NARA'S NOTEPAD
VOLUME 17
MAY 2021
NUMBER 5
THIS ISSUE IS DELAYED FOR A MONTH DUE TO SOME UNAVOIDABLE REASONS...FOR THAT I BEG YOUR PARDON
- NARA
Monday, May 31, 2021
SPONSOR
Prof.
S. Thamburaj Ph.D
Former Dean, Faculty
of Horticulture, TNAU, Coimbatore
11, Vaiyapuri Illam,
Sabapathy Road, Saibaba Colony
Coimbatore 641 038,
ph. 96007 39443
CORONAVIRUS - THE CARDINAL POINTS
Coronavirus – Covid 19 has taught us
many things during 2020 and 2021. It is the second wave in India. It had spread
all over India due to multiple reasons. People thought Covid 19 has come down
in Feb. and March 2021. But the virulent virus caught fire and many innocent old
age and middle age people were affected. The election rallies in Kerala, Tamil
Nadu, Puduchery, West Bengal, and Assam were cited as some of the reasons for the
spread in these States. Another cause for the corona spread was due to the
Mahakumbh Mela at Uttarakhand where millions of people of various States like
Maharashra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar assembled to take a dip in the
river without following the cardinal points. The three cardinal points are,
wearing a face mask to cover the nose and mouth when going out, keeping a 2m
social distance from person to person and cleaning the hands frequently with
soap and sanitizer. The three important precautions are prescribed for all
human beings whether they are rich or poor, male or female, elder or younger,
celebrities or common people. All over the world where coronavirus is a
problem these measures are proposed. However, following these measures are in
the hands of people who are diversified and have their own peculiar ideas. Some
of them fully support these measures whereas others do support them without
following them. Strange indeed!
We all know well the impact of Covid 19.
It kills human beings, not at one stroke, but with miserable struggles like
fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, all types of body-aches,
difficulty in breathing etc. There is no specific medicine or drug for curing
the coronavirus infection. The helpless patients pray God to save his/her
life. That is the ultimate solution we all have. How cruel it is! People say
life is precious. But life becomes miserable altogether due to the virus. Added
to it helplessness and emotional unrest, fear and stress.
Every nation in the world is trying its
best to invent vaccines to induce immunity or supply oxygen to help the
patients or to find a medicine in the form of a tablet or capsule capable to
destroy the virus and save the humans. There are more than a few kinds of
vaccines already available in every country. People were afraid to get
vaccinated with these quickly produced vaccines in the beginning. Later on,
after some people got themselves vaccinated others were convinced to go for it.
In every country, including India vaccines are in short-supply. So the demand
for it has increased.
The awareness has increased leaps and
bounds. Hospitals are trying to cope up with the situation. Huge crowd everyday
in all Government hospitals and Primary Health Centers poses problems to
hospital staff. However they take it as their duty and perform it. Their
service satisfies millions of people. It’s hard time for all of them, as well
as to the people.
It is a fact that the three precautions
mentioned above are not fully followed by all although they are the cardinal
points to be followed. People wear masks to prevent the virus to enter their
body through the nose and mouth. Masks are of different types, colors, sizes
and shapes. We do find them in the market. Some are disposable and others are
washable and reusable. Whenever we go out from our houses, we are supposed to
wear it. It has another advantage of preventing the dusts entering the body. Most
of us wear masks without problem. The second precaution of keeping social
distancing is not followed at all. I have observed at many places including the
place of vaccination. Otherwise this precaution is not followed at all. The
third precaution of washing hands and applying sanitizers is being practiced
invariably by everyone. Keeping oneself clean hygienically is essential to
escape from the virus.
We have learned certain precautions from
the onset of corona virus. But following by all is a problem we face. In spite
of reminding everyone through cell phone, radio, TV, newspapers, people take it
lightly. People have to change their mindset and attitude to keep them safe and
see others are also safe. In spite of all these measures people do get virus infection
and undergo treatment in crowded hospitals (spending so much of money in
private hospitals) where shortage of beds, staff and oxygen are prevalent.
Therefore it becomes absolutely necessary to care for the suggested cardinal
points and follow them strictly. Otherwise, we do know what will happen. Let’s
be wise and help the society to remain safe. - NARA
HOW TO BE HAPPY?
1.
Avoid comparing yourself to others. It's damaging to self-esteem—focus on
your own achievements.
2. Make meaningful goals. Harvard
scientists say humans need a sense of purpose to thrive and that people with
dreams and aspirations are happier than those without.
3. Embrace spirituality. Research
suggests that people who participate in a religious community or explore
alternate sets of beliefs are happier and better adjusted in life.
4. Have a good cry when you need it. Allowing
yourself to break down completely is cathartic and you'll feel better after you
let it all out.
5. Learn to forgive yourself.
Focusing on your past mistakes serves no purpose besides keeping you from
moving on.
6. Maintain perspective. When life
starts to feel out of control, remind yourself of the positive things in your
life and how lucky you are.
7.
Define what happiness means for you. Don't worry about what other
people define as happy, find what makes you happy and go for it.
