"I want to colour my hair blue!"- 'Wishes', the Ira way.

                        Our little 'Rebel Girl'!

Being parents to a little human being is one of the most adventurous things that has happened to us! Every day is an adventure, every conversation has adventurous elements and every little wish of our little girl is adventure personified.

This weekend she suddenly out of the rainbow said, "I want to colour my hair blue!".

The parent in me reacted.
Mamma: "what, why?"

Ira: (calmly) "I want to colour my hair blue, like Coy."

While I was still in my head figuring out who she is talking about, P realised she is talking about Coy Mathis.  We read about Coy in the book 'Goodnight stories for Rebel Girls' and she is one of our favorite 'Rebel Girls' . We are currently on the 37th story reading a few every week.

And then the conversation continued.

Mamma: Ira, you cannot colour your hair. You are too young and it has chemicals.

Ira: But why can't I, when Coy can.

Papa: Because it is allowed where Coy is. Her school allows it.

Mamma: Yes Ira. She lives in America. It is fine there. Here we have strict rules. May be you can colour when you are 12. But only the edge of the hair.

Ira: when I can choose my own dress, why can't I colour my hair.

Mamma: well, that is a simple decision. But colouring hair is about putting chemicals which may not be safe.

Ira: But I am also allowed to make big decisions and do things that I like. Choose what I play, what I watch, what I eat.

Mamma: yes, we have given you the independence to make your decisions about certain things. But some things...

Ira: But I want to colour my hair.

Mamma: ok. We can talk about this later again. And like I said, when you are 12 may be.

Ira: (Getting her negotiation face on) no, when am 7.

Mamma: Naah. 7 is too young to make this decision.

Ira: But Coy is also that age.

Mamma: yes, but like we told you there are some rules in schools here and we have to follow that. Also, we are ok with you colouring your hair but at a particular age. Not before that. (thinking of some solution for now). And you can ask Nash (Her hair stylist whom she worships, literally).

Ira: (in tears) Ok . But I can make my own decisions.

This was followed by some tears, some hugs and we decided to get back to this conversation. Till when this conversation thread picks up again!

Parenting is often not about the big things, major changes. It is actually about small conversations that our little human beings want to have with us,small ideas, the tiny steps towards freedom and decision making and how do we help that growth story.

There are no easy answers and we didn't have one either. But yes, we acknowledged how she felt, we understood the context where this idea came from. A part of me feels proud that she is internalising some learnings and a part of me wonders, where does she pick up these 'rebel' ideas from.

The rebel gene must be largely from Papa because she even sounds like him a lot of times. People who have intercated with her closely can vouch for that.

For now, P and am happy to raise a 'Rebel Girl'. So, raising a toast to rebel parents too!

And yeah, today is Daughter's Day and we did wish and hug and kiss and do things together.

#HappyDaughtersDay2019 #Daughters #Ira #Iraisms #TalesAtFive #IraAtFive #HairColour #Decisions #Conversations #CoyMathis #ColourMyHairBlue #Parenting

Ira is a Harry Potter Fan now!

"Hermione is smart. I love Hermione".

Two lines that made my heart leap with joy. Ira loves her super heroes and magic. We recently introduced her to the Harry Potter Movies. She was glued to them as we saw them in instalments over the past few weeks. Yes yes, P and my movie times are now about super heroes, animation, magic and all things children.

She wanted to constantly know what next. Expecto Patronum became her favorite spell and she went on a journey with some characters that have been my favorite for years. We have told her that she can in sometime begin reading the books. Yes, am super tempted to read them to her, but I think I will wait for her to read them on her own. Am also wondering if she should read the books that we have or we must buy her the children's illustrated one.

She is fascinated by the friendship of Harry, Ron and Hermione. But apart from them, also Neville Longbottom, Luna and Ginny are her favorites. There were moments during the course of the movie when she was in tears and sad, moments when she cheered the trio on and she actually clapped when Voldemort dies.

This Saturday morning, we decided to print some line pictures and colour them and this time the pictures had to be from Harry Potter. She has added her splash of colours to the pictures. So, we have a colourful hedwig and Harry, Ron and Hermione are also multicoloured.

When a little human being colours the world the way they see it, you sure are to get a spell-binding canvas.

Ira is a Harry Potter Fan now!

#Parenting #Ira #IraAtFive #TalesAtFive #Happiness #HarryPotterFan #Iraisms #LittleHumanBeings

Happy Teacher's Day 2019 - What I learnt from my students!

                        #MondayMotivation

We meander a path and we get lost and we find ourselves again. There are some things in life that give us immense joy. The joy that cannot be quantified and explained in tangible terms. I get that joy from teaching.

From taking short presentations in college in PUC to teaching different classes and different schools as part of NewsPaper in Education.

From doing MDPs with my guide during my PhD days or even teaching English to CLAT aspirants.

From teaching Masters students from Management, Design, Electronics, Public Policy or even Psychology to teaching new recruits, home grown managers, senior leaders or change agents.

Teaching has been a mosaic of experience for me. While everyday this year, I remember my teachers and share my gratitude and love, this year, I will share what I have learnt from my students and am eternally grateful to them. Teaching at my Alma mater is ofcourse like homecoming.

For two years now, I have been teaching in academics and also training in corporates. Each new corporate training session is a whole new world with different organization's and their niche cultures and employees. Each new academic batch is a new challenge because it is learning to teach an almost similar syllabus in a new way to keep your interest and to invigorate the young minds.

Each day, I take away something new from my students and I learn in leaps and bounds. I have met students with so much grit and determination, some finding their paths, some determined about their goal, some battling big challenges, some breaking stereotypes, some creating their own destiny. I listen to their growth stories and am in awe.


1. Always be up to date on the topic you are teaching. Use current examples.
2. Build a bank of examples, anecdotes and stories.
3. Know your books, your movies and your series. Comes extremely handy working with a young crowd. Instant connect guaranteed.
4. Contextualise the examples to the group you are speaking to.
5. Work with ground cases to understand the importance of practical solutions.
6. Respect every voice and Empathise with the narratives that are shared.
7. Encourage the listener in everyone, the talkers are often plenty.
8. Get the silent ones to speak up, they often share the deepest wisdom.
9. Think there is no box to bound your creativity or theirs.
10. Interactive teaching works across academia and industry.
11. Games work even in academic set ups (Tried and Tested)
12. Case studies are a great tool to use.
13. Story telling is a fabulous technique and a must have skill.
14. Ask questions, reflect their thoughts, ask again. Let them do the larger share of speaking at times.
15. Distractions happen. Don't make it personal. Make things relevant.
16. Attendance is only a small part of the larger picture. (I have once taught a corporate session with 6 participants where 30 were expected. I respected the time and commitment of those 6 participants).
17. Exhibit energy and enthusiasm. The participants or students will reflect and mirror the energy you show.
18. Not all beginnings are perfect. Never let a minor hitch cause a crease on your forehead.
19. Sometimes planned things fail. Let go and move on.
20. Sometimes you will have that one person who just is not there. Let it be. May be the person is having a hard day.
21. Plan a session such that it is amenable to change, to accomodate different moods, different narratives, different weathers and different days.
22. Do not enter a class or a room with pre conceived notion about the batch or the city or the organization. Be the blank slate that will absorb everything.
23. Every growth story inspires someone in the room. Encourage participants to share.
24. Retain the curiosity, retain the awe, it can only make the journey better
25. Be kind, be honest, be pragmatic, never give false hope, be optimistic. And smile because it only guarantees a smile in return.

#Gratitude #Happiness #LoveTeaching #HappyTeachersDay #DoWhatYouLove #GrowthStories