Question set 10: Two-way discussion.
Thank you for the smart question. State laws and international laws are not the same due to their nature. The state laws are applied only within the border of a state while the international laws are applicable across the world. There are some common international laws that are shared around the globe but I think the Convention on the Rights of the Child by UN should be applied all over the world. According to the law, children should be taken cared to the highest extent, child labour should be removed from the countries and child repression should be prevented by the government. In many of the developed and underdeveloped countries, the children are the worst sufferers of different troubles and it appears that they are made the target to sustain the tortures. Moreover, child labour in hazardous industries and activities is another concerning issue and that hampers the mental and physical growth of the children. If the law is implemented everywhere, it is expected that the rate of child labour will be reduced and the global children will have a better living environment for them.
• Are policemen popular in your country?
In France, policemen are quite popular. There are three different levels of police in France and as a result, protecting the law has become easier for the forces. Besides, the policemen are highly adored by the local citizens for their amicable behaves with them. Almost all of the police officers in France are honest and do not make troubles with the ordinary people unless they are performing something illegal. If someone is in need of police help, they just need to make a phone call and police will be there immediately for his or her help. The use of police force is different in the country. Most the time they deal with the crime. They try to prevent the crime under their jurisdiction. The three types of police have three different dress codes to distinguish them among their respective responsibilities.
• Who are more popular, the lawyers or the police?
Well, this is a critical question to answer. The lawyers in the country are engaged in fighting on the court and sometimes they try to make the right into the wrong or the wrong into the right. So, people do not go to take help from the lawyers unless they are helpless. There are instances that the lawyers turn corrupted to protect their clients at any cost while it brings disasters to the innocent people. But when people move to the police to inform them any issues, they try to solve that without any delay and do not move to the court. Usually, dealing cases in courts is a bit troublesome for many of the citizens. The first thing is that it kills the time of the people and the process is a bit complex. So, when the lawyers have some clients, they try to make the issues more complex and consequently they are not preferred by the commoners as they prefer to have a deal with policemen.
• Why should we follow the rules strictly?
Rules are usually made to be followed by the people of all strata. Rules are the ways that make us aware of our rights and responsibilities. Basically, the rules describe us what to do or what not to do or how to do. They contain the guidelines for any specific work or task. If there are no rules, people will start doing things in their own way which is highly dangerous. Take a simple example, to drive on the road; you need to follow traffic rules. If you drive by your sweet will, there are increased chances to have some accidents. You are avoiding the traffic rules and consequently, you are risking your life too. If a serious accident occurs for your reckless driving, it may cost your life as well. But if you follow the rules, the chances of road accidents get reduced to great extent. Thereby, I think it is clear why we need to follow the rules strictly in our day to day life.
• What can be done to motivate people so that they abide by the rules and law?
Most of the people do not want to follow any rules or regulations in their daily life. It is natural that they will ignore the law. But the state is responsible for making them follow the rules. But if the government follows the strict measures to make the citizens follow the state rules that may result in negative effects and thus some promotional or motivational positive measures should be taken. The government may start some initiatives like rewarding the law abiding citizens with different titles like ‘Man of the Year’, or similar other events. On the other side, it appears to me that most of the times the rules are difficult for people to follow as those are complicated for them. So, during the rules making process, the government should try to keep the rules as much easier for the people as possible. If the rules are easier to follow and the government starts promoting people, I think it will inspire the people naturally to follow the rules.
It’s a great question indeed for me. I actually like to work alone. I am an extrovert and thus it becomes impossible for me to work in a team despite appreciating the teamwork for its positive aspects. Making a partner for working in a team is sometimes uncomfortable for me. I feel shy to ask for some help or something to the partner. As a result, the working partner cannot understand my demand and accordingly cannot serve me. Thereby, the assignments or production level get lower. Besides, I feel uncomfortable with working partners for another reason. When I am assigned with a partner, I have to talk unnecessarily with him or her, and most of the times those are gossips. So, I try to avoid company during my work. Besides, I cannot pay attention to my work when someone is around me. It feels that the individual is observing each of my steps which are also awkward for me. Further, when I work alone, I can take the decision focusing on the exact issue of the problem while the discussion over the same issue with someone breaks my concentration. In that case, I have compared with the earlier events, the decisions I took turned into failures. I, in fact, could not think over the issue. But when I work alone, easily I can take the right decisions and accordingly execute the decisions. Moreover, I do not need to share the credit with someone else while I have found that the failures were pointed to me when I worked in a team despite the fact that the other members had active participation with the task. I think working alone increases the productivity as I do not need to spend my time for some other purposes and thus the production level increases to the greatest extent. When I work individually, I become my own boss and decide what to do and how to do. Thereby, success is always after me. But if I were with a team, I could not have done the projects or tasks so smoothly.
• What do you think of teamwork and team spirit?
Well, teamwork is a different thing. Despite being introvert and preferred to work alone, I do not have any conflict with the fact rather I admire it as well for few specific reasons. The first thing is that you can share your responsibilities with your teammates which help to complete the projects fast (in some cases). Besides, the team members could be of great help to one another and as a result, an internal relationship builds among the members that go far beyond the professional relationship. The team spirit helps to build trust among the partners and they gain the necessary strengths to finish the job in time. When working together, there are a large number of conflicts arise and the team spirit help us to resolve the conflicts easily. It is natural that all the people will be of diversified opinion and thus they may not agree to any specific point. As a result, the conflicts emerge in the workplaces but the team spirit helps to overcome the conflicts. Sometimes, you cannot take risks alone and in that case, the team is there to be with you. They cooperate with the risk minimization process. With the assistance, you can take risks beyond your imagination. When you are working alone, you may not dare to take the risks. There is a saying – Unity is Strength. Working alone sometimes becomes a challenge for people who prefer the way. So, when you are united with a team, there are fewer chances to fail. But it should be kept in mind that such risks are undertaken in large scale projects where you will need assistance from different sides and those assistants will form your team. Moreover, the team members always motivate each other which mentally boost them up to provide their best services for the projects or assignments.
• What kind of people are good to work with?
Umm! If you want to know about the types of people who are suitable for teamwork, I should prefer people who are sincere in their job. Punctuality is another issue to consider. Take an example, you are tagged with a team of two other members and assigned to make a project plan as soon as possible. You are to submit the draft project plan and your company will undertake the project in next few months after considering different aspects. You are in a team. All the other team members are not attentive to the issue and relying on you to do everything. They are in fact irresponsible and insincere. You cannot continue as a team member with them for long. If you are to do everything regarding the project plan preparation process, then what to do with the team, isn’t it? You have called for a meeting at 9.00am sharp while your team members arrived at 9.30 or 10.00am. How would be your feelings about them? If this becomes a regular phenomenon, the situations go beyond control. I think you should leave such team members. But if the members are cordial and sincere with the jobs and committed to their works, you should form your team with them. They will take care of your responsibilities in your absence. But on the other side, you are also to pay them back the favours you receive from them. Besides, the team members should be cordial and have sharing mentality. If you cannot share your inner emotions to the team members and there are some communication gaps, it is expected that your productivity will be hampered. So, it is important to work with people who are sharing and cordial. But finding such types of people in a workplace is the biggest challenge in the current days.
• Do you like group work or group learning?
Thanks. I prefer group learning than group work for several reasons. When I am at group work, I am troubled with the other group members and their queries over different issues. Learning is easier in a group but working is a bit difficult thing for me. In my past days, when I used to work with a group of people, I was irritated with attitudes of the group members I belonged. Each of them was trying to get advantage from me and the other members over weird issues. Most of the time, the group members do not perform any tasks by themselves. They like to rely on the others and this tactic seems dishonourable to me to some extent. But the scenario is different in the case of learning. People try to help each other in learning and share their knowledge with the other mates. To me, it appears that they share the information with the fellow learners as people, in general, like to teach others. They love teaching in fact and if there are chances to teach, they do not miss. They like to be praised for their knowledge. Most of the times, the members share valuable information and knowledge in the class and try to impress others. Only for this perspective, I like to learn in a group. It helps me to learn the unknown things. So, whenever I get the chance to learn in a group, I usually do not miss that.
