Amerika Franz Kafka A Review

Amerika is a tale by Franz Kafka which follows the shifting fortunes of a Bohemian immigrant by the name of Karl Rossmann. He comes across people who abuse and exploit him and consequently show him the reality concerning his notions about the United States of America. “Only then did Karl come to understand the vastness of America.” These are the last words of Franz Kafka in his work, `Amerika’. These words may be interpreted as lastingly hopeful. This is the only Kafka work where the protagonist is a teenager. Some of the situations that Karl gets into, make the reader tense. They get a feeling of an impending doom, to the point where reading this book makes them uncomfortable, particularly the entire chapter about Pollunder’s and the interactions of Karl with Delamarche and Robinson. In comparison, it feels odd because both `The Process’ and `The Castle’ by Kafka feel rather comforting to me, but `Amerika’ is a long and sustained attack of panic. These passages have created an impact on me - ‘When Karl appeared before them and greeted them, they put away the ledgers quickly and picked up some other large books, which they opened. One of them, evidently only a clerk, said: “I should like to see your identity papers.” “Unfortunately, I don’t have them with me,” said Karl. . . . “You’re an engineer?” asked the other man, who seemed to be the chief office manager. “Not yet,” Karl said quickly, “but—” “That’s quite enough, [. . .] then you don’t belong here. I would ask that you heed the signs.” [. . .] “Take this gentleman to the office for people with technical skills.” [. . .] `In the office into which Karl was now taken, the procedure was, as Karl had foreseen, similar to that in the first office. However, on hearing that he had attended middle school, they sent him to the office for former middle school students; but once in that office, when Karl said that he had attended a European middle school, they declared that they were not responsible for such cases and requested that he be taken to the office for former European middle-school students.’ This is Franz Kafka’s first novel and a peculiar one that dabbles with a crime plot. When reading this book, we have to realise that not all crimes end up producing murderers or corpses. Some of them leave dead souls that are killed by relentless metaphysical complexity; a kind that reason cannot contend with; a kind that wipes out nations and people in a couple of generations. Stalin in Russia was the foremost example of being a gifted practitioner of such type of killing in the twentieth century. He was an expert at bringing about mass perplexity to represent unregulated power. His idolaters and followers have become somewhat of a legion, everywhere in the world. Franz Kafka brought out this kind of complex analysis from his life’s experiences. These perplexities of life were coarsely inferred after his death by interpreters and scholars who were determined to conjure a general stereotype theory of Kafka’s writings. This book is a great example of such dissection of perplexity as a criminal activity. The narrative takes place in the United States of America’s baron-robber age and is perhaps the strangest and the funniest among Kafka’s novels. From the outset, we sense a repetition of hand holding of an embarrassing nature and sweaty and intimate body contact among males, mostly involving Karl Rossmann, the sixteen-year old lad whose innocence and experiences in America are recorded in this book. Karl is actually exiled in a way to America by his domineering Bohemian father after an old housemaid tries to rape him and becomes pregnant, while young Karl has no recollection of whatever transpired to him, in her bed. The character of Rossmann not only has a complete name but he is also presented as being a transparent and a non-mysterious figure, in contrast to the antihero who is named K, of `Castle’. What Karl has in plenty is an immoderate sense of duty and order. He is an obedient child. Yet, if he is cornered, he can fight back for his life. As the narrative progresses, his survival skills develop. What is unchangeable is that despite his trials in America, Karl is convinced that if he behaves in an honourable way, the world will treat him well and would be kind to him. At the end of the book, Karl has not learnt his lessons and does not turn into a vengeful character. One of the joys of reading this book is to go through how nobody and nothing is anything but nominal under their set of larger than life rules and how all the layers get peeled off simultaneously but not in unity. Karl is mighty surprised that the citizens of USA, either by immigration or birth are not fazed by these rules and regulations such as in the case of his wealthy and obese uncle. All the natives accept those rules, both implicit and explicit and they go on with their mundane lives. Karl is tormented during the day and reflects during the night; he compares his situation in the new world with that of his life in the old world.

