The ringmaster

                Family reunions are a big deal in my dad’s side of the family. I rarely meet up with my entire family since we live all around the world – United States, England, India and Australia. My grandparents are in their sixties and seventies, therefore we typically visit my grandparents, in India, once every two or three years. Although we keep in close contact via awkward phone calls, which my relatives use to interrogate me about my post-graduation plans, these visits are a great way to reconnect with my family. A few years ago my family- my dad, mom, brother and I- went to one of these family reunions. After 20 hours of flying, 6 hours of lay-overs, and 2.5 hours of driving, we finally had reached our destination, Mysore, India. As we approached the gate to my grandparents’ house, I lugged our luggage and wondered if we had accidently thrown a couple of bricks in the bags. Meanwhile, my grandparents waited by the gate and gazed at us as we walked towards the gate. The hugs and kisses commenced only after we got inside the compound. But two weeks later, when my aunt Vani, aka the ringmaster, arrived, their reactions were different.

                Despite the ringmaster’s small stature, with a height of 5’4”, her piercing black eyes could make her appear intimidating to almost any creature. Even the typically stubborn vendor, at the Sydney flee market, found himself intimidated by her after she had haggled with him for 30 minutes straight. She still carries her trophy around, her cheap knock-off coach purse. In all types of weather she wears those same black “sunnies”(as the ringmaster’s country would say). These are her favorite accessory, which leads me to believe that she wants to appear intimidating to people.  Once she uncovers her beautiful but sleep-deprived eyes, it is clear that her “sunnies” are required.

                For her dramatic entrance to our family reunion, she decided to spare her family members and wear her beloved “sunnies”.   Unlike us, she did not pull up to curb in a taxi. Heck no. My grandparents would never allow their precious little daughter to travel via taxi to their house. Instead, they made one of her cousins drive to the airport- a three hour drive one way- and then bring her back home.  And when she swung that familiar door open, my grandparents rushed onto the street and showered her with hugs and kisses.  Although it was a sweet sight, it did highlight the power that the ringmaster holds in her family.

                Even though she smells like a harmless mixture of Pantene anti-frizz conditioner and flowers, she is made of iron. Once she reached home, I realized this. When she did not like the food that was being served, she would reluctantly eat it while making grotesque faces. In order to appease the ringmaster, my grandmother would prepare delicacies for her, such as tindora. When she had an urge to shop, her posse (my older aunt, my grandmother, my great-aunt, mother and me) followed her every beckoning on these sprees. When she wanted to enjoy city life, the family paraded behind her, despite our fatigued state.  

                I noticed that my family was accustomed to this treatment. Maybe it is because she was the youngest child my grandparents had (My dad and aunt have an age difference of 15 years).  Maybe it is because everyone is sympathetic to her, since she lives in Australia without any family around. Maybe it is because they have an earnest urge to please her. Or maybe it is because she can truly be lovable and adorable. Despite her whims, intimidation tactics, and her immature behavior at times, she is my aunt. And she has done many remarkable things in her short 31 years. She put herself through college, moved to Australia, met her husband, became a project manager, got her first home, and bought the best car ever. So Vani, I guess I do love you-even though you probably already assumed that.  

My dysfunctional and lovable family

                Thanksgiving, for most families, is usually the time to catch up with members of your extended family. But, because the majority of my family lives half-way- across the world, I did not meet my extended family this Thanksgiving. Instead, I met up with some of my friends who were also in the same situation. Although meeting my friends was splendid, I still wish that I could have met my family then. I realize by the way that I idealize meeting my family, it sounds like we are an enjoyable bunch. You may picture us as that family who never shouts or yells and resolves disputes by “talking it out”. You may picture us as that family which never has major relationship problems. You may picture us as that family who is very open and interacts with each other frequently. But I don’t want you to keep fantasizing this lie.

                In fact we can be a very dysfunctional bunch. Our household is filled with arguments, yelling, ignoring, forgiving, and then repeating the whole cycle.  And if my family is not experiencing this cycle, then one member of my family is probably putting on a charade.  I guess it may be better to live far away from each other.  Thus, it is probably better to focus on my immediate family’s interactions.

