tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10988036296106127682024-03-27T20:53:54.006+09:00Little One StepLittle One Step is about Homeschooling, Mothering and the fun that life becomes when spent with children 24/7..Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-75638227645742221202018-07-03T12:23:00.001+09:002018-07-03T12:23:21.459+09:00Of JOY and the Magic of Whole-Being Learning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Of JOY & The Magic of Whole Being Learning:</div>
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Some days back Shreedhari had her annual dance performance at Studio Sharise where she has been learning western forms of dance like jazz, tap and hip-hop since 2 years now. Last year she chose to focus on Tap and also started learning Bharatnatyam with another Indian dance school here.<br />It was apparent to me from the start that she enjoyed dance immensely. I remember asking her when she was much younger if she wanted to try dance and she would always say no. But always kept dancing at home. Dancing to Bollywood, Carnatic , Classical ...any kind of music . Its hard for her to stay still when music is played.<br />Two years back she came to me saying she was now ready to dance. Most children these days start much earlier at @ 5 yrs and she was already 8 then. She turns 10 this Sept. Years of life-learning, child-led learning has taught me the most precious lesson and value of waiting in learning. There is no other better time to learn than when the learner is ready. It is such a simple yet difficult concept to grasp for us adults in today's day and age when everything has to me mastered by the age of 10 or you never learn it. I'm glad I didn't push her. And boy did she take off!<br />Me and <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show="1" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=1305524501&extragetparams=%7B%22fref%22%3A%22mentions%22%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/sratneshwaran?fref=mentions" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;">Shankar Ratneshwaran</a> have been so surprised with her tenacity and dedication to this art form. Come what may she has to practice everyday. She will never go to a class to repeat the same lesson. She dipped into it completely. To the point that she will schedule everything else around it. Check in with me about the day's plans and other activities. Decide whether she wants to pursue other activities or not. All centered around her dance.<br />Last year , in our previous residence, when we were having trouble with our neighbor below who was complaining about her dancing and making noise, she would choose to dance in the hallways in the winter in freezing temperatures. Its like nothing could stop her. The perfectionist in her blossomed in her through her dance. I never knew she was one.<br />I've even seen her get nervous, tense if she hasn't practiced. We ( including her teachers) have many a times reminded her to be chilled about it and not make it so taxing on herself. But NO. The inner drive is SO much that none of this makes sense to her.<br />She has also been very lucky to have the presence of Sharise Pervez from Studio Sharise as her teacher. Being a home-schooler herself, Sharise teaches dance gently , encouraging the child to explore herself through dance rather than pushing it as an art to perfect. There is a lot of talking of emotions, feelings, wishes, aspirations, frustrations, time management and what not through hand-outs, inspirational messages. Shreedhari and Studio Sharise are like water to fish. Its been nothing short of a blessing that Shreedhari landed in this community of dancers. Its like the perfect teacher coming to you when you are brimming with the desire to learn.<br />Last year she received the Best Outgoing Student Award in her class for not only her dedication to dance but also team-work, empathy, being punctual etc...In this year's annual show, she was in many numbers and throughly enjoyed it. Practicing for the annual show along with her regular Bharatnatyam class practice would take up 2 hours every day. Along with weekdays and sat class practice. But every time she had a class, she would come out beaming and SO joyful. Yes tired with aching feet but loving it.<br />I remember years back when I was starting out as a home-schooler asking for advice from older and seasoned moms. <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show="1" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=1759464254&extragetparams=%7B%22fref%22%3A%22mentions%22%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/urmila.samson?fref=mentions" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;">Urmila Samson</a> would often tell me about "whole-being learning" where the mind, body and soul were engaged in the learning. Where you get to see the whole spirit of the being/child lifted up and glowing in the learning activity. There is only JOY and nothing else. This is EXACTLY learning and we need to put all our energy into it and not vice-versa where money and time is put into learning what we aren't good at. Invest more energy and time into what the child enjoys learning , she would say. How true! And how complex we make learning into , trying to find fixes and solutions and all sorts of models making someone learn what they don't want to? There is an entire industry out there , flourishing on learning deficiencies. Are my children learning disabled? Yes they are, if I ask them to sit quiet and do worksheet after worksheet for hours. Are they gifted? Yes they are, if allowed to indulge in their whole-being learning.<br />We as adults can either choose to trust in what our kids want to learn or choose to dip in our fears and conditioning about what they should be learning. There are careers out there for everyone- for cooks, for dancers, for magicians, for IT professionals , for entrepreneurs...there are as many careers out there as there are interests. I have learned over the years that the best education model is to literally follow one's nose!<br />As I watched Shreedhari with so much joy and utter perfection over not missing a beat, my heart unconsciously made a wish that she choose dance as her profession . That she live the life I never got to completely. That she go out there and explore every form of dance in every nuance ,in every way she wants. But that's just me. I have also learned over the years to not tie my expectations or wishes to my children's learning adventures. Learning is very personal. What my children will do in their adult years is unpredictable now and really their business. But all I know is that they are learning the art of learning with joy. Learning to pursue happiness and oneness with their selves. Learning to follow their nose. Learning to be themselves and trust themselves. Learning to not value learning according to other people's conditioning.<br />For now, I'm choosing to utterly enjoy the joy and love of my child for dance. Its a gift like none other to receive- when you see your child love what you love to do. I'm excited and also very grateful to Studio Sharise ....Shreedhari has been asked to become a teacher assistant for the upcoming year. A very big honor indeed for her. it combines 2 of her passions- Dance and little kids.<br />Shreedhari's pursuit of her dance has also made us realize about how different and unique she is compared to her akka. She prefers doing one thing at a time and not have several interests at the same time. Though she is subtly a part of everything in the house- in her akka's business, in cooking, in gardening , in playing, in travelling...in everything but only to the extent she wants . Time and energy management are key to her and she will not take up more than she can handle. Her inclinations are more towards picking up one thing and getting it right rather than dipping a bit into everything like her akka. Two siblings - very different. Each to her own. One not better than the other. Each one's pursuit of her joy is unique. No need to compare. No need to push or require that one be like the other.<br />Just let everyone BE and follow his/her nose. Its that simple. I tell ya! <span class="_47e3 _5mfr" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 0; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle;" title="wink emoticon"><img alt="" class="img" height="16" role="presentation" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/f57/1/16/1f609.png" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: -3px;" width="16" /><span aria-hidden="true" class="_7oe" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0px; width: 0px;">;)</span></span>))</div>
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Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-73111989964100739862016-12-03T12:45:00.002+09:002016-12-03T12:45:40.023+09:00Shreedhari's reading craziness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Shreedhari has spent an entire day today - yes an ENTIRE day with stories . Between reading , being read to and listening to stories , her day has gone by her and she is still hooked on. I had to give up at one point due to aching jaws and my own intense ability to stay in one place after a few hours . But this child hasn't tired yet ....I've no idea how many she has listened to but the amazingness of this whole thing is her drive for it.<br />
Maybe this is what self designed learning looks like ...maybe this is how humans learn where they get obsessed with something and can't let it go . While cooking and reading recipes was the impetus for the elder one to learn to read , it seems stories are the impetus for the younger one to.<br />
These are the days when the value of free time is very high.<br />
No superimposed shoulds and have- tos but indulgence in one's learning . I've heard about this and seen this with so many unschooling kids with a variety of interests . And to think of the class bells and the change of periods that I had to go through all my childhood when a budding interest in a topic had to be shut down because it's time for another class or period . How frustrating that would have been !<br />
Free time , Free time , Free time - the key ingredient in self designed learning .</div>
Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-71836147501884869212015-09-14T11:22:00.000+09:002017-01-25T02:12:41.324+09:00It's all about acknowledgment - the wonder of my kids<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So we have been having some scorching days here in the Bay Area, California. The temps are hovering constantly in the high 90s touching and crossing 100s even in the afternoons.<br />
Yesterday we stepped out for our weekly Parkdate and boy was it hot! There were hardly any families in the park. It was scorching and felt very dry too. As I was standing there my mind started to race to last year when we had just moved in from India and had literally jumped into the Hsing scene within 4 weeks or so.<br />
As soon as I had got my drivers license , we are off exploring parkdates, co-ops and classes and what not. One of the things that has started right around this time was the sports co-op every Wednesday at 2.30 pm right after the weekly Parkdate.<br />
