To Montessori or not to Montessori!

When you are a parent of two and half year old and live in Chennai, then hop in! It is going to be one hell of a rocky ride finding the 'best school' for our kids. Only a week ago, I was woken up violently by my anxious wife to go stand in the Q at 5 in the morning. To what? Just to buy the application form for the pre kinder garten. It is one of the popular schools in Chennai, no doubt! However, from what I gather, they follow the traditional Indian teaching methods. Im confused. Having exposed to the Montessori methods of teaching through my wife, I have become a big fan of Montessori. Should I go ahead with this school or look for a montessori school? Again, the dilemma iswhat next? In Chennai, the options are very restricted when it comes to Montessori. First of all there are not many good schools in my neighbourhood that can call themselves truly Montessori. Secondly, there are not many senior Montessori schools in Chennai. What to do after 5 or 6 years in Montessori? I have to send my kid to a traditional school and I will have to go through the same painful search, which I may as well do now itself! Grief!

Ancient India

Cyclone Nisha kept me indoor and I have started reading Ancient India by RS Sharma, translated into Tamil by Magini. It is an interesting reading and it re-emphasizes India's rich cultural heritage. It is a crisp recap of what we already know as a general knowledge through our school text books and a lot of little-known but important events andthe lives of the ancient Indian subcontinent. I have not finished reading, though. However, when I browsed through the chapters, I was disappointed to note that only one chapter was marked for the South Indian history. Just as with many North Indian historians, the Indian history is hardly anything more than that of Hindustan. The importanceof Decan plateau is usually overlooked. It does not do justice to the history of 'Ancient India'. Is there any good book on the ancient history of the south?

Operation Cyclone - Did the media spoil PAK support?

While Tamil Nadu was reeling under the pangs of cyclone Nisha and killing in hundreds, the west coast, Mumbai, tasted the stabs of terror, again.

Operation Cyclone stormed the terrorists and brought relief after 70 hours of courageous fight. While all of this was happening, it was sad to see the media go berserk. While they all had the same scenes to telecast, just for the sake differentiation, the dramas that they played was pathetic.

Starting from bothering the security personnel and the fire brigade for sensational news for their channels, they have gone to the extent of cursing the Pakistanis who appeared on their channels. Those Pakistanis, who in spite of their country's dismal record in freedom of speech, for the first time appeared to have shown real concern and sympathy to what's happening to India. And what did our media do? Crucify them, as if the were the sole representatives of Pakistan. What were they expecting? Beg for mercy and punishment? The media have gone to the extent of projecting the impending arrival of the ISI chief as a summon by the Indian government. Whats India, a super power to summon the neighbour's Intelligent chief? Now, that appears to be impossible and a chance of lost opportunity for the countries to work together against the cancer.

Lets understand that Pakistan is screwed beyond a easy recovery from the mistakes of its past leaders. If India wants a peaceful boarder, let us better help that country's young civilian govt to fight terrorism. We must strive to utilize every opportunity for the betterment of the situation.