ENGINEERING COLLEGES SIMILAR TO COCONUT TREES.

Once upon a time the coconut trees were treated as useful trees to its full and only big farmers had coconut farms . A few years before, government had liberalized cultivation of coconut trees by giving aids like subsidized electricity charges, manure etc. Similarly Engineering colleges are also given enough support for growth.. Previously every farmer was getting very good yield at the harvesting season but now the yield of coconut trees is less as every semester the pass out percentage is meagre .Coconut trees were grown generally near the coastal areas but now even in forest areas like the newly built up engineering colleges. The products from remote areas are of no size and quality since the soil is not suitable for their growth. Farmers somehow want to make money by cultivating them at any undesirable locations. Nowadays no proper plucking is done on time as there is shortage for such manpower. Many times coconuts fall on ground after a long period and getting it dried. Similarly on many occasions some of the engineering students from hundreds of engineering colleges seen in every nook and corner of the country, take so many years to complete their course. Previously coconuts after plucking can be sold immediately to buyers who are searching for them .Now most of the buyers find the coconuts with Mundary disease and they take them only after removal of husk. The husk itself looks deranged and shapeless and it is difficult to remove them even for the experienced workers. Similarly you can see strict recruitment process for engineers for a good placement now. During the plucking itself sometimes they pluck the unripened coconuts also. It may look attractive and is devoid of Mundary and may be of big size and shape. But the inexperienced buyers may get duped. The same is true if they recruit immature candidates who do not have enough substance with them .

The govt have introduced so many remedies for mundary. But once one coconut tree is infested with mundary, it may spread throughout the region. Hence before planting the seedlings, we have to ensure whether the soil is good, climate is good and utilize the govt. measures. Similarly before giving admissions to engineering, we should also ensure their aptitude and interest for the engineering profession. Well ripened coconuts can be processed for a veriety of things especially for making coconut oil .But if sufficient kernel is not there, the whole effort will become futile and better to use these coconuts for curry. A lot of companies are recruiting engineers for temporary jobs in private sector just for meagre salary.

Once Kerala was known for its coconut resources and its good quality .Now all other states grow coconuts widely .Most of them give very less yield which are of no taste at all. Only a handsome tree is grown .The representation of Kerala in higher level posts has come down drastically and other states have marched far ahead. Many of the engineers recruited recruited recently for public sectors in Central govt (eg Airports Authority of India) do not have sufficient communication skill. Neither do they know even to write a small letter properly in English. These products are said to be the best among their renowned college. It is not their fault but it is due the system. No weightage is given to the skills in language throughout their curriculum.

The experts in the field of education and technology could not imagine that each industry needs its people to have a good knowledge of English to read, understand and apply the concepts underlined in the relevant documents during their work situation. During training many engineers could not pass theory papers even after few years and a few could not be put on actual job situations even after more than required practical situations. Here not only intelligence and brilliance, but the capacity to understand various documents mainly of international standards also counts .If the policy of education does not foresee this aspect, our performance will be below standard and there is no point in finding fault with the new products like the coconuts with mundary. I have the opportunity of undergoing training many times with the candidates from all over India. Experience reveals that those from kerala can never be inferior to anybody from other states if taught and trained well. If so a complete rationalization of professional education is required for an effective performance by students from Kerala.

At this juncture it is to be remembered that a significant number of students coming out from selected colleges are of very good standard and quality. About 40 percentage of engineers in NASA are from India Through a rationalization of professional education in India at least in kerala, we will be able to dominate the world after a few years of time and can have major representation in higher level positions in various Indian departments and organization of repute. If we do not develop suitable strategy in the policy of education, we will never be to reach the forefront either in India or abroad..

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The same old smile

It was a morning in the spring 2006. I was wading through the people coming out of a hospital. While crossing the stairs a familiar face flashed across my mind. An old friend? I called out 'Hi Jacob.. '. He stopped for a while and could not recognize me instantly. There is absolutely no change in him, the long hairs and pleasing smile. I could see the spool of memories unwinding in his eyes. I waited smiling. His lips moved to call me 'Zak'. His wife could not believe that he had a schoolmate so intimate that he recognized him at a glance after 32 years!!

