THANK YOU FOR MAKING ME, 'ME'.✨️❤️

Ok, so now I’ve written something about Xaviers (couldn’t resist writing that)…I’ve written loads of stuff about teaching (and there’ll be more of that in future, because I just can’t help it. I love my job and I can’t help talking about it whenever I get the opportunity)

So, what next???🤔

A friend who read thru’ the blog suggested that I should write a little more about ‘Me’ on my blog…Was an interesting thought (after all, it is ‘My’ blog)…but the only problem is, ‘ME’ is a very complex thing to write about…After all, where do I begin? How do I start? How much do I write? What do I leave out?😉😄

It’s been a couple of days since I talked to my friend; and I still don’t know what I’m going to write about. So, I’ve just thrown myself into the pool, and I’m going to learn to swim as the words come out…Hope the end result turns out to be worth reading.

If you go to a thesaurus and pick out all the synonyms of ‘Happy’…That’s ‘ME’ in a nutshell. Can literally 'Smile' from sun-up to sun-down, and that’s no exaggeration. People have told me, that they don’t know how that’s possible. They wonder whether someone can genuinely be 'Happy' all the time. I’ve been asked time and again, how I never get tired of smiling. 

Frankly speaking, I don’t know how it happens. I guess, it just springs from always being happy on the inside, from not getting caught up in things like anger, envy, jealousy, hatred and also sadness.

Of course, I haven’t fallen from heaven. So, it’s not like I do not feel all of those things. I’ve had my share of all those experiences, feelings and emotions; but, I think I could attribute it to the fact, that I am able to 'by-pass it all and look ahead'. Somehow, I have been blest with the ability to 'Forgive, Forget and Live in the Present'. By not holding on to the past and by not worrying too much about the future, I think I have been able to sail thru’ every difficult moment in life.🤷

Most importantly, I think it has been God, who has helped me to weather every storm I’ve gone thru’ in life. Though many people my age, would hate to admit it; it is God who gives us the courage to face every challenge, with a smile on our lips and a song in our hearts.😊🎶

...and as I end my 'Reflections' for the day, I’d just like to Thank God for making me, ‘ME’. There are things about myself that I don’t particularly like; but on the whole, He sure did a swell job when he created me (even if I may shamelessly say so myself)✨️😄

NOT JUST A COLLEGE…BUT A WAY OF LIFE! ✍️

When I finished school way back in ‘96, it seemed like I was leaving so much behind…

Then I joined Xavier’s and the next 'five years' were my most memorable years ever.

People said I would miss school, but I didn’t…I guess Xavier’s does that for people. Once a Xavierite, always a Xavierite!!!

It’s only people who’ve been there, who will be able to understand what it’s like. You just can’t wipe out the feelings, the joy, the memories, the pride, the thrill of those five years that you spend in that college...

Thinking of Xavier's and the times I spent there, makes me happy even today.😊

Dropped in for NOSTALGIA, the Reunion organized in college earlier this year…It brought back so many memories, just to be in the campus again.

Many of my friends didn’t show up; but I met other old friends, whom I hadn’t expected to bump into. It was nice to know what people had been doing, over the past five years since I had left Xavier’s. 

I kept looking around and staring at how things had changed. A lot of things were different; and yet, everything was still the same.

Xavier’s was my 'Home'…I’d been away from my Home for 5 years; but still, I didn’t feel like I’d ever left the place. There is a feeling of belonging with that college, that cannot really be expressed in words.

But, in the words of the old 'College Song' by Kim Cardoz, that I Loved so much, ‘St. Xavier’s, You Gave Me Wings…and it’s those wings that will always help me fly back to you'. Wherever life may lead me, if there’s one thing that I will always hold on to, it will be the memory of the times spent in Xavier’s.✨️❤️

THE EASIEST JOB IN THE WORLD…SAYS WHO??? 🤔

People often say, a teacher’s job is the best, because one gets so many holidays and works for only half a day…

My response to that is only, “You have to actually live in the same house as a teacher, to understand how easy it really is.”

