The aims of mathematical education

 

The aims of mathematical education

 

The so-called ‘practical people’ merely state somewhat vaguely that mathematical that mathematics is necessary in practice, both in everyday life and in scientific work and industry, and so all mathematics ought to be practical – there are no other admissible reasons why children should learn mathematics.

 

Reflections will show that extremely little mathematics is in fact necessary in everyday life.  Multiplication is already largely superfluous, and the number of people who are going to need mathematics for their work is relatively small (they could easily be taught it as part of their vocational training).  Yet a large proportion of school time, both in the elementary and higher grades, is spent in studying quite detailed mathematics, with admittedly rather indifferent results.  It seems that we ought either to reduce the amount of mathematics learnt by children or be rather more clear about why we are making them learn it.  Perhaps we have something quite different at the back of our minds when we think about mathematical education --- something not entirely practical, namely a feeling that mathematics should add something to the quality of the person who has learned it by allowing him to participate in a cultural stream.  But it is quite clear that things have not worked out this way.  Mathematics is not used or enjoyed by people after they leave school, so that if our aim was to allow children to participate in this aspect of our culture, we have certainly largely failed.  It is legitimate to ask why this is so, and what it is about the present arrangement in mathematics-learning that prevents all but a number of relevant suggestions we might make on the practice of mathematics-learning as a result of the observations made in these experiments.

 

            Once we have agreed that our aims are not entirely practical, the whole question of what mathematics to teach children is immediately thrown wide open.  If mathematics-learning is to be regarded honestly as a cultural activity in the way we regard the appreciation of literature, art and music, then the present syllabuses immediately lose their sanctity.  Any syllabus would be suitable provided that with it most children could appreciate mathematics as a beautiful structure, irrespective of possible practical uses.  Many parts of mathematics are accessible to quite young children, as our work with all the experimental groups shows.  A great deal of the mathematics studied by these children has always been regarded as ‘higher’ mathematics, and for that reason difficult.  Yet there is considerable evidence, even apart from the work reported here, that certain mathematics is often regarded as easier by the lower grades than by the higher grades. A certain project, for example, had been giving fourth-and fifth-grade children algebra, including ‘difficult’ things like quadratic equations, and progress on the same syllabus had almost invariably been more rapid in the lower than in the higher grades. (Edited extract from Z.P.Dienes’ book “An Experimental Study of Mathematics Learning, 1964).

 

                                                 

 

 

 

YOU ARE THE ARCHITECT OF YOUR OWN FATE

 

YOU ARE THE ARCHITECT OF YOUR OWN FATE

 

A good number of people believe that the book of their  fate is written by some unknowable power in heaven.  This is what the astrologers tell us. So, they write your horoscope.   According to them, our success or failure, prosperity or poverty , happiness or sorrow, fame or obscurity, longevity  or brevity of  life, health or sickness are all  pre-determined in such a way that you cannot alter them.  

 

Astrology is also taught as a subject in educational institutions. Many newspapers publish astrological forecasts on daily and/or  weekly basis.

Whether astrology is a science or not is a controversial matter. The English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744)  says:

 

Heaven from all creatures hides the book of fate      

 

Most of us will agree with him. Nobody can know what is going to happen the next moment or the next day or at any other time yet to come. The future is unknowable.  

           

What follows is a great poem written by the American poet Henry Wordsworth Longfellow (1807-1882).

 

Its message is that individuals are the architects of their own fate whatever be its form or shape. They utilise their own natural faculties and  sow as much as they reap.  Their reward is according to the labour and passion,  conscientiously put in any venture undertaken by them. Another related message is that there is nothing insignificant in the world ; the high is as important as the low; and the  small is not isolated from the big; it is rather its helper and supporter. The conception of best and worst is also untenable. Each thing in its place is best.     

