Juvenile and Adult Painted Storks, Redstart and Others at the Sultanpur National Park

This Saturday when I visited the Sultan[ur National Park, I had thought of focusing on birds in flight. For this, I opted for a really fast shutter speed (1/20000) and an aperture of (f-5.6-f-11). Unfortunately, the fog played spoilsport and I ended up with a few rather smudged up snaps that wouldn't pass muster as mug shots of the Loch Ness Monster taken with a black and white film roll! This post is a reminder that light plays a great role in good photography. Unfortunately, the birds in the Sultanpur National Park seem to disappear from the National Park after nine in the morning. It is as if they like to fly away for shopping after having a hearty meal of fish and snails!

I counted myself lucky to be carrying a smaller lens (55-250 mm) which meant that I might be able to scrape through the dim light especially since I had an f 1:4-5.6 lens. There were others who were carrying 600, 1000 mm lenses that would have had a narrower aperture thus requiring more light!

I was lugging a tripod to which I had attached my camera. This in itself made it a bit difficult to pan or swing to get the flying birds within the view. In the end, I opted to swing the camera using the tripod legs, (unopened) as a pivot. I was able to somehow spot a brace of spot-billed ducks make a landing in the water. I have pasted the snap above.

Nothing can beat the gracefulness of birds in flight, especially the lumbering giants like storks and cranes. I had thought of taking a snap of the lone Duckbill in flight that I had spotted a week before, but alas, it seemed to have shifted to another spot! 

The Juvenile storks, however, seemed to be plentiful and I decided to turn my attention towards them instead. The Juvenile Painted storks lack the bright colours of the adults. Their beaks appear to be dull and their heads lack the bright orange-red colour of the adults. 

But then I was also pleasantly surprised to spot the Black Redstart Bird at the Sultanpur National Park just prior to exiting the park. A rather colourful bird with an attractive colour scheme!

The resident White-throated Kingfisher and the ubiquitous Heron were there as usual, though I would like to add that Kingfishers seem to be aplenty!  The shot posted below seemed to have caught the morning rays of the rising sun to its benefit. Photographers call the morning hours as the golden hours because of the warmer tones!

The Grey Heron seemed to be as curious of me as I was of it! Well, it turned a number of times wondering what I was doing paying it so much attention. It even gave me a full-fronted glare!

The Purple Heron stretched its neck out, unmoving so still, that one might mistake it for an unmoving branch. These birds are known to wait patiently for fish to swim into its vicinity before pouncing for it. At this time of the year, the Sultanpur National Park teems with Herons and Egrets of all kinds.

A Kingfisher dives for its breakfast at the Sultanpur National Park

This Saturday gone by, I convinced my brother to accompany me to the Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary as I wanted to try to get some shots of birds in flight. My aim was to use a shutter speed of 1/2000. We left Gurgaon at 7:45 a.m. and the weather was clear. However, as soon as we crossed the Basai Village, we were met by a thick fog! I was in a tizzy as the fog was too thick and my plans to get a good shot of birds in flight was literally thrown into the fog! We were the first to reach the National Park and the gentleman at the ticket counter told us that the weather would lift at about 9:00 a.m. My brother had to return to Gurgaon before ten in the morning and I felt like a fool standing at the entrance of the National Park with hope for "The Shot!" In fact, I opened the inside gate to the park and my brother took a video of me. The fog was so thick that I ended up deciding to take snaps of the webs that glittered with the morning dew! What is more, I ended up taking a few snaps of my brother in the fog, it looked eerie!

So there he was, my brother, even as he was fiddling with the lens to get a hold on the fog so thick, but then I guess I was able to relieve him for his appointment that was, and no regrets for a day well spent!

Even as these three jokers in tandem did swim, to scratch and ruffle feathers that gleamed, but then I feel even birds do need to preen and care for the day to come! Northern Pintails they're called!

Eerie though it was, I whistled to him so that he could find his way to me. In the morning, the sun rose gradually casting its light on the world below.

A shot that wouldn't win a prize, though that was my only consolation besides taking snaps of the webs that stretched across the branches with dewdrops that glistened like jewels in the morning light.

But then when the morning sun grew stronger and it drove the fog away, the whole scene changed! The spoonbill shook her feathers, fluffing up for the day ahead even as a darter looked at her with curiosity!

Things began to awaken even as the birds began to fish for their breakfast. The kingfisher dove into the water and grabbed some grub which it partook off in the security of the branch of a tree. I was able to photograph its flight though I was not able to capture the exact moment when it snatched away its breakfast.

This is the snap that I was able to take prior to its dive. A collected bird waiting for its moment to take the plunge. And then the next moment, it was off!

