UNMUKT CHAND AND ST STEPHEN'S COLLEGE, RULES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN - CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

UNMUKT CHAND AND ST STEPHEN'S COLLEGE,  RULES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN -- CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

Unmukt Chand and his team manfully faced the chin music dished out  by the aggressive Aussies, down  under, and he came out victorious.  

He came back to India with the U19, Cricket World Cup, to a rapturous welcome.

Then came the cold water dumped on his head, by his college dean , Thampu Saab , which shook him back to harsh reality.   

He would NOT be permitted to take his exams , as he did NOT have the requisite attendance.  

He would be detained . Worse still ThampuJI  would NOT even congratulate him.  

Valson Thampu, is a rabid Hindu hater, and was appointed by Sonia Gandhi’s advise as the Chairman NCERT curriculum Review Committee.

This delusional man came on National TV at prime time and was at his cynical best.  Rules are rules. It does NOT matter to St Stephen, that he won the World cup for India or did some other world beating exploit.  Unkind words are like nails. Even if the nail is taken out, the holes remain.

Thampu Saab , the dean spake as if he had divine sanction , in a “if you don’t like it you may lump it”  manner  “There is no way he can be promoted. The rules don’t permit that.  We’ve not detained him. Unmukt detained himself. This is for Unmukt and all other prospective Unmukts for the future”

For the un-initiated, Unmukt took admission in the arts stream of St Stephens college last year under the sports quota after obtaining 80 per cent marks in Class X and 74 per cent marks in Class XII.   Cricketing engagements have kept him away from the college and the 19-year-old has failed to garner minimum attendance stipulated .

“I don’t watch these cricket matches because you never know which is a fixed match,” he observed in a morbid manner.  ThampuJI says further . “ In our country we go overboard with regard to sports. We’ve seen all the muck during the Commonwealth Games.”

Way to go ThampuJI.

Sports Minister Ajay Maken has now stepped in to help the Under-19 Indian cricket team captain, Unmukt Chand, solve his academic woes. He shot off a letter to the Vice Chancellor of the Delhi University requesting to allow Unmukt take his exams, but also change the archaic rules for deserving sports persons .

Unmukt had played a heartwarming ,match winning,  unbeaten knock of 111 not out in the tense final against Australia to lead India Under-19 team to World Cup glory.  

ThampuJI has misjudged the mood of the nation.  If so, what type of an educator are you?

Now this is what I have to comment—

Unmukt is NOT asking for free degrees.  He is just asking for a chance to write the exams.

We all know the threadbare attendance of “unaccountable” Yuv-raj Rahul Gandhi in our Lok Sabha.  

We Indians also know the educational qualifications of our Queen bee Sonia Gandhi, who has been singled out for doctorates by three foreign universities. Three cheers to our DOCTOR Sonia Gandhi.

We all know what her educational qualifications are. And how she passed off her stint as a waitress in Cambridge restaurant , as a degree from the university.  Thank god for Subramanium Swamy. This means if you are a waiter in a Udipi restaurant at Mumbai , you can claim to be a graduate from IIT Mumbai.

My elder son sailed with me for 5 years . He skipped three years of school.  He had NIL ,or ZERO attendance.  The Principal encouraged him to sail and widen his horizons—God bless him. 

My son used to go back, write a special exam, tougher than the regular one, and max in all the subjects.  He got general proficiency right through school  .  In the final year of 12^th a girl in his class and division, beat him to top rank in the All India 12^thstandard CBSE board exam ( Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Calicut ) . She stood first in CBSE India , by a mile, and she was the Youth Brand ambassador of India after Sania Mirza, bestowed by President Abdul Kalam.

Standards of education are far higher elsewhere in India , than in St Stephens Thampu saab.

When I did my Second mates and Mate’s exam in Mumbai , I had NIL attendance or ZERO attendance in LBS Nautical college.

It was compulsory to have a percentage of attendance , or you cant write the exam. My batch mates used to go to college daily.

 I did NOT go because I did NOT like to see the gruesome sights of dirty slums on the way from Reay Road to Haybunder Mumbai, which got me depressed and affected my whole day.  I am from Kerala where you can scoop off spring water from the gutters and wash the face.  We are not used to seeing small children wallowing in sh#t.  

So much that after passing my Mate’s orals I went to LBS college with my roommate , just to see what it looks like. I wanted a light for my cigarette, and I saw somebody walking past smoking. So I rushed to him and asked him for a light. I will NOT mention here if I got the light or not.

When I got back my horrified friends numbering about 15,  immediately took me to task for insulting Capt TK Joseph, an Extra Master, who was the most senior most and most respected professor in LBS college. All thought that I was being cocky as usual. 

Nobody would believe me that I had no idea who that man was—till my room mate in Seaman’s club told them that I have passed both my 2^ndMates and Mates exams with NIL attendance, and I really did NOT even know who Joseph was, leave alone recognize his face.

How could this happen? Well the people in charge of the attendance register were Ex-Captains, who were more worried about results.  As long as you hit a six, who cares how high your back lift was, where your back foot was and in which direction your right shoulder pointed — the purists could go to hell.  Dhoni with his helicopter shot will agree with me.  

In any case where is the intelligence in facing spin, cutters and swing with a straight bat?  That will be another post.

