Dr Aperna
Welcome to explore my Vision and Mission!
A Psychologist | An Academician | An Entrepreneur | A Philanthropist The result of my 3 decades long career in Europe as a Psychologist, an Educationist and Researcher is my unquenchable thirst to bring Early Childhood Education and Care to the grassroots in India and create pools of skilled and trained teachers across pan India and employ them. All this is being carried out since my return to India in 2015. Mr RITZY Group of companies, RITZY Foundation, RITZY Educational Society, RITZY Trust and Indian Council of Early Childhood are few of the organisations that I established to realise my mission and vision and I head these organisations as Founder and Chairman (Chair person).
Glamour with Grit
Controlling our emotional intelligence gets us ahead in our journey as Womenpreneurs.
National Winner of ITALY
WITH TRIBALS
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT PROJECT
PRINT MEDIA NEWS COVERAGE
MILESTONES
UK Queen’s Award for excellence in studies. I was the only non Brit for having received this Award in last 27 years of Britain’s history of education.
2004 EU’s Joint Research Commission’s Award as Best IT Consultant of the year was the result of my dedicated work in the Human medicines Department in Ispra, Italy.
From a successful IT Consultant to getting back to University for completing my Master’s in English from Cambridge and then Doctorate in Child Psychology from University of Essex, was a different saga of my life.
The journey since then has been always an uphill walk. For me the vulnerability of being a woman always portrayed itself as uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure. These are three elements that every entrepreneur is likely to encounter almost daily, and if the approach is to resist vulnerability, it will only persist. So I familiarised myself with the emotions associated with vulnerability and got the opportunity to become more courageous and engage in greater work.
World’s most prestigious award – Open Knowledge Award for Best Business Initiative. This was the ice breaker of my life.
Opened my first Pre-school in India. Thus becoming the FIRST Italian Preschool Chain to enter into the Franchising World of Preschool Business not ONLY in India, but in the world. I finally could fulfil my Mom’s dream to bring one of Europe’s best Kindergartens and its facilities to millions of children in my own country.
Guinness Book of World record as Most Humanitarian Person of the World for my work in war hit African countries and with tribals of South East Asia.
My School ITALY was selected out of millions of Industries & Companies in Europe as Ones to Watch Company – by European Business Awards for its teaching methodologies that are par excellence. The teaching tool, DECANT and Assessment system, MILESTONES is the result my 30 years of experience in the ECEC sector and of my research as Child Psychologist. In 2014, when Temple University in USA accepted my research papers to introduce Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) in ECEC sector, My School ITALY became the FIRST Preschool in the WORLD to introduce NLP in their teaching methodology.
Ritzy Schools gets for its Curriculum & Methodologies India Didactic Award (IDA).
My School ITALY is declared as National Winners of Italy – by European Business Awards.
Ritzy Schools bags the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Award.
EUROPEN BUSINESS AWARD
ENGAGE, ENLIGHTEN, ENCOURAGE AND ESPECIALLY...BE YOURSELF!
I'M MY OWN WOMAN
"When words become unclear, I shall focus with Photographs."
Freezing a Moment
A STUDENT My Dad made me in a hot furnace and the grit cultivated by my Grandma never let me give up. We have to develop ways to face and conquer the resistance we face in those moments when we are trying to do something and feel like we can't produce anything even remotely good.
Being an Army Officer’s daughter, I had every luxury to stay, study and settle in India. An ambition to be ‘the some day some one’ made to go to UK for higher education. All my Dad had to say was, “I have money only for your flight ticket. But I have made you in hot furnace and so I know you will never give up come what may and never heed to any action that would bring shame to our family.” I was 17 years then and I’m 47 years now. Three decades have passed by, and I grew from student to an IT Consultant to a wife to a mother to finally an entrepreneur who has today to share so much with the young budding Entrepreneurs. I take pride in saying that I have never given up. We all have those moments where we are trying to do something and feel like we can't produce anything even remotely good. We have to develop ways to face and conquer the resistance we face in these moments. I have adopted a lot of techniques into my own development process. Like an athlete, I always worked on a schedule, not just when I felt motivated. I approached my work like a pro, not an amateur. I did the most important things first and didn’t shirk responsibilities. All this is like a prayer that I said everyday and with every passing day I got stronger and tougher. Five years of my University life were the most testing times of my life. My scholarship was just enough for my tuition fee. Besides fee, I had to pay for my room rent and food. I never bought a set of clothes for myself in the first three years of my university. I walked everyday over 12 to 16 kms. From my room to workplace to University and back. I worked as a dog walker for three years and I always prayed God to keep the old lady and the old dog alive at least until I finished my university as both of them were gentle, kind and paid her enough to stay back in UK and finish my studies. It was not until third year of my university that when I topped my subject in the University of Sussex (UK) and my name was on the front page of the local newspaper that I got a bigger room, a bicycle presented by my house owner and a decent job in the university campus. This was the first milestone of my life in Europe. Those three years all I had was just a sandwich to eat and a sleeping bag to sleep. No bed and no food. I even forgot how a kitchen looked but those were the years when my Grandma’s stories had their maximum impact on me. The grit cultivated by my Grandma never let me give up. When Mother Sita from the royal palace could live for 14 years in Ashok Vatika, why not me... There was nothing to complain. I never ever thought what my peers had to say or think about me. I continued to work and study. The next milestone was when I got the UK Queen’s Award for Excellence in my studies. I have been the only non Brit to have received this Award in last 27 years.
