NURTURING THE FUTURE

I happen to go to a school in Thiruvananthapuram, a government school. Yes when we hear of government school there is a typical image that pops up in our minds as it did in mine, as most of the ones i have been to had perfectly fit in to our expectations, old with cracked roof and rusty windows. But this school i went to took me by surprise, it was as if i stepped into nothing less than a high tech college lab room. The classroom had new tiled floor, freshly painted walls and a decorated wall with smart board attached to it and a white board, a flower vase adorned by the students and big ticking clock on the wall. Instead of the cracked benches and desks that one might expect from a school, it had individual cushioned chairs for students with writing pad attached to it. I was so surprised to see such a pleasant classroom designed for students of 7th grade, and from the way the floor and the new class shined it was clear how responsibly the students and the staff were looking after the infrastructure. 

I felt a surge of happiness upon this sight, a sense of pride grew in me to see such development in my country, which had been washed away from the news of the death of a student from a snakebite in the classroom not too long ago, and discriminating teachers aiding in the assault of her students all these kind of take away the faith in the current system. But all these shall not hide the little progress budding from nooks and corner as i saw in this school.

Infrastructural hindrance is one of the many things that keep students away from school, for parents who could only afford to send their kids to government institutions, knowing their children are safe, is a push for them to send them, and so is better infra helpful in attracting the students to school, working fans and coolers in the scorching heat increases the student's productivity and the desire to be in school. And such progresses also helps in giving a leap to female education, safe and better sanitation conditions in schools is a must to make the female students safe ad welcome in schools, as unhygienic conditions directly affects their health and in turn their attendance and learning and empowerment. As goes an adage

" when you educate a man you educate a man , but when you educate a woman you educate a society"

Female education is of utmost importance as, to see a society progress it must be steered by women , the first teachers of the children as their mother and from there begins the change. An educated women is an informed woman, an empowered woman who knows her rights and won't fall victim to exploitation and could stand for herself. by educating a girl and making her stand on her own to feet is the first and foremost step to a developed country. As an aware woman is less likely to fall prey into child marriage and might stop her children to fall into such practices, and as she is health conscious and aware of better reproductive practices and can effectively do family planning and eat healthily and provide the same for her children and there by reducing maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate. Such babies would be sent to school by their educated mothers and will be the bright future of the nation. 

Thus every little advance in the betterment of education sector is a huge leap to a brighter future of the nation. one thing to be considered in this development is the inclusiveness part. as one thing that i noticed in the school was the chairs with writing pads fitted on the right side of it, this makes it really hard for the children who are left handers. And also a thought must be given about the physically disabled students that they are not left out when the world runs forward. In hopes of seeing  a well planned, built and quality education blooming in the near future.

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THE ART OF FORGIVING

There is beauty in art but also there's pain, and there is no art without a story. And in all that sense forgiving seems like an art too. It requires a story , hurt, pain flooding with it, disrupting the peace of mind with anguish, frustration and helplessness. And that is how art originates, when actions and words fall short of expressing you inner wound it bleeds out beautifully in red as art. The most beautiful poem, painting, music all are bled from an artist, relieving him of the pain. 

                   

Everyone has been hurt in their lifetime and its inevitable in a life of a person who has loved ones, because loving someone is like giving them the sword while you remove the armor. It is a huge risk in war tactics and stupidity, but in life that vulnerability is kind of inevitable to live as a human that is to love and being loved. Because when we love our family or friends or partner, we arm them with the deadliest weapons, giving them the choice to use it or not. 

yet will there be anyone not tempted 

to scar when they hold the weapon

will there be anyone not tempted 

to pluck a flower for it's beauty

even if it ends that bloom.

So hurt is inevitable, and the scar left is deeper, as deep the bond with the one who gives it.

We all feel frustrated with  the peak of emotions of anger, betrayal and retaliation, and we build ourselves a wall shutting everyone out protecting our fragile heart, but with time even without us knowing the wall built by us starts to grow thorns on its own, starting to hurt like ones we were poked.

That is what happens when we protect the rose with thorns, hoping to be protected but hurting others in the process, and slowly we too become the ones, we hated before, and there begins a vicious cycle of retaliation  by sharpening the poison coated words, in turn of each arrow aimed at us. 

And in no time, these thorns grow into a prison from where, the rose we intended to protect becomes too dark and hidden in the darkness created by the thorny walls. 

Hence we must practice the art of forgiving, it gives us as much solace as an art to its artist. Its beauty gives pleasure to the viewer but much more to the artist. Likewise forgiving is an act to get peace of mind and breaking away the thorny walls to let the sunshine in so the beautiful rose you once intended to protect could grow and not wither.

Art is perfected with various strokes, and so is the art of forgiving, it is the hardest to do yet the one that set your mind at ease the most. Acting the same way as the one who did you wrong makes you no different from them, as an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Each wound is a lesson a scar that guides you , and forgiving is the step in that path without which people are found often stuck in certain pockets of roads of their life never finding the courage to take the steps and go further.

Lets all let our life flow gently and sometimes turbulently as a river flows, for binding a river makes it dry and die, so let's learn the art of forgiving and let the river flow...

