Upgrade Your Lifestyle with Easy & Simple Steps

We live in Urban spaces which translates into Pigeon Holes for rooms, competing needs, hurried days!

We still need to make style statements with the choices we make while doing up our homes.

Here are a mix of ways, we put up a home that is at once livable and elicits a "Wow" and extra enquiries as to,

"How do you do it?"

"Where can we get the same? "

1. A Green space - We live a busy lifestyle and so we need a green space in the house to De-stress and Relax. No matter, how less the space in your house is, create a Garden of fresh plants. Vertical gardening is an option. You do not need to spend a bomb. Make a shelf with Bamboo sticks. It will be easy on your pocket and give an earthy, forest like look to your Garden space.

A Cane Swing if the space allows it is all you need to sip your Green Tea and Mull over the Day's events.

2. Earthen Cookware - Being exposed to pollution and junk food, eating Healthy is definitely a must. Cooking in Earthen cookware, retains all the micronutrients of your food. Other than making a Style statement, you would also be making a Health statement.

3. Let go of Clutter - We had a sofa set, dining table and TV unit taking up all the space in the living room. What we needed was a tough decision to sell it off and go minimalist. A foldable Sofa that can be a Sofa, a divan when needed and sleepover bed. So easy to move around that it frees up the floor space giving enough walking and cleaning space. 

3. Foldable Utilities - A small house needs foldable utilities which should serve the needs and yet be put away when not in use. Foldable Clothes Rack. The Balcony is supposed to be an aesthetic spot from where one gets a peek of the inside world as well as from where you can get a relaxed spot to sit and unwind. It should not be a forced go to place to hang your personal knick knacks for all to see.

A Foldable writing desk, one can take to bed for completing assignments and put away when not in use.

4. Invest in Air Fresheners - Burning Incenses and Aroma oils have been great ways to enliven the living space. Somehow they are relegated to religious rituals or special times.

We deal with unhealthy, unpleasant odours that emanate from various places in our pigeon hole houses and we need instant solutions. We are hardly likely to take our incense sticks to Washrooms where a certain smell makes our nose wrinkle between uses. Especially on a Day when guests use it once too often. At times, dirty laundry or unwashed dishes piling up would send a stench that is enough to give you a Headache.

It becomes well nigh impossible to work your way through that muck without feeling a little ill and resentful. Many an argument ensues as to whose job it is to mend the dirty pile or who is the cause!

The top servant visits once a day but stench seems to be a permanent companion. My Go to Air Freshener has been Ambi Pur. It helps me #SkipTheSmell in moments.

On hurried days, when unwashed pile of clothes or dishes have to be left back, I spray the Citrus Ambi Pur. I do come back to a Sensible house and it lets me work through the mess with one less foe to conquer.

After cleaning the house, post mopping, a spray and a whiff goes a long way in improving the quality of space in which you can sink into and read a book or watch your favorite show.

I hope you find these tips helpful. Drop your comments and let me know what you think.

By Sonnal Pardiwala

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Home Schooling - Is it An Option in India?

Lately, these statements have become frequent!

Schools teach nothing nowadays!

Schools have become money minting machines!

They want our money but not the responsibility of our children's safety!
Recent incidents of violence and Murder in Schools have made parents sit up and question a system well entrenched in our psyche.

They are in unison considering, "Do their children really need 'School' to meet their future Goals?"

As a Homeschooling family we asked these queries half a decade back and opted out of school!

We homeschooled our two kids who were in seventh grade and second grade back then.

Today, my elder one is gearing up for Grade 12 and again reconsidering 'not pursuing' further studies in the conservative sense. He finds College a colossal squandering of Resources!

As parents we are again in the "Rethinking phase" We will innovate like we did. We love Challenges.

My younger one is happily home learning. Infact, he is in the sixth grade chronologically but he takes up Eighth Grade Academics and is doing a fab job of it.

Do we as parents teach them?

Far too lazy we are!

They fend for themselves, sit in all our Lectures of various subjects we undertake. More the whole life is a platform for learning.

They study, debate, attempt papers, cook with us, clean with us, fight and make up with us. They learn from every fibre of life.

Their shining and purposeful lives are a far cry from lofty claims of just "getting educated".

So, naturally when there is turmoil, parents who are exploring this path connect to us and many like us who made homeschooling as a way of life.
We as a family attend to it as frequently as we can but sometimes it does get Repetitive for us. So I am putting down regular queries and see if it helps.

What is Homeschooling? Is it allowed in India?

Homeschooling is when your child is no longer enrolled in any school and opts to stay at home to learn. Allow? Like whose permission can we ask?

We need our own permission to step down from our deep conditioning of a system that is not serving many needs. We need to give ourselves and our Children the freedom to loosen the Shackles which are no longer needed. We do not need permission, we need a Decision.

Related Article: On The Threshold Of Homelearning- Being Unconventional or Being Natural?

Do you think, I should homeschool my child?

That is a personal Call each family must take after careful deliberations of Goals, needs and desires.

How should I start Homeschooling? What do I teach my children?

If you consider homeschooling, I suggest go on a quarterly sabbatical. Do nothing academic for three months. Enjoy the freedom this new Decision brings. Just let loose. You will be surprised to  Discover lots of faulty "musts", "shoulds" that you have held and can happily let go. Besides the break with tiffin, uniform ironing, homework, tests and all of that will be absent! Also, the competition, hurry, comparison would rarely raise its ugly head. What fun! Think about it.
As to what to start teaching? Pick what is important to you and interesting to your child. These days, resources on internet and bookstores are tons, use them creatively.

Related Article: The U-Turn and Unlearning

Where do I register for homeschooling?

As yet there is no legal body where you can register. You do not need to notify anybody. You simply opt out of school and choose not to send your child for any schooling. There are voluntary homeschoolers group all over India. You can look them up on Google.

Who will Discipline them, like school?

Are you talking of Obedience "Do as I say" or Discipline, "Be a Self Learner?"

Think carefully about what kind of Child you wish to send out. A child can be moulded how you want. If you feel school will do a better job, well, stick to the school. If you have faith in your abilities to Bond and Vibe with your child, only then Insource your child's Future. For I cannot reiterate enough. Opting out of School is a Choice with no outside influences. Do not follow it as a fad or Craze. It is serious Adventure which you as a family will undertake. If you do not derive satisfaction out of it, it is in Vain.

How much does it cost?

As much as you wish to spend. No more no less.

On the practical side, there will be no fees, no tuitions, uniform, no extra curricular activities and payments.

As humans but we wish to jump from one system to another. In that case, you will meet plenty of scamsters waiting to prey on your Anxieties. We are looking for a free approach to how we learn, what we learn, what we spend. Why hand over money to such Alternate Launderers.
Autonomy is the key. Spend on important stuff that gives the whole family  pleasure and sense of Control.

How will the Child Socialise if he /she does not go to school?

Hmmm! Child goes into the same bus, same class, same environment. At times is witness to cuss words, bullying, gang behaviour. Is that truly socialisation? In that case, why the social elements of school not present when the murder happened. The child must have called out for help. At least screamed once, scuffled once!

When the girl was raped, why did thr mother discover it only when the child reached home? Why did the socialised elements not reach out for protection or even reportage? The affected Girl must have gone through tremendous trauma through the day till she reached home?
Why did the socialising friends slap so hard that a child lost his hearing ability? This happened in the locked Washrooms or Attics of School but children did have certain part of day left to come home in last two cases?

Is discipline, education or literacy imparted in schools worth losing a 7 year old just like that? Why no friends accompanied him? What Socialisation are we still wishing to Materialise?
The child ridiculed for Menstrual stains died of mortification. Why did none of her social friends stand up for her and Call out the teacher?
Where or what kind of Socialisation are we looking for?
(That was a tirade of an angry mother. I have kids too and when one kid is hurt, It feels deep.)

On a lighter note, you as a parent can create healthy opportunities by enrolling your children for activities that interest them and can be supervised.

Since you have, homeschooled your children, can you teach mine?

No!

Your Goals are unique. Homeschooling is a self autonomous stance we take for self development. Have your flexible goals. Carve your own path. Create your own Paradise. Solve your own problems. Is life not about that? At key junctures, employ tutors to get through public exams.

How can my child appear for Grade 10/12 exams?

Your child can avail of various options. Foreign boards take External Candidates (At a fee), but yes, at age 14 your child can! Look up their website please.
NIOS also has an option to give grade 10/12 at the child's comfort and leisure. Look up their site. They have Centres around you for Guidance. Look up and Ask around!

Your State Boards too have Form No. 17 whereby your child can avail of suitable public Exams.

My kid did and scored 93.6%!

Related Article: Decision Validated, Yet The Journey Continues

Can we go back to school if we cannot adjust?

Yes. Under Right to Education your child cannot be denied Admission. They may take relevant entrance tests and ask you to begin a Grade lower, since certain competencies that school tests may need, may not be fulfilled by a non school going child. Schools of Foreign Boards too are willing to take in kids as they are open to children from all backgrounds as long as willingness to rules, instructions and fee structure are adhered to.

