SOULspace

My first storytelling session was in a Multi Ability classroom of a Special School ( Vidya Sagar) in Chennai. Year 1996.  I took the children to the garden, we sat around and we had a bucket of water in the middle. E ach child had a puppet in their hand – made with simple newspaper; a lion, a rabbit and a few more animals.  As we peered into it, we saw our reflection.  So by now you may know what story I went on to tell. The Panchatantra tale of the Lion and the Rabbit and how the rabbit outwits the lion. This experience triggered a series of reactions. The children (a few of them) started noticing and looking at themselves on reflecting surfaces - as that is what they took back from that story experience. It is mind blowing...to think of this cause and effect in retrospect...   It was an experience for the children. That story allowed children to experience an idea, a concept, abstract or literal notions within the space of a narrative arc. As a storytelle...

Stop telling yourself you are not enough Stop comparing yourself with anyone at all Stop examining your strengths and weaknesses Stop all those voices that constantly make you feel less. How many of us can truly say we are free from comparison and judgement? How many of us can truly say we are happy exactly the way we are? How many of us love ourselves and our lives unconditionally? Very few of us. Especially not me. Everywhere I read philosophers and healers talking about being present and loving ourself unconditionally. They say be happy, show gratitude and rejoice in other's success for it will lead you to yours. But it is not so easy - in a world that constantly compares and judges you for who you are and the choices they think you are making or not making, it is not easy to show unconditional love. They throw it back. Forgiveness is thrown back with accusations of cowardice. Kindness is dissected with suspicion and returned with ridicule. Acceptance is treated ...

The Cocoon and the Butterfly A man found a cocoon of a butterfly that he brought home. One day a small opening appeared in the cocoon. He sat and watched the cocoon for several  hours as the butterfly struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to  stop making progress. It appeared as if the butterfly had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further. The man decided to help the butterfly in its struggle. He took a pair of scissors  and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon... and the butterfly emerged easily. As the butterfly emerged, the man was surprised. It had a swollen body and small, shriveled  wings. He continued to watch the butterfly expecting that, at any moment, the wings would  dry out, enlarge and expand to support the swollen body. He knew that in time the body would contract and the butterfly would be able to fly. But neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling ...

I think I have mentioned this before, but methinks it's worth a re-mention now. My daughter is greatly into pointing out discrimination, prejudice and racial biases to us and to me specifically. Though I would like her to boldly state her thoughts and feelings to all and sundry, I guess she is testing waters here and I happily try to support her views. Skin colour and advertisements that proclaim instant fairness gets her goat, and mind you; she started this way back when she was 9; and now she is 11. She dislikes these ads and will tell you skin colour is there for a purpose and what does it serve to try and va(r)nish yourself. Then another conversation about veg/non-veg, and discrimination on religion/ food preferences. She was very cut up that anyone can deny a house on rent because the tenant eats non-veg. For that matter, the boy/ girl divide is another area she can take her guns out for. Typical stereotype that I am, I do make senseless statements, like the other day...

I have been following "the Art of Non-Conformity" for some time now... check out the latest post ..it  truly inspired me... For me, conformity and change are two giant words... When we tire of conformity we seek change...and then once that feels constricting or conforming, we again seek change...hmmm..what a lot of "C" words!! Though technically I should write 34 things, I am 3 years passed 34 and so it is that I have embarked on putting down 37 things that I have learnt about life ~ Kindness is tough to practice at all times, but if it becomes a way of life then there is no other more powerful space. ~ Music is the greatest mood changer ~ Discipline is a highly misinterpreted word, it is not about another person standing out there dictating rules, but it is when you develop a conscience that will never ever allow you to waver from your core self at times of conflict ~ Understanding another person's feelings is the greatest/ kindest gift you c...

Bylakuppe is a beautiful place to visit if you want to soak in culture. Namdroling Monastery is a place I have wanted to visit for sometime, having heard and read that it is largest Tibetan settlement outside Tibet.... The drive was long and we were looking for the Golden Temple...and did we find it... The timing was perfect, the nuns and monks streaming into the Temple for their mid day Prayers....the sound of the chant...echoing around...an elaborate mantra... .tea served between prayers... a world so beguiling and different... This particular Fresco caught my eyes...surely there is a story here...I thought... Surely enough...it is a Jataka Tale, and apparently this Tibetan Motif is seen in most cultures that follow the Buddhist way of life.. The story itself talks about Cooperation and Harmonious friendship...but the prelude to the story makes it more interesting...In some stories the Buddha wanting to show his disciples that there is no hierarchy in friendship ...

