We Shall Overcome

Stay Safe

Stay Home Stay Safe is the phrase being heard every now and then these days. It’s not just a phrase it’s something that acts as an open secret to keep your life with yourself. People die and heal simultaneously. It seems like it’s time for the mother earth to take revenge on human beings. Other than humans all the other resources are really well. Being in lock down the air is not polluted, tourism places are not littered, the rivers, lakes and ponds are clean. All these are literally free from the nuisance caused by humans. Mother earth is healing all her resources. She has given so many chances for us to realize her importance, but we failed in keeping her resources safe and secure and finally she has got this only way, that is only if the mother earth punishes humans and keep them shut indoors all her other resources shall be in peace. As humans we failed to pay her debt and now it’s her time to take action on humans. The ratio of people dying is greater than those that heal. All of a sudden all that was valued as treasures before seems garbage now and oxygen is the most important of all. Where the world is heading to? None knows! At least by now realize that we are the only cause for this to happen to us. We dug our own with graves leading to this situation. Who knows what will happen tomorrow? But we still have today. Have some heart to save nature. Plant a tree beside your house, you may or may not benefit with it, but it’s a promise that our future generation need not suffer like we do. Don’t be haunting yourself with thoughts that depress you, instead do some gardening in your backyard, plant some veggies and green leaves that help you to eat healthy. Stay indoors, so that you may save your life and your loved ones. Life is unpredictable, so live your life worth within your time. To all those who lost you dear ones in this world, to those who are in sick bed, to all those who don’t know what life holds next for you, Stay positive, never let your worries overrule you. We shall overcome.

THINGS ONLY PEOPLE WHO WATCH K-DRAMAS WILL UNDERSTAND

  1. The impatient wait for subs
  2. Having second lead syndrome
  3. But also loving the main lead
  4. Mentally preparing yourself for the next drama
  5. Desperately trying to figure out what happens next
  6. Throwing water in someone’s face is the greatest revenge
  7. They have met before
  8. An umbrella will bring the lead characters together
  9. Someone will get Amnesia
  10. Desperately wishing for second season.

THINGS THAT only engineers can understand

1. The endless lectures that seem to stretch on forever. These are supposed to arm you with engineering superpowers, but nothing much seems to seep into your brains.

2. The constant realization that engineering seems like a very different thing than you had imagined it to be. And the ensuing struggle to successfully achieve this degree.

3. No matter how well you plan your semester to get a decent GPA score, you have to deal with many bouncers (surprise tests, endless assignments, group projects) which ultimately result in a not-so-impressive final GPA score.

4.  Your senior (to be called “sir”) is always right and imparts you the real gyaan that you need to know. Every fresher at an engineering college knows that and respects their seniors accordingly. Things you learn from your seniors include the fact that just GPAs don’t matter – extra-curricular activities are equally important for landing a good job placement.

5.Engineers do not stress under tight deadlines. Everything happens last minute in engineering, and now nothing can overwhelm us in life.

6.In four years, we doesn’t know what is happening, so we learn everything. Writing, acting, dance, vlogging

7.We are great manager. We can manage any situation. As we survived in four years, under this

8.Engineers have the power of on-demand jugaad. We find, any way to complete the task.

9.Answering question with far too complex words that only we can understand

10.Going into a project and having absolutely no idea what to do or where to start

11.Losing half of students by the second half of day

12.Everyone who know you’re an engineer thinks you can fix their household appliances.

But jokes apart, we are truly grateful to all the brilliant engineers whose intellect, dedication & curiosity has led to several path-breaking innovations across the world!

Biomimicry: Nature inspired technologies

Sometimes Engineers look up to nature for tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges. Adapting or getting inspired by nature for sustainability solutions by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies is termed Biomimicry.

Believe it or not, some of the vehicles and products you come across on daily basis are inspired by animals and nature.

The Bullet train

Japan produces some of the most efficient and fast trains in the world at speed of 300km/hr. At such speed usually, all trains produce sonic boom and contribute to noise pollution.
But with the help of Biomimicry, engineers turned to an unlikely source the Kingfisher. Kingfisher birds can travel between the air and water with a very little splash and hunting for prey.

So engineers got inspired by this and gave a long break-like shape in front of the train. It helped them o reduce around and optimize the functionality of the train.

Airplanes inspired by eagles


The goal of aviation engineers to make the flight more efficient consuming less fuel in the -process. The eagle’s wing and the tail structure provide the plane action flight control.

The mob is a group of people or a crowd and the act of punishing a person by presuming them as the offenders without any involvement of the law is called mob lynching.
This exasperated group of people tortures or kills the person who they believe has done something wrong, After they presume the being as the offender they administer their justice without any trial before the court.
Reasons for Mob Lynching in India:
Religion Rages
Political Rages
Cow vigilantism

The case of Mob lynching has surged periodically. In India mostly act and hence nobody tries or prevent or put laws against it. The survey revealed that the police registered cases against victims and survivors of mob lynching in 30% of cases.

No matter how much realization or grave or horrendous crime one alone is helpless. There has to be a law established to prevent such malicious activities.

COVID-19 and Black Fungus: Mucormycosis?

Numerous individuals recuperating from COVID-19 have of late been tormented by black fungus – or mucormycosis – sickness. The fungus attacks the sinus and advances into the intraorbital and intracranial districts. On the off chance that its movement isn’t checked mid, 50-80% of patients could kick the bucket. 

The two creators are plant scholars inspired by growths. At the point when we originally knew about mucormycosis at some point a year ago, from reports from Europe, it rang a bell. 

Individuals experience organisms regularly in their kitchens, when natural products decay or the bread turns rotten. Parasites advanced 400 million years prior and assume a significant part on Earth. They have assisted plants with moving from their oceanic natural surroundings to land, and still assist them with acquiring minerals from the dirt. Growths deteriorate natural litter and reuse the supplements secured up in the leaves and wood. 

Some of them have additionally advanced to become plant microbes: they taint plants, increase and scatter to different plants, leaving obliteration afterward. The incomparable Irish starvation of 1845 that left 1,000,000 individuals dead was crafted by the fungus Phytophthora infestans, which cleared out the nation’s staple potato crop. 

While contagious illnesses are normal among plants, just a minuscule part of them pounce upon people. One explanation is that creatures, including people, have developed unpredictable insusceptible frameworks. 

Notwithstanding, when the invulnerable framework has been penetrated by another disease, growths that are generally innocuous exploit and attack human tissues. These are called pioneering diseases. All things considered, in contrast to their pathogenic bacterial partners, growths once in a while cause hazardous infections. A couple of growths, similar to the Candida yeast, can now and again start off a genuine disease. Candida lives on the skin and inside the mouth, throat and vagina of sound people without creating any issues. In any case, if the host’s body has been debilitated by another sickness or medications, it can cause oral thrush, diaper rash and vaginal diseases. 

The Mucoralean organisms are even less dangerous. They incorporate the families of Mucor and Rhizopus. These are universal molds happening in the dirt, fertilizer, creature compost, spoiling wood and plant material. You may have considered them to be the black development on old leafy foods. Mucoralean organisms are by and large the principal colonizers of dead or rotting plant material. They quickly use the restricted measure of straightforward carbs accessible before different organisms appear for the more perplexing sugars, like cellulose.

Mucormycosis is an extremely uncommon disease. It is brought about by openness to mucor form which is ordinarily found in soil, plants, excrement, and rotting foods grown from the ground. “It is universal and found in soil and air and surprisingly in the nose and bodily fluid of sound individuals,” says Dr Nair. 

It influences the sinuses, the cerebrum and the lungs and can be perilous in diabetic or seriously immunocompromised people, like disease patients or individuals with HIV/AIDS. 

line 

Specialists accept mucormycosis, which has a general death pace of half, might be being set off by the utilization of steroids, a daily existence saving treatment for serious and fundamentally sick Covid-19 patients. 

Steroids lessen irritation in the lungs for Covid-19 and seem to help stop a portion of the harm that can happen when the body’s invulnerable framework goes into overdrive to ward off Covid. Be that as it may, they additionally lessen invulnerability and push up glucose levels in the two diabetics and non-diabetic Covid-19 patients. 

It’s idea that this drop in invulnerability could be setting off these instances of mucormycosis.

Future of Vaccines and the Pandemic

This previous week, we discovered that our vaccine wellbeing observing framework works. Reports that few individuals fostered an uncommon type of blood clump subsequent to getting the Johnson and Johnson vaccine prompted speedy examination, fast activity, and straightforwardness about what is known, not known, and what following stages ought to be. Vaccines remain right out of the pandemic. 

Worldwide cooperation has been basic all through the pandemic. Public health and clinical specialists all throughout the planet are working together to decide if occasions related with the AstraZeneca vaccine are equivalent to those which might be related with the J&J vaccine. 

Vaccine technology transfer 

The pandemic is the world’s most significant issue, making technology transfer for vaccines progressively critical. At the present time, mRNA vaccine technology is our best arrangement. We need to make excellent assembling stages all throughout the planet to improve vaccine access. 

mRNA technology is a protection strategy against the pandemic. Why? mRNA vaccines are simpler to change for vaccines-get away from variations, less subject to creation delays, and simpler and faster to bring to scale. They might be more successful against disease, and may likewise be more secure. All authorized vaccines are protected and viable, however mRNA is the most encouraging technology. 

We likewise need more endeavors like Moderna’s to examine vaccine thermostability at non-frosty temperatures and different endeavors that may help get mRNA vaccines to spots and networks that are more enthusiastically to reach. 

Vaccines: a public health example of overcoming adversity 

Vaccines are quite possibly the main public health mediations ever, having saved at any rate a billion lives. Likewise with any clinical intercession, there might be a little danger. The tale of vaccines against rotavirus, which causes dangerous diarrheal infection in small kids, is enlightening. 

In 1999, the RotaShield vaccine was removed from the U.S. market due to an uncommon, genuine confusion. Different nations went with the same pattern. This choice prompted in a real sense a huge number of preventable youngsters to pass all throughout the planet until another vaccine was created seven years after the fact. 

There’s as yet an okay of genuine entanglements related with the more current rotavirus vaccines, however benefits of immunization far exceed the risks. Along these lines the U.S. furthermore, nations all throughout the planet keep inoculating youngsters against rotavirus, searching cautiously for potential confusions, and saving a large number of lives. 

Vaccine risks vs. benefits 

Indeed, even as uncommon yet genuine occasions conceivably connected with the J&J vaccine keep on being examined, the pandemic is proceeding — and speeding up in a large part of the world. Around one out of 200 individuals with Covid bite the dust from it. There have so far been six reports of blood clumps creating in the cerebrum among around 7,000,000 individuals who got the J&J vaccine. There are no known reports of such occasions related so far with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. 

Examination of risks and benefits guides suggestions for vaccines, including against Covid. This can be awkward. We weigh “sins of commission” more intensely than “sins of oversight.” But in the event that each vaccine helps a larger number of individuals than it might hurt, isn’t this the best approach? 

Internationally, until there is substantially more broad accessibility of mRNA vaccines, benefits of utilization of the vectored vaccines will far exceed risks in all networks in which Covid is spreading and for all populaces at high danger of intricacies of Covid. 

Immunizing our way toward the new typical 

The more individuals who are inoculated with accessible vaccines, the lower the case rates, the more lives saved, and the sooner we will get to the new ordinary. I actually believe we’re probably going to smash the bend of diseases by summer and be in the new ordinary this fall in the U.S. 

We should adjust the gigantic risks presented by Covid with incredibly low risks of getting immunized. On a very basic level, the case for increasing mRNA vaccine stages all around the world just got much more grounded than when we supported it a month and a half prior. 

Increasing creation of mRNA vaccines will not be basic. Life once in a while is. Innovative transfer of the most encouraging vaccine technology against Covid isn’t the perfect thing to do selflessly, it’s crucial for the health and wellbeing of each individual, wherever on the planet.

Is the age of mother really important for CHILDBEARING?

Know the right age for pregnancy and also the risks involved in late pregnancies.

Every eye visiting this article would be having a definite answer in their head; NO. In these modern times when every women wants an established career no one even thinks of planning a baby before 35 or say 30. But the question that follows here is Does the age of mother really matter for childbearing?

The age of reproduction of women starts around 13-14 years and lasts on an average till 45 years. So some may be wondering that when the reproduction can be done till the age of 45 then why to have baby in 20s and 30s. But the answer to the previous question is ‘YES’. The age of the mother really matters when it comes to bearing a child. Let’s understand why.

There are some facts we need to understand while we understand the reason:

  1. Definitely timed biological clock.
  2. Quality of eggs.
  3. Certain risks of Pregnancy.

Definitely timed biological clock:

As said that the reproductive age in women starts from 13-14 years and lasts till 45 years, there is certain age where the fertility of the women is at its peak. In her late teens and upto her late 20s, the women experiences the best fertile period. Post 30, the fertility potential decreases with each passing year. This decline is very pronounced after the age of 35. It decreases rapidly after that. So for a healthy couple if the chances of a pregnancy is about 1 in 4 in the late twenties or the early thirties, the chances reduces drastically by 1 in 10, by the time the woman reaches about 40.

Quality of eggs:

When we say that the possibility of the woman to get pregnant after 35 declines, but what is it that actually affects this? It is the Number and the Quality of eggs in a female. With age the number and the quality of the eggs reduces which opens the gates for the risks like miscarriage or having an abnormal baby. While the fertility potential of males also declines with age, this is seen to be dramatically declining in the case of females.

Certain risks of Pregnancy:

There are certain risks for the women and their foetus who plan their pregnancy after the age of 35.

  • The relative risks of having certain diseases like High blood pressure, diabetes, miscarriage, premature births increase with an increasing age of the mother.
  • The chances for genetic abnormality in an unborn baby of the mother who ages 25 is about 1 in 700 but this risk inclines about 1 in 400 for the mother ageing 35. Beyond the age of 40, this risk increases to 1 in 100.

Does that mean women have to leave their career and plan their babies first? No, it does not. With the progression of the science and technology there are certain solutions available. Do not look for them on the Google, instead visit a gynecologist for the same. Those women planning their babies after 40 can freeze their eggs when they are about 30 to 34 of age. Also the healthier the woman maintains her lifestyle, the lesser will be the chances of having a miscarriage.

And after all it’s not necessary to have a biological child to be a parent. Share this with every woman to spread awareness.

“WHY DO WE DESERVE THIS?” A 10-YEAR-OLD’S PLEA

Hundreds of netizens have watched a video of a 10-year-old Gaza girl crying in front of a house that has been reduced to ruins and wondering, “Why do we deserve this?” The video depicts the brutality of the Israel-Palestine conflict and how children are among those who suffer the most as a result of the violence.

Nadine Abdel-Taif, the girl, spoke to The Middle East Eye on May 15 about the devastation caused by Israeli air strikes. “I’m always sick. I can’t do anything. I’m only 10… what do you expect me to do? Fix it?? “she inquired, referring to the house that had been reduced to ruins.

“I can’t even deal with this anymore. I just want to be a doctor or anything to help my people. But I can’t. I’m just a kid,” Nadine said, as she broke down.

“All of this when I see, I literally cry everyday,” she said in a shaky voice. “Why do we deserve this? What did we do for this?” Nadine asked, adding that her family says that “they (Israel) just hate us. They just don’t like us because we are Muslims.”

The girl said, pointing to the children who were present around her, “You see all of the kids around me. They’re just kids. Why would you just send a missile to kill them?” she questioned.

Israel’s armed offensive, which has been described as the most extreme since 2014, has destroyed hundreds of homes in Palestine, killed at least 149 people, including 41 children, and injured over 1,000 people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu justified the attack as an act of self-defense against “terrorism” committed by Gaza-based Hamas militants.

The dispute has now reached the seventh day. Nine Israelis have also died as a result of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group’s attacks from Gaza. Israel’s offensive, according to Netanyahu, would last “as long as necessary.” “We will make them pay dearly,” he said.

“Mental Health”

According to Mental News Today, Mental health refers to cognitive, behavioral, and emotional well-being. It is all about how people think, feel, and behave. People sometimes use the term “mental health” to mean the absence of a mental disorder.


Mental health can effect our daily lifestyle, physical health and relationships.
Looking after mental health can preserve a person’s ability to enjoy life. Doing this involves reaching a balance between life activities, responsibilities, and efforts to achieve psychological resilience.

Conditions such as stress, depression, and anxiety can all affect mental health and disrupt a person’s routine.

Although the term mental health is in common use, many conditions that doctors recognize as psychological disorders have physical roots.

• What is Mental Health?

According to WHO, “Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.”

• Risk factors for Mental Health:-

1. Social and financial circumstances, biological factors, and lifestyle choices can all shape a person’s mental health.
2. A large proportion of people with a mental health disorder have more than one condition at a time.
3. It is important to note that good mental health depends on a delicate balance of factors and that several elements of life and the world at large can work together to contribute to disorders.

BOREDOM MAY POSE A PUBLIC HEALTH THREAT IN THE SOCIAL DISTANCING ERA

New studies offer clues to why some people find it difficult to follow social-distancing guidelines. Two recent studies suggest that people prone to boredom are more likely than others to break social-distancing rules. Accepting the idea that feeling bored is normal could help people cope, say researchers.

In recent months, you may have heard about “pandemic fatigue.” The term is not clearly defined. But the gist is that people have grown tired of the pandemic and of having to keep apart for so long. That fatigue can show up as feelings of anxiety, hopelessness, frustration, anger and boredom.

Seeing boredom on that list worries those who study the condition. “Usually boredom tells you that you should do something else,” says Wanja Wolff. During a pandemic, “that might not be the best thing,” says this sports psychologist. He works at the University of Konstanz in Germany.

Recently, scientists have shown that those fears could pose a problem. Two new studies have found that people who often feel bored are more likely than others to flout social-distancing guidelines. Those boredom-prone people also appear to be at higher risk of contracting the new coronavirus.

Boredom, these studies suggest, may well be a real threat to public health.

Defining boredom

“Boredom is a sign that you’re not meaningfully engaged in the world,” says Erin Westgate. She’s a social psychologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville. She and other researchers have identified two paths to boredom: a loss of focus and a loss of meaning.

Many of us have lost the focus, or mental clarity, that we had before the pandemic, Westgate says. The pandemic has brought many sources of stress. They include city shutdowns and remote-schooling. At the same time, there have been many other stressors both big and small. These include civil-rights protests, political unrest and tough economic times.

Such disturbances can impair our ability to stay mentally sharp. Westgate and others have found that both too much and too little stimulation can short-circuit one’s ability to pay attention.

Meanwhile, many of our lives have come unraveled. “We’re in a collective loss of routine right now,” says. She is a social psychologist at Rutgers University-Newark in New Jersey. Social-distancing guidelines are aimed at protecting us from a deadly disease. But they have also stolen the seemingly little things that we enjoy. Those monthly outings for ice cream with grandma or weekly baseball games with friends are more than just fun routines. They actually give our lives meaning.

