What if students have to write questions instead of answers

Reading through random education blogs I found an interesting post about exam stress. It has been a topic of discussion for more than a decade, yet it hasn't progressed anywhere. While reading the blog, I got this weird idea of why exams always have to be to answer the set of questions within a given time and why not exploring and extending the topics by asking unsolved questions.

It reminds me of a beautiful scene from an unpopular TV show, Genius by NatGeo. Albert Einstein as a student questions the theory that is being taught to him (Newton's laws of motion). His immediate action after asking the question is to pack his stuff and prepare to get out of the class assuming that he would be sent out of the class for questioning the authority. Instead his teacher asks him to be seated and appreciates his imagination.

In most of the astonishing discoveries and studies in all fields, there has always been a student who has had the guts to question the established results. However, modern education system's ideology has always been to supress imaginations and make the minds obey the authority. In fact, when I took a software job, my trainer has instructed me not be an Einstein or a Ramanujan but to be a person, who could learn whatever they teach and reproduce the same whenever the situation demanded.

In a popular speech by actor R. Madhavan at his famous Harvard speech, he mentions that exam is a measure to see how effectively one can recollect and reproduce a set of information under pressure. In a way, the format of exams is much similar to the expectations of a corporate job because over the years it is tailor made to fit the increasing demand for workforce. This exam pressure to find answers for questions within a given time kills the natural curiosity of students at a young age. There have been so many reforms taken to reduce the pressure off the exams. The formats of answers and the type of questions have also been changed. However, still the purpose of education (to generate workforce) hasn't changed.

The current exam system is reliable for easy evaluation and quantifying the reproducable knowledge of a student. But the imaginative power and curiosity can be tested (and evaluated) only by letting the students ask the questions. Maybe we haven't mapped the qualities of imagination and curiosity to any of the skills required for workforce yet. That doesn't conclude that establishing these skills would be unnecessary. Maybe we haven't found the right way to quantify these skills yet. That doesn't mean that they are not quantifiable. Maybe we haven't asked the right questions yet. Maybe we are still under the influence of established authority that we couldn't even consider the possibility of such an exam. Maybe our education system has to move beyond generating workforce. Maybe the role of an evaluator is only to admire at the intelligent line of thoughts of each student.

These uncertainties form a wall that block our sight beyond a sub-optimally working exam system. We could see beyond it only by climbing up the wall using the ladder of questions. There is still a long way to establish this new system but it has to begin somewhere in time.

In search of home...

I remember the time I went to a CTS interview in 2014. The interviewer asked me how I felt about moving to North India, if I get appointed there. I told him, “I am from a village deep south. I have never been out of my house till I completed my school. It was really difficult for me to stay outside my home in Chennai. But I am used to it. If I am staying out of my home, it doesn’t matter whether I stay in Chennai or stay in Delhi. It is gonna be the same for me”. I was successfully rejected in that interview for unknown reasons though.

However, I got my joining letter from KPIT Technologies, my work location was Bangalore. There was a small panic when I left my home, because I literally didn’t know whom to contact and how to find a place to stay. That was probably the first moment, I realised why it was good to have a few friends around. I did have a few supporting hands in Bangalore. To my surprise, shopkeepers in Bangalore were well-versed in Tamil. So, it was a bit of a cake walk for me.

The most challenging experience to me was when I had to move to Pune. When I heard that I have an opportunity to work in Pune, I was finding all possible reasons to avoid it. My theory about home and away was still the reason but this time Bangalore actually felt like a home. I never had a better home than Bangalore. It had everything for me that I missed since my childhood. I didn’t have to act like someone else. I had to be whomever I really wanted and still got accepted by a group of people. It wasn’t a dream job, but I still loved it.

I was working in a team of six freshers, who were managed by 7 managers to do literally nothing. We were having fun during our extra long tea breaks and recreation breaks after everyday status reporting. There were discussions and silly arguments about movies, sports, health and fitness almost every time. I gave up running the race to be ambitious and gave myself a break. That was probably the first time I associated myself to a group of friends in my entire life. More than everything, I didn’t have to speak a language that I was not comfortable with. 

