Dance - A Classical Glance! - Aish

BHARATANATYAM - An Indian Classical dance!

What is Bharatanatyam

Bharatanatyam is the divine dance considered as the religious ceremony most pleasing to the God and dedication of all activity to the Divine was the highest form of worship.

Bharata + Natyam = The dramatical representation with facial expressions (Abhinaya), Gestures (Hastas) Music and Rhythmic Syllables. It is an artistic Yoga, for revealing the spiritual through the corporeal.

The tradition states that Bharata is construed of "bha"–"ra"–"ta". The bha stands for bhava (feelings, emotions), ra stands for raga (musical mode), and ta stands for tala (rhythm). Natyam is derived from the Sanskrit word Nata - dancers; the action or movement.

Thus, Bharatanatyam connotes a dance which harmoniously expresses "Bhava, Raga and Tala". It is the dance technique of Tamil Nadu, a place in the South of India.

Origin of Bharatanatyam

Natya Shastra was composed by Bharata Muni in the 2nd century B.C.  The Natya Shastra is a compendium on all apsects of  Indian drama and covers allied arts like music, instruments, stage craft, costume, make up, sculpture, painting - all inter related and integral parts of drama. The text in Sanskrit contains about 6000 verses and is spread over 36 chapters.

Natya Shastra is often refered to as the fifth veda - Bharata is said to have taken Words from Rigveda, Music from  Samaveda, Gestures from Yajurveda and Bhava/Rasa from Atharvaveda.

Natya Shastra is the foundation of all the Indian classical dance forms, but just like the water that flows from the top of a mountain and branches out into different rivers; similarly, Indian Classical Dance is divided into 8 dance forms according to language, geography and costumes. They are:

• Bharatanatyam in Tamil Nadu
• Mohiniyattam in Kerala
• Kathakali  in Kerala
• Kuchipudi in Andhra Pradesh
• Odissi in Orissa
• Kathak in North India
• Manipuri in Manipur
• Sattriya in Assam

Evolution of Bharatanatyam

Bharatanatyam today springs from Sadir Natyam, also known by names like Dasi Attam, Chinna Melam, or simply, Sadir. The term Sadir began with the Maratha rulers of South India in the 17th century, who called the dance Sadir Nautch. This corresponds to the presentation of the dance in the courts. A more exalted role of the dance is evoked by the name Dasi Attam, the dance of the devadasis as a part of temple worship. A devadasi, whose name means Servant (Dasi) of Divinity (Deva), was an artist dedicated to the services of a temple. The dance of the devadasi was integral to the ritual worship. Devadasi families specialized in the arts of music and dance, and with the Nattuvanars (dance masters), they maintained these traditions from generation to generation, supported by royal patronage.

Revival of Bharatanatyam

For many centuries Bharata Natyam has been performed only by certain families in the district of Tanjore, these inheritors of the craft being known as 'Nattuvans'. The chief exponents of this dance were the Devadasis or temple dancers.

The modern form of Bharata Natyam presentation is the arrangement of four Nattuvans of Pandanallur. They were the brothers- Ponniah, Chinniah, Vadivelu and Sivanandam, who lived in the eighteenth century. The Vidwan, Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai of Pandanallur, the greatest teacher of Bharata Natyam is a direct descendant of the four brothers.

It was Rukmini Devi Arundale, the celebrated dancer and scholar who took this Dance form out of the temple and gave it a  new respectability. She started a school at Tiruvanmayur, Madras (now Chennai) named Kalakshetra. The age-old, 'Gurukulam' system of education is still followed and many classes are conducted in sylvan surroundings.

The Purpose of Bharatanatyam

According to the Notable Bharatanatyam dancer, T. Balasaraswati -

▪ Bharata Natyam is an art which consecrates the body.
▪ The dancer, who dissolves her identity in rhythm and music, makes her body an instrument, at least for the duration of the dance, for the experience and expression of the spirit.

Distinctive Aspects of Bharatanatyam

The cache of Bharatanatyam, like all major classical Indian dance forms, follows the three categories of performance in the Natya Shastra which are Nritta (Nirutham), Nritya (Niruthiyam) and Natya (Natyam).

Nritta

Nritta is an abstract form of pure movement in dance. It is the illustration of rhythm through graceful movements without expression of a theme or emotion. It emphasizes the beauty in motion, form, speed, range and pattern. Nritta consists of only rhythmic and graceful movements, or abstract dance, and has no poetic meaning to illustrate.

