As the year end, time to look back and enjoy the good, learn from mistakes, make vows, make resolutions, make plans. This time itself is just so exciting, it gives me time to spend with myself :-).
2011 overall was a pretty stressful year for me but coming to think of it, when has it not been :-).
On family front - lots of challenges handling Siya, on office front - major challenges in handling people, in coping up with people, had not so happy situations, on Siya's front - she is turning more and more demanding day by day, her commitment towards skating, gymnastics and now cycling too is making sure that I am on toss always. However, when I look back, I realize that this is one of the years which has surely made me a far more stronger person emotionally. I was able to handle far more threads of execution as compared to last year. All I can say, life in 2011 was different than all other years so far and by far the most challenging. So, thanks to all those who made it so exciting for me.
Just a few hours and this year shall come to an end.. Before I can wish you all a Happy New Year, I just wanted to say to all the people who made my life worth living this year,
Thank you - for everything you helped me and stood there for me
Sorry - for whenever I hurt you or let you down, I am sure I did'nt mean to
Happy New Years and Cheers to 2012!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Siya and her stories...
Siya and her stories...
Siya - Nani never does like this to me and you always...
Purwa - I am Nani's daughter and am like her. What is the difference between me and Nani Siya?
Siya - 35+ years :-)
Why does she take everything so literally.....
Siya - Nani never does like this to me and you always...
Purwa - I am Nani's daughter and am like her. What is the difference between me and Nani Siya?
Siya - 35+ years :-)
Why does she take everything so literally.....
Monday, November 21, 2011
Effortless Parenting
Just yesterday in office, I was having a conversation with my bosses about "Many a times parent enforce their dreams on their child which is the worst thing ever to do and how things for kids now a days always seems to be in a rush". They were indirectly letting me know that I was rushing up with Siya which is stressing me as well as Siya out :-).
So thought I should write about "Effortless Parenting" today. I am often asked - how can you do so much with Siya inspite of having a more than demanding job and of course husband and household to take care off. To which most of the time I say - I am awesome :-). But the truth is I am able to manage all of it only because of my husband. We have some rules been defined for us and the first rule is that we do not really break the following rules:
1) Teach kids to be self-sufficient - All kids first learn how to pick up things, then how to brush, how to have bath, how to feed themselves so on and so on. At the beginning of every new skill she learns, it requires requires a little patient teaching. But once the teaching is done, our job are a parent is a lot easier. I do focus a lot on teaching every new skill she learns.
2) Teach older kids how to take care of younger ones - This rule works beautifully for people having more than one kid (unfortunately this rule is ruled out from my rule book).
3) Teach them how to solve problems - We should focus a lot on teaching our children how to solve a problem and not make them learn facts or skills. We always describe everything as a problem and then have her find solutions. e.g. I want to run faster than the fastest runner I see on Marine Drive on Sunday, her solution was I will skate every Sunday. Addition of two digit numbers with carry forwards - teach me this skill is just on entertained. But the problem identified was - we have 10 fingers only and 10 fingers of legs, if I need to add more than this then?
4) Show them how to be passionate - Besides teaching them how to solve their own problem, we also need to teach them how to be passionate about something. If they know this, they will do work they're passionate about just like adults. How do you teach them this? By modeling it yourself. By doing projects with them where you’re passionate about something. Kids learn an amazing amount by watching and mimicking.
5) Play with them outside and be active - Spending time with your kids is best way to show them that you love them. I keep my evening completely free for Siya. If there is some office work to be followed up is either after she is off to bed or early next morning. Playing with them and playing outdoor games with them shows them how to be active and have fun being active.
6) Give them free time - We need to give our kids a good bit of unstructured, unscheduled time. They need to figure out what they have to do with that time. This is a very important skill to learn.
7) Don't dote - I’ve seen lots of parents that dote on everything their kids do, who are worried about every little thing their kid might touch or that might cause a fall. Back off, and give them some space. They need attention, but they also need some time alone to explore, to fall and get back up, to scrape their knees, to figure stuff out on their own. Go do something on your own, and leave your kids alone sometimes.
8) Dance - We dance a lot together as a family. We just play loud music and go crazy. Life for us is too dull without dance.
9) Read - The first thing I wake and do in the morning is turn on my laptop and read about topics of my interest. For Vipul, he picks up the newspaper and starts around at the same time. Soon we observed that Siya would pick up her book and sit with us. Reading is one of the best loves you can instill in kids.
10) Be inquisitive - Ask questions about everything and encourage your kids to do so. Don't give them answers as far as possible, encourage them to find out using their sense organs. Kids are naturally inquisitive, because everything is new for them, see the world through their eyes and you will enjoy.
Hopefully, this will make a useful read....
So thought I should write about "Effortless Parenting" today. I am often asked - how can you do so much with Siya inspite of having a more than demanding job and of course husband and household to take care off. To which most of the time I say - I am awesome :-). But the truth is I am able to manage all of it only because of my husband. We have some rules been defined for us and the first rule is that we do not really break the following rules:
1) Teach kids to be self-sufficient - All kids first learn how to pick up things, then how to brush, how to have bath, how to feed themselves so on and so on. At the beginning of every new skill she learns, it requires requires a little patient teaching. But once the teaching is done, our job are a parent is a lot easier. I do focus a lot on teaching every new skill she learns.
2) Teach older kids how to take care of younger ones - This rule works beautifully for people having more than one kid (unfortunately this rule is ruled out from my rule book).
3) Teach them how to solve problems - We should focus a lot on teaching our children how to solve a problem and not make them learn facts or skills. We always describe everything as a problem and then have her find solutions. e.g. I want to run faster than the fastest runner I see on Marine Drive on Sunday, her solution was I will skate every Sunday. Addition of two digit numbers with carry forwards - teach me this skill is just on entertained. But the problem identified was - we have 10 fingers only and 10 fingers of legs, if I need to add more than this then?
4) Show them how to be passionate - Besides teaching them how to solve their own problem, we also need to teach them how to be passionate about something. If they know this, they will do work they're passionate about just like adults. How do you teach them this? By modeling it yourself. By doing projects with them where you’re passionate about something. Kids learn an amazing amount by watching and mimicking.
5) Play with them outside and be active - Spending time with your kids is best way to show them that you love them. I keep my evening completely free for Siya. If there is some office work to be followed up is either after she is off to bed or early next morning. Playing with them and playing outdoor games with them shows them how to be active and have fun being active.
6) Give them free time - We need to give our kids a good bit of unstructured, unscheduled time. They need to figure out what they have to do with that time. This is a very important skill to learn.
7) Don't dote - I’ve seen lots of parents that dote on everything their kids do, who are worried about every little thing their kid might touch or that might cause a fall. Back off, and give them some space. They need attention, but they also need some time alone to explore, to fall and get back up, to scrape their knees, to figure stuff out on their own. Go do something on your own, and leave your kids alone sometimes.
8) Dance - We dance a lot together as a family. We just play loud music and go crazy. Life for us is too dull without dance.
9) Read - The first thing I wake and do in the morning is turn on my laptop and read about topics of my interest. For Vipul, he picks up the newspaper and starts around at the same time. Soon we observed that Siya would pick up her book and sit with us. Reading is one of the best loves you can instill in kids.
10) Be inquisitive - Ask questions about everything and encourage your kids to do so. Don't give them answers as far as possible, encourage them to find out using their sense organs. Kids are naturally inquisitive, because everything is new for them, see the world through their eyes and you will enjoy.
Hopefully, this will make a useful read....
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Business is all about professionalism - what is this word meaning (Siya and her questions)
Inspite of working now for 10 years, yesterday when Siya asked me "what do you mean by professional", I was really put to thought on what does it really mean? I was always taught on how to work in office but never taught what does it take to be a professional. So thought should write about it today "My definition of professionalism" which Siya can surely refer tomorrow.