Finally I had it all settled. And then the shock. I was asked to move to Pune in less than a week. I wished that I didn’t have to go. We were fighting for the two spots left in Bangalore, so that the rest four could go. I couldn’t win the fight and I had to pack my bag. When the journey took more than 12 hours, I was already exhausted to even try to love the new atmosphere.

Nothing was similar. When I saw a few people walking on Anna Hazare getup (pyjamas and kullas), I was like, “Did I just take the time travel bus? These people seem to be going to protest against the British Raj”. I was preparing myself to be brutally punched in the face with Hindi words. I was getting my basics ready.

To my surprise, the office conversations were not in Hindi. They were conversing in Marathi. Bangalore office was such a place, where there were people from South India, who didn’t have a common language. So, we used to speak in English. I wasn’t expecting that in Pune. I knew that North India had a common language and they were proud to speak in Hindi. Realizing that Pune office had a huge majority of Maharshtrians and the office had Marathi as a primary language was a little hard. I might have realised it much earlier, had I worked on a city like Chennai, where the local Tamil population is huge and the primary language of communication could have been Tamil.

A typical meeting in Pune would start in English and gradually move to Marathi. Then I would have to raise a concern. Their stereotypical response would be, “Arre! Me to bool gaya aap ko Marathi aata nahi. Mein ne bola ki….”. Amapke raincoat. Then I would have to use all my listening sense to interpret to understand Hindi, get exhausted and request them to speak in English. Much worse was when some over patriotic Maharashtrians would expect me to speak Marathi, when I would be stammering with my broken Hindi.

After that would be the people who did not know how not having a common language worked. They used to confuse about the language that we speak in South India and made huge mix ups such as, “South India has four states. Their capital is Chennai. They all like Rajinikanth. They speak Kannada. Their cinema industry is not Bollywood, it is Tollywood. They have beautiful coconut beaches everywhere”. It took me a while to recognise that they actually did not have an understanding about South India.

From my childhood I always believed that India was my home but being in North India didn’t feel like home to me. I had bad socializing skills. I was too uninterested in small talks and I was least bothered about mastering Hindi. I liked the place more than the people. I used to take the long routes from office to residence. I was attached to the roads and climate instead of the people. I wanted to move to other unknown cities and explore more and more.

A wave of trouble drowned me in the sea when I thought I had swam across the lake of alienness. I was so helpless and lonely as I got severe jaundice. There was literally no one around almost all day. It was not anyone’s fault. I didn't know that roads and climate would not help me when I get sick, but people would. I invested so much time in exploring the geography of the new place rather than the culture of the people. I had the worst fears and even believed like a fool that I would die in my room alone.

I took a break from Pune and returned home for the treatment. Home felt like home. My brain was relaxed as the load of translating an alien language was off finally. I wanted to come back to my comfort zone. I was done walking like an alien on the roads of Pune.

When I returned to Pune, it was already Diwali. I was possibly the only one non-local person working in the office during the week of Diwali. It was painful that there was nowhere to go and celebrate Diwali. The roads I used to walk were converted to special Diwali markets. I was there alone watching everyone enjoying their shopping with their family. There was nothing I wanted to buy but I was simply watching people and envying them.

I simply booked tickets for three movies that were released that week. Finally the day of Diwali came. I woke up early, took an oil bath in hot water. I missed my home so much. I dressed up well and went to the food court, where I used to have idlis daily. It was empty. There was a senior supplier, his assistant (junior) and me in the whole food court. I was a bit depressed because I was probably the only person to eat in that canteen when everyone got to go home.

The owner wasn’t there. The senior supplier noticed me coming everyday. When he saw me coming in, he signalled me to take the seat. The junior supplier came to me. The senior shouted, “Arre! Usko 4 idli dedo. Sambhar oopar dalke”. He smiled at me. I smiled at him back. I was so pathetic that I didn’t even know his name. I used to see him everyday but never bothered to say a Hi. He noticed me because I asked him not to give Sambhar in a bowl and instead pour it over the idlis.

