Positive Emotions

PositivePsychology.com

•  Courtney E. Ackerman, MSc.
 
•  23

Most people like to feel good, and positive emotions just plain feel good. They don’t necessarily need a reason or cause behind them for us to enjoy them; we just do.

Experiencing emotions like happiness, excitement, joy, hope, and inspiration is vital for anyone who wants to lead a happy and healthy life.

Luckily, you don’t need to experience them all the time to reap the benefits of positive emotions. These often-fleeting moments can be the ones that make all the hard work and struggling in life worth it, the spice that brings flavor to your life.

Before you read on, we thought you might like to download our 3 Positive Psychology Exercises for free. These science-based exercises will explore fundamental aspects of positive psychology including strengths, values and self-compassion and will give you the tools to enhance the wellbeing of your clients, students or employees.

You can download the free PDF here.

This Article Contains:

• What are Positive Emotions? A Definition
• Positive Emotion Words People Use
• Why do We Need Positive Emotions? What Good are They?
• The Role of Positive Emotions in Psychology
• A Short Summary of Fredrickson’s Broaden-and-Build Theory
• The Health Benefits of Positive Emotions
• How Positive Emotions Foster Resilience and Improve Memory
• How Positive Emotions Can Improve the Workplace
• A Take-Home Message
• References

 

What are Positive Emotions? A Definition

Before diving too deep into positive emotions, we should start by making sure we’re all on the same page about emotions—and positive emotions in particular.

Positive emotions are not simply “happy feelings” that we chase to feel momentary pleasure; like the more negative emotions, they play a significant role in everyday life.

There are many ways to define “emotion,” but they generally fall into one of two camps:

1. Emotions are a state or feeling that cannot be conjured up at will, or;
2. Emotions are attitudes or responses to a situation or an object, like judgments (Zemach, 2001).

 

Most current scholars fall into the second camp, viewing emotions as the outcome or result of something, provoked by action, or by being on the receiving end of an action. The implications of embracing one view over the other are fascinating, but for the purposes of understanding positive emotions and their role in psychology, it’s not necessary to choose between the two camps; whether we can consciously choose our positive emotions or whether they are a direct result of some action or experience, it is mainly their effects that are of interest to the positive psychology practitioner.

Narrowing down to positive emotions, there are two popular ways of defining them that loosely correspond to the two camps noted above. They have been defined as “multicomponent response tendencies” that last a short period of time (Fredrickson, 2001), aligning roughly with the second view, and as mental experiences that are both intense and pleasurable (Cabanac, 2002), adhering more closely to the first view.

Whichever definition you think fits best, the most important things we need to know about them are (a) which emotions they are, (b) what is their purpose or point, (c) how we can improve our experience of them, either in quantity or quality, and (d) what effects they have on us.

 

Positive Emotion Words People Use

Let’s dive right into Point A: which emotions are positive.

The list of positive emotions that people experience is nearly endless. Not all of these words refer to emotions as scholars understand them, but they are the words most often used by people in describing their own emotions, which gives us a good foundation for positive emotions as they are commonly experienced.

• Joy – a sense of elation, happiness, and perhaps even exhilaration, often experienced as a sudden spike due to something good happening.
• Gratitude – a feeling of thankfulness, for something specific or simply all-encompassing, often accompanied by humility and even reverence.
• Serenity – a calm and peaceful feeling of acceptance of oneself.
• Interest – a feeling of curiosity or fascination that demands and captures your attention.
• Hope – a feeling of optimism and anticipation about a positive future.
• Pride – a sense of approval of oneself and pleasure in an achievement, skill, or personal attribute.
• Amusement – a feeling of lighthearted pleasure and enjoyment, often accompanied by smiles and easy laughter.
• Inspiration – feeling engaged, uplifted, and motivated by something you witnessed.
• Awe – an emotion that is evoked when you witness something grand, spectacular, or breathtaking, sparking a sense of overwhelming appreciation.
• Elevation – the feeling you get when you see someone engaging in an act of kindness, generosity, or inner goodness, spurring you to aspire to similar action.
• Altruism – usually referred to as an act of selflessness and generosity towards others, but can also describe the feeling you get from helping others.
• Satisfaction – a sense of pleasure and contentment you get from accomplishing something or fulfilling a need.
• Relief – the feeling of happiness you experience when an uncertain situation turns out for the best, or a negative outcome is avoided.
• Affection – an emotional attachment to someone or something, accompanied by a liking for them and a sense of pleasure in their company.
• Cheerfulness – a feeling of brightness, being upbeat and noticeably happy or chipper; feeling like everything is going your way.
• Surprise (the good kind!) – a sense of delight when someone brings you unexpected happiness or a situation goes even better than you had hoped.
• Confidence – emotion involving a strong sense of self-esteem and belief in yourself; can be specific to a situation or activity, or more universal.
• Admiration – a feeling of warm approval, respect, and appreciation for someone or something.
• Enthusiasm – a sense of excitement, accompanied by motivation and engagement.
• Eagerness – like a less intense form of enthusiasm; a feeling of readiness and excitement for something.
• Euphoria – intense and the all-encompassing sense of joy or happiness, often experienced when something extremely positive and exciting happens.
• Contentment – peaceful, comforting, and low-key sense of happiness and well-being.
• Enjoyment – a feeling of taking pleasure in what is going on around you, especially in situations like a leisure activity or social gathering.
• Optimism – positive and hopeful emotion that encourages you to look forward to a bright future, one in which you believe that things will mostly work out.
• Happiness – a feeling of pleasure and contentment in the way things are going; a general sense of enjoyment of and enthusiasm for life.
• Love – perhaps the strongest of all positive emotions, love is a feeling of deep and enduring affection for someone, along with a willingness to put their needs ahead of your own; it can be directed towards an individual, a group of people, or even all humanity.

 

This list captures a good deal of the positive emotions we experience, but it’s certainly not an exhaustive list—I’m sure you can think of at least one or two more!

Now that we have an idea of the kinds of emotions we’re talking about, we can move on to another important question: what’s the point?

 

Why do We Need Positive Emotions? What Good are They?

Aside from simply feeling good, positive emotions are also an important piece of the happiness puzzle.

While you will probably not achieve lasting happiness and well-being based on temporary, hedonic pleasure alone, positive emotions often provide the foundation for those fleeting but meaningful moments that make life worth living; for example, the joy of saying “I do” to your significant other, the love that overwhelms you upon holding your newborn for the first time, or the immense satisfaction you get from achieving something great in your career.

Although positive emotions may seem to have little purpose besides making us “feel good,” they actually do a few very important jobs.

The Role of Positive Emotions in Psychology

The “point” of positive emotions depends on who you ask; you will likely get a different answer from experts in different fields.

An evolutionary psychologist might respond “to enhance human beings’ chances of survival and reproduction.”

A social psychologist might say “to form the bonds that connect us to others.”

A positive psychologist may say “to make life worth living.”

Or, she might say “to broaden our awareness and build our inner resources.” That is the gist of Barbara Fredrickson’s groundbreaking “Broaden-and-Build Theory” of positive emotions. Read on to learn more about this theory.

 

A Short Summary of Fredrickson’s Broaden-and-Build Theory

Fredrickson introduced the Broaden-and-Build Theory of positive emotions in 1998. The theory provides a convincing explanation of the “point” of positive emotions: to open our minds, broaden and expand our awareness, and facilitate the building and development of resources, including knowledge, skills, abilities, and relationships.

In the words of Fredrickson herself:

“…these positive emotions broaden an individual’s momentary thought-action repertoire: joy sparks the urge to play, interest sparks the urge to explore, contentment sparks the urge to savour and integrate, and love sparks a recurring cycle of each of these urges within safe, close relationships.” (2004, p. 1367).

The effects of these emotions are in sharp contrast to the effects of negative emotions, or those experienced in a dangerous situation (e.g., fear, terror, anxiety), which usually have the effect of narrowing our focus and limiting our myriad options to the one or two best suited for survival. In such situations, these automatic responses are vital for ensuring that we make it out alive; however, in situations that are not life-threatening, we don’t need such a narrow perspective or limiting of options.

This is where positive emotions are more advantageous—instead of limiting our scope, they expand it to allow for creative thought and action. Instead of narrowing our focus to one or two responses, they expand our awareness to take in the much wider array of responses we can choose from.

This broadening of our horizons allows us to play, to learn, and to acquire lasting knowledge and skills that we can carry with us throughout our lives. These resources may be physical, emotional, psychological, social, and even mental, but no matter what kind of resources we acquire through this broadening, they are enduring.

These resources acquired and developed through experiencing positive emotions have been shown to result in many benefits throughout the several domains of life.

In the all-encompassing domain of physical and psychological health, positive emotions can have fantastic effects.

 

The Health Benefits of Positive Emotions

Among the many health benefits of positive emotions is a reduction in stress and a boost to general well-being. Positive emotions can actually act as a buffer between you and stressful events in your life, allowing you to cope more effectively and preserve your mental health (Tugade, Fredrickson, & Barrett, 2004). In addition, in 2006 researchers confirmed that experiencing positive emotions helps you modulate your reaction to stress and allows you to recover from the negative effects of stress more quickly (Ong, Bergeman, Bisconti, & Wallace).

Positive emotions may also protect you from the sniffles! Students who were randomly assigned to writing about intense, positive experiences for three days, 20 minutes a day, made significantly fewer visits to the student health center for symptoms of illness, compared to students who wrote about a neutral topic (Burton & King, 2004).

Experiencing positive emotions may also encourage individuals to make healthier decisions, indirectly contributing to better health. Herzenstein (2008) found that several positive emotions lead to a variety of health benefits, including:

• Happiness resulted in increased risk- and variety-seeking and gain-focused behavior and,
• Contentment resulted in increased risk avoidance and loss-focused behavior.

 

Positive emotions can also facilitate more effective coping, which boosts health by providing a buffer against symptoms of depression (Dolphin, Steinhardt, & Cance, 2015). In addition, being mindful and taking the time to savor positive emotions can provide an extra buffer against symptoms of depression while boosting psychological well-being and life satisfaction (Kiken, Lundberg, & Fredrickson, 2017).

Another health benefit of positive emotions is that they may result in a stronger heart; Kok and colleagues (2013) found a connection between a healthy heart rate and the experience of positive social emotions. Similarly, a meta-analysis of several studies found that well-being was significantly related to good cardiovascular functioning, general health, and longevity overall (Howell, Kern, & Lyubomirsky, 2007).

