Monday, September 29, 2014

Contemplating duality



Though the river is vast, a little sip quenches your thirst. Though Earth has so much food, just a little bite satisfies your hunger. Accept a tiny bit of everything in life - that will bring you fulfillment.

Yes humans as they live and breathe are supposed to perpetrate their love and kindness to their brethren, yet the world is so tilted along its axis that it is not even funny. The rich are getting richer, the poor become poorer, and this imbalance is the one which pierces the heart of human nature at its very core.

You may be an atheist, a theist or a goddamn “I don’t give two fucks”, but everyone born on this ball of dirt has the same blood running through their veins, so why is there an insatiable hunger to have more than the next person. Why the burning greed for riches, it has always been human nature to destroy and pillage, strike the one in your way, but why not move around them, it may be the hard way, but it is the better way.

All throughout the world we see such contrasting things that it makes one retch seeing such atrocities committed by those who call themselves humans but are so far from the truth it is not even funny.

People of America are prosperous, but the neighboring countries still live under the shadow of dictators and tyrants, If you go further south we have the lawless South American continent with their drug cartels and various other crime rings.

In Colombia, one person was murdered every 10 minutes in 2005. In Mexico, armed gangs of rival drug smugglers have been fighting it out with one another, thus creating new hazards in rural areas. Crime is extremely high in all of the major cities in Brazil. Wealthy citizens have had to provide for their own security. In large parts of Rio de Janeiro, armed criminal gangs are said to be in control. The city of São Paulo is also very dangerous. Crime statistics were high in El Salvador, Guatemala and Venezuela during 1996. The police have not been able to handle the work load and the military have been called in to assist in these countries. There was a very distinct crime wave happening in Latin America. The city that currently topped the list of the world's most violent cities is San Pedro Sula in Honduras, leading various media sources to label it the "murder capital of the world."


Moving to the other side of the Atlantic we have Europe and Russia. They themselves are embroiled in their own issues with the Ukraine civil war and the checking of the Russian insurgence. Life in Ukraine is hell for those beleaguered civilians, the demands of the few at the top have always been the cornerstone for world politics, they may say that it is for the people, by the people and from the people, but if you do go and ask those people what they think about their position, a majority will always say that the movement doesn't concern them.

Going further south we have poor, poor Africa, and I mean it literally and figuratively, people from this part of the world suffer the most, the continent at this moment can be considered hell on earth. There are civil wars, famines and unnecessary cruelty heaped up on the local populace both by the government and the so called rebels, a child born there is trapped in a vicious cycle of hatred, vengeance and eventually a tragic death. A child should always have love heaped upon it, not hunger, hatred and death. But for those unfortunate souls to be born in these cursed lands their staple diet is hunger and deep uninterrupted rest is death.


The middle east is another parody of an excuse for us to look upon and laugh at our own stupidity, war waged upon the name of god, terrorism in the name of revolution, it has been the metaphoric place of residence for the war gods of all the pantheons, it has been the battleground for nearly three to four decades and by the winds of next decade I can only see it intensifying. The Syrian conflict has been growing in intensity and scope for more than two years, with the United Nations estimating more than 100,000 dead and millions displaced.

India and china always have been at each other’s throat on territory encroachment, Japan does not concern itself with such trivial matters like global terrorism when they have to get the next batch of work to finish in the time it takes to contemplate such inane thoughts.


So why go through all this trouble and for what greed, lust, envy, gluttony, pride, or wrath.


Love gives birth to sacrifice, which brings forth hatred and lets you know pain and this pain ignites the flame for vengeance.

Why do people do the things they do? What are the seeds of war?

Ideals, Religion, Freedom, Truth, Grudges, Love and Some just because they can, your reasons don’t matter at all, any trivial thing that motivates people to action will eventually breed war.


But as humans capable of such depravities, we are also capable of wondrous things so why don’t we do that instead. This is the question that every man and woman has to ask themselves, this is the breaking point of our society, if another war breaks out that is the end for us and our fragile selves.

Love more than you hate, give more than you hoard, laugh more than you sneer, live life the way you perceive yourself, you need not be a Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King, but be yourself .


                                                                     “BE HUMAN”


MAHESHWARAN M
30/9/2014
Chennai, India

Sunday, September 28, 2014

IGNORANCE AND OVERCOMING




Darkness,darkness and darkness everywhere
Once again,ignorance prevailed over me
Unaware of  universe,Unaware of life 
Unaware of mystery and Unaware of nature.

I often ask myself
Why, why am I so ignorant?
Never wanted to know the laws of nature
Never searched for the light
Why, why am I oblivious to it all?

