Controversial Ambedkar Cartoon

Image courtesy: Outlook Magazine

Bihari School Teacher

3M will not be surprised if Maharashtra has similar teachers!!!

Thank you Mario Miranda!

CHAPTER 1

This is Nitin.

He is six.

He lives in Nashik.

This is Nitin's garden.

… and you met Mario for the first time in that garden. The lovely illustrations in your 1st Standard Balbharati English book were created by MARIO MIRANDA… May his soul rest in peace!

Share this post with your classmates if you feel that he has enriched your childhood by making studies enjoyable…

MARIO'S MUMBAI MAP

Innovative message to promote sanitation

Image Courtesy: harekrishnaji.blogspot.com

Madhuri Dixit is impressed with Uddhav Thackeray's 'Virtual Classrooms'!

This is a classic case of misplaced priorities... "आधी कळस... मग पाया!"

'Training' Marathi Manoos!

Chandoba online

Over the last half century, Chandamama has enthralled the Indian kids… and on its Golden Jubilee, Geodesic has strengthened its online presence! Now you can enjoy their Marathi microsite Chandoba.

3M Quiz… most people are aware that the name of Chandamama changes according to language the magazine gets published in… so it’s ‘Ambulimama’ in Tamil, ‘Chandoba’ in Marathi and so on. So the question is… which is the only other Indian brand that changes name depending on the state it is sold in?

Model Schools… without English!

The Central Government is setting up 6000 ‘Model Schools’ across the country to promote quality education… and the recommended language is English. Any guesses as to which is the only state that is refusing to comply? UP? Bihar? Jharkhand?.... Well it’s our good ol’ Maharashtra!

Ideally, 3M should be happy that Marathi Culture and Language is being preserved by this Congress initiative… But he is not! In the global economy, if we have to succeed, we cannot ignore English… let’s learn from the mistakes made by countries like Bangladesh. Respect and learn your mother tongue but don’t ignore English… or we will be left with a generation of Kupamanduks (Frogs in a well)!

First it was ‘Marathi as compulsory subject’… then came the 90-10 funda… with elections round the corner, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, our education minister is busy trying to usurp the ‘Marathi Asmita’ issue from the Senas!

shikshan@maharashtra.com

Japanese lad researches Maratha History

Even as Marathi student show disinterest in their own history, Michihiro Ogawa from Japan is in Pune to complete his PhD on Maratha History… and to understand the local documents better he is learning Devnagri as well as Modi scripts!

Linguistic Arrogance

.
.

This cartoon by Anurag is a classic case of North Indian arrogance

Hindi = Patriotism

स्वताच्या राज्यात स्वताची भाषा शिकवणे पाप आहे?

‘Linguistic Minorities’

3M is amused that Colleges built by non-Marathi communities are allowed to have 50% reservations for students from their community… But colleges built by Marathi Community can’t have reservations for Maharashtrian! Surprisingly many of these colleges have been built on land given by the Maharashtra Government.

Now that MNS has taken up this issue… will Shiv Sena be far behind?

.

Marathi Girls School in 1860s!

School of Mahratta Brahmin Girls in Bombay by William Simpson

Circa 1865

(Courtesy Victoria & Albert Museum, London)

This amazing painting show that Maharashtra was a pioneer when it came to women's education... such efforts by Jyotiba & Savitri Phule, Maharshi Karve and Shakutala Paranjpe paved way for the women's empowerment in Western India.

Fergusson Magazine hits a ton

As Fergusson College in Pune celebrates its 125th anniversary, its magazine – Madhyam completes a century!

Aksharmaitra completes 2 years

Sanjeevani Bokil, a renowned poet, initiated a unique experiment that has blossomed into an institution! ‘Aksharmaitra’ is often dubbed as a ‘reading library’… but that would be a misnomer. Eminent personalities read out passages from great literary works for students. Certainly a great way to inculcate the reading habit in young students.

3M salutes this effort… and hopes that it will be replicated in Mumbai!

.

Rediscovering our roots

Last Sunday, 3M decided to admit his 3 year old daughter in Kalangan, a cultural organisation that teaches music in addition to conversational Marathi to kids. I was pleased to see a bevy of kids and parents to apply for the admission… and then came the difficult part for us… filling up the form in chaste Marathi. If it was just filling the name and address, I would have done it in a jiffy… but giving answers to questions like “How do you spend time with your kids?”… That is all together a different ball game! Getting the right word in Marathi was difficult… and even if you get that right the रस्व and दीर्घ can kill you! I really felt ashamed that after wearing my ‘Marathiness’ on my sleeve… and online, I am unable to write properly in Marathi…

So all those ‘half baked’ Maharashtrians like 3M, 2 organisations are trying to revive Marathi… one in Pune and one in USA! While Aksharbharati has arranged for free Marathi Classes in Pune… Brihan Maharashtra Mandal has tied up with Bharti Vidyapeeth to teach Marathi in 46 Centres across USA.
.

मराठा तितुका मेळवावा

.

महाराष्ट्र धर्म वाढवावा

.

SSC vs Others

Congress seems to have woken up to the fact that Marathi Manoos matters when it comes to elections in Maharashtra… Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, the education minister in the current Congress led government in Maharashtra has come up with the 90-10 formula to solve the SSC vs ICSE/CBSE inequality!

Two decades back when 3M was seeking admission in FYJC @ Mithibai College, the situation was reverse… the SSC guys would score better than the ICSE/ CBSE types. Hence the later would get grace marks to even out the inequality… surprisingly Shiv Sena didn’t protest at that time!

.

फक्त मराठी

Unhygienic Education!

Pune is traditionally considered to be the ‘Seat of Education’ (विद्येचं माहेरघर) in Western India… but this survey clearly shows that when it comes to basic education we are light years away from even providing basic hygiene!

Bachelors in Mass Media (Marathi)

Given the atrocious grammar and diction that some of the video journalist have on the half dozen odd Marathi Channels, a Bachelors in Mass Media (Marathi) was long overdue! Looking at the potential, over 11 colleges have applied to the Mumbai University for the newly created course.