meethapani

Humour The digital networks teem with jokes, satirical videos and memes, from politics to the absurd new world leaderships. Humour is a coping mechanism that can balance out overwhelming circumstances, neutralize aggression and heal relationships. It is also a means of expressing criticism of society that escapes social or legal restrictions.     The court jester could get away with saying things that an ordinary critic would be beheaded for. With the end of traditional kingships, the court jester transformed into the stand-up comic, holding the mirror to society’s weaknesses Dark “gallows humor”, coined by the Germans during the 1848 revolutions for the persecution of liberals is, as Antonin Obrdlik says “an index of strength or morale on the part of oppressed peoples” . Humor can be used as a weapon for mass resistance.   The Italian’s used the slogan   “ Una risata vi seppellirà ”, during protests against the Ancien Regime, which translates as “It w...

Re-thinking Education The 1200 plus acres of the arid campus of University of Karachi magically turn lush green after the rains, hidden seeds become beautiful flowering plants, dragonflies mysteriously appear   and puddles teem with tadpoles. Teaching art feels pretty much like that: a little watering and amazing talents emerge.   Training in the creative arts by their nature must focus on self-realization and expression of the inner voice.   According to psychologist, A.I. Krupnov, self-realization, one of the aims of all education, is best achieved by persistence. While creative education assumes the student’s self-regulated persistence, many academic programmes are standardized, prescribed and inculcate passivity. If, as George Bernard Shaw says “intelligence forces us to learn”, this lack of engagement can only stem from the methodology of teaching or perceiving the content as irrelevant to the student’s future life. Many seek higher education degrees, ...