Pep Guardiola, 51, a Spanish football manager and former player, says he knew nothing about football before knowing Cyruff. So reading the autobiography My Turn by Johan Cruyff became quite important for me. If was only after reading this book that I came to know that I would not have known about this great player if I had not read this book. Johan Cruyff left this world on 24 March 2016. He wanted his funeral to be done in a very simple way. And the same happened, as per his wish. Only his close family members were there. But FC Barcelona did not approve of this. That is why his memorial was kept in the stadium with great respect. Johan was very dear to Ajax, Barcelona, and the Dutch National Team. Bobby Charlton believes that Johan Cruyff was a very great football player and added a new thrill to the game whenever the ball hit him on the field.
Eric Cantona says that Johan was such a great player that he had the ability to perform the best game at any position on the field. Similarly, Gary Lineker tells about Johan Cruyff, the author of this autobiography My Turn, that Cruyff had the ability to do everything that made this beautiful game even more beautiful, and this specialty was more than any player in the history of football. In My Turn, Cruyff is talking about his life, which consisted of nothing but football. As a child, Johan got signed by Ajax merely at the age of 10 while playing football in the streets of Amsterdam. Here he won 3 European cups. In 1973 he was signed by Barcelona at the world's highest price. Here a new journey of his started in which he took the initiative to set record after record. In 1974, Johan took the Dutch National team to the world cup final.
During his tenure, he won many awards and brought a lot of fame to his team. My Turn by Johan Cruyff is a powerful autobiography.
If you have a strong desire to know about the great inventions of this world and those who gave birth to those inventions, then this very thick 488 page book 'the INNOVATORS: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson' will prove to be a gold mine for you. This is my belief. This is the same author whose previous book 'STEVE JOBS', which is based on the biography of Steve Jobs, became famous all over the world. For the birth of digital revolution in the world, the credit goes to the world's famous hackers, talented people, and geeks. If all of them were not there and did not amaze the world with their astounding talent, then perhaps the world would have continued as it was. These are the people who accepted great challenges and laid the foundation for the creation of a new world with new discoveries and inventions. 'the INNOVATORS by Walter Isaacson' very beautifully traverses the history of inventions and makes their debut in the digital world with the new inventions of the world.
The biggest truth of the world is that some credit for every invention goes to the inventions made earlier. If every new invention provides facilities to the world on a large scale, then it also brings with it a lot of new challenges. And then these challenges act as a catalyst in giving birth to new inventions. 'the INNOVATORS by Walter Isaacson' is a very deeply written book. It will not only be able to thrill you, but will also make you think deeply. This book starts far back in the history of inventions. It takes us back to 1843, and gives us an intimate introduction to three great people of that era - Ada Byron (Countess of Lovelace), Lord Byron, and Charles Babbage. The specialty of this book is that every chapter of it is written in a very special way. If you read this, then only you will understand what I mean by special.
Then we move on to 1847 where we meet George Boole who first invented a great system of logical reasoning using algebra. Also, you will know its deep connection with the punch-card machines of Herman Hollerith. Similarly, invention after invention, and moving forward year after year, we get the knowledge of the world's great inventions and their superheroes.
'the INNOVATORS by Walter Isaacson' is a book that has become an integral part of my personal library. This book is like that. Not that just read once and throw it. There is a lot of invaluable knowledge in this. It gives you a new incentive in every page. And also inspires you to do something new in life. There is a lot of power in the writing of this author. There is a different kind of energy. There is a flutter. There is an edge. Definitely, there's an unending flow in 'the INNOVATORS by Walter Isaacson'.
If we still think all is well as far as CLIMATE CHANGE is concerned, then we are fooling ourselves. Look at the series of severe disasters across the globe. Then think twice to satisfy yourself that everything is okay and no initiative is required from each of the living soul in this planet. Let's go back a little, in 2021, mid, had seen disastrous Canadian heatwave in June end. Then, the forest fires in Oregon. Soon after, there were heavy floods in various parts of Europe, especially, Belgium, and Germany. After that, it was extremely heavy rainfall in Henan, China that caused heavy flooding there resulting in serious damages of human life and otherwise. Is this all normal? Of course, there used to be forest fires, floods, landslides, extreme rains, and droughts; but never to such an extent and not so widespread.
If damages are happening because of such disasters in those countries that are well developed and will advanced, like Europe, and northern parts of the globe, then it clearly indicates that despite those places having sufficient infrastructure to handle heavy rainfall, then it clearly means that these disasters are happening beyond their preparedness and expectations. We seriously need to learn from these indications of nature and step up to stop misusing and insulting nature and natural resources. It's really a shame on us humans. Of course, the flooding in Germany and Belgium in the first half of July, shook the whole world. These are clearly nature's damaging acts against our actions of damaging the planet beyond limits.
The flooding has happened even in those parts of the world, to its severest, where it was least expected. This is Mother Nature's anger. Though, there used to be disasters earlier too but CLIMATE CHANGE has made them worse and extremely damaging. Especially, since the beginning of 21st century we are facing dire consequences as a result of continuous exploitation of our planet's resources. NASA had declared 2020 as the hottest year ever. The more is the rise in temperature of our earth, the more severe consequences we have to face. If just a one-degree rise in temperature can result in upto 7% increase in the severity of rainfall, then what is going to happen if the average global land and ocean temperature rises above 1-degree.
