BOTH COIN

FAMOUS FAILURES

It is a common fact that many success stories, both past and present, have at one point experienced failure. Failure comes in all shapes and sizes, and not even the greatest entrepreneurs, thinkers, entertainers, and inventors are except from this concept. Below are some famous figures throughout history that have walked through failure and emerged as successful.

Bill Gates: Famously known as the founder and CEO of tech empire "Microsoft", Bill Gates did not realize he was destined for greatness when he dropped out of Harvard and his first business "Traf-O-Data" failed miserably.

Albert Einstein: Besides having his name being synonymous with the term "genius", Albert Einstein's accomplishments include developing the theory of relativity, winning a Nobel Prize, and changing the face of physics forever. What many people do not know is that Einstein did not speak for the first four years of his life, did not learn to read until he was seven, was expelled from school, and even refused admittance into the Zurich Polytechnic School.

Richard Branson: The free-spirited founder of Virgin Records, Richard could attribute his success to his marks in school, but that would not be the case. Richard Branson has been diagnosed with Dyslexia ever since he was a child, resulting in very poor grades on standardized tests. But that was not enough to prevent him from becoming the fourth richest person in Great Britain!

Oprah Winfrey: It is nearly impossible to mention Oprah's name and not think about the success she has amounted. Oprah has been named "The Most Influential Woman in the World" and has created an empire worth $2.9 Billion! But Oprah's success did not come without her fair share of failures as well. Early in her career, Oprah had been demoted from her position as a News Anchor because the producers believed she "wasn't fit for television."

If these four individuals have taught us anything about failure, it that failure is an inevitable reality that affects everyone at some point in their lives, and that we can emerge brighter and stronger than before. Failure is like the creation of an artist's sculpture. Failure chips away at the block of marble only to reveal the masterpiece that was always inside.

WHY THE MOM IS SO AMAZING A FEAT !

Here are 8 reasons why India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is just amazing according to The Better India :

The Mangalyaan mission cost India $73 million (~Rs.450 crores) which is even cheaper than an eight lane bridge in Mumbai which cost $340 million. It is less than the budget of film “Gravity” which was about $105 million and about one-tenth of what the US has spent on MAVEN, making it undoubtedly the most cost-effective inter-planetary space mission to have ever been undertaken anywhere in the world!

In real terms, when distributed over the population of 1.2 billion, every Indian has contributed Rs.4 per towards the mission.

Mangalyaan will observe the environment of Mars and look for various elements like methane (marsh gas), which is a possible indicator of life. It will also look for Deuterium-Hydroden ratio and other neutral constants.

The orbiter weighs 1,350-kg, which is even less than the weight of an average sports utility vehicle.

The manufacturing of Mangalyaan took 15 months while NASA took five years to complete MAVEN.

Mangalyaan is the first spacecraft to be launched outside the Earth’s sphere of influence by ISRO in its entire history of 44 years.

ISRO will be the fourth space agency in the world after National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US, Russian Federal Space Agency (RFSA) and European Space Agency to have successfully undertaken a mission to Mars.

Considering that Mars is about 670 million kilometers from the Earth, the cost of the ride works out to about Rs.6.7 per kilometre – cheaper than what even autorickshaws charge anywhere in India!

A TALE OF TWO WAYS OF THINKING

In 2012, an international team of scientists working at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) on the Swiss/French border announced they had demonstrated the existence of the elusive Higgs Boson. This was a monumental effort. It took more than 10,000 scientists ten years to build the LHC and a further four years to reveal the Higgs Boson.

The LHC cost more than $4bn. It is the most complex machine ever built. It creates and accelerates beams of protons around a 27Km ring to within 0.000000009% of the speed of light. To process the vast quantities of data produced as trillions of protons collide each day, the LHC has a network of 100,000 linked computers around the world. The LHC collects and processes data equivalent to the entire Google databank every three days.

Despite this gargantuan effort, the team and LHC are not CERTAIN they have found the Higgs Boson. Their data suggests a 4.9 sigma level of confidence—the chance that they are wrong is one in 2 million.

Meanwhile in a window-less meeting room at an office in Columbia Street, Seattle, five men and two women are discussing a 2 million-year-old fossil hominid found in South Africa. Australopithecus sediba is a candidate for the last link between australopithecines and our genus Homo.

The people at this meeting are endowed with a certainty the scientists at the LHC lack. They are 100% CERTAIN the truth is to be found in a book written between 2 - 4 thousand years ago by people who lacked scientific instruments, who knew nothing about the size of the universe and nothing about the composition of matter. They did not even know the shape of the Earth. Their most advanced technological achievement was a bronze sword.

