Yercaud - a weekend of relaxation

I usually opt to travel to some tourist place on my birthday... honestly so that I don't have to do anything other than pampering myself :-) !!! Well this year was no different. We went to this small hill station, some 230 Km away from Bangalore. Since, this was our first trip after coming to India, I was pretty excited.......

A little foreword about Yercaud, before I start my travelogue here. It is a very small and sleepy town which is only good for a weekend. You should choose to go here only if you want to run away from your nagging boss and relax and unwind in the abode of nature. Don't worry your boss will never find you as your cell phone will be out of network :-D

So we started from Bangalore on Saturday morning around 7 and reached Yercaud at around 12. Drive was pretty ok, highway was good, except a little stretch of Salem town which you need to cross before you start climbing for Yercaud. Thankfully the road was good but the steep turns around the hills were little scary, and cars coming down in high speed made it no better. I always wonder how can people in India drive so aggressively no matter what the place is :-S.... well.....never mind coz the view made up for all that pain!!! 

So, finally after that strenuous drive, here we were at another foothill, on top of which was our hotel "The Grand Palace"; standing tall between the valley clouds, it gave me a promise of wonderful weekend. But the minute we took the turn towards the hotel road  we saw a steep and unbelievably horrible road. This was the only bad thing about the hotel. Well there is one more.. they don't have a good bar :-( . Nevertheless, the hotel had a good reception, cordial staff, big room (with a balcony) and a breath taking balcony view.

We could see the lush green valley with low lying clouds hovering here and there. It was so serene, so pure and so green!! Our complete tiredness from the drive was instantly gone. all i wanted to do was just sit there and bask in the beauty of nature.
We started for sightseeing after having lunch. Food at this hotel is not that great, but since this town is too small for restaurants this was our best option. Yercaud has some 5-6 attractions which you can find listed on any internet site, but the one's worth seeing are : Lady's Seat and Montford School.
Former for the breath taking view of Valley overlooking Salem Town. Twinkling lights in Salem at twilight is offers you a rare visual treat.Latter, however, is an unlikely place for tourist attraction, yet beautiful. This school was set-up in 1917 and has historical architecture. We were lucky that at that point of time all the hostelers had went home otherwise it would have been pretty awkward moving inside with kids staring at you.
We did go to places like pagoda point, shevaroy temple, the grange, etc. but we didn't like them that much.

We did try to find out the coffee estate which is quite talked about on internet but could not find it.
Also, killiyur falls were also close from our hotel but we were too tired by then to try them out.

Rest of our weekend was spent in the hotel only.
They had a small game room, where we played TT. Best part was the spa, where we had the massage. 1.5 hours of sheer bliss.

All in all it was a weekend to remember. In a way, the fact that Yercaud didn't have much to offer in terms of sightseeing came as a boon because then we really spent time relaxing. Else, you always spend time running around to cover as much tourist spots as possible. But then it is very necessary, that you stay in a good hotel there.
If you just want to read a book with a steaming cup of coffee, a breath of fresh air, with a view which is treat for your eyes and leave all your worries behind, then Yercaud is your destination.

A Hero Lies in everyone

Today, I was watching the recording of the award function hosted by CNN-IBN, where common people were rewarded for their extraordinary deeds. As inspiring as it was, it provoked a thought process inside, so strong that I could not sit still untill I wrote this post.

I was awestruck to see their simple faces and demeanour that reflected total awkwardness with glamour world which they were made part of. They were happy, shy, overwhelmed and proud all at the same time. A lot of people were almost on the verge of tears. Suddenly, I realised that my eyes were wet. I could not understand what provoked that reaction inside me!! Do I on some subtle level relate to their pain? Do I really care for these people getting all the attention they really deserve? Or is it just because even I wanted to be like them but never could gather courage to plunge into a pool of difficulties?

In that moment of truth I realised that the only way I can ever feel satisfied is by serving people who are not as blessed as me. Gandhiji once said that if you want to ease your pain, heal the pain of others. But what it takes to move on that path of self healing? Instantly, I wanted to hear from them what was their turning point of their life. Few that did share their experience said it was either a personal tragedy or a guilt of not giving back to the society. Clearly, it was their spirit and selfless dedication that has brought so much good to people around them. These are people who chose to act rather than sitting and moaning and blaming the system.

We all look upto the film stars, the writers, directors, enterpreneurs, businessmen and all those so called successful people to show us light, to show us the path of righteousness when the real truth, the real light lies within us. In this fast paced world of ours, how many times do we hear to the voice of our own soul? We all have rejected the plight of those beggars on traffic signals as self-incurred, but how many of us did try to change it?

Scrapping 10th Board - Not such a good idea

While I'm in favor of changing the grading system and a single regulatory board, I'm not so much in favor of scrapping 10th board exams.

The 10th board exams had been and should remain a significant milestone in a student's life. Most importantly because it gives him a reality check. Its a trailer of what he is going to face when he gets out of the extremely protective atmosphere of the school.

Take a simple example, a student who is doing really well in school, is a favourite of his teachers, his parents are proud of him, his friends hail him academically, in short he is getting all the attention he ever craved for, might start thinking that he is amongst the best of the lot whereas he is best simply because rest of his school is not. He probably has never met the bestest of best.

And if this is the mindset it needs to be corrected pretty soon in life. The way he fairs in 10th will give him a good idea of where he stands and then till 12th board he can work upon himself and target the universities better. Whereas if the 10th board exams are scrapped, a child sits for a nationwide exam in the 12th for the first time, with the above said mindset, and BOOM!! He suddenly finds that he has not faired well in the exams and he is not able to even apply for the universities he wanted just because he doesn't have the right percentage. This would really ruin his career as he will never get a second chance.


Having said that, it doesn't mean everything is perfect! Here are few things that come to my mind that could be changed

1. First and foremost have a single regulatory board for all schools whether its a state, private or central school so that all the students compete onto the same platform. Standard myths like "ICSE board is tougher than CBSE and hence we cannot be compared" need to be corrected because ultimately it is not going to matter. I congratulate Mr. Sibal for boldly coming forward on this.


2. Have the percentile systems both in 10th and 12th boards. While i'm not really sure how the pecentile system can be taken forward to universities, this can certainly be applied to 10th. We just need to know where a student stands compared to others and percentiles are perfect for this. Because your percentile may be low even when your percentage is good.


3. In addition, I would like the board to publish subject wise percentiles also. This will tell a student his relative positions in different subjects and will help him to choose his 11th subjects better.


4. There should be a compulsory counselling for students with teachers and parents in all the schools before admitting the student in 11th standard. Main purpose of this will be to educate the student and most importantly his parents about what he is strong and weak in, to have an idea where his interests lie, and what are his career options in a particular line so that he chooses a subject with a clear picture in mind and not simply because his parents want him to be a doctor or an engineer. And here the subject wise percentiles will play a crucial role. e.g. if a student with relatively low percentile in science wants to be a doctor he knows that he has to work hard over it in the next couple of years.


5. Lastly, I would like the regulatory board to organise various online nationwide quiz programmes, similar to maths olympiads, which will
   · be optional
   · target the 11th and 12th students
   · be nationwide
   · be subjectwise
   · help the students gauge their performances in their weak areas time to time.While this is not very important for higher education institutes which conduct their own entrances, it is really very important for those colleges and universities which admits on the basis of percentages.

Finally, i have a request for all the indian parents to please stop playing "my horse is bigger than yours". A child's education is not the matter of your pride but his own growth and learning. And his learning should pave his path for life and not your own expectations.