How to live

Something happened yesterday that I wanted to share with you all… I recently volunteered to give a talk about women in STEM for the celebration of International Women’s Day at my daughter’s school. My audience was 16 children, aged from 3 and a half to 5. I needed to speak up to be a role model for my daughter and other young girls out there. My goal was not to get them to learn to code but to be curious about it and maybe even try it themselves. One thing that I love about coding is that it will help us to be creative. I am also teaching my daughter, Devi, coding at home. I know that “creativity” is the skill that she needs for life to navigate this changing world.  During the presentation, I threw a problem to these young kids to solve - Help the mouse get the cheese. I was amazed by the wide range of ideas that they threw at me. One child brought the cheese to the mouse, and I was laughing so hard because I had never thought of that idea!  If you don’t have a background in coding bu

A few weeks ago, I took Devi to a new park in the neighborhood. As we explored the playground, a big kid, who looked about seven years old, approached Devi and told her she couldn't climb a massive construction. Devi believed the older child and started playing elsewhere. I was left wondering what I should do in this situation. After contemplating, I approached Devi and asked if she truly believed she couldn't climb the construction. I suggested she try and see if it was too difficult. Devi nodded and headed towards the challenge. As I watched, she kept climbing until she reached the top. She proved herself wrong. To my surprise, she went to the big kid and confidently told her what she said wasn't true. It was a heartening moment to watch her prove to herself that she was capable of doing something that she initially believed was impossible. This experience taught me how important it is to encourage Devi's sense of adventure and self-confidence.

In today's fast-paced, achievement-driven world, I found myself asking, "What if I just want to live a simple life?"  Life often bombards us with expectations – owning a home, driving a fancy car, dining at upscale restaurants, striving for fame and success, ensuring your kids excel in school, seeking approval from others, and meeting the impossible standards of perfection as a spouse or parent. But what if we dared to challenge these expectations? - What if I don't own a home? Perhaps, it might offer a unique freedom, a chance to roam, to discover, and to redefine what 'home' truly means. - What if I don't drive a fancy car? Maybe it's the simple journeys, the laughter during a ride, or the songs on the radio that matter more than the make and model of the vehicle. - What if I skip the fancy restaurants? Homemade meals, shared with loved ones, can nourish the soul in ways a five-course meal cannot. - What if I am not famous nor successful. Perhaps it&

Recently, I realized that “Life is short” and I have no idea how much longer I have on this planet. So I asked myself if I knew that I was going to die tomorrow, what would I do today? And of course, being a mom, I would write a letter to my daughter, Devi. So…the letter would go as follows... Hey Devi, I want you to know that even though I may have experienced many more years on this planet than you, it doesn't mean that I have more knowledge than you so I won’t give you any advice. What I want to share here is how I observe my life and I would suggest that you do the same as you are trying to live as a human being. When I was little I often only had white rice with soy source for breakfast. According to society, I was poor ……but at that time I didn’t know about society yet …so I was living happily.:) When I was growing up, I was given a taste for drugs. As the drugs would penetrate my body, I became addicted. I cried out for the drugs to the point that to be without them I would

Devi: Mom, I am so happy. Me: Oh Why are you happy? This is the conversation that I had with my 3-year-old daughter. She told me again a few days later that she was happy. And again I asked her the same question. “Why are you happy? She didn’t reply to me and continued playing with her toys. Now I would like to ask you. Why are you happy? What makes you happy? My daughter kept telling me “ I am happy. I am happy” to the point that I was jealous[curious face] of my own daughter. There was a time when I was driving in the car with her for her check-up. We were stuck in a terrible traffic jam. I was frustrated and started to worry about its cancellation. When I glanced at my daughter, she gave me a big smile. The other day, I bought tickets to the zoo for my whole family. When the day finally came, it was raining. The moment I saw the rain, I was mad. My whole plan was destroyed. But my daughter, on the other hand, the moment she saw the rain, she was unbelievably happy and started to si

Today I am going to talk about the weirdest man on earth that I married. About a decade ago, my husband read something like this “If you want to be successful, you need to get up early in the morning.''. He took that advice seriously because he REALLY wanted to be successful and he made a commitment to get up early from that day onward. His success was important to me too. When I was a young woman I really wanted to find a successful MAN!. I couldn’t find a man who was ALREADY successful, but my husband WANTED to be successful so I decided--- I will TAKE! what I can get. He has tried many approaches throughout the years to force himself to get up early. With various degrees of success, for example: Method number 1: He bought an alarm clock and set multiple alarms - one after another. It worked for a while. Then, he started doing what most of us would do. He hit the snooze button and went back to sleep. Method number 2. This time, he placed the alarm clock far away from his bed