Whether you are running your own business or you are working for someone, there is always an expectation that you will be professional in the course of business. I broadly treat the following as attributes of professional :
1) Respect for others - Being courteous and having good manners, being fair in all dealings, being on time for meetings and respecting others time, being prepared for meetings, keeping personal opinion of people private, doing what needs to be done, not leaving it for others, acceptance of constructive criticism, dealing with sensitive issues privately, being faitr and gentle when giving feedback, keeping confidential details and confidential, listen(and not hear) to others, accept your mistake and apologize and finally communicate (and not speak) to others.
2) Responsibility and Integrity - We must present ourselves always in a way that you earn (not demand) respect for yourself. All professionals need to take responsibility of themselves and their work. Honesty is crucial – avoid even the smallest of lies at all costs. Commitment is a commitment -If you commit to something, then follow through with it. If there is a delay, let the person know that there is a delay - timely information is better than no information at all. be respectful about competing businesses or people - try pointing out your benefits rather than their faults. Be impartial - keep personal bias and intolerances out of the business world.Be reliable and dependable. Demonstrate self-control and avoid public arguments and disagreements.
Is this good enough Siya? :-)
Whether you are running your own business or you are working for someone, there is always an expectation that you will be professional in the course of business. I broadly treat the following as attributes of professional :
1) Respect for others - Being courteous and having good manners, being fair in all dealings, being on time for meetings and respecting others time, being prepared for meetings, keeping personal opinion of people private, doing what needs to be done, not leaving it for others, acceptance of constructive criticism, dealing with sensitive issues privately, being faitr and gentle when giving feedback, keeping confidential details and confidential, listen(and not hear) to others, accept your mistake and apologize and finally communicate (and not speak) to others.
2) Responsibility and Integrity - We must present ourselves always in a way that you earn (not demand) respect for yourself. All professionals need to take responsibility of themselves and their work. Honesty is crucial – avoid even the smallest of lies at all costs. Commitment is a commitment -If you commit to something, then follow through with it. If there is a delay, let the person know that there is a delay - timely information is better than no information at all. be respectful about competing businesses or people - try pointing out your benefits rather than their faults. Be impartial - keep personal bias and intolerances out of the business world.Be reliable and dependable. Demonstrate self-control and avoid public arguments and disagreements.
Is this good enough Siya? :-)
Monday, October 31, 2011
Siya and her stories...
Siya and her stories....
Yesterday on my way back from outstation, we were listening to radio where they were playing old songs. The song was "Tohfa Tohfa, laya laya". The lyrics were something like:
Tohafa Tohafa Tohafa Tohafa, laaya Laaya Laaya Laaya
........
pyaar Ka Tohafa Tera Bana Hai Jeevan Mera
dil Ke Sahaare Maine Pa Lie
jeene Ko Aur Kya Chaahie
The moment the line "jeene Ko Aur Kya Chaahie" was over, Siya says "Mumma chahiye" :-)
Love you darling!
Yesterday on my way back from outstation, we were listening to radio where they were playing old songs. The song was "Tohfa Tohfa, laya laya". The lyrics were something like:
Tohafa Tohafa Tohafa Tohafa, laaya Laaya Laaya Laaya
........
pyaar Ka Tohafa Tera Bana Hai Jeevan Mera
dil Ke Sahaare Maine Pa Lie
jeene Ko Aur Kya Chaahie
The moment the line "jeene Ko Aur Kya Chaahie" was over, Siya says "Mumma chahiye" :-)
Love you darling!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Siya and her stories....
Siya and her stories....
Siya - Mom, its Sunday morning, let me please sleep for sometime.
Mom - Siya, early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
Siya - Mom, if healthy like you then I better sleep, "wealthy" I am chotu to worry about it, "wise" what does that mean! So I better sleep now....
Ok guys, guess good saying dont work with our kids any more :-)
Siya - Mom, its Sunday morning, let me please sleep for sometime.
Mom - Siya, early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
Siya - Mom, if healthy like you then I better sleep, "wealthy" I am chotu to worry about it, "wise" what does that mean! So I better sleep now....
Ok guys, guess good saying dont work with our kids any more :-)
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Siya and her stories...
Siya and her stories....
Purwa - Name two input device and two output device ? (was teaching her parts of the computer)
Siya - Input to the computer is Mom and Output is NO PLAY with Siya!
Is someone from my office seeing this? :-)
Purwa - Name two input device and two output device ? (was teaching her parts of the computer)
Siya - Input to the computer is Mom and Output is NO PLAY with Siya!
Is someone from my office seeing this? :-)
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Siya and her stories...
Siya and her stories....
Question in Siya's Paper - Who travels in the bus? Correct answer is suppose to be "Passengers" and lets see what Siya writes....
Siya - Mom travels by car for herself but leaves me in bus !
(Frown)
Question in Siya's Paper - Who travels in the bus? Correct answer is suppose to be "Passengers" and lets see what Siya writes....
Siya - Mom travels by car for herself but leaves me in bus !
(Frown)
Siya and her stories...
Siya and her stories....
Purwa - let's complete our home play (we use this instead of the word home work) so that we can go for a movie in evening.
Siya - does reading school books only make you smart and intelligent
Purwa - yes, of course they do!
Siya - then how did you manage to become one, you are not in school and you have no school books too
Oh god, bless me.....
Purwa - let's complete our home play (we use this instead of the word home work) so that we can go for a movie in evening.
Siya - does reading school books only make you smart and intelligent
Purwa - yes, of course they do!
Siya - then how did you manage to become one, you are not in school and you have no school books too
Oh god, bless me.....
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Siya and her stories....
Siya and her stories....
Siya - Mom, what are you doing?
Purwa - Work as usual, what else do you expect when I am in office.
Siya - I thought you only get work done and not work yourself.
Who will tell her that getting work done is a biggest work!
Siya - Mom, what are you doing?
Purwa - Work as usual, what else do you expect when I am in office.
Siya - I thought you only get work done and not work yourself.
Who will tell her that getting work done is a biggest work!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Siya and her stories...
Siya and her stories....
Siya - I am missing you.
Purwa - Why? Hope all is ok?
Siya - Since all is ok, I am not liking it and hence called you up.
Purwa - You mean I make "OK" --> "NOT OK" and hence you missing me...
Siya - Actually yes .....
My kiddo is growing, this sounds like a teenage talking to her mom (realizing it more when I am typing it)
Siya - I am missing you.
Purwa - Why? Hope all is ok?
Siya - Since all is ok, I am not liking it and hence called you up.
Purwa - You mean I make "OK" --> "NOT OK" and hence you missing me...
Siya - Actually yes .....
My kiddo is growing, this sounds like a teenage talking to her mom (realizing it more when I am typing it)
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Find Calmness and Peace in middle of a chaotic day! How?
How can you bring calm and peace to the middle of a stress-ful,chaotic day? I am currently going through one in office and have gone through many such days in past too. When I sit back and think how do I manage it (or atleast try to manage it), it actually lands up to a very simple answer, though not always so easy to practise : learn to be present.
No matter how out-of-control your day is, no matter how stressful your job or life becomes, the act of being present can become an oasis. It can change your life, and it’s incredibly simple.
When you look at all the problems that you have, you will notice that actually all the problems are in your mind. Sure, there are external forces at work: an uncontrollable job, the stress of kids and chores and interruptions and digital distractions. But it’s how our mind handles those external forces that is the problem. If you are completely present, the external forces are no longer a problem, because there is only you and that external force, in this moment, and not a million other things you need to worry about. If your job demands that you focus on an urgent task, you can stress out because you have a million other things to do and not enough time to do them. Or you can be present, and focus completely on that task, and now there is only that one task and you. When you’re done, you can move on to the next task. Being present becomes, then, a way to handle any problem, any distraction, any stressor. It allows everything else to fade away, leaving only you and whatever you’re dealing with right now.
But to be present is a practise. Most people cannot be present because they do not practise to be present.This is how I do it: whatever you’re doing, right now, learn to focus completely on doing that one thing. Pay attention: to every aspect of what you’re doing, to your body, to the sensations, to your thoughts. (Like currently I am writing this blog and I am doing this in a middle of a very stressful day in office). You will notice your thoughts, if you’re paying attention, jump to other things. That’s OK - you are not trying to force all other thoughts from your mind. But by becoming aware of that jumping around in your thoughts, you have found the tool for gently bringing yourself back to your present task. Just notice the jumping thoughts, and lovingly come back. Do this once, then do it again. Don’t worry about how many times you must do it. Just do it now.
It can become tiring at first, if you’re not used to it. Don’t worry about that. Let yourself rest if you grow tired. Come back and practice again in a little while. It’s not meant to be exhausting - instead you should notice how your worries melt away and you enjoy your present task much more.
Be joyful in whatever you’re doing, grateful that you’re able to do that task, and fully appreciate every little movement and tactile sensation of the task. You’ll learn that anything can be an amazing experience, anything can be a miracle.
Meditation is a fantastic way to practice, only because it removes much of the complexity of the world and allows you to just learn to be aware of your mind, and to bring yourself back to the present moment. It’s not complicated: meditation can be done anywhere, anytime. A meditation teacher is useful if you can find one.
No matter how out-of-control your day is, no matter how stressful your job or life becomes, the act of being present can become an oasis. It can change your life, and it’s incredibly simple.
When you look at all the problems that you have, you will notice that actually all the problems are in your mind. Sure, there are external forces at work: an uncontrollable job, the stress of kids and chores and interruptions and digital distractions. But it’s how our mind handles those external forces that is the problem. If you are completely present, the external forces are no longer a problem, because there is only you and that external force, in this moment, and not a million other things you need to worry about. If your job demands that you focus on an urgent task, you can stress out because you have a million other things to do and not enough time to do them. Or you can be present, and focus completely on that task, and now there is only that one task and you. When you’re done, you can move on to the next task. Being present becomes, then, a way to handle any problem, any distraction, any stressor. It allows everything else to fade away, leaving only you and whatever you’re dealing with right now.
But to be present is a practise. Most people cannot be present because they do not practise to be present.This is how I do it: whatever you’re doing, right now, learn to focus completely on doing that one thing. Pay attention: to every aspect of what you’re doing, to your body, to the sensations, to your thoughts. (Like currently I am writing this blog and I am doing this in a middle of a very stressful day in office). You will notice your thoughts, if you’re paying attention, jump to other things. That’s OK - you are not trying to force all other thoughts from your mind. But by becoming aware of that jumping around in your thoughts, you have found the tool for gently bringing yourself back to your present task. Just notice the jumping thoughts, and lovingly come back. Do this once, then do it again. Don’t worry about how many times you must do it. Just do it now.
It can become tiring at first, if you’re not used to it. Don’t worry about that. Let yourself rest if you grow tired. Come back and practice again in a little while. It’s not meant to be exhausting - instead you should notice how your worries melt away and you enjoy your present task much more.
Be joyful in whatever you’re doing, grateful that you’re able to do that task, and fully appreciate every little movement and tactile sensation of the task. You’ll learn that anything can be an amazing experience, anything can be a miracle.
Meditation is a fantastic way to practice, only because it removes much of the complexity of the world and allows you to just learn to be aware of your mind, and to bring yourself back to the present moment. It’s not complicated: meditation can be done anywhere, anytime. A meditation teacher is useful if you can find one.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Siya and her Stories...
Siya and her stories....
Siya has a chapter called GRANDMA in her English book and she had her test. The question was:
1) What is your Grandma's name - Ruchi (because I do not know my Grandma's spelling)
2) What is her age - 24
3) What dish does she like - Water (The only spelling I know)
This girl is tooooooooo muchhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!
Siya has a chapter called GRANDMA in her English book and she had her test. The question was:
1) What is your Grandma's name - Ruchi (because I do not know my Grandma's spelling)
2) What is her age - 24
3) What dish does she like - Water (The only spelling I know)
This girl is tooooooooo muchhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Ignite your passion - How?
A lot of my friends always keep on asking me "what keeps you going on", "you are a power house", "how do you manage everything", etc etc etc. Trust me I am very much a normal human being, even I do get tired, frustrated, have a long list of things that I have not done and would be more than happy to do, however, I do put in special efforts to make sure things currently in hand are done full justice and I enjoy doing it. Just like the way a daily exercise leads to a more fit and healthy body, there are habits which can lead to "fire in the belly" everyday.
I make it a point to talk to a few people everyday. This was not a conscious decision at all. But when I tried to analyze why, I figured out that I like to talk to passionate people. By just talking to them, it merely transmits the passion. Most people don’t believe you can do work you love because they’re constantly around people who hate their jobs and don’t know what excites them. This has to change. Those around you have everything to do with your success and your belief of what’s possible. You’ll either rise up or sink down depending on who’s next to you.Passion is contagious. You must have an environment that embodies it. You need a support crew who believes what you believe. People who dream as big as you or bigger. Not only will they give you ideas but they’ll condition the belief that doing what you love is the norm. They fuel our passion and make the unthinkable possible, even normal. You’ll begin to expect the same of yourself.
I also give every idea a room to groom. Basically, create space. If you don’t give big ideas room, they’ll never show up. Purpose and passion are no different. Lack of space creates pressure – the ultimate killer of creativity. And nothing requires more creative juices than passion. Start small with five minutes each morning. Schedule downtime. Start walking to work instead of taking the bus. Give yourself permission to dream. Passion thrives in emptiness.
Help someone in a way only you can. We all have natural strengths and talents that can dramatically help those around us. What comes easy for you is no doubt challenging for others. We tend to take these for granted, often hardly noticing our own gifts, and rarely share them with others. Passion comes from using those on a routine basis. Ask yourself, What do people thank you for? What do people routinely ask for your help with? Most people’s passions help others in one way or another. Perhaps for you it’s knitting, teaching children math, cooking a good meal or leading a dance class. Devote time each day to sharing your talents.
Challenge the norm. Ask questions. Don’t take things as gospel just because that’s how they’ve always been done. Don’t aimlessly listen to those around you. Question everything you’ve been doing and are about to do, especially if you don’t enjoy it. Is it really what you want? Is it in line with who you are? Perhaps there’s a better way. There often is.
Scare yourself – Live outside your comfort zone. Passionate people thrive off uncertainty. If you aren’t doing things that give you a few goose bumps you’re either not learning, dying or bored out of your mind. None of which are good. Do something at least mildly uncomfortable daily. This could be as small as making a phone call or sharing your art with someone. Learn something new. Become obsessed with learning everything you can find – new skills, approaches, ideas, you name it. If it interests you then it’s important enough to get in your brain. We have to fuel what excites us. Grab a magazine or book that interests you and read a few pages on the way to work or before bed. Passionate people almost always have a book within reach. Ideas can be found anywhere. Start looking. Be a sponge.
Your life’s an experiment
Everything you do, everything you try, everything that does or doesn’t work out, whether you like it or not, it’s all an experiment. It’s up to you to decide to learn from it. That’s the ultimate daily practice. Test how you can help people. Test what excites you. Test what you like. Test what scares you. Realize that if you do what you’ve always done, your results are never going to change.Living a life of purpose and passion is just that, a way of life. Those who wake up excited aren’t just the lucky ones, they condition themselves to experience and deserve it.
I make it a point to talk to a few people everyday. This was not a conscious decision at all. But when I tried to analyze why, I figured out that I like to talk to passionate people. By just talking to them, it merely transmits the passion. Most people don’t believe you can do work you love because they’re constantly around people who hate their jobs and don’t know what excites them. This has to change. Those around you have everything to do with your success and your belief of what’s possible. You’ll either rise up or sink down depending on who’s next to you.Passion is contagious. You must have an environment that embodies it. You need a support crew who believes what you believe. People who dream as big as you or bigger. Not only will they give you ideas but they’ll condition the belief that doing what you love is the norm. They fuel our passion and make the unthinkable possible, even normal. You’ll begin to expect the same of yourself.
