Christmas is Here!!!

          This is the month of Christmas. I am waiting to go back to my hometown and start the preparations for Christmas with my family. I am very excited to go back home, as it is the time when me and my siblings come back home and spend time and enjoy together.

As part of our Christmas celebrations, we had a Secret Santa in our class. This time, our class representative arranged it in a different way. We are supposed to buy the gifts and give them to the class representative along with a note addressed to our Secret Santa. We should not write our names; instead, we need to include a few clues about ourselves, and the person who gets the gift has to guess who the sender is. After we got our Secret Santa, Me and my friends went out to buy gifts for our Christmas friends. It was a wonderful gift hunt. We went from shop to shop, and searched for gifts, which started in the afternoon, ended at 8:30 at night. All of us were very excited to arrange the gifts and exchange them, as this was our class’s last Christmas at MCC.

 

                                            Beginning of my Teaching Journey.

                         After a long break yesterday, I restarted my part-time work at Accent English Academy. I was a part of that academy since 2021. Joined there as a student and now working there as a mentor in the program "English For Kids" from April 2022. It is a platform designed exclusively for kids of the age group 5 to 13. When my sir invited me to join the academy as a mentor, I was very excited and a little afraid at first, as it was my first time as a teacher and also taking classes for little kids through the Zoom platform. I didn't have any idea at the beginning about how to start. What could I teach? Many questions like that came up in my mind. But with the support and guidance given by the main head of the academy, our dear George sir, and the support from my family, friends, and teachers, I was able to polish myself in teaching students online. Me and one of my UG classmates were the first mentors of this "English for Kids" program. By engaging with the students, it actually helped me learn many new things. I was able to rearrange and create the syllabus for the classes based on each student's area of interest. If any of the students found difficulty in learning and practicing English, extra support was given to them through special sessions. This platform for kids is a space where they can open up and speak freely, interact, and express themselves. We are not only helping them learn the English language, but we are also helping them improve their skills. I will share more about this program and my experiences there through occasional blogs. I was actually very proud because I was able to share the little knowledge I had with the kids so that it would help them in their future journey.  "Knowledge is not meant to be concealed; it should be shared."

                                          

                                                          

                                                         Different in Species, Same in Pose.

                                                         Nature is a place where human beings, plants, and animals exist together by caring for each other, right? It is our duty as conscious beings to care for our nature and other living creatures. Here at MCC, one of the things that really struck me is the creatures living here inside the campus. Especially the dogs here—they are very friendly, cute, and playful. Different from the dogs that we find outside, these dogs at MCC are different. They are very cool towards us; they come and play with us, and most importantly, they come inside our classes while teachers are giving lectures. As a new MCCian, it was a new thing for me. None of us chase it away. It walks round and round and sometimes comes towards each student, with the expectation that it will get some food from us. Last day too, a dog was there in our class, but I noticed only after the class. It found shelter in our class and was taking rest under a desk, as it was raining outside. After some time, it went outside. During the breaktime, while I was talking with my friends, we saw another one coming up through the stairs. It came before us and lay down there. Some students came towards it and caressed the dog. As my two friends were afraid of them, I stayed there with them, just watching the dog. Then, as I was sitting there, watching the dog, my friend took a photo. I asked her, "What are you doing?" Then she said she was trying to capture me and the dog in one frame. As the dog was not very close to me, I thought she wouldn't be able to get a picture. As I was looking somewhere else, she took a picture of me and that dog and showed it to me, saying that "two friends were sitting in the same pose," which actually made me laugh. Actually the caption given by her was somewhat correct. And she is the one who asked me to write about that photo in my blog, and I dedicate this to her.

                              

                                     When two nature lovers pose in the same way....😅🐶

 

                                                Through The Woods Of MCC.

                                 After coming here at MCC I came to know that our college has a farm. From then onwards I wished to go there and was waiting to get an opportunity. It was then that Rufus sir asked us to go for bird watching and he told us we can go to the farm also. Then as team with my 2 classmates and 2 juniors who were interested in bird watching and adventures, we set out. Actually, we didn't know where the farm was. We just followed the boards which showed the direction to the farm . On the way we found some birds, butterflies, owl etc. We also got 3 pines of a porcupine. After losing our way in between, at last, we reached the farm . I was very excited to go inside. Then we asked the security for permission and said that we came for bird watching, he allowed us to go inside. While we were standing at the gate, a peacock just passed before us but we were not able to get a picture. 

