Moral science stories for kids 8 : The one with the homework

         

             Well, teachers have been giving the same homework from ages, parents running behind their kids forcing them to complete it in time, in fact its home work for parents as well. I recall the movie 'Pay it forward' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0223897/) in which a teacher gives an unusual assignment to his class where the kids are asked to do good things or deeds to make the world a better place to live. There is a this kid Trevor, who actually goes an extra mile to make this happen. Trevor thinks of a mechanism where a good deed done in our everyday lives propagates, something like the butterfly effect. He calls it 'Pay it forward' technique where a favor is not returned but passed on to other people one may come across in day to day life. This brings about a revolution & influences the lives of many people. This has far reaching consequences at society level.  Basically an act of kindness, sympathy is not forgotten or ended with saying thanks; I appreciate your help, but consciously made to propagate to touch the lives & hearts of other people one may come across. 

           Well it’s impossible to give different home works to different kids, but teachers can make a group of students of similar interests like painting, gardening, music etc...& assign them some homework so that they grow morally & ethically as well, apart from technically. Technically anyway exams make the kids to read the lessons & understand. This way kids learn to choose things in their lives at much smaller age, this goes a long way in making kids choosing wisely later in life all the things like career, lifestyle, courses they need to take. Suddenly if a kid is asked to choose between Engineering & medical, they find it very hard to choose their career directions as they basically don’t know what they are good/bad at. It may be additional work on the teacher to give separate home work to class of kids, but it goes a long way to make the kids do it with interest & not with force or compulsion in any manner since they would have chosen their field of interest beforehand. 

                 If not homework, then this can be form of assignments say weekly or monthly. Be careful that kids don’t take the ideas totally from net; even if they take it they must do some work from their end as individual or group to bring in some appreciations by their own classmates when they present in in front of the class.

The One rupee astrologer

Anant was travelling to his home town, after the days of hectic work in front of the PC, he was so tired that he instantly fell asleep when the bus started to move.


              His eyes only opened at the break in the middle of night. This was some bus stand of some small town. There was a weight machine with red green yellow lights blinking that Anant 's eyes couldn’t resist the urge to get a proper look. Anant put the coin and probably it was not working correctly so showed less weight. But this made Anant happy anyway as his weight loss plans never worked out really. Along with the weight slip backside contained the future of the day. Anant was too tired to look at but thought will read it anyway. It said you will be cheerful and make people happy around you; watch out for your health. You will get some insight into living which will make your life change forever.



As Anant was feeling dizzy he thought the weight machine predicted the weight and; told exactly about the future where as it should have done the reverse. Oh what the hell and; he went back to sleep in the shaky bus. As he tried to sleep he thought what if he could explicitly strive to make things true the card told him as future. Just try for a single day just for the heck of it. So he decided that he will make all conscious efforts to make the things true as written in the card. He was thinking only positive and; inspired his parent’s family and; friends to be cheerful. He always spoke with so much enthusiasm and; energy that it made the people around him happy.



At the end of the day Anant thought hmm...so I tried my part to make the things come true as per the card. Coincidently the card has exactly told his next day and; predicted wrongly his weight. Anyway a silent powerful thought fan across Anant’s mind what if i could write a small note a card and; keep it under my pillow every night and; tried to make things his own way . His life would certainly improve health wealth and; happ9oness would come to him like iron pieces attracted towards a magnet. So he decided to go with this. If not 100 percent even if he partially achieves what he aspired for, being focused in this direction, his life and; people around him would be much happier.

