ALWAYS CONNECTED TO YOU

 

“To add value to others,

                                                      One must value others.” 

When I entered my room in the school, the whole room was decorated with birthday wishes and some of the memorable photos, covering my life from when I was an infant to the latest photo, beautifully curated and placed under different headings, that defined a certain period in my life.

I had a broad smile as I moved towards the photographs. I went up to each section of the photos displayed and it kindled pleasant memories. I felt humbled to see the effort behind everything that was done to make my birthday special. I could see the love of my team and felt it everywhere in the room.

A few moments later the students came into my room cheerfully, each one clapping their hands and singing the birthday song, as if I was a little kid. Soon after, they showed me a video presented by students about what they learnt from me.

I thanked them profusely and I had a small chat with them. I told them that they are the reason why I come to school enthusiastically every day, they are the very Purpose of my life and they make me feel so complete. It was from the heart, and I meant every word I spoke.

As an educationist, the greatest joy I derive is, being with children every day, planning for their future, giving them positive experiences, creating a conducive environment and empowering them.

I will never miss an opportunity to interact with them. Twice a month I talk to them about life. We literally prepare them for life and not just for the Board exams.

Children may or may not know how much my heart beats for them. But I keep showering my love on them through the varied experiences we create in the school for them, which, I am sure, will prepare them to live a beautiful life.

Like how, when we circumambulate a temple, our mind is connected to the altar in the center, within the sanctum sanctorum, similarly, wherever I am, or whatever I do, my thoughts are always connected to the students of NSN. They live in my heart. Almost three decades of joyous journey in the field of education, soaked and immersed in the vibrations of the angels in school. Life is absolutely beautiful.

In the hustle and bustle of our everyday life, we tend to miss out on the joy of being a teacher.

Being a teacher is not about attending school every day, completing the portions, imparting knowledge, meeting deadlines, being duty bound, but about moulding the students, mentoring them, interacting with them during leisure, guiding them, nurturing them with love and care, fostering in them values and discipline, walking that extra mile to  create a future for them, empowering them, going beyond the call of duty in the interest of the students, and  above all, building an everlasting  bond with them.

That is where we derive our energy from. We will never feel tired if teaching is our “Swadharma.”

Wake up all your senses, and see the beautiful faces around you, listen to their cheerful laughter, smell the fragrance of their innocence, taste the aroma of their brilliance and feel the beauty of their love towards you.

In fact, the school environment rejuvenates and revitalizes me. A paradigm shift in our outlook and approach towards our profession, will greatly enhance our experience in school. Teaching is a calling. I feel blessed to be amidst children. What about you?

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

DON’T GIVE UP

You know how an Indian wedding happens these days. It is a minimum three -day celebration. So, the whole family was gearing up for the sangeet. Though the dance videos were shared in the family Whatsapp group, the practice started only when everyone came together. Since many of them were living abroad, they were not familiar with Bollywood dance. I could see some of them trying hard to dance and frustration writ large on their face. They were on the point of giving up, when the youngsters joined together and broke it up into smaller steps and made it easier for them to dance.

That was when I was thinking how easily we give up in so many aspects of life. If teachers can break the difficult tasks into smaller tasks, help students to learn bigger concepts by breaking it into smaller units, no child will fail. Children get overwhelmed and intimidated when they see something that is seemingly tough.

Instead of frightening them, all that we need to do is, reassure them and build their confidence by constantly telling them that they can do it. We need to be persuasive.

When both our schools went in for accreditation, we had a consultant, who trained all of us and prepared the school for a transformation. Initially we had no clue about the journey. She would talk about the various processes, and when she was done with it, we would look at each other, as if we were asking each other, “Hey! Did you understand?” And we would give a smile, as if to say, I understood nothing. But she would end every session by saying, “That’s all ma.” That became a joke amongst us.

But sure enough, our faith in her kept our spirits high. Not once did we feel that we cannot do it. That is the reassurance she gave us by saying again and again,” That’s all ma.”

Today, we have set high standards for ourselves by scoring well in the annual surveillance, year after year, and we are also being bench-marked. It is all because one lady kept telling us that it is not as tough as we think it is. And sure enough, the belief was built in all of us that we can do it.

Are we instilling that faith in our children that they can do it? Be it in sports, performing arts, academics, or in their profession. They all need that one person who can motivate them to chase their goal relentlessly. Giving up is easy, but going up needs a lot of perseverance.

 

                              “Every child deserves a champion:

                               an adult who will never give up

                               on them, who understands the

                               power of connection and insists

                               that they become the best they

                                can possibly be.”