Currently, earth's temperature is rising at a pace double than what it used to be a century ago. A recent research by Professor Hayley Fowler, School of Engineering, Newcastle University, the earth's poles temperature is rising at 2-3 times the rate of the equator. That is surely going to disturb the balance be weakening the jet stream of Europe because it lies over the middle of latitudes. This results in frequent storms over that part of the world. On one hand we are encountering floods and heavy rainfall due to CLIMATE CHANGE. On the other hand, it's intensifying heatwave in Canada and North America. A team of researchers told in the BBC news that such deadly heatwave was a kind of unimaginable incident in these places.
Even the scientists and researches taking place across the globe accept that such extreme incidents are becoming more common because of GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE resulting in world heating up at a faster pace. For the first time, village of Lytton in British Columbia recorded near to 50-degree that never went above 45 degree centigrade. Since the temperature is soaring, it's resulting in severe forest fires like the one in Oregon, Washington recently, or that happened in the west coast of the United States.
Amazon's quest to sell all things to all people has a catastrophic carryover -- over 75 dead and scores injured by unsafe trucking contractors. Truckers moving Amazon goods around the country were more thantwiceas likely to receive unsafe driving scores compared with similar outfits. The investigative article byThe Wall Street Journal'sChristopher Weaver analyzes Amazon's push for prompt deliveries and the ongoing fallout of injuries and deaths.
The WSJ identifies many shocking incidents, including a driver convicted of driving while high when a crack pipe was found after he ran into a ditch, and a fatal accident in Kansas when a driver lost control while braking -- two months after his employer ignored a police order to fix the truck’s brakes.
Trucking companies hauling freight for Amazon have been involved in crashes that killed more than 75 people since 2015, according to the Journal’s review, adding Amazon "offers condolences to families of people killed in crashes that involve its contractors."
The WSJ identified a group of 3,512 trucking firms that were inspected three or more times -- for both routine and law-enforcement reasons -- while working for Amazon between February 2020 and early August 2022. In the Amazon group, 39% of contractors scored above a level set by the DOT to trigger regulatory action in at least one month in the analysis. That compared with about 17% among a peer group of all other for-hire general freight companies with a similar number of inspections.
The data show companies that “frequently haul Amazon’s freight are systematically more likely to have poor driving safety scores,” said Jason Miller, a Michigan State University professor who studies transportation safety and validated the Journal’s methodology and findings. The result, he said, is that “American motorists are put at greater risk.”
The Journal found evidence in the government records that 48 companies with conditional ratings hauled Amazon trailers since early 2020, apparently violating Amazon's own rules. Government data reviewed by the Journal show that 375 companies hauled Amazon freight with scores worse than Amazon requires even after the company changed its rules. That includes more than 60 with worse-than-required scores in February that were still hauling Amazon trailers in June and July.
In its freight network, Amazon closely tracks on-time delivery performance, according to former executives and drivers who have worked for Amazon. Trucking contractors with strong on-time records get rewarded with priority access to book certain loads. Contractors that missed delivery deadlines and other performance measures were punished with quick suspensions, several truckers said.
In contrast, truck operators such as United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) keep such serious safety violations low. Since early 2020, state inspectors and police cited UPS for tractor-trailer drivers who kept false logs of driving hours in fewer than one in a thousand inspections. By contrast, they flagged Amazon contractors at a rate about 70 times higher. UPS drivers are employees who receive salaries rather than contractors who often are paid by the mile.
Everyone would have the aspiration to travel abroad, I think so. Whether that person has a hobby or not. I have met many people who are so enthusiast to have travel as a hobby. Hobbies and aspirations are two different things, as I think. Travelogue or better put travel memoir 'Chuckle Merry Spin' by Khyrunnisa A. is a very beautiful and interesting book. I was very fond of traveling in my childhood. I still am. If I see, my aspiration and passion for travel to various Countries and places never matched with my actual travel. The latter was always falling short of the former. There are many reasons for this. If I look at two main reasons, those would be family and financial. As a child, I remember, whenever I read about a place, the desire to go there and the curiosity to know more about that place used to increase multifold. It is the same today.
I feel, like reading about a place, then deciding to go there, then before going, doing more research about that place, going there, and coming back, and writing down beautiful memories of it in my diary, blog, or journal; all these are closely related to each other. Especially for me. If you want to read about a beautiful foreign travel experience, or are planning to visit America for the first time, or going on your first trip abroad, then before that this wonderfully written book 'Chuckle Merry Spin' by Khyrunnisa A will prove to be very interestingly handy and helpful. If you read it, it will give you a very good experience beforehand. And if you too have come back from your first foreign trip like this author, then when you read this book, you will feel a lot in it related to your own experience. This book is written in a very very interesting way. Once I started reading it, I was so lost in it that I didn't know when I reached the last page. In fact, it was, as if, I myself went on an interesting journey.
Along with tickling you, this book also makes you laugh and also gives knowledge of some new things. I have enjoyed this book 'Chuckle Merry Spin' by Khyrunnisa A. a lot. Hope you do too. Well, the story goes like this. Author lives with her husband in Thiruvananthpuram. Her son and his wife live in the Untied States. Author's daughter invites the couple for her graduation ceremony. This time the couple couldn't avoid the invitation and get all caught up to visit their son in the United States. Thus, begins the journey of passport, visa, medical fitness certificates, visa interview, and so on. Once this is over, the next cycle begins for the tickets, choice of flights, etc. And then the actual journey begins. Grab your copy of 'Chuckle Merry Spin' by Khyrunnisa A. and enjoy travelling a wonderful journey with the couple.
Seiko Epson Corporation has defined the Corporate Purpose of the Epson Group ("Epson"). The Corporate Purpose statement articulates the type of value Epson offers the world, the company’s unique reason for being, and its aspirations.
The efficient, compact, and precise innovation that Epson has pursued goes beyond technology. It encompasses a philosophy for eliminating waste, reducing dimensions, and increasing precision, an approach that can create even greater social value.
The corporate purpose cannot be realized by Epson employees alone. Our customers, partners, and society must empathize with and share our purpose. Epson seeks to contribute to environmental conservation and cultural development and to enrich lives and create a better world.
Epson global president Mr.Yasunori Ogawa said,
"We at Epson marked our 80th year in business in May of this year. We have always exercised creativity and challenged ourselves to deliver products and services that exceed the expectations of our customers by drawing on the efficient, compact, and precise technologies we have developed since the company was founded. We will continue to adhere to Epson's unique philosophy of efficient, compact, and precise innovation, take advantage of the tremendous value that those innovations yield to overcome global environmental problems and other societal issues, and work together to create a better planet and enrich people’s lives."
Epson intends to continue to collaborate with its customers and partners to solve societal issues and to enrich lives and create a better world.
Epson is a global technology leader whose philosophy of efficient, compact and precise innovation enriches lives and helps create a better world. The company is focused on solving societal issues through innovations in home and office printing, commercial and industrial printing, manufacturing, visual and lifestyle. Epson will become carbon negative and eliminate use of exhaustible underground resources such as oil and metal by 2050.
Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the worldwide Epson Group generates annual sales of more than JPY 1 trillion.
Epson India Pvt. Ltd. was incorporated in the year 2000. Epson products address the needs of homes, businesses and commercial enterprises as those of consumers with specialized needs in India. With a commitment to providing products and services that surpass people’s expectations, Epson India today has an enviable reputation for quality and value. Headquartered in Bangalore, the company markets and supports Epson Inkjet Printers, Inkjet All-in-Ones, Point of Sale Printers, 3LCD Projectors, Scanners, Large Format Printers, Robots and Dot-Matrix Printers. In all of these categories, Epson is either the No. 1 or No. 2 brand in India and growing fast.
Home Credit India (HCIN), a local arm of the international consumer finance provider, has completed 10-successful years in India this year. The brand is celebrating the momentous occasion with a campaign - #10SaalBemisal comprising of unveiling a 10-year showcasing how Home Credit has grown strength by strength. Home Credit’s efforts in facilitating credit penetration across the country has resulted in bringing borrower-centric services & products such as Safe Pay (payment holiday, no pre-payment penalty and insurance), Care 360 (a holistic healthcare service protection product), and Ujjwal EMI Card (the digital pre-set credit limit card).
With a focus on enabling credit penetration and financial Inclusion in India, since 2012, Home Credit India has fulfilled aspirations of 15Mn borrowers through 50K+ PoSes across country. Home Credit’s strong digital transformation journey has helped customers & retailers embrace online journey.
Home Credit India (HCIN), a local arm of the international consumer finance provider, has completed 10-successful years in India this year as a RBI regulated consumer NBFC. Being committed to India market and financial inclusion, Home Credit in its first decade has fulfilled over 15Mn aspirations through trusted & affordable financial products & services.
Upon reaching this feat, Home Credit India is celebrating the momentous occasion with a campaign - #10SaalBemisal comprising of unveiling a 10-year logo and a digital AV showcasing how Home Credit has grown strength by strength with various milestones achieved in its decadal journey.
Home Credit’s focus on financial inclusion by enabling credit penetration across the country, has resulted in bringing borrower-centric services & products such as Safe Pay (payment holiday, no pre-payment penalty and insurance), Care 360 (a holistic healthcare service protection product) and Ujjwal EMI Card (the digital pre-set credit limit card).
The PoS-led strategy in last decade has given Home Credit a strong foothold in India market, having a robust 50K+ retail network across 600+ cities. As Phygital model becomes the renewed approach, focus on digital-first strategy has enabled both Home Credit’s customers and retail partners to do self-onboarding via Home Credit app. Home Credit has boosted its digital ecosystem through B2B partnerships, enhancing scope of services and online onboarding. Half of HCIN customers now follow a complete online journey, and metrics show these numbers are growing each day.