Conservation Steps for Sumatran Tigers

The island of Sumatra is home to the critically endangered Sumatran tiger, which is a sub-species of tiger that is not found anywhere in the world. There are estimated to be fewer than four-hundred Sumatran tigers left in the wild today. The existence of the Sumatran tiger is under threat from increasing deforestation and forest degradation. It is a big impact of environmental and socio-economic challenges being faced in Indonesia. The tigers in Sumatra are losing their natural habitat at a rapidly alarming rate. Poaching of the tigers and their prey as well as people killing or maiming tigers in retaliation to livestock loss are dangers for this species. What are the main threats to tigers in Sumatra? These magnificent and elusive big cats are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to poaching, habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict. The conservation steps towards preservation of life of Sumatran tigers have mainly been initiated by Wild Cats Conservation Alliance. It is an alliance of Zoological Society of London and Dream World Wildlife Foundation since 1997. To date, they have mobilized over four million Sterling Pounds over one hundred and three different projects across five tiger range nations in Asia. They are working to protect the Sumatran tigers by supporting Fauna & Flora International and the Lingkar Inisiatif Indonesia. Much work has been done towards wildlife preservation in Kerinci Seblat National Park in Southern Sumatra Island. The projects include anti-poaching activities, conflict mitigation, education and outreach. With such activities, the tiger species are being helped along with the preservation of the whole ecosystem in Sumatra. What is the diet of Sumatran tigers? These tigers are keystone species and top predators in the food chain and their healthy populations will certainly reflect a healthy environment. They can easily handle an animal as large as a gaur; it being considered among the biggest species of wild cattle. They can also take down a tapir or a baby elephant and hunt even smaller prey such as birds, monkeys and fish; deer and wild boars are perhaps making up the bulk of their diet. These tigers weigh close to one hundred and forty kilograms. Why are Sumatran tigers endangered? As apex predators, Sumatran tigers have only humans as their natural enemies. One of the main threats to Sumatran tigers is through poachers. Hunters use snare traps or shoot these tigers for their skin and bones. These products are in high demand overseas as status symbols and for use in Asian traditional medicine. A reduction in prey due to poaching of deer and other species, as well as habitat loss due to the expansion of oil palm and coffee plantations along with smallholder encroachment threaten these big cats. How many Sumatran tigers are left in the wild? Sumatran tigers are naturally wary of humans and they are not so easy to see because they are mostly cryptically camouflaged. It is almost impossible to keep a clear count of them. Tiger tracks and few other signs that are provided with cleverly placed camera traps are perhaps the only way to determine their presence. These tigers are chiefly confined to dense and deep forests. The Indonesian government has estimated that just about four hundred or lesser Sumatran tigers now remain in the wild.

Charles Spencer Chaplin: A Profile

When you think of a tramp or comedy in either silent or talkie films, you think of Charlie Chaplin. He portrayed the homeless hobo to perfection. You could see him lining up in the soup kitchens of the Great Depression period. The whole world was going through an economic meltdown while Chaplin was busy making the term destitute an actual term of endearment. One of the easily recognisable scenes from this period is Chaplin boiling his shoes to eat them. That was a move which made people of those times identify with him and relate to him. People got encouraged to see a poor character that is broke with his pockets turned out, sitting in gutters as the rain poured down; yet being happy. They felt that they could also get through those hard times. The comedy dished out by Chaplin could never be termed either goofy or slapstick. It was portrayal of life in its dark and stark reality and in terms of great adversity. There was not a Chaplin film that was ignored by people. One of the famous quotes of Chaplin goes like this – “A man’s true character comes out when he’s drunk.” Chaplin’s early life was a troubled one. He was born in a poor section of South London. His father ws Charles Chaplin Sr. While his mother was Hannah Chaplin. He was born on 16th April 1889. His father was a singer and his mother was an actress and a dancer. She danced in British musical halls of those times. By the time Chaplin was a toddler, his parents were already estranged. At the age of seven, he was sent to Lambeth Workhouse to take care of payments of some of the family’s debts. His early experiences in life brought out the enactment of the `tramp’ in him in later life. His father passed away with cirrhosis of liver when Chaplin was nine. Later in life, Chaplin said, “To laugh truly, you should be able to take your pain and play with it.” From a young age, Charles Chaplin Jr. Always found the time to follow in the footsteps of his