 

Never give up on any child. Every parent and every teacher must stand firmly behind every child like a rock of Gibraltar and give them the much-needed strength, when they feel weak.

I also wish to say that no matter who discourages you, you need to believe that you are good enough, you are a champion material, you have great potential to reach for the stars. Can you hear your voice saying, “Keep going, keep growing?” So, never give up on yourself.

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.”- Robert the Bruce

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting

THE INNER VOICE

“Your inner voice is the voice of

Divinity. To hear it, we need to be in

Solitude, even in crowded places.”

Do you know that our school holds special memories for each of us? Even much after we leave our school, the beautiful memories continue to linger in us. Schooling is the most memorable part of everyone’s life, as, that is where we literally grow into an adult, from a toddler.  I still vividly remember my days in kindergarten and I cherish it.  Who will not!

Each school has its own way of starting the day. In NSN, the day begins with a message from mahatria Ra, the Diviner of the Path, infinitheism, in order to jump start the day on a positive note. This is followed by eleven minutes of sitting in non-doing, before the morning assembly.  Students come to school with different emotions. Sitting in non-doing (meditation) will calm them down.

Our mind entertains thousands of thoughts. Meditation helps in reducing the quantity of thoughts. In course of time it improves the quality of our thoughts and thus brings clarity in our thinking.

Most of the time there is no clarity in our thinking. We are not mindful. This practice of sitting in Silence, over the years, will magically improve the way we think. Self-awareness is the gift of sitting in Silence. It gives life to our inner voice, which is like a guiding light in our life. It helps us to navigate through life peacefully.

Many tend to lose their direction in life due to their inability to think clearly. Relationships become sour, work life balance cannot be achieved, with whom we should associate, we are not sure, should we or should we not, itself is not clear, why we do what we do is always a question mark. If only we have clarity in thinking, we will not battle with all of these. We will be able to take the right decisions.

The noise around us is so loud that we fail to hear our inner voice whispering to us to choose what is right over what is easy and convenient

Silence will help us to hear our inner voice telling us what to embrace and what to avoid. Our decisions will slowly and steadily turn out to be right. We will not act impulsively. We will be calm and composed if we are guided by our inner voice, which is our conscience. That will be our moral compass.

Sometimes it pays to be silent in an otherwise loud world…

Everything you desire will happen in life if you listen to your inner voice, which should be the loudest in your head. Listen carefully to the silent whispers!

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting 

 

ROUTINE SETS YOU FREE

“Your ability to discipline yourself

To set clear goals

And then to work

Towards them every day,

Will do more

to guarantee your

success than any other

single factor.”

I wonder why people think that a disciplined life means, you cannot enjoy life. In fact, you start smiling only when you have a routine, because, there is no confusion or missing out on anything important. We don’t get stressed as there is nothing that has to be done in the last minute. Everything is well planned. In fact, you feel that you have more time at your disposal. There is also a sense of satisfaction when you complete each of the work you planned to do.

I know what I have gone through in my childhood, when I was not at all disciplined. Life was more pleasure driven. The result of living such a life gave me no returns, in terms of success. When I realized how I had messed up my life by not having a routine, I decided that I will not waste my time.

From then on, life has been an upward spiral. Contrary to what people believe, routine does not imprison you to a scheduled life, rather it sets you free. I started enjoying the benefits of having a schedule, devoting my time to my studies. Success came my way for the first time. I started feeling confident and even began to look up to myself. What a privileged life!

Mahatria says, “The best way to tell the world to shut up is to produce results.” This can be achieved only if we have a routine in our life that will provide us a route.

I started producing results. When we produce results, the feeling is so good. This is what motivates us to keep achieving. We need to give ourselves an opportunity to experience at least a small victory. This will be the beginning for us to be consistently motivated in life. At least, in my case, living a disciplined life gave me time to do everything. The quality of life changed dramatically. This itself is a motivation to stick to a routine.

Ask a Djokovic, or a Mukesh Ambani or a Rohit Sharma or an Elon Musk, what they do with their time. Their success comes from not only their intelligence, but the way they use their time to achieve their goal. Read about them to know how a disciplined routine can transform your life.

                                    “Time is what we want most

                                     But what we use worst.”

Time is the greatest resource. How much we gain if we have a daily routine! We can achieve so much more in life. Be conscious about time wasters and time stealers that do not contribute to our future. My day is used for my mental, intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual well-being. Nothing like a planned day. We will do what is important and necessary. We will be productive. That is what differentiates a high achiever from a non-performer,  who underutilizes their time without a planned routine.