Commenting on the 10-Year milestone, Mr. Ondrej Kubik, Chief Executive Officer, Home Credit India, said,
“Completing a decade of doing business in India and having served millions of borrowers is a testimony of Home Credit’s commitment to India. In 10 years, we have serviced over 50 million contracts which is a clear reflection of customer trustworthiness & reliability the brand enjoys. Maintaining the great momentum would have been difficult without engaged and supportive partners, employees and customers. In the fast-changing environment, our purpose remains the same - to empower people to live the life they want now. While we complete 10 years, we still have a long way to go and the zeal & momentum will now be even greater to redefine Home Credit brand connect with consumers in the endeavor to fulfill aspirations.”
Along with customers, as a responsible consumer lender, Home Credit promotes financial literacy to drive a responsible borrowing culture in wider society. Financial literacy initiatives have led to engagement with over 3 million people through Paise Ki Paathshala microsite, blogs and social media campaigns.
Home Credit recently launched its maiden Sustainability Country Card 2021, codifying ESG principles into the business. The document sets out key sustainability pillars as Financial Inclusion or inclusive lending, Financial Literacy, Digital Empowerment and Sustainable Communities.
Key highlights at a glance:
Borrowers Served: 15X Growth since 1MN in 2015 to 10 MN in 2019 and 15MN in 2022
Serving the underserved: 40% of Home Credit customers were first-time borrowers
Digital lending: Growth from 2% in 2018 to 30% in 2021 (% of personal loans through digital channels)
Zero interest: 45% of our consumer loans have 0% interest, thanks to partnerships with retailers and manufacturers
PoS touchpoints: 50,000+ point-of-sale touchpoints across 625 cities for customers
Financial literacy: 3Mn people benefited from HCIN financial literacy initiative (Paise ki Paathshala) and social media engagements in 2021.
Home Credit India Finance Pvt. Ltd. is a local arm of the international consumer finance provider with operations spanning Europe and Asia and committed to drive financial inclusion in India. The company is committed to drive credit penetration and financial inclusion by offering wide financial solutions that are simple, transparent, and accessible to all. Home Credit India has an employee base of approx 5000 and has been consistently expanding operations since its entry in 2012, with its operations spread over 625 cities across India. The company has a strong network of around 53,000 points-of-sale (PoS) and is growing with a customer base of 15 million customers, driven by Pan-India expansion across major markets, a range of diversified and innovative products backed by superior customer experience.
Climate Change, Flooding, Droughts, Indian Ocean Dipole, Monsoon depression are some of the clearly visible signs of Global Warming. Global warming in fact has become a serious global warning. The impact is getting significantly severe year by year. It's happening in every part of the world. A recent research shows that global warming is increasing the variations in the monsoon due to climate change. This, in turn, is resulting, on one hand in longer dry periods, and on the other hand, shorter spells of heavy rains. In fact, rains are happening at those places where no rains have happened in decades. Snowfall is taking place, astonishingly, in places where nobody could have ever imagined.
In the year 2022, we have witnessed the second maximum extreme incidents since 1902. Extremities of floods and droughts have taken place in different parts. Such alarming incidents are increasing substantially and are causing damages beyond control. If we look at climate change incidents in context of Indian Monsoon, there are plenty this year. There have been contrasting rainfall patterns thus resulting in high risk and uncontrolled damages. Monsoon system tracks are changing drastically. Such shifts have caused low pressure and depression moving southwards of their original position this resulting in flash floods and landslides.
What we mean by monsoon depression is something that results in a low-pressure condition that substantially impacts the North Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal thus disturbing the summer patterns completely. These disturbances impact larger vicinity, as big as covering the areas within 1000 km of its diameter. We have witnessed excessive rainfall in 2022 in many states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. On the other hand, at the same time, states like Jharkhand, Bihar, and West Bengal did not have normal rains. In August 2022 Central Indian states faced multiple severe conditions resulting from depressions in the Bay of Bengal. In 2022 there have been huge variations in monsoon rainfall in many regions.
All these factors have resulted not only in heavy damages of human life but also of crops, kettle, and reserves.
'The Curse of Kuldhara' is a very interesting and entertaining fiction curated by Richa S. Mukherjee. It is so entertaining that a web series is going to be made on it soon, as the book cover reveals. When the style of writing the story is such that it binds the reader with the story in such a way that the reader is compelled to finish this 320-page novel in one, then the credit really goes to its author. Same happened with me. Once I started its first chapter, then I took my breath only after finishing its 64 chapters. So engrossing, entertaining, and binding the book is. Another great feature of this author is that the chapters of The Curse of Kuldhara have been kept very small. Each chapter is very crisp and specific. A lot is happening in this novel. From beginning to end.
The special thing is that its plot is not easy to guess. That is why perhaps it keeps a constant curiosity for its readers. I will not tell much about the story because I want everyone who reads it to enjoy it as much as I did. If the story is strong and its characters are well composed, then it is icing on the cake for a novel. Although I was not aware of KKPL (Kanpur Intelligence Pvt Ltd) before this novel but this story made me very well aware of the agency and its management. The main character of this story of The Curse of Kuldhara is Prachand Tripathi. This story begins with the joint Tripathi family and some everyday conflicts between its lively family members. Each character has its own style.
