Showing posts with label Corporate Classroom. Show all posts

Getting Schools Online - Instichoose



With each tiny or tall thing in the world getting online these days, information about the education sector catches my attention the most. In my last six months in a government school in New Delhi, I have found that we still need a lot of data to get online for the ease of students, their parents, and of course the educators.

It's interesting to find how Indians pay too much attention on buying too trivial things - but hardly care to spend some serious time and effort on their children's education - which will matter most in their lives, not to mention though. I receive parents of my kids every day to inquire about some or other fund that they haven't received yet from the government. I feel had they spent a tenth of that effort into quality education for their kids, life would have been much better for everyone!

INSTICHOOSE- choose your institute

Well, having said that I want to share a site I found online - http://instichoose.com/ that lists the CBSE board schools in Delhi and Kanpur (as of now), zone-wise. Once you enter the zone you're looking a school for, it displays the names of schools with their ratings on the prima facie. This list can be sorted further based on locality, facilities or any type. If you want to check out any school in particular, you can instiview that to find information on its rate, infrastructure, teachers, students, contact details etc. When you open a school page, it will also give an idea of student-teacher ratio, students and teachers distribution etc.  The site has already received more than 100 feedback from school alumni and parents.



The modern India must make some sincere efforts for getting every child an excellent education. Giving him the right to preview his class before making a decision of lifetime to end up in that class for next 12 years can be a great kick-off in that direction. I am happy to see that Instichoose is doing something like this. More-so, one can see this as a great business opportunity to invest, create, or cultivate.


Hope you find this article of help. Please spread the word more and more to make this an effective movement.

THE NUMBER GAME OF LIVES: LET’S REDRAW INDIA

This post was originally published here -


I have seen these numbers previously just as a statistical result. But what shakes my heart now when I look at these numbers is the fact that they define the lives, futures, careers, dreams, and hopes of millions of children of our country.
Let’s take a look-
  1. The 2011 census shows that less than 5% of India’s population have access to all four assets – television, computer/laptop, scooter/car and telephone/mobile phone. 
  2. As per the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2012, 97% of all rural children between the ages of 6-14 were enrolled in school, up from hovering around 80-85% in the early 2000’s. 
  3. Only 47 of the 100 children enrolled in Class I reach Class VIII, putting the dropout rate in primary and elementary schools at 53%. 
  4. About 90% of children that get enrolled don’t complete school. 
  5. It is estimated that only 5% of Indians speak English as a second language with a proficiency that equals or surpasses that of a native speaker. About 90 % population of our country don’t speak English at all. 
  6. According to a 2011 study done by Times of India, only 12% girls in India use sanitary napkins in their menstruation days. Over 88% of women resort to shocking alternatives like unsanitised cloth, ashes and husk sand. 
  7. According to a 2012 study done by BBC News, only 3% of India’s population have access to home internet. 
  8. According to another 2012 study done by BBC News, 47% of the 246.6 million households have lavatories while 50% defecate in the open.The remaining 3% use public toilets. (About 76-77% of homes in the eastern states of Jharkhand, Orissa and Bihar have No toilet facilities.) 
  9. India has 33 percent of the world’s poorest 1.2 billion people, according to a World Bank Report released in 2013. (China has been the most successful country in helping improve its people’s economic condition. Its poverty rate fell to 12 percent of the population in 2010 from 84 percent in 1981.)
There are still hundreds of other fact which can give us goosebumps anytime I have not been able to cover here. If you’re able to comprehend this article, I am sure you must be feeling by now how privileged you are!
When we involve in discussions like ‘what-is-the-future-of-our-country’, or ‘what-to-do-to-change-it’ etc, we belong to a top 5% of population who understand any of this. And I am sure you and someone in your family must have worked really hard in his/her life for you to get to this level today. So what’s next? You deserve every bit of what and where you’re today, and you deserve to be even at a better place. You can continue to work harder, and be lost in the constant struggle of earning in six-seven digits for the rest of your life. Or,
You can take a moment to think about that 95% of your country who is still dying there every day in the relentless effort of surviving.
Why should I bother?
This question has been hitting my grey matter since a long time. And it is a valid question if you also happen to ask to yourself.
I am sure life has not been easy for you too. You studied hard, passed hundreds of examinations, worked day in and day out, to reach to where you’re today. But has this been enough? Don’t you think that for you to reach those heights, someone has sacrificed in some other corner of your country?
Don’t cry for a bad government when 10 years down the timeline, you are still wishing for a safe Delhi for your daughter! Don’t mourn when someone you know dies in a terror attack someday. Don’t worry when your kids breathe in one of the most polluted environments of the earth in few years. Don’t panic if you hear the news of your relative being kidnapped, harassed, or murdered one night. I am sorry if I am sounding rude. But that’s the harsh truth! If we are not giving back to the country from what we have earned, who else will be?  If we’re not bothered about our environmental, social, physical, emotional, political etc issues, who do we think should be? The government or the Gods? Is paying your bills on time enough for making this change to happen? Does paying tax suffice to be a responsible citizen? (By the way, according to various media reports, only 2 to 3% of Indians pay any income tax at all.) Your efforts are deeply appreciated, but let’s think once- are they sufficient?
What I can do?
I am sure many of us want to contribute into making this world a better place to live in. But we don’t really know what to do, where to go etc. Of so many other NGO’s, corporations, philanthropists, social workers, Teach For India is one group that is working toward the goal of bridging the education inequity gap. Join our movement to hit the problem that’s the most fundamental of all –EDUCATION INEQUITY!
Last, but not least, I am keeping this discussion open for all to suggest and contribute WHAT-CAN-I-DO to make my bit. I will be very happy to find out your solution to deal with such shocking numbers about our current reality!

