of the stage and epitome of values, his versatile persona etched a niche for him, won him laurels. This champion of awards Turlapati is the pride of India and prodigy of Telugu. At the vertex of his life the octogenarian is simply lively and seriously forthright.

       Kutumba Rao, the denizen of Vijayawada was born here in 1933. He started his journalistic career at a very young age. He served as a secretary to the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Andhra kesari T. Prakasam. He is the man who wielded his pen and tongue alike. As a writer of more than 4,000 biographies he made an indelible mark on journalism and as an orator he addressed more than 12000 public meetings and received numerous titles and awards of excellence. In fact he is both wetted whetted in the volley of awards such as International Man of  the year, World Life time achievement award, National Citizen Award. Only a voluminous book can justify Turlapati’s work. It is hard to fit him into a book, harder still to fit him into a booklet and hardest to fit him into an article. His journalism is six years of saga and his life is eighty years legend. He received accolades from the editors of the Guinness book. Talent has no boundaries many people believe it and some people prove it. Turlapati’s life and work are manifestation of this fact. American Biographical institute honored him with “20th century achievement award.” International Biographical centre England honored him with a “Special award” for his outstanding work.  He was also appointed the honorary advisor, International Biographical centre, England. Japan Broadcasting Corporation recognized him as The Best Biographer and televised a special interview with Kutumbarao. He edited the book Assembly 2000 a book containing the life sketches of 294 members of The A.P. Legislative Assembly. This is first of its kind in the state.  He was conferred Pratibha purskar by Telugu University and Kalaprapoorna by Andhra University. He was honored by Dr.Shankar Dayal Sarma the then Governor of Andhra Pradesh with a gold medal for his services in journalism. He was the first journalist from Andhra Pradesh to receive Padma Shree. The people of Vijayawada showed their fervor to Turlapati by felicitating him with a gold bracelet. The street where he lives was named after by him by the Municipal Corporation of Vijayawada. Blessed is Turlapati who served his mother tongue mother land. The first governor General of India Rajagopalachari conferred on him the title “Guardian of Telugu.” The title is apt to him. His humanism was not as much eulogized as his journalism and patriotism. His humanism lies on the surface and reflects in his manners, manifests in actions. Verity is the inspiring virtue in Turlapati. His innate ability to call a spade a spade, his transparency even in matters of his own culture are remarkable and the youth of this generation should learn lessons of self respect  commitment to profession and command on history and culture from him and above all the quality courage to be unbiased. A random talk with Turlapati is edification. He was member of Planning Board of Bharati Dasan Univerity, Tamil Nadu and Central Film Censor Board.  Governments in  and universities in India and abroad have made use of his services. The society especially the present generation of journalists, teachers and educated young men and women can benefit from his rich experiences then only and only then we can consider that the knowledge of our ancestors has percolated to the grass root levels. This talking book Turlapati has shared some of the interesting experiences of his life and times in a recent interview he has extended to journalist.

What is the influence of electronic media on journalism ?

When there is an allegation on someone the media should approach, clarify and take the statement of the person facing the allegation and should present  that statement along with the allegation. Well, electronic media isn’t fair in this regard. A north Indian T.V channel showed an adultery allegation. The clipping was showed repeatedly. But they didn’t bother to show what the accused has to say. The man charged with adultery was innocent. He committed suicide because he is innocent and sensitive. I think media should be fair enough while dealing with such allegations. Otherwise many innocent people may die. The media should refrain from peeping into the personal lives of individuals.  The case of Ambati Rambabu is known to all of us. So media is troubling or vindicating persons. Media should not be a tool for such purposes. The golden rule in journalism “News is sacred comment free” 

 How is the  quality of programs electronic media?

The media created and has been creating lady villains which is a popular concept in all TV serials. These programs are sending wrong  signals and creates a poor picture of our Telugu home environment. This undesirable trend goes unabated. Since ages women has been traditionally exploited. 

 what is the difference between journalists in the past and present? 

In the past journalism was unblemished, but today it is tarnished. Journalist in the past maintained values and enjoyed high degree of freedom. Now-a-days they have no freedom. They are puppets in the hands of media barons so freedom of press is to be understood as freedom of press owner. In those days News papers or magazines were known by the editors. People used to read newspapers taking the editors into consideration. The main consideration of the reader in those days was the editor. Today nobody knows the real editors. The capitalists are the editors. A newspaper is known by its owner.  

 What are the standards of journalism today in comparison with journalism in your days?

There is no freedom of press today. All most all newspapers and TV channels side with some or the other political party. They design their programs based on the agenda of owners. Journalist can not have their views and opinions. Even if they have they can’t express them without the consent of the owner.       

  But in those days.......

      

Perhaps in 1937 Kotanraju Ramarao was the editor of National Herald, Nehru was its founder chairman. In the same year when Nehru spoke at a meeting in Delhi his statements hit headlines in all leading dailies. But the editor of National Herald did not consider the news worth publishing in head lines. He did not even publish it as a column. At least it was not published as a box item. When Nehru saw the news some where in  the last page  as a filler  he  had  blown  a  fuse.  He flew to Lucknow and reached Kotanraju’s office. He expressed his concern about the way his statement was relegated to the back pages while all other news papers published in the front page. Kotanraju was frank enough to tell him that it doesn’t make headlines as it was not that significant. Nehru flew off the handle and spoke in his usual manner,“What is this fantastic nonsense?” (it is his catch word). An exasperated Kotanraju asked Nehru to get out. Nehru left his room silently. 

Kotanraju resigned following this incident. However Nehru asked Kotanraju to withdraw his resignation and continue. Such is the importance and individuality and independence of editors in those days. The decision of the editor used to be final. The editors and journalists used to maintain self respect.

