The Little Squirrel (Nanhi Gilhari): Small Acts, Lasting Impact
Welcome to Nanhi Gilhari: The Little Squirrel and the Power of Small Acts
Nanhi Gilhari (pronounced "Nun-hee Gil-ha-ree") is a Hindi phrase from India meaning "The Little Squirrel"—a reminder that even small acts, offered with sincerity, can make a meaningful difference.
By Hemendar Pusa
A reflective learning space exploring stories, relationships, and everyday wisdom from across cultures.
Welcome to Nanhi Gilhari
Across cultures and generations, people have shared stories to make sense of life. Long before modern textbooks, podcasts, videos, and social media, families, elders, teachers, and communities passed on wisdom through stories, parables, folktales, and lived experiences.
Many of us may not remember every lesson we were taught in school, but we often remember the stories that stayed with us. We remember the characters, the struggles they faced, the choices they made, and the values they helped us understand. Stories have a unique way of helping us reflect on ourselves, our relationships, and the world around us.
Nanhi Gilhari is a reflective learning space inspired by that tradition.
This platform explores human experiences through stories, classroom moments, family interactions, real-life examples, research, and wisdom traditions from different cultures around the world. The focus is not on promoting any particular religion, ideology, or belief system. Rather, it is about discovering the timeless human values that connect us across cultures, generations, and communities.
Through these reflections, I explore questions that matter to parents, teachers, students, leaders, and lifelong learners:
How do children learn and grow?
What helps people feel valued and understood?
How do relationships shape development?
How can we listen more deeply?
How do small actions create meaningful change?
The name Nanhi Gilhari comes from a story that illustrates a simple but powerful idea: even the smallest contribution can make a meaningful difference.
Like many stories shared on this platform, it is not presented as a religious lesson. It is offered as a human story that invites reflection on effort, dignity, belonging, appreciation, relationships, and the impact of seemingly small actions.
I do not write as someone who has all the answers. I write as an educator, social worker, parent, and lifelong learner who continues to learn through everyday interactions with children, families, colleagues, and communities.
In many ways, Nanhi Gilhari is also a personal practice. It is a space where I reflect on my own experiences, examine my assumptions, learn from mistakes, and deepen my understanding of what it means to support growth, learning, and human connection.
We are also living through a time of rapid technological change. Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the way people learn, work, communicate, and access information. While AI can help us organize knowledge, generate ideas, and connect information in remarkable ways, there are important human qualities that technology cannot replace: genuine relationships, active listening, trust, empathy, belonging, confidentiality, and the feeling of being truly seen and understood.
Nanhi Gilhari embraces both human wisdom and technological possibility. This platform uses AI as one of many tools to help share ideas, stories, and reflections more widely, but its foundation remains deeply human. My hope is not to choose between people and technology, but to explore how they can work together. As we prepare children and ourselves for the future, we can learn to adapt to new tools without losing the human connections that give meaning to our lives.
In many ways, Nanhi Gilhari is my own small effort to build a bridge between timeless human values and the opportunities of an evolving world.
Whether the story comes from a classroom, a family conversation, an ancient tradition, a research study, or a modern-day experience, the invitation remains the same:
Pause.
Reflect.
Notice what often goes unseen.
And remember that small acts, offered with sincerity, can create lasting impact.
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A Timeless Story, Gently Retold for Today
Across cultures, stories have always helped people make sense of life.
This is one of those stories.
Nanhi Gilhari (The Little Squirrel) draws inspiration from a well-loved moment in the Ramayana, an ancient Indian epic. It is a story I first heard from my teachers during my school days, and it has stayed with me ever since because of the simple yet powerful lesson it offers. Today, that lesson feels just as relevant in our classrooms, homes, workplaces, and communities. It is shared here not as a religious lesson, but as a human story about contribution, leadership, appreciation, belonging, and the power of recognizing strengths. The story takes place during an important mission in which Sri Ram led an effort to build a bridge across the sea, while Hanuman and the army coordinated the enormous task of transporting stones and creating a pathway to reach their destination. As this challenging work unfolded, requiring strength, teamwork, and determination from everyone involved, a tiny squirrel appeared among the workers and began finding its own way to contribute to the mission.
At its heart, it asks a simple question:
How often do we overlook sincere effort simply because it does not look the way we expect?
The Mighty Task
A great bridge was being built across the ocean.
The task was enormous.
Warriors carried trees, rocks, and massive stones. Each person worked tirelessly toward a shared mission.
Among them was a tiny squirrel.
She could not lift stones.
She could not move trees.
She did not possess the strength of the warriors around her.
Yet she felt something important.
She felt that the mission belonged to her too.
So she began carrying tiny grains of sand.
Back and forth she went.
Again and again.
While others moved boulders, she carried what little she could.
Some warriors noticed.
A few smiled kindly.
Others laughed.
"Look at her. We are building a bridge across an ocean and she thinks a few grains of sand will help."
Another joked,
"Perhaps she believes she is doing the same work as the rest of us."
The squirrel heard them.
For a moment, she felt small.
