tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-158910232024-03-14T11:45:14.353+05:30Plus Ultra"Partly original and partly insightful, but never simultaneously"Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.comBlogger927125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-19278454175537742020-01-14T17:58:00.000+05:302020-01-14T17:58:40.079+05:30Pongal in Rome<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Observing the rituals
and local practices on the occasion of Pongal, Mr H.H.Wilson, Professor of Sanskrit,
University of Oxford, highlights striking points of coincidence between the
observances of the East and the West.
This extract is from his book, “<a href="https://books.google.co.in/books?id=0P5DAAAAYAAJ&dq=pongal%20festival&pg=PA172#v=onepage&q=pongal%20festival&f=false">Essays and lectures on the religions ofIndia”, published in 1862. </a>(page 172)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">"There can be no doubt that the observance of the
Uttarayana is a practice of high antiquity, and there can be equally little
doubt that it was of like universality amongst, at least, the Indo-Teutonic
races. The analogies are so obvious, that they must instantly occur to every
one's mind; and the offerings and distribution of food and sweetmeats and
presents, the sports and the rejoicing, and the interchange of mutual good
wishes, which characterize the Uttarayana amongst the Hindus, are even yet,
though to a less extent than heretofore, retained by Christian nations at the
same season; beginning with the plum-puddings and mince-pies of Christmas,
passing through the new year's gifts and happy new years, and terminating with
Twelfth-night. Whatever modifications these types of rejoicing may have
undergone, and however changed in their present purport, by their connexion
with our religious faith, they are evidently of the same general character as
the observances of the Hindus; and designate the commencement of a period, in
which the northern hemisphere</span><span style="color: #333333;">
is again to be gladdened by the proximity of the fountain of light and heat.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In looking
for the more striking points of coincidence between the observances of the East
and West at this particular season, it is not necessary to be restricted to
dates, beyond approximate limits. Our own calendar has been subjected to
different reforms, which have, even within a recent term, advanced, by twelve
days, the enumeration of the days of the month; and alterations of an
astronomical nature have also been alluded to, which may perhaps explain
further deviations in this respect. The main point of agreement is unaffected.
It is not the recurrence of any precise day of the week or month that
constitutes the occasion of the celebration; it is the recurrence of the
commencement of the sun's northward course, the Uttarayana, or winter solstice,
from which all the manifestations of gladness derive their origin: and whether
this be fixed accurately or inaccurately — whether the period at which the
phenomenon was first noticed has in the course of ages undergone a change —is
immaterial. Little doubt can be entertained that the same event gave rise to
the same feelings; and that they have been expressed by actions, varying in form,
but not in spirit, by very distant nations, through a very long succession of
the generations of mankind.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has already been seen that the Romans connected
the beginning of the year with the sun's entrance into Capricorn, and that they
then celebrated the renovation of nature. Their mode of celebrating it seems to
have had many things in common with the usages of the Hindus, particularly in
the interchange of sweetmeats; only substituting for the rice, cakes, and
molasses of the Hindus, figs, dates, and honey. These articles they sent, at
this season, to their friends and relations: they were intended, according to
Janus, to be ominous of an agreeable year to follow.</span></span></div>
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<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whatever may be thought of this coincidence, there
can scarcely be a doubt that we have some community of origin between the <span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;">Pongal </span></span>and the blessing of the cattle at Rome,
on the day dedicated to St. Anthony. According to the legend, the Saint once tended
a herd of swine, and hence possibly his connexion with other animals. A much
more intelligible relation subsists between them and the Hindu Indra, or
Jupiter pluvius, as provender is plentiful and nutritive in proportion as rain
is abundant. It will be observed that the time of the year, the decorating of
the cattle, the bringing them to a public place, the sprinkling of them with
holy water, and the very purport of the blessing, that they may be exempt from
evils, are so decidedly Indian, that could a Dravira Brahman be set down of a
sudden in the Piazza, before St. Mary's church at Rome, and were he asked what
ceremony he witnessed, there can be no doubt of his answer; he would at once
declare they were celebrating the </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto;">Pongal. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The long course of ages which has elapsed has necessarily
impaired the evidence of a perfect concordance between the ceremonies with
which the nations of antiquity commemorated the sun's northern journey; yet no
reasonable doubt can be entertained that they did agree in celebrating that
event with practices, if not precisely the same, yet of a very similar
character; and that traces of such conformity are still to be discovered in the
unaltered ritual of the Hindus, and the popular, though ill - understood and
fast expiring practices of the Christian world,— affording a curious and
interesting proof of the permanency of those institutions which have their
foundation in the immutable laws of nature, and in the common feelings of
mankind."</span></span></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
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Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-35938299288238967872017-12-26T16:15:00.000+05:302017-12-26T16:15:00.338+05:30Christmas on no-man's land- 1915<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This video by Celtic Thunder (2014) was doing the Whatsapp rounds recently. It commemorates the famous event in World War I, when German troops and Allies on the western front took a pause, a brief cease-fire if you will, to celebrate Christmas, during peak hostilities in 1914, <br />
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JG3l-OBdcPI/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JG3l-OBdcPI?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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For a tragically short time, as <a href="https://fee.org/articles/the-christmas-truce-of-world-war-i/">this article</a> explains, the Spirit of the Prince of Peace drowned out the murderous demands of the State. <span><br /></span><br />
<span>"As December waxed, the combat ardor of the frontline troops waned. With Christmas approaching, the scattered and infrequent gestures of goodwill across enemy lines increased. About a week before Christmas, German troops near Armentieres slipped a "splendid" chocolate cake across the lines to their British counterparts. Attached to that delectable peace offering was a remarkable invitation:</span><br />
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<br />
<blockquote>
<span>We propose having a concert tonight as it is our Captain's birthday, and we cordially invite you to attend – provided you will give us your word of honor as guests that you agree to cease hostilities between 7:30 and 8:30.... When you see us light the candles and footlights at the edge of our trench at 7:30 sharp you can safely put your heads above your trenches, and we shall do the same, and begin the concert.</span><br />
<span> </span></blockquote>
<span>The concert proceeded on time, with the bewhiskered German troops singing "like Christy Minstrels," according to one eyewitness account. Each song earned enthusiastic applause from the British troops, prompting a German to invite the Tommies to "come mit us into the chorus." One British soldier boldly shouted, "We'd rather die than sing German." This jibe was parried instantly with a good-natured reply from the German ranks: "It would kill us if you did." The concert ended with an earnest rendition of "Die Wacht am Rhein," and was closed with a few shots deliberately aimed at the darkening skies – a signal that the brief pre-Christmas respite was ended." </span><br />
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Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-43021893638181289032017-12-25T21:11:00.000+05:302017-12-25T21:11:08.724+05:30Christmas in India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Households Words Vol 5, edited by Charles Dickens, in its edition of 1851, carries this description of Christmas celebrations in India <a href="https://books.google.co.in/books?pg=PA181&dq=India+Christmas&id=6-1LAAAAcAAJ#v=onepage&q=India%20Christmas&f=false">(link)</a>: <br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is anomaly in the very sound. Christmas in the heart
of the land, where millions fall in idolatrous worship before the rude images
of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu - and where hundreds of thousands of the followers
of Mahomed scoff at the promises of the Redeemer! Christmas - identical in
English minds with frost and snow, and crisp holly - in a clime where the
scorching rays of the sun eternally pierce the very marrow of man, and
penetrate the very bowels of the earth!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And were India solely tenanted by the Hindoo and the
Mussulman, — had the zealous missionaries and propagandists , who followed the
fortunes of Albuquerque and Vasco de Gama, borne the cross to the shores of
Hindostan, —- had the French Abbés who enjoyed the protection of Lally and Dupleix
failed to till the field of proselytism — had England never played her part in
the revelation of (Christian truths — to this moment no voice would be heard to
tell with impunity, on the blessed anniversary, how herald angels sang “glory to
the new-born king”. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But, the tide of European conquest, and, better still, the
tide of European civilisation , has carried to the benighted land knowledge,
and a large spirit of toleration; and now, from Cape Comorin to the farthest
northern confines of the Punjaub , the cross is recognised by thousands who
gladly accept its guarantee of salvation. In Western India, and in many parts
of the Peninsula, the peasantry have adopted the Roman Catholic faith:
imperfectly taught, however, and rudely administered by the degenerate
descendants of the early Portuguese settlers. At all the Presidencies, there
are handsome Romish churches, and still more chaste and beautiful edifices
dedicated to Protestant worship. In many parts of the large towns, the eye can
take in, at a single view, a Pagoda, a Mosque , a Protestant church, and a
Catholic chapel. Sixty thousand Englishmen, Irishmen, and Scotchmen, scattered
over India; and five hundred thousand of the half-castes or country-born, in
whose veins some British blood flows and throbs, together with a few hundred
natives, are of the Protestant persuasion. And every day sees their number and
the beneficent effects of their example, and the teaching of their ministers,
augment. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Is there, then, anything so very anomalous in the connection
of the idea of Christianity with idol worshipping India? Or can it be a matter
of surprise that Christmas Day should be observed throughout the localities
tenanted by Europeans, and (so called) Portuguese, with peculiar interest and
solemnity?</span><br />
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At once the season of worship and rejoicing, Christmas in
India, and more especially at the Presidencies, abounds with interesting
features.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is early morning; the sun is up and Christians of all
classes are afoot. The bells of all the places of Christian worship are
summoning to prayer. Hurrying along the roads and across the maidauns, or esplanades,
the Portuguese clerks and ayas <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(nurses and
waiting-women) attired in their best cottons, wend their way to mass, to
celebrate the glorious Nativity, and behold the image of Nossa Senora. The
gorgeous paintings which decorate the massive religious structures in Italy,
Austria, Spain and Portugal, are wanting; but, there are other types which
equally address themselves to the vulgar sense. After mass, at many chapels and
churches, a little bed is exhibited, and, within, reposes an effigy of the
Virgin mother bearing the infant Jesus. Crowds rush forward to render homage to
the image. It is kissed by thousands, and bedewed with the tears of joy and
gratitude. Holy water is at a premium. The vast congregations return homewards
the better and the happier for the annual commemoration. Away from the chief
towns, and more especially along the Malabar coast, the small primitive chapels
are thronged by the rustic Christians bearing offerings to the poor and worthy
Padre’, in the shape of wheat sheaves, fruits, cheeses, conserves, and whatever
their own poverty will permit. Herein, their offerings resemble the
contributions of the Irish peasantry to Father Luke or Father Brady. <span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">While early service is performing in the Roman Catholic
places of worship, the servants of the Protestant householder are busy
testifying their respect for “master.” By dawn, the portico of his house has
been hung with festoons of marigolds or Mogree (the Indian Jasmine). Wreaths
and branches of laurel —- the tropical substitute for holly — adorn the columns
of his verandah, and the entrances to his rooms. Now, “master,” or the saheb,
has breakfasted, and the head-servant announces that the rest of the domestics
claim permission to pay their respects. What procession is this? Is a
marriage-feast toward? Behold the sircar, or clerk, who keeps the saheb’s
accounts! Attended by a coolee, or porter, he makes his salaam, and lays before
his employer a huge rooee or seher fish, a plum-cake charmingly frosted with
sugar-candy, a copper tray of almonds and raisins, two vast cauliflowers , and
a nosegay. His offering is graciously accepted, and a small present cancels the
obligation. Now comes the Khetmudghar, or body-servant. He has brought a leg of
mutton, some oranges, a smaller cake , and a quantity of kissmiss -— the small
Sulltana raisin from the shores of Persia. Kissmiss <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>whence the word? Has it been adopted by the
Hindoos, because it is acceptable at Christmas? We never could divine the
etymology. Kissmiss is a pretty dessert fruit to play with -—- and isn’t it
suggestive of the standard joke of the old Quihye? He accidentally on purpose rolls
a mango towards the fruit plate, and exclaims with a chuckle, “See how
naturally man goes to Kissmiss!” The children laugh; and a faint smile plays
about the lips of the adults, who have heard the veteran jest a score of times.
The Khetmudghar is dismissed with a present. Anon comes the Sirdar bearer, the
tailor, the washerman — even the poor mehtur (sweeper), each with the Christmas
present-— and each receives a suitable douceur or buksheish -—- often
pronounced buxis , and so suggesting the notion that we have borrowed the term
and converted it into “boxes.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Blessed and blessing, the master now dismisses his domestics,
and the carriage is ordered to the door to carry the family to church. Service
is performed with the extra solemnity suitable to the occasion. The church is
garlanded with laurel and other evergreens; an appeal is made to the charitable
feelings of the congregation; and as the organ peels the final voluntary, the
bank-notes, and the silver coin, are freely dropped into the churchwarden’s
plate, to provide food and clothing for the indigent of all castes and classes.</span></span><br />
<br /><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Home! and the family are greeted at the door by visitors,
native and European, of the highest grades. More cakes, more fish, more legs of
mutton, more oranges, more almonds and raisins, crowd the hall and staircases.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The question is, how to dispose of all this perishable
matter; for Khansumagee, the butler, takes care that all these supplies shall
not interfere with his usual bazaar arrangements. _ He has, in anticipation,
made the market for the day. So, when the children are satisfied, the
perishable presents are given to the poor.</span><br />
<br /><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As evening closes in,
the house of each family of respectability opens its hospitable doors to the
reception of friends; and the roast beef and the plum-pudding, and the mince
pies, the port wine and the champagne, attest the attachment of the English to
old home honoured usages. The glass goes round; good wishes are exchanged; many
a thought is directed to friends and relatives at a distance, and the day
closes much as it closes in England. In Calcutta, fires are burnt in English
grates in the months of December and January; and although a handsome bouquet
of roses decorates the drawing-room table and the chilfoniers , there is a
wintry feel about the atmosphere; and as the chairs are drawn round the
fire-place, and the whiskey punch is brewed, the cherished idea of home on
Christmas Day is suitably and completely realised. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
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Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-41123755022017190102015-01-01T20:02:00.000+05:302015-01-01T21:04:28.946+05:30Why sportsmen's autobiographies disappoint. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">When Sachin Tendulkar released his autobiography recently, I
knew that at least one person would not be buying or reading it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Me. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">While I’ve always considered him an intuitive batting
genius, I’ve never heard him utter an intelligent remark about the game. So,
even if it was going to be ghost-written, I was under no illusion at all that
the book would offer any insight either on how he approached or planned his
innings or any other nuances of the game. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">But, given his stature, there was tremendous anticipation
before the release of the book. I am sure it sold well, even if the reviews
were not too favourable. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why are autobiographies of most geniuses invariably disappointing and
why do we feel the need to read autographies of sportsmen, at all? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">In his review of tennis-player Tracy Austin’s autobiography (“Beyond
Centre Court”) David Foster Wallace writes (<em>you can find a pdf version </em></span><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"><em>here.)</em></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>
:<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Almost uniformly bad
as books, these athletic “My story”s sell incredibly well; there are so many of
them. And they sell so well because athletic stories seem to promise something
more than the regular old name-dropping celebrity autobiography. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here is a theory. Top
athletes are compelling because they embody the comparison-based achievement we
revere- fastest, strongest- and because they do so in a totally unambiguous way.
Questions of the best plumber or best managerial accountant are impossible even
to define, whereas the best relief pitcher, free-throw shooter or female tennis
player is, at any given time, a matter of public statistical record. Top athletes
fascinate us by appealing to our twin compulsions with competitive superiority
and hard data. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Plus they’re
beautiful. Great athletes are profundity in motion. They enable abstraction
like power and grace and control to become not only incarnate but televisable.
To be top athlete, performing, is to be that exquisite hybrid of animal and
angel that we average unbeautiful watchers have such a hard time seeing in
ourselves. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, we want to know
them. These gifted, driven physical achievers. We too, as audience, are driven:
watching the performance is not enough. We want to go intimate with all that
profundity. We want inside them; we want the Story. We want to hear about
humble roots, privation, precocity, grim resolve, discouragement, persistence,
team spirit, sacrifice, killer instinct, liniment and pain. We want to know how
they did it. What goes through their minds? Is their Agony of Defeat anything
like our little agonies of daily frustration? <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So ,the point then
about these sports memoirs’ market appeal: Because top athletes are profound,
because they make a certain type of genius as carnally discernible as it can
ever get, these ghost-written invitations inside their lives and their skulls
are terribly seductive for book buyers. Explicitly or not, the memoirs make a
promise- to let us penetrate the indefinable mystery of what makes some persons
geniuses, semi divine, to share with us the secret and so both to reveal the
difference between us and them and to erase it, a little, that difference …to
give us what we want, expect, only one, the master narrative, the key) Story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">However seductively
they promise, though, these autobiographies never deliver. And “Beyond Centre
Court” is especially bad. The book fails not because it’s poorly written, but
because what any college sophomore knows is the capital crime of expository
prose; it forgets who it’s supposed to be for…. None of the book’s loyalties
are to the reader. The author’s primary allegiance seems to be her family and
friends.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">DFW then talks about the air of robotic banality that suffuses
the sports-memoirs genre and how the books turn out to be disappointing and stunningly
inarticulate about just those qualities and experiences that fascinate the
readers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">It remains very hard
for me to reconcile the vapidity of Austin’s narrative mind, on the one hand,
with the extraordinary mental powers that are required for world-class tennis,
on the other. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Real indisputable
genius is so impossible to define that maybe we automatically expect people who
are geniuses as athletes to be also geniuses as speakers and writers, to be articulate,
perceptive, truthful, profound.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">The real secret behind
top athletes’ genius, then, may be as esoteric and obvious and dull and
profound as silence itself. The real, many-veiled answer to the question of
what just goes through a great player’s mind as he stands at the centre of
hostile crowd-noise and lines up the free-throw that will decide the game might
be : nothing at all . <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It may well be that we
spectators who are not divinely gifted as athletes, are the ones truly able to
see, articulate and animate the experience of the gift that we are denied. And
those who receive and act out the gift of athletic genius must, perforce, be
blind and dumb about it- and not because blindness and dumbness are the price
of the gift, but because they are its essence</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I felt that this, to a large extent, explains why Sachin –
undoubted genius, though he is, when batting- was unable to offer any insights
in his autobiography ( As I admitted, I haven’t read it. I’m going by some of
the reviews I came across).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unfortunately for him, his ghost writer too lacked an understanding of
what to provide to the readers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com50tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-40981030604113914652014-12-31T14:01:00.001+05:302014-12-31T23:24:50.645+05:30Peak-end rule<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Some year-end reflection. How was 2014 for you?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">While answering the question you will - in all likelihood- apply the “peak-end
rule”. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Peak-end rule, popularised by Daniel Kahneman, is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">a
psychological heuristic in which people judge experiences largely based on how
they were at their peak (i.e., their most intense point) and at their end,
rather than based on the total sum or average of every moment of the
experience. It occurs regardless of whether the experience is pleasant or
unpleasant. According to the heuristic, other information aside from that of
the peak and end of the experience is not lost, but it is not used. This
includes net pleasantness or unpleasantness and how long the experience lasted</span></i><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak%E2%80%93end_rule"><span style="color: blue;">. (source)</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Even if a movie
were to be good overall on average, you are more likely to judge it based on a
high point (or low) and the end, which is why the director tries to pack more
punch in the climax scene. Same thing when it comes to games. A cricket match with
a prominent high-point and an exciting finish will be considered a more
memorable one compared to one in which the winning team dominated the
proceedings throughout. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a person
lives 95% of his life in poverty but strikes a fortune towards the end, he is
believed to die happier than a person who was rolling in riches all his life on
an average, but lost it all for some reason at the fag end of his life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, when judging
the year 2014, you would probably give more weightage to the events that
happened closer to the end of the year. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">In his book, “</span><a href="http://atulgawande.com/favicon.ico"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Being Mortal</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">”,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Atul Gawande cites Kahneman’s peak-end rule
while discussing how people evaluate their experiences and their lives in their
final stages.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">“People seem to have two
different selves- an experiencing self who endures every moment equally and a
remembering self who gives almost all the weight of judgement afterward to two
single points in time, the worst moment and the last one. Just a few minutes
without pain at the end of a medical procedure dramatically reduced patients’
overall pain ratings even after they’d experienced more than an hour of high
level pain. A bad ending skewed the pain scores upward just as dramatically. ..<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the end, people don’t
view their life as merely the average of all of its moments- which, after all, is
mostly nothing much plus some sleep. For human beings, life is meaningful
because it is a story. A story has a sense of a whole, and its arc is
determined by the significant moments, the ones where something happens.
Measurements of people’s minute-by-minute levels of pleasure and pain miss this
fundamental aspect of human existence. A seemingly happy life may be empty. A
seemingly difficult life may be devoted to a great cause. We have purposes
larger than ourselves. Unlike your experiencing self- which is absorbed in the
moment- your remembering self is attempting to recognise not only the peaks of
joy and valleys of misery but also how the story worked out as a whole. This is
profoundly affected by how things ultimately turn out. Why would a football fan
let a few flubbed moments at the end of the game ruin three hours of bliss?
Because a football game is a story. And in stories, endings matter. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">When our time is limited and
we are uncertain how best to serve our priorities, we are forced to deal with
the fact that both the experiencing self and the remembering self matter. We do
not want to endure long pain and short pleasure. Yet certain pleasures can make
enduring suffering worthwhile. The peaks are important, and so is the ending. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, I hope 2014 worked out well for you, especially the ending. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">P.S : I was rather disappointed that I did not write a blogpost for the entire year. Wanted to record at least one to maintain my "minimum balance' in the account.</span> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
</div>
Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-6065844988774380052013-12-17T22:00:00.000+05:302013-12-17T22:00:04.619+05:30Banking in India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The book ” <b>The rise, progress, and present condition of
banking in India” </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">by </span>By
Charles Northcote Cooke, published in 1863 was the first to describe the prevailing
commercial practices in the country and record the developments in western
system of banking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It notes <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?pg=PA70&dq=India+1863&id=9J0gAQAAMAAJ#v=onepage&q=India%201863&f=false">(page 65-70)</a>
that the combination of railway network and availability of capital (through
banks that were going to be set up) would unleash the potential of the country.
It would release the natives from the tyranny of high interest charged by the
traditional lenders of the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></blockquote>
</span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Nowhere is the investment of income more certain of good
return, or more likely to be blessed than here. India has boundless resources,
which merely require to be developed. If she has been hitherto a smaller
producer than she might have been, it is owing to her being destitute of
accessible markets for her surplus productions, in consequence of the <i>rudeness
</i>of her productions. Every process, both in agriculture and manufactures,
has been conducted with immense waste and want of ingenuity. The most simple
methods of saving toil have been unknown. Husbandry is in a backward condition,
and the implements both rude, primitive, and of the clumsiest construction. In
fact, almost everything that is the produce of Indian rural labor is, when
compared with that of people in a more civilized and favorable state of
society, crude and unmarketable.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is, probably,
no country in the world that has made such slow progress as India, when her
antecedents are considered. Formerly, the natives of the soil, both morally and
intellectually, stood higher than they do now, and excelled in all departments
of science. But from this they have so completely, and for such a length of
time declined, that it is difficult to believe that improvements in agriculture
and manufactures were of very great antiquity in the provinces of Bengal.
Indeed, were there not evidences of the truth of this statement, it would be
scarcely possible to view it in any other light than as a jest, so completely
have the implements of husbandry and agriculture, as well as the manufactures of
the country, been stationary for centuries.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The state of the useful arts is scarcely more advanced than
agriculture—probably little more so than it was a hundred years back:—and it is
hopeless to expect much improvement until European skill and science shall be
more extensively diffused over the country. There is, however, no absence of
natural genius, nor want of conception in the people; and if only they will not
allow their caste, (another name for idleness,) and their absurd religious
prejudices, to raise difficulties and bar out the instructions of English
science, an altered state of things may be anticipated. Until prohibitory rates
of duty were placed on Dacca muslins—until Manchester and Paisley fabrics, of
the same class, were admitted at lower rates of duty—what could compete with
the former manufactures and the shawls of Cashmere, exquisitely delicate, and
alike tasteful in fabrication and design? And what ingenuity could surpass the
chaste workmanship of Delhi, Benares, Cuttack, and Trichinopoly in the precious
metals?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"But for the future welfare of India," says a
writer, "there is hope." When the steam engine shall have traversed
the country from one end to the other, satisfactory results may be looked for.
