Monday 8 August 2022

A NON-LINEAR NARRATIVE STRUCTURE IN PULP FICTION BY TARANTINO

 

 Pulp Fiction,  a film by Tarantino with a nonlinear narrative structure, is a microcosm of the contemporary world that enables us to understand the complex psyche of a post-modern man who is amalgam of wit, intelligence, confusion and violence. Homage, witty dialogues, abusive language and violence adore this film and aids one to understand the moods of contemporary life. Chapters in the film help us in comprehending the main plot. Presentation of black (Jackson) indeed, as a leading character in lieu of white (Travolta) startles the audience. Furthermore, Travolta’s murder in one chapter and his unexpected emergence in the final scene enhances excitement among audience. Quoting Biblical references by Jackson and his violent action simultaneously makes us confused to make a solid opinion about him. Similarly, lock number 666 on the brief case reminds one antichrist’s arrival. In this regard,  mysterious content in the brief case like its code and its gloom makes one speechless. Meanwhile, divine intervention is felt when no bullet harm Jules and Vincent, “God came down and stopped the bullet”. Precisely, film is brimmed with deep thoughts, and its nonlinearity exposes distraction of contemporary man’s mind and promotes our thoughts to contemplate for the better future of mankind.

Wednesday 1 December 2021

MINIMALISM

Minimalism, a real source of Happiness

“The simplest things are often the truest.” -Richard Bach, 1936.



What is minimalism?

Minimalism refers to owning less possessions and adopting simplicity. It is a broad term, carries meanings differently. The contemporary era demands it and discourages consumerization that has spoiled the roots of humanity.

Less is More

            For a minimalist, less is always more. Less possession of goods provides him happiness, and inner satisfaction; makes him more focused and consistent. Accumulating more things however, is a source of discomfort and dissatisfaction in life. One becomes happy with less stuff and targets his new goals in life. Are you agree with it?

 Decluttering

            Decluttering the things makes house organized and well-managed. Cluttering the things on the other hand, provides a messy look. Keeping the essentials at your home only provide an organized and managed look. Moreover, having less stuff at home saves our energy for the utilization of more creative tasks. Precisely, it does not help in organizing the house but helps in shaping the personality of an individual as well.



It is intentionally

            Minimalism is not accidently, but intentionally; valuing few things in life, sideline the formalities and adopting simplicity, bring tranquility in the life. Promoting few things and makes the life happy with the limited resources is the core agenda of a minimalist’s life. In short, it is an intentional act which demands diving into the deep sea for simplicity and makes one more contemplative about passion and values.

Freedom from Consumerization Mania

            Craze of shopping and storing more stuff has made a contemporary person, slaves of fashions and trends. Brimming of wardrobes with the trendy attires, shoes and other items pinpoints one’s crazy attitude toward the fashion. Minimalism however, helps us to break the shackles of consumerization and makes us freedom from it to spend life simply and peacefully.


Good bye to Ostentatious Life

            Minimalism promotes simplicity and good byes to the ostentatious life style. Ads, promotions and subscriptions are catchy, adds artificial colors in life but a minimalist offences these fake colors and images. His affection with nature provides him peace of mind.

Economic Stability

            A minimalist always spends a happy and harmonious life, does not waste his life in the labyrinths of debt. Spending money on essentials makes him stable economically. His frugality discourages the glitter of advertisements and subscriptions and makes him stable financially.

Society is important

            Society is the first priority of a minimalist. Apropos, keeping harmonious relationships is the core agenda of his life. Family gathering is more important than shopping for him. Sharing good ideas with friends and families and collecting good memories with them are the source of relief and happiness. Moments in life are precious and the minimalist enjoys his moments in the recollection of sweet memories.

Minimalism provides freedom

            Minimalism is the best instrument to provide freedom from fear, worry, overwhelm, guilt, debt and trapping of consumer culture. Self furthermore, is important for a minimalist which compels him to explore himself. He breaks the unseen chains of the society and remains happy in his life. His unmasked face makes him prominent among society and is always known with his originality.

            To sum up, minimalism is the actual demand of the contemporary society because the world is entrapped with the unseen chains of inflation and consumerization. Each individual is their slave and pays heavy prices to pay off installments, loans and debts of his luxury house, car and other items. Conversely, basic goal of our life is to spend a harmonious, tranquil and joyous life rather satisfaction of the materialistic desires. Racing of material accumulation has detracted us from our real destination and make us forget the actual meanings of our life. Now, we have to lighten up its real meaning and spend a harmonious life by adopting minimalism.


Monday 12 September 2011

Recommendations for Improving Education in Pakistan

Given below are some recommendations to the government for improving education in Pakistan. The recommendations follow a brief mention of the problems they might be helpful in tackling:


Der coolste Klinglton auf Deinem handy!


I. PROBLEMS

A. Low literacy level and low standard of education
These are general problems and need no elaborate comment here.

B. Inappropriateness of curricula and pedagogy
The curricula and related pedagogy are usually inappropriate or at least inadequate for the set goals in many disciplines. Furthermore, there is no integrated system in which one step leads to the next to enable a student to develop a truly sound base for the discipline he or she is interested in. Moreover, even at the higher levels of education, there is no mechanism worth its name to help a student in gauging his or her potential or in deciding on a suitable academic career.

