What I Learnt from My Learners (Part II)

"In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn."

What I Learnt from My Learners (Part II)

As a trainer cum teacher, it's always a pleasure to come across exciting ideas and insightful thoughts that my learners share during classroom discussions. Recently, we had an amazing discussion over 'Being a Player or Being a Victim', and here in this series of 'What I Learnt from My Learners', I'm featuring some of the brilliant responses. Enjoy the read!

As a trainer cum teacher, it's always a pleasure to come across exciting ideas and insightful thoughts that my learners share during classroom discussions. 

I usually take this as an opportunity to know their perspectives, and learn from them too. Being a life skills coach, it's great to train my learners for 21st century life skills. 

One most crucial life skill is 'Leadership' that has been constantly ranked as One of Top 10 Skills of 2025 by World Economic Forum. 

Recently, I had an amazing discussion over 'Locus of Control' as one of the major components of 'Leadership Toolbox'. This concept was developed by Julian B. Rotter in 1954, and has since become an aspect of Personality Psychology. 

This concept is usually divided into two categories: internal and external. If a person has an internal locus of control, that person attributes success to his or her own efforts and abilities. 

A person with an external locus of control, who attributes his or her success to luck or fate, will be less likely to make the effort needed to learn. 

Here in this series of 'What I Learnt from My Learners', I am featuring some of the brilliant responses by my amazing young learners. Enjoy the read!

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Talking about being a player or a victim, Nandini Asthana shares her honest confession, "I can't say straight if I'm player or a victim; and also can't choose because it depends on the situation, sometimes I stand alone and think out of the box. That time maybe I'm a player and sometimes I do things what others are doing whether they are wrong or right, so here maybe I'm a victim." 

Jahnvi Singh confidently remarks, "My life has taught me quite a lot till now and all the hurdles that I faced, have only made me stronger and more aware about people and the society alike. I was always a curious child and always raised questions for stuff that I just didn't get. I feel I'm 75% player and 25% victim and I think it's is a good number at this stage of my life, and I know there's scope for improvement and I am definitely up for it." 

Manasvi Mudgal asserts, "My attitude towards life has always been to look at the bright side of the things and stay motivated and positive as a person. I think I’m a Player, not a Victim. I believe that whatever happens, happens for good only..." 

According to Dipasha Gautam, "Life is a game, all you have to know is to how to play it. Well, I have felt like a victim at times, but I’ve been a player too. Thinking back now, I have apologized to my mother upon breaking a vase saying, 'I broke the vase by mistake.' which may look like I took the responsibility for my actions completely but I didn't. The truth was that I broke the vase by my carelessness although it was still unintentional and a mistake. I want to start building up my mindset as a player and start taking control over things that are in my grasp."

Diksha Jain mentions with a sense of conviction, "I believe that sometimes there are situations which make us victim and we can't do anything as they are beyond our control. A person is not a player all the time. I think at times I am a player, and at times I am a victim. I know there is a great scope of improvement and I am working on it. I am ready to take all the challenges for my improvement."

Vagisha Khandelwal has something interesting to share. She says, "The word ATTITUDE itself tells us: Active Teens Taking Initiative To Understand Driving Experiences. To be very honest, I am a positive mindset person, but by seeing some situations, I sometimes think negative. I never quit easily; I try to complete my work until the end and always try to think of something new and creative. Most of the time, I am a player because I understand my responsibilities, and perform my duties." 

To conclude, here is what Ritika Srivastav has to share, "I have played the role of a victim in early years of my life. Later, I changed my way of thinking and started having a more positive outlook towards life. Today, I understand the value of responsibility and I believe I have become a player now." 

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I personally think, the inputs from these young minds are truly wonderful, and teach us quite insightful lessons on leadership. 

Next time, when you hear anything wonderful from your learners, do feel free to share with the world; because, 

"In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn."

- Greg Enriquez 

note: All the above-mentioned learners are presently pursuing Bachelors in Journalism & Mass Communication, and Bachelors in Digital and Mass Media, from UPES (University Of Petroleum And Energy Studies).

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What I Learnt from My Learners (Part I)

What I Learnt from My Learners (Part I)

As a trainer cum teacher, it's always a pleasure to come across exciting ideas and insightful thoughts that my learners share during classroom discussions.

I usually take this as an opportunity to know their perspectives, and learn from them too. Being a life skills coach, it's great to train my learners for 21st century life skills.

One most crucial life skill is 'Leadership' that has been constantly ranked as a high priority life skill by NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers), Pennsylvania, United States.

Recently, I had an amazing discussion over 'Leadership and Teamwork' with my learners, and here in this series of 'What I Learnt from My Learners', I am featuring some of the brilliant responses.

Enjoy the read!

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Talking about leadership, Aditya Jagtap mentions, "I think it's very important for a person to have leadership qualities. There is no exact definition for what a leader does.

Each leader's style of leadership is influenced by his/ her personality and the challenges he/ she is faced with. A great leader can motivate others to realize their full potential.

While some team members may express self doubts when approaching new challenges, a leader will do his/ her best to instill confidence in them. Leadership is something that you implement in your everyday life, even if you don't realize it.

Examples include creating to-do lists, tutoring others and taking steps to care about your environment. Leaders inspire members of the society to pursue their dreams.

Leaders build unity and enthusiasm among team members. Leaders are at the forefront of creating positive working environment. That's why leadership is an important life skill."

Ashwin Samant says, "I believe in the motto 'Leading to Learn, Learning to Lead' and Leadership Skill is something that has made me who I am today.

I lacked self-confidence back in class 9, but after witnessing what leaders can do, I had this sudden desire to take up leadership role, whether it's helping out my peers, or my juniors or interacting with the school staff.

That's what landed me my role as a Head Boy and Vice Head Boy position. I believe leadership is absolutely necessary to pursue and possess."

On leadership traits, Anushree Juyal asserts, "If I as a teacher, need to explain what leadership means, I will say that life places us in positions of leadership everyday.

For instance, parents are leaders to their kids; often, our friends do seek our advice and counsel. And as we grow older, parents, who used to be our leaders when we were kids, start looking up to us for guidance.

In everyday life, the question is not whether we are leaders — that we are, in any case — but whether we are good as leaders or not.

Here is a story,
...A little girl was helping her mother do the dishes when a cup accidentally slipped out of her hand. It fell on the floor and smashed into pieces. Before she could even cry, the mother picked up another cup, threw it to the ground, and said, "See? It doesn’t matter."

This is a simple story that is a part of everyday life. What does it illustrate, though? Most apparently, the story is about how the mother reassured the child that material things do not matter and that all of us make mistakes.

...We can also argue that the mother’s action conveys she is not angry with the child. But at a deeper level, this story is about a lesson in leadership: Specifically, about how someone in greater authority handles a subordinate’s mistake; and more generally, about how one handles unforeseen, unfortunate turns in life. This experience must have formed a 'lesson' in leadership that would stay with the girl for decades."

To conclude, here is what Gaurav Bharali says, "Leadership is a quality that comes with proper practice and perseverance. One needs to be dedicated and passionate to be a leader.

I believe leaders are everywhere, but what makes one unique is his/her style of leadership. Everybody is a leader in themselves, but what makes us stand tall and not look down is the way we see through our problems and try to find a solution with maximal beneficiaries."

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I personally think, the inputs from these young minds are truly wonderful, and teach us a lot about leadership and the role of a leader.

Next time, when you hear anything wonderful from your learners, do feel free to share with the world; because,

In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.

- Greg Enriquez

note: All the above-mentioned learners are presently pursuing Applied Petroleum Engineering (with specialization in upstream) from UPES (University Of Petroleum And Energy Studies).

