New Year 2008

Sir,

The law of nature is simple. It is that change is inevitable. Change is the essence of Nature. If there is no change then there is no Nature. We must fall in the line otherwise the world shall move ahead and we will the left out.

A new year has come. Ideally when the time was born we do not know. We have only classified time to our own little needs. Yes only little Needs! Because time is endless and we are only small things. The entire human life of say even one hundred years is a minute speck in the march of time. Imagine things occuring in the whole cosmos on a giant time scale. A galaxy which is deep into space say one million light years away. It means it will take millions of years to reach that galaxy in the present rockets. So in a way time is but an interpretation of space. The deeper the space the more is the time taken.

It is only for our own needs that we have classified time. We have taken the help of changing seasons and the daily change of day following night. We have not been able to classify time other than we usually do. But that is obvious. Classification of time and formation of calenders have been one of the very interesting features of the civilization. Egyptian, Misopotamians, Indian and Chinese had developed accurate calenders. The ancient Indian Civilization had developed accurate calenders. We have both lunar and Solar calenders which calculate the change of seasons and even the prediction of eclipses highly accurately. Calenders were mainly religious in nature. They predicted the auspicious days for the people.

Now we use in official work Grigorian calender. A new year according to this calender has started yesterday. Let us pray to God to grant all round peace and prosperity in year 2008. New challenges are ahead. Now milestones have to be set. We will surmount the difficulties in the new year and help make this year peaceful. The most daunting challenge is the threat of terrorism. We have to fight this demon collectively. Let the new year make us all happy.

Yours etc......
Mohinder Singh
Air Port Road,
Jammu.

Cold wave

Sir,

It has been reported in the Print Media including this paper (Dec 31) that cold wave has engulfed the whole state. As a result two persons have died in Jammu.

The cold season in Jammu has been by and large free from any disturbance like fog which was overhanging usually in the morning. This year the days have been sunny and there is no sign of cold in the day. The days are warm and very much unlike of winter. Rains have not fallen. In a way what was normal in a winter is not happening at all. Cold wave is chilling. But the signs of the change of weather are reflection of a much feared phenomenon of climate change due to global worming.

These signs are ominous and hold for us a very threatening future. Scientists have found that the previous date of 2040 AD set by the research undertaken by the global warming research group of the melting of continental ice sheet over the Arctic has been advanced by thirty five years. Now it is assumed that given the present rate of rise in temperature and the new recorded increase in upsurge of pollutants in the atmosphere has forced the scientists to think that by the year 2012 the ice of the aretic would completely melt. This will bring in thousands of billions of tonnes of fresh water to the sea. The sea level will rise and many a costal areas of the country will become inundated. Though our state will not be influenced by the sea rise but here forests have been cut down which regulated temperature. It is hence important that we take a plunge to develop new effective plans for afforestation.

Yours etc......
Prithvi Chand
Julaka Mohalla,
Jammu.

Sweets turn sweeter

Sir,

City of temples has a legacy of sweets. Its sweet shop owners have held their own for years together. Pateesa lacchadar of Kud, Channa Murgi of Jammu has been famous over the years.

One sweet shop that brings water to mouth is Pahalwan Di Hatti. The name sounds a misnomer for a sweet shop. How can a sweet turn Pahalwan. Yes one way they can. The sweets made in Jammu are Pahalwan of sweetness. No wonder why the first city shop famous as Pahalwan Di Hatti has earned for itself ISO 9001-2000 certification. This makes it plain clear that a brand name in sweet is being developed in the city of temples.

In a time when sweets are being adulterated by all kinds of synthetic Khoya and artificial colouring matters other are still some shops that stick to the concept of purity in manufacture of sweets. These days everything that we eat is in one way or the after adulterated. Milk, fruits, grains and even water contains elements that are harmful to health. Even the air that we breathe is also adulterated. So if, somebody in our city stores to maintain purity in food products it is a good sign of the fact that all is not bad. The authorities should have encourage such people who are in any trade related to food and beverages.

Elders among us talk of such days when everything was pure. Milk, Curds, cheese, fruits etc were all fresh. Despite better technology we should strive on assuring that the food we eat is free from adulterating agent as far as possible.

Yours etc........
Randhi Singh,
Gangyal,
Jammu.