The Carpenter

Just felt like sharing this e-mail forward with you..

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor.

The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work the employer came to inspect the house. He handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This house I built or you and is your house," he said, "my gift to you for all the good work you did for me over the years."

The carpenter was shocked! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then with a shock we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we'd do it much differently. But we cannot go back.

You are the carpenter. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. "Life is a do-it-yourself project," someone has said. Your attitudes and the choices you make today, build the "house" you live in tomorrow.

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"People spend too much time finding other people to blame, too much energy finding excuses for not being what they are capable of being, and not enough energy putting themselves on the line, growing out of the past, and getting on with their lives."

-- J. Michael Straczynski

Help!!!

Attention everyone! My friend Sudhir has put up some riddle on his blog, and wants someone to unsolve the puzzle..I tried my hand at it..and currently am tearing my hair out over it. So do me a favour and crack his code..Some one HURRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! before I go crazy..and bald :-(
And do tell me whether you had any success...

Currently humming- Chris Isaak - Wicked Game

Giving 'Miss' a miss!!

After teaching a lesson, I do a short oral recapitulation to ensure that learning has happened. Recapitulation generates a lot of excitement and noise in the class. Dozens of hands shoot up even before I finish asking a question. It is usually followed by deafening cries of "Miss!!!! Miss!!!!" while they blurt out their answers.
"No chorus answers please!'', I keep repeating, but it often falls on deaf ears.

I even tried to deal with it using humour.

Me -" Who built the Rock Garden?"
Kids -"Misssssssssssssssssss"
"Nooooo!'' I quip back, "that was not me!! To which they respond with another noisy round of laughter.

One afternoon after I narrated the story of 'How the Rainbow was Made', I launched into another of those question-answer sessions. There was a noisy buzz once again while they competed with each other to answer the questions. The class went out of control..yet again..Phew!
Amidst the racket, I asked the next question, "What did the Sky ask the Earth?"
" Miss!! Miss!! Will you marry me?" shot back one boy. (That was the question that the Sky had asked the earth) At first there was stunned silence after which the whole class broke out in uncontrolled laughter. They all turned around to look at the boy whose face had turned many shades red by then...

Needless to say, from that moment I have atleast one boy in my class who thinks twice before he gives a chorus answer. LOL

What was the best compliment you ever received?

I have just finished another exciting year of teaching Grade 4 children.

In all of the 12 years that I have been teaching, I have received many compliments from my students, colleagues and seniors.

Here are some of the best compliments I’ve ever received.

"I like the way you teach this subject",

"You are the best teacher in the whole world". (With a gold medal which said just that, and got crowned with a wreath of olive leaves ~~ Inspired by the Olympic games~~It has even made its way to a local tabloid, sans my name or pic)

"You are like my mother".

“You are so funny”.

“I like your ideas"

and many more…

Recently, I was very touched when one of the boys in my class came up to me and said, "Teacher, my mother is like you"

I think that was one of the sweetest compliments I’ve ever received.

What was the best compliment you ever received?

From my Treasure Trove!

Click on the image to enlarge..

I love collecting books. Though I usually buy them off book shelves of 'Granth', 'Crosswords' and the likes, my favourite haunts are those raddi shops. You never know what you are looking for until you find it!
A decade ago, I found this 4-in-1 Volume of Reader's Digest (1955) at a raddi shop, and my heart stopped beating. I pretended to have a vague disinterest in it( a bargaining tactic *Wink) and finally bought it for just Rs. 4/- What a find! Ever since, it has become a part of my prized collection..

These ads featured in the Reader's Digest caught my attention...

Another one...

Click on the image to enlarge it

Defeat..

"Being defeated is often a temporary condition.
Giving up is what makes it permanent."

-Marilyn Vos Savant

Missing you...