Prachand is the owner of his intelligence company KKPL, and his wife Vidya Tripathi is the CFO of his company i.e. the one who looks after the entire finance. Gwaltoli was not a very big place and Prachand could not get any exciting work here that could match his calibre and aspirations. In a way, he was getting bored because of not getting any exciting work. And then Paramveer Khattar came in their life with the proposal of a movie. He wanted to make this movie on Tripathi couple i.e. Prachand and Vidya. Prachand was not interested in this initially, though Vidya was very happy to hear about it. One small thing got Prachand very excited for this movie. That was the shooting location of this movie. Kuldhara ki Haveli (the haveli of a small village Kuldhara, in Rajasthan).
There was a huge mystery attached to this mansion. And Prachand now wanted to do this movie because he was eager to grab this challenge of solving the mystery of that mansion. This mystery had remained a mystery for so many years and Prachand was all excited visit that place to solve this mystery, although there could be a lot of risk in solving it. This movie was the best opportunity for that. Prachand was waiting for so many years for such kind of exciting work having so much risk and mystery. With Prachand I also went to that mansion and fought against all those risks to solve those mysteries. You too are welcome to know about it. For this you also have to pick up this book, The Curse of Kuldhara by Richa S. Mukherjee, to become Prachand' companion in this exciting, risky, and mysterious journey.
If I could transform into my favorite character, who would it be? I think this urge remains in every mind all the time but only thing is the character keeps changing from time to time. When I was very young, I used to have a fantasy world of my own. While reading a book, it was very common in me connecting with the interesting character of its story with myself in my imaginations. Or even consider myself the same. This used to happen many times. The same used to happen when I used to watch some interesting movie or a television serial.
I used to watch Star Trek a lot in those days. And started thinking of myself as Spock. When I saw one such movie Satyakam in which Dharmendra played a very strong character, I got very much influenced by him. I really could feel this character's fight between his idealism and the reality of the world.
When I studied Ayn Rand's Fountainhead, I was very impressed with the character of Howard Roark. And it happened so much strongly that even today I am a big fan of that character. Two books written by Agyeya are still etched deep in my mind. The first was 'Shekhar a biography' (शेखर एक जीवनी) and the second "How Many Times In How Many Boats' (कितनी नावों में कितनी बार). Agyeya's full name was Satchidananda Hiranand Vatsyayan. His style of writing was very impressive. I must have imagined Shekhar and myself becoming Shekhar many times in life. Similarly, when I saw the TV serial Karamchand, I started feeling that I should be like Karamchand. I think this always happens with us.
Whenever we read an influential book or watch an interesting & engrossing movie, we get very impressed by their strong characters. How deep this character affects our mind, it has a direct effect on how long we remember that character or how much we mold ourselves in it.
Today, if I want to mold myself into a character, I would probably want to be Forrest Grump. It's been years since I watched this movie but I was very impressed with its main character and it so happened that I started liking everything about it.
4 things I would like to work on in August. Well, every month begins with its own priorities and plans are made subsequently to achieve those targets. For August this year, I'm having my individual priorities and what I found out is following 4 would be my top most:
1. Har Ghar Tiranga: Let us first know a little about what is the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign? The Har Ghar Tiranga Abhiyan is a campaign launched by the Prime Minister of our country, which is commanded by the Union Ministry of Culture. The purpose of carrying out this is to increase respect and association for the flag among all Indians. Under this campaign, the Prime Minister of the country has appealed to all the citizens to hoist the tricolor national Indian flag in their homes. Perhaps there would be no better way to celebrate the 75th 'Independence Day'. For the first time in the country, our Independence Day is being celebrated in such a huge collective and in such a great symbolic way. You can not only download your certificate by visiting harghartiranga website, but also upload your selfie. Also for information, there are 3 short videos which tell how to hoist the flag, where it can be hoisted, and what things to keep in mind when hoisting the flag.
2. Books, books, and books: This year I have kept the target of books lesser on blogchatter than last year. The effort is to pay more attention to quality of content instead of number this year. Every book has to be read and analyzed well in time by giving it ample time. But even in this low target, my pace is still slow. This speed has to be covered.
3. Blogchatter's CauseAChatter and Me:CauseAChatter has given me a great opportunity to analyze and brainstorm within myself. This campaign forced me to think about the causes that I chose. To a large extent I have learned that there is a deep connection with my childhood and my bygone years, and my selection of those causes. To get to the bottom of this analysis is one of the top targets this August.
4. Essential Oils and Health: I have been studying or researching about essential oils for the last 3 years. I have tried their power many times in these three years and have found that there is very little knowledge about them that I have acquired so far, as far as their potential, usefulness, and powers. So, the same study has to be carried forward to know more about their usefulness.
Kakori The Train Robbery that Shook the British Raj is a very interesting book based on true events presented in a very impressive way. This book has been written by Prachi Garg after a lot of research on the subject and this particular incident. There are many specialties in this book. It has been written based on the truths and facts and presented in a very simple way without trying to cover up in any way. In a way, while reading this story it takes its reader through a time machine back in time, we reach that era where the whole incident seems to be happening in front of our eyes. We feel each movement witnessing like a silent spectator. I felt as if I myself was a part of Ram Prasad Bismil's team. This is how I experienced this whole incident in the form of this story.
