39. Requirement from Party Politics Department

Letter from a faculty member of the Party Politics course to the principal.

To

The Principal,

NILS,

Branch – 42.

Dated: 31.07.2018

Subject: Subscription of newspapers

Dear Sir,

As a part of the curriculum, I am planning to engage the course participants into a real life observational activity. During this activity the participants will be monitoring certain political events in newspapers over a period of one month. This will help them in understanding how political actions unfold over time.

Regular class discussions and analyses of their observations is an integral part of the exercise.

Keeping the above in view, I request you to kindly subscribe to one national and one regional newspaper for the Institute for the coming month of August.

Thanking you,

Your sincerely,

38. Know Your Negative Colleagues

From The Boy Who Got Promoted by Dhruv Rao (Suggested Reading, Office Dynamics, Paper I – Work Environment and Colleagues)

“Some people are negative by birth, some by choice.

You might think that your office has a particular strength to attract all sorts of negative people, but trust me, it is the same everywhere.

Also, those all sorts of negative people are not as random as they seem like. Like most things in life, you can see a pattern in them. 

There are certain broad categories, like explained below.

Constructive Negatives

These people are extremely critical about everything but at the same time very good at what they do themselves. They know they are good and others are below par.

You can actually learn things from such people if you have the ability to ward off insults. But if you do not have a sufficiently thick hide, learnt stuff elsewhere.

Good-for-nothing Negatives

These people are also very negative but unlike the above, they are sloppy at what they do. There is almost invariably some reason why such a person still gets to keep the job. This reason can be anything from being the director’s cousine to knowing company secrets.

Try to find this reason and act accordingly.

Lying Negatives

These people live comfortable and affluent lives but never accept that in public. They keep talking about how horrible everything is and how much they have to struggle while others just sit back and enjoy life.

Avoid them. Nothing good can ever come off such people.

Depressed Negatives

They are depressed because they could not achieve. They could not achieve because somebody else pipped them at the rat race.

These people have learnt serious lessons of life and you can get some useful advice from them. But only if you are willing to hear them drone on for hours.

Insecure Negatives

As the name suggests, they hate people because they think everybody is a threat.

You cannot change people’s perceptions. If you are a threat, good for you.

Fault-seeking Negatives

It is their hobby, bread and butter to find faults in people. These guys will never change.

Everybody has some faults and you are no exception. Go chat with them if you want to find yours. It might actually help you improve yourself. But make sure you do not spend longer than necessary. Or the poison will get to you.”

37. A Day of Politics

Class activities (Party Politics, Paper IV – Ideology, Blindness and Rightiousness; Applied Session)

The following is an account of the day at the Party Politics course at NILS. The class starts at 3 pm and ends at 8:30 pm with a break for thirty minutes.

3 pm:

The students are learning about American capitalism, British imperialism and Soviet socialism.

3:30 pm:

Students are working in three groups. They are reading articles online and jotting down positive and negative aspects of the above mentioned systems.

4 pm:

The students are constructing defensive arguments against the negative aspects.

4.30 pm:

The students are still working in three groups. They are busy writing political speeches on bahalf of all three systems. The speeches exaggerate the positives and downplay or disclaim the negatives.

5 pm:

BREAK

5:30 – 8:30 pm (Applied Session):

The teacher discusses with the students how politics is often more about suggesting that ‘they’ are wrong than asserting that ‘we’ are right.

The students are asked to prepare for a debate session. The class is divided again in three groups. One group becomes the representative for Donald Trump, the second one represent Queen Victoria and the third one Joseph Stalin.

During the debate each group tries to establish the absolute supremacy and correctness of their leader and the respective political system.

The debate ends a little after 8:40 pm. Queen Victoria’s British Empire emerges as the winner.

36. 10 Tricks to Look Attentive

In class (Office Dynamics, Paper III – Working in Team)

The teacher: “Team meetings are boring but unavoidable. Most of these meetings are quite unproductive except for the last five minutes, and yet you have to sit through them for hours.

“The important thing is to look attentive.

“That does not mean you have to pay attention. You just need to follow some simple guidelines to appear interested and involved while spending the most of the time daydreaming.

“Here are ten useful tricks.”

On the board

(Do the following intermittently, e.g. Once every five minutes or so)

1. Nod and scribble some nonsense on your notepad. Use a lot of symbols and abbreviations. Then lean back thoughtfully. Repeat after five minutes. Nod, note, lean back.

