The Change.

Today's post is a guest post by a eleven year old. His challenge was to write a persuasive essay on how to spend the ten thousand dollars his school won. For keeping it neutral, I asked him to change the names but the text is his own.  My favorite part was when he recognized that the "coolness" of technology can actually prevent kids from going stray.  Hope you enjoy this.

The Change  

"It's happened, Wildcat Elementary School has won the jackpot of ten thousand dollars. Now Mrs. Fabulous comes the tough decision; What will you do with all this money? Well, my brain is teeming with satisfactory ideas and I have chosen a stellar one that will change education in our school forever.  This genius idea is to get our school "plugged in" or include electronics in our daily curriculum.  Wildcat Elementary should have electronics because today everything is online. We could use these tools for helping us research stuff, learn from experts and also motivate kids to learn. 

If a teacher gave a student a school project and they needed to research information, what would they do? Laptops and desktops are the answer. These devices are easy to use and give us an immense amount of information in a very small amount of time via the internet.  This helps the students improve their grades and prosper.  The students will be motivated to learn the facts or use high vocabulary words that they made an effort to search for and thus remember them better too. 

Today there are tests, quizzes and learning sites that are solely invented to help kids learn and succeed. If we had electronics, kids could to an educational website to find the solutions to their predicament. One example of an educational website is Khan Academy, a website that has helped millions become more educated than before. There is also online pretest websites that helps kids prepare for exams. One such example is Smarter Balance Testing . This is a website that helps kids get ready for smarter balance testing, a new program in schools that is replacing STAR test. 

Some kids just don't want to learn. They think that there are much more important things than education. That's why many kids start taking drugs. They think learning is boring.  If we had electronics in our school that wouldn't be a problem. These fancy gadgets are alluring to kids, so if we would buy them kids would start to love education. For some kids that are in poverty, this maybe the only time they will get a chance to learn using technology. 

Even if people want to ignore it, technology has become a major part of everyones lives. Some people wouldn't even be able to live without electronics. This is why electronics should be allowed in our school. It will help kids do their projects by researching information, kids will learn using electronics and kids will want to learn too. So remember I want to get this school "plugged in." 

Mom, It's okay.

Thursday afternoon, the bell rang and in came a tiny silent guest. I looked at it with a frown and said to myself; NO! Not this weekend, its the long weekend. Come on it's the Valentines weekend, so what if its a Hallmark holiday, it's still an excuse to go out for dinner.  I had so much planned, family dinner, a trip to the Exploratorium and do some gardening as a family. Gardening, yes gardening and  if you haven't heard;  the truth is a family that weeds together, stays together.  But, now its all going to change, for he is here. 

Fuming at his ill timing, feeling hot as in I think I have a fever coming on hot,  I thank My Little Ponies for graciously baby sitting my girl while I crash on the couch. Siri promises to wake me up in 90 minutes so I can welcome my older one back from school.

It's 2.50 p.m, Siri true to her word, was punctual and so was the tween. He rings the bell, I tell him; "I need to sleep, please watch your sister." He agrees, I thank him and crash again.  But wait, I am a Mom, am I allowed to fall sick? Whose going to cover the two hour Tae Kwon Do class in the evening, and what about dinner.  The thoughts don't stop there, they move forward to Friday, I had promised a 5 year old a trip to the park with her friends, and then we had piano, Taeko again followed by a dance rehearsal.  

I drag myself up and hold my head tightly as it desperately tries to spin off the neck.  The clutter clatter of the pans in the kitchen draws his attention and he asks "Mom, are you feeling better? I thought you wanted to sleep." I say, "yes I did, but then you have Taeko and its almost dinner time." He gets up, comes to me and says "It's okay, you can rest. We can handle it." LOL is what I want to do, and I think he read my mind. He forces me to lie down and assures me that he will take care of it and besides he says, "daddy will be home in an hour." I lie down, close my eyes and voices fade away.  I sleep and sleep more for the next three days and play a gracious host to the microscopic secretive guest. Every time he visits, he looks different. He says he likes trying new styles but then who doesn't for there is fashion galore to choose from for size 0 and below.  

I have to admit,  through the headaches, coughs and fever I could not help but ponder about what they were doing. All the noise surely meant the downstairs must be trashed. I irked at the thought of going downstairs and seeing the mess. For me to not know what the kids were doing, what were they eating, and how were they handling it in general was proving to be very difficult, so I call out to my husband and ask him, he laughingly says, "don't worry they are having a blast. You get some rest." 

Having a blast, when I am sick. Don't they miss their mom, and you can imagine the rest of the emotional emotions that I ran through.  After being "treated" for almost four days now, the out-of-towner decides to leave and I take a deep breath. 

Here's what I learned this last week: 

1) When sick, do not try to be a mighty mommy. 

2) I need to trust my upbringing more. Every parent teaches their kids to be independent and yet when opportunity comes, we hesitate to trust them with it.  But then no one said parenthood would be easy. 

3) Kids are more resilient than adults.  Kids are amazing, they adapt to situations so much better than adults. This last week, I saw Tom and Jerry take care of each other like never before. Tom fed her, bathed her and even read a story :)  

4) Dad's deserve a lot more credit than we give them. They have their own way of taking care of things. When dad can't find a glue stick at homework time, he uses super glue.  It's not what a mom would do, but the job gets done, and that's all that matters. 

5) It's okay to let everything just be and take care of itself.  This for me is the hardest, but I am learning. 

Moral of the story; .When mom's fall sick, the world may not spin as miraculously, but it will continue to spin.  

Mom's aren't allowed to fall sick, is so yesterday. 

Today; Mom, it's okay you can fall sick.

Hello Friend!

“We have three types of Friends in Life:

Friends for a Reason, Friends for a Season and Friends for a Lifetime.”

This is a post from a friend’s wall on FB. She wrote it in January and the blog post has been in the making, since.  2013, for valentine day, I chose to share my take on what is love and concluded it's logically illogical and a choice we all make.  

Valentine day 2014, lets talk about you, my friend.    

The quote above is a very profound statement that is open to interpretation.

Here’s mine.

Friends for a reason; making friends for a reason? At the first take this  sounds very selfish, but then it’s not always like that. Definitely not in my Utopian world. Friends for a reason come into our lives to fulfill a gap, a need or a wish that we have. That friend could be your child’s teacher who walks you through the ups and downs of school years, it could be a nurse who holds your hand as you sit next to your loved one in the hospital or it could be a fellow co-worker who understands that a new job can be daunting so instead of being the smart one, they choose to listen and guide you to success. That’s the friend for a reason. 

They are nature’s way of making things happen and keeping the circle of giving going.  Your friend for a reason was literally put at the right place and at the right time by life, so you could take the next step forward.

If this friend vanishes as suddenly as he or she appeared, then don’t be sad. Some relationships are meant to last for only so long because the reason for their existence is over and its time for that friend of a reason to find another and continue to exist.

If this friend continues to become a friend for a season, then you are lucky. Friends for a season are rare :) 

The friend for a season is often unseen and untouched until it’s the right time.  

When they are really needed, they magically appear like the cluster of lilies blooming from the cold frosty ground announcing the arrival of spring. 

This friendship has a sixth sense of its own. When the world sees a smile, this friend will see the forced smile. These friends will always be there for you and yet they come and go. These are the friends you won’t talk to for years and yet when you do, the years of absence seems irrelevant.

Friends for a life-time; is your family. Yes, a true and honest familial relationship over time crosses the bridge of relationships to step into the informal playground of friendship.  These friendships give us an environment to thrive. They accept all the tantrums as much as the person and either by the stern look of a father, the cuddle of a mother, the kiss from a husband or the hug from a child this life-time friend nurtures you from the inside out. 

Today as the world changes, so do these antiquated beliefs. Friendships today are not limited to in person, they are virtual too. No longer do we need a coffee shop or the bench of a park, today you can meet your friend in a virtual space called the Facebook wall, and then its Me, My Wall and You.

Momma always said, “Birds of a feather flock together, so choose your friends wisely.”  I would then wonder, who is a good friend? 

Today, a friend is “someone I can be silent with.”

Education Evolves.

The purpose of education is much more than acquiring job skills and earning money. Centuries ago Aristotle with his selective choice of words and quotes that spanned generations made it clear that education is the way to eliminate poverty and empower man for the well-being of the society.  Today repeated research echoes the same thoughts.

The recent January 2013 OECD report (click the link for details on report) brings out some interesting findings. The accuracy of these findings can be argued but I think the core of their findings is something we knew all along.  

• -       Education increases the life span.  
• -       The educated citizen will participate in more civic activities.
• -       There is an increased level of happiness amongst the educated vs. the non-or lesser educated.

The above seems pretty obvious. Right?  Better education translates to improved resources and greater access to good health care and thus the increased life span. Better health with improved resources translates to increased happiness too. A higher education allows us to become more aware of our surroundings and its needs and as a result we try and give back more to the society we live in. 

Clearly the status of education or the education policies of a country influences more than just the students, teachers and parents.  So why has this industry been in hibernation? Why is it that teachers in the United States lack the respect and salaries of their counterparts in European countries? Why is it that US has consistently fallen the rank of PISA ratings and yet its neighbor Canada ranks in the top 10? 

Last week, I shared a subjective perspective on education, this week, it’s an objective perspective of Education: The Industry.

There is more to education than just teachers, schools and colleges.  It is an industry surrounded by many mushroom industries that keep the wheel of education moving forward or at the least balanced.

Investopedia (www.investopedia.com) a common man’s guide to the basics of finance defines market as “a medium that allows buyers and sellers of a specific good or service to interact in order to facilitate an exchange.” The price paid is predominantly decided by the supply and demand of the good being sold. In the context of education, the primary consumers (buyers) are the students and or parents.  Further, since education influences the whole community and in large the society as a whole, one could argue that the society is the consumer.  Sellers are the institutions. Either public or private institutions supply education. The government and or non-profit institutions sponsor public education, whereas schools and or individuals who charge a mandated fee for their services supply private education.   

The key element for the existence of a market is not the supplier or the buyer; it is the presence of a good that is “in need” and “in demand.” The good here is “education.” What kind of good is education? Is it the kind that should be easily available to all irrespective of their income strata OR is it the kind that should be available to only few who are willing to pay the price?  If you said, both, then you are correct, it is a mixed good. The failing public schools have created a market for private education, thus creating a need and demand where in parents (the consumers) are willing to pay the price in hope for a better future for their kids. From a finance perspective, they are making an investment into their kids’ future by diverting their limited resources (salary) into their child’s education.

There are proponents for all three situations making education either a public, private or mixed good.  For the purpose of this blog, we will consider education to be a mixed good since education provides individual and community benefits.

If it were simply a private or public good, life would be simple. But then it wouldn’t be interesting enough to write a blog post. 

Education being a mixed good calls for many different decision makers thus complicating things.

Dynamics of the Market of Education:

The very definition of market calls for competition. Here the competition is not only between private and public schools within a city, but the competition extends externally and is both inter and intra school districts. The rules governing them are similar with minor variations coming from state and local laws. 

Economists classify market structure into four broad categories (1) Perfect competition, (2) Monopolistic Competition, (3) Oligopoly and (4) Monopoly.

Very briefly, in a perfect competition there are very large number of buyers and sellers with no barriers to entry and no product differentiation. Monopolistic competition is similar with some (minimal) product differentiation. Oligopoly and Monopoly both have high barriers to entry, with the difference being; the number of sellers. In a monopoly, like the name suggests, there is one seller whereas in an oligopoly there are a few sellers who have a similar product with a key differentiating factor and while they are individual companies, it is in their mutual interest to work together.  The best example is the airline industry. 

The blog identifies education as an Oligopoly.  The sellers (both private and public) provide good education differentiating themselves either with the curriculum taught, the method of instruction, the extra activities offered and or the philosophy of education.  Competition in the market allows the private schools to sell their services for a price with no player trying to price below market as that results in lower price points for all.  Public schools don't have to fight to attract consumers. Differentiation there comes from a better academic environment, good neighborhood and the prospect of being in a high achieving neighborhood wherein the residents share similar values. This translates to increased property prices for school districts that have a high academic performance. An testament to the mixed good status of education. 

Purely to understand this further, let us assume for a minute that education is purely a public good, in that case the seller would be the government and the market structure becomes a monopoly. Thus eliminating the need for competition as parents would then not be shopping for individual benefits. 

Coming back to the oligopolistic market structure of education, this market structure is going through a paradigm shift and moving towards a monopolistic competition.  How?  By the use of technology.

Technology disrupts; but not in isolation. Technology by itself cannot change a market. It is the application and the use of technology that may or may not disrupt a market.  Unfortunately, technology has always been an option in the field of education, never the mandate. This is the aspect that is changing and demanding an overhaul of the education policies. S.T.E.M subjects are once again coming back into the forefront. Interestingly the demand though is coming from the industries and not the education institutions. The development of the common core standards was also in reverse. The college readiness standards were worked backwards to arrive at what the teaching standard should be for K-12 students 

The first major disruption in K-12 education came when Khan Academy introduced the idea of free high quality education. It provoked public schools to think outside the box, and many teachers tried the model of learning at home and doing the homework in class. The experiment has been a huge success with the academy reaching greater heights both as an institution and its reach to the global student population.  Once the disruption happened, many other instituions came in, with University of Phoenix being amongst the first few for college level education and now companies such as Coursera and Udemy are creating a disruption again, by offerening courses to anyone, irrespective of age. For instance, a 6^th grader interested in learning HTML can now take an online course from these private entities to supplement the missing elements in a traditional school environment.  These companies are providing a platform for both the educator and the student to come together in a virtual world and exchange the good of education for significantly lower prices than a traditional brick and mortal model. 

Virtual academies both at the K-12 and college level are gaining popularity as they allow the flexibility of pursuing passions and learning at a price point that is below the market price, thus changing the market structure.   Last week we saw how the corporate world is defining the missing elements in the traditional school curriculum.  Technology and virtual learning is eliminating the gap.

Tutions, a industry that mushroomed to answer the call of failing education system is also becoming obsolete once again thanks to the presence of self learning virtual options. 

You are probably wondering where do the teachers fit into this equation. The teachers are the doers. One could argue that in a sense they are the "good." Since the quality of education imparted can only be as good as the teacher teaching it, that's a fair argument. What do you think? 

Irrespective of the type of institution, a teacher is needed to close the loop.  

There was a time in America, when innovation, creativity and thinking out of the box was the heart of education. Teachers were respected and given the freedom to teach.   As the world got smaller this gap got smaller too, and the countries that adapted to the change took lead. Today Finland is given as a leading example of an excellent education system. The philosophy in Finland is simple, education does not allow poverty. Education is a priority for the nation there. It is not limited or restricted to any social strata. Teaching is a highly paid profession so many choose it. It is time for the United States to wake up from its slumber and recognize education as the priority. 

It is time to free education of the bureaucracies that are embedded in  the system. There are bureaucracies within bureaucracies.  The school district is a bureaucracy of its own, which then reports to state and federal bureaucracies.  Within the schools there are informal bureaucracies in the form of PTA’s. Bureaucracies are a necessary evil, however for the innovation to comeback in the American education system, it is imperative to align these bureaucracies to a common goal, the goal of providing the learning to every student in the country. 

There are many other aspects to the overhaul of the education system. Examples would be testing procedures, testing standards, tests themselves, the school infrastructures and most importantly our perception of teaching as a profession. It all needs to work hand in hand. Working on one aspect and ignoring the others will result in failure again, for two wrongs do not make a right.  

As an individual we cannot fight alone to change the system, and besides in these crazy times, wherein we barely have time for our families, how many of us are willing to devote our energy to changing the world.  So lets go back to the ancient adage "charity begins at home," and start with our own communities. 

Next time you go to your childs' school, remember to pause and say hello to the teachers. Be a partner in the education of your child and not the questioner.  We all work better when we are appreciated so why should the teaching profession be any different?  

In my humble opinion, the easiest way to bring change in the education system, is by giving the respect and freedom to teach back to the teachers.  

Virtual or brick and mortar teaching model, for learning to happen, at the minimum, you need one student who is willing to learn, and one teacher who wants to teach. 

Education: Effective yet Elusive.

Education goes beyond just learning how to read and write. It is more than mastering the fictions or finding the mysterious X in algebra. Education should be about the community we live, the ecological system that surrounds us and how we and our actions influence it. 

We have learnt a lot since mankind evolved and we have also created a planet where the ecological system is now so delicately balanced that even the slightest tilt could result in a catastrophe. Interesting how the uneducated and naked man was sensitized to the slightest change in climate and here we are still trying to understand the mysterious planet Earth. 

What do you think? Has education desensitized us? 

Remember, when Steve Jobs said that he took a calligraphy course in college, just because he wanted to.  The movie Jobs shows him screaming at his staff, because they could not see the vision and the need for multiple type-faces known as fonts today. Today we know that if he had not taken that course, MS Office would never have had the multitude of font options. 

