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Every Donkey Has a Smart Brain

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Once upon a time, a farmer’s donkey fell into a well. The animal cried loudly for hours, while the farmer searched for a way to rescue him. Eventually, the farmer concluded that the donkey was old, and the well was already dry and in need of being covered. He believed it wasn’t worth the effort to pull the donkey out of the well. The farmer gathered his neighbors and invited them to help. Equipped with shovels, they began to throw matti into the well. The donkey soon realized what was happening and cried out in distress. Surprisingly, after a few shovelfuls of matti, the donkey quieted down. Curiosity piqued, the farmer peered into the well and was amazed by what he saw. With each heap of matti that fell upon him, the donkey did something incredible: he shook off the matti and used it to step up. Gradually, everyone watched in astonishment as the donkey reached the mouth of the well, went over the edge, and trotted out to freedom.

This story teaches us an important lesson. Life will throw matti at us, all sorts of challenges. However, the key to climbing out of the hole lies in shaking off that matti and using it as a steps of a ladder. Every problem we face can be an opportunity for growth. If we refuse to give up, we can overcome even the deepest holes.

Remember the five rules for happiness:

  1. Free your heart from hate.
  2. Free your mind from distractions.
  3. Simplify your life.
  4. Give more and expect less.
  5. Love more and shake the matti, because in this life, you must be a solution, not the problem!

What does AM PM after time mean?

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I have always wondered about the origin and truth about the AM and PM when we mention time.6am, 3pm, 9pm. Somehow their meanings ante meridian and post meridian were not convincing enough. Until I came across the origin of the words in Samskritam.

Yup, its true that the origin is Samskritam, hence Bharat for the acronym AM and PM. Its not what we have been made to believe since our childhood that AM is ante meridian and pm is post meridian where meridian means longitudes. The west whenever they copied or got inspired by another language would randomly replace the meaning with any word that started with the syllable or sound and closest to meaning. Not necessarily exact meaning. Because to replace with excat meaning they would have to accept that they copied, right!

In Samskritam, आरोहनम् मार्तण्डस्य and पतनम् मार्तण्डस्य are very simple day to day words.

Where मार्तण्ड: = The Sun.

मार्तण्डस्य = of the Sun as the preposition is added to the words to reduce number of syllables so that it could be easily memorized. That is the reason a two liner shloka श्लोकः is like a zipped file containing 100MB content. 😄 My Salute to the Rishis of Bharat.

Lets continue with the deciphering of the meaning.

आरोहनम् = climbing or ascending पतनम् = falling or descending. Does it not make it intuitive to understand the meanings that you do not need to mug up? But we were fed fake narratives. Only when we learn Samskrita Bhasha we will empower ourselves.

Else, we will remain slaves. Yesterday we were slaves of information provided by the west.

Today we are slaves of information providing tools.

Tomorrow we will be slaves of information providers. When I hear from the parents but by learning Samskritam how will it help my child’s career? Bruh! Knowledge of a language whether its Samskritam or English or German is to empower your child to use that language to read the truth not to see the earning potential.

If you have any comment about this post, do share your views.

Read if you Failed in Board Exam

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White Meme Hope Cat Instagram Story

Humans have a long life span. 80 to 100 years give and take. In this huge life span there is not a single human being who has never failed. You may start from the time scientists have geological proofs to today. Be it a leader, rishi, muni, king, queen, scientist, teacher, businessman or a student. Everyone has failed each year. But they did not end their lives. They decided to get up, stand up, start again whatever they were doing. They had learnt one more lesson how not to do that thing in which they failed.

Indians who failed several times before they became successful

APJ Abdul Kalam ji my favorite scientific example who had really tough childhood filled with poverty and lack of basic material stuff. He fought daily with life to complete his school education and engineering. Yet he failed to get into Indian Airforce, which was his dream after his finished his BTech in Aeronautical Engineering from MIT Madras Institute of Technology. He did not give up Hope and end his life. He worked hard and got a job in DRDO where even after making a Hovercraft he was unsatisfied with his work. He joined ISRO and later led the Indian team to build India’s first Satellite Launch Vehicle SLV III which successfully launched Rohini in 1980. Shri Kalam became popularly known as the Missile Man as he led India into several indigenous Missiles. Later he served as the President of India. During his entire career life he faced innumerable challenges and failures. Yet he did not let those failures stop him. Then why would an insignificant marksheet and result of a board exam which anyways fails to measure individual talent, decide your future.