I also give every idea a room to groom. Basically, create space. If you don’t give big ideas room, they’ll never show up. Purpose and passion are no different. Lack of space creates pressure – the ultimate killer of creativity. And nothing requires more creative juices than passion. Start small with five minutes each morning. Schedule downtime. Start walking to work instead of taking the bus. Give yourself permission to dream. Passion thrives in emptiness.
Help someone in a way only you can. We all have natural strengths and talents that can dramatically help those around us. What comes easy for you is no doubt challenging for others. We tend to take these for granted, often hardly noticing our own gifts, and rarely share them with others. Passion comes from using those on a routine basis. Ask yourself, What do people thank you for? What do people routinely ask for your help with? Most people’s passions help others in one way or another. Perhaps for you it’s knitting, teaching children math, cooking a good meal or leading a dance class. Devote time each day to sharing your talents.
Challenge the norm. Ask questions. Don’t take things as gospel just because that’s how they’ve always been done. Don’t aimlessly listen to those around you. Question everything you’ve been doing and are about to do, especially if you don’t enjoy it. Is it really what you want? Is it in line with who you are? Perhaps there’s a better way. There often is.
Scare yourself – Live outside your comfort zone. Passionate people thrive off uncertainty. If you aren’t doing things that give you a few goose bumps you’re either not learning, dying or bored out of your mind. None of which are good. Do something at least mildly uncomfortable daily. This could be as small as making a phone call or sharing your art with someone. Learn something new. Become obsessed with learning everything you can find – new skills, approaches, ideas, you name it. If it interests you then it’s important enough to get in your brain. We have to fuel what excites us. Grab a magazine or book that interests you and read a few pages on the way to work or before bed. Passionate people almost always have a book within reach. Ideas can be found anywhere. Start looking. Be a sponge.
Your life’s an experiment
Everything you do, everything you try, everything that does or doesn’t work out, whether you like it or not, it’s all an experiment. It’s up to you to decide to learn from it. That’s the ultimate daily practice. Test how you can help people. Test what excites you. Test what you like. Test what scares you. Realize that if you do what you’ve always done, your results are never going to change.Living a life of purpose and passion is just that, a way of life. Those who wake up excited aren’t just the lucky ones, they condition themselves to experience and deserve it.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Siya and het stories
Siya and her stories....
Purwa - Siya, why are you arguing with me. Don't you think it is happening too often now a days?
Siya - Agreed mom but don't know how to avoid it.
Purwa - Ask yourself the question "What do you find at the end of everything"
Siya - "g"... is that so difficult?
Purwa - Siya, why are you arguing with me. Don't you think it is happening too often now a days?
Siya - Agreed mom but don't know how to avoid it.
Purwa - Ask yourself the question "What do you find at the end of everything"
Siya - "g"... is that so difficult?
Friday, July 15, 2011
That's it ... Can't take more!
I curse the traffic of Mumbai, gulped it ...
I curse the filthy roads in rain of Mumbai, swallowed it ...
I spend more hours traveling than at home, accepted it ...
Waded through knee high water just just week, tolerated it ...
Seen shit corruption in the city, hated it ...
Had no example to explain my daughter the meaning of the word "adarsh", shrugged it ...
and many more...
But now that's it...can't take more!
Once more our great city is bleeding! Bleeding with yet another terrorist attack! On every attack, I happen to be on roads always, away from my family, away from Siya, away from Vipul! Have no choice at that point of time but to be numb, scared, helpless and just wish for "I hope I see my my dear ones just once".
I as a common man of Mumbai, is doing everything to help the city be better, I pay my taxes on time, I don't mess with government's rules, in short, everything that one good human being should do for their city! But what has the city given me. It has not even provided me the basic security. I shocking to see the regularity with which these blasts strike the city and then get statements like "we have avoided 90% of blasts". Innocent people on the streets are killed and they simply become counts in the newspapers for a date (I just saw today morning). Isn't security the basic necessity that the government should provide to us? Are we asking too much! If we are then I must say we are unfortunate to have such a government. A government that only demands but has no supply of even the basic. I so much hope that a few of these politicians would have been victims, only then we would have safety.
"We will meet again" is statement that I will never be able to use again in Mumbai. Yes, I will get back and run to work, uncomfortably numb. Not for its famed resilience, but simply to survive. as said by Sumit
I curse the filthy roads in rain of Mumbai, swallowed it ...
I spend more hours traveling than at home, accepted it ...
Waded through knee high water just just week, tolerated it ...
Seen shit corruption in the city, hated it ...
Had no example to explain my daughter the meaning of the word "adarsh", shrugged it ...
and many more...
But now that's it...can't take more!
Once more our great city is bleeding! Bleeding with yet another terrorist attack! On every attack, I happen to be on roads always, away from my family, away from Siya, away from Vipul! Have no choice at that point of time but to be numb, scared, helpless and just wish for "I hope I see my my dear ones just once".
I as a common man of Mumbai, is doing everything to help the city be better, I pay my taxes on time, I don't mess with government's rules, in short, everything that one good human being should do for their city! But what has the city given me. It has not even provided me the basic security. I shocking to see the regularity with which these blasts strike the city and then get statements like "we have avoided 90% of blasts". Innocent people on the streets are killed and they simply become counts in the newspapers for a date (I just saw today morning). Isn't security the basic necessity that the government should provide to us? Are we asking too much! If we are then I must say we are unfortunate to have such a government. A government that only demands but has no supply of even the basic. I so much hope that a few of these politicians would have been victims, only then we would have safety.
"We will meet again" is statement that I will never be able to use again in Mumbai. Yes, I will get back and run to work, uncomfortably numb. Not for its famed resilience, but simply to survive. as said by Sumit
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Spellings for our children - right brain thinking!
By Dianne Craft
MA, CNHP
God has a wonderful sense of humor, I believe. He wants us to grow and stretch, and one of the ways He does this is to give us children who are very different from each other. Just as it is very likely that a right brain person will have a left brain spouse, so it is that if our first born is left brain dominant, the next child likely will be right brain dominant. This brain dominance affects both personality characteristics, and learning styles.
How do you determine if you are teaching a right brain child? Children tend to display these characteristics at an early age. All children are creative, but your right brain child will seem to be even more imaginative. The right brain learns things in wholes rather than parts, so that child will get math concepts well, but may struggle with the details like the math facts, or checking work. In thinking styles, the right-brainer often goes by “gut feel” whereas the left-brainer prefers multiple facts before coming to a conclusion. In test taking, the left-brainer prefers the black-and-white choices presented in multiple-choice questions, while the right-brainer may prefer essay questions, where the whole picture can be given.
Eighty percent of the struggling learners I see are right brain dominant. Does that mean that being right brain dominant is a weakness? Not at all! As you know, Einstein was a flaming right-brainer. Then why the discrepancy? It is that most curriculum is designed to teach in a more left brain style. Workbooks, worksheets, rote memorization (math facts), timed tests, lectures, learning facts from a test, learning vocabulary by looking up the meanings of the words in a dictionary and writing it out, are all left brain activities.
If you have a child at home who is balking at doing the schoolwork that fits the description above, you probably are working with a right brain dominant child. To help this child become successful doesn’t require an entire change in curriculum but rather a change in your teaching strategies for this child. It isn’t as hard as it sounds. In fact, it’s easy, fun, and inexpensive.
Spelling
Let’s look at the teaching of spelling words. We all want our children to be good spellers, and are very frustrated when our methods aren’t working. The most common complaint I receive is that the child learns the words for the test, but continues to misspell them in other writing tasks. This is one of the easiest problems to solve, and I have regularly seen two years spelling growth in one year, using a simple method.
Have you ever seen a picture in the newspaper of a spelling bee winner? If you have, you may have seen the student with his eyes in an upward position. In other words, it looks like he is looking at the ceiling for the word he is spelling. This makes sense in light of the recent brain research that tells us that we can cause our right brain (the hemisphere that houses our photographic memory) to become more responsive by looking up with our eyes. In other words, we use our eyes to help us think, as well as to see. When the student is looking up, he is “seeing” the word in his head. Because he is seeing the printed word, he can spell it backwards, as easily as forwards.
