CULTURAL QA 02-2023-06 BEING A COMPILATIONTHERE MAY BE ERRORS
Q1 Why were black people in the pastchosen as slaves? A1 Claire Jordan, Degree in biology andfolklore; programmer, shop owner, secretary on newspaper Sun In general, theyweren’t, except by other black people. Slavers took slaves from wherever they most easily could,which was usually a neighbour of the same broad ethnicity as themselves.So slaves in Rome and Greece were usually white, andslaves in Africa were usually black, just because they were handy. However, plantation owners in the southern USA,the Caribbean and parts of South America did specifically seek out black Africans as slaves, becausethey wanted people who were physically strong and used to working all day undera hot sun without becoming ill. Q2 What is the one thing we should stayaway from on a railway station? A2 Gopal Gupta,Sat Stay away from thatyellow line seen in the picture. (About 2 feet away from the edge of plat form). When the train is running at full speed, it creates a vacuum-likesituation around itself due to its high speed.In order to avoid bad incidents, the railway bureau drew a yellow line next tothe platform. To ensure safety, passengers are requested not to cross theyellow line. Ifpassengers stand inside this yellow line, the vacuum created by the bullettrain could pull passengers toward the train and cause an accident. My note- The vacuum may be more powerful when empty rakestaken to the platform from yards. Q3 What are the beautiful places inSouth India which are still unexplored? A3 Pinkesh Patel, Ask me about travel inIndia7y Here's is the listof the places that most people don't know about but we can't say that theseplaces are unexplored. 1) Gandikota - The Grand Canyon of India Gandikota is asmall village on the right bank of the river Pennar, 15 km from Jammalamaduguin Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh, India. 2) Araku Valley Araku Valley is aHill station in Visakhapatnam district in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India.It is a valley in the Eastern Ghats inhabited by different tribes. 3) Belum Caves Belum Caves is thesecond largest cave in Indian subcontinent and the longest caves in plains ofIndian Subcontinent, known for its stalactite and stalagmite formations. 4) Skandagiri Hills Skandagiri, alsoknown as Kalavara Durga, is an ancient mountain fortress located approximately70 km from Bangalore city, and 3 km from Chikballapur in the Indian stateofKarnataka. It is off Bellary Road ( NH 7 Hyderabad-Bangalore Highway), andoverlooks Nandi Hills and Muddenahalli. The peak is at an altitude of about1350 meters. 5) Athirappilly Falls Athirapalli Fallsis situated in Athirappilly panchayath, Chalakudy Taluk in of Valparai, Keralaon the southwest coast of India. Located on the west-flowing Chalakudy Rivernear the Vazhachal Forest Division and the Sholayar ranges, this 24-metre (80ft) waterfall and the nearby Vazhachal Falls are popular tourist destinations. It is thelargest waterfall in Kerala and is nicknamed "The Niagara of India". Controversy abouta state-proposed hydroelectric dam on the Chalakudy River above the waterfallsbegan in the 1990s and has continued through 2011. Many movies wereshot here. Baahubali: The Beginning is of them. 6) Maravanthe Beach Maravanthe is avillage and a beach near Kundapura, Karnataka, India. Outlook travel considersit one of Karnataka's most beautiful beaches. It is about 55 kilometres (34 mi)from Udupi. NH-66 (Erstwhile NH-17) runs right next to the beach and theSuparnika River flows on the other side of the road, creating a spectacular sceneryand considered only one of its kind in India. The river Souparnika, which almost touchesArabian Sea here, makes a U turn and goes westward to join the Seaonly after a journey of more than 10 kilometres (6.2 mi). Q4 What scientists paid the ultimateprice for their work? A4 David Tussey, Former Former ExecutiveDirector, NYC DoITT at New York City (2017–2020)Aug 15 I can’t believe noone has mentioned Rosalind Franklin. She was a scientist working with JamesWatson, Maurice Wilkins, and Francis Crick. She died from multiple cancers associated with theradiation exposure during her work in discovering the double helix of DNA. Franklin was anexpert in a powerful technique for determining the structure of molecules,known as X-raycrystallography. When the crystallized form of a molecule such as DNA isexposed to X-rays, some of the rays are deflected by the atoms in the crystal,forming a diffraction pattern that gives