7 Unusual Statues And Monuments Across The Globe!

There are some monuments and statues that instill a sense of pride, beauty or emotions among the viewer. Those are unforgettable pieces of art that you get to see on field trips or in the pages of history books. But then there are some less-explored monuments, which are in a way an ode to the weird, the wonderful, and the just plain wacky which would make you think, “Seriously Bro? Seriously? Were you high or something before you ended up making these?”

Let’s look at some of them, One cautionary advice would be to just enjoy the view instead of trying to understand them (not if you don’t have something better to do).

7. De Vaartkapoen

Pic Courtesy : https://www.pinterest.com/pin/393572454909693397/

This statue was erected in 1985 in the Molenbeek area of Brussels. The scene it depicts is reminiscent of a comedy sketch: a man unexpectedly emerges from a manhole and pulls the feet from underneath a policeman. It’s author is Belgian sculptor Tom Frantzen.

6. Shit Fountain

Pic Courtesy : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hr3jYKvydY

Artist Jerzy Kenar got tired of stepping out of his Chicago home and constantly stepping in dog poop. So, he decided to put his talents to good use and created a visual monument that would serve as a reminder to the dog owners of the neighborhood to scoop up what their pups leave behind. Enter Shit Fountain, a fecal-shaped bronze coil on top of a cement pillar with the monument’s title carved into the side.

5. The Headington Shark

Pic Courtesy: http://armchairtravelogue.blogspot.in/2010/04/headington-shark-which-survived-attack.html

The significance of this sculpture is much greater than may appear at first sight. It was erected on the 41st anniversary of the nuclear attack on Nagasaki at the end of World War II. The sculpture depicts a beautiful , if potentially deadly lethal weapon falling from the sky.

4. Die Badende

Pic Courtesy: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/56875945

Artist Oliver Voss created the sculpture as an advertisement for British beauty company Glory. The company wanted to make a “big splash” in thanking the German people for embracing their latest line of products. The advertisement proved very successful; customers and a large crowd gathered to watch the woman hoisted from the water. The movers had a large towel ready to conceal her lady bits from peeping eyes.

3. Jimmy Carter Peanut

Photo credit: National Park Service

The Jimmy Carter Peanut might give you nightmares, standing at 4 meters (13 ft) tall with a wide, toothy smile and no eyes. The peanut can be found on the side of the road in Plains, Georgia. The structure started out far from Georgia, however. It was actually constructed in Indiana in 1976 to honor Jimmy Carter’s visit to the state during his presidential campaign tour. Why was a giant, smiling peanut, of all things, used as a tribute? Well, before he was president, Carter was actually a peanut farmer.

2. Jeju Loveland

Pic Courtesy: http://thetravellingsquid.com/2017/01/08/sexciting-visit-to-the-jeju-loveland/img_0951/

The salacious monuments found on Jeju Island in South Korea were made to honor sexual acts. The park itself is called Jeju Loveland and arouses more than just curiosity from its many visitors. The theme park opened in 2004 and has a collection of more than 140 erotic statues depicting sexual encounters between both humans and animals. The goals of the theme park are to break down barriers and taboo feelings surrounding sex and promote the “natural beauty of sexuality.”

1. Brownnosers

Pic Courtesy: https://www.trover.com/d/rZqN-futura-gallery-%C4%8Dernys-brown-nosers-prague-czech-republic

Brownnosers, created by Czech artist David Cerny, takes the term “brownnoser” to an entirely new (and literal) level. The two statues stand, or rather bend over, outside the Futura Gallery in Prague. The two figures are positioned side-by-side with the lower portions of their torsos protruding from a cement wall. Viewers are invited to climb ladders attached to the open anuses of the figures and stick their heads inside the openings.

Featured Pic Courtesy : http://www.siteadvisor.com

Is there a Life after Death?

Humans are the only species on earth who know for a fact they will die one day. But then again, this knowledge isn’t the one they relish. Throughout history, people have sought eternal life trying almost everything and most recently trying to fulfill this hope by pinning it to science. The only thing that surpasses this hope that death can be postponed forever is the hope that life will continue after death. And this belief in life after death comes in all shapes and sizes. In between the views involving continued existence in a physical body, and those in which survival takes place outside the body we are still stuck with it, trying to reason and understand the same.

Today let’s talk about that one question which has troubled every mind for centuries, And the question is, is there life after death? I mean, what we know for a fact is that one hundred percent of the people that you’ll ever meet are you going to die because we are structured to. But, is that it? What happens to you after you die? And if that is so, what’s the basis of the same? How does it even work? Let’s try to evaluate.

Pic: http://bigpicturequestions.com/what-is-a-walk-in-or-a-soul-exchange/

If words of Plato were to be considered, he said that “I’m not sure what’s after death but nature seems to give us a picture of what it will be like, some new kind of life after death. Inside of every piece of fruit is a seed and if you plant the seed, you get the tree that brought it. An oak tree has an acorn and the acorn, if you plant it, you get another oak tree. The caterpillar goes into this cocoon and it seems to die and then it bursts forth as a butterfly.” Does that mean we have an ulterior purpose ? or is it all about “For you are dust, And to dust, you shall return.”

