Resplendent is our night sky!

Yesterday evening, I was in Bugis area. The sky was already dark and my attention shifted to this newly built tall building. I was attracted by its lights glowing in the night sky. The designs were very different from the usual night lights from other buildings. It was opulent and I stood there watching the lights in awe. 

But slowly, a train of thoughts emerged on how much of energy would be consumed in this process, if it is burning the whole night, for 365 nights per year, and for so many years- I started getting paranoid about how cruel we were behaving towards Mother Earth.  The side effect of burning lights, even if they are the efficient types is the heat that it generates. Eventually, even if the type of bulb used is highly efficient and produces the least amount of carbon footprint, it still contributes to global warming that is indelible. 

All these skyscrapers along the river, in CBD that are lighted against the dark skies are not merely tourist attractions, but they are iconic of the country's economy, infrastructure and its pride. The more people want to view it, the more decorative- in other terms, more light bulbs are burnt - more energy consumed- contributing more to global warming.



Image of Earth @ Night.

Source: NASA, 27th November 2000

The image of some parts of the earth at night, is just as it might appear during day time. 

Apart from global warming being a major worry, there are other 
issues that are equally disturbing. When was it that you last saw a pristine night sky with the stellar constellations? I would rather get convinced thinking that our kids and future generation will only view the Andromeda and Orion through their digital tabs and virtual skies than the REAL night sky. Yet another concern is that these lights cause confusion amidst nocturnal creatures that use natural moonlight and starlight as cues for migration. Large skyscrapers with artificial illumination have drastically changed nocturnal ecology- like hindering the hatching of sea turtles, confusing the food web of predators of night sky and so on.    

Many countries these days consider this a mandatory trend to follow- light up the night sky. I personally believe that it acts as a tourist attraction that increases the influx of the tourists. For instance, the laser light show is run every night. The production needs 15 high power lasers, 30 high power searchlights, 9 high definition video projectors, half a million watts of light, 250,000 LED lights. From the incandescent to the CFL and now to LED light bulbs, the change has surely been for the good, yet the burning of 250,000 LED lights on a routine basis, that too twice everyday- I think is a bit too much that we have asked for. 

Too much of commercialization has eventually demanded mankind to take as much as they can from Mother Earth. In this process, we have forgotten to give back to nature adequately, that we have already witnessed her acrimony by way of natural disasters. As simple as- how many trees are planted for every tree that is cut? How many of these man- made infrastructure has replaced the green nature of Mother Earth. I believe that it is time for us to stop and think, before we deplore our actions. Let us start at home, let us save ENERGY and do our little part in giving back to Mother Earth by growing plants at home. Also, REDUCE-REUSE-RECYCLE. 

As an individual I can hope for a better world, hope for more number of Earth days than just one per year, hope for lesser number of bulbs to be burned by commercial service providers/ organizations during nights, hope for laser light shows to be run less frequently, hope for nocturnal ecology not to be disturbed, hope for Mother Earth to be safe. 

Happy Teacher's Day!!Behind the scenes

Loads of wishes from deep down my heart, to all teachers who have done the best in their capacity and some even going beyond that to make better people.

For the past few days there has been many beautiful videos trending online, expressing how teachers have made their students better pupils academically and how they have contributed in making their lives better as they have gotten into good careers. Also, the movie Chalk N Duster was telecasted on Vasantham(Singapore's Media Corp. Indian Channel)  in celebration of teachers. I watched the movie and was so reminded of all my teachers.

My mom - my first teacher. She is also a teacher by profession and worked for s semi-government school in The Nilgiris as science/home science teacher for 33 years. She has now retired from her job, but the teacher in her is always interactive and I believe that this is what the profession does to the person. The 'Chalk N Duster'  is a reflection of my mom, what she went through while I was in school. I could not help but think of all the trouble my mom went through to give me and my brother the best. Of course, my dad played an equal role too. The scenes from the movie re-winded a couple of decades down memory lane. Today I appreciate their efforts and I want to say a big THANK YOU to mom & dad- my teachers.

My high school teachers have a great role in having made me who I am today....a teacher by profession. I believe and hope that I have not failed in making them proud. Thank you dear Ms. Indu Ananthachary, Mrs. Chandra Sunder, Mrs. Nalini, Mrs. Benteley, Mrs. Poonam, Mrs. Hyacinth Senior, Mrs. Hyacinth Junior, Mrs. Anitha, Mrs. Usha, Mrs. Beena, Mrs. Jalu, Mrs. Shobana, Ms. Aisha, Mrs. Nirmala, Mrs. Poornima, Sr. Pereira, Sr. Annamma, Sr. Rose, Sr. Hazel. Apologies if I had missed any names.

Teachers are role models, teachers are our mentors, philosophers and knowledge providers. They also teach us values and mold us to become better human beings. My high school and higher secondary school teachers have played a huge role in it. I still remember....during my twelfth-board exams, my mom was sick and had to be admitted in the hospital in Coimbatore for nearly a month for a major ops. I had to stay put in Ooty, to deliver exams. Quite often I used to be upset and worried for mom. But Mrs. Meera, Mrs. Jemima- my standard 12 science teachers,made sure to talk to me everyday and checked on me to see if I studied for exams. They encouraged me and made sure that I was alright. When times were tough and I lacked the confidence to face it, there definitely was a teacher to encourage me and assure me that there was light at the end of the tunnel.

