tv show jury

considering the controversy over my temper tantrum over certain students bunking two days of school when they had design juries to go shoot for zee antakshari perhaps i did overreact a bit. but i insist – only a bit.

after all there is the indubitable fact is the very fact that a talent show on television which has been known to have episodes where the participants and contestants are dunked in water is considered to be more important than an important evaluation in the most important subject in architectural education. it’s a question of putting straight the priorities of the school and the students. isn’t that also what education is about? or are we to stay valueless, watching people come in and watching people leave- only learning how to resolve toilets along the way. perhaps the method was too harsh. but if the argument to go for the show is that we have no ‘cultural activities’ in the school and this was a place to display talent, then i am afraid we must look at what constitutes the ‘culture’ we choose above the activities of the school. to me the show is a competition between people whose only talent is knowing film song lyrics and the letters they begin from. enjoyable i am sure- singing along with the perennially smiling hosts and buzzing the buzzer before your competitors. fun – but talking about it like it is about ‘talent’ is a problem. and as someone who loves pop as much as i do i technically should not have a problem with the very existence of the show or its enjoyment. but to say that it has more value than a design jury in school or the film club or the encounter or the electives- which are some of the ways in which the school engages with ‘culture’ – like it lies somewhere outside is patently ridiculous. and i got angry about this.

but perhaps there is a larger question at stake here. what is the role of a teacher? if it is not laying down a standard of value systems that the students are asked to react to – positively or negatively, however challenging or ridiculous they might seem to be, the entire system of education is reduced to a farce. we keep each other happy by making sure that we don’t threaten each others secure sense of comfort. we say only sweet things to each other in sweet ways to not ruffle any feathers.

there was a time when this was not so. arguments were tough things and students were put through the shredder as preset ideologies were challenged and twisted. they grew hard as we were hard. nothing was allowed to go slack. the students probably hated us then but the work was better. as much as slackness was punished good was work appreciated. in an effort towards universal happiness we did not let quality diminish. i have a feeling we have let that happen over the past few years.

i am sitting at mukuls house right now as ateya and chitra prepare for the farewell party that they are throwing along with ninad, saurabh and aditya. all of them have been students of mine and are people i have become close to and very fond of. each of them brilliant, passionate, intelligent and each very much their own person. fantastic people. over the next few months they will all disappear to america and to london. i am going to miss them so much. its been a long time since rupali and me violently tore into them when they were in the second year. i keep hoping that there will be others who will be able to do as well as they have done for themselves- got into some of the best universities in amazing programmes. i compare them with what i was at their age and am embarrassed by my silliness. something worked when they were in college that does not seem to be the same anymore. for the better or for the worse i am not sure. i am certain though that those were far more difficult times to be a teacher and to be a student. the fights, arguments, rants were vicious. many tears were spilt and many sheets torn, models broken / upturned. today things are more peaceful, happier. we are now softer and more attentive to the feelings of students. i like that. they might be happier than they were 6 years ago. but i hope we have also not let go of the urge for excellence in an effort to live in peaceful blandness. safe from harm. sterile.

back to antaskhari. i lost my temper because i expected better from the students. i wanted to make sure to them as well as those with them that the choices you make are important decisions. now the ball is in their court.

and i forgot- let the complaints and protests begin.