NIGHT DUTIES OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER

No ATC officer can avoid night duties as the duty of the ATCO is to to provide air traffic control day in day out. At most of the airports night duty starts at 7 pm till 7am next day. However each ATCO we’ll be allowed to have a rest of 3 to 4 hrs in between. For this purpose normally the duty will be categorized as first half or second half. All will work upto 10 pm together. First half group will work from 10 pm to 2.30 am while second will work from 2.30am till 7am. But the lucky one will be given the Royal half. These people can sleep from 12 pm till 5am next day.

In each night duty the half allocation and the selection of duty channels depends on the shift in-charge and it may be based on his ego, his mentality to teach a lesson to a few who do not have a matching frequency with him or it may due to other official requirements.

The ATCO before taking over channel gets a briefing from the previous controller what actions are pending to be completed in the short run. In international airports the controllers will be fully concentrating on their work, watching the movements of aircraft on radar, calculating the time of descend, crossing, reaching the assigned level(altitude of the aircraft),rate of descend ,rate of climb, converging points , vertical difference at converging points, speed reduction, increasing of speed removing the aircraft from the present track to avoid a collision, developing lateral spacing for 2 aircraft closely moving, expediting climb or expediting descend to avoid collisions, facilitating aircraft to avoid dangerous clouds, to bring back the aircraft to normal route, and give a direct routing to a far away point are some of the main concerns of an ATCO..

While doing so, his eyes should watch closely the movements of aircraft in radar, his left ear should monitor the aircraft transmission, right ear to the intercom from the transmissions from adjacent units.(Head –set has the facility to segregate this). His hands will be always busy with mouse and occasionally he has to monitor the nearby monitors also. His left hand will be busy with microphone operation ( some airports use leg switch also).An ATCO is required to reciprocate to the pilots transmission within 3 seconds. Most of the time 20 to 30 aircraft will be in constant contact with the controller who is monitoring their movements in such a way that all aircraft are flying safely and with optimum flying standards. Normally one ATCO can work continuously upto one or one and a half hour maximum at a stretch due stress and he gets a break for half an hour.

There are facilities for small snacks or tea or coffee etc. in shifts. Those who take food at home may find it advantageous to have some biscuits or other snacks in between. If he takes any snack while on duty, the pilot may find it difficult to understand the language he speaks because of the strange accent due to food materials in his mouth. The team of controllers is a combination of young and old with sugar problems cholesterol and high b.p. But the most of the food items with oil ghee and sugar will be their favourites and occasionally you can hear the munching noise they create!

Though he is given rest for 3 to 4 hrs during night duty, practically he can not have a proper sleep due to various reasons and some of the interesting scenes are noted below. The rest is taken in rest rooms. In my airport there are about 50 controllers doing night duty. There are a few rest rooms for Gents and few for ladies also. It is a common sight for us to see that in some night duties ladies used to go helter skelter in search of rest room keys. The ladies on previous night after getting up from the rest room lock the rooms as if there is some treasure inside and get away with the keys due to night effect!! They will be able to open the rest room only after waking up the peon who has to go and collect the keys from those absent minded lady ATCO. By the time the key is brought back their rest time will be almost over!!

The half allocation for the night duty will be decided during the previous day itself .In the rest room there are 15 to 20 beds arranged serially just like that in hospitals. When I came for my first night duty, I was asked by the fellow ATCOs to book the bed. Booking the bed is simple. It is just like keeping your hand bag or bed sheet in a bed.(just like some passengers booking their seat before boarding the bus). An ATCO should have some experience in the art of taking rest during night duties.-A quality towards adjusting to various kinds of sounds. Over the years the noise of aircraft taking off and landing has become a lullaby and many times without such noise in the background nobody gets sleep. The rest room is filled up with young and old together. Different people snore differently .Some with uniform rhythm of high pitch and low pitch with uniform time period. Some begins slowly and picks up gradually and ends in some EXPLOSIONS!! And many others lose their sleep at this juncture. Angry comments are common at this time. There are “DEAD BODIES” also. At 2.30 night ,they lose life and get it back at 7.30 am!. There are some other categories who cant wake up until 10 o'clock or 11 o'clock unless the attendants enter the room for cleaning. Then there are the STATUES also.They sit and sleep just like a rock.!

