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  Job interviews Instead of the tried and tested interview questions; maybe we could change what we ask. Many of us prepare these answers. Numerous hiring places expect formulaic replies. In fact, the more trite the responses may be, the mundane offices may be all the more impressed. In school, we may give kids entrepreneurship skills as well. Children may be encouraged to ask more innovative questions if they are an employee. This is what I’d ask a person I was hiring for a creative writing job: 1.               Do you like to hum? What kind of songs do you like to hum? When do you usually hum? 2.             What kind of skies do you like to watch? 3.              What kind of social media posts cheer and upset you? 4.             What d...

  The only way to understand a mental illness is to have it If you don’t have depression, PTSD, bipolar, anxiety, or many other mental illnesses, don’t talk about it unless you’re going to lift us up, and especially don’t judge because you do not understand. You may be empathetic, and I hope you are, but you do not understand unless you have it too. #mentalhealth   #depressionawareness   #anxietyawareness   #ptsdawareness   #bipolarawareness   #mentalillnessawareness The above was posted by @ mentalhealthhealingman (Instagram)   Even in 2021, when mental health has been extensively discussed, a lot of stigma around mental illnesses still exists, the most incorrigible of them often being religious people who pride themselves on being spiritual. This leads to social isolation of those with depression, anxiety, and mood disorders. They are often reluctant to seek counseling, and other modes of treatment. No matter what these self-proclaimed god...

  Loneliness I’d gone off psychiatric medicines for a year before pandemic started. Last year, I began to take them again. Anxiety and anger were the main reasons why I had to be on medicines again. Many people are facing loneliness during lockdown, I completely validate their feelings. Luckily for me, staying at home has helped to reduce the gnawing feeling of loneliness that I used to feel. It’s quite a misconception that the one and only cause of loneliness is not being able to be around people. Crowds, parties, gatherings, physical human interactions have always bothered me immensely as I feel extremely misunderstood, and am often seen as an object of ridicule. I cannot connect to more than 99% of people. That makes me lonely. Currently, I don’t have to meet people who will laugh at me for the haircut Mashi has given me. I don’t visit salons anymore. I haven’t upgraded my wardrobe since pandemic. I hate shopping, and having to buy clothes as people may not want to take me...

  Don't fidget Singing forbidden Don’t look out of the window As a child, I would love to remember lessons by reading them out loud, along with a tune. That enabled me to remember faster. I’d set texts of books to the music of songs I knew. Once, while learning how the squid protects itself, I was reading it out in the tempo of a Sanskrit hymn. My tuition teacher snapped at me, “You are studying about a sea creature, it’s not God. Don’t insult our religion.” Personally, I can concentrate much better if I look out of the window while someone is teaching or speaking. I find it very uncomfortable to look at people’s faces steadfast in general, especially if the talk is long. I love to gaze on at a bird, cloud, a leaf, or the rain; interestingly that helps me absorb more of what’s being taught. As a child I’d do acrobatics while solving mental math, learning poems, etc. While I was in mid air hopping from a table to another, I was giving correct answers of math problems, spel...

  Oxygen Needed A friend of mine is searching for oxygen for her father who was hospitalized in Kolkata (India) on being Covid Positive. She’s looking for a new cylinder, but cannot find it. Please inform me if you can help. I sincerely request you not to contact me with remedies like Feng Shui, astrology, ghee therapy, distance healing, sound therapy, chanting, past life therapy, sacred oil, angel therapy, fairy therapy, etc to guarantee to cure him. I will report such posts to Instagram for quackery and fraudulence. Yes, I will post more on Covid now. If that offends your eternal haloed spiritual positivity and categorize me as a whiner, ungrateful wretch, and despicable sinner; for heaven’s sakes, block me right now. I have called many places for oxygen, most of them don’t take calls, so I left them a message. Also, I’m not quite looking for ‘amens’ and remarks like ‘I’ll pray for him’, or ‘sending him positive vibes’ right now. Some practical and scientific help will be bette...

  Lemon Juice with seeds This summer cooler refreshed me. Seeds may be miniscule, but they are power packed with nutritional and health benefits. A seed gifts you with healthy fats, proteins, minerals, vitamins, fibre, etc. Lemon juice promotes hydration, contains Vitamin C,   improves skin quality, facilitates digestion, freshens breath, and may prevent kidney stones. Fun facts on lemons: 1.   A citron and sour orange are the parents of the lemon. A citron is a big and fragrant citrus fruit with a thick rind. 2.                 Lemon trees bear fruit throughout the year. 3.                   During the Renaissance, women used lemon hoping that it would redden their lips. 4.                Affluent Victorians grew lemon trees in their gar...

  How Mashi is doing on the day after the vaccine She only had pain at the injection point, and around it. She said that yesterday she felt quite energetic for hours after the shot. She has no fever, and fatigue today. Mashi takes medicines for diabetes. Please share how you are faring after the vaccine in honest details. I’ll inform you how she is tomorrow. #vaccine, #Covid, #Corona, #injection, #vaccination, #diabetes, #bloodsugar, #fever, #medicines, #fatigue, #energy, #energetic, #pandemic, #vaccinestories, #WHO https://pixabay.com/illustrations/vaccine-healing-medical-virus-6109522/ : Image by  Gerd Altmann  from  Pixabay   Image by  Gerd Altmann  from  Pixabay : Picture Courtesy

  Library for teachers “Students, you have to read to broaden your knowledge, and improve your vocabulary.” As a teacher, maybe you’ve told your class this so many times that you’ve lost count. “Teachers, how many books have you read? Do you regularly read books and material on how to improve teaching methods?” At the beginning of every session, students are handed out a book list. Let’s do the same to teachers. I’d encourage teachers to incorporate teaching methodologies from the books, in their class. They may discuss the books they read in book clubs organized by their school, and in educational seminars. Schools have a library for students, but many of them in India, may not be having a section for teachers, with a focus on educational books. Most students may be borrowing books once a week from the library. Why cannot teachers be also made to borrow at least one book from it each month? Let both students and teachers use the library for reference work. #school, #...

