Training Talent

The National Talent Search Exam(NTSE),to those unaware,is an annual exam conducted by the NCERT for class 10 students.This year on,the exam will be conducted for class 8 students.The exam is held in three phases,first there is a state level selection and then the national level written exam.Those who crack these exams go on to the interview level...and what happens to those who make it through the last and final stage you ask?They will be eligible for a scholarship throughout their academic courses,subject to certain conditions.Testing area include scholastic aptitude and GMAT

Right,now you erudite mortals can peruse the rest of the post.

I got through the state level of the afore mentioned exam and was therefore selected for the national level written exam.Having gotten through the first level without any coaching,I was planning on the same approach for the nationals as well.
All my friends laughed at me.Having been coached at the state level itself,they warned me against traversing my 'road to perdition' as they saw it.Stubborn me refused the comforts of a stuffy coaching center where I'd be blessed with 'talent' from 9 in the morning to 5 in the evening simply because I wanted to stay at home and enjoy a well deserved break after my Board exams.Blasphemy on my part I was told impertinently.

The DSERT,an education wing of the Karnataka state government organised a one week 'orientation camp' before the big finals for those selected from their state(which included me)in Bangalore(To the politically correct:Bangalore was not yet Bengaluru back then).This camp was very much like the coaching centres across Bangalore and Mysore,why they even got the teachers from these coaching centres to come and train us.

Where am I getting with all of this you ask?Well,you see I really have a problem with all of these coaching centres.The exam is meant to find talent.A kid who's trained to crack a problem,and do it with speed is labelled as someone 'talented'. Another kid who's actually intelligent and is capable of thinking differently is not noticed simply because he/she could not crack the paper on time albeit indipendantly is not 'talented'.If this is the end result,then what is the purpose of conducting such exams?
Talent in this context of course is purely in the scholastic sense.

A math teacher would walk in one day and teach us how to solve problems on algebra and then a Biology teacher would come in and teach us something about duodenums et al.I blissfully slept through all these classes meant to train us to be talented.Come on,I was hardly on par with all those kids in class who had over a months' training.They were definitely more talented than I weren't they?

As you might have guessed,I didn't make it through the nationals.I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have made it even if I were taught to be talented.But my heart goes out to those smart kids who are truly talented but couldn't make it for, they had no tricks up their sleeves and more so to all those kids from rural India who made it through the state exams on their own merit but can't hope to fund their further education.

If only true talent and independent efforts were recognised and lauded,I think we would have more Sarabhais,Ramans and Boses.And fewer parrots in the upper echleons of academia.

Something Strange

Blank.
My mind is blank.
Had a math test today and don't want to talk about it.
Hated my accountancy class,as always.
Economics..ah the lovely subject, reduced to sermons and homilies,again.
History saved the day...I enjoy this one class in school and this one class alone.
After a day of abject boredom,my mind is numb.Sure I could have used the time in school to dream a little dream,think a little thought...I generally do.Today, something held me back from doing this ...something.

I hate it when I feel blank.My mind can't process a thing.And then I get this feeling in my head where I can feel the vacuum,see that nothing fits anywhere,nothing makes sense.Try as I might,I can't remember the capital of Tazakistan,can't enjoy the sunset,can't remember that lovely tune I was humming to myself yesterday.

It always amazes me how I can get bored while there's so much to discover...As for that something,I was hoping I'd figure that out by the end of this post.And figured out I have.
That something is actually many things...And I blissfully sign off,knowing what's bothered me. All in a matter of a few key strokes!

A wound oh, miserable woes.

Some words,

A thought,and then another.

A smile,some solace

And then, a spark.

Ah ,so we meet at last

I meet myself...a stranger.

As trepid as I and just as lost

As guarded as I,withdrawn...alone.

He tells me just as much.

I tell him otherwise;

I tell him I'm unafraid,unguarded,driven...

He cuts me short,for he knows me.

Knows me as he knows himself,

Knows me more than I know myself.

And then I realise...we're no strangers, him and I

I've known him always

Just never gave him much thought.

But now, I fell in love with him.

And together,we've learnt,unlearnt,relearnt.

Passionately,patiently we've fought.

He's relented,I've relented more.

Words heal wounds,

Thoughts heal thoughts.

My love and I are healing.

Yes,healing beautifully.