                                      “The secret of your

                                       future is hidden in

                                       your daily routine,”

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting 

 

EVERLASTING FREEDOM

I love the poem, “Where the Mind is Without Fear” written by Rabindranath Tagore, in which he pleads to God to free his countrymen from the bonds of social evils, and expresses his vision for an independent India.

What does freedom mean to you? It means different things to different people. In pre-independent India, everybody looked forward to the freedom of the country from the British. That became the vision of an entire nation. One common goal. They had to go through physical, mental and psychological trauma to finally achieve freedom. There were many forerunners for this Cause, who laid down their lives for the freedom of the country. We call them as martyrs.

Today, our challenges are so different. We are imprisoned by our own thoughts, beliefs and actions. We are not fighting any enemy outside of us. It is within us. Our tendency to get angry for the smallest reason, our lack of tolerance and patience, is plaguing the society. Sometime back I saw two people having an argument over parking their two-wheeler. The argument became heated and they started hurling abuses at each other. Then it went to the extent of hitting each other with slippers! Mind you, this was between a man and a woman. Both educated. But no point, as civil behavior was not on display.

At the slightest provocation we are ready to throw away all the decency, grace and dignity that should actually rule our life.

Can we be polite to each other and treat everyone with courtesy? In such cases, where we are controlled by our anger, rather imprisoned by it, we should strive to free ourselves from this. Liberating ourselves from the shackles of this emotion is freedom to us.

Buddha said, “You will not be punished for your anger. You will be punished by your anger.”                     

Some of us love to sleep for long hours. All our life should not go away in sleep. We need to have a goal in life. So, we have to enthusiastically wake up every day to move closer to the goal. If we are unable to have a fixed time to wake up every morning, we will not achieve anything in life. Conquer your sleep. Don’t be imprisoned by this habit. Come out of the shackles of a lethargic life. Pump energy into your everyday activity. Break yourself free from the dilemma of asking everyday whether you should press the snooze button and extend your wake-up time.

We have a practice called “Weigh to go.” Every Monday, the staff has to weigh themselves and check their blood pressure. This is to create an awareness in them about staying healthy. An ideal BMI should be within 25. These are just indicators for us to take care of our health.

We want them to practice mindful eating. Eating mindlessly will lead to so many health issues. Today’s food is tomorrow’s health. So, we need to count our calories and not fall into the trap of eating tongue conscious food, rather, develop the habit of eating health conscious food. We should inculcate the discipline to choose the right food.

Then we can liberate our body from all the aches and pains and the freedom of good health can be enjoyed.

Why is it that when someone achieves a feat, instead of admiring them and getting inspired, some of us feel jealous of their achievements? Now that is a trap. We will reach nowhere by feeling jealous. At least we can garner some ideas from them and improve ourselves, if we cannot do it on our own. But we won’t.

Jealousy is a disease. We need to insulate ourselves from it. Else, we will be using our strength to defend our weaknesses, instead of overcoming it.

I always try to escape from the company of people who keep complaining. They keep whining about their problems. Being with them drains you of your energy. Sometimes I feel they enjoy talking about what is going wrong in their life. It is a habit for some of them. It creates a lot of negativity around.

The more we talk about problems, we will experience the recurrence of the same. It will become a vicious cycle. Life has to be an upward spiral.

Don’t get caught in your disturbances. It will suck you in. Free yourself from this habit of complaining. Set your mind free.

We are sometimes punished by our own wrong actions or inaction. Overcoming our weakness and making it our strength is what true liberation is all about. Why should we remain in a cage?  Let’s free ourselves from whatever is holding us down. We are meant to fly in the vast open sky, as a free bird. Come out of the fetters of negativity and attain everlasting freedom.

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting  

MAKE YOUR ACTIONS COUNT

 

“You’ll never change

Your life until you

Change something

You do daily

The secret of your

Success is found in

Your daily routine.”

Do you know that what is insisted upon when we are very young, becomes our habit?  My mother used to insist that we turn off the lights and fans when we leave the room. But, it took a while for us to remember to do it. She would scold us if we didn’t. So, in order to escape her scolding, we switched off the lights and fans without fail. Thus, it became a habit.

She also insisted that we finish up the food in our plate without wasting even a morsel. As an adult, we don’t need anyone to remind us, as it is deeply etched in us. It is not only at home, but anywhere we see any kind of wastage, we try to stop it.

