January has been such an odd month. Whichever book or journal I read, it was filled with analysis on future jobs and college education. Economist brought out many pieces on the need for more techno savvy and creatively skilled employees. A recent paper by Chetty and others drew a lot of debate in popular press how most ivy league colleges have become a rich persons' club and do not adequately help in mitigating inter-generational income inequality. This month I read a fantastic book on Habits which was all about skills, some of which should be so much part of our daily routines that they become attributes. I started working on a new research paper on whether soft or technical skills are necessary for economic growth in a country. The month felt like long conference on education. Amidst exam cycles in schools and colleges, we seem to have forgotten that skill acquisition is not something limited in educational institutions but is a constant lifelong process. The book, the art of fielding, is a beautiful reminder of how learning starts in our lives.
In my experience, school education in India is mostly rote learning. You either memorize the text or memorize the methods to crack exams. School kids bring these flaws as they move onto college. College, being that magical time of one's life, is not simply about books and grades. Here one learns how to make new friends, how to handle peer pressure, how to cope with identity issues related to gender, race, parental income, sexuality, and many other growing up dilemmas. In the quest to figure oneself out, books and skill acquisition take a second or a third priority. There is nothing wrong with this, except when you graduate, you only have grades to show the world how much you have 'learnt', and no one can actually calculate or assess how much of the other fantastic skills you might have acquired. So you might have become version 5.0 of yourselves, but who is it know? I know this sounds so s****y and I say, "Welcome to the 20s."
Art of Fielding is glimpse into the college life of four youngsters -- Henry Skrimshander, Mike Schwartz, Owen Dunne, Pella Affenlight. Henry is a baseball star who has suddenly faltering just as he is about to be noticed by the professional sport. Mike had guided Henry's career and worked for the success of his college sportsteam way more than his college applications and now he suddenly sees all his personal life plans falling flat. Owen has figured it all except his heart. Pella is looking for a second chance to get her life on the right track. Anyone who reads the books can relate to the characters' fears, excitement, hopes, disappointments, sleepless nights and broken hearts. You laugh when you see Henry learning to hide inconvenient truths from his parents. You cry when Mike gets hurt first on seeing his college application rejections and later on when his friends betray him. You worry when Pella uses sex as a comforter for her friends. You foolishly grin when Owen plays games with his lover as only teenagers can!
I admit there was a tad too much of baseball, which for an Indian was not entirely fun. But there were moments when you absolutely fall in love with the book. Exam evasion episodes, made me think of my students. Drugs and sex has made lives very confusing -- I feel for you young people! And oh the moments of aspirations!! Those fleeting minutes of absolute clarity or madness when we think anything is possible, when every thing looks alright. The author depicted these with such beauty that you want to dog ear the pages of a library book. One of my favorite lines are: "Putting Henry at shortstop -- it was like taking a painting that had been shoved in a closet and hanging it in the ideal spot. You instantly forgot what the room had looked like before." Isn't that what we all want our lives to be -- a perfectly placed painting in some room?
In my experience, school education in India is mostly rote learning. You either memorize the text or memorize the methods to crack exams. School kids bring these flaws as they move onto college. College, being that magical time of one's life, is not simply about books and grades. Here one learns how to make new friends, how to handle peer pressure, how to cope with identity issues related to gender, race, parental income, sexuality, and many other growing up dilemmas. In the quest to figure oneself out, books and skill acquisition take a second or a third priority. There is nothing wrong with this, except when you graduate, you only have grades to show the world how much you have 'learnt', and no one can actually calculate or assess how much of the other fantastic skills you might have acquired. So you might have become version 5.0 of yourselves, but who is it know? I know this sounds so s****y and I say, "Welcome to the 20s."
Art of Fielding is glimpse into the college life of four youngsters -- Henry Skrimshander, Mike Schwartz, Owen Dunne, Pella Affenlight. Henry is a baseball star who has suddenly faltering just as he is about to be noticed by the professional sport. Mike had guided Henry's career and worked for the success of his college sportsteam way more than his college applications and now he suddenly sees all his personal life plans falling flat. Owen has figured it all except his heart. Pella is looking for a second chance to get her life on the right track. Anyone who reads the books can relate to the characters' fears, excitement, hopes, disappointments, sleepless nights and broken hearts. You laugh when you see Henry learning to hide inconvenient truths from his parents. You cry when Mike gets hurt first on seeing his college application rejections and later on when his friends betray him. You worry when Pella uses sex as a comforter for her friends. You foolishly grin when Owen plays games with his lover as only teenagers can!
I admit there was a tad too much of baseball, which for an Indian was not entirely fun. But there were moments when you absolutely fall in love with the book. Exam evasion episodes, made me think of my students. Drugs and sex has made lives very confusing -- I feel for you young people! And oh the moments of aspirations!! Those fleeting minutes of absolute clarity or madness when we think anything is possible, when every thing looks alright. The author depicted these with such beauty that you want to dog ear the pages of a library book. One of my favorite lines are: "Putting Henry at shortstop -- it was like taking a painting that had been shoved in a closet and hanging it in the ideal spot. You instantly forgot what the room had looked like before." Isn't that what we all want our lives to be -- a perfectly placed painting in some room?