NARA'S NOTEPAD
VOLUME 15
APRIL 2019
NUMBER 4
Sunday, March 31, 2019
CROWDED WORLD
Very often we
all used to say – crowded cities, crowded trains, crowded buses, crowded
streets, crowded schools and colleges – Yes indeed! We do find large groups of
people aggregate everywhere. The number of people in a crowd varies from
thousands to millions. As the human population goes up, the size of the crowds
also increases. Few people cannot form a big crowd. They may meet to chat or
play cards or join for an evening party. We may not call it a crowd. Small
parties for birthday, family and friends get together. Such small groups of
people really enjoy the occasion.
Generally large
crowds are seen in political rallies, sports events, travelling, religious
festivals and celebrations, big marriages, shopping, scientific seminars and
the like. These crowds will not escape our eyes because they are planned in
advance and announced all over through media and advertisement channels.
The political
rallies are common in a democratic and even in autocratic countries. In a
democracy rulers are elected by the people of the country. So rallies are
organized to gather people’s valuable votes. Elections are held once in four or
five years. Before such elections political parties – hundreds of them in every
State of India – may be little less in other countries-organize rallies with
the top leaders. Crowd pulling is not easy nowadays; still because of high
unemployment problem, people are available to participate in rallies. These
people are paid, fed and transported to the venue of the rally by the crowd
pulling agents. Well organized indeed! We see such in TV channels live.
Sports events
are another arena people aggregate in large numbers. We often see live the
sports programs in TV. Stadia – big and small – are constructed in major cities
of a nation with modern facilities to attract large crowds to watch the sports.
It may be cricket, tennis, foot ball, athletic events and the like. The
sports-crazy crowd pay to watch such sports. Tickets are sold well in advance
on line nowadays and the crowd gather on the stipulated date
in a given venue. Sports events extend for hours together. People stay shouting
and supporting their country-teams and also enjoy and appreciate the talents of
the sports persons. Such crowd ia mixture of all age groups. At
times clashes occur between the team or the team supporters especially in foot
ball matches.
Travelling has become a necessity for humans nowadays.
Travel relieves tension and anxiety. So many people travel with their family
during school and college holidays to far off countries. People are crowded
in airports, railway stations and even in hotels. If a flight is delayed or
cancelled due to unavoidable reasons, you can see the angry crowds all around. So
also, in and around railway stations. One has to book the tickets well in
advance to reserve the journey. Often we see the crowded trains, buses and
flights during festival and summer holidays.
There are
umpteen numbers of religious festivals at various places in the world.
Christmas at Rome, Huj at Mecca, Kumbh Mela at Allahabad, Makaravilakku at
Sabarimala, Durgapuja at West Bengal, Bramhotsavam at Thirumala, Shivrathri at
Isha Centre, Coimbatore – oh, hundreds of festivals all around the world
attract crowds and crowds!. It’s an every year feature of crowding up.
Marriages of
rich people also attract crowds. They like to invite as many people as possible
to the marriage of their kiths and kins to show their popularity. In fact, in
such gala marriages the crowd enjoys meeting the relatives and friends and also
the sumptuous food. Crowds are seen in marriage halls that accommodate
thousands of people. These halls are modernized and air-conditioned. Marriage
crowd is for enjoyment. Even a small family marriage nowadays is crowded
sufficiently with hundreds of people.
Shopping has
become a fashion. All want to shop for dress, house-hold items, gifts,
electronic goods etc. People flock the shopping malls, bazaars and
super-markets. Although we have on-line shopping still the physical crowd on
the street is not yet reduced.
Finally I have
to mention the crowds in scientific seminars. Professional seminars – national
or international ones – are held annually around the world. One such is the
famous Indian Science Congress. Apart from this i have seen large crowds attend
these seminars for a short period of 3 to 5days. Once one of my students commented
that these seminars are like big marriages where people go, eat and meet their
friends as we do in marriages. I agree with her.
Looking at all
these, we are witnessing crowds all around us. As the global population
increases, the crowds will also go on bulging. The need to control and manage
the crowd has given rise to the study of crowd
psychology. New ways and means have to be designed
in future. The size of today’s crowd will be multiplied many
fold in future. The future generation has to face. - NARA
DO YOU KNOW?