We have a visitor to our balcony nowadays. It was K who spotted it first. ( Actually speaking, K-boy is deeply into nature nowadays...ahem...don't be too mislead by that statement...this purely translates into  fact 1) TV viewership having shifted from Pogo to Animal Planet fact 2) Tall claims that he will (or has already) caught a King Cobra with his bare (bear??) hands. so that means I have to watch him, (mind you, every time he shows this to me, I have to eagerly view it like I am seeing it for the first time), hold a wooden snake by the tail, and grab its head like they show on TV or I have to watch his blow by blow account of:  "How to escape from a Python when it has swallowed half your body" demo.. "Nothing Happens Amma, the python will not do any harm till it swallows your legs...maybe a bone could break...but only after it reaches your hips then the bones will actually start breaking. By that time you have to take out yo...

Ear worm, is the word my husband popped into my mind before leaving for work; apparently BBC had an article about these things...  ....Ear worm is music that stays with you, in your mind and in your ears, through the day; like a flea on the dog's back, impossible to shake away... so I guess we have to shake to it... Today I woke up with this Ear worm: Happiness, Happiness is making people Happy....  I can't shake it off...I just Cant... But I have to analyse this too.. Is happiness really about making people Happy...though this preschool diddle is meant to make the little ones more pliant and better behaved..I feel it doesn't convey all what happiness really is about I guess it should read... Happiness, Happiness is making myself Happy.... But then this can trigger off thoughts like what if squishing insects makes me happy...or if tearing up my sister's favorite book makes me happy....hmmm..then we have a serious issue at hand.... Yet for the mos...

It was PTA time and my daughter had prepared me well. I know that Spellings and Handwriting are her nemesis. I keep telling myself, I need to work on her spellings. ...well...not done anything about that actively yet! I land up at school and march into her class. All the parents too are seated at the desks waiting like school children for their report card! I take my seat like a good Mom and start chatting with a fellow parent and friend. The usual cribs and complaints are exchanged and I wait expectantly to be called for (my) report card! Yes! My number is called, and I hop, leap and jump to take the report. A's and A+ flash at me. I smile and shake my head indulgently at the spellings and handwriting column. That is when the teacher points out a section of the card that needs to be filled out. A box that asks for strengths and achievements. Achievements; hmm...I contemplate on that. Children nowadays are Mini Achievers. Awards, Certificates, Prizes. Is that how I ...

Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark, That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come; Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved. This is Sonnet No.116, and I'm sure you know whose it is! Our own inimitable Shakespeare! I remember reading this in school when I was in 10th standard. It has forever haunted me with its timeless thought. I never internalized the full meaning of these words back then. (I could not have!) But now maturity, time and life has taught me how valuable, and meaningful these words are....

We meet many people in our lives, some leave their mark and some others don't. Yesterday I met an interesting lady. I know her  and have spoken to her many times, but it happens that sometimes when yu are so bored to death (in official parties), we tend to get into converstaions to liven it up, and then suddenly a spark is fired and we connect. This one was that day. Generally chatting, she slowly started talking about her children (what else, do mothers talk about?!), then about her life growing up in a village in rural UP. She is from a hardcore traditional family and spoke about discrimination and prejudice against the female child, even within an educated family like hers. Not harsh ones, but subtle ones, like"girls dont do this or that", and how that made her resolve to do any thing and everything a man could do, within her abilities. So she became the first to ride a cycle/ bike in her village. She learnt swimming..... Mind yu she belongs to the previous gene...

I feel I have been tossed from an ocean into a fish tank. Trying to constrain big dreams, and attempting to transfer these dreams into the confines of a smaller playground. (It’s like asking me to play football inside the house!.) Wherever I turn, I see a wall. You may say these are walls inside my mind. How true! And so I force myself to find inspiration, in people, in objects, and in minute things. Hoping that in the process of discovery, I will be inspired once again to challenge the world. What is an inspiration? A person, a book, an object, a thought, an event, or an experience? Most commonly we find inspiration in a person. They are the ones we want to emulate. It may not be the entirety that we admire but a facet, some aspect that we aspire for. I have a few in my life. Sudha Murthy for one; simply practical, effective and immensely altruistic. As I read about her and her proactive work, I realize any inability is only in our minds. My father is another. Psychology has a word fo...