All the credit for this kind of phenomenal experience goes to its author who has written this story so vividly and vigorously. In this book Kakori The Train Robbery that Shook the British Raj, Ram Prasad Bismil himself is narrating the story of Kakori incident as a remembrance when he was serving his sentence in jail. The story goes something like this. India was ready to sacrifice anything for its independence. Ram Prasad Bismil must have been around 19-20 in those days. He had his own organization in which young boys of his age were involved from all over India. This story also introduces us to the wonderful leadership of Ram Prasad Bismil. Mahatma Gandhi had an incredible impact on the entire country during that period.
While Ram Prasad Bismil's organization was moving forward to fight the British, Gandhi wanted to get India's independence without fighting the British, which was impossible. Somewhere, Gandhi was always under the influence of the British and Nehru. This was the reason when suddenly Gandhi withdrew from the non-cooperation movement and shocked the youth of the whole country. At such a time, Ram Prasad Bismil did not have any suitable direction, mentor, or leader to seek guidance from. He had a great urge to do something significant against British. That's when he planned the Kakori train robbery and executed it successfully. This in itself was a great achievement and a great shock for the British empire.
According to me, this book Kakori The Train Robbery that Shook the British Raj becomes mandatory for all of us to read so that we can understand the spirit of Ram Prasad Bismil and his incredible mental maturity.
I'm participating in the #TBRChallenge by Blogchatter.
What might be the biggest challenges people face today? I think we are living in a very confused environment. Maybe we are doing this intentionally. The biggest advantage of creating and living in a confused environment is that we can save ourselves from our real and bigger challenges by doing so. Will the cat leave the pigeon if the pigeon closes its eyes? Will we avoid the biggest challenges we face today by just ignoring them and disowning them? If we can't accept our own challenges and fight them, who else will?
According to me, our biggest challenges today are the following -
1. Identifying the right path: We are completely ignorant of our right direction in personal, professional, practical, mental, and spiritual life. We don't even know what is right and what is wrong. In everything we find the shortest way or shortcuts. Without knowing whether this is right or not. Once we start on this path, then we also waste our remaining knowledge.
2. Narrow lifestyle: The very definition of houses has changed. Collective and organized families have become a thing of the past. There is nothing left to give and take advise. Concept of approaching right persons in the family at right time to get best possible solution is gone. Everyone is living a fake life. No one is happy talking to someone in real life. Social media has just become real life. No correspondence. No happy atmosphere. Everyone just keeps looking for new ways to escape from everything. Nobody shares happiness with anyone. On the other hand, participating in one's happiness has either become a burden, or has become a mere formality.
3. I am always right: Today everyone thinks that he is absolutely right in everything. No introspection, no brainstorming. It has just become a matter of too much of self obsession. Our is it some kind of fear that makes us blind.
4. Spirituality Endangered: Spirituality has completely disappeared from our life. We are not even looking that way. And when you do not see in that direction, do not try to know about it, then how will this power be realized?
5. Boring Lifestyle: Exercise, feeling, and meditation have disappeared from our lifestyle. When we do not do anything in life that gives us spiritual happiness, then it is natural to develop a boring lifestyle. If the merits are reduced then the percentage of demerits will automatically come up.
How will we be able to move towards a spiritual, physical, and mindful lifestyle unless we address these problems? Unless we find ways to acquire real physical and mental strength, we will not even be able to recognize the real challenges of our life. Because in the absence of strength, the only way is to avoid them, and that is what we are doing. Fake life, fake happiness, fake intoxication.
Favorite books of 2022 so far. In January, I went to the bookstore in the market of my area and asked the shopkeeper to give me two Books Of accounts. He asked whether I am taking two for the company. I explained to him that no, I am taking these both the books for myself. He probably didn't understand my point. Maybe that's what his facial expressions were telling me. I too waited for him to ask. Maybe I wasn't sure if he wanted to know or not. After all, he also asked what did I mean by that? I explained to him in detail that, look my friend, we are experts in writing the expenses and profits of our house or our business for many years.
But apart from money, we exchange a lot in our personal life and in business. I will write only those non financial transactions of both in these two books to keep checking the debts and credits in my ideas, actions, commitments, sincerity, love, affection, self, etc. Before he asked anything else, I told him, just to change the point of view, look, how strange it is that all the other books are in your shop, they are to be read. This is the only book that we use for writing. A book for writing. And we both burst out laughing. Taking advantage of the opportunity, I came out of his shop laughing and telling him to write this money in my account, which I pay to him at the end of every month for that months purchases from him.
After taking these two books, I started thinking what other book? I thought today is a work holiday, why not have the whole family have dinner at a wonderful restaurant. With this in mind, I booked a table at one of our favorite restaurants online.
Now, after this the thought came that the design of the walls of the house has to be changed, for which different types of wall paper and paint will have to be done. So I took a wallpaper pattern book and a paint pattern book from the nearby home decorating shop.
