Vineetha Govindasamy

Mother. Educator. Life Long Learner.
Founder of @AbhishriAcademy #neuroeducation

[Venkat G @IndusFarmer]

Only this man can talk about the AI and at the same time key ingredients required for organic farming, carbon. He makes complicated subjects too easy to understand and act on.

TN is gifted to have this man as leader. Feeling very grateful.

[Vineetha Govindasamy @VineethaGov]

Poornamadah Poornamidam
Poornat Poornamudachyate
Poornasya Poornamadaya
Poornamevavashishyate

This beautiful verse from the Upanishads is often translated as:
"That is whole. This is whole.
From wholeness emerges wholeness.
When wholeness is taken from wholeness,
Wholeness still remains."

I learned this shloka some time ago, and recently I tried to connect it to what I do as an educator. I realized that it offers a profound way of seeing children.

When we say a child is "whole," we do not mean the child is perfect. Every child has room to learn, grow, and develop. Wholeness is not perfection. Wholeness means completeness of being. Each child arrives in this world (& into our classrooms) carrying a unique identity, purpose, potential, and dignity.

As teachers, our responsibility is to see the child fully. Not as a collection of grades, behaviours, strengths, and weaknesses, but as a whole person. Who is this child? What experiences have shaped them? What dreams, fears, talents, and challenges do they carry? What purpose might they have been born to fulfill?
This child is born for a purpose, and we, as educators, have been given the privilege of playing a small (or sometimes big) part in that journey.
To truly understand a child, we must also understand the child's world. We cannot know a child fully by seeing them only within the four walls of a classroom. We need to know their family, their environment, and the people who influence them.
For the past eight years, I have followed a "mentoring system" in which every child is assigned a mentor, and every mentor visits the child's home at least once a year. A home visit is not an inspection; it is an opportunity to build understanding and trust. It allows us to see the child in context and strengthens the partnership between school and family.

As Rita Pierson famously said:
"Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them."

This simple but powerful statement should be at the heart of education.

As teachers, we cannot give up on any child. Sometimes a teacher comes and tells me, "I've tried everything." Whenever I hear that, I ask a simple question: "Tell me exactly what you've tried." Usually, 4 or 5 strategies are listed. Then I ask, "What is the 6th thing you're going to try?"

Because if we truly believe we have tried everything, then perhaps there is no reason for us to go to class tomorrow. If we have mentally written off a child, we have already become useless for that child. The moment we stop believing in a student's potential, nothing else matters.

A child may struggle with academics, behaviour, confidence, motivation, or relationships. But no child should ever have to struggle with a teacher's belief in them.

History gives us one of the most inspiring examples in Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller. Helen Keller was deaf and blind, and many believed her future would be severely limited. Anne Sullivan refused to accept those limitations. She saw beyond Helen's disabilities and recognized the whole person within.

That is what great teachers do. They see possibility where others see problems. They see potential where others see deficits. They see the whole child.

[Vineetha Govindasamy @VineethaGov]

I beg to differ. We don't have to be stuck in the past, but we ought to remember it- the good & the bad. Past glory DOES add value & IS relevant to our growing country now.

The world can care what we do today; however, we need to know, understand and remember our past to make sure what we do today leads to a much better tomorrow. Why do we have to choose between remembering our past & building science & tech? Both go hand-in-hand.

As citizens of Bharat, what we become tomorrow is partly shaped by our shared memory of how we have come to where we are, our cultural continuity & the pride & confidence we hold in our civilization. So we simply can't just sweep this under the carpet.

[Muthukrishnan Dhandapani @dmuthuk]

Annamalai can start his own political party. Sridhar Vembu is a billionaire and has financial muscle to support the venture.

I believe BJP is completely wasting Annamalai. He would do very well on his own.

