Winter is coming to northerly latitudes … A beautiful look at an early snowfall.
Phil Koch posted this photo to EarthSky Facebook this week. He calls it ‘Horizons.’
A record snowfall fell in Wisconsin over this past week. Phil Koch of Milwaukee captured an image and wrote to EarthSky:
And so winter begins in Wisconsin.
Source…..www.earthsky.org
Natarajan
Taronga Zoo is celebrating the newest addition to its family with the birth of an orange Francois’ Langur — one of the rarest monkeys in the world.
The baby monkey, named “Nangua” after the Mandarin word for pumpkin, was born earlier in the month.
While young Francois’ Langurs are born with bright orange hair, as they get older it turns black.
According to senior primate keeper, Jane Marshall, the mother, Meili, and the other females have been closely protecting the baby.
“Noel (another female in the group) has taken on the role of allomother, carrying the baby about 50% of the time,” said Marshall.
This gives mum a break to eat and rest, but as soon as the baby whimpers she races straight back over to him.”
Nangua is Meili’s second baby at Taronga, following the birth of Tam Dao in 2011. The father, Bobo, was brought to Sydney from Beijing Zoo in 2010, as part of the international breeding program for the endangered species.
Here are the photos.
Photo Credit….Taronga Zoo…Facebook
Source……..
http://www.businessinsider.com
Natarajan
A British SAS squad and an American Marines squad are together in the middle of a city. The commanding officers of each group are discussing the merits of SAS vs Marines: these officers have reputations for being the strongest, toughest and most feared men in the whole of the armed forces.
The American squad leader turns to the British officer and says, “My Marines are so much braver than your SAS.”
“I doubt that very much,” says the SAS officer.
“They are much braver,” says the American. “Watch this.”
The American squad leader turns to one of his Marines and shouts, “SERGEANT!! Climb to the very top of that building and jump off.”
SIR, YES SIR,” shouts the sergeant. The sergeant runs inside the building, runs to the top and without a second’s thought, jumps off the top of the building and smashes into the ground. He survives, but is very badly injured and gets taken away on a stretcher. The American leader turns to the SAS officer and says, “Now that’s bravery.”
“Yeah? Well watch this,” says the British officer. He turns to his men and bellows at the top of his voice, “YOU, PRIVATE, CLIMB TO THE TOP OF THAT BUILDING AND JUMP OFF.”
The private looks at the officer and says, “Sir, GO SCREW YOURSELF, Sir.”
The Officer turns around to the American and says, “You see? THAT’S bravery.”
Source……..www.ba-bamail.com
Natarajan
People develop in themselves an abounding variety of selfish habits and attitudes, causing themselves great discontent. The impulse for this comes from the power complex, the greed for accumulating authority, domination and power! The greed for things can never be eternal and full, and in fact, it is impossible for anyone to satiate their desires fully. A person might feel elated to become the master of all arts, owner of all wealth, possessor of all knowledge, or repository of all the scriptures, but from whom did the person acquire all these? You may think you earned all this through your own efforts and toil. The source from which all authority, talent, energy and power originate is the Lord of all. Ignoring Lord’s omnipotence, deluding oneself that the little greatness acquired is supreme, is indeed selfishness, conceit and pride(ahamkara). A genuine aspirant can be recognized by the characteristics of truth, kindness, love, patience, forbearance and gratefulness. Wherever these reside, ego cannot subsist; it has no place. Therefore seek to develop these.
She doesn’t just share pictures – she shares the many stories of success, failure, hopes, dreams, desires and so much more behind the faces that make it to her well-known and loved Facebook page. Meet Karishma Mehta, the human behind Humans of Bombay.
In November 2010, a young man named Brandon Stanton started taking pictures of people in New York City and sharing little vignettes of their lives on a Facebook page called Humans of New York (HoNY).
Brandon Stanton
India too sprouted several “Humans of ” pages overnight, but most of them have either vanished as quickly as they came or languished for lack of attention.
Karishma Mehta
The following of this page has grown by leaps and bounds to reach four lakhs in a short period of time, entirely due to Karishma’s meticulous efforts in capturing poignant photographs and stories of the many Mumbaikars she meets every day.
“Tell me your story,” she often requests of the old and young and middle-aged she meets on a daily basis. But ask her the same question and she laughs – “That’s why I am behind the camera, and not in front of it. In all probability, if someone stops me on the road, says ‘can I take your photograph?’, and asks me to share my story, I would say ‘no’!”
“I couldn’t conceive for a very long time, even though I was going through extensive treatments. Finally years later, something in my treatment ticked and I was pregnant. You know how it is with Indian families – everyone begins to guess the gender of the child before it’s even born, but I never took part in that – I was only concerned with the health of my baby.
When I delivered, everyone was excited to know the sex of the baby and my whole family was really happy to know that it was a baby girl. I remember hearing, ‘oh my god, it’s a girl!’ and I just kept thinking, ‘oh my god, it’s a healthy child.’ I thanked God with all my heart for blessing me with Motherhood that day and everyday of my life. She’s 22 years today, and still the best thing that ever happened to me.”
She listens to their stories, clicks their photographs, and finally shares her work on the Humans of Bombay page. These are stories of success and failure, hope and inspiration, dreams and heartbreaks – each one unique and memorable.
Karishma started the page in January 2014. “I was just out of college when I started it. At that time, I had been following HoNY closely, so I knew that something like this existed. But I also knew that something like this had not been done correctly in a city like Bombay, which has so many different worlds in it. Thus I started the page pretty much as an experiment to see how it would pan out. But as it grew, my passion towards this work kept growing,” she says.
Born and brought up in Bombay, she describes her life as “a very normal one.” After studying at Bombay Scottish School, she went on to a boarding school in Bangalore for two years. This was followed by three years of college in UK. “I would say I was on the sheltered side…” she remembers.
In the beginning, Karishma’s parents did not understand what she was doing. “They were a bit confused as there was no specific definition for what I was doing back then,” she says. But her friends had been following HoNY, so they knew. “They supported me, gave a lot of healthy criticism, and also encouraged me to not give up. That initial push was very important for me to continue for as long as I have.” She now has the complete support of her parents as well.
Ask her about the experience of collecting such personal stories from complete strangers and Karishma says – “It is not easy to talk to strangers on the road and engage with them in a conversation for five to six minutes…But when you do so, you will be surprised by the kind of things you hear in response to just a simple question! That’s because everybody has a story. Literally every person walking on a street has some story that they want to share. The important thing is to focus on the simple questions that can bring about these very powerful narrations.”
Karishma, a business and economics major, never took any lessons in photography. For her, it has all been about her passion; photography is something that she “learned on the job.” With two interns to assist her she goes out to shoot for about five hours every day and shares one story a day on Facebook, after writing about it and editing the picture. While most of her time goes in maintaining the page itself, she is also involved in some freelance projects that deal with writing.
· · Edited ·
“I was a chef in the Taj banquet kitchen when the gunshots started that night. Initially the news was that it was an internal gang war in a neighbourhood nearby and that it would die down soon. It was only at about 10:30 – 11PM that we understood the magnitude of what was going on. We were 7 chefs in total in the kitchen that night, not one of whom left the Taj despite knowing all exit points. By then the shootout had happened at the Wasabi restaurant and all those who had survived were pouring into the banquet hall and kitchen where we were working. As soon as we had heard about the shootout, we prepared sandwiches for our surviving guests which we then handed out. After this, we entered the corridor to escort our guests out of the hotel through the back entrance. We had successfully helped a few guests when I saw the left profile of a terrorist in a red cap, who began shooting.
I was standing next to a refrigerator, when my head chef and sous chef both got shot. There was chaos, panic and fear as our guests started running everywhere – but by then they had opened fire in all directions. I remember running towards the kitchen and looking around to see that no one else had made it. All of a sudden, everything went quiet and that silence was the worst. I tried looking around for survivors, but it was just me. I stayed there for a few hours, until I realised that no help was coming anytime soon. I walked out of the kitchen and saw all of my colleagues dead on the floor – the whole Taj was deserted. I looked at the refrigerator where I’d been only a while ago and it had 3 bullet holes in it – I’d narrowly escaped death, but it was horrifying to see that my guests and colleagues hadn’t been as lucky. I won’t look back on that day as just a terrorist attack, but a day when many brave individuals looked death in the eye to help others.”
