Sampath-Musings

  FROM SAMPATH’S DESK:              WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT, TREATMENT AND RECYCLING The sources of wastewater include  inter alia , homes, shops, offices and factories, farms, transport and fuel depots, vessels, quarries, and mines. Water used in toilets, showers, baths, kitchen sinks, and laundries in homes and offices is domestic wastewater. In the present-day scenario, three types of wastewater assume importance; they are domestic sewage, industrial sewage, and storm sewage.   Once, John Snow, a physician in London, found himself in the middle of a devastating Cholera outbreak in 1854. In a painstaking investigation in the densely populated Soho district, he traced the source of the epidemic to a contaminated water pump on Broad Street, before knowledge of the causative organism. The epidemic subsided when the pump handle was subsequently removed. Snow’s work underscored the potential of di...

  FROM SAMPATH’S DESK:         ARUNA SAIRAM Date of birth - 30 October 1952   Born on October 30, 1952 in Mumbai into a South Indian Tamil musical family, Vidhushi Aruna Sairam is a legendary vocalist in Carnatic, Indian Classical, Hindustani, Bhajan, and film playback singing. She can also play the stringed mesmerizing musical instrument, Veena.   Her voice and renditions intertwined as they are in a masterful, rich, and embellished beautiful blend of modulations, intonations, resonance, and timbre, are inimitable and nonpareil - honey to ears and delight to mind.   Motivated and inspired from childhood by her parents, she got initiated into music by her mother Rajalakshmi, ably backed up and supported by her father Sethuraman, who was a music connoisseur himself.   Tracing the humble beginning of her music journey: As a girl of 8 years, she won a Gold medal at the Shanmukhananda Sabha Competitions in Bombay (now Mumbai...

FROM SAMPATH’S DESK: THE SALE OF THE EARTH and EARN/WIN YOUR SPURS   THE SALE OF THE EARTH:   Meaning:   If you say this, you are showing admiration for the honesty, reliability, loyalty, and reasonableness of a person, group, and/or community regarded as genuine, unpretentious, and morally sound; this phrase is typically complimentary - the most worthy of people, a very good or capable person - a person considered as embodying simplicity and moral integrity, most worthy part of society - an individual or group considered as representative of the best or noblest elements of society.     Example sentences:   They were such a lovely couple. They really were THE SALE OF THE EARTH.   He was the sort of person referred to as THE SALE OF THE EARTH; very friendly and straightforward.   It’s a community with a great sense of pride, full of THE SALE OF THE EARTH.   He’s THE SALE OF THE EARTH type with absolutely no pretensions.   Those folks...

FROM SAMPATH’S DESK:     ELEPHANT 12 August - WORLD ELEPHANTS DAY 16 APRIL -  Save The Elephant Day:     Who can afford to miss the sight of an elephant’s majestic gait? And the buzz and tremors it makes on the earth due to its heavy weight; Not just children but even adults would like to witness its might; Including its regal, imposing, full-throated, ear-blasting trumpet!   The Jumbo, you share with humans cognitive abilities of categorization; And shrewd and clever ways of interaction; Your herd has several types of internal communication; Conversing even through vibration!   The Tusker, you are a good spirit and strength fountain; And obviously a mobile mountain; You have all the pristine qualities of the animals’ captain; None can displace you as the chieftain that is certain!   The Pachyderm, you have almost no parallel in size and elegant shape; Which is the first of many feathers in your colourful ca...