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Success Story: Hima Das

"If you want to achieve something great, you have to work hard for it. It is as simple as that."

Success Story: Hima Das

It doesn’t matter how much obstacles come in between you and your goal. You will find a way to achieve your goal. 

"I am a low-key girl from a middle-class family of a small village. I know my family's condition and how we struggled."

- Hima Das

Remember the golden girl who amazed the whole world by grabbing back to back five Gold Medals within 19 days?!

The same girl who couldn’t afford a good pair of spikes and used to practice barefoot in fields, signed endowment deal with global shoe brand Adidas.

And recently, Hima Das has been appointed Deputy Superintendent of Police of Assam.

Strong determination and honest hard work could make anyone achieve impossible. 

Hima Das didn’t have necessary resources, she could have easily walked out, but her strong will kept her going.

Strong determination and honest hard work could make anyone achieve impossible. 

It doesn’t matter how much obstacles come in between you and your goal. You will find a way to achieve your goal. 

To paraphrase Hima Das, 

"If you want to achieve something great, you have to work hard for it. It is as simple as that."

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Happy World Hindi Day!

It was an honor to be the very first instructor to teach Hindi as a foreign language in an American university.

Happy World Hindi Day!

It was an honor to be the very first instructor to teach Hindi as a foreign language in an American university. On a personal level, my whole American experience was a roller coaster ride, and a great learning opportunity too.

I was nervous after being announced by U.S. Department of State and USIEF (United States India Educational Foundation) to teach Hindi to Americans.

It was my first visit to US and I was miles away from my family. Moreover, I hardly knew anyone there.

I was the very first instructor to teach Hindi as a foreign language in an American university. I didn't have my supervisor to guide me, as she was on a sabbatical, working on a project in UK.

I had to develop the entire course content on my own, and make sure, it's user friendly as well as experiential in nature.

Not only, I was supposed to teach Hindi to foreigners, I was also auditing 6 Life Skills courses at the university.

I was also expected to share Indian culture by participating in cultural festivals, and by lecturing in various middle schools and high schools across the state.

I had never cooked in my life and I was 'somehow surviving' on self-cooked meals, as being a hardcore vegetarian in US.

As per mutual understanding between me and my German landlady (who proudly calls me her Indian son now), I was also supposed to follow some detailed set of guidelines, and take care of her dog too.

On a personal level, my whole American experience was a roller coaster ride, and a great learning opportunity. So, what happened after I completed my almost one year in US?

• I became 1st Indian scholar to receive University of Montana Annual Award for distinguished service and outreach.
• I received official recognition from the well-known American NGO Jeannette Rankin Peace Center for fundraising through my artwork.
• I got a rare opportunity to represent India as a youth leader at the United Nations. 

I made meaningful connections with my American students, my colleagues and my mentors, to cherish throughout my life.

And above all, I made meaningful connections with my students, my colleagues and my mentors, to cherish throughout my life.

Lesson is very simple,

"When life offers you an opportunity, make the most of it, no matter what. And the key to success is to focus on goals, not obstacles"

विश्व हिन्दी दिवस की शुभकामनाएं!
Wish you a very happy World Hindi Day!

*World Hindi Day is celebrated on January 10. Since the first World Hindi Conference on 1975, conferences are held on this day in different countries, to promote Hindi.

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Manage Your Time with Parkinson’s Law

Manage Your Time with Parkinson’s Law 

We can use Parkinson’s Law to be more efficient and effective in meeting deadlines and reaching our personal goals.

Ever noticed that when you have too much time to complete a task, you procrastinate until the very last minute?

But then you immediately go from lazy-mode to productivity superhero to hit a deadline, without sacrificing the quality of your work at all? 

Articulated by the British historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson, Parkinson’s Law says: 

“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”.

For example, according to Parkinson’s law, if someone is given a week to complete a task should really only take them a day to finish, they will often end up unnecessarily stretching out the task, so that it will take them the whole week to complete it. 