You can train your child at home to use this very efficient strategy. Not only will it be painless, but you will find the right brain is responsible for visual memory and long-term memory, so your child will remember how to spell his words long past the week of the spelling test.
This efficient right brain spelling strategy is simple.
1. Give your child a preliminary test from a short list of commonly used words.
2. Among the words that were spelled incorrectly, take the letters that were wrong, or left out, and color or mark them up.
For example: If your child spelled “Saturday” as “Saterday” put the “Sat-r-day” in black marker on a card, since he knew those letters. Put the “u” in blue, with wavy lines in it to represent water, and a stick figure diving into the water. You can add a story, like, “They all Sat around on Saturday and one of them got bored, so the brothers decided to go swimming.”
3. Hold the card straight up in front of your child so his eyes are looking up. (Make sure his chin isn’t up, but only his eyes). Have him glance at it, then bring it down while his eyes remain looking up, where the card had been. Flash this card in the air, five or six times until your child can “see” it in the air, and easily spell it forwards and backwards. If your child can't easily “see” it in the air, show it more times, or put more “velcro” on it by putting in more color, or a more detailed picture.
4. Review the card each day of the week for a few minutes.
5. Your child’s photographic memory will become stronger and stronger as you use this method.
Remember that your child’s visual memory is his greatest strength. As you help him develop that, using spelling words, math facts, or anything, you will see learning and memorizing become much easier. The success a child feels when he can “see it” is priceless.
Dianne Craft is president of Child Diagnostics, Inc., in Littleton, Colorado, and the author of Brain Integration Therapy for Children Manual, and “The Biology of Behavior” audio tape set.
MA, CNHP
God has a wonderful sense of humor, I believe. He wants us to grow and stretch, and one of the ways He does this is to give us children who are very different from each other. Just as it is very likely that a right brain person will have a left brain spouse, so it is that if our first born is left brain dominant, the next child likely will be right brain dominant. This brain dominance affects both personality characteristics, and learning styles.
How do you determine if you are teaching a right brain child? Children tend to display these characteristics at an early age. All children are creative, but your right brain child will seem to be even more imaginative. The right brain learns things in wholes rather than parts, so that child will get math concepts well, but may struggle with the details like the math facts, or checking work. In thinking styles, the right-brainer often goes by “gut feel” whereas the left-brainer prefers multiple facts before coming to a conclusion. In test taking, the left-brainer prefers the black-and-white choices presented in multiple-choice questions, while the right-brainer may prefer essay questions, where the whole picture can be given.
Eighty percent of the struggling learners I see are right brain dominant. Does that mean that being right brain dominant is a weakness? Not at all! As you know, Einstein was a flaming right-brainer. Then why the discrepancy? It is that most curriculum is designed to teach in a more left brain style. Workbooks, worksheets, rote memorization (math facts), timed tests, lectures, learning facts from a test, learning vocabulary by looking up the meanings of the words in a dictionary and writing it out, are all left brain activities.
If you have a child at home who is balking at doing the schoolwork that fits the description above, you probably are working with a right brain dominant child. To help this child become successful doesn’t require an entire change in curriculum but rather a change in your teaching strategies for this child. It isn’t as hard as it sounds. In fact, it’s easy, fun, and inexpensive.
Spelling
Let’s look at the teaching of spelling words. We all want our children to be good spellers, and are very frustrated when our methods aren’t working. The most common complaint I receive is that the child learns the words for the test, but continues to misspell them in other writing tasks. This is one of the easiest problems to solve, and I have regularly seen two years spelling growth in one year, using a simple method.
Have you ever seen a picture in the newspaper of a spelling bee winner? If you have, you may have seen the student with his eyes in an upward position. In other words, it looks like he is looking at the ceiling for the word he is spelling. This makes sense in light of the recent brain research that tells us that we can cause our right brain (the hemisphere that houses our photographic memory) to become more responsive by looking up with our eyes. In other words, we use our eyes to help us think, as well as to see. When the student is looking up, he is “seeing” the word in his head. Because he is seeing the printed word, he can spell it backwards, as easily as forwards.
You can train your child at home to use this very efficient strategy. Not only will it be painless, but you will find the right brain is responsible for visual memory and long-term memory, so your child will remember how to spell his words long past the week of the spelling test.
This efficient right brain spelling strategy is simple.
1. Give your child a preliminary test from a short list of commonly used words.
2. Among the words that were spelled incorrectly, take the letters that were wrong, or left out, and color or mark them up.
For example: If your child spelled “Saturday” as “Saterday” put the “Sat-r-day” in black marker on a card, since he knew those letters. Put the “u” in blue, with wavy lines in it to represent water, and a stick figure diving into the water. You can add a story, like, “They all Sat around on Saturday and one of them got bored, so the brothers decided to go swimming.”
3. Hold the card straight up in front of your child so his eyes are looking up. (Make sure his chin isn’t up, but only his eyes). Have him glance at it, then bring it down while his eyes remain looking up, where the card had been. Flash this card in the air, five or six times until your child can “see” it in the air, and easily spell it forwards and backwards. If your child can't easily “see” it in the air, show it more times, or put more “velcro” on it by putting in more color, or a more detailed picture.
4. Review the card each day of the week for a few minutes.
5. Your child’s photographic memory will become stronger and stronger as you use this method.
Remember that your child’s visual memory is his greatest strength. As you help him develop that, using spelling words, math facts, or anything, you will see learning and memorizing become much easier. The success a child feels when he can “see it” is priceless.
Dianne Craft is president of Child Diagnostics, Inc., in Littleton, Colorado, and the author of Brain Integration Therapy for Children Manual, and “The Biology of Behavior” audio tape set.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Study stress
Siya is currently in the first standard and it is just a few days that the school has started. In the parents teachers meeting held last week, I could see anxiety, nervousness, tension and complete stress on all parents face. This is just so hard to believe right! A child in first standard and mom is all worried already about the progress of the child. So here is my interpretation of the whole thing.
Although most people think that 'studying' and 'learning' are synonyms, they are not. There is a very important distinction: 'studying' is the devoted time and activity which may or may not lead to learning, while 'learning' is the actual process of acquiring knowledge or insight.
Learning is good; studying is a necessary evil at best. While both can cause stress, study stress is a greater culprit. What's wrong with studying? The problem is 'study' is confused with 'memorization', which is energy intensive and generally not very efficient compared to an actual hands-on learning experience. Repetition is the mother of learning if we are talking about a physical activity or a complex mental simulation - but not memorization.
The key to reducing study stress is to get to know your own learning processes a bit better, and use your time and mental energy more efficiently. Can you study with a hands on approach? Do that. Make a game out of it. Understand, don't memorize.
Be clear about your goal and use the motivation it gives you. Study stress can easily be converted into a healthy tension from challenge - if you are clear about your goals.
Tomorrow - Right brain thinking inculcated in kids....
Although most people think that 'studying' and 'learning' are synonyms, they are not. There is a very important distinction: 'studying' is the devoted time and activity which may or may not lead to learning, while 'learning' is the actual process of acquiring knowledge or insight.
Learning is good; studying is a necessary evil at best. While both can cause stress, study stress is a greater culprit. What's wrong with studying? The problem is 'study' is confused with 'memorization', which is energy intensive and generally not very efficient compared to an actual hands-on learning experience. Repetition is the mother of learning if we are talking about a physical activity or a complex mental simulation - but not memorization.
The key to reducing study stress is to get to know your own learning processes a bit better, and use your time and mental energy more efficiently. Can you study with a hands on approach? Do that. Make a game out of it. Understand, don't memorize.
Be clear about your goal and use the motivation it gives you. Study stress can easily be converted into a healthy tension from challenge - if you are clear about your goals.
Tomorrow - Right brain thinking inculcated in kids....
Monday, June 13, 2011
Really simple ways of getting work done
While I was in office, my boss calls up on my extension at 12:00 and I tell him "Hey, I am going home, my work for the day is done!".
