|
Living and Learning | The Fast Food way |
Greetings!
Take a minute to reflect if you were to hear this.
Doctor: 'Will treat the patient as long as it is Monday to Friday and between 9:00AM to 5:00PM'.
Fireman: 'Will douse the fire as long as the place is within 10 minutes travel distance'.
Sounds odd? Shouldn't the 'need' be more important than convenience? There have been many occasions in our brief history in India when such situations made us ask the question: Why does convenience of volunteering predominate even when the individual feels for the cause? Would it be possible for the 'need' to choose the timing and location of its urgency to accommodate benefactor convenience? If volunteers become choosy about volunteering hygiene factors, does the intermediary have a choice? The fireman best understands fire and the doctor the malaise -- An architect cannot replace them. For the student to understand the working world, develop the confidence to navigate, it is the professional who is best equipped to help. Provided the professional keeps the beneficiary's need above everything else. There is a shade of idealism here. Impractical perhaps. Yet there are several professionals who have gone well beyond their zone of comfort, volunteering passionately to impact lives. Why did they do so?
We are pleased to open this issue of the JA India newsletter with experience sharing from two very committed volunteers from an equally supportive and accommodating sponsor and Corporate volunteering partner, ExxonMobil. Kevin Potter, Director, Deloitte U.S. in India spoke about the L3 mindset in the preceding newsletter. This issue presents the C3 connection, the next article in his 8-part series. Abhay Kumar, from SRCC, shares his view on primary education in the educator's perspective.
As we close FY10 for a brief break before the new session resumes in May/June 2010, we thank all our volunteers who have reached JA programs to 35,000+ students, in 150+ schools and colleges across India. We share more classroom and volunteering updates later in the newsletter.
|
 New generation might be seeking fast and interesting action with rapid results but the process of learning has not changed. Our brain can only process information in small bit sizes, in such a case the onus is on the students and the virtue is patience.
Ramesh Krishnamurthy, EVP and Region Head, JA India >>>
Talking about cricket which is the mood of the current season, T20s have fundamentally changed the way in which cricket is played, the shorter version of the game has introduced new ways of bowling, batting and indeed approaching a match. And it has fundamentally changed the way in which we watch cricket. T20s have much to offer, they are glitzy, full of exciting twists and turns and brief eventful encounters; in short, instant gratification much favoured by the young minds.
While conducting a Board meeting for a Company Programme in Mumbai, the discussion soon veered into a feedback session on some of the classroom sessions of JA Careers With A Purpose. While there was much appreciation of the programme per se by the students, there was also a feedback that at times it was less interesting, a bit pedantic and a bit long. A little more detailed conversation revealed that while the subject matter remained relevant and was appreciated, the matter of concern was that the method of delivery varied from volunteer to volunteer, some more interesting than the others. What the students wanted was the drama, the experience, the cerebral excitement and everything done in a quick fix way; basically this generation of students want the T20 highway to education and enlightenment.
We realise that this is a difficult ask, not only because all volunteers are not naturally gifted to enthral an audience (most are actually quite nervous given that they are completely outnumbered by not-always-rational children) but also because some of the messages are likely to be downright trite and boring. While you never see students in the 3rd standard complain about quality of teachers or the ennui in learning math tables or English spellings or pronunciations, all important but boring subjects, the students in the 10th standard find it difficult to accept this. Unfortunately there are two realities that the students that are becoming more mature have to contend with:
-
As students mature, it becomes a greater responsibility of the students to extract knowledge from a well meaning, knowledgeable teacher than for the teacher to make it palatable and glitzy. A well meaning, interesting teacher should be welcomed and embraced with joy because they would always be a rarity.
-
As subjects and activities related to teaching goes, a lot of them are actually repetitive and boring, but to become good at something so that it becomes second nature requires one to take interest in the boring repetitive activity. For Sachin to play a perfect cover drive and consistently, he would have spent many hours getting his body balance, his foot movement, his head steady and his bat timing right. The perfect cover drive is a product of many boring hours of such an alignment activity.
