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DEHRADUN: After innumerable performances at
[national and international events](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/national-and-international-events)
, she has learnt to tame the butterflies in her stomach. But, on Wednesday evening, when Basanti Devi Bisht, only female jagar folk singer of Uttrakhand, spoke to TOI, minutes before going for a performance at Raj Bhawan in Doon, one could sense
[several emotions in her voice](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/several-emotions-in-her-voice)
After being shortlisted several times, 63-year-old Bisht has finally been picked for the prestigious
, the countryâs fourth highest civilian award, in art and music section.
âItâs the divine and magical â
â that has inspired me always,â she said.
The jagar form of singing is a way of invoking deities, which is traditionally done by men. But, Bisht broke the practice and today is a well-known voice, and is trying to preserve this traditional form of singing.
What makes Bishtâs story more inspiring is the fact that she began her singing career in her late 40s, though she had been singing since she was a young girl. Born in Luani village in Chamoli, she grew up listening to her motherâs jagar songs. âI always sang along with my mother, who sang as she went about her chores. The many fairs and festivals in the village only made my love for this form of music grow deep.â
Interestingly, her professional career began only in her 40s as she got busy with her family, although she kept her passion of singing alive. Once she got married and moved to Chandigarh with her husband, it was a chance meeting with a fourth-class employee-turned-music professor that inspired Bisht to learn singing professionally. With her husbandâs encouragement, she began learning classical music at Pracheen Kala Kendra in Chandigarh.
âAfter she returned to Dehradun, she began singing professionally,â shares her son Pradyuman, âand is today a grade-one performer on All India Radio.â
Dressed in her striking jewellery, large âtikaâ that runs from her nose to her forehead, and traditional âpakhulaâ (a black shawl drape worn like a dress in several areas of Uttarakhand), Bisht is photographed as much for appearance in public performances as her singing.
It was not easy to go against the norm of singing jagar as a woman, but Bisht says she followed her heart as ânot only does singing make me feel closer to my roots, it helps promote the culture of Uttarakhand. I feel one with this land of divine.â
For the ones who have heard her singing, Bishtâs voice has a mysterious quality that often leaves audiences hooked. Interestingly, her audience also involves listeners from various parts of the world. A 2013 performance by her at Woodstock School, Mussoorie, as part of âThe Pitt in the Himalayas Programmeâ of students from University of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania (USA), had seen students listening to her with keen attention.
Dr D R Purohit, a well-known authority on Uttarakhandâs art and culture, says, âBasanti Devi Bishtâs nomination is a great news for culture enthusiasts of the state. It will help give a boost to several others.â
Bisht will be the 36th Padma Shri awardee from the hill state.
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Today Apple announced it will train all Apple Developer Academy students and mentors on technologies and tools that take advantage of artificial intelligence (AI). Apple Developer Academy alumni will also have the opportunity to take part in this training. The new core curriculum will be provided to thousands of students and alumni across 18 Developer Academies in six countries as the academy continues to increase opportunities for developers, designers, and entrepreneurs looking to embark on careers in the growing iOS app economy and beyond.
Dedicated curriculum on AI joins the academy's program as a foundational skill, extending essential competencies in coding, professional skills, design, and marketing that are offered across the world and aim to help students learn important skills to contribute to their local businesses and communities. Apple Developer Academy curriculum also incorporates Apple's values throughout coursework, encouraging students to design inclusively and make a positive impact in the world.
"At Apple, we see coding as a universal language and believe in empowering developers, creators, and entrepreneurs across the world with tools and technologies that will allow them to create phenomenal experiences," said Susan Prescott, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. "With the introduction of curriculum dedicated to AI and other new technologies, we're excited to see what students will build to share with their communities and the world."
Beginning this fall, every Apple Developer Academy student will benefit from custom-built curriculum that teaches them how to build, train, and deploy machine learning models across Apple devices. Courses will include the fundamentals of AI technologies and frameworks; Core ML and its ability to deliver fast performance on Apple devices; and guidance on how to build and train AI models from the ground up. Students will learn from guided curriculum and project-based assignments that include assistance from hundreds of mentors and more than 12,000 academy alumni worldwide.
With the introduction of new Apple technologies and APIs announced at WWDC24, students will also have even more access to tools that empower them to build exceptional projects and apps. This includes Xcode 16, which sets a new standard for developer productivity. These features and performance enhancements also include Swift Assist, which serves as a companion for all of a developer's coding tasks, and easily allows students to explore new frameworks and experiment with new ideas. Additionally, Swift 6 introduces new capabilities aimed at enhancing code clarity and making concurrent programming easier.
Apple is part of every stage of the student journey, whether it's exploring the fundamentals of app development in Apple's global Foundations program, improving their skills at Apple Developer Academies, or taking their apps to the next level.
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Middle East Peace
Staff & Board
Our Grant Philosophy
Israel's War on Gaza & Escalations Everywhere
Massafer Yatta // South Hebron Hills
IHRA // Redefining Antisemitism to Quash Criticism of Israel
Israel's Designation of Palestinian Human Rights Organizations as "Terrorist"
2024 Congressional Briefing Series
Past Programs (Webinars & Podcasts)
Podcasts, Webinars, & Event Videos
Top News from Israel & Palestine: Weekly Publication
Sorry, no posts match your criteria.
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MUMBAI: Former mayor Sudhir
, one of Balasaheb Thackeray's trusted lieutenants who took the Shiv
's message to the burgeoning Maharashtrian middle-class of the city five decades ago, passed away on Thursday. He was 82.
Joshi was admitted to Jaslok hospital last week following post-Covid health issues, it was learnt. He was former CM Manohar Joshi's nephew.Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray declared a state funeral on Friday for the former minister. Joshi is survived by son, daughter-in-law and grand children.
The pre-2000 generation of Shiv Sena activists remembered Joshi for his organisational skills and ability to connect with the grassroot Sainiks from Mumbai's underbelly. "For countless Sena workers Joshisaheb was 'Sudhirbhau', an endearment he coveted till the last," said Anil Desai, a Joshi protege and MP.
First elected to the BMC in 1968, Joshi was in his late twenties when Balasaheb chose him for the mayoral polls in 1973. Although the Shiv Sena was short of a majority on the floor of the house, it won the prestigious election and Joshi earned the honour of being Mumbai's youngest first citizen.
"Soft-spoken and low-profile, Sudhirbhau believed in working quietly for the party. He was easily accessible to sainiks. If there was a crisis in the neighbourhood one could ring his doorbell even at three in the morning," said Desai.
Joshi groomed young Shiv Sena functionaries such as Anil Desai, Subhash Desai and Narayan Rane, to name a few. "Sudhirbhau shaped our career as elected representatives and as Sena karyakarta," added Desai.
Impressed by Balasaheb's son-of-the-soil call in the 1970s, Joshi joined the Sena and soon got down to mobilising the Marathi 'manoos' for the party's cause. He led for years the Sena's white-collar employees' union Sthaneeya Lokadhikar Samiti with tenacity and tact. Soon, the Samiti became the Sena's powerhouse as it consolidated its base in the banking and aviation sector, and the Union government undertakings, attracting hordes of Maharashtrian graduates into its fold. Many of them were put in charge of the party's poll machinery during subsequent elections, thanks to Joshi's leadership qualities. He was elected to the state legislative council too. Joshi was connected with several educational, sports and cultural bodies in Dadar, his political bastion.
When the Sena-BJP assumed office after the keenly contested 1995 assembly elections, Manohar Joshi inducted him into his cabinet as revenue minister, then made him education minister.
A major car accident in 1997 cut short Sudhirbhau's flourishing political career.
Union minister Narayan Rane, CM Uddhav Thackeray, ministers Aditya Thackeray, Subhash Desai and Eknath Shinde, mayor Kishori Pednekar, Saamna executive editor Sanjay Raut, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and governor Koshyari, among others, paid glowing tributes to Joshi.
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Celebrity Celebrity Relationships Celebrity Engagements Jessica Alba Engaged! The mom-to-be and boyfriend Cash Warren are set to exchange vows, her rep tells PEOPLE By Julie Jordan Julie Jordan Julie Jordan is an Editor at Large for PEOPLE. She has been with the brand for 25 years, writing cover stories and features and managing special issues including the Beautiful Issue and Sexiest Man Alive. People Editorial Guidelines Published on December 27, 2007 03:45PM EST Mom-to-be Jessica Alba was spotted over the Christmas holiday with a rock on her left ring finger – and the rumors are true: She and boyfriend Cash Warren are engaged, her rep confirms to PEOPLE. "I can confirm that they are engaged," says publicist Brad Cafarelli. Earlier this month, the couple announced to PEOPLE that they are expecting a baby. Alba, 26, has been dating Warren, 28, since the fall of 2004, after they met on the set of her movie, The Fantastic Four, on which Warren was a director's assistant. Alba has also starred in Sin City and the recent Awake.
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Oxford Atlas of the World
The only world atlas updated annually, guaranteeing that users will find the most current geographic information, Oxford's Atlas of the World is the most authoritative atlas on the market. Full of crisp, clear cartography of urban areas and virtually uninhabited landscapes around the globe, the Atlas is filled with maps of cities and regions at carefully selected scales that give a striking view of the Earth's surface. It opens with a fascinating look at world statistics, a six-page special on "Land and Maritime Boudaries," and satellite images of earth, including 8-10 stunning new images sourced from NASA's latest Earth Observation Satellite, Landsat 8, launched in 2013. The extraordinarily extensive front matter continues with a "Gazetteer of Nations" that has been comprehensively checked and updated to include recent economic and political changes. The 48-page "Introduction to World Geography" is beautifully illustrated with tables and graphs on numerous topics of geographic significance, such as climate change, world religions, employment, industry, and a new 2-page feature tourism and travel, including information on air travel and major airports, the importance of tourism to the economy, and tourist earnings and spending. The hundreds of city and world maps that form the body of the Atlas have been thoroughly updated for this 25th edition.
Providing the finest global coverage available, the Atlas of the World is not only the best-selling volume of its size and price, but also the benchmark by which all other atlases are measured.
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Chameli Devi awardee, Anubha Bhonsle on her experiences in journalism, calamity reporting, deadlines and more.
"A journalist's first obligation is to truth… Being impartial is not what journalism demands. The critical step in pursuing truth is not neutrality but independence." This statement was made by Anubha Bhonsle, CNN IBN senior editor in her acceptance speech after receiving the Chameli Devi Jain award. The award recognises the work being done by women journalists in India.
Bhonsle's name was shortlisted for the award along with other journalists like Neha Dixit, Priyanka Dubey and former Tehelka journalist Rana Ayyub. A jury comprising Jansatta Editor Om Thanvi, Indian Express columnist Coomi Kapoor and former chief secretary of Delhi Shailaja Chandra chose Bhonsle as the recipient because of her "sensitive and compassionate" coverage of the aftermath of the Muzaffarnagar riots, the encephalitis outbreak in Eastern Uttar Pradesh and the Uttarakhand floods.
Newslaundry interviewed Bhonsle about the state of journalism today, how deadlines become a hindrance in telling the stories that matter and whether impartiality and neutrality is the core principle of journalism.
1. You won the Ramnath Goenka award for your documentary 'Paisa, Power and Politics' and you have also been appreciated for your Citizen Journalist programme and your coverage of the Uttarakhand flood. What subjects do you most enjoy reporting on and why?
Anubha Bhonsle: It's tough to bracket journalism as political, human interest or social. It's often we journalists who make these classifications. 'Paisa, Power and Politics' was a work of reportage on the links between those who fight elections and those who fund it, it traversed a web of issues of all kind-political and social. I have often kept people at the centre of my stories and often this makes the work we do more meaningful and real – not just to us, but to those who consume it as well. Many stories, whether political or social, go back to where the money trail is. I learnt early on-everything that seems simple is complex and everything that is complex can be made simple.
2. You were the first journalist to reach Kedarnath during the Uttarakhand flood coverage. How does a reporter make sure he/she doesn't "sell" tragedy, which often news channels tend to do in such situations?
Anubha Bhonsle: The "first" bit in times of tragedy is frankly a little disturbing but a reporter on the ground and to some extent a television reporter more than a print one, is never trying to come second. So yes I reached Kedarnath first, but it was a mix of luck, some quick thinking, weather gods being kind and just some good old persisting. I had very little time as the idea was to give the first independent account of the area and bring the first voices of people who had by then spent almost five days with very little food and water. In the face of tragedy and adversity, if one can just maintains one's centre-calm, humanity and presence of mind, the thought of "milking a tragedy" does not arise. It was broadcast news' unrelenting coverage in a tough terrain and very complex logistics that brought the full import of the tragedy. On a different note, in times like these the reporter has to make sure that they don't become a liability for rescue teams etc which I thought was a crisis I saw at times.
3. Recently you shared a letter written to you by representatives of the Association Of The Victims Of Uphaar Tragedy lamenting how the judgment related to the case went unreported. How, as a journalist, do you strike a balance between stories that need to be told and stories that are more immediate and "news worthy"?
Anubha Bhonsle: Neelam and Shekhar Krishanmoorthy wrote that letter to me. I was honestly ashamed that we did not lay enough emphasis on a battle that has gone on for a decade and a half and a fight that is for a larger good. That balance you mention is an everyday battle, to try and move away from event-based coverage or discussions to real reportage. The latter is almost missing. In this particular case, we did cover the same but tragically it never went on air. I think politics and the Gujarat incident with Aam Aadmi Party took over that day. Frankly, I would have thought there was space for both. But that day we obviously made a wrong call.
4. When you look back at your journalistic career, do you ever feel you should have done a story but couldn't do it for some reason?
Anubha Bhonsle: Many a times, a lack of time, a lack of understanding, not being able to reach the area, deadlines, just physical exhaustion have made me miss many stories that I have wanted to do or areas that I wanted to cover.
5. What do you think is wrong with news, particularly TV news in India today? And is there any one reason to feel optimistic about the future of this industry?
Anubha Bhonsle: Many things are wrong with the industry and with journalists. I make the following comments as observations and not judgments on individuals.
And I quote in parts from what I said in my acceptance speech.
1. A journalist's first obligation is to the truth. Truth it seems is too complicated for us to pursue. We have forgotten that being impartial or neutral is not a core principle of journalism. Impartiality was never what was meant by objectivity. The critical step in pursuing truth is not neutrality but independence.
2. The media industry faces much scrutiny over corporate influence, dumbing down, noise. And I give them all importance, but even more to intellectual laziness and a lack of rigour in our work.
3. As journalists we know what is required to retain our independence. Except for causes that are directly related to our profession, we don't join organisations or serve on boards. We don't sign petitions. We report on protest marches, we don't join them. By becoming journalists we have given up our right to be partisans.
4. There is much to feel optimistic about because there are many who realise all this and more.
6. Do you think the advent of social media is influencing the way mainstream media functions?
Anubha Bhonsle: It has greatly. Positive and negative. Social media has forced mainstream media to watch themselves more carefully. There is immediate feedback to good and bad. Social media has also helped mainstream media pick up stories which they had left on their way. The noise, the abuse and a lack of nuance along with a lack of understanding for processes bothers me.
7. Who among your contemporaries do you think are doing work you appreciate? Which news channels and newspapers/ magazines do you like watching and reading?
Anubha Bhonsle: I admire the work that's being done by many freelancers, without the support structure of an organisation and institution.Neha Dixit for one. I admire my former colleague,Prarthana Gahilote and her incisive political reportage. Sreenivasan Jain and Truth vs Hype is what journalism is capable of each day-everyday. Same with Ravish Kumar on NDTV India. Both are friends and former colleagues and I admire their work greatly. I have always found great insights in my colleague Rupashree Nanda's work. I have followed Rahul Pandita's work for ages and it has helped me grow immensely as a journalist. I watch a lot of Al Jazeera and read almost all mainstream English papers and magazines. I find Caravan and the stories on Yahoo Originals very engaging.
8. Any advice for budding journalists?
Anubha Bhonsle: Work hard, remember everything that seems simple is complex and everything that seems complex is simple. And be fit.
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There are significant advantages to a qanat water delivery system including: (1) putting the majority of the channel underground reduces water loss from seepage and evaporation; (2) since the system is fed entirely by gravity, the need for pumps is eliminated; and (3) it exploits groundwater as a renewable resource. The third benefit warrants additional discussion.
The rate of flow of water in a qanat is controlled by the level of the underground water table. Thus a qanat cannot cause significant drawdown in an aquifer because its flow varies directly with the subsurface water supply. When properly maintained, a qanat is a sustainable system that provides water indefinitely. The self-limiting feature of a qanat, however, is also its biggest drawback when compared to the range of technologies available today.
Water flows continuously in a qanat, and although some winter water is used for domestic use, much larger amounts of irrigation water are needed during the daylight hours of the spring and summer growing seasons. Although this continuous flow is frequently viewed as wasteful, it can, in fact, be controlled. During periods of low water use in fall and winter, water-tight gates can seal off the qanat opening damming up and conserving groundwater for periods of high demand. In spring and summer, night flow may be stored in small reservoirs at the mouth of the qanat and held there for daytime use.
Click on the image for a larger version.
In countries like Syria, qanats are rapidly drying up. In a recent exercise, three sites were chosen for renovation; each still had significant quantities of flowing water. The selection of these sites was based on a national survey conducted in 2001. The renovation of one the three (Drasiah qanat of Dmeir) was concluded in the spring of 2002.
Lessons learned from pilot projects like the one in Syria led to the development of renovation criteria which included: (i) a stable groundwater level, (ii) a consistent underground tunnel construction; (iii) social cohesion in the community using the qanat; (iv) existing system of water rights and regulation; and (vi) willingness of the water users to contribute. Cleaning of an ancient qanat is not an easy exercise. Not only is the work technically difficult, but also the social organization associated with a qanat has major implications on its future viability (Wessels, 2000).
The precise dating of qanats is difficult, unless their construction was accompanied by documentation or, occasionally, by inscriptions. Most of the evidence we have for the age of qanats is circumstantial; a result of their association with the ceramics or ruins of ancient sites whose chronologies have been established through archeological investigation, or the qanat technology being introduced long ago by people whose temporal pattern of diffusion is known.
Written records leave little doubt that ancient Iran (Persia) was the birthplace of the qanat. As early as the 7th century BC, the Assyrian king Sargon II reported that during a campaign in Persia he had found an underground system for tapping water. His son, King Sennacherib, applied the "secret" of using underground conduits in building an irrigation system around Nineveh.
During the period 550-331 BC, when Persian rule extended from the Indus to the Nile,
qanat technology spread throughout the empire. The Achaemenid rulers provided
a major incentive for qanat builders and their heirs by allowing them to
retain profits from newly-constructed qanats for five generations. As a result,
thousands of new settlements were established and others expanded. To the west, qanats
were constructed from Mesopotamia to the shores of the Mediterranean, as well as southward into parts
of Egypt. To the east of Persia, qanats were constructed in Afghanistan,
the Silk Route oases settlements of central Asia, and Chinese Turkistan (ie.
During Roman-Byzantine era (64 BC to 660 AD), many qanats were constructed in Syria and Jordan. From here, the technology appears have to diffused north and west into Europe. There is evidence of Roman qanats as far away as the Luxembourg area.
The expansion of Islam initiated another major diffusion of qanat technology. The early Arab invasions spread qanats westward across North Africa and into Cyprus, Sicily, Spain, and the Canary Islands. In Spain, the Arabs constructed one system at Crevillente, most likely for agricultural use, and others at Madrid and Cordoba for urban water supply. Evidence of New World qanats can be found in western Mexico, in the Atacama regions of Peru, and Chile at Nazca and Pica. The qanat systems of Mexico came into use after the Spanish conquest.
While the above diffusion model is nice and neat (see Figure 3), human activities are rarely so orderly. Qanat technology may have been introduced into the central Sahara and later into western Sahara by Judaized Berbers fleeing Cyrenaica during Trajan's persecution in 118 AD. Since the systems in South America may predate the Spanish entry into the New World, their development may have occurred independently from any Persian influence. The Chinese, while acknowledging a possible Persian connection, find an antecedent to the qanats of Turpan in the Longshouqu Canal (constructed approximately 100 BC). The Romans used qanats in conjunction with aqueducts to serve urban water supply systems (a qanat-aqueduct system was built in Roman Lyons). A Roman qanat system was also constructed near Murcia in southeastern Spain. The Catalan qanat systems (also in Spain) do not seem to have been related to Islamic activity and are more likely later constructions, based on knowledge of Roman systems in southern France.
Figure 3. One possibility for the diffusion of qanat technology.
Click on the image for a larger version.
Qanats were an important factor in determining where people lived. The largest towns were still located at low elevations on the floors of intermontane basins and in broad river valleys. Most of these early settlements were defended by a fortress and watered by hand-dug wells sunk into a shallow water table. Qanats enabled these settlements to grow by tapping water-rich aquifers located deep beneath neighboring alluvial fans.
Even more dramatically, qanats made possible the establishment of permanent settlements on the alluvial fans themselves. Earlier settlers had bypassed the areas because water tables there were too deep for hand-dug wells, and the wadis on these slopes were too deeply incised in the fans for simple diversion channels. In these locations, qanats tapped adjacent aquifers with underground tunnels fed with water drawn from upslope alluvial deposits in mountain valleys. For the first time, at these higher elevations, small qanat-watered hamlets appeared.
An extensive system of qanats is still in use in Iran. According to Wulff (1968): "The 22,000 qanats in Iran, with their 170,000 miles of underground conduits all built by manual labor, deliver a total of 19,500 cubic feet of water per second - an amount equivalent to 75 percent of the discharge of the Euphrates River into the Mesopotamian plain. This volume of water production would be sufficient to irrigate 3,000,000 acres of arid land if it were used entirely for agriculture. It has made a garden of what would otherwise have been an uninhabitable desert."
Qanats are still found throughout the regions that came under the cultural sphere of the
Persians, Romans, and Arabs. The qanat system in
China, is still very much in use. In the Sahara region a number of oasis settlements are
irrigated by qanats, and some still call the underground conduits "Persian works."
The Palestinians and their neighbors had for some 2000 years irrigated terraces of olive groves, vineyards, and orchards with water tapped from some 250 qanat-like tunnels beneath the hills on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. But today the terraces and tunnels are largely abandoned-unused since the day in 1948 when Palestinians vacated following the creation of the state of Israel. The demise of these irrigation systems is, according to Zvi Ron, an Israeli geographer from the University of Tel Aviv who has mapped the tunnels, a human, ecological and cultural tragedy.
Qanats are to this day the major source of irrigation water for the fields and towering hillside terraces that occupy parts of Oman and Yemen. They have for some 2000 years allowed the villages of the desert fringes of the Arabian Peninsula to grow their own wheat as well as alfalfa to feed their livestock. In these villages, there are complex ownerships of water rights and distribution canals. In Oman, their importance was underlined in the 1980s with a government-funded repair and upgrade program.
While an underground stream is called a qanat in Iran, it is called a karez in Afghanistan and
Pakistan, kanerjing in China, a falaj in the Arabian Peninsula, a qanat romani
in Jordan and Syria, a fogarra (fughara) in North Africa,
a khettara in Morocco, and a galeria in Spain (see
In some cities, water in qanats flows in tunnels beneath residential areas and surfaces near the cultivated area. Staircases from the surface reach down to these streams. The first access is usually at a public cistern where drinking water is available to the entire community. Sometimes these cisterns are sizable vaults as much as 10 meters across and 15 or more meters deep with spiral stairs leading down to small platforms at water level. In cities like Herat in Afghanistan, these cisterns are ancient constructions encased in tile. Other more modest urban access points are found along major streets, and even in some alleys, a factor that probably played an important role in the social and physical layout of the town.
Where tunnels run beneath houses, private access points provide water for various domestic uses. In wealthy homes, special rooms are constructed beside the underground stream with tall shafts reaching upward to windtowers above roof level. Air caught by the windtowers, which are oriented to prevailing summer winds, is forced down the shaft, circulates at water level, and provides a cool refuge from the afternoon heat of summer.
Dr. Dale Lightfoot at the Oklahoma State University has been using anecdotal information on qanats to study the health of aquifers (Lightfoot, 2003). In southern Morocco, on the margins of the Sahara Desert, lies the isolated oasis of Tafilaft. In the northern section of the oasis, water for irrigation has, since the late-14th century, been provided by qanats (locally known as khettara). In all, 80 qanats once provided water for 28 villages and irrigated about 3000 hectares. Beginning in the early 1970s, the 44 remaining active qanats began to experience reduced flow, and over the next two decades many more qanats dried up and were abandoned.
Dr. Lightfoot has concluded that the diminishing and abandonment of qanats since the early 1970s is attributed to the Hassan Adahkil Dam and Reservoir. The reservoir impounds surface water that used to flow unimpeded to the Tafilalt oasis. Irrigation water is now carried to the oasis in concrete-lined canals, which do not allow for groundwater recharge. Additionally, diesel-powered wells have become very popular. This combination of a lack of recharge to the aquifer and the unregulated withdrawal of groundwater has resulted in a sharp drop in the Tafilalt's water table since 1970 and the general abandonment of qanat irrigation.
Qanats are found over much of Syria, a "breadbasket" of the Roman, Byzantine, and the later Islamic empires. After the world price for cotton increased in the 1950s, the Syrian government encouraged farmers to produce more cotton to increase foreign exchange earnings. The widespread installation of groundwater pumps has successfully antiquated the old qanat technology across most of the country. A map showing the distribution of Syrian qanats, presents a picture of widespread abandonment, except in: (i) areas where commercial irrigation with diesel pumps has only recently been introduced, or was soon abandoned because of salinization problems or (ii) where rainfall is more plentiful and groundwater recharge is adequate. When qanats go dry across a wide region, within a span of only a few decades, it indicates a regional problem with groundwater stewardship.
Dr. Jerry Buzzell described his experience visiting a qanat (falaj) in Mahdah, Oman. "This falaj begins in the hills above town, with a very deep well to the aquifer. From there, tunnels have been dug channeling the water to the town by gravity. In town, the falaj is a concrete trough, about a foot deep and two feet wide, and the water flows swiftly."
"The falaj is communal, its water available to all, up to a (specific) point. Beyond this point, the water is distributed into different channels, owned by different families, to irrigate date palms."
"Water flow into each channel is controlled by a metal plate across the falaj, which is lifted (to allow water to flow into the channel) or lowered (to hold it back). The water is distributed to the different channels for periods of time which depend upon factors such as the contribution of the families to the construction and maintenance of the system, rents paid, etc."
"In the middle of the narrow space beside the falaj is a very basic sundial–a narrow rod stuck in the ground, with the hours marked out with stones on either side of it–which is their method of timekeeping and the basis of the distribution of the water (during daytime hours when the sun is shining)."
Dr. Buzzell was in Mahdah on a Friday and noted the falaj was being used for ritual cleaning in preparation for prayers. "A lovely old man wearing a loincloth was sitting in the water, lathering his body with soap, his white beard and the white fringe around his bald pate encircling twinkling eyes and gap-toothed grin."
"When he was satisfied with his scrubbing, he lay down lengthwise in the falaj and allowed the water to run over him, head to toe, washing the soap away with the dirt and leaving him clean enough to pray."
Qanats were frequently used for domestic purposes, as well as irrigation. Because of this, they can transport disease vectors (Afkhami, 1997). A chemical analysis of water, conducted in 1924, from 6 qanats as they entered Tehran revealed water of potable quality in only 2 cases. In 3 other, water purity was questionable and in 1 case the water was definitely unfit for drinking. These results were especially shocking since the samples were taken from closed qanats before they were open to contamination. It has been hypothesized that qanats were a major contributor to the cholera epidemics of the 19th century.
Throughout Iran, even if the qanat water was uninfected before entering the cities, it had ample opportunity to become contaminated while traversing the urban areas in open ditches. With the lack of proper sewage and waste disposal throughout Iranian municipalities, the cholera bacterium easily made its way into drinking water.
Qanats can be used for cooling as well as water supply (Bahadori, p. 149). One technology operates in conjunction with a wind tower. The arid regions of Iran have fairly fixed seasonal and daily wind patterns. The wind tower harnesses the prevailing summer winds to cool and circulate it through a building. A typical wind tower resembles a chimney, with one end in the basement of the building and the other end rising from the roof. Wind tower technologies date back over 1000 years.
The passive cooling of a wind tower can be enhanced by connecting it to an underground stream or
qanat. In the system shown in
[figure 4](#figure4), a shaft (b) connects
the qanat to the basement of the building
to be cooled. Hot dry air enters the qanat through one of its vertical shafts (a) and is cooled as it
flows along the water. Since the underground water is usually cold, the rate of cooling is quite high.
The wind tower is placed so that wind flowing through the basement door of the tower passes over the
top of the qanat tunnel. When the air flows from a large passage (the tunnel) through a
smaller one (the door), its pressure decreases. The pressure of the air from the tower is still
diminished when it passes over the top of the tunnel, so that cold moist air from the shaft is entrained
by the flow of cooled air from the tower (c). The mixture of air from the qanat and air from the tower
(d) circulates through the basement. A single qanat can serve several wind-tower systems.
Figure 4. The air flow in a combination wind tower/qanat cooling system (from Scientific American).
Click on the image for a larger version.
A qanat system has a profound influence on the lives of the water users. It allows those living in a desert environment adjacent to a mountain watershed to create a large oasis in an otherwise stark environment. The United Nations and other organizations are encouraging the revitalization of traditional water harvesting and supply technologies in arid areas because they feel it is important for sustainable water utilization.
Afkhami, A., 1997, "Disease and Water Supply: The Case of Cholera in 19th Century Iran," Proceedings of Conference: Transformations of Middle Eastern Natural Environments: Legacies and Lessons, Yale University, October.
Bahadori, M. N., 1978, "Passive Cooling Systems in Iranian Architecture," Scientific American, February, pp.144-154.
Beekman, C. S., P. S. Weigand, and J. J. Pint, 1999, "Old World Irrigation Technology in a New World Context: Qanats in Spanish Colonial Western Mexico," Antiquity 73(279): 440-446.
English, P., 1997, "Qanats and Lifeworlds in Iranian Plateau Villages," Proceedings of the Conference: Transformation of Middle Eastern Natural Environment: Legacies and Lessons, Yale University, October.
Lightfoot, D., 2003, "Traditional Wells as Phreatic Barometers: A View from Qanats and Tube Wells in Developing Arid Lands," Proceedings of the UCOWR Conference: Water Security in the 21st Century, Washington, DC, July.
Pazwash, N. 1983. "Iran's Mode of Modernization: Greening the Desert, Deserting the Greenery," Civil Engineering, March. pp. 48-51.
United Nationals Environmental Programme, 1983. Rain and Water Harvesting in Rural Area. Tycooly International Publishing Limited, Dublin, pp 84-88.
Wessels, K (2000), Renovating Qanats in a changing world, a case study in Syria, paper presented to the International Syposuim on Qanats, May 2000, Yazd, Iran.
Wulff, H.E., 1968, "The Qanats of Iran," Scientific American, April, p. 94-105.
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From 'Spider-Man' to 'Doctor Strange': How Sam Raimi Conquered the Superhero Multiverse (Again)
For Sam Raimi, the final weeks of making his first superhero movie since he helped kick-start the genre's modern era with his Spider-Man trilogy are pure multitasking madness. From his home in Los Angeles, the director is working on
[Doctor Strange](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/doctor-strange/) in the Multiverse of Madness in three places at once — virtually watching over composer Danny Elfman laying down a score with an orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London, while also listening in on actors rerecording dialogue, and supervising the movie's sound mix.
It all fits with a process that also had screenwriter Michael Waldron (who brought a deft comic touch to the Disney+ show Loki) finishing the screenplay while Raimi was in the process of shooting the movie. He'd taken over the project after Scott Derrickson, who directed the first Doctor Strange in 2016, exited the sequel, citing "creative differences"; with a script to redo and a shooting deadline already in place, Raimi was behind schedule before he'd even started.
But Raimi seems to relish the chaotic creation of this latest Doctor Strange movie, which hits theaters May 6th. After all, he made the gonzo indie horror classic The Evil Dead at age 20 for a mere $350,000, inventing camera techniques and pioneering new levels of homemade makeup grotesqueries as he went. Multiverse is essentially a direct sequel to three different
[Marvel](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/marvel/) properties: the original Doctor Strange, last year's Spider-Man: No Way Home, and the Disney+ TV show WandaVision, with Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff on board as the film's second lead character.
"It's a really complex movie," says Raimi, who used reshoots earlier in 2022 in part to clarify the story. "It's probably the most complex movie I've ever had anything to do with. Not just dealing with one character, or even five characters, but multiversal versions of those characters — and each one has a storyline."
In an age when "visionary director" has become a marketing cliché, Raimi is the real thing, his camera a living, even violent presence in his films. Career high points range from his absurdist horror masterpiece Evil Dead 2 (1987) and the comic-book-movie-without-the-comic-book Darkman (1990) to the masterful, noirish drama A Simple Plan (1998). And, of course, the aforementioned Spider-Man movies, which helped pave the way for Marvel's current multiplex domination.
Raimi hadn't made a movie since 2013, but at age 62, he's ready for a whole new chapter — and as he reveals, maybe even another Spider-Man film. "I'm hoping to find my next project very quickly," he says, "and keep it on the floor, as they say. I feel invigorated by this movie."
How are you feeling at this point in the process?
I feel very good. When we started, we had a deadline to start shooting with a script that I didn't really have anything to do with. And [screenwriter] Michael Waldron, [producer] Richie Palmer, the team at Marvel, and myself pretty much had to jump in and start over. I was very rushed and panicked — a lot of trepidation. But we kept working through it. And for us, the Covid delays were a blessing because it bought us more time to work on the script. We eventually got to the point where we had started shooting, even though we were still working on the script, and it went really well. Now I feel much more relieved. That part of the process is behind us.
WandaVision was supposed to come after this movie, which shifted some of the story and continuity, right? How did those changes work?
I'm not really sure what the WandaVision schedule was or how it changed. I just know that halfway, or maybe three-quarters of the way into our writing process, I'd first heard of this show they were doing and that we would have to follow it. Therefore, we had to really study what WandaVision was doing, so we could have a proper through line and character-growth dynamic. I never even saw all of WandaVision; I've just seen key moments of some episodes that I was told directly impact our storyline.
There's always a larger plan at work in the MCU. How much creative freedom did you have here?
Well, let me say — and this may sound like I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth — that Marvel allowed me complete creative freedom. However, it had to follow so many things in Marvel lore, [so] even though I had complete freedom, the previous movies and where Marvel wants to go in the future really directed the path in an incredibly specific way. Within those parameters I have freedom, but I've got to tell the story of those characters in a way that ties in with all of the properties simultaneously. We had to make sure, for instance, that Doctor Strange didn't know more than he had learned about the multiverse from No Way Home. And yet we had to make sure he wasn't ignorant of things that he had already learned. So everything was dictated by what had become before.
Spider-Man: No Way Home was also originally supposed to be after this movie, right?
Yes, it was all on the fly. "Now this is happening. Now that's happening." It was a fun juggling game. I guess it must be like that for all of the directors and writers of these very big Marvel properties that now have a long history. It was a very chaotic, wonderful, creative — I don't want to use the word "mess," because that's unfair — but it was just a cascade of ideas. We'd take the best ones and quickly weave together the fabric of this universe. It was very exciting, actually.
Do you feel like audiences have a certain desensitization to this type of fantastic spectacle now — that you have to keep upping the ante?
I think that's been true for every filmmaker in every decade. When King Kong came out [in 1933], a lot of filmmakers must've had heart attacks. I mean, I'd watch a movie like E.T. when it first came out and think, "Oh, my God, what am I doing in this business? I'll never make a movie that brilliant." But as filmmakers, we're also inspired. As much as it is a terrifying prospect to see something like that, it also sends a message that it's possible. And I think filmmakers turn to new technologies, new ideas. There's always ways to up the game.
Still, from the very first shot of Evil Dead, you could tell that there was something unique about your work. No one moves the camera like you. Where did that come from?
It came from limitations and trying to solve them. With Evil Dead, we couldn't build the monster — so we had to just use its point of view. And we tried to add as much strangeness to that point of view as possible, because the audience would use whatever was given them there to build their own monster in their head. So we put a big, wide lens on the camera to make it distorted around the edges. We put it on a stick that we could raise up and lower down over objects — it was literally flying. Other times I would tape it to my hand and wave my arm up and down as I was running, trying to keep it as smooth and eerie as possible. I guess we learned our most important filmmaking lesson, which is that the audience can always create something in their mind more effectively than we can show them. We just have to provide the right tools for them to build that monster.
You've said you had concerns about taking this movie on, because of your Spider-Man 3 experience and some of the negative reactions to that film.
Yeah, because these characters are so beloved, and you've got to tread very carefully. I have a sense of the absurd that maybe people don't want to see applied to their most-beloved superheroes. You've got to step gingerly when working with iconic characters. So for a time I thought, maybe it's best that I don't mix with these much-beloved characters. I don't want to be untrue to them or myself.
And then I got a call from my agent, saying, "There's an opening on Doctor Strange 2, are you interested?" I just said, "What the hell? Yeah, let's make it." I love Doctor Strange. The first movie was great, very original. I was intrigued with
[Benedict Cumberbatch](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/benedict-cumberbatch/), and I realized, "Oh, Kevin Feige is now the head of Marvel?" So I would work for a boss that I respected. All those things had a big hand in it.
Kevin Feige worked on your Spider-Man movies. What do you remember of him back then?
He was a hardworking young man who was working closely with Avi Arad, who was [then] the head of Marvel. Kevin was always there doing work behind the scenes and on set. Thank goodness I was nice to the kid!
Just goes to show you.
Yeah. Hi boss! [laughs]
What struck you about the way Benedict created different versions of Doctor Strange in this movie?
Noticing the little nuances that Benedict would come up with to differentiate his alter-self. Subtleties, waves of movement, distinct style of speech. He really is an actor's actor, and he uses all the tools at his disposal quite elegantly. You can call "Action" and then just lose yourself in his performance over the next two and a half minutes. You just have to remember to call "Cut," because he's so spellbinding.
What characters or actors surprised you the most?
I think Benedict Wong. I didn't know how funny he was in person, or how lively of a presence he was on set. He's really super creative, and a great joy to work with. He really brings an energy and a sense of fun to his work that the movie really needs.
[When I talked with Elizabeth Olsen](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/oral-history-wandavision-olsen-bettany-hahn-feige-1155120/), it was clear she has a very strong sense of who Wanda Maximoff is. How did that affect things?
She had just come from that Emmy Award-winning show all about her character and the character's growth. So it would be foolhardy to try and tell her who her character is or what her character was feeling at that moment. I can craft the the story going forward with her, but she's got to be an integral part of the storytelling or it wouldn't make any sense.
What aspects of Scott Derrickson's Doctor Strange were you most fond of?
I loved how it was infused with some Eastern philosophy. He really showed us such cool mind trips, like the astral forms and what it was like to take on, in a visual way, a larger consciousness. I thought that it was awe-inspiring, some of the visuals and sequences that he did. We were able to take his lead and try to move forward with something along those lines as well.
What, in your opinion, did Michael Waldron end up bringing to the screenplay process?
Wow, that guy is great. He brought an incredible imagination, and absolute awareness of Marvel history. So he really is like an expert in these characters, their interactions, their backstories. I would be dead without that. But then he brought a super-fertile imagination. He loves to have the characters interact with each other, and really show them for who they are and what their problems are. So he's like a novelist, writing a Marvel comic book. And it's great because that's what's so unique about Stan Lee's Marvel superheroes — it's the human aspect of them, their flaws, their mistakes, their personality quirks. Michael loves that Doctor Strange is a little bit of an egotist and has a problem with insecurity.
What were the main goals of the reshoots you ended up doing late in the process?
There's a lot of points where the audience says, "I don't understand this. I don't understand this concept." Or, "I'm aware of this concept, and then you explained it again in the third act." "Oh, you're right. The audience knows that already." Or: "They had to know that in order to accept this next story beat." A lot of it is test screenings, learning what is confusing on a complex picture like this, or learning things that have overstayed their welcome. Recognizing when something is too slow, and even though it's a proper beat to put in, the audience doesn't need it. They can figure that out on their own, so what seemed like a logical step now becomes, in the editing process, "Hmm. That's slowing us down. Let's skip it and let the audience make the leap themselves." But it's also about recognizing what they really like, and sometimes expanding those things that they're really reacting well to. It's recognizing what's original about the picture, and when you've got the opportunity to, expanding upon that.
Did you see this Doctor Strange movie as a sort of chance for redemption after Spider-Man 3? There are many enjoyable things about that movie, by the way, though you've said some awful things about it.
I know. It was a very painful experience for me. I wanted to make a Spider-Man movie to redeem myself for that. [The aborted] Spider-Man 4 — that was really what that was about. I wanted to go out on a high note. I didn't want to just make another one that pretty much worked. I had a really high standard in my mind. And I didn't think I could get that script to the level that I was hoping for by that start date.
So, then, what's this movie about for you?
This one's really more about having enjoyed the Marvel movies quite a bit and wondering, "Do I still have what it takes to be able to make those?" I remember how hard it was — it's like a marathon. And it's like, "Yes, I do have it in me. I'm going to show those kids how to make a superhero picture." [Laughs.] I'm joking. But it did have something to do with it. Things have changed since I made those Spider-Man films. New technologies, new techniques, and the development of techniques that we had a hand in implementing back in the day into new, bigger and better systems. So it was fascinating to jump back into a superhero movie 20 years after I had made the first Spider-Man.
What are some examples of the technologies from that era that you're excited to see progressing?
Well, as simple as [legendary visual effects supervisor] John Dykstra coming down to visit me on the movie I was making called The Gift, saying, how do you want to bring about Spider-Man? And I said, "Well, John, I've been thinking about making a rig that we would attach to a skyscraper. And we would have to have pretty big engines on this thing to be able to drive it downward and fly over other buildings. And he said, "If you try and make a device like that, you'll end up killing people. I'm going to stop you right now, Sam. That's never going to work." I said, "Then what are we going to do?" He said, "I believe that we can do it in CGI."
And I told him I'd never seen a CGI character that I would believe as a human being. He said, "Well, look. We don't have the tools to do it right now, Sam. But if we start developing them, the technology can be ready by the time we need it. And I thought, that's the coolest thing I've ever heard. I said, "I'm in."
What do you miss most from the Spider-Man movie that you never made?
I miss the really great cameo we had designed for Bruce Campbell.
The rumor was that he was supposed to play Mysterio.
That was one of the possibilities. We had other things in mind, too, but that was one of them. And I missed Kraven the Hunter. We were going to work that character into the next Spider-Man; I always wanted to see Kraven fight Spider-Man on the big screen. I thought that would be really unique. He's the ultimate hunter, and Spider-Man is like the most agile trickster of the skies. And I wanted to see Peter continue forward as a human being.
From the stuff that was beloved to the stuff that was not so beloved — what lessons did you take from that Spider-Man trilogy when you went into Multiverse of Madness?
Oh, that's a good question. I guess the lesson would be [to] really follow what you believe in. I think if I had done that a little bit more in the end, then [Spider-Man 3] would've been a little better.
Can one do that in the context of Hollywood? Is that possible?
Yes. But sometimes it gets very difficult. By the time that Spider-Man 3 was in preproduction, I think Sony was aware that "Wait a minute, this is an asset of ours now. This is a big income-generating thing. This can't go unsupervised. This needs to be controlled." I think that had something to do with it.
Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man is back as part of the Marvel multiverse thanks to No Way Home. So would you be open to making some version of a Spider-Man movie again, after all this time?
If there was a great story there, I think it'd be … my love for the characters hasn't diminished one iota. It would be the same things that would stop me now that stopped me then: "Does Tobey want to do it? Is there an emotional arc for him? Is there a great conflict for this character? And is there a worthy villain that fits into the theme of the piece?" There's a lot of questions that would have to be answered. If those could be answered, then I'd love to.
Part of what made your Spider-Man movies work is that they really were Peter Parker's story — and the simplicity, humanity, and sweetness of the love story, which wasn't necessarily what people expected from you.
That was something that I always found so appealing in Stan Lee's Spider-Man comic books: that Peter Parker had a love story going on. And in fact, there were two different women that he was interested in over the course of his series. But I remember as a kid thinking "I got to get the next Spider-Man comic book, because I'm really into the romance of it." Not that I would tell the other boys at school, because I was embarrassed.
Kirsten Dunst said that you gave her a sort of a scrapbook of famous movie kisses to prepare for the upside-down kiss. What was your thinking there?
Oh, I just wanted to let her know that this was a very special moment for the movie, and I wanted to communicate it in some way that some moments can be remembered for a long, long time if they're done right. I just wanted to gear her up, to let her know that she's going to be great in this, and that I wanted some of her Kirsten Dunst magic in that moment. And I think, once we had that meeting, she turned her head around to it and put on her performance magic, which Tobey did, too. They really made something special.
There's also a certain eroticism to that moment, which is something that subsequent superhero movies haven't always been able to touch on, even as gently as you did. It's a tricky thing to incorporate, and yet it's inherent in the material if you're willing to bring it out.
Yeah. Those Spider-Man comic books, they really have sexy characters in them: all of these latex, spandex superheroes. That's always been an aspect of the comic books. It's some of the best boy-watching or girl-watching — if you're a teenage kid — that's around.
I'm not sure everyone realizes that you and Stan Lee went around trying to get a Thor movie made way back in the early 1990s. What were those experiences like?
They were great. We worked on a story based on his Thor stories, then we took it around to pitch to the different studios — and I couldn't believe that they didn't regard [Lee] more highly back then. This was probably 1991 or something, and he was treated like just another writer. "Oh, great. You write comic books. Big deal." I remember going to eight different studios, and then looking at eight different rejection slips, saying "How could they say no to this?" They'd say things like, "People are kind of touchy about their gods," and I'd go, "Yes, but it's not like a religious picture. He's the God of Thunder!" They so didn't get it.
It was around that time that you'd said you were worried about being too associated with genre material, and then you made several movies, like A Simple Plan, that were far less genre-driven. In your mind, did you think you were moving beyond the types of films you'd made earlier in your career forever?
I mean, if I said I thought a certain type of genre was trapping me, I didn't mean to say that. I've always looked at genre films as the place where I can get another job when things go bad. I can keep telling stories there. But I do remember after Army of Darkness came out, a reporter saying to me, "Is this going to be your last movie? Because you seem to be just doing all the same old tricks." I just went, "Oh, my God, really?"
And so, it was after that I thought, "I don't want to be doing the same old tricks. I want to be trying to do new things." I tried to branch out, doing different things that I hadn't done before — like a Western [1995's The Quick and the Dead], or a crime thriller, or other things that just hadn't occurred to me to do. That's really why I made those films in the Nineties, from all those different genres. I was trying to stretch and learn and grow as a storyteller.
It did seem like you were trying a number of different techniques for that run of four movies [from The Quick and the Dead to 2000's The Gift] a lot of times.
That's exactly right. I thought, "I'm not going to rely on the camera to be flashy or splashy. I'm going to make the audience invest in these characters. I've got to learn more about how to tell a story not just through the lens, but through people." And I learned a lot of that from working with great actors: Billy Bob Thornton, Bill Paxton, Bridget Fonda, Cate Blanchett, Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman.
By the time I applied for the job on the first Spider-Man, I finally had 10 years of experience working like that — and thank goodness, because those Spider-Man movies and
[Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/doctor-strange-in-the-multiverse-of-madness/) took everything I knew about filmmaking, from directing actors to knowing visual effects. It taxed every field of learning that I have had the wonderful opportunity to experience in this industry.
So what, overall, was the hardest part of making this new movie?
I think the hardest part was the time deadlines, not having the story or the script [ready] … being halfway into it and not knowing what the ending was. Michael's trying to stay a couple days ahead of us with the next page coming out of his computer printer, and it's hard because you want to make sure that everything is supporting the whole — that the themes are running through the picture. But when you don't quite know everything about the picture, it's hard to do that job as effectively as possible.
Let's say there's a character from another universe —
[maybe from the Marvel movies that Fox did](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFgY0I2woks) — who suddenly shows up in the movie. That's very exciting for the audience, but it feels like that excitement of recognition could push you out of the story. How do you balance that?
I think if that situation appears, sometimes the best answer is to just let the character who's experiencing this new character react truthfully. Now, if there was a famous character from another universe that appeared in Multiverse of Madness, I'm not sure that our Doctor Strange would even know who he was; he might blow him off and not make it any big deal at all. I think a truthful response can sometimes be the funniest or the most engaging for an audience. You put them in a position like, "Man, you don't know who that guy is? Oh, my God!" It's like if some schmo was meeting James Bond onscreen for the first time, and said, "Buddy, you'll have the martini the way I serve it. Get me?" "Don't you know that's James Bond?!" That's a different kind of fun for the audience to have.
What did you make of the fact that there's this book called "the Darkhold" that I believe is involved in this movie. It seems like a cousin, at least, of the Necronomicon, from your Evil Dead movies.
I do know about the Darkhold from WandaVision and the comic book, but I'm not allowed to say whether it's a part of this picture or not. I'm sorry.
Either way, it must amuse you that it bears some similarity to the Necronomicon.
Yes, it is a source of much mirth for me. If it was in the movie, that is, it would've been funny.
You bounced from Spider-Man 3 into Drag Me to Hell [Raimi's highly underrated 2009 horror movie], and then there was Oz the Great and Powerful [a riff on L. Frank Baum's Oz characters]. That was in 2013 — and this is your first film since then. Were you planning to retire at that point?
No, I just couldn't find a script that I really loved. I didn't feel passionately about something enough to direct it as a feature film. It was a long time, and it was unpleasant. I really do love directing. It's all I really know how to do.
Your friendship with Joel and Ethan Coen has always fascinated me. What have you learned from them over the years?
A really strong work ethic. And we did more than just movies like Crimewave, or me asking for help on Darkman, or writing short stories together, working on the Hudsucker Proxy screenplay. We did other things, too, that maybe were never published or released. But their work ethic was astounding. They would sit down at that typewriter for like 14 hours straight. And then just break to go to Denny's, come back and go back to it. The next morning was just the same way: A cup of coffee, we'd begin, and it wouldn't stop. It's like, "Oh, my God, these guys are freaking serious writers. They don't do anything but write and pace." Hours would go by with Ethan and Joel thinking and thinking, looking for the right line or the right insight. I was humbled and impressed and laughed my head off. And the few times that I could contribute on their level, I felt very rewarded.
You actually wrote The Hudsucker Proxy with the Coens in the Eighties, way before they ever made it, correct?
Right. We wrote that over the course of a few years. Joel and Ethan had started it, then they got me into it. And then they put it away for a long time, as they do with some of their scripts. Then one day, they said, "Sam, we're gonna shoot it. We got the financing. Do you want to be second unit director?" I said, "Yeah, sounds great." So I got to shoot a lot of fun little bits that they had planned. Second unit directing is really a fun job. Especially when you're working for your friends. And they do all the hard work.
Did you direct the skyscraper plunge?
Just some shots in it, like the point of view. And some of the montages. The stuff without the main characters, usually. Really, I was just the tool. They pointed my camera in certain directions and told me to do this and that, and I did.
The word is that Ethan Coen might be done as a filmmaker. Do you believe that we might not see any more Coen brothers movies?
No! I think there's got to be more Coen brothers movies. As long as the sun rises, there's gotta be another one. I love them.
When did you realize you wanted to become a filmmaker professionally?
I think it was when I was in 10th grade and met Bruce Campbell and my buddies Scott Spiegel and Tim Quill, who were all making these Super 8 movies. And it was like, "Oh, my gosh, these guys get together every weekend. They've got partners. Somebody can film. Somebody can throw the pie. Somebody can take the pie in the face. This is everything we need." One kid had costumes, like two suit jackets from a garage sale. Another kid had a tripod, and I thought, "It's possible. I can join up with these guys, and they have similar interests." That really was a giant advantage for me to find somebody else after making movies for three years on my own from the age of, like, 12. Suddenly I actually could take it on as something that I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It seemed possible at that point.
Before you ever made a directly comic-book-influenced movie, to what extent did comic books influence the way that you approach filmmaking?
They were always a tremendous influence on me, especially all the great artists from Marvel comic books or the DC comic books. I read them as a kid constantly. And when it came time to design shots for the movies that I was making, I naturally went to the only illustration story system that I was aware of, which were comic books.
When you're directing a gigantic movie like Multiverse again, are you still working from a certain muscle memory that you built up from when you were making low-budget movies for fun?
Not as much as I should be. Because that's what I should be doing with every shot and every moment, thinking "What's the best technique?" Not simply "We've got to make the schedule, put it on a crane. I know it can work from there. It may not be the absolute best choice, but we've got to keep momentum going for this unit, because I've got to get off this stage by five o'clock today, and they're going to tear it down."
You suffered a terrible loss in your family when you were young. How did losing your older brother affect you?
That was my brother Sander, and he was a great inspiration to me. He's the one that first showed me Spider-Man comic books. And he was a magician on the side. I remember he would perform at kids' parties. And I learned a lot of my desire to perform from him. So he had a tremendous influence on me. He passed away when he was only 16 years old. I was 10 at the time. So I didn't get to know him as well as I wish I could have. But he was a super-positive role model for me.
And I feel like in his absence, I pushed more into the field of magic to try and provide for my parents what they had lost in him. And that love of magic was very similar to my love of filmmaking. When I started to move out of magic, I moved into filmmaking, another way to manipulate time and space and entertain the audience and mystify them and throw them. So I think I got a lot of my love of filmmaking indirectly from my brother Sander.
You were also pretty skilled as a stage illusionist, right?
I would perform at county fairs — not even state fairs, county fairs — and kids' parties, where it's like 23 of these little monsters in front of me. I would perform a magician's repertoire of illusions, and I'd make balloon animals, and try as hard as I could to get out of there before the last balloon animal was given out. Because by then the first kid pops their balloon and they want another one. You can end up getting caught at a kid's party, making balloon animals for like two hours if you don't do it efficiently and quickly, then pack up and get out.
Is there a metaphor in there somewhere?
[Laughs.] I don't know. I don't know. You'll have to find it.
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I was born on April 1, 1933 in Constantine, Algeria, which was then part of France. My family, originally from Tangier, settled in Tunisia and then in Algeria in the 16th century after having fled Spain during the Inquisition. In fact, our name, Cohen-Tannoudji, means simply the Cohen family from Tangiers. The Algerian Jews obtained the French citizenship in 1870 after Algeria became a French colony in 1830.
My parents lived a modest life and their main concern was the education of their children. My father was a self-taught man but had a great intellectual curiosity, not only for biblical and talmudic texts, but also for philosophy, psychoanalysis and history. He passed on to me his taste for studies, for discussion, for debate, and he taught me what I regard as being the fundamental features of the Jewish tradition – studying, learning and sharing knowledge with others.
As a child, I was very lucky to escape the tragic events which marked this century. The arrival of the Americans in Algeria, in November of 1942, saved us from the nazi persecutions that were spreading throughout Europe at the time. I completed my primary and secondary school education in Algiers. And I was also lucky enough to finish high school in very good conditions and to leave Algiers for Paris, in 1953, before the war in Algeria and the stormy period that preceded the independence.
I came to Paris because I was admitted to the Ecole Normale Supérieure. This French "grande école", founded during the French Revolution about 200 years ago, selects the top high school students who do well in the selective final examination. The four years at this school, from 1953 to 1957, were indeed a unique experience for me. During the first year, I attended a series of fascinating lectures in mathematics given by Henri Cartan and Laurent Schwartz, in physics by
[Alfred Kastler](/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1997/../1966/index.html). Initially, I was more interested in mathematics but Kastler's lectures were so stimulating, and his personality so attractive, that I ended up changing to physics.
In 1955, when I joined Kastler's group to do my "diploma" work, the group was very small. One of Kastler's first students, Jean Brossel, who had returned four years before from M.I.T. where he had done research work with Francis Bitter, was supervising the thesis work of Jacques Emile Blamont and Jacques Michel Winter.
We were a small group, but the enthusiasm for research was exceptional and we worked hard. Brossel and Kastler were in the lab nearly day and night, even on weekends. We had endless discussions on how to interpret our experimental results. At the time, the equipment was rather poor and we did what we could without computers, recorders and signal averagers. We measured resonance curves point by point with a galvanometer, each curve five times, and then averaged by hand. We were, somehow, able to get nice curves and exciting results. I think that what I learned during that period was essential for my subsequent research work and key personalities such as Alfred Kastler and Jean Brossel certainly had a significant role in it.
We were going together, once a week, to attend the new lectures given in Saclay by Albert Messiah on quantum mechanics, by Anatole Abragam on NMR and by Claude Bloch on nuclear physics. I can still remember the stimulating atmosphere of these lectures.
During the summer of 1955, I also spent two months at the famous Les Houches summer school in the Alps. This school has contributed largely to the development of theoretical physics in France. At that time, the school offered an intense training in modern physics with about six lectures a day, for two months, and the lecturers were
[J. Schwinger](/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1997/../1965/index.html), [N. Ramsey](/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1997/../1989/index.html), G. Uhlenbeck, [W. Pauli](/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1997/../1945/index.html), A. Abragam, A. Messiah, C. Bloch … to mention a few.
After finishing my "diploma" studies, I still had to get through the final examination "Agrégation" before leaving Ecole Normale as a student. The "Agrégation" is a competitive examination for teaching posts in high schools. The preparation consists of theoretical and experimental courses as well as some pedagogical training. You give a lecture attended by other students and a professor and after, there is a moment of general debate and constructive criticism in view of perfecting your lecture. Kastler, I remember, participated in the pedagogical training and he taught us how to organize and present our lecture.
Well, about this time I met Jacqueline who became my wife in 1958. She has shared with me all the difficult and happy times of life. She has been able to pursue her own career as a high school physics and chemistry teacher, to raise our three children Alain, Joëlle and Michel, to be part of the daily life of a researcher which can sometimes be very difficult and demanding. We have had, as many, our share of family tragedy and losing our oldest son Alain was a great misfortune to us all. Alain died in 1993, of a long illness, at the age of 34.
After the "Agrégation", I left the Ecole Normale and did my military service which was very long (28 months) because of the Algeria war. I was, though, assigned part of the time to a scientific department supervised by Jacques Emile Blamont. We were studying the upper atmosphere with rockets releasing sodium clouds at the sunset. By looking at the fluorescence light reemitted by the sodium atoms excited by the sunlight, it was possible to measure the variations with the altitude of various parameters such as the wind velocity or the temperature.
Then, in the beginning of 1960, I came back to the laboratory to do a Ph.D. under the supervision of Alfred Kastler and Jean Brossel with a research post at the CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research). The lab had by then been expanded. Bernard Cagnac was finishing his thesis on the optical pumping of the odd isotopes of mercury and I was trying, with Jean-Pierre Barrat, to derive a master equation for the optical pumping cycle and to understand the physics of the off-diagonal elements of the density matrix (the so-called atomic "coherences"). Our calculations predicted the existence of "light shifts" for the various Zeeman sublevels, a curious phenomenon we did not expect at all. I decided to try to see this effect. Cagnac left me his experimental set up during Christmas vacations and I remember getting the first experimental evidence on Christmas Eve of 1960. I was very excited and both Kastler and Brossel were very happy indeed. Kastler called the effect the "Lamp shift", since it is produced by the light coming from a discharge lamp. Nowadays, it is called light shift or a.c. Stark shift. I built a new experimental set up to check in detail several other predictions of our calculations, especially the conservation of Zeeman coherences during the optical pumping cycle. I submitted my Ph.D. in December of 1962. The members of the committee were Jean Brossel, Pierre Jacquinot, Alfred Kastler and Jacques Yvon.
Shortly after my Ph.D. Alfred Kastler urged me to accept a teaching position at the University of Paris. I followed his advice and started to teach at the undergraduate level. At about this time, there was a new reform in the University system: the so-called "troisième cycle" that consisted of teaching a graduate level with a flexible program. Jean Brossel asked me to teach quantum mechanics. He was teaching atomic physics, Alfred Kastler and Jacques Yvon statistical physics, Pierre Aigrain and
[Pierre-Gilles de Gennes](/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1991/gennes-facts.html) solid state physics.
We had the best students of the Ecole Normale attending these lectures, so I set up a small group where every year a new student would join in and do a post-graduate thesis or a Ph.D. In 1967, I was asked to teach quantum mechanics at a lower level (second cycle). The book "Quantum Mechanics" originated from this teaching experience and was done in collaboration with Franck Laloë and Bernard Diu.