Circa- 1980.
Venue- Carmel of St. Joseph's High School.
A timid girl called Sangeeta Iyer enters Class 3.C on the first day of her school. So shy and afraid, she doesn't even dare to look for a seat for herself. She somehow glances up to see a girl with a warm smile extend her hand to the vacant seat beside her. Sangeeta Iyer (me)makes her first best friend-Mili Ganatra.
They spend an entire year sitting next to each other. The teacher never suspects that these innocent-looking girls are actually smuggling in comic books, and reading them while she is teaching

Circa-1981.
The first day of school. I look around for my best friend. I am horrified to know that Mili has left the school.
Mili, I still miss you a lot.

Circa-1982.
Somewhere in the middle of the term.
The Marathi teacher asks the class to write an essay on 'Majhi Aai'( My Mother). Suddenly, I hear my neighbour Deepa Lalwani sniffling. It takes me 2 days of incessant cajoling to get her to reveal that she has lost her mother. My heart goes all out to her. I make my second best friend and this time we remain best friends for 5 years. She brings out the prankster in me.:P. I'll never forget the play we presented on Teachers' Day in Class 7.

After we leave school, we lose touch
Deepa, :( I miss you too.

This post would be incomplete if I don't mention Jacob.
I spent most of my vacations at my aunt's house in Walkeshwar. When I was in Class 5, my aunt shifted to a place called Mukadam Chawl in Malabar Hill. Being in a girl's school, I was very reluctant to talk to 'boys'. But some of them would never leave me alone. One of them was Jacob, who was just 2/3 years older than me, was bent upon pulling my pig-tails and teasing me. He kept calling me 'double battery' because I wore glasses. Exasperated I mustered up some courage and played my trump card. I warned him to stop teasing me or else I would complain to my father who was a police inspector. ( A lie that my mom had taught me to threaten strangers if I ever fell in trouble). Luckily, my threats didn't have the desired effect. In years to come, he would never let me forget about the 'threat' . The cat-eyed Jacob, his brothers Allwyn and Anthony and I went on to become good friends.
He was so full of energy and enthusiasm. He would get all of us (kids) to wake up at unearthly hours, and take us all out for a walk on the beach. I was so much in 'awe' of him.
(Pssst! I fell in love for the first time.)
I can never forget how Jacob got all the kids in the society together to make Diwali snacks for a neighbour, whose husband had left her, and kids had conveniently forgotten her. Together, the group made 'karanjis'( Gujiyas) and chaklis, and besan laddoos. Since I was the youngest I was given the task of arranging the stuff on the plates. I felt very insignificant because I wasn't doing much to help. After the whole stuff was cooked, (it tooks us 3 days) I was surprised when Jacob announced that the first 'laddoo' should be given to me. I'm sure my face turned beetroot red. But for the first time, I felt proud of myself.
Thank you, Jacob, I learnt 'giving' from you..

Unfortunately, the chawl was bought by some builder and his family relocated itself to Goa. I never even got a chance to say, 'Goodbye'

I hope someday my friends Google this post out, and we are re-united.
Jacob, Anthony, Allwyn, Jacintha and Nasreen(from Mukadam Chawl)

Deepa Lalwani, Nanda Kansara, Sonali Aksekar, Rekha Kamath and Mili Ganatra( Carmel of St. Joseph's High School)

I miss you all. You will always remain in my memory. And that, is an understatement.

Linking Park!

It always helps to get secrets off your chest.

Here's where you can see-a-secret and share-a-secret. Click here to see one of the most amazing blogs I have ever come across. Its a site where you can drop in your deepest and darkest secrets.
The one that I identify the most with is-

I make everyone believe that I like to be different, but really I just don't know how to fit in.

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Fellow-blogger Vardan is giving away invites for Yahoo360. Rush! Rush! Offer open till stocks last!

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Do you have what it takes to become a Crossword Champ? Cross words with Anbu and take up his Challenge!

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Join Mr. Mediocre on his final lap as he races away to San Marino

What would you do?

-If you saw someone cheating while taking a test? (you are taking the same test and you don't really know this person)

-If you saw a colleague breaking a rule?

-If you catch a neighbour throwing a banana peel from his/her window instead of using the dustbin?

-If you are aware that a friend is travelling in a bus/ train without a ticket?