There was a huge playground in front of that shop, across the road, in which football was being played. I thought, I would watch this for a while. The match was in a very interesting phase. The last two minutes were left and both the teams were tied. In the last few moments the player of the first team scored a powerful goal. But what? denying that goal, the referee book the player who had scored the goal for a foul. If this goal was correct, then a new record would have been recorded in the name of that player and his name would also have come in the record book. Maybe this is luck.
She means Urmila Bhatt, the admission officer of the school in which we had come to enroll both our children. I had heard a lot about this school. It was also the wish of Mita that we should enroll both our children here. This was the most important work for me after my transfer to this city recently. I was among the top positions in a reputed global bank. There was no problem with the house. A large bungalow with all the furnishings was allotted by the bank, and that too in the middle of the most expensive locality of the city. Everything else was set. The new sessions of the school were starting from next month. That's why early admission was necessary. Children also liked this school. Maybe they both saw something online and found quite positive about it. Mita and the kids, if all three wanted this then what was the problem for me. Anyway, I had found out in the bank also from my staff, everyone had praised this school very much.
"So what do you think? Reading or Writing? Which section would you enroll your children in? I believe you should enroll one of your children in the writing section and the other in the reading section.", Urmila Bhatt, Admissions Officer was trying to convince us.
"What the hell?" I screamed.
"Is the child going to learn only to write, or just to read? Aren't both necessary for every child? We have to teach both to both our children", said Meeta, looking into Urmila Bhatt's eyes very seriously.
But there was no effect on Urmila Bhatt. "It's just not possible", she said.
"You get us to talk to your principal, now", I probably got a little annoyed. It was justified. I didn't know there were a few more shockers in store for me.
"Which principal would you like to meet? From the writing section or from the reading section?" She asked.
I was horrified now. Mita also seemed to be losing her temper. I was like crying out loud in fret now - "I will get your school locked. It's sheer nonsense". "I'll get shut it down". "I'll get shut it down".
Mita was shaking my arm loudly.
"Bhanu, wake up, have a sip of water. Are you dreaming of something horrible? What will you get shut down? What happened? Get up. What are you muttering in your sleep?" It, probably, took her a while to pull me out of that.
When I opened my eyes, I found I was at home. There was nothing like school. I drank two sips of water from the glass that Mita was holding, offering me. She understood that it was having a bad dream. "Okay now? Let's go back to sleep. It's just three o'clock in the night. Take rest. In the morning we have to go to the new school for our kids' admission.
"In which branch?" Readin or Writing?" I wanted to ask Mita.
Instead, I thought it better to sleep quietly.
A few days after admission, when I told Mita and the children about this dream, we all laughed for a long time.
4 things about today's world that amaze me. I am talking about climate change. First of all, as a result of climate change, there is an increase in rainfall in the monsoon regions of the world. As a result, problems like floods, landslides and land erosion are arising at a faster pace. These are increasing continuously and exponentially. Second, the water quality is continuously declining. The supply of fresh water, which was already a serious problem being faced by the world, is now causing serious side effects. Despite knowing that there's no life without water, we kept taking it casually. Third, the problem of abnormal distribution of rainfall has arisen due to climate change and we are facing it day by day. If we see in India itself, we have to face situations like floods and droughts at the same time at different places.
Different kind of extremities are happening at the same time. While there is a flood situation in Northeast India, cyclone conditions continue to occur in the eastern coastal areas. While all this is happening on the one hand, on the other hand, a dreadful situation of drought arises in certain other parts. All this is not happening by itself. We are the biggest reason. Fourth, we ourselves are the main cause of climate change. We are the ones who have been betraying nature and its resources for decades. This is the reason that the change in climate is happening slowly over many years and we kept ignoring it blindly. We never stopped taking undue advantages. Trees have been continuously cut down. Sometimes, to use the forest for farming or building houses, sometimes, for urbanization and industrialization.
What nature gave was never less for us, provided we made good and sensible use of it. But, due to its misuse, its effect started falling in the climate as well. The number of cloudbursts has also increased. If we see today, most of the human deaths in the world are happening due to natural disasters. No one else is responsible for this, we are ourselves. Waste of precious water, cutting of trees, increasing of harmful wastes in rivers and oceans, and so on, are all the consequences that we are facing now due to mistreating nature. Today, the situation is such that we are in a condition where there is a well on one side and a ditch on the other side. In the blind race for indiscriminate progress, we have in a way raped our nature and natural resources and still are living shamelessly without any guilt.
I found a message in a bottle on the beach that is very much opposite to the Queen's Palace in Den Haag. The name of the beach is Scheveningen Beach. Another name for Den Haag is The Hague. The Hague is a calm and beautiful city on the North Sea coast of the western Netherlands. The life stops here after 7.30pm. Its Gothic-style Binnenhof (or Inner Court) complex is the seat of the Dutch parliament. 16th-century Noordeinde Palace here is the king’s workplace. The city is also home to the U.N.’s International Court of Justice, headquartered in the Peace Palace, and the International Criminal Court. I was staying at Tulip Hotel that was quite close by to this beach. You can go by walk or take a tram. It's around 2 kilometers from that hotel. It is very interesting to know why is it called Den Haag.