I sent the money in PayTM while he was getting me the food. I showed him the payment confirmation from a distance. When the food arrived, I saw that there was a Gulab Jamun in a bowl along with idlis, chutney and sambhar. I saw the Gulab Jamun and saw the junior, who had supplied me the food. He signalled me to look at the senior. I looked at the senior. He said something in Hindi, which meant, “Today is a happy day. Nobody should be lonely or sad. Happy Diwali”.

I was out of words. Sometimes the blows of joy are heavier than those of sorrow. There were so many differences between us. I didn’t even know who the supplier was. He was merely a labour and the canteen owner would have punished him for giving sweets for free. He didn’t care about all that. He saw that I was sad and lonely. He wanted me to smile on the day of Diwali. So he made it happen.

That is what it actually means to be a home. When people around you care about your happiness without any expectation, that makes it your home. We had our own linguistic and cultural differences. It was all broken with his token of unconditional love. I never regretted being in Pune again. I never felt like I was away from home after that.

Perhaps, this is what is meant by when we say, “All Indians are my brothers and sisters”. This is our homeland despite all our differences. Let’s all cherish our unity during this auspicious day, which marks the fruit of the unity of our grandparents.

Happy Independence Day.

Scene 269: Time is strange

Sun was setting and the twilight sky was shining like hot fire. The breeze felt like it was pulling them towards the sunset. Ashok was looking deep into the sky and lost in his thoughts. Abinaya turned at him and wondered what he was thinking. She turned towards the sky and tried to find what was grasping Ashok's attention.

Ashok received the signal somehow and came back to consciousness. He looked at her. Her brown skin was glowing like gold due to the sunshine. When Abinaya noticed it and started to blush. She asked, "What do you find strange in my face today?".

He took a breath and said, "Your face shines like gold due to the sunshine". He thought about something and continued, "No. I mean the skin. No. Your....". He went out of words. He moved his hand as a reaction to his mind looking for words. She waited patiently for him to complete.

After a while, he said, "You understand what I'm trying to say, right?". She nodded her head and started to wonder how she had fallen in love with such an absent minded human. She remembered her first meeting with him. She smiled broadly thinking how awkward he was and how she thought that she would never meet him again.

He was embarassed a bit because he couldn't get the right words to explain what was in his mind. He wanted to say that she was beautiful. He wanted to make a sentence with the most exceptional words so that she would feel special about it. His rationality was blocking his imaginations. He was in a self-contradicting loop. He couldn't face her.

She saw him spiralling. So she touched his shoulders to soothe him. His mind and body started to calm down. He slowly relaxed. He adjusted his posture and sat comfortably. A smile blossomed in his face out of nowhere.

He turned towards her and said, "Time is really weird. We don't know what is gonna happen the next moment". She looked into his eyes and tried to understand in which context he was saying it. Her look became deeper but she couldn't understand what he was trying to say. She said, "I don't know so much about time. I believe it is weird only because you say so. At some time, we feel sad, at other times we feel happy. Ya, time could be weird".

He smiled and gazed at the twilight sky again. She looked at him again. She continued, "Time confuses me as much as it confuses you. I don't have an understanding of time as much as you have. I cherish the happy moments in life. Like January 21st, your birthday. It is a special day to me".

He looked at her and smiled sarcastically. She stared at his eyes again. She was waiting for him to start talking. He couldn't stop smiling. She said, "What is it? Speak out".

He said, "Nothing wrong. Time has totally different meaning to different people. More than that, understanding of the nature is really different for different people". She said, "I am not here to listen to your philosophies right now. Lets talk something else. Tell me which day is special in your life. No, wait. I will ask in the words that you understand. Tell me the particular orientation of celestial bodies, which are special to you".

He said, "Hmm. Thats an interesting question". He looked away from her into the garden, into the sky and into everything around him to get an answer to her question. She was getting eager. She moved close to him. She held his hand tight. He looked at her hand. He thought for a while and said, "Today is special to me".

