Thursday, December 31, 2020

Live Positive Way

 


Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Live Positive Way - Mindfulness!

Live Positive Way!

I guess, one word, which is repeatedly being heard throughout this pandemic is this word, ‘Mindfulness’.  Many have written, shared and even conducted webinars on this topic ‘mindfulness’.  Most of them connected the ‘Mindfulness’ with ‘Zen’ and kept insisting to stay in the ‘present’ and not to think about the ‘past’ and the ‘future’.  Basically staying aware of oneself and the surroundings is actually mindfulness--as I understood the term. However, whatever I heard from many speakers, or articles that I read written by many writers, it is interpreted as staying 'only' in the present and direct us to forget the past and leave the future in the hands of god.

Yes... future being a hypothetical thing we may not worry much about it and keep doing our work, but, I somehow feel unconvinced when anyone say that we must forget the 'past'. They may say so referring 'only' to the sufferings or the challenges of the past, but past consists of 'both' positive and negative traces.  Today’s present is going to be tomorrow’s past, so whatever we do and learn today is going to certainly benefit us in the time to come in the form of good 'lessons'. Life is a 'mixed bag'. We do have wonderful memories associated with our childhood days. Some great learnings that we have gained through our associations, the immense support and encouragement that we received from others, which continues to drive us even today. Hence it sounds unethical and illogical to forget those things. Am I right in thinking so?

Some may have a recent loss of a loved one in the family, like me, or even passing away of some legendary person whom we liked very much, who mattered a lot (there will be so many fond incidences and memories associated with them) but that too had become a past now. But deep in our mind we constantly keep thinking and recollecting what all happened in the past. Revisiting some lovely memories of our past will motivate us to stay positive and alive.  There are hence many things which keep on rekindling our enchanting past positive memories.  I personally feel that we all have super brains which can adjust and tune as per our instructions. We can monitor it by giving suggestions like, ‘keep all old memories in ‘Fond memories’ folder and bind all negative or troubled memories in a folder called ‘learnings’.  We can indeed add a 'command/suggestion', “hey brain, whenever you think back about a past bad experience, do put a tag saying --- it is gone, the pain is not there now but I have learned something.  It is really tough to ignore our past experiences. I guess, the extraordinary people or saints can do it, not a normal human being like us.

Can we ever forget the ‘Malgudi days’, our ‘grandma stories’? Or the way we tapped our legs for our favorite beats with our friends? Or the lovely moon time food with our cousins? Or the way we fell down a hundred times while we started riding our bicycle? Or the first day and the first time love blossomed? Or the first hand made gift we gave to our parents on their anniversary or birthdays? This list will go on and on and the life goes on adding a new experience and a new chapter and all these will get stored as ‘memories’ and ‘learnings’ as per the nature of the individual.  That’s called life cycle, which you and I cannot change or forget even if we try or wish to do.

To add to this, I wish to include my husband’s advice here.  He keeps saying, ‘never judge a person with just a few incidents or behavior, since people may change and such (bad) behavior of the person may just be for that particular event (moment)’.  Hence holding grudges about past incidents or people will only strain our mind and getting hold of negative past as a learning can help us to even enjoy past fond memories even deeply.  People who can follow this can get liberated from the past bad experience and will be able to grow even better and become successful individuals.  I feel it is not even necessary to forget anything.  It just happened and we moved on.  On the other hand, we can reap the benefits of remembering fond memories again and again.  Remembering good things and good people is always a pleasure and why not enjoy that? If I sound like a Charuvakka, let it be. 

Life is not an exhibition to just display the present situation, but it is a balanced package of all that occurred in the past which created this pleasant present life! At present my ‘mind’ is ‘full’ of ‘fond memories’ and hence, to me, I am ‘mindful’ now.  I have penned down my views here, you may agree or may not agree with me.  You can post your views in my comment box!  Let’s do it today and make this blog a past fond memory. I will revisit and enjoy reading your comments again and again. Keep blogging and stay happy…. Sorry.. Stay Mindful!

