A TOUCH OF LONELINESS

However, touching or fondling in itself can be a potent signal. Touching an inanimate object can serve as a very loud and urgent signal, or a plea for understanding. Take the case of Aunt Grace. This old woman had become the centre of a family discussion. Some of the family felt she would be better off in a pleasant and well-run nursing home nearby where she'd not only have people to take care of her but would also have plenty of companionship

The rest of the family felt that this was tantamount to putting Aunt Grace 'away'. She had a generous income and a lovely apartment, and she could still do very well for herself. Why shouldn't she live where she was, enjoying her independence and her freedom? Aunt Grace herself was no great help in the discussion. She sat in the middle of the family group, fondling her necklace and nodding, picking up a small alabaster paperweight and caressing it, running one hand along the velvet of the couch, then feeling the wooden carving. Whatever the family decides,' she said gently.' I don't want to be a problem to anyone.' The family couldn't decide, and kept discussing the problem, while Aunt Grace kept fondling all the objects within reach. Until finally the family got the  message. It was a pretty obvious message, too. It was just a wonder no one had got

it sooner. Aunt Grace had been a fondler ever since she_ had begun living alone. She touched and caressed everything within reach. All the family knew it, but it wasn't until that moment that, one by one, they all became aware of what her fondling was saying. She was telling them in body language,' I am lonely. I am starved for companionship. Help me!' Aunt Grace was taken to live with a niece and nephew, where she became a different woman.

Like Aunt Grace, we all, in one way or another, send our little messages out to the world. We say, ' Help me, I'm lonely. Take me, I'm available. Leave me alone, I'm depressed.' And rarely do we send our messages consciously. We act out our state of being with non-verbal body language. We lift one eyebrow for disbelief. We rub our noses for puzzlement. We clasp our arms to isolate ourselves or to protect ourselves. We shrug our

shoulders for indifference, wink one eye for intimacy, tap our fingers for impatience, slap our forehead for forgetfulness.

The gestures are numerous, and while some are deliberate and others are almost deliberate, there are some, such as rubbing under our noses for puzzlement or clasping our arms to protect ourselves, that are mostly unconscious. A study of body language is a study of the mixture of all body movements from the very deliberate to the completely unconscious, from those that apply only in one culture to those that cut across all cultural barriers.

A SCIENCE CALLED KINESICS

Within the last few years a new and exciting science has been uncovered and explored. It is called body language. Both its written form and the scientific study of it have been labelled kinesics. Body language and kinesics are based on the behavioural patterns of non-verbal communication, but kinesics is still so new as a science that its authorities can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Clinical studies have revealed the extent to which body  language can actually contradict verbal communications. A classic example is the young woman who told her psychiatrist that she loved her boyfriend very much while nodding her head from side to side in subconscious denial.

Body language has also shed new light on the dynamics of interfamily relationships. A family sitting together, for example, can give a revealing picture of itself simply by the way its members move their arms and legs. If them other crosses her legs first and the rest of the family then follows suit, she has set the lead for the family action, though she, as well as the rest of the family, may not be aware she is doing it. In fact, her words may deny her leadership as she asks her husband or children for advice. But the unspoken, follow-the-leader clue in her action gives the family set-up away to someone knowledgeable in kinesics.

A New Signal from the Unconscious

Dr Edward H. Hess told a recent convention of the American College of Medical Hypnotists of a newly discovered kinesic signal. This is the unconscious widening of the pupil when the eye sees something pleasant. On a useful plane, this can be of help in a poker game if the player is in the 'know'. When his opponent's pupils widen, he can be sure that his opponent is holding a good hand. The player may not even be conscious of his ability to read this sign, any more than the other person is conscious of telegraphing his own luck.

Dr Hess has found that the pupil of a normal man's eye becomes twice as large when he sees a picture of a nude woman On a commercial level, Dr Hess cites the use of this new kinesic principle to detect the effect of an advertising commercial on television. While the commercial is being shown to a selected audience, the eyes of the audience are photographed. The film is then later carefully studied to detect just when there is any widening of the eye; in other words, when there is any unconscious, pleasant response

to the commercial.

Body language can include any non-reflexive or reflexive movement of a part, or all of the body, used by a person to communicate an emotional message to the outside world. To understand this unspoken body language, kinesics experts often have to take into consideration cultural differences and environmental differences. The average man, unschooled in cultural nuances of body language, often misinterprets what he sees.

HOW TO TELL A GIRL IS APART

Allen was a small-town boy who had come to visit Ted in the big city. One night, on his way to Ted's apartment and a big cocktail party, Allen saw a lovely young brunette walk across the street ahead of him and then start up the block. Allen followed her, marvelling at the explicit quality of her walk. If ever Allen had seen a non-verbal message transmitted, this was it! He followed her for a block, realizing that the girl was aware of him, and realizing, too, that her walk didn't change. Allen was sure this was a come-on. Finally, at a red light, Allen summoned up his courage and catching up to the girl, gave her his pleasantest smile and said, 'Hello.'

