Why being a scientist can broaden your views

As a researcher, one learns to value data and not go by face value. A small dataset may give great results. However, it may not be easy to reproduce those results on slightly larger dataset, say 1.5 times the size. And if the dataset is huge, maybe 100 times the original one, why, the original results would be quite pointless. How then can we generalise characteristics of people based on religion, region, caste or gender? In our limited lives, a human would only come across a limited set of people, a very small subset of the populace. And even within that, there would be contraints. In data, especially image processing and vision dataset, a solution is expected to work for specific costraints. Yet in real life, we expect an entire community to behaive similarly. We judge individuals based on our experience  with other individuals of similar community be it region, religion, caste or some other social category.

In research, if a solution works for lab conditions, it may not work at a real field. If it works in a field in India, it may not work at Austria. It is not expected to. A daytime solution is not expected to work at nighttime. Yet when it comes to individuals, we generalise. We forget the contraints that people live under. What is easy for one individual may be a struggle for another. What is a negative in one may work as a positive for another living in different conditions.

The poor one shouldn't be the assumed thief. A given community may be not full of misers. A given religion may not be all about violence. Women need not be the weaker sex. The man need not always be a hero or a villain. The illiterate need not be less intelligent. The hungry beggar isn't a nuisance.  The quite one need not always be proud. The jolly one can also sometimes be serious. And finally, the small children are not as unknowing as they may seem.

There is no common man. There are only special individuals, each uniquely created with a very precious life of their own. Each has an entire, little world of their own. Humans are not data points to draw patterns and make conclusions.

A New India

Recently our office held a poetry writing session /competition for Independence Day....well in addition to dressing up in tricolor! Finally a workplace which encourages writing, even creative writing! Well, what a great way to celebrate Independence Day! All were encouraged to write and a selected few were asked to read out their creations. What a great session! And what a wonderful way to make you think about your country.
Here's my entry as selected to be read for the same. Just some thoughts woven together to rhyme but mostly just a raw form. But it felt good to reflect and polish the writing cells a bit.

A new India

A new India has emerged recently in our society
Full of technology and all things IT
The largest number of social media users has it drawn
With malls, MNCs, supermarkets, daycares and metros is it adorned
A greener India, a cleaner India
A happier India it seems to be
But a freer India do my eyes still seek

Where the old and gold remains the same
Taking along values of our forefathers
Of strong family systems
Respecting elders,
We march towards a peaceful India with yoga, prayers and meditation
Practising unity in diversity
We strive for equal rights for all without any deviation

Towards a healthier and happier India we strive
Where technology reaches the poor India
Distance learning at villages becomes a reality
A digital India with vegetable vendors having paytm and bank accounts
A decrease in corruption as pressure for transparency mounts
And a decrease in social tabboos at all counts

A free India
Where all biases obliviate
And everyone can just be
Women can walk, wear, work in a manner completely free
Where religion is practised in private
And nationalism in public
Where students study in colleges
And educated adults go to politics

And seniors citizens retire and can relax and smile
While the youngsters for social wellfare go that extra mile
Where there’s always someone to wipe the tears of a hungry child
To aid the helpless and needy gain employment and prosperity
So the entire populace has a basic dignity
And all join hands in whenever there's a calamity

This is it

This is it
This is real life not high school
No awkwardness required
Noone's waiting to call you a fool

You can be free
You can be "me"
You can smile n shine
You can call someone "fiiine"
It's not a landmine
It's real life
Be it yours or mine

Midyear Reading list

It's nice to record the reading list of the year. It gives insight to the overall mood of the year. And it's nice to know the new books read over tge year. Each year comprises some new books and old books, some new adventures and comfort from some old ones. So here it is , the list from the first half:

1. Enid Blyton: Malory Towers and St. Claires ( junior series) ....new books in your favourite, well they just can't be missed. And yes, I still love Enid Blyton books! They take you right back to childood. Of course now I have the added advantage of sharing them with my kid!

2. Robin Cook: Chromosome
3. Robin Cook: Crisis
4. Robin Cook: Marker
5. Robin Cook: Coma
( all rereads except Crisis. Nice and thrilling and good use of medical terminology. Makes you think where technology will take us.