clues about the molecule's structure. Franklin’s crystallography gave Watson and Crickimportant clues to the structure of DNA. Some of thesecame from the famous “image 51,” a remarkably clear and striking X-raydiffraction image of DNA produced by Franklin and her graduate student. (Amodern example of the diffraction pattern produced by DNA is shown below.) ToWatson, the X-shaped diffraction pattern of Franklin's image immediatelysuggested a helical, two-stranded structure for DNA. She died at age 37 while battling multiple cancers.Exposure to highradiation levels during her X-ray work on DNA is considered a factor in herdeath. Francis Crick,James Watson, and Maurice Wilkins were awarded a Nobel Prize in 1962 for theirwork on DNA. Rosalind Franklin had died in 1958 and thus was not eligible.Additionally, Watson & Crick barely mentioned Franklin’s contributions asthey rose to fame, despite the fact that Franklin’s work was critical todiscovering the double-helix nature of DNA and ultimately the entire structure. Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science inChicago is named in her honor. Q5 Why is Tamil Nadu the mostfamous/popular state in India, even for foreigners? A5 Bhuvana Rameshwar, Tamil culture andheritage Updated 2y Tamil nadu toppedthe list of number of tourists visiting the state for the 5th time in a row foryear ending 2019. I was surprised as I expected Rajasthan or Kerala or Gujarat.But TN did it again. How did thishappen…probably theease in travel to TN's various cities by road, air and train. Thenumber of ancient temples, their architecture, the holy trinity cities ofRameshwaram, Kanchipuram and Madurai valued added to all tours. A visit toSrirangam, Kumbakonam, Thanjavur Chidambaram is a must if you are an architectureadmirer. We have 4 UNESCO world heritage sites namely Airavateshwartemple, Kumbakonam Brahadeshwar or Bigtemple, Thanjavur Gangai kondaCholapuram, Jayamkondam Monuments ofMammalapuram. Chennai. The last one wasmade more famous by our PM Modi after an informal meet there with the ChinesePremier Xi in 2019. It is now flooded with tourists. Add to these theOoty.. Metupalayam, Nilgiris mountain train, it is declared a world heritagetrain.. The hill station of Ooty and Kodai are sought after in summersand winters by our loyal tourists from Kerala, Karnataka,Telengana and Andhra Pradesh. These people visit TN even on extended weekendsas a default place if nothing works. Our beaches add glory to all tours with a specialmention of Mammalapuram (mahabalipuram), Cove Long, three Beaches in Chennai,Cuddalore and Kanyakumari (tip of India) Add to these shopping for pure kanchipuram silk,gold jewels, granite idols, cottons, shell crafts, beads, spices, sambarpowder, tea and filter coffee. TN cities likeChennai and Coimbatore have large number of hospital tourists or medicaltourism who comefrom abroad and other Indian states for health care in our various state ofart, yet budget friendly hospitals. TN tours, travel, stay, food, sightseeing shopping arebudget friendly. The state is also safe fortourists from India and abroad. Q6 What is something electricalengineers know that others don't? A6 Gokul Venugopal, M.Tech in PowerSystems, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat (Graduated2015)5y The zero watt bulb The zero watt bulbsas we call it aren’t actually having power rating of zero watt. These small incandescent bulbshave power rating of 10-15W. In the earlier daysbefore the advent of digital meters, energy consumption was recorded usingelectro-mechanical energy meters. The energyconsumption was recorded by counting revolutions of a disc through mechanicalcounters. To get thedisc revolving there has to be a certain minimum current flowing through themeter. Now the current drawn by these bulbs is very small to get the discrotating and hence the energy consumption is not recorded by theelectro-mechanical energy meters. So it seemedthat these bulbs have no power and hence they got the name zero watt bulb.