Starting Early!

I still remember as a 8 year old kid, I used to go along with my Dadaji to market to shop for bread and vegetables. After a couple of years, my Dadaji gave me an incentive of earning Rs.2/- daily if I bought the stuff independently going to the market each evening. I was proud to earn my Rs.2/- daily and used to keep them in a small piggy bank. This was my first lesson in life. Lesson in taking initiative, working independently, earning by effort and most importantly savings and money management.

There were frequent power cuts in those days and during summers it used to get really hot sitting in candle light inside my home. After few days of saving money, one evening when there was a power cut, I took money out of my piggy bank and bought ice creams for my family. Everyone was smiling :). I was proud. This was my first lesson in creating value. The value was happiness :)

Over a period of time, I have developed money management skills and applied them in the organizations that I created along with my partners. When I look back, those Rs.2/- lessons are one of the biggest lessons I have learned in life.

Discover Life's EDEP(Entrepreneurship Development Program) is an initiative at Starting Early.

The Entrepreneurs of tomorrow are in schools today :)

- Chaitanya Jha

To know more about Discover Life visit : www.discoverlife.co.in

Be your own Jamvant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im4Zz-shBac&feature=PlayList&p=1D0B599C262A725A&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=31

Watching the above video, my mind got filled with so many memories of watching Ramayan in my childhood days. The above video is describing a particular scene:

The search party lead by Jamvant, the strong and bravest person of the bear race, reached on the seashore. Jamvant encouraged Hanuman Ji to give the Jump on to Lanka. Hanuman Ji, when being encouraged as such, filled with the lost powers, which were snatched from him, when he was a child, by the curse of a Rishi (SAINT), but he was also booned by the same RISHI, that he would get all the lost powers, when he would be encouraged by anybody reminding him about his powers. He crossed the vast sea taking a long great jump and met Sita Ji and gave her the message of Shri Ram.

When I think of it, it happens to all of us in life. There are times when we become much smaller and much less important in our own eyes than we actually are. We are afraid to take 'the leap'. Our self confidence takes a beating and we get used to performing much below our own capacity. And all this happens without notice. We get stuck in a cycle of life which is really difficult to get out of.

In all those moments of life, no Jamvant would come to remind us of our powers. Rather we have to be our own Jamvant and remind ourselves of the times we did really well in life. It may be in simple small things. But those are the things that remind us of who we truly are. Thus, time and again in life, we need to stop for a moment and reflect whether we are playing our best game in life.

Be your own Jamvant. You get this life only once. Take the big leap.Discover Life.

(Smart Indian Value System is a program by Discover Life which is an effort to bring back the Strong Indian values and make it relevant for children of today)

To know more about Discover Life visit : www.discoverlife.co.in

Try selling a bottle of vomit! Our kids can do it :)

This Tuesday, we had a session on creative thought process with our students at our Rohini center. It was mix of learning and a lot of fun. In one of the session activities, we divided students in two groups and each group had to give the other group a product that was impossible to sell in real world. Thus one group gave the product 'a bottle of vomit' to the other group. After a brief brainstorming of about 5 minutes the other group presented the product in the following manner.

'We are from xyz company and we are here to sell a special drink. Its a fresh natural juice. 100% human. It comes in 4 flavors: Mohak flavor, Sajal Flavor, Arun Flavor, Rajat Flavor (each pointing to self while saying this)'. Then one of the students goes behind another hits him from behind and the other student acts like throwing up in a glass. They called it 'live demonstration' of their product.

They did all this in just 5 minutes of brainstorming. These were kids of classes 7 to 10th.

We were surprised by their spontaneity and creativity with which they tried selling us a 'bottle of vomit'.

Any advertising agencies listening? We have a lot of talent with us :)

To know more about Discover Life visit : www.discoverlife.co.in

Our student at Rohini Center shares his experience :)

A few months back my life was awful. But then one day I joined this course parichay and it has enormously affected my life. Firstly I used to think that I am a common man as everyone is, I have nothing special in me but it has helped me find out the hidden diamond in myself. I have started liking and respecting myself. It has changed the way I think. I now take things positively. Earlier I used to think that its really hard to get into the IIT ‘s and its just the few brainy people or extraordinary minds that are able to make out there but now I know everything depends on what is your goal and how hard are you working to achieve it. We all have to face failures in our lives in one or the other way but it is only few people who get up again and fight back. We have got one life and we have to make the best out of it so why give up. That’s what Parichay has taught me. Failures are like hurdles in the race to success so its better learn from them. One of the biggest problems in our societies is that we people do not accept changes. And it‘s really important to accept them because everything is changing nothing is constant in our lives. A change in ones life can change his destiny. And the best thing I learned is the topic of Wish list. Its sounds a bit unbelievable but it happens. It’s a fact that writing the things you want, increases its possibility to happen by 70%. And the last thing I would like to share is the fear of speaking in front of the audience. All I can write to summarize this is:-

“Do what you want, Say what you want

Becoz those who mind don’t matter

And those who matter won’t mind”

(Mohak Gupta is a class 10 student at Ryan International School and is currently a participant of Discover Life's center based program called 'Parichay' at Rohini Center)

To know more about Discover Life visit : www.discoverlife.co.in

Race for Superhuman?

