In the pole

If not outside so optimistic I would begin to think that this interminable tunnel does not take nowhere, or at least not to the surface. No longer I know how long we took giving returned and more returning, but than yes I am safe is that we have not stopped descending. The temperature, consequently, has been increasing and the heat has become unbearable. It would say who it, heat in the Antarctic! In order to fight we must it clear the clothes to us, but soon we will not have left nothing than to undress to us. With these naked beards and we will need the stick to seem troglodytic. But about what I will be thinking? Right now it would have to be jumping and dancing of joy, and is that, against all prognosis, today we have conquered the South Pole! I do not joke nor I am being delirious for want of oxygen. It has been a conquest under earth, clearly, which does not reduce any merit to him, although I must recognize that we have had much luck of which the grotto passed through the latitude 90º S.A. right less now I can die knowing that I have fulfilled my intention, but, I prefer to follow alive; still I have seventy and five years and one life ahead. In addition I must inform to him to the world into our feat, what would be the glory without recognition?
This is the experience of one of my close friends who encountered the harshest of environment and some of the most trying times of his life.

Environmental protection

Environmental protection and management should attract a lot of attention these days. There must be desirable development in the face of alarming rate of natural resource degradation which greatly hampers their optimal utilisation. There must be special attention given to such environmental issues in rural areas where people have low awareness. When waste water emanating from municipal sewage, industrial effluent, agricultural and land runoffs find their way either to ground water reservoirs or other surface water sources, the quality of water gets affected and makes it unfit for use. The natural balance is disturbed when concentrated discharges of waste water is not controlled. This is because the cleansing forces of nature cannot do their job in proportion to the production of filthy matter. There must be special boards formed in every town in all nations to ensure that such effects to our surroundings are not caused.

Is youth extinct?

Youth is stifled because the rat-race continues.. many parents seeking only such schools which would put their children in the list of rank holders and top scorers in examinations; pushing them into a variety of supplimentry courses which give them little time to blink from their books, leave alone “to stand and stare” in their leisure; focussing their own obsessions on them and deciding a future by the measuring yardstick of the Toms Dicks and Harrys of society or the economic returns of courses with an impact on social prestige.

Fourteen years of this fruelling life from the age of three onwards! Fourteen years of tunnelling with blinders to avoid “distractions” from the harsh goals of studentship! Fourteen years of the printed matter absorbed and soaked into the brain to be poured out again onto answer papers, cover-to-cover, letter-to-letter. And when the fourteen years are over, he stands before you, a seventeen year old, ready to step into the next tunnel of academics called “Higher Studies”, a tunnel that is in no way different from the earlier one in quality or kind. So another three, five, seven or sometimes even more years before he actually begins to live.. an adult! Not having known what it was to be a youth!

Youth is not just the inevitable count of years. It is more an attitude than a period of time. Youth is said to be exuberant, full of spirit of adventure. Youth is alive to emotions and makes no distinction between people and positions. Youth is sensitive to suffering, responsive to reasoning and fine – tuned to trust and tolerance. Youth is always sharing, ever caring, seldom unforgiving and never vindictive. Youth gives fair credit to merit and is ignorant of partiality. Above all, youth believes in giving a helping hand to the downtrodden even when he himself tries to climb the ladder of success.

Retrenchment and employee morale

Recently a town hall was conducted in our organization to brief the employees about the current economic situation and the need for effective performance in these times. The company, unlike most other organizations, cares for the welfare of its employees and avoids job cuts, so their colleagues and dear friends do not undergo extreme difficulties in this poor market. Their decision comes as a welcome move as it is not only the employee who gets sacked who faces the brunt, but also his friends and managers who cannot bear to see someone who had grown with the company, depart.
It is not an easy job for the manager too, to choose a few among the selected ones to issue the pink slip. Restructuring also leads to strange work conditions that could prove harmful to the productivity of the employees. To a large extent companies must focus on retaining their workforce, if they want to retain their ‘reputed employer’ status. It is not a sign of a good employer to lay off employees just to face worst times of their life, outside.

Cyrus the Great

I recently read a book on Cyrus, King of Kings, the king of Persia of the ancient times. He was born to a humble king and became the first king to conquer vast extents of land in the Middle Eastern region. He was a man that I admire not just because he was a great conqueror and ruler, he was a man who, apart from hard work and perseverance, used cool ideas to defeat his enemies. His strategies were some of the wisest I have ever heard of.

He used his wit wisely to conquer the nation of Sardis. The king of the small nation retreated from battlefield thinking Cyrus would not advance beyond a certain point. Cyrus, with his men, stealthily followed the enemy troops to reach their land and attacked the place when the all their army had dispersed. An easy victory followed.

After taking over most of the surrounding nations, Cyrus turned towards the mighty Babylon - one of the greatest wonders the world has ever seen. The city was ruled by king Nabonidus, son of King Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler who brought havoc to the city of Jerusalem. This time Cyrus had almost the entire army of Babylon overpowered, but the city itself was impermeable. It was a square city with a length and breadth of 20Km. The entire place was surrounded by high walls and strong inner walls. The whole city was content with its food and water supplies that were available internally. I guess if one would have thought it possible to penetrate a city of such high protection. But smart Cyrus took advantage of the river Euphrates that flowed into the city, to penetrate the city. He used his skilled engineers to divert the river and made the water way shallow for his horsemen to move. The rest is history.

Cyrus in my opinion is an Alexander the world knows less about. In fact, Cyrus is spoken of in comparison to Alexander often, as both followed similar routes in their quest to conquer the world. We have lots of lessons that can be learnt from great men like Cyrus, Cyrus the Great.

Anything Positive

Even when you are in the worst situation feel good that things can only get better.

On his high horse

We all know the power, speed and beauty of the horse made him a creature of legend. We are told that once there were seven men who competed for the throne of Persia. They agreed that the man whose horse neighed first should become king. The horse of Darius was the first to do so. The crown was given to him. He became one of the most famous of Persia’s ancient kings.

For a long time only upper classes had horses. Some of high rank rode on big, heavy horses in the king’s parade. This gave birth to the expression “to ride the high horse”, meaning trying to show that one is above others, too good for them. And to tell one “to get off his high horse” means that he is no better than others and should stop acting as if he were. The expression “to look a gift horse in the mouth” is used to describe a man who has the poor taste to examine a gift to see if anything is wrong with it.