Students will have to understand that education and skill building are activities that are actually like a long drawn Test match on a fairly placid wicket. The bowlers / batsmen would have to work hard in order to extract something from the wicket, it is a long drawn process where there strokes that yield nothing would far outnumber the strokes that yield runs but a bad stoke can spell disaster and where each day would have something different to offer, new challenges and the bowlers/batsmen would have to adapt to the situation. | |
|
From our volunteers | What made them volunteer?
 I always thought I was too busy...
Kapil Mittal is the Marketing Advisor for AP zone at ExxonMobil Lubricants Pvt Ltd in Gurgaon. Like most of us, he too hit the Delete button on most volunteer request mails. One fine day, something else happened...
My company, ExxonMobil, got involved with the Junior Achievement initiative in early 2009. For the first 4-5 months, whenever I received an e-mail which contained the subject heading 'Junior Achievement', I would hit the Delete button, without much further thought. Having analysed my 'interesting' reaction, I would put it down to this - I always thought I was too busy for anything outside my scope of work in the office. One fine day, when I saw in my inbox with the name of a school in my locality, I paused, then decided to give this cause a try. Why? Because, I am a product of a similar government school situated nearby.
My first session was on a Monday morning in July last year. Even though I had gone through the facilitator guide provided by the JA representative several times in preparation for the session and spent most of the weekend preparing for it, there remained many if's & but's in my mind. Not to mention, the butterflies in my stomach. It was similar to the anxiety I had felt before my board exams.
That first session and the experience I gained in the couple of hours, was a turning point for me. I have not looked back since. I derive great enjoyment and satisfaction every time I go to a school to meet with members of our future workforce. Sharing the experiences that I have gained in work and life, with children who are eager to hear and willing to learn, is a privilege.
Every session that I have participated in has been action-packed, with many intelligent and occasionally, touching questions from the students. My wife and my 10-year-old daughter attended one of the sessions with me in a school and they found that it was time well invested, even if it was over a weekend. Personally, I have gained a lot from my experiences as a volunteer in JA and have felt that they have enhanced my own personal leadership abilities.
Here's an analogy for some thought - Our efforts as volunteers are like a drop in the ocean, and the ocean represents the future workforce for our country. We may spend our entire life thinking about the right time to give back to our nation. But I have since come to realise that there is no better time than "NOW" - age and ability irrespective. I echo what my teacher told our class when in school, "Sow a thought, you reap an action; Sow an action, you reap a benefit; Sow a benefit, you reap your destiny".
As I close this note, an ancient Sanskrit saying best captures my feeling -- "When you were born, you cried while the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a way that when you die, the world cries while you rejoice".
Friends, perhaps it is all about what they say: Responding to your inner calling... |
|
Back to school...
 Sumit Mathur is the Distribution Manager for ExxonMobil L&S, India. He went back to the school, and lived an experience - an experience that he took time to share with the entire JA fraternity.
Each day spent taking a JA session with the teens in Delhi's government schools has been truly memorable for me. You can't help going down memory lane, while walking along the school corridors, fragrant sometimes with the effervescence of enthusiasm while some other times, with the pickle in the Tiffin boxes! The hurried sorties to the water point only quench the thirst but the insatiable curiosity of a growing mind still lingers on. The camaraderie between aspirations, the strategic alliances for homework assignments, ah to remember those carefree days...
The JA initiative bridges many gaps - the gap between distorted perception and reality, the gap between misery and hope, the gap between 'good intention' and action, the gap between 'me' and 'us'. A small change in navigation at the beginning of one's academic journey can make two individuals land poles apart, as they ride the balloon of time. It is deeply fulfilling and enriching to realize, that this humble involvement from us, can contribute significantly to create the communities we want - a world full of spirited, committed, content and focused individuals. It is, in many ways, being a coach - standing ahead and throwing light of experience and awareness on the path that these children are treading. You never know, you may touch someone's life in ways you may never imagine. Each young student is a living possibility. It is up to us whether we instil this realization in them, at the right time. We need to decide whether we act out of responsibility or choose to look the other way.