 

The whole poem is inspirational and shows the way to touch the top.  Moreover, it is easily intelligible, and the one to be remembered throughout one’s life. What  it demands  is the full utilisation of the qualities of one’s hands, head and heart, not carelessly or half-heartedly, but excellently because one is being watched by gods everywhere. Furthermore, not to use one’s natural faculties to build a beautiful house where God may live in will be a deadly sin.   

 

 

 

The  Text of the Poem

 

All are the architects of Fate,

Working in these walls of Time,

Some with massive deeds and great,

Some with ornaments of rhyme.     

 

 

Nothing useless is, or low;

Each thing in its own place is best;

And what seems but idle show

Strengthens and supports the rest.

 

 

For the structure that we raise,

Time is with materials filled;

Our todays and yesterdays

Are the blocks with which we build.

 

Truly shape and fashion these;

Leave no yawning gaps between.

Think not, because no man sees,

Such things will remain unseen.

 

In the elder days of Art,

Builders wrought with greatest care

Each minute and unseen part;

For the gods see everywhere.

 

Let us do our work as well,

Both the unseen and the seen;

Make the house, where gods may dwell,

Beautiful, entire, and clean.

 

Else our lives are incomplete,

Standing in these walls of time,

Broken stairways where the feet

Stumble as  they seek to climb.

 

Build today, then, strong and sure,

With a firm and ample base;

And ascending and secure

Shall tomorrow find its place.

 

Thus alone can we attain

To those turrets, where the eye

Sees the world as one vast plain,

And one boundless reach of sky.

 

            *********

 

5^th March 2021                                                           G.R.Kanwal

LOVE IS ENOUGH

 

LOVE   IS ENOUGH

‘LOVE IS ENOUGH’ is a poem written by an American author and poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox  (1850—1919). She is known for writing ‘Poems of Power, Passion & Pleasure’. , Love Is Enough  is included in ‘Poems of Power’ as well  as in a bigger volume titled ‘MORE POEMS’.

            In a note inserted in ‘Poems of Power’,  Wilcox writes : “The final word in the title of this volume refers to the DIVINE POWER in every human being, the recognition of which is the secret to all success and happiness. It is t his idea which many of verses endeavour to illustrate.”

            English author Thomas De Quince (1785-1859 distinguishes between the literature of knowledge and  the literature of power. According to him, the function of the first  is to teach and  that of the second to move. The first speaks to the mere discursive understanding; the second speaks to the higher understanding or reason, but always through affections of pleasures and sympathy.

            Wilcox’s poem referred to above defines the enough-ness of love in unconventional terms . It shuns all other gifts than that of peaceful and perpetual love between two fond hearts at a secluded place.   Written in a very simple language, it is quite  easy to understand.

The poem runs as follows:

LOVE is enough. Let us not ask for gold. Wealth breeds false aims, and pride, and selfishness;

In those serene Arcadian days of old Men gave no thought to princely homes and dress.

The gods who dwelt on fair Olympia’s height

  Lived only for dear love and love’s delight.

                                                            Love is enough.

Love is enough. Why should we care for fame?

Ambition is a most unpleasant guest:

It lures us with the glory of a name

Far from the happy haunt of peace and rest .

Let us stay here in this secluded place

Made beautiful by love’s endearing grace!

                                                            Love is enough.

Love is enough. Why should we strive for power?

It brings men only envy and distrust.

The poor world’s homage pleases but an hour,

And earthly honours vanish in the dust.

The grandest lives are ofttimes desolate;

Let me be loved, and let who  will be great.

                                                                        Love is enough.

Love is enough. Why should we ask for more?

What greater gift  have gods vouchsafed to men?

What better boon of all their precious store

Than our fond hearts that that love and love again?

Old love may die; new love is just as sweet;

And life is fair and all the world complete:

                                                                            Love is enough.

