I have always enjoyed classical music (I have played piano since I was a child) and writing - mostly for myself. I had stopped for quite a while - deciding to use whatever time I had, in raising my son and work. However, a couple of years ago, I decided I would start writing again - I decided my articles should all come from the heart.
Thank you for taking the time to read them - I am putting links for some of the articles which were originally published in the Salisbury Post Newspaper.
Some of my Salisbury Post (Newspaper) Articles
Nalini Joseph: Vision on your child's path to greatness
Nalini Joseph: What's wrong with education? - Salisbury Post
Nalini Joseph: Cancel culture dangerous for children
Nalini Joseph: Take risks, recover from defeats for greatness
Nalini Joseph: Let your child's imagination run wild - Salisbury ...
Nalini Joseph: Focus on history behind holiday for Fourth of July
Nalini Joseph: Keeping your child on even keel during ...
Nalini Joseph: Why are fewer men in local church pews?
A couple of Blogposts I have written
Unity, Diversity, Differences, Living Harmoniously
Balancing Adventure & Responsibilty - Lessons learned from my Parents
Links so you can check out my views :
Articles I've written | Inflation | The Need for Fossil based fuels and Carbon | Ukraine Crisis |
Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.
-------------- James Madison - framer of our Constitution
Strong Fiscal & Social Conservative
Nalini Joseph brings 25 years of
management experience to the table - fighting for the most vulnerable in our society - our CHILDREN.
Negotiating in courtrooms, building organizations of volunteers and forming coalitions for the rights of children.
Quote of the day :
"When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat"
Former President of our great nation Ronald Reagan
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Unity, Diversity, Differences, Living Harmoniously
From the first time I read James Madison's Federalist 10 (way back in college), I was fully convinced of his genius and still am to this day.
I am the eternal optimist and I believe there is much unity even in diversity. America is proof positive of that concept. Caucasians, African Americans, American Indians, Hispanics, Asians and first generation immigrants from all parts of the world can and do live together. NC is a microcosm of America. On my street alone, my neighbors are Caucasian, African American, Asian and first generation immigrants (like myself) - plenty of cultural and racial diversity. If we all sat down and discussed deep issues, I am sure there would be differences of opinion (perhaps vast differences) but we all live in harmony next door to each other. (I do not wish to mention any names to protect privacy here - furthermore I mention races here to illustrate my point). My son plays with the Caucasian doctor's kids across the street, my African American next door neighbor and I chat often, my next door neighbor is an American of Chinese origin and has taken the time to coach my son in the Chinese language. Never once in the past decade have I seen any issues that prohibit us from living harmoniously in the same neighborhood. Of course I am not naïve enough to think that everyone has this blessed of a neighborhood.
I completely understand that differences occur and factions are created wherever there is a group of people who have opinions on a subject. Federalist 10 - "The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man; and we see them everywhere brought into different degrees of activity, according to the different circumstances of civil society."
However, I also feel that we can have our differences and live harmoniously - walk AND chew gum at the same time. Madison prescribes later in the essay "The inference to which we are brought is, that the CAUSES of faction cannot be removed, and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its EFFECTS."
Just as in business, one does not just fire one's employees because the employee acts disgruntled every now and then. One doesn't just quit dealing with a vendor who does not fulfil his promise a couple of times. One must manage the issues in order to control the effects of the same - ("work the problem" as they say) - i.e. take into consideration overall interpersonal relationships with the offending party, try to put oneself in the other party's situation to understand why the problem occurred, and maybe even teach the other party how perhaps they can change their operations in order to avoid future problems or strike a compromise. "Life is all about the tradeoffs we make" (Thomas Sowell). Double-back and look at the bigger picture, apply management principles - that is my interpretation of what Madison is saying.
Factions (and issues) are going to occur, for a myriad of reasons. Managing them is the only way to mitigate bad outcomes (effects). Of course when all this does not work, then countermeasures must be employed. The extent and severity of the countermeasures must always be within the prescriptions of the law, adhere to one's personal moral code, always keeping the larger good in mind (no place for ego in the decision making process).
Diversity, unlike what the far left may feel, is NOT a zero-sum game. The majority of the populace (who want unity) does not have to lose in order for minorities to prosper. "Wokeism" and "Safe spaces" have led to separate dorms and/or gyms for minorities at some public universities. So thanks to the far left we are on a trajectory of moving back to pre 1950's segregation - now that's not very progressive is it? Wasn't separate but equal officially banned after 1954 (remember Brown v Education)?
Unity, to me, means making negotiated compromises to work out our differences and subsequently moving forward as a unit - in other words we negotiate, and we all get some of what we want (not all of what either party wants). No whining about what we don't get.
In conclusion:
A sure-shot way of fostering unity in diversity was prescribed very eloquently by James Madison - I reiterate his prescription - "the CAUSES of faction cannot be removed, and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its EFFECTS". Maybe it's time to try the method outlined by the man who framed our constitution.
Balancing Adventure & Responsibilty - Lessons learned from my Parents
Each school morning, I used to drive through the circle, waiting for my turn to drop off. As I would sit in the car smiling and watching my son fumble around with his book bag (which weighed more than he did), his water bottle and lunch bag, I would secretly wait for what used to be my favorite part of the morning. His smile, a hug and kiss from him, and a “I love you Mama”. That sublime warm feeling inside doesn’t get any better. The only thing that can perhaps exceed that feeling is replying back with “I love you too Baba”. He would then trudge off to his classroom.
He's all grown up now, at the ripe old age of 12, but his daily morning "I love you Mama" is still my strength "potion" to help me make it through the day.
The very word “love” seems quite inadequate in its scope when I consider what I feel when I hear or say that word “love” to him. When put into context with the usage above, other contexts seem almost too excessive. For instance, I may say “Wow, I love my job” after a particularly fulfilling day of winning a battle in court for an abused child.
The issue is not the context or the feeling of love. Perhaps it is in the inadequacy of the English language to express the various related feelings. The ancient Greek philosophers understood this quite well and expressed love in as many as seven different types of love.
What I feel for my son is what they called agape – a universal, divine type of love. The love I feel for my job is perhaps best described as philautia, which is a love that we extend to others by showing them care, concern and goodwill. I think you will immediately recognize the problem with this whole Greek system – although it is indeed quite a bit more advanced than our common everyday usage of the word “love”, it is at the same time much more difficult to determine which aspect of love we are feeling depending on the circumstance and the subjects involved.
In a time when blatant hate seems to permeate our nation, I have noted that not many politicians use their platform to talk much about love. When we take a look at history, we see that many of these politicians that demonstrated and worked towards love were assassinated. Thankfully, these messages of love live on long after their demise. Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. both were proponents of philia – brotherly love between those of different races and religions.
The pandemic brought out the best (and worst) in us, we witnessed first responders, nurses, physicians and others who put their lives on the line to help hundreds of thousands of their fellow Americans. What an immense showing of philia! Many of our friends and family members are alive today because of the love shown by these heros, these good samaritans in our hour of need as a nation.
On the other hand, there were those who took our differences and turned them into divisions and as our divisions grew deeper, the dividers took full advantage of the situation. I think most sane people understood that this widening chasm was going to create a volcanic eruption. If only all the energy expended in promulgating hate could have been channeled into love.
After a long day, regardless of what has transpired - good or bad, my little boy’s hug and “Mama I love you” reassures me all that all is well with my soul. My prayer is for love to heal our fractured nation, for our leaders to find common ground beyond their partisanship, and above all, to assure us that all will be well in this great nation.