Understanding atom-photon interactions in the high intensity limit where perturbative treatments are no longer valid was one of the main goals of our research group. This led us to develop a new approach to these problems where one considers the "atom + photons" system as a global isolated system described by a time-independent Hamiltonian having true energy levels. We called such a system the "dressed atom". Although the quantum description of the electromagnetic field used in such an approach is not essential to interpret most physical effects encountered in atomic physics, it turned out that the dressed atom approach was very useful in providing new physical insights into atom-photon interactions. New physical effects, which were difficult to predict by standard semiclassical methods, were appearing clearly in the energy diagram of the dressed atom when examining how this energy diagram changes when the number of photons increases. We first introduced the dressed atom approach in the radio-frequency range while Nicole Polonsky, Serge
[Haroche](/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2012/), Jacques Dupont-Roc, Claire Landré, Gilbert Grynberg, Maryvonne Ledourneuf, Claude Fabre were working on their thesis. One of the new effects which were predicted and observed was the modification, and even the cancellation of the Landé factor of an atomic level by interaction with an intense, high frequency radio-frequency field. This effect presents some analogy with the g-2 anomaly of the electron spin except that it has the opposite sign: theg-factor of the atomic level is reduced by virtual absorption and reemission of RF photons whereas the factor of the electron spin is enhanced by radiative corrections.
We devoted a lot of efforts to the interpretation of this change of sign and this led us, years later (with Jacques Dupont-Roc and Jean Dalibard), to propose new physical pictures involving the respective contributions of vacuum fluctuations and radiation reaction. And while this was going on, we had some very stimulating discussions with Victor Weisskopf who has always been interested in the physical interpretation of the g-2 anomaly.
The dressed atom approach has also been very useful in the optical domain. Spontaneous emission plays an important role as a damping mechanism and as a source of fluorescence photons. Serge Reynaud and I applied this approach to the interpretation of resonance fluorescence in intense resonant laser beams. New physical pictures were given for the Mollow triplet and for the absorption spectrum of a weak probe beam, with the prediction and the observation of new Doppler free lines resulting from a compensation of the Doppler effect by velocity dependent light shifts. The picture of the dressed atom radiative cascade also provided new insights into photon correlations and photon antibunching. New types of time correlations between the photons emitted in the two sidebands of the Mollow triplet were predicted in this way and observed experimentally at the Institut d'Optique in Orsay, in collaboration with
An important event in my scientific life has been my appointment as a Professor at the Collège de France in 1973. The Collège de France is a very special institution created in 1530, by King François I, to counterbalance the influence of the Sorbonne which was, at that time, too scholastic and where only latin and theology were taught. The first appointed by the King were 3 lecturers in Hebrew, 2 in Greek and 1 in Mathematics. This institution survived all revolutions and remains, to this day, reputed for its flexibility. Today there are 52 professors in all subjects, and lectures are open to all, for there is no registration and no degrees given. We professors are free to choose the topics of our lectures. The only rule is that these lectures must change and deal with different topics every year, which is very difficult and demanding. It is, however, very stimulating because this urges one to broaden one's knowledge, to explore new fields and to challenge oneself. No doubt that without such an effort I would not have started many of the research lines that have been explored by my research group. I am very grateful to Anatole Abragam who is at the origin of my appointment at the Collège de France. Part of this teaching experience incited the two books on quantum electrodynamics and quantum optics written with Jacques Dupont-Roc and Gilbert Grynberg.
In the early 1980s, I chose to lecture on radiative forces, a field which was very new at that time. I was also trying with Serge Reynaud, Christian Tanguy and Jean Dalibard to apply the dressed atom approach to the interpretation of atomic motion in a laser wave. New ideas were emerging from such an analysis related to, in particular, the interpretation of the mean value, the flucalations and the velocity dependence of dipole forces in terms of spatial gradients of dressed state energies and of spontaneous transitions between these dressed states.
When in 1984 I was given the possibility to appoint someone to the position of Associate Director for my laboratory, at the Collège de France, I offered the post to Alain Aspect and then invited him to join me in forming, with Jean Dalibard, a new experimental group on laser cooling and trapping. A year later, Christophe Salomon who came back from a postdoctoral stay in JILA with Jan Hall, decided to join our group. This was a new very exciting scientific period for us. We began to investigate a new cooling mechanism suggested by the dressed atom approach and that resulted from correlations between the spatial modulations of the dressed state energies in a high intensity laser standing wave and the spatial modulations of the spontaneous rates between the dressed states. As a result of these correlations, the moving atom is running up potential hills more frequently than down. We first called such a scheme "stimulated blue molasses" because it appears for a blue detuning of the cooling lasers, contrary to what happens for Doppler molasses which require a red detuning. In fact, this new scheme was the first high intensity version of what is called now "Sisyphus cooling", a denomination that we introduced in 1986. We also observed, shortly after, the channeling of atoms at the nodes or antinodes of a standing wave. This was the first demonstration of laser confinement of neutral atoms in optical-wavelength-size regions.
A few years later, in 1988, when sub-Doppler temperatures were observed by Bill Phillips, who had been collaborating with us, we were prepared with our background in optical pumping, light shifts and dressed atoms, to find the explanation of such anomalous low temperatures. In fact, they were resulting from yet another (low intensity) version of Sisyphus cooling. Similar conclusions were reached by
[Steve Chu](/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1997/index.html) and his colleagues. At the same time, we were exploring, with Alain Aspect and Ennio Arimondo, the possibility of applying coherent population trapping to laser cooling. By making such a quantum interference effect velocity selective, we were able to demonstrate a new cooling scheme with no lower limit, which can notably cool atoms below the recoil limit corresponding to the recoil kinetic energy of an atom absorbing or emitting a single photon. These exciting developments opened the microKelvin and even the nanoKelvin range to laser cooling, and they allowed several new applications to be explored with success.
These applications will not be described here since they are the subject of the Nobel Lecture which follows this presentation. The purpose here was merely to give an idea of my scientific itinerary and to express my gratitude to all those who have helped me live such a great adventure: my family, my teachers, my students and my fellow colleagues all over the world.
I dedicate my Nobel Lecture to the memory of my son Alain.
This autobiography/biography was written
at the time of the award and later published in the book series
Prix Nobel/](/nobel_organizations/nobelfoundation/publications/lesprix.html) [Nobel Lectures](/nobel_organizations/nobelfoundation/publications/lectures/index.html)/ [The Nobel Prizes](/nobel_organizations/nobelfoundation/publications/nobel-prizes.html). The information is sometimes updated with an addendum submitted
by the Laureate.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
See them all presented here.
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This title is conferred upon individuals who have done outstanding academic work or in some other way promoted research at the University.
Who can become honorary doctor?
The title of honorary doctor, doctor honoris causa, is conferred upon academics, primarily from abroad, who have established ties with Swedish academic researchers or other individuals who have not taken a doctorate through academic studies but should clearly be inducted into the research community. Actual practice regarding what achievements should be honoured may vary from one institution to another.
However, certain rules apply across the board. It is always the faculties themselves that confer honorary doctorates, not the vice-chancellor or the university management. As Sweden is a small country, the distinction is national in scope. Any person who has attained a doctoral degree based on coursework and a dissertation at a Swedish university is not eligible to be awarded an honorary doctorate at another Swedish institution of higher learning.
It has been mentioned that the older degree of doctor of theology (and sometimes the equivalent degree in law) could be seen as a form of honorary doctorate. However, the more recent distinction of an honorary doctorate differs from these in that the faculties themselves, not some higher authority, select the individuals they wish to honor.
Origins of the honorary doctorate
The honorary doctorate originated at Uppsala in 1839, when the poet P D A Atterbom – professor of aesthetics and modern literature – as the promotor, or conferring officer, managed to have an honorary Master's degree awarded to an individual.
By following the links below you will find information about the faculties' honorary doctors, including conferment year, Swedish doctoral title (TDhc teologie hedersdoktor, JDhc juris hedersdoktor, MDhc medicine hedersdoktor, FarmDhc farmacie hedersdoktor FDhc filosofie hedersdoktor, EkDhc ekonomie hedersdoktor and TeknDhc teknologie hedersdoktor), and title (N.B. Titles may still be in Swedish due to reasons of accuracy).
[Honorary Doctors of the Faculty of Theology](/en/about-uu/academic-traditions/traditions/honorary-doctorates/honorary-doctors-of-the-faculty-of-theology) [Honorary Doctors of the Faculty of Law](/en/about-uu/academic-traditions/traditions/honorary-doctorates/honorary-doctors-of-the-faculty-of-law) [Honorary Doctors of the Faculty of Medicine](/en/about-uu/academic-traditions/traditions/honorary-doctorates/honorary-doctors-of-the-faculty-of-medicine) [Honorary Doctors of the Faculty of Pharmacy](/en/about-uu/academic-traditions/traditions/honorary-doctorates/honorary-doctors-of-the-faculty-of-pharmacy) [Honorary Doctors of the Faculty of Philosophy](/en/about-uu/academic-traditions/traditions/honorary-doctorates/honorary-doctors-of-the-faculty-of-philosophy) [Honorary Doctors of the Faculty of Humanities](/en/about-uu/academic-traditions/traditions/honorary-doctorates/honorary-doctors-of-the-faculty-of-humanities) [Honorary Doctors of the Faculty of Arts](/en/about-uu/academic-traditions/traditions/honorary-doctorates/honorary-doctors-of-the-faculty-of-arts) [Honorary Doctors of the Faculty of Languages](/en/about-uu/academic-traditions/traditions/honorary-doctorates/honorary-doctors-of-the-faculty-of-languages) [Honorary Doctors of the Faculty of Social Sciences](/en/about-uu/academic-traditions/traditions/honorary-doctorates/honorary-doctors-of-the-faculty-of-social-sciences) [Honorary Doctors of the Faculty of Educational Sciences](/en/about-uu/academic-traditions/traditions/honorary-doctorates/honorary-doctors-of-the-faculty-of-educational-sciences) [Honorary Doctors of the Faculty of Mathematics and Science](/en/about-uu/academic-traditions/traditions/honorary-doctorates/honorary-doctors-of-the-faculty-of-mathematics-and-science) [Honorary Doctors of the Faculty of Science and Technology](/en/about-uu/academic-traditions/traditions/honorary-doctorates/honorary-doctors-of-the-faculty-of-science-and-technology)
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Costel Pantilimon: Sunderland sign ex-Man City keeper
Sunderland have signed former Manchester City goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon on a four-year contract.
The Romanian international, 27, played 18 games for the Premier League champions last season but was allowed to leave the club on a free transfer.
Pantilimon is Sunderland's third signing this summer and will vie with Vito Mannone for the number one spot.
"It is a great privilege and honour to join a club like Sunderland," he said.
[joins Jordi Gomez](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27629479) and [Billy Jones](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27601001) as manager Gus Poyet's free transfer acquisitions at the Premier League club.
Pantilimon added: "Sunderland have an amazing history and tradition and, of course, passionate fans.
"When I left Manchester City it was important that I chose a club with good ambition and a manager who has the hunger and desire to take the team forward.
"After speaking with the boss, I knew this was the right place and he was the right man. I can't wait to start."
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Tottenham 1-2 Newcastle United
Magpies secure their first away league win since March
Tottenham with one win in seven matches
Ameobi scores within seconds of the restart
Perez scores first goal for club
Newcastle battled back from a goal down to beat Tottenham and ease the pressure further on manager Alan Pardew.
Some fans had
[called for his sacking in recent weeks,](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29297852) but he made two half-time changes which helped turned the game in Newcastle's favour after they had gone behind to Emmanuel Adebayor's header.
Winger Sammy Ameobi fired in within 10 seconds of the restart.
And then fellow substitute Remy Cabella provided the cross for Ayoze Perez to head in his first goal for the club.
That effort for the Spain Under-21 international marked an exceptional 13-minute turnaround for his club, who never looked like threatening Spurs in a lacklustre first-half display.
They needed an injection of energy from somewhere and Pardew provided it in the form of Ameobi and
[summer signing Cabella.](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28288790)
Straight from the restart, the ball was played back to midfielder Jack Colback who floated forward a brilliant ball for Ameobi down the left. The younger brother of ex-Magpies forward Shola eased past marker Eric Dier before crashing in from the angle.
The home support inside White Hart Lane were stunned and things got worse for them in the 58th minute when playmaker Cabella dug out a cross from the left for Perez to head in. The Spaniard only knew he would be getting his first start just before kick-off after it was announced Papiss Cisse was injured.
This was Newcastle's second victory of the season and second in succession after defeating Leicester last week, and it takes them out of the bottom three.
Tottenham, on the other hand, will rue not securing their fourth win this season, having controlled the game in the opening period.
However, despite dominating possession, Mauricio Pochettino's men created few outstanding opportunities and their only effort on goal resulted in Adebayor's opener.
It came in the 18th minute when the Togo forward took advantage of some haphazard Magpies defending in the lead-up to nod in at the far post from Ryan Mason's delivery.
It is now only one win in seven league games for Spurs - for a team expected to be challenging for a European spot, a worrying statistic.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew:
"We were giving too much possession to Tottenham, too much space.
"We never made a challenge and we were fortunate to come in a 1-0, so I reminded them about the fundamentals of a Premier League game and we came out with a much stronger attitude.
"I thought [in the] second half, the players were magnificent."
[Listen to BBC Radio 5 live commentary on the goals.](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p029gfnk)
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Nedum Onuoha signs for QPR from Manchester City
Queens Park Rangers have completed the signing of Nedum Onuoha from Manchester City on a four-and-half-year contract.
The defender, who played under Mark Hughes when the Welshman was manager of City, moves to Loftus Road for an undisclosed fee.
The 25-year-old spent last season on loan at Sunderland but has found opportunities limited at City.
"Nedum is a player I know well," Hughes told QPR's official website. "He is a very good addition to the squad."
"He did very well for me at Man City and played a number of games, probably more than under any other manager," Hughes added.
"He is very versatile. He can play centre-back or right-back and has good pace," added the QPR boss, who may hand Onuoha his debut against Chelsea in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Onuoha, who has played for England Under-21s, is Hughes's first signing.
The Nigerian-born player made his first-team debut in October 2004 in the Carling Cup defeat by Arsenal, with his Premier League debut coming in November the same year.
Onuoha joined Sunderland on a season-long loan last season, making 31 Premier League appearances and scoring once, in the 3-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Hughes is still looking to reinforce his squad as he looks to avoid the club making an immediate return to the Championship.
Chelsea's Brazilian defender Alex, 29, has been linked with a move to Rangers after handing in a transfer request at Stamford Bridge.
QPR have also had two bids rejected for Blackburn defender Christopher Samba, who has also handed in a transfer request.
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[Kirti Pandey](/expert/Kirti Pandey/142)
The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and Centre for South Asian Studies, Peking University, launched an online commemorative activity on Saturday, 10th October 2020.
The day was the 110th birthday of Dr Dwarkanath Shantaram Kotnis or Dr Kotnis for short, known as "a good friend of the Chinese" in China and India.
The Global Times reports that the activity attracted about 300 participants, including representatives from the Chinese Embassy in India and college students from both countries. Students from 14 universities in China and India created 54 short videos, to promote the spirit of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Chinese, Hindi and other languages. Ten of the videos won awards.
The Indian origin doctor who died in China during his service to that nation in 1942, lies buried in the Heroes' Courtyard in Nanquan Village.
Who was Dr Kotnis and why does China remember him?
Dwarkanath Kotnis was born to a middle-class Marathi Deshastha Brahmin family in Solapur, Maharashtra. He had two brothers and five sisters. He studied medicine at the Seth GS Medical College, Mumbai of the University of Bombay. As a 28-year-old, he left in 1938 from India along with 4 other Indian doctors (who returned later) to serve the Chinese soldiers wounded in the invasion by Japan. The mission was at the behest of the Indian National Army led by Subhas Chandra Bose and Congress leader Jawaharlal Nehru who responded to China's plea for help.
His love for the Chinese people is stuff legends are made of. His job as a battlefront doctor was stressful, where there was always an acute shortage of medicines. In one long-drawn-out battle against Japanese troops in 1940, Dr. Kotnis performed operations for up to 72 hours, without getting any sleep. He treated more than 800 wounded soldiers during the battle. He was appointed the Director at the Bethune International Peace Hospital; named after the famous Canadian surgeon Norman Bethune.
In 1940, Dr Kotnis met Guo Qinglan, a nurse at the Bethune Hospital whom he married in December 1941. They had a son on 23 August 1942, who was named Yinhua – meaning India (Yin) and China (Hua), at the suggestion of Nie Rongzhen, one of the top-most Marshals of the PLA.
Dr Kotnis died of epilepsy, brought forth by extremely strenuous conditions of work. His son was only 3 months old then.
Ms Guo Qinglan remarried later and had two children, but retained her 'Kotnis' surname. Sadly, Yinhua also passed away when he was just 25, and training to be a doctor like his father. "He was a handsome boy. He had his father's large eyes and my fair skin," the Hindu mentions Guo as saying.
Guo continued to correspond with Dr Kotnis' family in India and even visited them twice in her lifetime. She died in 2012 in Dalian, China at the age of 96. Dr Kotnis' life was immortalised in a biography "One Who Did Not Come Back" and a 1946 Bollywood movie "Dr Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani".
Upon his death in 1942, Mao Zedong mourned his death by observing that:
The army has lost a helping hand, the nation has lost a friend. Let us always bear in mind his internationalist spirit.
How China is honouring the memory of Dr Kotnis:
Interestingly, this year, the Global Times chose to quote those from either side of the border who urged India and China to recall the warm ties the two nations have shared over the centuries.
GT attributed a quote to Archie Bisht, an award-winning Indian student at Doon University, Uttrakhand. Bisht reportedly said, "I think through mutual understanding, cultural exchange and exploring our relations in ancient times, we will come to an understanding on how we had so many common aspects in the past even before we established diplomatic relations."
The Chinese website which is sometimes also called the mouthpiece of the communist government in Beijing also cited another academician - Jiang Jingkui, a professor of Indian languages from Peking University - as opining that the current mutual suspicion and misunderstanding between the Chinese and Indian people is largely due to the lack of communication and mutual understanding between the two sides. "Chinese and Indian university students learning each other's languages shoulder the important task of telling the story of China-India friendship," said Jiang Jingkui to Global Times.
One interesting view was that Both China and India are ancient civilizations in Asia, and crucial neighbours with a 2,000-year shared history. Lin Songtian, the head of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. "It is normal for neighbours to have occasional frictions. The key is to calm down and sit together to find a solution, just like family members... The Chinese and Indian people have to be vigilant to all outside powers that attempt to instigate and mislead China-India relations." This seems a veiled reference to the antagonised world's rallying behind India. Between the two nations, nearly 2.7 billion of the world's population lives in this part of the world.
Tense LAC, edgy China:
Since May, India and China have been locked in a stand-off on the LAC. China has massed between 300-400 tanks along the LAC. They are located in different places, including Depsang, opposite hot springs and the area between Spanggur Tso (or Lake) and Rechin La. India has been forced to have a commensurate buildup in the area. China is seeking a face-saver exit as winter is about to set in and battle-hardened Indian troops will have an upper hand in the terrain, Beijing fears. Apart from the above exercise of rallying students and academics to influence decisions, China has been attempting to influence popular opinion within India to get Indian troops to deescalate and step back first. Given its past experience with China's unreliable behaviour, India is not ready to move back at this stage.
What India did in late August, reinforcing its positions in the South Bank has worried the Chinese, leading to their creeping up to Indian positions in the dark and firing in the air. This has happened four times. India does not trust China anymore and has insisted that China crossed from beyond Finger 8 area of Pangong Tso lake in May first and should go back first now.
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This work is in public domain according to the Berne convention since January 1st 1992.
A few days ago I said to a distinguished Bengali doctor of medicine, `I know no German, yet if a translation of a German poet had moved me, I would go to the British Museum and find books in English that would tell me something of his life, and of the history of his thought. But though these prose translations from Rabindranath Tagore have stirred my blood as nothing has for years, I shall not know anything of his life, and of the movements of thought that have made them possible, if some Indian traveller will not tell me.' It seemed to him natural that I should be moved, for he said, `I read Rabindranath every day, to read one line of his is to forget all the troubles of the world.' I said, `An Englishman living in London in the reign of Richard the Second had he been shown translations from Petrarch or from Dante, would have found no books to answer his questions, but would have questioned some Florentine banker or Lombard merchant as I question you. For all I know, so abundant and simple is this poetry, the new renaissance has been born in your country and I shall never know of it except by hearsay.' He answered, `We have other poets, but none that are his equal; we call this the epoch of Rabindranath. No poet seems to me as famous in Europe as he is among us. He is as great in music as in poetry, and his songs are sung from the west of India into Burma wherever Bengali is spoken. He was already famous at nineteen when he wrote his first novel; and plays when he was but little older, are still played in Calcutta. I so much admire the completeness of his life; when he was very young he wrote much of natural objects, he would sit all day in his garden; from his twenty-fifth year or so to his thirty-fifth perhaps, when he had a great sorrow, he wrote the most beautiful love poetry in our language'; and then he said with deep emotion, `words can never express what I owed at seventeen to his love poetry. After that his art grew deeper, it became religious and philosophical; all the inspiration of mankind are in his hymns. He is the first among our saints who has not refused to live, but has spoken out of Life itself, and that is why we give him our love.' I may have changed his well-chosen words in my memory but not his thought. `A little while ago he was to read divine service in one of our churches---we of the Brahma Samaj use your word `church' in English---it was the largest in Calcutta and not only was it crowded, but the streets were all but impassable because of the people.'
Other Indians came to see me and their reverence for this man sounded strange in our world, where we hide great and little things under the same veil of obvious comedy and half-serious depreciation. When we were making the cathedrals had we a like reverence for our great men? `Every morning at three---I know, for I have seen it'---one said to me, `he sits immovable in contemplation, and for two hours does not awake from his reverie upon the nature of God. His father, the Maha Rishi, would sometimes sit there all through the next day; once, upon a river, he fell into contemplation because of the beauty of the landscape, and the rowers waited for eight hours before they could continue their journey.' He then told me of Mr. Tagore's family and how for generations great men have come out of its cradles. `Today,' he said, `there are Gogonendranath and Abanindranath Tagore, who are artists; and Dwijendranath, Rabindranath's brother, who is a great philosopher. The squirrels come from the boughs and climb on to his knees and the birds alight upon his hands.' I notice in these men's thought a sense of visible beauty and meaning as though they held that doctrine of Nietzsche that we must not believe in the moral or intellectual beauty which does not sooner or later impress itself upon physical things. I said, `In the East you know how to keep a family illustrious. The other day the curator of a museum pointed out to me a little dark-skinned man who was arranging their Chinese prints and said, ``That is the hereditary connoisseur of the Mikado, he is the fourteenth of his family to hold the post.'' 'He answered, `When Rabindranath was a boy he had all round him in his home literature and music.' I thought of the abundance, of the simplicity of the poems, and said, `In your country is there much propagandist writing, much criticism? We have to do so much, especially in my own country, that our minds gradually cease to be creative, and yet we cannot help it. If our life was not a continual warfare, we would not have taste, we would not know what is good, we would not find hearers and readers. Four-fifths of our energy is spent in the quarrel with bad taste, whether in our own minds or in the minds of others.' `I understand,' he replied, `we too have our propagandist writing. In the villages they recite long mythological poems adapted from the Sanskrit in the Middle Ages, and they often insert passages telling the people that they must do their duties.'
I have carried the manuscript of these translations about with me for days, reading it in railway trains, or on the top of omnibuses and in restaurants, and I have often had to close it lest some stranger would see how much it moved me. These lyrics---which are in the original, my Indians tell me, full of subtlety of rhythm, of untranslatable delicacies of colour, of metrical invention---display in their thought a world I have dreamed of all my live long. The work of a supreme culture, they yet appear as much the growth of the common soil as the grass and the rushes. A tradition, where poetry and religion are the same thing, has passed through the centuries, gathering from learned and unlearned metaphor and emotion, and carried back again to the multitude the thought of the scholar and of the noble. If the civilization of Bengal remains unbroken, if that common mind which---as one divines---runs through all, is not, as with us, broken into a dozen minds that know nothing of each other, something even of what is most subtle in these verses will have come, in a few generations, to the beggar on the roads. When there was but one mind in England, Chaucer wrote his Troilus and Cressida, and thought he had written to be read, or to be read out---for our time was coming on apace---he was sung by minstrels for a while. Rabindranath Tagore, like Chaucer's forerunners, writes music for his words, and one understands at every moment that he is so abundant, so spontaneous, so daring in his passion, so full of surprise, because he is doing something which has never seemed strange, unnatural, or in need of defence. These verses will not lie in little well-printed books upon ladies' tables, who turn the pages with indolent hands that they may sigh over a life without meaning, which is yet all they can know of life, or be carried by students at the university to be laid aside when the work of life begins, but, as the generations pass, travellers will hum them on the highway and men rowing upon the rivers. Lovers, while they await one another, shall find, in murmuring them, this love of God a magic gulf wherein their own more bitter passion may bathe and renew its youth. At every moment the heart of this poet flows outward to these without derogation or condescension, for it has known that they will understand; and it has filled itself with the circumstance of their lives. The traveller in the read-brown clothes that he wears that dust may not show upon him, the girl searching in her bed for the petals fallen from the wreath of her royal lover, the servant or the bride awaiting the master's home-coming in the empty house, are images of the heart turning to God. Flowers and rivers, the blowing of conch shells, the heavy rain of the Indian July, or the moods of that heart in union or in separation; and a man sitting in a boat upon a river playing lute, like one of those figures full of mysterious meaning in a Chinese picture, is God Himself. A whole people, a whole civilization, immeasurably strange to us, seems to have been taken up into this imagination; and yet we are not moved because of its strangeness, but because we have met our own image, as though we had walked in Rossetti's willow wood, or heard, perhaps for the first time in literature, our voice as in a dream.
Since the Renaissance the writing of European saints---however familiar their metaphor and the general structure of their thought---has ceased to hold our attention. We know that we must at last forsake the world, and we are accustomed in moments of weariness or exaltation to consider a voluntary forsaking; but how can we, who have read so much poetry, seen so many paintings, listened to so much music, where the cry of the flesh and the cry of the soul seems one, forsake it harshly and rudely? What have we in common with St. Bernard covering his eyes that they may not dwell upon the beauty of the lakes of Switzerland, or with the violent rhetoric of the Book of Revelations? We would, if we might, find, as in this book, words full of courtesy. `I have got my leave. Bid me farewell, my brothers! I bow to you all and take my departure. Here I give back the keys of my door---and I give up all claims to my house. I only ask for last kind words from you. We were neighbours for long, but I received more than I could give. Now the day has dawned and the lamp that lit my dark corner is out. A summons has come and I am ready for my journey.' And it is our own mood, when it is furthest from `a Kempis or John of the Cross, that cries, `And because I love this life, I know I shall love death as well.' Yet it is not only in our thoughts of the parting that this book fathoms all. We had not known that we loved God, hardly it may be that we believed in Him; yet looking backward upon our life we discover, in our exploration of the pathways of woods, in our delight in the lonely places of hills, in that mysterious claim that we have made, unavailingly on the woman that we have loved, the emotion that created this insidious sweetness. `Entering my heart unbidden even as one of the common crowd, unknown to me, my king, thou didst press the signet of eternity upon many a fleeting moment.' This is no longer the sanctity of the cell and of the scourge; being but a lifting up, as it were, into a greater intensity of the mood of the painter, painting the dust and the sunlight, and we go for a like voice to St. Francis and to William Blake who have seemed so alien in our violent history.
We write long books where no page perhaps has any quality to make writing a pleasure, being confident in some general design, just as we fight and make money and fill our heads with politics---all dull things in the doing---while Mr. Tagore, like the Indian civilization itself, has been content to discover the soul and surrender himself to its spontaneity. He often seems to contrast life with that of those who have loved more after our fashion, and have more seeming weight in the world, and always humbly as though he were only sure his way is best for him: `Men going home glance at me and smile and fill me with shame. I sit like a beggar maid, drawing my skirt over my face, and when they ask me, what it is I want, I drop my eyes and answer them not.' At another time, remembering how his life had once a different shape, he will say, `Many an hour I have spent in the strife of the good and the evil, but now it is the pleasure of my playmate of the empty days to draw my heart on to him; and I know not why this sudden call to what useless inconsequence.' An innocence, a simplicity that one does not find elsewhere in literature makes the birds and the leaves seem as near to him as they are near to children, and the changes of the seasons great events as before our thoughts had arisen between them and us. At times I wonder if he has it from the literature of Bengal or from religion, and at other times, remembering the birds alighting on his brother's hands, I find pleasure in thinking it hereditary, a mystery that was growing through the centuries like the courtesy of a Tristan or a Pelanore. Indeed, when he is speaking of children, so much a part of himself this quality seems, one is not certain that he is not also speaking of the saints, `They build their houses with sand and they play with empty shells. With withered leaves they weave their boats and smilingly float them on the vast deep. Children have their play on the seashore of worlds. They know not how to swim, they know not how to cast nets. Pearl fishers dive for pearls, merchants sail in their ships, while children gather pebbles and scatter them again. They seek not for hidden treasures, they know not how to cast nets.'
W.B. YEATS September 1912
Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life.
This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales, and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new.
At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable.
Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine. Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill.
When thou commandest me to sing it seems that my heart would break with pride; and I look to thy face, and tears come to my eyes.
All that is harsh and dissonant in my life melts into one sweet harmony---and my adoration spreads wings like a glad bird on its flight across the sea.
I know thou takest pleasure in my singing. I know that only as a singer I come before thy presence.
I touch by the edge of the far-spreading wing of my song thy feet which I could never aspire to reach.
Drunk with the joy of singing I forget myself and call thee friend who art my lord.
I know not how thou singest, my master! I ever listen in silent amazement.
The light of thy music illumines the world. The life breath of thy music runs from sky to sky. The holy stream of thy music breaks through all stony obstacles and rushes on.
My heart longs to join in thy song, but vainly struggles for a voice. I would speak, but speech breaks not into song, and I cry out baffled. Ah, thou hast made my heart captive in the endless meshes of thy music, my master!
Life of my life, I shall ever try to keep my body pure, knowing that thy living touch is upon all my limbs.
I shall ever try to keep all untruths out from my thoughts, knowing that thou art that truth which has kindled the light of reason in my mind.
I shall ever try to drive all evils away from my heart and keep my love in flower, knowing that thou hast thy seat in the inmost shrine of my heart.
And it shall be my endeavour to reveal thee in my actions, knowing it is thy power gives me strength to act.
I ask for a moment's indulgence to sit by thy side. The works that I have in hand I will finish afterwards.
Away from the sight of thy face my heart knows no rest nor respite, and my work becomes an endless toil in a shoreless sea of toil.
Today the summer has come at my window with its sighs and murmurs; and the bees are plying their minstrelsy at the court of the flowering grove.
Now it is time to sit quite, face to face with thee, and to sing dedication of live in this silent and overflowing leisure.
Pluck this little flower and take it, delay not! I fear lest it droop and drop into the dust.
I may not find a place in thy garland, but honour it with a touch of pain from thy hand and pluck it. I fear lest the day end before I am aware, and the time of offering go by.
Though its colour be not deep and its smell be faint, use this flower in thy service and pluck it while there is time.
My song has put off her adornments. She has no pride of dress and decoration. Ornaments would mar our union; they would come between thee and me; their jingling would drown thy whispers.
My poet's vanity dies in shame before thy sight. O master poet, I have sat down at thy feet. Only let me make my life simple and straight, like a flute of reed for thee to fill with music.
The child who is decked with prince's robes and who has jewelled chains round his neck loses all pleasure in his play; his dress hampers him at every step.
In fear that it may be frayed, or stained with dust he keeps himself from the world, and is afraid even to move.
Mother, it is no gain, thy bondage of finery, if it keep one shut off from the healthful dust of the earth, if it rob one of the right of entrance to the great fair of common human life.
O Fool, try to carry thyself upon thy own shoulders! O beggar, to come beg at thy own door!
Leave all thy burdens on his hands who can bear all, and never look behind in regret.
Thy desire at once puts out the light from the lamp it touches with its breath. It is unholy---take not thy gifts through its unclean hands. Accept only what is offered by sacred love.
Here is thy footstool and there rest thy feet where live the poorest, and lowliest, and lost.
When I try to bow to thee, my obeisance cannot reach down to the depth where thy feet rest among the poorest, and lowliest, and lost.
Pride can never approach to where thou walkest in the clothes of the humble among the poorest, and lowliest, and lost.
My heart can never find its way to where thou keepest company with the companionless among the poorest, the lowliest, and the lost.
Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee!
He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the pathmaker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust. Put of thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil!
Deliverance? Where is this deliverance to be found? Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of creation; he is bound with us all for ever.
Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense! What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained? Meet him and stand by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow.
The time that my journey takes is long and the way of it long.
I came out on the chariot of the first gleam of light, and pursued my voyage through the wildernesses of worlds leaving my track on many a star and planet.
It is the most distant course that comes nearest to thyself, and that training is the most intricate which leads to the utter simplicity of a tune.
The traveller has to knock at every alien door to come to his own, and one has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end.
My eyes strayed far and wide before I shut them and said `Here art thou!'
The question and the cry `Oh, where?' melt into tears of a thousand streams and deluge the world with the flood of the assurance `I am!'
The song that I came to sing remains unsung to this day.
I have spent my days in stringing and in unstringing my instrument.
The time has not come true, the words have not been rightly set; only there is the agony of wishing in my heart.
The blossom has not opened; only the wind is sighing by.
I have not seen his face, nor have I listened to his voice; only I have heard his gentle footsteps from the road before my house.
The livelong day has passed in spreading his seat on the floor; but the lamp has not been lit and I cannot ask him into my house.
I live in the hope of meeting with him; but this meeting is not yet.
My desires are many and my cry is pitiful, but ever didst thou save me by hard refusals; and this strong mercy has been wrought into my life through and through.
Day by day thou art making me worthy of the simple, great gifts that thou gavest to me unasked---this sky and the light, this body and the life and the mind---saving me from perils of overmuch desire.
There are times when I languidly linger and times when I awaken and hurry in search of my goal; but cruelly thou hidest thyself from before me.
Day by day thou art making me worthy of thy full acceptance by refusing me ever and anon, saving me from perils of weak, uncertain desire.
I am here to sing thee songs. In this hall of thine I have a corner seat.
In thy world I have no work to do; my useless life can only break out in tunes without a purpose.
When the hour strikes for thy silent worship at the dark temple of midnight, command me, my master, to stand before thee to sing.
When in the morning air the golden harp is tuned, honour me, commanding my presence.
I have had my invitation to this world's festival, and thus my life has been blessed. My eyes have seen and my ears have heard.
It was my part at this feast to play upon my instrument, and I have done all I could.
Now, I ask, has the time come at last when I may go in and see thy face and offer thee my silent salutation?
I am only waiting for love to give myself up at last into his hands. That is why it is so late and why I have been guilty of such omissions.
They come with their laws and their codes to bind me fast; but I evade them ever, for I am only waiting for love to give myself up at last into his hands.
People blame me and call me heedless; I doubt not they are right in their blame.
The market day is over and work is all done for the busy. Those who came to call me in vain have gone back in anger. I am only waiting for love to give myself up at last into his hands.
Clouds heap upon clouds and it darkens. Ah, love, why dost thou let me wait outside at the door all alone?
In the busy moments of the noontide work I am with the crowd, but on this dark lonely day it is only for thee that I hope.
If thou showest me not thy face, if thou leavest me wholly aside, I know not how I am to pass these long, rainy hours.
I keep gazing on the far-away gloom of the sky, and my heart wanders wailing with the restless wind.
If thou speakest not I will fill my heart with thy silence and endure it. I will keep still and wait like the night with starry vigil and its head bent low with patience.
The morning will surely come, the darkness will vanish, and thy voice pour down in golden streams breaking through the sky.
Then thy words will take wing in songs from every one of my birds' nests, and thy melodies will break forth in flowers in all my forest groves.
On the day when the lotus bloomed, alas, my mind was straying, and I knew it not. My basket was empty and the flower remained unheeded.
Only now and again a sadness fell upon me, and I started up from my dream and felt a sweet trace of a strange fragrance in the south wind.
That vague sweetness made my heart ache with longing and it seemed to me that is was the eager breath of the summer seeking for its completion.
I knew not then that it was so near, that it was mine, and that this perfect sweetness had blossomed in the depth of my own heart.
I must launch out my boat. The languid hours pass by on the shore---Alas for me!
The spring has done its flowering and taken leave. And now with the burden of faded futile flowers I wait and linger.
The waves have become clamorous, and upon the bank in the shady lane the yellow leaves flutter and fall.
What emptiness do you gaze upon! Do you not feel a thrill passing through the air with the notes of the far-away song floating from the other shore?
In the deep shadows of the rainy July, with secret steps, thou walkest, silent as night, eluding all watchers.
Today the morning has closed its eyes, heedless of the insistent calls of the loud east wind, and a thick veil has been drawn over the ever-wakeful blue sky.
The woodlands have hushed their songs, and doors are all shut at every house. Thou art the solitary wayfarer in this deserted street. Oh my only friend, my best beloved, the gates are open in my house---do not pass by like a dream.
Art thou abroad on this stormy night on thy journey of love, my friend? The sky groans like one in despair.
I have no sleep tonight. Ever and again I open my door and look out on the darkness, my friend!
I can see nothing before me. I wonder where lies thy path!
By what dim shore of the ink-black river, by what far edge of the frowning forest, through what mazy depth of gloom art thou threading thy course to come to me, my friend?
If the day is done, if birds sing no more, if the wind has flagged tired, then draw the veil of darkness thick upon me, even as thou hast wrapt the earth with the coverlet of sleep and tenderly closed the petals of the drooping lotus at dusk.
From the traveller, whose sack of provisions is empty before the voyage is ended, whose garment is torn and dustladen, whose strength is exhausted, remove shame and poverty, and renew his life like a flower under the cover of thy kindly night.
In the night of weariness let me give myself up to sleep without struggle, resting my trust upon thee.
Let me not force my flagging spirit into a poor preparation for thy worship.
It is thou who drawest the veil of night upon the tired eyes of the day to renew its sight in a fresher gladness of awakening.
He came and sat by my side but I woke not. What a cursed sleep it was, O miserable me!
He came when the night was still; he had his harp in his hands, and my dreams became resonant with its melodies.
Alas, why are my nights all thus lost? Ah, why do I ever miss his sight whose breath touches my sleep?
Light, oh where is the light? Kindle it with the burning fire of desire!
There is the lamp but never a flicker of a flame---is such thy fate, my heart? Ah, death were better by far for thee!
Misery knocks at thy door, and her message is that thy lord is wakeful, and he calls thee to the love-tryst through the darkness of night.
The sky is overcast with clouds and the rain is ceaseless. I know not what this is that stirs in me---I know not its meaning.
A moment's flash of lightning drags down a deeper gloom on my sight, and my heart gropes for the path to where the music of the night calls me.
Light, oh where is the light! Kindle it with the burning fire of desire! It thunders and the wind rushes screaming through the void. The night is black as a black stone. Let not the hours pass by in the dark. Kindle the lamp of love with thy life.
Obstinate are the trammels, but my heart aches when I try to break them.
Freedom is all I want, but to hope for it I feel ashamed.
I am certain that priceless wealth is in thee, and that thou art my best friend, but I have not the heart to sweep away the tinsel that fills my room
The shroud that covers me is a shroud of dust and death; I hate it, yet hug it in love.
My debts are large, my failures great, my shame secret and heavy; yet when I come to ask for my good, I quake in fear lest my prayer be granted.
He whom I enclose with my name is weeping in this dungeon. I am ever busy building this wall all around; and as this wall goes up into the sky day by day I lose sight of my true being in its dark shadow.
I take pride in this great wall, and I plaster it with dust and sand lest a least hole should be left in this name; and for all the care I take I lose sight of my true being.
I came out alone on my way to my tryst. But who is this that follows me in the silent dark?
I move aside to avoid his presence but I escape him not.
He makes the dust rise from the earth with his swagger; he adds his loud voice to every word that I utter.
He is my own little self, my lord, he knows no shame; but I am ashamed to come to thy door in his company.
`Prisoner, tell me, who was it that bound you?'
`It was my master,' said the prisoner. `I thought I could outdo everybody in the world in wealth and power, and I amassed in my own treasure-house the money due to my king. When sleep overcame me I lay upon the bed that was for my lord, and on waking up I found I was a prisoner in my own treasure-house.'
`Prisoner, tell me, who was it that wrought this unbreakable chain?'
`It was I,' said the prisoner, `who forged this chain very carefully. I thought my invincible power would hold the world captive leaving me in a freedom undisturbed. Thus night and day I worked at the chain with huge fires and cruel hard strokes. When at last the work was done and the links were complete and unbreakable, I found that it held me in its grip.'
By all means they try to hold me secure who love me in this world. But it is otherwise with thy love which is greater than theirs, and thou keepest me free.
Lest I forget them they never venture to leave me alone. But day passes by after day and thou art not seen.
If I call not thee in my prayers, if I keep not thee in my heart, thy love for me still waits for my love.
When it was day they came into my house and said, `We shall only take the smallest room here.'
They said, `We shall help you in the worship of your God and humbly accept only our own share in his grace'; and then they took their seat in a corner and they sat quiet and meek.
But in the darkness of night I find they break into my sacred shrine, strong and turbulent, and snatch with unholy greed the offerings from God's altar.
Let only that little be left of me whereby I may name thee my all.
Let only that little be left of my will whereby I may feel thee on every side, and come to thee in everything, and offer to thee my love every moment.
Let only that little be left of me whereby I may never hide thee.
Let only that little of my fetters be left whereby I am bound with thy will, and thy purpose is carried out in my life---and that is the fetter of thy love.
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action---
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
This is my prayer to thee, my lord---strike, strike at the root of penury in my heart.
Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.
Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.
Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might.
Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles.
And give me the strength to surrender my strength to thy will with love.
I thought that my voyage had come to its end at the last limit of my power,---that the path before me was closed, that provisions were exhausted and the time come to take shelter in a silent obscurity.
But I find that thy will knows no end in me. And when old words die out on the tongue, new melodies break forth from the heart; and where the old tracks are lost, new country is revealed with its wonders.
That I want thee, only thee---let my heart repeat without end. All desires that distract me, day and night, are false and empty to the core.
As the night keeps hidden in its gloom the petition for light, even thus in the depth of my unconsciousness rings the cry---`I want thee, only thee'.
As the storm still seeks its end in peace when it strikes against peace with all its might, even thus my rebellion strikes against thy love and still its cry is---`I want thee, only thee'.
When the heart is hard and parched up, come upon me with a shower of mercy.
When grace is lost from life, come with a burst of song.
When tumultuous work raises its din on all sides shutting me out from beyond, come to me, my lord of silence, with thy peace and rest.
When my beggarly heart sits crouched, shut up in a corner, break open the door, my king, and come with the ceremony of a king.
When desire blinds the mind with delusion and dust, O thou holy one, thou wakeful, come with thy light and thy thunder.
The rain has held back for days and days, my God, in my arid heart. The horizon is fiercely naked---not the thinnest cover of a soft cloud, not the vaguest hint of a distant cool shower.
Send thy angry storm, dark with death, if it is thy wish, and with lashes of lightning startle the sky from end to end.
But call back, my lord, call back this pervading silent heat, still and keen and cruel, burning the heart with dire despair.
Let the cloud of grace bend low from above like the tearful look of the mother on the day of the father's wrath.
Where dost thou stand behind them all, my lover, hiding thyself in the shadows? They push thee and pass thee by on the dusty road, taking thee for naught. I wait here weary hours spreading my offerings for thee, while passers-by come and take my flowers, one by one, and my basket is nearly empty.
The morning time is past, and the noon. In the shade of evening my eyes are drowsy with sleep. Men going home glance at me and smile and fill me with shame. I sit like a beggar maid, drawing my skirt over my face, and when they ask me, what it is I want, I drop my eyes and answer them not.
Oh, how, indeed, could I tell them that for thee I wait, and that thou hast promised to come. How could I utter for shame that I keep for my dowry this poverty. Ah, I hug this pride in the secret of my heart.
I sit on the grass and gaze upon the sky and dream of the sudden splendour of thy coming---all the lights ablaze, golden pennons flying over thy car, and they at the roadside standing agape, when they see thee come down from thy seat to raise me from the dust, and set at thy side this ragged beggar girl a-tremble with shame and pride, like a creeper in a summer breeze.
But time glides on and still no sound of the wheels of thy chariot. Many a procession passes by with noise and shouts and glamour of glory. Is it only thou who wouldst stand in the shadow silent and behind them all? And only I who would wait and weep and wear out my heart in vain longing?
Early in the day it was whispered that we should sail in a boat, only thou and I, and never a soul in the world would know of this our pilgrimage to no country and to no end.
In that shoreless ocean, at thy silently listening smile my songs would swell in melodies, free as waves, free from all bondage of words.
Is the time not come yet? Are there works still to do? Lo, the evening has come down upon the shore and in the fading light the seabirds come flying to their nests.
Who knows when the chains will be off, and the boat, like the last glimmer of sunset, vanish into the night?
The day was when I did not keep myself in readiness for thee; and entering my heart unbidden even as one of the common crowd, unknown to me, my king, thou didst press the signet of eternity upon many a fleeting moment of my life.
And today when by chance I light upon them and see thy signature, I find they have lain scattered in the dust mixed with the memory of joys and sorrows of my trivial days forgotten.
Thou didst not turn in contempt from my childish play among dust, and the steps that I heard in my playroom are the same that are echoing from star to star.
This is my delight, thus to wait and watch at the wayside where shadow chases light and the rain comes in the wake of the summer.
Messengers, with tidings from unknown skies, greet me and speed along the road. My heart is glad within, and the breath of the passing breeze is sweet.
From dawn till dusk I sit here before my door, and I know that of a sudden the happy moment will arrive when I shall see.
In the meanwhile I smile and I sing all alone. In the meanwhile the air is filling with the perfume of promise.
Have you not heard his silent steps? He comes, comes, ever comes.
Every moment and every age, every day and every night he comes, comes, ever comes.
Many a song have I sung in many a mood of mind, but all their notes have always proclaimed, `He comes, comes, ever comes.'
In the fragrant days of sunny April through the forest path he comes, comes, ever comes.
In the rainy gloom of July nights on the thundering chariot of clouds he comes, comes, ever comes.
In sorrow after sorrow it is his steps that press upon my heart, and it is the golden touch of his feet that makes my joy to shine.
I know not from what distant time thou art ever coming nearer to meet me. Thy sun and stars can never keep thee hidden from me for aye.
In many a morning and eve thy footsteps have been heard and thy messenger has come within my heart and called me in secret.
I know not only why today my life is all astir, and a feeling of tremulous joy is passing through my heart.
It is as if the time were come to wind up my work, and I feel in the air a faint smell of thy sweet presence.
The night is nearly spent waiting for him in vain. I fear lest in the morning he suddenly come to my door when I have fallen asleep wearied out. Oh friends, leave the way open to him---forbid him not.
If the sounds of his steps does not wake me, do not try to rouse me, I pray. I wish not to be called from my sleep by the clamorous choir of birds, by the riot of wind at the festival of morning light. Let me sleep undisturbed even if my lord comes of a sudden to my door.
Ah, my sleep, precious sleep, which only waits for his touch to vanish. Ah, my closed eyes that would open their lids only to the light of his smile when he stands before me like a dream emerging from darkness of sleep.
Let him appear before my sight as the first of all lights and all forms. The first thrill of joy to my awakened soul let it come from his glance. And let my return to myself be immediate return to him.
The morning sea of silence broke into ripples of bird songs; and the flowers were all merry by the roadside; and the wealth of gold was scattered through the rift of the clouds while we busily went on our way and paid no heed.
We sang no glad songs nor played; we went not to the village for barter; we spoke not a word nor smiled; we lingered not on the way. We quickened our pace more and more as the time sped by.
The sun rose to the mid sky and doves cooed in the shade. Withered leaves danced and whirled in the hot air of noon. The shepherd boy drowsed and dreamed in the shadow of the banyan tree, and I laid myself down by the water and stretched my tired limbs on the grass.
My companions laughed at me in scorn; they held their heads high and hurried on; they never looked back nor rested; they vanished in the distant blue haze. They crossed many meadows and hills, and passed through strange, far-away countries. All honour to you, heroic host of the interminable path! Mockery and reproach pricked me to rise, but found no response in me. I gave myself up for lost in the depth of a glad humiliation---in the shadow of a dim delight.
The repose of the sun-embroidered green gloom slowly spread over my heart. I forgot for what I had travelled, and I surrendered my mind without struggle to the maze of shadows and songs.
At last, when I woke from my slumber and opened my eyes, I saw thee standing by me, flooding my sleep with thy smile. How I had feared that the path was long and wearisome, and the struggle to reach thee was hard!
You came down from your throne and stood at my cottage door.
I was singing all alone in a corner, and the melody caught your ear. You came down and stood at my cottage door.
Masters are many in your hall, and songs are sung there at all hours. But the simple carol of this novice struck at your love. One plaintive little strain mingled with the great music of the world, and with a flower for a prize you came down and stopped at my cottage door.
I had gone a-begging from door to door in the village path, when thy golden chariot appeared in the distance like a gorgeous dream and I wondered who was this King of all kings!
My hopes rose high and methought my evil days were at an end, and I stood waiting for alms to be given unasked and for wealth scattered on all sides in the dust.
The chariot stopped where I stood. Thy glance fell on me and thou camest down with a smile. I felt that the luck of my life had come at last. Then of a sudden thou didst hold out thy right hand and say `What hast thou to give to me?'
Ah, what a kingly jest was it to open thy palm to a beggar to beg! I was confused and stood undecided, and then from my wallet I slowly took out the least little grain of corn and gave it to thee.
But how great my surprise when at the day's end I emptied my bag on the floor to find a least little gram of gold among the poor heap. I bitterly wept and wished that I had had the heart to give thee my all.
The night darkened. Our day's works had been done. We thought that the last guest had arrived for the night and the doors in the village were all shut. Only some said the king was to come. We laughed and said `No, it cannot be!'
It seemed there were knocks at the door and we said it was nothing but the wind. We put out the lamps and lay down to sleep. Only some said, `It is the messenger!' We laughed and said `No, it must be the wind!'
There came a sound in the dead of the night. We sleepily thought it was the distant thunder. The earth shook, the walls rocked, and it troubled us in our sleep. Only some said it was the sound of wheels. We said in a drowsy murmur, `No, it must be the rumbling of clouds!'
The night was still dark when the drum sounded. The voice came `Wake up! delay not!' We pressed our hands on our hearts and shuddered with fear. Some said, `Lo, there is the king's flag!' We stood up on our feet and cried `There is no time for delay!'
The king has come---but where are lights, where are wreaths? Where is the throne to seat him? Oh, shame! Oh utter shame! Where is the hall, the decorations? Someone has said, `Vain is this cry! Greet him with empty hands, lead him into thy rooms all bare!'
Open the doors, let the conch-shells be sounded! in the depth of the night has come the king of our dark, dreary house. The thunder roars in the sky. The darkness shudders with lightning. Bring out thy tattered piece of mat and spread it in the courtyard. With the storm has come of a sudden our king of the fearful night.
I thought I should ask of thee---but I dared not---the rose wreath thou hadst on thy neck. Thus I waited for the morning, when thou didst depart, to find a few fragments on the bed. And like a beggar I searched in the dawn only for a stray petal or two.
Ah me, what is it I find? What token left of thy love? It is no flower, no spices, no vase of perfumed water. It is thy mighty sword, flashing as a flame, heavy as a bolt of thunder. The young light of morning comes through the window and spread itself upon thy bed. The morning bird twitters and asks, `Woman, what hast thou got?' No, it is no flower, nor spices, nor vase of perfumed water---it is thy dreadful sword.
I sit and muse in wonder, what gift is this of thine. I can find no place to hide it. I am ashamed to wear it, frail as I am, and it hurts me when press it to my bosom. Yet shall I bear in my heart this honour of the burden of pain, this gift of thine.
From now there shall be no fear left for me in this world, and thou shalt be victorious in all my strife. Thou hast left death for my companion and I shall crown him with my life. Thy sword is with me to cut asunder my bonds, and there shall be no fear left for me in the world.
From now I leave off all petty decorations. Lord of my heart, no more shall there be for me waiting and weeping in corners, no more coyness and sweetness of demeanour. Thou hast given me thy sword for adornment. No more doll's decorations for me!
Beautiful is thy wristlet, decked with stars and cunningly wrought in myriad-coloured jewels. But more beautiful to me thy sword with its curve of lightning like the outspread wings of the divine bird of Vishnu, perfectly poised in the angry red light of the sunset.
It quivers like the one last response of life in ecstasy of pain at the final stroke of death; it shines like the pure flame of being burning up earthly sense with one fierce flash.
Beautiful is thy wristlet, decked with starry gems; but thy sword, O lord of thunder, is wrought with uttermost beauty, terrible to behold or think of.
I asked nothing from thee; I uttered not my name to thine ear. When thou took'st thy leave I stood silent. I was alone by the well where the shadow of the tree fell aslant, and the women had gone home with their brown earthen pitchers full to the brim. They called me and shouted, `Come with us, the morning is wearing on to noon.' But I languidly lingered awhile lost in the midst of vague musings.
I heard not thy steps as thou camest. Thine eyes were sad when they fell on me; thy voice was tired as thou spokest low---`Ah, I am a thirsty traveller.' I started up from my day-dreams and poured water from my jar on thy joined palms. The leaves rustled overhead; the cuckoo sang from the unseen dark, and perfume of babla flowers came from the bend of the road.
I stood speechless with shame when my name thou didst ask. Indeed, what had I done for thee to keep me in remembrance? But the memory that I could give water to thee to allay thy thirst will cling to my heart and enfold it in sweetness. The morning hour is late, the bird sings in weary notes, neem leaves rustle overhead and I sit and think and think.
Languor is upon your heart and the slumber is still on your eyes.
Has not the word come to you that the flower is reigning in splendour among thorns? Wake, oh awaken! let not the time pass in vain!
At the end of the stony path, in the country of virgin solitude, my friend is sitting all alone. Deceive him not. Wake, oh awaken!
What if the sky pants and trembles with the heat of the midday sun---what if the burning sand spreads its mantle of thirst---
Is there no joy in the deep of your heart? At every footfall of yours, will not the harp of the road break out in sweet music of pain?
Thus it is that thy joy in me is so full. Thus it is that thou hast come down to me. O thou lord of all heavens, where would be thy love if I were not?
Thou hast taken me as thy partner of all this wealth. In my heart is the endless play of thy delight. In my life thy will is ever taking shape.
And for this, thou who art the King of kings hast decked thyself in beauty to captivate my heart. And for this thy love loses itself in the love of thy lover, and there art thou seen in the perfect union of two.
Light, my light, the world-filling light, the eye-kissing light, heart-sweetening light!
Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the centre of my life; the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love; the sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter passes over the earth.
The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light. Lilies and jasmines surge up on the crest of the waves of light.
The light is shattered into gold on every cloud, my darling, and it scatters gems in profusion.
Mirth spreads from leaf to leaf, my darling, and gladness without measure. The heaven's river has drowned its banks and the flood of joy is abroad.
Let all the strains of joy mingle in my last song---the joy that makes the earth flow over in the riotous excess of the grass, the joy that sets the twin brothers, life and death, dancing over the wide world, the joy that sweeps in with the tempest, shaking and waking all life with laughter, the joy that sits still with its tears on the open red lotus of pain, and the joy that throws everything it has upon the dust, and knows not a word.
Yes, I know, this is nothing but thy love, O beloved of my heart---this golden light that dances upon the leaves, these idle clouds sailing across the sky, this passing breeze leaving its coolness upon my forehead.
The morning light has flooded my eyes---this is thy message to my heart. Thy face is bent from above, thy eyes look down on my eyes, and my heart has touched thy feet.
On the seashore of endless worlds children meet. The infinite sky is motionless overhead and the restless water is boisterous. On the seashore of endless worlds the children meet with shouts and dances.
They build their houses with sand and they play with empty shells. With withered leaves they weave their boats and smilingly float them on the vast deep. Children have their play on the seashore of worlds.
They know not how to swim, they know not how to cast nets. Pearl fishers dive for pearls, merchants sail in their ships, while children gather pebbles and scatter them again. they seek not for hidden treasures, they know not how to cast nets.
The sea surges up with laughter and pale gleams the smile of the sea beach. Death-dealing waves sing meaningless ballads to the children, even like a mother while rocking her baby's cradle. The sea plays with children, and pale gleams the smile of the sea beach.
On the seashore of endless worlds children meet. Tempest roams in the pathless sky, ships get wrecked in the trackless water, death is abroad and children play. On the seashore of endless worlds is the great meeting of children.
The sleep that flits on baby's eyes---does anybody know from where it comes? Yes, there is a rumour that it has its dwelling where, in the fairy village among shadows of the forest dimly lit with glow-worms, there hang two timid buds of enchantment. From there it comes to kiss baby's eyes.
The smile that flickers on baby's lips when he sleeps---does anybody know where it was born? Yes, there is a rumour that a young pale beam of a crescent moon touched the edge of a vanishing autumn cloud, and there the smile was first born in the dream of a dew-washed morning---the smile that flickers on baby's lips when he sleeps.
The sweet, soft freshness that blooms on baby's limbs---does anybody know where it was hidden so long? Yes, when the mother was a young girl it lay pervading her heart in tender and silent mystery of love---the sweet, soft freshness that has bloomed on baby's limbs.
When I bring to you coloured toys, my child, I understand why there is such a play of colours on clouds, on water, and why flowers are painted in tints---when I give coloured toys to you, my child.
When I sing to make you dance I truly now why there is music in leaves, and why waves send their chorus of voices to the heart of the listening earth---when I sing to make you dance.
When I bring sweet things to your greedy hands I know why there is honey in the cup of the flowers and why fruits are secretly filled with sweet juice---when I bring sweet things to your greedy hands.
When I kiss your face to make you smile, my darling, I surely understand what pleasure streams from the sky in morning light, and what delight that is that is which the summer breeze brings to my body---when I kiss you to make you smile.
Thou hast made me known to friends whom I knew not. Thou hast given me seats in homes not my own. Thou hast brought the distant near and made a brother of the stranger.
I am uneasy at heart when I have to leave my accustomed shelter; I forget that there abides the old in the new, and that there also thou abidest.
Through birth and death, in this world or in others, wherever thou leadest me it is thou, the same, the one companion of my endless life who ever linkest my heart with bonds of joy to the unfamiliar.
When one knows thee, then alien there is none, then no door is shut. Oh, grant me my prayer that I may never lose the bliss of the touch of the one in the play of many.
On the slope of the desolate river among tall grasses I asked her, `Maiden, where do you go shading your lamp with your mantle? My house is all dark and lonesome---lend me your light!' she raised her dark eyes for a moment and looked at my face through the dusk. `I have come to the river,' she said, `to float my lamp on the stream when the daylight wanes in the west.' I stood alone among tall grasses and watched the timid flame of her lamp uselessly drifting in the tide.
In the silence of gathering night I asked her, `Maiden, your lights are all lit---then where do you go with your lamp? My house is all dark and lonesome---lend me your light.' She raised her dark eyes on my face and stood for a moment doubtful. `I have come,' she said at last, `to dedicate my lamp to the sky.' I stood and watched her light uselessly burning in the void.
In the moonless gloom of midnight I ask her, `Maiden, what is your quest, holding the lamp near your heart? My house is all dark and lonesome---lend me your light.' She stopped for a minute and thought and gazed at my face in the dark. `I have brought my light,' she said, `to join the carnival of lamps.' I stood and watched her little lamp uselessly lost among lights.
What divine drink wouldst thou have, my God, from this overflowing cup of my life?
My poet, is it thy delight to see thy creation through my eyes and to stand at the portals of my ears silently to listen to thine own eternal harmony?
Thy world is weaving words in my mind and thy joy is adding music to them. Thou givest thyself to me in love and then feelest thine own entire sweetness in me.
She who ever had remained in the depth of my being, in the twilight of gleams and of glimpses; she who never opened her veils in the morning light, will be my last gift to thee, my God, folded in my final song.
Words have wooed yet failed to win her; persuasion has stretched to her its eager arms in vain.
I have roamed from country to country keeping her in the core of my heart, and around her have risen and fallen the growth and decay of my life.
Over my thoughts and actions, my slumbers and dreams, she reigned yet dwelled alone and apart.
many a man knocked at my door and asked for her and turned away in despair.
There was none in the world who ever saw her face to face, and she remained in her loneliness waiting for thy recognition.
Thou art the sky and thou art the nest as well.
O thou beautiful, there in the nest is thy love that encloses the soul with colours and sounds and odours.
There comes the morning with the golden basket in her right hand bearing the wreath of beauty, silently to crown the earth.
And there comes the evening over the lonely meadows deserted by herds, through trackless paths, carrying cool draughts of peace in her golden pitcher from the western ocean of rest.
But there, where spreads the infinite sky for the soul to take her flight in, reigns the stainless white radiance. There is no day nor night, nor form nor colour, and never, never a word.
Thy sunbeam comes upon this earth of mine with arms outstretched and stands at my door the livelong day to carry back to thy feet clouds made of my tears and sighs and songs.
With fond delight thou wrappest about thy starry breast that mantle of misty cloud, turning it into numberless shapes and folds and colouring it with hues everchanging.
It is so light and so fleeting, tender and tearful and dark, that is why thou lovest it, O thou spotless and serene. And that is why it may cover thy awful white light with its pathetic shadows.
The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.
It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.
It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death, in ebb and in flow.
I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.
Is it beyond thee to be glad with the gladness of this rhythm? to be tossed and lost and broken in the whirl of this fearful joy?
All things rush on, they stop not, they look not behind, no power can hold them back, they rush on.
Keeping steps with that restless, rapid music, seasons come dancing and pass away---colours, tunes, and perfumes pour in endless cascades in the abounding joy that scatters and gives up and dies every moment.
That I should make much of myself and turn it on all sides, thus casting coloured shadows on thy radiance---such is thy maya.
Thou settest a barrier in thine own being and then callest thy severed self in myriad notes. This thy self-separation has taken body in me.
The poignant song is echoed through all the sky in many-coloured tears and smiles, alarms and hopes; waves rise up and sink again, dreams break and form. In me is thy own defeat of self.
This screen that thou hast raised is painted with innumerable figures with the brush of the night and the day. Behind it thy seat is woven in wondrous mysteries of curves, casting away all barren lines of straightness.
The great pageant of thee and me has overspread the sky. With the tune of thee and me all the air is vibrant, and all ages pass with the hiding and seeking of thee and me.
He it is, the innermost one, who awakens my being with his deep hidden touches.
He it is who puts his enchantment upon these eyes and joyfully plays on the chords of my heart in varied cadence of pleasure and pain.
He it is who weaves the web of this maya in evanescent hues of gold and silver, blue and green, and lets peep out through the folds his feet, at whose touch I forget myself.
Days come and ages pass, and it is ever he who moves my heart in many a name, in many a guise, in many a rapture of joy and of sorrow.
Deliverance is not for me in renunciation. I feel the embrace of freedom in a thousand bonds of delight.
Thou ever pourest for me the fresh draught of thy wine of various colours and fragrance, filling this earthen vessel to the brim.
My world will light its hundred different lamps with thy flame and place them before the altar of thy temple.
No, I will never shut the doors of my senses. The delights of sight and hearing and touch will bear thy delight.
Yes, all my illusions will burn into illumination of joy, and all my desires ripen into fruits of love.
The day is no more, the shadow is upon the earth. It is time that I go to the stream to fill my pitcher.
The evening air is eager with the sad music of the water. Ah, it calls me out into the dusk. In the lonely lane there is no passer-by, the wind is up, the ripples are rampant in the river.
I know not if I shall come back home. I know not whom I shall chance to meet. There at the fording in the little boat the unknown man plays upon his lute.
Thy gifts to us mortals fulfil all our needs and yet run back to thee undiminished.
The river has its everyday work to do and hastens through fields and hamlets; yet its incessant stream winds towards the washing of thy feet.
The flower sweetens the air with its perfume; yet its last service is to offer itself to thee.
Thy worship does not impoverish the world.
From the words of the poet men take what meanings please them; yet their last meaning points to thee.
Day after day, O lord of my life, shall I stand before thee face to face. With folded hands, O lord of all worlds, shall I stand before thee face to face.
Under thy great sky in solitude and silence, with humble heart shall I stand before thee face to face.
In this laborious world of thine, tumultuous with toil and with struggle, among hurrying crowds shall I stand before thee face to face.
And when my work shall be done in this world, O King of kings, alone and speechless shall I stand before thee face to face.
I know thee as my God and stand apart---I do not know thee as my own and come closer. I know thee as my father and bow before thy feet---I do not grasp thy hand as my friend's.
I stand not where thou comest down and ownest thyself as mine, there to clasp thee to my heart and take thee as my comrade.
Thou art the Brother amongst my brothers, but I heed them not, I divide not my earnings with them, thus sharing my all with thee.
In pleasure and in pain I stand not by the side of men, and thus stand by thee. I shrink to give up my life, and thus do not plunge into the great waters of life.
When the creation was new and all the stars shone in their first splendour, the gods held their assembly in the sky and sang `Oh, the picture of perfection! the joy unalloyed!'
But one cried of a sudden---`It seems that somewhere there is a break in the chain of light and one of the stars has been lost.'
The golden string of their harp snapped, their song stopped, and they cried in dismay---`Yes, that lost star was the best, she was the glory of all heavens!'
From that day the search is unceasing for her, and the cry goes on from one to the other that in her the world has lost its one joy!
Only in the deepest silence of night the stars smile and whisper among themselves---`Vain is this seeking! unbroken perfection is over all!'
If it is not my portion to meet thee in this life then let me ever feel that I have missed thy sight---let me not forget for a moment, let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams and in my wakeful hours.
As my days pass in the crowded market of this world and my hands grow full with the daily profits, let me ever feel that I have gained nothing---let me not forget for a moment, let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams and in my wakeful hours.
When I sit by the roadside, tired and panting, when I spread my bed low in the dust, let me ever feel that the long journey is still before me---let me not forget a moment, let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams and in my wakeful hours.
When my rooms have been decked out and the flutes sound and the laughter there is loud, let me ever feel that I have not invited thee to my house---let me not forget for a moment, let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams and in my wakeful hours.
I am like a remnant of a cloud of autumn uselessly roaming in the sky, O my sun ever-glorious! Thy touch has not yet melted my vapour, making me one with thy light, and thus I count months and years separated from thee.
If this be thy wish and if this be thy play, then take this fleeting emptiness of mine, paint it with colours, gild it with gold, float it on the wanton wind and spread it in varied wonders.
And again when it shall be thy wish to end this play at night, I shall melt and vanish away in the dark, or it may be in a smile of the white morning, in a coolness of purity transparent.
On many an idle day have I grieved over lost time. But it is never lost, my lord. Thou hast taken every moment of my life in thine own hands.
Hidden in the heart of things thou art nourishing seeds into sprouts, buds into blossoms, and ripening flowers into fruitfulness.
I was tired and sleeping on my idle bed and imagined all work had ceased. In the morning I woke up and found my garden full with wonders of flowers.
Time is endless in thy hands, my lord. There is none to count thy minutes.
Days and nights pass and ages bloom and fade like flowers. Thou knowest how to wait.
Thy centuries follow each other perfecting a small wild flower.
We have no time to lose, and having no time we must scramble for a chances. We are too poor to be late.
And thus it is that time goes by while I give it to every querulous man who claims it, and thine altar is empty of all offerings to the last.
At the end of the day I hasten in fear lest thy gate to be shut; but I find that yet there is time.
Mother, I shall weave a chain of pearls for thy neck with my tears of sorrow.
The stars have wrought their anklets of light to deck thy feet, but mine will hang upon thy breast.
Wealth and fame come from thee and it is for thee to give or to withhold them. But this my sorrow is absolutely mine own, and when I bring it to thee as my offering thou rewardest me with thy grace.
It is the pang of separation that spreads throughout the world and gives birth to shapes innumerable in the infinite sky.
It is this sorrow of separation that gazes in silence all nights from star to star and becomes lyric among rustling leaves in rainy darkness of July.
It is this overspreading pain that deepens into loves and desires, into sufferings and joy in human homes; and this it is that ever melts and flows in songs through my poet's heart.
When the warriors came out first from their master's hall, where had they hid their power? Where were their armour and their arms?
They looked poor and helpless, and the arrows were showered upon them on the day they came out from their master's hall.
When the warriors marched back again to their master's hall where did they hide their power?
They had dropped the sword and dropped the bow and the arrow; peace was on their foreheads, and they had left the fruits of their life behind them on the day they marched back again to their master's hall.
Death, thy servant, is at my door. He has crossed the unknown sea and brought thy call to my home.
The night is dark and my heart is fearful---yet I will take up the lamp, open my gates and bow to him my welcome. It is thy messenger who stands at my door.
I will worship him placing at his feet the treasure of my heart.
He will go back with his errand done, leaving a dark shadow on my morning; and in my desolate home only my forlorn self will remain as my last offering to thee.
In desperate hope I go and search for her in all the corners of my room; I find her not.
My house is small and what once has gone from it can never be regained.
But infinite is thy mansion, my lord, and seeking her I have to come to thy door.
I stand under the golden canopy of thine evening sky and I lift my eager eyes to thy face.
I have come to the brink of eternity from which nothing can vanish---no hope, no happiness, no vision of a face seen through tears.
Oh, dip my emptied life into that ocean, plunge it into the deepest fullness. Let me for once feel that lost sweet touch in the allness of the universe.
Deity of the ruined temple! The broken strings of Vina sing no more your praise. The bells in the evening proclaim not your time of worship. The air is still and silent about you.
In your desolate dwelling comes the vagrant spring breeze. It brings the tidings of flowers---the flowers that for your worship are offered no more.
Your worshipper of old wanders ever longing for favour still refused. In the eventide, when fires and shadows mingle with the gloom of dust, he wearily comes back to the ruined temple with hunger in his heart.
Many a festival day comes to you in silence, deity of the ruined temple. Many a night of worship goes away with lamp unlit.
Many new images are built by masters of cunning art and carried to the holy stream of oblivion when their time is come.
Only the deity of the ruined temple remains unworshipped in deathless neglect.
No more noisy, loud words from me---such is my master's will. Henceforth I deal in whispers. The speech of my heart will be carried on in murmurings of a song.
Men hasten to the King's market. All the buyers and sellers are there. But I have my untimely leave in the middle of the day, in the thick of work.
Let then the flowers come out in my garden, though it is not their time; and let the midday bees strike up their lazy hum.
Full many an hour have I spent in the strife of the good and the evil, but now it is the pleasure of my playmate of the empty days to draw my heart on to him; and I know not why is this sudden call to what useless inconsequence!
On the day when death will knock at thy door what wilt thou offer to him?
Oh, I will set before my guest the full vessel of my life---I will never let him go with empty hands.
All the sweet vintage of all my autumn days and summer nights, all the earnings and gleanings of my busy life will I place before him at the close of my days when death will knock at my door.
O thou the last fulfilment of life, Death, my death, come and whisper to me!
Day after day I have kept watch for thee; for thee have I borne the joys and pangs of life.
All that I am, that I have, that I hope and all my love have ever flowed towards thee in depth of secrecy. One final glance from thine eyes and my life will be ever thine own.
The flowers have been woven and the garland is ready for the bridegroom. After the wedding the bride shall leave her home and meet her lord alone in the solitude of night.
I know that the day will come when my sight of this earth shall be lost, and life will take its leave in silence, drawing the last curtain over my eyes.
Yet stars will watch at night, and morning rise as before, and hours heave like sea waves casting up pleasures and pains.
When I think of this end of my moments, the barrier of the moments breaks and I see by the light of death thy world with its careless treasures. Rare is its lowliest seat, rare is its meanest of lives.
Things that I longed for in vain and things that I got---let them pass. Let me but truly possess the things that I ever spurned and overlooked.
I have got my leave. Bid me farewell, my brothers! I bow to you all and take my departure.
Here I give back the keys of my door---and I give up all claims to my house. I only ask for last kind words from you.
We were neighbours for long, but I received more than I could give. Now the day has dawned and the lamp that lit my dark corner is out. A summons has come and I am ready for my journey.
At this time of my parting, wish me good luck, my friends! The sky is flushed with the dawn and my path lies beautiful.
Ask not what I have with me to take there. I start on my journey with empty hands and expectant heart.
I shall put on my wedding garland. Mine is not the red-brown dress of the traveller, and though there are dangers on the way I have no fear in mind.
The evening star will come out when my voyage is done and the plaintive notes of the twilight melodies be struck up from the King's gateway.
I was not aware of the moment when I first crossed the threshold of this life.
What was the power that made me open out into this vast mystery like a bud in the forest at midnight!
When in the morning I looked upon the light I felt in a moment that I was no stranger in this world, that the inscrutable without name and form had taken me in its arms in the form of my own mother.
Even so, in death the same unknown will appear as ever known to me. And because I love this life, I know I shall love death as well.
The child cries out when from the right breast the mother takes it away, in the very next moment to find in the left one its consolation.
When I go from hence let this be my parting word, that what I have seen is unsurpassable.
I have tasted of the hidden honey of this lotus that expands on the ocean of light, and thus am I blessed---let this be my parting word.
In this playhouse of infinite forms I have had my play and here have I caught sight of him that is formless.
My whole body and my limbs have thrilled with his touch who is beyond touch; and if the end comes here, let it come---let this be my parting word.
When my play was with thee I never questioned who thou wert. I knew nor shyness nor fear, my life was boisterous.
In the early morning thou wouldst call me from my sleep like my own comrade and lead me running from glade to glade.
On those days I never cared to know the meaning of songs thou sangest to me. Only my voice took up the tunes, and my heart danced in their cadence.
Now, when the playtime is over, what is this sudden sight that is come upon me? The world with eyes bent upon thy feet stands in awe with all its silent stars.
I will deck thee with trophies, garlands of my defeat. It is never in my power to escape unconquered.
I surely know my pride will go to the wall, my life will burst its bonds in exceeding pain, and my empty heart will sob out in music like a hollow reed, and the stone will melt in tears.
I surely know the hundred petals of a lotus will not remain closed for ever and the secret recess of its honey will be bared.
From the blue sky an eye shall gaze upon me and summon me in silence. Nothing will be left for me, nothing whatever, and utter death shall I receive at thy feet.
When I give up the helm I know that the time has come for thee to take it. What there is to do will be instantly done. Vain is this struggle.
Then take away your hands and silently put up with your defeat, my heart, and think it your good fortune to sit perfectly still where you are placed.
These my lamps are blown out at every little puff of wind, and trying to light them I forget all else again and again.
But I shall be wise this time and wait in the dark, spreading my mat on the floor; and whenever it is thy pleasure, my lord, come silently and take thy seat here.
I dive down into the depth of the ocean of forms, hoping to gain the perfect pearl of the formless.
No more sailing from harbour to harbour with this my weather-beaten boat. The days are long passed when my sport was to be tossed on waves.
And now I am eager to die into the deathless.
Into the audience hall by the fathomless abyss where swells up the music of toneless strings I shall take this harp of my life.
I shall tune it to the notes of forever, and when it has sobbed out its last utterance, lay down my silent harp at the feet of the silent.
Ever in my life have I sought thee with my songs. It was they who led me from door to door, and with them have I felt about me, searching and touching my world.
It was my songs that taught me all the lessons I ever learnt; they showed me secret paths, they brought before my sight many a star on the horizon of my heart.
They guided me all the day long to the mysteries of the country of pleasure and pain, and, at last, to what palace gate have the brought me in the evening at the end of my journey?
I boasted among men that I had known you. They see your pictures in all works of mine. They come and ask me, `Who is he?' I know not how to answer them. I say, `Indeed, I cannot tell.' They blame me and they go away in scorn. And you sit there smiling.
I put my tales of you into lasting songs. The secret gushes out from my heart. They come and ask me, `Tell me all your meanings.' I know not how to answer them. I say, `Ah, who knows what they mean!' They smile and go away in utter scorn. And you sit there smiling.
In one salutation to thee, my God, let all my senses spread out and touch this world at thy feet.
Like a rain-cloud of July hung low with its burden of unshed showers let all my mind bend down at thy door in one salutation to thee.
Let all my songs gather together their diverse strains into a single current and flow to a sea of silence in one salutation to thee.
Like a flock of homesick cranes flying night and day back to their mountain nests let all my life take its voyage to its eternal home in one salutation to thee.
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eng_splitted_0.jsonl/452
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"title": "गीतांजली एक्सप्रेस",
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MyFootballBets provides a 100% free odds comparison tool that offers the most competitive odds for the Wales Premier League. To view upcoming matches, simply select a date, and to access the best available odds, click on the game that piques your interest. This will open a table displaying the highest betting odds from a range of
[top-rated bookmakers](#top), allowing you to make informed and strategic betting decisions.
Best Betting Odds for Wales Premier League
Maximize your potential winnings on any football match with our football odds comparison tool, which offers the best possible real-time Premier League betting odds collected from all the reputable betting sites in your country. Keep track of the latest betting odds for the Premier League in the 1×2 column, and explore long-term betting options through the outrights tab. Simply click on an event to view a detailed comparison of both live and pre-match odds, and stay up to date on any changes or fluctuations in the football betting odds for the match.
Top 5 Wales Premier League Betting Sites
Looking to place bets on the Wales Premier League? Look no further. At our platform, we've done the research and reviewed numerous betting platforms to ensure a safe and enjoyable betting experience for you. You can confidently select from our recommended sites, knowing they are reputable, trustworthy, and offer highly competitive odds. Check out
[how we select](#select) the best Wales Premier League Betting Sites now.
How We Rate
Wales Premier League betting sites are complex entities, and numerous variables contribute to their overall quality. It's essential to take a comprehensive look at what each platform has to offer to determine where it excels and where it might fall short. At our platform, we understand that conducting in-depth reviews of every Wales Premier League betting site is not feasible for most people due to time constraints or lack of willpower. That's why we've done the work for you and compiled a list of key areas that we focus on when assessing the best Wales Premier League betting sites.
- Platform Quality: Platform quality is paramount in our evaluations. We consider factors like ease of use, a seamless betting system, and additional features like live streaming and cash-out options.
- Free Bet Offers: Free bet offers are highly sought after, so we assess the quality of welcome offers and current promotions to ensure they are worthwhile and meet your needs.
- Live Betting: Live betting is becoming increasingly popular, so we check if Wales Premier League games are supported and assess the range of markets available for real-time updates. We want to see a decent interface with markets that update in real-time.
- Betting Markets: The range of betting markets offered is also crucial, with a preference for sites that offer odds on numerous types of bets for a given game. The more types of bets offered, the better, as this allows us to get a good picture of whether it is worthwhile to join a particular site.
- Odds: Odds are crucial for maximizing winnings, and we look for sites with generally high levels of Wales Premier League betting odds. While no single betting site will always have the best Wales Premier League betting odds, some sites will have high levels that are sought after.
Wales Premier League Stats & Predictions
In this section, we will demonstrate how to utilize our website to develop a betting strategy that is founded on statistical analysis. Our site provides up-to-the-minute statistics, and our predictions are generated based on the most recent performances of both teams.
How to use the stats and probabilities to form a winning bet?
Let's provide an example to illustrate this point. As of the writing of this post, we have chosen to focus on the Champions League quarter-final match between Manchester City and Bayern Munich. It's important to keep in mind that multiple factors can affect the outcome of a game, so relying solely on statistics may not always be reliable. However, utilizing statistical analysis can increase the likelihood of selecting events that are more likely to occur, adding an element of intrigue and interest to the process.
A Step-by-Step Guide for Selecting the Right Bet
Here is a typical scenario of selecting a high probability bet. Select your match and follow the steps below:
Step 1: Click on the "EVENT INFO" column
Step 2: Select a betting market
Let's select the "Goals" betting market for this example.
As per the latest statistics, it is evident that Bayern Munich has a 100% chance of scoring at least one goal during the upcoming game, while the likelihood of Manchester City scoring a goal is also quite high at 95%. Considering these facts, it's highly probable that both teams will score at least one goal each during the match. Furthermore, there is a good chance that both teams may score more than one goal, with Man City having an 80% chance and Bayern Munich holding a 92% chance. Therefore, it's worth examining the odds offered for these events.
Step 3: Select your odds
Switch to odds and select the betting market "Total Goals"
We're looking for odds offered for 1.25+ or 1.5+ Goals. Basically, this means that the total goals scored must be at least 2.
The most favorable odds are presented upfront and given priority. In this instance, VBet offers the best odds for the "OVER 1.5 GOALS" market, with a decimal of 1.21. This indicates that the bookmaker will payout $121 for every $100 wagered, potentially yielding a 20% return on your bet. Additionally, you can compare the odds with other bookmakers by clicking on "Compare Odds" to find better deals.
Step 4: Place A Bet
Once you've chosen your preferred odds, simply click on the associated bookmaker to be directed to their website. There, you'll likely be greeted with a new player bonus and other incentives. However, it's crucial that you carefully review the terms and conditions of the bonus before opting in.
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eng_splitted_0.jsonl/453
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"title": "Бен Дэвис (хөлбөмбөгчин)",
"last_revision": "2023-09-26T07:37:23",
"url": "http://www.faw.org.uk/MatchReport.ink?MatchID=58372&type=m",
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ISLAMABAD, Jan 7 Pakistani authorities, during the course of their own investigations into the Mumbai carnage, have established that the only surviving terrorist Ajmal Kasab is a Pakistani national.
After a series of conflicting statements by various officials representing different sections of the government, it was officially acknowledged that DawnNews TV's news item about the official investigation report regarding Ajmal Kasab's identity was correct.
Earlier, a high-ranking government official had told Dawn that the preliminary finding had provided enough information to conclude that the man at present in India's custody was from a Punjab village, and perhaps belonged to a militant group that was bent upon destabilising the region by undermining the peace process.
The official, who requested anonymity, said the authorities were examining all parts of the puzzle on the basis of their own investigation, as well as the information provided by India and the Americans.
However, he said there was no doubt in the minds of the investigators that the captured terrorist was a Pakistani. "Sadly, it has been established that Kasab is a Pakistani national."
But within minutes of the revelation, confusing, and somewhat conflicting, statements started emanating from different sections of the government in Islamabad. While the Indian television channel CNN-IBN quoted Pakistan's National Security Adviser Mehmud Ali Durrani as saying that Ajmal Kasab's identity as a Pakistani had been established, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir told the same channel that it was premature to say anything because the investigation was continuing.
In the midst of all this, American news agency APTN quoted Information Minister Sherry Rehman as confirming that Ajmal Kasab in fact was a Pakistani national. The minister later confirmed it to Dawn that "he is Pakistani" and that investigations are ongoing.
Similarly, the Foreign Office which at the initial stage appeared either detached from reality or completely out of the loop, admitted by broadcasting through the state-run PTV that Ajmal Kasab was indeed a Pakistani national.
During the course of Dawn's own investigation, a number of senior officials in the interior ministry and police said that investigations were started soon after initial reports had suggested that Ajmal Kasab might be a Pakistani national. But the authorities wanted to be doubly sure about his identity because there was no record of Kasab and his family in the national database maintained by Nadra. Details of preliminary investigations submitted to the government have still not been made public.
The official who confirmed to Dawn about the preliminary investigation report said Kasab was son of Amir Kasab and Mrs Noor Illahi. But the identity of other militants killed in Mumbai is yet to be established. Senior security officials, however, said that preliminary investigations had established that the militants were operating on their own and had absolutely no link with any section of the country's security apparatus.
A top ranking western diplomat also confirmed to Dawn that there was no linkage between the terrorists who carried out the Mumbai carnage and the Pakistani security agencies, particularly the ISI. "There is ample evidence to prove that most of the terrorists belonged to Pakistan," the diplomat said. "But there is not even a shred of evidence to suggest that the ISI or any other Pakistani intelligence agency had any links with these terrorists," the diplomat said.
"And this is not based on what the Pakistanis have been telling us, as we have double checked it on our own," the diplomat added.
The remarks belie the latest claim by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who on Tuesday had tried to up the ante by directly accusing the Pakistani security apparatus of being involved in the Mumbai carnage. Pakistan has already rejected the Indian accusation in strongest terms.
In a related development, a statement by Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani also said the Pakistan's investigations into the Mumbai attacks had made progress. He said that some information of an interim nature on Indian investigations had been received. He did not elaborate.
Punjab's dusty town of Faridkot became the centre of attention soon after the deadly Mumbai attack as the Indian authorities captured Kasab and claimed that he belonged to Faridkot. The town was thronged by local and foreign media and conflicting reports came out about the identity of Kasab.
At that time the government had, for obvious reasons, decided to adopt a tight-lipped policy, maintaining that only a thorough investigation, based on concrete information, could establish whether Kasab was a Pakistani national, and a resident of Faridkot.
Answering a question about consular access to Kasab, a senior official said the militant had damaged Pakistan 'like no other'. "We are not yet sure when to ask for consular access. We may not ask for it. He is involved in a heinous crime," the official said. Kasab also wrote a letter to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. Pakistani authorities said they were examining the letter.
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eng_splitted_0.jsonl/454
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{
"title": "अजमल कसाब",
"last_revision": "2023-09-22T20:18:57",
"url": "https://www.dawn.com/news/856680/ajmal-s-nationality-confirmed",
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Artem Sachuk, vice president of the Ukrainian Chess Federation, was killed in action while fighting on the front lines, the chess organization
[reported](https://www.facebook.com/UkrainianChessFederation/posts/pfbid0Nx74zd14Y4usJTnxr6hoCbhrd87rV1fBSfu9CiwtyuavGRbtjcw9BwDSA7FCfAeSl) via Facebook on Nov. 26.
Sachuk, 39, was a resident of Zhytomyr who volunteered for the army shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
[interview](https://suspilne.media/263913-z-rosianami-mozna-govoriti-lise-movou-zbroi-sahist-iz-zitomira-artem-sacuk-akij-voue-u-zsu/) with the Ukrainian news outlet Suspilne in July 2022, Sachuk said he taught his fellow soldiers how to play chess and used the game to give examples of combat formations.
"Chess is actually a war game. It is an imitation of a military conflict and it absolutely has practical value. Many chess players are now defending Ukraine as part of various units, not just the Armed Forces," Sachuk told Suspilne.
The Ukrainian Chess Federation said Sachuk was "a well-known figure" in the chess world, and that he organized many competitions within Ukraine and internationally.
Details regarding the circumstances of Sachuk's death have not been reported.
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"title": "Ресейдің Украинаға басып кіру хронологиясы (қараша 2023)",
"last_revision": "2024-03-22T08:44:17",
"url": "https://kyivindependent.com/vp-of-ukrainian-chess-federation-killed-in-action/",
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Suleiman Benn hit the runs that clinched a tie
© Getty Images|
Chris Gayle's whirlwind display of hitting broke the deadlock in a thrilling match that was evenly balanced until the first-ever Super Over contest in an international Twenty20. The official result was a tie, which West Indies secured with the last ball of their regulation 20 overs, but that brought on cricket's latest innovation - and more drama.
The Super Over - first devised for the Stanford tournament last month - is an unofficial exercise but served its purpose, to please the crowd. It began in the wake of some confusion - fans, players and even officials wondered what would follow once Sulieman Benn secured the tie - and a 20-minute break thanks in part to a lighting problem.
Once the teams named their line-up Gayle walked out to face six balls from Daniel Vettori with Xavier Marshall at the non-striker's end. When Marshall was run out, Chanderpaul came to the non-striker's end, but Gayle kept the strike for the rest of the over and by the end had thumped Vettori for 25 runs.
In reply, Benn, playing his part as left-arm spinner, held his nerve to take two wickets and concede just 15 from the four legal deliveries he bowled. Jacob Oram was caught in the outfield on Benn's third delivery before Ross Taylor hit the next ball, a shoulder-high no-ball, over the ropes for six. But Benn then yorked Taylor to complete a famous - if unofficial -victory for the visitors.
Jerome Taylor and Benn had forced the game into the elimination overs with a nerveless batting display in the final over. Needing seven to win, West Indies had lost Shawn Findlay from Tim Southee's first ball, slashing a wide delivery to Brendon McCullum. Southee bounced Fidel Edwards first ball before conceding a single to cover on the third.
When Taylor played and missed fourth ball, the pair ran and McCullum threw down the stumps to get Edwards short of his ground. Admirably, Benn kept his cool and edged Southee for four through third man first ball. With two needed to win from the final delivery, he then pushed to point to claim the regulation-time tie.
Gayle's scintillating 67 off 41 had given West Indies a head start in their chase of New Zealand's 155. Gayle played some tremendous cricket shots in his quick-fire half-century, hitting five sixes and five fours in a wonderful display of power hitting. West Indies were cruising at 109 for 2 at one stage before Vettori pegged them back, and when Gayle was caught by Taylor off Jeetan Patel at long-off, they stumbled to 114 for 4 with 42 needed off 35 balls.
Gayle and Xavier Marshall added 63 for the second wicket off 42 balls before Marshall was bowled from the first ball of Vettori's spel. Marshall looked far better than he showed in the Test series and his aggressive approach took the game away from New Zealand with Gayle charging ahead at the other end.
Vettori was masterful, changing his pace constantly and tempting the batsmen to use their feet to him. Not even Gayle got the better of him and he frustrated Ramnaresh Sarwan into hitting aerially to Daniel Flynn at point (112 for 3). Vettori ended up with 3 for 16 to bring the hosts right back onto the match, and Patel took 2 for 34.
Shortly after, Kieron Pollard was defeated in flight by Vettori and lofted to Patel at long-on (124 for 5). With 26 needed off 22 balls, Carlton Baugh lost his cool and skied a sweep shot straight up in the air which McCullum ran to midwicket to claim.
New Zealand's total, a disappointing 155 for 7, owed much to Taylor's 63 off 50 balls. Taylor looked to midwicket for his boundaries, hitting four fours and four sixes in total.
New Zealand struggled to put together any real partnership of note as the West Indian attack mixed up their pace and length to perfection. The hosts found the lack of pace tough to conquer, with the spinners Gayle and Benn easily the pick of the bowlers. Gayle took 3 for 16 and Benn 1 for 20.
It wasn't their final contribution to an eventful evening.
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Ukrainian truckers began a counterprotest at the Polish border on Nov. 28 in response to the ongoing blockade by Polish truckers, the Polish media outlet RMF 24
Polish police told RMF that Ukrainian truckers were blocking the Medyka crossing from the Polish side of the border, creating lengthy traffic jams that made it difficult for local residents to get home. The counterprotests also impacted traffic in the nearby larger border city of Przemsyl.
The atmosphere was calm, the reports said, but the Ukrainian truckers were open about the fact that it was a counterprotest in retaliation for those organized by Polish truckers. Groups of around 30 people entered the road and blocked traffic.
Polish truckers claim that the lack of entry permits for Ukrainian trucks is hurting business for Polish drivers and
[blocking](https://kyivindependent.com/border-guards-about-1-700-trucks-blocked-due-to-strikes-on-polish-ukrainian-border/) three border crossing points since Nov. 6.
As a result of the blockade, around 2,100 vehicles are stuck, unable to get into Ukraine as of Nov. 26, Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry
The flow of traffic at Dorohusk-Yahodyn, Ukraine's largest cargo crossing, is usually 680 trucks per day. It is now down to a few dozen every 24 hours, according to the ministry.
Negotiations have so far yet to bring an end to the situation.
Conditions have continued to worsen for the truckers as the weather gets colder. Two Ukrainian truckers have already
[died](https://kyivindependent.com/media-another-ukrainian-trucker-dies-at-polish-border-blockade/) while waiting at the border, both reportedly of natural causes. One of them had been waiting at the border for more than three days prior to his death.
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Vadivelu may just make a re-entry with Dhanush's film. The comedian was last seen in the Prashanth starrer Mambattiyan but this film started rolling before the 2011 state assembly polls. After the poll results, Vadivelu had no chance to sign up new projects, it may be recalled.
The buzz now is that he may be signed up for a Dhanush starrer which is to be directed by Simbu Devan. The director gave a hit film Imsai Arasan 23aam Pulikesi in which Vadivelu not only played the lead role but also appeared in dual roles.
Looks like Simbu Devan might give Vadivelu the much needed break at this time of his career and Dhanush may give his assent.
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An explosion on a key railway line in Russia's far eastern republic of Buryatia was the result of an operation of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Ukrainska Pravda
[reported](https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/11/30/7431023/) on Nov. 30, citing an unnamed source in the security service.
The explosion reportedly occurred on the night of Nov. 29-30 in the Severomuysky Tunnel, nearly 5,000 kilometers from Ukraine.
"Four explosive devices went off during the movement of the freight train," the source told Ukrainska Pravda.
"Now the FSB is working on the spot, and railway workers are unsuccessfully trying to minimize the consequences of the SBU's special operation," the source said.
The SBU has not officially claimed responsibility for the explosion.
The tunnel is part of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, a key railway route that runs north of the Trans-Siberian railway and is part of a network of tracks connecting Russia with China.
At 15 kilometers long, the Severomuysky Tunnel is the longest railway tunnel in Russia. Construction took 27 years, and it was opened in 2003.
While the SBU has not officially commented on the reports, Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR)
[announced](https://kyivindependent.com/military-intelligence-sabotage-moscow-oblast-railway-line/) on Nov. 30 that it had conducted a joint operation with local resistance to sabotage railway infrastructure in Moscow Oblast.
In a video the HUR posted to social media, a person in a snowy environment appears to set fire to two railway relay boxes, which control signals for train operators. The person appears to be acting alone.
"Disruptions in the work of the railway are becoming more frequent" in Russia, the HUR captioned the video.
"Fire, chaos, and paralysis on the Russian railway is another consequence of the Russian criminal war against Ukraine," the HUR said.
The Kyiv Independent has not independently confirmed the reports.
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What we know about Israeli hostages taken by Hamas
A "significant number" of Israeli civilians and soldiers are being held hostage by Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military says.
Some are alive and some are presumed dead, military spokesman Lt Col Jonathan Conricus said.
Children, women, the elderly and the disabled were among those taken, he added.
"These are numbers that were up until now unimaginable," he said. "This will shape the future of this war."
According to Hamas, the number of Israelis captured was "several times greater" than dozens, and they had been taken to locations throughout the Gaza Strip.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas was responsible for their wellbeing and Israel would "settle the score with anyone who harms them".
Footage shows Israelis being taken from homes
There are numerous videos circulating online purporting to show Israelis in the hands of Hamas fighters.
One video, that has been verified by the BBC, shows a truck being driven through crowds on the Gaza Strip, purportedly carrying Israeli hostages.
Another video which has been geo-located to the Gaza Strip, shows a barefooted woman being dragged from the back of a truck with bloodied hands tied behind her back.
Couple taken at outdoor rave
Some hostages are said to have been taken from an outdoor party in Kibbutz Re'im, a suburb in the city of Ofakim in Israel's south - not far from Gaza.
Witnesses told Israeli media that attackers on motorcycles began firing at attendees, many of whom are still missing.
Videos posted on social media, which have not been verified by the BBC, appear to show one woman who attended the party being kidnapped and held on a motorcycle by two men.
She was identified by her partner's brother Moshe Or as an Israeli woman called Noa Argamani.
Mr Or had reported her missing, before seeing her and his brother in the videos, both held by several militants.
"I saw Noa in the video scared and frightened, I can't imagine what's going through her mind at all - screaming in panic on a motorcycle," he said in an interview with Israeli broadcaster Channel 12.
A later video - also not verified by the BBC - appears to show her sipping water in a room in Gaza.
Hostage situations in Israeli towns
Outside the Gaza Strip, Israeli military forces have reportedly freed Israeli civilians who were being held hostage in two locations in the south.
In Kibbutz Be'eri, hostages who were being held in a dining room were rescued after 18 hours, Israel's TV channels reported.
Israeli media reports suggested that up to 50 people had been held there.
Speaking to Reuters news agency, a woman identified as Ella said she had been barricaded in a bomb shelter for hours in the town.
"We can hear a lot of gunfire, we were told that terrorists are in the dining hall, we can hear a lot of shooting," she said.
"I've lost contact with my family. I know my father has been kidnapped... no one is telling us what's going on. I don't know if my mother is alive."
A video verified by the BBC shows militants in Be'eri leading barefooted people along a street. It is unclear if they were the same hostages as those held in the dining hall.
More on Israel-Gaza attacks
- Follow LIVE:
[Israel blindsided, says Jeremy Bowen](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67041679)
[What's going on in Gaza and Israel, and why now?](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67039975)
[How Hamas' shock attack unfolded](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-middle-east-67041499)
Meanwhile, in Kibbutz Urim, a suburb in the city of Ofakim, two Israelis were rescued after being taken hostage by Hamas militants in a house for hours on Saturday, according to Israel's public broadcaster Kan.
Gunmen had entered the city and opened fire on residents as they fled to bomb shelters after rocket alarms were set off in the city, Israeli media reported.
The two residents had stayed in their apartment, where four militants then took them hostage. The militants were later killed by Israeli forces.
Three Israeli soldiers were injured during the rescue, Kan said.
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Celtic sign striker Amido Balde on four-year deal
Striker Amido Balde hopes to experience Champions League nights such as when
[Celtic defeated Barcelona last year.](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20150451)
Facing the media after signing from Vitoria Guimaraes on a four-year contract, the 22-year-old said: "I have seen a lot of matches of Celtic.
"I want to feel the same way as my team-mates did against Barcelona. I felt proud when I saw that game. I saw the Celtic supporters and I loved that.
"I am very happy to sign for Celtic. I want to give my best day by day."
The 6ft 4in Guinea-Bissau-born striker scored nine goals in 27 games this season as Vitoria finished ninth in their domestic league.
Having compared his playing style to that of Emmanuel Adebayor, Balde added: "I am here to score. Celtic is a very big club with a lot of good players.
"They are one of the best clubs in Europe and they are going to play in the Champions league. Because of that it is fantastic for me to be here."
Balde signed a two-year contract with Vitoria last summer following his release by Sporting Lisbon.
While with Sporting, he had loan spells with Santa Clara in the Portuguese second tier, Badajoz in the Spanish Third Division and Cercle Brugge in Belgium's top flight.
Asked if he could have imagined moving to the Scottish champions after leaving Sporting, he said: "I am a fighter. I believe in myself. I work hard to achieve [things]. I worked hard to be in this position. I deserve it.
"That's why I am wearing a Celtic shirt."
[While fellow Celtic striker Gary Hooper attracts interest from Hull,](https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/22871317) Balde insists he is keen to link up with the Englishman.
"I am here, at 22 years old, to learn from Gary Hooper, to play with him," he said.
"I've watched him work hard on the pitch and I love the way he plays."
Acknowledging another Portuguese goalscorer's contribution to Celtic, the new recruit said: "I know Jorge Cadete from Sporting Lisbon. He was a very good striker.
"I would like to follow him and do more than him [at Celtic] if I can."
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If Chimbu Deven's brief was to create a colourful diversion for undemanding children, then Puli , starring Vijay, must be counted as some sort of success. Through his career, the director has pitched his tent a couple of feet away from the mainstream – here too, his quirky inventiveness is charming. It isn't just that an interlude in this chosen-one-saves-the-world saga features little people. It's that the little women wear peanut-shell blouses. A touch like that shows you this isn't a completely lazy movie. Or how about that man with a moustache? There's no joke there — but imagine the moustache on his head. There's a wisdom-spewing tortoise. A chatty bird. A frog that scratches its head while in deep thought. There's strength-giving magic potion, like in the Asterix comics. The visual effects are nicely done, and cinematographer Natarajan Subramaniam opts for a keep-the-kids-happy palette — everywhere you turn, there's rich colour. Even the contact lenses the villain (Sudeep) wears are a piercing blue.
Just how much of a children's film Puli ultimately is may be up for debate in some quarters. There's a running gag about a man's frustration at not consummating his marriage. Our cinema, clearly, is incomplete without wedding-night jokes. More disturbingly, there's a lot of sword-fighting, a lot of torsos being impaled – at one point, a little girl's throat is slit. The audience watches numbly. (The censors too, apparently. The film is certified 'U.') I wouldn't be making too big a point about this in what's essentially a fun fantasy, but the nation seems to have gone mad – lynch mobs seem to be sprouting everywhere, and I wonder how much of this is the result of our becoming desensitised to violence through cinema.
Oh well, back to regular programming. The scale of Puli inevitably brings Baahubali to mind, but this isn't as intense. The film is tailored to fit its star's comic-hero persona. He makes the usual noises that can be read as declarations of political intent – " Aala porandhavan illa... makkalukkaaga vaazha porandhavan " – but consider his first fight sequence. After a lot of chasing, he ends up clinging to the enemy's legs, grinning, asking for mercy. I kept thinking it was a ruse, that he'd soon snarl and unleash his inner Rana Daggubati, but that's really the end of the scene.
But there was more to Baahubali , a sustained commitment to storytelling, a belief that even fantasy needs some kind of internal logic – and that's missing in Puli . The narrative is lax and Chimbu Deven doesn't build up to things so much as let them occur like an afterthought. You think the hero's efforts to find the imprisoned heroine will take some doing – but he just stumbles upon her in a secret tower. The man who tells the hero about his past (there's a flashback, plus a laughable wig) is introduced just for that scene – he isn't a character, he's a PowerPoint slide in disguise. At this juncture, we also learn that the hero has been consuming magic leaves from childhood. Wouldn't it have been more fun to show him munching on those leaves – in other words, have the leaves make an appearance earlier on, like a character – and then tell us what their powers are?
Put differently, Chimbu Deven has forgotten to make a movie for adults. His inventions surprise us, delight us for a second or two – and then we're back to the turgid story. The first half, especially, is a drag – generic comedy (Thambi Ramiah), generic romance (Shruti Haasan, who's sure to snag a Best Supporting Belly Button nomination at next year's award functions), a generic second heroine (Hansika Motwani), and the kind of generic background score that composers think scream "epic." (You know the deep wail, the chorus that sounds as if it was belched out by a thousand Viking women during childbirth.)
Things get a little better in the second half, thanks to Sridevi's evil queen – she gets a better 'hero entry scene' than the hero himself. There's some fun watching this diva play another diva – though not nearly as much fun as the fact that her race is called Vedhaalam, which is the name of... Ajith's upcoming movie. (Coincidence? A poke in the rib between professional rivals?) Another extra-textual fun fact: In a reversal of the Tamil-cinema tradition of the hero's mother being played by an actress who once starred opposite him, as heroine, Sridevi's father here is played by her Pagalil Oru Iravu hero, Vijayakumar. Say what you will about Puli , it does strike a small blow for gender equality.
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Celtic agree pre-contract deal with Mikael Lustig
Celtic have signed Sweden international right-back Mikael Lustig on a pre-contract agreement.
The 24-year-old defender, who has been with Rosenborg since 2008, will join Celtic in January after signing a three-and-a-half year deal.
Lustig told the Glasgow club's website: "This is a really exciting time for me and I am delighted to be committing my future to Celtic.
"I know a lot about Celtic, about the size of the club."
Lustig won his 23rd cap for Sweden in this month's 1-0 friendly defeat by England at Wembley.
"I'm really looking forward to joining this squad, to the challenges ahead and hopefully playing my part in bringing some success to the club," he said.
With Wales international Adam Matthews having moved to Glasgow after leaving Cardiff City in the summer, Celtic already have three first-team right-backs on their books, the others being Scotland cap Mark Wilson and South Korea's Cha Du-Ri.
However, Celtic manager Neil Lennon said Lustig would be a quality addition to his squad.
"We are delighted to bring Mikael to Celtic," he said about a player who can play at full-back or in central defence.
"We believe he has the qualities to make a real impact at the club and we look forward to him joining us in January.
"He is a player with international pedigree and a defender with great versatility.
"He is someone who I feel will be a very positive addition to the squad.
"I like his attributes and he can play both positions, but he's predominantly a right-back."
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As well as being a place of worship, Westminster Abbey has become a treasure house of artefacts. This is also where some of the most significant people in Britain's history are buried or commemorated.
[More about the Abbey's history](/history/history-of-westminster-abbey)
The Coronation church since 1066
Forty monarchs have been crowned in the Abbey since 1066. Find out more about the history of coronations, the objects and spaces used during the ceremony, and the kings and queens involved.
[Coronations at the Abbey](/history/coronations-at-the-abbey)
Take a deep dive into some fascinating subjects with these stories of new discoveries, celebration, remembrance and commemoration.
In this section
Royalty and famous people
More than 3,300 people are buried and many others commemorated at Westminster Abbey. This has also been the setting for every coronation since 1066, and for many other royal occasions, including 16 weddings.
Although Westminster Abbey was founded in 960AD, the building we see today dates from the reign of Henry III in the 13th century.
[More about our architectural history](/history/explore-our-history/architecture)
Abbey in Wartime
The Abbey suffered damage during World War Two, but daily worship continued.
[How the Abbey survived](/history/explore-our-history/abbey-in-wartime)
The Royal Air Force Chapel
A chapel dedicated to the men of the Royal Air Force who died in the Battle of Britain.
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Palestinians scramble for safety as Israel pounds sealed-off Gaza Strip to punish Hamas
Fire, smoke at the Gaza City port following Israeli airstrike
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli warplanes hammered the Gaza Strip neighborhood by neighborhood Tuesday, reducing buildings to rubble and sending people
[scrambling to find safety](https://apnews.com/article/palestinians-israel-hamas-gaza-2f3d8a95f8b8324d1b002048ff3eb34b) in the tiny, sealed-off territory now suffering severe retaliation for the [deadly weekend attack](https://apnews.com/article/gaza-israel-palestinians-hamas-photos-6306a3a4ef854bdcb2e3e698e6bd4f02) by Hamas militants.
Humanitarian groups pleaded for the creation of corridors to get aid into Gaza and warned that hospitals overwhelmed with wounded people were running out of supplies. Israel has stopped entry of food, fuel and medicines into Gaza, and the sole remaining access from Egypt shut down Tuesday after airstrikes hit near the border crossing.
The war, which has claimed at least 1,900 lives on both sides, is expected to escalate. The
[weekend attack](Israeli village near the Gaza border lies in ruin, filled with the bodies of residents and militants) that Hamas said was retribution for worsening conditions for Palestinians under Israeli occupation has inflamed Israel's determination to crush the group's hold in Gaza. New exchanges of fire over Israel's northern borders with militants in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday pointed to the risk of an expanded regional conflict.
[stormed into Israel ](https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-rockets-airstrikes-tel-aviv-11fb98655c256d54ecb5329284fc37d2) on Saturday morning, slaying hundreds of residents in homes and streets near the Gaza border and bringing gunbattles to Israeli towns for the first time in decades. Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza hold about 150 soldiers and civilians hostage, according to Israel.
Israel stepped up its offensive on Tuesday, expanding the mobilization of reservists to 360,000. Israel's military said it had regained effective control over areas Hamas attacked in its south and of the Gaza border.
A looming question is whether Israel will launch a ground assault into Gaza — a 40-kilometer-long (25-mile) strip of land wedged among Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea that is home to 2.3 million people and has been governed by Hamas since 2007.
Rescue officials in Gaza said "large numbers" of people were still trapped under the remnants of leveled buildings, with rescue equipment and ambulances unable to reach the area.
On Tuesday, a large part of Gaza City's Rimal neighborhood was reduced to rubble after hours of airstrikes the night before. Residents found buildings torn in half or demolished to mounds of concrete and rebar. Cars were flattened and trees burned out on residential streets transformed into moonscapes.
Palestinian Civil Defense forces pulled Abdullah Musleh out of his basement together with 30 others after their apartment building was flattened.
"I sell toys, not missiles,'' the 46-year-old said, weeping. "I want to leave Gaza. Why do I have to stay here? I lost my home and my job."
The Israeli military said it struck hundreds of targets in Rimal, an upscale district home to ministries of the Hamas-run government, universities, media organizations and the aid agency offices.
In a new tactic, Israel is warning civilians to evacuate neighborhood after neighborhood, and then inflicting devastation, in what could be a prelude to a ground offensive. On Tuesday, the military told residents of the nearby al-Daraj neighborhood to evacuate. New explosions soon rocked it and other areas, continuing into the night.
Fighter jets returned multiple times to another neighborhood, al-Furqan, striking 450 targets in 24 hours, the Israeli military said.
One blast hit Gaza City's seaport, setting fishing boats aflame.
"There is no safe place in Gaza right now. You see decent people being killed every day," Gaza journalist Hasan Jabar said after three Palestinian journalists were killed in the Rimal bombardment. "I am genuinely afraid for my life."
On Tuesday afternoon, Hamas fired barrages of rockets toward the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and Tel Aviv. There were no immediate reports of casualties. On Tuesday night, a group of militants entered an industrial zone in Ashkelon, sparking a gunbattle with Israeli troops, the military said. Three militants were killed, and troops were searching the area for others.
Israel's new tactics could point to its new objective.
Four previous rounds of Israel-Hamas fighting between 2008 and 2021 all ended inconclusively, with Hamas battered but still in control. This time, Israel's government is under intense pressure from the public to topple Hamas, a goal considered unachievable in the past because it would require a reoccupation of the Gaza Strip, at least temporarily.
"The objective is for this war to end very differently from all of the previous rounds. There has to be a clear victory," said Chuck Freilich, a former deputy national security adviser in Israel. "Whatever has to be done to fundamentally change the situation will have to be done," he said.
The devastation also sharpened questions about Hamas' strategy and objectives. Hamas officials have said they planned for all possibilities, including a punishing Israeli escalation. Desperation has grown among Palestinians, many of whom see nothing to lose under
[unending Israeli control](https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestine-settler-bedouin-displacement-violence-un-108e11712310b5ea099dbded7be8effb) and [increasing settlements](https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-settlements-west-bank-biden-49c4788ffc5f5ee41d5c48365ac5395b) in the West Bank, a 16-year-long blockade in Gaza and what they see as the world's apathy.
Hamas may have been counting on the fight to spread to the West Bank and possibly for Lebanon's Hezbollah to open a front in the north. Days of clashes between rock-throwing Palestinians and Israeli forces in the West Bank have left 15 Palestinians dead, but Israel has clamped down heavily on the territory, preventing movement between communities. The violence also spread into east Jerusalem, where Israeli police said they killed two Palestinians who hurled stones at police late Tuesday.
Brief exchanges of fire across Israel's northern border have taken place nearly daily. Palestinian militants fired rockets into northern Israel from Lebanon and from Syria on Tuesday, each bringing Israeli artillery and mortar fire in return. But so far they have not escalated.
In hopes of blunting the bombardment in Gaza, Hamas has threatened to kill one Israeli civilian captive any time Israel targets civilians in their homes in Gaza "without prior warning."
The militants' attack stunned Israel with a death toll unseen since the 1973 war with Egypt and Syria — and those deaths happened over a longer period of time. It brought horrific scenes of Hamas militants gunning down civilians in their homes, on streets and at a mass outdoor music festival, while dragging men, women and children into captivity.
The Israeli military said more than 1,000 people, including 155 soldiers, have been killed in Israel. In Gaza, 900 people have been killed, including 260 children and 230 women, according to authorities there; Israel says hundreds of Hamas fighters are among them. Thousands have been wounded on both sides.
U.S. President Joe Biden said Tuesday at least 14 U.S. citizens were killed in Hamas' attack and that Americans are among those being held hostage in Gaza. Biden, who spoke earlier in the day with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said "there is no justification for terrorism."
Biden added an apparent warning to Hezbollah, saying, "To any country, any organization, anyone thinking of taking advantage of the situation, I have one word: Don't."
The State Department announced that Secretary of State Antony Blinken would travel in the coming days to Israel to deliver a message of solidarity and support.
Hamas responded to Biden, saying his administration should "review its biased position" and "move away from the policy of double standards" over Palestinian rights to defend themselves against Israeli occupation.
The bodies of roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were found on Israeli territory, the military said. It wasn't clear whether those numbers overlapped with deaths reported by Palestinian authorities. Tens of thousands of people in southern Israel have been evacuated since Sunday.
In Gaza, more than 200,000 people have fled their homes, the U.N. said, the most since a 2014 air and ground offensive by Israel uprooted about 400,000. The vast majority are sheltering in schools run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. Damage to three water and sanitation sites have cut off services to 400,000 people, the U.N. said.
The U.N.'s World Health Organization said that supplies it had pre-positioned for seven hospitals in Gaza have already run out amid the flood of wounded. The head of the medical aid group Doctors Without Borders said surgical equipment, antibiotics, fuel and other supplies were running out at two hospitals it runs in Gaza.
Adwan reported from Rafah, Gaza Strip. AP writers Isabel DeBre, Amy Teibel and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem; Wafaa Shurafa in Gaza City; Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel; Bassem Mroue and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut; Samy Magdy in Cairo; and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
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Transfer deadline day: George Boyd joins Burnley from Hull
Burnley have signed forward George Boyd from Premier League rivals Hull.
The 28-year-old Scotland international has agreed a three-year deal and joins the Lancashire club for an undisclosed fee, thought to be about £3m.
The Clarets have also
[signed 19-year-old Chelsea midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29019928) on loan until January.
Chalobah has yet to make a Premier League appearance, but has impressed during loan spells with Watford, Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough.
[signed for the Tigers](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22691495) from Peterborough midway through their promotion campaign in 2012-13, has made one league appearance this season.
The deals bring the number of summer signings at newly promoted Burnley to nine.
Hull manager Steve Bruce had revealed on Sunday that the player was nearing a move to the Clarets, adding: "I wish him well. I've been in the game a long time and if all professional footballers were like George Boyd my job would be easy."
He came off the bench against Stoke last weekend and started in Hull's first Europa League qualifying tie against Lokeren, which they
Burnley have yet to win a Premier League game this season, but held Manchester United to
[a 0-0 draw](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28909835) at Turf Moor on Saturday.
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AIFF Media Team
BENGALURU: The All India Football Federation's Executive Committee met in Bengaluru, with President Mr Kalyan Chaubey presiding over the meeting on Monday, July 3, 2023.
In attendance were Vice President Mr NA Haris, Treasurer Mr Kipa Ajay, Secretary General Dr Shaji Prabhakaran, along with Executive Committee Members Mr Lalnghinglova Hmar, Mr Deepak Sharma, Mr Menla Ethenpa, Mr GP Palguna, Mr Vijay Bali, Mr Syed Husain Ali Naqvi, Mr K Neibou Sekhose, Mr Avijit Paul, Mr Anilkumar P, Ms Valanka Natasha Alemao, Mr Maloji Raje Chhatrapati, Mr Mohan Lal, Mr Syed Imtiaz Hussain, and Mr Arif Ali. Eminent Player Members Ms Thongam Tababi Devi, Ms Pinky Bompal Magar, Mr Shabbir Ali, Mr IM Vijayan, Mr Bhaichung Bhutia, and Mr Climax Lawrence, were present. Special invitees Mr Satyanarayan M, Hon'ble General Secretary, Karnataka State Football Association, and Mr Mulrajsinh Chudasama, Hon'ble General Secretary, Gujarat State Football Association were present.
AIFF President Mr Kalyan Chaubey said in his opening address, "This Executive Committee meeting is being held on a day when the Indian Senior Men's National Team is preparing to battle it out against Kuwait in the final of the SAFF Championship tomorrow. Despite two teams from outside the SAFF region, who are regarded as considerably stronger sides, playing in the current SAFF Championship, India made the final and are going for the 9th title. This is ample testimony of India's growing footballing strength. Having reached the FIFA Ranking of 100 after winning back-to-back tournaments in Imphal and Bhubaneswar, it is proved that Indian Football is moving in the right direction. I congratulate the entire Executive Committee on putting up a great effort in taking the correct path for achieving our ultimate goal."
He further stated, "The biggest strength of this Executive Committee is their complete faith in running the game in the country in the most democratic manner. Perhaps, never before has the Federation been run with so much inner democracy, where everybody has the right to air their views and opinions."
Five entities had placed their respective bids for corporate entries into the Hero I-League – YMS Finance Pvt Ltd (Varanasi, UP), Namdhari Seeds Pvt Ltd (Bhaini Sahib Village, Punjab), Nimida United Sports Development Pvt Ltd (Bengaluru, Karnataka), Concatenate Advest Advisory Pvt Ltd (Delhi), and Bunkerhill Pvt Ltd (Ambala, Haryana). The Executive Committee, in its first order of the day, decided to accommodate all five bidders into the Hero I-League, with the vision of expanding the competition to a stronger league.
The Committee, in line with AIFF's long-term plan, Vision 2047, felt it would be prudent to revive a legacy competition like the Federation Cup. To that extent, it decided that the Federation Cup will be the premier cup competition in India from the 2023-24 season onwards.
KSFA General Secretary Mr Satyanarayan M was, upon the proposal of Mr Chaubey, appointed by the Committee as the new Deputy Secretary General of the All India Football Federation.
AIFF Secretary General Dr Shaji Prabhakaran said, after the conclusion of the Committee's meeting, "It is extremely encouraging to see all the Executive Committee members taking part in all the decisions today. We had open discussions on Indian Football agendas, especially the decision to inculcate five new clubs into the Hero I-League, which is historic. I am thankful to the League Committee and the Executive Committee for this. Also, I congratulate Satyanarayan for being appointed Deputy Secretary General, which will add to the strength of the AIFF in delivering and improving secretariat decisions."
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Sibéal Davitt is a Dublin dance artist and performer from Dublin. Her style of dance is influenced by contemporary, classical and Irish traditional 'sean-nós' dance, having trained in all styles from an early age.
In 2009 she won 'Glas Vegas', a national talent competition televised on TG4, and subsequently performed in Las Vegas and at leading venues around the world. In 2014 Sibéal received her MA in Contemporary Dance Performance with first class honours at University of Limerick.
As part of the 1916 commemorations, Sibéal choreographed and performed in RTÉ's 'Centenary' which was televised live on Easter Monday from the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. In April 2016, Sibéal created and performed Fógraím / I Proclaim at the GPO as part of 'Embodied', a series of 6 solos by Irish female choreographers commissioned by GPO: Witness History Public Art Commission and Dublin Dance Festival.
In 2019 Sibéal was one of five recipients of An Chomhairle Ealaíon's inaugural Markievicz award. She was Dance Ireland's Associate Artist in 2020 and used these supports to begin the process of making new works. Her latest solo dance show Minseach premiered at Draíocht in Blanchardstown as part of Dublin Fringe Festival. The show was critically acclaimed and is set to tour in late 2023.
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Can India ever learn to love football?
Fifa president Sepp Blatter once called India the 'sleeping giant' of football. With the world's second largest population, many feel India is under-represented in the world's most popular sport. For One Square Mile, Tim Samuels set out to see if India can ever learn to play and love the beautiful game.
If the kids playing cricket on a piece of rural scrubland are anything to go by, then the omens are not good.
"Football is trash," shouts one young boy, no more than ten years old.
Indeed, none of the dozen or so youngsters has even heard of Barcelona, Liverpool or the Manchester clubs. There is not a flicker of recognition at the names Messi or Ronaldo.
What makes this all the more ominous for those championing football in India is that the kids are playing cricket on a piece of land barely a mile (kilometre) or two from the training ground of the local football club Pune FC, a team which plays in India's top league.
The challenge for football is considerable, notwithstanding a TV fan base for international football of some 80 million.
Despite its British imperial heritage and potential pool of talent among its 1.2 billion population, India has a distinct lack of footballing prowess, at least for its home-grown talent.
Currently the national team languishes in 156th spot in Fifa's rankings, tied with Liechtenstein (population 36,000) and just below St Vincent and the Grenadines (population 103,000).
Though India qualified in 1950, they have never actually made it to the World Cup. They refused to participate, partly because it would have meant their normally barefoot team having to wear football boots.
Not a single player in the current national squad plays for any of the big teams outside their home country.
But there are serious moves afoot to ignite a footballing passion in India.
In 2007, the I-League was formed - the equivalent of the English Premier League - perhaps mindful of Asian footballing success in the likes of Japan and South Korea.
Pune FC, formed by the Mumbai-based Ashok Piramal group, a major Indian family business, is one of 14 teams in the I-League.
Located about 150km (90 miles) from Mumbai, Pune is one of India's fastest growing cities, packed with hi-tech and high-rises.
This is the modern face of India and, not surprisingly, it is seen as a fertile city in which to seed a new football club in this nascent league.
Just up the road from the cricket-crazy youngsters who had never heard of Manchester United or Barcelona, Nandan Piramal surveys his team on the training pitch ahead of their next match.
The young British-educated Liverpool FC-obsessed businessman is the club's owner and is messianic about bringing football to the masses.
He has brought in a Dutch manager and several overseas players. Some with English Premier League experience are part of the first team.
"It's just passion for the sport," says Piramal, explaining his decision to start the team.
"Following European football, following the English Premier League is a lot of fun but we thought being in India let's do something for Indian football."
The vision is still in its early stages. The training ground would be on a par with that of a lower league English club - as are the attendances.
For a Pune FC match later that week, a game that could have seen them go top of the league, the crowd numbered a mere few thousand.
But future success may rest on extending the club's reach and that of home-grown football across the country by looking at where the real passion is coming from.
Amongst those cheering on Pune were youngsters from the poorest sections of society - orphans and slum kids - who, like many in the crowd, were bussed in by the club. After all, it is hard to develop a following from scratch.
The club says it wants to be open to all sections of society. Nandan Piramal says his talent scouts are working with NGOs and will be sent to local slums.
"It's important we get local kids coming through the system. Sport in general has the ability to cut across caste - which in India is a big thing - religion, anything."
After all, footballing passion has traditionally been most intense amongst society's poorest, kids who dream of being the next Maradona or Messi - to escape from however humble a background.
You do not have to tell this to the kids in a slum just a couple of miles from the centre of Pune. Nor do you have to tell them who Man City, Man United or Barcelona are.
