Educational Aspiration of Primary School Child Essay

The topic Educational aspirations of rural India deals with studying the aspirations of the rural children and trying to focus on the various factors that affect the aspirations of the children in some way or the other. Five of us had gone to five different states in India with the aim of studying the aspirations of the rural children of that region and then trying to find out the factors that really contribute towards them. The reason for selecting this particular topic was that we were given a choice of our own to explore any field we want. We were all interested in knowing more about the rural youths and their aspirations. To try to know what is the difference between the kids from a rural India and since we some of us had lived and had our education in rural India we wanted to go back and explore the changes that have come in the society if any. Our curiousness towards the education system and to know where the future of India sees itself made us choose this topic. Initially we all were thinking individually on the topic but once we knew about our similar interest, we tried coming up with a topic in the field that excites us all and finally we chose this topic. Also one more reason for choosing this topic was that few of us were going to really backward states and some of us were going to the states with the best educational services. So in a way we were getting the opportunity to study across states and come up with our findings of the reasons of particular aspirations in particular regions and how these are affected in different societies. The topic in our view holds quite an importance in today’s time as learning about the primary kids of the rural India gives us a glimpse into what the future might hold in for them and also for the nation. Since children of today are the future of tomorrow so knowing their aspirations, factors affecting them can certainly help in making changes that can lead the society and the nation towards a better future. The five of us had gone to five different states namely Bihar, Odisha, Haryana, Kerala and Uttarakhand. The comparative study in the later part of the report talks about the status of primary education across these states along with the factors affecting them. 2. OBJECTIVES * To develop an understanding of the educational aspirations of the primary level children in rural India. * Trying to understand the various factors that play an important role in affecting the aspirations of the primary level children. * To do the comparative analysis across 5 different states under a common platform and identify common issues and problems. 3. STATUS OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN INDIA Education is important not only for the growth of an individual but also for the nation as a whole. Primary education has been the foundation on which the development of every individual as well as the nation depends. But making primary education available to everyone has been a major issue and along with this making quality primary education available has all been more problematic for the state. But in the past few years, India has shown tremendous growth in the literacy levels and achievements in providing successfully education to all at the primary level. Various govt. schemes are being implemented in different states that have resulted in providing assistance as well as incentives to the children to come to school and study. Right of children to free and compulsory education bill was passed in 2008. Special schemes for the underprivileged sections of the society are being implemented. 3. 1 Govt. schemes Different govt. schemes are being implemented in various states across India at the primary level. Some of them are: * Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS): MDMS is a scheme that was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in 1995. This programme ensures provision of cooked mid day meal to children studying at elementary level at govt. , local body or govt. aided schools. * Cycle distribution: Another scheme in Bihar where a cycle is distributed to the children†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. * Scholarships for EWS: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. * SSA: Sarva Siksha Abhiyan meaning education for all is another one of the many govt. schemes that aims at providing education to all. This program aims to universalize elementary education by community ownership of the school system. This program also provides an opportunity for improving human capabilities to all children. * Education Guarantee Scheme: This is one of the components of SSA aimed at providing education to the children. 3. 2 Literacy level The literacy level has been on a rise in India with the latest census report stating the literacy rate of our country to be 68% in 2007. This is a substantial increase from 12% at the time of independence and is commendable since the population is also growing at an abrupt pace. Among the Indian states Kerala holds the highest literacy level where Bihar is the lowest. This also accounted for an interesting study as these were the 2 of 5 states being covered. The adult literacy rate was 66% in 2007 whereas the youth literacy rate was 82% in 2001. 4. METHOD OF STUDY * Structured and unstructured interviews: One of the techniques used by us for getting information was structured and unstructured interviews. Many a times, going with questionnaires in our hands raised doubts in the minds of the people, so to avoid that we started with informal chats and then went on with the topic. * Questionnaires: Questionnaires were a means of getting information especially from the primary teachers and the village level authorities. Household interviews were also conducted based on the questionnaires. * Emoticon analysis: For the children of primary level it is many a time difficult to ask questions and get the answers. Also they identify more easily with the visual aids rather than talking, so for a part of our questions to the primary children, we had a set of emoticons for them and they had to choose the answer based on the emoticons. These emoticons basically expressed their feelings and moods at different points of time. * FGDs: FGDs were conducted among teachers so that we can come to know their view points on the current education system and the factors affecting the level of primary education. * Observations: Also observing was one of our main methods of studying about the village and also what the kids do in the school during their breaks and the classes. 5. CHALLENGES FACED There were many challenges faced by us during the work we were carrying out on the theme paper. Many a times the teachers were suspicious as to why we are doing this work and why do we want to know about them and the education there from the kids? Initially most of our time went in explaining our field work objectives and our reasons to be there. Getting information from the kids was one major challenging task as most of them were very shy and it really took great effort to get things out of them and that too correct information. Also a major challenge faced was that many lower caste families who didn’t send their children to primary schools showed no interest in talking on this topic to us. It was hard for us to convince them to talk to us. Language was one more challenge that was faced especially in Odisha. Few of the people in Uttarakhand too, especially women talked in the local Jaunsar language that made things difficult to interpret. 6. STATEWISE DATA All of us had gone to different states viz. Bihar, Odisha, Haryana, Kerala and Uttarakhand. Following is a brief description of the villages that we had gone to along with some of the information about our villages and the level of primary education there, along with the factors affecting them in our respective villages. The comparative analysis across states shows the factors affecting the aspirations of the primary level children and how they differ in different societies. 6. 1 BIHAR Literacy rate of Bihar: 47. 53% Literacy rate of Samastipur: 45. 76% Male: 57. 83%. Female: 32. 69% Educational programmes going in Bihar: 1). Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) 2). National programme for Education of Girls at Primary Level (NPEGEL) 3). Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) 4). School Sanitation and Hygiene Education Programme (SSHE) Literacy rate of Muhammadpur Kowari village: 42% Population of Muhammadpur Kowari village: 11,500 Income sources: Agriculture Laborer Business Rickshaw pulling Government and private service. Income level: Annual income ranged from Rs. 20,000 – 1, 50,000 per annum of the respondents. Education Infrastructure: 1) Anganwadis- 11 in no. 2) Government School- 5 in no. Primary-4 Middle- 1 High– Nil 3) Private School- 1 ( upto class 8) 4) LSC runned by AKRSP-22 Village had eleven Anganwadi centres which would impart learning to toddlers and preschoolers. There were five government primary schools out of which one was upgraded to the middle school. In addition to this there was one private school in village upto class 8th. For higher studies students had to go to Tajpur for class eighth upwards. Apart from this there were private schools at Pusa Road and Tajpur where students of better off families used to study. Muslim families preferred Madarasa education for their children in adjoining village Shahpur Baghauni. One can also find coaching centres mushrooming in and around the village where unemployed college graduates were taking classes and also private tuitions. We came to know that this mushrooming was due to ‘Haushla Afjaaayi Sceme’ of state government who would reward students promoted from class ninth to tenth and those who passed tenth board examination with first division marks. Parent would supplement government school education with private tuitions (Rs.50-100 per student) and coaching for class eighth upwards. But this was not the case for poor who had higher dropout rates. Regarding this the role of AKRSP is worthwhile to mention that it ran Learning and Support Centre (LSC) in minority and dalit tolas which imparted free education at nominal fee of Rs. 10 per child per month for two hours in the morning at 22 centres. It was not considered as substitute for schools rather a complement to emphasize role and awareness regarding education. It attracted students from muslim community and dalits who could not afford high cost otherwise. Here education was more fun rather than drudgery unlike government schools. 6. 1. 1 Factors affecting primary education: a). Parents- Parents attitude and perception regarding the education determines the education and aspiration of children. This attitude and perception in turn is decided by the education of the parents, environment they live in, earnings, some past experiences and interest in child development. Muhammadpur Kowari village had 58% muslim population and 42% hindus of lower castes and their education level and income was very low. Mostly worked as farmers, laborers, and rickshaw pullers and migrated to other states and cities as land holding was less while family size was quite large. So they had a pressure to earn from the very beginning and hardly anyone was matriculate except few. Given the constraints they could not afford good education or think big and were reluctant as many had daughters to marry. Though fathers were not so optimistic regarding education of the child but mothers were very conscious and enthusiastic. Mostly the reply came they don’t want their children to suffer hardships as they had and education was the way to end misery by getting better jobs and lifestyle. Migrant workers that returned on Chhath and BakrId had exposure to outside world and emphasized the need of education and it was evident in their family. However there existed a disparity between spending on education of male and female child in financially sound or medium families whereas there was slight or no difference in poor families as both sexes went to same school and no access to tuitions or coachings or private school. The difference was owing to notion that male child would support family while girls are a liability. b). Teachers- Their qualification, training, apathy, absenteeism or engagement in other works( e. g. election duty, vaccination drives etc. ) proves to be a deciding factor in shaping the minds and thus aspirations of the children. The differentiation on basis of caste, religion or gender has very deleterious effect emotionally and psychologically. Such children develop low self esteem, unwantedness and develop bitterness. In this village when the teachers were interviewed regarding this topic they agreed the lack of staff s (4 teachers were for a middle school upto 8th standard) and hampering of studies due to other official works. Also, the teachers arrived late for the duty and could be seen chatting on the verandah and had no concerns what was going inside the classroom. The lack of trained teachers was felt as para teachers appointed to take classes were not qualified enough to take classes off higher standards. In 2 schools it was found that more than 1 class was going on in a single classroom and in 1 school had 2 rooms only so the classes were conducted under a thatched roof. It was common in many schools the student of class 6 had less learning what would have been otherwise obvious for class 4 reasons being the quality of teaching in government school. An incident was there when a teacher was asked in an informal conversation about aforesaid e. g. he told parents would come and quarrel that my child knows less than the ‘Y’ child and create nuisance so they had to pass all. As a result of this child would fare badly in high classes. Moreover the mismanagement of funds in midday meal scheme was brought in a notice in panchayat meeting. In another example when an Anganwadi staff was asked about the afternoon meal offered at anganwadi she told that out of Rs. 10,000 allocated Rs. 6000 would be shared among officer issuing the fund and the rest would serve the purpose naturally the quality will decline. c). Students- When the students were interviewed along with emoticons it was a real fun for them. However it was tried best to interview them post school so in front of teachers they would hesitate and could not express freely. Female students were interviewed in school only because of the conservative nature of the households and they used to come from far places. In schools as well as at LSCs the performance of girls was better than that of boys. The students had interest and had better result in mathematics but had poor performance in language paper. According to the survey it s because of 2 reasons- teaching was boring and teacher was usually absent, secondly many students had been taught in urdu at home and thus had difficulty in writing in hindi. When boys were asked about being absent from school they gave following reasons- going to relatives house ( as it was a festival time), helping father in fields( sowing time for tobacco and cauliflower), no teaching in school as many teachers were either absent or had taken leave after the election duty. Also, there were boys who came to school but did not attend classes as their peers were playing. However girls had a different reason as some of them had to look after their younger brother or sister while her mother went to work in fields while some of them accompanied their parents to pusa road market to sell vegetables. But surprisingly the attendance, interest and performance of the students were better at LSC because it incorporated rhymes, playthings, drawing and games period and more dynamic teachers. LSC had meeting with parents once a month, emphasized on curricular activities as well. It had organized ‘Bal Sabha’ (parent’s day) on 19th November which was a new experience for kids and more fun. d). School infrastructure- The debilitated conditions of government schools with leaky roofs, lack of drinking water and toilets is a discouraging factor for girl child enrollment and also absenteeism. Lack of teaching aids, text books, sports articles makes teaching learning process a monotonous act so a child tries different ways to escape school. Also, bullying by other boys or fear of corporeal punishment