 

How Positive Emotions Foster Resilience and Improve Memory

In addition to promoting good physical and psychological health, positive emotions have been found to relate to both resilience and memory.

A study from Peng and colleagues (2014) found that positive emotions and resilience are positively correlated, indicating that one leads to the other or they share a bi-directional relationship. We also know that resilience is significantly related to emotional regulation, suggesting that the experience of many positive emotions (and the management of negative emotions) allows some individuals to “bounce back” better than others (Tugade & Fredrickson, 2004). Finally, a study by Cohn and colleagues found that positive emotions have a direct effect on resilience, which in turn helps build a strong sense of life satisfaction (2009).

These effects may be due to the “broadening and building” that positive emotions seem to provoke; the more positive emotions a person experiences, the stronger their perception of a positive baseline state to “bounce back” to after failure or tragedy. Additionally, experiencing consistent positive emotions might encourage a person to seek out a wide variety of sources of meaning and fulfillment, sources they can depend on to pull them back up to their feet when they get knocked down.

Overall, there is evidence to suggest that positive emotions can protect against memory impairment (MacKenzie, Powell, & Donaldson, 2015). It is unclear how this protection may work, although it may be explained through the Broaden-and-Build Theory as well. Positive emotions may expand focus and memory capacity and enhance the ability to remember both central and peripheral details (Yegiyan & Yonelinas, 2011).

Both enhanced resilience and better memory can provide benefits in many domains of life, including in the workplace. In fact, there are several ways that positive emotions can lead to better productivity and more effective work.

 

How Positive Emotions Can Improve the Workplace

Positive emotions have been shown to have a positive impact on relationships (romantic, friends, and family), therapy and counseling outcomes, grades and academic achievements, and personal development (Linley, Joseph, Maltby, Harrington, & Wood, 2009); now we can add one more domain to this list—the workplace.

As much as we may try to separate them, our emotions and personal life do have an impact on our work. Luckily, this can work in positive as well as negative ways. Positive emotions have led to enhancements and improvements in work life, physical and mental health, social relationships, community involvement, and income (Danner, Snowdon, & Friesen, 2001; Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005), all of which are either directly or indirectly related to work.

Enhancing Employee Engagement

A recent study by Goswami, Nair, Beehr, and Grossenbacher (2016) cemented the relationship between positive emotions and employee engagement—as well as showing a link between leaders’ use of humor and employee engagement!

Further, positive emotions encouraged organizational citizenship behavior (an employee’s voluntary commitment to non-obligatory or non-mandatory tasks that benefit his or her organization) as well as increasing work engagement; additionally, they had a double positive impact by decreasing negative attitudes and behaviors that are not in line with organizational values (Avey, Wernsing, & Luthans, 2008).

Improving Job Satisfaction

Positive emotions have been found to result in increased self-efficacy, higher job satisfaction, and better mental health in general (Schutte, 2014). They have even been shown to connect to higher job satisfaction during task conflict (Todorova, Bear, & Weingart, 2014).

More specifically, the positive emotions of interest and gratitude are linked to enhanced satisfaction with one’s work, while gratitude also positively impacts satisfaction with one’s coworkers and supervisors (Winslow, Hu, Kaplan, & Li, 2017). The same study that produced these results also found that both interest and gratitude predict an employee’s satisfaction with his or her promotion.

Not only do positive emotions enhance satisfaction with the job, they also reduce turnover intentions and reduce the effects of stress on employees (Sui, Cheung, & Lui, 2015).

These findings are intuitive; it makes sense that experiencing more positive emotions at work, like joy, interest, gratitude, and happiness, increases satisfaction with the work. Greater satisfaction with work has a clear and direct relationship with intentions to stay with the position.

Effective Leadership

Positive emotions in the workplace can facilitate more effective leadership as well as increasing job satisfaction.

A study from 2013 surveyed followers to assess the relationship between transformational leadership and positive emotions on the one hand, and the impact on task performance on the other; the study found that transformational leadership and positive emotions have a positive effect on task performance (Liang & Steve Chi, 2013). Not only was transformational leadership’s effect on performance enhanced, but its impact on work engagement was also found to be enhanced by positive emotions (Wang, Li, & Li, 2017).

Similarly, authentic leadership was found to lead to more effective innovation in followers when coupled with positive emotions (Zhou, Ma, Cheng, & Xia, 2014). Another style of leadership, known as intellectual stimulator leadership, is more effective in boosting employee job satisfaction, effort, and effectiveness when positive emotions like enthusiasm, hope, pride, happiness, and inspiration complement the leadership (Zineldin, 2017).

Enhancing the Company’s Bottom Line

When employees experience positive emotions at work, they experience a broadening of perspective and may be able to build important resources.

Early research on the effects of positive emotion on employee achievement and productivity found that the more positive emotion an individual experienced on the job, the higher their pay and better their supervisor evaluations were 18 months later (Staw, Sutton, & Pelled, 1994). Staw and colleagues also found that MBA students with higher positive emotions performed more accurately on a decision-making task than students with lower levels of positive emotions (1993).

