The Perfect Boss

                                                             The Perfect Boss. 

There were about 70 scientists working on a very hectic project. All of them were really frustrated due to the pressure of work and the demands of their boss but everyone was loyal to him and did not think of quitting the job.

One day, one scientist came to his boss and told him - Sir, I have promised to my children that I will take them to the exhibition going on in our township. So I want to leave the office at 5 30 pm.

His boss replied "OK, You're permitted to leave the office early today"

The Scientist started working. He continued his work after lunch. As usual he got involved to such an extent that he looked at his watch when he felt he was close to completion. The time was 8.30 PM. suddenly, he remembered of the promise he had given to his children.

He looked for his boss, he was not there. Having told him in the morning itself, he closed everything and left for home.  Deep within himself, he was feeling guilty for having disappointed his children. He reached home. Children were not there. His wife alone was sitting in the hall and reading magazines.

The situation was explosive; any talk would boomerang on him. His wife asked him "Would you like to have coffee or shall I straight away serve dinner if you are hungry.

The man replied "If you would like to have coffee, i too will have but what about Children?”

Wife replied "You don't know?? Your manager came here at 5.15 PM and has taken the children to the exhibition”

What had really happened was ... The boss who granted him permission was observing him working seriously at 5.00 PM. He thought to himself, this person will not leave the work, but if he has promised his children they should enjoy the visit to exhibition. So he took the lead in taking them to exhibition

The boss does not have to do it every time. But once it is done, loyalty is established.

That is why all the scientists at Thumba continued to work under their boss eventhough the stress was tremendous. By the way , can you hazard a guess as to who the boss was..?

He was none other than Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India . . .

Compendium on “Elegy written in a country church Yard “of Thomas Grey

Compendium on “Elegy written in a country church Yard “of Thomas Grey

A review of English Literature

Suyampirakasam, Madurai

Thomas Grey, the author of this poem, has drawn the attention of the readers to the beautiful and calm atmosphere of the countryside, as contrasted with the ugly and feverish society. He is one of the poets of the century, who turned his face away from the themes that were commonly dealt with by others. He directed his attention to the people of the countryside. He stressed that the poor people, who lived in villages, had many virtues, unknown to the city dwellers.

The theme of this poem is in tune with Gray`s life and his character. He was shy and reserved by nature. He did not desire to push himself forward. He was unknown to fame and fortune. His life was spent mostly in the quiet atmosphere of the countryside. When he was offered the poet-laureate award, he politely refused .He took up his residence at Cambridge and paid frequent visits to Stock-Poges, where his mother and aunt were living. He was content with paying his tributes to the short simple annals of the poor, among whom he lived. It was in the midst of the simple and poor that he was buried. His body was laid by the side of his mother in the Church yard at Stock-Poges, which forms the background for this Elegy.

An elegy is a poem written in memory of a person that is dead. Poems of this type have been written from the classical times of the great Greek and Latin writers. There are certain conventions for this type of poems. However, Thomas Grey has not followed these conventions. In fact, elegy is written in memory of any individual person, though, Grey had taken up his composition seriously after the death of his aunt at Stock-Poges. Throughout this poem, he dealt with the life of the poor people of countryside and how their virtues and good deeds had escaped the attention of the world. This poem had brought Grey in to limelight and the impression made by the poem can be understood from the fact that the General Wolfe, who captured Quebec in Canada quoted the famous lines “The paths of glory lead to the grave” on the eve of his action.

Gray starts off by building up the gloomy, desolate atmosphere of a countryside evening, when the entire world has wound its weary way homeward, then, having painted in the background, turns his attention to the foreground, and the row of narrow graves in which "the rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep". He then reflects a while on the pastoral life, before introducing the poem's main theme - the inevitable tragedy of lives wasted, of potential crushed by Chill Penury, and then winding down with a reflection on a particular grave (that is his own) and its epitaph.

There is a tone of sincere melancholy throughout. He started composing the verses of this poem by bringing before his mind`s eyes the Churchyard at Stock-Poges. The poem begins with the description of the Church Yard at Stock-Poges towards sunset. He alone stands by the side of the graveyards. The curfew or the evening bell warning the people to retire to rest has tolled. The farmer is returning home after his day`s work. It is dark all around and the air itself is silent in a solemn manner without any breeze. The cattle are going homeward and none is to be seen except the poet standing by the side off the graveyards. The whole atmosphere is serene. Nothing is heard except the hooting of the owl and the drowning sound of the beetle and tinkling of the bells of the herd in distant folds in the village. Even those noises are feeble, showing that the beetle and Cattle are tired. There is indeed one sound which is not “drowsy”. It is the hooting of the moping Owl that complains to the moon of such as wandering near her secret bower and destroy her ancient solitary reign. The hooting of Owl adds to the gloom, since it appears to be complaining about persons that go near her lonely living place. There is no companion for the poet at that time except darkness. In such an atmosphere, the poet is found by himself by the side of the church yard. The melancholy atmosphere is suited to the poem.

“Save that, from yonder ivy-mantled tower,

The moping owl does to the moon complain

Of such as, wandering near her secret bower,

Molest her ancient solitary reign.”

The poem opens with a death-bell sounding, a knell. The lowing of cattle, the droning of a beetle in flight, the tinkling of sheep-bells, and the owl's hooting, mourn the passing of a day, described metaphorically as if it were a person, and then suitably the narrator's eye shifts to a human graveyard. From creatures that wind, plod, wheel, and wander, he looks on still, silent heaps and on turf under a moonlit tower where “The rude forefathers” sleep in a "lowly bed." Gray makes his sunset a truly human death-knell. No morning bird-song, evening family life, or farming duties will wake, welcome, or occupy them. They have fallen literally under the sickle, the ploughshare, and the axe that they once wielded. They once tilled glebe land, fields owned by the church, but now lie under another church property, the parish graveyard.

The poet proceeds to think about the simple and poor persons who are buried in this grave yard. He is pained to think that they do not live any more. While they live, they used to wake up early in the morning, roused by the early morning breeze, the song of the swallow, the crowning of the cock and the sound of the horns of the hunters. Their wives kept the fire burning for them and worked hard. When they used to return from their work in the evening, their children would run up to them, lisping their names and eager to have their kisses first. They used to harvest the corn, plough the furrow, drive their team of oxen to the field and cut wood with strong axes. All these activities have come to an end for them now. No such happy event would happen any more.

The poet turns the other side and compares the activities of the rich. It is likely that they would treat with contempt the short and simple history of the poor. Grey asks them not to be proud of themselves because they were ambitious and had achievements to their credit. Despite all their richness, pomp and power and rank, all persons are to die one day. Death closes all. Grey tells them not to be proud of their big monuments over their graves and the poor had no such things. The poet laments that it is not the mistakes of the poor that they did not have any such monuments over their grave yards. All monuments built in their honour and words spoken in their praise after their death can not make them come back to life. Death levels every one and there are no distinctions in the grave yard.

The poet adds that the neglected poor need not be inferior to rich. Some of them might have had poetic genius, other musical talents and a few others would have ability to rule nations. But, they would not have had the opportunity of education to develop their capacity in these areas. Poverty might have prevented them from coming up. Their talents might have remained unknown like gems under ocean and the flowers blossomed in desert. Grey admits that there are points in their remaining unpopular to the world. Otherwise, they would have also committed crimes like murder or telling lies or flattering others, like those rich and pomp. Their lives were smooth because they lived away from the fretful world.

The very thought about the poor who remained unpopular but honest makes the poet to think about himself. He pictures what will happen when he himself is dead. He feels that just as he remembers the unhonoured dead, others, like him, will remember him. One of them might have seen the poet wandering in the lawns of Stock-Poges. He used to be up early in order to appreciate the beauty of the sunrise. He used to lie under a beech tree at noon and be looking at a brook. He used to roam about, smiling to him or muttering ideas which occurred to him. Some times he is gloomy or full of care. The old peasant might have seen him on such occasions and then misled him when he died. He would have moved to pity when the poet was being taken to the grave. Grey thus identifies himself completely with the unknown people of the countryside who are now buried in this graveyard.