Teaching is a noble profession and quite enjoyable too if you have the passion. That does not mean that teachers do not face difficulties. Just like any other profession, here too there are many ups and downs. At times we feel demoralized, we feel put down, exhausted, compared, thrown to rock bottom on a task....and so on. But nevertheless, when the going gets tough.....teachers get going!!

Our family, students and employers are our strength that keeps us going and making our monotonous life exciting. I thank them for making me realize the worth of the teacher in me.

To all my fellow colleagues and fraternity, I wish every one a HAPPY TEACHERS' DAY.

Students of tomorrow

It is a bit of a bother, however it does not seem to be receiving  enough attention from society at the moment.

I wanted to share my thoughts on the character and nature of student cohorts that we are teaching these days.  Students have always played a big role in invigorating the passion that I have towards my job as a lecturer. Lecture topics may be tough to teach, there have been other challenges I have faced in the delivery of the lesson. But just the sheer presence of the students and the exchange of greetings with them to start with rekindles the interest in the job and gives the instant energy to gallop a thousand miles right away.

However, lately it does not feel that way, the moment I enter this particular class, I feel like I have just completed the 1000 miles and am tired to do anything else.

The nature of students is as such that I have even thought of skipping a lecture and just giving them some written work to do.  They totally lack motivation, do not care for anything in life, do not respect the system, come late for lectures, talk to their friends during lecture time and so on. I have tried friendly type of classroom management. I believe that by building rapport, we will be able to achieve the learning outcomes easily. But it did not work. Then I tried being strict, that too does not. While in discussion with my peers and friends about this issue,  it became clear that many classes have these type of students. So on a deeper level, if we were to think of this more critically, it is the value system that these kids are from that has landed them as to what they are today. Most kids are single child for parents, and parents who pet them at younger ages without inculcating values, are now not able to solve the problems that these kids create back at home. Hence they spend a lot of money to drive them to foreign countries for education. They are absolutely spoiled for choice and do not realize the worth that an educational certificate can provide them when in need. I have seen many students just stuck to their mobile phones as though it is part of their anatomy.  It is one major culprit - the phone has become smart and made its users idiots.

It is common to find students at the  Foundation levels of Tertiary Education not inclined too well academically. As educators we totally understand and accept them. We contribute as much as we can in their cognitive development and also character molding. But at the tertiary level, their character is already built, by the value system created by parents at home where most of the early years of childhood is spent. So we face some  'I do not want to change', 'I am lazy to change',  'I don't care, as I have everything in life', type of students in class and sometimes talking to them is like hitting a wall.

Some students coming to Singapore from foreign countries have difficulties in coping with not only the education system, but also a new environment. Their parents are not nearby to guide them, they are totally dependent on themselves, a few are lucky to have good guardians. These students find it difficult to focus in studies. Eventually, they bunk classes, they miss out on lectures and when returning to class the next day, they are in a trance as they don't understand.

The 'I don't care' type of students can come to lectures, without a book. Oh!!  even that can be tolerated, they don't care to even carry a pen with them. They show no interest to learn.

Lack of English proficiency is a major hurdle in their learning process. And the best part is that there is a large percent of student population who possess the same character.  As an academician, I have tried my best to talk them into setting a goal in life, but in vain. The starting point was in trying to make the classes more interesting by understanding their learning needs. This is when the stress for the educator builds up. The harsh reality is that, in a stipulated period of time, concepts and definitions of topics from Management or any other subject area has to be taught to them, who are either weak in English, or do not know the language at all(don't be surprised). If the learner shows even a wee bit of interest, we can pick up on that, otherwise I bet it is a Himalayan task.

I do not want to talk of entry requirements and eligibility criterion of these students, that is a whole new topic. The institution also plays a major role in reinforcing the value systems. But sadly, many private institutions are more keen on the business perspective. I feel pathetic about these young adults and the society that will be served by them tomorrow. Of course there are many of them who are wonderful and doing a great job. But my concern is that this 'lackluster' group of teenagers are increasing in number. There is some basic error in their value system and parents are failing to see that. If these students were to take on the workforce tomorrow, what will be the economy of the country like? Quite a worry!!

Random thoughts....but worth thinking!!

After quite a bit of thinking, I decided that I will go on and write what I had in mind about this particular issue. Here is what prompted me to write......

There have been these Facebook posts written by a friend (on Facebook everyone we call friend, coz there is just this classification-friends, correct me if I am wrong) popping on my wall consistently. I believe that there may be many people who might do that.  Such posts are sometimes mildly taunting of the fact that they are  unhappy in the workplace, or with their peers or superiors.  If they happen to write such posts just few times, or on rare occasions, then it is understandable that they are really upset and just needed to post it for the sake of relieving their stress. But if it is posted on a daily basis, there must be seriously something wrong- either with the workplace and colleagues or with the person who posts it as such.

If we were to look at it a little beyond the surface level, the person complaining about their peers and colleagues as she/he deems them unfit, must be going through a tough time. But if you critically examine the situation, may be those whom you have been complaining about too think the same way, but are just being tolerant about it. They have not taken to posting on Facebook to express what they feel about you.

On another note, may be it is time for her/him to quit, if they continuously feel the pressure, that they post almost everyday, or in a pattern like every Monday and Wednesday ;-) . Ranting and trolling on social media might help in getting a few comments from people who are well wishers, and really may give some sincere advice. But if this is a continued practice, then people may want to think that there could be some issues with the person posting. In my opinion, I feel that these posts are indicative of hypo-criticism, where the posts are about people and workplace with whom we talk to everyday, communicate with a smiling face everyday and glad and happy that our pay cheque arrive on time or even before that.  But the inner conscience hates them to the effect these posts keep popping up to the others who may really want to think of the workplace and their colleagues as villainous in nature.

Should they rethink...or call it quits!?

Will never ever buy from the neighborhood market vegetable grocer!

Oh....How I missed writing. 

Back to the bytes...just wanted to rant a bit, but may be it is not ranting after all!!

I was at the local wet market yesterday. I never buy my vegetables from the grocer in the neighborhood market.....being the Indian that I am. I always buy it from Komalas in Little India or from Mustafa. Komalas is much more convenient because, we(my hubby and I)  just park the bike in front and quickly grab the vegetables and groceries we need and ride back with less stress. I like Komalas for one more reason, that they give us an itemized bill for the purchase, which many other shops along Buffalo road dont provide. They charge you for an elephant, when you have just bought a horse without an itemised bill( like yaana vela in tamil...lolz!!).

For most vegetables, Fairprice NTUC is a great place. This weekend the tomatoes were running out in NTUC!! Left with no other choice I had to shop from the local vegetable grocer in the wet market. I  have always had this in my mind...wanted to write it to see if other Indians also felt the same. I am sure Russel Peters does (where are the emoticons like in Whatsapp....btw can we blog on Whatsapp??!!). 

Back to the story.......this aunty who was in the "measure and charge" customers counter, was unhappy first, because she thought I was unable to pay....charged me  SGD 4.00. Of course I was like WHAT????  But maintained a cool expression.  She did not tell me the measurement, and I could not see it, because the scale was out of customers' view. I asked her what was the weight she measured. This much rights I had,to ask for how much it weighed. And here we go again, this time she really was upset with me. She just said "four dollars", then mumbled something  showing irritation on her face.  I paid the amount and walked back, disappointed by the way that woman behaved. This is not the first time, every time they behave very harshly to Indians, as though we cant afford to pay. The fish vendor is also like that, in fact he is worse. The fruits vendors are like that as well. 

Whatever may be my purchasing power, what makes them think that we cant afford their prices....do they even know that we are the largest consumers of tomatoes,,hehe....I wont go back there, never ever!! 

If there is anyone who feels the same way, leave your comments and also tell me what do you in such a situation. 

Heaven Live!

It is all about a little time I got all for myself for spending it with the most loved people on earth- when mom and dad were with me. Believe me, staying with mom and dad all your life is a blessing that not all of us get. For the past nine years I have been visiting mom and dad in India only for short periods of time. Two months maximum. Even that has become a rarity for the past couple of years. Now kids having grown up, and going to school we have to wait for the time when we get holidays at the same time, going back to India and to stay there for many days has become difficult.

After I finished my standard twelve, I moved out of Ooty to do my Bachelor degree. I could go home to parents, only for vacations in between semesters.  Those days to stay in a hostel during study was really exciting, yet when it was time to go home for a weekend, the whole week used to pass by with me so restless and looking forward for the time to take the bus back home. Then again another three years of Master study in Madurai. Travelling from Madurai to Ooty  was really hectic and tedious. It used to take me nine hours to reach home. But when I was to leave for home- the tediousness never did any harm- coz at the end of the journey, I was in heaven- my mom and dad's smiling faces brought so much bliss.

But this time I parted them to go a longer distance. As soon as I got married at the age of 23 I moved miles away following my husband as is Indian tradition- taking the girl away from her parents. Getting accustomed to new ways of life, new family- is all but a journey in everyone's life. So was mine. Thanks to God Almighty so far the journey has been a blessed one. It has been 9 years complete since I moved out of my mom and dad's home to one of my own. The suffering of staying away from the woman who carried me in her womb, has lessened these past few years, because now we are busy with our own kids and family, whom  we have to take care of. Yet there was always this craving to eat mom's food, sleep on mom's lap, missing out times when dad gave me a long lecture, walking with dad to the market ......so many of them!!

After requesting mom and dad to visit me in Singapore and to come and see me here in my home, to get a glimpse of how I take care of my kids and family, they finally did make it here. Again thanks to God Almighty, he has fulfilled my long time wish. And I should say(i believe) that they had a wonderful time here. One month just flew past like nobody's business. And the day came when they had to return to India. My kids, my hubby and I miss them so much now, we are waiting for the time to be back with them again.

Love you mom and dad!

Should I or Should I Not?

All working mothers go through this mental struggle, whether to stop work and stay with their kids- we can never get enough of our kids growing up time!

Lately I have been thinking about this too often. One major reason why I think so is the timing of work. My work timing is from 9.30am to 7.00pm.So when I leave work at 7.00pm, I reach home in approximately  an hours time  The commutation system in Singapore is so reliable, that I can reach home in 45 minutes. Yet by the time I reach home, it is 7.50pm or sometimes later due to minor jobs at work place. This being the situation I miss tea time with kids, I miss being there for my daughter for prep time, I miss meeting my friends - and keep all due responsibilities for weekends. All I do, when I get back home is ferociously fight with kids, and also fight with hubby- because I  have this feeling that I am the only one at home facing dog-life. Thanks to almighty, I have a supportive family that can understand and accept me. 

I guess it the deprivation of time with family that makes me feel so grumpy when I am actually with them. So instead of enjoying the little time with them, I tend to be moody and am growling at every simple thing. Now readers might want to think I have some bi-polar disorder or something!!

Nope absolutely not- I bet it is the effect that my work is taking on me. So why is it I am not quitting.......sure it has got something to do with my passion for teaching. So until I find the right destination I will still have to hold on tight.......