parents; by being a performer on the stage. At the age of nine, he was recruited to become a member of a dancing troupe. He was picking up well as a tap dancer and made his mark by practicing his routines many times during a day. His commitment and hard work helped him to earn money to live by. At thirteen years of age, he was self-sufficient. At the age of fourteen, he played his first acting part on stage as local newspaper boy in `Romance of Cockayne’. It turned out to be a big break for him. He was appreciated for his ability to play a comedy character. He was being noticed as a bright child actor. He also played Billie, the pageboy in Sherlock Holmes dramas. At seventeen, he joined the circus. It was called `Casey’s Circus’ as a dancer. He reached the New World, travelling with this circus troupe. When Chaplin visited the United States of America, Vaudeville was at the peak of its glory. Dancers and singers entertained local communities with their skills and they were in demand. Chaplin was fortunate to do his shows at the Colonial Theatre in New York City. He got good reviews for his acts. He became famous with the role of a drunkard because of its slapstick humour. He spent two years doing such shows. He went back to England in June 1912 and had to face days of depression, once again. Luckily, he did not have to wait for long as he got a chance to go back to New York City in the month of October, that same year. During this visit, he was introduced to the film business with New York City Motion Picture Company. He got a break after that with Keystone Picture Studios and worked out a contract of $150 a week. This meant that Chaplin would not have to struggle, ever again. He began playing the penniless tramp to perfection. He ventured out the next year, in December 2013, to the Western Coast and arrived in Los Angeles. He used the moustache to look a little older. He enjoyed playing that and the drunken clown. He directed a film in 1914 and it was called `Caught in the Rain’. He gets mixed up in a lover’s quarrel and did plenty of slapstick. It was a success. Keystone then depended on him to direct most of his films from then on. One of the greatest compliments Chaplin got in his life was from Walt Disney who said that it was the template of Chaplin’s tramp on which the Mickey Mouse cartoon character got inspiration from. The features of Chaplin’s tramp were everywhere. In the year 1917, Chaplin became a worldwide phenomenon. His films were being played in every country. The First World War was thinning down after the heating up in 1916. USA entered the war in April 1917. Chaplin refused to join the war effort. He hated wars. In 1918, Chaplin made an innovative film that was called `A Dog’s Life’. This ilm opens with the familiar figure of the penniless tramp entering the screen, hungry and desperate, looking for where the next meal would come from. He is followed by a dog whose name is Scraps. This dog is rescued by Chaplin from a dog fight. The dog and the tramp do everything together; they work, look for food and even look for women in tandem. Edna Purviance and his brother Sidney also make their appearance in this film. The timing of Chaplin’s comedy was brilliant in this film. It was hailed as a total work of art by the film critics. Married Life Mildred Harris became Chaplin’s first wife. She was a child star and made her debut when she was only eleven years old. She met Chaplin in 1918 and they dated each other. At first, Chaplin was not serious. When he came to know that she was pregnant with his child, he became concerned and consented to marriage. He did not want a scandal to escalate at this point in his life. The marriage was actually out of fear; not love. There was a miscarriage and the child was lost. He had an unhappy marriage which ended the following year with a settlement from Chaplin’s estate. His unhappy days led to the making of the film, `The Kid’ which turned out to be a masterpiece. It touched upon loss and sadness and the world came to know that Chaplin can even make people cry besides making them laugh. From this moment in his life, all Chaplin’s creations started touching the hearts of people and engaging their minds. When `The Kid’ was released, it became a blockbuster hit, internationally. Chaplin turned into a wealthy man on its account. Thousands of fans flocked to meet him when he stepped out on the streets of England. His next work was a romantic film called `A Woman of Paris’. He decided not to act in this film and allowed his protégé, Edna Purviance to hog the limelight by merely directing. In the field of direction, Chaplin was moving way ahead of his time. The film did not do well as the audience was not ready to see a film without Chaplin in it and a plot that requires thinking and complexity. He had to return to comedy after that. He did it in a big way by making `The Gold Rush’ in 1925. He was inspired by the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. It cost him one million dollars to make as a result of multiple shooting locations, special effects and costly set material. He used over six hundred people to make the movie. It turned out to be an iconic epic. Chaplin portrayed a powerful role in this film. Marriage to avoid a Scandal In the nineteen twenties, Chaplin got involved with a sixteen-year old Lita Grey and got her pregnant. He was thirty-six at that time. In an act of panic, he married her. They went away to Mexico and got married in November 1924. She gave birth to Chaplin’s first child; a son named Spencer. Charlie Chaplin began to resent his wife after few months and spent most of his time in studios, away from her. In time, they had one more child together and the second son was Sydney Earl Chaplin. The audiences did not like the way Chaplin was treating his wife and it translated into box office earnings that fell. Chaplin divorced Lita Grey in August 1927 and went back to his work. A film out of these dark days was `Circus’. It got good reviews. He picked up his first Oscar in 1928. The Advent of Talkies Chaplin lost his balance as an actor with the introduction of the talkies. He was used to the silent films shooting and editing. He felt that movies were better with just background music and no sound dubbing. He was also nervous about the tramp character getting ruined if he started lending voice to his comic and wild gestures on film. He continued working on silent films and passed up on the spoken dialogue. His major film during these times was `City Lights’. In this plot, his character falls in love with a blind girl he meets at a street corner, where she sells flowers. He earns money to pay for her eye operation that would restore her vision. It took Chaplin a couple of years to complete the filming. The final edit was completed in December 1930 and the film was released in early 1931. It earned high praise from the critics and people started saying things like no one except Chaplin could have made such a film. The film had instant audience appeal. Chaplin’s fans were quite satisfied watching films without dialogues. In those days, the film earned Chaplin a huge sum of three million dollars. It was a big crowning achievement for him. After this film, Chaplin took a sabbatical for almost a year and a half from films. During this time, he came across a young actress, Paulette Goddard. He knew that she was going to be a star and he saw to it that she became one. He cast her as his co-star in `Modern Times’ in 1936. This film was a masterpiece – a satire of modern industrialised society. The film’s setting is the Great Depression. It highlights the struggle between workers who go on a strike and the factory owners; all this happens in a comic fashion. Industry is projected as a juggernaut which is ready to replace humanity. Isn’t that is what is happening today with artificial intelligence and its rise and control over human minds? Chaplin himself scored the music for this film. There is a satirical song that is made up of incoherent gibberish. Socialist Mind Not many people are aware that Chaplin had socialist leanings. He said, “To those who can hear me, I say – do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed – the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people will return to the people and so long as men die; liberty will never perish.” Chaplin penned `The Dictator’ and inserted this quote of his in that film. It was a mocking satire of Hitler and the Nazis. He began filming this epic film just six days after Britain issued a formal declaration of war against Germany. It was pretty controversial for Chaplin to make a film of this kind. He had also received a warning from his peers. If left to others, this film would never have seen the light of day. He had sufficient money to pull it off on a private basis. He wanted to make sure that Hitler would be laughed at. The film covered serious stuff and the ending was almost like a public service announcement. Chaplin looks right into the camera and addresses the audience as to why war is abominable and fascism had to be stopped. What was the result? Chaplin’s fame and star began to fade considerably. Taking exile from the United States of America Chaplin was outspoken with his `Great Dictator’ and `Modern Times’. He used to tell people in his inner circle, “Greed has poisoned men’s souls and it has barricaded the world with hate ... machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity; more than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.” By the middle of nineteen forties, his film career declined and Chaplin started going through a hard time, coping with his popularity that was on a wane. J. Edgar Hoover and the Federal Bureau of Investigation began tracking every move of Chaplin but in vain; they could not find any dirt on him. In frustration, Hoover began a wicked smear campaign which was aimed at wrecking the public image of the star director. Chaplin came into the negative limelight by his open support of Russian War Relief. This kind of support was unacceptable in U.S. politics scene. It helped cast suspicion on to Chaplin’s motivation to help Russia. His detractors became worried that with his massive appeal; he would be able to reach the undesirables with his kind of socialist propaganda. FBI did their best to take Chaplin’s public persona down to reduce his influence on the world stage. Westbrook Pegler, hired by Hoover, started printing one story after another about Chaplin to make him unpopular. He was shown out as an ardent supporter of Russian communism and made out as a villain who hated American values. His divorce was portrayed as one that went against family