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When it's just too much..

Sometimes everything would feel too overwhelming, too much to process and totally out of control . well i guess that's how life is, right? It's reigns can't always be in our hands, actually to be exact it was never in our hands. we think of ourselves to be shouldering too many responsibilities, expectations of self and our loved ones, at some point we feel the whole world is pressing you down with tasks and roles it has imposed on you without you ever asking for them. 

Its too much, right? how could those tiny shoulders bear the weight of entire world, doesn't that seem impossible. yes it is impossible. and guess what? we can relax now, for a bit, for ourselves. take off that humungous burden off your shoulders, and pause for a while. close your eyes and breathe in the feeling of lightness. All of the burden that once crushed you seem to have dissipated slowly. everything is calm and the feeling of light headedness is somewhat ecstatic. and after resting a while list it down, the pressuring tasks to which you were about to succumb. you can take baby steps to handle them finish them off one by one. take it slow at your own pace, give some space for the inner soul to relax think and be more productive. Don't let other's expectations of you guide you to a burdensome future where your soul gets trapped, but set some realistic expectations for yourself, for who knows you better than yourself?

when everything settles let your thoughts fly freely taking small steps to your goal, slow and steady steps and you will definitely reach where you ought be and who knows that destination may be far better than what anyone expected from you. and you can have that peace of mind. so relax take it slowly... you can do it. because if you can't who can?

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SHOELACES

 Beginnings are always hard, so are new places be it school ,classes or job or a trip for that matter. We always look for comfort and familiarity but that isn't life. Life takes us to new roads and places and we must go through all. But there is something that could make any ride any beginning easier and comfortable, that is a friend. Even when we started schooling, it were the friends that made us go there everyday. Meeting them playing, chatting, laughing with them made our lives joyful and complete. If it weren't for friends many of us won't have completed schooling happily. 

Likewise being in a new environment we always feel alienated and like a fish out of water till we make that one friend who makes everything easier. Friends bring the feeling of belonging, a feeling of being wanted and necessary. Often we come in a group of people we might mistake them for friends, but sadly they might not be what we expect them to be. This point of realization hits from a small act like tying of shoelaces. 

I happened to be one of those people who thought that the people we laugh with, walk with, as a group are friends, I realised this once on a path when my shoelaces got undone and I stopped to tie them and realised no one waited for me, they all moved on busy in their chatter and laughs and I realised, I had no friends in that particular place that particular group and that was definitely a saddening thought. Its sad when we have to run to reach others, to know we aren't that necessary or wanted for them, they might just brush it off when they see us missing from the herd by saying, oh that person didn't come and that would be it. And i accepted that fact and thought may be that is fine as long as am not alone it's ok, but it's not. and i realised this through a couple of my true friends. since this experience i never expected anyone to wait for me or to feel wanted. but when i went out with these friends of mine, i stopped to tie my shoelaces and they stopped walking, and waited by my side till i was done, this small act of a couple of minutes of waiting had an immense affect on my heart. i felt that warmth of happiness engulfing my mind, and i realised, now these are THE friends , the real ones. 

They make us feel wanted, loved, needed without having to try, it's so natural wit them. everyone needs to feel wanted and vital atleast by someone be it our friends or family that makes a huge difference, because someone cares and that someone matters the most. and being that someone for others is a huge matter too, that because of us someone's day could be cheerful, because of our small act of understanding, noticing could bring immense warmth to someone whose heart has been frozen by the coldness of the world and the hatred and not caring attitude which happens  to be some kind of new "cool" among some immatures. becasue we are humans and we function as a society everyone matters and everyone should feel wanted and that is our collective responsibilty to be kind and compassionate to our fellow people, a small act of kindness a little step taken to a new friendship can bring millions of smiles and love into the world. 

among the friends the little things like waiting for one of the friends to finish their food, waiting till they tie their shoes so that they won't fall back alone, saving seat for them, asking for their opinion, all these little things add up to be a world filled with love and compassion . let these little things be the new " cool". as kindness and love never go out of style and friendship matters the world. and am truly thankful to have found my friends who lit up my world, my chingoos.

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Birds in the monsoon wind

 Dear friends,

Monsoon winds are chilly and refreshing after a scorching summer, definitely. But have you noticed the birds in those winds. They are headed to their destination when the chilly breeze blows and opposes them on their way . But that doesn't make them change their directions or their destination. They fly harder against the winds, when the strong air bounces them back in the opposite

direction they retreat and come back again in more force. Yet the never deviated or decided to change the path in the wake of an adversity. 

Nature has this beautiful example of perseverance, yet how come we drastically change our path,dreams, destination and our life in the wake of an adversity. Why can't most of us strive harder through the opposing currents to reach where we ought to be. When the strong wind struck the bird it came back with immense wing power, wouldn't it be likely that the adversities we face are only a prerequisite to strengthen our wings so that we can fly much more higher and faster. Just look up at the sky and the winged epitomes of strong will and perseverance, what if a flying little bird change our decisions and our ways.

