I was asking for directions.

Orcas (Orcinus orca) are often called killer whales, even though they almost never attack humans. In fact, the killer whale name was originally "whale killer," as ancient sailors saw them hunting in groups to take down large whales.

Today, orcas are recognized as among the most widely distributed mammals on the planet, occupying every ocean. They are incredibly social, diverse and ferocious marine predators with a diet ranging from penguins to great white sharks.

Orcas are the largest members of the dolphin family. Males are bigger than females, but they vary in size and weight, depending on the type of orca. The largest orca ever recorded was a staggering 32 feet (9.8 meters) long and weighed 22,000 lbs. (10,000 kilograms). That's longer and heavier than most motorhomes.

Orcas are known for their long dorsal fin (the fin on the animal's back) and black-and-white coloring. The black-and-white coloring helps to camouflage them by obscuring their outline in the water. Just behind the dorsal fin is a patch of gray called a "saddle" — because it looks like a riding saddle. 

Orcas are very social creatures and live in family groups called pods, which have up to 50 members, according to the University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web (ADW). These pods are made up of related mothers and their descendants, known as matrilines. A male orca will stay with its mother for life, while daughters may spend time away after having calves of their own, according to the wildlife charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC). Pods often have their own distinctive calls, or dialects, to communicate, but they will associate with other pods and can come together to form even larger, temporary groups.

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day, the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.
 

The year was 1999, and she was merely 15. While others her age were juggling between school and dealing with adolescence, Datuk Nicol Ann David was creating history for herself and the country.

Within half an hour at Antwerp, Belgium, she defeated her opponent and bagged the Women’s World Junior Squash Championships, making her the youngest female to win the championship.

And David never looked back ever since. She continued her reign as a world champion — not once, not twice, but eight times, winning 81 Professional Squash Association (PSA) titles and dominated the world No 1 spot for 112 consecutive months from 2006- 2015. After 20 years of being a superstar in the global squash arena, at the end of the 2018/2019 PSA season in June, the 35-year-old decided it was time to call it a day.

David attests that there isn’t really life “after squash”, retirement simply means she no longer has to compete and bag all the responsibilities that come with it.

Life, after all, to her has been about squash ever since she held the racket for the first time at the age of five.

“I’ve never liked the word ‘retired’ because to me the dream remains. Yes, for the first bit of life after retirement, I took the opportunity to travel around, but this time without the racket.

“At the same time, I am preparing for what has yet to come. My intention has always been about returning the favour. Giving back to the society from the experience I garnered from squash,” she said.

David is now occupied with setting up her own foundation, doing opinion write-ups, giving motivational talks and engaging with the younger generation, encouraging participation in any form of sports.

“Through the foundation, I would like to empower young girls to take up sports as a tool to instil values in them,” she added.

The foundation, according to David, would not only focus on sports, but also teach English to non-native English speakers among the children.

From The Malaysian Reserve

The song played in the cafe was calming to the ears.