• What is your opinion on efficiency?
Well, efficiency is the outcome of the efforts invested in any specific task. It points out how smoothly and effectively the works for any project or assignment are done. It measures the range of productivity. When you are efficient to any task, the productivity will be increased and if you are not, the productivity will decrease. One fact should be kept in mind that this is a matter of perseverance and skills. If you are impatient and do not have the skills, you cannot think of performing efficiently. So, you are to wait and achieve the required skills for your efficiency.
• What are the advantages of studying by yourself?
The most important benefit of studying alone to me is that it helps to concentrate on the study. When you will be lonely, there will be fewer distractions. When you will be in any group or in a class where there are other students, you will be unable to concentrate on your study. Someone may call you, or you might want to look at your surrounding environment and finally, there will be less time to pay attention to the study. Besides, I think when you are studying alone you can do it at any time of the day. You do not need to take permission from your mates or group members for the study. You may study at your convenient time and accordingly may pay the right concentration. Besides, when you are in a group, it is a usual event that the other group members are on the topic or text that has been completed by you earlier. So, you are to wait for them to finish the study. You are idly passing your time. But there are no such restrictions for studying alone. You do not need to wait for the others and keep moving forward with the unfinished texts.
• What do you think of efficiency?
Well, I think this is the way to gauge the performance of any individual. Literally, efficiency refers to a greater productivity or effectiveness, and it is the indicator of improvement. If we take some real-life examples, then I think the issue should be clearer. Take an example, you are working on MS PowerPoint presentation. You have to make the presentation within a budgeted time to present at your office and you are unskilled with the application and do not know what to do or how to do with the presentation package. So, can we term you as efficient with MS PowerPoint? Or the presentation you have prepared is effective for the targeted people? I think the answer should be negative from all perspectives. If you had former experience in working with the power point presentation application and could have made the presentation within the budgeted time, you would have been considered as efficient while the skill you exhibited would be termed as your efficiency. To be frank with you about the efficiency, I understand the issue as to do something perfectly within a limited time. Efficiency is your skill to do something in the right way. Typing on a keyboard is a skill but if you can type at a great speed and without looking at the keys, that is known as efficiency.
• Tell me about any famous stores that sales presents.
Thank you. It’s a great question to answer. Actually, there are a large number of stores but I think Hallmark is one of the best stores for getting gifts at a reasonable price in India. The store specialises in selling greeting cards and small gift items necessary for all ages of people. At Hallmark, there are a wide number of greeting card categories and the collections are enriched with the creativity of the card makers. When you see the cards, it appears that the quotations are expressing your own thoughts. Usually, Hallmark produces and sells cards on occasions while the cards are made with great care and warmth of heart. You can have cards for almost all ages and types of people. Not only the couples are benefitted with the cards, you can have the greeting cards for your mom, dad, sister, kids, friends, grandparents, for your boy or girlfriend, to wish in birthdays with greeting cards, anniversary and other necessary occasions. Hallmark not only sells greeting cards, it also sells different types of gift items and knickknacks like jewellery, perfumes, shows pieces made with crystal, stone and glass, and other precious materials under a single shed. Mostly the cards and gifts are sold much on special occasions like New Year Eve, Valentine’s Day, religious occasions, farewell, wedding, Christmas, mother’s day, father’s day, friendship day, rakhi or for congratulating others. The other notable gift items at Hallmark include dolls of different sizes and shapes, ornaments for male and female, brand watches, attractive key rings, fancy knives, handbags for women, wallets, leather bags, mugs, chocolates, toys for kids, stationery items, gift hampers, gift boxes, personalized gifts, photo frames and much more. The store is aimed to emotionally connect people and strengthen the bonding among them. The most important thing about the shop is that all the gift items sold here are made with care and the touch of creativeness is present.
• Tell me about any famous markets or stores which attract tourists.
Bapu Bazaar is one of the most famous markets in India and visited by thousands of tourists including local and foreign. Located in Jaipur in India, Bapu Bazaar is a street market. This is considered as the heart of the locality for the extensive crowd. The market contains almost all forms of stuff for the people and mostly people come here for the variety of the products and also get their everyday goods. Varieties of stuff and necessary things are sold here at a reasonable price. The most common trading items including clothing, ornaments, crockery, necessary household materials, toys, small dolls, leather goods like shoes and sandals, cosmetic items, books, plants, textiles, bangles, precious and semi-precious sharees, wedding materials, pottery, vegetables, fruits and many other things. The other most important factor for this market is that they trading need a lot of bargain. Generally, the sellers demand three or four times higher price than the actual price and you have to bargain with them. The product prices increase when the foreigners come to buy those and if they cannot bargain well there are chances that they are paying a higher price for the products. Besides, the locals also need to follow the same way of bargaining with the traders. But despite the comparatively higher price, the goods are of top quality and last longer. You will be surprised to know that my father bought a pair of leather sandals from this Bapu Bazaar (locally made) by Rs650 and I have been using those for three consecutive years!
• Why are they popular with tourists?
A good number of markets and shopping malls has been formed in India and they sell branded products at a fixed price. But there are some street markets where you can have almost the same products but with a reasonable price. I think tourists who come to India do their home works before. As a result, they attracted to the street markets and visit the stalls. Besides, they come here to get the traditional Indian items which are unavailable in the modern shopping malls or centres. People are fond of exception and they become happy when they get the desired exceptional things. So, when they visit the shopping malls and see nothing special, they come to the street markets. Besides, the products are comparatively cheaper than the shopping malls. Usually, people make their wallets lighter when they go shopping at the shopping malls while they could have bought the required stuff from the street markets easily. The tourists often have the chance to explore the market and pick the suitable one for them as the sellers have a huge collection of the things. But the shopping mall products have a limited collection and you might be in trouble over getting the right choice for you. The tourists are often surprised how the sellers sell the products at such a cheaper rate. Variety is the other important factor in attracting the tourists. The tourists can pick the necessary things amid a wide range of products. Usually, the stalls are laden with immense products and the tourists help themselves by picking the right one amid the thousand.
• Would you agree that presents are always advantageous for people?
Umm! Yes, I do not agree that presents are advantageous for people who receive it. In fact, everyone loves to receive gifts but there are some specific moments or situations. But it should be considered that when they are offered the gifts, regardless the size, shape or price, they become happy. A gift can change your mood or even can change the day. It brings happiness to those who receive it. Take a real-life example. If you want to make someone happy within a short time, you can offer a small present to the individual you want to make happy. It could be a piece of candy, chocolate or chewing gum. The impacts are instant. You will see a rapid change in that present receiver. If s/ he were angry, that will be removed or the depressive attitude will be reduced to a great extent. But the situation should be brought into consideration. If someone is lamenting the death of near or dear ones and you offer him or her an irrelevant present instead of condolence, it would bear negative impacts on the relationship between you and the individual. So, it appears that presents are not always advantageous for people. They have some demerits as well.
• What kinds of presents are suitable for people in any situations?
Well, I guess the small-sized presents are suitable for all the situations. There are some usual presents found in everywhere that can suit all the purposes. I can name a large number of gifts that can serve almost all the situations and they are economic as well. You can get a smartphone within your budget that could be presented in any situation. In the current days, the smartphones are the most desired things for their easy use and compatibility. Besides, if you have a lower budget and cannot get a smartphone, you can have some books of renowned writers. They are economic and also will provide pleasure to the gift receiver. Smartwatch is the other gadget that could be presented in any situation. If you are planning to attend an event and need a gift, get a smartwatch. Now different electronic gadget making companies are producing smart watches and they are too handy to use. A box of chocolate would be considered as a surprise for the receiver and you can do it easily. Besides, attractive coffee mugs, a notebook with pen, a nice silk-made tie, small ornaments (for the females), a piece of shirt or a beautiful dress would do great. I have another idea in such cases. If you cannot pick anything, you can give the budgeted fund inside an envelope and allow the receiver to get the things he/ she want to have.
• How do you think the way of giving presents will change in the future?
