H. H. Maharaja Hanwant Singh Memorial Girls College

Teaching English Core and Literature to undergraduate students in an interactive classroom setup.

English Lecturer

Content Writer

Medium

Blogger 

Mahila Mahavidyalaya ,Kamala Nehru Nagar ,Soor Sagar Road ,Jodhpur

Taught English Literature to undergraduate and postgraduate students in an interactive classroom setup.

Ghostwriter

The Blahcksheep

English Translator

Wizcraft Publications, Media and Distribution

Academic content developer

G.D. Memorial College, Jodhpur

English Literature, General English and Communication skills educator.

Assistant Professor Of English

Hi reader! 👋
 
An educator turned writer here. 

Someone, who believes in persistent learning herself, and facilitating knowledge for others.

A strong proponent of the fact that  reader-response is paramount and hence clarity is the cleverest thing you can do to your content. 

Educating young and curious learners by the day, writing is what I spend my evenings on, and what fuels the life-force within. Hence, currently seeking remote opportunities in the vistas of content development. 

My experience—

🔷As a writer: 
I have an experience in Academic Writing (Developing LMS related content for undergraduates of English literature); Ghostwriting blogs and newsletters on LinkedIn; creating social media content for an NGO that I work for. 

🔷As an educator:
Till now I've taught English to learners from diverse backgrounds from secondary and higher secondary students to  university students. I'm currently teaching English literature and language to undergraduate students(part-time role). 


🔷What you can expect?

Get in touch if you need someone who can take your content/copy requirements to the next level and who believes  that content should be essentially human because it reaches a human being. 

⚡ Preferred niches: Education; Literature; Cinema; Sustainability; Fashion(particularly slow fashion); Mental health and Lifestyle.

🩵When not working, I can be found curled up with a non-fic; scribbling tiny poems; out in the nature trekking or baking up some goodies in my kitchen. :)


📩For further enquiries: himaani3.5@gmail.com

See you on the other side! 🌻

We've all been there.

Cursing ourselves when we face failures, setbacks or a loss, sometimes for a personal one too.

Endlessly wishing that we might have done things a slightly different way, or we might have pushed a little harder and got what we wanted. 

But most of the times, the tides do not turn our way. We're left in a rut, and all our thinking boils down to a single point of focus— "There's something definitely wrong with me." 

The worse case scenario, we start to draw the blinds on everything and everyone, everything that makes us happy and depression and anxiety follow suit.

So how do we train our minds to think positive in such difficulties and adverse situations?

If we are listening carefully, there's a little birdie of hope that sits on the tree of our mind. 

She perches on the soul, and sings a tune every time we start something new, or even when we face a setback, sometimes loud and clear, other times deep and faint— but never stops singing what she wants to say.

All we need to do is to listen to that song of hope, coming from within, and it will provide us the strength we need during our toughest times. 

At times, this little birdie may come from a person we trust. So we shouldn't hesitate to reach out and talk to them about our pain. It could be a best friend, a loved one or a therapist. 

As William Shakespeare rightly said, "Sweet are the uses of adversity," in difficult times we should assure ourselves that the difficult and painful times only come because there is something in ourselves that needs strengthening and rebuilding.

We can only rise up from our negative thinking patterns if we make space for positive experiences in our life by listening to the mellow tune of hope always residing within us. ✨🎶

"Hope" is whispering a song. Are you listening? 

~Himani
#inktricaciesbyhimani #hope #writer #linkedincreators

Himani J.

You know what's the most difficult thing in life?

Reaching your goals?

Having that coveted job?

Being surrounded by a perfect company of people?

Nope, none of these things is the most difficult to achieve. Then what?

The most difficult thing in life is to actually keep the promises you made to yourself.

When you promised yourself that you will make that effort to make the required changes to your schedule so that you incorporate that 45 minute yoga routine into your life.

When you promised yourself that you will work on your toxic habits, one at a time, instead of always finding one in the people around you.

When you promised yourself that no matter what, you will carve out that time each and everyday to work a step closer to that goal which isn't letting you sleep.

When you keep those promises to yourself, when you can be honest, truly honest with yourself— that's when you gain a power no one can snatch from you. Nothing in the world can match that state of bliss. Nothing like that building of trust on yourself.

Isn't it?
~Himani
#inktricaciesbyhimani #habits #goals #bliss

A Teacher's Perspective
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm tired of all the narratives holding teachers  liable for most that is wrong with people's lives. When I look back on my life, I realise most of what I am today has been shaped by my teachers, or my parents (who played the role of the best mentors). They are solely the reason(both the good and the bad teachers) I chose to be one myself.


For instance, during my 9-10th grade, there was an English teacher whom everyone hated. I too, did not like her much, I admit, because of her extremely harsh behaviour and no respect for the other's feelings. She used to say just anything to any student without a filter. But she did taught her subject well. 


She used to make a lot of corrections while marking our essays/articles and took a separate period to point those mistakes out to every student in front of the whole class. Good or bad, everything was discussed. Might not have been a very good thing to do, I agree. But that was her way of doing it. 


I don't know about others, but this worked on me, who was a sensitive and introverted child back then. This method made me to correct my mistakes then and there, thinking how she emphasized that we won't make the same mistakes in our board exams. Because that was the ultimate thing that matters, right?


My point being, teachers are there to guide us, to make us find our paths and to make sure that we do well in our lives. Sometimes they tell us exactly that in a manner we may not like, but it should still be 'the message' for us. 


It is a common practice in today's schools to keep a watch on the tiniest activities of the teacher and keep pointing that out to them everytime. Sometimes they are not even allowed to teach anything extra beyond the syllabus or to allow room for an unconventional creative approach because they have to follow a strict curriculum. Teachers are no gods, they are human beings, creative souls, and they might make mistakes while it's unintended.  We don't have to make them realise this all the time.


They have to manage the temperaments of more than 200 minds per day, each, a unique one(in addition to the organisation of numerous other school activities and the everyday concerns of parents). They're already overburdened especially in a country like India where teacher to student ratio is a joke.  Even if they show a bit anger in disciplining the child, they want them to become better than they are. Accept the human in them and cut them some slack, if you can't respect them.
~Himani 
.
.
.
P.S. This post in no way intend to support the mental or physical abuse that some teachers resort to. 


#inktricaciesbyhimani #teaching #learning #education #storytelling

How to Beat Your Inner Demons and Stick to Your Resolutions? 


Sticking to resolutions is the toughest nut to crack for most people. Isn't it?


Let's assess the problem at hand. For that we've to first see what's it that holds us back from living a life fulfilling those dreams?


A few ways which might help:


1. Accept Your Demons:
The first crucial step to overcome our demons is to accept that they are there. Most people don't do that. This includes stepping back from your current situation a little and watching the problem from every possible aspect, from a distance. To realize that you are a mightier force than them and can easily overcome them. This can be done by changing our surroundings for a while. For e.g. going on a trek alone in the hillside, or  going to the top of your building and watching the tiny cars on the road below.


2. Knowledge that the Binary Opposite to our Demon Also Exists:
The next step is the knowledge that every demonic trait of ours has an associated angelic trait to it. As Mark Manson puts it— "...And our demons are just the other side of our best qualities. To give up one would be to give up both. As such, we cannot honor the best in ourselves without also honoring what we also fear to be worst about ourselves.  And the stronger our drive is to dissociate from our demons, the larger our demons become." 


3. Befriend Your Demons:
People often think that they can "defeat" or beat their demons once and for all. But that is not how it works. No matter how much we try to, we cannot win with our deepest insecurities and fears. The demons are what makes you "you." They are the shadow of your virtuous side. We can't entirely separate them from us. We can only overcome them. And how do we do that? Well, by befriending them. By identifying their existence in your life and accepting them as a part of you. This process is much easier for some people than it is for others. This could include jotting down our problems on a paper for achieving clarity and consciousness. 


4.  There's Nothing Special About Your Problems:
Everyone has their own demons that they hate with all their heart. If you think that you have a crippling fear of failing a competitive exam for which you’ve been studying for a year, on which your dream career stands; someone may have it worse– they are terrified that they can never form an intimate relationship, even with the person they love, because they have faced abandonment from someone they loved deeply in the past. Developing this realization that we aren't unique in our suffering gives us a more mature perspective towards our issues.


These steps in addition to creating realistic goals will surely help in sticking to those resolutions you made for yourself. Also, it won't work if you keep on working without a break. Sharing your struggles with a friend or professional will make you feel lighter and would help stay in track.

Cheers!
~Himani
#inktricaciesbyhimani #goals #dreams

17 April 2024


Writing happens even when you're not writing.

