the primary school in my village

Everybody has his own memories of school days. I too have my share of them. But this blog is not about the primary school where I studied but the school I have seen in my village. I basically belong to a village known as Rampur Binora which falls in Kannauj District of State Uttar Pradesh, India. I didn't get a chance to study in that. Lucky me!!! You might be wondering why I am considering lucky for not studying in the school which was at walking distance to my home. There are two main reasons first my father worked at different location and never was posted near village. secondly I never wanted to study in that school.

The school has a very small building. I never counted but guess there are 5-6 rooms in that school. One of them is a administrative room where the Headmaster(school Principal) along with fellow masters(Teachers) will sit after their class(lectures). The school was meant to provide education from standard 1 to 5. I am not sure if it is still the case or has got any upgrade to provide education till 8th. Nevertheless not only kids from my village but from nearby villages too use to come to the school every morning.

There were no benches for the students but the teachers were lucky to have wooden chairs. If somebody have a look at those chairs one will wonder why they are not breaking down. I reckon most of the teachers will come to the school on their bicycles. Today things have changed some of them have their own motorcycles too.

If you want to identify a student you can easily identify one. He/She will be carrying a midsized jute bag(called as Bori) for their sitting. They will also carry a tiny black board and slate. Students in there don't start using pencil, notebook or pen before 3-4th standard I think. They will use that board and slates for that purpose. Now I think many schools have started using pencil and notebooks. I guess the proof of India shining. One thing that I probably missed was the kohl in their eyes.

The school didn't have any fans or electricity. I think even now it doesn't have it. So in summer time the classes are taking places under the trees. Thank God at least for this reason they are not cutting down those trees. Well to be honest, today trees are being brought down even in villages too. The air is polluted in villages too. The environment has changes considerably in last decade or two. So many villages don't have electricity, proper sanitation, but India is shining.

Most of my friends I know who studied in that school were scared to hell from the teachers. Somehow the school used to get all the frustrated men from the village or nearby villages. I have myself seen them beating kids like animals. I have seen students getting hidden, those who bunked the day, if they even see the teacher is coming. Such was the terror of those teachers. In my opinion, if you scare somebody that is the solution to nothing. But the teachers have different thoughts. After getting beaten by teachers the kohl will expand its boundaries and will be visible on students' face.

Government doesn't do much for the schools but they provide some meals, notebooks, etc free for the students. But 70-75% of that is used by the teachers/headmasters. Such is the depth of corruption in India. There may be exceptions but this is a general trend. And that is true as well because the sole purpose of education is to earn money. I think 90% students in there study to get a job just to earn money not as hobby. Education as hobby happens only in city schools or big schools. Many students just go there because their parents want them to get basic knowledge. They have to end up as a farmer in the end.

The teachers don't like to attend the school most of the times. If all the teachers are present in a school that simply means that there is something on the day like some senior official visit, etc. I have myself seen a teacher teaching to 3 different classes at the same time. One may wonder how is it possible. But they are superman. Teachers will ask the students to bring ciggarettes, tobacco, etc. Yes, there is no age restriction for sale of these things in there. In fact, I think many shopkeepers might not even know that it is illegal to sell these things to minors. What should one expect such students to learn from them? Its really tough for an average student to do good from such schools. Who is to blame here? Presence of so much negativity is affecting transformation of kids into good citizens.

The school is not just a school but is the most favourite activity centre for the village as well. The school is being used for Ramleela(A live drama about lord Ram), Election Booth, marriages, etc. So its serving more than the purpose one should say. It may be used for organising election rally as well. The school doesn't have any boundaries, so you can see some pets cows,buffaloes etc. sitting and enjoying around. Sometimes I feel these pets might be thinking that they have a better life than those poor kids.

The whole system need a lot of basic changes. Hopefully that day will come sometime and the "Education for all" tag will be validated.


There is plenty to tell and share. But I would like to stop here.

My 10 plus 2 education

My life in Oriental College Patna City


Before you start reading this post let me tell you that this blog is not about the Oriental College but my journey to and in the college. 

Highly Ambitious excited high school graduate

I am originally from Kannauj Uttar Pradesh. But because of the nature of Dad's job, had to roam around all over north india. I had been to Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar as part of that. I completed my 10 and 10+2 when I was in Bihar. Later on I moved to Mysore Pune and Now London(UK) for work. 