- Suganthi Sankaran

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Live Positive Way

You can access my Webinar recording on the topic

"Why it is important to address Learning Difficulties?" through the link given below :- #webinar #education #learning #learning #learningdisability #learningdifficulties #suganthisankaran #LD #livepositiveway #acee #ananya #dyslexia #dyspraxia #dysgraphia #dyscalculia #ADD #ADHD #therapies #accommodations 

- Suganthi Sankaran

suganthi.spleducator@gmail.com

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_Q_HqoCtefLnmnKSLdUsMmE8SylPXLry/view

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Live Positive Way

 Vels Group of Schools is happy to invite you to the free live webinar scheduled on August 29, 2020, 4 pm – 5 pm.

*Zoom Link* : https://tinyurl.com/y52uwsc3

*Zoom ID* : 815 8166 5992

*Passcode* :  920860

*FB Live* : https://tinyurl.com/y333y5yx

*Topic: Why it is important to address learning difficulties?*

*Guest Speaker* : 

Mrs Suganthi Sankaran

Empathetic Special Educator and a blogger

Catch me live on *29 August 2020*, *Saturday* between *4pm - 5pm*.  Use the link to log in & kindly spread the word in your circle.

- Suganthi Sankaran

Friday, June 5, 2020

Live Positive Way - A tribute!

Live Positive Way - A tribute!

A little girl, who was staying away from her dad, at her uncle’s place, got hurt once. She lost a good amount of blood and got a big bandage wrapped onto her leg. She was taken care off well by her aunty, but still, she kept weeping and repeatedly said, “Appa inga irun-dirun-dah, evlo-nalla-irun-diruk-kum” (How nice it would have been if dad was here with me now?). The girl was missing her dad terribly and was dozing off due to medication. When she opened her eyes, she saw her dad sitting next to her wounded leg. That was in the year 1987, when telephones were considered a luxury and there were no mobile phones or WhatsApp available to contact others. By the way....on the very same day her dad came all the way from Chennai to Vadalur, which is roughly about 200+ kilometers away. That is the kind of bonding that the father had with his daughter.

Recently someone appreciated me for my blog posts and writing skills. I said, ‘I owe it to my dad.’ She replied, ‘but it's you who studied well and became capable of writing.’ She knew very little about my dad, but she doesn’t know that my dad was the finest orator that I knew and he can grab the attention of the entire crowd with his amazing oratorical skill and proficiency in Tamil language. I just follow his narrative style while I write. 

When I was in tender age, he started encouraging me by bringing ‘Ambulimama’, ‘Gokulam’ books regularly despite the little money he had for himself. He encouraged me to read more since he believed books are the best friends. He took pride in me even for the smallest things I did. Slowly but steadily he groomed me as a mentor. More than a dad, on many occasions he doubled up as my friend with whom I have shared all of my challenges for which he always had some solutions to offer. When at times I got average marks he softly used to say, ‘What happened this time? I hope you will score well next time’ and motivate me to aspire for better results next time. I even had the privilege of signing his signature on behalf of him. He trusted me since I was very small, and I am happy and proud now to say that I had that place intact in his heart till his last breathe. He used to tell everyone that his daughter listens to whatever he says. I am happy to hear from everyone now that how much he used to speak about me to them. He allowed me to explore my life. He sent me miles away when I got a job in New Delhi. My dad believed in me, my abilities and talents, he kept encouraging me whenever I had a fall.

My dad had a unique way of connecting with people. Everyone loves him. He can relate to people of all ages -- from a senior citizen to a toddler. The best extrovert, I have ever seen in my life is my dad. He was instrumental in me getting connected to all of his relatives, friends and the ones he loved much. No one will believe if I say that I was an introvert before, and he changed me for good. When I expressed my displeasure of not able to stand in front of people and talk confidently, he started coaching me by taking to beach and asked me to start talking loud to the waves. It’s because of my dad ‘Marina’ beach became my most favorite place on earth. Numerous times he took me there and created an emotional bonding with it.

When I look back at my journey... I realize .. 
since 'he was fond' of his culture and heritage, I learned Mahabharata and Ramayana.
Since he loved MGR and Rajnikanth, they remain special in my heart even today.
Since he believed, having more people is the most valuable asset in life; I earned many friends, wherever I went. 