And before I knew, it had dived into the water, grabbing its meal in what happened in a split second. I was barely able to follow it even as it was swinging back into the branch.

It had happened so fast and there I was fumbling with my camera looking for where it had gone! But then there it was, its breakfast held in its beaks.

There I was like a voyeur snapping eagerly at a bird having its breakfast. But then I guess it was to be, for I wanted to take a snap of a bird in flight, but then what I got was something better! OK, so what if I could not get the exact moment of the hunt, well, at least I got a snap of the kingfisher swallowing its breakfast.

There you have, one satisfied Kingfisher with its breakfast in its gullet, no, its stomach, and one more satisfied photographer who thought he would capture a moment of truth.

And the Spoonbill flew off no doubt to its favourite fishing ground even as I was left fuming at the time that had run out. I believe I will have to make another visit in a better light to try and capture a bird in flight. Till then, I feel I need to do with a few snaps of birds in flight!

 So for sure, Painted Storks and Egrets make a sight to see, fiddlers with lenses might grab to capture. The next time will better be, for sure, I'll be prepared be! Till then, here are a few more of those fog-dulled snaps taken that foggy morning!

But then what astounded me was what the ducks below were doing. At first sight, one might imagine it was the rudest behaviour on their part. You simply do not show you "far-side" to the lens! However, I Believe everyone has the right to express his or her opinion. Or, perhaps they were only having their breakfast, upside down thou it might be! Parental supervision (discretion) is required in the following snaps as nobody wants their children to eat food upside down!

Teachers are Human beings first and Facilitators next!

Down the years a narrative has been taking root, a narrative that is at the most a one-sided and prejudiced one. This narrative describes "safe spaces", codes of conduct and dos and do not which specifically describe how a teacher will behave in class. It sounds like a Calvinistic list of "Thou shalt not speak loudly," or "Thou shalt not use sarcasm, Thou shalt not use a harsh tone, Thou shalt not punish a student"....the list goes on and on. One wonders looking at all these instruction if teachers were not human being themselves! If one were to look at the statistics of infractions taking place in class involving students and teachers, one will realise in fact that the number of cases where the teacher or educator was harmed is greater than the number of students really hurt by the teacher's well-meaning sarcasm. Most of the cases where teachers have been harmed by indisciplined and aggressive students are not however reported as schools prefer not to take action against the students since the fee paid by students forms the bread and butter for those schools.
Besides, teaching in class teachers do a lot of things. They connect with their students out of class while organising various events such as class assemblies, excursions or expeditions, annual day functions and it is in these moments that their human side is often revealed. The true relationship between students and teachers emerges during these out of class moments. And yet, things happen that sour relations between students and their teachers. Often, students don't realise that what they are doing is wrong. Often it is a matter of not getting enough attention from their teacher. Unfortunately, it is not possible to ignore the rest of the class! 

Teachers are human beings first and foremost, and it is this human character that makes them as vulnerable to bullying and toxicity by students as their students are! Cynicism and sarcasm in teachers is often a result of being subjected to harassment by their own students! Students often like to test new teachers before accepting them. Often this testing period becomes a long drawn out process often resulting in mental trauma resulting in the teacher resigning from his job in disgust. I was once advised by a mentor not to show "weakness" before students (itself ironical since on the other hand mentors advocate vulnerability in teachers as a means of displaying authenticity). My mentor went on to advise a group of teachers in a professional development session not to show fear when heckled by students because according to her, they, the students could smell the fear in the sweat! Kaye Ma'am, you know what this is all about if you are reading this! It is unfortunate that we can't equip most teachers with skills that will help them tide over the acid test they are subjected to by a bunch of high energy kids who do not alas, know when enough is enough and when to draw lines! The only solution probably is to reinforce the ATLs. and BTLs that we stick on the display boards in class.

Ironically enough it is the narrative and the culture that we spread around of teachers ill-treating student rather than students heckling teachers that is doing the greatest harm to the rather sensitive and almost tender relationship that exists between a teacher and his students. Have we forgotten  E.R. Braithwaite, or even Booker T. Washington and their experiences? An atmosphere of sensitivity, genuine love and respect can exist only when both students and teachers feel "safe" in each other's presence! One can never benefit by promoting a culture of mistrust for teachers by describing painful experiences one might have faced at the hands of 'some teachers' one might have come across during one's own childhood. For every cynical and sarcastic teacher, one would have come across three or four who were concerned and showed empathy! If one could only adopt a more positive attitude, one should also accept that life if not a cakewalk and that struggles in life are a reality, even if it meant being targetted by a sarcastic teacher in one's formative years.

