An honour to a deserving student

An excellent poem by one of my tuition students , I wanted to post this as I was really impressed by the tone and expression , Here comes a thought to me after reading the poem

"There is more in us than we know. If we can be made to see it,

perhaps, for the rest of our lives, we will be unwilling to settle
for less."

Lovingly Yours

A thousand thoughts would have passed

But those haven't made me forget the past.

The day my heart ceased

When you had uttered the word of my dreams.

The day you opened your heart

Which made mine shatter apart.

And the day we had a brawl

That left me behind with a deep maul.

Since then,I have been longing to have a rendezvous

To cascade my sorrows towards you.

About the days without you,I had mourned

And those we had adourned.

- Mithun Aanand

lovely indeed , he is a boy of class IX and there are lots more from my children to publish

student unrest

This topic has been set in my mind for a long time and everytime I see a student stressed ,, I feel very heavy and disturbed , my own child is a typical example for a stressed child , it is so tough to manage school and other coaching classes , in today's world one cannot remain without these classes as you donot know whether you are doing the right things without them , and you always donot want to be the odd ones out , even if you want to be one , your children don't let you be one

this is the case with my son , he goes from school to IIT classes , the school is so lovely , it is an off pressure school in all grounds ,they donot victimise the children even if they are defaulters , it is a caring and a practical institution whatever said and done , but yet children always want to excel in everything , they donot realise the fact that it is not possible always , I hear this complaint from most of my friends that children get into this negative syndrome , when they are not able to balance time and it is so tough in reality , I keep telling my son that is not always possible to excel in everything as you are not doing only one thing for you to do so , it is better to take things as they are and move on , life is so hard for children in the XI and XII as their future is being decided up here considering various factors ,the school is also so competitive , if you lose three marks in a subject there are five more above you in the hierarchy , it is okay , life has to move on , never could we be on top of the list nor it is possible always , I keep sharing this thought with my son as the words repetitively said will have a better impact in his mind I suppose , whenI say that he has not prepared well for his test , he gets upset whereas when he says that he must have prepared well I should become a passive listener , we have to be patient after all they are worried about their betterment and not getting into any vices which we hear and read from tv and news papers , it is a blessing to have children who are hardworking and sincere but the worry is the stress levels should not prove a detriment to their performances and skills , I pray God for all children of this age , especially for the children I interact with , life is too hard and stressful for them than it is for us , we should learn to create a positive atmosphere for them at home, even if you are not a good teacher of their subjects , sit by their side with a cup of complan to encourage them , a word of encouragement plays a big miracle in their minds , be an encouraging parent for a teen ager than being a fault finding parent

A clever child

yesterday I had to give my children(my tuition children) a topic for creative writing, I gave the title as A clever child each child came up with a different story and a funny moral, they were very interesting to read , Had I been one of the tuition children what would I have written, asked one of my students , It is always easy to pose a question rather than answering one , I didn't know what to write , for a moment I was taken aback , but I had to obey my student as my disobedience to his words may reflect a bad teacher in me , hence I started to write

A mother and her son went into a shop , after the mom finished shopping , the boy was offered chocolates by the shopkeeper (quite unbelievable!!!) , the shopkeeper told the child to take them at once from the jar , while the son refused to do so , instead requested the shopkeeper to take some and give them to him , the shopkeeper appreciated the child for being so decent , and he gave him his handful of chocolates , mom and the son left the shop after coming out , mom asked her son

" when he offered you to take the chocolates, why didn't you take it yourself? , why did you ask him to give?" the child replied , "my hands are smaller than his"