New wants will be created: her myriads will look to our work-shops and
factories for the implements of toil and the adornments of luxury: capital,
which is necessary to promote production, will find an outlet: opportunities
will be afforded of employing it safely and profitably; and internal trade will
consequently be stimulated and enlarged. It is from the absence of capital,
properly directed, and from the want of those aids and appliances which are
absolutely essential to the success of every country, that the resources of India
remain to this day almost unknown. Until the commercial and agricultural
interests of the country are properly advanced: until a considerable
improvement take place in the products of the soil and in the implements of
labor—her manufactures have little chance of being placed on a par with those
of Europe.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And, foremost in the rank of those means that require to be
used for a thorough development of India's resources, railroads must, as
already stated, take a prominent stand. Before this mighty innovator, the
oppressive barriers of caste will be thrown down; races, hitherto unknown to
each other, will be approximated; and the internal commerce of the country, for
many years depressed, will be fully opened out. Under the vivifying influence
of British energy and capital, which a wider colonization will introduce; with
good roads, good tramways, good feeders, and a sufficiency of steam on the
rivers—trade and manufactures must make a step forward. If the waste lands, which
Lord Canning's statesmanlike Resolution made attainable on fee simple, be taken
up and properly cultivated, the enterprize and skill, which will be brought to
bear, will result in improvements such as European capital and energy can alone
effect; and conduce to the material and moral advantage of large classes of the
people. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">India has long suffered from the exclusiveness and monopoly
of the East India Company. The senseless restrictions placed by that
Corporation upon Europeans holding lands in the Mofussil, is one of the primary
causes why the country has been retarded in her agricultural and commercial
pursuits. Had there been a less restrictive policy, as well as less jealousy
shown by the covenanted servants of the Company towards those whom <i>they </i>term
<i>interlopers, </i>India would, at this time, have been in a position to
render England independent of the United States' cotton. The fear of being
dispossessed, and the dread of a too early enlightening of the natives, by
leading the Government to oppose all attempts to improve the country, have
obstructed the natural increase of capital, and, so far, tended to diminish the
sum total of the revenue.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Colonization and capital then are the great <i>desiderata </i>for
India. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By means of the former, the inland trade will be extended;
commerce will increase commerce; and, although the area of territory is so
vast, the progress of railways will influence both the money market and the
development of the resources. By new facilities, new wants and new desires will
be created; and neither climate, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>religion, nor long-established habits, will
refuse the benefits thereof.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By means of the latter—both the cause and result of
industry—improvements will be made: better machinery will be introduced, and
appliances, which involve considerable outlay, will be brought to bear. Without
money, commercial operations must, naturally, be stinted and embarrassed. It is
too much, however, to expect that any individual who shall embark his capital,
whether it be money, machines, instruments of trade or other materials, can,
however extensive his means, carry on his plans, on any large scale, without
pecuniary assistance. And here it is that the utility of Banks will be
apparent, in rendering active and productive that capital which it is their
province to accummulate and distribute. Dr. Smith says, "The judicious
operation of Banking enables the dealer to convert his dead stock into active
and productive stock; into materials to work upon; into tools to work with, and
into provisions and subsistence to work for; into stock which produces
something both to himself and to his country."* </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By "providing a sort of wagon way through the air, it
enables the country to convert, as it were, a great part of its highways into
good pastures and corn-fields, and thereby to increase, very considerably ,the
annual produce of its land and labor." But it will do even more in this
country. Banking will step in and relieve the borrower from the crushing effect
of usurious dealings with the native money-lenders—a class of people the most
grasping, relentless, and unprincipled to be found in any country. It will
counteract the mischievous consequences, and the pernicious habit— so congenial
to the natives—of burying money, or convertit into jewels for women and
children—the fruitful cause of so many murders: it will bring forth and vivify
millions of capital that lie dormant in the earth, or in secret hiding-places, while, by increasing <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">the <span class="gtxtbody1"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">advantages of accumulation, and
making saving available, as well for immediate profit as for a future resource,
it will add new strength to the spirit of industry and to the principle of
cumulation</span>.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-53526790975811180792013-12-17T21:23:00.000+05:302013-12-17T21:27:38.242+05:30The sink of the precious metals<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="gtxtbody" style="background: white; margin: 1em 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">We know that Indians
love hoarding gold. The relentless demand for this metal has meant that huge
quantity has had to be continually imported. This year, when a serious current account
deficit resulted, he Govt had to bring in restrictions and impose higher import
duty to curb the inflow. According to many analysts, this move did not provide
desired results as the demand was met through illicit channels and smuggling. </span></div>
<div class="gtxtbody" style="background: white; margin: 1em 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">This tendency to hoard
metal has been ingrained in the Indian psyche for hundreds of years. The book, “<b>The
rise, progress, and present condition of banking in India” </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">by </span>Charles Northcote Cooke, published
exactly 150 years back, in 1863, makes the following observation on Page 71 <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?dq=India+1863&jtp=71&id=9J0gAQAAMAAJ#v=onepage&q=India%201863&f=false">(link)</a> </span></div>
<div class="gtxtbody" style="background: white; margin: 1em 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><em>"The eagerness of the
natives for gold and silver ornaments will account, in a great measure, for
the great importation of silver, and its disappearance in <span class="gstxthlt">India,
</span>which PLINT<span style="font-variant: small-caps;"> </span>aptly terms
" the sink of the precious metals." The extent to which hoarding has
been,and, in the Upper Provinces, is still practised, is almost incredible.
Money-lenders generally keep their whole fortune, in coin, hidden about the
house, and merely produce it when needed. Rich natives hoard as well as poor.
Some years back, the King of Oude had half a million sterling secreted in coin.
At Benares, a Rajah had a quarter of a million. Runjeet Singh, in the Punjab,
one million. The late King of Ava a million and a half. When Scindia's fort was
taken, there was found at least a quarter of a million. At the siege of
Bhurtpore, one million is said to have been found by the British troops. At the
taking of Seringapatam one million was found: and, it is positively asserted,
that when the Emperor Shah Jehan<span style="font-variant: small-caps;"> </span>died,
he left no less a sum, in coin, than 24 millions sterling, all wrung from his
impoverished subjects. </em></span></div>
<div class="gtxtbody" style="background: white; margin: 1em 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 12pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><em>In the early part of
1856, Colonel Sykes, the Chairman of the East <span class="gstxthlt">India </span>Company,
published an interesting paper on the External Commerce of British <span class="gstxthlt">India, </span>in which occurs the following passage:—"
The excess of exports (from <span class="gstxthlt">India) </span>over imports is
constant, owing to the gradual improvement in the producing powers of the
country, and the small wants and hoarding habits of the natives in their present
low state of civilization.Within the present century, <span class="gstxthlt">India
</span>has received above 100,000,000 pound Sterling, which has never
left the country. The silver received has been chiefly in coin, yet it has not
in any appreciable manner affected prices." There is little doubt but that just
before the mutiny of 1857-58, the expectation, throughout the country, of some
great and terrific event, led to a more than ordinary absorption and secretion
of the precious metals, which were converted into bracelets, anklets, earrings,
necklaces,and waist-bands, as the safest mode in which treasure could be
preserved. At the late sale of Kirwee prize property by Messrs. Hamilton
and Co., there were to be found massive silver trappings of an elephant with
chains sufficiently thick and large to serve as the ground tackling of a vessel
of twenty-five tons."</em></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
</div>
Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-30488403684622932512013-10-12T12:42:00.000+05:302013-10-12T12:42:54.181+05:30The solemn ritual<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Delhi airport. Boarding
will be announced,for my flight, in ten
minutes. I am at a showroom, a 10-minute walk away from my boarding gate. I
like one of the shirts there but I don’t have time to try it on. “Don’t worry,
sir”, says the helpful, smiling salesman. “Any problem, you can exchange it
easily in any of our showrooms in India. No questions asked”. Reassured, I pay
for the shirt and rush to the gate. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Delhi airport again after two weeks. Back at the same showroom.
I
want to return the shirt and take one of a larger size. Bespectacled salesman turns stern. “What’s the
problem with the shirt?” he asks. “No problem, but I want to return it and take
another one”, I reply. “But there must be a reason”, he says. “There’s no reason. I just feel like
exchanging”, I tell him. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Nodding his head disapprovingly, he pulls out a thick book.
Turns the pages one by one. Inserts
carbon paper between the pages. (I can’t
recall when I’ve seen carbon paper last). Places the book in front of me and says, “Please
write full name, address, contact number, reason for return of material”. “And why should I do it?” I ask. “Because we have to follow this procedure
whenever a customer wants to return some material” he explains. “That may be
your procedure. Why should I follow it? I can’t believe that you have such red-tapism?”
I tick him off. “The procedure is same
in all our showrooms in the country”, he tells me, adjusting his spectacles to
look sterner. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I give up. I fill up the form with imaginary name, address
and phone number. Against reason for return I write, “Because I want to”. Seeing a lot of blue ink on the page, salesman
is satisfied. Grudgingly allows me to
pick up another shirt. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
As a salesman myself, I can understand the intent behind the whole drama. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
When a sale is about to be made, the indecisive or cat-on-the-wall customer
needs assurance that, if he later realises that he’s made a mistake in
selection, he will be able to exchange the item for another one, without too
much of a hassle. A good salesman
provides him this comfort and closes the deal.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
However, when you come back to exchange the item, the shop doesn’t
like it at all. But it can’t turn you away.
Nor does it want you to go away with an impression that it’s a simple
exercise. Yes, they are doing you a big favour and should collect some brownie
points from you. So, <b>t</b>hey introduce
an elaborate procedure. Ask you to fill up forms in triplicate, with carbon
paper between the pages. With a stern-looking salesman watching you perform the
solemn ritual. </div>
</div>
Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-38895967235227290152013-08-20T18:04:00.000+05:302013-08-27T10:14:13.561+05:30The final solution to the problem of bawling kids on planes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Warning: This post may offend the sensibilities of mothers of children below 10
years of age. So, proceed cautiously. </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am writing this post during a sleepless night on a flight,
the cause of said sleeplessness being a couple of bawling and badly-behaved
kids. Wide awake now, I feel that we
must put our heads together to come up
with a final solution to deal with the menace. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some of the possibilities that run through my mind,
especially when one of the kids is kicking the backside of my seat are: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -18pt;">1) Airlines could run special planes for kids and
their mothers and disallow them from travelling on regular flights. In case
this is not found economically viable, special sound-proof enclosures may be
provided on each flight and kids can be accommodated there along with their
parents.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> 2) Small sealed packs containing chloroform should
be distributed to parents as they board the flight. When the captain announces, “All mobile
phones must now be switched off as they interfere with functioning of
navigation instruments. All children
must now be anesthetised and put to sleep as they interfere with the sleep of
other passengers”, the parents must obey unquestioningly. They will cooperate
once they realise they’ll also get a good night’s sleep.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -18pt;"> 3)</span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -18pt;"> Can someone develop acoustic filters which will
selectively suppress the noise of kids? They can continue to bawl and scream,
but the sound will get muted. Of course, this solution will not be effective on
kids who kick the backside of your seat- in which case, we need to fall back on the chloroform method described above. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">4) How about special containers- like they use for
pets- to put the kids into and load them into the cargo section?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">5) If none of above works, then the child – with or
without the parent- must be parachuted out of the plane. </span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -14.7pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Dark thoughts,
I agree. But I need my sleep. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Update 27/08/13 : Looks like an airline has been reading my blog. <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2402242/Would-YOU-pay-sit-screaming-baby-flight-Budget-airline-offers-upgrade-away-12s.html?ito=feeds-newsxml">(source)</a>. Though I don't see why we should be asked to pay more to stay away from wailing babies. Parents of wailing babies must be asked to pay the extra fare. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: medium none; overflow: hidden; text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">An airline is offering passengers the option
to upgrade to seats in a quiet zone - where children are banned. </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -14.7pt;">Scoot, the budget arm of Singapore Airlines,
offers customers the option to fly 'in peace and quiet', for the cost of £10
(S$18). </span></span></i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: -14.7pt;"><i> They promise that if they were to opt in for a
ScootinSilence cabin, they would enjoy 'exclusivity and privacy... as under 12s will be someplace else'. </i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The low-cost carrier, which flies to Sydney
and the Gold Coast rom Singapore, has banned pre-teens from the first seven
rows of its economy-class section, allowing passengers can upgrade to the 41-seat ScootinSilence area."</i></span></blockquote>
</div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-38070691833558461612013-08-15T19:40:00.000+05:302013-08-15T20:46:07.401+05:30The origin of female education in India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The <i>Calcutta Review, </i>in its edition of July, 1855, has this interesting story on the origin of ‘native female education in India”. ( <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?pg=PA164&id=OrlJAAAAIAAJ#v=onepage&q&f=false">source. page 164) </a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"It was somewhere about 1818 or 1819, that a
Society, called, we believe, the Union School Society, was formed in Calcutta,
for educational purposes. Shortly after its formation, its members, encouraged
by the success that had attended their operations amongst the boys, determined
to make an attempt in the direction of female education. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">At the invitation of
this Society Miss Cooke came to Calcutta, having been selected for this most
difficult service, if we have been rightly informed, and our memory serve us
aright, by the celebrated Richard Cecil, whose admirable sagacity was never
more distinctly manifested than in this selection. Miss Cooke arrived in
Calcutta in May. 1821.. We have stated that she came on the invitation of a
certain educational society ; but on her arrival, it appeared that the native
members of the Committee of that Society, although they had spoken well -while
yet the matter was at a distance and in the region of theory, recoiled from the
obloquy of so rude an assault on time-honored custom. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">"The babus had been brought up to the
talking-point, but not to the acting-point. An arrangement was however entered
into with the Church Mission Society, and Miss Cooke began her operations under
their auspices. An account of the commencement of these operations is given by
Mrs. Chapman, in her little work on Female Education ; and we are sure that we
shall gratify our readers by extracting it at length: </span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">'Whilst engaged in studying the Bengali language, and scarcely
daring to hope that an immediate opening for entering upon the work, to which
she had devoted herself, would be found, Miss Cooke paid a visit to one of the
native schools for boys, in order to observe their pronunciation ; and this
circumstance, trifling as it may appear, led to the opening of her first school
in Thunthuniya. </span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Unaccustomed to see a European lady in that part of the native
town a crowd collected round the door of the school. Amongst them was an
interesting looking girl, whom the school pundit drove away. Miss Cooke desired
the child to be called, and by an interpreter asked her if she wished to learn
to read. She was told in reply, that this child had for three months past been
daily begging to learn to read with the boys, and that if Miss Cooke ( who had
made known her purpose of devoting herself to the instruction of native girls)
would attend next day, twenty girls should be collected. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Accompanied by a female friend, conversant with the
language, she repeated her visit on the morrow and found fifteen girls, several
of whom had their mothers with them. Their natural inquisitiveness prompted
them to enquire what could be Miss Cooke's motive for coming amongst them. They
were told that she had heard in England, that the women of their country were
kept in total ignorance, that they were not taught to read or write, that the
men only were allowed to attain any degree of knowledge, and it was also
generally understood that the chief obstacle to their improvement was that no
females would undertake to teach them ; she had therefore felt compassion for
them, and had left her country, her parents and friends, to help them. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The mothers with one voice cried out, smiting
themselves with their right hands, "Oh what a pearl of a woman is
this!" It was added, she has given up every earthly expectation, to come
here, and seeks not the riches of the world, but desires only to promote your
best interests.''Our children are yours, we give them to you.' 'What will be
the use of learning to our girls, and what good will it do to them?' </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">She was told 'It will make them more useful in
their families, and increase their knowledge, and it was hoped that it would
also tend to give them respect, and produce harmony in their families''True
(said one of them) our husbands now look upon us as little better than brutes.'