Moral science stories for kids 7: The one with overcoming past things

Further to this article on past grudges.

http://www.indusladies.com/forums/blogs/jaishvats/how-i-wonder-5716/

        This article being very true, does not provide solution. There is a quote: Everyone in your life is gonna hurt you, you just have to decide to be ok with some of them. Indeed very true, our lives are complicated & driven by different passions, even making more money is one of them. With age & experience of dealing with the world, we should try to see the big picture always. Does any event have any importance say after 10 years, does this issue which hurt me so much now would be of any relevance after 5 years? I have made my wife cry over something but she knows I have also cried just for making her cry. As far as love is constant between two people, they can overcome past grudges specially with those with whom we have chosen to be ok with in our lives like spouse, siblings, parents uncle/aunty even friends etc. After two unknown people from different walks come together to become friends, they just dont mind what other one says, coz deep underneath there is friendship, love & care for each other, but be sure not to cross boundaries always whomever is the person, you never know when you may hurt them! Almost everyone has complaints about the way their parents brought them up. Some overadvised them caring them too much. some paid less attention to let their children drift away from them. life becomes easier if you pool people in the ok pool, you dont have to keep grudge with them & always see big picture in life, respond to a situation, dont react. by responding to a situation we essentially take time to see the big picture & analyse from all possible angles.

Moral science stories for kids 6: The one with life & living

This is just a copy-paste of some of the best quotes I have come across. 

Moral science stories for kids 5: The one with moving on

Don’t get too much attached to things, Just move on in life, just go with the flow.

    Well, there are many quotes on how to live life, how not to live life. Some on never missing an opportunity, some on creating your own way etc.You gotta agree that there are some thing under our control & some things totally not under our control. Can we always have a philosophy for leading life something as :

“Do your best, forget the rest or just leave it to god”

What if success is just one proactive step away?  Is it that I am quitting trying just one step lower than success? You plan every minute detail about your journey towards your destination, like how to get to your dream job, what are the specific action points in your career path? Or that fantastic lake view apartment you have always planned with your hubby. You may work towards achieving them systematically, but still sometimes you may miss getting them. Well, if every small action determines your life’s path then you got to be extra cautious in getting those smallest actions done with precision. Even the smallest detour may have significant impact, sometimes in a positive way may be. Say for example if you apply for a job vacancy out of curiosity to just find out if you have a shot at it, & surprisingly you get the job & now you are in a confused state of mind as you were actually not prepared to quit the current one.

Well friends, things do come in life quite randomly, some anticipated & some others as a surprise. You got to go with the flow. There is no need to be too much emotionally or romantically attached to things, we have come with nothing in our hands & will go the same way, everything every possession, every person we loved is gonna be left behind in the end.

Only the things we experienced in life are to be enjoyed to the fullest in their moment, the beauty of the moment is that it passes by. Yesterday is a history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present, hence the name present. We may not have absolute full answers to all the questions we come across in life, but it happens that it’s not important to have the answers but it is relevant to know how to deal with those questions & this is what I think really matters.

Where will I be in 5 yrs?  Whom I gonna be married?  What are my expectations out of my partner?

How the hell to find out if I am the right or worthy guy for this girl? Questions will always be there, & then when you grow older, more questions, but the ability to handle them is what matters. You are more equipped to handle the bigger challenges as you grow older in life. Relatives & friends will always be there to guide you support you in you decisions etc. but they are not you, however closer they may be to you, they may not be able to guess your true desires & decide on your behalf on things you want in life. The ultimate decisions you take in your life should be by you alone considering the inputs from friends & relatives.  You need to control the sail of your boat of life.

  

Life runs on law of averages, if something bad happens, something good is also lurking around the corner. In the end its all the averages, finding your moments in small daily pleasures of life is what matter at the end as you look the big picture behind. 

Moral science stories for kids 4: The one with parenting

        You know what kids, parents often bring up their children wrongly, rich parents gave them little too much, poor parents did not give them at all etc. So just realize you have it in your hands to shape your life in the way you want it to be, Your parents will compare with the brightest kid in the class, expect you to score high marks as him. Just think of this in this way :  There is no single race - exams are not running race to score high marks. But consider this there are many races & you get to choose one before you can run in it, set goals for yourself & achieve them, practical short term & long term goals. If you are into sports, if thats what gonna turn into, if you are not having a great aptitude. Don't waste time improving your aptitude, try a hand at what you are good at. If not successful have a plan B to recover from that & get back on track in life. Always account for variable change. Always have a plan B in life, if plan A fails, Plan B should have damage control and set a new direction for you sail. you got to prove to you parents, that getting high marks is not my life, but achieve something & show that this is what you want in life, there can be only one first rank is class right ?


Small advice for parent's, let your child be what he wanna be, after all you want him to be happy right  

Get ahead and become what you wanna be.  

I had a strange revelation once while trekking, I rarely trek, in fact I do hardly any physical exercise, hence this was tough for me. We went down a waterfall, more of a valley hardly no one around, only five of us friends. Going down was easier but the journey backwards, an uphill climbing task, this was full of thorns & bushes, not much grip to hold on & climb, rest of my friends has already climbed up. One of my friend stayed with me ensuring that I made it up with him. initially i felt the climbing was much tougher than it seems & of course was very scared. But there was no other choice, somehow managed to climb it with help form my friend. later I realized - Walking the path was easier than it seemed. we have all these negative emotions & thoughts that its gonna be tough , impossible etc, but when you actually dare to do so, it may be a lot more easier than you imagined it to be. 

Everything happen twice in your life, once in your mind and then in actuality or reality.

you are the architect of your destiny, also destruction. 

Here is the quote from Matrix :

Don't think you are Be you are 

Don't try to hit me and hit me

Hope this helped.

Movie review : October sky

        This story is about a high school kid, from west Virginia who dares to dream big. This was the time when Russia launched the first satellite Sputnik and Americans were angry about that, but for this kid this sight of a satellite moving across sky came a big aspiration, a moment of connection with oneself when one realizes what exactly one is supposed to do in his life. The village was called coal wood owing to the main profession being mining coal and as the norm all kids were supposed to work as miners after their necessary schooling. As he watched the satellite streak across the sky, he had a dream of building a rocket which could take that satellite and put it in it's orbit. The aspiration was so profound that he made friendship with a nerd guy in his class with whom no one ever spoke or mingled. Thhey were a group of four friends, who managed to procure the material for their experimental rockets from unused rail tracks etc. They made numerous unsuccessful attempts. They used all lengths, all sorts of fuel etc. The rockets either flew to short distances or catch fire and burst. Failure are the stepping stones of success indeed. These experiments lead them to understand what makes a rocket actually fly. Apart from experimental failures, he had to abandon his rocket flying aspirations, as his dad got seriously injured while working in a coal mine and he had to work in coal mine for keeping his family financially well. Those innocent eyes always looked up the sky when going down in a coal mine elevator. In spite of all these hardships, due to the help and encouragement from his teacher he participated in a science fair, demonstrated his rocket building , flying fundamentals and won first prize too. This involved many schools and he came out in flying colors with that first prize and getting scholarship offers from various universities.
      I was especially moved by the advice his teacher gave him- "you don't have to prove anything to anybody, Now, go launch yourself a rocket". This kid was Homer Hickam who went to become scientist at NASA. He dreamed big, worked hard towards it despite all hardships, faced the numerous failures in experimentation with his rockets and learnt how to fly rocket correctly.

 So, a big dream needs lot of smart work, patience and recovering from failures too !
 A must watch for those who often use the term rocket science to imply a tough thing or tough science. You will realize rocket science is just awesome !

