U9 FITNESS

U9 Fitness

SPEAKING AND LISTENING

I once read a book which had a chapter on conversation. During a conversation we either speak or listen. It says listening is more powerful than speaking. When we speak we are saying something that we already know and we are giving out information that is available with us. We are also allowing others to collect information about us. When we listen we may learn about things that we did not know and we can also collect information about other people. So it is better to speak less and listen more during a conversation. When we let others speak more we can get to know their views and opinions. We may also improve our knowledge. When we speak less others will get little from us.

BIKER

Biker, Anjilli Road, Kollam

MONDAY MADNESS

I was at a factory in North India for training during the end of 1983. I met an Engineer there who had just returned from USA. He had a Master’s Degree from USA and had worked there for 8 years. He was a helpful person. Since I was new there, he introduced me to some restaurants. He invited me home for Christmas and told me that he understands the importance of the day since he had spent many years in USA. One day, he told me that a person can succeed by hard work in USA but in India hard work alone would not be enough. He said that in India one would need to be cunning too.

On Saturday, the Production Manager assigned him some work to be completed by Monday. He forgot about it. When the Production Manager asked him about it on Monday, he looked at me and asked me whether I had completed the work. He was pretending that he had assigned the work to me, in order to evade the blame. The Production Manager looked at me and left without saying anything. He knew it was not work assigned to me. Later, when the Engineer was sitting next to me, I noticed that he looked disturbed. I think he was feeling guilty for trying to put the blame on me for his mistake. He looked at me and said ‘Monday Madness’.

TRIVANDRUM AIRPORT

KERALA FLOODS 2018

When the floods began children were happy. Schools were closed. They could play in the rain and water. As the rain started to increase in intensity the floods became more widespread and water levels began rising causing damage to farms and houses. Dams were almost full. Water had to be released from the dams which added to the problem. More than 300 people died in the floods. Many wild animals would have died too.

Some people were stranded on roof tops. Power supply was cut off in most places. Without electricity, life became difficult even for those not affected by the floods. Their only means of communication is the mobile phone which needs to be charged. Rescue teams from the army helped to get people to the safety of relief camps which were set up by the state government. Local fishermen came in their boats to lend a helping hand.

Some houses were swept away due to landslides. Some were under water.  As the floods recede and people go back to their houses they will find most of their belongings damaged by the dirty water. Cleaning up will require a lot of effort. Most of the household appliances will have to be replaced. Meanwhile people have been warned about the potential spread of waterborne diseases and advised to take precautions. Most parts of Kollam district, where I live, were not really affected by the floods. So, I was fortunate to have escaped the ordeal. All I saw was some puddles around my house.

THAILAND CAVE RESCUE

When I first heard the news about some boys trapped in a cave in Thailand I was not so interested. I thought it was a small incident. I did not expect a cave to be so deep. Only later did I know that the boys were several kilometers deep inside the cave. They had gone deeper to avoid the water flooding the cave due to the heavy monsoon rains. When divers located them and the boys were shown smiling on TV, I felt more concerned about their safety. Now there were faces to relate to. Those boys had survived without food for about two weeks and had to drink water from melted ice. Yet they were smiling.

 

Divers had a difficult task bringing the boys out safely. Some parts of the cave were very narrow and only one person could go through at one time. Fast flowing muddy waters made visibility low and there were sharp rocks that added to their woes. The boys did not know diving and their oxygen tank had to be carried by a diver. The boys were sedated so that they would not panic under water. Divers from Thailand and some foreign countries were involved in the rescue attempt. Sadly, one Thai diver died in the rescue attempt. Within a few days divers brought out all the boys and their coach safely. It was inspiring.