Another asked, 'What benefit will you derive from this work !' She was told
that the only return wished for, was to promote their best interest and
happiness. Then said the woman, 'I suppose this is a holy work, and
well-pleasing to God.'</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span></blockquote>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As they were not able to understand much, it was only
said in return that God was always well-pleased that his servants should do
good to their fellow-creatures. The women then spoke to each other, in terms of
the highest approbation, of what had passed." </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">"In the course of the first year eight schools
were established, attended, more or less regularly, by 214 girls. </span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">"Two or three years after Miss Cooke's arrival in
India, she became the wife of the Rev. Isaac Wilson, a Missionary of the Church
Mission Society ; but she did not relax in her afforts in behalf of the good
cause . Mrs. Wilson's efforts were, now directed to the obtaining of the means
of erecting a suitable building for a Central School. In order to do this, it
was found necessary to establish a special Society for Native Female Education.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span></blockquote>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This Society was established in the beginning of 1824. Funds were raised, and
on the 18th of May, 1826, the foundation stone of the Central School, in Cornwallis
Square, was laid. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In connection with this building, we must not omit to notice
the extraordinary munificence of a native gentleman, the Rajah Buddinath Roy,
who subscribed the very large sum of 20,000 Sicca Rupees, or upwards of £2,000
sterling, towards the erection. We believe this donation for a great patriotic
object, is to this day unrivalled in the annals of native liberality ; and it
is properly commemorated by the following inscription on a marble tablet,
inserted into the wall of the principal hall in the institution: </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">“This
Central School, Founded by a Society of Ladies, For the Education of Native
Female Children,</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">was
greatly assisted by A liberal donation of Rs. 20,000, from RAJAH BUDDINATH ROY
BAHADUR ;</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">and
its objects further promoted and funds saved by Charles Knowles Robinson, Esq.,</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">Who
planned and executed this building, 1828.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">
</span></blockquote>
</div>
Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-20793133387420846172013-07-25T21:35:00.001+05:302013-07-26T10:45:46.233+05:30Rediscovering the 19th century<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<sub><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ve done more than 90
posts with the tag “BritIndia”, with links to passages from books that were published
in the 19th century. The material came from free e-books accessed through
Google Books. The books helped me gain a new perspective on British rule in
India. I realised that our history books have given us such a one-sided
narrative of events that unfolded in that period. It was true that the British
ruthlessly crushed any rebellion and did not hesitate to exercise their authority
in every manner. But, equally, there were British officers, engineers,
generals, administrators who made genuine attempts to improve the quality of
life here. <o:p></o:p></span></sub></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<sub><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></sub></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<sub><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is often said of the
British that they introduced Railways not with the comfort of the natives in
mind but to move goods from hinterland to the coast and then on to England by
ship. I did not find any evidence of this intention to use Railways to plunder
the country. Every piece of communication conveys a desire to build a
transportation system that was reliable, safe and profitable. <o:p></o:p></span></sub></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<sub><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></sub></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<sub><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Similarly, we’ve been told
that the British brought in their system of education into the country with the
sole purpose of indoctrinating the natives and bringing them in line with their
methods. This is an unfair accusation. There’s enough material in Google Books
to show that their intentions were honourable and stemmed from a genuine belief
that ignorance and superstition had to be stamped out so as to liberate the
natives from the poverty and squalor that marked their lives.<o:p></o:p></span></sub></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<sub><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></sub></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<sub><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thus, I’ve spent many
hours with Google Books and learnt quite a bit in the process. I’ve enjoyed my
role as an armchair historian.<o:p></o:p></span></sub></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<sub><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></sub></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<sub><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A writer, Paula Findlen,
seems to have had the same experience. In a recent article, <a href="http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2013/07/22/how-google-rediscovered-the-19th-century">she
notes:</a><o:p></o:p></span></sub></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<sub><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></sub></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16.0pt; margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 91.3pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><sub><span style="color: #3a3a3a; font-size: large;">Thanks to
Google, 21st-century scholars are becoming far more accustomed to reading
19th-century books, simply because, being out of copyright, they are online. </span></sub><sub><span style="color: #3a3a3a;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
digitization of the long 19th century (materials published between the late
18th and early 20th centuries) has made accessible and searchable scholarly
work that has been neglected because it was considered too dated and too
unreliable. It was the last thing many of us looked for in the library. </span><o:p></o:p></span></sub></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<sub><span style="color: #3a3a3a;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></sub></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16.0pt; margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 91.3pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<sub><span style="color: #3a3a3a;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This
rediscovery of the 19th century as an open-source reading experience is
accompanied by a subtle appreciation of the era’s intellectual merits. Consider
the quantity of material—obscure novels, local histories, antique catalogs,
minor journals, a sea of biographies, and those vast and terrifyingly erudite
bibliographies that were a specialty of that age of scholarship. Work that
fails to enter a canon—literary, historical, or otherwise—tends to languish on
the dustier shelves of college libraries. Digitization allows a new generation
of scholars to look at them with fresh regard. This represents a significant
change in the way we think about scholarship. </span></span></sub></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<sub><span style="color: #3a3a3a;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></sub></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 16.0pt; margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 91.3pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<sub><span style="color: #3a3a3a;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Google Books is a kind of
Victorian portal that takes me into a mare magnum of out-of-print authors, many
of whom helped launch disciplines. Or who wrote essays, novels, and histories
that did not transcend their time. Or who anonymously produced the paperwork of
emerging bureaucracies, organizations, and businesses that, because printed,
has been scanned and, because scanned, is now available. <o:p></o:p></span></span></sub></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<sub><span style="color: #3a3a3a;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></sub></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 91.3pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<sub><span style="color: #3a3a3a;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am
not a scholar of the 19th century but have found its digitization to be one of
the most fascinating new resource for understanding the centuries that precede
it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></sub></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21.3pt; margin-right: 91.35pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-57128413021218957432013-07-25T11:34:00.001+05:302013-07-26T10:35:30.108+05:30No wang-wang<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">While at Manila airport
yesterday, I noticed a sign near the Immigration Counter that said, “Airport is
a no wang-wang zone. Please fall in line to avoid embarrassment. CCTV-monitored
area”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I wondered what wang-wang
meant. Was it a Filipino slang for littering?
Or smoking? Or a codeword for ‘kissing’?
I was curious enough to check this out
on the net later. <a href="http://globalnation.inquirer.net/39409/airport-terminals-declared-a-no-wang-wang-zone/feed">This
is what I found in a newspaper report of July 2012.:</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wang-wang
mentality” and “wang-wang culture” were catch phrases often used by President
Aquino in his speeches that reaffirm his commitment to root out abuse of power.
Initially, he used the term to attack the powerful who made their way through
the streets of the metropolis with sirens blaring. In another speech, he
deplored the use of the wang-wang as a symbol of a mind-set of privilege.<span style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“The
posters intend to convey a simple message. And that is to fall in line and
follow routine and standard security practices at the airport,” MIAA General
Manager Jose Angel Honrado said.<span style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“This
should serve as a warning to passengers not to cut [the] lines and follow
airport procedures,” he added.<span style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Honrado
said the message capitalized on the popular street lingo for blaring sirens</span></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, the phrase “fall in line” in the sign is not a metaphor; it is literal. Thanks
to these signs and strict monitoring, nobody is exempt from standing in the
line –except for five top officials of the Govt and foreign ambassadors.. ‘The
stricter airport measures were also meant to get rid of these enterprising
airport personnel, including some police officers, security guards and even
porters who offer illegal VIP escort services for a fee’.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I
don’t know when or if India will have a “no wang-wang policy’ in our airports
or elsewhere. Every politician is a VIP and insists on being treated so. In the
rare instance of a celebrity choosing to fall in line like a normal citizen, we
– the non-VIPs- don’t let him/her forget that he/she is a VIP. We fawn over
them and act in an obsequious manner.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So,
wang-wang it will continue to be for us. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"></span><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US">
</span></div>
Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com54tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-55604750624385706912013-07-20T20:22:00.001+05:302013-07-26T10:37:37.899+05:30The noise of the fan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span xmlns=""></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have a serious issue with table fans. If one of them is switched on within my earshot, I soon fall asleep. Some kind of hypnotic effect it has on me. So, it's best avoided when I need to stay awake and do some work. Of course, when I do need some sleep, it can provide the soporific support. </span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Many people seem to have the same experience, and <a href="http://itotd.com/articles/339/white-noise/r2?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+InterestingThingOfTheDay+%28Interesting+Thing+of+the+Day%29">this interesting article</a> explains why the fan has such an effect. </span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you think back to elementary-school science classes, you probably learned that white light is a combination of all the other colors of light; using a prism, we can separate it into its component colors. By analogy, "white" noise is composed of sounds of every frequency within the range of human hearing—roughly 20 to 20,000Hz (cycles per second)—with each part of the frequency spectrum equal in amplitude (volume). It's called "noise" instead of "sound" because it is random in nature. Rather than simply generating a fixed tone at 20Hz, 21Hz, 22Hz, and so on all the way up to 20,000Hz, a white noise generator creates a constantly changing mixture of tones such that all frequencies have an equal <em>probability</em> of being audible at any given moment. </span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span xmlns=""><span style="color: black;">To human ears, white noise sounds like a hiss—sounds such as a waterfall, an aerosol can, and static are all very similar to white noise. Although all frequencies are represented, we perceive white noise as being relatively high-pitched—partly because higher octaves consist of a greater range of frequencies than lower ones (giving the higher-frequency sounds proportionally more energy), and partly because our ears are more sensitive to higher-pitched sounds. </span></span> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span xmlns=""><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">White noise is good at masking most other kinds of sound because it effectively overloads or "numbs" our auditory systems. Just as it's difficult to hold a conversation at a crowded restaurant, it's difficult for your brain to identify any one sound or voice when you're already hearing sound at every frequency. So it's not the white noise itself that promotes sleep as much as the fact that it reduces audio clutter, drowning out other sounds that may distract you and therefore keep you awake. </span></span></blockquote>
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Against this formidable effect produced by Physics and acoustics, I simply don't have a chance. I can't avoid falling asleep when the fan is switched on. </span></span><br />
</div>
Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-37253217334851142872013-07-20T20:00:00.001+05:302013-07-26T10:39:03.304+05:30Chinese products<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span xmlns=""></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A Chinese museum had to be closed down recently, as many of the 40000 exhibits were found to be fake. (<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10182088/Chinese-museum-found-with-40000-fake-exhibits-forced-to-close.html">source)</a>.</span></span><br />
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">According to the news story:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The museum's public humiliation began earlier this month when Ma Boyong, a Chinese writer, noticed a series of inexplicable discrepancies during a visit and posted his findings online. <span style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span xmlns=""><div style="text-align: justify;">
Among the most striking errors were artifacts engraved with writing purportedly showing that they dated back more than 4,000 years to the times of China's Yellow Emperor. However, according to a report in the Shanghai Daily the writing appeared in simplified Chinese characters, which only came into widespread use in the 20th century.</div>
</span><span xmlns=""><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The collection also contained a "Tang Dynasty" five-colour porcelain vase despite the fact that this technique was only invented hundreds of years later, during the Ming Dynasty.</div>
</span></span></blockquote>
<div style="margin-left: 70pt; text-align: justify;">
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Apparently, China is in the midst of a museum boom and there is a demand for artifacts. This naturally created incentives for fake objects with no or dubious antique value to be brought in for display. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Perhaps the Chinese have been churning out such fake stuff or imitations for centuries. So, if a fake object that was produced in 1200 AD were to be found today, won't it qualify as a genuine fake, with its own antique value?</span></span></div>
</div>
Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-72694462746535516562013-07-20T19:43:00.001+05:302013-07-26T10:40:07.538+05:30It’s only bad news.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span xmlns=""></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;" xmlns="">Why do newspapers and TV channels focus so much on bad news? And why do we put up with it?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;" xmlns=""><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;" xmlns="">Doesn't it get tiring to have to listen to stories of rape, murders, terror, food poisoning, accidents, illnesses, and other bad news all the time? Why don't we resist this relentless bombardment of bad news?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;" xmlns=""><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;" xmlns="">Apparently, we can't. The 'negativity bias' is hardwired in our brain.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span xmlns=""></span><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As we were evolving as human beings, our sensory systems were tuned to pick up only the 'danger signals' from all the audio-visual data around us and to forward the filtered information to the amyglada in the temporal lobe of our brains. This was a vital part of our survival instinct. As <a href="http://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/why-we-love-bad-news-understanding-negativity-bias">this article</a> explains:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The amygdala is our danger detector. It's our early warning system. It literally combs through all of the sensory input looking for any kind of a danger on putting in on high alert and it evolved during an era of human evolution that was of the immediate type, the tiger in the bush. You would hear a rustle in the leaves and you would think tiger, not wind and the point—one percent of the time that it was a tiger it saved your life, but today the amygdala literally calls our attention to all the negative stories and if you see a thousand stories you're going to focus on the negative ones and the media takes advantage of this and you know the old saw if it bleeds it leads. </span></span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Well that's why 90% of the news in the newspaper and on television is negative because that's what we pay attention to. </span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, even if there's some good news, for example, that the country's economy is picking up well this year, there will be a cautionary caveat that will accompany that statement to convey a serious flip side – that this is unlikely to be sustained due to poor rainfall in some parts of the country. Your brain is alert to negative signals and it is the bounden duty of the media to oblige you and, in the process, earn some money for themselves. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span xmlns=""><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's hopeless. Don't expect any good news. ( There, I've fed something for your amygdala to chew on)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span xmlns=""></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<span xmlns="">
</span></div>
Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-4250009859492826032013-07-16T16:07:00.000+05:302013-07-26T10:41:30.804+05:30Japan this week.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I came across four different news stories related to Japan. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/07/in-rapidly-aging-japan-adult-diaper-sales-are-about-to-surpass-baby-diapers/277706/">first </a>reported that sales of adult diapers in Japan
would soon exceed that of baby diapers. The changing demographics and increase
in percentage of geriatric citizens ( quite a few of them suffering from
incontinence) leads to more business for adult diapers. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/07/07/elderly-shoplifters-outstrip-teenagers-in-tokyo/">second </a>said that the number of elderly people (over 65
years) arrested for shoplifting in Tokyo exceeds the number of teenaged
shoplifters. This could be a reflection again of the changing demographic
profile or could be because the moral standards of the younger generation are
better than that of the older generation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The<a href="http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health-fitness/japanese-look-to-change-their-fate-by-palm-plastic-surgery/story-fneuz9ev-1226679888787"> third </a>story is on the increasing popularity of palm
surgery, to get palm lines redrawn as prescribed by the ‘science’ of palmistry,
and thereby get one’s destiny or fate reshaped the way one wants it. I found
this brilliant. Even Indians have not thought of this. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally, there’s<a href="http://news.discovery.com/human/health/snail-face-beauty-treatment-japan-130714.htm"> this article</a> on a unique beauty treatment
offered by salons in Japan. Live snails
are made to crawl on one’s face. It is claimed that the slime removes old cells
and rejuvenates the skin.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why did I read all these stories in a span of two days? Is
there an overarching theme that I am
missing out? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Update 17/07/13 : I missed a <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/10124306/Japanese-craze-for-eyeball-licking-leads-to-rise-in-infections.html">fifth </a>one. This story is about the </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">craze </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">for "eyeball licking" among Japanese schoolchildren that is </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">reportedly
causing a surge in eye-related infections</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-11601452926587896272013-07-11T21:13:00.004+05:302013-07-11T21:13:50.751+05:30"How the telegraph system was introduced in India"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The humble telegram will be laid to rest on July 15th this year, ending a saga that began in 1839. </span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=1GwBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false">“The story of the telegraph in India” </a>by Charles C. Adley, published in the year 1866, provides in the first chapter a narration of the sequence of events that led to the commissioning of the telegraph system in India. It highlights the splendid efforts and marshalling of resources by the British officers in India to achieve the planned link-up in very short time. </span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The
history of the Telegraph in India is briefly recorded. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In May,
1839, Dr. William Brooke O'Shaughnessy erected an experimental line of wire,
twenty-one miles in length, in the vicinity of Calcutta. The wire was suspended
upon bamboo poles, and on the completion of the experiments, which were
eminently successful, it was taken down and the results published. At the same
time, the importance of the introduction of the telegraph into India was
strongly urged. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">On the
26th of September, 1849, the Court of Directors of the late Honourable the East
India Company referred to the foregoing experiments, and directed the attention
of the Government of India to the advisability and importance of establishing a
system of telegraphs throughout that empire. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">About
the same time, others were occupying their minds with the subject, and,
preparatory to propounding a definite scheme, two long pieces of gutta-percha
covered copper wire were despatched experimentally to India. One of these was
vulcanised, the other not. The object was to ascertain if wire, so protected,
would withstand the ravages of the white ants, the great enemies to underground
operations in that country, for at that period, the merit of the overground or
underground system was a debated and unsettled question in Europe.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The
experiment was perfectly successful, and in September, 1850, an elaborate
communication was addressed to the Chairman of the Court of Directors of the
late Honourable the East India Company, wherein proposals were submitted for
the establishment of a comprehensive system of political and mercantile lines
throughout India, and some pains were taken to show the advantages that would
accrue to the Government and the public therefrom. The report also comprised
the details of a scheme for establishing telegraphic intercourse between
England and India <i>vid </i>the Persian Gulf. In reply, it was stated that the
subject was then under the consideration of the Government. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The
accompanying map, which is an exact copy of the general plan drawn out more
than fifteen years ago, will exhibit a sketch view of these projects, and it is
remarkable how closely the plans then devised assimilate with what have been
subsequently carried out at the present time.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Two
months later, reports were submitted to the Government in India by the late
Colonel Forbes and Dr- O'Shaughnessy upon the subject, and, after some
discussion upon the overground and underground systems, it was decided that an
experimental line should be constructed of thirty miles in length, partly
overground and partly subterranean. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This line was commenced in October, 1851,
and opened in December following. It was then extended underground to Kedjeree
eighty-two miles; and in March, 1852, the line from Calcutta to the sea was
opened for official and public correspondence. Of this line, sixty-nine miles
were overground and eleven subterranean, and the mean average cost was 59l 8s. 1d.
per mile. The wire used consisted of pieces of iron rod 3/8 in. diameter, 13
ft. 6 in. long, welded together, and weighing 17-1/2 cwt. to the mile. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In the
overground portion the rod was placed in a notch cut in the top of bamboo poles
15 ft. high, and placed 200 ft. apart, being strengthened at every furlong by
stout sal or iron wood posts, to which the rod was clamped. The underground
portion was coated with layers of Madras cloth saturated with melted pitch
mixed with tar and then placed in a trench 2 ft. deep, "laid in a row of
roofing tiles half filled with a melted mixture of three parts dry sand and one
part resin by weight, and when laid the whole was then filled up with the same
melted mixture." The trench was then filled in and rammed down in the
usual way. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">At the river crossings, which were about a mile wide, various plans
were tried, viz., 1. A copper wire insulated with wax and tape. 2. An iron wire
rope. 3. A gutta-percha covered copper wire undefended. 4. Gutta-percha covered
wire similar to that first laid between Dover and Cape Grisnez; and 5. A
guttapercha covered copper wire secured in the angles of a chain cable. The
first four plans were soon destroyed by the grapnels of native vessels, while
the last proved successful. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The
working of this experimental line was highly satisfactory, and the returns
during the first three months of opening were equivalent to a dividend of five
per cent, on the outlay, after deducting the working expenses. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">These
results having been duly reported on the 14th of April, 1852, Lord Dalhousie,
then Governor-General of India, adopted measures for constructing an extensive
series of lines between Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, and Peshawar, and on the 3rd
of May, Dr. O'Shaughnessy was despatched to England on the subject. Before his
arrival in London, on the 20th of June, the proposition of the Governor-General
had been acceded to by the Court of Directors and Board of Control, and on the
1st of August, the contracts were entered into for the supply of 5600 miles of
wire (No. 1, B. W. G.) and other materials in proportion.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">These
materials were manufactured and despatched to India with the utmost alacrity,
and on the 24th of March, 1854, a temporary flying line of telegraph was opened
between Calcutta and Agra, 796 miles, and the connexion between Calcutta,
Madras, and Bombay was completed by a similar temporary line by the 1st of
January, 1855. On the 1st of February following, or within two years and a half
of the commencement of the undertaking, these lines, amounting to 3544 miles,
were opened to the public. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The construction
of these lines was effected in two stages. 1. The erection of a temporary
flying line. 2. The strengthening and insulating the flying line. The first of
these operations was to be carried out with the utmost speed, the second at
leisure. There was also a third stage proposed in the manual of instructions,
which was to have consisted of a permanent double line, but it was never
carried out, owing, it was stated, to "insuperable practical
objections." </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The main
object to be accomplished in constructing the temporary flying line was to get
up a line in any manner whatsoever with the greatest possible rapidity. This
was effected by using bamboos, or any form of cheap temporary wooden support
available in the district. These poles with a groove cut in the top for the
wire to rest in, were erected along the Grand Trunk Road, 50 ft. apart and 3
ft. in the ground. They were put up with remarkable celerity, an order having
been previously issued, while the material was being prepared in England, to
every magistrate to have the poles set up in the manner described by a fixed
date, along such part of the Trunk Road as passed through his jurisdiction. By
this means, an enormous existing establishment of Road inspectors,
sub-conductors, police, and coolies were brought into immediate action, and on
commencing to run out the wire in November, 1853, the poles were erected
throughout the country. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> To further expedite matters, all the powerful resources
of the Government were brought into play. The bullock train establishments,
inland river steamers, commissariat, and public works departments throughout
the country, were more or less placed at the disposal of the telegraph, and the
result was as already narrated.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The lines were completed with such wonderful
celerity that even Europe re-echoed with astonishment. The most noble the
Governor-General of India was elated; ambition was appeased; another of the
many brilliant visions of a glorious rule was realised; another achievement was
added to the long roll of beneficent conquests which history would twine with
lustre round his name; honours and rewards were liberally showered around, and
the Telegraph was inaugurated amid the joyous congratulations of rulers and the
triumphant paeans of an empire. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-66432062890530226682013-07-06T21:58:00.000+05:302013-07-06T21:58:01.389+05:30Rubber chappals<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">My primary school (yes, the one I went to decades back) required me to wear shoes, but the higher secondary school that I joined later had no such requirement. The school uniform consisted of white pyjamas and kurtha and I could complement these with a pair of rubber chappals. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">A pair of these chappals bought at Bata would cost Rs 8 , and if this ate too deep into the family budget, a pair could be bought from a platform vendor for less than Rs 5 a pair. The low price wasn’t the only reason. We simply did not feel the need for any other type of footwear. True, they could be a nuisance in rainy weather and splash muddy water on to one’s own clothes or on those of the person walking behind you, but these were minor inconveniences accepted without too much thought. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Entire batches of students have graduated from such venerable institutions such as IIT with a record of using no other type of footwear. In fact, rubber chappals came to be associated with intellectuals. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">While I used to know them only as rubber chappals, it looks like they are referred to as flip flops (probably American). </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Recently, I came across </span><a href="http://mobile.slate.com/articles/life/a_fine_whine/2013/07/against_flip_flops_put_a_shoe_on_you_slob.html"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">this piece</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> in Slate magazine, which criticises the flip-flop and finds several faults with it. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The crux of the flip-flop problem, for me, lies in the decoupling of footwear from foot with each step—and the attendant decoupling of the wearer’s behavior from the social contract. Extended flip-flop use seems to transport people across some sort of etiquette Rubicon where the distinction between public and private, inside and outside, shod and barefoot, breaks down entirely. I’ve witnessed flip-flop wearers on the New York City subway slip their “shoes” off altogether and cross their feet on the train-car floor with a contented sigh, as though they were already home and kicking back in front of a DVR’d Cheers marathon. We would all look askance at a person who removed his socks and sneakers on the train before ostentatiously propping his naked dogs in plain sight. Why do people get a break just because they happen to be wearing footgear that takes them 90 percent of the way there?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">My final line of argument against flip-flops is a more nebulous one, having to do with their laziness and lack of character as footwear. Because of the ease with which they’re put on and removed—along, perhaps, with their generic ubiquity—flip-flops connote a sort of half-dressed slatternliness, a sense that the wearer has forgotten to do anything at all with his or her body from the ankles down.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Fellow must be one of those snooty types who needs to make a fashion statement with his footwear. Ignore him. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-66582812580410231112013-07-06T20:53:00.003+05:302013-07-06T20:53:37.899+05:30The Dak journey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">How did people travel long distances in India before the advent of the train? Native Indians seldom needed to move beyond the boundaries of their own village or the adjoining ones and would spend their entire lifetime within these confines. We have heard about Indian pilgrims travelling from distant parts of India to holy sites such as Varanasi or Haridwar. Such journeys must have been on foot and must have taken years. It was possible that no one who undertook such a journey every came back. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The British civil and military servants in the 18th and early 19th century needed to move long distances on land as part of the administrative work. How did they travel? They used the dak. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?pg=PA181&dq=india+dak+journey&id=hMRGAAAAcAAJ#v=onepage&q=india%20dak%20journey&f=false">The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China and Australasia</a>, published in 1833 carries, on page 181, this detailed and vivid description of the dak journey. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">In a dak journey, the traveller must apply to the postmaster of the place of his residence to furnish him with relays of bearers to a given point, a preliminary which is called "laying the dak" the time of starting is specified, and the different places at which it may be expedient to rest. Three or four days' notice is usually required to enable the dak-master to apprise the public functionaries of the different villages of the demand for bearers: the traveller must be provided with his own palanquin, and his own banghies (boxes), ropes, and bamboos. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Will it be necessary, in these enlightened times, to describe a palanquin? An oblong chest will convey the truest idea which can be given of this conveyance; the walls are of double canvas, painted and varnished on the outside, and lined within with chintz or silk; it is furnished on either side with sliding wooden doors, fitted into grooves, and when unclosed disappearing between the canvas walls; the roof projects about an inch all round, and is sometimes double, to keep off the heat of the sun. In front, there are two small windows furnished with blinds, and beneath them run a shelf and a shallow drawer. The bottom is made of split cane interwoven like that of a chair, and having a mattrass, a bolster, and pillow covered either with leather or phintz: some are also supplied with a moveable support for the back, in case the traveller should prefer sitting upright to reclining at full length. The poles jet out at each end near the top; they are slightly curved, and each is long enough to rest upon the shoulders of two men, who stand one on each side, shifting their shoulders as they run along. Could the palanquin be constructed to swing upon springs, no conveyance would be more easy and agreeable; but mechanical art has made little progress in India; no method has yet been struck out to prevent the vehicle from jolting. It is said that the pendulous motion, which would be the least unpleasant to the traveller, would distress the bearers; but when the makers shall be men of science, this difficulty will vanish.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The preparations for a dak journey are simple. The necessary baggage is packed into banghies, which are sometimes square tin boxes of a particular size, fitted for the mode of conveyance with conical tops; at others, round covered baskets sewed up in painted canvas. These are slung with ropes to each end of a bamboo, which is carried across a man's shoulder, two banghie-bearers being usually attached to the dak. A desk may be placed upon the shelf before-mentioned, and other small packages stowed in the palanquin, which should be supplied with biscuits, a tumbler, a bottle of wine or brandy, and a serai (a long-necked porous jar) of water wrapped in a wet cloth, which may be tied to one of the poles outside. Eight men attend to carry the palanquin, who relieve each other by turns, the four off duty running by the side of the vehicle. At night, two mussaulchees (torch-bearers) are added. These men are all Hindoos, and belong to one of the poorest, though not the lowest castes; they bring with them their cloths, loias (drinking-vessels), and provision for a meal, which they pack upon the top of the palanquin, and retaining a very scanty portion of drapery upon their persons, present an exceedingly grotesque appearance. When all is ready, they take up their burden and setoff at a round pace, going, when the road is good, at the rate of from three miles and a-half to four miles an hour.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The stages vary from ten to fourteen miles, and a change of bearers is often effected in the midst of a wide plain. The relay, which is generally in waiting for some time, kindle a fire, group themselves around it, and beguile the interval with smoking or sleeping. When drawing near to the appointed spot, the traveller is made aware of the circumstance by the shouts of his own people, who exclaim, in loud but musical accents, "dak wallah, dak wallah, tiar hi?" (dak men or fellows, are you ready ?). The welcome response is joyfully received, and in a few minutes more the palanquin is put down amid the cries of "Ram! Ram !"* an expression which, when thus used, conveys both salutation and thankfulness. The tired traveller will often echo the " Ram! Ram!" of his weary bearers, who, if they have received the customary buxies (present) of an eight anna piece, take leave with shouts of "salaam, Saib.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">" In preparing for a dak journey, care should be taken to secure a halt of eight or twelve hours, at stated distances, certainly not exceeding a hundred miles, while a lady will find it expedient to rest after she has traversed fifty or sixty. On the great road, from Calcutta to Cawnpore, there are govemment-bungaJows at the end of every stage, built purposely for the accommodation of travellers; but on other routes, they must depend upon the hospitality of individuals. It can always be previously ascertained when and where it may be advisable to rest, and notices to the persons whose houses lie in the road can be conveyed at the time that the bearers are summoned, though in no instance would a dak traveller be refused admittance, and it is only necessary to go up to the gate and ask for shelter. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">In the hot season, persons who brave the heat of the day, in a palanquin, venture at the risk of their lives: they should always take care to be housed by twelve o'clock. Not a few, who have unadvisedly set out upon a long journey without the necessary precaution of breaking it by remaining under some friendly roof during the sultry hours, have been found dead in their palanquins, and others have escaped with very severe fevers. In the cold weather, it is more agreeable to travel by day, the nights being very piercing. As the doors can only be partially open until after sunset, very little of the country is to be seen from a palanquin; however, the eye may still find amusement in contemplating the passing objects, and, particularly in Bengal, the gambols of the monkeys crashing amid the boughs of the trees above, and the fire-flies irradiating the leaves of whole groves, shooting in and out in coruscations of emerald light, afford gratification to those who are willing to be amused.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">A journey by dak is the only rapid method of travelling which has yet been devised in India, and the rate, compared with that in European countries, is slow indeed. It is also very expensive if the distance be long, the charge made by the postmaster being a shilling per mile. There is also a demand for a deposit, under the name of demurrage, which the traveller forfeits should he detain the bearers in places not specified in the route. The dak traveller experiences considerable inconvenience in being deprived of the attendance of his own servants, who must follow in a much more tedious manner. While actually upon the road, the want of domestics is not felt, the bearers being particularly attentive to the comforts of the traveller: even persons totally unacquainted with Hindoostanee may trust themselves to a long journey, secure that the different sets of natives, who may be employed to carry them, will endeavour, with the most earnest zeal, to comprehend and obey their commands. On one occasion, a lady, who did not know ten words of the language, obtained a very comfortable breakfast by pointing to a bottle of tea which she had with her in the palanquin, and making the bearers understand that she wished to have it heated. They kindled a fire, warmed the tea in an earthen pipkin purchased for the purpose, and catching a goat presented her with a tumbler-full of its milk.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">In most cases where complaints are made of the bearers, the fault, upon investigation, will be found to lie with the traveller. Raw young men, and sometimes even those who have not the excuse of youth and inexperience, are but too apt to amuse themselves by playing tricks with, or beating, their luckless bearers, who are not infrequently treated like beasts of burthen. They have it in their power to retaliate, and when provoked to excess, punish the offender, by putting the palanquin down, and making off to the jungles. A three or four hours' detention upon the road, perhaps under a burning sun, is the consequence, and it would require a very vivid imagination to conceive a more disagreeable situation, especially to a person wholly unacquainted with the country, and the means of procuring a new set of bearers to carry him on. The chance of falling in with a European is very small indeed, and few of the passers-by would consider it to be their duty to offer their assistance. Natives do not trouble themselves about the affairs of strangers, and they would consider it to be the will of heaven that a Saib should lie upon the road, and would not think of interfering unless especially called upon to do so. As there is only one particular caste who will carry burthens upon their shoulders, the palanquin would remain in a quiescent state for ever, before men who were not bearers by birth and profession would lift it from the ground: they would ejaculate upon being hailed, and pass on, confining their services to the report of the affair to the cuiwal or jemadar of a neighbouring village, who would send bearers if they could be procured, which is not always the case under several hours' notice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">It happened to the writer that, upon a dak journey, the bhangie ropes broke, and were useless. The bhangie-bearers could not be prevailed upon to carry the boxes on their heads, and at every stage a considerable delay took place in procuring coolies to convey a burthen rejected by persons belonging to a different class. Sirdar-bearers, chuprassies, etc. will carry a guttrie, or bundle, but will upon no account submit to the disgrace of a box. They sometimes insist upon taking out a crape or gauze dress, and wrapping it in a towel, to the utter destruction of its furbelows; and many are the lively discussions which occur between them and the ayah upon these occasions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">But to return to the discomforts of a dak journey. Policy as well as humanity should teach Europeans to treat the natives of India with kindness; they have frequently the power (though, to their credit be it spoken, they rarely avail themselves of it) of avenging their injuries, and the advantages of a good name can in no country be of higher value. The bhote tttcha Saib, or the bhote utcha Bebee, who have procured the commendations of the natives around them, will find their fame very widely extended. They are secure of meeting respect and attention wheresoever they may go, while those of a contrary character are equally certain of being shunned by all who are not actually compelled to render them unwilling service. The repose obtained in a palanquin is liable to many interruptions; at the end of each stage there is the clamour for busies, and when the vehicle gets into the hands of a set of bearers who are either ill-matched in size, or who do not step out well together, the jolting is tremendous.