It is still bearable! Isn't it??

Something that came more as the harsh truth than just a simple discussion.

Every one of us go through stress at some point of our lives, it is in each of our hands as to how well we handle it and don't let it mess with our lives. There are people who are extremely  happy at work, happy  with family and maybe everywhere their presence is. Even these people, may experience stress at some time in their life- could be while making a difficult decision, or when there is a deprivation of some kind. It is just that they are smart enough not to go into depression because of stress.

My passion for my job has kept me thriving. I am venturing into my tenth year of career as a lecturer- full time. All these years I have always enjoyed teaching. There may have been trying situations. But one session of lecture and interaction can make me  jump back to form. One of the subjects I love to teach my students is Project Management.

This trimester having started, on the first day of  class we were discussing about skills of a project manager- and when the point of stress management came into discussion, the class came into more lively interaction. The topic of STRESS made it more lively. Slowly we started complaining about this life that is so stressful. We spoke about Hong Kong where life has become so mechanical, with people busy with life that is so demanding at work and people have very less time for leisure. The quality time people spend with their family  has gradually diminished.

The discussion shifted towards the topic of major projects in the past, where we discussed mainly about Egypt Pyramids. Giza Pyramid- one of the Wonders of the World was built with so much tediousness. Heavy labor was involved because of movement of huge blocks of limestone over elevated levels, as the building moved higher and higher. There were no modern machinery like cranes and movers- rather it was  the work of men skilled to do the work. Though there are many theories agreeing and disagreeing on how the pyramid was built, we have to agree to one major fact that people of those times also  went through STRESS  - but physical in nature. These days however, modern machinery is involved in reducing the tediousness of labor, people still face the same STRESS- but mental in nature.It is quite hard to say which is worse, but it is time we realized the truth- STRESS is slow poison, a big time KILLER!

The duty of a flag Lowerer.

This is my first post for this year, and I was thinking for some time now, that it should be on Flag lowering.

Now more than I want to write about flag lowering, I want to write about Sukayna(my eight year old baby girl) the flag lowerer.

Rushing outta school!!

So what was  it that  was  urging me to write this article? A couple of weeks past I had been to school to pick up my daughter( a very rare happening- but managed as I was not working that particular day).

Sukayna was the first kid to be walking out of the gate, and I was quite curious as to how she was so keen in getting home early. But I did notice that the children who walked out were lined in a queue accompanied by a teacher until the gate, but Sukayna walked even ahead of the teacher.

To know why so- I questioned her, and then she told me, that every day she will be the first one to walk out because she was in charge of lowering the flag. Hence she does not have to queue up and wait for teacher's instructions to go out.

For a Primary two pupil -isn't lowering the flag a huge responsibility? Curious to know what she has to do, I was shooting away questions, to which my girl never runs out of answers anyday. Happy to answer she told me a few things that happen during the flag lowering.

Everyday she gets feedback from her teacher on her performance of lowering the National Flag. In Singapore schools,  every day before school disperses, students gather at assembly point and sing the National Anthem, while the flag lowerer, lowers the flag at medium pace- and that is what Sukayna has to do. Sukayna told me, that sometimes her teacher tells her she was fast, sometimes too slow - and yes of course there is a reason for everything they do. So the reason  she told me next was really funny.

She said that her classmates standing behind her during this process, keep prompting to her to either lower the flag faster, sometimes tell her to lower down at a slower pace- so she finally misses out what is supposed to be right!

Nevertheless  for an eight year old, I really consider this as a big achievement for her age. During our walk back home from school, this conversation with Sukayna brought back memories from my school time, when I was once in charge of raising the flag along with my captain. We had to get the flag up and ready to be hoisted by the teacher in charge of assembly for the week.

This was when I was in  std 9, and every monday used to be a nightmare- because a few time, we have put it up upside down! I know- What an Offense?? Thank God, our principal was kind enough, and did not chuck us out of school. I used to pray for Monday morning rains- when outdoor assembly would be cancelled, and hence flag hoisting too. But to think of it now is real pleasure. And for my princess Sukayna to be doing a similar duty at such young age is far more than PRIDE!!

A true Blessing!

Mrs. Shirley Nathan- more than a mentor, more than a friend, more than a teacher to my daughter, she is a true blessing for me, from Almighty.

It was sometime early 2006, in Malaysia, my husband and I were desperately looking out for schools with child care. Sukayna was two plus years old then. The baby sitter who had taken care of Sukayna since she was five months old until then, was not able to continue.  Left with little time to look out for play schools that also provided child care, we were also emotionally stressed as to how Sukayna may be able to take the change.

We had spotted one school loacted 0.5 km from our home. There were other schools in the neighborhood, but they did not have flexible timings for child care. So we were left with just this option, and that  too was closed, upon enquiry as they were houseful for the year. Looking at our desperate situation, one teacher in the school called my husband and told him to try for admission in the school situated opposite theirs.Now this was NEWS! Because until that day we have never known a school to exist in the posh bungalow opposite this school. It was then we noticed that there was a school, in the shape of a train cabin, located beside the bungalow inside the compound.

Sceptical about the size of the school, yet left with no option, my husband approached the teacher. And the moment he saw her and spoke to her, he was convinced, that however hard it was going to be, Sukayna should study there. This was the first time, we got introduced to Mrs. Shirl . Her school was not a very big school, and her cabin even today, can accomodate only a handful of students. But each student would be a  product like Totto Chan from the Japanese School Tomoe Gakuen.