He may be a simple person to many, but 'for me' he is my pillar of strength, my powerhouse, the most influential person in my life. He had chosen my subjects for higher studies; he had chosen my husband, and he had chosen my first job and even the present profession of being a 'Special Educator'. Dad visualized me as a passionate Special Educator even before I thought of taking it as my profession. He even expressed what I must do before I start my last journey. That much is his influence in my life. 

“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.”- Jim Valvano

I have quoted this many a time in my posts on Father's Day or in some of my blog posts. This quote validates my entire journey so far. It is painful to see that my dad is physically not present today, with whom I was so much connected since I came into existence. He is the one who understands my pain and unsaid emotions. He believed in me when I haven’t even known the meaning of the word ‘belief.’

It is now been more than a fortnight since he left for his heavenly abode. Suddenly, I lost all my confidence. I have become an introvert, almost stopped communicating with many, staying away from social networks (otherwise remains active), restricting myself to just four walls and engaging in household chores. Then suddenly realized that this is not how my dad will like me to be. This is not the one for whom he felt proud. I have to get back to my real persona, which he will certainly love seeing. He has read all my blog posts so far and have appreciated me. I just can’t stay silent since I must keep ‘Sankaran’ alive forever through my name Suganthi ‘Sankaran’.

I lost my dad, that's a fact and as a cheaper mortal, I cannot change it, it is indeed a painful experience that I haven't endured ever in my life, but I commit to myself that I must remain grateful for everything that he did for me. I am sure he has left a great impact on many lives. He taught me how to stay grounded by not forgetting the past. Only that can keep us humble and genuine. I will love you and miss you appa forever. Since we in our culture believe in eternal connection, I am sure, you are with me now as a guiding star, staying in my heart and going to show me the right path as always.

A simple tribute to the greatest dad!

By the way the little girl at Vadalur was Suganthi, and she had that telepathic connect with her appa Sankaran, who rushed to be with his daughter. Within a few hours after he had arrived, they both went to Vadalur Vallalar Temple, that too by walk! 
- Suganthi Sankaran

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Live Positive Way - From my lockdown diaries (3)

Live Positive Way

She was born with a silver spoon, and she was pampered with love and care.

All through her life, she only met beautiful souls and her life was a blissful sail.

The breeze never forgot to touch her face and bring a refreshing....soothing.....smile.

She had never faced hurdles, since she's blessed to live without hassles.

Is she an angel?
An enlightened soul?
Does she live in heaven?
Or in lovely woods?

No way!
Her eyes opened....bringing her back, to her 'real present'.

She remembered.....

How she dreamt of those small things in her childhood days but later learned to adjust her ways.

How she believed, everyone will stay kind to her but only to realise kindness has quit humanity and taken a back seat.

Then....,

She wandered in the skies to check for her stars, to change her charm and make her shine.

She wandered in the sea and in the sea waves, to make her sorrows stay away.

She wandered in the land, to find a place, which can keep her always safe.

She wandered everywhere around, to learn how to be a happy soul.

She wandered back and forth with her loaded thoughts to know what is 'life' and what is 'happiness'......after all?

She was flying inside in her mind to find it all, and now she knew what it means to love oneself and to stay content......it is the secret recipe which has it all!
- Suganthi Sankaran
From my lockdown diaries 3.0

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Live Positive Way - From my lockdown diaries (2)

Live Positive Way
“A real friend is one who walks-in when the rest of the world walks-out”. – Walter Winchell.

Yes! 'Friendship' is one factor in our life, which we all feel so important. I really pity those who say they don’t have any friends. This life can be felt as 'totally incomplete' if we are not with friends.

We can have so many people--- 'acquaintances'---whom we call as 'friends'. But are they our 'real friends'? 

Dude! Don’t get confused with the two contradicting statements above. I am not here to write about this new era of friendship. I want to talk about 'the friendship', which still stands out as 'unique' and validates the quote that I shared at the starting of this blog.