If you got the impression that it is about imparting, or giving alone, you have got it wrong. All these years of professional life had in a sense made me complacent and sure of conclusions I had derived. But some of the guileless questions that I encountered during the sessions were so straight, free from biases of academic and professional conditioning, that I was forced to re-look at my own fundamentals! I wondered where, in my life's journey, I had lost some of my child-like spontaneity!
Becoming a JA volunteer opened a new chapter in my life. Connecting with communities through this channel has made life so much more meaningful. I realized that a volunteer is someone who is willing. This willingness has the potential to translate stagnant intention into revolutionary action and bring about the transformation we want within and around us. Sometimes I wonder, wouldn't the world become a much better place if we all became volunteers!
Like my Guru says, "A world full of love, light and laughter, its time has come.....let's make it happen".
I am going back to school. Are you? |
|
Partnerships | JA @ Cognizant 
Cognizant volunteers raised the bar yet again when 56 volunteers travelled 130 kms from Chennai to conduct 25 parallel JA Careers with a Purpose classroom sessions for 1,177 students at Government Girls Higher Secondary School and SS Higher Secondary School, Arani. Dawn to dusk, each volunteer invested
15+ hours of commitment in a single day!
From organizing wake-up calls for all volunteers at 4:30AM, through volunteer refresher courses enroute in the bus and circulation of pocket guides for volunteer reference, to dedicated event management volunteers who managed every detail of the initiative -- be it assignment of volunteers to classroom or scheduling classrooms, Cognizant volunteers' commitment to the cause is at times difficult to capture in words. |
Partnerships | HSBC Global Signature Program 
 Last quarter of FY10 saw HSBC volunteers reach JA More than Money program to an incremental of 1,100 students. Including this, JA More than Money has reached ~3,000 students since inception. The program saw participation from 70+ HSBC India volunteers, across Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai. Watch this space for more updates as JA and HSBC Volunteers join forces to propel the program with renewed vigor into the new academic calendar year.
|
How are Cricket and Career connected? | Kevin S. Potter, Deputy Managing Director, Deloitte Tax Overseas Services LLC authors the next article in this 8-part series
When I embarked on my first global assignment to India in early 2008, I was curious to know the link that unites India's diverse citizens, what connects a majority of people in India? Trying to get an answer, I decided to ask a few of my colleagues one simple question - What unites India?
While most of them said "Cricket", there was one person who supported his answer with the following quote that I remember vividly - "In India, first there is cricket and then there is life".
Being a baseball fan in the U.S. and finding a number of similarities between cricket and baseball, I began to pursue learning the nuances of cricket by reading about and watching a lot of cricket. As I learned more about cricket there were several things that reminded me of some valuable career lessons I had learned. Drawing parallels between cricket and career was a great learning experience for me and I wanted to share my observations with you.
Pitch report:
Unlike baseball where the ball comes straight on to the bat, in cricket the ball usually bounces before it reaches the batsman, which brings in extra unpredictability. The bounce and swing of the ball depends on the conditions of the pitch. Regardless of you are a batsmen or a bowler, analyzing the pitch before and during the game is a prerequisite to success. Similar is the case with a successful career, the only difference is the pitch becomes the industry you are working in.
It is important you keep a tab on the existing and future trends by reading, listening and understanding the marketplace. If you do not focus on analyzing the "career pitch" it may become difficult to see the choices before you, let alone making the right choice for your career. To play your strokes in any industry it is imperative you do your ground work. Understanding the pitch you are playing on, including internal and external factors and adapting to changing conditions is what will help you play long and successful innings (career) on any kind of pitch.
Know your style:Just like how we have three different types of bowlers (pace, spin and medium pace), there are also different orientations among many of today's employees.