 Nearly a decade ago, Mrs. Shirl ran a school for foreigner's children, with the experience she gained from teaching in international schools. She was a big success and her school too. As years passed and her children grew up, she down sized the school to what it is today- The Cabin.

The cabin is a place full of only happiness. Kids learn more than what they might in regular schools. And we were happy to secure admission for Sukayna in the cabin. Now the child care part was a little complicated, as Mrs. Shirl was not providing child care for any kids then. When my husband told her about our situation-working parents desperately in need for a secure place to leave their kid, she said she will give it a try. She told us ,if it was tiresome, she would recommend elsewhere.

So the next day, Sukayna was in the cabin- her first school, Mrs. Shirl her first teacher. The first two days, Mrs. Shirl agreed to take care of Sukayna on a trial run, and the third day, she told us, she would continue to take in Sukayna as Sukayna was a more independent kid and it was easy to take care of her. We are ever thankful to her and her family for being there for us, and most of all God Almighty for His abundant blessing.

The entire family was kind to us. They had never once forgotten to invite us over to their place for any celebrations. Mrs. Shirl's smile was enough to make your day. Theirs was an extended family, with Mrs. Shirl's sisters, Aunty Malar, Dato Ramani with her husband Uncle John and her brother Uncle Loga all residing in the same house. To them people and genuine relationships was what mattered most.

To this day, I am ever grateful to God for having shown me genuine love through Mrs. Shirl. This New Year, I want to gift this post to Mrs. Shirl - as a token of my love and appreciation,  for I take you as my mother in a foreign land.

What difference does it make?

These thoughts keep crossing my mind so very often...especially when I meet people who have different tastes, for their choice of accessories.

Last week I saw this Louis Vuitton outlet in Megamall, Kuala Lumpur. I was so excited, that i quickly clicked a picture in front of the outlet, where a few of their products were displayed.  A couple of days back I walked past a Ducati Motorbike, and again with so much excitement I clicked a snap of it and showed it to a few friends to boast about having a picture of Ducati on my mobile. Hahhaha...thats how crazy I am about branded stuff. Nevertheless I dont own them! First thing, coz I cannot afford them, second thing even if I am able to spend on them, I'd rather not, coz owning a Louis Vuitton Bag doesn't make any difference to me from owning a low-end brand like Poccilini or Commoditee bag, or even a bag I can buy at the flea market.

To many out there it makes a big big difference, they may look down upon those in possession of low end accessories. But I wonder if they even realise the value of this materialistic obsession in their afterlife. I am not trying to criticise them. In fact I do admire them, they have created so many employment opportunities in many industries- manufacturing, logistics, marketing & sales, PR, Customer service and so forth. IN fact, a friend of mine who is a marketing lecturer, informed me that most brands cater products matching customer personality. Brands also have personalities, giving customers the option to choose the brands whose personalities fit their own. Now I am thinking, how much crazier can the world get? But that is how things work.....

OK, now let us imagine this situation- say when I am walking along a crowded road, with a branded bag, that cost me $ 1500(expecting everyone to see it), and  from nowhere a thief snatches it and runs away! Oh My God, I am sure to get a heart attack man!

Being the semi pessimist that I am, thinking of the what the world has to offer on the Dec 21st  2012, I would rather keep branded products in form of pictures stored only on my mobile gallery!

Back to square one!

Yesterday I read a post on Facebook, on one of my friends profile. It was about an Indian guy  in the US, who so much wanted to return to India, to be with parents, that every time he tried to, his attempt was not fruitful until, there came the time, that he had lost his parents, his wife separated from him and kids had turned American- by the time he returned.

When I read articles like these it scares me so much, that I pray with faith asking God to take me to my motherland, at the earliest.

Away from mom and dad, away from uncles and aunts, away from the sweet little cousins who always make your life so cheerful, it feels so awful to even think of the happiness that is being missed everytime.

However, the country that I am now living in has made me get so used to the sophistication, the lifestyle I have so blended with, that I keep complaining about missing them, when I am in Ooty and Coimbatore. Ooty being my hometown and Coimbatore the place I was born in, and this is where most of my cousins live. It is mainly the commutation between places in Coimbatore that makes you go mad and crazy. Travelling in call taxis(the local ones are maruti vans) may be considered as the best way of commutation, if you have kids with you and  if you dont have your own conveyance. But having once travelled in a call taxi - maruti van from Thudiyalur, which is about 12 Kms from Coimbatore on the way to Mettupalayam   to a place called Pothanur, which is on the other end of Comibatore, on the way to Pollachi, I almost puked, the minute I got down at the destination. The glorious bumps on the road, the mad traffic- that only God knows when it may get disciplined, the mobile phone that the driver kept attending- meanwhile screaming at those who were trying to overtake his vehicle, and most of all the smell of LPG on which the cab was running. Oh! how much I missed the MRT (Mass Rail Transport) used in Singapore- so timely and convenient, air conditioned, disciplined people- makes travelling a pleasure.

For the different facilities that this place offers, the sophisication of lifestyle - yet affordable, may damage my patriotism, but  cannot kill it completely. Rain or shine, east or west, with all the imperfections, my country is still the best.

Depriving my children of Happy childhood!

I am a working mother and I go through this odd feeling quite so often! I have always wondered and queried myself, as to whether I should quit working and stay at home to take care of the kids. But  the feeling comes and goes-like it has not really stayed in my mind for long. It happens that the occurence of the feeling is during times when both parents are not able to give quality time for kids- when kids are more dependent on domestic helpers than the parents, when in their routine they spend more time with the maids than with the parents, when during day they are hooked on to the TV than having parents around to talk to and spent time with.

