WHEN TO CHANGE YOUR DOCTOR?
Posted by Sangeeta on Oct 28, 2008
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Quoted below is a very interesting article I came across in Delhi’s Mail Today newspaper dated October 7, 2008.
QUOTE
You can’t bet on the doctor’s ability- you visit a doctor because he is considered an expert. If you often feel uneasy about his recommendations, this is an indication that you don’t trust him. In such an instance, it is less likely that you will follow his treatment, so it’s probably better to find another one.
Doctor forgets you- if you have visited the doctor several times and he is unable to recall either your visits or your condition, he is of no use. If he doesn’t listen to you either, he is not paying attention to you. What he recommends might not help your condition at all.
Questions are not welcome- you pay a doctor to provide you answer to your health problems. Does your doctor brush aside your questions and tell you that you just need to trust him when you want to know about the treatment options? Many doctors discourage questions. If this is your doctor’s reaction, let him go. Find another who responds to your queries.
Doctor is not forthcoming- are all the diagnostic test results shared with you? Do you know why a test is being ordered or why a specific treatment plan has been chosen over another? You need to be informed about which test is advised for the diagnosis which disease. If you are not, you don’t need this doctor.
Doctor is unsympathetic- if your doctor does not give you a patient ear and is abrupt when you are explaining the problems that arise because of your condition, he is unsympathetic. Even if he has heard the same things several times from other patients, there is no excuse to be insensitive to your condition.
Your doctor clinic is too far away- it can be stressful and inconvenient to drive a long distance to see a doctor, especially if your health problems add to the discomfort. Even if your doctor is famous, switch to one closer by.
UNQUOTE
NURSERY RHYMES…… what’s the meaning behind? (V)
Posted by Sangeeta on Oct 15, 2008
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Here comes the concluding part.
QUOTE
Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry;
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away.
There is a sinister undertone to this. One possible candidate for Georgie Porgie was the Prince Regent George IV. Immensely fat (Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie), his corset wearing was the source of constant ridicule and satirical cartoons.
George had a reputation for lechery and his love life involved mistresses, illegitimate children and even bigamy. He had a wife, Caroline of Brunswick, whom he detested and a mistress, Maria Anne Fitzherbert (a Roman Catholic commoner whom he couldn’t marry- and he managed to make both women miserable (Kissed the girls…)
His physical and emotional cowardice was legendary. In the story of the most infamous prize-fight of the day, when a contestant died of his injuries, George was present, but when the fighter died, the Prince- terrified of being implicated- ran away (When the boys came out to play, Georgie Porgie ran away).
UNQUOTE
NURSERY RHYMES…… what’s the meaning behind? (IV)
Posted by Sangeeta on Oct 11, 2008
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Here comes the fourth one.
QUOTE
Sing a song of sixpence,
a pocket full of rye;
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened,
The birds began to sing;
Oh, wasn’t that a dainty
Dish to set before a king?
The king was in his
Counting house counting
Out his money.
The maid was in the
Garden hanging out the
Clothes. When down came
A blackbird and pecked off
Her nose.
There are a number of stories about this rhyme, but the most favorite one is of a pirate called Blackbeard (1680-1718) who operated around the Caribbean. Several nations had put a price on his head and, as a result, he kept a low profile when recruiting new crew. Thus Sing a Song of Sixpence was a coded message relating to the decent wage on offer.
He also offered the seamen a pocket full of rye whiskey- a leather pouch holding about a litre of grog which would have been a big incentive. Blackbeard lured target vessels close by pretending his own was in distress.
Little did the sailors realize that 24 of his finest pirates would be lying in wait (Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie) when they came to help. When they drew alongside, Blackbeard’s men would spring into action, usually with fearsome screams and shouts (When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing).
‘The king was in his counting house counting out his money’ obviously refers to the pirate king himself. A slang word for desirable ships, laden with treasure, was ‘maid’, while the waters around the Caribbean were referred to as ‘the garden’- hence ‘the maid was in the garden’.
‘When came down a blackbird and pecked off her nose’ probably refers to Blackbeard’s men - his ‘birds’ - who were always ready to attack a ship to ‘peck off her nose’ (to grab all the treasure).
UNQUOTE
NURSERY RHYMES…… what’s the meaning behind? (III)
Posted by Sangeeta on Oct 5, 2008
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Here comes the third one.
QUOTE
Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To fetch a pail Of water;
Jack fell down
And broke his
Crown,
And Jill came
Tumbling after.
Taken at face value, the rhyme doesn’t make sense. Why do Jack and Jill go up the hill to fetch water?
Water generally, runs downhill; so perhaps, it’s a cover story for something else.
A small village in Somerset has laid claim to the origin of the rhyme. The story told in Kilmersdon is that during 1697, the village was home to a young unmarried couple who did a lot of their courting up on a hill, away from the prying eyes of the local gossips.
Consequently, Jill became pregnant but just before the baby was born, Jack was killed by a rock that fell off the hill and landed on his head. Only days later, Jill also died in childbirth.
It’s a cheery rhyme. The rhyme is today depicted on a series of tablet stones along the path to the hill.
UNQUOTE
NURSERY RHYMES…… what’s the meaning behind? (II)
Posted by Sangeeta on Oct 2, 2008
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Here comes the second one.
QUOTE
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
The real Humpty Dumpty was not a person but a powerful cannon used by Royalist forces during the English Civil War of 1642 to 1651. Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle led the King’s men and overpowered the parliament stronghold of Colchester early i 1648. They grimly held on while the Parliamentarians, led by Thomas Fairfax, encircled and besieged the town.
The supporters of Charles I almost won the day- all thanks to his doughtiest defender, Humpty Dumpty. In pole position, as it were, on top of the Church tower of St Mary-at-the-Walls (Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall) their gunners managed to blast away the attacking Roundhead troops for 11 weeks.
Eventually, though, the top of the church tower was blown away, sending Humpty Dumpty crashing to the ground, where it buried itself in deep marshland (Humpty Dumpty had a great fall). The king’s cavalry (the horses) and the infantry (the men) hurried to retrieve the cannon but they could not put Humpty together again- and without their weapon of mass destruction they were soon overrun by Fairfax and his soldiers.
UNQUOTE
NURSERY RHYMES…… what’s the meaning behind? (I)
Posted by Sangeeta on Sep 27, 2008
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Again, while disposing off the newspapers, this interesting article came across which I will publish in 5 parts. This article, as a whole, was published in Mail Today (Delhi Edition), Sunday, August 17, 2008.
QUOTE
Baa Baa Black Sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
Three bags full;
One for the master,
One for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.
The final of this rhyme until 1765 went like this: ‘And none for the little boy who cries down the lane’. It is thought it was changed to more pleasant to young ears. But the original version is at the heart of the meaning of the rhyme, which, unsurprisingly enough is all about sheep.
Sheep have always been important to the rural economy, and by 1260, some flocks consisted of as many as 8000 animals, tended by a dozen full time shepherds. When Edward I returned from the Crusades in 1272, he imposed new taxes on wool to fund his military campaigns.
It was this wool tax that is said to be the basis of this rhyme. One-third of the price of each sack must go to the King (the master); one-third to the Church or the Monasteries (the dame); and none to the actual shepherd (the little boy who cries down the lane).
Rather than being a gentle song about sharing things out fairly, it is a bitter reflection on how brutal life was for the working classes those days.
UNQUOTE
6 WAYS FOR WOMEN TO COPE WITH SEXUAL HARASSMENT at Workplace
Posted by Sangeeta on Sep 20, 2008
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(1) When you feel that a male colleague or your boss is trying to pass nasty comments at you or is trying to behave nastily with you, strike back; not by shouting at him or crying but sternly telling him that he should watch his steps and if he continue in saying so or behaving so, you will take actions against him.
(2) Sometimes you will find that male colleagues try to share harmless adult jokes with everyone; they do not have any mal-intentions behind telling such jokes. If you are present there, do not unnecessarily get touchy listening to it; if you don’t like hear such jokes, simply ignore them and go away from there.
(3) The moment you feel that you are being targeted for sexual harassment by a male colleague, talk to a colleague (who is also your friend) who, you feel, will be able to understand your problem and help you out and whenever that male colleague comes anywhere near you, call out for your friend in a loud voice.
(4) Sometimes, these people who love to harass women sexually in the office and derive sadistic pleasure from it, will try to ask for some nasty favours from you in return of offering higher salary, promotions, gifts, etc. to you. If you accept these favours, you are seriously in for trouble. Do not fall prey to all these; try to maintain your dignity.
(5) If you have been harassed for long and finally have gathered the courage to speak out, immediately rush to your company’s Human Resource Department or the Sexual Harassment Prevention Cell and complain. If need be, take the help of law.
(6) If the harassment still persists and it becomes difficult for you to work in that office day by day, then the only thing you can do is to look out for another job without any delay.
THE REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN ENGLISH LITERATURE – Part II (conclusion)
Posted by Sangeeta on Sep 8, 2008
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………….continued from Part I.
(b) Dramas portrayed women and if we take Greek dramas into account, they supply most of the great roles for women and yet it is also true that the birth place of the tragic heroine is Greek tragedy. Women in Greek tragedies are the victims of their own fate; they are not the shapers of their own destiny.
Shakespeare’s heroines such as Portia, Rosalind and Cleopatra too pave their own way and keep up their self-esteem. But the question which arises again and again in one’s mind is ‘Why did Rosalind and Portia require male disguise to do whatever they did’? It again brings female subordination to the fore.
In the 19th Century, Ibsen & Brecht supported the movement for liberation of women, presented women with their problems on stage and tried to sort it out.
