Salman Khan - Changing Education Delivery Paradigm

Now this is absolutely amazing. The non-linear growth can and will lead us to uncharted territories any time soon. Soon we will test unheard waters, much before anyone of us could have ever imagined. I serendipitously came across the real life hero Salman Khan and couldn't resist immediately sharing his views and amazing work virtually....

His simple, useful website provides free real online video tutorials . This model can actually and will infact change the way Education is delivered in our classrooms. Its free, its intuitive, it worked for me so I am sure it will work for you as well. No more do now need to feel shy about not knowing some fundamentals of biology or finance. I watched couple of sessions and really enjoyed and learned from it. Hopefully you too learn about the topic of your interest.

In the small town, I grew up, even good books were not available those days. Any by the way I am not talking about a situation few decades ago. So what the issues were more fundamental those days, such as what to read and what to learn. Thankfully situation has changed a lot in past one decade and I suddenly feel much old, such has been the pace of change in past decade.

During my short stint teaching kids in my neighbourhood as a part of Tech India campaign,  I realized that the Education for All, is not a very difficult issue. Just a very small amount of thinking and execution related issues needs to be addressed. The kids and their families I met were highly motivated, charged and wanted to learn, even on weekends, unlike me. As a kid I always was looking forward to Saturday and Sunday and under rarest of rare circumstances I used to open my books. So, these kids and their families were even getting decent scholarships and aids from the local government bodies to buy books, school fees etc. The school building though was very basic but it existed. So what was the problem ? The  biggest problem was they hardly had 2 teachers ! So for no faults of theirs, these kids were deprived of their future.

While innovative campaigns such as Teach India and Teach for India, provides opportunities for working professionals to make a difference, the solution developed by Khan Academy can nicely complement the efforts of Teach India and several such non profits. As Salman aptly states in his speech - the beauty of all these lessons is- timelessness. They are available forever, at virtually zero cost !! So will this solution make real teachers, redundant. No, I dont think so ! Technology is and will remain a powerful enabler (until the armies of AI induced robots conquer us all !!). These video tutorials, will compliment the Teachers, will help them improve their own efficacy and will make sure that more and more pupil in the classroom actually learn.

Salman Khan academy can address the problem of good quality teachers available in remote areas of India and elsewhere to a good extent.This simple concept is definitely a game changer in far many ways then you and I can even dream of tonight.

Fortunately our beloved GOI has declared the Right to Education, but they have no clues and it seems no intentions either to think about how to turn this yet another political gimmick into something meaningful. Anyways, enough said. Please watch this video and if possible share and celebrate the joy of learning !

Will remain Hungry & Foolish !

The world will always remain a bit hungrier for your ideas and foolish because it wont get all those wonderful things anymore, which only you could have created.

Steve Jobs is unarguably most loved and passionate technological evangelist, artist, anthropologist, inventor, investor and businessman of our times. Neither he was an astute geek nor an impractical artist. He was a firm believer of the human ability. Though I have never worked for Apple or bought any Apple product for several reasons at different points in time of my life but like many others Apple/Jobs fan, I read and heard him. His passion was and will remain always infectious, no matter what you do, no matter where you are. Whenever I read or hear him speak, I for few moments am transcended into another world, I start believing myself a bit more. Change is possible and change is the only constant thing as they say and change is what he always believed in. Most of his successful products created a new market for Apple and quiet surprisingly for his competitors as well. Sometimes I think he never believed in Playing Game by the rules or Changing the Rules of the Game. He created his own new games every time and his own set of rules. And that's what sets him apart. In addition to the phenomenal OS that he and his team created, he used simple concepts in User Interface, Design and Aesthetics and created a parallel world of his own. In his world he was competing with nobody but himself. 


He took consumerism to an all new level. I have seen people passionately waiting for the new iPhone release or buying the latest pads, tunes and whatever possible from Apple. I think I was very close to buying an Apple product twice but somehow circumstances never allowed me to do so. But I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by Apple buffs. One of my friend even bought the rarest and perhaps widely unknown Apple product - Apple TV. He took the Jobs advice to Think Differently, seriously and never purchased the other popular Apple gadgets. 


Sometimes I wonder whether he intentionally created products for classes, but then  I tend to believe that he was not like some high profile, fashion designers who sell a kerchief for fortune. He did what he liked and he liked what he did. In his own words “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.” 


The most pragmatic advice I have ever come across, something very simple, something which tells you that you dont have to jump an airplane to be kool or travel to Himalayas to understand the ultimate goal of your life - “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.” 


We all try to search for salvation. Every country and every religion has identified, preached and propagated their own ways of attaining the ultimate. The Road to Salvation I think ultimately depends on individual. A 21st century spiritual techie, this one from Steve Jobs is something very similar to what Gandhi ji said half a century ago in totally different context though -“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Thank You Steve Jobs. Rest in Peace !

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Image source- Google (various)

Remembering Bapu

Time and again, I try to revisit Gandhi ji, His thoughts, his actions, his beliefs and message. I always find something new, something which is so much more relevant as time passes by. Gandhi ji was a great scholar and   whatever he said or whatever he did was always backed by so much of thinking, reading and analysis. His life was an open book, without any internet based Social media those days. He relied on the real world, human interactions and real life based social media, wherein anybody can walk to him anytime, support or oppose, understand him or make judgment without understanding at free will.

Let’s revisit some of words of wisdom and try to understand in our own context, the relevance of these words-

“The Roots of Violence: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice, Politics without principles”

A very complex statement, each and every part needs to read and re-read so as to get to the gist of the underlying rational. 

We seldom wonder, who we are, where we come from, how are we different from others, other life forms etc. A simple thought, a restatement which was said by numerous religious and political leaders in the past, 

A man is the sum of his actions, of what he has done, of what he can do, Nothing else. Mahatma Gandhi

While some of modern philosophers and thinkers have written off religion on accounts of scientific grounds, but just because religion cant contest and win with Science on some of the grounds, does not mean that Science is the supreme, ultimate truth. Both Science and Religion are tools to discover and comprehend the chaos in nature (which includes human body, mind, thoughts, earth, extra-terrestrial, inter galactic matters etc). No Religion which is narrow and which cannot satisfy the test of reason will survive the coming reconstruction of society in which the values will have and character and not possession of wealth, title or birth will be the test of merit. He foresaw the changing times and the changing fabric of the society. He realized that Religions are not sacrosanct and should evolve to address the changing times, should be able to stand the test of Logic. A firm believer in Meritocracy, his above statement was ahead of his times, when the Indian society was deeply marred and divided on social, cultural, religious grounds.       The statement below is quiet an interesting statement. He does not support the whole idea of living life based on blind ideologies. While we are the way we are and we believe in whatever we believe, but Gandhi ji argues that the Ideologies and Beliefs should not be followed just to feel good about ourselves, to appear consistent to ourselves and to the rest of the world.

Constant development is the law of the life and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself to a false position.

In quest for truth and knowledge, one can or sometimes can’t keep harping the age old (may be a year old, a decade old, a millennium old) philosophies because some wise men said so.

Gandhi ji’s Life was his message. 

He said what he believed, he constantly questioned what he believed, and he did what he said and said.

Water Bulb !

An amazing idea, which can light up millions of houses across the world. Something very simple and very basic but powerful and innovative.

I have seen houses (including my own rented house in early childhood) where some kind of light is required even in the day time. Its because Either the House is not constructed properly (my case) or too much of congestion in the neighbourhood preventing the sunlight to enter. To make matter worse especially for the Urban poor living in slums, the electricity connection is either not available at all or its kind of illegal, hence unreliable and unsafe.

During our childhood, I used to read Hindi Comics in which if somebody gets some really crack-nut kind of idea, it was depicted by a Bulb. And yes, the bulb it is, this time in real life !

A Water Bulb !

An amazing concept to harness the energy using two of the most powerful elements in nature - Water and Sun. The idea is so simple that sometimes I wonder how come nobody thought it before in past 2000 years! But as they say, better late than never. So as you can see for yourself in the video below how it works -

Pretty simple, isnt it !

These water bulbs can be used only during the day light. Unlike Solar cells, the Water bulbs cant store and reuse energy at some other time and place. Some of us might not like these water bulbs from aesthetic point of view but I think its a least cause of concern. If not fitted properly these water bulbs can cause water leakages during the rainy season. But since these Water Bulbs are easy to install, maintain and practically of zero cost, the advantages far outweighs the minor disadvantages and limitations.

This bulb was originally developed by some students at MIT has been successfully implemented in Philippines by eco-Entrepreneur IIlac Diaz under the aptly named project - A Liter of Light !