This is a great issue to consider. People are fond of change and they also like to be habituated with the changes. Consequently, various changes have taken place in every sector of life and in future, there will be many other changes as well. The trend of giving presents to the others has also experienced few changes from the past days and it is expected that in future the trend will be changed drastically. Currently, people offer presents to others on different occasions and those presents are applicable for the receivers’ real-life situations. But with the advancement of technology and science, people are tending to virtual gifts. They now send e-cards or e-gifts which help to make them happy in the virtual life. Earlier, people used to carry gifts to events they were invited. But now they, in fact, do not carry the gifts on the event day. Either they give the gifts in advance or keep it due to present later. Besides, now they prefer smaller gifts and in most cases, the gifts are of no use except beautifying the showcases inside the home. Sometimes people provide gift boxes or gift hampers which are in fact not that much useful. In the past days the gifts were useful to the receivers in their practical life as those were selected after considering the needs of the recipients, but currently, the gifts are becoming unusual and could be used rarely. Life is turning mechanised. Everyone is too busy to spend time in selecting gifts. So, I think people will start relying on virtual gifts. However, there are some detrimental impacts of the virtual gifts as the receivers may not be satisfied with the virtual gifts as they are of no use at all in their life. Thereby, it may bring an extreme change in the society.
Well, the question is important in the current context as reading books is becoming an occasional issue for people for the hefty lifestyle. Usually, men are not that much interested in reading books comparing to women. Women read more books in a year than men do. But there are some basic differences over the issue of book selection. Men usually want to have thrills. They, in fact, are in love with actions and thrilling events. So, regarding the books choosing, the like the books which are filled with action events. It happens to them that they are participating in the action sequences of the books like firing with guns, having a battle with the villains and much more. But the scenario is different for the women. A majority of women prefer to read books without any violence or fighting. They, in fact, love to read romantic books or science fictions or simple novels dealing with mental complexities where the plots are made with great care and violence is absent. They also love to read books on travelling or biographies. Women are also in love with the books that deal with intelligence – detective stories. But some of the women are found in love with the spy thrillers like James Bond. Besides, the reading taste is different following geographical locations. Availability of the books is also a great issue. I have found that when there is nothing much to read, both the men and women read whatever they get before them. So, it could be classified that due to the tame nature, women are fond of books which have no issues that may irritate them mentally. Actually, books with action or battles are ignored by women. But they also like to read books on history and also like to wipe tears by being emotional with the outcomes of the characters and plots. But men are a bit different in this case. Being stronger in mental faculty, they easily can adjust to the harsh events on the books. Their mental strength is also greatly responsible for picking books for them.
• What kind books do children like? Why do they like reading?
Umm! Usually children like comic books most. They love to read comics and have already picked their own characters. The comic characters have become so popular that even movies have been made based on the characters. Besides, they like to read science fictions, novels on different childish issues etc. The novels which are made for the kids are of the special type. Those books are devoid of any adult issues like romantic events in the life of the characters in the novels or any violence etc. The novels are composed simply to entertain the kids and sometimes the books are educative as well. Besides, children also love books on geography as they come to know about different parts of the world with the books and their feelings turn sharper when they find the books with illustrations. Some of the parents encourage their kids to read books on general knowledge to build up knowledge of the contemporary issues.
Kids like to read books for several reasons. But not all the children are equal. A large portion of the children prefers watching television or participating in sports and game while the rest others attached with books and better known as the bookworms. They like reading because they find interest in the stories and events they go through the books. In fact, book reading a great hobby for many of the kids. Since books make them aware of different issues and they become benefitted by applying the knowledge in their real life, they like books. Further, they like books as the reading help them greatly to increase their vocabulary. Reading through different stories and events they become aware of the surrounding issues and build a self-confidence inside. Reading also helps to broaden their imagination power and comprehension with the real-life issues. The more they will read, the more they will be self-sufficient.
• What is the difference between reading and watching TV?
Yes, there are a good number of differences in reading books and television watching. Reading is always respected and there is a saying that smart and intelligent people love to read books while the lazy and inactive people watch television. But the statement is not applicable in all cases. If you read a book and watch a movie on the same theme on television, there will be some differences. When you are reading a book, you are learning directly from the book. The thoughts of the author are entering your brain directly. You are becoming a part of the events and sometimes the events might take place before your eyes (if the author is a mighty one with his pen). You are gaining knowledge on any specific issue. Moreover, reading requires a skill that everyone cannot develop. On the other side, when you are watching television, you might watch it for entertainment and in most of the cases, you cannot get any learning from the television watching. Reading is an exercise. It is a mental exercise. In the books, you may start thinking about the conclusions but finally, there are some changes to the conclusion made by the author. But in television, not such interactive issues are found. Besides, there are no commercials found in the books whereas the television channels are always seeking scopes to run television commercials.
• What is the relationship between reading and computer?
Ahh! There is no direct relationship between reading and computer. The key relationship between them is that books are now found in digital format and computers help to read them. Earlier, and even now, books are printed on paper and people are to get the book from a market. But with the advancement of science and technology, now the books are found in electronic format. Those formats are readable on a computer. Sometimes people cannot go to the bookstores and get their desired books and they download the electronic version of the books and read on a computer. But I think reading a virtual book is not that much interesting as reading a real-life book. When you are reading a virtual book in PDF or other readable formats, you are simply reading the stories or going through the events. But when you will have a real book in your hand and start reading that, you will feel a different type of feeling insides. The smell emitted from the book pages will make you passionate about the book. Besides, you can collect the books physically on a shelf and there are fewer chances for the books to be destroyed or damaged if you take the right care. But if you store books on a computer, those books may be easily destroyed for several reasons. Firstly computer is the device that runs on electricity and vulnerable to electrical conditions. So, if there is any mismanagement with the electrical connection, the books may get lost. Besides, the stored files or books may also be corrupt for viruses and other reasons. So, I think it is better to read real books instead of the books on a computer.
• What are the advantages of reading books?
Umm. I think the first and the topmost benefit of reading is gaining knowledge. When we read books over different issues, we gain knowledge. Reading helps us to know the unknown. It opens the door of knowledge before the readers. Besides, reading also helps to reduce stress. When people are under stress, they read books to reduce the stress level. Reading is a kind of stimulant for the people suffering stress. Reading also helps to focus on any specific issue because when people read books, they actually concentrate on the theme or topic of the books. At that time their sense of concentration is sharpened. Moreover, the people who have formed a good reading habit are considered as better writers than ordinary people. When they read books, they become familiar with different writing styles and when they want to write by themselves, they start following the styles and their word selection also becomes developed. Scientifically it is proven that reading books is more effective to improve your mental health, When you will read books, your intelligence level will be improved and your thoughts will be sharpened as well. You will be familiar with a newer world and all of your activities will be influenced by the knowledge you gain through reading.
• Why do children like pictorials?
Yes, children like to have pictorials than texts. Pictorials have a different sort of appeal to the children, and I think you are well aware of the fact that a picture is worth a thousand words. Being immature with the mental faculty, the children require much time to relate to the things they read on the books. But if there are pictorials attached to the texts or the book is about pictorials entirely, it becomes easier for them to comprehend the issue. Pictorial helps them to relate to the subject matter easily. The interpretation is easier on pictorials than the texts. For instance, if you want your kid to describe a dog in texts, I think it would be difficult for you. But, if you show the image of a dog, it would be easier for the kid to understand and develop an idea of what a dog actually is. Additionally, the pictures are colourful and sketched with the care that attracts the kids easily. The colourful pictures are also considered as the other key elements to attract them for the pictorials.
• What books are popular in your country?
People love reading in Russia. Here, mostly novels are popular among the adult people. Besides, the books of the other countries written in English are also common in the superstores and book-selling stores. People mostly like to read fictions, romantic novels and science fictions. The writers of my country have also produced a great number of books and which have been translated into different languages. They also have made their berth on people’s mind and accordingly a substantial number of publishing houses are annually publishing the books. Some of the books become bestsellers as well for the outstanding plots and characters. There are all ages of readers are available in the country and the books are accordingly written to entertain them.