(c) Novels also encompass versatile masterpieces of women characters. Jane Austen’s novels examine the position of women limited only in the sphere of institution of marriage. The main motive of marriage for women was to get monetary support as there were very few opportunities otherwise.
Maggie Tulliver’s portrayal in ‘The Mill on the Floss’ confirms the denial of rights of Victorian women. In spite of her being more talented than Tom, she is denied the kind of education she deserves.
In Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’, while Marlow narrates the story, we never hear the intended’s name. She remains in the stereotypically convenient mould of ‘she’. She is no more than a pale head moving in the dusk.
D H Lawrence raises the same question in ‘Sons & Lovers’ when Miriam says to Paul, “I want to do something. I want a chance like anybody else. Why should I, because I am a girl, be kept at home and not allowed to be anything. What chance do I have?”
To conclude, although certain pieces of literature present women as ‘the second sex’, yet at the same time, certain other works take women to a higher pedestal. The literature itself shows women’s caliber that they have the determination to rise up despite all obstacles as it is clear from Mary Wollstonecroft’s words in ‘Vindication of Rights of Women’, when she says, “I view with indignation the mistaken notions that enslave my sex.”
THE REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN ENGLISH LITERATURE – Part I
Posted by Sangeeta on Sep 3, 2008
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This article is being published in two parts.
The strong notion about a man’s supremacy over a woman is not a recent discovery but this mindset has been prevalent through ages. Poetry, novels, plays, short stories and most of the genres portray women of various dispositions but the common point in most of the cases is that they have a position inferior to that of men. Their arena, is most cases, is domestic and they exist at the periphery of the society. They are portrayed as good wives and above all, good mothers - ‘good’ in this case meaning the demonstration of self-denial, passivity and resignation.
The more the passivity, the better she appears to the society. They have little power to exercise their choice over their lifestyles. Most of them are brought up with the idea that their main role in life is to serve man.
But exceptions are also there. There are other shades of women too in literature as certain writers moved ahead of their times and presented certain independent women, who tried to take charge of their lives themselves and lead it in their own way.
(a) POETRY incorporated women and conveyed various attitudes as sometimes it praises their physical beauty and sometimes on the contrary, restores their identity and presents the biased psyche towards them. Chaucer’s ‘Wife of Bath’ portrays Alison — a fictional character and a challenge to the received ideas about women because she is the embodiment and living exponent of all that the male clerical writers almost feared.
In telling that women are not only beautiful, mysterious and spiritual but also incapable of a voice and agency, the Renaissance poets contributed to their oppression. Spenser in ‘Epithalamion’ had made his bride immortal but one may wonder whether he has made her truly live.
During Neoclassicism, the poets such as Pope, highlighted the coquettish nature of women and their vain desires. Belinda in the “Rape of the Lock” is the closest type of coquette through Pope does not positively assert what she is. The sylphs seem chiefly to suggest Belinda’s vanity and vacant brain. But at the same time, he uses another female character, Clarissa, to give the moral of the poem. Clarissa seems to be the only character with a brain, as she says ‘Frail beauty must decay’. She alone understands the importance of good humour and merit. Thus, in the same poem, we find two different representations of women.
Certain poems in the 19th Century relocated women from the margin to the center. As Elizabeth B. Browning in ‘Aurora Leigh’ calls woman neither angel or evil who is visualized outside the male order. Emily Dickinson, Christina Rossetti and Stevie Smith also tried to subvert patriarchal norms by voicing female issues.
During the Modern Period, even the male poets realized the women’s plight and wrote for them as Yeats’ ‘Leda & the Swan’ questions the pertinency of the rape of Leda without her knowledge.
ARTICLES – On Parenting, Teenagers – A RECAP
Posted by Sangeeta on Aug 31, 2008
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The following are a recap of some of the interesting articles on ‘Parenting, Teenagers’ already published by me.
Happy reading!
(i) Teenagers : Not Headaches!
(iii) Mobile Phones : Carry To School?
(iv) Sibling Fights : How To Handle?
(vi) Hobbies To Be Encouraged In a Child
(vii) Children & Respect
(viii) Teenagers & Driving
(ix) Teenagers : Shy & Lonely?
(xi) 10 Ways As To How You Will Want To Bring Up Your Children
(xii) 10 Reasons Why a Child Feels Stressed Up And Becomes Obstinate And Aggressive
(xiii) Teenagers - Know What Is ‘no’ For You
(xiv) Teenagers - Know What Is ‘yes’ For You
(xv) Effects of Criticism On a Child
(xvi) 9 Reasons Why Parents Avoid Parent-Teacher Meetings
(xvii) 8 Steps To Be Followed By Parents For Parent-Teacher Meetings
(xviii) 7 Steps Not To Be Followed By Parents For Parent-Teacher Meetings
(xix) 17 Aspects Of How To Be a Good Mother
(xx) 7 Symptoms For Exam Stress In Children
