Surreptitious Radical Maniac

It’s been almost 3 weeks since I have posted in the blog. There have been amazing things happening in my class, and it is equally hard to post all the updates. So, here’s this week's inspiration!!! Firstly, a new admission to my class A new boy sat in my class, and had to find that out when the student count was more than the attendance!! I wondered, a new admission after half academic year…wow, that’s unusual. I wasn’t sure how to make him feel comfortable, but felt that he needed his time to understand the new environment. At the same time, I inquired and found that he was an orphan, admitted by the police in Thara Home. Admitted by police?? That’s unusual again. He lost his parents 3 years back, and also some random grandfather this year who took care of him in the village. He didn’t know what to do, so took a train and arrived at Secunderabad. And, the Ramgopalpet Police Station found him on the road, heard his story and admitted him in the Orphanage. A great thanks t...

It’s Thanksgiving Week!!! As part of my morning meeting, I’ve discussed ‘ Thanksgiving ’ with my class. My first Thanksgiving celebration was in 2013 November which was celebrated with my cousins at Uncle’s house and also friends at Endicott College. It fascinated me for one simple reason. You take time, think about people in your life and thank them. I’ve liked it because you express gratitude to the people who were part of your life, and I wanted the kids to feel the same.  For the last few weeks, they really started to enjoy the board games and puzzles. When I introduced the games and mentioned that they were given by my friends, they were very happy that there are people who know about them, thought about them and also gave them something which they enjoy. After mentioning about Thanksgiving, they were very excited to make Thanksgiving cards to the people who thought about them. And, instead of playing games, this Friday afternoon they made thanksgiving cards.  J...

This post is the first in the series of ‘ Classroom Chronicles ’, which accounts for the curious tales of my 6 th grade classroom at Government High School Bowenpally, Hyderabad. After contemplating for quite a while, I’ve finally settled down to the idea of blogging about my students than sharing about them in the conventional manner. I’ve recently asked people to support my work in the school, and got an amazing response from my friends across the world. I immensely thank them for their generous support, and this is a way I can share the inquisitive talent of the kids with you guys. Anyway, here it is. A first of its kind (from myself) , where I’d be sharing the way the students are learning every day and developing themselves to be people of tomorrow. Starting with Chess Unlocking the skill of students with the classic strategy game. And, here we can see an interesting game between 2 students. An intriguing part is the kid on the right ( Harendra ) has given a challenging...

Enso Circle Enso circle is a hand drawn circle in a single brush stroke to express a moment when the mind is free to let the body create. I’d like to explain more (I might do later) , but I don’t feel like doing it right now. Here's my first enso circle. Express a moment… At this particular moment, I have drawn my first enso circle but I’m not really sure about the reason I’ve did it. Today, I’ve also raised a poster of  ‘yin and yang’  in my room. There is a lot going on in my life and I think this is a way of taking time for myself and doing something different from the usual. I’m planning to make it as a habit to draw enso circle in regular periods (maybe once a week) , and also at different emotional levels. Let me see how it goes.

Backstory Vipassana Meditation is a meditation technique involving mindfulness of breathing, thoughts, feelings and sensations to understand true nature of the reality. I found this meditation while I was researching about mindfulness 2 years back. It was quite intriguing to read about it, especially when it mentions you are disconnected with the outside world for 10 days and also you shouldn’t speak with any person for 10 days. I planned to go this program in 2014 October (perfect in my tight schedule) , but I didn’t attend. I’ve convinced myself that I was busy, but the truth being I wasn’t mentally prepared. In 2015, I regretted twice that I should’ve attended the program, but was busy preoccupied in other works. In 2016, being free in the summer, I’ve decided to not waste this opportunity. Even in 2016, it was surely a hard decision for me to attend this meditation program. I visualized it as some form of mental institution and you get brainwashed or manipulated into some...

So, today, I’m 21 years old…I wish I could say, “I’m 22 nd year new” , but the fact is with another day passing by, I’m getting old. But, again, I’d say that’s perspective… Anyway, this day, on the path to 22 nd year of my life, I intend to roll back and see what I’ve been doing the last 21 years of my life. It’s quite an interesting question, and if someone would’ve asked me, I’d probably say “I don’t know”. But, I’m asking myself, and I can’t do the same. After pondering on the way to describe my last 21 years, I felt to put it in this way. This year, I’ve completed my  bachelors ’ degree in commerce field (a year later than originally expected) from Badruka College of Commerce & Arts, as I participated in an exchange scholarship program in the USA. By studying a 3-year degree, I still completed 16 years of education through the additional academic year of exchange studies in Endicott College. In simple words, the last 4 years have been great. The learnings p...

Code Geass is a Japanese anime series which I watched in this summer. It has a total of 50 episodes with 20-minute watch time across 2 seasons, which is easy to watch and understand, but carries a lot of retrospection and also introspection (if you can connect to the characters or the story). The plot is set across the alternate timeline with three superpowers i.e. Chinese Federation, European Union and the Holy Britannian Empire. The story is about ‘ Lelouch ’, a former prince and heir to the throne of Britannaian Empire who fights against the Emperor and the empire for the freedom of Japan. Quite an interesting plot which revolves around 3 main characters, and many important side characters. Geass could be described as a power which would allow the Geass holder to manipulate and control others to one’s own wishes. It could be of different types. For example, Lelouch has the power of ‘absolute obedience’ which is to plant commands in a person’s mind. Rolo has the power to ...

I just realized that I've signed up for Blogger in March 2011, created my first blog ' Surreptitious Radical Maniac ', sometime around mid-2013, and yet I haven't posted anything. This moment, I don't even remember the reason I have chosen these words   'Surreptitious Radical Maniac'   for my blog. Googling their definition, I could relate to these meanings. Surreptitious -  kept secret, especially because it would not be approved of Radical -  relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something Maniac -  an obsessive enthusiast So, basically, it defines my blog something as ' an obsessive enthusiast who has radical outlook existing in clandestine nature '. Now, I think that could be one of the reasons I haven't posted anything on my blog, although my mind wanders across the universe with multifaceted thoughts on various aspects.  Anyway, time has changed (or maybe me), and it is time to start doing new things. Br...