Go GRRReen

Go GRRReen was the co-curricular activity, I introduced to the students of DPS International, Singapore, during my brief stay there. Well, many of you would be easily able to decipher what it was. For those who won't be able to, 3 Rs denote Reduce, Reuse and Recycle w.r.t environment

Least did I know at that time,that it is intertwined with my lifestyle as well.

I thought I am a Vegan until I stumbled upon the definition of Veganism.

'Veganism is a way of living, which excludes all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, the animal kingdom, and includes a reverence for life. It applies to the practice of living on the products of the plant kingdom to the exclusion of flesh, fish, fowl, eggs, honey, animal milk and its derivatives, and encourages the use of alternatives for all commodities derived wholly or in part from animals.' - Donald Watson

Yes, I have always refrained from eating meat and fish, but being brought up in a culture where milk and eggs were thought not only to be nutritive but also a wholesome food, I couldn't have managed to escape. Never did it run through my mind that Vegan is, what it eats. I never thought that by any means I am harming or exploiting any animal. For sure, I was not Vegan, because I never thought that by eating eggs or consuming dairy products,I m being cruel to animals in any way.

I never thought Go GRRReen is not just an idea but a philosophy, that so closely adheres to our body systems, food habits and lifestyle.

While in environment , the 3 Rs refer to
Reduce - Reducing the amount of waste you produce
Reuse - Instead of throwing things away, find new ways to use them.
Recycle - segregating and processing used material that can be turned into new products.

The same is applicable to lifestyle as well
Reduce the toxins in the body, Go Vegan. http://living-vegan.blogspot.sg/2011/03/study-vegetarian-diet-reduces-toxins.html
Reuse the food scraps to cut down on food wastage. http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/save-money/food-waste-recycling
Recycling all vegetable and fruit scraping through a compost.
( http://www.homecompostingmadeeasy.com/foodscraps.html )

Sometimes it is difficult to decide from where to begin. But all that matters is the end. So I would say, no matter at whatever point of time you are in life, it's never too late to think, rethink, unlearn and relearn .
Certainly, I have started to think Vegan. It should not be far away when I will live Vegan.

Stranger Danger

As much as I  feel apprehensive about teaching my soon to be three year old about the dangers of a stranger and how to protect herself  from dangerous situations and people,  I feel this will go a long way in providing survival skills to deal with it more confidently and with strength.

Just as the same way we teach our children against possible hazards of fire or heat or safely crossing a road helps them understand avoid unpleasant experiences at a very young age.

Nevertheless, I don't want to scare my child that every stranger is bad and would harm her, but I need to teach her dangerous behaviour and equipping her with skills that may potentially save her life.

I am trying to introduce the concept of stranger to my child, who he or she is, what to do if he or she approches her, tries to woo her with candies or any thing else, try to take her away when mommy is busy elsewhere, or tries to touch her body and what she could do in such unexpected situations.

Although it seems like a complicated advice to a three year old, but they can amaze you with their understanding and implementation. I discovered it today when a stranger in a bus was trying to offer something to her and her immediate reaction was looking at me as if looking for an answer. In split seconds, she declined the offer by the stranger in polite yet firm 'NO'. Well, I must say I wanted to pat her there and then. I felt tiny winy success in giving her the tools to protect herself when I am not around.

Although I have started to warn her about possible stranger dangers, the sad yet the real part is, children are more likely to be victimised by the acquaintainces rather than the strangers.Nearly all predators engage in picking, cuddling, hugging, patting etc. The predator does that in front of parents giving a signal to children that it is right and they approve of it.

The abusers are not just strangers lurking in the dark. They are family, friends, neighbors, people involved in community organisations with access to children.

As  parents, it is our duty to teach our child possible ways to escape dangerous situations and people . But not always our children will be able to do so. For those times, they need you.

Be careful in choosing your friends, leaving your kids with them, intentions of your acquaintainces, maintaining your privacy and space and arm yourself with tools to ensure we are doing the most we can do most to prevent our children from being victims

Breaking Dawn

' What do you call a person who keeps on talking, when people are no longer interested ?, 'A Teacher'.

This is what I stumbled upon, on one of the social media sites with more than 2K likes, one of them being by my ex student,. Certainly it left me thinking at the way, we as teachers have raised our students. Didn't we wanted children to respect us the same way, we respected our teachers? Didn't we wanted our students to look upto us and remember us for our teachings ? Then what happened wrong? Where did we miss a note?

 As we went on to pursue our degree in Education, we realised taking attendance, keeping records, following a structured curriculum and assessment in even more structured way is what we will have to do at schools.Many of us who took teaching in schools, at some point were told, teaching is all about managing the classrooms, managing the students, the curriculum and above all the results.

Have we ever thought, of not wanting to go into the classroom for delivering a lecture but igniting an imagination, not just regulating and disciplining students but giving them air to mould themselves and have a self control, not act as sole harbingers of knowledge but be their guide in quest of knowledge?

