GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP BEGINS AT HOME

Borders, barriers, walls have come down to allow a degree of interconnection between nations and cultures. And yet there are many more walls that are being built or that people try to build -- physical walls, political walls, mental walls. We boast of being global citizens. In a word, the global citizenship mostly refers to the idea and value. Love and harmony, co-operation and mutual support are the basic ingredients here, as in a family.

Good morning!

If we go deeper into analyzing our roots we end up being related to each other. Mahabharata is a family story telling how kings fought with relatives, neighbours and friends for a kingdom. A throne. Prince Duryodhana instantly made Karna the king of Anga so that he can be eligible to compete with Arjuna at the archery test. But when he was asked to part with five small villages as their share to Pandavas, he hesitated. Duryodhana hated Pandavas and that was the reason he did not give them their share. Surprisingly may be if Karna had asked him he might have given the entire kingdom. For having a thought of brotherhood it does not matter if we are blood related or connected genetically. What matters most is our love for others. 

Worry, despair and frustration haunt man’s personal life. His family life, once founded upon the bonds of sacrifice and temperance, love and co-operation, is now centered upon self-seeking rather than altruism, money rather than morality and cynicism rather than trust. Peace, faith and harmony are conspicuous by their absence in social life. It is said that the present age is the age of “communications”. The question arises if we are effectively and rightly connected then why so much of hatred, anguish, disharmony, violence, dissatisfaction, anarchy. We can understand diversity – geographical, climatic, cultural, political, and religious and so on. Cannot we attain unity among various diversities? Is there any way to bring man closer to man?

The family is both the fundamental unit of society as well as the root of culture. It is a perpetual source of encouragement, advocacy, assurance, and emotional refueling that empowers a child to venture with confidence into the greater world and to become all that he can be.

It is apt to observe that for constructing a good and sustaining society, family is the basic unit which needs to be given attention. If family values are supportive and sustaining, they will surely be accepted or at least be considered by those who experience the conduct based on such values. A family value can add both negatively as well as positively to a society. If the family values are oppressive, driven by self-centeredness and disregard for others, they will add to the unrest in the society as a whole because those who experience conduct based on such values will feel subdued, and thus chaos may follow.

Global citizenship lies in practicing values which is true at home and in turn would reflect in the society as well. This would make us truly global citizens. At home to make a happy family I think certain family values are to be practiced. They are:

Belonging, Flexibility, Respect, Honesty, Forgiveness, Generosity, Communication, responsibility and tradition are the most important values that one should follow at home. Global citizenship relates to the principle of universality. i.e.  Applying the same standards to yourself as you do to others. It's a moral truism that should apply to all relationships, from personal to international. If you apply the values of Belonging, Flexibility, Respect, Honesty, Forgiveness, Generosity, Communication, responsibility and tradition on others around, beginning at home, all of us would be global citizens.

If there is love, there is hope to have real families, real brotherhood, real equanimity, real peace. If the love within your mind is lost... no matter how much material progress is made, only suffering and confusion will ensue. The XIV Dalai Lama says”When you love a member of your family or a compatriot, let it be with a ray of the Infinite Love! Love that person, whether he is of your family or of another. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is a Sanskrit phrase  that means that the whole world is one single family. Everyone has their own worldview which is quite often different from person to person. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam means respecting this difference. Do it at home. Respect the difference between family members, husband-wife, brother-sister, uncle-aunt. Understand and appreciate that each other’s uniqueness and contribution towards your own growth. This attitude will automatically be translated into every person’s psyche in becoming a susscessful global citizen.

interschool quiz competition 2013

ISA Magical Experience

“There are two kinds of teachers: the kind that fill you with so much quail shot that you can't move, and the kind that just gives you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies.” ― Robert Frost
 

The ISA programme gave the much needed prod that I needed to come out of my complacency and routine classroom teaching.

