Photography: Some Nature Pictures (Part 6)

-      Rahul Tiwary

Songs: Ye Tere Do Naina: Ankit Tiwari

Ye Tere Do Naina

It is nice to see Ankit Tiwari and Aparshakti Khurana, both talented individuals, in one video. 

-      Rahul

Photography: Ranthambore National Park, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, India

Bing.com has come up with a wonderful wallpaper with picture from Ranthambore National Park, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, India:

You can read more about this place on the web, for example at following sites:

https://www.ranthamborenationalpark.com/

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g297671-d1026825-Reviews-Ranthambore_National_Park-Sawai_Madhopur_Sawai_Madhopur_District_Rajasthan.html

-      Rahul Tiwary

History: Tulip Mania and the Dutch East India Company

I watched the wonderful movie "Tulip Fever" which is a romantic drama film set in the 17th century Amsterdem. The plot follows a 17th-century painter in Amsterdam who falls in love with a married woman whose portrait he has been commissioned to paint. You can read more about it here on Wikipedia. This movie shows an interesting episode from history, called "Tulip Mania". Following is an extract from Wikipedia about it: 

"Tulip mania (Dutch: tulpenmanie) was a period in the Dutch Golden Age during which contract prices for some bulbs of the recently introduced and fashionable tulip reached extraordinarily high levels and then dramatically collapsed in February 1637. It is generally considered the first recorded speculative bubble. In many ways, the tulip mania was more of a hitherto unknown socio-economic phenomenon than a significant economic crisis. Historically, it had no critical influence on the prosperity of the Dutch Republic, the world's leading economic and financial power in the 17th century. Also, from about 1600 to 1720 the Dutch had the highest per capita income in the world. The term "tulip mania" is now often used metaphorically to refer to any large economic bubble when asset prices deviate from intrinsic values." 

The collapse of Tuplip Mania is explained in following para:

"Tulip mania reached its peak during the winter of 1636–37, when some bulbs were reportedly changing hands ten times in a day. No deliveries were ever made to fulfil any of these contracts, because in February 1637, tulip bulb contract prices collapsed abruptly and the trade of tulips ground to a halt. The collapse began in Haarlem, when, for the first time, buyers apparently refused to show up at a routine bulb auction. This may have been because Haarlem was then suffering from an outbreak of bubonic plague. The existence of the plague may have helped to create a culture of fatalistic risk-taking that allowed the speculation to skyrocket in the first place; this outbreak might also have helped to burst the bubble."

Along with this interesting phenomenon, the movie also spoke about "East Indies". In this context we are talking about expeditions of the Dutch to India and Asian countries of those times. Amsterdam merchants were at the center of the lucrative East Indies trade, where one voyage could yield profits of 400%.

From Wikipedia article: 

"The Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie; VOC) was an early megacorporation founded by a government-directed amalgamation of several rival Dutch trading companies (voorcompagnieën) in the early 17th century.[1][2] It was established on March 20, 1602, as a chartered company to trade with India and Indianised Southeast Asian countries when the Dutch government granted it a 21-year monopoly on the Dutch spice trade."

"United East India Company (VOC) was a successful early pioneer at the dawn of modern capitalism. It was the first corporation to be listed on an official stock exchange. It was influential in the rise of corporate-led globalisation in the early modern period."

Both are very interesting subjects in themselves.

-      Rahul Tiwary

Thoughts: The Idea of Making Things Right

My flipflop (slipper) had got broken. I had a spare pair of flipflops which lied near the door of the bathroom. But out of habit and comfort, I still wore that broken flipflop that day for some time. At that time I was on the bed. My little son came and saw the broken slipper lying near the bed. He instantly said, "We should not wear broken slippers, papa". And then he picks up the broken slipper, goes to the bathroom door, drops the broken slipper and picks up one of the slippers from there which was not broken; and brings it to me and leaves it near the old slipper. I was left amused.

What made the kid, who is such a baby, to try and make my slippers "right". He not only had an idea that "we should not wear broken slippers"; but when he saw me wearing one, he exchanged it with the unbroken one to "make things right". At such an early age, he not only has this wisdom to judge and differentiate between right and wrong but also the inclination to go the extra mile, making hands dirty, and to make things right. 

I know all of us are "righteous" till some point in our life. Then after going through the grind, in due course of time, most of us gradually lose that sense of righteousness. Often when we see wrong things, we tend to just "mind our own business" and walk away. And this tendency some times ends up making life hell for a few people. Where are the good Samaritans which civil society needs? Where are the role-model employees which all organizations need; to inculcate the right values and realize their vision statements? 

