TINKLE - September 2014

في هذا العدد

Hi Friends,I have written to you about trying new things and not being afraid of making mistakes. Practising it, though, is very hard! Recently, I started to learn a life skill, swimming. But as I struggled on, I realized I had not just one or two voices in my head, but a whole orchestra. One irritating voice went, ‘I do not like breathing under water, I am scared of water, I just want to give up’. Another one would pipe up, ‘It’s all in your head. Don’t give up’. Of course a third one would add in, ‘A lot you know! It is raining, the water seems freezing and I do not like gulping down water when I try to breathe’. And so on they would go.Jokes aside, I learnt it is very easy to give up, especially when you are stepping out of your comfort zone. It is very easy to come up with a dozen excuses about why you should not do something. But my coach was bang on with his advice. He said it is about focus and concentration. You ignore the irritating voices that discourage you and try to pull you down, and you practise on concentrating on the one tiny encouraging voice that tells you to forget all else and focus on your breathing. I won’t say I love swimming but I stuck on and did learn to swim (okay, just barely ) but it was much better than just giving up and thinking, ‘I am not up to this challenge’. The feeling of conquering my fears and learning to swim even in the shallow end of the pool was unbeatable. There is a very special joy when you have managed to climb your own personal hill Moving on, I hope you remember that September is the month, and 17th the date on which we celebrate our beloved Uncle Pai’s birthday. Our founder and our guiding light, Anant Pai was the pioneer of comics in India. Here is a salute from all of us to you, Uncle Pai  This month is special also because we celebrate Teacher’s Day. So, take this chance on September 5 to let your teacher know through words, art or deeds what a difference s/he makes to your life.