Last week i happened to participate in a Wedding Reception of a Colleague. The Bridegroom was being paraded in a palatial car, on the busy streets of the City, in the peak hours of the day, with drums and light music for musical accompaniments, and a host of friends and well wishers as processionists.

This prompted a compulsive and wild guess within me... 'But why?'... Why should the handsome bridegroom and the pretty bride be given such a shabby treatment in the thoroughfares of one of the busiest streets of the city, when technology is so advanced and people have the luxury of coming to the Wedding Hall in a comfortable if not luxurious carriage...

I got the answer soon, from another senior colleague of mine Dr.Ganesh, who gave an elaborate explanation for the ritual. Frazer would have been a happier person had he known about this lovli tradition practised from days of yore... a symbolic ritual...

In those days, when there were no advancements in technology, when the nation was living in its villages, it was the custom to parade a bridegroom through the streets of the town, for the  townsfolk to see him and ascertain whether he's already married or not, and also as a sign that the bridegroom is no more available in the matrimonial market...

I coud hear Frazer turning in his grave, whispering, "A Myth is a Mediating Metaphor - giving meaning to our lives...".

I took a deep breath, went a step back, and saluted Sir jAMES fRAZER...

If ever there were a single ingredient that separated people who are successful in life from people who are not - then it should be what i call it "the shakthi within" - in Nomencaltural pomposity we christen it as 'SELF - ESTEEM., or in other words, the power within.It is all about harnessing your personal power. People who use their power will take their dreams and make them come true. Carl Jung's famous quote comes to my mind here: Who looks outside dreams, who looks inside awakens." Even the famous tamil song "Unnai Arinthaal... Ulagathil Poradalaam" is a reflection of the shakthi within. Emerson the great philosoher, as my literature students would have known, calls it as SELF RELIANCE. Self-reliance is drawing on the power within yourself and the power you share with others. It is not power over others. Bloggers are welcome to give their views in this regard.

Today, Mobile phones have been elevated in the order of the Oikos - From Luxury - to Comfort - to Necessity. Tackling the Necessary Evil is a herculaen challenge thrown in the path of the teacher and the lecturer. Well, there is a strong reason to believe that the power of the Mobile phone can never be dispensed with. For example, just over five years ago, we wouldnt have dared to even imagine that we can get vital class info by the 'rule' of the thumb... but today it is a reality... and that too, a welcome reality... While on the one hand, it is heaven, on the other hand, it is a kinda hell for the teacher / lecturer, who has another additional burden to cope with... some of the ways which i feel would help out are: 1.)Request them politely to switch off their cell phones. 2.) Remind them about the need to switch it off, by switching off your mobile, in front of the class. 3.) Announce a reward of 100 rupees to anyone who tells you about a violator in class. 4.) Cancel attendance for the whole class if you feel the students are adamant and not forthcoming. 5.) Or, ask them to use the vibrator mode/ silent mode, and continue their activities without disturbing the class. 6.) or, ask your principal to place cellphone jammers in your class. 7.) or, just dont care. Readers can set the discussion ball rolling, by giving their suggestions too.

It is with a deeeeep sense of gratitude that i here take this 'lovli' opportunity to thank my guru and friend (he was more a philosopher than friend)Prof.Dany for the love he bore to his learning, which propelled me, or spurred me rather, in a cosmic rhythmocentric whirl, albeit to dizzying heights, but nevertheless to metaphysical reality.(dannyisms) Donne affected the metaphysics, or so they say, but dany affects the metaphysicians, or so i say. T.S.Eliot would have been a more happier person had he lived to have a tete a tete with my friend dany. THANX PROF.DANY, FOR INTRODUCING ME TO EXTREME ELIOTISM (should i say)WHICH RATHER 'MADe' ME HOOK ON TO YOUR FAVOURITE FRAZER, BOUNCE TO MY BOSOM. THANK YOU DANY.............................!

PS: He wants me to call him Dany, specifically... after al, "what's in a name...!" he seems to say.

As an ardent admirer of nature's loveliness, and the lovely poets who have sung of her, i basically had an inclination towards working for my doctorate, dissecting lady nature threadbare (to the most i can!!!) and should i say....eureka......!!! there was this person who was already bisecting her and enjoying it too. He is none other than the famous exponent of tinai Dr.Nirmal Selvamony, my esteemed colleague and revered friend at Madras Christian College.It was then that i decided to work under him for my doctorate in Ecoliterature.

