Average is Mean!!!

• Class Tenth exam is round the corner. In India, choosing a career of one's choice after tenth demands an impactable academic score in tenth class. Vigorous efforts are taken since class eighth or even prior to that, to pass the tenth in flying colours, to be more precise scoring 90% and above,  if not, then at least 85%.
  
• I think, about the ones who are mediocre or average!!! Yes, exactly that is the topic of my post today.
• Our generation is obsessed with the term 'average'. We have attached a negative connotation to this term. It is never taken as a compliment if someone calls you an 'average'.
  
• The pressure of being the best starts from grade school, the importance of getting those A's and not the E's, much later the career ladder---always needing to excel.
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• Being mediocre is not a negative adjective.. There are chances that one is most likely to be average in many aspects of life but one may be extraordinary in other aspects. It is perfectly okay to not have it all.
• It is a fact of life, one is good at some things, bad at others. The real test is to learn something or practice something so that one can excel in the chosen thing.
• Not everyone is privileged to be CEO, or the topper, its fine if some of us are mediocre or else there is no way to measure the top or the bottom.  
  
• We all have to learn to be content with the natural talents we have or don't have, but the final point is improving our talents with constant hard work.
• Being average does not mean failure. Constant improvement is required to become extraordinary.
• All the pressure to be perfect, to be more than average, to always be striving to be 100% is seen everywhere. One has to aspire to be accomplished, talented in ones chosen field. Accepting that one is mediocre, but striving to make oneself better is very important. Then it is perfectly okay to be mediocre and this would serve as a perfect platform to be with the league of the toppers.
• It is said, 'Always Dream to reach the stars, then you will reach at least at the top of  a tree' In short think big and be positive. It is all very well to think big but not without knowing your own potentials and capacity.
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• Success follows the one who constantly strives for excellence through an optimum combination of smartness and sheer hardwork!!!
  
  
• So all those appearing for tenth, do not stress, it is good if you are striving for 90' s and plus, but all those who think they are average, do not fret, give your 100% and it's perfectly okay if you are below 80% because we all are mediocres in most of the things we do, at the same time we are exceptionally good at many other things!!!!
• On a funnier note.....
• We all have studied Mathematics in school,  we all know that average is mean!!!
• So someone happens to call you average, it is so mean!!! 
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BLOG COLOURFULLY, BUT SAFELY!!!

  

• Dear Readers, It occurred to me today to write a post on 'BLOGGING SAFELY WITH IMAGES'. I was initiated to do so when I read that Google has made some changes in downloading images. Just wanted to write how important it is to have permission to use images on a blog post.
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• Bloggers are writers, they write text in the form of posts. Blogging is just not plain text written on a page. A good article is the combination of text, images and other multimedia elements.
• Writing a blog can be very appealing. It can build social skills, enhance writing abilities and provide opportunities to express personal views to millions worldwide, on the other hand the onus of writing good content, expressing yourself without facing unjust retaliation falls on the blogger himself. 
• With the Internet becoming more and more visual everyday, all the content that people read online is increasingly more focused on being visually appealing. Just like every book needs a cover, every blogpost needs an image.
• PICTURE PAINTS A THOUSAND WORDS!!!! Why a blogger who is a writer needs to add images to his blogposts when his words should be enough to appeal the audience? It's not enough!! Images are supporting tools that can make your content more exciting, interesting and informative. Images add a bit of decoration to your post. They help to make a point or emphasise a statement in your post.
• WORD OF CAUTION!!!!
• You can't just take any image from the Internet and put it on your blogposts. By law, every image and photo on the Web is protected by copyright. You have to ensure if you have permission to use any images you post on your site. Safety comes before anything else.
  
