Kindness , as a definition can be defined as the act of being kind  marked by charitable behaviour, pleasantness, tenderness and concern for others.

In today’s times when every individual is running for something or the other and has no time to think about himself also then concept of kindness is loosing its impact. We have become robots who are programmed to just think about their goals and achievements and dreams. Whole day passes off  with activities related to individuals aspirations. Hats off to those people who can manage to take out time to carry out activities nurturing kindness, love, affection around.

There are so many ways through which you can show kindness to others. Small small activities if carried out in our mundane  days  can lead to precious moments of life filled with happiness and joy. In fact researches show that kindness can also make us happier. People who perform such activities like holding door open for a stranger, doing a friend’s dishes at her place, helping oldies to carry out their baggage’s have higher level of happiness. It makes no difference whether you are helping a loved one or a stranger but a small anonymous act might make you feel like a very good person.

Kindness also helps in keeping yourself  healthy.Helpful people are less likely to fall ill from chronic diseases and tended to have better immune system. Kindness also helps in regulating emotions which has a very positive impact on our health. There is this person named Villaveces who lives in Sydney with his family. He started doing act of kindness after getting inspired by someone who despite of living a very difficult life was able to maintain his generosity. Villaveces started a concept of giving out a card with each act of kindness and it asks the recipient to pass out the good deed to other person.  Visit  his website www.pifaustralia.org  to track the progress of the cards. Very interesting attempt I must say and that too for a virtue, this makes it a nobel concept which needs more volunteers.

In the series of noble attempts there is must read book and must watch movie called ‘Pay it Forward’ where a troubled school boy decided to start repaying every good deed done to him by performing three good deeds to others. Being a mother we can teach kids about this noble virtue and help them in building empathy by encouraging them to understand how others might be feeling.

Let’s start training ourselves to be kinder and then it can be our  attitude that you carry with you always which can create difference in other’s life.

Charu Mehrotra

Promoting Excellence in Women!

Friends are for always and that goes for women too!

We need friends to laugh with, to dance with, with whom we can get that support which we cannot get from our families. Friendship is very important for our emotional health and particularly friendship with our female friends. We need girlfriends for our coffee breaks, for a night out, morning walks or even when we take our children to park.

The whole day passes out and we are acting like mothers, wifes, employees, daughter-in-law, only friends are there who care about our opinions and feelings. They also enhance how we feel about ourselves.
Sometimes we are so caught up in daily chores that our girlfriends are the only person who reaches down to us and let us slow down. They can share our experience, listen to our stories, tell us jokes,

It does not minimize our other relations but we need different relations for different reasons.
Our female friends are those with whom we find our precious moments to reprieve with. We can let down our hair. We can let down our guard. We can be selfish. We can crack jokes. We can be ourselves and relax.
Friends are really precious to us so always take care of your friends!

Social responsibility is an ethical theory that every individual has some duties towards the development of the society at large!

Society progresses when growth happens evenly for all sections. It’s not necessary that every section of the society progresses together. As responsible human beings we should contribute towards the progress of the underprivileged section of the society. In order to continue with the concept in coming generations, it is very necessary that children should know about the concept at very early age so that they can carry out their responsibility very well when they grow up.
There are various ways through which social responsibility can be taught. First of all, we have to become role model ourselves, so in order to teach our kids first practice what you want them to do. Become a member of a social organization. Start doing volunteer work and help the needy as and when required. In this way, parents make valuable contributions to both societies and to their children’s own personal well-being.
Local food drives, in which various organizations collect foods  which are distributed to families in need, are an excellent opportunity for parents to introduce children to concepts of social responsibility. Even young children are able to understand what it is to not have food. Humanizing the issue makes it less abstract and easier for children to empathize with those in need.
Social responsibility of respecting each other and working together in a group is also an important lesson in life for children. They should be having the understanding to learn and respect the ideas of others in their classroom and work together happily with any group.
There are numerous ways and acts which we can carry out in our daily life to motivate our children to be socially responsible. We as a human are socially responsible for our environment, our surroundings, and our society, so work together for the pleasant progress of everybody!

