Food for thought

"The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them."
-Robert Frost

Which one are you? Hehe.

Shuuu-myyyy-laah!

Yep! That's the name of my dear darling friend-Shumyla. Apparantly she was miffed because my blog mentioned my three other friends and there was no sign of her. Oh oh. Hell hath no fury as Shumyla in rage! Ahem. Okay she was not really angry, but felt a bit 'left out'. Soooooo, this ENTIRE post is dedicated to HER! If that doesn't make her feel good, I don't know what will! Hehehe. So what's this Shumyla like? Imagine a theatrical laughathon. Well there! You have imagined her! She would put any cartoon character to shame. She can conjure the most dramatic facial expressions and can make me laugh till tears roll down my face! (Actually that happens EVERYTIME I laugh, so maybe it's not that big a deal anyway!). LOL. Well! Someone's gonna get a surprise next time she checks out my blog! Hehehe! Seeya Shu!

Another Best Friend's Wedding!

Well, well, well! One down, two more to go! LOL. Ateeya's wedding was an absolutely amazing affair (pretty elagant and stylish I must say!). Now it's the turn of best friend no. 2! (numbering in purely random order-lest I am found killed!)
So last minute packing and shopping again! But I think this time the idea is going to sink in easily. In the begining it was like, "I can't believe one of us is ACTUALLY getting married!!!" LOL. Now it's like, you have seen one wedding, you have seen 'em all! Hehehe. Number 3 gets married in November. Plenty of time to start discussing that!

Pink makin' me feel real Blue...

I can't believe this is happening to me. It seemed so easy in the begining. We are moving into a new house and we wanted everything 'special' and individualized. My brother chose yellow as the theme of his room, my mum and dad chose blue, the living room's a beige-green and mine was supposed to epitomize girl power-all PINK. Seemed easy. All you had to do was choose cooridnated bathroom ware, paint color and well, the color of the furnishing's formica. Easy. Until it came to my room. Somehow someone chose peach wall tiles for my pink floored bathroom. Okay so that was a major blow, especially when everyone's else's room turned out just as planned. I was just severely heartbroken for six months. Then it came to the room paint. I chose one magenta colored feature wall and light strawberry pink for the rest of the walls. 'Never mind the bathroom', I finally said, after half a year of sulking and lamenting. Maybe the theme of the room would undo the wrong. It seemed simple. Till I saw what the painter did today. The strawberry pink is fine Alhamdulilah. It's just that the magenta feature wall is not magenta at all. It's flourescent GULAL pink!!! Actual GULAL pink! I can't believe this is happening. For a while the severity of it all hadn't sunk in I think. That's why I was able to go shopping after seeing it. But five hours later, I feel decidedly depressed. Very sad. In fact, I think I feel nothing. Just feel numb. Sob.

Thought for the Day

"If we could sell our experieinces for what they cost us, we would all be millionaires."

-Abigail Van Buren

15 things I should have done

Well there are procastrinators and there are procrastinators. And then there are some weak willed persons. Have you ever felt that you have so much time on your hands and yet you do nothing about it? And there are so many things you would rather do but just don't do them for... umm..no particular reason at all! (Laziness not counting). Well, here are some things that I have always wanted to do, have planned to do but never got down to doing: (In random order)


1. Join Yoga classes
2. Watch my diet (Ahem)
3. Do a post graduate course in Enlish Language Teaching from Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL), Hyderabad
4. Learn to drive a car
5. Learn to drive a geared scooter
6. Go for daily walks
7. Do a Ph.D.?
8. Be more attentive in my prayers
9. Behave better with my parents
10. Read! There is soooo much that I need to read but just keep putting it off
11. Learn how to use a bank! Manage my finances! I can't even differentiate between a withdrawal slip and a deposit one. Sigh. Always ask mum or dad to do the 'dirty' work. Don't know if you have read the short story 'My Financial Career' by Stephen Leacock, but I feel embarassingly like the hapless protagonist in the bank.
12. Become a fashion designer. Wonder why I am still stalling my childhood dream
13. Be more tuned in to my loved one's needs (I ain't getting nowhere there-that' the price for being a self absorbed narcissist-a price that others pay!)
14. Become PUNCTUAL!
15. Become a good housekeeper! I am aweful at managing anything, specially at home


Phew! So much to do! There's more...I just chalked out some fifteen points out of my idealistic 'to-do' lists. But that does not mean such lists are absolutely useless; atleast they remind you that you needn't be all smug and complacent. And atleast they tell you WHAT you want out of life. No?


Of course there are SOME things that I HAVE begun working on; like I want to be a GRRRREAT ELT teacher and I am working on it-not as much as I would have liked, but atleast a tiny bit. And then I am trying to read more...the restless creature that I am, I actually lose patience halfway through because of my very short attention span..hehehe..but I am trying! Reading makes you feel empowered really and I kinda like that feeling! Hehe.

