Assignments

Marketing students are very happy with their last 3 assignments.
"Instead of just copying, we got to do something ourselves, something hands on."
What did they do?
They collected some print advertisements and analyzed them. Then in pairs, they designed their own ad and presented it in the class inviting teacher's terse feedback. Then they conducted a small survey to find out how far some brands were familiar and were liked by people.
In the past, the survey was rather elaborate. It had a rating scale to measure five levels of familiarity and favourability of brands. Most of the students could not handle that complexity. So the rating scales were discarded this year.
Apart from students enjoyment and the fact that no one copied it - everybody did it on his/ her own - it was found that Vicco Vajradanti, Nirma and Tata Nano were known to everybody but not liked. In fact, many respondents said that they were irritated by the incessant promotion of the first two brands.
Quite a finding for a small survey.

Students' project reports

A compulsory part of post-graduation. A student must choose a topic of her liking, develop a plan of research, prepare an outline and chapter scheme and by the end of the last term, produce 2 bound and printed copies of the project report with minimum 50 pages. It must be written as a research report i.e. it must have a methodology section, it must combine primary and secondary data and have some analysis followed by a conclusion. The syllabus also mentions hypotheses formulation and testing!
A tall order for students who have never thought about anything in the syllabus on their own. They have learnt by heart the textbooks which deal with the given syllabus without introducing any additional or new topic/ sentence or even a new word.
Sure, there is a previous paper of research methodology which covers the usual topics but it has never occurred to students that they will have to apply it themselves to their own projects rather than mugging up answers to questions like: What is primary data? What is the difference between open ended and close ended questions in a questionnaire? What is a good hypothesis? etc.
Students are utterly at sea. They approach teachers and ask for topics. When ready-made topics are not forthcoming, they go to the other extreme and start the lookout for completed projects. They are easily available: aplenty on internet and in the form of ready printed copies to be bought from bookshops serving the student community. However, some teachers can spot them a mile off. They open the report, put their finger on a randomly selected page and ask students to explain the meaning. The awkward silence that follows is a straight giveaway.
So students mostly settle for case studies.  A sister or brother or father working in a firm - details are never revealed - is the source of information. Any information available from this source is neatly typed out and shown to the teacher with great reverence. The teacher however, yells at them about research design.
Then some theory is added and some hypotheses are worked out. They are so general that any study has to validate them. The validation takes place qualitatively, never in a rigourous manner.
The teacher is impatient and cannot explain properly as her 0wn knowledge and vocabulary are shockingly limited. Much confusion, shouting, heart-burning and tears follow and somehow the report is cobbled together. specimen of questionnaires, certificates given by outsiders are in great demand because they help in reaching the magic figure of 50 pages.
There must be a certificate by their teacher or project guide at the beginning. It must also be signed by the Head of Department (HoD). Although the students have copied the format from previous years reports, they have forgotten to provide space for HoD signature.
So the HoD writes her name in long hand and signs. Students wince. They treat the handwritten matter as an ugly blot on their neat, printed work. The HoD glances at the Contents page.
Organization structure -- page 30
On page 30, there is neither an organization chart nor any other relevant details. They appear after two pages. The gap between actual page numbers and contents widens. The page numbers must be corrected.
"Now? How when everything is bound? Shall I paste another sheet on the current page?"
"No. Just cancel the present numbers and write the correct ones by their side."
The student is aghast. The whole report will now look shabby.
The HoD's plea that its real worth would go up falls on deaf ears.
Only her warning "Do it or I shall." brings forth a grudging compliance.
And we go on.