Further research found that increased positive emotions resulted in increased clarity surrounding expectations in one’s role, effective and value-congruent use of organizational resources, fulfillment in one’s role, better relationships at work, and a general increase in the ownership employees feel over their work and the creativity that drives innovation and contributes to organizational success (Harter, Schmidt, & Keyes, 2002). Additionally, the expression and amplification of positive emotions can lead to enhanced goal attainment, whether the expression of emotions is directed towards co-workers or superiors (Wong, Tschan, Messerli, & Semmer, 2013).

Finally, positive emotions (in the form of hope, optimism, and resilience) were found to not only increase job satisfaction, work happiness, and organizational commitment, but also to improve employee performance, measured by both self-report and organizational performance appraisals (Youssef & Luthans, 2007).

 

A Take-Home Message

There has never been more interest in positive emotions and their effect on our lives—and for good reason!

Positive emotions are linked to numerous benefits in relationships, in one’s health and well-being, and in the workplace. Keep an eye out for news on positive emotions, and you will be keeping up with a bright and vibrant area of research.

Thanks for reading. If you have any comments on positive emotions or want to suggest further reading, please let us know in the comment section below.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our 3 Positive Psychology Exercises for free.

If you wish for more, our Positive Psychology Toolkit© contains over 300 science-based positive psychology exercises, interventions, questionnaires and assessments for practitioners to use in their therapy, coaching or workplace.

About the Author

Courtney Ackerman, MSc., is a graduate of the positive organizational psychology and evaluation program at Claremont Graduate University. She is currently working as a researcher for the State of California and her professional interests include survey research, well-being in the workplace, and compassion.

Words for Theory

Words similar to Theory

These are some words which bear similarity to the word 'theory' and are used interchangeably.

hypothesis, thesis, conjecture, supposition, speculation, postulation, postulate, proposition, premise, surmise, assumption, presumption, presupposition, notion, guess, hunch, feeling, suspicion, opinion, view, belief, thinking, thought(s), judgement, contention, principles, ideas, concepts, principled explanations, laws, philosophy, ideology, system of ideas, science.

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The Oxford Dixtionary lists these meanings of the word 'theory'. 

(1) a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained.

"Darwin's theory of evolution"

(2) a set of principles on which the practice of an activity is based.

"a theory of education"

(3) an idea used to account for a situation or justify a course of action.

"my theory would be that the place has been seriously mismanaged"

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Berne's Philosophical Basis in formulating TA

Berne's Philosophical Basis

in formulating TA as a Theory

1. What is TA : a Theory of

• Personality and Personality Development
• Communication and Human Interactions
• Human Relationships
• Human Destiny
• Child Development and
• An Empowering Method to gain Autonomy

2.What is TA - Conventionally

• Theory of Personality
• TA Proper
• TA Stroke Theory
• TA Game Theory
• TA Script Theory

3. What is TA - My version

3.1 Six Principal Theories 

• Theory of Personality
• Theory of Human Interactions
• Stroke Theory
• Game Theory
• Racket Theory
• Script Theory

3.2 Nine Auxilliary Topics

• Life Positions
• Psychological Hungers
• Time Structuring
• Redefining
• Passivity, Passive Behaviours, Thinking Disorders
• Discounting 
• Symbiosis
• Injunctions
• Drivers

4. How is TA Different

It is a theory based on 

• Human Personality
• Phenomenon of Compulsion to Repeat
• Life Scripts

5. What does TA aim to deliver

• Personal Growth
• Personal Change
• Personality Development
• Professional Development

6. Essentials for any theory to qualify to be a theory

• Substantiated
• Explanatory
• Predictive
• Testable
• Quality of Feel Right

7. Qualities of a Good Theory:

• Consistent with Empirical Observations
• Precise
• Parsimonious
• Explanatorily Broad and Relatable
• Falsifiable
• Promote Scientific Research / Progress

8. What was the need to have a theory such as TA:

• Need for Cure and Relief from Pain
• Providing for Economy in Treatment - time, effort, cost, ease of implementation
• One making client / patient self-dependent

9. Why is TA Appealing:

• Easy to Understand
• Easy to Learn
• Empowering
• Easy to apply
• Transformational

10. Berne's Philosophical Basis

• Empiricism
• Phenomenology
• Existentialism

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Link to Profile of Ajit Karve :  Link to Profile of APK

Please leave a comment.

Please feel free to connect using WhatsApp link : WhatsApp Link giving your name, age and occupation followed by the query or feedback.

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You can reach me at +917498419787 or

ajitpkarve@gmail.com

 

Profile of Ajit Karve

I am a Pune (India) based Transactional Analysis Practitioner and Researcher, a gifted DIY hobbyist, psychotherapy practitioner, blogger and an open minded spirituality practitioner.

I help curious and eager students of transactional analysis (TA) understand the depth of this interesting theory of personality (structure, function and development), relationships and human destiny.

I have developed a structured cure for script, games, rackets and relationship issues.

I have pursued spirituality since I was 18. My quest ended at around my age of 67 with experientially knowing the entity of God.