I leave tomorrow

These last few days have been busy with last minute shopping and trips to my designer (best friend's wedding no?). In all this excitement, however came some bad news. She called today and said that one of her uncles suffered a stroke last night. So paradoxical really. And so sad. May Allah help him recover soon and may Allah help the family to have patience. Ameen.
I am sure (and hope that) he will be fine soon, Inshallah.

My Best Friend's Wedding!

Yoohoo! Got an off for a whole week! Reason? One of my BEST friend is getting married next week! Inshallah. Have been waiting for this like since ages! (Two years atleast). Well, I am off to Mumbai. Have known my friend since we have been in sixth grade and Alhamdullilah, 13 years later, we are still going strong. Thankfully, my shifting to another town 8 years ago didn't affect our friendship. Actually, back in sixth standard, I kinda hated her...hehehe. Well, that was eons ago and now I pray that she has a verrrry happy life ahead of her. Ameen.
Well, that's all three of my best friends getting committed in a month's time! LOL. Does that escalate the social pressure on me? YOU BET! LOL.

Can money buy happiness?

"Whoever said money can't buy happiness didn't know where to shop!"

This was the theme for my lesson in class today. Would love to elaborate, but the four thirty power cut slot strikes any moment now...so will update later!

Hehehe...that was when the power went off...Well, learnt to live with that now. As I was saying, this new batch wanted me to do conversation practice in class. Many of them come from English medium schools and so they talk more. Well, I saw this article in the paper which said that Bill Gates DIDN'T want to be the richest man on the planet (Can you believe that?). So as starters I posed this question before the class: "Would it be really such a nice thing to be the richest person?" and "Can money buy happiness?" I told them to discuss that in groups and come forward one by one with their opinions. Hmm, I had expected a more animated discussion, but atleast they were all coming forward to speak. I should have had some controlled discussions first, but nevertheless. Next, I gave them the newspaper clipping (Asian Age, May 6, 2006). I had an urgent call and so I had to leave midway but I did tell them to read the thing and form atleast TEN sentences about what they feel about being the richest person. Next I plan to go over DIRECT/INDIRECT speech forms that are so ubiquitous in a report. It will help them nararate things they have read too. Lastly, I want them to underline the sentences in the report that have Past tense and Present tense and compare them. I know that grammar bit should have come before the writing task, but I didn't have the time.
Anyways, I have told them to carry a newspaper with them daily, along with a notebook only for my class, with a section devoted only as a personal glossary. Let's see.

As for my views on the topic? I sure DO think that money can buy happiness. Not ALL happiness, I agree, but a great deal of it! And I sure do know where to "SHOP"! I mean, who doesn't feel happy when he gets a brand new stylish car? Or a set of diamonds? Well, of course, none of these can actually GUARANTEE happiness...happiness is a state of mind; the richest can be the saddest and the poorest, well, the most content. Peace of mind, a loving family, friends, faith in God, these things bring ACTUAL happiness; however, once those are in place, money doesn't fail MISERABLY either. Now, don't get me wrong, I am no materialistic bitch; I know my priorities and God forbid that money becomes the top most one; it's just that it makes me happy to be able to buy my kid brother a cute piggy bank, or fund his summer camp too! (Not to mention, to be able to buy my own scooter and other little luxuries!)

Naive freshmen

Hehehe. Don't you just love the naivette of freshman students? You hold absolute power in class! Hehe. Okay so that won't last very long. Sooner or later they will discover the power that college life bestows upon them. But by that time, I will have created a rapport with them too. It's horrible to step in a class of teens who already have preconceived ideas about how they are gonna take their teachers! The new batch is an eclectic mix. Some from really humble backgrounds and sooooo eager to learn, some (the female kind) who will hang on to every word you say, some who want to really talk to you and some who think they are God's gift to mankind and have the perpetual "So what?" scowl plastered on their faces! LOL. Have a kid from St. Vincent's School, Pune in the class and it seems he has already set ideas about how he's going to respond to everything in Azam Campus. Well, we'll see to that! ;)

Bakin' Hot and not liking it

You step out into the sun and it's like a blazing furnace. Pune is burning and how! The midday sun is at its scorching best and the worst part is, that's exactly the time I have to go to college. Today was horrible. The amount of time I spent in the merciless sun, someone would think I was looking for a fashionable tan! Ugh! May Allah have mercy...the heat's getting unbearable. Add to it the idiotic power cuts and you have the perfect recipe for freshly baked humans. "Eww" I know, but that's just the way it is.

It's Official! No Holidays!