What is the attitude we are developing in our children? Recently, I was told that the corporation has handed over the responsibility of collecting garbage from houses and institutions, to private parties, in the suburbs. Our institution will be charged an enormous amount every month I was told.

The admin staff was discussing about the huge sum that was being demanded for clearing all the waste dumped in classrooms by the students. But my mind was thinking about inculcating the right habit in children, and this was the right opportunity. Even adults never understood why we should not litter. The exorbitant charges alone hit them.

I told them, it is not about paying a huge amount to clear the garbage in the school, it is about instilling the right values in children, who are in the habit of tearing pages from the notebook and littering the classroom, or dumping the food packed by the mother into the class dustbin, because they don’t like that food.

Thus, we began the drive for cleanliness. Every afternoon, an announcement would go in the public address system, creating an awareness in students about the number of trees that are felled to make notebooks, that it should not be misused, the effort that goes in cultivating and cooking the food that comes to our plate and the respect that we need to show by not wasting the food. That everything should be valued.

A system has been created to ensure that paper and food are not found in the class dustbin or anywhere else in the school. For several years now, we have the practice of awarding an “Eco- friendly” class certificate to all the classes that keep their classroom clean throughout the month.

A bell goes one minute before the last bell for the day, for students to check if there is any litter in the class. It is called the “clean-up” bell. It is a reminder to students to keep their classroom clean. The students also learn not to waste anything and to value everything. Every Friday, students and teachers of one of the four houses clean the entire school campus. We have been doing this since 2014, when Swachh Bharat was announced.

These are very simple actions, but how many of us practice it? If we insist on it consistently, we can achieve humongous results. Our country can also be clean and litter free in public places. Awareness is the key. Anything that is practiced repeatedly will become a habit. Let us take baby steps in this journey of creating a clean and green India.

Let this become our contribution to our country; raising responsible citizens. Hey little ones, the country is counting on your actions!

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting 

TEENAGE, A TIGHTROPE WALK

 

“Adolescence is not about letting go

It is about hanging on during a very

Bumpy ride”

Have you ever wondered what it is to be an educationist? It is not how it is perceived from outside. It is the responsibility of thousands of lives!

Life in school is a joy ride most of the time. Seeing children everyday itself is heartwarming. Interacting with them is a pleasure. The mind is always filled with progressive thoughts of taking them all to the next level, giving them new experiences, exposing them to wider knowledge, training them for greater achievements, cultivating in them values, developing a powerful mind and everything that will help them to climb the ladder of success, while being rooted to their culture and ethos.

Every day passes away like a song that one can relive and cherish. But. sometimes, out of the blue, we are jerked by some incidents. Especially the issues of teenagers. This is an age that either makes you or breaks you. What is unfortunate is, some are unable to pause and think. They are unable to see what is coming. They just get carried away by their feelings, not waiting to even think. The rush of adrenalin and dopamine is overwhelming, and they fail to apply the brakes. Life is on uncontrolled acceleration, and they don’t see the speed breakers ahead. This period of their life becomes like go carting, driving in a mad rush, banging here and there.

The same children who were once close to their parents, start distancing themselves as they feel that parents are giving unnecessary and unsolicited advice. The hormones in their body overtakes their attachment and makes them behave in a way that is very unpleasant. Children wish to enjoy unrestricted freedom, not realizing that it is disciplined freedom that will give them all the joy.

This is the age when children become rebellious, they want to try the untried, they push the boundaries, they explore the secrets of life unknown to them till then, they experience the so-called thrills, throwing caution to the wind, like the bullet train, they are in a hurry to do too many things at one go, not realizing that they are treading on a dangerous path that can even destroy their life. They relate more with friends and move away from their parents. They feel that whatever they are doing is right and are not willing to see reason. 

                                        “Every day, in a hundred small

                                            Ways, our children ask

                                               Do you see me?

                                              Do you hear me?

                                                   Do I matter?”

If parents can invest quality time in building a beautiful relationship with their children in their growing up years, the bond between them can save the child, as it has, in many families. It is only when the parents are deeply immersed in their own issues and challenges and forget to forge a bond with children, that life jolts them from their complacency, when children are neck deep in trouble.

This is a wake-up call to all parents to be with children right through, so that, together we can have beautiful moments as a family to cherish, rather than be awakened one day to a horrifying truth of teenage children messing up their life. Take one step forward and hand-hold your child, never to forsake them, by  giving them the confidence that you will be their friend for life!

#Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting