Source….www.thebetterindia.com
natarajan
Author: Natarajan
Tianducheng: A Fake Paris in China….
These two photographs of the Eiffel Tower look very similar, but they aren’t the same, which you can probably tell from their different surroundings. One of the Eiffel Towers is the original standing in Paris. The other is a replica located in Tianducheng, in the suburbs of Hangzhou in China.
Replicas of famous monuments are common around the world, but there is something pervasive and obsessive about Tianducheng. Spread over 31 square kilometers, this luxurious housing estate, opened in 2007, was modeled after France’s famous “City of Lights” with Parisian-style buildings, fountains, landscaping and even its own Eiffel Tower. The replica Eiffel Tower here is over one hundred meters tall, or one-third the size of the original.
Which one is in Paris? Photo credit: François Prost
These photos are from a series called “Paris Syndrome”, by Paris-based photographer François Prost, where Prost places scenes from the French capital side by side with similar buildings in Tianducheng. There are shots of wide French boulevard lined with traditional Haussmann-era apartment buildings and classical Parisian public sculptures and streetlamps, that are difficult to tell apart from the original.
But it’s only a façade.
“People living in Tianducheng live there as they would anywhere else in China,” observes Prost. Even the dining options resemble the rest of the country, with street canteens and restaurants serving typical Chinese dishes. “I was thinking maybe they would also have tried to recreate a French restaurant,” said Prost.
Despite a national obsession with European architecture, local enthusiasm for Tianducheng, also known as Sky City, is a bit on the side of apathy. “The sites in France attract thousands and thousands of tourist per day — it’s never ending! — whereas in China the sites are not very busy and mainly occupied by local people passing by on electrical scooters or by foot,” Prost said. “People in Sky City don’t really care about the monuments: only the Eiffel Tower attracts local people by night, either to practice group dance or to have an evening walk, especially on Friday and Saturday evenings when the tower is lit up like it is in Paris every five minutes each hour every night.”
Four years ago, the project appeared to be heading towards doom when the developers failed to find buyers for the homes and businesses, but now its population have risen to 30,000, as of 2017, and is on the rise.
All photographs on the left is in China. 
Source..
Source…. Kaushik in http://www.amusingplanet.com/
Natarajan
வாரம் ஒரு கவிதை ….” தூரத்து வெளிச்சம் “
தூரத்து வெளிச்சம்
—————–
தூரத்து பச்சை கண்ணுக்கு குளிர்ச்சி என்றால்
தூரத்து வெளிச்சம் ஒரு நம்பிக்கை நட்சத்திரம் !
மழை வேண்டி ஏங்கி தவிக்கும் மண்ணுக்கு
வானில் கருமேகம் தூரத்து வெளிச்சம் !
பார்வை இல்லாமல் இருட்டில் தவிக்கும் கண்ணுக்கு
கண் தான விருப்ப மனுக்கள் ஒரு தூரத்து வெளிச்சம் !
கடல் பயணம் வழி தவறும் நேரம்
கலங்கரை விளக்கம் தூரத்து வெளிச்சம் !
ஒரு மருத்துவரே தூரத்து வெளிச்சம்
அவரிடம் சிகிச்சை பெரும் நோயாளிக்கு !
இன்று என்ன துயரம் இருந்தாலும்
நாளைய விடியல் யாருக்கும் ஓரு
தூரத்து வெளிச்சமே !
இருட்டில் தடுமாறும் ஒருவனுக்கு
ஒரு மெழுகு வத்தி ஒளியும்
தூரத்து வெளிச்சம்தான் !
என் நாட்டுக்கும் நல்ல காலம் பிறக்கும்
நல்ல தலைவன் ஒருவன் என்
நாட்டை நல்ல வழியில் நடத்துவான்
அவனே என் தூரத்து வெளிச்சம் !
இது என் எதிர்பார்ப்பு !
இன்று என் விண்ணில் தெரியும் ஒரு
சிறு ஒளிக்கீற்று தூரத்து வெளிச்சமா ?
இல்லை வெறும் மின்னல் கீற்று மட்டுமா ?
விடை இல்லையே இதற்கு என்னிடம் !
அது அந்த ஆண்டவனுக்கே வெளிச்சம் !
Source…..Natarajan
in http://www.dinamani.com dated 20th Jan 2018
Message for the Day…” Ride safe on the raging waters of worldly life; be a witness, do not crave for the fruit of action, and leave the consequences of all acts to God’s will. “
The human body, fully loaded with skills, and so capable of great adventures is a gift from God to you. Use it as a raft to cross this never-calm ocean of change (samsara) that lies between birth and death, bondage and liberation. Wake up to this primal duty when your physical and mental faculties are keen and when your power of discrimination is sharp. Do not postpone the ride on the raft, for it may become burdened with illness soon, and all your attention will have to be spent on its upkeep. Think of the incomparable joy that will surge within you when you reach the shore of liberation! Ride safe on the raging waters of worldly life; be a witness, do not crave for the fruit of action, and leave the consequences of all acts to God’s will. He is the doer; you are His instrument. Practice spiritual discipline and be unaffected by defeat or victory, and establish yourself in unruffled peace.
Source….http://media.radiosai.org
Natarajan
Winter blues
Where’s the moon? Waxing crescent…
Message for the Day…” Cultivate detachment, and the Lord will attach Himself to you. The past is beyond recovery; those days are gone. But tomorrow is coming towards you. Resolve to sanctify it with Love, Service and Sadhana.”
Celestial spheres are revolving and disintegrating. Time is fleeting. Age follows age. Era succeeds era. Bodies that have taken birth, grow and end. But the urge to sanctify life with good works and good thoughts is nowhere evident. The fragrance of sincere spiritual practice (sadhana) is not found anywhere in the present times. Through the process of ‘giving up’, great things can be achieved. Cultivate detachment, and the Lord will attach Himself to you. The past is beyond recovery; those days are gone. But tomorrow is coming towards you. Resolve to sanctify it with Love, Service and Sadhana. Love, adore and serve the Almighty Lord (Sarveshwara) who is resident in all mankind and through that realise Him. That is the highest Sadhana. Serve every being as God. Give food to the hungry, food that is the gift of Goddess Nature; give it with love and humility. Give it, sweetened with the name of the Lord.
Source….http://media.radiosai.org/
Natarajan
Take off with Natarajan 