Pic: semioart.livejournal.com

According to Anthropologists almost every culture and religion known on the face of the earth believe in some kind of afterlife – everyone from the primitive cultures to the Amazon to the Himalayas to urban cultures.

There is this something in human beings that believe that death is just not an end, there’s something. Some people end up building pyramids while others build tombs, if we look closely into the rituals, people think that they can take their riches with them. Somehow death unites us all (at least the way we think). There’s a universal belief system in terms of life after death – a common thread of all people.

Pic: theverge.com

That hunger, that thirst for knowing the meaning, the significance which never quite gets satiated. No matter what we accomplish, no matter how good it gets, there’s always that, hmmmm, we’re not quite there. And that is another reason to believe that there is life after death. Heaven or hell whatever you name it, there has to be something.

And then, even a part of science, i.e. “NDE” or the near-death experiences conducts various researchers trying to put an end to this mystery. With numerous people reporting near-death experiences where they see a light at the end of the tunnel or a mystic figure waiting to take them has been largely reported.

Pic: gazeta.ru

Then comes our mythologies, the Hindu Mythology for that matter has a whole book called “Garur Puran” which tells you about how will you treated in hell or heaven according to your past deeds and the way you had led your life on Earth. Bible Claims that Jesus resurrected after being dead and buried for 3 days which yet again gives us hope of the same.

Pic: www.patrika.com

What is the truth behind Life and Death? Can we somehow live forever? Is there a light waiting for us at the end of the tunnel? Only time will tell. Till then let’s hatch more conspiracy theories.

Featured Image: https://www.gotquestions.org/is-there-life-after-death.html

 

 

7 Web Portals that can help you land into your Dream Internship!

Internship has become a buzz word for today’s youth and very rightly so. Employers in today’s workforce market rely heavily on resumes that illustrate a relevant work history, whether that’s from internships, volunteer work, or actual job experience. A practical work background carries a major significance when attempting to enter the job market. It’s all about competition. Not only are businesses competing against each other for a competitive advantage, but people are also competing to land that coveted position in a company.

Image: miinternship.com

Here, we try to list down 7 websites which can act as a bridge between you and the internship you are looking for.

InternShala
Link: www.internshala.com

Image: www.internshala.com

Internshala is an internship platform, based out of Gurgaon, India. Founded by Sarvesh Agrawal, an IIT Madras alumnus, in 2010, the website helps students find internships with organizations in India. Internshala is no.1 internship & training website for students in India with 4000+ paid internships in Engineering, MBA, media, law, arts & other streams.

LetsIntern
Link: www.letsintern.com

LetsIntern aims at providing a single platform for interaction between 10 million graduates across India and thousands of organization spread across the length and breadth of this country.  It offers internships across sector and disciplines, so whether you are law, architecture, engineering or art student, it caters to all of you. Similarly, it caters across firms.

MakeIntern
Link: www.makeintern.com

Image: www.makeintern.com

MakeIntern is an online portal which provides the best internship opportunities in India. Such as Summer Internships, Virtual Internship, Paid Internship and many more. It helps in providing internships across various sector and disciplines, like law, architecture, engineering, arts or management student, it caters to all of you. Similarly, it caters across firms.

HelloIntern
Link: www.hellointern.com

Image: www.hellointern.com

Hello, Intern is a new venture based on the idea of naukri.com but in a different field. hellointern.com differentiates from naukri.com by providing services in the field of training/internship, summer jobs, part-time jobs only. Right now they are focusing mainly on the domain of technical internships. They provide a FREE listing of companies’ internship positions and help them select the profiles best-fitting to their requirements. They already have more than 2000 students registered from premier institutions like IITs, NITs, ISM Dhanbad etc. in less than 3 months.

LinkedIn
Link: www.linkedIn.com

Image: careers.publichealth.iu.edu

Well if you are in the Job market and don’t know about LinkedIn, then it would be like not knowing the sun. LinkedIn is a business- and employment-oriented social networking service that operates via a website and mobile apps.  500 million members in 200 countries, out of which more than 106 million members are active. It offers internship as well with major companies listing openings through the portal throughout the year.

InternTheory
Link: www.interntheory.com

Image: www.interntheory.com

Intern Theory provides you access to a variety of student-credit opportunities (paid/unpaid internships, volunteering at NGOs, virtual jobs etc.) that will ensure that you will cultivate the right amount of experience and the ethics of hard work, responsibility, discipline and of course the cool notion of ‘being at work’!

Naukri.Com
Link: www.naukri.com

 

Image: www.naukri.com

The word ‘Naukri’ translates to ‘Job’ in English. As of Dec 2016, Naukri.com had a database of about 49.5 million registered job seekers and an average of about 11,000 resumes was added daily while about 130,000 resumes were modified daily during the Fiscal year 2013-14. Those statistics in itself speak about the potential of the website and its capacity to get you an internship!

I hope this article gets you what you want and the company where you want to be. A suggestion would be to keep checking multiple portals for intern openings.

Till then, May the force be with you! 😋

 Featured Pic: veolianorthamerica.com

Live-In Relationships ~ New Kid on the block?

A rush of chilliness ran down my spine when he asked me if I wanted to move in with him. I stood there, dazzled and confused at the same time. Did I hear it right? Or maybe he meant something else? A sense of delight was slowly chipping in but I kept a blank face on, holding my ground, waiting for him to come again. As startled as I was, I didn’t want to give that away. I slowly moved towards him pretending as if I haven’t heard him in the first instance. “Sorry,” I said. “I guess I couldn’t hear you”, gently sliding that strand of hair that was covering my left eye while the right lay glued at him, catching every last bit of reaction I could gather. He, for once hesitated, and then mustering up his voice said again, “Do you wanna Move in with me?”. And there I could see him turning pale as if he had seen a ghost. While I, on the other hand, was trying to control my laughter on looking at his face which was showing signs of uncertainty and fear. I leaned towards him wrapping my hands around his shoulders, staring him in the eye and said, “I thought you would never ask.” and that was our moment, A moment to cherish. While the sun was setting down, giving way to the moon, the sea met the horizon, crimson redness scattering all around as if it’s giving an approval for us to be together.

But it was a day later when reality struck. LIVE-IN was supposedly a huge deal for people around. I couldn’t understand why. I mean, It’s me who is the one who will be impacted and it’s everyone else around who are feeling the heat. Why so? Well maybe because it’s their job to judge! But then I don’t know what makes them judge it anyway. Two grown-up individuals who like each other decide to live together under one roof. Where in this world does that sound Corrupted? And yet, It’s frowned upon. It’s easy to judge others but then judging someone on the basis of a preconceived bias which is all but positive might be termed as a jerk move. (Oh Damn. Are the moral police reading this? :3)

Pic Courtesy: https://youtu.be/O6233wzermI

Let’s get into some statistics while we are talking about this to make it a solid research supported account about the new kid on the block, and most importantly, one who is here to stay, Live-in Relationship! The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development reports that more than half (54 percent) of all first marriages between 1990 and 1994 began with unmarried cohabitation. This said I guess more than half of the people can’t be that wrong. Eh?

BUT BUT BUT, There always has to be a but. Isn’t it? 😂

Live-In comes with its own share of problems and downfalls. Let’s me try to lay that down too :

• Living together is considered to be more stressful than being married.
• Just over 50% of couples who have lived-in ever get married.
• Couples who lived together before marriage tend to divorce early in their marriage.
• Compared to married individuals, those cohabiting have higher levels of depression and substance abuse.

Should that stop us from getting into one? Naah. We are the Millennials. We love to live dangerously. But then again completely ignoring the fact and the noticed patterns would be a foolish move. It’s always the decision of the couple. What can be done is put in the rationality of thoughts about your motivation for living together.
Is it just out of convenience?
Is it to spend more time together?
Are you uncertain about the relationship and want to make a more informed decision?
Or, is it just a prelude to marriage?
What’s need to be Kept in mind is that couples who live together seem to have the most successful outcomes when they have already made a clear commitment to each other.
Let me try to draw a line to this now for two reasons.
One, He is getting bored and I can’t see him wait on me while I am glued to my screen.
Two, The first reason is important enough. 😉

Last but not the least guys. Whether you choose to live under the same roof or miles apart. Distance is never a problem when you love someone. It’s always about priorities and if you could make the person of your life your priority. Then trust me, all these statistics and research would be of no use at all.
BECAUSE LOVE IS WHAT LOVE WANTS!  😋

Featured Image: http://www.youthincmag.com/live-relationship-pros-cons

10 Of The Most Ridiculous Bans In India Over The Years

India has always been extremely rich and proud when it comes to culture and tradition. This is the reason why our government leaves no stone unturned to preserve the same. From a ban on AIB roast video to a ban on beef in Maharashtra, India has recently been famous for its weird bans.

Here is a list of 10 ridiculous bans that did not fail to surprise us over the years:

1. The ban on cuss words in movies:

CBFC’s beep game is so strong that using beep instead of the actual cuss word has become a funny trend for the current generation. It turned even funnier when words like Bombay, patana (Hindi movies) and screw (English movies) appeared on the ban list of CBFC.

Image source: Pixabay.com 1 & 2

2. Advertising alcohol:

The alcohol companies had the perfect countermeasure to this ban though. It’s called surrogate advertising where the companies use different products to keep their name fresh in the minds of people. #MenWillBeMen

Image source: Pixabay.com

3. Porn:

How can anybody forget the horror of waking up to hundreds of porn websites banned in India?! I guess ye apne culture ki hai aadat.

Image source: Google images

4. Beef:

When we had been turned into Gandhi Ji’s monkeys with censorship on what we see and hear, the government made sure that we had our palms to our mouth as well. Not even Kajol was spared when she happened to post a picture of a beef dish.

Image source: Pixabay.com

5. Maggi:

Not even Maggi was left alone as the alarming level of lead found in it was a health hazard. But surprisingly they joined the market within a few months proving their innocence. They made a solid come back with ads which talked about every mother’s trust in the company.

Image source: Google images

6. Homosexuality:

No wonder the word “screw” is banned by CBFC as well. The cherry on top was the verdict which binds us with clauses on whom to love now.

Image source: Pixabay.com

7. The ban on hookah bars:

Delhiites were in for a surprise when even hookah bars were banned after the shutting down of 43 McDonald’s outlets in the city. Turns out that the government is really worried about Delhi’s lungs as well and not just what goes in its belly.

Image source: Pixabay.com

8. Mannequins displaying lingerie:

This unusual ban was implemented to stop “impure thoughts” from entering the minds of men who might commit rape! It exposes too much (fake) skin as well. That definitely can’t be good for a country which is home to Khajuraho temple.

9. Fifty Shades of Grey:

It was not the first movie to be banned in India. The CBFC found it too vulgar even after deleting the scenes which seemingly made it vulgar. And hence, they banned the movie completely.

PS: The books are easily available online and offline as well.

Image source: Pinterest

10. Flying drones:

It’s no kids play after all! Flying drones without any prior permission is a security measure. But the funny part is the sale of drones without any warning by the manufacturer or seller that it’s illegal in India.

Image source: Pixabay.com

Bans are all good and fine as long as they just preserve the culture and not confine its people in the process. It’s a democracy after all, of the people, by the people and for the people. Jai Hind!

Feature image source: Pixabay.com

Keep your mom off Facebook

Those were the days, the late 2000s. “Orkut” was shown the door by bubblegum Indian teens. The Facebook tornado had now engulfed them. The azure blue of Facebook was penetrating cyber cafes outside the schools and opera minis on good old Nokia devices faster than Eminem could rap “don’t tag me in stupid motivational quotes, you moron.”

Initially, the fad stayed limited to wannabe-celebrity teenagers pretending they had a life. The dopamine boost that they got when the most popular girl in the class accepted their “friend request” kept them hooked on to the platform. The most popular girl in return could brag about how many friendship requests she’d kept pending the next day in school. Gradually, the number of likes on Display Pictures and the number of shares your statuses had become the parameter by which the teenagers could measure their self-worth.

I was one such puppy-eyed teenager who joined Facebook, trying not to miss out on the latest fad, lest my friends think I am not cool. Hiding behind the display picture of Justin Bieber, I pretended to be someone whom I could never be in real life. The number of friend requests I sent to girls hiding behind Selena Gomez was humongous. The ones that did get accepted were by wannabe-Selena Gomez teenage guys. It was frustrating, creepy and disgusting, all at the same time, given that I always knew I was straight.

Like everyone I knew, I passed school and joined Engineering. I had followed the second fad after Facebook, and both of them would cause a ruckus in my life later on. Lesson learned, never follow fads.

But the bottom line was, I had grown up a little and my tastes had changed. I had grown especially wary of profiles hiding behind Selena Gomez. I had even stopped accepting requests from profiles with “Angel”, “Princess”, “Cool Dude” and “Superstar” prefixed to their names. I no longer spoke to people who were “not working, still studyyyyyyyying”.  Instead, I had now become a “Bhakt”, rooting for Narendra Modi for the general elections. I am not sure if it was any better or worse.

One thing still hadn’t changed though. I could still enjoy absolute freedom on Facebook. My friends could still tag me in Mia Khalifa pictures and I could comment “jaw-dropping!” on them, my newfound girlfriend could post “I miss you” on my “timeline” and I could reply with “I love you, honey”, I could post “inappropriate” jokes when Facebook asked me what was on my mind, I could tear apart a Congress supporter with a barrage of abuses and for sure, I could share “sanskaari” pictures from my new-year party.

Little did I know that Narendra Modi had become the Prime Minister and we were amidst a Digital India now. One such fateful morning, I woke up almost still asleep. I follow a strict routine when it comes to my early morning rituals. I religiously log in to Facebook and don’t stop until I have scrolled down until the core of the very earth. I had received a new Friend Request. It was from my Mom. I was taken aback. My mom who couldn’t handle the TV remote on her own had opened the Google Play Store, downloaded the Facebook messenger app, created a new account, looked me up and sent me a friend request. I was more likely to spot the great Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar himself under my bed than this happening.

I gave her a call, she picked up. I was about to utter something but was graciously interrupted.

“What kind of hairs do you have on Facebook? We never got you a hair-cut like that!”

My mind traversed back to my boyhood days and shuddered at the hair-cut my mom had once got me in a beauty parlor when I was 8. I reminded her how I had missed school for 7 days post that day. But she had none of it. She commanded me to change my Display Picture before our neighbor Gupta Ji, who also happens to be on Facebook got me busted for my crime.

I agreed and changed my Display Picture to Lord Krishna. Everything changed once that happened.

“I miss you” on my timeline by my lady love was now met with “Who are you?”. Mia Khalifa pictures were instantly removed and the taggers were mercilessly blocked. The Congress supporters had now found a new voice on my timeline. My new year party pictures were now replaced with photos of me participating in the temple Aartis.  I stopped discussing my semester results on Facebook altogether. Those mentioning it were duly unfriended, both on social media and real life. The worst happened when I came to know I couldn’t block the “Last Seen” feature. No more late night Facebook sessions trying to stalk random people.

Honestly, nothing changed for me, I was still pretending to be someone I was not on Facebook. But for people who knew me, things escalated pretty quickly after that. My girlfriend started believing I was ashamed to call her my girl. My friends started believing I was preparing for UPSC even though I am oblivious to whatever the dreadful acronym stands for. Congress supporters on my friend list thought I had taken to the right way of life.

So friends, if your freedom on Facebook means more to you than Rahul Gandhi means to the Congress party, block your mom on Facebook. You never know when you might face the wrath of Digital India.

—

(The above is a work of fiction)

Guest blogger: Parimal Paritosh

 

Mythology and Alien Existence

Do aliens really exist? This is that one question that has been the matter of debate and controversy for centuries. From Roswell to Suffolk’s Rendlesham Forest, there have been sightings which the so-called UFO hunters have quantified as a proof of extra-terrestrial life.

A survey conducted in 24 countries has come up with findings that suggest that nearly half of the humans believe in alien life and want to make contact. This helps to explain the lasting popularity of the “Star Wars” franchise 40 years after the first movie was screened. Avengers or Avatar for that matter is possibly the highest grossing movies of all times which again leads us to accept the fact that we somehow believe that we are not alone.

Darwin’s theories tell us about the shape alien life will take. A new study from scientists at the University of Oxford found out that All aliens must evolve and that gives us something to look for.  But then there is another question that perplexes me. Does our Mythology (which we tend to believe in more than the living humans around us)  suggest the existence of Extraterrestrial life? Let’s explore!

Bible

With about 31% population of the world following Christianity, Bible is one of the most sought-after mythologies which has many references to other-worldly beings and flying saucers. In One passage from the books of Infancy and Protevangelion, which is taken from The Lost Books of the Bible describes the same experience many abductees face in our times, where everything stopped and all surrounding people being “switched off.” But then there are another set of people who have a different interpretation of the same and find no reason to accept that the Bible depicts the existence of Alien life.

For More :
http://www.aliens-everything-you-want-to-know.com/AliensinTheBible.html
http://listverse.com/2017/07/26/10-bible-accounts-that-could-be-interpreted-as-ufos-or-aliens/

Quran:

Qur’an Chapter 40 Verse 57
The creation of the heavens and the earth is definitely a greater thing
than a creation of mankind, however, most of mankind know not.

Quran has a similar take on the Alien matter. It gives us a description of multitudes of other earth where God’s commandments are coming one after another as these other earth mature at different times. The word seven is used in following verses in the Quran to denote a very large number more like infinite.

Quran Chapter 65 verse 12
God it is who has created seven heavens, and similar number of earth, The commandments come down among them slowly, that you may know that God is Able to do all things And that God surrounds all things in knowledge

The idea that there is life elsewhere in the universe  was derived from the Prophet Mohammad when he told the Muslims, “When you sit down in the prayer for the Attahiyat and say: “Peace be upon us, and the righteous servants of Allah” you actually send peace on all the righteous people living on the Earth and in the heavens.” which clearly implies that all type of people, good and bad live in the other worlds as they live on our Earth.

For More: http://www.endphysics.com/aliens_in_the_quran.html

Mahabharata / Ramayana / Veda:

Gods in Hindu mythology wore animal masks to conceal their identities with chariots of fire representing UFOs of one kind or another , Gods mating with human women to create the human race in their image , Blue star gods ( The blue blood or royal bloodlines descended directly from the gods) and the mythical battles of Heaven and Earth , From the existence of the likes Of Brahma , Vishnu and Mahesh to Ram & Krishna to Ravana & Kans, all give us references regarding the existence of Ancient Aliens (Living Beings from A different Planet or Realm).

Excerpts :

“All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Sri Krishna is the original Personality of Godhead. All of them appear on planets whenever there is a disturbance created by the atheists. The Lord incarnates to protect the theists.” ( Srimad Bhagavatam 1:3:28)

and,

“Krishna, who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.” (Brahma Samhita, 5:1)

For More :
Mahabharata: http://www.crystalinks.com/Mahabharata.html
Ramayana: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread636402/pg1
Veda: https://hiddenremote.com/2017/07/22/ancient-aliens-voices-gods/

With references like such, it is always beyond the human mind to believe or not to which leaves me with another Question. Do they still Exist? Only time will tell.  Till then let’s go back to Netflix & chill with Star Wars. 😋

Brownie Articles :
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/4017563/aliens-conspiracy-theories-evidence-sightings-nasa/
https://futurism.com/theories-intelligent-life-fermi-paradox/