The second half duty people after booking their beds go to bed from 10pm onwards extending it upto 11.30 pm disturbing those already on bed. For a few of them, it is time for using mobile phones for long conversations with their near and dear ones. At 12 pm sharp the ROYAL PEOPLE (mentioned before) enter the room and switch on all the lights to locate their bed and half of the people just started sleep will wake up and again will be trying to sleep upto 2.30 am. At 2.20 am itself the first half people start reaching there to book their bed, sometimes even asking those poor fellows to get up! Getting up from the sleep at 2.30 one will understand what is the meaning of sleep in one’s life!!

Even if we reach the rest room at 2.30,we may get sleep at 3 am or later. But there are people who start getting up at 5 am onwards with loud mobile alarms and discussions. We may feel that age, maturity, education and experience in life do not have any impact on such people!

Most of the airports night traffic will be very heavy and there are chances for humans to make mistakes! But in ATC the accuracy is 100 percent and one should be very careful in doing air-traffic control. If u feel uncomfortable, You have to immediately hand over the charge to an authorized ATCO .Many times ATCOs during night have to continue duty without proper rest and it creates too much stress for them. You may remember that ILO has categorized the duty of an ATCO as one of the most stressful jobs.

The shift duties shatter the order in one’s routine. Most of the time he is unable to remember the day, date and holidays like Sundays! When everybody else is at home, he goes for duty and he is at home everybody goes for duty!. While at home he is unable to sleep during night due to the night duty effect and he may feel sleepy during day time and a stage will come he doesn’t bother to take food on time as in shift duties one has to take food at different times on different days of shift duty.

The rest pattern and food habits of ATCOs play a vital role in their health and their performance in the workplace. Hence we should re-look at the current system of deployment of ATCOs of Different skills and health levels as the profession demands...

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LEARNING

The term learning is as old as humanity.people have been learning for themselves and for the society,all through the years..In human resource development learning is referred to as a process of behavioural change.It is not ascribed to physical behaviour but a psychological behaviour. Learning brings about acquiring a knowledge,understanding it and involves a transfer to your brain for storage.

Learning was perceived differently by people of different times .for the uneducated learning is reading aloud by the children.But children in middle schools perceive this as a process of remembrance of what they read.Here the objective of the student is to secure marks in exams.at higher levels students perceive learning as an understanding of concepts and application of knowledge acquired.at this stage students observe there is a mismatch between what is learnt and what is to be applied at various situations.again the learning has faced turbulent situations.in practical fields like in factories or industries where even if you know the concepts and applications,you are found ineffective.at this juncture,it is understood that for effective learning,there is a necessity of skill development.Finally there was again dissatisfaction about learning in it's role of evaluation of system performance.Then learning has approached research and development.Thus management of various organisations started training and development for the benefit of employees and research and development for the better performance of industries.

In the school level when the teacher teaches a language,concept,the teacher himself should know what exactly he wants to communicate,transfer,convince and reinforce the same in students brain.The retension in your brain has two phases -short term and long term.So remember to lock the knowledge in your brain,otherwise it will escape when you are away from it.In between go back,open your brain, confirm whether it is intact .If not again strenghthen and lock it.

In the process of learning student should be fully free ,not to believe the teacher as such till he is convinced..Student should use all his physical senses to analyse,co-relate,critically examine and confirm it before accepting and transfer it to your brain.

To be an effective learner you should have a better communication skill and a command over the language.similarly the development of skill depends o the amount of yoour practice and initiative.Learning depends on many factors including physical stamina,quality of food,rest,sleep and mental peace.

Knowledge acquired also depreciates over a period of time.to overcome this you should acquire knowledge through all other possible sources by your own initiative.