Her face shrunk in a shock. Her hand loosened a bit. She said, "Oh! Wait. Let me guess. Today is April 24. Not your birthday; not mine either; neither our first meeting; nor related your parents. It is not easy to find but I am not not gonna give up". She released his hands and took her phone from her handbag. He was keenly observing her actions.

She googled what was special about April 24. After a while, she continued, "Ha! I found it out. It is the birthday of Sachin Tendulkar. How mean you are! I thought you would tell my birthday".

He started to laugh. She gently hit him and said, "Stop it. I am angry. Try to console me". She wanted to say it rudely but she couldn't control her smile while saying that.

He hugged her from the side and released her. She said, "Don't do all this and expect my anger to go down. It is never gonna happen". She turned away from him and released her laugh and hoped that he wouldn't notice it.

He said, "Units of dates is approximated really bad. For example, there is a leap year in every four years to compensate for the extra quarter day that is not accounted in the 365 days of each year. But still this is just an approximation. Also, what defines the beginning of a day is time. Most people believe that it is the time taken for Earth to complete one rotation but it is not exactly that. 24 hours is just an approximation of a day. So we can't really be sure about the time or date, in which things had happened to celebrate it whenever the particular instance of time repeats".

She said, "You might say that. But we have standardised our calendars and clocks throughout the world. So you could refer to that context and say that things happened on a day can be rememebered on the same day in all the future years".

He said, "First of all the world doesn't run synchronous time. We have a difference in time zone. Lets say, Rajini's next movie releases on April 30 throughout the world and the first show is at 4 AM. The movie releases 3 and a half hours before us in Japan, so a fan can record it and upload it on internet even before the movie is released in India. Also, when I used to be a child we used to watch cricket score in news channels. If a match happens in West Indies on April 24th at evening, we would see the score of it at early morning (probably 2 AM) of 25th. We would have to wait for 26th morning newspapers to read about what has actually happened in the match. So the standard definition of time is misleading".

He has completely lost her attention at this moment. She was happy that he was not getting philosophical but she could sense that he was going over her head already. Yet she didn't wanna stop him. It felt like she watch him talk gibberish forever. She reacted to his sentences as if she had understood everything that he was trying to say.

He kept going, "You could argue that things happening in a small region can be celebrated using the approximations of time that they can be remembered when the particular time configuration repeats itself the next year. But again, it has no relationship with cosmic bodies. For example, if you are going on a car race, you would be interested to celebrate whenever one lap is completed. If the standardisation of a lap is not appropriate, then you would be celebrating for reaching some random points in the lap than the end line of the circuit. Even worse than that is the fact that Sun is also moving around the galaxy, which means all possible orientations of Earth and Sun with respect to the galaxy don't repeat for millions of years. Every moment in space is brand new.

If you are still considering the standardised units of time, mathematically any two numbers can be related using multiple relationships. Now tell me when did we first meet".
She felt relieved that she could finally understand one sentence of his whole speech. She smiled and said gently, "September 26th, how could I forget that day".

He said, "My watch is saying 5:41. Tell me the time on your watch". She looked at her watch and said, "It is 5:42". He said, "Now see. Both the times: 541 and 542 can be related to September 26, 269 by doing some elementary math operations".

He thought for a while and said, "Lets take 542. Lets reverse it. We get 245. 2 plus zero is 2, 4 plus 2 is 6, 5 plus 2 plus 2 is 9, which gives us 269. 0, 2, 4 form an arithmetic series. Now, Let us put 2 from 245, then add first and second number. It gives us 6. Then add second and third number. It gives us 9, 269. Similarly, if we reverse 541, we get 145. 1 plus 1 is 2, 4 plus 2 is 6, 5 plus 4 is 9, 269 and 1, 2, 4 form a geometric series. 5 minus 4 plus 1 is 2, 5 plus 1 is 6 and 14 - 5 is 9, 269 again.

