Class room management - 1. The Class Room as a social space

What is the structure of a class room?

What is its significance in the life of a student?

How does it shape the individual in a student?

What is the role played by the teacher in using this space to 'create' and 'shape' the qualities of a student?


................................................................................................................................

The arrangement of furniture offers a faithful image of the familial and social structures of a period

- Jean Baudrillard in 'The System of Objects'

The Fixed Furniture

The class room is arranged in rows of chairs /desks where the students are seated in two/three/four  columns or divisions. Some schools have allotted names to these segments. Colleges generally do not go by these small groups in the class room. The students are seated in their places from nine in the morning till three or four in the evening in schools. In colleges it may be from eight/nine in the morning to one/two in the afternoon. The teacher stands in front of the class room and teaches/lectures/explains/demonstrates. Some teachers keep walking and enter the Columns and go to the last rows. Most of the teachers in colleges do not do this as they have to stand and explain in detail. Some school teachers also never move out of their center position. 

Teacher as an Administrator

In general this is the class room arrangement that reflects a hierarchic model of class room administration. The teacher becomes the boss/manager/administrator/leader/guide/supervisor/patriarch/mentor/counsellor. Within this authoritarian structure the student's personality is shaped for 14 years in schools and minimum 3 years in college. This physical and mini-social structure in the class room has defined the type of teaching done and the type of learning done in the class rooms in the last 50 years. 

The Noisy class room of nature - painting - oil on canvas - Mr. S. Chellaiah

Route learning where the student sits and learns his learning materials thoroughly is the end this has resulted in. It has helped students learn vast amount of texts by heart as the sitting position has created the atmosphere for the student to memorise facts. 

Universities sanction 70 students per class in an Arts college as they are catering to the needs of the existing class room method. 

Complex Syllabi

Educators have been preparing their lessons addressing this facility provided and every year the syllabi for the schools have increased their complexity, as the students have shown enormous ability to learn any text given to them by heart and reproduce it in papers in the similarly arranged class room where they take their examinations. 

Engineering colleges also follow the same style in  preparation of the curricula and put students through maximum theories. Arts  colleges have diluted considerably that they give asylum to the students who cannot tackle complex curricula.

Student unrest

Engineering/Arts/school students come under the same frame work of learning materials sitting in a class room, listening to a teacher or just learning them by heart. It is a teacher centred education system, and if teachers do not do their lecturing in class rooms it creates student unrest. Colleges where teachers have not been ritualistic in class room teaching have seen great student unrest and these students also create civic problems. Excepting probably 5% of students who are self-learners, the rest of Indian student community is dependent on the teacher at the school/college levels. 

The Teacher as a Speaker

The teacher continues to rule standing as a public speaker, away from his audience. This is the hierarchical system and education has to be understood keeping this important fact in mind. The arrangement of the class room furniture is an unchanging factor that  describes the Indian mental structure. It is shaped by traditions and authority. Inter-personal relationships between the teacher and the student are formed within this structure. Every physical space is created by even thousands of years' practices, thought patterns and culture. 

The Teacher is next to God

The class room of today is only an extension of the ancient Indian system where the teacher was kept in the highest social order. Today in a capitalistic society the student knows that he is paying for his education and tends to show disrespect to the teacher, but only if the teacher does not deliver his profound knowledge resources well. The student in private education sphere has two expectations: the teacher should know the subject thoroughly; he should deliver it well. Even privatization of education has not changed the ancient Indian order of society that put great teachers at the top of the social order. The best teachers are celebrated everywhere in spite of globalised views and the exposure to the knowledge of the internet resources.  

This happens because the class room still gives space to the teacher who knows his subject thoroughly to stand and deliver to his student audience every day. This recognition given to the Indian teacher has to be utilized by the teaching community. The Indian class room does not have the space or ambience to convert the teacher into the facilitator. The teacher continues to be an authoritarian model, highly ethical, impartial, objective and updating himself every day. 

Innovation in the Class Room

To combine western methodologies with Indian methods every school/college has to allot one or two  larger class rooms with movable furniture/closed windows and doors/ internet enabled computers with a projector etc.  to enable the teacher mover around freely and facilitate the students into learning in an active mode. Teachers may not know how to use this larger room. They still might continue to stand, as they would feel sensitive of their 'loss' of position in the front of the class room. They need to be exposed to training as to 'use' of the larger space in the class room. 

The class room has emerged as a modern concept using chairs, tables, a platform etc. and customizing these to a traditional learning atmosphere. It has not replaced old values, belief systems or attitudes. To exploit the intellectual space it gives to the authority figure of the teacher, he/she has to understand its values and emerge as an individual fulfilling its expectations. 

Values taught by Thirukkural

Chapter 1 - Values

Thiruvalluvar’s first chapter deals with civil and social values. He extols hardwork, objective knowledge, kindness, and patience. He upholds moral codes as the highest virtue. Thirukkural is a cultural legacy of an agrarian society upholding the virtues of a farmer’s life and the system of family. His ideologies represent a civilization that gave importance to family traditions and social networking with an emphasis on relationships.

An ordered life needs a centre. It needs a higher phenomenon. Thiruvalluvar places God as the highest power in front the people. The society needs a faith. Only then it can operate the social system. The poet does not mention any particular religious God. Instead, he projects the concept of God. This makes Thirukkual universal as it can be fitted into any religious system.  Religious faith becomes essential to lead a peaceful and successful life. Training the mind to surrender the human will to God is the aim of humanity. Once we acquire complete faith in God, we learn to approach life with composure. We keep tension and stress outside our lives. We can continue to tackle the challenges of life with more equanimity.

