Disposing

Often we accumulate so many things at house. I particularly feel that everything will be of some use at some point of time. So I never throw anything out into the dustbin so easily and on many occasions I have found that these petty things which I had stocked have come handy really. So I became even a bigger fan to store the so called utility items which are actually fit to reside only in the dustbin. When my daughter asks for a bird sticker, I take out the ones that I used in school. I am not exaggerating, it is very true that I still have items which are 20 years old. One day myself was so bugged with this big mess that i had created for myself, that I just threw away boxes and boxes of things without even looking what was in it. I feel things which we do not use for more than 6 months will not definitely be useful to us down the lane also. Hence to maintain a clutter free environment at home, disposing the items we do not need is a big work in itself and needs to be done every week. This should also be done weekly just as we do purchases every week. If we follow this mantra, we can have a home really sweet and tidy.

What drives my career

I always wonder what drives me to work. I do not have very big dreams in my professional career. But is it wrong for women who is a wife and mother of two to have professional aspirations. When ever I miss a small chore at work due to the demands of my profession, I am being labeled as selfish. Earlier I also felt that it was selfishness if I were to attend to my profession without attending the regular house hold chores. And I have struggled my maximum to ensure that I do not miss out on anything at home, even if meant taking a career beating. But now I wonder, as and more I sacrifice the more and more is expected out of me.My profession is not taken seriously by anyone except me.Is there something fundamentally wrong. Is the wrong with me or with people around me. Or is this called the mid career crisis? I am yet to decipher this. But now a days I feel more stressed out and more exhausted as expectations have increased from all corners, hubby feels he is into senior position so he cannot attend to anything at home, parents feel they have grown old and expect me to attend to many things, children feel they need more attention from me, my profession expects more from me, but is there somebody around who really feels and knows what I am going thorough...Yes I can hear the god whisper to me in my dreams and say.. go on I am there with you.

Offers and Discounts

I am a big shopaholic. I have a penchant for buying things just because they are cheap even if they are of no immediate use. We just set out during the evenings and invariably I return home with a big purchase. Last time had been to one of the big malls in Vadapalani and I got so many things in reduction.

If we work out and plan properly, these do have a big benefit. I worked out the example of vessel scrubber. It costs 10 rs for a small size one. I got the big size one, 10 in a pack for 75 rs. This can be cut into 2 and can be used. So the entire lot costs only 75 for 20 pieces. Similarly I can quote many examples.

But my hubby was asking, why do you need so many vessel scrubbers now? It is a very good question. These reductions and discounts induces people to buy so many when there is no need for them. We need to preserve it properly. All the more remember that we had bought them and remember the place where we have kept them and at the right time use this instead of buying afresh. Nice way to make people spend.

But still some how I feel that, availing the discounts and planning properly is good for the house. As long as you do not waste money. Hopefully I am not doing that. Hubby dear only should certify.

Does a Manager Need to be Technical

Till what stage in career does one need to be technical. being technical requires lot of dedication, hands-on and constant learning phase.Being technical means while managing the project means that the Project manager does not depend on his technical lead to know the technical details of the project. This will also help the manager to actually understand the actual work that is being carried out by the team. It will be easy for him to rate the performance of his team without being dependent on someone else for this. This will also do away with the mere data and metrics aggregation job of a project manager.
I
 have grown under people who are very technical even after they have reached the top in their careers and they have been my inspiration. But as I said this requires lot of hard work and dedication from self.

But it is good to be technical what ever point you may reach. Because knowing the job that you do is required to sustain at any adverse conditions as well.

Girl Friends

I read some where recently that Men share actions and women share emotions.Having girls friends helps men to share emotions. But having males as friends does not help women to share emotions. Girls having girl friends and talking a lot to them is important to remove the stress and tension from girls.

What probably it means is like women talk about shopping, preparing dinner,raising kids, multitasking between work and home, taking care of elders at home etc. These are more related to what emotions they go through personally when doing these things.

But men talk about sports - cricket,automobiles-bikes and cars, share market, politics etc which is of very little relevance to the personal feelings. Talking about these things of course does have its own use.But does not have any emotional quotient attached to it.