LOL. Yeah. No holidays for poor me! I begin with another course of remedial English with the next batch of 'scholar' students tomorrow. Should I be complaining? Wellllll....it could be a learning experience; I am still fresh from the last batch and I think this could be a good oppurtunity to improvize. I kinda like the job, plus it will keep me occupied through the hols (only an hour a day) but I don't think I am going sacrifice my next holiday for anything! And that's gonna be sometime in October I think. Oh well! C'est La Vie! Atleast I enjoy my job! Alhamdullilah! I am sure it's going to be fun. Let's see what this next batch of kids have to offer. Wish me luck!

Tell students to SPEAK to their books!

I had a discussion with one of my colleagues today. While I dealt with the elementary level students, she took the more advanced ones. We were discussing teaching strategies when she told me that the best way to teach students to TALK is to make them WRITE. She asks her students to write atleast something at regular intervals and makes it a point to check it and assign marks or grades to their writing because as she says, "Boys LOVE competition". She asked them to TALK to their books if they weren't comfortable to talk to the class at first. And the best way to talk to your book? With your pen! Just WRITE!
She emphasized that only making them write will do little good if they are not told where they are going right and where wrong. We have EVALUATE them every WEEK (preferably by an 'outside' teacher). For Basic students she suggested that we give them not whole essays but just sentences, say ten having the simple present tense, ten with present progressive, and so on.

When it came to speaking before an audience, she suggested making them talk in their OWN language first. That helps losen up stage fright. Stage fright kinda doubles when there's the added pressure of speaking in an alien language. Later we could give them ready lists of topic related vocab which they could refer whenever the uncomfortable 'umms' and 'uhhs' set in.
Plus, she selects a few really good students, makes them group leaders and makes them responsible forALL the students in their group. She then gives them topics for group discussion, which each group discusses amongst themselves, and then presents their views ONE BY ONE infront of the whole class. If ALL the group memebers don't speak, well then the group does not get any marks. And I guess I can add to that, "Boys HATE to lose in competitions!"
I think contests can always been used to our advantage. They give the students something to look forward to. Keeps them on their toes and gives you a feedback too.
She said something about getting the student to become better, the better ones to become the best and the best to become simply excellent. If that doesn't happen, well we are lagging somewhere then. Thanks Zenab!

A Saudi Princess and her Art

I read this article that appeared in the Asian Age written by Siraj Wahab a couple of days ago (April 23, Culture Plus). It was about the grand daughter of Late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. She practices photography as a hobby and is quite a pro at it, hosting several exhibitions to display her photos, all essentially black and white. She's been covering the mammoth pilgrimage of hajj, where she had been received with overt hostility because many Muslims consider photography as forbidden. Here's what I liked about her views on artistic expression:
"One of the basic ills in Muslim society is that we think that art is luxury. I say art is not a luxury, it is a necessity...Go to a mosque (in a village in Pakistan) and you will find there was someone there who painteed the mosque-who drew flowers on the walls. There is beautiful calligraphy. it doesn't mean that the person had been through art school. It was a part of society. It was a natural expression...The probles is we have separated art from utility. There is this mistaken belief that what is useful cannot be beautiful. As a result, it is almost as if Muslim society no longer appreciates beauty...the Quran in itself says you have to appreciate beauty. Part of the Prophet's miracle is that he fascinated the Qureish of Mecca more than 1400 years ago with the language of the Quran. They were genuinely impressed with the beauty of the Quran language. That is also an art."
Hmmm...I say, as long as there is nothing anti-Islamic about a piece of art, I agree.

Three Cheers for Ahmedinejad!

Iranian Prez Ahmedinejad is one gutsy man. The point in question is his decision to allow ladies to attend sports and game matches. After nearly three decades, Iranian women will be allowed to sit in stadia and watch and cheer their teams play. While this has been opposed by some clerics, he was right when he said that many rules have been established without necessarily being Islamic rulings. They are just orthodox rules. And besides, if there is ever anything immoral, we just tend to blame the women. He said it was high time men took some responsibility too. Kudos to him. And since segregation of the men's and women's seating is going to take place anyway, I think this is a good decision.

Meeting with the Princi today!

Yeah. A long meeting with the Principal of the college today. Must say, I respect Dr. Khan for his utmost dedication to his work. I just caught something he said...that we must never forget that we are teachers for the whole day, not teachers just for the six hours that we spend in college time. Well. I agree. But I still need my annual summer vacation. Thuogh I like his vision of empowering the youngsters in every possible way through our dedication, I don't quite fancy the idea of working through the hols! Especially since I have gotten my termination letter for this academic year. (Junior teachers have to reapply every new academic term). Well, it's worse for him I think- he hasn't gotten a vacation in 18 years!!! Phew!