All these things that I had just mentioned happens in my house more so often. Because of which I tend to be swimming in a pool of guilt every now and then. At these times, some one I may speak to gives me justification that its OK for me to go to work, because ultimately it is for the kids future. We want to see them enjoy all good, provide the best education etc etc and the list of justification goes on. So back to square one, there I am back with my routine work schedule, and that is again away from kids for most of the time.

Being in a foreign country, all by your self(I mean, just the family), without much help, we are forced to be dependent on the maid. Trusting our kids with the maid, especially children is a big challenge. When we happen to get a maid who can be trusted, major part of the challenge has been crossed. But there remains one aspect that is compromised here. Whatever role genetics plays in getting our children to take up characteistics of their parents, there is still the undeniable truth that their upbringing is more influenced by the maids. Willingly I have compromised on that issue all these days, now I think the realisation is surfacing, because of which I think and rethink whether I should quit my job. It might look like a small decision. But I think parents going through the same situation like us, will understand what I feel like!

Away from home in a foreign land-IDENTITY- what is your own?

Being away from mother land, being away from kith and kin, being away from what is your own! What does that mean to you. I chose to write on this topic, because, nine years away from my own land has caused a deep scar in my heart, which I dont think will fade away.

To my people back in my mother land, it is a great opportunity to go to a foreign country, where of course the currency value is higher than your very own country's. It may be exciting to go to foreign countries, but it should never be for very long. It is considered a privilege if the son in law of the family was working overseas. The entire family would boast about it to the family members. There was a time in India when unemployment was at its heights, and hence people with good talent moved out of India in search of jobs. That was the dot com fall time. Then when the field of IT began spearheading, unemployment was thawed by it.   Yet people did not stay back in India, in fact more people started going out in search of better jobs, better lifestyles. I wonder how many of you, my readers will agree to this point. But I wish to write as I percieve it.

Different countries offer different privileges to foreigners working in their Country. In that order, Singapore gives good privileges to people from other countries, staying and working for Singapore's development. Knowledge workers can obtain their Permanent Resident (PR) privilege, and once you get your PR you are also eligible to buy a house. Houses cannot be bought on first hand though, it can be bought as second hand, meaning the first owner has at least owned it for five years. Though these privileges are  given to  foreign talents, citizens are treated with a higher order of preference, which I think is fair. Likewise, there are umpteen other issues. Yet, citizens of the nation tend to hate foreigners. For some reason or the other they keep taunting foreigners for having taken away what could have otherwise been their opportunity. Now how is it that foreigners could have helped this?  I seriously do not know the answer.

And I DONT consider myself to be blessed amply for staying  in a foreign land, where I hold a valid NRIC, have my own house to stay in, a job where I am satisfied, my kids get to enjoy so many things that they would not get to in my motherland and my list continues.....for the reason that I wonder what is my true IDENTITY!

I bet there are many out there who would share similar feelings. Share your thought by sending in your commments.You may have had same kinda experiences, but in other countries. I would love to read your comments.

Butter Paneer Masala with love!

Are u thinking this may be a recipe note? Okay may be or not! I would rather say that this post is more on my style of cooking! Ha ha, having written this I cant control my laughter thinking of the different short cuts I take to cooking most dishes. I am not the kinda person, who goes out of my way or takes the pain to buy exclusive ingredients to make a dish taste yummy.......i just put in any substitute possible either to get the color, taste, serving etc.

One of the days last week I decided to make some different gravy to go along with Chappathi, for dinner.This thought occured to me at around noon time, I decided to make butter panner masala. That meant that  I had to buy panneer on my way back home. This is another big process to be carried out on my way back home- SHOPPING! Believe me I totally hate shopping (not so feminine right?!?). Anyways, now that I had already thought of butter paneer masala for dinner, I decided to do this shopping part. So on my way home, I had to alight in a stattion called Little India, to buy panneer(which is so INDIAN, and hence you will not get it in ANY supermarket except for Indian shops).

I am not an expert in cooking, and so I had already looked up some easy recipes on the internet, in fact a few you tube videos on how to do butter paneer masala! See how complicated cooking can be!!!

 In the recipes there was this ingredient mentioned- cream. Now it happened that cream was not available in the shop where I purchased paneer, i decided to make do with a substitute, and u guessed it right- i decided to use milk.

Having done the shopping part, I went back home with the same spirit and started my task of cooking. Quite inspired that I had most of the ingredients for cooking, the task was completed satisfyingly. So the chappathi was made and also the butter paneer masala, done with a substituted ingredient for one of the major ingredients for taste. Anyways I had no regrets, because this is not the first time I did that. Haha!

Dinner being served I was waiting for my family to comment upon the defects in the dish, probably I could have even altered the original taste of butter paneer masala. So with curiosity in my mind we started our dinner, and to my surprise my make do cooking was tasty too. The appreciation from my daughter and husband took me by surprise and the feeling at that moment of time was that of the cheif chef of a five star hotel being congratulated for her cuisine.......

Nevertheless, it was served with love!

What is the percentage of heroism in you?

Last week, I watched a few videos of CNN heroes, some posted on Facebook and some others, I managed to pull from Youtube. There is this video of the song -Wont you stand up, stand up, standup! by Sugarland , that was dedicated to these heroes. Out of 10 people finally the CNN hero of the year 2010 was chosen as Anuradha Koirala from Nepal. Kudos for the social work, she has been doing, to relieve and give a new life to women and children from sexual slavery.

