A small token of gratitude

A teacher is not only someone who teaches, but one who inspires, encourages, supports, appreciates, recognizes talent and prepares their students for life. Be it for the daily life or, for the corporate life.
A teacher plays a very crucial role in shaping everyone’s personality.
Schooling will decide what kind of individual one becomes, what manners, basic etiquettes, command over language, competitive spirit one possess. In college, the professors teach us the right attitude towards life, prepares us to handle stress, multi-task, gives us a bigger picture of what life really is, guides us for our career, develops our personality and above all gives us a glimpse of the corporate world. And there are dance teachers, music teachers, swimming coach who brings out the hiddden talent from all their students. Makes them believe that they can do anything.

Accept it or not, for most of the students, their first role model is a teacher. We look forward to them for everything, any advice and guidance. Teaching is not an easy job. A teacher is supposed to know everything, be prepared for every question, and should always be right !! They play many roles together, teacher, counsellor, advisor, and even that of a friend, to name a few.

Even after having all the industry knowledge, awareness of latest developments and trends, and even experience, they chose to be in the education field. They want to shape futures, want to contribute in development of youth. Its their passion to educate the world. Many people, specially the youth today thinks there is no growth in this profession, but the fact is, their learning never ends, and they keep growing, in terms of knowledge, experience and wisdom.

As our PM Narendra modi said,

Teaching is not just another profession. It is a divine responsibility to guide and enlighten

We should all respect our teachers, professors, coaches, lecturers.I want to thank my teachers for everything. Their support, encouragement, recognition and appreciation played a crucial role in my personality development, without which I would not have acheived anything, and would not be in the same place as today.Their examples, experiences, stories and lessons will stay in my life forever. Really grateful for everything, words are less to describe my gratitude towards them..

-Straight from my Heart,
Prakriti Singh

September 5, 2014 6

Life is like a train journey or Train is life ??

” Life is like a train ride. We get on. We ride. We get off. We get back on and ride some more. There are accidents and there are delays. At certain stops, there are surprises. Some of these will translate into great moments of joy; some will result in profound sorrow.”- Author unknown. There are so many life is like a train ride quotes. Many authors and poets use the metaphor of train journey for life. But for about 8 million people in Mumbai, train is a part of their life. Rightly described as the lifeline of Mumbai, it plays a very crucial role in our lives. We are greatly dependent on the local train network, few delays and cancellations, our life gets disturbed. I am one of them. I spend 4 hours everyday travelling. Everyday I meet many new people and the same people and my train friends(a category of friends which only Mumbaikars have ;)).

From the past few days, I am travelling alone, which is usually not the case. Everyday I observe people, interact with many and overhear many conversations. I have overheard many ladies complaining and cribbing about how their lives are just about travelling-office-travelling. By the time they reach home, they are too tired to spend time with family, or just there is nothing much to say other than the train-rides and office politics ! Avoiding both the topics, they prefer to sleep. During monsoon, many people spend even 6 hours travelling in Mumbai local. This made me wonder, is this what we Mumbaikars call life ? Do our lives have no other meaning than just travelling and returning !? Train is life for Mumbaikars ?

Its all perspective. Its like the glass is half full, or half empty !! Both are true, but it depends on the attitude, how we take it. Some things we have to accept and move on with it. There is no point cribbing. Yes, we travel , we spend 4 to 6 hours daily in train, so what ? You are not alone, there are 8 million people doing the same.
There are people who enjoy travelling, have a train group, countless train friends, are merry, discuss everything and don’t crib at all. In fact, motivate other travellers and give them tips too 😉

I would say that people who travel by Mumbai local are one of the most hardworking, perseverant , social people in the world. They experience life in its true form, every single day.

Below are some qualities which Mumbai local travellers develop and even master:

Being Social: They are the most social people in the world. They can start a conersation with anyone, and on any topic !! Moreover, they feel connected to many people too. Train friends soon become the closest friends.

Time Management: Their system gets tuned to keep track of every minute. Moreover, they will value each and every minute of their life. Even 2 minutes means a lot !( Had written a whole post on it – prakritisingh.wordpress.com/2013/09/26/managing-time-the-train-way/)

Multitasking: Listening music, reading, chatting, eating,playing games,these are some things which are done simultaneously. For bloggers, even writing 😉

Never lose hope: Even if one single minute is left for the train, they will hope they get it. Many times the postive attitude works a lot 🙂

Running: Its dangerous, but all the local travellers atleast for once, must have ran madly to catch a train. Well there are those who do this everyday too, in kareena kapoor and Shah rukh khan style 😉

Flexibility: Sounds funny, but their bodies remain flexible. Due to the crowd, they can stand in weird positions, on their toes, all the body weight balancing on one leg , their bags on their head and what not ! Also they get free body massage many times 😉

Planning: Every day begins with a plan, which train to take, what time to leave from home to reach office/college on time, and so on. These little things make them strong in memory , assumptions and ultimately planning becomes a part of every task.

Introspect:Many people prefer utilizing the time with oneself, to introspect, to ask answers to oneself, and some even meditate (only possible in harbour line)

The list can be never ending.. These are just some of them. So, if we see it positively, each day is a new learning, new hope for Mumbai local travellers. Are they really wasting time ? I believe nothing in life goes waste, everything teaches us something.

Ultimately, life is what our thoughts make it…

Straight from my Heart,
Prakriti Singh

August 5, 2014 9

A Letter From Mother Nature

Dear Humans,

Day by day, your interference in my life is making me suffer a lot. Most of my charm is degrading now. Forests are being converted into concrete jungles, all the water bodies are getting polluted, many species are getting endangered, the reason being your activities, greed and misbehaviour with me.

Why don’t you understand, my beauty is at its peak when untouched by humans. Some of you love me, care for me and want to preserve every part of me, whereas there are many of you who don’t care about me. Even though I am hurt, and dishearten I still and will always shower gifts on you. I will leave you captivated with my scenic beauty, and I can give you vivid memories to cherish. You may find me fascinating with so many different forms and with my diverse children. I do not show you timely my anger, disappointment and sadness. But deep inside, I am crying.

If I keep on complaining about your misbehaviour, I will be exhausted. Hence I would take a simple example and make you understand my emotions. The Kharghar waterfalls, or what is called as PandavKada, in Navi Mumbai, a few weeks ago was a place for nature lovers and a few monsoon revellers. As soon as people would start the journey towards the falls, they became mesmerized. You people realized the need for peace, greenery, beauty, and freedom. I can bet that my admirable views made you forget all your sorrows, and brought out the child within you, filled with joy, adventure and fun.

But now, the forest department and a few other associations came together and started exploiting me. They have blocked my natural flow using rocks and started tickets for entry on the name of security. It’s great they are successful too in their motive, attracting vendors and stalls. Very soon I will become dirty and all you would see is plastics and other garbage. Within a week they collected Rs 1.5 lakhs. Those people made a business out of me, and I am pretty sure that money will not be used for my benefits, or for enhancing me. I am what I am you people cannot change me, only destroy my innocence gradually.

Many of you understand and sympathize with me. Some are fighting for me too. I am glad for it. Whatever it is I am still beautiful, I am not afraid of humans, just angry and sad, hoping not to get deprived of my natural charm.

– Mother Nature.

July 7, 2013 6