When people lose both focus and meaning in their lives, the boredom becomes “doubly bad,” Westgate says. Even when something is meaningful, she points out, you may lose focus, she points out. If can be because either “it’s too easy or too hard. You can also be bored because you can pay attention, but it’s meaningless,” she says. “But if something is meaningless and you can’t pay attention, you’re like double bored.”

Prone to the blahs

The two new boredom studies each included almost 1,000 North American participants. They show how elevated boredom among people prone to the feeling may be playing out during the pandemic.

In one study, researchers looked at a person’s propensity for boredom. They sought to quantify how this related to rule-breaking behaviors during the pandemic. One example might be going to a party. Proneness to boredom explained 25 percent of the variance in rule-breaking behaviours among participants. The team reports this in the March Personality and Individual Differences.

No one thing can explain all of any human behavior, says James Danckert. But “25 percent is a huge amount.” This coauthor of the study is a cognitive neuroscientist. He works at the University of Waterloo in Canada.

Wolff and his colleagues, meanwhile, found that boredom-prone people ranked social distancing as more difficult  than others had. They were also less likely to follow social-distancing guidelines. Their findings appeared online July 28, 2020 in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Both studies showed that people who scored higher in boredom were also slightly more likely than those scoring lower to report having gotten COVID-19.

“Boredom is an incredibly powerful motivator for behavior,” Wolff says. Yet, he adds, people can struggle with how to respond to that signal in safe and meaningful ways.

The danger of the doldrums

Westgate is not surprised that people who are especially prone to boredom find staying home dull. She does wonder, though, about the rest of us. How are people who aren’t used to being bored coping with the pandemic? Are they also breaking the rules?

The research here is less direct but suggestive. In one 2014 study in Science, Westgate and her colleagues asked 42 undergraduate students to sit alone with their thoughts for several minutes. No cell phones were allowed. The students, though, had the option to push a button to receive a painful electric shock. About two-thirds of the male and a quarter of the female students pushed that button. Some pushed it more than once. This suggests that even pain can be preferable to boredom for some.

Similarly, one 2019 study induced boredom in people through a repetitive gambling game. That boredom prompted them to take more risks.

Momentary boredom is not inherently bad, says Wijnand Van Tilburg. He is a social psychologist at the University of Essex in England. He also coauthored the 2019 study, published in Behavioral Decision Making. But over a longer period, boredom can lead to serious public health outcomes. That’s true if the situation “is unresolved or the resolution to it is harmful, like overeating or becoming aggressive or not wearing a mask,” he says. 

A recent study provides clues to how unresolved boredom may play out. It was published in the December 22 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The pattern of death rates from COVID-19 in some states did not match what researchers expected if people had hunkered down as the virus surged. Then the researchers factored into their models that some people would stop social distancing earlier than recommended. Now their models better replicated the real death rates.

The authors attribute people’s actions, and the higher-than-expected death toll, to pandemic fatigue. This includes boredom.

In the coming months, boredom from pandemic fatigue could worsen as the COVID-19 virus continues to spread in the United States and many other places. Hope is at hand with the rollout of vaccines. But public-health experts warn that vaccinating enough people to halt a U.S. spread of the virus could take several more months. How is that collision of hope and despair affecting our levels of boredom? How many of us will drop our guard?

What now?

Wolff is now looking at how to help people who are bored to follow social-distancing rules. His paper, last July, showed that when boredom-prone people have a lot of self-control, they do a better job with adherence. Training people to have more self-control can be difficult, however. Wolff instead suggests that people reduce the need for self-control by creating backup plans.

His preliminary research was posted online last June 25 at PsyArXiv.com. It suggests that “if-then ” plans can help. For instance, if an indoor gym is too dangerous, a person could plan to start running outside. Wolff suggests people take small steps to make it easier to follow such forced changes to their routine. One example: Put workout clothes out on the bed the night before and sneakers by the front door. “The idea is to make behavior more automatic,” he says.

But even with the best-laid plans, retaining focus and meaning during the pandemic is no easy task. Researchers say it’s worth reminding ourselves that boredom is a neutral signal. It is neither bad nor good. And some people may discover that their boredom has roots that may predate the pandemic.

So perhaps the best way to view the situation is that some people will use this moment of boredom to think about larger life goals, Van Tilburg says. “It is possible to get meaning out of these negative situations.”  

MOVEMENT IN YOUR DAY

The trick is to get started not wait for a good time to do it.

Moving your body regularly and often is a key to good health. But for people who don’t feel urge to exercise, sitting can become a habit that hurts the body and the brain. Here are some easy tips that will invite more movement into your routines.

1.Budget in some mobile breaks

Make a conscious effort and set simple goals, say Tatiana Warren of Just TATI in Baltimore, Md. For example, for every hour that you’re sitting , you might set yourself a goal to get up for ten minutes and move round . Schools and work places can be creative about building those breaks into the day , she says.

2. Give yourself prompts

Are you forgetting to get up? Set a timer if you have to. Let it remind you to “break up” an hour of sitting with a couple-minute breaks for walking or more, says Aaron Kandola at University College , London.

“Or if you are watching television , just get up when there’s an advertisement break”, Hallgren says. For example, you might use the short break to do a quick chore like empty the dishwasher or pick up the dog’s toys.

3. Work with what you have

“If it’s nice weather , you should definitely get out,” Warren says. Even a quick walk up and down the block can help. If the weather is bad, plan for other options.

Warren likes to jump rope in her high-ceiling apartment. But you could stand and stretch even in a small place. Dance around online exercise videos. For example, the Lake Country YMCA in Ohio has free eight to twelve minutes kids’ yoga videos . Their themes include Star Wars, dinosaurs and the jungle.

4. Use the buddy system

Work with friends to remind each other to stand up and a stretch. Or, remind each other to stand when you are on the phone. Get your family involved too. Warren says her cousins’ family likes to play board games. But they often stand to reach for something or even jump during the games. No one sits still for long , she says.

5.Stand or walk in place

If you are watching something, such as a video or TikTok, consider standing while you do it. If you are listening to music , try dancing to the beat at least once every 20 to 40 minutes. If you are working on the computer, place it on a taller surface , a dresser or tabletop so you can stand while you work. If you are talking on the phone, walk around the room while you chat.

6. Push for better policies

School is a great place to start breaking up long periods of sitting , says Warren. And creative breaks can be fun . Tell your teacher , guidance counselor or principal what you have learned here. Suggest a trail school wide policy to get everyone moving, or maybe even a competition. Everyone stands to benefit from moving more.

These days we are moving to the work from home culture which means movement becomes less and lesser . Sitting in a place for a while could cause more problems so try to make movements and do muscular exercises. Stay healthy and Stay safe.

Covid-19 in children

Symptoms to track

Despite the fact that a larger part of the kids who contract the infection might be asymptomatic or somewhat suggestive, fever, hack, shortness of breath, weakness, myalgia, rhinorrhoea, sore throat, the runs, loss of smell, loss of taste are normal side effects. A couple of youngsters may likewise have gastrointestinal issues, the service said. 

Another condition called multi-framework provocative disorder has been seen in kids. This condition is described by fever, stomach torment, retching, looseness of the bowels, rash, and cardiovascular and neurological issues.

In case the child is asymptomatic

In the event that a kid tests positive for the infection however is asymptomatic, there is a need to continually follow their wellbeing for advancement of indications. Early recognition of side effects will prompt early treatment, say wellbeing specialists. In the interim, if kids have gentle manifestations like sore throat, hack and rhinorrhoea yet no breathing trouble, they can be dealt with at home, the service said.

Kids with fundamental comorbid conditions including intrinsic coronary illness, constant lung infection, persistent organ brokenness or weight may likewise be treated at home.

Treatment of mild cases of Covid-19 in children

To treat fever in youngsters, a paracetamol (10-15mg) might be utilized each 4 to 6 hours. For hack, washes with warm, saline water will help, the wellbeing service said. Admission of liquids and a nutritious eating routine is compulsory. 

The service additionally explained on the part of antiviral medicine in treatment of Covid-19 in youngsters. “There is no job of hydroxychloroquine, Favipiravir, Ivermectin, Lopinavir/Ritonavir, Redes Vir, Umifenovir, immunomodulators including Tocilizumab, Interferon B1a, healing plasma imbuement or Dexamethasone,” the rules read. 

It was imperative to keep a checking graph for respiratory rates and oxygen levels. These ought to be checked 2-3 times each day. Chest indrawing, discolouration of body, pee yield, liquid admission and movement level ought to likewise be observed, particularly in little youngsters. Guardians should contact specialists in the event that they notice anything strange.

Treatment of moderate cases of Covid-19 in children

In the event that the respiratory rate is under 60 every moment in kids under two months old, under 50 every moment for youngsters short of what one year old, under 40 every moment for kids as long as five years and under 30 every moment for those more than five, they might be experiencing a moderate instance of Covid-19. The oxygen immersion level in all these age gatherings ought to be above 90%. 

No normal lab tests will be required except if the youngsters have comorbid conditions and those conditions request customary tests. In any case, there is a requirement for kids with moderate Covid-19 to be conceded to devoted Covid wellbeing focuses and checked for clinical advancement. In these cases, there was a need to energize oral feeds (bosom takes care of in babies) and support liquid and electrolyte balance. Intravenous liquid treatment ought to be started if oral admission is poor, the service said.

Treatment of severe cases of Covid-19 in children

Kids with serious Covid-19 SpO2 (oxygen immersion) levels of under 90% and snorting, extreme withdrawal of chest, torpidity, sluggishness, seizure are a portion of the indications of extreme Covid-19. Such kids ought to be conceded to a committed Covid-19 medical services office and some of them may require HDU/ICU care. They ought to likewise be checked for apoplexy, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and organ disappointment. 

Complete blood tallies, liver and renal capacity tests and chest X-beams are obligatory for such cases. Corticosteroids (0.15 mg per portion) double a day or antiviral medications (like Remdesivir conceded for crisis use authorisation) ought to be utilized in a limited way following three days of beginning of indications and in the wake of ensuring that the kid’s liver and renal capacities are ordinary.

SPIRAL BACTERIA

The City of Perth on the west shoreline of Australia and its port, Fremantle, are not actually the best options on this planet where you would anticipate that huge scientific discoveries in biomedicine should happen. Such leap forwards ordinarily happen inside extremely huge and affluent metropolitan combinations, to which whole organizations of the world’s driving colleges float, and where the related and supporting monsters of the pharmaceutical and biotechnological ventures have their exploration divisions — an area which utilizes a huge number of the most instructed individuals all throughout the planet. 

 

That being said, Perth, alongside Fremantle, is a genuine city when contrasted with Kalgoorlie, a mining town two or three hundred miles east of Perth, in Western Australia, where Barry James Marshall was brought into the world back in 1951. As per him, “these diggers owed a ton of cash and drank a great deal of lager.” So, his mom, who was a medical attendant, concluded that they expected to move before they procure those equivalent qualities. His family moved to Perth when he was 8 years of age, so Barry went to class there. In secondary school, he didn’t dominate too a lot, gathering strong, however essentially normal imprints. In any case, at his selection test and his meeting to go to the Medical School of the University of Western Australia in Perth, he had an incredible impression, so in 1974 he effectively finished his schooling there. He needed to rehearse family medication. 

 

By then in his life, he was unable to have realized that his life would take him a totally extraordinary way and that his name would be recalled throughout the entire existence of medication, frequently referenced along with another specialist who was fourteen years his senior — John Robin Warren. Dr Warren was brought into the world in Adelaide. He was at that point an exceptionally experienced pathologist when Marshall procured his practitioner training. Following quite a while of work in Adelaide and afterward in Melbourne, in 1967, John Robin Warren was chosen for the Royal College of Pathologists of Australia and Asia, turning into a senior pathologist at the Royal Hospital in Perth. Undoubtedly, Perth was where he proceeded to spend most of his vocation. With Warren’s move from Melbourne to Perth, the existence of these two specialists — whose joint effort would get perhaps the most renowned joint efforts throughout the entire existence of medication — had effectively come very close, at any rate from a topographical perspective. 

 

Among the entirety of the infections that can assault an individual, and there are in excess of sixteen thousand of them as per the global grouping of sicknesses, Barry Marshall was generally intrigued by stomach ulcers. One out of ten grown-ups at the time experienced alleged stomach ulcer illness. Medications to decrease gastric corrosive discharge were among the most intensely recommended in the whole world. The individuals who battled with this specific infection endured amazingly awkward torment. At the lower part of their stomach, or on the duodenum that proceeded from the stomach towards the digestive tracts, they would have an open ulcer. The lower part of the ulcer was not shielded from corrosive material created in the stomach by corrosive safe mucosa, but instead transparently presented to it. At the point when corrosive connected with an ulcer, victims would feel dull agony that was massively hard to endure. 

 

Food ingested with every feast would kill, move away, or flush out that corrosive, so eating decreased the agony. However, when the processed food proceeded with its way through the stomach related framework and moved towards the gut, the corrosive creation would proceed and a similar horrible torment would return. There was additionally a persistent risk that the ulcer would totally enter through the mucosa. The corrosive would then start to spill into the stomach depression, causing hazardous irritation of the peritoneum.

 

‘The Doll’s House’ as a Feminist play.

“I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was papa’s doll-child; and here the children have been my dolls. I thought it great fun when you played with me, just as they thought it great fun when I played with them.”

“The Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen, a 19th century play, strongly stamps the rights of women into the minds of the readers. It explores what roles women are forced to play and how they lose themselves by doing so. Now, the ‘Doll’ in the title will make us think about what its role is and how it is connected to the play. A doll is made to look pretty, made to entertain others, and to be toyed by its owner. Similarly, women are also expected to look pretty, please men and are directed to play the roles given. This is how women were treated and are even now.

This play explores these intricacies in the lives of women. Nora is the doll in the play and her house the playhouse. Nora is also an embodiment of the entire women folk in general. The plot is set during Christmas, and so we can see Nora busy with her Christmas preparation in the first act. She is happy to hear of her husband’s promotion and also expects greater happiness because of it. She is visited by Mrs. Linde, who is an old friend of hers, and has come to seek her husband’s help in finding a job. Afterwards, she is also visited by Krogstad from whom she had leant money in the past. He blackmails her of revealing a forgery done by her in borrowing money. She has forged her father’s signature to get money. Krogstad tells her to get him a job in the bank from her husband. 

Through the series of dialogues in the first act, we see how her husband, Torvald pets her and objectifies her. Instead of calling by her name, he uses ‘little squirrel’, ‘little lark’, ‘little skylark’ and so. By using such words, he objectifies her and diminishes her being. The adjective ‘little’ shows how he considers her lower than him and how he always treats her like a child. In fact, everyone in the play treats her like a child. 

When Nora reveals to her friend, Mrs. Linde, that she has borrowed a huge sum to save her husband’s life, Mrs. Linde is shocked by it. 

“NORA.

Couldn’t I? Why not?

MRS LINDE.

No, a wife cannot borrow without her husband’s consent.”

This shows that women of that period weren’t allowed to concern themselves with financial matters. We can even see that for a woman to borrow money, she needs a consent of a man and his sign. This is why Nora forged her father’s signature to borrow money. Nora also adds that she wouldn’t let her husband know about it because it would hurt his pride. Torvald never considers Nora as his equal and seems that being helped by women would make him look weak. This is a conventional thought which needs to be broken.

“A man who has such strong opinions about these things! And besides, how painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald, with his manly independence, to know that he owed me anything! “

In the second act, things speed up and we see Nora anxiously awaiting what would happen after the revelation. She mentally prepares herself to face the consequences and strongly believes her husband will take the blame all upon himself. This will be proved wrong later.

NORA.

Your squirrel would run about and do all her tricks if you would be nice, and do what she wants.

HELMER.

Speak plainly.

NORA.

Your skylark would chirp about in every room, with her song rising and falling –

HELMER.

Well, my skylark does that anyhow.

These lines show how Nora is always expected to please her husband. Torvad also likes to show off her to others and is proud of ‘owning’ her. A woman is a human and an individual and no mere object to own or show off. Thus the playwright brings out the toxic habit of objectification.

It is also seen that Nora never has an identity of her own. She is referred to as the daughter of her father and wife of Torvald. The society seems to repress her individuality by adding surnames to her. The play progresses to show how Nora sets out to find herself and her identity as an individual.

HELMER.

There, you see it was quite right of me not to let you stay there any longer.

NORA.

Everything you do is quite right, Torvald.

It can also be seen that Nora is never to have her own thoughts and to do what she likes. Her freedom as an individual is thus constrained by her husband. Her husband controls her, her actions, thoughts and directs her on what she has to do. And when the truth of her debt and forgery is revealed, he blames her and throws her under the bus. He is more worried about how his reputation in the society will be tarnished on the revelation of her actions. He is self-conceited and doesn’t bother to listen to Nora.

HELMER.

[walking about the room]. What a horrible awakening! All these eight years—she who was my joy and pride—a hypocrite, a liar—worse, worse—a criminal! The unutterable ugliness of it all!—For shame! For shame! [NORA is silent and looks steadily at him. He stops in front of her.] I ought to have suspected that something of the sort would happen. I ought to have foreseen it. …. Now you have destroyed all my happiness. You have ruined all my future. It is horrible to think of!

This is an awakening to Nora. Nora borrowed money in order to save her husband, but her husband completely ignores that fact. And when Krogstad sends a mail to them telling that he won’t reveal anything to the world, her husband immediately changes his colours and tells her that he had ‘forgiven’ her.

All these makes Nora realize what kind of life she was leading. She has an honest talk with her husband for the first time in eight years since they have married. She tells him that he had never considered her as an individual with feelings but a merely pleasing doll

“You have never loved me. You have only thought it pleasant to be in love with me.”

She says that she was a mere doll passed down from her father to him. She was never to have her opinions with her father and so the same with her husband too. All her life she was treated like a doll and now she has also become to treat her own children like that. Here I quote the lines told in the beginning again. 

She breaks up her marriage and sets herself free from everything that restrains her from being an individual. Before everything, she owes a duty to herself which she had not been concerned about before. She is going to educate herself and find herself.

HELMER.

Before all else, you are a wife and a mother.

NORA.

I don’t believe that any longer. I believe that before all else I am a reasonable human being, just as you are—or, at all events, that I must try and become one.

The realization that she had never lived her life as an individual and that she had always been objectified transforms her. She slams the door of her house and sets out.

“I was your little skylark, your doll, which you would in future treat with doubly gentle care, because it was so brittle and fragile. [Getting up.] Torvald—it was then it dawned upon me that for eight years I had been living here with a strange man, and had borne him three children—. Oh, I can’t bear to think of it! I could tear myself into little bits!”