1. In 99% of cases, the reason to change comes
from personal suffering, sadness and hurt.
2. Reading will turn you into a better thinker
and writer.
3. Machines can create songs on their own using
AI.
STRESS MANAGEMENT TIPS
1. Breathe slowly
and deeply: Shallow chest breathing makes your heart beat faster, and tenses
your muscles, so you feel more stressed. In contrast, breathing slowly and
deeply helps you feel much more relaxed.
2. Visualize
yourself being calm and relaxed: Imagine all your stress being washed away; or
try and visualize yourself in a peaceful scene such as lying on the beach or in
a garden, with a book.
3. Smile: Research
shows that when we force ourselves to smile it actually improves the way we
feel.
4. Write your
feelings down on paper: Writing gives us a way to express how we feel, and it
helps to release our pent-up emotions.
5. Count to 10:
Give yourself some distance and time before responding. If you react right away
you might regret it later on.
6. Go for a walk:
Endorphins are released by any form of exercise. These improve our mood and
help us keep things more in balance.
7. Soak in a hot
bath: There’s nothing like relaxing in a hot bubble bath to reduce your stress
levels and improve the way you feel.
8. Turn up the
music: We all have favorite music that distracts us from our problems, and
listening to that music can help us feel less stressed.
GET OVER PAST MISTAKES...
1. Remind yourself
that everyone makes mistakes, does things wrongs, and has moments of regret.
There are no perfect people out there. In that sense, you are just the same as everybody
else.
2. Remind yourself
that “that was then, and this is now”. You can’t turn back the clocks and
change what you did, but you can be a different person in the future.
3. Allow yourself
to experience and name the feelings you are struggling with (regret, guilt,
shame, disappointment, embarrassment, sadness, etc.) – then make the decision
to let those feelings go. In the end, it’s unhealthy to become attached to
them.
4. Ask yourself
what you can learn from the situation. What would you do differently if you
found yourself in that situation again? How can it change the person you are
now (so that you feel better about yourself)?
5. Recognise that
failings and mistakes are part of the growth process. It’s inevitable that
you’ll encounter obstacles, challenges and failures throughout life. Don’t let
that stop you from really living life.
6. Remind yourself
that “it was what you did, it’s not who you are.” Don’t allow any single event
or experience to define you. You are more than – so don’t let that become your
identity, or your destiny.
7. Give yourself
the gift of a new day and a new start. and let go of the past, with confidence move on with your life.
JUST FOCUS...
Don’t think about what can happen in a month.
Don’t think about what can
happen in a year.
Just focus on the twenty-four
hours in front of you
and do what you can to get
closer to
where you want to be.
TO QUOTE...
The beautiful people we have known are those who have
known defeat, known suffering, known
struggle, known loss,
and have found their way out of those depths. –
Elisabeth
Kuber-Ross
The word GOD is for me nothing but the expression and
product of human weakness. – Albert Einstein
JUST TO LAUGH...
The children had all been photographed, and the
teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group photo.”Just
think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say,
“There is Asha, she is a lawyer, or that’s Suresh, he’s a doctor.” A small
voice at the back of the room said, “And there’s the teacher, she’s dead.
APRIL 2019
2 April - World Autism
Awareness Day
6 April - International Day
of Sports
7 April - World Health Day
12 April - International Day
of Human Space Flight
21 April - World Creativity and
Innovation Day
22 April - Mother Earth Day
LINES I LIKED
Ø Because we always act on incomplete or on at best partially correct
information, we take risks in everything we do.
Ø Because you can accept whatever happens, you don’t have to take life
that seriously.
Ø Begin each day liking everyone you meet.
Ø Begin to learn the art of self-respect and you’ll feel much better about
yourself.
Thursday, February 28, 2019
DINE OUT
There was a time when teenage girls were taught cooking at home. The
teachers were their mothers and grand-mothers. They were generally experts in
cooking vegetarian or non-vegetarian food. In this way they used to pass on the
traditional cooking of delicious foods to the female members of the family. In
fact, it happened in my family too. When marriage was fixed way back in 1972,
the bride’s mother and sister-in-laws in the family taught her how to cook
vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods. When I got married my wife used to cook a
variety of delicious foods including fish curry and fries.