by teachers is a major cause of dropouts and absenteeism in these schools. All these were common in the village and absenteeism was more in rainy season as school had lessrooms or was leaky. One can imagine the scene of two classes commencing in a single room and learning of child in this environment. Moreover if there were any marriages around it was a practice to stay Baraat in the school so unofficially it was a kin of holiday. e). Economic condition of family- This factor was found to be the most important factor along with parent’s attitude and perception during the village stay. Now here are 4 cases- firstly the family was poor and wanted the child to continue study, secondly they wanted child to earn or assist in fields or do other works for livelihood, thirdly family was well off and could afford education and fourthly they wanted them to look after agriculture as land holding and agricultural income was more so they felt there is no need to study. It has been discussed in detail in parents section. f). Societal culture – It describes how the society affects parents and children thinking and feeling about education and what they aspire to become in future. At Muhammadpur Kowari the villagers were involved in agriculture and labor works mainly and were either illiterate or had very less formal education so they were less informed. They viewed education as a way to overcome poverty by seeking jobs such as teaching, police, army, government service etc. So any successful example of anyone getting such jobs was looked with respect and younger generation wanted to emulate his success. On the other hand many of the views that every educated man does not gets the government job so there is no use to study and wanted their child to engage in works. Another kind of thought that emerged was to seek benefit of schemes by enrolling child to school or to engage naughty children for few hours or the meal served in the afternoon at school. Many dalits had bitter experience of discrimination in the past and viewed education and ‘aspirations’ as privilege of upper class and caste and it would make no difference to their conditions. Muslims send their children to madarsa for education and by 14 years of age they dropped out to learn some tailoring or masonry works to earn bread and butter. Very few muslim households send their children to school and those belonging to Sheikhs and business class had tutors for their children. Home tutors were available for girl child because of parda system they were not going outside the village to study and after 8th standard they dropped out. However it was a matter of surprise that these girls when interviewed were happier and had no desire to study further and it had developed in their society as upper limit of girl education.. One more observation was that muslim family had no issues in sending their girl child to LSCs run by AKRSP because it was nearby or in their locality and mostly the female teachers were in that centres. Hence concern for security and parda system was guiding the aspirations. 6. 2 ODISHA Village:Badampada Block:Kaptipada District:Mayurbhanj State: Odisha 6. 2. 1 Village:Badampada: -The village Badampada is 60 kms from Baripada, the district head quarter of Mayurbhanj. It is around 8 km away from block head quarter, kaptipada. The place I visited is coming under tribal belt of Mayurbhanj. The Similipal reserve forest is near to our village. since the area is surrounded by the dense forest, people are more involved into NTFP collection from the jungle. Since the forest cover is depleting day by day, more people are diverted towards agriculture. Besides agriculture, some people depend on livestock. A very few people are salaried and a small fraction of the villagers are businessmen. The literacy rate of Orissa is 63. 08% (2001 census), while the literacy rate of the district is 52. 43%. The literacy rate of the district is not par with the state, because the tribe constitute 57. 67% of the total population of the state. Since there was very less tribal family in our village, literacy rate of the village is more than that of district i. e 60%. The various schemes are implemented by the state govt to attract the children to the school. The children in the primary school are provided Mid Day meal . The students are also text books, free of cost through District Primary Education Programme (DPEP). To improve the female literacy rate, the state Govt is providing school uniform to girls in the primary school. TheState govt. declared Rs 500 cr for Sarva Siksha Abhijan scheme . There is a primary school in the village, badampada which caters to the need of nearby villages like vaisnab sahi,Dhumkheta ,sisodia etc. Among them Vaisnab Sahi is the tribal dominated village. 6. 2. 2 Factors Affecting aspiration of the Children of Primary School * Parents- School students in the village are enthusiastic about education; however, parents are not very supportive. Most parents seem to think education as a meaningless practice without any real benefit. Most people in the village are from the working class, they force their children to help them in their work. I found major difference between Odiya and tribal families. While parents of Odiya family are very much enthusiastic to send their children to school, the case is opposite is in tribal families. * Teachers-The teachers play a vital role in the primary education. The teachers in the village show very little interest towards the education . I came to know, some teachers are involved in parallel business during school time. They do not work for the entire duration of their duty period and go home early. Another trick used by teachers is periodic presence by teachers (at a particular time one teacher remains present, while may be the remaining one is absent) . I am reliably informed that the school Head master was caught while stealing eggs which were provide for Mid day meal . * School Infrastructure- There is two class rooms and one office room in the primary school. So multiple classes are going on in one class room. The situation inside the class room is very much chaotic. It is very difficult on the part of the teacher to handle the multiple classes at a time. I have observed number children moving outside the classroom during school time. The teacher student ratio is 38 in the school. The school children are not getting books at the right time. No audio visual aid is provided to the school. * Economic status – The parents of the well off family send their children to English Medium School at Kaptipada. Due to poor economic status of the tribal household, they can’t afford the other facilities to their children during festival period; there is high absenteeism in the school in case of tribal students. Since they are not provided with any amusement in their home, they attend the fair without going to school. Some children help their household working in others firm to meet the day to day household consumption. * Societal Culture- Children imbibes from the society, surrounding them. Since, the parents are not much aware about the benefit of the education; they don’t motivate their children to attend the school. They are in favour of instant income. Children leave school in early age to earn money in tribal family. 6. 3 HARYANA Village : Gundiani Block : Mustafabad Tehsil : Jaghadhari District : Yamuna Nagar 6. 3. 1 Village: Gundiani: – A small village of population 494, located about 4 km away from a small town called Mustafabad, connected via road and rail routes. According to my fieldwork stay , village seems to be prosperous and it was supported by government data of BPL family number which was eight only out of total 68 households. Major income generating source of villagers is agriculture and apparently few villagers do have some business and services options as well which they have chosen over agriculture, even there are some instances of villagers going abroad for earning livelihood. Hence as the sources of income was varied so the income level was also have a varied range of about one lakh to 60 lakh per annum. Infrastructures related to education available in village boundaries were a government primary school, however within a 3 km radius of village one government higher secondary school, three private schools were located and school buses of 3-4 prominent private schools of which one include Delhi Public School, ply to the village for picking students. Literacy rate of Haryana is 67. 91 % ( 2006 data ), and that of the Yamuna nagar district is 72. 20 % ( 2006 data ) while that of village Gundiani was found to be 68. 81% ( 2010 data collected by Kamal & Sandeep). Well irrespective of all these infrastructure the literacy level of village was on not a brighter side as compared to overall state literacy level and on the lower side as compared to that of district. This can be attributed to the previous generation literacy as the thinking of previous generation was that they need to do agriculture only, so there is no need of education for that, hence this thinking pulled down the overall literacy level to lower side. 6. 3. 2 Factors affecting aspiration of primary school children: * Parents: They play the most important role as home is the building stone of the child’s life and in the home the family i. e parents play a vital role in aspiring the child for education. Educational qualification of parents is a major factor which shapes the thinking of parents towards education and future of their child. In village Gundiani, although the literacy level was low but still parents were conscious enough about education of their child. But they were not aware of future aspects and where to get this information. Parents just see other children from the village and their society and hence understand the importance of education and hence inspire high for the children. * Teachers: At primary level teachers influence the most the future of a child as they mold the mind of a child and hence inspire the actions of child towards life and education as well. In village Gundiani, in government primary school there were only two teachers and they were taking enough pain to work towards better future of students. They used to educated students regarding what they have to face in future if they don’t study well and always used to give examples of various other people from their village only so that children can easily relate them and can learn easily the importance of education. While in the private schools in nearby areas it was not so as the teachers employed by majority of schools were not well qualified, they were there to just teach from text books and were helping the children to understand the importance of education. But still the parents tend to send their child to a private school, the main reason behind this was that admitting your child to private school was seen as a status symbol in the village, and even few poor people used to send their child just to develop their status. Hence we can say that the teachers play a vital role developing the aspirations of a child at primary level. * School Infrastructure: This is one of the vital components affecting the aspiration of children and their perception towards education. In the village Gundiani the government school was having two class rooms and one room for mid day meal scheme meal preparation. There were six standards in the school but there were only two class rooms in each of which three consecutive standards were taught by teachers side by side. While in case of nearby private schools each standard was taught in different class room and enough teachers were available but the qualification of teachers was questionable to some extent. In the class rooms teaching aid were available in case of government schools while in some of the few private schools they were thinking of incorporating it. * Economic Status: Economic status of family matters a lot in case of the education provided to the child and hence in direct proportion affects the inspirations of the child as well parents towards education. As the family income largely determines the chances of a child getting education and its quality depending upon the schools to which children are sent. Apart from the school the outside school education and facilities provided by parents according to their economic status like availing school bus so that child can go to far off better school and also time wastage in traveling can be minimized, availing private tuitions, better text books. Also better economic status of parents give a high confidence level to the child and in turn all the above factors highly influence the inspirations of child as well that of parents towards education of their child. * Societal culture: This section basically include the society and culture the village which highly affect the thinking of parents, teachers and in the end that of child. In society parents see the other children and then compare their child with others and hence try that their child also progress up to some benchmark set by them. Also availability of few role models in the village like few villagers have migrated to other big cities due to jobs and a few migrated foreign which proved to be role models for the parents of other children and hence they also wanted their child to prosper in life and get up to those positions. For this the parents were clearly aware that their child needs to be sent to school. Hence the societal cultures of the village influence significantly the inspiration of the parents in in turn that of the child. 6. 4 KERALA It is possible to say that the state of Kerala has a unique position in the education map of India with a literacy rate of 90. 92%. This rate is the highest in India according to 2001 census. Out of which literacy rate of men and women accounts to 94. 2% and 87. 86% respectively. Kerala became the first state in India to declare full literacy in one district called Ernakulam (1990). With the support of central government, government of Kerala launched a number of programmes in education sector. One of such programmes is â€Å"Akshara Keralam† introduced in 1991. It was aimed at bringing maximum number of illiterates to schools and other study centres. Apart from all these NGO interventions on education are also there in rural and backward areas of Kerala. In April1991 Kerala was declared as fully literate state by NLM (As per the norms of NLM, a literacy rate above 90 % shall be treated as complete literacy). Kerala topped the Education Development Index (EDI) among 21 major states in India in year 2006-2007. A report by NLM in 2007 states that Mizoram surpassed Kerala in literacy rate. SSA is also running well in Kerala. CDS, Trivandrum is monitoring the activities of SSA in Kerala. Kerala has made major achievements in school enrolment at the primary level and in preventing drop outs. Education providers in Kerala include both government and private parties. The percentage of private aided schools is considerably high. Government schools constitute 33% of total schools in Kerala. Education in these schools is completely free. Government aided private schools and fully private owned schools accounts to 45% and 22% respectively. Number of primary schools in Kerala is 6712(2551-govt, 4003-aided private, 158-unaided private) Education accounts for more than one third of the total revenue expenditure of the state. The per capita expenditure on education is the second highest among states in India. 6. 4. 1 Idukki District Profile Idukki is the high range district of Kerala. It is famous for its Mountainous Hills and Spices. This district occupies 13% of the area of Kerala. It can be said that for Keralites Idukki, means power generation also. About 66% of the state’s power needs come from the Hydroelectric Power Projects in Idukki. 88. 58% of the district population is literate. Male literacy rate (92%) is much higher compared to female literacy rate (85%). 6. 4. 2 Karunapuram Village Profile Karunapuram village comes under Udumbanchola taluka of Idukki and Nedumkandam block. It has a population of 26033 according to 2001 census. The major source of income is agriculture and allied activities. The literacy rate of this village is 87%. 40 Anganwadis are there. 6. 4. 3 Factors affecting the educational aspirations and their role in Karunapuram * Parents: -.

American Beauty: Of Adulthood and Life Transitions

American Beauty is one of the most well-received movies of our time. As the screen debut of screenwriter Alan Ball and director Sam Mendes, the movie has won numerous Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It was a good demonstration of different psychological and social themes such as deviancy, romantic and paternal love, sexuality, and beauty.The movie’s focus is Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey). In fact, as the narrator, Lester is the revolving point of most of the movie. American Beauty paints how he was a year before he died and how he’s changed through the year that eventually led to his death.But the movie also focused on other interesting characters – most notable of which are his wife Carolyn (Annette Bening), daughter Jane (Thora Birch), Janes’ friend Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari), and the neighbor Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley). Almost all of these characters undergo a specific ‘deviant’ nature and are almost on either poles of the social sph ere.Watching Lester, Carolyn, Jane, Angela, and Ricky, one realizes that people really do change behavior based on previous experiences. Although Berk (2004), in her book Development Through the Life Span, talked mainly about the change of relationship between parent and child through operant conditioning, this discussion is useful in explaining the hostile relationship between Jane and her parents.As Jane has come to learn from previous experiences, any attempt at trying to bond the family falls into deaf ears; hence, she’s taken to keeping her mouth shut and maintaining a distant stance from her father and mother.Perhaps, this type of learning can also aid in understanding Angela. She is naturally insecure and afraid of being thought ‘ordinary’. But she’s learned that putting up a front and projecting a brazen image elicits a positive response from men; since this eliminates her fears of being just a common person, she has maintained the said image.Leste r and Carolyn also demonstrate how adults react differently when on the brink of transitioning from their prime to old age. Lester copes with his shift to old age in a different manner than Carolyn in the sense that he’s preferred to be â€Å"sedated†, to use his own terms.He felt that everything in his life was going downhill: he was losing his job, he hasn’t had sex with his wife in a long time, and he just doesn’t find any aspects of his life exciting. Yet given the right stimuli (in the person of Angela, whom he is obviously attracted to), he realizes that aging should not be the end of his life.He starts working out and bettering himself. He shows – through his decision to quit his job, resume his teenage job as a fast food employee, and buy his dream car – that sometimes, people regress while moving towards old age.Carolyn, however, has an opposite reaction. Knowing that she now only has limited time, she goes down the serious route. S he became more focused on her career and had little time left for personal pleasure.Jane and Angela on the other hand, show teenagers metamorphosing into adults. Jane, realizing that most teenagers her age are already forming well-developed breasts, reacts to her maturation by desiring breast augmentation.Angela, though, who projects a confident stance, does not do – or wish to do – anything as drastic. In fact, it seems that she is unmindful of the possible biological changes that adulthood might bring to her current ‘good looks’.Lester’s obsession with Angela has given him an energy boost. Suddenly, he finds the guts to stand up to his wife and demand for what he wants. Then he gets involved in a fitness regimen and dives into the use of marijuana (which he purchases from Ricky).This has eventually led to drastic changes in his family life: Carolyn and he find themselves quarreling in front of Jane, who naturally forms greater hatred for her paren ts.Early in the film and towards the middle part, we get a glimpse at how Ricky feels about death. He thinks that death is nothing to worry about and is something interesting to watch. This was apparent in the scene where he was filming a dead bird and describes it as â€Å"beautiful†.And the death of Lester reinforces this: examining Lester’s bloody body, Ricky utters, â€Å"Wow.† Lester also portrays a way of coping with death. Through his narration, he describes death as a sort of freedom and a culmination of everything that is happy.Using Lester as a narrator, Ball speaks of how â€Å"the after life† does exist and how it is something that we all have to go through at one point in our lives.American Beauty is not just another pretty, award-winning movie. It is an effective demonstration of how people react differently towards changes in life, specifically adulthood and life transitions.ReferencesMendes, Sam. (Director). (1999, October 1). American Bea uty   [Motion picture]. USA: DreamWorks.Berk, Laura E. (2004). Development Through the Life Span. Boston,