Of the 500 or so slums in Pune, I found one that is probably the most football fanatic - replete with their own club, Sukhai FC.
The pitch may be a patch of land prone to the wanderings of cattle and the odd scooter, but the dedication to football is impressive.
Older residents of the slum coach the youth team, the kit area is paid for from the salary of the manager and they all dream of playing for their local club, Pune FC.
"If I can't become a footballer then I can't live," says a 15-year-old boy clad in the Liverpool-red of Pune.
A fellow Pune fan adds: "I want to study and play football because I want to become something after I grow up. I want to be someone."
Most young people his age in India might say the same about cricket, which still has a stranglehold on national obsession.
But if India can start to produce a few Maradonas from the slums - homegrown heroes to propel a nation's pride - then the sleeping football giant might just start to stir.
And India might one day even make it to the World Cup.
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Late Thursday night, the Israeli military warned more than 1 million people living in northern Gaza to evacuate within 24 hours and move to the southern part of the territory.
The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has around
[300 people working with us as staff in Gaza](/latest/gaza-msf-provides-medical-care-and-donates-supplies-amid-intense-conflict). Overnight, MSF's international staff members based in northern Gaza relocated to the south of the Strip. However, the vast majority of MSF staff in northern Gaza are Palestinians living in the area. Some of them are currently moving south with their families, and MSF is trying to help them find shelter. Others, notably medical staff, are remaining in the north to try to treat sick and wounded people.
It is impossible for such large numbers of people to move in such a short period of time. Mass displacement will only worsen this humanitarian crisis. As for the many civilians who will not be able to leave the northern Gaza Strip, MSF is extremely concerned about their fate once the Israeli deadline expires.
MSF repeats its
[call for an immediate end](/latest/our-response-israel-gaza-war) to the indiscriminate bloodshed and for the urgent establishment of safe spaces and safe passage for civilians trapped in Gaza.
Below is a statement from Meinie Nicolai, MSF general director, on Israel's evacuation order:
"The Israeli government's 24-hour notice that people in northern Gaza must leave their land, homes, and hospitals is outrageous. This represents an attack on medical care and on humanity. We are talking about more than a million human beings.
'Unprecedented' doesn't even cover the medical humanitarian impact of this. Gaza is being flattened, thousands of people are dying. This must stop now. We condemn Israel's demand in the strongest possible terms."
How we're responding to the war in Gaza
How you can help
Not everyone can treat patients in the field. But everyone can do something.
Some humanitarian crises make the headlines—others don't. Unrestricted support from our donors allows us to mobilize quickly and efficiently to provide lifesaving medical care to the people who need it most, whether those needs are in the spotlight or not. And your donation is 100 percent tax-deductible.
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The rights of five franchises — Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad and Quetta — are on offer for a 10-year period. Though a number of parties bought the bidding documents, but only seven presented formal proposals, which include companies from the Middle East as well.
[Pakistan Super League launched in star-studded event](https://i1.tribune.com.pk/story/960499/pakistan-super-league-launched-in-star-studded-event/)
It has been learnt that the companies officially in the race comprise ARY Media Group, Omar Associates, Arif Habib Group, Haier, Mobilink as well as two foreign companies: UAE's Venture Capital and Qatar's Premier Oil Company QALCO.
"We're happy that seven credible companies with clean and strong backgrounds have participated in the bidding war of PSL franchises," a PSL official told The Express Tribune.
All seven technical bids have been accepted by the PSL Governing Council and financial bids will be opened on Thursday.
"What's heartening for us is the fact that out of the seven, six parties have submitted bids for all five franchises while only Arif Habib Group has submitted a bid for Karachi. So this shows that people are keen on what PSL has to offer," added the official.
[PCB confirms UAE as venue for Pakistan Super League](https://i1.tribune.com.pk/story/962763/pcb-confirms-uae-as-venue-for-pakistan-super-league/)
It remains to be seen whether any of the bidders have met the reserved price when the financial bids will be opened. "If none of them meet the price, then we'll hold an auction between all seven parties," said the official. "If more than one party meets the reserved price for a certain franchise, there will be rebidding between them, and the highest bidder will get the rights."
The PSL is scheduled to be staged in Dubai and Sharjah from February 4-24 with the likes of Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen, Kieron Pollard, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga, Dawyne Bravo, Angelo Mathews and others in attendance.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 3rd, 2015.
[Sports on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/EtribuneSports), follow [@ETribuneSports](https://twitter.com/ETribuneSports)on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.
Interestingly when IPL was held in UAE the name was still the same, there are chances that it will happen again and IPL will be held outside India, but unlike you,sane people like us won't be asking India to change the name.
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our
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PSL 2017 'The Spirit Trophy' unveiled in Dubai
The trophy is encrusted with 50,000 crystals
DUBAI (Web Desk) – 'The Spirit Trophy' for the winner-to-be of Pakistan Super League's second installment this year in Dubai has been unveiled for the media on Monday.
Chairman of the league, Najam Sethi and captains of all five participating teams were present for the ceremony among others.
The trophy is encrusted with 50,000 crystals, a message posted on social media website by the franchise administration revealed.
Fazal Mehmood Award for the best bowler unveiled
Imtiaz Ahmed Award for the best wicketkeeper unveiled
Shoaib Malik unveils Man of the Tournament Award
Watch unveiling of Hanif Mohammad Award for best batsman:
PICTURE PERFECT MOMENT!! The Hanif Mohammad Award for the Best Batsman for— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20)
[#HBLPSL]unveiled! [pic.twitter.com/wvseF3Hi7X] [February 6, 2017]
In addition to the trophy, Fazal Mehmood Award for the best bowler, Imtiaz Ahmed Award for the best wicketkeeper, Man of the Tournament Award and Hanif Mohammad Award for the best batsman of the season were unveiled for the shutterbugs.
Brand ambassador of Pakistan Super League, Ramiz Raja congratulated the entire management for yet another exciting upcoming league.
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Above Image: The Forest Trail
Below Image: The Track leading to the Site
This Neolithic Wedge Tomb is really an incredible sight. Photos just dont give it justice. It needs to be seen in person. It is a rectangular chamber positioned into a wedge shape which had a Cairn constructed upon it. Experts have dated it to the Bronze Age circa 1700BC. It was excavated in 1945 and within they discovered some cremated remains, flint implements and some pottery. The Cairn at one time stood almost two metres high but has now fallen into ruin with the roof of the chamber now missing. Some of the Cairn stones are still scattered among the surrounding standing stones.
The Tomb is known locally as "The Giant's Grave" and is situated in a circular clearing in a pine forest on the lower East slopes of Two rock Mountain. This treasure is hidden away but is so easily accessible on foot that it is incredible that it is not visited more often. Maybe in some ways that is a good thing as it's almost secret spot is devoid of any litter and such that plagues some of the other historical sites that we have visited.
The site is reached by way of a walking trail from a gate on Ballyedmonduff Road. A sign posted by the gate thanks two local landowners for their co-operation in allowing access across their land.
A short walk across a sheep filled field leads you to a boundary fence with a sturdy ladder type metal stile that is easy to climb and drops you right on the forest trail.
Once over the stile we followed the trail to the left. The trail bypasses a Golf course on it's left and then it bends sharply to the right. It took less than ten minutes to reach this point. Just after the bend and a few yards later on to your right hand side is a small track leading off the trail into the forest. Even from this position we could see the Tomb between the tall trees. The track led us across a narrow gurgling stream with a couple of stepping stones to aid progress and then a few yards later we entered the clearing. On first view this ancient Tomb is truly an amazing sight. The trees had been felled around the perimeter making the glade an almost perfect circle.
Although quite ruinous now the Tomb still looks impressive. We have come across several Cairns & Tombs in the past but this is by far the largest and most interesting. Some of ths standing stones still remain on the North And West sides and it also surprising to see an information board posted nearby.
I have to say we spent a good deal of time here. There was a distinct atmosphere about the place. A real sense of history. To be honest we left the site a little awe-struck.
As with most of our Castle ruin trips, we were the only ones present when we made the visit on a fine June evening. In fact we met only two other people who were out running on the forest trail. We will definitely return to this site in the future.
The easiest route to find the Tomb is as follows: From Kilternan on the R117 towards Enniskerry take a right hand turn at the blue wooden Church onto Ballybetagh Road. Follow this Road around two sharp left bends and about 600 metres along you will reach a fork in the road. Take the right hand fork signposted for Glencullen. After you have passed Johnnie Foxes Pub you will come to a crossroads. Turn right. Drive for about 1.5KM passing Glencullen Golf Course on your left. This is Ballyedmonduff Road. Look out on your left for a Bungalow with a cylindrical bay window and a wire fence posted atop a stone wall. Just a little along this fence you will find a stepped back gate with a track leading up to the forest. There is a small wooden pedestrian gate to the left of the main gate for safe access. We parked to the side of the road just past the gate where it was slightly wider but in general it seems there are few other spots to park.
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"title": "Tuama Dingeach Bhaile Éamainn Duibh",
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Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain and classical vocalist Pandharinath Kolhapure to get Mangeshkar award
NEW DELHI: Ten personalities in the fields of social awareness, music, literature and the arts are to receive the annual Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Awards later this month.
Bharat Ratna and legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar told a press conference at her residence in Prabhakunj in Mumbai that the 25th edition of the awards will be presented by her at a function on 24 April at Shanmukhananda Hall, Mumbai.
While tabla player Zakir Hussain and classical vocalist Pandharinath Kolhapure (father of actress Padmini Kolhapure) will be given the Master Deenanath Paritoshik awards for music, senior actor Rishi Kapoor and the versatile Marathi actor Shivaji Satam will get the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar (Vishesh Paritoshik) awards.
The Master Dinanath Paritoshak will be given to two journalists Anant Dixit and Prakash Bal, while the Vagvilasini Paritoshik will go to litterateur Dr Anand Yadav.
Dinesh Pedanekar and Mukta Barve get the Mohan Wagh Puraskar for the Marathi drama 'Chapa Kata'.
Anna Hazare gets the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar (Jeevan Gaurav) for social awareness and Miraj Vidyarthi Singh receives the Anadmayee Paritoshik for social service.
The awards will be organised by Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Smriti Prathishthan Trust, which celebrates the memorial day of Master Deenanath Mangeshkar every year on 24 April where legendary actors, film makers, social activists, musicians, singers, dramatists, dramas and poets are felicitated for their respective outstanding contributions in their fields by presenting them with the prestigious 'Master Deenanath Award' and a prize of Rs one lakh each. The founders of this reputed trust are Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Bharati Hridyanath Mangeshkar and Shriram Narayan Gogate.
This year the trust celebrates its 25th anniversary of the awards, and so a two-day festival of award ceremony and concerts will be held as a tribute to the legendary theatre artiste and father of the Mangeshkars Lata, Meena, Usha, Hridynath and Asha Bhosle.
The award ceremony will be followed by a solo Tabla concert by the legendary Ustad Zakir Hussain, while the next day will see Asha Bhosle in a live Concert with her musician brother Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar.
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{
"title": "मुक्ता बर्वे",
"last_revision": "2024-04-20T16:59:28",
"url": "http://www.radioandmusic.com/node/35291",
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Rate Limited Request (429 error)
We apologize, but you have triggered rate limiting by our cloud service provider.
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For more information on data use of SR sites, see our
[Data Use page](data_use.html).
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{
"title": "मारिया क्रिस्टीन युलिआंती",
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Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
The Middle Ages and the Renaissance were a period of scientific and literary reawakening. Scientific development and a renewed interest in classical science led to new discoveries, inventions, and technologies. Between 500 and 1600 A.D., scientific explorers rediscovered ancient Greek and Eastern knowledge, which led to an eruption of fresh ideas. This reference work describes more than 75 experiments, inventions, and discoveries of the period, as well as the scientists, physicians, and scholars responsible for them. Individuals such as Leonardo da Vinci, Marco Polo, and Galileo are included, along with entries on reconstructive surgery, Stonehenge, eyeglasses, the microscope, and the discovery of smallpox.
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{
"title": "Гэрэл зураг",
"last_revision": "2024-04-29T04:59:01",
"url": "http://books.google.com/?id=MTXdplfiz-cC&pg=PA20",
"lid": "eng_Latn",
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On the origins, customs and changing lifestyle of the tribal community in the Nilgiris.
SINCE the early 19th century, a great deal of misinformation has been generated about the origins and socio-economic institutions of the Toda people of the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. But, for over a century now, following the arrival in the Nilgiris in 1901 of Cambridge University scholar W.H.R. Rivers, much painstaking anthropological and linguistic research has been accomplished. This has resulted, inter alia, in such books as Rivers' The Todas (1906), M.B. Emeneau's Toda Songs (1971), Ritual Structure and Language Structure of the Todas (1974) and Toda Grammar and Texts (1984), and this writer's The Toda of South India: A New Look (1986) and Between Tradition and Modernity and Other Essays on the Toda of South India (1998).
Despite this solid body of research, it seems that some writers have no qualms about propagating arrant nonsense in the name of information. As it is said, "a good story travels a thousand miles while the truth decides which pair of socks to wear". Unfortunately a "good story" on the Internet travels even faster, and spreads more widely than ever before.
A particularly galling assemblage of ancient errors and modern absurdities about the Toda people is the anonymously written article "The Todas: Pagan Rituals, Primitive Rites", posted on indiaprofile.com, apparently a site designed to promote tourism and disseminate information about India's people and their cultures.
Setting a pattern of inaccuracy and blatant misinformation that characterises almost all that follows, the article begins thus: "Todas, an ancient people living in the Nilgiris, are according to anthropologists an offshoot of the `Lost Tribe' of Israel", who "in dress and stature strongly resemble characters from the Old Testament".
This old chestnut dates back to the 1840s. It was first proposed by John Ouchterlony in his "Geographical and Statistical Memoir of a Survey of the Neilgherry Mountains" (Madras Journal of Literature and Science of 1847). It lacked (as it still does) a historical, ethnological, genetic, or linguistic basis; it is simply one long-ago visitor's personal reaction to the appearance of a few Toda men he happened upon while surveying in the Nilgiris.
We may never discover the precise origin of the Todas, but what we do know places them in South India, not ancient Israel.
The Toda language belongs to the Dravidian family; it separated from Tamil-Malayalam circa 3rd century B.C. Todas' linguistic affiliations are with South India and even their much-remarked physical characteristics - tall, with fairish skins, aquiline noses and so on - are neither true of all Todas nor absent in the wider South Indian community.
The purveyor of misinformation on the Net asserts that "the Todas live in small groups in the forests around Ootacamund", their "beehive shaped huts are made of reed and bamboo woven together" and "at present there are only a few munds [the local word for Toda hamlet] left, each one consisting of five families", which are "self-sufficient... "Most of this is patently false.
The Todas were never, so far as we can determine, forest-dwellers. Traditionally pastoralists herding their buffaloes over the Nilgiri grasslands, they certainly made extensive use of the sholas (Nilgiri copses) as sources of building materials, shady refuges for their buffaloes, and the locale for ritual activities; but their munds, although near, were not inside them.
Today traditional Toda homes have largely disappeared. Only three or four of more than 50 Toda hamlets can still boast one. Modern dwellings are built of brick and cement, with tiled roofs; some would not be out of place in suburban Chennai or Bangalore.
In 2000 there were 56 occupied Toda munds, considerably more than "a few", and in that year this writer counted from as few as one to as many as 19 households per mund. Moreover, since they belong to specified exogamous patriclans, in turn constituted into two ritually conjoined sub-castes, these settlements are not (and never have been) self-sufficient.
"The prosperity of each mund is judged by the herds of wild buffaloes owned by it. These ferocious but magnificent animals roam the forests living on wild vegetation and when it is time to milk them, the Toda in charge makes a rather weird call and immediately the wild herd returns to the mund. After the milking is over, the herd adjourns to the wilds again."
The special breed of water buffalo herded by the Todas is indeed a magnificent animal, and can be ferocious - at times even life-threatening - if disturbed by humans with whom it is unfamiliar. But these are not "wild buffaloes"; in fact they are quite docile with their masters, and even a small Toda boy may freely mingle with them.
Able to withstand the cool Nilgiri climate without man-made shelters, these buffaloes thrive on the coarse grasses of the high plateau. They do not "roam the forests living on wild vegetation", and being penned at night, they certainly do not "adjourn to the wilds again"!
It was generally (although not invariably) true - some 40 years ago - that a hamlet's prosperity could be judged by the size of its buffalo herd. It is now altogether another story. Scarcely 10 per cent of Toda households own sufficient buffaloes for economic viability and, for the most part, buffalo husbandry has been sidelined by agriculture.
It is undoubtedly fair to describe Toda society as "patriarchal". But to write of post-pastoral Toda society in the 21st century as one in which "Toda women play a subsidiary role to the Toda buffalo" is patently absurd. Toda women, like women all over India, are still far from achieving socio-political and ritual parity with their menfolk. But much change is in the air. Moreover, this society seems always to have permitted greater liberty to its womenfolk than is the Indian norm.
It is true that the Todas once practised female infanticide. However, even 130 years ago, the Todas resolutely denied early claims - blindly repeated by the Web-author - that this was accomplished by having the infant trampled to death by buffaloes.
Infanticide was criminalised in the early 19th century and had more or less vanished among the Todas by the end of that century - more than a hundred years ago.
A modern Toda home would not be out of place in any Indian City.
Again, it is true that the Todas once practised the relatively rare, although widespread (in Asia, Africa and Oceania), marriage custom whereby a woman has a plurality of husbands. But it is quite untrue to write (in the present tense no less): "Women in each mund are common wives to all the men in the mund." According to traditional Toda practice, a woman in a polyandrous union was the shared spouse of a set of brothers, with whom she lived in a common home. But today, as with female infanticide, polyandry no longer exists among the Todas. To suggest otherwise is misleading.
It is deceptive also to write that "all the women in the mund are `earth-mother' [to a child born there] and all the men are `earth-father' ". Even more so to write that "children from different mothers are not considered related and can cohabit on reaching puberty". Children of different mothers but the same social father are brothers and sisters, and intercourse between them would be "vile incest".
In his (or her) quaint language, the Web author writes: "The birth of a child is in no way connected with togetherness." I trust this is not a plea to recognise virgin birth among the Todas, although it might just be, given that the text continues, the "Moon god is the benefactor and a child is produced when the god so decrees". I presume the writer is trying to explain that biological paternity is (traditionally, at least) unimportant among the Todas. This is correct. How could it have been otherwise in the days when Todas practised fraternal polyandry?
"Social" paternity, on the other hand, was (and remains) of crucial importance, for without it an individual has no social, economic or religious status in Toda society. Such paternity is bestowed, as the Web-author correctly observes, through ritual: the offering by a male (man or boy) of a symbolic bow-and-arrow to the pregnant woman, representing his acceptance of the fruit of her womb.
But this is not a Toda marriage ceremony, as is suggested. Marriage occurs in infancy, because of ritual requirements (no Toda should die unwed, for example). And it is entirely wrong that "a boy selects a girl and lives with her in her parents' home". On the contrary, the Toda people have always followed the common Indian custom of living with or near the husband's family, not the wife's.
"For the Todas a buffalo is sacred, as is a tree with a forked branch [how many trees do not have forked branches?] and the Moon god, not goddess, is the benefactor", "their temples are secret" and "the horns of different animals are kept as deities".
These statements are parodies of the complex Toda religious culture.
Central to Toda religion are sacred places associated with the community's dairy-temples, their related buffalo herds, appurtenances and priesthood. These are not simply places where gods reside, but are themselves divine, the "gods of the places", the Todas say. Entry into a Toda dairy is prohibited to all but Toda males of appropriate ritual status. But the dairy-temples are not "secret"; many are located within the munds themselves.
Loosely, it is right to say that buffaloes (specifically she-buffaloes) are sacred animals for the Todas. (Should that concept be deemed strange in the land that has for so long championed the sanctity of its other bovine, the cow?) But there is a basic dichotomy between those Toda buffaloes associated with dairy temples and those that are principally for domestic use.
Toda dairies, buffaloes and dairymen are graded within a complex hierarchy according to relative sanctity, with different rules and rituals pertaining to each grade. The higher the grade of a dairy, the greater the sanctity of its buffalo herds and the dairyman-priest who operates it. And the more sacred a dairy, the more elaborate are the rituals that accompany the milking, churning and other daily activities of the dairyman-priest, and the greater must be the condition of ritual purity in which he keeps the dairy, its appurtenances and himself. The key concepts underlying the entire dairy complex are also those that inform much of Indic religious culture.
Apart from the "gods of the places", the Todas recognise another category of divine entities, the "gods of the mountains", because most of them are associated with one or another Nilgiri peak. Unlike the "gods of the places", these are anthropomorphic deities, some of whom, the Todas say, once lived on earth as humans, or, better, as super-humans.
We are told that the Todas honour a male "Moon god". Certainly the sun and the moon are revered, but neither is accorded the status of a "god", presumably because the Todas do not associate these celestial bodies with the "sacred places" or with the mountain peaks. Moreover, the Todas are generally quite specific in ascribing female gender to the moon. Pish tienon moxm, tigel tozmoxmu idti [the sun is a male and the moon is a female]," they say.
Probably the Web-author's reference to a sacred tree "with a forked branch" refers to the hill mango, its bark being used in several ritual contexts as a purificatory agent; it is not "worshipped".
Toda funerary customs, it is alleged, are "for a Toda chief... blood-curdling". Since there are no Toda "chiefs" - only influential men and women - this is already a non-starter.
"The elaborate ceremony is held at daybreak and close to a stream, nearly always 14 miles away from the settlement, of which three to four miles are covered by foot-slogging... . As tradition demands Kotah [sic] blowing numerous trumpet-like horns... precede the procession... considering it an honour to make music on the death of a Toda chief and accept no payment."
Almost every Toda's wish is to die at home amidst loved ones. Thus the first funerary rituals begin right inside the home of the deceased; and are followed by others within the hamlet, before the body is carried to the funeral place.
Each patriclan has at least one funeral place for males and another for females, certainly not all 14 miles away. How much foot-slogging may be involved these days depends entirely on the proximity of a bus stop or motorable track (for those who own or can hire a vehicle).
In the past, a principal male funeral place would have had a special funerary temple, and because of this, there had to be a nearby stream. But since such temples are no longer operated (and there were none in female funeral places anyway), there is no specific requirement that the rites take place, let alone begin, near a stream.
Kota musicians have not played music at Toda funerals for almost 60 years. The Kotas mounted a mobility campaign in the 1930s and 1940s to challenge the general perception of their lowly status, and one of the first things the reformers demanded was that their fellow caste men abstain from playing music at other communities' funerals. Today the musicians at a Toda funeral are professionals, hired for the purpose and paid in cash.
"The body of the chief lying on a decorated cot is carried by pallbearers immediately behind the musicians. Following him are the mund wives, each reclining on a blanket or sheet tied to parallel poles and carried by males... . The wives sit in squares of four and when the sun is high in the sky, at a given signal, they start wailing and weeping... "
The procession from hamlet to funeral place is adequately described - that is, if we substitute "deceased" for "chief" and "deceased's wife (if elderly or infirm)" for "mund wives". But the description of mourning is wrong. The traditional touching of foreheads is not unique to "mund wives" (itself a misrepresentation), but is practised by both males and females. The mourners form pairs, not foursomes, do not seat themselves in squares, nor do all begin to weep "at a given signal", nor, necessarily, "when the sun is high in the sky".
The description of the capture and sacrifice of buffaloes is also far from accurate.
From the early 1960s, if not earlier, it has been customary not to sacrifice more than a couple of animals: one temple and one domestic buffalo for a male, and two domestic ones for an aged and relatively important female, otherwise just one; for a child, only a calf was sacrificed. Moreover, since the mid-to-late 1970s, there has been much opposition by younger, reform-minded Todas to the sacrifice of any buffaloes at all. Many Toda funerals now omit the ancient custom entirely.
"A number of young, powerful, athletic young men dressed only in loincloths and armed with a hammer-like weapon, jump amidst the angry buffaloes to kill them with blows of considerable force between the horns. When the buffaloes charge, the young men nimbly throw themselves between the horns of the animals, and, in an effort to dislodge the riders, the buffaloes drive their horns into the turf. This is when the young men strike the death blow... . Any man in the gathering within reach, can administer the death blow." And, further on, we read: "The young man who kills the maximum number of buffaloes during the cremation ceremony is presented with a key to all the munds and the Moon god continues to be the benefactor."
Most of this description is either hopelessly confused or just plain wrong.
The men who strive to catch the sacrificial buffaloes do not carry any "hammer-like weapon" with which to strike the animals, but use their bare hands to seize the horns (usually two men to each horn), forcing down the animal's head and thereby gaining control of it. (There are no "riders" to be "dislodged".) Another man beats the animal on its flank and rear quarters with a cattle stick. In this manner, admittedly far from pretty, the captured buffaloes are compelled forward to the place of sacrifice.
If a temple buffalo is to be sacrificed, it is dragged up to a special stone or wooden post and tethered with a particular kind of shola creeper. In some circumstances a sacred cattle bell, or bell-like object, is hung around the animal's neck. A dairyman-priest of ritual rank equivalent to the sacrificial buffalo dispatches the animal with the blunt end of an axe, endeavouring to end its mortal life with a single blow directed to the skull between the horns. He should not draw blood since the object of the sacrifice is to release the spirit of an unblemished buffalo, so that it may join the deceased Toda in the afterworld.
For an ordinary domestic buffalo, no ritual tethering is dictated, but an ordinary non-sacred bell may be hung around its neck. The animal is similarly dispatched, but by a layman rather than by a dairyman-priest.
There is no question of a young man being rewarded for killing the most buffaloes. As for a "key to all the munds", does the Web-writer envisage walled Toda settlements with a locked gateway? And since the Todas do not recognise a "Moon god", we can forget that one too.
The Todas used to observe two funeral ceremonies: the first during which the corpse was cremated and the second, up to a year or more later, when certain bodily remains of the deceased were burned. The last second funeral occurred in 1966. To write in the present tense of preserving relics following the cremation is 40 years behind the times.
That, perhaps, is not so bad as the flight of fancy that has the Web-author writing that after the cremation is over, "it is now time for rejoicing. Women from other munds drag the mourning women into the stream nearby. Their clothes are torn off them [and] they are bathed. Their hair is washed and dressed with butter into cork-screw ringlets. It is, however, customary and polite to resist the bath and thus indicate a desire to go on mourning".
One can only stress that all this is pure imagination (an attempt, perhaps, to justify the "pagan" and "primitive" designations of the article's title?).
This parody of Toda culture concludes, as it began, with a blatant falsehood. "The Todas today are fast disappearing . . . due largely to intermarriage and the brutal killing . . . [of] female infants."
So far as we know, the Toda community has always been a small one, kept so in the past by the combined institutions of polyandry and infanticide. It is also true that the community experienced an alarming demographic decline during the first half of the 20th century. But the reasons were not those given by our Web-person, since female infanticide had mostly ceased and outmarriage, except among Christian converts, was (and still is) rare.
It was rather the prevalence of venereal infections that seriously compromised female fertility, and the problem was tackled with penicillin between the mid-1950s and early 1960s. Today's Toda community, well over a thousand strong, is almost twice as numerous as it was when this writer began his research among them in the early 1960s.
The author, an Osmania- and Oxford-trained British social anthropologist, teaches anthropology and sociology at the University of Brunei Darussalam, Borneo.
He first came to India in 1959, working as a volunteer teacher at Mayo College in Ajmer for half a year before attending Osmania University in Hyderabad as an undergraduate student under a Commonwealth Universities scholarship programme. He conducted his first fieldwork among the Todas during 1962-63 under the auspices of the Delhi School of Economics and, since then, has returned to them 14 times, most recently in 2000.
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- US Central Command posted a photo Sunday of an Ohio-class submarine transiting Middle Eastern waters.
- Ohio-class guided-missile submarines like this one carry over 100 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles.
- The sub was pictured sailing through the Suez Canal.
A US Navy Ohio-class guided-missile submarine able to carry as many as 154
[Tomahawk cruise missiles](https://www.businessinsider.com/tomahawks-assad-syria-strikes-2013-8) surfaced in the Middle East over the weekend, seemingly sending a message as the US continues to bolster its defensive posture amid the [Israel-Hamas war](https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-formally-declares-war-on-hamas-seeks-full-control-gaza-2023-10).
US Central Command, the Department of Defense combatant command with authority over US forces in the Middle East and West and Central Asia,
[posted a photo](https://twitter.com/CENTCOM/status/1721271207260033230/photo/1) on Sunday of the powerful boat transiting the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean and Red Sea, on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, saying it had arrived in its area of responsibility.
Although they declined to name the vessel, a Navy spokesperson told Insider it is a guided-missile sub (SSGN), not a ballistic-missile sub (SSBN), which most of the Ohio-class subs are. The apparent dry deck shelter used for special operations purposes is a giveaway though, as the Ohio-class SSGNs carry that.
—U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM)
[November 5, 2023]
CENTCOM told Insider that the vessel was transiting south toward the Red Sea when the picture was taken. It follows the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, which the Navy
[said](https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/3580122/ike-carrier-strike-group-arrives-in-middle-east-region/) a day earlier had traveled into the area. The disclosure of the submarine's location is somewhat uncommon as the whereabouts of the vessels are typically not made public for security reasons.
The announcement on the submarine's movements, like those concerning other assets deployed to the Middle East amid the Israel-Hamas war, appears to be intended to send a deterrent message to other state and non-state actors in the region who might seek to take advantage of this conflict.
The submarine's deployment coincided with high-level diplomatic visits from
[Antony Blinken](https://www.businessinsider.com/antony-blinken-life-career-foreign-relations-2023-10) to the area, where the US Secretary of State met with senior Israeli leadership, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and officials from Jordan, Cyprus, Lebanon, and Qatar.
Last month, the Pentagon dispatched two US Navy carrier strike groups to the eastern Mediterranean — the
[USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group](https://www.businessinsider.com/us-increase-force-posture-middle-east-amid-israel-hamas-war-2023-10) and the [USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group](https://www.businessinsider.com/another-us-navy-carrier-strike-group-heading-waters-near-israel-2023-10), the latter of which has since relocated.
The moves brought a significant amount of American firepower to waters near Israel amid mounting fears that the country's war with Gaza-based militant group Hamas could escalate into a regional conflict.
The massive display of US firepower in support of one of the country's closest allies is, military officials say, meant to act as a deterrent to hostile forces in the region, including Iran, which
[provides financial](https://www.businessinsider.com/how-does-a-militant-group-like-hamas-get-its-money-2023-10#:~:text=Experts%20estimate%20that%20Hamas%20has,for%20the%20Palestinian%20militant%20group.) and [strategic support](https://www.businessinsider.com/iranian-officials-helped-hamas-plan-deadly-attack-on-israel-2023-10) to Hamas, as well as [Hezbollah, a militant group](https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-hamas-war-will-hezbollah-draw-us-troops-broader-conflict-2023-10) based in Lebanon.
Update: November 6, 2023 — An earlier version of this article suggested the submarine was possibly a SSBN carrying nuclear weapons, but the US Navy confirmed the vessel is a SSGN armed with conventional land-attack cruise missiles. The article also stated the submarine had arrived in the Mediterranean. It was transiting south through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea at the time of the photo, per CENTCOM.
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Interview: Matt Damon, First Farmer on Mars
The actor discusses his role as an astronaut in the upcoming film "The Martian."
Before the stranded-on-Mars survival thriller The Martian got turned into a movie (due out October 2) it was computer programmer Andy Weir's bestselling first novel. And before it was that, it was just a series of posts you could read for free on Weir's
[personal blog](http://www.galactanet.com/writing.html). (His Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes fanfic is still posted there.)
Weir's story explains in compelling detail how astronaut Mark Watney, the left-behind member of a Mars expedition, figures out how to send a distress call to Earth, and to extend his limited supplies of water, food, air, and shelter over the period of years it will take any rescue attempt to reach him. Watney's humor, along with his resourcefulness, make him a likeable hero, so it's no surprise that Ridley Scott—director of the sci-fi classics Alien and Blade Runner, along with Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, and many others—cast Matt Damon in the role. Air & Space Associate Editor Chris Klimek got on the phone with the 44-year-old actor (himself an Oscar-winning co-screenwriter, with Ben Affleck, for 1997's Good Will Hunting) on August 26 to discuss The Martian and his other recent space movie Interstellar.
This interview has been lightly condensed and edited for clarity.
Air & Space: The novel The Martian isn't entirely in the first person, but much of it is told through the log of your character, stranded astronaut Mark Watney. And much of it is math—the calculations he does to extend his limited supply of oxygen and food, and so on. He jokes about his slim odds of survival, but he never expresses fear that I can recall. He mostly just talks about the endless tasks he's performing to keep himself alive. So my question is whether that makes your job as an actor harder or easier, to have to fill in emotion that isn't there, or is present only very subtly, on the page?
Damon: That was my first question for Ridley Scott when we talked: How do we infuse it with some sense of dread and terror and have the stakes as high as they can be, which you really need for the movie to work, and to create a realistic look at the situation the guy is in, while retaining the humor and the fun—because it's a really entertaining story. It's funny in a lot of places. That was always the line tonally we had to walk.
I brought up the movie Touching the Void [a
[2003 documentary](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379557/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) based on Joe Simpson's memoir of his near-fatal climb, with Simon Yates, of a 21,000-foot mountain in the Peruvian Andes]. I don't know if you ever saw that one, but it's a really great film. What it does really well is explore the existential dread and solitude and desperation of these two guys.
So I talked to Ridley about that: How do we, without changing the DNA of the movie, get little moments in there that will keep that tension? We ended up shooting in the desert, in Wadi Rum, Jordan. And Ridley said, "Look, it could be just as simple as looking at your small figure on this vast expanse of desert. Or you in the rover puttering along, this tiny vehicle on this giant, inhospitable planet. Shots like that serve as a reminder of the fix this guy is in, and ramp up that sense of dread."
It struck me that adapting this particular novel might offer a filmmaker an unusual opportunity, because all we hear from Watney in the book is what he dictates into the official mission log, which he knows will be recovered and studied, whether or not he survives. So he might be editing himself. There could be moments where he's an unreliable narrator, and the camera shows us what's happening to him when he isn't keeping his own record.
Yeah. We talked about that, too. One of the things Ridley said was, "I've always wanted to make
[Robinson Crusoe](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058530/?ref_=nv_sr_2), and I feel like this is my chance to do it." But what we soon discovered is that it's different in that it's not a guy by himself on an island—it's a guy by himself on a planet who has the expectation that he's being observed. There are Go-Pros and cameras all around the hab he's living in. He's behaving with every intention that these things will be discovered and mined for all the information on them. So it's solitude, but he's not living as though he's completely alone.
I was trying to recall if you've ever played a role like this, where you're alone for the majority of your scenes, assuming the movie doesn't depart dramatically from the novel. It would be like doing a one-man show, in a way.
The closest thing would probably be the Bourne movies. I end up on my own, usually, in those, at least in the second two. But that was the appeal of this. It was so different from anything I'd ever done before. I have these long monologues to nobody. [Laughs.]
I never would've considered doing it had it not been for a world-class director. It's a very risky thing to do, but I had faith in Ridley being able to strike the right tone for it.
I've heard that guy made a couple of pretty good science fiction movies back in the day.
[Laughs.] Yeah, I figured going to space with Ridley was a good bet.
I know The Martian is a different kind of movie than the one I'm going to name, but when I read that the novel was being adapted, a film I thought of right away is All Is Lost. That, too, is about a guy who must use his resourcefulness and intellect to survive in a hostile environment—it's Robert Redford alone on a sinking boat—but it has a much bleaker tone than The Martian does. Redford barely speaks in All Is Lost, but he conveys so much silently. We get that that character—I don't think we even learn his name—is clearly a sadder, more regretful man than Watney is. Did you see that film?
No. I kept meaning to, because I heard Redford was extraordinary in it. I still intend to. From what I understand, though, he's not behaving in that movie as though he's being watched. That's why he doesn't talk. Who would he be talking to?
In this story, NASA completely upends its priorities and makes Watney's rescue its entire mission, interrupting all the other science it's working on to save one life. We're in this period where we're learning so much about the universe, but most of those discoveries are coming from unmanned spacecraft. And of course NASA really does want to send a crew to Mars in 20 years, give or take. The Martian could be read as a dramatization of the incredible difficulty and inefficiency of keeping fragile human beings alive in space and on other planets. Does the movie take a position on that, in your view? Like, maybe we should just let the robots handle this?
On the contrary, I think the movie celebrates that pioneer spirit that these guys have. And we have to be thinking about trying to get some of us off of Earth, to guarantee that human beings survive. As expensive as it is and as difficult as it is, it's necessary.
That's a good segue into talking about
[Interstellar](http://www.npr.org/2014/11/06/361442269/interstellar-stunning-and-bold-with-lots-of-corn), Christopher Nolan's movie about humanity desperately seeking a new home in the middle or late 21st century. Here you are, just a year after that film, playing another astronaut who must endure a long isolation on an alien planet. Is that just a coincidence, that these two projects lined up the way they did?
Yeah. Two great directors came to me within a year of each other. They're very different movies, but the circumstances of the characters I play are exactly the same! [Laughs.] That irony wasn't lost on me. Luckily, they're very different in feel and tone and theme. I just couldn't say no to Ridley.
Your face is all over the posters for The Martian, whereas with Interstellar, Nolan and the studio and everyone did a good job of keeping your presence in that movie a secret. The fact that you are at least as big a star as anyone else in that film, but you don't show up for a long time, makes the actions of your character, Dr. Mann, and his fate, more surprising. The Talented Mr. Ripley and The Departed aside, audiences are used to seeing you play the guy we can count on, you know?
Yeah. There are three or four references to my character before he comes onscreen, and every time he's mentioned, someone says, "He was the best of us!" [Laughs.] Chris was really setting up the audience there.
Well, on subsequent viewings, that sticks out more. Has playing a pioneer astronaut in two back-to-back movies deepened your interest in spaceflight or astronomy?
I've always been a big science fiction fan. Getting to go to JPL [for a press event event for the movie] and meeting some of the astronauts was incredibly humbling. What they do is awesome. I don't think I want to experience space travel, at least not in the near future. But it's definitely given me an appreciation of what these guys do.
Your guy, Watney, is an astronaut, a botanist, and at least a makeshift electrical engineer. Obviously it would take decades to learn to do all the things this guy can do, but do you feel like you need to try to acquire at least a tiny fraction of the character's skill set to feel confident playing someone like that?
Nah, I didn't have to learn anything. I did learn how to grow potatoes. That was kind of inevitable, because we just grew them. We had potatoes at various stages of growth for all these different scenes. They were growing them in a soundstage adjacent to the one we were shooting in. So we planted them and re-planted them on the set.
Growing potatoes in Jordan must count for something.
We did that on a soundstage in Budapest.
Ah. Well, did you consult any astronauts? What sort of research did you feel was necessary?
It was more just sitting with Ridley and going through the script moment-by-moment to design a plan of attack. But we had technical consultants. NASA was incredibly helpful and available to us. We did want to get the science right. That was always Andy Weir's contention, that he'd started with the question, Could a person survive on Mars? and then just let the science lead the story. We wanted the movie to do that, too. We didn't want any gaps in logic.
Did you shoot the movie in sequence? It seems that it would be important for us to see Watney's physical condition erode over time.
No, we didn't. That was my idea. I asked Ridley if we could shoot the third act first, so I could lose the weight, and then, over Christmas break, try to put some weight back on and shoot the beginning of the movie. That was the plan. But then when we scheduled it out, because we had to go to Jordan and shoot our exteriors all at the same time, we realized that wouldn't work. So we shot it all out-of-order.
And you went to JPL?
Yeah. We were there just last week.
Do you remember who you talked to there?
I met about 30 rocket scientists and PhDs. [Laughs.] I met one of the astronauts, Drew—what was Drew's last name?
It's worse that I don't know than that you don't.
I talked to Scott Kelly aboard the International Space Station. He's about
[halfway through his time there](http://www.airspacemag.com/space/scott-kellys-year-space-180953946/). Talking to these guys, studying the effects of all of this stuff on their bodies—it's awesome what these guys are doing. And they do it with such humility, and such a sense of these ideas being more important than their own lives. Hopefully, the movie will be a love letter to those guys.
Oh, it was Drew Feustel!
Since we have a minute left, I'll ask you this: You and Paul Greengrass have a fourth Jason Bourne movie in the works. That's scheduled to come out next summer, by which point nine years will have gone by since you last played that character. Why did you decide to do another one after such a long break?
Well, we talked about it periodically over the years. We both wanted to do it someday, maybe, but we were kind of done with the character. We didn't know if he had anything left to say. We needed to wait for the world to change a little bit. And that happened. All the issues of national security that are alive now are interesting, and different from the ones during the Bush Administration. We got to a point where we felt the character would have something to say about this, so let's bring him back.
For me the clinching thing was that Paul was going to direct it. I always said I'd do it if Paul came back. Obviously there was interest, over the years, on the studio side.
They even made one with Jeremy Renner.
Yeah, they did! And that franchise is still alive. Ours won't do anything to impede that one. If they want to make more of those, they can do that.
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[ Per curiam ]
[ Rehnquist ]
[ Stevens ]
[ Souter ]
[ Ginsburg ]
[ Breyer ]
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GEORGE W. BUSH, et al., PETITIONERS v.
ALBERT GORE, Jr., et al.
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT
On December 8, 2000, the Supreme Court of Florida ordered that the Circuit Court of Leon County tabulate by hand 9,000 ballots in Miami-Dade County. It also ordered the inclusion in the certified vote totals of 215 votes identified in Palm Beach County and 168 votes identified in Miami-Dade County for Vice President Albert Gore, Jr., and Senator Joseph Lieberman, Democratic Candidates for President and Vice President. The Supreme Court noted that petitioner, Governor George W. Bush asserted that the net gain for Vice President Gore in Palm Beach County was 176 votes, and directed the Circuit Court to resolve that dispute on remand. ___ So. 2d, at ___ (slip op., at 4, n. 6). The court further held that relief would require manual recounts in all Florida counties where so-called undervotes had not been subject to manual tabulation. The court ordered all manual recounts to begin at once. Governor Bush and Richard Cheney, Republican Candidates for the Presidency and Vice Presidency, filed an emergency application for a stay of this mandate. On December 9, we granted the application, treated the application as a petition for a writ of certiorari, and granted certiorari. Post, p. ___.
The proceedings leading to the present controversy are discussed in some detail in our opinion in Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Bd., ante, p. ____ (per curiam) (Bush I). On November 8, 2000, the day following the Presidential election, the Florida Division of Elections reported that petitioner, Governor Bush, had received 2,909,135 votes, and respondent, Vice President Gore, had received 2,907,351 votes, a margin of 1,784 for Governor Bush. Because Governor Bushs margin of victory was less than one-half of a percent . . . of the votes cast, an automatic machine recount was conducted under §102.141(4) of the election code, the results of which showed Governor Bush still winning the race but by a diminished margin. Vice President Gore then sought manual recounts in Volusia, Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade Counties, pursuant to Floridas election protest provisions. Fla. Stat. §102.166 (2000). A dispute arose concerning the deadline for local county canvassing boards to submit their returns to the Secretary of State (Secretary). The Secretary declined to waive the November 14 deadline imposed by statute. §§102.111, 102.112. The Florida Supreme Court, however, set the deadline at November 26. We granted certiorari and vacated the Florida Supreme Courts decision, finding considerable uncertainty as to the grounds on which it was based. Bush I, ante, at ______ (slip. op., at 67). On December 11, the Florida Supreme Court issued a decision on remand reinstating that date. ___ So. 2d ___, ___ (slip op. at 3031).
On November 26, the Florida Elections Canvassing Commission certified the results of the election and declared Governor Bush the winner of Floridas 25 electoral votes. On November 27, Vice President Gore, pursuant to Floridas contest provisions, filed a complaint in Leon County Circuit Court contesting the certification. Fla. Stat. §102.168 (2000). He sought relief pursuant to §102.168(3)(c), which provides that [r]eceipt of a number of illegal votes or rejection of a number of legal votes sufficient to change or place in doubt the result of the election shall be grounds for a contest. The Circuit Court denied relief, stating that Vice President Gore failed to meet his burden of proof. He appealed to the First District Court of Appeal, which certified the matter to the Florida Supreme Court.
Accepting jurisdiction, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part. Gore v. Harris, ___ So. 2d. ____ (2000). The court held that the Circuit Court had been correct to reject Vice President Gores challenge to the results certified in Nassau County and his challenge to the Palm Beach County Canvassing Boards determination that 3,300 ballots cast in that county were not, in the statutory phrase, legal votes.
The Supreme Court held that Vice President Gore had satisfied his burden of proof under §102.168(3)(c) with respect to his challenge to Miami-Dade Countys failure to tabulate, by manual count, 9,000 ballots on which the machines had failed to detect a vote for President (undervotes). ___ So. 2d., at ___ (slip. op., at 2223). Noting the closeness of the election, the Court explained that [o]n this record, there can be no question that there are legal votes within the 9,000 uncounted votes sufficient to place the results of this election in doubt. Id., at ___ (slip. op., at 35). A legal vote, as determined by the Supreme Court, is one in which there is a clear indication of the intent of the voter.
The Supreme Court also determined that both Palm Beach County and Miami-Dade County, in their earlier manual recounts, had identified a net gain of 215 and 168 legal votes for Vice President Gore. Id., at ___ (slip. op., at 3334). Rejecting the Circuit Courts conclusion that Palm Beach County lacked the authority to include the 215 net votes submitted past the November 26 deadline, the Supreme Court explained that the deadline was not intended to exclude votes identified after that date through ongoing manual recounts. As to Miami-Dade County, the Court concluded that although the 168 votes identified were the result of a partial recount, they were legal votes [that] could change the outcome of the election. Id., at (slip op., at 34). The Supreme Court therefore directed the Circuit Court to include those totals in the certified results, subject to resolution of the actual vote total from the Miami-Dade partial recount.
The petition presents the following questions: whether the Florida Supreme Court established new standards for resolving Presidential election contests, thereby violating Art. II, §1, cl. 2, of the United States Constitution and failing to comply with
[3 U.S.C. § 5](/uscode/3/5.shtml) and whether the use of standardless manual recounts violates the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses. With respect to the equal protection question, we find a violation of the Equal Protection Clause.
The closeness of this election, and the multitude of legal challenges which have followed in its wake, have brought into sharp focus a common, if heretofore unnoticed, phenomenon. Nationwide statistics reveal that an estimated 2% of ballots cast do not register a vote for President for whatever reason, including deliberately choosing no candidate at all or some voter error, such as voting for two candidates or insufficiently marking a ballot. See Ho, More Than 2M Ballots Uncounted, AP Online (Nov. 28, 2000); Kelley, Balloting Problems Not Rare But Only In A Very Close Election Do Mistakes And Mismarking Make A Difference, Omaha World-Herald (Nov. 15, 2000). In certifying election results, the votes eligible for inclusion in the certification are the votes meeting the properly established legal requirements.
This case has shown that punch card balloting machines can produce an unfortunate number of ballots which are not punched in a clean, complete way by the voter. After the current counting, it is likely legislative bodies nationwide will examine ways to improve the mechanisms and machinery for voting.
The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States unless and until the state legislature chooses a statewide election as the means to implement its power to appoint members of the Electoral College. U.S. Const., Art. II, §1. This is the source for the statement in McPherson v. Blacker,
[146 U.S. 1](/supremecourt/text/146/1), 35 (1892), that the State legislatures power to select the manner for appointing electors is plenary; it may, if it so chooses, select the electors itself, which indeed was the manner used by State legislatures in several States for many years after the Framing of our Constitution. Id., at 2833. History has now favored the voter, and in each of the several States the citizens themselves vote for Presidential electors. When the state legislature vests the right to vote for President in its people, the right to vote as the legislature has prescribed is fundamental; and one source of its fundamental nature lies in the equal weight accorded to each vote and the equal dignity owed to each voter. The State, of course, after granting the franchise in the special context of Article II, can take back the power to appoint electors. See id., at 35 ([T]here is no doubt of the right of the legislature to resume the power at any time, for it can neither be taken away nor abdicated) (quoting S. Rep. No. 395, 43d Cong., 1st Sess.).
The right to vote is protected in more than the initial allocation of the franchise. Equal protection applies as well to the manner of its exercise. Having once granted the right to vote on equal terms, the State may not, by later arbitrary and disparate treatment, value one person's vote over that of another. See, e.g., Harper v. Virginia Bd. of Elections,
[383 U.S. 663](/supremecourt/text/383/663), 665 (1966) ([O]nce the franchise is granted to the electorate, lines may not be drawn which are inconsistent with the Equal Protection Clause of the [Fourteenth Amendment](/constitution/constitution.amendmentxiv.html)). It must be remembered that the right of suffrage can be denied by a debasement or dilution of the weight of a citizens vote just as effectively as by wholly prohibiting the free exercise of the franchise. Reynolds v. Sims, [377 U.S. 533](/supremecourt/text/377/533), 555 (1964).
There is no difference between the two sides of the present controversy on these basic propositions. Respondents say that the very purpose of vindicating the right to vote justifies the recount procedures now at issue. The question before us, however, is whether the recount procedures the Florida Supreme Court has adopted are consistent with its obligation to avoid arbitrary and disparate treatment of the members of its electorate.
Much of the controversy seems to revolve around ballot cards designed to be perforated by a stylus but which, either through error or deliberate omission, have not been perforated with sufficient precision for a machine to count them. In some cases a piece of the carda chadis hanging, say by two corners. In other cases there is no separation at all, just an indentation.
The Florida Supreme Court has ordered that the intent of the voter be discerned from such ballots. For purposes of resolving the equal protection challenge, it is not necessary to decide whether the Florida Supreme Court had the authority under the legislative scheme for resolving election disputes to define what a legal vote is and to mandate a manual recount implementing that definition. The recount mechanisms implemented in response to the decisions of the Florida Supreme Court do not satisfy the minimum requirement for non-arbitrary treatment of voters necessary to secure the fundamental right. Floridas basic command for the count of legally cast votes is to consider the intent of the voter. Gore v. Harris, ___ So. 2d, at ___ (slip op., at 39). This is unobjectionable as an abstract proposition and a starting principle. The problem inheres in the absence of specific standards to ensure its equal application. The formulation of uniform rules to determine intent based on these recurring circumstances is practicable and, we conclude, necessary.
The law does not refrain from searching for the intent of the actor in a multitude of circumstances; and in some cases the general command to ascertain intent is not susceptible to much further refinement. In this instance, however, the question is not whether to believe a witness but how to interpret the marks or holes or scratches on an inanimate object, a piece of cardboard or paper which, it is said, might not have registered as a vote during the machine count. The factfinder confronts a thing, not a person. The search for intent can be confined by specific rules designed to ensure uniform treatment.
The want of those rules here has led to unequal evaluation of ballots in various respects. See Gore v. Harris, ___ So. 2d, at ___ (slip op., at 51) (Wells, J., dissenting) (Should a county canvassing board count or not count a dimpled chad where the voter is able to successfully dislodge the chad in every other contest on that ballot? Here, the county canvassing boards disagree). As seems to have been acknowledged at oral argument, the standards for accepting or rejecting contested ballots might vary not only from county to county but indeed within a single county from one recount team to another.
The record provides some examples. A monitor in
Miami-Dade County testified at trial that he observed that three members of the county canvassing board applied different standards in defining a legal vote. 3 Tr. 497, 499 (Dec. 3, 2000). And testimony at trial also revealed that at least one county changed its evaluative standards during the counting process. Palm Beach County, for example, began the process with a 1990 guideline which precluded counting completely attached chads, switched to a rule that considered a vote to be legal if any light could be seen through a chad, changed back to the 1990 rule, and then abandoned any pretense of a per se rule, only to have a court order that the county consider dimpled chads legal. This is not a process with sufficient guarantees of equal treatment.
An early case in our one person, one vote jurisprudence arose when a State accorded arbitrary and disparate treatment to voters in its different counties. Gray v. Sanders,
[372 U.S. 368](/supremecourt/text/372/368) (1963). The Court found a constitutional violation. We relied on these principles in the context of the Presidential selection process in Moore v. Ogilvie, [394 U.S. 814](/supremecourt/text/394/814) (1969), where we invalidated a county-based procedure that diluted the influence of citizens in larger counties in the nominating process. There we observed that [t]he idea that one group can be granted greater voting strength than another is hostile to the one man, one vote basis of our representative government. Id., at 819.
The State Supreme Court ratified this uneven treatment. It mandated that the recount totals from two counties, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach, be included in the certified total. The court also appeared to hold sub silentio that the recount totals from Broward County, which were not completed until after the original November 14 certification by the Secretary of State, were to be considered part of the new certified vote totals even though the county certification was not contested by Vice President Gore. Yet each of the counties used varying standards to determine what was a legal vote. Broward County used a more forgiving standard than Palm Beach County, and uncovered almost three times as many new votes, a result markedly disproportionate to the difference in population between the counties.
In addition, the recounts in these three counties were not limited to so-called undervotes but extended to all of the ballots. The distinction has real consequences. A manual recount of all ballots identifies not only those ballots which show no vote but also those which contain more than one, the so-called overvotes. Neither category will be counted by the machine. This is not a trivial concern. At oral argument, respondents estimated there are as many as 110,000 overvotes statewide. As a result, the citizen whose ballot was not read by a machine because he failed to vote for a candidate in a way readable by a machine may still have his vote counted in a manual recount; on the other hand, the citizen who marks two candidates in a way discernable by the machine will not have the same opportunity to have his vote count, even if a manual examination of the ballot would reveal the requisite indicia of intent. Furthermore, the citizen who marks two candidates, only one of which is discernable by the machine, will have his vote counted even though it should have been read as an invalid ballot. The State Supreme Courts inclusion of vote counts based on these variant standards exemplifies concerns with the remedial processes that were under way.
That brings the analysis to yet a further equal protection problem. The votes certified by the court included a partial total from one county, Miami-Dade. The Florida Supreme Courts decision thus gives no assurance that the recounts included in a final certification must be complete. Indeed, it is respondents submission that it would be consistent with the rules of the recount procedures to include whatever partial counts are done by the time of final certification, and we interpret the Florida Supreme Courts decision to permit this. See ____ So. 2d, at ____, n. 21 (slip op., at 37, n. 21) (noting practical difficulties may control outcome of election, but certifying partial Miami-Dade total nonetheless). This accommodation no doubt results from the truncated contest period established by the Florida Supreme Court in Bush I, at respondents own urging. The press of time does not diminish the constitutional concern. A desire for speed is not a general excuse for ignoring equal protection guarantees.
In addition to these difficulties the actual process by which the votes were to be counted under the Florida Supreme Courts decision raises further concerns. That order did not specify who would recount the ballots. The county canvassing boards were forced to pull together ad hoc teams comprised of judges from various Circuits who had no previous training in handling and interpreting ballots. Furthermore, while others were permitted to observe, they were prohibited from objecting during the recount.
The recount process, in its features here described, is inconsistent with the minimum procedures necessary to protect the fundamental right of each voter in the special instance of a statewide recount under the authority of a single state judicial officer. Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances, for the problem of equal protection in election processes generally presents many complexities.
The question before the Court is not whether local entities, in the exercise of their expertise, may develop different systems for implementing elections. Instead, we are presented with a situation where a state court with the power to assure uniformity has ordered a statewide recount with minimal procedural safeguards. When a court orders a statewide remedy, there must be at least some assurance that the rudimentary requirements of equal treatment and fundamental fairness are satisfied.
Given the Court's assessment that the recount process underway was probably being conducted in an unconstitutional manner, the Court stayed the order directing the recount so it could hear this case and render an expedited decision. The contest provision, as it was mandated by the State Supreme Court, is not well calculated to sustain the confidence that all citizens must have in the outcome of elections. The State has not shown that its procedures include the necessary safeguards. The problem, for instance, of the estimated 110,000 overvotes has not been addressed, although Chief Justice Wells called attention to the concern in his dissenting opinion. See ____ So. 2d, at ____, n. 26 (slip op., at 45, n. 26).
Upon due consideration of the difficulties identified to this point, it is obvious that the recount cannot be conducted in compliance with the requirements of equal protection and due process without substantial additional work. It would require not only the adoption (after opportunity for argument) of adequate statewide standards for determining what is a legal vote, and practicable procedures to implement them, but also orderly judicial review of any disputed matters that might arise. In addition, the Secretary of State has advised that the recount of only a portion of the ballots requires that the vote tabulation equipment be used to screen out undervotes, a function for which the machines were not designed. If a recount of overvotes were also required, perhaps even a second screening would be necessary. Use of the equipment for this purpose, and any new software developed for it, would have to be evaluated for accuracy by the Secretary of State, as required by Fla. Stat. §101.015 (2000).
The Supreme Court of Florida has said that the legislature intended the States electors to participat[e] fully in the federal electoral process, as provided in
[3 U.S.C. § 5](/uscode/3/5.shtml). ___ So. 2d, at ___ (slip op. at 27); see also Palm Beach Canvassing Bd. v. Harris, 2000 WL 1725434, *13 (Fla. 2000). That statute, in turn, requires that any controversy or contest that is designed to lead to a conclusive selection of electors be completed by December 12. That date is upon us, and there is no recount procedure in place under the State Supreme Courts order that comports with minimal constitutional standards. Because it is evident that any recount seeking to meet the December 12 date will be unconstitutional for the reasons we have discussed, we reverse the judgment of the Supreme Court of Florida ordering a recount to proceed.
Seven Justices of the Court agree that there are constitutional problems with the recount ordered by the Florida Supreme Court that demand a remedy. See post, at 6 (Souter, J., dissenting); post, at 2, 15 (Breyer, J., dissenting). The only disagreement is as to the remedy. Because the Florida Supreme Court has said that the Florida Legislature intended to obtain the safe-harbor benefits of
[3 U.S.C. § 5](/uscode/3/5.shtml) Justice Breyers proposed remedyremanding to the Florida Supreme Court for its ordering of a constitutionally proper contest until December 18-contemplates action in violation of the Florida election code, and hence could not be part of an appropriate order authorized by Fla. Stat. §102.168(8) (2000).
* * *
None are more conscious of the vital limits on judicial authority than are the members of this Court, and none stand more in admiration of the Constitutions design to leave the selection of the President to the people, through their legislatures, and to the political sphere. When contending parties invoke the process of the courts, however, it becomes our unsought responsibility to resolve the federal and constitutional issues the judicial system has been forced to confront.
The judgment of the Supreme Court of Florida is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
Pursuant to this Courts Rule 45.2, the Clerk is directed to issue the mandate in this case forthwith.
It is so ordered.
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eng_splitted_0.jsonl/508
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{
"title": "Ал Гор",
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Evidence of the complex microbial ecosystem was found in sedimentary rocks in the remote Pilbara region in Western Australia, an area which contains some of the world's oldest rock formations.
One of the researchers, David Wacey, from the University of Western Australia, said the newly-discovered evidence of bacteria "was possibly the oldest signs of life on Earth".
"There was plenty of life from the 3.4 and 3.43 billion-year-old mark – this is pushing it further back," he told The Telegraph.
"There are slightly older claims of life in rocks in Greenland – but the rocks there have been so deformed that it is very difficult to tell if what you are seeing was actually there in the first place. With these microbial systems in the Pilbara, you can see these things in the field and under the microscope. You can see how the bacteria were interacting with the sediment they were living on."
Professor Wacey said it was no longer possible to see the actual cells, but the scientists had discovered the marks left behind by large clusters, or mats, of microbes. The traces were discovered in a body of rock called the Dresser Foundation, near the town of Port Hedland.
"We don't see the microbe themselves but we large scale structures that the microbes constructed before they died," he said.
"We see tufts and wrinkles and – when we look down the microscope – we see filaments tangled in sand grains. We are also seeing organic material which are the actual microbes but they are decomposed to the point that we cannot see an actual cell. You just see a mass of carbon-rich material." The team of scientists from Australia and the United States believes the findings may help with the search for life on other planets.
"There are applications for searching for life elsewhere and knowing what to look for," Professor Wacey said.
"These microbial mats could be seen by a Mars rover... It also helps with our understanding of when life first evolved and what sort of environment it evolved in and putting firm dates on when some pretty important things happened. Ultimately, we are looking for when that soup of chemicals became something that could be called life." The findings have been published in the journal Astrobiology.
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eng_splitted_0.jsonl/511
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"title": "क्रम-विकास से परिचय",
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Mancini calls for patience over signings
Manchester City have completed the signing of Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli on a five-year contract.
The Italian, 20, flew into Manchester on Friday for a medical after agreeing personal terms with City, with the fee thought to be about £24m.
His signing takes City's spending this summer to well over £100m.
And that figure will rise again with James Milner's move from Aston Villa expected to go through within "two or three days", said boss Roberto Mancini.
