Meena Mangalathil:

“Loving without Conditions Caring without Criticism Frolicking with all its Might And that’s my Pet " Honourable judges, respected teachers, loving parents and my dear friends. I’m here to speak a few words about “My Pet” I have a very cute puppy named Tuffy. Small and fluffy, she is a Pomeranian. She is so white and looks at me with black eyes. My pet is my best friend. She wakes me   in the morning, by licking my face and in the evening, waits for me when I come home from school. I play with Tuffy and frolic around for an hour or two, she fetches my fallen pencils and erasers for me and pokes me when I doses off during my study time. She sleeps in my room as my companion, making me feel secure. Tuffy is a well behaved whelp. She barks when strangers come and doesn’t sit on the couch or the cushion. She doesn’t dirty the house and always keep herself clean. My family loves her and takes her to the market and for picnics too. One day Tuffy saw a snake near me, and immediately star

              Now for the best part, what is the technique to reach the said goal? Well I have just a story to tell you which really touched my heart and it would do the same for you too. And I want you to remember it when you are not happy as a person.                One evening a Swamiji of Sri Ramakrishna Mutt was addressing the participants on the concept of work culture. One of the participants asked    the following question to the Swamiji: "I am the headmaster of a very reputed school. I joined this school 25 years ago as an ordinary teacher and over the last 25 years I have gone through every experience in the school and I am now the senior teacher as well as the headmaster with all perks and independence. During the initial part of my career, the job was very challenging and    interesting. Every day was exciting and I looked forward to each day   with    lot of interest. However, all those exciting days are gone since I do   not    find my job any more interesting becaus

This   is a vast subject, with lots of ideas and ideals.   Everybody will have their own opinion on who is a good teacher, because it is impossible to please everybody at the same time. It is very difficult to say what a good teacher is. But as an experienced teacher, I think that the qualities that a teacher should maintain are the abilities to relate to their students on their own level, make learning fun and easy to understand, be nice, so students will listen, make the kids look forward to entering the classroom, and above all.... maintain control. Then we also can say, that a good teacher is someone who can learn from his students, who can learn with them, one who has no bias, open eyes to see and explore life and learning itself. He also must be honest in his relationships with students, and proud enough about his own value to work, from there, on helping his students to build their own self esteem. Now I would like to ask you all a question? Do you have a philosophy as a teacher

            Work, what is it? Is it doing something for a purpose or is it doing something because somebody has forced us to do? Well, there are many definitions which is better to avoid as anyone can define work according to his circumstances. A fortnight back, I had the opportunity to meet some special group of people whom we see only when necessary – the medical staff. My mother (mother-in-law) had a stroke and she was hospitalised for a fortnight. We were at the mercy of the hospital staff, especially the nurses. My mom(biological mother) was a nurse, so usually I had a high esteem for this group, as my mom was a dedicated nurse and her friends too were the best in the field. So I was not unhappy of my mother being hospitalised. My mother was really an old person, aged approximately 85 plus and she was paralysed on the right side. She couldn’t move or talk or eat or defecate on her own. We were new to this situation. So, we (my husband’s family and myself) were literally at the mer

          John, Lisa, Spidey and Antsy bid the three wizards farewell and left them to catch up on their news. Spidey knew that now he and Antsy had to decide what they have to do with their lives. It is not correct to always depend upon John for their livelihood. Seeing Spidey in deep thought Antsy took hold of his hand and squeezed it. Spidey, seeing the serene face of Antsy was relieved. He knew with the presence of Antsy in his life he could face any problems easily. They all reached the parlour.           John and Antsy excused themselves as they were not properly dressed for socialising. Antsy sat near Spidey and enquired, "What is it?" Spidey didn’t voice his problem loudly, but he wanted to hint but Antsy surprised him, “Are you thinking of leaving, Spidey?” Spidey couldn’t believe his ears, but he was relieved. I don’t know, what to do. Do you think its right to always live here depending John and Lisa? Antsy shrugged (lifting both shoulders). “Well to be frank we ar

          Both the human forms just like Spidey and Antsy, except for the dark hair stood at the doorway. Both Spidey and Antsy stood up and all the others followed with wonder and awe (admiration). They couldn’t believe it. But still it was the truth -   a happy truth. Master Troy turned towards Ramo and patted on his shoulder. You have indeed done a great job son. I’m really proud of you. Troy pulled Rufus towards him and embraced him and whispered, “Thanyou son, your duty has been fulfilled.           Lisa couldn’t believe that she was transformed into her old self. She felt like a treasure box. She would never part with it. She would cherish what she has with her life, to become a human being.           John felt his body, his hands, legs, face, eyes. Gone were the Spindley legs and loads of eyes. It was wonderful to have been bestowed as nature’s best of creatures – a human being. He looked around to find Lisa, as beautiful as she was or has she become a bit more beautiful? But he

          He took the two bottles, kept it on the table and turned towards John, “Please do come forward John.” John did as he was told and Ramo joined his hands as in prayer and closed his eyes in front of John and spoke softly but clearly, “I’m really sorry for the curse I had cast upon your forefather which you had to go through for no reason of yours and your wife Lisa’s. I would really like to rectify my mistake. Ramo opened his eyes and looked at all the assembled and at John and Lisa. Everybody felt, it as a genuine apology. John cleared his throat and said, “Ramo, it’s OK. We accept your apology. Everyone do make mistakes, at least you are able to bring us back to our natural forms. But most of the time we won’t be able to correct our mistakes. Everybody nodded.           Ramo asked John to follow him to the adjacent (nearby) room. Rufus extended one of his gowns to Ramo. With the gown and one of the bottles, they both went to the adjacent room and closed the door. Lisa was v