Kochappan's Desire and my Wish

Kochappan gave me a shock !

He told me he is leaving India. He has done such thing earlier. He shocked me one evening by telling me that he is planning to retire early. On requesting him not to do so considering the responsibilities he has, he told me that he is retiring early to bed that day because of tiredness; nothing more. I don'thave to strive hard to prove that Iam stupid : should I ?. That is why he works for UN and I don't.

Is Kochappan working for ' UN ' or for ' The UN '.

'' If I were working for , say, 'NATO' or 'OPEC' which are abbreviations , but pronounced as one word then the defenite article 'The' is not required. But for abbreviations like 'UN' , 'BBC',

'FBI' which are pronounced as alphabets then 'The' precedes them.'' Kochapps clarified.

Did you know that "Alphabet's origin is from ' Alpha and Beta' in Greek.?

If I had known that, If not in ' The UN ' I would have been at least a teacher in some public school . I thought .

'' It has been my ' Ambition' to go abroad on a foreign posting. For achieving that, it was my

' Desire' to study well. I achieved both." He said proudly.

As usual I had doubts; not about his 'Ambition' or 'Desire' .But about the difference between the two.

'' Desire is strong and more formal. Desire indicates one's strong intention to do some thing.

which are close to us and achievable.'' He said.

" In olden days in Rome ,candidates for election used house to house canvassing for votes. They were 'Ambitious of Office'. Ambition is associated more with achievement'' He added.'' Wish is not as strong as Desire . It gives a sense that what we want is un attainable''.

Now I know why he is in 'The UN' why Iam not even a teacher in a public school.

I had more of ' Wishes' than Desires and Ambitions in life.

Now that I don't have the required 'Desire and ambition' in built all I can do is to wish

'if he were here back in India early' !!!

menon ( aniyan )