For Calls

+91 7498419787 / 9822024037

(10 to 12 and 5 to 8)

For WhatsApp Messaging

+91 7498419787

Please do introduce yourself while writing mentioning name and age.

email : ajitpkarve@gmail.com and

asha.personalitydevelopment@gmail.com

Here are links to a few of my blogs:

1. TA for Beginners 00.00 Table of Contents
2. TA for Learners : TA for Learners - 00 Contents List
3. TA Theory and Practice Table of Contents
4. Daily Dose of TA - Cycles of Human Development 00.00 List of Contents
5. Reflections of Ajit Karve Reflections of Ajit Karve
6. Android App to learn TA : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.ileaf.transactionalanalysis

To let go

To let-go of any thought, feeling, emotion or other disturbing mind occupation address your mind as follows:

1. Hey my mind.

2. I like you, I love you, I respect you.

3. I find that you are holding on to this particular thought / feeling / emotion about . . . 

4. I request you let go of it. 

5. I will do whatever required in the matter.

6. Please let go and return to your restful state of peace.

7. Thank you.

Mind will let-go / give up instantaneously.

DRDO has made India Proud with SMART System

DRDO has made India Proud with SMART System

India conducts successful flight test of SMART; ‘Game-changer,’ says DRDO chief

SMART stands for ‘Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo .’ Its flight test was conducted from Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha.

Updated: Oct 05, 2020 17:18 IST

By hindustantimes.com | Edited by Karan Manral, Hindustan Times New Delhi

India on Monday conducted a successful flight test of the Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART) from Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha.

All mission objectives, including missile flight upto the range and altitude, separation of the nose cone, the release of Torpedo and deployment of Velocity Reduction Mechanism (VRM), were met perfectly in the flight test, the Press Information Bureau, the government’s nodal agency, noted in a release.

“The tracking stations (Radars, Electro Optical Systems) along the coast and telemetry stations including down range ships monitored all the events,” the release further noted.

Watch a video about this system by tapping this link.  SMART SYSTEM DETAILS

Congratulating the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), defence minister Rajnath Singh tweeted, “The DRDO has successfully flight tested the Supersonic Missile assisted release of Torpedo, SMART. This will be a major technology breakthrough for stand-off capability in anti-submarine warfare. I congratulate DRDO and other stakeholders for this significant achievement.”

SMART is a missile assisted release of lightweight Anti-Submarine Torpedo System for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations for far beyond torpedo range. This launch and demonstration are significant in establishing ASW capabilities.

Dr G Satheesh Reddy, chairman, DRDO, described SMART as a ‘game-changer’ technology demonstration in anti-submarine warfare.

Monday’s test comes after the DRDO successfully tested Laser-Guided Anti Tank Guided Missile on September 23 in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra.

(With agency inputs)

Hathras and Vivekananda

An interesting link between Hathras and Swami Vivekananda

Hathras town in Western UP has 4 railway stations with the word Hathras in it. (City, Jn, Kila, Road)

But Hathras is remembered for another reason. And it is linked to the Railways of which we are still ardent fans. More than 130 years back, a wandering peniless monk was sitting on a bench of Hathras Jn station. He was traveling partly on foot, partly by train, partly by bullock cart, as Providence would provide. Suddenly, the ASM of the station spotted this sanyasi with striking features, a sharp nose and wide eyes sitting on the bench. He went up to him and struck up a conversation. Impressed by his knowledge and dispisition, the ASM requested the monk to be his guest that night and took him to his quarters behind the station. After spending a day or two the monk wished to bid goodbye but the ASM told him to wait; he would rush to the station, submit his resignation and leave with the monk as his disciple which he did and became the monk's first disciple. The monk was none other than Narendranath Dutta who later became Swami Vivekananda. And the ASM of Hathras Jn was Sharat Chandra Gupta, a Bengali gentleman, who, after getting his sanyas vows, was called Swami Sadananda of the Ramakrishna Mission.

Yes, it's a fascinating story of a monk and his disciple. You can read more about them in the book, "The Life of Swami Vivekananda, by his Eastern and Western Disciples", Advaita Ashrama (1989 edition), pages 220-224. Before acepting him as his disciple, Vivekananda gave his begging bowl to Sharat and asked him to beg food from the porters and khalasis of the station. This was his way of testing his disciple's earnestness. Without waiting for a moment, Sharat went to the station and begged for food from those very people who were his subordinates till just the previous day. He came back to Swamiji with the alms collected and partook of them along with his Guru. That proved the culmination of his ego after his renunciation. Incidentally, he was a good friend of Dr. Boshi Sen who later became a world renowned plant/agricultural scientist and lived in Almora. Sharat Chandra Gupta or Swami Sadananda, the erstwhile Asst. Station Master of Hathras Jn., though a Bengali, belonged to Jaunpur. He died in 1911.

Hathras town in Western UP has 4 railway stations with the word Hathras in it. (City, Jn, Kila, Road)

But Hathras is remembered for another reason. And it is linked to the Railways of which we are still ardent fans. More than 130 years back, a wandering peniless monk was sitting on a bench of Hathras Jn station. He was traveling partly on foot, partly by train, partly by bullock cart, as Providence would provide. Suddenly, the ASM of the station spotted this sanyasi with striking features, a sharp nose and wide eyes sitting on the bench. He went up to him and struck up a conversation. Impressed by his knowledge and dispisition, the ASM requested the monk to be his guest that night and took him to his quarters behind the station. After spending a day or two the monk wished to bid goodbye but the ASM told him to wait; he would rush to the station, submit his resignation and leave with the monk as his disciple which he did and became the monk's first disciple. The monk was none other than Narendranath Dutta who later became Swami Vivekananda. And the ASM of Hathras Jn was Sharat Chandra Gupta, a Bengali gentleman, who, after getting his sanyas vows, was called Swami Sadananda of the Ramakrishna Mission.

