Headline Oct 05, 2015/ ''' READ THYSELF HAPPIER '''

''' READ THYSELF HAPPIER '''

IN PAKISTAN  -the first historic host of !WOW!  -the World Students Society, I never did find, or came across, a student, reading a book.

When I meet Pakistan's teachers and professors, I always ask them what they are reading these days?  NO[ONE] reads here!  

This inference alone should send the political leadership into a swoon. Pakistan's swash of greed, unbridled corruption, to noughties meltdown. 

I hope and pray that !WOW!, in the years ahead, would attempt great work at savaging the modern world's foibles.

'''Students: Mariam, Rabo, Dee, Saima, Haleema, Aqsa, Sarah, Malala, I am struggling to understand why physicists, and engineers work in banking [are they designing new ATM machines?'''. 

Sam Lipsyte : The Ask

Fired from his dead-end job at the  ''Mediocre''  University, Milo Burke is offered what looks like a willow branch in the mire by an old friend. There are, though, serious side effects in the  darkly funny book.

How To Be Healthy

If you think real students don't do yoga, think again. Pick up BKS Iyengar's classic work,  Light On Yoga,  and you'll see a man whose body, well into middle age and beyond-

Easily outdoes those of any of his younger, Western rivals. This book shows you how to do the poses and the benefits are huge:

Better sleep, better romance, better concentration, better retention, better flexibility and a general sense of wellbeing.

For a surreal alternative, try Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis.

How To Get More Out Of Work

All too often, we moan about work, but for Hannah Arendt, mid-20th century political theorist, it's work that makes us human.

Distinguishing work from labour   -labour being the basic activity of keeping yourself alive, like an animal foraging or hunting for food.

Arendt believes that work allows us to find a higher purpose, to make a difference in the world. It's all set out in her classic work. The Human Condition.

How To Realise Your Ambition

Ambition tends to be see as the relentless drive to believe a set goal. Unfortunately, being liked along the way is not an option. At least this is what Machiavelli, reasoning that fear is more likely to shore up your position.

Or if you really want to become a modern day superman, read the ultimate text on the subject   -Nietzsche's The Will To Power.

How To Be A Better Lover

Generally speaking, ours is a culture obsessed with love. But usually the love is less about loving than being loved.

That puts in a passive state where we have to wait for the perfect person to come along. But Erich Fromm, the  mid-century philosopher, turns that assumption upside down.

Also read Bert Hellinger's Love's Hidden Symmetry, which is full of wisdom.

Enjoy Poetry

By W N Herbert professor of poetry and creative writing at New Castle University suggests:

Open at random and read. Start with an anthology   -most of the top-of-the-league publishers set out their stables in these.

Try Faber, Picador and Bloodaxe. It's the poem's job to sock you between the eyes and draw you in; you don't have to know the author.

Feed Your Head

Some people get nervous when a poem doesn't make sense   -but give it time to kick in. 

Poetry is slow releasing, like porridge.

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW!   -the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:

''' Students Racer '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless