Is this Education? Where are we headed?

When I look back to the days when I used to be in elementary and through high school, the focus of education was to help kids learn new subjects, hone new skills, develop the ability to articulate thoughts, understand what great achievers did in the past and encourage the creativity to build a more analytical mind. Social interaction with other friends was part of the entire school life.

It seems times have changed and it is surprising that law makers now want to decide what should be taught, which achiever or personality should be mentioned, how it should be mentioned and when this should be imparted as part of a text book.

Interestingly the government in California has already legalized and requires schools to teach about women, African Americans, Mexican Americans, entrepreneurs, Asian Americans, European Americans, American Indians and labor. The Legislature over the years also has prescribed specific lessons about the Irish potato famine and the Holocaust, among other topics.

Guess now what is next? “The public protector and representatives” have passed a vote which now requires school to have history text books that talk about the achievements by gays. In short add lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to the lengthy list of social and ethnic groups that schools must include in social studies lessons.

Where are we heading? What are we trying to teach our next generations?

The world has already been divided by caste, race, color of skin, religion and now sexual orientation is something that we want to divide the human race.

It is such an unfortunate thing that people want to be recognized by virtue of their sexual orientation and not based on their true contribution. Why is there a need to spell someone’s name in history and talk about their contribution based on their sexual orientation?

We already have enough issues with teen pregnancy, drugs and dropouts in schools. Why don’t we focus on improving the quality of education and help hone skills that will help them to be successful individuals in their later life.

Einstein would love to be known for his contribution and not for sexual orientation; Oscar Wilde would like to be known for his literature and not for anything else, Socrates would always be known as the famous Greek Philosopher but anything else.

What are we heading to? Is this global development? Is this what we want our kids and future generations to learn rather than focusing on the great contributions done by men and women of this world. On one hand we all think of one human race and all are same, yet we tend to break ourselves further based on attribute that has nothing to do.

Do we really save a lot with "Discount Fuel/Gas"

We keep hearing about rising fuel prices and pay a lot of attention while we go to fill up gas in the pump.
I always wondered the following
- What does each of these brand names offer?
- Why there is a noticeable price difference between some of the brands ?
- Does the gas vary between the brands?

I decided to get some answers for myself and the best way to get started with this is doing some experiment along with some research. Here are some of my finding and understanding

- All distributors fill their tankers normally from the same source / terminal, be it the COSTCO, ARCO, Shell or others. Some name brands claim to be different, but most of it is not true
- Additives are added to tankers/storage tanks before they become name brand or discount gas

So the next basic question which arises is what do these additives do and are they helpful.

"Gasoline additives increase gasoline octane ratings or act as corrosion inhibitors or lubricants. This helps in greater efficiency and power"

I had been filling my car from the nearest Costco gasoline for a long time now and then I decided to move to Mobil and filled gas for about a couple of week. It was pretty amazing to see the following
- My mileage improved by atleast 3 miles a gallon for the same octane of gas
- The engine felt smoother by the week 3 


This certainly made a lot of difference in terms of mileage and also now smooth my car now drove. Reading through more article, I realized that some of these additives were better on the engine and spark plugs in the longer run.

Now how much did this hit my pocket in terms of the prices difference? The price difference is around 20-25 cents a gallon. This equates to around 4-5 dollars for a 20 gallon tank.


Did I save a lot? Well to me yes I did when I see an increased mileage and a much smoother ride. What it saved me also was a longer drive to the discount gas station and a long queue in front of me.
Surprisingly we all think that we have saved a lot, but in true terms we haven't. It used to take me 30 - 35 minutes to go and come back after refueling at the nearest discount gas station (if I was lucky and the queue was small).


I found this interesting site which provides some more insight
www.toptiergas.com

An interesting fact about the most talked about "Cricket Star" - Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Since the Indian Cricket team also know as "Team India" has clinched the ICC World Cup in Mumbai, India on the 2nd of April'2011, the whole country and all the Indians world over have been celebrating. It is after 28 long years that Team India has been on top of world cricket. They are ranked number one both as a test playing side and as a one day international side.

For all those who have witnessed this match which includes me (waking up at the middle of the night to cheer and watch the team play against the Sri Lankans) was all worth at the end when Team India's captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (known as MS or Dhoni etc) hit a huge six to win the title.

Possibly he is one of the most successful captains that Team India ever had, MS had a humble beginning and later went on to become one of the most talked about player in Cricket.


Thanks to an email from the "IIT Kgp SoCal Alumni Chapter", I got to know about this. I thought of sharing this with all who may not know these facts. In fact it is a moment of joy for me when I see someone has an association with a small town like "Kharagpur".

" Sourav Ganguly was Team India's captain then and Yuvraj Singh a rising star. Those days, M S Dhoni worked as a railway ticket collector in West Bengal's Kharagpur. The shy, reticent Mahi is now Indian skipper.

And, winner of the World Cup. Kharagpur residents have not forgotten Dhoni who stayed at the railway town for about three years. On Saturday, his former colleagues and locals performed yajnas, pujas and prayed hard for 'Captain Cool'. Many of them remembered how Dhoni cycled around the town and played cricket with tennis balls on practically every ground in and around Kharagpur. He was known as a cricket crazy lad then. No one knew he was meant for bigger things.

Dhoni came here as a 20-year-old in 2001, desperately seeking a job. The then divisional railway manager of South Eastern Railway Animesh Kumar Ganguly, a cricket fanatic, was desperately looking for a wicket-keeper batsman.

''Ganguly took Mahi to the South Eastern Railway Sports Association stadium, bowled him 60 balls and came back satisfied. Dhoni got the job in sports quota,'' said a nostalgic Siddhartha Chatterjee. He was the captain when Dhoni played for a local club.

Everyone in this town seems to have similar stories to tell. Since early Saturday morning, the railway town had only cricket and Dhoni in their mind. Ranjan Chakraborty was busy with a puja at Durga temple for Dhoni at 6am. At another puja, a huge cut-out of Hanumanji stood beside a giant replica of the World Cup trophy.

But Dhoni's tryst with Kharagpur ended abruptly in 2003, when he began getting calls for bigger matches. He quit the railways job and joined the erstwhile Indian Airlines. A few years ago he came to Kharagpur to meet his friends quietly. ''That was the last time he was here. We all stole into a train compartment and had dinner,'' said a friend. "