POM Class 1

“Education is the progressive discovery of our own ignorance.”

                              ---- Will Durant ( American writer, philosopher, historian)

               When Prof. Prasad held up a Newton's Cradle^[1] in his hand and asked us what would happened if he raised three balls and left them, one thought struck my mind. In all the times I had learned or read about the Newton's Cradle, not once did it cross my mind to actually get hold of one and try out the thing myself. Not once did it cross my mind to think beyond my books and lessons. For me – in Shakespeare's words – my books were dukedom large enough.

                Perhaps that is the most important lesson I learned in my first class. Doing is Knowing. There is no better substitute. But there was also a very important marketing lesson here. If people were told the simple joys they miss out on – like experimenting on a Newton's Cradle – then there is a good chance that they would buy products like these. It is a great opportunity for business because more often than not people don't buy such product because they are unaware.

Newton's Cradle

                                                                                                     

                It is also in this context that I find the very concept of Mandi to be ingenious. The brainchild of Prof. T Prasad , Mandi is an annual event at NITIE in which students take to the streets selling a variety of items. It's anthem is "Becho aur Seekho, Seekho aur Socho, Socho aur Becho". It means "Sell and learn, Learn and think, Think and sell". This is a great learning opportunity. I very much look forward to participate in Mandi.

                 But these alone were not the highlights of the class. In fact from the moment Prof. Prasad walked in, sat on the floor and implored us to do the same, there was a feeling that something here was different. We were told about the beauty of Mumbai's perpetual rains, the usefulness of sitting on the floor and progressively given shock therapies to get our minds thinking! While the constant hopping of medium between Hindi and English did prove to be quite a challenge (my Hindi being not that good), help from friends allowed me to hover through. 

                  In all, the class was thought provoking. My most important learning was “Doing is knowing”.

Notes:

[1] Newton's Cradle (shown in picture) is a device that demonstrates conservation of momentum and energy via a series of swinging spheres.