Thursday, October 31, 2019

Could the US have won the Revolutionary war without foreign Essay

Could the US have won the Revolutionary war without foreign intervention - Essay Example The Americans needed support because of the logistical difficulties of a protracted war, and so France and Netherlands provided critical support that hastened the victory of the former. Weigley, in his book The American Way of War: A History of United States Military Strategy and Policy, explains the dire circumstances of General George Washington and he stresses that â€Å"military poverty† shaped Washington’s generalship.3 When the British arrived by sea in New York before the raid of Trenton, General William Howe had 31,625 soldiers from all ranks, where 24,464 were well-equipped and ready for battle.4 Aside from these troops, Howe also had ten ships, twenty frigates, hundreds of transport, and 10, 000 seamen.5 To defend New York, General Washington only had 19,000 people, with around 9,000 having military discipline and training.6 In addition, the Americans had no naval forces and limited land transports. Though Washington scored with the elimination of the Hessian garrison at Trenton, throughout the entire Revolutionary War period, he perennially faced the problem of the limited number of soldiers, resources, and money. The Revolutionary confederation and the weakening agricultural sector could not supply enough for these needs of the war. David McCullough dwells in 1776 on the role of the financial backing from France and the Netherlands as well as the support from the French army and navy.7 For him, they were offered critical help in hastening America’s victory instead of merely waiting for Britain to give up on the war or to wait for other foreign nations to realize that America’s independence would result in a greater balance of powers in Europe. If the Revolutionary War had extended due to the absence of foreign intervention, it would not have been impossible for Washington and his generals, as well as the American people who supported him, to maintain their strategies until Britain gave up on its American colonies. In the book A Shattered Nation: The Rise and Fall of the Confederacy, 1861-1868, Rubin expresses the will of the American people to support the war. She mentions letters circulating among the masses, who knew that the revolutionary forces must somehow show some power enough to â€Å"overthrow† the British before foreign nations would start acknowledging America as an independent nation that they should support through money or troops or both.8 The people, as well as Washington and the generals, resisted the idea of becoming a colony once more, especially when they realized that they could be finally freed from the abusive taxation and other oppressive policies of Britain.9 McCullough stresses, nevertheless, that â€Å"†¦it was Washington and the army that won the war for American Independence†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 10 These historians understood the tenacity of the American army in forcing on through their guerilla tactics and attacking Britain where it was at its weakest, specifically in land battles. Other scholars insisted that America could not have won the war without foreign support. In â€Å"

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Bush and Obama Essay Example for Free

Bush and Obama Essay Democracy is generally understood to be the voice of the people in the governance of a nation. In this ‘rule of the people,’ the common folks have the power to control their own policies, that is, how they want to be ruled; and the elected leaders of the people are required to apply reason when listening to the voice of the people in planning and decision making. President George W. Bush was often blamed for refusing to listen to the voice of the people. He took America to two wars, thereby disturbing world peace. Following the Iraq War, he continued to consider taking aggressive action against foreign peoples that he believed to be enemies of the United States. , e. g. the Iranians. What is more, the Americans remained adamant about criticizing his foreign policy in particular. Yet, he did not always pursue the interests of the American people. Because democracy is good, and President Bush did not follow its fundamental principle, that is, listening to the voice of the people – he was not a good president. In fact, the American government seemed to have turned its back on democracy during the presidency of George W. Bush. The conflict in Iraq consumed a huge part of the U. S. budget. This issue remained as a matter of contention between the United States government and the people of America for several years. According to a CBS News Poll conducted in 2007, two-thirds of the Americans believed that violence in Iraq may be beyond the U. S. military’s ability to manage, and only 25 percent believed that the U. S. military could be helpful in reducing violence. Moreover, 63 percent of Americans disapproved of the president’s plan to send more troops into Iraq (â€Å"Poll: Most Doubt Iraq Peace, Iran Threat,† 2007). Seeing that the American people were the ultimate beneficiaries of peace through the end of the conflict in Iraq, and it was their tax money that the Bush government was expending on troops; it would have been appropriate for the president to withdraw U. S. troops from Iraq when the majority of Americans were asking for it. By withdrawing its troops from Iraq, the United States would have released the finances that were tied up for troop buildup in the foreign country. Those funds, once released, should have been used by the government in solving the health care crisis facing America. Unfortunately, however, the Bush government did not take a wise stance to resolve the health care issues facing America. Furthermore, the Bush government left America in dire straits as far as economic conditions are concerned. Current President Barack Obama Americans had been asked even before the presidential elections of 2008 about issues that may influence their votes. The majority of prospective voters, that is, eighty-seven percent of those that had participated in the research, had indicated that the deteriorating state of the U. S. economy would definitely influence their votes. The second most important issue happened to be energy, backed by seventy-seven percent of the research participants (â€Å"More Americans Question Religions Role In Politics,† 2008). Unsurprisingly, President Barack Obama had indicated before the elections that his Number One priority in the office of president of the United States would be to â€Å"build a new alternative-energy economy,† combining the two dominant issues in the minds of the prospective voters (Klein, 2008). For the reason that Barack Obama knew the mind of America and agreed with it one hundred percent, he is sure to be a friend of democracy and an improvement over George W. Bush. Once it was determined that Barack Obama would, indeed, assume the role of U. S. president, that is, a manager of the prosperity of the nation, voters in the presidential election 2008 were asked about the dominant issue to have influenced their votes. The response was not quite different. The feeble state of the U. S. economy was declared the most important issue to have influenced American votes for the new president. In fact, at least six out of ten voters participating in the research reported that the economic recession of 2008 is the most significant problem facing America (â€Å"Inside Obama’s Sweeping Victory,† 2008). To put it another way, Barack Obama was seen as most capable of handling the financial crisis facing the nation. Based on the principles of democracy, because Americans understand how their country must be managed, they must be judged as correct in their belief that President Obama would, indeed, help America out of the economic crisis. Obama Looks Better in History Books Hundred Years from Now Philip Elliott writes that â€Å"Barack Obama tapped into Ohio voters fears about the economy and their desire for change† (Elliott, 2008). Ohio was, of course, an important state for the election of George W. Bush. They had backed him because of the values they believed he personified. This time they backed Barack Obama because of the financial crisis facing the country (Elliott). Barack Obama was promising change to America. Nathan Gonzales of the Rotherberg Political Report states that â€Å"the American electorate was really primed for change† (Young, 2008). Bill Clinton and Al Gore had entered the White House with a program for economic renewal (Conason, 2008). As the leader of their Democratic Party now, President Obama is expected to continue their legacy and help America retrieve its prosperity. Joe Conason writes that economic programs created by the Democrats usually succeed in promoting economic growth because they tend to â€Å"distribute national wealth more widely than the Republican tradition of trickle-down† (Conason). This is backed by statistics, according to the author. Thus, Americans are expecting Barack Obama to somehow turn the current economic recession into economic growth. Once President Obama has succeeded in achieving this goal for America, he will be recognized as an American hero – a designation that was historically reserved for the whites alone. Moreover, being the first black president in the White House, President Obama is sure to work smarter not only to live up to American expectations but also to reverse the damages inflicted upon the country by the theory of racism. Bush may be compared to his father, if not the other white presidents of the United States. But, Obama is truly unique. In history books written hundred years from now, it is Obama’s name that will be remembered with greater fondness. Unlike Bush, the new president of the United States will provide relief to America from distress. He brings change, after all. Bush, on the contrary, had brought distress. This is the main reason why John McCain, despite his strong background in politics, was not chosen as America’s darling in the presidential election 2008. He reminded the Americans of George W. Bush (Young). References Conason, J. (2008, Dec 3). Obama’s Winning Argument. Salon. Retrieved Mar 21, 2009, from http://www. salon. com/opinion/conason/2008/11/01/obama_closing_argument/. Elliot, P. (2008, Nov 5). Obama Rides Economic Worries to Victory in Ohio. USA Today. Retrieved Mar 21, 2009, from http://www. usatoday. com/news/politics/2008-11-04-2264020452_x. htm. Inside Obama’s Sweeping Victory. (2008, Nov 5). The Pew Research Center for the People the Press. Retrieved Mar 21, 2009, from http://pewresearch. org/pubs/1023/exit-poll-analysis-2008. Klein, J. (2008, Oct 22). Why Barack Obama is Winning. Time. Retrieved Mar 21, 2009, from http://www. time. com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1853025-1,00. html. More Americans Question Religions Role In Politics. (2008, Aug 21). The Pew Research Center for the People the Press. Retrieved Mar 21, 2009, from http://people-press. org/report/? pageid=1364. Poll: Most Doubt Iraq Peace, Iran Threat. (2007, Feb 12). CBS News. Retrieved Mar 21, 2009, from http://www. cbsnews. com/stories/2007/02/12/opinion/polls/main2464626. shtml. Young, J. (2008, Nov 6). Obama Victory Reflects Solid Campaign, Shaky Economy. VOA News. Retrieved Mar 21, 2009, from http://www. voanews. com/english/2008-11-06-voa18. cfm.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Modelling Programmes for Industrial Scale Drug Production

