PREPARING FOR LIFE

I was invited as the Guest of Honour for the dance “arangetram” of an alumnus of the school. There I had the opportunity to meet many of our students, past and present. Some of them compered for the program, while many others had come to witness the program. A couple of them whom I met there were married and had children, who were studying in NSN. While interacting with the parents, I could see the pride in their eyes when they said that their children were the products of NSN and they were proud of the confidence which their children exhibited and also said that this was because of the horizontal exposure they had had in the school. The school does not focus only on academics, but also works on the wholesome development of the child.

 The school takes them through necessary experiences to bring about physical, social, emotional, spiritual, moral and aesthetic development, apart from intellectual development. You may not understand the why of all that the school does, in your current maturity level. Just as how the sun’s energy is available in plenty and it can be captured and stored in a solar panel and be used as solar energy, all that you need to do is to immerse yourself sincerely into those experiences. You can turn around your life. In a country like India where sunlight is available in abundance, and yet many of us are deficit in vitamin D, some of you, who study in the best of schools, fail to inherit the values and discipline that the school imbibes in you, as you prefer to live life on your terms, not realizing that you will regret it later. So, nothing good rubs on you, and you pass out of the portals of the august institution without any transformation.

 On the contrary, there are students who bask in the ambience and allow themselves to experience everything positive in the environment. They make the best use of the opportunities given and transform themselves. They are the caterpillar to butterfly category. They help themselves to bring out a better version of themselves. Surrendering to the higher intelligence will do a lot of good to you. Whether you are asked to sit in silence for eleven minutes, or be active in the playfield, or to participate in the “Clean my school campaign,” or sing the national anthem, or avoid littering your surroundings, or be punctual to school, or maintain a gratitude journal, or avoid riding a powered two wheeler without a license, or be honest in the exam hall, or develop your communication and leadership skills, or be an active participant in the school events, do you do it with sincerity, or is your mind becoming manipulative?

Your approach defines your life. If you are in a school that is not only preparing you for the board exams, but also preparing you for life, instead of complaining, consider yourself blessed. Not many people in the world will take the initiative to direct you in the right path.  Very few take the responsibility of your life, other than your own parents.  The journey may look tough, but when you are tough on yourself, life will be easy on you. When you choose to bring in that discipline into your life, you will be rewarded in life. Have unquestioned faith in your institution and in those who genuinely wish the best for you. The proud parents whom I met that day were happy because their children got it right. I am sure you will also give many proud moments to your parents.

 “Our success is not determined merely by

   how much good is within us,

   But by how often the higher within us

   overcomes the lower within us.”- mahatria Ra

 #Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

 

ANCHORS IN LIFE

               “In a gentle way you can shake the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi

 On the occasion of our 77^th Independence Day, I was addressing the students. I shared with them that our country has the unique distinction of achieving independence without bloodshed. It is unheard of anywhere in the world. Mahatma Gandhi practiced Ahimsa or non-violence. He never thought against the British, but fought for Indian independence. The weapon he used was Ahimsa. It paid rich dividends. The British had to leave India without any choice. That is the power of Ahimsa. Gandhi motivated the Indians to be anchored to Ahimsa.

 “Faith is the ability to trust what you are not able to see, the ability to believe what is not yet.”  mahatria Ra

 From my childhood I remember seeing my mother in the pooja room, one hour in the morning and in the evening. Life was very tough for her as a single parent. My siblings and I were a handful. She had to run the school too. All put together, life was challenging for her. But her faith in God was very strong. It was unshakable. She believed that one day God will lift her up in life. Did it happen overnight? It took decades for her to come up in life. Did she lose hope? Not even once she doubted her God. That was the power of her faith. Today, the NSN Group of Schools stand as a testimony to her perseverance & determination, and above all, her immense faith in the Almighty. Faith was her anchor in life, which helped her to move from a state of nothing to everything.

 She was also a picture of courage. At a time when women hardly went to college, she qualified herself as a post graduate. She became a woman entrepreneur when she was just thirty-five. She rented a house and lived all by herself with her three daughters. Money trickled into her life, although she was born into a wealthy family. She lived like a queen even after her marriage, until that fatal day. All of a sudden, she lost everything in life. Anybody else in her place would have given up. But she was a courageous woman. Undeterred by the vagaries of life, she moved forward with grit and courage. I have been a witness to the way the world sometimes treated her. She has had her share of threats from people around. But that did not stop her from moving towards her goal. Courage too was her anchor.

 I was someone who lived life expecting the world to be good to me. I used to get upset and disappointed when it was otherwise. My entire thought process of expecting goodness from the world was slowly shifted to accepting the world as it was, through my spiritual evolution. Today I have learnt to accept people and situations. What is, is. I don’t stay disturbed. I have learnt to move on in life. I cannot do anything about my area of concern. I have decided to act on my area of influence. As an educationist I have my fair share of both. My peace is intact when I don’t react, but only respond to situations. Acceptance has become a very big part of my life.

