Education, & its *roots*

Education starts at home. The moment we are born, we start 'sensing' things, and with 'sense' starts our 'educating'. And while the innocent-full-of-love parents are still basking in the joy of seeing their baby, they start educating the child with all their care :-)

As always, let me share some experiences on "educating". The 1st and the most important aspect of educating is "Listening". Something that my parents excelled at. As you all know by now, I was the creative & rebellious kid around, and it needed a different kind of 'parenting' towards me, than towards my "too nice and docile" elder sister. I had loads of questions and curiosity, to begin my parents' days with :D My mom, the ever creative & hard-working in her own pursuits while doing all household chores, paid attention to every little thing I did or said. Nothing was "silly" , or "unimportant" to her. She used to be brutally honest with me, even about the "philosophical" questions I'd throw at a nascent age, wouldn't make her wonder. She would rather think about it, and tell me the best answer known to her. And about the sibling squabbles, well, Mom always "listened to both the sides", and took the decision that "was right". 

With such kind of education give by my mom, which allowed my creativity to nurture freely, my mind to question without fear, and to help us arrive at "righteous conclusions to squabbles, however silly", she indeed was developing a model of education that continues to help me grow up. 

While mom stayed mostly at home, while going out for Teaching classes etc., I felt 'cared for', and 'supported' and somehow I emulated her ways of 'conducting herself in the society', the woman of character that she is, afterall. Dad was working with the Indian Railways in the Operating Division, and he would come home everyday by 6PM sharp, but on most days, he'd bring work home. And I used to be over-enthusiastic about his *works*. Frankly, those days (my school-days), I had no idea about things like 'work pressure', and 'getting tired'. And you know how ? My Dad *never* uttered those words at home, infront of us. As soon as he would come home, he would ask for water, I'd give him, and I'd make different snacks for him as well, and loved to watch him unwind. Yeah, I loved to sit beside him....as he sat on the chair on the terrace, after a long day. On some days, he used to be very tired & just closed his eyes; I'd watch him simply...and ask him questions, to which he'd answer most patiently. On other days, he'd be relaxed, & would tell me about the Galaxy, the Stars, etc. [Terrace used to be & still is, one of my favourite places @ my home]. So, what am trying to say is: He would *never* let me know how tired he is, and what *work worries* he has. And i was stupid enough to not realize the same...and continued growing up with utmost enthusiasm towards life, in general. And that, I believe, built in me, the audacity and the courage to "DREAM".

Because, you see, a child can only dream, in a fearless / worry-less environment provided by "truly educated" parents. I used to 'overhear' my parents talking about my Dad's work-pressure & my mom sharing supportive words, hopeful messages etc., but Dad or Mom, never told their problems to us. On the contrary, Dad always used to share with me the stories of great soldiers from Indian History, great Political leaders who became martyrs for the Nations, great Footballers, great Musicians et. al. and told me that I must always dream big.....and that, he'd support me with all his might :) It was so encouraging, indeed. And like I said, I used to talk more with Mom...as she took care of my school needs etc., so, about my concerns on "I want to do this / that", Mom would give it a thought and would tell me to take the most logical step, even if that required me to do something totally new. She would tell me "You gotta do what you gotta do". So, I was constantly inspired! :)

Ofcourse, there were those moments that called for "strict parental scolding", when I did/said something really wrong / put up a fight with someone, then Mom/Dad would get together and give me a long scolding, to which I'd listen to, with a long face, followed by crying :P (And they would let me cry, as long as I could) :) They would never argue with me, nomatter what I'd "opine" on Any matter; they would rather listen, and they would share their points of views that made me think in dimensions that I might have missed. But yes, if I would "do any Wrong action / Say somthing Wrong", they would tell me I am wrong and would teach me how to take a corrective action / replace the wrong speech with words of Kindness and Love & practise Forgiveness. That's how I'd learn not to repeat my mistakes but develop "human values". Am grateful to my parents, and their "Education", so to say.

Education, which gave me lot of knowledge about courage, faith & righteousness; confidence and grit to take action to fulfill dreams, humility to say a genuine sorry and mean it, power to discriminate between Right and Wrong...in order to develop the ability to choose 'right action' over wrong........always in life, respect towards everyone, and courage to dream big.

Love,

Mishti :)

of Good Music

I have huge respect for humble people. And well, one can be truly called humble when one achieves greatest of individual potential and yet remains down to earth. In my knowledge, Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty is one such musician. As a kid, I used to hear about him from my parents discussing about his music, and my mom happens to hail from his neighbouring hometown, so mom knows some realities of his upbringing and initial musical training and his journey, per se. You may read some information about him @ Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty 

People in the music fraternity in the entire world, know him. So, what has he done after accomplishing prestigious Indian and International acclaim? He has developed scientific methods of structured training courses for small children, and he has opened a school that trains children in Indian Classical Music. Not just that, he has his own Facebook Page, and I can tell he posts the FB Posts, himself :-) and, THAT takes humility. To embrace change as our social life changes, while appreciating the goodness of social-media, by actively being a part of it to engage with the world: All this, so that he can take the Indian music to the masses. I mean, at this age, when he is 60+ years old, and has all the money he needs, he could easily sit on his laurels and enjoy the comforts. But his actions speak for his dedication and a life-long devotion: Music.