Modelling Programmes for Industrial Scale Drug Production Different modelling programs of the production of a drug on an industrial scale Crystallisation: Crystallisation is usually used for the split-up, purification and the creation stage in the chemical industries. It is one of the oldest and most crucial unit operations. Crystallisation is a practical method of gaining a chemical substance that is concentrated. This concentrated chemical substance is in a form that is nice and simple to handle. There are various ways in which crystallisation could be carried out, such as melt, vapour and solution. However, recently melt has been the most popular one as there are great demands for it because of its good purification technique. Chemist always wants to get the chemicals they make as pure as possible and a good way of purifying chemicals is to make crystals of them. When they are in solution, you can have all sorts of impurities. But when they form crystals, the crystals the crystals contain much purer compounds than in the solutions. And the impurities are left in the solution. Generally, the crystals are a very precise arrangement of molecules all the same fitting together. The impurity has a different shape so it doesn’t fit in properly. Sometimes we get an impurity that is the wrong shape and we can get rid of it. Each time we recrystallise it e.g. make some solution, form crystals, filter them out, re-dissolve them, and form more crystals. Each time we crystallise it we get a purer and purer compound. Sometimes in the old days people crystallised thousands of times to get something really pure. The problem is that when you have a solution even if you want to cool it down which is the standard way of getting crystals to form. The crystals cannot form unless you get it something small for the first crystal to form around. Once the first one goes, the whole lot goes (Ssci-inc.com, 2014). There are three following steps in which the development of a certain crystal for the duration of crystallisation process follows. The three following steps that it continues over are; nucleation, crystal growth and Ostwald ripening. Embryos are created by the molecules of the substance combined, in the nucleation step. A macroscopic crystal can be created if the circumstances are for example if the embryo is allowed to reach a critical size known as nucleus. However, the embryo will dissolve if the circumstance is such that it is not possible to reach the critical nuclear size. Crystallising substance can exist in more than one crystalline phase for example; solvates or polymorphs. If that’s the case then each stage will have its own specific embryonic combined and nucleus. The differen t embryos in the supersaturated solution compete for solute molecules (Ssci-inc.com, 2014). The type of embryo that first reaches the critical nuclear size forms a nucleus for that particular crystalline phase and hence enables that phase to grow into macroscopic crystals. Because of the time that is involved in the competition for nucleation this step is controlled by kinetic considerations on condition that that the thermodynamic driving force for the formation of the crystallizing phase is favourable, i.e., ΔG is negative (Ssci-inc.com, 2014). Drug Design: Drug design is sometimes referred to as rational drug design. This is the inventive process of finding new medications based on the knowledge of a biological target. The drug is usually an organic small molecule that activates or inhibits the function of a biomolecule e.g. such as a protein, which in turn results in a therapeutic benefit to the patient. Drug design, in the most basic sense, involves the design of small molecules that are complementary in shape and charge to the bimolecular target with which they interact and therefore will bind to it. Drug design often but not essentially relies on computer modelling techniques. This type of modelling is often referred to as computer-aided drug design. Lastly, drug design that relies on the information of the three-dimensional structure of the bimolecular target is known as structure-based drug design. The phrase drug design is to some extent a contradiction, but what is really meant by drug design is ligand design (i.e., design of a small molecule that will bind tightly to its target). Although modelling techniques for prediction of binding affinity are reasonably effective, there are many other properties, e.g. such as bioavailability, lack of side effects, metabolic half-life, etc. That first must be optimized before a ligand can become a safe and efficient drug. These other characteristics are often difficult to optimize using rational drug design techniques (drug design, 2014). Typically a drug target is a key molecule involved in a particular metabolic or signalling pathway that is specific to a disease condition or pathology or to the infectivity or survival of a microbial pathogen. There are some methods that attempt to inhibit the functioning of the pathway in the diseased state by causing a key molecule to stop functioning. Drugs may be designed that bind to the active region and inhibit this main molecule. Another method may be to enhance the normal pathway by promoting specific molecules in the normal pathways that may have been affected in the diseased state. Also adding to that, these drugs should also be designed so as not to affect any other important off-target molecules or anti-targets that may be similar in appearance to the target molecule, since drug communications with off-target molecules may lead to undesirable side effects. Sequence homology is frequently used to identify such risks (drug design, 2014). Most frequently, drugs are organic small molecules produced through chemical mixture, but biopolymer-based drugs, also known as biologics, which is produced through biological processes, are becoming gradually more common. In addition, mRNA-based gene silencing technologies may have therapeutic applications (drug design, 2014). There are two types of drug design; one is Ligand based and the other Structure based drug design. Ligand based drug design is when you don’t know the structure. On the other hand, structure based drug design is when you do know the structure. Methods of drug design: 2.1.1Ligand-based Ligand based drug design, which is also sometimes referred to as indirect drug design, depends on the information given of other molecules that attach to the biological object. A pharmacophore model can be derived by using these other molecules that attach to the biological object. A pharmacophore is a theoretical description for molecular features that are essential in order to obtain molecular recognition of ligand by a biological macromolecule, a very large molecule. This defines the minimum essential structural features a molecule needs to have for it to attach to the object. In other words a model of the biological object can be built based on the information obtained of what attach to it and this model can also be used for designing new molecular objects that act together with the biological object. On the other hand, a quantitative structure activity relationship which correlation between calculated properties of molecules and their experimentally determined biological activit y, can be derived. These quantitative structure activity relationships in turn can be used to predict the activity of new analogues (Ligand-based drug design, 2014). 2.1.2Structure based The other method is called structure-based drug design. Structure based drug design, which is also referred to as direct drug design, depends on the information given about the three dimensional structure of the biological object gained from methods such as x-ray crystallography or NMR spectroscopy. If an experimental structure of an object is not available then it can be possible to make a homology model of the object based on the experimental structure of a related protein. Using the structure of the biological object candidate drugs that are predicted to attach to the high affinity and selectivity to the object can be designed using interactive graphics and the intuition of a medicinal chemistry or various automated computational procedures to suggest new drug candidates. The knowledge about the structural dynamics and electronic properties about ligands increased with more information concerning three dimensional structures of bimolecular objects. Current methods for structure ba sed drug design can be divided roughly into two categories. Fragment based Fragment based drug design involve Identifying low molecular weight compounds that weakly attach to a biological object macromolecule and will then be modified or connected to yield potent inhibitors. The specificity of these low difficulty and low affinity molecules has rarely been discussed in the writings (Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, 2014). Computational drug design Drugs and associated biologically active molecules can be studied, improved and discovered by using computational chemistry in computer-aided drug design. In computer-aided drug design the most important aim is to predict if a certain molecule will attach to an object and if that is the case then how strongly does it attach. Often molecular dynamics or molecular mechanics are mostly used to predict the conformation of the small molecule and to model conformational changes in the biological object that might occur when the small molecule attach to it. An estimation of the binding affinity can also be obtained by the use of molecular mechanics methods. Likewise, information based scoring function can also be used in order to obtain binding affinity predictions (Young, 2009). The methods mentioned use statistical techniques such as linear regression, neural nets, machine learning, etc. This is used in order to derive estimated binding affinity equations by adding experimental affinities to computationally derived communication energies among the object and the molecule. If it is possible, the computational method will succeed in estimating affinity before a compound is fused. Therefore, in principle, just a single compound is needed to fuse. This is more efficient and will save a lot of time and money. However, the current computational methods available are not as perfect yet. At its best the computational methods gives just qualitatively accurate approximations of affinity. At the moment it still requires a few repetition of design, fusion and tests until a desired prime drug is found (Young, 2009). List of reference: Ssci-inc.com. 2014. Crystallization Impact on the Nature and Properties of the Crystalline Product. [online] Available at: http://www.ssci-inc.com/Information/RecentPublications/ApplicationNotes/CrystallizationImpact/tabid/138/Default.aspx [Accessed: 8 Mar 2014]. Drug design. 2014. [e-book] Available through: strbio.biochem.nchu.edu.tw https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=3cad=rjauact=8ved=0CEIQFjACurl=http://strbio.biochem.nchu.edu.tw/classes/special%20topics%20biochem/course%20ppts/course3.pdfei=b1YnU4D9BPC00QXdooHIDgusg=AFQjCNHxw8n3fRX0CfwB5yUQ9JXkts-vgA [Accessed: 17 Mar 2014]. Ligand-based drug design. 2014. [e-book] Available through: strbio.biochem.nchu.edu.tw https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=3cad=rjauact=8ved=0CEIQFjACurl=http://strbio.biochem.nchu.edu.tw/classes/special%20topics%20biochem/course%20ppts/course3.pdfei=b1YnU4D9BPC00QXdooHIDgusg=AFQjCNHxw8n3fRX0CfwB5yUQ9JXkts-vgA [Accessed: 17 Mar 2014]. Young, D. C. 2009. Computational drug design. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. 2014. Fragment based drug design: from experimental [Curr Med Chem. 2012] PubMed NCBI. [online] Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22934764 [Accessed: 18 Mar 2014].

Friday, October 25, 2019

Tone Analysis-their Eyes Were :: essays research papers

Tone Analysis of the selected passage from Their Eyes Were Watching God   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The somber and effusive tone of the selected passage from Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, is shown through its general diction and imagery. Hurston uses skillfully chosen words to enhance the imagery, and both devices contribute to the tone of this scene.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The somber and the effusive tone can be seen in this passage, which also happens to be the climax of the novel in which Hurston gives the reader a dramatic image of Tea Cake's death scene. Hurston's choice of words and sentences will aid in creating the imagery. In the first paragraph, she describes how 'Tea Cake crumpled at his bullet'; and how Janie 'pried'; her husband's teeth from her arm after 'he crashed forward in her arms.'; She also begins the second paragraph by saying 'It was the meanest moment of eternity'; and how Janie sacrificed herself 'with Tea Cake's head in her lap.'; The mentioning of Janie's sacrifice is crucial to this scene. Even though Tea Cake treated her better than her pasts husbands, the act of Janie shooting Tea Cake shows her newly gained freedom and independence. Janie learns how to live for herself. The effusive tone or the outpouring of emotions can mainly be seen in the second paragraph. The beginning statements of how 'she wanted him to live so much'; and the sentences before that , makes us sympathize for Janie. Janie's emotions can clearly be seen in this section. She ' held his head tightly to her breast and wept and thanked him wordlessly for giving her the chance for loving service.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Essay on Macbeth comparing to current events Essay

On March 16, 1988, Saddam Hussein launched an attack on people in his own country. 5,000 Kurds were dead, and 7,000 were either injured or had long-term illnesses. The attack was in Iraq’s city of Halabja and President Hussein only attacked because the Kurds did not support him, and he was retaliating. This ruthless destruction of innocent people proves that still in the world today there are people who are greedy, have ruthless ambition, and do not care how many lives they destroy, only if they can end up on top. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main character was described as a greedy, heartless, and ambitious individual who was swayed into evil and let his ambition take control of his life. Even thought that Macbeth was written over 400 years ago, people today such as Martha Stewart, Jeff Skilling, and Saddam Hussein compare with the character Macbeth in many ways. â€Å"I have given suck, and know tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me; I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from its boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this.† (1.7.55-60) This quote from Macbeth shows how ruthless the character Lady Macbeth was and how she could murder her child if she swore she would. This compares with the brutality of Saddam Hussein and his attacks on his own Kurdish people. Only because the Kurds did not agree nor support Saddam and his regime, he said he would take measures to destroy them and he did. He launched chemical and biological weapons in the city of Halabja and the city along with its people are still trying to recover from this massacre. In Shakespeare’s play, the character Macbeth killed King Duncan and Fleance because those were the two people in Macbeth’s way, and prevented him from becoming King of Scotland. In Iraq, Saddam Hussein killed all of the people who opposed him and made himself the only person running for president because he scared everyone else. If someone else was thinking of running, or tried to, Saddam made him suddenly â€Å"disappear† and won the next election. This verifies that Macbeth relates to the current world; by having people still stop at nothing, destroying everything in their path, to achieve their goals. â€Å"Look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t.† (1.5.65-66) This quotation is when Lady Macbeth is telling Macbeth to pretend to be a  nice and heartwarming host, but underneath he is a nasty beast. This compares with Martha Stewart in the present day. She appears to be a nice and perfect role model for all people, but underneath is a villainous serpent. For example, Martha Stewart bought almost all of the flowers from one small business owner, and promised to pay him back. Weeks passed along with the months. Eventually the business had to declare bankruptcy because Stewart never wrote down that she was going to pay the owner back, and ran out of money. This establishes that Martha Stewart is a horrible person who cares for no one but herself. In Macbeth, this relates because Macbeth killed his best friend Banquo because he knew too much information, and Macbeth thought he was a threat, and had him killed. Even though that Banquo was a friend to Macbeth his entire life, Macbeth thought that he was a little pest and just had him killed in the blink of an eye. This validates that Macbeth relates to the current world, by having greedy people who think only about themselves rise up in the world and surpass their goals, but leaving all their friends and everyone they loved behind in a bloody trail of death. â€Å"The castle of Macduff I will surprise, seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ the sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line.† (4.2.150-153) This quote is right before his henchmen go to kill Macduff’s innocent child and wife. Macduff was the person Macbeth wanted to kill. Macbeth had nothing against Macduff’s wife and child, and Macbeth only wanted to kill them to make Macduff angry. Jeff Skilling, the CEO of ENRON is also guilty of destroying the lives of people under him. He was charged with insider trading, wire fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy, and making false statements. As compared the Macbeth, Skilling took the pensions away from hard-workers who were looking forward to big pensions after they retired. Many people lost their jobs and lots of money when Skilling was CEO of ENRON. Skilling could stop at nothing, even though he had millions of dollars, his ambition could never be satisfied. Both Macb eth and Jeff Skilling are the same in respect to they both do not care about people, and their ambitions are never satisfied. Overall, Martha Stewart, Jeff Skilling, and Saddam Hussein all relate to the  plat Macbeth because they all were ruthless individuals. Greed, hatred, and driving ambition were all contributing factors that Macbeth shared with the three people. The thirst for having unlimited power and stopping at nothing to achieve that goal was a trait for both Macbeth and Saddam Hussein. The greed and complete disregard to others equally compares Macbeth with Martha Stewart. The driving and unrelenting ambition was a quality that both Macbeth and Jeff Skilling shared. Many people believe that William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is one of the greatest books of all times. This is because no matter what time period, the ideas represented in this play are still common traits in the current world.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

American Ideals Of Beauty With Ideals Of

Compare And Contrast European/American Ideals Of Beauty With Ideals Of Compare And Contrast European/American Ideals Of Beauty With Ideals Of Beauty In Non European/American ideals of beauty Affiliation: Introduction Beauty standards and ideals in the 19th Century were very different with each culture especially the African, Asians and European/American. As globalization however continues to be on the increase, westernization has seeped slowly into each of the cultures and changed the ideals of beauty to be aligned with that of the European/ America. In Africa since time immemorial, big and curvaceous was the ideal beauty. African women were force-fed such as in Mauritania in order to become large and have body curves. Women that were skinny were regarded as sick individuals and hence not beautiful at all. All this however is changing as the ideal beauty merges with that of the western nations and skinny is now regarded as beautiful (LaFraniere, 2007). This is evident in the models in beauty pageants. In Asia and especially in India, China and Korea, beauty was regarded in terms of body size. Thin women were disregarded as being unhealt hy no matter how beautiful their clothes were (Alibhai-Brown, 2010). The trend is on the move as thin is being regarded as the ideal beauty in addition to facial surgery to change their eyes and facial appearances (Lah, 2011). The â€Å"fat† people are being regarded as oversize and have pressure to cut down their weight.ConclusionThe ideals of beauty in the world cultures which were parallel in the 19th and 20th Century have changed and merged to become one. The ideal beauty in the 21st Century for all cultures is being skinny and light-skinned as is evident in the girls competing in the world beauty pageants who appear to be the same body type, shape and size. ReferencesAlibhai-Brown, Y. (2010, November 20th).Why are Asian women aspiring to Western ideals of beauty? The Independent. Retrieved from independent.co.uk/life- style/fashion/features/why-are-asian-women-aspiring-to-western-ideals-of-beauty- 2136868.htmlLaFraniere, S. (2007, July 7th). In Mauritania, Seeking to En d an Overfed Ideal. The New York Times. Retrieved from nytimes.com/2007/07/04/world/africa/04mauritania.html?pagewanted=all&_r =0Lah, K. (2011, May 24th). Plastic surgery boom as Asians seek western look. CNN. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/19/korea.beauty/