6. Lindsey Kelk: What a girl wants...Don't recall but couldn't have been bad

7. Danielle Steel: The Apartment...a great feel-good book. Danielle Steele never fails to inspire.

8. Mitch Album: The Time Keeper ....eead another Mitch Album after a long time but it has all the magic to captivate you and a strong message

9. J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter: The cursed child....not upto the mark...would have been good as a book maybe but screenplay missed out too much of what this reader wanted to know. Or maybe we can just not get enough of Harry Potter.

10. Chetan Bhagat: One Indian Girl...tolerable...worth one read. Chetan Bhagat wrote two great books and then there were others....

11. Zoe Sugg: Girl Online ( part 1)....loved it....perfect for travelling...light, fun and humorous ..reading teenage books makes one feel light, fresh and young

12. Sophie Kinsella: Shopaholic to the rescue....long wait for this one....it was OK....could have been better

13. Agatha Christie: Miss marples final cases: Good like all Agatha Christies

14. Sabrina the teenage witch: it's a miserable life....reads like a comic

15. James Dashner: Infinity Ring: A mutiny in time....very absorbing after the first few pages....waiting to complete the series....the bad part: they leave ypu hanging for more!

16.M&B: Medical Romance: A family Christmas....can't remember so couldn't have been great or very bad

17. Lauren Weisberger: Devil wears Prada: Not as great as hyped....I have read better books woth similar theme. The author makes a light theme dark for no reason.

18. Danielle Steel: Wings....reread but again worth it

19. Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile: Good.

20. Carolyn Keene: Nancy Drew: sisters in crime...new book...was fun!

21. Carolyn Keene: Nancy Drew: Smile n Say murder ( and the next 2 after it)....good timepass

22. Ann Martin: Babysitters Club: seaside, seacity, Abby's Twin....perfect summer break fun!

23. Anne Digby: Summer term at Trebizon ...cotinuation of summer break

24. Cecilia Ahern: Perfect...a good concept but I like tge first part "Flawed" more. This was mostly running and struggle instead of that concept.

25. Lindsey Kelk:  I heart Paris:
26. Lindsey Kelk: I heart London:...This is a great new series. Light, fun yet with its own charm and  works well for travellers also. I read first one "I heart Vegas" when I was in Vegas and absolutely loved. It captured the essence of the city completely. The same with London, I understood the city better and wana go there.  The Paris one could have better in terms of description of Paris.

27. Melussa Nathan... The waitress: ....not bad but won't be reading more books of same author.  The book drag on too long with little to give.

28. The Martian:....there are some books after which it is tough to find another book to read because onlly rare ones match its level. This was one of those.

29. Roald Dahl: The Magic Finger....makes me want to read Roald Dalh again....can't wait to read it to my child!

30 Enid Blyton: Wishing Chair and the Faraway Tree...ohhh its fun to be in the world of fairies, pixies,  gnomes, treats and all that is magic!

Old is gold

A new friendship is like new book which one is eager and curious about. This is true even for mediocre ones. The new experience is still fun in the first reading. However the real gems are the time tested ones. The ones we go back to and want to read again and again and on each reading we feel comforted and gain a new understanding.

Interesting places visited in Mumbai

As promised here's the list of places visited in Mumbai. I didn't even get a complete year so it's less than 50 but then there are some others to see later someday:

1.Atriya Mall...Barbeque Nation...the best eventhough the mall is not worthy.
2. Phoenix Mall.. lower parel....
3. Marine Drive...the best way to explore is a walk from choupatty through the entire marine drive
4. Choupatty
5. Dadar beach
6. Dadar market....you will get everything there!
7.Cinemax Goregaon
8. Oberoi Mall goregaon
9. Shivaji Park
10. Viviana Mall, Thane
11. Mannat
12. Hanging Gardens
13. IIT Bombay....perfect like all IITs
14. Bandra beach
15. Mahim area...there is a unique charm in living across the railway track....large coconut trees all around and the train going along its way parallely...a great place for walks
16. Our Lady of Salvation Church/ Portuguese Church...Dadar
17. Matheran...ok not part of Mumbai but is a very charming place
18. Worli sea-link....a great structure...very beautiful and enthralling....visible from many places
19. 5 gardens....a good childrens park....there several clustered together
20. Siddhivinayak Temple
21. Bandra Marathon....a walk from Bandra Fort across Bandstand through to Linking Road
22. Shopping at Linking Road....a must!
23. Phoenix Mall kurla...Snow world...a lot like some of Delhi's bigger malls.
24. Bandra Barbeque Nation
25. Got to Work near bandstand....had the entire view of sea for many days. I had SRK as my neighbour (even if for workplace!)
26.  Ferry Ride from Gateway of India....saw the bluemoon :)
27. Gateway of India
28. Carter road....famous for Sachin's bat and house to many film stars
29. Elephanta caves...a little disappointing but the Ferry ride is worth it
30. Sewri jetty
31. Alibaug....the most common beach getaway for Mumvaikars.
32.Drive through Aarey area....the hills of Mumbai. Such a marvellous city to have both sea and mountains.
33. Juhu beach
34. Khar area...worth attending some fete or social event there
35. Naturals ice cream....ok so not a place but no Mumbai visit is complete without this....out of the world ice cream....you will forget all others  like Gelato when you try Gajjar halwa ice cream!

