A quick flick into the past.. :) :)

Nursery rhymes bring with them a pleasant sense, at least for me it does. Somehow it still makes me feel good to recite nursery rhymes sometimes just for fun. But how many nursery rhymes do we remember? These are a few I do remember:
Twinkle twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
When the blazing sun is gone
When the moon just shines upon
Then you show your little light
Twinkle twinkle all the night.

Baa baa black sheep have you any wool
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full
One for my master, one for my dame
And one for the little boy who lives down the lane.

Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been
I have been to London to see the queen
Pussy cat, pussy cat what did you do there?
I frightened a little mouse under the chair.

Little Miss muffet, she sat in her tuffet,
Eating her curd and rye,
There came a big spider and sat down beside her
And frightened Miss muffet away.

Peter peter pumpkin eater
Had a wife and couldn’t keep her
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well.

I had a little nut tree, nothing would it bear
But a silver nutmeg and a golden pear
The king of Spain’s daughter came to visit me
And all because of my little nut tree.

Humpty dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty dumpty had a great fall
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Could not put humpty together again.

Hush a bye baby on the treetop
When the wind blows the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall
Down will come baby cradle and all

Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck one
The mouse ran down
Hickory dickory dock.

Jack and jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down, and broke his crown
And jill came tumbling after.

Hot cross buns, hot cross buns
One a penny, 2 a penny, hot cross buns
If your daughter don’t like it, take it for your sons
One a penny, 2 a penny, hot cross buns.

Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold
Peas porridge in the pot 9 days old
Some like it hot, some like it cold
Some like it in the pot 9 days old.

Diddle diddle dumpling my son john
He went to bed with his trousers on
One shoe off and the other shoe on
Diddle diddle dumpling my son john.

Just try remembering the ones you had learnt as a child, I assure, it will be fun... :) :) :) And please remind me the ones I have forgotten??

Examination - a necessary evil?

In the dialogue of our infamous professor, I. R. Rao, examination is the bane of education. He agrees it is an evil, but also agrees it is necessary!! So he doesnt ever abstain from taking tests, on the contrary takes surprise ones! :(

But apart from that, seriously, what do exams signify exactly? We learn something, we write in exams, and get marks accordingly. But how much of that knowledge or information do we actually retain a few days or even hours after the exam? Isnt most of it rote learning? Is it actually helpful to a student? I personally feel practicals are a much better way of learning than taking exams. On trying to do a practical experiment, if the theory is not known, then it needs to be known properly before the experiment can be attempted, and the concepts become much clearer after the completion of the experiment. And as something is applied, the concepts truly become knowledge, they dont stay just as topics learnt to be forgotten. Isnt a practical work much more important than a marks in a subject? Does a marks really carry information about who knows the subject better? Most of the times, preparation for exams entails mugging up lots of information, that will be freely available in actual life. So the grading is based on something which is totally unnecessary. What is the meaning of such a grading system? Knowledge is when information can be applied to a practical problem to solve it. But how many exams truly test that? And is it possible to test it?

If this is a wrong way for evaluation, then what is the right way? Is it possible to check everyone's knowledge by making them apply it practically? If it can somehow be made feasible, maybe it will actually be the evaluation of a person's ability, better than now. And also in that way, lots of other things along with the knowledge will be tested, the way in which the person approaches a problem, his creativity in combining the known knowledge with the uniqueness of every individual. Along with that the dedication and perseverance of the individual will also be known. Isnt this form of exam much better than the one followed at present and cant this somehow be implemented, if not on a very large scale, at least on a small scale?

Maturity

One of my aunt's friends once gifted her a book, with the following passage written in front of it:

On Maturity

The things you learn on maturity aren't simple things like acquiring information and such. You learn not to burn energy in anxiety. You learn not to engage in self-destructive behaviour. You discover how to manage your tensions. You learn that self pity and resentment are among the most toxic of drugs.

You find that the world loves talent but rewards character. You come to understand that most people are not for you or against you, they are simply thinking of themselves.

You learn that no matter how hard you try, some people in this world are not going to love you, a lesson that is at first troubling, and then really quite relaxing.

- John Gardner

This I liked a lot when I had read it first, and now when I read it again, this made me think. What is actually maturity? Learning how to conduct yourself in society? How to talk to people and handle situations peacefully? Not only that, the last sentence is also very important. Everyone wants to be liked by people, but its not possible that every single person in the world will like someone, so that needs to be accepted. If someone cannot accept it, it doesnt allow one to stay in peace.

Another point which I feel, everyone should accept is that every single person will not approve of something you do. You will face criticism or you may hear something bad being said behind your back for something you have done. All of this cannot be taken into consideration. If you feel you are correct according to your knowledge, and the few people you know, who wont lie to you just to satisfy, are in support of you, then you should go ahead, do whatever your heart tells you. And not bother about the criticisms you hear. If you are correct, everyone will come to understand at some point of time. And if you are not? Well then you will learn a lesson, and not ever repeat it. But you cannot always hold yourself back from doing something, being afraid of "what people think". Thats the worst of all fears. Risks always have to be taken, roads less travelled by have to be traversed, else what will be the challenge in life?