Thursday, May 10, 2007
empowerment
If you hear to lata's (& udit.N) bhajan
"O paalan hare"
from Movie: Lagaan
(attached for your listening pleasure)
then focus on this couplet from the song:
hare nahin nirbal dukh se
bhakti ko shakti do
loose translation would be
lest (we) the weak, get defeated by sorrow
give us the power to fight it
this song asking for empowerment is truly amazing
couple of quotations come to my mind:
Don;t ask for a lighter load, ask for a stronger back.
and
Its not the size of the dog in the fight that matters
its the size of the fight in the dog
hmmmmmmmmm...
Ratnesh
Meditative state
Trupti Wrote:
hi ratnesh,
as i had written yesterday, we seem to get involved completely in some things to the extent of it being a meditative process. but, what happens when the process is interrupted? the trance is broken?
from my personal experience, i can say, that i get irritated if such a thing happens, even angry sometimes. I have also noticed that I tend to overlook some of my duties towards the house, kids or hubby in the process. if I am hooked on to something to that extent, all this co occurs with it. so, though I derive satisfaction, feel good about whatever I have done, enjoy the process of creating, I also tend to feel guilty at times because of the other things I have mentioned above. I don't know if others feel this way too. but, interruption, definitely leads to irritation for me. so, what says you about using creative energy for something and at the same time also keeping a balance of other responsibilities as well? how can one achieve both?
I know you will say , you have to be creative there too, but just asking for your comments or experiences. has it ever happened to you too?
trupti
=============================================
=============================================
My response
Trupti ,
just because somebody throws a stone into a river- it doesn't stop flowing
just because you put a mast in the air, the wind dosne;t stop flowing
yes, eddies are produced, (eddies are water or air flowing in circular/ spiral motion) for some time, but then the flow continues............
********** a story ***********************
a monk was meditating with eyes closed.
a person came and asked him - "are you meditating?"
the monk opened his eyes and said quietly, "yes"
the person said, "Oh, okay, then I will come later" and went away.
A disciple watching this was puzzled, he said to the monk, "Sire, not only that man was foolish, his behaviour was most inappropriate, still you didn't say anything to him?
The monk replied, "That man came with a need, when I fulfill it, that's meditation".
*******************************************************
What this story also means to me is that we cannot be meditating at one time and not meditating another time.
or as osho said, "
To be and to be creative are synonymous.
similarly to be and to be meditative are synonymous.
in yoga terms we say - that person is YOGIC - always meditative :-)
hope this paradigm helps
ratnesh
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
learning & creativity
Learning always lies in individuals - not institutions. Just because you belong to an institution, it doesn't necessarily transfer the learning to you. You will have to constantly make your own singular effort to make that learning happen - for you.
Some of us think, learning can happen "from" others. But this, according to me, is a misplaced notion. Learning rarely happen from others. It may happen "because" of others or "through" others - but not from others.
For centuries we have sprawled on a "guru's feet" thinking learning (or even sometimes enlightenment) will happen. Some of us even keep books below the pillow at sleep time :-). The belief is the same - somebody will "give" us learning. But that's not true, for me:
Others can only stimulate you - you still need to do;
Others can only show you - but you still need to see;
Other can only explain to you - but you still need to think;
Others can only bring you to the well, but you still need to drink;
Many of us join classes, courses, institutions and even organizations thinking that we would learn.
But unfortunately that doesn't happen. People go about wearing this degree or the institutions name on their forehead touting their assumed intellect.
Converse is also true - a friend told me - "I am what I am because of this institution I went to". I said to him, "Wrong - you are you because of yourself. A particular piece of earth might be more conducive to growth of a rose, but a rose bent on growing will even grow in rocks".
The key to learning is then work - effort, diligence, and industry.
And work requires energy. Our ancestors, recognized the importance of WORK and ENERGY as core to learning. That is why all our ancient institutions expounded the gurukul system of learning where work, effort, rigor and discipline were key aspects.
But carrying much more potential, much more impact is an energy which many of us miss - that is the creative energy. The sheer energy release when we embark on a creative Endeavour is truly unmatched. Time blurs, world around us blurs, past and future blurs, when this creative energy drives our complete being into a productive and industrious state of operation.
This is the energy of being in the present. As the neurons of our brain go into a tizzy - in such an unleash of energy, we are absorbing, doing, creating and most importantly learning. Creative energy is the energy of freedom, where thoughts, emotions and effort freely mingle and explode in many directions. The result is oneness with ourselves as well as the world around us.
Each one of us would have experienced this in some form or the other - be it cooking, gardening, writing a letter, sport, and so on.
Creative energy is the energy of doing - not from a mechanical state of mind - but from an unleashed, inhibited and unassumed mind which is bent on experimenting, exploring and experiencing - itself as well as the world around it.
So the question is what releases this creative energy. Very simply purpose with passion and persistence.
For most of us, many things that we do serve secondary or unreal purpose - like making money, or completing a chore. No wonder there is no excitement (passion), we take shortcuts (no persistence) and we feel "tired" even before doing it ( no creative energy). "Oh no!" - is the beginning exclamation.
But the moment we turn to something that we believe has a great purpose for us, what we are passionate about, what we would like to persist with no matter what odds - the great well of creative energy opens up magically inside us - providing us with whatever resources we would ever need.
Gandhiji, Mother Teresa, Hellen Keller are just few names which come to my mind immediately.
So if you are in search of learning - follow this flow:
Dream a passionate purpose - dive into it with full persistence - and with your then released energy create!
And if you in the business of teaching (which we all are) - I will ensure children around me are passionate about a purpose that their potential has dreamt off and then I would encourage them to follow their calling with the true freedom of creative energy.
Let me conclude this with a quote from Gandhiji:
“I claim to be no more than an average man with less than average abilities.
I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have,
if he or she would make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith."
I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have,
if he or she would make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith."
Your thoughts!
Ratnesh
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Leisure - a favourite poem by Davies
Also my person favourite on this theme is W. H. Davies all time classic "leisure", which made the phrase "no time to stand and stare" a proverb.
here you go:
"LEISURE"
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
By Wm. Henry Davies.
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
By Wm. Henry Davies.
King of imperfections
i am what is called king of imperfections
i think less is done in the world because a lot of us wait for perfect offering or
less is explored because we are too afraid of getting it wrong or making a fool of our self
but I believe in trying, first few falls only tell me what not to do the next time and what better way than to expose self to the whole world
whats there to hide anyway - hai.na
if GOD were to hide all its imperfections, i wouldn't be in this world only !!!
ha ha ha
enjoying imperfections
ratnesh
Images of self
Anjana Wrote:
I rewound myself to the self esteem session,, the discussion of an image a person has,, the identity etc etc and indeed there was a lot of churn inside me...
But out of this churn and after exploring I came out much more stronger to realize yes there are two people within me, but how does that matter?? and I think both complement each other, though most of the times my subconscious (Anju) is more bolder, stronger, courageous and so many other positive adjectives...as compared to the conscious Anjana who is necessarily not the true self all the times and is living up to others expectations which maybe constraining at times, and that is when I ask Anju to help...So am I not benefited???
But out of this churn and after exploring I came out much more stronger to realize yes there are two people within me, but how does that matter?? and I think both complement each other, though most of the times my subconscious (Anju) is more bolder, stronger, courageous and so many other positive adjectives...as compared to the conscious Anjana who is necessarily not the true self all the times and is living up to others expectations which maybe constraining at times, and that is when I ask Anju to help...So am I not benefited???
My response
HOW ABOUT NOT HAVING ANY IMAGE - OR RATHER THOUSANDS OF IMAGES - NONE FIXED - JUST LIKE THE RIVER WHICH IS NOT THE SAME ANY MOMENT AS THE WATER THAT WAS NEAR YOU HAS ALREADY FLOWN DOWN - YET ITS STILL THE SAME RIVER !!
Giving children emotional stimulation
Anjan Wrote: Hi Ratnesh
While riding back home, was just pondering about 'emotional stimulation'(ES), as to how would I go through the same?
It is not impossible, and not too easy too as ES does not happen
till you are in that situation, or have marvelous power of imagination or unless you are a professional actor.
I do not underestimate children but am sure they are not exposed to such hardcore realities (ex:the blind school today).
So as to say, to transport them to an emotional level?????.....
Anjana
While riding back home, was just pondering about 'emotional stimulation'(ES), as to how would I go through the same?
It is not impossible, and not too easy too as ES does not happen
till you are in that situation, or have marvelous power of imagination or unless you are a professional actor.
I do not underestimate children but am sure they are not exposed to such hardcore realities (ex:the blind school today).
So as to say, to transport them to an emotional level?????.....
Anjana
My Reply:
I can make children experience sensitivity, make them experience alienation, make them experience anxiety over unknown and so on
I need not put the children in the SAME situation - I only need to put the children or myself into a situation which would evoke SIMILAR feelings
thats the KEY
all GOOD ACTORS, as you have rightly identified - do that
I have seen some not so effective directors saying to actors, "put or show sad emotion or scared emotion"
I have also luckily seen some great directors say to actors "remember the last time something happened and you were sad - relive that experience right now!
