Our Day 5
Language Focus
Improve Your Word Power
My Word Bank
Today’s deposits and withdrawals
Adjectives and adverbs
- Good- (Adjective) (Good- better -best)
- Good= i. of high quality or an acceptable standard
- Shanthinikethan is a good school.
- Every child should get good food.
- The grade x results are pretty good.
- The washing machine was in good condition until last year.
- Your English is very good.
- Good = ii. Pleasant; that you enjoy or want
- Did you have a good time in Maldives?
- It's good to see you again.
- This is very good news.
- Let's hope we have good weather tomorrow.
- It's a good thing you came early.
Well – (Adjective)
Well= in good health (Well is not usually used before noun])
- I don't feel very well. (I am not very well.)
- Are you well enough to travel?
- How are you? I’m very well.
- It seems that all is not well at our university.
>> Well (Adverb) Well-in a good, right or acceptable way
- The kids all behaved well.
- The conference was very well organized.
- Well done! (= expressing admiration for what somebody has done)
- His election campaign is going well.
- Cats and dogs make very good pets if treated well(= with kindness).
- People speak well of Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. (= speak with approval of).
- She took it very well (= did not react too badly), all things considered.
>> actually / in fact (adverbs)
Q: Could you please tell me the difference between “actually” and “in fact”? Is there any difference between them?
A: They are all very similar, but there are also slight differences in use.
Both “actually” and “in fact” can be used to modify or contradict a previous statement:
e.g. actually- used in speaking to emphasize a fact or a comment, or that something is really true
- What did she actually say?
- It's not actually raining now.
- That's the only reason I'm actually leaving my native village.
- What did the U.S. President actually say?
>> In fact
- In fact- used to give extra details about something that has just been mentioned
- I used to live in Chennai; in fact, not far from where you're working.
- Q: Has she cleared the entrance test? Yes, she has; in fact she is now preparing to take her finals.
- In fact- used to emphasize a statement, especially one that is the opposite of what has just been mentioned
- I thought learning English would be difficult. In actual fact, it's very easy.
Day -5
Module-1
The Gifts of Life
(A one act play)
Prologue
Hello, everybody welcome to our One Act Play
The Gifts Our Life Offers
Life offers gifts in abundance.
THE EXCELLENT GRAB THEM WHILE THE AVERAGE MISS THEM.
Now is Right Time to unwrap the Gift Boxes our life offers.
Make the most of them.
Live every moment in its fullness.
Please stage the play with friends and family members.
Unlock the potential within.
Once there lived a king. He loved his people so dearly that he wanted them get the best gifts of life and enjoy every moment in its fullness. So he called the wise men of his court and told them to go round the globe, visit libraries, do research, interact with the sages of other countries and return with the magic formula of getting the best gifts this life can offer.
Afterwards what happened?
What did the wise men do?
Were they able to work out the gift formula?
Was the formula acceptable to the king and his people?
Please watch the play for answers.
Scene 1
The king meets the wise men.
Venue: King’s court
(The wise men enter the king’s court, salute the king and greet him. The king receives them and explains the purpose of the meeting.)
Wise men: Namaste maharaj! Long live your mejesty!
King: Welcome. We sent for you to discuss the gift formula to help our people enjoy life in its fullness. I love my people. In fact they are very lazy. They never work efficiently on their own. But I want to help them live happily. So I want to give them the magic formula of happiness as a token of my love. You are the wise men chosen to help our people. You can go round the globe. You can visit any number of libraries. You can do research and interact with the sages of other countries. But you must get me the magic happiness formula.
Wise men: Thank you, your majesty. We need some time to work out the formula.
King: We grant you ten years.
Wise men: Thank you, your majesty. We leave by order. We return with the gift formula of happiness.
Scene 2
(Ten years pass. The wise men return with an encyclopedia of the gift formula of happiness in ten volumes and place them on the table. They wait for the king’s arrival. The king arrives. Let us see what happens.)
King: Welcome wise men. Hope you have brought forth the gift formula of happiness. Where is that formula? I can’t wait any longer. I must hand over the formula to my people and help them live and enjoy every moment in its fullness.
A wise man: We submit our finding here. We visited libraries, consulted scholars and did a lot of research to work out the gift formula of happiness.
King: Where is that formula? Don’t make me wait. Give me the formula.
A wise man: These volumes contain the gift formula, your majesty.
King: Good heavens! How could our lazy subjects read this encyclopedic philosophy of happiness? They can neither read nor listen to your philosophy. So abridge your books. Make them easy to understand.
Wise man: Your majesty! That would be a difficult task. To accomplish it we need another ten years.
King: We grant you ten years. Make the most of the time and bring me the magic formula in as few words as possible to help our people understand it and make the most of it.
Wise man: Your majesty, we obey your orders. We shall return with the abridged version of the gift formula in another ten years.
