Crescent – Diana Abu-Jaber
Thirty-nine-year-old Sirine, never married, lives with a devoted Iraqi-immigrant uncle and an adoring dog named King Babar. She works as a chef in a Lebanese restaurant, her passions aroused only by the preparation of food—until an unbearably handsome Arabic literature professor starts dropping by for a little home cooking. Falling in love brings Sirene’s whole heart to a boil—stirring up memories of her parents and questions about her identity as an Arab-American.
The other day while in the train, on the way to work, I came across something in the newspaper, which made me pause. It was a letter to the editor which mentioned that students who are left handed should be actually, treated as having some kind of learning disability. I was pretty intrigued by this and so decided to research it a bit more. It is also because GG is left handed and has shown very clear preference to using this hand as her dominant hand right from the time she was a little baby. I had always thought left handed people were, in fact, smarter and more creative than us normal right-handed people since the dominant side of their brain was the right side and this side of the brain fuels creativity.
I could not really find any solid evidence which links left-handedness in a person to any learning disabilities. Yes, learning disabilities affect people who are dominantly left-handed but being a leftie is in no way linked to being behind in school.
I do know that a very small percentage of the population, around 10% or so in the world is left-handed and this has remained more or less stable throughout human history, but scientists have not yet been able to figure out why that ten percent of the population turned out to be a leftie!
In my specific case, as far as I know, no one in both S and my immediate family favours the left hand, but I can’t be very clear as in previous generations, being a leftie was frowned upon and people were forced to learn to use their right hand for everyday work. When GG was found to favour her left hand more, well-meaning friends and relatives immediately told me to start training her in using her right hand more and making that her dominant hand, but something told me to hold off and I let her use her naturally dominant hand at all times.
I personally feel that being a leftie has not impacted her in any way academically. If anything, not doing so well in her PSLE results has been a real boon. She is in a slightly slower programme and is one of the top students in her cohort, is a student leader and is a very active member of her CCA.
There may be some truth in lefties being more creative; GG is very musically inclined and is forever singing and dancing at home. She also likes to draw and paint and does this most weekends. At this point in time, she is also exploring writing, so she basically ticks all boxes from a creative point of view.
Are you a leftie? What have your experiences been? I’d love to hear!
Wings of Fire: An Autobiography – A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, the son of a little-educated boat-owner in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, had an unparalleled career as a defence scientist, culminating in the highest civilian award of India, the Bharat Ratna. As chief of the country’s defence research and development programme, Kalam demonstrated the great potential for dynamism and innovation that existed in seemingly moribund research establishments.
This is the story of Kalam’s rise from obscurity and his personal and professional struggles, as well as the story of Agni, Prithvi, Akash, Trishul and Nag-missiles that have become household names in India and that have raised the nation to the level of a missile power of international reckoning. This is also the saga of independent India’s struggle for technological self-sufficiency and defensive autonomy-a story as much about politics, domestic and international, as it is about science.
This week was not so hectic as the previous week though I was kept busy throughout.
If you remember, sometime back, I had posted how a colleague was giving me grief and bullying me at work. In fact, I was really tempted to resign just to get away, but on Friday, i learnt that this person, in fact, had resigned! I was quite happy internally that my bully was getting away from me. That was why perhaps, the bully was quite chirpy and happy at work recently. It also means that in the last six odd months, the entire team of where I am (the department, not the organisation) has turned over. If I were management, I would definitely think about why there was such a high turnover.
I am also seriously thinking of redoing my life, especially when I get home. By the time I am home, it is dinner time and I am also quite hungry so I eat almost as soon as I reach home. Then it's either watching some videos on YouTube or read and bed. I feel I am not doing anything once I am back home and I need to figure things out.
This week was a very hectic week for the children, especially GG.
She started the week with common tests as well intensifying practice for the competition.
The competition was yesterday and I felt that they did better than the last year, but managed only a silver. They were happy with the silver, but I am hoping that next year, which will be GG's last year at this competition, will give them a gold!
BB also had a ranking competition for his CCA, but the results will be only declared at the end of the year when rankings are declared. His school does not have common tests this term so he is quite free.
Hindi exams are also coming and will be on their birthday, which is a real bummer for them!
Everyone is super tired today and so today will be a lazy day!
