CULTURAL QA 12-2021-03 Being a compilation there may be errors
Q1 How come the Great Wall of China didnot experience the effects of weathering like the pyramids? A1 NoelLeong Freelance Writer on Business and Financial at Self-Employment (2020–present)UpdatedNov 15 The Great Wall that most tourists visited look like these: These are the portions built during the Ming and Qing Dynasties from the16th century CE onwards. The Great Wall is not acontinuously linked structure as China’s northern border changed several timesin history due to the change in dynasties and the territory controlled by thesedifferent dynasties. The effects of weathering is more obvious at the portions built furtherback in time. Q2 What food is just impossible to eat ina civilized manner? A2 Sukanya Dwivedi KnowsSpanishSun According to me it'ssupposedly Drumstick . However its cooked, whether in Sambhar, or cooked as vegetable. One has to pick up and start chewing it to actually eat it. I guess that's one of the main reason that high end restaurants mostlydon't have them in their menu Q3 Are there any benefits of taking honeybefore sleep? A3 Lucia Garcia Worked atHospitals Oct 20 Honey is a natural tonic and itis extremely nutritious. Honey contains fructose, glucose, active enzymes, amino acids, protein,vitamins, as well as iron, calcium, potassium and other nutrients that arebeneficial to health. Eating 1 to 2 spoons of honey (about 10 g to 15 g) before going to bed atnight can help relieve mood swings, reduce sleep disturbances, and improvesleep quality. Scientific research has proved that honey can promote the production ofserotonin. Serotonin is an inhibitory neurotransmitterw, which can effectivelyregulate mood, sleep and the body's circadian rhythm. In addition, clinical practice has proved that honey can also regulategastric acid secretion. Consuming honey before going to bed is very beneficialto the health of the gastrointestinal tract Q4 When did humans discover that salts make foodtaste "better"? A4 Steven Haddock Studied at YorkUniversity (Canada)21h Humans are born liking salt, andit’s a common trait among most mammals. Salt is required to regulate electrolytes that affect nerve impulses and wateruse within the body. Salt is scarce in human’s original habitat (grasslands) asare fat and sugar, so humans tend to crave those foods. However, humans didn’t reallyget into their salt habit until about 7,000 years ago when in what’s nowAustria they found that if they dug into the dirt there was salt underneath. Prior to that, humans harvested brine from both the sea, from salt flatsand from briny pools that often formed over salt mines. This would be evaporatedand the salt harvested. Salt miners had a good business. East Africa would literally trade saltfrom salt lakes to West Africa for an equal weight of gold. However, as humans got smarter, they kept finding more salt mines so it’sa pretty common product nowadays - so cheap we can use it in Canada to meltsnow and ice from roads by the ton. Q5 Which language was spoken in Delhiduring the time of Prithviraj Chauhan? A5 Ram Abloh IndianNov 24 PṛthvīrājaCāhamāṇa (पृथ्वीराजःचाहमाणः) otherwise known asPrithviraj Chauhan was the ruler of Delhi and surrounding regions of Haryana,Rajasthan, parts of Punjab and Madhya Pradesh during the 12th century (1178–1192). In the same 12th century, the poet Śṛīharṣa (श्रीहर्षः) wrote his great epic poem Naiṣadhacaritam (the story of Nala) around 1174. Helived in the neighbouring kingdom of the Gāhaḍavāla king Jayacandra, centred around Vārāṇasiand Kānyakubja. In his poem, Śṛīharṣa alludes to the kings of different parts of Indiawhen assembled together, speakingwith each other in Sanskrit due to not understanding the regional dialects ofeach other (10.34): अन्योन्यभाषानवबोधभीतेःसंस्कृत्रिमाभिर्व्यवहारवत्सु । दिग्भ्यः समेतेषुनृपेषु तेषु सौवर्गवर्गो न जनैरचिह्नि ॥ ”The kings who had come from different parts of the country spoke witheach other in the refined language (saṃskṛtrimābhiḥ, “Sanskrit”), in expectation that others may notunderstand their local language. The Heavenly Group (sauvarga-varga) was hencenot recognized by the people.” ((( This could be one of the first references to “Sanskrit” as a distinctlanguage separated from the regional dialects that evolved from it in earliercenturies. ))) ((( Those who know the story ofDamayanti in the Mahabharata will know the context. Nala was considered themost handsome man in the world, so much that even the Devas were curious to seehim and appreciate his beauty. And when they find out that Damayanti is alsoinfatuated with Nala and wants to choose him for husband, they plot to test herby confusing her in the svayamvara. Four Devas come to the svayamvara assumingthe identical form of Nala. This event is called “पञ्चनलीयम्” because there were five Nalas. Damayanti throughher intelligence and presence of mind identifies the true Nala and garlandshim. The Devas bless her with boons, etc. and the story continues. Our poet Śrīharṣa who livedin the 12th century contemporizes the ancient Mahabharata story to his time. By the 12th century, many regional Prakrits haddeveloped. So he says in the verse above that the kings from different regionswho had arrived at Damayanti’s svayamvara, spoke with each other in the common“link language” Sanskrit. Since the Devas also spoke Sanskrit, they werewell-hidden among the kings! Very charming and clever description by the poet!))) Hence, Sanskrit was at least spoken fluently by the well-educated upperclass and middle class of the day. And I would guess almost everyone regardlessof class, was able to speak some basic broken Sanskrit that resembled theirdialect. It also shows that regional dialects, the Prakrits had started divergingso much from