“Life is short, but there is always time enough for courtesy.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, poet 03POLISH YOUR SKILLS

Q I don’t really under-stand the concept of

RSVP. Can you pleasehelp me get familiar withthe term and its importance inthe world of etiquette?

– Curious Kid

A. It’s great that you are mindfulenough to try and understandmanners and its significance aswell as practicality. Here’s allabout it in detail.

Meaning and role: RSVP, the abbrevi-ation for the French phrase “respon-dez s’il vous plait,” means “pleaserespond.” Whether it’s a birthdayparty, a wedding or some other occa-sion, a timely response will enable thehost to provide enough food, drinks,and party essentials for those attend-ing without overbuying or buying less.Not responding can cause confusion

and possibly embarrassmentlater, for both the host and guest.

What should you do? Theproper thing to do is sendan RSVP back with anacceptance or decline assoon as you know whetheror not you’ll be able to par-

ticipate. Not responding makes it dif-ficult for the host or hostess to planand this can keep you off futureguest lists. Cancelling an RSVP with-out a good reason is rude – avoiddoing this unless there is a genuinereason and inform the host and apol-ogise. Give RSVP due respect.

By Team NIE

ExpertSPEAK

INTROSPECTION

Do you know how powerful a smile is?According to Ron Gutman, the author of‘Smile: The Astonishing Powers of aSimple Act’, “One smilecan generate thesame level of brainstimulation as, upto 2,000 bars ofchocolate!”Research showsthat happiness is theresult of smiling, con-trary to what people believe. In fact,even a forced smile can lead to a moodboost. Usually, we think that a posi-tive experience is what makes ussmile. But smiling is a positive expe-rience in itself. Check these reasonsthat will put a smile on your face.

SMILE TO BE HAPPY People who smile frequently are perceivedas being more confident and successful.

Most people areinclined to start a con-versation with astranger when he/sheis smiling.

People who smile a lothave a betterchance of beingappreciated.

Times Life

Smile and stay stress free

Tell us if this sounds fa-miliar. You have eitherwoken up with a startand want to go back tosleep or are already on

your way to school and regrettingevery minute of it. Congratulations,you have been diagnosed with a clas-sic case of Monday morning blues.

It does not matter what you do,Monday blues don’t really dis-criminate. One minute you areheading home and celebrating theend of another busy week, anoth-er minute, you blink your eyes andthe alarm is blaring at seven in themorning. Monday is back again.If you find yourself in a grumpymood at the beginning of everyweek, do these 4 things to cheeryourself up and get going.

2CHANGE YOURTHINKING: Insteadof getting up and

thinking, “Oh, anotherMonday” say, “Okay, I get to see myfriends.” The reason for positivi-ty can differ from person to per-son, but it’s important to con-sciously stop yourself from think-ing that Mondays are the worst.

4WRITE DOWN WHY YOU LOVESCHOOL: Sorry to burst yourbubble, but there is no such

thing as a perfect school and a per-fect life. Every school has rules andexams and requires hard work. So,you might as well enjoy the littlethings your school life has to offer – like sharing lunch with yourbest friend, playing basketball af-ter classes are over and so on.ADAPTED FROM TNN

DO YOU WANT TO BEMORE LIKEABLE?

Yes, it’s possible, if you avoid some habits that are not exactly popular

From the time we were kids,we were conditioned to be-lieve it was important to belikeable – it meant getting re-warded or getting your

hands on what you asked for. Havingamiable qualities also ensured thatyou were part of a group andnot left to fendfor yourself. A lot

of people believe that being likeable isa trait that you are gifted with, but thatis not the entire truth.

Likeability has nothing to do withinherent characteristics like being so-cial or attractive. Here are 5 habitsyou need to get rid of in order to be

more likeable.

Hogging the limelightThere is always that one person who walks into a room and demands all the attention.From talking over others to not giving themthe time to speak about themselves, anattention hogger wants people to just talkabout him/her and not anybody else. So, incase you are used to drawing all the atten-tion, rethink and give people the time andspace to talk about themselves.

Gossiping endlesslyWhen you indulge in unnecessary,demeaning conversation about others,people assume you may do the samebehind their back too. Backbiting, asthe word suggests, implies that youhave nothing good to talk about so yougossip as much as possible behind peo-ple’s back.

Humble-bragging? No! We have all witnessed humble-bragging. Peopledo this to seek compliments and highlight theirqualities, hiding them beneath modest state-ments. Imagine someone who walks in wearinga really fancy pair ofshoes and then com-plaining about how ordi-nary his/her shoes look.Yes, that is annoying andthat’s humble-bragging. Just avoid it.

Displaying moodiness Anyone who is not in control ofhis/her emotions is kept at arm’slength. Whether you’re shoutingat the top of your voice whenthings are rough or using passive-aggressive statements in case ofdisagreement, temperamentalpeople are not appreciated.

Oversharing is not so coolafter all Whether it is social

media or real life,when you show-

case your lifea little too

much, it can be off-putting. Avoid sharing deeply personalinformation, if you are not that close tothe said person. It could be overwhelm-ing for some and plain irritating forothers. Keep personal talk for veryclose friends and family. TNN

LIFE SKILLS

It is important to under-stand that there will bedays when you won’t feellike getting up from bed,and follow a schedule –that’s really okay. Don’tbe guilty about it

3TREAT YOURSELF: Whetherit is pancakes for breakfastor an indulgent

smoothie, make it a pointto treat yourself withyour favourite deli-cacy on Mondays. Itwill release feel-good hormones.

1LISTEN TO MUSIC WHILE GET-TING READY: Yes, when youare feeling grumpy and iron-

ing your school dress. Listening topeppy music in the morning isbound to make you feel better. Also,make an effort to look neat and wellgroomed.

4 WAYS TO BEATMONDAY BLUES

Conversation is an art. Take your lo-cation and audience into consider-ation when starting a conversation.

You wouldn’t necessarily ask a classmatethe same type of question you would asksomeone you meet at a friend’s party.In case you feel lost at inter-schoolevents and other occasions, here aresome sample chit-chat starters.

Inter-school event openers“Are you participating in any ofthe events?” “How far is your school fromhome?” “Are you enjoying the event?”

A smile is themost easily recog-

nised facial expression.One can identify asmile from a dis-

tance of 300feet

HOW ABOUTConversationStarters!

■ OKAVANGO: RIVER OF DREAMS, NATGEO WILD HD, 3.00 PM: The host talksabout the story of a severely injuredlioness left for dead on the UpperOkavango River.

■ RIVER MONSTERS, DISCOVERY CHAN-NEL, 5.00 PM: On a Pacific island, afishing community is being ter-rorised by something in the waterthat leaves a trail of victims.

■ SCIENCE: SCIENCE OF STUPID, NA-TIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL, 7.00 PM: The host presents videosof people getting injured or humil-iated while using gadgets.

■ MISSION BIG CAT, ANIMAL PLANETHD WORLD, 8.00 PM: The rapidly-growing Xakanaxa pride fights tostay alive during a harsh summerin the Okavango Delta.

■ ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN, STARMOVIES, 3.33 PM: Manny, Sid andDiego discover that the ice dam pro-tecting the valley they were resid-ing in was about to fall and even-tually lead to floods. Soon after, theyscamper off to find a safer habitat.

■ MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, HBO, 4.07PM: In a post-apocalyptic wasteland,Max, a drifter and survivor, un-willingly joins Imperator Furiosa,a rebel warrior, in a quest to over-throw a devious tyrant who really

controls the land's water supply.

■ THOR: THE DARK WORLD, & FLIX,6.45 PM: Malekith, the leader of theDark Elves, returns years later totake Aether, a weapon, from As-gard in order to force the NineRealms into darkness. Now, it is upto Thor to stop him.

MOVIES ON TVTELEVISION

MUST DOMUST SEEOCTOBER30, 2019 1887: Sukumar Ray, children’s writer and

humorous poet was born.

1888: John J Loud patented ballpoint pen.

1894: The time clock was patented by DanielM Cooper of Rochester, NY.

1909: Indian nuclear physicist HomiBhabha was born.

1938: Orson Welles' "The War of theWorlds" aired on CBS radio. The beliefthat the realistic radio dramatisation wasa live news event about a Martian invasioncaused panic among listeners.

1961: Soviet Union tests a 58 megaton

hydrogen bomb named Tsar Bomba, the mostpowerful nuclear weapon ever detonated.

1993: America's first veterinarian in spaceMartin Fettman, performed the world's firstanimal dissections in space, while aboard

Columbia.

1997: Argentine soccer star DiegoMaradona announced his retirementfrom football on his 37th birthday.

2018: WWF conservation group says"exploding human consumption" has causeda 60% decline in all wildlife between 1970and 2014.

THISDAY THAT

YEAR

Party openers“How long have youbeen here?”

“You want to trythis sandwich?We can go

and get ittogether.”

“How long haveyou been friends

with the host?”

Greeting for a new neighbour “Your garden looks great.

What kind of flowersare those?”

“I’ve made lemoncookies. Would

you like some?”

“My father has anextension ladder that youmay borrow if you need it.”

ETIQUETTE GUIDE School/college openers“What do you think about thefood in canteen?”

“Do you have lots of home-work in (name of teacher)’sclass?”

“Are you finding this termdoable or a bit too tough?”

LEARNING APPSTO KNOW MORE

If you want tofast-track your

progress andlearn just

about anything,here are some

quality learningapps. Check

them out

COURSERA: It is an online schoolof sorts and has a variety of les-sons/classes that you can take.Each one educates you on a differ-ent topic. It boasts of over 1,000courses ranging from maths to sci-ence and even technology. Theclasses have lectures too.

PHOTOMATH: PhotoMath is afocused learning app. This one isall about maths; it uses your cam-era to read equations that youwrite down and then gives you theright answer. It is great for thosepreparing for competitive exams.

KHAN ACADEMY: Khan Academy isa popular online resource forlearning. It teaches traditionalsubjects like maths, science,physics, economics, and many oth-ers. It’s usually the kind of stuffthat targeted learning apps don’tfocus on.

UDEMY: Udemy is one of the morepopular course-style learning apps.Like most, it focuses on skill-basedlearning. It has courses on Adobeapps, Microsoft apps, and you caneven learn things like public speaking,cooking, and other interesting stuff.

ONLINE UNIVERSE

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