'Tinker, tailor, soldier...'

Image via Wikipedia

It all started with a hurried blog post on our other blog. (My true intention was to test whether the "read more" tag was working.)

A "Yateendra" commented to point out many errors in the text and in also styling the format. Since his profile was not accessible, I searched for a possible Yateendra and wondered if he were the "Yateendra Joshi," who writes the Editage blog and is the author of 'Communicating in Style' - the book praised by John le Carré, well-known British spy novelist, as "A gem. Courteous, unfrightening and essential. A perfect companion to Fowler’s A Dictionary of Modern English Usage for today’s communicators."

With any mention of John le Carré, I am invariably reminded of his 'Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy', the first one of his books I had chanced to read. Eventually I read the other ones, but this remained as one of my favourites. The title is an adaptation of the famous rhyme. You can read the various versions of the cherrystone rhyme here.

It seems that the rhyme has inspired many an author. Another work I chanced to refer was P. R. Wilkinson's "Thesaurus of Traditional English Metaphors."

Entries in this compilation are arranged under a highly original scheme following this old rhyme 'Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar-man, thief' with the additional categories 'at home' 'at school and 'at play'.

This also illustrates how the consciousness of a region is a storehouse of its trades and the thesaurus aptly illustrates how these find expression in the language the people there use.

The Last Lecture

Reading or buying a book prompted by some impressive review is not exactly my forte, and even less so after reading a review on the net. But after reading the author's interview as part of Editorial Review of this book, I decided that I'd read the book if I came across it. The name Randy Pausch meant nothing to me but the whole thing started with his video Cover of The Last Lectureon time management and it also led me to the review of the book cited above.

Strand Book Stall also mentioned the book in their newsletter at about same time and it caught my attention. When I went to Strand, at least two other customers were asking for it. I did buy it but wondered whether I was getting drawn into some systematic propaganda.

But when I started reading it, an unpudownable spell unleashed itself on me and it still lingers after so many days. I'd unhesitatingly recommend it to anybody and everybody.

The last chapters appear to be preaching and are bit irritating at times but just so. Jeffrey Zaslow, a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, attended the last lecture, and wrote the story . His craft has made the book intensely readable, and has done full justice to the author's intensity of feeling.

Despite its grave background, the narrative is never depressing. Certainly a collector's item, with a capacity to recharge your dampened spirits on every re-reading.

VOW ! What a medium!!

VOW is Video On Wheels.

They are also used as a cable or satellite TV on a large 100 to 300'' screen with ultra modern audio equipment.

VOW travels from village to village with a programme announced a day in advance creating a media event and getting coverage in local press - a double exposure with multiplier effect.

According to a research, on an average, VOW covers 1.5 lakh viewers a month. It operates on a generator where electricity is scarce.

1980 elections witnessed the incarnation of video vans, alias video raths. Devi Lal is said to be the first politician to use VOW for campaigning in Haryana. Since then it every political party, especially, the BJP, has exensively used VOW.

VOW is the brainchild of Dr. Jain of Jain satellite TV. After the elections, the video vans were rented out by Dr. Jain's company to various companies for marketing their products.

Companies like Hindustan Lever, Brooke Bond, ITC, Proctor & Gamble, L&T, Godrej and Pepsi have successfully used the medium to promote their products. VOW offers advertisers a complete communication solution that enables them to make inroads into the far flung rural Indian market and includes

* demonstration of product
* promotion
* market research
* retailer motivation
* instant reaction and
* opportunity to sell.

VOW is also being used for educational purposes. You can read more about VOW in this book.

What is Surrogate Advertising?

The literal meaning of ‘Surrogate advertising' is copying the brand image of one product to promote another product of the same brand. It can be defined as the strategy used by manufacturers and advertisers to promote a product surreptitiously, the advertisement of which, is banned by the law of the land. Liquor and tobacco companies often advertise their products in this clandestine manner.
In India an attempt has been made to prevent the electronic media from advertising harmful products.
Thus, Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, (CTNRA), Rule 7(2)(viii)(A) of the Advertising Code states that "no advertisement shall be permitted which promotes, directly or indirectly, the production, sale or consumption of cigarette, tobacco products, wine, alcohol, liquor or other intoxicants."
Many companies have worked around this rule by bringing out soda, glasses, and fruit juice, playing cards and what not, by the same name to promote the brand. This is known as "Brand Extension" in advertising lingo. Some say that genuine "Brand Extension" is different from surrogate advertising.   But many people believe this to be a fraudulent approach garbed in politically correct terminology.
These advertisements employ techniques of persuasive communication, strategically using "lifestyle" as an appeal to attract impressionable consumers. Celebrities from every field are roped in to eulogise the virtues of the surrogate product on screen, only to remind the target about the real thing and the gullible find it hard to escape this powerful dragnet.