 There were other nominees, Narayan Krishnan(India), Guadalupe Arizpe(Mexico), Magnus Mac Farlane Barrow(Scotland), Harmon Parker(USA)  and there were others. These were the people who change life of the less fortunate , by taking some risk in their own life- that was what had made them the heroes that they are today.

 Each of the heroes were in thier own way different, rendering a helping hand to community, uplifting those who had lost homes, children who had lost parents, the hungry and the thirsty, those who needed medical healing for their life and for umpteen other reasons for which they had been nominated.

The heroes have been awarded $25000 to carry on their urgent work. The hero has recieved an additional $100,000 grant.It was rightly said, that they recieved the grants to help themselves to help others, but the examples that they have set is priceless.

It has always been in my mind and heart to go out of the way to help people, not meaning to be heroic, but being human. Seems like I will spend my life just in awe and admiration for these heroes, not by becoming one though. Nevertheless I do at least appreciate myself, and thank God almighty for the privileged upbringing I had.

How many of us groan, when the air conditioner does not work, when mom serves food cold, when maid hasn't done the ironing, blah blah.....and yet these are only minor problems.

One of the CNN hero - Magnus, was helping to feed 60,000 children in Haiti with one proper meal everyday. People who are in true need of proper nutrition will know to appreciate this  one proper meal a day, not those who waste so much of food, by naming it  in parties, or celebrations. I dont mean to say we have to stop being happy, but shouldn't we be educated about the good things God has blessed us with. Coming to write on this, I am just getting reminded of the Yahoo posts and discussion about the designer wears that celebrities wear for the different events. I guess the cost price of one designer wear can feed nearly hundreds of children one proper meal. It makes me wonder how much of this extravaganza is gonna appeal for us on the judgement day?!?

All of us have the heroism in us, it is just that some of them have made it big. So if we were to ever think of how we could display this heroism in us, it could be really simple- like it starts from home, live a simple life, dont waste food, help the needy, if not many at least a few around us who are really in need. Educate your children about what they have and how it makes a difference, get them to appreciate the blessings. God created this world with ups and downs, with most fortunate and less fortunate- so it is for the most fortunate to help the less fortunate.

I do have so many thoughts to pen, but wanna stop here and get back to work! Do comment on times you have been a hero.....I would greatly appreciate your valuable comments.

Thinking of my mother- God given gift!

Abu Huraira reported that a person came to Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and said: Who among the people is most deserving of a fine treatment from my hand? He said: Your mother. He again said: Then who (is the next one)? He said: Again it is your mother (who deserves the best treatment from you). He said: Then who (is the next one)? He (the Holy Prophet) said: Again, it is your mother. He (again) said: Then who? Thereupon he said: Then it is your father.

Narrated in Saheeh Muslim, Book 032, Number 6180

I love you Mother- For you are my gift from Allah!

My mom- most adorable, most loving, most caring, most giving, most forgiving..........It takes us a while to understand what they are to us, probably after we have become mothers ourselves.

I had wanted to write this post, and publish it yesterday, i.e., on mother's day as a token of appreciation of the person that my mom has been. But yesterday was truly mother's day for my own self, and it was because, my helper had taken her day off. So from morning until evening, I was mothering the two kids. The chores of the day made me wonder, what trouble I had given mom when I was a kid.

My mother was a school teacher(retired on April 22nd, 2011). She has taught  HomeScience for students in the higher secondary grade,  for over 30 years, and also Science for  students from standard 6 to standard 10. I feel proud to make a note here. My mom was the first Homescience teacher for the higher secondary grades in the whole of Nilgiri District, Tamilnadu, India. She was a strict teacher and students were scared of her. Nevertheless, she is one person, who helps poor students and those in need of help. She has counseled many of her students who have had teenage trouble or family problems. She has been an inspiration to many of her students and of course to me as well.

The past few years, I have not been near mom on mother's day, to give her a treat or to treat her special on that day. But one thing is for sure, she is special in my heart every second of my lifetime and  I will hold her close to my heart. This year too, as I am away from her, I wish her all good, and I pray that God Almighty bless her with good health and the strength to do all good things for those around her.

So here is wishing my mom and all those moms who are their children's whole wide world- A Happy Mother's day, and many more to come!

21 minutes to travel in the MRT to reach my office from home

Time is a precious resource, but most of the time, I realize it late. I guess, that is why it is precious.....

This post is not about the time, but about the things I do, when I dont have control over the time, rather the MRT( Mass Rail Transit) operator has! It takes exactly 21 minutes of travel from my home to my workplace, if I were to take the MRT. Singapore is well planned and organized and hence the timing hasn't once changed from the standard 21 minutes. 

So now that I had hopped onto the MRT, I then realized that I had forgotten to bring my novel along and oh gosh how am I gonna pass this 21 minutes, i.e.,1260 seconds, thats a lot of time, and I could have well read over 25 pages in my novel. OK! Now that  that is not possible, what could be done? Just listen to music. Music was on and then I realized that it was  work only for my ears, what are the eyes and the brain gonna do??? I dont wanna sound as though I am one nice person, who NEVER, EVER wastes time.It is just this 21 minutes that I cant wait to get to my workplace,at least if the MRT was on ground, it would have been better, but this one is underground!!!

Do I sound paranoid? I could spend the time easily, and you know how?By just watching people around me, my fellow passengers!