SOMETHING YOU MAY NOT KNOW
1. It is physically impossible for pigs
to look up into the sky.
2. The 'sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's
sick' is said to be the
toughest tongue twister in the English
language.
3. If you sneeze too hard, you can
fracture a rib. If you try to
suppress a sneeze; you can rupture a
blood vessel in your head or neck and die.
4. Each king in a deck of playing cards
represents great king from History. 'Spades' - King David; 'Clubs' - Alexander
the Great; ' Hearts' - Charlemagne; 'Diamonds' - Julius Caesar.
5. 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 =
12,345,678,987,654,321
6. If a statue of a person in the park
on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the
horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds
received in battle. If the horse has a all four legs on the ground, the person
died of natural causes.
7. What do bullet proof vests, fire
escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers all have in common? >>Ans.
- All invented by women.
8. Honey - This is the only food that
doesn't spoil.
9. A crocodile cannot stick its
tongue out.
10. A snail can sleep for three
years.
JUST TO LAUGH...
Man
walking along a road in the countryside comes across a shepherd and a huge
flock of sheep. Tells the shepherd, "I will bet you $100 against one of
your sheep that I can tell you the exact number in this flock." The
shepherd thinks it over; it's a big flock so he takes the bet. "973,"
says the man. The shepherd is astonished because that is exactly right. Says
"OK, I'm a man of my word, take an animal." Man picks one up and
begins to walk away.
"Wait,"
cries the shepherd, "Let me have a chance to get even. Double or nothing
that I can guess your exact occupation." Man says sure. "You are an
economist for a government think tank," says the shepherd.
"Amazing!" responds the man, "You are exactly right! But tell
me, how did you deduce that?"
"Well,"
says the shepherd, "put down my dog and I will tell you."
TRAPS THAT PEOPLE TEND TO FALL INTO:
The
Mistake Trap: “I’m afraid of doing
something wrong.” Losses hold us back!
The
Fatigue Trap: “I’m tired today.”
Losses wear us out.
The
Comparison Trap: “Someone else is better qualified than I
am.”Losses cause us to feel inferior to others.
The
Timing Trap: “This isn’t the right
time.” Losses make us hesitate.
The
Inspiration Trap: “I don’t feel like doing it right now.” Losses demotivate us.
The
Rationalization Trap: “Maybe it’s
really not that important.” Losses allow us to lose perspective.
The
Perfection Trap: “There’s the best way
to do it and I have to find it before I start.” Losses cause us to question
ourselves.
The
Expectation Trap: “I thought it would
be easy, but it isn’t.” Losses highlight the difficulties.
The
Fairness Trap: “I shouldn’t have to
be the one to do this.” Losses cause us to ask, “Why me?”
The Public Opinion Trap: “If I fail, what will others think?” Losses paralyze us.
The
Self-Image Trap: “If I fail at this,
it means I am a failure.” Losses negatively affect how we see ourselves.
All of these traps are caused by losses,
and all of them create the gap between knowing and doing. If we want to be
successful, we need to bridge that gap.
LINES I LIKED
Ø
In this world there’s
room for everyone.
Ø
In times of crisis, The good news is no news.
Ø
In the hands of every individual is given a marvelous power of good or evil.
Ø
In the urgency of
life, a lot of good things go fast and we don’t pay attention to them.
Ø
In the mad race for
numbers, quality takes a back seat.
.
Incompetent persons never bring change in the
society...
Meet you next month –2021
Professor A. Narayanan, Ph. D., FISPP
SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO:
E-mail: arumugakannu@gmail.com
Ph :
0422 4393017 Mobile: 75399 15614
(NARA’S
NOTEPAD)
Friday, April 2, 2021
SPONSOR
Prof.
S. Thamburaj Ph.D
Former Dean, Faculty
of Horticulture, TNAU, Coimbatore
11, Vaiyapuri Illam,
Sabapathy Road, Saibaba Colony
Coimbatore 641 038,
ph. 96007 39443
PHOTOGRAPHY - ONE OF MY HOBBIES
There are plenty of hobbies. One may choose from them depending on one’s interest. Some are, as simple as drawing and reading and as difficult as hunting animals or mountaineering. In addition to the profession, one holds, hobbies are leisure-time activities. One may have one or more hobbies. In fact, I have half-a-dozen of hobbies. I developed these hobbies over time in my life. Stamp collection, drawing, gardening, photography, reading good books, coloring, traveling, etc. Every hobby has some tools attached. I started my hobby of photography in 1967 in Paris, France. Fortunately, I had an opportunity to go to the Sorbonne, the University of Paris for doing my post-doctoral research in Plant Physiology after completing Ph. D at Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi popularly called Pusa Institute. Within a week after arriving in Paris, went to one of the famous super-market – Gallery Lafayat with my friend KKS Bhat. It was the first time I ever saw a huge supermarket in my life. Perfumes, fashionable dresses, electronic goods, cameras, etc. were displayed elegantly. I told my friend that I wanted to buy a camera. Since he had one already, he knew something about cameras. He took me to the camera section of the supermarket. There were so many models of cameras. Of course, they were all film cameras. In those times photographs were taken by using films. With the help of the salesgirl, we selected a Canon QL (Quick Loading) camera and paid the price of 100 Francs or so. Also, we bought a black and white film from Kodak Company. That was how I started operating a camera and taking photographs where ever IL traveled in France and Europe.