apj abdul kalam

Amitabh Bachchan is another Indian who has failed early on in his life. Can you believe All India Radio rejected him and was told that his voice was unfit for radio. The man now charges royalty from people who mimic his voice! He was rejected by several movie producers who found his tall lanky body unfit for Indian lead actor. Thankfully his mother’s closeness to the then PM Mr Nehru’s family helped open doors. But the man did not give up or take his life. He was hopeful of one break that would make him the king of Bollywood.

amitabh bachchan

Sachin Tendulkar is today known as the God of Cricket by his fans in India and abroad. Yet he was dropped from the team several times and was criticised for his performance. In 2005, he was dropped from the first two matches of the series during India’s tour to Pakistan. In third match he was taken back but he scored just 1 run and was out. There was entire country against him and wanted him to be thrown out of the team. Yet with his resilience and practice, he came back so wonderfully that he will be one of the most successful cricketer of the world.

sachin tendular edited

Kishore Biyani is one businessman who is the right example of success built on foundation of failures. He started working in his family’s Bansi Textile mills. But it went into losses and he had to shut the mill to pay off debts. Later he started Pantaloon that also failed even though the brand is still popularly known to us. Next he started convenience store chains called Big Apple and Aadhaar. But both failed as he could bring Indians to shop in a mall like place. He finally succeeded by using the learnings of all the failed businesses and started Big Bazaar. He did not say after his first failure that I am never going to start any business or that I am a failure. He kept on trying again and finally reaping the benefits.

kishore biyani future group

Rajesh Dembla is my favorite. He lived in a railway station as a teenager, without eating for days. He started working at railway station by helping a man who would finance small vegetable sellers. He worked in a shop as a cleaner. From there he joined Yellow Pages and learnt the tricks of the trade. Later he joined Justdial as their business partner. Today he is an investor and soon launching Zoozle. He has lived the life in rags and now in riches.

Rajesh Dembla 1

Resilience is important part of human life

I have failed so many times that I don’t give a shit to anything or anyone now. So let me share my mantras with you in dealing with failure.

  • Become immune to negative people and negative environment. If possible kick them out of your life. With me It’s a switch in my brain which I turn off and that person becomes invisible to me. 😄. I wish I could teach everyone about this awesome trick.
  • Watch favorite movies with favorite food and favorite people. No talking and discussing failure now. Let the dopamine replace all the negative secretions. Sleep long hours and wake up so early that world is not even aware of you. Go to the nearest park filled with trees. Walk, jog, run or just sit there. This works like magic always. A favorite music will always help.
  • This is do and teach others. I have a fond memory of the time when Captain Rakesh Sharma in space ship was talking to then PM Indira Gandhi. My mom was applying JabaKusum oil on my hair and I was sitting on the floor with my brothers and sisters. We were all watching the live feeling so proud, positive and hopeful. That smell of JabaKusum and Hope of positivity has been inscribed in my memory. Today, if I ever feel low, I open the bottle of JabaKusum oil and take a deep sniff. 😄.
  • Find out what is that one pleasant memory that always brings a smile onto your face. Cultivate it for days when you are feeling low.
  • I bet you know the usual points which every one tries to rant off like, learn from the mistake, set realistic goals, seek support. But remember each one of us has a unique trick already burnt in the memory that you may use to instantly become positive. Mine is that red color JabaKusum oil. What’s yours?

Last advice. We all have a purpose. Seeking that purpose is more important than trying to fit into the tiny boxes of purposes defined by people around you. Anytime you want to talk to someone, comment below. I always read and reply.

Courier guy did this to me when I gave him

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kitten asking otp

I had ordered stainless steel straws from Amazon.in. After weeks it was delivered today. But this post is not about the straws which I will write after this post. It’s just a random thought that flashed in my brain because my heart cried.

Honestly I was very busy making another very serious article on Bournvita saga. So this post is an unplanned one. Why I decided to write about it was because the buzz of AI Artificial Intelligence has been driving is all nuts. Amongst that emotions of Human being is losing perspective. People are imagining that AI will take over the humans.

Yes humans are far far resilient than any machine will ever be. And I want to prove it by humane actions that humans only are capable of doing.