There might be some purpose,
Purpose for existence,
and some responsibility,
Responsibility to find that purpose

I am blind, eyes devoid of light
Everything is dark,dark around me
I am unconscious,consciousness with no sense
Everything is numb,numb around me

No,it's enough,I can't see no more
Awake,I should be awake
Awake from ignorance,Awake from darkness
Light,I should follow the eternal light
To come out of this unawareness
To find the reason,to find the  truth...

"Ignorance"
@abhibeing
18th may,2014

ABHIYAN PAUDEL
   9/29/2014
   Chennai, India


Life after death: I see my life in him and in her!


 Let’s start with my birth. When I first stepped on this earth, I did not  know any religion; neither I knew any country. I was born without any sense of religion and allegiance to any nation. I wasn’t bounded by any social dogmas. I was free. I knew only one thing that I exist. To cry when hunger arises in my stomach and learn quickly whatever my momma and daddy teaches me is what evolution instilled in me mentally.

Later, I grew up in the society which crowned me religion; nation too. Without my knowledge, I was taken away from my real existence by my school, by my parents, by the media and the society. They taught the vile notion that my religion, my people and my country are greater and nobler than any other religion or nation. Thus they instilled a malevolent spirit of "us and them" in me without my consent!

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU TEACH YOUR CHILDREN!


When my consciousness became aware of the conspiracy which was webbed onto my life, I dropped my fake identity then and there. I have a last wish to meet my real existence once again which was with me when I was born. How I found my heart's awakening to the unadulterated truths of existence, I will write about it in a later post. Nothing is permanent in this world. Having said that, I’m also one of nothing; I’ll also die one day. Death is inevitable until we find the day when we could successfully transfer our conscience into a machine like a robot.

A few of us atleast have grown comfortable with the idea that death awaits us all. But I don’t want my death be mystified into some kind of a ceremony in the name of any religion. I don’t want my dead body to be burnt; I don’t want it to be buried. I want my death to be someone’s life. I want to be alive even  after I die.

Alive? You retort, "Is life after death possible?! Are you crazy?" I say, yeah it’s possible. There are millions of people who have eyes but they can’t see the abundance and infinite beauty of this world. There are people who long to survive but their body organs don’t allow. I see my life after death in these people. I don’t want to burn my after- life in the flame of religion. I don’t want to make my life after death turned into ashes. If I donate my organs, at least people deprived of these essences can live their life they imagine.

Now, what about the body? My dead body can be source of immense knowledge to the aspiring students who want to dedicate their life to save people’s life. I’ll donate my dead body to some medical college. In this way, I think I can reconnect once again with my existence; I can live life after death; I can help this world in small way. Living life at its fullest is realizing its basic code of humanism i.e. sharing and caring. Reach out and serve people who need you, people who cannot do anything to you. Instill in yourself a desire to change the world in your own little way whichever way you can, when you fail don't worry too much try again, the success shall come one day!

I'll end this by quoting the words of a great man I happen to be friends with on fb. "Respect people who could do nothing for you in life. That what really defines you. Bring them up if you can, if not materially by your words, vision and personality. Ideally the first. I spend hours in pursuit of this, it gives me immense satisfaction, reaching out." - Iqbal Latif.


This is my first blog post here on InquisitiveApe! Hope ya liked it.

With regards,
Abhiyan Paudel
28/9/2014
Chennai.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Napoleon's invasion of Russia and how it faltered exactly 202 years ago this day!

How the tide turned for Napoleon Bonaparte 202 years ago in Russia just like how it would turn for Hitler after 124 years…


At an otherwise inconsequential little village near Moscow, two of the largest armies of the era met on September 7th, 1812. The French army of almost 200,000 commanded by Napoleon would engage a Russian force of some 150,000 under Kutuzov and achieve a tactical victory, driving the Russians from the field. Prior to this, the Russian army had been fighting a well organized strategic withdrawal, Kutuzov daring the wroth of the Emperor and the displeasure of his fellow generals to keep the Russian army from engaging the French.

Kutuzov did not want to have a battle at Borodino, but ultimately was pressured into fighting by his emperor, who, along with the Russian nobility, felt that giving up Moscow without a fight would be seen as unforgivable by history and the Russian people. So it was that Borodino became one of the great names of history.

Ultimately, though, despite his capture of Moscow, the engagement was not the victory Napoleon wanted, for the Russian army remained in the field. Napoleon waited for a month, expecting the Russians to surrender. As temperatures dropped in October, Napoleon made the decision to retreat. The Russians constantly harried Napoleon with partisans and light cavalry, especially the famous Cossacks, whom the French army came to dread.



Why did Napoleon fail?

