Winning is not everything
Pigeons or desert pigeons are frequent visitors at everyone’s home especially here in this region ("Learn lessons of success from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid", Gulf News, February 26). They aimlessly fly here and there and rest in the tiniest of window spaces. They don’t look too clever, however, I was proven wrong after I had the chance to observe a pigeon's nest up close.
On the top of an inclined unused wooden frame that we had kept in the balcony, the birds somehow found a space to build a nest and laid eggs. Within three weeks, the eggs hatched and the “squeakers” flew out in no time. That very fallible nest was used, reused and several baby birds took their first flight from it. It would amaze anyone to note how quickly the hatchlings transitioned from depending on their parents, to becoming independent. The minute their tiny feathers grew out, they take that flight of confidence and never looked back.
Human beings on the other hand have more apprehensions and doubts. We weigh in the risks and contingencies about every experience before taking decisions. It is impossible to live without failing at something, yet the very word failure is not accepted or acknowledged. We all expect to win in everything we do that a couple of failures quickly turn into our complete inability to do just about anything. We are clueless and apprehensive if things don’t work in a certain way.
We have been constantly taught to be front-runners. The fear of failing is a plague that haunts just about anyone. Failure is but a natural course of any act. Why haven’t we been taught about handling failure? Maybe, going forward, the focus should be about trying and retrying till we get things right, and putting more emphasis on the attempts that didn’t materialise. Accepting failure and letting go of the desire to constantly win, maybe one of the ways to living a peaceful life.
Waking up every day seeking a fresh start, and not being nervous about failure, would be a whole new way to go about living every moment.
From Ms Chaya Mathew
UAE
Bird watching is good for the soul
There are around 10,000 species of birds in the world and around 1300 in India ("Photos: Gulf News readers share pictures of lovely birds and cloudy skies in the UAE", www.gulfnews.com, March 16).
Do you know that birds play a significant role in pollinating our crops and fruit trees? They are also such a delight to behold. It is said that bird watching can reduce stress, blood pressure and normalize your body besides giving you complete enjoyment, fulfillment and full value of the time you have spent in observing them. Birds are a great indicator of the bio-diversity in nature, in conditions of the habitat and in the overall environment – like a barometer for human existence! Their significance is realised when they disappear; therefore it is very important to conserve them. Their migration for food and reproduction is a mind-boggling phenomenon.
The Arctic tern travels more than 10,000 kilometers. Birds fly over the Himalayas, survive and come back to the same. It’s a fascinating world in itself. Now, cardiologists have started prescribing nature walks for bird watching for heart and blood pressure patients. Birds are a wonderful product of Nature, just observe their behaviour, their actions and you will be fascinated beyond words. Like us, birds too have families, they also have emotions and they can communicate. They have all the dynamics like humans. And the songs they sing are ethereal. So on your next holiday head to the gardens or forests and enjoy the company of birds. A request and plea from an avid bird-watcher!
From Ms Aruna Mathur
New Delhi, India
Where is the Modi government when you need them?
The Narendra Modi ruling government is not ready to even discuss the current issue of the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), in parliament ("India slams UN body over CAA plea in Supreme Court", Gulf News, March 3). They keep postponing the same discussion without any reason. They gave special security to Indian politician and Bharatiya Janata party member Kapil Mishra.
So far, no minister from Modi’s government has bothered to visit the victims or offered support, no MP or minister of Modi government has visited the victims nor offered any support for victims.
From Mr Rashid E.
UAE
Facebook comment
Crisis management
Comparing two countries during distress: The UAE and India. In the UAE, all who live here are protected by the Rulers not only by indirect financial initiatives but also with continuous messages of confidence and courage through every possible media platform ("Coronavirus: 'We will get through these tough times', says Mohamed bin Zayed", Gulf News, March 17). Subsequently, people living here are not feeling the distress of this calamity that is the coronavirus.
In India, during this difficult time, politics is taking centrestage wherein poaching of Members of the Legislative Assembly is the order of the day. People in power are busy adding numbers to snatch power from elected states by blatantly employing huge amounts of cash. Added to the woe is hiking of oil prices when the country is reeling under tremendous economic pressure. Instead of utilising the opportunity of drastic reduction in world oil prices to reduce fuel prices in the country, the government in power is exploiting the situation by adding taxes to aggravate the pain of the citizens. What a contradiction in every sense of the word!
From Mr Zahir Hassan
Dubai
Go vegan!
More than 200 million sensitive, intelligent animals are killed each day, simply to satisfy our taste for their flesh, milk and eggs. I’m sure these animals value their lives every bit as much as we value ours. Now, our heartless treatment of them has come back to bite us. The entire world has been brought to its knees because of eating them. Since “we” are now the ones losing our lives, isn’t it time to reflect on this cruel and unnecessary practice of eating animals and consider switching to a humane and healthy vegan diet?
From Ms Jenny Moxham
Australia
Indian cricket players underperforming?
Though India is the world number one team in Test cricket, I think it is only when we are in our own territory ("Indian Premier League: PIL filed as pressure mounts on Indian cricket board", Gulf News, March 11) . But achieving success on foreign soil, where it matters, remain elusive. Ironically, the coach of the Indian cricket team, and captain Virat Kohli, continue to bask in the solitary Test series win against a weakened Australian team during the 2018 to 2019 season. They are forgetting their continued failures in South Africa, England and now in New Zealand. All these defeats were inflicted mainly due to the biased selection policy.
This is a real worrying sign and our team and even the board members have time and again failed to introspect and make the right corrections to make the team better. If our team has to reach somewhere they need to mend their ways to win overseas Test matches. If they fail to do so, they cannot call themselves the number one in Test cricket. It is time the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) takes some steps to correct this mistake.
From Mr N. Mahadevan
India
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