So in a nutshell, it is better to network with more girls and share more girlish ideas to remove stress. It is just a tit-bit of the article I read somewhere, it may be wrong as well as some men really communicate well with girls.

Taking Credit for Others Work

It happened one Sunday evening. My younger daughter brought one beautiful painting and told me that she had painted it. It looked very cute and I admired the work she had done. I took it to my husband who was in the other room and told him that kutty had drawn and painted the beautiful piece I was holding in my hand. Immediately my kutty resisted " She told, Amma I did not do the drawing, it was done by Akka, I only painted it after she had drawn". I was totally bowled over.

She is hardly 3 years old and she does not want to take credit for anything she has not done. I have noted this on many occasions with my kids. They are happy only if I appreciate them for what they have done. They in fact feel sad if I appreciate them or proudly tell others about things which they actually have not done.

But as people grow bigger and in the cut throat competitive world, how many follow this principle. How many want to be credited only for what they have done. How many ever feel that they should not be taking credit for what they have not accomplished actually. Many people shamelessly take the appreciations and compliments for work not done by them. People change as they grow bigger. So mothers ought to ensure that the qualities in children which are so pure need to persist in them as they grow older. But should this quality persist or is it better to develop some bad qualities as per changing times. I am not sure though.

Beating Kids

I used to think and dream that I would be a mom who would never beat my children.But it is not happening. I am very guilty that I beat my elder kid to the maximum extent. She also triggers my anger someway or the other. But after all she is small and I ought to show some maturity.

I really admire my mother, who has not beaten me anytime. I do not remember me getting beaten at any point of time. Was I such a good girl or was it my mother who was so tolerant and good.

I have taken the practice to just not notice the things that my kid does and try to divert my attention when she is upto something. But somehow I land up beating her.

Everyday I pray god that I should not beat my kid that day. Hope someday I achieve that and grow more tolerant. I am sure it is not my kid but it is my mistake. I should become more matured and earn a good name from my children. What ever I may become in life, if I do not get a " Good Mother" Certificate from my kids, I feel I do not pass in the exam-Life.

Admiring Women who have made it to the top

Making to the top is a challenge for anyone. It involves lot of hardwork, dedication and so many other things. But for women there is more to it. They need to struggle against all odds pitted against them. First comes the family hurdle. Somehow if you have a support system, you manage to make it. But again in the work, you need to be really considered serious. Women need to work extra to make others accept her and get confidence in her. Again the people above and below are predominantly males, though I see a constant increase in female numbers as well.

Again as you move higher, the number of females tend to drop out. This will mean, you will have reduced friends, with whom you can share your girly thoughts. And how ever you be friendly with a guy, many things cannot be shared with them.

Again not many males accept the ideas and suggestions given by female counter-parts immediately, unless they have that confidence in you.To create that confidence and to make them believe that you are also serious about work as they are, is a challenge. I will have to blame many females also for this, as they tend to take job as a second priority and openly talk that they will quit anytime.

Anyway with so many hurdles and so many barriers, I have always admired the women who made it to the top. Great going ladies...You are an inspiration to all of us..

Risk Explained

Risk is an event that might occur during the course of a project. This event might have a positive or a negative impact.

So for a risk one should analyze:

1) Probability of the risk occuring.

2) Impact of the risk will cause if it occurs.

3) Frequency of risk occuring.

4) When the risk might happen.

Risk can be categorized in many ways - Business risk, Technical Risk, External Risk, Unforeseen risk etc.Risks need to be identified first. Then the risks need to be anlaysed both qualitatively - Probability and Impact matrix, Risk categorization etc and quantitatively- Monte Carlo analysis, Determining the probability and impact etc.

Then the risk response needs to be planned.

1) Avoiding the occurance of risk

2) Decrease/Increase the probability of occurance/impact of risk - Mitigation.

3) Transfer the risk to someone else.

4) What to do if it occurs - Contigency Plan.

5) what to do if contigency fails/not effective - fallback plan.