Now this latest phenomenon of Bhagat's, is out on sale, and this one, I should admit, was suggested to me by my friend Premjith, a book-aholic hinmself,(an Eco maniac) (il ya bibliophile), and out we rushed to Higginbotham’s, (the best bet for teachers like us, (just for the discount they give), and went for the kill. Chetan's new book `One night@call center’ is about the most prominent phenomenon of our times: OUTSOURCING. Chetan Bhagat youthfully goes about exploring the fun as well as the dark side of working at a call center in India. It is a fictional account of a night in the life of five youngsters employed at a call center. This is a must read for youngsters who visualize a future in call centers and BPOs. Do read it and post your comments on it…sooooon, we shall have a rendezvous for discussing this ‘phenomenon’. Wish you a Happy Reading…

Chetan Bhagat...ever heard of him? This young writer has become a kinda inspiration to youngsters of his class, by giving his nation a beautiful and lovli book on the story of three friends from the moment they join IIT till they come out. It’s about how they become under- performers and then how they land into trouble after troubles. It’s not all funny. Chetan has put some insights into the high level of pressure in professional colleges and how it affects the students. There is some romance and the usual boy Vs girl observations. It is a lovli one….now, he has come out with a second…this time on a totally pressing problem or curse or boon or …whatever you may call it….. “A Night at a Call Center”.

I think its high time we teachers of the English Language went on a tirade against the beaten-track approach to teaching of literature. The question i would like to put forward is Today's English literature syllabus - does it really address the demands of our time... Literature buffs, (including oldies who've been teaching Literature as a subject for decades may raise their eyebrows, if not a hue and cry or a hullaballo over my radical question... but leave alone prejudices.... come into the era of realism, after your hangover into idealism, and you find the english literature student at the undergraduate level doesnt have a good recipe to taste... he has to swallow, taste, or digest whatever stale dishes are being offered to him (sorry feminists)... and i hope today's language and literature teachers would agree with me in toto when i say this... what has a MRS. DALLOWAY by Virginia Woolf gotta do with a student's prospects - be it in job or in life - pessimism to the core - or insanity and sanity - side by side- as the 'sane' author would love to call it.. OR what does a THOMAS HARDY contribute to the student's thought process- I am reminded of a goody oldy saying - You can take a horse to water, but not make it drink - you can take a student to college, but not make him think- OR DO WE? Are we really making our students enjoy literature - or are we giving them an overdose of isms (that includes pessimism and stale archivisms_ for lack of better word).... All ye Lit fraternity....and students of this lovli subject... think and ink to me... lets do something about it...

As a practitioner of English Language Teaching in the Language classroom, I've often felt bugged by the stale and stereotyped methods of language teaching. Five pieces of poetry from Coleridge to Anne Sexton, five prose pieces from Bacon to Cheserton, and a play by T.S.Eliot or Shaw or Shakespeare, does it really serve the purpose in a language class, where your student doesnt even know to write a meaningful sentence in English. Hence, at the end of a two year course in Basic English Practice, the student scores a mere ZERO in his language abilities. Especially in a situation like in India, where English is considered to be a 'sour grape' by most of the populace, i dont think a Anne Sexton, or a Bacon or a Chaucer can work magic in the language capabilities of the student who doesnt even know the basic nuances, the A...B...C.. of it. The need of the hour is not, an overdose of icons, but a good feeding of the basics that goes into language teaching. And mind you, the whole framework of the existing syllabi of the English Language Syllabus is a farce, giving an escape route to the so-called senior teachers, who seem well-set to follow the beaten track,with the Frostian maxim "good fences make good neighbours" to their rescue. What we need is vigour in the syllabus, strength in the mind, and a keenness to impart the best of the basics to the Language student. The age-old maxim, 'Known devils are better than unknown angels' can never hold sway with the masses in a globalised world, where the demand is farrr greater than the supply. This i blogged after having a futile time teaching Bacon to a class without the Basics...

Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I understand... benjamin franklin One of the needs of today's language teacher, i believe, is to incorporate the 'involvement' of the student in meaningful responses in the language class. Diagnostic tests, i suppose, have a great say in the assessment of the language ability of the student. Diagnostic tests not only serve to have a glimpse into the student's language competency, but also serve to build an action plan to suit the needs of the target audience. AS a teacher of English, over the past four years, i had the opportunity of experimenting with the diagnostic aspect of teaching, which, believe me, worked wonders in an otherwise unfocussed teaching environment. The teacher, i believe, is not an imparter of knowledge, but a facilitator of the learning process, giving the maximum time to the THIRD EYE of the student, or rather deriving the maximum mileage from the third eye of the Language student. Bloggers, are welcome to share their opinions on the subject. contact me at rufusmcc@gmail.com