Assessment of a New Emerging Market-Free-Sample for Students

The trade of timber is one of the most important trades in Indonesia. Indonesia’s forest products such timber and other related products comprises 10% of the country’s GDP. Indonesia used to contribute 70% of the plywood industry in the world during the year 1980. But from then there can be seen a declining trend in the exports. The figure came down from $3.6 Billion to $2 billion in the year 2000. The decline is due to some of the aggressive policies that are being taken by the government against exports of timber. Timber or forest product industry is one of the major revenue generators for Indonesia The business market of Indonesia is one amongst the biggest business market in the world. It is projected in accordance to the economic growth that by 2030 it will become 7 th largest economy in the world. The country of Indonesia has a GDP of 932 billion as recorded in the year 2016. It ranks in 8 th position based on the purchase power parity. The economy of Indonesia is growing at a rate of 5% every year since from the last decade. The country has sound macroeconomic policies and a huge population of youth that has a growing domestic demand have promising future ahead. The government has announced a number of reforms or policies in order to push the economic condition of the country. The reforms are expected to improve the business condition of the country. The GDP per capita of the country is $3604 which is more than many of the Asian countries. The country has the world’s fourth largest middle income group people with 17.3 households as in the year 2014. (Larson et al, 2016). The country has developed a plan for the next 20 years. In the next twenty years the country wants to make development and changes. There plan starts from the year 2005 and will last till the year 2025. The main focus of the country is its economy and other reforms. The country is looking forward to strengthen its infrastructure and they also came up with other development programmed to develop its educational and healthcare sector of the country. The reform which are being taken by the country are extremely beneficial for the people who are in the below poverty level (Lustig, N 2016). The country is currently facing the problem of the slower pace of creation of jobs for the people 1.7 million person join jobs each and it is problem for the country to create jobs. The total population of the country is around 253 million out of that 28 million people live under the line of poverty. The government is trying their level best to reduce the poverty level but from the last few days this speed has reduced. The poverty level which was getting reduced by 1% each and every ever is now reduced to 0.3% (Aguiar, Narayanan and McDougall, 2016). The government of the country has come up with reforms regarding the reduction of poverty level and betterment of the public services. The public services include transportation, health, education etc. a huge stress has been given by the government in regard to the health care sector of the country. The health care sector has made many advances so there is an improved and modern health care unit so as to provide health care services. The gap between the poor and the rich is relevant in Indonesia and the government is trying to reduce this gap. The health care in the country suffered a lot. It is said that 103 children in 1, 00,000 die in Indonesia which is a very high alarming number and reforms are being taken to reduce this high maternal death. Out of 3 every 1 child suffers health condition such as problems of growth and brain development. The problem in the youth results in problem of the growth of the country. As it is know that youth is the future of our country and it is through youth that we bring changes and new reforms in the country (Otoo et al 2014). If the youth of the country is not strong enough then it is bad sign for the country. The government of Indonesia is trying to cope up these challenges and they had been pretty successful regarding controlling these problems.   In order to strengthen the economy of the country the government has brought new reforms they have opened up sectors for differ ent kinds of investment and thus this will reduce high logistics that they may had been facing in the past. The economy of Indonesia is rising it is making great progress so the investors around the world seeing this great opportunity. The country has become a great place for foreign direct investment from around the world. After India and china Indonesia is the third major country if consider its economy. As we know that the country is the world’s tenth most populated country and the world’s third largest democratic country. If we look at the export of Indonesia, in that case we will see that the country is one of the largest exporter of thermal coal and also the exporter of palm oil. These are products of high value and they fetch high revenue from the foreign countries. The most important thing about the economy of the country is that it relies on itself. The economy does not rely on other countries. In one word it can be said that the country is self sufficient, it is a great advantage for the country. When a country is self sufficient, in that case the country does not require the help of other countries in case of importing products that means the country produces most of the products (Otoo et al, 2015). Right at the moment Indonesia is standing at a situation where it is a key point of the country where it is making a transition for the betterment for the country. The growing from small economy to a larger economy, the country was a primary producer of the products such as coal and palm oil and now has become one of the largest producers of in the world. The country has opened a window for the investors.    The country’s economy is one of the fastest in the world and its growing at a rapid speed. This economy brings in great opportunity to investment. There is a huge opportunity for foreign direct investment within the country (Ozawa, T 2014).The analyst have made an assumption that Indonesia will grow as a very large and stable economy in the future though the country is facing some issues such as corruption and bureaucratic issues that is restraining the country from 360 degree modernization but still the country has every possible opportunity to grow. One of the main issues is the poor infrastructure and not qualified human resources which are not contributing towards its growth. The country has all the resources needed to rule the economy of the world in the future but it is to be guided in a way such that it can be made possible (Ikein, A.A 2017). The government of Indonesia is proactive and they have come up with numerous numbers of reforms which will help in foreign direct investment. Although the corruption remains a big issue which needs to be handled for better growth Due to the large population of Indonesia the market is very vast and dynamic and the FDI will help the country to fulfill its need and thereby providing growth for the country by improving its economy. Thanks to a large population and FDI inflow, Brazil’s potential for growth is extremely high. There is a substantial trend of a growing middle-class and the gap between the rich and poor is declining steadily. Additionally, the Central Bank has successfully reduced the risk of currency devaluation and has also brought inflation under control. However, when it comes to the dollar, the currency is considered to be overvalued, which is adversely affecting the exports of the country There are a number of people who live under the line of poverty and with the help of FDI the economic condition of the country will improve. The country has huge number of youth who have demands and wants that can be fulfilled by the FDI by giving them the opportunity for employment and a better standard of living. The country is good at technology. The maximum part of the population of Indonesia is under the age of 30 and they are technologically savvy. So with the flowing of foreign direct investment, the country can utilize its human resource to generate revenue which will help in improving the condition of the country The country of Indonesia is rich in natural resources. The natural resources that are being produced are petroleum, tin, natural gas, nickel, timber, bauxite, copper, fertile soils, coal, gold, silver. The natural resources of the country will attract foreign investment more in comparison to the countries with fewer natural resources. This helps to give a competitive edge over other countries which may have few amounts of natural resources. It also opens the door for multinational companies to exploit the situation and do business in the country which will help the country in economic growth. The natural resources create more option and helps in growth of the economy. In Indonesia the one fourth of the manufacturing production was accounted by FDI during the period of 1990s. The Foreign direct investment created employment and developed the support of the suppliers and transferred technology. It also helped in generating more tax revenue for the government of Indonesia but it had a problem regarding the balance of payment. It impacted negatively on balance payment and it also caused continuous deficit in relation to manufacturing goods. Though FDI can help and bring positive changes in number of sectors and so it is not to be restricted. It can create technological advancement, help in growth of the economy, Improve the infrastructure of the country and thereby helping in overall growth of the company. These policies or reform that is being taken by the country are causing hindrance in its growth. The ban on raw material exports is one of the biggest problems the country is currently facing. The restriction of retail sales of liquor and they have also proposed a ban on sales of liquor in the parliament which is contributing in the decline of the economy. The country is high in natural resources. It is blessed with natural minerals. It is one of the largest thermal coal exporters in the world. The country is blessed mineral resources. They are the largest exporter of tin in the world (Dunning, J.H 2014). The coal that is found in Indonesia is low in sculpture which is good in nature and it can be found very close to the surface which makes it very easy to extract. Thereby the cost of extraction of the coal is very little in comparison to other countries where the coal can be found deep below the soil, where the extraction cost gets very high. Apart from coal Indonesia has great deposits of gold and silver which thereby makes it very rich in minerals (Visor et al, 2015). As there are active volcanoes in the country, the soil of Indonesia is very fertile and has many deposits which is high in natural minerals there by making the country high in natural resources. Apart from this Indonesia is situated in such an area that it helps them t o generate renewable energy. As the soil is extremely fertile in nature it helps to cultivate commodities of high value such as palm oil, coffee and rubber. These products are exported to different parts of the world and they fetch great revenue for the country. The country is trying to be as self-sufficient as possible thereby reducing their import and increasing their export so that they increase their revenue earning and gives away less revenue (Cairns and Slew, 2017). The country has large number of population and youth that can drive the country to a new economic height. The country has around a population of around 250 million and its growing every day. In the year 2009 the country has seen a growth of 4.9 % in gross domestic production, which is a substantial growth. As the country is self sufficient and most of the need of the country is fulfilled by the products of its own, in that case the country is fewer dependants on other. This will help the country in time of economic crisis. In case of any kind of economic cries faced by the world, in that case it won’t affect much on Indonesia (He et al, 2015). As the country achieves new growth each and every day the manufacturer in the country plays a greater role in satisfying the needs of the people. With the increase in gross domestic production and economy of the country the income level of the people of the country will also increase and this is a very positive point for the people who are in the middle income group or people who reside below the poverty level or lower income group (Hill and Kohpaiboon, 2017).The country will need to start production of the products which it is not producing currently at this moment such as smart phones or other technological products. The youth of the country is becoming technologically savvy and the manufacturing industry is also trying to understand the trend within the population of the country and acting accordingly (Nasution,   2014.). It is great news that more than 50% of the total population of the country is youth which is under the age of 30, which is great news for the country. Having a large base of youth for the country is very advantageous, this youth is technologically very upgraded which is a very important for the country. So the future of the country is promising unlike china where the percentage of the youth is very little as most of the population is aged due to their one child policy. The aim of Indonesia is change the economic condition of the country by the year 2030 and they have taken measures accordingly. They are making changes in their technological sectors, there workforce and also in their production. This will help in the transition of the economy of the country. If they will have a better workforce which is skilled and a manufacturing sector which is advanced and can fulfill the needs of the country, in that case they can achieve the economic growth they are looking for (He, 2015). The country has faced many political changes and transformation in the past years. The country is now the rule of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is the first Indonesian president who is elected by voting. The country has evolved in relation to the politics. They have a new and mature political structure, with the democratic rule the country has become more matured where each and every member of the country has a personal opinion, which that person can keep forward through his or her voting right. The political condition of the country has become much stable in nature. This political stability will help the country towards its economic growth (Bhat, 2017). Foreign direct investment will help the country in utilizing huge human resources which comprises a big number of youth. It will also bring in new technology which will create an advancement and growth in terms of technology. The economic condition of the country will get better. It will create jobs which help the individuals of the country in increasing their standard of living. Indonesia is a very rich country in terms of neural resources may that be coal, petroleum or timber and other resources but still they will need foreign direct investment, which can support the economic condition of the country and develop the economic condition of the people of the country. It will help the number of people living under the line of poverty to lead a life with better standard and economic condition. Aguiar, A., Narayanan, B. and McDougall, R., 2016. An overview of the GTAP 9 data base.  Journal of Global Economic Analysis,  1(1), pp.181-208. Bhat, M.G., 2017. Trade related intellectual property rights for genetic resources: Implications for developing countries. Cairns, G. and Sliwa, M., 2017.  A very short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about international business. Sage. Dunning, J.H., 2014.  The Globalization of Business (Routledge Revivals): The Challenge of the 1990s. Routledge. He, J., 2015. Chinese public policy on fisheries subsidies: Reconciling trade, environmental and food security stakes.  Marine Policy,  56, pp.106-116. He, Q., Fang, H., Wang, M. and Peng, B., 2015. Trade liberalization and trade performance of environmental goods: evidence from Asia-Pacific economic cooperation members.  Applied Economics,  47(29), pp.3021-3039. Hill, H. and Kohpaiboon, A., 2017. 10 ‘Policies for industrial progress’, not ‘industry policy’.  Production Networks in Southeast Asia, p.202. Ikein, A.A., 2017. Nigeria oil & external exposure: the crude gains and crude pains of crude export dependence economy.  The Business & Management Review,  8(4), p.396. Larson, H.J., de Figueiredo, A., Xiahong, Z., Schulz, W.S., Verger, P., Johnston, I.G., Cook, A.R. and Jones, N.S., 2016. The state of vaccine confidence 2016: global insights through a 67-country survey.  EBioMedicine,  12, pp.295-301. Lustig, N., 2016. Inequality and Fiscal Redistribution in Middle Income Countries: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru and South Africa.  Journal of Globalization and Development,  7(1), pp.17-60. Nasution, A. ed., 2014.  Macroeconomic Policies in Indonesia: Indonesia Economy Since the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997. Routledge. Otoo, N., Awittor, E., Marquez, P. and Saleh, K., 2014. Universal Health Coverage for Inclusive and Sustainable Development: Country Summary Report for Ghana. Otoo, N., Awittor, E., Marquez, P. and Saleh, K., 2015. Universal Health Coverage for Boyer, R., 2016. Renewal of the diversity of capitalisms, tipping in international relations.  The Rejuvenation of Political Economy,  207, p.216. Ozawa, T., 2014.  Multinationalism, Japanese style: The political economy of outward dependency. Princeton University Press. Visser, M., Pisa, N.M., Kleynhans, E.P.J. and Wait, R., 2015. Identifying the comparative advantage of products and industries of South Africa’s Mpumalanga province.  Southern African Business Review,  19(2), pp.27-50