My children loved this story and one of my students gave me a "well done" card., Normally I give them a well done card when they do good work , I am a proud student now

friendship

I have always felt that the relationship which is unconditional is friendship , and I can vouch this at any point of time in my life , I have the greatest privlige to say that I own the best friends in the world , Sujatha, Mythili, Hema,Jayashree, Uma , Indira , Candice , Harini, Ganesh, Lakshmi,

and many more , All these have played and still playing a great great role in my life that I feel so honoured to have friends like these , Whenever we are together , we laugh , all of us are into different kinds of life styles , dealing with different problems in different volumes , but when we get together , we always feel the oneness in us for which there is no price and our friendship is priceless and so valuable , I had been deprived of so many things in life , my father , I lost him at a very young age , but I call myself the luckiest as far as friends are concerned , they have been in my life everywhere, on every occasion in times of trouble , in times of joy and in times of my need

I always reach out to my friends when am in trouble or in good mood , anything exciting I share with my friends first ,believe me, if somebody has to take a census on who is the richest in terms of friends it is only MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE and I proudly say this

I will top the list because I have the best of the best friends

a great message from sujatha , my dearest friend , want to share it in the blog to attract more readers

WICOE (Women In Charge Of Everything) Is proud to announce the opening of its EVENING CLASSES FOR MEN! OPEN TO MEN ONLY ALL ARE WELCOME Note: due to the complexity and level of difficulty, each course will accept a maximum of eight participants The course covers two days, and topics covered in this course include: Step by step guide with slide presentation TOILET ROLLS- DO THEY GROW ON THE HOLDERS? Roundtable discussion DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LAUNDRY BASKET & FLOOR Practising with hamper (Pictures and graphics) DISHES & SILVERWARE; DO THEY LEVITATE/FLY TO KITCHEN SINK OR DISHWASHER BY THEMSELVES? Debate among a panel of experts. REMOTE CONTROL Losing the remote control - Help line and support groups LEARNING HOW TO FIND THINGS Starting with looking in the right place Instead of turning the house upside down while screaming - Open forum DAY TWO EMPTY MILK CARTONS; DO THEY BELONG IN THE FRIDGE OR THE BIN? Group discussion and role play HEALTH WATCH; BRINGING HER FLOWERS IS NOT HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH PowerPoint presentation REAL MEN ASK FOR DIRECTIONS WHEN LOST Real life testimonial from the one man who did IS IT GENETICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO SIT QUIETLY AS SHE PARALLEL PARKS? Driving simulation LIVING WITH ADULTS; BASIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN YOUR MOTHER AND YOUR PARTNER Online class and role playing HOW TO BE THE IDEAL SHOPPING COMPANION Relaxation exercises, meditation and breathing techniques REMEMBERING IMPORTANT DATES & CALLING WHEN YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE Bring your calendar or PDA to class GETTING OVER IT; LEARNING HOW TO LIVE WITH BEING WRONG ALL THE TIME Individual counsellors available

a small incident on the road

I was crossing the road , it is an off day in chennai , very rarely it rains and even half hour rains makes the place , messy , slushy and dirty , the roads are totally damp and it requires a lot of skill to walk carefully , I was trying to cross the road adroitly ,was scared by the speed of an auto guy , literally rash , I had to choose between a bike and the auto and I felt bike was any day better , i think I had made the wrong decision , the bike fell on the road and also the rider , I thought that I should be civil to offer help to the person and told him that I would pick all his bags from the road , he said ," no need mam after all they are not ours , our neighbours' things"even if they get dirty it is ok, my mom unnecessarily made me carry them in my bike believe me , it happened today , I could not believe my ears , the boy must be in his teens probably a college student

I was feeling guilty that because of the sudden pause in my walking he fell , on the other hand he complained of the mud guard in his bike and told me that I was not responsible for his fall , but I could not get off the shock of his statement , not ours our neighbours', Is this selfishness? or careless attitude? or what ?I could not come to any conclusion , I find this indifferent attitude in most of the children I interact with , do not know for what reason they should behave like this

we can't tame the entire world , but it is sickening to hear such selfish remarks

GET MOTIVATED

recently I went for a workshop conducted by chinmaya mission, there was said this story amazing with impressive message , it really charges you with a different perspective to view life , people and things

here goes the story

The best motivational message of the day!!!