2. Say, “Good idea, but we need to think this through.”

3. Furrow your brows and look intently at the speaker.

4. Suddenly lean forward and look for some old notes in your notepad. Then lean back again.

5. Shake your head slowly with a skeptical smile.

6. Ask, “Can you pass me the water?”

7. When you suddenly realize that everyone is agreeing to some proposal, do not ask anything, but look unconvinced. If asked, say, “I am not that sure. Anyway, let’s give it a try.”

8. If instead of the above you wake up to find everybody rejecting a proposal, say, “Let us not rush to conclusions.”

9. Say suddenly, “But isn’t that…”. Then stop and say, “Ummm…no sorry.”

10. Say, “But we need to think about the deadline too.”

“Keep using the above at 3-5 minutes intervals and you should be able to do just fine.”

35. Down the Corridors of NILS

Time: 7:30 pm, Venue: National Institute of Life Skills (NILS)

Ground Floor

All doors are closed.

First Floor

In the Social Media Usage class in Room 1, the students are learning how to find information about people from their online activities. One student has volunteered to offer his profiles for studying and others are noting down possible facts about his life from his photos, shares, tweets, subscribed links etc.

In the Common Room opposite to Room 1, two electricians are fixing a fan.

In Room 2 the class for Party Politics course is going on. The second paper deals with elections and the students are learning to make promises as election campaigns. They are all busy writing a campaign speech for a fictional constituency described by the teacher.

Second Floor

Family Management course is going on in Room 3. The students are learning about ways to find information about the ex-lover of a newlywed husband or wife.

In Room 5, the students are writing a test.

In Room 7, the students are sorting their friends, family and acquaintances as per priority. They are working with a table with five columns. Each column is indicated by stars, the first one with one star and the last one with five.

34. Atomic to Cellular

Class lecture (Family Management, Paper I – Joint and Nuclear Family)

“And now let us look at the name nuclear family. Do you know what nuclear means here?

“Yes, right, it comes from nucleus.

“Where do we find a nucleus? Yes, very good, in an atom. But is that all?

“Also in a cell, right. Now, please note this down. The nucleus of nuclear family used to refer to an atomic nucleus earlier, but according to recent studies it refers more to a cellular nucleus.”

(On the board)

CELLULAR NUCLEUS

ATOMIC NUCLEUS

                                                                                                                            

                                                              

 Before (till 2010)                                        Now (after 2010)

“You must be wondering what this transformation signifies. I will tell you.

“Earlier in the atomic phase, the family used to be held together by the mother - the positively charged proton - and the child/children who were like the charge less neutrons, while the father used to roam semi-freely at a distance from the house, willing to break free but bound by the mother’s charge and thus played the role of the negatively charged electron. As a whole the family resembled an atom.

“This structure has become uncommon in recent times. Nowadays a family functions as a cellular nucleus, where the DNA of the cell is protected inside a strong membrane. The DNA or the building block of the family is similarly protected behind the safe walls of their home. It is only at home, behind this membrane like walls, that the father, the mother and the children exist as a family. But once outside, every member of the family is extremely busy and is unwilling to be in touch with each other during their working or learning hours. The functionality of a home for such families resemble the functionality of a cellular nucleus.

“Which is the reason the definition had to be changed. Any questions?”

33. The Returning Customers

Two students of NILS are talking at the library. One is attending the Social Media Course and the other is attending the Party Politics Course.

Party Politics student: Hi there!

Social Media student: Hello.

PP: I am in the politics course. You?

SM: Social media usage.

PP: First time in NILS?

SM: No, I did a crash course last year.

PP: Same here. I did two years ago, though. It was a course on biking. I love bikes (smiles).

SM: They taught you how to ride a bike?

PP: Yes, it was half practcal half theory. They also taught us how to look after the bike and how to modify it. Also what to look for while buying one. All that stuff. Which course did you do?

SM: I did a course on college fashion.

PP: Was it useful?

SM: Yes, very. They taught us about fashion with students’ budget. It was good.

PP: Most of their courses are good. This time I am doing a six months course.

SM: Mine is half year too. Tell me, will you become a political leader after this course?

PP: You cannot become a leader straightaway. But I will know what all I need to do be one. The course gives you fundamental knowledge. Then you have to do the real field work. What will you do after your course?

SM: I want to work in a PR firm. Social media are the most active public platforms now.