For, in which other job, do people work from 7 in the morning upto 2 the next morning? Where else do people carry their work home every single day, day after day? The deadlines are scary and they come every two months like clockwork. 

For almost 11 months of the year, a teacher looks at herself in the mirror and sees stressed out expressions, dark circles and eyes deprived of sleep. 

Despite that, she has to be creative and innovative every single day. She has to be up-to-date and well-informed She has to have read up everything, that she could lay her hands on. She has to be able to answer the weirdest questions and handle the wildest tantrum.

And most importantly, she has to be able to survive it all, with a constant warm motherly smile on her face.😊

Of course, it’s a fun job because you’re always with children, who are fun to be around; but the 'workload' is definitely killing. Every person who thinks, that it’s the easiest job in the world, is sadly misinformed and hasn’t really bothered to look beyond, what is visible on the surface. 

I would welcome all those brave souls to come and try it out for a week or two. I can safely guarantee, that they wouldn’t last much longer than that.😄

IT’S BEEN TWO YEARS ALREADY!!! ✍️

In a few more days, I will have completed two whole years as a Secondary school teacher. Can’t believe how fast these two years have flown by.

Looking back on these two years, I think I can say, I’ve had a lot of fun. In two years I have made so many new friends, both among my colleagues and my students.I’ve gained in experience. I’ve become a genius at multi-tasking. I’ve spent more sleepless nights than I did, when I was studying for all my board exams put together (and I’ve appeared for 5 of those).

I’ve read more illegible handwriting than I ever did before. A red pen has become almost part of me. I lost my voice for a whole year. I’ve been off ice-creams and everything cold for 11 months of the year. I’ve yelled and screamed louder than the fisherwomen in the market. 

I’ve been heart-broken every time I had to bid farewell to a batch of students, and I’ve been overjoyed every time a student has done something to make the school proud. 

My life has practically revolved around my boys at school; and most importantly, I’ve loved every single moment of the past two years.

What more could one ask for??? ✍️

MY FIRST TEACHER ✨️✍️

I had only taken my first few breaths...
That was the first time she spoke to me,
She looked with joy at my tiny nose,
And with her eyes, said a thousand words.

I had only taken my first few steps...
And she gently guided me along,
She was standing right there, just in case,
I suddenly decided to fall.

I had only uttered my very first word…
She was so glad I’d called her name,
She smiled at me and I smiled back,
Now we could chat all day.

She taught me how to speak without a word,
She guided my every step,
She showed me how to smile and be happy,
Even when things were hard.

As I’ve gone thru’ life, I have been blest
With teachers both haughty and nice,
But no one quite compares to that very first one,
'My First Teacher was truly The Best'.✨️❤️

IF GOODBYE’S COULD BE DONE AWAY WITH...✍️

One of the saddest parts about being a teacher is having to say good-bye to an entire batch of students every single year.

Students who have been a part and parcel of your everyday life. Students with whom you have spent so many precious moments. Students with whom you have laughed and joked. The naughty ones that you have shouted at from time to time. The enthusiastic ones who've always come forward to take part in something when you've asked them to.

All of that just suddenly comes to an end one day, when it's time for them to move on to another phase of their lives.

Some of them may stay in touch, but most of them will choose to move ahead without ever looking back...

It really makes me wonder whether this entire process of saying Good-bye could be done away with completely.🤔

Of course, there will always be another batch of students who will come along to take the place of the ones who have just left. After all, life does go on...However, one still tends to miss 'that' particular batch of students, which has just said Good-bye. 

Sure, there will be others to take their place; and new memories of happy moments will be created with them as well, but the heart will always miss the ones that have moved ahead...

And I often find myself wishing we could live a life where we didn't ever have to say Good-bye...

If only that were possible...How much more beautiful life would be!!!✨️😊