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried
Piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered anyway, it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbours to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well.

At first, the donkey realised what was happening and cried horribly.

Then, to everyone's amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbours continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to
getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each
of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

a story that impressed me

The Seed A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together. He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you. "The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one of you a SEED today - one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO." One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure. Six months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - He so wanted the seed to grow. A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened.. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful -- in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him! When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!" All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!" When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed - Jim told him the story. The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!" Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed. "How could he be the new CEO?" the others said. Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!" * If you plant honesty, you will reap trust * If you plant goodness, you will reap friends * If you plant humility, you will reap greatness * If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment * If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective * If you plant hard work, you will reap success * If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation * If you plant faith in God, you will reap a harvest So, be careful what you plant now; It will determine what you will reap later. "Whatever You Give To Life, Life Gives You Back very true an awesome message

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how to overcome stress

every person at home is stressed out , my husband because of the hectic routine , he travels atleast 15 days a month , trying to catch up all odds while in town , my son managing his school routine and IIT classes , I have to balance the time at home , working for hubby's office , my social work and tuitions , all of us have sparingly an hour to catch up , but I tell you we have to have our own space wherever we are, otherwise we feel let down , so to overcome this I walk atleast for an hour all alone and I consider this my well won space and it really relaxes me , my hubby goes for shuttle for 45 mins in the morning when he is in town , my son plays on computer and keep poking with my daughter which is again a respite for him , when you feel that you are overloaded try to create a space for you or remain silent for sometime , it really helps , all of us retire by 11.30pm and wake up by 5.30am , it is hard during week days , week ends are fine , but again it is all how we look at it , we have to slog now to better up in future , inculcate the same feeling in children when they grumble , initially all of us were barking at each other while we were stressed , now we have found this strategy to ease us up , things are getting better

when you start thinking that you are the most hardworking person in the world , it starts getting on to you negatively , try to think that it is for your family your betterment and for a harmonious home you slog , and it is always better to slog than being idle

we are able to have more or less non controversial discussions now that we have created our own space , try and work it out

Dealing with typical children itself is a marathon effort these days , I visited a centre dealing with

dyslexic and retarded children two days ago , It is called Madhuram Narayanan centre, a centrefor exceptional children , I was moved and feeling so heavy seeing all types of children , with physical inability , speech problem , handicapped so many issues , the centre has been working for the past 15 years and they have a porgramme called Upanayan for all these children , that is giving them all therapies and trying to make them better , it is a phenomenal effort and it is so inspiring to watch the programmes they have recommended for these children , I have offered a voluntary service of accounting for them , as I am not a trained person to teach them , but believe me, nothing can satisfy you more than servicing these kind of people , I wish every one experiences this feeling in life , I am not trying to blow my own trumpet , but would like to empasise the fact that when we have free time , we can really devote it on people like these as they are the most deserving

It is lovely to be associated with the centre and I feel very glad about it .

In case of typical children you are sure of the outcome of your own effort on them , while in the case of these children you really don't know where you are and what you are upto and what you have achieved , it is really a challenge , they are physically and mentally challenged ,while we become morally challenged

I take english classes for small to big children , it is such a lovely experience , children are too attached and their love is unconditional , the small ones are very interactive . I began my classes today after a 3 month break , it was wonderful to interact with them , there are a few parents who always feel that their children should top the class , chasing them to the brim without realising their potential , while some don't bother about what the child does and always tells me that I should monitor their work , too much of responsibility is painful, while they think that they are more responsibile by taxing the children and not giving them their own space , while in the other category they care nothing about the children and children are given space without making them understand what they have to do , one can't go and tame the entire world but I feel so heavy when I look at children with heavy and stressed eyes , I make it a point to share my piece of mind with them whenever I meet them ( whether they like it or not ) it is always better dealing with children than with older people , the relationship is unconditional and more rewarding too , the more I do this the more passionate I become , love my classes