The poet anticipates his death and burial in the same churchyard, when an unlettered rustic youth might pay him a similar tribute of praise.

The poet concludes his poem by informing what is to be written as epitaph in his monument. He describes himself fully. He mentions that how he was quite an unknown person and did not earn any name or fame. He was by nature gloomy. But he had a kind heart and was sincere. He was sympathetic towards those who suffered. Hence he is sure that God would have sympathy for himself. Accordingly, he pleads for mercy and peace for his soul in the bosom of God .His epitaph would read as under.

            “Here rests his head upon the lap of earth,

                A youth to fortune and to fame unknown;

               Fair science frowned not on his humble birth,

               And melancholy marked him for her own.”

            “Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere;

               Heaven did recompense as largely send:

               He gave to misery (all he had) a tear,

               He gained from Heaven ('twas all he wished) a friend.”

Tears start sneezing for readers who read the Elegy of Thomas Grey, as melancholy permeates the whole atmosphere and the poem is a masterpiece in English Literature.

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Chief Executive-a pathfinder and Decision maker for his Corporate

     

Chief Executive-a pathfinder and Decision maker for his Corporate

Executive effectiveness

S.Suyampirakasam, Madurai

 The chief Executive is the captain of a team of players. As the game proceeds-favourably or unfavourably- tactics have to be deployed and preconceived strategies modified to overcome the competition and achieve the goal. There has to be total trust and confidence between the captain and his team mates and the ability to work with determination. The captain has to understand each individual as regard to their strength and weakness.

 Kenichi Ohmae, the well known management consultant says “Corporate performance is the result of combining planning and execution. It resembles a boat race. No matter how hard each crew member rows, if the coxswain does not choose the right direction, the crew can never hope to win. Conversely, even if the coxswain is a perfect navigator, you can not win the race, unless the rowers drive hard in unison”. Hence, the task of the management team members is to optimize the organizational effectiveness of the corporate resources. The key factors are positive performance and coordinated effort pursuant to a strategic plan.

 The Chief Executive plays many roles. He has to foster a sprit of achievement, be a guide, philosopher and a sensitive human being from time to time and according to the needs of the situation. He has to be perceptive of the attitudes of the executive personnel. Executives, who “pass the buck” to others and their such decision-making would see the suffering of their working results .It is their responsibility to ensure that organizational growth continues, based on a management which practices action oriented polices.

 

It is a great advantage for the chief executive and his management team to have grown with the organization over the years. A feel good factor for the business development-that is the sixth sense of not only recognizing something as an opportunity to avail of it. Acceptability and credibility is facilitated and his colleagues are more likely to respond positively.

 

The ability to inspire confidence in the customers, the shareholders, the banks, the business principals and foreign collaborators, the employees and trade unions and finally the government, is indeed valuable. It is a result of continued efforts and proven performance.

 There has to be recognition that change is an ongoing process, a continuing phenomenon. The management which foresees changing developments through strategic planning methods is more likely to be successful than the one which prefers the “Wait and watch” policy. A bias for action is needed-not the conservatism that leads to inaction.

 Most executive chiefs are reported to lead by example. They model the behavior and actions they would like to see throughout their organizations and their behaviors are consistent with their beliefs, values and principles. They also challenge the systems or the status quo of their organizations. They are seen as being willing to take risks, experiment and innovate to find new and better ways of doing things. The other reported major leadership practice is encouraging high performance. Executives are reported to accomplish this by recognizing individual contributions and linking performance and rewards. They are reported to become personally involved in acknowledging individual and group accomplishments.