[Vineetha Govindasamy @VineethaGov]

‌The last 20 years I have been in education, I have told myself that it is important to help children learn, grow & develop in all 6 aspects of health, and not just focus on the intellectual part. The questions that inspired my efforts:

- If children are taught to achieve but not to care for their physical health and well-being, how will they lead balanced, healthy, and fulfilling lives? PHYSICAL HEALTH
- If they are not spiritually grounded, how will they face life’s inevitable ups and downs? SPIRITUAL HEALTH
- If one cannot build and sustain positive relationships around them, can they ever be genuinely happy? SOCIAL HEALTH
- If we fail to care for the very environment that sustains us, can we ensure lasting well-being and success? ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
- If a child excels academically and professionally but cannot manage or express emotions properly, can they be truly successful? EMOTIONAL HEALTH

So you see, isn’t it essential to nurture the social, emotional, environmental, spiritual, and physical, alongside intellectual, well-being of every child? Shouldn't all schools, and every teacher pay equal attention to holistically educating each child?

Let's not just think of the end-of-year grades, attendance, uniform, etc...Let's think if what we are doing today, so the child flourishes decades after leaving us.

[Vineetha Govindasamy @VineethaGov]

https://t.co/UQOjc26UZG
This talk by @sgurumurthy Ji was extraordinarily insightful, packed with so much info. Must watch! I started watching it while having breakfast, but within minutes I had paused it, restarted it from the beginning, picked up a pen & paper & began taking notes! I'll share just a couple of things here:

- At the beginning of his talk, he says, “In the last 10–15 years, India moved to a situation where it can no more follow the world.”

This was such a powerful statement he made, because a civilization that has survived for millennia cannot remain an imitator forever. As an educator myself, I was thinking of a child with strong leadership qualities. If a teacher constantly asks such a child only to follow others, eventually that child will not be able to do it anymore. At some point, his leadership becomes inevitable. That is India.

- His 1986 immigration story was deeply moving. An immigration officer rudely questioned him: “Why have you come here?” and “When will you go back?” Coming from Bharat, where strangers are welcomed with the spirit of "Atithi Devo Bhava", he felt profoundly humiliated. But what elevated @sgurumurthy ji to an even higher pedestal for me was what followed. After things were clarified as to the purpose of his vsiit, he demanded a written apology and even asked for the flight to be preponed - such dignity and self-respect.

He said this incident became his first realization of how the world viewed Indians and, even more painfully, how Indians themselves had become accustomed to such treatment.
#Bharat

[S Gurumurthy @sgurumurthy]

Temples are the core of Satana Dharma. The guy doesn't know that temples and deities are governed by Agama principles which are based on Sanatan Dharma. Sanatan Dharma alone starts with idol worship as the first step to Moksha. Udaya is illiterate.

https://t.co/c8UehtWtWM

[Vineetha Govindasamy @VineethaGov]

@annamalai_k @kpartha “Very confusing bro!” 👏🏽👏🏽

[Vineetha Govindasamy @VineethaGov]

Anyone who constantly talks about putting down another religion, language, ethnicity, community, or even a company (& invests all their attention and energy into that) is usually not truly confident about their own or focused on growing it. More often than not, they are actually intimidated by the other’s strength and influence.

If you’re so proud about who you are and your beliefs, talk proudly about that, but in this case Udhayanidhi has the desperate necessity to belittle someone else’s belief to show who he is-  this is insecurity disguised as superiority. If he has something genuinely meaningful, he needs to sell that, but because he doesn’t, he needs to tear others down just to stand tall.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again;

The moment one feels the need to mock, insult, or nitpick others in order to elevate themselves, they have already revealed the fragility of what they claim to defend. And when people don’t see this, it’s very sad…

[Sridhar Vembu @svembu]

When Udayanidhi Stalin repeatedly attacks "sanathanam" in Tamil, why is there not more outrage among the highly religious Tamil Hindu population?

I believe it comes down to language.

In Tamil language, the word "sanathanam" (eternal in English) is not in regular use. Most Tamil people do not know this word and I did not know it myself as a child.