one another that they were becoming mutually unintelligible sothat two people of different regions used Sanskrit as a common link language. The regional dialect around theDelhi region was primarily Shauraseni, supplemented by the neighbouring Braj Bhasha Q6 Is it a worthwhile cooking gas saving methodif we switch all the minor boiling activities like preparing tea to anelectrical stove? A6 VenkateswaraSwamy Swarna, Vegetarian by birth, upbringing and choiceAnswered 3h ago Sure but that would make sense only if the cost of gas is more than thecost of electricity. In my case (and in many middle class homes of India), LPGcost is less than the cost of electricity. One LPG cylinder refill of 14.2 kg capacity costs us approximately 1000rupees and lasts us 2 months for normal cooking including tea, coffeepreparation. Thus the average cost of gas is 500 rupees a month. If that much cooking was to be shifted to electric stoves (hot plates orinduction plates or kettles), the electricity bill would go up by 1000 rupeesor more per month. So, formiddle class families, economics won’t be good by the switch. Only for upper middle class or rich families who are environmentallyconscious, switch to electricity (that too produced by solar panels on theroof) would make sense. Using the electricity from the grid does not make muchsense because even now a bulk of electricity is produced using thermal stationsrunning on fossil fuels. Q7 HDFC Bank turned a credit cardoutstanding of Rs.50,000 in 2013 to Rs.500,000/- now. Is this justified. Whatcan be done to settle it at bear minimum cost? A7 KanthaswamyBalasubramaniam Lawyer2h Its certainly BAD Your Outstanding was Rs. 50,000/- in 2013 They Charged 33.25% interest a year to make it Rs. 500,000/- in 2021 Easy enough to settle. By now it would be in Recovery Agents hands. They would be empowered tonegotiate a far lower amount. Offer a maximum of Rs. 1,10,000/- for a One Time Settlement - beginningfrom Rs. 75,000/- Thats 15% a year Simple interest. My Guess is that they will accept the deal and close the debt……. My Advice - Dont Bother about Cibil right now. Pay off Rs. 1.1 Lakhs andSettle the issue. Other Option is - Borrow 5 Lakhs from a Friend or Relative or Familymember - and pay off the Debt and pay back around Rs. 10,000/- a month for 50months or Rs. 15,000/- a month for 33 months This way is also another way out…… Q8 Why do so many Indian couples strugglefinancially even after earning in lakhs per month? A3 Mehek Kapoor ProductDesigner, The Netherlands 🇳🇱Nov 26 Three major reasons — Poor planning — When people earn significantly alot but don't know what to do with that money. They will either put it inbanks, or start an FD (fixed deposit), and say that share market is gambling orstock trading is bad, without understanding the basic concept behind it. Wherea bank FD can give you hardly 5% loan (in 2021), mutual funds and good sharescan give you a return as high as 50 to 100%. Many shares even double within ayear, provided they are in demand and have a high trust value. The trick hereis to research properly and then invest your money. Don't plan your financialinvestment poorly, it will land you nowhere even if you have a high runningincome. Financial Liabilities — There are millions, ratherbillions of people with loans. Housing loan, education loan, loan on a car,loan on a property or even their kid's education. Loans or credit in any formwill push you back. I'm not discouraging you from taking a loan but justsharing the negative implications of it. A loan doesn't mean just the amountyou've borrowed but also the interest you lose every month on top of it. Yourloan might be just one lac rupees, but if you've taken it on 10% interest(let's suppose), then you're paying ten thousand every year, just as aninterest. And if you manage to give back the total loan in 2 years, the totalamount you've paid back isn't a lac, but one lac and sixteen thousandsomething. Hence, a lot more! Such financial liabilities will never let youcome out of the circle of credits and loans, and will keep you continuing yourlife from paycheck to paycheck. Inflation — Doesn't matter if you are earning twolacs a month in India, but in a city like Bangalore, it will always be less.Inflation affects your living standard a lot, and also your savings. If youwere saving x% of your salary earlier, despite a pay rise of y% in your salary,with inflation you will save a lot less than you were before. Let's suppose youearned one lac a month and your total expenditure was 70k after which everymonth you were saving 30k. Now three years later, your salary rise is 50%(suppose) and now you're earning 1.5 lacs a month, it won't make a significantchange in a big city in India because in three years house rents will increase,basic commodities will increase, petrol/diesel will increase, house maids willbecome more expensive, electricity and gas will be more expensive and even costof a movie ticket will increase because of various factors. Hell, you'll bepaying more income tax too which anyways leaves you with a lot less. Instead ofsaving 30k, your monthly saving will rather drop to 10–15k easily. The worldhas never seen prices of anything go down. Ever. Inflation is known to go upand rise even higher in future, so even a 50% pay rise isn't enough. These are three major reasons why couples struggle financially despiteearning a lot. Of course a lot of other factors also come into play many timesbut every single time the basic reason is one of the three All the above QA are from Quora website on 02-12- 2021. Compiled and posted by R. Gopala krishnan ,78, former AGM Telecom Trivandrum on 03-12-2021 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/2125555987.3710232.1638470421981%40mail.yahoo.com.