Every woman like Nora should liberate themselves from their constraints. The entire play takes place inside the house and it shows how Nora and women are confined to four walls. Nora finally escapes her confinement and liberates into the real world. 

[The sound of a door shutting is heard from below.]

Thus this play motivates every woman to find her way out of the door and slam it. This is a realistic play even applicable for the 21st century.

Read the full play at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2542/2542-h/2542-h.htm

Most people will add something-even when subtracting makes more sense

This “more is better” attitude could underlie modern day excesses expert say.

Picture a bridge made of Lego blocks. One side has three support pieces, the other two. How would you stabilize the bridge? Most people would add a piece to the short stack, a new study suggests. But why not remove a piece from the taller stack? When it comes to Lego blocks, ingredients in a recipe or words in an essay, people prefer to add, not subtract.

People can be nudged to subtract instead. But effectively changing that preference seems to require reminders or rewards. That’s the finding of a new study . Its authors shared details of it in the April 8 Nature.

This preference for adding isn’t limited to building blocks, cooking and writing. It might also contribute to modern-day excesses. Think about cluttered homes, excess government rules and even a tendency to pollute, says Benjamin Converse. He’s a behavioral scientist at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He worries that because of this bias toward adding, “We’re missing an entire class of solutions.”  

Converse was part of a team that first found this bias when they asked 1,585 study participants to tackle eight puzzles and problems. Each could be solved by adding or removing things. One puzzle required shading or erasing squares on a grid to make some pattern symmetrical. In another, people could add or subtract items on a list of intended destinations to improve their vacation experience.

In each case, the vast majority of people chose to add not subtract. For instance, of 94 participants who completed the grid task, 73 added squares. Another 18 removed squares. Three simply reworked the original number of squares.

The researchers suspect that most people default to adding simply because subtracting never even comes to mind. But through a series of controlled trials, the team was able to nudge recruits toward the minus option.

Hint, hint…

In one test, the team offered 197 people wandering around a crowded university site a dollar to solve a puzzle. People viewed a Lego structure. It had a figure standing atop a platform with a large pillar behind her. A single block on one corner of the pillar supported a flat roof. Researchers asked the participants to stabilize the roof to avoid squashing the figure.

lego block tower with roof
In this test, people had to stabilize a Lego roof over a figurine (represented by the piece of paper). Most people added blocks even though each piece cost 10 cents. Only after researchers noted that removing pieces was free did more people consider taking off the center block and resting the roof on the wide pillar below it.ADAMS ET AL/NATURE 2021

The researchers warned 98 participants that “each piece you add costs 10 cents.” Yet only 40 of them thought to remove the destabilizing block so that the roof could rest on top of the wide pillar below. The other 99 participants were told about the 10-cent cost of each extra block. But these people also learned “removing pieces is free.” That cue prompted 60 of them to remove the block.

Practice did help participants call to mind that elusive option of removing (subtracting) something. In a variation on the grid test, where subtraction yielded the best solution, participants got three practice runs. When they performed the actual task, more people now chose to subtract squares than did those who worked this problem without practice. 

Throwing unrelated information at people reduced the chance they would subtract something. In fact, people added even more when fighting information overload, the new study reports.

“When people try to make something better … they don’t think that they can remove or subtract unless they are somehow prompted to do so,” says Gabrielle Adams. She’s a behavioral scientist who also works at the University of Virginia. 

On some deep level, people seem to realize that subtraction comes less naturally than addition, the authors say. That may be what’s behind such sayings as “less is more” and Marie Kondo’s now infamous recommendation that people rid themselves of everything that fails to spark joy.

But curbing our love of excess will take more than nudges and a clear mind, suspects Hal Arkes. He’s a researcher at Ohio State University in Columbus. There, he studies judgement and decision-making. Organizational and political leaders really hate cutting the fat, he notes. They seem to feel that “if you add more people and more dollars, you won’t make any enemies,” Arkes says. “You’ll just make friends.” For them, he argues, “subtraction has serious downsides.”

Copper foam could be used as filter for COVID-19 masks

Ask the Expert: Do I Have to Wear Sunscreen Under My Mask? - The Skin  Cancer Foundation

Face masks have become a common method of protection during the COVID-19 pandemic . A new copper foam could make those masks work even better. The lightweight new material is washable and recyclable.

Face masks have become a vital tool in a showing the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. They help filter or block spit or mucus droplets that carry infectious particles. Even homemade fabric masks can do a good job. But many are not very durable. Now, researchers have come up with a new sort of filter for use in masks. Made of copper, it’s sturdy and lightweight. The sponge-like material also is easy to clean and can be recycled. In tests, it outperformed the filtering ability of a standard N95 mask. It might even trap and kill bacteria, its developers say.

Masks to guard against viruses can be made of many different materials. Some fabric ones even use extra layers– often cotton, silk or some synthetic –to boost their filtering process. Others use paper similar to coffee filters. With so many people now being asked to wear masks during the pandemic researchers began scrambling to identify new and better filters. Kai Liu was among them.

This materials scientist thought his team at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., had a head start. They already had been testing materials to filter small particles out of polluted air.

Recalls Liu, “We saw that small droplets carrying viruses were the same size as some atmospheric pollutants”. Right away, he says, “We thought we should check our materials to see it they might make good filters for face masks”.

A lightweight form of copper foam (sample resting on plant fibers ) could render face mask filters washable or recyclable.

Liu’s team soon began cranking out new batches of a material they call copper foam.

They started with templates to make copper nanowires. The diameter of each wire was typically about 200 nanometers, says Liu- or less than one millionth of an inch . After dumping those wires into ultrapure water, they flash-froze the mix in liquid nitrogen. Afterward, they put the copper filled ice in a vacuum chamber. It drove off the water to freeze dry the now loosely packed mass of tiny copper wires. Finally , they heated the mass of wires to 300 degree Celsius(572 degree Fahrenheit). This fostered chemical reactions that helped bind them into a mesh.

An open mesh of copper nanowires can filter small droplets better than a hospital style N95 mask.

Unfortunately, that mesh was super flimsy, says Liu. Tests showed it would collapse if someone breathed on it. Obviously, that would not work well in masks. So, the researchers kept tweaking the process.

They bathed the weak mesh in a liquid that included copper ions. Then they sent an electric current through this chemical bath. That deposited more copper onto the nanowires, thickening them. Liu says that it also helped in welding the wires at points where they touched. In tests, some samples of this material could now support about 10,000 times their own weight without collapsing. That was true even when the material was 85 percent air.

More importantly this 85 percent air foam filtered out tiny particles. A sample 2.5 millimeters (0.1 inch) thick captured 97 percent of particles between 0.1 to 0.4 micrometers in diameter . Such super small particles not only are the hardest to trap but also the size of aerosol droplets that can carry virus particles . These particles don’t get trapped by the material’s tiny pores, Liu explains. “The particles are instead attracted to the enormous surface area that the nanowires provide. They get stuck there on it as they try to move through the wire mesh between the outer and inner edges of the filter”. Liu and his colleagues described their innovative new foam.

“The Georgetown team developed an interesting and innovative way to produce their material “says Semali Perera. She is a Chemical Engineer at the University of Bath in England. She wonders, however, if it would be hard to scalp up the process to make really big batches and large pieces of the thin foam for use in masks.

Perera’s team is taking a different approach to germ filters. Theirs were initially targeted to collect and kill bacteria. Now they’re being designed to trap viruses , too.

One promising material her team is exploring is a plastic like foam made out of a polymer called polyimide. To give it a germ killing punch , the researchers added copper and nickel. Nickel helps slow the growth of bacteria and copper helps kill them. Those metals make up about 80 percent of the material, says Perera. The plastic like polymer helps bind the metal atoms together.

Instead of using a multi step process to make its material, this group mixes its ingredients in one container all at once. A chemical reaction that generates large amounts of carbon dioxide makes the material frothy , Perera notes. As it foams, it expands into a mold. Within three seconds it hardens into its final shape. To make big batches, the researchers merely mix more of the ingredients and then cook them up in a bigger pot.

Perera and her team are working with companies to design new products . One potential use for their material might be filters for home air-conditioners.

Marriage or Career?

While most of the women living in the modern society will choose career over marriage, why is the society uncomfortable with their choices?

Image Souce: YourStory

Women have evolved from a dependent gender to a representative individual in the society. When most of the women earn their living on their own, there are many people who keep on forcing them to give up their career choices. Why is society so much uncomfortable in accepting the independent state of a woman?

You might be thinking that in what era am I living in; aren’t things like these extinct already. But in an answer I would like to say ‘NO’. Even today society wants women to stay at home because ‘Agar zyada padhi likhi hogi toh zyada zubaan chalegi iski’ (If she is more educated, she’ll have more opinions) Wait… What? Why do you want to have a submissive, Why do you want women to follow your orders, Why such dominance over a specific gender?

These are some basic questions asked by every woman at one or the other place in her life. Sometimes these questions have brought revolutions in the old customs and sometimes these questions fade in the screams of domestic violence, rapes, molestation, etc.

With the spread of awareness, many women are getting justice against these crimes but who will get justice for women who are suffering everyday because of their own family members?

Yes, you read that right. These wrongs aren’t highlighted but one in every three woman in India faces the pressure of marriage. She is forced to continue her studies after the marriage. Women aren’t allowed to have jobs in which they earn more than their subsequent other. Fathers and Husbands want their daughter to be dependent on them because they think that the day she becomes independent ‘Ladki haath se nikal jaegi’ (We’ll lose the hold of our daughter).

I’ll tell you one story which took place recently with me, One of my friend stopped talking to me. All of a sudden, She blocked all my calls and messages. I stopped contacting her after trying for a while. After few months, I get to know the reason. The reason left me speechless. Loosely putting in her words, ‘When I placed my desire to have a part-time job, Mom scolded me and told me not to contact you anymore. She thinks you are a bad influence and all these seeds of being independent are sown into me by you.’

Amazing! Isn’t it? And I’m not building up this story for this article. This is a true story of me and my friend. If speaking up for yourself makes someone a bad influence then we really need to re-consider our thoughts and customs.

Family needs to choose between a submissive unhappy daughter and an independent happy daughter. Because its high time we start to address the issues which bachelor women faces not only from the society but their families as well.

On this International Family Day, I’d like to address every person with a family to treat their daughters as their own family and not like ‘Paraya Dhan’ (Other’s wealth); I’d also like to tell the daughters to stand up for themselves and not make any decision due to family or societal pressure.

I’d like to conclude this feature with the words of a famous singer:

People are going to judge you anyway, so you might as well do what you want.

Taylor Swift

COVID-19 CHANGE THE WAY WE WOULD TRAVEL?

In the face of an unrelenting pandemic that continues to ravage the world, it doesn’t take a fortune teller to predict that urban mobility will change dramatically.

Concerns about hygiene and social distance are at an all-time high, especially in India’s densely populated metropolises. The concept of shared mobility and public transportation has been especially tarnished by the second wave. Uber and Ola, for example, are fighting back, with the former offering 9,000 free online medical consultations to drivers and their families. Uber also announced a decision to vaccinate 1,50,000 of its drivers in the next six months. Even automobile brands like Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors have extended their warranty and service packages for newly purchased vehicles, ensuring that car ownership does not feel like a burden during lockdowns.

The need for personal transportation is obviously greater than it has ever been. However, economic uncertainty, as it was last year, is providing the same need, especially at the entry level, preventing buyers from securing funds for such a large purchase. Given that social distancing and passenger health will remain associated for the near future, the rise in fuel costs is also acting as a significant deterrent for first-time car buyers, a customer segment that should logically grow in size. So, how do both consumers and automakers break the impasse?

The ideal thing for brands, especially entry-level carmakers like Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai, is to offer customers more innovative financing options. But it isn’t just carmakers who must change their ways. Used vehicle portals, taxi aggregators, and electric two-wheeler startups, among others, all have the potential to offer novel solutions. For car companies, this begins with appealing subscription models that have the same advantages as private car ownership without the associated overall costs.

Leasing

Leasing is not a new phenomenon, even in India, where car ownership is seen as a sign of upward mobility. Since most car buyers find the idea of making a down payment too overwhelming in these financially unstable times, leasing allows them to simply rent to a car for a set period of time. Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai, two of India’s top-selling car brands, offer attractive leasing options, especially for entry-level models like the Grand i10 Nios and Santro. Maruti Suzuki has partnered with Orix Auto Infrastructure Services India for a subscription programme that is gaining traction in the Delhi NCR and Bengaluru areas. There’s no down payment, no registration, insurance, or annual maintenance fees; all you have to pay is a monthly sum that’s equal to or less than your EMI costs.

Used Cars

The used car market remains the most disorganised of the bunch, with proper certification and websites providing legitimate price estimates previously serving as roadblocks. According to Statists, the size of the used car market in India in 2020 was greater than the size of the new car market (as reported by Hindustan Times). The market, which has increased by 50% year over year, is expected to continue even after we ride out the second wave and reopen. Greater clarity and better funding options, on the other hand, may help the segment.

Shared Mobility

With cab aggregators like Uber and Ola taking strong steps to alleviate our collective fear of entering a cab, it’s only natural that they build thoroughly sanitized compartments, separating not only the driver and the rider, but also any other co-passengers who might be sharing the journey. When the medical system isn’t overburdened, the aggregator may also display the driver’s vaccine credentials, as well as the outcomes and dates of regularly administered Covid-19 studies. A simple temperature check won’t suffice.

The rise of Electric Scooter

Electric two-wheeler startups have the ideal opportunity to revolutionize urban freight mobility, with the e-commerce industry projected to expand exponentially. Electric scooters and cycles are well positioned to replace the traditional modes of mobility used to make deliveries in geofenced urban confines, where long distances are not a major concern.

According to P&S Intelligence, the new Bharat VI norms have increased the prices of petrol-powered two-wheelers by 7-15 percent, further incentivizing e-commerce brands to adopt more sustainable modes of transportation. Since low-cost scooters are also low-speed, swappable battery options would be favored over charging batteries.

The growth of the electric two-wheeler market would help more than just e-commerce. According to a PRNewswire survey, demand for e-scooters and motorcycles in Tier I, II, and III cities is growing at the fastest rate in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. Ather Energy, a local brand, has already started manufacturing scooters in its new 4,000-square-foot factory in Hosur.

Though India’s public transportation infrastructure varies by city, a survey conducted by The Energy and Research Institute (TERI) India found that 35% of respondents are likely to switch modes of transportation after Covid19. Although this is good news for an ailing automotive industry that is expected to rise in the single digits in the future, it could exacerbate traffic and pollution in most Tier I and II cities. Although we don’t know how widely non-motorized modes of transportation would be adopted, it’s critical that cyclists and walkers be considered for short distances, as they could be much more preferable to public transport.

Corona’s speech

Stay Home
For I am a deadly virus
Stay Home
For I can damage your gyrus
Stay Home
For I can be prevented with vaccine
Stay Home
For I cannot be cured with crocin
Stay Home
For I’ve taken your loved ones
Stay Home
For I can take away your joy in tons
Stay Home
For I have shut schools
Stay Home
For I’m a death of pool
Stay Home
For I’ve made many lives miserable
Stay Home
For I’m not lovable
Stay Home
For I am pleasure less
Stay Home
For I’ve caused death measureless
Stay Home
For I became a sorrow
Stay home
For you can face tomorrow

“Depression”

Depression is a kind of a mental health disorder characterized by persistently depressed mood or loss of interest in activities.
Possible causes include a combination of biological, psychological and social sources of distress. Increasingly, research suggests that these factors may cause changes in brain function, including altered activity of certain neural circuits in the brain

What is Depression?
According to American Psychiatric Association, Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Fortunately, it is also treatable. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease your ability to function at work and at home.

Depression symptoms can vary from mild to severe and can include:


• Feeling sad or having a depressed mood


• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed


• Changes in appetite — weight loss or gain unrelated to dieting


• Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much


• Loss of energy or increased fatigue


• Increase in purposeless physical activity (e.g., inability to sit still, pacing, handwringing) or slowed movements or speech (these actions must be severe enough to be observable by others)


• Feeling worthless or guilty


• Difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions


• Thoughts of death or suicide

How to overcome from depression?

• Find small ways to be of service to others.

 
• Find workable goals that give you a sense of accomplishment.


• Pleasant Events: Schedule pleasant activities or events.


• Engagement: Stay in the present.


• Exercise: And, eat right too.


• Relationships: Focus on people who lift you up.


• Sleep Regularly: Try to keep a regular sleep schedule.

Emma Watson speech on feminism

I am reaching out to you because I need your help. We want to end gender inequality—and to do that we need everyone to be involved.

This is the first campaign of its kind at the UN: we want to try and galvanize as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for gender equality. And we don’t just want to talk about it, but make sure it is tangible.

I was appointed six months ago and the more I have spoken about feminism the more I have realized that fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop.

For the record, feminism by definition is: “The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.”

I started questioning gender-based assumptions when at eight I was confused at being called “bossy,” because I wanted to direct the plays we would put on for our parents—but the boys were not.

When at 14 I started being sexualized by certain elements of the press.

When at 15 my girl friends started dropping out of their sports teams because they didn’t want to appear “muscly.”

When at 18 my male friends were unable to express their feelings.

I decided I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word.

Apparently I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, anti-men and, unattractive.

Why is the word such an uncomfortable one?

I am from Britain and think it is right that as a woman I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that I should be able to make decisions about my own body. I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in the policies and decision-making of my country. I think it is right that socially I am afforded the same respect as men. But sadly I can say that there is no one country in the world where all women can expect to receive these rights.

No country in the world can yet say they have achieved gender equality.

These rights I consider to be human rights but I am one of the lucky ones. My life is a sheer privilege because my parents didn’t love me less because I was born a daughter. My school did not limit me because I was a girl. My mentors didn’t assume I would go less far because I might give birth to a child one day. These influencers were the gender equality ambassadors that made me who I am today. They may not know it, but they are the inadvertent feminists who are changing the world today. And we need more of those.

And if you still hate the word—it is not the word that is important but the idea and the ambition behind it. Because not all women have been afforded the same rights that I have. In fact, statistically, very few have been.

In 1995, Hilary Clinton made a famous speech in Beijing about women’s rights. Sadly many of the things she wanted to change are still a reality today.

But what stood out for me the most was that only 30 per cent of her audience were male. How can we affect change in the world when only half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation?

Men—I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue too.

Because to date, I’ve seen my father’s role as a parent being valued less by society despite my needing his presence as a child as much as my mother’s.

I’ve seen young men suffering from mental illness unable to ask for help for fear it would make them look less “macho”—in fact in the UK suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20-49 years of age; eclipsing road accidents, cancer and coronary heart disease. I’ve seen men made fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don’t have the benefits of equality either.  

We don’t often talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes but I can see that that they are and that when they are free, things will change for women as a natural consequence.