Pacers: They are fast, furious and focused. They are ambitious and put their career first, often willing to sacrifice sleep, family and friends to climb the corporate ladder. These professionals tend to enjoy challenges and crave for high octane initiatives. Similar to a fast bowler, these professionals often find it hard to maintain a consistent and disciplined path, as they sacrifice accuracy for speed.
Spinners: They exemplify skill, tact and creativity. Craving autonomy, independence, and the option to solve problems in one's own creative way are some of the characteristics of a spinner type. Spinners are entrepreneurial oriented and enjoy getting rhythm and variance in their deliveries (careers) rather than just moving up the ladder.
Medium pace: Just like a medium pacer who balances each delivery with the right line/length and pace to get a wicket, there are professionals who aspire to master the juggling act between career, family, friends, leisure and self-development to get a wicket (in this case it's a successful life). Their orientation is more towards seeking job security and stability than career advancement or challenge.
In today's environment a team needs players who are balanced, willing to learn, and who can adapt well to change. A person who has the zeal of the pacer, the balance of the right line/length of the medium pacer, and the creativity of the spinner is in great demand. In fact, companies today are looking for the all rounder, not just the bowler. Knowing your style allows you to know your strengths and identify those areas that need more work so you can become a successful all rounder.
Build Partnerships:
In cricket all of the matches are won through partnerships. Cricket is not about one player, no matter how good he or she is. Even though Sachin Tendulkar is an amazing batsman, he cannot play the match by himself. Similar is the case, when building a career. While you enhance your capabilities, you should also support your colleagues in achieving a common goal - winning and succeeding together. You should focus as much on how you can make others successful as you do on making yourself successful. Ask any successful professional the secrets behind building a fruitful, long-term career, and one thing they will tell you is that it is about people, building relationships, and helping one another. Like cricket, a successful career requires collaboration and partnerships. It is about the playing eleven, not the playing one.
A long-term, successful career requires the same skills needed in both a 20/20 and test match.
You need to have speed and run rate required to win a 20/20 match, but you also need to have temperament, persistence and patience required to win a test match. Similar to how every ball is an opportunity to widen the winning gap between the competition, in a career every day is an opportunity to learn and grow as a professional.
I believe the tenets of building a successful career stay constant; you need to know your strengths and your areas for improvement, you need to invest time and energy to understand and master your field, and you need to build networks and partnerships to enhance your knowledge. To me, these tenets can be encapsulated in an acronym called ASK - Attitude, Skill, and Knowledge. Like cricket, a career requires a cultivation of ASK over a long period of time. Run rate is important but not at the cost of you losing your wicket. Play smart and play safe to play for the long haul. |
|
Perspectives | State of Indian Education
Educator's perspective | By Abhay Kumar, Faculty member, Shri Ram College of Commerce
 Education, health care and infrastructure are the key areas to measure any country's prosperity and progress. India has progressed a lot particularly in last twenty years. But unfortunately three key areas have been neglected and needs special attention. In this column, I would like to draw reader's attention to the education sector. In India, education is divided into two broad headings: Primary education and Higher education. Both areas need complete improvement and transformation.
In the last issue of the journal I raised certain important issues concerning higher education in India. In this issue I would like to discuss issues concerning Indian primary education. India cannot and should not afford to neglect educational reform now because of its global relevance and evolution as a determining nation in the world. A nation must invest in knowledge if it aspires to become wealthy and prosperous.
Primary education is the backbone of any educated society. According to a government of India estimate at the moment, for every 100 children that go to school only 13 children reach college. It is a national shame given that the global average of 23%. Primary and secondary education must be given utmost priority. Parents of those children who do not go to school must be influenced and convinced by members of civil society, intellectuals and above all by the state machinery about the importance of education.