What does this have to do with education?  It’s the “Why Learn” that is being redefined.

Till now, schools and colleges were the sure set way to a career and one did not need to think out of the box. A standard job required good grades and a few canned answers in the interview. Today a good job can happen without grades provided the applicant has a skill set of value.  See the reversal in roles?  Gone are the days when colleges and education institutions defined what students should learn. Today it’s the businesses defining them.  There are very few jobs left that require a defined skill set, most require multiple skills that allow their employees to float between departments.

Interestingly the change in education is not stemming from schools and colleges but from businesses.  Silicon Valley sweethearts introduced the Hour of Code in December 2013. Their vision; coding needs to be taught in schools starting at the elementary level.   Many would argue otherwise, but the argument is that the world is now techno centric and will get more, so the need to know coding is imperative.  We can argue and agree to disagree on this, but the point is, it is the businesses now demanding and dictating the skill sets needed.

Tangential to this is the changed focus on how the basics are taught.  For the longest time, teachers had the freedom to teach. They could choose their medium and then as the law decided to not leave any child behind came in rigorous testing, scripted manuals and defined curriculum for teaching. Today, the buzz in all schools is Common Core State Standards (CCSS); the new standard for teaching. The CCSS takes us back to the basics. The philosophy “It’s not about what the answer is but how you got to the answer” is at the heart of CCSS. The educators are raising the bar and challenging the students to achieve those higher goals.  


Education has been in an endless state of hibernation, but now spring is here. Once again, the philosophy, life is a circle comes true. 

Google the topic CCSS and you will find a wealth of information. What the articles don’t tell us is How?  They say students are going to be challenged. Students are the most resilient party involved, the teachers and parents are the ones who are going to be challenged the most. 

Yes teachers! Why? Simply because every manuscript they had will have to be chucked out of the window and they have to start from scratch. They have to find a way and connect the evolution of man in science to the migration of man from Africa to USA in social studies.  You would think that should be easy, it’s not. Cross-referencing subjects is not the norm for students in the USA. The weekly testing helps release the stress of semi-annual  testing, but the flip side is chapters are taught in isolation.

This is not bad news for the teachers though. It is very good news, because CCSS gives them flexibility and more elbow room to teach. They don't have to follow a manuscript. To understand how the earth revolves around the sun, they no longer have to use charts, they can go outside, create a sun-dial and see their students come to life with excitement. 

You wonder why would parents be challenged?  Tuitions will soon be obsolete, because they don’t provide the why and how of learning. They just teach the student how to calculate and read fast.

The wealth of online resources and the new paradigm, quality education should be free is making tuitions obsolete. 2008, with the launch of Khan Academy this paradigm became a reality. This shift will require parents to spend more time with their child. These are challenging times for kids, increased pressure to succeed, an overload of knowledge and the constant need to stay connected adds to their mental stress and takes away from the fun stuff; shooting hoops and just hanging out. Kids need individualized attention that tuitions don’t provide.   More importantly, there is no one as vested in your child as yourself. So why not re-prioritize and spend time with kids and give them experiences. Give them the experience of going to a playground and being a kid and some where in between talk about the kinds of clouds in the sky or ask them how heavy does your sibling have to be for the see-saw to be balanced.  They need to see the connection between what they learn and the real world. 

When the dots connect for those little innocent minds, we as parents will see magic happen.

Have I achieved this at my home? Absolutely not. I am struggling just like many other parents but I am confident persistence will pay off. It’s a rough road that requires every ounce of patience and I am not giving up.

This week, we looked at the subjective and in some ways the philosophical perspective of education. I am going to leave you today with the question: Has education desensitized us? 

As always, thank you for visiting and taking the time to read. I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this subject. Next week, we take a closer look at education as an Industry. 

..... To be continued. 

Tweeting Tweens!

Long time ago, when there were no ipods, cell phones or even calculators allowed in school, the definition of teenage was "when a boy starts noticing that a girl is noticing him."  Yes, its okay to laugh because it is a lame definition for the times we live in. Teenage has been replaced by Tween age and if the 40's is the new 30's then the 20's is the new 10.  I am gong to stop here, because if I go further, it would mean that babies are born with the smartness of a 10 year old... and that's a scary thought. 

