Left-libertarians have no problems cadging sponsorships from the same 'evil' corporates for their lit-fests, and generous wine ’n cheese laden evenings.
The Romans’ version of stoicism is rapidly picking popularity on Instagram — Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca are some names that get thrown at you when you fire up your screen.
Germany’s erstwhile Christian Democratic Union govt, led by Angela Merkel, prevented sale of small arms to police forces in states they perceived had ‘bad human rights record’.
A theme has not yet emerged for BJP & people see lack of a contest, which makes it unexciting. For all these reasons, 2024 is turning out to be an unexpectedly theme-less election.
I haven’t been to Varanasi, so cannot say anything about its modernisation or beautification etc. But I have been to another old city, interiors of old Agra, so I can imagine what old Varanasi could likely be. In Agra, there are houses a few hundred years old; lanes are so narrow that two fat persons cannot walk side by side. These lanes open on to slightly, only slightly wider lanes, on which there are shops on both sides, people mill around at all hours, paddle rickshaws are deftly maneuvered, two wheelers snake along incessantly blowing their horns as if sound waves will somehow clear the way for them.
It is impossible to “develop” or “beautify” such places, unless one is prepared to bulldoze the whole place. Then, the old ghosts that prowled those lanes for hundreds of years will prowl no more; saddened, they will merge with the aether. Over time the sepia shade photographs too will decay. No one will ever know that once an old Agra or an old Varanasi stood there. It’s that cake proverb: “you cannot have your old city and beautify it too”. Narendra Modi will be remembered as an unaesthetic rampager.
Why is Indian Government honouring those people who are not Indian citizens, Ban Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. what a waste of Indian tax payers money.??
I haven’t been to Varanasi, so cannot say anything about its modernisation or beautification etc. But I have been to another old city, interiors of old Agra, so I can imagine what old Varanasi could likely be. In Agra, there are houses a few hundred years old; lanes are so narrow that two fat persons cannot walk side by side. These lanes open on to slightly, only slightly wider lanes, on which there are shops on both sides, people mill around at all hours, paddle rickshaws are deftly maneuvered, two wheelers snake along incessantly blowing their horns as if sound waves will somehow clear the way for them.
It is impossible to “develop” or “beautify” such places, unless one is prepared to bulldoze the whole place. Then, the old ghosts that prowled those lanes for hundreds of years will prowl no more; saddened, they will merge with the aether. Over time the sepia shade photographs too will decay. No one will ever know that once an old Agra or an old Varanasi stood there. It’s that cake proverb: “you cannot have your old city and beautify it too”. Narendra Modi will be remembered as an unaesthetic rampager.