Note- Please keep in mind that some of this data might not be accurate. However, I have tried my best to compare results in various sites before quoting them. (The fact that government doesn’t release any such data in frequent intervals, anywhere in some authentic website also causes such ignorance about our current reality.)
Thanks for reading till here. Any feedback, comments, suggestions are heartily welcome! :-)
Cheers,
Swati

WHAT COULD BE THE BIGGEST INVESTMENT FOR YOUR TEAM?


This article was originally published here -
Today, organizations invest a lot into resources and amenities- be it mechanical, technical, or physical. You can get innumerous books in their libraries on C, Java, Python, Hadoop, or any-other-topic-that-employees-do-not-care-of. You can get various sports, spa parlors, gymnasiums etc inside the campus. They spend a great amount of money and efforts in different team building activities outside campus like dinners/ luncheons, night-out trips etc. This entire show is for their human resources to feel BETTER in the office in various ways. I deeply appreciate the efforts!
But the same organizations are also facing HIGH ATTRITION RATE. Surprising it is!
What is triggering employees to leave the firm every once in a while? Or what is probably missing in employees to stop them from leaving the firm?
A few months back, we had a new member in our team. There was no formal or informal introduction given to us or to him of each other. He started sharing a seat with us in the workplace, cafeteria, sport-parlors etc- trying very hard to make relations with each of his team members on his own in all possible ways. A few weeks later, he resigned from the job. His relentless efforts of fitting himself in the organization reached to a certain point beyond which he could no longer strive on.
Apart from all that investment into everything else, what organizations lack in is“investing into people”. They need to see their employees and the team members as humans first. They need to empathize with their employees’ feelings, problems, concerns, or even small ideas etc. An informal hour every week with the whole team, and every month with each team member is worth great returns. It builds up an environment of positive energy. When employees know that there is a trust circle where they can speak about what they feel, they feel important.
The team should be like our family with whom we share our ups and downs. It should be a Learning Circle (let’s call it an LC) where we can discuss our viewpoints, celebrate success and learn from each other. We all come with different strengths and competencies. The great thing about working in a team is that we can use one’s strengths to the benefit of the project outcome, and improve on one’s competencies at the same time.
Let’s have each team meeting followed by an informal 5 minutes get-together. This can be in any form. A small guitar note played in the same room; or a walk to the terrace if weather permits. This will not only motivate employees to be actively present in the meetings, but will make them wait for it.
For sake of life, let’s put some life into those lifeless meeting rooms!!!
Please share your ideas, comments, suggestions or feedback! They are important for every reader who is reading it. Thanks! :-)

How Often Do We Ponder Upon Our Development Areas?