Someone said that the burden of improving this world lies on "unreasonable" folks; who decide to "make a change" instead of "minding their own business". I realize how right this statement is. Looking at the experience with the kid, I am left impressed and also hopeful. That our world will become better every passing day; until there are people who make it better every passing day. 

- Rahul Tiwary

कविताएँ :: मानव कौल

जूता

जूता जब काटता है
तब ज़िंदगी काटना मुश्किल हो जाता है।
जूता जब काटना बंद कर देता है
तब वक़्त काटना मुश्किल हो जाता है।

आश्चर्य

खिड़की से खड़े
पेड़ ताकते हुए
उस पेड़ को भूल जाना…।
लाल गर्दन वाली छोटी चिड़िया का उस पेड़ पर आना-बैठना-उड़ जाना…
पेड़ का उड़कर दृश्य में वापिस आ जाना है।

दरवाज़े, प्रेम, रात, नींद, जूता और आश्चर्य

http://www.sadaneera.com/hindi-poems-by-manav-kaul/

Society: On Selling Feminism as a Product

I happened to be watching a portion of a CNN interview of a feminist play writer who was talking about her ideas of feminism and about her play. She was of the opinion that women are often expected to behave in a certain manner and this needs to stop. While speaking, she herself was blushing, laughing, shying, being chatty - all traits someone could put into "feminine" traits. But the question is, is that something which should make her ashamed of? I don't think so. If her natural instinct asks her to be like that, she has freedom to be like that. But if we go deeper, the reason she was behaving like that was perhaps the traits she had picked up from other females including her mother and other members of the community. That is the natural way kids pickup behaviors and some of those behaviors stick with them for life. Is that something wrong? Of course not. If the behaviors picked up by kids were not aligned with their inner self, their natural self, then in due course of time those kids would abandon those traits and go the way they want to go. Therefore, a naturally extrovert kid who lived amongst introverts and hence remained silent most of the time, can go back being extrovert at some stage of her life when she gets the right environment. It is difficult to make someone eat salty food for whole life if the natural instinct of the person dislikes it and the person has a sweet tooth.

At some point, we should also think about why there are so many writers, poets and journalists who are giving us so much free lessons on feminism. But wait, are those lessons really for free? While pushing their agenda, are they not trying to make us buy their newspapers, magazines, books or watch their TV shows or movies? Looking from this angle, this whole feminism business becomes a "marketing exercise". 

I truly believe in the freedom of an individual. Each individual, be it a man or a woman should have right to live his or her life with dignity, making one's own choices. But beyond a level, these champions of a certain line of feminism do not allow men and women to think or act on their own. When these feminists teach us what not to be; they are in a way teaching us what to be - and thereby violating the free spirit. 

At some level, these feminist writers must also be mediocre and insecure. Taking a parallel with politics; is this not true that only weak and insecure politicians try to use people's caste, race or linguistic identity to play a kind of "identity politics"? That is true; if Barack Obama exerts his "black" ethnicity, he is trying to pass on the message to all the black skinned people that they must not use their brains to decide which candidate or party is better; but they should just vote for him due to the singular reason that he is "black". This is how the divisive identity politics works. And this is also the way these feminists try to swing public opinion in their advantage. 

I remember the time when a so called "feminist" Bollywood movie called "Pink" was released in India. Women were hoarded inside cinema theatre, there was a huge marketing campaign, and women were seen going to the movie theatres wearing "pink". The movie's promoters had tried to encourage the idea and pressurize women to believe that they must watch this movie, not because it was a good movie, but just because it was a feminist movie. It is obvious that if movie makers were able to sell this idea, they would need not focus and work hard on the quality of the movie; they just had to do more marketing. Therefore, such a trend to sell mediocre products in the garb of feminism is a kind of dirty little business. 

I truly believe that that people should be using their own conscience to make their own decisions and these feminists are a kind of moral police who try to control people's minds into making them think like they want them to think. There is a saying that if you fight a demon long enough, you would become a demon yourself. Similarly, radical feminists become just another kind of species like male-chauvinists are. And women should be watchful to avoid such radicals getting control of their minds. 

- Rahul Tiwary

Travelogue: Bhubaneshwar, Capital of Odisha

Bhubneshwar is the capital city of Odisha. It is a well organized, calm and decent city with good roads. Here are some of its pictures:

(Above) Outside view of Bhubneshwar Airport which was damaged to a large extent due to a recent cyclone. Even in this picture the structure can be seen damaged at several places. Restoration was in progress at the time of taking this picture.  

(Above) Inside view of the first floor of Bhubneshwar's International Airport

(Above) Beautiful wall murals inside the airport

(Above) Zooming on the portion below the stairs, an artistic representation of sand, boat, sea shells, a tortoise and some birds can be seen

(Above) Splendid building of Police Commissionerate Office, Bhubaneshwar

(Above) A road junction near Nalco Chowk, Bhubaneshwar

- Rahul Tiwary

Hinduism: Origin of Yoga And Lord Shiva

Here is an interesting article on the origin of Yoga and Lord Shiva. There is something in Lord Shiva which makes Him relatable and relevant in all aspects even in today's time and beyond. Amazing read:

Origin of Yoga And Lord Shiva in Hinduism

By Abhilash Rajendran  Wednesday, June 05, 2019

Yoga is believed to have been first taught by Hindu God Shiva and it was compiled by Sage Patanjali. In Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma), Origin of yoga begins with Lord Shiva’s unhappiness over the world created by Brahma.

Legend has it that Shiva was unhappy with the pain and suffering in the world due to Maya. Shiva complained to Brahma about this. But Brahmadev was proud of his creation and sprouted four heads to view it from all sides. He was so proud that a fifth head popped out to watch His creation.

This enraged Shiva who took the terrible form of Bhairava and chopped off the fifth head of Brahma.

Brahma complained that he did not create unhappiness or misery. It is mind which is the result of all misery.

Shiva retorted that it was Brahma who created mind.

Brahma then answered that the mind can be controlled and enlightened. The mind which is the cause of unhappiness, if controlled is the path to bliss.

Shiva soon realized that Maya had overpowered him. He felt remorse for his anger and for the sin committed.

Shiva then went to Avimukta in Kashi and meditated on ways to control the mind.

Finally he came with the secret of Yoga.

All living beings who were frustrated with the materialistic world and sought to attain moksha crowded near Shiva.

Shiva as Dakshinamurti then unraveled the great cosmic truth.

Shiva first explained the main aim of yoga and then taught the physical postures.

Shiva is believed to have showed 8, 40, 000 postures – each representing a bird or animal.

Sage Patanjali compiled the teachings and saved it for the future generation. Today a miniscule part of the original teaching is available.

https://www.hindu-blog.com/2019/06/origin-of-yoga-and-shiva-hinduism.html?fbclid=IwAR30UwqTyNBu6YGfNONjcR8IVtKmFvFUbu0VIGhu3aMMKalMA9pWf6LQ1ok

Society: Why Kavita Kaushik is Failing Her Female Friends With Her Weird Reason for Not Having Kids

Television actress Kavita Kaushik and her husband Ronnit Biswas have decided to not have kids (News). While talking to Hindustan Times, the 38-year-old actress said, " I don't want to be unfair to the child. If I have a child in my 40s, by the time my child would be 20, we would've touched our old age. I don't want our child to take care of old parents in his/her 20s. Maybe we are not maternal and paternal as people. We want to make the world a lighter place and don't want to bring up a child to this overcrowded city and throw him in the struggles of Mumbai."

This is one of the most ridiculous excuses one could make for such a decision. Even by going with her logic; by the time her child would be 20, she would be in her 60s and people in 60s do not really need old-age care, unless one is sick. Old age care comes much later. By the time she and her husband would be really that old when they would need old-age-care, her child would be in his later 30s and perfectly ripe for being able to take care of old parents. 

Going further, this whole logic is not proper. She can’t be sure if she would have a son or a daughter. If she had a daughter, most probably she would not need to take care of her parents. In that case, why stop producing a daughter; very well knowing that the daughter would not be burdened with old-age-care of her parents? Also, how many rich kids really take care of their parents? We come across cases of deaths of most celebrities in loneliness and negligence. Kids of rich people most of the time go settle down in some foreign country and the old parents remain at home, old-age-home or in a hospital. The servants and paid agents take care of them to the extent of keeping them just alive so that they continue getting their salaries but cause them a slow painful death with a broken heart and soul. When almost no rich kid takes care of their parents themselves, to hypothetically make such an assumption for her future kid and then making such an extreme decision is a ridiculous idea. 

Most probably, her reasons would be others. Is it that she can’t really have kids medically and she is just trying to make a cheeky excuse to hide the real reason? Is it that she just finds making and rearing babies too “inconvenient”? “Inconvenience” is the reason most modern highly educated families are having less babies these days. So why hide the real reason? 

One of the reasons Kavita Kaushik raises the brow is because of her gender ceiling-breaking acts on TV. The most famous role she played was of a female police inspector “Chandramukhi Chautala” from serial: F.I.R. on SAB TV. Police force is identified with power and masculinity and her role broke many myths and it felt so proud to see her playing that role. Of course, playing the role of a police woman she had what we call a “tom boy” image. But with this decision, she is failing her fans big time. People would now think that girls with “tom boy” image would grow up not wanting to produce children or do womanly duties. That may not be true and a lot of other girls may suffer if people start making such a conclusion. 