The retreat of the Russian Army was entirely planned. Kutuzov led Napoleon along an intentionally chosen route which avoided major cities, like Kiev. The route was stripped during Napoleon's advance and, when it was the French in retreat, Kutuzov forced them to take the same route. The Russians, being in friendly territory, had access to supplies, while the French, being DEEP in enemy territory, had basically nothing.

 Napoleon refused to use the Guards units when he could’ve exploited the Russian defeat at the center. 18,500 fresh elite units could have sealed the Russian retreat. By then both sides were exhausted but the French still had reserves and their artillery was dominating battlefield. The cream of the grand armee was not used but worse lost considerable numbers in the retreat. While it's true that the French guard was uncommitted, most of the Russian lifeguard infantry seems to have been in reserve as well. I can only find accounts of their cavalry and the jaeger regiment engaging in any fighting. By all accounts, the Russian lifeguard was VERY good, debatable the equal of the French. Their cavalry clashed on several occasions, but it seems that the Old Guard Grenadiers never had a chance to match themselves up against the Preobrazhenski Lifeguard...although most likely they would have stubbornly wiped each other out.

Aftermath


By the time he emerged from Russia, the once half-million strong 'Grand Armee' had been reduced to fewer than ten thousand men. 98% casualties that is! Napoleon's "Allies" in Austria and Prussia were preparing to betray him, and the Russian army was in hot pursuit. As he withdrew back to France, the largest battle of the era would take place at Leipzig, an apocalyptic engagement with some half-million troops involved on all sides and nearly a hundred thousand casualties.

The campaign would finally come to a close with the occupation of Paris, Alexander I leading the combined coalition force into the city with his fellow monarchs at the head of the Russian lifeguard cavalry. It was clear from the start that neither Prussia nor Austria was willingly sending soldiers along, and their officers, at least, were probably fully aware that they intended to stab Napoleon in the back the first chance they got. 
The funny thing is, Napoleon lost far more men getting to Moscow than he did during the retreat. Cholera was a heavy contributor, but people often discount the holding actions Kutusov executed employing (again) partisan tactics and light cavalry. It should be said, of course, that he did later link up with the northern army he had sent to St. Petersburg, which had fared a bit better, and brought his numbers up to around 40,000 men. There were even more survivors, but they were primarily Prussians and Austrians who had been straggling since they really didn't want to fight the Russians, so they generally aren't counted as 'survivors of NAPOLEON'S army
."

Read More: 

This infographic has six variables on it: location (x&y), time, the size of Napoleon’s army, temperature and direction. Without a word, the horror of Napoleon’s failed march is immediately obvious. This is the Minard chart, which tracks the French military losses during Napoleon's march into, and retreat from, Prussia/Moscow. The chart was created by French civil engineer Charles Joseph Minard. It is apparently considered the one of the best designed graphs ever - it gives a very clear depiction of the epic disaster of Napoleon's Prussian campaign.  The link has an interactive version of the chart that you drag to different points and see the level of Napoleon's forces during each stage of the retreat. You can see the numbers shown in the graph for the march to Moscow (400k left France), but the interactive part only tracks the losses for the retreat back to France.

"Diary of a Napoleonic foot Soldier"

This is, as the name suggests, a book written by a German who participated in the French attack. It's not well known, but in many cases Napoleon's armies consisted of soldiers from the various countries he'd either allied with or conquered. In this case, the author (Jakob Walter) was a German who served in Napoleon's "Grande Armee". He survived the campaign and devastating retreat and left on one of the few contemporary accounts of what it was to serve as a soldier in the Napoleonic wars. Highly recommended...
There are two mini-series that I'm aware of, and three movies. I suggest the 1966 Soviet-produced version, which is seven hours long and had a cast in the tens of thousands, including a number of Red Army personnel who played soldiers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k97nvOSBDnk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYTVxPuK814
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLovWXcjiZI
Of course, those are just the action scenes. You've also got the 11 minute long cuts where two people sit and make awkward small talk. You've got to take the good with the bad in Russian films :P

The Germans built a memorial for the battle at Leipzig.
It's called "Monument to the Battle of the Nations", in german "Völkerschlachtdenkmal". It looks really impressive, from the outside and inside.

> A French Commander Michel Nay --- he was called the "Bravest of the Brave" --- after Napoleons downfall he was arrested and sentenced to death. He refused to wear a blindfold and was allowed the right to give the order to fire, reportedly saying: "Soldiers, when I give the command to fire, fire straight at my heart. Wait for the order. It will be my last to you. I protest against my condemnation. I have fought a hundred battles for France, and not one against her ... Soldiers, fire!"

Some suitable music for the occasion.. with both the Marseillese and the Tsar's hymn, and cannons!