 

The Valley of Problems

“Silicon Valley has a culture problem. The list of allegations of sexual harassment, assault, and discrimination against women in the tech industry seems to grow daily”, writes the New York Magazine. This culture has always been apparent in this part of the States. A female developer Adria Richards got fired in 2013 when she confronted 2 men for making lewd comments at a computer programming conference, PyCon, by tweeting about it with their photos.  In 2015, Tinder faced a lawsuit from one of its own co-founders, Whitney Wolfe, alleging “atrocious sexual harassment and sex discrimination” before she left the company in April. She had accused senior executives at the mobile dating startup of conforming to ‘misogynist, alpha-male stereotype’. But as 2017 progressed,  with Google rejecting a man based on his past records of abuse and tech moguls coming out and apologizing for their awful deeds, there seems to be a change in the culture.

Here’s a list of 10 scandals from 2017 that kept Silicon Valley’s sexist culture fresh in our minds:

1. Susan Fowler, a former Uber engineer, says Uber was investigating her and blaming her for all the deleted accounts of users whose trust has been lost in the taxi service. This happened following her blog post in which she wrote about all the sexual harassment she went through in the company. The startup’s co-founder and CEO, Travis Kalanick, resigned from the post in June owing to the same.

Image source: Pinterest

2. As the Googler behind the Android smartphone software, Rubin had achieved a rock-star status in the Valley. But soon enough, stories in The Information emerged that he had been subjected to an internal Google investigation in 2014 after a female employee complained about “an inappropriate relationship while he was at Google.”
   
3. A constant member of Forbes’ “Midas List” of Tech’s Top Investors and once named “Venture Capitalist of the Year” by Deloitte, Jurvetson had to leave his post at Draper Fisher Jurvetson after the company caught him lying about “serious allegations” of inappropriate behavior with women he worked with, according to Recode.

Image source: Pinterest

4. After virtual reality startup, UploadVR was sued for sexual harassment in May, a male startup CEO publicly commented that lawsuits like this make him “VERY afraid to hire more [women]. It just seems like such a huge risk as CEO.” His comments went viral and he later retracted, apologized and deleted them. 
5. Anita Sarkeesian, a critic who was viciously targeted by trolls after speaking out about sexist tropes in video games says, “It’s frustrating to be known as the woman who survived #Gamergate”. After more than half a decade of continued backlash, she is still fighting to change the industry and is writing a book celebrating women overlooked by history.

Image source: Pinterest

6. Tech workers often sign non-disclosure agreements promising not to reveal trade secrets, but in addition to those standard NDAs, some lawyers say that Bay Area companies are using non-disparagement non-disclosure clauses to stop the employees who experience harassment at their workplace from speaking out. 
7.  In June 2017, programmer Coraline Ada Ehmke was fired from her job at GitHub. She knew she was going to want to publicly speak about her time at the company when she was sexually harassed, so she turned down the company’s severance package which would have bound her with a non-disparagement non-disclosure agreement. She got another job and later on wrote a tell-all of her year at GitHub. For doing the same, she had to take an extra step and get an OK from her current company. 
8. Female employees at Telsa arranged a company town hall meeting in March 2017 to retell instances of sexual harassment and mistreatment from male managers, an event the company says has already led to leadership and policy changes at the electric car maker. But surprisingly Tesla CEO Elon Musk did not attend the meeting which concerns the reputation of the company.

Image source: Pinterest

9. The founder of the powerful Silicon Valley incubator 500 Startups, Dave McClure, officially resigned from the company he created the following day after a female entrepreneur accused him of unwanted sexual advances. He apologized on Medium, admitting that he was a “creep”. 
10. Google rejected a guy with a history of harassing Jessie Frazelle, a well-known developer, at their previous workplace Docker. The issue had gone viral but Docker CEO at that time Ben Golub declared, “She did not at any time claim harassment from people inside Docker. We parted ways on good terms.”

Image Source: Twitter

Even though we would like to hope that the Valley is progressing, when Dave McClure and VC Chris Sacca came out and apologized after being publicly accused of sexual harassment, many praised them for confessing and didn’t condemn the actions that caused them to confess. Hope is all we can do.

Feature image source: Unsplash.com

 

Lesser known Harvest Festivals of India

India is a land of festivities and various different festivals are celebrated. Being the colorful nation that India is, the most vibrant harvest festivals of India involve interesting mythological legends and joyous celebrations. They are incredible and diverse just like its people and landscapes and let’s one experience the beauty of the Indian culture.

Some of the lesser knowns of these harvest festivals are :

Jallikattu also known as eru thazhuvuthal and manju virattu, is one of those traditional spectacles(started from about 100 BC) in which a Pulikulam or Kangayam bull is released into a crowd of people, and multiple human participants attempt to grab the large hump on the bull’s back with both arms and hang on to it while the bull attempts to escape. Participants are supposed to hold onto the hump for as long as possible, in an attempt to bring the bull to a stop. In some cases, participants must ride long enough to remove flags on the bull’s horns.