Yes, it's a fascinating story of a monk and his disciple. You can read more about them in the book, "The Life of Swami Vivekananda, by his Eastern and Western Disciples", Advaita Ashrama (1989 edition), pages 220-224. Before acepting him as his disciple, Vivekananda gave his begging bowl to Sharat and asked him to beg food from the porters and khalasis of the station. This was his way of testing his disciple's earnestness. Without waiting for a moment, Sharat went to the station and begged for food from those very people who were his subordinates till just the previous day. He came back to Swamiji with the alms collected and partook of them along with his Guru. That proved the culmination of his ego after his renunciation. Incidentally, he was a good friend of Dr. Boshi Sen who later became a world renowned plant/agricultural scientist and lived in Almora. Sharat Chandra Gupta or Swami Sadananda, the erstwhile Asst. Station Master of Hathras Jn., though a Bengali, belonged to Jaunpur. He died in 1911.

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Swami Sadananda, popularly known as Gupta Maharaj in the Ramakrishna Order, was a direct monastic disciple of Swami Vivekananda. He was the first disciple according to some sources. Wikipedia

Born: 6 January 1865, Kolkata

Died: 18 February 1911

Other name: Gupta Maharaj

Known for: Spiritual work

Atal Tunnel

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated  the Rohtang Tunnel under the famous Rohtang Pass, dubbed the 'Atal Tunnel' today 3rd October 2020 at a crucial moment in terms of national security.  

The Manali-Leh highway connecting India to Leh-Ladakh is closed for about eight months due to heavy snowfall.  So Leh-Ladhak is completely disconnected during and after winter months.  The revolutionary idea to have a tunnel that would be able to carry traffic all year round on this highway was born in1860.  It was no doubt a mammoth task. The tunnel project was announced by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 3rd June 2000.  Very many  technical difficulties were to be encountered in this work. The Modi government was determined to complete it as part of a larger infrastructure national grid plan. 

It is 3100 meters (10,170 feet) above sea level and is 8.8 kilometers long. It is the only tunnel in the world that is so long at an altitude of over 10,000 feet.  The tunnel runs from Dhundi village on the Manali side of the Pir-Panjal mountain range and connects the old Leh-Manali road to Teling on the other side.  The distance between Manali and Kelong has been reduced by about 46 km.  The journey from Manali to Leh-Ladakh will be possible in all months of the year.  The Rohtang Pass will be cleared of obstacles.  Time, fuel and pollution will also be saved. People movement will now take place throughout the year. No doubt it is also a strategic connection that will benefit the army immensely. Army will be able to ferry personnel, logistics, equipment  and ammunition to Leh-Ladakh throughout the year.

The construction of this tunnel has cost Rs 3800 crore.  About 3,000 contract workers and 650 Border Road Organisation employees worked 24 X 7 to complete the project. 

The construction of this tunnel is an engineering marvel.  It was very dangerous to build a tunnel by digging a pond in the Himalayan mountains at such a height. The water channel in the path of this tunnel posed a great danger.  The big question was where to dump the 800,000 cubic meters of rock soil excavated from the pond.  Apart from this, controlling the flow of water which is about 3 million liters per day was a big problem in the construction of this tunnel.  But overcoming all this, the seemingly impossible task of this tunnel has been completed by the Indian engineers but this tunnel has been constructed with the capability of very innovative security.

 The tunnel has a telephone every 150 meters.  There is a fire extinguisher every 60 meters.  There is an emergency exit every 500 meters.  There is a facility to measure and control air pollution at every kilometer.  CCTV every 250 meters.  Cameras are mounted.  So that the traffic can be fully monitored.  The speed of vehicles through this tunnel is controlled up to 80 km / h.  About 3,000 cars and 1,500 trucks will be transported daily.  The tunnel will be covered with snow for almost a year.  Sensors have been installed on both the sides of the tunnel to prevent avalanches or landslides.  Has developed.  Because of all this, Atal Bogda will be a milestone in the country's engineering.  My salute to all the engineers, workers, and all the systems that have made this dream come true.  Atal Bogda will be a boon for the Indian Army in the years to come in terms of national security.

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Wikipedia Article

Link to Wikipedia Article

Atal Tunnel (also known as Rohtang Tunnel) is a highway tunnel built under the Rohtang Pass in the eastern Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas on the Leh-Manali Highway in Himachal Pradesh, India.^[1][2][3] At 9.02 km (5.6 mi) length, it is the longest tunnel above 10,000 feet (3,048 m) in the world and is named after former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.^[4]

Atal Tunnel^[1]

Overview
Location	Rohtang, Himachal Pradesh, India
Status	Active
Route	Leh–Manali Highway
Operation
Work begun	28 June 2010
Opened	3 October 2020
Operator	Border Roads Organisation
Traffic	Motor vehicles
Technical
Length	9.02 kilometres (5.60 mi)
No. of lanes	Two (one in each direction)
Operating speed	80 km/h (50 mph)
Width	10 metres (33 ft)

Public notices of the Project Atal Tunnel at Solang Valley, Palchan - Dhundi road

The tunnel will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 km (28.6 mi).^[5][6] The tunnel is at an elevation of 3,100 metres (10,171 ft) whereas the Rohtang Pass is at an elevation of 3,978 metres (13,051 ft).