 In my profession people come up with innumerable suggestions and opinions.   But an educational institution cannot be run with the opinions of thousands of stakeholders. Decisions are taken with children as our main focus. It needs a lot of resilience to handle the day to day situations. We deal with human emotions, that of students, teachers and parents. Sitting in silence everyday provides me the required energy and resilience to run an institution. My greatest strength is my ability to absorb everything and stay calm. The dynamism for your doing comes from your non-doing. As much as you need to be dynamic, you also need to be centered. Only then will you experience peace in your life. Else you can easily get disturbed by the world. When you are anchored to your Silence, the universe will conspire to make things happen in your favour. Choose your anchor, to go through a seamless experience in life.

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

 

ARE YOU CHEATING?

 

“Apologies don’t mean anything if you keep doing what you ‘re sorry for.”

One morning, as I was going to school, I noticed a student, coming to school as a pillion rider with his mother. In a fraction of a second, I noticed that he was sporting a beard. As per the school rules, students should come clean shaven to school. I waited for him to reach school and took him straight to the Principal. He was profusely apologizing and giving excuses. I asked him if he knew that it was not permitted. He agreed. When we commit a mistake knowingly, it amounts to cheating, I told him. Some of them wear a different color socks, thinking that the pant will cover it and the teacher will not notice it. This is how we develop a manipulative mind.

Sometimes we commit mistakes unknowingly. But many a time we do it knowingly. This is not just about children, even adults. When I don’t do what is good for me, then I am cheating myself. When I wrong others, then I am cheating the world. When I do not exercise every day, and prefer to munch on something, or watch TV, or play video games, and I tell the world that I am very busy and I don’t have time to exercise, I am not cheating the world, rather I am cheating myself by not taking care of my body. I will end up with aches and pains and will reach a stage where there will be no remedy. I will have to live with it. I should realize that I am cheating myself when I don’t choose what is good for me. Whether it is eating healthy food or living a disciplined life. If I am willing to go through the discomfort or pain of choosing exercise over other pleasurable activities, I can live a pain free life in future with a healthy body. Start with a fifteen-minute walk every day and progressively increase the time once you become consistent. For anything to become a habit, consistency is the key.

       ” Trust is like an eraser. It gets smaller and smaller after every mistake.”

As a student, when you do not utilize your time every day to do your daily studies, you become tensed, when there is hardly any time to prepare for your exam. Some of you tend to cheat in the exam to secure pass marks, to please your parents, not realizing that you are cheating yourself, as this is not the solution. When you want to hang out with your friends in the mall or go with your friends to a movie, and you know that your parents will not allow you, then you tell them that you are going to your friend’s place for “combined studies.” Your problem is, you are unable to embrace what is right and avoid what is wrong. Your life is driven by instant gratification. The issue is, every time you cheat, your mind becomes manipulative. It starts manipulating all the time and becomes a disease. A diseased mind is dangerous. Moreover, you lose the trust of the world. Eventually you will lose trust in yourself.

Never resort to short cuts to success as it cuts short your success. To embrace what is right, start with delayed gratification, one at a time. Prepare a daily study schedule. How much ever tempting it might be, to indulge in pleasurable activities, stick to your study schedule. When you start seeing the results in terms of good marks, in the next test or exam, you will feel proud of yourself.  Slowly you will give up the idea of cheating yourself. The mind will start thinking straight. This way, you will be bailing out yourself from developing a manipulative mind, which will ruin you in the long run. Integrity alone will give you happiness in life. You need courage to be honest. Always live to look up to yourself.

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

A MOM AT SCHOOL

 

Teachers Day is a very special day in every school. The otherwise naughty, laid back, notorious, indifferent students, are all bang on the celebrations. They hardly need any time to come up with a plan, create a script, choreograph a dance, decide interesting games, and present it in the most beautiful manner to the teachers. This makes the teachers forget all their classroom challenges, and they immerse themselves in the celebrations, rejoicing  in the love of the students, the auditorium reverberates with the laughter of the otherwise serious teachers, giving them the experience of a lifetime, which makes them look forward to the same day, next year.

This is how our children are. My observation is, they are at their best behavior when they are outside the classroom. Be it intra- murals, club competitions, school culturals, inter-school competitions, field trips, Annual Day, Sports Day, etc. I am sure that this has been your experience too. I always see them with a smile on their face. Students are my lifeline. Probably, they feel burdened with their studies, or there is pressure on them to surpass expectations, or they are going through peer pressure, or FOMO, or misplaced emotions, or a strained relationship with their friends, or distractions. It can be anything, which they see as a challenge.

 All they need at this stage of their life is, someone to whom they can talk without being judged. So, every teacher has to be a counsellor, who listens to their woes dispassionately. We may have our own challenges of preparing a lesson plan, a question paper of high standard, correction of notebooks and answer scripts, meeting so many deadlines, various documentations that are required as part of our work, and all other related work. So, many a time, we fail to smile at the children, we enter the classroom like a zombie, teach mechanically to achieve good results, and move from one class to another as a routine, without bringing any freshness or newness to our classes.

 In the midst of all this, the children feel lost. It is not anybody’s fault. It is the circumstance. Can we pause and reflect on our day in school? If our heart is filled with love and compassion, it will help us to bond with students. Then it will not be once in a year that students celebrate their teachers. Every day will be a celebration for the teacher and the student if we know how to magnetize them towards us. As much as we need to be competent, we also need to be compassionate. Let us all aspire to be a “mom” in school.

“Love is                                                 

When I feel you are mine

Without the need to own you.”    

                                             Mahatria Ra

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting