OUR attitude towards whatever work we doshould be positive and involved. Ethics inattitude and choice means to work sincerelywith diligence which automatically producesthe best results. Let me narrate a story about
a carpenter which is so relevant in this context.An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his
employer contractor of his plan to retire, leave the housebuilding business and live a more leisurely life with hiswife, enjoying his extended family. He would miss theregular pay cheque, but he needed to retire. The con-tractor was sorryto see his goodworker go andasked if he couldbuild just onemore house as apersonal favour.
The carpenter said yes, but in timeof actual execution, it was seen thathis heart was not inhis work. He resort-ed to shoddy work-manship and usedinferior materials. Itwas an unfortunateway to end a dedi-cated career. Whenthe carpenter fin-ished his work, theemployer came toinspect the house.He handed the frontdoor key to the car-penter and said:“This is your house...my gift to you!”
The carpenter wasshocked, what a
THE ASSAM TRIBUNEGUWAHATI, SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2012
Page 3
tapeTALK Devajit Chayengia
ELECTRO CLASSICAL, BY BICKRAM GHOSH
TOP percussionist Bickram Ghosh from Bengal comesout with his latest offering ti-tled Electro Classical which in-troduces a brand new soundthat combines the soulfulnessof Indian classical and the ex-citement of electronica. Thealbum brings in an added elec-tric element while retainingthe thrilling percussive energy
of Bickram's highly successful Rhythmscape. ElectroClassical marks a true fusion of versatility and a brightnew sound. While the new age electric avatars of sitar,veena, sarod, mandolin or guitar form the mainstay ofthe melody, classical vocals, drums and keyboards alongwith a variety of acoustic instruments, loops andBickram's tabla kit add to the excitement.
ALVIDA... THE LAST JOURNEY, TRIBUTE TO JAGJIT SINGH
JAGJIT' Jagmohan' Singh is easily one of the defini-tive names in Indian ghazalsinging, having entertainedghazal lovers for over four dec-ades. His soulful ghazals finda new meaning in his velvetyvoice and it's these qualitiesthat made many later-dayghazal lovers fall for the genreitself. His demise last year wasan immense loss to the Indianmusic scene and in a fittingreaction the music labels linedup compilation albums to pay tribute to the ‘Ghazal King'.This 2-CD, 26-track is one such initiative offering hismoody ghazals. The line-up reads like - Koi fariyaad, Aisiaankein nahin dekhin (with Asha Bhosle), Dard kaisa bhiho, Inteha aaj ishq ki kardi, Jawab jinka nahin, Terebaare mein jab socha nahin tha, Tere aane ki jab khabarmehke, Teri berukhi, Yeh jo zindagi ki kitaab hai, Aainasaamne rakhoge to yaad, Kuchh khona kuchh paana,Din dooba tum yaad aaye, Mujhe hosh nahin, In ashqonko, etc. It's food for you soul!
SUFI PASSION, COMPILATION
BEHIND Sufi music's enduring appeal is the genre'smelodic attempt to bring theheart closer to God. In thisgenre, the idiom of romanceis used to express one's in-tense longing for the Al-mighty. Here the act of sing-ing actually a passionate questfor God and the process trans-ports both the audience and
the singer to a trance-like ecstasy. This exalted state isgenuinely attained in case of music by original Sufi mas-ters like Late Nusrat Fateh Saab and Abida Parveen. Thefollowing 10 tracks (in 2 CDs) highlights this very ele-ment of passion - Shahbaaz qalandar & Beh haadh ramzadhasdha - Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan; Ek nuqta yaar & Sadhewehre - Abida Parveen; Ya Sahib Ul Jamal & Sakal banphool - The Sabri Brothers; Manum khak e sarey &Allah ho ya Rehman - Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali; Meraishq vee toon & Ghum charkariya ghum - Pathaney Khan.This one takes you on an ecstatic musical trip!
Courtesy: Planet M
“Why does Harry always follows Tom and Dick?”“What do you mean?”“I mean why do we say ‘Tom, Dick and Harry’, but not
‘Harry, Dick and Tom’ or Dick, Tom and Harry’?”“Good question. Isn’t it interesting that some words or
names always follow others?”“Yes, they do...”“You know, there are sets of two or three words
used like this. We can call them ‘binomials’ and‘trinomials’ respectively.”
“Binomials and trinomials...?”“Yes, they are set phrases containing
two or three words usually joined by‘and’. Like your ‘Tom, Dick and Harry’,we have trinomials such as ‘tall, dark andhandsome’, ‘man, wife and child’, ‘mind,body and soul’, ‘lock, stock and barrel’,‘liberty, equality and...”
“...Fraternity?”“Yes, fraternity. Then you have the binomials or set
phrases of two words such as ‘ladies and gentleman’, ‘upand down’, ‘cat and mouse’, ‘knife and fork’, ‘now andthen’, ‘back and forth’, ‘time and tide’...”
“Oh, there are so many!”“Yes, you have many more... why don’t you try some?”“Well, binomials... ‘bag and baggage’?”“Right, ‘bag and baggage’, then?”
“‘Day and night’, ‘part and parcel’, ‘hard and fast’...”“And ‘wear and tear’, ‘pins and needles’, ‘all and
sundry’, ‘vim and vigour’...”“OK... yes.”“You know, ‘vim and vigour’ can be a trinomial too
— ‘vim, vigour and vitality’.”“Well, doesn’t it mean healthy and energetic...”
“Yes, when you want to mean thatsomebody if full of energy and enthusiasmthen you may use them.”
“I see... Well, by the way, do you knowany house for rent in this locality?”
“Umm... for you?”“No, for my cousin... He was told to
vacate his house with bag and baggage.”“It’s bag and baggage; not ‘with bag
and baggage’. And I’ve heard about his landlord... he’ssuch a miser!”
“Yes, every Tom, Dick and Harry knows abouthim...!”
From Bibhash Dev Nath, Class IX, Modern English
School, Rangia:1. ‘Azure’ is a term in English which means ‘blue like
the sky’.2. ‘Zombie’ is a dead body which is revived and
controlled by witchcraft.
Note: Readers can contribute anecdotes, funny quotations, puns or word play, and interesting bits of informationabout the English language to MYE. Send contributions to: ‘Mind Your English’, Horizon, The Assam Tribune,Chandmari, Guwahati-781003 or to: [email protected]. Contribute via SMS to: 9435055497.
Know theWORDDevol Nath
TAKE a look at the ten words listed below andmatch the ones in column A with those incolumn B to see whether you have a great
vocabulary.
A B1. Party-coloured a) Fasten2. Rapine b) Careless3. Raddled c) Motley4. Innuendo d) Ravaging5. Do up e) Dependence6. Bauble f) Inexpedient7. Slapdash g) Insinuation8. Vassalage h) Oppressive9. Onerous i) Knick-knack10.Impolitic j) Haggard
ANSWERS
SCORES: All correct: Superior, Eight correct: Good,Six correct: Average
AB1.Party-colouredc)Motley2.Rapined)Ravaging3.Raddledj)Haggard4.Innuendog)Insinuation5.Do upa)Fasten6.Baublei)Knick-knack7.Slapdashb)Careless8.Vassalagee)Dependence9.Oneroush)Oppressive10.Impoliticf)Inexpedient
Protim Sharma
shame, what a shame. If he had only known he wasbuilding his own house, he would have done it all differ-ently.
As you sow, so you reap. It is a popular saying. Itreflects the attitude of mind. If we do not put the best ofour effort, at the end when we realize that we are at thereceiving end, it is already late and we cannot go back.With a shock, we realize that we have to live in thehouse we have built. If we could do it over we do itdifferently, but we cannot go back. The attitude andchoices one makes today, will build the ‘house’.
You live in to-morrow. There-fore, build it wise-ly. Life is a do ityourself project.Every day we build
our own house. So, build it wisely,you are going to live in it.
So, here are the lessons on atti-tude!
Doing: It givesyou the feeling ofsuccess and happi-ness.
Improving: Itputs you on the roadof self satisfaction.
Excelling: If youaim for excellence,you achieve it.
Enjoying: It isthe fruit of yourgood work, efforts.
Life is a continu-ous process of learn-ing and upgradingyour knowledge andskill.
VENOM is a poisonous fluidsecreted by certain animalsand is injected into prey oraggressors by biting orstinging. These fluids are a
cocktail of toxins, mostly proteina-cious is nature. Luckily the part ofthe world we live in does not harboura broad diversity of venomous crea-tures. Certainly bees, wasps and antscan produce venomous sting or bitebut are rarely fatal and thus do notprovoke alarm. But the one we areabout to discuss here is the one whichis literally the synonym to the wordvenom in India — the snakes.
This venom is produced in smallsacs called venom glands present inthe posterior part of their upper jaw.When a snake is excited or feelsthreatened, it lets lose this venomwhich travels from the gland to thefangs via venom ducts. Fangs are ac-tually just the enlarged teeth. A typ-ical fang is hollow from inside,through which venom runs out whenan injection is made. Venom that en-ters in human body generally acts infour ways.
Neurotoxins: This type of ven-om attacks the nervous system and isthe most lethal form of venom as itacts very rapidly. People may die inless than an hour of bite.
Myotoxins: This type of venomacts on our muscle cells by digestingthem often leading to heart and kid-ney failure.
Haemotoxins: Such venom actson blood cells. This type of venommay form blood clots inside the bodyleading to heart failure. Also they mayhave a reciprocal action where theymay cause the blood clotting mecha-nism to fail which leads to severebleeding and haemorrhage.
Cytotoxins: Such venom eatsaway the cells and tissues at the siteof bite which goes on extending withthe spread of venom. This type ofvenom results in necrosis, often lead-ing to amputation of organs.