 The chief Executive must drive himself and his team with a lot of concerted efforts in order to make the organization achieve challenging targets and difficult tasks. An urgent need is to breakdown negative, over-conservative attitudes at the top and senior management level. The spirit of experimentation, risk-taking and enterprise is a vital strength.

 Beyond being a skilled communicator, the chief executive should be able to speak to their employees as regard to the work of the organization in powerful and inspiring terms that would motivate command, inspire and instill confidence in their minds, that would automatically increase their productivity; as a result, both top line and bottom line of their organization would improve over a period of time.

  

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The Desered Village

“The Deserted Village”-Oliver Goldsmith’s melancholy description of his village “Auburn”

Macaulay’s comments on Oliver Goldsmith include among others, that he has produced a Village, something which never was and never will be seen in any part of the world. This is true to those who happens to read his famous poem “The Deserted Village”

In his poem, Goldsmith gives us a fascinating account of his sweet village Auburn. It is a matter of controversy whether such a village really exists. It is believed that Goldsmith might have remembered Lissoy, a pretty Irish village, where he had spent his youthful years and idealized it in his imagination. The poet presents us with two interesting contrasted pictures; a description of Auburn, the loveliest village of the plain and then how the village lost its glory on account of inroad of luxury and wealth.

The village once teemed with life, now, presents a melancholy and deserted appearance

It was the days when spring came early to the village and blessed it with flowers. Summer lingered long with its many fragrant bloosoms.The cottage nestling among trees, the well cultivated farm, the stream that never ran dry, the busy mill and the beautiful church crowning the hill were among the familiar and lovely sights of the village.

There were seats provided under the hawthorn bush, where generous old people used to sit and chatter away and lovers reposed, whispering sweet nothings. On holidays, the entire village would indulge in merry making. Sweet sound would fill the air. The pauses in the nightingale’s song would be filled with the watch dog’s bark, the shouts of merry children, the laughter of peasants, and the cackle of geese, the lowing of cattle, the milkmaid’s song and the swain’s loving response. Luxury and wealth were unknown to them. They were simple, happy and contented.

Vice was unknown to the people of the village. Their best companions were innocence and health and their best riches, ignorance of wealth. The only luxury that they ever permitted was gathering at the inn to drink ale, and discuss news older than the wine. The whole atmosphere permeates with unbounded gaiety. Seated at the inn and sipping his glass of ale, each villager felt as proud as a king.

The village School master used to school in a small house in the village. The school was a noisy place; indeed, the master knew how to control the boys. Students know how the behaviour the school master would be on the particular day, judging from the look on his face. He had a stock of seasoned jokes with which he used to regale the boys. The boys would laugh uproariously with counterfeited glee, when he repeated his jokes. If the school master is too severe, the fault had to be ascribed to his inordinate love of learning.

In contrast to this picture, the poet presents the state of desolation and melancholy, when he revisits his village after a long absence. The entire village is deserted. All the familiar figures have vanished from there. Even the foot paths are overgrown with grass. There is no one to tell the story of its desolation except the poor old lady, who makes a precarious living by gathering water cresses. The entire village is in the grip of one master, who does not care even to cultivate it properly. The people, who once made the village so beautiful and pleasant, have gone away to distant colonies to face untold adventures and earn a living, in spite of the greatest odds.

Thus we could see the Poet as an extraordinarily lovable character. We see him here in all the pathos of his life. His sufferings have lent a sweetness and grandeur to his personality. His infinite love for humanity enshrines him in the hearts of all readers. No one can read through the poem, without knowing the author and loving him.

Goldsmith concludes his poem with the following lines

To me more dear, congenial to my heart

One native charm, than all the gloss of art

The poet laments at length the passing away of the simple joys of nature. Rich people may be inclined to treat with contempt these simple joys of poor. No doubt, the poor man’s pleasures have something crude and unsophisticated about them. The poet feels that any day the simple and natural joys of the poor are more wholesome and agreeable than all artificial polish of the pleasures enjoyed in high life. His mind and heart are in tune with only simple, unsophisticated joys of the poor.

