Excuse me...

In the coming few blogs I am going to share some excerpts from the book 'What do you really want for your children?' by Wayne W. Dyer

I am choosing this below excerpt because it deals with what we are exactly talking about -'How to let the child blossom' and not inhibit...

Typical child and parent behaviours which INHIBIT inner development. 


punishing children for telling the truth, thereby making lying and blaming much more sensible alternatives, in their eyes for the future.

Being a person who uses excuses and blames others. "I never got anywhere in life because of - my spouse, my parents, the economy, or whatever."

Using "Its not my fault" as a regular part of your vocabulary.

Using pills and medicines for all sorts of pains and troubles, and encouraging your children to believe that pills will make them better.
(I especially liked the above point. That's something I too believe in strongly.)

Doing their homework for them because it is too hard for them to tackle.

Putting the major emphasis in life on being right. Encouraging aging children to never admit to being wrong by never ding so yourself.

(What a point! :) When I joined EZ Vidya I had a major block on whether what i am doing is right or wrong. And I would be surprised that the organization believes that 'its ok to be wrong!'. When I go and train teachers, I can see the same block even with the teachers. And they would be surprised that in our sessions we would emphasis that mistakes are part of learning and its ok to be stupid!')


Being concerned with impressing others in your dress, purchases and lifestyles.
(So true. In fact while I was teaching the higher secondary students for couple of years, I have observed that all that they are proud of is the latest gadgets they posses, the 'in thing' vocabulary they use, etc. And as part of my teaching I would stress a lot on 'Its not important as to what you have outside. but its more important as to what you have inside your head')

Demanding that they respect you and parenting out of fear.
(I am loving this... Its really true that most of us think, even unconsciously or subconsciously, that by instilling fear, people would listen to what I say and also that there is a lot of respect that i earn. But a little pause and a sensible thinking is all that is needed to understand that the respect that is earned through fear is not really going to help. In the last training that I had in one school I was having an interesting chat with one of the higher secondary teacher. She was complaining that few children were not learning well in her class. And the only question I asked her was 'Do you smile at those students? Do they like you?' Its not possible that we always scream at someone and expect them to well behave and learn well in our class when we are conveying the message that 'I care a damn about you. Better do what I say.' For any person who wants to be a sensible leader, this is a very key point.)

Making grades more important that knowledge...

Well, i am going to stop here. Let's internalize these points for now. I shall continue with other points in my next blog...

Chalta Hei....

"It is just this small paper.. How does it matter if I don't put it in the dust bin. Let me throw it here itself. Chalta hei..."


"How does it matter if I pay an agent just 200 extra to get me a confirmed ticket during holidays! Chalta hei."


"How does it matter if I don't vote!"

"How does it matter if I jump the signal. any way police is not around. Chalta Hei."


It did  cost us a lot when we allowed the EAST India Company to establish itself and rule us comfortably for over 300 years! And it solely happened because of this Chalta hei attitude!


Even the other day I noticed a hand pop out of a car window and throw a fruit drink can right in the middle of the road!

It doesn't matter much if an uneducated guy does that. At least we have a reason he is 'uneducated'! But why do we as educated adults make these 'chalta hei' mistakes!

Take a look at the list above once again and let's reflect how much of those we have done or we continue to do! Though they seem seemingly small, it really magnifies in many forms at different levels.


It is this chalta hei attitude that cost the nation.. that has cost many lives.. and would come on us heavy if we don't realize its effect right now...

If you are worried about the corruption of CWG, 2G spectrum, Adarsh, etc. be more worried about such seemingly trivial behaviours by the common man which includes us...

it is important we don't fall under the chalta hei attitude and also wake up people around from such a thoughtless attitude...

It is also important that you leave a comment for this post... 'Don't think 'How does it matter if I do not comment!' It does really matter dear Gentlemen and women... :)

What do you do!

"What do you do?"
" I work in an organization that is working in the education sector. We have a curriculum. We train teachers. We come up with lot of interesting and innovative teaching methodologies to make learning engaging and effective."
" Oh so you are a teacher"
" No. No. I kind of teach the teachers."
" Oh"

I have kind of explained what I do in as many ways as possible to my relatives, but ultimately the maximum that they can understand is that I am a personality development guy!

On a casual chat with other colleagues of mine, they too shared the same pangs..

Not to blame anyone, but the field of training, education consulting, etc. is so new in India that there are many people who are yet to recognize it as a respectable way of employment!

My mom still thinks I am kind of doing some social service. :)
Not just in the education field but in many other field, many new and varied courses have come in. Honestly I was not aware that such a stream of work exists when I finished my +2. Even now I am sure many youngsters in our country are not aware of the varied opportunities available in this 21st Century.


And isn't it true that we are actually preparing our students to the future and not just for the present! With the kind of technological advancements happening at lightning speed across the globe we need to surely expect drastically new and different kinds of job profiles that would be awaiting this generation of learners.

Having understood this, it is important as educationists and parents to allow the child to explore and innovate different opportunities.

And so, there is somebody waiting at my door to understand what I do.. Let me try my best now..
                                                                                                            (courtesy: http://www.toothpastefordinner.com)
Let the child blossom to face the future and not just the present!

Wish you a happy green and clean Diwali...

Education is one concept that is most commonly associated with lamp / light.

There is many significance associated with light...
- It symbolizes the beginning of knowledge
- It represents knowledge
- It represents prosperity, and more.


And this Diwali (Deepavali - array of lights) lets ignite that light of knowledge in us and celebrate the death of Ravana(negative tendencies) and the coming back of Rama (Positive tendencies) within each of us.
Let us educate our children behind the significance of this idea behind the festival...

Some tips tomake this Diwali green and clean:

-Make sure you clean up the place after bursting crackers
- Please do not chock the drainage with the cracker covers and boxes...
- Let's celebrate the Diwali to the fullest by bursting crackers till we are exhausted... But let us also adopt few plants and nurture them post diwali to balance the act of pollution.. :)

- Dot stick to Television movies and celebrity interviews... There are many people to listen to them... But only you are there to listen to your family... :)
- festivals are the best time to spread the message of love and sharing... So share your joy and gifts with your near and dear ones...


Wish you all a green and clean Deepavali... have a blasting festival...

You are intelligent...

I was in one of the well known private school a year back for a 2 day training for students on my favourite topic 'Thought blocks'. As I was conducting the session I asked the students to close their eyes and raise their hands IF THEY THINK THEY ARE INTELLIGENT.

There were around 300 kids from various schools between the age group 15 to 18 and I was surprised when only 20 to 30 kids raised their hands!

That means only 20 to 30 kids even think they are intelligent! what about the rest?
This became the point of my study for the rest of the sessions to follow. I raised this same question to many students and even personally to many students and what I observed was stunning!

Majority of the students felt they are not intelligent!

What an irony! Kids go to school to become intelligent and here is a situation or rather a crisis where majority don't even consider themselves as intelligent!


Why this situation! And is it at all important to make every child feel he/she is an intelligent person!

I don't know the answer. But according to my logic may be it is because as parents and teachers, after a certain age, we only point out the mistakes of a child than highlighting the good things that they do!

I have had incidences where few of the parents walk up to me and get overtly worried about their kids. I just ask them to tell few good things about their son/daughter and they take a long pause before saying the good things! They have to think so much for that!


what is more important than making a person feel good, feel intelligent, feel great! Yes... everybody has weaknesses and everybody does mistakes... Lets try to highlight the best and leave the rest...

A child deserves to feel intelligent.. That's the real human rights!

LET THE CHILD BLOSSOM!