WHAT IS YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE NATION?

 

“Ask not what your country can do for you,

Ask what you can do for your country.” – John. F. Kennedy

Independence Day and Republic Day are two important national festivals that we celebrate. Students participate in flag hoisting, the choir sings the flag song and some patriotic songs, the pledge is taken, speeches are given and cultural programs are conducted. Students and teachers proudly wear the national flag. This is what we do year after year.

When I was a child I used to choke while singing the national anthem. I never understood why I felt a lump in the throat and had tears in my eyes. Today I understand that my connect to my country started very early in life. My love for my country cannot be explained. It is a feeling.

NSN is nurturing students for the nation. Our best practices are aimed at creating responsible citizens and not just erudite scholars. Childhood experiences create lasting impressions in the minds of children. So, we give them all the necessary experiences.

It begins with punctuality, which is an essential quality that we imbibe in them. This teaches them commitment. Students and teachers clean the school campus every Friday. This has been happening for the past eleven years. They learn to take the responsibility of keeping their surrounding clean. Every class ends with the teacher wishing the students,” Jai Hind!”

Sharing and caring is an important aspect of their schooling. Students not only contribute to a social cause, they also create awareness through street plays amongst the general public, on important days like, World Mental Health Day, World No Alcohol Day, Prevention of Plastic Pollution, etc.

They are taught to make their life count. So, they learn to be selfless. This is a quality that is conspicuous by its absence in the society. Everybody thinks only about their needs. They forget about the less fortunate in society. Together we have raised funds and contributed to many noble causes. We have built restrooms in many government schools, where they do not have the basic facilities. The student council is taken to these schools to inaugurate the restrooms.

This is our CSR (Collective Social Responsibility). These are experiences that they will always remember. Many of our students continue to contribute to society.

These are just a few of our many best practices that mould our students to become contributing citizens.

Such an education prepares them to become not only responsible citizens, but also enables them to work towards making their country proud through their achievements. There are students who have attained national eminence in different fields.

As an educationist, I not only plan for their academic excellence, but also think about ways to contribute to the nation. What is your value add on to the country? No matter which profession we are in, we can be part of an NGO or CSR. Each one of us, in our capacity, can contribute to the nation, by ensuring that individual good is integrated with the larger good.

1.Just begin with keeping your street clean with the help of all the residents.

2. You can do composting of kitchen waste in your apartment and convert it into manure.

3. You can plant saplings in your street. Thus, we can create a green environment.

4. You can collect used toys/ clothes, which are in good condition and donate it to a home for abandoned children.

5. Bringing up our children to be cultured and responsible, itself, is a huge contribution to the nation.

We can choose different ways to serve the nation. Let us instill this noble thought in the minds of the younger generation. As Dr. Kalam says, “Three key societal members who can make a difference are the father, the mother and the teacher.”

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

PUSH YOURSELF A LITTLE MORE

“You will never

Change your

Life until you

Change

Something you

Do daily. The secret of your

Success is

Found in your

Daily routine.” -  Darren Hardy

Every day the absentee figures of students are shared with me, the latecomers and improper uniform graph is submitted to me every month, and the figure statement of the language skill and numeracy skill development of students is submitted every term, apart from the results of their academic performance.

Though the school insists on punctuality and appreciates those who are punctual every day, by giving a certificate every month, there are still students who are fighting a battle in their mind and are unable to come to school on time.

A small change every day in your sleeping time or waking up time or in your daily routine, can help you reach school on time. Keeping the uniform ready the previous day will ensure that you do not violate the school rules. Getting into the habit of arranging the books as per the time-table, the previous night will not only take care of the bag weight, but will also ensure that you do not miss any of your books for the day.  

Identifying your weaknesses and working on it, one day at a time, will help you to improve. If your handwriting needs to improve, take time every day to write one page neatly. If you are not good at reading, you should read a few pages every day. Expose yourself to the language often, by watching English films for children every weekend, listen to English news every day, speak in English with your friends, even if you make mistakes.

This is how we learn a language. We fear being ridiculed and so we speak in our mother tongue, which is our comfort zone. By overcoming your limitations, you will feel proud of yourself.

Nobody became an expert in any field overnight. There is a struggle in mastering anything. Ask a Dhoni or an Elon Musk or a Jeff besos, or a Gukesh, how they became world famous. Their beginnings were very humble. But their success story is history now. They worked one day at a time.

You reach a state of effortlessness itself through effort.

Everything in life that we achieve is by putting in a little more effort.  All our small achievements cumulatively lead to big achievements. Just like how James Clear says in his book, “Atomic Habits,” “small, consistent improvements can compound over time to produce remarkable results. So, aim to be 1% better every day.”

I would urge you to study for 30 minutes more, when you feel it is enough for the day.