1.Agara mudala eluthellaam aadi

Bagawan muthatre ulagu.

 

Most of the languages have the sound ‘a’ as their first sound. Sounds precede letters. Similarly the world has God as its primary concept. Every civilization that has sprung up in the world has insisted on a God for worship. Religions have been born to create a platform for worship. Scriptures have been written to help people pray.

2. Even if a man is highly educated, if he does not believe in God his education is wasted. Faith in God gives him the sensitivity to respect other human beings and kindness. A man who cannot pray to God cannot understand fellow human beings. It does not give him the much needed focus to do things effectively and calmly.

3. Keep the Lord in your heart

And be a part of eternity.

We have to keep God in our heart. It gives us concentration and focus. Our minds normally are caught in various emotions and thoughts. These thoughts take away our energy and bring down our efficiency. If we practice thinking of God in our minds, it helps us to acquire a high level of concentration. Also, it gives us calmness and thus paves way for good health.

4. Detached heart has no troubles

As it thinks of God always.

God is a concept. He does not have any qualities. He has no region or personal qualities. A man who learns to think of God acquires these qualtities too. He becomes detached from the bondage of emotions and thoughts. He gets the ability to look at the big picture as he positions himself away enough to get a clear picture of things around him.

5. Keep the Lord in heart

Be beyond good and evil.

We are generally caught in the results of our actions. We think certain actions are good, but in the long run we realise these ‘good’ actions bring bad results. That is why Indian philosophy does not always trust in ‘good’ as something right. We may mean well, still our actions can bring bad results. Such situations are common in all our lives. How do we keep ourselves out of these results of actions? The only way is to think of God and surrender our actions and their results to Him.

6. Praying, controlling senses

Will result in long life.

Controlling senses is the most important aspect of Indian intellectual training. God is personified as a great scholar who has mastered his five senses. We have kept the model of a God who has controlled his body, ears, eyes, mouth, and nose. If we live with this ideology, we acquire a calm and composed attitude that paves the way for longitude.

7. It is hard to be at ease

If God doesn't live in you

Unless we worship God ion our mind, we feel we are carrying the burden of life on our shoulders. How do we meet the problems of our life? Our short life on this earth has to face a lot of issues on its way. Can we get upset for every little problem? Nervousness and depression and anger may not help us solve issues. We need to be rational and calm to find solutions. Faith in God and surrendering our will to God will help us become calm to see and understand the situations better.

8. Worship the feet of the Lord

Swim across life's problems.

Indian mind has created the metaphor of the sea to refer to the difficulties of life. Life is difficult ofr all of us. We need to have certain skills to sail across comfortably. Surrendering ourselves to God is one such spiritual skill that helps us handle the issues of life easily.

9. Heads not bowing to God

Lose sensory perception.

Thinking of God makes one more alert. It gives him a fine perception of life. What is a fine perception? It is the ability to see more and nderstand more by keeping oneself away. It is like having a better view of a hill when we stand away from it. God does not bow down to human perceptions. He has no good or evil. For him everyone is the same. We have to move in this direction of thinking to get calmness. If we believe in the evil of some one, it means we secretly blame that person for our failures. God does not have such limitations. So, we have to bow down to this great entity called God who is limitless.

10. Only the blessings of God

Take you across seas of troubles.

This life is full of challenges. Thinking of God always will help us tackle these challenges well.

Thiruvalluvar insists on keeping God in the mind always. To lead a meaningful life, to achive great things in life, we have to learn to rest our emotions and thoughts on a higher concept than the actual issue. If you are going to write an examination, and if you keep thinking about it again and again, you might become nervous at a point. Focusing on God and praying might help you avoid this nervousness. Mahatma Gandhi began his life as a highly nervous man. He couldn’t even argue a case in the court in Gujarat. Gandhi spent years focusing his mind in prayer and that gave him the charisma to win over the hearts of a sub-continent that belonged to two races and spoke a variety of languages. Prayer helped him to train his emotions and thoughts; he was able to operate his senses; he managed to acquire a personality that did not recognize any thing as evil; everyone was his friend; he became  detached from the results of his actions as he left the results to God.In 1920, Gandhi came back to India as an internationally well-known leader. The youngman who left India earlier in shame because he couldn’t argue a case, now returned as a powerful leader with a huge following. He could go to places where no one understood Hindi or English or Gujarati and still keep the crowds waiting for him to listen to him. India calls him Mahatma – the great soul.This is the possibility of prayers in heart always. Thiruvalluvar keeps prayer as the foundation of a civilized mind and therefore begins Thirukkural with 10 verses on the power of prayer. Norman Vincent Peale in his various books on personality development also insists on prayer to cleanse the mind.

These ten couplets are in praise of an agrarian society where the landowning farmer decides the economy. The farming class was considered as a civilized class where as other forms of economical efforts are classified as less cultured ones by Thiruvalluvar. He hails the rains as the savior of an agrarian society on its way to progess and success.

11 The rains are Gods' nectar     

Protecting lives.

The rains are like the nectar of Gods to human beings.  Without it there can be no life on earth.  

12 The source of food

Offering itself as food.

The rains help food production. Also it becomes drinkable water. Without rain we cannot be alive as the sea water is extremely salty.

13  Rainless seasons will bring

Starvation to people.

If there are no rains people will only starve as there will not be any agricultural work in the world. The rains are the foundation of plant growth and thus human growth too.

14 The farmer is desolate

 If rains are absent.

