Never the most vibrant of cities, Chennai still had a lot going for it - Marina beach, Carnatic season, Kollywood. But beyond all these, Chennai also had a sense of identity, a sense of being distinct. One of the underpinnings of this was the city's rich academic culture, and this played a huge role in maintaining that confidence and pride. Chennai has always placed a huge importance on academia and in excellence of any kind, and it is no surprise that benchmark for many 12-15 year olds were the 20-somethings who had a standing because they had done a BE or an MBBS in a good college.
And this is why it is important for the city that the educational institutions stay healthy and competitive. And this is why the City is going down the drain. I am not going to sit on the fence on this one, nor am I going to mince words or be politically correct. Political correctness be damned. If I can shout from a suitable rooftop, I would - The city's educational system is slowly going kaput. It just isn't working. And the funny thing is that most people in the city don't know this.
Good teachers are disappearing, students are clueless, and the general levels of application are abysmally low. Have no illusions, Chennai has fallen so far below the other big cities that we will soon lose sight of them.
The statistical evidence is strong. Chennai has come near the bottom in assessment tests conducted by agencies. In JEE, Chennai did not have a single student in the top 100 apparently, there was a similar poor performance in AIEEE. In AIEEE, a state rank of 3000-odd would have translated to an All India rank of more than 1.5 lakh. CAT, IAS, NLS, we have become poor across the board.
As a former analyst who made his living as a number-cruncher, I retain a healthy scepticism of presented data and am more comfortable with anecdotal evidence that I can trust. As someone currently employed in the education sector, I regularly interact with a lot of teachers. The anecdotal evidence is, if anything, even more depressing.
Teachers across the city are lamenting how student-quality has fallen. A teacher from PSBB told me - You guys worried about clearing JEE. With these kids, I am more worried about them getting decent marks in board exams. Teacher from SBOA: 1997 was the last decent batch that I saw (this in 2010). Even accounting for nostalgia playing a role in rose-tinting the past, it is very clear that standards have fallen dramatically over the past decade or so.
I handle different batches of students. I see three key distressing signs.
1. No clue about fundamentals: I am a bore when it comes to learning from first principles and I can be very pedantic when it comes to very basic things. Even accounting for this, I was shocked when the kids showed zero awareness (plus zero curiosity, which is somehow even more painful to take) of basic concepts. For instance, I have asked several batches of students why d/dx (sin x) was cos x. And not one of them could relate it to anything fundamental. 95% of students in Chennai are taught that d/dx (sin x) is cos x as if d/dx where a black box. They have no idea why this d/dx thing works or what it is supposed to mean logically. To them, it is just something that gives out results that they need to remember. Teaching calculus like this must be the most pointless exercise ever. It is far better to not know anything about calculus
2. Learning fatigue: The ability of students to take in concepts from very basics is p*ss poor. Most good students tire in 20 or so minutes.The average ones have attention spans comparable to 2-year olds. The students can take in formulae (plenty of that), the 'memory' component of their brain is fully functional. Someone has just tampered with the component called "application". Tell students the formula for finding the number of factors for 2^3 * 3^5 * 5^4, they will solve questions all day. After 30 minutes of practice, ask them for number of even factors of the 2^3 * 3^5 * 5^4 and they will stare at you as if you asked them to recite from the Gita. In their defence, if you gave them a formula for counting even factors, they would be happy to practice that as well. But the "application" component of the brain as gone AWOL. This leads to a fetish for shortcuts and more formulae - both distress signals.
3. Lack of ambition: When I was in school (1997) , we guys would want to participate in any contest at an all-India level just to see where we stood vis-a-vis students from Mumbai, Bangalore etc. The number of times I hear "JEE is an All-India exam and so too tough", "We should not look at AIEEE all India rank", "The competition in CAT is mad. We should not have to put up with this" is absurd.
The students positively quake in their boots at the very mention of competition at an All-India level. If this timidity brought with it some humility that would be half a victory. But for some reason, the city has been infested with this slugfest celebrating mediocrity. When the whole world is trying to imitate the competitive setting from India and China, there is our own Chennai that is running away from competition at a rapid clip. The heart bleeds.