The other dimension: state of school infrastructure throughout the country including Delhi - the nation's capital is alarmingly inadequate. Schools do not have classrooms, blackboards, drinking water or even teachers. In many schools one teacher manage more than 100 students. In Delhi alone more than 14,000 teaching positions are vacant for past 5-6 years. Same is the case with other states. If teachers are available, comes along the attendant problem of absenteeism. Most states appoint teachers on contract. Their salary bill is signed by head of the village Panchayat (Mukhiya/Sabhapati). A practice that has the right intent but not immune to rampant corruption and 'cuts'. In many places these teachers have outsourced their services who conduct the classes on their behalf! Thanks to inadequate systems, including the Panchayati Raj, the loop holes relentlessly thrive.
The recent Right To Education bill mandates access to education for all in the age group of 6-14 years. But it has been 'in the NEWS' since the day (April 1st, 2010) it was announced. Far too many states have expressed inability to implement citing fund constraints! The response only reaffirms the misaligned political preferences and vision.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009 ensures that every child has the right to guaranteed quality elementary education. The state, with the help of families and communities, has a legal obligation to fulfill this duty. According to an estimate about 8 million children between the ages of 6 and 14 are out of school. This Act ensures reach to the unreached, marginalized and deprived sections of society. With RTE Act India could achieve all that which has been difficult or impossible for any other country.
It is a great challenge to implement this Act. But we have little option but to ensure it happens - the responsibility is inescapable, be it for the public-private partners, NGOs, civil society members or all others. |
|
Program and Classroom volunteering | All India
Since inception, JA programs have reached more than 35,000 students across Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, NCR and through remote volunteering support in Arani, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Jaipur, Kumbakonam, Madurai, Omalur, Salem, Yercaud and more. The recently launched online interactive version of JA Careers with a Purpose is accessed by 150+ visitors each week.
Classroom programs
-
~ 90 girls participate in JA Careers with a Purpose program at ZPHS Moosapet, Hyderabad. Initiative sponsored within GE's project UDAAN.
-
Microsoft volunteers help pilot JA Inside Industry student interaction, at Microsoft Hyderabad campus, on 10th March 2010.
-
Deloitte volunteers help conduct JA Problem Solving workshops for ~ 150 Class IX students at Swaminarayan Gurukul, Hyderabad.
-
JA Lecture series conducted at Stella Maris College on 8th January 2010. Speaker: Mr. Sridhar Raghavan, (Ex-Vice President, HSBC, Chennai)
-
Steria Chennai volunteers commence (Jan/Feb 2010) JA programs at Padma Adarsh School, Chennai
-
JA Problem Solving workshops introduced by the JA Chennai team to Auxilium School.
-
MphasiS Chennai volunteers anchor JA programs at Sai Vivekananda School.
-
Bala Shanmugham, Director, Global Workforce Management, Cognizant anchors JA Lecture series for 400+ commerce students of Stella Maris College, Chennai
-
HSBC Chennai volunteers conduct JA More than Money program for 130 students (Standard V) at Sacred Heart School.
-
Microsoft Bangalore hosts JA Careers with a Purpose workshop for 14 students from Clarence High School, DPS and NPS Bangalore. Session conducted on 2nd April 2010 by JA Bangalore team. This workshop was organized through the initiative of parents and students themselves. The workshop saw participation from some of the parents as well.
-
HSBC Mumbai volunteers conduct JA More than Money program for 700+ students in a single month (January 2010).
- Global Engineering Marathon India 2010 held on 6 February 2010 at Motorola Bangalore. With an aim to inspire and spark interest in young children towards science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), the event engaged 250+ Class VIII and IX students from Government and NGO schools around Bangalore.
Special programs
-
Genpact Gurgaon volunteers initiate long term (18-24 months) program interventions for secondary level students at RTI Vidyapeeth in rural Haryana
-
Project ConnEct | Cognizant, Microsoft and Deloitte senior volunteers to initiate long term (18-24 months) program interventions for graduate students in specific Hyderabad colleges. We also expect volunteers from Bank of America's Hyderabad office to be part of this initiative.