To his amazement she turned a furious face to him and through clenched teeth said, 'If you don't leave me alone I'll call a cop.' Then as the light changed, she churned off. Allen was stunned and scarlet with embarrassment. He hurried on to Ted's apartment where the party was in progress. While Ted poured him a drink he told him the story and Ted laughed. 'Boy, you got the wrong number.' 'But, hell, Ted - no girl at home would walk like that unless — unless she was asking for it.' 'This is a Spanish-speaking neighbourhood. Most of the girls - despite outward appearances - are very good girls,' Ted explained. What Allen didn't understand is that in a culture, such as that of many Spanish-speaking countries, in which girls are chaperoned and there are strict codes of social behaviour, a young girl can safely flaunt her sexuality without fear of inviting trouble. In fact, the walk that Allen took as a come-on would be considered only natural, and the erect, rigid posture of a proper American woman would probably be considered graceless and unnatural. Allen circulated through the party and slowly forgot his humiliation.

As the party was breaking up, Ted cornered him and asked, 'See anything you like?' ' That Janet,' Allen sighed. ' Man, I could really go for that—' ' Well, swell. Ask her to stay. Margie's staying too, and we'll have dinner.' ' I don't know. She's just - like I couldn't get to first base with her.' 'You're kidding.' ' No. She's had the " hands off" sign out all evening.' 'But Janet likes you. She told me.' ' But—' Bewildered, Allen said,' Then why is she so - so - I don't know, she just looks as if she didn't want me to lay a finger on her.' 'That's Janet's way. You just didn't get the right message.' 'I'll never understand this city,' Allen said still bewildered,

but happy. As Allen found out, in Latin countries girls may telegraph a message of open sexual flirtation, and yet be so well chaperoned that any sort of physical ' pass' is almost

impossible. In countries where the chaperoning is looser, the girl will build her own defences by a series of nonverbal messages that spell out 'hands off'. When the situation is such that a man cannot, within the rules of the culture, approach a strange girl on the street, a girl can move loosely and freely. In a city such as New York where a girl can expect almost anything, especially at a cocktail party, she learns to send out a message saying 'hands off'. To do this she will stand rigidly, cross her legs demurely when sitting, cross her arms over her breasts, and use other such defensive gestures. The point is that for every situation there must be two elements to body language, the delivery of the message and the reception of the message. Had Allen been able to receive the messages correctly in terms of the big city he would have been spared the embarrassment of one encounter and could have avoided much of the uncertainty of the other.

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

Swami Vivekananda (12 January 1863–4 July 1902), born Narendra Nath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk. He was a key figure in the introduction of Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world and was credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion in the late 19th century. He was a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India and contributed to the notion of nationalism in colonial India. He was the chief disciple of the 19th century saint Ramakrishna and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. He is perhaps best known for his inspiring speech beginning with "Sisters and Brothers of America," through which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's  Religions in Chicago in 1893.

Born into an aristocratic Bengali family of Calcutta, Vivekananda showed an inclination towards spirituality. He was influenced by his guru Ramakrishna from whom he learnt that all living beings were an embodiment of the divine self and hence, service to God could be rendered by service to mankind. After the death of his guru, Vivekananda toured the Indian subcontinent extensively and acquired a first-hand knowledge of the conditions that prevailed in British India. He later travelled to the United States to represent India as a delegate in the 1893 Parliament of World Religions. He conducted hundreds of public and private lectures and classes, disseminating tenets of Hindu philosophy in the United States, England and Europe. In India, Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint and his birthday is celebrated as the National Youth Day.

MOTHER TERESA

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia, on August 26, 1910. Her family was of Albanian descent. At the age of twelve, she felt strongly the call of God. She knew she had to be a missionary to spread the love of Christ. At the age of eighteen she left her parental home in Skopje and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish

community of nuns with missions in India. After a few months' training in Dublin she was sent to India, where on May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun. From 1931 to 1948 Mother Teresa taught at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta, but the suffering and poverty she glimpsed outside the convent walls made such a deep impression on her that in 1948 she received permission from her superiors to leave the convent school and devote herself to working among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. Although she had no funds, she depended on Divine Providence, and started an open-air school for slum children. Soon she was joined by voluntary helpers, and financial support was also forthcoming. This made it possible for her to extend the scope of her work.

On October 7, 1950, Mother Teresa received permission from the Holy See to start her own order, "The Missionaries of Charity", whose primary task was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after. In 1965 the Society became an International Religious Family by a decree of Pope Paul VI.

The Society of Missionaries has spread all over the world, including the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. They provide effective help to the poorest of the poor in a number of countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and they undertake relief work in the wake of natural catastrophes such as floods, epidemics, and famine, and for refugees. The order also has houses in North America, Europe and Australia, where they take care of the shut-ins, alcoholics, homeless, and AIDS sufferers. The Missionaries of Charity throughout the world are aided and assisted by Co-Workers who became an official International Association on March 29, 1969. By the 1990s there were over one million Co-Workers in more than 40 countries. Along with the Co-Workers, the lay Missionaries of Charity try to follow Mother Teresa's spirit and charism in their families.

Mother Teresa's work has been recognised and acclaimed throughout the world and she has received a number of awards and distinctions, including the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971) and the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding (1972). She also received the Balzan Prize (1979) and the Templeton and

Magsaysay awards. Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997.

If you can’t feed a hundred people just feed one..

VICTOR MARIE VICOMETE HUGO

VICTOR MARIE VICOMETE HUGO, one of the most distinguished French writers, was born February 26th, 1802, at  Besancon, where his father was then commandant of the garrison. He early acquired distinction by his poetic effusions, and before he was thirty years of age, his published works were numerous, and his name famous. Odes and ballads, romances, dramas, etc., flowed from his prolific pen. Shortly before the revolution of 1830, a literary revolution took place, at the head of which was Hugo. A band of young men, imaginative, ardent, and confident, sought to renovate French literature by departing from classic rules and models, substituting a varied and very irregular verse for the monotonous Alexandrines of the old school. The new school, "la jeune France," as they called themselves, formed the Romanticists, and their opponents the Classicists. The literary war which arose lasted for several years.

Hugo's popularity continued to increase, and in 1837, Louis Philippe made him an officer of the Legion of Honor, and in 1845 a peer of France. After the revolution of 1848, he was elected to represent the city of Paris, both in the Constituent and in the Legislative Assembly, in which he manifested democratic principles, and was one of those members of the extreme left, who were banished from France for life by Louis Napoleon. He took up his residence in the island of Jersey. In 1852, he assailed the ruler of France in a remarkable political pamphlet, Napoleon le Petit, (Napoleon the Little), which produced a great sensation; but the effect of its severity was weakencd by its undignified virulence. In 1862, he published Les Miserables, in which, with great dramatic force, he handles some of the most important social questions. Hugo's writings have great faults. They are often extravagant both in form and substance, and sometimes marred by an affected triviality of images and harshness of versification. Yet they have also great excellencies; the command of language is wonderful, and as a lyric poet, Hugo has, perhaps, never been equalled in France.

THOMAS ALVA EDISON

Thomas Alva Edison,(born February 11, 1847, Milan, Ohio, U.S.—died October 18, 1931, West Orange, New Jersey), American inventor who, singly or jointly, held a world record 1,093 patents. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial research laboratory.

Edison was the quintessential American inventor in the era of Yankee ingenuity. He began his career in 1863, in the adolescence of the telegraph industry, when virtually the only source of electricity was primitive batteries putting out a low-voltage current. Before he died, in 1931, he had played a critical role in introducing the modern age of electricity. From his laboratories and workshops emanated the phonograph, the carbon-button transmitter for the telephone speaker and microphone, the incandescent lamp, a revolutionary generator of unprecedented efficiency, the first commercial electric light and power system, an experimental electric railroad, and key elements of motion-picture apparatus, as well as a host of other inventions.

Edison was the seventh and last child—the fourth surviving—of Samuel Edison, Jr., and Nancy Elliot Edison. At an early age he developed hearing problems, which have been variously attributed but were most likely due to a familial tendency to mastoiditis. Whatever the cause, Edison’s deafness strongly influenced his behaviour and career, providing the motivation for many of his inventions

TEAM WORK

Teamwork is "work done by several associates with each doing a part but all subordinating personal  prominence to the efficiency of the whole".

In a business setting accounting techniques may be used to provide financial measures of the benefits of teamwork which are useful for justifying the concept. Teamwork is increasingly advocated by health care policy makers as a means of assuring quality and safety in the delivery of services; a committee of the Institute of Medicine recommended in 2000 that patient safety programs "establish interdisciplinary team training programs for providers that incorporate proven methods of team training, such as simulation."

In health care, one definition of teamwork is "those behaviours that facilitate effective team member interaction," with "team" defined as "a group of two or more individuals who perform some work related task, interact with one another dynamically, have a shared past, have a foreseeable shared future, and share a common fate." One definition for teamwork proposed in 2008 is "the interdependent components of performance required to effectively coordinate the performance of multiple individuals"; as such, teamwork is "nested within" the broader concept of team performance which also includes individual-level taskwork. Another definition proposed in 2008 is "a dynamic process involving two or more healthcare professionals with complementary backgrounds and skills, sharing common health goals and exercising concerted physical and mental effort in assessing, planning, or evaluating patient care." A 2012 review of the academic literature found that the word "teamwork" has been used "as a catchall to refer to a number of behavioral processes and emergent states."