hygiene hypothesis

Sushma carries her hand sanitizer everywhere. She hyperventilates everytime she finds out that her daughter didn't wash her hand or sanitise after eating, playing,dancing or any other activity where she believes there is a remote chance of the cooties attacking her little one.

Sometimes the little girl gets annoyed and yells at her mother as she finds her 'weird'.

Well! This is the story of every germophobe. Being a germophobe isn't necessarily bad, but having to live with one can get annoying and at times contagious. The girl gets called a 'freak' when she tries to imitate her Mother at school.

The emphasis towards health and hygiene in the western world, impressed and inspired Sushma. She dreaded every trip to India as she believed that the pollution and population were responsible for her daughter catching infections and falling sick. The little girl loved her visits to her grandparents and it sometimes made Sushma guilty that she avoided taking her daughter on regular trips.

People admired her at work as she cleaned her desk each day with disinfectant and wiped pens and other stationary regularly often drying out the gloves and scrubs she used to disinfect everything from her mouse to the oven buttons in the cafeteria. But back home her husband and daughter usually joked about her obsession and it didn't help that her daughter often got infected with one allergy or the other!

When Sushma realised that there must be something wrong and consulted doctors, they informed her about hygiene hypothesis. Experts believe that due to obsessions with cleanliness, bodies no longer need to destroy germs, resulting in an immune system less capable of warding infection.The logic being that the immune system is work in progress and develops during the course of one's growing years. In the case of a child, if his/her immune system isn't challenged, it will not develop into a successful germ fighting force, or in worse cases, may attack itself causing severe complications in the said child.

She also found out that germs need specific environments to cause harm.The right factors need to line up - enough germs on the finger need to be transmitted to the nose for instance. For people with compromised immune systems, everyday germs can become a threat.

Exercising caution does keep us healthy, however, not letting ones immune system fight is a different matter all together. Sushma felt a certain peace descend over her. She let her daughter pop a candy into her mouth from the vending machine in the hospital and didn't worry about the germs on the counter, the buttons and so on. She felt reassured that she was letting her daughters immune system work.

Happy Diwali

Sparkles, splashes, blasts and Sweet treats,
What a delightful festival where every community meets and greets,

Sharing the joys of the triumph of goodness,
With warmth and genuine fondness

Come belong to a festival like no other,
As it adds joy and glitter and brings you close to one another,

Happily let's rejoice amidst those divine lights,
Lights of love, friendship, cheer and bright nights

Check out Student Loans by the Numbers

I want you to take a look at: Student Loans by the Numbers 

Technology in Education - Using Active expression by Promethean

There is excitement in the classroom as orange-white devices are handed out. The children in 7th grade look in amusement at this device as it resembles a Mobile phone and begin to punch every key curiously.

The teacher joins in the excitement and declares that he will conduct a science test through this device. He explains that this device would eliminate paperwork, will help him compile results in real time and will also indicate the actual time taken by every individual to solve each question.
The test revolves around the lesson related to the study of atoms,molecules and elements. It has 15 multiple choice questions with 3 options as answer key and 10 questions which are to be answered as true or false.

The time duration set for the test is half an hour and every question is set between a half or 1 minute.

The test gets taken within 20 minutes and the teacher gives out the result in 2 additional minutes and streams the result as modifiable graphs indicating the time comparison and the accuracy of every response.

This has been possible because all public schools in San Francisco recived a grant for technology upgradation and every teacher underwent a training module to use Promethean active classroom devices.

How does this software impact/ redefine the role of a teacher-student interaction?

- Teachers will spend lesser time in evaluating and assessing student performance

- Teachers will have to become tech savvy inorder to improve the content and presentation of their subject inorder to effectively use these tools

-Teachers will be spared of allegations of bias or favouritism for certain students as evaluation is automatic and accurate

-Teachers will have to let go of expecting answers in essay format which will ease the burden on the children

-Teaching will become interactive, fun and current. There are modules as part of the software where mangas and other popular animation are used to present educational content

-Storing records, details of tests and other administrative functions that usually consume a teacher's productive time gets reduced and becomes more effective and efficient

-Students will enjoy presentations, movies and other visual form of representation of concepts which will help them retain, corelate and analyse better than the traditional system

-Students will be able to maintain and excel in time based reviews and assesments

-Students become automatically accustomed to technology and their interest in subjects such as Mathematics is bound to increase

The limitations in utilising this software are mainly the cost and infrastructure required to implement it. The usual roadblocks of training, resistance to implement and slow decision making could also stall technology implementations especially if the state is involved.

However, as a community of concerned teachers, parents and students one should welcome these technological developments as life solutions that are bound to simplify, stream line and strengthen the education system.

For more details on the device used please go through this link - http://www.prometheanworld.com/server.php?show=nav.15997

Food on my mind

Apocalyptic movies have taken imagination to the wildest boundaries. The depiction of catastrophe becomes absolute,mind numbing and oddly entertaining.

Now if I were to make an original apocalyptic movie, my central character would be 'Food'.