values. By dumping his wife, he was made to look as if he was dumping America itself. To make matters worse, after few months, an alleged former lover of his came forward to file a paternity suit. Chaplin was vindicated from these vicious claims as blood tests proved that he was not the father. Public opinion did much damage to the reputation of Charles Spencer Chaplin in USA. In the name of national security, the FBI screwed up his life and image. Poor Chaplin had not even joined the communist party but was officially maligned as a traitor and communist. Chaplin did not take such kind of attacks, lying down. He turned the press conferences into circuses when he mentioned to the reporters, “Proceed with the butchery! Fire on at this old gray head!” During this phase, Chaplin managed to find happiness and love when he met an actress, Oona O’Neil. She stayed by his side till the day he died. She began worshipping him. Oona became his real friend and his comfort and saving grace. In 1951, Chaplin made `Limelight’, which, in my opinion, is his finest film. He gave the music for this film and it was magical. A brilliant score! The FBI did its best to ban this movie. This spelt his self-imposed exile from the United States of America. He would not set foot on American soil till 1972. By this time, the media’s desire in this country to malign Chaplin had grown cold and to a degree; the `little tramp’ was forgotten and forgiven. Chaplin was next seen when receiving the Special Academy Lifetime Achievement Award at the Oscars. Standing next to the host Jack Lemmon, Chaplin looked like a fragile image of his former self. Chaplin was tormented by J. Edgar Hoover and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and he could care less of the public sentiment. He was not expecting to be received in this country with open arms; yet, he got a deafening standing ovation for a long time. The audience finally acknowledged his work with a big `Thank You’. If I am not mistaken, the applause set a record for the longest standing ovation that anyone had received on that stage since the inception in 1933. Later that year, Chaplin suffered a major stroke and had to spend most of his time on a wheelchair. He found it difficult to speak even; with his voice slurring. He still managed to release an illustrated biography called `my Life in Pictures’ in 1974. He rescored an old film, `A Woman of Paris’. He also featured in a documentary called `The Gentleman Tramp’, which was aired in 1975. In that year, he received knighthood by Queen Elizabeth, on a wheelchair. Subsequently, his health started to fade and he died on Christmas Day in 1977.

Henri Matisse - Master of Impressionist Art

“What I dream of is an art of balance, purity, and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter... a soothing, calming influence on the mind, something like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.” - Henri Matisse Henri Matisse was born in Le Cateau-Cambresis, Nord, France. He grew up in Bohain-en-Vermandois, Picardy, France, where his parents owned a flower business; he was their first son. In 1887, he went to Paris to study law, working as a court administrator in Le Cateau-Cambrésis after gaining his qualification. He first began painting in 1889, after his mother brought him art supplies during a period of convalescence following an attack of appendicitis. He discovered "a kind of paradise" as he later described it, and decided to become an artist. In 1891, he returned to Paris to study art at the Académie Julian and became a student of William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Gustave Moreau. Initially, he painted still-lives and landscapes in a traditional style proficiently. Matisse was influenced by the works of earlier masters such as Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, Nicolas Poussin and Antoine Watteau and Edouard Manet. Chardin was one of Matisse's most admired painters; as an art student, he made copies of four Chardin paintings in the Louvre. He emerged as a Post-Impressionist and achieved prominence as the leader of the French movement Fauvism. He preferred to use color as the foundation for expressive and decorative paintings. He became famous for his original use of colour. He had skills as a draughtsman and a printmaker. He went on also to become a sculptor but was known essentially as a painter. He defined revolutionary developments in the visual arts during the first couple of decades of the twentieth century along with Pablo Picasso. His work between 1900 and 1905 brought him recognition as the `wild one’ or one of the `Fauves’. He developed a style that was rigorous; one which emphasized decorative patterns and flattened forms. He started living in Nice on the French Riviera from 1917 and adopted a more relaxed style of work up to the nineteen twenties. He upheld the classical tradition in French painting style. After 1930, he continued with a simplification of form. Ill health in later years prevented him from painting and he started to do work in the medium of cut paper collage. Matisse has left his stamp through his expressive use of drawing and colour and is an important figure in the history of modern art. He is recognised for his original and fluid draughtsman ship. He was also a fine sculptor and printmaker although he is