Kshema's 7 Quick Takes Friday (Volume 3)

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The week started quite busy and continued to be so. This week appears to be supportive of my artistic and creative pursuits. Did some service, sang and meditated; now doing some designer stuff, though official..... enjoying it.

Promoting creativity to its best?

As long as I am not instructed as the above, I hope to bring out good results ;)

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Weather has not improved this week. It has been hot and humid. Though the monsoon has been said to hit Kerala and Karnataka, and Mumbai seems to rain, looks like there is still some more time before the rain Gods please to come to Rajasthan via Gujarat!

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This week also gave me some insights into learning some different but not-so-new recipes. One that most interested me is the brown rice pulav. Whenever I cook brown rice, it turns out to be mushy. The cook I met during community service told me that the rice turns out well when cooked in an open pot instead of a pressure cooker or a microwave. Sauteing some cumin seeds, finely chopped onions, green chillies and dry spices in a mixture of oil and clarified butter before adding rice to the cooking container adds taste to the pulav. Also adding 1-2 tsps. of lemon juice to the rice helps it not to become mushy.

Brown rice pulav

Adding soya chunks, cottage cheese cubes and dry fruits like browned cashews, raisins and almond julienne are other options. Sprinkle dried fenugreek leaves and freshly cut parsley/coriander leaves for awesome aroma. Vegetable pulav also can be prepared with brown rice. Comparatively lower glycemic index of brown rice makes it a healthy option.

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"Attano Announces ChapterBuy™: Dawn of a New Era in Textbooks"
A new trend has started in India. Probably this is not-so-new trend! College students have always been in the habit of photocopying either lecture notes or specifically marked chapters from textbooks for their study purpose. Now it is commercial and official. A company ties up with major publishers to digitize the chapters of their published textbooks. The price range starts from Rs.3 to something like Rs. 1,146; averaging at Rs. 25. It may help the students and benefit the publishing companies. But, as a librarian, somehow, I am not able to see a positive side of it, if any. If we start debating on the merits and demerits of it, we may probably not be able to come out of the vicious circle of negative aspects of our education system. It sounds like gulping down capsules, one each for proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals instead of having a full meal for lunch and dinner. Aren't we ourselves constricting and restricting our students' learning scope and exploratory instinct by pinpointing them to specific chapters instead of letting them hold the entire book in their hand, atleast glance through cover to cover, if not read? Well, discussion on one topic leads to another and it would never end. However, this news is thought provoking for me, both as a librarian as well as a parent of a prospective undergrad student.

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"People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost."

-- The XIV Dalai Lama

(In)tolerance?

What seems normal to you might seem stupid to others. We have all been experiencing cultural, religious, etc. biases in various walks of our lives. But the key to happiness lies in displaying respect for one another. Some of this week's proceedings have provoked me to think of this bias and negativity that many of us gather when some people who join us hail from a different community or practice a different religions or spirituality. Why should we be bothered about their origin and lifestyle? Aren't we supposed to regard their intellect and respect their experience? Perhaps the world needs more patient dwellers!

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On a lighter note........

Need new Maslow?

We have two laptops at home but only one Internet connection. Sad! Slowly I have also come to a realization, perhaps Maslow has aged beyond his perception. We need to extend down his propounded hierarchy of needs. (Sorry for the blurry pic.)

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Results! Results! Results!

May and June are the two most sought after and awaited months for examination results of classes X and XI in India, be it the state boards or the CBSE or the ICSE. Girls outshine boys! Yes, this is always an exclamation for a country like India suffering with skewed male-female ratio, escalating female foeticide figures, decreasing girl children and lack of interest in education and well being of girl children. Despite all the exclamations, celebrations of parents, children and most importantly the coaching and tution centres, there is one more news that has sent tremors across the ICSE and CBSE officials. An Indian student at Cornell hacks into the CBSE and ICSE websites, accesses results, analyses the marking and bares the anomalies. Another concern regarding our education system. Many of us know how the papers are checked and the marks are awarded. But we all take the examinations because they are a must for securing admission into undergrads! Point to ponder is whether the present examination scheme, the checking and marking system fool proof? As the hacker opines, should we not have a more transparent exam scheme? Where are we heading to?

Hope to see you next Friday with some more takes. Until then enjoy your weekend and your work week ahead!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!