The later obviously works much better - because this is experiential (that is RELATING also)
hope you get what I am saying - EQ is such an amazing area - its not difficult
its just that you can't intellectualize over it and hence many of us think its difficult or even impossible
since we can't intellectualize over it children at times have ADVANTAGE over us
have you seen adults carrying a negative emotion or a grudge or a hatred over years - while have you seen children "patch" up soooooooon
people say children are innocent - but what I think is
that children by nature are JUST MORE AWARE .... but as they grow older .. they lose touch with their awareness - as we adults start IMPOSING our rights or wrongs
the other day a child came to geniekids and said to his father he wants his badge to read as "sonu" rather than "arya" his real (school name).
father asked why -
he said I hate "arya"
father said, "no you don't, you can't H-A-T-E anything"
i guess the father is far removed from his own emotions ......... otherwise he would have realised that he himself was right now hating "hate" :-)
Q.E.D
ratnesh
Which is the best parenting approach?
i don't think one kind of parenting produces "better persons".
so approaches are neither good nor bad. For different people different approaches are less or more effective.
Hence, my first question to parents is WHAT IS YOUR OBJECTIVE AS A PARENT?
Once, i as a parent - i know what are my objectives - both for me and the child - then i can figure out which is the best way. My observation is that most parents today are confused what is their objective as a parent!!!
What is yours?
so approaches are neither good nor bad. For different people different approaches are less or more effective.
Hence, my first question to parents is WHAT IS YOUR OBJECTIVE AS A PARENT?
Once, i as a parent - i know what are my objectives - both for me and the child - then i can figure out which is the best way. My observation is that most parents today are confused what is their objective as a parent!!!
What is yours?
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Ways to add zing to your theater show and your life and actually to anything
. One person can do many things, roles
. Add energy
. Use props
. Team up
. Listen
. Do loudly
. Do fast
. Do slow
. Act properly
. Act not properly
. Act
. Do not act
. Express
. Use your body
. Use space
. Be realistic
. Be unrealistic
. Use gibberish
. Use silence
. Relate to each other
. Connect everything to something
. Interact with team mates, audience, yourself
. Use music
. Listen to music
. Sing music
. Play music
. Move to music
. Be creative
. Change speeds
. Use sounds
. Do things differently
. Be funny
. Do one-by-one
. Be clear
. Always show your front to people
. Be free - open & bindass
. Put feeeeeelings into everything
. Use levels
. Animate
. Better yourself
. Characters are fun
. Dialogues add interest
. Emotions are the essence
. 1 - role - 2 scene - 3 - story
. the DUS of success Do - Use - Say - something
. Be aware of what you are - Doing - feeling - thinking
. Be aware of what others are - Doing - feeling - thinking
. Above all enjoy yourself
. Trust yourself and others.
. Be generous especially in giving praise.
. Add energy
. Use props
. Team up
. Listen
. Do loudly
. Do fast
. Do slow
. Act properly
. Act not properly
. Act
. Do not act
. Express
. Use your body
. Use space
. Be realistic
. Be unrealistic
. Use gibberish
. Use silence
. Relate to each other
. Connect everything to something
. Interact with team mates, audience, yourself
. Use music
. Listen to music
. Sing music
. Play music
. Move to music
. Be creative
. Change speeds
. Use sounds
. Do things differently
. Be funny
. Do one-by-one
. Be clear
. Always show your front to people
. Be free - open & bindass
. Put feeeeeelings into everything
. Use levels
. Animate
. Better yourself
. Characters are fun
. Dialogues add interest
. Emotions are the essence
. 1 - role - 2 scene - 3 - story
. the DUS of success Do - Use - Say - something
. Be aware of what you are - Doing - feeling - thinking
. Be aware of what others are - Doing - feeling - thinking
. Above all enjoy yourself
. Trust yourself and others.
. Be generous especially in giving praise.
compiled by genie-dozen - eleven children who took part in theate rmagic
program at geniekids and me.
Ratnesh
------------------------------------
There is genie inside every child
come lets discover the magic
-----------------------------------
Website: www.geniekids.com
opportunity to learn
Anjana wrote:
| Ratnesh I have a doubt here. The cards turned up to be 'messy' acc. to the children too. Should I have guided them to use the material in my way…but then where is their creativity??or is it that they left with a learning to be more systematic next time they made a card??? |
My reply:
Anjana - what you need to do now - as you work beyond the few weeks of summer program is to start developing the art of process/ reflective questioning.
