Year End Memories

We are almost at the end of the year. How do you feel? I know it's sad that we are leaving behind our 2016 memories, but we are glad that a new year is beginning. 

Before few months, I was doing my regular mundane work of taking care of my home and family like everyone else. Slowly, the corporate dream within myself emerged wanting me to work as the boys grew up. When I started searching for jobs, I got few lucrative offers. When I was about to sign one of the offers, I asked myself, is this what I wanted to do on a long run. 

After a long thought process for a week, I realized my interest or my passion was somewhere else. I found I liked myself to spend time with the children. I like being with them, talking and discussing anything under the sun. So I thought, why not to choose the same as my passion. 

Hence the birth of 'Story Carpet". I don't look at this as a company or brand, instead of a mission to achieve greater transformation for children and parents including myself. It has been a great year by conducting "Story Carpet " programs in Schools and Corporates with various sessions and transformed around 2000 children. Apart from these, we have released 50 Audio Stories through WhatsApp every week. We also have plans to include various programs to benefit children.

At the end of the day, I always get to hear an appreciation from a parent or teacher. Personally, I know many children don't go to sleep without listening stories from Story Carpet. It is very fulfilling when a parent calls and enquire about the delay in posting the audio story. 

I was only a homemaker before a couple of months. Now, you all know the story of Story Carpet. Every one of you has a dream or passion. It is not necessary to do the same work every day if you don't like it. As the New Year is going to dawn within few days, let the New you begin a new vibe with a new dream or passion. 

Hunt your passion in the darkest hour.Figuring out the right substance for you will prolong your energy for lifelong and emerge as a star of the universe and emerge as a star of the universe.  You can always reach out to me if you need anything for your children or yourself. 

Wishing you a Happy New Year. A year to dream, work hard and achieve the goal with lots of fun and energy. May you find your biggest passion and reach heights in your life.

You can view the details of "Story Carpet" in the below link:
https://www.facebook.com/StoryCarpet/ 

Efficiency

It was a Thursday Morning. I was all set with a mood to pack and go on a vacation. A call came in the morning. I took the call with a bit of hesitancy.  Soon I realized it was from my friend. I lost her contact a while ago. She told me, "Hey, your voice sounds interesting. Do you mind rendering your voice to a business promotion"?  She called for an appointment which happened to occur in another 2 hours. I said "Yes' finally.

I doubted myself on the commitment. I finished all my chores in a hurry and headed towards the destination. It came as a surprise when I reached the venue

on time. 

 I had the requirement ready. We modified the script. Then I took a trail in the voice recorder.  The audio was alright after a 3rd attempt. I completed the work and left home.

My friend called me after few days. She told me after the video was displayed, many investors raised their hand for the investment. It was a huge success.  I was happy hearing the update.

In life, the most hesitant work gives you the biggest credit. I realized when we involve our heart and mind towards any work it brings magnitude. Let us submerge ourselves in anything we do, may it be parenting or career or social work give yourself 100 percent. When you give yourself completely or lose yourself in the work you do, you will yield a result greater than your dream. 

An Inspiring Leader.

On December 5th, 2016, the news came stating that our honorable CM J. Jayalalitha is no more. I couldn't believe that it would stir something within me. I am not a keen observer of politics, yet I always adore her as an individual. I thought she would fight and come back home strong. Whenever they announced holidays on anyone's death during my school days, it had never affected me as I looked those days as a moment of vacation. Nothing else.

But this time, the news about Jayalalitha made me cry. As I started learning about her, the amount of respect grew enormously.She made me realize that anything is possible in this world with a clear goal in mind. She had the amount of strong determination and the attitude of achieving greatness. Even though she couldn't make up her personal life the way she wanted to, she always took up what came to her and achieved success. She achieved this level even without a strong family support.

I know Story Carpet is meant to release stories. Some stories entertain us. Some stories teach us moral values. Some stories make us realize how we can evolve strongly. Despite being a woman, she marched ahead to create history. Her story is an inspiration for all of us. Any women will look up to her for all the qualities she displayed in a golden platter. May her soul rest in peace. Let us all learn one good quality from her and try to implement in our life too.

Leader

 How do you feel when you enter your parent company after a span of 13 long years? Must be wonderful, isn't it? I felt the same when I saw the signboard of the company. Yes! it read Accenture. This was the first MNC I get to work with after my Engineering course.  After a long gap of 13 years, I entered the same company to conduct a program for Children.

I was excited and enthralled seeing the children in uniform. I felt refreshed. The principal and the teachers of the school were there with the children. They were very keen and all ears towards the session. The session went well.I was about to head back to my home. 

But the voice from the principal held me back to stay there for a while. She had a notebook in her hand and she was narrating the positivity of the whole session. Not only from my session but from each and every section of the program. I was amazed to hear her evaluation of the whole program. 