-
Cognizant volunteers reach JA Careers with a Purpose program to 1,172 students of two Government Schools in Aarani on 20 February 2010. Event also saw participation from a few MphasiS Chennai volunteers.
-
JA Chennai team takes JACWAP program, JA Problem Solving workshop, JA Employability workshop, JA More than Money program to schools and colleges in Yercaud (22 thro' 25 February)
-
Cognizant volunteers reach JACWAP to students in Salem and Omalur on 30/ 31 January 2010
Joint volunteering
-
Murugappa and MphasiS volunteers conduct JACWAP program at St. Vincent's school, Chennai
-
Cognizant, Citi and HSBC volunteers conduct JACWAP program at Don Bosco Chennai
JA India Business Challenge 2010 | Deloitte volunteers host and conduct Hyderabad and Mumbai round of JAIBC 2010
-
Hyderabad | Prelims conducted on 20 February 2010. ~200 high school and college students participated in this event. Of 68 teams in prelims, 16 teams qualified for the Hyderabad region finals. Student team from Standard X, DAV Safilguda, withstood competition from college students to qualify for the finals!
-
Mumbai | Prelims conducted on 16 January 2010. 125 students participated in the prelims. Eight teams qualified for the finals held on 23 January 2010.
JA Corporate/educator debriefs
-
For Deloitte senior managers, held on 3 March 2010. As a next step, participants to undergo JA training sessions on 8th April 2010 prior to commencing classroom programs.
-
For Cognizant Hyderabad senior managers, held on 29 March 2010.
-
For 60+ school heads, held at ZPHS Malkajigiri (Hyderabad) to evaluate possible areas of collaboration to enhance student learning effectiveness.
JA NCR Annual Volunteer feedback and review meet
- Hosted by ExxonMobil on 19 March 2010, the event saw participation from all ExxonMobil volunteers from the NCR region as well as Genpact volunteers. Paul Kleijnen, CEO, ExxonMobil Gas and Nathaniel Hedman, CEO, ExxonMobil Lubricants attended the session.
- The session updated all volunteers on the progress-to-date and plans for National Capital Region followed by detailed program and volunteering review/feedback by volunteers.
|
|
JA Worldwide and more updates
World Economic Forum's initiative | Stimulating Economies through Fostering Talent Mobility:To quote from the report, 'The project research as well as input from the discussions held at the Forum events in New York, 1 October; New Delhi, 7 November; Dubai, 20-22 November; and Davos-Klosters, 27-31 January provide evidence that, unless companies, policymakers and academic institutions ally forces in an effort to design inclusive, modern human capital strategies, we might in less than one decade face a real talent crisis, becoming a barrier to sustainable growth and post-crisis recovery'.
Venkat Matoory, CEO, JA India was part of the Forum's discussion group in New Delhi.
| |
As we move into the new academic calendar, we invite every individual interested to conduct JA programs in their chosen schools, to connect with us at the JA India portal (www.jaindia.net). JA India team would be happy to train interested individuals and equip them with appropriate program content.
Sincerely,
Ramesh Krishnamurthy | EVP and Region Head | JA India |
|
Deloitte JAIBC 2010 |
100+ teams have already competed in the Mumbai and Hyderabad round. Another 70+ teams about to compete in the Rest of India round.
An online competition where high school and college students run businesses as CEOs in a simulated environment. Teams from more than 10 cities have already registered. Attractive prizes and an opportunity to compete in HP Global Business Challenge 2011. Please visit event registration site. |
| Rest of India and High School team Registration closes on 18 April 2010 | |
|
| Featured Article |
|
|
|
Kevin S. Potter, Deputy Managing Director, Deloitte Tax authors the second article in the 8-part series.
'The Corporate Cricket Connection'
Engage Kevin at www.jaindia.net with your feedback and questions. All you need is to logon. |
| Experiences | From the JA Volunteers |
|
|
Have you always wanted to volunteer yet not made your move?
Hear someone who thought similarly...
Visit Perspectives.
| |
|