To say that I am fond of food is an understatement. And I can't think of existing without something fresh and yummy to consume.

This particular video gave me a concept or theme where the world could end if better ways at conceptualising systems to produce, procure, transport and dispose food is not in place. Here is where my introduction on apocalypse comes into play. What would life be if we didn't know where our food came from and if we were to run out of food due to the shift in populace from rural to urban environments continued at the rapid pace it is at?

Can you imagine that day when there would be a war for food?

My point of view may seem extreme but watch this video as there definitely exists a possibility.

http://www.ted.com/talks/carolyn_steel_how_food_shapes_our_cities.html

'The Last Lecture' - my inspiration

Experience is what you get, when you didn't get what you wanted

This is a lesson that rang true in my head the first time I watched this video. It was at an opportune time, a time when I was 4 months into my very first job.

My first career objective: Be useful! let your job be effective enough to help people around you gain tangible results.

I was raw, ambitious and cocky (being the first and only person to receive a pre placement offer made me believe that I can do anything well!) Yeah! notice the difference between the objective and the attitude!

However, due to the pre placement offer I never got to sit for placements and had to be satisfied with a salary which was considered below industry standards. Who does an MBA without having an ulterior motive to make money..Not me!

The nature of my role was something I never expected. Freedom, unlimited exposure to tools and training aids and a free canvas. However, i didn't know how to paint. This role was dynamic and not clearly defined. Such a role did not even exist as a norm in the industry. MindTree was ambitious and wanted to create efficiencies and tools that would clearly become a benchmark. I wasn't sure if I could handle the responsibility of being the first member of the analytics team.

I was big on ideas, but not yet there on implementation. The inherent dichotomy that exists where there is a continuous and free flow of ideas but not enough resources, time and energy for implementation was always a bother..

Who came to the rescue!

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture!

This is the video I kept going back to.

I found strength to have clarity and structure to my responsibilities.

Being in MindTree was not merely a professional choice. It was an acceptance of a unique lifestyle which made people become better humans.

It is an organisation that believes that a fresher can be nurtured into a leader under the right environment. The leadership had complete faith in me. They probably saw in me what I didn't realise about myself. They gave me training and exposure that many organisations may not expose their middle management to. They were always positive, patient and willing to go the extra mile to make me comfortable and enjoy the work I did.

Wouldn't it be a shallow dream to associate the importance of my role to the amount of money I made?

The more I went back to the video, the more I learnt. The bonds of friendship and loyalty in MindTree extended beyond office hours. People had a smile on their face and a rhythm in their step when they came to work. If I didn't grow in an environment like this, where would be a better place.

Today I can claim some knowledge of TRIZ, minitab, project management, data warehousing tools. I went and met Engineering and MBA students as part of a workshop through MindTree. I co authored a paper presented at the world TRIZ conference. I got to reconnect with Janaagraha(my first internship was with their communication team) All of this happened as a result of that one opportunity with MindTree and the inspiration of the video.

I watch this video again, everything has changed.

I am married now. Very proud that Kumar went to CMU(although it would be a fitting tribute to Randy if I tried to go myself)

I live in a different country teaching math to 7th graders.

I no longer belong to MindTree.

I want to teach, write, read and be involved in a continuous flow of knowledge.

There are lessons learnt and dreams dreamt and people who became a part of my life - who continue to inspire and influence me.

And it's important that I share this inspiration with them..Watch the video -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Live your dream! in dreams begin reality!

Sharing and caring on the blogosphere

This morning I had a sudden brainwave..

I wanted people who love to read and look for blogs know that there are some blogs that I enjoy reading on a daily basis. I also knew that these people would have their own personal list of favourites.

If I shared some of the blogs that made me happy, they would in-turn do the same.This way we would all get to know many more such pearls lost in the ocean called the blogosphere. Hence, I shot this mail into the inboxes of friends who love to read, write and cook as much as I do :)

Dear All,

Have been thinking of all of you and wanted to share links to two blogs which I have enjoyed reading for over a year now. I must admit though that Marsha's blog is more recent than Aparna's :)

What is different about these blogs?

Marsha's blog is a delightful take on things that seem personal, but are every woman's tale. Her choice of words and natural descriptiveness coupled with her mastery over the queen's language will amuse and educate you. Hence, I take pride in promoting her blog..

Appu's blog is an extension of her- she's versatile and she makes versatile khaana by combining multiple cuisines..I have added the link to her cooking blog but do read her other blog on general and not so general stuff..What's common between both of them is that they are souls who love to share and enjoy life to its fullest..

Why am I doing this?

I believe that there are many gems in the blogosphere that we come across and may not necessarily follow, but by following these writers we give them a reason to write more.Which is both intensely engaging for the writers and intellectually amusing for the readers..

So read on and share links of blogs that make you happy!

1) marsha's bolg: http://crimsonchaos.blogspot.com/
2) aparna's blog :http://aparnaskitchen.blogspot.com/

Love and wishes,

Harsha