In a recent interview, with a very professional, and humble organization, I was asked a question -"What are your strengths, that you attribute to your success so far?" I was happy; I answered in length, and probably the interviewer was happy and satisfied too with my answer. Then came the next question, "What are your development areas, that you think are holding you back from being successful so far?" I got little nervous; I started pushing my brains to answer in a way such that I don't like a dumb, but could satisfy him at the same time. Then came the next question, and I was out, blank, and numb,
"What are you doing to work on your 'development areas'?"
For a moment, I felt like saying, "I am doing nothing, because that's what I am; that's how I am; and why should I change myself anyway?" But surely, I couldn't give an answer like that to an interviewer as decent as him. I had to be formal and decent myself, and project in a way so that it appears that I am really concerned about my weaknesses, and that I really want to turn them into my strengths.
I don't know how that interview went, and what feedback that my interviewer had about me after that 30 minutes inter conversations, but I surely have had a great lesson of my life. It made me think how often do I try to be better, both professionally and personally. Do I really realize my weaknesses that have been holding me from achieving my goals? Do I do anything at all to overcome those weaknesses once I have realized? Do I have a development plan to turn them into my strengths one day?
I hope this small note from my experience give you also a chance to ponder upon your "development areas". And also, if you have any good ideas, suggestions, feedback, please write in comments. Your comments are valuable for everyone who is reading this article!
Thanks for reading till here,
Cheers!

Yes, We Park The Womanhood Outside The Office Gates!

This post was originally published here -

I am no longer a woman when I enter my office premises. I am just an individual who is as capable of anything as are you; and I make every bit of effort at work as do you; and I deserve equal recognition as do you; and I feel proud about myself at the end of the day as do you.
In one of my last projects I received a warm response on my work from a client who was otherwise quite unhappy with our team’s work. One of my colleagues responded with the comment that clients are generally cool/ easy/ happy with women employees in the project. So if that’s true, does the client no longer want his work to be done, and does he feel happy to just have some amusing conversations with women at the cost of a highly paid critical project? I am sure we do need some logical explanation here to satisfy this awkward perception.
We know that the quality of work is something that cannot be compromised under any circumstances. So why being a woman would give an edge over others at the cost of the quality? Let’s evaluate a few points-
Do women get some extra perks to compensate for their supposed incompetency – like extra leaves for “those” days of month, less working hours, less responsibilities or chance for mood swings to accommodate hormonal changes etc.? I guess, they don't. And ironically there are yet no policies in most firms that address the issues that women face every month due to biological differences.
So when all working conditions remain same for men and women, I am sure, the latter ought to offer equal at work, and park their womanhood outside the office premises for their survival.
For those of us who are judgmental with woman co-workers, I hope this small note will help in refreshing a few facts that though remain unsaid in the corporate world, but are true and prevalent at all levels.
Thanks for reading till here. If you have any comments, differing opinion or suggestion, please write in comments. I will be very happy to know your views.
Cheers!

Can we get rid of “If you need any further assistance, please contact us”?



In a service based industry, we are all clients to someone- from other organizations or other teams in the same organization. And the most important part of our jobs is to communicate with these clients. Most of us spend our major part of day in writing and reading emails to communicate business needs, issues, solutions, credits etc. And thus it becomes important for us to understand the need of the email and what purpose it serves.


I have been at both ends of the communication – as a client and as a service provider. The general protocol says that when a client asks a query or raises some concern, we should reply to him/ her with acknowledgement email, followed by complete analysis, possible solutions, concerns etc, and should ask him/her to reach back for any “further assistance”.
But I have been experiencing that many times we just jump into replies without understanding the email, and to be at safe side, we keep writing -“If you need any further assistance, please contact us”. The reason we should write this is that we want to assure that we are concerned with any further concerns clients may have, and that the client should not hesitate to reach back even for any small concerns, and that we would be pleased to serve again. I am sure that we don’t write this to just project a false image that we are giving you a chance to write emails again and again, for same issue and let’s make this so tedious a process that you yourself quit after some repetitive emails.


I believe mostly when we either want to run from the main problem, or hesitate to ask from the client when the issue is not clear, we just encapsulate the reply emails with this statement. But I think it’s perfectly fine to ask again and again until the issue becomes clear, and I am sure that a mature client understands this and helps you his best to make the issue fully understood. After all, above everything the client wants the problem to be solved, and not play with emails. So, let’s not make this statement a proxy to hide our inability to understand the real problem, run from responsibility, ownership and just pretend to be great service providers, and let’s instead try to understand the issue and solve the real problem?


Good luck reading and writing emails!

Do You Realize The Power of 'I'?