Monday, October 21, 2019

Free Essays on Sir Gawain And Green Knight

This essay will critically analyze Sir Gawain and The Green Knight in order to show how the author’s use of symbolism, chivalric virtues, and religious undertones serve as the ultimate â€Å"test† for Gawain, and ultimately humanity. Sir Gawain and The Green Knight begins with Arthur’s Christmas feast being interrupted by the emergence of a mysterious horseman. He makes an interesting offer of a game to the Knights regarding the chopping off of some heads and the brave Sir Gawain rises to the occasion. After cutting the Green Ghosts head off, Gawain must meet him one year later and fulfill his part of the deal and get his head chopped off. In short, one year later Gawain searches for this Green Knight and stumbled upon a castle. He stays there for a few days and eventually gets enticed by the lord’s wife. The lord of the castle, Bercilak, is away in the forest hunting at this time. Gawain accepts a magic belt from the Lady, which he will use later to protect himself against the Green Knights vengeance. He soon departs to meet with the Green Knight. The horseman takes a few chops at Gawain but misses on the first two. It is on the third swing that he only seems to nick at Gawain’s neck. Following this, Gawain is invited by the Green Knight back to the castle for a feast of his own. It is here that he learns that the Lady of the castle plotted from the beginning to lead Gawain to sin. The tales ends with Gawain promising that forever he must wear this girdle as a symbol of his wrongdoing. As one reads this text, it is immediately apparent that the author takes great pains in describing elaborate details about character descriptions and physical features. These descriptions are always aesthetic in nature, describing ornate clothing, physical and sometimes violent detail. As the tale begins, we immediately witness references to Christianity. We learn that Arthur’s company consisted of â€Å"The most noble knights known... Free Essays on Sir Gawain And Green Knight Free Essays on Sir Gawain And Green Knight This essay will critically analyze Sir Gawain and The Green Knight in order to show how the author’s use of symbolism, chivalric virtues, and religious undertones serve as the ultimate â€Å"test† for Gawain, and ultimately humanity. Sir Gawain and The Green Knight begins with Arthur’s Christmas feast being interrupted by the emergence of a mysterious horseman. He makes an interesting offer of a game to the Knights regarding the chopping off of some heads and the brave Sir Gawain rises to the occasion. After cutting the Green Ghosts head off, Gawain must meet him one year later and fulfill his part of the deal and get his head chopped off. In short, one year later Gawain searches for this Green Knight and stumbled upon a castle. He stays there for a few days and eventually gets enticed by the lord’s wife. The lord of the castle, Bercilak, is away in the forest hunting at this time. Gawain accepts a magic belt from the Lady, which he will use later to protect himself against the Green Knights vengeance. He soon departs to meet with the Green Knight. The horseman takes a few chops at Gawain but misses on the first two. It is on the third swing that he only seems to nick at Gawain’s neck. Following this, Gawain is invited by the Green Knight back to the castle for a feast of his own. It is here that he learns that the Lady of the castle plotted from the beginning to lead Gawain to sin. The tales ends with Gawain promising that forever he must wear this girdle as a symbol of his wrongdoing. As one reads this text, it is immediately apparent that the author takes great pains in describing elaborate details about character descriptions and physical features. These descriptions are always aesthetic in nature, describing ornate clothing, physical and sometimes violent detail. As the tale begins, we immediately witness references to Christianity. We learn that Arthur’s company consisted of â€Å"The most noble knights known...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Chem 17 Reviewer (1st Exam) Essays

Chem 17 Reviewer (1st Exam) Essays Chem 17 Reviewer (1st Exam) Essay Chem 17 Reviewer (1st Exam) Essay CHEMISTRY 17 1ST LONG EXAM REVIEWER I. ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE OF ATOMS -arrangement of atoms’ electrons -the number of electrons in an atom -distribution of electrons around the nucleus and their energies ATOMS *Billiard Ball Model (JOHN DALTON) *Plum Pudding Model (JOSEPH J. THOMPSON) *RUTHERFORD’s Model of Atom -atoms are tiny, hard, indivisible spheres -electrons (negative charge) occupy the atom Atom is mostly empty space with a dense nucleus PROBLEMS with Rutherford’s Model According to laws of physics, Rutherford’s atom should collapse *The model CANNOT explain differences in properties of elements *The model CANNOT explain the colors emitted by elements when heated A. THE QUANTUM MODELS (WAVE) -formed through studies about light DESCRIBING ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE *Wavelength (? †lambda†) -distance between two adjacent peaks or troughs (m) *Frequency (? †nu†) number of cycles(complete wavelengths) that pass a given point each sec ond (Hz or /s) **Wavelength is inversely proportional to frequency. Where: c= 3. 00 x 10? m/s B. QUANTIZED ENERGY AND PHOTONS Blackbody Radiation oPerfect absorber and emitter of light oAt high temperature, solids emit radiation oRadiation depends on the temperature not in the element the solid is made from. oPREDICTION: â€Å"As temperature increases, the frequency of light emitted also increases. † oOBSERVATION: There was a peak. Photoelectric Effect and Photons oWhen a beam of light shines on a certain surface (e. g. some metals), electrons are ejected. oThe effect is instantaneous. PREDICTION: †It will take time for effect to be observed†; â€Å"and light will produce the effect, given enough time† oOBSERVATION: Effect is instantaneous. There is a minimum frequency of light needed to produce the effect. o**†If frequency of light is below a certain value called the threshold frequency, the number of electrons will be ejected. † o**†If i ntensity of light is increased, flow of current also increases. † QUANTUM THEORY (Max Planck *1858-1947*) oQuantum (fixed amount) – smallest quality oEach particle corresponds to certain energy. Planck proposed that the minimum amount of radiant energy that can gain or lose is related to the frequency of radiation. o†Radiation consists of packets/quantum of energy (PHOTONS *name given by G. N. Lewis*). † oQuantum Theory: â€Å"Energy is quantized. It can only have certain allowed values. † oEnergy of radiation is proportional to the frequency of radiation. Higher frequency ? More energy; Lower wavelength ? More energy oMonochromatic light consists of photons with the same frequency or same energy. oIntensity of the light depends on the number of photons emitted per second. Einstein’s Explanation on the Photoelectric Effect Light consisting of energy packets hit the metal and their energy is absorbed by the electrons. oOne packet of energy (phot on) hits the metal surface, one electron is emitted. oIf energy of a bundle is not enough, it will not be able to dislodge electron from the attraction of the atomic nuclei. No photoelectric effect. oIf energy of a bundle is enough (equal to the threshold energy). It will dislodge an electron from the attraction of the atomic nuclei. oEnergy in excess of energy to dislodge electron (in excess of the threshold energy) becomes kinetic energy of the electron. Higher energy/ frequency of light ? more excess energy ? Higher kinetic energy of electron C. LINE SPECTRA AND THE BOHR MODEL Line Spectra oMonochromatic radiation is composed of single wavelength. oSpectrum is produced when radiation from light is separated into different wavelength components. oContinuous spectrum ?ROYGBIV, containing light of all wavelength oLine spectrum ?Spectrum containing radiation of only specific wavelengths Bohr’s Model (Spectra of Hydrogen Atom) oAssumed that electron move in circular orbits arou nd the nucleus oPOSTULATES: Only orbits of certain radii, corresponding to certain definite energies, are permitted for the electron in a hydrogen atom. ?An electron in a permitted orbit has a specific energy and is in an allowed energy state. An electron in an allowed energy state will not spiral into the nucleus. ?Energy is transmitted or absorbed by the electron only as the electron changes from one allowed energy state to another. This energy is emitted or absorbed as a photon, E= h?. For electron to move farther from the nucleus, it needs more potential energy. oDistance from the nucleus of an allowed orbit, n. Energy of the electron in the allowed orbit, n. oApplications ?Fireworks ?Use of emission spectroscopy to analyse for the presence of elements. Success of Bohr Model oIt successfully predicted the frequencies of the lines in the hydrogen spectrum oIt introduced the concept of discrete energy levels of electron in atoms and the first quantum number, n. oThe model failed to predict energy levels for atoms with more than 1 electron. (if 2/more electrons are present, the electrons repel) D. THE WAVE BEHAVIOR OF MATTER Louis de Broglie (1892-1987) â€Å"Depending on the experimental circumstances, radiation appears to have either a wavelike or a particle-like (photon) character. † o**As the electron moves about the nucleus, it is associated with a particular wavelength. The characteristic wavelength of the electron, or of any particle, depends on its mass, m, and moving at speed, v. oThe quantity mv for any object is its momentum. oMatter waves, wave characteristic of material particles. oThis hypothesis is found to be applicable to all matter; any object of mass and velocity would give rise to a characteristic matter wave. Uncertainty Principle -There is an inherent uncertainty in the precision with which we can simultaneously specify the position and momentum of a particle. This uncertainty is significant only for particles of extremely small mass, such as electrons. oWerner Heisenberg (1901-1976) ?â€Å"The dual nature of matter places a fundamental limitation on how precisely we can know both the location and the momentum of any object. The limitation becomes important only when we deal with matter at the subatomic level (that is with masses as small as that of an electron). † E. QUANTUM MECHANICS AND ATOMIC ORBITALS Erwin Schr? dinger (1887-1961) oQuantum physics opened a new treatment of atoms, electrons, ions and molecules: by describing it mathematically oUsed Broglie’s hypothesis that electrons can be described as a wave. oSolutions to the equation are called wave functions (energy state of an atom). ?WAVE FUNCTIONS: ?Only certain wave functions are allowed. An electron can only have certain energy states: the energy of the electron is quantized. ?They are called orbitals. ?Its square (? ) is called either probability density or the electron density. Mathematical description of a region in space where an electron has some probability of being found. ?Each wave function (or each energy state/orbital) is characterized by a set of 3 quantum numbers: n, l, ml oSchr? dinger’s theory chose to define the energy of the electron precisely. Therefore, according to the uncertainty principle, this would result in a large uncertainty finding the locatio n of the electron. oWhen the Schr? dinger’s equation for the H-atom is solved, the resulting wave functions contain 3 integral numbers called quantum numbers. Orbitals and Quantum Numbers oWhat for? ?Solutions to wave equations given ?Energy of electron ?Probable location of electron ?Identify an orbital oTo identify an orbital, we use THREE quantum numbers. oTo describe an electron, we use FOUR quantum numbers. Principal Quantum Number (n) a. n defines a main energy level or a principal shell b. the size of orbital and energy of orbital depends mainly on n c. As n increases, there will be higher energy of electrons and the farther is the distance of the electron from the nucleus. Azimuthal Quantum Number (l) a. Each value of l defines a type of sublevel or subshell, or an orbital type. b. Thus, we speak of op sublevel/ p orbitals od sublevel/ d orbitals c. Allowed values: positive integer values (from O ? (n-1)) d. Orbitals and sublevels are designated by letters. e. Determines the shape of the orbital. Value of l012345 Letter designatedspdfgh Magnetic Quantum Number (ml) a. Describe the 3D orientation of the orbital b. Gives the number of orbitals in a given substance c. Orbitals in some sublevel have same energy but differ in orientation in space called degenerate orbitals. . Value depends on l. e. Allowed values from –l to +l. Spin Quantum Number (ms) a. Pauli Exclusion Principle oNo 2 electrons in the same atom can have exactly same energy. b. Energies of orbital for H-atom. oFor 1 electron H-atom, orbitals on the same energy level have same energy. They are degenerate. oEnergy of the orbitals of H-atom depends only on the principal quantum number, n. oEnergies of Orbitals As num ber of electron increase, so do the repulsion interactions among them. oSubshells in a Principal Shell have different energies: s

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Themes of Crhistian Faith Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Themes of Crhistian Faith - Essay Example lshtain judges the historical and modern events through the prism of religious and divine monism and promotes a view that only sovereignty of God can give societies a better sense of dignity, decency, and common sense. Elshtain’s book is a sustained examination, critique, and interpretation of monistic understanding of the sovereignty of God, states, and selves (227). The central thesis of the book claims that as a sovereign state is sovereign to God, so sovereign selves are to sovereign states (159). Elshtain’s book revolves around the topic of monistic religions, the finality of God’s religious word, and the conflict between individual autonomy and the power of religion. Elshtain discusses and evaluates the changes that have occurred to the current position of religion against the state: today, individuals seek to rely on individual judgments and no longer regard the word of God as the source of the ultimate truth. Elshtain refers to the case of Terry Schiavo to judge and condemn her family’s decision to let Terry die. Elshtain is confident that a truly theological state would not let family members kill Terry simply because she was causing them discomfort. Elshtain a sserts that Terry’s family members applied to the power of the state, state laws, and their autonomy to take the decisions that go against the will of God. Elshtain is confident that the shift of God’s sovereignty to the sovereignty of state marks the erosion of decency, dignity, and common sense in society and gives way to using others for the sake of personal comfort. The discussion of the bound and unbound state and self are among the central categories in Elshtain’s book. These categories reflect the two opposing dimensions of the moral theory and represent the two dramatically different aspects of philosophic and religious reasoning. The discussion of state-bound and self-bound categories must begin with the reference to the Biblical scriptures. In ACTS 5:29 we read: â€Å"Peter and

