FoHoH Reflections

  Is Culture Shock Real? - by Dawn Lwakila, Seawood I think it is time that we debunked the notion that culture shock is an intrinsic part of travel. Being a Canadian, settled in India since 2015, I get asked about this all the time, both by other foreigners and by Indians. “How do you handle the culture shock of living in India?” There is an assumption that moving to a new country entails a certain level of emotional and physical distress. I beg to differ. Having lived on four continents and travelled to over 30 countries I feel that culture shock is not something that automatically diminishes as the number of stamps increase in our passports. I think it has more to do with understanding our conditioning. With just the slightest paradigm shift we can gain a new perspective. We are encouraged to believe that there is hardship in travel when it comes to adjusting to a new environment. I think this happens when we impose our own cultural norms and particular values on others. ...

  Post marriage I moved to Beijing with my husband. It was the autumn of year 2007 and Beijing was gearing for it’s 2008 Olympics. The city was undergoing a massive facelift. With China’s infrastructure booming, Beijing went on to become a world class venue for the 2008 Olympic. Perhaps this was also the time when China saw a huge influx of foreigners. I used to feel awkward when people would abruptly stop me and ask me for a picture with them or their child. A lot of people would start talking to me in Chinese totally oblivious that I didn’t understand their language. I badly wanted to respond to them and so I got myself enrolled for a Chinese language course. I can’t say that I did exceptionally well at the language school but I was able to express myself to a few people around me. This made the locals quite happy. Within few years I managed to make basic conversations with aunties, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, parents of my daughter’s friends, nanny, maid, shopkeeper, etc. Th...

#by Sabita Menon, Pinewood  Mom Chill! Leave Me Alone! It's always a good time and a light moment sitting with my now-adult children and talking about my unique and sometimes annoying parenting skills when they were teenagers. Did I hound them like paparazzi? You bet I did! I'm grateful for the years when they were babies and behaved their age. I'd see them 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and be happy with the delusion that I know them from the inside out. These adorable babies grew every time I blinked. It was too late to freeze them because I was already staring at my genetically engineered aliens, “The Teens,” with their raging hormones. The next few years, they invaded my life and were polite to everyone who wasn’t me. I didn’t see this coming. You won’t either until it hits you! There was always a tug of war over whether I should be a strict or lenient parent or whether I avoid conflict as much as possible. There were days when I tried to figure out parenting over ...

#by Gitanjali, Bridgewood-A Dad was a heavy smoker and whenever Mom nagged him to give up smoking, he would tell her that she should have met him when he was a 7th Grader! Wow, he really started young! In fact, he graduated from school to college in style – for now our man had a pipe in hand! The story goes that Dad was smoking a pipe and sitting on the front seat of a bus (Readers, these activities were allowed in 1940s’ Burma), when his father boarded the same bus from the rear. Dad quickly stuffed his hand (and the pipe) into his trouser pocket. On reaching home, he had a hard time explaining to his Mom how he managed to get a perfectly circular burn mark on his palm!  By the time my parents got married, Dad was a confirmed chain smoker, lighting one cigarette with the other – a fact stamped and sealed by the sneaky office peon. During his Shillong posting, Dad was ordered to go to an unknown destination, accessible only by helicopter. The weather played spoilsport with heavy ra...

#by Ekta Chadda, Greenwood It's, time to adorn your Summer Hats 😎 ⛱️👒 with these 🍋🥭🍍🍇🍉 Fruittilicious Salsas and   Gaucamoles 🥑 to celebrate the popular   Mexican festivities 👨🏻‍🌾🐎   Enjoy with family or friends ,these   lip smmmackking Summer Bountifull, s 😋 Is your Inner chef Calling? Choppiti Chopp Salsas ingredients into small pieces of the fruit of your choice always. Cilantro, Jalapaeno, peppers ,onions lemon juice and sea salt is all you need to add into any fruit, give it a good mix and VOILAAA ! YOUR REAADDY TO THROW A PARRTTTY 🏖️🏕️ May the Fruit give you the Chill Pill! 😎

by Manoshi Mistry, Birchwood Motorcycles always caught my fancy. Coming from a city where it was a common sight to see ladies ride Motorcycles to commute daily, the itch to learn to ride a motorcycle was really strong. All I wanted was a 100cc Bajaj Avenger or Yamaha Enticer.   However I had to wait for a good 9 years. I learned to ride a motorcycle at the tender young age of 46 that too on a 1200 cc Harley Davidson. Phew that was a huge start. Since I learned to ride with a pillion I found it a huge challenge to ride and balance the bike without the weight behind. In a city like Chennai which is very conservative, finding good company to ride was difficult. Time and again my riding Guru Ms Sunita Kunjeer (a very senior lady rider who rides a Harley and a BMW motorcycle) told me not to look for company but to just ride. Thank God for good advice, if i had waited for company I wouldn't have been able to ride to the places where I have been to. My mother is a fearless lady and ...

