Woes of wrong communism

Before I start writing, let me give a disclaimer that I am so far a person with neutral political view and this post is not against the communist party as such. But this post points to an act of goondaism that happens in the name of communism in God's own country...aka..communist's own state .

Yesterday, my 70 year old father reached the Ernakulam South Railway Station after a long journey by around 10pm. I tried to book an online taxi to bring him safe to home using both Uber and Ola.
Neither of the Cab drivers were ready to pick him from the station, saying that their life is under threat from local rikshawalas and taxi drivers. After trying hard for more than 1 hour trying to convince and cajole the drivers to pick my dad , i had to cancel all trip requests (6 trips cancelled) and request my dad to take an autorikshaw to home.

At wee hours of night along with his heavy luggage, he had to pay twice the amount to the rikshawala to reach home safe.

Friends, which world are we living in ..?

As a consumer, don't we have the rights to get cheaper and better service?

And if some local goondas try to harm the "ready to work" drivers just in the fear of losing their business, should we bear it?

I am sure  Similar incident has happened several times for me and you  at Aluva Railway station as well. Due to fear of life and property most of the Uber and Ola drivers have stopped their services and recently only very few cabs are available when we search and most of the time, there is a surge pricing.

So, why are we , the consumers suffering in the name of goondaism in the name of communism?

There have been several incidents in the recent past in Kochi where the consumers were asked to get out of the cabs and take another cab that these goondas suggested.
As a Consumer , don't we have the right to choose our product or service as we want?
Isn't denial of service a denial of consumer right? And if the denial is due to fear of life, isn't it time for the Govt to intervene?

The Competition Act 2002 gives a Citizen of India the following Rights:

"To prohibit the agreements or practices that restricts free trading and also the competition between two business entities
,To ban the abusive situation of the market monopoly,
To provide the opportunity to the entrepreneur for the competition in the market,
To have the international support and enforcement network across the world,
To prevent from anti-competition practices and to promote a fair and healthy competition in the market. "

If So, aren't we eligible to get better services at lower cost when someone is ready to give us the same?

And yes, this doesn't mean that the other Taxiwalas or Rikshawalas lose their livelihood. They can also take part in the race. Who prevented them from giving such impeccable service ?

Yes, We the Citizens and Consumers want the freedom of choice - to select the transport service as per our need.

We want Uber / Ola or any other online taxis to ply in all parts of state - including the Railway Stations and Airports.

Yes, We need comfort , safety and cost effective travel in Kochi just like the other cities.

P.S. The photo below is that of a strike by Taxi drivers in Delhi when Delhi Govt banned Uber after Nirbhaya incident. What an irony ! Here our taxis are against uber and there they enjoy the benefits of online taxis that they support them! Is it the "nookkukooli" mindset of Malayalies! !? Or is it the woes of wrong communism?

Please support this need of Kochi
We the people of kochi deserve better transport and freedom to choose whichever way we want to commute...

Please sign this petition and give maximum share and publicity among your friends, so that we can make a change together!

Click this link to register your support.

https://www.change.org/p/ministry-of-consumer-affairs-government-of-kerala-government-of-india-mayor-of-kochi-district-collector-stop-goondaism-and-anti-competition-by-autorikshas-and-local-taxis-we-want-uber-ola?recruiter=84017521&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink

Green Paddy fields -photo blog

Passing through the paddy fields of Palaghat

Thankyou dear farmers for the hard work on the fields that we are all still alive :)

Reducing number of Engineering seats -Is it the panacea to all evils done so far?

Before reading further, check the following link. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/AICTE-plans-to-prune-engineering-seats-by-6-lakh/articleshow/49053058.cms 

With lakhs of engineering students passing out from various  Govt , private and other institutions, a load of issues have cropped up like  the increasing unemployability, career crisis and under utilised human resources.

And that is when our leading educational planning and controlling body decides to reduce seats . Reducing seats can probably solve the future problem. But 
a few decades of careless planning or corrupted  viewpoints have already made the harm.

And who is going to suffer?  Is it the students who had no clue about what is ahead of them? Or is it the parents who sent their students into Engineering courses because they thought that was the only best for their child?  Or is it the various educational entrepreneurs who set up institutions thinking that they can get guaranteed returns for years ahead ? Or is the genuine educational enthusiasts who wanted to bring change in the system ? Or is it the teaching community who may suddenly lose their jobs and will be added to the market pool and probably  fight with their own students for a job?

Whatever harm done is done. .
At least now it is time to consider skill planning of a nation in a bit more academically as well as industry oriented manner rather than political and religious manner . Hope the new decision by AICTE will be implemented properly in a phased manner without damaging the educational eco system. Hope  the current set of unemployed /unemployable engineers are also taken care properly. . And hope this decision of reducing Seats is not  haphazard one either!  

If implemented , this could improve Engineering Education quality in two ways . One ,since the input quality is better, the output quality is also  expected to be better.  
Secondly,  the faculty quality will also improve because only the  good ones will be retained.

However,  as always  I will  have to end saying that "Idea is good. But leg is mine." :) 

 And yes,  best part is that , we wouldn't have to see these kinds of headlines in newspapers in future! 

Beauty Captured !!

Some of my mobile clicks during my travel this month

At Velankanni Shrine

Trying to Catch the moon?

Velankanni

Morning Star Church Mass

Morning Star Church

Velankanni Shrine

Lets dip our feet in the cold water !

The pathway to salvation ..pilgrims using the sand pathway for walking on knees @ velankanni

Greenery 

Lotus Pond 

Theyyam - A drawing

Nagappatinam fishing harbour

Old woman selling mangoes

Old woman selling cucumber

A Rural Marketplace

So, where is this track leading to ?

Watching the hut thru the window of a bus!

Can Student Engineers be taught to become Entrepreneurs?

Chief Minister of Kerala has announced that Entrepreneurship will be taught as a compulsory subject in the BTech curriculum. Embedding Entrepreneurship into Engineering Curriculum- The Pros & Cons .. Let's see that.

The Positives 

• As the CM himself suggested, considering the rising level of unemployability of Engineers of the state, this could help in at least developing skill sets, even if their enterprise fails.
• There would be an upsurge in the entrepreneurial  mindset of the society and young engineers will come up with crazy ideas of entrepreneurship and there would be a more positive ecosystem for start ups. 
• There are over 50000 Engineering seats and if fifty percent of them try to come up with some Start up , it will be 25000 start ups in an year. Now, fifty percent seems to be too ambitious, let's take 10 percent- 5000 start ups. And imagine, out of this 10 percent succeeds to get angel /seed funding - that could be 500 start ups in an year.. which is quite impressive for the Govt ! 
• By Promoting Entrepreneurship, probably, we could reduce unemployability of Engineers and the remaining "unemployability" could be because of entrepreneurial ability.

The Possible Pitfalls

• Firstly, the biggest challenge is the question of how the curriculum will be taught. If it is the theory of entrepreneurship, its easy and we already have 100 s of books on the same. The faculty  can make the students write assignments and give marks on "what are the challenges of an entrepreneur?" , "how to get funds?" etc etc . But if the curriculum needs to be skill based - the next big question arises - " Who will teach that?"  and "Can entrepreneurial skills be taught, without practicals?"
• Secondly, the current status of "project work" done by our Engineering students itself is quite pathetic. Most of the students end up copying and pasting the projects done by their seniors or by IT training institutes. I am wondering how "Entrepreneurship Project" will end up ! 
• Thirdly, the big question - " Is Engineering course meant for developing Technocrats or Entrepreneurs?" . If all our Engineers take up business , who will solve technological issues that our nation or society faces? ; who will design or create products for common man? who will be ready to work in a bigger technological organisation? 
• In the above statistics, imagine, we get 500 successful start ups . Let's see what could happen to the 4500 "Failed Start ups" . The 20 - 22 yr old student entrepreneur could be devastated to find that his first attempt with great dreams is shattered. There is another possibility that these kids will lose focus on their studies and end up having lots of back papers. The psychology of  entrepreneurship is simple : "Once an entrepreneur , always an entrepreneur". This can prove a bit harmful, coz the young failed entrepreneur could deny the failure and cling on to the failed enterprise for long. Similarly, the failure at a young age could mean one thing:-  Learn from  the mistakes and re do . But its easier said than done. We will need a very strong mentoring and coaching platform to provide support these start ups as well as provide career counselling services to the failed start up founders. 
• There is strong evidence suggesting a need for experience of entrepreneurship before anyone tries it for themselves. There have been various studies which indicate that many people running successful ventures had picked up the skills and capability to run their business through the experience of being an employee in another business before they started up.  It will be better if the Entrepreneurship curriculum is designed by incorporating practical sessions along with seasoned entrepreneurs.

To conclude, I am reminded of the quote , "Idea is good, but leg is mine!" 

The whole concept of Entrepreneurship education for BTechs should be looked up with a bit more care than just a political announcement. I would also like to reiterate the fact that Engineers need to be Engineers first . Technical skills and soft skills necessary for work place survival should be placed more importance than trying to build an entrepreneur out of every engineer!. But yes, Genuine entrepreneurship happens as a result of a combination of factors which will vary from one individual to the next, in terms of their personal characteristics and entrepreneurial acumen, and the route they have taken into the world of business enterprise. Such Student entrepreneurs cannot be "produced" but they "happen by themselves" !! 

CeeVee 

September 14, 2015 

Channelizing the Youth Energy - The Lessons from Campus Onam!

Some thoughts post the campus hooliganism as part of Onam! 

Yes, let's welcome Onam festival! Onam is a traditional festival of Kerala and is celebrated in a traditional style wearing traditional "kasavu" clothings, having sadya and yes most of all , being with family . In campuses of Kerala, traditionally Onam is celebrated in a good manner. During my college days, we used to wear the traditional attire, have food, conduct small competitions, decorate the "Athappookkalam" (Floral decorette) and then disperse off wishing everyone a holiday. With limited resources we had a peaceful celebration. 

But today, the festival has become an avenue for speed, arranging grand processions, spending money lavishly , license to engage in risky behaviour  and alcoholism. Most of the college campuses, especially the Engineering colleges in the State  are using the occasion for trying out various modes of publicity stunts and hooliganism. 

Its sad to hear that most of these celebrations are conducted without the consent of the authorities and one recent incident led to the sad death of a girl in the accident during one such procession.  Paying due homage to the lost dreams of the girl and her family, I also sympathise for the boy who is now in police custody, who is also a student of the same college and rode the vehicle rashly. 

Now, there are many many discussions going on in social media supporting or opposing the students. One such discussion is the influence of Cinema / media which promotes such rash behavior as heroic. A recent movie "Premam" which was a superhit in campus has portrayed the hero engaging in semi -gunda act and alcoholism which somehow got a great acceptance amongst the students. When the DGP commented that the students engaged in these kinds of behaviour because of the influence of this movies like these, the film maker community retorted saying that cinema cannot be blamed for such behaviour. 

In this scenario, I thought of sharing some of my observations on why students engage in these kinds of behaviour and the root causes. 

1. In the case of Engg colleges in the state (esp Govt colleges), it is politics that reigns more than academics. Most of the students enter political parties and end up getting beaten up for political issues.  Please see the below news about a Strict academician and a person whom I respect a lot for his tireless striving for improving the education system. 

2. Keeping aside Politics, why do students engage in hooliganism ? Let's explore the psychology behind this. 

• Firstly,  the students in their teenage /early adulthood are full of physical and sexual energy (as Freud fondly calls "libido") . Unless this energy is rightly channelised to positive avenues, its possible that they use it negatively, because they cannot stop themselves! 

• Secondly , when the youth energy joins together- they simply follow the leader. A mob , if controlled by a wrong leader , can do the worst harm. In the case of students, any control by others is also resisted. Mob psychology is entirely different from individual psychology. Extraordinary power is gained by becoming a mob. 

• Thirdly , looking at the current statistics of college students (especially in Kerala), most of the students lack an orientation towards life and career. The sad part is that a vast majority of the youngsters enrolling for Engg pgm do not know why they are doing the course..and end up as the hero in a recent malayalam movie "Oru Vadakkan Selfie". They also lack self image and believe that my imitating a film hero they gain confidence. The underlying low - self esteem is the real culprit.

• Fourthly, deteriorating self discipline and student discipline. Uncontrolled mob and rash behaviour cannot be justified in any manner even if they are the best in their studies. With so much of diversions possible, it's the responsibility of the society and family to show a better role model. Unfortunately, the right role models are not highlighted or given necessary support by media.

• Fifth , the lack of proper parenting. Parents today ensure that their kids get the best of resources but do not ensure that their kids behave properly in public. Most parents buy luxurious goods, give money lavishly and do not check what is the money utilised for! 

• Sixth , Lack of good teachers / mentors . Ofcourse our teachers strive hard to complete the syllabus. But do our teachers act as a counselor or mentor to them ? giving right directions and moral values? Gone are the days , when these kind of "heroic" acts were reserved for boys. Now , girls are equals! Ofcourse, I am an advocate for empowerment, but there is only a narrow line between empowerment and unruly behaviour! 

As a concluding note, I am also pasting the newspaper cutting from today's TOI and yes , "Rules won't end Campus hooliganism" .The youth energy needs to be channelised positively and not politically or by media. The role of Trainers / mentors /counselors is of utmost importance in the coming decade. 

Now, how do we channelise the youth positively? 

1. Start from home - As parents , let's inculcate and educate our children about right things and wrong things . Lets teach them our culture and stories of courage and good manners. 

2. Every teenager needs an outsider as a mentor /coach to help him orient towards career and life. But unfortunately, our parents still think about spending money on that , whereas they reserve the money to be given as capitation fees for getting admissions in colleges! 

3. Engage the students in positive and social activities apart from academics. Students who have underutilized time end up using it in unwanted activities.  Utilise the youth energy towards nation building activities. Art, culture and literature are also avenues for using the youth energy. But again, caution here (The so called youth cinema is also a matter of concern!) 

4. The most important of all, educational institutions should be a place where they have the freedom to express , develop confidence and skills and along with that develop good behavior and discipline. Every teacher should become a Personality development trainer / mentor in future. Yes, that should be the focus, since the knowledge part is easily available at the click of a button. 

5. Let us highlight and bring out students / young leaders who can become role models and promote them. (I am currently working on a similar project and am looking for sponsoring agencies and volunteers ) 

Regards

CeeVee

Aug 25, 2015 

P.S: all are my personal opinions only