Nuisance Value

What are these things that surround us? As I sit and write this, I see myself surrounded by so much............stuff.

How much of this is really useful NOW? How much of this is something I have kept because I "might" need it some day. There is a word for most of this stuff. Clutter.

It hides what is really needed. I have often spent hours searching for something I need and later found it hidden behind these inessential trivia. And I still spend so much time tidying it up, rearranging it, putting it in a neat order. Stuff I can really get along by without missing.

So, today I shall put them in a box. Give them. Leave them outside. I am going to create more space. So that I can see.

The good thing is that this applies also to my thoughts!

Contagious ..anytime!

First, watch this: 

What did you feel? 

Inspiring, yes! Simple, No.

A lot of this work is very conscious. Takes an enormous amount of balance and wisdom to not unduly influence and push the children towards work that we want them to do because it looks good. And also not to silence our own voices as educators.

It is not the stepping up and stepping back which is important. It is knowing when to.

Be inspired. Be prepared. Draw them out. Let them be..

Pitter Patter...

Rain. Growing up in Mumbai is about being one with it. Splashing in it, sometimes wading through it, fighting on when the windscreen wipers work furiously and still you cant see the road. It envelops you. You cannot remain untouched. I guess if you can live with it, you are halfway being a mumbaikar. If you can enjoy it, you might never leave.
How different the same rain is here. The clouds ready to burst, but they never really do - almost respecting people's desire to go on un-interrupted. As I wake up and see through this cocoon of semi-light, I feel the urge to open the windows, hear it fall, stretch my hand out. For a moment, forgetting that I am eight thousand miles from home. No, it isnt different - this rain. If it makes you feel the same way, how can it be. How can it be?

Is it just me or....

Life. Is it made up of moments or do "moments" make life? Why does time fly by sometimes? And sometimes, why doesn't a single moment come to pass? Are these just philosophical questions and a way to move away from living? Or do these questions help us come "alive"?
I guess, I don't know the answer. I guess, I never will. Maybe the answer doesn't exist. Or maybe, it keeps changing!
But still I wonder...

tell a story..

Crash.Syriana.Capote.
Three movies which have made me wonder at the sheer creativity and imagination which some of us seem to possess. Pictorially, they are all different. While crash comes across as super slick with smooth transitions to move across the seven stories that run parallely, Syriana uses image with sound to capture imagination and Capote has the old-movie feel to it. But there is one factor that puts them in the same league. They all are powerful stories captured on film.
It all comes down to that. If you have a good story -a story that can intrigue your audience, challenge them, play with them, make them laugh, question and think - you are already on your way to great stuff. Yes, it all comes down to that.