                                    **********                                                                        

 

3^rd March 2021                                                      G.  R. Kanwal  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WALT WHITMAN : A GREAT MAN AND A GREAT POET

 

WALT WHITMAN : A GREAT MAN AND A GREAT POET

Walt Whitman is the poet whose poems I studied long ago but whose influence on my mind continues to grow perpetually. He was a great humanist and a great poet of political, social and spiritual democracy.     

He was born on 31^st May 1819 at West Hills, Long Island, USA, attended Brooklyn public schools, worked in printing offices, taught in a country school, edited newspapers, ran a book store and  a printing office.

His literary career started in 1851 and ended with his death on 26^th March 1892 in Camden where he was buried in Harleigh Cemetry.     

What makes him an immortal poet of the world is his bulky collection of poems The Leaves of Grass. Its first edition was published in 1855 and the 6^th which was the last in 1876.

According to Leslie A. Fielder (Selections from Leaves of Grass, Bell Publishing Company, USA, 1959), the first edition appeared without any name on the title page, though in the poem eventually called “Song of Myself”, the name “Walt Whitman” was used.

The following lines which were written in 1876 were signed in 1881:

Come, said my Soul,

Such verses for my Body let us write,

          (for we are one,)

That should I after death invisibly return,

Or, long, long hence, in other spheres,

There to some group of mates

The chants resuming,

(Tallying Earth’s soil, trees, winds,

tumultuous waves,)

Ever with pleas’d smile I may keep on,

Ever and ever yet the verses coming ------

As, first, I here and now,

Singing for Soul and Body,

Set to them my name,

WALT WHITMAN.

Initially, there was a heart-breaking  criticism about the book. The London Critic called it “the expression of a beast”; and The New York Times disgracefully observed: “What a conglomerate of thought is this before us, with insolence, philosophy, beauty, and gross indecency tumbling in drunken confusion  through the pages? Who is this arrogant young man who proclaims himself the Poet of the time, and who writes like a pig among a rotten garbage of licentious thoughts?”      

It was, however, the American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882),  the leader of the transcendentalist movement , who defended Walt Whitman and wrote to him in a letter dated 21^st July 1855 that his  book was a wonderful gift and the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America had yet contributed.  “I give you joy of your free and brave thought. I have great joy in it. I find incomparable things said incomparably well, as they must be. I find the courage of treatment which so delights us, and which large perception only can inspire . It has the best merits, namely of fortifying and encouraging.”

It is true that Whitman’s poetry lacks aesthetic discipline and artistic design because it is mostly a spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions un-recollected in tranquility. Yet, Whitman is a great poet of democracy and humanism. His peculiar art of versification has its own charm and beauty. Through his original feelings, thoughts and ideas, he  vigorously touches our hearts , minds and souls and transports us to a new world of poetry created by him.  A massive number of his poetic lines haunt us for a long, long.

 A unique feature of Whitman the man is that he celebrates every particle of life with fulsome vigour. 

He loves the entire  world irrespective of its manifold castes and creeds, religions and cultures, politics and governments.  His poetic voice has a touch of universality.  He is as much a  poet of both the material world as of spiritual heavens. Artistic deficiency in  a great poet of the masses as he is does not offend  our aesthetic sense.  It rather adds a new  respectable dimension to it.

Literary historian Arthur Compton-Rickett writes in his A History of  English Literature (THOMAS NELSON AND SONS LTD, LONDON, 1955):  In aim a literary revolutionary, Whitman is essentially a loafer, a loafer along the crowded streets, a loafer along  the countryside, a loafer both in the spiritual and physical sense; and his writings are the frankly direct expression of his loafings.

According to another English writer and critic W.M.Rossetti (1829-1919), Whitman breaks with all precedent. He thinks, sees, invents, executes, and initiates out of his own personality. He brings a glowing mind into contact with his own time and people, and the flame from which  it catches fire is Americanism.

What follows is a selection of a small bunch of lines from Whitman’s  different poems. They pose no difficulty of comprehension because the language used by him is that of the common people spoken in  streets.  