  #by Sonia,  Bridgewood Artificial Intelligence (AI) has  emerged as a rapidly changing technology that is changing the world in many areas. One of the most important applications of artificial intelligence is  natural language processing, which has led to the development of advanced language models such as ChatGPT. Powered by the OpenAI GPT-3.5 architecture, ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art language model that transforms communication and transforms various industries.    One of the main ways   ChatGPT is changing the world is   its ability to improve human-machine communication. ChatGPT can chat with users, understand their questions and provide relevant answers in the chat. This has greatly improved customer service and support in areas such as e-commerce, healthcare and finance. ChatGPT's ability to understand and respond to human emotions has   made it a valuable tool in mental health applications, providing support and guidance to peopl...

#by Sanjana Paramaguru (Grade 5), Amalfi My passion for Art began ever since I was 5 years old. The journey I’ve been through had some Ups & Downs. I had felt that human emotions and nature communicate with me. So I wanted to communicate with them through my Art.It brings happiness to a person and helps to enhance concentration power.Our imaginations can be brought to the world through artworks.A life without art is colorless.   ‘’A single art piece has a thousands of words to communicate with you’’   This quote shows how an art piece communicates with you and spreads awareness.   For example:   This art is trying to create awareness to stop pollution because pollution can affect our earth so it is our responsibility to keep it away from us. Not only does it communicate with us it also ‘’Increases Creativity’’. The more time you spend on creating an art piece, the more creativity you add on. It also evokes human emotion. For example, when you do art whi...

#by Jayalakshmi, Amalfi Memories: Are we all living our lives or are we just making   memories 🤔. In the paradox of life,so many dramas take   place. Sometimes we cry,sometimes we laugh and at times   we   feel all is   lost. Yet   again,when we look back at life 's ups and downs,we   ourselves are   surprised   as to how we   were able to manage   or overcome the difficult   phases. Life goes on and on and   suddenly life is no more-reaches   a dead end!! Everything   comes   to   a standstill. The alarm   keeps ringing but one cannot wake up again,however   loud it rings   😴. What is left then? Only MEMORIES   of some good times, some   bad   times and all becomes   History--a thing of the past   recordings   or just MEMORIES and nothing more. Memories   once again are fresh anew but   with the passing of   time they too fade into ...

 Art work by Nyla, 15 years, Sinovia

  #by Aadi Kanagaraj, 9 years, Amalfi

#by Manasa, Brentwood A2504 Tanjore Paintings   As an artist, I have always had a deep passion for creating art. Ever since I was young, I was drawn to various art forms such as acrylic painting, pastel art, and pencil sketching. However, it was Tanjore painting that truly captured my heart. Despite my love for other art forms, there was something unique and special about Tanjore painting that I couldn't resist. I was fascinated by the intricate details, vibrant colors, and the use of gold foils and precious stones. I started learning the art form at the age of 18. Over the years, I have continued to explore and refine my skills in Tanjore paintings.As my expertise grew, so did my passion for this art form. I began receiving orders from people who were impressed by my work and wanted to own a piece of Tanjore art. Creating custom Tanjore paintings is now a part of my life as a part time profession. I spend several hours meticulously sketching, colouring, and embellishing each p...

#by Ruth Sargunam, Birchwood   You are unique You are special You have the traits I’d die for You are embracing and never racial   Stop stifling yourself and be bold Don’t worry about what’s being told It’s okay not to be an all rounder Stay confident, don’t be a flounder   People will try to pull you down Focus on the smile and ignore the frown Don’t look for reassurance from others Look deep within, that DOUBT you smother.   You are unique You are special You are awesome since birth You are God’s gift to this earth   People will accept you the way you are Keep the like minded close and the others far

  Laasya Nair, 9 years, Sinovia

#Aditya, Oceanic  

  #by Thejaswini, Pinewood

Mandala Art   #by Shruti Thyagu, Brentwood

 My Trip to Kaziranga National Park  Early December, last year I visited Kaziranga National Park. Visiting Kaziranga was in my bucket list of wildlife sanctuaries to be visited, for long. Kaziranga National Park is situated in the Golaghat and Nagaon districts of the state of Assam. This park, which hosts two-thirds of the world's Indian rhinoceroses, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Kaziranga National Park was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006, tiger sighting is very rare in this park , I was very lucky to sight a Great Bengal Tiger having a face-off with the gentle beast of Kaziranga , The Indian Rhino. The park is home to large breeding populations of elephants, wild water buffaloes, and swamp deer. Kaziranga is also recognized as an important bird area and I was fortunate enough to sight rare raptors.  Kaziranga is a vast expanse of tall elephant grass, marshland, and dense tropical moist broadleaf forests, criss-crossed by four major rivers, including th...