considered mainly as a painter. Along with Marcel Duchamp and Pablo Picasso, he has helped shape the revolutionary developments in the plastic arts during the initial decades of the twentieth century. Several of his paintings during the last decade of the nineteenth century use a `divisionist’ technique which he adopted after reading Eugene Delacroix and Neo-Impressionism, a work by Paul Signac. His work as a sculptor started with a copy after Antoine-Louis Barye in 1899. He devoted his energy later to working with clay when he completed `The Slave’ in 1903. His solo exhibition was in 1904 at the Ambroise Vollard Gallery. He did not achieve much success. In 1904, he spent a summer painting in St. Tropez with Neo-Impressionists Henri Edmond Cross and Paul Signac. His important works from this period are `Luxe’ and `Calme et Volupte’. He also worked with Andre Derain at Collioure. He laid an emphasis on controlled lines and flat shapes. In 1905, there was an exhibition held by Matisse and a group of artists known as `Fauves’ at the Salon d'Automne. The paintings expressed emotion with wild and dissonant colours, often without regard for the natural colours of the subject. Matisse showed `Open Window’ and `Woman with the Hat’. Critic Louis Vauxcelles described the work with the phrase `Donatello au milieu des fauves!’ (Donatello among the wild beasts); he was referring to a Renaissance-type sculpture that existed in the same room. His comment was printed on 17th October 1905 in `Gil Blas’, a daily. The exhibition drew harsh criticism from some - "A pot of paint has been flung in the face of the public", said the critic Camille Mauclair but it also attracted some favorable attention. When the painting that was singled out for special condemnation, Matisse's `Woman with a Hat’, was bought by Gertrude and Leo Stein, the nervous artist’s morale improved considerably. Matisse once wrote, “if my story were to be written truthfully from beginning to end, it would amaze everyone.” He developed a long association with Sergei Shchukin, a Russian art collector. His major work, `La Danse’ (1909), was done especially for Shchukin. It was part of a double painting commission. The other work was `Music’ (1910). These works could be seen now in the collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Henri Matisse died of a cardiac arrest in 1954, at the age of eighty-four. He is buried in the cemetery of Monastere Notre Dame de Cimiez. It is near Nice. The impact of Matisse on Fauvism is no less than that of William Shakespeare on English literature and Sigmund Freud on psychology. American abstract artists such as Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock were influenced by him in making the colour responsible for structural configurations. Their works showcased this kind of style. Matisse has had a great impact on artists of late twentieth century who defined a pictorial language clearly with colours and arabesque lines instead of making a painting look like a means to an end.

Caves and the Subterranean World

Mountains symbolise the zenith of human aspiration while caves are linked with depths of the power of darkness and depravity. It is a stupid association as for thousands of years; caves have provided basic shelter for both man and animals. Caves are also attractive and colourful. Most of the caves have been formed in limestone rock or dolomite. These rocks are sedimentary because they are laid down in layers which are successive. They become susceptible to vertical cracking. Water that seeps down these vertical faults works its way along the bedding planes and it wears away the rock. It results in the formation of sink holes and horizontal caverns. Changes in these water tables have left some caves very dry but many have rivers running through them and they help feed large underground lakes and subterranean waterfalls. Diving apparatus is required at many places to explore these caves. Most caves are damp as water seeps through cracks and joints in their roofs or trickles down their walls. This water is coming through the limestone layers and it starts to dissolve some of the lime. When the water evaporates, it leaves traces behind of calcium carbonate that builds up over a period of time. Some of the calcium carbonate gets deposited at points in the ceilings where the water drips while the remainder falls to floors of the caves. As a result of this, hanging deposits or stalactites and standing deposits or stalagmites are formed. If these formations are allowed to grow for longer periods of time, they will unite and columns will be formed, usually clustered together in styles of music organ pipes. Some caves will form as a result of volcanic activity. This is because the hot lava flows from a fissure and will cool rapidly when exposed to the air and it will harden on the surface while the molten lava flowing underneath drains away, leaving a cavity. There are caves of this type in Hawaii and Iceland. Few caves are a result of water erosion, mostly from the sea and they can take on several varieties of shapes. Their rocks are not always of the same hardness. Waves that hit the cliff will soon cut into rocks which are softer than their surroundings and are likely to erode horizontal or vertical joints. Waves that crash into deep caverns will compress the air within