Friday, October 18, 2019

Allstate evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Allstate evaluation - Essay Example However, Pride, Hughes and Kapoor (2008) advise that these targets should be quantifiable and attainable in order to prevent the employees from retracting to their old unproductive habits. Allstate goal setting process entails setting of goals and subsequently making certain that the respective leaders are held accountable for the end results, which is in itself one of the ways of attracting the employees’ attention. Just like any other business enterprise, Allstate also regards the diversity policies and as a result, it has made great efforts in attempting to estimate the effects of diversity based on overall cooperate running. As part of its strategy, the company has two major diversity focus strategies; external and internal diversity. The former is mainly concerned with all efforts aimed at ensuring that labor force is at par with market background and sensitivity, whereas the latter aims at making certain that workers have the appropriate machineries and resources at their disposal so as to unlock their full capability (Don & Slocum, 2010). The firm’s superb goal setting process can also be realized through their provision of educational training, m entoring as well as coaching services to workers, which allows them to develop or enhance skills essential for their career advancement. Moreover, their goals setting process also creates room for the workers to balance between personal life and their respective professions. As a matter of fact, they offer onsite child-care services at the company’s head office in Illinois, dry-cleaning, catering as well as parent discounts at adjoining child care centers. This creates a sense of belonging in the workers who will be more appreciative to the firm and would in turn be more than willing to work towards taking the company to greater heights. Indeed, it will also breed loyalty among the workers who will want to be more of assets than liabilities to the firm. In addressing the issue of

Ancient Greek Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ancient Greek Philosophy - Essay Example Thales was the person who grouped the similar weather conditions into seasons and he classified an year into 365 days. He had a good knowledge of geometry and worked with the lengths of the shadows. According to him " Place is the greatest thing, as it contains all things". His ethical sense about god is that god is transcendental, who has neither beginning nor an end. Further he defines a happy man as the one " who is healthy in body, resourceful in soul and of readily teachable in nature". He is one of the seven intelligent people of Greece who were called as the seven sages of Greece. The stories told by the Aristotle of any Tales assert that the reputation of any philosopher is same when tested for practical results. According to a story by Aristotle, as a philosopher he was considered poor and could not rely upon philosophy to earn a living. Then Thales with the knowledge of Astronomy predicted his future and got a solution to harvest olives in a large quantity. And when it was off season that it was winter, he couldn't get much of the crop and so stored them in Miletus and Chios. As there was no demand he gave small sum to hire the stores. Then when the right season came, there was full demand for his stored olive presses of money and thus he proved that with his intelligence he could become rich without struggling like others. And by being a philosopher he does not give importance to earn money. Cosmology doctrine of Thales, which was most famous belief, had declared that water is the source from which the world originated. Aristotle has equaled this belief to that of the idea of a Anaximenes a disciple of Thales, that "everything in the world was compared of air". Aristolte Metaphyphics explains in the bets form of Thales view. Every thing that exists emanated principally principle from a matter and it is compared of that matter and comes out from that and finally it ends up in forming the same matter last but the matter exists with some new transitional qualities which is called as element and it is the principle of everything. Also there must be some nature, at least one even two, from which the rest of the things come out and then they are preserved, and Thales say that the thing is water. But Aristotle's statements where not expected by the people and it raised some doubts that when an object changes, still contains it qualities or different qualities and how the change occurs from one thing to another, and the Thales affirmed that earth rests on water. He found out that every thing that is nourished, has moisture in it and the heat in a form of energy is obtained from this water and moisture. He considered as such by seeing the moisture in all the seeds, and water is the reason because of which to the world not as philosophy but as a scientific conclusion that " Water constituted the principle of all things " Thales of Miletus supposed that earth is in a rested state because it could float like wood and substances, which are similar to those whose nature is to be able to be to rest on water as against his doctrine that none of the things, can rest on air. He argued that the basis stuff the Universe is the one

CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN ADVERTISING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN ADVERTISING - Essay Example The products need to encompass global values to attract customers from pluralistic society. The paper therefore, would use global theme. It would evaluate three advertisements based on the broader context of global values and analyze the changing perception of the people vis-a-vis impact of socio-cultural paradigms on the perceived value of the product. Description and semiotic analysis of Advertisements 1. Axe products Currently Axe products from Unilever, especially men’s deodorants are one of the most popular brands of men’s grooming. The products have established excellent track records in the innovative marketing and advertising world. All the advertisements of Axe are highly global in theme and target the men’s segment and are broadly designed to highlight their sex appeal for opposite sex. The vibrantly displayed contents of the text and its background landscape are highly appealing for both men and women cutting across the divide of culture, race and nati onality. Unilever has adopted a creative market mix strategy for its Axe products to maintain competitive advantage in the global market. The advertisement targets men within the age group of 16-25 and subtly links its use as a portent means of attracting the opposite sex. The success of the advertisement lies in the glamour and humor of the contextual content that is very appealing. Indeed, Axe’s advertising targets adventurous young men and sends a subtle message that using it would make them not only more confident but also more popular amongst the fairer sex. Axe website on the whole, is a brilliant example of ecommerce activity that serves multiple purpose of advertising, marketing and selling of Axe products. 2. McDonald’s The company has been a world leader in the fast food category which has now incorporated ‘I’m lovin’ it’ within its logo also. The mission statement of McDonald’s, ‘To be our customer’s favorite pl ace and way to eat’ is reflected in all its advertisements and campaigns highlighted by cliche â€Å"I’m lovin’ it’. The company has established its brand equity by using common advertisement in all its food chain across the globe. The advertisement targets the demographic segment comprising of children, young adults and working people who relish food. The advertisement of its new product, ‘Angus Snack Wrap’ gives the opportunity to buyers to prepare the snack as per their palette taste. Indeed, a very innovative and tempting offer that is hard to ignore! The internet based website advertisement is not only greatly interesting for letting the customers create their own concoction of AngusWrap but concept of letting them have their own personal axiom to define their Wrap is par excellent. The advertisement again, portrays global values and helps transcend socio-cultural misgivings by encouraging customization of the products as per the taste and design of the individual. At the same time, it has successfully influenced the perceived value of its product of the customer by encouraging proactive participation in creating their own snack. Indeed, by catering to the demands of people coming from cross cultural background, it has been successful in adopting global values. The advertisements show Customers have remained its main focus and their satisfaction is ensured through customization, value and highly personalized

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Economics of Social Issues Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Economics of Social Issues - Assignment Example Due to the prohibition the supply curve is inelastic. The shortage of kidney is given by q’ minus q*. The market for kidney can be corrected by allowing for the sale and distribution of kidney in a free market. This would address the shortage of kidney and enable people with enough income to buy though at a higher price. The market equilibrium would be at price P* and at quantity Q* as shown in the diagram. The market for kidney is prone to negative externalities. The poor people are subject to exploitation from the rich by selling their organs in exchange for money. Moreover, people with debt may be pressured in selling their body organ to repay their debtor. The negative externality will result to increased sale of the kidney reducing the price of kidney to (p’) at quantity q’. Negative externality increases the production of services above the optimal level and thus the poor become vulnerable at the long

Population Health in South Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Population Health in South Africa - Essay Example Any crucial health promotion effort, would therefore need a thorough knowledge of the epidemiologic factors and their distributions (Ugen, Bendinelli, and Friedman, 2002, 1-24). HIV transmission is known to occur by both homosexual and heterosexual contacts; by blood and blood products; and by infected mothers to infants either intrapartum, perinatally, or via breast milk. It has been intensely investigated since its discovery, but till date there is no evidence that HIV is transmitted by casual contact or that the virus can be spread by insects, which are commonly people's perceptions. HIV infection/AIDS is a global pandemic; every country has its share of this burden. It has been currently estimated that the number of cases of HIV infection among adults is 37 million worldwide. Unfortunately, two-thirds of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa, and about 50% of these cases are women. In addition, an estimated 2.5 million younger than age 15 children are living with HIV/AIDS. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) undertook study in 2003, and they declared there were an estimated 5 million new cases of infection worldwide. Calculating on a daily basi s, more than 14,000 new infections occur each day which ultimately lead to 3 million deaths. In this way, AIDS becomes the fourth leading cause of mortality throughout the world. The cumulative number of deaths out of AIDS and from conditions related to AIDS exceeded 20 million in the year 2003. The epidemiologic patterns of HIV occurrence in the world is in the forms of "waves", with each wave demonstrating little difference in characteristics which are determined by the demographics of a specific country or a region. It is also determined by the time when the HIV was introduced into the population. This indicates, in different regions of the world, different types of virus may be prevalent (UNAIDS/WHO, 2006, Chapter 4). Demographically and statistically, HIV/AIDS in different regions of the world provide evidence that although the epidemic was first recognized in the United States and thereafter in Western Europe, it most likely indexed in sub-Saharan Africa. The major mode of transmission of HIV worldwide is heterosexual sex unquestionably; since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in developing countries, where the numbers of infected men and women are approximately equal, the same pattern had been particularly prevalent. Knight has computed the South African data in relation to population and HIV/AIDS in 2006. This comprehensive document highlights many interesting facts in relation to the disease burden of South Africa. These data are important since it is a fact that AIDS epidemic has had a devastating impact on Africa, particularly in South Africa. A mid 2007 data indicate the population in South Africa of 47.9 million with 51% women. Approximately 32% of this population is children of age 0 to 14 years, 5% are older, and 63% belong to age group 15-64, who are working. The burden of the disease becomes more conspicuous

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN ADVERTISING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN ADVERTISING - Essay Example The products need to encompass global values to attract customers from pluralistic society. The paper therefore, would use global theme. It would evaluate three advertisements based on the broader context of global values and analyze the changing perception of the people vis-a-vis impact of socio-cultural paradigms on the perceived value of the product. Description and semiotic analysis of Advertisements 1. Axe products Currently Axe products from Unilever, especially men’s deodorants are one of the most popular brands of men’s grooming. The products have established excellent track records in the innovative marketing and advertising world. All the advertisements of Axe are highly global in theme and target the men’s segment and are broadly designed to highlight their sex appeal for opposite sex. The vibrantly displayed contents of the text and its background landscape are highly appealing for both men and women cutting across the divide of culture, race and nati onality. Unilever has adopted a creative market mix strategy for its Axe products to maintain competitive advantage in the global market. The advertisement targets men within the age group of 16-25 and subtly links its use as a portent means of attracting the opposite sex. The success of the advertisement lies in the glamour and humor of the contextual content that is very appealing. Indeed, Axe’s advertising targets adventurous young men and sends a subtle message that using it would make them not only more confident but also more popular amongst the fairer sex. Axe website on the whole, is a brilliant example of ecommerce activity that serves multiple purpose of advertising, marketing and selling of Axe products. 2. McDonald’s The company has been a world leader in the fast food category which has now incorporated ‘I’m lovin’ it’ within its logo also. The mission statement of McDonald’s, ‘To be our customer’s favorite pl ace and way to eat’ is reflected in all its advertisements and campaigns highlighted by cliche â€Å"I’m lovin’ it’. The company has established its brand equity by using common advertisement in all its food chain across the globe. The advertisement targets the demographic segment comprising of children, young adults and working people who relish food. The advertisement of its new product, ‘Angus Snack Wrap’ gives the opportunity to buyers to prepare the snack as per their palette taste. Indeed, a very innovative and tempting offer that is hard to ignore! The internet based website advertisement is not only greatly interesting for letting the customers create their own concoction of AngusWrap but concept of letting them have their own personal axiom to define their Wrap is par excellent. The advertisement again, portrays global values and helps transcend socio-cultural misgivings by encouraging customization of the products as per the taste and design of the individual. At the same time, it has successfully influenced the perceived value of its product of the customer by encouraging proactive participation in creating their own snack. Indeed, by catering to the demands of people coming from cross cultural background, it has been successful in adopting global values. The advertisements show Customers have remained its main focus and their satisfaction is ensured through customization, value and highly personalized

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Population Health in South Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Population Health in South Africa - Essay Example Any crucial health promotion effort, would therefore need a thorough knowledge of the epidemiologic factors and their distributions (Ugen, Bendinelli, and Friedman, 2002, 1-24). HIV transmission is known to occur by both homosexual and heterosexual contacts; by blood and blood products; and by infected mothers to infants either intrapartum, perinatally, or via breast milk. It has been intensely investigated since its discovery, but till date there is no evidence that HIV is transmitted by casual contact or that the virus can be spread by insects, which are commonly people's perceptions. HIV infection/AIDS is a global pandemic; every country has its share of this burden. It has been currently estimated that the number of cases of HIV infection among adults is 37 million worldwide. Unfortunately, two-thirds of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa, and about 50% of these cases are women. In addition, an estimated 2.5 million younger than age 15 children are living with HIV/AIDS. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) undertook study in 2003, and they declared there were an estimated 5 million new cases of infection worldwide. Calculating on a daily basi s, more than 14,000 new infections occur each day which ultimately lead to 3 million deaths. In this way, AIDS becomes the fourth leading cause of mortality throughout the world. The cumulative number of deaths out of AIDS and from conditions related to AIDS exceeded 20 million in the year 2003. The epidemiologic patterns of HIV occurrence in the world is in the forms of "waves", with each wave demonstrating little difference in characteristics which are determined by the demographics of a specific country or a region. It is also determined by the time when the HIV was introduced into the population. This indicates, in different regions of the world, different types of virus may be prevalent (UNAIDS/WHO, 2006, Chapter 4). Demographically and statistically, HIV/AIDS in different regions of the world provide evidence that although the epidemic was first recognized in the United States and thereafter in Western Europe, it most likely indexed in sub-Saharan Africa. The major mode of transmission of HIV worldwide is heterosexual sex unquestionably; since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in developing countries, where the numbers of infected men and women are approximately equal, the same pattern had been particularly prevalent. Knight has computed the South African data in relation to population and HIV/AIDS in 2006. This comprehensive document highlights many interesting facts in relation to the disease burden of South Africa. These data are important since it is a fact that AIDS epidemic has had a devastating impact on Africa, particularly in South Africa. A mid 2007 data indicate the population in South Africa of 47.9 million with 51% women. Approximately 32% of this population is children of age 0 to 14 years, 5% are older, and 63% belong to age group 15-64, who are working. The burden of the disease becomes more conspicuous

Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Example for Free

Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Learning is a natural ability that is wired into many animals DNA; the way that humans should learn has been debated by the various educators because of the endless ways to teach. Teachers and parents take this matter seriously like Ralph Waldo Emerson in â€Å"From Education† and Todd Gitlin in â€Å"The Liberal Arts in an Age of Info-Glut† who created essays on education; and Billy Collins in â€Å"The History Teacher† entail for then and who wrote a poem concerned with the status of education. These people show what the importance of education is entailing what learning should and should not involve; a teacher should respect and have patience for children; a teacher should also let a child have creativity and lessons of the past. Many teens do not respect their teacher which might be because the teacher does not respect them; as the golden rule goes, â€Å"treat others the way you would treat yourself†; Ralph Waldo Emerson in â€Å"From Education† would probably agree with this quote because he strongly believes that, â€Å"the secret of [e]ducation lies in respecting the pupil,† (page 102). Shows that Emerson understood what children are thinking then did something to help them by simply respecting them. Another big issue with education is patience; some people do not have enough patience to guide children to what they are supposed to learn. Emerson also believes that patience is an important part in education, â€Å"to regard the young [children, they require] no doubt, rare patience: a patience that nothing but faith in medial forces of the soul can give,† Emerson was trying to say that someone has to really care in order to teach information to children (page 105). Some people do not see the point in having art classes or history classes; the reason why is because art assists students to express themselves in a way that words cannot along with helping them find out what kind of person they truly are; and history is needed to teach children where they originated from; and to show them mistakes that other people in the past made so they will not make them again. Todd Gitlin in â€Å"The Liberal Arts in an Age of Info-Glut† agrees with this â€Å"[students] need some orientation to philosophy, history, language, literature, music, and arts that have lasted more than 15 minutes,† (page 156) because students need the outlet to express themselves; or if they do not they would not learn morals then they would become exactly what people were trying to stop; as shown in â€Å"The History Teacher† by Billy Collins who stated, â€Å"the children would leave his classroom for the playground to torment the weak and the smart,† all because â€Å"[the teacher tries] to protect his students’ innocence he told them the Ice Age was really just the Chilly Age, a period of a million years when everyone had to wear sweaters. And the Stone Age became the Gravel Age, named after the long driveways of time,† this demonstrates how not teaching children lessons of the past which are the brood violence’ that others committed in history; by not teaching this history it affects children’s behavior in real life (page 143). Morals are right and wrong many people’s morals will differ; this is why teaching them is tricky because the teacher’s morals might not be the same as the parent’s morals. This is why some of the history in textbooks is sometimes just the summary of what really happened but not enough for the main point to be set across unlike in â€Å"The History Teacher† where, â€Å"the Spanish Inquisition [is] nothing more than an outbreak of questions such as â€Å"How far is it from here to Madrid? †,† and â€Å"the War of the Roses took place in a garden, and the Enola Gay dropped one tiny atom on Japan,† explains when a teacher goes too far in trying to protect student’s mind from bad; when only good is taught and everything else is censored then the students become the opposite; because they do not know the consequences of doing bad, which is why history is taught. As teachers and parents they have to let their students make their own choices as shown in â€Å"From Education† Emerson says, â€Å"it is not for you to choose what he shall know, [or] what he shall do,† shows that sometimes a student needs to find out the consequences the hard way, and let them choose what they want to learn (page 143). Education is needed in modern day society to help students and children grow and help the nation; by giving students proper education the teacher are not really helping the students but they are helping themselves. Teaching creativity helps a student express themselves; respect should be given so the student can give it back; patience is needed to help them understand; morals need to be taught through history so the student will make fewer mistakes; these are essential to a good education and an even better future: as shown by the writings of Billy Collins, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Todd Gitlin.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Burger King Business Communication Case Study

Burger King Business Communication Case Study Burger King is a fast food Corporation. It is the second largest fast-food chain in the United States, trailing only McDonalds. The company franchises more than 10,400 restaurants and owns about 1,000 for a chain wide total exceeding 11,455, with locations in all 50 states and 56 countries. The company serves 15.7 million customers each day and over 2.4 billion Burger King Hamburgers are sold each year across the globe. Miami entrepreneurs James McLamore and David Edgerton founded Burger King Corporation in 1954. REASONING The reason as to why I have chosen to write a report on Burger King is to illustrate its communication strategies and its communication effectiveness. Business Demographics Demographics are attributes used for marketing purposes. Burger King uses the means of networking, media and the internet to communicate between different locations. The organisation uses its demographical strategies to meets it consumer interests and also for profitability to the company. Burger Kings demographic strategy is well planned and well laid out, making it easy to market the organisation to its customers who are from different age groups and from different cultural backgrounds. Organisational Goals Burger Kings main aims and objectives are to serve its customers with the bests meals and services a fast food company could possibly provide. To achieve this, the organisation has a zero compromise policy for the communication of its aims and objectives. The aims and objectives are highly important to the organisation, for it is the only way the organisation maintains its integrity amongst it competitors and its customers. Burger Kings aims and objectives are well set and structured, making it relatively easy to communicate them within the organisation and also to its customers. The organisations main source to communicate its aims and objectives are through the media, banners, coupons, handouts and also through the internet. ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE AND ETHICS Burger King is an organisation that serves customers from various backgrounds and cultures. This makes it extremely important to manage communication in the most delicate manner as possible. The organisation has to keep in mind that not all customers consume all the menus the company offers. For example: customers who are from an Indian background wont eat beef, customers who are from a Muslim background wont eat pork. Its vital information like these that the organisation has to keep track of in order to meet the needs of people who are from different backgrounds and cultures. Management of Knowledge Resource Management of knowledge resources is critical for any organisation. It helps in ensuring that vital knowledge is passed on within the organisation so that the organisation can maintain its ever long trend of providing the quality of work or service as it has been providing in the past. Burger King is one such Organisation that takes pride in its quality of service that it has been known of providing. Achieving this however took a lot of work and experience for the organisation. To ensure that knowledge and experience is passed on within the organisation, the Burger King Management team relies heavily on their old staffs who possess the skills and experience needed for the organisation to maintain its quality of work. The old staff members train and groom the new recruits so that they can cope with the organisations requirement standards and deliver quality services to its customers. The Management team of Burger King also holds staff meetings and orientations to ensure that vital kno wledge and experience is equally shared amongst each and every member of the team. The also shuffle the teams together so that there is an equal balance of knowledge and experience within the teams. Group Dynamics Effective communication plays a key role in any organisation. It helps in avoiding conflicts and contributes to the development of a team within an organisation. Burger King also has certain procedures in place to ensure effective communication takes place within its teams. The communication procedures are well constructed. To ensure there is a practice of effective communication within the teams; the team members are expected to communicate with each other using the universal language which is English, they are also expected to wear their uniforms at all times and address each other with their names, team members are also expected to actively participate in any company meetings or seminars and verbally communicate with their team supervisors or managers. These measures ensure that there are no unnecessary conflicts within the teams and that the teams have a healthy team surrounding to work in. It also ensures that there is maximum development in the team and that the teams are alway s in a positive attitude while working. Effective Communication also contributes to the betterment of the organisation as a whole and also lets the team members within the organisation to improve on their communication skills. Meeting Management Meetings are an essential to any organisation. To ensure meeting runs effectively the Burger King Management Team has meetings every week and it demands all of its staff members to contribute towards the meetings. The staff members are expected to openly discuss any company matters or issues that may be concerning the staff members. Like wise the management is required to take into consideration the matters and issues and deal with it in a manner suitable for the organisation or to provide the staffs with alternatives to overcome the issues. Open discussions in meetings are extremely important because it is one of the ways which can contribute towards an effective and constructive meeting. Burger King also has hand outs which are issued to each member participating in the meeting prior to the meeting commence. This is done to ensure that there are no disruptions in the meeting and that each and every member of the team is up to date with what the meeting is about and what is expected of the members and what they are suppose to be discussing during the meeting. Stakeholders Stakeholders are the most important assets to an organisation. Therefore Burger King is always in touch with all those who have an interest in the organisation. The organisation does this by holding annual general meetings in which the stakeholders take part in. These meetings are held in order to discuss the organisations performance and status. It is also to discuss the stakeholders interests in the organisation and also what would be some of the actions that could be taken in order to raise the organisations performance. This is an effective means to communicate with the stakeholders because it creates opportunities for the stakeholders to put forward their personal views and thoughts which could help benefit the organisation. The organisation also sends out e-mails, letters, and barouches on a weekly basis to its stakeholders to keep them informed on how the company is coping. Networks Burger King has various ways of communicating with people who may potentially have an impact on the development of the organisation. To name a few of these ways; is through networking, barouches, banners, internet and media. These are some of the methods the Organisation uses to communicate with people who are interested in the organisation. These methods of communication are simple and yet an effective way for the organisation to interact and keep in touch with others. It is vital for any organisation to communicate with people regardless whether it is the staff members or the customers. This is to show that the organisation has an interest in the people and that they welcome peoples decisions and views towards the organisation. RECOMMENDATIONS Burger King has a well structured means of promoting the organisations. However though, this has room for further improvements. This is said because, Burger King promotes its self by using mostly the universal language English This is a possible set back for the organisation because in many countries English is not the first language. Therefore the organisation should consider advertising using other languages rather than just using English as their preferred language of advertisement. To achieve its aims and objectives Burger King should ensure that its aims and objectives are understood not only by their staff members but also their customers as well. So to ensure that this happens, Burger King should also do organisational promotions whereby their senior staff members speak to his/her team personally and explain to them using practical examples of what is really required of them. The organisation should employ more variety of people from different backgrounds in its crew rather than just having one dominant race. This should be done so that the sales team is better equipped with the knowledge from different races and that they can use this knowledge for promoting sales. Knowledge is a vital part of any organisation and therefore it should be give the most priority. The Burger King organisation should be more focused on its Knowledge Resource Department and should improve on its IT sector to manage all its vital information and knowledge. The organisation should hire more IT professionals to handle all its information and all its company knowledge sectors. To improve Group, the Burger King Organisation should concentrate more on improving staff communications by making it mandatory for any new recruitment to have English competency. This should be done so that there is less time consumption on training new recruits from different backgrounds. It is essential for any organisation to hold meetings and for those meetings to succeed the meeting has to laid out in a planned and proper manner. The organisation should introduce a system whereby not everyone speaks at once but where one person is allowed to speak first and complete what he/she has to say and only than should the other person be given the chance to speak. Also there should be limitations as to what one has to say rather than just having an open discussion where there is no order to what is being said or discussed. Stakeholders are vital assets to the organisation. Therefore Burger King should not only have annual general meetings but they should also hold monthly meetings with their stake holders so that they can build more on their professional relations and come up with more innovative ideas of as to how they can contribute towards further development of the organisation. Network is also an important part of an organisation. It helps in building more exposure for the organisation with others. Burger King should do a little more than just using the internet or the media to network. They should send out teams on a weekly basis to go out and promote the organisation by chatting to people in the public about the organisation which would be more effective and would have a better result to its networks departments. Findings Upon completion of this report it can be conclude that Burger King has done a great amount of work to achieve its Effective Communication Aspects. The organisation has a well structured means of communication within the organisation and also with the public or its customers. However, if the organisation takes heed of the recommendations and apply them to their communication strategy, the organisation should see an even better result as to what they are experiencing now in regards to their Communication Aspects.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

When we arrived at Douthitt High School as freshmen, the buildings in our school showed the signs of their 40 years of age. It might be hard to think back to that time when there was a landscaped yard in front of the cafeteria instead of a concrete courtyard, and when the grassy knoll our students enjoy on a rare sunny day didn't exist. After a few noisy years of construction, we now have a modern school. In our time here, it has gone through a complete change from old and mature, to fresh and new. We, on the other hand, have gone from being fresh and new high school students, to old, experienced, mature young adults ready to graduate. We've had many great people build us up to what we are. First and foremost, we should thank our parents for their example, wisdom and support. And although they may pretend to be sad that our high school years are over and that many of us will be going off to live on our own for the first time, don't worry. They're already secretly plotting how to redecorate our rooms. Of course, we've had many inspirational and influential teachers touch us, too. From our days of Info Tech and Freshman English to Government and Washington State, our teachers have been there for us, to lead us toward knowledge. We've had teachers who have pushed us to our academic limits with their rigorous curriculums, teachers who made us laugh every day, and teachers who have shown us support and dedication. We've sat in class as drool formed at the corners of our mouths, either because of a jaw-dropping lecture or a sleep-inducing video, but either way, we will greatly benefit from the things we've learned here. We won't forget the events that shaped our high school experience, either. We've rooted on sports teams at sta... ...o experiencing only peaks! I want my life to be one never ending ascension!" He then proceeds to crash his wagon off a high cliff. Of course, valleys and lowlands are unavoidable. Frustration and failures may come and go, but we can always know we are ascending a peak, if we are striving for love and service in life, treating people with kindness and respect. We can be the wise gurus who sit atop a mountain, inspiring others with our actions. There is no limit to what we can accomplish if we use the tools we have acquired in our time at Douthitt. We are mature from our time at this school, but we are also fresh and full of energy, like our school buildings and the people who wander them. In life, we will face many challenges, but if we remember the basics we will ultimately prevail, find success , and leave the world a bit better than when we started. Thank you.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Anti-Theme Writing :: Teaching Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Anti-Theme Writing All writers of the world join together and work to banish theme writing from existence. Anyone who can read and write must join together in opposition to the teaching and proliferation of the theme writing disease. Theme writing blocks insight and creativity among the world's population who in striving for an education must be continually oppressed, and denied a very important ability, the ability to think. For hundreds of years the world has been divided into three major classes, the boredwajzee, the studentletariat, and the illiterate. The boredwajzee consists of scholars, teachers, and professors who teach theme writing and continually oppress the other classes by blocking creativity and insight. They instill a fear of failure using the tools of a corrupt grading system that works to promote the writing of the theme. Theme writing takes the personal interest out of education and greatly affects the student striving to fine-tune the ability to think. The education and promotion of writing in theme creates educated students, but students not educated to think for themselves. At a very early age when theme writing is instilled in the minds of our young people it serves the very purposes of the boredwajzee. Taking away a studentà ­s ability to think by promoting theme writing keeps the boredwajzee in power by creating an apathetic student. A student who neither cares to write, nor think s when writing. This promotes stability in our current educational system. A system where the evil tools of grades are used by the boredwajzee to ensure the creation of an educated yet apathetic student who writes only to please the boredwajzee. All the while, unbeknownst to the student, thought and creativity are oppressed and the boredwajzeeà ­s power is preserved. The class of the studentletariat is then molded into the ideal student to ensure the survival of the boredwajzee. The student does not care about what is written as long as it conforms to the basic methods taught by the boredwajzee. The studentletariat at a very early age loses the ability to think and be creative in their education. Ultimately what is created is apathy, a student that does not care to go beyond what is taught. A student who no longer learns for the sake of learning but only does just enough to please the boredwajzee. The studentletariat hold no personal interest in what is learned and therefore the perfect student is molded by the boredwajzee.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Trip to Tadoba Tiger Reserve