If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted women won’t feel compelled to be submissive. If men don’t have to control, women won’t have to be controlled.

Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong… It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum not as two opposing sets of ideals.

If we stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by what we are—we can all be freer and this is what HeForShe is about. It’s about freedom. 

I want men to take up this mantle. So their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice but also so that their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human too—reclaim those parts of themselves they abandoned and in doing so be a more true and complete version of themselves.

You might be thinking who is this Harry Potter girl? And what is she doing up on stage at the UN. It’s a good question and trust me, I have been asking myself the same thing. I don’t know if I am qualified to be here. All I know is that I care about this problem. And I want to make it better.

And having seen what I’ve seen—and given the chance—I feel it is my duty to say something. English Statesman Edmund Burke said: “All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good men and women to do nothing.”

In my nervousness for this speech and in my moments of doubt I’ve told myself firmly—if not me, who, if not now, when. If you have similar doubts when opportunities are presented to you I hope those words might be helpful.

Because the reality is that if we do nothing it will take 75 years, or for me to be nearly a hundred before women can expect to be paid the same as men for the same work. 15.5 million girls will be married in the next 16 years as children. And at current rates it won’t be until 2086 before all rural African girls will be able to receive a secondary education.

If you believe in equality, you might be one of those inadvertent feminists I spoke of earlier.

And for this I applaud you.

We are struggling for a uniting word but the good news is we have a uniting movement. It is called HeForShe. I am inviting you to step forward, to be seen to speak up, to be the “he” for “she”. And to ask yourself if not me, who? If not now, when?

Thank you.

Today we are launching a campaign called “HeForShe.”

I am reaching out to you because I need your help. We want to end gender inequality—and to do that we need everyone to be involved.

This is the first campaign of its kind at the UN: we want to try and galvanize as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for gender equality. And we don’t just want to talk about it, but make sure it is tangible.

I was appointed six months ago and the more I have spoken about feminism the more I have realized that fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop.

For the record, feminism by definition is: “The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.”

I started questioning gender-based assumptions when at eight I was confused at being called “bossy,” because I wanted to direct the plays we would put on for our parents—but the boys were not.

When at 14 I started being sexualized by certain elements of the press.

When at 15 my girlfriends started dropping out of their sports teams because they didn’t want to appear “muscly.”

When at 18 my male friends were unable to express their feelings.

I decided I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word.

Apparently I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, anti-men and, unattractive.

Why is the word such an uncomfortable one?

I am from Britain and think it is right that as a woman I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that I should be able to make decisions about my own body. I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in the policies and decision-making of my country. I think it is right that socially I am afforded the same respect as men. But sadly I can say that there is no one country in the world where all women can expect to receive these rights.

No country in the world can yet say they have achieved gender equality.

These rights I consider to be human rights but I am one of the lucky ones. My life is a sheer privilege because my parents didn’t love me less because I was born a daughter. My school did not limit me because I was a girl. My mentors didn’t assume I would go less far because I might give birth to a child one day. These influencers were the gender equality ambassadors that made me who I am today. They may not know it, but they are the inadvertent feminists who are changing the world today. And we need more of those.

And if you still hate the word—it is not the word that is important but the idea and the ambition behind it. Because not all women have been afforded the same rights that I have. In fact, statistically, very few have been.

In 1995, Hilary Clinton made a famous speech in Beijing about women’s rights. Sadly many of the things she wanted to change are still a reality today.

But what stood out for me the most was that only 30 per cent of her audience were male. How can we affect change in the world when only half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation?

Men—I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue too.

Because to date, I’ve seen my father’s role as a parent being valued less by society despite my needing his presence as a child as much as my mother’s.

I’ve seen young men suffering from mental illness unable to ask for help for fear it would make them look less “macho”—in fact in the UK suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20-49 years of age; eclipsing road accidents, cancer and coronary heart disease. I’ve seen men made fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don’t have the benefits of equality either.  

We don’t often talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes but I can see that that they are and that when they are free, things will change for women as a natural consequence.

If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted women won’t feel compelled to be submissive. If men don’t have to control, women won’t have to be controlled.

Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong… It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum not as two opposing sets of ideals.

If we stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by what we are—we can all be freer and this is what HeForShe is about. It’s about freedom. 

I want men to take up this mantle. So their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice but also so that their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human too—reclaim those parts of themselves they abandoned and in doing so be a more true and complete version of themselves.

You might be thinking who is this Harry Potter girl? And what is she doing up on stage at the UN. It’s a good question and trust me, I have been asking myself the same thing. I don’t know if I am qualified to be here. All I know is that I care about this problem. And I want to make it better.

And having seen what I’ve seen—and given the chance—I feel it is my duty to say something. English Statesman Edmund Burke said: “All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good men and women to do nothing.”

In my nervousness for this speech and in my moments of doubt I’ve told myself firmly—if not me, who, if not now, when. If you have similar doubts when opportunities are presented to you I hope those words might be helpful.

Because the reality is that if we do nothing it will take 75 years, or for me to be nearly a hundred before women can expect to be paid the same as men for the same work. 15.5 million girls will be married in the next 16 years as children. And at current rates it won’t be until 2086 before all rural African girls will be able to receive a secondary education.

If you believe in equality, you might be one of those inadvertent feminists I spoke of earlier.

And for this I applaud you.

We are struggling for a uniting word but the good news is we have a uniting movement. It is called HeForShe. I am inviting you to step forward, to be seen to speak up, to be the “he” for “she”. And to ask yourself if not me, who? If not now, when?

Thank you.

News value and importance

There’s a quote that states “Every piece of news is a piece of information but not Every piece of information is a piece of news.” Not every piece of information is worthy to be a news. There’s a lot factors that decides a news is worthy or not. These four deciding factors are used to find a news worth or not.
*Proximity
*Prominence
*Human Interest
*Time duration
PROXIMITY
      The question “Where” deals with value of proximity. Every human come across different situations everyday. So it does matter if a news bothers. A common example is When a dog bites a man it is a common thing and when a man bites a dog it becomes a news.
PROMINENCE
       This is about a renowned entity based on a person or an institution adds value to news. Eg. Famous singer S.P Balasubramaniyam passed away. There are lot of people who dies everyday but not everyones death is considered as a news. This has a great audience because of his star value.
HUMAN INTEREST
     It is a key factor that decides that whether people will be bothered by reading a news. The reason why celebrity magazines have a big fan base is they relate with ones favourite celebrities and this adds fuel to news agency.
TIME DURATION
       There’s a breaking news segment in every viewership of a news agency. This is because people want to stay updated with a recent and latest source and they must also know what’s happening around them. Even if a news agency wants to publish something old they can only relate with a current source to provide an overview of situation
Eg. As per 2015 records of polling current polling rate has been decreased.

‘The Darkling Thrush’ by Thomas Hardy.

Times are bad. Everything around us seems doleful and gloomy. Of the disasters we had only read in fiction, are now crawling out of the pages. At this time, all we want to find is hope. Hope , which consoles us that things will get better, expectations of the long nightmare ending and a belief that we too can resurrect ourselves like phoenix are those to which we dearly cling to.  

Similarly, the poem ‘The Darkling Thrush’ is also set in a sombre mood. When the poem starts, we find the poet looking at everything as disconsolate. He is at his gate looking at the frost covered surroundings. The frost has made everything look pale like a ghost. The sun is setting and the day is coming to an end. Even the bine-stems are lifeless this winter. The lanes which would usually be bustling with humans are now forlorn. Winter has shut men into their houses and men huddle around the hearth to feel the warmth.

“And all mankind that haunted nigh

Had sought their household fires.” 

These lines made me think that no matter how cold the outer world is, we feel warmth once inside our home. This warmth comes from our loved ones and it makes us not give up yet. 

When we learn the fact that this poem was written on the 29th of December in 1900, we understand the context of the second stanza better. It wasn’t just the end of the year but also of the century. It may even be considered as a dirge to the ending century. The land is referred to as the corpse of the century with the clouds forming its crypt and wind lamenting the death of the century. There is no trace of life. Even the germs and microorganisms from which we were born are also lying frozen beneath the frozen ground. Everything the poet sees looks as passionless as him.

“And every spirit upon earth

Seemed fervourless as I.”

In the third stanza, the poet finds the most extraordinary thing happening. A sweet singing voice vibrates through the air. It is full of happiness and uncontrollable joy. It is a thrush. It’s appearance isn’t so grand. It is old, weak, small and scruffy. But it pours its soul into the song as the day is darkening.

“An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,

In blast-beruffled plume,

Had chosen thus to fling his soul

Upon the growing gloom.”

It is interesting to note the description of the thrush. It is almost battered out of life yet it sings full of life and energy. Though we are worn out, though we are exhausted, we should never give up for we don’t know what lies ahead and for we haven’t opened all the doors.

 There is nothing notable in the surrounding which would inspire the thrush to sing. There is nothing so full of life like that ‘ecstatic sound’ near and far. The thrush singing is out of place and odd. But it carried with it something that was unknown to the poet. The bird knew of the ‘Hope’ that the poet failed to see. 

“That I could think there trembled through

His happy good-night air

Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew

And I was unaware.”

Though the surrounding is dreary and dull, the thrush knew that it wouldn’t be the same forever. The winter will eventually end; new things will spring from the ground; the lanes will once again be bustling with life. This the poet did not understand. The last lines of this poem also reminded me of the last line of Shelley’s ‘Ode to the West Wind’.

“If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”

We all should be like the little thrush. Finding hope and giving hope. All I want to say is – this too will pass away, and when tomorrow comes, it will be brighter than today.

Citizen Journalism

Social media on whole it changed how people consume news, where print media and television remain as popular forms of news outlets. Today’s youngsters get news from their smartphones either from dedicated news apps or from Twitter and Facebook. A lot of people around the world keeping up on social media to know with events around them. Either for a social cause or a viral video or cyclone. We get to know all about in Social Media. Even media houses started to post real time updates on social media . This is a citizen Journalism. Social Media also empowered the people to become Citizen Journalists. From footage to road accidents and riots people capture with their smartphones and spread news on their handle. Citizen Journalism also has it’s faults, Not everyone is trained as a Journalist and keeps up ethical standards that journalists do. This leads to fake news spreading like wildfire. As a perfect citizen one has to verify that the news is true or not. Such person is real citizen Journalist.

Perks of living alone as a teenager

Teenagers live by themselves for are numerous reasons for eg some choosing to have an independent life, some getting kicked out of their house or abandoned by family. Some move to different countries or cities for studies or their career.

Being at your parent’s house is a feeling of being protected all the. Being at your place makes you feel apprehensive but it gives you a sense of independence. Every single thing your bed, your dishes, groceries you don’t have to work under someone . I guess this is what independence feels like, Right?

Having your own house and living alone you can ask anybody to come over without asking or having some restriction.

Sometimes all you need is peace and tranquility. And having alone time can provide you a sense of serenity.

Types of Poetry.

If you like to read poetry, you may as well like to know more about it. Poetry can either be subjective or objective. In subjective poetry, the poet expresses his own feelings and reflects his thoughts. Whereas in objective poetry, the poet talks about other things other than himself – like external objects, sceneries, events and so on. Though poetry is classified as above, it doesn’t completely belong to one type. This is to say that even the most objective poetry may contain some of the poet’s feelings. Poetry is further divided into several types as follows.

LYRIC:

This is of Greek origin and is a song often sung by a single person backed by a lyre in the ancient times. It carries a single emotion and is musical in composition. Later ages found that this form of poetry can be made musical just by the use of words without any music to back it. Vowels and consonants were arranged musically for this purpose. A lyric tends to be quite short for its effect is weakened by huge length. 

ODE:

 It is also of Greek origin. The subject and treatment is serious and exalted. It often addresses something or someone. The opening lines either contain apostrophe appeal. Eg: Shelley’s ‘Ode to the west wind’ starts with ‘O wild west wind…”. There are two types of odes namely the Dorian or Pindaric ode and the Lesbian or Horatian ode. 

SONNET:

As everyone knows, sonnet is a short poem. It is divided into two – the Italian Sonnet and the English sonnet. The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet contains fourteen lines concerning one single feeling or idea. It is divided into two parts – the Octave (contains eight lines) and the Setset (contains six lines). At the end of the eight line, there is a Caesura (a pause) followed by a Volta (a turn in thought). When this form was adopted by the English, it was altered. The fourteen lines were divided into three quatrains (stanzas of four lines) with a couplet to end. This is the form practiced by Shakespeare. 

ELEGY:

 Though this form bore a different meaning in older times, in modern connotation, it refers to a poem which takes up grim and doleful themes. It is often written in the memory of the dead but it can also take up other sorrowful subjects. There is another form called the Pastoral elegy in which the poet represents himself as a shepherd mourning the death of his friend. As the word ‘pastoral’ indicates, the setting and language are borrowed from countryside and country people.

EPIC:

 It is a long story told in verse with all the character, language, setting and treatment exalted. It often has a lofty theme and has divine interventions for most parts. The classical examples are Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’. Mock Epic, as the name suggests, treats the most trivial theme in an epic manner. 

BALLAD:

It can be considered as one of the oldest forms of poetry as it developed during the early stages of civilization. The ballad is a short story in verse containing simplest subjects and themes. It takes its subject from the external world and nothing of the poet is known through the ballad. It is an objective poetry.

SATIRE:

It is a composition intending to attack a folly or vice. It attacks the sin and not the sinner. It is to create a light atmosphere even when it is scornful.  Some of the best English satirists were Dryden, Pope, and Byron.

This is just a basic introduction to the types of poetry. The study of poetry is exciting and engrossing. The book referred for the purpose of the article is ‘A Background to the Study of English Literature’ by B. Prasad.

YOUR SECOND VACCINE DOSE IS CRUCIAL

COVID-19: Free Articles from APA Journals

Very nearly 150 million portions of Covid immunization have been regulated in the United States. Most grown-ups are presently in any event in part vaccinated, and the sky’s the limit from there and more individuals are deciding to get vaccinated each day. In any case, a few groups might be contemplating whether their second shot is fundamental. The appropriate response is yes. 

In the event that you got one portion of a mRNA antibody (Pfizer or Moderna), don’t avoid the second portion. Without it, your antibody-prompted security will not be as solid or durable. The second portion extraordinarily supports the assurance your safe framework began working after the first shot. 

With new variations in the blend that are more infectious and likely deadlier, being completely vaccinated is considerably more fundamental. Albeit by far most individuals who start inoculation get the two portions, 8% of individuals who have gotten their first portion hadn’t yet gotten their second, as indicated by information delivered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

A few groups may fear the symptoms of the second portion, which could be more grounded than the first. Others may have needed to drop their second arrangement or experienced challenges booking it. A couple have a serious dread of needles. What’s more, a part of the populace is deceived, accepting that the one portion of antibody gives sufficient security. (It doesn’t in case you’re getting Pfizer or Moderna’s antibodies.) 

In a significant genuine investigation, CDC found that mRNA antibodies were 80% compelling after the first portion, and 90% viable after the second. Although 80% successful appears to be acceptable on a superficial level, a few examinations have discovered a lower adequacy after just one portion and others recommend that Covid antibodies don’t stop until after your second portion. Presently, plainly security endures in any event a half year, and likely more when you’re completely vaccinated. Be that as it may, we don’t have a clue how solid or dependable the security is from only one portion. 

Regardless of whether you’ve effectively had Covid, proof shows the immunization helps your antibodies. The “characteristic insusceptibility” you acquire subsequent to recuperating from a Covid disease is acceptable, however inoculation is super-human. Getting vaccinated supports the assurance your safe framework has effectively assembled and lessens the danger that you’ll get reinfected. 

The CDC gives rules on which Covid antibodies require two portions, the circumstance for the second shot, and when you’re considered completely vaccinated. 

There’s been a great deal of spotlight on crowd resistance—when enough individuals inside a populace are secured against an illness, either through immunization or common disease. It’s imperative to consider crowd insusceptibility more as a dimmer dial instead of an on-off switch. Primary concern: The greater number of us who get vaccinated, the more secure we as a whole are. 

To stop the spread of the Covid and save a huge number of lives, we should get completely vaccinated. Try not to allow your gatekeeper to down too soon. It requires fourteen days after the first portion for your safe framework to start building insurance, and if it’s been under about fourteen days since your second portion, or on the off chance that you’ve just had one portion of a two-portion immunization, you’re not completely vaccinated. 

In the United States, we’re gaining huge headway against Covid and we’re nearer than at any other time to continuing life obviously. New CDC demonstrating shows that on the off chance that we keep up our inoculation speed and proceed to cover and distance for two or three months, we’ll have the option to get to the new ordinary. Our test currently is to arrive at those at this point unreached with immunizations by making it as helpful as feasible for everybody to get vaccinated and keep on battling the weariness large numbers of us feel with covering, social removing, and other assurance conventions. By summer, we’ll be fit as a fiddle, and by the fall, at the new typical in the United States. 

The government just carried out vaccines.gov, another site where you can discover where to get Covid antibodies close to you. Look at it and timetable an arrangement to get vaccinated straightaway!

Want to Do ETL With Python?

How to Learn Programming: 5 Steps to learn to Code

Present day associations depend on gigantic pools of data accumulated utilizing the top tier apparatuses and methods to remove data-driven experiences that help in settling on more intelligent choices. Because of the upgrades brought over by the now business standard innovative progressions, associations presently have a lot simpler admittance to these pools of data. 

Yet, before these organizations can really utilize that data, it needs to go through an interaction called ETL, short for Extraction, Transformation, and Loading. 

ETL is answerable for not just making the data accessible to these associations yet in addition ensures that the data is in the correct design to be utilized productively by their business applications. Organizations today have heaps of choices while picking the privilege ETL device, for example, the ones worked with Python, Java, Ruby, GO, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg yet for this review, we’ll be focussing more on the Python-based ETL apparatuses.

What is ETL?

A center segment of data warehousing, the ETL pipeline is a blend of three interrelated advances called Extraction, Transformation and Loading. Associations utilize the ETL interaction to bind together data gathered from a few sources to assemble Data Warehouses, Data Hubs, or Data Lakes for their venture applications, similar to Business Intelligence devices. 

You can think about the whole ETL measure as an incorporation interaction that assists organizations with setting up a data pipeline and begin ingesting data into the end framework. A concise clarification of ETL is underneath. 

● Extraction: Involves everything from choosing the correct data source from numerous organizations like CSV, XML, and JSON, extraction of data, and estimating its exactness. 

● Transformation: It is the place where all the transformation capacities including data purifying are applied to that data while it holds up in a transitory or arranging region for the last advance. 

● Loading: Involves the genuine loading of the changed data into the data store or a data distribution center.

 

Python ETL tools for 2021

Python is presently surprising the world with its straightforwardness and productivity. It’s presently being utilized to build up a plenty of uses for a scope of areas. Really intriguing that the energetic local area of Python is effectively producing new libraries and instruments making Python quite possibly the most energizing and adaptable programming dialects. 