Mr. Kotanraju changed 21 places but never compromised on self respect or professional ethics. He always used to have the resignation letter ready in his pocket. “I too used to have a resignation letter in my pocket all the time.  Telugu people were highly self respecting and particularly it was summum bonum (ultimate importance) of journalism. If you juxtapose today’s journalism with journalism of yore, you can make out the present day  standards of journalism. Today comments outshine news proving the Latin adage “suproeesio veri; suggestion falsi”

What is the efficiency and virtues of politicians in the past and present?

The efficiency and selfless attitude of politicians are beyond compare. In 1946 when Andhra was in the composite Madras state, Nehru wanted C.Rajagopalachari to be the Chief Minister but all the MLAs wanted Tanguturi Prakasam to be the Chief Minister. When V.V.Giri was given the offer he refused to accept it.

     

What is the effect of the shift of publications from Vijayawada to Hyderabad?

    

The opinion of Andhra journalists and leaders is not coming to light as majority of the newspapers and TV channels are from Telangana. and Rayalaseema but not from Andhra. We regularly watch KCR, KTR, Nagam Janardhan Reddy, Harish Rao, Eetela Rajander Kishan Reddy and Kodandaram, Madhu Yaskhi and KK and we occasionally watch a few leaders like Lagadapati from Andhra.

  

What is the secret of your health and  energy?

  

I believe Lord Hanuman. I am a teetotaler. I run for a few minutes in the early hours everyday. I think my self control also helps me in keeping fit. When there is any problem I think for a few minutes and leave it like that. I don’t contemplate and bother much about it.  

Polyandry bloom in India

sharing wife

What is the future of Indian marriage? 

"They took me whenever they wanted -- day or night. When I resisted, they beat me with anything at hand, sometimes they threw me out and made me sleep outside or they poured kerosene over me and burned me.” said Munni.  When Munni arrived in a small village in UP of north India as a young bride years ago, little did she know she would be forced into having sex and bearing children with her husband's two brothers who had failed to find wives. "My husband and his parents said “Share bed with his brothers," said the woman in her mid-40s, dressed in a yellow sari, sitting in a village community centre in Baghpat district in Uttar Pradesh. Munni managed to leave her home after three months only on the pretext of visiting a doctor. Munni has three sons from her husband and his brothers, has not filed a police complaint either. Such cases are rarely reported to police because women in these communities are seldom allowed outside the home unaccompanied. So there may be many more women like Munni in the mud-hut villages of the area. "I've got used to it," she says holding her third child in her lap. "I miss my freedom."

This practice is gradually becoming acceptable among such close-knit communities because the victims are afraid of speaking out and the neighbours unwilling to interfere. Some villagers say the practice of brothers sharing a wife has benefits, such as the avoidance of division of family land and other assets amongst heirs.  It looks like the country is going towards matriarchal society.  The turn of wheel of time may bring woman dominant society. For example, 1900s began with privatization which changed to nationalization and now the theme is again privatization. 

Polyandry is not new to India. It is an age old tradition. Polyandry's roots sink deep into the soil of Buddhist and Hindu culture here. This tradition comes from the five brothers, Pandavas, of the Indian epic called the Mahabharata. According to the legend, Pandavas  married one woman called Draupadi. Which means Polyandry. The Jaunsari tribes in the Himalayas are still following the same tradition. They claim that Pandavas are their forefathers. They say “we are following what our ancestors did.” The tribal community is practicing Polyandry many for generations. A Jaunsari woman can marry many men. Its their part of life, if a guy marries a woman then she marries his brothers too. Once we believed that polyandry was limited to jaunsuri community. But now we realized that it is spreading through out the country insidiously. 

 Don’t judge the current situation by watching New Delhi where girls clad in jeans ride motor bikes and women occupy senior positions in multi-nationals. Just two hours drive from New Delhi, the mud-and-brick villages of Baghpat appear a world apart. Here, women veil themselves in the presence of men, are confined to the compounds of their houses as child bearers and home makers, and are forbidden from venturing out unaccompanied. Village men farm the lush sugarcane plantations or sit idle on charpoys, or traditional rope beds, under the shade of trees in white cotton tunics, drinking tea, some smoking hookah pipes while lamenting the lack of brides for their sons and brothers. The figures speak.  According to India's 2011 census, there are only 858 women to every 1,000 men in Baghpat district, compared to the national sex ratio of 940.

  

Decades of aborting female babies in a deeply patriarchal culture has led to a decline in the women population in India, which has resulted in rising incidents of rape, human trafficking and the emergence of "wife-sharing" amongst brothers. The practice of female foeticide has flourished across India because of a traditional preference for sons, who are seen as old-age security.

A study in the British medical journal Lancet found that 12 million Indian girls were aborted over the last three decades -- resulting in a skewed child sex ratio of 914 girls to every 1,000 boys in 2011 compared with 962 in 1981. This kind of a trend prevails nowhere else in the world. No other country in the world women is meted with such atrocious treatment. World economic forum statistics reveal that there is little gender equality in India. India stands in 217th position in gender equality among 234 countries. Despite laws making pre-natal gender tests illegal, India's 2011 census indicated that efforts to curb female feticide have been futile. Fewer girls were born than boys and the number of girls under six years old plummeted for the fifth decade running.

Still traditionalists say that woman is respected in India. Indian cinema highlights that India is the country that defines mother and motherhood. Is this the way to respect women? Leave alone respecting women we are not letting women live.  

The terrible impacts of falling numbers of females should be taken as a warning sign and we have to do something about it or we'll have a situation where women will constantly be at risk of kidnap, rape and much, much worse still leads to secret practices. "In every village, there are at least a dozen bachelors who can't find a wife. In some, there are up to three or four unmarried men in one family. Everything is hush, hush. No one openly admits it, but we all know what is going on “one daughter-in-law living with many unwedded brothers.” Some people raise objections to this new culture while others see polyandry as a way to woman empowerment.  As a civilized society, all over the world divorces and remarriages are acceptable. So who knows in the future, there are chances of this tradition could be popular surprise in the evolution of many surprises for humans. 

According to Indian historian Sarva Daman Singh, who wrote the 1988 book “Polyandry in Ancient India.” The husband in polyandry Kaza, Baldev Nath, 50, said that “everyone is pleased” with their shared-spouse arrangement, including his older brother and their common wife.  Women's rights activists say breaking down these deep-rooted, age-old beliefs is a major challenge. "The real solution is to empower girls and women in every way possible," says Neelam Singh, head of Vatsalya, an NGO working on children's and women's issues. "We need to provide them with access to education, healthcare and opportunities which will help them make decisions for themselves and stand up to those who seek to abuse or exploit them." 

While other women compare polyandry with polygyny( having many wives at the same time) And question” when a husband can have two or three wives at the same time why not a wife can have two or three husbands at the same time. It is accepted and practised in Hindu culture as well as Islamic culture. Many Hindu gods have more than one wife. Politicians and cine stars and celebrities have them. They also question the logic of allowing Muslim men to have more than one spouse while denying the same ‘right’ to women. 

Dr. Zakir Naik says polyandry is prohibited in Islam. He explains “A lot of people, including some Muslims, question let me first state emphatically, that the foundation of an Islamic society is justice and equity. Allah has created men and women as equal, but with different capabilities and different responsibilities.

Men and women are different, physiologically and psychologically. Their roles and responsibilities are different. Men and women are equal in Islam, but not identical.

Surah Nisa’ Chapter 4 verses 22 to 24 gives the list of women with who you can not marry and it is further mentions in Surah Nisa’ Chapter 4 verse 24 "Also (prohibited are) women already married"

1. If a man has more than one wife, the parents of the children born of such marriages can easily be identified. The father as well as the mother can easily be identified. In case of a woman marrying more than one husband, only the mother of the children born of such marriages will be identified and not the father

2. Man is more polygamous by nature as compared to a woman.

3. Biologically, it is easier for a man to perform his duties as a husband despite having several wives. A woman, in a similar position, having several husbands, will not find it possible to perform her duties as a wife

 Allah, in His Infinite Wisdom, has prohibited polyandry.

One distinct advantage with polyandry is population control. Husbands may be two or three but wife is only one to bear children. So the population control takes place naturally. Apart form population controls the economic and domestic burdens can be shared. The income of multiple husbands helps family to tide over financial problems. Often one female will find it very advantageous to have several males support her in childrearing, whether or not they have outside sexual interests. Whether or not we care to admit it, a lot of childrearing and household tasks tend to fall to women still, and this seems to be a comfortable combination of traditional and disruptively new problem-solving structure for a nice environment for a household. One should wait and watch whether or not Polyandry is synonymous with female empowerment. Who knows what is in store for women as men? 

Child sex ratios in Baghpat are even more skewed and on the decline with 837 girls in 2011 compared to 850 in 2001 -- a trend mirrored across districts in states such as Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Women from Jharkhand and West Bengal were paid sums of 15,000 by middle-men and brought here to wed into a different culture, language and way of life. "It was hard at first, there was so much to learn and I didn't understand anything. I thought I was here to play," said Sabita Singh, 25, who was brought from a village in West Bengal at the age of 14 to marry her husband, 19 years her elder.

Decades of aborting female babies in a deeply patriarchal culture has led to a decline in the women population in India, which has resulted in rising incidents of rape, human trafficking and the emergence of "wife-sharing" amongst brothers. The practice of female foeticide has flourished across India because of a traditional preference for sons, who are seen as old-age security.

A study in the British medical journal Lancet found that 12 million Indian girls were aborted over the last three decades -- resulting in a skewed child sex ratio of 914 girls to every 1,000 boys in 2011 compared with 962 in 1981. This kind of a trend prevails nowhere else in the world. No other country in the world women is meted with such atrocious treatment. World economic forum statistics reveal that there is little gender equality in India. India stands in 217th position in gender equality among 234 countries. Despite laws making pre-natal gender tests illegal, India's 2011 census indicated that efforts to curb female feticide have been futile. Fewer girls were born than boys and the number of girls under six years old plummeted for the fifth decade running.

Still traditionalists say that woman is respected in India. Indian cinema highlights that India is the country that defines mother and motherhood. Is this the way to respect women? Leave alone respecting women we are not letting women live.  

The terrible impacts of falling numbers of females should be taken as a warning sign and we have to do something about it or we'll have a situation where women will constantly be at risk of kidnap, rape and much, much worse still leads to secret practices. "In every village, there are at least a dozen bachelors who can't find a wife. In some, there are up to three or four unmarried men in one family. Everything is hush, hush. No one openly admits it, but we all know what is going on “one daughter-in-law living with many unwedded brothers.” Some people raise objections to this new culture while others see polyandry as a way to woman empowerment.  As a civilized society, all over the world divorces and remarriages are acceptable. So who knows in the future, there are chances of this tradition could be popular surprise in the evolution of many surprises for humans. 

According to Indian historian Sarva Daman Singh, who wrote the 1988 book “Polyandry in Ancient India.” The husband in polyandry Kaza, Baldev Nath, 50, said that “everyone is pleased” with their shared-spouse arrangement, including his older brother and their common wife.  Women's rights activists say breaking down these deep-rooted, age-old beliefs is a major challenge. "The real solution is to empower girls and women in every way possible," says Neelam Singh, head of Vatsalya, an NGO working on children's and women's issues. "We need to provide them with access to education, healthcare and opportunities which will help them make decisions for themselves and stand up to those who seek to abuse or exploit them." 