Globally, there is no accurate dataon the number of occurrence of snakebite, envenomation or even deathresulting from snake bite. Studies sug-
Pranab Kumar Barua
Copyleft: Opposite of copyright. Whereas copy-right imposes restrictions on the distribution ofa work or publication, copyleft eliminates re-strictions and allows freedom of use for all.
New
in
Engl
ish
Attitude plus
Jayaditya Purkayastha
Fangfacts
gest that the degree of envenoma-tion and death globally per year maybe as high as 8.1 million and 94,000respectively, with most cases beingin South Asia, Southeast Asia andsub-Saharan Africa. India being anagrarian society, workers are regular-ly exposed to the hazards of snakebite as their work demands that theyvisit snake-infested areas.
The World Health Organizationregards snake bite as a neglected trop-ical disease. No well organized man-agement and treatment procedureexists in the Indian subcontinent. Themode of treatment mostly practisedis the traditional healing methodwhich results in considerable delayto facilitate proper medication. Evenmost health giving centres in thecountry are unprepared to deal witha snake bite case. The only availableantidote is the polyvalent snake an-tivenom (PSA) which is not alwaysguaranteed to deliver the desired re-sult. The PSA is a cocktail of an-
tivenom made to deal with the en-venomation mainly caused by thefour species of snakes often termedthe ‘Big Four’, namely, spectacledcobra (Naja naja), common krait(Bungarus caeruleus), Russell’s viper(Daboia russelii) and saw-scaled vi-per (Echis carinatus). The PSA hasalso been shown to cause anaphy-laxis.
The venom compo-sition of a snake var-ies according to preyspecies and geogra-phy. The northeastern part of Indiais unique in terms of its biogeogra-phy so also are its snake inhabitants.It too has its fair share of venomoussnakes. Unfortunately, this field ofscience is wanting in this region wherealmost no study is done on snakevenom composition.
In Assam most of the snakes weencounter are non-venomous. Gen-erally speaking, we need to watch outfor the snakes with hood (cobra, king
cobra), snakes with yellow and blackstripes running across the body length(kraits) and green snakes with broadheads (green pit vipers).
Care to be taken to reduce snakebite incidences
House should be kept clear ofhiding places of snakes. Snakesgenerally tend to move towardshuman settlements in search of
food. Thus, itis important tokeep the housefree of rodents
as they are one of the impor-tant food for snakes. Livestockshould not be kept inside the houseas they encourage the visit ofsnakes.
Avoid sleeping on the floorand use mosquito nets whilesleeping.
Avoid walking barefoot atnight. Use torches and other sourc-es of illumination while going outafter dark.
Avoid contact with snakes, evena dead snake.
Ideally farmers should wear bootsbut practically it is not possible. Thus,while working in the field, carefulnessis the key. Snakes generally avoidplaces where people gather and takerefuge in places where hay and grass-es or such other materials are piled.These piles should be handled withextra caution.
Things to remember during a snakebite
Be rational in approach whiledealing with a snake bite, be a victimor the rescuer.
If possible, try to identify thesnake, because if it is venomous thecourse of treatment will depend onits identity. If the snake inflicting thebite is killed on site, this can bebought to health centre to get an ideaon its identity. Nowadays, almost allthe mobile phones come with an in-built camera, so a picture of the biteinflicting snake can also serve thepurpose.
In case of a venomous bite timeis of essence, so no time should bewasted in traditional heal-ing practices as they arealmost always inef-fective in case of ven-omous bite. The vic-tim should be sent to
hospital as soon as possible. Victim should be made com-
fortable to reduce stress and tensionthat lead to quicker spread of ven-om through the body. Vict imsshould be made immobile as muchas possible so as to reduce thespread of venom.
Remove tight clothing, shoes,watch or rings because in case ofswelling these may act as liability andeven aid necrosis. But remember thatwhile doing so the victim should notfeel stress and movement of bodypart of the victim should be restrictedas much as possible.
Do not give the victim anythingto eat or drink as that may aid ven-om circulation and also present withthe risk of choking.
Avoid tourniquet as many snakesof the region, mostly the vipers pro-duce a bite which causes local dam-age. Thus, tourniqueting will restrictthe flow of blood along with venom.More venom concentration in a par-ticular area may result in rapid necro-sis which may even lead to amputa-tion of that organ.
Cutting of bite site should beavoided, as many snakes have ven-om that has the property to fail bloodclotting mechanisms. In such cases acut may aggravate the loss of blood.
The most important thing to re-member is that, the only antidote ofan envenomation is antivenin.
Pressure immobilization technique(Snake bite first aid for bite fromsnake with neurotoxins (elapidsnakes, e.g. cobras, kraits): Tie abandage (if no bandage available, use
a strip of cloth) from the bite siteupwards. The wrapping shouldnot be very tight (wrap shouldbe loose enough so that an in-dex finger can be accommodat-ed inside the wrapping). Move-ment by the victim should beavoided. Limbs should be immo-bilized by applying a splint on the
side and wrapping the bandagearound it. Sling should be used inaddition to a splint in case of bite tothe forelimb.
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