Some other places worth visiting

Mount mary church
Flora fountain
Prince of wales museum
Marve beach
Bandra worli sea link at night
Jain Temple
Iskon Temple
Walk of stars
Taraporewala museum
Film city Goregaon
Sahara hotel
Rajesh Khanna park
Joggers park bandra

When did 2017 fly by?

It's been a long time. Again. This time I didn't even realise it. It was when I opened the link for a share that I realised that 2017 has seen no blog so far. And here I had plans to keep have incremental posts each year again. I had plans to write more this year. Today I mentioned that I blogged only to realise I hadn't for over 8 months. But that's what's special about this space. I can come back as and when there is a possibility OR an overriding desire.

It's been a year of changes. Strife followed by peace. I came back to Delhi. So now it's time for the "Top 50 places of Mumbai" as promised. Also a time for comparison between the two places, my way.  Well I may be biased...and not towards Delhi maybe. That Mumbai time was like a slice of heaven. A life away from so much, a lot of struggle, but was such fun, such absolute freedom. It was like playing house! Only with a real child! We learnt a lot. We played a lot.  We created our first "home". And for the first time, I had no desire to go out. Just being home on hols was also great fun. I lived for weekends and evenings and that was despite liking my work! I found my peace. There was joy, laughter, dancing, play and peace. And then I came back. And found my calling. Or at least what seems like the perfect job for me. Where all pieces just fit together in so many ways. It's a  rare combination I know.  Instead of a wait, it's seems like an arrival. A happy place. Rest time will tell.

When I didn't Facebook my perfect weekend

I love social media as much as the next person does. I like browsing through articles and checking updates among friends. I comment and like appropriately. I even Facebook all major events with pics and words and also some fun events. It's fun. It's also a good way keeping record. It's nice to see "memories" through the new "on this day". So  a while ago when I had a great, picture-worthy weekend, I was about to upload pics. But I stopped.  I remembered how I would record the moments in my memory instead. I recorded how I felt that day and what made the day "fun" rather what we wore and how we looked.  And I remember it better than many other facebook weekends. 

It's fun to take pics and upload and share them but some memories precious without that process also. That sunset, the wonder and feel of the wind, the smell of sea will not be there in your photos or video but if you capture it in your mind, you will be taken back to that moment many more times.  The same is true for the taste of that lovely looking meal.  Some moments just need to be lived and that's enough to record them.

PG Express: It's worth the wait

Hi! The time has come. The time which I strived for so long. The time which every PhD student dreams of. The near end of this journey. When work is complete  from my side and it has actually been approved. All those years of work, passion, tears and frustration and a wait...a wait so long ...all have finally been validated. It's all worth it if it finally works out. The better it works the more it's worth it. It matters how satisfied the people associated with your work are.

The beginning of the end started last year. A hattric of acceptances and a great presentation. There was a research plan in the first year where I was told "You done a good job. Do us proud". From there we came to a full circle when the same person felt that I had done good and sufficient work. There are people of words and people of few words. The latter give out certain gems that one cherishes forever.

It's one thing to complete the work of your PhD and quite another to complete your dreams regarding your work. I was lucky enough to belong to the latter category. There came a time when I had crossed out all the  ideas which I had wanted to try at the beginning of my research. Of course some worked and some didn't but it gave a great satisfaction to be able to try all. There came another time when there were more goals: a certain category of publications, a certain number of "good" (or reasonably good)  publications, being able to present at a certain kind of conference. I was able to wind up my work with those goals achieved.

