What was Lord Krishna's greatest life lesson?

 As per my understanding, his life’s greatest lesson was that Dharma is above all and everything. He believed in this and proved this by his conduct all through his life.

In the childhood, he killed the tyrant king Kamsa, who was his uncle, as he was a great adharmi. Before that he killed many rakshasas sent by Kamsa to kill him because they also were all adharmis, just like Kamsa.

After killing Kamsa, he installed Kamsa’s father Ugrasen as the king of Mathura again instead of becoming king himself.

When Jarasandh attacked Mathura to take revenge on him for killing Kamsa, he killed his entire army but spared him so that he could again collect more adharmis and come again to kill him.

When he saw that people of Mathura could not live peacefully due to repeated attacks of Jarasnadh, he decided to leave Mathura and established the new city of Dwarka in between the sea so that none could attack it easily.

When he fled from Mathura in front of Jarasandh, Jarasndh insulted him and called him ‘ranchhod’ but Lord Krishna did not care for his insult as for him the welfare of people was much more important.

He married all 16,100 girls who were kept in captivity by Narkasur so that they can lead a respectful life in the society as nobody else was ready to accept them.

He helped Pandavas whenever they were in distress as they were righteous people.

He went to the Hastinapur royal court as the peace messenger on behalf of Pandvas as a last attempt to avert the war where he was insulted by Duryodhan and also tried to capture him.

He helped preserve the modesty of Draupadi when she was being disrobed in the Hastinapur royal court.

He was strictly against taking of any pledge by any person as the pledge may prove to be harmful in future.

In case of Bhishma, his pledge of leaving the throne of Hastinapur for his step mother Satyavati’s future sons proved to be very harmful for Hastinapur.

Drona also gave more importance to Dhritrashtra’s help and supported him despite knowing that Duryodhan was on the wrong path. Same was the case with Karna who gave more importance to Duryodhan’s friendship than dharma.

He agreed to become the charioteer for his best friend Arjun and guided & mentored him by reciting the divine knowledge of Geeta when Arjun was in a great dilemma about his duty.

He rebuked Arjun on the 3rd and 9th day of war for fighting very mildly with Bhishma and himself picked weapons to kill Bhishma as it was important for victory of dharma.

He helped Arjun reach Jaydrath and told Arjun about the boon of Jaydrath’s father to him and guided and motivated him to kill him before sunset.

He saved Arjun many times during the war, helped Pandavas in eliminating Bhishma, Drona and Karna.

He motivated Yudhishthir to kill Shalya and signaled Bheem to kill Duryodhan by striking his thigh to finally end the war.

What is the single greatest acting performance you have seen in Hindi cinema?

 Naseerudin Shah in Sparsh and Om Puri in Ardh Satya

Naseeruddin Shah simply blows you away with such an authentic representation of a visually challenged man who is upright, dignified and a human with his shortcomings which makes him a great character because it doesn't fall into the trap of victimisation of such characters which is so common in our films. His mannerisms, body language and expressions are so on point that you marvel at his performance. Al Pacino took notes from this performance for his Oscar winning performance in The Scent of Woman, which tells us how iconic this performance is. Anyone who loves meaningful films should watch this film once.

Om Puri has given one of the greatest portrayal of a cop ever on cinema screen. His rage was raw and intense, his suprressed anger on the injustice meted out by the society, system and his own father, turns into uncontrolled rage which costs him more than anyone else. He feels humilaued and hurt when his girlfriend reads out a poem to him which makes him realise his own weakness in an indifferent system, and the same humiliation he faces in the climax when he is made to feel like a slave in front of the corrupt criminals who holds the justice in tansom for their personal needs. His performance is outstanding to say the least.

What are some of the greatest innovative ideas?

 Swirl tap - designed by art student Simin Qiu at the Royal College of Art

(Also the winner of the Concept Design Award - 2014)

The Swirl tap uses two turbines inside the faucet to send the water into a spiral. This uses 15 per cent less water than traditional taps and the hollow jet is also more gentle on the hands.

Read more: Tornado in a TAP: New design creates water vortex that saves water
Swirl - Behance

Who was the greatest Roman Emperor?

My vote is for Augustus. The first and longest reigning emperor. I hate that we give him a retronym “emperor” (though, I confess that “Prince” doesn’t quite ring true and “Dictator” doesn’t fit either). He was more like a benevolent military dictator. Certainly, the ancient Romans didn’t speak English and we need our words to describe their positions. This is where a bit of my pedantry comes in and I have to belabor the point a bit. The title “imperator” (from which we get our word “emperor”) is a military and honorary title meaning “vanquishing general”. Of course, Augustus was an “imperator”. But he didn’t come in on his steamroller, destroying the Republic crowning himself Emperor — he wasn’t called that.