When I was studying in 10+2 at Nadi Ghati Yojna High School at Valmiki Nagar (West Champaran, Bihar), I was almost flying in the sky. I used to think that even the best 10+2 colleges are not beyond my reach. The colleges will be lucky to have somebody extremely talented student like me. I got the biggest shock when I passed my 10th with mediocre 72%. I blamed everybody around for this but not myself. But still I thought that I can get admission into a good college in Patna. So I applied in Science College, Engineering College (This college does educate 10+2 as well , Don't be confused by the name) and BN College. I didn't try any other college as was sure to make into one of them.

Well dreams are seldom real. The results were out and as many would expect I didn't make it to any of the above mentioned colleges. Even second & third lists brought nothing but disappointment for me. I would have made it too AN college but I didn't apply. So I almost felt like I have been f#$Łed big time.

Finally it came to a point that I need to take admission wherever I can. I asked several people about where can I get admission without having applied earlier. So I got this college Oriental College in Patna City. For those who don't know, Patna City is not the real Patna but its kind of Patna extension if you like to call it. There is a famous Gandhi Bridge(setu) build on the holy river The Ganges.  If you cross the bridge away from Patna, Patna City starts. I hope I did make some sense here. Apologies if I didn't.

Well, I filled the application form and got the admission. It was one of easiest things in my life to get admission into that college. After that much of hussle it definitely was. Well to be honest that college wasn't that bad at all. And as people say you can't travel beyond your destiny allows you too. So I told myself that I have to give my best here too.

As Math was my favorite subject I choose Math, Physics and Chemistry as my main subjects. The good or strange things about Indian cities/metros is that You may be studying in Hindi/Marathi/Telugu/Tamil mediums till your high school. But If you go out to cities for 10+2 you need to adjust in English Medium. Not the easiest things to do considering the pressure of studies in there. Also in India people say 10+2 is your career maker/destroyer time in anybody's life. Off Course they don't consider sports, entrepreneurship, acting etc as a career option at that stage.

I was no different but had to tackle with the change of medium issue. Its almost same as if Somebody living in Poland is asked to live in Sri Lanka. It takes time and effort to cope up against the change of medium. I too tried my level best and eventually succeeded.

Oriental College had an administration building. There was only one 4 storey standalone building where all the classrooms and labs were provided. I must say the kind of faculty they had is really commendable. There is nothing wrong in accepting what is truth. I didn't attend many classes/labs there but the quality of education from the faculties was really good. May be students are not good enough there. 

I made two very good friends out there Dheeraj and Amit. They were an integral part of my life those days. Unfortunately as I had to move to Uttranchal for my further studies, I lost touch with them. I hope I can get in touch with them sometime. May be this blog will help me to reach them.

Coming back to college again, There were no mid-term/half term exams in the college. Sounds awesome Isn't it? So I spend two years studying and enjoying my life in the college. I can't believe that till that time computer was part of my life in theoretical manner only. I had never touched a computer physically. Don't think it was 1970s but I am talking about 1998-2000. Probably I was lagging behind where the world already was. 

Nevertheless I completed my 10+2 from the college with almost the same score as high school. And luckily I managed to crack UPSEAT as well and got admission into College of Engineering Roorkee(Mechanical Engineering). Please visit my other post for my experience out there. 

Thanks for stopping by !!!

Sports and Education in Indian Schools

I don't think there is anything what Sachin Tendulkar has not achieved as a sportsman. But he has now taken a step in deciding the future of sports in the India. He has proposed integration of sports with education. He has sent a letter to the Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal for the same.

To be honest I really appreciate this effort from Sachin. Its not less than a six of the first ball faced. If the idea gets implemented I am sure that within a decade or so India will become a major sporting hub. And we will be able to see India positioned very high in Olympics.

As Sports are not part of education, many students dont take this as career. Specially there are so many sports about which so many people might not even know. So sports education must be made integral part of studies in schools. And I would request various state governments to please make sports education compulsory in schools.

India being even such a vast country is ranking very low in sports. Its high time to work in this painpoint. Not only sports should be made part of education system but good coaches should be provided at the school level itself so that talent can be groomed from very early age.

Not only sports will help India to come up as a sporting nation but sports will improve various qualities in students like Leadership, Tolerance, Team Spirit etc. Sufficient time should be dedicated to sports in all sorts of educations. In current age, so many students are brilliant in studies but lack these qualities because studies and sports are complementary to each other.

