December is quite a pleasantly cool month here. The minimum is about 13 or 14 C and the max is about 28 or so. Mornings are cool and sometimes with a bite in the air. Fog is common, but some days, visibility is very poor till the Sun comes in like a headmaster and drives the fog away. Days are very pleasant, cool sun. But I think these days, due to depleting ozone layer, the heat of the sun is felt on the arms - not so before. As February comes, we have more fog in the mornings and that will be a clear indication that March and Summer are nearing.
At the onset of winter, dry as it is, people suffer from dry skin, cracked lips, feet. So, cold creams are used to prevent it and to soften the skin.
Here
Dinu. . .your weather sounds very pleasant right now. . .we have fog here too, but temps are closer to 32° to 40°F. I have seen many pictures of southern India in the last few days as you can well imagine since the tsunami. I looked at a map and Mysore is inland and looks to be closer to the sheltered side from the tsunami. But, maps do not tell a story. . .how far are you from the damage. I do not know anyone in that part of the world, but it is a tragedy of colossal magnitude and hope that your family and friends are safe. Thank you for posting from far away. I read your bio on your homepage and found it very interesting and informative. You need not apologize for your writing skills-they are excellent. ;-D Janet
jcangemi, [does this sound like "they can't give me?!"]
Thanks for your appreciation. To my guess, a rough guess at best, the coasts from Mysore is about 200 kms and 400 kms to the west and east respectively. On the west, we have the western ghats that slope down gradually towards the eastern coast. So we are in the plainscloser the the ghats by about 150km or so. All the rivers that emerge from the south flows from west to east. Perhaps the nearness of the ghats is what makes climate so pleasant. That is an important reason why people have come and settled here, making this place 'no longer a pensioners paradise'!
Dinu,
You put me at ease to see your word here again.
I have heard of the tsunami spread parts of India,
which caused thousands of deaths and innumberous homeless.What a natural catestrophe!
At class I said to my class:'when an unavoided disaster happened,everything you posess --your house,your land ... vanished,there is only LEARNING left in you,which will help you through the hard time.'
I hope the kids undersatnd my saying and study harder from now on.
Jianhua Zhang
Jianhua,
One thing the kids must be taught: Not to get too much attracted to 'materialistic' things, but to be a good human being, respecting all the others irrespective of age. I reckon 'spiritualism' still can be taught through such words of wisdom, as you have explained to them - but I think they need to be told with examples, in more detail so as to make them visualize and understand the realities. Yes, we need materialistic things only up to a certain limit - they are necessities till that point. But never allow the minds to go greedy about them.
In such natural furies, mankind is nothing as has been proved often. Yet, man fails to understand realities in its perspective. Those intelligent and lucky at the same time, have survived this tsunami by clinging to trees and other objects. Others just had no choice to think or do anything at all. It is really sad. So, what amount of material wealth came to their help at that time of crisis? Call it fate. One thing is almost sure: respect the elders and have concern for others - have one guru and obey him, the rest is taken care by HIM. It just makes you think and act in a manner so that no troubles come your way... even if it does, it 'automatically' seems to clear off! That is the beauty of life. I think as a teacher, you have an important role to play in shaping young minds in a nice way. Scoring marks in tests and exams is altogether different. What have you got to say?
There are thousands of people left homeless and many have lost members of their families from this disastrous tsunami. Imagine their sorry plight!
Dinu,
Recently my class studied the english grammar --the subjective mood.I required each of my students to make a sentence by using the pattern "I wish (that) ......"Here are some of theirs.
I wish I were a billionaire like Bill Gate.
I wish I were a millionairess like J.K.Rowling
(author of Happry Potter series)
I wish I had a bluebird(a luxurious car) and a presidental suite.
...enough...
From their sayings you can see these days quite a few school children seem lost interests in all but money.they are not likely to cast their eyelight upon the textbooks.they regard the books as their adversaries.It seems as if materialistic stuff had taken up fully their mind.if you teach them"man does not live by bread alone"(from the Bible)"knowledge is power"(by Francisco Bacon)" "no pain,no gain",they just have on your word as the blowing wind.
The whole education circle has realized the serious problem,and we teachers are creating new and effective ways to save the lost sheep.our school has put into practice of a program called a tri-side (teachers-parents-students) communicating group,and hold head -to -head meetings regularly and make a personal profile for each student.
I am very much enjoying your conversation. May I share some thoughts on the subject from my perspective? I too am dismayed by the materialistic outlook of youth here as well. But, it seems they are following the example of their elders in this regard. Though there is much prosperity here, there is also the opposite end of spectrum and growing gulf in between. And, even those considered 'poor' would answer the same way your children did Jianhua. It is a challenge for parents here to swim against the materialistic tide and try to teach their children more important values, as they are bombarded by this on all sides. Their most effective weapon is to 'consistently' teach them respect for and accountabilty to them and other 'worthy' ones. By that I mean their elders. If they are properly taught this most important aspect, it will carry over in their relationships with whomever they encounter. And they must impart strong spiritual values, which they back up by their own actions. An old proverb here states: "Actions speak louder than words." If we parents are hypocritical, our children see through it in a minute.
