The Vitamins

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Dr. Kenneth Walker

The Vitamins

                              QUESTION # 1

            Discuss the history of vitamins and their discovery?

            Dr. Kenneth Walker was a consultant surgeon in London. He has a neat simple and straightforward style that suits his purpose excellently.  "The Vitamins" is an extract from his research work, "Human physiology". It is written in his typical plain prose style. 

            In the beginning only five basic ingredients of food were known. People tried to include all these ingredients in food to make it a balanced diet.  In 1906 Sir F. Gowland Hopkins conducted some experiment on rats.  He kept these rats on a diet of pure proteins, fats, carbohydrates, salts and water but still they developed the signs of malnutrition.  It diverted the attention of scientists to another ingredient that was still not known.   This ingredient was needed to keep ones body perfectly healthy.  Later experiments discovered it and it was named as the vitamin.

            In 1906 a disease called scurvy invaded the ships of East India Company.  In order to combat this scourge, lemons and oranges were used, which are a rich source of vitamins.  Another disease, which is thought to be due to vitamin deficiency, is beri-beri.  It is characterized by weakness and even complete paralysis of legs associated with dropsy.

            The research on all these diseases solidified the existence of vitamins and their importance for human body.  The true nature of vitamins is still not completely known and researches are still going on.

Q. No. 2:         What are the main types of vitamins?

            The vitamins are divided in two categories.  This division is on the basis of their solubility in fats or in water.   The letters of the alphabet are employed to distinguish them. The fat-soluble vitamins are A, D, and E.  The water-soluble vitamins are B and C.

           The first fat-soluble vitamin is A.  It is found in cod-liver oil in large quantity. Its smaller amounts are present in butter and green vegetables.  Deficiency of this vitamin results in stunted growth and reduces the natural resistance offered by the body to invading organisms.  Its deficiency produces a dry condition of eye known as Xerophthalmia.

            The second fat-soluble vitamin is D. It is found in cod-live oil and in lesser amounts in other animal fats but is not present in vegetable oils.  Its absence from food interferes with the growth and calcification of bones and is the cause of rickets.  Rickets is cured by adding vitamin D to diet or by exposing the patient to sunlight because another major source of vitamin D is sunlight

            The main water-soluble vitamins are B and C.  Vitamin B is found in yeast and in the outer layers of rice and wheat.  Its absence causes beri-beri and pellagra.  Vitamin B actually contains six different substances of varying importance.

            The second water-soluble vitamin C is present in fresh vegetables, in germinating peas and beans and in some fruits especially in lemons and oranges.  It is important as anti-scorbutic vitamin.

            Still more vitamins are being discovered and their efficacy is also being elucidated.

Q. No. 3:         Discuss the reasons of rickets?

            Rickets is a disease characterized by softening and bending of bones.  During the research on rickets, two completely divergent theories were presented about its causes.  According to some investigators, it was purely a diet-deficiency disease.  They proved that it could by readily cured by adding a small quantity of cod-liver oil to diet of the patient. At the same time, some investigators believed that it was related to the physical environment of the patient because rickets almost always attacked children living in dark industrial cities and was quickly cured when they were brought into the sunlight.

            On further investigations, it was proved that the main cause was the deficiency of vitamins D and it can be obtained either by mouth or skin.  That's why rickets may be caused by shortage of vitamins D or by the lack of sunlight.

            Vitamin D is present in cod-liver oil and animal fats.  Similarly it can be obtained through sunlight that transforms a certain fat found in the skin to vitamin D.

            So  this disease can be cured in these two ways.

Q. No. 4:         What should be done to fulfill the deficiency of vitamins?

            Today we fully know the importance of vitamins and we also know that the use of alkalis in flour grinding and in the milling of rice is strongly helping in the destruction of vitamins found in different foodstuffs. The governments and authorities do not pay attention to it.  So people should take steps to rectify the situation by compensating the loss of vitamins by taking them in the form of tablets.  In this way the interests of the government, millers and masses will be secured at the same time.