Imagine getting a full day’s work done by noon. Sounds impossible, right? But it really shouldn’t be. If you eliminated all the time you spend procrastinating, distracted or stalled, getting a full day of work done by noon could be realized. I have done it, so can you!
But being this productive everyday, day by day is not so simple. Lets try and make this simple. I recall going back to my old school day - THE SPORT DAY! I would always ask my mom "Why do I start running far faster when I see the finish line?". To that, mom would reply - "You can see the milestone far closer to you and achievable". Along the race, I would be all tired and almost ready to faint but when I see the finish line, I wonder where I would get the energy from to cross and win! Hope you are understanding the analogy I am giving here!
Procrastination isn’t mostly about knowing when to start. It’s about knowing when to stop. Most of us, start with a infinitely long TO DO list. This is the underlying stress that comes from feeling that there is too much work ahead, and so any effort won’t make much of a dent in the short term. You can short-circuit this stress by having a clearly defined end-point for your work. With a finish line in sight, it is much easier to summon up the energy to sprint ahead and cross it.
What is measured is improved upon. If I measure my work in hours rather than tasks accomplished, I will improve upon nothing. This was the main reason why the concept of flexi timings was introduced. Why have timings at all in the organization as long as you accomplish your tasks! Isn't that itself a big motivation factor already! What better if I can start my day saying "I will complete 10 tasks today within 2 hrs and then can wind up early and see Siya skating in the evening."
One lecture that I had heard sometime back, completely changed the way I worked. It was on "Channelizing your energy correctly". Many people learn about Time Management to make them more productive. The basic concept is that your energy, not time, is what matters when getting work done. With a lot of focus and enthusiasm you can often get done triple the work in the same period of time. Whereas, working a 16-hour day instead of an 8-hour one is just a recipe for burnout. So manage your work in bursts - extremely productive and high energy followed by energy recover. This is cyclical.
Now how does it work - on every Sunday, prepare a weekly to-do list, every night before sleeping, prepare a daily to-do list, and now simply follow the daily to-do list. Pretend your other work doesn’t exist. When you’ve finished the daily list, you’re done for the day and you’re not allowed to add more work. The fact that you can see the finish line daily, you will be able to put it far more energy and focus. The fact that you will now measure your day by tasks accomplished rather than hours, you will be far more motivated and procrastinate far lesser!
Try it and let me know how it goes!
Imagine getting a full day’s work done by noon. Sounds impossible, right? But it really shouldn’t be. If you eliminated all the time you spend procrastinating, distracted or stalled, getting a full day of work done by noon could be realized. I have done it, so can you!
But being this productive everyday, day by day is not so simple. Lets try and make this simple. I recall going back to my old school day - THE SPORT DAY! I would always ask my mom "Why do I start running far faster when I see the finish line?". To that, mom would reply - "You can see the milestone far closer to you and achievable". Along the race, I would be all tired and almost ready to faint but when I see the finish line, I wonder where I would get the energy from to cross and win! Hope you are understanding the analogy I am giving here!
Procrastination isn’t mostly about knowing when to start. It’s about knowing when to stop. Most of us, start with a infinitely long TO DO list. This is the underlying stress that comes from feeling that there is too much work ahead, and so any effort won’t make much of a dent in the short term. You can short-circuit this stress by having a clearly defined end-point for your work. With a finish line in sight, it is much easier to summon up the energy to sprint ahead and cross it.
What is measured is improved upon. If I measure my work in hours rather than tasks accomplished, I will improve upon nothing. This was the main reason why the concept of flexi timings was introduced. Why have timings at all in the organization as long as you accomplish your tasks! Isn't that itself a big motivation factor already! What better if I can start my day saying "I will complete 10 tasks today within 2 hrs and then can wind up early and see Siya skating in the evening."
One lecture that I had heard sometime back, completely changed the way I worked. It was on "Channelizing your energy correctly". Many people learn about Time Management to make them more productive. The basic concept is that your energy, not time, is what matters when getting work done. With a lot of focus and enthusiasm you can often get done triple the work in the same period of time. Whereas, working a 16-hour day instead of an 8-hour one is just a recipe for burnout. So manage your work in bursts - extremely productive and high energy followed by energy recover. This is cyclical.
Now how does it work - on every Sunday, prepare a weekly to-do list, every night before sleeping, prepare a daily to-do list, and now simply follow the daily to-do list. Pretend your other work doesn’t exist. When you’ve finished the daily list, you’re done for the day and you’re not allowed to add more work. The fact that you can see the finish line daily, you will be able to put it far more energy and focus. The fact that you will now measure your day by tasks accomplished rather than hours, you will be far more motivated and procrastinate far lesser!
Try it and let me know how it goes!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Siya and her stories...
Siya and her stories....
Purwa - Siya, now a days why are you taking skating lightly?
Siya - Mom, you changed my wheels telling me that they are far lighter and now you are asking me why am I taking it lightly!
:-) - Can someone teach her English!
Purwa - Siya, now a days why are you taking skating lightly?
Siya - Mom, you changed my wheels telling me that they are far lighter and now you are asking me why am I taking it lightly!
:-) - Can someone teach her English!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Tryst With Beas - 30th Apr, 2011
Warm greeting from me after a fun-filled vacation! This vacation was planned a little different! The entire trip had two flavors - first 7 days was all about adventure basically with the objective of testing our power of withstanding stress or hardships. The next 7 days was very consciously getting back to civilization and relaxing well out. I will not be describing the last 7 days of the trip at all (I am sure you know why :-|)
Siya is 6 years and considering the only one in family in her generation, a highly pampered child. The maximum she would have walked ever is not even a km. She is of course very active in terms of running and skating but if she sees one of us around, she prefer to be carried :-). Coming to think of it, why blame her, I love carrying her!
So this trek was planned just to make sure we make Siya aware of nature and most of all endurance!
Day 1 - We traveled from Mumbai to Chandigarh. After a small wait for my cousin's family, we left from Chandigarh at 4:00pm. We had a pre-depature meeting with Countryside (the group that had organized the Tryst With Beas that is first 7 days)where we were told to carry a good number of woolens and thermals. And hey like any Marwadi family, we had packed more than sufficient of everything be it woolens or food! But Chandigarh was around 40 degrees, we were almost in half mind to remove even whatever we were wearing ;-). The car travel from Chandigarh to Mandi started. We landed in Mandi at around 12 mid-night in Visco Resort. The drive on the mountains was kind of not comfortable. The driver was driving as if he is the only one on the road and for us it was no less than a roller coaster. Me and bhabhi would have committed some 100 vices we will NOT do to God before Mandi :-). We had still not felt the need for woolens inspite of he fact that we had started gaining altitude. The resort was by the river side and was very peace full. Siya and Prerit (her cousin) were to our surprise were good kids and played together. Both me and my bro were expecting a good bit of fireworks between them.
Continued tomorrow...
Siya is 6 years and considering the only one in family in her generation, a highly pampered child. The maximum she would have walked ever is not even a km. She is of course very active in terms of running and skating but if she sees one of us around, she prefer to be carried :-). Coming to think of it, why blame her, I love carrying her!
So this trek was planned just to make sure we make Siya aware of nature and most of all endurance!
Day 1 - We traveled from Mumbai to Chandigarh. After a small wait for my cousin's family, we left from Chandigarh at 4:00pm. We had a pre-depature meeting with Countryside (the group that had organized the Tryst With Beas that is first 7 days)where we were told to carry a good number of woolens and thermals. And hey like any Marwadi family, we had packed more than sufficient of everything be it woolens or food! But Chandigarh was around 40 degrees, we were almost in half mind to remove even whatever we were wearing ;-). The car travel from Chandigarh to Mandi started. We landed in Mandi at around 12 mid-night in Visco Resort. The drive on the mountains was kind of not comfortable. The driver was driving as if he is the only one on the road and for us it was no less than a roller coaster. Me and bhabhi would have committed some 100 vices we will NOT do to God before Mandi :-). We had still not felt the need for woolens inspite of he fact that we had started gaining altitude. The resort was by the river side and was very peace full. Siya and Prerit (her cousin) were to our surprise were good kids and played together. Both me and my bro were expecting a good bit of fireworks between them.
