Survival Of the Fittest

The need of the hour, is survival. Only the fittest survive. A young Engineer, with two years of experience in a software firm, lost her job during the pandemic. She started selling vegetables in the market and became self-employed, thus supporting her family.

Another young graduate who was laid off, happened to be a talented dancer, he started teaching dance online. Within three months his students from across continents grew and he started taking 5-6 batches a day.

Yet another young lady who was out of work teamed up with her brother and started catering services. While she took orders and cooked, her brother delivered home cooked meals to clients.

Each one of us have the capability to meet our needs.In our growing years it is important to learn skills. These can be cashed in any time. Investing time in learning yoga, music, instruments, dance, art and crafts or any sport for that matter is bound to pay rich dividends. Today all these skills are being taught online for a fee.

When one door closes, another opens! When many doors close, many more open!

-Dr.Lalita Anand

Teach your teen about your Religion

In the last decade or two, speed of life went out of spin, there was no time to teach our children our customs, values and family traditions. We never found time to tell them mythological stories or for that matter family stories, we did not teach them about our faith and religion.

This unusual situation created due to lockdown presents a unique opportunity to spend time with our children and teach them about our faith and religion. Every religion teaches about love, peace, forgiveness, truth, honesty, self-discipline, service and many other good values.

Our customs are so unique, our traditions so beautiful, our ancient texts and holy books so full of wisdom. Seize this opportunity, teach them how to pray, read out from holy texts and talk to them about teachings of great prophets, saints and gurus.

Encourage them to connect to nature, reflect on how wonderful this Universe is. Sow these seeds and let them be! Stop pushing them to activity. Leave them alone, and watch these seeds germinating.

 - Dr.Lalita Anand

Discovering Self

It is not our abilities that make us, but our choices! That’s a deep thought. Life is all about the choices we make. We can make the right choice only when we know, who we are.

Knowledge of self, empowers us to take the right decisions in life.

So how does one go about the task of discovering oneself?

Well, my first suggestion is, start writing a diary. What does this do?

A Diary becomes your best friend, you can unburden yourself completely. You feel light in your mind after that. You start discovering your likes, dislikes, tastes, preferences, style, and other trivia about yourself. Self-discovery starts….your writing skills also improvesJ

Suggestion two is to expose yourself to various situations, responsibilities and challenges. Travelling, trekking, hiking, swimming, boating, kayaking and such other activities brings out the best in you and helps uncovering layers off your self. Taking up small responsibilities at home and college builds confidence and hones leadership skills. When you face situations of loss, conflict and confrontations, most times the real you is unleashed.

Three is self-observation. Consciously start observing yourself.

Watch how you feel in a class room, do you get annoyed by other classmates who disrupt classes or do you feel tempted to disrupt class, are you a patient listener? Are you the kind who can't pay attention to any lecture and prefer studying on your own?

Observe yourself in a crisis situation, let’s say your cycle hit a pedestrian and a fight ensues, watch if you are aggressive and fighting the guy or are you nervous and want to avoid conflict?

Find out whether you love outdoors or are happy being indoors with your laptop?

Are you a people’s person and thrive in company and in human interactions or are you a loner who likes to be left alone. (You can make your observation in your diary)

Understanding Self is an important step in life!

If you make efforts and find out who you really are, that will give you immense happiness and clarity. Without worrying about what others think if you follow your heart, you will find out what you are passionate about. Do that which gives you happiness.

If you are able to turn your passion into a profession then life is a success!

       - Dr.Lalita Anand.

Cope With Hope

Well in my survey a lot of teens complained about online class. They say, it’s stressful and ineffective. I agree! In a regular class we have the luxury of having the teacher in front of us and she takes complete responsibility of ensuring that we have properly understood the concepts and we learn.

But we need to understand that Covid-19 menace has dramatically transformed the world today. Each student has to take the responsibility of learning himself. We are fortunate that technologies are so advanced that we have online classes. We have umpteen sources of information, thanks to internet.

In fact don’t limit yourself to assignments and lessons guided by schools. Go beyond. THINK about your future. What would you like TO DO in future? This is a good time to do research on what career path you intend to take.

 Match your interests and skills with careers, Find out the many options you have. Also keep an eye on the emerging jobs of the generation next.

Weigh its pros and cons. Reflect on what kind of person you are! Are you the numbers type? Are you creative? Where does your talent lie? What is it that makes you happy?

When passion becomes your profession, Life is a big SUCCESS

The right answers will set your life in the right path and that is huge step forward.Lastly, I want to assure all of you- human being is the fittest. We will survive this challenge. We will come out of it stronger. So COPE with HOPE. 

- Dr.Lalita Anand