  Redesigning Classrooms In Papua New Guinea in our class, the desks and sitting arrangements were regularly arranged and rearranged. Also, the front and back areas of the class were always empty spaces. They were used for various learning activities. Sometimes they were a lab, or a library. Often educational exhibitions, projects, and hands on learning happened out there. A classroom needs to be very innovative in design, and colourful, which has adjustments for students with disabilities. If a student unexpectedly fell ill, she/ he could rest at the back of the class on bedding in our Papua New Guinea school, and students were requested to talk softly so that she/ he could sleep. That helped the child recuperate instead of having to walk to another place in school for much needed immediate rest. A section of one of our classrooms was segregated by moveable wooden mini walls for some quiet time. Students who needed to read for longer, or required a quiet environment to refre...

  One evening, in New York Our plane landed in New York City on a cold winter evening in 1984. Mother was tired, hungry, and craving for Chinese food. Father, who was more experimental, wanted to taste the different flavours of the kitchens of New York. However, mum’s comfort food was Chinese, so me and my dad went out to search a Chinese restaurant, and arrange for a takeaway. After a long walk through misty streets, my father stopped at a casual dining. It was brightly lit instead of the fine dining dim light Chinese restaurants I’d generally been accustomed to. It had an open kitchen, and we could see chefs preparing dishes. While we were waiting for our boxes to be ready, a man walked in, after office hours. He greeted the chefs very warmly. He was super excited when a plateful of chowmein arrived, and he repeatedly thanked the chefs for the same. Then while eating, he kept on smiling, talking to himself, singing, and complimenting the chefs for a yummy dish. When the p...

  Mashi secured the first dose of her Covid vaccine today Finally! After a very long wait, and many endeavours, Mashi got the first shot of her Covid vaccine. The crowd seemed just as unruly as yesterday.   Many of these people may be doing meditation, pranayam, yoga, aura healing, Feng Shui, Vastu, astrology, holistic massage, religious chanting, etc to calm themselves eternally. (Oh, I support meditation, yoga, and breathing exercises.) It’s just bewildering how a country like India which prides itself to be so spiritual, can misbehave so much in public. Yes, I know that the scenario is extremely stressful. The police are doing a good job to control unruly behaviour. Mashi was full of praise for the doctors. She’s says that they were sweet and kind to her. Despite the stress they are under, they are trying hard to make those who are being vaccinated comfortable. They even gave her medicines which she’s to take only if she gets fever. Mashi says she felt that the vaccine ...

  Validate the child who hates school As a six-year-old, I had a racist teacher in school. She was abusive to traditional Indian students. She would give white kids medicines and ask them to rest if they were sick, but had thrown me out of class and asked me to stand for hours when I had a stomach ache. She snapped, “You cannot go to the toilet till school is over for the day, and also not shit in your pants.” I would hate her classes, and consequently developed school phobia. Someone in my family would shout insultingly, “Only bad girls like you don’t want to go to school.” I’d say, “Like Rabindranath Tagore, I dislike school. I feel like observing nature and see it rain outside, as the teacher is so bad.” She retorted, “Write a poem like Rabindranath first.” If a child complains about school, hear her/ him out. Don’t invalidate the kid just because he’s not Tagore, or Einstein. Accept it, the Indian education system isn’t good, and according to me most schools need a lot of...

  Rewards rather than punishment The boy with attention problems I taught was labeled as ‘bad and lazy’ in my class, and a teacher who called herself ‘godly’, gave him a very abusive punishment. I had a very hard time explaining to them that he may be having ADHD, which makes it very difficult for him to sit still in class and be attentive. The rewards that were structured were all aimed at students who memorized well, completed homework, and followed instructions. There wasn’t even one reward for originality, as that was considered unimportant to them. This boy was the most creative child in class. I was disallowed to give him awards, and stickers. He didn’t even crave for positive reinforcement though, like the other kids in the class did. Teachers often think that kids with learning and intellectual disabilities better be set right with a series of repeated humiliating punishments. It’s always better to prioritize rewards over punishments to motivate them, even for what it...

  Mashi didn't get her vaccine once again today She stood in the scorching heat for six hours today, only to be told that vaccines are over for the day. Yes, it’s been very frustrating to do this for three to four days now. I really hope that the situation improves. It’s unfortunate though to see how certain people are behaving like mobsters in the crowd. They have a problem with healthcare workers and sweepers getting priority for the vaccine. Well, they are in the high risk zone. What will happen if there are no garbage cleaners to take away rubbish from our doorstep? When we fall ill, don’t we need doctors? It’s fair enough that they get the vaccine before us as they are constantly in danger. One of them was abusing a municipal worker, by calling him a pervert, when he was behaving decently.   The same people who were shouting invectives, abusing, and screaming by removing their masks as frontline workers were being enrolled first; may have banged pots and pans loud e...