Gayathri Vamsi, a mother of two active boys and the Founder of Buzzing Bees, shares some insights about her life and her venture. She conducts different classes for Children as well as parents such as Phonics, Social Skills, Reading Club, Young Authors, Mystic Mythology (Shlokas, Stories and values from Indian Mythology), Mom and me (Mother and Toddler activities), Emotional Intelligence, Minipreneurs a design thinking curriculum for kids. She also conducts a few workshops for parents and teachers along with children, such as Happy Parenting, No more yelling, Parenting during Pandemic, Power of Positive Moms, Raising Reader, Classroom Behaviour and may others. Let us meet this talented mom.
Tell us about your self.
I am a MBA Graduate from VIT University. Happily married to Vamsi Guntha a CA by qualification. He shifted gears and started on his own company Propl Inventions catering to Data, Digital and Design.
I have 2 boys My Champ and My Rockstar who are super active n typical boys. They reach me, they make me think, they are my lifelines.
We moved to Bangalore after living in UK n US for more than 10 years and we are absolutely loving our time here. Nothing like being home close to family and friends and breathing our own air.
What is the major difference in upbringing your children in US and India ?
There are many differences but few I personally feel are that am less stressed in India is that I don’t have to put a lot of effort to gel in or accepted by others.
Parenting in India is more efficient as they are growing up with all the family around. My in laws,my parents, my sister is a huge influence on my children.
How did you get your boys to do household chores?
My boys were involved in everything I do at home right from a very young age. It started more as activities when they were young to engage them and eventually a responsibility. I struggled when I moved abroad and didn’t want my kids to experience the same and I decided I would invest time in inculcating life skills.
The chores kind of reduced after we moved to India due to their busy schedules and our house helpers,who took care of majority of the chores but they always pitched in everything that was left to us.
But now in the Covid times, they have pulled their sleeves and we are doing everything possible together. I can proudly say that my boys have learnt to take care of dishes, laundry, sweeping and mopping, bathroom cleaning and basics of cooking during lockdown.
I don’t tell them that they are helping me or get paid for the chores as it is every individual’s responsibility to manage the house.
Tell us about your venture Buzzing Bees ?
BuzzingBees Learning for life is an after school enrichment center with a mission to empower children through reading. I strongly believe that every child must be given the opportunity to fall in love with books and reading.
While I lived in the US I had some great oppurtinities to learn about reading, story telling, my boys got introduced to books at a very young age. I collected thousands of children’s books for them, had oppurtinities to develop curiculums for them and few places where I volunteered.
BuzzingBees is a humble effort to reach out to community of the same that I used for my children. Every book, the initial furniture, material, games and activities I use at the center is what I hand picked for my kids and it’s like living their childhood again with my kids at the center.
In this 2 years I met awesome educators, met amazing parents who trusted my work and appreciated and slowly I became one of their family members.
Slowly I have started conducting parent workshops, guiding parents to see better behavior among children and the best oppurtinity that knocked my door was to teach NTT which I thoroughly enjoyed and learnt.
Why is Emotional Intelligence important for children ?
Emotional Intelligence is child’s ability to identify control and express his or her emotions. A high EQ helps children solve problems communicate effectively with others and helps them take right decisions and enhance their self-confidence.
Why are we failing as a society to make our children more human ? Why do people lack empathy today ?
As a society we have focused more on raising successful kids and kind of forgetting values kindness and care. We are running a rat race and kids learn what is important to adults not by listening to what we say but by saying what brings our attention. Since childhood we teach them that ,when they listen or hear adults working towards achieving lifestyle choices instead of individual happiness, they also learn the same.
We are in a competitive world and our lives are revolving around things and materialistic possessions. We have forgotten to nurture kindness in ourselves. People lack empathy today because, we like human interactions but we interact through electronic devices most of the times, which takes away the emotional connections and human experience.
How can children with good Emotional Intelligence bring a change in our society ?
Children with high EQ have strong understanding of their own their own emotions as well as others. They know how to develop and maintain good relationships, communicate clearly influence and inspire others work well in a team, manage conflict, stress and maintain good health. They bring in a positive approach to society by focusing more on we rather than I.
Is lack of Emotional Intelligence related to increase in crime in our society?
There are many reasons to today’s problems like increase in crime, etc.
Personally I feel lack of emotional bonding, busy parents, high peer pressure, we have forgotten to be kind.
We should practice to slow down, show ur Gratitude to what we are blessed with, spend more quality time with our dear ones.
Parents must be aware of every moment of their children, am not saying we should police around but we should be aware what’s happening in their lives, create a open channel of communication where child is encouraged to talk about anything and everything. Be non judgemental about what they are sharing and practice empathy and build strong amd deeper bonds with children.
How does reciting shlokas help us in calming down ?
Shloka recitation helps us in calming down our minds. Chanting Slokas also helps us to improve concentration and memory because slokas emit vibrations that activate the chakras in our body. It also helps in sharpening our intellect. While reciting slokas, it develops the cognitive functions, builds and retains memory. It is one of the natural ways to boost our immune systems.
Very often I come across parents, who share that their children have calmed down and are not hyper anymore. Those children now know how to handle themselves by reciting a Sholka or by just meditating or by sitting silently.
I remember one parent , who had shared that her 6 year old is no longer hyper and is now able to sit in one place for longer duration. Even her in-laws and parents are surprised and shocked rather to see how well the child is she’s able to sit for such longer duration of time, which was which she was not able to do earlier.
What are the things you would like to change about our education system?
When it comes to our Indian education system, I would like to enhance our curriculum by involving more life skills, like problem solving, creativity, critical thinking, relationship management, emotional intelligence etc. and bringing in more practical awareness for children.
How do you balance family and career?
My career just started just started 2 years I go and as of now I’m able to manage and balance it well. I can say that I am able to implement all my managerial skills that again through my MBA, very well here. Few things that I would like to add here is to prioritize your day, set your to-do thing, to do list very well, maintain your schedules and routines and stick onto it as much as possible. I’m multitasking the kitchen and making use of all the available gadgets to minimize my effort.
To ensure that we are connected emotionally as a family we try to spend as much time as possible without any distractions. We always eat our dinner together and we share our best moments throughout the day and I try as much as possible to grow along with my children.
Any message.
I believe that the ability to triumph begins with you. There is never a right moment to start anything you are passionate about. You start taking the first step and the rest follows.
– Gayathri
Work is never work when you are passionate about it. Always take care of yourself and remember you can’t pour from an empty cup.
Pray, respect all and follow yours.
You can contact Gayathri through Facebook, in case you want to enroll your children for any classes or to seek any parental guidance.
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