The Alchemist

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Plot overview

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    A recurring dream troubles Santiago, a young and adventurous Andalusia shepherd. He has the dream every time he sleeps under a sycamore tree that grows out of the ruins of a church. During the dream, a child tells him to seek treasure at the foot of the Egyptian pyramids. Santiago consults a gypsy woman to interpret the dream, and to his surprise she tells him to go to Egypt. A strange, magical old man named Melchizedek, who claims to be the king of Salem echoes the gypsy’s advice and tells Santiago that it is his personal legend to journey to the pyramids. Melchizedek convinces Santiago to sell his flock and set off to tangier. When Santiago arrives in tangier, a thief robs him, forcing him to find work with a local crystal merchant. The conservative and kindly merchant teaches Santiago several lessons, and Santiago encourages the merchant to take risks with his business. The risks pay off, and Santiago becomes a rich man in just a year.

Santiago decides to cash in his earnings and continue pursuing his personal legend: to find treasure at the pyramids. He joins a caravan crossing the Sahara desert toward Egypt and meets an Englishman who is studying to become an alchemist. He learns a lot from the Englishman during the journey. For one, he learns that the secret of alchemy is written on a stone called the emerald tablet. The ultimate creation of alchemy is the master work, which consists of a solid called the philosophers stone that can turn lead to gold, and a liquid called the elixir of life that can cure all ills. Santiago learns the Englishman is traveling with the caravan to the Saharan oasis of al-fayoum, where a powerful, 200-year-old alchemist resides. The Englishman plans to ask the alchemist the secret of his trade.

As it turns out, the caravan must make an extended stop in al-fayoum in order to avoid increasingly violent tribal wars taking place in the desert. There, Santiago falls in love with Fatima, who lives at the oasis. During a walk in the desert, Santiago witnesses an omen that portends an attack on the historically neutral oasis. He warns the tribal chieftains of the attack, and as a result, al-bayou successfully defends itself against the assault. The alchemist gets word of Santiago’s vision and invites Santiago on a trip into the desert, during which he teaches Santiago about the importance of listening to his heart and pursuing his personal legend. He convinces Santiago to leave Fatima and the caravan for the time to finish his journey to the pyramids, and he offers to accompany Santiago on the next leg of his trip

While the alchemist and Santiago continue through the desert, the alchemist shares much of his wisdom about the soul of the world. They are mere days away from the pyramids when a tribe of Arab soldiers captures them. In exchange for his life and the life of Santiago, the alchemist hands over to the tribe all of Santiago’s money and tells the soldiers that Santiago is a powerful alchemist who will turn into wind within three days. Santiago feels alarmed because he has no idea how to turn into the wind, and over the next three days he contemplates the desert. On the third day, he communicates with the wind and the sun and coaxes them to help him create a tremendous sandstorm. He prays to the hand that wrote all, and at the height of the storm he disappears. He reappears on the other side of the camp, and the tribesmen, awed by the power of the storm and by Santiago’s ability, let him and the alchemist go free.

The alchemist continues to travel with Santiago as far as a Coptic monastery several hours from the pyramids. There, he demonstrates to Santiago his ability to turn lead into gold using the philosopher’s stone. He gives Santiago gold and sends him off. Santiago begins digging for the treasure at the foot of the pyramids, but two men accost him and beat him. When Santiago speaks to them about his dream vision, they decide he must have no money and let him live. Before leaving, one of the men tries to illustrate the worthlessness of dreams by telling Santiago about his own dream. It concerns a treasure buried in an abandoned church in Spain where a sycamore tree grows. The church is the same one in which Santiago had his original dream, and he finally understands where his treasure is. He returns to Spain to find a chest of jewels and gold buried under the tree, and plans to return with it to al-fayoum, where he will reunite with Fatima, who awaits him.

2) Mention the causes of degradation of the environmental factor along with necessary programs needed to be conducted to maintain in the balanced ecosystem.

Environmental degradation:-

Environmental degradation is defined as any alteration in the composition or state of the environment which directly or indirectly causes harm to us.

The industrial chemicals, solid wastes and sewages are thrown carelessly. The industries are also located haphazardly. There are many places without proper toilet and drainage. The urine and garbage are observed everywhere. The water around the tanks, lakes, streams, ponds, rivers, etc. are polluted due to it. It has massively polluted the watersheds.

Because of the huge increase in population, environmental resources are being over exploited. The important natural and cultural heritages of the country are deteriorating.

 The major causes of environmental degradations are as follows:

v  Land degradation

The best case of environmental degradation can be seen in land degradation. There are climatic conditions responsible along with the human activities, which have brought about the degradation. The effects can be seen in the arid, semi-arid and dry sub humid lands. One of the causes is over grazing of land. Along with that the green cover has depleted severely in almost all parts of the world. The forest cover has made way for human settlement. This has resulted in the temperatures increasing with each passing day.

v  Pollution

Pollution is eating away into the environment. Here we are talking about air pollution, where toxic substances have made their way into the air, which has caused the air to become unhealthy. Air pollution is caused by a number of reasons. One of the most prominent causes is vehicle emissions. With each passing day, the numbers of vehicles are on the rise, which means increase in air pollution. The next cause is release of chemical waste from various factories. The waste often forms a layer in the atmosphere of the earth, which further affects the environment.

v  Population Growth

The underlying causes of environment going down way are overpopulation. The land reserve that is available on earth is finite. However, the demands are ever-increasing due to increasing population. There is only so much that one can actually extract from the earth. This has led to widespread use of chemicals and other toxins to produce more food to feed the ever-increasing number of people. This has further caused depletion of the earth. With the use of chemicals the biological balance of earth has also been destroyed as the microorganisms have been killed.

v  Industrial waste

Industrial waste is known to be hazardous to the environment. The waste can be in the form of liquid waste, which pollute the rivers and cause harm to the ecosystem present in the rivers. It can also be solid waste, which is not biodegradable and pollutes the environment and leads to its degradation. We have already spoken about the industrial waste emitted into the air.

v  Global warming

Different vehicles and factories emit harmful gases like sulpherdioxide, carbon monoxide and chlorofluro carbon that make a layer which permits the ultraviolet ray from the sun penetrate into the earth but they (rays) don’t escape from the earth. Due to this, the temperature of the earth increases and animals and plants are severely affected. This is called global warming.

How to control environmental degradation to maintain balanced Ecosystems

• Passing and implementing strict laws for industries and colonies. Those who are responsible for polluting air and water should be severely punished.
• Creating protected wildlife reserves. Certain species that are on the verge of extinction should be declared as 'protected species' by respective governments.
• Breeding certain species, and releasing them afterwards so that they can live in their own habitat. Preserving and creating proper habitats.
• Planting as many trees as possible. Reforestation or re-greening the damaged areas can help avoid desertification of land.
• Creating awareness by celebrating 'Earth Day', 'Green Day', 'Tree Day', etc.
• Eliminating foreign species can help native species of plants to grow.
• Cleaning the rivers, ponds and lakes.
• Avoiding use of plastic bags.
• Separating dry and wet garbage, composting, using wet garbage as manure.
• Avoiding use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
• Using innovative and different energy forms like solar energy, wind energy, etc.
• Limiting the use of vehicles by following the rule of carpool, taking stairs, walking or taking a bike ride whenever possible.
• Eating local products can help avoid wastage of gas and air pollution; as food products are transported by trucks, trains, ships or airplanes. They are processed with machines which require electricity to run.

We have overworked the planet. Still, we can stop environmental degradation by following certain rules. Creating awareness about the duties and responsibilities of the citizens of EARTH is equally important. Now that we know how humans affect the environment, let us not sit back leaving all the responsibility of conserving our planet on a handful of people. Each one of us can make a valuable contribution towards preserving our environment. Let us do our own bit, for, in the well-being of the environment lies the key to our survival.

1) Describe the location of any visited area with its environmental situation.

