During his recent lecture, Parmesh Shahani shared how spaces like universities help in getting ideas together. He told Iknoor Kaur that exchange of knowledge is important to come up with path-breaking concepts
Take a walk down your college corridor or office lane and watch people walk past you. Try striking a conversation with someone you recognise, or better with one you don’t. Observe their characteristics, exchange views and cross pollinate. “Be a node that exchanges pollen because every node plays an important role in this world. How you connect the dots matters,” began Parmesh Shahani, head of the Godrej India Culture lab, while addressing a group at Moon River in Defence Colony.
Many researchers and psychologists have stressed on effective communication for years. Miscommunication has been a problem in India for ages. It has resulted in internal aggression, street violence and interpersonal disbalance. People fail to understand the importance of interactive spaces. Parmesh stressed on the need to interact with each other.
He stood alongside a ‘mother of earth’ podium and covered a lot of topics under the tag ‘Connecting the dots.’ In his lecture Parmesh focussed on knowledge spaces like universities, labs, learning conferences, hackerspaces, informal knowledge networks, collectives and the MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses).
“Today, the world boasts of alternative knowledge sources. Universities have changed in the past few years. Things like video game studies have become relevant. Academia in itself is evolving and there are so many avenues today that people can choose from,” he said.
He threw light on the results such spaces have delivered. His first example was Ray and Maria Stata Center at MIT which believes in the philosophy of ‘flowing.’ Parmesh elaborated, “The entire building is made in a way that there are no walls dividing class rooms or halls. It is designed to maintain a flow. People feel free of inhibitions.”
Parmesh stressed on the term ‘mash up.’ He said that education is not a process which helps one come out as a performer. It is a mash up where one learns and interacts. He gave an example of the online platforms of learning, MOOC. “It gives you a platform to learn different courses. MOOC gives a chance to students to explore their options. But the question is that if you are getting to learn online, why go to college. I say to interact, observe and communicate,” he shared.
Parmesh confessed that he is a conference buff and loves attending meetings. He gave an example of Sunitha Krishnan, a social worker who works for the rehabilitation of prostitutes and rape victims, through her anti-trafficking organisation Prajwala. “When she decided to make her organisation, there were no funds. She attended conferences and salons. In one of the conferences she narrated her story and people from all over the world got up and donated money that helped her build a large shelter for women who have nowhere to go.”
An interesting feature of the meeting was the discussion on Hackerspaces. Parmesh says hackerspaces have become a part of daily education systems. “A hackerspace is a maker space or a community-operated workspace where people with common interests, often in technology, science, digital or electronic art meet, socialise and collaborate. People can learn along with interaction,” he explained. Parmesh added that Kerala was the first state in India to start a physical hackerspace. He said that through conferences he even learnt about things he hadn’t ever heard of. “In Gujrat a man came up with a ‘be cool’ earthen refrigerator which works without electricity. Men in Arunachal Pradesh came up with a machine that made sanitary napkins at home,” he said.
He concluded by saying that the problem is not how communication systems in the country are, but how they are used.