The farmer will not plough his lands if there is no rain. There will be famine in the country.

15 Its absence destroys

Its presence restores.

If there is no rain, people will suffer. If there is rain, it will make people prosperous.

16 Without clouds' drops

Even grass can't grow.

Clouds play a major role in the climate-change equation.  They bring rains. Even grass will not grow if there is no rain. Drops  of rain are so important for any growth in the world.

17 The seas will die

 If clouds don't rain.

If there is no rain in the seas, they will gradually die. Rain plays a major role in the hydrologic cycle. It is born from the moisture from the oceans that evaporates. This later condenses into clouds and precipitates back to earth. Eventually it returns to the ocean via streams and rivers to repeat the cycle again.

18 Festivals are called off

If clouds are dry

People will not have the mood to celebrate if there are no rains. Extreme weather will have an impact on food supply.

19 Dharma and prayer

Disappear if rains fail

If there are no rains there will be no generosity in the minds of people.  The poet is talking about the social implications of climat change. A rain is a physical phenomenon of the planet Earth. The changes in its presence bring about ethical changes as people repond to climate changes and form new ways of thinking. A society that is starving has no mental space for generosity and meditation. It has no scope for spirituality as its people are only worried about hunger – the fundamental need that has to be fulfilled.

20 Water is life's source

Skies decide rules.

The rains decide the kind of life we need.  Ethics and economics go hand in hand the poet argues. We have to provide for all in the society. If we provide only for a few, the rest of the people will have a severe moral crisis. They will be forced to braek the codes of society for survival. Rains help the land remain fertile and produce more products, and thus help the market to keep affordable prices and thus protect ethics. When people find actual living difficult, they decide to live by any means. Such a society will become lawless. Fertile soil and regular rains are very important for a country to keep its ethical codes alive. Starvation will induce the population to go in search of food that they bein to rob or steal or kill to get material things. A government can effectively practice codes of conduct only if the rains are regular.

The poet puts the rain in front of us as a symbol of working without any expectation. Also these 10 couplets sing the glory of nature. Nature quietly works without complain. It does not develop theories of life or philosophies of life. It just exists. Its presence decides the quality of life. Geography and location decide the culture of the place. A rainless land will have peculiar charecteristics different from a fertlile land which gets periodical rains. Thiruvalluvar does not talk about the God of rains, Indhiran here. He prefers to look at the rain as an entity that exists for the welfare of mankind. The rains do their work quietly as a part of the planetary system in total objectivity, the poet suggests. He does not use any mythological base to express his views. In the process of planet building, rains played a major role. Lack of rains will affect the ecosystem and will minimize the opportunities for the human species to continue. Society depends upon bio-diversity and eco system and if there are no rains this will bring disaster to us. Climate change affects economics, politics and sociology.The farmer is affected if there is no rain. There would be no festival if there is no rain. Society ceases to function. Thiruvalluvar understands his world as dependent on rains for survival as the economy was agrarian, and rains were the  main part of this kind of economy. Crime rates increase during a famine in society. There is a close interaction between climatic conditions and human societies. We have understood the importance of rains that we have myths centring on rains. In Mahabharatham, there is a story about sage Rishya Shringar. His father’s name was Vibhandakar. Rishya Shringar did not come into human contact other than his mother as his mother was no more. The father and son lived iin deep forest away from the humdrum of life. Rishya Shringar grew up seeped into scholarship and meditation and prayers. He had great spiritual powers, therefore. The neighbouring country Anka Desam was caught in a famine. Rains did not favour the country at all for many years. People were dying of starvation. Scholars told the king Romapathan that if a great sage sets foot on the country it would rain. They identified Rishya Shringar as the right person. With great difficulty the sage was brought to the famine struck country and immediately it began to rain.

3. The Greatness Of objectivity

21. Restraint and disinterest

      Are ends of knowledge.

To acquire complete knowledge we have to restrain our emotions.  We need a rational approach towards the situations around us. Assessing any position, studying its facets are the primary functions on the way to knowledge. Literature praises people who have trained their minds to read life with such objectivity. Humanity has put up great leaders’ lives in front of us as models.

22.  Telling ascetics' greatness

       Is hard as counting souls.

Is it even possible to list the numerous good things that result out of an objective approach to life? People who have learnt this art achieve a lot in this life. These are the people who contribute to society as they have learnt to put their personal emotions behind and instead focus on the affairs of the world. They direct their energies towards the welfare of the world.

23. The virtue of a great man

      Is in analyzing both worlds.

The great men are people who know the limitations of this birth. They know most of the aspects of life have two sides. Any situation will have two sides. Any thing can be interpreted in two ways. We can read a situation as positive or negative. Our ideas are usually caught in ne of these two ways of looking at life. A great man has to be aware of this possibility and walking on this balanced path makes him achieve great things. The world celebrates such people.

24. Men acquire godliness

      Commanding five senses.

Intelligence is the weapon of a leader. With critical thinking we have to assess the experiences around us.  A thoroughly rational approach to happenings around us will help us plan and execute things well. Quite normally our senses will intervene and affect our judgement. Our likes and dislikes will silently affect our judgements. A leader has to take care that his perceptions do not affect his judgement.

25. Indiran is an example

      Of self-discipline's power.

Indhiran is the God of Devas according to Vedic Hinduism and later Buddhism and Jainism.  He is a great leader who commands the entire heaven as he has already mastered his five senses. He knows the right in wrong and the wrong in the right. Certain things may appear as right; certain things might appear wrong. The thing is if we analyse closely without confusing ourselves with our emotional responses, we might see the complexitites in the things. Then we realise nothing can be completely right and nothing can be completely wrong. That is the moment of greatness. A leader needs this quality of seeing through situations.

