Chai And A Chat #89 #ChaiAndAChat #CoronaDiaries Week 13

Hello, my dear Peeps!

Week thirteen… lucky for some, they say.

Got a drink? Right then…

  • Monday loomed ahead of me, last week. Back in school FULL TIME! I was looking forward to it, but dreading it as well. And…
  • It wasn’t that bad! I had a third of my children back. They have all grown so much, and though I was exopecting some emotional outbursts, the little lovelies settled right back in. We have a different TA in our class, but she is someone who is familiar. The difference was we have another teacher in, in the afternoon, so my lead and I have time to get set for September, with class lists, different policies etc. and planning and preparation for this class.
  • I reckon about an hour of the day is taken up with lining up ad hand washing. Some children are positiely surgical about it. Some a bit slapdash, but we send them back!
  • The children are dealing with a change in timetable, and a change in what they are allowed to use in the classroom. I am sure they find that rather strange, seeing as they had more or less free rein in the room, before. But, I am getting more one to one time with them, so that is wonderful. I can really see which children are flourishing, and which ones have stepped back, so need the extra support. It does make me wonder what sort of catch up we will have to do with the rest of the class coming back.
  • The world is strange, having to be in a bubble. But we are adapting, slowly.
  • Being back at school has knocked me for six, though, I tell you. I haave been exhausted, falling asleep early, most nights, apart from the first, where I was overtired, and ended up awake until 2am. That meant a zombiefied Ritu on Tuesday!
  • In other news, an update on our feline child, Sonu Singh. I think he may be broken… either that, or he’s too plump for the box, choosing to lay on the flap instead!
  • It was Father’s Day on Sunday which was lovely. After Hubby Dearest had his lie in, we got ready and went for a socially distanced lunch with the in-laws then chilled together at home. I spoke at lenght to Pops too, and only wished I could be there to see him, and get one of his legendary hugs. The present I got for him still hasn’t arrived and this is really frustrating me, but it will arrive soon enough.
  • I was also blessed with this comment on Instagram, this week. Fancy being someone’s favourite read! And another reader told me they were about to reread it! I feel on cloud nine. Now, someone give me time to write book two, please! If you want to have a read, click here.

This week, as well as being back at school, I have a meeting to discuss the plans for next academic year, with regards to what I will be doing. Will I be in the same year group? A different one? Who knows?

Oh, and while you’re here, did you sign up for my mailing list? I am in the middle of writing an exclusive Chickpea Curry Lit story for my subscribers, and there will be news, tips and even recipes! You know you want to join… go on! Click the pic below to sign up!

What have you been up to?

Stay safe, my dear friends!

Happy Fictional Father’s Day! – Ritu Bhathal

Pop over to my author website to read about some of my fictional fathers!

As writers, we create characters. And for the most part, those characters are human. They have families too. Today, I want to celebrate the fathers that I have shaped, within my writing. When I beg…

Source: Happy Fictional Father’s Day! – Ritu Bhathal

Spidey’s Serene Sunday – Part 275 – Mindset

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“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”

Zig Ziglar

Gotta tell you, Spidey, I am loving your chosen quote this week!

It really hones in on mindset, to me. If you want to do something, or get somewhere, you have to be positive about it, and be prepared for it, struggle or smooth passagee, to get where you want.

It’s no point sitting back on your haunches, and thinking “It’s in the bag”, because your grades are high, or because everyone always says how capable you are.

If you have the above, maybe you get a head start on achieving your goals, but if you don’t put the effort in, and expect that things will just come to you, it ain’t happening, mate.

Whereas, if you are not ‘blessed’ with the same academic abilities, or even sporting prowess, of others, that doesn’t mean you give up.

Having the belief in yourself and the attitude to match will give you a boost, then the work you put in will shoot you higher than ‘Mr Haunches’ above.

Because you know you aren’t there ‘yet‘. That is the key word.

Yet.

Yet will give you the belief that it will happen, and you are working towards it. You haven’t given up because someone said you aren’t good enough.

No. You are going to keep trying and practicing, and believing.

And you’ll do it!

I’ll share a little quote I love to keep in my mind.

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

Oscar Wilde

You can still reach unimaginable heights, as long as you belive.

So… tell me, have you ever been told you won’t be able to do something which you have been able to prove them wrong about?

Have a peaceful Sunday Peeps  And enjoy your week! ❤ 

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Author 2020 Series: Ritu Bhathal – Penning and Planning

Another week, another feature!

This Author 2020 blog series is for fiction and nonfiction indie authors who have either already published, or are due to publish, a book in 2020!

Source: Author 2020 Series: Ritu Bhathal – Penning and Planning

The Day Facebook and Instagram Erased #Sikh People

I try not to be political on my blog, but the events of the last few days have made me think about staying quiet, when it is our voices that will help, not our silence.

So the two previous posts have been in support of the #BlackLivesMatter movement that is in full flow.

During this time of unease for many in the Black community, and the extended #BAME community , as well as those not of colour, horrified by the events that took place with the murder of George Floyd, I remembered there was something else of huge importance, to me, as a Sikh, to recall.

1984.

Ten days of Terror for the Sikhs.

This was when the Indian Government launched Operations Blue Star, and there, thirty six years ago, tthebeginnings of the biggest Sikh genocide took place.

Soldiers marched into the holy shrine in Amritsar, the Golden Temple, desecrating the buildings, grounds, religious artefacts, and murdering hundreds of innocent pilgrims, man, woman, child. There was no respite.

They were there to apparently flush out Sikh Separatists after there were calls for a separate state of Khalistan for Sikhs, as there was a Pakistan for the Muslims.

It was a time filled with terror, and resulted in hundreds, if not thousands of deaths of innocent Sikh people. The Indian Government were trying to erase us, the Sikhs.

To read more about the awful happenings of those ten days, click here.

Every year, there is a peaceful remembrance, filled with emotion, remembering those who died in this mindless act, which sparked the assassination of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, by two of her Sikh bodyguards. That act then set off a domino effect of riots, rape and murder of thousands of Sikhs in Delhi, and the Punjab.

To this day, there are Sikh people who don’t know what happened to members of their families during this time.

Then, to top it off, on 3rd June of this year, amidst the Black Lives Matter uprising, the hashtags #sikh and #sikhism, which were being used to remember and highlight a key time in our community’s background, disappeared from both Facebook and Instagram.

If you tried to search it, it was blocked.

Sure, there were others, but the main hashtags for us, #sikh, and #sikhism was unsearchable.

So the Indian Goverment tried to erase us then, thirty six years ago, and now, in 2020, we have social media doing the same.

It’s back up now, but why?

Why was it deemed ‘unsuitable content’ for us to remember this injustice?

Were there too many big other movements going on?

We, as Sikhs, are right there, too, but come on social media, give us our chance to speak too!

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