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AT THE CROSSROAD

 

Everyone at some point in their lives get to this phase where you are bombarded with the options and are forced to choose one, and those choices seem to have the burden of your lives. You know by choosing something you are going to change your life forever, but you wonder if that change will get you happiness in life or not. What should someone do when forced to choose between what your heart desires and something that will give a stability and security but with the chances of unhappiness or not. We never want to be faced by such choices, yet as we grow up we are posed with such crossroads where there is no other option that taking the left or right. We can sleep over it, try to ignore but not for long since the life must go on and one must choose.

At this point we question our mind ask our heart and dwell on our thoughts and stress our heads out about what to choose. And naturally the world has got opinions but never the same causing our decisions to be in such a dilemma.  Our analytic brain along with the world directs you to the safer choice but what if your heart keeps pulling you away, screeching to be taken to the other side. But the other side is foggy and uncertain, it could be a wonderland awaiting behind the misty curtains or a dark alley leading to a dead end, and being the powerless humans we think of every possibility for it to be a dead end, for which we can't be blamed as life definitely has led us to dead ends before. But here we are now at the road of turns, I am reminded of these words by someone,

" When you notice that you're having negative thoughts about how all of this is going to pan out, you need to remind yourself that you are nor a very good fortune teller."

 

Yes we don't know what awaits us do we? So why not relax, breathe and be calm and hear the voice of our heart that had been silenced for years, its meek sound earning to be heard, don’t let the world silence down your heart, your inner voice. And choose that misty road of possibilities and run towards it with all you have got, give it your all and take off the cliff, it's definitely going to be the magical wonderland. Believe and it's sure gonna be.

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OWNING A BOOK

 I am one of the millions who loves to read, yet i never owned any notable books other than the essential ones that comes under our educational curriculum, so my thirst for books are quenched by the public library, the abode of stories, peaks of imagination, trenches of mystery. The occasional visits to the library are some of my most cherished moments, to enter the beautiful sunlit room decorated by innumerable books, filled with the fresh and dusty book fragrance, that fills my senses to an indescribable fulfillment. Just being in the library, walking through it's majestic aisles which holds the mightier books and it's wholesome power is a unique experience in itself. Gracing my fingers over the attractive book covers which allures us to read it and the old ones which radiates a certain  calm and a feeling of being in the presence of a door to the treasures. But the limit of two books makes me turn down the allure of the charismatic treasures. Monthly visit to the library is all in all never less than an amusement trip. 

Because of certain reasons. I happened to be away from my monthly abode of amusement and the withdrawal symptoms of being away from the treasure pages made me go to the online shopping sites and led to an impulsive shopping of my first book ordered by myself for myself. And I got the book today and the excitement of unwrapping the cover to seeing and holding my new book was an exceptional feeling. The feeling of owning a book is definitely euphoric, holding the soft lustrous cover of the new book, flowering rainbows of vibrant colors and the fragrance of fresh news pages filled my heart and soul. One should definitely own a book and feel  the beautiful experience of owing a treasure box for the first time , it is indeed fantabulous.

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SMILING TO A STRANGER

When we were born all and everything was strange and new to us, except the warmth of our mother. From being a newcomer to someone with friends and lots of acquaintances we have come a long way.  But hasn't something changed over the time. I was walking on the road looking around taking in all the sights and a person comes across me walking, my usual instinct is to ignore or look straight and that made me realize how much we have changed from the all smiley lovable kid who would smile at everyone made friends with even the crows on road. From the kid who the locality knew to an adult cocooned in their own bubble of comfort with a few friends and acquaintances what is it that we lost over the time. The big heart of the kid who made a lot of friends, did we lose the space in our heart to accommodate new faces and relations? 

Or was it the innocence of our little heart that was lost  which could see a friend in all. Or where we scarred much in life to lose belief in the good people, the humanity. If not why don't we break the bubble of familiarity and comfort we have built around us and step out to the welcoming world. 

And thus i smiled to the person coming across me , which was returned gracefully by the person. It was just a smile, but it felt like something thawed inside my heart engulfing it with a familiar warmth, the warmth we had as kids. 

so why not decide to smile at someone today and have a great day with the warmth of goodness.

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 Good day my friends,

We rise with the dawn hustling and bustling through our busy schedules, planning and contemplating our decisions, running, getting tired, yet again running on the burst of caffeine, doing works, arguing, lecturing.... and then the sun goes down. dawn to dusk we are unaware of the life flowing out of our fist like sand from the evening beach. and by the time we pause years would have gone by, our mind and body completely drained out. so...

let's pause.

look around, take a deep breath, slow down a minute, hold on to that life, our surroundings, the little things and pause.

There is music in the dawn red sky, but there is also music in the hustling life, listen to it mute the outside rush and merge in it, the music of life. Let's gaze upon the beautiful vast blue blanket of sky once in  a while, listen to the chirping of swallows and willows, let the fragrance of a blooming flower come on to us, try to take in the calming nature's dose once in a while and then you realize, it is life and we are taking in parts of it and never letting it slide. you are doing a great job going on, try rewarding your soul by letting it calm down and immerse in the tranquil of sky.

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