Triple Constraints

A project should always be watched out for the three major constraints - Scope, Schedule and Cost. The other three constraints that also need equal attention are - Quality, Risk and Customer satisfaction. Any modification to one of the constraints whould have some or other effect on the other two constraints. If you increase the scope, automatically the schedule and cost will be impacted. So a manager has to watch the triple constraint and balance it through out the life cycle of the project.

Quality Assurance Vs Quality Control

Quality Assurance - Determines if a project follows the proper standards, procedures and processes as required. This is done by means of conducting audits and process analysis. During the audits people determine whether the project is following the process as defined by the quality plan. Process analysis determines whether the process itself is good enough etc.

 

Quality Control - This takes specific metrics and analyses to find whether the project is in control. Determines whether the schedule variance, cost variance etc is within the acceptable limits. Tools like parto diagrams, run charts, control charts, fish bone diagrams are used as quality control tools.

Gross margin Vs Net Margin

Gross margin - A company make a product worth 20Rs. This 20Rs of worth includes all costs spent by the company including the resource cost, raw material cost, infra structure cost etc. Then the company sells the product for 40Rs. So it makes a profit of 20Rs. This 20Rs is the Gross Margin on the product which the company makes.

 

Net Margin - Now the company after getting a 20Rs profit has to pay a tax of 5Rs, repays a loan amount of 5Rs. So the balance 10Rs is the Net Margin on the product for the Company.

EVM Explained

A project manager can track the project and ensure that the project is completed within the given schedule. But unknowingly he might have over run on the cost to achieve the same. So always it is good to track a project based on EVM so that you can ensure that the project cost is also as per the initial estimate only.

 

You estimate a project A can be completed in 10 days by using 5 resources with a cost of 50Rs. This is the planned value of the project. On the 10th day you find that you have not completed 100% of the work, but only 80% of the work. So the estimate to complete 80% of work is 40Rs. So on the 10th day the earned value is 40Rs. In case you have used the same resource loading- the 5 resources and have not spent any extra cost then the actual cost incurred would be 40 Rs. In case you have added more resources in between , then to get the 80% of work done itself you would have incurred an actual cost of say 80 Rs.

 

So now getting the value for keys terms.

PV - Planned value on the 10th day to complete the project = 50Rs.

EV - Earned value on the 10th day when only 80% of work done = 40Rs.

AC - Actual cost incurred by deploying extra resource but still completing only 80% of work = 80Rs.

So EV < PV which means EV-PV is negative so we are behind schedule.

EV< AC EV-AC is negative which means we are overshooting on the cost as well.

SPI = Schedule Performance Index = EV/PV

CPI= Cost Performance Index = EV/AC

SPI > 1 is better

CPI > 1 is better.

Office-Mate

The modern IT generation spends most of the time at office. On an average the time the person spends at home is less than the time he spends at office. Eventually, the people who occupy the personal space of the person most of the time is likely to be the office colleague and not the family member. The people get to share their thoughts, ideas, problems, happiness with the team mates and the office friends because of the time they get to spend at office. Most people do a long commute reach home late and head straight to bed. Wake up the next day and head straight to office. This pattern of life also affects the family life. Here comes a new relationship which can be termed as office-mate who play an important role in any working professional. Is this for good or bad?

Are you a good manager

I feel that at any point of time people work for their managers.People like or dislike the company based on the immediate reporting manager. The company means different things to different people. Its because how they perceive the company is based on the treatment they get from the manager. Though the company may promise 100 things, the final thing that you get is what the manager has to give. If he gives proper work, if he is concerned about our welfare and growth and if he has enough knowledge which we can learn, if we feel he is indeed a manager and a good role model, then we some how start liking the work as well as the company. But in case the manager isnt good and the company has so many other good policies etc, we still feel the company is bad and always have the urge to shift. What will happen if a good manager leaves the company.Bottom of the pyramid attrition affects the manager and the top of the pyramid affects the employee. But does it really have an impact on the employee depends upon the nature of the manager. If you are a good manager, many people will miss you and feel your absence.