In one of her several hundred famous quotes, Ayn Rand wrote,
“To say ‘I love you’ one must first know how to say the ‘I.’
I have been a huge fan of this quote ever since I read it in her famous novel The Fountainhead. However, the meaning of Rand's 'I' is not limited only to the idea of individualism that she proposed, propagated and pursued throughout her life.
To know what 'I' can do for you, you need to do a little self research. And trust me, the more you do research about 'I', the more you can realize your potential, the more you can encash your strengths, the more you can surpass your weaknesses.. and so on.
A few years back, when I was preparing myself to enter into the professional world, some of my seniors and mentors advised me to 'not use the word 'I' in my resume'. The reason given was that when you use 'I', it shows you're a little too self obsessed, a not-so-good team player, an egotist etc. I was surprised, but I accepted it. Perhaps, because, I was little afraid that time to express what 'I' felt about the matter.
The lack of 'I' led me to accept the lack of 'I', the opinions of 'I', the interests of 'I', the goals of 'I', the happiness of 'I', and lot more. This sounds like a start of self journey without taking 'self' with you.
Over the years, I realized that how 'I' has been suppressed everywhere. You become the ant in room whom nobody notices. You enter into your corporate world like a sheep, identical to other sheep who already work there- all with no "I's" and only "other's".
Why you should know your 'I'?
1. 'I' lets you focus on your goals and keep your interest on top -
Is it too bad to be selfish (so long as your self interest does not jeopardize or interfere or hamper others' interests)? I meet students in their 10+2 asking questions about their careers to everyone they meet instead of asking these to themselves. Even I myself fell into that category once. The more we go to others to answer questions about our lives, the more limp we become for the rest of our lives.
So for students out there, who ever doubt what field to choose in your education or career, ask yourself a few questions about 'I' rather than asking everyone else about his interests, his opinions, his likes etc.
1.    Do I like doing this? (If not then, what else I like doing?)
2.    Do I want a career in this? (If not then, where else I want my career in?)
3.    Do I feel happy about opting this? (If not then, what else makes me happy?)
4.    Do I fit in this? (If not then, where else do I fit best; what I need to do to get in there?)
5.    Do I need this? (If not then, what do I need?)
2. 'I' helps you take important decisions in complex matters -
The conversations with your 'I' are of great help in making important decisions of your life. Prepare a list of such questions and write 'Yes' or 'No' for each question, then analyse your answers. 
If your answer to any question is in 'No', you can cross that thing off and move on. If you're still in doubt, make a longer list of 10 questions and if answers to more than half the questions are in 'No', you would know you really need to move on.
However, if the answers to more than half the questions are in 'Yes', but you were earlier doubtful about doing it, then you need to re think. You need to take yourself in confidence and develop interest in that particular thing. This reasoning will help you clear your doubts that had put you in dilemma earlier.
3. 'I' can get you to where you want to reach -
For some reasons, if you had to compromise with your self interest and take up other's interests as your goal, don't worry. The realization of 'I' today can lead you to wherever you have wanted to reach. Lets illustrate this, say, you wanted to read medical science 20 years back, but you chose engineering for some reasons. Think about some other ways so you can get close to medical field being in your engineering profession. If you are a software engineer, may be you can write softwares for Health Industry. Or if you are an architect, may be you can build for medical infrastructure. The key is that you just need to know "what 'I' want to do today which really excites me", and discover how to reach there.
4. 'I' lets you re re re re re re.. invent yourself -
There is very little that we know about the 'I'. We always underestimate our 'I's'. We should constantly be in process of discovering, expressing and inventing the 'I' to take advantage of the infinite potential that 'I' has.
Identify and integrate the power of 'I'.
Thanks for reading till here! Hope you find this article helpful. Comments, suggestions, ideas and feedback are heartily welcome.
Cheers!


5 (Hidden) Lessons From The Movie - How To Train Your Dragon




If you haven NOT watched the movie 'How To Train Your Dragon', you most probably do not know what I am going to tell you and if you have watched it, you, most probably, do NOT know what I am going to tell you.

According to IMDB, in 'How To Train Your Dragon' -
Long ago up North on the Island of Berk, the young Viking, Hiccup, wants to join his town's fight against the dragons that continually raid their town. However, his macho father and village leader, Stoik the Vast, will not allow his small, clumsy, but inventive son to do so. Regardless, Hiccup ventures out into battle and downs a mysterious Night Fury dragon with his invention, but can't bring himself to kill it. Instead, Hiccup and the dragon, whom he dubs Toothless, begin a friendship that would open up both their worlds as the observant boy learns that his people have misjudged the species. But even as the two each take flight in their own way, they find that they must fight the destructive ignorance plaguing their world. 
I have a rather simple one liner version-

It's a story of a young kid and of how he trains a dragon! Sounds scary, daring and tough task - training a dragon? We will discover that in coming paragraphs here -


This movie takes you into a vikings world, also populated with equal number of dragons! I will not be discussing what happens next scene by scene, dialogue by dialogue -because that part is easily available everywhere.We will however be unraveling five secret, hidden lessons in this movie as we watch here in five scenes -

Opening Scene -

Hiccup: This is Berk, my village. We have fishing, hunting and a charming view of sunsets. The only problems are the pests. While most places have the mice, or the mosquitoes, we have - dragons!