.26. Quality of effort decides

      Great and small.

Great leaders spend their lives planning for difficult things. They get themselves involved in the work so thoroughly that the end up enjoying the work it slef. Work becomes a pleasant challenge for them. These great and complex deeds make the people great. Greatness is not in birth; it is in actions and achievements. Any one who learns to enjoy the difficulties on the way to success becomes a great man. Small men do not even try. They spend their time talking about great people.

27.  Intelligence is ability

       To analyze emotions.

A leader knows the five ways of acquiring perceptions – taste, light, body, sound and smell. Racial prejudices are received through eyes – light. Class consciousness is received through smell and sight, as poverty can’t afford the style and decorum of the rich. Academic arrogance or humility is practiced by listening to some one speak – we easily judge some one as stupid or intelligent depending upon our intellectual status. An objective man is aware of these five perceptions in him, and accordingly he uses them in his day to day life. He will not be a slave to these five perceptions. He knows they are only perceived notions. Above all, every human being has to be respected, he knows.

28. Objective minds' wisdom  

      Is revealed in their words.

Truths have to differentiate themselves from perceptions. What is truth? It is not one person feels or even thinks. It is the presentation of the two sides of an argument.  Seeing the two sides of any experience is the practice of objective thinking. A leader speaks without any prejudices or likes. There is a dignity in his approach. There is something universal in his attitude. His ides are not limited to nation or region. They talk about the welfare of the world.

29. Awful will be the fury

      Of the detached ones.

Can we consider such objective thinking as unworldly? Can people who practice objectivity survive in this world? Definitely. Their objective thought gradually builds a spiritual power around them as they have not spent their energies in spreading negative stories about their fello human beings. They have not wasted their  births in character assasinantion or similar such negative attitudes. Therefore their will and energies are complete. If any one hurts them purposely, they do not retaliate as they understand the reason. They use ther ntelligence to understand how right actions also can create wrong reactions. Hence there is no anger inthem. But this angerless attitude harms the person who tries to hurt  spiritually great men.

30.  Unoffending and gracious

       Man becomes noble.

Who are the the really noble people? The people who cannot hate others are the really noble people. There is a blessing in them for others. If we spend some time with them, we feel truly blessed. They make our lives meaningful. They  do not burn in anger. They forgive as they can understand human fraility. Their intelligence is so high that they hold no grudge over others. Only when we do not understand human heart, we hate. Objective thinking opens our minds and our level of understanding increases tremendously. We truly become wise.

Thiruvalluvar puts infront of us the model of objectivity in intellectual approach when we study people and political or economic situations around us. Our decisions are decided by the clarity of seeing. The poet gives the blue print for an unprejudiced and clear approach to life. Statesmen and leaders or any person in charge of other people in their lives need to develop this strategy for understanding life to take correct decisions. King Janaka  [the father of Sita in the epic Ramayana] was hailed as a Raja Rishi. He was a great scholar as well as a statesman and warrior. He was supposed to have had the detachment necessary for a great leader from ordinary mundane issues. He was a rare man who tackled samsara along with the detachment of a sage. This kind of attitude was an important model that has been put up for future leaders by written texts. A powerful leader is expected to negotiate between his family and his society, keeping his clarity of deliberation and clarity of psyche consistently.Bernard Shaw created a similar character called King Magnus steeped in statesmanship and administrative skills in his play The Apple Cart. King  Magnus tackles challenges with an ease normally not achievable, as he uses his rational approach to understand problems. Shaw gives the character very high intellectual ability that helps him analyse situations well. Epics and literature project this model of behavior for a king or a leader. Thiruvalluvar calls it as the greatness of objectivity.

4. அறன் வலியுறுத்தல்

Virtue has been declared as an important tool to lead a significant life by the poet. Along with faith in God,  valuing environment, objective thinking, living a virtuous life has been recommended by Thiruvalluvar as the fundamental needs for a society. He emphsises on the need to follow certain principles to regulate our lives.

31. Source of greatness and wealth

      Virtue is crucial to life.

A virtuous life brings both honour and wealth. There is nothing as benefitting to human beings as virtue. It is a step taken towards self-preservation in an advanced manner.  Virtue is like protecting one’s self further, as it brings lots of good friends, acquaintances, contacts and a network of family. Honour can also refer to spiritual strength and mental stability. A spiritually strengthened person becomes an honourable person. He has the spiritual power to follow the path of dharma in spite of hurdles.

32.  Forgetting virtue fetch disaster

       Following its path brings success.

There is nothing more beneficial to humanity than virtue. There is nothing worse than forgetting virtue. It denotes a behavior that balances itself against selfishness and selflessness.  The poet puts this chapter on virtue after the one on objective thinking. A rational approach to life gradually brings about a balanced attitude to people and other experiences in our life. A man guided by virtuous behavior meets great success.

33. Take all efforts to be virtuous

      Keep doing it continuously.

It is very important that we practice virtue wherever we are and wherever we go. It should be the frame within which we operate.  

34. A clean heart is virtuous

      Else it is an empty clatter.

This couplet defines virtue. What is virtue? Every age might have different definitions. Thiruvalluvar says a clean heart is the key to become righteous. A clean heart leads to honorable behavior. Negative thoughts and ill-feelings mar the purity of human hearts. Ambiguous feelings slowly make the heart become conflict oriented. A certain amount of trust in life and people will help us attain purity of mind. Doubts will create a lot of stress and will create a lot of conflicts. People who doubt themselves and others end up failing in life.

35. Jealousy, greed, anger, harshness

      Take you away from virtue.

This couplet further defines virtue in an accurate manner. What brings conflict? What makes a person become non-virtuous? The poet identifies four attitudes of mind – jealousy, greed, anger and harsh words. People who are harsh bring about a lot of illwill around them or they build enemies around them. Their lives will be spent on fighting with these perceived enemies. Similarly, jealousy takes away the charm from a person’s behavior. Also, showing too much of jealousy towards fellow beings will isolate one. An angry man makes a lot of mistakes an assessing people. He is dominated by his egoism rather than objective thinking. These four attitudes block a person’s success in family life and professional life. The twin benefits of being virtuous, as the poet has pointed out in the earlier couplets are, that brings material success a spiritual strength.

36.  Do good immediately

       It'll guard you till you die.

Let us not postpone good actions. We need not wait till we become old to do good deeds. Being virtuous has to become a way of life. These good actions will become our support systems in future.

37.  Observe the rich and the poor

       Result of good and bad.

Thirukkural shows faith in rebirth quite strongly. According to this belief, we carry the burden of our actions even beyond our death. Therefore when we see people leading a good life, we have to interpret it as their previous birth’s good actions, the poet argues. The repercussions of our actions follow us throughout our various lives. We need to become aware of this and become conscious about our actions in this world, the poet says.

38.  Practice virtue every moment

       To stop being born again.

As we tend to believe in rebirths, the next question that arises is – how do we stop being born again and again? There is no choice, but do good things every moment.  Good deeds will become the blocking stone that will stop us from being born again.

39.  Just happiness is permanent

       Else will bring sorrow.

Happiness that results out of a virtuous life lives longer. Happiness that springs out of misdeeds will be shortlived, as the affected people will be waiting to payback. A virtuous life is the only way to keep peace of mind for a longer span of time.

40.  Virtue should be a commitment

        Vice should be ruled out.

Thiruvalluvar classifies human actions into a clear ‘good’ and ‘bad.’ We have to take care to do good things in life. We have to avoid bad things in life. We have to train our minds to distinguish between good and bad. 

Why should we be virtuous? What is the role of virtue in our lives? It is a myth that foul play wins in this world. Every action has an equal reaction. Our deeds also create an equal reaction. Any rational enquiry will tell us this.  Morality has been born into societies as a result of rational thinking and statistical analysis of human lives.  Mother Teresa has lived a life of sacrifice and service exemplifying the qualities recommended by Thiruvalluvar. These qualities have helped human society grow and sustain from time immemorial. People with these qualities are born in every age. Society creates these rare selfless people to keep up the social dynamism  so that  society evolves. 

EMPOWERMENT of women



Contents
1. Introduction
2. Impact assessment
3. Social structure
4. Cultural structure
5. Emotional structure
6. Political structure
7. Economical structure
8. Educational structure
9. Conclusion



Introduction
This paper attempts to study the situation of women in various sectors and analyze and assesses the impact information technology has on them. The e-society has created opportunities for women as well as posed new challenges for her at various levels of her life. Her social identity and understanding as a product of agreement and disagreement is being discussed in detail has she lost her identity as a woman or has she gained a new identity as an e-educated woman is the major discussion. This argument sketches out a sociological and cultural framework for thinking about the modern identity of woman in this e-society, which addresses questions like what is her economical position or political status.
Impact assessment
Sometimes a changed or strange situation makes a lot of difference to the members of that society: An unfamiliar neighbourhood, an ethnically divided city or even a casual encounter. We are now in a society that is managed and ruled by a knowledge revolution. This knowledge society has expanded the opportunities for the woman and given her new horizon to reach. What changes and negotiations does coming out of her earlier position as the ruler of the house require? How can she assume her new role in a society that expects her to take positions in a knowledge situation? What kind of response is the right response? And what does such a process represent? The construction of a new identity, or the revelation of an authentic and primordial self? Social identity is also important on a wider stage than the encounters or thresholds of individual lives. How does her sense of herself as unique individual square with the realization that, always and everywhere, she shares aspects of her identity with many others? To what extent it is possible to become someone, or something, other than what she now is? Is it possible for her to remain just what she is? What is the impact of the knowledge society on her? These are some of the questions that would be discussed.

Social structure
In a patriarchal society the social structure has put the woman in charge of her family. She shapes the life in her house and decides how to run it. Her social identity revolves around her home. Now the woman is able to manage her home as well as a career. She is aware of the changes that are taking place in the society and has responded to it in her own pace without disturbing the natural set up of patriarchy. She has been able to mange her time and her space to reorient herself in the new role that society expects her to play in the e- society. Her identity is undergoing a major change as she commands respect and power in institutions out side family too. Women have learned to shed traditional submissiveness and withstand family and community pressures, and have begun to work together to improve economic conditions for themselves and others. Women have organized themselves to use cultural forms to raise the consciousness of men and women about injustice and inequality. At the same time to what extent has she been able to justify her position is a serious question to be tackled. Has she managed to find a place in the world of men to establish her cognitive skills is a question that has to be tackled. Can she manage to combine her values and still cope up with the real life situations? She has now acquired an intellectual personality that poses a problem to her and the society, as the world out side is still not ready to accept her in the new role. It still thinks her position as a woman is to fulfill the primordial desires of man and when a woman gets outside to society it creates a conflict in her mind. Her technical participation has monetarily taken her to a higher position while posing fresh problems for her to tackle. Society expects an intellectual woman to be traditional and conservative by forcing its values and ideologies on her creating blocks with its efforts to limit her role in real life. Financial empowerment has also put more pressures on her as the social expectations on a woman financially are more that earlier as she is looked upon a prospective earning source for the family. It has also increased the pressure of certain existing forms like dowry. E- society has intensified the existing problems to women. It has reduced her internal works and has increased her social responsibilities and commitments.