them and this makes the rock loose at weak points in the roofs. A natural chimney or blow hole is formed at some distance back from the face of the cliff. When the arch collapses, a vertical stack will be left and an example of this is the Old Man of Hoy cliff in the Orkney Scottish Islands. The temperature in caves remains mostly constant at about fifty degrees Fahrenheit and this is a boon to many animals, particularly bats. Such kinds of caves are found on the French Riviera, Spain, the Middle East and the Philippines. A remarkable bat cave is the one in Texas USA – the Ney Cave and it is presumed to give shelter to almost fifteen million bats. Other interesting specimens are the columns that guard the entrance to Fingal’s Cave (also made popular by Felix Bartholdy Mendelssohn’s haunting and mystical overture). This cave is located on the island of Staffa, Inner Hebrides, Scotland in the United Kingdom. The columns may look like Masonic work to you but they are a natural formation of basalt which split in this fashion thousands of years ago. Typical limestone formations in caves could be seen in the Tillywhim Caves in Dorset near Swansee. In this case, water has penetrated through the fissures in the rock. The channels have enlarged gradually and they have created underground rivers. The rivers dried up eventually and became dry and their mouths got exposed by the fall and the erosion of the rocks along the coast of the sea.

Intellect and its Limitations

“Pride goeth on horseback and cometh back on foot” – Anonymous What is the capacity of intelligence? Intelligence has been defined in more than one way; it is the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, reasoning, creativity and problem-solving. Yet our intelligence has several limitations and that includes the inability to process large amounts of information simultaneously as we have limited memory and self-control and have the vulnerability to make mistakes when processing complicated tasks. Each restriction suppresses the amount of data processed in a given situation and time. Social regulations often act as hindrances in being honest in life. We have to go along with the world, a world which is honoured for its reason and intellect. Anything that is connected with feeling is deemed as persona non-grata. It is not welcome. We are caught up in a network of social rituals and make-believes that hit upon us hard and bind us down like prisoners in a cage of ignorance and sub-conscious habits, whether they have any relevance to fact or not. Intellect, like any machine, has its limitations. If understanding a concept was like a recipe, we would require several ingredients such as memory, information and practice; they are all interlinked. The bad news is that our brain makes us all very limited in our access to these. To get information, we have to focus our concentration on what we want to learn. We are not very successful at multi-tasking. With limited attention comes limited input. There is a lot out there that we could study as there is no dearth of information but our capacity to grasp new information is definitely capped. Many spiritualists would come forward and say that intellectual exercise of a religious practice is honoured and appreciated among seekers such as kundalini yoga and hatha yoga. These practices are all good enough in their own way and nothing is wrong with them but they are not sufficient to attain superiority of the intellect. There are secrets within men which even angels cannot know easily. God only knows what is inside us; even we cannot know wholly what is within us. So, it is a part of our wisdom to be a little cautious in assessing the various components of our nature and the building bricks of our personality. It is not easy to see what stuff we are really made of. The occupations in our lives prevent us from being leisurely in our thoughts and we are often drifting because of our vocations. The office work, the business and shopping keep us busy, so that there is not enough leisure to ponder deeply into the substance of what we are made of. We seem to be made out of our social relations in the sense of the atmosphere in which we are living, at every given moment of time. When we are in USA, we think like the Americans; when we are in England, we think like the British; when we are in the midst of orthodoxy, our thinking is orthodox, so that we do not know what exactly the true environment of ours is. Yet, there is an environment of our own which we seldom encounter by reason of the storm of social air that blows over us. Even if we have a small social circle like a four-member family, we cannot be entirely true to ourselves. We are controlled by our fathers, our mothers, our brothers, our sisters and many other relations of this type. We simply cannot be ourselves even when living in a small family, because we are afraid of what others think; and it is much worse if we are in a larger community where every eye is looking at us. Memory depends on the formation of fresh neural connections and we have a restricted number of these connections. When we grow old, it becomes harder for our brains to create new connections and existing connections get overloaded with various memories. It becomes harder to learn and also harder to remember, as we tend to start confusing facts and