Scene A) 

Hiccup, who is the hero of the movie, a little, fragile viking kid, wants to hit a dragon for 2 reasons -

1) Killing a dragon was everything for a young viking. He thought he might even get a date (young little Astrid  who is the heroine of the movie). This will make his life infinitely better!

2) He wants to kill Night Fury, the toughest dragon because nobody has ever killed one. "That's why I am going to be the first" - thinks Hiccup!

"Not failure, but low aim, is crime." -James Russell Lowell

Lesson 1 -Set Your Goals High!


Scene B) 

Whenever Hiccup tries to kill a dragon, disaster follows. He ends up destroying the whole village in his useless attempts to killing a dragon. But Hiccup doesn't quit! After one of his several other failure attempts, when his friends pass on criticism, the answer that Hiccup gives them -

"Thank you, thank you - I was trying!"

Lesson 2 -Criticism is not always bad. It you're receiving it, it shows you were actually trying. Take your criticism positively!

Scene C)

For his whole life, Hiccup believed that he was a true viking whose sole aim in life was to kill a dragon. Even when he didn't enjoy the idea of killing a dragon, he always wanted to kill one. For the same stupid reasons - do something because you're expected to do that; because everyone else is doing that; because nothing different has ever been done by anybody..

But then, one day his father's friend gives him a lesson which changes his life -

Lesson 3- Don't try to be so hard, which you're not!

Scene D) 

Hiccup targets the Night Fury and becomes successful in trapping him in his net. When he goes near him, he couldn't kill him. Despite all the past rules, prejudices, fear, Hiccup makes the Night Fury his friend! In the journey of his friendship with Night Fury, Hiccup discovers altogether different aspects of the dragons, something which has remained undiscovered by any viking so far.

Lesson 4- Break the rules! Reach out to the Night Fury of your life - your biggest enemy or fear or whatever it is! Talk to them, make them your friends and turn the things to your side.


Scene E) 

Hiccup, from the the help of  his friend night fury, discovers that the actual enemy was not the dragons who used to attack Berk. There was a master dragon and all the other small dragons were only his puppets. The key here is that what appears is not true always. This helps them -

Lesson 5- go to the root of the problem and solve it. 

Closing Scene-

This is Berk, my village. Any food that grows here is tough and tasteless. The people who grow here are even more so. The only upsides are the pets. While other places have ponies or parrots - we have Dragons!



Before Your Office Becomes A Pressure Cooker!

Hey, sorry about this last minute change in program. We have a project deadline. Can't take a leave! Really sorry!
Hey, I have a few birthday-cake deliveries pending. The orders came in last minute.. sorry can't come with you guys today.. Seems all the kids are born today only!
I really wanted to attend your wedding, but there was an impromptu shut-down in our power plant..
A day without this kind of mess at work now looks like a blue moon day; We are getting used to living in such kind of environments. But eventually, slowly, this utterly, untidy environment leads us to feel frustrated, pressurized, neglected, bored, or think-of-any-other-synonyms at our current jobs. The reaction when we are back home is -
But we can't help it. It's going to be like this only. All we can control is how we react to these situations. For sure, office should not be a pressure cooker! We should not feel constantly unhappy at a place where we gotta spend almost half of our every day. Then, what is the solution, if there is any? And i am sure that not only the employees are looking for its solution, but also the employers. Who wants their best employees to leave the firm any way?
So pals, before your office becomes a pressure cooker, let's figure out ways to be happy at work -

A BREAK-

I feel that the best way to stop any negative vibes that we start to catch at work is to take a break- not necessarily a long trip to a hill side area which could be costly, but a small trip to a nearby children's school or non-profit-organizations, working in similar fields, can work well. One should not need to beg on his knees to ask for small breaks every once in a while.
Employers should also facilitate such trips and breaks. Most employers already sponsor expensive luncheons and dinners as a part of their team building exercises. Facilitating these trips would get employers multiple benefits: promotion of the their brand name by supporting social causes, a team building activity, happiness of their employees etc.

