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WHAT I WANT TO BE WHEN I GROW UP

What I value most about the Value Education class I find myself taking on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays is how it’s giving me an insight into the minds of the 10-year-olds in it. I get them half asleep at 7.30 in the morning and that’s the toughest crowd you can get. If you don’t believe me, try talking to a child about ‘God’s Divine Providence’ and all that jazz so early in the morning. I soon had it figured that for this to NOT become an early morning snooze fest for the kids (and myself!) I would have to make it more fun. So I started just chatting with them. A class discussion, if you will.   Coming back to that thing about ‘God’s Divine Providence’. Yes, that’s part of the subject’s curriculum at school. It’s amazing how we adults can send mixed signals. First, we extol the virtues of hard work. Then we tell kids that God provides. I asked the kids what they thought God provides. ‘Food, houses, clothes...’ were initial replies. With that out of the way, they...
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Happiness is...

Happiness is...just a simple habit. It starts somewhere inside and shows in a smile. It is different things at different ages. I teach French to high school students, but somewhere along the way (because it's hard for me to say no) I found myself also taking a value education class for 10-year-olds. It was pretty boring to go by the book and I could see that the kids thought it was 'yawn class' since anyway it was the first period of the school day and began at 7.30 am! I found myself quite sleepy too in fact, with all that the textbook preached about peace and harmony, etc. The early morning class also found the kids cranky and always squabbling with each over petty stuff like who gets to sit in the middle (there are three kids on a bench because it's a government aided school, not a fancy private one). I decided to liven things up a bit. So setting aside the book, we played word games and read out favorite stories (with a moral, if possible). Then I got them to wr...
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Time for Change

  Being in one’s forties is turning out to be pretty interesting. It’s a time of embracing change, even initiating it. This is the time when my hedonistic friends are turning to yoga and spirituality. The prudes are learning to live a little, joining belly dancing and salsa classes, sipping some wine occasionally and trying to loosen up. The secadas are becoming ants, and vice versa. That is, the carefree ones are hiring financial consultants to teach them how to improve their financial health, save for a rainy day and so on. The ones who had planned for a rainy day, in the meantime, have learnt that life has scant respect for your plans and waiting to live after retirement is silly because who knows whether you will still be around to see that day. So the straight-as-an-arrow ones are embracing their wild side, kicking up secure corporate jobs, listening to their heart which tells them to write that book, teach underprivileged kids, open that café, etc. This is also the t...
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