CITY TIGERS MEETING THEIR COUNTRY COUSIN This meet began with me and my brother proceeding to Mumbai airport for our first flight to the orange city Nagpur. Soon after checking into the flight we caught with team bhpian and participant in the workshop (sachin. sri) Sachin Shrivastava. He was already in the city on official work and we caught up with our specific interests on the forum. We had a smooth flight and as guided by Dr. Abheek over the phone we met our cab come to pick us up from the airport. We found that it was drizzling in Nagpur and this dampened our spirits a bit thinking that wildlife spotting would be difficult in incessant rain. We proceeded to the starting point where we were to meet other participants from Nagpur. The point was Hotel Turning Point at Laxmi Chowk. Here Wild Cats member Mr. Sachet and the owner of Turning Point Mr. Amol greeted us warmly. Mr. Amol treated us to a sumptuous breakfast and some interesting tales of wildlife in the outskirts of Nagpur. Very soon another Wild Cat member Mr. Chinmay Deshpande joined us. Interestingly he was an active snake rescuer for Nagpur and he had a bagful of snakes to be released in the wild during our trip. Sachin was startled and a bit alarmed by the presence of so many venomous and non-venomous snakes around. We were amazed and excited and try to reassure Sachin. We had for the first time such a close encounter with snakes. Under the close guidance of Chinmay we were even able to handle a non-venomous snake the trinket snake easily. It was so beautiful to hold the snake. In our hands the snake seemed like a velvet rope. It is very sad that even before knowing much about snakes I had a preconceived fear of such beautiful creatures. Chinmay rightly explained that snakes have no emotion and if we humans maintain our distance and exercise caution and adequate precaution while interacting with them there is no reason why we cannot co-exist with the most venomous of snakes. Having said that he also explained that the most experienced of handlers have been bitten only by either their carelessness or overconfidence. In no time Doc. (Dr. Abheek Ghosh) popped in. As expected he was a bundle of energy and charged up the already excited bunch. Meeting him for the first time I have to say the moustache suits him well, like the whiskers of a wildcat. He had some news. The team from Hyderabad had missed their overnight train and had since proceeded by car. They would be meeting us directly at Tadoba. Another of the coordinator Mr. Akash Kothe also joined us. All of us wrapped up the breakfast meet and proceeded to our coach, which was with us for the entire trip. The coach had a banner of Wild Cats in the front, which was looking very apt for the occasion. As we were getting into the coach we could see our host Amol also getting into the mood and wanting to join us for the trip. However as had some unavoidable work in the city he could not join us. We bade him good-bye and proceeded to Tadoba. Sachin was getting nervous with so many snakes joining us in the coach although secure in their respective jars. We all joked this would be â€Å"SNAKES IN THE COACH† Indian version of the famous Hollywood movie† SNAKES IN THE PLANE†. This made Sachin all the more jittery and he tried to make himself comfortable as far away from the snakes as possible. But at every jerk and every pothole he would plead Chinmay to check if all the snakes were secure. The entire journey of about 5 hours due to bad roads after Jam was hardly felt due the non-stop banter amongst all of us. It was remarkable that inspite of our varying backgrounds and ages we all gelled in no time. This goes to shows that enthusiasm is infectious and knows no barrier. In the coach Doc treated us to a Audio Video documentary by Vidya Atreya on animal human conflict in Western Maharashtra and how it was affecting the leopard in particular. I had already read up some material on her work and research as mailed to us earlier by Doc. Doc also enlighted us on the work done by her on conservation and human leopard conflict management. We were so engrossed in our discussions and running short of time that we had skipped halting for lunch anywhere enroute. As we neared crossed Chandrapur we were saddened to see quarries for coal mining all around with massive heaps of spent mud lying all around like small hills. Doc informed us that although Chandrapur was one of the most polluted areas of our country due to the coalmines and thermal plants the tigers were thriving in the forests of Tadoba. We reached the Moharli Gate of Tadoba sanctuary at the stroke of four, which was also the closing time for entry into the sanctuary. At the gate the gypsies were ready waiting for us as arranged by Doc. Here we also met another of Doc's close friends Mr. Indraneel Pal and his friend Gaurav. Indraneel Pal was by profession a contractor for the Cement Mills around but by heart he was an avid animal lover. His in depth knowledge of animal behavior in general and the tiger in particular was astounding. We learnt that he was a regular visitor to Tadoba, sometimes 2-3 times a week. He was to Tadoba what Doc is to Pench. Doc had an excellent rapport with him and he too welcomed us with open arms. I was struck by his humility and passion towards the forest and its inhabitants. It was a great pleasure and privilege to spend two days in his company. By this time we also learnt that the Hyderabad group had run into heavy rains and bad weather leading to slow progress. Enroute a section of the highway was washed away and they were facing a roadblock in the detour due to some vehicle breakdown. At this rate they would not be able to make it to Tadoba before nightfall. The rest of us decide to proceed for the evening Safari. The sights and sounds of the forest pleasantly surprised city dwellers like us. Tadoba is known to all, for the healthy population of tigers within it but it was also very interesting to observe the wide variety of birds and insects within the reserve. Photos will tell the story here. We immediately spotted a small herd of sambar deer and a solitary wild boar. In some time we reached the middle (hattori) gate. As required entry formalities were being done, Doc asked his man Friday (Sanjay) to serve poha packets to all of us. By now our stomachs had begun rumbling due go hunger having skipped lunch earlier. The poha was delicious and warm in the foil pack. Apparently doc had made some phone calls from the coach as we were nearing Tadoba. Indraneel happened to tell us that in the morning just as he entered the reserve he spotted a leopard very close to the entrance gate. This heightened the excitement for us. He and doc explained to us that large predators like the tiger regularly mark the boundaries of their territory to highlight their presence to their rivals and reassure the females. And during monsoon due to washing away of their scent markings by the rain, they have to keep marking more frequently and as a result of which the chances of spotting the tiger is better. Both he and doc were very tuned to the various sounds of the jungle and could immediately alert us to calls made by the sambar and some birds as they communicated to convey the movement of the tiger/leopard. This gave us some indication of the movement of these predators at a distance. It also gave us an idea as to how difficult it was for these predators to hunt when their presence could be easily given away by the alarm call of the langur, a bird or some deer. In these surroundings we easily lost sense of time. Very soon it was getting dark and the guide informed us that it was time to head back to the exit. We were beginning to enjoy the experience and started to head back with a heavy heart. At that moment the gypsy we were traveling suddenly broke down. We got delighted thinking that this gave us a perfect excuse to justify our delay to the exit gate and experience the dusk in the forest. But this happiness did not last long as very soon another gypsy of our group that came along gave us a lift to the middle (Hattori) gate. At this point Doc â€Å"insisted† on staying with the broken down gypsy and it's driver till it could be brought till the exit point. All of us wished to take Doc's place so that we could also experience some part of the night in the jungle, but it was not to be. We wished Doc luck and proceeded to the Hattori Gate. There the officials were miffed with us for the delay. On learning of the breakdown they offered a makeshift towrope and sent this gypsy back to tow our broken down gypsy. Doc must have cursed his luck to see help coming so fast. As soon as the gypsy was towed into the Hattori gate we proceeded to the Moharli exit gate. Enroute we were hoping that the towrope snaps and we get delayed further. But alas none of that happened. In some time we reached the exit gate. The officials here were very upset, as we had arrived way beyond the closing time. Luckily Doc and Indraneel being regulars there somehow managed to pacify them, but had to offer some written explanation and pay some fine. We went to the MTDC resort with so many stories to tell each other. On the way Chinmay told us that once we settle into our rooms we need to feed the cobra on a frog, which could be easily seen croaking around, as it might be hungry. We settled in our rooms freshened up and soon got out to catch a frog using our flashlights. Sachin as expected refused to have anything to do with the snakes. Understanding his fear we left him alone. Luckily we managed to catch one very close to our room. Chinmay carefully opened the lid of the jar holding the cobra and swiftly dropped the frog down the jar and closed the lid. All this was a different experience for us. Stuff we had been seeing on Animal Planet and Discovery channels on TV back home was unfolding live in front of our eyes. Within the confines of the jar the frog started puffing itself and avoiding the cobra. The cobra was seeming to be dazed and not striking at the frog. Suddenly Bhanu observed that the snake was badly infected with maggots, which was not easily visible in the plastic jar earlier. It had raised its hood but not was striking the frog. Chinmay explained that this cobra had been rescued from a grain godown in Nagpur and the labourers might have attacked and injured the snake before calling him for the rescue. After a long time the cobra finally struck the frog and injected venom, but was not showing any signs of eating it. Chinmay immediately stated that we need to release the cobra in some safe area outside. By now Doc joined all of us. He had been meeting up with the Hyderabad group who had just arrived. He informed us that two members of they group Mel and Shiv were avid snake lovers and handlers and we could take their opinion on this subject. On seeing the condition of the cobra and in the absence of any facility to treat the snake they also suggested immediate release of the snake from captivity. They too joined us in our short walk outside the resort boundary to release the cobra. As soon as the cobra was brought out of the jar into the open it became very alert and agile and started moving swiftly to the foliage around. Before releasing the snake Mel gave us a short talk on various types of cobra found and mechanism to handle them. We all felt glad to be releasing the snake into its natural habitat. We went back to the rooms along with the Hyderabad group comprising of Rashmi, Alex, Mel and Shiv. They briefly related their ordeal to get here encountering washed away roads, roadblocks, bad roads and all. We had our brief introductions and learnt that all of them were avid trekkers and â€Å"fanatic† nature lovers. Here I wish to thank Doc again, as without his initiative we would never have met such an ensemble of participants. Over the days we were stunned with their knowledge of birds, insects and reptiles given their relatively young age. During our trip we could not find any insect or bird that they could not identify. Once back the room Mel was shocked to find the snakes stored in plastic containers. He sadly remarked that inspite of noble intentions many a times † SNAKES NEED RESCUING FROM RESCUERS â€Å". He asked Chinmay to keep some cloth bags handy whenever he proceeds for a rescue. Chinmay informed Mel that there have been some cases of snakes biting some handlers through the bags however he was not sure whether they were jute bags or the plastic woven cement bags. Mel suggested him to use canvas-lined bags. Mel was also not happy with the type of stick with the semicircle hook used for snake handling. He insisted on a lighter stick with a hook flattened and smoothened near the tip while handling snakes especially while going for the head catch. Mel offered to send a snake handling stick as described above within the next two weeks through somebody travelling to Nagpur. Chinmay was very receptive to all their ideas. He explained that inspite of all his efforts he was unable to get any formal training on handling snakes in NAGPUR. Whatever he learnt had been by watching some other handlers rescuing snakes and learning on the job while rescuing snakes because of his love for snakes. Mel opened the jar having the trinket snake and explained that the snake was molting (shedding its skin). This could be seen by the cloudy nature of its eyes. We had seen it many nature channels on TV but seeing this so close was an altogether different experience. He explained that the peculiar ornamental pattern (like a necklace) on its scales gave it the name of trinket snake. It was a fast snake but non venomous. The next snake he removed was the sand boa. He explained that it was a constrictor similar to the python which kill they prey by constriction and are non venomous. It was closely related to the red sand boa, which is also called, a two-headed snake as its tail also resembles it head in shape and texture. Sadly these are being hunted by poachers for their skin, which commands a price of nearly a lac of rupees in the black market. The next snake was the checkered keel back which Mel explained spends most of its time in or near fresh water lakes or rivers and feeds mainly on small fishes and water frogs. It is a non venomous but very aggressive snake and will not hesitate to strike at the slightest provocation. As it was an extremely fast moving snake Mel wisely did not open it within the room. The next snake was the Russells Viper. This too was handled from within the jar as it was one of the most deadly and fast striking snake found in India, with a strike speed of two bites per second and which along with the saw scaled viper was responsible for most of the snake bite related deaths in India. We were glad that this too was observed from the confines of the jar and not in the open. The next were the three rat snakes which were confined in a 20 lit. Bisleri jar. Struggling to get them out Mel explained that it was not advisable to store them in plastic containers as they were not suitable for the snakes and snakes at times inadvertently hurt themselves while struggling in them. Using a swiss knife he cut open the neck of the jar and got one of them out. The rat snake though non-venomous was visibly irritated and started swinging wildly. Shiv and Chinmay were helping Mel all through. They asked the resort staff to get some gunny bags for these snakes. The resort staff managed to get some bags but they were torn in places. Mel and Chinmay selected one of the bags, which appeared reasonably better than the rest and slowly got the rat snake into the bag. For the second snake Mel demonstrated the technique of placing the bag with a round PVC pipe at the neck close to the snake. The snake immediately darted into this opening believing it to be a dark hole or burrow. When all the three rat snakes were securely bagged Alex and Chinmay decided to release the snakes the next day during daylight further away from the resort near the buffer zone. After this the Hyderabad group took leave to freshen up and relax for a short while before meeting up for dinner at 10:00. Rest of us assembled at the other room, where Doc requested Akash to set up the projector and laptop for the audiovisual presentation on photography. Akash who is also a professor in an engineering college in Nagpur handled this session. His command over the subject and the simplicity in explanation of various terms used in photography had us bowled over. Every basic terminology right from Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO to Advanced image processing techniques was explained to us with live examples. Photos clicked by him and others were discussed and flaws analyzed and remedies discussed. Just as a doctor goes through an X-ray or Ecg report, Akash explained on how to study a photo through its histogram. The basics like composition of image and focusing of the image were explained in detail. Akash then went on to explain further how the processing of images is done using advanced software like photoshop elements and lightroom. â€Å"Cloning† of a different kind for image correction especially backgrounds was shown by live examples by Akash working on his laptop on images as he was giving the presentation. Akash made an important remark that only after clicking thousands of photographs does a photographer realize his shortcomings as he goes through them. He asked us to develop strong basic concepts and hone and polish our skills by clicking many pictures and analyzing them with above points in mind. We all mentally made up our minds to save up for a decent camera and gradually invest in good lenses to help us pursue this hobby in earnest. All those of us who have followed Doc's threads in various forums know him to be an excellent photographer and he too interspersed this session with his valuable insights from time to time. I would not be wrong if I said that this one session opened my eyes to photography more than ever before. Again thanks to Doc we were able to experience the â€Å"Akash Effect. † Here again we wanted to continue forever but were getting repeated calls from the restaurant staff calling us for dinner. We reluctantly took a break for Dinner with Akash promising to continue the next day after the morning Safari. We all assembled in the dining area for dinner. Dinner obviously was of limited variety but excellent quality. With our bellies full we lazily ambled to our rooms. Sachet lazily unlocked the door to the room and gave a sudden gasp. Akash who was blindly following him was startled and started rubbing his eyes. The snakes, which were so securely kept a little while back, were roaming freely in the room. Chinmay immediately took charge and grabbed one of the rat snakes and observed that the gunny bag was not very strong and that the rat snakes had made a way out through them. By now Alex and Shiv also joined Chinmay to locate the missing snakes. They found the second one in the bathroom with no signs of the third. The third one was missing. This made all of nervous and Sachin who was at a distance all this while became all the more jittery. Alex, Shiv and Chinmay made a thorough search of the entire room and declared it to be â€Å"snake free†. The two snakes were placed in the relatively clean and empty dustbin provided in the room with some weight on the lid to prevent them getting away again. The third rat snake was a juvenile and Chinmay and Alex opined that it might have slipped through the narrow opening below the door and the floor or slid out as Sachet nonchalantly opened the door. Doc asked us to wind up and go to bed, as we were booked for any early morning 6 am Safari and we would have to get up at 5 am to be at the gate on time. Doc also informed us three more WildCat members Sanket, Rahul and our host Amol at Turning Point had left Nagpur for Tadoba in Doc’s gypsy and they too would be joining us for the morning Safari. All of us had our own theories on the missing snake and Akash and Sachet were not comfortable to sleep in the room with the missing snake. So Akash, Chinmay and Sachet trooped into our room. With a snake loose Sachin declared that he would not be sleeping on the floor. We laughingly conceded and made ourselves comfortable on the extra beds and were fast asleep in no time. As soon as the alarm bell went off at 5 am Sachin started calling out to all to get up. After a light banter of â€Å"Pehle Aap† we quickly got to our feet and freshened up quickly. By now we caught up with Amol, Rahul and Sanket who had reached at 1:30 in the night with the gypsy giving some problem on the way and continuous rain all through the route. They couldn’t believe it when they learnt they learnt that they had been sleeping in the room with the missing snake. On seeing the video of the recapture of the escaped snakes shot by Akash and seeing the two rat snakes in the dustbin they started rubbing their eyes in disbelief. They were shocked that they had slept so peacefully in the room with a missing snake and two snakes lying the dustbin. Pulling their legs we walked to the resort gate where Indraneel Pal and his friend Gaurav were waiting for us. Here we got to the gypsy being tastefully rebuilt by Doc with sound advice from forum members. The middle and last row of seats were adequately pushed back giving ample legroom and maneuverability to people seated in them with their cameras. Doc informed that some work on providing proper vibration free camera mounts was still to be done. Once completed no