It makes for an amazing story. Everyone is shocked and amazed at how Sahal Kaushik at age 14 become the IIT entrance topper from Delhi region. Calling him a child prodigy, everyone is amazed at his abilities and the way he has been brought up getting educated at home rather than going to school.

I was watching his interview on TV and rather than marveling at his achievements, i felt sad looking at the poor kid. He could barely speak when asked questions. His mom decided to be the key spokesperson for him. The child showed no emotions when being told that he had topped IIT Delhi rankings. There was a little smile on his face but just a little. Maybe his mom taught him mental calculations but the child failed to learn to smile. The kid hardly had any friends of his age. Watching the interview further, the mentor of the child at his coaching academy Naraina said that he was disappointed at Sahal's 33 All India Rank!! With a heavy power specs on, poor Sahal looked like a mini computer rather than a 14 year old kid.

This makes my mind wonder.

Is it beginning of a race of creating superhuman? Would it have made a difference if Sahal had been IIT topper at age 18 rather than 14? Aren't social skills of any value? Will kids pressurized to become super achievers ever get to live their childhood? Isn't playing in mud water with childhood friends a greater memory and gift for life than cracking an academic examination?

It good to be ambitious, it keeps the world progressing. But is it worth the cost of killing somebody's childhood? Will be keep burdening the shoulders of our youth with expectation till they break down? Will one Sahal's achievement lead to pressure on many other young kids to an extent that many of them gain suicidal tendencies? It makes me wonder..

(The opinions expressed are personal viewpoints of author Chaitanya Jha)

To know more about Discover Life visit : www.discoverlife.co.in

Education Revolution is in Motion

Babysitting has it's joys. I've been around my 5 and 7 year old niece and nephew lately. It's interesting to see how children learn how to socially interact and associate cultural inferences to what they learn in classrooms and from peers. The important topic of the 'kind of education' comes to mind when evaluating well-roundedness and social intelligence.

Being brought up in both India and the States has brought to my attention the significance of academic versus social intelligence. There is a thorough and distinct difference that exists in ways how children are exposed to new ideas and topics. Granted it is next to impossible to beat years of solid academic foundation, but it is also crucial to note that a well-rounded and multifaceted training technique has its perks and advantages than to just having a sound academic background.

Because the academic base in Western school systems is weak, there are plenty of third party services available to weaker students for help with basic schoolwork and comprehension (i.e. Kumon, Sylvan) . The American education system, however, does an excellent job in providing students the opportunity to excel at sports, music, school government, hobby and social clubs, etc. which in turn leads to creating more opportunities for pupils to grow socially and pursue passionate arenas for expertise.

The Indian school of thought is a little reverse in this aspect. No doubt that the Eastern culture focuses more on the mathematics and sciences, sometimes mixed with rote learning techniques, but in turn the overall populace is much more sound in solid academic principles. However, students lose out on social and passion driven activities that eventually lead to more rounded individuals overall.

With the reverse of the American case in play, third party institutions that provide such skills within the Indian education system are the pillars needed to fill this gap for young students. One such institution is Discover Life based in New Delhi. Working with private as well as public schools, they seek to provide the training and skill set that can be of great asset to youth in today's highly competitive and fast paced industries.

The answer to a perfect education is a complex one and requires restructuring and reprioritizing on several levels of the education sector, but perhaps the first step towards acheiving this ultimate goal is to address the weakest links of the system. A confident and goal-oriented group of young individuals have the power to focus their energy and interest given the right direction through an organized learning experience like Discover Life.

The extra effort that will be required to fulfill the program successfully will in turn be an asset to the participants involved and pave the path for a well prioritized and real world applicable education system in the future.

Having been lucky to experience both, I truly believe that these types of goal-driven and leadership programs are the answer to India's intelligent yet confused student base. Do you get it? A revolution is in motion.

About The Author:

Nidhi Sharma is an active part of team Discover Life.

She is an Electrical Engineer from Michigan, USA and has 3 years of combined corporate experience as Test Engineer for Underwriters Laboratories and a year as National Sales Director for a small company in Chicago. She has corporate experience with General Motors and she has been actively involved in community awareness and social programs within her community at schools and educational centers.

To know more about Discover Life visit : www.discoverlife.co.in

Play Hard or Go Home!!!

I can’t stand it when people apply the least amount of effort to their lives only to cry and complain that nothing ever works out for them. One need to make sure that, whatever you decide to start, you are prepared for a long haul. Nothing comes easy for anyone. If one is not ready to go hard and put in that extra effort, then my advice to him is don’t even bother starting. All you will do is frustrate yourself down the track and blame everyone around you for your failures.

Whatever you set your mind to, whether it is personal or a professional goal, make sure you attempt it with total focus and an understanding that it requires 100% effort.

P.S: If you put all your effort and stay totally focused on your desired goal, your dreams will come true

By Amit Gupta

Change-Maker :-)

To know more about Discover Life visit : www.discoverlife.co.in