I did NOT go to college for my Masters too.  Capt TK Joseph taught Magnetism, a three hour exam paper, using the Kemp and Young rod method (and also Shear forces and Bending moments chapter of ship stability ).  I did my own studies of magnetism at the club, from a book by Merrifield.  Joseph’s class used to overflow and students stood at the doorway too.  I missed all of that deliberately.  

Now -- did I get that light?  

Today I consider myself as one of the best Compass adjusters on the planet, if not the best, and I have 30 years of practical experience doing this.  When I go to the ship’s monkey island with a  plus screw driver to compensate the magnetic compass , I do NOT remember a single dang line of what I learnt in magnetism for the exam —all I know is unlike poles attract like a boy and a girl.

So now, then let me define education—Thampu saab are you listening.

"When you have studied, written your exams and forgotten the whole dang thing, what remains in your head is education. It is all about boring new tunnels or connecting new pathways in your brain "- Capt Ajit Vadakayil.

Here is some wisdom for you Thambu JI. Take some time off to think.

A weak mind is like a microscope which magnifies trifling things –but just cannot receive the great ones.  Watch out for minions for whom pleasing a superior or following a rule, can become more important than campaigning for or doing the things he believes is right for the organization. Change is our greatest ally in these times.. The changes I and you have seen in the past 50 years is mind boggling , right?

The kind of thinking that brought you and me where we are,  will NOT get our children where they want to go.

People who make a difference are always the ones with the concern – not with the credentials. So what are your credentials, ThampuJI?.  

Detect and check deviations from standard operating procedures to see if they are for the better, in times of change. 

Preoccupation with small technical problems and getting bogged down with tiny meaningless regulation details is undesirable.

Blindness or fear of the new , causes leaders who are heavily invested in yesterdays ideas, to miss the boat.  Spend time building people up instead of tearing them down—and that too on national network.  

Do not use fear as the key . Do not give untimely criticism. Do NOT misjudge the mood of the majority.

Hindsight says that 75% of all sackings are not because somebody did not do his job—but because he did not fit into the rotten corporate culture. .

There is a difference between a positive constructive feedback and destructive verbal attack.  You cant motivate people with logic. If you want to move people you must touch their emotions.

We would have not found all this so bizarre if you had a single meeting with the boy,  before you came on TV, to shoot your divine mouth off.

So our honourable Thambu Saab says, "Rules have to be applied. It's a question of working within the system."  In fact, St Stephen college's dean should be proud of Unmukt's achievement and encourage him instead of belittling him in the media.  

For Unmukt the Nation is bigger than you and your corny St Stephen rules--ThambuJI..

We need to change these archaic laws along with the “power drunk by divine right “ oldies who are thoroughly insensitive to students who make the nation proud.  Did someone say that sexual repression is the root cause?

In fact anyone who desires to prove his worth in any creative arts or sports field should be encouraged to come back to academics later in life.  Adult education should be welcomed for sportsmen . Mr Maken must start a debate on why Indian institutions should allow mature age students.

A student with 100 % attendance and gets 35% marks  cannot be better than another student with 10% attendance and 80% marks , right? So there goes your argument into the garbage ka dabba , Thambu Ji.

Tambu saab I suggest you watch the Bollywood movie “3 Idiots”.

In sport you have to start young. This is the time a child is in lower school.  Wanna see some pictures, and judge for yourself how the Chinese get so many Gold medals ?

An athlete who must be a world beater, has to sacrifice.  He has to start young. This sacrifice must be recognised.  

If you cant do that you are a fu#kin' DORK.

My ship was on her way to Philadelphia. I had two yank pilots on board. One of them heard me talking on mobile to my son in Ivy league Cornell University Ithaca.  He told me that the other pilot was from Cornell. 

So I had a chat with him.  He did a course by the name of "Governmental studies" --which is just a bullshit names-sake thing.  He being a strong giant was very good in American football.  That is how he got a scholarship and went to Cornell.  

Above is the Cornell League stadium. When my son passed out the ceremony was held in this stadium-- it was chock-a-block with parents and students.

The pilot from Cornell had told me-- all he did in college was to play and practise.  They helped him out with studies and projects to get a degree.

Check out what a French writer has to say about Valson Thampu.

I accuse Sonia of having let her Christian and Western background, in four years, divide India on religious and caste lines in a cynical and methodical manner.

 I accuse Sonia of being an enemy of the Hindus, who always gave refuge to persecuted minorities, and who are the only people in the world to accept that God may manifest under different names, in different epochs, using different scriptures.

I’accuse Sonia of exploiting the Indian Press’ obsession with her. She hardly ever gave interview in 20 years, except scripted ones to NDTV, yet the Press always protects her, never blames her and keeps silent over her covert role. Nevertheless, she is a danger to India.

Her very presence, both physical and occult, open the doors to forces inimical to India. Even Indian Christians should understand that she is not a gift to them: 

her presence at the top has emboldened fanatics like John Dayal or Valson Thampu, who practise an orthodox Christianity prevalent in the West in the early 20th century, but no longer, to radicalise their flock.

Indian Christians should recognise that they have a much better deal here than Christians or Hindus have in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia or Saudi Arabia.

2^nd Dec 2008 -- Francois Gautier ( French writer , living in Inida for 42 years )

Grace and peace!

 CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

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