Abstract of Oliver Goldsmith’s poem “The Deserted Village”

By S.Suyampirakasam

Green Environment

Sustainable Development

Article by:

S.Suyampirakasam, Madurai

01.Economic growth has been considered as one of the parameters for measuring the performance of a Nation. A Nation endeavors to achieve the growth by harnessing all resources available in their possession. In the process, all resources are getting depleted without replenishment, making it impossible for the future generations to have the required economic growth for them. Though there is economic progress there, which is essential for the nation, the development thus achieved cannot be sustained, as the resources are getting depleted .A lot steam has been generated on this subject and a global level discussions are going on and a lot of strategies have been formulated how to make the economic development a sustainable one.

02.Economic Growth and depletion of resources.

A Nation puts its resources for development to achieve its economic growth in terms of GDP.Such a growth is achieved through technological advancement in areas such as agriculture, power, infrstructure facilities such as Road, Sea and Air transport, manufacturing of Textile, leather products, urbanization of forests etc.

The efforts of the government did result in economic growth in terms of agriculture and Industrial outputs, besides improving the per Capita income of the people. While the development of nation deserves a lot appreciation, it is a matter of concern that the technological advancement results in the form of environmental degradation such as pollution of water and Air, deforestation and the resultant scanty rain fall, pesticides causing innumerable heath hazards to people, emmision of gases causing global warming and so much so on.

03.Envirnmental Degradation

It refers to the diminishment of local eco system or the biosphere as a whole due to human activity. It occurs when nature’s resources such as trees, habitat, earth, water and air are being consumed faster than nature can replenish them and in such circumstances, unsustainable situation occurs. Alternatively, it is a state of level at which human activity is to be kept at minimum level so that nature’s resources can be replenished naturally. This concept is called as sustainable Development. The following are some of the environmental degradation, we often encounter in India.

i) Cities like Tirupur, Coimbatore and Erode in Tamilnadu, which registered a good growth in Industrial output suffered on account of acute pollution of land, air and water by the discharge of untreated effluents in to the waste lands and river beds, that comes from dyeing factories and tanneries.

ii) Green House gas emissions resulting in increase of global mean temperature and consequent global warming

iii) Depletion of ozone in stratosphere resulting in allowing infrared rays to pass through to affect the mankind.

iv) Recent evidence indicates that current atmospheric cabon –di- oxside concentrations are high compared with the levels over the last million years. This has caused global warming resulting in raising sea levels by about 2 Cm per decade and the rate is expected to rise with increasing atmospheric concentration of Carbon di oxside.

v) Agriculture models suggest that climatic warming will tend to reduce agriculture productivity in tropical countries.

vi) There are indications that of changing oceanic circulation patterns, notably in the North Atlantic Gulf Stream, which could lead to disruptive climate change

04.Causes and Effects of Environmental Degradation

It has been found by United Nations that intensified and unsustainable demand for land, water marine, and coastal resources resulting from the expansion of agriculture and uncontrolled urbanization lead to increased degradation of natural ecosystems and erode life supporting systems that uphold human civilization. Caring for natural resources and promoting their sustainable use is an essential response of world community to ensure its own survival and well-being.

05.Concept of Sustainable development.

From the discussions as above, we shall proceed to explain what exactly the term “Sustainable Development” means. It is a process of developing land, cities, business and communities to meet out the needs of the people or nation, without compromising on the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Alternatively, it means a process that should overcome environmental degradation, but at the same time not to forego the needs of economic development. In short, it should be a sustainable development.

In the year 1987,United Nations have given a serious thought to the development of nations accompanied be environmental degradation in their repot called “Brundtland Repot”.

In the recently held World Summit of 2005,UN refers to Economic and Social developments coupled with Environment protection as three pillars of sustainable Development. The meet suggests that a suitable sustainable Development strategy be developed with an objective to enable all people throughout the world to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a better quality of life, without compromising on the quality of life of future generations.

