To Write or Not to Write?

I woke up in the morning to see the compound wall of opposite house smeared with “A….K FULL”! I rushed out to see the fate of my wall. It was not spared. These are the early signs of impending elections. Last week, I had seen the rival political party reserving the wall spaces two streets away. I knew the race was on for ‘Wall Grabbing’ and it spreads faster than ‘chicun gunya’ virus! The writing on the wall is loud and clear!

Bernard Shaw said, "Politics is the last resort of a scoundrel." If he had seen the present day Indian politicians, he would have rephrased his observations as: Politics is the first resort of a scoundrel. Their acquired as well as inherited skills of various forms of grabbing starting from the wall grabbing to land grabbing to symbol grabbing, etc. puts these sharks on top of the wealth pyramid. This tribe with their ‘letteracy’ plays havoc with our education policies. Why allow them to set the agenda of educating the children?

In the given circumstances, keeping the students prospect in mind, I would opt for an examination system without a written component in it, or settle for minimal share. Writing should not be a predominant condition to test the knowledge of a student. The biggest bane of the present day examination is that, students are asked to read, remember and write. What a torture a student has to endure! No other living creature is put to such an ordeal. But no present day educationist, I know, would vote for my views in a sms poll.

Languages existed long before writing was born. They could survive without writing. Then why do the modern day schools introduce such draconian methods of imposition through writing assignments and spoil the lovely summer vacations? The assertion that doctors have bad handwriting holds an honoured place in the traditional lore. They can be asked to improve their handwriting as part of the house surgeon training!

Believe me, there is always an imminent danger that the ideas of a writer could be misconstrued by the reader. In all my examinations, this was what I experienced. None of my answer sheets were ever evaluated to my satisfaction. In addition, there always is the danger of reading between lines!

The present day examination system is so cagey that once you’ve written your paper, you have no clue whatsoever till the results are out. There is always a grave danger for human error in evaluation which none can deny.

A better way to measure “intelligence” could be to assess the ability of a student to assimilate the experience from daily life that is useful and pertinent to one’s individual values and mission. One should be able to discriminate on what is important to remember, know and understand. The rest should be allowed to pass.

If people misunderstand a speaker, the speaker can correct the misunderstanding immediately. You would have often witnessed the flurry of denials in the news papers by the politicians for every statement they make. They have a standard denial: “I am quoted out of context!” But such a benefit is not bestowed upon writing.

Students during the Vedic times were in a great advantage. In those times, a student used to be tested by his ability to repeat or recount whatever he was taught orally. They never had to read or write anything. Barring the first candidate, I think all others had enough time to refresh their memories!

To silence the opposition to examination system, open book examination system made its stealthy entry. But one should not get carried away by its dubious format. Watch out! This system in no way eliminates writing per se. Whether it is open or closed book examination, there is a little difference in the writing trial.

Here, let me offer my piece of advice. In open book examinations, use only that textbook with which you are familiar with, otherwise you will end up wasting most of your valuable time reading, and not writing. In the process, you may as well forget to write your name and roll number on the answer books. Some tired ones might write the name and number of their friend!

I have always had profound sympathies for the students of Chinese and Japanese. I used to wonder how they could take up their examinations and complete it in the allotted time. To become significantly learned in the Chinese writing, it would take about twenty years. How many of us are aware that poetry is more visual in Chinese and Japanese than oral? Using a traditional Chinese typewriter with over three to four thousand keys, a skilled typist is expected to type only about eleven words per minute!! Japanese is still frightening. I don’t have space to discuss it here. Let me reserve it for some other time.

It is generally believed that people do not remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they see, 30% of what they hear, etc. Such pronouncements are horrendous and outright fraudulent.

I can extend this observation to the culinary art. I am no tyro and I can reel out similar numbers..

If you want to become a good cook by reading cookery books, mind you, you can implement only 10% of what you read. So please refrain from presenting a cookery book to a newly wed bride and expect miracles.

If you want to go by the experience of others, you can succeed only 20%, from what you hear from them. Never attempt any dish by listening to a radio programme on cookery. I wouldn't be surprised if you burn your fingers!

If you want to achieve mastery by seeing your wife cooking, you may pick up 30% of the art but there is a grave risk that 100% of the task may be transferred to you!!

If you want to watch and learn from a cookery programme on TV, it is worth trying, but let me caution you, the recipes shown on TV channels are the most dreadful things to be attempted and consumed. You can achieve at best only 50% of what is claimed.

No doubt, hands-on-training can help attain success percentages as high as 70%. But the drawback is that you’ve to eat what you’ve cooked. Of course, experience is the greatest of educators. Make several attempts and you might succeed.

Is there a way out then?

Well, go out for a candle light dinner and order the most exotic dishes and let the mood prevail for a considerable time so that you don’t entertain the idea of acquiring culinary skills.

Even after such a dinner, if you are haunted by the Hameletian dilemma: To write or not to write, I would recommend you to speak to Munna Bhai-MBBS. That should put all your doubts at rest.

P.S: My endeavour is not to belittle 'writing art' but to battle the dominance of 'writing part' in examinations. I am aware that I could not have said all that I wanted to…. for words are slippery eventhough my thoughts are vivid and vibrant. Assignment is submitted for your read-through.
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The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is you really want to say. ~Mark Twain