Tag: service to mankind

An entire class wins laurels. How?

This week, India was in the news for all the wrong reasons. Why?

Let’s not talk about the reason, which is political. Let’s talk about one which is academic.

Yes, the NEET enthusiasts in the country have suffered a jolt when the results for 2024 showed 67 students scored full marks (720/720).

Many students have got marks, which is absolutely improbable. The authority – NTA – who is conducting the exams claim those were grace marks awarded. 

Questionable as the case is in court now.

In one centre, eight students were awarded full marks. The centre is in the state of Haryana, India.

Eight scoring full marks is a rare instance and that brings to memory what happened at the University of Chicago back in 1930.

The Nobel laureate Dr. Chandrasekhar – a Tamil and a proud Indian – was a passionate teacher. He was professor of astrophysics. 

While he was in the USA, he wanted to teach the subject to aspiring students, but he, unfortunately, had only two students in his class. And the venue was located too far away too. About 100 kilometers he had to travel every day to teach the pair.

He was undeterred though.

For this very reason, the professor was laughed at by his colleagues on the Chicago campus. All advised him to drop the idea. Many ridiculed him for traveling 100KM each day to teach. So embarrassing.

But the professor had seen a greater opportunity in the negativity.  

He thought a small class would give him an ample atmosphere for teaching the subject well and spend a good amount of time for discussion, if any. The class went ahead as planned.

As the professor, Dr. Chandrasekhar envisaged the class consisting of T.D. Lee and C.N. Yang went on to win a Nobel each for Physics in 1957. 

That’s not the end of the story. 

Dr. Chandrasekhar himself got the Nobel Prize in 1983. 

Thus, the world witnessed one of the rarest instances in history, where an entire class, including the teacher, has bagged a Nobel.

A proud moment in academic history! 

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Hope Dr. Chandrasekhar wasn’t the inspiration behind the story of eight NEET students winning big in a single exam centre in Haryana. 

Be a Volunteer! Every Little Helps!

How would you improve your community?

Become a volunteer!

Be the change yourself, to bring about a change in our society, as the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi in India famously said. 

Help your community. Be part of their most cherished common goals. That should give one a fulfilled life.

You may be a parent, an uncle or an aunt, a caring brother, a teacher, a retired engineer or a scientist, but how much you helped your community should always count in the end.

I have been a volunteer all through my life.

I was just 15 when I volunteered first as a sports organizer in my native village. Served in college as a member of the National Social Service. Conducted various training camps for students who chose journalism as a career. I served as parent volunteer at my son’s school in London. 

I am still a volunteer. I’m proud to serve my community in Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.

‘Every Little Helps’. Helping others is how humanity survives. 

Man is a social animal as said by Aristotle. We find our strength in numbers. Give your big hands, please.

As office-bearers in our society, we serve people. We serve them free. This is a voluntary job which I love to do. 

The year was 2004, the Tsunami struck in Chennai. An Earthquake off the Indian Ocean near an island in Indonesia caused havoc. Over 600 dead. That includes many children.

Without the volunteers’ help, many would have suffered. People took shelter in huge community halls, thanks to timely help from volunteers.

The same was the case in 2015 when it rained in buckets. Volunteers pitched in and saved the community.

Those two huge disasters have shown how people conduct themselves in times of emergency.

Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs (1968) was the first book on astrology to figure on the New York Times bestseller list. She read what was the collective thought in a community and that catapulted her to success.

Dale Carnagey was his original name. But seeing a sell-out crowd for his lecture at Carnegie Hall in 1916, he changed his name to Carnegie, after the steel merchant Andrew Carnegie. Such was the impact a community gathering could have.

Ryan Kaji was only eight when he started a channel on YouTube. His Ryan’s World now has about 35 million subscribers. All he does is do reviews of toys.

Mahatma Gandhi found a purpose in life and a nation of a billion just followed him. 

Have a purpose. The community will follow you. 

Be a volunteer. Be the change. And bring the change.