Amir's movie is inspiring, gutsy, and a portrayal of what every other child faces in schools today. Even a child who has a normal ability to read ,write and memorize has to face many similar situations as the ones shown in the movie. I suppose we teachers don't even realize the tremendous power and influence we have over children we interact with! I hope this movie will be an opportunity for us to wake up from our stupor.......!! Just by giving each child a chance to find their own strengths, their own special abilities and the space to get in touch with their imagination and creativity ........we would be giving them what they truly need to grow into wonderful and confident adults.
Three Cheers to ......taare zameen par......hip hip hurray!!!!!!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Religion –As I understand!
It is most certainly a matter of personal choice about how a person applies religion to one’s life. Whatever maybe its meaning to people, it is almost always taken to be a positive influence in ones life. Common sense would force us to believe that it first originated in man’s mind and hence is man made! Faith in a supreme power is almost a necessity in men almost like food and water. It is a means for survival, a vital social need.
When science was yet in its prenatal stage, man was bewildered and awed by the powers and the wonders of nature. There had to be a way to explain nature’s breath-taking beauty and at the same time its tremendous ferociousness. Nature is therefore the foundation and inspiration behind the great social institution called religion!!
Even today, what drives each man’s conviction in the supremacy of Him are phenomena that defy all logic and rationality: such as, events that cannot be understood by a man’s mind, factors that we believe play a very important part in our lives (chance and luck), incidents that leave us utterly helpless. Man’s faith feeds on these uncontrolled aspects of his life.
The search to understand and know the divine power leads us closer to our own soul. The quest to know Him is actually a journey towards knowing ourselves better and better, to find our purpose in life. In other words, it makes us spiritual and meditative. It then heals us, makes us calm, peaceful and content.
Praying is a way of talking to ones owns ‘self’. Through prayer, we may find solutions to our most difficult problems. It gives us the strength to pass through life’s roughest patches. The strength that we derive from prayer is the force that is within ourselves.
Each person’s intellect and the level at which his/her mind functions, decides what religion means to him/her. Of course, our upbringing, customs, culture and society play the most important role in determining our relationship with Him. What is once written on a child’s mind leaves a permanent mark and cannot be wiped out, no matter what, in his/her later life. Therefore, parents hand down ‘god’ to children like every other thing in their lives.
Our belief and faith fulfil our most important social and psychological needs. It is not a matter of great surprise that no one wants to face and own up its evil consequences. Questioning the maddening havoc and destruction caused by religion in every part of the world shakes the very root of our belief in Him and the purpose of ‘dharma’. It is certainly better to turn a blind eye to this devastation and lead blissful lives!!
Posted by pankhuri at 10:57 PM 1 comments
Thursday, June 14, 2007
As a teacher my experience with children has been eye-opening, enlightening, immensely pleasurable and to my great surprise even knowledgeable! As many others, I entered the profession with many wrong notions such as I am going to be the one to impart knowledge, to make them learn etc and so on……….But I soon realized that they had many things to discover, to tell, even teach me. All they need is the opportunity and space so that they can open their tiny wings and fly into the open sky…………We adults have much to learn from them, if we just allow ourselves to open our mind’s eye.
They are truly creative, imaginative, they are observers, explorers, discoverers, they are spiritual, lovers of nature and all its beauty, all its creatures. They are honest, straightforward, spontaneous and always positive in their outlook. All the qualities that I can think of when I think of children are the ones that we adults aspire to have.
I have found that through children I too can become spiritual, I can come closer to nature, I can become a better person. Through them I can rediscover and relive my childhood.
From them I have learned to look at everyday as a fresh start, as a new experience, as an opportunity to find different paths, and meet different people. I have also learned to trust and not be skeptical all the time, to take things at face value, to admire and not envy people better than me.
I have learned not to categorize people into caste, class, race, religion, locality and country. And the most important lesson that I have learned is to love my work, do it with sincerity and to be myself.
Finally after all this learning I found the secret key to being a happy person. Happiness is not something you wait for, to happen to you. You run and grab it and then you possess it. Just like those tiny little angels!!
Posted by pankhuri at 2:19 AM 1 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
Blog Archive
About Me
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)