3-2-1 TUESDAYS WITH MS NIV

Issue #17 / November 3,  2020

Are children good liars? Check out the Ted talk. What is your Pandemic Bingo board game? Find a sample here. Have you found your Ikigai yet? Here is how our columnist found it. Enjoy this week’s newsletter, like, comment, share and subscribe.

Three Images For The Week

For educator, parent and student. The Holy Trinity of Education

Two Thoughts For The Week

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” Socrates

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” Marie Curie

One Video For The Week

Are children poor liars? Do you think you can easily detect their lies? Developmental researcher Kang Lee studies what happens physiologically to children when they lie. They do it a lot, starting as young as two years old, and they’re actually really good at it. Lee explains why we should celebrate when kids start to lie and presents new lie-detection technology that could someday reveal our hidden emotions.

Guest Column

Bhakti Shah, founder of thinkBox children’s library.

I am a STEM woman. Very intuitive, scientific and precise. Art and I have never crossed paths before.

There are always a few decisions that we have to make in our life, we may not be very sure of them but we trust whatever happens, will happen for the best. The decision to quit my corporate job as project manager, heading a software division at an MNC was one such decision. I had no idea what I was going to do after that! Although, one thing was for certain, knowing myself, I was not going to sit still for long.

I was not a voracious reader to start with. I never had the means or the inclination. However, in my college years, I was introduced to Fountain Head by Ayn Rand and her writing instantly resonated with me. Before I knew it, I was hooked. I had acquired a new hobby at the age of 19 and was loving it! As they say, you just need that one book that turns you into a lifelong reader.

Years passed and my reading intensified. During my corporate job, I was fortunate to spend some time in Europe and United States. I admired their public libraries and fell more in love with reading and more in love with books. I wanted to provide a similar experience to the people of India.

That’s how I thought of starting a children’s library. I had never started a business and neither had anyone from my family. I don’t have any formal training in business or a professional degree in library science, yet here I am! A proud owner of a bustling library. My family supported me thoroughly. Initially, I was afraid of failure. It took me 4 long years to build up the courage to face my fears. But once I did, there was no stopping me.

Fast forward to today, my library is in its 13^th year. It is now akin to a temple for me. I get unexplainable positivity and peace while I am there.

I never knew the word “Ikigai” until I read the book authored by Albert Liebermann and Hector Garcia. Now, as I ponder over it, I appreciate the beautiful way in which all the pieces of the puzzle called life fit and brought me to my Ikigai.

My passion – reading, my mission – providing a well-equipped library for children, my vocation – a librarian and my profession – doing business with technology.

Thinkbox children’s library:
Http://thinkbox.co.in

Parent Speak

Farah Shahid, Mom of 3

Parenting is the process of promoting and supporting the biological, physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood.

Slightly confused with all the complicated words?

Well yes, that’s Wikipedias definition of parenting. Just like the definition, the process too is ever evolving with time and we try to walk the fine line to nurture our children the right way.

While parenting, we often tend to overlook our needs. Our entire world revolves around them. Doing the mammoth tasks is definitely energy draining but most parents think its a taboo to even feel that way, especially moms. To be honest, it’s not really their fault that they think this way, it’s the benchmark created by our society. But let’s think about it, can a car low on fuel work efficiently? No. Similarly, how can a drained out parent fulfil their role.

Thus, my primary aim of writing this article is to encourage the loving moms and dads to prioritize their well being and indulge in “self-care”. Our society may classify selfcare as being selfish, but in reality it is recharging yourself.

The fancy word ‘Self-care’ actually has a very flexible and to-each-his-own definition. It could be anything, whatever one enjoys doing. Good self-care is key to improved mood and reduced anxiety. It is also a foundation to good relationships with oneself and others.

A well-nurtured parent enjoys their journey of parenting and wouldn’t exhaust themselves to the point of feeling they have ‘sacrificed’ their own well being for their children and eventually feeling resentful.

For me, raising my elder two kids and keeping up with all responsibilities had burnt me out completely. With the birth of my third and wanting to do her upbringing differently made me turn towards self care and thats how my account “restlesshomehacks” was created. It was the best thing that happened and doing what I love has recharged me more than ever. When the parent exhibits self-care, they raise a generation that learns to feed their body, mind and soul with the care it deserves.

To sum up, we must remember that we can’t pour from an empty cup and therefore need to fill our cup first by prioritizing self-care.

http://www.instagram.com/restlesshomehacks

Student Voice

Pihu Saraf, student of grade 7

The “I’m Not Like Other Girls” Phenomenon

Something that baffles me is that some girls really believe that their personality traits not aligning with the stereotypical traits attributed to girls is something to brag about. At this point, most girls have started to identify as not being like “Other girls!” If you think that being unlike other girls and liking boyish things makes you superior compared to the girls around you, you are a raging sexist with internalised misogyny (though not obvious, but existing) deep-rooted in you from your childhood. This may come off as harsh but this kind of behaviour should not be normalised especially when so many people fight every day to ensure a more equal future for women and other suppressed groups.  Some may argue that the phrase “Other girls” is just a casual way of expression. But it is always used with derogatory intent. 

I came across a girl I know unable to stop boasting about how she liked action figures from the boy’s section of stores when she was younger. This individual also went on to claim that the things in the girl’s section of stores were “gross” as they contained things like pink dresses and barbies. 

 Let me say this, You can like things that are stereotypically meant for the other gender without belittling your own gender. You do not have to put down an entire gender in order to prove your worth.

It has been drilled into our brains that prevalent female traits are bad and that girls are too much “drama.” I have heard so many girls say that they only befriend boys because girls are too dramatic. It is perfectly fine to have a preference in friends, but you do not have to belittle others, preferring to be friends with boys is not something to brag about, neither is it something to be ashamed of. Being “Not like other girls” doesn’t make you “cool” or more likeable. Let’s stop normalising having differing traits from the stereotypical female ones being a symbol of supremacy, it is frankly illogical. You can be unlike other girls and at the same time not believe it makes you superior. 

Showcase

And Finally…

Worth a watch on Netflix – Connected, the hidden science of everything. This docu-series promises to be witty and investigative.

https://www.netflix.com/in/title/81031737

“Science journalist Latif Nasser investigates the surprising and intricate ways in which we are connected to each other, the world and the universe.

How we’re connected, but not in the deadly, scary ways—in the profound, beautiful, surprising, poetic ways. Just these subtle things that are always going on, that maybe are hopeful, encouraging, or at least somehow remind people that we are all in this together. Even when we think we’re disconnected, we’re actually all connected”.

3-2-1 Tuesdays with Ms Niv  is a newsletter for you to subscribe and enjoy your learning journey with me. Most of you would have been too busy to track trends in education, ponder on most relevant thoughts or deliberate on career choice, parenting or pedagogy. Find it all here. This week, it consists of:  3 images, 2 thoughts and 1 video.

For whom? Students, educators and parents

When? Every Tuesday

Where? my blog post, register with your e-mail id, it is free.

If you want to contribute an article, are organising an event, have a product that you think can be reviewed and/or featured in this news letter, please feel free to write to me at : niveditamukerjee10@gmail.com 

Please like, subscribe, share, comment. See you next week.

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