Razz-Ma-Tazz

Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections

When I received this message on my mobile my fingers started itching to write, some people often tell me that blogging means one should write frequently but for me it’s the pleasure of writing whenever I feel like, which stimulates me and the thought can come at the weirdest of  times. Well today it came when I had to stand in a line to make my payment at the shopping mall counter. I was observing the people around me and everyone was frowning and upset with the sales man for the delay and it seemed as if everyone had the most urgent work to do.. No one was willing to understand the poor sales guy who probably was new in his job and trying to get a hang of the computer. With so many people screaming at him he was taking more time and I could see his nervous fingers punching at the keys. I was wishing that people, instead of getting so restless could give him a smile and a nice thank you but we don’t believe in thanking.

Its been days since I wrote… always getting entangled with work… of course for me work is pleasure but I miss my writings… miss reflecting on each day… life is just going on and each day is an adventure..at least that’s the way I like looking at it. Read the rest of this entry »

A recent tragedy with a friend of mine that led her into depression encouraged me to pen down some thoughts which one has read so many times, one knows it’s tough but the tragedy of life is ‘that it is the only solution’…

She refuses to talk about it and has created a shell around herself which she feels will protect her… we often find solace in our miseries and thinking about what could not be is just a way of making us more miserable. How many of us are able to let the past go and move forward… I know its  easy to say  but very difficult… but then that’s the only solution to any problem.

How many of you have put off and put off sorting through a closet that you know is over-full with obsolete articles of clothing? And how many of you have agonized over whether or not to give an item of clothing away? Or pulled a garment from the give-away pile at the very last minute? One of the most challenging tasks we face in our wardrobe planning endeavors is the letting go of clothes that are no longer serving us. Read the rest of this entry »

‘Take care of your children as they will decide your nursing home’

Often in my career I come across parents who have problems dealing with their own child… this happens because in this super age we all want to be what is called..’Super-Mom and Dad’. Rules of this is very clear… My child must do what I tell him or her… My Child cannot fail… and an endless list of do’s and don’ts…

I feel like asking them have they actually understood the child… every parent forgets their own childhood and want to adorn their own children with a wide variety of do’s and don’ts

Let’s deal with some of the issues…
 
Teach Your Child Independence

When my son was a day or two old, my Mom said to me, “You have to realize that your goal as you raise him is to become independent of you. You are preparing him to be able to leave you someday and take care of himself.” It’s a well known fact of science that seeds which are dispersed farthest from the main plant grow up healthier than the one which fall under the mother tree. Read the rest of this entry »

When one is in the field of education each day is a learning day, each day a new adventure unfolds, each day we learn with them… no wonder long time back this quote came up … ‘Child is the father of man’… This incident took place in my school and I definitely want to share it with the world because in our hurry as educationists we start focussing on curriculum more than those important qualities which make’s a man.

I would love to share this incident which took place in Grade 2 A while I was taking their class yesterday. It is an eye opener for us adults and a very fulfilling thought as whatever anyone might say this is the kind of education which is important and mandatory. Read the rest of this entry »

“Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.” (Robert Frost).

It’s been long since I wrote… it was the excess work in which I had got myself involved… a workaholic and a perfectionist that’s what I am… but was somewhere losing to be in touch with my inner self. Writing has been a great stress buster with me as it allows me to unfold those thoughts which are wrapped up inside and need to be written to feel good… To feel happy… it’s an exciting journey… Writing short quotes on Facebook is also a way of releasing one’s emotions… but why should I tell the world what I did on a Sunday morning… what I did last night… Why do we do this ? We all need listeners and in this fast paced world we feel sometimes more connected to our FB friends… virtual friends than to people who are close by. Reflect… Ponder… am I getting serious… very unlike me… I’m not like this… but anyway feel like writing something so am…

The three magical words ‘I love you’ have an importance and so often people do not realize the magic that theses words can ensue on both the speaker and the receiver, In our society we shy ourselves from using theses words but think about it how nice one feels when somebody tells you ‘I love you’ Read the rest of this entry »

Shano dies on Friday morning; sister says she asked for water, but teacher poured it on her instead… Eleven-year-old Shano Ayub passed away in the early hours of Friday, her frail body unable to survive the inhuman punishment in school two days ago…