Next came another beautiful phase...the writing. Writing your thesis, completing the story which started years ago, it's a unique kind exhilaration. To create that first index and then subsequently add all the little analysis that you thought of. I remembering celebrating that first index. Then to create whole chapters. And finally to create your masterpiece...a dream that probably  starts the day you first look at any thesis: the Acknowledgement.  I spent a few days on my favourite masterpiece to make sure it was perfect and it included all the people who had been part of the journey in some way or the other. Dreaming up lines of acknowledgement had been one of my favourite procrastinations. Writing the thesis is a happy albeit stressful time. It's worth giving a little extra time because this is where you summarise all the work that you did throughout the years. For a while I loved writing my 1-2 pages a day and let myself absorb the feeling of writing my thesis . Later of course I paced up. Later it also became stressful, painful and tiring beyond exhaustion. The sleepless nights turned to sleepless months. Till there came a time when I was ready to let go.

After a period of lull, starts a agony of the wait and the questions and the second guessing. How will someone who has never seen you work find it?  When will  they respond? Will they ever respond? (this starts after a few months of wait). Then if you are lucky, comes a glorious day with the most beautiful words ever :approved! To see the confidence an external shares in your work, to see the pride amongst the people who have seen you work, made you work and sometimes even pushed you to work and know that finally all those years paid off, well there's no better feeling. It gives a validation to every thing you experienced throughout the years, through the jubilation and the tears, through the work and the wait, the ideas and the completion, the panic and the mini-celebrations.

It's all worth the wait.

Dear Zindagi

Time to try something new! In this post, I am writing a letter to life for the #DearZindagi activity at BlogAdda

Here's the Zindagi  video teaser

Dear Zindagi

Hi! It’s been a while hasn’t  it, since I last sat down and reflected with you? Well I have been busy with you as you well know…busy living the life. The older we grow, the more hectic you seem to get and ironically the less time we have for you. We rush to clear school, college, get married, have kids and then wish for them to hurry and grow up. It’s as if we are in a rush to get to some finishing line without realizing that it IS the finishing line. It reminds of Polyanna when she asks  “ where is the time to live?’

‘Oh, of course I’d be BREATHING all the time I was doing those things, Aunt Polly, but I wouldn’t be living. You breathe all the time you’re asleep, but you aren’t living. I mean living—doing the things you want to do….. Just breathing isn’t living!’

So what I want to thank you for is all the living I got to do while being alive. The small joys you offered: reading the Sunday times with my favourite cup of tea, playing with children, meaningful conversations, writing to my heart’s content and sometimes just a beautiful view.  It’s just that which I am going to focus on now instead of waiting for some ideal moment. Those are rare. Most are just small pearls of joy threaded together to form the necklace of life.

I wish I had known this as a teen when every small test, every small gathering appeared so scary.  The times when 80% marks seemed bad, when a slight ridicule seemed like the end of the world and when friends were limited to a particular circle and thus luck!  I wish I had known then that it was just one perspective which you were showing me. Later I would understand true friendship, value good companionship and gain the courage to rise above failures or just bid my time through a bad phase. Later I would understand how little other people’s opinion would actually matter if one is content from within. Every roadblock seemed mountainous until somewhere along the way I started enjoying your company, life. The basics pieces of life fell in place and I realised the rest are all just speedbreakers. 

Good company of close ones, peace at home, work that you enjoy and occasionally something new to look forward to…isn’t that all that we really need along this journey? Being lucky enough to have these basic ingredients for happiness, I say thank you zindagi. 

A new kind of love: work can be bliss

One reads many articles about "not having to work a day" if you love your work, if you find the "right" job. However, years of research can numb the senses. For a while I wondered how can one even know what the "right" job is if you spend some 25 years of your life being a student? The withdrawl symptoms may be too strong for you to actually like the idea of getting up for a 9-5 kind of job, much less actually sitting down that long for the actual task given to you.  Then I realised its like falling in love. It just happens and then there are signs that show it is "right". One sureshot sign: you know you love your job when working at your currently assigned task gives you a greater high than beating your highscore in your currently favourite mobile/pc game does!

Living in the moment

It's a good time this after-submission phase. It's "live in the moment" time for me. I get assigned tasks for one-two days. I like completing steps one at a time without going into the bigger picture and scary deadlines for a while. I enjoy the learning it involves.

I enjoy the entire process of cooking: right from picking ingredients, planning a dish and the actual process.  It may not always turn out great but its fun. And even more fun to cook in partnership :)

I enjoy the gym and yoga classes as per convenience and choice. I enjoy the freedom of time...free evenings, weekends....no burdens!

