The problem with shit

Its a funny thing when we’re in shit.
Some will tell you, it’ll pass-> Acceptable, but clichéd.
Some will tell you, I told you so.-> nlm
Some will tell you, its the grand plan of the Almighty-> ahem.

That’s what ‘some’ might say. Let them all rot in hell. But what is your perspective? Yea, Yours, you, who is rotting in hell? In neck deep, nay, nose deep shit. All you have is the eyes. And its not helping either. Because, you can bloody see that you are in shit, and you can’t do anything about it. Because, you can see everyone walking around you, looking down at you, down their nose, with that IToldYouSo kind of look. Aaargh..

The problem with shit is, no matter how experienced you are with shit, its not gonna help. It won’t help you mature, it wont help you handle shit better the next time.. When you’re in shit, You ARE. Accept it.

 

Being a Lecturer. No, Being a Mentor

When I decided that I should join Viswajyothi to work as a lecturer, I was quite relaxed. For, I’ve been teaching and training kids for quite some time, and I thought that the “teaching thing”, came to me naturally. My Appa, on the other hand, had a completely different point of view. He tried to make me understand, and that has made all the difference in my Life.

“Any lecturer”, he started.

Any lecturer you may come across, has the authority vested upon him, to declare that the whole class is full of idiots. Please note, I intend to stress on the “authority vested up on him” part a bit more than the others. I stress on it, for nobody can, and nobody will question the statement made by the tutor, that the whole class is full of dumb-asses. If such a comment is made in the staff room, everyone will take it for granted, and will start commenting on their experiences with stupid people. Its a downward spiral, a quicksand, where every teacher in the staff room will come to a prejudiced conclusion that the class is stupid. That’s the last nail on the coffin.

Any bloody idiot who have donned the mantle of a lecturer can blame the kids. The good teachers, the bad teachers, anybody. But we need to understand that there is no such thing as a bad student, there is only bad teachers. You’re a bad teacher, if you can’t ignite that flair in the kids’ mind which will attract them to your topic like Sunflowers to the sun. Lecture, experiment, show, make them experience, do whatever need to be done. But ignite that fire in them. Give them the confidence to explore. And you’ll receive a great community, who is brave, daring, truthful and eternally curious. A group of people who will love you, and sometimes, even worship you.

Blame them not. Appreciate in public, criticize in private. Whenever a reprimand need be done, call him/her in private and talk to him in slow voice. A loud voice will never penetrate a defiant mind. Accept what they’ve done, understand the cause and discuss on it. For them to understand your point, you first need to understand their point. For all the small small good stuff they’ve done, call to the staff room, and in LOUD voice, appreciate them. For all the people who got 46+/50, write in BIG BOLD LETTERS, Well done. If possible, write with that red pen on top, “get this signed by your parents and group tutor”.

I’m eternally thankful to my dad. For he taught me, not how to lecture, not how to teach. But how to be a mentor.

 

Revelations on Reputation!

One thing I’ve come to notice these days was quite amusing. I believe, with all my wits, that one has got absolutely no control over his reputation. When I had this thought forming first in my mind, I had discarded it as stupidity. Obviously, how on earth can it be that, I don’t have any control over my reputation? People think of me, as depending on what I say, what I believe and most importantly, what I do! Should have been insane to make such a thought!!

But no. I don’t think I’ve got much control over my reputation. When I deliver a session to 100 people, there are 100 different reputations formed about me. Some will be based on the content of the delivery, some on my mannerisms, and some on the amount on the heretical speech I try to push in through. And a hundred more parameters on which I’ll be weighed, calculated and finally, judged.

If so wide is the array of probable options, what could happen, when the reputation can be influenced by our actions too?? The more I thought about it, the more I came to understand the futility of our human desire to be recognized. We do everything to impress people. We wear the dress to impress, whether it be good or bad. Some people dress nicely, and neatly to impress people. And some, wear low waist jean, so tight, that it’ll look like you went skinny dipping in blue paint.

Frankly, I’m not making a judgement. I’m not telling this is right and this is wrong, NO. This whole post is a gentle note, that no matter what you do, what you wear, what you ride, different people make different assumptions about you. Some will hate you, and some will love you- both, in different degrees of magnitude. So, in the end, it will all come to the basic question “did you really want to do that”, Did you really want to wear that? If so, were you comfortable there, in all its sense?

If yes, good. If no.. well what can I say.

 

New Blog

Was thoroughly disappointed, when I searched for eat outs in kochi. No bloody blog whatsoever. Where are the good tech and writing people in Kochi??

So, I should take this up. Starting a new blog.. Possible that I’ll add collaborators, so that they too can contribute. Will soon post all that I’ve come to know about kochi and food.

Here is the link: https://eatoutkochi.wordpress.com/

 

Pronunciation of vi

A friend sent me this cartoon strip. Can’t put it better Enjoy!!

Something we've to listen to, very often