CauseAChatter
Small Balcony garden ideas No One Told you!
Most moms blogging journey starts with “when I had a baby”. I started similarly, but by then, my baby was almost two years old. I actually find more relation with my gardening activities and writing life ,than with anything else.
Staring at green plants is my second favorite habit.It’s also good for my eyes . The health effect of gardening is a favorite research topic.This found it’s way into my book on Gardening ,Writing,Walking -the three musketeers who help me.
Traveling to any of my aunts or uncles homes as a child meant, I could watch trees and people. All of which made me ask my mother innumerable questions and my nonstop chatters. When my mother refused to give a satisfactory answer(instead, she grew tired), I started making up stories about those trees and people.
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Plants and nature have a way of bringing out the writer in us. Or maybe it was the solitude of bringing up a tiny human in a new town. Having few people to talk to daily socially (not professionally) meant I had more brain space for making up my own stories. Work was overpowering physically, but mentally I needed a hobby, which gave me a challenge. I am a big fan of brain challenges, where I have to go out of my comfort zone to learn something, make something preferably ending in profitable results.
But gardening I do just for fun. So today I will share a few small Balcony ideas to get you started.
1)Microgren or sprout garden:start in a cup.
2)Only ornamental plants like purple hearts,aloevera,Areca palm ,Chinese banyan.All are easy to grow.
3 .Easy flower balcony garden:Bougainvillea, roses,all year.Chrysanthemums ,petunia,pansy in winters.
4.Small vegetable garden ,spinach ,red amaranth,lettuce,pumpkin greens,mustard greens
5.Get any plant which is suitable for your locality.Take care of that plant.Then buy another.Start slow.
That last part makes the explanations easier and so much more worth it. Time, after all, is limited and can not be stretched. We already tried that.
But I digress.
Through the environment talks of Cause a chatter, I will talk about gardening as a reason for joy, mental health, and productivity. But environment and nature as a whole are crucial for human survival.
Remember, we are a part of nature. Anything which you do to harm nature affects you to. Directly or indirectly.
I will tell you about my journey with gardening on my balcony, windowsill and experiment with growing greens, microgreens, fruits, vegetables, and flowers. How I almost bought a mango garden and then wrote my second Krishna Mishra mystery about it. I will tell you about the India-made version of a portable system of growing food at home anywhere in India. This one will take some time though, the product is still in beta????
I will share my balcony seasons of how we plan to transform my husband’s childhood home and garden why I am a fan of growing a forest.
Human beings and all things nature are part of each other.
We cannot talk about preservation without talking about pollution and population.
Why it’s important we talk about our home environment and Mother Earth as a whole:
We cannot create if we can’t save. We cannot complain if we don’t do our part to make things better. It starts with you and me. We can make a difference.
I am a forest nymph who became a Doctor-writer. So when I tell you nature heals, you know I have felt it. There’s nothing more potent than your dose of daily green, both outside and inside. If I talk about nature and the environment, you know, you will get all the right details.
You can start now, with what you have wherever you are.
While I write my next post on the topic, I thought of sharing my reason for starting this journey.I am also sharing a few of my previous posts from my Home, garden, and environment.
Man-made a mistake, forgetting he was part of nature.
Cutting down an arm to make space for a leg makes little sense. There have to be better ways, that are what I plan to find out.
A writer and gardener for seven years now and a practicing doctor for thirteen. I know I am happier because of my environment.
Health, after all, is multidimensional. I remember that in all my decisions.
My posts about balcony gardening
Growing vegetables in your Balcony garden
About environmental pollution
My Balcony Garden Video playlist
This post is part of Blogchatter’s CauseAChatter’ and link it back to our website (https://www.
theblogchatter.com/causeachatter
Sharing is good Karma!
Elearning experience of Ashvini a mother (Podcast) in COVID times
Ashvini is a content writer, ghost writer, blogger & recipe curator.
She’s a former corporate trainer with over 6 years of experience in software training. A mother to an effervescent 7 year old daughter, she’s also a fitness enthusiast & an avid follower of politics. Ashvini believes in the power of sustainability & minimalism while inspiring others to adopt a more healthy & simple lifestyle.
I have known her for some time through her work online.Being an educated mommy she shares very holistic ideas about the kind of education she wants for her daughter.Listen to the podcast.
How do you choose online resources for your children?
In my opinion, you can assess your child’s aptitude for a certain subject basis the kind of inclination he/she shows towards it in a given phase of time. Children are innately intuitive of their interests & they’re just like sponges when it comes to learning something they’ve been longing to, irrespective of the medium they’re picking it from. Now that we’re pulling off a completely indoor-based life due to the pandemic and the indispensable dependence on virtual classes by the school, I honestly feel, the share of e-learning material they are dealing with, is sufficient.
When you want to help the child extrapolate his/her knowledge to a much wider spectrum about something, there’s enough free material that’s available on the Internet.
For instance, we can even find Walter Lewin’s lectures on Astrophysics from the MIT, on YouTube.
All it takes is just a bit of time-investment and guidance from us.
What are your must have resources for parents?
The most important resources for parents, according to me, would be a stable Internet connection besides having a gadget (either a laptop/smartphone) that can be reserved for the child’s learning for a stipulated period of daily hours.
More so, the most ideal thing to do here, is to calibrate the gadget in such a way that the screen time doesn’t take a toll on their eyesight or moods. Also, if possible, try to re-invent the space into a mini-workstation. Allocate a certain corner/room for the child to sit in, that’s immune to any distraction or noise from the rest of the house.
What are the problems you faced during 2020 and elearning?
As a parent of a 7 year old, I strongly felt the challenging atmosphere that my daughter had to quickly adapt to. Particularly when kids of this age heavily depend & thrive on the personal connect with the surrounding elements of their school. It became pretty difficult in making her comprehend the little choice we are left with due to the pandemic situation.
Since her full-fledged virtual classes followed after a month of starting her academic curriculum via offline material from her teachers, she had reasonable time to make peace with the slowly changing medium that would probably stay for this year. The most difficult aspect here was replacing her share of co-curricular activities with the kind we would make her engage with now, and the physical absence of her play dates, weekend trips to fun places and schoolmates.
That can affect a child’s learning motivation beyond imagination, especially in kids younger than 8 or 9. Hence, as parents, it’s essential that we take some time out of our schedule to either play with them and have random yet meaningful conversations with them. Free-play is actually a pleasant collateral of this homestay now that children usually develop their own games & take to DIY stuff on their own or learning online.
Do mention a few courses or apps online your children use?
Since I like to keep it optimal to avoid any kind of overwhelm, I prefer to let my daughter learn about trivial topics from YouTube (since I sit along with her then).
Besides that, I have been happy about using the Freedom app for her since the past 1.5 years, which is an app that aims at helping young kids sharpen their reading & spelling capabilities and vocabulary while providing them with the best of content. At the cost of sounding old-school, I would always like to emphasize that I prefer more of paper-back books than their e-versions for my kid. I buy books that would intrigue her. Also, I like using free online sources for her like w3schools & SoloLearn.
What do you feel about excessive propaganda advertising when it comes to learning platforms?
Do you think the value of such platforms match the money spent?
I totally condemn the aggressive marketing campaigns that certain learning platforms have adopted in the wake of the pandemic. Unfortunately, from the feedback of my acquaintances, I can fairly deduce that none of them lives up to the tall claims they tout as their USP.
Sadly, there’s a large part of the parents’ population which has fallen for them assuming that it would be a judicious investment for their children’s learning. Statistically, most of the non-technical guardians find it challenging to evaluate the claims of such e-learning firms. Frankly speaking, their advertising strategies seem no less than the systematic frauds we’ve been aware of lately.
For instance, there have been a lot of e-learning organisations that have forayed into teaching coding to students belonging to a large spectrum of age. As careful investors, it would always be recommended that parents/guardians first research if the said courses/material are available for free on the Internet. And then take a call.
From a really personal perspective, otherwise, I would any day prefer looking up to stuff that can be availed from trusted learning programs of Unacademy, Udemy etc.
For a little older children, learning coding the old-school way is actually more fun!
One can always explore app-building & source codes through places like GitHub.
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What about online gaming advertising aimed at kids?Your opinion?Do share your tips for keeping kids safe online?
