NATURAL or MAN MADE DISASTER – DOs AND DON’Ts

What to do in NATURAL or MAN MADE DISASTER – DOs AND DON’Ts

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me”

Chennai flooding was an eye opener to South India. Lessons must be learnt quickly so as not repeat our mistakes and make preparations to combat more efficiently next time the disaster strikes.

In man-made disasters like terrorism, there may be no warning. However in natural disasters like tsunami or flooding or cyclone there is enough time to prepare the population.

Having been involved in rescue efforts abroad (Bradford fire, Lockerbie incident, SAS Hereford bomb training accidents),I  have some ideas and have put them forward in the Indian context.

By no means this is complete and many more can be added to suit our environment.

BEFORE THE DISASTER

METEOROLOGICAL FORECAST:   This is a government agency and hence government should be responsible for the forecasts of natural disasters. If they do not know or foresee, or worse still do not inform the public of an impending disaster, then all is lost.

Live status of the impending cyclone or rain with flooding by satellite images in real time should form a significant part of the news. This should be based on Indian satellites of which we are very proud of. No point in counting on CNN or BBC or foreign channels for Indian weather for the simple reason they do not depend on our weather bureau for their weather forecast!

For man made predictions of terrorist strike, the news should be informed to public including the city of probable attack, the possible areas of future incident, what precautions the public should take and also the pictures of suspected terrorists.

THE PLACEMENT OF THE RESCUE AGENCIES ONCE THE PREDICTION OF CALAMITY IS CONFIRMED:

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!'

PLACEMENT STAGE:

Once it is confirmed that the calamity is really going to happen, the placement stage is reached.

Placement of sources should predict the impact zone and also the rescue groups should be placed in a circle in the periphery of the impact zone.

GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL TO BE AVAILABLE:

Government should alert all including the ones on leave and the reserve personnel to report for emergency duty - the police personnel, home guards, coast guards, NCC, etc. and cancel leave and get them ready for action. State government should have the maximum personnel for a rapid response. If the disaster become too small, at least they have had a good practice session for a major incident.

CANCEL BANDOBUSTH DUTY IN A CALAMITY :

The bandobusth duty of VIPs should be cancelled and the VIP movement should not be allowed in that impact zone or the ring zone around it , as a lot of police resources are wasted for single person.

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES ON STANDBY:

Central Government Agencies like the Army, Navy, Air force and CRPF should be warned to be on Standby for cyclone/ disaster with their rescue service fully alert.

INFORM PUBLIC WHO THE RESCUE LEADERS ARE EARLY:

Team leaders (civil) for rescue service teams – their names, their photos, telephone numbers (the actual working telephone numbers!) should be flashed on TV, Radio, Social Media. These should include for instance the Municipal Corporation Commissioner, Collector, Police Commissioner, Assistant Commissioners of Police, Red cross, Hospitals heads with their telephone numbers, hospital addresses should be flashed so that ALL the public are aware of whom to contact in case of any help.

INSTANT ROLE OF CENTRAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT – DON’T STAND ON FORMALITIES:

Prime Minister or Home Minister should take direct responsibility or by phone calls to the Chief Minister of the State for the prediction of what to do. They should be visible BEFORE THE INCIDENT on TV of what they are going to do, where the safe houses and camps are , who to contact and their phone numbers. This will inform the public of the numbers and also we will be sure that the administration is also keeping an active eye on the situation. They can reassure people to leave homes when asked to do so by the rescue personnel in dire situations and all will be taken care of when they are away from home.

USING SOCIAL SERVICES UNITS WITH POWER:

Learning from Chennai flooding, Churches, Temples, Mosques, Schools, Colleges are to be prepared along with their wonderful heads for charitable shelters and resuscitation, if necessary. These should be outlined and consent obtained BEFORE the disasters , to prepare for the same.

WHAT ELSE TO AUGMENT OUR FORCES WITH: GO SOLAR!

Encouragement by government agencies to develop SOLAR energy in the form of SOLAR BATTERY rechargers for Mobiles, torches, water heaters, localized limited electricity in houses, etc will be most useful in a natural calamity or a thermonuclear incident.

HOW TO DEVELOP SUCH A TECHNOLOGY AT AN AFFORDABLE RATE?

A prize competition held in engineering colleges with a theme of this sort will bring out the best in youth to develop products. This is how the western agencies pick out the best talents and the best equipment for the government agencies and military.

FREE SATELLITE PHONES:

SATELLITE phones should be more freely available with the rescue personnel as these do not depend on the service providers at the time of calamity. Satellite phones should be the mode of communication for the armed forces, top police officials, mobile rescue units, revenue officials at the time of rescue in charge of co-ordination. These should also have solar energy. We have enough brilliant engineers in India to come up with the affordable technology .