• Never use any search engine and find some random image to use on post, because by doing so, you are likely to violate somebody's copyright. 
• There are several different licences and each defines how you can use the associated image.
• ROYALTY FREE IMAGES.. Not exactly free as it comes with its own terms and conditions 
• RIGHTS MANAGED... a single user license 
• PUBLIC DOMAIN... Images have no restrictions 
• CREATIVE COMMONS... Need to provide attribution to the creator. 
• Besides you can be a registered member of various sites like SHUTTERSTOCK, DEPOSIT PHOTOS and many more. 
• So all those who want to blog, you can engage your  readers by using images and make it easy for them to share your content on visually oriented social networking. BUT MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A SUITABLE LICENCE,  in short, MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT YOU ARE USING IMAGES THAT YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO USE. BLOG SAFELY!!!!!
  

LOVE IT OR HATE IT, VALENTINE'S DAY IS HERE!!!!

• Since morning, my phone does not seem to stop pinging, I wonder to see nearly twenty  messages on my phone. Within no time I now know that it is that day of the year for which our media has been reminding over a month or so to buy gifts, it is that time of the year, when we are meant to declare our affection for the persons we love and care, if not with giant teddy bears, chocolates and cards, than at least by these phone messages.
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• VALENTINE'S DAY.. Thought for the day!
• Celebration of this day go back many centuries, when it was set aside to celebrate Christian Saints named Valentine. However, the history behind St.Valentine's Day is steeped in legends and tales. Though today it is celebrated as a day of love.
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• Today is the day when we all are supposed to shower the love of our lives with messages and gifts.
• Do we need a reason to tell our special people, be our friends or family how much we love them?
• Come on!  Why not?  No harm to take every opportunity to show your love to your near and dear ones.
  
• Valentine'sday is not related only to romantic friendship anymore. I see that this day is taken up as an opportunity to celebrate all of one's social relationship. In fact, non romantic friendships are just as rewarding as romantic ones.
• A simple thank you note to your maid, a hug to your grandpa or even a chitchat with a long lost friend would do wonders.
  
• It is not always about gifts, but sometimes the effort taken to shower one's dear ones with the gifts makes a difference. 
• Another Thought.... 
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• Has this day of Valentine's become a commercial construct with consumers spending on gifts? Has the marketing techniques designed to take advantage of people who are in love?
• Has the origin of celebrating love and affection changed into obligation for giving gifts.?
• I see that our Media TV, radio, Internet are reminding people to buy a gift or make a reservation for celebrating this day.
• With everything going commercialised, Do we need  this day to prove our love?
• Yes, we do!!
• For all the same, there are different views and opinions in favour of and against celebrating this day.
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• I would say,
• People do genuinely love each other, they do so always, but on this particular day an effort is taken to voice it out rather loudly one's affection towards other.
• Let the efforts be in the form of gifts, cards or phone messages. 
• On that note,
• In today's fast world with no time and energy, each one on run, this day reminds us to take a break to pamper our loved ones with gifts or wishes. 
• THOUGH ALWAYS REMEMBER TO SHOW YOUR LOVED ONES THAT YOU LOVE THEM UNCONDITIONALLY,  JUST NOT ONLY ON A VALENTINE'S DAY.  
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• As  for me, I rush to arrange for a delicious strawberry cake for my loved ones,
  
  ..,.,,not before sending return wishes to my  dear ones.
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LIVE LIKE A KID!!!

• Every summer, we would pack up our house, dump everything in suitcases and head off on our vacation.
• I recall one such summer vacation.
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• Standing helplessly in the midst of travelling bags, ready to leave for the journey, with the chaos and excitement of my kids aged 9 and 5 then, I somehow manage to do the last minute verification of checklist of all the essential requirements of my young ones.
• I decide not to complain about the hurly burly and the subsequent delay  instead I am quietly trying to enjoy the long tiring journey with my super energetic chicks.
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• At long last, we have reached our destination and our formal holiday has begun. 
• Sitting in the balcony of the resort, I smile, as this is the time of the year when I relish the prospect of doing absolutely nothing and unwinding with the switch off mode on. But my overenthusiastic elder one jostles in with a declaration that we have to go horseback riding!!!! right away!!!
  
  
  
• Putting away all thoughts of lazying and doing nothing, I decide to set an example of an IDEAL MOTHER, and I keep the needs of my little one before my needs.
• Sitting on a horse for me is like being in hot water but notwithstanding this fear, first and foremost we hit the local market to shop for hats but settle for helmets. Before getting on a horse we want to make sure that  we wore a proper riding helmet considering safety before everything else. We are now resembling more like cowboys rather  cowgirls?? 
  
