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DEVELOPING TOLERANCE

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“The highest result of education is tolerance.” Hellen Keller My reflections for this month is based on my observations of the society where so called highly educated people openly exhibit insensitivity and intolerance towards their own neighbors and fellow human beings. Whatsapp chats of housing society groups will give one the best example of human behaviour and intolerance. On observing them I was reminded of an incident which I would like to share with you all. In a special athletics event, all the contestants lined up at the starting point. It was a special race as its contestants were the physically and mentally challenged. At the blow of the whistle all the contestants began running, all except one boy who stumbled twice and fell. When he fell the third time he began to cry, hearing which all the other 8 participants who had proceeded ahead stopped and came back to lift this boy and gently encourage him to run with them. All 9 contestants linked hands and together reached ...
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PERFECT MANAGEMENT OF CONFLICTING SOULS……the essence of life.

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Debates whether in the classroom or on popular TV shows have always been my favourite. The war of words by the participants and the anchor is a wonderful lesson in human behavior and communication. If we look around we would find each one of us constantly exhibiting a similar behavior with ourselves and with others. I often wonder how the world would be if people did not have arguments, difference of opinions or ego clashes with each other. It indeed would be a dull and insipid world with silence all around. This silence will not result in peace but will result in turmoil in individuals and between individuals. No human being would like to live in such a world. So, where do we enjoy living??? We human beings enjoy a world of communication and clashes. We cherish the peace that comes after a storm within our own selves or with people with whom we are interacting. In ancient times as depicted in the different mythologies of the world, the major conflict was to establish good over evi...
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Lessons on Diversity & Inclusion

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As a child Tuesday afternoons in my Kolkatta home was fascinating for me, because the local transgender group would visit our locality and would sing songs and attract everyone's attention. I would be very curious about them and would watch them through our window and would have many questions about their life but never asked anyone about the same. After two decades, one afternoon in Surat the doorbell rang and there was lot of noise in the corridor. I was little scared but opened the door and was astonished to see my neighbours happily chatting with the transgender group who had come to take Diwali gifts and money from the entire building. Since, I was pregnant with my first child, they showered extra blessings on me and left saying they would come when the baby will be home. After they left, I learnt one of the best lessons of life from my neighbours who said these people were very good and come only to bless us and there is absolutely nothing to fear about them. Truly, that afte...
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City Is Getting Its Life Back

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I set the alarm for 5.30 am. But, my eyes opened at 5.20 am. With a prayer started an exciting day. Our bags were packed, clothes kept ready and with the ticking of the clock excitement was building up. The morning chores were done, my daughter woke up with the same excitement as me and got ready within minutes.  No, we did not get ready for a mother daughter trip. We were ready to resume school after 18 months. Amidst the peak of the pandemic we moved cities and started new school in online mode. So, the last time my daughter went to school she was a pre teen but now as a teenager she had her own reasons to be excited. As a mother I felt like my daughter was getting ready for pre school. Both of us were experiencing the same emotions of welcoming something new with a sense of familiarity. We have got accustomed to the new city as much as possible,  but we are completely unaware about how the school classrooms are and how the classmates will be offline. As parents we decided t...
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Bringing back the glory of Tagore's Educational Philosophy

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This is that time of the year when parents and students are in a crucial decision making phase regarding admission into college or higher secondary school. What is more important, the infrastructure and name of the college or the subjects the student will study in the next 3 years? My suggestion always is the freedom to choose subjects of interest and curiosity over the name and fame of the college. An ordinary college offering subjects of interest and where one can get admission easily takes away the stress of admission. Stressfree admission process helps the student look forward to college life with positivity and cultivates in self the required enthusiasm to study or research topics close to their heart. A fruitful college life which builds a research mindset and fosters the spirit of interaction, lays a strong foundation for the future. Rabindranath Tagore's short story,  Parrot's training is an eye opener on the bondage that education system as accepted by most people crea...
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Captured Memories

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"When memory fails, photographs remember."  This was written behind one of the photographs given to me by a friend decades ago. I have lost touch with her but she lives in my memory through her photograph. The last few weeks in my maternal family whatsapp group we all have been on a nostalgic trip as my mama has been sharing treasured pics from old family albums and some of us would also add from our own albums. For every picture at least one of us would have a story to share and the conversation would continue. Coincidentally, few of my friends too shared some old pictures from the days of our youth and childhood. Old photographs are like Pandora box ; stories, memories, emotions are all stored in it. This is an activity which no family ever gets bored of. The old photographs do not have the resolution like that of today's pictures, but it has very close to heart memories which is irreplaceable.  Indeed, today what more can we do but recall beautiful memories preserved i...
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Co-operative Housing Society

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My daughter had to fill in a form yesterday and asked me what address she should write in the permanent address column. Her brother immediately replied,"I doubt we will ever be able to fill that column, just write same as above." Well, when life has no permanency, how does a permanent address matter?? Our constant moving between cities and living in different housing societies has had more advantages for all of us than just not having a permanent address. We have made some lifelong friends, have had some unforgettable experiences of festival celebrations in a grand way, participating in community programmes and most importantly I have enjoyed observing and understanding people through their whatsapp chat inputs. Being the more social between my spouse and me, I have been the one who has always been a member of the housing society whatsapp group.....a silent non - participant observer. But, believe me being part of the group has given me my dose of daily entertainment. Honestl...
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Aji Sunte Ho......

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Arjun is one of my favourite characters from the Mahabharatha and one trait of his which I really appreciate and have tried to practice is his ability to listen. It is believed that he could shoot his arrows in darkness due to his fantastic listening ability. Wow....wish everyone is able to develop and practice this skill. We certainly can reduce the noise pollution in the country. There are numerous workshops charging exorbitant fees to develop public speaking skills in people, but sadly there are insufficient such workshops to develop a very important trait LISTENING. The art of listening is different from hearing. The problem is most of us listen only to respond, to judge or only to the words spoken. Selective listening is another issue for misunderstanding and poor communication. Conflicts are inevitable when such listening is practiced. One must listen to understand what style of listening the other person has prepared himself for. The following examples will make it clear... ...
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