There can be many such combinations that can be used to relate any number with every other number. So one cannot really choose a date or time that is much different or special from any other number.

We have met on September 26. It was a special moment to me. But I could use mathematical relationships and say that any particular moment is related to September 26th and call it to be equally special as September".

By this time, her face started to show the symptoms that she has lost the attention. So he stopped for a moment and said, "Every moment in time happens only once in this universe. It will not come again in the future. Look at this moment. I am with the person I love the most. I am looking at her face glowing in sunlight. I wish time would freeze at this moment, and I could be amazed by looking at your face forever. I know that is not gonna happen. So minimally I feel that this particular moment in time with you is the most special time in my life, which makes this day as a really special day to me."

She didn't utter a word. She kissed him on his cheek. She didn't get embarassed for her action in a public place, where people would be watching them. She stared at him for a long time. She wished that his wish would come true that she live that particular moment forever.

Authentic Book: First draft

I created the eternal universe. The universe was empty and filled with void. I said, "Let there be Gods", and suddenly the universe was overcrowded with 34 crores of Gods. Gods were fighting against each other. So, I gave them something to play with, the mortal universe.

Still, they weren't happy. They divided them into two groups. One of the groups retained their names as Gods, and the others started to call them evils. They were fighting again. Almost 1 crore beings were killed in their silly fights. So, I made them all immortal. Also, I divided them into different groups, with 33 crores+ into one group, and the remaining 1500 odd into 800+ groups with each group having not more than 4 of them. I also put them into a delusion that only their group existed in the eternal universe.

They got bored. They kept disturbing me whenever I played Minesweeper (which I did all the time) to ask for favours. It was getting tough for me to answer everyone individually. So, I made an infinity gauntlet, so that I can think about a wish and grant it with a snap. I kept granting powers to individual Gods, but then I got bored again.

One day, I thought "Let Gods have infinite powers and not be destroyed", and snapped my finger. I should have added the exception of me with all other exceptions, before snapping, but I didn't, because I am an idiot. So, their powers are endless.

They divided their lands into heavens and hells. In the first group, they appointed a God to take care of hell. In all other groups, they appointed evils to take of the hell. Gods in heaven enjoyed their privileges. They were playing with the mortal universe. They used SIMULINK to model the universe, and put different equations and tried out which worked best.

Once they finalized the equations, they deployed them into the universe. When things were moving smoothly, they sat down and observed them for billions of years. Finally, they created time and made all the equations dependant on time just for fun.

They waited another billion years, but this time they had the sense of time by viewing the happenings on the mortal universe. But then they were bored because everything worked perfectly and there was no surprise to them.

One of the Gods said, "Let there be light". Suddenly there was light. All the Gods particularly chose a single small particle in the universe (called Earth) and created some objects that could do other operations, which weren't clearly described by any rules. And as a ruler of all life forms and the protector of the (inexistent) rules, they created human beings in different parts of the tiny particle. They didn't know that they were all sharing the same particle to create life forms. So, they overpopulated Earth with humans.

They made sure that the humans remembered Gods and offered their praises to them regularly. Whenever humans had forgotten about God, they punished them with disasters, diseases, and calamities. Also, at the request of Gods and evils from hells, they wrote of some rules for humans to follow (different Gods wrote different rules), and whenever a human failed to follow the rules, they sent them to hell for the hell dwellers to have some fun.

During the hard times, Gods made the humans to beg for mercy, made them chant their names hundreds of times, do painful acts, sing songs praising the Gods etc. Whenever they get pleased with the human efforts, they helped them recover from the hard times. Sometimes they simply let them die.

The games of Gods got more and more boring. So, they created different rules for after death experience. And thus, survives the mortal universe to be wiped off completely.

Maybe next time, I will take serious considerations to how many Gods to create, how to make them live in harmony, how to restrict their powers etc. If you have better advice, please leave it in the comments. I have erased the memories of Gods. So, now they believe that they weren't created and they existed forever. But, I still know their weaknesses.