We Are Not Machines - A Poem

 

We are not machines, we love to 
Watch the sun set in the sky,
Blazing in all his glory,
Before the day ends.

We love to pause a while, to
Sip on a cuppa tea and just
Watch the world rush by in
All its madness!

We are not machines, we love to

Watch  pets doze, slack-mouthed,

Not caring about future plans,

Timelines and targets.

We love to pause a while to

Dream of flying in the sky,

Watching the world grow grow

Smaller and smaller!

We are not machines, we want to

Live our lives, to dream and aspire,

We like to  pause and wait even as

The mad world rushes by.

We love to gossip and chat, to

Joke with friends and foe in the

Corridors, even as others rush by

So what if we're a minute late?

We are not machines, we're vulnerable to

Stress and breakdown, we need our

Moments of rest to laze and doze,

While the world rushes by!

We love to watch flowers, to

See them sway in the morning breeze,

An epiphany of spirituality and joy,

So what if we get late to work.

We are not machines, we love to

Take breaks and pauses, we like shifting

Gears, we love change and thrills,

So let the world snare itself!

 

Simulacrum-A Poem

First, we laughed at those in masks,

Only to wear them ourselves! A cough sent us running for cover,

Fearing droplets of plague. And then it struck - young and old, healthy

And weak alike!

 

We squabbled for Oxygen to breathe,

Figured out saturation levels and learned of what the virus could

Do, that a deadly blow had dealt. A great leveler it was, that brought down the rich

And poor.

Many left before time, still in their prime, hearty

Souls full of life, crashing to the ground without a whimper. Grim 

Tales of sadness and grief not seen in a world so advanced! A world alas, ruled by

Arrogance.

 

After a  year we thought we were done. Alas! With

Vengeance it returned, rearing an ugly head, Reaper with his scythe,

Gathering a rich harvest! First those we knew less, and then those we cherished and loved

Drawing tears.

 

Joyful reunions turn into grief, smiles into grimaces. We

Grapple with emotions of shock and despair, remember those we 

Celebrated happy moments with. Lives end up in a mad search for Oxygen and

Vaccinations.

 

Our homes are adorned with cylinders and gadgets, 

Prizes of a year gone by. Those who survive wake up to a world,

Bleak, bereft of loved ones, grim reminder of our frailty! Now only memories remain of

The world that was.

 

It has been more than a year of staring at flickering screens

Virtual worlds, simulations of places and faces trying to figure out 

Reality. We have lost our touch, and voices that pour of speakers sound tinny and disjointed-

Buffering!

 

We live in a fantasy world of pixels and bytes, knowing not

Differences between simulation and reality! The reel has become real

And the real has become a reel even as we try to grapple with the reality of our lives,

Simulacrums.

 

Arrogance and ignorance, greatest faults, we paid a

Price for. If only we had prepared for it better, these cries of pain and

moments of mourning would not have drowned the cheerful sounds of celebrations and

Reunions!

 

 

 

Protaetia Alboguttata Beetles Spotted in Gurugram

The rainy season brings with it many surprises, some exciting and some, well not so, especially when it comes to getting drenched. While last year the rains brought in hordes of bees of all kinds, this year it was a number of greenish-blue metallic beetles with white/cream coloured spots on their bodies. After doing some research I came to understand that these beetles might be the Protaetia Niveoguttata beetles but then later was informed by Dr. Saraswat a well known Scientist that these were more likely Protaetia Alboguttata Beetles While most of the information was rather scarce and focused on sightings made in Thailand, other information speculated on this beetle's relationship with the Scarab beetle.

While I would leave all the speculation to the experts, I will nevertheless gloat about how I used a 40mm prime lens to capture these exotic beetles, that too without a tripod. The Canon pancake 40 mm STM lens does not have image stabilization and so taking macro shots becomes a task indeed. Fortunately for me, the prime lens I used for these snaps is a fast enough f-2.8 lens allowing me to take hand-held snaps with a fast enough shutter speed!

I mostly shoot in the RAW format but this time I shot JPEGs as I was not very sure I needed high resolution shots. Incidentally I used an older camera, a Canon 1300D for these snaps. The results when they came out happened to be better than expected. These snaps were taking in morning in my front yard which has abundant greenery for insects to thrive on. It was indeed a change from having to photograph birds in flight, having stuff to photograph without having to travel to the nearest wetland.

Somehow, it makes me wonder why there is so little data about this particular beetle, especially as I have noticed an abundant number of these beetles in Gurugram, the city where I live. I have reason to believe that the Protaetia Alboguttata Beetles are commonly found all over India, especially the North.

A dorsal view of the beetle photographed by me suggests that the beetle in the above photographs is the Proataetia albogutata beetle. It was a challenge to take a dorsal photograph of the beetle as it was constantly on the move.

The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Teaching in Schools

If there is one thing that the Covid-19 Pandemic has taught all school teachers, it is to prepare for the unexpected. But, if perhaps, one were to analyse its impact on teaching, one would realise that the focus has shifted almost entirely from subject competence to IT competence. The shift from physical teaching to online teaching has forced teachers to adapt to new learning platforms, LMS modules, ERP platforms and various other third-party solutions. 