On the other hand the word "dharma" (spelled as "dharmam" or "dharumam") is common in Tamil and there is a district named Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu. There is also the word "aram" used in Tamil with the same meaning as dharma.

Interestingly, in Hindi, the word "dharam" means "religion" in general and Hinduism is "hindu dharm" or "sanatan dharam" and Christianity is "isai dharam" in Hindi.

But in Tamil usage, the word "dharmam" would effectively mean "Hindu dharam" in Hindi.

Now if Udayanidhi had attacked "dharmam" in Tamil (which effectively means Hinduism) he would be widely criticised for proclaiming adharmam.

That is why he is picking the word "sanathanam" to attack because that word is not widely known in Tamil.

With all his "sincere" effort, he is making the word known in Tamil too and he has made the already huge anti DMK vote in Tamil Nadu even bigger. The DMK has never won a majority on its own ever, because of that huge strong anti-DMK current. They established that current with their constant attacks on Hindu deities. The AIADMK never did that and they harvested the anti-DMK current well.

Now, in spite of the TVK being the new anti-DMK party and in spite of the AIADMK splitting the anti-DMK vote (see how I worked it!) and in spite of the DMK spending extraordinary amounts of cash, in spite of the DMK having a strong alliance and the TVK having no alliance, the DMK lost the election.

Udayanidhi wants to ensure the DMK would never come back. May the eternal sanatana dharma grant his wish 🙏😉

[Vineetha Govindasamy @VineethaGov]

I agree that many people do not understand the true essence of this word. Instead, its meaning has often been portrayed as follows: Sanatan = Varnashrama = casteism. As a result, if we object to Udhayanidhi Stalin’s statement that “Sanatana must be eradicated,” we are immediately labeled casteists and supremacists (& probably should be eradicated too!).

This understanding exists among some “uneducated Hindus” in our local villages as well as among some of my “well-educated Hindu friends” in the USA. I believe this is also one reason why many people remain silent.

[Vineetha Govindasamy @VineethaGov]

@mvmeet “I want him to read it properly, unlike how he does for his exams” 😂😂 how nicely he weaves these in!

[Vineetha Govindasamy @VineethaGov]

I met a student last week who scored 597/600 in his Tamil Nadu State Board exams. He came to me, with his parents, asking for my opinion on what he should do next.

So I asked him, “What do you want to do?" He stayed quiet. His father immediately said, “I want him to prepare for JEE. He cleared JEE Main & is eligible to write Advanced, but he’s refusing to. I want him to take a year off and study properly.” His mother interrupted: “I don’t want him to waste a year. He should just join college. Anna University or PSG?” she asked me, hoping I would settle this debate.

But I turned back to the boy and asked again: “What do YOU want to do?” He looked exhausted & he said, “I’m tired of studying and learning. I don’t want to do this anymore.” So, I asked, “Then what do you want to do?” He said, “I want to do CS because I enjoyed learning Python on my own after my exams got over.”

That’s when I told him: “Kanna, do you see that you do still enjoy learning? And I want you to protect that love for learning until your very last breath. What you’re tired of is not learning, it’s studying (rote-memorising) for exams, the pressure to score, the endless race, mindless things you have to do as part of grade 12, etc.... You don’t want to attempt JEE because you’re overwhelmed by everything you had to go through just to score 597. But life is far bigger than that score.”

His father looked disappointed that I wasn’t supporting the JEE path. His mother still wanted me to simply say a college name, a course & end the conversation. But I felt really bad for him.

I spoke to him for over an hour and told him to talk to many people, people he agrees with, people he disagrees with & truly listen to all their perspectives before making a decision for himself.

See, we cannot keep playing this game with our children.

What exactly is our education system trying to achieve if we tire our brightest minds to the point where they leave school emotionally drained, disconnected from themselves & unable to distinguish between studying and learning?