History and Political Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

History and Political Science - Essay Example However, with independence and exacerbated peace missions across warring countries, this has changed over time. Many states around the world are independent and sovereign. China and Germany for example were ruined after the Second World War, but have emerged as leading world powers today, right from the post-war period. Security measures, trade and financial systems are essential factors that are promoting global relations today, enhancing the persistent globalization process. Modernization and contemporary trends in cultural, social, economic and political aspects define globalization today. Globalization is a process that has been going on for quite a long time now. It is this process that has resulted in global power shifts between states. The start of globalization is a historical phenomenon. It is dated decades of years ago, when states began to unite against others. Different states were objective about accumulating significant authority and power against others. The idea was t o dominate weaker states by strong states. In this regard, it was necessary that states unite to concentrate their powers and authority. On the same note, other objectives were realized in the process, characterized by global powers that keep shifting from time to time. Globalization is a diverse concept that is defined by numerous concepts, each of which is unique from one state to another. Converging cultural, social, economic and political practices are central to globalization in the modern times. It is highly characterized by interconnectedness of modes and means of communication that make it easy for the entire world to keep in touch. Populations in many states today have both locals and foreigners. The slave trade and migration of persons from one state to another marked the start of contemporary globalization. The moving out of business enterprises from their locales to international locations further exacerbated globalization and state relationships. The start of globalizat ion is basically seen from its definition. Globalization in the global power between states context is defined as an expanded economic integration, characterized by interdependence of states through international free trade, market economies, investments and capital flows (Raymond, Barbara and Bob, p.121-122). This process started as soon as world states began to realize their rights and freedoms at a time when weaker states were dominated by string states. The fading away of colonialism, slave trade and war between states marked the start of globalization. This was also the start of the realization of global power between states. Global politics have from then become diversely distributed, with globalization acting as the shaping power of the said distribution. The influence of global commerce has significantly led to the realized trends in global power between states. Multinational corporations and Bretton Woods institutions have further accelerated the influence of globalization on global powers and authorities. This has been aided by ease in international communication and transport, collaboration between states and technological advancements from time to time. (Raymond, Barbara and Bob, p.122) says, â€Å"global commerce linked with the spread of global fibre-optic networks, digitization, satellite communications, the world wide web and computer technology have impacted state-to-state power relations dramatically.† The effects of globalization

SEO(search engine optimization) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SEO(search engine optimization) - Assignment Example The SEO tactic used in the provided html is White Hat SEO. This is a type of SEO tactic which is used to improve the performance of a given web site while considering its compliance with the laid regulations and procedures put by the search engine. Meaning, when developing this page, the administrator was concerned about the rules and regulations governing their development. Therefore, by adopting this tactic, it implies that the credibility of the site is increased. Besides, the compliance to the laid standards means that the page is made to be to be legitimate and can not be involved in any controversy. These are issues which can lead to violation of the rules thus making it to be closed by the search engines. In using this tactic, the page was made of a high quality. As can be seen in provided html, everything seems to be up to standard. Therefore, the high quality in it makes it be appealing to the users. Whenever a search is made, the required results must be got as expected. This is why this tactic is a good one. Besides, it has keyword-rich Meta tags which are descriptive enough and can enable it be more effective when used to search for a word. This is a very important feature which can make this web site be easier to navigate (Beel; Gipp and Wilde 181). However, in order to improve this page, I will have to be more creative. Meaning, I will go beyond adopting this tactic. Instead, I will have to edit all the contents of the site in order to make them appropriate for use when searched to look for the inserted words or keys. When it is edited, its quality will have to be improved. This is because, many people like to navigate and use web sites with Standard English at all times. Therefore, it implies that if all the contents are edited, it will appeal to everyone. Besides, it will contain catchy words which would be easily accessed whenever any search is made. The other tactic I

THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR - Essay Example After the First Crusade reclaimed Jerusalem on July 15, 1099, people were pouring in pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This multitude including wealthy pilgrims was the grand attraction to thieves. Surprise attacks along the roads were inevitable and a group of knights proposed to establish a troop that would ensure the safety of the travelers to Jerusalem. One of the knights was Count Hugh of Payns, a knight from the First Crusade. At this proposal, King Baldwin II of Jerusalem permitted Hugh of Payns and Godfrey of Saint-Omer along with other knights to stand guard along the roads to Jerusalem and were eventually recognized by the Council of Troyes as one of the orders of the Latin Church in 1129. The forefathers of this order were Hugh of Payns, Godfrey of Saint-Omer, Roland, Godfrey Bisol, Payen of Montdidier, and Archambaut of Saint-Armand. Hugh of Payns and Godfrey of Saint-Omer’s troop of knights were named The Knights of the Temple of Solomon of Jerusalem. They were named a fter the place where they requested the king to grant them as their official headquarters, the Temple of Solomon. The Knights of the Temple of Solomon of Jerusalem or the Knights Templar followed the Latin Rule, a set of codes which was formulated by Hugh of Payns in 1129 guided by Bernard of Clairvux. In this set of codes, the knights were to follow certain rules regarding their authorities, their garb, rituals on the death of their members, practices on giving alms, duration on standing on foot, on what to eat, the manner on reading, manners on dining, when to sleep, when to rise from sleep, how to coexist with fellow members, prohibitions on clothing, recommended materials of their clothing, the allowed number of pieces of clothing, what kind of shoes to wear, how to groom their hair, how to treat their servants, the number of allowed horses, prohibitions regarding bridles, spurs, spears and shields, on kinds of bags or trunks, on

Reaction Paper 3 Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reaction 3 - Term Paper Example In most instances at present thus, conventional measures of incarceration with punishment, deterrence, and incapacitation become rather less conducive especially for mental health considering situations in which prisoners with history of psychological disorder worsen in prevailing condition as to become contagious with fellow inmates. The availability of community supervision, as an alternative remedy employs a more humane and sensible approach which apparently is not covered within customary incarceration. While the latter remains emphatic with the old rigid tradition of confining the accused and convicted criminals, community supervision may assume flexible forms capable of reducing harshness or severity of the former system given that the offender complies to accept a specified period of supervision by a probation officer and abide by additional set of particular rules required by the court while the sentence the offending party ought to serve is put under suspension (Community, 2 010). Justice advocates and some critics on their side might react in opposition and raise protest toward any possible impunity with community supervision on the ground that punishment must be executed to those who deserve it. Upon deeper evaluation of such mechanism to differentiate from incarceration, nevertheless, supervision in its essence would prove beneficial at being able to transform a criminal from a violent character to a sane and sound well-being. If incarceration has since been able to produce targeted results at resolving to renew moral conduct of convicted individuals while in the course of being punished, discipline offered through a less crude option of community supervision may be customized to adjust to the specific needs of a criminal. This way, much focus may be granted to the latter who, by personal choice of the officer-in-charge,

European Union Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 2

European Union Law - Essay Example Based on similar grounds, directive 2004/113/EC was implemented in order to expand the protection against gender discrimination in different areas of the society1. In the light of discrimination, Article 141 TFEU plays a significant role by obligating EU member states to ensure any kind of discrimination with respect to sex must be prohibited. In this context, Article 157 deals with maintaining ‘equal pay for both male and female workers’ in an organisation for similar job responsibilities2. Discrimination practices in employment can occur in different situations and under different conditions. For instance, when an employee receives treatments which segregate them from other employees bearing same job responsibilities, on the basis of subjective or assimilated criteria such as gender, nationality, religion, disability, age, marital status, parental status, political views, socio economic view and trade union activities, it may be referred to as discriminatory practices. Discrimination and equality are governed by the key principle that an employee must receive equal treatment. Contextually, the code of non-discrimination is used to gender oriented discriminations concerning equal pay for male and female in Article 157 TFEU. This Act is used for avoiding pay gap between the earnings of men and women in an organisation. Under Article 157, an employee is regarded as an individual who performs certain activities under the guidance of another individual in exchange for money for a certain period of time. Therefore, once an individual is considered an employee as described in Article 157 TFEU, the articles of the treaties can be applied to him/her3. Article 157 TFEU provides an explicit commitment to equal pay for males and females, stating that equal pay without discrimination on the basis of gender denotes that the pay for similar kind of work must be calculated on the basis of the same unit of measurement for each employee. Equal pay also denotes tha t the pay for work at certain time rate must be equal for similar kind of job. With respect to Article 157 TFEU, pay comprises not only the basic remuneration committed to the employee, but also his/her overtime pay, extras, special advantages, travelling grants, rewards for appearing in training, termination payments and job-related pensions. Thus far, this has been constantly interpreted by legal bodies to imply that there must be no discrimination on the basis of gender over pay. With respect to any discrimination regarding pay, the European courts consider the link between the notion of pay which is articulated in Article 157 and the practiced social security system4. With respect to discrimination practices, there are two types of acts that can be performed by an organisation which are direct discrimination and indirect discrimination. In this context, it can be stated that Article 157 of the TFEU forbids both direct discrimination on the bases of gender in the area of pay and indirect discrimination. It is worth mentioning in this regard that direct discrimination happens when an individual is unequally treated on the basis of gender; for instance, when a woman is paid less than a man in a similar job. On the other hand, indirect discrimination refers to the discrimination which is the consequence of gender neutral norm, which tends to hamper an individual’s interests on the basis of sex5. With respect to the case of Kate, it can be observed that