Now, most of us know that businesses are into digital marketing majorly through retargeting ads on various platforms, which procure a lot of our info through our signed in accounts & surfing behaviour. Hence, it’s first important that irrespective of the age of your children, you should explain to them about how advertising works at aggressively chasing the target audience.
Educate them about Internet crimes to the likes of phishing, hacking & impersonation.
Most of the popular online games come with age-restrictions of 16+ or 18+. And regardless of that, they’re evidently addictive too.
Also comes the malice of forced ads that can be designed to manipulate really young kids into badgering their parents to buy an upgrade to an online game, or even stand the chance to be exposed to adult content.
While some cyber patrolling applications are available today, it’s first important that we, as parents, explain all of this to our kids about consuming relevant content online. Establishing a free-way to communicate doubts and transparency is more advisable than coming across as a spy sometime later.
Moreover, NEVER decline to listening to your child’s description of any online game that he/she has played, disposing it off with statements like, “I’m sorry, but I just don’t understand what the game is all about. Anyway, good if you’re liking it.”
This is a part of #CauseAchatter an initiative by Blogchatter.
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Square pegs and Round holes: Elearning Problems
Do you like free size dresses?Do you like the idea of one size fits all shoes?
Would you want custom options for your child’s education?
If you answer no,no, and yes,then you are exactly like me.An advertising magnet for all things expensive .Online education has just reached a new level of crazy .Edutech companies are falling over themselves trying to run to the bank first.Their advertising budgets are limitless. It’s a billion dollar business, having no ethical responsibility and misrepresentation seems to be the only rule.
Are you tired of those ads?You know the ones I am talking about ,right ?Atleast if you are reading this in India ,you will.
The brand advertising’s are boring,unsubtle and reeks of manipulation,low authority and insincerity. Shocking considering the clout used and money they are spending.
In India we are trying to go digital with educational resources. The problem is it’s a big country with a very big population.
The resources of Mother Earth are limited.So are the resources of the Government. Since free is unsustainable, the quality suffers.
The lower economic strata have limited options and I am clueless about how the super rich decide.What I do know is what a parent like me thinks.
You are a typical parent if you are constantly worrying about the possibility of your child missing out due to COVID.Your peers have thousand and one online options lined up as study/extracurricular /Genius level activities.
You will spend all your hard earned money to give your kids that extra chance to shine.
Then comes the targeted advertising everywhere. They use random celebrities who have never used their educational qualifications to earn a living promoting all sorts of stuff,guaranteed to make your child a certified genius.
Trying to fit a square pegs in a round hole ,again and again!Using your aspirations.Use it,manipulate it ,make money from selling dreams.
The question about education being about learning gets lost in the wind.
So how are we coping?
I fell for one of the platforms.But luckily sense returned mid way.Read about it here.
We are now teaching her school curriculum and as much fun stuff we can find in extra curricular books,free online resources.
Since schools are online,no other screen time other than school and a twenty minute fun cartoon watch with me.The biggest benefit of this is the little one is reading more.She is reading her story books and revising them too.That’s the cute part.She also finished the entire Famous Five series and is constantly talking about Timmy the dog.
We draw together every day.
We have nature walks in our balcony garden.
I tell her about history and we explore the globe.
We do yoga,play tennis (a version of ot),walk on the treadmill,have storytelling sessions too.
All this happens without stress .I choose to believe that wellbeing is crucial.
What do I want my daughter to be ?
I want her to be healthy, happy to learn and create.I can take care of that now,rest we can do later.As for those advertising , I always switch channels.
What do you think about advertising misrepresentation? Have you ever fallen for them? Let me know in the comments below.
Google Camp 2020 read all about it here.
About square pegs and Round holes
This post is also part of my CauseAchatter initiative with Blogchatter to spread the cause of quality Digital education. Equal opportunity for a better world.
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Remembering Vidyasagar and eLearning
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a famous Bengali scholar, humanitarian, social reformer, and teacher. He was born on 26th September 1820.
Today on Creating cornerstone content I had to write about evergreen content. Stories are evergreen and stories about inspiring men and women more so. Today I will tell you about “Vidyasagar“.A man without whom, women in India may have never started on the road to literacy.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar: Inspiring generations
His story is told to children far and wide in India. Growing up he struggled to get educated. Despite many hardships he stuck to it.He had started studying in the small village school of Birsingha where he was born to Mother Bhagavati Devi and father Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay. At the age of eight, he traveled to Kolkata with his father to study. He was very studious and intelligent.
There is a popular story that he used to sit studying under a street lamp, because come evening the light at his home was too feeble to read in. He came first on completion of his studies at Sanskrit college and was given the title of Vidyasagar meaning an ocean of knowledge.
Vidyasagar believed in the power of education and tried his best to promote the cause of female education. He wrote the book Barnaparichay,to teach the Bengali letters to those who wanted to learn.
His famous books include Barnoparichay, Bodhoday, Kathamala,Shakuntala Sitar banobas etc.
He established the Metropolitan Institution which is now known as the Vidyasagar College. He started several Girls school in the small villages and started a charitable hospital. He also started his own publishing press to promote the power of education. He was also a vocal supporter of widow remarriage and social upliftment of women in Hindu society.
The reason I am telling you all this is simple. He was a man who believed in the power of education. That words have power. He believed education could lift the girl child out of poverty and pain.
When you remember him, you remember how hard he worked to get educated. You remember that all over the world equal opportunity and the right to education are still not a reality.
You also remember that COVID 19 did one good thing. It pushed the cause of eLearning faster than you, me or anyone had ever imagined and for that I am grateful.(But companies like Byjus showed us what shouldn’t be done.)
Every cloud has a silver lining and eLearning the right way can open gates of opportunities like nothing else can. Access to teachers, courses, and books from across the seven seas. With access to the internet, anyone can access them. But even here you need to choose to learn. Because that’s something no one can gift you, teach you, or donate. You alone can.
What are you going to choose?
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Lessons from failure
Do you learn from failure?
Is failure common?If failure is a teacher ,why does it incite such fear?
Is failure relative? Is it a mindset? Can you change your perspective and never fail?
I will start with a story.
I have failed,in small and big ways.Is this my story.Could be .But the lessons are some,which I have learned too.
Once upon a time a girl from a state in India completed her postgraduate from another state in India.
The choice of the Government college depended on the rank she had (which was good) and her choice(she wanted to earn a higher stipend).
After getting her degree the financial hardships were significantly better.
She decided to come back to her state and work.Being a doctor she didn’t expect a problem. There’s always a healthcare personnel crisis right?
Wrong.
Being a female surgeon who left for education in another state, stacked the stakes against her in mysterious ways.Maybe it was all in her mind.Women you know,they find conspiracy theories everywhere!
She went on to a Government job and did well.But she never forgot the experience. The questions about her family planning activities during job hunts and the extraordinary lack of empathy amongst many.
That was a failure on her part.
A failure to understand human nature,demand-supply issues and the unique challenges females face.
The lessons Failure taught her.
1)Embrace challenges: That’s going to be a super power.
2)Learn to pivot with grace.
3)If life gives you lemons ,make lemonade or use them to play tennis.It’s your choice.Ability to choose is crucial.Choice is not possible in positions of subjugation.
4)Know what brings you peace of mind,do more of that.
5)Find out what disturbs you-Stay away from it or them.
6)Find people in your life who will support you no matter what.Keep them close.Human treasures are precious.
7)Work hard towards your life goals.Temporary setbacks are just that.Temporary.
8)There are no shortcuts to success .Ignore those who say there is.
9)Saving money is the first step to get out of debt.Making more money is the next one.
10)If you don’t like the answers to your questions,search some more.Better yet ask new questions.
11)If you think slow is bad,remember the tortoise.
12)The most money you will save is, from money saved from not requiring medical care.So take care of your health and your wealth will improve.
13)Being free from debt is the most liberating feeling.
14)Take care of yourself ,then taking care of loved one’s is easier.You must refill before giving.
15.Education is the best gift you can give yourself.Teach another person and you just made the world a better place.One person at a time.
Failures are not just stepping stones to success.They are crucial lessons to give you the edge.That’s important to succeed.
(The story is probably a work of fiction .Any resemblance to characters living or dead is purely coincidental)