AN IT CONSULTANT “The person who you’re with most in life is yourself and if you don’t like yourself, you’re always with somebody you don’t like.”
Olivetti, an Italian company that was a competitor for Helwart and Packard those days, selected me at the Campus Interview. I was hired by them as an IT Consultant. In September 1994, I went to Milan, Italy, the fashion city of the world where fashions change every 4 minutes. From wearing two pairs of clothes as a student for three years, I came to wear clothes according to seasons and fashion. My hard work, zeal, creativity and knowledge made my company to place me as IT Consultant in European Union’s Joint Research Commission (JRC). The Human Medicine’s Department of JRC is at Ispra in Italy. Here I worked amidst 2000 men. In those days there were hardly any women in IT Sector. The only other woman in our Department was the receptionist. But working with so many men moulded me to what I am today - a women who can work with and handle any gender and race; who be who can be the best team player and leader where ever I am. I worked with JRC until I decided in 2005 to quit my profession forever because I wasn’t liking anymore what I was doing. But here as well my GRIT got me the recognition and I received European Union’s Joint Research Commission’s Award for Best IT Consultant of the year 2004.
A RESEARCHER
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world,” said Albert Einstein. I ‘m a researcher and my job is to see what everybody else has seen, and think what nobody else has thought.
Having a PhD in Psychology from University of Essex (UK), I have been doing research for more than three decades now on how humans think and why they act the way they do, how criminals think, but mainly how children think. I study some children from birth and see how society and human nature shapes them. I am a dedicated Clinical Child Psychologist as well. My patients are my top priority, and I do whatever I can to ensure their well-being. My team of Psychologists, experts of Neurosciences, especially in developing the Right Brain, educationists and content writers, under my tutelage developed the Curriculum which is the backbone of My School ITALY and RITZY SCHOOLS and the teaching methodologies that are par excellence. The teaching tool, DECANT and Assessment System, MILESTONES is the result of my 30 years of experience in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector and my research as Child Psychologist. In 2014, when the American University in Washington D.C. accepted my papers to introduce Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) in ECEC sector and My School ITALY became the FIRST Preschool in the WORLD to introduce NLP in its teaching methodology. Both My School ITALY and RITZY SCHOOLS have very high European standards of running and managing the Preschools. Hence, our Franchisees and our teaching staff are trained for 250 hours. The RITZY GROUP staff are available 24/7 for the teaching staff and to the management of Franchised Schools via their Back Office to help them and resolve any rising queries or issues.
Some of my Professional Affiliations:
Member of the Society of Italian Anglistica (AIA) Member of the European Society for the Study of English (THEY) Member of the Italian American Psychological Society Member of European Congress of Psychology
Some of my Publications
Dr Aperna RV and Dr Lipson H "Evolving process of speech in Children’s Language Development" (2013), Journal of Educational Measurement. Dr Aperna RV and Dr W. Acquino "Insights to the Language Development in Children 0-2 years" (2012), Journal of Educational Measurement. Dr Aperna RV "Pre operational Stage of Cognitive Development" (2012) - Current Opinion of Psychology. Dr Aperna RV "Language skill development from infancy and early childhood" (2011), Cognition and Instruction. Dr Aperna RV "Quality of Life measured and analysed in motherhood" (2011) Psychology of Women Quarterly. Dr Aperna RV and Dr Bongard C "Reactive Attachment Disorder in first stage in some children aged 3-5 years" (2011), Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. Dr Aperna RV "Co-evolutionary variance can guide evolutionary system of father and daughter relationship" (2010), Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. Dr Aperna RV "Crisis in Socio-emotional Development of an individual" (2010), Journal of Research in Personality. Dr Aperna RV "Storytelling helps child development and teach about life"(2009), Current Directions in Psychological Sciences. Dr Aperna RV "Milestones in Toddler Development" (2008), Annual Review of Psychology. Dr Aperna RV "Re-inventing the Wheel: children begin to use logic and reasoning in their thinking process" (2007) Journal of Educational Measurement. Dr Aperna RV Analising Advantages and Disadvantages of Infant Day Care" (2006) - Current Opinion of Psychology.