Continued tomorrow...
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Siya and her stories...
Siya and her stories..... (thanks Aarti Hemen Kapadia for sharing the same)
Background - There was a play in the summer camp where Siya was a rose and one of her friends had to pluck her
Her friends went to pluck her and she tell Aarti Aunty
"Yeh pluck kar rahi hai ki pyaar kar rahi hai"
This is just so bollywood man :-)
Background - There was a play in the summer camp where Siya was a rose and one of her friends had to pluck her
Her friends went to pluck her and she tell Aarti Aunty
"Yeh pluck kar rahi hai ki pyaar kar rahi hai"
This is just so bollywood man :-)
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Happy Birthday Siya - 6 years
Dearest Siya,
Year from April 2010 to April 2011 has by far been the most exciting year for me from the time you are in my life! This is not to say that the past years are forgotten at all! As you go through the letter, you will realize why am I saying this. You were more a friend and a guardian to me this year! Isn't it weird that your mom is saying that you were her guardian! But that is just so true! What really transformed this year to its best was we were able to have conversations. Coming home and discussing office problems, discussing what to cook for lunch, discussing why is papa having oily stuff, discussing why is it important for us to know our social state of being, etc etc. Each one of them is very interesting and each one of them is also recorded explicitly for you. Some day when you read through it, you will enjoy it. Hence, a friend and a guardian.
This year was your journey more to build an identity for yourself rather than just being a daughter of Vipul and Purwa. You do understand the meaning of my best friend, my cupboard, my things, my views, my opinion, my victories, my dance style, my skating style, my computer, my choice of food, my table, my room and what you always insist on the most "MY MOM". Your dad surely takes all of the "MYs" not very neatly which is like what most of the parents do. They have given 4-5 years of their lives to bring up the kid and when suddenly the child start building its own identity different from parents, it is a little difficult to digest! So, I do not blame him at all. If you remember, in my previous letter, http://purwajain.blogspot.com/2010/04/happy-birthday-siya-5-years.html, I had mentioned "All that I would like to tell you on your birthday today is (of course told to me by one of my friends a few days back) your future is decided by choices and not by the chances that you take along the way. Everyone in this world (including us) will have a opinion but the matter of fact is that only you can decide what can make you happy.". Please do remember this always and will surely realize its meaning when you are in the process of making up your identity.
Something that really made me proud of you and made sure that you have the right values inculcated in you was all your school incidences. Your best friend Pearl Jain was once beaten by your class teacher. You came home and told me about the same. I had conveyed the same to Pearl's mom. The matter was really closed for us. After a few days, your class teacher cornered you and asked "Did you go and tell your mom about the same". To that your reply to your class teacher was "Yes, I did because you did wrong". I was moved by your reply. It is a situation that even we as elders sneak out from but you decided to stay there and face it. I am proud of you Siya. However, do remember that something that is right for you may be wrong for someone else. As long as you can justify why it is right and stand by it, you are doing good.
This year I also did see you getting a lot more independent! You demand to do your own things and you also demand that you will take care of yourself. I really do not mind you being that way. Remember always that when you are demanding independence, you are demanding freedom. And freedom is such that if you have it all, soon you will loose the fine line between what is right and what is wrong. I will constantly remind you of the same in your primitive years and teach you well enough to make a judgement once you grow up.
This year you also started reading! This has made my job of bringing you up far more simpler. Now you have two moms, one me and other is your books. The fact that you get always so moved by "Moral of the story" and try putting the same to practice, they have helped me a lot in cultivating the Value System that will grow up with. Always remember, books are your best friends and they are something that will never ditch you.
While we do understand that now, in the coming years, the "I" factor will be building up, always remember our world revolves around you. We love you, we are very proud of you and we do accept that you are growing up. Just know that you will always be our baby.
Happy Birthday Siya and God Bless!
Year from April 2010 to April 2011 has by far been the most exciting year for me from the time you are in my life! This is not to say that the past years are forgotten at all! As you go through the letter, you will realize why am I saying this. You were more a friend and a guardian to me this year! Isn't it weird that your mom is saying that you were her guardian! But that is just so true! What really transformed this year to its best was we were able to have conversations. Coming home and discussing office problems, discussing what to cook for lunch, discussing why is papa having oily stuff, discussing why is it important for us to know our social state of being, etc etc. Each one of them is very interesting and each one of them is also recorded explicitly for you. Some day when you read through it, you will enjoy it. Hence, a friend and a guardian.
This year was your journey more to build an identity for yourself rather than just being a daughter of Vipul and Purwa. You do understand the meaning of my best friend, my cupboard, my things, my views, my opinion, my victories, my dance style, my skating style, my computer, my choice of food, my table, my room and what you always insist on the most "MY MOM". Your dad surely takes all of the "MYs" not very neatly which is like what most of the parents do. They have given 4-5 years of their lives to bring up the kid and when suddenly the child start building its own identity different from parents, it is a little difficult to digest! So, I do not blame him at all. If you remember, in my previous letter, http://purwajain.blogspot.com/2010/04/happy-birthday-siya-5-years.html, I had mentioned "All that I would like to tell you on your birthday today is (of course told to me by one of my friends a few days back) your future is decided by choices and not by the chances that you take along the way. Everyone in this world (including us) will have a opinion but the matter of fact is that only you can decide what can make you happy.". Please do remember this always and will surely realize its meaning when you are in the process of making up your identity.
Something that really made me proud of you and made sure that you have the right values inculcated in you was all your school incidences. Your best friend Pearl Jain was once beaten by your class teacher. You came home and told me about the same. I had conveyed the same to Pearl's mom. The matter was really closed for us. After a few days, your class teacher cornered you and asked "Did you go and tell your mom about the same". To that your reply to your class teacher was "Yes, I did because you did wrong". I was moved by your reply. It is a situation that even we as elders sneak out from but you decided to stay there and face it. I am proud of you Siya. However, do remember that something that is right for you may be wrong for someone else. As long as you can justify why it is right and stand by it, you are doing good.
This year I also did see you getting a lot more independent! You demand to do your own things and you also demand that you will take care of yourself. I really do not mind you being that way. Remember always that when you are demanding independence, you are demanding freedom. And freedom is such that if you have it all, soon you will loose the fine line between what is right and what is wrong. I will constantly remind you of the same in your primitive years and teach you well enough to make a judgement once you grow up.
This year you also started reading! This has made my job of bringing you up far more simpler. Now you have two moms, one me and other is your books. The fact that you get always so moved by "Moral of the story" and try putting the same to practice, they have helped me a lot in cultivating the Value System that will grow up with. Always remember, books are your best friends and they are something that will never ditch you.
While we do understand that now, in the coming years, the "I" factor will be building up, always remember our world revolves around you. We love you, we are very proud of you and we do accept that you are growing up. Just know that you will always be our baby.
Happy Birthday Siya and God Bless!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Long Emails for Communication
I had read it somewhere "If you can’t write your idea on the back of my calling card, you don’t have a clear idea". I read this almost 15 years back. But somehow, none of the corporate houses have still got it right! I’m a fairly busy, but who isn’t busy? I try to be responsive but when I get an incredibly long email there is no way I’ll answer quickly. If an email is short, I’ll shoot out a reply as soon as I read it.
So why send long emails?
Here’s a rule: a long email is never necessary. Never.
Is it a rant against people who’ve emailed me? No, it’s a general problem that I’ve seen with email, and I hope this will help people write more effectively.
I really don't need to say why long emails are just not the way to go!
So, here are quick tips on how to write short emails:
1) In my MBA I was taught the 6*6*6 rule! That is 6 slides, 6 sentences, 6 words per sentence! And I was able to achieve that always most of the times for any presentation. Then why not in emails?
2) Figure out the crux of the matter you want to convey and talk about only that!
3) Do not ask too many questions at one go! Ask one thing!
4) Try using links for references.
So why send long emails?
Here’s a rule: a long email is never necessary. Never.