Sustainable development, in terms of nature’s ability to replenish, can be classified as under.

S.No	Consumption of renewable sources	State of environment	Sustainability
01.	More than nature’s ability to replenish	Environmental degradation	Not Sustainable
02.	Equal to Nature’s ability to replenish	Environmental degradation	Sustainable growth
03.	Less than Nature’s ability to replenish	Environmental renewal	Sustainable growth

A few countries have introduced the principle of sustainable development in to their laws. By and large, all countries realized the importance of Sustainable development, which is devoid of environmental degradation and initiated appropriate strategies to enable their people to lead a healthy life, without destroying the environment and without endangering the future welfare of people and the planet.

It has been observed that there is considerable progress in reducing air pollution and ozone depletion because governments, businesses and government organizations have taken these changes seriously.

We do have still problems where we need to address more: we need reliable and clean energy for industrial and economic development and the problem of climate change can be addressed by enforcing effective pollution control measures for vehicles. In fact, the world is gradually shifting to cleaner forms of energy but traditional biomass is widely used in the household sector of some developing countries.

The phase out of leaded petrol is a global success story. However, air pollution and sulphur- di -oxside emissions remain high in many developing countries. Similarly, the transport sector has seen substantial growth in green house emissions from international aviation. in developed countries.

06.Strategies for Sustainable Development.

Brundtland Report defined Sustainable Development as” development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. That is the strategy demands a long-term perspective about the consequences of today’s activities. It goes beyond economic aspects to include environmental and social concerns in formulating all types of policies. At the same time, global cooperation also is required to achieve sustainable economic, environmental and social conditions worldwide.

But putting this concept in to practice is not so simple as perceived. It needs a methodological approach to align the economic, environmental and social pillars of sustainable development in decision-making. This is also followed by their efforts in forecasting the future costs and the benefits arising there from on account of actions taken today.

07.Role of subsidies in developing countries.

Social policy of a nation includes, among others, subsidy, a powerful government support,extended to a section of people. This often causes environmental and social distortions with unintended consequences. While fuel tax rebates can encourage overuse of fossil fuels and emissions, agriculture subsidies can lead to overuse of pesticides and fertilizers.

During 1998- 99,the OECD looked at the costs and benefits of subsidies.

Thus, for example, adjusting subsidies for water can help to reduce water use; but removing subsidies for waste water collection and treatment may mean more harm to the environment.

A workshop in 2005 discussed integrated assessments examining the economic, environmental and social costs and benefits of subsidy reform at both national and international levels. The ecological impacts of subsidies in terms of over use of resources and higher emissions easily spill over to the global sphere. Socially, these supports can redistribute income across the regions and countries, with adverse effects on overall living standards and livelihoods.

Countries tend to have different concepts and measures of sustainable development because of their different attributes, industrial structure, political and social environment and other variables. A country with marine wealth is likely to see a sustainable level on fish stocks and marine pollution levels as vital for sustainable development. However, a land locked country neighbor will be far more interested in the level of nutrients in the soil or perhaps air pollution.

Thus, it is imperative that a sustainable development can be achieved in a country; taking in to account the economic resources available there and how best these resources can be utilized for the people without environmental degradation. A general awareness is to be created in the minds of the people by making known to them the hazardous effects of pollution, caused on account of depletion of resources that cannot be replenished by nature.

08.Many people have criticized that the term “Sustainable Development” is an oxymoron. They claimed that economic growth and continued depletion of resources cannot be sustainable, since the term implies resources remain constant. For example, resources such as petroleum are consumed much faster than they are created by natural process and are continually being depleted. It means that there is a trade off between economic growth and depletion of resources. However, technologies such as renewable energy, recycling and the provision of services can, if carried out appropriately, provide for growth in the economic sense either without the use of limited resources or by using a relatively small amount of resources with a small impact. Even here, the small use of resources may be unsustainable, if continued indefinitely.

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