Cause of the collapse of Heathrow rail tunnel in 1999 and what should Essay

Cause of the collapse of Heathrow rail tunnel in 1999 and what should have been done to prevent the collapse - Essay Example NATM was implementing one of the firsts in almost everything. The technology of the method involves spraying shotcrete around the surrounding of the tunnel. This process leads to the formation of the supportive crust though temporarily. It was the first time that the project was used in London clay and the method being new most of the people working in the tunnel were not familiar with some of its aspects. In addition, the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) applied the self-certification method for the first time at the London Heathrow Airport site (Muir, 2000, p. 19). This method requires that contractors be charged with the responsibility of certifying their work. This method offers no opportunities for oversight management. The case resulted in Balfour Beatty receiving a heavy fine of one point two million pounds while the same court slammed Geoconsult with a five hundred thousand pounds fine for its less capable role. The collapse The collapse occurred on the night twentieth a nd twenty-first of October in nineteen ninety-four. There were no casualties but the cost of recovery amounted to one hundred and fifty million pounds. The project stalled for six more months and disruption of the underground Jubilee Line Extension. However, there were no casualties, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) successfully filed a petition that resulted heavy fines of one million and two hundred pounds o both Balfour Beatty and Geoconsult with legal costs amounting to two hundred thousand pounds. Causes of the collapse Balfour Beatty and Geo consult implemented the New Austrian Tunnelling Method despite the method having reservations that were grave. This resulted in one of the worst civil engineering disasters in the last century bearing in mind the fact that the Heathrow accident occurred one month after the Munich disaster. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) took the initiative to warn the two contractors about being cautionary in their approach but contractors fail ed to heed the advice. Among other general failures, the case proved that there was flawed workmanship, which included serious flaws in the management of construction procedures and contract arrangements that failed to meet the standard requirements. The New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) operated as UK-NATM and had serious failures. To begin with, the method was appropriate for primary lining. This should only apply to temporary works (Feld and Carper, 1997. P. 33). The method does not put into consideration the primary lining while designing the secondary lining. The method takes these steps while it is normal that secondary lining is the second phase and its design should follow the design of the primary lining. The main cause of the problem in the process employed by NATM is that it designs both linings simultaneously. The right process requires that the design should be subsequent. This means that the design of primary lining should come before the design of the secondary li ning. The design process should be design as you go. The UK-NATM method allows little room for convergence under the buildings and works concurrently with grouting. The method does not have oversight supervisors and this denies the opportunity for monitoring the appropriateness of the design and gives information regarding compensation grouting. Construction of Heathrow using this method denied the project oversight management hence corrective measures could not

Can Secular Leadership Be Useful in the Church Thesis

Can Secular Leadership Be Useful in the Church - Thesis Example These include differences in motivation as well as style and practicalities and also in response and relationships. There are aspects of leadership which only seem to fit into a secular pattern and others only into a church one. There are also some which require some adaptation to fit from one to the other. Thought leadership is mentioned, that is the idea that leadership does not necessarily come from a position held, but from ideas pursued until they come to have great influence, such influence bearing no relationship to the person’s official status or standing. The essay looks too at historical patterns of leadership within the church, including patterns described by Christ and his apostle Paul, as evidenced in the pages of the New Testament, the Gospels, the Book of Acts and the Epistles, as well as what happened during the first centuries of the church. It looks also at the role of women in the church, Biblically, historically and in current practice. It asks about the differences between secular and Christian leadership. It then considers which aspects of the former are not useful in church life, as well as considering those that are. The conclusion reached is that there are certain aspects of secular leadership which can be useful in a church setting, although perhaps carried out in a different way or with a different emphasis. There are however other aspects which the church could well do without and which should be avoided. The church is not the world and her standards are not worldly ones, but should be those of Christ

The Return of the Native By Thomas Hardy Analysis Essay Example for Free

The Return of the Native By Thomas Hardy Analysis Essay Thomas Hardy, a writer of nineteenth century society, has created an everlasting impact on its readers through his most profound and lively characters with varied dimensions in personality. He gave his characters a touch of realism with an in-depth intensity to misunderstand their real nature and their real intentions in life. They are always finding themselves in a struggle with their own desires and circumstances. Fate plays the most crucial yet evil role in many events in their lives with reflection of impassive attitude and tragic consequences. His â€Å"The Return of the Native† is also a tragedy unfolding many deepen aspects of his characters’ with the settings itself revealing impending damage or tragedy waiting to happen.   It appears hidden beneath the wastelands of Egdon Heath number of secrets aspiring to be opened. â€Å"It is a place of long life and of sudden death, of fertile spring and short, vivid summer.†(Flowers Spring, 19) Edgon Heath’s importance lies in the way it affected the personalities of Eustacia and Wildeve, who feel themselves depressed in these lonely places. For Hardy, life is painful and full of agony and is clearly seen in the eyes of protagonists. The plot of â€Å"The Return of the Native† is set in context to the passionate and romantic zeal of Eustacia who took her to a tragic end. â€Å"It is the force of circumstances-the malignant power of Edgon Heath to dwarf and thwart the aspiring soul –that derives Eustacia Vye to irretrievable disaster†. (Flowers Spring, 121) Hardy adopted Victorian style in â€Å"The Return of the Native† with its detailed description of the story with many references pertaining to classical and scriptural style. Initially, its theme raised the eyebrows in the society but later the same theme became most popular among readers and critics alike. The theme owes its popularity to its originality and very nifty; the novel contains various moral truths that were the part of the society. All the characters have appeared to be born and grown in relationship with their environment and changes in weather of Heath corresponds to the inner turmoil of characters. With Eustacia Vye as part of Heath, Diggory Venn too appears to be born out of the muddy earth and the name Wildeve itself suggests his attributes to be born out of Heath’s blowing winds. The story revolves around Eustacia who Hardy describes as the most tempestuous lady desperate for passionate love denied to her in the vast arid lands of the Dorset County with only his grandfather as her companion. She is feeling very dejected by her boring life and is looking for an ideal man with whom she could spend the rest of her life. By crafting Eustacia as the most voracious character, â€Å"The Return of The Nativeâ€Å" became yet another story in a family of genre of most sensational works of Hardy. Besides sensation of suspense, more important is the creation of melodrama and behavior in the extreme extent but it’s a novel that has both modest as well as honest appeal. The story raises the question how the free will of the people and fate can go side by side. Eustacia’s passionate desire to marry person of fortune brings her into contact with Clym and ultimately marries him. But fate has something else in store for her; Clym Yeobright’s wanted to open a school in native country and in his pursuit he got himself blinded and they had to live in a hut meanwhile Wildeve too inherited maximum sum of money and they began to meet regularly. This meeting became a cause for the biggest tragedy ever that could happen in their lives. First Clym’s mother Mrs Yeobright died due to heat and snakebite, as she was not allowed by Eustacia to enter into house. Later Eustacia died due to drowning and Wildeve too embraced death in his effort to save Eustacia. But Diggory Venn saved Clym only to leave him behind with blind eyes and as a wandering preacher. The story has a tragic ending but we can also see certain note of hope and optimism as Diggory Venn got his true love Thomasin. The whole story shows how human beings in their desire to obtain pleasure show incapacity to change for right actions leading to gravest tragedy. Hardy’s message is quite clear: happiness for human beings is very short lived, and they feel themselves at-least fortunate if they could at-least avoid pains. Amidst the conventional countryside, Hardy portrayed the changes in Victorian society his protagonists wanted to see in their lives, yet he too did not deny the errors of these uneducated and unsophisticated country folks who were equally known for their loyalty as well as prejudice. (Flowers Spring, 21) â€Å"The Return of The Native† was Hardy’s sixth novel and when it first appeared in the serial Belgravia, its subject raised controversy. But soon it became one of the most popular novels with its popularity lying in its inquisitive derive to probe most intricate issues involving human beings-disillusioned love affairs and societal prejudices crushing passionate desires. Hardy is quite clear when he says that no one can escape the destiny and those who would try to escape it would end up having tragic consequences’.   For D.H Lawrence, this novel delves into the ways communities handle their misfortunes. Many feel its ending is not clear even though there was tragedy in the end, yet Hardy gave it happy ending with the marriage of Diggory Venn and Thomasin. With this ending, Hardy left the readers to comprehend themselves the conclusion and it is quite true in real life too.   If there is a tragedy in the lives of the people, there are many who are happy too.   By making the ending of the novel uncertain and vague, Hardy states the life is also very uncertain and vague. â€Å"The Return of the Native† is very interesting to read and fully describes with intensity Hardy’s genre in describing his characters. With this story, Hardy deviated from his conventional style of being a tragic writer to bring forth happy ending. WORKS CITED Flowers, Charles Spring, Michael. â€Å"Thomas Hardys Return of the Native†. New York: Barron’s Educational Series, 1984.

How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife Essay Example for Free

