My Expressions

Children’s Day Message – Lalitha Chandrasekaran, Ramana Vidyalaya, Chennai

Each child is special. Their uniqueness lies, as much as in their skills and talents, as in their questions, imaginations and sense of wonder. Some children may be good in sports, some in arts, some in science or some in business. Some are orators, others dreamers, some loud and expressive, some shy and conservative. But each child has something special to offer to this world. So, we strongly believe that ‘Every Child is Special’.

The UN celebrates World Children’s Day on 20 November while in India, Children’s Day is celebrated on 14 November. This date is the birth anniversary of India’s First Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru who believed that children are the real strength and foundation of a nation. We at Curious Times too believe that the holistic development of children is the first step in building a better world and we strive every day to do just that. We are also in constant engagement with the education community – students, teachers and educators. It is our cherished goal to make a meaningful contribution to the community by working and interacting with leaders in the field.

And so, this Children’s Day, Lalitha Chandrasekaran, shares a special message. She is an eminent educator and the Director Principal of Ramana Vidyalaya, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

In your inspiring journey as an educator what different types of experiences have you had with children that make you believe every child is special? In my 20+ years as an Educator working actively in the field, I have seen many students who have struggled to perform as per the expectation of their parents and teachers. But as adults, irrespective of the scores they had in their final exams, each one of them has reached great heights and is leading a happy and successful life in their chosen fields.

In every class of 40 students, I have come across students who had different capabilities and who needed different approaches at different times. As an educator, I had to use different strategies to bring the best out of each one of them. This reinforces my belief that every child is unique and special and everyone has a right to be respected.

For example, I had a student who had health issues and had learning difficulties was supported by the concessions granted by the CBSE for the Board Examination. That student is doing research in Digital Marketing now and is in the final year of the PhD program. This was possible only because the parents and the teachers believed in the child. There was another student who was very passionate about dancing who turned out to be a very confident individual as soon as an opportunity was given to perform on the stage and started to exhibit leadership qualities. All these examples have eventually helped to strengthen my belief that “every child is special”. The only action that matters as an educator is to keep unflinching confidence in every kid that he/she is going to reach heights and they will.

At times it happens that children end up teaching something valuable to adults. Please share any such experience that you have had. As you ask me this, I recall a very interesting yet profound experience that I had some years back. Once as the Head of the school, I told the students that they should maintain silence while coming down from the classes to the assembly and during the assembly. One student responded to the instruction immediately with the question – “ Is this rule only for the students or for the teachers as well? ”

That was an absolute eye-opener for me and I realized that as a leader whatever I want my students to do should first be done by all the teachers with whom the students come in contact. The rules are not meant for only students/kids. Rules of School need to be abided by all members of the school, irrespective of the nature of their presence in the school premises.

On the occasion of Children’s Day, share your message with your and your children on the Curious Times platform. I truly believe that Childhood is the happiest stage of everyone’s life and one should enjoy it to the maximum belief that you are special and you are an achiever! Your childhood is precious and filled with new learnings every day. I hope you get to create opportunities to enable learning and fruition of all your wishes and aspirations during this wonderful time! Before I like to close, I remember a small story that I want to share with you, young readers and leaders.

Here it goes –
“There was once a small village. Once, as a part of a contest in the village, people were challenged to climb up a long pole smeared with oil from top to bottom. This appeared to be a very tricky challenge as the pole was extremely slippery due to the oil and every time someone tried to climb up the pole, they fell down. Clearly, the fall was more than the mount! To add to it, the onlookers were also continuously shouting. Instead of cheering the participants, they were demotivating the participants. The audience kept insisting that it was absolutely impossible for anyone to climb to the top.

One by one, the contestants started giving up and accepted their failure. But, one person was still striving hard and enthusiastically continued the efforts to climb the pole and the crowd kept cheering up for him. At last, the task was completed and everyone was surprised that how he could reach the top while all others could not. When asked, the ones who gave up said that they heard the crowd constantly saying that climbing up the slippery pole is an impossible task and they also felt the same while the one who reached the top was unable to hear anything as he was deaf and believed that the task could be completed and he continued to climb up with confidence.”

This is a great lesson in life. Believe in yourself and keep moving forward. Turn deaf to those who discourage you. You CAN and you WILL. Happy Children’s day.

Many Thanks to Lalitha Chandrasekaran for sharing her thoughts on Curious Times.

Wishing Happy Children’s Day to all the students of Ramana Vidyalaya, Chennai.

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