So, it seems that this is a world-wide battle, and not a new one, but certainly one well-worth fighting. I hope I have not rambled on for too long. Janet
Jianhua,
I like your manner of teaching and the method you used to extract information from the young minds. Only the weaker ones get affected by what the other person has managed to possess and it is they who want to 'compete' and have better things. But the stronger ones who have been imparted the value of 'spiritualism' and 'law of karma' will never even notice it! We get only what we deserve. Our ancient saint Shankaracharya (8th century AD) told, "first deserve, then desire". We have seen people seen suffering and they are the ones who have desired without deserving. This is what modern society is doing and that is one of the major causes of a weak intellectual development. The elders also must not pamper the children with attractive things too much. This is what spoils them. We should fix a certain limit to these things. My elder daughter is 15 and the younger one is 10. Shen they sometimes ask or tells about someone's possession, we immediately make them understand that each person's lifestyle, their income and their manner of spending is different and not to be compared with the other. We make no secret about our salaries [my DW too is working in the same Institute as me] and we make them understand that we have to manage within that, besides savings. If parents hide facts from the children, they are lead to suspicion, which I do not want. We should be open to some extent.
Lots of people are buying cars these days and many of our friends ask us why we haven't one. Affordability is one thing, maintaining it is another. So, when we calculated the expenses and the requirement, we felt it was not wise to invest on a car. We have two scooters and when all of us have to go, we take both the vehicles. We have to manage with that till the maximum. Petrol costs are rising all the time. The children understand it and can make out the difference in the classes of people. We disconnected the TV cable connection 4 years ago. Now we get only 2 channels shown by the Govt. TV Station, 'Doordarshan'. When the cable was there, the kids and even we used to 'fight' for our own channels. Their studies used to get affected and we also got distracted by the variety. So it was decided to get rid of this 'nuisance'. It brought in more peace! Now the kids only choose a handful of TV serials and go to my aunt's portion of our house and watch it there. [We have a portion let out to her family]. Another thing that spoils kids is the media - in its greed for money, shows all kinds of useless things that are 'depreciating factors' on child development. So we are now used to be without that and there are no regrets whatsoever.
Will be back.
Dinu
Dinu. . .please pardon my rudeness in not responding to your original message. . .my name is Janet and Cangemi is my surname. It sounds like Can Jimmy? It is Italian. And thank you for describing your country a little. I got caught up in reading your posts and just now noticed that I had not responded. Janet
That's all right, my dear Janet. We do lots of things each day and sometimes, we tend to forget a few things here and there.
I have uploaded an article describing the various things in life. It is a marvellous compilation, so many facts packed into one little booklet. Perhaps you may find it interesting to read it word by word. I am mentioning it to you because it is so beautifully written and if we can follow [or at least be aware of] some or all of them, then our lives can be more lively.
Jianhua too has to visit this place, if he has not done earlier. It is in my homepage. Click on to 'friendpages'. Then in that site, click to 'Articles' and then click to open 'The Enrichment of Life'. You can even take a print.
Dinu,Janet,
Your comments on children education are straight to the target.Currently our school has come to the last phase of the semester --- general review and final-tests.And then we will have a month's winter vacation.
So right now I am busy arranging the review materials(including two sets of simulated tests) for the students.
Here, the exam season is in sight. Come March, it is a pretty hectic season with all of the kids engaged in studies, preparing for the exams. It will be followed by the 'summer vacation'. In February, there will be 'preparatory exams' at the class level.
The weather here has already started to soar upwards. Winter, it could be said, is over. The day and night is pleasant, though. It's 30C to 20C. Humidity is as always, low.
I've enjoyed "listening in" on this thread Dinu & Jianhua. Lots of words of wisdom spoken.
I'm still here, but have been very busy w/several projects. Dinu, I have not had time to read your compilaltion, but will get to soon I hope. We are starting to have a break in the winter doldrums with sunny afternoons in upper 50's and low 60's. The ground is good to work if composted, but still cold and hard if unamended. The weeds are absolutely thriving after all the rain we had earlier in the month. Jianhua and Dinu. . .have a very pleasant week. . .Hope to post something more in a few days. This is one bed in a large garden that keeps me quite busy. Will post some other photos in days to come. Have to go to work now.
Thanks justmelisa and jcangemi. Are they Acalyphas? That's a wild guess. The greens are pretty! In the absence of a digicam, I can't post pictures at my whims but have to wait for the film roll to end. My garden is a bit dry now, as many plants take time off for the winter and 'go slow'. And also, my spare time is at a premium. Whatever time is available, I hurry through the threads and get back to work.