Since it has now gotten the top decision of programming language for data examination and data science projects, Python-constructed ETL devices are altogether the rage at the present time. Why? 

This is on the grounds that they influence the advantages of Python to offer an ETL instrument that can fulfill the easiest of your prerequisites as well as your most unpredictable ones as well. 

The following are the best 10 Python ETL devices that are making a commotion in the ETL business at the present time.

1. Petl

Short for Python ETL, petl is an apparatus that is assembled simply with Python and is intended to be very direct. It offers all standard highlights of an ETL apparatus, such as perusing and composing data to and from databases, documents, and different sources, just as a broad rundown of data transformation capacities. 

petl is likewise incredible enough to remove data from different data sources and accompanies support for a plenty of record designs like CSV, XML, JSON, XLS, HTML, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. 

It likewise offers a helpful arrangement of utility capacities that can allow you to envision tables, query data structures, check lines, events of qualities, and the sky’s the limit from there. As a fast and simple ETL apparatus, petl is ideal for making little ETL pipelines. 

Despite the fact that petl is an across the board ETL instrument, there are sure capacities that must be accomplished by introducing outsider bundles.

2. Pandas

Pandas has become a monstrously mainstream Python library for data investigation and control, making it a record-breaking top choice among the data science local area. It’s an amazingly simple to utilize and natural instrument that is loaded up with advantageous highlights. To hold the data in memory, pandas brings the exceptionally productive dataframe object from the R programming language to Python. 

For your ETL needs, it upholds a few ordinarily utilized data document designs like JSON, XML, HTML, MS Excel, HDF5, SQL, and a lot more record designs. 

Pandas offers all that a standard ETL device offers, making it an ideal device for quickly extricating, purging, changing, and composing data to end frameworks. Pandas likewise play well with different instruments, for example, perception devices, and more to make things simpler. 

One thing you should remember while utilizing pandas is that it places everything into memory and issues may happen on the off chance that you’re coming up short on memory.

‘Walking Tours’ by R L Stevenson.

“It must not be imagined that a walking tour, as some would have us fancy, is merely a better or worse way of seeing the country.”

R L Stevenson’s ‘Walking Tours’ guides us to the method of enjoying a ‘walking tour’. The essay which starts with relishing the ‘walking’ ends on an unexpected note of self reflection.

Miles and miles of walk may sound exhausting but it is not so when one reads this essay. If a tour is all about viewing landscapes and picturesque places, then a train would make for a satisfactory travel. But a walking tour starts with hope and spirit and ends with replenishing ourselves with peace and spirit. A person will find pleasure after pleasure during the walk.

When going on such a tour, one shouldn’t be an ‘over walker’ for they will not comprehend the purpose of the travel. To cover a long distance by walking fast is merely to brutalize one’s own body. An over walker will neither enjoy the evening sky nor the journey and his physical exhaustion will put him to sleep. 

“It is the fate of such an one to take twice as much trouble as is needed to obtain happiness and miss happiness in the end…”

To enjoy the walking tour to the fullest, one has to go alone. For if one goes with a company or as pairs, it will be more like a picnic. In a walking tour, one should enjoy the liberty to stop and then continue. 

“…you must be open to all impressions and let your thoughts take color from what you see. You should be as a pipe for any wind to play upon.”

In the beginning of the tour, it might be difficult and one would have the urge to give up. In this case, one is to take off their knapsack, enjoy a short break and “ give three leaps and go on singing”. This will improve the mood and soon the spirit of the journey will enter them. If one constantly ponders over their anxieties and worries, which like the merchant Abudah’s chest never empties, they will never be happy about the walk. 

There are instances where one will be joined by other wayfarers. Of them is this one who walks fast with a keen look all concentrated on setting the landscape to words. There is this one who stops at each canal to look at the dragonflies and each gate to look upon cows. There is another who is busy talking, muttering, laughing and gesticulating to themselves; definitely composing the most passionate oration and articles.

There will also be that person who will sing even though he is not a master in that art. It is all fine until he comes across a stolid peasant. This person may be misunderstood for a lunatic for no reason can explain their gaiety to the passers-by. This is completely possible in a walking tour for when surrounded by pleasant things, a person will definitely skip, run, and laugh out of nowhere. Here the essayist quotes Hazlitt who had said,

“Give me the clear blue sky over my head, and green turf beneath my feet, a winding road before me,…I laugh, I run, I leap, I sing for joy.” 

Though the essayist had quoted it, he is against leaping and running because these actions breaks the natural rhythm of respiration and break the pace. But when one is on an equable stride, there requires no conscious thought to keep one going and it neither does engage the mind. A walking tour gives us a sense of physical wellbeing, a delightful play of fresh air, contraction of thigh muscles and makes him relish the solitude. 

“He becomes more and more incorporated with the material landscape, and the open air drunkenness grows upon him with great strides, until he posts along the road, and sees everything about him, as in a cheerful dream.”

The essayist stresses on bivouacs as a necessary part of the walking tour. One may dally time as long as one wishes to. It feels like prolonging the time and slowing it down. This is what we people in the industrial era miss. Being in a constant race with time, we have forgotten to live the time. 

“You have no idea, unless you have tried it, how endlessly long is a summer’s day, that you measure out only be hunger, and bring to an end only when you are drowsy.”

The essayist draws near conclusion with a talk on an evening’s rest after a long walk. We throw ourselves into the hands of nature and bring down all our guards.

“And it seems as if a hot walk has purged you, more than of anything else, of all narrowness and pride, and left curiosity to play  its part freely, as in a child of a man of science.”

When the night leaves us alone, we are free to reflect on the way we have led our lives. We are all running after our desires and greeds, we have failed to understand how ephemeral life is.  The essayist puts out lines which makes the readers to question themselves. 

“We are in such a haste to be doing, to be writing, to be gathering gear, to make our voice audible a moment in a derisive silence of eternity, that we forget that one thing, of which these are but the parts — namely, to live.”

“We fall in love, we drink hard, we run to and fro upon the earth like frightened sheep. And now you are to ask yourself if … to remember the faces of women without desire, to be pleased by the great deeds of men without envy, to be everything and everywhere in sympathy, and yet content to remain where and what you are — is not this to know both wisdom and virtue, and to dwell with happiness?”

These lines make us reflect on ourselves. It urges us to ask ourselves when was the last time we were happy, are we happy, are we living, what have we left for the world. These profound questions are for us to think. Maybe there will be no answer. To think and to live our life from here onwards is all that matters. When times get better and when you are to live, go on a walking tour.

“And whether it was wise or foolish, tomorrow’s travel will carry you, body and mind, into some different parish of the infinite.”

AN INTERVIEW WITH NOVELIST-FILMMAKER TRISHA DAS

Trisha Das, a filmmaker and bestselling author, has just published Misters Kuru: A Return to Mahabharata (HarperCollins India priced Rs 350), her latest work of feminist mythological fiction.

Ms Draupadi Kuru: A Novel is a sequel to her book. After the Pandavas, the racy, sassy roller-coaster ride full of action, adventure, romance, and comedy is set in modern-day Kalyug in Delhi as a kind of continuation of the Mahabharata.

Das has previously written and directed over 40 documentaries in her filmmaking career, winning an Indian National Film Award (2005) and being named the International Artist of the Year at the UGA (2003).

She discusses the significance of reimagining and rewriting myths from a female viewpoint, her early influences from Indian mythology, and the use of humour in mythology.

The Kuru novels are a kind of sequel to the Mahabharat, rather than a retelling. Thousands of years after the conclusion of the original Mahabharata, the storey of Ms Draupadi Kuru picks up in modern times. Draupadi and her companions descend from heaven to Delhi. The Pandava brothers accompany their women to Delhi in The Misters Kuru.

When asked the question “How were you motivated to write a feminist retelling of the Mahabharata in a contemporary setting?” She replied saying, “My motivation was simple- I wanted to give these characters another shot at their lives, at reshaping their destinies. So many of them were forced into living lives they didn’t want to- being stripped of their kingdom, exiles, et cetera. I though it would be fun to see what kind of lives they would choose, given the choice.”

A mythological woman apparently only has power over men if she has a small waist and lotus eyes, or if she is their mother.

It’s a pain. Women are celebrated for their sacrifices or their appearance rather than their accomplishments. Any form of resistance to being punished or attempt at self-determination is severely punished, and women are constantly punished for their menfolk’s dumb decisions. Ask any attractive woman wanting to take a bath in the woods. Consent is practically non-existent.

She said once, “My maternal grandfather started my fascination with mythology as a young child. He was religious, but in an inclusive way, and he told the best stories from both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. I read various versions and interpretations of the Mahabharata growing up and, as an adult, delved into the Ganguli and Debroy translations, alternate versions like Bheel Mahabharata and mythological fiction. I used to watch the TV series every Sunday on Doordarshan and point out mistakes, which everyone in my house found thoroughly annoying.”

Feminism is a relatively new phenomenon, but female dominance has always existed in some form or another. Even when the official narrative did not endorse it, women have always been strong. They worked in the shadows or exercised influence by dressing up as men, being saints, or a thousand other ways to get around the machine. Feminists are now working to shift the narrative and modify- same result, different approach.

“Expectations – Leads to heartbreak

In this world, we should never ever expect something from others because if they will not be able to fulfill, then it literally hurts like hell. I’m talking about this topic because it’s really really important for us to know, don’t be dependent on anyone either they are important or not.


What is expectations?
Let me answer to this question, expectation is something that we want others to do, what we think of. Sometimes expectations looks like dominance that you are dominating & forcing someone to do what you want. So the simple thing is – “Don’t expect anything from anyone”.

Why we expect from others?
Okay, so the answer can be because we are so close to them that’s why we have expectations from them. But the thing is that, to expect someone is not wrong but over expectations and to be sad or upset when they are not gonna live on our expectations is pretty wrong.


Is expectations right or wrong?
See, I feel expectations from others is really not wrong because what I think is , it connects people much better than before, sometimes we feel happy while fulfilling the expectation of that person. But  it really hurts when we have a lot expectations from others and they don’t even give a damm.
So according to me, we should never ever expect something from anyone, just expect from you. You are enough for yourself.

Eid Mubarak!

Know about Why and How Eid-al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslim community.

Eid-al-Fitr (also pronounced as Eid-ul-Fitr) is one of the two Eids of the Islamic Calendar. It comes after the holy month of Ramadan. This holy month is observed by Muslims every year to acknowledge the revelation of Quran to Prophet Muhammad by Allah. It falls it always falls on the first day of Shawwal in the Islamic calendar, which date does not always fall on the same Gregorian day because the date for the start of any lunar Hijri month varies based on when the new moon is sighted by local religious authorities.

It is the day when Muslim start eating their meals in the sunlight again. This festival is also known as ‘Festival of breaking Fast’ as on this day Muslims break their fast which they have been doing in the month of Ramadan.

On this day Muslims gather to express gratitude for every possession they have. They also perform donations in the form of zakat. Every Muslim contributes to the zakat according to their situations. On this day they also come forward to help the ones who are less fortunate.

On Eid, Muslim men attend the prayers (Namaz) at their local mosque while women offer their prayers from home. They all wear new clothes and visit their relatives with sweets. One of the most famous dishes of Eid is ‘Sewaiya’. On this day children receive Eidie and blessings from their elders.

Muslims typically decorate their homes, and are also encouraged to forgive each other and seek forgiveness. In countries with large Muslim populations, it is normally a public holiday with most schools and businesses closed for the day.

In the Islamic countries like Unites Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc., the festival is celebrated with firecrackers and large Eid parties are held.

On this day every person greets each other with ‘Eid Mubarak’; Loosely translated: ‘Blessed Eid’. So wish all of you who fasted for a month; a happy and safe Eid. Eid Mubarak…!!!

Reel to Real Hero

Then, Known as an acting hero
Now, known for your act of hero
You saved people from sorrow
Without you many lives would have been zero
Of course the time was narrow
But your pace was an arrow
You are a saviour sparrow
Let your love be borrowed
      Salute to you Super Hero

Journalism

Communication is the exchange of information between people. It doesn’t mean verbal or non – verbal, every field of work needs a good communication. When communication is better, there’ll be no misunderstandings that lead to wrong directions. In field of Journalism, a news piece is communicated to huge audience, even the slightest miscommunication leads to grave consequences. Journalism is therefore called mass communication, which imparts and exchange information to a large section of people via mass media, newspaper, Tv, Web etc. Since most people rely on mass media to know what’s happening around them, Journalists ought to communicate facts and not opinions to the people. This must be done without any bias or motivation for profits, so that people can interpret what is based on facts and truth by themselves.

Positive effects of technology on Kids.

There’s no denying technology has an impact on a child’s development, but it is not a catastrophe if your children are using it for learning and development.

Ways how technology helps in child’s development:
Magnify creativeness
Technology helps the kid to develop researching skills and they help in growing interest such as
Animate videos and write content.
Stargazing with help of websites available online.
Can access communities and share knowledge.

Improving Language and vocabulary.
E-books and stories available online with upgraded vocabulary and language help kids to enhance their learning skills. Also, the internet provides the pronunciation of every word.

Socializing and Establishing relations.
Technology and social media are fruitful platforms to build relation later in life. Gradually people from the same fraternity come together and learn how to code, play games, etc.

Technology helps kids to grow cognitively and socially. However for the safer side li, it the interaction of technology with kids and regulate them.
If used efficiently and wisely technology can help ki9ds to grow immensely.

Robots in Healthcare

1.AI-enabled therapy

AI as a device in healthcare is utilized on various levels. It tends to be utilized to make better diagnostic instruments, improve prescriptions, and help with research (Jabbar et al., 2018). Of late, it has likewise started to be utilized as a semi-autonomous direct contact interface with the patient which is alluded to in this article as AI-enabled therapy. Since such words that used to be restricted to specialized language are in boundless use these days, they can allude to different things. Focusing on what they mean for the extent of this article; 

AI here would be misleadingly evolved algorithms that hold the ability to copy at least one psychological capacity of people somewhat. For instance; getting language (voice discovery programming) which a large number of us have encountered with ‘Siri’, or perceiving pictures (arrangement algorithms). It falls under the wing of software engineering, nonetheless, has wide applications in different fields too. 

Enabled as generally utilized in registering is characterized by Oxford as ‘adjusted for use with the predefined application or framework.’ 

Therapy is just characterized as the remediation of a medical issue. 

Hence AI-enabled therapy signifies “some misleadingly evolved algorithms which copy common human capacity to remediate medical conditions, regardless of whether they be clinical, social, psychological, or something else.” Here we will start with a wide outline of the numerous sorts of frameworks this can discuss and afterward dig further into Social Support Bots.

A simple method to characterize the sorts of AI in therapy that work at the front end, so to say, prompting human-machine corporations, is to separate between the frameworks dependent on the sort of encapsulation they use and the self-governance that they are permitted to apply. The ‘Encapsulation hub’ separates between frameworks that are computerized instead of physical. Self-rule then again infers the level of self-administration or self-activity a bot can practice without outside or hard-coded impact. 

Note that these classes are neither discrete nor supreme in their division. Self-rule, for example, is required to be fractional or restricted to their nearby climate in practically all AI-bots for at any rate a couple of years down the line. It is likewise generally a mixture of contents and self-reactions and once in a while either. Consequently, this framework has not been utilized here for great, particular order, rather it is required to consider simpler perception of the contrasts between the horde AI-empowered frameworks as of now working. The negative sign demonstrates zero adaptability of the framework being referred to and an extremely restricted scope of exceptionally unsurprising reactions which has been pre-coded. The positive sign demonstrates a generally higher scope of reaction and a more extensive space of usefulness.

Kinds of AI-enabled therapies

  • Controlled exoskeletons are wearable machines that utilize electrical, pressure driven, pneumatic, or a mix of these and different procedures to expand, help or restore appendage development. They have been utilized widely for individuals experiencing development or engine problems, paraplegia, and loss of motion, to give some examples
  • Analysis is a significant objective of any therapy and AI in finding has taken jumps and limits to make the framework more proficient. This has been additionally utilized as an immediate client contact by conveying it into application structure. Otherwise called symptomatic applications, these don’t practice any independence, they work on pre-taken care of data or through a publicly supported information base. Such applications that are open through cell phones or over the web commonly react to side effects seen by the client with a potential conclusion of the ailment that might be prevailing. They were at first acquainted as a path with ease clinical faculty of various case requests and responsibility. They have gotten significantly more advocated in the new pandemic
  • Social Support Robots:In conclusion, there are social help bots. These are physical, three-dimensional robots that apply some self-sufficiency over their reactions, which are prearranged as well as emerge to a degree because of coherence and context oriented comprehension of the circumstance around them. A more distinct terminology is given here in an investigation by Čaić et al. (2019). 
  • In a quick moving universe of expanding social distance, to some degree because of the infection yet in addition generally to a worldwide shift towards computerized innovation, social help robots might be significant in their errand help and in giving a genuinely necessary break from forlornness and social segregation. Along these lines, this specific class offers a wide extent of assistance that one with canning AI-based specialists.

OOP vs Functional Programming

You’ve likely known about Object Oriented Programming, as it’s the most famous type of programming today, yet numerous individuals appear to need information on the lesser known method, Functional programming. For this it will be going over how it varies from object oriented programming, and what are the advantages of the two methods.

Object Oriented Programming

To comprehend the contrasts between functional programming and object oriented programming, first you need to comprehend what precisely is object oriented programming. In object oriented programming you are gathering gatherings of related variables and capacities, into a particular unit, also called an “object”(this can be considered as a gigantic advantage, as you have an unmistakable method of organizing everything, and can help when managing complex frameworks). These objects can have properties, and strategies. You can consider a property a variable, and each of the variables focuses on a worth. For instance, in the event that you needed to make ” var car = ‘ABC’ “as a property with a worth, rather you would compose this as var car = {model: ‘ABC’}. Straightforward right? Presently a technique is basically a capacity that may be identified with that object. For instance, a car can likewise have a technique for ‘start’. on the off chance that you needed to compose this in an object.

One of the enormous advantages to OOP is that you can limit repetitive/rehashing code by inheritance. for instance, on the off chance that you had a lot of vehicles, you wouldn’t need to compose techniques for each and every one of them, as the strategies for start(), stop() can be acquired by all vehicles. This identifies with the last point for OOP, which would be polymorphism. In OOP you can have a beginning() technique for vehicles, however the strategy may act diversely relying upon the vehicle you are referring to ( A vehicle may be electric, beginning the battery, over a customary vehicle, which will turn on its motor).

