A picture might be worth a thousand words but National Geographic photographs leaves us speechless. Known for their captivating daily pictures, they also offer an opportunity to dive into the archives of previously unpublished or forgotten images.
The project called Found was established in 2013 to honor NatGeo’s 125th anniversary. The project’s team says that their mission is to bring the pictures back to life by sharing them to new audiences. And even some of the dates or locations are missing, the images capture perfect moments making them timeless.
The photographs are dug up by Guardian of the Collection William Bonner, who still finds them highly inspiring even after years spent in the archives. Together with editor Janna Dotschkal’s love for aesthetics, they make the vintage material shine as new.
Over the years the city of Singapore has been described by many as one of the cleanest on Earth with roads and toilets being “clean enough to eat off“, which is perhaps to be expected from a city where it’s illegal not to flush a public toilet.
The reason why toilets in Singapore are so insanely clean can be traced back to the work of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first and arguably most popular prime minister. Kuan Yew rose to power in 1959 and continued to serve as Singapore’s leader for 31 years until he decided to step down in 1990. When Singapore became an independent nation in 1965, Kuan Yew is noted as being instrumental to the the small city-state being able to so quickly transform itself from being a “poor port from the bottom rungs of the third world” to being one of the most profitable and prosperous economies on the planet.
Kuan Yew accomplished this through a series of reforms aimed at making the country an overall nicer place to live including:
Enacting legislation to make prosecuting corrupt officials easier as well as “relentlessly pursuing” corruption wherever he encountered it.
Paying civil servants decent wages to ensure the jobs would be tempting to Singapore’s best and brightest and giving them bonuses based on how well the Singapore’s economy does on a yearly basis.
Inviting foreign corporations to set up shop in his country to create reliable employment for his citizens and foster international relations.
Establishing the Housing and Development Board to help house residents without homes into newly built apartments. Further, unlike most nation’s public housing, Singapore’s is quite nice, places people actually want to live.
Drafting legislation to plant tress and clean up the cities waterways and rivers which were notably filthy. Kuan Yew was so serious about making Singapore cleaner, he famously promised that if his dream wasn’t a reality by 1986 and he was still in charge, that he’d personally hunt down whomever was responsible for the failure and shoot them. Because he wasn’t playing around.
Creating the Water Planning Unit, which was tasked with helping the country become less dependent on water from Malaysia, which was threatening to cut off their water supply after Singapore gained independence. This initiative, like so many others he enacted, was a resounding success, with Time magazine later calling Singapore “the global paragon of water conservation.” In fact, their system is so efficient that they even can, and do, process non-potable waste-water into high-purity drinking water.
Imposing stiff taxes on car ownership and enacting the Clean Air Act as well as creating the Anti-Pollution Unit, to help keep Singapore’s air pollution levels at an acceptable, healthy level.
By far Kuan Yew’s most infamous policies though were his incredibly strict rules in regards to public cleanliness, most if not all of which carry hefty fines if you’re caught breaking them. For example, not flushing a public toilet is considered a crime in Singapore and if you’re caught flouting it, you will be given an on the spot fine of about 150 dollars, more if you’re a repeat offender. Likewise, littering carries an equally heavy fine of about 300 dollars or more, depending on the size of the item. Smaller items like candy wrappers usually incur a lesser fine, whilst things like soda cans can net you a trip to court and even a caning if you’re caught.
Kuan Yew’s biggest bugbear, however, was chewing gum; he hated it with such a passion that since the 1990s, gum has been outright banned in the country. This was later (partially) repealed in 2004 and gum is now okay to be brought into the country in small quantities and dentists are allowed to prescribe it for certain medical conditions.
While this may seem a tad extreme, Kuan Yew’s annoyance with gum chewing wasn’t without precedent. You see, prior to the ban in 1992, the government was spending upwards of 150,000 dollars a year to clean it up and vandals were using it to disrupt the sensors on the country’s newly built subway trains, stopping their doors from shutting and in the process causing huge delays. After the ban, cases of such gum littering plummeted and the associated costs of cleaning it up dropped to negligible levels.
If you’re wondering how exactly Singapore enforces these dozens of laws, it’s mostly accomplished usinghundreds of undercover police officers who have the power to issue on the spot fines to anyone seen flouting them. Officers are known to check toilets after they’ve been used and even install security cameras if they receive multiple complaints on a particular toilet, to catch offenders in the act.
Perhaps our favourite Singapore cleanliness fact is that many of Singapore’s elevators have “Urine Detection Devices” which will lock the doors of an elevator and summon the police to your location to arrest you if it detects that you’re relieving yourself in one.
All of this may seem excessive, but the results really speak for themselves; today, Singapore is largely considered one of the world’s leading economies and the city itself is one of the most industrious, safe, clean, nicest to live and richest on Earth. In fact, Singapore is currently enjoying 16 consecutive years on the top spot of the “world’s most livable cities“, and is also generally considered the world’s best city for businesses. Not bad for a place that was up until about 50 years ago or so described as a “swampy land mass“.
Bonus Facts:
There’s a charity in Singapore called the Restroom Association Singapore (RAS). Set up in 1998 by a man called Jack Sim, who later went on to found the World Toilet Organization (WTO), RAS has backed numerous campaigns to educated the public about the benefits of toilet cleanliness and even offers awards to exceptionally clean restrooms in the public and private sectors. Their stated mission is to, among other things, “investigate and find out the root cause of dirty toilets. We must identify the needs of various users including tourists and foreign workers so as to promote better designed toilets that cater to these needs. We must constantly source for the best practices in cleanliness, design and maintenance of public toilets and review our local standards. Together with the government and other strategic partners, we must continue to raise awareness among the community on public health issues and educate the users on good toilet etiquette.” Sim was reportedly inspired to start the RAS when he heard Kuan Yew’s successor, Goh Chok Tong say “we should measure our graciousness according to the cleanliness of our public toilets”. Today, Singapore’s toilet facilities are the envy of the modern world and Sim has used his clout in the world of toilets to help bring safe, clean toilet facilities to millions in the third world through the WTO. Sims has since earned the rather awesome honor of being called “a Hero of the Environment” by Time magazine. Not bad for a guy who just wants everyone to have a clean toilet to pee and poop in.
Despite being only a small city-state with a few million residents, Singapore is one of the most prosperous nations on Earth. So much so that it is often referred to as one of the “Four Asian Tigers”, a phrase used to describe the countries of Singapore, Taiwan, Hong-Kong and South Korea, all of which are noted as being economic powerhouses despite their relatively small size.
Though his rule wasn’t without controversy, Lee Kuan Yew is generally regarded as being unquestionably instrumental to the country’s transformation from a small port town into the shining utopia-esque city it is today. When Kuan Yew passed away in 2015, many officials spoke of his “unwavering dedication” to making Singapore a fundamentally better place for those who lived there. As you’d expect for a world leader who served for several decades, Kuan Yew has had a number of colorful quotes attributed to him over the years including: “Even from my sick bed, even if you are going to lower me into the grave and I feel something is going wrong, I will get up.” and our personal favourite, “If you can’t think because you can’t chew, try a banana” when asked if Singapore’s stringent cleanliness laws would “stifle the people’s creativity“.
To date, the highest fine given to a litter bug is 19,800 Singaporean dollars, given to a man who repeatedly threw cigarette butts out of his high-rise apartment building’s window.
Everything is relative. You don’t need to be Einstein to understand that. A human is as big to an ant, as a building may be to a human. The world is vast and large – it’s size is dominated by massive oceans and continents.
But ever since we’ve developed the ability to look beyond our atmosphere, it became more and more apparent that the earth is in fact small. Too tiny to even comprehend, when compared to other planets, stars, galaxies and the universe itself. So just to give you an idea of how tiny we really are, here are some visual aids.
Sreenivasulu M.R. has always had a fascination for the arts. He started painting at the age of seven. He enrolled himself in a dance school and is now accomplished in Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, and folk dance. However, his biggest fascination is making miniature models.
Sreenivasulu honed his skills as a child by making miniature house models from wedding invitation cards. He also had a habit of collecting pen refills from his friends.
Being an environmentalist, he conducts various programmes to spread awareness on global warming. At the ‘Say No to Plastic’ programmes, which he organises in schools and colleges, he keeps pen refill collection boxes.
These refills later turned into raw materials and Sreenivasulu started making monuments out of them.
Through this, Sreenivasulu is driving home the idea of recycling. He began by making a model of the Eiffel Tower. It took him eight months and over 200 refills to create it. Since then, there has been no stopping Sreenivasulu.
Today, this software professional has made the Charminar, Big Ben, Taj Mahal, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Gateway of India, Seattle Space Needle, and Sydney Harbor Bridge from used pen refills. His miniature Taj Mahal, made from 700 pen refills, even found a place in the ‘India Book of Records’ in the year 2012.
It was a typical night of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire…
Regis: “Barbara, you’ve done very well so far – $500,000 and one lifeline left — phone a friend.
The next question will give you the top prize of One Million dollars if you get it right … but if you get it wrong you will drop back to $32,000 — are you ready?”
Barbara: “Sure, I’ll have a go!”
Regis: “Which of the following birds does not build it’s own nest?
Is it…
A – Robin
B – Sparrow
C – Cuckoo
D – Thrush
Remember Barbara its worth 1 Million dollars.”
“I think I know who it..but I’m not 100%… No, I haven’t got a clue. I’d like to phone a friend Regis, just to be sure.”
Regis: “Yes, who, Barbara, do you want to phone?”
Barbara: “I’ll phone my friend Maggie back home in Birmingham.”
(ringing)
Maggie (also a blonde): “Hello…”
Regis: “Hello Maggie, its Regis here from Who Wants to be a Millionaire. I have Barbara here and she is doing really well on $500,000, but needs your help to get to a Million. The next voice you hear will be Barbara’s and she’ll read you the question. There are 4 possible answers and 1 correct answer and you have 30 seconds to answer — fire away Barbara.”
Barbara: “Maggie, which of the following birds does not build it’s own nest? Is it:
A-Robin
B-Sparrow
C-Cuckoo
D-Thrush”
Maggie: “Oh Gees, Barbara that’s simple…..It’s a Cuckoo.”
Barbara: “You think?”
Maggie: “I’m sure.”
Barbara: ” Thanks Maggie.” (hangs up)
Regis: “Well, do you want to stick on $500,000 or play on for the Million, Barbara?”
Barbara: “I want to play, I’ll go with C-Cuckoo”
Regis: “Is that your final answer?”
Barbara: “It is.”
Regis: “Are you confident?”
Barbara: “Yes fairly, Maggie’s a sound bet.”
Regis: “Barbara…..you had $500,000 and you said C-Cuckoo …you’re right! – You have just won ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!! Here is your check. You have been a great contestant and a real gambler. Audience please put your hands together for Barbara!”
The audience goes wild)
That night Barbara calls round to Maggie and brings her down to a local bar for a celebration drink and, as they are sipping their Champagne, Barbara turns to Maggie and asks “Tell me Maggie, How in God’s name did you know that it was the Cuckoo that does not build its own nest?
Maggie: “Listen Barbara, everybody knows that a Cuckoo lives in a clock!”
With diligent efforts success can be achieved. Even an ant can cover miles by moving continuously. However even Garuda (the celestial eagle) cannot soar two feet if it has no will to fly. Likewise without good thoughts and good deeds based on them, one cannot accomplish anything good. The child Dhruva achieved what he desired despite many difficult obstacles, because of his firm determination and spiritual austerities. By his sublime thoughts, he achieved the status of a star in the sky. Likewise any person, irrespective of age or abilities, with faith and determination, can accomplish what they want. In every field steadfast performance (sadhana) is essential. In addition, you must control your temper. Sage Durvasa, despite his penance had no peace because he could not control his temper. Together with peace, the quality of (Kshama) is essential. Forgiveness is truth, it is Dharma, it is the essence of the Veda, it is non-violence and the best penance(Yajna).
None can escape from the reaction, reflection, and resound of their actions. Everyone will have to experience the consequences of their own actions. People who indulge in evil practices become distant from God. People who earn a bad reputation through their evil deeds will have no place in divine proximity. Therefore have a check on yourself when you laugh or scorn at others. Not just this, your speech and vision also must be in check. Some people sing inappropriate songs and eve tease women walking on the road. Has God given you a tongue to sing such vulgar songs? How sacred is the tongue, and what an evil use you put it to? By acting in an inappropriate manner, you ruin your reputation and subject yourself to ridicule by others. Therefore exercise control over your speech, vision, and laughter. If you want to earn a good name in the society and be respected by it, conduct yourself in a befitting manner.
There is no penance (tapas) higher than fortitude, no happiness greater than contentment, no good deed (punya) holier than mercy, no weapon more effective than patience. Consider your body as the field and good deeds as seeds and cultivate the name of the Lord, with the help of the heart as farmer, to reap the harvest of the Lord Himself. Like cream in milk and fire in fuel, the Lord is in everything. Have full faith in this. As the milk, so the cream; as the fuel, so the fire; so also, as the spiritual discipline, so is the direct divine experience (sakshatkara)! Even if you don’t attain liberation (mukthi) as a consequence of taking up the Lord’s name, one of these four gates will be open to you: Company of the virtuous, truth, contentment and control of the senses. Anyone who enters through any one of these gates will certainly attain the Lord without fail.
Image copyrightAnushree Fadnavis/Indus ImagesUma Tembulkar began performing in ad films at the age of 70
In the youthful world of Indian advertising, Uma Tembulkar, 78, is an unlikely celebrity model.
Ms Tembulkar is the lead in the advertisement, British Airways: Fuelled by Love, that has gone viral on YouTube and has Twitter tearing up over her.
The six-minute film, uploaded a week ago on YouTube, has had more than one million visitors and made Ms Tembulkar a welcoming face that’s beaming from a billboard at the Mumbai airport.
“Ms Tembulkar brings on a heavy dose of emotion to the ad; meaningful not melodramatic,” says advertising expert Vidhya Sankarnarayan.
“It resonates with Indians like the granny who feels dislocated on flights and connects at a human level,” she says.
An emotional flight
Ms Tembulkar said the British Airways ad was easy to enact because it had “two strangers who show kindness and compassion to each other, breaking cultural and generational barriers”.
A look at the ad would explain why she’s spot on.
The film shows a septuagenarian returning home from visiting her son in London.
She struggles while fastening the seat belt and bending over her arthritic knees to pull on her socks. A young stewardess, Helena Flynn, on her maiden flight to India, comes to her help.
The lady wells up, missing her son. The stewardess comforts her and is invited home by the elder woman.
A visit to the south Indian home is full of effusive Indian hospitality, good food and a slice of culture and a high dose of warmth.
Image copyrightAnushree Fadnavis/Indus Images….Uma Tembulkar lives with husband Mahesh Tembulkar in Mumbai
Image copyrightAnushree Fadnavis/Indus ImagesImage captionUma Tembulkar lives with husband Mahesh Tembulkar in Mumbai
“I wanted the ad to debunk the stereotype of the uptight British person and rude Indian traveller and Ms Tembulkar touched the right chords,” says director Neeraj Ghaywan, feted recently at the Cannes film festival.
This was the indie filmmaker’s first venture into ad filmmaking and he found Ms Tembulkar “just the perfect face of dignity and affection”.
And the social media response has been effusive praise for the ad.
Today, Ms Tembulkar gets grabbed for selfies on her morning market run to buy vegetables and milk.
Global granny
“It was an honour to act in the British Airways ad and I thoroughly enjoyed travelling to London,” she says.
Ms Tembulkar has been married for 60 years and led life as a homemaker with an enduring passion in Indian classical music that helped her “overcome fear of performing before an audience or the camera”.
She now watches over a brood of grandchildren, who are students in Harvard and Carnegie Mellon, travelling frequently to holiday with her scattered family across the globe. “My passport is the fattest,” she chuckles with quiet pride.
“My life as a model began at 70,” she speaks carefully in English, though she is also fluent in her native tongue Marathi, and Hindi, Bengali and a smattering of Gujarati too.
The actress in her was discovered by young friends at a family gathering and in the last eight years, she has acted in more than 60 advertisements for products as varied as insurance companies, furniture, cooking oils, biscuits and more.
“Look at her: she’s the quintessential Indian granny and her predicament while travelling alone is real. That has made the ad work,” says Mr Ghaywan.
He praises her as a “super granny” who travels alone frequently to visit her children and grandchildren, and understands the “emotional palette with her restrained, yet powerful performance”.
Image copyrightAnushree Fadnavis/Indus ….Ms Tembulkar is the archetypical Indian granny who lives in a busy suburb in Mumbai
Ageism
Experts say ageism has never been a problem in India and has always helped in selling products.
“Like the grandpas from India and Pakistan for the Google ad, age never goes out of style in Indian advertisements,” says Ms Sankarnarayan.
Unlike an earlier generation, the granny in the British Airways ad travels business class in comfort, though not schooled in global travel; she represents the old setting off alone to connect with scattered families across the world and makes a human connection that makes the ad tick.
Many say the ad helps to debunk the stereotype of the rude Indian in-flight traveller.
“Ms Tembulkar does a fantastic job of giving the contemporary Indian traveller a face,” explains Ms Sankarnarayan.
Given the soaring success of the advertisement, the sky is the limit for this granny.
In this September 27, 2013 photo, Sri Srinivasan takes oath as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
U.S. Deputy Solicitor General Sri Srinivasan is pictured in this undated file photo courtesy of the United States Department of Justice. Srinivasan is among President Barack Obama’s likely options as he looks for a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on Saturday.
He was Mr. Obama’s principal deputy solicitor general, most notably working on the successful fight against the Defence of Marriage Act.
Death of a serving judge of the U.S. Supreme Court has set off acrimonious exchanges between the Democrats and the Republicans on whether President Barack Obama should nominate a new judge in the last year of his presidency. Mr Obama has declared that he would nominate a replacement for Antonin Scalia who died on Saturday at 79, ending a controversial tenure through which he steered the court towards right with a series of pronouncements.
India-born Srikanth Srinivasan whose family came to the U.S from a village in Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu figures as the most probable choice to succeed Scalia, according to media reports. Forty-nine year old Srinivasan is currently U.S. Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which served as a stepping-stone for at least three judges of the SC. Scalia too was in the Court of Appeals for DC before President Ronald Reagan nominated him to the Supreme Court.
Judge Srinivasan’s appointment was confirmed by the Senate unanimously in 2013, a rare event given the Republican majority in the chamber. His bipartisan acceptability is among the reasons cited by a lot of U.S. commentators who believe President Obama could pick him for the post. Judge Srinivasan graduated from Stanford University in 1989 and Stanford Law School and Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1995. From 2011 to until his judicial appointment, Judge Srinivasan served as the Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States. He has also taught at Harvard Law School.
U.S. Supreme Court has eight judges other than the chief justice and on several sensitive issues the judges have split 5-4, with conservative views maintaining a lead of one vote. For instance, the Supreme Court, through a 5-4 vote settled in 2010 a judgment that allowed unlimited spending by corporations in election campaigns. Campaign financing is a hot topic of debate in the current election season. With the passing of Scalia, the U.S. Supreme Court is evenly split and the stakes are high for both the conservative and progressive camps, in selecting the next judge. Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed for their lifetime. The President nominates the judges and the Senate must confirm them.
Two of the remaining eight judges are in their late seventies and one is 82. The fact that the next President may likely nominate several Supreme Court judges has been a recurring talking point on both sides of the American political divide. The sudden death of Scalia allows Mr. Obama the opportunity to nominate one more before his term ends. He has nominated two already.
“I plan to fulfill my Constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor (to Scalia) in due time….There will be plenty of time for me to do so and for the Senate to fulfill its responsibility to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote,” Mr. Obama said.
But the Republican presidential candidates and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared that they would not cooperate with the President. “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President,” Mr. McConnell said. Senator Ted Cruz said during the Republican presidential debate on Saturday that the President should not be allowed to nominate a liberal to the Supreme Court. “The Senate should not abdicate its constitutional responsibilities for partisan political reasons,” said Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton.
Pointing out that the Supreme Court has before it cases affecting women’s health, immigration, workers’ rights, and other important issues, Neera Tanden, president of the Centre for American Progress, said the President and the Senate must move forward without delay, “to ensure a full court makes these critical decisions.” “Seventeen Supreme Court justices have been confirmed during presidential election years,” she said.
Take off with Natarajan 