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• The first tedious task..Mounting the horse  using a horsemount!!!!  Precisely following the instructions given by the horseguy, I pick the reins with left hand, put my left foot in the stirrup closet and push myself over the saddle!!! I finally succeed in the task of  mounting after a struggle of few minutes.
• Second hurdle!! I sit properly on the saddle, let my leg hang in such a manner that it  allows my weight to fall down into my heels, another command by horseguy. I accomplish this job also successfully!!! 
• Holding the reins correctly with just the right tension to maintain control without restricting the horse's movement is the third piece of struggle!!!
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• The horseguy is now  guiding my elder one's horse, mine is an obedient one to follow the former, and my younger one who is too small to ride alone is tucked with father on another horse.
• Our ride has started.. Eventually! 
• Slowly and Steadily.. 
• but only I know that the feeling of insecurity is flaring up.....
• Instinctively using my hands and arms when I start feeling insecure, I end up with my hands in the air leaving with no control of the horse. Next few minutes passes with me trying to balance myself, learning yet another lesson of  balancing!! I also learn that anything that affects our balance also affects our horse's ability to do it's job well!.
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• Soon I realize that riding is more about balance than grip.
• Sweating in the afternoon, I am battling to keep my foot properly not allowing my leg to swing to the front or back, one more difficult venture for me.
• Riding uphill or downhill, the most complicated errand!!!! Making absolutely sure to maintain the position over centre of my horse is another terrifying challenge for me, as balancing now becomes an unnerving task.
• Heading uphill means leaning forward and travelling downhill means leaning back..I sense that now these tasks are exerting me completely, though I am glad to see that my little one is thoroughly enjoying the ride.
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• Suddenly I see my horse has started a brisk walk and I thank my lucky stars as I am saved just on time from falling head on heels.
  
• After climbing a steep hillock, we are now on a path which is very narrow, and on one side, there is a sheer drop  of some thousand odd feet straight into the valley. I immediately send a prayer up and hope that we would cross it soon intact in one piece.
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• Thankfully that is the last straw!
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• I sense now that every muscle in the body  is becoming sore. All I want to do is  give up, when my girl who is merrily enjoying, calls out asking if I was scared and already tired. I want to yell at her for putting me through this as I am not energetic, enthusiastic and more so nine like her anymore. But;
• I don't utter a word as I hear the 'MOTHER INDIA' in me whispering into my ears that our kids learn from us and we are their role models. One must not give up in any draining situation..Mustering my courage and strengthening my willpower, I move ahead and see the setting sun who has witnessed my efforts to finish the entire ride of two hours.
  
• At last the ordeal is over, when we are back at the resort and I finally get off  the horse.
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• I realise that my holiday has officially begun now...
• Yes indeed....
• with the most thrilling experience of horseback riding and I see my cherished dream of idling and lazying vanishing in the air. 
• I also realise that I am exhausted and excited at the same time, I feel truly wonderful having been pulled through successfully each moment of riding hurdle to hurdle.
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• Now I think, we grownups struggle with our fears, yeah we fear our fears, try to take the easiest way out, the laziest way, sometimes fearing to try out scary things thinking that the age is not in our favour.
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• I wish we must live like kids, enthusiastic, learn and try new things, even if these things appear scary, conquer our fear, run, jump, climb a tree, ride a horse, chase a butterfly, tumble, and learn how to live merrily....... 
• .....truly in the manner I endeavoured to overcome my fear of horseback riding few years back with my toddler!!!!
  

MAID IN INDIA!!

• As soon as my domestic help enters my house today, she makes an announcement, ''Tai, I will not be coming for 15 days from 15th of this month, I need to attend my niece's wedding." God! Her words leaves me petrified! Imagine how your day would be if your maid doesn't show for a day, and here my maid is asking for a good fifteen days leave!
  