Thank you for the pretty question. Yes, I do like cooking very much. In fact, cooking is one of my favourite tasks and I try to experiment with the different sorts of foods, while sometimes I am responsible for handling the foods for social gatherings at my home. Then I generally cook foods for the invited guests at the family parties organised by my parents. However, I have developed the interest in cooking by watching the cooking shows on television and reading recipe books and most importantly my parents also inspired me over the issue. I like to cook different food items while the Chinese foods are the most favourite one for me and my family. In most of the family parties, I prepare the Chinese dishes and the invited guests also adore the foods from their heart. Now, I am planning to participate in some reality shows dealing with cooking, and let the world know about my skills on cooking.
• Will you cook for your friends when they visit you?
Of course, I will cook for my friends if they come to visit me. It is my duty to take care of them and as they are my guest, I will take as much care possible for me. In fact, it is all about decency. Someone is visiting my place and if I do not entertain them, they will have a negative impression of my attitude and manner. Moreover, since I am skilled in cooking, it would be a great pleasure for me to entertain my friends with different delicious food items. When I go to visit them, they treat me cordially and entertain me with homemade foods. So, it becomes a moral duty for me to cook for them. You know, I feel great when someone adores my cooking and bless me with the skill. Earlier, it was seen that people including my friends have praised my cooking and in fact, I have become famous among them for the cooking styles. Some of my friends visit my home often to have foods prepared by me. They are in love with foods prepared by me. So, I think it would be unjust if I refuse to cook foods for them, won’t it?
• Who cooks in a family in your country?
India is the country where the majority of men are wage earners while the women are homemakers. So, the issue of cooking goes on the women. The tradition has long been going on that women will be the homemaker and perform all the tasks necessary for maintaining the household. So, the women are playing the role and cook foods for all the other members of the family. Usually, they cook foods several times in a day. When the male members make hurry to go to their respective workstations, the women are to remain busy for making the breakfast. When the breakfasts are ready, they might be waiting to start preparing their lunch. Lunch preparation is a difficult task. Preparation of all the ingredients takes more time than cooking in the pot. Actually, the lunch preparation is divided into three parts. Firstly they have to gather and prepare all the ingredients, then to prepare them and finally place all the ingredients into the cooking pot for being cooked. Usually, they cook more foods in the noon that serves in the night as well. But there are some families who cook foods separately in the meal hours of the day and domestic workers assist in the cooking process. Mostly the cooking at night is done when there are parties or guests are invited.
• What do you think of the advantages and disadvantages of fast food?
Well, I agree that the fast foods have some advantages, but the number of disadvantages is more than the benefits. It is considered that the fast foods are easily available and saves time and cravings. Moreover, we can have it at any hour of the day. There are a good variety of such foods are available and the tastes are delicious as well.
But in comparison to the advantages, the fast foods have many negative impacts on your health. Firstly they help developing fat on the human body which is entirely unwanted. Obesity is a common effect of having more and more fast foods. The food ingredients may help them meet their hunger but the body cannot get any balanced nutrients from the foods. They provide huge calories with less nutritional value. Frequent eating of the foods may lead to greater health disorders. Usually, the caloric ingredients are found in the foods while the presence of vegetables, salads etc. and other nutritious elements are not found at all in the food.
• Why is fast food so popular?
Umm, the fast foods are popular for several reasons. Firstly they are of great taste and cheaper than any other foods. When people take fast foods they find a different taste, especially the spicy taste is the key attraction for the fast foods. Moreover, the foods are sold in a readymade state. So, the consumers could have the foods whenever they want. Often the foods come with great offers and sold in packages which allure the buyers. Large fast food shelling stores and shops sell the foods in packages to attract consumers. Generally, in the packages, a couple of fast food items are sold together at a comparatively cheaper price. So, people are after the combo packages which ultimately lead them to the ruination of their health. Besides, the fast foods are shareable with the others. For instance, you have bought a piece of large burger and two chicken fries. You can share the burger and chicken pieces with the people around you and you do not need to pay extra for that. As there are a good number of foods are found, you can have the one you prefer most and also can place some special request to prepare the foods in your way (if necessary).
• Where would people in your country usually go when they eat out?
Usually, people go to restaurants for their out of home eating events in India. They usually prefer the foreign restaurants like Chinese, Thai, and Japanese etc. Besides, there are some other restaurants which sell continental and traditional foods and have a specific group of consumers. When it is about celebrating any event or occasion and people want to taste a different type of foods, the arrangements are done. There are some star-rated hotels where the traditional foods are sold in line with the ordinary restaurants in the streets of India. In most of the cases, people do not want to go a long distance to enjoy the foods and try to sort out any nearby restaurants for the purpose. Often people do not go to the same restaurants twice as they are fond of change. When they have tasted the foods of a specific restaurant, they prefer to move on ahead to taste another one. It goes on like a circle. But I like the fact that when they go to eat at restaurants, they go in groups.
• What changes would take place in terms of people’s eating habits in your country?
Well, this is a weighty question to answer. The food habits are in fact changing. The trends of eating have greatly changed comparing to past 10 or 15 years. Earlier, people used to take food at home and the menu was limited to the traditional food items. But with the advancement and globalisation, the food habits have changed to a great extent. People now take foods out of their home in most of the cases. The trend has become so as people are in a rush always and also have become mechanised. They, in fact, cannot manage time to prepare foods at home. Besides, the foods prepared at outsides are also delicious and cheaper in price. So, many of the working class people prefer eating foods out of their home. I think this is a new trend that some of the offices arrange for food for their employees at the office as the employees do not need to go out for lunch at the daytime. I think this trend may also get a massive change in near future as the number of such offices is on the rise.
• What food is popular in your country?
Ummm, there is no particular food is popular but people in different states like to have their own traditional foods. Usually, rice, lentils and flours are eaten extensively across the country. Those are the regular meal for the people. But sometimes they occasionally take meals differently and those are prepared with special materials. Fish of different types, mutton, chicken or pork is also preferred on different occasions. Foods prepared with fewer spices is more popular with the older people as they are habituated with the taste while the young generation prefers to have foods with different spices. The presence of vegetables is also notable among the foods of all classes of people. There are a good number of vegetarians found in India who prefer to have vegetables only in the meals around the day while the non-vegetarians take all types of foods.
• What is the difference between fresh food and canned food?
Yup, there are some differences between fresh foods and canned foods. The fresh foods are directly collected from fields, then marketed and finally cooked. On the other side, the canned foods are preserved after processing. For example, you have caught a fish from the river while you are buying canned fish from a superstore. Which one would be preferable to you? I think the fish caught from the river. Why? Because the fish is fresh. Though the canned foods are made with great care, they stay a long time in cans which is unhealthy. Besides, the fresh foods are always tasty than the canned foods. The canned foods are mostly used when people do not have any option left. Usually, when people travel the sea for a longer time, they take canned foods as you cannot have fresh foods on the sea.
• What can we do to solve the problem of food shortage?
The global population is on the increase and it is a challenge to feed the growing population. Most of the cases, people waste food products and the first thing, we can do, to prevent food shortage is not to waste food products. Generally, it takes a longer period to grow grains or cultivate food crops or to breed fishes and other animals. So, unless we are preventing the wastage of foods, it is not possible to solve the food shortage problem. The other way to solve the problem is to grow more staple foods. When people will have more staple foods around them, the pressure on any specific food grains will be reduced to great extent. Ancient cultivation should be changed and technology should be applied in agriculture. The rise of biotechnology is another important issue in this case. With the use of biotechnology, we could increase the food production.
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of family food?
Oh, yes! There are some benefits and drawbacks of family food. Usually, family foods refer to take meals with the family members. When you will take foods with all the members of your family, you have to be careful. Often you are to take foods you do not prefer at all but the remaining members prefer that. Besides, you might have nothing to say about your preference. But there are some positive impacts found as well for having a family dinner. You will have the chance to meet and greet all the members of your family. Moreover, you can also place your demands on the mealtime as all the members will be present there and a suitable solution may come out.
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Rules and Law:
• What international law should be applied all over the world?Thank you for the smart question. State laws and international laws are not the same due to their nature. The state laws are applied only within the border of a state while the international laws are applicable across the world. There are some common international laws that are shared around the globe but I think the Convention on the Rights of the Child by UN should be applied all over the world. According to the law, children should be taken cared to the highest extent, child labour should be removed from the countries and child repression should be prevented by the government. In many of the developed and underdeveloped countries, the children are the worst sufferers of different troubles and it appears that they are made the target to sustain the tortures. Moreover, child labour in hazardous industries and activities is another concerning issue and that hampers the mental and physical growth of the children. If the law is implemented everywhere, it is expected that the rate of child labour will be reduced and the global children will have a better living environment for them.
• Are policemen popular in your country?
In France, policemen are quite popular. There are three different levels of police in France and as a result, protecting the law has become easier for the forces. Besides, the policemen are highly adored by the local citizens for their amicable behaves with them. Almost all of the police officers in France are honest and do not make troubles with the ordinary people unless they are performing something illegal. If someone is in need of police help, they just need to make a phone call and police will be there immediately for his or her help. The use of police force is different in the country. Most the time they deal with the crime. They try to prevent the crime under their jurisdiction. The three types of police have three different dress codes to distinguish them among their respective responsibilities.
• Who are more popular, the lawyers or the police?
Well, this is a critical question to answer. The lawyers in the country are engaged in fighting on the court and sometimes they try to make the right into the wrong or the wrong into the right. So, people do not go to take help from the lawyers unless they are helpless. There are instances that the lawyers turn corrupted to protect their clients at any cost while it brings disasters to the innocent people. But when people move to the police to inform them any issues, they try to solve that without any delay and do not move to the court. Usually, dealing cases in courts is a bit troublesome for many of the citizens. The first thing is that it kills the time of the people and the process is a bit complex. So, when the lawyers have some clients, they try to make the issues more complex and consequently they are not preferred by the commoners as they prefer to have a deal with policemen.
• Why should we follow the rules strictly?
Rules are usually made to be followed by the people of all strata. Rules are the ways that make us aware of our rights and responsibilities. Basically, the rules describe us what to do or what not to do or how to do. They contain the guidelines for any specific work or task. If there are no rules, people will start doing things in their own way which is highly dangerous. Take a simple example, to drive on the road; you need to follow traffic rules. If you drive by your sweet will, there are increased chances to have some accidents. You are avoiding the traffic rules and consequently, you are risking your life too. If a serious accident occurs for your reckless driving, it may cost your life as well. But if you follow the rules, the chances of road accidents get reduced to great extent. Thereby, I think it is clear why we need to follow the rules strictly in our day to day life.
• What can be done to motivate people so that they abide by the rules and law?
Most of the people do not want to follow any rules or regulations in their daily life. It is natural that they will ignore the law. But the state is responsible for making them follow the rules. But if the government follows the strict measures to make the citizens follow the state rules that may result in negative effects and thus some promotional or motivational positive measures should be taken. The government may start some initiatives like rewarding the law abiding citizens with different titles like ‘Man of the Year’, or similar other events. On the other side, it appears to me that most of the times the rules are difficult for people to follow as those are complicated for them. So, during the rules making process, the government should try to keep the rules as much easier for the people as possible. If the rules are easier to follow and the government starts promoting people, I think it will inspire the people naturally to follow the rules.
Group Work:
• Do you like to work alone or with a partner?It’s a great question indeed for me. I actually like to work alone. I am an extrovert and thus it becomes impossible for me to work in a team despite appreciating the teamwork for its positive aspects. Making a partner for working in a team is sometimes uncomfortable for me. I feel shy to ask for some help or something to the partner. As a result, the working partner cannot understand my demand and accordingly cannot serve me. Thereby, the assignments or production level get lower. Besides, I feel uncomfortable with working partners for another reason. When I am assigned with a partner, I have to talk unnecessarily with him or her, and most of the times those are gossips. So, I try to avoid company during my work. Besides, I cannot pay attention to my work when someone is around me. It feels that the individual is observing each of my steps which are also awkward for me. Further, when I work alone, I can take the decision focusing on the exact issue of the problem while the discussion over the same issue with someone breaks my concentration. In that case, I have compared with the earlier events, the decisions I took turned into failures. I, in fact, could not think over the issue. But when I work alone, easily I can take the right decisions and accordingly execute the decisions. Moreover, I do not need to share the credit with someone else while I have found that the failures were pointed to me when I worked in a team despite the fact that the other members had active participation with the task. I think working alone increases the productivity as I do not need to spend my time for some other purposes and thus the production level increases to the greatest extent. When I work individually, I become my own boss and decide what to do and how to do. Thereby, success is always after me. But if I were with a team, I could not have done the projects or tasks so smoothly.
• What do you think of teamwork and team spirit?
Well, teamwork is a different thing. Despite being introvert and preferred to work alone, I do not have any conflict with the fact rather I admire it as well for few specific reasons. The first thing is that you can share your responsibilities with your teammates which help to complete the projects fast (in some cases). Besides, the team members could be of great help to one another and as a result, an internal relationship builds among the members that go far beyond the professional relationship. The team spirit helps to build trust among the partners and they gain the necessary strengths to finish the job in time. When working together, there are a large number of conflicts arise and the team spirit help us to resolve the conflicts easily. It is natural that all the people will be of diversified opinion and thus they may not agree to any specific point. As a result, the conflicts emerge in the workplaces but the team spirit helps to overcome the conflicts. Sometimes, you cannot take risks alone and in that case, the team is there to be with you. They cooperate with the risk minimization process. With the assistance, you can take risks beyond your imagination. When you are working alone, you may not dare to take the risks. There is a saying – Unity is Strength. Working alone sometimes becomes a challenge for people who prefer the way. So, when you are united with a team, there are fewer chances to fail. But it should be kept in mind that such risks are undertaken in large scale projects where you will need assistance from different sides and those assistants will form your team. Moreover, the team members always motivate each other which mentally boost them up to provide their best services for the projects or assignments.
• What kind of people are good to work with?
Umm! If you want to know about the types of people who are suitable for teamwork, I should prefer people who are sincere in their job. Punctuality is another issue to consider. Take an example, you are tagged with a team of two other members and assigned to make a project plan as soon as possible. You are to submit the draft project plan and your company will undertake the project in next few months after considering different aspects. You are in a team. All the other team members are not attentive to the issue and relying on you to do everything. They are in fact irresponsible and insincere. You cannot continue as a team member with them for long. If you are to do everything regarding the project plan preparation process, then what to do with the team, isn’t it? You have called for a meeting at 9.00am sharp while your team members arrived at 9.30 or 10.00am. How would be your feelings about them? If this becomes a regular phenomenon, the situations go beyond control. I think you should leave such team members. But if the members are cordial and sincere with the jobs and committed to their works, you should form your team with them. They will take care of your responsibilities in your absence. But on the other side, you are also to pay them back the favours you receive from them. Besides, the team members should be cordial and have sharing mentality. If you cannot share your inner emotions to the team members and there are some communication gaps, it is expected that your productivity will be hampered. So, it is important to work with people who are sharing and cordial. But finding such types of people in a workplace is the biggest challenge in the current days.
• Do you like group work or group learning?
Thanks. I prefer group learning than group work for several reasons. When I am at group work, I am troubled with the other group members and their queries over different issues. Learning is easier in a group but working is a bit difficult thing for me. In my past days, when I used to work with a group of people, I was irritated with attitudes of the group members I belonged. Each of them was trying to get advantage from me and the other members over weird issues. Most of the time, the group members do not perform any tasks by themselves. They like to rely on the others and this tactic seems dishonourable to me to some extent. But the scenario is different in the case of learning. People try to help each other in learning and share their knowledge with the other mates. To me, it appears that they share the information with the fellow learners as people, in general, like to teach others. They love teaching in fact and if there are chances to teach, they do not miss. They like to be praised for their knowledge. Most of the times, the members share valuable information and knowledge in the class and try to impress others. Only for this perspective, I like to learn in a group. It helps me to learn the unknown things. So, whenever I get the chance to learn in a group, I usually do not miss that.
