US ELECTION - 2016

I remember watching the first Republican Primary Debate. There were so many candidates. I looked at all of them before they started speaking and thought that Rand Paul looked better than the others. When they started speaking I liked Rand Paul because he said he will not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. People started calling him an isolationist and he lost support and had to drop out early.

I knew Donald Trump would be the centre of attraction because he is some sort of a celebrity. I liked the fact that he had a similar view regarding intervention in other countries. He said there will be no more ‘regime change’, that he would not topple the governments in other countries. I read his book ‘The Art of the Deal’. In it he says he makes controversial statements just to get into the news. It is a strategy. He sees it as free advertisement. He says even bad publicity is good because people come to know about you. He had to spend much less on his campaign because of all the free publicity. He played the media and hogged the limelight. He could brand his opponents ‘Lyin’ Ted’, ‘Crooked Hilary’ etc but none of them could brand him. The media were totally biased against him and lost all credibility. They seemed to think that their experts are the only ones who understand what happens in a debate and that the people have to accept their decision on who won the debate. People have brains, they can watch a debate and understand what the candidates say and decide who won. They don’t need any experts to decide for them.

People usually think about their own interests. If I was an illegal immigrant in the US, I would support Clinton because I would not want to be deported. If I was an American who lost a job because manufacturing went overseas, I would support Trump because he says he is going to bring those jobs back. Since I do not live in the US, the issues there do not concern me. The issue that bothers me the most is the war in Syria. The West armed the rebels and created a civil war there. So many people are dead, injured, homeless and fleeing the country. Clinton’s plan for Syria was to take on Russia, the Syrian government and ISIS. Trump’s plan was to work with Russia and the Syrian government to defeat ISIS. Trump’s plan is better. Some European governments are now trying to convince him not to work with Russia. That would only prolong the war.

Trump’s victory was a surprise for many people. Nobody knows what kind of a President he will be. Only time will tell.

DISTRICT CO-OPERATIVE BANK

District Co-operative Bank, Kollam

DIET IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EXERCISE

I once read an article about losing weight. I am not fat and losing weight is the last thing on my mind but I found it to be interesting. It says that if you are planning to lose weight your diet is more important than the exercises you do. If you are careful about what you eat and how much you eat, you can easily lose some weight. Otherwise, all the exercise in the world is not going to help you.

A few years ago I had a blood test and my doctor said that my blood sugar was slightly above normal. He told me that I need not take any medicine but that I should reduce my consumption of sugar. That day I started drinking my tea without sugar. I did not make any other major changes. I do some exercises but not every day.

Later on, I fell sick one day. I had a fever and body ache which also meant that I could not do any exercises. A few days later I felt uneasy and checked my blood sugar. I found that it had increased. In those days I used to have corn flakes for breakfast and rice for lunch. I stopped both and had something made of wheat instead. I was surprised to find that my blood sugar was back to normal after I made the change. Most people in South India eat rice for lunch every day, but I don’t anymore. I realised that diet does play a major part in our health.

JACOB BATTERIES

Jacob Batteries, Kollam

MY FIRST DIGITAL CAMERA

I bought my first digital camera about ten years ago. It was a compact digital camera, making it convenient to carry. I used it a few times and then left it inside a bag. Many months later I wanted to use it again and took it from the bag. I tried to switch it on but it did not work. I noticed that the battery enclosure was slightly open. I checked the battery and found it to be leaking. It was not old enough to be leaking. The summer heat may have caused it to leak and the fact that I left it inside a bag did not help matters. I replaced the battery with new ones but the camera still did not work. The battery must have leaked into the camera and damaged it internally. Moreover, I could not close the battery enclosure properly anymore. I think the battery not only leaked but also expanded forcing the battery enclosure to open and damage it too. I felt sad since I had used the camera only a few times. I also felt lucky since it was not a very expensive camera. If I had bought an expensive camera the loss would have been so much more.
Later on, I bought another camera and now whenever I finish taking photos I remove the battery.

CRAVEN LMS HIGH SCHOOL

Craven LMS High School, Kollam

DUMPLING

When we were children my father sometimes bought street food from the hawkers. One day he brought home some dumplings. There were two types. The big ones had a sweet filling and the small ones had a meat filling. My mother opened one of the small ones before giving it to us. We were shocked to find a dead insect inside. I don’t know how it got in there. It may have fallen in accidentally while the meat filling was being prepared. That day we threw away all the small ones but we ate the big ones with the sweet filling.

After that incident I am careful when I eat something with a filling. I usually check what is inside before I eat it.