Well, considering the traditional linear method of teaching, we wouldn't had  to worry about our future.
Till date, I had always said to my husband, ' We teachers needn't worry about recession.' Only until now, where we may not worry about recession but being redundant.

The old chalk and talk learning can now be taken up by any individual who's confident to stand up in front of faces glaring at you Googl(e)ing aimlessly. The textbooks, structured curricula and teachers to disseminate it are a thing of mechanistic past. The sooner we embrace the fact that we are living in networked leaning era, the quicker we will understand how the role of teacher has to change along with it.

The big challenge for teachers that lies ahead is not how much do we want our learners to know, but how do we want them to know what is needed and what is not and how much are we willing to grow with them in this process.as future teachers , we need to cater to broader curriculum with constant upgradation to new learning and skills. We need to learn when required, unlearn when posing a hindrance and relearn to upgrade.

Post Google age, the role of teacher is becoming far more than important. Only the way it comes across is different now.

Don't forget to engage your learners in the teaching with end of concept, tweet reflections.That's something that will keep your learners hooked. And you never know, someday again I might come across some interesting quotes on Teachers ;-))

NYC: Why am I falling for you?

What started as a hate and solely hate relationship is turning over a new leaf with each day.

They say if you make it here, you can make it anywhere. That's true, really true to the core. New York city is tough. It demands a lot from you especially if you don't belong here. It really doesn't matter if you are in love with this place. It's all the more important that this place loves you too.

My brief stint with the city showed me its true side. It moves at a distinctly fast pace that overwhelms you, often leaving you with the feeling, why are you here in first place?

The city is full of people soaring with ambition to match huge skyscrapers, weirdos that can take your breath away , or may be not as compared to city cabs and needless to say, unparalleled cup of coffee in the world.

As a bystander, I have figured out nothing is normal in New York. Whether it's the fight in the middle of the road, travellers applauding a weird passenger in local or unspoken cool rule of apathetic behaviour towards others, there is no standard for anything. Everyone has a world of their own and their own standards. No one judges anyone, as if others would have cared if they did.

Yet, there's a lot to this city that draw you close, closer enough to feel the warm snuggly side of it. As I walked through the streets of towering skyscrapers in Midtown Manhattan, my feet raced up to match the others, keen on knowing what was the hurry. By the time I figured out the speed is the keyword, I was in Fifth avenue, best known as an unrivaled shopping street. Louis Vuitton, Prada,Gucci, Versace,Ferragamo, you name it, they have it here.

Did I mention how blue the sky is in New York, even when it's bone chilling cold in the end of January. New York city can be brutal in winters but there's usually a cheerfulness in the air. Or perhaps I had set off with that mood. What could have been a better idea to rekindle this love with a Bagel and Hot coffee on my way.

Though NY is home to myriad iconic halts for a first time visitor like me , to name a few Empire State Building, The Top of the Rock at Rockfellar Centre, Central Park, Ground Zero, Battery Park, never fail to dazzle you whilst strolling down on a cool windy evening. But what captured my eyes and my soul the most was The Times Square.Whatever the season , it is sure to be full of slow moving tourists gazing at brightly illuminated hub of Broadway, miserable Elmos happy to photographed for some bucks and many loose screw loudmouthed people wandering in the milieu of what seems like a long pedestrian zone.But it is the recipe for a stupendous exothermic reaction , giving out Colour, Light and above all Life.It is a sin to come to NY and not visit Times Square.If the energy here cannot spark the fire inside you, you are already dead.

Visually, the city keeps you on your toes. But not as much as below as above. The NY subways have been used and abused. Not only they look ugly but employ an archiac train system with just enough gap at the doorways for a baby to slide in incase you are not cautious enough. And it is just an epic feeling when you decode the MTA map and catch the train you were supposed to just in time.

9/11 memorial is one of the places in NY which will set your heart beat a skip. Not only, the two water pools are remembrance of one of the tallest structures that stood distinctly touching the sky but also a tribute to thousand of lives lost forever. Ground zero transcends a feeling of tranquility amid brutality and terror.

Just a walking distance from Ground zero is a historic park in the southern Manhattan, the Battery park. It provides scenic views of waterfront and a great relaxing environment in the center of Financial district. I clearly remember cutting across strong spine trembling winds on my way through the Park just to get a view of Statue of Liberty. It seemed more like some sort of an Antarctic expedition rather than pleasure trip.

In the city that never sleeps yet can give you sleepless nights, a city swarming with people yet you can feel so lonely here, I would keep my memory lane alive remembering so much I got to see and do in this city.

On buttered white bread, with a cup of very good steaming-hot tomato soup alongside, and a view of yellow taxis circling Columbus Circle around the Central park, it’s hard not to fall hard for Big Apple, again and again and all over again.