What has been one of the most memorable moments of her life till now? She has an answer this time:
“It is a personal one. Very recently, my sister delivered a baby boy and it was like an I-can’t-describe kind of moment. I was very happy.”
The one thing she is looking forward to for Humans of Bombay?
“I am looking forward to seeing more people open up to share larger aspects of their lives. I have had a series of people who have given me their stories but as soon as they see the reach that the platform has they say they don’t want to share them further. I would love people to realise that sharing is not always a bad thing. You are not always judged. You are not always looked upon negatively. Sometimes, it could actually help you.”
Her advice to people?
“I am a business and economics major and I am doing something that is not directly based on that line. And I don’t think it matters. It is about what you want to do, what you feel will get you to a certain place in life…just go with it.”
Her favourite stories? “I am biased. I like them all,” laughs Karishma.
· · Edited ·
“His family and my family have lived in the same building for years but since his business was in Bombay and Dubai, I barely saw him. This one day, he asked my driver which college I was studying in, he came there, waited for me to finish class and asked me to coffee. We ended up chatting for an hour that day and I was completely enamoured by him — he was such a charmer! His parents wanted us to marry quickly because he was 7 years older – so at 19 I got married to someone who I thought was the man of my dreams…but he was an asshole.
It started at the honeymoon, where I wasn’t allowed to look anywhere but towards him, wasn’t allowed to enter shops which he didn’t like and was supposed to wear only what he wanted me to. We were to visit our relatives in London, so he asked me to wear a salwaar but no jacket…and I remember freezing. When we went back to Dubai, he didn’t allow me to turn on the AC and if I did in the middle of the night because it was so hot – he would smash my perfumes, candles and upturn my entire wardrobe. He would drive his convertible car at the maximum speed and threaten to throw me out if I ever disobeyed him. Once, in between abusing and screaming at me, he pinned me down, forced himself upon me and 6 months into my wedding I was pregnant. He hid my medicines saying I don’t need them — I was throwing up 30 times a day and all the minerals in my body had drained to the point that I couldn’t stand and that’s when he agreed to take me to the hospital. The nurse there saw me once and said ‘I’ve to take you to the emergency room – and had you come a day later you would return to Bombay in a coffin’. When I went home after those 3 days, he pushed me, I started bleeding and he waited 24 hours to take me back to the hospital. On the hospital slip it said ‘bled yesterday and brought to the hospital today.’
He only let me return home because my parents were at Hajj. When I came home, I asked him if I could stay for a night in my own home instead of his – which he flatly refused. I was talking to my mother on the phone for 15 minutes when he called me 40 times, sent his sister upstairs to snatch my phone and sent me a text saying,’If you return to Dubai, I will rip your ass apart’ in Hindi. That’s when I decided I had enough.
The next 6 years were hell for me. He sent me a legal notice saying he wanted custody of my unborn child, but I would never let that happen. So 30 days after I had delivered and my stitches hadn’t healed – I went to the family court to fight for my son. My son has been to more courtrooms in the first 5 years of his life than most people ever would. He bribed people from the court and the judges to prolong this case and if not for this one police man who understood me and helped me – God knows how much longer I would have to continue my fight. In 2012, my hell was finally over. I won all cases because of that one hospital slip and received nothing in compensation from him or his family. He seemed so normal, but he snatched my innocence away. Please, don’t rush into marriage because so often what people appear to be and who they are, is entirely different. 10 years later, I’ve put it behind me because I have my son and my life is for him. He’s all that matters.”
The hard-hitting story of how Zaaria successfully improved her life was widely shared. “It is a very, very powerful story. Zaaria was so strong while narrating it that I was literally shocked,” remembers Karishma. And the best part is that it did not just end there. People actually went ahead and expressed their support for Zaaria.
“She was overwhelmed. She told me that she has got messages from all over the world with people praising her for her courage and bravery…it is just amazing.”
“My mother and I had to come to Bombay to support ourselves, once my father sold our family food business and didn’t support us. She got into the sex trade since that time and I always feel upset because she thinks its ‘dirty work’. Why is it considered dirty? My mother is a woman of strength and I want her and all like her to know that it’s okay.
