Friday 28 November 2014

School – the best grooming ground in cleanliness for kids

 Schools are our second home, and so if teachers take a greater responsibility on their shoulders to instill civic sense in our kids, so much the better. If parents could contribute to the civic sense of their children in good measure. However, school teachers can influence kids to a greater extent, which in turn may have some positive effect on their parents . Hope, all our teachers join hands and raise their voice for a cleaner India.  


Bits of Paper, 
Bits of Paper,
Lying on the floor,
Lying on the floor,

Make the place untidy,
Make the place untidy,
Pick them up,
Pick them up.

This is not just a nursery rhyme for my nine-year-old Aryan.  He has been following this poem in true letter and spirit. Everything, including chocolate wrappers, pencil wastes find their way into his bag, if not the dustbin. So when I empty his bag in the evening, upside down,  all kinds of wastes keep appearing from nowhere. When I start questioning him, all he answers me is, “Mummy, I didn’t find time to throw them in the dustbin.”

For Aryan throwing wastes in his bag is much more easier than the dustbin. And I've reprimanded him for this more often than not. However, I thank God, for his sensibility towards environment and its cleanliness, for he never throws waste on the way or on the ground. For him, it’s the bag or the dustbin. No where else. I thank his school teachers for instilling this sense of cleanliness in him.

Though parents have a primary role to play in  building character of their children, a teacher’s role in student's life cannot be underplayed, considering that kids spent a good 6 to 7 hours in school premises. A school, is after all, a kid's second home. Aryan goes to school that has acres and acres of playground. And, believe me or not, you won’t find a piece of paper lying here or there in the school premises or on their ground. That’s the kind of cleanliness policy the school authorities follow. Naturally, the children follow suit. If it’s was not for his teachers, specifically the PT teacher of his school, it would have been a daunting task for me to instill such civic sense in my son.

So much for my son’s civic sense. But the same doesn't prevail in our neighbourhood. The aunty in our neighbourhood is good 20 years old to  me, that bring her age to 55, has a tendency to keep her house spic and span at the cost of the common plot in our area. As in, all the waste paper, colorful polythene bags, plus all the dirt and dust inside the house makes it to society's common plot. Her 'damn the common-plot philosophy' has landed us in a catch 22 position. Whether to confront her on this topic, is the question that we keep asking to ourselves every other day. For all the waste makes its way into our garden area and we with painstaking efforts end up cleaning all the mess, which she seems to create so painlessly and effortlessly.  Only if she had gone to a proper school, or at least had some good teachers to guide her towards proper civic sense. Sigh…Sigh…But what pains me more is  that her children, who are probably going to better schools and learning  all that is required to keep the environment clean, seems to be equally blind towards their mother’s ways. Just hope, that our PM Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan probably will bring them to their senses. Or probably, we can bring her to senses today itself Kyuki Bin Bole Ab Nahi Chalega.


This post is written for #AbMontuBolega campaign held in association with Indiblogger and Strepsils Tweet about the campaign here: https://twitter.com/strepsilsindia.
We know that raising our voices against all that is dirty in our country is a power that we all have. Let’s exercise the power of our voice & work towards a Swach Bharat.

Join 
Kyuki Bin Bole Ab Nahi Chalega #AbMontuBolega. 


Sunday 23 November 2014

Daddy I am coming


My bro's family. The young one in my bhabhi's hand is Joel, almost two now.

  My bro is a SAP consultant, and is posted in Germany right now. And he is very close to his son Joel. The conversation between Richard and Ryan is woven around them.



