AuthorSuryalaxmi

                                                   Are you among many of our generation who bear the brunt of their own anger? Anger management is crucial in our busy lives to lead a stress free life. Most of the times, it is not the situation but our reaction to it that aggravates the problem. But we hardly have time to give a deep thought to our anger management skills. No, this is not another article on deep breathing counting up to ten. It is simple notes on why you should consider your anger as a problem causing behavior. “Holding on to Anger is like grasping hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else, you are the one who gets burned”  - Buddha ·                             Studies have shown that people who are affected by daily annoyances and are easily p...

                         To call something or someone mediocre is often a derogatory comment. In schools we are motivated to rise above the mediocre and be the exceptional or outstanding. In this attempt, we often associate the term “mediocrity” to something that lacks attractiveness or deserves attention. There is always a cream layer of students in a class and the mediocre is just “the rest”. Low in ambitions and less in fighting spirit. That was indeed my perspective towards that class of people before a paradigm shift occurred onto me.              I used to look down upon “no ambition” people. I barely had a good reputation about the people who lived for meager joys and drooled over materialistic pleasures or were startled with small surprises. I thought of the bigger purposes in life and the means to achieve them. Values mean more than beauty. Achievem...

                        I had always felt drawn towards art in literature and in painting. Though I was not a prolific writer neither an avid painter, I would scribble and sketch whenever I got time. Studies and work always kept me busy. However, there was a time in my career where I found myself at crossroads. I had to take a break, I could not go to work any longer. While there were others like me who were clueless and empty, I found satisfaction fiddling with my craft items. I made quillings designs. I made newspaper articles like baskets. I aligned my quilling greeting cards on the wall and painted glass bottles. I took to sketching and canvas painting too which kept me very engrossed and busy. There was a sense of peace I got after the completion of these works. A sense of being the creator.              But the most important thing I realized about having a serious hob...

                                           Khushwant  Singh  stands out for his tongue in cheek style in writing. While he is not too famous as a story teller, he has carved a special niche for  himself  with candid essays and  opinioned  write-ups. He is a famous personality in print media for his journalistic write-ups but among the common readers too, he has a great fan-following thanks to his unpretentious persona.            The Vintage Sardar, published by Penguin in the year 2002, is a collection of his essays on a myriad of subjects like the people in his life (mostly celebs and politicians), his travels, his love-hate relations with nature and spirituality, his wandering on subjects like death and after life. His writing style keeps us glued to the content.       ...

                             Life's biggest happiness lies in appreciating small things. Understanding the smallest joys and paying attention to the tiniest details and chores of our daily routine.         In case you think this is what the book " Who Moved My Cheese” tells us.. then NO. it is the truth I have learnt from most of the motivational books I read. Pay attention to the detail.          The book “Who Moved My Cheese” is a parable that focuses on one of the most important aspects of our life - Change. In his attempt to analyse our thoughts and emotions when we are faced with a drastic change, the writer helps us realize how we resist change. It is those among us who adapt to change quickly that eventually emerge as winners. The parable is applicable to work and our upheavals in relationships.          In a maze, ...

                      I pretty much hate to commute by bus every day to my office. But since this mode of transport has it's own benefits too, I find myself in the crowd of passengers in the growing stream of traffic every morning. While most of the young ladies around me like to indulge in their phones, I like to poke my nose into various things in my vicinity. It may be another person's phone, or listening to their phone conversation which they have like a mumbling in their speaker. But some people are audacious enough to discuss gossips loudly too. And some others’ quirky fashion sense is there to get noticed quickly.            Those few seconds when you board the bus is crucial. There might be one seat destined for you that day. If you get on after other girls on the bus stop, you lose that one seat and the rest is left to luck. Then there are other tricks that you ne...

                                                                                                         Vihaana banged the book on the desk again. A couple more times. She was imitating me. I had banged at the desk when she was falling asleep during the worksheet time. She was not like other children in the class. She was ‘different’.   It was my initial few days as a trainee in a kindergarten. That day I was in KG II D for the first time. Neeta ma’am, the class teacher, was a friendly and nice lady.                       Vihaana was sitting on the first bench. Her hair was pulled back and tied from both sides.  She was taking off the rubber...

                                It was my short period of teaching English to a bunch of first years. Before the session was about to end, I arranged for a presentation on the lessons and poems that were taught by me. Many of them were nervous and even extremely nervous and so nervous that they skipped my class. Few of them were shivering, fumbling and even failed to open their mouth as soon as they saw an audience while there were others who did it fine as if it was a cake walk. The others who failed .. It was a failure they will always remember.          Public speaking: They say it is one of the most dreaded things in everyday life. Nobody usually likes to on the stage and speak. The people who come forward for such things are few. I have also read that people who are completely secure with themselves usually have no problem facing others and even speaking on public platfo...

                  F og hovers across Nagpur railway station. We throw our vision beyond the platform boundaries. No advancing train. Only a green light visible in the dark. The announcements repeatedly try our patience. I hate them for their insincere “regret of inconvenience”. It is 4.30 a.m. The railway rats are observed by those awaiting Kerala Express. The light turns red, the unique whistle is heard. In a moment everybody is on their feet. Platform shakes in the arrival of the giant!                  The morning sky is painted variedly outside the window. Whistling, the journey heralds its beginning. A day to pass and you will be in another land. These journeys have always connected the two cultures since my childhood. You see it coming gradually as the train moves, runs… runs over the rivers, sneaks speedily through dark holes, sometimes cra...