In present times it is very important to teach kids about managing money. These tips can help you to play your role in guiding kids to manage money-

• Ask your child to keep records of money saved, invested, or spent. To make it easy you can use 12 envelopes, 1 for each month, and encourage your child to place receipts from all purchases in the envelopes and keep note of what they do with their money. 
• Spending money can be fun and very productive spending is well-planned. Explain to your child how to check for value, quality, reparability, warranty, and other consumer concern. Spending smartly at the grocery store like using coupon shopping sales, comparing unit prices, can help in saving lots of money. 
• Teach your child about the importance of budgeting. 
• Explain to your child about the importance of credit cards and how it works. It is important that he understands the concept that it’s a way to borrow money and unless you return it back next month it will be very expensive to use. Credit card must be used in a disciplined way. 
• Let your child take the spending decision. He should be encouraged to do some research work before purchasing anything and waiting for the right time to buy.

To look slim and gorgeous is every woman’s dream!

There are several ways through which you can dress up for a slimmer look. While searching for such ways I came across these interesting one which I want to share with my readers-

1. Avoid wide and broad belts if you have a large waist. If you have nice legs, go in for a knee length skirt with a basic shirt to bring more attention to the legs.
2. For the top-heavy women, always avoid clingy fabrics on the top area. Dark colours will be the better choice for you. You can go in for thin materials like cotton or cotton jersey. The one way to look slim would definitely be the use of one-colour dressing
3. Avoid shiny fabrics in loud colours. These reflect light and thus will make you appear larger.
4. Choose garments with vertical lines. This is one of the great ways to look slim. The use of vertical lines also elongates and slims down the body by adding height to it. Horizontal lines add width to the body, so avoid these in any form.
5. To give thin looks to your arm wear skinny or slim bangles and bracelet styled watch.

Charu Mehrotra
Promoting Excellence in Women!

• For many families, talking about money is taboo. The adults make it, the kids ask for it, end of story. Yet financial experts agree that understanding cash, credit, and consumerism is possible, and important, for building a sense of financial responsibility in children. Womenlines will share various ways in future how we can develop money sense in our children.
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  Take an active role in providing them with information. Observation and repetition are two important ways children learn.
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  Communicate with children as they grow old about your values concerning money how to save it, how to make it grow, and most importantly, how to spend it wisely.
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  It is very important to help children learn the differences between needs, wants, and wishes. This will prepare them for making good spending decisions in the future.
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  Setting goals are fundamental to learning the value of money and saving. Nearly every toy or other item children ask their parents to buy them can become the object of a goal-setting session. Such goal-setting helps children learn to become responsible for themselves.
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  Introduce children to the value of saving versus spending. Explain and demonstrate the concept of earning interest income on savings.
• Consider paying interest on money for children to save at home; children can help calculate the interest and see how fast money accumulates through the power of compound interest. Later on, they also will realize that the quickest way to a good credit rating is a history of regular, successful savings. Some parents even offer to match what children save on their own. (contd)

The most common bad habits of kids that parents want to tackle are: (i) Nose picking, (ii) Biting nails, (iii) Thumb sucking, (iv) Hair twirling

1.No Stick Approach: All kids love freebies, and to them, freebies are like hidden booty. Now, freebies can be in the form of presents or rewards or whatever you want. So, tell your child that if he doesn’t do such-and-such-a-thing he will be rewarded. Two things here – you have to be consistent with your rewards, and you have to reward them with meaningful things. If you reward them with chocolates or Pizzas, then you are only spoiling them. Books, stickers, sugar-free candy and a trip out to the movies are examples of good rewards. Okay, along with the reward, do not forget to heap praises on the child – praising him will positively motivate him to try harder!