Why is there such a rush to grow up? Recently I heard a tween conversation in the school and saying that I was apalled is an understatement. I was fuming. Where are they picking up this language form? I am sure their parents don't approve of it. But then I am told that every one talks like that and those who don't are either nerds or geeks. In other words, being polite is geekiness now.  Don't get me wrong these are good kids, in fact the high achievers in school and yet there is this incessant desire to be cooler. "Cool," another word that is lost in the oblivion of changing times. 

Amongst all the confidence and "I got this," I see indecisiveness, not because they don't want to or know how to, but more so because "what will my friends think?" The peer approval becomes the epitome of decision taking. Yet every once in a while comes along a tween who says "whatever" and takes his/her decision, it is this tween that succeeds and becomes the leader. 

Be a parent or be a friend; is the dilemma. 

When the world calls it a night and sleeps is when I put on my thinking cap and think. Just think, as to what happened, and how did the cute little kids who came running to their parents for every little achievement become so independent that even acknowledging their parents becomes optional.  I don't like it. 

They say its about growing up; growing taller, smarter and hopefully more mature.  How does one make them understand that growing up is a process, one has to learn to grow up. Aging and growing up are not synonyms.   

The experts say be connected to your family. "Connected" is another word going through a transformation. In the 80's.. if you asked a kid, what is that one thing which is free  the kid would probably say "air," today they say "wi-fi."  2014 will see Americans connected even more than before.  Every ad from any internet companies harps on how important it is for the family to be connected. But connected to what? There is a laptop, smart tablets and phones in every household.  Can communication be replaced by the swipe of a finger? 

Life is full of stresses, buckling under and following a crowd is not the answer. How we handle those stresses is what defines us.  It may be hard to be called a geek or a nerd, but mimicking others or disregarding rules to please friends cannot be the answer. 

I don't have answers to any of the questions raised above. These are unchartered waters for me.  

I wish the tweens of today recognize their strengths. They are smart, creative and out of the box thinkers. Their thinking is crystal clear,  all they need is to tune out the buzzing of the iphone and focus on their dreams and aspirations. 

I wonder if they remember Tweety Bird, the cute innocent bird who was smart, witty and unique, just like they are: The Tweeting Tween :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year.  For a while, It's been quiet on this blog. The silence has been intentional. Every once in a while it's important to let silence speak for itself.  

2013 was blessed and yet a very solemn year. The year brought forward altered relationships, changed friendships and life.  Life, a four letter word, that encompasses everything from our friends to our being, and yet we almost always take it for granted.  We assume that as long as we follow the rules and do good deeds, all will be well, but the year showed me how in a minute life changes its course and suddenly every little prized possession becomes meaningless. 

As I moved along in 2013, amongst all the chaos, I then saw those tiny toes and fingers.  The innocent smile, the random twitch of a nose and the blink of an eye, all reassuring me of the fact that life thrives. 

I would be a robot if the contrast of experiences did not force me to think of what really matters.  As the year ended, and the world shared the year in review with celebrations across the globe, I made my new year resolution - More humility and more optimism.  Humility for all the blessings that have been showered on me and my dear ones, optimism so I can forget the bitterness and learn to forgive.  

On a more personal front, besides the usual eat healthy, be a good parent, etc...my primary goal will be to work with myself and the family to not waste. Be it electricity or food, the goal is to reduce squandering. There is way too much being wasted in this world.  We talk about reducing our carbon footprint and yet we keep buying. Tangential to this is the task of de-cluttering. De-clutter both my home and FB wall :) Yes, 250+ friends on FB and there are a handful who visit, so de-clutter. The gamut of ideas brewing in my head about blogging, painting, cookbooks and so much more need some direction and I know I can take them to their destination, just need to figure out how ;) 

New Year's eve: time to romance, time to indulge, time to make resolutions and underlying all these modern day celebration traditions lie ancient spiritual resolutions. In Haridwar, India you will find folks jumping into the Ganges so they can wash off a year's worth of sins and take permission to repeat those sins in the new year. Parts of Italy, the locals are busy cleaning their houses to welcome the new year, while the Vienna folks are running after the pig, because if they can touch it, the new year will bring good luck.  

However you may choose to celebrate the new year, the underlying sentiment is the same, welcome the new year with happiness and positivity.  

Only the first 8 pages of the Book 2014 have been written, write the others so when the world reads them, it smiles. 

I wish that all your wishes are fulfilled this year. Happy New Year.