From Some Policemen and a Moral

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G. K. Chesterton

From Some Policemen And A Moral

                             QUESTION # 1

            What happened to G. K. Chesterton?

            G. K. Chesterton was a journalist.  He worked in the "Daily News". Once in holidays, he went to Yorkshire.  He was staying there with a rich and renowned person.  One day he was free from work and was sitting in a wood.  He had a Swedish knife and was practicing the style in which people murdered each other in Stevenson’s novels.  Unluckily he could never hit any tree.

            Suddenly two policemen appeared from somewhere and overwhelmed the whole area.   It seemed there was no one else in the jungle.  They accused him of murder-attempt on the tree and started a detailed interrogation regarding some relevant or irrelevant matters.  They asked him who he was, what the knife was, why was he throwing it, what was his address, trade, religion, opinion on the Japanese war, name of his favourite cat and so on.  The writer tried to convince them that he was a journalist and was staying with “Mr. Blank of Ilkely” and he was working at “The Daily News".

            All these things impressed the policemen and they left as quickly as they had come.  The matter of his being guilty or not was dissolved by the fact that he knew some well-to-do people and was a journalist.

           

Q. No.2:          Why did they release him?

            The policemen entangled him badly in the snare of their complicated irrelevant questions.  They tried to confuse him and get the answers of their own choice.  But when the writer told them that he was a journalist related to an honest and esteemed newspaper called "The Daily News" and that he was staying with very rich and well-known people, they shuddered with awe and terror and released him.  The writer produced an envelope, an unfinished poem and some other documents to prove his statement.

            The policemen were so impressed that the elder of them declared himself as a regular reader and admirer of the writer.  They forgot all about his crime and their accusation.  They disappeared as unobtrusively as they had appeared.

Q. No. 3:         What was Chesterton’s reaction on his release?

            The writer was quite amazed at his acquittal and release.  He asked the policemen why they had acquitted him when he was guilty of cruelty to a green entity.  He further said that the policemen had rushed to him as if he was some villain of the Greek mythology who was trying to spoil a goddess tied to the ground and as if the huge tree was now shattered to pieces, its green blood was wailing and calling out for the "Justice".  It was protesting against the cruelty of a man.  His crime could not be dismissed by the fact that he was Chesterton, a journalist, a well-known person or that he was staying with some wealthy people.

            But to the writer's disappointment, the major part of this speech was made to the silent wood because both the knights had vanished away.  It made him think that they might be fairies whose standard and criterion of crime and punishment was different from the normal human standard.  In their domain, it might be a crime to damage a tree or a blade of grass.  In these terms this event could easily be explained but if the policemen were taken as "real", the situation again became confusing.  They arrested him because he was guilty of something so they should have taken him to the police station for proper proceedings.  And if he was not the criminal then why had they interfered with him and accused him.

            This is what the writer is still unable to understand.  He thinks that if there has been a poor man at his place, who is homeless or who does not know any dignitary, what they might have done to him.  Basically this essay is written to criticize the practices of policemen who question the innocent but let the criminals loose.  They threaten the simple people and impress them with their power and authority.   They accept bribes and can be influenced by aristocrats.  They have no clear knowledge or sense of crime and punishment.  They accuse a person according to his social status.  They acquit a person according to his contacts and connections.  The true essence of the police department has been lost under the cover of worldly and materialistic considerations and recommendations.

           

Q. No. 4:         "Policemen in Chesterton's essay behave exactly like our own Policemen”, Elucidate.

            G. K. Chesterton is a keen commentator of the society and its evils.  His style is very amusing and subtle.  He points out the cancerous diseases of society in a light and humorous way.  “From Some Policemen and a Moral" presents the attitudes and ways of the policemen.

            He narrates an event when he was nearly arrested by two policemen on charge of damaging a tree.  After a heated discussion of half an hour, he was acquitted.  He hardly won his acquittal by proving that he was a journalist and knew some aristocrats. These things impressed the policemen and they neglected his crime, if there was any.

            This provoked the writer to think deeply about the police and their working. He establishes the meaninglessness of police department and its activities by using some super metaphors and symbols. This analysis provokes us to think deeply about the policemen of our own area.