I came across this quoe last week, and somehow it seems appropriate to post it here.
As ever, the children are the canaries in our coal mines.
And by that, I do not mean the children die to warn us... I mean the children demonstrate where our society places value.
It has finally commenced.On arrival of the 20-day-long spring festival vacation,I packed my luggage and took the long distance bus with sleepers back home to meet my family.The downy white snow welcame my returning with their softly silent fleece.The time which belongs to me really makes me merrily gay.I have not any further plans for this vacation,just sharing pillows with my DW and besides reading some readings.
Dinu. . .there are 7 kinds of lettuce and a Radicchio growing in the bed and 'Carouby de Maussane' snap peas in the rear of the bed. I harvested a bunch of lettuce and had a wonderful salad for dinner this evening.
Jianhua . . .what a beautiful description of your welcome home. One must have time to nourish the body and soul. . . . a respite from the mundane matters, which we all must attend to. May you return refreshed and reinvigorated, with sufficient pleasant memories to lighten the work load for a time. My husband and I enjoy similar 'very quiet' respites. . .just reading, walking for hours on the beach, visiting gardens, and nothing else, unless we choose it. Unfortunately, those do not occur nearly often enough!
Do you remember this?
I do not know much about geography,
I do not know much about biology.
but I do know I love you,
and how wonderful i would be
if you loved me too.
heheheheh this song is really a picturesque descripation for some of my students.
Their aimly at persuiting uptopianism and material stimulation sometimes are beyond our teachers'
imagination.During the latest final examination,
some students who hate learning their textbook lessons got so upside that they tried to cheat in the examination through cellphone,but in the end they got punished fairly.
Long before the spring fesival vacation started,they had not been able to help jumping over to the days.there is a everlasting convention that children will get 'yashuiqian'(allowances) from their elders and relatives when they pay their respects and kowtow to them.A student of mine told me that last year's spring festival he earned netly and totally 5000 RMB's YSQ.
Boys are boys.
Interesting, reading that kids will be kids world wide. Some how I see that as reason to hope. Perhaps they can work it all out or is it that we always hope for that from each new generation. Enjoying your thread, thought I'd say so. ~Blooms
It rained here early this week for two days. In other parts of our state, far off, hailstorms occured - at a place where it is nearly unknown. The 'spring flowering' trees are in bloom, not profusely. The farmers say this rain will be no good to the yeild. The mango trees had their blooms and the tender flowers would fall in the rain, thus affecting the yeild and the growers' income, drastically. This Sunday's paper carried an article mentioning the effects and the causation of the climate change all over the world. Even the tsunami had a role, besides El Nino, in this. Pollution has been the major cause - smoke emitted from trillions of vehicles across the world. Britain is noticing the change in patterns too. Where is the world heading to?
compared with the previous years' weather,this year's winter is extremely cold and wet.Though,according to the Chinese Calendar,spring has returned ,yet a heavy snow has just visited my region,and the whole world are coated with white downy blanket.It isn't so bad,is it?behold,gangs of kids gather in the open air play snowball fighting,with the ginger- redded fingers and smoking puff.There is an old saying here which goes like this'heavy snow in early spring promises good and bump harvest in the coming year.'(in one more day we celebrate this year's chinese new year aka spring festival).By the eve,we will sit before the TCV watching CCTV's Spring Festival Gala(china central television station).and wait for the coming of the new year.
Happy New Year, Jianhua. It makes sense to start a new year in the spring. Never thought on it before.
Snow in Nanjing this time of year??? Aren't you in the south of China? A bit unusual isn't it? Interesting weather we are ALL having this year. ~Blooms
Happy New Year, Jianhua.
This morning it was cold compared to that of the past week. Pretty chilly. The temp. was betn 31-21C. The minimum would drop a few deg. more in tomorrow's report. A few mornings will be like this before it gives way to the summer months.
Happy Chinese Lunar New Year to you too.
The 2005 Chinese lunar year is the animal year of rooster,which resembles in this year a person will achieve great success in his career and business.
I am now at home with my DW and DS on holiday.
Since i was back at home I have met two heavy snowfalls.It is really a bit unusual in my region at this time of early spring.in the previous years of this time I remembered that my wintersweets and winter jasmines have been in full blossom,but not this year.And I observed that the whole ground is covered with snow,which makes a thick and warm blanket for the wheat seedlings in the fields.
Thanks, Jianhua. Ugadi - Hindu New Year falls on April 2.
http://www.bangaloreit.com/html/aboutbng/festivals.htm Scroll down for Ugadi.
http://www.indiatastes.com/festivals/ugadi/festival.shtml
http://www.indiavisitinformation.com/indian-culture/indian-festival/Ugadi-in-india.shtml