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| Students looking at the process of preparing the warp.....
Every educational institution will have its own
ethics and wishful aspirations about how their students should come out like.
Apart from trying to have the best of faculty for key subjects and inviting
eminent guests for lectures some also scout for campus interviews. In order to
get their ward a better placement, colleges plan for imparting various etiquette. Management and commerce
graduates are dressed in blazers and ties to get them acquainted with
professional lifestyles. Witty games are administered to nurture their killing
instincts as businessmen. In order to achieve sharper focus upon their respected
fields, which if only measured in the marks scored, the very basics of life
skills are sidelined. In the wake of
identifying sources of profits for the students the bases of very resources are
not even introduced. Very few faculty of Economics and Management talk of
Natural resources and their threshold limits while exploiting. Seldom students end up with a mind set that are
built of very old and primitive data.
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I have
come across students from prestigious colleges who believe that our country has
kept aside 33 to 60 percent of forest lands for the sake of wildlife in our
country. It may not be mandatory to know the actual figures of such data for a
commerce student but in a situation where we are not even left with four and a
half percent of our land for wildlife, it would be a bad start of his carrier
as a professional. Like wise many students don’t have the faintest idea about
how many jobs in this country are provided by the government sector.
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| The Principal Mr. Manohara and his Minister |
Some head of the institutions have given a
serious thought at addressing such shortfalls in making responsible citizens of
their students. They are thoroughly aware and worried about the diminishing
value system among their students. They also agree that those values have no
mention in their prescribed syllabus. Yet
very few clearly say that education is incomplete if it does not give you a
sense of the world in which your learning has to be applied. Unfortunately such
concerned managers and principals are bound by the economic intends of modern
day education system. There is no denying that academic excellence depends on
the quality of faculty and infrastructure of an institution, but it is often
seen that those who graduate from high ranking colleges that focus only on academics,
are some what unprepared to deal with the complexities of the social world.
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| Santosh Koulagi showing the yarn dyed in Natural Colours |
The academic choices are shaped in many ways; for
some it is circumstances and parental concern that limit what they do.
Youngsters who have reading habits and have a chance to see the world and talk
to teachers have a fair chance of opting what they aspire. By the time of
finishing high school many will have formulated about their carrier options
even though they have no clue about how to go about it. But it is useful to
take a break and see the world beyond the school walls and decide not only
about what course to perceive but where to perceive it. The space one spends in
his formative years is as important as the content he learns in the same
period. The context of learning is equally important as the content, and, as
most people agree that the space of learning (and unlearning) often has more of
an impact upon the student than the curriculum itself.
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| Some Group dynamics in the evening |
Knowing these factors Prof. Manohar, Principal
of Nagarjuna College of Arts, Commerce and Mangement in rural Bangalore
strongly believe that between the college and the workplace should be the time
for exploration and experimentation.
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| Team building games for the development of rapo..... |
The student in their formative years would
have an opportunity to see the vast realities of the society and learn to think
for themselves. He chose to pitch in a collaborative program with Janapada Seva
Trust at Melkote and expose the young minds to the philosophy of Khadi. About a
dozen batches of forty students came in on a monthly basis during the last
academic year. Each batch stayed for three days and was exposed to the process
of Kadhi industry. From fiber to fabric it was all hands on. Raw cotton yarn
comes in and finished garment leave for sales. There were just about two about
two dozen laborers, not considered as especially skilled worked in the unit. Apart
from weaving there was a demo on dyeing with natural colors.
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| A bit of Rock Climbing to build endurance and self confidence |
Initially there was a protest by a few students
who refused to accept that this was an industrial visit of any sort for
commerce and Management students. Nevertheless a few students who were impressed
by the sessions about sustainable lifestyles and conservation issues turned the
table for the management of the college. They influenced many students by
sharing their good experiences from their camp. A few students even came along
for the camp for the second time with other batches. After the first two
batches the students were at t accompanied by any senior lecturers indicating
that the program was well received by the student community.
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| Mr. U N Ravikumar explaining his Water saving device |
Back home at Janapada Seva Trust it was time to
experiment with the topics dealt in each batch and the resource persons. Santosh
Koulagi, U N Ravi kumar, Sumanas Koulagi and Manu K handled various indoor and
outdoor sessions. K P Suresh and Wildlife photographer Mahesha joined in to address a few batches.
Apart from the lecture-demonstration and audio visual sessions the students
were involved in physical work of one sort or the other.
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| Every hard Work needs a good relaxation |
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| A typical group |
They had an option of
watering the saplings in ‘Nene bana’ a dream garden of the Koulagis or to work
in the Khadi unit. Some even took up cleaning the campus or assisting the
kitchen. Such activities have no text books but encourage students to think and
learn for themselves and are absolutely essential in the days of confusion with
regards to societal dynamics involving nature, culture and its politics.
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| Jamanlal Bajaj Awardee Surendra Koulagi expresses happiness on seeing the youth in the campus. |
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