“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” – Dr. Seuss
The quest for knowledge is unending. It is like money, the more one gets, the more one craves. Learning is a lifetime process with no age bar for gaining knowledge. Fiction plays a great role in influencing our minds and the way we perceive things. It impacts our decision making abilities.
Using a slim volume of Dr. Seuss’s iconic book, “Oh The Places You Will Go”, Educator Mrs Aditi Bandyopadhyay conducted a workshop demonstrating the necessity of fiction in our lives. Fiction, she says is synonymous with our reality, separated only by the burden of proof. What is this burden of proof one may ask? In this context, burden of proof would mean liberating the reader from a path of unoriginal problem solving. We trade up and instead privilege imagination as a problem solving tactic using fiction. Through a combination of metaphoric as well as extremely literal reading of Dr. Seuss we explored how fiction frees the mind to indirectly explore a surplus of resources and beta-test solutions. Fiction therefore allows mental exercises that increases our mental and social agility in real life because we’ve tested out more creative solutions to our problems.
Educator and administrator, Mrs Aditi Bandyopadhyay has 25 years of teaching experience in reputed public and world schools in NCR. Founder, Headmistress Indus World School, Gurgaon. Founder, The Language Lab, Kolkata.
Child Psychologist Laiza Boney explains to us that “love languages” are the way that children give and receive love.
The five love languages are:
Physical touch
Words of affirmation
Quality time
Gifts
Acts of service
While children should experience each of these love languages, there is one which meets their deepest emotional needs and should be used most often with them. Speaking to children in their primary love language makes them feel cherished and understood, which leads to better family relationships. By communicating with your child’s preferred love language, you can fill their “emotional tank” with love. Every child gives and receives love through one of five distinct styles of communication as seen above.
As a parent, your love language may be completely different from that of your child; hence, while you are doing everything in your power to show love to your kids, they may not be receiving the same message your sending out. You essentially are on different frequencies.
Gary Chapman’s book ‘The 5 love languages of children’ proposes that if you unearth your child’s primary love language you can create an unconditional loving bond by using actions and words which they “get.” The end result? Your child will want to please you with mature behavior.
Communicating via your child’s preferred love language has benefits. For example, children receiving the proper emotional support may excel academically. For pre-teens, expressions of unconditional love create a better long-term relationship with parents throughout adolescence.
How can you figure out your child’s primary love language? Consider how your child usually expresses love—for example, by giving gifts, saying appreciative words, or hugging. Notice what your child says. Maybe your son asks for a back rub (physical touch) or wants your opinion on his new drawing (words of affirmation). Or your daughter might complain that you never take her to the park anymore (quality time). Try giving your child a choice between two kinds of love. Given the option, would your 13-year-old daughter prefer for you to weed the garden with her (quality time) or to do the weeding for her so that she can spend the time with friends (act of service)
To identify your childs love language click on the below link and take the test.
By understanding these love languages and identifying which one links most with your children or the child in your life, you will gain a great deal more from your relationship. Whenever something confuses you or you feel like your child is acting out of character – ask yourself whether you think their love tank is full? Have you been tuning in to their love languages as best you can?
Teenagers often build emotional and physical walls, making it seem impossible to connect with them. If you tap into their love languages, you will find a way to reach them. These concepts are not going to solve every parenting or child-rearing issue – it is simply a method to find a deeper understanding of the person you love and that can only lead to more meaningful and long-lasting relationships
Laiza Boney, is a homeschooling mother of two with a Masters Degree in Psychology. She pursued her love for children’s education. She worked as a special educator for kids with learning disability for 5 years. In the five year journey she has counselled parents, helped children with behavioural issues, trained teachers and helped in curriculum development for kids. Currently she is pursuing her passion of being a mother.
Women’s empowerment has just become a lip service today when there is a constant rise in rapes and molestation against women. We must take the onus of protecting ourselves and not wait for the bureaucratic machinery to come up with solutions.
Some basic self-preservation techniques should be kept in mind.
Be aware of your surrounding
Be self aware.
Learn basic self-defense. Enroll yourself, your daughter, your best friend in self-defense classes. If it is too much to ask, at least see instruction videos on youtube. Practice the techniques on your husband !!
While travelling alone in a taxi at night, make it a point to sit directly behind the driver. Keep a stole or dupatta handy. This can be used to choke the driver if he tries to take undue advantage. Once he’s choked, he’ll be forced to follow your instructions.
When taking a taxi at night, call or at least pretend to call someone and talk in a language that the driver understands. He must be made to believe that someone is expecting you and will raise an alarm if you don’t reach on time.
If someone attacks you, try to injure that person and run away from the place. Don’t be a hero. Try to take him by surprise and run away before he realizes what hit him.
The video in the link below displays some simple self defence moves you should know. https://youtu.be/M4_8PoRQP8w
The author Mamta Sarda is a health nut and loves to eat well. She loves to travel and pretends to be cultured while being a khati desi at heart.
When a few members of the Walkers Club agreed to walk on an early Sunday morning they had no idea what a mesmerising visual treat lay in store for them.
The idea suggested by Col. Jaideep Bhowmik was to walk to the wetlands in the area adjoining Ecospace at 5 in the morning. A few bravehearts agreed to sacrifice their Sunday morning sleep and join him at sunrise. Finally a group of 14 people including a lady and a child embarked on the early morning rendezvous. After parking their cars at Ecospace this enthusiastic group walked approximately 6 kms to a clearing in the wetlands where they were overwhelmed with the sight of a magnificent array of birds flitting about in the branches
The Indian roller also known as NeelkanthaBlackhooded OriolePlain PriniaLong tailed ShrikeThe Zitting Cisticola also called the Streaked Fantail WarblerWhite throated KingfisherAsian Openbill
An overall enriching experience with the beauty of the birds against the backdrop of the rising sun made our walkers realise that there is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before.
Members of the Walkers Club: Jaideep, Abhishek, Pankaj, Amitava, Ishteaque, Binit, Arabi, Anshika, Sudip, Vinod, Diptiman
The disposal of sanitary napkins is a complex issue. Much of the sanitary waste ends up in landfills leading to harmful bacteria. In India alone, over 1 billion non-compostable sanitary pads are dumped in the sewage system, landfills and water bodies every month. This is when only 20% of the women needing sanitary pads have access to it. Imagine what would happen if every eligible woman was to use pads and then dump it on to the environment !
Incineration can be a solution, however, in a large, poor, heterogeneous, densely populated country like India, incinerators are expensive to install. Moreover, burning causes air pollution, so this is not a completely environment friendly solution.
One can argue for use of cloth napkins as an environment friendly solution. But any woman who has ever used cloth during their menstrual period knows the pain of washing & drying the cloth, the bad odour which fills the house and most of all the social stigma attached to it.
An environment friendly solution to this colossal wastage is Menstrual Cups. They come in 3 sizes – small, medium and large and can be made of different materials like TPE, Silicon etc. The usage is quite simple. It is inserted inside the vagina, just like a tampon, and it collects the menstrual blood. Since the blood does not come in contact with the air outside, the bacteria cannot multiply and hence no odour is emitted. Inserting the cup takes getting used to, but once you overcome that initial hurdle, the benefits are several –
It lasts for 5-10 years and is recyclable.
It produces zero waste.
It is easy to clean and maintain, during and after the menstrual cycle.
It is cheaper than tampons / pads if one calculates the cost of per usage over the entire life of the menstrual cup.
One can go swimming with a menstrual cup inserted which is unthinkable in case of a sanitary pad.
No rashes.
Balanced vaginal PH as beneficial bacteria stay inside unlike tampons which soak up the vaginal fluid.
No leaky feeling.
More time between change.
No feeling, once properly inserted.
Be the change you wish to see in others.
The author Mamta Sarda is a health nut and loves to eat well. She loves to travel and pretends to be cultured while being a khati desi at heart.
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