INDIAN WOMAN EDUCATIONIST

 Savitribai Phule

The Life Of India's First Woman Teacher And A Fierce Feminist Icon:

Known as modern India’s first female teacher, Savitribai Phule was an exponent of female education, equality and justice who took on the caste system with her revolutionary ideals and strived to dismantle the elite-controlled education system.

January 3, 2023, marks the 192nd birth anniversary of the trailblazing leader, whose individual contribution and identity in the field of education and liberation needs to be echoed by and by.

Who is Savitribai Phule?

Born in Naigaon village of Maharashtra’s Satara district on January 3, 1831, to Khandoji Nevse and Lakshmi, Savitribai went on to become an educator, a challenger to caste hierarchies and barriers, and a writer.

She was a Dalit woman belonging to the Mali community. At the tender age of 10, she was married to 12-year-old Jyotirao Phule, a man of social reform himself, who believed that women must be educated. He began to home-school Savitribai. 

Later, Jyotirao admitted Savitribai to a teacher’s training institution in Pune and in 1848 the couple went to establish the first-ever school for girls in Bhidewada of which Savitribai was the headmistress. 

At a time when female education was an alien concept in society, Savitribai and Jyotirao’s contribution to breaking social barriers in society laid the path to women’s emancipation. 

 

Savitribai’s work received many backlashes: 

In an essay titled “The Stuff Legends are Made of” published in the book “A Forgotten Liberator”, author Cynthia Stephen writes, “The young couple faced severe opposition from almost all sections. Savitribai was subject to intense harassment every day as she walked to the school. Stones, mud and dirt were flung at her as she passed.”

Savitribai began teaching girls alongside Sagunabai Kshirsagar, who was a revolutionary feminist as well as a mentor to Jyotirao. In no time, the Phules were running three different schools by the end of 1851.

Her journey was not an easy one. It is said she was pelted stoned and cow dung was thrown at her on her way to school by upper-caste men. But that never jilted her spirit. Savitribai carried two saris to school and she simply changed her soiled attire once she reached her school premise.

One report from 1852 in The Poona Observer states, “The number of girl students in Jotirao’s school is ten times more than the number of boys studying in the government schools. This is because the system for teaching girls is far superior to what is available for boys in government schools… If the Government Education Board does not do something about this soon, seeing these women outshine the men will make us hang our heads in shame.”

However, in 1839, Jyotirao's father asked the couple to leave his home because their work was considered a sin as per the Manusmriti and its derived Brahmanical texts. Striving through continuous resistance from the society, Savitri and Joytirao, in the 1850s, established two educational trusts that encompassed the many schools set up by them to fund the education of girls.

 

Beyond education, a social reformer: 

Savitribai started the Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha (‘Home for the Prevention of Infanticide’), a childcare centre for sexually exploited, pregnant widows and rape victims facing discrimination. She also adopted a child of a widow, Yashwantrao, who was educated to become a health expert. 

In 1852, she started the Mahila Seva Mandal to fight for the rights of women. She organised a strike against barbers in Pune and Mumbai, putting pressure on them to stop shaving the heads of Brahmin widows.

In 1873, the Phules set up the Satyashodhak Samaj (‘Truth-seekers’ society’), a platform open to all, irrespective of their caste, religion or class hierarchies, with the sole aim of bringing social equity. Further, in 1873, they started ‘Satyashodhak Marriage’, a rejection of Brahmanical rituals where the marrying couple takes a pledge to promote education and equality.

In 1868, she along with her husband set up a well in their backyard to allow people from the oppressed classes to drink water. The oppressed classes were otherwise barred from having water from the common well in the village.

Eventually, in 1852, she was declared the best teacher in the state by the British government.

When Jyotirao passed away on November 28, 1890, she defied all social reforms and carried the titve (earthen pot) and led the funeral procession. Savitribai was the one who consigned his body to the flames, a ritual which is still predominantly carried out by men.

In 1897, following the Bubonic plague, Savitribai set up a clinic in Hadapsar to attend to the victims of the plague. 

She died on March 10, 1897, in Pune, 

after she fell sick while serving those who

contracted plague during the epidemic.

Literary work:

Her first collection of poems ‘Kavya’ (Poetry’s Blossoms) was published in 1854.

 She published Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar (‘The Ocean of Pure Gems’), in 1892.

LOVE FOR THE MOTHERLAND

 Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was in jail many times during the freedom movement.

In one particular jail, the food was very bad and one day Panditji complained to the jailor about the large quantities of stones in the rice.

“What’s food to a freedom fighter?” asked the warden. “I thought you were here because you loved your land.”

“I am,” replied Panditji, “but not in order to eat it.”

JANUARY 1

 Every first January is an imaginary milestone on the journey of human life, a resting place for thought and meditation and a starting point for fresh excursion in completing our journey.

The person, who does not at least propose to himself/herself to be better this year, must be either very good or very bad.

Just to will to be better is worthwhile, even if nothing more than acknowledgement of our need to be so, is the first step towards improvement.

FORGE AHEAD

Once, a well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a two thousand rupee note.

In the room of about a hundred, he asked: “Who would like this note?”

All participants raised their hands.

He then said: “I shall give this two thousand rupee note to one of you, but first let me do this.”

He went on to badly crumple the valuable note, and asked: “Who still wants this?”

All hands were again, up in the air.

“Well”, he replied: “What if I do this?”

He crumpled it further and threw down the note on the ground.

After that he picked up the note.

It was all crumpled and dirty.

He asked, “Now who still wants this?”

Again, most hands went into the air.

“My friends”, the man explained, “You have today learned a valuable lesson. See, no matter what I did to the note, you still wanted it. This is essentially because it has not decreased in value. It is still worth a thousand rupees!”

On many occasions we are held back by the tangled web of emotional barriers like previous failures, wrong commitments, and so on.

This prevents us from being our genuine selves.

It also affects our thoughts and feelings.

In a way, we may get lost, crumpled, and grounded into the dirt because of the incorrect decisions we make, and the adverse circumstances that come our way. A feeling that we are worthless may also sometimes arise in us.

The two thousand-rupee note story can remind us of one important thing. No matter what happens, we will never lose our real value. Let each of us start our lives afresh.

Not just on the first day of January 2022, but on every single day of the year. This is because every day is a new day filled with blessings.

Each day presents us with new opportunities as well as challenges.

And we are freshly reborn into it.

As the Buddha observed, “Each morning we are born again. What we do today, is what matters most.”

Wish you a Happy New Year!

STORY OF PORCUPINES

 Putting up with imperfections

It was the coldest winter ever. 

Many animals were catching their death of cold. 

The porcupines, realising the situation, decided to group together to keep themselves warm.

In this way, they protected themselves; but the sharp quills of each one wounded its closest companion. 

After a while, they decided to distance themselves from one another. 

But being alone and freezing, they soon realised that they would not weather weather the season. 

Now they had to make a choice: either accept the pain from the quills of their companions, or die out. 

Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. 

They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions, receiving the heat that came from the others. 

In this way they were able to survive.

The above anecdote can serve as an eye-opener for us. 

We stand at the threshold of a new year. We don’t know what things, experiences and situations are going to unfold before us this year. 

Some may be pleasant and some may not. The fable of the porcupines tells us that the best relationship is not the one that brings together the perfect. 

But when we learn to tolerate the shortcomings of others, we get to benefit from their good qualities. 

This makes the relationship lasting. In this new year let us try to look at the positive side of everything. So the year would have many things to offer to us.

Wish you all a Happy and Successful New Year.

SOLAR ENERGY

 Solar Energy

The world is constantly developing and to fuel that development, we need energy. Currently, the primary types of energy we use are non-renewable, such as fossil fuels like coal. In addition to being nin-renewable, they are also detrimental to the environment as they release greenhouse gases that destroy the ozone layer. We need to find solutions to meet the needs of our continuously advancing society. One such energy that has emerged as a frontrunner in recent years is solar power. Solar power is power generated directly from sunlight. Solar power is used for heat energy or converted into electric energy.