C. Multiplicity of educational systems
There are many systems working here, resulting in not synergy but social division and conflict. For example we have English medium schools, Urdu medium schools, and religious madrasas. Students coming out of English medium schools, especially good private sector schools, have little or no awareness of their religion and culture whereas those passing out from Urdu medium schools are usually destined to work in clerical and lower level positions. Religious madrasas churn out yet another class that are usually unaware of the world outside their own and, with their strong sectarian bias and little or no training in modern disciplines, are usually ill-equipped to interact meaningfully with the larger society and are also monumental at times in spreading sectarianism.

II. RECOMMENDATIONS

A. Declare educational emergency
The present government should declare a national educational emergency and involve the whole nation, including the army, in waging a war against illiteracy. Some steps that the government might consider taking in this regard are:

1. Declare education as the highest priority of the government. Explain that unless the impediments of illiteracy and lack of education are removed, the road to democracy will remain fraught with the danger of exploitation of the masses by the select few, and that in the absence of political will in the ruling classes to do something tangible in this arena, it seems that it is up to the army to defend the country against illiteracy and lack of education, for there is no factor more important to the well-being of a nation than human resource and no negligence worse than ignoring its development.
2. Make it mandatory for government and army officers at all levels to do stints at various educational institutions in relation to their skills and national requirements.
3. Make it a mandatory requirement for various degree programmes that the candidates, after taking their exams, shall spend a specified period of time [for specified hour(s)] in teaching at assigned institutions. (These assignments should be given in a judicious and practical manner).
4. Ask for volunteers with specified qualifications to contribute their services in their areas of work or residence under organised bodies that can be formed for this purpose by the government.
5. Ask the public to contribute financially for this purpose. Modern marketing and fund raising techniques can be adopted for this task.
6. Many government school buildings can be converted into commercial schools of good level. The government can consider offering many of these schools to private sector organisations in the field of education on the condition that a specified percentage of bright students from the lower and middle classes will be granted admission and scholarships. Tax benefits/exemptions may also be made part of the deal to encourage entrepreneurship in this area.
7. Offer tax benefits/exemptions and other such incentives to private sector groups to invest in education in rural and less developed areas.
8. Make it mandatory for each industrial unit/agricultural estate of an area above a specified limit to provide for a school within the premises/area. Alternatively, the owner can be asked to share costs with the government for setting up such school. Another option is giving various financial/tax incentives.
9. Introduce standardisation of curricula and licensing and certification of teachers to improve standards (as is done in the USA).
10. Introduce high quality selection procedure for higher level teachers and offer the candidates better incentives.
11. Use electronic media more extensively for educational purposes. A channel could be devoted to just education. In this regard,
a. teachers of high calibre can take classes for different subjects at various levels,
b. these lecturers can be telecast as well as recorded,
c. the lectures can be delivered by telecasting them or by playing recorded cassettes even in schools in far flung areas where quality education is usually not available,
d. later on computers can also be used with sufficient data banks and with internet and e-mail facilities for more interactive education, and
e. if an appropriate system is designed, more students can be taught in one school using cassettes, discs, etc. with relatively less teachers.
12. In rural areas, provide each school with at least one army man to ensure that people face no resistance from the feudals in educating their children.
13. Provide people with incentives to educate their children. This can be done in various ways. For instance
a. even lower level government jobs as for clerks, peons, constables can be linked to a minimal level of education and entrance tests.
b. various loans (e.g. agricultural loans) can be linked to whether an applicant has educated or is educating his children.
14. Link agricultural loans/tax benefits to feudal landlords with a specified number of people they have helped in obtaining a required level of education.
15. Similarly, link industrial loans to education.
16. Similar linkages can be made in relation to adult education programmes

B. Improve, update and form curricula, texts, pedagogy, and examination and evaluation techniques
There is no need to say that improvement, updating and new work needs to be done in these areas. Again, some steps that the government might consider taking are:

1. Give more importance to language education and mathematics at the primary and secondary levels. The unfortunate fact is that usually even our postgraduates lack basic skills in these areas. Language and mathematics are the foundation on which acquisition of other skills depends. Though much of the problem is due to poor teaching, yet curricula, texts, pedagogy and examination techniques also have a lot to do with the current situation.
2. Various teams of experts should be involved in performing the above mentioned task of improvement and formation.
3. Instruction in science, history and social studies should be incorporated in language teaching at the primary and secondary levels through activities and projects.
4. Computer education should also be introduced gradually right from the elementary stage in education.
5. At the proper stage, instruction in foreign languages (especially Arabic for closer cultural and economic ties with the Arab world, for curbing sectarianism and fanaticism, for greater unity in the Ummah, and for better understanding of Islam in the educated classes) and social skills (for enhancing Emotional Intelligence) should also be encouraged (Goleman,* 1996). Both these areas have gained immense importance in the wake of globalisation.
6. More emphasis should be given to the development of educational institutions for some unconventional disciplines as fashion designing, art, music and literature. There is a lot of talent in the country in this field and a great, high return international market for the products and services of skillful people in this area.
7. Similarly, a system of continual vocational training should also be introduced for workers in different fields.
8. Interesting and informative documentaries and activities should also be designed for the education of students. Similarly, institutions as museums, internet clubs, libraries, etc. should also be developed. Contributions from the public can also be sought for this purpose.
9. Various bodies of academic experts should also be formed to monitor, standardise and develop all the above mentioned programmes (1-8).