A useful study-technique.

"Constructed Response Questions" or popularly called simply "Constructed Questions" are thematically connected short questions grouped together as one question. e.g.

'' What was the total wheat production in India in 2007? How does it compare with the record production figures for the decade? Interpret the data in comparison with the trends for other developing nations of Asia taken together.''

Compare this question with a typical descriptive question like "Discuss the wheat production scenario for developing nations in Asia (with special emphasis on India)."

Constructed response questions are designed for eliciting precise responses and also to to test higher level cognitive abilities. The marking or scoring is done as per a pre-determined schedule or rubric corresponding to the abilities being tested. Refer this page for a broad idea of how a marking schedule is prepared.

Answers to Constructed Questions help compare and contrast various points of view, find and link causes and effects, interpret changes in trends, identify patterns or classify and draw conclusions from the data. This also makes plotting graphs or tabulations easier. Answers may also successfully explain or predict the events.

This is the reason why we find such questions drafted for University level question papers. While preparing notes on study topics, it is therefore useful to tackle various small questions as and when they get posed and club the questions and answers together in plausible permutations and combinations as the exams approach nearer.

What is the purpose?

Advertisements are categorised in a number of ways. This categorisation* may be based on the the specific advertising objectives or it may also depend on the stylistic features of the ads or again on the type of target readership.

Based on the purpose of the ad, the classical approach divided ads into 10 types:

1. Hard selling ads:  The purpose of these ads is to achieve immediate results. These ads are variously known as 'functional ads' (following primary ad functions), the 'persuasive ads' or the 'reason why' ads.

Some of the writers propose four of the primary functions (AIDA) whereas some others, particularly those with a classical approach are proponents of a five function formula:

Attract Attention: There are various non-verbal devices that help attraction - the colour, the illustration, position of the ad, size, etc. The copywriter adds her own device viz. the headline. The headline should be in tune with the layout, display , illustration and the body copy and / or the base line.

Interest: It must retain attention once captured by arousing interest. Sub-headlines and body copy are expected to perform this function.

Desire: The reader who is attracted and whose interest is aroused should be made to desire the product. This is achieved by employing psychological appeals in the copy along with the other attractive devices discussed above. Other ad techniques like bargain advantage, bandwagon or testimonials are also applied for this purpose.

Inspire: The total effect of the ad should achieve this. The ad must exude the confidence of the advertiser that the product advertised is the best. If the ad message is timid it will not inspire the reader (Crudities and too much exaggeration should be avoided. It can repel and prove counter-productive). If puffery is used, the claim should be substantiated by citing a trustworthy source, e.g., a survey.  

Action: The message to enthuse the reader to ACT should be interwoven in the ad. It can use pressure technique use command in headline and say "Do this NOW." There are other devices like "coupons" which prompt action.

2. Reminder Ads: Reminder advertising is employed to maintain sales. This is achieved by constantly hammering the product name of brand. Poster advertising is mostly reminding advertising. Slogan + Product name forms most of the display. The technique employs publication or broadcasting of ads with considerable frequency. Small and medium sized staple goods manufacturers generally resort to reminder ads. These are the ads that promote habit formation and exploit slogans to that effect.

3.Informative ads: Informative ads attempt to mould public opinion about a product or class of products. They are also called educative ads. These ads do not attempt to aid the sales conclusion immediately. They educate the public by disseminating information about the product and cultivate buyers over time. Once in a life-time purchases or expensive products rely more on informative / educative ads.

4. Prestige ads : This type of ad is sometimes referred to as "Image Ad" These ads not only get published in prestigious places and publications, their intent is to enhance the prestige or the image of the brand or to attract up-market clients. This instils confidence in the minds of stake-holders, assists the PR function for the brand and ultimately aims at adding value to goodwill.  