What will be their future? Will we deprive them?

That anxiety is normal when you embark on a path that is against the norm. Stay with it. It will dissipate with time. As you will swim forward, enjoy and create new pathways, you might be the one carrying the Homelearning torch forward to illuminate others fragile heart. There are as many solutions as problems. Point is to enjoy while resolving them and live to tell the tale.

Related Article: A Year Into Homeschooling and Finding Ourselves

This blog is a flip crisp responses to regular queries to homeschooling we encounter. Connect with us if you wish to know more or follow us on social media to see our day to day adventures. We sell possibilities of Freedom and Serendipity and we charge nothing.

Is that not a bonus?

Authors of Homeschoolers Brigade!

Sonnal Pardiwala (Mom)
Nozzer Pardiwalla (Dad)
Shahen Pardiwala (16 yrs old)
Shahaan Pardiwala (11 yrs old)

P. S. - If you have any further queries regarding homeschooling, or if you want to see an answer to a frequently asked question, please post it in the comments below and we would be glad to answer it. Thank you!

A Formidable Foe called Kangana Ranaut

If you want to hold your breath this weekend and suck in the air with sheer gumption of it watch the 'One Woman Army' called Kangana Ranaut on the Aap Ki Adalat show with Rajat Sharma.

She has redefined what brazen Courage is made up of. Other guests that appear hence forth will have to match up with the sheer audacity and honesty she brought in this no holds barred interview.

This is how such shows should unfold instead of the diplomatically correct and politically ingratiating words that tepidly fall in 'Pakau' manner by some of them who do appear in this show.

She has earned her fearlessness by plunging into the depths of misery and truly asking “What do I have to lose anyways?"

Before I launch into a full fledged admiration love letter to this lady, let me admit to a memory that reminded me about the spark I had lost long long ago.

I remember being asked to resign from a well known educational institute simply because I had refused to find carpenters for doing up the reception area of the school. Being a counsellor, I thought it was definitely not a part of my skill set nor job requirements. It was appalling to see even senior well qualified counsellors on board bring them quotations from carpenters and deriving pride that theirs was considered. I refused politely but firmly earning me the wrath of the principal and HR! They told me to resign else they will not give me a good work experience certificate and it will ruin my Career. I needed the job, yes but more so my self esteem was at stake here. I was rated the best Counsellor in their yearly assessments and yet I was an eye sore for them. I had not complied to their unruly demands and they  had the power. 

Well, I dug in my heels and refused to resign too. I did tell them “My career is my responsibility alone and that they should make the rudest possible termination letter ever but I shall not resign.”

Phone calls went back and forth, explanations and arm twisting followed but I stood there without budging. I had the power of the truth with me and so it was. They had to find a clause that since I was temporary placement, they no longer needed my services and they did give me a work experience letter, describing the period of my term too. I have never used that experience letter ever. I did decide to chart out my own life on my terms and conditions and have a rollicking career as a teacher, blogger (my book made it to Limca Book of Records), spiritual healer and just an independent human who no longer puts her destiny in the hands of insecure, so called powerful people.

So with lots of awe in my heart and fierce glee, I watched Kangana dissect, devastate and destroy the Bollywood film industry’s ways and all of that she went through. She choked, she sobbed on few words. The eyes raw with agony yet glinted with steel. I will not break now and never is what they said.

What is she made up of?

To look at her flimsy frame, she appears so dainty and all of her 49 kgs. There is no bragging on her part. She accepts her frailties as easily as she flings logic at the people who set out to destroy her. She accepts that she was in love with Hrithik Roshan and it was so deep while it lasted but when he intended to close the chapter, she did. She expressed her hurt that he made public the most intimate details of their times in his bid to hurt and humiliate. 

She had all the silent anger at the writer and actor couple who threatened her with dire circumstances. I am sure they squirm in their plush sofas where they look at the delicate girl they intimidated. She did not once deny that she was not affected, not humiliated! She accepted all of it and put it out Raw out there for all to judge or indulge. She had a wizened philosophy too that "If my family or society is ruffled and hurt, It is ok for the time being. I will take it."   

Life has not been cakewalk for her. She admits it and nonchalantly takes it in her stride. She accepts her vulnerable part that loved and believed. She also does not hesitate to express the indignity she was put through at having her privacy invaded and family put through trauma. She sums it up so indignantly "If they put me, a successful actress through so much, imagine what they must be doing to girls with no clout or support?"