college titbits

Wine, a book of verse and thou by my side
I had finished my work and was eyeing the coffee flask in the college room when Shaila entered.
'Coffee, a book and thou by my side' I quipped and started pouring coffee.
The aroma and the first hot sip after three continuous lectures! Shaila closed her eyes and nodded appreciatively.
A few minutes passed.
'Those very words were the beginning of a romance in our college.'
'Where? What? How? In our college?'
Shaila laughed
'You remember Jyoti?'
I could not. We teach different subjects to different classes.
'That tall girl with long hair. She must have passed out by now.'
I have recalled students on the basis of fewer, vaguer details but not this time.
'She used to diligently attend all my lectures.'
'No, I do not know who you mean. But what happened?'
'You know how these girls circulate autograph books, slam books at the year end? So Jyoti circulated her book. I scribbled something and passed it on. It reached boys in the class. Shekhar was one of them.'
My face remained blank.
'You don't remember Shekhar? That round fellow from Mauritius. Dark, medium height, he wore glasses.'
'So?'
'He wrote those very words of Umar Khayyam and returned her book. Jyoti did not understand them. She came to me asking what it meant.'
'Then?'
'The message took a lot of time to sink but then she changed. Started taking care of herself. Shekhar and Jyoti started being together.'
'Then?'
'I met her recently. They are married and have a kid. Shekhar has a job in Mauritius but every six months they are here.'
'Wow! Everything is here around us but we spoil things by being either unobservant or very demanding.'
'Yes, true. I have often remarked this.'

and the book

Notwithstanding by Louis de Bernieres
It is a delightful book dealing with life in an English village. The community remains but it has few members, mostly old and eccentric. But some of the stories are very pleasant and the style, its soft humour are absolutely entertaining in a gentle way. I did not know anything about this author or this book and so the find is all the more engaging.

another new Marathi movie and a book

Rajwade & Sons is a new Marathi movie released in Pune recently. It got favourable reviews and so went to watch it. Found it utterly disappointing.
The story is about the third geneation's rebellion in the prosperous Rajwade business family. The second generation grew up in the shadow of the founder of business but the grandchildren have decided what line they want to pursue. The fourth son of the founder who left amidst rumours of embezzlement of funds is back and encourages the youngsters to go their own way.
These happenings are shown against a backdrop of modern upper middle class lifestyle. The clothes define the people, particularly the youngsters. No importance is given to knowledge, learning, professions etc. Marathi group from which Rajwades are drawn, still do. This group is also hardwired to be individualistic and rebellious. So the foundation is all wrong.
Small people lost in their material possessions. The successful business is shown as a millstone around the necks of every other family member. They are angry with the centralization of power in the hands of the founder but this point is lost in the tirade against family business. Wish the producer, director had done some reading about how family businesses take care of succession. Y.M Deosthali, the finance director from L & T is the financier of the film and so the mistake is very glaring.

students' enthusiasm
Other teachers in the college could not spare time and it fell to my lot to judge students' research paper presentations. I had suggested earlier 'Make in India' as a topic. There was only 1 entry for it. Examination reforms was the popular topic but few students participated. All had their PPTs ready. There were complaints later that some had been lifted from the Internet but it was clear that students had worked.
They freely used terms like sample survey, hypothesis without understanding their meaning. What was very important that they had boundless energy and few inhibitions. Made me aware once again of the responsibility of teachers.

A new Marathi drama

'Don Special' is a popular Marathi play running to packed auditorium these days. Loksatta's drama critic Ravindra Pathre who writes very sensible reviews has praised it sky high. So we went last week.
The play is based on an old story by ha.mo.Marathe. It relates to the mid-'70s which look like innocent times now. He is an idealistic journalist clinging to his values despite the odds. He has been transferred to night shift for some dispute with the editor. His previous lover comes there. A building has collapsed on a construction site, killing 3 workers. The journalist is all set to reveal the name of the builder but his lover is employed in that builder's office and she has come with the sole objective of persuading him to drop her employer's name.
The biting sarcasm of the journalist goes away when she reveals her story. She hopes for a miracle which will let both of them realize what they are seeking without abandoning their values and it happens. It is a rather tame miracle but it resolves everything.
Very good acting by Jitendra Joshi and good sets.
A cohesive, consistent plot, good dialogues. Paisa vasool.