Learning will be most effective and fruitful only when it is done with a passion.and all successful personalities in the world have proved it and they made learning as a LEARNER ORIENTED ACTIVITY than a TEACHER ORIENTED EFFORT

CONFIDENTIAL MEMO

It was June 1992.I was working as Asst.Aerodrome Officer in Calicut,Kerala,South India.,which is located in a hill top in a remote village far away from the city.Since the airport commissioned a few years before,no proper public transport and accommodation facility/hotels etc.. were available nearby.Ofcourse now it has become an International Airport with all facilities.

I was picked up by the airport director for a new assignment-For the post of Airport Terminal Manager.I was responsible for passenger welfare,VVIP handling and co-ordination with other agencies working in airport.

One day the political parties declared a "Bharat Bandh".This means a total paralysis of the administration system,all shops closed,no vehicles will run and practically a Blackout day.
So many passengers came to airport the previous day.Some spent their time in the passenger lounge.I had the toughest times in making arrangements for them..A few were accommodated with friends , A few were accommodated in nearby towns taking the risk of using friends' vehicle.

At last one lady and her daughter came from Germany.How to accommodate them?There was no way out.I said I would do something,without having a planWhere shall this lady and her young daughter stay during night in such a situation.?!No space anywhere.This situation can happen to everybody ;to ur own sister or daughter without the supportof a man.Finally after my office hours ,I told the caretaker to bring one cot and bed from any source and put it in my office.Food for them also made ready before i went home.Bathrooms were nearby.

Next day morning when i came to my office I could find them happy and ready for departure.They thanked me many times and tried to offer me some gifts.I flatly refused saying that whatever little things i did for them was my duty only.
After a month i received a letter from her husband in Germany that it was a great thing i did for his family at that critical time.

After two more months,I was informed by the officer-in-chief that I have a" confidential Memo" from headquarters.My hands were shivering.I thought-To my knowledge,i never did a mistake,never misbehaved with passengers and always dealt with VVIPs,Ministers,Members of Parliament,senoir judges etc..nicely only.The only thing i did without permission from the office was accommodating the those lady passengers in my office.Somebody might have informed the higher-ups.

If the CHQ is unhappy with the explanation to my memo,they may chare sheet me and initiate a punishment.I prayed to God and with all my strength opened the memo.Tears rolled out of my eyes.I could not believe my eyes.It was an appreciation letter from the chairman (CEO) that what i did for the German Ladies that night was a step that has held high the image of our organisation in the international stage and only a few do such things in critical stages.I heaved a sigh of relief and felt happy with my new assignment of Airport Terminal Manager.

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I also had a Birthday celebration once!

Riza is a 4 yr old girl living next door to our flat.She enjoys a lot of freedom in our house and spends most of her time with my children.Her mother is busy with her PG studies and her father is a doctor working in a far away place.Her only solace is her grandmother who is also busy with house-hold activities.Riza is a keen observer and is willing to help everybody in the house.I used to see her rarely only during my leave,Gradually she has admitted me also in her friends' circle.Sometimes she sings nursery rhymes for me.Once my birthday fell on my leave period.I used to remember my bday only when my children used to remind me.Riza monitored my children speaking about my birthday falling on dec 20 and everybody left the discussion there itself.When i reached home on dec 20,i saw a lot of balloons decorated in our drawing room .I thought it was Riza's birthday which is being celebrated in our house. To my surprise everyone wished me birthday, for the first time in my life at the age of 54! i enquired who was behind this.It was Riza mol's plan to celebrate my birthday....i stood agape for a moment .Then i realized that the young ones do not differentiate people or space.Their mind get polluted as they grow due to various influences!

An aeroplane with 3500 passenger

As usual,i was waiting in the railway station for going to airport for night duty.While waiting for train it is interesting to hear the conversation by others sittiing near to you.A number of people who were working abroad used to travel by train to Trivandrum.Once in 2002 i heard a person telling his friends about his experiences during his stay in dubai,He said in India only smaller planes with a max 400 or 500 passengers are landing wheres in Dubai normally all planes hav tleast 3000-3500 passengers.His friend was eagerly listening.In 2002,the biggest plane in the world could accommodate a maximum of 650 people.An aircraft with 3500 passengers should have a minimum of 20-25 engines,3-4 cockpits and a runway 5 times longer and stronger,and an airport which is 10 times larger or costlier to accommodate such an aircraft!For exaggeration also there should be a limit!