The Hidden Advantages - lack of proper lighting inside the house has far reaching affects not only on the ambiance but psychology of those living in lowly illuminated houses. Absence of light encourages rodents and mosquitoes and other insects, which we might consider a trivial issues. But the mere presence and sounds made by all these Life forms (who by the way also have equal right to live) can be haunting and depressing at times. The darkness inside the houses can also lead to random accidents thus adding to agony and pain.

By implementing this solution at a large scale, government and private operators engaged in Transmission & Distribution of electricity can save a lot, thus directly adding to their bottomline. A zero carbon foot print ensure that no further damage is caused to environment unlike all other sources of electricity.

Sometimes the solutions to most challenging problems lies in thinking simple and that what Water Bulb is all about. Incredible, Innovative, Impelling !

Anmol Water

Scott Harrison - charity: water from Big Omaha on Vimeo.

Amazing story of Scott Harrison and his inspiring journey. His speech touches hearts and souls because its honest and he really knows what he is saying and he genuinely cares about what he is doing. Simple sentences, no blabber about all that is wrong in Africa, India and other developing and under developed nations, plain simple, practical and powerful solution to one of the most dreaded problem of modern times.

It is so heartening and refreshing and inspiring to hear such people who are real, bubbling with confidence, enthusiasm and optimism and yet subtle, real and feel very much human.

Life started in here billions of years ago and fast forward to present and still over a billion people don't have access to the most fundamental necessity -Water. Unfortunately the governments in developing countries somehow don't focus on most fundamental issues such as food, water, electricity, health facilities and hygiene and sanitation. And so, slowly over a period of time, people start adjusting with situation, some fight with it, some surrender, a few win and few other loose their lives during this battle. As Scott very correctly says that these people don't have time for micro-finance or education, because they are wasting their precious time and efforts to obtain water.

However I feel that a holistic approach will be much better and that should be undertaken by local authorities, government perhaps using the Public Private Partnerships (PPP) model. Unfortunately all the fundamental problems ( Education, Poverty, Livelihood (food, water, electricity), Health, Hygiene and Sanitation) forms a vicious circle and all of these issues must be addressed if possible at the same time so as to ensure that communities, regions and countries can get rid of such circumstances, slowly and steadily and can feel happy to be born as human!

Several non profits have decided to take on and solve this problem so that in years to come, safe drinking water is accessible to everybody all across the world.

Water.org

Focused on solving the issues pertaining to lack of access to safe drinking water for over two decades now.

Operation Blessings International

With focus on some of the key areas such as poverty, hunger, disaster relief, micro enterprise. Runs several programs to make drinking water available to rural communities.

Just a Drop

Another notable non profit in operation for over a decade

The battle is on and stalwarts like Scott will make it happen. As he mentions its about you, me and everybody, our stories, our believes, our action, so lets do our bit, feel happy and most importantly make someone happy who has almost no idea about what does it mean !!

No More Linear

Back in 90s, I used to hear from my parents that all the charities were fraud.Though I was not part of any, but saw such things in movies and some television shows. I dont believe in linear progress because thats now how society works. To elaborate, if we agree that in past 60 years of Indian independence 1% of people are working genuinely in nonprofits, linear extrapolation of 600 years to reach 10% level will not hold good. It will be much less, perhaps 100 cant say. So I am hopeful that this non linear or should we say exponential progress has the potential to surprise everybody and this time it will be for good.

Though I am not a big fan of bucket lists, but I feel that its important to keep recalling so many good things which are happening around us, the list of good activities, earnest movements, inspiring lives of silent warriors which keep working despite much mumbo jumbo, publicity and other such things which are all worldly.

Sharing some of the some innovative, relevant, sustainable and powerful concepts which have potential to create long term, non linear and perhaps unpredictable impact on the civic societies in the coming years -

An interesting model to tackle corruption -
I Paid Bribe

An innovative way to combat poverty -
United Prosperity

From darkness to light -

Electrifying rural India -
Husk Power

A model which can be replicated in every town to counter the traffic police corruption -
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Alert-netizens-shame-errant-cops-on-Facebook/articleshow/6423949.cms

Solar Power rockss -
Surya Bijlee



Innovative world for differently able -
Ability Unlimited


An umbrella organization with the simple motto - Be the Change you want to See -
Janagraaha