Yoga or Art of Living Classes-

They say "A healthy mind exists only in a healthy body". We already have thousands of scriptures written on the importance of Yoga or meditation in Hindu culture, which is also now being recognized universally. But even when we know its importance, we don't have the place or time where and when we can practice it. I feel if such amenities are provided by employers, it can largely benefit their employees. Not to mention that a healthy and fresh mind will definitely be far more productive at work than a stressed and tired one.

Spend Time With Children & Nature-

I am a firm believer of theories which claim that spending time with children can reduce your stress level to zero (and if there is no such theory, I am to coin one today). I say it again and again that please don't let "the-child-in-you" stop breathing!
Now what if you don't have children at your home; and how can an employer produce babies for you? This is tricky. I think that we can go to places where children are found the most: how about parks, play grounds, kindergartens etc?
After children, nature is the second best friend of us! So find a place where you can just watch trees, plants, flowers, butterflies, and relax your mind for sometime.

Indulge Into Your Hobbies-

We don't realize at what age we stop indulging into our favorite hobbies. But it's never late. Take sometime off for yourself to start indulging into your hobbies again. We should find some way, no matter what it takes, so our hobbies could become a part of our daily lives. This lets the mind to free itself from daily life tensions. We must engage ourselves with at least one activity which is our favorite time pass. If you don't get enough time at home to spend on your favorite activities, may be, on your way to the office you could play a game of words/ movies with our colleagues/ friends, or read your favorite authors etc. But don't just sit idle creeping about your current work pressure.
I hope you find above points useful! Thanks for reading till here. Comments, ideas, suggestions and feedback are heartily welcome!
Thanks!

Don't Let "The-Child-In-You" Stop Breathing!




I had an amazing and challenging experience taking classes for the nursery students lately- yes, you read it right - 'nursery'! And after this experience, I can bet you that for Newton it would have been less difficult to introduce the law of gravity than it's to explain a kid the rules of addition or, the worse, draw an 'A'.
Why? Because children won't believe you upfront! If you ask them don't do this, they will do it the next moment. Unlike us, they are explorers. They want to try before quitting and refraining forever. They have absolute zero "fear of failure"- something which becomes our biggest enemy as we grow up. A couple of weeks spent with them made me realize how strongly we are loosing the charms we used to have in the childhood days.
I feel the reason behind this is that we are now running in some kind of race always - race of who-will-get-the-highest-marks-in-examinations; seek-a-seat-in-a-reputed-engineering-or-medical-school; convert-the-most-coveted-job-offer-in-the-college; snatch-the-best-salary-package-from-the-market; marry-to-the-best-life-partner; get-job-promotions; and so on..Participating in the race may act as a strong incentive for many of us to keep evolving, but blindly running in this race, without having set any goals, with the mere intention of competing our peers/ friends/ relatives, surely hurts our efficiency and helps us loose the charm of life!
I believe if we look back to our childhood, we will surely find some important lessons that are worth re-adopting today -

What can we learn from children?



Lesson 1. Creativity- Have you ever seen children drawing over walls or hosting a barbie-doll-wedding or decorating their tent-house? They have far more creative ways of indulging themselves than we can imagine. Spilling milk all over the desk, branded clothes, important documents is only their unique expertise. We should try to do things differently - even if we have pre existing ways to solve a problem, at least we should give it a try with new method!
Lesson 2. Attention To Details- I was surprised to find that kids notice every small thing they use or look at. They don't take even minor alterations for granted. They will reject at least once before accepting a new idea. One can do so only if one is very attentive toward finest details. They will take any pain it might cause toward the path of perfection.

Lesson 3. Fearlessness- Children don't care about just anything in the world! In their little world there is no fear of loosing while they are experimenting and exploring. I think most of our creativity gets hampered by the fear of failure. We don't ask questions for the fear of showing ignorance. We don't take risks for the fear of loosing. And only when the chance and time is over we realize this and regret later. 


Lesson 4. Smile Wholeheartedly- Seeing a children smiling is a real treat to the eyes. Because their smile is not fake. It comes right from the heart, and with full energy. Smile is the best way of refreshing our stressful mind - a curve that can straighten tough things!
Lesson 5. Live Each Moment To The Fullest- This is a magical quality that children have and that we don't have! Children don't care about what will happen tomorrow. This is what gives them the chance to living each moment to its fullest.
I am sure spending a little time with kids every once in a while does not only give a lesson worth adopting but also revives our spirits of life. For life's sake, let us not stop "the-child-in-us" breathing!