doubt this would be an ideal vehicle for the jungle photographer. In the steady drizzle we got into the gypsies and proceeded to the Moharli gate. Due to the rains our cameras were packed up and we were wary to expose them to moisture. We entered the gates to be once again greeted by the early morning sights and smell of rain soil foliage and forest floor. As the gypsy drove into the forest the rain and the cold wind was beating against our faces. It was an experience to look out for sightings in these circumstances. As we were driving past at a steady speed our guide suddenly motioned to the driver to stop and head back for a few metres. On coming back a few metres he pointed to his right about 50 yards away and all we could see was a brown termite mound or anthill. But the guide insisted that he has never observed a mound at this place all these days. So to clear matters Doc and Indraneel took out their cameras with high power lenses to zoom and get a sharper view. They both softly remarked that it was a â€Å"tiger†. They motioned us to be dead calm and we quietly removed our cameras and focused on the tiger. On zooming it was clear that we were privileged to witness a tiger so well camouflaged in the Indian forest. In a few moments the tiger raised its head and started licking its hind legs. By this time the second gypsy in our group joined us and they too enjoyed the spectacle. The third vehicle had gone ahead and due to no mobile network we were unable to inform them of the sighting. Indraneel informed us that this tiger was the â€Å"Baghdo Male† who was very active in this part of the reserve. Indraneel was also the first person to have photographically captured this particular tiger some time back. Indraneel recounted the incident of having clicked this particular after it had a heavy meal of a gaur. In Indraneel’s words as the tiger got up after a heavy meal its belly was so full that it was almost scraping the floor as it walked. We were in awe as he spoke of the experience. In the meantime the tiger got up and reversed its position and nonchalantly surveyed the clearing around it. In a short while the tiger got up once again and started walking diagonally behind us towards the road. In no time we lost sight of the tiger as it disappeared into the thick foliage. We backed up our vehicles a couple of metres behind hoping to catch the tiger as it steps onto the road. We waited at that spot trying to gauge the movement of the tiger, looking anxiously in all directions in perfect silence. Suddenly Indraneel spotted the tiger about thirty feet behind emerging out of the bushes. Due to the rain we had packed the cameras and scrambled to get them in position. But Doc and Indraneel managed to capture some amazing photographs of the tiger looking directly at us. This sight of the tiger turning to look towards us will remain with me forever. The majestic head on broad shoulders was a sight to behold. At this very moment the driver of the second gypsy eager to give its occupants at better shot with the camera backed up suddenly and with a loud roar of the engine. This sudden noise and movement disturbed the tiger, which swiftly crossed the road behind us and entered into the foliage on the other side. We reprimanded the driver for his stupidity but it was too late. Doc and Indraneel remarked that they were pretty sure that if the tiger was not disturbed so abruptly it would have calmly walked down the road for some distance before slipping back into the forest giving us ample opportunity to observe and photograph this magnificent animal. We waited at this spot for some time reminiscing on the events that had unfolded some moments before us. Soon we heard the sambar call at some distance indicating that the tiger was steadily moving deeper into the forest. Doc informed us that during the monsoon only central tarred road was open for the safari and the mud roads going into the forest at intermittent distances were closed for the safari. This was done to minimize disturbance to animals and prevent vehicles getting stuck in the slush on these mud roads inside the forest. We backed up further across a small bridge over a stream in the forest hoping to catch some signs of the tiger if it returned back to the road. As there was no indications whatsoever we proceeded ahead to observe the rest of the forest. As we were on our way Bhanu suddenly exclaimed â€Å"tiger†. Out driver quickly backed up again but Bhanu just managed to see the tiger slip into the dense forest before the rest of us could spot it. We learnt that unless the tiger is in the open or moving in the forest along the road it was next to impossible to spot a tiger lying motionless in the bamboo clusters for an untrained eye. The tiger can spot you as you pass through its territory but there is no guarantee that you can spot it if it does not want its presence to be felt. With this lesson learnt we proceeded to explore the remainder of the forest enjoying the other flora and fauna. At the hattori gate Doc and Indraneel were mobbed by other tourists visiting the forest asking for the glimpse of the elusive king of the jungle captured by their lenses. We were basking in the adulation and envy of other tourists for having such a close sighting of the tiger, while the real hero had disappeared deep in to the jungle oblivious to the excitement caused by his sighting. We slowly observed the rest of the forest spotting some birds on the way. The snaps shared here will tell the rest of the story. But for me the sighting of the tiger overshadowed everything else. Even now if I close my eyes I can see the tiger looking right at me. I envied Doc and Indraneel for having so many sightings of the tiger. I for one can only marvel at its being and cannot imagine how another human can think of poaching the tiger. Do their hands not tremble as they perpetrate this dastardly act. During this trip Bhanu remarked that the human being is the most dangerous animal on the planet. This short sentence summed up everything that needs to be done for conservation. With this experience we headed back to the resort. While exiting we learnt that in the evenings we could opt for a one hour Safari over elephant back in the evening. However there was place for only 3 on the elephant back. Doc explained that no bookings for evening jeep safari had been made owing to the interactive session on tiger conservation planned in the schedule and so some of us opt for this. To make matters interesting Doc suggested drawing of lots after lunch to decide on the lucky three. Suddenly Amol remarked that if chicken was made available and if he were given access to the kitchen he would love prepare the main dish for the evening. All those who had tasted food at his hands began vouching on his skill and we all were enthused by his offer. Luckily Doc informed that another of his friend Monali from Nagpur joining us for a day. And as we spoke a vehicle was on its way to Chandrapur bus stand where she would be reaching from Nagpur anytime. Doc immediately arranged for the driver to get the required quantity of chicken from Chandrapur. After a light breakfast and tea we headed back to the rooms. We shared our experiences and relaxed for a while. In some time we proceeded for lunch and decided to release the snakes with us a little while later. While having lunch we all met up with Monali who had just reached some time back. But she was looking fresh and enthusiastic. We had our round of introductions once again and she joined us for lunch. After lunch some of us had a light nap. While leaving Nagpur we noticed that Doc had loaded some Solar Lamps into the coach. Doc had explained that these solar lamps were to be distributed to the villagers living inside the reserve. While we had a nap, Doc distributed these lamps and returned. Fresh after a short nap we assembled for the next agenda â€Å"release of snakes† into the wild. We were looking forward to this once in a lifetime experience with great excitement. In a group we trooped towards the buffer area of the forest to release these snakes. The interesting part was that Shiv, Chinmay and Mel delicately handled these snakes and practically showed us how to handle these snakes. One by one we gained confidence and started handling the non-venomous snakes like the trinket, rat snake and the sand boa. In the daylight we could easily observe and marvel at the distinct patterns and colorations of the snakes. Though visually the snakes appeared to be slimy and greasy it was the texture of their skin/scales that gave that effect. On the contrary these snakes were very smooth to hold. Mel, Chinmay and Shiv demonstrated on how to handle the snake so that it does not feel threatened or alarmed. Most of us used the time available to click snaps and videos of this entire exercise. These snakes were released into the trees and tall grasses around. In no time these snakes vanished out of our eyesight. Next Mel got the checkered keel back out of the jar. No wonder he called it fast snake. This snake sped away in literally leaps and bounds. Mel, who tried to hold it momentarily to show us the snake before letting it free, got bitten in the little finger. No danger as the snake was non venomous. We all were amazed at the speed of this snake. Finally we all stepped back as Chinmay cautiously got the most dreaded russel’s viper out. Mel explained that luckily for us the viper was in a docile mood and was not agitated at all. The head of this viper was flattened, triangular and distinct from the neck. The snout was blunt, rounded and raised. The body was stout, the cross-section of which was rounded to cylindrical. Mel explained that this was a snake to be really fearful of due to its unusually large fangs that deliver copious amounts of venom leading to extreme swelling at the site of the bite, terrible damage to the tissue and severe internal bleeding within minutes of the bite. It was one of the species responsible for causing the most snakebite cases and deaths in the India due to various factors such as its frequent occurrence in places where humans are occupied and the potency of its venom. Chinmay further explained that the Russel’s viper was generally very slow and sluggish unless pushed beyond a certain limit, after which they become aggressive and when threatened they form a series of S-loops, raise the first third of the body and produce a hiss that is supposedly louder than that of any other snake resembling the sound of the pressure cooker. This particular snake was moving very slowly and gave ample time for all of us to click snaps and videos. After satisfying our curiosity and anxiety Chinmay carefully released the snake into some thick bushes. After completing this exercise we proceeded back to the room. Before proceeding with the draw of lots for the elephant safari Doc suggested we have the interactive session on tiger-human conflict areas and forest conservation in general. The session began with the audio-visual presentation on tiger conservation in India. The documentary was very well made and all of us were glued to this presentation. After the sighting the grandeur of the tiger roaming freely in the forest in the morning we were really pained to see the plight of the tiger in the various forests of the country. The efforts being made towards conservation were feeble in the face of rapid deforestation and rampant habitat destruction by us humans. Whatever was left thereafter was being wiped out by sustained pressure of influential poachers. While Akash was handling the presentation Doc used to interject whenever he recollected a related incident or had something relevant to add to the presentation. As an attentive audience we too had our share of questions and remarks. Doc informed that very recently even in Tadoba the forest officials had found metal clamps and wire traps carefully laid out by poachers to trap the tiger. He also remarked that the tourist movement in the monsoon however restricted was a deterrent to these poachers who would otherwise have had a free run in the forest. He cited the recent case of the mysterious death of a popular tiger named circuit in the Moharli area of the reserve. Akash sadly remarked that during his earlier visit to Tadoba he had happened to spot Circuit active and healthy close to the buffer area just one day prior to his mysterious death. Doc informed us that wildlife enthusiasts like him were trying to use the RTI tool to find the actual cause of death of Circuit. They were trying to keep up sustained pressure so that any more tigers do not meet the same fate. Doc informed us that very recently the local DFO who was an avid wildlife enthusiast and photographer was abruptly transferred due to pressures from his superiors. Slowly we could understand the trying circumstances in which Doc and his friends were operating. Shiv and Mel also highlighted the plight of the Srisailam tiger reserve in Andhra Pradesh with a total area of 3,600 sq. ms. In 1983 there were 40 tigers and the habitat suffered severely thereafter due to high frequency of poaching, grazing, fires, tree and bamboo exploitation. Today they remarked that the tiger is almost extinct from this reserve. The presence of armed extremists in this forest is a serious problem to the effective management of this area and the tigers. The subordinate staffs are scare d to move freely in the interior and little communication exists. Doc also highlighted the frequent disregard and violations of the forest act by officials under pressure from superiors and politicians. Doc cited having himself sighted such instances in Pench when politicians with their red beacon official vehicles entering the reserve in the dead of the night in gross violation of the wildlife act. When Doc tried to investigate the matter further he received an official letter from the forest officials of Pench threatening his entry into the reserve in future on flimsy grounds. Further he cited the case of the accidental death of the jhurjhura tigress in the famous Bandhavgarh reserve in Madhya Pradesh. The tigress was a resident, breeding animal at ‘Jhurjhura’ (Tala Range), which forms part of the core/ critical tiger habitat. The tigress, alongwith its 3 cubs (around 6 months old) had been intensively photographed/ seen/ monitored by the park management and visitors. The research team from the Wildlife Institute of India in its data collection process using camera traps has also captured the said tigress. According to preliminary reports from the tiger reserve, a vehicle belonging to the state’s PWD minister Nagendra Singh’s son hit the tigress. But as always with such incidents in our country cover-up had begun at a frantic case. However Doc was hopeful of some justice as wildlife activists from around the country were actively following the case. Notable among them was activist Shehla Masood from Bhopal who had filed numerous RTI applications against top forest officers, senior police officials and influential politicians involved in the cover-up. Very sadly today as I write this barely two days after our meet I read the morning papers that this very lady has been shot dead outside her house as she got into the car. As there have been no eye-witnesses so far the local police have been so callous to even consider it to be a case of suicide. This incident really brought a lump in my throat just imagining the value of human life to such individuals and we are expecting them to conserve wildlife in the forests. Coming back to our session. Doc then asked us to spread awareness of conservation amongst our friends, relatives and acquaintances. An important idea suggested by him was to ask anyone visiting such reserves to click frontal and side profiles of the tiger whenever possible as seen the picture. Each tiger has a distinct pattern of stripes and they help in identification of the tiger. If a visitor shares such pictures with dedicated tiger conservationists like Doc in Pench and Tadoba then an accurate database of tigers and their movement could be maintained more effectively rather than just relying on unreliable pug-marks of the tigers. Doc informed that he had helped to provide a computer with facility of reading memory cards at Pench to the forest officials at the main gate so that they could collect similar data from the tourists’ cameras. After the presentation was over Doc informed us that he had got made some T-shirts for sale with the image of the tiger printed and he was using the proceeds of the sale towards procuring essentials like solar lamps for the villagers in the forest. Appreciating the noble cause we gladly picked up these t-shirts as a souvenir of the trip for our family back home. By now it was already dinnertime. Interestingly in the heat of the presentation and our involvement in the subject everyone forgot the draw of lots for the elephant safari in the evening. We were so involved in the presentation that none of us missed the elephant safari that evening. We also did not realize that somewhere in between Amol had quietly slipped away to the kitchen to get the dinner ready as promised. As the main course was getting ready he had swiftly managed to get the some starters ready also. Just as the presentation on conservation got over Amol entered the room with starters in hand. Akash started with the balance of the earlier days photography session. As we were munching on the starters our eyes and mind were imbibing the tips on photography. By the time the photography session was over we were satiated. Doc once again reminded us on the early morning safari the next day. We quickly proceeded for dinner. The dinner prepared by Amol was truly relishing. All of us were left licking our fingers and smacking our lips. We all thanked Amol profusely for this unexpected treat and retreated back to the rooms. With our bellies full we were fast asleep as soon as we hit the beds and snoring away. We were up again at the crack of dawn and quickly assembled into the gypsies at the gate. Although we were attracted to this programme with the prospect of seeing the tiger there is truly so much more to be seen in the forest. Even some of the trees seen inside the reserve are not regularly seen outside. Although we could not spot the tiger for ourselves this time we learnt that another vehicle entering the forest after us sighted a tiger. We were pleased on the healthy population of tiger in the reserve. The guide with us also informed us that even the buffer area had a healthy population of tiger. Doc told us that there was a proposal to declare the area we were presently wandering about as the core and declare out of bounds for tourists and allow the tourists only in the buffer area after proper relocation of villagers was done. We were glad for the animals provided adequate precautions were taken to keep the poachers also at bay. Today we also spotted a troop of langur monkeys and a solitary deer. On our way back we spotted a dead serpent eagle lying by the side of the road with its wings spread out as though just about to fly. There was a small wound by the side of its neck but we were clueless. We managed to spot the mahouts rounding up the elephants let loose in the forest at night to graze. As Sachin had to leave early Doc had requested us to wind up the morning safari early so that we could all proceed to Nagpur earlier than scheduled. Although not excited with the prospect we grudgingly agreed. Casting our last glances at the expanses of the Tadoba forest for this trip we exited the Moharli gate. Thereafter we wrapped up our breakfast and proceeded to pack our bags for the return to Nagpur. We bid goodbye to our four friends Rashmi, Alex, Shiv and Mel and hoped to keep in touch with them in future. They were also leaving for Hyderabad by noon. We got into our coaches for the ride back to Nagpur. Bye now the gelling of the group was complete and there was non stop banter right through. Akash the master photographer was compiling a database of all the images to be consolidated and shared later on. By the time we reached Nagpur our cheeks and stomachs were aching by the nonstop laughter. We dropped Sachin at the airport and bid him bye. The rest of us proceeded to doc’s residence. We all said our goodbyes and promised to keep in touch and went our respective ways. Amol and Rahul had their bikes parked there and left after goodbyes. Doc also changed gear from a nature lover to a cardiologist and proceeded to the hospital with Akash and Monali. As we had some time Sanket offered to accompany us to Nagpur city (market area) where we could spend couple of hours till our flight time. Doc had transferred our bags to his car and asked us to collect the same on the way to the airport. Thanks to Doc we were able to explore Nagpur â€Å"handsfree†. At the city centre we bid goodbye to Sanket. He too was a budding photographer and had shared many tips with us. After spending some time in the city centre we noticed that we hadn’t had a shave in the last 2 days so decided to have a decent shave and head massage. In no time we were done and we proceeded to Doc’s hospital. We collected our luggage, bid our final goodbyes and proceeded to the airport. As the flight took off we carried with us the sweet smell of the jungle, remarkable sights of the wildlife and fond memories of the people we had met and bonded so well with over the past 3 days. This write-up is dedicated to all these wonderful people and the unforgettable Baghdo.