The sport co-op happens in the grounds of Ortega Park where it is SCORCHING hot at that time of the day. And we have done it every single Wednesday , jumping right into it. For the girls it was all Brenda new - the people, the children, the sports and to top it all, the scorching heat.<br />
I couldn't help but acknowledge the fact that the girls have been so adjusting and enthusiastic about everything. It's one thing to be out in the heat and another totally different thing to be playing in the scorching heat especially in a completely new setting.<br />
The transition was so smooth, so quick. Shruthkirti had also auditioned for the Roberta Jones Junior Theater right around this time and her practices had started ...so on Wednesdays we would hop from Parkdate to sports cop and then to her practice. It was tiring enough for me but how much efforts on their part! I remember kissing Chellu everytime I would drop her off for the theater class on a busy Wednesday !! I couldn't help but feel so proud of their strength and their determination and passion , zest for everything that life has to offer. To come straight from India and to seamlessly flow<br />
into the American Hsing setting, to come from a largely Hindi background to auditioning and practicing for a large theater production in American English, to come from playing with friends you know in and out to playing with absolute strangers, to come from playing no sports whatsoever<br />
to trying out a newsport every 3 months !!<br />
HOW MUCH growth , learning, transition, travel, new connections, new relationships, new community has this past year seen. I have frozen a lot of it in my photos but a lot of it just stays in my memories...some of it I have even forgotten but between all the stuff that happens at home & outside whether role play, cooking, Art & design, swimming, biking, playing outside, cleaning , chores, some academics, speaking to learn in 100% Tamil , travelling, classes, audio books, talking, and what NOT!!, every endeavor has been greeted with so much enthusiasm and zest. The best part being that most of it has been driven by the children.<br />
All that we have done last year has FAR superseded my expectations of what we could have done ....I wouldn't have imagined that as a Hsing family we would have had so many , previous experiences. SO MANY!! And in this moment of what feels like abundance , I would also like to acknowledge my ownself for all the efforts I have taken to bring these learning experiences into my children's lives even if it means stepping out their way and letting them be. We have done so much as a trio. And I've<br />
enjoyed it all so much. And so thankful for it too.<br />
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We can often get caught up in this " Are we doing enuff?", " Are the kids doing ok ?", " Are they learning?" And blah blah blah...there is no end to these Qs and this self doubt. All I have to do during such moments is to step back, take a deep breath and just look at all our photos. Or even look at the ones not in the camera but in my mind. Cause so many learning moments go undocumented too.<br />
And I know that my kids are doing fine. We are all at the right place, in the right moment , doing the right thing.<br />
And it took an extremely hot afternoon for me to deeply acknowledge it for myself and be filled with so much joy. And I've also started to realize that to expect someone else to acknowledge it as much is not possible as no one else is experiencing it the same way I do. Everyone else might question it, might doubt it. But that's their journeys. Not mine. Just because someone feels that it's not good<br />
enough or that I'm not working " hard" enough, dosent make it true. It's their own expectations and their own lack of experiencing what I do with my kids that makes them question it in the first place.<br />
Being with my kids as taught me the fine art of measuring the unmeasurables. How have they grown over the past year? Their sense of understanding, enthusiasm, their fine abilities, their sense of comprehension , how much they can push themselves, their clarity , their trust in their own selves, how confident they feel and most importantly how much we have bonded...so much more beyond just reading and writing and knowing and remembering facts.<br />
Yes ....SO MUCH MORE. <br />
As I reflect t on last year, the thought of having experienced this beautiful country with my children..every nuance of it and thus to have bonded yet again very intimately in itself is the biggest mark of accomishment for me. Nothing else comes closer w.r.t achievements. Thats why I HS in the first place. To be with my kids and I'm in total awe of them. PERIOD.<br />
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Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-27984751640256863872015-06-16T14:39:00.002+09:002015-06-16T14:46:27.009+09:00Nature program + Kunju's first design + Talks on geo engineering and much more <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today was one of those Hsing days which justify the reason behind it. One of those days you want to remember for a long time to come.<br />
It started off with us rushing out of the door with some protests initially for attending the 9.00 am Nature program hosted by the Santa Clara Open Space Authority at Morgan Hill. It was a bit of a drive but totally worth it.<br />
The 3 hr session on mammals was very well planned and executed. It included making face masks of a deer and a mountain lion, identifying , examining , guessing while blind folded the jaw bones and other bone parts of the mammals commonly found in the ranch , identifying the foot marks of animals, doing a nature hike and then finally wrapping up with games to understand how a food chain works and its importance, making your own scat from chocolate and making your animal from print outs and making your own habitat and food for the animal and presenting it.<br />
The hike especially was awesome. The guides were very knowledgeable and child friendly. They made the kids laugh and presented everything with a tinge of silliness to it. We examined all sorts of scat to understand the diet, examined squirrel and gopher holes and learnt about them, examined ant hills and learned how a colony works , the role of grazing in preventing forest fires, Native American presence in the ranch, about walnut trees and grafting , about owls , cows and its four stomachs, inter species teaming between coyote and raccoon for hunting, structure of a squirrel borrow ....we also spotted a deer !<br />
The program was just really so well executed . Not too informative but not just play either. The girls really enjoyed every bit of it . After the program , the 3 of us then went for a hike for 20 mins or so uphill. While hiking we examined peeled barks of trees, listened to insect sounds, did a 3 minute mediation , examined spider webs, talked about the legend behind why a bee buzzes in one's ear, why makes soil red sometimes? ...we talked quite a bit about grafting and Chellu was especially very curious about grafting. We have<br />
to do more research on it for sure.<br />
We all came back home quite happy and satisfied. Of course while driving to and fro the location, the icing on the cake is really the audio stories that we get to listen in the car. It makes the whole traveling aspect of it so easy and educational .<br />
After we came back the girls watch TV for a while and then elder went back to reading while younger was quietly working on something for herself. When I went to investigate it, I realized she was with all her focus designing something! This in itself makes today, the June 15th, 2015 a very special day- it's the first day Shreedhari designed something by herself from her own imagination. It was a house for her new pet, the Little Guy. I have to do a separate post on Little Guy but just so that you know , Little Guy is her balloon hamster that Chellu made. So Kunju had taken this small plastic box in which someone had gifted me a candle and was converting it into a house. She had selected fabric for the same and was trying to paste all the sides of the box with the fabric. She asked for my help and I taught her how to make measurements using a scale . We did a bit and then proceeded to swim.<br />
In the pool the girls decided to play dive and catch with each other and what fun it was for me to watch them dive together ! Also Kunju came with underwater hugging and kissing with me! She seems to get bolder and more innovative by the day when it comes to swimming for sure.<br />
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After we came home, Shreedhari started to talk about how she made found Little Guy in the first place. It was a detailed story that exemplified her imagination and her ability to put words to it. She has been so taken by this balloon hamster. For her it's reality in every sense. Her story, her words, her emotions while she narrated it made me realize how there is learning in every stage. If asked to narrate anything else, she would never agree, but here she was going on and on with extreme attention to detail about how she found the hamster, it's characteristics as though it was an actual hamster! I was thanking myself for the choice I made of having a slow life and not being a career woman. Cause otherwise I would have never had the energy, patience , time or attitude to listen to an imaginary story about a balloon master from my six yr old at 8.00 pm!<br />
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Dinner with the girls led to more talks. We talked quite a bit about our nature program and Qs on four stomachs of a cow, rumination, grafting were raised. And for some reason Shreedhari mentioned about geo - engineering ( she had overheard me talk about it) which led to talks on Monsanto, farmer suicides, GMOs, organic farming, presence of Monsanto in India , vaccinations, the SB 277 bill etc...it was really something to watch the confusion, shock and utter disbelief on the girls faces that greed can lead leaders to act wrongly! Younger's eyes welled up when talking about farmer suicides. They kept asking again and again if all of this happened in India to? They seem to have some kind of inner belief that India cannot go so wrong! A part of me felt guilty in a sense about revealing the truth to them and taking away their innocence and faith w.r.t the human race.<br />
All this further lead to talks on usage of bone ash in sugar and elder was really upset about not being able to use white sugar anymore in her baking projects. They were also really curious about why bone ash usage and immediately we googled about it and also looked up a list of brands that sell vegan sugar. This then led to talks of injustice done on the cows since the bone ash used in sugar is from cow bones from countries like India and Pakistan! Again both their eyes welled up when hearing about slaughter houses, injustice done during milking in an industrial production, the reason behind the vegan movement and finally detailed discussions on the Vedic culture viewpoint and practices @ the cow.<br />