 

E X T R A C T S

 

“Walt Whitman, a kosmos, of Manhattan the son,

Turbulent, fleshy, sensual, eating , drinking and breeding,

No sentimentalist, no stander above men and women or apart from them,

No more modest than immodest.

Unscrew the locks from the doors!

Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!

Whoever degrades another degrades me,

And whatever is done or said returns at last to me.

Through me the afflatus surging and surging, through me the current and index.

I speak the pass-word primeval, I give the sign of democracy,

By God! I will accept nothing which all cannot have their counterpart of on the same terms.

Through me many long dumb voices,

Voices of the in terminable generations of prisoners and slaves,

Voices of the diseas’d and despairing and of thieves and dwarfs, …

Through me forbidden voices,

Voices of sexes and lusts, voices veil’d and I remove the veil,

Voices indecent by me clarified and transfigured.

                             ……

I hear the sound I love, the sound of human voice,

I hear all sounds running together, combined, fused or following,

Sounds of the city and sounds out of the city, sounds of the day and night,

Talkative young ones to those that like them, the loud laugh  of work-people at their meals.

                             …….

To be in any form, what is that?

(Round and round we go, all of us, and ever come back thither.)

                             …..

          I have said  that  the soul is not mor than the body,

And I have said that the body is not more than the soul,

And nothing, not God, is greater to one than one’s self is,

And  whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral drest in his shroud….

                                      ……..

 

 

 

 

 

 I celebrate myself, and sing myself,

And what I assume you shall assume,

For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you

I loafe and invite my soul,

I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.

                                      ………..

Swiftly arose and spread around me the peace and knowledge that pass all the argument of the earth,

And I know that the hand  of God is the promise of my own,

And I know that the spirit of God is the brother of my own,

And that all the men ever born are also my brothers, and the women my sisters and lovers,

And that a kelson of the creation is love,

And limitless are leaves stiff or drooping in the fields,

And brown ants in the little wells beneath them,

And mossy scabs of the worm fence, heap’s stones, elder, mullein and poke-weed.

Returning, resuming, I thread my way through the hospitals,

The hurt and wounded I pacify with soothing hand .

I sit by the restless all the dark night, some are so young,

Some suffer so much, I recall the experience sweet and sad,

(Many a soldier’s loving arms about this neck have cross’d and rested) ……

Many a soldier’s kiss dwells on these  bearded lips.)

                             …………….

         

I was looking a long while for Intentions,

For a clew to the history of  the past for myself, and for these chants ---and now I have found it,

It is not in those paged fables in the libraries (them I neither accept nor reject,)

It is not more in the legends than in all else,

It is in the present --- it is in this earth to-day,

It is in Democracy --- (the purport and aim of all the past,)

It is t he life of one man or one woman today ----the average man of to-day.

                                      ……………

 

 

 

 

 

 

                   ……..

A child said What is the grass? Fetching it to me with full hands;

How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.

I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.

Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,

A scented gift  and remembrancer designedly dropt,

Bearing the owner’s name someway in the corners, that we may see and remark , and say Whose?

Or I guess the grass is itself a child, the produced babe of the vegetation.      

                             ……..

I am not an earth nor an adjunct of earth,

I am the mate and companion of people, all just as immortal and fathomless as myself. (They do not know how immortal, but I know.)

                             ……….

I am of old and young, of foolish as much as the wise,

Regardless of others, ever regardful of others,

Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man,

Stuff’d with the stuff that is coarse and stuff’d with the stuff that is fine,

One of  the Nation of many nations, the smallest the same and the larger the same.

                             …..

 

In all people I see myself, none more and not one a barley corn less,

And the good or bad I say of myself I say of them….

I know I am deathless,

I know this orbit of mine cannot be swept by a carpenter’s compass,

I know I shall not pass like a child’s carlacue cut with a burnt stick at night.

I know I am august,..

I exist as I am, that is enough.