• In present date, In India, almost every person of a family works to support it. When all the members are busy and fully occupied with hectic schedules, managing various household activities such as cooking, cleaning, taking care of house and kids become a taxing affair. Many times we find it difficult to keep a balance between household and professional activities.
  
• In the past, extended families shared the chores but the new set up of nuclear families with just father, mother and children need the services of either a part time or a full time maid.
• MAID...!!!! and the relationship we have with  her!!
• If we try to lay out our set of relationships, I mean those people who contribute to our success in a job and in managing our home, we have to acknowledge one such important and analytical relationship that enables us to handle the work in and out of our house, yet we fail to even consider it.
• Yes, the maid of our house.
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• If both parents are working, at times grandparents are pitched in with chidrearing but not without a maid.
• It is not only an important relationship but also the most demanding one.
• Not everyone is fortunate to find a maid who is a perfect fit in our homes.
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• In today's fast world this relationship is panic struck. None of us, the urban literates are used to doing manual labour work at home, nonetheless we somehow manage for few days in emergencies.
• We sometimes use the words servant, Bai to describe her. We conveniently forget to think that she is a working professional like us who is paid her salary for her services. Many times we complain if she goes on long leave or comes late, though many other times we also  pay her more, when we are fully aware that finding a replacement would be difficult.
  
• There are many examples of happy and cordial relationship with her where in the employer and the maid are genuinely fond of each other knowing perfectly that they are mutually dependent on each other.
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• In many cases, the maid behaves as though she is the BOSS of the house and is fully aware that she is INDISPENSABLE!! However many times such dependence is resented, but still we have to put  up with the  maid's attitude, thinking that we won't get a better help.The basis of such relationship is on the principle of 'Known devil is better than an unknown.'
• The situation is viceversa also when a maid continue to work even if her services are not compensated fully thinking that she won't get a better employer.
  
• We also cannot overlook the cases where in the maids turn out to be cheats, liars, thieves and so our relationship with her become all the more stressful. 
• No matter what is the nature of our relationship, she has her own life, mostly coming from a poor and illiterate background, she lives hand to mouth. The fulltime one leaves her family and stay with us and the parttime one has to dash for her home and do the same errands all over again. Very few of us value that even she is the woman of her house with the same responsibilities of managing a home and a job.
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• I would like to  give a reference to my previous post 'The  unsung heroes of our homes' wherein I have  mention that a woman of the house sets an example to a corporate person, more or less like a General Manager, but again a General Manager cannot work without the support of subordinates. Certainly, a maid is our subordinate without whom we can't work efficiently.  
• In today's world, a working woman has to struggle to get a maid and retain her while juggling between work and home. Many issues crop up while hiring a maid with whom we leave our house and kids.Her integrity, honesty, trustworthiness, efficiency ???
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• Thankfully now, various maid service agencies have come up which provides  prescreened, experienced verified maids. Most convenient platform to outsource domestic help. Having an accessible and reasonably priced maid  through this agencies have given some solution for working women. Moreover these agencies also provide professional cleaners, who can be hired on one time basis. These professional cleaners are a boon to us especially during the cleaning spree when our festival like Diwali is round the corner.
  
• Nevertheless, I would say that our relationship with our maid is one of the most important ones among our other 'relationship network' because if she does not come 'IN'  to work at our house, we could not do our work 'OUTSIDE' it. 
• A maid enables us to do lucrative work while she manages the household errands of cleaning and cooking. Depending upon the requirement and the economic status, each family has maids. A middle class with one or two, in case of welloff families and celebrities the number of maids exceeds the number of people residing in the house. 
• We in India, cannot survive  without a maid!!
• A bit of respect to her who make our daily domestic chores easy and hasslefree!!!
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• If YOU are reading this post even you will agree that you have grown up in India seeing a maid work at your home.
• On that note, one more time.. 
• I would like to draw your attention to my earlier post, yes, the very first post wherein I say that the stage is all set... for me to blog freely...... but only if my MAID IS IN!!!!         
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• As for now I have to start hunting for a temporary maid in the absence of my permanent one, lest I visualise myself for those fifteen days as ⏬ 
  
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