Functional programming

Functional programming varies in a couple of various ways. In functional programming, you should have what’s designated “pure functions” which implies that a capacity should have no side effects(the work itself should have nothing that doesn’t assist with yielding its return esteem), and should not highlight any global variables, as the capacity ought to have the option to chip away at its own. Some may say this is an advantage of functional programming as you don’t need to consider or allude to whatever is outside the capacity. Something else present in functional programming would be what’s classified “immutable data”, which in straightforward words implies, try not to have the option to change any of the variables made (you can reenact this impact in JavaScript with the freeze method). On the off chance that you need to, you make another variable, however never change the current one. One more typical thing you will see in Functional programming is functions that yield different functions. A basic model might be, if you somehow happened to deduct two distinct numbers you may have a capacity that creates another capacity that will take away numbers. This can rapidly get exceptionally mind boggling, however this article here goes into it in more detail. 

In spite of the fact that OOP is “lord” right now, Functional Programming is filling in prominence, and more highlights are being carried out in dialects that permit an ever increasing number of individuals to work with this training (like the freeze method). This article doesn’t go into outrageous detail of both programming methods, however I trust this has at any rate motivated you to test, and accomplish more examination for the two ways to deal with see which you may like the best.

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

Hollowness: that I understand. I’m starting to believe that there isn’t anything you can do to fix it. The holes in your life are permanent. You have to grow around them, like tree roots around concrete; you mold yourself through the gaps.

-Paula Hawkins, The Girl on the Train

This is for all the girls who have just experienced a breakup. I just want you to understand that it was not your fault, so stop blaming yourself.

Breakups can be a shambles. Breakups can be excruciating. People also use memes to mask their pain and turn it into a source of amusement. They are aware, however, that it will not be easy. The agony you’re experiencing is indescribable, and no one could possibly comprehend it. You’re stuck in a rut, unsure of what to do next. Is it time to move on or not? Was he going to return or not? Is it better if I call or if he calls? Is he going through the same thing I am right now?

All of these questions have the same answer: ‘It doesn’t matter.’

What matters is how you’re keeping things together. Is it fair to be so harsh on yourself? You weren’t solely to blame. Perhaps you should set aside some time for yourself. What if he doesn’t return? So, what’s the point? You’ve got your friends, family, and, most importantly, you’ve got yourself. “But I just want him,” I know you’re wondering right now. You don’t want him, that’s the truth. YOU DON’T WANT HIM, BELIEVE ME. He abandoned you in this mess. He said he wouldn’t, but he did anyway. He deceived you. It’s time for you to do the same. He walked away without looking back, and it’s time for you to do the same. It’s past time for you to forgive yourself.

This is just like the girl on the train. Rachel, who recently experienced a breakup, is unable to accept the harsh reality. She also believes Tom loves her and that he will return. Everyone assumes she’s just a drunk girl who’s lost her job and has a broken heart.

Is anybody a fan of suspense novels? If you answered yes, you should probably read this at least once. It’s not great, but it’s not horrible either. You won’t be able to figure out who the killer is.

Apart from that, there is a lot of lying in this storey. All is deceiving one another. Many secrets are kept locked in the recesses of their minds. Loved ones are kept in the dark about secrets. However, with all of the lying, I began to doubt the confidence. Who could be trusted by whom? Rachel had faith in Tom. Scott had faith in Rachel. Anna had faith in Tom. Megan had faith in Kamal Abdic. Despite this, they all ended up rejecting each other. Okay, well, Rachel trusted herself in the end.

That’s one of the things I loved about this book: she wanted to see the whole picture and trust her intuition over Tom’s words. This is a tale about three women who were once strong but had become vulnerable as a result of their circumstances. Don’t let it happen to you as well. Have faith in yourself. Fight for your own interests. Because you are the best, girl.

‘A Tale of Two Cities’ by Charles Dickens.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

This is the opening line of the book ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ by Charles Dickens. Set in the time of French Revolution, this historical novel gives an insight of the cause and outcome of the revolution. The revolution, which was expected to be the kickstart of the new era and new hopes, turned out to be a bloody massacre. Dickens has intricately woven his plot to align with the timeline of the real events. 

A fiction which is set in the past is Historical fiction. Such a genre mingles the fact, events as in the recorded history, and fiction, the author’s imagination. As the novel is set in the past, the characters, the places, the language, the conflict should all accord to those of that period. The plot doesn’t completely depart from the records.  All these characteristics are observed in the novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities’.

The novel features two cities London and Paris and which in turn bridges two countries England and France.  The French Revolution which occurs in France also casts its shadow on England.  The novel traces the causes of French Revolution. Though a part of it may be fictional as in the part of St. Marquis Evremonde, the novelist brings out the cruelty of the aristocrats in the embodiment of Evremonde. It brings out the horror of the age and how inhumanely the third estates were treated.  

“The mill which had worked them down, was the mill that grinds young people old; the children had ancient faces and grave voices; and upon them, and upon the grown faces, and ploughed into every furrow of age and coming up afresh, was the sigh, Hunger. It was prevalent everywhere.”

The conduct of the characters is also in congruence to the period. The time period and the cruelty of the age justifies the actions of the Defarges and the other revolutionaries. The conflict in the novel is also a parallel to the period of the revolutions. The novelist foreshadows from the very beginning of the impending terror in the novel. 

“The time was to come, when that wine too would be spilled on the street-stones, and when the stain of it would be red upon many there.”

But the conflict is not only between the aristocrats and revolutionaries but also between the innocent whose lives were claimed by the revolutionaries. This is portrayed through the misfortunes of Darnay and his family. Though they were innocent, they were pulled into the political storm of France. By providing many sides of the history, the author makes us think to which degree the revolution was successful and to which degree it was a failure.

The novel doesn’t just bring out the themes of revolution, class division, poverty but also the themes of love, hatred, self-hatred, mental health and other complex themes. The character which makes the most impact in the reader is Sydney Carton. He doesn’t fail to move the readers to tears and a character with a lot of inner conflicts which is worth analyzing. No other words can give such a powerful ending as these.

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”

Thus, by going beyond the expectations of readers and by enchanting them with a descriptive language, Dickens has produced a timeless classic – ‘A Tale of Two Cities’.

Read more about Historical fiction at https://awriterofhistory.com/2015/03/24/7-elements-of-historical-fiction/

Read the novel at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/98/old/2city12p.pdf

‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’- Book by Khaled Hosseini

“One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.”

Book Review - A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
  • Title: A Thousand Splendid Suns
  • Author: Khaled Hosseini
  • Publisher: Riverhead Books
  • Genre: Contemporary, Historical Fiction
  • First Publication: 2007
  • Language: English
  • Major Characters: Laila, Mariam, Rasheed, Tariq
  • Setting Place: Herat and Kabul, Afghanistan
  • Theme: History and Memory in Afghanistan, Suffering and Perseverance, Shame and Reputation, Love, Loyalty, and Belonging, Gender Relations and Female Friendship.
  • Narrator: The story is told in the third person, alternating between Laila’s and Mariam’s points of view.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a Heartbreaking story of Mariam and Laila. It represents the stereotypes against women and also implies the common quote, ‘Woman is woman’s worst enemy and a best friend’. The Storytelling is perfect and at no moment the reader feels bored or thought of putting it away.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini stretches over decades and talks about the Afghan history in which the Soviets invaded and the Taliban took over and time after that. It revolves around the story of two heroines: Mariam and Laila. Both are born and brought up differently but the severity of the war and their fate brings them together.

While all the characters are fictional in this novel, the reader feels sad after reading it. The story of both the women is heartbreaking, I myself was shoving nails into my head while reading this book. It is a great melancholic representation of the sufferings of the Afghan people.

It deals with various injustices done against women. Most of them are portrayed through Rasheed. Khaled Hosseini explicitly deals with domestic violence, Discrimination in providing education to the girl child (Aziza; Laila and Tariq’s daughter), Exploitation of women’s right to freedom, and many more. He has also glorified the qualities of motherhood and sisterhood among the women.

This novel includes the romance of Tariq and Laila which shortly turns into a tragedy. But maybe Hosseini felt a little pity for his readers and thus united both of them towards the end of the novel.

‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ is a disheartening novel and it may not be a good choice for sensitive readers. Almost 3/4th of the novel is following a melancholic theme. The reader cries at the agonies and miseries faced by these two women. It is indeed a masterpiece by Khaled Hosseini. If the reader is okay with the gloomy factor of this novel then definitely should give it a try. You can purchase your own copy of this novel from here.

DAILY TECHNOLOGY

Technology is basically the way we execute the discoveries of science and blend it with our own needs. Technology is a general term used to refer to the different tools, machines and equipment we use in everyday life. These tools and equipment have been invented by man to make the tasks faster, easier and more comfortable.

Advancements of Technology:

Since the invention of the wheel to the use of microchips in computers and mobiles, technology has come a long way. The man has reached the moon and explored the outer space just because of the advancement in the aeronautics field. Even in primitive occupations such as agriculture, there have been so many technological advancements with modern tools such as traction engine and steam tractor technology which has helped us make progress.

Prominent Examples:

Although there have been countless examples where technology has changed our lives, there are some which are considered as revolutions for mankind. The technology used in the field of robotics in one such fine example. Nowadays robots are being used by people and industries all over the world for various purposes. They are also used in places which are otherwise considered harmful for humans thereby protecting us. One such area is the cleaning and managing of radioactive waste.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is another field which is a classic example of the technological advancements man has achieved. Who could have imagined that a machine would be capable of thinking like us? That is what AI has been successful in doing. It is an intelligent machine capable of behaving like us. It can do activities such as problem-solving, planning, learning and even reasoning. Today AI is used in all major areas such as warfare, security, healthcare and communication. On top of this, it is far more efficient than us and has a lower rate of error.

Importance of Technology:

Technology has its own importance in our lives. Without technological advancements, our lives would not have been simpler and faster. The modernisation that the world is witnessing today has all been possible because of the technological developments in different fields. Moreover, it has helped in reducing the risks people had to undertake in many sectors such as mining. With new tools available, the tasks are less risky and are more efficient as well.

Drawbacks of Technology:

Although technological advancements are important for us, it is also true that we seem to be over-dependent on them nowadays.

The drawbacks of technology can be seen in the following ways:

1. The use of mobiles was meant to be able to keep in touch in difficult times. But now we see kids too much involved in the different applications on mobiles and killing their valuable time.

2. Many crimes have been reported through the misuse of digital technology.

3. Also, it has been seen that many people lack the basic education required to ensure the proper use of the technology available today. In fact, most of them use it for the sake of fashion and hence end up misusing it.

4. People have been so dependent on technology that they no more want to do any kind of manual activity. Even for small works that can be done manually, people prefer to do it through technology. This has resulted in making humans mentally as well as physically dormant.

Technology is surely a boon for mankind. It is all the more important for the economic growth of a country. Modern technologies have in fact succeeded in reducing the human effort and the risk in doing a lot many things. But, still, it is for us to see how best we make use of the technology available to us.

While on one hand we can make use of technological advancements of nuclear energy to generate electricity and help many villages lighten us, at the hand the same nuclear energy can be used to create bombs which can cause mammoth destruction. Similarly, robots and other technological advancements have served as a good servant to us but the moment it becomes the master it can wipe off humanity from the Earth.

“RAMADAN”

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting(sawm), prayer, reflection and community. A commemoration of Muhammad’s first revelation,the annual observance of Ramadan is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam and lasts twenty-nine to thirty days, from one sighting of the crescent moon to the next.


Fasting from dawn to sunset is fard (obligatory) for all adult Muslims who are not acutely or chronically ill, travelling, elderly, breastfeeding, diabetic, or menstruating.The predawn meal is referred to as suhur, and the nightly feast that breaks the fast is called iftar.

Although fatwas have been issued declaring that Muslims who live in regions with a midnight sun or polar night should follow the timetable of Mecca,it is common practice to follow the timetable of the closest country in which night can be distinguished from day.


The spiritual rewards (thawab) of fasting are believed to be multiplied during Ramadan. Muslims refrain not only from food and drink, but also tobacco products, sexual relations, and sinful behavior,devoting themselves instead to salat (prayer) and recitation of the Quran.

History

Muslims hold that all scripture was revealed during Ramadan, the scrolls of Abraham, Torah, Psalms, Gospel, and Quran having been handed down on the first, sixth, twelfth, thirteenth (in some sources, eighteenth) and twenty-fourth Ramadans, respectively. Muhammed is said to have received his first quranic revelation on Laylat al-Qadr, one of five odd-numbered nights that fall during the last ten days of Ramadan.

Although Muslims were first commanded to fast in the second year of Hijra (624 CE) they believe that the practice of fasting is not in fact an innovation of monotheism but rather has always been necessary for believers to attain taqwa (the fear of God).They point to the fact that the pre-Islamic pagans of Mecca fasted on the tenth day of Muharram to expiate sin and avoid drought. Philip Jenkins argues that the observance of Ramadan fasting grew out of “the strict Lenten discipline of the Syrian Churches,” a postulation corroborated by other scholars, including theologian Paul-Gordon Chandler,but disputed by some Muslim academics.

‘Travel by Train’ by J B Priestly.

“I can pass, at all times, for a quiet, neighborly fellow, yet I have sat more than once, in a railway carriage with black murder in my heart.”

This quote is for you if you had ever hoped for your train journey to end fast, if you had met with passengers who roused your inner devils and had your patience tested by them. We are not always gifted with best travel companions and J B Priestly gives an account of different types of fellow travelers we meet during our journey in his essay ‘Travel by  Train.’

The first type of a traveler is the one who often arouses hatred in others.

“She is a large, middle-aged woman, with a rasping voice and a face of brass.”

Carrying heavy packages in all shapes and varying sizes, she pushes her way into smoking compartments. She glares at everyone around her until a poor victim gives their seat to her. She comes along with a ‘whining cur’ which is only less offensive than the lady by one degree. She wedges herself into the seat and the mood of the whole compartment is completely spoiled by her entry. It will be not long before she gets into trouble for there are few who are bold enough to call her out. 

“From the moment has wedged herself in there will be no peace in the carriage, but simmering hatred, and everywhere dark looks and muttered threats.”

The most common among the travelers who annoy us to varying degrees are those as follows. Firstly, the person who comes with a myriad of luggage packing every old chattel and household utensil. They buy baskets of fruits and bunches of flowers adding weight and misery to themselves and others. Then there are those who forever eat and drink during the journey. As soon as they take their seats, they pass sandwiches and pastry to each other. They talk with their mouths full, scattering food crumbs on those around them. 

“Some children do not make good travelling companions, for they will do nothing but whimper and howl through a journey,…”

Some children either weep throughout the journey or keep smearing their faces with chocolate and try to climb out of the window. There are also these ‘cranks’, as the author calls them, who insist on opening the windows on a cold winter day and on closing the windows on a hot summer day.

There are also these ‘innocents’ who always board the wrong train. Halfway through the journey, they ask if the train is going to their destination. When proved contrary, they get off at the next station looking clueless.

“I have often wondered if these simple voyagers ever reach  their destinations, for it is not outside probability that they may be shot from station to station, line to line, until there is nothing mortal of them.”

The author envies the ‘mighty sleepers’ the most who fall asleep the moment they settle in their seats. While other passengers have to spend their journey in a boring way, they go on adventures and quests in their dreams. But no matter how deep asleep they are, they always wake up two minutes before their destination and get off at the right station.

The author remarks that the Seafaring men are the best companions for they have the best stories to tell. But they are hard to come across. As a contrast, we meet the ‘confidential stranger’ who compels us to listen to his ‘interminable story of his life’ and some boring hobbies. Lastly, there is this elderly gentleman who starts the conversation by telling that “the train is at least three minutes behind time.” On the cue of the slightest interest, he recites the whole railway time table and the essayist warns the readers of such an elderly gentleman.

“Beware of the elderly man who sits in the corner of the carriage and says that the train is two minutes behind the time, for he is the Ancient Mariner of railway travelers,…”

Have you come across any of these travelers? Or do you belong to one of these travelers? Which is your worst train travel? It’s time to think about it.

The Dire Need of youngsters in politics

Despite being one of the world’s youngest democracies, the percent of young people participating in Indian politics is negligible.


The youth plays a vital role in the country’s politics. The participation of young members can help in reforming things in society. Nowadays the youth tries to participate in politics via social media posts. But there is a dire need for young people to come out and participate more actively and professionally

With the growing up corruption, nepotism, criminalization in politics, lack of responsibility, shifting the onus towards the people, etc. The youth has
lost interest in being a participant in politics. They have materialized politics as a dirty game.

The young politician we have currently in our country mostly belong to influential families. They are in politics just because their ancestors were a part of it. I firmly believe that the veteran in politics should promote youth participation and guide them to a path to bring reformation to society. The youth can be a torchbearer and can comprehend contemporary youth problems which can ensure a greater sense of inclusiveness in our democratic system

The right balance of youth and experienced politicians can bring dire changes to the collapsing democracy.

What Is Patriarchy?

Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property. Some patriarchal societies are also patrilineal, meaning that property and title are inherited by the male lineage.

Patriarchy is associated with a set of ideas, a patriarchal ideology that acts to explain and justify this dominance and attributes it to inherent natural differences between men and women. Sociologists hold varied opinions on whether patriarchy is a social product or an outcome of innate differences between the sexes.

Historically, patriarchy has manifested itself in the social, legal, political, religious, and economic organization of a range of different cultures. Most contemporary societies are, in practice, patriarchal.

How Patriarchy Affects Men

Toxic masculinity begins when a child is born. The blue outfit and blue beanie atop their head says, “male”. As a male child grows they are often told that they cannot play with “female” toys, and that if they are hurt they must not cry or show emotion. The phrases, “man up” and “act like a man” are typical, toxically-masculine phrases that are consistently said to young boys. As a child gets older the toxicity grows, men that do not fit into patriarchal norms are called “faggot” and “pussy”. “The socialization of young boys often prepetuates this violence and bullyig by claiming that boys will be boys” ; alluding to men that it is okay to be violent and aggressive.

The term “toxic masculinity” is not meant to demonize men, but rather to show the harmful effects of conforming to traditional “masculine” traits such as dominance, self-reliance, and competition.

Patriarchal society perpetuates toxic masculinity, which perpetuates, sexual assault, sexual aggression, substance abuse, negative mental health, domestic violence, and negative parenting techniques and expectations. For example, being a stay-at-home dad is not “normal”, but being a stay-at-home mom is both normal, and encouraged. For a woman to make more money than her male partner is frowned upon, and thus the male partner feels less than. These two examples are all directly linked to the fact that our culture sees parenting and childcare as a feminine activity.

Conclusion

If we don’t begin by raising our children to understand that traditional gender roles are antiquated and unnecessary, we will have another generation of women, and society as a whole, living in a rape culture. By not understanding how patriarchy impacts men, we are negating the entire message of feminism: that there should be equality amongst all genders.

‘With the Photographer’ by Stephen Leacock.

“Is it me?”, I asked.