Roll no: - Three “III”

Yesterday, I visited Dakshinkali temple. I went there with my family member i.e., me, my mother and brother.It was a favorable place. It is one of the most famous and popular Hindu shrine dedicated to Goddess Kali, "The Black One". Scowling and emaciated, with protruding tongue and red eyes, decked with a necklace of skulls, Kali is just another form of great goddess Durga. Kali is believed to be extremely powerful and accomplished.

Location:-

Dakshinkali Temple is located 22 kilometers (14 mi) outside Kathmandu and about 1 kilometer (0.6 mi) outside the village of Pharping.It located along a river in a forested valley in the mountains south of the Valley.

Getting to DakshinKali:

 The road to DakshinKali is in a good condition but it is uphill all the way. If you plan to go on the Mountain Bike, it is really a interesting place to go and coming back fast is the fun park. Dakshinkali is about a 45-minute taxi ride from Kathmandu. You can hire a taxi and pay a little bit more to the taxi driver to wait while you explore other sites.

Public transportation to the Dakshinkali is available but it is little bit crowded. The public buses run from the Old Bus park, Ratnapark and the minibuses leave from Near Martyr's Gate.

Scenario around the Temple:

When you get to the Parking lot of the Dakshinkali temple, it is little bit crowded. The route then leads you down a shaded stone pathway lined by local people selling flower and offerings for the Goddess, buffalo milk youghurt and Khuwa (a condensed milk sweet).

Devotees in the queue to worship to the Goddess Kali at DakshinKali Temple.

Saturdays in Dakshinkali are like cheerful temple fair, with crowds of worshippers dressed in their best clothes, tea stalls doing good business and people dragging goats and chickens for the sacrifice to the Goddess.

Temple is loacted down the flight of steps open to the sky and is decorated with the canopy of gilded snakes. The black stone image of Kali shows her squatting on a corpse, symbolizing victory over time. She holds other terrifying emblems such as skull cup, a severed head, and a sword. Along the sides are enshrined images of Ganesh, the Ashta Matrika, and a plain stone Bhairav.

WHAT IS THE HISTORY BEHIND ITS EXISTENCE?
It is said that DAKSINKALIcame to an existence after goddess KALI herself appeared in the dream of a Malla king, the ruler of 14th century. Goddess kali then commanded the king to build a temple dedicating her in a much unknown strange place. As the command was about to be followed immediately, a person said that he had already sort out a stone image of the goddess kali in the same place where goddess kali commanded the king to build the temple. The image was then left open with the elements as she commanded over her head a gilded canopy was kept erect with four golden serpents. Also images of lord Ganesh, seven Asthamatrikas and a stone Bhairav near by her images.

Why is it important for Hindus?

Dakshinkali temple is of great importance among those who need her blessing and also among the blessed ones. There is a strong believe in the ability of goddess to make wishes come true. Among thousands of visitors we can see lovers, businessman, children, students, job seekers, sick, etc. Here wishes are made in front of the goddess with sacrifice of animals particularly of cockerels and uncast rated male goats. On Tuesday and Saturday and particularly during the festival of Dashain, the court yard of temple is covered with blood of sacrifice and goddess Kali is bathed with the blood.

A local woman is selling flower and the offerings for the Goddess.

What else can you do in Dakshinkali?

Dakshinkali is popular as the picnic spot. A hiking and a short trekking experience in Dakshinkali is treasured by the many tourists coming to this place.

Environment:

Environment of Dakshinkali is very fresh and neat. It gives relaxation and refreshment. It is a forested valley in the mountains south of the Valley. Its environment is clean and green. It has no problem of pollution and deforestation. It is a great place where we can find the natural refreshment with religious relaxation.

But also it has got few problems because of crowd. It has got few air pollution, land pollution, water pollution, etc. People throws wrapper of chocolate, noodles, etc. People cut hens, goats and burn them which creates air pollution and the blood of the sacrificed animal are mixed in river which is very harmful to water.

Although there are some problems, there is a club named “Dakshinkali

Yuba Paropakar Sanstha” which tries to control all he problems. It fixes the crowd, control the pollution, etc. I hope Dakshinkali temple would be a perfect place where no pollutions would resist.