gopala.org

Today I taught a few classes. They had photo shoots which really stuffed up my lessons. I guess that’s all part of the job though so I better get used to that stuff happening. What that translates into is not simply doing the lesson tommorrow that we had planned today – no, we have to…

A village pandit was very devoted to the memory of his departed father. He used to say, “The father is God incarnate. We are able to enjoy earthly pleasures by his mercy only. I do not accept any other deity except that of my father.” The pandita’s favorite verse was pita svarga pita dharma pita…

Today went pretty smoothly – nothign too exciting though. The students took to my design lesson pretty enthusiatically. That’s good because they will be doing it for the next three lessons. As we were told in Prof Studies – preparation is so essential to good teaching. As a new teacher I can see that if…

This expression, “the right whip for the right dog”, derives from a verse spoken by Srila Sukadeva Gosvami in SB Canto 10, chapter 68, verse 31: nunam nanamadonnaddhah santim necchantyasadhavah tesam hi prasamo dandah pasunam lagno yatha [Lord Balarama said] “Clearly the many passions of these scoundrels have made them so proud that they do…

Today I taught a few classes. One was on databases. It was interesting because I made a few mistakes in my teaching. I accidentally chose an example that did not work out according to plan. It was glaringly obvious that I did not think this out well ahead of time – but I’m glad I…

A blind man was once trying to negotiate the path to his father-in-law’s house with the help of only his walking stick. In a field nearby he heard a cowherd boy humming a tune to himself. The blind man hailed the boy and asked, “Kindly lead me to the house of my father-in-law. It is…

Each morning the brahmanas gathered on the bank of the holy Ganges and offered their prescribed prayers to the Lord. Each of them brought with him a copper vessel for offering water. Unfortunately, because these copper vessels were indistinguishable from one another, they were always getting mixed up between brahmanas. So one old brahmana got…

A wretched beggar stood outside the entrance to a temple, supporting his emaciated body by embracing a pillar. A gentleman approached the temple after having bathed in the Ganges. Seeing the ragged fellow clinging to the pillar outside, the gentleman felt compassionate and purchased some popcorn. He brought it to the poor man and offered…

Taught two classes today – one maths and one IM. The maths one was at the last period of the day so that presented a few challenges. I tried to engage their higher thinking skills by explaining how algebra (and all maths based upon it) is really just a matter of simplification – or taking…

Once a man fell into a deep well. There was no way for him to free himself. He shouted for help, and finally a kind-hearted passerby flung a rope down to him, telling him “Just hold tightly to this rope and I will pull you up.” The man shouted back, “Help me to hold the…

Srila Prabhupadevastaka Eight Prayers Offering Obeisances to Srila Prabhupada sri-sri-navadvipa-para-pradipah sandipyamanah satato bhuviha cetas-tamo hanti hi yasya yatnan namami tam sri-prabhupadadevam sri sri-most glorious; navadvipa-of Navadvipa; para-transcendental; pradipah-lamp; sandipyamanah-brilliantly blazing; satatah-eternal; bhuvi-in the world; iha-here; cetah-of the heart; tamah-the darkness of ignorance; hanti-destroys; hi-indeed; yasya-of whom; yatnat-because of the endeavor; namami-I offer my respectful obeisances;…

A very poor non-Hindu brought a hen to market to sell. He had no experience in bazaar salesmanship, but he observed that the more aged rice, tamarind and ghee was, the bigger price it fetched. Thinking that older goods must be somehow always be more costly, he thought he should advertise his hen as being…

Today I taught a new group of girls for the first time. We went over classroom procedures and the rules of the computer lab. I also got to introduce myself and tell them a little bit about me. They immediately responded and were very attentive throughout the whole period. They really like personalism although my…

There was an upstart who developed a philosophy of protest against the rule of nature over the living entities. Once, while musing over his ideas he concluded that the sky caused the most problems of all features of nature, because from the sky came thunderstorms, lightning, hurricanes, tornados, hail, sleet and snow. In a sudden…

Today I had an interesting experience. After my maths class I went to my year 9 Technology class where I expected to observe a relief teacher take over the class. I had actually wondered why they woulden’t just let me do the relief teaching as I have taught these students about 4 times already. Well…