Time for family. Time for tv. Time for reading. Time for "me".

Out in the open

The modern day office environment is taking us away from all that is natural. The ac is generally kept so high that all people keep some form of winter-wear. Why then the "so cold acs"? There should be fans. There should a "natural corner" where people can sit in the open and work with fresh air, sunlight and wind. Maybe even flowers.  If not a completely open space then at least there should be big windows which should be kept open some of the times. People should be encouraged to have a little fresh air every few hours. Every office offers snacks. Here green teas, fresh fruits and juices should be kept as snacks at least in addition to the regular ones for those in pursuit of a good health.

If we are more alive then only can we more productive.

Bucket lists

There's a trend these days to make lists and cross out items. Well writing gets you into that habit anyway so I have doing that much before it became the "IN" thing. It's good as a reminder to do stuff you may forget and sometimes just for the fun of it. Lists a good for planning the big stuff  but they can't define life.  Life is much more than that.

Life is mostly made up of those so called  "not so good for you moments". Lazing on a weekend. Binge watching your favourite serial episodes with family and then ordering Chinese. Then there are those so called trivial moments: tea with friends, taking your kid out to play, cooking a simple meal that tastes like home, fresh clothes on a monday morning or just having someone to hold hands. Sometimes it's random moments: a great novel, a beautiful view while walking, when your kid does something new. These moments vary for everyone. They can't be bucket-listed.

Live: Things to do after submitting thesis

NOW is the time to live. Now is the time to:

Play the casio again....try
Blog
Complete that book
Cook
Learn to bake
Watch lots of movies
Visit lots of places
Lots of beaches
Simple days of family time
Simple days of family TV
Play with child. Read together.
Dance
Do Yoga again
Start leading a more organised life
Learn the intricacies of running a home
Paint my nails!
Nurture self: self manicures, pedicures, head massages

Transition and the wait

I know PG Express requires another post and that will come eventually but for now there is this one about the transition into the next phase.

Ever since I have started the new phase, there is this waiting that never ends. Waiting for lunch time. Waiting for end of day. Waiting for weekends. PhD though long but it never had such waiting times. There was a constant life with control. You worked when you wanted to and additionally when you had to. Recreation happened during self-created "breaks". Now you work for fixed hours, fixed pay. And at least initially its just about getting through those hours. Surviving another day of partial boredom. Sometimes you study, sometimes you work, sometimes you socialise a little  and sometimes you just wait and survive the cold AC. Maybe they pay you for surviving that cold. I know that's a cynical approach but that is the initial work phase. The learning phase. Sometimes there are flashes of self-satisfaction of a work well done. Some flashes of finally getting that thing working. But there is a general aimlessness.  There is no higher purpose as yet except completing each day.

There is a smile on my face on leaving here that used to be there on arriving there ( during PhD). I think that explains the difference of the two lives in nutshell. But it's more complex. There is that satisfaction of completing a work-day. But also the joy of life at your own little home ...away from the world.  Doing as you please. Your own time with no guilt for watching TV when you could have worked. Work already got over for the day. Weekends are completely your own. Again no guilt about "not working". 

So that smile signifies freedom. Freedom which wasn't there earlier at any point of time. Yet it comes at a price of aimlessness at least so far. That comes due to transition. This is a period of rest for the mind. With time  new goals will be created and with a new vigor I will be driven in their direction. But for now I revel in each day. For now I pause and live in the moment...while I wait.

The diverse and fun places in Delhi

Hi!

Recently we shifted from Delhi to Mumbai for a few years. Soon afterwards I made a pact with myself to "visit at least 50 prominent places in Mumbai" while here. That and the homesickness for Delhi made me interested in forming the list such places that I visited in Delhi at some or other point of my life. So in no particular order, here's the list:

1. Qutub Minar
2. Humanyun's tomb
3. Lodhi Garden
4. Nehru Stadium
5. Nehru Planetarium
6. Appu Ghar
7. Zoo
8. Old Fort
9. Mughal Gardens (also Rashtrapati Bhavan)
10. Lotus Temple
11. Hanuman Mandir
12. India Gate
13. Hauz Khas Village...recently discovered this world of its own
14. Lodhi Road Market
15. CP
16. Jantar Mantar
17. Sarojini Nagar
18. Lajpat Nagar
19. South Ex. Market
20. GK market Mblock
21. Green Park market
22. Rose Garden...a walk from opposite IIT to Green Park is the best way to explore this
23. Karol Bagh
24. Chandni Chowk market....from wedding shopping of all sorts to traditional Indian food...Paranthe wali gali
25. Chawri Bazar
26. Darya Ganz...a great book flea market
27. Select City walk mall saket
28. DLF Pomegranade Mall vasant kunj
29. PVR Priya
30. PVR Saket
31. D malk rohini
32. Rajori Malls
33. Moments Mall karol bagh...worth going for the experience, the food and 5D movie!
34. District Centre Janakpuri....have special memories of this place from B.Tech days but its a nice place for an entire outing also...movie, shopping...esp trinklets, food ....all sorts...
35. Metrowalk ...a nice evening can be spent here by waterside
36. Adventure Island
37. Fun n Food village
38. Japanese Park...great rides for kids also!
39. Kashmere Gate
40. Netaji Subhash Place (NSP)
41. Dwarka Raddisson blu mall
42. Maurya
43. Taj
44. Ashoka
45. Crowne Plaza
46. Leela Palace
47. Radisson Blu
48. Jor Bagh Market
49. Dilli Haat near INA...one of its kind. The other branches don't fo justice to it.
50. Malcha Marg
51. Chanakya Puri and the grand old Chanakya Cinema before the days of multiplexes...
52. Drive down Shantipath
53. IIT Delhi...the next few are for technical buffs but IIT is special. It offers a serenity like none other. Natural beauty in all seasons. Its a great place to have a cuppa and reflect.
54. Kamla Nagar Market near North Campus
55. Trade Fair
56. Book Fair
57. Shanti Niketan near South Campus
58. JNU
59. DIT
60. IBM IRL
61. NSIT
62. DCE
63. IP University...just for technical completeness but the new dwarka campus is nicely made.
64. PM house...had gone for Narayana Muthy's book launch!
65. G3S market rohini....well some places are  just familiar

66. India Habitat Centre.....Art, great food, gaming, rides for children and lots of walking area. And many shows also. 

Here are some places still in the "to be visited" list:

1. Raj Ghat 
2. Akshardham
3. Bangla Saheb
4. Kingdom of dreams ( even if in NCR)
5. Hyatt Regency
6. Khan Market...been too long...before development

7.Model Town

8. Asola
9.Red fort

10. Safdarjungs Fort

11. Tughlaqabad Fort

12. Garden of five senses

13. Dolls Museum

14. Agrasen ki baoli

15. Rail Museum

16. Damadam Lake

17. Birla Mandir (again probably but been too long for a proper memory recollect)

18.Republic Day Parade live

Lucky

I was harried and bleary eyed right in the morning. I hadn't  got much sleep for almost the entire month. I had needed a break since the last 4 months but could not have it for yet another month. There was so much work and yet it didn't seem to get finished to even give me the satisfaction of a work well done. And the social calendar being full  with get-togethers and rituals and the "what nots"  right before my deadline didn't help much either. As I rushed in the department, I tried to smile but couldn't with my heart yelling "somebody help me!",  I saw a person a wheelchair, smiling proudly on operating it himself. Suddenly I realized how lucky I really am. To not need to help for little things of life. To not only have work but also the ability to work. To have loving and supportive family and friends. To have a busy, full life.

Lessons learnt during pregnancy that are for life

1. Eat well. Eat nutritionally.
2. Give in to your cravings some of the times...no matter how odd they are.
3. Exercise is important ....for everyone ...decide what to do based on your stamina.
4. Size doesn't matter. Looking good is more about how you are feeling inside.
5. You don't need to be pregnant to want to make yourself feel good.
6. Pray. Meditate. Whatever gives you peace of mind.
7. Read.
8. Music helps.
9. It feels good when people help. Be one of those helpful ones.
10.Naps are ok.
11. Your health matters. You matter. Take an odd day off when you need it.
12. Be prepared in advance.
13. Expect the unexpected.
14. Smile.
15. Always have something to look forward to.
16. Watch your step. Remember #11.
17. Everyone has a right to be moody sometimes.
18. Drink your milk. An investment for later.
19. Same with the fruits n veggies.
20. This too shall pass. Even labour does.

Poetry

Poetry is meant to be felt, she thought, not to be analysed.
To be read from the heart, not broken down into words.
To be expressed, not explained...
To hide as much as it is to reveal
To be touched gently
Like doves flying by...