This incident has come up thanks to the media but there’s a shano dyeing every day in some classrooms. not Death in the literal sense but some criminal teachers with their attitude make them incapable of doing anything in the future… which in itself is worse than death… because teachers with their callous attitude covert children into lifeless human beings who cannot question and just listen to what is being told… it happens everyday in some classrooms all over the world.
Read the rest of this entry »

‘Mom, I am now 19 and I think am capable of deciding what to do’, ‘Yes, I think so but you have done well in the CAT exams and you might as well concentrate your energies there’. ‘Mom, you are a writer, an educationist and you have always said follow your dreams so let me tell you , give me two years of my life and I want to do what I feel like doing i.e music’. My heart skipped a beat when I heard Karan, my son tell me this.
The selfish mom in me had taken over and at that moment I was blind of all my teachings and lectures to parents and argued with him as to how important it is to be professional and so on… I knew that what I was saying was falling on deaf ears… .and that night when I reflected on our argument I realized this is what I always advise parents not to do… always telling them to let the child follow his dreams and what was I doing right now… just the opposite… Thus for the first time that night I sat and decided to write a letter to both my children

Dear Tanya and Karan
Probably this is the first time I am writing to you but many things can’t be told but can be written. I know you both are matured enough to understand and do follow it… its a mums advise with all the blessings and good wishes. First and foremost let me tell you that I am very proud of you both. Read the rest of this entry »

I got up in the morning [It was Father's day] to my children wishing my husband, ‘Happy Father;s Day’ and planning what they should do to make it special for him. My memory was flooded with thoughts of my Dad whom I had lost last year. The memory of his lying on the hospital bed trying to speak to us came back. When he was alive he would say, ‘Come and sit down I want to talk to you, why are you always so busy?’… but I was always hard pressed for time or didn’t take it seriously not realizing the God has strange ways of making you realize things. I never realized that very soon he will not have the time to speak to me. Very often we take things for granted.

When he was lying on the hospital bed after his fall in the bathroom, he  went into coma… he had lost his voice and one could see that pained look in his eyes of wanting to tell me and my sister a lot of things but he couldn’t… he was only able to move his one hand and the painful look of despair in his eyes was all that we saw for 13 days he was bedridden. Dad stayed in the hospital and his condition quickly deteriorated. The value of that breath which we take each day… I realized when we saw him struggling to breathe. Read the rest of this entry »

‘What did you have for breakfast today, Little child’?’ asked the Principal sitting on the table with 5 other people to my Daughter. Tanya looked here and there, fiddling with her fingers, looked down, then looked at me for a reassuring feeling and just ran out. ‘I am sorry. Mr and Mrs Nambiar, your child lacks confidence’ wow! what an answer… NEXT…

Next School, ‘So you are not well’, can you sing a nursery rhyme for us, ‘ Tanya screamed, No, I wont and ran out. Reached back home with a feeling of failure, a feeling which I never felt when I had not done well in my Hindi Paper in Grade X. Feeling of shame as if I have failed my daughter.

Next school the next day, Principal glared at us from behind his spectacles, ‘So what do you earn?’ ‘Sir, I am looking to admit my daughter for Nursery, How does it make a difference with what I earn,’ ‘Ok, Ok, where do you work?’ ‘I am a housewife and spend the whole time with my daughter’. Actually Mrs. Nambiar we are sorry the school policy is we prefer working mothers. Read the rest of this entry »

On this Teacher’s day, when the role of the teacher is recognized as a noble and honorable profession, it is important to remember how easily we affect the lives of our children. I know that a teacher meets a challenge each and everyday in his or her classroom. Please accept this small token of appreciation for your significant contribution to the lives of the children.
The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called “truth.”

We are heading into an age in which jobs are likely to be invented and made obsolete faster and faster. The chances of today’s college kids working in the same jobs for the same companies for their whole careers are about zero. In such an age, the greatest survival skill you can have is the ability to learn how to learn. The best way to learn how to learn is to love to learn, and the best way to love to learn is to have great teachers who inspire. Read the rest of this entry »