So what was the meeting about? Well fresh high school 'scholars' arrive in the college this week. Most of 'em really bright and talented but from non English schools and quite a few of them not very well to do. The batch is selected from throughout the state and the neighboring ones as potential merit toppers. Often referred to as the 'cream'.
So then? Well, The Mission begins. Give 'em the best so that in two years they walk out from this college with admission letters from the best medical, dental, engineering colleges, et al; with the ability to speak and make presentations in English confidently, with know-how about using computers; with overall developed personalities, with orientations on religion, health and nutrition, public speaking skills, the works. And after their graduation, they should come back for some more training to take civil service examinations. Great vision, I know. So where do we fit in? Well, to equip them with English language skills of course! He gave some ideas...will elaborate on 'em soon I guess.

Taliban Sucks

Yesterday the Taliban killed an Indian engineer whom they had kidnapped. And for what? They wanted the Indian govt. to pull out of Afghanistan. This ain't Islam. This ain't what our Holy Prophet (PBUH) taught us. Even in war, he asked us not to target civilians. To not kill without reason. This was totally unwarranted. It was brutal. It was uncalled for and uncouth.
So ok they had some issues with the Indian govt. So they wanted them out ASAP. Fair enough. But to resort to killing of innocent lives? Man, they have Allah to answer to.

Quote Unquote and the 'Speaking' Problem

Oh oh. I think I am on a writing spree. Guess the 'writer's block' is gonna hit pretty soon, but till that happens, I am makin' hay while the cerebral sun shines.

Ok. Here's another one. How about using quotations in the ELT class? It would be helpful if the students can quote famous lines, no? I mean, before they present their favorite quote to the class, they would have made SOME attempt to understand the meaning of it and make SOME MORE attempts to explain its meaning to the rest of the class. And there's the double advantage of the students being exposed to good writing and memorizing such lines. I guess it will help their own style and it always impresses the examiner if your essay contains sparkling wit or great words of wisdom.

So I have tried my hand at vocab, a li'l bit o' grammar, but I am still clueless about the MOST important bit-SPEAKING!!! This is supposed to be a SPOKEN ENGLISH COURSE! So while they are learning how to comprehend small passages, updating their vocabulary, learning a little about common grammatical mistakes (make that quite little), they still can't speak confidently or fluently!!! They still make numerous grammatical mistakes, their speech is disconnected and their vocabulary is not enough to hold a conversation...Now WHAT should I do about that? There might be improvement in their Receptive language skills (reading/listening), but I am struggling to etablish some Productive skills (especially speaking). I am still so clueless. What activities or methodology should I adopt that will help? Any answers anyone?

Newspapers in Class

I often wondered how I could effectively make use of newspapers in my ELT class. I don't think I quite have the success formula yet, but let me 'ruminate' over this for a bit.

What I did was asked my students to read something from the newspapers (I stick to the Times of India for the sake of uniformity and because I know they have great feature articles and good writing style) and to tell the class about what they have read. This activity didn't quite take off as expected. I began this very late..just last week and the response has not been overwhelming. Of course, the good, motivated students are coming up with descriptions of snippets that they have read. Maybe if given more thought and time, this activity could work. After all, they SHOULD know how to read newspapers and also form opinions on the things they read. Newspapers are the most authentic materials I think. Maybe I could try again. Am open to brighter ideas too....

Perhaps I could do one thing more with papers- I could put up a colored chartpaper on the wall and ask the students to stick any newspaper article they find interesting on the 'wallpaper' and preferably highlight the most interesting parts to make it easier for others to read.
Hmmm...........so many ideas and so li'l implementation. Reminds me of Robert Frost: "And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep."

Some More Elt Ideas?

It's funny how all ideas come to you only when the ELT course is near its end. Grrrr. Maybe they are so hard to implement that the unconscious mind simply represses them when the course is underway! Hehehe. And to keep the ego happy, maybe it then allows the mind to spring up these ideas afterwards, when they can no lomger be implemented-so that atleast you can call yourself 'creative' towards the end!

Anyway, these are some more that struck me as being potentially useful:

One of the supervisors where I teach asked me if there was any considerable difference in the language competence of the students that I teach. They mostly comprise of students from non-English schools. Had to admit. I didn't know if there had been that much of a difference. He gave me a suggestion. He asked me to leave behind some 'samples' of 'good English wiriting' - essays and poems which he would make them learn and recite in class. Initially I had been sceptical about the idea. Learning and reciting borrowed material? But in retrospect it may be quite useful. As he said, poetry would expose them to some beautiful lines which they could quote in their essays later in their exams. Prose would acquaint them with style, new words, etc.; and because they would have learnt the material by heart, they would be under lesser pressure to speak 'it' before an audience. Our course concentrates on speaking skills over any other skill, so this may be useful. I am now just wondering where I could get such stuff....