The 24-year-old England midfielder has been named in Villa's squad to face West Ham in their Premier League opener on Saturday, but Mancini is confident the deal will go through soon.
Balotelli's arrival follows those of Jerome Boateng, David Silva, Yaya Toure and Aleksandar Kolarov.
"I think that Mario is one of the best players of his age in Europe, and I very happy to be working with him again," said Mancini, who managed Balotelli during his time at Inter.
"His style of play will suit the Premier League, and because he is still so young there is a big chance for him to improve. He is a strong and exciting player, and City fans will enjoy watching him."
The frontman, who has Ghanaian heritage, scored 28 goals in 86 appearances for Inter after making his debut in December 2007.
But he fell out with former manager Jose Mourinho last season and angered fans by allowing himself to be photographed in an AC Milan shirt.
Meanwhile, England midfielder Milner's switch is thought to have been held up by midfielder Stephen Ireland's demand for a £2m payment to leave Eastlands.
City have offered Aston Villa £18m for Milner, with Ireland moving in the opposite direction as part of the deal, but Ireland's current employers are unwilling to pay him the sum he is seeking.
Milner has been linked with a move to big-spending City for most of the summer, with former Villa boss Martin O'Neill - before his departure on Monday - admitting he was resigned to losing the player.
Mancini said: "We need another two or three days for this situation. We need everyone to be happy."
Ireland, 23, is a product of City's academy and made his debut for the club in 2005.
But the influx of new players since City's wealthy owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan took over the club in 2009 has seen Ireland drop down the pecking order.
The former Republic of Ireland international, who is contracted at Eastlands until the end of the 2013-14 season, made 30 appearances for the club in 2009-10.
Former Leeds and Newcastle midfielder Milner joined Villa for £12m in 2008 and has developed into a regular England international since joining the club.
Meanwhile, Mancini also revealed that striker Craig Bellamy has been left out of his 25-man squad for the new Premier League season, with
Fulham manager Mark Hughes leading the race for his signature.
What are these?
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"title": "Стивен Айрлэнд",
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[Asia's largest and oldest metropolis with gateways, built-up areas, street system and wells](#)
was built at the site of Haryana's two villages, including one on the Ghaggar river, according to a new Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report.
The ASI report, submitted in December 2014, a copy of which is with TOI, has now also debunked the early research that the Indus Valley civilization's Harappan phase originated in Sind, in present-day Pakistan.
The report, based on C 14 radio-dating, has said the mounds at
village, on the banks of Ghaggar river, in Fatehabad district date back to 7570-6200 BC.
The previous Pakistan-French study had put Mehrgarh site in Pakistan as the oldest in the bracket of 6400-7000 BC. Mehrgarh is located near the Bolan Pass, to the west of the Indus River valley and between the Pakistani cities of Quetta, Kalat and Sibi.
"The C 14 dates of excavations at Bhirrana readily agree with the accepted chronology of the Harappan civilization starting from Pre-Harappan to Mature Harappan. But for the first time, on the basis of radio-metric dates from Bhirrana, the cultural remains go back to the time bracket of 7300 BC," said the report.
The C 14 dating was done at
[Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleobotany in Lucknow](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/birbal-sahni-institute-of-paleobotany-in-lucknow)
over last 10 years.
The ASI report also said that that excavations done by its archaeologists between 1997 and 2005 reveal that a civilization site in
village in Hisar district is spread over to 240 hectares.
While ASI stopped its excavation activity in Rakhigarhi, a team from Deccan College Post-Graduate & Research Institute, Pune, which is carrying out further research, said the site's dimensions may go beyond 350 hectares with more excavations.
At this moment, Rakhigarhi has emerged as bigger in size than even the Mohenjedaro and Harappa sites in Pakistan and Dholavira in India's Gujarat with dimensions of 200, 150 and 100 hectares.
While the 356-page research on Rakhigarhi has been authored by former ASI's
, the holistic study on Bhirrana has been compiled by ASI's former joint DG K N Dikshit and addtional DG B R Mani.
The archaelological excavations at Rakhigarhi and Bhirrana have revealed all the definite features of Indus civilization such as potter's kiln, an elaborate drainage system, a granary, ritualistic platforms and terracotta figurines.
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"title": "दक्षिण आशियाई अश्मयुग",
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"url": "http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Haryanas-Bhirrana-oldest-Harappan-site-Rakhigarhi-Asias-largest-ASI/articleshow/46926693.cms",
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Google Chrome is full of
[Easter Eggs](http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/17-amazing-google-easter-eggs/), but one of the best is the ability to play an endless runner style game that has no name. Now that game has been updated to be a bit more realistic. Well, as realistic as a T-rex jumping over cactuses can be, anyway.
If you've never played the game (which we'll call "the dinosaur game" for simplicity) you'll need to lose connection to the internet, or purposefully disconnect from it. Try load up a Google Chrome page and you'll be greeted by a lonely T-rex and an error message. Hitting the space bar (or double tapping the screen on mobile) will cause the game to start.
The objective is simple: hit space/tap the screen to jump and see how far you can run without dying by one of the many dangers.
Well this morning, during an internet outage, we found a new facet to the game. Once you pass a score of 700 the screen colours will invert (the whites will turn black and vice versa) and a crescent moon will appear in the back ground. In short: day turns to night.
You won't be in eternal darkness, however, as getting to a score of 900 shifts back to day. We've also been able to find a switch back to night and then day at scores of 1 400 and 1 600 respectively, but we haven't gotten past that score yet.
While this is most likely completely inconsequential (there are a lot of other things you can do when the internet is down), we've played this game so much during internet downtime that we feel obliged to keep updated with it.
And we bet you want to turn off your router and have a game now, don't you.
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eng_splitted_0.jsonl/516
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CHENNAI: Bengaluruâs Dunzo, an on-demand delivery startup that can buy, pick up or deliver anything for users, will soon enter Chennai.
Dunzoâs operations in Chennai will be powered by the co-founders and team of cityâs own concierge services startup Genie, who are joining Dunzo. Delivering everything from your favourite Sathyam Cinemas popcorn to medicines, laundry and more, Genie is an on-demand logistics platform has steadily increased its adoption in the city over the years.Genie co-founders Rakesh Mani, Parth Shah, and Sreekesh Krishnan launched the startup in 2015, and since then have facilitated about âa quarter of a million tasksâ for users, working with about 1,500 âDelivery Geniesâ till date. âThe entire Genie team is excited to be a part of Dunzo! It gives us an opportunity to apply our learnings from Genie ,â Genie co-founder Mani told TOI.
Founded in 2014, Dunzo is Googleâs first direct startup investment in India and raising close to $14 million from various investors till date, Dunzo operates in Bangalore, Pune, Gurgaon, Delhi, and Hyderabad. âItâs exciting to have the Genie team onboard and we are relying on their vast knowledge about Chennai to help provide a great Dunzo experience to every user,â a spokesperson of Dunzo told TOI. Dunzoâs services will go live on October 19 in Chennai.
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Internet search giant leads ₹75 crore in Bengaluru-based Dunzo, its first direct investment in a homegrown startup
Kabeer Biswas, founder, Dunzo
Image: Selvaprakash Lakshmanan for Forbes India
Kabeer Biswas, 33, makes a living by saving people's time. Dunzo, a hyperlocal delivery startup he founded in January 2015, lets users outsource the most mundane of chores—ordering a pack of chips, getting a clock repaired or laundry done—to its army of 1,500-odd bikers at a cost.
At a time when consumers are pampered by free deliveries, offers and discounts, Dunzo—which operates only in Bengaluru, charging at least ₹45 per order—is getting people to pay for about 100,000-120,000 tasks it executes every month, clocking about ₹1 crore in monthly revenues. Repeat purchases per customer for the company have increased from three a month in January 2017 to about five a year later, while delivery time has dropped from 75 minutes to about 45 minutes in the same period.
Consequently, while most hyperlocal startups have fallen out of favour with investors, Google led a $12-million (approximately ₹75 crore) funding round in the company last December, marking the internet behemoth's first direct investment in a homegrown startup. According to Tracxn, a startup tracker, Google picked up a 31 percent stake in the company against an investment of ₹65 crore.
Biswas is an engineering graduate from Mumbai University and studied management at the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management in the city too. He worked hard at his sales and product management jobs at Airtel between 2007 and 2010, before slogging 14 hours a day to run his own Gurugram-based deals discovery company Hoppr between 2011 and 2014.
His latest venture was borne out of the idle time he had after the sale of Hoppr to Hike Messenger. A resident of Mumbai, Biswas had shifted to Bengaluru and was bored of exploring the city in his rugged Santro for about six months. It was around then that he decided to test a new business idea. "Imagine a product which is a self-completing to-do list. That was my first articulation of it," Biswas tells Forbes India during an interview in his cabin, a room on the first floor in a duplex at a tony Bengaluru neighbourhood, now Dunzo's headquarters. "I told this to three of my friends who then spread the word."
Soon, he was running errands for people on a bike, doing everything from picking up Diet Cokes from a neighbourhood store to getting a grandfather clock repaired, for free. People could drop a message on WhatsApp and the job would be done. He functioned alone for the first couple of months, but as volumes grew, he hired a few people from NGOs on a part-time basis to help him out. Biswas still marvels at the popularity of Dunzo in its earliest avatar. "I have never understood it, but what I hear from people is that this product had a nudge effect. You could sit at a dinner table and tell others about it," he says.
(This story appears in the 02 March, 2018 issue
of Forbes India. To visit our Archives,
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He also captained the side and Hughes is in no doubt that Kompany will further aid City's assault on the top four supremacy of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.
"He has been desperate to get back into action and in fact we have had to hold him back a little since his operation in the summer, such was his desire to return to action," said Hughes.
"But that is the kind of lad that he is. He is still only 23-years-old but is so mature in his outlook; that is why I made him captain last season on occasions.
"He wants to improve, he is ambitious and he is desperate for success. He was one of our most reliable performers last season and it is great that we have been able to secure his services for the next five years.
"It is another sign of our commitment to young talent. Vincent is a big part of our future."
Kompany had been linked with a move away from Eastlands, with Barcelona one of the clubs reportedly interested in the 23-year-old, but he is pleased that speculation about a move away can now be ended.
"In the end you just don't pay attention to the speculation. City's ambitions are my ambitions and I want to be one of the main players in a very big team," said Kompany.
"I am happy to be here, the fans are incredible so why would I want to go elsewhere."
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"title": "Венсан Компани",
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For the first time, Google has made a direct investment in an Indian startup. The global tech giant acquired a small stake in the Bengaluru-based daily task management app called Dunzo. The $12 million received as investment by Dunzo is part of Google's Next Billion Users (NBU) commitment that was also attended by the app's existing investors like Blume Ventures and Aspada Investment Advisors. Dunzo received the amount in Google's series B funding round.
According to a report in Economic Times, Google wants to follow the lead of other giants such as Flipkart, Amazon and Paytm-Alibaba and build a similar ecosystem in India where these giants are investing significantly across food delivery, grocery and local services.
Founded in 2015 by Ankur Aggarwal, Dalvir Suri, Mukund Jha and Kabeer Biswas, Dunzo allows its users to create to-do lists and gets a wide variety of tasks and chores done such as laundry, grocery shopping, home maintenance, picking up food, and much more. Dunzo is only operational in Bengaluru currently and handles around 3,500-4,000 tasks a day. Earlier, Dunzo had raised 2 million USD from Blume Ventures and Aspada Investment Advisors.
Google has also been investing aggressively in India and has been offering discounts on its payment app, Tez. Google International also gave Rs 1,204 crore to the local unit, Google India. This is the largest and the only investment in the unit since 2008. It is also a significant jump from the initial investment of Rs 26 crore.
Tom Hyland, co-founder and partner, Aspada Investment Advisors wrote in a LinkedIn post, "Aspada couldn't be more proud of Kabeer and the Dunzo team for closing this funding round and bringing Google Inc. in to scale and propel the company to greater heights, both in service offerings and new geographies. This is a big win all around and a milestone for India's entrepreneurial ecosystem".
Copyright©2024 Living Media India Limited. For reprint rights: Syndications Today
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Booze didn't kill my brother Rory, it was the drugs to help his fear of flying; DONAL GALLAGHER CLAIMS THAT MEDICATION CAUSED FATAL LIVER FAILURE.
BLUES legend Rory Gallagher died because of blundering doctors, we can sensationally reveal.
In a new book which goes on sale later this month, American author Dan Muise reveals that Rory did not die from alcoholism as is commonly believed.
In Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer & Trower: Their Lives And Music, Rory's brother and manager Donal said drugs prescribed to help Rory combat his fear of flying where responsible for his death.
Musician Gerry McAvoy said Rory's problems began with his tendency towards hypochondria at the end of the 70s.
He said: "As soon as you had something wrong with you he'd say, 'Hang on'.
"He'd run up to his room and bring something back down. He wasn't like that at the beginning. This came gradually. It started around the end of the 70s."
Friends and fellow musicians said that towards the end of his career Rory was drinking heavily to counteract the numbing effect the prescription drugs were having on him.
But, prior to that Rory, had never drank more than anyone else on the tour and was totally anti-drugs.
Tour manager Phil McDonnell said: "He never used drink to get him through a show.
"And also Rory was totally anti-drugs. He used to read me the riot act if ever he saw anybody come near him with drugs; powder or weed or whatever.
"He hated it with a vengeance."
Gallagher, 46, from Ballyshannon, Co Donegal died following an emergency liver transplant on June 14, 1995.
He had gone into hospital following persuasion from his younger brother and manager Donal.
Donal said: "It was a few weeks before they diagnosed that he would need a liver transplant.
"There was a certain amount of hope that he wouldn't require it - that the organ regenerated itself enough that it might be damaged, but not failed, and that's when the discussions came to play with the surgeon."
Donal said the surgeon who was treating Rory thought the musician was too young to have alcohol-related liver failure.
"He said, 'This is incredible. There must be more to it.' Well I had known well before that about the medication.
"But you've got a doctor who was treating him before. Rory was complaining of liver pains and the guy was just prescribing him drugs which were the next step down from morphine.
"It was pure paracetamol. But what a lot of people don't appreciate is the biggest cause of liver failure, certainly in Britain anyway, is overdosing on paracetamol.
"I'd figured it out six years beforehand. I'd gotten Rory to switch doctors and done every trick in the book.
"But when somebody gets hooked into one particular set of tablets it's very hard to break that cycle."
Donal said before his addiction to prescription tablets worsened, Rory drank no more than any of his band members, possibly slightly less.
And friends said the musician, who had always been a very reserved and private person off stage, retreated even further into himself as his addiction took hold.
Donal said: "I was always of the opinion that Rory could drink pints of booze without any real."
"I'm not promoting alcohol. But what I'm saying is you could always figure, if any band member, and they were all drinkers, had a bit too much, some soup, black coffee, you could always get the person into some shape. And particularly the next day.
"But when they swallow a couple of tablets you don't know what effect that's going to have on their systems.
"It's very hard to sober somebody up from a cocktail of those tablets."
He said it was ironic that Rory was destroyed by doctors simply because he had trusted them to help him with his long-term fear of flying.
"To me, it's a crime that doctors were handing out stuff that they didn't know what effect it would have on the body in the long-term.
"And a lot of these drugs are now banned. They've now been discovered to have so many bad side effects on people.
"The problem is when you're prescribed maybe eight to 10 different tablets, the doctor can't tell what the effect the whole cocktail will have, he's not a pharmacist.
"At least a pharmacist could tell you what the effect of the combination of one drug over another will have or interact with another.
"It's a chemistry set, especially if you throw alcohol in on top of it.
"I talked to to a German chemist about it one time and he said, basically, it was an evil concoction.
"With that kind of medication there's a drug problem, not an alcohol problem.
"Most of the prescriptions were from one doctor. There were certainly some other doctors that may have unwittingly contributed."
Friend Rudi Gerlach said he had tried to help Rory with his problems as he had been an alcoholic himself.
"I couldn't say to Rory stop drinking or stop taking pills. That wouldn't have worked. So by stopping myself I tried to show him that it could be done, that it was possible.
"So this is how it worked for me. And just being around him a bit more, just to show him that it could work, staying off everything.
"That was the main reason. But I knew it was getting worse and worse. And he's living all the time on his own. There was no one to care about him.
"I don't know what kind of pills they were. But what I saw was when I was with him in London - next to his bed was a shoebox and it was full of different pills."
Many of the late blues legend's band mates believe his life would have been different if he had found love.
Musician Ted McKenna explained: "Pete Townsend said that you go on the road and you've got adulation, going on in front of thousands of people a night.
"You're playing to millions of people over a period of so many months.
"And when you come back, you're expected to walk in and sit down and watch the telly. It's very difficult. It's just so hard to get it out of your system.
"I know exactly what it's like. I think one of Rory's problems was he never had a relationship that was on-going that could anchor him.
However, in an interview with Rory before his death, the guitarist said he had his heart broken by a female musician.
He told Muise: "A certain lady, who I had a great thing for, right, went off and married this guy.
"Then she went off and had his child. And she introduced me to the husband who showed me pictures of the child right in front of my face.
"And I couldn't take it. I really couldn't take it. The only reason I didn't move was she was a musician friend of mine.
"She must have no feelings. I mean, how do you do that? He's a nice guy; I'm not sayin'. But I spent two years in a terrible state over that."
Brother Donal finished by saying, 'It's ironic that after a life of loathing drugs, and drug takers, it was actually drugs given to supposedly help him that probably killed him."
Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer & Trower: Their lives and Music is published by Hal Leonard and will be available from www.amazon.com from April 29.
LOVE LOST: Ted McKenna reveals crush; TRIBUTE: Van Morrison at memorial sevice for Rory; ANTI-DRUGS: rocker hated narcotics culture
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Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington accused his side of believing their own publicity after Slovakia's victory seriously damaged their World Cup hopes.
Goals from Stanislav Sestak and substitute Filip Holosko either side of half-time saw the leaders cement their place at the top of Group Three.
With Slovenia beating Poland, Northern Ireland slipped to third in the table after their first defeat at home in seven competitive games under Worthington. It means the province will need to beat the Czech Republic in their final qualifier in Prague next month if they are to have any hope at all of making the play-offs.
After a shaky start by the home side, in the 15th minute Slovakia winger Vladimir Weiss, son of the manager of the same name, skipped past Jonny Evans on the right and laid the ball into the path of Sestak, who made no mistake from close range.
Northern Ireland rallied after the break but the game was put beyond them in the 66th minute following a swift counter-attack with substitute Holosko knocking the ball past goalkeeper Maik Taylor two minutes after stepping off the bench.
Worthington's side went into the match buoyant after their 1-1 draw in Poland on Saturday and he said: "Nice things had been written and nice things said. You start believing you do not have to work as hard as you should. That's garbage. We got our rewards – nothing.
"It is a mental thing when things are said by a lot of people and it is in their faces all the time, they take it on board," he added. "You try and get their feet on the ground to make sure things are right. We never started while they were bright and breezy. I feel gutted. If we had played for 90 minutes instead of 45 we would have taken something from the game. You are not going to win an international match with a 45-minute performance."
Martin Paterson and substitute Niall McGinn both came close in the second half but they could not break Slovakia's resistance. Without the aerial threat of the injured Rangers striker Kyle Lafferty, Northern Ireland were short of options up front.
But Worthington was in no mood to make excuses. He said: "We haven't got Lafferty, this, that and the other but you have still got to go out and perform. We turned up in the second half and looked like a side. At 1-0 you have a chance of getting back into the game, then they extended their lead.
"It was a disappointment the way we played because we had worked so hard to get to where we were. I said it yesterday, we were so close yet so far. We are now far away through an inept performance."
Northern Ireland (4-4-2): Taylor (Birmingham City); McAuley (Ipswich), Hughes (Fulham), Evans (Manchester United), Craigan (Motherwell); Johnson (Birmingham City), McCann (Scunthorpe), Clingan (Coventry), Davis (Rangers); Paterson (Burnley), Healy (Sunderland). Substitutes: Tuffey (gk), McGivern, Baird, McGinn, Ward, Brunt, Kee.
Slovakia (4-4-2): Mucha; Strba, Pekarik, Skrtel, Zabavnik; Durica, Weiss, Kopunek, Sestak; Stoch, Vittek. Substitutes: Kamenar, Cech, Holosko, Jendrisek, Pecalka, Salata, Sapara.
Referee: B Kuipers (Netherlands).
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Attempts to erode the terms of the 1967
[Abortion](https://www.theguardian.com/world/abortion) Act have taken numerous forms over the past 10 years. Currently, the strategy is to destroy the credibility of abortion providers and medical opinion, to which end, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) and Marie Stopes International are being portrayed as ruthless profiteers. It's a ridiculous position, since they're both charities.
When I defended Marie Stopes International in
[a column earlier in the week](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/31/abortion-advice-poundland-nadine-dorries), someone on the Guardian's Comment is free website said: "Is that the same Marie Stopes who supported Hitler, and cut her son out of her will because he married a disabled person?" This comment has now been removed by a moderator, but it definitely isn't defamatory. Supporting Hitler wasn't the half of it. No wonder the charity, when you ask it about its founder, says delicately: "We tend to keep our distance."
Marie Carmichael Stopes was born in 1880 and, until she was 40, led an exemplary life as a feminist pioneer: at 22, she got a first in botany and geology from UCL; two years later, a PhD from Munich University; and became Manchester University's first female academic, as a palaeobotany lecturer. She wrote two books in 1918, Married Love and Wise Parenthood, in which she adumbrated some of her eugenicist views.
But the really eye-popping stuff is in Birth Control News, a self-published extremist fanzine which she set up in July 1922, with this stirring editorial: "Sterilisation of the unfit raises a hornet's nest, but no one worries at all about the daily sterilisation now going on of the fit. Young married men of the professional classes are today often forced by conditions to remain sterile, though they passionately desire the healthy children they could have if they did not have hordes of defectives to support in one way or the other." Her eugenics programme was actually slightly to the right of Hitler's, just because her definition of defective is so broad. There are certainly issues of Birth Control News that seem to suggest, just with their news agenda, that some people should be sterilised for nebulous reasons of defectiveness, like not being rich enough. As you might expect, there are strong strains of racism: she described the southern Italians as a "low-grade race"; she was accused of anti-semitism even by her birth-control allies; and in a stinging attack on the French who, in the early 1920s tightened their laws against contraception, she said that if they really wanted to repopulate their nation, they should "eliminate the taint of their large numbers of perverted or homosexual people".
The newsletter wasn't totally turgid. She got a brilliant column out of George Bernard Shaw, in which he concluded that "the woman who has learned how to control her fertility is as much less likely to be mischievous as a woman who has learned how to control her temper."
Mainly though, the pamphlet – which you can read in its original form in the
[Women's Library](http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomenslibrary/) in east London – is fulminating rightwingness, peppered with self-publicising, a proto-Melanie Phillips with an extra PhD. She writes of herself: "Impregnably honest, utterly fearless, incorruptible by the worldly lures which tend to weaken and deflect most reformers, yet sane, scientific and happy, Dr Stopes, hating all conflict, is fighting on behalf of others."
Many of her opponents saw her views on poverty as the most dangerous thing about her, but steadily, between 1922 and 1929, the labour movement took up the call for birth control. Only its women though. At the Labour party conference in Margate in 1926, the national executive voted not to discuss it. Birth Control News ran with: "Women insist on reopening question and recall the fact that at their own conference they had twice made the demand [for birth control], the voting being 1,000 in favour and 6 against."
One thousand to six. It's good, isn't it? You can't argue with a margin like that, though the male-dominated unions continued to do so. By July 1927, both Liberal and Labour women were in favour of birth control. To put this in context, Thomas Robert Malthus still loomed huge over the terrain during this period, and the control of populations was a constant theme. This, conflated with a kind of turbo-Darwinism, made eugenics a common feature of the national debate, and it was not at all unusual for judges and politicians and other notables to wish, out loud, like Leslie Scott, the solicitor general, that "by a stroke of the pen it could be ordained that from today onwards no mental defective should be allowed to breed". Nevertheless, even by these standards, Stopes was clearly an extremist.
But her views were never the influential thing about her: it was in her clinic at 61 Marlborough Road, north London, that her real social impact was taking hold. It didn't do abortions – though abortion and birth control were often conflated in the rhetoric of the era – but it was the first birth-control centre in the British empire. The current range of services, which still include contraception, but also abortions and vasectomies, has been building up since the legalisation of abortion in 1967.
By 1923, the east London clinic was overwhelmed: women were walking across London, waiting hours, crying in the streets when they were turned away because there wasn't time to see them. She started fundraising: "£10,000 are asked for" ran her editorial, casting one vividly back to a time when pounds were referred to in the plural if you wanted more than one.
In 1925, the clinic moved to a larger site in central London. The women she provided with contraception didn't care whether she thought they were scum who should leave the breeding to the master race. They didn't care whether eugenics was considered the natural endpoint of any interference in nature's course. They just wanted not to have 18 children. They just wanted the choice.
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Ecoppia, PV panel cleaning solutions developer, announced Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with Solairedirect India, subsidiary of energy multinational ENGIE Group, to provide its automated systems within the Bhadla Solar Park in India.
Ecoppia's solution will be deployed in 168MW of a 190MW section of the solar park. The entire Bhadla Solar Park will be developed on 10,000 hectares of land and will have a total generation capacity of 2.3GW.
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Located in Jodhpur, Rajasthan — a vast desert area — Bhadla Solar Park is prone to numerous dust storms, which can cut energy generation by as much as 40%.
To cut down on the production loss associated with soiling and maintain panels at peak performance, the solar park will be cleaned nightly by Ecoppia robots.
With the deployment of Ecoppia across its site, ENGIE is expected to save over 1.5 billion of liters of water, and reduce its operating expenses drastically.
Gaurav Sood, managing director of Solairedirect India, said: "We expect to harness Ecoppia's revolutionary cleaning system to dramatically raise output and lower costs. This type of technological breakthrough not only benefits our own business interests, but the solar energy sector as a whole. We are proud to be one of the world's first solar energy providers to adopt Ecoppia's cutting-edge, autonomous robotic panel cleaning paradigm."
Eran Meller, CEO of Ecoppia, said: "We're proud to cooperate with forward-thinking companies like ENGIE in what is truly a true revolution in renewable energy. By ensuring cost-effective panel cleanliness on a day-to-day basis, we've created a new standard of plant output that is changing the way operators, investors and governments view the benefits of solar power."
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In the past, we have discussed prominent raags like
[Kalyan](https://scroll.in/article/813209/listen-bismilla-khan-approaches-raag-yaman-like-a-khayal-vocalist-would), [Bhairav](https://scroll.in/article/816668/ustad-rashid-khans-raag-bhairav-is-a-lesson-in-cerebral-music-making), [Bilawal](https://scroll.in/article/865656/listen-a-classic-composition-in-raag-bilawal-interpreted-three-ways), [Kafi](https://scroll.in/article/832698/listen-begum-akhtar-and-zila-kafis-captivating-performances-of-dadras-in-raag-kafi) and [Sarang](https://scroll.in/article/878592/this-sultry-summer-make-your-afternoons-dreamy-with-raag-saarang). They have distinct identities that shape their variants, but also act as raagaang raags that colour other raags, which may not be directly related to them. Khamaj is another raag that works in a similar manner. It uses all shuddha or natural notes with the addition of the komal or flattened version of Nishad or the seventh. It omits the Rishabh or second in the ascent and the dominant and sub-dominant notes are Gandhar and Dhaivat, the third and sixth, respectively. This episode will be the first in a series devoted to Khamaj.
Typically, Khamaj has been prolifically used for the thumri-dadra genres. It is rare to find instances of dhrupad compositions in this raag and even rarer to find khayals. Today, we feature bandish ki thumri compositions in this raag. Traditionally, bandish ki thumri compositions have syllables of the song-text closely knit to the rhythmic canvas, as will be evident in the following tracks.
The first track features Patiala gharana exponent Jagdish Prasad. He sings a bandish ki thumri set to an uptempo Teentaal, a cycle of 16 matras or time-units. The character of Khamaj is demonstrated amply through the melodic elaboration that involves sargam or solfège and free-flowing phrases that are sung in aakaar or using the vowel "aa".
Rampur-Sahaswan gharana maestro Nissar Hussain Khan sings a bandish ki thumri in Teentaal.
Ulhas Kashalkar, known otherwise for his khayal expositions, sings the same bandish ki thumri, but listeners will note the difference in pace and tenor of this performance to the earlier one. He deviates at times from the characteristic phrases of Khamaj, as this is permitted in the melodic elaboration of thumri-dadra and allied forms. Mehmood Dholpuri plays the harmonium, Murad Ali provides sarangi accompaniment and Aneesh Pradhan accompanies on the tabla.
The last track features Agra gharana maestro Sharafat Hussain Khan. He sings a bandish ki thumri set to Teentaal.
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Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson said on Tuesday she hoped to have another chance to play the role of Russian spy Natasha Romanoff, nicknamed Black Widow, as she prepares for the Russian premiere of The Avengers due in Moscow later in the day.
"Black Widow has such a great back story, I would love to be able to explore that more, and we've talked about it," Johansson told journalists during a news conference in the Russian capital.
The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, is based on the Marvel Studio's comics of the same name featuring superheroes teaming up to save the world from a looming disaster. Both Whedon and The Avengers' producer, Kevin Feige, have hinted at a sequel to The Avengers.
Johansson also told reporters her family was originally from Minsk, Belarus.
"My mother is anxious for us to go there," she said, adding: "I had a Russian language teacher and I learned it phonetically but I've forgotten everything now."
She also said she hoped to visit the Moscow Kremlin later in the day "so it gives me something to talk about on the red carpet."
Johansson's colleague Tom Hiddleston, who starred in the movie as supervillain Loki, said he liked Moscow and praised Russia's theatre culture.
"Five yeas ago I came to Moscow to the Pushkin Theatre I think, I did some Shakespeare here," he said. "The theatre culture in Russia is amazing, you have the most diverse actors in the world, and there are theatres on every corner."
He said he had spent "a very good time" in Russia and had "a huge affection for Moscow."
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Weekend Q&A: Poet and playwright Rita Ann Higgins
The Galwegian grandmother talks about her favourite time to write, what keeps her awake at night and the person she'd most like to go for a pint with
Galway native Rita Ann Higgins began to write poetry when she was in her twenties after being hospitalised with tuberculosis. The 65-year-old has written 10 books of poetry, several plays and two screenplays. She is a member of Aosdána and became the People's Pandemic Poet Laureate for The Brendan O'Connor Show on RTÉ Radio 1. Married to Christy for 47 years, they live in Galway city and have two daughters and four grandsons.
When do you like to write? I am better in the mornings because there is more energy. My study is in the box room and when you're in here, you are in work mode. You do emails, calls, you do your reading and you do your writing. What was the first book you loved? Wuthering Heights because I could see the imagery as it was written. I felt I knew Heathcliff and Cathy. What kind of music do you listen to? I like R.E.M, Pink Floyd, U2, Def Leppard, Creedence. It's all a mood thing. I like classical too and Irish singers like Róisín Elsafty and Róisín Seoighe. I love documentaries about old rockers. When I'm on easy street, I like The Drifters.
There was controversy about your poem, Our Killer City, commissioned by Galway 2020 in which you predicted the city would be "crowned the capital of fools". How do you feel about it now? Once Galway stops seeing its artists as 'product' and starts seeing them as individuals, things will improve greatly. Regrettably, for a long portion of the process of Galway 2020, the expert panels took over, leaving very little space for creative artists to thrive. There will be no legacy after Galway's Capital of Culture, only a history of what didn't happen.
What phone app do you use most? I use Notes if I'm out and something comes to me; at home, I'm a notebook person. If I overhear a phrase that sounds slightly askew, I'll write it down. I once heard a Traveller say, 'What time is it be the face of the clock.' That was pre-email and mobile phone. I use Audible a lot to catch up on the bigger books that I might have read and partly forgotten. I'm listening to The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann now. It seems like the right time to be listening to people talking about a contagious disease and much more, plus it's often hilarious. What's your best holiday memory? Seeing The Drifters at a concert in Seville about 25 years ago with Christy. What is your biggest fear? That anyone would harm my four grandchildren. What are you most proud of? I'm proud that I can swim, although I'm not by any means a good swimmer. I have been very afraid of water for a long time. What's the first thing you'd do if you were Taoiseach? Dismantle the Coalition and indicate across the sky in writing how the people voted in February 2020. What's your biggest insecurity? That people will find out I'm not a real poet and only a chancer. Who'd you most like to go for a pint with? Nancy Pelosi. For her stamina, courage and fearlessness. What fictional character do you most identify with? Pippi Longstocking. As a teenager, I was a dedicated follower of fashion. I used to wear long woolly stockings above the knee that were always falling down. What is your most treasured possession? A black knee-length puffa coat with furry hood my daughter gave me one Christmas. What's your guilty pleasure? Strawberry Baileys and cream with ice, and also Taytos. What item in your wardrobe do you wear the most? My Salsa Jeans (now sadly bursting at the seams). Who are your heroes? Mary MacSwiney, Mary Wollstonecraft, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, all advocates of women's rights, and Gandhi for his humility. When did you last cry? At my sister Mary's funeral last February. How are you coping with the current lockdown? I coped better the first time. We are in known territory now, yet it feels like we are all lost. The days stretch like a gastric band. Not as much trust in our leaders this time round. What keeps you awake at night? Steroids I'm taking for recently diagnosed polymyalgia rheumatica. What's your greatest passion in life? I love learning. When I learn something knew, applying it or turning it over in my head for ages. What's your favourite film? Dog Day Afternoon — the storyline, the acting. Brilliant. What's the last TV show you binge-watched? The Crown. What one piece of advice would you give your 18-year-old self? Ná déan é. If you could have a super power, what would it be? That I could dream in Irish. If your Irish was so good, you'd be dreaming in Irish and I don't dream in Irish. I'm always very interested in Irish, but I have not made the big leap. What does your dream weekend look like? I love Mondays as they are the start of something. Weekends are neither here nor there when you work from home. What job would you be terrible at? Anything to do with numbers. I can't add, subtract or multiply. Do you believe in a god? I'm working on it for 65 years. I believe in the goodness of others. I believe in friendships. I believe in praise. Your conscience is your yardstick. Don't do unto others as they would do unto you. Keep an open mind. If it's hard to believe, then it's unbelievable. Having said that, I love mythologies.
Rita Ann Higgin's 11th book of poetry, Pathogens Love A Patsy, is published by Salmon Poetry. ritaannhiggins.com
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Troubled band to pick up lifetime achievement award
DUBLIN band Aslan are to be honoured with a lifetime achievement award at this year's star-studded Meteor Awards.
The five members, led by singer Christy Dignam, have been playing venues around the country for more than two decades. Aslan will take to the stage at the huge award ceremony at the Point Theatre which will see performances by Snoop Dogg and his Rhythm and Gangsta band, Bell x1; The Thrills; The Devlins; and Lucie Silvas on February 24.
Dozens of figures from Ireland's close-knit music scene will pay tribute to Aslan's meteoric rise and fall over the past 22 years.
The band members, who hail from Finglas and Ballymun - Dignam, Billy McGuinness, Tony McGuinness, Alan Downey and Joe Jewell, - formed Aslan in 1982. Only four years later, they released their first single 'This Is'. But as their fan base grew during the '80s, they split.
In 1993, Aslan reformed and released a hit single; then in 2001, 'Waiting for this Madness to End', went straight into the Irish Album charts at No 1.
Aslan, who will perform as the closing act of the Meteor Ireland Awards show, will receive the lifetime achievement award at next month's ceremony.
The public can vote for nominees in five categories - Best Irish DJ, Best Irish Band, Best Irish Male Artist Singer, Best Irish Female Artist Singer and Best Irish Pop Album - by texting 'Vote' to 53500.
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Story ProgressBack to home
Virat Kohli Needs to Improve Poor Technique, Says Geoffrey Boycott
Team India continues to struggle abroad because their young stars have failed to adapt to different conditions and their problem was psychological, said former England captain Geoffrey Boycott.
Former England captain Geoffrey Boycott feels Virat Kohli continues to remain a marvelous talent despite his massive failure on India's tour of England and urged the star batman to work on his technique, which was exposed by Alastair Cook's bowlers, none more than James Anderson.
Kohli, who has six Test hundreds to his credit, managed a paltry 120 runs from the five Tests in England and failed to score a half-century in the four ODIs that followed, before reproducing his old touch with a swashbuckling 66 in the
[one-off Twenty20 International](https://sports.ndtv.com/england-vs-india-2014/news/229472-one-off-t20i-england-vs-india), albeit in a lost cause.
Boycott said Kohli must now work on his technique to continue serving India in the years to come.
"The big factor (for India's failure in the Test series) was Kohli. He has to work on his technique. He is a marvellous talent, a wonderful star of India but his technique was poor here in the Test matches. Jimmy Anderson ate him for breakfast," Boycott wrote for
"Every time Kohli came in, all he did was bowl at off stump, around the corridor of uncertainty and Kohli nicked it. He is playing with his bat too far away from his pad. He has to look at video replays of his technique and get back to basics."
Boycott, a supremely solid player technically in his days, said like Kohli the other India players also struggled in trying conditions in England, because they failed to adapt to different pitches. The great players of the past, Boycott said, had all been successful throughout their careers because they were able to bring about changes to their games in different countries.
"People like Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Virat Kohli are top players and they're not adapting. It's just psychological; it's in the head, nothing else. Half the battle is between the ears, you know. You can work on your technique with the coaches and develop it but when it comes to the big time, half the battle is won in the head, and the Indian players are just not doing that.
"Sunny Gavaskar played just as well abroad as he did at home, so did Sachin Tendulkar. And Pujara, Rahane and Kohli are all very good players, technically correct. You can't tell me they're not good. They are just not using the brain. They've all got the talent, they've just got to learn to adapt!" Boycott wrote.
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Some of the India players will be busy with the Champions League Twenty20 before playing hosts to the West Indies for a Test and ODI series. They then travel to Australia for what is bound to be another tough international assignment, which will precede the World Cup, starting on Februsry 14, 2015.
How and when Kohli, Pujara and Shikhar Dhawan work on their weakness remains to be seen but Boycott has hit the nail on the head, not for the first time in a long and distinguished career as a commentator and analyst.
[T20 World Cup 2024](https://sports.ndtv.com/t20-world-cup-2024)Updates, check out [T20 WC 2024 schedules](https://sports.ndtv.com/t20-world-cup-2024/schedules-fixtures)and [T20 World Cup points table](https://sports.ndtv.com/t20-world-cup-2024/points-table)at [NDTV Sports](https://sports.ndtv.com/). Like us on [Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.robo.ndtv.cricket&hl=en)or [iOS](https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/ndtv-cricket/id418320331?mt=8).
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Virat Kohli cracked his 20th ODI hundred, Suresh Raina and Ajinkya Rahane made fifties as India comfortably downed a seemingly eager-to-leave West Indies in Dharamsala. The news that West Indies' tour had been cut short due to the players' payment dispute with their board broke during India's innings, and the visitors backed that up with shoddy fielding and bowling performances. Marlon Samuels overcame a struggle of a start to make his seventh ODI century, but barring Andre Russell's belated and brief blitz, the rest of the line-up sank after India had racked up 330. India took the five-match series 2-1, with the third ODI washed out by a cyclone and the fifth cancelled by West Indies' pullout.
There was more bounce in the Dharamsala track than on most Indian ODI pitches, but it was useful to the bowling side only when backed by serious pace. West Indies weren't really willing to bend their backs barring the odd occasion. They were eager to bowl short, though, and continued to do so throughout the innings. And India kept hooking and pulling harmless stomach-high bouncers to the short boundaries.
As early as the first ball of the second over, Shikhar Dhawan showed there was nothing to worry about the bouncers short on intent as he pulled Jason Holder for four. West Indies refused to learn and Dhawan helped himself to easy boundaries.
Ajinkya Rahane was timing the ball superbly at the other end, caressing full deliveries both sides of the wicket. West Indies tried bowling wide with a packed off-side field, but he disturbed those plans by stepping out and going leg side.
The stand had grown to 70 in the 12th over when Russell combined pace with bounce and Dhawan, not for the first time, top-edged an awkward hook to the deep. West Indies had an opportunity to claw back further in Russell's next over, but Jerome Taylor spilled a simple chance at fine leg off another top-edged hook, reprieving Rahane on 38.
Kohli, at No. 4, had made his first fifty across Tests and ODIs since February in the previous game. Back at his usual No. 3 position today, he had his ODI-autopilot mode on from ball one, to which he leaned forward solidly and pushed a single to cover. There was some turn and bounce for the spinners, and Kohli wasn't going to go after anything unless it was too wide or short. He and Rahane collected 72 at just under five an over without taking any risk, and it took an incorrect leg-before decision against Rahane, on 68, to break the partnership.
India were 142 for 2 when Rahane went in the 27th over. Kohli and Raina nearly doubled that with a 138-run stand that took 108 balls.
West Indies had gone overboard with the short ball; they weren't going to hold back against Raina. But even he wasn't troubled with their half-hearted, predictable offerings as he swiped and pulled five sixes on way to 71 off 58.
Raina and Kohli collected 52 off the batting Powerplay, and India took 94 off the last ten overs as West Indies, who had been threatening to do so all the time, completely lost it in the field. The dropped chances, overthrows and misfields piled up.
Kohli reached his hundred on an overthrow off his 101st delivery, and he and MS Dhoni were both put down in the same over. Kohli ended with 127 off 114.
Samuels responded with 112 off 106 and was last man out as the rest crumbled around him, despite the considerable dew soaking the outfield in the cool mountain weather. Samuels was peppered with bouncers, especially by Mohammed Shami, when he came in but he survived and hit back with the odd boundary before taking 47 off the 29 deliveries he faced from Ravindra Jadeja.
Jadeja went for 2 for 80 from nine overs, while the second left-arm spinner in the XI, Akshar Patel, returned 2 for 26 from ten. Akshar conceded just one boundary from his quota, and broke the 56-run third-wicket stand between Samuels and Darren Bravo, who fell for a steady 40.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar had tied up the top order with prodigious swing under lights. Kieron Pollard, promoted to No. 3, could not put bat to ball, unable to figure out which way it was swinging. When Bhuvneshwar ended Pollard's crawl on 6 off 31, West Indies were 27 for 2 in 11 overs. West Indies kept losing wickets, and though Russell powered 46 off 23 at No. 8, they had already slipped too far behind on the asking-rate.
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Schaffelhuber awarded gold after successful slalom appealGerman has now won three gold medals at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games. 13 Mar 2014
[Anna Schaffelhuber](/anna-schaffelhuber) has been awarded the gold medal in the women's slalom sitting event after a successful appeal against her disqualification.
Schaffelhuber, who has already won the downhill and super-G Paralympic titles so far in Sochi, was disqualified from her first run in Wednesday's (12 March) slalom competition.
Under protest, she was allowed to complete her second run on Wednesday afternoon.
On Thursday (13 March) morning, the International Paralympic Committee Alpine Skiing Board of Appeal overturned the original disqualification for not having her outriggers in a stationary and fixed position at the start of the race.
The Appeal Board decided that Schaffelhuber had not gained a competitive advantage from her start and therefore should not have been disqualified.
As a result of the successful appeal, the results from Wednesday's slalom sitting event are now official and the medallists are as follows:
• Gold: Anna Schaffelhuber 2:09.93
[Anna-Lena Forster](/anna-lena-forster) (GER) 2:14.35
• Bronze: Kimberly Joines (CAN) 2:15.16
The medals will be presented on Thursday (13 March) at 18:00 MST at the Rosa Khutor Medals Plaza.
A full written decision will be issued in due course.
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eng_splitted_0.jsonl/551
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Vaz Te (left) scored his first goal since joining Hibs
By Clive Lindsay
Stephen Elliott's late equaliser saved a point for 10-man Hearts after an exciting derby against Hibernian.
Both sides threatened in a thrilling start before Ryan Stevenson's low drive gave Hearts a 24th-minute lead.
Marius Zaliukas was sent off for a push on Akpo Sodje and Liam Miller scored the resulting 35th-minute penalty.
Recent signing Ricardo Vaz Te prodded Hibs into a winning position with 10 minutes left, but Elliott volleyed in the equaliser three minutes later.
And it could rule out a fourth Edinburgh derby this season, with Hibs now seven points adrift of Motherwell in the battle to finish in the top six of the Scottish Premier League before it splits for the final five games.
Stevenson had been handed a start along with Andrew Driver, Ismael Bouzid and Jamie MacDonald as third-top Hearts were without goalkeeper Marian Kello and Rudi Skacel through injury and Andrian Mrowiec through suspension, while David Obua was dropped to the bench.
Milller and Jimmy Scott started in Hibs' first outing in almost a month and the latter set up Derek Riordan with an early chance.
The former Ross County midfielder's chip over Hearts defence fell kindly for the Scotland forward, only for Riordan to rush his shot and side-foot his effort well wide.
Elliott struck for Hearts with seven minutes remaining
Hearts responded immediately with a low ball from Driver into the path of Elliott, but the striker fired straight at Mark Brown and the goalkeeper beat it away before it was thumped cleared.
Hibs left-back Callum Booth sent a powerful low drive at goal from edge of the box, but it was straight at goalkeeper MacDonald.
When Scott thrust his studs into the heel of midfield counterpart Ian Black, the game could have boiled over, but fortunately the excitement continued to be generated by the attacking play of both sides.
A Stevenson corner found the unmarked Elliott four yards out after being dummied by Ruben Palazuelos at the front post, but it reached the striker at chest height and he could only deflect it into the goalkeeper's arms.
Bouzid was next to squander a good chance for Hearts moments later from a curling Craig Thomson free-kick, the defender flicking his header wide of the far post.
Driver had been looking dangerous in only his second start of a season blighted by injury and provided the cross that set up the opening goal.
After it fell to Stevenson after being half-cleared by a Hibs head, the midfielder controlled it with his right before half-volleying home with his left from 16 yards.
Hearts were looking comfortable in their lead until Hibs equalised out of the blue thanks to a reckless Zaluikas challenge.
Zaliukas blatantly pushed Sodje as the Lithuanian realised that he was not going to reach a cross into the box and referee Iain Brines sent off the defender after awarding a penalty kick that Miller fired home clinically into the corner.
Hearts manager Jim Jefferies hauled off winger David Templeton as he bolstered his defence with Jason Thomson, but his side were now trapped in their own half.
Goalkeeper Brown raced off his line to kick clear when Riordan was played through on goal then Francis Dickoh should have done better than head down and over from 10 yards after rising to meet a fine curling Booth cross.
Hibs boss Colin Calderwood looked to continue the pressure on the Hearts defence by introducing former Bolton striker Ricardo Vaz Te in place of midfielder Scott at half-time.
Yet Hearts were the side who were the ones peppering the opposition penalty box in the early stages of the second half until Black's mis-control presented Hibs with a golden opportunity.
Miller's pass found Victor Palsson in space on the edge of the box, but the former Liverpool midfielder fired over the crossbar after the ball took an awkward bobble and struck his shin.
That ecouraged the home side and Riordan went close when he fired in a drive that MacDonald parried before the Hibs forward powered an effort on the rebound from a difficult angle just over the crossbar.
The Leith outfit looked to have snatched victory when Vaz Te flicked David Wotherspoon's cross into his own path before driving home from 14 yards.
However, Andy Webster headed a Craig Thomson free-kick into the six-yard box and Elliott provided the finish.
Two fine saves from MacDonald prevented Riordan and Matt Thornhill from restoring Hibs' lead as they forced Hearts into some desperate defending in the dying moments.
Live text and stats
Sunday, 3 April 2011
Miller (pen) 35
Vaz Te 80
33 Miller yellow card (Murray 82)
44 Martin Scott yellow card (Vaz Te 46)
91 Palsson (Wotherspoon 69)
18 A Sodje
08 Vaz Te,
21 Ismael Bouzid
26 Zaliukas red card
06 Palazuelos yellow card
08 Black (Skacel 82)
11 Driver (McGowan 72)
12 Templeton (Thomson 36)
10 Elliott yellow card
Ref: BrinesAtt: 17,793
Attempts on target
Attempts off target
90:00+3:40 The match has reached full-time.
90:00+3:26 Ruben Palazuelos takes a shot. Save by Mark Brown.
90:00+2:49 Inswinging corner taken right-footed by Jason Thomson played to the near post.
90:00+0:50 Derek Riordan produces a left-footed shot from deep inside the penalty area which goes wide of the right-hand post.
90:00+0:20 Free kick awarded for a foul by Ryan McGowan on Ricardo Vaz Te. Direct free kick taken by Mark Brown.
89:08 Outswinging corner taken right-footed by David Wotherspoon.
89:00 Akpo Sodje sends in a cross, blocked by Craig Thomson.
88:33 Derek Riordan takes a shot. Save by Jamie MacDonald.
87:16 Short corner taken by Matt Thornhill.
85:43 Rudi Skacel challenges Francis Dickoh unfairly and gives away a free kick. Direct effort from the free kick comes in from
Derek Riordan, save made by Jamie MacDonald.
84:03 Booking Stephen Elliott is booked.
82:54 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Jason Thomson by Matt Thornhill. Assist by Andy Webster.
82:54 GOAL - Stephen Elliott:Hibernian 2 - 2 Hearts Stephen Elliott finds the back of the net with a goal from close range to the bottom left corner of the goal. Hibernian 2-2
81:40 Substitution Rudi Skacel on for Ian Black.
81:12 Substitution Liam Miller leaves the field to be replaced by Ian Murray.
79:31 David Wotherspoon provided the assist for the goal.
79:31 GOAL - Ricardo Vaz Te:Hibernian 2 - 1 Hearts Ricardo Vaz Te grabs a goal from inside the six-yard box to the bottom right corner of the goal. Hibernian 2-1 Hearts.
78:36 Richie Towell sends in a cross, clearance by Jason Thomson.
77:56 Derek Riordan is caught offside. Jamie MacDonald restarts play with the free kick.
76:45 Ryan Stevenson takes a shot. Save by Mark Brown.
75:23 Derek Riordan sends in a cross, clearance made by Craig Thomson.
71:11 Substitution Ryan McGowan on for Andrew Driver.
71:01 Effort from inside the area by Derek Riordan misses to the right of the target.
70:49 Derek Riordan takes a shot. Save by Jamie MacDonald.
70:20 David Wotherspoon crosses the ball, Akpo Sodje takes a shot. Andy Webster gets a block in.
68:52 Substitution (Hibernian) makes a substitution, with David Wotherspoon coming on for Victor Palsson.
68:28 Richie Towell crosses the ball, Shot by Ricardo Vaz Te from 12 yards. Andy Webster gets a block in.
67:56 The ball is swung over by Richie Towell, Jason Thomson manages to make a clearance.
67:44 The ball is sent over by Derek Riordan, clearance made by Andy Webster.
65:55 Ryan Stevenson fouled by Victor Palsson, the ref awards a free kick. The ball is crossed by Stephen Elliott, Headed effort
from inside the area by Andy Webster misses to the left of the target.
64:53 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Ian Black by Matt Thornhill. Jason Thomson takes the direct free kick.
60:38 Ricardo Vaz Te delivers the ball, save by Jamie MacDonald.
59:24 Corner taken by Callum Booth from the left by-line.
57:08 Ricardo Vaz Te takes a shot. Blocked by Andy Webster.
56:20 The ball is crossed by Richie Towell.
53:18 Victor Palsson produces a right-footed shot from inside the area that clears the bar.
52:31 Corner taken right-footed by Craig Thomson from the left by-line, Paul Hanlon manages to make a clearance.
51:54 Inswinging corner taken by Craig Thomson from the left by-line played to the near post, Francis Dickoh manages to make a clearance.
50:58 The ball is crossed by Richie Towell.
49:10 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Jason Thomson by Paul Hanlon. Free kick taken by Jason Thomson.
48:17 Ian Black gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Victor Palsson. Derek Riordan crosses the ball from the free kick
right-footed from left channel, Andy Webster makes a clearance.
46:13 Stephen Elliott fouled by Francis Dickoh, the ref awards a free kick. Ian Black takes the direct free kick.
45:01 The referee gets the second half underway.
45:01 Substitution Ricardo Vaz Te comes on in place of Martin Scott.
45:00+1:04 The ref blows to signal half-time.
45:00+0:12 Francis Dickoh has a headed effort at goal from close in which goes wide left of the target.
44:21 The referee gives a free kick against Ruben Palazuelos for handball. The free kick is swung in right-footed by Derek Riordan,
clearance made by Andy Webster.
44:21 Booking Ruben Palazuelos receives a yellow card.
42:38 The ball is swung over by Derek Riordan, Andy Webster manages to make a clearance.
37:57 Free kick awarded for a foul by Matt Thornhill on Ruben Palazuelos. Ismael Bouzid restarts play with the free kick.
36:06 Ryan Stevenson is adjudged to have handled the ball. Mark Brown restarts play with the free kick.
35:10 Substitution David Templeton goes off and Jason Thomson comes on.
34:38 Booking Booking for Liam Miller for unsporting behaviour.
Correction - 34:26 Marius Zaliukas gives away a Penalty for an unfair challenge on Akpo Sodje. The assist for the goal came from Akpo Sodje.
34:26 Marius Zaliukas challenges Akpo Sodje unfairly and gives away a Penalty.
34:26 GOAL - Liam Miller:Hibernian 1 - 1 Hearts Liam Miller scores a penalty. Hibernian 1-1 Hearts.
32:51 Sent off Marius Zaliukas receives a red card for professional foul.
31:53 Martin Scott produces a left-footed shot from just outside the penalty box that misses to the left of the goal.
31:10 Ryan Stevenson is caught offside. Mark Brown restarts play with the free kick.
29:10 Stephen Elliott is penalised for a handball. Free kick taken by Mark Brown.
24:54 Liam Miller takes a shot. Jamie MacDonald makes a save.
24:13 Akpo Sodje produces a right-footed shot from outside the penalty area and misses left.
23:02 The assist for the goal came from Andrew Driver.
23:02 GOAL - Ryan Stevenson:Hibernian 0 - 1 Hearts Goal scored by Ryan Stevenson from just inside the penalty area to the bottom right corner of the goal. Hibernian 0-1 Hearts.
21:24 Corner taken by Craig Thomson, save made by Mark Brown.
20:45 Marius Zaliukas concedes a free kick for a foul on Akpo Sodje. Direct free kick taken by Derek Riordan.
18:56 Shot from a long way out by Liam Miller goes wide of the left-hand post.
17:53 Matt Thornhill concedes a free kick for a foul on Craig Thomson. Jamie MacDonald takes the free kick.
16:52 Craig Thomson crosses the ball, clearance made by Paul Hanlon.
14:50 Unfair challenge on David Templeton by Callum Booth results in a free kick. Craig Thomson sends in a cross, Header from close
in by Ismael Bouzid misses to the left of the goal.
13:00 Header by Akpo Sodje from deep inside the penalty area misses to the right of the target.
12:08 Craig Thomson takes a inswinging corner to the near post, save by Mark Brown.
9:44 Craig Thomson fouled by Akpo Sodje, the ref awards a free kick. Direct free kick taken by Craig Thomson.
8:58 Free kick awarded for a foul by Ismael Bouzid on Matt Thornhill. Victor Palsson takes the free kick.
7:02 Ian Black fouled by Martin Scott, the ref awards a free kick. Direct free kick taken by Andy Webster.
7:02 Booking Martin Scott booked for unsporting behaviour.
6:13 Richie Towell produces a cross.
5:15 Matt Thornhill takes a shot. Save by Jamie MacDonald.
4:25 Unfair challenge on Craig Thomson by Richie Towell results in a free kick. Free kick crossed by Craig Thomson, clearance by
3:44 Stephen Elliott takes a shot. Mark Brown makes a save.
2:24 Corner taken by Craig Thomson, clearance made by Akpo Sodje.
1:43 Derek Riordan produces a volleyed right-footed shot from deep inside the penalty area which goes wide of the right-hand post.
1:08 Centre by David Templeton.
0:22 Matt Thornhill challenges Ryan Stevenson unfairly and gives away a free kick. Free kick crossed right-footed by Craig Thomson
from right channel, Matt Thornhill makes a clearance.
0:00 The game begins.
Live text and data provided by The Press Association.
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eng_splitted_0.jsonl/552
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At a time when commentators and critics have been referring in these pages to new standards of originality, attainment and general excellence in recent and contemporary Irish (adult) literature, it is a welcome bonus to be able to report that much in our current writing for children and young adults deserves similar praise.
Few who have read the books that have been shortlisted for this year's Children's Books Ireland awards can fail to be impressed by their variety, the quality of their writing and illustration, their presentation and, above all perhaps, their refusal to patronise, or preach to, their readers.
If there is a downside to this, it is that there is next to nothing to quibble about with regard to the list, whether by way of what it has included or excluded. Quite simply, the judges this year have done a very good job.
Before mentioning briefly the individual titles on the shortlist it may be useful to look at some of its general features. From just under 70 books submitted by their publishers 10 have been nominated for CBI Book of the Year Awards. Three come from Irish publishers and two are in Irish. Although three authors – Brian Conaghan, Sarah Moore Fitzgerald and Louise O'Neill – are making their first appearance on a CBI awards shortlist, only O'Neill is doing so with a first book, so she alone will be eligible for consideration for the Eilís Dillon First Time award.
The decision about how many titles appear on the shortlist is taken by the judges and can vary from year to year. If this year the total had been 12, as distinct from 10, room might have been found for two books that must be counted among the year's best, Kim Hood's Finding a Voice (O'Brien Press) and Susan Maxwell's Good Red Herring (Little Island). Both of these, incidentally, are debut novels, a fact which, had they been on the shortlist, would have given rise to some competition for O'Neill's title.
The inclusion on the shortlist of an anthology of short stories, Beyond the Stars, compiled by Sarah Webb (HarperCollins), is an interesting development. It is very attractively produced, living up to its subtitle promise of "adventure, magic and wonder" in its "12 tales" from some of our most highly regarded writers and illustrators, all of them on top form. It must, though, raise tricky questions at the judging stage when set against full-length novels or picture books.
"Tricky questions" of judgment might also arise with one of the Irish-language titles, Gabriel Rosenstock's Haiku Más é do thoil é! (An Gúm), charmingly illustrated by Brian Fitzgerald. This is, in effect, an information book on the haiku, its history, its form and its content, managing – certainly in its English-language version, which is the one I have read – to be scholarly and entertaining. Its merits, however, are very different from those of the other shortlisted titles.
So, come May 19th, when winners will be announced, who should take home the five CBI awards?
Two of our most innovative picture-book creators are in direct competition for the Honour Award for illustration: Chris Haughton for Shh! We Have a Plan (Walker Books) and Oliver Jeffers for Once Upon an Alphabet (HarperCollins). Both are mischievous, fun-focused books, combining witty text and dynamic artwork. Choosing between them is almost impossible, but on this occasion Haughton gets my vote by the narrowest of margins. Jeffers's book, with its 26 stories, may be the more ambitious undertaking, but there is something irresistible about Haughton's variation on "the best laid schemes of mice and men" theme.
The Eilís Dillon First Time Award will, almost certainly, go to the widely discussed and praised Louise O'Neill's Only Ever Yours (Quercus), already shortlisted for, or winner of, five British awards. It could, in theory, also carry off the CBI Honour Award for fiction, the Book of the Year Award and the judges' Special Award. But, given the quality of all the shortlisted titles, it would be good to feel that these might be shared, somehow, among Conaghan's When Mr Dog Bites (Bloomsbury), Sarah Crossan's Apple and Rain (Bloomsbury), Sarah Moore Fitzgerald's The Apple Tart of Hope (Orion), Áine Ní Ghlinn's Daideo (Cois Life) and Deirdre Sullivan's Primperfect (Little Island). My own preference for "the year's best" – other than Only Ever Yours – is the scurrilously ribald, intermittently hilarious When Mr Dog Bites, described on the cover of one of its editions as "a story about life, death, love, sex and swearing".
That six novels such as these should all be published in the one year and all appear together on an awards shortlist is proof in itself of how far we have travelled (and in a relatively short time) in our notions of what constitutes appropriate and stimulating reading for the adolescent.
As for CBI's Children's Choice award, voted for by young readers throughout Ireland (from the titles already shortlisted by the judges), this may depend on the overall age profile of the voters. A younger group could well be attracted to Haughton, an older one to Conaghan. But, this year at least, all those shortlisted are winners, and their books forthcoming in 2015 and 2016 will be awaited with even more anticipation than usual.
Robert Dunbar is a commentator on children's books
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West Ham 2-1 Millwall
Ten-man West Ham moved four points clear at the top of the Championship table with a narrow derby win over London rivals Millwall at Upton Park.
The home side had captain Kevin Nolan sent off early on before taking the lead through Carlton Cole's header.
Liam Trotter equalised for Millwall with a stunning effort but Winston Reid put the Hammers back in front with a 20-yard strike into an unguarded net.