Image Source: youthkiawaaz.com

 

Pulikkali originated from the state of Kerala as a recreational folk art. It is performed by trained artists to entertain people on the occasion of Onam, an annual harvest festival. The fourth day of Onam witnesses (Nalaam Onam) where performers painted like tigers and hunters in bright yellow, red, and black dance to the beats of instruments like Udukku and Thakil. The literal meaning of Pulikkali is the ‘play of the Tigers’ hence the performance revolves around the theme of tiger hunting. The origin of Pulikkali dates back to over 200 years when  Maharaja Thampuran od Cochin is said to have introduced the folk art, who wanted to celebrate Onam with a dance that reflected the wild and macho spirit of the force.

Image Source:  http://www.arnabmaity.com/2013/01/experiencing-onam-at-thrissur-keralas-cultural-capital-all-about-grand-meals-and-giant-tummies.html

 

Madai festival is one festival originating from Chhattisgarh. The festival reflects the rich culture and tradition of the state, celebrated by the Gond Tribe from the month of December to March and tours from one place of the state to another.  The local tribes of the state along with other communities worship the presiding deity during the festival. The tribal people of Chhattisgarh launch a procession in the beginning on an open field where a large number of devotees and general tourists gather to witness the rituals, followed by the Puja ceremony where the priest or similar figure starts worshiping the goddess. When the worshiping finishes, several cultural events like folk dance, drama, songs etc. start taking place in the open space.

Image Source: https://htoindia.com/blog/madai-festival-tribal-event-full-fun-joy/

 

Mim Kut Festival is a post-harvest festival celebrated in Nagaland and also in parts of Mizoram by the Kuki Nagas. It is one of the many popular festivals of Nagaland. It expresses exhilaration and triumphant over the harvest of Mim (Maize), which is the last harvest crop for the season. The Kuki people hold strong belief that the souls of their deceased ancestors rise from their graves and visit their family homes. The people offer tribute to the dead souls in form of wine that is naturally prepped from rice at every home. These dead souls are also worshiped by the villagers. The Mim Kut festival like most festivals of Nagas includes tradition singing, dancing, playing musical instruments and proud display of culture.

Image Source: netourism.shillong.com

 

Vautha Fair originating from Gujarat is one where tens of thousands of donkeys, as well as hundreds of camels, adorned in an array of colors and bright embellishments, are brought where they are traded on the fairgrounds at the Sangam tirtha. For some, this place is as divine as the Sangam in Allahabad, while many communities consider this fair even more important than Diwali. This is the meeting place of seven holy rivers: the Vatrak merges with the Meshwo, Hathmati, Shedhi, Majum, and Khari before it then meets the Sabarmati, so the locals call it Saptasangam (i.e. the meeting of seven).

Image Source: dainikbhaskar.com

 

These were a few. If the same tingles your inquisitive self then follow the link for more https://traveltriangle.com/blog/harvest-festivals-of-india/.

Image Source Of Featured Pic: fantasticpixcool

 

10 College Dating Lessons For Generation Z

College is one place you have them all. From the eccentric weirdos to the miss goodie two shoes, the headbanging rock stars to the sadistic emos, the chirpy cheerleaders to the high waisted nerds, the bhangra boys to the girl next door. You name it, this place owns it! In the sea of these many people, you might just meet that one special someone who is the missing piece of your life’s jigsaw puzzle. Unless, of course, you are the forever alone kind, then only fanatic religious rituals can save you. When you finally meet someone who is your type do not forget to:

1. Let them know! (for starters)

Never ever wait for some miracle which will make your crush realise that somebody likes them. A lot of time is the only thing you don’t have in college. Just go for it!

Image source: Newyorksmash.com

2. Don’t fret

This is for the worried souls. Don’t fret. If everything goes well, PARTYY!! And if it doesn’t then PARTYY!! as well because a wise man once said, “Aal iz well!”

Image source: WordPress

3. Talk to your friends about it

Sure. Talking to friends is a necessity. It clears our mind and most of the time leaves us with good ideas. But don’t forget what you think and want. Ultimately it’s you who is going to be in that relationship. Go ahead, steer the wheel for your own self. Own up to it.

Image source: Buzzfeed

4. Take it slow

Don’t rush in. It’s true that we live in a time deficit world but take your time. Go at a pace which suits you. Think it through.

Image source: Giphy.com

5. Make ground rules

Respect yourself so that they can respect you. Even though we hate rules, ground rules are a must to assert what we want and need. If you find something problematic/hurtful convey it to your partner. The baggage of hurt is too heavy and worthless to carry.

Image source: Giphy.com

6. Look for common interests

Common interests always give a reason to bond. Be it games, books, movies, chai/coffee, food, anything, find it and exploit its potential to bring the 2 of you closer.

Image source: Giphy.com

7. Expect less

Getting some extra fries at McD doesn’t hurt but Suicide Squad’s performance definitely did hurt. Great expectations hurt. Expect less and enjoy the extra fries.