Parents have lost the ability to say - "Roll with it. You were born in this country. This intensity will build character. Apply yourself and the fundamentals for a bright future can be built". We are becoming a city of wimps. Parents are mollycoddling their kids endlessly. We guys used to bicycle 7+ kms one way six days a week to attend coaching classes for JEE. Our parents felt bad about this, but not once did they make it sound like a big deal. I think overwhelming majority of parents these days are not willing to tell their kids to push themselves harder. Where are the tiger moms of Chennai?
Somebody had to say we are not that good these days. I am happy to be that guy. I realize that I have used to pretty provocative language. Please don't take offence to that and miss the point. The city is a horror show as far as education is concerned. The earlier we realize this, the better.
Will outline my hypotheses for the reasons for this in the next post. And suggestions for improving things in the subsequent post.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Cricket and India
There seem to be a lot of parallels between Indian cricket, and erm, India.
Till late 80's, both the Indian team and India were largely unheralded/unknown quantities till the late 80's. Then Sam Pitroda-Rajiv Gandhi took some steps in the right direction, broadly the same time at which the Reliance world cup and later SRT happened. Both were the first signs of promise.
Then early 90's, Indian reforms took shape, the ground-work was laid for some breakthrough industries/enterprises that were to come along later. For the team, Kumble came along, Ganguly made an appearance, and Dravid-Laxman started doing their thing in the local circuits. In many ways, the real fruits of the reforms took effect only in the second half of the 90's
Second half of 90's is when we really started hearing about Infosys Wipro, started believing that India could finally compete globally and create high quality institutions. About the time, Ganguly-Dravid appeared. TCS, the old warhorse also joined the mix, ditto SRT (finally now it looked like he might not be the only good guy around). Cognizant/Laxman were the slightly late entrants. 2000-01, India felt the dotcom bust, cricket went through the match-fixing scandal. The Azhar-Satyam parallel is the only one where the timeline does not match :)
Around this time, Pokhran happened and Eden Gardens happened. These expanded the horizons of what-could-be beyond imagination.
Early 2000's, good results all around. Adelaide, Pakistan tour, 2003 WC, etc. Good growth, good infra build up, general feel good factor. Telecom sector came and took the limelight, enter Harbhajan with a bang in his debut series. It looked like we were setting ourselves up for a higher trajectory. India needed newer biggies, the team needed newer names - Sehwag, Yuvraj, Zaheer came up. Auto sector, telecom sector broke through, realty sector also shined.
Just when things were fine, we were woken up rudely. 2007 WC debacle, 2008-meltdown. But the rebound was way better than expected. It also helped that we were seen now as relatively better. Australia declined, Pakistan, Windies disappeared, NZ finally ran out of steam, England were in transition, and it was up to India to not fluff its lines. On the global economy, US went into a big recession, Europe was struggling and there were few safe havens. India, part of the emerging market brigade acquitted itself wonderfully, or so it seemed.
The new-age, confident group made a mark in the biggest stage with a WC win and on the other hand Indian market rallied to nearly touch a new high.
But, the reality is that both triumphs were built on weak (longer-term/longer-format) fundamentals (even the metaphors start matching :) ). Just like how decoupling was always a myth, the new all-round fitter+better team was also just a myth. Both have been running low on newer inputs. The old-warhorses are still pulling the engine along. The rising tide had just lifted all boats, in both settings. Both need renewal now. Especially, with a giant recession looming, and huge retirements around the corner.
Most importantly, I think for all the improvements seen, we are now left with a feeling that some of the basics aren't much improved - governance, administration, education, fitness (corruption, bowling stocks). Funnily enough, those of us who have been following both for a while have this vague inexplicable feeling that the promising-but-not-there-yet version of the late 90's had more going for it than the premature we-have-arrived-bring-it-on version of the early 2010's. But hey, things go in cycles. And this is still better than the 80's. :)
Till late 80's, both the Indian team and India were largely unheralded/unknown quantities till the late 80's. Then Sam Pitroda-Rajiv Gandhi took some steps in the right direction, broadly the same time at which the Reliance world cup and later SRT happened. Both were the first signs of promise.
Then early 90's, Indian reforms took shape, the ground-work was laid for some breakthrough industries/enterprises that were to come along later. For the team, Kumble came along, Ganguly made an appearance, and Dravid-Laxman started doing their thing in the local circuits. In many ways, the real fruits of the reforms took effect only in the second half of the 90's
Second half of 90's is when we really started hearing about Infosys Wipro, started believing that India could finally compete globally and create high quality institutions. About the time, Ganguly-Dravid appeared. TCS, the old warhorse also joined the mix, ditto SRT (finally now it looked like he might not be the only good guy around). Cognizant/Laxman were the slightly late entrants. 2000-01, India felt the dotcom bust, cricket went through the match-fixing scandal. The Azhar-Satyam parallel is the only one where the timeline does not match :)
Around this time, Pokhran happened and Eden Gardens happened. These expanded the horizons of what-could-be beyond imagination.
Early 2000's, good results all around. Adelaide, Pakistan tour, 2003 WC, etc. Good growth, good infra build up, general feel good factor. Telecom sector came and took the limelight, enter Harbhajan with a bang in his debut series. It looked like we were setting ourselves up for a higher trajectory. India needed newer biggies, the team needed newer names - Sehwag, Yuvraj, Zaheer came up. Auto sector, telecom sector broke through, realty sector also shined.
Just when things were fine, we were woken up rudely. 2007 WC debacle, 2008-meltdown. But the rebound was way better than expected. It also helped that we were seen now as relatively better. Australia declined, Pakistan, Windies disappeared, NZ finally ran out of steam, England were in transition, and it was up to India to not fluff its lines. On the global economy, US went into a big recession, Europe was struggling and there were few safe havens. India, part of the emerging market brigade acquitted itself wonderfully, or so it seemed.
The new-age, confident group made a mark in the biggest stage with a WC win and on the other hand Indian market rallied to nearly touch a new high.
But, the reality is that both triumphs were built on weak (longer-term/longer-format) fundamentals (even the metaphors start matching :) ). Just like how decoupling was always a myth, the new all-round fitter+better team was also just a myth. Both have been running low on newer inputs. The old-warhorses are still pulling the engine along. The rising tide had just lifted all boats, in both settings. Both need renewal now. Especially, with a giant recession looming, and huge retirements around the corner.
Most importantly, I think for all the improvements seen, we are now left with a feeling that some of the basics aren't much improved - governance, administration, education, fitness (corruption, bowling stocks). Funnily enough, those of us who have been following both for a while have this vague inexplicable feeling that the promising-but-not-there-yet version of the late 90's had more going for it than the premature we-have-arrived-bring-it-on version of the early 2010's. But hey, things go in cycles. And this is still better than the 80's. :)
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Test Cricket - The end is nigh
Michael Holding has recently said in an interview that he fears for the future of test cricket. Many have made this pronouncement in the past, and many have made strong defence against this hypothesis. Few are better than Gideon Haigh at discussing this . On this issue, conventional wisdom has alwaye been that the future of test cricket depended on whether test cricket die-hards would cede space to the newer breed of T-20 fans. The question people had in their minds was always - "Will there be enough die-hards left for tests post the T-20 bonanza?"
I held the belief that if the die-hards turned up, test cricket would be safe. And I always believed that the die-hards would turn up. I have too many friends who wake up at 5:30 in the morning to follow the Ashes in Australia, too many who know Brian Lara's test average, and far too many who will happily be able to recall at least 30 of Sachin's test centuries at 5 minutes notice. India alone would be able to keep test cricket alive - I used to believe. Now, I am beginning to have doubts.
It is not the T-20 that made me waver, it is not even the IPL. These always attracted "newer" audiences. There were too many who had seen the 376 partnership in Kolkatta and therefore could not take Warne's claim that Yusuf Pathan had played the greatest innings ever too seriously. These events increased the share of T-20 audience in cricket. What it did not do was to reduce the audience for test cricket. And there-in lies the rub, I used to think.
Now, post the 4-0 drubbing in England, I am getting worried. I am beginning to hear people saying that "It is alright, one off defeat is fine. We are still the ODI champions". I can happily live with that.
I am also hearing an undertone of "Dhoni is still the best in the world. He took India to the WC. He took India to the No1 ranking in the world. He took CSK to 2 crowns and a Champions League triumph". Now, this I feel is dangerous. The moment Dhoni's legacy gets measured in terms of all of these things, the famed primacy to test cricket argument becomes a sham. And without even the pretext of the primacy to text cricket argument, test cricket could be on its last legs.
Fans' emotional involvement alone can keep a game going for a long time. There are a great many (yours truly included) in India who will watch India test series in even New Zealand and West Indies if it will help keep the game going. We guys are crazy enough to accommodate bad timings, poorly scheduled tours, etc etc. But what we cannot bear to think that is that the guys whom we support so madly, so passionately, do not accord the same importance to the form of cricket that we so adore. Indian cricket took its fans' trust for granted once in the match-fixing scandal and got away with it. Test cricket in India cannot have another trust-beating like that. If Dravid or Tendulkar come out and say what Gayle did, test cricket would not survive long in India. And my fear is that, once these legends bow out, then sooner or later, one of these guys is going to say something similar. The "primacy to test cricket" adage has probably done its time.
The two countries that seem to really place importance on test cricket are England and Australia. And I would say my heartfelt thanks to them. I am not a big fan of either team, and have hated (and still hate) the English cricket team with a passion. I dont carry a chip on my shoulder like Gavaskar, but have been accused in the past of irrationally hating the England team. No matter how much I loathe the team, I can assure them come 2024 if the Ashes are still on, I will be watching them. I will not have the same passion for the game if India starts playing less than 5 tests per year, but I will still watch the Ashes. If the Ashes turn out to be the last reminder for what test cricket used to be, I will do my bit to keep that going. Because, in all likelihood it looks like that will be the only test series in the 2020's where both teams care deeply about the result.
I am hoping like crazy that I am wrong. Much as I would wish Dravid, Sachin and Laxman to be remembered as the greatest middle order ever, there is no joy in them getting this accolade if they were also the last relevant middle order around.
I held the belief that if the die-hards turned up, test cricket would be safe. And I always believed that the die-hards would turn up. I have too many friends who wake up at 5:30 in the morning to follow the Ashes in Australia, too many who know Brian Lara's test average, and far too many who will happily be able to recall at least 30 of Sachin's test centuries at 5 minutes notice. India alone would be able to keep test cricket alive - I used to believe. Now, I am beginning to have doubts.
It is not the T-20 that made me waver, it is not even the IPL. These always attracted "newer" audiences. There were too many who had seen the 376 partnership in Kolkatta and therefore could not take Warne's claim that Yusuf Pathan had played the greatest innings ever too seriously. These events increased the share of T-20 audience in cricket. What it did not do was to reduce the audience for test cricket. And there-in lies the rub, I used to think.
Now, post the 4-0 drubbing in England, I am getting worried. I am beginning to hear people saying that "It is alright, one off defeat is fine. We are still the ODI champions". I can happily live with that.
I am also hearing an undertone of "Dhoni is still the best in the world. He took India to the WC. He took India to the No1 ranking in the world. He took CSK to 2 crowns and a Champions League triumph". Now, this I feel is dangerous. The moment Dhoni's legacy gets measured in terms of all of these things, the famed primacy to test cricket argument becomes a sham. And without even the pretext of the primacy to text cricket argument, test cricket could be on its last legs.
Fans' emotional involvement alone can keep a game going for a long time. There are a great many (yours truly included) in India who will watch India test series in even New Zealand and West Indies if it will help keep the game going. We guys are crazy enough to accommodate bad timings, poorly scheduled tours, etc etc. But what we cannot bear to think that is that the guys whom we support so madly, so passionately, do not accord the same importance to the form of cricket that we so adore. Indian cricket took its fans' trust for granted once in the match-fixing scandal and got away with it. Test cricket in India cannot have another trust-beating like that. If Dravid or Tendulkar come out and say what Gayle did, test cricket would not survive long in India. And my fear is that, once these legends bow out, then sooner or later, one of these guys is going to say something similar. The "primacy to test cricket" adage has probably done its time.
The two countries that seem to really place importance on test cricket are England and Australia. And I would say my heartfelt thanks to them. I am not a big fan of either team, and have hated (and still hate) the English cricket team with a passion. I dont carry a chip on my shoulder like Gavaskar, but have been accused in the past of irrationally hating the England team. No matter how much I loathe the team, I can assure them come 2024 if the Ashes are still on, I will be watching them. I will not have the same passion for the game if India starts playing less than 5 tests per year, but I will still watch the Ashes. If the Ashes turn out to be the last reminder for what test cricket used to be, I will do my bit to keep that going. Because, in all likelihood it looks like that will be the only test series in the 2020's where both teams care deeply about the result.
I am hoping like crazy that I am wrong. Much as I would wish Dravid, Sachin and Laxman to be remembered as the greatest middle order ever, there is no joy in them getting this accolade if they were also the last relevant middle order around.
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