5. Distributor ads: Also called as 'Trade' ads these ads target wholesalers of retailers rather than the end users. These ads are written  to emphasize the benefits the traders will derive by stocking and selling the product. These magazines appear in trade journals and publications of traders' associations.

6. Co-operative ads:  Co-operative ads are so called because many manufacturers or service providers from a particular industry co-operatively publish these ads. Though the techniques employed by other types of ads do get employed here, the main characteristic difference is that a common theme is sought to be advanced by numerous individual advertisers on cost-sharing or subscription basis. Associations of Banks, POL products, Merchants' Associations of specific foodstuffs like eggs and plantation products like tea, coffee or coir etc advertise co-operatively to further their common themes.

7. Technical ads: These ads get published in technical magazines and are addressed to technicians or professionals. Mostly they advertise speciality products and the target customers are people from that particular trade, proficiency or practice.

8. Mail order catalogues: Mail ordering is not advertising but in fact, a mode of sale. Mail order traders use press ads and sales letters or direct mail appeals for persuading customers to buy through post. However writing catalogues is a craft in itself as it has to substitute direct handling or experiencing the products. The desire to buy normally traverses the route of 'Sight - Touch - Possession'. The catalogues therefore need to crafted to entice similar feelings. In the contemporary scenario, offer brochures accompanying credit card bills or mobile phone bills fall in this category.

9. Direct Mail letters: Direct mail should not be confused with mail order. It is not necessarily an offer to sell through post but is in essence, a direct communication from the advertiser to the target customer. It requires that the names and the addresses of the customers be known. Mostly these are in the form of a personal letter skilfully written to appeal the customer and plant a desire to buy some product. The selling point can be anything from a local store to a mail order-delivery system.

10. Retail advertising: This type of advertising is more for the store of the retailer than a particular product. Departmental stores, malls, supply chain outlets, advertise their quality retailing services through these ads. They employ some or all of the techniques used by other types of ads mentioned above, but their focus is on the qualitative and beneficial aspects of their sales rather than the products they sell. The conveniences can include one-stop shopping, lifestyle purchasing experience or novel ambience.

*References

Reference Material for Copywriting

For writing my pieces and preparing for lectures about copywriting I have been referring to various books and articles by great experts in the field . I mention these below and I would urge every serious student of copywriting to have his own copies and build a decent library.

1. Advertising in India - by Jiban Mukerjee

2. Copywriting and its presentation - by F. W. Jefkins

3. Introduction to Advertising Principles and Practice - by Thomas E. Maytham 

4. Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy

5. Hearing Voices - Producing Great Radio Commercials - by Alan Barzman

6. The Craft of Copywriting - by June A. Valladares 

7. Making Money from Copywriting - by Jason Deign

8. Writing Marketing Copy to Get Results - by James Essinger

9. More Words that Sell - by Richard Bayan

10. Behind the Scenes in Advertising - by Jeremy Bullmore

11.Advertising Management - by Jaishri Jethwaney and Shruti Jain

Directness and simplicity

Directness and simplicity are the two most desirable qualities of an advertising copy that intends to fulfil its purpose successfully.

Instead, too much modern advertising is of "super-clever" category. One wonders whether the aim is to impress the "smart" folks of advertising industry or the people it is intended to reach. The copy should not expect the reader to invest too much voluntary effort or initiative.

The object of the copy should be to create the much valued familiarity about the product or service so as to ease the work of the salesman and the resistance to sale.

Advertising copy that is simple or direct need not be classified as bash or crude. The unusual may attract the reader towards the novelty of the ad rather than the product or the aesthetic appeal may not be sought after by many a target audience.

The objective of the ad copy is to publicize to help sell. The persuasive and the informative character of the copy should not be compromised to meet the demands of visualisation. No doubt the presentation is important to attract attention, stimulate interest; but to help absorption of the message should be its prime function. Everything else is trying to sell the ad rather than the product.

A road which is direct, honest and simple leads to success.