                                                …..

I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul,

The pleasures of heaven are with me and the pains of hell are with me,…

I am the poet of the woman the same as the man,

And I say it is as great to be a woman as to be a man,

And I say there is nothing greater than the mother of men.

                             ………

I accept Reality and dare not question it,

Materialism first  and last imbuing.

                             ……..

The following extract was quoted by Bertrand Russell in one of his books while dealing with the secret of happiness.

I think I could turn and live with animals; they are so placid and self-contain’d,

I stand and look at them long and long,

They do not sweat and whine about their condition,

They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,

They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,

No one is dissatisfied, nor one is demented with the mania of owning things,

No one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago,

Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.

So, they show their relation to me and I accept them,

They bring me tokens of myself, they evince them plainly in their possession.

I wonder where they get those tokens,

Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?”

                             -------------------------------

And finally, an extract from OLD CHANTS about America’s  indebtedness to the great  poems, books and authors of the past.

“(Of many debts incalculable,

Happy our New World’s chieftest debt is to old poems.)

Ever so far back, precluding these, America,

Old chants, Egyptian priests, and those of Ethiopia,

The Hindu epics, the Grecian, Chinese, Persian,

The Bible books and prophets, and deep idyls of the Nazarene,

The Iliad, Odyssey, plots, doings, wanderings of Eneas,

Hesiod, Eschylus, Sophocles, Merlin, Arthur,

The Cid, Roland at Roncesvalles, the Nibelungen,

The troubadours, minstrels, minnesingers, skalds,

Chaucer, Dante, flocks of singing birds,

The  Border Minstrelsy, the bye-gone ballads, feudal  tales, essays, plays,

Shakspere, Schiller, Walter Scott, Tennyson, . . . .

Thou! Pausing a moment, drooping thine eyes upon  them, blent with their music,

Well pleased , accepting all, curiously prepared for by them,

Thou enterest at thy entrance porch.”

(Note the original spellings of words and names in this extract have  been retained as they were.)       

****************

 

2^nd March 2021                                                  G. R. Kanwal 

RE-EXAMINE YOUR ENGLISH

 

RE-EXAMINE YOUR  ENGLISH

 

PARANOID.  Used as an adjective, this word indicates a mental disorder called paranoia.  A person affected by it wrongly believes that he is being badly treated by others or that he is an extraordinary person.  Used as a noun, the word means a paranoid person.  Paranoiac and paranoid are synonymous.  The frequent use of paranoid and paranoia to refer to intense suspicion, distrust, anxiety, fear, obsession, etc., is not recommended. 

 

MATRIX.  Used as a noun, this word denotes the substance or environment within which something develops or is contained.  Its plural form is matrixes or matrices. As a technical term, it means (i) a mould into which molten metal, liquid, etc., is poured to form shapes, (ii) mass of rock in which minerals are found in the ground, (iii) arrangement of numbers, symbols, etc., treated as a single quantity in mathematics, (iv) group of circuit elements arranged to look like a lattice or grid.  The use of matrix as a vogue word in general contexts is not appreciated.  Suggested alternatives are: setting, background, framework, environment, etc.  

 

 

MEDIA.  This word is one of the plural forms of the noun medium; the other being mediums.  When referred to many means of mass communication such as newspapers, television, radio, etc., the word media is apt, but it is incorrect to use for a single medium.  So, television is a medium, not media.  Remember, media is not a singular collective noun.  Literally medium is a means by which something is expressed or communicated. As: Mother tongue is a medium of instruction in many schools and colleges.  He used the medium of oils for his paintings.  Sound travels through the medium of air.

 

REPAIRABLE/REPARABLE.  These adjectives mean “able to be repaired”, as: This instrument is repairable/reparable.  However, careful users apply repairable to material objects and reparable to abstract nouns, as: The death of a person is an irreparable loss. Use ‘repairable’ to imply something is possible to mend or restore; reparable to mean, the remedy is possible or the loss can be made good.