While other women compare polyandry with polygyny( having many wives at the same time) And question” when a husband can have two or three wives at the same time why not a wife can have two or three husbands at the same time. It is accepted and practised in Hindu culture as well as Islamic culture. Many Hindu gods have more than one wife. Politicians and cine stars and celebrities have them. They also question the logic of allowing Muslim men to have more than one spouse while denying the same ‘right’ to women.

Dr. Zakir Naik says polyandry is prohibited in Islam. He explains “A lot of people, including some Muslims, question let me first state emphatically, that the foundation of an Islamic society is justice and equity. Allah has created men and women as equal, but with different capabilities and different responsibilities.

Men and women are different, physiologically and psychologically. Their roles and responsibilities are different. Men and women are equal in Islam, but not identical.

Surah Nisa’ Chapter 4 verses 22 to 24 gives the list of women with who you can not marry and it is further mentions in Surah Nisa’ Chapter 4 verse 24 "Also (prohibited are) women already married"

1. If a man has more than one wife, the parents of the children born of such marriages can easily be identified. The father as well as the mother can easily be identified. In case of a woman marrying more than one husband, only the mother of the children born of such marriages will be identified and not the father

2. Man is more polygamous by nature as compared to a woman.

3. Biologically, it is easier for a man to perform his duties as a husband despite having several wives. A woman, in a similar position, having several husbands, will not find it possible to perform her duties as a wife

 Allah, in His Infinite Wisdom, has prohibited polyandry.

One distinct advantage with polyandry is population control. Husbands may be two or three but wife is only one to bear children. So the population control takes place naturally. Apart form population controls the economic and domestic burdens can be shared. The income of multiple husbands helps family to tide over financial problems. Often one female will find it very advantageous to have several males support her in childrearing, whether or not they have outside sexual interests. Whether or not we care to admit it, a lot of childrearing and household tasks tend to fall to women still, and this seems to be a comfortable combination of traditional and disruptively new problem-solving structure for a nice environment for a household. One should wait and watch whether or not Polyandry is synonymous with female empowerment. Who knows what is in store for women and men?

venkat poolabala

            

Mall culture in India

Mall culture

Deals in Foreign brands, rules Indian minds.

A slow poison that bites into our value system.

Spanish Macarena or Asejere Las ketchup or Albina Casablanca, or Beyonce diva  or some other Rock, Jazz, Pop or even mix of world music – Middle Eastern, Arabic, French or gypsy welcomes you into an exotic world of extravagantly emblazoned interiors, the walls bedecked giant size posters of half naked supermodels Adriana Lima Beatriz Barros, Laetitia  casta or Alessandra intoxicates your senses and literally  transports you into a tinsel world. In the fairy land of giant size images you feel like a Lilliputian. Tommy Hilfiger, Swatch, Arrow, Louis Vuitton and Nike. There is no room for Gandhi or Abdul Kalam. A mall can never mind or remind its customers of Gandhi. So forget about them. Even you had better forget about Indian culture. Shopping malls are centers for disseminating foreign culture. The teenagers in low-cut jeans hang out in groups, cappuccino is sold at kiosks. Try to feel like a reckless looking child in the poster with spiky hair and guitar in hand. Or wear his clothes to share his feelings. A mall has none of the features of Indian. McDonald’s, Lacoste, Pizza Hut, Benetton, Subway, Marks & Spencer. There is no room for Dal bati churmas or Kashmiri kahwas, idly sambar, Puri or vada. It’s a thriving place for international culture and a battle ground for the international brands, it is a wrestling ring for people to wrestle with their own psyche. Malls are surely slow poison which bites into our value system.

Decline of Mall culture in America:

Mall culture in the United States is coming to an end as the U.S. economic downturn causes people to reduce their trips to malls or stores forcing more shops to close and leaving malls deserted. While malls continue dwindle in America, that pioneered them they have gained momentum in India. According to the International Council of Shopping centers, malls in America are reshaped for a different purpose or torn down for the space as Americans developed aversion to malls. As they have always been, Indians are both quick and good at picking up what is being discarded in the west. The rise of Shopping malls is axiomatic of their naïve craving for western lifestyle. People are welcoming this new trend with open arms, unaware of what might be the consequences of this new culture. Crowded streets, traffic congestion, pollution problems, extravagant electricity consumption, withering of traditional arts, frenzy consumerism, worst of all is shopohalism, addiction for shopping which has joined the list after cigarette and alcohol. a kind of a physiological disorder.

Mall not only deal in goods but also deals with people. Malls deal with the shopping habits of people and more particularly rules their senses. Customers could best be enticed in a controlled environment. The mushrooming of the Indian malls followed by Crossroads, the country’s first mall opened in 1999 has transformed shopping habits of the people as much as the culture which is gradually fading into obsolescence. On the super highway of western fashion shopping malls are raising curtain to western credo creating mall freaks. What becomes of our traditional arts and culture? What is to become of these massive structures when the trend changes as in America? Malls are tangible evidence of India's new economic vigor. The upbeat weather at the malls is exciting and inviting. All-in-one stores, with everything from groceries and vegetables to footwear, clothes, cosmetics, furnishings and electrical items available under one roof, a growing middle class with higher disposable income, the metro and the urban crowd is heading towards these  escalating shrines of consumerism in droves, for a better living. Although much of rural India remains in deep poverty, many urban Indians are becoming richer and malls are the best places for them to do away with their disposable incomes. For some, it is a way to chill out on movies and food in air conditioned ambience.

Why many a mall has bitten the dust?

What are the blues associated with malls? Why are malls not successful?

Why most malls could not make a profit in India?

On weekends and on festivals, malls compete with a mela. One can see carnival-like atmosphere with no elbow room for the visitors. But is evident from Indian business history that many malls have bitten the dust. Trinethra Super Market Limited, Hyderabad was a multiple outlet retail store network founded in 1986 with a vision to set up 100 Retail Outlets within 3 years all over Andhra Pradesh to achieve a turnover of Rs 300 crores. Where is Trinetra now? Many people come to the mall to look around, but very few actually buy anything. Ninety percent of young people go to a mall just too waste time. Ten percent of the visitors are actual customers. Amid the glint of interiors the business is sluggish, and many shops are in despair. Those who wanted to be retailers settled as Discount shops. Some shops in mall have no break even after years. India's mall boom is premature for the country's level of economic development.  India's real estate developers are in a frenzy to cash in. They are planning to build hundreds of malls. "If all the planned malls do come up, 70% of them will fail," predicts Vikram Bakshi, managing director of McDonald's which is a prominent attraction in numerous Indian malls is. It's very likely that quite a few of the new malls will see occupancy rates of only 50%. Shop keepers in malls acknowledge that they pay more for rent and electricity than if his store were outside. Middle-class Indians are still hesitant about spending in malls because they think prices are bumped up to meet the costs. Another concern is that India doesn't yet have the infrastructure needed to support all of its new malls. The rich class customers use cars to go to malls create traffic congestion besides parking problems. Malls use their own diesel generators which cause smoke pollution.  But state and local governments are all glad to encourage it because they get great prices for the land. In the numerous half-empty malls that reflect the inability our inability to plan and regulate the growth of malls most people waste time and so do the shop keepers.

Malls in Vijayawada.

Vijayawada is a developing city and no doubt it needs bigger and more sophisticated shops to cater to the needs of its increasing populace. Once we had small shops where

People used to stand outside the counter to buy. People used to buy different things form different shops. When departmental stores came they offered the convenience of buying

all things in one place.  Chain shops like Reliance, Spencer and More added more comforts and customers got a choice of picking what they want.  Now-a-days, malls are spreading to smaller cities. In Vijayawada the malls are on the rise. Kalanikhetan, Chandana Grand, RS Brothers, M&M and Charmas most of the shops were set up in giant complexes. They fondly call themselves shopping malls. The latest shoppers stop is apparently the biggest mall with four cinemas. Once can easily guess that the craze for bigger and bigger establishments. The craze is on the rise but not the need. When the government can not afford to supply power to the common people without cuts it is necessary to decorate malls with colorful electric bulbs that consume thousands of watts each day? We are embracing the lavish lifestyle of the western society disregarding the traditional arts and our culture. The weavers in Andhra Pradesh are in a pitiable condition.  Several other artisans of this land are emaciated. The world renowned traditional workers of Bombay such as Bombay Dabbawalas are losing hope about their 120 year old saga of a traditional occupation. In the tide of emerging new culture Dabbawalas are going to be washed out soon. As people switched over to pizzas and burgers their future is going to be murky and dismal. Traditional arts are on last legs and if things go at this rate they will certainly be brushed off. Today we can find only some traces of Burra Katha, Oggukatha after the advent of cinema as a popular medium of entertainment which has badly hurt the Traditional stage artists. Retailers are unable to stand the competition of malls which are sucking customers like leaves. Changes are inevitable; however, positive changes are welcomable.  I much fear that the eventuality of the current trend is total extinction of traditional arts and serious damage to our culture. Shopping malls also serve as cool avenues of lovers. The Malaysian Prime Minister raised objection when he saw a big hording of a western model. He asked whether there was no model in Malaysia as beautiful as her and saw to that the model is replaced. When malls don’t care for culture or art, people ought to. They are the people.  What ever is the size and name of the shop its function is same.  Some tailors call themselves fashion designers.

Schools or Karkhanas?

Schools or Karkhanas?

In the Past: A student would say “Wow! I got a seat in that reputed College”

Now:  The college management would say “Wow! We got a new student” One can understand the plight of education. The values in education withered away with the advent of corporate giants like Sri Chaitanya,NRI Narayana, Bhasyam, Nalanda, Corporate education assumes the trends of a mafia racket in the state.

These corporate business houses resort to crude business strategies with the sole agenda of admissions and turned teaching staff into peddlers and ultimately made education a door to door business.  They have successfully caught the pulse and weakness of the parents on which they laid firm foundation for their magnificent dream castles. In the name of fulfilling the students’ dreams they have fulfilled their dreams. Successful students are few failure students out number the successful students. Majority students slave out their time and lose their money, health and sometime life unable to withstand the corporate pressure. This is the truth. Majority students pay for the minority success. But the truth is hidden under the carpet. Advertisements camouflage the facts. Corporate gimmicks win. The annual private market size for the segment I – XII is estimated at 22 to 26 thousand crores. The corporate eyes are fixed on this figure but not on education or values. The picture that emerges in surveys is appalling - 60% of students aged 7 to 12 can not read a simple paragraph according to PRATHM’S ASER survey.

In their latest report National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) said that Indian IT firms reject 90% of college graduates and 75%of engineers because they're unemployable Recently Mr.Chidambaram stated that 90% of Indian graduates are unemployable.  What is the hidden meaning in this statement?  What does it imply? It implies that there are plenty of jobs in the market but there are no suitable candidates. Why are they not suitable? Don’t they have the qualifications? They have qualifications but they don’t have qualities. Their language and communication skills are hopeless. The Indian student has admirable qualifications, excellent scores or grades but alas they are not fit for good jobs. They are nothing but waste for the corporate companies. So they just throw them out. This is the sad reality. This is what 90% students realize at the fag end of their studies. Then who are preparing these hopeless graduates?      

But who is to be blamed? Who is responsible for this pathetic situation? Let’s question differently. Who is producing this waste? Our schools and colleges. Especially our corporate schools that sell big dreams like EAMCET, IIT, JEE, JIPMER etc. They're the trail blazers and trend setters. All other small schools inevitably struggle in the same way for their survival. Before the advent of these corporate schools students better off. Now students are getting marks but they can’t read, write or speak clearly. How can anybody employ them? In Bhasyam Schools at least 30 engineering graduates are working as hostel wardens. What is the god of getting Engineering degree or good marks?

Corporate Schools or Kharkahanas?

Education is the name of a business and corporate education aims at exploiting the rich and the upper middle class. Maybe some parents chose them under the spell of five star ambience created by the schools while some parents chose them for marks. Anywhere majority of the students are losers for the sake of minority students in the corporate schools and colleges. The actual statistics reveal the facts. The truth lies on the surface and it is evident.

The corporate educational set-up in the country under-prepares the students. It takes wrong and incompetent people for teaching jobs. Their sole objective is to economize heavily on teachers salaries. Magnificent building, expensive furniture, the tinted glasses, the air-conditioned class rooms. They have every thing so neatly set before your eyes. Any thinking mind gets the obvious doubt whether they are Schools or Karkahanas.

Sri Chaitanya, Narayana, Nalanda, Kesav reddy, Gautam Model,Bhasyam, NRI all are the pieces of the same roll of cloth who are in a rush to make big money. They spend heavily on advertisements to create a make-belief that their school is a different world - a paradise.  They entrust this eye catching job to professional ad makers like Eye-ads who successfully depict smiling faces in hi-tech environment. Luxury, lavishness. Should we commercialize education so much? Can’t we make it simple? Schools are the places where we can try to lessen the commercialization; we can’t use media for this purpose because media is highly commercial. But very unfortunately these schools are more commercialized than media.

The big bait

After all the show there should be bait. 

The marks. 580,  590 (but what avail?) The banners that exhibit the Marks are the life line of the schools now-a-days. They shout like hawkers in the TV ads. 6,6,6, 7,7,7, 9,9,9, 12, 12, 12, 16, 16, 16, 18,18, 18. You keep hearing. They keep shouting. But unfortunately  parents fall for these sounds. The corporate coffers are filled. It sounds good to send a child to a corporate school. 

All that glitters is not gold.  

Glitters and gadgets can’t add  quality to education. Who can add quality to education? What are the actual inputs in the education?  The comforts?  The computers?  The gadgets? None but the Skilled and experienced teachers.  Quality teachers are available but the managements are reluctant to attract cream by paying high salaries. After all the criterion for hiring in education industry is just to monitor the class. In many schools the bright students are often better than the teachers. What is the hiring philosophy of the schools and colleges? It is one and the same in most schools “Hiring Cheap labour”. There is hardly any difference between the salary of an ayah and of a teacher in majority schools. Most often teachers who work for low wages are given appointment without second thought. That’s why a very high percentage of teachers in Vijayawada, Hyderabad and Visakhapatan fall in the salary range of Rs.2000 to 5000. A very small percentage of teachers are above Rs.8000.  You will be surprised to know that a corporate college in Vijayawada recently appointed an English lecturer for a monthly salary of Rs.2800. It is easy guess for anybody to determine the kind of goods delivered to students. No scribe can describe how the corporate managements torture the teachers. It is better described by Shakespeare. If available the corporate managements would like to buy robots for 500 or 1000. It is one time investment for them. They can put the robot teachers in cupboard after day’s work. They don’t ask for leave. They don’t look for Sundays. They don’t ask for increments. Most importantly they don’t express their views. But it is for their bad stars they don’t have robot or gadgets available for teaching. What about the students?

Now –a-days we see almost every school using the same high flown language. e- learning, Holistic approach, Student centric approach, stress free environment are hackneyed by the corporate schools. Shaping global citizens, making world leaders are also widely used quite without thought. But how many people believe their words? Even they are not serious about what they say. If they were serious they would act differently.

Unethical trends in Andhra Pradesh

Srichaitanya institutions are either mills or poultries. Certainly they are not schools or colleges. Teachers work like salves.  Students are Child labor. Their movements are monitored by hi-tech gadgets. The human element in learning is totally missing here. They have to work as per the program with the objective of Ranks. A student wakes up at 4.30 am and his day begins. It ends at 10.30 pm. This is the pitiable campus life of SriCahitanya student. Eighteen hours of work! Yes. That’s all. This is creative learning. The students need at least seven to eight hours of sleep in that tender age. But who cares? The students associations like ABVP keep quiet. Perhaps they have been silenced with a corporate strategy. Even Sundays these children have no off. What they become in future God knows but they will surely become child labour in the corporate schools.

That’s why Suicides. A large number of students 15 and 22 years in Andhra Pradesh account for the most number of suicides which has the second highest rate of suicide in the country after West Bengal. Though the official records of the National Crime Records Bureau state that almost 1.5 lakh suicides and 10 lakh attempts take place annually in India, the actual figures are higher. “The 2010 crime reports indicate that on an average, there are 43 suicides in AP every day, Between April and June 2010, 52 students from corporate colleges committed suicide due to academic pressure.

 Ranks or marks are education. Ranks get students admissions into Engineering or

Medicine in premier institutions. Success is getting seat in IIT and going to America which is a service to their motherland or else joining a multinational company with a huge salary which is service to society. A job in a local company with a small salary is understood as life spoiled. This is the credo in corporate schools. Is it education or Craving for wealthy living?  Corporate school managements are responsible for not educating the parents who are no less responsible to the misery of our country.

In his open heart talk on ABN Dr.B.S.Rao Said “ 90% of IIT students work for foreign countries” The students aim at IIT, JEE, AIEEE, JIPMER. The corporate Kharkahnas start the foundry work. Thank God we did not have this corporate mess long ago lest Abdul Kalam would have settled abroad. Swamy Vivekananda would have studied medicine and settled in UK instead of going to America on a spiritual mission. Can the corporate schools inspire their students in Kalam or Vivekananda’s path with their crude commercial ways?  Look at their business promotion strategies.

Whole sale and retail business perspective in Education.

When you buy fruits, clothes or stationery in bulk quantity it is common that you get good discount from any merchant. The more you buy the less is the price. Educational institutions follow the same philosophy. Get your friends and join in a group then your fee will be much less.

Door to door Marketing.

In a highly competitive market people must go to the door of the customers. It is true. But can an educational institute do the same? You may say “no”. But it is “yes” for the corporate educational institutes. Chaitanya, Narayana, Nalanda, Bhasyam and many others have marketing staff. Some schools and colleges prefer to send their teaching staff

to this direct marketing activity. The teachers must oblige the marketing duty given by the school lest they should forget about their job.  After all the objective of Educational institutions is admissions.

Role of Agents in Admissions.

Another feasible business strategy adopted by the corporate schools and colleges is appointing agents. They give teachers with reputation especially those who are running tuition centers successfully a lum-sum of say Rs.50,000 along with admission forms. The teacher recommends a corporate school or college get the form filled by the student and also collects the fee. He gets his commission. Thus they justify the role of a commission agent more than that of a teacher.

Hi-Tech mafia racket?

The community became is sophisticated and notorious racket that it became an organized crime group. The modern corporate schools are extremely effective at raising children people who could not possibly develop any character.

Corporation Schools are far better

The Private Schools in Andhra Pradesh are undoubtedly offering better amenities when compared with the Government Schools. But still the results of the Government Schools in Andhra Pradesh are getting as good as their private counterparts!

An Effective English Teaching Methodology

A Unique Method of Teaching based on Student Psychology

With the fast spread and easy availability of technology every field of human activity is aided of technology.  The laborious and cumbersome earth work in both agriculture and Civil Engineering has been heavily mechanized where as in travel & tourism, telecommunication and banking the work is heavily computerized. While all the key fields utilize technology to the maximum there is one field which relatively inadequately utilizes technology. That is the field of education. Exploring all the possible ways of using technology and exploiting it to the fullest extent expedites learning and enhances the pleasure of learning. Student psychology plays vital role in Teaching or Learning and it’s a fact that audio visuals elicit greater interest than blackboard. While teaching through media a teacher can take extra leverage it is like adding acetone to petrol for extra mileage.

Learning through media /Audio visuals in teaching.

The concept of using audio visuals in teaching is not new. It is at least as old as a decade. The concept being discussed here is new. It is not simply using audio visuals in a class room. There is a whole lot of difference between using audio visuals and learning through media. This concept depends on Common human psychology in general and student psychology in particular.

What is the common human psychology?

In any part of the world, in any communication context audience ability is more important than the language competence of the speaker. The speaker may be highly sophisticated in terms are vocabulary and pronunciation (English) but the speaker always minds ability of his audience lest he should lose listeners. So every speaker tries to match with his audience ability and tastes. The former helps listeners to understand the speaker’s language and the latter helps to understand the speaker. Explaining the same idea to a group of uneducated street vendors and scientists or doctors requires different vocabulary, examples and even style of speaking. Basically the aims are enlightening and pleasing. Language should not only be simple but also be popular.

Why Common human psychology is not applicable to teaching?

In most states of India English is a familiar language but not popular. People keep learning but they neither learn no use English well. Even in schools and colleges (including professional colleges) here English is scantily used. This is indeed a big curse. People should not choose a language suitable to audience in schools and colleges because they have the responsible for both imparting the language and inculcating habit of speaking English. These are the two corollaries of teaching English. English medium schools and institutions offering education in English must undertake the responsibility. An average English teacher in Andhra says “The students are of village background they can not understand English” and explains the lessons in Telugu. He or she uses little or no English in classrooms. Moreover for all practical purposes on the campus he or she uses Telugu.

"SHE" is worse than "He" in English Medium schools 

Majority of schools in villages, small and medium towns and even cities follow a canon in appointing teaching and non teaching staff. They look for people who work for low salaries.  House wives are a boon for them whose motto is to work and support the family financially. They don’t have big demands. Their chief consideration is a close work place. Schools are comfortable places for them. Since man is the main bread winner he comes for a higher salary. So the school managements are comfortable with housewives. So they appoint them as lady teachers regardless of their quality qualification and English knowledge leaving the care and standards to the wind. Let the students go to dogs what they care. When the schools managements tell parents “We take care of your children as you do” it is not enigmatic. Their meaning is plain.  They take care as baby sitters do. Finally English is absent both in theory and practice in English medium schools. A few expensive schools are different but that will not help. The conclusion is English medium schools are dominated by Telugu speaking teachers.The result is students are deprived of proper exposure to English. They mask their insufficiency they embark on “We are respecting our mother tongue” (instead of we respect our mother tongue). This is the negative atmosphere through which the teacher has to heave them through. Understand the background is as important as tilling the ground before sowing.

Creating ideal conditions

English Language teaching or learning flourishes only under ideal conditions. Ideal conditions promote confidence in learners so students can learn easily. Good schools are those which lay strong foundation to ideal conditions. So are good teachers. In other words they create and maintain environment suitable for learning English. In the absence of such suitable environment leave alone teaching English even speaking English is not possible. Creating ideal conditions is a task in itself. If the teacher succeeds in establishing the ideal conditions half the battle is won. This is nothing but putting the student in learning mode. If the student is not in learning mode the more talented a teacher is the more repulsive the students become. All his efforts become futile and he will become a fiasco.