Have you had an instance where you had wondered if the person in the picture is you? Has your photo been photoshopped to the point where it departs from resemblance to you? If so, the quote will be relatable. 

Stephen Leacock, a Canadian writer, is best known for his humor. Through his light-hearted and humorous writings, he brings out the follies in people. His essay ‘With the Photographer’, as the title suggests, gives an encounter between the narrator and a photographer. The narrator enters the studio and takes his seat. The photographer remarks on the narrator’s face and how he doesn’t like it.

“The face is quite wrong,” he said.

“I know,” I answered quietly, ”I have always known it.” 

The photographer further instructs on how to pose and this forms a funny narrative in the essay. This also reminds us how we are often told by the photographers when we go to the studio. The photographer keeps stressing on the narrator’s face which makes him angry. Unable to withstand such remarks, the narrator utters these words.

“Stop,” I said with emotion but, I think, with dignity. “The face is my face. It is not yours, it is mine. I’ve lived with it for forty years and I know its faults, I know it is out of drawing. I know it wasn’t made for me, but it’s my face, the only one I have–”…”such as it is, I’ve learned to love it.”

The passage also makes us think about ourselves. Instead of resenting ourselves for not reaching the so-called beauty standards, we should learn to accept and love ourselves for who we are. We may not be beautiful but there is no fault in it. It is no mistake. Learning to love ourselves is the first step to a happy life.

Not heeding to his words, the photographer takes a picture of the narrator when he was speaking. The photographer asks the narrator to come again on Saturday to get the picture. When the narrator visits the studio on Saturday, he is bewildered at the photograph of him. The photo no longer looks like him and the reason is because the photographer had retouched it. This ‘retouch’ can be considered as a photoshop of that age. He had used chemicals like Delphide and Sulphide to ‘retouch’ the picture. The photographer is proud of the changes he made in the photograph and how he made the ugly features of the narrator look good. This only angers the narrator.

“Listen! I came here for a photograph – a picture – something which would have looked like me. I wanted something that would depict my face as Heavens gave it to me, humble though the gift may have been. I wanted something that my friends might keep after my death, to reconcile them to my loss. It seems that I was mistaken. What I wanted is no longer done. …”

Spilling these words, the narrator leaves the studio with tears. Though the essay seems funny, it leaves a room for profound discussion.

RELATOS SALVAJES

Name : Wild Tales/ Relatos Salvajes (2014)
Director Damián Szifron
Cast: Ricardo Darín, Oscar Martínez, Leonardo
Sbaraglia, Érica Rivas
Genre: Anthology, Drama
Language: Spanish (Argentina)
Streaming Platform: Amazon Prime Video

Wild Tales is a collection of six stories set in modern Argentina and linked by a popular theme of vengeance. The film is a character study of seemingly ordinary people, much like you and me, who are forced to the breaking point by extraordinary circumstances. It is the past that haunts them at times, and external stimulation that pricks them on the head at other times that drives them insane. The film does a fantastic job of introducing the protagonists, setting conflict, and, most importantly, eliciting empathy – making you care for the characters and their circumstances, which is a common complaint in an anthology since there is less time to set up the characters and make them relatable. Despite the fact that the segments are set in Argentina, the conflicts that the characters face are similar – they are dealing with socioeconomic, political, and class problems.

The film lives up to its title, with each successive segment becoming more ferocious, culminating in a mayhem with more tonal changes than your average Korean film. What’s the best part? It’s successful! The segments are more about the characters than the storey, demonstrating the heights to which they can rise given human tendencies. While they can be extreme at times, you understand why they are acting the way they are, and you would have acted similarly if you were in their shoes.

This leads us to perhaps Wild Tales’ most effective technique: including the viewer in the storytelling. You don’t get 4, but you do get 2+2. The director does not spoon-feed the plot and instead leaves it to the viewer to link the dots, which allows for an enjoyable experience.

There’s nothing quite like the rush you get when you’re able to link the dots and feel intelligent. The film is also very approachable, with plenty to offer both general audiences and film buffs.

‘Where is my BEST HUSBAND Award?’

“She’s not even appreciating me for doing the household chores and managing the kids myself for the whole day…!!!”

Excuse me, What? Are you asking for an award just because you did the work that women have been doing almost everyday since ages? 

This might sound astonishing to you but this is what our society has been fighting for. By ‘Our Society’, I indirectly mean to point out ‘Our patriarchal Society’. 

Image Source: ThoughtCo.

We hear this word ‘Patriarchy’ on a day-to-day basis now, but what is the meaning of this word? Patriarchy simply means the supremacy of the male members of the family. What it indirectly hints at is the inferiority of the female members. We have witnessed this patriarchy since we were kids. Don’t tell me you did not. When you were asked who your superhero is, Didn’t you respond- Dad? We have always seen our mothers working day and night at home doing all the household chores, managing the kids, cooking the food and yet no one has ever appreciated her work. This is a very minute example for the patriarchal system that continues to be passed on as a legacy to every next generation. 

But didn’t patriarchy exist before? And if it did then why was it not so much talked about? The simple answer to this is the lack of awareness among the women to acknowledge the wrongs being done to them. And one cannot fight the issue which is not even accepted as an issue. In the times of our grandparents, everyone believed this is how life ought to be and thus women accepted every dominance done by the opposite gender. 

Today the means of communications have excelled and it has become quite easy for us to know what is going on in the other parts of the world. Because of the developed communication, social media and other sources, the women are aware of what is wrong and as the common proverb of hindi says, ‘Bardaasht karne ki bhi hadd hoti hai, jab sanyam ka ghada bhar jaata hai toh wo toot jaata hai’ Loosely translated: There is a limit to tolerate and when enough of the patience is tested, it breaks. This can also be the reason why women are raising their voices against the patriarchal norms. 

While there are so many patriarchal customs being followed in our society, there are still many who deny it exists. For those denying these, some of them are listed below:

Dowry System: 

  • This is one of the major reasons why women are considered as a liability on the family. There’s a celebration on the birth of the boy child whereas the family mourns when a girl child is born because when she’ll be married the family will have to arrange the dowry. As a solution to this many girl children are killed as a foetus whereas others are drowned in the milk vessel after birth. 
  • If somehow the girl manages to escape the cruelty from their paternal family, she is killed by her in-laws if they are not satisfied with the dowry. This is termed as ‘dowry death’ in our Indian constitution. According to Indian National Crime Record Bureau, there were 8,239 dowry death cases, 1,285 cases of attempted dowry deaths, and another 4,890 cases with pending investigations in 2009.

Sati Pratha: 

  • ‘Shave her head, break her bangles’; ‘Who will take care of the child, you must remarry’. These are two different cases- First, when the husband dies; Second, when the wife dies.
  • It has always been believed in our Indian society that a woman’s life is nothing after her husband. After the death of a husband, a widow is seen as a public property by other men and as unluck by her own family. She is not allowed to enter holy events because her presence is considered inauspicious. Imagining the atrocities of this, many women wilfully gave up their lives by sitting alive on the burning pyre. 

Ridiculous, Isn’t it? But many of these customs have been eradicated with the help of new laws and orders regulated by our constitution. In modern India, people have derived modern ways of formulating the patriarchy. Some of them can be listed as:

Unequal Pay: 

  • When there is no inequality found in assigning the tasks to women, there is a major difference found in their pay-scale. This is one of the major issues found in the corporate world and even the movie industry. This issue needs to be spoken of. 

Lack of policies: 

  • While many companies offer paid maternity leave, there are still many companies who fail to provide the same. Left with no option, women have to leave their jobs. There is still the lack of creche facilities in every domain of the work sector. While fathers enjoy their fatherhood, we need to ask the mothers who lost their careers for their child. 
  • Many companies lack the policies to safeguard women’s right resulting in the rise sexual harassment cases at work place. Due to the lack of these policies today only 6% of urban women enjoy employment. 

Overburdening: 

  • Some years ago, women used to manage the household. With the increasing inflation rate, it has become almost inevitable for women to not work. Women are stepping forward to share the responsibilities of their husbands, but this case isn’t vice versa.
  • With women stepping into the work-sector their workload seems to just have increased. Now they have to manage their work at the workplace and also complete their household chores. Too unfair!

For how many is this overburdening going to continue? It is high time for every woman to speak against injustice. Our Society really needs to understand that, ‘Women are not the goddess of sacrifice neither are they a sexual toy to be played with.’ As our former Prime Minister said: You can tell the condition of a Nation by looking at the status of its Women, Women are not a liability for the nation, instead they are an asset.

DYSTOPIAN LITERATURE

You may have heard about ‘The Hunger Games’, ‘Divergent’, ‘The Maze Runner’ but have you noticed the elements they have in common? All represent a wretched state of society characterized by oppression, unhappiness, and rebellion. They all belong to the genre of dystopian literature.

In the 16th century, Thomas More dreamed of Utopia – an ideal state of things, people and society are happy and peaceful deprived of sadness and destruction. The following centuries proved it impossible for such a state to prevail. There were endless wars, revolts and rebellion,exploitation,unprecedented scientific discoveries, and disruption. All these provided endless materials for the new form of literature – the Dystopian literature.  

Dystopia is contrary to Utopia. Dystopia characterizes a complete havoc and a wrecked state which is beyond repair. It portrays an imperfect world. The main themes of such a literature are extreme divisions in society, rebellion, environmental destruction, disaster and dehumanization. 

As seen in the above mentioned fictions, there is an organization or a character with a propaganda to dictate people of the state. In such a state, there is a difference of power leading the citizens to an unfair treatment and are left to live in poor conditions. President Snow in The Hunger Games has complete control over the people and people lead their life adhering to his regulations. And so, there is a clear difference in the standards of living between the people of Panem and other districts.

There is no independence, free access to information and all are expected to be uniform leaving no place for individuality. People of the state idolize an authoritarian or an idea. The characters or the people live in an illusion that their society is an utopia. In the Divergent series by Veronica Roth, the state, which is set in Chicago, is divided into five factions namely Abnegation, Erudite, Amity, Dauntless and Candor. It is expected of all people to fall into either one of the factions. But we see that the protagonists Beatrice and Tobias, who don’t belong to any of these factions, are ostracized. In the beginning, the characters in the story believe such a division in society as ideal and necessary for an order in the state. 

The characters are often monitored by some authority and nothing misses their watch. Being confined to their own little world, characters fear entering the outside world. They are ignorant of what lies outside their state. The outside world is either banished or not allowed to interact. In The Maze Runner series by James Dashner, the Gladers are constantly watched by some mysterious authority which is later found out to be WICKED. Being shut in the Glade, the characters don’t know what lies outside the maze for none has reached it and came back alive. They accept the challenge and make it out of the maze. They later notice that the outside state is in a state of ruin with a dangerous virus called Flare affecting people. So, the immune Gladers are not allowed to interact with the outside world.

Dystopian literature is also speculative literature. They hypothesize of a future which present conditions may lead to and warns of the imminent dangers. It also criticizes those aspects of society which may cause the downfall in the near future.  Now look around and ask yourself if you are living in dystopia.

Read more at http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson926/DefinitionCharacteristics.pdf

Also watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a6kbU88wu0 

Armed with PPE kits, Sisters protecting their netizens.

An article to pay tribute to all the frontline nurses on this INTERNATIONAL NURSES DAY.

When we have always celebrated the Raksha-Bandhan tying the Rakhi on our brother’s hand, we need to understand that in this pandemic it is not just the brothers who are protecting us but the Sisters who wear their armor as PPE kits and are battling against the virus. Today is the day we pay tribute to them, Yes today is International Nurses Day.

Image Source: ANI News

International Nurses Day is an annual event celebrated on 12th May every year. It marks the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, an English nurse, a social reformer, and a statistician who founded the key pillars of modern nursing. It is commemorated every year by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) who also decides the theme of the event. The ICN’s key pillars are Professional practice, Regulation, and Socio-economic welfare. The theme for International Nurses Day 2021 is ‘Nurses: A Voice to Lead- A vision for future healthcare’.

While declaring the theme for IND 2021 on 15 October 2020, ICN President, Annette Kennedy said, ‘This global COVID-19 pandemic has shown the world the important role that nurses play in keeping people healthy across the lifespan, While there has been significant disruption to healthcare, there has also been significant innovation that has improved access to care. In 2021, we will focus on the changes to and innovations in nursing and how this will ultimately shape the future of healthcare.’

According to the WHO, ‘nurses account for more than half of all the world’s health workers, yet there is an urgent shortage of nurses worldwide with 5.9 million (2020) more nurses still needed, especially in low and middle-income countries.’ As reported by INC on 31 December 2020, more than 1.6 million healthcare workers have been infected by the virus while battling against it.

Though being at the forefront since the pandemic started, many people fail to appreciate the services of a nurse which leads to the inhumane behavior towards the nurse. They forget that if doctors are able to save lives, it is because of the equal assistance given by the nurses. Nurses are the hospitality of the hospital. Let us not forget their selfless devotion and dedication to saving lives. Here is a video of frontline workers raising the spirits of patients:

This day comes of great significance in the middle of the pandemic. It is a great opportunity for us to pay a tribute to these heroes and express our gratitude for their noble work. Let’s laud them for their service towards humanity; ‘Respect and Gratitude…!!!’

Let’s conclude this article with the following lines from Muskurayega India:

Phir se sadakon pe sab naachenge (The roads will again be filled with dances)
Patri pe pahiye bhaagenge (The wheels will bustle again on the tracks)
Goonjege khelon ke maidaan (The Playgrounds will feel lively again)
Baatenge sab khushiyan (Everyone will share the happiness)
Gham bhi hum milkar baatenge (and will also share the griefs)
Phir se hogi sapno ki udaan (The dreams will catch a flight again)

Are you neglecting the Little Things in your life?

We are so much consumed in achieving the big goals of our life that we forget to appreciate the small moments which can provide us immense happiness. After all, the big moments are comprised of hundreds of small decisions and moments of our life.

Having big goals and being dedicated towards them is great, No doubt!. But if you get too caught up in getting to the destination you might forget to appreciate the journey. These little moments are like the journey when you enjoy the journey you achieve fulfillment. There’s a quote by Bruce Burton that says” Sometimes I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think there are no little things.

When you neglect to enjoy the little things in your life, you are left with struggles, stress, burden, and challenges.

Life moves so fast that we are on autopilot mode. We are in a state of the perpetual task of life. But sometimes you gotta halt and look around yourself for a moment and enjoy the little things you come across in your way.

When you have an appreciation for little things in life, you experience a sense of happiness and fulfillment. So pay attention to the little moment and be thankful for them.

Artificial Intelligence Techniques

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the displaying and reproduction of the manner in which people think and act. Antiquated civilisations in Greece, Egypt and China have concocted the possibility of mechanical men and robotization. Scholars as far back as Aristotle have attempted to concoct various strategies to portray human ideas and information. Man-made intelligence draws on the innovative work from different orders including reasoning, science, financial aspects, neuroscience, brain research, semantics and PC designing. Through reproducing the manner in which people think and act, we can utilize machines to assist us with tackling a considerable lot of the issues people face. 

The introduction of artificial intelligence 

The Turing Test, proposed by Alan Turing in 1950, is a technique used in AI for deciding if a machine is equipped for having a similar outlook as a person. The test stays important today and in his proposition, six controls of AI were depicted: 

  • Regular language handling 
  • Information portrayal 
  • Mechanized thinking 
  • AI 
  • Computer Vision 
  • Robotics

Symbolic AI techniques are based on high-level “symbolic” (human-readable) representations of problems, logic and search. Symbolic AI was the dominant paradigm of AI research from the mid-1950s until the late 1980s. One popular form of symbolic AI is expert systems, which uses a network of production rules. Two main areas continue to be highly researched are robotics and computer vision dealing with image processing and spatial awareness.

Robotics

The Babylonians developed the clepsydra in around 600BC, a clock that measures time using the flow of water. It’s considered one of the first “robotic” devices in history. Subsequently, inventors like Aristotle, Leonardo da Vinci, Joseph Marie Jacquard have come up with various designs and implementations of robotics.

Computer Vision 

Marvin Minksy was one of the initial individuals to connect computerized vision to AI through a computer during the 60s. He educated an alumni understudy to associate a camera to a computer and have it portrayed what it sees. During the 80s, specialists began to investigate various strategies for picture acknowledgment. Kunihiko Fukushima constructed the ‘neocognitron’, which is the forerunner of current Convolutional Neural Networks. Notwithstanding, because of absence of handling power at that point and helpless comprehension of neural organizations, improvement in this space was hindered as a component of the AI winter period. 

During the 90s, we started to see expanded utilization of computer vision in the space of observation. Going into the 21st century, examination and business utilization of computer vision saw a remarkable development. Google had a major influence in utilizing its enormous ranches of computers to create picture acknowledgment neural organizations and other huge players followed. Today, computer vision is essential for our regular day to day existences from the applications we use on our telephones to assembling, reconnaissance, craftsmanship and transportation.

Machine Learning 

Machine learning includes calculations that empower programming to improve its presentation over the long run as it gets more information. This is modifying by input-yield models instead of simply coding and is a type of example acknowledgment. In this field, there is a need to take care of machines with a great deal of information for the machine to learn and make forecasts. Machines can learn in numerous measurements and interact with a lot of information.

Deep Learning 

Deep learning is an AI work worried about calculations propelled by the construction and capacity of the cerebrum called neural organizations (NN). Deep Learning utilizes layers of calculations to handle information where data is gone through each layer, with the yield of the past layer giving contribution to the following layer. The principal layer in an organization is known as the info layer, while the latter is called a yield layer. Every one of the layers between the two are alluded to as covered up layers. Each layer is regularly a basic, uniform calculation containing one sort of actuation work. Learning can be administered, semi-managed or unaided. The three primary sorts of NN are artificial neural organizations (ANN), convolutional neural organizations (CNN) and repetitive neural organizations (RNN).

Powerful Web Development Tools in 2022

Web Development Framework

Web development frameworks are programming frameworks utilized by engineers to facilitate a web application measure that incorporates web assets, web administrations, and web API. They help engineers focus more on their undertakings as opposed to the intricate coding part. Web system helps in the: 

It works on the upkeep and improvement of a web application. 

A system intends to let planners or engineers center around building a special element for their web-based ventures. Presently, in view of your task, you may pick one web structure that satisfies every one of your necessities.

  • Frameworks help engineers save time and energy during application development as they don’t have to zero in on meeting taking care of, blunder dealing with, information sanitisation, and so on 
  • Frameworks that as of now have a decent skeleton design to utilize can make efficient web applications all the more without any problem,
  • Facilitates troubleshooting, application arrangement, and support 
  • They offer apparatuses to cover the basic CRUD cases like make, read, update, erase 
  • They have implicit security includes that naturally shield the website from both present and future security dangers 
  • Improves Database Proficiency 
  • Decreases Code Length

1. React.js

It is in fact not a framework. Indeed, React is a library for building composable UIs. It is a revelatory, proficient, and adaptable open-source JavaScript library that assists with making quick, straightforward, and versatile frontends of web applications. 