SOCIAL CLUBS TO RISE UP:

Rotary, Lions, Jaycees, Round tables, Fan clubs of movie actors, Blood donation groups and many of the social organizations with their leaders and their phone numbers should be available with the municipal authorities early on and finally with the rescue personnel. They should be handed over to the radio, TV channels at the onset of calamity for co ordination and rescue efforts.

GOOD SAMARITANS ON THE GROUND:

The good Samaritans did yeoman service in Chennai floods and their efforts will make the job easier. They also know the locals by names as they are already doing a lot of charity work.

IN THE EVENT OF THE ACTUAL DISASTER

RESTORATION OF ORDER AND PEACE:

Looting of shops, stores, car jacking, thefts, murders, rapes, etc have all be described in Katrina calamity in USA. These are to be guarded against by the police personnel and the home  guards. Mere presence of uniformed personnel on the ground is useful for not only rescue but also to deter any disorderly conduct.

CARE OF THE DEAD:

Disposal of the dead by Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Jain priests as per their custom. These priests list should also be available with the top rescue officials for counselling of the families, dying victims last rites and the actual care of the dead .

Unidentified and unclaimed bodies should be photographed, DNA profiles taken , autopsied and buried early to prevent diseases. If this is done as a routine, public will learn to respect this. Care of the living takes precedence to the emotional sentiments.

PLAN RESCUE CAMPS BEFORE EMERGENCY:

Rescue camps should be planned much earlier and actually altered in the actual zone. They should be identified clearly by posters, set up and manned by volunteers/ social organizations and government agencies.

HOW TO RUN RESCUE CAMPS:

Each camp should be left to run on its own without any interference from the government to push in its name to claim credit when the care and the rescue and rehabilitation of tax payers are most vital.

Rescue camps properly labelled should have food, water, clothes, footwear, doctors or nurses for ailments.

THE VULNERABLE:

Also counsellors should be made available for the vulnerable such as lost children, single women, the pregnant and the elderly.

There should be temporary camps where the homeless can be housed free of cost, clothed, fed and treated by visiting nurses or doctors for minor ailments. The ones who require hospitalization should be sent to local hospitals of any kind – government or private.

TV ANCHORS WITH SENSE OF PROPRIETY:

TV channels should exhibit common sense and civic sense in not blaming anyone (other than terrorists) during the actual rescue operation, just to increase their viewing rating.

The role of government leaders (like in the Paris shooting) should be confined to only reassure and comfort the public that the best efforts are being taken. Police should be left alone early to identify the terrorists and bring them to justice ASAP.

VIOLIN PLAYING IN HIGHER POSITIONS EFFECTIVELY

VIOLIN PLAYING IN HIGHER POSITIONS EFFECTIVELY

SUMMARY OF VIOLIN PLAYING IN HIGHER POSITIONS EFFECTIVELY

NECK -

• Grip violin better

• Tilt the violin upwards

               

Fig 1.Violin Playing in lower position          Fig 2 Violin lifted up in higher position

LEFT ELBOW - 

• Swing to the right 

Fig 3

LEFT WRIST - 

• Swing to the right of the neck, later to the body

LEFT THUMB - 

• Slide to the back of the violin neck
• Slide to above the neck - to the body of violin

Fig 4

• The higher the position, the more straightened the thumb

Fig 5

FINGER TIPS - 

• Light placement of the fingers tips on strings
• Finger pads to be more towards the E string
• Adjacent fingers to be lifted to slide to create the next note

BOWING - 

• Bowing is done more close to the bridge

EXERCISES - 

• Sliding on each string from below to high with each finger on E,A,D,G & back
• Single string 2 octave scales by fingers 4,3,2,1 on strings E,A,D & G.

INTRODUCTION

Violin playing in the higher positions requires special care. The tones and half tones are much closer as the positions get higher up.

Following are some practical tips to make the transition from lower to higher positions easy and the intonation accurate.

NECK

Violin is generally held between the left collar bone and the left jaw of the violinist, at an angle pointing towards the ground or horizontal (Fig 1)(Pic 1).

Pic 1. Lower position.Note neck, wrist and thumb

As the violinist initiates higher positions, there are changes with respect to the left wrist, thumb and the violin needs to be supported efficiently. This can only be done by a good grip of the violin at the neck of the violinist for a good support. The violin is gently lifted up at an angle so that the upward angle of the violin  keeps the violin against the neck. This also helps shifting of the left hand (Fig 2) (Pic 2).

Pic 2. Higher Position. Note the tilted up violin

LEFT ELBOW

Left elbow is held horizontally or at a downward angle by left hand of the player in lower position (Fig 1) (Pic 3).

Pic 3. At lower position

As the positions get higher, left elbow is shifted toward the right. This allows for the hand to move upwards. 