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Wow! What a day! So much learning..so much talking and so much listening. This is the real beauty of HSing and the slow life it entails. I can never remember ever talking so much about real life issues in my childhood to anyone. The girls show SO MUCH curiosity about everything and want to discuss so much ..they want to know more all the time . Its like lack of school has freed up so much of space in their brains to wonder , to ponder, to discuss. No topic is off bounds when it comes to their curiosity.<br />
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Some days I wonder if they would remember all of this? But I guess that really doesn't matter. They may or may not remember but whats truly significant is that, they were curious about their surroundings and wanted to know more. They were emotional and human about what happened around them instead of a " it doesn't apply to us" attitude! That's the true significance of all this.<br />
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Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-66845452214591598012015-06-13T03:37:00.001+09:002015-06-16T14:47:41.580+09:0010th June, 2015 : SB277 protests- at the State Capitol , Sacramento <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yesterday's experience at the Capitol was unique and a living history experience for our family. We were there to protest against SB 277 that requires mandatory vaccinations for public education in the State of California. So initially there was the actually rally with many speakers coming in to say why something like this is so wrong.<br />
Chellu and Kunju certainly found it very interesting initially to experience the whole atmosphere. They keenly listened to the speeches, flaunted their message boards and intently soaked in everything in the scene. Then they eventually joined the Biesmeyer children to play in the grounds since the speech and all the protests was getting too loud for them.<br />
After the rally we decided to go into the Capitol building to at least check it out and when we saw scores of folks waiting in the line to testify in front of the law makers, we decided to jump in too. Interestingly before that when the girls were hesitant about wanting to go in, we got to talk about why it's important to sometimes do stuff for a cause or for the the sake of others. There was also this other family that talked about how it came from the south of California sitting for 8 hrs in a bus . And how sometimes even if we are bored we must pursue a cause for ourselves as well as for others. I think that piece of conversation really helped in to convince the girls that it's at least worth checking out.<br />
As soon as we got in they were much at ease because of the AC and the restrooms. Once we joined the lines ,we and the girls spent our time eating at the cafeteria, watching stuff online, sleeping and of course playing and doing workbooks with a girl standing next to us.<br />
Im so proud of my girls to have waited with us for 5 hrs in the line so that we can testify in front of the lawmakers in addition to two hrs of the rally. It gave them a glimpse into how a government works, how we as citizens have a say in everything, the power of community and how sometimes have<br />
to set aside our personal comforts for others or for a cause. It also led to talks on how courageous leaders like Gandhi, MLK wuld have been to dedicate their lives for a purpose. Thr girls can now relate to what a peaceful protest is.<br />
We also remembered our dear friends like Manish Jain, Vidhi Jain, Sachin Desai, Meenal Desai , Shammi Nanda and so many others who have the guts to go against senseless main stream thought process and work for they truly beleive in.<br />
So much learning even in the midst of all that anger and frustration . And guess what? The Capitol floors resembled a massive playground with all the kids deciding to play with each other! There were some 900 folks in the line!!<br />
Im so glad we decided to stay back and participate in the testifying process. Im sure we will all talk about this unique day for many years to come. </div>
Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-56341759414666272882015-06-13T03:36:00.001+09:002015-06-13T03:36:33.086+09:00Thank you notes for the MSI visit - lessons in collaboration and intimacy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After the MSI visit, each child was asked to express themselves about their experience to the Institute since the station programs are all sponsored.<br />
Yesterday we sat down to work on our thank you notes. I do not know if it's all the break from any sort of academic work or whether it's the fact that they could relate the activity to a real life experience they had, the girls worked on their samples with so much enthusiasm and joy.<br />
Shruthkirti wrote a full blown essay with my help about her experience. I'm always surprised by how she gets her spellings all right without ever doing a spelling drill. I think it's the photographic memory from all the reading. I also liked her thought process, her logical way of writing rather than following a set pattern. I would suggest something and she would refute it giving explicit reasons. Prior to this essay she made a rainbow colored fish with its mouth open. The idea is to put the easy into the mouth with a piece of paper saying PULL , to pull the essay out! We had arrived at this idea together and she improvised on it and executed it beautifully. Way better than my initial imagination!! Of course ..it's a given now right? Chellu and design...they go together.<br />
She later on worked on a Learning Chain idea- mine originally and intended for Shreedhari. But later opted for a real food chain and so Chellu took it up. It was such fun talking with her through the project and coming up with the finished project. I'm starting to see that the girls are very willing to work on something when they see it as a collaborative project with me rather than as a being dictated to type of thing. It also changes my attitude towards them . The finished learning chain project was awesome . I really liked what created together.<br />
Shreedhari made a drawing a colorful fish and of the MSI itself. Asking her if she would like to work on something else led to interesting conversations. She felt like she wasn't good enough and always did sloppy work unlike her sister. I'm so glad she expressed her diffidence because I got to talk I don't detail with her about how none of that is true. She was smiling and ready to go at the end of the conversation. She then beautifully did the food chain with me out of her own accord.<br />
When we finally went to the post office to mail all of the samples, all of us had a happy, satisfied smile on us. This has got to be true learning - where one feels not only happy , curious, interested doing something but also has the satisfaction of finishing it.<br />
And on days like these I also know that the real learning was the conversation with Kunju about her abilities, the real learning was the collaboration with Chellu. The finished project was only a side effect really.<br />
As always thankful for an experience like this. The best part of Hsing is the intimacy in learning. Infact it's the intimacy that's the TRUE learning! </div>
Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-45937064509561276672015-06-13T03:12:00.000+09:002015-06-13T03:36:53.528+09:00Marine Science Institute Visit - real life , hands on learning <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Sometime back on May 27th we had attended the two station program in the MSI? I had arranged this field trip with fellow Hsers. While the whole arranging the trip was quite frustrating with constantly looking for people to join to reduce the per head cost and then remainders for payment etc etc...the field trip itself was very educational and fun. Myself and Chellu had attended Kayla's birthday party there and really loved it. I was feeling so guilty for Kunju missing out on it since she was sick that day and decided to arrange a field trip to make it up for it.<br />
While Chellu seemed a little bored cause everything was sort of a repetition for her, Kunju while initially resisting it eventually started to delve in it and enjoy it as well.<br />
What a lovely idea ! The kids did a two station program - the beach seine station and the fish/ shark station. To kick it off, the docents introduced the idea of a bay, what it means to the kids.<br />
In the beach seine station, they got to use a seine to catch fish from the bay and hold it in their hands and examine it . Eventually the fishes are returned back to the bay. It was tons of fun for them. While elder caught a Topsmelt Silverside, younger caught a jelly fish. Some of the other children caught bigger fishes , crabs and even snails. I never knew before that snails lived in areas like the bay!<br />
In the fish station they went around and examined many different types of fishes like Diamond Tubot, Yellowfin agony, Topsmelt Silverside , Bay Pipefish, Northern Anchovy to name a few ..they also were introduced in detail the body structure of a fish.<br />
The shark station was super fun. The kids got to watch baby leopard sharks in a tank while being told about the fishes. They also got to touch it. At the end they sat in a small circle where each got to examine variety of shark bones and jaws. We learnt that sharks have 1000s of teeth and replace the, throughout their life unlike humans! What fun!<br />
At the very end the kids were introduced to a marine food chain through a puppet show. The importance of conservation and marine care was emphasised.<br />
Wow! What a day. So much learning for all of us. I love the Bay Area for this - the amount of learning opportunities for kids outside the school is enormous. It's indeed a Hsers's paradise! Very grateful to be able to experience this.<br />
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Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-45136026819081107362015-06-11T17:34:00.001+09:002015-06-11T17:34:34.336+09:00Physical activity burst for Shreedhari<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Shreedhari is into some kind of physical activity milestone over achievement. Today she has spent almost the entire day skipping, jogging, swimming and biking. When I asked her why she was exercising so much she told me excitedly that she has taken upon herself a 20 day fitness challenge! Imagine that - Kunju and a fitness challenge! The other day she excitedly told me in the pool that when she grows up she would like to be a swimming coach for little children!<br />
She is definitely loving the physical phase of hers. So glad and so surprised to see her of all the people in this phase. As always I trust that this too has a reason and a huge learning for her. Making her mentally and physically strong , making her more determined, more challenged and most importantly embarking on a path of learning that comes from within.<br />
As always the joys of witnessing it as a parent from a space of non- interference is unlimited!!</div>
Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-2701986676031358162015-06-09T13:47:00.004+09:002015-06-09T14:04:22.750+09:00Lovely summer day - Shreedhari's swimming eagerness, Shruthkirti's diving and both babysitting.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Wow what a lovely day we had today. It was in the 90s and suddenly it's like summer has hit us with full force. The girls worked on their thank you notes to the Marine Science Institute for their field trip in the morning. And then after lunch, we left for Shoup park date with the PLL group. It was really hot and the girls played a bit with water play with the rest of the children. They seemed to enjoy it but we're rest less to get into the pool.<br />
We came back home and immediately hit the pool. Shreedhari has been in a swimming frenzy since the past one week or so ever since the temp has raised. She is also in some huge swimming milestone conquering phase and has been so keen on swimming.<br />
We had such a lovely time at the pool. Shreedhari swam from 4 feet right up till 8 feet with intermittent breaks along the wall. She was also diving in the lower depth to touch the floor. She seems so ready to go the entire length! Wow such a treat to watch learning when the readiness is there. To watch learning when it comes from within. During the same time Shruthkirti also urged me to come play diving with her and it was like as though life had come full circle today. It just felt like yesterday when I stood next to her in the pool encouraging her to swim a little more and today she teaches me how to dive. Watching her dive in the 8 feet depth to pick her goggles from the pool floor was really such a pleasure to the eyes. She was just like a fish- nothing other than that. So smooth, so effortless ! I on the other hand was gasping for breath and couldn't do more that 7 feet!<br />
Wow...to have witnessed Shruthkirti diving is in itself a blessing. Swimming has really taught me the benefits and beauty of unschooling. To trust , to let go, to just be . And then learning be it swimming or anything else happens at its own space!<br />
We came home from swimming and next door two yr old Aamir joined us to play with the girls when his mom left to pick up his elder brother. Again my heart filled with such love watching the girls play with Aamir. So natural, so kind..like they were born to be elder sisters. Just watching the three of them evoked in me feelings of wanting another one again. They played with him puzzles and ball , fed him, talked to him...so beautiful to see this nurturing.<br />
Such an amazing day. Simple yet profound learning. The joy of watching from a space of non interference , from a space of letting be , from a space of letting learning happen is just so beautiful. I'm so thankful for a day like this. These are the days that let me know for sure that I'm on the right path.<br />
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Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-45637199238273118072015-06-06T11:23:00.002+09:002015-06-07T09:00:25.578+09:00Swimming playdate with friends from Spain<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today we spent the afternoon with Hsing friends Maria and her sons Lucas and baby Ikel. They are a part of our AWL park date and we have started to really enjoy each others' company off late . Myself and Maria and the children too. Chellu and Kunju love playing with seven yr old Lucas and also seem to really enjoy the baby! They played a lot pushing each other in an old play wagon, collecting huge amounts of what looked like some kind of seed in their dresses , checking out insects and finally hitting the pool even though it wasn't planned and they didn't have their swimsuits!<br />
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It was a miracle of sorts watching Shreedhari swim today. She was not only swimming extremely confidently with prolonged amounts of time under the water but also diving and even touching the swimming pool floor! A bunch of other kids were playing diving to fish out plastic rockets and Shreedhari got really inspired and joined them too. It felt like she had dude lay caught up on years of swimming training in a day. Maybe I've been missing out on her swimming milestones or something but suddenly she seems so ready. She has been asking to go to the pool for the past few days whenever the temp is right ..the eagerness is suddenly there. Like she really wants to do it and her swimming also shows it off. How amazing it is to witness learning when it comes from within , when it comes from being totally ready for it!!<br />
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What a lovely day! The lunch, the conversations, the playing with the baby, the friendly , loving atmosphere of interested adults ....my kids thrive in such environments. In that sense it's not at all surprising that Shreedhari's swimming progressed by leaps and bounds. It was bound to happen.</div>
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As an individual I'm always so delighted to have friends from different parts of the world but with such similar ideologies and outlook towards life. This is certainly one of the blessings of being in the Hsing community! 😀</div>
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Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-86605778965754764982015-06-04T16:22:00.001+09:002015-06-05T05:07:13.072+09:0006/03/2015 : Sports Co- op party <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today we celebrated the end of our sport co- op with a party. Our family was requested to get sweets and the girls totally voted in to bake. They chose to bake banana banana bread and vanilla mini muffins with icing.<br />
The girls worked hard on it starting last night and continuing into today morning. Chellu was the chief chef which Kunju pitching in enthusiastically. They also piped in Tariq for a little bit of time coaching him on how to use the Vitamix etc..<br />
The end product was awesome and a everyone seemed to really like it at the party. Needless to say Chellu was glowing like a queen and Kunju seemed very happy too. Always such a pleasure to watch the initiative, motivation, the happiness, the enthusiasm , the interest, the focus, the commitement and just the pure joy of doing something that comes from the heart. No amount of work is hard when it comes to cooking for Chellu. Her commitement to precision and perfection is really something. Glad this happened today and glad it turned out great!<br />
Another amazing HS day!! Yay! Proud mama..😀<br />
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Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-16177022627888279532014-10-31T14:15:00.002+09:002014-10-31T14:16:41.727+09:00Graveyard Lessons<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Last to last week we ended up at the Museum of the San Ramon Valley first in the morning at ten but a week earlier for a field trip . I had messed up with the dates. At first I was very disappointed, having driven all the way ! Wasn't sure what to do? We had lots of time till soccer later that day.<br />
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But the docent at the museum was very kind enough to spend time with me and show me all the activities we could engage in. So she handed us a passport book that we could use to enhance our learning. She pointed to many places in the neighborhood that we could visit and we took off. We had a good 3-4 hours in our hands before we had to head south for soccer. </div>
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We went looking for the plaque that commemorates the first visit of the Spanish to what is present day Danville. Instead we ended up at the local historical cemetery! And guess what? We decided it give it a look. Being a HSEr mom for all these years I have started looking upon everything as a learning opportunity. I can only see what is there to learn? Nothing is a waste of time, nothing is out of topic. </div>
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Shruthkirti was especially excited to do the passport book. It had a section where the exercise was to locate certain graves of pioneers and note down their birth and death dates. Seriously I would never imagined doing something like this EVER! Visiting andd studying a graveyard. As soon as we started the visit , questions started to pour. I love those moments of extreme curiosity . It's like a volcano , pouring out all sorts of questions. Like a hot Tava, just ready to make dosas. Anything you say or do at that moment is absorbed like a sponge. </div>
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We had discussions covering questions like what is death, is death a bad thing? How does our Vedic culture view death?, how is it different from the western viewpoint, incarnation, the purpose of life, cremation vs burial etc...so many topics that I would have otherwise never thought of talking about for that day were touched upon..that's the beauty of being open to learning all day through, of learning through living.</div>
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Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-14620390194458150252014-10-31T14:00:00.005+09:002014-10-31T14:00:48.015+09:00When children surprise you out of the blue !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Days like today will always be special. Not because we learned something exciting or did something great or went somewhere exciting but because first thing in the morning the children surprise you.<br />
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Today in the morning , first thing when the girls they got up, they went straight into the bathroom and had a bath! First thing in the morning! No repeated requests from me, no yellings , no ultimatums , no lectures ..nothing. Just their own initiative. I love such days. And we have had many like that . Where they would get up before me and clean up their room. Last Saturday too, Shridhari got up, bathed, brushed and had combed her hair by herself even before I had opened my eyes. One other morning, the sisters had got up earlier than everybody else and had decided to clean up their room. When I Igot up I was pleasantly surprised with a spic and span room.<br />
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I have read in several places. That contrary to popular belief , young children do want to cooperate, they do want to please their parents. It's a natural drive for them. It does seem hard to believe, but once a while on a day like this I am again reminded that my children want to genuinely want to be on my side. They genuinely do want to cooperate . It just takes time and lots of faith that we need to do what we as parents believe in , give the children lotsa of time to digest it, to understand it and then they will certainly get it someday. Love and connection are the main things.<br />
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Tonight just before putting them to sleep I made it a point to mention the fact that I was indeed very happy and pleasantly surprised to have seen them bather by themselves so promptly first thing in the morning. Shridhari immediately replied, " Today after entering the bathroom it struck me that not by not bathing we seem to trouble amma a lot . She has to constantly keep reminding us. And so I thought I should save her those troubles and quickly had a bath when I'm in the mood for it now. Later during the day I may lose the mood!"</div>
Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-8542274493742421092014-10-04T05:50:00.002+09:002014-10-04T05:50:56.955+09:00Look how far Shreedhari has come!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
From a kid who often has trouble walking or rather doesn't likes to walk, Kunju has always come across as this kid who would never want to physically exert herself. But she has been progressing slowly and steadily. The way she has overcome her illness in itself a miracle. But bigger than that is her taking the efforts, sometimes self willing and sometimes not to become more physically active. She has been taking baby steps and slowly, steadily getting there. I will never forget that one time when she left me spellbound with her hike up the Shivaji Maharaj fort . It was a good one hour and quite a steep one but she was doing it all like a professional.<br />
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Time and again I've been reminded through the HSing journey that it's so wrong to label anyone. We are so conditioned to do it. This is like this, that one is like that. And we so often do that with our own kids. But from my observations, I've learnt that every individual takes the time to get wherever they want. For Shreedhari it could be the connection , to be with those she really cares for and do the things that they like to do.<br />
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But most recently her great enthusiasm in participating in the HS PE class playing soccer has really surprise me. She loves to play games really and kick ball. And last week I was totally throw back watching her participate in the Presidential Fitness Campaign . I thought she would whine and cry and not like it all but the way she participated was something else. She enthusiastically did the sprint, the running, the stretches and everything else. And seemed to really enjoy it too! She loves to play sports it looks like. But I think it has also got to do with the kind of teachers or adults who hang out in such places. She always seems comfy in a HSing setting and always seems to need me to hover around somewhere in the background. As long as I am there watching her , she seems ready to go for it. </div>
Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-21037654141777173552014-10-04T05:35:00.001+09:002014-10-04T05:35:14.057+09:00I can't believe we have arrived here!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
For the past few days omething I've been waiting for ages is finally happening in our HSing lives. Chellu reading to Kunju! And that too for r hours!, oh gosh..how much would I have waited for this all this time? It all started with Kunju complaining that Chellu gets to read a book all by herself and all the yummy books that she picks by herself sat the library. Off late Shruthkirti has been reading a LOT by herself..sometimes spending half a day jn her room with a book and that obviously makes Shreedhari all by herself, something she is not used to.<br />
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When I heard the comment the first thing I did was go into HSing mode..wow this was my cnance really! So I went " you can do it too if you learned to read" but I i guess it was not reading bu the connection with her sister that Kunju was really looking for. Chellu sense it immediately and jumped in saying " I can read for you!" And that's it..it's been two days now since the sisters have been spending huge chunks of time in their room with one reading to the other.<br />
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Which then leads me to spend time blogging and doing things that have been on my to do list for a long time. I guess I will enjoy this while it lasts! You never know what's @ the corner!! 😉<br />
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But yes , jokes apart it gives me immense pleasure to see my elder reading the way she is. She literally gobbles up books in no time. She can never get up without finishing a book in one go. Something I did or rather " did not "certainly was right!</div>
Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-51286468483667302112014-10-04T04:59:00.000+09:002014-10-04T04:59:31.275+09:00Sanskrit Bharathi classes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today is a very special day in our family with the girls starting their first, formal, teacher ( that's not their mom or dad) led Sanskrit classes at the Samskrita Bharathi - a non profit organization that aims to create a community of Sanskrit speaking families. Sanskrit known as the mother of all languages , the language of our scriptures and our rich Vedic culture and knowledge is known to enhance cognitive development and improve math and science skills.<br />
The girls were super happy to be in their classes in the company of kids like themselves and with uncles and aunties from India. It made me realize how much they missed home. Samskrita Bharathi teachers were a cheerful andf encouraging lot. Apart from regular classes they also organize 3 days camps of Sanskrit speaking families, potlucks, picnics and what not with everyone speaking Sanskrit. It was such an unique , happy experience to be hearing so much of the language in a common man world sort of a way and not just as chants.<br />
I also realized that the girls knew so much of the language whether as conversational Sanskrit or shlokas with my novice attempts at teaching them the language over the past few years. I have done pretty well I must say and very proud of myself ! :)) hoping that this tryst with Sanskrit wil take us a long way in understanding ourselves and our origins.</div>
Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-65278774197768632412014-10-04T04:35:00.004+09:002014-10-10T08:07:53.134+09:00Ballet comes true at last<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Another of those " Connecting the dots experience". The girls , particularly Shruthkirti got hooked on to ballet a couple of months back. It all started back in Pune with the BCL ( British Council Library ) where she chanced upon a few books on ballet and eventually got highly attracted to it. I don't know what it is about ballet. It used to baffle me back in Pune as to how smnght like ballet can attract their attention where there is no environment for it?<br />
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But years of HSing has taught me to never Q learning. Why, how, when, which form it will take place in cannot be questioned or really understood. I've started looking at it as an indulgence of the soul at that moment . If left to complete freedom then true learning according to me is the soul's undertaking to immerse itself in all the experiences that it deems fit to progress for this lifetime.<br />
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This is what happened with ballet . It started with Shruthkirti and spread to Shreeddhari too like a virus. They got hooked on to it starting with a few books, then it went on to researching on YouTube..they checked out all sorts of performances and know the story of the Nutcracker very well. They even know various versions of the Nutcracker that's commonly performed by various ballet groups. They have been begging me for ballet classes for a while now.<br />
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Andd then the US shift happens and here we are attending ballet classes every Thursday. And so to finally see them actually wear the ballet dress and the tutu and do the dance is such a heartwarming moment for me. My eyes welled up once again to be able to experience yet another profound learning journey! And in last class the ballet teacher came up to me and told me that Shruthkirti has a body that's perfect for ballet! No wonder she has been so attracted to it all this while!!</div>
Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-81130839196853943672014-10-04T04:10:00.001+09:002014-10-04T04:16:08.367+09:00 It's all about connecting the dots<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's all about connecting the dots! While I've always experienced learning as this start to finish line in the form of exams, HSing has let me experience learning as an indulgence ..in what the spirit seeks to learn at that moment. It could be the most weirdest thing you would never be able to plan or come up in a curriculum and result in the most unimaginable outcome.<br />
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That's what is happening most recently with Shruthkirti. Last year after attending the IHC Khandala HSers conference she got fixated with learning a few songs from the song book that was prepared for the bonfire nights. She got especially attracted to " Raindrops on roses."from Sound of Music. It became an obsession. She spent days on it- knew it by heart, wrote it down line by line , went on YouTube to learn it perfectly , learnt the spellings and then ended up seeing the movie like a zillion times. And then we moved here and came across auditions for the Roberta Jones Junior Theater's fall production. Shruthkirti who has been into theater for the past 3 yrs obviously jumped in glee and we found ourselves in the auditions. They required her to sing a song in addition to dancing and acting and obviously the only English song that she knew from start to finish is guess what? " Raindrops on roses.." She went up on the stage and sang it so confidently ! Watching her at that moment brought me tears. The Director of the theater then commented that it was so incredible that someone who moved in to a totally new country can go on stage and sing so confidently ! Little did he know the amount of time that has been spent on this one song!<br />
Her rehearsals her in full swing for 3 roles she got selected in. Like a professional she has got her conflict calender sorted out and now the costumes are soon to be stitched! I always find these learning journeys incredible.</div>
Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-2366392962406757082014-09-01T09:42:00.002+09:002014-09-01T09:42:45.466+09:00Missing Amma and Appa on their birthday - family and it's gifts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A very happy birthday to my dearest parents - Appa and Appa whose birthdays fall on consecutive days- Aug 31st & Sept 1st respectively..I really do miss being @ with them in Pune and celebrating with the entire gang..I owe everything I am to them and words can never describe my gratitude to them for all that they have done for me and still doing starting from giving me the most precious gift of this life. Every single positive trait I have has been passed down by them either <span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">through virtue of their genes :)) or through their parenting. And the many negatives I don't have has also not come to my life , thanks to them. And yet no matter how much I will try , it will be a long time before I can catch up.<br />When I reflect upon those days of parenting when materialistic comfort was scare, family pressures were huge , I wonder how did they manage? As present day parents we have so much , yet it seems so hard!<br />Can we EVER find words to thank our parents? No wonder our Vedic culture says " Mathru Devo Bhava", " Pithru Devo Bhava" ( Mother is God, Father is God). I wish them many more years of fantastic health and happiness.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">Had we been in India we would have done a huge cake cutting with Dhriti, Akkachoo and Manavaa. It would have been such a great celebration! I really do miss being in India. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"> And ever since being in California it's been striking me again and again that the girls have got so much from staying with family all these years. They time and again remember everyone, sometimes even cry and ask to return back to India at the earliest. And it makes me so happy to see that there is that emotional attachment , that " Bhava" in them that Dadaji talks about all the time. Actually being in India , you really can't escape it. People kinda grow on you, inspire of their interference ..sometimes it feels like too much but then it also brings with it attachment and love., a feeling of wanting to be with others, like others matter. I still vividly remember that moment when the girls told bye to Appa at the Mumbai airport . It had such a strongman emotional feeling to it. That's when it struck me that these girls are not gonna be @ family for a long time now and how much they are gonna miss!! </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">Being with everybody brings in so much growth, so much maturity. It's a part and parcel of learning. Children have always grown up @ their grandparents and extended family. It provides such a strong sense of identity , of belonging and makes well adjusted kids who understand that everything in the world doesn't have to according to ones wishes and yet one can learn to be happy. Here I feel kinda uprooted. Probably also becoz I have to start from scratch building my own community. Family especially strikers as crucial when one is in trouble.i still remember that day when we came to know that Mahesh is in the hospital in Kolkkata and how in a jiffy everyone was at our doorstep and I could just take off like that without having to worry about the kids at all. That couldn't have been possible anywhere else except for India. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">I really do hope for my children to have family with them always as they grow up. Their cry for Dhriti is so endearing. It really warms my heart, it convinces me that they are in the right path. They care and want others. What more could I ask for?</span></span><br />
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Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-4570123165775951912014-08-28T14:08:00.002+09:002014-08-28T14:08:31.414+09:00Tree climbing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today we had been to Serra Park with the HSers and the girls had a great time climbing the local tress , searching for wild berries. Chellu went up and up with no fear whatsoever , targeting for the berries while Kunju stayed down collecting the falling ones. The latter then made a halwa out of the fruits with a stick as a spatula and then they gulped it down , again with a stick that served as a spoon. My wild girls! Love them to bits!!<br />
Their love for tree climbing stated out in Magarpatta itself. Jasminium with its small trees served as an ideal setting for these girls..I fact along with tree climbing they have also been upto a lot of tree related activities like decoration, tent building etc..<br />
When we arrived in California a month ago, they were thrilled to have found the perfect tree to climb in chitappa-chitti's house. It was not only tall but also had the branches at all the perfect spots for easy climbing. They climbed almost every day during our stay there.<br />
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I really feel so positive about the romancing with nature. This is even better than all those formal nature studies.,maybe that will surface as an interest some say but for mow at this young age all they really need is to be in open green spaces, next to tall trees and lotsa vegetation. Love for nature will be born automatically!</div>
Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-54275560512358575022014-08-28T13:57:00.002+09:002014-08-28T13:57:22.750+09:00Clay mess and all the learning from it.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Two days back the girls decided to get the air dry clay that Pallavi had given them and experiment with it. They set out in the balcony and soon they completely got wild with it. I was on ethe phone with Nirali and before I knew it they had dissolved the whole thing in water and were literally swimming in it. Must have been a whole lot of fun for them but it was certainly a horrible mess by the end of the whole session!<br />
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If it were Pune I would have been calm, but here in Santa Clara didn't know how the hell I was gonna clean this , without pissing off the neighbors below! Had a stern talk with the girls and told them clearly that everything needs to be spic and span like before. I had to tempt with a piece of cake as their reward if they got it done properly. I really had no other way out..it was such a horrible mess!<br />
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And they got to work instantly. They cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. For almost. An hour and half. They would take breaks but eventually get to work. While chellu worked on the floor , scrubbing and soaking up all liquid into a bucket , kunju worked on the glass doors. It was really hard work. And they worked on it till I gave the good enough signal.<br />
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When I observe these things, I feel like life is really the best teacher. The cleaning job was such an interesting lesson in itself. You know, they had to constantly improvise to find smarter ways of cleaning up the mess..would this towel be better, can I brush it this way, can we collaborate with each other , how much water to use? And finally the most valuable lesson" always use a tarp before messing @ "!!!<br />
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Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-34716883734933724902014-02-10T03:05:00.001+09:002014-02-10T03:21:53.725+09:00Nai Talim - Konkan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We got to attend this year's Nai Talim as well. It was indeed a last minute decision since I was a little apprehensive about going alone with the girls in on overnight bus. But! It all turned out to be an amazing experience from the start to the end. The overnight sleeper bus got the first squeal of delight from all of us! Had never seen anything like this before- a bus with only beds , no seats!<br />
Anyways we arrived the next morning in Kudal and got a ride from a co-passenger when my auto didn't arrive to pick me up. Such things can happen only in India. You can trust a complete stranger and things happen very spontaneously. Everything doesn't have to be planned ! Our next stop was in the local fruit and flower market. There were a group of aajis selling flowers and when I asked them if they could take care of my luggage & the girls while I shopped @ for fruits, they promptly agreed! I don;t know where else in the world such things can happen? This is the benefit of living in a "developing country" - not being so "developed" has retained a great level of humanity & love in our folks. Looking out for each other comes naturally..no one is really a stranger here. And a mother with two young children is instantly helped. That's why I love this country. You are NEVER alone.<br />
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New Education:<br />
Finally we reached our destination and wow ! The sight of the Nai Talim camp was really something: folks pitching tents, the beautiful Arabian sea right next to us, the silvery sand, familiar faces, children steeped in sand play! The sessions started and each one was a gem in itself. The five days of Nai Talim was really in every sense " NAI TALIM" or " New Education". We learned things no one ever mentioned in the schools or colleges or anywhere else. Whether Mukundji's recount of the tribal Gond community or Guruji's brilliant overview of the robust rural systems of India or Neelkant mama's talk on his life as a Shepard each and every word was brimming with true knowledge, love and passion. One never felt like getting up from the sessions. There was so much churning happening- so many Qs raised..especially on where we are headed as a country or individual, is so called "development" really what we need for our country, are our rural systems devoid of any knowledge, have we been really under-developed all this while that we need to get "developed", what are the lives and knowledge systems of our ancient folks, our tribals? So many thoughts, so much pondering. Makes one wonder as to whether the education we have received is of any use at all- it neither teaches us to co-exist with others nor with the environment @ us. We are the uneducated ones completely lacking skills & creativity, not our rural or tribal folks. We have so much to learn from them.<br />
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The sessions did an amazing thing for me. It cleared out all my doubts about where India stands in terms of development. Having left the States 4 yrs back, there are times when I question our decision for ourselves and our children? Did we do the right thing leaving the States? Aren't we shutting out a host of opportunities? Guruji's talk made it crystal clear for me- that the future is really in the past. We are highly developed just the way we were. Our rural systems had perfected it all in a sense. It is our aping of the west , our big cities culture, our current education that has dug the grave for us. And it is this co-existence with nature, others and ourselves that everybody has to return to. Where every family is an entrepreneur, a nature conservationist, a factory, an educator , an owner and a laborer. This is how our folks have lived and prospered for ages but yet we are clamoring @ in darkness looking for solutions as our standards of what is development and good for us has been set by others.<br />
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Unique Learning :<br />