Image source: Tenor.com

8. Talk to them. Like really talk

When you think that you are close enough, don’t hesitate to bare your secret self in front of them. It will bring you even more close.

Image source: Pinterest

9. Space

Live and let live! Don’t choke the life out of each other. The trick is to spend quality time together. I mean…hey! It’s College! Have fun! Don’t become the creepy stalker auntyji from next door.

Image source: Tenor.com

10. Honesty

Set your priorities and be honest with the person who is important to you. It doesn’t require much from you, just the truth. Period.

Image source: Buzzfeed

Don’t be the stereotypical “gf-bf”. Be more. Life is too short to be mundane. Kya pata kal ho na ho…

Feature image source: Pexels

8 Conspiracy Theories That Will Make You Look Differently At The World

The world is a strange place and there are a lot of unanswered questions that make you wonder the truth. Which is how conspiracy theories come into existence, in order to discover the actual truth that is hidden from the ‘truth’ that is being presented to the masses. Like, did Titanic really went down or not? Below are eight conspiracy theories that are super interesting and many of these people actually believe to be true.

1. Titanic Never Went Down!

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Well, a ship definitely went down but, it wasn’t the Titanic. As per the theory, it was the Olympic. The shipbuilding company White Star has been accused of committing insurance fraud by fixing up the Olympic, an identical ship, and claiming it to be the Titanic. Also, there were a large number of last-minute cancellations for the Olympic by many rich peeps. Maybe, because they were aware of the switch?

2. Airlines want you to die

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Yup! You read that right. In case, you find yourself amidst of a plane crash and make out alive. Chances are you are probably going to sue the airline and likely to win big. To make sure you die during such an event, the brace position airlines tell you to get in will end in death because if you are in that position during the collision, your head will bang into the seat in front of you and snap your neck. Many passengers have also claimed to see flight attendants taking on a different position.

3. Princess Diana SAS ‘assassination plot’

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Princess Diana’s sudden death shook the entire world and even after two decades since that fatal car crash, one theory about her death is still doing rounds. According to it, the SAS was involved in Diana’s death and an ex- SAS soldier has said to have told his wife that a special forces hit squad flashed a light to blind Diana’s driver and caused her death crash. It is a technique developed to ­combat terrorists and the said soldier had gone missing days before he was due to be quizzed by the police.

4. Harry Potter wasn’t written by J.K. Rowling

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In 2005, a Norwegian film director Nina Grünfeld made the claim that Rowling was actually a ghostwriter. She was well- paid to play up her rags to riches story to build interest in Harry Potter. Ghostwriting is not a new concept in the world of writing and while this could very well be true.

5. The Flintstones is set in Future

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Kids favourite cartoon show  ‘The Flintstones’ was apparently set in a post-apocalyptic future, where the remaining people recreate society. If you’ve watched the show, you know they have their very own variant of many present-day devices, such as a bird as a record player. They also celebrate Christmas. But how could they probably know of all of these cool devices to the point of recreating stuff?  Well, our entire childhood was a lie.

6. Crisis Actors Do Exist

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These actors are people who are paid and planted at horrific events like shootings, terrorist attacks, etc by the government in order to keep a check about what gets reported to the public and act as if they were there or are survivors.

7. Taylor Swift is a Satanist

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The reigning queen of music industry aka Taylor Swift, who was born in 1989, looks a lot like Zeena LaVey, who was born in 1953 and she was actually a Satanist. They look awfully similar in the picture and many people are convinced they’re clones but others just think they’re related. Maybe Zeena is Taylor’s actual mom? Who knows?

8. The Whole World was created last Thursday

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This mind-blowing theory is really very interesting and quite hard to understand. According to it, the whole universe was built just last Thursday, with the impression of being billions of years old. Everything that has happened in time actually happened between last Thursday and today, from major events in history to every single thing that’s ever happened to you.

Peeps, these are all ‘theories’, so have fun reading and searching for them. None of them are true facts.

Featured Image- Source

Presenting our very own Twitter Champion, KRK!

Sure Donald Trump’s tweets are hilarious and knowing that he’s the President of the United States, talking like a 12 years old on Twitter makes it even more funny. But, amidst this air of Trump tweets, let’s not forget what our country has to offer us, (#NotAnAntiNational) our very own Kamaal R Khan, self-christened as KRK. Sure Trump tweets about missile buttons like it is a toy but KRK is in an altogether different league. We bring to you, 10 of him most AMAZINGLY tweets that will make you say, “Why did I read that?”

 

1. You haven’t or is it the other way round?

2. Girls stop hitting on the most eligible bachelor of our country

3. This is the opposite of a blackmail man.

4. Itni confidence kahan se laatay ho bhai?

5. What about your mom? You don’t call your mom? Tsk tsk tsk

6. *cough* Desh Drohi *cough?*

7. Oh yes! I’m still in the race!

8. She can give herself a gift and block you.

9. Just who are these girls? Where are they?

10. Whoever is doing the black magic can you guys please do a better job?