With Heavy Heart, To Teacher With Love

Remember when Tanvi was just 20 months. Well, I do. It seems like the year has passed by so quickly. I still remember the picture of her I took at the door, still pushing in as much breakfast as I could. I had a tear in my eyes when she was resistant, yet she waved goodbye with her tiny hands and went inside the classroom .Yet I don't know ,how she is suddenly so big and strong, her stance more confident, her legs so long, her backpack slightly heavier. Ofcourse, her baldy top is much greener now, to an extent that her teachers love to sport a hairdo of their choice on her hair, adorned with accessories that I would just do as a mundane task.

But she's so big now, constantly talks about her friends at school, her collage activities, her teachers and lunch time too.

 Stroller ride back home

 Dora Teachers Day Card 

 Back home sans stroller

 Trip to Kids Kampong

 Funny Bunny

 Rain Dance

 Fun with Fish with Ms Lee

 With Ms Sha

 Super Fun.......

 HEHEHEHEHEHE

 My Catch

Her wonderful teachers Ms Sha, Ms Lee, Ms Sabariah and Mdm Chua are so very reason for her enjoyable and fun filled days at Morning Glory Education Centre, Tampines Changkat.
A very special thanks for caring, love and tenderness, enough patience and generosity and abundant thoughtfulness.I entrusted my precious pearl in your hands and you gave it back to me with even more shine and brightness.I shall always be indebted to you, Morning Glory Teachers.

                                     

                                                  Hairdo Courtesy Teachers
 


                                               Finally, I Graduated


As she waves goodbye to teachers on last day of Pre-nursery, I wonder if her teachers will have a tear in their eyes.......       

 BYE BYE TEACHERS, WILL MISS YOU

For the love of my Child

When I was a kid, I had a fetish for all waste material because I always thought there's way from Rags to Riches. My brother always saw in me a garbo ( read rag picker). Well, I should say old habits die hard. I still love creating things out of waste , no matter how I am seen now as well.

I was feeding my two year old daughter from her favourite platter, Dora and Friends when she suddenly jumped out of her seat and blurted 'Dora's hairband,Mom". I said in affirmation as I hurried making a challenging attempt at feeding her another bite sized piece.

My daughter is fond of Dora and her accessories. This time her eyes were stuck on Dora's purple pink hairband. Seeing the spark in my daughter's eyes made my heart melt. She gave me a food for thought.
I went into flashback when my Granny and Mom would try hard to make my wishes come true. Well, I wanted to appease my daughter too. Not that she had asked for anything, but I wanted to make a hairband for her ,myself ( read as most important).

Ragpicker ( as my brother would say) in me woke up and started gathering all the waste I could. Yes ,I had few scraps of Hank and memories of how my Grandmother would crochet beautiful patterns in all her time.

Well , I decided ,I need to self crochet a headband for my doll. The true inspiration behind all my work is my Granny ( Late Smt. Harbans Kohli), who is not with me now but certainly a driving force in life and my Mom's Aunt (Santosh Chadha) who is the reason behind all perseverance in taking up a tedious and mundane task as my husband would say.

Some of you might say this is foolish but I would say, this is for the love of my Doll.

\

Battle of the Bedtime with my Iggle Piggles

Tanvi : Stooeee Book Momma, Pleeeee.....sss
Mommy: Sure darling, but just one story and we kiss it good night.Do you Promise??
Tanvi : Yes, promise Momma..Stooeee Book

Every night we go through the same drill. We lay our darling daughter in bed, read her a story and she's all thrilled and excited, not to listen to the story and see the illustrations, but at the thought that in few seconds, the story book will be in her hands. Yes, she feels that she will have it her way. As soon as she lays her hand on the book, she gazes at the hard bound cover for a few seconds and then jumps off the bed and says, 'STAR', mommy and I nod my head in affirmation. She then starts singing the Twinkle Twinkle rhyme, that I have heard and repeatedly sang with her almost 20 times during the day.She then flips through the book as fast as she can .I instruct her to handle it softly, gently and carefully and then she seems to understand.

Whereas I thought that my toddler should develop early reading habits and that reading bedtime stories will make her calm and aid in smooth sleeping, she has other plans in mind. She knows what is coming next.Before I could ask her to shut the book, kiss goodnight to it, she is already all over it.One moment she embraces the book tightly, while the other, she jumps over it and pretends that she's already slept with the book. She doesn't want to part with it, any which way.Yet, she doesn't know how to hide it from me as of now.

It is more or less a battle of who wins. Ofcourse my wiggly one loses on strength and dominance. But it is just a matter of time when my bumble bee will outwit me.

This entire episode makes me think every day 'Did I do the right thing by introducing the habit of reading at night?' While I am still thinking, my little one has learned that this is a routine and she will get to see, read, hug and kiss her storybook every night and it seems as if she's falling in place too. As soon she get to read the book now, she says ' Softly, gently, carefully.' She then says good bye to the book and hands it over to me, making me realize how quick we are in making opinions and passing judgement, not just about others but our loved ones too.