Preparing the student to receive English language as life skill is a very important parameter. It is just like making a bed for the plant. The teacher has to play the role of a gardener and should cultivate English, nurture skills in students. This should be done cautiously, strategically and practically. Just like the part of the ship under the water is equal to the part on the water line, the language work outside the classroom must be as much as class room work. There should be handful of students who can always speak English with one another. This is an immense help to the teacher as well as the learner. This makes the students desirous of learning English as a life skill. But this is a hard task.

Language is never taught. It is acquired.  The actual teaching of a language is quite effective in a place where it is a living language. Learning Tamil is very effective in Tamilnadu.  All people use it naturally all the time. This creates a need, belief and confidence in the learners. The same can be created even for English. Those who don’t know English are those who are not exposed to English. So they do not believe that they can use it naturally, and frequently.  The best way is to teach English is to expose the student and to dispel his myths. There are so many myths in the minds of the learners of English. They are about pronunciation, usage of vocabulary, sentence structure etc. Take the word suite. A learner doesn’t actually believe that people pronounce it as sweet. First comes the stage of surprise. Then comes the stage of accepting. When the learner is consistently exposed to the same pronunciation he transcends his fears and believes that it is natural and he too should speak like that. Many people speaking English is better than one person speaking English. Use of media (print and electronic) in teaching English helps teacher keep the learners abreast with English usage both written and spoken form.

Use of print media in teaching

It is due to lack of exposure the students English remains poor. A teacher can really succeed if he aims at developing certain habits like reading news paper and watching T.V. rather than focusing on only classroom teaching. The teacher can collect cut sheets of the news paper head lines. He may also use digital cam to take snaps of Headlines of various news papers. From my own experience I appraised the student’s knowledge as far below the requirement. When three hundred head lines were shown to a hundred students a few students know 20 to 30 words. But all students realize that only if they read the head lines their scope for improvement is tremendous. Day by day the teacher can objectively show these words. Expose them to different columnists. Letters with sound English language published can also be shown. The snap shots or web downloads can be projected using an LCD projector to a big class comfortably. This is much better than writing English vocabulary on the blackboard. Student not only develops idea about vocabulary and language usage.  Many students make it a habit to read books and news papers.

Use of electronic media in teaching


Gone are those days where students had no choice but to read to improve their language. Teachers used to say. Read, Read and Read.” In these days many national and international channels telecast news, debate, discussions and interviews. But unfortunately the learner can not receive polished English language. So the teacher can tune his ear to such English. Teacher can record or download such programs (videos) and can expose the students explaining what is spoken. He can use short programs of 5 min length so that he can show more videos than one. Gradually he can serve question papers with 5 or 6 questions. Thus a teacher can both train the student on the listening skills and pass a habit of watching such programs. Good learning habits are as important as learning from a class. After all self learning and self help methods are most sought after in education.

What you can do with Foreign Languages?

In an increasingly globalized world, foreign language proficiency is more important than ever. Learning another language has personal, academic and social benefits.  Foreign language is valuable asset and a credible career choice.

                            

Unfortunately in India students target technical courses for MNC careers and so language skills have taken back seat. Engineering orientation in education is depriving students of a very valuable opportunity of acquiring language skills. But don't worry your English knowledge or fluency is neither helps nor hurts if you want to learn a Foreign Language.

Which Foreign language?

Why foreign languages?

This is an obsolete question as more and more people are aware of Foreign Languages. So it is worthwhile to mention the advantages of learning foreign languages rather than discussing " why foreign languages?"  Learning a foreign language raises curtain to Cognitive, Social and Economic benefits.

Cognitive benefits: Brain science has discovered that functional plasticity of the human brain is driven by language, knowing a foreign language can actually change the brain's anatomy.

A: Children: 

Many children with foreign languages go abroad, perform and win laurels. Children in foreign language programs have tended to demonstrate greater cognitive development, creativity, and divergent thinking than monolingual children. Several studies show that people who are competent in more than one language outscore those who are speakers of only one language on tests of verbal and nonverbal intelligence. When children are adequately exposed to two languages at an early age, they are more flexible and creative.many schools in the remote parts of Telanga are showing interest in introducing Foreign languages. 

B: Adults: Foreign Language Study results in better performance on standardized tests such as the SAT. Research has shown that having studied a foreign language one can understand one’s own language better. Foreign language study can also raise one’s abilities to function in other spheres of life. Adaptability increases as an outcome of foreign language study. A student is exposed to unfamiliar ideas while learning a new language thus adaptability and diversity are easy for him or her. By learning a new language, one can expand his horizons of thinking that reinforces one’s own identity and self-confidence. Foreign languages are complementary for Good Careers. 

Economic benefits: plenty of opportunities for people with a foreign language. There are high paid jobs available in India for French or German speakers. Look at the google image. you can search yourself.

Careers for Foreign Language experts: A student with command on any foreign language has an edge over the others. Employees who can communicate in foreign languages are always a blessing for the employer. IT professionals with a foreign language serve as a bridge between the employer and foreign clients. People with foreign languages has ample opportunities in Travel and Tourism, Technical and Engineering , Media and Arts.  One can be a freelance Interpreter, Translators and Teacher and can work from home also.

EFL – Eazy Foreign Languages

Kanna street Beside Modern Super Market,

Nr. Benz Circle, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Ph: 9700877409. writer.poolabala @gmail.com

Eazy foreign languages in Vijayawada offers the best French training in Vijayawada. French and German classes go with all fun  and all practice. The French teacher is French language expert and a polyglot who speaks six foreign languages. He is a renowned foreign languages author and the first ever French novelist from Andhrapradesh and also from India. Eazy foreign languages offered French classes in Vijayawada to students from various parts of the Andhrapradesh. Students keep coming from other states of India as well.   you can type "French classes in Guntur" " French classes in Tenali" in youtube to find the videos of the students from these places. The performance of the student impresses any one who wants to learn a foreign language.