• What is your opinion on efficiency?
Well, efficiency is the outcome of the efforts invested in any specific task. It points out how smoothly and effectively the works for any project or assignment are done. It measures the range of productivity. When you are efficient to any task, the productivity will be increased and if you are not, the productivity will decrease. One fact should be kept in mind that this is a matter of perseverance and skills. If you are impatient and do not have the skills, you cannot think of performing efficiently. So, you are to wait and achieve the required skills for your efficiency.
• What are the advantages of studying by yourself?
The most important benefit of studying alone to me is that it helps to concentrate on the study. When you will be lonely, there will be fewer distractions. When you will be in any group or in a class where there are other students, you will be unable to concentrate on your study. Someone may call you, or you might want to look at your surrounding environment and finally, there will be less time to pay attention to the study. Besides, I think when you are studying alone you can do it at any time of the day. You do not need to take permission from your mates or group members for the study. You may study at your convenient time and accordingly may pay the right concentration. Besides, when you are in a group, it is a usual event that the other group members are on the topic or text that has been completed by you earlier. So, you are to wait for them to finish the study. You are idly passing your time. But there are no such restrictions for studying alone. You do not need to wait for the others and keep moving forward with the unfinished texts.
• What do you think of efficiency?
Well, I think this is the way to gauge the performance of any individual. Literally, efficiency refers to a greater productivity or effectiveness, and it is the indicator of improvement. If we take some real-life examples, then I think the issue should be clearer. Take an example, you are working on MS PowerPoint presentation. You have to make the presentation within a budgeted time to present at your office and you are unskilled with the application and do not know what to do or how to do with the presentation package. So, can we term you as efficient with MS PowerPoint? Or the presentation you have prepared is effective for the targeted people? I think the answer should be negative from all perspectives. If you had former experience in working with the power point presentation application and could have made the presentation within the budgeted time, you would have been considered as efficient while the skill you exhibited would be termed as your efficiency. To be frank with you about the efficiency, I understand the issue as to do something perfectly within a limited time. Efficiency is your skill to do something in the right way. Typing on a keyboard is a skill but if you can type at a great speed and without looking at the keys, that is known as efficiency.
Gifts & Presents:
• Tell me about any famous stores that sales presents.Thank you. It’s a great question to answer. Actually, there are a large number of stores but I think Hallmark is one of the best stores for getting gifts at a reasonable price in India. The store specialises in selling greeting cards and small gift items necessary for all ages of people. At Hallmark, there are a wide number of greeting card categories and the collections are enriched with the creativity of the card makers. When you see the cards, it appears that the quotations are expressing your own thoughts. Usually, Hallmark produces and sells cards on occasions while the cards are made with great care and warmth of heart. You can have cards for almost all ages and types of people. Not only the couples are benefitted with the cards, you can have the greeting cards for your mom, dad, sister, kids, friends, grandparents, for your boy or girlfriend, to wish in birthdays with greeting cards, anniversary and other necessary occasions. Hallmark not only sells greeting cards, it also sells different types of gift items and knickknacks like jewellery, perfumes, shows pieces made with crystal, stone and glass, and other precious materials under a single shed. Mostly the cards and gifts are sold much on special occasions like New Year Eve, Valentine’s Day, religious occasions, farewell, wedding, Christmas, mother’s day, father’s day, friendship day, rakhi or for congratulating others. The other notable gift items at Hallmark include dolls of different sizes and shapes, ornaments for male and female, brand watches, attractive key rings, fancy knives, handbags for women, wallets, leather bags, mugs, chocolates, toys for kids, stationery items, gift hampers, gift boxes, personalized gifts, photo frames and much more. The store is aimed to emotionally connect people and strengthen the bonding among them. The most important thing about the shop is that all the gift items sold here are made with care and the touch of creativeness is present.
• Tell me about any famous markets or stores which attract tourists.
Bapu Bazaar is one of the most famous markets in India and visited by thousands of tourists including local and foreign. Located in Jaipur in India, Bapu Bazaar is a street market. This is considered as the heart of the locality for the extensive crowd. The market contains almost all forms of stuff for the people and mostly people come here for the variety of the products and also get their everyday goods. Varieties of stuff and necessary things are sold here at a reasonable price. The most common trading items including clothing, ornaments, crockery, necessary household materials, toys, small dolls, leather goods like shoes and sandals, cosmetic items, books, plants, textiles, bangles, precious and semi-precious sharees, wedding materials, pottery, vegetables, fruits and many other things. The other most important factor for this market is that they trading need a lot of bargain. Generally, the sellers demand three or four times higher price than the actual price and you have to bargain with them. The product prices increase when the foreigners come to buy those and if they cannot bargain well there are chances that they are paying a higher price for the products. Besides, the locals also need to follow the same way of bargaining with the traders. But despite the comparatively higher price, the goods are of top quality and last longer. You will be surprised to know that my father bought a pair of leather sandals from this Bapu Bazaar (locally made) by Rs650 and I have been using those for three consecutive years!
• Why are they popular with tourists?
A good number of markets and shopping malls has been formed in India and they sell branded products at a fixed price. But there are some street markets where you can have almost the same products but with a reasonable price. I think tourists who come to India do their home works before. As a result, they attracted to the street markets and visit the stalls. Besides, they come here to get the traditional Indian items which are unavailable in the modern shopping malls or centres. People are fond of exception and they become happy when they get the desired exceptional things. So, when they visit the shopping malls and see nothing special, they come to the street markets. Besides, the products are comparatively cheaper than the shopping malls. Usually, people make their wallets lighter when they go shopping at the shopping malls while they could have bought the required stuff from the street markets easily. The tourists often have the chance to explore the market and pick the suitable one for them as the sellers have a huge collection of the things. But the shopping mall products have a limited collection and you might be in trouble over getting the right choice for you. The tourists are often surprised how the sellers sell the products at such a cheaper rate. Variety is the other important factor in attracting the tourists. The tourists can pick the necessary things amid a wide range of products. Usually, the stalls are laden with immense products and the tourists help themselves by picking the right one amid the thousand.
• Would you agree that presents are always advantageous for people?
Umm! Yes, I do not agree that presents are advantageous for people who receive it. In fact, everyone loves to receive gifts but there are some specific moments or situations. But it should be considered that when they are offered the gifts, regardless the size, shape or price, they become happy. A gift can change your mood or even can change the day. It brings happiness to those who receive it. Take a real-life example. If you want to make someone happy within a short time, you can offer a small present to the individual you want to make happy. It could be a piece of candy, chocolate or chewing gum. The impacts are instant. You will see a rapid change in that present receiver. If s/ he were angry, that will be removed or the depressive attitude will be reduced to a great extent. But the situation should be brought into consideration. If someone is lamenting the death of near or dear ones and you offer him or her an irrelevant present instead of condolence, it would bear negative impacts on the relationship between you and the individual. So, it appears that presents are not always advantageous for people. They have some demerits as well.
• What kinds of presents are suitable for people in any situations?
Well, I guess the small-sized presents are suitable for all the situations. There are some usual presents found in everywhere that can suit all the purposes. I can name a large number of gifts that can serve almost all the situations and they are economic as well. You can get a smartphone within your budget that could be presented in any situation. In the current days, the smartphones are the most desired things for their easy use and compatibility. Besides, if you have a lower budget and cannot get a smartphone, you can have some books of renowned writers. They are economic and also will provide pleasure to the gift receiver. Smartwatch is the other gadget that could be presented in any situation. If you are planning to attend an event and need a gift, get a smartwatch. Now different electronic gadget making companies are producing smart watches and they are too handy to use. A box of chocolate would be considered as a surprise for the receiver and you can do it easily. Besides, attractive coffee mugs, a notebook with pen, a nice silk-made tie, small ornaments (for the females), a piece of shirt or a beautiful dress would do great. I have another idea in such cases. If you cannot pick anything, you can give the budgeted fund inside an envelope and allow the receiver to get the things he/ she want to have.
• How do you think the way of giving presents will change in the future?
