I have never seen such a shitty (picked up that word from Bani’s vocabulary, :D) English exam paper in my entire life. The paper is for 90 marks, and 40 of those allotted to the literature segment! And what to they test in the literature segment??? Bits and pieces of a story by Narlikar, the rhyming scheme of a poem which you have heard only once in your life, and utter rubbish by Lester Brown (god only knows who the heck that guy is, still haven’t bothered to look up the English text book, :D).
I used to think that the Indian standard of English being taught in schools was bad. Well, guess what??? I change my mind! It’s absolutely HOPELESS!!!
Can any one tell me what is the whole point of memorizing the sequential order of events of a story, written by some author that you never might be interested in reading again, because his works were featured in the NCERT textbook?
The British curriculum segregates nearly 100 marks, yea 100 marks (that’s like a whole new paper), for grammar alone. Literature gets the least importance. People would think that instead of trying to teach us English, NCERT would be promoting and publicizing an author’s works!!! C’mon!!! This is a school!!! You’re supposed to teach us something, not let us have 6 free periods a week (I wouldn’t exactly say that part is bad though, :D)!!!
The whole Indo-English story
Radical ideas do not change humanity.... only ethical ones do.
Although very revolutionary, Avaneesh, I really can't imagine how that idea would work in reality. You see, it's true that man would have no meaning at all if he didn't have hardships to overcome. However, we have enough errs in this world, even excluding that small, lingering threat of terrorism. Ridding the world of this wouldn't make our lives any easier. But letting it take a toll of millions of lives only reduces the population who would be willing to do anything constructive against other evils. Unless of course, you go back to your radical ideas.
As is my title, in reality, I do not believe radical ideas have the magnitude to change the ways of humanity, only ethical ones do. If you say, that the present day generation is responsible for all that is being done to the world, then the only real solution would be creating a better generation after us. And how is that possible, if our generation is the one to teach them?
You can participate in a million campaigns which aim at bringing down the birth rate, which would in its due course take years to complete. But in the same time, the death rate would also be dwindling and all our efforts would have gone to waste. The more radical solution to bring down the ills of over-population would be to gather all the people in the world below the poverty line, in a deserted region, and nuke them. In that way, you could say we're getting rid of over-population and poverty at the same time. Thats like two gigantic scratches erased from your Biology record. However, we live in a world where ethics overpower logical reasoning, and that does not allow us to do such a thing. So unless we resolve this attitude to an extent, such that we can put down emotional traumas for a greater need, our race is slowly degenerating by itself, which I believe is the true course nature intends us to take.
The Slasher lives within me.......
I wonder what the average Indian teenager finds interesting in the television these days. By the way, for the girls... unless u comment otherwise, I will assume soapies such as our beloved "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi" make your heart throb. Friends, The O.C, Everybody Loves Raymond.... and for the more adrenaline pumped fellows, maybe a bit of Pimp My Ride or the usual sports gimmicks. Wonder why cartoons should be shunned then?
The Japanese have always had a knack for marketing their own countryside legends. This one is no exception. Kenshin Humura, or Batusai the slasher…….. in lay man terms, Samurai-X. A wonder of creation, this thriller packs an archaic reality-based fiction with philosophies so deep, u gotta dig in to understand.
For the more “advanced” readers (:D), here was an argument I picked up off boards… Is the legendary slasher still the best swordsman in the job…. or has Shogo or Shishiyo denied him that glory.
"Shishio Makoto: Do you think Shishiyo would have survived the 'Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki' if Kenshin had slashed him with the swords he used before? Shishiyo might have fought all the others, but so did Kenshin. His job was much harder to accomplish. Not only did he have to defeat the likes of Ayoshi and Seijuro but also change their hearts, which was even harder.
Shogo Amakusa: He might have taken Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū to Super God speed but Kenshin with his 'Dragon Flight of Heaven' proved that he was the fastest. Shogo might have had the opportunity to finish Kenshin off. But don't you think that there was something that was holding Kenshin back. He cared for Shogo and could feel his pain, that is why he was ready to sacrifice himself. But when it came to protecting the life of Shogo's followers he had no option but to defeat him.
Saitou Hajime: He fought with Kenshin for years but was disappointing against Shishio. That proved he wasn't the strongest either.
The only one that I presume would have come close to Kenshin's strength is his master Hiko Seijuro. He was the one who nurtured him and made him who he was.
Three great statements from the Anime are enough to prove that Kenshin is the stongest.
Shishiyo: 'The week shall die and the strong shall live.'
Kenshin: 'My will to live is stronger than yours, its stronger than anything else.'
Shishiyo: 'The will is only as strong, as the person it is in.'"