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The country during the rainy season is intersected by nullahs; every channel of the ravines is converted into a rapid river, and the greater number being unfordable, they must be crossed in boats. Ferries are established upon the principal thoroughfares, and there is usually a group of natives assembled on the bank. Time does not appear to be of the slightest value to the people of Hindoostan; they will wait for days together at an unfrequented ghaut for the chance of getting a free passage, in a boat engaged by some more wealthy traveller, rather than pay the few pice demanded for their transport. The instant the palanquin is safely lodged in the boat, the crowd upon the bank embark, and if the owner should be so rash as to ask for his fee, the intruders enquire with great indignation if he be not satisfied with the hurra buxies (great present) he has already received, declaring to a man that, after the Saib's extraordinary liberality, they will give him nothing: the boat belonged to the Saib, to whom their thanks are due. Apparently, this reasoning is conclusive; at least the boatman takes nothing by his motion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">It is only when night spreads its mysterious spell over the scene, that an Indian landscape, during the dry weather, can captivate the eye, however luxuriant the foliage may be, and that never appears to be scorched by the sun. However romantic the temples, when springing from an arid soil, more than half their charm is lost; but starlight or moonlight can invest it with a divine aspect: the barren sands become soft and silvery; and the parched desert, cool and refreshed, cheats the vision with a semblance of verdure. To a dak traveller, the changes produced by the approach of night are particularly striking: his eyes have been wearied for many hours with dust and glare, and he hails the first shadows cast by the setting sun with joy. So extraordinary is the illusion, that it would not be difficult to fancy that he was entering upon some new country; some enchanting paradise hitherto undiscovered, whence all unsightly things have been banished, or where they never found a place. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">In some of the jungley districts of India, a dak traveller may be surprized by the unwelcome appearanee of a tiger. In this event, the bearers, justly considering^ self-preservation to be the first law of nature, usually betake themselves to flight; leaving their employer to do battle in the best way he can with the monster of the wild: conduct which excites a higher degree of indignation than it merits, since they are certainly more exposed to a sudden spring than the person inside the palanquin, and are also less able to defend themselves. It is much easier to escape without their burthen, and it does appear rather hard that they should be expected to risk their lives in defence of a stranger, who has merely hired them to carry a palanquin. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">A dak journey of any very considerable length is seldom performed without the occurrence of some incident, either agreeable or the reverse; detention upon the road is the most common, the bearers, the traveller being to blame. Upon arriving at the end of a stage, if the relay should not be in readiness, there is no alternative but to await its arrival; the old bearers cannot be induced to proceed a step farther; they are fatigued, and it would take them too long a distance from their homes. While the unfortunate traveller, impatient and out of humour, is lamenting over his ill-luck, the people, who have just been released from their duty, are enjoying themselves with great relish. Excepting in the rains, they do not seek a shelter, a tree affords sufficient shade by day, and at night they require no other canopy than the sky. They kindle a fire upon the ground, and while some are cooking or smoking, the remainder fall asleep. The traveller might sleep also were he not tormented by the fear of losing his banghies, which are given up and placed under his care. As there are numbers of petty thieves upon the watch for any stray article which may come across them, he is compelled to keep a sharp look-out after his property, and if the palanquin should remain for some hours upon the ground, there is the danger of an invasion by a rat or a snake.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">When a village is the scene of the delay, some amusement may be obtained, especially at night, by a survey of the interiors of the huts. The window-shutters and doors are well-provided with chinks; both are frequently dispensed with, lattices of bamboo supplying their places, and as there is a lamp always burning in the poorest tenement, the whole economy of the apartments is distinctly visible. They are generally, though merely plastered with mud, extremely clean and neatly kept. The furniture is simple and scanty; a chest standing upon four or six feet and clamped with brass, to contain clothes and articles of any value; a charpoy, a mat, and a few brass vessels, frequently composing the whole. Others are of a superior description and have the walls decorated with small looking-glasses and pictures in gilt frames, either miserable designs, miserably executed, of native subjects, or gaudy scripture-prints, such as are still sometimes to be found iiv the cottages of England, and which have found their way to the most distant parts of Hindoostan. In some of these houses may be seen, at a late hour, a venerable old man, with a beard flowing down to his waist, handsomely attired in white muslin, seated upon the floor, and employed in writing with a reed pen upon vellum, by the light of a small chiraug, a moonshee, calculating, perchance, the expenses of the day, or engaged on some more abstruse subject.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">At some periods, when there are several persons proceeding up or down the country, at the same time, by dak, two palanquins meet or pass each other on the road. Upon such occasions, it would be supposed that solitary Europeans, even though previously unacquainted, would exchange some friendly greeting, especially if detained for a few minutes in the same place; but even in the wildest districts, English reserve is strictly maintained. Two palanquins may be put down upon a desolate plain, with only a few yards of sand between them ; yet the inmates will keep themselves closely shut up, never enquiring whether they can render any assistance to each other, or offering to share the refreshments they may have in store. It is rarely that they even ask the name of the person with whom they have been placed in such close contact, and brothers long severed might have the opportunity of an interview of an hour's duration, and lose it from too close an adherence to the unsocial pride which is the characteristic of an Englishman. </span></div>
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Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-39835701716276727722013-06-29T22:37:00.003+05:302013-06-29T22:37:48.603+05:30Property rights- Tanjore, circa 1800<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?pg=PA176&id=QF48AQAAIAAJ#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">“Historical sketches of the South of India</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">” by Col. Mark Wolks, published in the year 1820 has a chapter on “landed property in India”. On page 176, the author pays a tribute to the well-established system of property rights that prevailed in Tanjore, with the owners showing a complete understanding of the advantages of possession and the security that it conferred. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Passing south to regions somewhat more remote from the first impressions of the northern conquerors, we arrive atcTrichinopoly and Tanjore, sometimes united and sometimes separate: the latter principality containing the town of Combaconum, the ancient capital of the Chola race, one of the oldest Hindoo dynasties of which any traces have hitherto been discovered in these lower regions, and from which the whole coast in later times has taken its name. Tanjore in 1675 fell into the hands of Eccojee, the brother of the celebrated founder of the Mahratta empire. Throughout all its revolutions this country had remained under a Hindoo government, with the exception of the very short period that it was possessed by Mohammed Aly; and it is of no material importance to our present purpose to trace the ancient history of its private landed proprietors, since the whole province continues at this day to exhibit every character that constitutes a highly respectable proprietary right. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I cannot describe the state of landed property in this part of India more forcibly than by adopting the very words of a late report. Without entering on the question of who is proprietor of the soil, I will content myself with stating that immemorial usage has established both in Tanjore and Trichinopoly, that the occupants, whether distinguished by the names of Meerassdar or Mahajanums have the right of selling, bestowing, devising and bequeathing their lands in the manner which to them is most agreeable. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Whether this right was granted originally by the ancient constitution of the country, appears to me not worth considering at the present day. I think it a fortunate circumstance that the right does at present exist, whether it originated in encroachment on the sovereign's right, in a wise and formal abrogation of those rights, or in institutions coeval with the remotest antiquity. It is fortunate that at a moment when we are consulting on the means of establishing the property and welfare of the numerous people of these provinces, we find the lands of the country in the hands of men who feel and understand the full rights and advantages of possession, who have enjoyed them in a degree more or less secure before the British name was known in India, and who, in consequence of them, have rendered populous and fertile the extensive provinces of Tanjore and Trichinopoly. *</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The class of proprietors to whom I allude are not to be considered as the actual cultivators of the soil; the far greater mass of them till their lands by the means of hired labourers, or by a class of people termed Pullers, who are of the lowest cast, and who may be considered as the slaves of the soil. The landed property of these provinces is divided and subdivided in every possible degree; there are proprietors of four thousand f acres, of four hundred acres, of forty acres, and of one acre.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I conclude that Trichinopoly is indebted for this advantage to its contiguity to Tanjore — the Mussulman rulers of the former could not, without a revolution involving the loss of the whole revenue, place their husbandmen on a footing materially differing from that of their immediate neighbours.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The occupants and Meerassdars above described are far from being mere nominal proprietors; they have a clear, ample, and unquestioned proprietor's share, amounting, according to the same authority, to the respectable proportion of twenty-seven per cent. of the gross produce, a larger rent than remained to an English proprietor of land who had titles and land-tax to pay, even before the establishment of the income-tax. The report of a most respectable committee on the affairs of Tanjore in 1807, gives a very clear detail of the distribution of property over the whole province, which consists of five thousand eight hundred and seventy-three townships : of this number there are one thousand eight hundred and seven townships, in which one individual holds the whole undivided lands: there are two thousand two hundred and two, of which the property in each is held by several persons having their distinct and separate estates : and one thousand seven hundred and seventy-four, the landed property in which is held in common by all the Meerassdars or proprietors of the village, who contribute labour and receive a share of the crop in the proportion of their respective properties. The same report states that the number of Meerassdars who are Bramins is computed to be 17,149, oOf Soodras, including native Christians, 42,442 Mohammedans, 1,457, total 62,048</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The fact of the existence of so considerable a number of Mohammedan proprietors is a curious and conclusive proof of the unrestrained facility of alienating landed property in Tanjore; </span></div>
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Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-54803272219577765372013-06-07T21:50:00.001+05:302013-06-07T22:10:01.588+05:30The story of Runganadum, the Brahmin from Chittoor.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The first half of the nineteenth century saw thousands of Indian natives being drawn into western style of education. Quite a few schools and colleges had come up by 1840, and the Universities of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras were established in the year 1857. Pursuing higher education required migrating to a city and involved expenses that few could afford. It required one to be convinced of the virtues of western education and to believe in its potential to provide more lucrative means of employment. One such person to make that leap was Runganadum who is described in the book,</span><a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=utoRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA116#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> “ The domestic life, character and customs of the natives of India”</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> by James Kerr, Principal of Hindu College , Calcutta who had earlier had a stint in Madras. This was written in 1865, but the event it describes, perhaps, happened 20 years before that. (<em>I have edited it below to keep it short, but do read the full text by following the link.)</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">It may be said of the great mass of the natives that we only see them moving around us. With a few only do we become personally acquainted; and that with the outside of their character only, while we remain in a great measure strangers to their social and domestic life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Of all the Hindoos with whom I have become acquainted in India, perhaps the most interesting is my friend Runganadum, a Brahmin, and a native of Chittoor about thirty miles from Madras. He was introduced to me by Mr. Casamajor, of the Madras Civil Service, a most benevolent and large-hearted man. Mr. Casamajor took a great interest in him, and had the highest opinion of his character and talents. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Runganadum's personal appearance was very much in his favour. He was, for a Hindoo, rather above the middle height, stout, and well made. His complexion differed but little from that of a European well bronzed by a tropical sun. His features were regular and even handsome, his eye bright with intelligence, his forehead one of the finest I have ever seen. The expression of his face was generally serious. He always wore the old Hindoo dress—a white cotton wrapper round his waist and hanging down to his ankles, and a fine muslin scarf thrown loosely over his shoulders.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I knew Runganadum intimately for several years. He read with me at my house, Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations," Locke's "Essay on the Understanding," and Paley's "Natural Theology."* I was astonished to find so little difference between his mind and that of an intelligent European. His mental powers were indeed equal to those of any European of the same age I have ever known, while his amiability, truthfulness and manly honesty were above all praise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">At what I may call our meetings for mutual improvement (for I was a gainer from these meetings as well as Runganadum), at which times the books I have mentioned were diligently read, we often engaged in general conversation after the more serious business of the evening was over. I remember having an interesting conversation with him one evening on the subject of the social condition of his countrymen. He seemed to be convinced that the backward state of his countrymen was mainly owing to a silly reverence for old customs, however absurd they might be. He sometimes spoke on this subject with much earnestness. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">As a proof of Runganadum's liberality of mind, I may mention that he did not object to learn by heart, along with the other pupils of the grammar school, the church catechism, and even the creed. He thought it right to conform to the rules of the school. He read also along with the other pupils, Paley's " Evidences of Christianity," and when examined upon it he usually gave a fair and manly answer to all questions, expressing his own candid opinion with temper and modesty. Truly, in some things, this heathen scholar was an example to Christians, such was his liberality of mind, his truthfulness, and humility.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Notwithstanding all his liberality and candour, I never saw much reason to hope that he would renounce Hindooism and become a Christian.* He was well acquainted with the evidences of Christianity, as mere arguments addressed to the understanding, and his mind was in a remarkable degree free from prejudices and open to conviction. Still, he did not evince any decided disposition to change his religion. I can never forget his modest seriousness one day when I spoke to him on the subject. On asking him whether, now that he had read Paley's Evidences, he did not believe in the truth of Christianity, he held down his head in a meek, submissive manner for some moments, and said nothing. His regard for truth would not let him say with his lips what he did not believe in his heart, and he held down his head and said nothing. After some silence, he looked up with rather a sly smile.