Rabindranath wanted to see his country elevated to a situation where knowledge will be free. With "Google-it" becoming a common action and Wikipedia at our fingertips (quite literally so) and an access to the Internet taken for granted through smartphones and tablets all over the world, Rabindranath's dream might be fulfilled.
Those who try to sound intellectual by saying that the Internet is a bad thing don't have any idea what they are saying. It is through the Internet and only through it that we are achieving true globalization. Globalization isn't about wearing the same branded clothes all over the world or drinking Starbucks coffee, it is about living in a global village where "distance" isn't an impediment to attaining something you had always wanted to.
Thanks to the Internet for letting me have my dream come true!
It was probably in 1995-96 when I had a dream (I mean an actual dream that I had while sleeping) where I saw I was working on a computer which had a telescope attached to it. I could see the stars while doing some calculations. That dream came true this month when I enrolled in Coursera. From time immemorial, I wanted to be an astrophysicist but different reasons (not all bad) stopped me from pursuing a career in physics. I was beginning to forget that too amidst the craziness of a demanding job, learning new technical things (might not be physics, but interesting nonetheless) and definitely a busy life in general. Sometimes when the Seattle sky is clear and the Big Dipper shows up or when I read Carl Sagan's work I think about physics. That is when Coursera came up.
Arnab found the site and registered for some technical courses. Then he told me to register too. My intention was to find some computer science stuff, but then I saw this "Introduction to Astronomy" course and promptly enrolled there.
What have I learned so far? Well, it is an eight week course and I am just at week 3, but I learned about finding the positions of stars, mathematical formula to calculate those positions, brushed up my knowledge on gravity and Newtonian physics, got fascinated once again by light (and the electromagnetic spectrum) and have got into the depths of Solar System. For the second time in my life someone is actually teaching me quantum mechanics and I get to see familiar pictures of M-42, Pleiades and images coming from spectrometers. It just makes me take a deep breath and smile. The deep breath is to open my mind to learn new things and the smile comes when I realize there are SO MANY things that I am yet to learn!!!
There are some other stuff I learned too from the professor apart from astronomy. One is, how patiently he explains things to students he hasn't and would never see in his life. Secondly, teaching an online course, that too for free amazes me. Spending so much time and energy talking in front of a video camera to enrich the minds of people scattered all over the world. These students would never bring any fame to the professor, nor would they come to thank him, but he is still teaching them. I am so grateful to the teacher and his assistant for keeping knowledge free. The final thing that I have learned is - if you really, truly want to learn something, no one in the world can stop you! That's why they say in Buddhism when the time is right, the master shall arrive.
PS: I was walking Bebe in our neighborhood park a couple weeks back on a clear evening. I looked up and saw the sky full of stars and Orion chasing towards Taurus the bull as always with his two faithful dogs following him. I said to Bebe, "now I have you just like Orion has his dogs!" I am friends with Orion once again, he is my favorite!
Those who try to sound intellectual by saying that the Internet is a bad thing don't have any idea what they are saying. It is through the Internet and only through it that we are achieving true globalization. Globalization isn't about wearing the same branded clothes all over the world or drinking Starbucks coffee, it is about living in a global village where "distance" isn't an impediment to attaining something you had always wanted to.
Thanks to the Internet for letting me have my dream come true!
It was probably in 1995-96 when I had a dream (I mean an actual dream that I had while sleeping) where I saw I was working on a computer which had a telescope attached to it. I could see the stars while doing some calculations. That dream came true this month when I enrolled in Coursera. From time immemorial, I wanted to be an astrophysicist but different reasons (not all bad) stopped me from pursuing a career in physics. I was beginning to forget that too amidst the craziness of a demanding job, learning new technical things (might not be physics, but interesting nonetheless) and definitely a busy life in general. Sometimes when the Seattle sky is clear and the Big Dipper shows up or when I read Carl Sagan's work I think about physics. That is when Coursera came up.
Arnab found the site and registered for some technical courses. Then he told me to register too. My intention was to find some computer science stuff, but then I saw this "Introduction to Astronomy" course and promptly enrolled there.
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| In the outer space |
There are some other stuff I learned too from the professor apart from astronomy. One is, how patiently he explains things to students he hasn't and would never see in his life. Secondly, teaching an online course, that too for free amazes me. Spending so much time and energy talking in front of a video camera to enrich the minds of people scattered all over the world. These students would never bring any fame to the professor, nor would they come to thank him, but he is still teaching them. I am so grateful to the teacher and his assistant for keeping knowledge free. The final thing that I have learned is - if you really, truly want to learn something, no one in the world can stop you! That's why they say in Buddhism when the time is right, the master shall arrive.
PS: I was walking Bebe in our neighborhood park a couple weeks back on a clear evening. I looked up and saw the sky full of stars and Orion chasing towards Taurus the bull as always with his two faithful dogs following him. I said to Bebe, "now I have you just like Orion has his dogs!" I am friends with Orion once again, he is my favorite!
3 comments:
Enjoy life - be happy!
chhobita ki morph kora?
jakge, onekdinkar khamche khumche collect kora shokher gyan ekhon structured way te sikhchhis... enjoy !
Na na chhobi ta genuine. Eta Gopa-mashi der okhane ekta science museum e tola, jekhane deyal e boro boro poster lagano chilo :) In fact, Gopa mashi-i tulechilo ei chhobi ta.
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