This is a great issue to consider. People are fond of change and they also like to be habituated with the changes. Consequently, various changes have taken place in every sector of life and in future, there will be many other changes as well. The trend of giving presents to the others has also experienced few changes from the past days and it is expected that in future the trend will be changed drastically. Currently, people offer presents to others on different occasions and those presents are applicable for the receivers’ real-life situations. But with the advancement of technology and science, people are tending to virtual gifts. They now send e-cards or e-gifts which help to make them happy in the virtual life. Earlier, people used to carry gifts to events they were invited. But now they, in fact, do not carry the gifts on the event day. Either they give the gifts in advance or keep it due to present later. Besides, now they prefer smaller gifts and in most cases, the gifts are of no use except beautifying the showcases inside the home. Sometimes people provide gift boxes or gift hampers which are in fact not that much useful. In the past days the gifts were useful to the receivers in their practical life as those were selected after considering the needs of the recipients, but currently, the gifts are becoming unusual and could be used rarely. Life is turning mechanised. Everyone is too busy to spend time in selecting gifts. So, I think people will start relying on virtual gifts. However, there are some detrimental impacts of the virtual gifts as the receivers may not be satisfied with the virtual gifts as they are of no use at all in their life. Thereby, it may bring an extreme change in the society.
Reading Books:
• What is the difference between men and women when choosing what to read?Well, the question is important in the current context as reading books is becoming an occasional issue for people for the hefty lifestyle. Usually, men are not that much interested in reading books comparing to women. Women read more books in a year than men do. But there are some basic differences over the issue of book selection. Men usually want to have thrills. They, in fact, are in love with actions and thrilling events. So, regarding the books choosing, the like the books which are filled with action events. It happens to them that they are participating in the action sequences of the books like firing with guns, having a battle with the villains and much more. But the scenario is different for the women. A majority of women prefer to read books without any violence or fighting. They, in fact, love to read romantic books or science fictions or simple novels dealing with mental complexities where the plots are made with great care and violence is absent. They also love to read books on travelling or biographies. Women are also in love with the books that deal with intelligence – detective stories. But some of the women are found in love with the spy thrillers like James Bond. Besides, the reading taste is different following geographical locations. Availability of the books is also a great issue. I have found that when there is nothing much to read, both the men and women read whatever they get before them. So, it could be classified that due to the tame nature, women are fond of books which have no issues that may irritate them mentally. Actually, books with action or battles are ignored by women. But they also like to read books on history and also like to wipe tears by being emotional with the outcomes of the characters and plots. But men are a bit different in this case. Being stronger in mental faculty, they easily can adjust to the harsh events on the books. Their mental strength is also greatly responsible for picking books for them.
• What kind books do children like? Why do they like reading?
Umm! Usually children like comic books most. They love to read comics and have already picked their own characters. The comic characters have become so popular that even movies have been made based on the characters. Besides, they like to read science fictions, novels on different childish issues etc. The novels which are made for the kids are of the special type. Those books are devoid of any adult issues like romantic events in the life of the characters in the novels or any violence etc. The novels are composed simply to entertain the kids and sometimes the books are educative as well. Besides, children also love books on geography as they come to know about different parts of the world with the books and their feelings turn sharper when they find the books with illustrations. Some of the parents encourage their kids to read books on general knowledge to build up knowledge of the contemporary issues.
Kids like to read books for several reasons. But not all the children are equal. A large portion of the children prefers watching television or participating in sports and game while the rest others attached with books and better known as the bookworms. They like reading because they find interest in the stories and events they go through the books. In fact, book reading a great hobby for many of the kids. Since books make them aware of different issues and they become benefitted by applying the knowledge in their real life, they like books. Further, they like books as the reading help them greatly to increase their vocabulary. Reading through different stories and events they become aware of the surrounding issues and build a self-confidence inside. Reading also helps to broaden their imagination power and comprehension with the real-life issues. The more they will read, the more they will be self-sufficient.
• What is the difference between reading and watching TV?
Yes, there are a good number of differences in reading books and television watching. Reading is always respected and there is a saying that smart and intelligent people love to read books while the lazy and inactive people watch television. But the statement is not applicable in all cases. If you read a book and watch a movie on the same theme on television, there will be some differences. When you are reading a book, you are learning directly from the book. The thoughts of the author are entering your brain directly. You are becoming a part of the events and sometimes the events might take place before your eyes (if the author is a mighty one with his pen). You are gaining knowledge on any specific issue. Moreover, reading requires a skill that everyone cannot develop. On the other side, when you are watching television, you might watch it for entertainment and in most of the cases, you cannot get any learning from the television watching. Reading is an exercise. It is a mental exercise. In the books, you may start thinking about the conclusions but finally, there are some changes to the conclusion made by the author. But in television, not such interactive issues are found. Besides, there are no commercials found in the books whereas the television channels are always seeking scopes to run television commercials.
• What is the relationship between reading and computer?
Ahh! There is no direct relationship between reading and computer. The key relationship between them is that books are now found in digital format and computers help to read them. Earlier, and even now, books are printed on paper and people are to get the book from a market. But with the advancement of science and technology, now the books are found in electronic format. Those formats are readable on a computer. Sometimes people cannot go to the bookstores and get their desired books and they download the electronic version of the books and read on a computer. But I think reading a virtual book is not that much interesting as reading a real-life book. When you are reading a virtual book in PDF or other readable formats, you are simply reading the stories or going through the events. But when you will have a real book in your hand and start reading that, you will feel a different type of feeling insides. The smell emitted from the book pages will make you passionate about the book. Besides, you can collect the books physically on a shelf and there are fewer chances for the books to be destroyed or damaged if you take the right care. But if you store books on a computer, those books may be easily destroyed for several reasons. Firstly computer is the device that runs on electricity and vulnerable to electrical conditions. So, if there is any mismanagement with the electrical connection, the books may get lost. Besides, the stored files or books may also be corrupt for viruses and other reasons. So, I think it is better to read real books instead of the books on a computer.
• What are the advantages of reading books?
Umm. I think the first and the topmost benefit of reading is gaining knowledge. When we read books over different issues, we gain knowledge. Reading helps us to know the unknown. It opens the door of knowledge before the readers. Besides, reading also helps to reduce stress. When people are under stress, they read books to reduce the stress level. Reading is a kind of stimulant for the people suffering stress. Reading also helps to focus on any specific issue because when people read books, they actually concentrate on the theme or topic of the books. At that time their sense of concentration is sharpened. Moreover, the people who have formed a good reading habit are considered as better writers than ordinary people. When they read books, they become familiar with different writing styles and when they want to write by themselves, they start following the styles and their word selection also becomes developed. Scientifically it is proven that reading books is more effective to improve your mental health, When you will read books, your intelligence level will be improved and your thoughts will be sharpened as well. You will be familiar with a newer world and all of your activities will be influenced by the knowledge you gain through reading.
• Why do children like pictorials?
Yes, children like to have pictorials than texts. Pictorials have a different sort of appeal to the children, and I think you are well aware of the fact that a picture is worth a thousand words. Being immature with the mental faculty, the children require much time to relate to the things they read on the books. But if there are pictorials attached to the texts or the book is about pictorials entirely, it becomes easier for them to comprehend the issue. Pictorial helps them to relate to the subject matter easily. The interpretation is easier on pictorials than the texts. For instance, if you want your kid to describe a dog in texts, I think it would be difficult for you. But, if you show the image of a dog, it would be easier for the kid to understand and develop an idea of what a dog actually is. Additionally, the pictures are colourful and sketched with the care that attracts the kids easily. The colourful pictures are also considered as the other key elements to attract them for the pictorials.
• What books are popular in your country?
People love reading in Russia. Here, mostly novels are popular among the adult people. Besides, the books of the other countries written in English are also common in the superstores and book-selling stores. People mostly like to read fictions, romantic novels and science fictions. The writers of my country have also produced a great number of books and which have been translated into different languages. They also have made their berth on people’s mind and accordingly a substantial number of publishing houses are annually publishing the books. Some of the books become bestsellers as well for the outstanding plots and characters. There are all ages of readers are available in the country and the books are accordingly written to entertain them.
Cooking & Foods:
• Do you like cooking?Thank you for the pretty question. Yes, I do like cooking very much. In fact, cooking is one of my favourite tasks and I try to experiment with the different sorts of foods, while sometimes I am responsible for handling the foods for social gatherings at my home. Then I generally cook foods for the invited guests at the family parties organised by my parents. However, I have developed the interest in cooking by watching the cooking shows on television and reading recipe books and most importantly my parents also inspired me over the issue. I like to cook different food items while the Chinese foods are the most favourite one for me and my family. In most of the family parties, I prepare the Chinese dishes and the invited guests also adore the foods from their heart. Now, I am planning to participate in some reality shows dealing with cooking, and let the world know about my skills on cooking.
• Will you cook for your friends when they visit you?
Of course, I will cook for my friends if they come to visit me. It is my duty to take care of them and as they are my guest, I will take as much care possible for me. In fact, it is all about decency. Someone is visiting my place and if I do not entertain them, they will have a negative impression of my attitude and manner. Moreover, since I am skilled in cooking, it would be a great pleasure for me to entertain my friends with different delicious food items. When I go to visit them, they treat me cordially and entertain me with homemade foods. So, it becomes a moral duty for me to cook for them. You know, I feel great when someone adores my cooking and bless me with the skill. Earlier, it was seen that people including my friends have praised my cooking and in fact, I have become famous among them for the cooking styles. Some of my friends visit my home often to have foods prepared by me. They are in love with foods prepared by me. So, I think it would be unjust if I refuse to cook foods for them, won’t it?
• Who cooks in a family in your country?
India is the country where the majority of men are wage earners while the women are homemakers. So, the issue of cooking goes on the women. The tradition has long been going on that women will be the homemaker and perform all the tasks necessary for maintaining the household. So, the women are playing the role and cook foods for all the other members of the family. Usually, they cook foods several times in a day. When the male members make hurry to go to their respective workstations, the women are to remain busy for making the breakfast. When the breakfasts are ready, they might be waiting to start preparing their lunch. Lunch preparation is a difficult task. Preparation of all the ingredients takes more time than cooking in the pot. Actually, the lunch preparation is divided into three parts. Firstly they have to gather and prepare all the ingredients, then to prepare them and finally place all the ingredients into the cooking pot for being cooked. Usually, they cook more foods in the noon that serves in the night as well. But there are some families who cook foods separately in the meal hours of the day and domestic workers assist in the cooking process. Mostly the cooking at night is done when there are parties or guests are invited.
• What do you think of the advantages and disadvantages of fast food?
Well, I agree that the fast foods have some advantages, but the number of disadvantages is more than the benefits. It is considered that the fast foods are easily available and saves time and cravings. Moreover, we can have it at any hour of the day. There are a good variety of such foods are available and the tastes are delicious as well.
But in comparison to the advantages, the fast foods have many negative impacts on your health. Firstly they help developing fat on the human body which is entirely unwanted. Obesity is a common effect of having more and more fast foods. The food ingredients may help them meet their hunger but the body cannot get any balanced nutrients from the foods. They provide huge calories with less nutritional value. Frequent eating of the foods may lead to greater health disorders. Usually, the caloric ingredients are found in the foods while the presence of vegetables, salads etc. and other nutritious elements are not found at all in the food.
• Why is fast food so popular?
Umm, the fast foods are popular for several reasons. Firstly they are of great taste and cheaper than any other foods. When people take fast foods they find a different taste, especially the spicy taste is the key attraction for the fast foods. Moreover, the foods are sold in a readymade state. So, the consumers could have the foods whenever they want. Often the foods come with great offers and sold in packages which allure the buyers. Large fast food shelling stores and shops sell the foods in packages to attract consumers. Generally, in the packages, a couple of fast food items are sold together at a comparatively cheaper price. So, people are after the combo packages which ultimately lead them to the ruination of their health. Besides, the fast foods are shareable with the others. For instance, you have bought a piece of large burger and two chicken fries. You can share the burger and chicken pieces with the people around you and you do not need to pay extra for that. As there are a good number of foods are found, you can have the one you prefer most and also can place some special request to prepare the foods in your way (if necessary).
• Where would people in your country usually go when they eat out?
Usually, people go to restaurants for their out of home eating events in India. They usually prefer the foreign restaurants like Chinese, Thai, and Japanese etc. Besides, there are some other restaurants which sell continental and traditional foods and have a specific group of consumers. When it is about celebrating any event or occasion and people want to taste a different type of foods, the arrangements are done. There are some star-rated hotels where the traditional foods are sold in line with the ordinary restaurants in the streets of India. In most of the cases, people do not want to go a long distance to enjoy the foods and try to sort out any nearby restaurants for the purpose. Often people do not go to the same restaurants twice as they are fond of change. When they have tasted the foods of a specific restaurant, they prefer to move on ahead to taste another one. It goes on like a circle. But I like the fact that when they go to eat at restaurants, they go in groups.
• What changes would take place in terms of people’s eating habits in your country?
Well, this is a weighty question to answer. The food habits are in fact changing. The trends of eating have greatly changed comparing to past 10 or 15 years. Earlier, people used to take food at home and the menu was limited to the traditional food items. But with the advancement and globalisation, the food habits have changed to a great extent. People now take foods out of their home in most of the cases. The trend has become so as people are in a rush always and also have become mechanised. They, in fact, cannot manage time to prepare foods at home. Besides, the foods prepared at outsides are also delicious and cheaper in price. So, many of the working class people prefer eating foods out of their home. I think this is a new trend that some of the offices arrange for food for their employees at the office as the employees do not need to go out for lunch at the daytime. I think this trend may also get a massive change in near future as the number of such offices is on the rise.
• What food is popular in your country?
Ummm, there is no particular food is popular but people in different states like to have their own traditional foods. Usually, rice, lentils and flours are eaten extensively across the country. Those are the regular meal for the people. But sometimes they occasionally take meals differently and those are prepared with special materials. Fish of different types, mutton, chicken or pork is also preferred on different occasions. Foods prepared with fewer spices is more popular with the older people as they are habituated with the taste while the young generation prefers to have foods with different spices. The presence of vegetables is also notable among the foods of all classes of people. There are a good number of vegetarians found in India who prefer to have vegetables only in the meals around the day while the non-vegetarians take all types of foods.
• What is the difference between fresh food and canned food?
Yup, there are some differences between fresh foods and canned foods. The fresh foods are directly collected from fields, then marketed and finally cooked. On the other side, the canned foods are preserved after processing. For example, you have caught a fish from the river while you are buying canned fish from a superstore. Which one would be preferable to you? I think the fish caught from the river. Why? Because the fish is fresh. Though the canned foods are made with great care, they stay a long time in cans which is unhealthy. Besides, the fresh foods are always tasty than the canned foods. The canned foods are mostly used when people do not have any option left. Usually, when people travel the sea for a longer time, they take canned foods as you cannot have fresh foods on the sea.
• What can we do to solve the problem of food shortage?
The global population is on the increase and it is a challenge to feed the growing population. Most of the cases, people waste food products and the first thing, we can do, to prevent food shortage is not to waste food products. Generally, it takes a longer period to grow grains or cultivate food crops or to breed fishes and other animals. So, unless we are preventing the wastage of foods, it is not possible to solve the food shortage problem. The other way to solve the problem is to grow more staple foods. When people will have more staple foods around them, the pressure on any specific food grains will be reduced to great extent. Ancient cultivation should be changed and technology should be applied in agriculture. The rise of biotechnology is another important issue in this case. With the use of biotechnology, we could increase the food production.
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of family food?
Oh, yes! There are some benefits and drawbacks of family food. Usually, family foods refer to take meals with the family members. When you will take foods with all the members of your family, you have to be careful. Often you are to take foods you do not prefer at all but the remaining members prefer that. Besides, you might have nothing to say about your preference. But there are some positive impacts found as well for having a family dinner. You will have the chance to meet and greet all the members of your family. Moreover, you can also place your demands on the mealtime as all the members will be present there and a suitable solution may come out.
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