Alan Dunne came close for the Lions but Sam Allardyce's men held on.
The league leaders looked set for a stern test when Nolan was given a straight red card for a two-footed lunge on Jack Smith with only nine minutes gone.
Millwall looked to press home their advantage, home goalkeeper Robert Green diving bravely to deny Darius Henderson.
But, just before half-time, Reid headed Mark Noble's free-kick back across goal for Cole to nod home easily.
The home side were nearly 2-0 up shortly after half-time, Juilen Faubert's header coming back off the bar.
The Lions then drew level on 65 minutes, Henderson outmuscling Abdoulaye Faye and playing in Trotter, who volleyed into the roof of the net.
But three minutes later, West Ham were back in front with what proved the winner.
Under a heavy challenge from Faubert, Millwall goalkeeper David Forde could only punch the ball into the path of the on-rushing Reid, who finished first time from outside the area.
Forde claimed a foul, but referee Mick Jones awarded the goal, condemning Millwall to their fifth defeat in six games.
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'I wasn't thinking of a draw at any stage' - Kohli
India came into the final day in Adelaide knowing it was going to be a hard day's cricket, with Australia setting a stiff target. At no point, though, was stand-in captain Virat Kohli going to settle for a draw
When India began the final day's play, and their innings, they needed 364 to win in 98 overs. It was a ridiculous thought at the time. "To win." The obvious expectation was that India would have done really well to have got away with a draw. Many an Indian side of the past has responded to such situations with a draw on its mind, and has failed. This one, though, went for the victory, and a ball before the captain Virat Kohli fell agonisingly to a mistimed pull off Australia's best bowler, Nathan Lyon, India actually needed just 60 with four wickets in hand and a little under 17 overs to go.
Kohli had scored a scarcely believable 141 off 175. This was possibly only his second false stroke of the day, on a pitch that had ugly rough staring at him, with the ball turning and bouncing and performing all sorts of tricks. Kohli was visibly distraught when he was dismissed, a state that would have been worsened as India lost by 48 runs. Minutes later, he said India came so close in the first place because they had gone for the win, and that he was proud of what his side did even though it didn't end in a win.
"At no point did we not think about chasing the score down," Kohli said. "We have come here to play positive cricket. No sort of negativity is welcome in this group. That's the kind of belief we have come here with. This has been one of our strongest performances overseas in the past two-three years, and I am really proud the way the boys played in this game. Showed a lot of heart and a lot of character.
"When I and [M] Vijay [who scored 99] were batting, it looked like we had the upper hand throughout. At no point did I think we had to pull out of the chase. I always believed that I could do it along with the tail as well. I backed myself in the first innings as well and did not regret the kind of shot I played. It's about how you look at things. There is enough reason to regret things, but at the same time you have to look at the positives. I look at every outing as an opportunity to do something special for the team. If we had been able to pull it off, it would have been one of the most special moments of my life."
Listening to Kohli speak, you couldn't help but wonder if there was another attitudinal change on its way. "The positive approach that we wanted was there," he said. "We played the kind of cricket we wanted to play. Wins and losses are part of this game. We didn't play for a draw. We played for a win. We lost. No problem. If we had won, the questions would have different, the answers would have been different. We have to maintain this kind of an approach if we have to win abroad. If we try to play for a draw, the negative approach creeps in. I am very happy with the way we played. We want to stay on the same page and the same zone. Going ahead, our results will get better and the series will be an exciting one."
Kohli was asked to compare the heartbreak of such a defeat vis-à-vis the disappointment of three-day defeats, two of which India have most recently suffered. "It's not disappointing at all," Kohli said. "I'm just, I'm only hurt because we didn't cross the line when it looked pretty bright for us. But that's the way sport goes, that's the way Test cricket goes. But at no point did we back off, and we are not going to back off either.
"If you see cricket like this for the rest of the series, it's in the balance throughout. Guys believe in that. Unless you believe something there is no chance of achieving it. We have come here with that belief, and we have started on a really nice note. Really positive note. I think the boys can be really proud of themselves, the way they played the game. But Australia were much better."
The praise for Australia was forthcoming and unprovoked. "Obviously Australia were far better than us as far as taking chances and grabbing opportunities is concerned," Kohli said. "They deserved to win today."
Kohli said he could play such an innings only because he was positive. "The only thing I kept telling myself was to believe," he said. "Just believe in myself. Every ball that I play. The intent was to get a boundary every ball. That's how I could keep out the good balls. If I was trying to defend already, I am giving the bowler a chance before I play the ball.
"One good thing was, I wasn't thinking about any milestones. I was only thinking of the target and trying to calculate whom I can go after, when to accelerate, what to do, at what point of time. The milestone was out of question, and that's one thing I am pleased about that I have been able to do that in Test cricket at last. That was something new for me, and that felt good. Otherwise I was just reacting to watching the ball and being positive at the crease. Nothing more than that, no major planning, playing on my instinct, and at the same time I was trying to calculate the innings and target as well."
He also elaborated on the addition of the sweep shot to his repertoire, a shot that helped him counter Lyon on the spinning track: "[It's] probably the first time in my life I've swept so much. Suprisingly, I haven't practised it so much. I've been practicing the lap a lot but not the flat-batted sweep. But it surprisingly started coming off, I don't know how. I saw the ball, put my foot down, tried to sweep and it came off. I was feeling good about it, mentally I was feeling positive that I can sweep and that's a big thing with me."
Kohli was asked to describe what he went through when he got out. "I was hoping when Mitch Marsh was swinging at the boundary, I was hoping he will drop the catch," he said. "But as I said I went for my shots, I don't have any regrets. Probably could have placed it better. Had it gone for a boundary, things could have different. But then again those are big ifs and there is nothing that can be done about it now."
He might have lost it, but Kohli said this was the best Test he has been a part of. "I used to think the Test match in Johannesburg against South Africa was the best Test we played, hanging both ways but that ended in a draw," Kohli said. [Now] I would prefer this one. I strongly believe both teams played with the same kind of attitude, and that's why the crowd loved it as well. And all the players involved in the Test match enjoyed it as well. That's what we play cricket for. There's no point in having draws with both teams scoring 700 runs each. It has to be exciting, it has to be result-oriented, and I enjoyed it a lot. I will probably rank this as the best Test I have been part of, especially because it's overseas for us."
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Sources in China have confirmed the identity of one of the two female Air Force pilots currently vying to become China's first woman in space. Captain Wang Yaping, 32, a Transport Pilot in the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), and another currently unidentified colleague were selected in March, from a pool of fifteen female candidates, and joined five male jet fighter pilots to form China's second taikonaut group.
Chinese Female Taikonaut Candidate:
Wang had been widely identified in the Chinese media as one of five pilots from the province of Shandong included in the group of fifteen female candidates, but Chinese space officials had refused to name any of the seven new taikonauts actually chosen, even though the names of their fourteen colleagues, selected in 1996 and 1998 are widely known.
However sources in China, close to the Chinese manned space programme, have recently confirmed that Wang is now being trained at the Chinese Astronaut Training Centre, near Beijing, with another woman pilot.
Captain Wang was born in the prefecture of Yantai, in Shandong province, in April 1978. Her mother and father are farmers and she is reported to have two sisters. She is married to another PLAAF pilot, Zhao Peng, and probably has a child, as Chinese officials have previously said that only women who have already given birth would be considered for the taikonaut programme.
There are relatively few female pilots in the PLAAF, and as a result their career progress and any notable exploits are often reported in the Chinese media, and Captain Wang has featured in a number of such stories. She is known to have joined the PLAAF as a cadet in 1997, one of 37 members of the so called '7th Generation' of female pilots, and graduated from Aviation University and flight school in 2001 with the rank of First Lieutenant.
In 2008, she was one of six female pilots who took part in relief flights after a major earthquake in Sichuan Province and later that year, she was reported to have been involved in flights related to cloud seeding and weather modification for the Olympic Games in Beijing. She has over 1100 flying hours on her log book.
Whilst China has not given a official details of when it intends to send Captain Wang, or her unidentified colleague into space, several statements from leading officials, including Yang Liwei, the first Chinese in space, strongly suggest that they are aiming for the two or three person, Shenzhou 10 mission, currently planned to dock with the Tiangong 1 orbital module in late 2012.
(Photo from fyjs.cn)
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The Iranian Message
Hassan Rowhani's unexpected first-round victory in Iran's presidential election could open doors for the country, both for diplomacy and for its sanctions-ravaged economy. Though efforts to chart a new diplomatic path will meet serious obstacles, the international community should listen to the message that Iran's voters have sent.
MADRID – The Iranian people have spoken, and their voice has been heard. More than 70% of eligible voters turned out to elect the most moderate of the eight presidential candidates approved by the Guardian Council, the body that, among other things, vets candidates for public office. Hassan Rowhani's unexpected first-round victory could open doors, both for diplomacy and for Iran's sanctions-ravaged economy.
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Millie Knight and guide Jen Kehoe win world slalom bronze
Visually-impaired teenager Millie Knight and her guide Jen Kehoe took bronze in the slalom at the IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in Canada.
Knight was hoping to improve on her
[ silver medal in the giant slalom.](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/31790417)
But the Briton, 16, could not improve on her second run in Panorama after finishing her first in third.
Russia's Aleksandra Frantceva won gold in two minutes 03.31 seconds, ahead of Australia's Melissa Perrine (2:04.50), with Knight (2:13.81) further back.
Around the BBC
Related Internet Links
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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Swansea City have signed Stockport's highly-rated defender Ashley Williams on loan until the end of the season.
The 23-year-old club captain, who made his debut for Wales in their friendly in Luxembourg on Wednesday, has been tracked by the Swans for 14 months.
His form with the League Two promotion chasers has attracted interest from Championship clubs including Cardiff.
"I'm delighted to be able to sign a player with such potential as Ashley," said Swansea manager Roberto Martinez.
"It is a huge bonus that he is a huge centre-half with international recognition.
"We had a few injuries in our back line and we have an important five weeks until the end of the season.
"It is important that the boys have got extra cover and Ashley is the player we wanted."
Williams' senior career began at Hednesford Town when he was released by West Brom at the age of 16.
Although never a regular for the non-league club, he impressed enough to attract a bid from Oldham after a successful trial at Boundary Park, which Hednesford rejected.
But he was then allowed to join Stockport on a free transfer on New Year's Eve on 2003.
After breaking into the senior side at Hartlepool on March 16, 2004, his eye-catching performances saw him lift the club's Young Player of the Year award.
Following the arrival of Jim Gannon in January 2006, Ashley emerged as one of League Two's most accomplished defenders.
He won the club's Player of the Year award at the end of that season and, last year, prompting a £500,000 bid from Luton Town that the club rejected.
Having progressed to club captain, the speedy defender won his first senior Welsh cap after qualifying through his grandfather.
Williams will join up with the squad for Saturday's trip to Hartlepool.
"This is the best week of my career," said Williams.
"It's been a bit of a rollercoaster and I haven't had time to draw breath yet."
Stockport manager Jim Gannon said: "We're proud of what he's done for this club and we're delighted for him that an opportunity has arisen and that he's been able to take it."
What are these?
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has said his two manic centuries within 13 days of each other - off 52 and 61 balls - were a result not of brute force but his solid technique. The two innings were instrumental in India's completing successful chases of 350-plus scores. India are the only team to have done so twice.
"That's the main thing when you want to take on bowlers who're bowling at 150kph," Kolhi said. "If you have worked on your technique properly, you can back yourself to hold your position and hit where you want to. More often than not, against very quick bowlers, you're not in a good position to hit a big shot or two-three boundaries an over. But if you have a strong base and have worked on your technique, you're much more confident about hitting the ball where you want.
"That plays a major role; you need to have a strong technique to play the big shots as well. I keep working on that in practice sessions. I'm not a great fan of batting in the nets. All I do is some throw-downs before the game; I just hold my position, just middle the ball and time it properly in the practice sessions."
Another technique that came in for praise from Kohli was
's. Kohli is pleased Dhawan has sorted his thinking out to go with his game, which he - as a youngster - used to go to the grounds to watch. "Well, it's funny because Shikhar was, when he played the Under-19 World Cup, a superstar straight away. He was the highest run-scorer. He came back to Delhi, and I remember we used to go watch his games. I used to be a small kid and we used to watch Shikhar bat.
"It's funny, because he never got a chance to play for India before because of the two greats of Indian cricket [Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir] who were so strong at the top of the Indian batting that he didn't get a chance. But I think his batting was tremendous right from the Under-19 days. He was a standout performer all the time. But I think his thinking has evolved a lot in the last year and a half. He's so sure about his game now, he knows where he'll score his runs, he's sure of his own batting, his own strengths. I think that's the most important thing in international cricket, if you're sure about what you want to do out in the middle. And he's mentally very strong now."
Kohli, like others who followed Dhawan in domestic cricket, was also disappointed at his loose shots in otherwise attractive innings. "He doesn't [do that] now… I think he was a little dicey about his thinking before," Kohli said. "He'd play a rash shot at the wrong time and get out, and [only] he would himself know why he did that. Now he has become much more intelligent, he has become much more aware of his own strengths. That's working beautifully for him. But he has always been a special talent and you can see it for India now. He's a match-winner, you'll see him winning more games for India in the future. I'm glad he's doing so well at the top."
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A long chat (or two) with India's Test captain and the world's hottest cricket star
"I can only give you 30 minutes." Crisp and clear. That was
[Virat Kohli](http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/253802.html)'s response when the Cricket Monthly requested an in-depth interview in England last September. For a journalist, the prospect was both thrilling and terrifying.
Kohli was the captain in waiting. He was India's most improved player across formats. He was breaking one-day batting records at a phenomenal rate. Kohli, not
[Tendulkar](http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/35320.html), not [Dhoni](http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/28081.html), was India's most wanted, most popular, most sought-after brand. Not just cricket fans, all of India was interested in his life now that he was dating a Bollywood actress. Yet for all his brash confidence it was hard to get a sense of Virat the man. No one had succeeded in getting past his swagger.
Two days before the Indian squad departed England, Kohli pulled out of the interview, sending an email to say he had to attend last-minute team activities. It was disappointing, and the feeling persisted over weeks and months as Kohli put the wretched England tour behind him and emerged to dominate the series in Australia. Though Steven Smith's Australia won the Test series, Kohli's India finished a proud second. Yes, Kohli's India. It was not Dhoni's India any more, not in Tests. Self-belief and aggression defined Kohli's team and his captaincy. But that was a public role. The private man remained a mystery.
Months later, in Kolkata, during the first week of the IPL, Kohli agreed to an interview once more. It was followed by a worrying silence. Then a week later in Bangalore, walking into a training session at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, he said: "Noon, at the team hotel." We were on.
Kohli came to the hotel lobby straight from breakfast, wearing grey beach shorts, a blue singlet and flip-flops. "Let's do it," he said. The first question was about his driving - a car. He broke into a big smile.
For the next hour he was focused but also open and at ease. He did not duck. He did not flinch. He did not look at his phone. He took questions both cricketing and personal. At the end of an hour, many questions still remained. Tomorrow, same time, he said.
He was there. Once again in the driver's seat, taking us through his journey as cricketer, man and leader.
Ramji Srinivasan, the former Indian team strength and conditioning coach, has a story about you. A few years ago in Delhi he was in a car you were driving. He was accustomed to sitting alongside Narain Karthikeyan, the Indian racer. But he says he aged a little that day, having experienced an F1-like ride with you. What impressed him was your control.
I love driving. I love speed. I love cars. I remember the incident. We were heading to watch a preview show featuring the tribute documentary to Michael Jackson, This Is It. MS [Dhoni] and [Suresh] Raina were in another car. It was late at night and we were playing against Australia in Delhi. We started racing and we wanted to see who gets [to the cinema] first. It was a crazy experience and something I like to do every now and then. But I don't really get the time during the busy hours in traffic, so I like to drive late at night to satisfy my craving or need for speed.
Do you have the seat belt on?
Absolutely, I always have the seat belt on. I never drive the car without the air bags. There are some things I always keep in check: I wear contacts, so I make sure I am wearing my glasses when I drive. All these small things really matter, especially in our country where it is very important to be safe when you are driving because someone or something can come out of nowhere and then it can get really messy. That is why I choose to drive when the roads are absolutely empty and then I can relax.
"Maybe I had a few toys in the house and I decided to pick up the cricket bat. My family tells me that when I was about three I would pick up the bat and start swinging it and force my father to bowl at me"
You bring that same assuredness to your approach to your game too. How did you develop this?
I don't really know how and when it started. I started believing more in my ability after the first proper year in international cricket. I would say from 2009 onwards. Before that I did not have so much belief in my game - about being able to cover up later in the innings. But now I have started to realise that I have the ability to catch up with the required rate later on. And that is what gives me the best chance of going out there and doing the same thing again and again, because I back my game. I do not really drift away from it too much because of the format or because of the match situation. I like to play in a certain way that suits every format and possibly every situation, so I have built my confidence and faith on that sort of realisation of my game.
When did you think that you had the belief to play at the highest level?
I really started believing that I belong after my first hundred,
[against Sri Lanka](http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/430889.html) in 2009 in Kolkata. My ODI career started getting on track and going in the direction that I wanted thereon. It is a lovely and natural process: at international level I played ODI cricket for three years before I was picked for Test matches [in 2011]. For those years I was pretty happy doing what I was doing because I did not have to face the pressure of Test cricket. And I was able to focus on my one-day career and try to build it in the best way possible - had time to reflect on what I had done right or wrong. So I was feeling stable.
Then I came into Test cricket. That is when the real challenge starts. Failures are failures, be it Test matches, ODIs or T20s. Earlier I had only had to cope with a few bad times in ODI cricket, but now I had to maintain the balance across all formats and make sure I took my game to a level where I could maintain consistency across all three formats.
As a cricketer you always see your idols, icons, legends of cricket - they do well in ODI cricket and in Test cricket. That is what you want as a cricketer: you want to be playing regularly for India in all formats. So I wanted to be successful in Test cricket. That took a bit of time. It took a bit of working. But it is a lovely experience of how things start, they become stable, and when a new thing comes along, they become unstable again, then you get back on track again. That teaches you a lot about what works best for you.
Big crowd, lots of noise? No problem: "I can see everyone, I am out there in the open, but still I am not drifting, not getting carried away. That makes you think that, yes, you belong"
Big crowd, lots of noise? No problem: "I can see everyone, I am out there in the open, but still I am not drifting, not getting carried away. That makes you think that, yes, you belong" © AFP
You are very animated when you talk cricket. What were the early influences that drew you to serious cricket?
Maybe I had a few toys in the house and I decided to pick up the cricket bat. My family tells me that when I was about three years old I would pick up the bat and start swinging it and force my father to bowl at me. You don't remember everything because those memories are too far away now. It is just instinct. I like this thing and I am going to play with it. You are supposed to play with it when the ball is thrown at you. So throw the ball at me.
You are a committed student of the game, aren't you?
Yes, I'm a student of the game. I would not say I follow all the scores of matches going on around the world, but if you talk cricket with me I can keep going on. I can keep talking about it the whole day. Just the mindset, understanding the game, understanding angles, playing in different situations - I love talking all that. Not so much about the performances and scores, but cricket in general. It excites me. I like to learn from and discuss with a lot of people because eventually it will open your mind to new things you can absorb. I love listening and saying things that would help each other. It can even be with a friend who wants to understand how the game works. People close to me are curious to know how I think as a cricketer when I am out there batting in front of 50,000 people. What goes on in my head - that is pretty fascinating for them. Because they can see something on the television or from the stands, but they would never know what exactly is going through my mind.
How do you kill the noise?
If you speak to any cricketer, I don't think anyone would say we listen to the noise of the crowd. It is amazing and I cannot understand how despite playing in front of 50-60,000 fans in the ground I am not bothered at all. I can see everyone, I am out there in the open, but still I am not drifting, I am not getting carried away. That makes you think that, yes, you belong. You are meant to do this. You have the ability and the skill to actually perform in these conditions because you are able to focus on that one delivery despite so many obstacles.
"I looked at myself in the mirror after the IPL and - this is an honest assessment - I told myself: 'You cannot look like that if you are an international cricketer. You need to do something'"
You have this tremendous work ethic according to your coaches. Is it something that you have consciously worked on in the last few years?
I have, actually. I would not say I was always a maniac in working hard. You go through phases in life where you make decisions on whether you want to be mediocre, whether you want to be just performing every now and then, whether you want to be an average cricketer. Or if you strive to be, if you wish to be among the best players in the world, if you want to be consistently getting runs, if you want to take your career to different heights. Then obviously these people must be doing what a lot of people do not do. That dawned on me after 2011.
Till 2011 I did not really have strong work ethics. I would work hard at practice, I would do fielding drills, I would do batting drills, but the [physical] training part, the eating part, the self-discipline part, all that was not included. All these things are part of work ethics for me. I am a freak for keeping things clean. Keeping my room stacked up nicely and stuff like that is part of my daily routine now. So I had to figure out what can take me to that next level. What can give me more stability in my mind so that I do not focus on stuff like opinions, advice, suggestions.
That struck me in 2012 going into the IPL. I was high on confidence based on my success in the Australia Test series and the Asia Cup. I had very high hopes for the IPL since I was hitting the ball really well and I wanted to bat really aggressively, but that did not happen. So that really messed me up mentally. My eating habits, my training habits, they became very bad. I looked at myself in the mirror after the IPL and - this is an honest assessment - I told myself: "You cannot look like that if you are an international cricketer. You need to do something."
So it was not the belief, but the smaller things that were amiss...
Belief was always there. I am glad that I actually made a conscious decision myself because people can keep telling you, you might be getting a little slow, you might be getting a little fat. But you will never work on those things unless you want to yourself really badly.
Also, my decision to change things was based on the fact that I was wondering at the time: why are other teams doing really well in international cricket and why are we not being able to get there? That is because they were getting fitter than us, they were training better, they were eating better, and they could concentrate for longer periods. They were following a set routine and discipline which would help their game and would give them confidence mentally.
So I made a conscious effort that I am going to eat right. I am going to train right. I lost about 11kg in about eight months post the IPL that year.
The power of visualisation: Kohli celebrates the hundred in Johannesburg in 2013
The power of visualisation: Kohli celebrates the hundred in Johannesburg in 2013 © AFP
How much did you weigh originally?
I weighed around 84 and then I came down to 73kg. You know, that just gave me so much confidence - I was feeling a second or two quicker, I was able to react to the ball quicker and my game absolutely changed from there on. I had the belief. The machine was getting built, but these small nuts and bolts were missing. It was a totally amazing experience when I was doing my routine.
The unique thing about you, your team-mates say, is your belief in your ability. One guy said that is why he never saw you sulk on the 2014 tour of England when you were failing in the Test series, and that is what helps you to get through tough situations.
It is a fair assessment. Not many people understand the kind of things I have seen in life at a very young age. Maybe that is why I believe in myself a lot. I think if I did not have belief, I would not be able to build my career all these years. Playing cricket for India is a one-in-a-million chance. There might be people more talented, more skilful than me. Maybe I am blessed. Maybe I have that extra bit of luck. You still need that extra bit to elevate yourself from the pack and do what you really want to do and eventually play for India. When that happened, when I carved a way for myself to play for India, that is when I started believing in myself a lot more. Bad times will come but it makes you want to look forward to the good times that lie ahead, as well as appreciate the good times that you have had in your life and career. Respect the bad times when they come and not be broken by it.
In a way you are saying what Sachin Tendulkar has always maintained: that getting to know yourself is the key.
He is a mentor to me. I love speaking to him about the game. Picking his mind is priceless. He never says "don't" because the things that work for him might not work for me. That is because we are two different characters and personalities. He will never tell you dos and don'ts. It is only when you ask him questions, ask his opinions, he will say what he used to do. He will never tell you: this is right for you, this is wrong for you. That is the beautiful thing about speaking to him, because he understands that people want to know what he used to think. He has been a phenomenon. If you want to learn anything about composure in pressure situations and how life changes, there is none better than him.
"One thing Tendulkar told me was, 'You should always do what works for you.' He told me that throughout the 2003 World Cup he did not bat in the nets"
What is your favourite interaction with Tendulkar?
I like people who might not praise you to your face, but when people speak to them about you they have all the appreciation and adulation for you in the world. That is one of the lovely things about Tendulkar. He would just say, "Well played." That is because he does not want people to get complacent or overconfident. He wants them to continue working hard.
Last year after returning from the England tour I was working on my batting in the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai and I requested him to come along because I wanted to speak to him about batting in general and pick his mind on how he dealt with difficult times. That was more important to me than going into the technical part. It was about how he used to cope with such times. When life is changing, when people want to talk to you or want to meet you more, how did he handle it?
One thing he told me was, "You should always do what works for you." Before the game if you do not feel like batting in the nets, don't bat in the nets. You should never do it just because other people are batting for half an hour in the nets. He said he always did what he felt comfortable doing. He told me that throughout the 2003 World Cup he did not bat in the nets. He always faced throwdowns, middled the ball perfectly and felt good about it. The way he played in that World Cup was amazing. That is one of the things I have learned from him: always follow your gut feel. That is about understanding your game, your self.
It is amazing, right, that it is the simple things that matter even for the most successful athletes?
A lot of things that happen in cricket or sport are the simplest of things. For example, if I say before the game, "I listened to that particular Punjabi song and that got me in the right kind of mindset", some might say I am mad. But that is the truth. It might be anything, it just changes your whole feeling, your mindset and suddenly you are happy and you say, "It is my day today." These small things, a lot of people do not understand, are the things that matter the most. That is what needs to be protected. Not the bigger picture. Not the outside world. Not the eventual results. These small little things are what make you feel the best.
"As a subcontinent player, as an Indian player, the general feeling has been that we are not supposed to talk like this. I do not connect to that"
© Getty Images
"As a subcontinent player, as an Indian player, the general feeling has been that we are not supposed to talk like this. I do not connect to that" © Getty Images
You succeeded in Australia in the last series. How important was that personally?
[England tour](http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-india-2014/content/series/667693.html) I was really disappointed with myself more than anything. I put too much pressure on myself. I made it seem like it was way more important than I should have. Not the failure but the series in general. I made it seem like a big mountain in front of me and once I was not able to scale it I was really disappointed. I should not have put so much pressure on myself. I should have enjoyed my cricket. When I was not able to get the results I wanted, things kept growing and I was not in the right kind of mindset. It was not a nice feeling.
But I appreciate that bad time. I just need to go through this phase. I need to appreciate it because this will make me a better human being. This will make me mentally stronger. This will help me eventually in every way possible in life because when the good times come I will appreciate things more, having seen a time where you feel like you are not able to do anything.
After that, going to Australia was very, very important for me. I remember about two months before that tour I started building the kind of mindset I wanted to have in Australia: it was all-out aggressive. I knew that I wanted to go out there and take on these bowlers because there is no way if I keep on struggling for runs I would be doing justice to what I wanted to do. Eventually I had visualised it so positively, so strongly, when I went out there my body just followed what my mind had stored two months back.
That was one of the most amazing times for us as a whole unit as well, because after what happened in England, as a team it was very important for us to go out and play the kind of cricket we played in Australia. It does not matter, you can keep scoring a lot of runs, but unless the whole squad or the whole team does well the joy is not complete. I was delighted with the way the whole team played in the Australian Test series.
"I remember about two months before the tour, I started building the kind of mindset I wanted to have in Australia: it was all-out aggressive"
You have singled out visualisation as one of the key aspects during the build-up. Can you expand?
It was all instinct before that. I would go out there, start playing. I would figure, "Okay, fine, I am hitting the ball today so I can go for the shots." But what I found out was, I was not able to play all kinds of shots against the quick bowlers of the world that I wanted to. There would be something that the other good batsmen must be doing since they had so much time to play, say, the pull shot. Everyone knows how to pull the ball but not everyone is able to do it.
I remember speaking to Sachin paaji and he was telling me about the century he hit in Cape Town in 2011. He referred specifically to a shot he hit off Morne Morkel. He said that he had visualised that shot two days back in his mind, that this will happen. And when it came, his mind was so strongly thinking positive, his body just followed automatically. These sort of things people do not understand.
I have seen and experienced the same myself. I always wanted to take on the best bowler in the opposition, because as a batsman I knew that these guys would come after me and there is no better way of defence than to counterattack. For the South Africa series in 2013 I would be positive against
[ Dale [Steyn](http://search.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/47492.html)], and I will be positive against [[Mitchell] Johnson](http://search.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/6033.html) in Australia no matter what. If I start pulling these guys then I am winning these battles and staying on top.
[Johannesburg Test](http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/648665.html), Dale was bowling a few bouncers when I was in my 30s. He kept urging me to pull. Then I saw that one ball for which I had visualised a proper pull shot, playing it down, and I beat deep square leg four feet to his left. I hit it that hard. That clean. So I felt: this is exactly what I had imagined and this is exactly what happened.
"If I start pulling these guys then I am winning the battles": Kohli told himself he would be positive against the Steyns and Johnsons, no matter what
© Associated Press
"If I start pulling these guys then I am winning the battles": Kohli told himself he would be positive against the Steyns and Johnsons, no matter what © Associated Press
You were successful against Steyn and Morkel, and Johnson and Co, but not against
[James Anderson](http://search.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/8608.html). What was different against Anderson?
It was more of me not having a counter-plan for whatever he or the England team was planning for me. It was more a matter of that than me thinking he was one particular bowler I was not comfortable facing. Obviously he is a world-class bowler. He swings the ball both ways and has troubled a lot of batsmen in the past. I feel I should have had a different plan. I kept standing in the same position. I kept getting out the same way.
That is why when I went to Australia I decided to bat outside my crease. I decided to stand on middle stump and shuffle on to off stump because I am cutting any sort of advantage to the bowler if he pitches in the good-length area. I was able to drive balls on the up because I was already in the position to do so. So I thought I did not do anything about the way I was getting out in England, and that was what was disappointing for me.
Is there a possibility that a player can get stubborn in his approach during such a phase?
In international sport there are a lot of chances of you having a mental shutdown totally. It was more a case of that rather than me being stubborn. It is a case where you are not able to think of a plan B. Even if someone gives you a suggestion you are not able to connect to that suggestion. That is a complete mental shutdown.
That is also something I have learned from a lot of senior players: do not fight the feeling. Appreciate it, accept it. Don't fight the feeling of being confused. Don't fight the feeling of being unable to figure out a plan because that keeps growing and eventually you will suffer much more. In a five-match series if you get off to a good start then you are on a roll, but if you are failing then things stack up.
"It is not as if I have said something in a press conference and then I will go out to bat thinking, 'Oh, I have said something, now what if I don't do well?'"
Watching you and reading about you, it seemed like you went into that Australia series like you were building up to a boxing match: the shop talk started from the weigh-in and carried on till the end of the series. Why was this necessary?
I knew it was going to be difficult. I knew there would be a lot of mental games fought, a lot of words, a lot of talk. As a subcontinent player, as an Indian player, the general feeling has been that we are not supposed to talk like this. I do not connect to that, because if an opposition is doing it and they are still performing, there has to be a disconnect between talking and doing. It is not as if I have said something in a press conference and then I will go out to bat thinking, "Oh, I have said something, now what if I don't do well?" Eventually I have a bat in hand and the guy is running in with a ball in hand. He is not running in to smash that statement in my face. So if a team is willing to play the mental battle, you should be good enough to tackle that. And eventually it is a battle of skills when you go in the field. I don't mix the two. Off the field I am countering what is being said. Why should we succumb to the mental pressure or mental games the opposition plays with us?
At the press conference in Mumbai before departing for Australia, as stand-in captain for the first Test, you had said that India will play aggressive cricket. Why was it important to make that statement?
There is nothing wrong in saying we would play aggressive cricket. I never said we are going to target this guy or going to be hostile to them. It was important to make that statement because what it does is give the feeling in the group that we want to do what we want to do and the management and the captain will back us in any situation or scenario. It was very important for us to make it clear we were going there with a mindset of winning the series. I did not want to say in the media that we will go and see what happens. If you are good enough and have the skills, you are out there in a competition to win or lose. Draw is the last resort. I don't mind risking a loss to win a game. I wanted us to play aggressive cricket.
When was the first time you addressed the team as Test captain?
It was in the manager's room at the team hotel before we flew to Australia. I told the guys that we are not going there for personal achievements. I told the guys if anyone sitting in the room is thinking I am going to Australia to get two hundreds, I am going to Australia to get three five-wicket hauls, he can be open about it now and he needs to change the mindset. We are going to Australia to win the series. Even the smallest contribution that helps us win a Test match, for me that guy is the Man of the Match. That is the sort of feeling we wanted to spread across the team, where the team feels united, feels together. We played in that way. That was pretty evident with the way we played the whole series. We were aggressive together. That was the most pleasing thing for me because guys never backed out from the challenge. Eventually you enjoy playing like that. People love watching cricket like that. The opposition enjoys playing like that. What happens is, you gain a lot of mutual respect. You gain a lot of respect worldwide in the cricket community and you know that these guys mean business. And once they gain more experience they will be a force to reckon with.
Dhoni "believes in the youngsters, believes in giving them opportunities. He has played a massive role in grooming all of us initially in our careers"
Dhoni "believes in the youngsters, believes in giving them opportunities. He has played a massive role in grooming all of us initially in our careers" © AFP
How ready were you to take over the captaincy mentally?
Oh, yeah, I was absolutely excited. I was told by the selectors that MS is struggling with a thumb injury and you will be leading in the first Test. I admit I was taken by surprise, so it took a while for the message to sink in. Then I started figuring out combinations, guys who would be the best in Australia and who should play in what position and who should be the bowlers and such. I was pretty excited because it was a young squad and to lead the guys was an exciting feeling for me.
Is it true that you broke down when Dhoni retired from Test cricket after the third Test?
We were all taken by surprise. My first feeling was: We played under him all this time. He has groomed all the young guys in the team. He has given them opportunities. And now he is not going to be the Test captain. Honestly, I was not able to think that I am going to be the Test captain now, at that very moment. After things calmed down a bit, after about an hour and a half, I went to my room. Anushka [Sharma], who had come to watch that series, was there and I told her about the news. Her feelings were also mixed as to how did this happen so suddenly. Why did he do this?
After a while for both of us it sunk in that I am going to be Test captain of India, not just for one or two games but permanently. And that is when I broke down, because I never expected this to happen. Honestly, if you told me when I started playing cricket that at 26 I will be Test captain of India... no chance. My only dream was to play Test cricket for India. It is amazing how all those feelings as a young kid, playing club cricket, playing school cricket, playing state cricket, all those memories start flashing in your head. How many games you played. How you came up through the ranks. How you came up at different levels in cricket in India. And this day and this moment is in front of you. It was surreal. It was a special sort of emotional feeling that I experienced.
"I can be myself around Anushka. These are things that people do not understand. What you do away from the field matters more than what you do during the game"
How much do you and Anushka talk cricket?
Well [laughs]… She likes to understand. She likes to learn. She wants to understand my psyche, what I was thinking at the moment. So if she likes a particular moment in the game she will ask what I was thinking at that point, because for us it looked like this, but for you what was it like? She has not followed cricket before she met me, but now she is very interested in knowing and learning about the game. We do talk a little bit, but the best part is, she does not force me to talk about cricket.
Which is good for you, right?
Which is amazing. I can be myself around her. Again, these are things that people do not understand, do not look into. What you do away from the cricket field matters more than what you do during the game. During the game you are absolutely focused on the game. You are just following or reacting to a ball, playing your shots, building a partnership, playing to a situation. But off the field you could be thinking too much about the game, you could be thinking about one particular bowler, you could be thinking about victory or loss. You need to switch off. You need to get away from it. And that is the best way to do it - when you have someone who can give you that emotional support.
Do you talk about Bollywood movies, her career?
I have started to understand and speak to her about her profession, her work. How difficult it is to get a whole movie together. It looks like an amazing piece of entertainment for two and a half to three hours in the end, but to make a film it takes ages. And that is the most amazing thing I found about her profession - how they work so hard and it gets done in two and a half hours when the viewer sees it. That is why they are so passionate about their work. It is like Usain Bolt training for four years for nine seconds of Olympics glory. Can you imagine the kind of happiness and emotions he gets winning that Olympic race which lasts 9.5 seconds, having worked for four years? As an outsider I would never understand how much effort goes into it, what kind of thinking professional people, actors, athletes, have. It is fascinating to actually get to know the person and his/her psyche and what actually goes through their head. It is very similar to a person not knowing someone in person and having an opinion on them or making a judgement on their character. But when you get to know the person it flips 360 degrees.
On people saying Anushka Sharma was responsible for India's World Cup semi-final loss: "It is how a certain set of people think in our country, and blame the woman for everything that goes wrong. That is the sad reality of our country"
© Associated Press
On people saying Anushka Sharma was responsible for India's World Cup semi-final loss: "It is how a certain set of people think in our country, and blame the woman for everything that goes wrong. That is the sad reality of our country" © Associated Press
It must be difficult for both of you living your lives without much privacy. Before the IPL you bared your feelings on the criticism you and Anushka received during the World Cup on social media. What prompted you to go public?
I do not want to force anyone to respect our lives or force anyone to behave in a certain way. That is not in our control. If you talk about a sporting culture, the support should be consistent. If you expect players to be consistent the support should be consistent as well. These kinds of incidents make you lose faith in most people, which might be a good thing as well, because you keep filtering people who matter to you in your life. You become mentally stronger. You have even more faith in yourself, in your relationships.
But why did you make
I made that statement because it is very important for people to understand how we feel. You spoke about a psyche of a cricketer when he is playing out there in the middle. No one knows what is happening. That cannot keep going on every phase of life. If someone asks me a question on my psyche when I am playing out in the middle I am happy to answer that. But that is a question, not an allegation, not someone accusing me of something. If people choose to behave in a manner where you are burning effigies, it is very important for people to understand that we have families, our families feel bad. We have people who are emotionally attached to us. We are not all alone in the world. We are human beings with emotions, feelings. I wanted to put out there how I feel.
The choice was for you to keep quiet or say it as it is...
Exactly. I choose to put it out there in the open because it is very important for a lot of people to understand. It might not necessarily be only in our case, where she [Anushka] was accused of everything. It was just sad to see that happening, the way people reacted. It is in every walk of life. It is how a certain set of people think in our country, and are ready and willing to blame the woman for everything that goes wrong. That is the sad reality of our country - some people do not want daughters to be born. In some states there is such a disparity between men and women. And that is why all these issues of women's empowerment are rising. It is very important for people to know that this is not the right behaviour. But when these things happen, they sadden you from inside.
"I love the whole situation that comes with chasing. I like the challenge of testing myself, figuring out how to rotate strike, when to hit a boundary"
When chasing, you have 13 centuries already (from 56 innings) in ODIs India has won, just one behind Tendulkar, who had 14 in 124. That is phenomenal. Can you expand on your thought process in those circumstances?
It is a difficult thing to explain. Sometimes I have gone out and been positive from ball one, and sometimes I have taken a bit more time to get into the game. It is all about me setting myself up to begin with. Visualisation, as I had pointed out earlier, is a strong element, where I want to be there at the end of the game. It is always better if you know what you have to achieve. Not that I don't like playing in the first innings, but this just gives me a different sort of a challenge. When you have a goal to achieve is when your concentration is at your best. Same goes with my mindset in training. If you ask me if I like running laps in the ground, I don't. But if you put a football in front of me in warm-ups I can keep running for an hour and a half because I have a motive in front of me: of scoring a goal. That kind of mindset connects with chasing a total down because I have a goal in front of me - be it small or big. I love the whole situation that comes with chasing. I like the challenge of testing myself, figuring out how to rotate strike, when to hit a boundary. Eventually those are the sort of situations you play cricket for, when it tests you to the limit and you come out victorious or you end up playing a good knock and your team wins chasing a big total.
Is it about breaking up the target?
It is, definitely. It is about figuring out which bowler to attack when. For example, when a part-timer comes on it is very important not to let him settle down. Those are important moments in the game. That is where your awareness comes in, where you don't get carried away by pressure or the situation and forget what to do at that point of time. Chasing totals and achieving success makes you attain a lot more composure in your cricket, because you have to take important decisions in pressure situations and those have to be the right ones.
Can you pick a match and expand on that?
[ODI in Hobart](http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/518966.html) in 2012. We took it as two T20 games. I always believe T20 or ODI cricket, you have to let yourself settle down and give yourself the best chance to start hitting later on. That was the most important aspect of that innings as well.
I started run a ball to begin with. Just because we had to score 321 did not mean we had to score 10 or 11 runs an over. Actually the asking rate never went beyond nine [seven]. By the time I walked in we were 87 for 1 [86 for 2] after a good start provided by Viru bhai and Sachin paaji.
[ Gauti [Gambhir]](http://search.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/28763.html) was playing well when I joined him. Once I had settled in, it was calculated risk. Not that I was swinging from my bootlaces and slogging all over the place. It was proper cricketing shots.
The classicist: Test match or T20, "proper cricketing shots", especially the cover drive, are the way to go for Kohli
© Getty Images & Hindustan Times
The classicist: Test match or T20, "proper cricketing shots", especially the cover drive, are the way to go for Kohli © Getty Images & Hindustan Times
You don't really change your strokeplay across formats. In fact, Dhoni said after the World T20 final in 2014 that you can adjust to different conditions easily because you play the same way everywhere. Is it a conscious move to stick to your strengths and not try to be innovative?
I want to be consistent across all three formats. I back myself enough to play proper cricketing shots and still get a strike rate of 130-140 in T20 cricket, which is achievable. Sometimes holding your shape and playing a good cricketing shot is much better than a slog where the bat slices in your hand. Even if it goes for a six, you know that that was not convincing at all and you are not hitting the ball properly. Instead, if you hit a proper cover drive or hit a proper six over covers, that gives me the most pleasure. Then you know that, come the last seven, eight or ten balls of the innings you can really slog, but till then I really do not find the need to slog and upset the way I play. I would do that if I am not able to get runs or if I am not able to get off strike. But till the time I am rotating strike and getting runs easily I never change my game.
The core of my batting remains the same in the three formats. You just have to change your patience mode: in a Test match you need a bit more patience, you need to be a bit more sensible in your selection of shots. In one-day cricket you can still get away with a few. In T20 cricket you obviously have to take more risks, but those risks I would rather take with the full face of the bat than giving the bowler an unnecessary advantage by slogging it across. I like to play till the end of the innings so that it gives the team the best chance to succeed. I like the responsibility. So maybe because of that I play percentage cricket.
"In international sport there are a lot of chances of you having a mental shutdown totally. Even if someone gives you a suggestion you are not able to connect to it"
Has T20 cricket had an effect on your batting?
It might have. If you see
[ Rohit [Sharma]](http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/34102.html), it is crazy. I have never seen a guy after he gets set be so dangerous. You take the best finishers in the game - [Kieron] Pollard, [James] Faulkner, [Eoin] Morgan - but when Rohit gets set it is almost impossible to stop him. I mean, it is ridiculous the kind of hitting he does after getting 50. You know if Rohit Sharma is on 50 with four overs to go, you are in troubled waters. Literally, save yourself. I'm not joking. Dot balls are absolutely impossible. And he has scored two double-hundreds in ODIs opening the innings. Could you have imagined all these things without gaining confidence from T20 cricket, where guys keep hitting so consistently that they build confidence to do it throughout 50 overs? Can you imagine, from 20 overs they are adding 30 more overs of the same kind of play? It is all about the mental set-up and confidence that guys are gaining from playing T20 cricket against the best bowlers. When you, as a young kid playing for India and growing up in his career, are hitting Dale Steyn, Morne Mokel, Mitchell Johnson or Mitchell Starc in the IPL, it gives you a massive boost.
I have got the same confidence from T20 cricket. Take that century off 52 balls against Australia
[in Jaipur](http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/647251.html), where we were chasing a huge target. I was so committed to playing positively, I did not have a second thought in my mind. No negatives. No doubts. And proper cricketing shots with conviction.
What is your favourite shot?
My favourite shot has to be the cover drive. There is no better feeling, especially against the quick bowlers, when you drive them with the full stride, on the rise, with a high elbow - that is just the most pleasing thing for a batsman. Obviously the flick shot comes naturally to me and it also gives me a good feeling, but I love playing the cover drive.
Did you pick up the cover drive from someone?
It is funny how your game evolves with time. Early on in my international career I did not have that much of a stride, but when I played this time in Australia I did not know myself that I could reach out so much to the ball against bowlers who were bowling close to 150kph and drive them on the rise. I used to see Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid and wonder how is it these guys have a massive stride against such good bowlers. Now I have figured out that it is all about confidence. It is all about how you are feeling at that particular time. So I did not pick it off anyone. I just visualised myself again in those situations to actually play those shots.
Batting outside the crease in Australia: "Before the opposition can bowl to you in those areas, you already stand there and make them bowl towards you rather than you fishing for the ball"
© Cricket Australia/Getty Images
Batting outside the crease in Australia: "Before the opposition can bowl to you in those areas, you already stand there and make them bowl towards you rather than you fishing for the ball" © Cricket Australia/Getty Images
Did you grow up playing more informal or organised cricket, and where did your bottom-hand grip come from?
The reason I play a lot with my bottom hand is because I grew up playing on matting wickets. There used to be a lot of bouncers. There used to be a lot of balls to cut and pull, where you use your bottom hand. And that is why it is helping me now to play the short deliveries with a bit of confidence. I never felt the need to change it because my game is based on power, my game is based on having a good pace, trusting my hands. I never changed my grip because that was the most comfortable one for me. Along the years you learn to switch which hand becomes dominant according to the ball.
And now I have started using a tapered handle - it is an oval handle which sticks in between your thumb and the index finger. You get a good feel and good grip. It gives me a better chance to play straighter early on and use my left hand more, because the right hand cannot come across the handle. With the round handle I used to get across too much, but now with the tapered handle when I pick up the bat it gives me extra space for my bottom hand to be loose. If I want to go after the bowling in the end overs I still use the bottom hand if need be.
You mentioned batting out of the crease during the
[Test series in Australia](http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-v-india-2014-15/content/series/656517.html). Was it a completely new thing you brought into your game?
As I said, I did not do anything when I was getting out in England. I knew the wickets would be bouncy in Australia, with a bit of pace as well. I knew that the Australian team is going to come and target me in that area. So I covered it beforehand. I don't mind pace. I don't mind bounce. I don't mind playing the pull shot. I like short bowling. I don't really worry about it. So that was the plan: before the opposition can bowl to you in those areas, you already stand there and make them bowl towards you rather than you fishing for the ball. That worked beautifully for me. I was able to get balls into the stumps. I could work them to the on side. I was able to hit boundaries on the rise because I was already in that area, in that position. I figured out 80% of bowlers bowl in that area 90% of the time, on that good-length, fourth-stump channel. So I said, "Why should I fish for the ball?" I would rather let them think, "We could hit him on the pad." I am strong in that area anyway. And that worked in my favour.
"We are taught to leave the ball outside off and play the correct way, and we end up scoring too slowly at times. Teams are moving on, scoring 150-plus runs in a session"
The first ball of that series, Mitchell Johnson hit you on the helmet. But thereafter you played your strokes fluently and with confidence, especially against the short deliveries.
I was pretty disappointed with myself that I got hit first ball of the series on the helmet [laughs]. It was because the dressing room was proper shade and outside it was very sunny and bright, and the wicket was shiny as well. I went in with an over or so to go for lunch. The first ball he banged in, I thought it was short. It was just in front of the halfway mark on the pitch. But the ball just did not bounce at all. It kept on sliding and came towards me and I just kept my head down. Luckily I did not sway away. And the ball got me bang on the badge on the helmet. I was stunned.
But I don't like that sort of comforting, where players are coming and asking me if I am okay or not. If I am not okay I would be lying on the ground. I am not going to show to someone that I am in pain. I don't like that sort of unnecessary pampering because you are going out there to bat alone eventually. You have to take a few hits.
I am glad I got hit on the helmet first ball. That literally opened my eyes and I was concentrating much better than probably I would have in that particular game. After that I decided that whenever he is going to bowl short, I am going to take him on. I am not going to back out.
How much does ego play a part in your thought process?
It is not ego. It is more of having the belief that you can do it. I knew for a fact if we take Johnson on collectively as a team it is going to be a massive boost for us as a unit, because he rattled the Englishmen when they went to Australia [in 2013-14]. He has really good backing in Australia, when he runs in to bowl the crowd really gets behind him. So all those things matter a lot for a cricketer, how you come across that line and how you overcome that challenge. Because I was leading in the first Test, if I decide to do that, it is going to be a boost for the team and the other guys can go out there and believe, "Yes, we can take him on, we should take him on." When we started doing that it was really a balanced series. We were able to get 400, 500 every match. One or two good sessions and those Test matches could have been a different story.
I figured out teams win Test matches because they dominate in certain sessions. We are taught to leave the ball outside off and play the correct way, and we end up scoring too slowly at times. Teams are moving on. Teams are playing aggressive cricket. Teams are dominating sessions. They give themselves more chances of bowling the opposition out because they are scoring 150-plus runs in a session. So I thought, why not go and play aggressively, and once it comes off that would set the tone for the series.
With Duncan Fletcher: "The small, little things he picks in your batting, your technique, it's amazing how he can point them out and they work for you in a massive way"
With Duncan Fletcher: "The small, little things he picks in your batting, your technique, it's amazing how he can point them out and they work for you in a massive way" © AFP
And that is what pretty much happened. You see the way
[ Ajinkya [Rahane]](http://search.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/277916.html) went after Johnson in the [Melbourne Test](http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/754741.html). He was literally just clearing his front leg and hitting like he does in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals. That was amazing. And I did not stop him at the time because I knew he was in a zone where, as a batsman, you feel you can hit every ball for a four or a six. And you should have no suggestions which might make you think otherwise. You should let the batsman be and dominate. That was a very calculated approach to his aggressive hitting. It was lovely to see him coming into his own in Test matches in Australia against their best bowler. I was really happy in that partnership, that we were able to do what we wanted to do against their best bowler. Those are a few things that can make a difference in a series or a Test match.
So all your players are on the same page?
Absolutely. We like playing the same brand of cricket. The thing that I want to do and I can do in Test matches is free them from any kind of doubt. Free them from any kind of insecurity. That is the biggest factor. Especially playing cricket in India, guys tend to get insecure because you know how many people are waiting for that slot. What I have experienced when I came into the team is that you tend to get insecure. Luckily at that time we had Paddy Upton, who was the mental conditioning coach, who used to talk to the youngsters a lot.
Unfortunately we do not have anyone like that in the team right now, so it is the responsibility of the management and myself now leading in Test matches that we free them from all those insecurities.
I really want to see all of us build our Test careers together. I really want to see we have the same sort of friendships, those bonds that the Australian teams have had in the past. On the field if you see them play, you feel like, "Damn, that's a unit, we really have to play our bloody best to beat these guys." I want that to happen to Indian cricket. In Test matches we want to be the team to beat. I know we have the capability. It is just the mindset, sometimes we tend to go into that zone where the thinking is not right, and that happens to everyone, including myself, a lot. We just need to stick together as a unit.
"Draw is the last resort. I believe in going for that victory even if it means that you have to literally struggle in the end to get a draw. But give yourself a chance at least"
Is this where Ravi Shastri played a role? He has been the cheerleader for this team in his time as the team director.
He is the one who suggested to me to stand in front of the crease and on off stump. I was not convinced to begin with. I was thinking in my head that it might expose my stumps. He said, "Just trust me, do it." I did not do it in England. But I went to Australia. I thought about it. I said, why not. I am playing international cricket. I can't be sitting in a comfort zone and let guys dominate me. It came off beautifully. I am thankful to him for sticking by me after England.
He is a guy who does not shy away from responsibility. He is someone who takes the blows on the chin. He keeps moving forward. There are no two ways about his thinking. There is no talk just for the sake of it. He is sensible and gives you a lot of confidence and a lot of assurance. That is what you need as young players: someone who has played for India for 10-11 years and has hundreds all over the world as an opener after starting as No. 11. You know the mindset the person has from the way he has played his cricket.
Would you be happy for him to continue in the present role?
We would love to have him on board even if he is doing the same job as right now. Just to have him around the group is a massive boost. It is all part of the discussion when we sit down. I would be involved since I am leading the Test side. It has to be a collective decision with the management, current coaches, selectors sitting together.
Could you talk about two coaches who played a key role in your development at the international level: Gary Kirsten and Duncan Fletcher?
Gary was instrumental in shaping my mindset for international cricket because he kept backing me all the way. I remember worrying about my front leg going too much across while flicking the ball from the stumps. I asked him if that was an issue. He said, "Your head is ahead of your feet and you never miss the ball, so why are you worried about it?" Even if he thought you had a weakness, he would make you believe that is your strength.
Then Duncan, the knowledge about the game he possesses, I haven't seen too many people have it. The small, little things he picks in your batting, your technique, it's amazing how he can point them out and they work for you in a massive way.
On Rohit Sharma: "It is ridiculous the kind of hitting he does after getting 50"
On Rohit Sharma: "It is ridiculous the kind of hitting he does after getting 50" © AFP
What was that little quirk he picked in your batting?
During the New Zealand Test series in 2014 I got out driving the ball on the up at short cover in the second Test in Wellington, in the first innings. I was really disappointed because I had missed a hundred in Auckland. Then I got out for 40 in the first innings of the
[second Test](http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/667653.html) in Wellington. We were practising on the morning before we started our second innings. My shoulder alignment was too closed. I wanted to reach out to the ball, since I knew they were going to bowl outside off stump. So he corrected that. He said, "Stand on the middle stump and keep your shoulders in the same position because you don't want them to be closed and give them the option of hitting you on the pads." I did that. I got a hundred in the second innings. I felt really comfortable. Those sort of small things, his role would come in so handy. You would not really know how massive a difference those small points make, but when you end up getting runs and feeling good, that is when you realise these things actually worked.
You said Dhoni has always supported you. There is a perception among his critics that MS Dhoni the Test captain has left no legacy.
I don't know why people say he has not left a legacy. He is the most successful Indian captain ever. That in itself is a legacy. Most of the players in the team have been given ample opportunities by him. He believes in the youngsters. He believes in giving them opportunities. If you see the pattern he follows, he always likes to play the same XI for a while because he wants them to feel comfortable and naturally grow as cricketers. It is just a lovely transition and transformation that he follows, where he lets people play and then he lets the guys who are not playing get a chance in another series and gradually groom them along the way as we go ahead in our career. He has played a massive role in grooming all of us initially in our careers.
It is very hard to better or improve on what he has done for Indian cricket. It is amazing how composed he was leading the seniors during his early years of captaincy and how relaxed he is leading the youngsters. He has never been too assertive or shown authority on youngsters. He has understood what it takes to balance both - the guys who played before us and people who are playing in the team now - and that is a wonderful thing to do as a captain.
"I want to see us build our Test careers together. On the field if you see them play you feel like, 'Damn, that's a unit, we really have to play our bloody best to beat these guys'"
You have been a captain for less than a handful of matches and already people, including legends like Steve Waugh, are analysing your leadership. Waugh's advice for you is to wear a thick skin, like Dhoni, who never reacts to praise or criticism.
There is no point giving away what you are thinking to the opposition, who can gain unnecessary advantage. I understand that. One of the keys to being a good captain is not letting your emotions come on to your face when you are leading the side in the field. That is one of the most important things, which I want to improve on.
Now, if you talk about people making judgements, it is funny how comparisons are made just after two or three games. Even if you fail in the first two or three games when you come into international cricket [as a player], they say, "He is no good." I would not judge someone so early. This is how he is, and this is what the reality is, and that will not change. Why make comparisons? I am a different character. I am a different personality. But yes, there are some things that stay consistent in captaincy throughout the world. As you mentioned, not being too expressive, having a thick skin, absorbing what is going on in the game. But I will never change myself for anyone or because anyone wants me to change. It is just these small things that I need to improve on, but that instinct of being aggressive as a captain will remain.
Some of the people who have worked with you say that Virat has this vision of the kind of set-up he wants. Can you give us a sneak preview of your vision?
I want to create strong bonds. I want to create strong friendships in this unit. We live 250-280 days a year together, so I want to create such an atmosphere where in the next ten years watching it from outside you would get to know this team is a united team. This team is a strongly knit unit. They want to play for each other. They don't want to play for themselves. That is my vision.
I strongly want to see the Indian team dominate for at least five or six years. We certainly have the talent. We certainly have the ability. All that it will take is how you manage that and keep them together. What I want to see happening is all our Test careers growing together. When you talk about the camaraderie, the combinations, the unity and the energy you got looking at the successful Australian teams, most of them started together and by the time their careers finished there were seven or eight legends. Before that you had that in West Indies, where Viv Richards, Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall, who were all of similar age and ended up becoming legends. Those are the things you crave as a cricketer. You want to be the team which enjoys each other's company, which enjoys playing anywhere in the world, which enjoys success together, sticks around in failures together. I want that to happen. And I am really certain that will happen.
Is Test cricket in safe hands? There are so many young captains like you across the world.
Test cricket around the world is in safe hands as long as teams are willing to compete and have a result out of a game. It is as exciting as you want it to be. It is as boring as you want it be - you can score 80 runs in four hours but what is the point? I certainly believe in going for that victory, even if it means that you have to literally struggle in the end to get a draw. But give yourself a chance at least. That is when it gets exciting. In all four Test matches in Australia we had brilliant crowds because they knew we want to play a brand of cricket that is entertaining to them over a period of time.
Nagraj Gollapudi is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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has said that
is a "very special kid" and that he had learnt a lot from the early years of Kohli's career. "Since the time he has joined the Indian team, I saw his work ethic and I wished and wondered why I didn't have that work ethic when I was his age," Yuvraj said during his first media conference on returning to India after receiving treatment in the USA for a rare cancer.
Kohli has come to represent the most promising face of Indian cricket currently and was even appointed vice-captain ahead of Gautam Gambhir for the recent Asia Cup. At the start of the 2000s, after he made his ODI debut for India, it was Yuvraj who belonged in those shoes. He was asked as to what his advice would be to Kohli to prevent him from repeating the mistakes Yuvraj himself may have made ten years ago.
As the question ended, a grin broke out on Yuvraj's face and his reply in Hindi was completely tongue-in-cheek. "Woh bahut badi cheez hai" roughly translates as a description of Kohli being both the next big thing in cricket as well as quite a character.
More seriously, Yuvraj said that Kohli was a "very special kid" and "really talented". "Actually I have learnt a lot from him," Yuvraj said. "His work ethic is brilliant, his focus is immense. Since the time he has joined the Indian team, I saw his work ethic and wished and wondered why I didn't have that work ethic when I was his age." Yuvraj said he talked a lot to Kohli because he had realised that for an Indian cricketer, early success made his 20s "a very vulnerable age." "When you get success in your 20s, you can get vulnerable and it can affect your focus. So I try and help him with whatever I can... at times you have to keep him in check, under control sometimes."
Kohli's tally of 11 ODI centuries in 85 ODIs over a four-year period was "a phenomenal record," according to Yuvraj. He said he wished he could have had such a record, "but unfortunately I batted down the order, but he is a very special player in the making." Yuvraj was happy to see Kohli being made India vice-captain at a young age and said, "I hope he goes up the ladder stronger and stronger. I am very happy for his success."
Edited by Abhishek Purohit
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Leon Britton handed new Swansea City contract
Leon Britton is the latest Swansea City player to be rewarded with improved terms and a year's contract extension.
The new deal ties the 30-year-old to the club until the summer of 2016.
Midfielder Britton, who first joined the Swans in 2002 when in the club were in the bottom tier, follows striker
[Michu](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21163782) and winger [Wayne Routledge](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21238352) in signing a new contract in recent weeks.
"I'm delighted. I know I've said it before, but I'd love nothing more than to finish my career here," he said.
"It's been my life for the last 10 years, apart from a six month sabbatical at Sheffield United, of course, and there's no other place I'd rather be playing my football."
Britton has established himself as one of the Premier League's most accurate and prolific passers since joining the top flight in 2011 following Swansea's promotion through the Championship play-offs.
He has made over 400 appearances for the club, has represented them in all four divisions and is set to play in the club's first major cup final when they meet Bradford City in the Capital One Cup in Wembley on 24 February.
"The target for me has always been 500 appearances,'' he added. "That will really be something special for me.
"I'd like to think I can keep performing regularly in the first team for a few more seasons yet. It's probably for others to say, but personally I believe I am playing the best football of my career."
Britton first joined Swansea on a season-long loan in December 2002 - on the advice of fellow West Ham academy graduate and current England international Frank Lampard - when the Welsh club were in Division Three.
He played in the famous 4-2 victory over Hull City on the final day of the season that saved the club from relegation to the Football Conference, and signed permanently for the club shortly afterwards.
The former Arsenal trainee stayed with the Swans until June 2010 when he left to join Sheffield United on a free transfer.
