I was in South Africa to address an international gathering on reforms in rural education in 1997. But before the event, I landed up into a hospital in unconscious condition. I lost my sense almost within half an hour of reaching the hotel room from the airport in the noon. I understand that I remained in that state till early morning next day; more than 12 hours. Only on regaining consciousness, I realized the time, that I was in a hospital and that too in South Africa, my first and only hospitalization in more than 50 years of my physical existence on this earth then.

At about 10 in the morning, a black woman nurse in late 30’s or early 40’s in uniform came to my bed with a towel and a container full of warm water. She told me that on doctor’s advise she was going to give a sponge to me and she's going to take off my clothes. I was quite scared. I didn’t know in what condition I was brought to the hospital. I was dressed up by the hotel staff in the unconscious condition and brought to the hospital. My weakness was so much that my hands were immobile to even check; equally insensitive was my body to make it out otherwise. With my feeble voice, I resisted her, “Sister, I don't think I'm putting on any undergarments.” The nurse said with a disarming smile, “so what, I'm your sister”.

Without hesitation, she put her hand at my back and softly put me up; she took off my kurta. Then she pulled out the string of my pyjama. With extreme care, she slowly turned me left and right, and pulled off the pyjama. I was without a thread on myself. She started mopping me with utmost care, and softness. By the time she finished my face and mopping my neck, several decades were rewinded in my life bringing me back to my sixth year when my real sisters used to give bath in the open in our village home with the same tender care, softness and love. I was nostaligically absorbed in bathing in my sixth year at the hands of my sister. Literally forgot the reality and lived few beautiful moments in the land of dreams. I woke-up only when the nurse started putting on my pyjama back. She dressed me up, combed my hair and put me back into the reclining position since I was already very tired. After a while, she was back with my lunch, some soft soup like thing.

I struggled to reach out to take the lunch. She said, “no-no, just sit up for a few minutes. I'm going to feed you today.” She started feeding me with a spoon reminding me not of my childhood- not the sick days, but my craze for indulgence of my sisters to be fed. It is at this stage, I told her, “I guess, now, I know why people call nurses as Sisters.” She reciprocated with her beautiful smile – bright white teeth at the backdrop of glowing dark skin spread a ray of hope in me.

I was to be relieved next day. When my papers were ready, a hefty young man came with a wheel-chair and helped me getting into it. Before he could lay his hands on the handle, the sister appeared from nowhere. She told him, “don’t bother. I’ll take him to his car”. The attendant persuaded her; it was his duty to take the patients out. She told him, “He is my brother, let me have the pleasure of taking him to the car and see him off.” The ward boy could not make out. ‘May be, he was confused about our relationships because of my own complexion. She pushed the wheel-chair with great care not to give me any jerk, and brought it to the car and helped me inside.

Instead of saying ‘bye’ which is common in this part of the world, she asked me the most difficult question, I have ever faced on this earth, “are you leaving your sister behind? Won’t you take me home with you?”

I had no answer; tears rolled down my cheek. As I looked through my moist eyes, she reciprocated with tear-pearls on her beautiful dark cheeks. The car rolled out.

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I am currently engaged in researching and developing a taxonomy of human thinking and link it to developing a new learning design that helps students 'Learning to think: Thinking to Learn'. Main focus is Learning without stress (of memorizing huge amount of meaningless irrelevant information) that is sustainable, joyful and exciting. I have developed programmes for teachers, Learning Labs for students and workshop designs for parents.

Learning to Think: Thinking to Learn

Learning in schools, colleges and universities are memory-based. According to brain research, human brain does not store informations that are not relevant for long. Learning is mostly fragile. There is huge loss of learning. Memorising is wasteful, stressful and unsmart.

Learning that is backed by thinking, is sustainable and high quality. It is thinking-based learning that leads learner to higher order thinking. How do we free students from the strangle hold of stressful, wateful fragile rote learning to learning without stress, sustainable and exciting!

That's my contemporary research. I have developed a taxonomy of human thinking; identified 62 different learning tactics that can be strategically blended depending upon the world view and learning style of the learner, world view and personality of the teacher, content pedagogy, assessment system, and values and ethics; all these to create higher order thinking.

I have also developed Learning Lab for students that helps them to become smart learner -- use their power of thinking to discover knowledge and invent solutions rather than memorising whole lot of irrelevant information and burden themsleves.

Namaste. I spent my life time in education. Began as a village school teacher in 1964. Superannuated in 2006. During this long 42 years, I taught in school, college, university, regional and national intitutions in India. Had leadership position in two major national and a state institutions -- National Open School(NOS, New Delhi), National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA, New Delhi), and West Bengal State Open School in Kolkata. I served as Vice-President(Asia) of International Council of Distance Education (HQ in Oslo) during 1995-99 term; on the Steering Committee of IMAGE (HQ: Washington DC).

I have been involved in educational policy making and planning at the highest level in India since 1984. One of my major contribution was the CABE Report on Universalization of Secondary Education as Chairman of the CABE Sub-committee. I am regularly consulted by UNICEF, UNESCO, and other such major agencies.

I have authored and/or edited more than 20 books -- all on education. My book, Total Quality Management in Education has been printed in several languages. Our edited volume Indian Education: Dynamics of Development is the most authentic volume on post independence Indian education. Have dabbled into educational film making; have addressed learned gatherings in various countries in the world.

Currently heading Educational Technology and Management Academy (www.etma-india.org) and rural development ngo, Howrah Rural Teachers Forum (www.udangforum.org)