Nrithya

The Nritya is the interpretive dance used with facial expressions (Abhinaya), hand gestures and body movements to portray emotions and express themes. It is the expressive aspect of the dance that attempts to communicate feelings, storyline particularly with spiritual themes in dance traditions. It articulates the emotions and includes the expression of words through gestures and movement according to the musical notes.

Natyam

The Natyam is a dramatical representation or drama with speech, music and dancing. It implies a stage performance, including spoken dialogue and mime, to convey meaning and enact narrative. It is typically a team performance, but can be acted out by a solo performer where the dancer uses certain standardized body movements to indicate a new character in the underlying story. A Natya incorporates the elements of a Nritya.

Both Nritta and Nritya are achieved by a combination of movements and positions involving the feet, limbs, and body, along with hand gestures and facial expressions. Natya is achieved through portrayal of characters and themes, which are also described in scriptures. These elements are well defined, and constitute a vocabulary that characterizes Bharatanatyam.

Scriptures like the Natya Shastra by Bharati Muni and Abhinaya Darpana by Nandikeshwara classify the elements of dance in great detail and in large arrays. Let us have a deeper look about the structures and features of this remarkable dance in the upcoming articles.

Bharatanatyam has rich language and is vast as air.  In this modern generation, learners do grasp the Rhythmic syllables and perform the Natya with Abhinaya as instructed by their Gurus, but understanding the theoretical aspect of Bharatanatyam is predominant. 

Indeed it was fortunate for me to be blessed with wonderful Gurus, trained in the Tanjore style, completed Arangetram (On-stage performance by a dancer on the completion of formal training) and then tutoring the art form to the aspiring learners of the art.

Bharatanatyam is a flow of rich culture and values the traditions. Interest and deep trust in oneself will enable this flow of art to creativity and enhance the feel and satisfaction of inculcating eternal bliss.

ROCKET SCIENCE (A Mirrored Acrostic Poem)- Pri

Very good explanations, Aish. Thanks for sharing! In-depth knowledge is truly valuable.😊

ROCKET SCIENCE.  

Relativity mechanics; sheeR    
Orbital motion study that woO,    
Control theory of elements- mystiC    
Known as "brain surgery"; a complex peaK   
Engineering aerospacE  
Technical ability makes the treaT.

Spaceflight designS  
Computation of deformations; a chiC.     
Ironically describes the endeavor, simple and minI,   
Essential physics concerned with gravity and forcE,  
Natural astronomical bodies of the blue screeN,  
Craft of robotic space missions, magnetiC.  
Earth awaits the return of man-made art, in silencE!  



FORM: Mirrored Acrostic.

A Mirrored Acrostic Poetry is where the first and last letters of each line spells a word, usually using the same words as in the title.

English View in Interview - Aish

English Language is vast with stories, essays, poems etc. Each of these depict various structures and patterns, one such is the short structured poem with varied concepts. That was a good one Pri! Here, let's take a brief look at how this beautiful language is construed with basics not just for a beginner.

Touch of Language! 

Resuming my Classical dance and performing at events, I gradually relaxed myself from the daily hassles of travelling to work with my then year old daughter. It was my sister in law who working in a reputed school as a class Teacher, urged me to attend the ongoing interviews in her school seeking a qualified teacher with added skills. My passion for learning languages and the love for English started from my schooling with a Convent tag and while in school, later pursuing in College my touch for this wonderful language grew more by sharing and teaching the pupils in the institutes too.

Many do agree that one of the best professions after motherhood, for a woman would be a teacher, since it's with early-return-home timings, couple of holidays, relatively stress free. But advantages do have the 'dis' prefix in whichever profession we are into. Entering into a 'reputed' school is - dance according to the tune played, i.e to sustain the reputation by providing the best results, schools intend in pressurizing the teachers too along with the students, while entering into an 'upcoming' school is dance without any music too, i.e to attain the reputation they do the same but with more efforts.

With 'let's give it a try' belief, I started off to the school. Was taken aback to see plenty of applicants already waiting and still couple of them flowing in, most of them with some notes memorizing and discussing stuffs. Have I entered an examination center with bunch of students preparing?

"The session started, just a demo to be presented" said a lady with 4 years of teaching experience standing beside me.

"I gave a demo on a Hindi poem "Patshala (School)". Seeing them smiling, I hope they were impressed", added up the Hindi teacher of a school after stepping out of the session.

"It can be any language or topic of our choice" replied another applicant quickly and sank in her notes, for questioning the type of demo to be presented. "What exactly are those Notes?", I really wondered.

Seeing people stepping out of the session, some with smiles, some grumpy, waiting outside all others were totally anxious and fretful. That was my turn, only aware that a demo is to be presented on any topic.

Entering the room, I wished the three teachers one being the Vice Principal and the other two were heads of the Primary and High School respectively, sitting in front facing a white board with markers at the bottom of it and at the back of them were lots of computer cubicles.

After a thought, I began my topic "English Tense System". This topic provoked me as most of us know about tenses but application of them in the sentences do matter a lot. Let's dig into tense :

Usage of English Tenses - Present, Past and Future Tense!

Before having a peek at the Tenses, a brief on these words will help us. We will have a look at each of these in detail in our upcoming "Touch of Language - English" posts.

Verb -  A word to express a physical action (e.g to swim, to write), a mental action (e.g to think, to remember), or a state of being (e.g to be, to exist).

Auxiliary Verbs - The helping verbs used in forming the tenses, moods, and voices of other verbs. The primary auxiliary verbs in English are be, do, and have ; the modal auxiliaries are can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, and would.

Past participle - This is used with an auxiliary verb and it indicates past or completed action or time.

Let's look with illustrations the 15 Basic English Tenses :

1. PRESENT - The Present tense indicates an action that is presently going on or actions that are factually or habitually performed, or a state that currently or generally exists.

2. Present Simple tense - This tense is used when an action is happening right now, or when it happens regularly.

(I, You) do / (He, She, It) does / (They, We) do

e.g I play in the park.
      He goes to school everyday.
      We speak English.

3. Present Continuous tense - This is used to express an ongoing action which is in progress at the time of speaking.

I am doing / (He, She, It) is doing / (You,They, We) are doing

e.g I am singing a song.
      It is raining.
      They are coming.

4. Present Perfect tense - This is formed with a present tense form of "to have" plus the past participle of the verb.

(I, You) have done / (He,She,It) has done / (They, We) have done

e.g She has lived in Sydney all her life.
       I have come to the Museum thrice.
       We have watched this movie in the theatre.

5.Present Perfect Continuous tense - This formed with have/has been and the -ing form of the verb

(I,You) have been doing / (He, She, It) has been doing / (They, We) have been doing

e.g It has been raining for hours.
      They have been dining together for every Thanks giving.
       I have been going to my hometown for every vacation.

6.PAST - The Past tense is used to talk about the past, to describe the present or future in conditional statements, to make hypothetical statements (to imagine), or to be polite.

7. Past Simple tense - This is used to talk about a completed action in a time before now which can be in the recent past or the distant past.

(I, You) did / (He, She, It) did / (They, We) did

e.g I came home.
      He ran outside.
      We went to the market.

8. Past Continuous tense - This describes actions or events which began in the past and is still going on at the time of speaking.

I was doing / (He, She, It) was doing / (You,They, We) were doing

 e.g They were doing their homework when I got home.
        The other day, I was waiting for the bus.
        She was working in a Consultancy before.

9. Past Perfect tense - This is used with the verb 'had' and the past participle.

(I, You) had done / (He, She, It) had done / (They, We) had done

e.g She had gone.
      I had finished my work.
      We had lived together.

10. Past Perfect Continuous tense - This is formed with 'had been' and the -ing form of the verb.

(I, You) had been doing / (He, She, It) had been doing / (They, We) had been doing

e.g She had been going.
      I had been finishing my work.
      We had been living together.

11. FUTURE -  This describes the verb that has not happened yet, but expected to happen in the future.

12. Future Simple tense - This indicates that an action is in the future and employs the helping verbs 'will or shall' with the base form of the verb.

(I, You) will do / (He, She, It) will do / (They, We) will do
Will could be written or said as 'll like I'll do.
Negative sentences with will, can, do can be said or written as won't, can't, don't.

e.g He'll go to office tomorrow.
      You will sing in the concert on Wednesday.
      We'll buy the vegetables from the market.

13. Future Continuous tense - This expresses a continued or an ongoing action in future.

(I, You) will be doing / (He, She, It) will be doing / (They, We) will be doing

e.g I will be driving to home in the evening.
      They will be coming to see us next week.

14. Future Perfect tense - It talks about the past in the future.

(I, You) will have done / (He/She/It) will have done / (They/We) will have done

 e.g I'll have finished when you arrive.
       She'll have forgotten everything.
       They'll've had their dinner by then.

15. Future Perfect Continuous tense - This is just like the Future Perfect tense with have been + ing, but it expresses longer actions extending up to some specific event or time in the future.

(I, You) will have been doing / (He, She, It) will have been doing / (They/ We) will have been doing

 e.g I'll have been driving for five hours.
       She'll have been watching TV.

These are the basics of the English language that is used in a day to day basis.
While presenting my demo, I was amazed to see heads popping out from each cubicle. There were around 20 staffs in the room listening to English. The appreciation with applause and immediate appointment after completion, definitely shows the reach of English.  We could say that out of 10 native English speakers only 1 would have gone deep through the language, the rest 9 but would be fluent. It shows the power of speaking, but knowing the basic is always appreciated and the flow of speech would be natural.

Teaching is the one profession that creates all other professions. From an English teacher to a Successful business magnate, Jack Ma is the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, a family of Internet-based businesses . I really admire people no matter what age, who, feel to learn a lot not because of the ignorance to the language but that drive to know deep without minding other's concern.

Teaching emphasizes Learning
Learning embraces Knowledge
Knowledge creates Sharing
Sharing binds Teaching!

Short Structured Poetry (Part 2)- Pri

FLOATING

Floating

in balmy breeze,

brightly adorned balloons

proudly show power of humans;

exotic creations to awe the world!

Attempting to reach paradise,

a tantalizing sight!

Air-filled wonders,  

floating... 

  


Form: Rictameter

Rictameter is a scheme similar to Cinquain. Starting your first line with a two syllable word, you then consecutively increase the number of syllables per line by two. i.e. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 Then down again, 8, 6, 4, 2 Making the final line the same two syllable word you began with.


*********************************************************************************

SPRING

Cheerful,

Youthful

Spring; petal's pride!

Rebirth

Of Earth;

Ecstatic bride!

Form: Brevee.
The Brevee is a tricky little exercise in rhyming. It is a stanza of six lines with syllable counts of 2, 2, 4, 2, 2, 4 and a rhyme scheme of a, a, b, c, c, b.

*********************************************************************************

THE JOURNEY HOME

The journey home,

towards loam-path

I roam, as thoughts

foam memories...   

  

Form: Than Bauk Poem
A Than-Bauk, conventionally a witty saying or epigram, is a four line "climbing rhyme" poem of Burmese origin. Each line has four syllables. The rhyme is on the fourth syllable of the first line, the third syllable of the second line, the second syllable of the third line and the first syllable of the fourth line.

*********************************************************************************

CLOCK

Celestial reminder of time,

Luscious rhythm within,

Obliged guide and helper.

Centered arms that spin;

Keen mechanical bliss!   

Form: Acrostic

*********************************************************************************

The Gorgeous Gilded Cage- Pri

Women are considered to contribute significantly towards the growth of a country’s economy. Not all educated women work in India; some have conservative family restrictions while some are not ambitious at all. For professionally unambitious women, the H4 visa is just the perfect thing! It is a luxurious un-interfered honor that they would undoubtedly love.

What if you are ambitious? Well, then you might have to re-consider about entering the most powerful country, with this chocolate-wrapped-entrapping visa. It is better to wait and enter with a valid working visa rather than getting into the regal-trap, because once you enter, you are sure to literally stop your career growth! These days, women are aware of these tricky issues and they receive great support from their spouses as well. I have seen quite a few empathetic young husbands who take efforts not to waste their spouses’ potentials and talents.

H4 visa is rightly called “The Curse Visa”, “The Depression Visa” and “The Golden Cage Visa”, for both its charming and deluding royal-restrictions. Thousands of Indians come to the USA on the very famous H1B visa; precisely 85,000 highly skilled workers are permitted to enter every year. Their spouses and family-members enter on H4-Visas. These highly eligible US-working-white-collar-professionals often choose to wed the cream of the Indian educated women who are insanely-skilled. I have a few friends who are Engineers, Lawyers and Teachers with more than 10 years of experience from India who are not able to continue their career here. H4 Visa-holders cannot work in USA or generate any income. They are only allowed to study or do some volunteering work (But everyone cannot afford to spend ten thousands of dollars in college degrees!). It is so disheartening to see all of these women just do the household chores and chauffeuring. Thank God at least they are allowed to get their licenses!