Dirty are those men who force themselves on us, abuse us and walk away. I was raped as well, but for 7 years I kept it within me because I thought I was dirty. It was only after I came to Kranti and went through intense therapy that I finally found a voice. I will start volunteering with a sex workers’ rights group next month and give speeches and detailed information on the rights of sex workers. I was once blaming myself for being raped, but today I know better — It’s not my fault. I want to inspire the thousands like me, who have kept quite and felt dirty. We’re not dirty ones.”
—
A few months ago the young girls of Kranti were thrown out of their house, by a landlord who refused to pay them back their deposit. These are young girls who are the daughters of sex workers with big dreams. Kranti, nurtures their dreams, gives them a place to stay safe at night, teaches them and exposes them to a new world…one they’d never known before.
We’re starting a campaign to raise Rupees 5,00,000 for Kranti. This money will be used by Kranti to make a home for these girls in a space that’s currently unhygienic, dusty and in complete shambles. They all have to share one tiny bathroom which makes them late for school, there’s no proper construction — just bare, dilapidated walls with no beds.
Lets give these girls a place they can call home.
She conducted a Facebook campaign with the aim of raising funds for an organization called Kranti that helps the daughters of sex workers in Mumbai. While the aim was to collect Rs. 5 lakhs, Humans of Bombay ended up collecting Rs. 6.5 lakhs in just one day.
But what is it that keeps her going out to work on something that does not even pay? “I like listening to people’s stories. I like knowing that the next stranger on the block will have a story that people will appreciate. And I like to be the mediator of that story. The fact that I can bring those stories to the world is what pushes me,” she concludes.
Visit Humans of Bombay here.
Source……….Tanaya Singh……..www.the betterindia.com
Natarajan
This is a story of two brothers. One was a drug addict and a drunkard who frequently beat up his family. The other one was a very successful businessman who was respected in society and had a wonderful family. Some people wanted to find out why two brothers from the same parents, broughtup in the same environment, could be so different.The first one was asked, “How come you do what you do? You are a drug addict, a drunk, and you beat your family. What motivates you?”
He said, “My father.”They asked, “What about your father?” The reply was, “My father was a drug addict, a drunk and hebeat his family. What do you expect me to be? That is what I am.”They went to the brother who was doing everything right and asked him the same question. “How come you are doing everything right ? What is your source of motivation?”
And guess what he said? “My father. When I was a little boy, I used to see my dad drunk and doing all the wrong things. I made up my mind, that is not what I wanted to be.”Both were deriving their strength and motivation from the same source, but one was using it negatively and the other positively….
Source………unknown……input from a friend of mine
Natarajan
.. தொன்னுாறு வயது ஏழை பாட்டி ஒருவர் எந்தவித எதர்பார்ப்பும் இல்லாமல் கடந்த பல வருடங்களாக வளர்த்த நுாற்றுக்கணக்கான மரங்களால் இன்று அரசும் மக்களும் பயன் அடைந்துவருகின்றனர்.
ஈரோட்டில் இருந்து 46 கிலோமீட்டர் பயணம் செய்தால் காங்கேயம் வரும்,காங்கேயத்தில் இருந்து பழனி போகும் பாதையில் எட்டாவது கிலோமீட்டரில் இருக்கிறது வட்டமலை முத்துக்குமாரசாமி கோவில்.
இங்கு சென்றால் அவசியம் தரிசிக்கவேண்டியவர்கள் இரண்டு பேர் ஒன்று முத்துக்குமாரசாமி என்ற பெயரில் அருள்புரியும் முருகன் இரண்டாவது பாக்கியலட்சுமி என்ற 90 வயது பாட்டி.
ஏழு வயதில் திக்கு தெரியாமல் எப்படியோ இங்கு வந்து சேர்ந்த இவருக்கு உலகமே இந்த வட்டமலைதான். கோவிலை கூட்டி சுத்தம் செய்து பக்தர்கள் மற்றும் ஆலய ஊழியர்கள் தரும் பணத்தில் சாப்பிட்டு வருகிறார்.கிட்டத்தட்ட பல ஆண்டுகளாக இதுதான் நடக்கிறது,யாரிடமும் போய் கேட்கமாட்டார் , தாமாகவே கொண்டுவந்து கொடுத்தால் மறுக்கமாட்டார்.