I would also hope that other named celebrities, whether in sports, bollywood, politics or education, should come forward and support this thought and work to implement this.

Jai Hind Jai Bharat !!!

High School Days

High School Days

The schooling till high school is more of a fun that study. Only during high school days there starts the pressure from everybody around to perform. Even the teachers will tease you out in the name of board exams. In my opinion that is the first time when a student is put under such an intense pressure in his life. I had the same feeling in my high school.

Till high schooling I don’t remember I was ever asked to join any tuition or coaching. Life was 95% fun and 5% studying. Suddenly I had completed std. 8 without realization. The school from where i passed my 8th exams is the only public school in Valmiki Nagar (West Champaran, Bihar). I am not aware of the current situation as this information is from the year of 1996. Nevertheless, I was ready to join high school.

About the Town

Valmiki Nagar is a small town in the West Champaran district of Bihar. It was a very cool and calm place. It was situated on the bank of river Gandak. Valmiki Nagar is surrounded by a vast forest. The place is famous because Devi Sita(Goddess Sita) stayed there with Rishi Valmiki in that town. Also the place where Sita went inside earth is in there.

There is a dam build on Gandak river. Most of the people who stayed there were the employee of that project. The existence of that town was mostly because of that dam. Nepal border was a walking distance from the town. In fact I heard that half of the dam belongs to India and other half to Nepal. More than a 100s of times I went to Nepal for shopping as that was a bigger marketplace.

Schooling  life @ NGY High School

The high school which I was looking to join was adjacent to the high school. The name was Nadi Ghati Yojana High School. It was the only public high school in Valmiki Nagar. Many people told me that I should go to some good city school to have a quality education as it was not considered to be a good high school. But my dad supported me and asked to continue in the school.

Throughout my studying in 8th I used to watch high school students with a scary look. Only those people can understand this feeling who had a similar experience.

Well there are few things about Bihar board that they keep all the subjects in high school. They don’t divide streams in high school like arts, science, commerce, etc. To my understanding that makes this board a touch difficult for students. But you get used to things which you face all the time. Not to mention that I was studying all the subjects in my high school.

Rajkumar sir was standing headmaster of the school then. He also used to teach mathematics and physics. And believe me he was simply the best what he did. I remember Sunil sir used to teach us Advanced Mathematics(AM). AM was a optional subject in high school . Student had the option to select other course as well instead of AM. But I was always good in maths so it was my obvious choice.

Then the school was running short of teachers so most of the teachers used to teach more than one subjects in there. But I always liked the way the school managed with the scarcity.

There was a subject SUPW (Social Utility Productive Works). I can't complete this blog without mentioning this subject. This subject has theory as well as practical part. The practical part was exciting one. It used to come once in a week mostly in the afternoon session. There was a big ground which the school owned. We had to clean the ground as part of SUPW practical. So we used to sit in a straight line and get rid of all the big grass on the ground. I always wondered how the grass is growing so fast in that ground. May be nature was supporting the education. For every term exam we needed to give some completed product to the teachers. I remember nobody used to make anything rather purchase something from the market and submit.

As the school didn't have its boundaries covered. Students used to bunk in afternoon sessions. To avoid this, the school management had a very good plan. The teachers used to check the attendance once again in afternoon session. And whenever it happened all the students who had bunked would need to pay Rs. 5 for each bunk.

There was a teacher who used to teach us civics and history. Unfortunately, I can't recall his name. The funny thing about him was his way of teaching. He would ask one of the students to stand up and read the day's topic line by line for 5-10 minutes. And then he used to summarize what the student read. This way of teaching I had earlier faced in primary schooling. Most of students other than the "reader" used to sleep in his class for obvious reasons.

When you are studying in middle classes (6th-8th), senior students will always tease you asking “when you come to high school then you will realize what studying is", etc. Parents will never bother so much until you are in high school. During high school everybody (including parents, teachers, neighbours, all the relatives) will keep asking how is your study going, What grade/score you are targeting, etc. You will feel like you are the most talked about topic in all the discussions going around.

The only good thing that you feel in school is seniority. You get a serious sense of seniority to junior students. That feeling is very hard to get in other junior classes. People would come to you to seek assistance regarding study of their kids. And you can give all the high fundas to them. I really enjoyed it most of the times.

Well this is it for now. If I remember any other interesting incident I will post it again.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Thanks for reading!!! Looking forward for your views on this.

College and University Days

College and University

College days are the best days in anybody’s life. The reason being people are more mature in college and they know how to enjoy. Also they are aware of the fact that life will never be same again once out of college. I also have tons of similar memories. There can be no better relax than remembering those days and cherish them.

My Way to college

From my experience as well as others’ I think 10+2 is the toughest education period in people’s life. The reason being that its not just the time to focus on regular studies but prepare for future as well. Most of the students start to act towards their future in this only. I too did nothing different.

I started preparing for various Engineering Entrance Exams when I was in 11^th. It took me 2 years of hard work to clear UPSEAT (Entrance Exam for engineering, now replaced by various other such exams). Although I couldn’t score very well but my score was enough to get a place in College of Engineering Roorkee (Then affiliated to Uttar Pradesh Technical University). I opted for Mechanical Engineering as my stream. I was very happy and feeling like being on top of the world.

I got admission to college in Aug 2000. And started going to college. It was real fun in the initial days itself. Seniors never missed any chance to make sure I have all the fun(:P). But the real fun starts when you are past a couple of months in the college. Then comes the period of thousands of unforgettable moments.

 Multipurpose Cafe COER

The days I miss the most

I was DaySchee (Day Scholar) in my college. FYI.. DaySchee was the term used for Day scholars, the students who commute to college everyday either from their homes or some rented accommodations in nearby city. I used to live at New Adarsh Nagar along with several other batch mates Ankit (CS), Kshitiz (IT), Taresh (IT), Sachin (ET), Anil (IT), Vishal (CS), Narendra (IT). In bracket are the streams in which they were studying. I miss all the days when I stayed in that house where we stayed for almost three and half years.

• As our college was around 7 kms away from our house we needed to ride a bus to go to the college. The buses used to the heavily crowded. In initial days we used to sit inside the bus but after some days we changed that. We used to arrive late at the bus station and ride on the top of the bus. It was scary for a day or two. But later on it was fun. I miss riding on top of bus with my housemates.

• I used to speak very slow(not in speed but pitch). Many times I was marked absent even after I had replied “yes sir” for lecturer’s call for my name. My classmates used to call me “Kauwa Kha” means eat crows.

• There were hardly 5-6 students in the batch who used to complete tutorials and other tasks on time. I along with rest of 50 students used to copy their tuts(synonym for tutorial) in less than 15-20 minutes. We had amazing speed of copying. The same was true for practical notebook and projects as well. The time for copying was more though for the later ones.

• Many of my classmates including me use to hate practical classes and few boring lectures. And we use to bunk those classes. My college has a big entry gate and it was impossible to go through it before 5pm once you are in the college.  So we had to go to the back of the college to cross the wall and jump into the fields which finally will lead us to the highway. Even that was not easy sometimes as college management decided to put some security person to stop such escapes. I miss those bunks.

• On the journey back to house, we mostly used to ask for lifts from people who were travelling towards Roorkee in their Bikes, Scooters and Cars. That was not only free but a fast mode to commute.

• In the second year of studies we used to play so many cricket matches against our seniors. I miss those matches. I remember we hardly use to lose those days against ours seniors at least.

• I miss daddoo. He was an old man and we had him as our cook. And he didn’t like to be called as old man. He was exceptional not for his food but more for his character and livelihood.

• We(housemates) used to fight over the bathroom in the morning. As there was only two toilets and fighters were 8. Nobody will get up early but want to use the facilities. I think all the doors were broken by the time we left the house. It was never intentional though.

• I remember that all of us used to hide when the landlord was making a visit to house. Though one or two of us were his favorites. The escapes used to be marvelous.

• There was a all stop shop who used to cater all our needs. He also used to give us things on credit. I miss Lala’s shop. We used to watch cricket matches in his shop as he was the only person who had a small tv and was known to us. We knew other people as well but they didn’t knew us.

• Ankit and I used to go to IIT Roorkee every now and then to have a walk and malai kulfi. The kulfi tasted awesome.

• We had organized an Badminton championship among 8 of us. There were few other Dayschees as well. It went for 5-6 weeks I reckon. It was a night tournament and to say the least it was one of best I have played.

• There was a game of cards that we used to play like maniacs and it was 29. I remember playing that for so many nights and even in exam days.

•  I miss you guys for that game. I have never played that game that extensively since then. Also we used to play Pinball and NFS2. Thanks to Kshitiz for providing his PC.

I would like to thank here Sharma uncle for providing us that house where we shared those moments.

Now when the life is a lot different, I miss you all. But I cherish those memories every now and then. 

10 problems in Education System in India

Before I start, to make the things clear I don’t want to criticize the education that is being provided but just want to share the problem that lies within the education system. If somebody starts listing there might be thousands of underlying problems what I would like to suggest the top 10 problems that are hurting students more.  There is no particular order for these problems.

Lack of Infrastructure

Considering today’s scenario, I would like to say that we are not lacking quantity wise as far as educations institutions are concerned. I can see almost every village has got schools, every town has colleges for graduation and post graduation. Even there are engineering and medical colleges every here and there.  But most of them are lacking in quality. Faculty wise most of them are quite good, but when it comes to infrastructure they lag behind by a far.  I have studied in schools where there is not enough equipment in labs, no playground for students, no computer education especially in state owned schools/colleges. It results in students who get good scores/marks while they are weak in practical knowledge. Many students are physically very weak.

An ideal school/college is which can bring out an all around development in their students. Schools/Colleges without enough facilities should not be granted permission to operate.

Separate State and Central education systems

I never did understand why there are so many boards in one country. Do we really need so many education boards in one country?  Is it impossible to provide same education to all the students in the country?

I have seen many students struggling in their Engineering and Medical studies. The main reason being they studied in state board which provided them education in Hindi or other regional language. Some of those students can make their way but many would face problem because of the medium. Many a times it is seen that syllabus are different as well for various boards. That is again a major issue.

I would love to see one single board of education in India.

Reservation for money not for breed

I am in favor of reservation but that should be in terms of money. Those who are not able to sponsor their kids for any education because of lack of money deserve not only the reservation but the monetary assistance as well. By doing this not only “Right to Education” will seem more appropriate but we will  be a better nation. But just because of the personal gains, politicians have failed miserably in this regard.

I would love to see the right form of reservation in India someday.

Produce employees not employers 

For this problem I think the main cause is theory based education, where students only get complete picture only in ideas. They just don’t get innovative ideas from their education. They just keep concentrating on their Grades/Marks/CGPAs throughout their studies, which is again making them future employees.

Unable to attract the right talent

Recently educational institutions have been seen failing to attract good talent. This is also causing decline in the quality of education. It may be because various other opportunities are offering them a tempting career. There needs to be done something about it. It’s the teachers who will create citizens of tomorrow.

Faculty Training Inadequate

Many of the teachers are technically qualified but lack in actual delivery. I have seen various teachers and lecturers in my studies who were technically efficient but in classes didn’t deliver that efficiently. If you go to them for a problem or advice they were perfect. So I believe when a teacher or lecturer is selected, he/she should be trained to be a teacher.  Training would definitely help them out.

For Engineering and Medical colleges I would definitely recommend to have qualified technically as well as practically.

Grading System

I am always in favor of grading system than marks.  The reason being that it just not only reduces the pressure on the students to score but gives them opportunity to learn things rather eat them. This will give them enough room to get practical knowledge. I also think the proportion of practical should be increased in secondary and higher secondary education.

Score Based Admission Only

I don’t like those colleges/schools where admissions are strictly on the basis of marks/grades aggregated by the students. It should always be Grades, entrance tests, extra-Curricular activities and exceptional achievements.

That will ensure that there is right blend of students in a batch. And they will be influenced by other students’ talents.

Computer Education

This is not a problem for most of the CBSE affiliated schools/colleges. But many of the state owned institutes are lagging on this front especially secondary and higher secondary students are most affected. It is information age and nobody should be deprived of this. There must be something done about it.

Rise in cost of Education

The cost of education is on a rise. Every year the cost is going beyond the reach of many people. Quality education is coming at a price which is not right. Everybody has the right to have the best possible education.

In spite of all these drawbacks we are still able to deliver people who are best in their business. We are the most sought after talent in the world. So I am proud to have the studies as part of that system. But there is always a chance of improvement.

P.S.  These are my personal opinions only. It has never been my intension to hurt any person or institution.