                 My Immediate family:

                My immediate family consists of my brother, Amma (mom), and Appa (dad).

My mother and I are inseparable. We truly are best friends. I tell her about everything that bothers me and in return she attempts to solve them for me. Although she is not always able to solve my problems, I really treasure the advice that she gives me.  We rarely argue. But when we do get into a disagreement, I try to resolve the issue as soon as possible. This weekend she gave me one of those looks. The look that makes you feel so guilty that you wish that you could hit the un-do button. I cannot bear these looks from my mother. Maybe this is because I am my mommy’s girl. Even though I adore her, I hate it when people call us sisters. On the other hand she takes this “compliment” gleefully, as her wide smile showcases all her teeth. I witnessed these moments a couple of times this weekend as friends talked about how similar we look.  So even though, I do not enjoy this “compliment”, I love the way my mommy’s face lights up when someone calls us sisters.

Next in line is my brother. Whenever I show my friends pictures of him they exclaim, “OMG! He is so cute!” But looks can be deceiving. Even though we have a ten year age difference, we still fight. I think he is spoilt. Whenever we go to the store, he attempts to get his way by screeching. So, in order to salvage the hearing of other customers my parents buy whatever my brother desires. They call it “rewarding him for being a good boy”. I call it being a marshmallow.  But recently, I think my brother has become a little bit more mature. He has limited his shrieks for only a few items. My brother and I have also become closer. Yes, we still yell at each other. Yes, we are not that kind to each other. But we do love each other. Occasionally our love for each other will show through gifts like this:

So maybe my brother can be cute at times. Those times are just very rare.  But I still love him.

Next comes my dad.

Although I love him dearly, I still don’t understand him the majority of the time. Even though we are embracing each other in this particular picture, we tend to get on each other’s nerves quite frequently. This weekend my family and I went to several homes and ate a lot of food. On our way to one house I defended my right to drive (a struggle in my family because I am surrounded by people who love driving). Initially, everything was fine. I accidently started taking the wrong turn, when I heard a scream that sounded like nails scratching a chalkboard from the backseat. I glanced at the rearview mirror and realized this was not my brother. Instead, I was shocked to find my father with fiery eyes. “If you can’t drive the way I tell you to drive, pull over right now and I will drive,” he exclaimed. Although this offer may have been appealing to the tired working mom of two kids, I took this as an insult. As a self-righteous person myself I retorted by telling him to calm down. Although this method was ineffective for his temper, I was able to notice the awkwardness in the car. My mom stared out the window, while my brother was so engrossed at the iPad, that neither seemed interested in the drama that was unfolding in the car. I guess these petty arguments are common in my family. Because as soon as we returned home, my dad and I gave each other a long hug and said, “Good Night”.

                I never understood my family dynamics as a young girl. I ALWAYS thought that each member of my family understands the others and rarely fought. But as I grew older, I started to realize that this family was a fantasy. Although members of my family do avoid others and get into arguments, they try to make it seem covert. Often they would succeed in this task. All in all, even though my family may not be the perfect, idealized bunch, we certainly do love each other and maintain strong connections. 

A-literacy? Or hasty generalization?

The Dumbest Generation. When I first read these words, I could not believe that an author would be so overt at attacking my generation; the generation who typically is the most skilled in all kinds of technology like laptops, cell phones and television. But as I read this book a little bit more, it became apparent that Bauerlein did not maintain a polite facade. Instead, Bauerlein created a steady stream of insults for my generation.  But, there were times when I understood his viewpoint and even agreed with him.