There are many other visas like J2, L2, family based, diversity lottery and more… their dependents are allowed to work here with a valid work-permit. The H4 visa holders cannot even get a Social Security Number here, leave alone the work-permit! In short, the H4 visa-holders basically do not have an identity or they are non-existent, making them totally dependent on somebody else like a helpless-kid! They rely on the spouse’s income for all the basic, personal and medical needs. It’s like their hands and legs are tied and they are forced to live like a disabled-person in the so-called golden cage! The basic human right(Freedom) is snatched leaving them emotionally shaken. But, seriously, who needs a “Golden cage”? If allowed to work, we might even get a diamond cage which might radiate for miles spreading opportunities for hundreds. If not, we might be the most satisfied people even with little “Straw-cages”, just because it is our own hard-earned reward! At least there would be the sense-of-worth and pride that you are contributing something to the family and you don’t have to expect every penny from your spouse, every time.

The recent law passed by President Barack Obama in November 2014 has relaxed a little on the rules; now the H4 visa holders who have their Green Card process on, can apply for the work-permit. Yet again, this does not solve the problem for all the H4 visa holders as the Green card process itself might take 10 to 15 years! This means that you might lose your prime-career years in the process of getting your EAD. How enticing!

There are several myths and misconceptions about the NRI, mostly US-residents:

Every day is a Celebration- life is happening!

Not really! In fact, life becomes so monotonous that you crave for some sort of change or thrill. They become active on social media to keep themselves sane, as they rarely talk to real people! The chilly weather makes it even more challenging to socialize regularly. H4-housewives just do the same cooking and cleaning like robots. Only if they decide to pursue their hobbies, they are diverted for good.

NRI mint dollars.

This one cracks me up… Yes, they earn in dollars. But why do people forget that they spend in dollars too? Just because the value of a dollar is more in rupees, their savings seem to be a lot from there! Eventually, all those savings would go to the airlines considering the fact that a two-way ticket (for a family of four) would cost lakhs! On the contrary, if H4-dependents were to work then the whole scenario might change due to the raise in the household income.

They vacation all the time.

Living an un-certain alien life, in a foreign country and not knowing about the future twists and turns in the visa/ work status, we tend to go for vacations trying to cover the major attractions in the initial 6 years (While the H1B is valid). H4 dependents actually enjoy posting pictures of their trips on social media in an attempt to show how happening their lives are.

They have too many friends and they are too busy to remember India.

There are friends, mostly Indians who are either neighbors or colleagues. How many ever parties happen, they truly miss the family gatherings and functions, to the core. This is the main reason for the regional groups and associations that exist here. When going to these places, the H4 dependents dress-up traditionally and take pictures; a moment of escape from the daunting thoughts!   

They will never return home.

This truly depends on individual decisions, some choose to settle here or some plan on returning sooner/ later. They are often circulating in the whirl-wind of responsibilities, aspirations, priorities and the ever-present uncertainty! The H1B workers cannot return instantly, after earning the trust of employers and building their work-empire here! They would certainly want to see what happens to their Green Card, as getting a GC would mean a higher salary and work stability/ security. Though the H4 visa-holders wish to come home for their career-betterment, they are not able to do so because this would mean a break in the relationship. Why would a couple live separately just because a country’s visa-policy is all messed-up?

All that is needed is a change in the Visa-restrictions and policies. Anyone should not be denied the freedom to speak or work. Hailing from a democratic country, it is illogical to live confined in a foreign country. It is not about money at all; it is simply about self-development, esteem and inner-peace that you earn through financial independence. I cannot imagine the amount of precious talents going waste in USA! “Brain-drain” is one thing, but this is an extreme agonizing act of slaughtering-brain. So unfair and inhuman!

Hope things would change in future…If the right to work is exercised, there will be only more development and growth of the country in-turn!

  

Amazing Facts that Tickle! - Aish

Facts are the truth that does prevail in our world, some are creations while others are created. Numerous Incredible facts which are felt childish, are but real facts! Here, let's take a look at the magnificent facts that tickle us with fascination and allurement.

AMAZING FACTS!

▪ The word 'Queue' in the English language remains the same when the last four letters are removed.