The title people called him was “Caesar” (from which Eastern Europe gets its word for emperor: “czar”, “tsar”, “kaiser”) or more appropriately, “Princeps” (pronounced prin-keps: “first citizen” — from which we get our word “prince”). But even then, his authority was personal†. He certainly held the official title of consul on-and-off during his life —and was granted tribunate powers in perpetuity, person fiefdom over Gaul [France], Spain, Syria and Egypt— but the Res Pvblica (literally “public thing” or more appropriately, commonwealth), continued existing. He was its first citizen and his power over the Roman Republic existed apart from its government institutions. His greatest trick was in fooling the people of Rome that they held all the power and that he was just looking out for them.

And as tricks go, it was a damned good one. He may have been a despot, but he was a despot who acted the part of benevolent father so totally that, no matter what he was on the inside, he really was a great leader on the outside. The Republic continued parallel to his “reign”. He began the principate (better than calling it the “Empire” because Rome was an empire for centuries before Augustus). It was the official/unofficial position of power that the Caesars held after him, “the period of hereditary supreme authority of one autocrat, frequently hereditary, but frequently not”. During his life, he obsessed over not acting like a king of Rome but a guardian of the Republic.

At no point in time am I waving away the brutal things he did as Triumvir, the proscriptions and the mass murders. But if we draw a line between the time of Octavius and the time of Augustus, he really does become a different man. Pompous and stubborn throughout his life, once he had power, and sensed no threat to it, he was magnanimous and loving (refusing to seize land even from peasants —even if he paid them— to build public works). There is a veritable encyclopedia of his largesse. One example being, he paid the taxes & and emergency services out of his own pocket of entire provinces that experienced a natural disaster. As dictators go, he was one of the best. As Roman emperors go, he has the company of perhaps one or two others, Trajan and Marcus Aurelius with Tiberius and Justinian being distant behind them.

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• Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar — Tom Holland
• Augustus: The First Emperor of Rome — Adrian Goldsworthy
• SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome — Mary Beard
• The History of the Ancient World — Susan Wise Bauer

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†This is hard for us to grasp. We live in a world of official powers, granted by a legislature or a constitution. But in ancient Rome, individuals carried a cachet called “auctoritas” —prestige— that even unofficially could carry the social power of life and death. Augustus’ auctoritas was personal, not official, and it was so great that it held sway over the entire Republic.

What are some of the greatest innovative ideas?

 We recently bought a new house and now the process to make that house to a home is going on.. as a part of that process, I was looking for some furniture idea and designs in our budget.

I came across these, simply amazing and innovative.

What do you guys think?

1. Wood Couch Arm Shelf

2. Drop-Leaf Wall-Mount Table

3. An ironing board ,convenient and stylish!

4. SwitchPlate

5. Tape dispenser

6.Calendar

image source : Pinterest

What are some of the greatest upsets in cricket?

 Two matches in the 2007 World Cup which led to massive disaster and major structural changes in the history of World Cup.

First of all, the 2007 World Cup reintroduced the setup which was not in place after the 1979 WorlCup. To have 4 groups of 4 teams each with less number of Group stage matches and more number of Knockout matches. Between 1983–2003 players were playing six group matches each but in the 2007 world cup they again introduced the 3 group matches formula.

Second thing was the satellite rights of the World Cup. Sony group in India had the cricket telecast rights of the 2003 world cup when India reached the finals which meant huge profits for the Sony group. So naturally they acquired the rights for the 2007 World Cup as well.

So two major matches ruined the whole world cup and the future of this format. One was India vs Bangladesh where India failed badly against Bangladesh and got out for mere 191 runs. Half of these runs were scored by Saurav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh but they played so slowly (Ganguly scored 66 of 126 balls) that they couldn't even total 200 by the end of their innings (they got out in 49.5 overs). It was a bad decision to send Sachin at number 4 despite his constant request to let him open. This was perhaps the most forgettable world cup for Sachin Tendulkar. Similarly Dhoni scored 2 ducks in three matches, Uthappa scored 30 runs in 3 matches which worsened the cause of team India. Bangladesh was further helped by poor fielding from India and they inflicted a shocking defeat on India. Indian team made a thumping comeback against a nobody team Bermuda scoring 413 runs and winning by 257 runs. But the team again chocked against Srilanka losing by 69 runs and made a shocking exit from the World Cup. This world cup led to the end of ODI career for Anil Kumble and surprisingly the highest scorer for India Virendra Sehwag lost his opening slot as Sachin and Ganguly became the openers for the rest of the year.

Similarly fate awaited our neighbour and arch enemy Pakistan who lost against West Indies in their opening match. But shockingly they lost against Ireland who bowled out Pakistan for 130 runs and won by 3 wickets eliminating them from the World Cup. The world cup was even worse for Pakistan whose coach Bob Wulmar was found d**d in his hotel. Allegations were made of match fixing and Inzamam Ul Haq retired.

On a financial front this world cup wa shighly unsuccessful as the top 2 teams of Asia who contributed so much in revenue were ousted in the first round. Set Max and Sony lost hundreds of crores and were nearly bankrupted (interestingly that time they recovered their money by constantly re running their most popular show CID for 18–20 hours a day for about 2–3 years).

BCCI made a statement that they would make sure that such format will not be followed after this world cup and this is the same that happened. It also shows the power of BCCI in international cricket.

What are the greatest engineering blunders in the world?

 In 1990 NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope worth $1.5 billion (16 billion rn).

After the launch, the scientist found out that there is a microscopic defect of two micrometers (a fraction of a human hair) in its primary mirror. This produced blurry, distorted images.

Even a microscopic defect is a big problem for a space telescope, so in order to fix the error NASA subsequently launched the STS-61 mission.

Basically the mission is about sending astronauts into space using the Space Shuttle Endeavour and fixing the defective optics.

Three years after its launch (1993) the astronauts successfully installed corrective optics, restoring Hubble's iconic vision.

Before and after correcting the lens.

The whole operation cost NASA 900 million to install a corrective lens in orbit to fix it.

Image taken by Hubble.

What is the greatest mistake in history that has resulted in the greatest loss?

 Cleveland Balloon Festival 1986

Balloons! The scenery is so beautiful. What could be the problem with balloons?

It all started when the non-profit organization United Way raised funds for charitable purposes and attempted to break the world record for the largest balloon launch.

Approximately 2,500 volunteers (mostly college students) worked day and night in a fenced-off area under a loose net roof in the town square. United Way is raising $1 for every two balloons that are inflated.

The fused balloons looked like a giant, wriggling Poké Ball.

Unfortunately, a storm was approaching, and launching the balloon in bad weather was not planned.

So they changed their plan and decided to launch the balloons earlier. Despite the earlier launch and less-than-ideal weather, 1,429,643 balloons were released into the air, and this feat was recognized by the Guinness World Records in 1988 .

Ah, but nothing is easy in Cleveland.

A few hours later, the spectacular sight of the terminal tower filled with beautiful helium balloons was ruined by wind and rain, causing the balloons to fall to the ground sooner than expected.

As the saying goes, what goes up must come down ...

The local airport was closed for 30 minutes after the balloons fell, and several car accidents occurred, particularly when drivers swerved to avoid them. The owner of a luxury Arabian horse, startled by the falling balloons, sued United Way for $100,000 in damages and ultimately won the case.

Complaints reached Canada as well, where beachgoers were seen walking through a sea of ​​balloons.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard blamed the balloon for making the search for the missing boater on Lake Erie more difficult. Following the man's death, his wife filed a $3.2 million lawsuit against United Way two years later. She ultimately won the case for an undisclosed amount.

Considering that the money spent on this activity likely came mostly from donations from people who expected United Way to use it for good purposes, such as helping those in need, it could have been used for something better.

The negative effects still linger.

All 1.5 million balloons use helium, a precious resource. The balloon festival leads to the loss of helium, a non-renewable resource, because once released, helium is lost forever, this rare gas is difficult to obtain, and it is essential for scientific and industrial activities.

It is clear that this was due to poor planning of the event and that the organizers should have paid more attention to the weather.

But at least the scenery that day was amazing.

What are some of the greatest marketing disasters in history?

 

1. The Bunny fight:

Energizer a battery company used a pink Bunny in its advertisment. The ad became popular. But the company's profit went to half.

On the other hand, Duracell, their rival actually doubled their profits. Later Energizer found the loophole and are still regretting.

Actually the loophole was…

Duracell used a similar pink Bunny as a mascot few years back and Energizer was using a similar pink Bunny in its ads.

Energizer actually managed to advertise its competitor Duracell. Viewers thought it as an ad of Duracell and rest is history.

From that very day, Duracell started using that bunny in there ads.

2. The comic tragedy of Balloonfest ‘86

In 1986, United way tried to raise funds for charity in a unique way.

In Cleveland, they attempted the world record of most released balloons by releasing 1.5 million balloons in air.

This was thought to be a harmless fundraising publicity stunts.

But…

Balloons are no human. They got drifted away by air and surrounded the whole city. The Balloons choked the traffic system and airport of the city resulting in many traffic accidents.

Even water transport system. Later it was reported that some of the boaters drowned and lost life as a consequence of this.

Later the organisers were sued by the victims and had to give millions as a compensation.

What are some of the greatest wildlife photos?

 since the first picture I uploaded (the shark) appears to have been digitally enhanced, I’m adding a few other pictures (below) whose authenticity has been verified! I’m still keeping the shark pic, because I think it looks awesome.

1. This incredible breaching display of a great white shark.

Perfect timing! Perfect angle! Beautiful backdrop formed by the water! It looks angelic and diabolic at the same time!

2. Count Dracula of the waters

3. “Diamond” studded dragonfly (courtesy of early morning dew)

4. Sticking together