India (1) The idea to go

I still remember the chat with my mum where I asked her if her passport was updated.

"Why? Are you taking me somewhere?" she replied.

"Yes. India!" I said - almost half jokingly.

India has always been one of my dream destinations and I always imagined I would travel with my mum. However, there never seemed to be the perfect opportunity to go.

My aunt and uncle had just been and came back raving about it. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to finally make the decision and go for it! Anyway, we really seized the moment and ignored warnings of either extreme heat or that of monsoons. I figured, there will always be something...

I have to give all credit for the planning and preparation to my mother, who liaised with our reliable and kind tour operator, Shamsher, of Holiday Dream. Always ever so polite and friendly, it was an absolute pleasure working with him. He was extremely patient with us as we chopped and changed our itinerary and were very specific about the caliber of accommodation were were looking for. 

Since I'm in the TEFL field (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) I thought that I would visit a few language colleges in India. The folks at Holiday Dream were so nice in helping me out with this. Instead of me having to contact individual schools, they took the initiative and mailed them on my behalf.

To think - this entire trip was planned between Amritsar (Punjab), East London and Cape Town (South Africa). Mostly via e-mail and Whatsapp! Prompt replies & professional conduct must be acknowledged for the team at Holiday Dream.

Before I knew it, our tickets were booked and passports were sent off for our visa.

We planned on doing the Golden Triangle tour with the inclusion of a visit to the Ganges River in Haridwar and then a day spent in Rishikesh.

The adventure begins

Good morning

I'm en route to the airport now and I feel like I'm sleeping with my eyes open.

Will be meeting my mum in Johannesburg and then we will take our international flight to....

*drumroll*

MUMBAI, INDIA :)

I woke up with a sore throat and a feeling of fragility. Honestly? Can't wait to just hug my mum in a few hours.

Forgotten...

I haven't written something like this for a while...

The world walks by
and here I lie
Hard.
Hollow.
Lifeless.
Forgotten.
Looking ahead
The sun dips
into the ocean.
And I tell myself,
Tomorrow will be better!

28/05/2014 @ 20:05
(Pic credit: Yahya)

Success. Sacrifice. Solitude.

I eventually willed myself to get up, shower and drag my aching body to the store downstairs.

I've been running a slight fever since last night and my body aches from the intense coughing. This morning I got ready for work at snail pace. What was I thinking? I could barely hold my head up.

As if they knew, my colleagues sent me strict instructions to get back into bed and not go to work. I stubbornly gave in. My body needed to rest and I finally listened to it.

I can't count how many times I've been ill over the last few years while living on my own. For those who have no idea what this is like, take my word: It's awful...

When one is down, we're most vulnerable. We regress to being a child and many of us don't mind being pampered. Even if it's someone bringing you a glass of orange juice or passing you a tissue, we long for a caring hand.

Granted it IS my choice to live alone.

For me, this means that my family lives over 1000kms away.

I liken my story to that of my students. Almost all of them have left their home countries and families and made South Africa their (temporary) home.

Why?
For a better future. It's as simple (or complicated?) as that.

To achieve one thing, you have to be willing to give up something. This is how "sacrifice" can be defined.

I'm no different, really. I have laid out my provisional life map and every now and then I reflect, plot and plan. We all have secret ambitions. Mine is no real secret. I want to excel in the field I'm in. I want to be a known and respected figure in the TEFL community - far and wide.

When I moved back to South Africa after three years in South Korea, it wasn't a very difficult decision about what the next chapter of my life would entail. Whether I would pursue a career in Journalism or TEFL, I knew I'd have to leave my parents nest. Either way, I was venturing out into the "grown up" world once again.

There are many moments where I question my choices. Why on earth am I depriving myself of familial care? I could very easily be in the comfort of my parents home right now. And I'm pretty sure that if I was under my parents roof right now, I'd be chatting to my mum in the kitchen over a steaming cup of tea. Instead, I'm in bed. With my electric blanket. Just a lamp on. Background noise of the TV.

I long for many things. Like you, I also have wants and needs. But at the end of the end of the day, I'm pursuing MY dream. I have daily validation that I'm on the right path. I got at least a dozen calls and messages from my colleagues and students today. Some noticed that my car wasn't in its usual parking spot, others noted my absence. For this, I am grateful and feel blessed by the love and concern.

So when you find yourself doubting your motives, especially about sacrificing...take a moment to reflect on what you're sacrificing for?

Sometimes, the road to success tends to be slightly lonely...

The art of Listening.

Yesterday I found myself on the other side of being disrespected.

Let us first ask ourselves, "What is respect?"

My own explanation: "The act of making another person feel worthy, by means of acknowledging or giving him/her undivided attention."

In my opinion, the most precious gift we can give another person is respect. How? By listening to them. I mean REALLY listening to them.

In both situations, the other person seemed to switch off when I started speaking. Inadvertently, he/she was telling me, "You're not important & I have better things to do than to listen to you."

Mind you, this may not be the other person's intention and they probably WERE listening to me. But by brushing me off, it left me feeling rather small.

Later on, I was reminded of my uncle's words, "We are here to learn from others - from their strengths and also their weaknesses and be a better human being."

My line of work is people-centered. By no means am I perfect, but these little reminders of how to treat each other are of the utmost importance.

Listen to your fellow brethren & respect will follow.

Thankful Thursday Thoughts

Feeling intense gratitude (and a bit emotional) after reading a farewell message from a student.

My Thankful Thursday Thoughts:

Like I say to my students, "Before you're a student, you're a person" , before I'm a teacher, I'm human too!

I sometimes forget this. During the day, I wear many caps & often find myself fluttering about about - without a minute to waste.

My students' success & happiness is my priority. Why? Because I know the sacrifices they made to be here, the nerves of steel they have to endure for exams & so much more.

Sometimes I feel helpless & wish for extra time, extra eyes, extra ears, extra arms...so I can make miracles happen for my students - like getting acceptance at university or a hospital they wish to work at.

But I can't perform miracles ;)

I give my all to what I do & am immensely grateful for the opportunity to work with / for beautiful people.

I wish I can thank each person individually here, who today, touched my heart & lifted my spirits.

Thank you.
Thank you for your trust, respect & love.
This is from my heart to yours.

Killing time IS a criminal offense!

An early morning chat with former student-turned-friend in Turkey got me thinking about time and being busy. While at 06:00 in South Africa, I was getting ready for my morning walk, Emre was getting ready for work. "We are busy for nothing," he said. I guess he meant, we're always busy...but for what purpose exactly? 

I've been reading 168 Hours which has really gotten me thinking about how it is that we got to be so busy. Time is something we seem to have very little of these days and having "free / leisurely" time is considered a luxury. All too often we are busy being busy, but are we being productive? We are all guilty of making excuses to get out of something, saying that we "don't have time."

I work from 07:30 to 17:00 (roughly). Apart from work, what is important to me? Simply - exercise, reading and writing. To ensure that I do these things within 24 of my day, I sacrifice about an hour and a half of sleep, ensuring that I've exercised before going to work. If possible, I dedicate a few minutes to reading and writing. That's right. My wake-up alarm is at 04:00. I am by no means, perfect and I also have my "off" days!

However, once I'm at work, my day is dominated by time. Each minute is precious and I can't afford to sit idly doing something that is of no benefit to myself or my goals in life and work.

To maximize my time, I have identified what kind of "energy vampires" and "time thieves" [courtesy Robin Sharma for these terms!] secretly "steal" my seconds from me. A few months ago, it was the addictive game, Candy Crush and (wait for it!) Facebook. To avoid this "problem", I deleted both apps from my phone. Don't get me wrong, I still log on to Facebook (two or three times a day) but I'm strict with the amount of time I spent trolling through my news feed. Time reading gossip could easily be spent making that overdue catch up call to my mum, dad or brother. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that as much as we either wish we had more time or we wish time away, the truth remains that no one (no one!) is granted any extra time. Each and every week, we are allocated 168 hours. 24 per day. How, where and with whom we spend it is our prerogative, but we should be wise enough to use it to its capacity. Once it's gone, that's it!