What do I want

I should know what I want to life, in order to achieve it. I myself do not know as of today, what is it that is most important to me and what is it that I want to achieve. I work, I have hubby, I have kids to take care of, I have parents to take care of, I have in-laws to take care of. Yes everyone has these things. But right from my younger days, I have been a very ambitious girl. I have dreamt many things and I would like to live my dreams. But now that I am engulfed in so many things, will it be possible to chase my dreams. Though I have the git and mental strength, I am physically very weak and I feel that the things happening around me in recent times, has kept me thinking and worried on what the future holds for me.

I should know my priorities, whether being in a job is enough, or being in the right job is required, or earning a high salary is important, or commanding a good position is critical or finally mental peace and happiness in the family is what all is about. Once I am able to come to a conclusion and strike a balance, things will settle. But that will not happen, unless I give up something. After all one cannot have the cake and eat it too!!!!!!!!!!!

Money- What do children think

I was discussing with my kid about education and how much it is important in ones life. She was quick to answer that without education, no one would get a job and without job no one would get a salary. She asked me, if she studies very well, will she get a job more money. I replied affirmatively and told her the more educated she is, the more respect she will get in society, the more money she will earn and then she can help others who do not have money and then she can do lot of good things to the society.

My kid asked me, does this mean that the people who do not study when young, will enjoy now( childhood) and later(old age) they will get money help from the kids who study all the time. I was taken aback. Do kids think so much. I reasoned out, that kids who do not study when they have all the facilities are considered bad. Kids who are really poor and cannot afford to study, will later get help from kids who study and have money.

Again she questioned me, in that case , if I give them money, will my money not become less. Why should I give money to them, when only I have struggled so hard and earned all the money. I explained to her that the more the money, you give, the more god will give you. Only those who share and do good things can lead a happy life. Though she nodded as though she understood, I still think there is a long way to go to make her understand all this stuff and that it is too early for her....

Skinny Child

My younger daughter is very skinny. She used bubbly and chubby from the time she was born. But now at 3, she has become so skinny. She has stopped taking food. The only thing that she likes is thayir sadam and Idli. She doesnt eat vegetables, fruits or other jung food like cakes, chips, chocolates. I am so scared on how I am going to cultivate the eating habits.She is also adamant and if she doesnt like something, thats it.She doesnt even like to try out. I will keep a separate track on how I have corrected her and brought a good eating habit for her. I will keep you all posted about that as and when it happens. Hope it happens soon..:)

Dance Program @ School

My Kid is participating in her annual day Dance Program. She is doing her pre-kg. But my god, the stress is as though like she is doing some international dramatics show. The teachers are so specific about the dresses, that I got fed up. Myself being a working mother, found it very difficult to cope up with the requirements the school demands. At times it make me think, am I the only one. But to my surprise even the house wives have been struggling. There is one mom, who had gone to places to search for the dress pattern and had spent the whole day shopping and finding nothing as per the teachers specs. This is a very bitter lesson that I learnt and I will be henceforth consious before putting my kids in any such programs.

Power of Mommy

Being a Mom, is like being a leader. You have a kid who looks upto you for everything. This little kid thinks, you will take care of EVERYTHING for it. So you need to live upto its expectation. Not many realize the power of being a Mom. But being a Mom, gives us enough reasons and enough experience to become a great Leader. There are times when you may need to leave your ego and cajole the kid to make it have its food. There are times, when you may need to really put down you feet to stop the tantrums thrown by the kid. There are times when you need to be friendly with the kid and participate in its games. There are times when you will have to be a mom and carry it, kiss it, put it in your lap and make it sleep.

I have seen that many men do not have the patience as well as the time to live through the life of a kid. But Moms learn this art quickly. So when a Mom is able to do all this just like that in her house, do you think it will be difficult for her to manage at work. Not at all..Women are better leaders !!!!

Why Moon was cursed?

Published in Magic Pot

There was a grand feast that was being held in Indraloka. All the gods were invited for the party and everyone gathered there one night to celebrate and enjoy. Lord Ganesh also went to the feast. Ganesha saw the mouth watering dishes and happily started eating. He couldn’t resist his temptation for eating more and quickly gulped down all he could see. He ate so much that his tummy became very full and he was unable to move. When the party was over all the gods went home in their respective Vahanas. Poor Lord Ganesha’s Vahana was rat and he also had eaten so much that he couldn’t move. Still he sat on his Vahana and was moving slowly.

Suddenly, his tummy had become so huge that it burst open. Ganesha quickly took a snake which was going that side and used it to put all the pieces of his tummy together and tied it with the snake. He looked all sides to make sure no one saw the funny incident. But suddenly he heard laughter. Surprised Ganesha looked around but could not see anyone.

The moon called him and told” Ganesh cannot you eat a bit less. See how much you are struggling now?”

 

Now Ganesha became ashamed but became very angry. He immediately cursed the moon and told” You will disappear and will not be visible to any one from today”.

The moon realized her mistake and asked pardon from Ganesha and told he will never laugh at anyone else.

 

So Ganesha pardoned the Moon and told that once every fifteen days she would disappear.

But now you know why Ganesha’s tummy is tied with a snake and why there is no moon day.

Generosity

One day when Lord Krishna was resting in his palace, Duryodhana came to meet him. He was upset that he was not given credit for his deeds and was shadowed by Yudhishtira. Yudhistira was the eldest among the Pandavas. Pandavas were the five brothers - Yudhishtira, Beema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. They were good people who were good and were always honest and true at heart. Duryodhana was the eldest among the Kauravas. Kauravas were the hundred brothers who included Duryodhana and Dushashana. They were bad and always in the evil side and were dishonest and bad at heart.

Duryodhana complained to Lord Krishna and told to him “I am also very generous. I have helped the needy and poor and I am very kind at heart. I have gifted lot of wealth to poor and needy. But always Yudhishtira gets the name. In fact I have done more charity than him. But unfortunately I am not given due credit for my deeds.”

Krishna promised to find a solution to this problem. After two days he invited both Duryodhana and Yudhishtira to his house. He told both of them that he wanted to give a small test to them to find out how generous they were. He told them “Both of you are great Kings and have done lot of charity and helped the poor and needy. Now I want to test the level of your generosity. So I will give you one mountain of gold. And I want you to distribute the gold to people. One who finishes the entire mountain by end of day will be considered the most generous person among the two of you”. Both of them agreed and went to their respective mountains of gold which were built in the opposite directions.

Duryodhana started to put his entire hard work right away. He immediately sprung into action. He took out his axe and started to cut huge pieces of gold and distributed to people. He did not rest for lunch or tea. He distributed the whole day and did not notice the time also. Evening came and lord Krishna came to Duryodhana to study his status. He had a half a mountain of gold left with him.

From there both Krishna and Duryodhana went to look out for Yudhishtira’s status. But to their surprise found that the whole mountain was present as is. Not even a piece of it was given away. Yudhistira became very proud and told Krishna” I told you right. I am more generous. I have given away half the mountain within a day. But see Yudhishtira has the entire mountain as is. Unfortunately I was not getting the due credit”

Krishna smiled and called Yudhishtira and asked “Why is your mountain remaining the same. Didn’t you get the mind to give it to any one? Duryodhana has already given half of it”

Humble Yudhishtira told Krishna, ”Lord, I have finished the task you assigned me, within a few minutes after the assignment itself and I was resting the entire day in this tree’s shadow. I gave the entire mountain of gold to the first person who walked past this way.”

Duryodhana was dumb struck. Duryodhana understood how miserly he had been in cutting the mountain and giving it.

Krishna told to both of them “Generosity comes by birth. The more you have the mind to give the more you will give. You should not compete with anyone on charity. It should be done for the good will of the people and not to boast of personal success. If you are generous continue your good deeds and do not advertise the charity that you have done and claim credit for it.”

Duryodhana realized his mistake and put his head down in shame.

Invitation

One day when Lord Krishna was resting in his palace, both Yudhishtira and Duryodhana came there to invite him for the dinner. Yudhistira was the eldest among the Pandavas. Pandavas were the five brothers - Yudhishtira, Beema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. They were good people who were good and were always honest and true at heart. Duryodhana was the eldest among the Kauravas. Kauravas were the hundred brothers who included Duryodhana and Dushashana. They were bad and always in the evil side and were dishonest and bad at heart. Knowing that the Pandavas were going to invite Krishna for dinner and in order to spoil that plan, Duryodhana also came to Krishna’s house to invite him for dinner on the same day. His intention was not to really honor Krishna and to invite him for dinner by heart.