Surprised much?

According to structuralists like Jacques Derrida, writing happens even before speaking, as we are writing it in our minds first. What we "write" on our minds everyday become our thoughts and makes its way to our speech and eventually to our writing.

Aristotle also said, and I quote, "Spoken words are symbols of mental experience and written words are the symbols of spoken words."

Are we "writing" enough to replace the sad and negative thoughts with the powerful and productive ones in our minds?

Isn't it a cool thing that we all are writers in a way! :D

So, as a writer and also as a person, what is it that you're writing upon your minds today? 
-Himani

We've all been there.

Cursing ourselves when we face failures, setbacks or a loss, sometimes for a personal one too.

Endlessly wishing that we might have done things a slightly different way, or we might have pushed a little harder and got what we wanted. 

But most of the times, the tides do not turn our way. We're left in a rut, and all our thinking boils down to a single point of focus— "There's something definitely wrong with me." 

The worse case scenario, we start to draw the blinds on everything and everyone, everything that makes us happy and depression and anxiety follow suit.

So how do we train our minds to think positive in such difficulties and adverse situations?

If we are listening carefully, there's a little birdie of hope that sits on the tree of our mind. 

She perches on the soul, and sings a tune every time we start something new, or even when we face a setback, sometimes loud and clear, other times deep and faint— but never stops singing what she wants to say.

All we need to do is to listen to that song of hope, coming from within, and it will provide us the strength we need during our toughest times. 

At times, this little birdie may come from a person we trust. So we shouldn't hesitate to reach out and talk to them about our pain. It could be a best friend, a loved one or a therapist. 

As William Shakespeare rightly said, "Sweet are the uses of adversity," in difficult times we should assure ourselves that the difficult and painful times only come because there is something in ourselves that needs strengthening and rebuilding.

We can only rise up from our negative thinking patterns if we make space for positive experiences in our life by listening to the mellow tune of hope always residing within us. ✨🎶

"Hope" is whispering a song. Are you listening? 
-Himani

April 7, 2024

On Manifestation


The concept of manifestation has been the talk of the town lately, and for all the right reasons— we all want to fulfill our dreams and achieve big in life.

At the same time, there has also been a lot of confusion on how to do it, for reasons understandable. Most of the people want to go for short-lived but dopamine boosting methods, others think that it simply doesn't work. So let's get our facts straight. 

As life coach Mel Robbins puts it— Manifesting is preparing your mind, body and spirit to help you take the action to get what you want. In other words, it is like a training you undergo to get to your desired goals. It's like socializing and rehearsing your mind to help you take the steps before you actually take the steps. What you do while manifesting is that, you remove the obstacles of self-doubt, resistance, caution, minutiae and overwhelm.  The "action" is all what it boils down to, in the end.

What manifestation isn't—
It's not thinking thoughts, hoping, or wishing that they come true.
It happens when your thoughts actually inspire you to "take the required actions" to get those things.

For e.g., while preparing for a big recruitment exam, we only think about the end result, i.e., the job we will be selected in. Sometimes to an unhealthy degree that we lose our focus on studying for the exam altogether. So, rather than unhealthy obsession of the end-goal, we should be focusing on the actual steps that would ultimately be taking us to the final destination. That is manifestation in its trust sense.

-Himani

I listen when I write.

This comes from a person who had social anxiety(still battling some forms of it), who hung out with depression as her best buddy for years, who had a tough time interacting with anything that involved "people."

Someone who found solace in a journal more than friends.

A blacksheep who disappointed her family in most aspects- grades, demeanour and health; who started writing when she found she could never connect with people same way as others did, and no one could possibly get her except a journal.

Who found her thoughts together only when she wrote, and only when she wrote, she could hold herself together.

Who never walked but trudged about life. Who had to write her thoughts every single time before she could interact with anyone.

Only when she wrote, she felt a sense of calm returning, a cool breeze flowing amidst summers and the written pages giving a warm hug in the wintery days.

She wrote to listen, to listen to the voices which nobody else could hear, not even her.

From the days when writing equalled thinking for me(scribbling like crazy till she achieved some clarity), to posting silly little poems on my socials, towards the present where writing is a career, I have come a long way.

Although, I still journal for clarity, I listen my thoughts more clearly as I write, but the practice isn't as frequent as it was back then.