            For some decades, our country has been turned into a police state.  The discretionary powers of policemen are immense.  They do whatever they want and the administration gives them protection.  Generally police department is thought to be a symbol of protection and security but in our country no gentleman dares to pass near a police station.  People try to solve their problems on a local level instead of going to police station because the policemen put them into a swamp of bribes recommendations and injustice.  Even filing of FIR has become a very difficult task and if it is filed the applicant has to provide "tyres" to it in form of money to start or to speed up the proceedings.

            The government cannot control their excesses because of political consideration.  The looting, theft and murders never disturb the police.  Their attention is only to get as much money out of the innocent people as possible.  Too many people die every year in police custody.  Too many lose their youths, languishing in jails on wrong charges.  Not only the accused is punished but also his whole family has to suffer the police-terrorism.  The sanctity of home is violated every day.

            If the accused is some influential man, police never go near him and try to shift the burden of his crime on the shoulders of someone else.  All the drug, gambling and wine business is running under police patronization.  They get monthly "Jagga Tax" from the dons of such business.

            Though policemen have their own problems too but still they are responsible for the deformity in the police department as well as in the general society.  The policemen in Chesterton’s essay were light and trivial but the atrocities and dishonesty of Pakistani police have no bounds.  They are in nobody's control.  They respect no law.  They recognize no moral, religious or ethical code of conduct.

            The government should pay attention to their activities so that the evils of terrorism, gambling, drugs and many other vicious crimes can be wiped out from our society.

Super

(18)

Anonymous

Super

QUESTION # 1

            Discuss the background of "Super?

        This essay has been written by some anonymous writer and was published in "The Times" magazine.  The writer humorously criticizes the use of different prefixes.

            Mr. Shaw translated the word “super” from German to English language from the work of Nietzsche, who originally used this word.  He applied this word as a prefix to the "man" and created a character of super qualities.  When this word was translated to English, it caught the fancy of people, specially the advertisers.  They vehemently made use of the word ‘super’ with almost everything that was advertised.  Every thing was given the status of being super.  The character of the "Superman" was a man of extra-ordinary qualities but the super things are quite ordinary.  Writer says that super things should be superior to something but they are not.  In writer’s view people use this prefix with their products but never use it with their own names.  For example a man would call his trousers as super-trousers and even he may call himself a super tailor but would never call himself super, as a man.

            In past, too many people were given distinguished titles but they never called themselves as super.  Even today the richest man does not try to embellish himself or his conversation as being a super-human thing.  The writer mocks at the over use of this prefix and ironically says that this word has lost its worth and emphasis because of its over use.  As the modern music produces no effect on mind body or soul, so is the case with  "Super".  It is as meaningless and irritating as is the modern music.

Q. No.2:          What is wrong with the use of this word?

            The writer humorously points out the use of unnecessary phrases in advertisement, specially the word "Super".  He states many examples to present his case.

            He objects to the overuse of this prefix with every thing.  He says that we live in a realm of super things like super chocolate, super soap, super cigarettes and so on.  He objects because the quality of things has not been improved even by a zero percent but their names have been changed to "Super".  Being super means that the thing is superior to something else, but to what, it is not known.  He ridicules the situation by saying that these things must be made by a race of supermen.

            In fact the writer wants to assert that the things should not be improved superficially but their true quality should be raised, so they can genuinely impress people.  Modern time is the time of glitz and glamour.  Things are presented in super packing and super advertisement but their true quality is nothing.

  The things are symbols of their makers, who have become super outwardly but from inside they are still uncultured and undeveloped.  The change should come in the soul of everything.  This is what the writer wants to suggest through this essay.

Q. No.3:          Point out the elements of satire and humour from this essay?

            This essay is full of humorous and satirical expressions.  Writer has light-heartedly pointed out the use of the word “super”.  He ridicules the emptiness of shallow modern man who tries to embellish things outwardly but their inner hollowness remains intact.

            The very first line is satirical when writer says that Mr. Shaw could never foresee the immense effects of his novel use of the word super.  He says that the superman is an imaginative character that may come in future but the use of this word has filled the world with super things like super soap, super cigarette, super chocolate etc.  Being super they should be of a higher quality but they are not.  He humorously adds the example of a certain abusive epithet that has lost its meanings due to over use.

            Ironically enough he expects that this bulk of super things might be made by a race of super men.  He laughs at the trends of advertisement where people go to the extent of calling themselves, for instance, as super-tailor due to the super trousers they make.  He compares the use of the word super to the doubling of paper money that increases the quantity of currency but buying power remains the same.  Today nobody caress about the personal worth or quality of a man.  Writer says that our development is so superficial and fickle that we think that our super inventions like our super aero-planes will astonish and amaze even Shakespeare or Leonardo da Vinci.

            At the end he mocks at the quality and impact of super music and says that now the use of "Super" does not produce any effect like the super music.  On the whole this is a fun-packed essay that conveys its message in an emphatic and straightforward way.

Science and Values

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Bertrand Russell

Science and Values

       

                                      QUESTION # 1

            How has science helped us to diminish bad things?

            Bertrand Russell is a philosopher, mathematician and reformer.  Throughout his life he has been working for introduction of scientific attitude in life, for rights of women, for denunciation of war and for the formation of a world government.

            In the present essay, he gives his arguments to make us realize the importance of science, its advantages and disadvantages.  He says that science has totally changed the orientation, tempo and nature of our lives.  He enlists many things that science has conferred upon us to make our life easier.  In his views, science has helped us to diminish certain bad things from the world. 

The first thing that has been curtailed by science is poverty.  In past people did not have anything they were very badly off.  The food and other necessities of life were not provided to them but now the situation has been totally changed.  The scientific development in agriculture and industry has altogether changed the face of life.  Industrialization has helped mankind to control the excessive labour hours and poverty.

            The advent of medicine and medical science is considered to be a great boon for the mankind.  Before the growth of medicines, the death rate was very high in the world.  In 1920 the infant mortality rate in England was 80 per thousand but in 1948 it was reduced to 34 per thousand.  The sum of human suffering has been greatly diminished by the discovery of anesthetics and other medicines.

            The crimes and lawlessness have also been reduced by the science.  The police force, their scientific method of detection, finger prints, telephones, street lights and the psychology of crimes and punishment have helped greatly to reduce the general crime rate specially in Europe. 

            The science has reduced the fanaticism to its lowest level.  The swift communication and transportation have made the world a global village, thus bringing the nations, classes and religions closer together to enhance the tolerance and good will in the world.

            All these things could have been possible only due to the science and its seasonable use.

Q. No. 2:         How has science helped us to flourish the beneficial aspects of life?

            The science has completely changed the life of man on this planet.  It has helped us in many ways.

            The most important advantage of science is the spread of education.  Now almost everyone is educated, at least in Western countries.  The knowledge about the world and life has increased immensely.  Now people can get every type of knowledge through media, books and Internet.

            Science has also increased the opportunities.  The people even from the lower classes can go higher and higher in life with their education and skills.  The industrialization has increased the job opportunities and it gives chances to people to earn their bread as well as to improve their status in life.

            Another thing that science has gifted to mankind is the happiness.  In past, people had no ways of entertainment but now there are thousands of sources created by science and technology to increase the pleasure and amusement in the world.

            Prosperity has been increased.  The health facilities are improved to reduce the human suffering.  So we can say that science is the only factor that has revolutionized our whole existence for the better.

Q. No.3:          What is the relation of science and values?

            Russell points out many ways in which science has helped mankind but in Russell’s views it could have helped mankind even better.  It is the matter of common observation that the negative uses of science have affected us badly and they have diminished the positive works of science almost completely.  Russell thinks about this problem and detects its reason. He thinks that science and the values have not developed at the same pace.  At some places or times the science has developed and at others the values have.  Science regards values as useless and orthodox.  The values regard science as obstinate.  The science and religion have always confronted.  This is the fact that causes the inhuman use of science and destruction of values.

In order to restore this balance he suggests some ways. The first thing that he mentions is the intellectual tamper.  In people, there should be a desire to know the exact reality and they should judge everything according to their own intellect.  There should be an unwillingness to adopt the already existing dogmatic creeds.   One should never be intensely devoted to some belief or idea rather they should be kept tentatively.  There is always a chance of change and improvement in one’s thoughts and beliefs so one should not be ready to kill others or die himself for some cause.  The urge of impartial inquiry should be present in every man to avoid conflicts and wars in the world.

            The priesthood and other such institutions forcibly impose their views on others and hamper the way of free inquiry and judgment.  These doctrines have often badly opposed the scientific developments.  Similar was in the case of anesthetics that were bitterly opposed by orthodox and religious factions of society as an interference with the will of God.

            The lust of power is an inherent desire of mankind and this desire has led mankind to many fierce and brutal wars.  If the wars are controlled, the magnitude of human prosperity could be increased thousand times more than the present one.  Russell says that science can offer the greatest possibilities of well being for the human race.  It offers this on certain conditions such as the abolition of war, even distribution of ultimate power and a strict control over the growth of population.

            In the western industrial countries, the population growth is strictly controlled and it gives a chance to people to live a better life.  Forming a world government can control the wars.  All the countries should unite and make a government that will have a complete control of all the weapons of the world and so will reduce the fear of wars greatly.  The world government can be formed either by negotiations or by the use of force.  Once this government is established the mankind will be introduced to a phase of extreme human welfare and happiness.  This government will help scientists to concentrate on the projects of human comfort and prosperity. Then the money, resources and energy wasted on the weaponization will be diverted to the constructive plans for humanity.  If science and all these values are synthesized, the earth can become a paradise of peace and prosperity.  So we can say that science and values are closely linked and they should be developed in unison.

Gossip

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Francine Prose

Gossip

Q. No. 1:         What is the background of the word gossip?

        Francine prose was an American novelist, essayist and teacher of creative writing. Her essay on "Gossip" makes an interesting and unusual point about a much-criticized activity.

            Gossip is a tool of acquiring information and understanding and it is quite useful and effective.  Almost every one indulges in it at his leisure.  It is not a novel or new activity rather it is a very historical thing or phenomenon.

In the writer’s view it may be the first recreational use of the spoken word.  The caveman at night must have started this activity by describing the stories of people living in the cave next-door.  He may even have exaggerated the information about hunting and other ordinary matters.

            The gossip may have achieved its peak in the eras when people frequently talked about human relation and contact with gods, spirits and fairies.

            Basically this word has been derived from the Anglo-Saxon term "godsibbe" which stands for god-parents and relatives. Later times widened its meanings to include the friends and acquaintance in it. The journey of the evolution of this term and phenomenon is still going on and its climax can be seen in some literature, media and press etc.  So it has quite definite background that needs deep research to dig out its more aspects and meanings.

           

Q. No. 2:         What are the social uses of gossip?

            Gossip is a social activity and it creates connection in the society.  It has been very useful for the development of relations and understanding in the society.  It gives us our identity by telling, what type of people we know, and what mode of life they lead and who we ourselves are.  It is a matter of general observation and experience that we get more than half of the information about our family, our social circle and ourselves, through the tool of gossip.  It makes us feel close to the people, who we talk about.  Generally gossip has a bad press, people take it as something negative, and mean whose chief purpose is to condemn, criticize and scandalize other people.  But it is not true as this activity gives us an insight into the human psychology and character. It gives us a critical attitude of mind that can determine the right and wrong.  This is the source of moral education that tells us the acceptable and non-acceptable norms of society and we censor our own personality for removing the unwanted traits in us.  Thus we make ourselves mature socially, morally, mentally and intellectually.

            Keeping its social uses in mind, writer suggests that its bad name must be cleared.  It should not be called gossip, but should be given the name of oral tradition.  It is a tradition, which orally makes us wiser, and we learn through the experience of other people.