When you feel tired and sleepy, tell yourself that the next day in school will be so much more peaceful if you keep your uniform ready and arrange the books as per the time table.

You may be tempted to play computer games or watch television when you come back after a long day in school. Fair enough. But restrict the time wasted on it and do what is most important.

The benefit of doing what is important and not what is pleasurable is that, you will develop the discipline to make the right choices in life. Work on one habit at a time. Overcome that weakness and move on to the next. We may think that a disciplined life is boring, it is so repetitive, it is monotonous, yet, discipline is the most pleasurable pain. A disciplined life is truly liberating.

Not only for children, even for adults, you reap massive rewards because of the small habits you are performing.

1.Add daily movements to be healthy

2. Avoid the elevator and use the staircase

3. Save a little money every day and it will be lot more at the end of the year

4. Meditate for 15 minutes consistently

5. Write a line of gratitude every day.

Begin with just these five habits and watch out for your life. You will make monumental progress. All you need to do is, push yourself a little more.

As mahatria says, ‘’ Existential glory is that all are born equals. Human glory lies in ensuring that we do not die as equals.”

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting
 

FAITH DELIVERS MIRACLES

 

It was like any other day. I went for work. I received a message that one of our old students was battling for life in the ICU as he had developed brain fever. A young man with a bright future, but all of a sudden life put him in a situation that was least expected. I was able to speak to him over phone and I felt that his spirit was still alive, even though he was aware that his condition was critical. When life puts you down, can you get up one more time?

                      Life never prepares you for a surprise.

My mother too found herself in a similar situation. My dad passed away all of a sudden. Nobody expected a healthy person, who lived life with zest, to go away just like that. Life does not give you advance notice of an oncoming calamity. Death just comes, and invites.

With an infant and two toddlers, life ahead looked blank. Nothing made sense to her. But slowly she picked up the threads of her life, one day at a time, and started life all over again as a single parent, with an empty pocket.

Life did not succeed in breaking her spirit though. She fought valiantly. Her success story is history now. It was her unshakeable faith in the Almighty that gave her the strength to move forward.

Life has thrown so many challenges at me. I have been affected very badly in the past. I felt so helpless and hopeless. I have cried over it, feeling miserable and powerless. It was my area of concern. The challenges were outside of me. I never realized that the only person I could influence was, myself. I could change my approach, my outlook and choose my responses.

It was my good fortune that my life transformed when a teacher appeared in my life. I found my spiritual connect, which is the greatest blessing in my life. I cannot quantify the strength that I derive from my Source of Faith. He has changed my very DNA!

How I think during challenging times has changed so much because I know that God is preparing me for something big. Today I realize that those experiences were required for me to become the person I am now.

                      Testing times are actually preparing you for something big.

My spiritual guru always says, ‘’ Even if things aren’t going right I keep going right, and that makes my life right.” This is a huge lesson in life. We tend to become very negative when we face challenges, and give up. I keep telling myself, “Faith delivers miracles.” Thus, I gain strength.

A school is not just about teaching and learning. We deal with the emotions of students, from a two-year old to a seventeen-year old. Their mental and emotional well-being have to be taken care of.  We deal with the emotions of teachers and parents as well.

So, an emotional balance is expected of an educationist. But we are also human. What comes to my rescue is my spiritual ascendance through my spiritual connect. There is a huge difference between my life before and after my initiation into spirituality.

I am, in fact, watching myself and my responses. The more and more miserable I used to feel in the past, whenever I encountered challenges, the less and less I react to situations now.

I feel absolutely blessed to be in this state and in this space. For all that I have been through in life, I realize that life was preparing me for this beautiful phase, where in, I feel every day is a miracle!

Each one of us should find our Source of Faith. I have no two opinions on that.

“Out of gratitude, love is born

Out of love, devotion is born

Out of devotion, surrender is born

Out of surrender, faith is born

And in faith, miracles happen.” – mahatria Ra

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

 

 

                           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BEGIN WITH A HOBBY

“Leisure is the time

For doing something useful” – Benjamin Franklin

How many of us have a hobby these days? Yes, we do indulge in activities for a time pass. It is invariably watching a movie, a television serial or being on social media. It is true that social media helps people to connect with each other, share information, and build communities. But excess use of social media can cause mental health issues. Any addiction for that matter.

Hobbies on the other hand can be productive. It can take away your stress, depression or anxiety, if you are suffering from any of these. It helps you to relax and take your mind away from the daily stress.

We derive so much joy by indulging in a hobby. It channelizes our energy and gives us a direction. A hobby energizes us and it is free time well spent. A person who is involved in some hobby never complains of boredom. In fact, they slowly become a pro in what they do that they stun you with what they create.