History

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The Moravian Mission first talked about the possibility of a tunnel through Rohtang Pass to reach Lahaul in 1960. Later, Prime Minister Nehru discussed a rope way to Rohtang Pass with local tribes. The tunnel project was conceived in 1983.^[7]

Almost 39 years after the first mention, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee, became Prime Minister, locals suggested his childhood friend Arjun Gopal visit him and talk about a Rohtang Tunnel. Gopal and two companions, Chhering Dorje and Abhay Chand, moved to Delhi. After a year of discussions, Vajpayee went to Lahaul on June 2000 and declared that the Rohtang Tunnel would be constructed.^[8]  RITES conducted a feasibility study.

Direction board at Solang, showing the roads to Rohtang and Leh

In 2000, the project was estimated to cost ₹5 billion and be completed in seven years.^[9] On 6 May 2002, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), a tri-service organisation of the Defence Ministry specialising in road and bridge construction in difficult terrains, was put in charge of construction.^[10] It had initially estimated that the tunnel would be ready for vehicle flow by 2015.^[11]

However, progress was slow, and the project did not move beyond the tree-felling stage by May 2003. By December 2004, the cost estimate had grown to ₹17 billion.^[12] In May 2007, the contract was awarded to SMEC (Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation) International Private Limited, an Australian company, and the completion date was revised to 2014.^[13] Despite multiple announcements that the work on the tunnel would begin in 2008,^[14] no progress had been made by November 2009.^[15]

The work was awarded to a joint venture of AFCONS Infrastructure Limited, an Indian construction company of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, and STRABAG AG, Austria in September 2009^[16] after the Cabinet Committee on Security cleared the Rohtang Tunnel Project.^[17] The drilling of the Rohtang Tunnel through the Himalayan ranges began on 28 June 2010 at the South Portal, 30 km (19 mi) north of Manali. Some of the anchoring and slope stabilisation work was subcontracted to Spar Geo Infra Pvt Ltd.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi renamed the tunnel the Atal Tunnel, in honor of Atal Vajpayee, on 25 December 2019, Vajpayee's birthday.^[8]

The Rohtang Tunnel was planned to ensure an all-seasons, all-weather road route to strategically important areas of Ladakh and the remote Lahaul-Spiti valley. However, the tunnel will provide this connectivity only from the Lahaul Valley of Himachal Pradesh up to Keylong. Connectivity to Ladakh will require more tunnels: either at Shikunla, or at the passes located on the present Leh-Manali road.

Timeline

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Total length of tunnel is 9.02 km.

• The project was announced by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on June 3, 2000. The work was entrusted to BRO on May 6, 2002.^[18]
• Foundation stone of the project was laid on June 28, 2010.^[19].
• As of January 2012, 2.5 km of the tunnel digging had been completed.^[20]
• As of June 2012, 3.5 km of the tunnel digging had been completed.^[21]
• Only a little progress was made in the next one year due to heavy ingress of water that required constant dewatering and slowed the digging and blasting to a crawl.
• As of October 2013, a little more than 4 km of the tunnel had been dug. However, about 30 m portion of the roof of the tunnel collapsed towards the north portal on 17 October 2013 and the digging had to be stopped.^[22]
• As of September 2014, 4.4 km of the tunnel, i.e., half of 8.8 km planned length had been dug.^[23][24]
• As of December 2016, 7.6 km of the tunnel digging had been completed. Excavation was expected to be completed in 2017, with opening in the second half of 2019.^[25][26]
• As of 4 May 2017, 7.92 km of the tunnel digging had been completed and breakthrough was expected by Sept/Oct 2017.^[27]
• As of 3 Sep 2017, 276 meters of the tunnel digging work remained.^[28] Tunnel to be opened for emergency services like Ambulance to be opened by winters.^[29]
• As on 13 October 2017 both ends of the tunnel met. The Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, visited the site on 15 October 2017.^[30][31]
• As on 22 November 2017, it was decided to allow patients to be carried through the under-construction tunnel only in the gravest of emergency when the helicopter service was not available and not to allow civilians to enter the tunnel before completion due to risks of falling rocks, lack of oxygen in the tunnel as ventilation system was yet to be installed, etc. and likely interruption in construction work due to presence of civilians.^[32]
• Sep 2018: the tunnel is being used for evacuation of people stranded in Lahaul after sudden spell of bad weather blocked Rohtang La due to snowfall.^[33]
• Jan 2019: 90% work completed. Expected to be inaugurated in August 2019.^[34]
• Jul 2019: Tunnel to be made operational by June 2020.^[35]
• Oct 2019: 100 meters work yet to be finished. To be opened for emergency traffic by Oct-2019 end. To be opened for general traffic by Sep-2020.^[36]
• Nov 2019: Bus service trial started through the yet-incomplete tunnel on 17 November 2019.^[37] A Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus carrying 44 passengers entered tunnel from the south portal and the passengers alighted at the north portal. The bus service will run once a day in the next five winter months for residents of Lahaul and Spiti valleys. Private vehicles will not be allowed through the tunnel.^[38]
• Dec 2019: On 25th of December the tunnel, which was known as Rohtang tunnel till then, was officially renamed as the Atal Tunnel.
• Sept 2020: The tunnel is set to be inaugurated by Prime Minster Narendra Modi on 3 October, 2020.^[39]
• Oct 2020: The tunnel was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 3 October 2020, in the presence of Minister of Defence, Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jai Ram Thakur and Minister of State for Finance, Anurag Thakur.