            Some critics believe that gossip is an important part of all well-knit literatures.  Both need pacing, tone, clarity and authenticity.

            So nobody can deny the importance and uses of gossip.  We admit that sometimes it is used negatively but everything in the world has its uses and abuses.  So it should be taken seriously and given its due status in the civilized society.

           

Q. No. 3:         What is the difference between gossiping and exchanging information?

            At our leisure we indulge in gossip and we learn a lot through a passive activity.  Generally people do not find any specific difference between exchanging information and gossiping.  But if we go deep into the sense of the word we can come to know that there are some basic points that differentiate both.

            Exchanging information means to tell someone about some happening objectively, with out mixing one’s own critical point of view in it, while the gossip gives an information as well as the emotional and subjective commentary of the narrator.  The writer gives an example that if someone says, “John got a new Job" its an information, but if one says, "Hey did you hear John got fired?” It is a gossip.  It is so because the second expression is meant to damage the social standing of a person by ridiculing his expulsion from the job.          

        Generally people take gossip as a negative thing that is meant to undermine somebody’s reputation.

Q. No. 4:         How do we learn through gossip?

            Through gossip we learn a lot about the world.  When people discuss about some person, event or idea, they not only tell us the main action but the standard morality of a society is also discussed in detail.  This discussion makes us morally wise.  We come to know about a lot of things in the world.  We cannot experience every thing ourselves so we have to borrow common sense from the opinions of other people and in gossip people discuss the news as well as give their own point of view.  This increases our common sense and makes us mature.

            Gossip not only reveals the character of the man who is being gossiped about but the personality of the gossiper is also marked out.  This makes us understand the variety of actions and characters in the world.

            Little kids learn to tell stories through gossip.  They reveal their true fascination and enchantments when they gossip about fairies, giants and warriors. The literary work also involves gossip.  So as a tool of understanding the role of gossip can never be neglected.

           

Q. No. 5:         What is the conclusion of this essay?

            This essay gives a detailed discussion about the uses and abuses of gossip.  It features gossip in a unique light and goes to an untraditional view about it.  The writer asserts that gossip is thought to be something negative but it has a lot of positive aspects too.  It should not be taken as a vice or weakness because it enlarges the vision of a man and gives him a deep insight into the realities of life.

            Francine Prose presents gossip in a positive light to make us realize its usefulness. And she gives enough arguments to prove that it should not be taken as a frivolous or time-wasting activity

To Err is Human

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Lewis Thomas

To Err is Human.

Q. No. 1:         What is the importance of errors in life?

            Lewis Thomas is basically a man of science.  He presents deep scientific truths in a simple, straightforward and lucid style.  The essay “To Err is Human” is a study of human brain and its working.  The author establishes his thesis in a very light manner.  He asserts the importance of errors in life and says that almost every new thing has been created or discovered through errors.  The whole history of scientific developments is based on coincidences, chances and errors. Everything that deviates from the normal course leads us to new regions of knowledge and possibilities.

            Error is exclusively a human trait.  In the whole universe, only the man is capable of making mistakes.  When a man thinks freely and makes some choices the probability of mistakes is increased.   One out of many courses can be right but the choice of a wrong course can sometimes lead to more beneficial avenues. We learn by trial and error and finally reach at the correct path.  Human body and mind are in a constant process of evolution.  Similarly the environment and circumstances go on changing every day.  So, man has to devise newer ways to cope with the new conditions.  In this process, he sometimes makes mistakes and these mistakes become the herald of new discoveries and inventions.

Animals do not commit error that’s why they seldom learn anything new. They have been spending the same life for million of years. But man has revolutionized his life and living standard.  The cave man could not even dream of the life of today.  After a thousand years, our life too may seem to be as undeveloped as that of the cavemen because the tempo and magnitude of our progress is tremendous.  And most of our progress is based on the moves made by error.  Errors give us new ways to pave and new mysteries to unveil.

            Similarly if we let our machines like computer to work freely and commit mistakes, they can also create new horizons for us.  Mistakes should not be regarded as something negative rather they should be properly death with to get the maximum profit out of them.

Q. No. 2:         How do the computers work?

       Computers are thought to be an excellent machine that cannot commit errors.  But our common observation refutes it and we see that often we have to suffer due to computer errors. Computer by error increases a tiny bank account to a massive one; the utility companies give notice of disconnection due to non-payment.  When you report about these errors, the same computer gives you a guilty letter and settles yours account.

            The writer says that computers have their brains and the sounds coming out of them indicate the working of their brains.  The computer can think as quickly as to beat a man at chess.  The sums done by computer can consume too much of a man's time.  The accuracy of computer is unmatched.  Even then the computers make mistakes because they are an extension of human brain and have the quality of error.  The error is the base of human activity and it generates too many benefits for man.

            He thinks that computer should also be given the right to err so that it can also find new vistas for itself and mankind.  A computer should be given a list of courses, mostly wrong and it should be asked to choose at random.  This can lead to too many possibilities and may prove to be the threshold of new discoveries.  So computer as well as human beings should take the errors as a guide because "trial and error" is the foundation of all our learning.

On Saying Please

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Alpha of the Plough

On Saying Please

Q. No. 1:         Why do we call bad manners infections?

            This essay has been written by Alfred George Gardiner whose pen name was "Alpha of the Plough".  He was a journalist, biographer and essayist.  He was an ardent social reformer.

            In the present essay he throws light on the importance of good manners.  He urges us to be civil and spread civility around us.  Similarly we should avoid bad manners because bad manners spread very quickly.  We can call bad manners infections because every action has a reaction.  A good act will get a good reaction and a bad action will surely produce a bad reaction.  If we deal with people in a good way, naturally they will adopt the same course and will be civil but if we are hostile to some one, he is bound to be uncivil and hostile to us.  We can see it in our day-to-day life that the people behaving in a bad way always incur a bad and unpleasant aura around them.

 The individual is the unit of society and if the unit is going wayward the whole society will be doomed to disturbance. The writer gives an example.  In a city office a customer asked the liftman to take him to "top" but the liftman demanded, "top Please".  This gave rise to a serious brawl and liftman threw the customer out of his lift.  The writer conceives that the customer behaved rudely because his employer did not greet him and the employer was uncivil because he had been hen-pecked by his wife to whom the cook had been insolent because the housemaid had answered the cook back.  On the other hand the liftman, who was not allowed to express his anger, would go home and beat his wife to restore the equilibrium.

            This shows how quickly the bad manners are transferred from one person to another.  Bad manners and rudeness spread sooner than any virus and are more fatal to the civilization and society.

Q. No. 2:         Is there any law against the bad manners?

            We have many laws that can protect us against material losses.  For example if we are attacked physically or if our property is damaged, we can retaliate with the same amount of wrath and the law will protect us.  If we do not avenge ourselves the law will give us redress.  This is because the material loss is a solid phenomenon while the hurt pride is an abstract thing.  Loss of material can be proved but the loss of self-respect and vanity cannot be proved. Moreover, the concept of being hurt intellectually, changes from person to person.  Some people are more tolerant but some are less.  At times we become so much hostile and prejudiced about some people that we always view their actions negatively and we, ourselves, become uncivil to them.  So it can be almost impossible for any law court to judge such cases.

            Although there is no law against bad manners but there are very strong social traditions that compel us to be tolerant, polite and humane.  Laws can never make us civil.  It is the voice of humanity inside and out side us that makes us behave unlike the brutal animals or the residents of jungle.

            There is liberty of expression in almost all the societies of the world and there are certain limitations levied on this liberty by a man's conscience.  As it is our self-respect that makes us respect the "self" of others.

            So, no law can be feasible for keeping us civil and humane, only the tradition and humanity can ask us to do so.

Q. No. 3:         Draw a character sketch of the polite conductor?

            The writer has featured a very impressive character in order to stress the need of civility and good manners in our daily social life.  This character was a bus conductor who impressed the writer with his pleasant personality and helpful manners.  The writer noticed him when, once, he boarded a bus without any money in his pocket.  This was a very trying situation for him because in this situation no one believes that the money has been accidentally misplaced.  Common people and specially the conductors think that the person is trying to cheat.  The writer searched his pockets thoroughly and declared that he would have to alight from the bus.  He was ready for any kind of reaction but quite unexpectedly the conductor behaved generously and politely.  He offered to take him to his destination even without any money.  The writer was very impressed.  Though later the writer could square his account with a stray coin present in his pocket but such a nice act gave him a serene pleasure and satisfaction.

            On second occasion the writer met the same conductor when he heavily trampled writer’s toe but he apologized in such a humble and nice way that writer assured him that he had not hurt him at all.  This reaction was only due to his polite ways.  This proves that every action has a reaction equal in strength. The writer says that he is not ashamed of writing a panegyric to an unknown bus conductor because the wisdom of life can be achieved from anywhere.  No one is low or high it is their manners that divide human beings in low or high level.

           

Q. No. 4:         Why should a person be civil?

            A person should be civil in his dealings with others.  "Man is a social animal" and if he does not respect the society and its values he is just an animal.  All the societies in the world have their own specific set of values.  No society allows its members to have bad manners or to express their annoyance openly.  Societies devise some civilized ways to give vent to any resentment.

            The peaceful coexistence of the individuals in a society is only possible through courtesy and good manners.  In a society, people have to indulge in continuous give and take that is possible only through acknowledging the services of other people.  If we start ordering, like a superior, no body will cordially listen to us.  But if we ask something in a polite manner, no one will refuse us. Our religion, Islam also teachers us to be civil, The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) said, "The best amongst you is one, who has good manners”.                                                 

            We should adopt the ways of courtesy and civility to spread smiles on faces of all those who live around us. 

Q. No. 5:         How can good manners affect our social life?

            Alpha of the plough attempts to stress on the need of having good manners in life.  He asserts that we should behave in a polite and gentle way.  We should not hurt any body and should not lose our temper because these things cast a deep impact on our general life.

            The writer presents an incident from a city office where a liftman threw out a person who insulted him by treating him as a social inferior.  The person demanded "top". The liftman asked for “top please”.  It led to a fierce quarrel.  It was only a question of "please".  The liftman was punished for his violent behaviour.  It happened because the law doesn’t recognize the damage to our feelings but if we experience a material or physical loss the law can protect us.  The liftman was punished because he broke a definite command of law by hitting the customer.  We may sympathize with the liftman whose feelings were hurt but we will have to admit that the law is quite reasonable.

            The bad manners are subjective.  Their effects change from person to person.  Sometimes even a light comment or action can hurt a man.  It depends on our mental state at that time.  If we are already hurt or disturbed then any thing can provoke us.  As was the case with the man who did not say "please" to the liftman.  He was rude because his employer had misbehaved with him.  The employer did so because he had been hen-pecked by his wife and his wife was angry because the cook had been insolent, as the housemaid had answered back to the cook.  This shows how quickly the bad manners start a chain reaction of penetrating in the social life.

            All the religions have preached in favour of good manners but neither any religion nor any constitution has ever tried to legislate against bad manners.

            In writer's view "Please", "thank you” and "sorry" are the little courtesies by which we keep the machine of life oiled and running sweetly.  They produce an atmosphere of cordiality and good will.  The writer pleads us to restore these manners and behaviours so that the society can become a safe and pleasant place to live in.

Q. No. 6:         What is the theme of this essay?     

            "On saying please" is an apt commentary on the mannerism of people in the society.  The writer wants people to be civil and courteous.  The world is a place where, we have to live with a lot of different people who have different attitudes, different manners, traditions and mentalities.  They behave in different ways but we have to put up with them so that the life can smoothly go on.  If we do not adopt good manners, we will poison the whole atmosphere and spoil the stream of life.

            Moreover the writer wants to tell us that there is no law that can compel people, to have good manners.  No law can force people to be well mannered.  But the civilization, culture and tradition of all good nations enjoin a man to be civil and tolerant.  So people should have good manners to make their lives easier and more pleasant.