Copywriting

Copywriting uses words to promote a person, business, opinion, or idea. It may be used as plain text, as a radio or television advertisement, or in a variety of other media. The main purpose of writing this marketing copy, or promotional text, is to persuade the listener or reader to act — to buy a product or subscribe to a certain viewpoint, for instance। Alternatively, copy might also be intended to dissuade a reader from a particular belief or action. (Wikipedia)

Strictly speaking a "copy" meant for publication also includes graphics. In advertising parlance however, it generally means the textual or the verbal content. The art, craft or the practice of writing such "copies" is copywriting. Considering the motivational intent of the advertising copy, and the professional practice of writing such copies, I am tempted to define copywriting as "writing a strategic resume for a product, service or idea."

Advertising copies are created based on the brief of a product or service as supplied by the advertiser ('client') and drafted in keeping with the marketing objectives of the client. The advertising objectives set up by the ad agency also shape the copies in a particular fashion। The copy also gets modified according to type of advertising task and type.

A press copy typically includes a headline, a body copy, a visual and a concluding line or baseline। The structure is flexible and its main purpose is to attract and arrest the attention of the prospective consumer (target). The strategic theme or conceptual design employed in the press ad also gets expressed in the form of storylines or storyboards for audio-visual media and as snippets or catch-lines in outdoor advertising. The copy is suitably modified or altered to suit these forms.

To be attractive and arresting, the copy needs to be simple and relevant and should stand out employing wordplay and/or some psychological techniques। This demands that the copywriter has command over his language and general knowledge across various disciplines and subjects. Knowledge of social trends and practices in vogue, of fashions and happenings also helps. I remember having read a centre-piece in Times of India proclaiming in a lighter vein, "The copywriter needs to have superficial knowledge of deep things and deep knowledge of superficial things."

Copywriting is frequently confused with Copyright, making copies of written text, translations etc. Copywriting is obviously different from all these activities though it may involve some or all of them.

Math Knowledge

Two mathematicians were having dinner in a restaurant, arguing about the average mathematical knowledge of the American public. One mathematician claimed that this average was woefully inadequate, the other maintained that it was surprisingly high.

"I'll tell you what," said the cynic. "Ask that waitress a simple math question. If she gets it right, I'll pick up dinner. If not, you do." He then excused himself to visit the men's room, and the other called the waitress over.

"When my friend comes back," he told her, "I'm going to ask you a question, and I want you to respond `one-third x cubed.' There's twenty bucks in it for you." She agreed.

The cynic returned from the bathroom and called the waitress over. "The food was wonderful, thank you," the mathematician started. "Incidentally, do you know what the integral of x squared is?"

The waitress looked pensive; almost pained. She looked around the room, at her feet, made gurgling noises, and finally said, "Um, one-third x cubed?"

So the cynic paid the check. The waitress wheeled around, walked a few paces away, looked back at the two men, and muttered under her breath, "...plus a constant."

------------------------

I found this anecdote here. Do visit the site if you want to read more.

Copywriting syllabus

Copywriting syllabus for BMM (Mumbai University)

Semester V

Paper II

Objectives:

To familiarize the students with various types of copywriting and develop their inherent writing skills

To train students to generate, develop and express ideas

To familiarize the students with contemporary advertising techniques

Syllabus

(Lectures to be used both for theory and practical)

1. Writing for print media - parts of a press ad- the headline, subhead, body copy (4)

2. Writing for TV (5)

• Writing scripts and developing story-boards
• Briefing the producer
• Pre-production
• Shooting
• Post-production

2. Writing for radio (5)

• Characteristics of radio environment
• Message strategy
• Writing the radio script
• Radio production process

3. Writing for Internet (1)

4. Writing for outdoor

5. Writing for direct mail-letters, product brochures, leaflets, folders etc. (1)

6. Writing for innovative media (1)

7. The skill of proof-checking (1)

8. The grammar of copy-writing (1)

9. Copy for specialized areas (12)

• Corporate advertising
• Financial advertising
• Recruitment ads
• Retail advertising
• Sale/Clearance Advertising
• Advertising in Indian Languages
• International markets - Language and campaign transfer
• Political advertising
• B2B advertising
• Local advertising
• Classified ads
• Catalogue copy
• Image advertising
• Fashion and Life style advertising
• Trade Advertising
• Mail order advertising
• PR advertising
• Non-commercial / public service advertising
• Government advertising
• Awareness advertising
• Agricultural advertising
• Rural advertising
• Food and beverages
• Durables
• Personal products