Is it a rant against people who’ve emailed me? No, it’s a general problem that I’ve seen with email, and I hope this will help people write more effectively.
I really don't need to say why long emails are just not the way to go!
So, here are quick tips on how to write short emails:
1) In my MBA I was taught the 6*6*6 rule! That is 6 slides, 6 sentences, 6 words per sentence! And I was able to achieve that always most of the times for any presentation. Then why not in emails?
2) Figure out the crux of the matter you want to convey and talk about only that!
3) Do not ask too many questions at one go! Ask one thing!
4) Try using links for references.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Siya and her stories...
Siya and her stories.....
Background - Her teacher called me up all angry to say the following....
Teacher - 'Siya, please pay a little attention to what I am saying.'
Siya - 'Teacher, I am paying as little attention as I can to what you are saying!!!'
...I really did not know how to react on phone to this! Except apologies and good luck, I had nothing to offer her :-)
Background - Her teacher called me up all angry to say the following....
Teacher - 'Siya, please pay a little attention to what I am saying.'
Siya - 'Teacher, I am paying as little attention as I can to what you are saying!!!'
...I really did not know how to react on phone to this! Except apologies and good luck, I had nothing to offer her :-)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Siya and her stories...
Siya and her stories....
Vipul - Siya, you look very good in your new cut. Yeh kaunsa cut hai?
Siya - HAIR CUT!
:-)
Vipul - Siya, you look very good in your new cut. Yeh kaunsa cut hai?
Siya - HAIR CUT!
:-)
Siya and her Stories...
Siya and her stories...
Purwa - I want to treat you for getting a gold medal. You want an ice-cream!
Siya - Mom, say na you want to treat yourself for my Gold!
Purwa - I want to treat you for getting a gold medal. You want an ice-cream!
Siya - Mom, say na you want to treat yourself for my Gold!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Siya and her stories...
Siya and her stories....
(Last year we had gone to see Flamingos in winter. Yesterday, I was telling Siya why Flamingos stand on one leg)
Purwa - Flamingos stand on one leg because they want their legs to dry, it helps them catch the prey better.
Siya - All wrong mom, they stand on one leg because they need atleast one leg to stand. If t...hey lift both legs, they will fall down
(Last year we had gone to see Flamingos in winter. Yesterday, I was telling Siya why Flamingos stand on one leg)
Purwa - Flamingos stand on one leg because they want their legs to dry, it helps them catch the prey better.
Siya - All wrong mom, they stand on one leg because they need atleast one leg to stand. If t...hey lift both legs, they will fall down
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Siya and her stories...
Siya and her stories....
Purwa - Siya, go to sleep right now!
Siya - No mom, I want to play...
Purwa - I will get a "100 foot" long snake like the anaconda we saw the other day here if you don't sleep
Siya - Mom, snakes don't have feet!
...
:-)
Purwa - Siya, go to sleep right now!
Siya - No mom, I want to play...
Purwa - I will get a "100 foot" long snake like the anaconda we saw the other day here if you don't sleep
Siya - Mom, snakes don't have feet!
...
:-)
Monday, January 31, 2011
Siya and her stories...
Had taken Siya out where she saw a trampoline and the conversation goes something like this....
Siya - Mom, this is that only na - in "Dance India Dance" they danced on it
Purwa - What dance is this?
(Siya starts to jump and fall and tries to dance like DID)
Siya - Mom, now I understand why the dance is called as "HIP-HOP" :-)
Siya - Mom, this is that only na - in "Dance India Dance" they danced on it
Purwa - What dance is this?
(Siya starts to jump and fall and tries to dance like DID)
Siya - Mom, now I understand why the dance is called as "HIP-HOP" :-)
Friday, January 28, 2011
Siya and her stories
On Public Demand......Back with Siya and her stories!
Purwa - "Siya, today on my facebook I read a joke about "Pi"."
Siya - "Was there ice-cream too"
Purwa - "What?"
Siya - "Pie tastes good only with ice-cream"
...
:-)
Purwa - "Siya, today on my facebook I read a joke about "Pi"."
Siya - "Was there ice-cream too"
Purwa - "What?"
Siya - "Pie tastes good only with ice-cream"
...
:-)
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Reeva Sakaria - Gold medalist!
Big surprises come in pretty little small packages! Reeva Sakaria age 13 has proved the same by securing the first position at national level artistic skating category held by RFSI in Vishakapatnam from 6th Jan, 2011 to 10th Jan, 2011.
Maharashtra did rake up a whole lot of medals among which the following were from Mumbai.
1) Reeva Sakaria who bagged a Gold Medal in artistic skating.
2) Miloni Kapadia won a silver medal in figure skating and also secured the 2nd position in artistic skating.
3) Gauravi Shantaram who won a Silver Medal in the free dance on wheels category in the 10-12 age group.
4) Drashta Shelawalla who bagged a Bronze Medal in the figure skating boys category in the 12-14 age group.
5) Gitika Daswani won a Gold Medal in free dance on wheels category and a bronze medal in the figure skating.
The other participants who missed a medal by a small margin but put up stellar performances were Divyangana Sagar, Yasha Patel. All these champions rise from Bombay Roller Skating Association(BRSA) at Fellowship school, August Kranti run by Mr. Pradeep Jhaveri and under the guidance of coach Mrs. Smita Seth and Mr. Jaspal Khurana.
Even after having seasoned skaters in her category Reeva Sakaria was the flag bearer for Maharashtra, with her flawless performance. Hence it is no surprise she bagged rank 1, in the 12-14 girls artistic skating category, hence having raised the bar for the rest of the nation.
Reeva, not only our family but the nation is proud of you!
Maharashtra did rake up a whole lot of medals among which the following were from Mumbai.
1) Reeva Sakaria who bagged a Gold Medal in artistic skating.
2) Miloni Kapadia won a silver medal in figure skating and also secured the 2nd position in artistic skating.
3) Gauravi Shantaram who won a Silver Medal in the free dance on wheels category in the 10-12 age group.
4) Drashta Shelawalla who bagged a Bronze Medal in the figure skating boys category in the 12-14 age group.
5) Gitika Daswani won a Gold Medal in free dance on wheels category and a bronze medal in the figure skating.
The other participants who missed a medal by a small margin but put up stellar performances were Divyangana Sagar, Yasha Patel. All these champions rise from Bombay Roller Skating Association(BRSA) at Fellowship school, August Kranti run by Mr. Pradeep Jhaveri and under the guidance of coach Mrs. Smita Seth and Mr. Jaspal Khurana.
Even after having seasoned skaters in her category Reeva Sakaria was the flag bearer for Maharashtra, with her flawless performance. Hence it is no surprise she bagged rank 1, in the 12-14 girls artistic skating category, hence having raised the bar for the rest of the nation.
Reeva, not only our family but the nation is proud of you!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Increase Innovation, Productivity and Agility in organizations - Part 2
If you see in enterprises today, system of records are set in place but the data and the information remain largely fragmented. While Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications surface critical data, and intranets and collaboration applications enable sharing, the context and engagement that tie both data and collaboration together to support discrete business activities is missing. Businesses that have built their collaborative and transactional infrastructure on these technologies have finally reached a point where "findability" of information is a big issue.
With emergence of mobile, facebook and WEB2.0 concepts, consumers are always in the center of their data streams. Let me give you a example of gmail. Gmail gives me today a unified access of email, instant messaging, video, voice and social networking putting user in center of information consumption and engagement. But enterprises currently put data access and systems in the center. As the result of which employees, partners and suppliers have access to multiple systems that don't share context to communicate and collaborate and to effectively close business loops.
Continued tomorrow....
With emergence of mobile, facebook and WEB2.0 concepts, consumers are always in the center of their data streams. Let me give you a example of gmail. Gmail gives me today a unified access of email, instant messaging, video, voice and social networking putting user in center of information consumption and engagement. But enterprises currently put data access and systems in the center. As the result of which employees, partners and suppliers have access to multiple systems that don't share context to communicate and collaborate and to effectively close business loops.
Continued tomorrow....
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