Here is the next Interview of Dr. Vineeta Dubey. She has done her Masters and PhD from IIT Delhi. She is the Founder and Creator of Miracles of Science which helps in propagating knowledge among kids. Miracles of Science Facebook group will help you know how your kids can learn more about Science. Do join and see how we can impart knowledge to kids.
Let’s go through her interview and understand her better and get ourselves inspired from her.
Q1: Pls give a brief about your great work & motive behind the same?
“Miracles of Science” is a platform to spread awareness of science to young kids. We believe that every child is a born scientist, with the right guidance you can help your kid develop their love for science.
The motive behind starting this organization is to make learning science interesting for kids. I strongly believe that there should be no mugging up of the concepts for this amazing subject. There are a lot of ways by which education can be made interesting for the kids. Our team is constantly working to find out as many ways as we can to make studies interesting.
Q2: What actually prompted you to start “Miracles of Science”?
Being an IITian, I always had access to all the components and instruments in the laboratory and most of the time, I learnt myself without any help because of the availability of the resources. Once I visited the “National science centre” at Delhi with my daughter who was just 2.5 years old at that time. Both of us enjoyed a lot and I realized that if you want to teach science and maths, just give the right tools to the kids and they can explore a lot with them. I always believed in the “Child led education system” and all of these incidents prompted me to start “Miracles of science”.
Q3: What’s the one thing you have done differently as a mom?
Waking up your kids early in the morning is always a big challenge for a mom. During my daughter’s early childhood, I used to set up an experiment everyday so that she can start her day with learning something new and exciting. In this way, I managed her to wake up early while teaching a good science lesson.
Q4: How will you balance work and family obligations?
Things don’t come easy to women. I have divided the office time and family time in a fair proportion. Weekends are more important to spend time with your family. I prefer to spend my Sundays as no screen days. Whenever I need to manage some family obligations on weekdays, I simply ask my family to manage household chores on weekends so that I can compensate for the work I missed during weekdays
Q5: How do you keep your life interesting and exciting?
India is a land of festivals. I just love to celebrate the festivals in a traditional manner. This gives me a break from work and I feel re-energized after having a good quality time with my family. Visiting like-minded people always keeps me motivated. During my childhood, I had a lot of hobbies like playing synthesizer, music, kathak, art and crafts. Now my daughter is a grown up girl, so I enjoy my hobbies with her.
Q6: How good are you with Time Management? Rate yourself out of 10. Managing all chores of home, work, kid, husband etc. Quote some examples..
Time management is one thing I am still learning. I believe that all the chores can only be managed well when we have a person exclusively taking care of the home and kids. This pandemic and online classes for kids has actually worsened the situation. For managing the work-life balance, I prefer to hire house help as my younger one is just 1.5 years old. I prefer to keep the house clean, but I ignore it if it’s not at par during weekdays. I try to plan everything (including what I am going to wear, what curry my maid will prepare on weekdays) on Sundays so that I can work throughout the weekdays with less hassles.
Q7: What coping mechanisms have you found to be helpful with regard to lack of sleep and fatigue?
Good music has always proved to be a remedy for all my pains. Morning/ evening walks make me feel fresh even after a restless day or sleepless night. It’s very difficult to follow a routine with the kids, but I try to follow a good routine with a good diet which helps me keep energetic. I do not hesitate in asking for help and try to get a nap during daytime if I spend sleepless nights with my kids. Learn to say “NO” when you are really exhausted, otherwise you can spend your whole day without taking care of yourself.
Q8: Which song /movie best describes you ?
Swades is a movie which describes me most. After completing my M.Tech. from IIT Delhi, I had opportunities to go abroad for further studies, but I wanted to be here with my family. I finally chose to do a PhD from IIT Delhi only. This movie discusses a lot of things like gender inequality, caste system, insufficient power supply etc . I too have a strong belief that these issues are the biggest hurdles for a developing nation like India. I try my students to learn science through day to day material. Renewable energy has a big scope in India. The Government is promoting a lot of projects based upon solar power and hydroelectricity. These methods not only provide the alternative for energy but are very environmentally friendly too. When most of the early education of the kids is governed by females only, it’s the responsibility of each and everyone to promote girl child education.
Q9: How do you see yourself 5 years from now?
Miracles of Science is a venture which promotes science as a right tool for learning life skills. I can see a lot of scope as we are still too far from western countries when we talk about STEM/STEAM. I have observed that moms have started showing a lot of interest in science. People are organizing science theme parties, kids are participating in a lot of competitions these days. I believe that this venture will definitely grow with time and we be will hiring more and more educated women in our venture.
Q10: What advice do you want to give to other moms?
Every woman has her own journey, so don’t compare yourself with others. People will constantly judge you, but don’t feel guilt for these pity issues. If you are not happy and healthy, how can you make sure that the people surrounding you will be happy with you? Ask for help (At times you may need to be a little harsh), allocate the responsibilities to each and every family member as per their expertise and their age and don’t blame yourself if something is not done properly.
Healthy lifestyle is the key to success. Physical and mental health of a woman affects the environment of the house. Work everyday on your well being too while taking care of others in the house.
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