React.js was made by Facebook in 2011, and in 2013, Facebook made it open-source. At first, the engineer local area dismissed it, as it utilized Markup and JavaScript in a solitary document. Be that as it may, when more individuals began trying different things with it, they began inviting the segment driven methodology for isolating concerns. 

An ever increasing number of organizations perceive the significance of a decent User Experience, and React.js fills in as the most straightforward approach to smooth out your application experience. All things considered, we should see its advantages.

benefits

  • Is flexible: Compared to other front-end frameworks, the React code is easier to maintain also due to its modular structure, it is flexible. This flexibility saves a huge amount of time and money to businesses.
  • It makes complex apps run extremely fast: React.js was designed to provide high performance in mind. The core of the framework offers: A virtual DOM program and Server-side rendering. This makes complex apps run extremely fast.
  • Easy to learn: Compared to Angular & Vue, React.js is much easier to learn. This is one of the reasons why React gained popularity so fast. It helps businesses build their projects faster. Many businesses and big brands are more likely to use React as it is a simple framework that is easy to learn and get started with.
  • Helps build rich user interfaces: Today, the user interface (UI) quality matters a lot. If your application’s UI is poor, chances are that your application won’t succeed. At the same time, if your application is of top-notch, then there are better chances that your users will love to use your application. And, React.js can help you create such kinds of applications.
  • It is SEO-friendly: If you don’t know, let me tell you, for online business, SEO is the gateway to success. Page loading speed is one of the critical factors that help your site rank high in search engines. When faster a page loads, the chances are more your app will rank better on search engines.

2. Angular

Precise is a sought after open-source advancement JavaScript framework kept up by Google. Google works this framework and is intended to be utilized for creating rich Single Page Applications (SPA). It can make every one of the intelligent components we ordinarily find on a site. Over a large portion of 1,000,000 sites like Google, Youtube, Netflix, and so forth, utilize Angular.

benefits

  • Supports SPA features: SPAs are a web application type that loads a single HTML page. The page is updated dynamically according to the user’s interaction with the web app. SPAs provide a better user experience as no one likes to wait too long for reloading the whole webpage.
  • Has a declarative UI: Angular creates templates using HTML. It is a declarative language that is popularly used. Thanks to its scalability and innate intuitiveness.
  • Has a two-way binding feature: Angular has a two-way binding feature. The benefit of two-way binding is almost automatic retrievals from (and updates to) the data store. When the data store updates, the UI also immediately gets updated.
  • Real-time testing: Angular allows for both end-to-end testing and unit testing. It offers a testing feature such as dependency injection that helps to oversee how the components of your web application are generated.
  • Cross-platform: You can use Angular to make web applications, native mobile apps desktop apps.

3.Vue.js:

Vue.js began as an individual task, and it immediately began getting perhaps the most moving JS frameworks out there. It is an open-source JS framework for making an imaginative UI. The reconciliation with Vue in projects utilizing other JS libraries is improved as it is intended to be versatile. 

Right now, in excess of 36,000 sites are utilizing Vue. It is a much trustworthy stage for creating cross-stage. At the point when you need to assemble reformist web applications (PWAs) or web applications that must be more modest in size, you can pick Vue.js.

Benefits

  • Exceptionally little size: The accomplishment of the JS framework descends to its size. One of the huge benefits of Vue.js is its little size (18–21KB). Because of its more modest size, it takes no effort for the client to download it and use it. 
  • Designer well disposed: Developers love Vue.js in light of the fact that it is created in view of them, and it is an extraordinary innovation. 
  • It makes refreshing simple: After you have conveyed your application, you need to stay up to date with bug fixes, extra highlights, and different upgrades. It upholds two-way information restriction due to its MVVM (Model see Model) engineering. In this way, whatever refreshes you make in your UI, it will be reflected back to the information and the other way around. 
  • Well known and picked by the best: While it’s simpler to discover designers who are as of now with React or Angular, the expectation to absorb information of Vue makes it simple to prepare your workers to utilize the innovation. That is to say, on the off chance that you as of now have a group of engineers, you don’t really need to enroll new ones.

We shall overcome

Covid 19 second phase
Is quite a serious case
It took so many days
Without leaving still it stays
Listen to what the government says
Or you will not be found in trace
Do not roam around like a craze
It’ll affect you like a fire of blaze
We have to run through this difficult race
Till we find some other way to chase
It’s spreading very pace
So Stay safe in your place
Have some courage to face
For you’ll get some grace
Bend your knees to Pray
Or you’ll become a prey

CBSE Launched ‘Dost for life’ App

The Central Board of Secondary Education has launched a counselling app for class 9 to class 12 students. The counselling app is named Dost for life. The purpose of this app is to improve students’ psycho-social wellness.

Through this app, live counselling sessions will be conducted free of cost on Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the trained counsellors. The app will also provide students information on suggestive course guides after ten plus two, tips on mental health and well-being, a corona guide and rap songs. India’s education system has been hit very hard since April 2020, when schools and colleges shut down due to infection worries. Most were not open even in May 2021, creating a huge break in education continuity for crores of students.

ATTITUDE

My attitude is my unique gift which i am not obliged to explain to anyone.

4 Different Types of Attitudes of People As Per Psychology | Styles At Life

Our attitude defines our mood or behaviour towards things, situations and individuals. All humans are made up of different vital statistics, features , mental abilities and nature . While every human is similar in structure what makes them unique is your attitude. Attitude does not only depicts your behaviour but it also includes emotions, feelings and the way you look at things.

Having the right attitude is essential for a human being to keep moving successfully in life. Not every situation is the same but what matters is your attitude towards it. By feeling positive and taking things forward with the right attitude one can change their life.

My behaviour depends on your attitude and my attitude depends on your behaviour but my personality doesn’t depend on anything.

– Anshuman Sharma

Attitude refers to one’s behaviour and thinking . A person’s attitude is quickly analyzed by anyone by reading their body language, communication, skills and facial expressions. Since every human being has a different perspective on life, the attitude also differs in each individual . Some take life positively and lightly, while some do not believe in this agenda and tend to take too much stress in their daily lives which causes anxiety and depression. In simpler words, attitude is one’s behaviour and approach towards life. When you are positive, you tend to take everything with the right attitude and the right perspective which leads to fruitful things in life.

Their is the belief that when people have the right attitude they mostly succeed in their lives and every outcome comes out with flying colors . Having a positive attitude towards life can help you make the right decision even in the hard times. We can only drive our goals when we know how to take things with a positive spirit and let poor situations outside from life with a healthy frame of mind. If someone is making fun of your thoughts, looks, belief and more and you are positively taking up each challenge, then nobody can stop you from getting success in life. Moreover, if you think that you will not be able to do anything , you are pessimistic about life and skills. Thus, being optimistic plays a major role in driving through life with the right attitude.

All human creatures have different skills, which a person should explore themselves if you are thinking you’re not the right person by hearing some bad reviews about you. You’re making a wrong decision because this thing will not give you the success that you deserve. So, believing in your looks, skills and yourself is something that stands you out from the crowd. Some people believe that being rich or having money in your pocket can give you a chance to show yourself. Suppose you have talent that doesn’t just press it under your mouth . Show the world who you are and people will accept you when you have the right talent, the right platform and the right attitude to show them.

60 Best Behavior Quotes And Sayings

It does not matter if you are wealthy or jobless, it is only your attitude and outlook towards life that makes a difference. It is said that when there is calmness inside you, the outer circumstances fail to affect your peace of mind. Following this advice, many entrepreneurs, speakers , teachers and monks have fulfilled the purpose of their life. If you have everything such as good wealth, health, supportive friends and family but have an arrogant attitude towards people, nobody will respect or appreciate you. So, the moral for “Attitude is great” is that it is necessary to opt for a healthy and positive attitude to strive through life and difficult situations we face as we age. Keep up with the positive attitude and see your life unfolding for the better in the near future.

Make everything right with attitude… with right attitude!

Curfew Vs Lockdown

Difference between curfew and lockdown:
CURFEW
Curfew is an order or law that commands people to stay indoors after a certain time at night. In a curfew the Police Commissioner and the Collector holds the power. In addition to the act 144 all the other things are shut even the essentials except from emergency services like hospitals. The essentials such as grocery stores, vegetables, milk shops, ATM’s will also be shut during curfew. The district administration is free from the action once the curfew is implemented. Only the cops and the administrative people are allowed to come outdoors. The police have got all the rights to arrest a person who violates the curfew.
LOCKDOWN
Lockdown is under the control of the chief medical officer in a particular area under epidemic diseases act 1897. In a lockdown there should not be more than five people in closed quarters. All the essentials such as grocery stores, milk shops, ATM’s and vegetables will be open. In a lockdown the police don’t have the rights to arrest anyone who violates the lockdown, instead they can warn and advice the people to stay home. But if the person adversarial then the police have got all the rights to arrest the person under the section 269 and 270 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Be it Curfew or Lockdown please stay indoors. The world is facing the biggest crisis now and as humans we hold the greatest responssibility to save our own people. Amidst this pandemic people lend their helping hands just to save the fellow beings and keeping all these in mind and heart we should stay home. Stay Home Stay Safe..

DIET ANT NUTRITION DURING COVID-19

There is little doubt that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is affecting every aspect of our lives—from virtual classrooms to telecommuting to early restaurant closing times to outright quarantines. Observing public health measures and reducing exposure to the virus are required to slow the spread of this disease. No one knows how long these virus safety measures will need to stay in place, but it presents a perfect time to protect and improve your health while practicing social distancing. Healthy eating is especially important for keeping your immune system in top condition. Here are some steps you can take to eat healthy in the times of COVID.

THREE STEPS TO STAY HEALTHY DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

1.Minimize the trips to the supermarket and eat healthy

Plan ahead. Visualize breakfast, lunch, and dinner for at least 5 days. What will you serve? What do you need? Consider the foods your family likes, your food preparation methods, interests and skills, and the time and energy you will have for preparing meals. Working from home may not mean there is more time to cook—especially if you are now responsible for teaching your kids and doing the work your employer expects.

Have children at home? Include children in meal planning, preparation, and clean up while teaching them writing, math, reading, and science. 

  • Reading/Writing: Ask your kids to make a list of what’s in the pantry and refrigerator. Then, have them look through cookbooks or online recipes sites to find meals and snacks that use up what is on hand.  Have them share their breakfast, lunch, or dinner meal ideas.
  • Math: Find math in measuring spoons and cups, counting out numbers of ingredients, taking stock of pantry items, or planning the time it will take to prepare, cook, eat, and clean up a meal. 
  • Science: Get kids involved in baking bread, cooking an egg, or creating a homemade salad dressing—then, search the internet to discover the science behind why ingredients change when they are combined, heated, or blended

Think nutrition. The healthiest meals emphasize whole grains, vegetables, and fruits—serve them in the greatest amounts.  Meat portions should be smaller—this will save money and help keep dietary saturated fat in check. 

Make a shopping list—and use it!  You’ll be less like to forget items or buy impulse items.

Stock upon nutrition packed foods that stay fresh longer

  • Breads—corn tortillas, whole grain English muffins, bagels, breads, wraps, frozen whole wheat waffles
  • Grains—instant oatmeal, quick cooking pasta, frozen brown rice, couscous, refrigerated pizza crust
  • Fruits—sturdy fresh fruit (apples, citrus), dried, plain frozen, canned in juice or water
  • Vegetables—sturdy fresh veggies (celery, broccoli, onions, potatoes), plain frozen, low sodium canned, sun-dried
  • Sauces—tomato pasta sauce, salsa
  • Soups & Broths—canned, frozen, shelf-stable cartons
  • 100% Juice—refrigerated, frozen, canned, boxed
  • Milk—fresh, canned, shelf-stable packages
  • Eggs—fresh eggs, egg whites in cartons
  • Cheese—sliced, cubed, shredded, crumbled, grated hard cheese
  • Beans/Legumes—canned beans (black beans, chickpeas), dry beans
  • Nuts and seeds—bagged, canned, nut butters
  • Chicken—frozen or canned
  • Seafood—frozen ready-to-cook fish fillets, frozen shrimp, canned tuna, salmon, and sardines
  • Beef—pre-made frozen lean ground patties or meatballs
  • Flavorings—add zing with dried herbs & spices, vinegars, mustard, hot/steak sauces, lemon/lime juice, light dressings, honey, Greek yogurt

Go easy on the frozen dinners—most are high in sodium, fat, and calories.

Limit purchases of tempting foods like chips, sodas, cookies, and ice cream. They are high in empty calories and run up your grocery bill.

Keep costs down—consider low cost alternatives. Instead of buying ready-made hummus, pureed a drained can of chickpeas to make your own. Try a meatless meal, like chili with beans instead of beef. If fresh fruits and veggies are too costly—remember, canned and frozen fruits and vegetables provide the same nutrients as fresh. Best bets are plain frozen veggies and fruits. Go for low sodium canned veggies and fruits canned in juice or water—if these are in short supply, buy regular canned fruits and veggies—drain and rinse before use.

Think about friends and neighbors, especially older adults or those with health conditions. Could you save them a trip to the grocery store?

Try online shopping—it will save you time and let you keep your social distance. Be sure to play ahead, many stores need a day or two from order to delivery or pickup.

While at the supermarket during the Coronavirus pandemic…

Use a disinfecting wipe—wipe your hands and grocery cart handle, then put the wipe in the trash.

Prepared for the unexpected—supermarkets are running low on many items. Be sure to take your own bags. Be ready with a back-up plan if an ingredient you need is unavailable.

Keep the less fortunate in mind—contribute to local pantries and soup kitchens now. Then, when it is all over—donate extra food you stocked up on that is still fresh and safe to eat.

Use contactless payment or credit cards. If you use the payment keypad, tap the buttons and screen with your knuckle—then use hand sanitizer after completing your payment. 

2.Eat out safely with restaurants curfews

If you want to have take-out meals, take the food home right away and eat it while it is hot. Store leftovers safely—wrap tightly and refrigerate any dishes with meat, fish, poultry, or dairy products—be sure to reheat these leftovers thoroughly before eating.

Make eating together at home a positive experience

Whether it is homemade or takeout, eating more meals at home is a new routine for many families. Keep the stress down by making mealtime fun.

  • Get the family involved—kids can help set the table, pour the water, make the salad, or grate the cheese. Make mealtimes a family affair.
  • Try some new recipes—if you have never made homemade pizza, roasted a whole chicken, or cooked meatballs from scratch—now is a good time to try!  There are lots of great recipes on the internet! Look for those that call for only a few ingredients and use common kitchen tools.
  • Reconnect with the family—eat together at the table or spread a blanket on the floor and have an indoor picnic. Be sure to separate mealtime and TV time—watching while eating makes it too easy to pay attention to TV and not your food, so you are likely to overeat. Wonder what to talk about at mealtime? Chat about things you will do this summer, tell jokes—just keep the conversation upbeat and fun.

3. Think positively -Mental health is more important

  • Practice positive stress management strategies. Walk the dog, call a friend, soak in the tub, or cuddle your kids. Skip the alcohol, tobacco, and drugs.
  • Stick with your routine as much as you can. Go to bed and get up in the morning on your usual schedule. Eat meals at regular times. Find ways to exercise away from the gym—do yoga in the living room, trim the hedge, have a scavenger hunt in the backyard with your kids, or just toss a ball or play tag as a family.
  • Manage boredom. Stay busy and engaged—resist hanging around the fridge or mindlessly watching TV. Enjoy your hobbies, read, cook, make videos with your kids, start a scrapbook, help your kids with their virtual schoolwork, and stay in touch with family, friends, and colleagues.

When you do go out, wash your hands before you leave home and as soon as you return.

Have a dry cough? Feeling feverish?  Hard time breathing? Don’t hesitate to reach out to your health care provider for further instructions.

We are all in facing this together. Let’s make the most of it to come out stronger and wiser and ready to enjoy all the wonderful times to come!

Life Lessons from ‘The Happy Prince’ by Oscar Wilde.

“The Happy Prince never dreams of crying for anything.” 

The quote sounds ironic when one completely reads the short story, ‘The Happy Prince’ by Oscar Wilde. The short story is a beautiful tale of love, tears and a portrayal of cold reality. The statue of the Happy Prince is erected in the city.

“He was gilded all over with thin leaves of fine gold, for eyes he had two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby glowed on his sword hilt.” 

Though all conceive the Happy prince to be happy, the Sparrow catches him weeping. When asked why he was weeping, the Happy Prince tells,

“When I was alive and had a human heart, I did not know what tears were, for I lived in the Palace of Sans Souci, where sorrow is not allowed to enter….And now that I am dead they have set me up here so high that I can see all the ugliness and all the misery of my city, and though my heart is made of lead yet I cannot choose but weep.”

Sometimes, we too, like the Happy Prince, turn a blind eye to people in misery around us. We are intent on satiating our own greed and desires that we don’t hear the wailing cries for help. 

So the Happy Prince asks the Swallow to help him and the people by taking the rubies and sapphires out of him. When the Swallow helps the poor mother and child for the first time, the Swallow says,

“It is curious but I feel quite warm now, although it is so cold”.

Although the night was freezing, the Swallow felt warm because he had done a good deed. Nothing equals the happiness we get from committing a good deed. Share with others and serve for a good cause and so no matter how sad you are, you will be embraced by the warmth of love. 

The Happy Prince gives away his eyes, beauty and luster for the welfare of the people in the town. So the Swallow becomes the Prince’s eyes for he tells what goes on in the town. The Swallow instead of joining his friends in Egypt remains by the Prince and tells him of Egypt. But the Happy Prince tells him to tell what he sees in the town for

“more marvelous than anything is the suffering of men and of women. There is no Mystery so great as Misery.”

Misery, as Wilde says, is mysterious as it is sometimes caused by external factors and sometimes by ourselves; we don’t know how long it will last and how bad we will be affected; we don’t know what we will gain and what we will lose. All we can do is cling on to hope as no dark sky rains forever.

The story also brings out the theme of class difference. It shows how the rich are busy making merry in their luxurious houses while the poor and the needy suffer for a morsel. The greediness of the Town Councillors shown in the story proves that nothing had changed in our society since then. 

The story ends with the death of the Swallow and also of the Happy Prince who though a statue had his leaden heart broken into two. Though they both helped people, there was no one to bid them proper farewell. But they were given the best merit – the place in Paradise. We shouldn’t expect honor, fame and laurels in return for our good deeds. For we won’t be awarded by worldly standards but by Heavenly standards. Don’t wait for the Happy Prince to change the society but become that Happy Prince to promote goodness and welfare in the society.

All the quotes are taken from the short story “The Happy Prince” by Oscar Wilde.

Read the short story at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/902/902-h/902-h.htm