But Britton spent only six months at Bramall Lane and admitted the move was a mistake before
[returning to Swansea in January 2011., external](http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/swansea_city/9366813.stm)
"I never expected things to turn out the way they have when I returned from Sheffield two years ago," he said.
"The club was in the Championship at the time and there was certainly no guarantee of promotion. But we went straight up into the Premier League, have established ourselves in our second season and we are now looking forward to our first major cup final."
Britton is an injury doubt for Swansea's home match with QPR this Saturday, after injuring his ankle against West Ham.
A scan showed no ligament damage, but he has bruising and swelling and may not be fit in time for the visit of Harry Redknapp's side.
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Bradford 0-5 Swansea
Swansea City secured the first major trophy in their 101-year history as League Two Bradford City were thrashed in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley.
The Bantams had beaten Premier League trio Wigan Athletic, Arsenal and Aston Villa on the way to becoming the first side from English football's fourth tier to reach this final since 1962.
But Swansea proved a step too far and there was to be no storybook ending to this remarkable campaign as Bradford were taken apart by Michael Laudrup's side en route to the biggest win in the final of this competition.
The Bantams were swiftly out of their depth and goals from Nathan Dyer and Michu gave Swansea a comfortable half-time lead that was no more than their ordered passing game merited.
Dyer's second goal just after half-time removed any remaining doubt about the destination of the trophy and a thoroughly chastening experience for Bradford was encapsulated by Swansea's fourth on the hour. Goalkeeper Matt Duke, a hero of the run to Wembley, was sent off for bringing down Jonathan de Guzman, who scored from the spot.
De Guzman added his own second in stoppage time - not that this stopped Bradford's supporters rising to acclaim the team that has given them and their city so much to be proud of as they went up to collect their runners-up medals.
The victory capped a fine first season in south Wales for Laudrup after he succeeded Brendan Rodgers in the summer. The Dane, along with chairman Huw Jenkins, can now plan for a campaign in next season's Europa League.
It is back to the business of reaching the League Two play-offs for Parkinson and Bradford - but they can still reflect on this achievement with great satisfaction after illuminating the season with one its most heart-warming stories.
Wembley was awash with colour before kick-off, especially the claret and amber of the West Yorkshire contingent as they savoured the sort of occasion that was surely beyond their wildest dreams at the start of the season.
It soon became clear, however, that Swansea were in no mood to suffer a similar fate to Bradford's previous Premier League victims as they passed through and picked off opponents swiftly condemned to 90 minutes of desperate ball-chasing.
The Swans dominated possession and were ahead after just over quarter of an hour. Duke could only push out Michu's shot and Dyer reacted first to score from an acute angle.
Bradford offered nothing as an attacking force, taking until three minutes from time for Gary Jones to bring a save from Gerhard Tremmel, and were never in a position to utilise the expertise at set-pieces that so unsettled Villa over two legs in the semi-final.
Manager Parkinson would have been delighted and relieved to reach the interval only one behind but it was not to be as Swansea went further ahead with a goal superbly created and finished. The outstanding Pablo Hernandez played in Michu, who used Carl McHugh as a shield before passing the ball through the defender's legs and beyond Duke with wonderful precision.
And the contest was finished off two minutes after the restart when Dyer played the ball into Wayne Routledge before taking the return and finishing powerfully past Duke. Even the normally ice-cool Laudrup recognised the significance of the moment with a dance of air-punching delight in his technical area.
Swansea's fourth actually brought the only moment of dissent in what was an otherwise smooth and uninterrupted path to glory.
Referee Kevin Friend had no alternative but to send Duke off for tripping De Guzman as the Dutchman went round the grounded keeper. In the background Dyer, who wanted to take the penalty for his hat-trick, was involved in a furious exchange with designated penalty taker De Guzman, an argument only settled when Michu returned from the technical area with instructions from Laudrup.
De Guzman stayed calm to beat substitute keeper Jon McLaughlin - and he rounded off the perfect afternoon for Swansea with his second and their fifth by bundling in from close range.
The celebrations of the Swansea fans had started long before then and they moved into top gear once the final whistle blew on an outstanding, thoroughly professional performance as captain on the day Ashley Williams and club captain Garry Monk lifted the trophy.
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Usually, Indian cricketers ply their trade in packed and raucous concrete bowls and have to deal with a large media contingent. The Harare Sports Club, in contrast, features vast grass banks, rudimentary stands and is ringed by trees. Only a couple of Indian journalists have made the trip to Zimbabwe to cover the series.
If that wasn't enough to ease the pressure on an Indian squad filled with understudies, the cool weather on a sunny day, the toothless Zimbabwe bowling and a benign pitch made them feel all the more comfortable. With the schooldkids dancing in the stands and plenty of fans having a leisurely lunch near the pavilion, the match seemed more like a casual afternoon game in the park, rather than an international encounter.
The intensity of the contest particularly dimmed once Virat Kohli took charge of yet another chase. Over the past three years, Kohli has developed into one of the leading batsmen in one-dayers, a reputation forged on the back of several big centuries when hunting down targets, but today's hundred - his 15th in ODIs, drawing him level with Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Yousuf - could well have been his easiest in international cricket.
The chase revolved around a 159-run stand for the third wicket between debutant Ambati Rayudu and Kohli. Rayudu first came to national attention a decade ago, when picked as a 17-year-old for an A tour of the Caribbean and was touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket. However, a tussle with his state association and a dalliance with the unofficial Indian Cricket League combined to keep him out of the India team for years. The friendly conditions were the perfect setting for Rayudu to make his debut, and he helped himself to an unbeaten half-century.
Rayudu and Kohli came together after India's opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma departed fairly early - Dhawan after failing to control a hook, and Rohit after nicking a wide, amiable delivery to the keeper. Kohli was fluent right from the start, highlighted by a controlled drive through extra cover and a superbly timed flick to the midwicket boundary. With the asking-rate well in hand, Rayudu took his time early on to settle any nerves, mainly dealing in singles - he hit just two fours till he reached his half-century.
With the pitch having dried out, and Zimbabwe's spinners not getting much purchase, Prosper Utseya's late double-strike wasn't much more than an opportunity for the crowd to cheer.
The gulf between the two sides was clearly in evidence, though it was widened considerably by India winning the toss. The only time the pitch encouraged the bowlers was soon after the 9am start, and India's new-ball bowlers, Vinay Kumar and Shami Ahmed, had the ball swerving around though they couldn't separate the dogged Zimbabwe opening pair of Sikandar Raza and Vusi Sibanda. The openers, well aware of the early danger, concentrated on keeping wickets in hand, not bothering about the scoring rate which remained below three in the first hour.
Raza, the Sialkot-born batsman, shrugged off an indifferent start to his international career with a watchful 82 that held the innings together. The camera frequently panned to a man wearing a 'Team Raza' t-shirt, and Raza didn't disappoint his fans. The run-rate may have been wanting, and it wasn't until the 32nd over that he reached his half-century, but he then showcased his repertoire of strokes, highlighted by two sixes in the Powerplay - one a stunning straight hit over Vinay's head and the other a muscular swat over midwicket for six more.
India's spinners kept the pressure on Zimbabwe's top order. Jadeja continued to be in top form, with his steady spin fetching him 10-3-33-0 while legspinner Amit Mishra, playing his first ODI in more than two years, got three wickets. His googly was going to be a big weapon against a team that hasn't faced him too often, and it provided India the first breakthrough, as Sibanda was lbw in the 22nd over.
The disciplined bowling meant that Zimbabwe struggled to lift the scoring rate. It was only around the batting Powerplay, when Raza and Brendan Taylor - Zimbabwe's best batsman, who walked out as late as the 34th over - piled on 43 runs in five overs, that the home side finally got a move on. After Taylor departed, Raza followed, falling for 82 as he missed a short ball from Mishra. He walked off dejected, and though Elton Chigumbura reeled off a series of boundaries in an unbeaten 43 off 34 balls to lift the target to 229, it didn't prove much of a challenge for India.
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I was born in a University campus and seem to have lived all my life in one campus or another. My family is from Dhaka – now the capital of Bangladesh. My ancestral home in Wari in "old Dhaka" is not far from the University campus in Ramna. My father Ashutosh Sen taught chemistry at Dhaka University. I was, however, born in Santiniketan, on the campus of
[Rabindranath Tagore](/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1913/index.html)'s Visva-Bharati (both a school and a college), where my maternal grandfather (Kshiti Mohan Sen) used to teach Sanskrit as well as ancient and medieval Indian culture, and where my mother (Amita Sen), like me later, had been a student. After Santiniketan, I studied at Presidency College in Calcutta and then at Trinity College in Cambridge, and I have taught at universities in both these cities, and also at Delhi University, the London School of Economics, Oxford University, and Harvard University, and on a visiting basis, at M.I.T., Stanford, Berkeley, and Cornell. I have not had any serious non-academic job.
My planned field of study varied a good deal in my younger years, and between the ages of three and seventeen, I seriously flirted, in turn, with Sanskrit, mathematics, and physics, before settling for the eccentric charms of economics. But the idea that I should be a teacher and a researcher of some sort did not vary over the years. I am used to thinking of the word "academic" as meaning "sound," rather than the more old-fashioned dictionary meaning: "unpractical," "theoretical," or "conjectural."
During three childhood years (between the ages of 3 and 6) I was in Mandalay in Burma, where my father was a visiting professor. But much of my childhood was, in fact, spent in Dhaka, and I began my formal education there, at St. Gregory's School. However, I soon moved to Santiniketan, and it was mainly in Tagore's school that my educational attitudes were formed. This was a co-educational school, with many progressive features. The emphasis was on fostering curiosity rather than competitive excellence, and any kind of interest in examination performance and grades was severely discouraged. ("She is quite a serious thinker," I remember one of my teachers telling me about a fellow student, "even though her grades are very good.") Since I was, I have to confess, a reasonably good student, I had to do my best to efface that stigma.
The curriculum of the school did not neglect India's cultural, analytical and scientific heritage, but was very involved also with the rest of the world. Indeed, it was astonishingly open to influences from all over the world, including the West, but also other non-Western cultures, such as East and South-East Asia (including China, Japan, Indonesia, Korea), West Asia, and Africa. I remember being quite struck by Rabindranath Tagore's approach to cultural diversity in the world (well reflected in our curriculum), which he had expressed in a letter to a friend: "Whatever we understand and enjoy in human products instantly becomes ours, wherever they might have their origin… Let me feel with unalloyed gladness that all the great glories of man are mine."
Identity and violence
I loved that breadth, and also the fact that in interpreting Indian civilization itself, its cultural diversity was much emphasized. By pointing to the extensive heterogeneity in India's cultural background and richly diverse history, Tagore argued that the "idea of India" itself militated against a culturally separatist view, "against the intense consciousness of the separateness of one's own people from others." Tagore and his school constantly resisted the narrowly communal identities of Hindus or Muslims or others, and he was, I suppose, fortunate that he died – in 1941 – just before the communal killings fomented by sectarian politics engulfed India through much of the 1940s. Some of my own disturbing memories as I was entering my teenage years in India in the mid-1940s relate to the massive identity shift that followed divisive politics. People's identities as Indians, as Asians, or as members of the human race, seemed to give way – quite suddenly – to sectarian identification with Hindu, Muslim, or Sikh communities. The broadly Indian of January was rapidly and unquestioningly transformed into the narrowly Hindu or finely Muslim of March. The carnage that followed had much to do with unreasoned herd behaviour by which people, as it were, "discovered" their new divisive and belligerent identities, and failed to take note of the diversity that makes Indian culture so powerfully mixed. The same people were suddenly different.
I had to observe, as a young child, some of that mindless violence. One afternoon in Dhaka, a man came through the gate screaming pitifully and bleeding profusely. The wounded person, who had been knifed on the back, was a Muslim daily labourer, called Kader Mia. He had come for some work in a neighbouring house – for a tiny reward – and had been knifed on the street by some communal thugs in our largely Hindu area. As he was being taken to the hospital by my father, he went on saying that his wife had told him not to go into a hostile area during the communal riots. But he had to go out in search of work and earning because his family had nothing to eat. The penalty of that economic unfreedom turned out to be death, which occurred later on in the hospital. The experience was devastating for me, and suddenly made me aware of the dangers of narrowly defined identities, and also of the divisiveness that can lie buried in communitarian politics. It also alerted me to the remarkable fact that economic unfreedom, in the form of extreme poverty, can make a person a helpless prey in the violation of other kinds of freedom: Kader Mia need not have come to a hostile area in search of income in those troubled times if his family could have managed without it.
Calcutta and its debates
By the time I arrived in Calcutta to study at Presidency College, I had a fairly formed attitude on cultural identity (including an understanding of its inescapable plurality as well as the need for unobstructed absorption rather than sectarian denial). I still had to confront the competing loyalties of rival political attitudes: for example, possible conflicts between substantive equity, on the one hand, and universal tolerance, on the other, which simultaneously appealed to me. On this more presently.
The educational excellence of Presidency College was captivating. My interest in economics was amply rewarded by quite outstanding teaching. I was particularly influenced by the teaching of Bhabatosh Datta and Tapas Majumdar, but there were other great teachers as well, such as Dhiresh Bhattacharya. I also had the great fortune of having wonderful classmates, particularly the remarkable Sukhamoy Chakravarty (more on him presently), but also many others, including Mrinal Datta Chaudhuri (who was also at Santiniketan, earlier) and Jati Sengupta. I was close also to several students of history, such as Barun De, Partha Gupta and Benoy Chaudhuri. (Presidency College had a great school of history as well, led by a most inspiring teacher in the form of Sushobhan Sarkar.) My intellectual horizon was radically broadened.
The student community of Presidency College was also politically most active. Though I could not develop enough enthusiasm to join any political party, the quality of sympathy and egalitarian commitment of the "left" appealed to me greatly (as it did to most of my fellow students as well, in that oddly elitist college). The kind of rudimentary thinking that had got me involved, while at Santiniketan, in running evening schools (for illiterate rural children in the neighbouring villages) seemed now to be badly in need of systematic political broadening and social enlargement.
I was at Presidency College during 1951 to 1953. The memory of the Bengal famine of 1943, in which between two and three million people had died, and which I had watched from Santiniketan, was still quite fresh in my mind. I had been struck by its thoroughly class-dependent character. (I knew of no one in my school or among my friends and relations whose family had experienced the slightest problem during the entire famine; it was not a famine that afflicted even the lower middle classes – only people much further down the economic ladder, such as landless rural labourers.) Calcutta itself, despite its immensely rich intellectual and cultural life, provided many constant reminders of the proximity of unbearable economic misery, and not even an elite college could ignore its continuous and close presence.
And yet, despite the high moral and ethical quality of social commiseration, political dedication and a deep commitment to equity, there was something rather disturbing about standard leftwing politics of that time: in particular, its scepticism of process-oriented political thinking, including democratic procedures that permit pluralism. The major institutions of democracy got no more credit than what could be portioned out to what was seen as "bourgeois democracy," on the deficiencies of which the critics were most vocal. The power of money in many democratic practices was rightly identified, but the alternatives – including the terrible abuses of non-oppositional politics – did not receive serious critical scrutiny. There was also a tendency to see political tolerance as a kind of "weakness of will" that may deflect well-meaning leaders from promoting "the social good," without let or hindrance.
Given my political conviction on the constructive role of opposition and my commitment to general tolerance and pluralism, there was a bit of a dilemma to be faced in coordinating those beliefs with the form of left-wing activism that characterized the mainstream of student politics in the-then Calcutta. What was at stake, it seemed to me, in political toleration was not just the liberal political arguments that had so clearly emerged in post-Enlightenment Europe and America, but also the traditional values of tolerance of plurality which had been championed over the centuries in many different cultures – not least in India. Indeed, as Ashoka had put it in the third century B.C.: "For he who does reverence to his own sect while disparaging the sects of others wholly from attachment to his own, with intent to enhance the splendour of his own sect, in reality by such conduct inflicts the severest injury on his own sect." To see political tolerance merely as a "Western liberal" inclination seemed to me to be a serious mistake.
Even though these issues were quite disturbing, they also forced me to face some foundational disputes then and there, which I might have otherwise neglected. Indeed, we were constantly debating these competing political demands. As a matter of fact, as I look back at the fields of academic work in which I have felt most involved throughout my life (and which were specifically cited by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in making their award), they were already among the concerns that were agitating me most in my undergraduate days in Calcutta. These encompassed welfare economics, economic inequality and poverty, on the one hand (including the most extreme manifestation of poverty in the form of famines), and the scope and possibility of rational, tolerant and democratic social choice, on the other (including voting procedures and the protection of liberty and minority rights). My involvement with the fields of research identified in the Nobel statement had, in fact, developed much before I managed to do any formal work in these areas.
It was not long after
[Kenneth Arrow](/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1972/index.html)'s path-breaking study of social choice, Social Choice and Individual Values, was published in New York in 1951, that my brilliant co-student Sukhamoy Chakravarty drew my attention to the book and to Arrow's stunning "impossibility theorem" (this must have been in the early months of 1952). Sukhamoy too was broadly attracted by the left, but also worried about political authoritarianism, and we discussed the implications of Arrow's demonstration that no non-dictatorial social choice mechanism may yield consistent social decisions. Did it really give any excuse for authoritarianism (of the left, or of the right)? I particularly remember one long afternoon in the College Street Coffee House, with Sukhamoy explaining his own reading of the ramifications of the formal results, sitting next to a window, with his deeply intelligent face glowing in the mild winter sun of Calcutta (a haunting memory that would invade me again and again when he died suddenly of a heart attack a few years ago).
Cambridge as a battleground
In 1953, I moved from Calcutta to Cambridge, to study at Trinity College. Though I had already obtained a B.A. from Calcutta University (with economics major and mathematics minor), Cambridge enroled me for another B.A. (in pure economics) to be quickly done in two years (this was fair enough since I was still in my late teens when I arrived at Cambridge). The style of economics at the-then Cambridge was much less mathematical than in Calcutta. Also, it was generally less concerned with some of the foundational issues that had agitated me earlier. I had, however, some wonderful fellow students (including Samuel Brittan, Mahbub ul Haq, Rehman Sobhan, Michael Nicholson, Lal Jayawardena, Luigi Pasinetti, Pierangelo Garegnani, Charles Feinstein, among others) who were quite involved with foundational assessment of the ends and means of economics as a discipline.
However, the major debates in political economy in Cambridge were rather firmly geared to the pros and cons of Keynesian economics and the diverse contributions of Keynes's followers at Cambridge (Richard Kahn, Nicholas Kaldor, Joan Robinson, among them), on the one hand, and of "neo-classical" economists sceptical of Keynes, on the other (including, in different ways, Dennis Robertson, Harry Johnson, Peter Bauer, Michael Farrell, among others). I was lucky to have close relations with economists on both sides of the divide. The debates centred on macroeconomics dealing with economic aggregates for the economy as a whole, but later moved to capital theory, with the neo-Keynesians dead set against any use of "aggregate capital" in economic modelling (some of my fellow students, including Pasinetti and Garegnani, made substantial contributions to this debate).
Even though there were a number of fine teachers who did not get very involved in these intense fights between different schools of thought (such as Richard Stone, Brian Reddaway, Robin Matthews, Kenneth Berrill, Aubrey Silberston, Robin Marris), the political lines were, in general, very firmly – and rather bizarrely – drawn. In an obvious sense, the Keynesians were to the "left" of the neo-classicists, but this was very much in the spirit of "this far but no further". Also, there was no way in which the different economists could be nicely ordered in just one dimension. Maurice Dobb, who was an astute Marxist economist, was often thought by Keynesians and neo-Keynesians to be "quite soft" on "neo-classical" economics. He was one of the few who, to my delight, took welfare economics seriously (and indeed taught a regular course on it), just as the intensely "neo-classical" A.C. Pigou had done (while continuing to debate Keynes in macroeconomics). Not surprisingly, when the Marxist Dobb defeated Kaldor in an election to the Faculty Board, Kaldor declared it to be a victory of the perfidious neo-classical economics in disguise ("marginal utility theory has won," Kaldor told Sraffa that evening, in commenting on the electoral success of a Marxist economist!)
However, Kaldor was, in fact, much the most tolerant of the neo-Keynesians at Cambridge. If Richard Kahn was in general the most bellicose, the stern reproach that I received often for not being quite true to the new orthodoxy of neo-Keynesianism came mostly from my thesis supervisor – the totally brilliant but vigorously intolerant Joan Robinson.
In this desert of constant feuding, my own college, Trinity, was a bit of an oasis. I suppose I was lucky to be there, but it was not entirely luck, since I had chosen to apply to Trinity after noticing, in the handbook of Cambridge University, that three remarkable economists of very different political views coexisted there. The Marxist Maurice Dobb and the conservative neo-classicist Dennis Robertson did joint seminars, and Trinity also had Piero Sraffa, a model of scepticism of nearly all the standard schools of thought. I had the good fortune of working with all of them and learning greatly from each.
The peaceful – indeed warm – co-existence of Dobb, Robertson and Sraffa was quite remarkable, given the feuding in the rest of the University. Sraffa told me, later on, a nice anecdote about Dobb's joining of Trinity, on the invitation of Robertson. When asked by Robertson whether he would like to teach at Trinity, Dobb said yes enthusiastically, but he suffered later from a deep sense of guilt in not having given Robertson "the full facts. " So he wrote a letter to Robertson apologizing for not having mentioned earlier that he was a member of the Communist Party, supplemented by the statement – I think a rather "English" statement – that he would understand perfectly if in view of that Robertson were to decide that he, Dobb, was not a fit person to teach Trinity undergraduates. Robertson wrote a one-sentence reply: "Dear Dobb, so long as you give us a fortnight's notice before blowing up the Chapel, it will be all right."
So there did exist, to some extent, a nice "practice" of democratic and tolerant social choice at Trinity, my own college. But I fear I could not get anyone in Trinity, or in Cambridge, very excited in the "theory" of social choice. I had to choose quite a different subject for my research thesis, after completing my B.A. The thesis was on "the choice of techniques," which interested Joan Robinson as well as Maurice Dobb.
Philosophy and economics
At the end of the first year of research, I was bumptious enough to think that I had some results that would make a thesis, and so I applied to go to India on a two-years leave from Cambridge, since I could not – given the regulation then in force – submit my Ph.D. thesis for a degree until I had been registered for research for three years. I was excitedly impatient in wanting to find out what was going on back at home, and when leave was granted to me, I flew off immediately to Calcutta. Cambridge University insisted on my having a "supervisor" in India, and I had the good fortune of having the great economic methodologist, A.K. Dasgupta, who was then teaching in Benares. With him I had frequent – and always enlightening – conversations on everything under the sun (occasionally on my thesis as well).
In Calcutta, I was also appointed to a chair in economics at the newly created Jadavpur University, where I was asked to set up a new department of economics. Since I was not yet even 23, this caused a predictable – and entirely understandable – storm of protest. But I enjoyed the opportunity and the challenge (even though several graffitis on the University walls displayed the "new professor" as having been just snatched from the cradle). Jadavpur was quite an exciting place intellectually (my colleagues included Paramesh Ray, Mrinal Datta Chaudhuri, Anita Banerji, Ajit Dasgupta, and others in the economics department). The University also had, among other luminaries, the immensely innovative historian, Ranajit Guha, who later initiated the "subaltern studies" – a highly influential school of colonial and post-colonial history. I particularly enjoyed getting back to some of the foundational issues that I had to neglect somewhat at Cambridge.
While my thesis was quietly "maturing" with the mere passage of time (to be worthy of the 3-year rule), I took the liberty of submitting it for a competitive Prize Fellowship at Trinity College. Since, luckily, I also got elected, I then had to choose between continuing in Calcutta and going back to Cambridge. I split the time, and returned to Cambridge somewhat earlier than I had planned. The Prize Fellowship gave me four years of freedom to do anything I liked (no questions asked), and I took the radical decision of studying philosophy in that period. I had always been interested in logic and in epistemology, but soon got involved in moral and political philosophy as well (they related closely to my older concerns about democracy and equity).
The broadening of my studies into philosophy was important for me not just because some of my main areas of interest in economics relate quite closely to philosophical disciplines (for example, social choice theory makes intense use of mathematical logic and also draws on moral philosophy, and so does the study of inequality and deprivation), but also because I found philosophical studies very rewarding on their own. Indeed, I went on to write a number of papers in philosophy, particularly in epistemology, ethics and political philosophy. While I am interested both in economics and in philosophy, the union of my interests in the two fields far exceeds their intersection. When, many years later, I had the privilege of working with some major philosophers (such as John Rawls, Isaiah Berlin, Bernard Williams, Ronald Dworkin, Derek Parfit, Thomas Scanlon, Robert Nozick, and others), I felt very grateful to Trinity for having given me the opportunity as well as the courage to get into exacting philosophy.
Delhi School of Economics
During 1960-61, I visited M.I.T., on leave from Trinity College, and found it a great relief to get away from the rather sterile debates that the contending armies were fighting in Cambridge. I benefited greatly from many conversations with
[Paul Samuelson](/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1970/index.html), [Robert Solow](/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1987/index.html), [Franco Modigliani](/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1985/index.html), Norbert Wiener, and others that made M.I.T such an inspiring place. A summer visit to Stanford added to my sense of breadth of economics as a subject. In 1963, I decided to leave Cambridge altogether, and went to Delhi, as Professor of Economics at the Delhi School of Economics and at the University of Delhi. I taught in Delhi until 1971. In many ways this was the most intellectually challenging period of my academic life. Under the leadership of K.N. Raj, a remarkable applied economist who was already in Delhi, we made an attempt to build an advanced school of economics there. The Delhi School was already a good centre for economic study (drawing on the work of V.K.R.V. Rao, B.N. Ganguli, P.N. Dhar, Khaleq Naqvi, Dharm Narain, and many others, in addition to Raj), and a number of new economists joined, including Sukhamoy Chakravarty, Jagdish Bhagwati, A.L. Nagar, Manmohan Singh, Mrinal Datta Chaudhuri, Dharma Kumar, Raj Krishna, Ajit Biswas, K.L. Krishna, Suresh Tendulkar, and others. (Delhi School of Economics also had some leading social anthropologists, such as M.N. Srinivas, Andre Beteille, Baviskar, Veena Das, and major historians such as Tapan Ray Chaudhuri, whose work enriched the social sciences in general.) By the time I left Delhi in 1971 to join the London School of Economics, we had jointly succeeded in making the Delhi School the pre-eminent centre of education in economics and the social sciences, in India.
Regarding research, I plunged myself full steam into social choice theory in the dynamic intellectual atmosphere of Delhi University. My interest in the subject was consolidated during a one-year visit to Berkeley in 1964-65, where I not only had the chance to study and teach some social choice theory, but also had the unique opportunity of observing some practical social choice in the form of student activism in the "free speech movement." An initial difficulty in pursuing social choice at the Delhi School was that while I had the freedom to do what I liked, I did not, at first, have anyone who was interested in the subject as a formal discipline. The solution, of course, was to have students take an interest in the subject. This happened with a bang with the arrival of a brilliant student, Prasanta Pattanaik, who did a splendid thesis on voting theory, and later on, also did joint work with me (adding substantially to the reach of what I was trying to do). Gradually, a sizeable and technically excellent group of economists interested in social choice theory emerged at the Delhi School.
Social choice theory related importantly to a more widespread interest in aggregation in economic assessment and policy making (related to poverty, inequality, unemployment, real national income, living standards). There was a great reason for satisfaction in the fact that a number of leading social choice theorists (in addition to Prasanta Pattanaik) emanated from the Delhi School, including Kaushik Basu and Rajat Deb (who also studied with me at the London School of Economics after I moved there), and Bhaskar Dutta and Manimay Sengupta, among others. There were other students who were primarily working in other areas (this applies to Basu as well), but whose work and interests were influenced by the strong current of social choice theory at the Delhi School (Nanak Kakwani is a good example of this).
In my book, Collective Choice and Social Welfare, published in 1970, I made an effort to take on overall view of social choice theory. There were a number of analytical findings to report, but despite the presence of many "trees" (in the form of particular technical results), I could not help looking anxiously for the forest. I had to come back again to the old general question that had moved me so much in my teenage years at Presidency College: Is reasonable social choice at all possible given the differences between one person's preferences (including interests and judgments) and another's (indeed, as Horace noted a long time ago, there may be "as many preferences as there are people")?
The work underlying Collective Choice and Social Welfare was mostly completed in Delhi, but I was much helped in giving it a final shape by a joint course on "social justice" I taught at Harvard with Kenneth Arrow and John Rawls, both of whom were wonderfully helpful in giving me their assessments and suggestions. The joint course was, in fact, quite a success both in getting many important issues discussed, and also in involving a remarkable circle of participants (who were sitting in as "auditors"), drawn from the established economists and philosophers in the Harvard region. (It was also quite well-known outside the campus: I was asked by a neighbour in a plane journey to San Francisco whether, as a teacher at Harvard, I had heard of an "apparently interesting" course taught by "Kenneth Arrow, John Rawls, and some unknown guy.")
There was another course I taught jointly, with Stephen Marglin and Prasanta Pattanaik (who too had come to Harvard), which was concerned with development as well as Policy making. This nicely supplemented my involvements in pure social choice theory (in fact, Marglin and Pattanaik were both very interested in examining the connection between social choice theory and other areas in economics).
From Delhi to London and Oxford
I left Delhi, in 1971, shortly after Collective Choice and Social Welfare was published in 1970. My wife, Nabaneeta Dev, with whom I have two children (Antara and Nandana), had constant trouble with her health in Delhi (mainly from asthma). London might have suited her better, but, as it happens, the marriage broke up shortly after we went to London.
Nabaneeta is a remarkably successful poet, literary critic and writer of novels and short stories (one of the most celebrated authors in contemporary Bengali literature), which she has combined, since our divorce, with being a University Professor at Jadavpur University in Calcutta. I learned many things from her, including the appreciation of poetry from an "internal" perspective. She had worked earlier on the distinctive style and composition of epic poetry, including the Sanskrit epics (particularly the Ramayana), and this I had got very involved in. Nabaneeta's parents were very well-known poets as well, and she seems to have borne her celebrity status – and the great many recognitions that have come her way – with unaffected approachability and warmth. She had visits from an unending stream of literary fans, and I understand, still does. (On one occasion, arrived a poet with a hundred new poems, with the declared intention of reading them aloud to her, to get her critical judgement, but since she was out, he said that he would instead settle for reading them to me. When I pleaded that I lacked literary sophistication, I was assured by the determined poet: "That is just right; I would like to know how the common man may react to my poetry." The common man, I am proud to say, reacted with appropriate dignity and self-control.)
When we moved to London, I was also going through some serious medical problems. In early 1952, at the age of 18 (when I was an undergraduate at Presidency College), I had cancer of the mouth, and it had been dealt with by a severe dose of radiation in a rather primitive Calcutta hospital. This was only seven years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the long-run effects of radiation were not much understood. The dose of radiation I got may have cured the cancer, but it also killed the bones in my hard palate. By 1971, it appeared that I had either a recurrence of the cancer, or a severe case of bone necrosis. The first thing I had to do on returning to England was to have a serious operation, without knowing whether it would be merely plastic surgery to compensate for the necrosis (a long and complicated operation in the mouth, but no real threat to survival), or much more demandingly, a fresh round of efforts at cancer eradication.
After the long operation (it had lasted nearly seven hours) when I woke up from the heavy anaesthesia, it was four o'clock in the morning. As a person with much impatience, I wanted to know what the surgeon had found. The nurse on duty said she was not allowed to tell me anything: "You must wait for the doctors to come at nine." This created some tension (I wanted to know what had emerged), which the nurse noticed. I could see that she was itching to tell me something: indeed (as I would know later) to tell me that no recurrence of cancer had been detected in the frozen-section biopsy that had been performed, and that the long operation was mainly one of reconstruction of the palate to compensate for the necrosis. She ultimately gave in, and chose an interesting form of communication, which I found quite striking (as well as kind). "You know," she said, "they were praising you very much!" It then dawned on me that not having cancer can be a subject for praise. Indeed lulled by praise, I went quietly back to my post-operative sleep. In later years, when I would try to work on judging the goodness of a society by the quality of health of the people, her endorsement of my praiseworthiness for being cancer-free would serve as a good reference point!
The intellectual atmosphere at the LSE in particular and in London in general was most gratifying, with a dazzling array of historians, economists, sociologists and others. It was wonderful to have the opportunity of seeing Eric Hobsbawm (the great historian) and his wife Marlene very frequently and to interact regularly with Frank and Dorothy Hahn, Terence and Dorinda Gorman, and many others. Our small neighbourhood in London (Bartholomew estate, within the Kentish Town) itself offered wonderful company of intellectual and artistic creativity and political involvement. Even after I took an Oxford job (Professor of Economics, 1977-80, Drummond Professor of Political Economy, 1980-87) later on, I could not be budged from living in London.
As I settled down at the London School of Economics in 1971, I resumed my work on social choice theory. Again, I had excellent students at LSE, and later on at Oxford. In addition to Kaushik Basu and Rajat Deb (who had come from Dehli), other students such as Siddiq Osmani, Ben Fine, Ravi Kanbur, Carl Hamilton, John Wriglesworth, David Kelsey, Yasumi Matsumoto, Jonathan Riley, produced distinguished Ph.D. theses on a variety of economic and social choice problems. It made me very proud that many of the results that became standard in social choice theory and welfare economics had first emerged in these Ph.D. theses.
I was also fortunate to have colleagues who were working on serious social choice problems, including Peter Hammond, Charles Blackorby, Kotaro Suzumura, Geoffrey Heal, Gracieda Chichilnisky, Ken Binmore, Wulf Gaertner, Eric Maskin, John Muellbauer, Kevin Roberts, Susan Hurley, at LSE or Oxford, or neighbouring British universities. (I also learned greatly from conversations with economists who were in other fields, but whose works were of great interest to me, including Sudhir Anand, Tony Atkinson, Christopher Bliss, Meghnad Desai, Terence Gorman, Frank Hahn, David Hendry, Richard Layard,
[James Mirrlees](/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1996/index.html), John Muellbauer, Steve Nickel, among others.) I also had the opportunity of collaboration with social choice theorists elsewhere, such as Claude d'Aspremont and Louis Gevers in Belgium, Koichi Hamada and Ken-ichi Inada in Japan (joined later by Suzumura when he returned there), and many others in America, Canada, Israel, Australia, Russia, and elsewhere). There were many new formal results and informal understandings that emerged in these works, and the gloom of "impossibility results" ceased to be the only prominent theme in the field. The 1970s were probably the golden years of social choice theory across the world. Personally, I had the sense of having a ball.
From social choice to inequality and poverty
The constructive possibilities that the new literature on social choice produced directed us immediately to making use of available statistics for a variety of economic and social appraisals: measuring economic inequality, judging poverty, evaluating projects, analyzing unemployment, investigating the principles and implications of liberty and rights, assessing gender inequality, and so on. My work on inequality was much inspired and stimulated by that of Tony Atkinson. I also worked for a while with Partha Dasgupta and David Starrett on measuring inequality (after having worked with Dasgupta and Stephen Marglin on project evaluation), and later, more extensively, with Sudhir Anand and James Foster.
My own interests gradually shifted from the pure theory of social choice to more "practical" problems. But I could not have taken them on without having some confidence that the practical exercises to be undertaken were also foundationally secure (rather than implicitly harbouring incongruities and impossibilities that could be exposed on deeper analytical probing). The progress of the pure theory of social choice with an expanded informational base was, in this sense, quite crucial for my applied work as well.
In the reorientation of my research, I benefited greatly from discussions with my wife, Eva Colorni, with whom I lived from 1973 onwards. Her critical standards were extremely exacting, but she also wanted to encourage me to work on issues of practical moment. Her personal background involved a fine mixture of theory and practice, with an Italian Jewish father (Eugenio Colorni was an academic philosopher and a hero of the Italian resistance who was killed by the fascists in Rome shortly before the Americans got there), a Berlinite Jewish mother (Ursula Hirschman was herself a writer and the brother of the great development economist, Albert Hirschman), and a stepfather who as a statesman had been a prime mover in uniting Europe (Altiero Spinelli was the founder of the "European Federalist movement," wrote its "Manifesto" from prison in 1941, and officially established the new movement, in the company of Eugenio Colorni, in Milan in 1943). Eva herself had studied law, philosophy and economics (in Pavia and in Delhi), and lectured at the City of London Polytechnic (now London Guildhall University). She was deeply humane (with a great passion for social justice) as well as fiercely rational (taking no theory for granted, subjecting each to reasoned assessment and scrutiny). She exercised a great influence on the standards and reach that I attempted to achieve in my work (often without adequate success).
Eva was very supportive of my attempt to use a broadened framework of social choice theory in a variety of applied problems: to assess poverty; to evaluate inequality; to clarify the nature of relative deprivation; to develop distribution-adjusted national income measures; to clarify the penalty of unemployment; to analyze violations of personal liberties and basic rights; and to characterize gender disparities and women's relative disadvantage. The results were mostly published in journals in the 1970s and early 1980s, but gathered together in two collections of articles (Choice, Welfare and Measurement and Resources, Values and Development, published, respectively, in 1982 and 1984).
The work on gender inequality was initially confined to analyzing available statistics on the male-female differential in India (I had a joint paper with Jocelyn Kynch on "Indian Women: Well-being and Survival" in 1982), but gradually moved to international comparisons (Commodities and Capabilities, 1985) and also to some general theory ("Gender and Cooperative Conflict," 1990). The theory drew both on empirical analysis of published statistics across the world, but also of data I freshly collected in India in the spring of 1983, in collaboration with Sunil Sengupta, comparing boys and girls from birth to age 5. (We weighed and studied every child in two largish villages in West Bengal; I developed some expertise in weighing protesting children, and felt quite proud of my accomplishment when, one day, my research assistant phoned me with a request to take over from her the job of weighing a child "who bites every hand within the reach of her teeth." I developed some vanity in being able to meet the challenge at the "biting end" of social choice research.)
Poverty, famines and deprivation
From the mid-1970s, I also started work on the causation and prevention of famines. This was initially done for the World Employment Programme of the
[International Labour Organization](/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1969/index.html), for which my 1981 book Poverty and Famines was written. (Louis Emmerij who led the programme took much personal interest in the work I was trying to do on famines.) I attempted to see famines as broad "economic" problems (concentrating on how people can buy food, or otherwise get entitled to it), rather than in terms of the grossly undifferentiated picture of aggregate food supply for the economy as a whole. The work was carried on later (from the middle of 1980s) under the auspices of the World Institute of Development Economics Research (WIDER) in Helsinki, which was imaginatively directed by Lal Jayawardena (an old friend who, as I noted earlier, had also been a contemporary of mine at Cambridge in the 1950s). Siddiq Osmani, my ex-student, ably led the programme on hunger and deprivation at WIDER. I also worked closely with Martha Nussbaum on the cultural side of the programme, during 1987-89.
By the mid-1980s, I was collaborating extensively with Jean Drèze, a young Belgian economist of extraordinary skill and remarkable dedication. My understanding of hunger and deprivation owes a great deal to his insights and investigations, and so does my recent work on development, which has been mostly done jointly with him. Indeed, my collaboration with Jean has been extremely fruitful for me, not only because I have learned so much from his, imaginative initiatives and insistent thoroughness, but also because it is hard to beat an arrangement for joint work whereby Jean does most of the work whereas I get a lot of the credit.
While these were intensely practical matters, I also got more and more involved in trying to understand the nature of individual advantage in terms of the substantive freedoms that different persons respectively enjoy, in the form of the capability to achieve valuable things. If my work in social choice theory was initially motivated by a desire to overcome Arrow's pessimistic picture by going beyond his limited informational base, my work on social justice based on individual freedoms and capabilities was similarly motivated by an aspiration to learn from, but go beyond, John Rawls's elegant theory of justice, through a broader use of available information. My intellectual life has been much influenced by the contributions as well as the wonderful helpfulness of both Arrow and Rawls.
Harvard and beyond
In the late 1980s, I had reason to move again from where I was. My wife, Eva, developed a difficult kind of cancer (of the stomach), and died quite suddenly in 1985. We had young children (Indrani and Kabir – then 10 and 8 respectively), and I wanted to take them away to another country, where they would not miss their mother constantly. The liveliness of America appealed to us as an alternative location, and I took the children with me to "taste" the prospects in the American universities that made me an offer.
Indrani and Kabir rapidly became familiar with several campuses (Stanford, Berkeley, Yale, Princeton, Harvard, UCLA, University of Texas at Austin, among them), even though their knowledge of America outside academia remained rather limited. (They particularly enjoyed visiting their grand uncle and aunt, Albert and Sarah Hirschman, at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton; as a Trustee of the Institute, visits to Princeton were also very pleasurable occasions for me.) I guess I was, to some extent, imposing my preference for the academic climate on the children, by confining the choice to universities only, but I did not really know what else to do. However, I must confess that I worried a little when I overheard my son Kabir, then nine years old, responding to a friendly American's question during a plane journey as to whether he knew Washington, D.C.. "Is that city," I heard Kabir say, "closer to Palo Alto or to New Haven?"
We jointly chose Harvard, and it worked out extremely well. My colleagues in economics and philosophy were just superb, some of whom I knew well from earlier on (including John Rawls and Tim Scanlon in philosophy, and Zvi Griliches, Dale Jorgenson, Janos Kornai, Stephen Marglin in economics), but there were also others whom I came to know after arriving at Harvard. I greatly enjoyed teaching regular joint courses with Robert Nozick and Eric Maskin, and also on occasions, with John Rawls and Thomas Scanlon (in philosophy) and with Jerry Green, Stephen Marglin and David Bloom (in economics). I could learn also from academics in many other fields as well, not least at the Society of Fellows where I served as a Senior Fellow for nearly a decade. Also, I was again blessed with wonderful students in economics, philosophy, public health and government, who did excellent theses, including Andreas Papandreou (who moved with me from Oxford to Harvard, and did a major book on externality and the environment), Tony Laden (who, among many other things, clarified the game-theoretic structure of Rawlsian theory of justice), Stephan Klasen (whose work on gender inequality in survival is possibly the most definitive work in this area), Felicia Knaul (who worked on street children and the economic and social challenges they face), Jennifer Ruger (who substantially advance the understanding of health as a public policy concern), and indeed many others with whom I greatly enjoyed working.
The social choice problems that had bothered me earlier on were by now more analyzed and understood, and I did have, I thought, some understanding of the demands of fairness, liberty and equality. To get firmer understanding of all this, it was necessary to pursue further the search for an adequate characterization of individual advantage. This had been the subject of my Tanner Lectures on Human Values at Stanford in 1979 (published as a paper, "Equality of What?" in 1980) and in a more empirical form, in a second set of Tanner Lectures at Cambridge in 1985 (published in 1987 as a volume of essays, edited by Geoffrey Hawthorne, with contributions by Bernard Williams, Ravi Kanbur, John Muellbauer, and Keith Hart). The approach explored sees individual advantage not merely as opulence or utility, but primarily in terms of the lives people manage to live and the freedom they have to choose the kind of life they have reason to value. The basic idea here is to pay attention to the actual "capabilities" that people end up having. The capabilities depend both on our physical and mental characteristics as well as on social opportunities and influences (and can thus serve as the basis not only of assessment of personal advantage but also of efficiency and equity of social policies). I was trying to explore this approach since my Tanner Lectures in 1979; there was a reasonably ambitious attempt at linking theory to empirical exercises in my book Commodities and Capabilities, published in 1985. In my first few years at Harvard, I was much concerned with developing this perspective further.
The idea of capabilities has strong Aristotelian connections, which I came to understand more fully with the help of Martha Nussbaum, a scholar with a remarkably extensive command over classical philosophy as well as contemporary ethics and literary studies. I learned a great deal from her, and we also collaborated in a number of studies during 1987-89, including in a collection of essays that pursued this approach in terms of philosophical as well as economic reasoning (Quality of Life was published in 1993, but the essays were from a conference at WIDER in Helsinki in 1988).
During my Harvard years up to about 1991, I was much involved in analyzing the overall implications of this perspective on welfare economics and political philosophy (this is reported in my book, Inequality Reexamined, published in 1992). But it was also very nice to get involved in some new problems, including the characterization of rationality, the demands of objectivity, and the relation between facts and values. I used the old technique of offering courses on them (sometimes jointly with Robert Nozick) and through that learning as much as I taught. I started taking an interest also in health equity (and in public health in particular, in close collaboration with Sudhir Anand), a challenging field of application for concepts of equity and justice. Harvard's ample strength in an immense variety of subjects gives one scope for much freedom in the choice of work and of colleagues to talk to, and the high quality of the students was a total delight as well. My work on inequality in terms of variables other than incomes was also helped by the collaboration of
[Angus Deaton](/nobel_prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/2015/deaton-facts.html) and James Foster.
It was during my early years at Harvard that my old friend, Mahbub ul Haq, who had been a fellow student at Cambridge (and along with his wife, Bani, a very old and close friend), returned back into my life in a big way. Mahbub's professional life had taken him from Cambridge to Yale, then back to his native Pakistan, with intermediate years at the World Bank. In 1989 he was put in charge, by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), of the newly planned "Human Development Reports." Mahbub insisted that I work with him to help develop a broader informational approach to the assessment of development. This I did with great delight, partly because of the exciting nature of the work, but also because of the opportunity of working closely with such an old and wonderful friend. Human Development Reports seem to have received a good deal of attention in international circles, and Mahbub was very successful in broadening the informational basis of the assessment of development. His sudden death in 1998 has robbed the world of one of the leading practical reasoners in the world of contemporary economics.
India and Bangladesh
What about India? While I have worked abroad since 1971, I have constantly retained close connections with Indian universities, I have, of course, a special relation with Delhi University, where I have been an honorary professor since leaving my full-time job there in 1971, and I use this excuse to subject Delhi students to lectures whenever I get a chance. For various reasons – personal as well as academic – the peripatetic life seems to suit me, in this respect. After my student days in Cambridge in 1953-56, I guess I have never been away from India for more than six months at a time. This – combined with my remaining exclusively an Indian citizen – gives me, I think, some entitlement to speak on Indian public affairs, and this remains a constant involvement.
It is also very engaging – and a delight – to go back to Bangladesh as often as I can, which is not only my old home, but also where some of my closest friends and collaborators live and work. This includes Rehman Sobhan to whom I have been very close from my student days (he remains as sceptical of formal economics and its reach as he was in the early 1950s), and also Anisur Rehman (who is even more sceptical), Kamal Hossain, Jamal Islam, Mushairaf Hussain, among many others, who are all in Bangladesh.
When the Nobel award came my way, it also gave me an opportunity to do something immediate and practical about my old obsessions, including literacy, basic health care and gender equity, aimed specifically at India and Bangladesh. The Pratichi Trust, which I have set up with the help of some of the prize money, is, of course, a small effort compared with the magnitude of these problems. But it is nice to re-experience something of the old excitement of running evening schools, more than fifty years ago, in villages near Santiniketan.
From campus to campus
As far as my principal location is concerned, now that my children have grown up, I could seize the opportunity to move back to my old Cambridge college, Trinity. I accepted the offer of becoming Master of the College from January 1998 (though I have not cut my connections with Harvard altogether). The reasoning was not independent of the fact that Trinity is not only my old college where my academic life really began, but it also happens to be next door to King's, where my wife, Emma Rothschild, is a Fellow, and Director of the Centre for History and Economics. Her forthcoming book on Adam Smith also takes on the hard task of reinterpreting the European Enlightenment. It so happens that one principal character in this study is Condorcet, who was also one of the originators of social choice theory, which is very pleasing (and rather useful as well).
Emma too is a convinced academic (a historian and an economist), and both her parents had long connections with Cambridge and with the University. Between my four children, and the two of us, the universities that the Sen family has encountered include Calcutta University, Cambridge University, Jadavpur University, Delhi University, L.S.E., Oxford University, Harvard University, M.I.T., University of California at Berkeley, Stanford University, Cornell University, Smith College, Wesleyan University, among others. Perhaps one day we can jointly write an illustrated guide to the universities.
I end this essay where I began – at a university campus. It is not quite the same at 65 as it was at 5. But it is not so bad even at an older age (especially, as Maurice Chevalier has observed, "considering the alternative" ). Nor are university campuses quite as far removed from life as is often presumed. Robert Goheen has remarked, "if you feel that you have both feet planted on level ground, then the university has failed you." Right on. But then who wants to be planted on ground? There are places to go.
This autobiography/biography was written
at the time of the award and later published in the book series
Prix Nobel/](/nobel_organizations/nobelfoundation/publications/lesprix.html) [Nobel Lectures](/nobel_organizations/nobelfoundation/publications/lectures/index.html)/ [The Nobel Prizes](/nobel_organizations/nobelfoundation/publications/nobel-prizes.html). The information is sometimes updated with an addendum submitted
by the Laureate.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
See them all presented here.
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Burnley sign defender Jason Shackell from Derby County
Defender Jason Shackell has left Derby County to join Burnley for a fee thought to be around £1.1m.
The 28-year-old centre-back has signed a four-year contract at Turf Moor and becomes their third summer signing.
Former Norwich, Wolves and Barnsley man Shackell played every minute of all 49 games for Derby last season.
The Rams had previously
[turned down four bids](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18554360) from three different clubs for Shackell, but accepted an undisclosed offer from the Clarets.
[BBC Radio Lancashire:](http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/sport/index.shtml) "I knew Derby were quite keen to get some money in so I thought it could be a possibility.
"I had a great year there last year and I got on really well with the lads. It's a fantastic club and I really did enjoy my time.
"But if the club wanted to cash in, as they say, it left me in a difficult position. I'm not going to hang about somewhere where you're not sure where you stand.
"Once I met the gaffer (Eddie Howe) and his team, I was very impressed and I was really looking forward to coming down.
"The last four or five years have been crazy and I'm looking forward to getting settled somewhere. Hopefully I'll be here for a few years to come."
Derby boss Nigel Clough said: "Jason has always been 100% professional and a fantastic player to work with. Having played every minute of every game last season it came as no surprise that other clubs were interested.
"Although I am sad to see Jason leave, we have Jake Buxton, Tom Naylor and Mark O'Brien, who have all proved to be more than capable at performing in the Championship."
Leicester City and Cardiff City were also understood to be interested.
Burnley have also added
[Mansfield defender Luke O'Neill](https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/18424626) and [Leyton Orient winger George Porter](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18694824) to their squad since the end of the season.
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Tottenham have confirmed they rejected a bid from Manchester United for England midfielder Michael Carrick.
Man Utd must up their bid to prise Carrick from Spurs
BBC Sport's Jonathan Legard exclusively revealed on Friday evening that Spurs had turned down a £10m offer for 24-year-old Carrick.
Then on Saturday a Spurs spokeswoman said: "We can confirm we have rejected a bid from Manchester United for Michael Carrick.
"Michael Carrick is a player we are not looking to sell."
Spurs are understood to have told United to double their offer for Carrick, who is part of England's squad at the World Cup.
However, it is thought an offer of £15m might seal a transfer for the midfielder, who Tottenham purchased for £2.75m from West Ham in August 2004.
Manchester United faxed their £10m bid to Spurs on Friday, but it was swiftly turned down.
Carrick's agent, David Giess, declined to comment when contacted by BBC Sport late on Friday.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson wants Carrick as a replacement for Roy Keane who left the club last December.
But the timing of the offer may not have pleased England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Eriksson is reported to be at loggerheads with Ferguson after declaring Wayne Rooney "injury free" and almost ready to return to action with England in Germany.
Rooney, 20, is still recovering from breaking a metatarsal in his right foot on 29 April and United do not want him to be risked too soon.
The England coach will want Carrick to concentrate fully on the World Cup rather than the speculation surrounding which club he will start next season with.
Manchester United have not commented about their bid for Carrick and it is unclear whether they will increase their offer.
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Rudy Giuliani called the NYPD on Sacha Baron Cohen over prank interview
Rudy Giuliani called the NYPD when "Borat" star Sacha Baron Cohen — wearing a spangly pink bikini — tried to prank him into a spoof interview.
The former mayor and personal attorney to President Trump went to the Mark Hotel on Tuesday for what he thought was a serious interview about the administration's response to
[COVID-19.](https://nypost.com/coronavirus/) He said he was offered payment for the interview, and asked that the money be donated to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
A female interviewer began the conversation in a room fitted out with a professional set-up of lights and camera with a few softball questions before, as Giuliani tells us, "This guy comes running in, wearing a crazy, what I would say was a pink transgender outfit.
"It was a pink bikini, with lace, underneath a translucent mesh top, it looked absurd. He had the beard, bare legs, and wasn't what I would call distractingly attractive."
Giuliani, 76, said he didn't immediately recognize the gate-crasher as Cohen: "This person comes in yelling and screaming, and I thought this must be a scam or a shake-down, so I reported it to the police. He then ran away."
Other sources said Cohen, 48, was seen sprinting out of the swanky Upper East Side hotel — a favorite with celebrities and the scene of Meghan Markle's starry 2019 baby shower — and down 77th Street wearing just a bathrobe but was not apprehended by cops, who did arrive to investigate. The NYPD did not comment.
Giuliani explained, "I only later realized it must have been Sacha Baron Cohen. I thought about all the people he previously fooled and I felt good about myself because he didn't get me." A rep for Cohen declined to comment.
However, the former New York City mayor added, "I am a fan of some of his movies, 'Borat' in particular, because I've been to Kazakhstan. [Adopting a Borat accent, Guiliani repeats a famous line from the movie:] 'She is my sister. She is number four prostitute in all of Kazakhstan.' That was pretty funny."
Baron Cohen last week
[gatecrashed a right-wing event in Washington](https://nypost.com/2020/06/28/sacha-baron-cohen-poses-as-country-singer-at-right-wing-event/?_ga=2.61280431.207222397.1594059049-1787833842.1590516714) posing as a racist country singer — where he encouraged the crowd to chant along to lyrics about liberals getting "chopped up" or "injected with the Wuhan flu."
Dressed in dungarees, a cowboy hat and a fake beard, the "Borat" comedian tricked organizers of Saturday's event by the "Three Percenters" militia group by producing a last-minute big-money donation, according to reports and organizers.
The professional prankster then took to the stage in Olympia, getting some the audience to chant along with extreme lyrics including, "Obama, what we gonna do? Inject him with the Wuhan flu … WHO what we gonna do? Chop 'em up like the Saudis do," seemingly a sick reference to murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
He also wished the same for "sushi eaters" — and worse for "Chinese people," singing that they should "nuke them up like in World War II."
When event organizers finally "bum-rushed" the stage, the prankster and his entourage fled into a waiting decoy ambulance.
Many speculated that it could have been a stunt for a new season of his Showtime comedy "Who Is America?," but the network has not commented.
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We can't find the page you are looking for!
You are looking for a page that does not exist: this is either because the file has been changed/removed or you followed a broken link, but do not fear! I'm sure we can get you back on track.
What to do?
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Sacha Baron Cohen played a crass Kazakhstan journalist
A legal case filed against the producers of the Borat movie, by a man who briefly appeared in the film, has been dismissed by a judge in New York.
Jeffrey Lemerond, who appeared in the trailer and a 13-second clip of the film sued 20th Century Fox in June, claiming his image was used illegally.
Lemerond was shown running and yelling "go away" as Borat attempted to hug strangers on a New York street.
US District Judge Loretta Preska said the clip could be deemed "newsworthy".
She said while the film appealed "to the most childish and vulgar in its viewers," it attempted "an ironic commentary of 'modern' American culture".
Lemerond's lawyer Eric Hecker said he would appeal the ruling.
"We think New York law is clear that a corporation like 20th Century Fox is not entitled to pluck an otherwise anonymous citizen out of a crowd and subject him to public humiliation in order to make a buck," he said.
In legal papers filed last year, Lemerond said he suffered "public ridicule, degradation and humiliation" because of his appearance in the film.
The action is one of several that have been brought against the 2006 comedy which starred British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.
Others who have claimed they were defamed or tricked into appearing include two South Carolina students, a Maryland driving instructor, Romanian villagers and an etiquette teacher.
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Bid for an auction and win the chance to hit the gym with the cricket star!
Lately Virat Kohli has been in the news for his linkup with Anushka Sharma and IPL than anything else. However, there is another side to him. Last year he set uo The Virat Kohli Foundationand now along with eBay India, and Mana Shetty's Save The Children India he is holding a live charity auction (from May 6-16) which will give the winning bidder a chance to enjoy a gym session with Virat. The cricketer will work out with the highest bidder and provide tips to stay fit. The proceeds from this charity auction will be used to educate the less privileged differently-abled children supported by Save The Children India.
This is the first time you are doing something like this..
I would give all the credit to my nephew for inspiring me to say yes. I am very close to him and having him in my life has made me more aware and mindful of certain issues such as children's health and education. So when I was presented with the opportunity to participate in this auction where I would be doing what I enjoy the most --- working out -- with the winner of the auction, I didn't want to say anything but yes! Also this is just one of the many initiatives, as the Virat Kohli Foundation is up and running now, so I hope to continue making more substantial contributions and undertake several meaningful projects in the future. The VKF was launched in 2013 to make long term valuable contributions to the society, by undertaking meaningful initiatives and projects.
What does the VKF do?
Along with initiating independent projects, we aim at working with select NGO's to create awareness, seek support and raise funds for the various causes they endorse and the philanthropic work they engage in.
Why did you pick this cause?
I can't emphasize enough on the role education plays in a child's development. I realize how lightly we take it, when we hail from financially stable and well to do families. Not only that, we take for granted that every child who goes to school has the same abilities as ourselves, which makes us completely ignorant to the struggles of children who are not as blessed as us in terms of physical and intellectual attributes. But when we look closely, beyond our own selves, we realize that education, more so good education is actually a luxury.
As a society I think we tend to have a very rigid approach to education, wherein ones academic performance is given paramount importance. Vocational training has very recently started getting impetus; however, education for the differently abled is a still a sector which needs a lot of attention. We need smart, good and compassionate course architects and teachers who would be able to aptly design and structure a friendly educational program for the differently abled kids which will foster their growth and development. I laud the work being done by Save the Children India in this regard. On another note, I wish sports were used more extensively as a tool for imparting education. We underestimate the power of sports.
How important is charity for a celebrity?
I think supporting a charity is a matter of personal passion, willingness and preference. As far as I am concerned, I feel it's very important, because it gives me an opportunity to make that little bit of positive impact in society of which I am an integral part. In the past, I have supported a few charities and charitable initiatives but I aim to streamline it now and that is the reason behind the commissioning of Virat Kohli Foundation.
Why a gym session with you and not a date?
Fitness is an integral component in any sportpersons life, and it's undoubtedly something I take very seriously. We often marvel at the fitness and endurance levels of professional footballers and other track and field athletes, but at times ignore the countless hours that they put in off the field, right from diet, to nutrition and recovery. I take my personal fitness as a challenge and keep raising the bar for myself every season. Most of my gym workouts are done during gaps between matches and series, where my primary focus is on weight and strength training. On a daily basis, my work out routine is focused on core exercises and cardio, which help in my concentration and reflexes.
Three tips on the best way to stay fit.
I'd say the best fitness tip to anyone is to firstly monitor your diet and be careful with that you eat. Maintaining a balanced diet is critical in ones daily routine, and finding that right mix between your fats, carbohydrates and protein. Secondly, I'm a firm believer in some form of outdoor sport of your choice, as apart from keeping you fit, its therapeutic as well. Finally, it's important to maintain a good body clock, as adequate sleep keeps the mind refreshed and relaxed. On tour I follow a similar routine of core workouts and cardio, as we tend to burn a lot of energy during games, so my workout regimes also aid in my rest and recovery. Our team has a nutritionist and trainer at all times, so I make sure I follow all my set programs.
On the cricket front, has it been a big challenge to deal with the level of expectations from cricket lovers? How do you cope with it?
Playing cricket for India is an honor and a privilege, and the love from our fans makes us who we are. I always put in 100% on and off the field and always aim at being focused and consistent with my performances and I guess that's what any cricket lover appreciates. The process and effort is more important than the end result, and if you are true to yourself in your preparation people will continue to support you.
* I think supporting a charity is a matter of personal passion, willingness and preference. As far as I am concerned, I feel it's very important, because it gives me an opportunity to make that little bit of positive impact in society of which I am an integral part.
* I'm a firm believer in some form of outdoor sport of your choice, as apart from keeping you fit, its therapeutic as well. Finally, it's important to maintain a good body clock, as adequate sleep keeps the mind refreshed and relaxed.
