Sweet Memories of Home

-



It was a surreal feeling--landing at the Delhi airport after eight months--given that this has been the longest I have been away from Delhi! Even though my Nigerian lifestyle was so completely different from my Indian one, it was surprising how I adjusted back into old routines and habits.
It is a fantastic feeling being on vacation at home, I was treated with royalty and my family fulfilled my every wish for food, shopping and fun! My birthday was a special day--I made all wear Nigerian clothes and my sis made us put on birthday caps! Thanks to my boss's mobilisation efforts, I received many many birthday calls from my Nigerian friends. With a singing flower candle on cake and my favourite meal (makki ki roti and saag), I completed my 28 years in style.

After badgering Parth for getting me the perfect birthday gift, I got the latest edition of "We the Living" by Ayn Rand. But what made it perfect were the words, "My dear Mana, I cherish our living, loving and learning together! Happy Birthday, Parth"

I had countless conversations on my Naija experiences, the most common question being, "How are the people?" To those with a eager ear, it was fun sharing my daily routines, my pictures, my funny experiences and of course the "not so nice" stuff as well!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2020 flashback - how I took care of my whole self!

-
Image
  (this is a version of the Medicine Wheel Tool created by Birgitt and Ward Williams that is adapted from the Medicine Wheel created by the  indigenous peoples around the world from the beginning of recorded time) It was April 2013, with curiousity and openness I walked into  Vibha 's training. The seats were arranged in a circle, there were stones in a bowl in the centre, there was posters on the wall, there was natural light streaming through the big glass windows...the whole space had such a warm, calming and inviting feeling you would have thought you have walked into a spa:) Yet this was a three day training on " whole person process facilitation ". One of the first worksheets we had to reflect on was - how do you as a facilitator take care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually?  This question got me thinking for the first time about my " whole being".  I was fascinated that this was at the core of effective and authentic facilitati...
Read more

The first Gathering Genie Circle

-
Image
Gathering Genies across spaces met on 27th July at the first Gathering Genie Circle to pause, notice & learn together! We began with a reflection exercise with Genuine Contact™ transfer in cards - relating the card to what we are noticing in gatherings - reflections included sun, sky, joy, collective, authenticity, allowing, wonder, health, humour, vision....aspects that sometimes we miss to experience in work related gatherings.... We then went into a story circle of our recent experiences in hosting gatherings. It was amazing to listen to a variety of gatherings including a quarterly team review, meetings with government, meetings with the community, workshop on education.... stories instead of ppts, starting playfully, vision alignment, sharing life journies, user experience, appreciation all helped to build connection, empathy & deeper learning. We then in smaller groups reflected on our hopes & fears of hosting gatherings... it was again very interesting to see as...
Read more

What a rolled up chart reminds me about facilitation?

-
Image
Sunsetting, wind blowing, birds chirping....amidst all this I was on my third round of the jog in a beautiful sports complex near our home. I was happily focused on working my muscles as my son played footie with his friend in the same area. I was happily surprised at how my usually tied up body was open to its third round of a jog and wanting even more. And what enabled this was the fact that I did a mini version of a yoga routine that my sister had been teaching me online. As I was imagining the muscles in my body building and being thankful for the morning stretches, the image of a rolled up chart paper popped up in my head. People who work with chart paper/ flipcharts will relate to this pain point - you open up the chart to write and its sides keep turning in to one side . It is sooo annoying but completely predictable! Happens every time! And then pause and remember to roll the chart the other way, leave it for a bit and voila! The paper straightens out ready to be written/ drawn...
Read more