BOSS MANAGEMENT-tHE iNDIAN sTYLE

Boss management is an art and science.Though I did Master's degree in management 22 years before,still im experimenting new techniques of boss management for effective handling of boss.This is based on the concept of Boss favour dynamics (BFD).boss management is a bottom to top management process while all other management processes are from top to bottom.

The fundamental scale in boss management is that you should totally forget the term"NO sir" and only "yes sir should be used throughout ur career.If u hav a better idea,do not tell openly to ur boss;tell him personally so that on a later stage he will declare your idea as his own!If u are a speaker in a function after ur boss ,always use the term,"as my boss stated"when boss does something wrong or unusual ,do not comment or criticize.If u r in a meeting along with ur boss do not open ur mouth.tell ur boss to project ur ideas.but if he makes a blunder,immediately explain with all ur intelligence that what the boss meant was something different!!!If u r presenting a report prepared by you,add a point that it was done with the idea of and direction by the boss and see that the report is signed by ur boss even if he insists ur signature.Even for your slightest mistake never hesitate to say "sorry sir" esp in front of others!

whenever boss delivers lectures on useless or irrelevant subjects or when he demands you to do ineffective tasks ,remember to use "yes sir",If u get bored use only "sir" instead of "yes sir"...

when ur boss is asked to prepare an URGENT /SPECIAL TASK/REPORT,you should sit overnight ,complete and submit to him so that he will add one or two words of nonsense in between before his signature..You appreciate his correction immediately.!!!

Mostly he will never appreciate ur work..But by mistake if he does so,humbly tell him that it was a part of ur routine work,If u meet him outside his office do not forget to give him one more salute!

If he is showing some soft corner to ladies or others,pretend that you have not seen it.Do not wear costlier clothes or use costlier vehicles than that of boss..If he invites u to a party ,at any cost you should attend it and see that you only pay the BILL!but when he offers frequent teas/snacks during office time at the cost of office money ,do not refuse even if u r a diabetic or cholestrol patient!!These are some of the tips only;and can be supplemented based on Boss's attitude...

In most of the Indian Govt Departments/PSU It will take a few centuries to bring in the benefits of Human resource Management or even the concept of Modern management.Once it is done India can prosper a lot..

For most people 'pleasing the boss' is still the order of the day!!

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MALNUTRITION DURING SCHOOLING,INDIGESTION AND DIARRHOEA DURING HIGHER STUDIES

Our education provides only very light food for the school students upto 10th std.Most of the stuff are like much diluted milk that contains nothing much for absorption. eg. history,geography,civics..how many learn lessons out of these?Rice,wheat,Dal(science,social science,languages) etc.. are being given in small doses.Though a lot of quality foods and medicines are available in the market,our educational doctors still prefer antacids and vicks tablets for decades now(small elements of modern subjects) For physical fitness,we conduct monthly or annual competitions,just like conducting urine and blood tests for health.Is there any continous or regular programmes for fitness in school life?

During plus one and plus two the whole situation change.Suddenly the students are given rich food like' rotti made of maida',pure ghee and pure milk.(modern subjects)Most of the rottis are not even cooked properly as our teachers in plus one and plus two are managing cooking somehow.Most of the students fall ill due to indigestion,dysentry or diarrhoea.A few survive because of external support-Tuitions

After 12th comes the ladder test.(Entrance tests)For some there are two ladder tests.For the professional course one should be properly trained to climb up the ladders.Most of them fall down along with the ladder.Some go for one year ladder training (coaching) and climb up successfully!

The problem lies with the' doctors'-educational experts who prescribe food and medicine.The students should be given food of all kinds( syllabus)from L.K.G to tenth std.in proper quantities(eg. elements of science and tech,engineering,medicine,economics,social science,management,health and hygiene,banking, business etc..)Such an education system will facilitate smooth transition in their studies,which will not create any stomach troubles and thereby a better health to our educational system...

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