How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife Essay My brother Leon was returning to Nagrebcan from far away Manila, bringing home his young bride who had been born and had grown up in the big city. Father would not accept her for a daughter-in-law unless he taught her worthy to live in Nagrebcan. Father devised an ingenious way to find out, and waited for the result. She stepped down from the carretela of Ca Celin with a quick, delicate grace. She was lovely. She was tall. She looked up to my brother with a smile, and her forehead was on a level with his mouth â€Å"You are Baldo. † She said and placed her hand lightly on my shoulder. Her nails were long, but they were not painted. She was fragrant like a morning when papayas are in bloom. And a small dimple appeared momentarily high up on her cheek. â€Å"And this is Labang, of whom I have heard so much. † She held the wrist of one hand with the other and looked at Labang, and Labang never stopped chewing his cud. He swallowed and brought up to his mouth more cud, and the sound of his inside was like a drum. I laid a hand on Labang’s massive neck and said to her: â€Å"You may scratch his forehead now. â€Å"She hesitated and I saw that her eyes were on the long curving horns. But she came and touched Labang’s forehead with her long fingers, and Labang never stopped chewing his cud except that his big eyes were half closed. And by and by, she was scratching his forehead very daintly. My brother Leon put down the two trunks on the grassy side of the road. He paid Ca Celin twice the usual fare from the station to the edge of Nagrebcan. Then he was standing beside us, and she turned to him eagerly. I watched Ca Celin, where he stood in front of his horse, and he ran his fingers through its forelock and could not keep his eyes away from her. Maria—â€Å" my brother Leon said. Read more:  How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife by Manuel Arguilla Essay He did not say Maring. He did not say Mayang. I knew then that he had always called her Maria; and in my mind I said, â€Å"Maria,† and it was a beautiful name. †Yes,Noel† Now where did she get that name? I pondered the matter quietly to myself, thinking Father might not like it. But it was only the name of my brother Leon said backwards, and it sounded much better that way. â€Å"There is Nagrebcan, Maria† my brother said gesturing widely toward the west. She moved close to him. And after a while she said quietly: You love Nagrebcan, don’t you, Noel? Ca Celin drove away hi-yi-ing to his horse loudly. At the bend of the camino real where the big duhat tree grew, he rattled the handle of his braided rattan whip against the spokes of the wheel. We stood alone on the roadside. The sun was in our eyes, for it was dipping into the bright sea. The sky was wide deep and very blue above us; but along the saw-tooth rim of the Katayaghan hills to the southwest flamed huge masses of clouds. Before us the fields swam in a golden haze through which floated big purple and red and yellow bubbles when I looked at the sinking sun. Labang’s white coat, which I had washed and brushed that morning with coconut husk, glistened like beaten cotton under the lamplight and his horns appeared tipped with fire. He faced the sun and from his mouth came a call so loud and vibrant that the earth seemed to tremble underfoot. And far way in the middle of the fields a cow lowed soflty in answer. â€Å"Hitch him to the cart, Baldo,† my brother Leon said, laughing and she laughed with him a bit uncertainly, and I saw he had put his arms around her shoulders. â€Å"Why does he make that sound? † she asked. â€Å"I have never heard the like of it. † â€Å"There is not another like it,† my brother Leon said. I have yet to hear another bull call like Labang. In all the world there is no other bull like him. † She was smiling at him, and I stopped in the act of tying the vinca across Labang’s neck to the opposite end of the yoke, because her teeth was very white, her eyes were so full of laughter, and there was a small dimple high up on her right cheek. â€Å"If you continue to talk about him like that, either I shall fall in love with him or become very jealous. † My brother Leon laughed and she laughed and they looked at each other and it seemed to me there was a world of laughter between them and in them. I climbed into the cart over the wheel and Labang would have bolted for he was always like that, but I kept firm hold on his rope. He was restless and would not stand still. , so that ny brother Leon had to say â€Å"Labang† again, my brother Leon lifted the trunks into the cart, placing the smaller one on top. She looked down once on her high heeled shoes, then she gave her left hand to my brother Leon, placed a foot on the hub of the wheel, and in one breath she had swung into the cart. Oh, the fragrance of her! But Labang was fairly dancing with impatience and it was all I could do to keep him from running away. Give us the rope, Baldo,† my brother Leon said. â€Å" Maria , set on the hay and hold on to anything. † Then he put a foot on the left shaft and that instant Labang leaped forward. My brother Leon laughed as he drew himself up to the top of the side of the cart and made the slack of the rope hiss above the back of Labang. The wind whistled against my cheeks and the rattling of the wheels on the pebbly road echoed in my ears. She sat up straight on the bottom of the cart, legs bent together to one side, her skirt spread over them so that only the toes and the heels of her shoes were visible. Her eyes were on my brother Leon’s back; I saw the wind on her hair. When Labang slowed down, my brother Leon handed me the rope. I knelt on the straw inside the cart and pulled on the rope until Labang was merely shuffling along, then I made him turn around. â€Å"What is it you have forgotten now, Baldo? † my brother Leon said. I did not say anything but tickled with my fingers the rump of Labang; and away we went back to where I had in hitched and waited for them. The sun had sunk and down from the wooded sides of the Katayaghan hills shadows were stealing into the fields. When I sent Labang down the deep cut that would take us to the dry bed of the Waig, which could be used as a path to our place during the dry season, my brother Leon laid a hand on my shoulder and said sternly: â€Å"Who told you to drive through the fields tonight? â€Å"His hand was heavy on my shoulder, but I did not look at him or utter a word until we were on the rocky bottom of the Waig. â€Å"Baldo, you fool, answer me before I lay the rope of Labang on you. Why do you follow the Waig instead of the Camino real? † His fingers bit into my shoulder. â€Å"Father- he told me to follow the Waig tonight, Manong. Swiftly his hand fell away from my shoulder and he reached for the rope of Labang. Then my brother Leon laughed, and he sat back, and laughing still, he said: â€Å"And I suppose Father also told you to hitch Labang to the cart and meet us with him instead of the Castano and the calesa. † Without waiting forn me to answer, he turned to her and said, â€Å"Maria, why do you think Father should do that, now? † He laughed and added, â€Å"Have you ever seen so many stars before? † I looked back and they were sitting side by side, leaning against the trunks, hands clasped across the knees. Seemingly but a man’s height above the tops of the steep banks of the Waig, hung the stars. But in the deep gorge the shadows had fallen heavily, and even the white of Labang’s coat was chirped from their homes in the cracks in the banks. The thick, unpleasant smell of dangla bushes and cooling sun-heated earth mingled with the clean, sharp scent of arrais roots exposed to the night air and of the hay inside the cart. â€Å"Look, Noel, yonder is our star! † Deep surprise and gladness were in her voice. Very low in the west, almost touching the ragged edge of the bank, was the star, the biggest and brightest in the sky. I have been looking at it,† my brother Leon said. â€Å"Do you remember how I would tell you that when you want to see stars you must come to Nagrebcan? †. â€Å"Yes, Noel,† she said. â€Å"Look at it she murmured, half to herself. â€Å"It is so many times bigger than it was at Ermita beach. †The air here is clean and free of dust smoke. † So it is Noel,† she said,drawing a long breath. â€Å"Making fun of me, Maria? â€Å"She laughed then, and they laughed together and she took my brother Leon’s hand and put it against her face. I stopped Labang, climbed down, and lighted the lantern that hung from the cart, and my heart sang. Now the shadows took fright and did not crowd so near. Clumps of andadasi and arias flashed into view and quickly disappeared as we passed by. Ahead, the elongated shadow of Labang bobbled up and down and swayed drunkenly from side to side, for the lantern rocked jerkily with the cart. â€Å"Have we far to go yet, Noel? † she asked. â€Å"Ask Baldo,† my brother Leon said,†we have been neglecting him. † â€Å"I am asking you, Baldo,†she said. Without looking back, I answered, picking my words slowly: â€Å"Soon we will get out of the Waig and pass into the fields. After the fields is home – Manang. â€Å"So near already. † I did not say anything more, because I did not know what to make of the tone of her voice as she said her last words. All the laughter seemed to have gone out of her. I waited for my brother Leon to say something, but he was not saying anything. Suddenly he broke out into song and the song was â€Å"Sky Sown with Stars† –the same that he and father sang when he cut hay in the fields of nights before he went away to study. He must have taught her the song because she joined him, and her voice flowed into him like a gentle stream meeting a stronger one. And each time the wheel encountered a big rock, a voice would catch in her throat, but my brother Leon would sing on, until, laughing softly, she would join him again. Then we were climbing out into the fields, and through the spokes of the wheels the light of the lantern mocked the shadows. Labang quickened his steps. The jolting became more frequent and painful as we crossed the low dikes. â€Å"But it is so very wide here,† she said. The light of the stars broke and scattered the darkness so that one could see far on every side, though indistinctly. You miss the houses, and the cars, and the people and the noise, don’t you? † My brother Leon stopped singing. â€Å"Yes, but in a different way. I am glad they are not here. † With difficulty, I turned Labang to the left, for he wanted to go straight on. He was breathing hard, but I knew he was more thirsty than tired. In a little while , we drove up the grassy side onto the camino real. â€Å"-you see,† my brother Leon was explaining, â€Å"the camino real curves around the foot of the Katayaghan hills and passes by our house. We drove through the fields, because- but I’ll be asking father as soon as we get home† â€Å"Noel,† she said. Yes, Maria. † â€Å"I am afraid. He may not like me. † â€Å"Does that worry you still, Maria? † my brother said. â€Å"From the way you talk, he might be an ogre, for all the world. Except when his leg that was wounded in the revolution is troubling him, Father is the mildest tempered, gentlest man I know. † We came to the house of Lacay Julian and I spoke to Labang loudly, but Moning did not come to the window, so I surmised she must be eating with the rest of her fam ily. And I thought of the food being made ready at home and my mouth watered. We met the twins, Urong and Celin, and I said â€Å" Hoy,† calling them by name. And they shouted back and asked if my brother Leon and his wife were with me. And my brother Leon shouted to them and then told me to make Labang run; their answers were lost in the noise of the wheels. I stopped Labang on the road before our house and would have gotten down, but my brother Leon took the rope and told me to stay in the cart. He turned Labang into the open gate and we dashed into our yard. I thought we would crash into the bole of the camachile tree, but my brother Leon reined in Labang in time. There was light downstairs in the kitchen, and Mother stood in the doorway, and I could see her smiling shyly. My brother Leon was helping Maria over the wheel. The first words that fell from his lips after he had kissed Mother’s hand were: â€Å"Father – where is he? † â€Å"He is in his room upstairs,† Mother said, her face becoming serious. â€Å"His leg is bothering him again. † I did not hear anything more because I had to go back to the cart to unhitch Labang. But I had hardly tied him under the barn when I heard Father calling me. I met my brother Leon going to bring up the trunks. As I passed through the kitchen, there were Mother and my sister Aurelia and Maria, and it seemed to me they were crying, all of them. There was no light in Father’s room. There was no movement. He sat in the big armchair by the eastern window, and a star shone directly though it. He was smoking, but he removed the roll of tobacco from his mouth when he saw me. He laid it carefully on the windowsill before speaking. â€Å"Did you meet anybody on the way? † â€Å"No, Father,† I said. â€Å"Nobody passes through the Waig at night. † He reached for his roll of tobacco and hitched himself up in the chair. â€Å"She is very beautiful, Father. â€Å"Was she afraid of Labang? † My father had not raised his voice, but the room seemed to resound with it. And again I saw her eyes on the long curving horns and the arm off my brother Leon around her shoulders. â€Å"No, Father, she was not afraid. † â€Å"On the way-â€Å"â€Å"She looked at the stars, Father And Manong Leon sang. † â€Å"What did he sing? † â€Å"Sky Sown with Stars. † She sang with him. He was silent again. I could hear the low voices of Mother and my sister Aurelia downstairs. There was also the voice of my brother Leon, and I thought that Father’s voice must have been like it when he was young. He had laid the roll of tobacco on the windowsill once more. I watched the smoke waver faintly upward from the lighted end and vanish slowly into the night outside. The door opened and my brother Leon and Maria came in. â€Å"Have you watered Labang? † Father spoke to me. I told him that Labang was resting yet under the barn. â€Å"It is time you watered him, my son. † My father said. I looked at Maria and she was lovely. She was tall. Beside my brother Leon, she was tall and very still. Then I went out, and in the darkened hall the fragrance of her was like a morning when papayas are in bloom.