 

REPITION/REPETITIOUS.  These two words are synonymous.  Repetitive implies repetition; repetitious implies unnecessary repetition of an idea, argument, emphasis, rhythm, etc.,       

 

THINK LONG AND HARD.  To think long and hard is to think very carefully about something before taking a decision.  She thought long and hard before deciding to give up her present job.  We must think long and hard about how to counter the moves of our enemy.

 

LORD IT OVER.  If you lord over somebody, you want to tell him that you are superior and have the right to tell him how he should act.

 

KEEP A TIGHT REIN ON SOMEBODY/SOMETHING.   To keep a tight reign is to exercise a lot of control on a person or something.  Some parents like to keep a right rein on their children.  Administrators are supposed to keep a tight rein on expenditure.

BE AS CLEAR AS MUD.  If you are clear as mud, it means you are impossible to understand.  The phrase is used humorously.

 

                                      --------   

HEALTH NOTES

 HEALTH NOTES

THERAPEAUTIC VALUE OF CAFFEINE. Caffeine is perhaps the most widely

consumed of all drugs, since it is the important constituent of tea and coffee. The ‘lift’

produced by drinking tea and coffee is due to the stimulation of the brain which caffeine

produces.

Caffeine is apparently one of the few central nervous system stimulants for which one has

to pay no price; that is, there is no “letdown” after the stimulation. With other stimulants,

a feeling of fatigue or exhaustion may be experienced once they have run their course.

The background accounts for the fact that coffee-breaks have achieved an almost

traditional status in the industry of many a country.

The cup of coffee on arising truly does dispel sleepiness, and certainly many individuals

do not seem to “come to” or “feel themselves” until they have had their morning dose of

caffeine. There may even be a mild form of addiction to coffee, in the sense that going

without it may produce symptoms. Thus, a majority of coffee drinkers if deprived of

their morning coffee will develop a headache which has been termed the “caffeine

withdrawal headache”; giving pure caffeine instead of coffee dink will prevent this

headache. In addition to the central nervous system effects, caffeine also acts as a

diuretic; that is, an agent which promotes the secretion of urine.

Caffeine may be given as an injectible drug by the physician and act as a moderately

potent stimulus to the heart, respiration, and circulation.

Large amounts of caffeine may produce nervousness, a sense of undue stimulation, and

tremor of the hands.

Caffeine tends to produce an increased amount of acid secretion in the stomach. In

addition, the aromatic oils of a well-prepared cup of coffee have a slightly irritating effect

on the stomach lining, the more so when large amounts of coffee are drunk. For these

reasons coffee consumption should be decreased in individuals suffering from peptic

ulcer and allied disorder.

It is noteworthy that caffeine is found in widely used headache remedies such as APC

(aspirin-phenacetin-caffeine) tablet.

Caffeine is also found in certain cola drinks, and is sold over the counter in drug stores

under various commercial names as an antidote for sleepiness.

---

VITAMIN C AND ITS DEFICIENCY. Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) is a water-soluble

vitamin. It is essential in bone formation and bone repairing. Evidence exists that it is

necessary in wound healing and that is an element in the formation of red blood cells.

Proponents of megavitamin therapy have been recommending large dosages of vitamin C

for building resistance or immunity to various diseases including the common cold.

However, evidence to this therapeutic claim is inconclusive.

Vitamin C deficiency can result in scurvy, the symptoms of which include spongy gums,

loose teeth, tender joints and general weakness. Slowed wound healing and possible

hemorrhage in the skin may also be symptoms of vitamin C deficiency.

Good sources of vitamin C are citrus fruits, tomato, pineapple, potato and pear.

------

VITAMIN D AND ITS DEFICIENCY. Vitamin D is fat-soluble and can be acquired

either by ingestion or exposure to sunlight. The sun’s ultraviolet rays activate a precursor

form present in the skin and covert it to Vitamin D.

Vitamin D aids in the absorption of calcium from the intestinal tract and the breakdown

and assimilation of phosphorous, which is necessary for proper bone formation. It helps

sythesise certain enzymes in the mucous membranes that are involved in the active

transport of calcium.

Vitamin D helps prevent and cure rickets. The disease results in softening of the skull,

bowing legs, and poorly developed muscles.

Early signs of Vitamin D deficiency may appear in the skull, where there is a thinning

and softening of the bone. Later, there may be bulging of the frontal bone, a “pigeon

breast” grooves in the rub-insertions of the diaphragm, and a “rachitic rosary,” which

consists of breaded attachments where the ribs join the breastbone.

The treatment for deficiency I 10,000 UP units of vitamin D daily. Prophylactic

treatment I 800 to 1,000 USP units of vitamin D daily. However, excesses of vitamin D

are known to be harmful. The physician should be consulted on dosage. It is better to

consider vitamin-enriched foods when vitamin supplements are prescribed.

-

 

FITNESS TIPS FOR OLD AGE

 

EXERCISE is essential to maintain health and efficiency in old age.  People who lead a sedentary life accelerate the process of aging.  Regular exercise is a safeguard against stiffening of muscles and joints.  It also maintains reactions, prevents osteoporosis (thinning of the bone tissue that causes fractures), helps prevent heart disease and curbs other forms of physical decline.

 

It is advisable that old people should remain as active as possible.  Physical work may be reduced but not abandoned . Sports and games can still remain one’s  essential part of daily routine. If, for any reason, physical exercise been suspended for some time, it should be resumed immediately.  Walking may be the best choice to begin with  Gardening is another equally good choice.  However, strenuous exercise should be resumed only with the approval of one’s physician. 

 

REST AND SLEEP.  According to various surveys, sleep needs do not decline with age, but many older people sleep fitfully and shallowly at night.  Insomnia is also common among the aged.  Idleness may a contributory factor to sleeplessness. Other causes are daytime naps, illness, anxiety, loneliness and discomforts like stiffness of limbs.  Keeping busy can be an effective factor to overcome this problem. Experts believe that exercising every day, seeing friends and meeting new people, a comfortable bed, and a hot milky drink are helpful.  In cool weather, it is advisable to dress warm.  As 30% of body heat is lost through the head, one should wear a neck scarf and cover the head suitably. When nights are very cold, a hot water bottle is a cheap and handy option.  If lack of sleep becomes a serious problem, one should see one’s physician for remedial steps.       

 

NUTRITION.  The nutritional needs of old people are lower than those of young people because of decrease in physical activity and reduced metabolic rate.  But it is important to eat as much as one needs to remain energetic. Diet should remain healthy and high in fibre and polyunsaturated fats and low in saturated fats.  A high fibre diet helps prevent incontinence.    To prevent bone loss, one should eat calcium-rich foods, including calcium supplements and foods providing daily vitamin D. Medical opinion is in favour of several small meals a day, including a light breakfast, than two large meals, which may cause digestion and bowel problems.  A big meal late at night may lead to indigestion and lack of sleep. A light supper and a hot milky drink before bed is considered better.

 

DRINKING.    Old people are prone to dehydration.  Dry mouth, dry hair and dry skin as also reduced sweating are common in old age.  The remedy lies in adequate liquid intake to maintain fluid balance in the body and prevent kidney damage, thick mucus forming in the lungs, chronic constipation and urinary disorders.  One should drink more water, fruit juices and milk.  Intake of diuretics and stimulants should be reduced.

 

Alcohol should be consumed only moderately because over-consumption promotes thinning of the bones and enhances the chances of fractures and other injuries.  Regular heavy drinking can be responsible for liver disorders.  On the other hand, regular moderate drinking is currently known to be beneficial because it stimulates the heart and helps in the prevention of heart problems.