When I hopped into the MRT, I hadnt realised that the place where I was standing may not be so bearable, purely because of these love birds standing next to me, and the guy was fondling this girl all over- I have always wondered why the government did not have law in practice to stop such things. Where are we heading? At that point in time, this thought crossed my mind - "Thank God, Sukayna is not with me now"- because there would have been a hundred and one unwanted questions to be answered!

Should I become more mature?

My close observation during travel in the MRT makes me believe that out of every 6 persons in the MRT, 4 of them had an Apple iPhone- with all its apps, so they could pass their time without even noticing(those of them who were seated) that there was an elderly or a pregnant lady who wanted their seat more than they did.  Without forgetting what I wanted to convey, Apple is making their bulky profit because of these busy people!

Moving along my line of people , I have been watching(obviously without their knowledge) there was this smart guy, sure a teenager- who had been  seated  in one of  the reserved seats( the ones researved for senior citizens, pregnant women, disabled and the ones with kids). One old lady walked in to the train at a stopping and went and stood in front of this teenager. I had been noticing that he was playing games on his PSP, for a while. Now that the old lady walked in, he suddenly pretended to fall asleep. A frustration crept into my mind and I felt like going near him and waking him up. But before much time, the woman sitting next to him, a middle aged woman got up to give the old lady her seat. Though I felt happy for the old lady, the frustration dint go. Are we bringing up our kids in the right way?

Before my thought could go wandering, I was disturbed by the noise of the doors shutting, before the train could leave the station, and there was this person, who got all of us standing near the door into a state of panic. What did he do? He just jumped into the train, when the doors has already started to close. He managed to get in unharmed and also managed to spoil most of our day, which had to start with a panic.

I had just  started analysing this incident, when I  heard the announcement of my station, so I got ready to alight, also thanking God for having made my journey safe!

The people who have inspired me to write

First, I have to mention why I wrote "people" rather than "person". Because there is more than one.

This one is special, who motivated me to write, not just by saying things like " you can write, because you have the skill, blah, blah....". It was because, she was a writer herself, and everytime I read what she wrote, I have this desire burning in me to start writing, to become a blogger. I first came to know her, when i was doing my Masters. Like all friends in the beginning we too did not get along very well, but soon picked up on our lane of friendship. She was a voracious reader and could finish huge novels in no time. So again I was inspired by her to read, not because she told me to, but I found that she was different because she read a lot and she had the knowledge of a special person, because of her reading.

Now the other person, who pushed me to write was this guy, who is a critique and who could easily spot mistakes in anything I did. But you know what the best part of it was, the way he critiques your work, would never ever hurt you. He is so good and genuine when he gives his comments and makes me feel, that the mistake I commited was a good one though. You know why? Because then he can comment on it. So I always look forward for his comments whenever I do some academic writing or assignments. This time too he commented on my blog, and the first thing he found was a mistake.Ha Ha! I know if you are reding this you want to know who the person could be, I would not make you curious further, he is my husband.

So I owe them two this credit mostly, and there were others, colleagues, past workplace and present, who have mentioned to me that I am capable of writing. Ha Ha, I meant that they have boosted my confidence.

It is for them I dedicate this post of my blog.

Where do we start?

Global warming is discussed everywhere-  among nations, organizations , educational institutions, corporate offices, and amdist people, who are part of the world that is going through this negative phenomenon.

Contributions to this change in earth has to be understood from the basic. Kyoto Protocol: a measure in reducing the emission of green house gases, and the Protocol tried to get the developed nations to commit to this agreement, though adopted in 1997, it was put into force only in the year 2005.

These are quite complicated terms for us, because not all of us are scientists.  Fine then, let us look into it in  common and easy to understand terms- How can human beings contribute in stopping this negative phenomenon?

 We first have to know a few things.

What are the  impacts of Global warming?
1. The recent Tsunami that devastated Japan,
"Climate change doesn't just affect the atmosphere and the oceans but the earth's crust as well. The whole earth is an interactive system," Professor Bill McGuire of University College London told Reuters, at the first major conference of scientists researching the changing climate's effects on geological hazards.
2. More earth quakes that have been taking place over the recent years in the past
3. Human beings exposed to more number of diseases and allergies, due to atmospheric pollution, cancer being most common
4. Meltdown of polar region ice bergs, which will eventually increase the level of water in natural reservoirs, threatening floods into residential regions. A rise of sea level by 25 metres by year 2100 has been predicted.


What are the causes of Global warming?
1. Higher emission of Green house gases(GHG)-water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, chlorofluorocarbon being released into the atmosphere act like a mirror, which reflects the sunlight that was radiated back to the atmosphere at a longer wavelength. More the emission of GHG, more will be the heat radiated to the earth through them.

How can we prevent, or at least slow down the process?

Stop the emission of GHG would be a quick answer, but not a possible one. So "WHERE DO WE START"?

At home: reduce wastage- whatever it may be-food, water, electricity,etc. Recycle plastic bags when u are going to the supermarket,  reduce the consumption of styrofoam containers, recylce metal that can be recycled,  reduce the consumption of paper-try to go paperless, say if you wanna read the newspaper , use your computer and access the news online.

At Office: Car pooling to work, taking the public transport to work are  most major ways that reduce the consumption of petroleum, which is the major cause of global warming. Reduce the consumption of paper, recycle paper for internal usage, with the advancement of technology try to view soft copy of documents, rather than printing every document in need. Save electricity by switching off the lights of offices not occupied, reduced usage of air conditioners, by switching off the air conditioner when rooms are not occupied.

Though we cannot expect an overnight change in our attitude, we could still make an effort, to make the world a better place to live in. Shall we?