For a moment, she questioned whether her effort mattered at all.
But she continued.
Because she was not trying to compete with anyone.
She was trying to contribute.
The gaps between the stones still needed filling.
And that was something she could do.
When Hanuman Noticed What Others Missed
Hanuman, commander of the great army, had been quietly observing.
While others focused on what the squirrel could not do, Hanuman noticed what she was already doing.
He saw courage.
He saw commitment.
He saw a sincere desire to help.
Most importantly, he understood something many people forget:
Not every contribution looks the same.
The large stones created the structure.
The tiny grains filled the spaces between them.
Both mattered.
Hanuman approached the squirrel with kindness and said:
"Your contribution may look small to others, but it is important. You are helping in a way that only you can."
Then he did something remarkable.
Rather than simply appreciating her privately, he brought her effort to the attention of the leader himself.
He gently lifted the little squirrel and carried her to Sri Rama.
Recognition That Changed Everything
Sri Rama listened carefully.
He did not compare the squirrel to the strongest warrior.
He did not measure her value by the size of her contribution.
Instead, he saw her effort.
He saw her intention.
He saw her heart.
With warmth and appreciation, he acknowledged her role in the mission.
Tradition tells us that he gently stroked her back with three fingers, leaving the three stripes that can still be seen on Indian squirrels today.
Whether understood as history, symbolism, or folklore, the message remains timeless:
Recognition leaves a mark.
Appreciation leaves a mark.
Being seen leaves a mark.
The squirrel stood a little taller.
Her confidence grew.
Her energy returned.
Her contribution did not change.
But her belief in herself did.
And that changed everything.
A Change in the Team
Something else changed that day.
The warriors who had laughed began to see the squirrel differently.
They realized they had been measuring contribution by size rather than significance.
The bridge was not being built by stones alone.
It was being built through many different contributions working together.
Hanuman had done more than encourage a squirrel.
He had transformed the culture of the team.
He shifted attention away from comparison and toward contribution.
Away from criticism and toward appreciation.
Away from asking,
"Who matters more?"
Toward asking,
"How can each of us contribute our strengths?"
The Little Squirrel Lives Among Us
The little squirrel is not confined to an ancient story.
She appears every day.
She may be a student who works twice as hard for the same progress.
She may be a child whose kindness goes unnoticed because others focus only on grades.
She may be a grandparent quietly caring for children while parents work.
She may be a teacher who supports struggling learners behind the scenes.
She may be a paraprofessional, office assistant, volunteer, custodian, or team member whose efforts are rarely recognized.
She may be the colleague who quietly fills the gaps nobody else sees.
Every family has a little squirrel.
Every classroom has a little squirrel.
Every workplace has a little squirrel.
Every community has a little squirrel.
The question is not whether they exist.
The question is whether we notice them.
The Heart of Nanhi Gilhari
This story reflects two simple ideas that continue to shape my work as an educator and social worker.
1. Identify strengths before focusing on limitations.
2. Provide sincere appreciation when it is needed most.
When people feel seen, they become more engaged.
When strengths are recognized, confidence grows.
When effort is acknowledged, belonging follows.
These ideas sit at the heart of the strength-based and appreciative approaches explored throughout Nanhi Gilhari.
The bridge was completed because people contributed different strengths toward a common purpose.
The same is true in classrooms.
The same is true in families.
The same is true in workplaces.
The same is true in communities.
Sometimes all it takes is one person, like Hanuman, to notice what others have overlooked.
And sometimes a single moment of appreciation changes the way someone sees themselves forever.
An Open and Growing Space
Nanhi Gilhari rests on a simple belief:
Small, thoughtful actions can create lasting impact.
It is a learning space shaped by strength-based thinking, reflective practice, active listening, appreciation, and human connection.
While its focus begins with children and education, its values naturally extend to families, relationships, workplaces, leadership, and everyday life.
It does not seek to build the entire bridge.
Like the little squirrel, it simply offers its part, helping to fill the spaces that are often overlooked, yet deeply important.
Nanhi Gilhari is not a fixed program or a closed framework.
It is an evolving learning space that grows through lived experiences, thoughtful reflection, meaningful conversations, research, and shared understanding across cultures and communities.
A Gentle Invitation
Pause for a moment.
Who are the little squirrels around you?
Whose quiet efforts, strengths, and contributions are waiting to be noticed?
Often, a sincere word of appreciation, a moment of listening, or a small act of encouragement becomes the beginning of confidence, connection, and growth.
About the Author
Hemendar Pusa is an educator and qualified Social Worker with experience in inclusive education, child-centered practices, and strengths-based approaches to learning and development.
Drawing from classroom experiences, social work principles, reflective practice, and lifelong learning, he explores how small, intentional actions can nurture trust, belonging, understanding, and growth within individuals, families, schools, workplaces, and communities.
Through Nanhi Gilhari, he shares stories, reflections, and practical insights that encourage people to recognize strengths, listen deeply, and appreciate the meaningful contributions that often go unnoticed.
To learn more about the journey and inspiration behind Nanhi Gilhari, please read the Author’s Note .
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