When I was young, my most favourite pass time with my dad was hearing bedtime stories. He always chose to tell me either Ramayana or Mahabharata stories in installments. Even the smallest character of the epic(s) wouldn't escape my dad’s narration. Those stories formed an integral part of my upbringing. When I fast-forward a few decades, and now, when I am watching the old Television episodes of Mahabharata---after a long gap of 30+ years---I feel delighted and feel a sense of gratitude permeating me fully for the valuable and quality time spent by my Dad in narrating those stories to me.

I register my gratitude and respect to my dad for spending his valuable time for me. Those were the days in which he used to be very tired, but still, he never ever had disappointed me by skipping the doses of narration from my favourite epic Mahabharata. May be it is now my favourite, but the truth ishe made me cultivate that fondness through his passionate narration. 
Oh! Guess this post is getting diverted now. I have infinite number of things to talk about my dadwhich I can in my other postsnow coming back to “friendship”.

'Hinduism' is such a lovely religion in which each and every character, everything has some thing to teach us. I have always loved Mahabharata over Ramayana. My close associates know the reason. It is special because of my Shri Krishna's presence in it. My other reason is the Great character, eminent warrior, “Dhanveer(a man who would never refuse the request for any donation), the most charming, sensible and extra-ordinary person “Karna” in the epic.

To the people who don’t know who he is he is the eldest and spiritual son of Kunti (by the blessings of Surya, the Sun God) who got estranged from her immediately after birth. He later got identified by Duryodhan for his skills, and he gifted his small kingdom called “Anga” to him at a critical juncture. Duryodhan can be the main antagonist of Mahabharata but the love he had for Karna is also extraordinary. Some people say that it his selfishness to have someone so skilled like Karna at his side but I have never seen him as a coward Prince. He himself is a great warrior. It may be a boon that he got a great friend like  “Karna. Karna’s friendship towards Duryodhan should be considered as an 'Epitome of Friendship' in my opinion.

Karna knew ‘Pandavas’ were his own brothers much before the Kurushetra war but he valued his friendship and honoured the trust his friend had in him and decided not to leave Duryodhan.

My dad used to say if he had expressed even once to Duryodhan that he is the elder brother of PandavasMahabharath war might have never taken place and Duryodhan would have accepted his friend as his own brother and given up the plan to wage war and even sacrificed his throne for his friend Karna.

The amazing virtue possessed by Karna didn’t allowed him to disclose his birth secrets even to his wife. Just before the war his mother Kunti meets him and pleads to change his side, but he declines it by saying he cannot leave Duryodhan who gave him love and affection when the whole world degraded him. The greedy mother Kunti (sorry for saying so but it’s painful to see she didn’t accept him even after many years.) took a promise from him that he should only fight with Arjun and not with his other brothers and he should not attempt to kill any of them. She also pleaded with him to use “Nagastra” (divine weapon) only once on Arjun. He promised all that knowing well it will only led him towards death but still he stood by his friend and for the friendship. Somehow the North Indian version of Mahabharata narration misses out some beautiful aspects which we read in South Indian depiction of Mahabharata about the Karna-Duryodhan friendship. It was even recorded that Duryodhan mourned only for Karna in the entire loss.

We always miss out some positive qualities in antagonist since we get engrossed in the core story of the epic. But it is not that always a person will be bad with everyone. He can be an antagonist in the story, he can be against dharma or good people but that does not make them 'absolutely bad' either. If you happen to revisit Mahabharata via YouTube telecast or books don’t restrict yourself with Krishna-Arjun friendship and Gitasaar. See the unseen part of Karna-Duryadhana friendship too. That is the true example of unconditional love among friends and an Epitome of Friendship.

I wish to be a “Karna” to my friends, and I pray that I could always stand by those friends who need me in their lives, since…, ”A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.”

From my lockdown diaries… 2.0

- Suganthi Sankaran

Saturday, April 4, 2020

Live Positive Way - From my lockdown diaries....


Live Positive Way

My hubby asked me, “what happened to your blog posts? You have enough time now to write!"  So here comes my new post!

It's 'Lock down time'! Yes, too much news buzzing around about the present pandemic situation. What to do? What not to do? My mind is engrossed in the daily emerging data, its ups & downs. But as a 'positive thoughts blogger' isn’t it my priority and responsibility to post something positive to my blog walkers at this time?

