I spent the initial few weeks after lay-off at home. Preparing for interviews. Soon Hiren got me a laptop and a Lego Robotics kit. I did not understand the use of Lego Robotics kit at all. Now, after 11 years of working on the Lego Robotics kit, I realized I must be naive to say that. However, this kit helped me in my life to educate myself with basic Robotics and also to judge my potential to teach young students. Even though I got the kit in 2008, I started working on it only from 2012. For these 4 years in between, I was literally desperate about following other options like, getting a job and earning some money, applying for GRE and getting further education, writing my own "music" application for mobile and publishing it on Google Playstore (as mobile was new to me that time). But somehow nothing clicked for 4 years. And then I started taking Lego seriously. A lot of its creation material is on the internet. Once I got a little hang of following their instructions and assembling the robots, I did the initial few programs in their graphical language. But soon I realized that even though the graphical language is for young students, I am finding it hard to learn. Then while browsing, I realized that Lego Robots have supported the language "Java". I was comfortable with programming in Java, because I had worked on it in my professional life. I started programming with Java, in order to give "movements" to the robots. The best part was, I was able to send the data to the computer in order to plot the graph of the robot's movements. Soon I got another kit of Lego Robotics with the new version. And I worked on its creations. Till then 6 years passed. I also did two software jobs in the meanwhile for 2 years. When my second job ended, one of my young students' mother asked me, if I can teach Robotics to youngsters. I happily agreed. I taught students for 1 year in their summer and diwali vacation as an extra subject. I taught nearly 8 students with the two Lego Robotics kits I had. I put their projects on my blog as an achievement for them and me. In the next one year, I taught them "electronics" in summer and diwali vacations. This time, I asked the students to speak on camera while presenting. In their earlier projects, I had asked them to just showcase the robot's movements. The students were very enthusiastic for presenting their work. When we used to get stuck at certain points (may be during programming), I used to ask them to make somethings of their own, out of the Lego Components. Sometimes, they used to make "cars", sometimes "merry-go-round", sometimes "slides", sometime "swings". But one day one of the students asked me, if we can make "a machine to squeeze sugarcane and get the juice". I was amazed at the student's imagination !
Meanwhile, I also enjoyed my life as a housewife with kitty parties, with the ladies in the society and also attended singing classes. Kitty parties were a lot of fun. Once in a month. Tasty food in the party! Homemade! Awesome! I will never forget those days! But at the same time, if someone calls me for kitty party now, I will politely deny. I think I grew up too mature for having fun! It's an awesome concept ... "kitty party" ! In general girls/women in our society behave as if they are denied the right to have fun. They behave as if the entire responsibility of working for the society's good, is on their own shoulders (which is in a way true!). But they should use their right to have fun sometimes. And kitty party is a means of fun !
When it comes to singing, for me, there is no other favorite topic to talk about. It's close to my heart. I found that music has some kind of therapeutic effect on my mind. Even if I am "dead tired", singing a song makes me bounce back with lot of positive energy. I did not try to formally learn music in my young age. I used to listen to the radio programs for songs. And used to copy the singer at home. Since I did not have formal music education, I did not participate any "music program", thinking that I might not be singing well. However, in the recent past years of my life, I learnt Indian Classical music for 2 years. I was learning along with the gathering of few small kids ... 5 to 6 years old ... It was great to see that since such a young age kids start having an ear for music! They pick up music very well. Be it singing or playing an instrument. The advantage for young students is they are pretty adaptable to learn and they get a lot of time to practice. Which is essential for learning music basics. I got an opportunity to sing in the kitty parties as well as the society gatherings on "national days". I did the best I could to sing. I remember the nervousness I experienced when I was singing in the first gathering of ladies. Then onwards I was comfortable. My family members used to think that because of music, I am not able to concentrate on the work. However, I realized that it was not the case. I can listen to music and do my work at the same time. And in case when needed, I was wise enough to turn off the music. Any ways ... I think this is a constant fear in people's mind, that if they learn music or any other art, they will NOT be able to focus on work or studies. In my opinion, they should not have this fear. Until now, I do not understand the details of Indian Classical. I just thrive on the energy, the focus, the passion the artists represent. I especially mentioned "focus", because I realize the value of "focus". For me, while singing a song or chanting, I can recollect someone's humor. So there are chances that while singing or chanting, I burst into laughter. That behavior is hard to be approved by the society. I do not know whether this phenomenon can be called "lack of focus"? But the end result for myself is "positive energy" ... It keeps me happy. It allows me to move forward in life. Many of the members of the society have a notion that, "A happy song makes us happy" and "A sad song makes us sad". Its a brute-force conclusion and in my opinion they are false notions. Imagine if I have got a huge bonus in the office and I am in a happy state of mind. I come home and the radio plays a sad song. The song will not make me necessarily sad. Because in my mind I am fulfilled of my reward for my work. In the same way, say, I did not get the reward for my work and I am in sad state of mind. After coming home the radio plays a happy song. It may or may not make me happy. So, the song that I "listen" may not necessarily change the state of mind, however the song that I "sing" will definitely define the state of my mind. And according to my experience, it will change the "stress levels" too, which is the state of the body. Also, there are various ways to listen to the songs, some of them listen to it by the "words". Others listen to them by "notes". I listen to it by the above values like "energy", "focus", "passion" etc. When I see a lot of "passion" even in a "sad" song, that song makes me happy. Makes me wonder about the singer's distinguished ability to sing that song! The way I categorize the songs is also by their "virtues". Some song define the energy in the morning. So I classify them as morning songs. Some of them define the energy at night. So I classify them as the "night songs". All songs do not suit my voice. There are only a few songs which suit my voice. A few days back I made a list of those songs which suit my voice. Just so, it has to be handy when ladies ask me to sing a song! Yes true! A couple of years back, in a ladies gathering, I was asked if I can sing a song on the stage. I was OK with it. It was my first stage experience. I was not much nervous in the beginning. I was asked to choose a song to sing. I practiced it. But when I went on stage, I could not help but to "get nervous". Its "stage fear". I still sang the song with all the limitations. Honestly, it was a valuable experience. The ladies gatherings have given me many such experiences to cherish!