10. Different types of copy (7)

· Advertorials

· Infomercials

· Slogan and jingle ads

· Humour/sex/fear/anxiety ads

· Feel-good ads

· Light fantasy

· Demonstrations/testimonials

· Use of celebrity

· Slice of life

· Reason why

· Fund raising copy

· Comparative copy

· Motivational copy

11. Contemporary copywriting (5)

· The creative strategies, visual imagery, and copy used in current advertising

· Theoretical premises and industry practices.

12. Copy for different audiences (4)

· Children

· Women-Homemakers, modern women

· Senior citizens

· Executives

· Youth

13. Use of non-verbal communication in advertising (2)

• Use of colours, shapes, gestures
• Manipulation of the environments

Booklist

1. Arthur A Winters and Shirley F Milton, The Creative Connection : ad copy writing and idea visualization -- Fairchild Publications - 1989

2. Herschel Gordon Lewis, On the art of writing copy - Amacom 2000

3. Luke Sullivan, Hey Whipple, squeeze this - A guide to creating greater ads - John Wiley and sons 1998

4. Robert W Bly, The copywriter's handbook - Henry Holt and Company 1985

5. James L. Marra, Advertising Creativity : Techniques for Generating Ideas - Prentice-Hall 1990

6. Hank Seiden, Advertising Pure and Simple - Macmillan 1963

7. John Caples, Tested advertising methods.

Critical Issues in School Improvement

To quote from the ncrel site,

'Q: What is a "Critical Issue"?

A: "Critical Issue" is a multimedia document that examines a particular issue being tackled by educators engaged in school improvement. Currently, more than 75 Critical Issues are available in the following 10 areas: Assessment, At-risk, Family and Community, Instruction, Leadership, Literacy, Mathematics and Science, Policy, Professional Development, and Technology in Education. For example, under Literacy, you'll find the Critical Issue "Using Technology to Enhance Literacy Instruction," as well as several other Literacy-related Critical Issues.'

The ncrel directory of critical issues can be found here.

There are n number of ways in which the issue of school improvement can be approached.

ncrel ( north central regional educational laboratory) has adopted the approach of defining critical issues and examining each one in details. We, in India, can also adopt this methodology and identify critical issues pertinent to our respective environments and compile such documents. e.g. critical issue: supporting ways parents and families can become involved in schools can be found here.

Attention

When a student is actively engaged in your lesson, he or she pays attention.

That may sound simple, but it isn’t. Some students look at the teacher, but their minds are actually a million miles away. Paying attention means that students are actually focusing on what is going on in the classroom. It’s important to craft lessons that require students to pay attention to the task at hand. In every lesson or activity, you should provide an opportunity for students to do something. Ask them to create an example, build a model, draw a picture, write notes, or stand up and demonstrate what they have learned.

If you want to read more about this, you can read "Classroom Instruction" by Barbara Blackburn. Sample chapters are available here.

Making The Buds Open

"He who can open the bud, does it so simply'' said Ravindranath Tagore. Technology, however, is about making the buds open.

''Technology coerces beings, which are governed by a hidden law of emergence and withdrawal, into perpetual presence." said Heidegger

Animus, 'a philosophical journal of our times' makes interesting reading on the net. Its volume 8 of 2003 is devoted to aesthetics. I particularly liked Sean McGrath's article on Heidegger's thesis.

Interestingly, he discusses technology that allows the beautiful to occur. He has summarized his contention as :

"The ecological problem is an aesthetic crisis. The world is becoming increasingly less beautiful because of technology. Leavening Heidegger with a measure of largely forgotten medieval aesthetics, I maintain that we have forgotten the ontological relevance of the beautiful, and the aesthetic relevance of the ontological. We have allowed our technology to develop without consideration for aesthetic effect. I offer three criteria for a technology that allows the beautiful to occur: fittingness, transparency, and self-containment."

For explaining fittingness he quotes Robert Grosseteste as: “Beauty is a concordance and fittingness of a thing to itself and of all its individual parts to themselves and to each other and to the whole, and of the whole to all things [italics mine].”

