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The Dove
Hope, happiness, joy , hopelessness, despair and dismay. Circles and circles of emotions and one is caught in the whirlpool going round and round. You try to rationalize and tell yourself– Get out of here, Don’t stay here too long else you may drown! Getting out of it makes sense. If you stay somewhere too long it becomes part of you the elements seeping inside you unknowingly.
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Finally I come out and there stands the little dove fluttering her iridescent feathers - Giggles and laughter, arguments and demands, hugs and kisses and the hope.I revel in the simplicity of life.Thanks God theres light at the end of tunnel.
When It Was The First Time…
“You shall be the class teacher of a class.”, said my principal on the firest day of my joiningas the school.
I was happy and a trifle nervous.The classteacher has tremendous responsibility and a lot of work to handle. Sooner or later I had to be one so why not now, I told myself..
With a mind going haywire and a heart full of mixed emotions I entered the class.
“Good Morning Madam”, chanted the whole class.
“Good morning students, I am your new class teacher”, I said.
Thirty six pairs of eyes were fixed on me examining, judging and scrutinizing. Suddenly I shivered. How on earth will I ever be able to live up to their expectations? How will I channelize their enormous energies into proper direction? How will I make them like me? I shuddered.
Before I knew the whole class came to life. Some students started talking, others shouting and still others fighting. My contemplation had made me stand there like a dumb statue. I panicked. That’s not how it should be. It has to be better. I can fare better. My mind raced and I asked them to sit down and introduce themselves. Each one of them said something about mummy, papa, brother, sister and so on and so forth. I could hear the soft but irritating murmurs. The class was not with me. Everyone was talking though softly. I could hear the sound of something falling here and there. Definitely the class was not with me.
“Ok students now I will narrate the story of ….
And then I hit the right chord. The only noise I could hear now was the chirping of birds from the adjoining park. The silence of their attention was magical. I took them along to the wonderful land of my story. They were all with me. And I relaxed. It was possible…. I could do it . I did it.
They are going to be with me and I am going to be with them. Together we shall march ahead.
Prof Prahlad - My Observations
(Seminar by Prof S.R. Prahlad from CIEFL Hyderabad)
Sometime back I attended a Seminar on Communicative Approach to teaching of English. The speaker Professor Prahlad turned out to be a student's delight. A short man of about 5 feet, he was meticulously dressed in black and white. His silvery hair neatly combed backwards. His face exuded the confidence and radiance that come with wisdom and life well spent. Mastery over subject and teaching skill are the essential ingredients, which set an excellent teacher apart. He had both.
His lecture was interspersed with jokes and anecdotes. A smile adorned his face throughout the lecture. One could feel his passion for the subject. Around hundred teachers sat mesmerized as he enlightened us on the new approach to teaching English.
Many people say that teaching is just a mental exercise. But one had to see Prof Prahlad to realize that it’s an exercise in muscle. He stood for a period of six long hours with only two short breaks of fifteen minutes each. With a spring in his feet he moved from one teacher to another as they came up with queries. Every now and then he rushed to the board to write the important points. His agility and humour defied his age. He was one of those people after meeting whom you feel inspired and who leave an everlasting impression.
French toast reserves its rights...
“French vote against new EU constitution”- The headline reminded me of what my dad always told us about the French. Say something in English to a Frenchman and he will turn his head pretending he hasn’t heard you. Ask him something in Punjabi he will go out of his way to help you. The anti British sentiment is understandable. As history tells us the British invaded the French territories and shrunk their map. But now there’s more at stake. The threat from the poor neighbours is not only economic its cultural too. The French strongly maintain their cultural identity and a complex of superiority. They are not sure whether the aura of supremacy can be maintained in the greater economic union of Europe. The negative vote speaks volumes about the apathy of French against the problems of their neighbours at large.That takes us to the inertia of different princely states to get amalgamated into the Indian Republic. Have the different states and ethnic groups lost their identity in the stronger India? Definitely not. On the contrary they have flourished and grown stronger. So it’s time for some oriental wisdom for the French.