Krishna being the god could not favor either of them. So he wanted to go to both of their houses for dinner and hence asked the date and time of the dinner feast. To Krishna’s surprise both of them had scheduled for the dinner feast on the same day and at the same time.

Krishna being the lord knew Duryodhana’s bad plan. So the clever Krishna as usual came up with a brilliant idea. He told both of them “I will eat only in the person’s house who gives me a gift that will fill the entire house. If both of you give me such a gift I will eat in both your houses. Since Duryodhana came here first, I will first go to his house. See what gift he has. Eat if his gift fills the whole house, else I will come to Yudishtira’s house to see his gift. If both of you are unable to give such a gift, I will not eat in both of your houses. Now go to your homes and arrange for the gifts. I will come to each of your houses on the scheduled day.” By this Krishna also wanted to test the wisdom of Pandavas and Kauravas.

So both of them went home. Duryodhana called his brothers, uncle Shakuni, Karna and others to discuss about the gift. They all pondered over the idea and were clueless to find such a huge gift, which would occupy the entire house. Many came up with absurd suggestions.

On the other hand Yudhishtira came back home and told his brothers to arrange for the dinner on the specified day and told them that Krishna had agreed to come to their house for dinner. So in the Pandavas house preparations for the feast began.

But the Kauravas were left perplexed with the choice of gift itself. Then finally they all agreed to gift Krishna with “Hay”. They would fill the entire house with “Hay”. Not even a portion would be left out. They all agreed and Duryodhana felt happy and relieved with the choice of gift.

The Dinner day came and as agreed by Lord Krishna, he came to Duryodhana’s house first. He smiled and asked Duryodhana whether he was ready. Duryodhana took him to his house and opened the door. “Hay” started falling out from inside. Duryodhana had dumped all the hay in the world into his house. He told proudly to Krishna “See you wanted to test my wisdom and I have proved that I am intelligent. I have found a gift that will fill the entire house. Not even a peck of place if missed. I have dumped hay fully to cover all the nook and corners of the house. Now you should eat in my house. But since house is full with hay, we will go to guest house for dinner”

Krishna smiled back and replied to Duryodhana” You are right Duryodhana. I wanted to test your wisdom and wanted to eat in the wise man’s house. But now where will I sit and eat. You have made a mess of your house. I promised that I will eat only in your house. I cannot go else where and eat. So I am sorry. Now I am going to Yudhishtira’s House. If you want to check his gift, you can come with me.”

Duryodhana was disappointed. But in his eagerness to know about the Pandavas gift, he went along with Krishna. Both of them were received by the warm Pandavas. They took him into the house. Duryodhana smiled sarcastically and thought the Pandavas had failed to organize for the gift which fills the entire house. But he was fooled, when Youdhistira lighted the lamp and its bright light filled the entire house and made the evening warm and beautiful. They all had the delicious and yummy dinner offered by the Pandavas.

Now Krishna on his way back home told Duryodhana” Wisdom grows in a person, based on the thoughts he has. If you are good and want to do good, and be honest your thoughts are positive and you get bright innovative ideas. But if you are arrogant and think you are great, think evil and do bad things to everyone, you will be deprived of wisdom. Duryodhana, again the Pandavas have proved that they are wiser, more knowledgeable, more intelligent than you. It is because they have positive thoughts and always want to do good for others. They did not call me for dinner to please others or to spoil somebody else’s plan, they really wanted to honor me and serve food to me. That’s why their wish became true and yours didn’t.”

Duryodhana realized his mistake and put his head down in shame.

Habit

There lived two ladies Vani and Rani who were neighbours. Vani made her living by selling fish. Rani made her living by selling flowers. Both of them were very close friends. They would exchange eateries prepared in each others house. They never quarreled with each other. The whole neighborhood envied their friendship.