Specifications

The tunnel is intended to create an all-weather route to Leh and Lahaul and Spiti valleys in Himachal Pradesh.

Salient features of the proposed Rohtang Tunnel are as follows:

• Length of Tunnel: 9.02 km (5.6 mi)
• South portal
• North portal
• Shape (cross-section) of Tunnel: Horseshoe
• Finished width: 10.00 m (32.8 ft) at road level. (8m pavement and 1m footpath on both sides)
• General altitude of the tunnel: 3,000–3,100 m or 9,840–10,170 ft
• Designated vehicular speed: 80 km/h (50 mph)
• Geology of tunnelling media: Uniformly dipping alternate sequence of quartzites, quartzitic schists, quartz-diolite-schist with thin bands.
• Tunnel boring machines will not be used because of the inability to see inside the mountain, instead blasting and digging will be used to build the tunnel.^[2]
• Temperature variation in the area: 25–30 °C (77–86 °F) during May–June, −30 to −20 °C (−22 to −4 °F) during Dec–Jan.
• Overburden: Maximum 1,900 metres (6,230 ft), average more than 600 m (1,970 ft)
• Construction technique proposed: Drill & Blast with NATM
• Support system proposed: Fibre-reinforced concrete (100–300mm or 0–10 inch thick) combined with rock bolt (26.50mm dia, 5,000–9,000mm or 200–350 inch long) has been proposed as the principal support system. In areas of poor rock condition, yieldable steel ribs (ISMB 150/ISMB 300) have been proposed in addition.
• Tunnel ventilation: Semi-transverse system of ventilation has been proposed.
• A 2.25 m high and 3.6 m wide emergency tunnel will be integrated in the tunnel cross-section beneath the main carriageway.

The following parameters have been set in design:

• (a) Upper tolerance limit for concentration – 150ppm
• (b) Visibility factor – 0.009/m
• (c) Vehicles

• (i) Cars – 3000 Nos.
• (ii Trucks – 1500 Nos.

• (d) Peak hour traffic – 337.50 PCUs
• (e) Design vehicular speed in Tunnel

• (i) Maximum Speed – 80 km/h (50 mph)
• (ii) Minimum Speed – 30 km/h (19 mph)^[45][46]

Project Cost : Approximately ₹4,000 crore (Euro 250 million)^[45]

Safety measures

A 2.25 m high and 3.6 m wide emergency tunnel will be integrated in the tunnel cross-section beneath the main carriageway for evacuation during emergencies.

The latest Austrian tunnelling method and ventilation system – semi transverse type considered as safest – will be adopted for this project. Heavy snowfall in the Rohtang Pass area is a major concern, especially on the approach roads to the main tunnel. To prevent any damage to the roads and to ensure the safety of the roads and tunnel users alike, avalanche control structures are being constructed. The design for these structures is being provided by the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment of DRDO.

As the Rohtang tunnel will witness heavy traffic, vehicular management and checking pollution is a priority. For this, CCTV cameras would be placed at a regular distance and will be further connected to two monitoring rooms on both ends of the tunnel. Sensors to check the pollution level will keep on updating the data and if the record is above the desired level, then quantity of fresh air injected inside the tunnel would be increased. Pollution level will be controlled within 90 seconds adding that two heavy duty fans each on both openings of the tunnel will be installed to inject fresh air inside.

The tunnel will have semi-transverse ventilation system, where large fans would separately circulate air throughout the tunnel length. Another safety feature being added is that fire inside the tunnel will be controlled within an area of 200 metres and fire hydrants will be provided on specific locations.

The tunnel will also have public announcement system to make important announcement in emergency situations for which loudspeakers will be installed at regular distances.

Manav Engineering Group, a Banglore based Engineering firm, has provided the design and validation for electrical and instrumentation earthing to the tunnel. It is the same firm that has installed lightning protection atop the Burj Dubai tower.

Trivia

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• The 9.02 km (5.6 mi) long tunnel is the world longest tunnel at an altitude above 3,000 m or 10,000 ft. The nearest in comparison to the Rohtang Tunnel is the Anzob Tunnel in Tajikistan (length 5 km (3.1 mi), altitude 3,372 metres (11,063 ft)), Salang Tunnel in the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan (length 2.6 km, altitude 3,400m) and the Eisenhower–Johnson Memorial Tunnel in the United States (length 2.73 km (1.7 mi), altitude 3,401 m (11,158 ft)).
• There were proposals of installing a Neutrino detector in the tunnel by Panjab University and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.^[47]
• After frequent visits of Director General Border Roads, officials from Defence Ministry and Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, August 31, 2020 is the new deadline to complete the remaining works in the tunnel. Started on June 28, 2010, the engineering marvel Atal Tunnel is expected to inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi in September 2020.^[48]
• The 117 km distance from Manali to Keylong on the other side of Rohtang Pass is usually covered by vehicles in about five to six hours, without counting the long hours of traffic jams on the hilly route. The same distance would now be covered in less than half-an-hour through the tunnel and without traffic snarls. Keylong would be just 37 km from North Portal and 46 km from the South Portal of the tunnel.