Our schools don’t just kill creativity, as Sir Ken Robinson has said. We kill curiosity, wonder, yearning, dreaming & we slowly kill the learner within...
And then we expect these very children to go on and build this nation.
Yes, things are changing. But nowhere near enough.
I’ve been thinking about this for a long while: if we don’t each play a part, big or small, in revolutionising and transforming the way we educate the next generation, we are literally paving the way for the decline of our posterity & eventually laying the foundation for the decline of our nation.
Exaggeration?

I think not.
@EduMinIndia @dpradhanbjp @iitmadras @tnschoolsedu @svembu @annamalai_k

[Vineetha Govindasamy @VineethaGov]

One of my “learned friend” living in US says that this eradication statement must be said often and out loud because according to her Sanatan = Varnashrama which is equal to casteism, and if we find anything wrong with “Sanatana must be eradicated” statement, then we are casteists and supremacists…(& probably should be eradicated too!)

[Vineetha Govindasamy @VineethaGov]

Oh, please stop this nonsense! I vehemently opposed doing this even for our grade 10 & 12 kids at our school…

[Tathvam-asi @tathvamasi6]

What is this? 😳

Toppers for 1st class students?

Are they running a school or a competitive business?

This happened in Nandana Primary School, Shivamogga, Karnataka.

Will any organization act on this? Will govt cancel school license?

[Vineetha Govindasamy @VineethaGov]

https://t.co/XltriJzXdZ

I found this video deeply profound. Shiva is attention, Shakti is energy.

Whatever you give attention to becomes your reality, because energy flows where your attention goes.

When someone gives you attention, you receive their energy; when you give attention, you give your energy to them. For example, movie stars thrive on the energy they receive from the attention that millions give. If that attention stops, the flow of life energy stops, and they fade.

You become what you focus on. By stilling your mind, reducing inner dialogues & drawing your attention inward, you conserve energy and truly grow powerful to realise your full potential.

[Vineetha Govindasamy @VineethaGov]

@abbi0410 Wrong on so many levels. But surely the kid is not to be blamed here at all…

[Vineetha Govindasamy @VineethaGov]

And do you remember how many people thought you were doing this tree planting work to purely get into politics?! That all this was a “political stunt”!!

[Venkat G @IndusFarmer]

It is too painful to process this. I understand it.

If I may add one of my own experiences here for a context?

As part of the Dharapuram water conservation efforts, we had a goal of creating a micro-forest in every village in and around the area. I travel to Bangalore for work during the week, so the majority of this work was done during the weekends on a very hectic schedule. At one point, I couldn't visit the site where we had planted trees for a couple of weeks.

There is a large tree in the center of that village where a few people are always sitting—doing nothing but curiously watching our work. When I finally returned to check on the saplings, one of them intervened and asked, "You came and planted these trees, but no one showed up for days and the plants are struggling without water. What happened?"

Silence was my only answer. I still haven't found an appropriate response, even today. His question was valid: if I was so committed to growing these trees, why didn't I show up to care for them properly?

On the other hand, he was simply watching and did nothing for the trees himself. He didn't even call to remind us they needed water. Could I have asked him why? He was right that I planted them for a reason, and his curiosity was simply about why I didn't follow up.

This incident triggered a debate in my mind that still hasn't settled. Do I have clarity on why I do what I do? I guess it’s still a work in progress.

Anyway, coming back to these election results and one's contribution...

If we believed that this work alone would lead people to give us official responsibility, we wouldn't have chosen to contest through a political party; we would have gone the independent route. We know this work is not sufficient on its own and requires the backing of a larger political party. In this case, perhaps the party we chose couldn't withstand the wave Tamil Nadu just witnessed.

Moral of the story:

Your work stands on its own forever, and these election results cannot undermine it by any means.

Ananthan Ayyasamy is for Tenkasi. This will stand on its own merits against the past, present, and future transient MLAs.

[Vineetha Govindasamy @VineethaGov]

@svembu @ashdev_me #ItTakesTime