One day Vani set out of her home to the town to sell fish. Rani stayed back at home and sold flowers from her house verandah itself. Vani returned home earlier, as she had sold all her fishes. When she came home she found that she had forgotten to take her keys and her husband also had not yet returned from work. Hence she had to wait till her husband came back. So she went to Rani’s house. As Vani was very tired due to the long distance she had to cover in the hot sun, to sell fishes, she wanted to lie down and rest.

Rani took her to a room, which was stacked with flowers in one side. Vani kept her empty fish basket in the Verandah and went to sleep in the flower room. After a few minutes both Vani and Rani bumped on each other as they rushed in the opposite directions as both of them felt dizzy. The reason, Vani who is accustomed to fish smell, now had to sleep in the flower room. The fragrance of flowers though it appeals everyone, made Vani dizzy. On the other hand Rani selling flowers in the Verandah, though had huge bunches of flowers to sell, was only drawn by the smell of the empty fish basket and hence felt dizzy.

So children, what we do is only determined by what we practice and get accustomed to. That is why it is very important that we cultivate very good habits in the young age itself. The habit we develop will stay with us for ever and it becomes very difficult to change the habit. So cultivate good habits like brushing your teeth before you go to bed, getting up early, arranging your books in the bag as per time table in the previous night itself, drinking enough water etc regularly, so that you don’t become dizzy later in your life.

No Exams

I feel exam is a very important part in school life. It actually tests how much we have understood what has been taught to us. It is a good parameter by which parents can also understand where their child stands in the class. It also helps the child to understand the self.
Without an examination system, how do we measure the progress of the child? How do we know whether the child has assimilated what has been taught. Though there are some points like the stress factor that is being attached to the exam and the too much of importance the marks has been give, but it is not a thing which needs to be altogether removed and abolished.
The decision makers need to think twice before they abolish a system which has been practiced for so many years and it is not without a valid reason that such systems where set up and practiced generations after generations. Now we question the policies setup by elders. We can sure remove anything bad and anything which is a extra unwanted weight from the system and trip it as per the current requirements.

First Picnic

My daughter wanted to go to the picnic trip arranged in her school. It meant she had to be out of house from morning 8 to evening 4.PM and be on her own. She had to travel alone in her school bus. Not alone exactly, but I have never seen my daughter do that. I drop her at school, pick her up. So this picnic thing came as a big thing which I had to handle.

I for myself have never gone for a picnic when I was in standard 1. My parents never allowed me and I didnt question their authority.

When my daughter asked me for permission, it was not a permission, she gave me a piece of paper and asked me to sign it and return back so that she could give it in school. It was a consent letter to let her participate in picnic. I told her she was not allowed to go. Immediately, she pondered me with a thousand questions. She asked the reason for not allowing. She was firm she wanted to go and did not eat for the next 2 days.

Somehow she took my consent and the D day also came. She was all excited. She never slept the night and was waking me up in midnight. Next day morning she woke me up at 4.00 AM. I told her to sleep and got up as usual.

Prepared Maggi Noddles with lot of veggies. Then packed her bag with all jung food- Chips, Kurkure, Wafers, Juice and then Maggi Noodles. Water of course. Then she wanted a blanket to sit down. All set and ready to go. But I was totally tensed and the whole thing looked like a nightmare to me. I had hundred fears, whether she will stand up while the bus is going, whether whe will put her hands out of the bus, if she will get herself locked in the zoo's toilet, if she would miss her teacher and friends, if she will forget the house address, phone number etc etc..

I left her in the school, gave her all the instructions and she was bundle of joy and was cool and composed. I came to office after dropping her at school. But my mind was with her. What she will be doing now, what she will be doing now, what she will be doing now.

I was not able to concentrate on anything, till my father called me back at 4.00 and told that he has picked my daughter up from school.. What a feeling it was. I was totally relieved and spoke with her.. She went on and on in the phone about the white tiger, the monkey, the veg briyani her friend gave her, the shells she had collected from the sand, the pink flower which she got for her sister etc. I enjoyed the way she told everything and felt happy that I had given her this joy and learnt a new lesson that " KIDS can of course do things on their own"