King: May God bless you and fill you with enough wisdom.
(The wise men leave with their books.)
Scene – 3
(The wise men return with just one book and place it on the king’s table. The king arrives and what happens next we shall watch.)
King: Hello sages! I very much appreciate your wisdom and admire you for the hard work. But you must understand our people are not readers, nor are they hard workers. They are lazy. But my love for them blinds me to the truth. I want to give the magic formula in a few words. Brevity is the soul of wit, isn’t it? So make your formula easy enough for our people to understand without much effort.
Wise men: We understand your good intentions maharaj. We shall bring you the shortest version of the gift formula. But we need another ten years.
King: You may have your own time. Make sure when you return after ten years you bring me the magic formula in a nut shell. Do you understand what I mean?
Wise men: By your order, your majesty.
(The wise men leave the court)
Scene – 4
(The wise men have become very old and tired. They cannot work any longer. So this time they come with an envelope, place it on the king’s table and leave the court before the king arrives for fear of another ten years of work. The king arrives, looks around for the wise men. The king yells in anger as the wise men are not to be seen there.)
King: Who is there? Where are the wise men? Where is the magic formula? How dare they leave my court without my order?
Courtier: Your majesty! The wise men came early in the morning hours. They looked very old and tired. They have gone very grey. They are thin and weak and have very and grey eyes. Actually it’s not wise to make them wait here. So we have admitted them to your Royal Home for the nonagenarians.
King: Well done. But where is the magic formula?
Courtier: Here you are, my Lord! They have left the magic formula on your table.
King: Ah! I have got the magic formula. I can help my people live a happy life.
(The king takes the envelope, opens it, reads it and remains silent.)
The content of the letter
Nothing is free in the world.
Nothing is free in the world.
Nothing is free in the world.
Nothing is free in the world.
Agree? Disagree? Partially agree? Comments please
If you agree to the statement what should be the price for happiness?
Why does the king remain silent after reading the message the wise men had left on the table?
Can you guess the magic formula, the one that helps us live happily? I hope so.
Please explain the magic formula of happiness with appropriate examples.
Why Developing Countries Remain Poor?
It may be easy to answer the question by saying that the developing countries are poor because they are poor. The question again is why so? The main reason is population explosion. Whatever progress made by this category of countries is effectively counterbalanced by an ever increasing population. It is like a typical family. If the number of children is more than four and the daily or monthly income moderately increases, the typical family will have problems in later years to make ends meet. It won’t have a scope of savings and its financial difficulties will keep multiplying. Similarly a country, having to take care of over a billion people, will always find itself scuffing for cash. Even if it makes significant progress in mopping up revenues, expenses would outpace those. The result is low or no savings. Such countries are usually forced to apply for loans from international banks and financial institutions. After having got the funds, the recipient developing countries would find it difficult to repay or debt-service as undertaken by them.
Another aspect that typifies a developing country is its grossly inadequate sanitation and hygiene. The consequence of this is outbreak of diseases and at times epidemics. The main reason for this serious shortcoming is meager allocation of funds and resources for up-keep of the country. It is like a Domino Effect. One bad occurrence will trigger off a chain of several reverses.
In this context, it might be appropriate to invoke China, the emerging super power (or, already one?) Before 1975, China was lagging behind India in all walks of life. Its Per Capita income was nearly half of India’s. Undaunted, China was in search of the main reason why it was lagging behind several countries of the world, including India. It figured out that rapid population growth rate had prevented it from making real progress and lift its population out of poverty and squalor. After considerable deliberations, China promulgated an ordinance that ordered each Chinese couple not to bear more than one child. The one-child policy made the people wary. It is customary for any couple anywhere to have two children, at least: one heir, one spare. But the Chinese were abruptly deprived of that small luxury. They were disallowed to have more than one child. If anyone broke the rule, he would lose the government provided benefits like subsidized food ration, health care, bank loan, etc. Gradually, the Chinese people started complying with the strict one-child policy. The population slowly stabilized and eased the pressure that had built on the nation. In about 10-15 years, China made giant strides in major areas like industry and infrastructure. This made China a favorable location for world factories. It attracted billions and billions of foreign direct investments. Soon, the Chinese per capita income and purchasing power leapfrogged. The world started looking at China with awe. As religions had been banned long since, Chinese had a lot of time at their disposal, unlike many other countries, which wasted time on glorifying imaginary gods and fighting wars on religious lines.
If other developing countries want to grow rapidly and shed the “developing country” tag, they can very well replicate what China did to defeat the odds and forge ahead to write a success story.
To be honest, the Chinese experience is no panacea. It may not work in other places. But it is worth trying to eradicate poverty, penury, ill-health, illiteracy, superstitions, and lack of cleanliness prevalent in developing countries. A confident big push might do the trick!
J. Vensuslaus
