An Old Love Letter

There are times in life when all words are useless. I find myself in one such situation where all words, including the ones I am writing now, are useless. Utterly, completely, pathetically, totally. Yet this friend, if nothing else of yours, writes what he can and he wonders why.

You have some ideas and concepts about me, many of which are contradictory in themselves as you yourself said once. I will not attempt to clarify any of them.

You have some genuine and some unfounded fears. I will not try to allay any of them either.

You heart is very well "insulated". Nothing aimed there too.

You don't want to talk as you feel that even that will cause problems. I will not ask you to talk.

Now you feel we are not even similar remotely, what to talk of same. So our life together is guaranteed to be rocky. No comments here too. Good you think about so many things.

So, my dear, do you feel you have taken a decision you are going to regret, getting into a doomed relationship? Keep your answers, I am not looking for them either.

When it all started, I did not know how to react, what to say. It is still the same. But I am calm, collected. Cool as ice. Freezingly. And it just gets colder every day.

I could talk to you about faith, love and fear. Why bother with the "lecture"?

I could tell you how much I like you but that you already know.

From point of view of fear no guarantees are strong enough. If you cannot talk to me, even my utility as a friend is zero.

You cannot see my eyes, you cannot feel my hand in yours and you cannot feel my presence. Would that make any difference? I hope.

I can just tell you that somewhere, somehow what you do hurts. Just this much that I was always right being defensive and being straight about it.

The only way we learn to love is by loving. People talk of love as l-u-c-k. I believe we all earn our l-u-c-k, if that is important for us.

My faith takes me ahead. I see it as a rough patch that will subside. Your handling does hurt but that's OK. So be it.

Take your time: think, judge, sleep, decide. Do whatever. But remember that love cannot endure indifference. It is said that it needs to be wanted. Like a lamp, it needs to be fed out of the oil of another's heart, or its flame burns low. And dies one day sadly to never rise again. If you still feel so sure that our lives together are doomed, it is still not too late. Why live with bitterness?

I am a lover. I believe we are all born for love. It is the principle existence and it's only end. If there is no love in life, life is useless. Even if you are on page3.

My liking, my talents, my experience, my sincerity etc. (cutting short before you say ego talking) seems to not matter at all. You still have to learn to live "we" like me... Who is this girl to Orion.. She is a girl with spirit and intelligence. She is a girl who wants to grow in life ,has strong roots and a tender heart. She is beautiful and her eyes tell all the stories you would ever want to listen. She is the girl I would love to spend my life with, loving her. But what does she want? Can she take it, digest it that someone can love somebody tenderly with all their heart on an innocent faith?

See, even when words are useless and there is nothing to write, I can still write an epic. Hope didn't hurt you more. I bleed if you cut me, told you so..

love

S

Rigid Planning or Flexible Time Management?

"Some people believe that the best approach to effective time management is to make detailed daily and long-term plans and then to adhere to them. However, this highly structured approach to work is counterproductive. Time management needs to be flexible so that employees can respond to unexpected problems as they arise."

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion expressed above. Support your point of view with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Effective time management demands both discipline and flexibility. Moving ahead without a plan is like moving with a blindfold through a minefield. Detailed daily and long term plans provide a guideline to adhere to and enable successful execution of projects. If this was not true, corporate planning processes like Six-Sigma and CMM would not have been so successful. When dealing with a large workforce, a detailed plan is necessary to enforce standards across the whole company.

However there is a small pitfall. Rigid, detailed plans that do not take into account risks of change can stifle creativity and prove to be counter-productive. Nothing is certain. The only certainty is change. A detailed planning can serve as a roadmap, a guiding beacon. However on the field it may become necessary to take deviations due to changing circumstances. It is akin to having a map of an area and actually exploring the area; the difference between reading about swimming and actually swimming. A detailed planning can help a person to face problems in a better way,but he should be flexible enough to deviate from the original plan to accommodate unexpected changes if a need arises for the same. 

Keeping this in mind, modern corporate planning is goal-driven and takes into account the possible risks involved.  Individuals and companies are able to plan successfully by using their vast experience in dealing with similar kind of problems. They lay down concrete guidelines but do not try to micro-manage events as the nature of life and circumstances is dynamic. Elaborate planning helps in using previous experience and handling a project efficiently. Maintaining flexibility at the execution level helps in tackling unexpected changes successfully. 

Concluding, I agree with the need for a detailed planning but I don't agree with being inflexible about its execution. Planning gets better with experience and ideally a company can reach a stage where it can afford to have rigid plans. Practically it is almost impossible to plan for every event; so having a flexible time management is crucial to handle unexpected changes successfully.

Comparing Medicines

The following appeared in an article in a consumer-products magazine:

"Two of today’s best-selling brands of full-strength prescription medication for the relief of excess stomach acid, Acid-Ease and Pepticaid, are now available in milder nonprescription forms. Doctors have written 76 million more prescriptions for full-strength Acid-Ease than for full-strength Pepticaid. So people who need an effective but milder nonprescription medication for the relief of excess stomach acid should choose Acid-Ease."

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

The argument cites the fact that Acid-Ease was prescribed by a higher number of doctors to the convince the reader about Acid-Ease being effective but milder. I think that it is neither a clear nor a well-connected reasoning.

The reasoning does not clarify the condition of the people who took the prescriptions. Depending on that one can deduce which of the two prescriptions is actually milder. Since both are best-selling brands, there must be some value proposition in both of them. If more people with acute condition were prescribed Acid-Ease, it would mean that Acute-Acid is strong and Pepticaid is milder. The vice-versa is also true. This scenario would mean two different drugs for two different purposes.

However if the medicines have been prescribed for similar patient conditions, Acid-Ease has a definite edge. Such a data would point at the popularity of Acid-Ease with doctors and clearly demonstrates their faith in its effectiveness against the ailment. Still by no stretch of imagination it can be called mild in such a scenario and will be seen as strong and effective. So the writer's contention that it is mild is counter-intuitive.  

Concluding, at best one can agree that Acid-Ease is more effective but it is not possible to say for sure if it is mild or not. Hence the reasoning above is not convincing as it leaves a lot to imagination and seems to convey conflicting conclusions.

Public Buildings and Societies

"Public buildings reveal much about the attitudes and values of the society that builds them. Today’s new schools, courthouses, airports, and libraries, for example, reflect the attitudes and values of today’s society."

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

All artistic manifestations carry the attitudes and values of the society they were built in. This happens because they are influenced by the science, culture and ethics of the society.  Architecture is a part of this noble family. 

Sampling any part of the whole can give a fair idea about the underlying causes. If it was not so then marketing surveys would not have worked. So the reasoning above is partly true.  However I do not agree with the logic of confining the sampling to public buildings only. To me that would indicate the attitude of the Government or the ruling class rather than the whole society. To get a complete picture both public and private buildings need to be considered.

However none should doubt the power to understand a society by looking at its buildings. Looking at the Sistine Chapel one can easily deduce that it was built in a religious and creative society.  One look at a primitive building in an Amish village is enough to deduce their refusal to accept anything modern. Seeing huge glass skyscrapers in hot tropical countries shows the enormous western cultural influence. Preservation and glorification of all traditional buildings in Europe indicates the pride that the society takes in its history. Standing before the Pyramids is enough to convince anybody of the strength of purpose of the Egyptian civilization. So on and so forth, it is not too hard to see. One does not even need to be an expert to see it. Simply by looking at the public buildings one can get a good idea about the attitudes and values of the society. The point to note is that there is nothing to differentiate between the buildings commissioned by kings, governments or rich individuals.

Concluding I agree with the stated opinion to some extent. The opinion glorifies a small sample, public buildings, from the vast sea of arts and applied arts. Even if the opinion took into account architecture as a whole I could have agreed with it. The reasoning is in the right direction but is not comprehensive.

Demographics and Job Opportunities

 The following appeared as part of an article in the education section of a Waymarsh city newspaper:

"Throughout the last two decades, those who earned graduate degrees found it very difficult to get jobs teaching their academic specialties at the college level. Those with graduate degrees from Waymarsh University had an especially hard time finding such jobs. But better times are coming in the next decade for all academic job seekers, including those from Waymarsh. Demographic trends indicate that an increasing number of people will be reaching college age over the next 10 years; consequently, we can expect that the job market will improve dramatically for people seeking college-level teaching positions in their fields."

Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.

In essence the reasoning seeks to establish a link between the increase in number of people reaching college over the next 10 years to the rise in number of teaching positions and ,hence, to better employment prospects for Waymarsh graduates. The reasoning is a bit far-fetched to say the least.

The writer concedes that throughout the last two decades it has been very difficult for graduates, especially Waymarsh graduates, to get a teaching job in their fields. The reasoning does  not attempt to find a cause behind such statistics. There can be a variety of reasons behind it: the concerned subjects may not be in demand, teaching may need higher or additional qualification or the teaching infrastructure may not be growing due to government's negligence, lack of demand for education or no change in number of college going students. The fact that it is more difficult for Waymarsh graduates may indicate that either the education standards in Waymarsh need to rise or their placement cell is not doing its work properly.

Second part of reasoning can hold some of its ground if the problem is indeed only unchanging number of college going students. Ultimately an increase in their number may push the demand for expanding existing institutions or creating new ones. This in turn can improve the job market significantly. Even if this is indeed the case, it does not absolve Waymarsh of its poor placement record. Since it is already very difficult to get a job for everybody, even if more jobs are available they are likely to be cornered by graduates from better institutes. For Waymarsh graduates getting a job may at best turn from near impossible to difficult which is not a very huge consolation. 

Concluding the reasoning is not very well thought of and fails to make a detailed analysis of the situation. Even in the best case scenario the picture painted is far-fetched and much more rosier than ground realities.

The Need to Check Underage Access to Adult Material

"Nations should cooperate to develop regulations that limit children’s access to adult material on the Internet."*

*The Internet is a worldwide computer network.

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

I completely agree with the above opinion.

The Internet revolution is an information revolution. Not only does it allow fast dissemination of knowledge, it also adds wheels to the speed of research, data mining and data analytics. However this revolution does not come without its pitfalls. One of the biggest problem faced by Internet is that there are very few, if any, controls or means of knowing the correct age of people accessing this vast storehouse of data. The question becomes especially pertinent due to indiscriminate  proliferation of pornography and other adult material on the Internet. 

Instead of a systematic sex-education youngsters get exposed to a debilitating world of fanciful lust. This can not just pervert and disturb the young minds, it can also lead to youngsters believing in unproved sexual myths and falling prey to manipulative paedophiles. If there are no punitive measures against websites that do not do any effort to check the age of people visiting their website, this will not stop. It will not help if only one nation takes these measures unilaterally as the problem is not limited to any one country. On the other end of the chain parents need to be made aware of this threat and held accountable to keep a check on their ward. A lot of underage access can be easily cut down by using filters or child locks. Only the Government has the means of enforcing such legislations.

Shakespeare said that the child is the father of man. Protecting our children is a duty that we cannot disown and hence it is extremely important for all nations to develop regulations that limit children's access to adult material. Only such a combined and resolute effort can deter proliferators of pornography and force parents to monitor the progress of their underage wards.