BRAIN IS WIDER THAN THE SKY
THE INCEPTION
AN ENTREPRENEUR
My beloved Mom, the Naughty Princess, always said, “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.” She transmitted all her qualities of a successful entrepreneur to me. I always had a clear goal that I worked towards each day. I didn’t let short–term profits, negative feedback, or hectic schedules prevent me from continuing the march towards my vision. I made it a habit of building up the people around me — not just once, but over and over and over again. I have all along believed that consistent effort is the key to my entrepreneurial success. The people who ‘make it’ don't always have the best ideas or the most resources. Instead, they keep working and making incremental improvements day after day—no matter what gets thrown at them. This is what Grit is all about. 2009 saw the third dimension of my career - THE ENTREPRENEUR. The journey since then has been always an uphill walk. The unfortunate thing about the word 'entrepreneurship' is that it is so closely associated with the drive for financial success and as much as we may not like to admit it, money does play a large part in our entrepreneurial and professional successes. It is one of the most important ingredient. My ability to sit for hours on end to contemplate, write and bring into practice my ideas has gone a long way to make me go on, amidst all odds and tempests. I always listed the things I wanted to be known for, then took action: What steps taken this year that set me on track to becoming the person I wanted to be? As women we are more vulnerable to many situations: family, friends and work. We live in a male dominated world. So life as an entrepreneur could never be easy. For me this vulnerability always portrayed itself as uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure. These are three elements that every entrepreneur is likely to encounter almost daily, and if the approach is to resist vulnerability, it will only persist. So I familiarised myself with the emotions associated with vulnerability, and tried to become comfortable with the underlying vulnerability in most emotion and action. Ultimately, through embracing vulnerability and imperfection, I got the opportunity to become more courageous and engage in greater work. In 2014 got one of the world’s most prestigious awards from the House of Nobel Prize in Sweden. The Award was the Open Knowledge Award for Best Business Initiative. And the same year I opened my First Preschool in India and thus becoming the FIRST Italian Preschool Chain to enter into the Franchising World of Preschool Business not ONLY in India, but in the world.. I finally could fulfil my Mom’s dream to bring one of Europe’s best Kindergartens and its facilities to millions of children in my own country. In a short span of five years, Ritzy Schools expanded across nine states in India. Ritzy Schools mission is to reach out to all those who think like them, have a desire to grow with them and cherish the pride of being Edupreneurs and Motherpreneurs.
A PHILANTHROPIST
I followed my husband to the most remote parts of Africa to work with civil war and ethnic war injured people. Hundreds and hundreds of dying children due to starvation, lack of medical facilities and pain of losing parents, all made me mould myself into a new person that I'm today. I am a person with passion to work for children across the globe. And now through Ritzy Foundation, I’m able to reach children in India with my most modern methodologies and tools in Early Childhood Education and Care sector. Today I’m working not only with marginalised community children in Telangana, but with the tribal children of Lahaul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh at the altitude of 13000 ft above sea level. And to be honest, giving them these International Standards of Preschool Education along with Gymnastics and Robotics, gives me more happiness and pleasure than I ever had. The joy in the faces of these kids and the sense of satisfaction I get when I open a new Preschool for these children, keeps my motivation levels high. Setting up Preschools for marginalised classes is just a humble beginning. When I will be able to reach the children in every small town and village, where still a huge population of 0-6 years don’t have access to ECCE, I’d say I’m close to my vision. 2019 has been another Milestone in my life as I was declared by Guinness Book of World Records as the Most Humanitarian Person of the World.
THE RESULTS WILL BE BEYOND CALCULATION
MEDIA & PRESS COVERAGE
HAVE BEST OF THE OPINION
THE RESULTS WILL BE BEYOND CALCULATION
ENTREPRENEUR TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
EMPOWERING PEOPLE & REVITALISING THE COMMUNITY. EDTP created as a powerful engine for encouraging entrepreneurship in economically disadvantaged communities has shown to be the equaliser that allows individuals from variant educational, socio-economic and familial backgrounds to prosper financially.
SUMMER CAMPS
STUDENTS GET STRONGER, BRAVER AND CONFIDENT.The Summer Camps that I organise through Ritzy Schools Educational Society introduce the students to Italian geography, language, culture, traditions, art, music, films, food, fun games apart from Aerial Art and Indo-Italian Folk Fitness.
TEACHER TRAINING AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE (ECEC) FACILITIES and JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL. Striving to give education to children living in most remote parts of the Globe, geographically inaccessible terrains and to generate employment and bread earning opportunities for women and youth.
THE ACTION IS ON!
Blog
Divorce a common problem for a lot of families in today's society. Each individual family handles this situation in many different ways, depending on their circumstances. Some parents listen to the advice from their family and friends on dealing with divorce and kids while some would search on the internet, talk to a Doctor or look for divorce and children books.
Let’s Prepare for a Post-Pandemic World Weeks into the new reality of stay-at-home orders, remote work, and being constantly bombarded by news of how bad things can get, we’re all getting used to new ways of getting business done.When confronting a situation freighted with anxiety and ambiguity — a pandemic, a recession, a job loss, an unwanted family change — most of us can imagine no upside. We become paralysed caught in a state I call unproductive uncertainty.