I have been thinking of you for the oddest reason..and having said that it is quite relevant. I have been helping one student with her dissertation. She is doing her MSc – the subject is HIV+ children ..it is a qualitative research and hence I was requested to be her external supervisor. She is with the SNDT University…..and things are going very smoothly. She is the envy of all the friends and class-mates as they claim she has the best,…..most understanding and special, external.

The other student I am helping is at the moment writing her proposal for the Univ of Mumbai. Her subject is ‘The status of women in the TV industry in Mumbai.’ I had suggested that she follow a multi-method approach in social research… leaning towards qualitative methodology. As I believe that the complexity of human behavior and of situations in which they interact can not be captured through a purely quantitative research. The trouble is most work done in India is quantitative. Well, I helped her with her proposal ..when she submitted it .The Internal supervisor (referred to as ‘Guide’ in India) ..said that it was an excellent proposal of international standards. BUT she would have to re-write the whole thing to meet the standards here…he also gave her some model papers…which she thought were so dull and mediocre ….. the poor girl just went home and went to sleep for a couple of hours.

I now realize how lucky I was that I met you and could complete my PhD in England….I also realize now how hard I will have to work if I have to do something …well….and how many battles I will have to fight….

 As you know I completed two work shops one in Madurai and the other at LOC Uri, in the state of Kashmir.

The work shop in Madurai went very well. The subject was ‘innovative methods in teaching, using Drama as a Method to teach’. I find it so difficult to understand why people (especially professionals) go to workshops with a closed mind. I find they first go with major disbelief. Especially, if it is something like an enhancement program. May be I need to correct my self and be hard-hitting and write…In India most teachers who have been teaching for a long time go to enhancement programs -firstly only because it is compulsory and secondly with the belief that what is being suggested is not possible. Surprisingly, they usually do not tell the guest lecturer it is not possible, they only talk about it behind the back.

In my workshop at first most of the teachers were not convinced that it is possible to teach in any method other than the ‘banking’ style. The ones to protest the most were the Geography teachers. However I focused half the days work only on teaching Geography through drama. It went unbelievably smooth. I had the ‘Language and Literature ’ teachers begging for an example in their subject, which we did.

In the response sheets all the teachers gave extremely glowing reports of the workshop. Their report to the heads was complementary, too. But……..that was nearly six months back. I have not received even one e-mail to tell me a single teacher has changed or even used the newly learnt method. I am so disappointed. A workshop going well is not as important as bringing about change in the teaching methods is.

 Surprisingly the trustees and the person who owns the 5 schools where I did the workshop wrote to me last week to request me to come and teach a B.Ed. program. Sadly, I cannot do so as the language of instruction is Tamil and I do not know a word in Tamil. I strongly believe that my workshop cannot be completed with a translator. I therefore had to refuse.

The story in Kashmir was even worse. Everything is in shambles there after the earthquake. One class, one teacher and a mixed age group of children. The focus is on completing the Indian equivalent of ‘O’ levels or IGCSE. Nobody writes back, no e-mails, no communication, no response. I might just have gone to Kashmir in my dreams.

 You see what an uphill journey it is. I think there is a need of a culture of teacher training and teachers doing refresher courses. Once a person starts teaching in India they believe they know all and there is no need to change……….

When I was in Kashmir I walked to village school and started taking to the teachers there. I did so without an introduction. I was pleasantly surprised when they talked to me and invited me into their school. I am sending you some pictures … You can see the broken school and the new ones just put up. The gents in the pictures are the teachers…..In one you can see the girls sitting in a huddle with their backs to me. I requested them to sing for me…this is the position they took! But at the same time they sang like angels….

When people ask me what I am doing with my PhD I sometimes do not know how to reply…….

Love, Swaroop