Visit to Pune and Employee Sports Day
Woodstock received an invitation from TAISI, while the website leaves much to be desired, the organisation can be a powerful resource for international schools.
I was scheduled to fly out from Delhi at 4:00 PM on the 7th (Sunday) - so we left Mussoorie by road at 7:00 AM. Alas, we encountered two major traffic jams and I missed the flight. I kept trying to call the customer service atleast an hour prior to leaving hoping that I would be able to reschedule it to a later time but could not get through. I did however learn the Kingfisher advertising ditty.
Anyway I then left at 9:30 PM and arrived in Pune at midnight.
Fortunately the Hotel was really nice although I only had to sleep there.
The conference was however very good and it made all the troubles to get there and back, worthwhile. It is quite amazing how alienated we are in Woodstock. The busy schedule and the intense internal focus makes it easy to think that nothing else in India affects us or can touch us. The government has introduced the RTE Act in Sept 2009 which, if implemented in its current shape and form can be crippling for private schools like Woodstock. It envisions that no child (6 to 14 years of age) should be deprived of education, however, if the child is studying in a neighbouring school, the parents can ask that they be transferred to another school which could be a private school. On the face of it, the governments efforts are laudable, however have not been thought through with implications on schools as well as the children themselves once they complete 14 years of age. Furthermore the local government will have a permanent place in the governance structure of the private school….. so it is all quite frightening and we have to take steps to ensure that this does not sneak up on us.
I then flew back to Delhi the same evening and then drove up all night to be at school on Tuesday. So the travel was pretty hectic and it was annoying to find out that at school some people were questioning as to whether the administrators were on 'paid holiday'. It is always good to return to such a trusting and loving environment ….
At this point I wish to point out how disgusted I was with the air travel. I traveled on Go Air and Jet Lite and both of them were deplorable. These are air taxis and perhaps I expect too much of them. Both the flights were delayed and the staff was so bored that it was painful in the unprofessional ism. I wonder why people work in jobs that do not excite them …. perhaps the economics and glamour trumps job satisfaction in some situations.
Anyway, Nov 10th was employee sports day. I think I have mentioned the distinction between staff and employees in my previous posts. The latter take care of the more menial tasks. It was great fun to watch them participate. This was later followed by a prize distribution ceremony and a Bollywood movie. All in all I think fun was had by one and all … Here are some pictures for you get a feel of what went down that day:
I was scheduled to fly out from Delhi at 4:00 PM on the 7th (Sunday) - so we left Mussoorie by road at 7:00 AM. Alas, we encountered two major traffic jams and I missed the flight. I kept trying to call the customer service atleast an hour prior to leaving hoping that I would be able to reschedule it to a later time but could not get through. I did however learn the Kingfisher advertising ditty.
Anyway I then left at 9:30 PM and arrived in Pune at midnight.
Fortunately the Hotel was really nice although I only had to sleep there.
The conference was however very good and it made all the troubles to get there and back, worthwhile. It is quite amazing how alienated we are in Woodstock. The busy schedule and the intense internal focus makes it easy to think that nothing else in India affects us or can touch us. The government has introduced the RTE Act in Sept 2009 which, if implemented in its current shape and form can be crippling for private schools like Woodstock. It envisions that no child (6 to 14 years of age) should be deprived of education, however, if the child is studying in a neighbouring school, the parents can ask that they be transferred to another school which could be a private school. On the face of it, the governments efforts are laudable, however have not been thought through with implications on schools as well as the children themselves once they complete 14 years of age. Furthermore the local government will have a permanent place in the governance structure of the private school….. so it is all quite frightening and we have to take steps to ensure that this does not sneak up on us.
I then flew back to Delhi the same evening and then drove up all night to be at school on Tuesday. So the travel was pretty hectic and it was annoying to find out that at school some people were questioning as to whether the administrators were on 'paid holiday'. It is always good to return to such a trusting and loving environment ….
At this point I wish to point out how disgusted I was with the air travel. I traveled on Go Air and Jet Lite and both of them were deplorable. These are air taxis and perhaps I expect too much of them. Both the flights were delayed and the staff was so bored that it was painful in the unprofessional ism. I wonder why people work in jobs that do not excite them …. perhaps the economics and glamour trumps job satisfaction in some situations.
Anyway, Nov 10th was employee sports day. I think I have mentioned the distinction between staff and employees in my previous posts. The latter take care of the more menial tasks. It was great fun to watch them participate. This was later followed by a prize distribution ceremony and a Bollywood movie. All in all I think fun was had by one and all … Here are some pictures for you get a feel of what went down that day:
