learnings

This morning as I entered the temple gate to attend a Members meeting my heart burst forth with emotion. This is a temple in my neighbourhood  where my father would take me along. Being a life member of this temple, he made me a life member too. As I drove towards the temple, I recollected holding my dad's hand ,crossing the road and walking briskly alongside him. He would recount his life stories and I would listen enthralled. There have been times when I resisted going along with him too. Today watching my son cradle his daughter made me reminisce about my father. My mom recounted the lengths dad would go to put me to sleep or to stop me from screaming and bringing down the neighbourhood. Just then I received a message that the Annual General Body meeting at the temple would commence in a n hour. Spurred by the memories I decided to go.  I entered the auditorium and was greeted by my father's contemporaries. My eyes welled with tears and I was choked with emotion...

Are we doing our assessments in the right manner? The other day I was talking to a 11 year old in my neighbourhod.  He proudly remarked that he had completed his test paper in 10 minutes. The test was set for 45 minutes. I praised him saying that he must have prepared so well that he had completed the test so fast. And out of the mouth of the babe came this,' Oh my teacher had revised these very same questions just before the test. Same to same.' I turned red on behalf of my fraternity. So do we need such assessments?

This happened at a recent Parent teacher interaction at a school where my friend works. One particular teacher had a few parents around her. She was mindlessly pointing out the mistakes made by one student to his parent. She even compared him to another boy standing beside him. The boy and his parents were flustered but listened patiently and walked away. The very next day one student walked upto my friend and had a talk with her. She noted that he looked very pained. He admitted that he felt very upset. On probing he told her that he was hurt that way that particular teacher had spoken about his friend. He said,'Ma'am imagine how my friend felt when his mistakes were pointed out in front of others! And Ma'am he was being compared with another. Would it not have hurt him so much? Ma'am all the time you adults tell us that we must not compare with one another. Then why is a teacher doing so?' My friend had no words to answer. My question is why do we associat...

On a recent visit to a neighbouring city I happened to visit the children's park space which is located within a gated community. There were any children between the age group of 2-7 years playing. Most of the children were accompanied by young nannies- school children ding part time duties! They had come armed with toys. But the children did not show nay interest in the toys. Rather they were so happy playing with the beach sand available in one corner. They were outdoing each other in making mud cakes. As I watched them play I was able to detect various types of personalities: 1. The older sibling making mud cakes and sharing with the younger sister. 2. A chatty little one who was obsessed with cleaning the mud and getting the right consistency before making the mud cakes. 3. A boy who walked into their midst, very calmly destroyed all their cakes and began to make some for himself! 4. The chatty one continued with her work. But the older sibling watched for awhile. Wh...

All of us have an MBA- a mind bank account. So what are we putting into this bank account? We have a current account where thoughts keep flooding and hardly stay for long. The current account has thoughts on immediate work, mundane stuff and domestic chores. Let us look into our savings account. what kind of thoughts are we saving? What kind of thoughts are being harvested? These thoughts work best in our work-home relationships. Are we able to love, be kind, respect, trust ourselves and others on a daily basis? Let us look into the Fixed Deposit! These thoughts harbor on those who are closest or those who are the worst enemies. Are the thoughts here positive about ourselves and others? These thoughts will surface back with a deadly interest years later so beware. And what about our recurring deposit- these are those thoughts that keep recurring on various events and  people who impact our lives? These thoughts are normally harvested from the Savings Account. So update y...

It is with shock and outrage that I heard the news of this Malayalam actor who was molested by people known to her in the same industry. We hear of several incidents ofabuse. But why did this tear into my heart? it is because I like this actor. She is like the girl next door. Celebrities lives aren't private. We are so privy to their lives that we feel connected to them. Thankfully no stupid male has dared to comment about her work, dress, behaviour etc. When such atrocities take place, it is the comments of thoughtless selfish males in power, in the society that is most painful. Recently a politician commented that women ought to be like parked cars! They should be parked inside homes; if they come out they are bound to get scratches and dents! Imagine us having elected leaders like this! Why don't men sit inside the houses so that we can roam freely! When o when Will I be able To wear what I want Talk what I want Do what I want Roam where I want Just be myself ...

I knew this student some years ago who seemed so cold and calculating. It was very difficult for him to be empathetic. On meeting his parents and interacting with them I realized that he was merely echoing what he was learning. It is so important for us parents and teachers to be empathetic and teach our children how to be empathetic. Showing kindness, empathy and care has to be cultivated. As Parents we could : 1. Tell stories of kindness 2. Pick out stories of kindness from our daily lives 3. Expose children to old age homes and orphanages 4. Listen to our children. When they come to us with complaints about others, listen, take time to respond. Children will blame others easily. Examine, look at the situation from another perspective too. Do not jump to take sides with your child and come down upon others. 5. Be engaged with our children. 6. As a couple we need to be kind and caring to each other so that our children emulate us. As a teacher it is important to be the rol...