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[Moeen Ali](/cricketers/moeen-ali-8917) [Jonny Bairstow](/cricketers/jonny-bairstow-297433) [Harry Brook](/cricketers/harry-brook-911707) [Jos Buttler](/cricketers/jos-buttler-308967) [Sam Curran](/cricketers/sam-curran-662973) [Liam Livingstone](/cricketers/liam-livingstone-403902) [Adil Rashid](/cricketers/adil-rashid-244497) [Joe Root](/cricketers/joe-root-303669) [Phil Salt](/cricketers/phil-salt-669365) [Mark Wood](/cricketers/mark-wood-351588)
Alphabetically sorted top ten of players who have played the most matches across formats in the last 12 months
James Norman Knight Shannon
February 12, 1990, Belfast
Right hand Bat
Right arm Offbreak
Middle order Batter
A player on the fringes of the Ireland set-up for a considerable time, middle-order batsman James Shannon earned a place in the country's first Test squad against Pakistan in May 2018 having previously played a combined three internationals - one ODI and two T20Is - in three years between 2013 and 2016.
Coming through the Ireland age-group system, representing them at all levels from Under-13s to Under-19s, he was a major contributor to the Under-19 side's path to the 2010 U-19 World Cup in New Zealand. Shannon finished with 266 runs at an average of 38 during the team's championship run at the global qualifier in Toronto, where he finished third on the team in scoring - behind only Paul Stirling and Andy Balbirnie. His time at the junior World Cup in New Zealand, however, was far less successful, where he scored only three runs in three matches before being dropped.
After developing through Instonians CC in the Belfast area club scene, he failed to secure a contract with Worcestershire following several trial opportunities in their second XI. His appearances for Cardiff MCCU also failed to attract any suitors from the English county scene before Shannon headed back to his native Belfast after graduation to represent Northern Knights in Ireland's Interprovincial domestic competition.
He parlayed some decent performances against South Africa A in the summer of 2012 for more opportunities in 2013, when his ODI debut came against Pakistan. He made his Intercontinental Cup debut later that summer against the Netherlands before being picked in Ireland's squad for the World T20 Qualifier in the UAE at the end of the year where he made nine runs in three appearances, which included a win over Afghanistan in the tournament final.
Since the end of 2013, opportunities have been sparse for Shannon with his only subsequent T20I appearance coming against Hong Kong at the end of the 2016 home summer. He has kept knocking at the door anyway with Northern Knights in the InterPro competition and has been picked in multiple squads for the Ireland Wolves against A sides from New Zealand and Bangladesh. He was included in Ireland's squad for the 2018 World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, but he never took the field. His status as the favoured option to fill the reserve batsman role, however, was reinforced when he was included in the 14-man Test squad for Ireland's inaugural men's Test against Pakistan.
James Shannon Career Stats
Batting & Fielding
Explore Statsguru Analysis
Recent Matches of James Shannon
[Dublin](/cricket-grounds/the-vineyard-dublin-213088) [List A](/series/bdesh-in-ireland-2019-1168498/ireland-a-vs-bangladeshis-tour-match-1182662/full-scorecard) [Knights vs Leinster](/series/inter-pro-od-2019-1178115/northern-knights-vs-leinster-lightning-3rd-match-1178131/full-scorecard) [Cartagena](/cricket-grounds/la-manga-club-top-ground-514137) [List A](/series/inter-pro-od-2019-1178115/northern-knights-vs-leinster-lightning-3rd-match-1178131/full-scorecard) [Knights vs NW Warriors](/series/inter-pro-od-2019-1178115/north-west-warriors-vs-northern-knights-2nd-match-1178130/full-scorecard) [Cartagena](/cricket-grounds/la-manga-club-top-ground-514137) [List A](/series/inter-pro-od-2019-1178115/north-west-warriors-vs-northern-knights-2nd-match-1178130/full-scorecard) [Ireland A vs Sri Lanka A](/series/ireland-a-in-sri-lanka-2018-19-1170357/sri-lanka-a-vs-ireland-a-2nd-unofficial-odi-1170370/full-scorecard) [Hambantota](/cricket-grounds/mahinda-rajapaksa-international-cricket-stadium-sooriyawewa-hambantota-434210) [List A](/series/ireland-a-in-sri-lanka-2018-19-1170357/sri-lanka-a-vs-ireland-a-2nd-unofficial-odi-1170370/full-scorecard) [Ireland A vs Sri Lanka A](/series/ireland-a-in-sri-lanka-2018-19-1170357/sri-lanka-a-vs-ireland-a-1st-unofficial-odi-1170369/full-scorecard) [Hambantota](/cricket-grounds/mahinda-rajapaksa-international-cricket-stadium-sooriyawewa-hambantota-434210) [List A](/series/ireland-a-in-sri-lanka-2018-19-1170357/sri-lanka-a-vs-ireland-a-1st-unofficial-odi-1170369/full-scorecard)
Debut/Last Matches of James Shannon
List A Matches
News and Features about James Shannon
[Stuart Poynter and Jacob Mulder are the only two players from the recent UAE tri-series to miss out on the 15-man squad for the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe in March26-Jan-2018•ESPNcricinfo staff](/story/ireland-opt-for-experience-in-world-cup-qualifying-squad-1134502)
Ireland opt for experience in World Cup qualifying squad
[Cricket Ireland has named an unchanged squad for the World Twenty20 from the one that is currently touring West Indies14-Feb-2014•ESPNcricinfo staff](/story/ireland-opt-for-settled-world-t20-squad-718655)
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A Chat with Margaret Bennett
From the Cradle to the Grave
By Frank R. Shaw, FSA Scot, Atlanta, GA, USA
I note you are referred to as a folklorist. When did you first become
interested in folklore? It is an unusual occupation, so what happened in
your life to entice you to become a folklorist, and what part has music
played in your life as a result?
A: I was brought up
on the Isle of Skye, home for generations to my mothers family, the
Stewarts. My fathers side of the family is Lowland Scots and Irish, and
my three sisters and I were brought up in a household where singing,
playing music, dancing and storytelling were a way of life as were
traditional crafts. Our mother sang, our father played the bagpipes, and
when we moved to the Isle of Lewis in the late 50s, we settled in another
community where the ceilidh house was also the way of life. From 1964
through 1966 we lived in the Shetland Islands, till my father emigrated to
Newfoundland in eastern Canada. Growing up steeped in tradition I could
hardly miss -- in fact the way of life must have schooled me, especially
in my grandparents home in Uig. Im reminded of Sir Walter Scott, in
writing his Memoirs he looked back with joy to his childhood when he was
fed with the legendary lore of the Borders as with a mothers milk
tasted both Highland and Lowland in my childhood and youth and have never
lost my appetite for either.
Q: Is there one teacher, family member or friend who encouraged,
inspired and instilled in you the moral fortitude to become the person
Hamish Henderson references as one of the few scholars on either side of
the Atlantic who succeed in combining such a wide range of skills
has to her credit an enviable record of solid ethnological scholarship?
A: My grandfather,
John Stewart, was every childs dream grandfather - eyes that shone with a
great sense of humour, fun, sometimes mischief - but with the
fundamentally sound moral values that upheld right, loyalty, kindness,
goodness, and cared deeply about culture and the environment. A
crofter-fisherman, he was not only widely read with an astounding general
knowledge, but was full of all kinds of traditional lore and curiosities
that fascinated me. As a child I was not an avid reader, in fact I was a
pretty poor reader, but I loved to listen intently and picture the details
in my mind. He seemed so wise and compassionate to me - and I also took to
his saying if something is worth doing, its worth doing well. And his
own life exemplified the things he believed in and upheld. (I did,
however, become a very devoted reader - and still am, albeit slow!)
Q: Tell us briefly about your educational background as a student
and a teacher.
Primary schooling: Portree High School, Isle of Skye; Secondary schooling:
The Nicolson Institute, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis and The Anderson
Educational Institute, Lerwick, Shetland.
Diploma of College of Education (with distinction), Glasgow, three-year
course in teacher training, 1967
B.A. (Education) Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's,
Newfoundland, Canada, 1970.
M.A. (Post-graduate) Department of Folklore, M.U.N, 1975. Thesis: Some
Aspects of the Scottish Gaelic Traditions of the Codroy Valley,
Newfoundland (350 pp).
Ph.D, The University of Edinburgh, 1994: Hebridean Traditions of the
Townships of Quebec: A Study in Cultural Identity (450+ pp).
Teaching: My first teaching job was 1968-69: Elementary school teacher in
St. John, Newfoundland - in the days when classes had over 40 children
with age range 7 to 11!
l977-84: Teacher (Special Education), Scottish Education Department. (I
set up a unit for children with learning difficulties and a curriculum
that included many aspects of folklore - learning through tradition
of songs, games, crafts, etc.)
1984-1995: Lecturer in Scottish Ethnology, School of Scottish Studies, The
University of Edinburgh
October 1995: Honorary Research Fellow of the University of Glasgow School
of Scottish Studies (I only do occasional lectures.)
Freelance - I have been in the planning of two new degrees and prepared
course work and taught on both.
For three years with Orkney College (part of the University of the
Highlands) - planned course, taught via IT and prepared a CD-Rom on
Since 1998, part time at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama - I
teach folklore to singers and musicians and many summer schools.
Q: At one time or another, all of us appear to be a little
superstitious. Over the years, I have read extensively about Scotland and
her people and have come to the conclusion they are far more superstitious
than most people. Would you elaborate on the superstitious nature of the
Scots, particularly the Highlanders, as it relates to your book?
Highlanders have the reputation of being the most superstitious, in my own
years in Edinburgh and Glasgow - as Lowland as you get - I have often been
taken by surprise by any number of instances that could match the most
superstitious Gael. Even students who at first seem urban and cool have
told me the most astonishing experience and hearsays. Ghosts, second
sight, fears that seem unfounded
But reflecting upon todays young people
when I ponder on their attitude, etc., and regard their self assured ways,
it occurred to me last week when I read (I have to say with dismay) that
the students of the Stirling University union were proposing to have all
Gideon Bibles removed from all student residences because they could be
offensive to people of other faiths than Christians. Apart from my fearing
that this is secular fundamentalism gone mad, it strikes me that these
students must be incredibly superstitious if they cannot tolerate a book
reputed to have wonderful spiritual power - they seem so fearful they have
to legislate removal! Is this not beyond all superstition that earned the
Highlanders their reputation?
Q: I am familiar with the four-volume set of books entitled Popular
Tales of the West Highlands by J. F. Campbell, which consists of 1,743
pages. In addition to your own book, SCOTTISH CUSTOMS, From the Cradle to
the Grave, which I recommend highly, are there any books from your
extensive bibliography you could recommend that might not be as long or
tedious as Campbells books?
A: My desert island
book would have to be Martin Martin's A Description of the Western Isles
of Scotland circa 1695 (1703).
Q: SCOTTISH CUSTOMS is an amazing book, a good book. How long did
it take you to compile the information from the beginning until the book
was published and what problems did you encounter?
A: I began to
collect material for this when I taught a course in Custom and Belief at
the University of Edinburgh. Finding too little material (at least between
the covers of one book), I decided Id put one together - I drip-fed the
project for about two years, tried to identify gaps and fill them with
newly recorded information as and when I could. Since I was
teaching/lecturing full time and supervising several Ph.D. students, I had
to fit this in to my work schedule. But I didnt write a single word of it
at the University! I have an early morning habit - if I can put in some
time before the day begins, then each day counts. My day still begins
around 5 or 6 a.m. and, lazy as it sounds, I quit writing not long after
breakfast and do all the other stuff that beckons me.
Q: What is the most unusual interview you conducted while compiling
this book? How did you decide to write about these Scottish customs?
A: The most unusual,
or unexpected, was Don Ratter, a Shetlander who lives in New Zealand -
over 90 years old he attended a Burns supper where I was guest speaker,
singer, and over dinner I went to speak to him simply because he was the
oldest man in the room and also seemed so alert. I was so surprised when
he spoke, and recognized his accent at once (that surprised him), asked
where EXACTLY he grew up. When he told me the very street in Lerwick and
asked if I knew it, I said, Know it? Thats the street we lived on when
we moved there in 1963! Next day I borrowed a tape recorder from a
library, found the senior citizens home, and paid him a visit. Only an
excerpt is in the book.
Q: A few years back, my wife Susan and I made a trip to Scotland to
attend the wedding on the Black Isle of our Atlanta-area friends Eric and
Jennifer Coggin who wanted to be married in the auld country. John Shaw of
Tordarroch, Chief of Clan Shaw who, at the time, lived just a few miles
away at Newhall, arranged the wedding. Over two dozen family members and
friends from America attended. Is this custom on the increase? If so, why
do you think a couple goes to all that trouble to be married in Scotland?
A: Is it the
romantic setting of castles, mountains, lochs? I think well need to ask
Madonna - shes done a lot to inspire Scottish weddings - definitely on
Q: The diary entry on page 59 of your book tells of Paula and Will
who lived in San Francisco and had returned home to Scotland to have their
child, Peter, christened in Edinburgh at St Michael and All Saints
Church, the church of their wedding. Our own grandson was christened with
water I brought back from the centuries-old baptismal font near Dunlichity
Church off the A9 about 12 miles below Inverness. Why is returning home
for a christening important, and based on your knowledge of Scottish
customs from the cradle to the grave, why is water from Scotland to
christen a wee baby from an outdoors font made by nature of such
A: Christening in
. There seems to be deep need within all of us to feel that we
belong somewhere, that we have roots, and preferably somewhere that
exemplifies aspects that are important to us - not just the physical
beauty of mountains and lochs, or even cultural features such as language,
literature, song, music, but more importantly, a place where values such
as loyalty, honesty, integrity, trust, fairness, faithfulness, justice,
and devotion are upheld. And it may be that the more we look at the trends
of the modern world and its lack of these values, the more we may look to
the place (even in our imagination) where we believe these values have
deep roots. And Scotland is such a place, regardless of changes in the
present day. We need only look at its history, especially clan history, to
be assured of this.
Q: I enjoyed your presentation recently at the annual Scottish
symposium hosted by the St. Andrews College Scottish Heritage Center in
Laurinburg, NC. It was a pleasure meeting you there, and I thank you for
the courtesies you have extended to me during our email interview. Is
there something you would like to leave with our readers before you depart
for your trip to Bulgaria?
A: Off to Bulgaria
tomorrow - my thoughts
? If anyone is reading my book, Id hope they might
find themselves awakening to aspects of their own culture they had either
overlooked or taken for granted, that they might consider how important
these colorful facets of life are for they all make up our identity.
Folklore is our mirror of culture - so, I hope to look at Bulgaria with
fresh eyes; I might occasionally see the reflection of my own culture in
theirs. The common features, such as the landmarks in our lives or on our
calendar, help us understand one another. I dont speak the language, but
I hope I can share the common language of music.
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General Motors will accelerate its global retrenchment by shutting down its Australian brand Holden, the automaker announced Monday, while also pulling the Chevrolet brand out of Thailand and selling its manufacturing complex there to China's Great Wall Motors.
The moves come as part of a broader global downsizing GM has undertaken since Mary Barra came aboard as chief executive officer in 2014. What was the world's largest automaker for more than 70 years has since pulled out of a variety of markets where it has been unable to sustain a profit, including Russia, South Africa and Europe, GM selling off its money-losing Opel-Vauxhall operation to France's Groupe PSA three years ago.
"I've often said that we will do the right thing, even when it's hard, and this is one of those times," said Barra in a statement released Monday morning Australian time. "We are restructuring our international operations, focusing on markets where we have the right strategies to drive robust returns, and prioritizing global investments that will drive growth in the future of mobility, especially in the areas of EVs and AVs," or electric and autonomous vehicles.
[(Australia's last car rolls off the Holden production line.)](https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2017/10/australias-last-car-rolls-off-holden-production-line/)
GM has been paring back operations "Down Under" for some time, reflecting steadily dwindling sales. As recently as 2002 it held a 21.6% share of the Australian new vehicle market. By 2013, however, that dwindled to just 9.9%, leading the Detroit-based automaker to announce plans to phase out manufacturing operations there.
Market share was down to 7.6% when the last GM plant closed in 2017. The Holden brand continued importing products, such as the Thai-made Blazer and pickup, but its share last year was down to 4.1%.
GM doesn't plan to leave the Australian and New Zealand markets entirely. It said it will continue limited volume sales of foreign-made products through what will now be known as General Motors Special Vehicles. The Holden name, first used by J.A. Hoiden & Co. in 1856, will cease to exist.
The carmaker did not identify what products it might still offer but, in other regions where it has pulled back, it has backed on vehicles with potentially high profit margins, such as the Chevrolet Corvette and various Cadillac offerings.
"We do believe we have an opportunity to profitably grow the specialty vehicle business and plan to work with our partner to do that," said GM President Mark Reuss, who had served as head of Australian operations when the original decision to end manufacturing there was announced.
As for Thailand, the market was once seen as a major growth opportunity for GM – as well as competitors as diverse as Ford and Mazda. General Motors intended to back up sales in the Southeast Asian with a plant in Rayong, about an hour outside Bangkok – the facility also helping support sales operations in other regional markets, including Australia.
[(GM completes sale of Opel/Vauxhall to France's PSA.)](https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2017/08/gm-completes-sale-of-opelvauxhall-to-frances-psa/)
But, "Low plant utilization and forecast volumes have made continued GM production at the site unsustainable," the automaker said in its Monday morning statement. As a result, it has decided to sell the Rayong plant to Great Wall, once of the most ambitious of China's domestic automakers. In turn, GM said, "Without domestic manufacturing, Chevrolet is unable compete in Thailand's new-vehicle market."
As a result of the latest moves, GM said it will incur cash and non-cash charges of about $1.1 billion.
Whether this is the last move by GM as it rationalizes its global operations is far from certain, said a veteran industry watcher who asked not to be identified by name having not yet had the chance to confirm specific details of the Australian and Thai cuts.
But a comment by GM Senior Vice President and President GM International Steve Kiefer appeared to suggest that the automaker is continuing to evaluate its global presence. A year ago, the automaker said it would halt sales in India but continue manufacturing operations there. Last month, however, it announced the sale of a key planet in Talegaon. It has also restricted operations in South Korea and said it would "continue optimization of South American operations.
Said Kiefer, "These are difficult decisions, but they are necessary to support our goal to have the GM International region on the pathway to growth and profitability."
The once seemingly almighty GM continues to be a major presence in Latin America, the Middle East and China, as well as its home market in North America. But it has now become a weak number four on the global automotive sales charts, behind Volkswagen, Toyota and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. It could also face a challenge by Fiat Chrysler and PSA which plan to complete a merger within the next year.
[(Strike cost GM $2.6 billion, earnings down to $6.7 billion for 2019.)](https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2020/02/strike-cost-gm-2-6-billion-earnings-down-to-6-7-billion-for-2019/)
For her part, however, CEO Barra has rejected the classic GM strategy of growth at all cost. Instead, she is pushing to lead in key markets, among other things by pushing for a major shift towards autonomous and electrified vehicles.
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Playing it Saif
The stylish Saif reveals his fashion preferences.
Never has anyone seen Saif Ali Khan in nothing less than dapper looks; style comes naturally to the Nawab of Pataudi. In his upcoming movie Rangoon, Saif will be looking the 'bestest' ever.
At a recent event in Mumbai, the dad-to-be revealed his high hopes for the period movie. "Being all dressed up for the role was really a feel-good factor. Being set in the 1940s, Rangoon was a different experience altogether. I had a lot of fun," he says.
Asked whose looks inspire him, he says, "Rudolph Valention and Jackie Shroff." So, whose shoes would he like to be in? "I would rather like to be in the shoes of famous Swiss French actor-businessman Alain Delon," the actor confesses.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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Shahid Kapoor injured, Rangoon shooting comes to an abrupt halt
Shahid Kapoor, who is currently shooting for Vishal Bhardwaj's Rangoon, has reportedly been injured on the film sets.
Shahid Kapoor, who is currently shooting for Vishal Bhardwaj's Rangoon, has reportedly been injured on the film sets. Kapoor and a Japanese actor were hurt during a fight sequence, and the shooting came to an abrupt halt for two days.
[ALSO READ: Shahid Kapoor begins shooting for Rangoon](http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/rangoon-shahid-kapoor-begins-shooting-for-vishal-bhardwajs-next/1/543610.html) [ ALSO SEE: Saif Ali Khan's look from Vishal Bhardwaj's Rangoon](http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/revealed-saif-ali-khans-look-for-vishal-bhardwajs-rangoon-see-photos-saif-and-shahid-kareena-together-photos-rangoon-film-release/1/530229.html)
According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, the actor was shooting on the sets of a bombed-out village. The fight sequence went awry, the Japanese actor was rushed to the hospital after being hurt in the chest.
Bhardwaj informed the tabloid, "The Japanese actor was hurt in the chest and rushed to the hospital. X-rays revealed a slight inflammation and he has been advised rest. But he's an energetic fighter and will be up and running soon."
As for Shahid, the actor has hurt his finger and is down with fever after he had to stand in the rain for more than six hours during the shooting of Rangoon. Bhardwaj told the tabloid, "We were hoping he'd be back today (January 15) but I've just got a call from his doctor informing me that his temperature is still high and he won't be able to resume work."
Rangoon, which is Vishal Bhardwaj's tale of a love triangle set against the backdrop of the second World War, has Shahid, Kangana Ranaut and Saif Ali Khan in the lead roles. Shahid plays an officer of the Indian Army in Rangoon.
Shahid had taken to Instagram to share his look from Rangoon a few weeks ago:
While earlier there were speculations that Rangoon might be inspired from the 1942 Hollywood classic Casablanca, Bhardwaj had said that the film was not. The shooting for Rangoon kicked off in November last year.
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Honey Singh sets benchmarks for Indian music industry!
Singer and rapper, Yo Yo Honey Singh, who became an overnight sensation with the electrifying Angreji Beat, has made yet another record with his song Dheere Dheere Se crossing 200 million views on YouTube. It is also the first Indian song to have crossed the 200 million view mark on YouTube.
We have no qualms in calling him the Aamir Khan of the music industry, as he rightfully sets and breaks records and starts new number clubs. He is indeed setting high benchmarks for others to cross.
His rehashed version of the popular Dheere Dheere Se song from Aashiqui, became an instant hit with the audience, who loved the recreated romantic song with Honey Singh's rapper touch.
The cute and charming chemistry between Hrithik Roshan and Sonam Kapoor against the backdrop of stunning locations, was an added bonus to the song.
Honey Singh, who has been a talented music sensation for so many years now, is overwhelmed with the love he's received for the song. He says, "I am overwhelmed with all the love, affection and warmth that I have been receiving for Dheere Dheere. It is one of my most special works and I am glad that so many million hearts have taken to it in such a manner."
Honey Singh has been winning hearts with sensational party numbers like Party All Night,Desi Kalakaar and Blue Eyes and he is truly one of India's most loved music artists.
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Popular Philippine radio journalist gunned down in Manila
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Philippine authorities to appoint an independent team of investigators to identify the perpetrators and instigators of the murder of Percival Mabasa, an outspoken and popular radio journalist known as Percy Lapid, who was ambushed and killed in cold blood as he drove home yesterday (3 October) in Manila, the capital.
"Percy Lapid's profile as a journalist and his killers' modus operandi clearly indicate that his murder was a reprisal for his courageous and uncompromising journalistic work," said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk. "We call on President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr's administration to appoint a team of independent investigators to shed all possible light on this murder. The president has an opportunity to show that he wants to end the impunity for crimes of violence against journalists in the Philippines."
Mabasa was about to drive into the gated community where he lived in the Manila suburb of Las Piñas at around 8:30 p.m. when a car rammed his from behind, and then a gunman on a motorcycle drew alongside Mabasa and fired two shots at point-blank range, killing him instantly.
The host of a show on Radio DWBL named "Lapid Fire", Mabasa was well known to listeners in the Manila area for analysing and denouncing cases of corruption and abuse of public property. He recently exposed irregularities in the importation of sugar by an agency directly connected with the administration led by Marcos Jr, who was elected president last May. The president's executive secretary, Vic Rodriguez, resigned as a result of this scandal last month.
Average of three or four journalists killed every year
Mabasa's brother Roy Mabasa, himself a journalist, told journalists today that he would await the findings of the initial police investigation before saying precisely why he thought his brother was killed. "But knowing my brother, those behind his killing are the persons he has been hitting on his show," he said.
According to RSF's press freedom
[barometer](https://rsf.org/en/barometer), the Philippines is one of the world's ten deadliest countries for the media, with an average of three or four journalists killed in connection with their work every year.
The Philippines is ranked 147th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2022
[World Press Freedom Index](https://rsf.org/en/ranking).
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On the same October day that Steve Salis
[acquired the local restaurant chain Ted's Bulletin](https://www.washingtonian.com/2017/11/02/kramerbooks-owner-steve-salis-acquires-teds-bulletin-from-matchbox-food-group/), the DC entrepreneur also became sole proprietor of Kramerbooks, buying out one of the original owners who had remained a partner. After a 13-hour marathon of paperwork to close both deals, Salis and his wife popped open a nine-liter bottle of Veuve Clicquot Champagne.
"I had two glasses," he says of the four-figure bubbly splurge. "It was a pretty stupid purchase. As I'm getting a bit older"—he's 34—"I become less productive even with a couple glasses."
Salis is all about productivity. Once best known as cofounder of &Pizza, he's rapidly expanding his portfolio of DC brands, both by revamping high-profile businesses and by launching some of his own, such as the barbecue joint
[Federalist Pig](https://www.washingtonian.com/2016/12/08/one-of-dcs-top-pit-masters-is-opening-a-barbecue-joint-in-adams-morgan/). In the process, Salis—who often drops words like "ideating" and "disrupting"—is becoming something of a brand himself, even if you occasionally need a marketing textbook to decode his patter. The goal, he says, is to build a "multidimensional ecosystem around how one lives, works, and plays." And you thought you were just eating a peanut-butter-and-bacon burger at Ted's Bulletin.
The New Hampshire native grew up in a blue collar family—his dad ran an Exxon gas station, his mom worked odd jobs—with a knack for sports. At six-foot-three, he was good enough at basketball that he was offered a scholarship to play at University of New Hampshire. But two years into college, Salis saw his studies in economics and business administration leading to a life of boredom and mediocrity.
MTV seemed like a bigger draw. The Real World recruited Salis to audition for season 15, and he'd made it to the final 40 out of a pool of thousands. While he didn't ultimately make the cut, he started getting modeling opportunities in New York. Not that Salis saw himself as a "fashion person," but it was an excuse to move to the big city, dropout of college, and shake up his life.
Salis graced a few glossy pages, but to make real money, he worked the door at buzzy nightclubs. "Those were places where people wanted to go—celebrities and you name it—and I built a really interesting Rolodex," says Salis. The position gave him the cred and connections he needed to start consulting for hotels, restaurants, and bars.
"I'm very academic in a lot of ways, but I'm really street," Salis says. "I effectively would be like a diagnoser. I'd come in and we'd do our own audit and then I'd say, 'OK, these are the issues. I need $15,000 a month on day one. If I don't get it, then we're not doing it anymore.'"
The consulting gigs led Salis to Michael Lastoria, an entrepreneur who'd later become his partner in &pizza. Since Salis moved to DC in 2011 to launch the fast-casual joint, it has grown to 25 locations. But Salis has not stuck around to oversee the day-to-day operations as it grows, although he remains a partner. Instead, he has grander plans. He started Federalist Pig with one of the city's top pitmasters in 2016 and is undertaking a multimillion-dollar overhaul of Kramerbooks & Afterwords Café. Ted's Bulletin—which he acquired from Matchbox Food Group—will grow, too.
But Salis, who lists Elon Musk and Steve Wynn among his role models, would like you to think of him as more than just a big player in Washington's hip new hospitality economy. He has already started a prefab-housing business and sees himself expanding into a broad range of industries, including media, arts, and entertainment. Will he start a podcast? Produce a reality show? Launch a chain of boutique fitness studios? Salis won't say. But stay tuned: "I have very, very grand aspirations."
A version of this article appears in the
[January 2018](https://www.washingtonian.com/2018/01/03/january-2018-issue-our-favorite-places/) issue of Washingtonian.
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With an eye out for "lightning-in-a-bottle" restaurant concepts that meet the varying needs of modern consumers, Steve Salis' platform company Catalogue is preparing both for organic growth and strategic investment.
The co-founder of &pizza and owner of Salis Holdings is growing his network of brands under the Catalogue umbrella, including the brunch-all-day concept Ted's Bulletin, which is soon to reach eight units, as well as the barbecue restaurant Federalist Pig and a flex-casual chicken concept Honeymoon Chicken.
Catalogue is also looking to bring in more restaurant brands, either through acquisition or investment, to leverage shared philosophies, efficiencies and best practices, he said. The company is poised to add a seventh brand very soon, though he could not yet disclose details.
Salis is also known for creating a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, called Sizzle Acquisition Corp. last year that raised $155 million with an initial public offering. A separate entity from the privately held Catalogue, Sizzle is also looking for acquisition targets in the restaurant, technology and retail world.
Salis said Sizzle is negotiating multiple deals and he hopes to make an announcement in the near future — but on that, also, he could not offer details just yet.
In the meantime, Salis is growing the six brands under the Catalogue umbrella throughout the greater D.C. area while wearing multiple hats as a founder, entrepreneur, investor and operator. "I wear those hats, I think, as well as anyone in the space," he said.
He was 25 years old when he co-founded the fast-casual &pizza with current CEO Michael Lastoria, though Salis exited that company in 2019.
Now with Catalogue, he is shifting into growth mode with its existing brands. Here's what is planned:
Ted's Bulletin was acquired from former owner Matchbox Food Group in 2017 when the casual-dining chain had five units. The prior owners had "gotten out over their skiis," Salis said, describing the chain as "stressed, not distressed." He sees the breakfast daypart as underserved and a "major point of differentiation."
Salis' investments in the brand have gotten the attention of landlords. Salis said newer second-generation units have beefed up dinner options and significantly increased bar sales. First generation stores had a food/liquor ratio of about 91%/9%, for example, while new units are 75%/25%, which has boosted margins.
By next year, the chain will double in size to 10 units.
Catalogue is also looking at growth opportunities for a
[particularly popular baked good item from Ted's](https://www.instagram.com/p/CcNsjZ_udd0/), which are called Ted's Tarts. The sweet treat was initially called Pop Tarts by the prior owner, until they got a cease-and-desist letter from Kellogg's, Salis said.
Ted's Tarts alone are a seven-figure business, Salis said, so the company is looking at how to scale that revenue stream, whether through direct-to-consumer or wholesale opportunities, or something in the middle, he said.
Out of Ted's also comes a limited-service bakery and coffeeshop concept called Sidekick Bakery, which operates out of Ted's units in some locations, but the company is testing stand-alone units as well. "It will be a stand-alone brand," said Salis. "The question is to what extend do we want to scale it up."
Also growing under the Catalogue platform is Federalist Pig, a flex-casual regional barbecue concept with an average check of $25 and a full bar. Developed with chef Rob Sonderman, Federalist Pig first opened five years ago.
Nominated for its third Michelin Bib Gourmand listing this year, Federalist Pig has two more brick-and-mortar locations in the works in the greater D.C. area. Salis said the company is waiting on permits, but a mobile kitchen is serving the neighborhood at one location out of the parking lot.
This year, Sonderman also co-developed another flex-casual brand called Honeymoon Chicken. Described as "fancy meets funky," this concept offers fried chicken with a full bar, with promotions around pairings like a bucket of chicken with champagne. "We sell more Veuve Clicquot than I ever thought we would," Salis said, adding that Honeymoon Chicken is "doing international telephone numbers" in sales (referring to added zeros). "This thing is a total pistol."
Currently, Catalogue is negotiating two more locations of Honeymoon Chicken, which he expects to open within the next 12 months.
In the D.C. suburb of Bethesda, Md., Catalogue is also testing a digital food hall called Ensemble Kitchen, which offers the menus of the four brands out of one kitchen, for delivery or takeout.
A year in, the experiment has given the company a lot of data on consumer behavior, he said. Salis sees potential for using Ensemble as an incubation hub, to test new products or concepts, but he is not currently looking for more Ensemble locations.
Under Catalogue is also the iconic D.C. one-off concept Kramers Bookstore, a café, bar and bookstore founded in 1976 that has become internationally known. Salis said the bookstore's lease was about to run out in 2019 and founders tried to sell it to staff, but they couldn't come up with financing. Salis bought it and had planned to invest in renovations, but now he said the landlord will not renew.
For the first time in close to 50 years, Kramers Bookstore will have to move when the lease is up in 26 months, said Salis. He is looking for a location close to the existing Dupont Circle spot, where the restaurant and shop has been a mainstay.
"I recognize that a lot of special sauce is indeed the location, but in light of what we want to do with it, and where it could go, we will do something very spectacular," said Salis.
As with all the Catalogue concepts, the goal will be to bring Kramers up to speed as a modern concept designed to serve the varying needs of consumers today.
Salis said Catalogue is uniquely positioned as a potential strategic partner for "change-agent" entrepreneurs who are looking for scale that doesn't necessarily depend on unit growth alone.
"I recognize that unit growth is a significant way to grow businesses," said Salis. "It's a way, not the way."
Where private-equity investors might typically offer funding and expect a CEO to hit certain unit milestones and returns on investment within a certain timeframe, Catalogue sees things differently, he said.
"We know how to buy, we know how to build, we know how to scale, we know how to create," said Salis. "And so what we're effectively doing is, we want to build a best-in-class platform of consumer brands that supports the modern consumer's desires and needs. And we want to do it in a differentiated manner.
"My belief is that this takes time," he added. "The &pizzas, the Cavas, the Sweetgreens of the world, they're not built in five years. This takes a long time."
Contact Lisa Jennings at
Follow her on Twitter:
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"I do biz dev."
Few times in history have more ambiguous words been spoken. Ask ten "VPs of Business Development" or similarly business card-ed folks what is business development, and you're like to get just as many answers.
"Business development is sales," some will say, concisely.
"Business development is partnerships," others will say, vaguely.
"Business development is hustling," the startup folks will say, evasively.
The assortment of varied and often contradictory responses to the basic question of "what, exactly, is business development" reminds me of the way physicists seek to explain what, exactly, is the universe. With conflicting theories on the nature of black holes and bosons, the ultimate goal for those scientists is a Grand Unified Theory, a single definition that can elegantly explain how the universe itself operates at every level.
Lacking any concise explanation of what business development is all about, I sought to unite the varied forces of business development into one comprehensive framework. And eureka, for I have found it - the Grand Unified Theory of business development:
Business development is the creation of long-term value for an organization from customers, markets, and relationships.
First, what do I mean by "long-term value?" In its simplest form, "value" is cash, money, the lifeblood of any business (but it can also be access, prestige, or anything else a company seeks in order to grow). And there are plenty of ways to make a quick buck for you or your company. But business development is not about get-rich-quick schemes and I-win-you-lose tactics that create value that's gone tomorrow as easily as it came today. It's about creating opportunities for that value to persist over the long-term, to keep the floodgates open so that value can flow indefinitely. Thinking about business development as a means to creating long-term value is the only true way to succeed in consistently growing an organization.
The "customers" portion of the definition may be slightly more obvious – customers pay the bills. They are the people who pay you for your products and services, and without them you won't have any business to develop. But not everyone is a natural customer for your business. Maybe your product doesn't have the features I'm looking for. Maybe your product is perfect, but I don't even know your company sells it. Or maybe you're not reaching me because you're not knocking on my door.
That's because customers "live" in specific markets. One way to understand markets is by geography - if I only focus on selling in the U.S. but you reside in London, then you are currently unavailable to me as a customer as I do not currently reach the European market. But customers also "live" in markets that are defined by their demographics, lifestyles, and buying mindset. Identifying opportunities to reach new customers by entering into new markets is one important gateway to unlocking long-term value.
Take for example the Pet Owners market. The customers who live there, of course, are people who own cats, dogs, fish, etc. Petco is a company that clearly sells to customers who live in the Pet Owners market. I, on the other hand, do not have a pet. I don't live in the Pet Owner market. So what if Petco wanted to sell something to me? Then they'd need to find a way to enter into a market where I do live. For example, I have red-hair and pale skin and as such, I am prone to spontaneously combusting when exposed to the sun. Therefore, one market that I "live" in is the Sunscreen Buyers market. If Petco wanted to sell something to me, perhaps they can find a way to enter into that market by offering sunscreen, hats, or sun-reflecting aluminum foil suits. Now, determining whether that's a good idea or not for Petco to do so is a job for the business development team – and another story for another blog post.
And then there were "relationships." Just as the planets and stars rely on gravity to keep them in orbit, any successful business development effort relies on an underlying foundation of strong relationships. Building, managing, and leveraging relationships that are based on trust, respect, and a mutual appreciation of each other's value is fundamental to enabling the flow of value for the long-term. Relationships with partners, customers, employees, the press, etc. are all critical to the success of any business development effort and as such they demand a bold-faced spot in any comprehensive definition of the term.
So, is business development actually sales? Is it partnerships? Is it all about hustling? Well, frankly, yes. It's all of the above and as we'll see in future posts, it's much more. It's a complicated and fascinating discipline that deserves a clear understanding, so that we can marvel at the beauty of a well-done deal as much as the stars.
Find more about business development and partnerships from the me at
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INTERIOR Secretary Benjamin "Benhur" Abalos Jr. offered on Wednesday evening, October 5, 2022, a P500,000 reward for anyone who can give information that could lead to the arrest of the suspects in the killing of veteran radio host and columnist Percival Mabasa, more popularly known as "Percy Lapid."
"I am offering P500,000 from my own money, for any information na makakatulong pa sa imbestigasyon (that can aid in the investigation)," Abalos said in his statement following his visit to Mabasa's wake at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City.
He said the funds will come from his own pocket.
Lawyer and businessman Alex Lopez has also offered P1 million for anyone who can give information related to the incident.
Abalos assured the bereaved family members that the government will use all of its resources to identify the assailants as well as the mastermind behind Mabasa's ambush.
He also said the Philippine National Police (PNP) is extensively looking at all possible angles and leads to identifying the perpetrators, specifically the mastermind behind the killing.
The National Bureau of Investigation is also conducting a probe into the fatal incident.
Mabasa was shot dead by two motorcycle-riding suspects around 8:30 p.m. on Monday, October 3, at the gate of BF Resort along Aria Street, Barangay Talon 2, Las Piñas City.
Police have already recovered the footage of the dash and rear camera from the victim's vehicle as well as the security cameras around the area where the incident happened.
The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFOMS) said that while it is still too early to establish the exact motive behind the incident, it is presumed that the killing is "work-related."
National Capital Region Police Office-Southern Police District (SPD) Director Colonel Kirby John Kraft said the Special Investigation Task Group is also looking at several personalities that are the subject of Mabasa's hard-hitting program "Lapid on Fire."
"We are yet to arrive at a point where we could say a certain personality is considered a person of interest in the case. However, we are looking at all the personalities mentioned in his program," he said.
He said probers are also coordinating with the family to see if the victim has received death threats before the ambush.
Mabasa has been critical to the Duterte administration as well as to some personalities in and policies of the current administration.
He also tackled on his program some controversial issues such as the ruling of Manila Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar, who ruled against tagging the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army as a terrorist group.
A plea to Marcos
Mabasa's brother, former National Press Club president Roy Mabasa, sought the help of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to put the suspects behind bars.
"'Yung boses ng Presidente at malaking bagay pagdating sa resolution ng kaso. If the President will only pursue dahil nasa kaniya ang powers ng lahat, ng executive, kaya niyang utusan ang mga nasa legislative and judiciary, siguro naman mari-resolve ito kung ang Presidente mismo ang tututok diyan, 'yun ang panawagan ko," he said.
(The voice of the President is a big deal when it comes to the resolution of the case. If the President will only pursue because he has all the powers, the executive, he can order those in the legislative and judiciary. Maybe the case can be resolved early if the President himself will also focus on that, that's my call.)
"I understand that yung representative from Malacañang will be visiting us tomorrow so I'd have to wait, so I don't want to jump to conclusion. I want to give the government the benefit of the doubt, total nagtatrabaho naman talaga sila, in fairness to them," he added.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin along with Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Hubert Guevara visited Mabasa's wake on Thursday morning.
Guevarra earlier said that Marcos had expressed concern over the incident and had ordered him to closely coordinate with the authorities for the investigation. (SunStar Philippines)
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One of the biggest, most dominant corporations in history operated long before the emergence of tech giants like Apple or Google or Amazon. The English East India Company was incorporated by royal charter on December 31, 1600 and went on to act as a part-trade organization, part-nation-state and reap vast profits from overseas trade with India, China, Persia and Indonesia for more than two centuries. Its business flooded England with affordable tea, cotton textiles and spices, and richly rewarded its London investors with returns as high as 30 percent.
"At its peak, the English East India Company was by far the largest corporation of its kind," says Emily Erikson, a sociology professor at Yale University and author of
[Between Monopoly and Free Trade: The English East India Company](https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691159065/between-monopoly-and-free-trade). "It was also larger than several nations. It was essentially the de facto emperor of large portions of India, which was one of the most productive economies in the world at that point."
But just when the East India Company's grip on trade weakened in the late 18th century, it found a new calling as an empire-builder. At one point, this mega corporation commanded a private army of 260,000 soldiers, twice the size of the standing British army. That kind of manpower was more than enough to scare off the remaining competition, conquer territory and coerce Indian rulers into one-sided contracts that granted the Company lucrative taxation powers.
Without the East India Company, there would be no imperial British Raj in India in the 19th and 20th centuries. And the wild success of the world's first multinational corporation helped shape the modern global economy, for better or worse.
East India Company Founded Under Queen Elizabeth I
On the very last day of 1600,
[Queen Elizabeth I](https://www.history.com/topics/british-history/elizabeth-i) granted [a charter](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/charter-granted-to-the-east-india-company) to a group of London merchants for exclusive overseas trading rights with the East Indies, a massive swath of the globe extending from Africa's Cape of Good Hope eastward to Cape Horn in South America. The new English East India Company was a monopoly in the sense that no other British subjects could legally trade in that territory, but it faced stiff competition from the Spanish and Portuguese, who already had trading outposts in India, and also the Dutch East Indies Company, founded in 1602.
England, like the rest of Western Europe, had an appetite for exotic Eastern goods like spices, textiles and jewelry. But sea voyages to the East Indies were tremendously risky ventures that included armed clashes with rival traders and deadly diseases like scurvy. The mortality rate for an employee of the East India Company was a shocking 30 percent, says Erikson. The monopoly granted by the royal charter at least protected the London merchants against domestic competition while also guaranteeing a kickback for the Crown, which was in desperate need of funds.
Many of the hallmarks of the modern corporation were first popularized by the East India Company. For example, the Company was the largest and longest-lasting joint stock company of its day, which means that it raised and pooled capital by selling shares to the public. It was governed by a president, but also a "board of control" or "board of officers." Unlike today's relatively staid corporate board meetings, the East India Company's meetings were raucous affairs attended by hundreds of stockholders.
And while the East India Company charter granted it an ostensible monopoly in India, the Company also allowed its employees to engage in private trading on the side. At first, the Company didn't have a lot of money to pay its employees for this highly dangerous work, so it needed to provide other incentives.
"That incentive was to trade for their own private interest overseas," says Erikson. "Employees of the East India Company would trade both within and outside of the rules that the Company granted. There were so many opportunities to fudge, cheat and smuggle. Think about jewelry, which is a very small and very expensive thing that you can hide on yourself easily."
East Indies Trade Fueled Consumer Culture
Before the East India Company, most clothes in England were made out of wool and designed for durability, not fashion. But that began to change as British markets were flooded with inexpensive, beautifully woven cotton textiles from India, where each region of the country produced cloth in different colors and patterns. When a new pattern arrived, it would suddenly become all the rage on the streets of London.
"There's this possibility of being 'in the right style' that hadn't existed before," says Erikson. "A lot of historians think this is the beginning of consumer culture in England. Once they brought over the cotton goods, it introduced this new volatility in what was popular."
In India, Trade and Politics Blend
When the British and other European traders arrived in India, they had to curry favor with local rulers and kings, including the powerful Mughul Empire that extended across India. Even though the East India Company was technically a private venture, its royal charter and battle-ready employees gave it political weight. Indian rulers invited local Company bosses to court, extracted bribes from them, and recruited the Company's muscle in regional warfare, sometimes against French or Dutch trading companies.
The Mughul Empire concentrated its power in the interior of India, leaving coastal cities more open to foreign influence. From the start, one of the reasons the East India Company needed so much pooled capital was to capture and build fortified trading outposts in port cities like Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. When the Mughul Empire collapsed in the 18th century, war broke out in the interior, driving more Indian merchants to these company-run coastal "mini kingdoms."
"The problem was, how would the East India Company rule these territories and by what principle?" says Tirthankar Roy, a professor of economic history at the London School of Economics and author of
[The East India Company: The World's Most Powerful Corporation](https://www.amazon.com/East-India-Company-Powerful-Corporation/dp/0143426176). "A company is not a state. A company ruling in the name of the Crown cannot happen without the Crown's consent. Sovereignty became a big problem. In whose name will the company devise laws?"
The answer, in most cases, was the East India Company's local branch officer. The London office of the company didn't concern itself with Indian politics. Roy says that as long as trade continued, the Board was happy and didn't interfere. Since there was very little communication between London and the branch offices (a letter took three months each way) it was left to the branch officer to write the laws governing company cities like Bombay, Madras and Calcutta, and to create local police forces and justice systems.
This would be the equivalent of Exxon Mobil drilling for oil in coastal Mexico, taking over a major Mexican city using private armed guards, and then electing a corporate middle manager as the mayor, judge and executioner.
From Mercantile Company to Empire Building
A major turning point in the East India Company's transformation from a profitable trading company into a full-fledged empire came after the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The battle pitted 50,000 Indian soldiers under the Nawab of Bengal against just 3,000 Company men. The Nawab was angry with the Company for skirting taxes. But what the Nawab didn't know was that the East India Company's military leader in Bengal, Robert Clive, had struck a backroom deal with Indian bankers so that most of the Indian army refused to fight at Plassey.
Clive's victory gave the East India Company broad taxation powers in Bengal, then one of the richest provinces in India. Clive plundered the Nawab's treasure and shipped it back to London (keeping plenty for himself, of course). Erikson sees the East India Company's actions in Bengal as a seismic shift in its corporate mission.
"This completely changes the Company's business model from one that had been focused on profitable trade to one that focused on tax collection," says Erikson. "That's when it became a really damaging institution, in my opinion."
In 1784, the British Parliament passed Prime Minister William Pitt's "India Act," which formally included the British government in ruling over the East India Company's land holdings in India.
"When this act came into being, the Company ceased to be a very significant trade power or a significant governing power in India," says Roy. "The proper British Empire took hold."
The Opium Wars and the End of the East India Company
The exploits of the East India Company didn't end in India. In one of its darkest chapters, the Company smuggled opium into China in exchange for the country's most prized trade good: tea. China only traded tea for silver, but that was hard to come by in England, so the Company flouted China's opium ban through a black market of Indian opium growers and smugglers. As tea flowed into London, the Company's investors grew rich and millions of Chinese men wasted away in opium dens.
When China cracked down on the opium trade, the British government sent warships, triggering the Opium War of 1840. The humiliating Chinese defeat
[handed the British control of Hong Kong](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hong-kong-ceded-to-the-british), but the conflict shed further light on the East India Company's dark dealings in the name of profit.
By the mid-19th century, opposition to the East India Company's monopoly status reached a fever pitch in Parliament fueled by the free-market arguments of Adam Smith. Erikson says that ultimately, the death of the East India Company in the 1870s was less about moral outrage over corporate corruption (of which there was plenty), but more about English politicians and businessmen realizing that they could make even more money trading with partners who were on a stronger economic footing, not captive patrons of a corporate state.
Even though the East India Company dissolved more than a century ago, its influence as a ruthless corporate pioneer has shaped the way modern business is conducted in a global economy.
"It's hard to understand the global political structure without understanding the role of the Company," says Erikson. "I don't think we'd have a global capitalist economic system that looks the way it does if England hadn't become so uniquely powerful at this point in history. They transitioned into a modern industrial force and exported their vision of production and governance to the rest of the world, including North America. It's the cornerstone of the modern liberal global political order."
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Hello! My name is Giorgia, I am Italian and I am a Gender Studies MA student at Stirling University. I find the existence of a Women's Library in Glasgow full of wonderful books and magazines both inspirational and enchanting, and I definitely did not want to miss out on the possibility of exploring this matriarchal and feminist shelter as part of a research placement for my degree programme!
The huge Lesbian Archive at the Glasgow Women's Library allowed me to focus my research on two specific historical periods I have always been interested in: the 20s/30s and the pre-Stonewall era (How can one forget the image of a rebellious Sylvia Rivera pitched against homophobic cops in the New York of 1970! But above all, the marvelous, brave, and lesser- known Stormé DeLarverie, the black lesbian who had started the Stonewall uprising in 1969). My research placement in the library gave me the opportunity to read and work on two powerful and fascinating magazines printed in London during this time frame: Urania and Arena Three.
In this first blog I will direct my attention to the earliest of the two magazines, its editorial structure and aims. So, let's talk about Urania!
Urania was a feminist and ante litteram (pre/proto) queer (the meaning of the term 'queer' is here employed in its original meaning coined by De Lauretis in 1991) magazine that came out three times per year from 1916 to 1940 with a double issue. It is important to keep in mind that Urania was not a publication intended for a large readership, but a highbrow collection of worldwide articles about women and gender to be shared within a small circle of female and feminist eggheads. The printing of this Journal remained private for twenty-four years and as Thomas Baty, alias Irene Clyde, points out in the Distributor's note at the end of every edition: 'Urania is not published, nor offered to the public, but [..] can be had by friends'.
The magazine is presented as a bricolage of reprinted articles from other newspapers and periodicals from all over the world (especially Japan), pieces of biographies, autobiographies and poems. In addition to this, it is possible to find now and then in the publication, memorials or political commentaries written by Clyde. A revolutionary new feminist belief promoting peace, equality and the elimination of gender distinctions underlies the magazine (quite radical eh?). It is in many ways similar to another wonderful feminist magazine published in London for a couple of years a little earlier in the century: The Freewoman (1911-1912). Both publications distance themselves from a feminism that focuses only on voting and in support of war (Do you remember Emmeline Pankhurst and the 'White Feather' feminists?), rather they advocate for a society of equals, 'of masters, among masters' (1911, p. 2).
But coming back to Urania and its structure, there are two things that mostly caught my eye. One it is the consistency in the number of pages of every issue which averages at 12 and shows the texture of the project; the other is the repetition of the same Eva Gore-Booth quote on the cover of the magazine. Eva Gore-Booth, mind and source of inspiration of Urania, along with her long-term partner and friend Esther Roper, was a feminist and poetess strictly tied to spirituality and ancient Christianity. Gore-Booth' s bond with feminism and a religion without dogmas is pretty evident in her words and can be deduced from the quoted poem on the cover; words considered a mantra to follow by Urania's editors.
A curiosity? The quote remains the same from 1926 to 1928 but changes between 1929 and 1930 to a piece from an 1844 Carlyle-Sterling letter. Furthermore, the quote comes back unchanged on the cover of 1933 to turn again from 1934 to September/December 1935 into another piece of the same poem by Gore-Booth and eventually reappears alike in January/April 1935 until 1938.
I assume that the editors of Urania, decided to change the quote in 1929 to underscore their ethical and political aim: the creation of a society based on love and solidarity; a belief that needed to be stronger under economic depression and new dictatorships.
In the following blog, I will take into account the specific contents of Urania where a powerful, pacifist and feminist thought arises. In these articles it is pointed out how much Fascism and violence divide humanity and harm feminism (sounds sadly current eh?).
Oram, A. (2001) Feminism, Androgyny and Love between Women in Urania, 1916-1940 in Media History, vol. 7 no. 1, Northampton: University College Northampton.
O'Connor, S. and Shepard, C. (2008) Women, Social Change in Twentieth Century Ireland: Dissenting Voices? Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Inspired by the bond between feminism and pacifism at the beginning of the Twentieth century? Why not reading 'Pensées d'une Amazone' by the poetess Natalie Clifford Barney?
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What can we expect from your current show at Maureen Paley?
I have chosen to present a combination of sculptural works, drawings and prints that focus on Britain's history, national identity and the financial system. Much of my work as an artist draws on social history and I have taken three projects that explore these ideas through the lens of the 1920s and 1930s. I will be showing them together for the first time, as I'm interested to see how they can be read in relation to the political climate in Britain right now. The show references, on one hand, the British Empire Exhibition that took place in the west London suburb of Wembley in 1924, which can be understood as a propaganda event designed to bolster support for the British Empire and the system of trade that underpinned it. On the other hand, it highlights the response of two different social movements to the tumultuous conditions of that time: the Kibbo Kift Kindred and a journal called Urania, linked to the Suffragettes. There are some historical lessons and parallels to be drawn between the rise of nationalism after the financial crisis of the 1930s, and the relation between the current austerity politics, the rise of racism in Britain and the nationalist rhetoric that infected the whole Brexit campaign.
The Kibbo Kift Kindred were a British youth movement established in the 1920s by an artist and novelist named John Hargrave. Originally part of the Boy Scouts, the Kibbo Kift split from Baden Powell's conservative organisation in order to establish a left wing youth movement, in collaboration with veterans of the Campaign for Women's Suffrage and the Co-operative Movement. Inspired by the writings of Ernest Thompson Seton, as well as the Arts and Crafts movement, they were opposed to the 'useless toil' of the factory, adopting William Morris's ideal of a return to a pre-industrial golden age. They were initially involved with such emancipatory causes as environmentalism, clothes reform, pacifism, vegetarianism and the democratisation of the arts, but were radicalised during the economic crisis of the 1930s into forming a single-issue political party advocating Social Credit – a now discredited monetary reform theory. Social Credit Theory outlined a plan for a universal basic income in order to free people from the necessity to work. It is interesting that ideas like the universal basic income, which were popular in the 1930s, are being discussed again today. However, it was at that time that the Kibbo Kift became a uniformed group (The Green Shirts), with a presence in the hunger marches and on the streets in many of Britain's big cities. I made a number of works about the Kibbo Kift in 2008, when the contemporary financial crisis was first unfolding, and the drawings that will be shown in this exhibition are from that series.
You've picked up on this similarity between 1920s and 30s Britain, and Britain today. Do you feel the way those events were presented historically and culturally have shaped our thinking now?
In these kind of historical works I am interested in interrogating the ideological framework around the narration of history, who gets to tell the story of history and how. Many of the historical movements that I am interested in are rarely written about, or, like the Suffragette movement are very misrepresented. Therefore I present these kind of micro histories as a counter to the mainstream version of Britain's history propagated by historians such as Niall Ferguson; who whitewash a lot of the brutality of the industrial period and British colonialism, in order to perpetuate an image of a liberal Britain that was ever marching towards progress. These versions of history have a huge impact on contemporary society, particularly when it comes to national identity and how we view the presence in Britain of anyone considered 'other' by mainstream society. I am very interested in interrogating 'the voice of authority' and looking at how ideas of 'truth' are constructed, whether by the media today or in mega events such as The British Empire Exhibition of 1924. Certain voices go unheard within the public realm, are considered illegitimate as they do not speak using the correct mode of address, or do not sound enough like those male, pale and stale Oxbridge educated voices that tend to hold power in the UK.
In direct contrast, the journal Urania is somehow poly-vocal. Urania ran from 1915 until 1940 and it was the first British magazine to produce a cultural and political discourse on gender issues and the demands of lesbian and gay individuals and communities. The name refers to a specific idea of Utopia, as a place where the categories of 'male' and 'female' do not exist. In the early twentieth century those people who did not neatly conform to social and sexual norms often referred to themselves as Uranians. Subsequently, the journal Urania was a kind of catalogue of incidents of gender troubling and feminist struggles, in the context of that time which included the rise of Fascism, Imperialism and the struggle by women for the vote. It was comprised of a collection of articles clipped from newspapers from around the world, which were re-published with very little editorial and analytical commentary, and distributed privately to a wide network of friends and supporters. Any commentary was often unsigned or published under a pseudonym used collectively by several writers, which made Urania into an 'institution' that constituted itself through a collective voice.
I came across the journal in the archives at the Women's Library in London and when I started reading, one of the things that struck me was their internationalism. Urania published articles by and about feminist movements from around the globe, including Japan, Egypt, India and many countries in what we now refer to as the Global South. What is striking is that the journal existed during the same time period as the British Empire Exhibition, which represented non-western peoples as inarticulate and in need of Britain's paternal guidance, but Urania presents us with women in the Global South articulating their own complex feminist struggles. The journal encouraged their subscribers to learn from these other struggles.
In recent years, I have been very interested in the misrepresentation of the Suffragette movement. Once I started researching it and looking at the diversity of the movement, groups such as that around Urania and also Sylvia Pankhurst and the East London Federation of Suffragettes in particular, it became clear to me that there are many aspects of the movement that have been suppressed by historians. The Suffragette movement was about more than winning women the vote. Much of what they were fighting for is still a problem for women today such as unequal pay, unequal division of labour within the family and sexual harassment. In many ways they were attempting to turn the whole world upside down, challenging norms such as the family and the gender binary itself.
You look directly at 21st century political issues in some works, notably in Stockholm Duck House: Proposed Monument to British Parliamentary Corruption, Circa 2009. Do you hope for these pieces to ignite further discussions around scandals that have been brushed under the rug, or is your main intention to simply analyse and explore the means of communication that surround them?
With the Stockholm Duck House I am very interested in highlighting corruption in the British Political system as it contrasts absolutely with Britain's self-perception as a 'civilised' country that exported democracy around the world – the 'mother of parliaments'. Right now it is particularly important to look at the state of our own democracy, as there is such wide-spread disillusionment with our parliamentary system. We are far from being a democratic country, because of the two party system and also the domination of parliamentary politics by certain class interests, who have allied themselves with the interests of big business. As became evident in the MPs expenses scandal of 2009, many MPs are still aristocrats. For example, Sir Peter Viggers MP inappropriately claimed money from the public purse for a replica of an eighteenth century Swedish building in which to house his ducks, as well as 28 tons of horse manure; his fellow Conservative Sir Douglas Hogg, 3rd Viscount Hailsham claimed the cost of cleaning the moat around his country estate. These details are ripe for satire, but a serious image also starts to emerge of a country that is stuck in the eighteenth century.
I am now planning to propose a new monument to corruption that would be called, 'The Disgrace of Dr Fox: Proposed Monument to British Parliamentary Corruption Circa 2011'. This monument will depict a large bomb and will commemorate the actions of the disgraced former defence secretary Dr Liam Fox, who was forced to resign from the government in 2011 for allowing his friend and best man Adam Werrity to pose as his adviser. Werrity travelled the world meeting heads of state with Fox, taking the opportunity to advance his own ambiguous business interests, whilst pretending to work for the British government – whereas in reality he had no official parliamentary job and no security clearance. Although Fox lost his job at the time, it appears that there have been no serious consequences for him.
The works in the exhibition span a ten year time period. How have you felt your practice evolve since the creation of the earliest works?
Although in this show the emphasis is on works based on social history, one of the things that has happened in my art practice in recent years is that I found that I wanted to get out of the archive and collaborate with people. For example, at the moment I am developing a project with Open School East, working with different feminist groups active in London right now. The methods that we are using involve a lot of performance, as well as discussion, and are partially borrowed from consciousness-raising groups, which were a tool used by the Women's Liberation movement in the 1970s. The conversations are often very personal, in line with the old feminist mantra 'the personal is political', thinking through the effects of political structures on our intimate daily lives, as well as what the Suffragette movement has to say to us now.
Can you tell me a little about the book that you've launched in line with the exhibition: Rise Early And Be Industrious?
Thematically the book mainly focuses on the projects that I have made on the theme of education and its relation to work, exploring different educational models from the industrial era until today. There are two opposing ideas that I am interested in contrasting: education as training for the workplace versus education as an emancipatory practice. For example, I think of world fairs and events such as the British Empire exhibition, as educational spaces designed to indoctrinate people into certain social behaviours. The British Empire Exhibition was embedded with norms around racial superiority, as well as competition, trade and the work ethic, which sociologist Max Weber famously linked to the development of industrial capitalism in his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. On the other side, there are examples of experimental education that emphasize playfulness as an interruptive to the rationalism of the factory and the soul destroying working conditions of the mechanized industrial era, creativity as the route to freedom. However a question arises in the book as to what these practices mean in the context of a post-industrial society, such as the UK, where many working practices have changed and 'creativity' is a quality that we are all now expected to bring into our work. The book reflects on these themes in essays by writers such as Tirdad Zolghadr, Lars Bang Larsen and Maeve Connolly. However, I also want it to be a useful collection of tools that other people can pick up and apply. There is a chapter focused on a summer school that I staged at the Banff Center in Canada, in 2010, called Beyond Former Heaven (or the Institute of Surrealist Ethnography), which is written as a set of instructions, a kind of 'how to' guide to running your own alternative school. In addition to which, the book includes a lot of the research behind my projects, such as interviews and archival material.
[Olivia Plender](http://www.maureenpaley.com/exhibitions/olivia-plender/press-release) is showing at Maureen Paley, London until 2 October.
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