On the contrary, girls highly
educated nowadays like to eat delicious foods without knowing how to prepare
them. Parents also do not like to disturb their educated daughters by teaching cooking.
Instead, people generally employ house-maids for various house works including
cooking. Couples who work may not have time to do cooking. So they depend on
house-maids or canteens and restaurants for their food.
In fact, it was in 2017, when I
visited my son’s family at Singapore, I found a large number of restaurants at
every department stores and big malls. I used to watch the people who eat the
tasty hot foods such as noodles, fishes, chicken and the like with their whole
family members. They enjoy eating out almost every day avoiding cooking at
home. I thought it’s economical. So the traditional cooking at home by mothers
and grandmas is slowly disappearing.
In India also the custom of
cooking at home is gradually coming down. Initially ‘eating out’ every week-end
was a fashion to taste the delicacy of the city’s renowned restaurants. Later
on people bought the breakfast and lunch early in the morning for their school
going children. The facilities are available at every colony and apartment
complex. The working couples grab their breakfasts and lunch from
the office canteens or nearby restaurants. In the evening they buy their
dinner mostly idly, dosa or chappati with appropriate side-dishes. Generally they do not enjoy
their dinner because all of them including their children
concentrate in their smart phones or i-pads while eating.
Most people who lost the taste of food won’t worry about the place from
where they buy the food. Foods are sold at big restaurants, medium ones,
fast-food out-lets, on-line suppliers like Zomato,
Sawggy etc. Street vendors too sell foods from 6 pm to 10 pm. The quality
of food is good if the cost is high. Cheap foods are available at street
corners all along the main roads. Some say that they are unhygienic. Still
thousands and thousands of street vendors sell foods all over the urban areas
of India. Many men and women are involved in the business. Good number of urban
customers is happy to quench their hunger by simply buying the foodstuff
available near to their dwellings. It seems that in Bengaluru itself there are
more than 17,000 vendors. Of course, some of them are vegetable and fish
vendors. However, we do find large number of push carts after the sunset all
along the roads of important locations. These vendors are supervised by the
city corporations. However Police harassment for money and food is a regular
feature the vendors face.
In fact, we are moving towards a civilization
of simple life of eating ready-made foods rather than our good old home foods.
People say that those home foods are going to come again in big restaurants as
special foods in future. Dining out and sleeping in home have become the
fashions today. This change – good or bad – is followed by many urban people. -
NARA
STOP PROCRASTINATING
1. If
you’re procrastinating because you’re feeling stuck (eg, if you don’t really
understand a school assignment, or you don’t know what’s expected, or you don’t
know where to start) then pluck up the courage to ask for some help. When you
know what you’re doing, it’s easier to work.
2.
Remind yourself that most decisions aren’t major. If you get it wrong, you can
start over again … or change your direction … or have another try.
3. If
the task seems overwhelming, just take a baby step. That, at least, will get
you moving – so the next step’s easier.
4.
Tell yourself that you can suffer for up to twenty minutes – and then you’ll
return to doing things you want to do. You’ll be surprised to discover that
“suffering’s” not that bad.
5.
Decide to do the task as soon as you get up – as the more you put it off, the
worse it’s going to seem!
6.
Don’t pretend that other work counts just as much as what you’re leaving.
Simply acting like you’re busy won’t make it go away. Be honest with yourself …
and do what’s most important first.
GETTING MORE OUT OF LIFE
1. Stop resisting change and see it as
a constant in life.
2. Learn to enjoy, and value, solitude.
3. Never forget that friendship is a
gift, not a possession.
4. Things are rarely as bad as they
seem at first.
5. Do your most important tasks first
thing in the morning.
6. Smiling seems to help with most
things!
7. Schedule margin into your life – as
something unexpected will often change your plans.
8. QTIP: quit taking it personally.
9. Define what’s necessary; say no to
the rest.
10. Take a deep breath and wait before
responding. Don’t react, and say something you’ll regret.
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