TED Community » Astra Singh

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Life, Inspiring and motivating people, The miracles of the mind, Life beyond earth, Education, Photography, Nature, Exercising

Talk to me about

Technological developments in any field, anything that evokes a smile/laughter

Comments

• TEDCred score: +29.50 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• +10

  A comment on Conversation: What advice would you give a younger you?

  Jul 23 2012: Dear Casen,
  
  Thank you for posting this question. It challenges to seek deep within for an answer. There are already so many great answers in this thread you could compile them in a book. Lots of wisdom in this TED community. TED where were you in my teens!!! :)
  Although I’m with Mark Meijer on ‘no regrets about my life whatsoever’ here is mine:
  
  “Hi sweetie, You’re here to have an amazing life. Make gratitude the center of your life. However difficult it may be to understand the ‘why’ at times, learn (as soon as possible) the value of saying ‘thank you’ for everything and everybody that comes your way and ‘I’m sorry’ when you’ve done wrong, even if unintentionally. Your life will then not only be amazing…it will be awesome :)”
  
  Warm regards,
  Astra

• A comment on Conversation: I need a TED icebreaker video! How do I get someone hooked?

  Jun 9 2012: Dear Mitch,
  
  Of the TED Talks that I shared with my students these are a few that they found either inspirational, interesting, amazing, funny, thought-provoking.
  
  Sunni Brown – Doodler, unite!
  http://www.ted.com/talks/sunni_brown.html
  
  Neil Pasricha – The 3 A’s of Awesome
  http://www.ted.com/talks/neil_pasricha_the_3_a_s_of_awesome.html
  
  Charlie Todd – The shared experience of absurdity
  http://www.ted.com/talks/charlie_todd_the_shared_experience_of_absurdity.html
  
  Julian Treasure – 5 Ways to listen better
  http://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_5_ways_to_listen_better.html
  
  Eric Whitacre – A virtual choir 2000 voices strong
  http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_whitacre_a_virtual_choir_2_000_voices_strong.html
  
  I hope this is helpful to you.
  
  Kind regards,
  Astra
• +3

  A comment on Conversation: What was your biggest obstacle or frustration during your years of conventional education?

  Mar 20 2012: One of many was certainly the incident where the class was given the, at that time, standard ‘school career test’. I was 16, the year before graduating from High School. The teachers were confused with my results, which indicated a broad interest across the spectrum of subjects instead of, what they were used to, a clear preference for either A studies (anything not B) and B studies (Medicine or at least Engineering).
  Since they didn’t know what to do with me I wasn’t bestowed the attention, support and direction the other, especially B, students were given in information on opportunities for further studies. I was on my own. Besides being branded as weird for not having one clear-cut interest it resulted in a lifelong quest for ‘What is that one thing I’m supposed to be best at?’
  
  So, although it resulted in a very interesting ride so far, the change I would like to see is: Teachers being better equipped and educated in guidance of students with regard to career choice.

• A reply on Conversation: Are there any Handsome women out there?

  Mar 17 2012: Thank you dear wonderful handsome women. I humbly curtsy to you in acceptance of your bestowal (please imagine the curtsy :)
• +1

  A comment on Talk: Brené Brown: Listening to shame

  Mar 17 2012: Thank you Brené Brown. And thank you TED because what I especially experience as refreshing is the fact that there are quite some men commenting…positively… in this thread :)
• +2

  A reply on Conversation: What is your favourite quote and why?

  Mar 15 2012: Dear Colleen,
  I’m not sure what THAT was about since the comment in question was removed but of course I can guess the nature of it. You have handled that very true to yourself, in that you always have a choice whether to accept someone’s opinion of you and make it your reality or not. You’re far better off when choosing the positive ones :)
  
  About the "Dialogue provides a playground for thoughts to crystallize to words"…I guess we just collaborated in creating one :) How about a further adaptation: “Dialogue provides a playground for thoughts and feelings to crystallize to words”.

• A reply on Conversation: What are the books that saved Chris Anderson?

  Mar 14 2012: ‘Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar… Understanding philosophy -through jokes-‘ by Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein
  
  I’m reading it now and it is a pleasant brain tickler. Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don’t. And even when you get it, you’re not entirely sure what you got :)
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: What is your favourite quote and why?

  Mar 14 2012: Dear Colleen,
  
  I imagine that quotes may have also played an important role for you in growing to the place where you were able to say ‘(…) he was a valuable teacher as well. If I did not have an up close experience with violence, I may not have understood it quite as much.’ I applaud you for that, for I know it is not an easy road to travel to that gem of wisdom.
  
  I’m happy you like the quotes. It’s funny how sometimes an unassuming book, which Dorothy Gilman’s surely is, as opposed to renowned best-sellers or classics can have an impact on one’s life. There is one quote in particular of that book which was a life-saver:
  
  ‘The important thing is to carry the sun with you, inside of you at every moment, against the darkness. For there will be a great and terrifying darkness.’
  
  Although, at the time, I felt I had already experienced a lifetime’s worth of darkness (challenges) it psychologically prepared me for yet an even greater darkness which I was to encounter. It is from then on I managed to carry the sun with me, inside of me :)
  
  Btw I admire you for being able to provide so much feedback on other TEDsters’ posts. It provides a sense of validation and a shot of loving energy :)
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: What is your favourite quote and why?

  Mar 14 2012: Hi Wayne,
  You are most welcome and I am happy to be a part of it. It sure provides a playground for thoughts to crystallize to words :)
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: What is your favourite quote and why?

  Mar 13 2012: Thank you for the post Wayne. Throughout my life quotes have functioned as cruxes, sometimes to better deal with my particular predicament, sometimes to understand others better and mostly to steer my life in a positive direction.
  In the meantime I have come across (and assembled) a great many quotes that have helped shape my life, some intensely thought provoking and some just hilariously funny, but all with a story. I share with you two quotes I hung on to in my troubled youth:
  James Clavell –Shogun: ‘A ship, like a human being, moves best when it is slightly athwart the wind, when it has to keep it sails tight and attend its course. Ships, like men, do poorly when the wind is directly behind, pushing them sloppily on their way so that no care is required in steering or in the management of sails; the wind seems favorable, for it blows in the direction one is heading, but actually it is destructive because it induces a relaxation in tension and skill.
  What is needed is a wind slightly opposed to the ship, for then tension can be maintained, and juices can flow and ideas can germinate, for ships, like men, respond to challenge.’
  
  Dorothy Gilman-The tightrope walker: ‘A tree may be bent by harsh winds (…) but it is no less beautiful than the tree that grows in a sheltered nook, and often it bears the richer fruit. In your desperate longing to be like others, to be like everyone else, you seek to destroy what may be a song one day.’