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Flunked!

Yesterday, the NIOS results were out and my student did not clear all his subjects. He called me up yesterday to tell me that out of the five subjects that he had appeared for, he had cleared three. He sounded a bit stressed but we did not have the time to address any emotions (both our numbers are on roaming) and we only exchanged as much information as possible. I was, strangely, not upset but calmly listened to him quickly assessing all the options we had left. (For someone who studied like a maniac for all examinations in school/college/ university and would be upset if she would not ‘top’- that is a big deal!) Now, I have been thinking, what about this situation has been working in my favour? Why did I not make frantic calls asking people for solutions and why did I not, even once, blame him and his excess interest in cricket for this inability to clear all his papers? In fact, I ended the conversation congratulating him on clearing three subjects. He asked me if I was sure
Recent posts

Rising Above

The question I constantly find myself asking (and would like to ask more often) is how can I rise above everything ? I came across this exhortation, 'rise above it all', when I was pursuing my masters course. At that point, I did not know what it meant to rise above everything. In particular Satishchandra Kumar, my professor, spoke of how one might need to go above and beyond one’s job description to get something done. Hence, a government employee who might strictly follow the bureaucratic process might, for once go out of his or her way to help some hapless person. Or, it might include, an executive doing a little extra for another colleague or a project or one's company- going beyond what the stated requirements of one's job role are. When I heard Jo Chopra speak at the Achieve Together Conference, in Delhi in 2014, she shared a story about how there are two wolves inside us- one being a ‘good’ wolf and the other being the ‘bad’ one. What we become at the

Surf Excel Not For Girls

So who among you is fighting sexism every single day? Did I hear you say 'me'? Or did I hear you ask what is sexism. Or have you been too busy to notice or you don't care because it is too pervasive and you need to pick your battles? Well, I have been there too, first not knowing what sexism is and then not wanting to fight it because life is hard anyway until I reached a point, where I said, let me start. Being a teacher I am very watchful of how I conduct a class where there are both girls and boys. The examples I give, the pronouns I use, the one's I call on to participate are all making an impact on the psyche of the children. One of my girls is an excellent sports person who has the potential to become a swimming/ athletics/ yoga or gym trainer. I once went to watch a cricket match where she was part of the team (only two girls in the entire team that consisted of boys) and I heard the opponents being encouraged to hit the ball towards her when she was fielding b

Everyday Heroes

Yesterday, I conducted a training for a corporate's CSR programme. I am generally sceptical about CSR programmes, but this one, inspires me at several levels. The programme aims to engage employees in their CSR activity and again I think that is a bold aim because employees sometimes do not want to (nor have the time to) do anything other than their jobs. There are some gems though, among the employees, whose eyes light up at the sound of getting involved in 'good' work. This, lights my soul. When I told the 'trainees' that "our stories make us who we are" and asked them to share some of their most defining life experiences that a quote reminds them, many of them began sharing. Two stories stand out and I am going to share them here. These are personal stories, not confidential ones. Forgiveness and Judgement One of the employees was a naval officer prior to joining this organisation. A few years ago he was on a small vessal and his job was to watch

Support Swimming Classes

I wrote an email asking for help to get my students into swimming classes. Please see the appeal below. Reach out to me (in the comment section) if you have any questions or want to help in any way. Please help spread the word. Thank you! _____________________________ Dear All, Hope you are well.  I am writing to make an ask.  My students finished their exams a fortnight ago and have two months ahead of them where they have nothing to do. As you'll know open spaces in Mumbai are very few and almost every other place requires money to gain an entry be it a class, movie hall or a mall. They don't have much resources to spend time on the internet (which is something I do not encourage at all but relent when they say they have nothing else to do). I have been wondering what can be done to get the kids out of boredom. The one thing that I think can really open up a new world to them is that of swimming. If they learn to swim they will be spending time fruitfull

To Cat or not to Cat!

I have played a huge role in adding additional 1.5 rooms in my house. For someone who scored extremely low in the spatial abilities' section of IQ tests, thats quite an achievement. It is also an achievement because everyone wanted the extra rooms but did not really know how to go about it. I had to rise above my strong reluctance in getting involved for the sake of those who really wanted to see the dream come true. Hence, I did it. I picked up the phone and got into conversations with the contractor, the supervisor, the workers and my family members and got everyone on the same page. Or room, if you like. I looked at my, very satisfied and happy, mother and declared that I deserved a gift for all that I got done. My mother, in her very powerful voice, asked me to tell her what I wanted. I seized the chance and said, “a cat”. She smiled and said, “go get it”. This 'permission' came with caveats. I had to take full responsibility of the little life- cleaning, potty t

Can You Also Teach?

Everyone thinks they can teach. I wonder why though. It is one of the first professions a person comes across in their lives which seems simpler and more doable than a doctor's, which is also one of the first professionals we meet. Or maybe because teaching and learning is a participatory process, hence one might think that they can teach, if they can learn. The sad state of affairs of education in the country, the fairly low entry points, the abysmal salaries might also all hint towards the thought that if that he/she can teach of course I can too. Let me tell you, thats not true. I have had some of the worst teachers while growing up and have come across some even more pathetic ones when I decided to learn something as an adult. Currently, I am learning how to swim. My coach is losing patience with me because I am unable to float in water and keep calm and breathe. He is also exasperated at my sister who seems to be the slow student. He adopts the sink or swim approach