இந்த நிலையில்தான் ஐம்பது அறுபது வருடத்திற்கு முன் கோவில் பக்கத்தில் உள்ள ஒடையில் இருந்து தண்ணீர் எடுத்துவரும் போது கூடவே ஒரு செடியும் குடத்துடன் வர அதை அந்த கரையிலேயே நட்டுவிட்டுவந்தார்.
சில நாட்கள் கழித்து ஒடைப்பக்கம் வந்த போது,’ ஏ..பாக்யா என்னைப்பாரேன்’ என்பது போல அந்த செடி செழித்து வளர்ந்து அழைத்தது.அதுவரை சொந்த பந்தம் என்று எதுவும் இல்லாதிருந்த பாக்கியாவிற்கு அந்த செடி ஏதோ தான் பெற்ற பிள்ளை போல தெரிய அதன் பக்கத்தில் போய் உட்கார்ந்து தடவிக்கொடுத்தார்,சிறிது நேரம் கண்ணீர் விட்டார் பின்னர் தொடர்ந்து தண்ணீர் விட்டார்.
அந்த செடியின் ஒவ்வொரு அங்குல வளர்ச்சியும் பாக்கியாவிற்கு மகிழ்ச்சி தர அதைப்போலவே இன்னும் பல செடிகளை விதைகளை கொண்டுவந்து அந்த பகுதியெங்கும் வளர்த்தார்.
எப்படி வளர்க்கணும் எந்த மரத்திற்கு எவ்வளவு குழி வெட்டணும் எப்படி உரம் போடணும் என்று எதுவுமே தெரியாது அவ்வளவு ஏன் நட்டுவைத்த செடிகூட என்ன செடி என்று தெரியாது, கிடைச்ச இடத்தில் செடியை நடணும் விடாம தண்ணீர் ஊற்றணும் இது மட்டுமே பாக்கியாவிற்கு தெரிந்திருந்து, பாக்கியாவின் அன்பும் அந்த செடிகளுக்கு புரிந்திருந்ததாலோ என்னவோ ஒவ்வொரு செடியும் வேப்பமரம்,
இலுப்பைமரம்,புளியமரமாக நன்கு வளர்ந்தது.
இப்படி ஒன்றல்ல இரண்டல்ல நுாற்றுக்கும் அதிகமான மரங்கள் வனப்புடன் வளர்ந்துள்ளது. வட்டமலை பகுதியை பசுஞ்சோலையாக்கி வைத்துள்ள இந்த மரங்களின் நிழலில்தான் இப்போது கோவிலுக்கு வரக்கூடிய பக்தர்கள் இளைப்பாறி களைப்பு நீங்க பெறுகிறார்கள்.
புளியமரத்தில் இருந்து விழும் புளியங்காயை பாக்கிலட்சுமி பொறுக்கியெடுப்பதன் மூலம் சொற்ப வருமானம் கிடைத்து வந்தது பின்னர் அரசாங்கம் அந்த மரத்திற்கு எல்லாம் எண் போட்டு அரசுக்கு சொந்தமாக்கிவிட்டதால் இப்போது புளியமரத்து பலன் மட்டுமல்ல எந்த மரத்தின் பலனும் பாக்கியலட்சுமிக்கு கிடையாது.
ஆனால் அதைப்பற்றி இவருக்கு சிறிதும் கவலை இல்லை எம் பிள்ளை(மரம்) எனக்கு வருமானம் தந்திட்டு இருந்தான், இப்ப அரசாங்கத்திற்கே வருமானம் தர்ரான் சந்தோஷம்தான் என்கிறார் சிரிப்பு குறையாமல்.
பிள்ளை என்றதும் நினைவு வருகிறது குடும்பம் சொந்த பந்தம் என்று கேட்டபோது எல்லாமே இதுங்கதான் என்று கைகாட்டுகிறார், அவர் கைகாட்டிய திசையில் அவர் வளர்த்த மரங்கள் இவர் சொல்வதை ஆமோதிப்பது போல இலை கிளை அசைக்கின்றன.
தற்போது கோவில் நிர்வாகம் சாமான்கள் போட்டுவைக்கும் அறையில் சாமான்களோடு சாமான்களாக வாழ்ந்துவரும் இவர் மரங்களின் மீது கொண்ட பாசம் காரணமாக அவைகளுக்கு தண்ணீர் ஊற்ற வேண்டிய நேசம் காரணம் வட்டமலையைத்தாண்டி எங்கும் போனதில்லை இனி போகப்போவதும் இல்லை.
பொதுப்பார்வையில் இவர் ஒரு அப்பாவி பாட்டியாக தென்படலாம் ஆனால் உண்மையில் மரங்கள் வளர்ப்பு என்பதற்கான நாட்டின் உயர்ந்த விருதை எல்லாம் கொடுத்து இனியும் கையேந்தவிடாமல் கவுரமாக வாழ வழிசெய்யவேண்டும், அது அவருக்கு கவுரவத்தை சேர்க்கும் என்பதற்காக அல்ல நமக்கு புண்ணியத்தை தரும் என்பதால்.
போயிட்டு வர்ரேன் தாயி என்று மரங்களை பெற்ற அந்த மாதரசி மகராசியின் கால்களில் விழுந்து ஆசிபெற்று வரும்போது திரும்பி பார்க்கிறேன், வட்டமலையைவிட வட்டமலையின் மீதுள்ள முத்துக்குமாரசாமி கோபுரத்தைவிட உயரமாக பாக்கியலட்சுமி பாட்டி விசுவரூபமெடுத்து நிற்கிறார்.
(நன்றி:தணிகைச்செல்வி,காங்கேயம் நல்லதம்பி)
Source…..எல்.முருகராஜ்….in http://www.dinamalar.com
உணவுப்பொருட்களின் விலையுயர்வால், ஹோட்டல்களில் உணவு வகைகளின் விலைகள் விண்ணைத்தொடும் அளவிற்கு அதிகரித்துள்ள நிலையில், உப்புமா 20 காசு ; பில்டர் காபி 15 காசு என்ற விலை அனைவரையும் திரும்பிப் பார்க்க வைத்துள்ளது.
இந்தியாவின் வர்த்தக நகரமான மும்பை, சினிமா உள்ளிட்ட பல்வேறு துறைகளுக்கு தாய்வீடாக இயங்கி வருகிறது. அத்தகைய சிறப்புமிக்க மும்பை மாநகரில், தென்னிந்தியாவை சேர்ந்த ஹோட்டல் நிறுவனம், 1940ம் ஆண்டு மும்பையில் “கபே மெட்ராஸ்” என்ற பெயரில் ஹோட்டலை துவக்கி, தற்போதும் வெற்றிகரமாக நடத்தி வருகிறது.
தென்னிந்திய உணவுவகைகளை சிறப்பாக விநியோகித்து வந்த கபே மெட்ராஸ் ஹோட்டல் துவங்கி 75 ஆண்டுகள் நிறைவடைந்துள்ளதையொட்டி, நேற்று (24ம் தேதி) காலை சிலமணி நேரங்களுக்கு, ஹோட்டல் துவங்கப்பட்டபோது இருந்த விலையிலேயே உணவு வகைகளை விற்க திட்டமிட்டனர். அதன்படி..
ரச வடை – 50 காசு
உப்புமா – 20 காசு
பில்டர் காபி – 15 காசு என்ற அளவில் விற்கப்பட்டது.
நாட்டின் வடபகுதி மக்களுக்கு ஏற்கனவே தென்னிந்திய உணவு வகைகளின் மீது அலாதியான பிரியம் இருக்கும் நிலையில், 1940ம் ஆண்டு விலையிலேயே உணவுகள் விற்கப்பட்டது. கபே மெட்ராஸ் வாடிக்கையாளர்களை மேலும் உற்சாகத்திற்குள்ளாக்கியது.
தற்போது அனைவரது கைகளிலும் ஸ்மார்ட் போன் தவழ்ந்துவரும் நிலையில், நேற்று கபே மெட்ராஸ் ஹோட்டலில், உணவு சாப்பிட்டவர்கள், தாங்கள் சாப்பிட்ட உணவு வகைகள் மற்றும் பில்லை, தங்களது ஸ்மார்ட்போனில் போட்டோ எடுத்து உடனுக்குடன் சமூகவலை தளங்களிலும் பதிவேற்றினர்.