The higher positions of the G string need more amount of left elbow to the right compared to the higher positions of the E string (Pic 4).

Pic 4.Higher position. Note elbow to right

LEFT WRIST

At lower position, the left wrist is below the neck of the violin keeping an acute angle of the first web space of the hand ( between the thumb and the left index finger).  The left wrist is in neutral position to the left forearm at a straight line  (Pic 5).

Pic 5. Low position .Position of left wrist, thumb, web space

Higher positions need shifting of the left wrist to the right of the violin neck. Later the left wrist curves around the body of the neck  (Pic 6).

LEFT THUMB

In the lower position,left thumb is normally held to the left of the neck at the level  the side of the thumb (Pic 5) .

As the higher positions are played, the thumb first shifts to the back of the neck by sliding up initially to the back of the neck widening the angle of the first web (Fig 4), (Pic 6).



Pic 6. Mid higher position. Note thumb behind and web space wider

As the position advances to higher levels, the thumb leaves the back of neck to the left side of the neck and holds the body of the violin. The angle of the first web really widens up to almost a straight line as the notes reach the highest levels (Fig 5), (Pic 7). 

Pic 7. Much higher position. Note thumb flatter and web space flat

At this stage, it must be remembered that the violin is almost entirely not supported by the left hand, and hence the upward tilt of the violin shifts the support to the neck of the violinist and the upward momentum of the violin helps prevent the violin from falling (Pic 2).

LEFT FINGERTIPS

There are some changes in the finger tip placement on the strings compared to the lower positions.

They include:

A. LIGHTER FINGER TIPS ON STRINGS:

Light placement of the finger tips on the strings is adequate unlike in lower positions. 

The distance between the strings and the finger board is more higher positions. 

It is not easy nor necessary to press the finger tips to the finger board. 

Gentle pressure of the finger tips on the strings should suffice and the tone can be tried on a trial basis to know the extent of pressure required by individual player (Pic 8).

Pic 8. Finger tip lightly presses strings

B. FINGER PADS MORE TOWARDS THE E STRING:

At the lower position finger pad  is placed right in the middle of the string at the level of note required. 

In higher position, it is easier to place the finger pad closer to the side of E string rather than in the middle so that the light pressure on the string may be maintained (Pic 9). 

Pic 9. Finger pads to touch more towards the E string side

C. CRAMPED SPACE OF THE NOTES: 

The position of full notes are much closer in the higher positions. 

Hence when the adjacent notes are to be played, the initial finger has to be removed before placing the next adjacent finger. This has to be practised  carefully to produce the notes of the required quality (Fig 10).

Pic 10.  Cramped spaces at highest position. Adjacent finger sliding into position

BOWING

The higher notes alter the string angle more making the string to lie in line with the adjacent strings.

Playing results in other strings sounding along with the intended note.

Strings are clearly separated by the upward curve of the bridge. They are not affected by playing the high notes.

Hence the bowing by the right hand needs to be shifted closer to the bridge.

EXERCISES

A. SLIDING PRACTICE:

Clearly the higher positions require adjustments in the left elbow, the left wrist, left thumb, left finger tips as well as the bowing. 

These need to be practiced initially without / later with the bow by sliding smoothly on each string individually with 4,3,2 and 1st fingers, paying careful attention to all the anatomical factors. 

This is done initially on the E string followed by the others till satisfactory fluency can be achieved on G string.

Now the bowing is added to ensure that the correct tone is obtained with the bow closer to the bridge.

Video for simple exercise can be seen at

  https://youtu.be/Q1hwqLa2gLo

B. PRACTICE 2 OCTAVE SCALES ON SINGLE STRING SEPARATELY:

Once this is done, single string scales of 2 octaves can be done by fingers 4,3,2 or 1 on each string individually on E, A , D and G strings .

Summarising violin playing in higher positions effectively

NECK -

• Grip violin better
• Tilt the violin upwards

               

FIG 1 Violin Playing in lower position      Fig 2 Violin lifted up in higher position

LEFT ELBOW - 

• Swing to the right 

LEFT WRIST - 

• Swing to the right of the neck, later to the body

LEFT THUMB - 

• Slide to the back of the violin neck
• Slide to above the neck - to the body of violin
• The higher the position, the more straightened the thumb

FINGER TIPS - 

• Light placement of the fingers tips on strings
• Finger pads to be more towards the E string
• Adjacent fingers to be lifted to slide to create the next note

BOWING - 

• Bowing is done more close to the bridge

EXERCISES - 

• Sliding on each string from below to high with each finger on E,A,D,G & back
• Single string 2 octave scales by fingers 4,3,2,1 on strings E,A,D & G.

Acknowledgement -

I thank Dr Twinkle Pravin who patiently snapped all the live pictures to make this presentation clear.

GOOD LUCK & HAPPY PLAYING !!