Cultural structure
The traditional Indian society is women centric in its structure. If a woman breaks her home the social structure takes a shock. The modern changes have posed a lot of challenges to society in this field. Woman was and is the indirect force in her family. Tradition gave her a role to play and she has been doing it for immemorial time. Technology has shifted this position and put women in other roles. It is a major paradigm shift in society. The substantial self of yesterday is now undergoing a change. This is an argument for interrogation. Her silence is now breaking. Social action is taking place in her. She has become an individual coordinating her mind and body and is thoroughly and reciprocally implicated in, and constituting of social relations and the social order.This shift has given her new pressures. It is a new dimension of human behavior and she is not equipped to face this challenge. This new consciousness emerging has to be understood by her and analyzed carefully. In the development of her new self she has to accommodate the changes of time. She has to learn to adopt attitudes to suit this role of a powerful woman in society without harming existing systems of thinking. Her attitudes must symbolize the ancient wisdom of the woman with a modern social identity. She has to combine a personality model of self and society. Society has to bring inside her internal world as never before. She has to acquire a language foe herself responding to these needs of times, a language of self-realization. Mental processes have to be incorporated.

Emotional structure
The knowledge society has framed the character of women. It has given her goals to reach and fresh dreams to reach out for. The physiological mechanism of the human individual’s central nervous system responds to the stimuli of others, as it is the expressor of human nature. Mind and self are only social constructs says the sociologist Mead. The woman’s ego has started moving into the future. She is trying to evoke the coexistence of the cumulative, organized resources of learned culture and draws upon in the ongoing production of her life with the evanescent immediacy of being in the world, which is perpetually in the present tense. Her personality is constituted by the social role she is playing. Her individuality is not against society in this context. Her mind has evolved from the conversation of social gestures, from social interaction. She has responded as a species with specific capacity for intelligence. Her processes of mind and selfhood within the model of an internal-external dialectic have to be understood by society at this juncture. It has given her too many conflict and depressions. Decision making in her life is still in the hand of the formal patriarchal structure and it clashes with her new self that does similar things in the society. What is accepted by the society is not accepted her in her own home. The conflicts when unsolved give her agony leading into frustration and lack of interest in living. The internalized voice of social control suppresses her freedom that she has gained because of technology. This division of her self leads to personality problems like split personality, possession, dissociation, multiple personality and changeling. To recognize the self in many models would need the proliferation of bits into potentially infinitely complex models. The woman needs a unitary model of behaviour so that it can accommodate the changes that have occurred in the society that reflect on her too.

Political structure

Women now participate in decision making in the social life out side her family. Her political self is slowly making inroads into the social structures of the world of governance. She is just becoming aware of her possibilities and potentials in this field. The political world of intersubjectivity, the wider environment and the effects, which the individual has upon both of them, is opening avenues to her. She has to focus on her selfhood and self-identity. Her potential for individual selfhood and self-identity should be realized. As the human developmental process is a social process and cannot be any other, this process has to continue throughout her life. She has to adapt herself to these changes. That presentation is accepted or not should not be her question. A new model of presenting her self in the field of public life has to be evolved.

Economical structure
The public image of the woman has changed with self help groups and working in international firms. This allows heterogeneity and differences in the social identities of women. Eventually these changes will lead to making further changes in the consciousness of her construction of her social self as different from the present one. The collective changes that are occurring in the society in the economical sectors can lead to the development of a new confidence in her character. These economical changes have brought in a shift in mental attitudes and a force to break away from established social constructs of traditions. The woman has come on her own with the help of this economic freedom she has got after the survival efforts that have been put by her as a movement of social changes. As a competitive, discrimination is inherent even in this sector as a continuation of earlier structures of society. Decisions are controlled by factors outside her concern. Organizational recruitment decisions and the criteria that determine them and inform them are among the processes whereby gender differences are maintained. The spatial materiality of identification is generated in the market transactions between private individuals, mediated by financial organizations.

Educational structure
Formal ratioalization is demanding cognitive and social competences. What is possible with training and education is limited. Symbolism, myth, notions of fate or luck, sexuality, religious or other ideologies, ethnic attachments, emotional ups and downs also play a major role in the individual self of the woman’s life though will not come under the sector of education. Bureaucracies themselves acquire rituals, , symbols, history, and other notions around them in the course of time. The complexities of modern social life run neither smoothly nor mechanically nor deterministically. The system is creaky, partial, and contingent upon so much that there is always room for some manoeuvre, space for some self-determination. Society is no more monolithic than history is the linear revelation of the inevitable. Struggles for a different allocation of resources and resistance to categorization are one and the same thing. Education has opened doors for the woman to help meet the internal and the external to accommodate her in this modern society.

Conclusion


The Indian educated woman right now is carrying two crosses- the family and a career. She finds it challenging as well as frustrating to meet the demands put on her. She will not give up her position at the international scenario. At the same time she is not interested in breaking up the sector of family and tradition. She intends to combine both –the career and home however difficult it is. Her role as a mother is of immeasurable value to society and the Indian woman is not going to give that up. Her contributions to society will continue in more important fields also when the traditional sectors realize she is not intending to break them.