C. Eliminate multiplicity in education gradually
A uniform system of education should be introduced gradually to eradicate the problems multiplicity of systems creates as pointed out earlier. Two important things that the government should attempt in this regard are:

1. Introduce one medium of instruction. In the international environment of competition today, English has assumed unprecedented importance. Although Urdu will perhaps remain a language of our people for a long time to come, English has to be given preference if a choice is to be made (as too many languages undermine instruction in any one).
2. Religious education should be incorporated in the mainstream education. For this purpose, the most important thing is introduction of Arabic as a second language at the appropriate stage. This may not be as difficult as it seems. Some work may be required in forming the curricula and pedagogy, but the rest can be done just by including good level Arabic in Civil Services and Army entrance examinations. Similarly, good Arabic can be made a prerequisite for entrance into a number of other professions and for promotion. (For example in the judiciary it makes sense to have a judge who has a sound base in Arabic deciding about Islamic law). Demand will create its own supply, and it is expected that schools, institutions and parents will also be important contributing factors. (Other advantages of Arabic have already been pointed out; see B.5).

Every government leaves behind a legacy. May the legacy of this one be education.

Pakistan Education: Problems And Solutions Of Pakistan Education

Education is considered as the cheapest defence of a nation. But the down trodden condition of education in Pakistan bears an ample testimony of the fact that it is unable to defend its own sector. Though 62 years have been passed and 23 policies and action plans have been introduced yet the educational sector is waiting for an arrival of a saviour. The government of Pervaiz Musharraf invested heavily in education sector and that era saw a visible positive educational change in Pakistani society. Now a days, the economic situation in Pakistan is under stress and education is the worse effected sector in Pakistan. The Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan saysgAlles rund ums Büro gibts bei Viking Direkt!“The state of Pakistan shall remove illiteracy and provide free and compulsory secondary education within minimum possible period.”

In Human development Report Pakistan is placed at 136th position for having just 49.9% educated populace. The primary completion rate in Pakistan, given by Date Center of UNESCO, is 33.8% in females and 47.18% in males, which shows that people in the 6th largest country of the world are unable to get the basic education. Following are the problems of education in Pakistan. Firstly, the educational system of Pakistan is based on unequal lines. Medium of education is different in both, public and private sector. This create a sort of disparity among people, dividing them into two segments. Secondly, regional disparity is also a major cause. The schools in Balochistan(The Largest Provice Of Pakistan By Area) are not that much groomed as that of Punjab (The Largest Provice Of Pakistan By Population). In FATA, the literacy rate is deplorable constituting 29.5% in males and 3% in females. Thirdly, the ratio of gender discrimination is a cause which is projecting the primary school ratio of boys & girls which is 10:4 respectively. For the last few years there has been an increase in the growth of private schools. That not only harms the quality of education but create a gap among haves and have nots. Fourthly, the lack of technical education is a biggest flaw in the educational policy that has never been focused before. Therefore, less technical people means less . Fifthly, the allocation of funds for education are very low. It is only 1.5 to 2.0 percent of the total GDP. It should be around 7% of the total GDP. Sixthly, the teachers in government schools are not well trained. People who donot get job in any other sector, they try their luck in educational system. They are not professionally trained teachers so they are unable to train a nation. Finally, Poverty is also another factor that restrict the parents to send their children to public or private schools. So, they prefer to send their children to madressahs where education is totally free.

Recently, minister of education announced a new Education policy for that next 10 years. The interesting thing is that the previous educational policy from 1998 to 2010 is still not expired. Although it is projected to give new plans and to make more promises with the nation. It is said in this policy that all the public schools will be raised upto the level of private schools. No plan of action have been discussed, yet a notice is issued to private schools to induct government course in 5th and 8th class and these classes will bound to take board exams. This disturbed the students of private sector also.

Solutions for Educational System: Estimating the value of education, the Government should take solid steps on this issue. Implementation instead of projecting policies, should be focused on. Allocation of funds should be made easy from provinces to districts and then to educational institutes. Workshops must be arranged for teachers. Foreign states are using LSS system. This should be inducted in Pakistani schools to improve the hidden qualities of children. Technical education must be given to all the classes. The education board of Punjab have projected a plan to give tech- education to the children of industrial workers. Promotion of the primary education is the need of time. Teachers, professors and educationists should be consulted while devising any plan, syllabus or policy. The state seems to give up her responsibility and totally relying on private sector. The need of time is to bring education in its original form to masses. Burdening a students with so much books will not work as he will not understand what the world is going to do next moment. Education is the only cure of the destability in the state and can bring revolution through evolution, by eradicating the social evils. This is how to remove illiteracy in Pakistan.