The Sounds of Nature

The shrill wake-up call of a rooster
Even before the crack of dawn.
The faint cawing of crows
To let the world know
It’s time to leave Slumber land.
The flapping of wings in unison
Before flying away early to catch a worm.
The desperate call of a baby squirrel
Lost somewhere and seeking its mother.
The cooing of pigeons on the roof
Reminding you to pause and
Listen to the Sounds of Nature.

The rumbling sound of thunder in the distance
Heralding a heavy downpour or two
Soon to be followed by the fierce rain
Giving respite to the parched earth.
The rhythmic pitter-patter of raindrops
Falling on the corrugated tin roof.
The whistling of the wild wind
On a cold, stormy day.
The first cry of a new-born
Announcing its sojourn
From the womb to the world outside.

The gurgling of the waterfall
Rushing to mingle with the river.
The rustling of colorful autumn leaves in the park
Trampled upon by children running around.
Then the sounds of silence at night
Interspersed with the sounds of crickets and frogs
And the sound of barking dogs at a distance
Coaxing you to retire and
Wake up to yet another beautiful dawn to
Listen to the Sounds of Nature.

TIME MANAGEMENT

One of the most precious possessions of man is Time. Unfortunately, it is not a renewable commodity. When health and wealth are lost, we can regain them somehow. But when time is lost, it is lost forever. So we have to be very careful in managing our time well.

Time Management is an art by itself. It can readily be acquired by each one of us. It simply involves the organization of all our tasks on a day-to-day basis and driving them to completion efficiently within a certain time limit. When we are very young, our parents manage our time for all our activities during the day. But once we are in school, we have to develop the habit of managing our time well. In fact, the key to success in life lies in how well a person manages time.

When a student manages time well, he/she will have a lot of time to indulge in other activities such as hobbies everyday in addition to the time spent is school and at home completing homework and class assignments. Such a student generally is able to categorize work on the basis of importance or urgency. Allocation of time to various tasks is very important. Only work that has been planned methodically can be completed on time. Taking a test or an examination involves the proper management of time.

High school students typically spend one-third of their day at school. And this includes the time spent in getting ready and in traveling. Now we all know that each one of us needs about 7-8 hours of sleep everyday in order to remain healthy. So this means that the student has the remaining 8 hours of the day within which he/she must complete school work, do regular studies and some additional reading, spend some time outdoors in activities such as playing basketball, jogging, bicycling and so on. Spending too much time on the net, sending text messages indiscriminately, playing computer/video games and such activities will certainly eat away all of our precious time.

So friends, let us all resolve to work hard in managing our time well from this moment onwards. The rewards that we will gain from time management will far outweigh all other material gains in our lives. If we manage our time well, we may not have to wonder as W. H. Davies did:
“What is this life, if full of care
We have no time to stand and stare?”