(Watt being the unit of power). With the advent ofdigital meters, even energy consumed by a small 0.1 W LED could also bemeasured and hence the zero watt bulb is now a misnomer. Q7 What are very special stairs? A7 Luise, Worked at Own Business Sat This is one of thestairs of the Great Wallof China and its steps are incredibly worn. You can't imaginehow many people have walked along there to make them look like this.You mightthink so. But there is another reason why they look like that. The individualsteps are extremely high and they were built crooked and crooked. And notbecause they couldn't do better, but so that uninvited intruders wouldn't havean easy time on them and would easily fall. As a result, no onewould have been able to enter there quickly. The Great Wall of China consists of several walls.Some parts of it are also in North Korea and Mongolia. All these wallstogether would be as long as 1.8 times the diameter of the Earth (12000 km).This gigantic wall would be 21,196 km long. Q8 What is the prettiest town/city inIndia with many old and new temples around it? A8 Devala Rees, Hindu practitioner andscholar of Pagan religions Sat Well I’m sure it’sone I haven’t been to. There are four thousand towns and cities in India; Idon’t think I’ve been to even fifty of them. But of those Ihave seen firsthand, I will say Haridwar, also known as Mayapuri and variousother names. All photos in this answer were taken by me,when I was in Haridwar last October (my second visit to this city). I really love Haridwar. If I were to move to India fora longer stay rather than just traveling, Haridwar would be one of my topmostconsiderations to settle for some time; I feel really at home there. It trulydoes justice to its name as a gateway to the Divine, and I think it deservesits place on the list of the Sapta Puri, the seven most sacred cities inHinduism. It’s a very pretty town, with the holy river Ganga flowing rightthrough it, nestled between green, forested hills. Every night the river is litup with floating diya lights, and holy bells and chants ring out across thewater. The city is full of (and surrounded by) temples oldand new - Mansa Devi Temple, Maya Devi Temple, Chandi Devi Temple (those arethe ancient Big Three, the Siddha Peethas of Mayapuri, and some of the mostspiritually powerful temples I’ve experienced in all of India), Bharat Mata Temple(a new temple for Indian patriots), Har Ki Pauri Ganga Temple (famous for itsevening Aarti), Daksh Mahadev Temple (a really amazing temple), NeeleshwarTemple (mainly known for its beautiful views), the Jain Temple (exquisitearchitecture), Saptrishi Ashram, Vaishno Devi Temple (nicely inclusive andparticipatory evening Aarti), Gaurishankar Mahadev temple, MahamrityunjayaTemple, Bilvkeshwar Mahadev Temple (and make sure to explore the beautiful holyforest and sadhus’ caves back behind it), Pawan Dham Temple,Doodhadhari Barfani Temple, Anjana Devi Temple, Sati Kund Temple, SiddhpeethShri Dakshin Kali Temple, Anandamayi Ma’s Mahasamadhi Temple (the holy tomb ofa recent great female Saint), Shitala Devi Temple, Radha-Krishna Temple, therecently built Shri Yantra Temple, and countless more, seemingly everywhere youlook. And the temples of Haridwar are full of a real calmnessand tranquility that can be lacking in some more hecticand over-busy temples in some other cities. Yet they are not sparsely attended;far from it, in Mansa Devi and Chandi Devi Temples I was pressedshoulder-to-shoulder in the crowd. Yet somehow even then, especially at ChandiDevi, the spirit of tranquility moved through the crowd like a soothing breath.And at Mansa Devi Temple, after going through the innermost main circuit of thetemple in a crush of fervent devotees, I was able to find an empty corner(still within the main temple building) to sit down undisturbed for as long asI wanted and do my own puja. The devotional fervor of the crowds is palpableand inspiring. Most of the temples of Haridwar are located either righton the banks of the Ganga or on top of forested hills overlooking the valley.The beauty of nature fills the city and has notbeen overly disturbed or destroyed. Indeed the main “religion” of Haridwaroften seems to be a beautiful and inspiring Animism. The central spiritualityof Haridwar is reverence of the river Ganga. Her banks are lined with dozens ofholy trees - Pipal, Neem, Banyan, Bel - each and every one of which is adornedwith red strings, has old little shrines at their roots, and receivesindividual worship and attention. One of my favorite spots on Earth is near Shitala Ghat inHaridwar (down in the Kankhal colony suburb), where onecan sit or wander in the shade of a holy grove beside the Ganga for as long asone wishes, watching local women come alone one by one to silently commune withthe river, slowly, reverently, taking their time, sometimes sitting inmeditation for half an hour or more. Everywhere are old little shrines that onemay worship as one feels inspired; here and there a cow wanders, intrepidlyseeking food from pious temple-goers. Q9 Did dogs exist