Archive for the 'General' Category
June 28th, 2008 -- Posted in General |
Reading an article on another Blog prompted me to write about my visit to the Mother Teresa’s Old age home, nestled at Chhatrapur, New Delhi.
My first trip to this happened by accident… was looking to visit some Friend’s farm house and landed at this place. It required immense intrinsic courage to enter that place… I had never visited any place like that… had probably never faced the harsh realities of life… didn’t know such things happen had only read about them in the newspaper. I was dressed in salwar kameej and my favourite silver bangles and on my forehead adorned a long bindi… The minute I entered… these frail souls all gathered and wanted to touch me, feel me, touch my bangles, could see the glow on their faces when my bangles made that tingling sound. They touched me all over as if I was from an alien world. It dawned on me they had had no visitor since long… they all shared a common bond… REJECTION…..Nobody cared…..I left the place in a hurry promising myself to return again with something for them… left with eyes brimming with tears……..and one thing which I noticed was there were more women there than men….
Woman… laxmi… mother… sister… the same woman must have spent sleepless nights to bring the little one to life….bore him or her for nine months in her womb… gone through the labour pain….and spent sleepless nights to feed her child… to be with them at all times.. and this is her fate… reminds me of those famous lines… ‘Abala teri yehi kahani…..chaati main hai doodh aur ankhon main hai paani… ‘
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June 3rd, 2008 -- Posted in General |
I love you Mom…
‘Mom, Please trust us .we are with you in this time of crisis’. Me and my sister sat across my mom trying to convince her . We could sense her feeling of disbelief and distrust as she glared at us through her glasses. The meaning was clear she no longer trusted us… sometimes it felt that she has forgotten we were her children….
I frequently had my little chats with God as to what had happened to my Mom… She had changed after papa’s death last year.
The same woman who would sit late in the night to knit me the most beautiful sweater which I wanted to wear the next day for my school weekend party… the same woman who will give me milk at 0300 am , who would spend sleepless nights during my board exams. Who will not sleep just to make sure that she was able to wake us up at odd hours for our studies during examination time.
I dedicate this article to that mother who now after so many years looks at us with disbelief and does not trust us. continue reading »
April 29th, 2008 -- Posted in General |
Each of us has a little child residing within ourselves. This little child has been with us all along, even through our adult lives. The “little you” has been another voice from within yourself that has guided and directed you in many areas of your life.
It makes me think about how children are free to associate and create in such imaginative and innocent ways. Ways in which we adults have abandoned or surrendered either through society’s demands to conform to certain rules, or through that slow fade away that happens when as least suspect- even though we swore to never part with our creative innocence and sense of wonder about the world around. Children have a freedom about them that is unfettered by experience, philosophies, and the rigors of the world, an innocence that we as adults so often envy, or wish we could access.
How sad it is that becoming an adult means leaving these things behind.. While dealing with children in the classroom I’m so overtaken by their innocence, their ability to say what they want to ……I really miss it .
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April 14th, 2008 -- Posted in General |
Have you ever felt than tingling sensation when you are in a crowd and still lonely !!!! Have you ever experienced when people around you are talking to you …you are hearing but not listening…you are physically present but mentally far away !!!!!! Sometimes that feeling of emptiness when you feel nobody is listening to you !!!!!!!
Being lonely means - I am not able to share my deepest thoughts with anyone. I have issues at home. I have issues at my office. I have issues with my relatives. I have issues with my friends.Mother-in-law……… I am carrying so much of hurt and guilt inside me. I want to do many things, and at times, I need help. I don’t know ,who to ask? I feel lonely. I feel all alone. I feel that no one understands me. Despite all my trials, I fail to share and convey my feelings
Many of you might not agree but I’ve always felt that sometimes loneliness is necessary and an healthy part of life. I don’t know where I came up with that.
I have friends with whom I try to talk about my problems. But they want to tell me theirs first. What is taken quite seriously by me, is considered ordinary by others. What do I do? How will that help? My character, and my thinking. Is something wrong with them? Who will tell me? Who will guide? I feel very disturbed at all the times. I want peace in my mind. I go out to walk alone, but my thoughts don’t leave me anywhere. This agitation of my mind is becoming intolerable. I feel lonely. I want to talk with someone who will understand my point of view and tell me what to do? continue reading »
April 9th, 2008 -- Posted in General |
‘I love to teach, I love to see minds opening up, to participate in the excitement of learning and to help people progress from frustration to accomplishment’…
Good teaching is as much about passion as it is about reason. It’s about not only motivating students to learn, but also teaching them how to learn, and doing so in a manner that is relevant, meaningful, and memorable. It’s about caring for your craft, having a passion for it, and conveying that passion to everyone, most importantly to your students. It’s about doing your best to keep on top of your field, reading sources, inside and outside of your areas of expertise, and being at the leading edge as often as possible. But knowledge is not confined to scholarly journals. It’s about leaving the ivory tower and immersing oneself in the field. Good teaching is about listening, questioning, being responsive, and remembering that each student and class is different. continue reading »
March 26th, 2008 -- Posted in General |
A recent call from a friend of mine stating that she has separated from her husband after 24 years of marriage prompted me to write this article. Is all the this worth it ??? Aren’t we sometimes getting lost in a vicious circle of looking after everyone that we forget the most important thing in life that is to Love oneself!!!! Think…ponder……
‘Love thyself’ ……….. ” A very simple statement but extremely important…..I agree that, for many people, self-love may be the greatest and most important love they ever experience in this lifetime. However, for so many people, “learning to love yourself” does not seem so “easy to achieve.” For most of us, genuine self-love seems so elusive, so much harder to grasp than we expected.