Putting forth the criterion of transparency, he argues thus, " To be beautiful in a technical way is to let nature show itself through technology.."

Describing self-containment, he aptly explains Heidegger's notion of "sparing":

"A self-contained technology lets form shine without eclipsing nature. Like the painter who knows when to leave a detail at the level of suggestion, the writer who knows when to leave something unsaid, the architect who resists the inclination to ornamentation, a technology that allows the beautiful to occur holds back and lets be. Heidegger calls this “sparing.”

Those who have had even a slight brush with Philosophy, will enjoy the article immensely.

Seeing is believing

There are many reference tools available on the net. Click here to find Merriam-Webster visual dictionary. I feel this site is very rich and useful for students. This is what the publishers say:

''The Visual Dictionary Online is an interactive dictionary with an innovative approach.
From the image to the word and its definition, the Visual Dictionary Online is an all-in-one reference. Search the themes to quickly locate words, or find the meaning of a word by viewing the image it represents. What’s more, the Visual Dictionary Online helps you learn English in a visual and accessible way. The Visual Dictionary Online is ideal for teachers, parents, translators and students of all skill levels. Explore the Visual Dictionary Online and enrich your mind. Perfect for home, school or work. Discover a visual world of information''

The Writer's Secret

Nobel lecture (2006) by Ferit Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish author made interesting reading.

''...So my father was not the only one: we all give too much importance to the idea of a world with a centre. Whereas the impulse that compels us to shut ourselves up in our rooms to write for years on end is a faith in the opposite, the belief that one day our writings will be read and understood, because people the world over resemble one another. This, as I know from my own and my father’s writing, is a troubled optimism, scarred by the anger of being consigned to the margins...

... The writer’s secret is not inspiration—for it is never clear where that comes from—but stubbornness, endurance. The lovely Turkish expression “to dig a well with a needle” seems to me to have been invented with writers in mind...''

Click here to read the lecture in full.

Evolution

The story of how I evolved into an amateur reader of books and articles about evolution and Darwinism, dates back to the 80s. It was the time when I used to frequent the reading rooms of The Asiatic Society of Mumbai. The Natural History Magazine was readily available and Stephen Jay Gould's column "This View Of Life" soon became a "not to be missed" favourite.

The column heading was borrowed from Darwin's famous quote "There is grandeur in this view of life." What made the column interesting was Gould's multi-disciplinary approach and his predilection for literary content. His pages were a treat, linking a concept from one discipline to another from yet another discipline, which made the column immensely content-rich for lay readers like me. His specialization as a paleontologist was certainly his strength but he must have faced severe criticism from his peers for his voyeurism away from his discipline.

And as a happy coincidence, I also found his books like the "Flamingo's Smile" at Strand Book Stall. His column ended with his heroic fight with cancer. The column continued under the same heading for some time but that view of life was not the same.

To anybody who wants to venture into this subject, I would unhesitatingly recommend Stephen Jay Gould. Some of his articles are available on the net and his official site is under construction. Read more about Gould here and here.

Obituaries I like (!)

You may think I am a queer sort of a guy if I confess I read the obituary column first whenever I lay my hands on a copy of "The Economist". Here you will find some of the best of the genre. You may not have even heard about the dead but it is interesting to know how the character is made alive in just a page length. These obituaries are nicely drafted and well-researched. When Boris Yeltsin died, the column wrote :

"...Though Mr Yeltsin was a Communist Party boss, he never turned into Homo sovieticus; he preserved the qualities and sensibilities of a Russian man. As Alexander Solzhenitsyn put it, he was almost too Russian. He was spontaneous, erratic, frequently drunk, talented, sincere, witty, full-hearted. His hugeness as a character matched the scale of the changes in his country..."

You may like to read the full text here.

See what the column says about Benzir Bhutto:

"... In one debate, an opponent described her father as “a tradesman of some description. A butcher, I gather.” Benazir looked as if she had been slapped in the face. Her father earned this sobriquet from the slaughter in East Pakistan as Bangladesh struggled to be born....

...After her assassination, a handwritten will was produced. Foreseeing her own untimely end, it bequeathed her party, like the dynastic heirloom it has become, to her husband, who said he would pass leadership to their 19-year-old son. For a woman who claimed to be driven by a burning desire to bring democracy to Pakistan, it was a curious legacy..."