While the adults were immersed in true education , the kids were having a grand time by themselves. This year's Nai Talim recreated the wonderful system of "Gotul" that is commonly seen in tribal villages. Gotul is the center of a tribal community where children are educated. Nai Talim's Gotul served as the community center for the kids. They hung out with each other , slept together with no adult intervention what so ever. The sessions planned for them also followed the Gotul culture. The children were engaged in interesting activities like shell collection and jewelry making, math & science activities, magic show, pottery, learning music from the Kalkeri students, Bharatnatyam session , story-telling , and of course splashing in the sea. Whether learning from a potter or music from the Kalkeri children with the sea as the backdrop, it was indeed an unique learning experience for the children. The freedom in the physical environment & mental space, the company of interesting & compassionate adults & ages from all ages, social strata , backgrounds and countries, the endless opportunities for play in the sand, the swimming in the sea ( While Chellu learned to swim like a fish in the sea, Kunju spent hours lost in her interactions with the sand & the sea) , the constant rendezvous with the beach ( its creatures - living and dead ), the endless chats over meals, visit to the nearby fishermen village, living in the tents, usage of dry toilets and bathrooms..everything together offered a classic learning opportunity for the children & adults alike .From true socialization to adjusting to a different way of life in tune with nature, the five days of Nail Talim drenched our children & us, in meaningful learning that ages of schooling can't even dream to!<br />
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Red Flags:<br />
This year's Nai Talim raised many red flags for us to ponder about. Claude Alvaris's talk on the damages of the tourism industry on Goa's fragile eco-system as well as our interactions with the local fishermen's village<br />
made us aware of how the locals are being punished for no fault of theirs. Trawling, global climate, tourism, breaking of traditional practices in fishing has wreaked havoc in the fisherman's life forcing him to shift to the cities to fend for himself. It felt very sad and frustrating at the same time. And it is the same story everywhere-farming, pottery, weaving, fishing..every traditional occupation is being threatened because of globalization. It's really greed at the bottom of all this. While our traditional societies learned to fend for themselves while being in complete unison with nature, our modern societies are pushing everyone to the brink of existence, especially the rural & ancient societies for no fault of theirs. The sessions sowed the seeds of introspection & reflection. Also augmented with it were the visits to the local fisherman's village & learning about their life and struggles. It is a great reality check , especially for us urban folks!<br />
Personally it was also very thrilling for me to learn that the village is a Swadhyay village when I saw the words "Jay Yogeshwar" written on the door-steps of one of the homes. I got to go back for a one on one visit with a family - the connection was instant! As Swadhyayees we bonded immediately and it was amazing to know how their lives were impacted by Swadhyay.<br />
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Nai Talim Family:<br />
Unlike last year, this time @ all of us stayed together for the entire duration of the shivir- cooked, cleaned, washed, made homes & did whatever was necessary for the workshop together. This created a very close bond and by the end of the 5 days it felt like one big family. I felt nostalgic about leaving everyone the last day. Living in the same space gave way to meaningful conversations with each other and we got to interact and build relationships with so many people from different walks of life. Where else would I have got to meet folks like Robin, Raefel, or Mary? The gem was indeed knowing Aishwarya, a member of the Hijada community up-close and personal. Where else would we have ever got to know someone like her? Learning about her life, her struggles, her dreams brought in such a strong sense of oneness for me. We are all JUST THE SAME albeit our differences in our external appearances.<br />
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Motivation and More motivations:<br />
Karan's talk on his attempt at urban organic farming & his probing into fears & insecurities, Indulkarji's discussion on his tribal school in the Western Ghats, the Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya..all these were so motivating ! Right in front of us were folks who had followed their heart's calling & broken away from fears & doubts . These are the true teachers- the ones who can beckon you to dream beyond your conditioning. I enjoyed each and every talk immensely. It was also amazing to see so many young folks from all sorts of backgrounds carving their own unique paths in life.<br />
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The five days of Nai Talim felt like home for me. Like " my people, my community". At the end of it all I was filled with so much hope and motivation. That change is possible and is already in the works. I do sincerely hope for cementing my relationships with all the folks I met there for ages to come- for myself and for my family. I had a hard time adjusting back to my routine, urban life in Pune. My eyes would well up when remembering Sachin, Meenal & Mrunal and the Nai Talim family. I'm extremely grateful for having known each and everyone of them...<br />
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Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-20078025508112732852013-10-21T05:36:00.001+09:002013-10-21T16:19:54.986+09:00Some days are nothing short of a miracle!- Kunju's first public win, Henry's Birthday Party and Our first playdate with Shravani<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I got up today quite clueless about what to do- today's BSK got cancelled and suddenly the whole day seemed to open up in front of me like an endless possibility..With Shankar flying to Goa first thing in the morning it became obvious that it was just the 3 of us.. I thought of things to do but nothing materialized..but one thing became apparent -the tone of the day was set in positivism & gratitude. I checked my FB account and found people thrilled about Chellu's cooking..Also felt very nice to share pictures of our Canada's trip on Vidya Natarajan's request..When you start the day receiving and giving appreciation then it is bound to go in the right direction!<br />
God had already decided the day for me..I got a clue when my house-help got her daughter Shravani to play with the girls..We have been talking about it for quite sometime now. I've been urging Meena to get her child for the BSK class as well as to play with the girls and with the toys in our house. I've often felt that we need to share more often the abundance we have in our lives with those that don't. Meena has been borrowing toys and books for quite some time now and I guess she got finally convinced to get her girl. She also wants Shravani to learn English from us- so the arrangement seemed like a win-win situation for us since I've wanted the girls to interact with more Marathi speaking kids.<br />
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From the moment Shravani arrived the girls were thrilled. The 3 of them spent a good 4 hrs completely in tune with each other. Shravani only spoke Marathi while the girls spoke Hindi. But an hour or so into the playdate it was magical as to how they started using Marathi words!! Wow! That's the power of human interactions- THE BEST WAY TO LEARN. Languages can never be taught--they can only be spoke and heard and learnt. I was so happy to see the girls completely share their toys and everything else with Shravani just as they would with their bldg and other friends. No differentiation- thanks to Swadhyay and to a certain extent to the travel that HSing has got into our lives, they have got so used to socialization with all sorts of people irrespective of their languages, classes, background etc..This is IMMENSE & will be such a strength of theirs. To be able to befriend everyone irrespective of how different they are! After a lunch together Meena came to pick up Shravani & thus came a beautiful play-date to an end. We can't wait to receive Shravani again after a week. Also was excited when Meena invited the girls to come and play in their house. I'm sure once that starts, the girls will pick up Marathi in no time! See ? Learning can happen everywhere, anywhere..In fact community based mentoring is the BEST way to learn. To soak ourselves in each others' lives and find our teachers in the most common yet uncommon places. I've started to fall in love with this concept of community based mentoring!!<br />
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Next came Henry's bday party. I'm telling you God had chalked out the day for me! Shreedhari asked me once or twice in the morning as to whether it was already evening? When asked why she promptly replied that today was Henry the Chicken's ( her fav soft toy these days!) birthday and that she is throwing a bday party..I didn't give it much attention then but realized later on that the girls had planned it ALL OUT. Once Shravani left they got to work. They wanted to decorate the room first for the party and didn't want me anywhere near them. So I picked up a book and relaxed for the afternoon and eventually drifted off to sleep. When I got up I was utterly surprised- the girls had climbed up the ladder to get the decorations from the loft, used them beautifully around the room including cleaning up and arranging their paintings beautifully and had even taken a bath to become spotless! They had also dressed up the bday girl ( yes Henry Cherry is a girl!) in some chamkili type cloth that I had purchased for Ganpati decorations.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chellu works on the bread cake</td></tr>
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Next thing they wanted to go to the destination center (DC) themselves to buy bread and yogurt to make the bday cake! This is the 2nd time in the week they have wanted to shop by themselves. And DC is a good 15 mins walk ( for adults) one way involving crossing traffic ( inside Magarpatta itself)! I tried to dissuade them but they were hell bent! So off they went and came a good 40 mins later. I can't believe it sometimes- that these girls have learnt to cross the road & to shop by themselves. Shruthkirti has started to show a keen interest in subtraction ever since she started to shop, so that she knows she gets the right amount back. Truly Life is the BEST teacher.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kunju ofcourse breaks into a jig!</td></tr>
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Chellu then got to work and made a bread cake with a topping of chocolaty yogurt- an idea she got from watching Wake Up Sid. They invited Dhriti who arrived promptly and then the party began. It was funny for me to see how in ALL HONESTY they sang for Henry and also cut the cake , that too with the special knife that we had purchased for Kunju's bday. Chellu then got the eco -friendly disposable cups to distribute the cake to everyone--it was as though they had planned EVERYTHING OUT. Amazing!- their sense of planning & execution. This is management at its best!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Birthday cake!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birthday girl</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHW15F94RtRZGwQPpnvHsFDOzyIFa9ZTXLHHBv_SsrlMgOcCr3NhyphenhypheneM2NnZRbRa8GatcGiTaJv-NuRxfGBwvyzf_VuTDHJYNVbprZi60uyiaqIhMjolQ4kwWN5wcQkzSeFU6IeX5pXe-o/s1600/100_6028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHW15F94RtRZGwQPpnvHsFDOzyIFa9ZTXLHHBv_SsrlMgOcCr3NhyphenhypheneM2NnZRbRa8GatcGiTaJv-NuRxfGBwvyzf_VuTDHJYNVbprZi60uyiaqIhMjolQ4kwWN5wcQkzSeFU6IeX5pXe-o/s1600/100_6028.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Toys arranged for decorations</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More decorations</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cutting the cake </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My house help joins the celebrations</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chellu distributes the cake</td></tr>