2.Be Calm:When your kid gets into his bad habit groove, you have to calmly, yet clearly firmly, tell him what could go wrong if he keeps going on at it. Explain to him how his behavior will have an impact on his physical appearance and could also damage his psyche if his friends make him the butt of their jokes. Also, inform him that his bad habit annoys you. Remember once again: do not be harsh.

3.Form a Partnership: Another neat method of breaking bad habits is to involve your child in the breaking process. Make him your “partner in crime” as you break into his bad habits and destroy them. You can start this off by asking your child about his bad habit and whether he has faced any embarrassing moments because of them. Then, let him know that from now on both of you will be partners in making sure that the bad habit is finished off. This involvement will give the child a feeling of adventure and will motivate him to get rid of his bad habits – plus, he will learn to contribute ideas and learn what brainstorming is all about!

4.Patience and Perseverance: Kids are born flexible, but they can become very stubborn when they want to. Sometimes, all your motivation and firmness and rewards will bite the dust as your child refuses to back off from his bad habits. In situations such as these, patience and perseverance is the key. So, don’t give up or turn impatient. Also, do not try to break all his bad habits in one go – keep going and keep trying, and one day the results will show.

Try to involve your child in some hobby in order to kill the monotony of his routine. Many kids develop bad habits because they have nothing else to do. So, if you clue your child on to an interesting hobby, not only will he get rid of his bad habits, he will end up learning a useful thing or two!

The act of preparing food is known as cooking and every female is related to this activity throughout her life! 

Cooking can happen with choice or without choice. Some ladies have a passion for cooking and they love trying out new recipes, doing experiments with different types of cuisines, and creating out new recipes with various experiments.

I don’t want to expand about food and cooking habits, and healthy food or cooking but I want to share about the sacred aspect of food which we are forgetting in this rush of life.  In today’s hectic pace of life, food has become just source of strength and intake has become a rush in activity as we all are always in the crunch of time. We never realize activity which should be given required time and should be taken as the most important activity of the day is the most ignored one!

Recently I met Mr. Suresh Krishnan, manager for Annalakshmi restaurant in Singapore and had an enlightening discussion with him about the sacred nature of food which we always take for granted. Annalakshmi, as most of us know, is an expression of India’s great cultural heritage which brings together the knowledge of taste, flavors, nutrition, and health in a wholesome manner for the benefit of diners. The uniqueness of the restaurant lies in the way it works. Almost all Annalakshmi outlets world overruns on this concept of “Eat as you want, Give as you Feel”. Have your meal first, and pay whatever comes to your mind.

Mr. Suresh Krishna shared that “Any food or drink prepared lovingly, selflessly is delicious and nourishing, not because of its recipe and rich ingredients, but because a self-less heart was at work. There was an absence of ego-principle acting and expecting something in return. Perhaps, that is why we sometimes compliment our hosts for a “homely meal”, just like mother’s cooking.”

When there is harmony, selflessness, joy and cheer in the kitchen devoid of anger, hatred, and worries, the food thus prepared and served as the power of reaching the very depths and nourishing the entire being, rather than superficial satiation of body hunger. Such food makes our body—light, mind-calm, and intelligence—dynamic.

Eating is a sacred ritual, every day in everybody’s life as the prayer goes — “thank you for today’s bread”. Human intelligence is helpless the moment food is pushed down into the gullet. Some other higher intelligence takes over the digestive and other processes nourishing the trillions of cells in our body. In fact, after the primary cooking in the external fire, a secondary level cooking takes place inside our stomach with “digestive fire—Jataragni” of acids and enzymes.

It was really thought-provoking discussion as I realized how sacred is the whole process of food preparation and food intake. If we really follow our ancient philosophies and way of living then there will be less prevalence of diseases around us.So friends lets pledge to give importance to food in our life, let’s follow the right way of preparation, right time of food intake, and the right type of food intake as our body allows. After all, health is wealth!

