435 items in this section. Displaying page 33 of 44
Truant Teachers
July 31: Think of a school or college where classes are not held everyday. Sounds like a dream school or college? But, a dream college like this is also a place where students don’t really learn much. The reason is very simple. Their teachers don’t have the time to teach them. The Delhi University is such a place. Where teachers make a habit of not attending classes. Naturally, their students also do the same. Truant Teachers [Illustration by Shiju George] But, it’s not only the teachers and their students who shirk work....
Teachers' Day
Teachers’ Day [Illustration by Shiju George] September 5: An average teacher teaches, a good teacher explains, a superior teacher illustrates, and a great teacher? A great teacher both learns and inspires students to ask questions fearlessly, for asking the right question is like taking the right turn amidst a maze of lanes and bylanes. But these are different times. While school students say that teachers are no longer interested in teaching, teachers turn around and say that it is not their fault – nobody is interested in learning and that society treats them like dirt....
The Day it Rained Fish
August 12: Last weekend saw some ‘fishy’ happenings across the world. In Britain, for example, it rained fish. The Day it Rained Fish [Illustration by Shiju George] It happened in Great Yarmouth, a fishing port in Norfolk. Residents found a shower of dead but still fresh fish called sprats raining down on them. “I thought at first I might have had something wrong with my eyes. The whole of my backyard seemed to be covered in little slivers,” said a resident to ‘The Times of India’, which carried a report....
The Mail Carrier
August 5: Karrappan walks through dark forests and lively villages, covering more than 20 km on foot everyday. And he carries a heavy bag on his head. Karrappan is a mail carrier. He works with the postal department of Pulpully, a small, remote village in Kerala. He has been working there for 40 years now. Karrappan is a most unusual employee. Take his appearance, for instance. Karrappan wears only a dhoti. And nothing else. The dhoti may be just a long piece of cloth which Indian men wear, tied around their waist, but it is probably the most suitable attire when you have a gruelling walk ahead of you, under the glaring sun....
A World for Children
July 31: K Shankar Pillai (1902-1989) or Shankar as he was called, was one of India’s best-known and best-loved cartoonists. Besides cartooning, he had one other love – children. He was especially interested in encouraging a child’s creativity. It was lucky for children that he thought this way, and from Delhi, where he was settled he wove an amazing web of dreams for children. He began the Shankar’s International Children’s Writing and Painting Competition in 1949 or 51 years ago....
Three Nations or One?
August 19: Tang Weijiang is an angry man. He is suing the famous Japanese company Canon for causing him mental distress! Reason – Tang, a Chinese, was furious that the company making a particular brand of printer, in its publicity video, had given the impression that China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were three separate countries. He is demanding $12 million in compensation. Three Nations or One? [Illustration by Sudheer Nath] While the island of Hong Kong has come back to China after being under British control for almost 100 years, Taiwan broke away from China more than 50 years ago to declare independence....
Answering Nature's Call in Peace
August 5: If the children feel like relieving themselves, they go to the nearby drain or the fields beyond. For their mothers and sisters, matters are even worse. They have to wait for night to fall. They can attend nature’s call only under the cover of darkness. As if they were committing a crime. But now things are changing for the 1000 odd residents of Karuvettupatai in Tiruchi district, Tamil Nadu. Answering Nature’s Call in Peace [Illustration by Shiju George] Gramalaya, a local nongovernment organisation, has constructed toilets for them....
The Beggar who is a Money Lender
August 5: A beggar is someone who is so poor that she has to beg people for money. For, she generally has little that belongs to her. No money to buy food, no proper shelter to live in, not even perhaps, two sets of clothes to wear. Or, at least that’s what we’re told to believe. But Bhanwari Sethani forces us to take a new look at the tired, old pictures of the beggar that we have in our mind....
Films for Kids — By Kids
All over the world achievers are getting younger and younger. A few weeks ago we had written a report on five Indian schoolchildren from south India who landed jobs with a famous American company called Lucent Technologies. Before that it was five children from Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) who had walked away with a huge haul of medals at the World Robotics championship, in Canada. Now it is the turn of a few schoolchildren in Delhi to get creative by making a 40-minute film all by themselves....
Every Ball You Bowl, Every Shot You Play
July 31: A spy will be hired to keep a watch on the activities of cricket players in Pakistan. This decision has been made by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The idea is to prevent the players from fixing any more matches. The spy will shadow the team, stay in the hotel and keep an eye on the cricketers. Like who they meet, where they go, and when they return to the hotel. So anxious is the PCB that the job is well done, that it has decided to keep the identity of the spy a complete secret....