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Then came the Dandiya! Wow today was truly a seamless flow of positivity. We all got dressed in our best Dandiya attire and set off to Seasons Mall to participate in the Dandiya competition. We didn't go for competing at all. In fact I went purely for Kunju's sake -since she LOVES to dance and ONLY dances the entire day! It was really for her- for her learning and enjoyment. While the girls and I danced separately initially , eventually we started to dance together since they LOVE to dance with me. And I love it too. Its a diffn kinda magic -to dance with your girls.We had the loveliest time together. While Chelul eventually tired up, Kunju was NON-STOP. Danced the entire night...she was in her best form..you could see her spirit shining literally, just like how Chellu is when she is cooking. My gosh- this is TRUE learning. When the body, mind and spirit are engrossed in an activity. Like nothing else matters, like the whole world can go to hell! She came up with all sorts new steps, some funny even that made me laugh! OMG! i'll never forget those hrs of dancing with her..It was a privilege of sorts to have witnessed it! And guess what? When the prizes were announced Kunju gets selected for Best Female Kid Dancer!! Well, I'm not surprised at all since she was really the only kid who literally danced thru the event for a good 3 hrs! She has been thrilled with the prize giving ceremony and asked me to call up her dad & grandparents to convey to them the good news!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting all decked up for dandiya</td></tr>
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Wow! What a day..A gift from God ? A miracle of sorts? A day that let me witness the magic & miracle that my children are? A day that lest me realize how precious they are? These are the days I thank my stars AGAIN & AGAIN for having chosen HSing, for having prioritized my kids over work, career etc...so that I can live every moment with them and witness their lives in all its entirety and silliness- whether its the birthday celebration of Henry the chicken or whether its trying to keep up with the dance steps of Shreedhari! And they are SO MANY such days. Where the girls keep doing stuff that seem nothing short of miracles..that's the beauty of not sending one's kids to school! </div>
Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-69420472692031204892013-08-06T20:25:00.005+09:002013-08-06T20:25:54.527+09:00Nature Play<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We decided to go to Aditi Garden today for some nature time. The weather is finally clearing up and after a LOOOOOOOOOONG spell of rains we all are in the mood these days to step out. Moreover the girls especially Chellu is in a very physical mode these days and doing indoor activities is getting harder. The girls cycled to Aditi Garden while I walked with them. Inspired by another mom's blog Putti's world, we started out by making faces with natural materials like leaves, bark , branches etc..All of us enjoyed the activity thoroughly. Chellu especially did a gr8 job of searching for appropriate stuff ..She really enjoys designing so much. And then the girls took off for their own activity for the rest of the time...They decided to first decorate the bed- sheet with leaves and then climbed up a tree. I did a small activity with poem recital ( Kunju) and describing the tree ( Chellu) and what's the tree telling you ( both)..they liked that too.<br />
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A good three hours flew by with us engaged in nature...Absolutely loved the time we spent with each other and with nature. Especially the swing and cradle making by the girls...design & innovation come so naturally to children. We just need to give them the space and freedom and then step back. Everything unfolds so beautifully.<br />
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B ut again they went off in their own directions..They asked for the bed-sheet and soon we had a "house"<br />
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And once they got down Chellu decided to tie a "jhoola"...the best part was how many attempts she made to perfect it and perfect & pretty it did turn out to be. First a standing swing and then a sitting one.<br />
Really perfect! Kunju had a good time swinging in it.<br />
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And soon afterwards it became a cradle ..<br />
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While they were busy experimenting with the jhoola I decided to paint a dry leaf.<br />
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Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1098803629610612768.post-6561357127006889212013-08-04T10:56:00.003+09:002013-08-06T02:39:43.289+09:00When Art Rules The Roost<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWcfuNa99hXhq8QEPo5KyZpAe-htDD509RfqHg-ijZjms0VnSPWjrd9KZAD9drbeX7SDiXT1oZlI01yZdH3RfukV3M3FRQXbMu8uc2Dh1cMp46hKo4EXQhrmdOLZeIHXpym2xsaLr0m1A/s1600/IMG_3278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWcfuNa99hXhq8QEPo5KyZpAe-htDD509RfqHg-ijZjms0VnSPWjrd9KZAD9drbeX7SDiXT1oZlI01yZdH3RfukV3M3FRQXbMu8uc2Dh1cMp46hKo4EXQhrmdOLZeIHXpym2xsaLr0m1A/s200/IMG_3278.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjvZNJirJFej-eTkqKYoMf0G7oLVos7WfzFe-tZLKHZkYGX33Q1-WVWtwM-gX8mmZOp_jWTlV2ilES5MdegNgKGiswM05KTc6x4FU7yxoHKgWWc1T7OvIX_PbNHm6iWoG-O6MWAqv6QFU/s1600/IMG_3275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjvZNJirJFej-eTkqKYoMf0G7oLVos7WfzFe-tZLKHZkYGX33Q1-WVWtwM-gX8mmZOp_jWTlV2ilES5MdegNgKGiswM05KTc6x4FU7yxoHKgWWc1T7OvIX_PbNHm6iWoG-O6MWAqv6QFU/s320/IMG_3275.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last week we enjoyed a day when art took over and consumed the girls. That day, first thing in the morning I had a very messy house to clean up . So I handed over rice flour and Rangoli colors to the girls and asked them to make some kolams. And lo! they were engrossed for almost an hour. Came up with some fun designs. Chellu tried the "acchu" or "die" and liked it too..</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The rangolis set the mood for the day and for the rest of the day the sisters were indulged in their own art creations. They went on to do wall -art , make their own key chains and finally indulged in glass colour painting on plastic </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">sheets. We ended up making some pretty ones that went on to adorn our living room window. The last activity was suggested by me but finalized by them. The rest of it were creations of their mind. And I had such fun watching them and doing it with them. It is one thing when art is planned and done and another completely different thing when it comes from the heart. The spontaneity, the creativity, the joy ..these are worth experiencing when it comes with art from within!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making their "key chain" -they asked for old keys for their pretend play and then used it to make a chain</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chellu works on wall art with her sister's hands & legs</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wall Mehendi</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More wall art</td></tr>
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Chellu's wall art </td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRrWWi5oaQAsWOlzleDrdWW4O9euq9Z-2eUrReiS-Q0XgEmbV9BTkFM_YaNglLlYqioEciwAcEQndC0U-CZJLApkrPWY0YwQyO9J8ap9WKQFPHfe5A5qK5aFjkYFXs7PikactMAM4f09k/s1600/IMG_3292.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRrWWi5oaQAsWOlzleDrdWW4O9euq9Z-2eUrReiS-Q0XgEmbV9BTkFM_YaNglLlYqioEciwAcEQndC0U-CZJLApkrPWY0YwQyO9J8ap9WKQFPHfe5A5qK5aFjkYFXs7PikactMAM4f09k/s200/IMG_3292.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9T8g114XuyRo42P4PX-sdrQDc2nBSzL2hTm7mE4Ox3tExUP0HE5WZEsYvTgYsyf08GfYXh9f3uRFz9ybBEk8v9EhRq-_bZFUOHtyv52DLN5QGM3l4P99laQ2Ylpf_oHvrgI0U7eXs9ZE/s1600/IMG_3293.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9T8g114XuyRo42P4PX-sdrQDc2nBSzL2hTm7mE4Ox3tExUP0HE5WZEsYvTgYsyf08GfYXh9f3uRFz9ybBEk8v9EhRq-_bZFUOHtyv52DLN5QGM3l4P99laQ2Ylpf_oHvrgI0U7eXs9ZE/s320/IMG_3293.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chellu's copy drawing of the Statue of Liberty</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdfjJRreIkWw3duVI3OLr00ZdeIZglNSG4MjAQ5qql_fN1C5g1Tsd6DyJAukttisu7evgRqgeyuU6sfctpOCTAOMVqcDCvtZG7Cq9EqZ5hyphenhyphense1-msm_WTaS0vfLYtNyR8DQ_Ol_B8AQQ/s1600/IMG_3298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdfjJRreIkWw3duVI3OLr00ZdeIZglNSG4MjAQ5qql_fN1C5g1Tsd6DyJAukttisu7evgRqgeyuU6sfctpOCTAOMVqcDCvtZG7Cq9EqZ5hyphenhyphense1-msm_WTaS0vfLYtNyR8DQ_Ol_B8AQQ/s200/IMG_3298.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glass color painting</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFrSLYLGqX3gwyak3QKUitjMDi6373xWxmmz5qny4Ra17zamF9kEQxQ6Deya9d4OFhV3e0FovFJNyxXsGO67bMXnwd8p117U-b0_9ba0LGxjcAnyEe6kXgMEfbP4N523s4HUH1drYEIE/s1600/IMG_3294.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFrSLYLGqX3gwyak3QKUitjMDi6373xWxmmz5qny4Ra17zamF9kEQxQ6Deya9d4OFhV3e0FovFJNyxXsGO67bMXnwd8p117U-b0_9ba0LGxjcAnyEe6kXgMEfbP4N523s4HUH1drYEIE/s200/IMG_3294.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Dad"</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDspjsxPy_1C5i_2nEkIi064ieBZL682khVe_KPb_x3b-16M2AZ7V7CDN7GdmUq7qRl1KtTeKFUmbNxhbneSYg-DLpqmrLtMaecYR7NvmBjoI-pZXJw-_7WspLEkhHVnjTj1m1FLs0DJ8/s1600/IMG_3296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDspjsxPy_1C5i_2nEkIi064ieBZL682khVe_KPb_x3b-16M2AZ7V7CDN7GdmUq7qRl1KtTeKFUmbNxhbneSYg-DLpqmrLtMaecYR7NvmBjoI-pZXJw-_7WspLEkhHVnjTj1m1FLs0DJ8/s320/IMG_3296.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glass color painitng</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrMX2NBoBY2oW5PWy5TpfTuMHTAXXN-0YU4GawB3subbEEAJpd6HirXjn_NT6o5YbwqUucq7t9mKYLlbv7r4j0gNP3XNcxj21I2IQTBigLi54vAO0BA9lefO6-8G6dkb2CbhGwM8qAwc/s1600/IMG_3298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrMX2NBoBY2oW5PWy5TpfTuMHTAXXN-0YU4GawB3subbEEAJpd6HirXjn_NT6o5YbwqUucq7t9mKYLlbv7r4j0gNP3XNcxj21I2IQTBigLi54vAO0BA9lefO6-8G6dkb2CbhGwM8qAwc/s200/IMG_3298.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kunju enjoys her glass color painting</td></tr>
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Sangeethahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04173959146687430945noreply@blogger.com0