“Whoohoo!” Daddy i am coming to see you.”
“Whoa.” Now tell me howz my lil son going to land here.”
“Daddy, mummy didn’t tell you?”
“What? That you and your helicopter uncle have come to an agreement to help you fly down here?”
"No, no daddy. You are such a...such a..ummmmm."
“Ah! Nut case?”
“Yes, of course, you are a nut case.”
“Didn’t  Mummy tell you that lu...lu...Lufthsa Airways has come up with a daily flight schedule from Delhi to Frankfurt.” And mummy says, we will board their biggie commercial aircraft. In fact, mummy adds it’s biggest in the world. It’s called lu...lu...Luftsa A 380. Doesn’t that sound great?
“O Oh! That calls for a big wow? BTW baba, you made a boo-boo; its Lufthansa A380 and not Luftsa."
And BTW, tell me, “When is my darling son flying over to meet me.”
“Rightway!”
“That calls for a double wow. Wow...wow.”



Connecting with your closest ones - Lufthansa A-380 makes it easy.

Daily flights from Delhi to Frankfurt

“Start early from home, my lil Tendulkar, so that you can catch a cab early and reach the airport in time.”
“Ofcourse, daddy, we’ve already summoned a cab and are leaving straightway.”
“And no worries. We will reach their safe and sound.”
***
Suddenly Richard turns nostalgic and thinks of those days when he and his son Ryan played cricket and soccer together. He turned himself into a dedicated coach for his favourite pupil. A complete puppy, infact, Ryan followed his father everywhere he went, sometimes to the office as well. He was a darling son to his darling father. For Richard, Ryan was his world. But then this Germany posting came in the middle of their relationship.  It was very hard for Richard to explain to his son why he was leaving him. It was heartbreaking for both of them.

Being a SAP consultant, for Richard, living in foreign destinations for work reasons was nothing new. He’s been to Brazil and France before the Germany posting came by. But this time it was different. This time he and his son had developed a deep, deep bond. He was the rock of his life. And then he wanted to be a Monument of Existence for his kids. ( This reminds of Randy Pausch of The Last Lecture.) So work was work and commitment towards work was something that he would never pussyfoot around.  And, more importantly, the package the company was offering for the German posting was handsome. Though he tried as much as he could, he couldn’t ignore the pay factor. And as much as he craved to stay with Ryan, he simply couldn’t forgo the carrot dangled in front of him in the form of handsome package. So eventually, he left for Frankfurt, Germany. Now father and son met only through web chats. However, a thoughtful initiative by Lufthansa German Airlines, has been able to bridge this distance between them. Lufthansa A380 literally scripted a a new dawn in Ryan’s life.  

***
With globalization being the order of the day, even the system nuclear families seems no longer in  existence. In search of better lifestyle, better future and better packages, people are willing to travel far off distances. As much as they want to stay with their families, they simply don’t want to lose their competitive touch and wish to rough it out in the big bad world to prove themselves and sometimes to others as well. However, it’s the kids who suffer the most in this separation.

Negatives apart, such flight initiatives help bridge the gulf between close relations. And considering India’s rising population in Germany and vice-versa it’s always nice to have better and bigger airlines flying to India. And Lufthansa A-380 being the biggest, we as Indians indeed feel honoured to have it here.   


Bridging Barriers, Soothing Sighs,
Spreading Smiles, Across Miles,
We welcome you with open hearts Lufthansa A 380
You’re a New Symbolism of Indian Pride

This post is for Indiblogger contest held in association with Lufthansa German Airlines. The  airline has launched #Lufthansa A380  services to India. 







Friday 21 November 2014

Keep The Money


Word count: 100

Written for the Rochelle Weisoff Fields’ Friday Fictioneers

Photo Prompt Copyright: Copyright – Claire Fuller



His consummate fingers ran through the tyre and nailed the culprit. Deftly removing the nail, tightly nestled inside the tyre, he sealed the puncture.
With grease all over his patched shirt, buttons missing, trouser too short to cover his knees, the 10-something year old was too cold and frigid for his age. Felt like helping him and gave him a few coins.
“I am not a beggar mam, i take only what’s mine.
“Take it. Consider me as you as you elder sister.”
"I am an orphan. I don’t know what it’s like to have a sister.  Keep the money."

The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga

This Booker prize winner was on my bookshelf I don’t for how long. Attempted reading it before, but then dumped it because t...