On the flip side, there is another narrative that is rarely heard because of the hush-hush treatment it is given. A Maths teacher was so badly bullied by a bunch of spoiled brats that she threw down her eyeglasses on the teacher's table and sat down to weep. The students simply would not listen to her. Another teacher and English teacher became that target of bullying, a dare to see if the students could not make him leave the school. At first, they heckled him, made fun of him and then one day a student who was ticked off by the said teacher threatened to jump out of the window. The student had made fun of the teacher's pronunciation and the teacher had ticked him off! The said teacher was so traumatised that he left the school probably hating the teaching profession itself. In another case, a teacher in a well-known school in Gurgaon was cyber-bullied by one of her own students. Her own daughter became a victim of the fallout. What happened to the case? Well, the teacher resigned and the case fizzled out. This in itself would have sent a wrong message to the student community itself. These incidents are proof that teachers are vulnerable and that it is high time that we realised that teachers too need safe spaces!
If classrooms are allowed to become battlefields, teachers come and go, if toxicity is allowed to grow, if we promote a culture of mistrust, if we turn a blind eye to the trauma faced by young teachers, then it is clear that the malaise lies within the society itself. One of the major reasons for teacher attrition rates is the fact that teachers often feel unsafe while doing their job. A sense of detachment, a lack of warmth, a lack of love and affection, a sense of hostility in the classroom might turn the whole teacher-student relationship into a vicious tussle from which there is no escape. While teachers are expected to wear a smile on their faces at all times, they are expected to greet their students whenever they see them, this, however, is not expected from those very students who race past the corridors without even a 'Hi' or perhaps even a nod. Students don't seem, rather sadly, to be interested in modelling themselves after their teachers who greet them with smiles. Something seems to be very wrong in this rather ill-balanced expectation from teachers.
Teachers are human beings too, and they have their lows. They feel drained out by the end of the day. They have their moments of vulnerability. And it is during these moments that they are most likely to go off kilter and perhaps even shout at one another if not at their students. But then how do you convey to students that their teacher is feeling low and does not feel like arguing? Or is a moment eagerly awaited, to throw a pen or a piece of chalk at that 'teacher'? Schools need to protect their teachers as well as their students. Schools need to create safe spaces not only for their students but also for their teachers too. Schools need to develop a culture, an environment of respect, inclusion, honesty, sincerity and trust.

We've known about Experiential Learning since Ancient Times in India!

Surprising but true, we have been into experiential learning ever since students had Gurus and they went to Gurukuls in India! In more recent times when I was doing my B.Ed. from C.I.E, Delhi University, Basic Education was the rage! Basic Education was a concept based on the Gandhian Philosophy of Education. According to his Philosophy, the learner had to learn skills that would help him or her take up in life to earn a living! During the early nineties, while doing our B.Ed. we had to make a choice between woodwork, metalwork, and many other socially useful product skills. I ended up taking woodwork and worked on lathes and with saws. I ended up making a candle stand. Those who took up metalwork ended up making many fanciful items some of them as abstract as modernist art can be. 

While one might review such memories with a degree of lightness, one cannot, however, ignore the impact of experiential learning. A lot of experience went into the making of candle-stands, or ever a sculpture to for Zeus! Besides being anchored in experiential learning, the concept of Basic Education created a culture of the dignity of labour in all those who were pursuing their B.Ed. Programme from the Central Institute of Education. Every candidate had to take up a socially useful productive skill and achieve some level of mastery in it.

Socially Useful Productive Work refers to Vocational Education Activities including knitting, sewing, woodwork, gardening, painting, and cooking besides a few more other options. The courses mandatory in schools under the CISCE and ISC Board are optional in schools under the CBSE Board. The learning of SUPW subjects is experiential in nature and most of these skills are learnt through modelling, hands-on experience and learning by doing, Experiential Learning or E.L. in short! This brings me to what has been happening in the Gurukuls down the ages. The Guru-Shishya or the Teacher-Student relationship was based on experiential learning. The Guru did not lecture or dictate answers to his students, rather, he made them 'experience' the answer. Students in the Gurukuls of Ancient India learned through experience, expeditions and other hands-on activities. The Wikipedia entry for "Gurukala" reads:

 "In a gurukula, the students living together are considered as equals,^[5] irrespective of their social standing.^[3][5] They learn from the guru and help the guru in his everyday life, including carrying out of mundane daily household chores. However, some scholars suggest that the activities are not mundane and very essential part of the education to inculcate self-discipline among students.^[6] Typically, a guru does not receive or accept any fees from the shishya studying with him as the relationship between a guru and the shishya is considered very sacred.^{[7]"-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurukula}

Somehow, one might view the look at a modern-day boarding school as being somewhat like a Gurukul where the student lived away from home and he or she had to do things himself or herself. Japan has a similar system of education based on a live in student apprentice who trains under a master. The system termed as 'Uch-deshi' allows for the grooming of the pupil in martial arts. So then for Asian countries like India and Japan, the concept of Experiential Learning or E.L. is not an alien concept. The people of India and Japan, and perhaps even China have been exposed to the concept of Experiential Learning since ancient times. Further research is required to determine how "Experiential" education was in Ancient India, and further, identify the principles that made education in Ancient India "Experiential".
However to claim that it was only Gurus of ancient time who were aware of the concept of E.L. pedagogy would be wrong, especially, since Mahatma Gandhi in the first quarter of the twentieth century advocated E.L. pedagogy for India. I have listed below some of Gandhi's principles of education that have very strong "Experiential" basis.

Gandhi believed that the notion of education through handicrafts rises from the contemplation of truth and love that permeates through life's activities. It is clear that he wanted the student to learn from his or her experiences and that the learning should be connected with the very act of living. He further believed that persistent questioning and healthy inquisitiveness, (both very strong elements of E.L. Pedagogy) were the first requisite for acquiring learning of any kind. A curiosity of a healthy kind is important for learning to take place. Experiential Learning assumes that learning in students takes place when they want to know more! Gandhi further stated that what he wanted from education was an all-round drawing out of the best in child and man, body, mind and spirit. He believed that true education had to correspond to the surrounding circumstances.-1 

"The Kothari Commission also followed Gandhi’s ideal of vocational training in education. This commission says, “We recommend that work experience should be introduced as an integral part of all India education–general or vocational. We define work experience as participation in productive work in school, in the home, in a workshop, on a farm, in a factory or in any other productive situation.”⁵ This commission re-emphasizes the Gandhian principle of learning by doing in the modern education. The main aim of education is the development of human personality. He expanded fourfold personality in the individual that is body, mind, heart and spirit. True education stimulates the spiritual, intellectual and physical strength of the individual. His view on the education of heart which brings the idea of sympathy, fellowship and deep feelings of love. The aim of education is not only to produce good individuals but also one must understand one’s own responsibilities in which one lives. It is closely related to the Hindu concept of varnashram dharma. One who understood his or her responsibilities would [arrive at] the spirit of social consciousness and social mindedness. Then, all the activities of such persons will have social content as well as co-operation to others."-2

The idea of making students learn through their experiences and by doing things has been part of our Indian culture since ancient times. The Upanishads and all our ancient texts have described how curious students were not told the answer, but made to experience it! The anecdotes associated with Budha's teachings are quite similar to the parables of Jesus. It is quite possible also that the reason why the ancient teachers of India favoured the Experiential Form of Pedagogy was that spiritualism formed an essential aspect of education in the gurukuls.













References:

1.http://www.gandhiashramsevagram.org/on-education/gandhi-views-on-education.php

2. https://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/g_edu.htm

At the Farewell

Wow, didn't know about chunkies and OK, neither was I aware of Volini for stomach ache, but then farewell was all about new learnings and looking those departing in a new light! The Farewell brought tears of sadness and tears of joy, both in balanced measure! A moment of serenity and a moment of realisation that school was finally over put all into a sombre mood, although there were smiles to cheat the mood!

But then the day was finally here and, as things happen, there they were all dressed in their Sunday best, those we had taught in new attire, looking quite different and well, you quite reassured at that! The little children that I had taught were finally not little any more!

Surely, I'll remember those essays on life skills, and hope he'll keep writing, for writing is the best way for focussing your thoughts!

Hope the classes were fun, and yes that trip to Israel, well perhaps another trip would be forthcoming?

Both students of mine, yet how so different, hope you share notes though and have a great time doing the paper, probably sitting in the same room?

A selfie won't be wrong, no probs, the phone will not be confiscated. Hope you cherish your memories of school, till we meet again!

OK, so you got the phone back, it would be great fun to see all those entrepreneurial skills being put to good use!

Right, so we were all there to welcome you and greet you, hope you remember the joyful times we shared and yes I was there too, how could I not be there!

Thanks, Ansh for the lovely snaps,  CLICK  was there! Next year it will be your Farewell!

And lest the memories do fade away before the sands of time, we'll capture them for posterity, so that they would one day bring a smile to the faces of those who deign to return to those memories of life at school. Wishing you all the very best in life, may you succeed and achieve your dreams!