Charu Mehrotra

Promoting Excellence in Women!

A very happy women’s day to all my readers!

Let’s celebrate womanhood with pride and joy and pledge for excellence and abundance in whatever field we are- be it family, job, business or anything they are passionately pursuing.

Ninety-nine years ago, International women’s day was founded to honour the accomplishments of women and to press for equality between men and women. All these years later, there is still so much to do. But things are changing.

The whole world celebrates women’s day in their own style, but I will like to share how women in Rwanda are going to celebrate. Women in both Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo face incredibly high rates of rape and other violent assault.  

On March 8, hundreds of Congolese and Rwandan women will unite on a bridge to demand an end to the violence that has caused 5.4 million deaths and hundreds of thousands of rapes. They will tie together banners of fabric on which they’ve painted their visions for a peaceful future.

To honor and support their resilience, Women for Women International is hosting a global campaign – Join me on the Bridge – which will replicate that meeting at bridges in different cities all around the world in a show of global solidarity. Already supporting the Congolese and Rwandan women in their call for war’s end will be thousands of women from Bosnia, Kosovo, Sudan, the UK and the US.

NEW YORK

In New York City, they are rallying people to the Brooklyn Bridge at noon on Monday, March 8. Sponsors such as Kate Spade New York, Marie Claire and the ONE campaign are also joining them. Project Runway’s Tim Gunn will be in attendance. Self-organized bridge events will also be taking place in other cities, towns, and schools nationwide. They will walk as a large but united group across the bridge and then gather so that you can add your own messages of peace to our peace banner. Along with other bridge events happening around the world on the same day, this event will be filmed and featured in a viral video to be produced and widely released following the campaign.

INDIA

 Habitat for Humanity in India is celebrating the strength of women worldwide. Women who are part of the microlending group facilitated by BIRDS, (Brothers Integrated Rural Development Society), will be meeting with over 100 volunteers from different countries to kick off International Women’s Day. The volunteers will help build homes for the families of these women through Habitat for Humanity International’s Women Build programme.

AUSTRALIA

On this International Women’s Day, thousands of women (and men!) worldwide will gather on bridges from San Francisco to Congo to call for an end to war and to demonstrate that women can build the bridges of peace and hope. 

They hope many will join them at Swinging Bridge on March 8th at 7 PM as they participate in this global campaign led by Women for Women International.

This shows unity in diversity! After all, we are women who can get united for the same cause at any time. Let’s be part of this campaign in some way and contribute our wishes to make it a successful campaign!

Charu Mehrotra

Promoting Excellence in Women!

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How to get your child to eat vegetables and healthy food! That has always been challenging

While searching for guidance around I gathered some tips which I want to share with my friends-

1. Praise healthy choices.- Give your children a proud smile and tell them how smart they are when they choose healthy foods.

2. Don’t label foods as “good” or “bad.”Instead, tie foods to the things your child cares about, such as sports or appearance. Let your child know that calcium in dairy products give strength to their sports performance. Discuss the nutritional value of the food by relating to the benefits they will get.’

3. Give the kids some control– Ask your children to take three bites of all the foods on their plate and give it a grade, such as A, B, C, D, or F. When healthy foods – especially certain vegetables — get high marks, serve them more often. Offer the items your children don’t like less frequently. This lets your children participate in decision making.

4. Sit down to family dinners at night. If this isn’t a tradition in your home, it should be. Research shows that children who eat dinners at the table with their parents have better nutrition and are less likely to get in serious trouble as teenagers. Start with one night a week, and then work up to three or four, to gradually build the habit.

5.  Keep healthy food at hand. Children will eat what’s readily available. Keep fruit in a bowl on the counter, not buried in the crisper section of your fridge. And have an apple for your own snack. Remember, your child can only choose foods that you stock in the house.

Charu Mehrotra

Promoting Excellence in Women!