                   Then we walked inside looking for birds, animals and insects. There we saw egrets, cows, a calf, pigs, and also spotted some birds. While we walked to capture the picture, suddenly some puppies ran towards us. Then my friends stopped halfway. I didn't noticed it first, as I was walking slowly to take the pictures of the birds, but as I turned to ask something, I found them standing there before the puppies and were not moving from there as they were afraid of them . My juniors are very afraid of them that they began to say, "ayyo chechi.....ithine oadichu viduu..." and all . As they were little puppies, the security told us it won't do any harm. So I went there and chased the puppies away. Then took my friends along with me to take the photos. It was such an incredible walk which we started from near the Botany department and ended up near Selaiyur hall. We were able to listen to the sounds of birds and the creaking sound made by the branches of trees in the wind. Thus, one of my wish came true and we really enjoyed the walk.

Some of the pictures we took are given below

                                                    Common Mormon Butterfly

                                                White Throated Kingfisher and Black Drongo

                                                      Jungle Babbles

                                                 Common Pierrot Butterfly

                                                                  Egret

     

                                                   Common Mormon Butterfly

                                                     Pines Of Porcupine.

                                                                   MCC FARM

                                                                Banyan Tree

 

                                                      The Month of December

                                         December is the month of hope, happiness, love, sharing, and of course the very chill weather. This week is kind of a very cold one. Everyday it was raining continuously, which made most of us to remain under our blanket in early mornings and doesn't allow us to wake up. As this cold weather continued, we were not even able to dry our clothes. While walking to and from the college, and also in the class, I was literally shivering. Me and my friends were actually waiting for some hot weather. After 3 days of continuous rain, this morning appeared as a clearer one. The sun peeped through the clouds which actually gave us some kind of happiness as the long awaited guest has arrived. During the breaktime at college me and my friends went outside to get some sunlight so that we could keep ourselves warm. But the sun didn't stay for long. After one hour it again started raining, which brought back the chilling atmosphere. 

 After coming to Chennai, the one thing I understood was that the climate here is unpredictable. Even though I shiver, winter (without rain, foggy climate with little warm sunlight) is still my favorite season and December is my favorite month because, it's the month of Christmas!!🎄🎅

                                        A Foggy morning at MCC❆🌁

                                               

                                                        MEETING A FELLOW RESIDENT🦌.

                               A walk through nature is something I like a lot, it's like a "therapy" to our mind. It can refresh us mentally and physically. In one of our General essay hour, Rufus sir, as a part of Bioregional studies, asked us to go for bird watching, and also asked us to make note of the small insects, butterflies and other animals residing inside the campus. As a group of six, me and my friends went in search of birds, animals and insects. Different from the usual way of walking---by looking straight on the road---we started by looking upward towards the trees, buildings and sky in search of  birds. We were able to hear the sound of the birds but was not able to spot them. Then as we were walking on the roads near the Zoology department, I spotted a deer lying down there near the Zoology block. I was very excited. It looked like it was very tired, so I thought of helping it by giving some grass. Then I went towards it with some leaves in my hand to feed it but just stayed for a minute, because I was afraid that will it kick me from there. Then I asked my friend if it was safe and I can go feed it. Then he said of course I can go and it won't do any harm, which gave me some courage and I walked to the deer with the leaves . I tried to give the leaves to it but unfortunately it didn't eat it. Then I took it near its mouth but it simply ignored it. So I thought that maybe it was resting with a stomach full of food or it ignored the leaves because it could be the kind of leaves it does not like. I felt a little sad but also felt some joy, as at least, I was able to go near the deer and offer it some food. Many times I had wished to go near the deer like this whenever I see students sharing pictures and videos of them feeding it. This time, even though I was not able to feed, I was able to go near it. It was such a beautiful experience for me. I felt like I found some solace in the shades and sounds of nature.

Oh God! will it kick me out from here?😱

                                           Here...have some leaves 🌿🌿🌿