"In order to be a teacher you've got to be a student first”  ― Gary L. Francione

Every teacher knows this and as teachers we do appreciate the fact that we learn every moment of our life. But the learning that one gets from ISA programme is globally relevant. This learning gives a teacher global insight, tolerance, empathy, thinking out of the box, greater awareness of the wide world, less stereotypical views about others. A caring, co-operative and open outlook on the classroom experience, and core concerns- finding out about all the cultures of other countries are what I gained as a teacher involved in the ISA programme.ISA has opened the floodgates of global perspective to the way of approaching everything we teach and how we teach it. It broadens horizons and encourages exploration of all subjects from a global perspective. It contributes to the whole curriculum and enhances our understanding of the world.

My life can now be divided into two eras. Before ISA and After ISA. I have been a teacher for the past two decades and consider myself to be a good teacher, popular among students.

After ISA, I have got another dimension added to my persona. I am no longer just a three dimensional personality, teaching and enjoying it passionately. The fourth dimension is given to me by my experience as an ISA team member. The changes I have acquired are positive and my perspective has become global.

Teaching is an art – but effective teaching consists of a set of skills 
that can be acquired, improved and extended. The set of skills provided by ISA opened new vistas and widened horizon. Internet is no longer just social networking sites and cursory research portal. It is now a magical well with never ending wealth of global experiences. ISA has shown me what I can do with the internet. I am now able to guide my students into putting their IT skills beyond social networking.

Before ISA I considered myself computer savvy. After ISA, the computer department of the school acknowledges my enhanced computer knowledge and the new ways that I can use IT skills to improve teaching learning experience. Being one step ahead of the present generation of tech savvy students is the skill I have improved upon and extended.

International exposure with our partner school across the globe has given me insight that teachers and students are more or less the same. Students thirst for knowledge and when given it is given to them in new exciting forms, they are ready to lap it all up. Teachers are ready to experiment and add on to their vast experience and only wait for the opportunities. When opportunities knock, like ISA, the globe becomes a small place which could be held in the palm of one’s hands. One can reach  any corner of the world – to use a very popular cliché – with the click of a button. The whole world is waiting to be explored.

ISA can only be appreciated with experience. Without experiencing what gateways it opens up in our minds, one cannot truly appreciate its value.

While appreciating the ISA experience as an exceptional one, I acknowledge that all things positive has come out of this experience. As a part of the ISA team, I take this opportunity to thank the ISA co-ordinator, and my ISA team mates.

Dharamshala - a memorable trip : Part I

a beautiful view

A Trip to Dharamshala with students - it was indeed an enjoyable one. Dharamshala is in Himachal Pradesh, a mini Tibet with abundance of Tibetan monks. with lot of greenery, Dharamshala has a pleasant weather with frequent showers. Take an umbrella if you do not want to get drenched or better still, one can purhsase umbrellas of different sizes and hues to suit your style and pocket.

Students who came along made the trip memorable. one becomes young with the exuberant energy of the students. Lovely girls and gallant boys with only one motto - enjoy and have fun - that is what we had in the trip.

This is just a teaser. More about the trip in my next post. See ya...

energy and colour captured in a lens

A TEACHER'S MUSINGS: IMPORTANCE OF LEGIBLE HANDWRITING

A TEACHER'S MUSINGS: IMPORTANCE OF LEGIBLE HANDWRITING: Jotting down a shopping list, writing a birthday card, taking down a phone message, completing a form at the bank ….handwriting i...

tips on GOOD English Exam Answer

 

IMPORTANCE OF LEGIBLE HANDWRITING

Jotting down a shopping list, writing a birthday card, taking down a phone message, completing a form at the bank ….handwriting is part of our daily lives. Remember when neat, legible writing was a prized skill? In a time before the digital age, when employees were valued for flowing script? Now employees can go weeks without scribbling anything more than a number on a Post-it note. But that doesn't mean your scrawl doesn't matter anymore - writing analysis is an increasingly popular way to screen job applicants. In recent years, modern technology has dramatically changed the way we communicate through writing. However, despite the increased use of computers for writing, the skill of handwriting remains important in education, employment and in everyday life. A common opinion is that with the increasing role computers play in our society; handwriting is no longer an important skill to learn at an early age.  Unfortunately this opinion is misguided. 

So a neat handwriting will enhance your personality, improve marks in examinations; will be of great help in seeking jobs and getting ahead in jobs.

So practice handwriting. A legible and neat presentation of examination script would go a long way in improving marks.

Getting a job also needs a legible and neat handwriting. Graphologists are a regular feature in the job market now-a-days. They are there to analyse your handwriting and advice employers about the psychology of the job seeker. Don’t be complacent about your writing. It will make or break you.

My sincere advice is the first step for bettering your marks standing is a neat answer script.

An example of a legible handwriting

LOST SPRING by ANEES JUNG - FIRST PART OF THE CHAPTER

THE LOST SPRING by ANEES JUNG

Spring is the Season of optimism and hope. Spring is the metaphor of childhood stage in a person’s life. From birth till late childhood, life for every child is almost the beginning of a bright and a shiny future. Childhood is featured by innocence, physical stamina and vitality, tremendous urge for the outdoors and a tremendous appetite for fun and play. Activities have no limits. It is also the stage for gaining skill and knowledge, learning and going to school.

The lost spring by Anees Jung is an expression of national shame of children condemned to poverty and a life of exploitation. The two protagonists of the chapter, Saheb-e-Alam and Mukesh lose their childhood in carrying the burden of poverty and illiteracy. In their bleak stories of exploitation, the author finds glimpses of resilience and fortitude.

‘Sometimes I find a Rupee in the garbage’

Saheb and his family have left their homes and green fields in Dhaka to settle in Seemapuri. They had left Dhaka because of storms and floods. They feel it is better to be without identity than going hungry.

Seemapuri is geographically close to Delhi, but its traditions, standard of life and people are far away from Delhi. Seemapuri was a deserted area when the Bangladeshis arrived here three decades ago. They were forced to come here due to the natural disasters in Bangladesh. They loved Seemapuri because they could survive here. They had food and shelter here.

The author’s description of the life of the rag pickers in Seemapuri is touching. 10,000 people have come as squatters, staying in structures of mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage, drainage or running water.  Squatters are persons who unlawfully occupy an uninhabited building or unused land. They have stayed there without any identity but food is more important than identity. Their fields in Dhaka could not give them food whereas being rag pickers, they don’t go hungry. In Seemapuri survival means rag picking. The elders have made it their profession for a fixed wages whereas for the children rag picking is a game of treasure-hunting. They work through the garbage with a hope that one day they would get a gold coin or a rupee note from the garbage heap.

Through years rag picking has acquired the proportions of a fine art. Like any other art form, rag picking possesses certain talents and rules. One needs guidance and inborn talents to be a successful rag picker. He should know where to find garbage, what to take, what to ignore, what time is best for it and so on. In Seemapuri every child is skilled in this art form.

Saheb-e-Alam doesn’t know the meaning of his name – lord of the universe-which he is not. He was a rag picker. He and his fellow rag pickers are barefooted and the reason one of them gives is his mother does not bring his shoes down from the shelf. The author has met many barefooted children roaming around. The reason is that it is not lack of money but a tradition to stay barefoot. According to Anees Jung, it is just an excuse to explain their state of poverty.

Education has brought timely changes in many people’s lifestyle like the priest from Udipi and his son. A man from Udipi once told the author his own story when he was a boy and his father a priest in the temple. As a young boy he would go to school past this old temple and stop briefly to pray for a pair of shoes. Thirty years later when the author visited his town and the temple, she saw a lot of modern instances in the town and lifestyle of the people. The priest’s son now goes to school, wearing shoes and socks carrying a school bag. The author means to indicate the timely changes education brings to people and how the illiterate rag pickers remain unchanged, carrying the rotten traditions. The rag pickers have no way out of poverty since they have no chance to go to school and be educated. 

Saheb is now employed in a tea shop with a fixed wage of 800 rupees and all meals. He is not happy as he has lost his freedom as he is bound to the owner of the tea stall who is his master. He is no longer his own master.

The title ‘Lost Spring’ is justified in the first part as Saheb-e-Alam’s childhood – his spring time is lost first in picking rags and then in working for a master.