PP: (smiling) Well, if I ever become a leader, I will hire your PR firm.

32. The Masses

From The Political Ladder by Alan Hewins (Suggested Reading, Party Politics, Paper IV – Ideology, Blindness and Righteousness)

“You cannot be a politician if you do not understand the masses.

In many ways the masses can be compared to a human body. Just like a body is made up of uncountable number of cells, the masses constitute of – often great number of – people.

Just as every cell in our body is highly sophisticated and deviously complex, every single human being in the masses is a highly evolved living being with an extremely complicated thought process.

Just like the human body is made of various different types of cells, the masses constitute of a large variety of people.

And just like the human body is structurally and functionally completely different than its unit cells, the masses have nothing in common with individual human units.

The masses are as much collections of people as you are a bunch of cells.

Both are true, but only structurally.

Functionally the masses do not represent the nature of their individuals.

The masses do not understand ambition. Because they do not comprehend the unfolding of the future. They know the past and exist solely in the present.

The masses are not rational. They are instinctive.

The masses do not suffer from insecurity. They are too short-lived to be threatened by anything.

The masses are never neutral. They will be either for or against the government.

The masses are never selfish. They have no agenda of their own. Even if they fight, they fight for their own interpretation of a greater common good. They are the most selfless organization of the world. It is only when the masses fall apart under extreme social duress that the selfishness of individuals come to the fore.

And that is what brings progress.”

31. When You Can't Do It All

Father and Daughter talking at home. The Daughter is attending the Time Management course at NILS.

F: How is the course going?

D: Nicely. Yesterday we had this applied session and that was loads of fun.

F: What did you do?

D: The teacher gave us all some individual tasks and asked everybody to finish them in three hours.

F: What type of tasks?

D: Different types of activities. I had to type a one page handwritten report on a computer, had to go to the canteen and get a coffee, go up to the roof and take a photo of the street, watching YouTube videos, make an appointment table for the next two weeks..

F: Since when do have enough appointments to keep a planner?

D: No, no. It was a mock assignment. They had given some appointments and I had to schedule them along with regular NILS classes.

F: Okay. Then?

D: Then I also had to chat with another participant in WhatsApp. The topic was what we both did on Saturday. But we both needed to describe it in chat only, not by talking. Then I had to allot some time for prepping lunch and eating. Not in reality, but I had to give some time for that and had to just sit quite when that was going on.

F: Like you cannot do anything else when you are cooking or eating?

D: Exactly, but I utilized that time by doing the chatting task. And the guy I was supposed to chat with could not multitask. He stopped working every time to write or reply. He ended up very much beyond time.

F: So, they gave you a bunch of jobs to do in three hours so you learn how to share time among different tasks?

D: Initially, yes. But then nobody could finish. Then for the last hour it was a question of what to do and what to let go. Basically an application of priority analysis.

F: Hmm. It started with time sharing and ended with prioritizing. Did you learn anything?

D: I told the teacher that it should be the other way round. First, do the priority analysis and cross out things that are not important. Then do the important ones with all the time in the world.

F: That way you will label everything you don’t want to do as unimportant and won’t even bother trying to do it. I know you very well.

30. The Power of Three

Class Teaching (Social Media Usage, Paper IV – Fundamentals of Chatting)

“Everybody on WhatsApp gets flooded with well-wishers’ forwards on special days like new year, Christmas, Diwali, Independence Day etc. It is often a challenge to reply accordingly.

“You have to make sure that you do not send the same message back to the person who had sent it to you. Also, you have to see that you do not repeat a message from somebody else in a group. And you have to send some messages not as a reply but as a first wish as well.

“What you need is basically a systematic and methodic way. That is what I will show you now.

“First make a table like the one on board.”

On the board:

Name of sender (A)	Message (B)	The Power of Three (C)	Recipients (D)	Status (E)

“In A write the names of the people who have sent you forwards. Include groups as well.

“Write a keyword to identify the message in B. E.g. blue butterfly, stars and candles, Snoopy etc.

“Select any three from among all the messages. Write down in C. Ignore the others from now on.

“Write down in D the names of people you want to send these three messages to. See to it that the sender does not become a recipient.

“When you have sent the message to all recipients listed in D, put a tick mark in E. It means done.

“Do this twice for very special days with lots of forwards. Once at around 1 pm and once at around 10 pm.

“Please note that this is not applicable for your birthday.”