before humanity? A9 Matt Riggsby, MA ArchaeologicalStudies, Boston University Feb 8 No. Up until around30,000 years ago (plus or minus several thousand years), there were various wolves.Starting around that time, though, separate populations of wolves in Europe and Asia startedhanging around human encampments more and more often. Over a very longtime, the descendants of those wolves became more and more friendly with humansand in doing so selected for a number of unusual traits. By around 15,000 years ago, theyhad become dogs. Q10 What are the biggest misconceptionsIndians have about USA? A10 Ratnakar Srivastava, Have stayed inUS.3y Indians think thatUSA is some kind of fairyland perfect place. Few things which I noticed arebelow Visa problem is much bigger than what peoplethink before deciding to go to the US. It will take away 15–20 years of yourprime life where you could have lived life to fullest. Visa plays a major rolein all your life decisions. There won't be a minute you can stop thinking ofit. I will give a few examples a) one guy who was having a very stable life inIndia and he and his wife were working at a very good place in India. His wifecouldn't work till now after 3 years as company needs to sponsor his green cardfor his wife to be eligible to work. He hasn't gone out 3 years from US as hispetition needs to renew. b) I asked one of my friends what he thinks of buyinga house and settling etc he said his green card will take another 10 years postwhich he will think about the same. Also, it's very tough to change jobs astransferring H1B is not easy. People have mentioned that you should just enjoylife but it's practically not possible. Poor public transport: I had this misconception thattransportation in US will be perfect but I was shell shocked when in Houston Ifound out there is no public transport.There were no trains, metro, busnothing. In the name of transport there was one bus which used to run onceevery hour..I meanreally you expect everyone to have and drive a car.I had to pay 20kINR to uber in one day to roam around which was quite a shock. Traffic: I used to think there will be no trafficproblem in the US but it was there. Not much to scale of Bangalorebut it was there. On bad days you can be stuck for hours on freeways. 4. Misconception about the luxurious life You need to do eachand everything by yourself. In India, you have help for everything. Also, mostof the Indians live below-average lifestyles to save money so that they canjustify their decision to come to the US. 5. Food Its very difficultto manage food as cooks are very expensive. People cook once a week or use processed food. 6. Everything is big and far One thing you willnotice is everything is big and far. In India, you can find everything 10minutes away from car service to hospital to school to office. But in the US you have designated zones foreverything so you need to travel a lot to find a specific thing. 7. Very Very Costly Most ofthe Indians get twice the salary what they get in India but it's five timesmore expensive. For example, 2 BHK on rent is approx 1800$ ina far off locality. In India, you can get at 25k INR. Food which you can get in500Rs will cost about 4k in the US. 8. Robbery This one was new tome. Multiple flats were robbed where Indians were staying asthieves knew that they keep gold. It's difficult to keep security guardsin apartments as it's a costly affair. 9. No people on the road, cars only No one walks on theroad. Everyone drives. Evento go to the opposite side shop, People will drive. This was alsostrange as to why no one walks. 10. Parents will not like to stay Parents getconfined to home due to multiple problems so they don't like to stay in the US. 11. Gun violence It's quite usualthat someone was shot around the corner so people need to take the requiredprecautions. 12. Hospitality In India, you aretreated very respectfully while travelling. Someone will pick your luggage etc.if you go to a hotel. It's not usual in US. It's just another job. 13. Tips In India, you willtip if you like the service. In US, it's a norm to tip 15% otherwise people will be rude to you. The onlypoints people should consider are good are education, clean air, and waterwhich makes difference between US and India. All the above QA are from Quora website on 13-02-2023 Quora answers need not be100% correct answers . Compiled and posted by R. Gopala Krishnan, 79years, on 14-02-2023 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/750044005.787099.1676347562971%40mail.yahoo.com.