One such thing that I started doing quite some years ago was, writing. My friend who conducts writing workshops asked me to join her workshop. Thus, my journey into writing began. It began as merely writing on a topic, on a movie, a video clipping, a picture, etc.  It was more of an exercise to become a better writer.

Then I was asked by my mentor to start blogging for students, teachers and parents. Thus, I became a blogger. I created time to write a blog week on week. Was it convenient for me to write every week? Well, it is not just blogging. I run two schools and the third one is coming up soon. It is not easy, as I have a fixed routine in the morning and evening, which takes my time, one hour in the morning and evening, before work and after work. But I manage to squeeze in time to write a blog so that I can reach out to students, parents and teachers. Since my focus is more on making a difference, I enthusiastically involve in it.

I sometimes have to type when I am travelling, at the airport, on the flight, or in the car, as I am hard pressed for time. The toughest period in my life was when my mother was shuttling between hospital and home for three months due to her illness. Emotionally too I had to put in effort to be stable. But I did not miss writing my blog, on the way to hospital and back. It was out of a sense of commitment.      

If your words can din sense into someone, if it can turn around lives, if it can transform someone, if it can bring joy in somebody’s life, if it can help build relationships, if it can heal somebody’s wound, if it becomes a turning point in somebody’s life, why not create time.     

My mentor wanted me to share my thoughts on education and the educational philosophy that I believe in, with other educators. So, we came up with the idea of publishing a book. Week after week I wrote one chapter at a time and in a year’s time the content for the book was ready. As a first-time author, I went through completely new experiences.

Once again, time management was very crucial. Writing is only a hobby and not my profession. But like I mentioned earlier, what begins as a hobby can take you very far. An amateur thus became an author! 

“Small beginning

Incremental improvement

Sustained progress

Will lead to legendary possibilities” - mahatria Ra

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

 

EVERYTHING IS A THOUGHT FIRST

 

I have the habit of writing “Say It and Do It” everyday in order to get the direction of my thinking right, so that I achieve the milestones that I wish to. There are about 11 points and it is a tall order, not something that I can achieve easily. It is more of a striving. But everything in life begins as a thought before it becomes our action.

Why not give the right direction to our thoughts so that we get our actions right!

So, relentlessly I work towards it. Once the mind is given a task, it will start working on it. It was my friend who introduced me to it and it is four years now, and I continue writing, though, initially I was not sure what I should write. But I must say that what began as something very ordinary has today become the purpose of my life. It just began unfolding day after day.

I started with 3 points and then it progressed to 11 points. I don’t wish to exceed that number. Anyways 11 is an auspicious number for me. One of the points in it, the eighth one, to be precise is, “I will be a Hanuman in my Faith.”

Hanuman is one of my favourite characters in mythology. I love Hanuman’s devotion towards Rama. And I wish to attain that kind of purity in my devotion towards my Faith. Hanuman was always introverted, even in the presence of Rama He sat with His eyes closed, chanting Rama’s name. So, He was able to experience Rama within Him.

That was the direction of His thought.

Recently a group of teachers were asked to conduct an in-house training for the rest of the teachers on “Critical & Creative Thinking.” Though they were familiar with the topic, a lot of research and homework had to be done in order to become Resource persons. Diligently they worked on it as they wanted to do their best. They conducted the session with confidence and conviction.

The session was a big success and their colleagues appreciated and endorsed it.

This was because they were passionate about what they were doing. They believed in themselves and incessantly worked towards acquiring a thorough knowledge of the topic. Preparation is the key. Thereby they surpassed the expectations of the participants.

Their thought was given a direction. So, their actions were in congruence to their thoughts.

There are students with different thought processes, studying in the same school, though the school has a set of practices, common for all. Not all of them get transformed through a common curriculum. The thinking is influenced by the environment at home as well. Some of the students are willing to go through the heat to become that glittering gold which is inherent in all. But many tend to choose what is easy over what is right.

Right or wrong action, winning or losing, making it big or remaining small, success or failure, honesty or dishonesty, are all manifestations of our thought process. Everything first begins as a thought.

One master-key that is a solution for all ailments of the mind is to sit in non-doing every day. There is so much noise in the head that the divine whispers are not heard.

Closing your eyes every day as a practice will drown all the noises and help you to experience peace, happiness and divinity.

All your actions will be in the right direction as your thinking will be elevated through constant practice. This has been my experience and I wish each one of you take it up one day at a time and watch the miraculous unfolding of a new life in the NEW YEAR!

Wishing all of you a peaceful, progressive & productive

New Year

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

A MANIPULATIVE MIND

 

Almost five years after COVID-19 disaster, I was just remembering the days when the entire world came to a halt. Something nobody even dreamt of. People all over the world were cut off physically from the outside world. Schools were shut down for a couple of years. Children had to attend online classes. Teachers who were not familiar with technology struggled to take online classes.