When people decide to work on some project, whether it’s a business idea that they want to develop or a story that they want to write, they will often end up taking significantly longer to get started and to finish those things than they need, especially in situations where they don’t have a concrete deadline for finishing the project.

We can use Parkinson’s Law to be more efficient and effective in meeting deadlines and reaching our personal goals.

Putting a deadline to each task or each goal refocuses our target and energy to what needs to be done as well as enforces our effort to its maximum possibilities.

By applying Parkinson’s Law, you can remove the time fillers that slow you down, set time constraints, and limit the choices you have to make.

In doing so, you can reserve your energy for staying focused, productive, and smarter about how you work and the tools you work with.

Long story short, our efforts are increased when the time allotted is shortened. As time is dragged on, our efforts get drastically decreased.

So, give a strict time frame when goals and task needs to be completed and our energy and resources are focused to complete them.

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Why Life Skills?

Life skills are the abilities and behaviors that help us deal effectively with the events and challenges of everyday life.

Why Life Skills?

Do you know that teaching and learning life skills are incredibly important for empowering young people to achieve success in education, employment and personal goals?

According to National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), teaching and learning life skills are incredibly important for empowering young people to achieve success in education, employment and personal goals. 

In her groundbreaking book, "Mind in the Making," Ellen Galinsky describes life skills as essential skills for success in all aspects of life, including college, relationships, and work. 

Life skills are the abilities and behaviors that help us deal effectively with the events and challenges of everyday life. 

They are the skills that allow us to handle everything from interactions with others to identifying and processing our emotions. 

They assist us to develop self-confidence and successfully deal with significant life struggles and changes. 

Interestingly, only a few universities all over the world have integrated life skills into their education systems; and University of Petroleum and Energy Studies is the part of the proud league. 

Glad to be a member of School For Life team at University of Petroleum and Energy Studies to offer these incredible life skills to its dynamic student community.

It was an honor to teach elements of Indian culture to 28 British youngsters (from various universities in the UK) who came to India for a British Council-supported 14-day-long “Generation UK-India” programme. 

I taught them with the help of inspiring interactions, interesting activities and fun games, in a professional and approachable manner. 

I am very sure and strongly believe that education on Life Skills is set to see a significant increase in demand across the globe.

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Cultural Sensitivity

Cultural Sensitivity is crucial as it helps us lead with understanding and empathy, rather than judgment.

Cultural Sensitivity

With world rapidly becoming smaller, and people travelling far and wide, there are high chances that we will encounter people with varying cultures. Is your team at the workplace aware of cultural sensitivity?

Cross-cultural experiences help us build respect and empathy for other people, and celebrate our differences as well as our similarities.

On this day (Nov 25, 2020), one year ago, I along with my colleagues from different nationalities, completed my educational sojourn from JAIMS (Japan - America Institute of Management Science), Hawaii.

On our final day of completing the most prestigious program GLIK (Global Leaders for Innovation & Knowledge), we participated in a cultural event.

We represented our countries, and showcased our cultures and traditions through dance, music, and food.

Based on my experiences dealing with my colleagues from various cultures, I believe that cultural sensitivity is crucial as it helps us lead with understanding and empathy, rather than judgment.

In our globalized, interconnected world, colleagues, business partners and customers hail from a diverse range of cultures.

With world rapidly becoming smaller, and people travelling far and wide, there are high chances that we will encounter people with varying cultures. Is your team at the workplace aware of cultural sensitivity? 

In 2016, it was an honor to teach elements of Indian culture to 28 British youngsters (from various universities in the UK) who came to India for a British Council-supported 14-day-long “Generation UK-India” programme.

I taught them with the help of inspiring interactions, interesting activities and fun games, in a professional and approachable manner.

I am very sure and strongly believe that education on Cultural Sensitivity is set to see a significant increase in demand across the globe.

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