events. In a comfortable society and a safe atmosphere, submerged feelings are not likely to get manifested. If we promise our creditor that he would be paid after two months, he goes with satisfaction because the promise is given; but if he knows that we are not going to pay, that will become a different matter. He will shout and stand at our door. This defensive attitude of our feelings will be known to us either when we are opposed by our atmosphere in every way or when we are totally alone, left to ourselves on a mountain top with no chance of satisfaction of any kind for a defined period. We will be dreaming of the pleasures of the world. If we go far away from human settlements, the desires become more serious and restless because they know they cannot get anything they want; but, if we live in a city, there is a promise that our desires may get fulfilled and our emotions stay in control. The feeling of security that we feel is very important. An insecure person is always dwelling in a state of turmoil and hot water. So, the human intellect or capacity to understand is the capability of a mind to generalise experiences, to work with abstract conditions and to make conclusions from assumptions. The deterioration of the human intellect could be attributed to depression, stress or disease and to vandalism, terrorism or militancy in societies that tend to threaten humanity with extinction. For effectively using information to form a deep understanding, you need to practice. Besides extremely important events, an effective way to form long-term memories is only through practice. It has to be remembered that we don’t have unlimited time to practice everything that we want to learn and there is a practical limit to our understanding of things that are happening in the world. We are always used to seeing beauty and pleasure in this world, but we cannot see it in God. Intellect will expand if we understand this concept. Ironically, the moment we speak the name of God, there is a sense of fear within us. We are frightened because of the judgment and punishment of the soul out of earthly misdeeds and intentions. People do not project love for God as they do for their parents, their husbands or wives and children. What people are failing to understand is that God is not just a police commissioner or an army general, but a source of beauty and glory. Those who have an understanding of the beauty and power of the spirit and its relationship with the Creator realise that beauty is a subtle secret that creeps silently into us in a private manner and does not operate publicly like the mathematical calculations of a scientist.

Fossil Fuel Financing and how well it is backed up by the rich and the greedy

Most of the corporate companies in this world have shown time and again that they only mouth their concerns for the planet’s environment but their sight is on profits and profits alone; at any expense or cost. A few months ago, J.P. Morgan Chase faced a shareholder resolution that was historic and it was to end their financing for the expansion of fossil fuels. What happened? Their management opposed it vigorously. In the Paris agreement on Climate Control, signs were shown that we have a potential to limit climate change to 1.5°C objective. Drastic changes have to take shape, starting right now. It can start with reduction and eventual end to the expansion of fossil fuels. Once again, the pointer is towards J.P. Morgan Chase as the largest funder of fossil fuels and for being one of the top financers of Exxon. Will they take any steps? Not likely. Anything to come about nature’s preservation takes a backseat to wicked greed for moolah. These are critical times as far as climate control is concerned. Each action of ours or lack of action may have life changing consequences for everyone on earth. Aren’t we already experiencing the damaging effect of climate change everywhere? We see forest fires and heat waves, crop failures and floods, tornadoes and drought. The value of damage is in billions of dollars every year with thousands of people dying, worldwide. While this is happening, bankers and insurance companies are busy aiding climate destruction by pouring billions of dollars in the finance of fossil fuels in the past several years. Isn’t it time to hold such companies accountable for their direct hand in climate destruction? Companies have to start looking on how to clean up their supply chains which are leaving a big trail of damage, ranging from the boreal forests of Canada to the rainforests of Amazon and Indonesia. It is time to tell such companies to cease their land theft, deforestation and abuse of environment. Many big corporates still continue to source such commodities that are a risk to forests such as producers of palm oil and paper from most indifferent suppliers. Some of them have connections to land theft on an indigenous basis, disturbing habitat of orangutans and leading to a chain of violent activities in places like Indonesia. These people are putting the earth’s future at risk by destroying the rainforests that cannot be replaced. They are also destroying the climate and local and indigenous communities of people. It is time to drill some sense into this world and the wicked rich and the corporate to stop their deforestation activities and abuse of human rights.