You may like to read the full text here.

The New York Times is yet another publication where you get to read good obituaries. When Narsimha Rao died, Amy Waldman wrote..."Not known for his charisma, and loath to give interviews, Mr. Rao was a wily, even ruthless politician capable of outfoxing rivals in a faction-riddled party..." and you may like to read the full text here.

Acharya (P K) Atre was known to write well-remembered obituaries. I also recollect some leaders from "Kesari" Selections penned by none other than Lokamnya Tilak in the honour of the well-known of his times. For somebody who died young after a remarkable contribution, he would write मुहूर्तं ज्वलितं श्रेयो नश्चिरं धूमायते

In recent times of course, the name of remarkable obituary writer which easily comes to mind is that of 'Khushwant Singh.' and I have a copy of his 'Death at my my doorstep'

A reader's response

What does a reader read?
The reader reads his own mind in whatever he reads। In anything that challenges the limits of the projection of his mind, he finds a challenging read.
A true reader is always on the lookout for writings that are appealing and enriching to the accumulated whole of his experience - his mind. A writing without such personal appeal or character is something that is read only mechanically, without really listening to what it "says."
Successful writing is always writing created by a single mind because good writing that appeals always has a character and is characterized by an individual vision and style. Vision and style combine to form character or voice as it is often called. It is the writer's voice that prompts the writer employ certain ideas, words and phrases and combinations of these. It reflects a unique expression of soul, the voice, that transforms writing, otherwise a mere collection of words, into a thought.
A satisfied reader, having read this thought, may not respond to the writer - the physical person - as he already finds himself in tune and in a satisfying dialogue with the "voice" of the writing।
This is my humble addition to the possible explanations of Warnock's dilemma.

Personal productivity

Personal productivity is currently the most fervently discussed topic on the web. With his "First Things First" and "Seven Habits," Stephen Covey invaded the lives of managers and aspiring leaders in every field. David Allen's "Getting Things Done" made history with GTD becoming the buzz word. 'Geeks' and netizens flocked around the concept and chirped and croaked 'GTD' to no end. PIM (Personal Information Management) software applications like MS Outlook and the ever expanding G-mail incorporated GTD into their newer versions with modifications and add-ons. Many other productivity gurus joined the fray and tweaked the idea to develop their own "systems."

There are thus many "productivity schools." You have Mark Forster's 'Do It Tomorrow' (DIT), Neil Fiore's 'The Now Habit,' and ZTD - a combination of Zen Habits and GTD, to name a few. All these systems preach various systems of time management or life management.

Covey asks you to define various roles you need to play in life and classify your "to-dos" according to various combinations of urgency and importance with reference to your roles in life. The tasks are also classified as leading to spiritual and non-spiritual developmental goals and a conscious effort is advised to strike a balance.

David Allen's ('DA') system GTD advocates unloading psyche of its various minor or major preoccupations as to-dos into some system, a process of capture. The captured tasks are then classified as actionable and non-actionable and so on to the smallest actionable unit i.e. 'next action'. At any moment you choose from these next actions to act upon it, considering the elements of suitability viz. context, your level of energy etc. In this manner you progress bit by bit to your goal ('project') engaging in periodical reviews on the way, to gather your bearings. The aim of the system is to achieve a de-cluttered, stress-free, "mind like water" state akin to the idea of "flow" put forth by psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi.

DIT advises you to take up only chewable bites and limit your daily tasks by "closing the lists" while The Now Habit teaches you to deal with procrastination issues and also incorporates the idea of "un-scheduling".

Finally, there is also a book called "The Perfect Mess" that theorizes 'hidden benefits of disorder'. (By Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman ).

There are various e-mail groups that discuss and explore these systems.

J Krishnamurti has classified time into three varieties. Genealogical Time, Mechanical Time and Psychological Time. With a marked shift from earlier years, the modern systems are venturing into psychological time management along with management of mechanical time. However, they seem to ignore the individual's appetite for leisure (the way we speak of the risk appetite of an investor). Any prior definition of leisure tends to lose its very essence and turns it into "work." The 'let go' approach should be inducted in the right doses to satisfy this appetite. (This I find in DIT to some extent). Otherwise, to quote Krishnamurti again, it becomes an "effort" 'to become' efficient/happy/successful rather than 'being' efficient/happy/successful "effortlessly".