Wished that timid and depressed teenager would just knew bad times come to an end, there are good humans, and things can get better for real. And most importantly, she too can make friends, friends with herself, and people like you all. 
~Himani

April 13, 2024


You know what's the most difficult thing in life?

Reaching your goals?
Having that coveted job?
Being surrounded by a perfect company of people?

No, none of these things is the most difficult to achieve. Then what?

The most difficult thing in life is to actually keep the promises you made to yourself.

When you promised yourself that you will make that effort to make the required changes to your schedule so that you incorporate that 45 minute yoga routine.

When you promised yourself that you will work on your toxic habits, one at a time, instead of always finding one in the people around you.

When you promised yourself that no matter what, you will carve out that time each and everyday to reach a step closer to that goal which isn't letting you sleep.

When you keep those promises to yourself, when you can be honest, truly honest with yourself— that's when you gain a power no one can snatch from you. 

Nothing in the world can match that state of bliss. Right?

~Himani

19 April 2024 


The Kaizen Principle

Kaizen is a Japanese method which is the ultimate guide to continuous self-improvement  in order to reach our goals. It focuses on  getting better little-by-little and day-by-day and not all at once. 

Kaizen is a wonderful approach when it comes to achieving our goals with efficiency. How? It tells us to take small but actionable steps towards our goals. It tells us to break a huge and seemingly impossible task into smaller, achievable  tasks. It's the most sustainable way to live our life.

Following are the benefits of using this beautiful philosophy in our lives:
— overcoming laziness
— inducing more happiness hormones into one's body
— a sense of freedom and achievement
— a prolonged disciplined mindset as we learn to achieve more through repeated efforts
—experiencing continuous and sustainable development within oneself

I've been using this method over the years without knowing its name and it has been a valuable experience for me. Experiencing that sense of confidence and seeing those incremental changes feels so great!
So, are you eager to employ such a wonderful method into your lives?
-Himani

1st April 2024, Day 1

A Teacher's Perspective

I'm tired of narratives discrediting teachers for most that is wrong with people's lives. When I look back on my life, I realise most of what I am today has been shaped by my teachers, or my parents (who played the role of the best mentors). They might be the reason(both the good and the bad ones) I chose to be one myself.

For instance, there was an English teacher whom everyone hated. I too, did not like her much, I admit, because of her extremely harsh behaviour and no respect for the other's feelings. She used to say just anything to any student without a filter. But she taught her subject well. She used to make a lot of corrections while marking our essays and took a separate period to point those out to every student in front of the whole class. Good or bad, everything was discussed. Not a very good thing to do, I agree. But that made me to correct my mistakes then and there, thinking how she cared that we won't make the same mistakes in our board exams. Because that was the ultimate thing that matters, right?

My point being, teachers are there to guide, to make us find our paths and to make sure that we do well in our lives. Sometimes they tell us exactly that in a manner we may not like, but it should still be the message for us. Teachers are no gods, they are humans too, they will make mistakes. We don't have to make them realise this all the time. They're already overburdened especially in a country like India where teacher to student ratio is a joke. Accept the human in them, especially if they're a bit harsh or rude, in disciplining you, and cut them some slack, if you can't respect them.
~Himani

April 3,2024; Day 3


Some incidents indeed leave an unerasable mark on you. I used to be the first one to run away at any opportunity to speak or present myself on stage. The timid, shy and extremely introverted kid for whom the world would come to an end when she would start speaking on stage. You got the picture.

I stayed away from debates, extempores and dance competition as a deer from a tiger. Until one of my teachers started recognising this trait of mine and would start suggesting my name at news reading in the assembly. For she knew I feared stage and speaking so much that I would never jump right into participating in debate competition. This was in secondary school.

This step proved to be a successful one because I started to love the process after I first made that appearance. Gradually I started challenging myself to more and more speaking events and competitions. Came to a point where I successfully anchored a college event and won a consolation prize at a inter-college debate competition. 

All of this made me come to a stage where I now teach youngsters  how to improve their communication skills and remove stage fear. 

However I still have that spine-chilling feeling whenever I have to speak before a public. But I have learnt to calm down my anxiety and deliver my message successfully. I cannot say with affirmity that I am a good orator— I still have a lot to improve. But it sure feels better.