She met allegations head on elucidating her contribution and absolving what was not her piece of pie. 

She cooked up a storm that she did want to marry Hrithik Roshan and in his indecisiveness lost her 'other offers'. "I'm 30 and unmarried.",she gleefully and remorselessly throws in for audience to clap on. 

Such candour! 

You would not expect this from the likes of Alia Bhatt or Sonam Kapoor or Shraddha Kapoor, who being star kids are trained to drip artificial diplomacy. Their interviews are drab and induce headaches. In Kangana's words, 'pakau'.

I loved her quick dismissal of the case Hrithik filed as a "pakau case" even for the police. On hindsight, he did have the option to block and report instead of receiving 1000+ mails of unwanted attention. 

She waves Karan Johar's blog as 'waahiyat' which he wrote post the show down in his own show. She simply shrugs her 'Nepotism' remarks as counter observations to Karan's observation on her 'private low key social appearances'. Too true, that man could not take an opinion for an opinion. His spineless efforts at ridiculing her at an award show only lowers his image and repute. Even his sycophants are left helpless in the torrential criticism they get post participation in such nefarious activities. 

Still, Kangana is a true lady. Throughout the show, she called Karan's blog and ideologies 'waahiyat' but she did not use the 'below the belt' rude recourse to his sexuality to hurt or humiliate him. Everyone seems to be too eager to hit out at Karan where it will hurt the most, not Kangana. She is a Fair Foe! She stuck to her stance of not wanting a chance in his films with Ungli of Karan Johar, "...where I have only a ten minutes role is the worst film of my career! I don't want to be cast in his films" Candid, with dollops of self-deprecating humour. 

She rips apart the award functions as 'biggest fraud' and cheekily asks people to refrain from watching them. She elaborates happily how that whole thing is a sham and groupism things. How awards are exchanged for performances to avoid costs. 

Another thing she shares is the frightening revelation of the Head of Women Commission. If such is the scenario, it tells if how everything is 'bikau' and of no help to the common citizens. How money can twist those who people look to for help!

She admits to her climb upwards through "Queen" and "Tanu weds Manu" which probably gave her the lifeboat to swim in choppy waters such as these when you know people are out to put you in jail and have the support of money, power and such helpful agencies as 'the women commission'.

She has dealt with abuse, betrayal, deceit, intimidation, humiliation and public scandal with even a non-celebrity actor's claim of black magic! 

Her inimitable logic cannot be overlooked when she asks "Black Magic on him??? Who or why would anyone?"

Too true! All point to attempts at defaming a young girl who will not submit to your unruly stuff. An attempt to subjugate a spirit that cannot be tamed with threats. 

Today is her time, and she is getting her own back. She stands vindicated and redeemed. She does not need to justify but yet offers educational glimpse of a rotten system she has been plummeted into and emerged victorious. Wounded, scarred, yes, but not surrendering. 

Hrithik, Adhyayan Suman, Karan Johar, Aditya Pancholi may well heed the chimes of her glorious rise and slip into oblivion. They must learn their lessons and go 'no comments' for the rest of their lives! 

For all of this, she remains a grounded girl when she responds to a query of where she gets her fearlessness from! Why she is not on social media? She admits her lack of ability to deal with so many comments, opinions and people simultaneously. She is a 'One-on-One or One-on-few-people interactions' kind of person.

She simply puts "Ask what you will have to lose anyways?"

Her wisdom springs from fighting the pressure from her family to facing the threat to her family, to being blamed for the unrest to deal with pleas of ending it all by giving in. She has overcome her inner conflicts and demons and put forth a simple paradigm.

Hang in there with your talent, stand firm on your terra firma. Truth will reign. 

Her truth certainly shines and so do her eyes. They still have the painful acceptance that life is one long battle, inside and outside. Her naive hopes of being loved wholeheartedly are mercilessly crashed. Her thousand dreams of a cozy life mauled. She declares her painful depression and conquest too.

Does she ignite pity in you? 

Nope, only wow and awe. 

Her simplicity tugs at my heart strings and my patriotic self smiles when she asserts "I do not want Oscars. I am too content getting an award from my Honourable President!"

She stole my heart and earned my respect with that Graceful conclusion that her sights are having pretty boundaries set and she means them. 

Henceforth when she speaks the world will listen and trust for she subscribes to the fearless tribe of women who look the world in the eye and say gently "Do thy worst and I shall still prevail...!" 

-By Sonnal Pardiwala
*Writer claims no rights over the images used as they are screenshots taken from the Show.