History: Evidence from ancient civilisations that date back to the 7^th century shows that they used solar energy and glass to light fires. While this is a million miles from turning solar energy into electricity, it shows that we have long had a fascination for the sun and its power. Homes and bathhouses that were heated by solar energy were strategically placed so that the rays from the sun could heat the water or water tanks. In 1839, scientist Edmond Becquerel made significant strides in solar panel research and by 1883, the first solar cell was produced. By 1970, these inventions were used to power water heaters. By 1991, engineers began to develop silicon cells and these were soon commercialised for domestic and industrial use.

How is solar energy created?: Solar energy is converted into electricity with the help of solar panels. Each panel has a layer of silicon cells, a metal frame and a glass casing surrounded by a special film. The panels are grouped into arrays and placed on rooftops or in large outdoor spaces. The solar cells, also called photovoltaic cells, absorb sunlight during daylight hours. Each solar cell has a thin semiconductor wafer made from two silicon layers, where one layer is positively charged, the other is negatively charged and together they form an electric field. When light energy from the sun strikes a photovoltaic solar cell, it energises the cell and causes electrons to ‘come loose’ from atoms within the semiconductor wafer. Those loose electrons are set into motion by the electric field surrounding the wafer and this motion creates an electrical current. The electricity generated is called direct current or DC electricity, which is not the type that powers most homes. Fortunately, DC electricity can easily be changed into alternating current or AC electricity by an inverter.

In modern solar panels, inverters can be configured as one inverter for the entire system or as individual microinverters attached to every panel. Once the solar energy has been converted from DC to AC electricity, it runs through electrical panels and is distributed within a house or factory to power appliances and machines. Once into the system, it works the same way as the electrical power generated by an electric utility company. Since the system remains connected to the traditional power company, one can automatically draw additional electricity from the main frame to supplement shortages from the solar panels.

Applications: Solar energy has several applications. One of the most common applications is solar water heating. A solar water heating unit comprises a blackened flat plate metal collector with an associated metal tubing that faces the sun’s direction. The plate collector has a transparent glass cover above a thermal insulation layer beneath it. A pipe connects a metal tubing of the collector to an insulated tank that stores water. The collector absorbs solar radiation and transfers the heat to the water circulating through the tubing either by gravity or a pump. The next common application is solar heating of buildings, which is done by solar radiators or collectors. Solar distillation is also used in arid semi coastal areas, where potable water is scarce. The abundant sunlight in these areas is used to convert saline water into potable distilled water and then via solar pumping, the water is pumped for irrigation.

Advantages: Solar energy reduces our dependence on fossil fuels. In the long term, it is cheaper than paying for electricity. Solar panels do not require much maintenance. Jobs are created for people who install solar panels. It also provides the ability to live grid-free if power requirements are met.

Disadvantages: The initial cost of installing solar panels is quite high. Also the panels require a lot of space and on cloudy days, the same amount of energy will not be produced.

WHAT IS ALGORITHM?

 What is Algorithm?

An algorithm is a set of rules or instructions used in calculations and problem-solving operations.

Algorithm dates back to 300 BC when their inscriptions were found on Babylonian clay tablets.

They were originally marking schemes which the common people used to keep track of their cattle and stocks of grain.

The name algorithm comes from the name of Persian Mathematician Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, who wrote a book on Hindu-Arabic numerals. The Arabic work was translated into Latin as Algoritmi de numero Indorum and later into English, Concerning the Hindu art of Reckoning.

Algorithms became a significant part of mathematics, laying the foundation for the algebra of logic, variables in calculations, greatest common divisor, approximation of Pi, prime numbers etc.

The modern algorithm is a sequence of steps laid down to fulfill a particular task.

British mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing, worked out how a machine could follow algorithmic instructions and solve complex mathematical problems.

Thus began the computer age.

Now algorithms are used in all major applications in information technology, navigation (GPS), shopping, internet searches etc.

The first person to use the term ‘algorithm’ was Adelard de Bath, a 12^th century English philosopher who translated Khwarizmi’s works.