Then every such opportunity ( as above) is merely an opportunity to learn.
remember they will not AUTOMATICALLY learn to be more systematic - that is where our questioning and the process of
experience (do) ---> reflect (learning) ---> experience again ( as an opportunity to APPLY the learnings)
is vital
ratnesh
what is leadership?
Somebody asked me the other day:
what is leadership?
I said - "Leadership is how we LEAD our lives and ourselves - EVERYDAY"
ratnesh
www.geniekids.com
what is leadership?
I said - "Leadership is how we LEAD our lives and ourselves - EVERYDAY"
ratnesh
www.geniekids.com
I do not get offended
also to clarify - I do not get offended - specially when people ask for their "right"
or even when they ask for their left (thats a pj :-)
there is one thing that I have learnt in life - perhaps my one of the most significant learning
that everybody is operating from their BEST CHOICE
and its about their needs and wants (and not really about me)
so lets say somebody calls me idiot - he is possibly saying so because he is frustrated and was expecting blah blah blah
and their is nothing wrong in being frustrated and expecting blah blah blah
'
and since its got nothing to do with me per se ... there is no question of me being offended.
and hence no reason to feel & react any which way
Here is one of my HIAKU on this concept
I threw rock in the pond
the ripples just smiled back
the rock vanished
Ratnesh Mathur
---------------------------------------------------------
There is genie inside every child
come lets discover the magic
---------------------------------------------------------
Website: www.geniekids.com
---------------------------------------------------------
There is genie inside every child
come lets discover the magic
---------------------------------------------------------
Website: www.geniekids.com
should I do BEd then Med and then Phd
I have never held formal degrees like Bed & Med much in regard.
I find practical work & self exploration to be much deeper and more comprehensive and greatly developing pathways
For example - to me writing a book is biggest degree and a huge learning - a complete Phd in itself.
Hence I will question you - why do you want to do Bed & Med & Phd - towards what end?
Why not spend the same time, effort and resources in
impacting children, parents, teachers and yourself in a much bigger way!!!
thinka bout this
Writing a book is just an example.
one can do anything - which does this IMPACT bit!
somehow I question this cultural bend of our society towards degrees which serve no purpose.
I believe in "Industry" (meaning effort geared towards a result) not mere academics!
that makes me learn more!
mere academics is a waste of time & resource - even in terms of self development
I've no degree in any field of education, yet I think I am impacting children, parents & teachers more - than - many who have tomes of degrees tucked with laminated covers in their cupboards
So please justify why you want to do all this Bed & Med & Phd
Our life is the sum total of our day to day activities.
If your day is full of activities which give scope for you to grow - then you are on lifelong learning journey - rest all is theory which I do not call learning
Also - according to me - I am only growing - in the real sense - if I am making others around me GROW
to that extent I find academics to be a very selfish pursuit.
however the moment I start sharing them with others - in some way helping them grow - it ceases to be academics - but becomes joyous life!
ratnesh
---------------------------------------------------------
There is genie inside every child
come lets discover the magic
www.geniekids.com
There is genie inside every child
come lets discover the magic
www.geniekids.com
are 3 yrs olds capable of deciding
Pratiksha wrote:
Ratnesh, what does ur experience say....are kids as small as 3 yrs capable of deciding for themselves??
i have tried it in simple day to day things....like ask him if he would like to have chapati or rice and he tells his choice.
but when it comes to 2 unpleasant choices ,he will just run away n completely ignore me!
but i read it somewhere that u should keep the options ready for them n let them decide and grdually then work out the options as well with them .
what do u have to say on this??
i have tried it in simple day to day things....like ask him if he would like to have chapati or rice and he tells his choice.
but when it comes to 2 unpleasant choices ,he will just run away n completely ignore me!
but i read it somewhere that u should keep the options ready for them n let them decide and grdually then work out the options as well with them .
what do u have to say on this??
My response:
Pratiksha
Its not about ARE kids as small as 3yrs capable of deciding -
Its all about what you want them to BECOME capable of .....
Its not about ARE kids as small as 3yrs capable of deciding -
Its all about what you want them to BECOME capable of .....
many parents make their kids capable of following them;
i would like to make every kid capable of leading me!
i would like to make every kid capable of leading me!
kids has this amazing ability to rise to your expectations.
so, enjoy raising the bar:-)
Isn't that what teaching is all about?
ratnesh
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