But they had something possibly more important—they believed they were the chosen people of a god who created the entire universe in six days.

A tall man with a shock of brown hair picked up a marker pen and turned to the whiteboard, “Ok, let’s get down to business. How do we discredit australopithecus sediba?”

WHAT IF SATAN IS REAL?

Imagine for a moment, a world in which God and Satan actually exist. God is omnipresent, omnibenevolent and omniscient.

Satan, like God, is a spirit with supernatural powers, including the ability to communicate with people. Satan likes to make life difficult for God and for humans.

In the Bible, God is shown to be an incompetent, jealous, vain, monster who will kill people for the least reason. He had to start the human race twice because he didn’t like how it went the first time. He had to make a second covenant with humans because the first one didn’t work out. He had to rescind many of his laws because they were not good. He was violently jealous of other gods, he wanted living sacrifices and he wanted to be worshiped.

None of these characteristics are compatible with an omnipresent, omnibenevolent and omniscient God. I can see only one way to explain all this.

1. Satan actually inspired the Bible posing as God. He did this to discredit God and confuse humans. This was easy for him—humans have no

way to distinguish between talking to God and talking to Satan posing as God.

2. God started everything but gave people free-will. He then sat back to allow us to prosper or fail as we will. God let us go—completely.

3. The only being trying to interfere with our free-will is Satan. And the Bible is his masterpiece. He made it so confusing that even Christians cannot agree what it means; from one Christian sect 2,000 years ago there are now around 38,000 denominations.

If I am right, we cannot rely on anything in the Bible. We do not know if there is a heaven or a hell and, if heaven exists, we do not know how to get there.

The best we can do is to ignore the Bible completely and to live our lives helping others and working to make the world a better place for our children to inherit. (Which is probably what God would have told us if he had written the Bible.)

Oddly enough, if God and Satan are both IMAGINARY beings, the same advice works perfectly...

WHICH PROFESSIONALS ARE THE LEAST TRUSTWORTHY?

1) Pastors

2) Politicians

3) Bankers

4) Plumbers

5) Car salespeople

6) Lawyers

I rate pastors as the least trustworthy because they ALL tell you lies—they have to or they would be out of a job. They say they know things they can’t possibly know and some will threaten you with eternal torture if you doubt them. They are professional liars.

Politicians often lie but, at least, they try to avoid outright lies (it’s embarrassing to be caught out.) Instead, their techniques are to mislead and confuse or not to answer a question whilst pretending to. Magicians practice sleight of hand; politicians practice sleight of mouth!

I put bankers in the third slot. They have won this lofty position with years of cheating and taking money from the public. But, at least, if you ask the interest rate, they have to tell you the truth—mostly!

Plumbers are in fourth place. The problem with plumbers is that they deal in a black art and most people have no clue whether they are getting good or bad advice. If they say you need a new CH pump, you can either delay everything and get a second opinion or pay up and get your heating working again. It’s easier to pay—even if the real problem is that someone accidentally turned the thermostat down. Also, they spend a lot of time in your attic. Are they busy saving your CH system from imminent death or are they thumbing through those old copies of Playboy you stashed up there when you were a teenager?

Car sales people are not as bad as they were. Now there are independent ways to check the mileage on second-hand cars and ways to check if it has been written-off in a car wreck. There are also plenty of ways to check the fair price for a car. Sure, you have to haggle with them but that just negotiation and you both know what’s going on.

Lawyers are least untrustworthy in my opinion. Yes, there is a layer of bottom-feeders but most will give you good, honest advice. The biggest issue with lawyers is their tendency to bill you for opening the front door or sitting in one of their chairs. If you check your bill carefully and only use them for things you can’t do yourself, you should get a fair service.

What do you think?

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RELATIONSHIP

It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return. But what is more painful is to love someone and never find the courage to let the person know how you feel.

May be God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meet the right 1 so that when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that gift, love is when you take away the feeling, the passion and the romans in a relationship, and find out you still care for that person.

A sad thing in life is when you meet someone who means alot to u, only to find out in the end that it was never met to be, but you just have to let go. When the door of happiness closes, another opens.

But often times we look so long at the closed door but we don't see the one which has been opened for us. The best kind of friend is the kind you can just be with, never say a word, and then walk away, feeling it

was the best conversation you ever had. It is true that we don't know what we have till it's gone, but it's also true that we don't know what we have been missing till it arrives.

Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back. Don't expect love in return, just wait for it to grow in their heart. But if it doesn't, be content it grew in yours. There are things you love to hear but u will never hear them from the person you will like to hear them from. But don't be so daft as not to hear it from the 1 who says it from their heart.

Never say goodbye if you still want to try, never give up if you still feel you can go on, never say you don't love the person anymore if you can't let go. Love comes to those who still hope, though they had been disappointed, to those who still believe, although they had been betrayed: to those who still need to love though they had been hurt before and to those who have the courage and faith to build trust again. It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a while to love someone. But

it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

Don't go for looks they can deceive, don't go for wealth, even that fades away.

Go for someone who makes you smile, cause it takes only a smile to make a dark day bright. Hope you find that someone who will make you smile.

TAXES AND INFLATION AS TOOLS OF FINANCIAL SYSTEM ENSLAVEMENT

HOW YOU LIKE 99.99% TAXES on the money?

Whether you save money or spend money, you're screwed both ways....

TAXES and INFLATION are unbelievable powerful tools of financial system ENSLAVEMENT of people. Taxes take ALL THE MONEY.... Federal tax is 25%, state taxes is 9%.

Here is how.... Example: I made $100 from my company. I paid federal & state taxes and spent what is left. I spent what was left buying groceries from GROCER. GROCER collect my money and pay taxes again on the same money. Whatever is left, GROCER used it to pay the MECHANIC to fix his car. MECHANIC pay taxes and spend what is left buying groceries from GROCER....GROCER use what was left to pay RESTAURANT dinner. RESTAURANT collect the money, pay taxes, and later buy groceries from GROCER for his restaurant. GROCER has to pay taxes again on THE SAME MONEY....the process repeat itself over and over. Here is how it looks like.

Federal tax is 25%, state taxes is 9%.

Myself 100 - 25 - 9 =66

GROCER 66 - 16.5 - 5.94=43.56 (66x .25=16.5 because 25% of 66=16.5)

MECHANIC 43.56 -10.89 - 4.10 =28.57

GROCER 28.57 - 7.14 - 2.57 = 18.86

RESTARANT 18.86 - 4.71 - 1.69 = 12. 46

GROCER 12.46 -3.11- 1.12= 8.23

taxes on and on until it reaches a penny....becuase a penny is the smallest amount that cannot be tax further....

The same $100 is taxes 99.99%

MIND BLOWING is not even the words....So they collected all these money from taxes, but where did all the money goes? How come the country debt is in the TRILLIONS?

WHERE DID THE MONEY GOES? how about they STOLE THE MONEY and used it to build up the military/police force because they control the military. The stronger the military the more powerful they become, the more wars they can create, the more damage can be done, the more scare we become, the more we would depend on the government, the more enslaved we are!!!!

WITHOUT THE OPPOSITE, HOW CAN THERE BE EVOLUTION?

THE PRESENCE OF OPPOSITE & your EVOLUTION....Yin & Yang, Light & Darkness, Love & Fear, War & Peace, etc....Without the opposite, you probably would not have fully understand and appreciate the other.

Without WAR, how can you understand/appreciate PEACE?

Without COLDNESS, how can you understand/appreciate WARMTH?

Without SEPARATION, how can you understand/appreciate UNITY?

Without LONELINESS, how can you understand/appreciate COMPANIONSHIP?

***If not because of the lower dimensions/lower vibrations, you probably would not have fully understand and appreciate higher dimensions/higher vibrations.***

If there is no reference point, how can there be knowledge???

WITHOUT the OPPOSITE, how can there be EVOLUTION???

Therefore, ALL served as lessons on the journey of evolution ultimately back Home to Source (Eternal Love which resulted in Creation of__).

Hating/Fearing the opposite is of little use and create more lower vibration/frequency/separation. Understand that the opposite present you with the opportunity to REALLY APPRECIATE the other, the one that you have distanced yourself from and wanted so much to be back! Thank you OPPOSITE.... Your lessons are priceless....We are grateful for your service!

It is time to evolve....

AND FINALLY GOD CREATED MAN

GOD created the DONKEY and told him, 'You will work tireless from sunrise up to sunset, carrying heavy bags on your back, you will eat grass. You will not have intelligence and you will live 50 years. You will be a DONKEY!'

The DONKEY answered, 'I will be a DONKEY, but living 50 years is too much, give me only 20 years!' and GOD gave him 20 years.

GOD created DOG and told him ' You will look after man's house, you will be his best friend, you will eat whatever they give you and you will live 25years, You will be a DOG!'

The DOG answered 'GOD, living 25 years is too much, give only 10 years!' and GOD gave him 10 years.

GOD created the MONKEY and told him, 'you will jump from branch to branch you will do silly things, you will be amusing and you will live 20 years, you will be a MONKEY!'

The MONKEY answered ' GOD, living 20 years is too much , give me only 10 years!' and GOD gave him 10 years.

Finally, GOD created MAN and told him, 'you will be a MAN the only rational being on this earth and you will use your intelligence to control other animals, you will dominate the world and you will live for 20 years.

The MAN answered, GOD I will be a man but living 20 years is not enough, why don't you give me the 30 years that the DONKEY refused, the 15 years that the DOG didn't want and the 10 years that the MONKEY refused ?'

That was exactly what GOD did, and since then: MAN lives 20 years like a MAN, then he gets married and spends 30 years like a DONKEY, working and carrying the load on his back. Then, when his children leave he spends 15 years like DOG looking after the house and eating whatever is given to him. Then he gets old, retires and spends 10 years like a MONKEY, jumping from house to house or from children to children, doing silly things to amuse his grandchildren !

THE COMPUTER HUBBY

Husband (Returning late from work ) :

"Good Evening Dear, I'm now logged in."

Wife : Have you brought the grocery ?

Husband : Bad command or filename.

Wife : What about my new TV?

Husband : Variable not found ...

Wife : At least, give me your Credit Card, I want to do some shopping.

Husband : Sharing Violation. Access denied ...

Wife : Do you love me or do you only love computers or are you just being funny ?

Husband : Too many parameters ...

Wife : It was a great mistake that I married an idiot like you.

Husband : Data type mismatch.

Wife : You are a useless nut.

Husband : By Default.

Wife : What about your Salary ?

Husband : File in use ... Try after some time.

Wife : Who was in the car this morning ?

Husband : System is unstable. Press CTRL + ALT + DEL to Reboot.

Wife : Are you going to drink some wine?

Husband : File system is full.

Wife : What is my value in the family ?

Husband : Unknown Virus.

A LESSON IN LOGIC ..!!

Ashok, a fresh computer graduate from a world class University, goes for an interview in a software company.

The interviewer is Sunder, a grubby old man. And the first question he asks Ashok is, 'Are you good at logic?'

'Of course,' replies Ashok.

'Let me test you,' replies Sunder. 'Two men come down a chimney. One comes with a clean face and the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one would wash his face?'

Ashok stares at Sunder. 'Is that a test in Logic?' Sunder nods.

'The one with the dirty face washes his face', Ashok answers wearily.

'Wrong. The one with the clean face washes his face. Examine the simple logic. The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean. The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty. So, the one with the clean face washes his face.'

'Hmm. I never thought of that," says Ashok. 'Give me another test.'

Sunder holds up two fingers, 'Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face and the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one washes his face?'

'We have already established that. The one with the clean face washes his face.'

'Wrong. Each one washes one's face. Examine the simple logic. The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean. The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty. So, the one with the clean face washes his face. When the one with the dirty face sees the one with the clean face washing his face, he also washes his face. So each one washes one's face.'

'I didn't think of that!' says Ashok. 'It's shocking to me that I could make an error in logic. Test me again!'

Sunder holds up two fingers, 'Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face and the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one washes his face?'

'Each one washes his face.'

'Wrong. Neither one washes his face. Examine the simple logic. The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean. The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty. But when the one with clean face sees that the one with the dirty face doesn't wash his face, he also doesn't wash his face. So neither one washes his face.'

Ashok is desperate. 'I am qualified for this job. Please give me one more test!'

He groans when Sunder lifts his two fingers, 'Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face and the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one washes his face?'

'Neither one washes his face', Ashok replies, 'I have learnt this logic.'

'Wrong, again. Do you now see, Ashok, why programming knowledge is insufficient for this job? Tell me, how is it possible for two men to come down the same chimney, and for one to come out with a clean face and the other with a dirty face?

Don't you see the flaw in the premise?'............

IT'S TIME TO SAY NO TO CASTE SYSTEM

In Vedic culture, everyone is considered to be born as Shudra. Then based on his or her education, one becomes a Brahmin, Kshatriya or Vaishya. This completion of education is considered to be a second birth. Hence these three Varnas are called “Dwija” or twice-born. But those who remain uneducated for whatever reasons are not discarded from society. They continue as Shudra and perform support-activities for the society.

A son of Brahmin, if he fails to complete his education, becomes a Shudra. Similarly, son of a Shudra or even a Dasyu, if he completes his education can become a Brahmin, Kshatriya or Vaishya. This is pure meritocracy. The way degrees are accorded today, Yajnopaveet was provided in Vedic system. Further, non-compliance with the code of conduct for each Varna could result in taking away of the Yajnopaveet.

Then, what is "Jaati" ?. Jaati means a classification based on source of origin. Various animals like elephant, lion, rabbits etc form different ‘Jaati’. In same manner, entire humanity forms one ‘Jaati’. A particular Jaati will have similar physical characteristics, cannot change from one Jaati to another and cannot cross-breed. Thus Jaati is creation of Ishwar or God.

Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra are no way different Jaati because there is no difference in source of birth or even physical characteristics to differentiate between them.

Later, word ‘Jaati’ started being used to imply any kind of classification. Thus in common usage, we call even different communities as different ‘Jaati’. However that is merely convenience of usage. In reality, all humans form one single Jaati.

Let us have look about "Varna". The actual word used for Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra is ‘Varna’ and not Jaati. The word ‘Varna’ is used not only for these four, but also for Dasyu and Arya. ‘Varna’ means one that is adopted by choice. Thus, while Jaati is provided by God, ‘Varna’ is our own choice.

Many examples exist of change of Varnas in Vedic history:

Aitareya Rishi was son of a Daasa or criminal but became a Brahmin of highest order and wrote Aitareya Brahman and Aitareyopanishad. Aitareya Brahman is considered critical to understand Rigveda.
Ailush Rishi was son of a Daasi, gambler and of low character. However he researched on Rigveda and made several discoveries. Not only was he invited by Rishis but also made an Acharya. (Aitareya Brahman 2.19)
Satyakaam Jaabaal was son of a prostitute but became a Brahmin.
Prishadh was son of King Daksha but became a Shudra. Further he did Tapasya to achieve salvation after repenting.
(Vishnu Puran 4.1.14)
Had Tapasya been banned for Shudra as per the fake story from Uttar Ramayan, how could Prishadh do so?
Nabhag, son of King Nedishtha became Vaishya. Many of his sons again became Kshatriya. (Vishnu Puran 4.1.13)
Dhrist was son of Nabhag (Vaishya) but became Brahmin and his son became Kshatriya (VP 4.2.2)
Further in his generation, some became Brahmin again (VP 9.2.23)

As per Bhagvat, Agniveshya became Brahmin though born to a king.
Rathotar born in Kshatriya family became a Brahmin as per Vishnu Puran and Bhagvat.
Haarit became Brahmin though born to Kshatriya (VP 4.3.5)
Shaunak became Brahmin though born in Kshatriya family. (VP 4.8.1). In fact, as per Vayu Puran, Vishnu Puran and
Harivansh Puran, sons of Shaunak Rishi belonged to all four Varnas.
Similar examples exist of Gritsamad, Veethavya and Vritsamati.
Matanga was son of Chandal but became a Brahmin.
Raavan was born from Pulatsya Rishi but became a Rakshas.
Pravriddha was son of Raghu King but became a Rakshas.
Trishanku was a king but became a Chandal
Sons of Vishwamitra became Shudra. Vishwamitra himself was a Kshatriya who later became a Brahmin.
Vidur was son of a servant but became a Brahmin and minister of Hastinapur empire.

WHY I AM A FREETHINKER

Who says freethinkers are bad people? Programmed believers. Conversely, freethinkers believe it is bad to allow anyone to program what they think. The problem is that people who are programmed don't know it or will not recognize it when anyone points this out. In fact, it us usually futile to convince a person they are controlled either by god, their spouse, friend, congregation or whomever.

It would be easy to say that someone who is programmed is deficient in some way, but that would make as much sense as saying someone who has an illness is deficient. Physicians do not make such accusations, instead they focus on treating the problem using the symptoms simply as evidence. That is to say, good doctors have this mindset, but being human some doctors are judgmental and preachy. I avoid them like the plague because I cannot trust they are rational thinkers, my key to practicing medicine. Dr House is my hero in this regard.

The ancient fallacy that only belief in a deity can lead to morality stems from a woeful misunderstanding of human cognition and wishful thinking. In the end every person has to decide right from wrong. It would be great to have an angel on your shoulder to lead your every action, but no one has ever produced such a being for rigorous examination. No book can ever do more than serve as a guide, which leads me to conclude that thinking for myself is really the only course to follow.

My mother used to tell me to wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which one gets full the fastest. (Apologies for the raw language, but the quote would just not be the same if toned down.)

Do you see why I am a freethinker?

THE FOCUS IS ON PHYSICAL IMMORTALITY

Once the following have been achieved, the civilization mainly focus on extending life = IMMORTALITY.

1. Enough food and water.
2. Eliminate aging and sickness/diseases.
3. Free energy technology.

Even on un-ascended civilizations on many other planets, once they produce enough food/water to feed everyone, produce free energy technology, and eliminate aging & sickness/diseases... they mainly focus on immortality, focusing on rising consciousness & expanding awareness... All the advancing in technology, science, healing, and etc all have one ultimate focus; that focus is to extend the life of the physical body. (If one evolves enough in consciousness to where one doesn't need a physical body, that's a completely different story.)

If a civilization has free energy, then there would not be pollution. If it produces enough food/water, no one would worry about being starve to death. If it has eliminated sickness/disease by enhancing the body or by completely eliminated all harmful sick-causing organism, there would be no aging/sickness/diseases. Everyone would be focusing on advancing technology, science, consciousness, spirituality and exploration of the Cosmos.... because everyone would have a lot of free time to do what they love most.

If Earth was not under domination, not under control, and the technology was not suppressed by the en-slavers.... Earth would be very advanced by now.

If you have all the food/water you ever need, have free energy technology to travel, and don't age or get sick....What would you be doing most of the time??! Think about it...

PARENTING IS AN ART FORM, TRYANNICAL PARENTS ARE FAILING AT THE ART

Parents threaten their children all the time for all sorts of reasons and the threats often contain explicit sanctions. Eat your peas or no ice cream for desert. Do your homework or no TV for you! The reason parents resort to threats to gain compliance is not difficult to understand. The tactic often works.

The larger question we should ask is: can we not think of a wiser way? Parents, and institutions as well, that subject children to threats are teaching them a pattern to follow in their own lives. The lesson children can take away is that retribution is meted out for transgression, and the strong get to punish the weak. But, this logic is exactly the way tyrants think. Our legal system has many safeguards in place to try and insure that justice is fair. However the safeguards often fail, especially where religious abuse of children is a factor.

Yet as time goes by we become more enlightened and there are thoughtful informed people who seriously question the paradigm of crime and punishment. Rehabilitating criminals is a long and costly endeavor so regrettably it seems we have abandoned rehab in favor of simply locking the convicted away.

The alternative to tyrannical methods is simply to insist children reason about their decisions. Instead of memorizing rules, teach children to reason about which actions to take in life. Sanctions meted out by a supernatural force would not seem to be a healthy scheme to carry with you in life. The idea a supernatural force is always watching and judging would surely lead to paranoia in many people. A fact we can observe if we are careful.

There is a better way.

"Some who support [more] coercive strategies assume that children will run wild if they are not controlled. However, the children for whom this is true typically turn out to be those accustomed to being controlled— those who are not trusted, given explanations, encouraged to think for themselves, helped to develop and internalize good values, and so on. Control breeds the need for more control, which is used to justify the use of control.”

― Alfie Kohn, Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A'S, Praise and Other Bribes

“In short, with each of the thousand-and-one problems that present themselves in family life, our choice is between controlling and teaching, between creating an atmosphere of distrust and one of trust, between setting an example of power and helping children to learn responsibility, between quick-fix parenting and the kind that's focused on long-term goals.”

― Alfie Kohn, Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason

100 WONDERFUL THINGS ABOUT TAMIL NADU

Many of us often read about the Great Pancha Bootha shrines, the shrines sung of by the 12 Alvars (Vaishnavite saints), the Six Abodes of Lord Muruga, and of the hundreds of temples sung by the Great Four Saivite saints. For those people already familiar with Tamil Nadu, this is very much treading a well beaten path. Instead, in this article I would like to present a checklist of 100 alternative sites to visit beyond the usual tourist centres:

1. Connemara Library - Chennai

2. Saraswathy Mahal Library - Thanjavur

These two libraries host very rare books.

3. The Honey Falls - Courtalam (the other falls are well known - Shenbaga Devi, Five Falls, Old Courtalam Falls, Main Falls, Tiger Falls and Pongumaankadal)

4. Avudayar Temple Granite Ceiling - Avudayar

5. Thiruvallam Suzi Palakani/window

6. Tharamangalam Pillar

Whenever the ancient Tamil sculptors make a contract, they say that they would take on any work but items 4, 5 and 6 - they were such masterpieces.

7. The Musical Pillars - Madurai, Sucheendram, and other temples

8. The Big Nandhi Statue and 80 tonne granite stone in Thanjavur tower - Thanjavur

9. The Monolith Sculptures in Meenakshi temple showing Meenakshi's wedding scene - Madurai

10. The penance of Bhagiratha sculpture at Mahabalipuram

11. Macacue in the Kallakadu Forest. This kind of monkey is not seen anywhere else in the world.

12. Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary

13. Panban Bridge

14. Padmanabhapuram Palace. Don't miss the bed made up for 64 herbs and the wooden Ramayana sculptures.

15. Sunset and Moonrise at the same time in Kanya Kumari (also Vivekananda Rock, Valluvar Statue and Bhagavati's nose ring)

16. Kalaikudi Chettiar Palace

17. The Jewels of Madurai Meenakshi. Now they are likely to be worth several million rupees.

18. The 108 gestures of dance (Bharatanatyam) in Chidambaram Temple and the golden dome.

19. The huge pillars of Thirumalai Nayak Mahal (no wood or iron was used in this huge palace).

20. The world horoscopes in the Madurai Temple Kalyanam Mandapam (Bhugolam and Kagolam).

21. The Nataraja Statue made of five metals. The dance of Shiva has recently been interpreted variously by scholars and scientists.

22. Ramasethu - Dhanushkodi (even the Nasa pictures from the satelite shows this structure)

23. Nagaswaram made of stone - Alvar Thirunagiri and Kumbakonam

24. Thiruvarur Temple drum with five faces and ivory Nagaswaram

25. Sri Rangam Temple is the largest Hindu temple. It spreads over 156 acres and has 21 towers. The tallest tower is 236ft high.

26. Darasuram Temple sculptures - the delivery scene of a village woman, Ravana lifting Kailash and the ornamental pillars are remarkable

27. Hoganakkal Falls in the Kaveri River.

28. Silk Sarees industry in Kanchipuram and Thirubhuvanam

29. The Thousand Pillar Halls in Madurai, Thiruvanamalai and Thiruterunthurai

30. Chennai Kollywood Cinema Studios

31. The Cave Temple in Narasimham with 1500 year old Pandya inscriptions near Madurai

32. Sithannavasal Cave Paintings near Pudukottai

33. Kurinji Flowers in Kodaikanal and Nilgrais. They bloom once every 12 years.

34. The longest pod - Anaipuliamkottai (this is seen in Tamil Nadu forests and grow up to 5 feet)

35. Uttarakosamangai Maragatha statue (called emerald stone; it is always covered in sandalwood paste)

36. The gold coins of Chera, Shoza and Pandyas found in several museums

37. Vattakottai - the Fort in the Sea - Kanya Kumari District

38. Chenji Fort

39. Sripuram Golden Temple near Vellore. 1,500 kg of gold cover the temple.

40. Valampuri Conch (the big conches in temples are worth several hundreds of thousands of rupees).

41. The Ilmenite and Thorium sand - Kanya Kumari.

42. The pith sculptures - made by artisans all over Tamil Nadu

43. Rare musical instruments at Thanjavur palace

44. Wonderful trees - the Banyan tree in Adayar, the Mango tree in Kanchi temple, the Tamarind tree in Alvar Thirunagiri and the Redwood trees (exported to foreign countries due to resistance to radiation).

45. The oil well in Nanguneri and pure water well in Thiruchandur (on the seashore).

46. The mangrove forest in Pichavaram

47. The magnificent Rangoli/Kolam in front of houses during Diwali and Pongal (precise geometric shapes and patterns drawn without a ruler or compass by Tamil women - they are born with a gene for mathematics!)

48. The Tea estate in Valpari Gardens

49. Fossil trees in Sathanur and Thiruvakarai. They are millions of years old. Dinosaur eggs were also excavated here.

50. 24 Jain Theerthankarar statues near Chenji

51. Papanasam Waterfalls near Thirunelveli

52. Thirumurthi Waterfalls near Coimbatore

53. Thirparappu Waterfalls near Nagarcoil

54. Kolli hills - Puliyan Solai (72km from Thiruchi)

55. Namakkal - Durgam Fort

56. 18ft Hanuman statue at Sucheedram Temple (Also the big statues at Namakal and Nanganalloor).

57. Udayagiri Fort (Near Nagarkoil)

58. There are Samadhis of great people wherein the devotees experience miracles.

- Kulanthaianandar - Madurai

- Gnananandar - Thirukovilur

- Sadashiva Brahmendra - Nerur (near Karur)

- Kanchi Mahaswamigal - Kanchipuram

- Bodhendrar - Govindapuram

- Mother - Pondicherry

- Aurobindo - Pondicherry

- Thiyagabrahmam - Thiruvaiyaru

- Ramana - Thiruvannamalai

- Seshadri Swamigal - Thiruvannamalai

- Judge Swamigal - Pudukottai

- Swayamprakasa Swamigal - Senthamangalam

- Pamban Swamigal - Thiruvamiyur

- Ramanujacharya - Sri Rangam

- Vallalar -Ramalinga Swamigal - Vadalur

- Kaduveli Siddhar - Kanchipuram. There are 51 Jeeva Samadhis in and around Chennai.

- The following 18 great Siddhas are already known to many

- Pazani - Bogar

- Madurai - Sundaranandar

- Rameswaram - Patanjali

- Thiruvarur - Kamalamuni

- Mayuram - Kuthumbhai

- Sankaran Koil - Pambatti Siddhar

- Thiruparankundram - Macha Muni

- Azagar Malai - Ramadevar

- Thiruvannamalai - Yelaikadar

- Yettukudir - Valmiki

- Thiruvarangam - Sattai Muni

- Perur - Gorakkar

- Vaitheeswaran Koil - Dhanvantri

- Chidambaram - Thirumular

- Outside Tamil Nadu - Kasi - Nandeeswarar, Thirupathi - Konganar, Thiruvanandapuram - Agastiar

59. Gulf of Manar - Coral Reefs

60. Grand Anaicut of Karikalan

61. Bull fighting in Alanganaloor near Madurai

62. Flamingos of Point Calimere/Codikarai

63. Sculptures of hunters in Krishnapuram (near Tirunelvelli)

64. Colour changing Ganesh statue at Keralapuram

65. Ancient Jain University in Sitharal

66. Thiruchi - Rock Fort which is 271ft high

67. Kumbakonam - Rajaveda patasala

68. 14ft Krishna statue at Thipparamalai

69. Thiruvarur Chariot (also Kamalalayam Tank)

70. Sri Vallipathur - Andal Garland and the mirrored well

71. Kurusalay Island - Biologists' paradise

72. Ganga Chozapuram sculptures. The smile of the Nataraja statue reflects Appar's Thevaram hymn.

73. The houses of the Badagas and Thodas tribes in the Nilgris

74. Chennai Marina Beach

75. Chennai T Nagar - Ranganathan St (nowhere else in the world can you see so many street vendors in such a tiny place)

76. Thiruvattaru Koil Mandapa - an 18ft square, 3ft thick monolith base on which the mandapam stands. Its an engineering marvel.

77. Thiruvannamalai - Karthigai Light cauldron - 10ft high/5ft radius cauldron with a 300 metre long wick and thousands of kilos of ghee

78. Sivagasi - fireworks and calendar industries

79. Gulf of Mannar - Pearl diving

80. Panrutti clay dolls (Navaratri)

81. Poompuhar - Where the river Kaveri meets the sea

82. The temple vahanas (Particularly the golden horse/eagle/bull in several temples)

83. Othagamandalam Mountain Railway.

84. 3rd Century BC Brahmi inscriptions around Madurai

85. Orchideriums in Yerkad and Kondaikanal. Orchid flowers are rare and expensive.

86. Kavalur - Observatory and telescope

87. Madras AIR station

88. Guindi Rajabhavan Deer Park

89. Thanjavur - Golden Kamakshi Statue

90. Pallankuzi - the ancient Tamil game that has spread to far flung places such as Indonesia and Senegal in Africa

91. Pazani Hills - Siddha medicine centres

92. Kanchipuram has 124 temples. One of them is Varadharajaperumal Temple, which contains 357 inscriptions in one temple.

93. Sunlight entering certain temples on particular days. For example, in Srivaikundam Temple, sunlight falls on the deity on the 6th day of Chitrai and 6th day of Aippasi. There are lots of temples like this in Tamil Nadu.

94. Production of Wheat Halwa in Thirunnelveli

95. Chennai Music Sabha concerts

96. Kalakshetra in Adiar

97. Chennai Koyam Pedu vegetable market

98. Madurai Jasmine flower cultivation and export industry

99. Erode - Turmeric market

100. Thirupoor - vest and towel industry

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