The invisibility of women at the top positions in powerful portfolios is a major concern of feminist thinkers as well as economists as certain managerial qualities that women have can be utilized for the welfare of society. How to reach the top in the corporate sector with high emoluments should become a major career concern to women. Let us look at certain statistics at the global scenario of women at top positions:

Only 10% of senior managers

Only 4% of women are as presidents and vice-presidents

Less than 3% as top corporate earners

Only 5.68 % of the total work force of public sector units (Madhavi, The Hindu).


Let us also look at the statistics of women working in the informal economy:

At least 118 million women work in the informal economy – farm workers, vendors, ‘piece-rate’ workers, casual labour, construction workers and domestic helps.

They form around 96% of the female workforce.

They are estimated to be contributing at least 20% to India’s GDP, which works out to Rs 5,66,093 crores at current levels.

Over 77% of these women work in the agricultural sector and nearly 10% in manufacturing (Puri, Outlook)

The gap is a little too much between the two types of women and we have to take steps to empower women to help them reach higher goals.


To sharpen their abilities in reaching the top certain skills are put forward. As they have to compete with men who still think it is a man’s world the woman has to be smarter in every aspect of her career.

Emotional skills for women
Women in Tamil Nadu have been put within the social framework of ‘fear, shyness, --------,------------,(acham, madam, naanam, payirppu). Acham means fear. A girl is expected to have fear for others. This is a doctrine of the society expressed openly in its literature. The grammar is written for a woman’s conduct in public. Madam is actually stupidity. A woman has to remain stupid to get the approval of the society





Thiruvalluvar in his thirukkural exalted as the principles of living defines the role of women in married life. He says the gods and everyone else will worship a woman who worships her husband in the world. Patriarchy was established so clearly in the hearts of women thus giving them hopes of the ultimate respect possible.
. Trained by these concepts women students sit in classes sometimes not even looking at the teacher. They think asking a question and sitting in a commanding manner are the priorities of male only. When these girls get jobs they easily give in to men and tell them clearly in their mannerisms and behaviour that they are not interested in competing with them at all. They remain shy and men use this shyness to their advantage.

The contrast to this woman is the one who is expressive who is easily labeled as the bad woman. The cinema entertains this division as it addresses the boys and men and not the women particularly. Even when it addresses women it insinuates to present the ‘good’ woman as silent and the bad woman as talkative. The ‘silent girl’ is good and dependable. Men do not want any opinions from women. ‘That girl is good. She doesn’t talk much’ is a common way of defining characteristics of women. Intelligent women find it extremely difficult to come out of this ideological prison. Men shun the talking girl, as she will make herself into a shrew. Men are scared women will dominate them so that they have spread this ideology of women looking at themselves as shrews if the other women tend to talk.


Nowadays in educational sector, when a woman does well her male colleague is not able to bear it so that he blocks her growth by making simple comments in front of other women, with the full support of the other women. All the time women suppressing has been going on with getting full support from women themselves. Men divide the women among themselves so that ruling is easier.


A woman’s intellect becomes her doom because then she tends to have opinions. The opinionated woman is the worst kind of woman as she is an open threat to man. Men join together to gang against this woman. Similarly if one woman is straight in a corrupt organization her stand, instead of being feared, will be laughed at by everyone and she stands alone against society.


No one has the capacity to hurt your chances of success. No body has the power of the God to create or destroy another person. In that case how can anyone try to destroy you? Therefore there is no point in keeping the mistakes of others in your heart. Of course you cannot forget and forgive the hurts totally. But you can rationalize hurt and its role in your life and keep yourself detached from it.
Friendships can become bitter experiences only if our expectations are lesser from others. In your career you cannot choose friends. Either it happens or not. In such cases, it is safer to keep our healthy distance from people unless we are sure of ourselves. Friendships with healthy distances will be comfortable in an office atmosphere.
Generally we are told not to show anger. God has given these emotions to us to serve a purpose. The so-called evil emotions have their purposes in life. A man without capable of showing anger will be victimized in any social place. An office is not an exception. Anger can be shown in a charming, manner. Sometimes a look would be enough. Your eyes can turn into lead or still expressions to tell others that you are not happy about what they are doing. Mere shouting is not showing anger. We can learn and develop our own method of showing anger.
Eyes have to be used to express and communicate emotions. They can be used to build relationships, to show anger, to tell others about your level of confidence and make others listen to you. A part of your mind should always watch the expressions of your eyes, listen to your words, and closely observe what your mind is thinking. Only if we know what we are doing, we will be able to understand what others are thinking about us.
Many of us feel shy to look at people straight in the eye, as we feel shy and diffident. In a professional place it may create a negative opinion of us. When your boss is talking it is better to look at him in the eye than look elsewhere. A person looking at the speaker’s face straight creates an impression of confidences and responsibility.
Though most of the times it is better to speak softly, once in a while it is safe to increase your volume as it may tell people that you are a force to be reckoned with. Instead of talking at the back and making comments at the back of others, it is better to give them straight, loud and clear. It will not only make things clear, but also will stop such mistakes from repeating again.
No one respects a harmless man. People will say this person is harmless, and therefore we can say anything, do anything. Such a personality is great for a family, and definitely not for an office. We have to put some fear in the minds of the colleagues who might otherwise try to bully us. If you think you can make others get scared of you, you can.
Work gains you the true respect that you deserve. It saves you from depression and gives you a goal. A life dedicated to some good work is worth living. Respect gained from such work is respect earned. It is like a shield. Working for money is secondary. Work for the pleasure of working.
A happy heart is a contented heart. It is graceful and doesn’t have unnecessary fears. It also keeps away high blood pressure and other diseases. The feeling of being blessed acts like petrol to work with more efficiency. It also makes you more kind and approachable.
These are just a few skills to be practiced for making you more alive and alert. Religions have always tried to teach these things guiding men to live better and smarter. These emotional skills when acquired will help the learning process.

Questioning as an intellectual skill
Apart from emotional skills certain other skills are necessary to tackle life better. They help us to learn a language faster, implement our knowledge in actual situations, and make us successful in our endeavours. They are analytical skills, decision-making, sharpness in thinking and patience.
Philosophy has always emphasized on analytic skills. Analysis begins with questioning, everything and anything. Whatever theories may be put up in front of us, we should look at it closely, study it, and question it mentally – just a routine check. Questioning to most of us has a negative connotation. We think asking questions is bad culture. Such thinking is against analysis. Reading any material with a question in mind makes the reader more alert. Listening to any lecture with a question makes us remember things better. Effective writing is possible only if we constantly ask ourselves if this is right or not. If you want to speak well, then you should cultivate the habit of listening to your self while you are speaking and constantly question your logic and coherence. Questions therefore are the foundation to analysis and thus to knowledge it self.
Too much of analysis will lead us towards confusion, if we do not learn when to stop it and take a decision. At some time in our work or life we have to take decisions whether we like it or not. Decisions will tell others if we have understood the problem or not. A decision taken after complete analysis of things will have a higher quality. When to speak and when not to speak it self is a sign of thinking and analyzing. There are times when one has to be quiet and there are times when one has to speak. Decisions have to be taken even in small things like this.
A good self-image of ourselves will help us analyze things better and take quick decisions. Our image of ourselves should not be influenced by what others think of us .it should be based on our own analysis of ourselves. We must decide what we are going to think about us. Faith in us and in the inner power of God within us should help us take decisions. A confident man speaks without any stammering, can present reports without any nervousness, can easily learn skills and practice them too. He has the boldness to question and the smartness to decide on his own. A confidence, which is accompanied with sensitivity and kindness, will make any person more likable, a quality that is important for promotions. Finally, if a man is not confident of himself he cannot learn new skills, as it may block his capacity.
A successful man is also very patient. Analysis takes time. Understanding anything needs tremendous concentration and focus. Confidence has to be built very patiently, day by day. A man in hurry cannot learn much. He becomes impatient to get into details on which knowledge is built. He wants to learn things in a day, which is not possible at all. Patient practice alone can take us to our goals.
All these qualities, once we develop them will start showing in our body language. They will affect the way we look at things, the way we walk, the way we speak, our attitude. They will show a mind ready for learning, to compete, to meet life directly and face its challenges, with alertness and sharpness making the learning process faster.

The art of listening
How do you listen – in a meeting, seminar, conference, and project assessment situations? Some times the speaker uses too much of emotions, making you very alert. But some times the speaker does not use any emotions at all, making you go to sleep with boredom. At times you may hear unsaid things due to your own imagination. That is, you may have certain opinions in your mind and when some one else says something similar, you come to the conclusion that he has expressed the same opinion. Putting your thoughts in the message that you have heard is a usual mistake we make generally when we are not alert in listening. In documentation after listening to a meeting, such mistakes will be costly, making your report wrong in content. A good report needs good listening to experts as well as the customer. Similarly friends will respect you if you listen to them sincerely. Gender-neutral thinking is essential to get friendship from the other gender too.

How do you listen with alertness?
Active listening is possible only if your mind is full of questions, before the meeting and throughout the meeting. As the speaker continues talking, questions have to keep coming to your mind regarding the matter in the form of questions. Socrates believed in questions. Knowledge begins with questions. A question gives you more alertness. Alertness gives you the focus necessary to understand any difficult concept or the complex issues brought about by the customer or by any other colleague.
Listening involves physical features like eyes and senses, apart from ears and of course the mind. Our eyes watch the speaker’s body language, facial expressions, the movement of the eye and especially the movement of his hands and come to our own conclusions. Our ears hear the flow of words, the enunciation, the number of pauses he is making and if he repeats any points, and if there is any special reason for doing so. All the while our mind has to ask questions, checking on the information given by the speaker and checking its logic and analyzing its reasoning. We use our previously available knowledge to do all these works simultaneously.
Effective listening is the foundation to all kinds of acquiring knowledge systems. Training our mind to ask questions is a practice one can learn to make our careers a successful one.
Along with these skills if we develop skills of effective reading and writing skills we will find our careers comfortable and successful. With these enhanced abilities women can begin to fill up the vacuum meant for them in top positions in their respective fields. And can manage in a way entirely different from others. These skills will help them to accept responsibility, to tackle administration well and further help them to get the job done effectively. Anu Aga, The Chair person, Confederation of India Industry (CII) National Committee has pointed out that there was a healthier ratio of women managers at the junior management levels, this ratio declines in the senior management positions, coming down to almost universal levels of male leadership in the top most positions, published in the Hindu on December 15, 2005. If this situation has to change women have to sharpen their abilities, so that they can still continue to be competent family organizers as well as top executives in the corporate world competing with men on an equal basis.






















Bibliography



Madhavi, C.V. (2005), Invisible at the top, the Hindu, Sunday, December 11.
Puri, Anjali (2005), Informal Economy, Outlook, December 15, 2005.