Moral science stories for kids 3: The one with becoming something in life

Part 3 :  On becoming something, someone in life
              As kids we all have have all the creativity to imagine ourselves becoming pilot, doctor, engineer, scientist etc etc. As life progresses we become aware of the various educations processes, career paths, then the picture is bit more clearer to choose what you wanna be in life. As a dialog in the movie Lakshya goes, You may become something or someone in life, important thing is to become a good person first of all. Have some friends and relatives who respect you for whatever you are and who will be there for you when you need any kind of help. Being nice is very broad term, you can be nice to people around you, create an cheerful atmosphere wherever you go. There is already enough of poverty, hunger, terrorism, professional tension, sorrow in the world. Why do you want to add to it by carrying a sad face. Whatever is your state of mind always carry a pleasant smile. Well you don't have yo smile all the time even if you are sad, but most of the times so carry that smile, it does not reduce the intensity of the problem but gives us the strength to face the problem boldly. My teacher said about a term he phrased himself - hopeful-hope probably compared to hopeless-hope. hopeful-hope signifies the  practical aspect of achieving things in life, career ambitions etc, where as hopeless-hope is merely false belief  of achieving things which may be beyond your capability itself. We have belief on our doubts & doubt on our beliefs, rather it should be believe your beliefs & doubt your doubts. Everything happens twice - once in mind and second time in actuality. Hence imagine strongly with passion what you wanna become in life. Its not enough if you dream often & do nothing about it. Everything has to be done by you. As the quote says : Success is hard work meeting opportunity.

     Do the best of what God gave you. Identify your strengths & weakness. American education system insists on building on your strengths, hence making you an achiever in your aspiring domain. Indian education system insists heavily on improving your weaknesses, hence making a normal person out of you. Well choose wisely & keep learning from mistakes.
Maintain a diary or journal to record your learnings from life. It may not be relevant in short term, but certainly useful in long term where you tend to forget the things and happenings in your life.

Moral science stories for kids 2: The one with apology

Part 2:

           English is a beautiful language, offers a wide variety of words to describe a particular feeling, situation or a context. Its important that you keep learning words everyday which help you communicate effectively.
An important part of leading a good life is say - Thanks, acknowledge a person for the thing or help or favor he has done to you. There is a depth in a sentence which starts with 'Please' and ends in 'Thanks'. Be willing to admit the mistake and say 'Sorry' if your conscious feels that you have done wrong to a person, hurt his feelings or crossed the line. A sorry has three parts, we usually do the first part and forget the remaining two or rather never care for the rest of the part of sorry. Here they are
1) Say sorry
2) Mean it truly, may be indicated in a tone or expression
3) What can I do to make you feel better, reverse the effect if possible- 'damage control' is filmy phrase here !

If you really care about a person, you should essentially do these three things, then there is no reason for the other person to be mad at you. Well this is the max you could do in saying sorry, if the other person is not still forgiving you, then there is nothing much you can do about it, right ?

Moral science stories for kids 1: The One with Accept & Adjust

Part 1: 

           In my school days moral science was not considered important subject, but later after many years I realized that this is the most important subject which needs to be taught in a way by which kids can imbibe the lessons & become good citizens of tomorrow. I think the Hrithik Roshan’s dialogue in Lakshya is very apt here in this context, whatever one may become in life, foremost is to become a good person. In this information era all info is available easy at hand. What’s important is to teach the values of living in society, the technology changes say for every 3/4 years. This series are written as imagining myself as moral science teacher to say high school kids

             Learn the difference between the words "Accept" and "Adjust". This is essential in living a good peaceful & happy life. We need to adjust some things in life & accept some other things. the real meaning of accept in philosophical sense is to whole heartedly come in terms with a person or condition or situation & never complain about the same in life, never ever. Adjust involves compromises stretched over a finite time in your life obviously & complaints when angry etc. Thats fine, but see there are some things which you totally cannot change totally cannot go away from them you have to live with them throughout your life. Accepting them that makes living, i.e coping with them easier. Acceptance means never arises the need to complain in entire life time. Give an example or illustration to make the point clear in children's minds. For example you wanted your parents to be millionaire or more sensitive or something you always wanted them to be but they are not. So learn to accept such a thing because its out of our control to change your parents. Your destiny has decided that you should be born to them, right ?  you may not like your job or say a house you are living, adjust with it for a while until you find a new job & a good house of your choice. Categorizing problems into accept and adjust makes life much simpler to live.