Anu Lal's Blog, page 30

Buddha Strikes

In Land of the Seven Rivers , a book on the history of India’s geography by Sanjeev Sanyal, we see a culture valorized for its roots in the rich Buddhist past, peace loving merchants and a civilization that cherishes its universities and places of learning more than palaces and emperors, and of course wars.
Two life-changing events in the history of India are related directly to the destruction of two major universities—Nalanda in the south and Taxila in the north. The progressive flow of cultu...

The Disease of Extroversion: Noise Vs Silence

Extroversionhas become the norm of success. Within the Indian context, there was a time, fifty years back when a person’s inward character was more important than how he or she performed outwardly. With the technological renaissance and the growth of new educational institutions and their revised curriculums, the culture started favouring the outgoing ones. Speaking out became the norm and silent contemplation was looked down up on as a debilitating practice, in need of some severe personalit...

The Buddha and the Terrorist

Oncethe US senate unleashes the verdict, Syria will burn with missiles and bullets. The world is about to witness one more grand show of justice. The face of this show is yet another binary opposite—innocence and arrogance. It is easy to confound the world by the mention of these two words, especially if one tries to find two respective faces to fit in with each of the description. Easier would be to identify this binary: good and evil. There is no question, America and other free world natio...

What Type Are You?

Thefirst part of the book is titled ‘The Extrovert Ideal’. As I plodded through Part One, I felt more drawn towards the tactics and means employed in order to equip people to be better public speakers and team leaders.
The idea that if you can talk unhesitant and on a short notice, your presence would claim a considerable authority. People like fast talkers and enthusiastic go-getters. The down side, of course, is that those who feel uncomfortable about talking aloud in classrooms or in publi...

We’re the Millers: Is Jen hot or Emma?

Warning: Spoilers ahead. Image Courtesy: GoogleA minor drug dealer, David Clark, one day, loses all his money. He has only one option; to take an offer proposed by his boss Brad Gurdlinger. The deal is to smuggle marijuana from Mexico into the US.
David Clark is well aware of the consequences of being caught in this smuggling. He also knows what would happen to his life if Gurdlinger is not taken seriously. So he decides to take the assignment, as he conceives a plot to execute the mission. H...

Pea for English: Follow Up

Pea for English is the new English training strategy devised on the premises that the growth of the pea plant mirrors, somewhat closely, the steps involved in second-language acquisition. Preparing the soil [identifying the proper aptitude for language learning], Planting the seed [equipping the language learner with the basic laws of the second language], watering [reading on a daily basis, materials written in the language that is being learnt], etc.

Image Courtesy: www.finewallpaperss.comW...

Petrol Price Hike: Revelations

Discretion advised  
Irikkur-Tellicherry Road: on a quiet dayWhenthe price for petrol was increased, I thought the world would end. The politicians, media, and everyone I met on the road was bantering about the same issue. Some worker’s unions called off a motor vehicle strike....<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]></div>

A Special Sunday

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Year One: The Movie

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Pea for English

Image Courtesy: GoogleOn29 August 2013, I crossed a milestone in my teaching career. I planted a pea plant in the English class, literally. The idea behind this method that might seem an exaggeration is that the growth of the pea plant mirrors, somewhat closely, the steps involved in second-language acquisition. Preparing the soil [identifying the proper...<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]></div>