So this courier guy rang the doorbell. The moment I saw him, his frail old body underneath a white tattered tshirt with a pair of blue jeans that seemed borrowed from a 10 yr old. 😔

He asked me to give the otp to receive the package. I said wait. Quickly I went to my son’s wardrobe and picked out 2 TShirts, folded them and came to the foyer area. Then I started to check for the otp which was not there in the message box of my mobile phone. I told him that and he said, “dont worry madam. I will come back later.”

That’s when I handed him two Tshirts and asked if he would take them.

He took the Tshirts and started weeping. I too had tears. So to prevent further emotional scene, I said, I will again check for the OTP.

The old man said after wiping his tears, that, this is his first day as a courier guy with Amazon, and that he did not have a Tshirt to wear. So his friend gave him his old TShirt so that he could start working. This friend also borrowed his own son’s jeans and lent it to the old man.

Then what he said made me feel very emotional. He said, “You are the hands of that Bhagawaan God through which he is helping me. How else would any madam will hand over tshirts to a courier guy!”

I was so overwhelmed that I could be the one who God chose to help his devotees.❤️

I then asked him to come back after his work is over on weekend so that I can handover more clothes. If this old man will be back again, I will update about his life story.

Do share such incidents from your life too and spread humanity. As parents the biggest legacy we leave behind for our children are kindness and empathy which no AI can even beat. 😂

How to improve memory and retention of students?

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Parents and teachers are always searching for solutions that will help their children and students improve their memory power. This article is for all those parents and teachers. If you are not aware of the Learning curve or rather the forgetting curve, you should quickly read about it here. Then continue reading this article.

 

So as the forgetting curve depicts that in general we start forgetting things 80 to 90 percent of the rest within 24 hours. If revised within 24 hours we retain the content for one more week. If we revise after one week, we retain for around 90 days. And finally if we revise after 90 days, the content is stored permanently.

 

Taking this as the basis parents and teachers including tuition teachers must start the following steps.

 

  1. Ask the students to read and come to the class. Assign 10 Marks to this effort so that it becomes a habit. Less marks will not motivate them to pre read. Reading will basically familiarize the student with terms and a gist of the topic. Let them mug up words with meanings that are new or difficult. Ask them to read the questions before reading the chapter.
  2. The first step will be reinforced by the teacher or parent taking the chapter next day. They should start by ensuring that the students have read the chapter. Ask words and their meanings.
  3. Start with asking questions pertaining to the topic and their real life usage. Explain the concept. Finish by again a short quiz on concept learned. It can be part of the classwork the same day.
  4. Now starts the forgetting curve. To prevent forgetting all that was learnt in the class, a short home work asking the definitions and gist of the concept must be given. Not more than 5 questions or one page homework. A quick reading is must for the student to complete the homework. Revision within 24 hours done.
  5. The next revision has to be within the next seven days. Giving a project or a class test on the same topic next week will take care of the same.
  6. Now you are left with the third revision after or within 90 days. The quarterly tests or revisions will ensure that final step of the memory and forgetting curve is also handled by you.

May be the idea behind the homework, unit tests, quarterly tests was to ensure that follow the memory and forgetting curve. Time to allow schools to conduct these for the good retention and recall that your child deserves.

The only trick is to follow it diligently by planning the entire curriculum and time table a year in advance.

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This is how my son started saving money instead of spending it!

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An idea can change habits and attitude. A few years back my son started getting his pocket money. He would be eager to spend the entire money asap. I was worried that he will not value money and the hard work. So one day I told him that the day his pocket money saved becomes 10000 I will double it for him.
Suddenly his spending stopped. He stopped going to his friends for useless outings. He stopped travelling by auto to his friends. Movies and parties stopped.
All money gifted by relatives were saved by him!
I thought this was due to pressure of board exams.
But there is no pressure in my family about board exam, then what could be the change?

Last month he told me that he has saved 10K and now I have to double it up!

I am pleasantly surprise and filled with immense pride for this young man.

He has agreed to get his account instead of cash which he plans to invest in stocks!
My younger son is motivated too that when he starts getting his pocket money, he too will start investing. Fingers crossed.

Parenting can not be a one blanket solution for all. We all have to keep on trying ways to find solutions for our own children.

Can short videos replace printed story books ?

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How many of you have read and still have fond memories of Amar Chitra Katha?
Those were the thin illustrated books that imparted good values slowly and silently. They were spaced out as weekly or monthly editions, giving us ample of time to digest the story, replay and dream over.