To all my fellow introverts out there who struggle with stage fear, I will say, it gets better. The anxious feeling will slowly go away or you will learn to manage it but only after numerous attempts of getting there on the stage and sharing your thing. 
~Himani

How to Beat Your Inner Demons and Stick to Your Resolutions? 


Sticking to resolutions is the toughest nut to crack for most people.

Now, to assess the problem at hand we need to first see what is it that holds us back from living a life of our desires and from fulfilling those dreams.

There are a few ways which might help:

1. Accept Your Demons:
The first crucial step to overcome our demons is to accept that they are there. Most people don't do that. This includes stepping back from your current situation a little and watching the problem from every possible aspect, from a distance. To realize that you are a mightier force than them and can easily overcome them. This can be done by changing our surroundings for a while. For e.g. going on a trek alone in the hillside, or  going to the top of your building and watching the tiny cars on the road below.

2. Knowledge that the Binary Opposite to our Demon Also Exists:
The next step is the knowledge that every demonic trait of ours has an associated angelic trait to it. As Mark Manson puts it— "...And our demons are just the other side of our best qualities. To give up one would be to give up both. As such, we cannot honor the best in ourselves without also honoring what we also fear to be worst about ourselves.  And the stronger our drive is to dissociate from our demons, the larger our demons become." 

3. Befriend Your Demons:
People often think that they can "defeat" or beat their demons once and for all. But that is not how it works. No matter how much we try to, we cannot win with our deepest insecurities and fears. The demons are what makes you "you." They are the shadow of your virtuous side. We can't entirely separate them from us. We can only overcome them. And how do we do that? Well, by befriending them. By identifying their existence in your life and accepting them as a part of you. This process is much easier for some people than it is for others. This could include jotting down our problems on a paper for achieving clarity and consciousness. 

4.  There's Nothing Special About Your Problems:
Everyone has their own demons that they hate with all their heart. If you think that you have a crippling fear of failing a competitive exam for which you’ve been studying for a year, on which your dream career stands; someone may have it worse– they are terrified that they can never form an intimate relationship, even with the person they love, because they have faced abandonment from someone they loved deeply in the past. Developing this realization that we aren't unique in our suffering gives us a more mature perspective towards our issues.

These steps in addition to creating realistic goals will surely help in sticking to those resolutions you made for yourself during the beginning of the year. Also, it's not always important to hustle. Sharing your struggles with a friend or a therapist will make you feel lighter and would help stay in track with those goals.
Cheers!
~Himani

15 April 2024

"All things that are, are with more spirit chased than enjoyed."
-William Shakespeare


Found this quote lurking in one of my old journals. Wrote it during my college days. The quote belongs to Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. I had also written an interpretation beneath it. Sharing it here with a little tweaks here and there. 

We humans, trapped in this huge rat race, chase one thing or success after the other, yet are never satiated and still want more. We're delighted at the prospect of achievement. We struggle, we dream about getting it everyday and finally when we get what we want, what all we acquire, than mere pride.

All of a sudden we stop enjoying it as much as we did while chasing it. And we don't understand why 🤔

Yeah, I agree it doesn't happen with everyone but there's some truth in it, isn't it?

The real joy lies, not in the achievement itself, but in the journey we undertake in order to reach to that goal, to acquire that achievement. 


That was my take on a popular quote. How would you interpret this quote?

-Himani

April 21, 2024


How conversations are drastically changing today?

Nobody debates nowadays.

And by debate I mean the true debate  where even if you don't agree with a certain viewpoint or an ideology, you don't try to demean or bully the person by all possible means, you're contented and try to understand the other person's point of view too! 
Nowadays, it's all either agreeing to a certain ideology or being completely against it—which is not at all healthy.
In my opinion, the internet and social media has done more harm than good in this case as people are now being more polarised than ever. The politics in power is also to blame for this. An idea which doesn't support the majority, should be suppressed by all means. And what's a better way to bring a polar opposite idea in existence, even if mostly fabricated, and amplifying it so it does its job of suppressing the previous idea pretty well.

So, what do we want here?
We need to listen to a viewpoint that isn't aligning with ours simply to open those doors of our mind which were never being opened before. Maybe there is something, a  human experience, a better life philosophy, or a deep insight waiting to unfold its existence before us, but couldn't, because well, we just won't listen to a different opinion than ours.

The world would be much better with all those colourful ideas, with diversity around instead of people with black or white, or all- or-nothing approaches.
-Himani

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