Warning : Productivity literature is dubbed as 'Productivity Pron' (Euphemism for "porn") in which people indulge to get pseudo-satisfaction of being productive.

Blogging

Unless you already have a blog and/or website, I'd earnestly request you have your presence on the web. The blog (short for web-log) of course is the simplest way. It is not necessary to make your blog public, only you may view it or alternatively you can easily restrict the viewership to your colleagues associates etc. If you make it public, lay people like me will also benefit. Eventually you can make your blog into an e-book or a printed book.

The blog is actually your digital diary where you can store anything from videos, music, graphics, pictures and text. The beauty is in the ability to pack almost infinite information in a single textual word or character by simply hyper-linking it to the information you want to classify/store. You go on posting the way things come your mind. Then you can categorize with labels/tags and the posts get automatically classified. You need not publish under you own name. But when you publish something of value, why not?

It's a way of keeping your personal thoughts and knowledge effortlessly recorded. You can easily draw upon it as a resource pool in future. You can also save your posts as drafts indefinitely, before you ultimately publish them. Moreover you are not using your pc's valuable hard disk space. It is stored on some hosting company's server. Everything is free. (Just give yourself a Broad Band connection for ease of operation). More importantly, you do have a duty towards your talents. Your talent already known to others and as well as known only to a few but not others. Now could be the time to make it known too.

Through the ages the typical enlightened Indian mind is against perpetuating its footprint and its achievement. It is a sublime and insouciant stance of the recognised, against the impermanence of things and against materialism. As a result we have a glorious history and rich heritage of knowledge but little or no documentation. This is yet another reason why one should overcome the reluctance and/or phantasm (doubting relevance and utility of your writing) and start blogging.

Why add another project to your already heavy burden?
To help ease your psyche. While writing, you may write only a few sentences but in the process 'n' number of things cross your mind. Thereby your many conscious creations get automatically externalised, (though not actually recorded) giving you a much needed relief.

A thinker once said that he could see some promise in me as a writer. "Do you write?'' he asked me. When I replied in negative, he said I should write, write anything, even a diary, so that I should not repent later that I did not write. I started writing 20 years after that incidence and I am really repenting that I did not start earlier. My son was asking me to write a blog since last three years and I am repenting that I did not start writing it then.

From students and professionals to eminent scientists and thinkers, everybody is blogging. Why not you, and if you do, please let everybody know!

‘Quality in Education’ Q&A - 1

 

Marathi Version of the post is here.

This issue is on the anvil in many developing countries. Particularly in many second world countries, You may like to click here and read the perspective of an Indian mind.

The issue relates to improvement in different aspects of education such as budgetary provisions, teachers’ recruitment policy, curriculum, language teaching, student guidance, student streaming according to their inclinations, educational management, teacher-student ratio, physical environment, and teacher education and training etc.

The issue is complex. To understand the issue and to achieve the objective, we need to examine various models based on what teachers, parents and scholars think.

Some of the NGOs working in this area have outlined four questions and will direct their effort in pursuance of the answers :

1. What is it that we want our students to learn?

2. How do we know if the students have learnt it?

3. What will be our course of action if students have not learnt?

4. How will we deepen the learning for students who have already mastered the essential knowledge?

It has been universally observed that when organised effort is initiated for “Quality Improvement” governmentally, it is often met with stiff resistance. Canada and to some extent Australia have tried to implement legislation in this regard but are facing opposition by critics. A high-level Education officer in Maharashtra, India, recently resigned in frustration over this issue. Quality in Education takes a back seat in the politics of masses.

China, to some extent has been successful in this direction, thanks to some noteworthy research in the area.

Thought for new year

उद्धरेत्‌ आत्मना आत्मानं न आत्मानं अवसादयेत्‌

आत्मा एव आत्मनः बन्धु: आत्मा एव रिपुः आत्मनः ।।

Lift up thyself , cause no harm nor denigrate

Thyself art thy enemy and thyself thy friend

- Shrimadbhagvadgeeta (6.5)