Now we have videos that are so short that before our children have time to ponder over the story, next video is already playing!
How do we expect our kids to soak in the values imparted by these videos?

How to teach values to your children

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We all want our kids to have moral values yet somehow it’s the most difficult to inculcate.
Mostly kids will observe parents and imbibe their parents actions. So whatever are the intentions behind your actions, kids only see the act. As parents we have to explain the intent to them so that kids know the real reason behind your actions.
My son seemed to be very compassionate when he was young. Of late in the teens I felt slight decrease in the compassion for others.
Obviously the time spent with me now, incomparison to the past had also reduced. Teens have their own friends who become their world for 4 to 5 years. (A hormone during teenage is the culprit which takes 4 to 5 yrs to be overpowered by another good hormone. It’s a normal process.) During this period, teaching values and morality is quite a task as teenagers don’t seem to pay attention.

Yet, it was a concern that was disturbing me. Should I let him be and wait for the teen phase to get over or should I intervene now, indirectly.

Then I got the opportunity on his birthday. He wanted a mobile phone. I gave it with a couple of strict tasks that he has to follow everyday.
Gave him a set of stories with moral values. (Did not buy any moral science book as the title would have given away my intention.) He had to memorize, write and then discuss the story with me everyday. Only after that the phone would be handed back each day. He was too eager to have the phone and quickly agreed to my rules. 😉

Everyday after school he has to take a story from me, memorise it, write it down and then discuss it with me.

It’s been only two months since we started this task. His teacher who used to constantly call about his naughtiness was full of praises. She said, “Mrs Singh, your son has changed! We are thinking of suggesting his name for school representatives!”

I know now that my activity and its desired result is validated. I also know that it should continue as long as possible for many other habits that need to be inculcated. That’s the power of reading, memorizing, discussing. They change the thoughts and inturn the actions.

Parents who are worried that their  children lack compassion or any other desires values can contact me via comments below.

Do like and share it with other parents whose kids seem naughty.

Children Teach Parents too

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Children teach parents how to be parents.
Last night my elder son shared something about my younger son. He was expecting me to get angry and fire the younger one but I just laughed. He was surprised. 
He tried again but to his surprise it did not evoke the reaction he was expecting of me.

Then he said, “When I did the same thing at his age, do you remember how much shoutings and lectures you had given? Why are you now not saying anything to him?”

I said, “Shourya, You are my first child. You taught me how to behave as a parent. In your time I was learning as everything was new. Now I am immuned and experienced. So thank you for making me a better parent.”

He is very happy and satisfied. 

Don’t let the best watermelons go out of the country

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It’s a fact and beautiful lesson about a farmer in a village in India, who grew largest watermelons. In the world competitions too his watermelons were the biggest and the best. He used to make the village children eat the largest melons that he won. His son would want him to sell those melons instead.
After a few years, the old man died and his son took over the farming. He started selling the largest melons out of the country and making big profits. People from various countries would bid highest for his melons. He became richest village man in two years. He would gloat around and show off his wealth to everyone.

https://madhuriesingh.com/thinking-aloud/dont-let-the-best-watermelons-go-out-of-the-country/
The third year, the size of the melons were not large enough neither was the taste good.
People did not pay him much as other countries were now producing largest watermelons!
He thought may be this season there was less rainfall and may be his farm needed more manure. He imported chemical fertilizers from the winning countries. Yet his produce were again smaller than others! He was very upset. Then he went to his father’s friend and shared his problem. His father’s friend told him something that you must read very carefully and slowly.
He said, “Son, your father was a smart man. He used to never let his best watermelons go out of the village. So he would give it to the village children to eat. The village children did the free labor of taking out hundres of seeds and spitting them in his farm. He would collect those seeds and save them to grow the next crop. That is why his watermelons were always the largest and the best. He never sold them to other countries.
You on the other hand were short sighted. You wanted to become rich in short period. So you have given away the best quality seeds to the other countries! Now they are winning while you have poor quality watermelons.
www.Madhuriesingh.com
Moral of the story. When the good brains and good genes is easily allowed to migrate out of the country, slowly the over all quality of brains will deteriorate while the countries where they migrated to will flourish. We need infrastructure and research facilities for the best quality melons to stay back in the country to produce best quality melons in future too. 😁 Or At least marry them here and make them stay here. Government should actually save the genes from these super performers, super achievers and great human beings. 😊