How I met Na’vi from Avatar

I am Major Neethasha Hebbar K , a commissioned officer from Indian Army, served in Operational areas and was involved in training Officer Cadre, and transforming them into not only warriors but scholar warriors.

My topic for today is “How I met Na’vi  from  Avatar”

I can see many tangled looks .

Yes people I did meet Na’vi  !!

Now the story goes like this ……..

I preferred two stars on my shoulders better than millions in the sky

I preferred to wear dog tags and combat boots to work than pearls and sensible shoes

I choose to do the impossible

I choose to be a soldier

An Indian Army officer

The pride of our nation!

Served in the Educational corps for ten years , trained and groomed 2000 scholar warrior, the present officer lot in the Indian army and yes… I take great pride in saying this.

Ok let me continue…..

Days and years passed by , got married to an infantarian, mothered two brats Aditya  and Ayan .

The need to be with my boys made me quit my job, but yes the confidence of getting back at the opportune moment was very strong . Six years passed by I am a full fledged home maker.

The army posting cycle …… got us to Bangalore after residing in most of the remotest and border areas in India.

With 30 plus black trunks and n number of cartons fully loaded in truck and  my angel now turned devils two in number ,came to the most happening city Namma Bangaluru.

With kids in school, I decided to pursue my dream…. Got the right platform through the Iron Lady program.

The intensity of the program was catching up, long sessions….longer assignments

 but I didn’t want to give up , I was so very confident of self that I can do it again….. as I have all the 15 OLQ still ingrained in me.

It was one of those days, long long ILP session …loaded with assignment, this mom gets back home. With a given time I had to finish my household chores, look after my devils ….sorry my angels ……do my assignment, mail it, get the feedback ,amend if required, again mail and wait for the response.

To finish the task in hand as fast as possible ….. I took the younger one for shower, along with his dirty canvas shoes to be washed and laundry to be done. I told him, “Junior, you are old enough to do your own task and help your Amma out”. Like a dedicated soldier he followed my instruction and in no time I finished my laundry, the shoe was sparkling white and I gave him a bath.

Next was my elder sons turn…… gave the same instruction and I settled in front of the laptop to finish my assignment. So immersed was I that I didn’t know it was nearly an hour …..and Aditya  still not out of the wash room. I jumped from my bed and barged into the wash room ……

People, it was here that I meet Na’vi ….

Aditya wanted to impress his mom he wanted his shoes shine better than juniors … he opened the bathroom cubboard and in the process of taking the Blue Robin liquid , which was half closed, dropped it with his butter finger all over him , over the white tiles and on the white canvas shoes .

Now knowing his moms temper he was in a frantics effort to clean and cover up the mess. But in vain . It was here that I enter the scene…. My  Na’vi was cute , lil plumpy and without a tail….. not scary but scared.

I restrained all my rising temper and just smiled at him …. And now my extra duty starts ….. A work which would have finished in an hours time , I took complete two hours to scrub scrub scrub and clean up Aditya, the tiles and the shoes.

Lesson learnt …….never mix Time Management , Multi tasking with Parenting .

I havent failed , but I just found ten thousand ways that won’t work

Since all present here are in  same shoes …I  feit better to share some of the tips/ lessons I grasped out of this episode.

Time Management and working mom:

v   Don’t fall into Multi tasking trap

v  Tackle your hardest thing first

v  Take advantage of in between minutes

v  Pause Before Saying Yes

v  Assign a time limit to everything you do

v  Keep one calendar

v  Have a day-care Plan B (and C, and D). 

v  Learn how to delegate. (If I was smart and sensible in delegating the task I would have caught up on my sleep too….)

With this I would culminate by stating…..

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us

And don’t ever ever ever compromise parenting with any other task, as …..

What you will remember is the time you spent – time you truly spent, physically and mentally – with those you love

Sometimes you will never know the value of those precious moments until it becomes a memory.

Happy living!!

THE HOLIDAY DIARY : A ‘SKILL’ NOT TO LEARN THIS SUMMER

The academic session 2017-18 had been very eventful, frenzied and a fruitful one. From relocation, to setting up of house, settling kids into new school and finally the job hunt, which materialized by the end of the session; all was a roll a coaster ride! With the onset of summer and the most eagerly awaited vacation, we were all bent on rewarding ourselves for the year well spent and most of all to be with that member of the family who is always away, never part of any of our celebration and who is missed by one and all every minute, every second…… nevertheless, his absence is never regretted as it was for a greater cause, “Service to Nation”.

With the sky-high expectation and excitement, we reach our holiday destination. It is not Switzerland, Dubai, Singapore or any indigenous destination like the Beaches of Goa, Hills of Darjeeling or the Deserts of Rajasthan…… but the current abode of our absentee member and to the kids as we introduce the place ; “The Paradise on Earth”, Kashmir.

As I am writing this, it’s the third week of our vacation. The enthusiasm, Spirit which was at its apex, now is almost hitting the ebb. Confined to the four walls of the camp, smaller than our residential complex back home and moreover the pouring of unpleasant news every next day has dampened the holiday spirit.

To bring the situation under control and to no further spoil the youngsters’ vacation, I start planning activities and games for the boys to keep them engaged and to ascertain that they don’t get affected by the unpleasant happening in the near environs. The activities chalked out for next couple of weeks goes like this; Start the day with the school holiday homework, inculcate new hobby like photography with dad’s DSLR, develop new skill like reading /chess, whatever outdoor games that can be learned and played in the present available ground and finally the most awaited hour or two with the idiot box.

Pretty happy with what has been planned, this mother approached the boys and gives an elaborate illustration of the holiday plan. To my utter dismay the reply and response was very disheartening. With genuine concern and curiosity the elder son puts across his point, “Amma, Don’t you think the new skill which we should learn now is stone pelting and to how to save ourselves from it.” And believe me, this ‘shrapnel reply’, ‘stoned me’ into that thinker statue of renaissance for a while.

From the day we have arrived, we have been receiving news on stone pelting in different parts of Kashmir ; school bus attacked and school kid being hit, tourist being targeted and hit, local villagers being hit, security forces vehicles being hit, mob screaming and hurling of tear gas and the latest a tourist being killed and the subsequent repercussions.

In a matter of twenty days residing in midst of all this turmoil, if these young souls could get affected by these happening, what would be the state of the mindset of the young brains of Kashmir, the next generation upon whom is trusted the bright future of this beautiful paradise.

Taking a moments break, as I recover from the jolt just struck, I immediately get into the role of a responsible mother in explaining to the kids the situation, in a language they understand and explaining them that ;

“Stone pelting is not a skill to be learned if you want to be a better and responsible citizen;

Not a skill to be learned, if you want a bright and wonderful future,

Not a skill to be learned, if you want peace,

Not a skill to be learned, if you want the world to be ‘better place for you and me’

Not a skill to be learned, if you want to enjoy your vacation.”

This small article has been penned with the whole & sole intention of urging all mothers to be aware of the environs and educate your children as they get influenced fast and thoughts good / bad get etched in their tiny brains for a life time. So lets groom and mould them  in a manner that when choice is given they  undoubtedly choose the right path and paint a beautiful world as the future is theirs.

Happy Living !!!