That moment I realized, if the leader is vibrant and positive those who surrounded by the leader will always be positive and inspiring. I could see the teachers and the children carry a mesmerizing smile throughout the session. I learned that when I keep myself in good spirit, the people surrounded by me will also be on the same lines.I believe we all can do our fractional part in making a revolution as the consumers of this planet.

Magnified Gratitude

It was a warm Sunday afternoon. I felt like taking a cozy nap. But we had to head out for a speakers forum for a contest. So the idea of sleeping was destroyed. After a sumptuous lunch, we got ready and drove to the destination. We reached on time. The venue was well arranged and everybody was all set in place for the contest. The contestant's age group varied from 5th grade to 10th grade.

 They were all in the mood of preparing and delivering the best in the speech contest. As I was also on the team, I got to interact with many members. While I was in a discussion with a parent, I remembered her daughter singing on a big stage and was about to telecast in a TV. 

 I told the parent that her daughter sung well and that song was my favorite number. She said "Thanks" and we parted ways.

 The Contest went well. We finished everything and came back home late night. Around 10'O clock I got a ping in the Whatsapp. I checked the message. It was from the girl who sung well.

It read, "Thanks so much for letting my Mom know that I sang well". It came as a surprise for me. I talked all this to her mother. Like every one of us, she also would have discussed the same at home.

 But how many of us would take some time to tell our gratitude for the person who wished for us? Leave about adult, she was a school child probably from 8th or 9th grade. I was mesmerized.

If a child has the innate nature of gratitude in them, I wonder the maturity of the child when she grows up. Definitely, I believe it is only of the very holistic healthy habit which we all need to instill in our children by the way we practice in our life. Do you all agree?

External Factor

It was a Sunday morning. As usual, I was too lazy to get up from bed. The smell of morning lilies and the lovely little birds did not allow me to open my eyes. The weather was extremely pleasant. In the midst of all the goodness, there was a disturbance. It was my phone. I cursed myself for not keeping in the silent mode. My dream was scampered. I immediately jumped from the bed in the mood of taking my mobile.

I said, "Hello, Good Morning". She replied saying, "Hi, can I speak for few minutes?". I wondered and puzzled. She continued, "There is a storytelling competition being planned near a school, next to my house. I thought to enroll my son for the same. If you can send me a story, then my son could practice and showcase for the event". I said, "I can very well do that. I will send the story in Whatsapp and you can ask your son to go over the same". She kept the phone and I continued my chores for that day.

The next day, she called again. This time she asked me whether I could record the story and send to her. Initially, I was not in a mood to accept the deal. I had a set of work which I was supposed to complete that day. So I felt this would be a big burden for me. I was very hesitant to accept the same. Since she was very interested in making that possible, I was also in a mood to jump in for the activity.

The first time I recorded the story, there were many mistakes. I recorded it once again. The mistakes were reduced. Gradually my work has progressed.  I could complete the recording in the fifth attempt. Finally, I shouted and said, "Hurray". I sent the voice recording of the story to her.

After hearing the story, she said a very positive feedback and a bunch of heartfelt thanks. Listening to her words kept my energy boosted. So I thought to circulate the same to few of my close friends. They replied with a lot of positive feedback and that led to the movement of sending audio stories through Whatsapp. Glad to hear from many friends that they use this as their children's bedtime stories. 

Sometimes in life, we need an external push to do something which exists in our caliber. We may not be aware of our innate strength. It is very hard to accept that energizing factor with a confused mind. If we stand out from our regular thoughts and practices and analyze the  brighter good we will have clarity. So next time, when something pushes you beyond your limit, believe that you are heading towards another best.

Positive Ripples

   It was a wonderful Sunday morning. I was gearing up for my storytelling session in Anna Centenary Library near Kotturpuram. There were many children along with their parents eagerly waiting to listen to the stories.

We started our session on time. The stories were narrated in a timely manner and ended on time. The stories carried a message to keep trying until success.

After the session was over, there were two children who stood up and wanted to speak. First, it was amazing to see children willing to speak. I listened to the first child. She said, "Aunty, I was trying to make an Origami craft. Initially, it was very hard. I kept trying and finished it good".

The second boy stood up and spoke, "I did some project in chemistry, it was very tough in the beginning. I thought I will not be able to complete. But I tried hard, then I succeeded".

Another tiny little boy said, "It's hard for me to wake up in the morning. I think I will try next time". 

It was an extraordinary morning to hear those tiny voices speak above their level of maturity. Stories are a great way to help them visualize the positivity and I am happy that I was the instrument that day. It's great to see that the idea of spreading positive ripples through stories have started to begin. Let it rise and create more ripples and make the world a little more beautiful every day.