TRUE STORY OF STRUGGLING DAYS OF H M KANSAL-HOW TO FACE TOUGHEST PERIOD IN LIFE AND LEARN NEW LESSONS-

“Your current safe boundaries were once unknown frontiers.” ~Unknown

Lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV and massive machines, I seriously considered the possibility that I was having a nightmare. Everything felt so surreal....

As 21 years old, my life was full of promise and potential. I had done  B.Tech. from HBTI kanpur just two weeks ago...B.Tech. in late 80s was a big thing and and it was a time of golden beginnings. I had got 3 great job offers through campus interview....But,i chose one big NRI promoted company in Gurgaon( Plasics films coating/printing/metallising industry)...I was living with my cousin/friends and as paying guest later on... 

I had gone to attend my brother's marriage barely one week after my first job..I had no idea that a late evening trip to book Vedio grapher for wedding will result in  the worst ever road accident of my life...It  put me in emergency room due to fracture in both bones of my right hand and a long ordeal.The place was 50 KM away from Dehradun...

When extreme, unexpected, life changing, or scary things happen, how can we not only survive them but also grow from the experience?

1. QUICKLY ACCEPT THE SITUATION-YOU ARE IN-

I was in the emergency room when the doctor gravely told me this was serious.I was shifted to New Delhi for operation..My hand was continuously paining..It was virtually hanging as both the bones had broken..I LOST my voice after local anesthesia even before operation and operation was to be postponed...After passing whole day at Hospital,my hand was re-plastered and I was sent back to recover from the TRAUMA..

After loosing my voice, I was shocked into inaction. I was so taken off guard that fighting or fleeing didn’t even cross my mind. I simply stayed where I was, lying on the bed, and prepared myself to accept this crazy situation and cope with whatever happened next...I was able to speak after more than 12 hours...

When you’re dealing with a massive challenge, it’s okay to feel numb at first. You think, is this really happening to me? Disbelief and denial can then lead to a sense of injustice. You think, why is this happening to me? This isn’t fair.

As someone who had never broken a bone, let alone been hospitalized, I was in uncharted waters. I quickly realized I had to relinquish control—to the situation and to the doctors and nurses—and I had to stop clinging to my life as I had known it.My operation was finally successful,one week later with general anesthesia..

When you recognize that you’re in a trying time and accept that you can’t change it, you’re no longer a prisoner to your situation. You free yourself to deal the best you can with the challenge ahead of you.

INITIALLY,I was lil resistant to change,when it felt like the death of life as I knew it, but now I try to embrace it and figure out how to reach a rebirth.

The less time and effort you expend resisting change, the easier it will be to go with the flow and create to a new normal.

Are you subconsciously holding on to any beliefs or ideas that could hamper your ability to  LET GO? Are you in a situation that challenges some part of your identity or the way you define yourself, without even realizing it?

2.ALWAYS BE READY FOR GOOD AND THE BAD......

It’s okay to feel scared and understandable to feel sorry for yourself. In the midst of tribulation, negativity and depression can be alluring.

Being thankful to God and being grateful is a potent tool for snapping yourself out of fear and self-pity. In almost any situation, you can find something—even if it’s the tiniest thing—to be grateful for.

After my operation I stayed in the hospital for 4/5 days due to certain complicacies.....

During that time, I was grateful for so much—to be alive and cognizant, getting the medical attention and care I needed,...

In addition to focusing on the good things that you have, you can also feel grateful for the bad by thinking about what you’re getting from the experience.

I met and talked to so many doctors, nurses, medical students, and hospital staff. I watched how a hospital runs 24/7, and I enjoyed that it provided a new learning experience.

Whatever your problem, perhaps you can identify some good things it is currently bringing you. If not, maybe the good will come to you some time in the future, if you’re strong and patient enough to weather the storm.

In the moment, it’s empowering to realize that you can handle a challenge. How can you turn an ordeal into a positive, or at least how can you learn a lesson from a horrible experience?

This is a chance to morph, evolve, and adapt. It can be difficult and painful at first, but it means you’re on the path of growth.

3.PRIORITIES & CLARITY IN LIFE----

I had always heard about being healthy....but I didn’t actually understand until being directly confronted with illness. I now prioritize taking care of my health—physical, mental, and spiritual—above all else.

We have so much power by just POSITIVE THINKING......

You don’t need to face a life-threatening situation to remind you to live more mindfully. Once you figure out what really matters to you, you can start truly living.

What’s the  objective/purpose  our life- and what steps should we take to do what we want to do with our time? Big changes and challenges give us a gift—the opportunity of a fresh perspective to reassess our goals and our purpose. It takes time to process and heal, but the answers will become clear over time.

I’m still having plates in my right hand more than a quarter century later..I COULD NOT PLAY GAMES..CRICKET/TT ect.... I was so young and  sometimes used to get impatient. I’ve had to slow down, shift my priorities, and put some career prospects on hold.  

By slowing down, I became calmer and could see the big picture, aerial view. ..

Times were tough..very tough..But,I was back to work barely a week after the operation...No conveyance to go to office(around 10 Km from Sector 17 Gurgaon)..No restaurant to eat.i USED TO WORK 16/18 HOURS A DAY...And Gurgaon was just a GAON(village) those days..

Due to infection,my hand started bleeding...It's a  long story OF STRUGGLE......

BE WHAT YOU WANT TO BE......

During my college days,I wanted to bat like Sir Isaac Vivian alexander richards, (One of the best batsman in cricket), but even if I tried I could not become one. Believe me, I wanted to hit sixes like him. You might have seen some horrible singers on “Indian Idol” or “American Idol” or in your close circles. So, even if they practice for a lifetime, they cannot become good singers. I am one such person. I have taken tabla classes, harmonium classes, singing classes, but could not pick up anything in any of those classes, although I wanted to be good at music and singing. But, one of my friends who had no training could sing very well just by listening to the songs.

So, every person is “gifted” with certain attributes. He can try to improve himself but there are limitations on how much he can improve. Just like there are limitations on human beings as a class, even if they tried, they could not fly. Even the best of the humans cannot fly. Similarly, there are individual limitations of each person beyond which they cannot improve themselves in a certain area, even if they tried very hard.

So, life is like a constraint optimization problem. There are certain constraints in everyone’s life and one has to work around them. It is best to choose a profession or passion in which the upper limit for you is high, so that you can grow a lot. If you choose a path, where you are severely constrained, it will be frustrating.....

Parkside develops active packaging to help eliminate bacteria

Parkside has developed what it claims is technically-advanced flexible packaging with built-in antimicrobial technology.

According to the speciality packaging manufacturer, the new packaging will reduce bacteria growth on the outer packaging of fresh poultry; an issue raised in numerous recent national media reports.

The flexible packaging company is using a silver based additive that can be added into coatings used on the outer face of packaging, known to kill 99.9% of micro-organisms, such as campylobacter, widely recognised as a key challenge for the poultry packing industry.

Campylobacter is the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK and is an increasing concern for the entire food supply chain. Preventing cross-contamination during preparation, processing, packing and distribution is key in reducing the risk to consumers.

Paula Birch, sales director at Parkside, said: “The demand for ready-to-eat, fresh and easily prepared food is increasing. Initially the packaging of these foods was simply to provide protective and barrier functions. However, the growth of bacteria on packaged foodstuffs continues to cause problems regarding consumer food safety and of course, product quality. To deal with this issue, Parkside has designed and developed a range of flexible packaging solutions which incorporate antimicrobial technology to improve pack functionality.”

To date the Parkside anti microbial solution has been incorporated into PET packaging and undergone a series of trials. Independently tested and verified, the products have passed initial trials for indirect and direct food contact.

Birch continued: “The technology used by Parkside incorporates silver ions into coatings and is aimed specifically at the poultry category and other protein markets where campylobacter is a major issue.”

Parkside is also involved with other antimicrobial projects that have received government funding. The projects involve collaborative work with a range of partners including leading universities, coating manufacturers and a UK poultry packer to develop natural based coatings which help kill bacteria.

The majority of likely California voters are in favor of using plastic bag fees for environmental programs, according to a poll sponsored by bag makers.

Of those polled, 57 percent support the Environmental Fee Protection Act, which will be listed as Proposition 65 in California in November, according to the Probolsky Research poll conducted for the American Progressive Bag Alliance.

Only 35 percent were opposed to the proposal, which would require stores to deposit bag sale proceeds into a special fund administered by the state’s Wildlife Conservation Board, rather than letting grocers have it — should the bag ban, which is also on the ballot as Proposition 67, become law.

“These poll results show exactly what we’ve known all along — regardless of how California voters feel about bag bans, they want any mandated bag fees to go to a public purpose,” said Lee Califf, APBA executive director. “Come November, if the statewide bag ban is not repealed through Proposition 67, voters can redirect the millions of dollars collected from bag fees to legitimate environmental purposes with a ‘yes’ vote on Prop 65.”

Golden State voters will have two bag-related proposals in the fall: one to one to accept or reject the plastic bag tax, which passed the legislature as SB 270, and a second to redirect the money from any bag tax to environmental measures rather than to the grocers and unions who negotiated SB 270 with state politicians.

Probolsky Research conducted 1,020 phone interviews with likely California voters.....

Scientists from oil and chemical giant ExxonMobil Corp. and the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a potential breakthrough to reducing the amount of energy and emissions associated with manufacturing plastics and cut costs by up to $2 billion annually.

Results of the research were published Aug. 18 in the peer-reviewed journal Science, and ExxonMobil said that if brought to an industrial scale, the new technology could slash industry’s global annual carbon dioxide emissions by up to 45 million tons, or the equivalent of around 5 million households.

The project focused on replacing the existing energy-and-heat method to separate molecules with a molecular-level filter and a form of reverse osmosis to separate para-xylene, a building block for polyester, from complex hydrocarbon mixtures.

“If advanced to commercial-scale application, this technology could significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions associated with chemical manufacturing,” said Vijay Swarup, vice president of research and development at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Co.

ExxonMobil said the research “successfully demonstrated that para-xylene can be separated from like chemical compounds known as aromatics by pressing them through a membrane that acts as a high-tech sieve, similar to a filter with microscopic holes.”

Initially the ExxonMobil and Georgia Tech team developed a new carbon-based membrane that can separate molecules as small as a nanometer. The membrane was then incorporated into a new organic solvent reverse osmosis process, during which aromatics were pressed through the membrane, separating out para-xylene.

"In effect, we’d be using a filter with microscopic holes to do what an enormous amount of heat and energy currently do in a chemical process similar to that found in oil refining,” said Mike Kerby, corporate strategic research manager at ExxonMobil.

Researchers said the carbon-based membrane was about 50 times more energy efficient than the current state-of-the-art membrane separation technology. Because the new membrane is made from a commercially-available polymer, ExxonMobil said it believed it had the potential for commercialization and integration into industrial chemical separation processes.