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The following is an extract from one of his letters, written while a student at the grammar school "I was, during the whole of last week, engaged at the rate of two or three hours a day, in writing an essay on Female Education. It is rather too long. It consists of twenty-eight pages. During the time that I was writing the essay, I was led to consider when would my countrymen learn to see education in its true light, and appreciate it for its own sake, and not pursue it with the unworthy motive of making it a tool for procuring money. I clearly see that the greatest of all benefits that either a European or a native can do for the good of this country, is to disseminate the happy seeds of education. I think it unlikely that the natives will be inclined to enlighten their females by educating them, unless the men themselves are first well educated. In all the civilized countries of Europe, the education of the females was subsequent to that of the males. Hence in this country, too, the education of the males should precede that of the females."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The following letter, which I received from him when absent from Madras, on a visit to his friends at Chittoor, will give some further insight into his character.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">"With sincere respect I beg leave to address you the following letter. I am detained here longer than I expected. I am extremely reluctant to stay here, and am anxiously looking forward to my return to Madras, and hope to reach it soon. I am now very fond of algebra. I worked all the problems of quadratic equations in Hutton's Mathematics, with the exception of five, which I find too difficult for me to solve. My esteemed friend, Mr. H. Groves, has lent me his algebra by Euler, and I have worked several questions in it. These questions I have copied in my book of exercises. I am now so far reconciled to the study of the book, that when I meet with a difficult question, instead of laying it aside, as I used to, I sit down with patience and try for an hour or two the right method of working it. I have revised the Sixth Book of Euclid, and I see practically that there is more advantage to be gained in reading the same book often, than in reading several books once. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">"The friend of mine whom you saw some months ago in Mylapoor, is now reading with me Smith's Wealth of Nations. By assisting him in that book I derive some benefit, which is this :—When I read a book, I understand the meaning of it, but then I find it difficult to express the ideas of the writer in my language. Now, in reading it with my friend, I am put to the necessity of explaining it to him; which I cannot do to his satisfaction, unless I study the subject myself and think properly before I speak.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The interest which I take in Runganadum, and which I trust may be shared by some others, induces me to say a few words more about him. In 1845, being at that time in Calcutta, I received the following letter from him, written from Chittoor. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">“I am extremely happy to communicate to you a piece of news, that it will no doubt give you great pleasure to learn. I am now the chief interpreter of the Supreme Court at Madras—a promotion from the post of a head writer in a court in the provinces, to what is considered the most respectable situation in the Presidency that a native can aspire to. The change has been brought about in a way the most honourable to myself and just and impartial to the community. On the vacation of this post, which happened two months ago, the judges were determined to exercise their patronage in a way calculated to insure and promote the interests of the people—i. e. by offering the situation to the best scholar and the most efficient interpreter they could select by public examination. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The moment I learnt that this post was thrown open for competition, I sent in my application, and offered to stand a trial in Teloogoo, Tamul, Mahratta, Canarese, Hindustanee, Persian, Sanscrit, and English. Some of my European benefactors and teachers were pleased to give me the most favourable testimonials I could expect with respect to my qualifications and character. When the trial came on, it so happened—thanks to Heaven! that my superiority was perfectly decisive; and last Friday I was nominated to the post of chief interpreter. I am now perfectly content, so far as my income is concerned, which, I believe, is close upon Rs. 500 a month; and my present ambition is to prosecute my studies in English literature and the vernacular languages, and to set a good example to my countrymen. I write this in haste, that you may enjoy the news of the good fortune of your ever grateful pupil, Runganadum</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">It was of Runganadum that Mr. Norton, formerly President of the Madras University, thus spoke, when examined before the parliamentary committee of 1853 :—" He is a young man of very powerful mind, and would have been a distinguished man at either of our universities. He is as remarkable for the strength and powers of his mind in mature life, as I should say almost any European."</span></div>
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Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-44308816635262748802013-06-06T16:25:00.002+05:302013-06-06T16:25:35.568+05:30Salman Khan's six-pack abs is actually one-pack.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The Deccan Chronicle, with a <a href="http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130606/entertainment-bollywood/article/sallu%E2%80%99s-six-pack-abs-not-real">brilliant piece</a> of investigative journalism, has revealed to its readers that Salman Khan’s six-pack abs is not real. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Salman Khan is no doubt a fit actor. But does he really have a chiseled Greek God-like torso, with deadly muscles showing off in the form of stone slabs? Well, we managed to lay our hands on a working still of Ek Tha Tiger and seems like the animation experts have generously worked their magic on bhai’s abs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">An enormous dose of VFX has been used to make it look as if the actor has sweated it out in the gym day in and day out to expeditiously fasten his “looking like the incredible Hulk” process. We’re not saying that actor doesn’t sweat it out, but see the original still. He is pretty much in shape, but doesn’t have those lethal muscular cuts on his tummy that you can see in the last picture. Once the animator wielded his tools and used the magical mesh, Salman bhai’s already sexy tummy transformed into a piping hot piece of iron hard abs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Airbrushing, visual effects, the right angles and the right camera profiles…now we know how, most of the times the amazing abs that we see onscreen is nothing but hogwash</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">However, all is not lost. Salman Khan will be pleased to know that he will still have a huge fan following among babies. <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/?p=312">In a study</a>, researchers tested the preference of babies for toned (six-pack abs) male bodies and flabby ones. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><em>They found that while 3.5- and 6-month-olds did not show a preference, 9-month-olds actually preferred the unattractive bodies, perhaps because that’s what they’re more familiar with at home (take that, parents whose babies participated in the study!).</em></span></blockquote>
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Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-20710010174201293802013-06-05T21:38:00.002+05:302013-06-05T21:38:47.832+05:30The native cunning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=utoRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA13#v=onepage&q&f=false"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">"The domestic life, character and the customs of the natives of India",</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> written by James Kerr, Principal of the Hindoo College, Calcutta and published in 1865 contains this passage which provides evidence that ‘corruption’ is an inborn skill among natives of India and has been practised for ages.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">A friend of mine, some ten years after his arrival in India, entered upon a new office. At the head of his establishment was a very able native clerk. At first, and for a considerable time, this clerk was most attentive, most obliging, most accommodating. Whatever went wrong was immediately put right by his intervention and assiduous attention. The books and accounts were all kept in the most exact and beautiful order. Every wheel moved with the utmost regularity. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">For a good while not the slightest deviation could be detected from the strictest propriety. At length, when the saheb's mind was supposed to be lulled to sleep, a slight inaccuracy slipped into the accounts. A slight overcharge was made, but so slight as almost to elude detection. This went on in an increasing ratio, until it became necessary to check it. And what was the result of such interference? This able clerk, finding that his master kept a vigilant eye upon him, thought fit to change his tactics. He secretly threw impediments in the way. Things no longer went on so smoothly. Quarrels and misunderstandings were frequent among the servants and subordinates. Workmen could no longer be found so easily. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">My friend perceived that all charges incurred on his own private account icreased enormously. Palankeen bearers, shoemakers, carpenters, masons and boatmen, one and all demanded higher wages. There could be no doubt that the native clerk had a hand in it. There was a clearly defined object to be gained. The whole scheme was devised with a view to open the saheb's eyes to the fact that he might diminish his private expenses considerably, that he might save himself a world of trouble, and live in peace and comfort, provided he allowed the native clerk to have a little more of his own will. His conduct, you will observe, was founded upon cool calculation. It was founded upon a comprehensive survey of the principles of human nature, and an enlightened appreciation of his own interests.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Circumstances have here developed a type of character of a very peculiar kind. The natives of India find their country occupied by a stronger arm and stronger will than their own. All political situations of direct influence are filled by strangers. What are they to do to win back the power they have lost? They have recourse to woman's art, to cunning. The peculiarity of their position sharpens their faculties, and they acquire a keenness of intellect, of which Europeans have but a faint idea.</span></div>
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Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-36072565590663505882013-06-05T20:33:00.001+05:302013-06-05T20:33:17.141+05:30Bon Appetit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">That human beings have an innate need to observe rituals is well-established. Be it religion, business, Govt, military, judiciary or sports, a certain degree of ritualising takes place. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">So many rituals have been associated with food. Saying grace before a meal or uttering some mantra or raising a toast or even wishing each other “Bon appétit” are all rituals designed to lend some solemnity or joy to the mundane process of eating. . </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Is it possible that rituals can make food taste better? That’s what some researchers at the University of Minnesota tried to find out. (<a href="http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/7204.html">source)</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">In a series of experiments conducted along with University of Minnesota marketing professor Kathleen D. Vohs and doctoral candidate Yajin Wang, Michael I. Norton and Francesca Gino found that rituals indeed have the power to make food seem tastier and more valuable. Their research findings are presented in the paper "Rituals Enhance Consumption," forthcoming in Psychological Science.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">"We made the rituals deliberately silly," Norton says. "With rituals like wine-tasting and tasting menus, some of the enjoyment is about pageantry and great service. We wanted to strip those factors away and focus on the rituals themselves."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">In one experiment, participants were asked to eat a chocolate bar. Half performed an assigned ritual, breaking and unwrapping the bar in a particular way before eating it. The other half just ate the bar unceremoniously. On average, those in the ritual group reported the candy more enjoyable and more flavorful than the non-ritual group.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">A follow-up experiment showed that participants in the ritual experience actually thought the chocolate bar was worth more money than those in the non-ritual group-thus showing the retail marketing potential for food-related rituals</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">To see whether they could achieve the same effect with something less exciting but more nutritious than a chocolate bar, the researchers repeated the experiment with the least thrilling food they could imagine: carrots.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Sure enough, participants who performed a series of gestures before consuming the carrots reported more enjoyment than those who just ate them. (Norton notes that parents have been employing this technique for time immemorial—ritualistically pretending that a spoonful of pureed peas is, say, "a plane coming in for a landing" in order to make it more appealing to babies.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Either our forefathers knew the real power of rituals or, despite the meaninglessness, through persistent practice they hardwired it into our brains and ensured that rituals are an integral part of our lives even today</span></div>
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Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15891023.post-6582433093651658282013-06-04T21:35:00.000+05:302013-06-04T21:36:49.936+05:30Seeing flowers in a new light.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">A friend had invited me to a function to mark the inauguration of his new office. To demonstrate my classiness, I dropped by on the way at a star-hotel to pick up a bunch of flowers from the bouquet shop there. I told the valet not to take my car away as I would be back in exactly 5 minutes, which is the time I estimated that I would need to select the flowers, pay and rush back. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">A bunch of red-coloured flowers looked fine to me and I asked for the price. Not so fast, said the lady there. “What was the occasion?”. Red roses have romantic connotations and I had better be careful. Unhappy occasions require more sober-coloured flowers such as white carnations. Orchids are good for birthdays, blah, blah. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Anyway, after a good 30 minutes, I came out of the shop armed with a floral arrangement of assorted colours. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">It was when I was getting into the car that it hit me that I knew nothing about flowers. I couldn’t have identified any of the flowers in that shop, except for the rose maybe. If you showed me pictures of various flowers, I could perhaps come up with 7 or 8 names. That’s it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Later, when I got back home, I googled for an old essay that I had read, titled, “How flowers changed the world”, by an American naturalist named Loren Eiseley. In that</span><a href="http://grundtvigbotanic.tk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/how-flowers-changed-the-world_L-Eiseley.pdf"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> lovely and scholarly piece</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">, Eisely explains how the emergence of flowers had made such a difference to evolution of life on Earth. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Once upon a time there were no flowers at all. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">A little while ago—about one hundred million years, as the geologist estimates time in the history of our four-billion-year-old planet—flowers were not to be found anywhere on the five continents. Wherever one might have looked, from the poles to the equator,one would have seen only the cold dark monotonous green of a world whose plant life possessed no other color.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Somewhere, just a short time before the close of the Age of Reptiles, there occurred a soundless, violent explosion. It lasted millions of years, but it was an explosion, nevertheless. It marked the emergence of the angiosperms—the flowering plants, Even the great evolutionist, Charles Darwin, called them “an abominable mystery,” because they appeared so suddenly and spread so fast.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Flowers changed the face of the planet. Without them, the world we know—even man himself—would never have existed. Francis Thompson, the English poet, once wrote that one could not pluck a flower without troubling a star. Intuitively he had sensed like a naturalist the enormous interlinked complexity of life. Today we know that the appearance of the flowers contained also the equally mystifying emergence of man. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> He concludes the essay in this grand fashion. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Without the gift of flowers and the infinite diversity of their fruits, man and bird, if they had continued to exist at all, would be today unrecognizable. Archaeopteryx, the lizard-bird, might still be snapping at beetles on a sequoia limb; man might still be a nocturnal insectivore gnawing a roach in the dark. The weight of a petal has changed the face of the world and made it ours.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The next time I order a bouquet I’ll do it more respectfully. We exist because of the flowers.</span></div>
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Rajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09367344161081393779noreply@blogger.com0