I love to be living in this era in India, where I witness a new breed of ultra-talented Indian Classical Musicians, of my generation !! :-) Am really proud of them. I mean, in these times of fast-paced life, easy distractions, it is very very difficult for young children to even sit at one place for over a minute; I see them all around me; Smartfones add to the fidgeting :D So, yeah, during such challenging environments, it's so heart-warming to see parents and children devoted into nurturing Indian Classical Music. Hats off to them! :-)

Today I got to listen to a song that had me mind-blown in a nice way :-) Pandit Ji posted it on his Facebook wall, saying it is a 11-beat song made for the 1st time in the history of world music. Created by Sayani Palit. By default I counted the beats, and was awestruck with the brilliance demonstrated by all percussionists. What perfection. What finesse. And the singing of the vocalist speaks of her years long 'sadhana'. This is one of the Best songs, ever made. And I convey my thanks to all the musicians for creating such a beautiful piece of music. Have a listen:

God bless.

Mishti.

Happy outlet :-)

Some days are like that: Overwhelming. I mean, when a small speck like me, who is struggling hard to put together many scattered pieces while fighting harder to keep calm other agents that are more bothered about keeping their visibility turned on, then at the end of it, the respectable big guy who has been keeping an eye on each and every movement of all the small specks, acknowledges the small speck and says a sentence that has "sweet girl" in its phrasing, I feel humbled :-) He is an '87 batch IAS officer, and also, he takes interest in Indian Classical Music. He has been instrumental in driving some key national schemes despite bureaucratic troubles that were not under his control. I've been fortunate to interact with him a couple of times, on formal occasions of review meetings and official callings.

And then, I get to know one of my classmates, who has been to IIMA after IIT Kharagpur & served the corporate world for a while, cracked the UPSC '14. I mean, he is one of my friends whom I've grown up with; that introvert kid whom I always like to speak to, that nice boy who supported the group-activities I was involved in, that humble guy who had a rare charm of his own, who was always driven to "do something good, to give back to the society". THAT friend of mine, Sudhir, cracked one of the toughest Civil Services exam held in India. I am just so happy today. :) Even today, he said "I wanted to get into Civil services to be able to give back to society". And he is not there on FB, or any social site, unlike me :P Well, that's about my 'Leo' sunsign !! God made me this way; I've been a social kid eversince I started talking :D So, someday, Sudhir would be an Joint Secretary / Secretary / Commissioner & Secretary / Others, in some Department in some Ministry in the Indian Govt. And we'd relish our good old times discussing future of the next generation.....among other things :) God bless.

Then, a colleague-turned-friend. Let's call him 'A'. For a workaholic person like me, there is literally no time to spend 'quality time' with 'colleagues'. It's all about work. Period. However, this new colleague has a sensitive side to his being. Unlike many hard-bred men, he takes 'care' of work. It's a difference that am probably unable to express in words. May be, if you know someone who 'loves' his/her work; you'd know what I mean. And I admire such kind of genuine sincerity. We have had differences. Am an opinionated person; and when a Leo gets upset, the entire world should just stay calm :D :P Ofcourse, it takes as little time for me to calm down, as it takes for my temperature to shoot up :P :D So, 'A' is aware of this, now :) And he keeps sharing his wisdom and told me "You behave like a kid sometimes", to which I said "I behave like a kid a LOT of times; it's just that you don't notice, which is good! :P". So, 'A' has been through some tough times recently, which I came to know, only after I trusted him with my thoughts and words, & he kept my trust.... patiently listened to all that I was going through. 'A' is the most simple, and the most sensitive friend I have. Am just so glad today, as I relax and think of a wonderful phase of life that passed by....in the last 1 year. I have a friend, who is so nice, I realize. I pray 'A' achieves all his dreams; he the sweetest 'guy' I know, and I wish him all the sweetness of this world. :) The predominant feeling I have on such a day is the feeling of "gratitude". Friendship is such a beautiful relationship, borne out of formal beginnings, some rough interjections, empathy for each other, understanding, and a renewed faith in the bonding. 

As I relish this day, a lovely day of good feeling, am listening to the song: "aaj phir tumpe pyaar aaya hai"....that channelizes my mushy emotions....as am once again deep in love with Life ^_^ :-)

God bless.

Mishti :)