The possibilities are infinite. One way to learn to love yourself is to act as if you already do (i.e., “Fake it till you make it”).
We need to love ourselves to be content, happy ….. Love yourself. Be good to yourself. Treat yourself well. Replenish yourself. You will discover that, the more you love yourself, the more you will be able to give love to others - and the more others will want to be around you and give back to you. This is a win-win situation. Loving yourself will ultimately benefit the lives of others you encounter, as well as your own life.
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March 11th, 2008 -- Posted in General |
This Woman’s day this SMS on my mobile inspired me to write on something which may sound extremely feminist but then one hardly gets an opportunity to express one’s innermost thoughts in this hectic pace of life. It said
‘A woman has strength that amazes men. She can handle trouble and carry heavy burdens. She holds happiness, love and opinions. She smiles when she feels like screaming. She sings when she feels like crying, cries when she is happy and laughs when she is afraid. Her love is unconditional!!!. There’s only one thing wrong with her , she sometimes forgets what she is worth……’
Whatever, who wants to invest a lot of time and money in celebrating Woman’s Day?
What then, I wonder still, is International Women’s Day all about? Is it about the obvious political issues, the covert domestic abuse on the rise, or always present, but now brought out into the open? Is it only about Pro-Choice and Pro-Life? Is it only about Equal Opportunity? All things being equal in a healthy woman’s life, what, indeed, is International Women’s Day about? Does a woman with all doors open to her need more?
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March 7th, 2008 -- Posted in General |
‘How can You do it , taking your child for a movie , when there is a science exam the next day?’ This was the question asked to me by a parent during my son’s board exams ..Well, I as a mother have always felt that the children need to relax and enjoy during exams. It’s not the number of hours put in that makes a difference in the scores but the quality of hours put in. Once again the board exams are around the corner and one can see the stress atmosphere all around.
I strongly feel the most essential thing needed is to teach Stress Management.
Right from the early age, a child falls prey to the pressures and expectations by the outside world. As he grows old, the expectations amplify and the level of pressure on a growing child increases. A stage comes where the stress becomes a crucial part of life and dealing with the mounting stress becomes almost impossible. This leads to several mental, physical and emotional problems.
Examination stress has become a favourite subject of everyday conversation. It is not unusual to hear friends, family members and even children talking about the difficulties faced in managing stress. Stress plays havoc with exam productivity and has become a concern for parents. But many of us need to realize that stress is a very natural and an important part of life. Without stress there would be no life at all! continue reading »
February 24th, 2008 -- Posted in General |
I believe friendship is the most genuinely humane relationship of which we are capable. To be understood and appreciated for oneself is a vital experience in life, strengthening our will to live in seen and unseen ways. Friendship multiplies by many times the amount of value we are able to create and experience in life. As the saying goes, friendship doubles our joy and halves our sorrows. Nothing brings deeper satisfaction or more lasting reward than the effort to be a true friend to another person.
From my experience, friendship is not a matter of the amount of time you spend with someone. Rather, it is a measure of the strength and depth of the spiritual resonance that arises between you. Many times, meeting someone for the first time, I have felt an indescribable sense of familiarity.
There are many different types of friendship. There are the people we simply feel comfortable and at ease being with. Even more precious however, in my view, are friendships that are based on a shared sense of purpose or commitment to a common cause. Friendship is tested and proven in adversity. Perhaps only those who have suffered truly demoralizing blows can fully appreciate the beauty of friendship.
Friendship is one of those parts of life that we at times take for granted. It rolls off of our tongues as if we expect it to be present in all areas of our lives. I hear our ‘friendship is forever’ or ‘friends always’ is a common thread that runs through our lives. But in truth how many true friendships do you have? Think for a moment and list those you feel are true friends and those with which you have a close relationship. Are they true friends? Is their friendship from the heart? How many people do you truly see as friends?
Friendship is a gift that two people give to each other. It is not an expected result of meeting but a true and unanticipated gift of enormous potential. True friends form a special connection that will weather any storm. True friends understand being human and give the other room to grow. True friends are there even when they are not expected to be present. True friends know and cherish each other’s gift.
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February 20th, 2008 -- Posted in General |
As we examine different national solutions to familiar issues in school and post-school education, including teaching methods, curricula and resourcing; the main focus remains on the ‘external’ challenges, which all educational systems must confront, above all globalization, the communications revolution and the changing nature of work. These challenges require education at successive stages in life and not just for the young; with the increasing rapidity of economic and social change ‘lifelong learning’ has become an almost universal slogan.
In an era of expanding choice and risk how can students be best equipped to lead the good life and the life of a citizen as well as that of a worker? What we teach is sometimes dictated to us. How we teach though, should never be dictated to us. Many have heard the term in relation to teaching students “Engage me or enrage me.” What can we do that will engage students and what can we make sure we do not do in order to avoid enraging them. Regarding the use of different technologies in the school,
1) The tools are not the things that have the power to change education, it is the teachers that have the passion and ability to use the tools effectively that will make the difference.
2) What is the tool we will be using in the future? Furthermore, should we be concerned with what the next gadget will be or should we simply utilize what we have today effectively?
I am still getting my head around the concept of students becoming more than just consumers of information but also becoming producers of information. As soon as they sense that they have the ability to have ownership of the information they embrace the change immediately. Students have more ideas on the ways the information can be produced than adults do.
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