Suppose it's your last meal on Earth. What would you have and why?

If I get a chance to choose my last meal on earth, it would be my all time comfort food Chole Bhature. The smell and sight of a steaming hot plate of Chole Bhature makes me drool. It reminds me of childhood, when my mom used to cook puffy bhature and zesty chole on my birthdays. Every time my mom made Chhole Bhature for my school lunch box, my day was made. She always used to pack extra Bhatures for my friends who relished every bite of the scrumptious dish.

When it comes to taste, nothing can beat the earthy flavours of Chole Bhature. While staying in hostel during my college days, a not so morning person like me did not mind waking up on Sundays to dive into Chole Bhature that were served for breakfast. I still remember how I had gobbled up six bhatures at a row to beat my roommate who could eat just four. Many years have passed since then but Sundays don't feel complete if it’s not Chhole Bhature for breakfast.

You won’t be surprised if I tell you that the first dish that I learnt from my mom was Chole Bhature. Though I’m not an enthusiastic cook, but my love for this dish made me excel at preparing it. When I visited my in-laws for the first time, I managed to succeed in the tricky task of impressing them by making delicious Chole Bhature for them.

My husband’s colleagues have become a big fan of my Chole Bhature after relishing it in a recent potluck party. Recently, I had set up a Chole Bhature stall in a food festival held in our society. The intense aroma of deep fried bhature and tangy chole was inviting enough to make it sell like hot cakes.

My mouth is watering even while I’m writing about Chole Bhature. Well, I don’t really know which meal would be my last, but I have already made up my mind to have Chole Bhature for my next meal.

Will online learning replace the traditional universities in India in a few years?

India’s university system is fraught with quality and quantity challenges. Among other things,
there is a shortage of specialized instructors, infrastructure and funds. Considering the rapid
growth in the number of prospective students at university level and the ever increasing demand
for good quality education, it would be challenging to remove these hurdles. In such a situation,
it’s difficult to meet the demand for skilled and qualified manpower. Moreover, it’s not possible to
setup quality educational institutions overnight. In the current scenario, online learning can raise
the level of education and provide skilled manpower as well.

India has become the second largest online learning market globally after the US. According to
a report by UK-India Business Council, the sector is likely to gain from
the government’s Rs.1.13 trillion Digital India initiative. The government has been actively
supporting online learning and the Department of Electronics and Information Technology
(DeitY) is developing technologies to promote it. Apart from this, factors like internet penetration,
rising demand for skilled manpower and the growing inclination of youngsters towards new
technologies have led to the growth of online learning in India.

What draws Indian students to online learning is the accessibility it provides to high quality
education. In a country like India where there is a dearth of good universities, online learning
has a lot of scope. No wonder Indian students constitute the second largest group of students
who have enrolled in courses offered by the massive open online course (MOOC) providers –
Coursera and edX.

Advantages of online learning

Although online learning cannot replace traditional universities in India but it can change the
way classroom learning is conducted. So, the question is how online learning can enhance the
students’ experience?

Live Classes: The need of specialized instructors does arise in certain courses. By
broadcasting live classes, a single instructor can teach multiple students present in multiple
locations at the same time.

Student To Student Interactions: Through video conferencing, students can collaborate with
each other which will help to develop and expand their critical thinking and problem solving
skills.

Video Content Delivery: Students can access recorded lectures and other learning materials
from anywhere, anytime. They can pursue online courses in their own space and time.

Up-to-Date Content: It’s much faster and cost-effective for instructors to update online study
materials and e-books in comparison to textbooks. Through digital delivery, these study
materials can be made readily accessible to the students.

With the rapid growth in the number of students demanding a better degree of higher education
in India, online learning certainly holds promise. It is still a relatively new industry but the
prospect of making education available to anyone, anytime, anywhere is making it appealing to
Indian students. Although online learning can’t completely replace current university system, it
will definitely augment and improve it. The future will see a rich blend of classroom and online
learning supplemented with a rich array of teaching aids.