I would have wished that Kavita Kaushik should have given the real reason for not having kids; or at least remaining silent on the matter instead of trying to mislead other women into something which may not be right for them.

- Rahul Tiwary

Internet: Time to Break Facebook

Recently, Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes made a bold demand – to break Facebook into smaller separate companies in order to avoid its Monopoly status. I had read the full article on MSN.Com but not able to trace it. But here are some links about it: Mint; NYT

I really agree with this article and the way world is changing, digital media is becoming more and more powerful and at times since it is real-time, can play havoc. Proper moderation and monitoring is needed to make sure that monopolistic companies like Facebook are not abusing their position. In the recent Cambridge Analytica case, it was proven beyond doubt that Facebook does not practice business ethics and indulges in information security and privacy frauds in order to make money. Therefore, if such a proposal comes up, as Chris Hughes has made, I would readily support it.

-      Rahul Tiwary

Environment: Why Aluminium Foil And Plastic Is Bad For Your Kids

I read an article on MSN.com by nutrition and exercise science expert, Rujuta Diwekar on why we must avoid aluminum foils as well, apart from plastic. Here are some salient points:

-      Plastic, of any kind or brand, leeches harmful chemicals in the food causing hormonal imbalance frequent illnesses, cranky behavior and more

-      Aluminium replaces zinc inside the body and effects insulin functioning

-      Reducing plastic usage is great for environment too

-      Plastic box soaks the smell and color of a particular food and contaminates it

-      Plastic box can lead to obesity. Did you know? Yes, you read it right

-      Use of plastic in some way or the leads to human infertility

-      Plastic contains toxic compounds which are harmful for human body

-      Never heat up plastic boxes. It leeches out harmful chemicals

-      You can cut down the number of plastic boxes by recycling them

Read complete article here: Link

-      Rahul Tiwary

Television: Game of Thrones: Season 8 Episode 6: "The Iron Throne"

Finally, the television series Game of Thrones came to an end recently. Viewers have debated whether the ending has been done abruptly without doing justice to the previous episodes. It does look like so. It seems they could have at least stretched both season 7 and 8 to full 10 episode length if they had wished. But it seems the makers of the show wanted to get done with the show for whatever reason. 

A few substantial things happened in the last episode or leading to the last episode. 

Daenerys became Mad Queen: 

The manner in which Daenerys changed from being a good queen to being the world's biggest threat and a dictator all of a sudden was unbelievable yet realistic. Power does go into the head of successful folks and it seems Daenerys was no different. But then no one ever guessed it before and it looked slightly difficult to believe Daenerys would like to conquer the world. But remembering kings like Alexander the great from history who actually tried to win over whole world, it seems possible. 

Jon Snow kills Daenerys: 

This was most shocking event; yet when he killed Daenerys, it looked natural culmination of events. Daenerys needed to be killed, if not by Jon then by Arya. But when Jon asked Tyrion if it was right for him to kill Daenerys and when Tyrion affirms that and Jon says, "But it does not feel right" - in that one sentence Jon Snow was resurrected into a cult figure that he was always meant to be. He was so righteous and it feels proud to remember his life story. I was rooting for Jon Snow to become King of the Seven Kingdoms and the way things ended, did not seem right. Jon had the most powerful right over the throne and yet others did not even think about him just because he had killed Daenerys. 

Melting of Iron Throne: 

It looked unrealistic for a dragon to be so sensitive that he would burn and melt down the Iron Throne in anguish after Daenerys was dead. The scene could be shown in an incidental manner; but it was shown that the dragon purposefully melted the throne which seemed impossible. 

Election of Bran Stark as King: 

This was another illogical outcome. By all accounts, he could have served an important role in the new kingdom but for him to be elected as King was something which went overboard. 

Jon Snow becoming no one: 

In the end Jon Snow went where he started from. It was a perfect anti-climax but an unpleasant one. If the show makers had shown him dying in the battlefield, it would have looked more graceful. But the final fate looked absurd and too much over-thought. 

Arya becoming an explorer: 

Another disappointment. She could have become the Queen or a future queen. Although being an explorer also suited her; but if someone would still go to explore new things after being "no one" and going through hell becoming "no one", it is unlikely. There has to be a full stop somewhere. 

Sansa Stark becoming Queen of the North: 

This was good. Although I expected greater role for Sansa but as the Game of Thrones moved towards its end, Sansa's role was gradually clipped. It was a disappointment not to see her achieving much greater things than she actually got as consolation prize. 

After all, it does feel the ending story of Game of Thrones could have been made much better. 

- Rahul Tiwary