                In his book, The Dumbest Generation, Mark Bauerlein argues that the current generation has become too preoccupied with an overdependence on technology, rather than absorbing the immense knowledge that the world has to offer us.  Bauerlein starts his argument by displaying the current lack of basic knowledge. He believes that this ignorance amongst teens contributes to the issue of a-literacy versus illiteracy. When someone is illiterate, they simply are an unlearned person. On the other hand,  a-literacy is having the ability to read but being unwilling to do so,  Bauerlein sees that our generation has focused on other aspects of life, such as social media, instead of taking advantage of our resources.  Not only have we been careless about our literacy, but our teachers and professors now have become overly dependent on technology for teaching. Thus, they unable to effectively teach us.  Through these points, Bauerlein vouches for the argument that the youngest generation is the dumbest generation, because it does not reach its full potential.

Although this is an accurate description, I think it may be helpful for Bauerlein to explain his thesis himself:

                In order to support his viewpoint, Bauerlein uses testimonials, research data and surveys. This data measures the teenagers over-dependence on technology. Bauerlein typically uses a testimonial by offering it as an opposing viewpoint to consider. But then, Bauerlein tries to break away the argument and point out its faults. This is his attempt to break away the argument, often through the usage of hasty generalizations. Bauerlein also chooses the most apt portions of evidence, from the surveys and other data in order to support his ideology. Thus, he is using the confirmation bias, in which a person only uses information that supports their viewpoint.

Although I disagree with portions of Bauerlein’s argument, he did include some interesting passages of the responsibilities of leaders in society and the importance of print.            

 “[The custodians of culture] They maintain the pathways into knowledge and taste- the school curriculum, cultural institutions, and cultural pages in newspapers and magazines- guarding them against low standards, ahistoricism, vulgarity, and trendiness. If pathways deteriorate, don’t blame the kids and parents overmuch. Blame, also, the teachers, professors, writers, journalists, intellectuals, editors, librarians, and curators who will not insist upon the value of knowledge and tradition”.  (page 161)

                At this point of Bauerlein’s argument, I think it is interesting that he states that society is partially responsible for the way that the students end up. I agree that the students are not the only ones to blame as society does make a huge impact on a child’s life. Since these intellectuals are seen as wiser, they are supposed to lead the students. It is understandable that they would also be responsible for creating a thirst for knowledge in the students. It is also interesting that he states that we should blame persons involved with the media, schooling, and intellectuals, because this is what modern-day students are most influenced by. So, these “enlightened” persons should be able to show them the light.

“Print far exceeds live and televised speech, even to the point that a book by Dr. Seuss falls only slightly beneath the conversation of intelligent adults on the rare-word-per-thousand scale. And when compared to a television show for the same ages, Sesame Street, preschool books outdo it by a hefty factor eight, Adult books more than double the usage of rare words in adult TV shows, and children’s books beat them on the median-word ranking by 137 slots.” (page 129)

                I think this study is an eye-opener. I now realize why my dad would force me to read newspapers or news articles because it had a huge impact on my vocabulary.  It is also very  interesting to think that reading a children’s book will expose you to 30.9 rare words per minute compared watching a prime-time adult TV show  with 22.7 rare words per minute. This piece of information is vital to Bauerlein’s argument that there is an importance of avoiding a-literacy.

However, this data becomes somewhat controversial when compared to Steven Johnson’s article, “Watching TV makes you smarter”: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/24/magazine/24TV.html

Even though Bauerlein did include interesting aspects, his overall argument included several portions that I did not agree with.

“A 2002 report by the Corporations for Public Broadcasting titled Connected to the Future found that using the Internet has made Hispanic and African-American students ‘like school more,’ and that ‘these positive attitudes from children and parents in under-served populations underscore the potentially vital role that the Internet can play in children’s education.’” (page 119)

                I think Bauerlein’s usage of this piece of information was slightly insulting. Because Bauerlein does portray the overdependence of technology in a negative light, stating that these racial groups are dependent on the Internet in order to make school more interesting, a conception that is looked down upon in society, also portrays these racial groups in a negative light. This negative light on these particular racial groups shows that he made a generalization that these races are over dependent on technology, when it comes to motivation for schooling. Also, since motivations for schooling greatly differ from person to person, it is not a well-thought idea to generalize about a particular race. I do not think that he had to only focus on a few races to make his point. If he wanted to make a point using the racial ideas, he should have included information about more racial groups.

“Young Americans haven’t answered the call, though. According to the National Science Board, engineering degrees awarded in the United States have dropped 20 percent since 1985…The 2006 American Freshman Society found that only .5 percent of first year students intended to major in physics, .8 percent in math, and 1.2 percent in chemistry, although engineering improved to 8 percent.” (page 22)

                I think Bauerlein made some hasty generalizations in this passage. First off, it is unfortunate that Bauerlein believes that engineering is the main science that students can be interested in. Thus, he ignores other types of science like biology or astronomy. After the decades that he refers to, several other job opportunities in the science field have been created. Thus, it is not reasonable to draw a link between the decrease in interest in engineering and an emerging lack of interest in the scientific field. Secondly, he mentions in the American Freshman Society, that some intended majors in science decreased. However, it would be more accurate to gage the interest in the scientific field by looking at the declared majors. This would be more effective because in freshman year, many college students are still deciding what their interests are. So, the final decision would display the person’s interest.

                All in all, Bauerlein easily gets his message voiced. His message declares that the younger generation does not use the vast amount of resources it has in order to further its knowledge. Therefore, this generation can be considered “dumb” and should use the resources that it has. Even though Bauerlein wishes to spread a banal message, with his terse diction and logical fallacies, he is not able to easily persuade people. First off, the reader who approaches the novel will most likely be insulted as a result of the provocative title, “The Dumbest Generation”. Calling the younger generation “the dumbest generation” can also be seen as an ad-hominem argument because through his action, he is attacking the younger generation.  He continues insulting the younger generation while he makes hasty generalizations and non sequitur arguments.  Although Bauerlein uses an immense amount of statistics and research, which should increase the effectiveness of his piece, Bauerlein uses cherry picking often in order to support his ideology. If Bauerlein had presented his information in a slightly different light, I think he would have been able to achieve his purpose. However, I thought he was somewhat condescending when I read the book because it made me feel like inferior. This is because I am a part of the dumbest generation. Thus, if Bauerlein had stated that most people of youngest generation are part of the dumbest generation instead of making a blanket statement, it would have been much more palatable.

Observations in a cafe

While sitting in a café in Maple Grove, I was covertly observing the people in the café…

An adolescent taps her foot on the ground, to a beat that is much quicker than the elevator music in the background. Her eyes wander from side to side, as she waits for the next customer to come to the counter. When the next person does come, her face goes into plastic mode; her features are twisted into a non-genuine smile. The teen keeps this facial expression when she rings up the customer. But as soon as the customer says, “Thank You. Bye”, she redeems her previous expression.  She turns and discovers me staring at her. The teen narrows her eyes and forces her plastic smile.

At the neighboring table, couple, brunette and blonde women with stethoscopes and lab coats, chat about their current medical cases at hand. The doctor exclaims, “We were finally able to get that little sucker out after 14 hours!” Her colleague smiles and pats her on the back. They chat about frivolous matters, in order to keep themselves awake. Once in a while the brunette’s head starts to bow down. However, after few seconds of being phased, it snaps back up and her brown eyes become twice as large as they originally were. Once the two medical professionals have finished their bowl of lettuce, tomatoes, croutons, and dressing, they gaze at my onion rings in wonder. The straight-haired blonde, is urged into my unhealthy lifestyle as she order her own plate of onion rings.

A young woman, with brown hair tied up in a blonde bun, a loose fitted shirt, and a scarf, gazes at her Apple screen. As she types, her numerous rings clack to a certain tempo. Her ice blue eyes dart back and forth, while she gazes at the screen. Her face maintains a blank expression; achieving the ultimate poker face.  Periodically, she pauses and extends her frail arms towards the steaming hot cup of coffee. The coffee is consumed slowly, as she carefully tips the cup towards her mouth. But then her pupils dilate and her neutral expression turns to a frown. The mac sign off ring tone just appeared. Her fingers move at a rapid speed to recover her work. But her efforts are not fruitful. Instead, a thin stream of salt-water runs down her face. She clutches her head, and exclaims a silent moan.