Restricted movements. Even walking exercise confined to ones’ home. No cable TV connection to watch movies. In a way it has become a blessing in disguise since I am restricted only to watch a few news updates.  Otherwise, I might have tuned into Times Now, Republic and CNN most of the time.

Many more compromises in kitchen zone. Unable to make and eat what we like, but still feel blessed we have food to eat, whereas many still wander with hunger.

Fine! These are my challenges and hope that is yours as well. Now what can be done to make use of this time productively. How to stay positive despite the challenges?

Here are a few things I am doing to keep myself active.

First of all, whenever we see a news related to the present situation, we must mute our negative thought button. Switch back to the positive affirmation, “this too will pass”! Yes, this will surely pass since nothing is permanent here, so is this too.

Secondly, re-engage with the hobbies which can give you utmost satisfaction.  Something which you did in your childhood days but couldn’t pursue due to various reasons.  My regular readers know that I keep insisting on this. Practising your hobby can help you stay young and happy.  I love singing and dancing. I had never ever left it. It helps me to stay self motivated and keep me going even in this tough time. Doing Zumba with my daughter and daily singing practice with her (we just finished our karaoke sessions singing a telugu song, the language which we are not familiar with), gives a lot of happiness to both of us. Specially to my female buddies, who are now burdened with so much work, I want to say that those chores can wait for a while. It’s nothing wrong if you decide to spend some time for yourself. Take some time out for yourself.

I am both a spiritual and religious person. I wish my child too, to follow those religious practices.  So I am using this time to educate her about our customs, cultures and values which make us a mature human being! Luckily my child is not hooked to cartoon characters and hence it is easy for me to pull her and make her watch and learn them. Watching Mahabharata together is our most favourite bonding time now. I believe any parent can influence their child by doing things which they want their children to do. I am sure they will surprise you by doing them along with you!

Books indeed are great friends! I don’t feel bored since I have so many books to read. With many online links available for readers free of charge we can choose what we like and start reading. I have a few friends who keep saying, “I can’t read a book post one page". I feel that is perfectly fine. Just read that one page a day.  If the content is good, we will end up reading the whole book soon. Think about the knowledge we can gain through this process instead of reading some fake news which can create a panic attack in our heart?

I was in Vippasana Meditation and had the bliss of enjoying 10 days of noble silence (I am not asking you to practice noble silence but can meditate for a while to boost your inner consciousness). This silence that you are feeling around you now is never going to repeat again hence make the best use of it. Instead of tiring car horns and speeding vehicle sounds, we are now able to hear birds chirp and can see birds flying peacefully in clean air above. Let them also have a great time.

I just remember my conversation with my husband about an old tamil story of a famous writer Sujatha, “Yen Iniya Iyandira”. The story revolves around robots taking over the universe. I told my hubby, like every other creature what if some day humans go extinct on earth? But never thought a small micro element can destroy so many lives and cage the entire universe before even we could realise what was happening. Think friends!  Nothing is superior to 'Nature' including the human intelligence. Hence let us all bow down in front of mother nature, God or whatever you call it and feel good that we are still there alive. We can change for better.

Much more to come in coming days…..

From my lockdown diaries……….. 
- Suganthi Sankaran

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Live Positive Way

She inspires me to stay alive,
with her lovely smile.
She motivates me to stay strong,
with her gentle pat on my back
when I am down.

She uplifts my spirit to a new high,
when she reassures me that she is
there to support me.
She helps me cherish every moment
of my life, with her bright lovely eyes.
She, at times scolds me (sweetly),
and then pampers me,
when she role plays me.
She inspires me, motivates me,
lifts me up when she says,
“I’m there, your supporter,
your daughter ma,
stay the way you are ma,
do whatever you want to do,
never quit your work, never change,
be you, since I am there for you”.
The one and only, Ananya Parmesh, my darling daughter,
She Inspires Me. Every daughter inspire us so #SheInspiresUs
Dedicated to all the daughters of India
Suganthi Sankaran
Thanks for this opportunity our PM Narendra Modi ji 
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