▪ In the mouth food is either cooled or warmed to a suitable temperature.

▪ Apples are more efficient than caffeine in keeping a person awake in the morning.

▪ All the Platinum ever mined, would fit into an average sized living room.

▪ The liquid inside young coconut can be used as a substitute for blood plasma.

▪ Vinegar can eliminate odors from a room. Pearls melt in Vinegar.

▪ When you eat too much, your hearing becomes less sharp.

▪ In Iran shaking your head from side to side means 'Yes'.

▪ It is a criminal offense to drive around in a dirty car in Russia.

▪ Nepal is the only country in the world who’s flag isn’t a square or a rectangle.

▪ It's against the law to have a pet dog in Iceland.

▪ Americans on the average eat 18 acres of pizza every day.

▪ The heart of an astronaut actually gets smaller when in outer space.

▪ The one physical act that is recognized everywhere is the shrug of shoulder to mean ' I don't know'.

▪ New Zealand was the first country to allow women to vote.

▪ Like finger prints, everyone's tongue print is different.

▪ During a lifetime, an average human being grows 590 miles of hair.

▪ It's possible to start a fire rapidly rubbing together two cool Ranch Doritos.

▪ No matter how cold it gets, a gasoline will not freeze.

▪ Models often smear Vaseline on their teeth, so that their lips don't stick while smiling.

▪ Married men in France use more cosmetics than their wives.

▪ Wearing yellow makes you look bigger on camera; green smaller.

▪ If you raise your legs slowly and lay on your back you will not sink in to the quicksand.

▪ Stewardesses' is the longest word typed with only the left hand.

▪ On an average men spend about 3500 hours of their life saving.

▪ The average office desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet. An average office worker spends 50 minutes a day looking for lost files.

▪ After spending hours working at a computer display, look at a blank piece of white paper. It will probably appear pink.

▪ A house can generate more pollution than an average sized car does.

▪ Before Leaving home, one third of pet owners turn on radio or TV for their pets' entertainment.

▪ Watching a soap opera for an hour can consume more energy than watching a three hour cricket match.

▪ Your brain is more active sleeping than it is watching TV.

▪ You can usually tell how good the picture of a TV will be by how black the screen is, when the TV is off . the blacker the better.

▪ Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian Pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible.

▪ Wine spoils when exposed to light, so it is sold in tinted bottles.

▪ Honey is a unique energy booster and beauty ingredient and has been used as a medicine for thousands of years.

▪ 90% of women who walk into departmental stores immediately turn to the right.

▪ Most of the people who read the word yawning will yawn. The act of yawning and stretching is called pandiculation.

▪ Men's shirts have the buttons on the right but women's shirts have the buttons on the left.

▪ As bananas ripen, the starch in the fruit turns to sugar, therefore the ripe the banana the sweeter it will taste.

▪ At 40 degrees Fahrenheit a person loses about14.4 calories per hour just breathing.

▪ People who eat popcorn at the movies are more likely to cry than those who don't.

▪ 'Movies' were the people who worked on films.

▪ A walla walla scene is one where extras pretend to be talking in the back ground. When they say 'walls-walla' it looks like they are actually talking.

▪ 'Ough' can be pronounced in eight different ways. The following sentence contains them all. " A rough coated, dough faced ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough, coughing and hiccoughing thought fully.

▪ Because heat expands the metal, the eiffel tower always leans away from the sun.

▪ The hardest material of our human body is the white enamel of our teeth.

▪ Roman statues were made with detachable heads, so that one head could be removed and replaced with another.

▪ In M&M chocolates the letters stand for Mars & Murrie the developers. M&M's were developed so that soldiers could eat candy without getting their fingers sticky.

▪ The colors yellow, red and orange are used in fast food restaurants because those are the colors that stipulate hunger.

▪ The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.

▪ It takes tones of water to make a pound of refined sugar.

▪ The Atlantic Ocean is salter than the Pacific ocean.

▪ The shoreline of the dead sea is the lowest place on earth. If the empire state building were situated on the shore of the dead sea, only the top of its mast would actually be above sea level.

▪ Guinness book of records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from public libraries

▪ The first Olympic game had only one event - a foot race.

▪ You can see stars from the bottom of a well even in a day light.

Facts surface Reality
Change initiates Ideality
Ideas develop Virtuality
Truth embraces Authenticity
Life defines Purity!