Being Judged On The Company You Keep Philosophy Essay

Being Judged On The Company You Keep Philosophy Essay A farmer was sick and tired of cranes, which were repeatedly destroying his corn fields. When he could take the loss no further he decided to place a net over the fields so that the birds could be taken care of. Therefore as decided, he spread the net over the fields during the evening. Next morning when he went to the fields, he found that along with the cranes a stork was also caught in the net. As he approached the net to deal with the birds, the stork made a humble appeal. The bird cried for mercy and said that it was not one of those cranes responsible for destroying the crop. It was a mistake altogether and only accidentally was stork present on the field, with the cranes. It pleaded and prayed for mercy. Upon listening to the storks plea, farmer responded by saying that maybe you are right. Maybe its not your mistake. But youve been caught in the net along with those evil birds who have been repeatedly harming my crops. So while you are not proven guilty, but youll be judged by the company you keep. And your company is certainly not safe for you. This is an old fable taught to young kids, aimed at teaching them an important lesson. Company plays a fundamentally important role in determining your success. As children even our teachers would have recited this story for us. For maybe as holidays homework we were asked to learn this fable and recite in class or some of us were perhaps asked to prepare charts for this narration; but irrespective, we tend to forget the important message encapsulated in this simple narration. We are judged by the kind of company we keep. For example if you are friends with the top ranking students of your class, you are naturally considered intelligent and mannered. While if you are close to the infamous ones, the results are negative. So even if you are not involved in placing crackers in school during Diwali, you are still suspended, along with your group. The idea is to simply emphasize upon the impression company bestows. Monica Bedis life is a perfect example to illustrate the hardships one could face, just for selecting the wrong company. Monica Bedi had started her career in Bollywood in the year 1995. As a Bollywood actress theres nothing much to her credit, but her alliance with Abu Salem certainly demands attention. In the year 2002, she was arrested along with Abu Salem for travelling with forged documents. But this was not the key reason for her demotion. She was arrested because she was a friend of Abu Salem, who was involved with 1993 Mumbai blasts and many other serious crimes. Because she was this mans girlfriend or rather because she kept his company, she was charged of criminal offence, cheating and more. Despite being innocent, as later proved, she had to suffer the most terrible times of her life. Not only was she under police custody for five long years, but the incident ruined her career and reputation, both personally and professionally. Why? Because others judged her with the same yardstick as Abu Salem. Because she was involved with the don, she was given the same treatment. Such high are the costs of keeping wrong company. Something similar is reflected in this Buddhism teaching: If you never meet your equal, travel Alone There is no fellowship with fools. You might argue that this is not fair, so did Monica Bedi. However irrespective of whether you approve of it or not, this is how it works. You are being judged by others around you and that includes the group which can make a difference to your future. And this group, amongst other things, is also looking at the company you keep. But why is it done like this? Why arent the decisions based upon you as an individual and why the company? Two logical answers to this: Because it is not possible for everybody to know everybody as an individual. However it is much easier to categorize into groups and thus form beliefs about the members. For example, quite difficult it is for a teacher to know each and every student of a class. But it is much easier to demarcate few as intelligent, few as problem creators, few as average performing silent types and so on so forth and thus judge them. So when a new student takes admission to this class he, depending upon the co classmates he befriends, is allotted a group and thus judged accordingly. The second reason is much more important. Here it is not about the comfort of the person trying to judge, but about the logical explanation to it. Company leaves its affect on each and every member of the group. So even if you are a fresh apple, kept in a bucket of rotten fruits, youll end up being rotten. Likewise if an alcoholic is made to stay with a group of serious non alcoholics, sooner or later he will develop the resistance towards alcohol. The influence of people around While judgements by others are dependent upon the company we have, there are other strong influences as well, extended by the people around us. While the reference here is not towards those people who take decisions for us, like family, but it is about those who act as influencers. Knowingly or unknowingly we are influenced by our friends, co-workers and others in the various social circles and this is where company matters most. When we talk about the people around there is another fact to be borne in mind. We do not have the liberty to select all around us. While we opt for those whom we would like to be friends with, there are those as well who exist owing to social standings. Your teachers for instance; you can select tuition teachers, but you have limited or no control over teachers who teach you in school. But again irrespective of the control you can exercise, there will be influence. For example consider cricket. Any reasonable Indian is crazy about this sport. Now lets assume that you are learning the game or rather trying to get at it. For this while you are practicing, you also need an opponent to challenge and thus find out your weaknesses. Two options here, an excellent player or an average one. If you decide to live in a myth and tell your own self that you are a great player, youll pick the weaker opponent. On the other hand, if you decide to sharpen your skills at the game and thus bring yourself to face the serious competition and thus eventually improve. So the company you selected proved strategically important for your cricketing skills. In the stated cricket example, the decision criterion is the playing skill of the people we prefer to keep company with i.e. if they play good, we be a part of their group and vice versa. However it is not always this simple to make the decision. We are most of the times ignorant or if not that then confused about whom we would want to be with and who is not the right one. So while we are now aware of the relevance of good company lets emphasize upon clarifying the puzzle. Lets divide all in two categories, the right kind i.e. those whom we would want to keep around us and the wrong kinds i.e. those we should be wary of. But again what is right kind and what is wrong kind. Basically nobody is perfect, neither are you and nor is anybody else and so right kind does means the perfect ones. This also emphasizes to the fact that you are not perfect either and thus while you judge others on various parameters, judge your own self as well, on the same yardsticks, and thus make a continuous effort to improve. This will ensure that others think that you are the right kind and therefore approve of you as their accepted company. Also while somebody could be right for few, the same set of people could be wrong for another few. So there is no universal applicability. The idea is to say that I cannot judge people and make a list of right and wrong which you can use for your reference. You will have to prepare the classification for your own personal use. I can guide though and so can many others, but beyond that your discretion has to solve the purpose. Another facet that you need to keep in mind is that the same rules dont apply for all. So applicability varies with relationships and circumstances. Your boss will not get intimate with you, but will obviously maintain a healthy distance. While on the other hand, your best friend will be intimate enough for you to share whatever. So while in one case it is justified to keep distance, in another the same is there indicates something wrong. So read through the below mentioned selection details carefully and make the important decision wisely, because this will picture your future. Unsafe people maintain walls around. These people will act intimate but they will never really be as close. They will have this strong tendency to shy behind a veil, perhaps because they are hiding their true selves from you. They will not let the connection happen because they feel that the same will reveal something about them they are hiding. And if that is the case, how can they be the right kind for you. Safe people dont construct walls, but maintain reasonable boundaries. This is to suggest that the right kind of people understand the importance of getting enough acquainted and still maintaining comfortable distance. Like your mentor, the right person would listen to your problems and delve into linked factors, but will not barge into private territory. The whole point is that with the right kind of people around you dont feel isolated. There is a hand for support when needed. With wrong kind of people it is more about them. So when you get to hear expressions beginning with me and not us, you should know that youve opted for the wrong company. These people will be very self centred. Most of the times theyll be thinking of individual gains. Their priority will never be to make it work for all, but focused at self gain. In fact they will not be very delighted if it works well with all. Jealousy comes naturally with unsafe kinds. Safe people or the right kinds are busy dealing with your qualms while the wrong ones are occupied with the task of highlighting your mistakes in the whole process. So if youve scored badly in any subject, the right people will talk about what you can do to improve in times to come. Theyll be looking at your weaknesses, not to make fun of you or criticize you, but to help you put in the requisite effort and thus turn weaknesses into strengths. The other group however will be busy figuring out your mistakes only. Theyll talk about the days you didnt studied or will tell you that you are a loser or will be ignorant, but nothing close suggestive. What you dont need is judgement, what you need is support. Right people know the different between two, while wrong dont. Right people make adjustments, while wrong impose. Say it is friendship day tomorrow, but at the same time you have an important exam in the coming week. Your group plans an outing to celebrate the day. They tell you the plan and instruct you to be there. You are excited about the whole idea but convey your difficulty in making it for the outing, because of the approaching exams. The right kind of people understand, while the wrong kinds nudge you and tell you that you are not worthy of their friendship, etc. They basically dont understand and are not really bothered about the priorities of your life. They impose them on you. The right kinds lend you an ear and a shoulder, when you need the most. These people try to genuinely understand and if nothing else give you a vent for your problems. Under the same circumstances, the wrong people label you as cry baby or cribby and thus leave you with your struggles. Right people abide by the commitments they make or they have a reputation for dependability. As discussed in the earlier chapter, this attribute is highly important. Remember Ruchit, he was intelligent, but unreliable and thus all preferred to maintain a distance, when it came to important project execution. Why, because he was considered unsafe and nobody wanted to take the risk. So right kinds are those who know value of their commitments and abide by their words. And this is not an exclusive list, there is more that can be added, but this should give you a starting point. As stated earlier, all this is important all through the life, but the relevance is highest, when you are a student. This is because you make yourself or ruin yourself during the teen years of your life and thus are spent either in a school or college. So as a student you have the liberty to shape your future or ruin it and company plays an important role in this. Those around you influence your personality and thus the way you would be as an adult. So besides our normal tendencies, where we simply opt for friends who share similar interests or are more outgoing, etc. we need to focus upon identifying the right kinds. So keep the following few vital things in mind and make your decisions in this direction wisely: You are under observation and your choice of friends will deicide the attitude of your teachers and family towards you. If they dont support you they do not deserve enough to be friends. The focus of group has to be towards shaping each others skills and thus working towards a stable future and not just making plans for another day out. So think and think hard, while you decide. Reading all would have given you the impression that it is indeed difficult to identify the right kind of people. Well maybe it is difficult, but the effort is worth it. So put in the extra energy and try your best, to be around the best!