The official name Den Haag from Des Graven Hage, which means “the counts' hedge” and refers to the fact that Dutch noblemen once used the land for hunting. Well, that was my first visit to tht beach. A number of people of various ages were sitting in a row on the wall adjacent to the beach with their fishing nets dropped in the sea waters hunting for fish for their dinners. Before getting myself into the waters for a quick swim, I climbed up the huge tower situated on the beach. From the top, it was a great panoramic view of the city. After coming down, I jumped into the sea and while swimming, I found a bottle that was coming towards me. Curiosity sake, I came back on the beach holding that bottle with a tight cork on it.
Inside, I could see a rolled paper and I eagerly pulled out that paper ensuring it doesn't get torn. Unfolding it showed me a wonderful message, "Discrimination due to age is one of the great tragedies of modern life. The desire to work and be useful is what makes life worth living, and to be told your efforts are not needed because you are the wrong age is a crime." - Johnny Ball. That was amazing and so insightful. Life stops only when we stop flowing with its dynamics. It happens only if we surrender or other's discrimination towards it makes it happen when we start aging. That was my golden period of youth and I was there in Netherlands on an official project. This quote just settled smoothly in my heart and mind immediately and that's when I decided I will never let anybody narrate me, or rather dictate me at my later years what I am capable of doing and what I'm not capable of doing.
I promised myself nobody will be able to play with my knowledge or emotions by means of any kind of discrimination. I started planning accordingly to ensure I stay my boss all the time, especially during those later years when age discrimination begins. That's why I can say very confidently whatever you do in your profession, wherever you are in you growth journey, never surrender to any kind of discrimination or similar kind of pressures from others, be it anybody. Don't allow anybody to drift you away from your mainstream life and its charms and challenges.
Childhood and discrimination had started to form an unbreakable relationship as soon as I was born. Everything that is taught to us in our childhood, it is not necessary that it should be right and just. Actually, right and wrong is also a debatable issue. We always believe that if one is right then the other must be wrong. Between husband and wife, siblings, friends, neighbors, nations, the same thing has happened and keeps happening. If my point of view tells me one thing is correct, then it is not necessary that others should also look at that thing from the same point of view. He may have a different aspect of his own. Just like this, the basis of my childhood discrimination began as early as I started understanding the things around, or may be much before that.
This is what it looks like, this is what it doesn't looks like, form a kind of base to start judging people and things. An immature mind always gets biased because of other's biases. For instance, you only have to be friends with boys because you are a boy. Stay away from boys with weaker mind than you in the class, otherwise you will become weak in studies. Don't talk to that boy at all, he doesn't know anything. Every elder in the family has to be given full respect and everyone has to live up to their expectations. Does it lead always to right path? Doesn't it spoil young minds. Many times, it came to my mind that if the mind had not come under all these assumptions and temptations of others since childhood and had learned in a natural way without any pressure, then perhaps I would have become the owner of a much stronger personality later on.
This process goes on continuously in every family. From one generation to the second, second to third, third to fourth, and so on. We realize, but we never stop. There is no end to it. After growing up, I definitely remember these things. Had I not been taught this wrong thing? If only I had been shown its true form.? If that were the case? If that was not the case? But even after realizing all this, do we become right? Do we ever put a full stop to child discrimination? Do we ever seriously think about it and take our first step towards unbiasing the biased minds?
Many campuses across the globe, specifically in the United States and Europe, are fully supporting LGBT+ community by becoming inclusive institutions. The faculty cards issued show that the wearer is a member or ally of the LGBT+ community. For instance, Susan Rosser, a synthetic biologist at the University of Edinburgh, is a lesbian. She is also the director of the Edinburgh Mammalian Synthetic Biology Research Centre. This is a clear example of No Discrimination. Susan Rosser develops tools in synthetic biology and has an expertise in using techniques like genome editing and synthetic transcription factors. She is happy for the changed environment for betterment and inclusiveness. Like her, there are a number of other LGBT+ academics who are living their lives there and progressing well in their careers. This indicates clearly that society there has changed. Policies are well in place for any kind of abuse, bullying, or harassment.
Institutions have started taking such incidents more seriously. Nathan Shaner, who is a gay, finds cities like San Diego having improved a lot to become safe havens. Nathan is a flourophore developer in the Department of Neurosciences, University of California. But still one needs to be cautious and careful, he opines. He joined Oberlin College for undergraduation after confirming it was going to be a safe place for him. He ensured there's no discrimination. While many universities highlight inclusivity and no discrimination but yet they're having no clarity towards LGBT+ community. Any potential student, fellow, or faculty applicant would always try to get a realistic sense of a university’s inclusion practices to ensure no discrimination towards LGBT+ community. For that purpose, usually, the best way of to look into the LGBT+ community networks and check for inclusive human policies in that regard. And that's very important too.
Stephen Wallace, a gay, is a senior lecturer at University of Edinburgh holds a UK Research & Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship. This Fellowship is awarded to a select few early-stage researchers for high-risk projects. All this success would not have been possible without getting an inclusive and no-discrimination environment around them. For more insights read this article by Vivien Marx.
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