While most operating systems provide good enough platforms for online learning, some of the more discerning schools like to explore various other tailormade applications software that requires constant upskilling in teachers. The demand on teachers to constantly upskill themselves to use newer application software to run their online classes has added to their stress levels.

An unfortunate impact of the pressure to learn to use newer application software has resulted in teachers now focussing more on IT skills than on their subject matter. The same is true for students who are forced to keep adapting to newer software applications has added to their anxiety levels. It is surprising that some of the software applications meant to help run online classes are not compatible with smartphones. In a world that is steadily moving away from desktop and laptop computers in favour of smartphones, this comes as a big surprise indeed.

A large number of the third-party software solutions being offered for the conduct of online classes are, unfortunately, beta versions, still in their trial phase. When new software applications are launched in schools they often end up causing more chaos and confusion than one might expect. Often, addressing the problems thrown up by such software applications takes a lot of time, forcing teachers to spend more time on polishing their IT skill thus taking away from the time that could have been spent on developing lesson plans and other materials.

In a twist of fate, teachers today are spending more time as data entry operators than as actual teachers. The roles of IT experts and Subject experts have merged so much that one wonders if subject teachers have not become less attentive to the subject areas they had been appointed for.

The unfortunate fact is that most teachers are left grappling with new software solutions each month which leaves them perplexed and confused. One wonders if the expectations from teachers is more about their IT skills or their expertise in their subject areas. If teaching is only about IT skills, then I guess there is no reason to work on subject areas. The world is skewed in its perception of what makes a good teacher. It is high time we needed to reflect on the minimum basic skills to cater to the industry. While no doubt basic IT skills are a requirement of the teaching industry, it is equally important to understand that most teachers, while adept in their subject areas might not be skilled enough in handling the expectations required to constantly upskill themselves as IT experts.

It is a fallacy to expect all good teachers to be experts in IT solutions for the very fact that their expertise differs in terms of their subject areas. It is unfortunate for IT experts to impose their suggestions on all teachers believing that they will be able to use their innate skills in the use of third party software solutions. The least that school heads can do is to give teachers at least a year to switch over to a new E-Learning platform. Not all teachers are IT experts and not all IT experts are teachers.

What we need to ask ourselves is whether we want teachers who are experts in their subject areas or teachers who are mediocre in their subject areas but are skilled in using information technology. Teachers today are challenged by the demands of the day. Expertise in IT skills cannot, however, replace teachers who are purportedly experts in their subject areas.

We cannot and should not allow teachers and students to act as guinea pigs for each software solution that needs to be tested. Good teachers who are experts in their fields need to be given time to adjust to the learning platforms that have been offered to them. Too many changes in the use of new learning platforms or IT solutions will only add to a sense of confusion.

Administrators in all educational institutions should not impose too many demands on their teachers to keep adopting new IT platforms even before they have become used to the existing ones. Too many changes in the learning IT platforms can only add to the confusion in the system of education that exists today.

We need to draw a line between what we believe to be good teachers and what we believe to be IT experts. We cannot expect all teachers to have superior IT skills and yet be experts in their subject areas. IT experts keep introducing new IT platforms in a span of a few months and what they don;t realise is that it takes a lot of time and mental skills to keep adapting to new IT platforms.

Three tips for Photographing Dragonflies in Flight

One of the greatest joys in wildlife macro photography is that of photographing insects in flight. Dragonflies and butterflies make for interesting subjects to photograph. While no doubt it is easier to photograph them while they are still, perched on a twig or a leaf, it is however a very difficult task photographing these insects while they are on the move! 

The greatest challenge lies in tracking Dragonflies and Butterflies while they flying around. In most cases, you need to sort of predict their flight patterns. The narrow field of vision of a zoom lens (as opposed to a wide-angle lens) will restrict the amount of area you can see through the lens. In any case, you would need a zoom lens to photograph moving insects. I use a 55-250 mm and a 70-300 mm lens to do this.

The second greatest challenge is, of course, the amount of ambient light. An excess of light will give you washed out photographs while too little light will give you rather dark ones. The best time, for me to photograph these flying insects is usually in the mornings from 7:30 a.m. to about 9:00 a.m. My favourite shutter speed setting would be anything above 1/2000th of a second and above till about 1/4000th of a second. I generally prefer an ISO setting of 400 to 800 and an f-stop number varying from f-6.3 to f-8. A zoom lens with a focal length varying from 200mm to 300mm should work fine.

The third greatest challenge while photographing flying Dragonflies and Butterflies lies in getting the focus right. I prefer the centre focusing zone out of all the focusing zones. I often use a mix of manual focussing and autofocusing zones. Since these are particularly small insects, compared to birds, it is always a good idea to have solid backdrop to the subjects you are photographing. Having a solid backdrop helps you focus on the insects. By backdrop I mean, probably having a thick screen of reeds or other thick vegetation will help your camera focus better on the Dragonfly. Similarly, it is a good idea to pre-focus on an object that you deem will be closest to the Dragonfly's flight path and then switch over to manual focus to fine-tune the sharpness. In some cases, if the dragonfly is flying too fast, then I try to focus on a leaf or twig closest to the insect's flight path.