Later
on I shifted to color-slide photographs and bought a projector also. I used to
take pictures of my friends, colleagues, garden plants, monuments in France and
more particularly in Paris and its surroundings. The films were processed through
film studios. Prints of photographs in glazed art paper were also done. In fact
I spent a lot of time and money on it. Since I was all alone with few friends in
France, I had nothing else to do after work and weekends. Over time plenty of
photographs accumulated. So I bought albums and inserted the photographs in
them marking the date and place
where they were
taken. Similarly, the number of color-slides was also increased in number. Even
today I have them as my old collections. In addition, I bought some books on
photography to learn more about photography. Thus my hobby of photography grew
day by day and year by year.
Everyone
has a smartphone today. All phones are having a camera which can be operated
very easily by even a kid. The important thing in clicking a good photograph is
the composing of the object. There lies the very essence of a beautiful
photograph. So we need to use our brain and artistic thinking before composing
and clicking. Thus photography has become a hobby of all. The purpose of having
photography as a hobby is to make a good collection of photographs and show them
to friends and relatives. Moreover, collecting such photos is a good
hobby too. The sharing is done through social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, What’s up, etc.
Thus
the hobby of photography has become popular among many of us in the world.
Ultimately, hobbies are a good pass time and develop creativity and imagination.
A good hobbyist is a creator and enjoys his hobby as well as his or her life.
So it is better to have a hobby. Do you have a hobby? If not, get one soon. - NARA
CULTIVATE
1. Cultivating
Authenticity: Letting Go of What People Think
2. Cultivating
Self-Compassion: Letting Go of Perfectionism
3. Cultivating a
Resilient Spirit: Letting Go of Numbing and Powerlessness
4. Cultivating
Gratitude and Joy: Letting Go of Scarcity and Fear of the Dark
5. Cultivating
Intuition and Trusting Faith: Letting Go of the Need for Certainty6.
Cultivating Creativity: Letting Go of Comparison
7. Cultivating Play
and Rest: Letting Go of Exhaustion as a Status Symbol and Productivity as
Self-worth
8. Cultivating Calm
and Stillness: Letting Go of Anxiety as a Lifestyle
9. Cultivating
Meaningful Work: Letting Go of Self-Doubt and “Supposed To”
10. Cultivating
Laughter, Song, and Dance: Letting Go of Being Cool and “Always in Control”
FOR BETTER RELATIONSHIPS
1. Don’t discuss a
problem with anyone unless they are involved in it
2. Don’t believe in
matters which are heard HearSay
3. Don’t magnify
petty things
4. Be flexible in
your views.
5. Avoid
misunderstanding whenever others express their views and principles
6. Be courteous.
Always be kind, polite and sweet while talking. Have respect for everyone
7. Don’t pretend that
you are too busy even to smile and express kind words.
8. Be humble and
polite in your speech and in your deeds.
9. Meet people
personally now and then, and speak to them frankly
10. Be the first to
take the initiative while resolving a misunderstanding without waiting for the
other man to come down.
JUST TO LAUGH
One day an ✈️airplane cleaner was cleaning the pilots’ cockpit
when he saw a 📕book entitled “How to fly an
airplane✈️ for beginners.
Volume One”. He opened the first page which said, “To start the engine, press
the 🔴red button.”. He did so and the airplane engine started.
He was happy and opened the next page. “To set airplane moving, press the blue🔵 button.” He did so and the ✈️airplane started moving at an amazing speed. He wanted to fly so he opened the third page which read, “To let the airplane fly, please press the ♻green button.” He did this and the plane started to ✈️✈️✈️fly. He was excited!!!🌻 After 20 minutes of flying, he was satisfied and wanted to land so he decided to go to the fourth page. He fainted 😱after reading the instruction.. 🎯
The fourth page read, “To learn
how to land, please purchase Volume Two at the nearest bookshop!
IMPROVING YOUR MEMORY
Use mnemonic devices. Mnemonic devices, essentially trick for remembering information, can make memorization much easier. Used right, you’ll be able to remember all kinds of random information years down the road, just by creating acronyms and visual devices to go along with the material.
Write
it down. Writing down
information you’re trying to learn can actually help you remember it better than
typing it out. The act of writing engages more regions of your brain than
typing, though there is one caveat: your notes have to be of high quality for
the practice to really help you learn.
Sleep
on it. Psychologists have
found that going to sleep shortly after learning new information can actually
help you to remember that information. So, set up your study sessions a few
hours before you go to bed or follow them up with a nap to get the biggest
boost to your recall.
Rest
your brain. To keep new information
from trickling out of your brain you don’t need to repeat it until your brain
is exhausted. In fact, it’s actually more effective to sit and rest your brain
after learning something new; the practice gives a significant boost
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