Imran Omer's Blog

As a teacher, when I look at our youth, my feelings move from hope to disappointment and then disappointment to hope. They are intelligent, but mesmerized by technology. They lack basic skills, but believe that they are special. They know what is on Facebook, but have little interest in the abstract ideas and deeper questions of life. They are bright, but do not understand that hard work is as important as intelligence. They want to leap and have unique ideas, but are too distracted to turn their ideas into reality. A colleague of mine said that all generations are like this until … until one day life dawns on them and forces them to be pragmatic. I am not so sure about that. Just fifty years back the world was different and so was the generation that breathed in that environment. We did not have cell phones, and the internet was not part of our basic needs. Jobs were ample (at least in the Western world) and a bachelor’s degree was more than enough to m...

In Arundhati Roy's novel, The God of Small Things , the happenings in the lives of the main characters make it possible for us to visualize a southern Indian small town,   and the way life takes its course through all its attractions and disappointments. I very much admire the language, which often tastes like the right amount of chili sauce with your favorite food. It gives an additional tinge to the food without killing its real taste. At times, it pushes you to the edge of a hill, encouraging you to look down for a surprise in the landscape. Roy also adds the shortest possible sentences to give depth to what was said. These are like small waves, coming after the main thought, highlighting its intensity and valor : "A limp floorswab, and two rusty tin cans of nothing. They could have been Paradise Pickle products. Pineapple chunks in syrup. Or slices. Pineapple slices." Another technique of hers is to use the same meter in a series of sentences des...

The Indian sub-continent had a very rich tradition of miniature painting that was not only tied to kings, queens and lords of different kingdoms of the Indian sub-continent, but also had a strong connection with the architectural forms of the temples, mosques, palaces, and courtyards of the region. Kings and lords facilitated painting to record their deeds (though at times their misdeeds were recorded too) and the intricate patterns of architecture repeatedly appeared in the miniature paintings. The very first specimens of painting that have survived in the recorded history of India belong to the Ajanta caves dated 452-500 C.E. These paintings are depictions of different Buddhist tales called Jatakas. The later tradition worked with perishable materials that did not survive, and we have very little information about the art of painting till the 13th century.      Cave 1, Ajanta, Bodhisattva, Rajarajeshvara Temple, Tanjavur, 462-500 C.E ...

Before the commencement of 20th century, the role of education was to inculcate moral and religious values. Since the dawn of the industrial era and particularly after the Second World War, education became more career oriented. Its value as a job grabber and a mode for competition for industrial and corporate positions has increased tremendously.  Gradually the process of providing values and morals, both worldly and religious, moved to the end of the list of objectives of education. Another problem with moral education is that it cannot be taught directly in the form of a sermon. When it is provided in the form of a sermon, as we usually see in the religious dogma, it produces fear and may convince the receivers to hide and sneak in their immoral behaviors, but it does not create an impact that is capable of convincing the receivers about its everlasting worthiness and its impact on their personal lives. Morality is like the  koan  of Zen. The Bodhisattva comprehends...

Natraja is one of the manifestations of Shiva, a major Hindu deity. Hinduism The origins of Hinduism are traced back to the Indus Valley Civilization, dated from 4000 to 2200 B.C.E. Though Hinduism is commonly viewed in the West as polytheistic (worship of multiple deities), it is more accurately described as henotheistic— the worship of a single deity with the recognition that other gods and goddesses are aspects or manifestations of that single deity. One god creates many personalities to represent its different aspects and worship of one is actually the worship of all. For the ongoing birth, preservation, and death of the cosmos and of the entities in it, there are three personalities of Brahma which are essential and which persistently keep creating this cycle  Brahama :  Creator who continues to create new realities Vishnu : Preserver, who preserves these creations. His most popular manifestation is Krishna. Shiva : Destroyer, who is sometimes compassionate and ero...

The above question is an important one for a society in which there is much to be done toward the appreciation and teaching of art. Is it really a waste of time for our students? Is it a subject that just tears them away for forty-five to fifty minutes from their core subjects? Or is it a subject that provides our students with some specific skills? You may say that as an Art teacher I am biased, but I firmly believe that art should be an integral part of our school system. Art Creates Understanding Art preceded writing. Though essential, writing is usually linear (except perhaps in literature), while art has offered multi-layer perceptions since its very inception. The cave paintings were not only paintings they represented stories and icons, and desires and ambitions. They were a communion with nature and showed fear of it. They were inspirations and dreams and revealed the urge to understand the place of humans among the forces of nature.   The understanding brough...

Urbanization in the Developing World The trend of rural populations moving toward cities has created huge problems in the urban societies of developing countries. In the year 2005, half of the world’s population was living in urban areas. In 1994, there were fourteen mega-cities (the cities that had at least ten million inhabitants). This number increased to thirty-seven in 2017. This migration of rural population to cities has created huge problems. SLUMS Due to this influx of population, cities are unable to provide amenities to all their residents and the growing slums have become centers of crime in the cities.  A report by the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT) says that some 96,150 housings units per day are required to avoid the urban crisis in the near future. Under the title “Financing Urban Shelter,” the same report says that more than two billion people would be added as city dwellers by 2030. To provide hou...