Source….www.dinamalar.com
Natarajan
Putlibai, Mahatma Gandhi’s mother, spent her life in the contemplation of God. She observed a vow wherein she wouldn’t partake food until she heard a cuckoo sing. One day it so happened that the cuckoo was not heard. Gandhi, a small boy then, couldn’t bear to see his mother fasting for a long time. He went behind the house and mimicked the cuckoo’s song. Putlibai felt extremely sad when she realised that her son was uttering a lie. She cried, “O God! What sin have I committed to have given birth to a son who speaks untruth?” Realising the immense grief he had caused to his mother by uttering a lie, Gandhi took a vow that he would never indulge in falsehood ever again. It is imperative that mothers train their children in moral values right from their childhood. Never overlook children’s mistakes – correct them immediately when they stray away from the righteous path and reward them for their good deeds.
In 1964, a new avant-garde artist was introduced to the art scene in the Swedish city of Gōteborg. The fresh new artist was Pierre Brassau and his work received rave reviews from critics and art fans alike.
Brassau featured four paintings in the 1964 exhibition at Gallerie Christinae, and even sold one “masterpiece” to a collector named Bertil Eklöt for $90 (about $650 today). The exhibition featured paintings from artists across Europe, but it was the hot new French Artist who stole the show.
One critic in particular, Rolf Anderberg, was so overwhelmed by Pierre’s talent that he wrote the following review about his work, which appeared in print the morning following the exhibition:
Brassau paints with powerful strokes, but also with clear determination. His brush strokes twist with furious fastidiousness. Pierre is an artist who performs with the delicacy of a ballet dancer.
The reviews were glowing. All but one. One critic’s review was short and to the point: “Only an ape could have done this.”
The opinion was unpopular among the other critics, despite that the pieces of art looking strikingly similar to “art” you commonly see stuck to refrigerators, produced by 2 year olds the world over. It turns out, though, that the “ape” review more or less hit the nail on the head.
Pierre Brassau was actually none other than a young West African chimpanzee named Peter who lived in the Borås djurpark zoo in Sweden. The mastermind behind the hoax was journalist Åke “Dacke” Axelsson. Axelsson worked for the Swedish tabloid Gotebors-Tidningen and came up with the idea of featuring the primate paintings in an exhibition in order to put the critics to the test. Could they recognize the work of true avant-garde modern artists?
Axelsson convinced Peter’s teenage caretaker to let the chimpanzee play with some oil paints and a brush. Initially, Peter ate more paint than he managed to get onto the canvasses; his favorite “flavor” was cobalt blue, a color which featured prominently in his later work. With some encouragement, Peter soon began to develop his artistic skills. Once he finished showing off his artistic talents, producing several paintings, Axelsson chose the four which he considered the most worthy to be displayed, and set about getting them included in the exhibition at the Gallerie Christinae.
Once the hoax was revealed, the critic who had previously compared Pierre Brassau with a ballet dancer, Rolf Anderberg, doggedly stuck by his assessment and stated that Pierre’s work “was still the best painting in the exhibition”.
Peter isn’t the only primate to have found success as an artist. In 2005, the director of the State Art Museum of Moritzburg in Saxony-Anhalt, Dr Kajta Schneider, mistakenly identified a painting as the work of Ernst Wilhelm Nay, a Guggenheim Prize winning artist. In fact, the painting was done by Banghi who was a chimpanzee living at Halle Zoo.
In 2011, Pockets Warhol, a capuchin monkey currently living in a sanctuary in Toronto, had his own art exhibition featuring 40 of his abstract paintings. His paintings have been purchased by people across the globe and sell for as much as $300 each. Proceeds from the sale of his artwork go to helping care for the other residents of the animal sanctuary where he lives.
In 2010, Jimmy, a 27 year old chimpanzee living in Rio De Janeiro, earned national acclaim for his artistic talents. When Jimmy’s caretakers realized that he had become depressed, they decided to give him some paints to brighten up his days. Jimmy showed an instant aptitude for art and has since become a household name across Brazil. He even has an art instructor who visits him 3 times a week.
In 2009, 3 paintings by Congo the chimpanzee sold at auction for more than $25,000. Congo was born in 1954 and produced around 400 paintings during his life. He died at age 10 of tuberculosis. Pablo Picasso is reported to have been a fan of Congo’s work, and in fact owned one of Congo’s paintings, which hung on his studio wall.
Bonus Facts:
Source…..www.today i foundout .com
Natarajan
Take off with Natarajan 