This was the time children became undisciplined. As there was no need for them to go to school, waking up early was no more a habit. There was no routine in life. They were struggling to overcome their laziness.

In the online class, they invariably switched off the video camera on the pretext that there was no charge in the mobile phone. They either slept through the class or were munching on some food. Some had the audacity to lie down. I later heard that some of the children sat in the class without bathing! Parents had to literally wake them up and hurriedly make them wear their school uniform.

The link that was shared by the teacher was misused by some of the students by allowing their friends to join the class and disturb the teacher by posting inappropriate messages. Maintaining discipline in an online class was a difficult task for the teachers. Much of their time was wasted bringing the class under control.

Thinking that they were cheating the teacher, the students lost most of the precious learning time. This resulted in a huge learning gap when physical classes resumed after two years. It was certainly the students’ loss.  Those who made use of the online classes continued to do well in their studies.

Every time we manipulate, we should remember that we stand to lose. We always end up as losers.

When students are asked to write a book review, some of them copy it from the net without even reading the book. All that matters to them is the certificate that they will receive on submitting a book review. They don’t realize that the process is more important. What you can become by developing reading habit is far greater than the certificates you have in the file.

Reading expands your mind, it enhances your vocabulary, improves your communication skill, enriches your knowledge and thought process and develops leadership qualities in you. A certificate is a mere piece of paper without all of these.

When an assignment is given, some of the students work on it diligently. But some of them waste their time doing what is not necessary and copy it from their friends, fearing a reprimand from the teacher. In the process, submission of the assignment means nothing when you have not learnt anything new in the process.

The best way to grow is to develop the discipline to think straight.

Manipulation may give you temporary victory, but it will ruin your life permanently. Overcome the temptation to manipulate, even if you stand to lose.

Eventually you will emerge stronger in your values and character and earn the trust of the world. This is the best way to grow in your own eyes.

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

WHAT IS YOUR DEFAULT STATE?

The entire world watched with bated breath, the astounding victory of chess Grandmaster Gukesh, the youngest world chess champion from India. The young champion rearranged the coins back on the chessboard, amidst tears of joy on winning the highest honour in the game of chess, joined his hands in gratitude to the board, looked up and thanked the Almighty, and finally lifted up his hands in acknowledgement of his victory. He remembered to place his chair in the right position before he left the place.

The media was busy reporting the money earned by the chess champion, but my mind was only thinking about the disciplined life of this wonder boy. Dedication and devotion to the game was his default state. Respect and reverence for the game was his default state. A grateful heart and unshakeable faith in Almighty were his default state. Consistency and perseverance were his default state. Resilience and relentless striving were his default state.

These were all his attributes- the fragrance he emanated. That is the reason he became the youngest chess Grandmaster in the world.

By default, are we positive or negative? Our default state either takes us very far in the path of success in life, or cuts short everything positive.

I know of people who have had nothing, and by the sheer virtue of their hard work, have risen to positions of eminence, as their focus was always on building their career, which aided in their meteoric rise, and hence the benefits of a life of luxury.

They are not people about whom I have read in the pages of a book, but those whom I have been associated with.

Their strength was their ability to use their potential beyond one's imagination, work extended hours, sweat it out, set goals,  draw timelines and work with single-minded devotion. Hence, they transcended poverty and made it to the top of the chart. 

So, by default they are hardworking and not lazy. The contrary has been the story of those who have been lazy.

Anything that we are able to do effortlessly, is our default state. But a state of effortlessness itself is sometimes achieved only through effort.

Gratitude does not come naturally to all. So, the school asks you to begin by writing a line of gratitude in your journal in the school hand book. Helping others does not come spontaneously for some of you, so it has to be inculcated in you. Hence, the school involves you in the social contribution drive. Left to you, you may not choose to be punctual to school. Since it is a rule in the school, you come on time. A punctuality certificate is also given if you are punctual every day of the month, in appreciation of your effort.

Understanding the need to develop a powerful mind and to create self-awareness in you, the school has the practice of asking the students to sit in silence every day.  In order to build your confidence, intra-house competitions are conducted. Thus, your confidence is built. Respect towards teachers and parents is a very important quality that is driven into you through "Guruvandanam" and "Matru-Pitru vanadanam" celebrations.

So also, the Willpower drive, the Tree of joy, Social awareness programs, the special days, Joy of loving, Bouquet of thanks, and many more.

If you can take time to reflect on what your school insists you to do, though you may sometimes resist it, not understanding the importance of imbibing such values and habits, you will realize one day that the goodness in you, which comes naturally to you, the values and discipline by which you live your life, the competence that is your strength, the happy and  loving person that you are, the good Samaritan that you have become, are all your default state because, from your childhood, all these qualities were insisted upon by your school. Simply live by it!

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting