CULTURAL QA 07-2022-31 BEING A COMPILATIONTHERE MAY BE ERRORS
Q1 Whatis the difference between a septic tank and a soak pit? A1 Rabindra Kumar Mohapatra, M Tech(Roorkee Univ.) in Civil Engineering, Veer Surendra Sai University ofTechnology, Burla (Graduated 1979)1y Septic tank is the sludge digestion chamber where thesewage is digested by anaerobic bacteria(who do notrequire oxygen) - greatly reduce the toxicity of the waste. For this a mindetention period of 48 hours is required after which it is passed to the soakpit. As the nameimplies, the detoxicatedliquid of waste is allowed to be soaked into the soil in a soak pit.So the walls of soak pit is essentially made with dry brick joints to allowthis soaking. Generally in villages there is no soak pit. The sewage iscollected in a small tank (without being concerned about the min time ofretention) - when overflows automatically diverted to the drain or nearestfield. Alternatively there is only soak pit and no separate septic chamber. My note- In suburbanChennai city also nowadays due to difficulty of cleaning septic tank, two soakpits, and septic tank are separated only at bottom of the tank for about 2feet, and remaining height is only one. This enables 95% of septic tank cleaning eliminated. When tank is full,septic tank cleaners collect the waste liquid stirring at top and sucked by a pumpto their vehicle to dispose inisolated areas where human habitation isless Q2 Where did the ancient Vedas go? Arethey preserved somewhere? What kind of people posses original scriptures ofVedas? A2 Balaji Viswanathan, orthodox Hindu whodoes Panchayutana puja everyday.19h The ancient Vedas didn’t go anywhere. It is presenttoday, practically to the same syllables. We know thisbecause of elaborate error control mechanisms that Vedic seers have developed.The Vedas even today are taught from guru to his disciple over years ofmemorisation and inner reflection. You might be thinking Vedas as some kind of a writtenbook. Vedic saints took a more permanent form — by building in the memories ofthe students. The boys here wouldbe mini libraries of Vedas. While conventional libraries could be burnt downand universities razed, in the face of a religious oppression these boys couldhide in a forest, recite their Vedas and teach it to their next generation. In my wife’s family, every year they would invite a groupof Vedic scholars to recite all the Vedas from end to end.Each Veda would be assigned a separate room and they would recite their Vedafrom dawn to dusk for 5 days. Give the sheer sizeof the Vedas it is near impossible for one person to study and memorise it all.Thus, students primarilymemorize the Veda that is assigned to them. Yajur Veda is probablythe easiest of the Vedas — doesn’t require any hand signs to recite (unlike RigVeda), nor great singing skills (like Sama Veda) and thus Yajur Veda has thelargest following. But,there exists many communities that practice Rig, Sama and Atharva Vedatraditions. Kerala is especially a great place for this — where youwill find practitioners of all the 4 Vedas. Q3 When repotting a very rootbound plant,it appears all the soil has been replaced by roots. How has this happened? A3 Kim Carlisle, Horticulturist, grower,and blogging at wellspringkim.comJul 13 Potting soilusually has a high percentage of organic matter, such as peat moss, coconut coir, compost, andaged manure. Over time, that materialdecomposes, leaving behind a very small amount of mineral matter. Sand andperlite also remain in place. So, if the organic matter breaks down, and as the root system growslarger, the root ball appears to be composed of all roots. Butthere’s some of the other material in there as well. When aplant lives in its pot for a few years, you’ll notice how the soil level endsup lower in the pot than when you first bought it or potted it up. Some of thatis caused by settling, but much is due to decompositionof organic matter. Whenrepotting, place new soil below the existing root system instead of on top ofit. My note- Excellent answer. Q4 What part of India is the best tosettle down in? A4 Suresh Varma, Studied Computer Science& Computer Science at Osmania (Graduated 1995) Updated 3y Generally peopleare referring big cities where you don’t get a glimpse of nature to enjoy orHill stations where you will get bored after few days as there will not be anymuch life (at least slow paced). What if you get combination of both with citycum village life style and proper connectivity by all means of transport…HEREYOU GO!!!!!!!1 Imagine a placewhich is a small city where you can have good shopping experience, access togood restaurants, star hotels, resorts, coffee bars, lounge cafes, all types ofluxury milk shakes, drive in restaurants etc. Imagine a place whichis right on the bank of vast river with serene natural beauty. Imagine a placewhich is surrounded by Paddy rich farm fields, coconut gardens, 10,000 acres oflush green nursery plants, with green houses(nurseries) Imagine a placewhich has very less population (Tier 3 city) and less congested and no trafficjams. Imagine a placewhich has almost zero crime rate and extremely safe for everybody. Most reasonable cost of living (2BHK rental would be around5k to 10k Max), reasonable cost for groceries, vegetables and daily needs. I don’t know muchabout other places which can satisfy above criteria, but surely you will likethis place and vote for this city after reading this. I wouldlike to refer “Rajamahendravaram”(alias Rajahmundry) in AP.It is the one of the most beautiful city on the bank of river Godavari havinghistory of more than 1400 years. Here people are more attached to river Godavari by all means and theirlife style is linked to this river. There are morestations on bank of Godavari but the station named “Godavari”here only and nowhere else it is named . (there is one more main station “Rajahmundry” in thecity next to Godavari station), just an example of how people attached toriver. CITY VIEW: 1No where else inits travel, river’s breadth is 3kms ,but here it is more than 3 kms and hence we got four world class bridges andone barrage. Have a glimpse ofbreadth of godavari here.. 2. Kotilingalu ghat spans nearly 2km which is India’sbiggest river ghat 3. A domesticairport with connectivity to south india 4. Life is verycalm here and almost zero crime rate. (like this in pic) 5. Less congestedand the population is less than 6 lakhs population including urbanagglomeration. 6. Shoppersparadise.. Reliance, Walmart, Spencershyper, Bigbazaar, pantaloons, MAX and allother major shopping malls are here and many more coming up. 7. Fresh fish,prawns and other sea food available plenty here. 8. Many resorts, 3or 4 star hotels, coffee lounges etc La Hospin a 3 star hotel River bay resorts, 4 starSheltonRajamahendri…4 star, Dindi resorts (1 hour drive from Rajahmundry). 9. Best touristplace and AP govt making it as Tourism hub of AP. 10. Theonly drawback need to be mentioned is , Weather in summer is very harsh espbetween April to June. 11. Nitya Godavari Harathi (every day) at 7pm isreally a feast for eyes. During this time the LED light show on the bridgesmust be watched. Thick and denseforest with many jungle resorts…just 2 hours drive from city. Vanavihari resort… 18. Travelling oncruise boat from Rajahmundry to Papikondalu (4 hours boat journey) and stayingon river bank at kolluru huts for whole night will be most memorable event inlife. the advantage here is, you don’t have any mobile network, or any othertransport. You will be completely disconnected from the world until you getyour cruise on next day evening. You can have open air bath here with cystalclear water and the depth here is just 4 feet which is ideal for bath whodoesn’t know swimming 12. You get freshvegetables, fruits directly from farms every day. About Bridges: First (Old bridge)constructed by British govt in 1897 which is decommissioned recently and Aptourism is planning to make it as walker’s bridge soon Third, Constructedin 1995 which is Bow string arch bridge with 28 strings/spans and the gapbetween each span is 100m (which is one of the finest bow string arch bridge inthe world with 100m span apart) Second , Road cum rail bridge which is Asia’s secondlongest road cum rail bridge. 4th bridgeconstructed in 2014 , exclusive for road way (separate bridges for both side traffic) One barrageconstructed 40 yrs back and it spans around 7kms. Here Godavari splitted intotwo rivers Gowtami andVashishta and each spans 2kms…The land between (both side rivers andone side bay of Bengal is the most beautiful and fertile land in India). Thisarea is called Konaseema.KadiyamNurseries( out skirts of city) and there are 10 villages spans 1000 of acresdedicated for only plants and nurseries. Sea coast is just60kms from here and the place Antarvedi is most beautiful place to visit(hereGodavari submerges into sea) Thanks for readingthis, if you get time do visit this place and relax in nature’s lap for fewdays. (ideal time to visit is Sep to Feb) My note- I have stored the beautiful pictures. I am notable to paste here. Q5 How do central Government employeescope with frequent transfers all over India? A5 Awdhesh Singh, Ex-IRS| IITian|UPSCEducator| Time Management Coach1y In the Central Government,the transfers are not frequent, but done usually once in a year, called Annual General Transfer (AGT). You are alsorequired to give your choice of stations, before the AGT, which is given dueweightage in the transfer. If your spouse isanother central government employee, all attempts are made by government toallot you the same station. Even in case of spouse working in state governmentor in private sector, government usually try to accommodate you in the samestation as of your spouse. I had been anofficer of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) for over 25 years and I had been postedin five stations (Muzaffarpur, Patna, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Chennai). I also gotshifted to Gwalior during study leave, while doing my PhD from IIITM Gwalior. I always liked transfer as it gave me an opportunity tovisit new places and learn a new culture. I have been postedin all parts of India (North, East, South and West). Hence, I know Indianculture much more comprehensively than most Indians. When you are transferred, Government bears all yourexpensesfor shifting your goods plus a handsome transfer grant, which is more thanenough to take care of your reallocation to a new place. My children also developed pan-Indiaculture due to my transfers and they got the opportunity tostudyin different schools and colleges. They can now adjust in any part of Indiaeasily. In my opinion,transfer is one of the desirable perquisite of central services and if one hasto work at the same station for his entire career, it would have been extremelyboring and uninteresting. Q6 If society considers it wrong, why didnature allow us to procreate even at a young age? A6 Claire Jordan, Degree in biology andfolklore; programmer, shop owner, secretary on newspaper Jul 19 In a state of nature we don’t usuallybecome fertile untilabout 14, and you didn’t want to leave it much later than that. Women breastfed on demand, whichsuppresses ovulation, and they breastfed for a *long* time, so they had theirchildren several years apart - and might have been eaten by aleopard before they were 30. So you started in your mid teens and hoped to have3 or 4 children before something killed you. Nowadays, ourhigh-protein diet means girls are hitting puberty much younger,well before they are mature enough mentally or physically to have children, andthe fact that we no longer breastfeed every couple of hours round the clock,including at night, means ovulation isn’t suppressed and inprinciple we can have a child every 9 or 10 months. But this isn’t“nature” - it’s a highly unnatural situation. Q7 As a farmer, what do you wish morepeople understood? A7 Vijay Odedra, Lives in Bengaluru,Karnataka, India (2021–present)Updated 2y Milk that you justhad isn't pure, for sure. Even if it's from Amul. That's a long story. Rain in winter andsummer is cool for you, you put status about it. But, it takes away months ofour hard work. No, we all don'tconsume organic food. Almost 95% of Indian farmers still use pesticides andfertilisersforvegetables they grow for themselves. If you are gettingwheat for ₹30/kg, remember, it was bought for ₹15/kgfrom us. Just like you, manyof us also don't want loan waiver. We want government to use resources to buildcanals, dams or other irrigation facilities. Give us water andwe will produce gold. We are helpless just because of irregular and poormonsoons. Farming looks cool only while sitting in a room. Thereality is totally different. Milking cows and buffaloes isn't that easy. It's a toughjob. We love our cattleas much as you love your pets. We, or at least I,love living in a village, but not villagers. Their narrow mindedness kills meeveryday. Q8 What is the interesting story of airconditioning on Indian Railways? A8 Posted by KaustubhNaik May 2 An interestingstory of air conditioning on Indian Railways. ________________ The first Indiantrain to get an air conditioned car, which started running from 1934was the Frontier Mail. The airconditioning system then was basic,unlike the thermostat controlled powerplants we see today. In those days, ice blocks were used, carried in sealed receptaclesbuilt beneath the car floor, which were replenished at several halts along theline. A battery operated blower constantly blew air into thesereceptacles, and the cold air entered the insulated cars through vents.Though it was very basic and messy, the effect was very pleasant. It was luxuryat its best then. Imagine today if huge ice blockswere pushed into the underfloor ice receptacles at every other stop, howintimidating it would be. The picture shows Ice supply for the airconditioning in First class coach of the Frontier Mail at Bayana Junction on11.09.1942. Courtesy: History and Heritage of Indian Railways/Pazhayathu blog Q9 Why should you unplug electricalappliances from their outlets when they are unused? If the appliance is turned“off”, how is that so different to it not being plugged in, in terms of energyusage? A9 Prakash W Dandekar,Former VisitingFaculty Member at IIT Gandhi Nagar (2013–2014)4y When anappliance is plugged in, it has a small circuit which is always powered.This consumes a very small power like 5 watts or 10 watts. This circuit mayhave an Infra red receiver which received radiation signal from a TV remotetype device. It recognizes the code sent by on/off switch and appropriatelyturns on a relay. the relay contact connects AC mains power to internal supplyand appliance is turned on. When we press powerbutton on remote, the same circuit releases the relay cutting the power inputto internal supply. If you have many appliances in home such as TV,computers, music systems etc then each one contributes a tiny loadand you may end up paying for tha\e electricity consumed by them. I did notfind many switches in USA, butin India, most power outlets have an individual on/off switch. If weswitch it off then it completely disconnects power from the appliance and theconsumption is truly zero. We do not need to unplug the appliance to make powerzero. My note-More over the primary coil is heated by reducingthe life period. A controlswitch is best. It is advisable not to remove the plug of mixer, grinderetc often and controlled by a switch in the panel. Q10 Why do people put their parentsinto nursing homes when they could just take them in to their own homes?Especially those who have the space. A10 Amy Chai, MD, Internal Medicine, MS,Epidemiology, author 3y Caring for an elder is a full time job. When my childrenwere teens, I finished our basement, hoping to have their friends over andenjoy our family life. However,both in-laws became very ill. One with cancer, and one with severe Alzheimer’s. Well, I got a stairlift, put hospital stuff in the basement, and took them in. It was the hardestthing I ever did. I could not leave the house. Icould not go to sleep. My son was my “first call” when I would scream for help.(He was bigger and stronger than me). Kids had to give medications and changedressings instead of having their friends over to enjoy our family life. I became increasinglydepressed. Our marriage was strained. My daughter locked herself in her roomall the time. Then, theF-I-L came upstairs and turned on our gas stove at 3am.My children and I were sleeping right above the kitchen. I did not have myearplugs in on that night, or we would all be dead. After that, we hired a “sitter” to watch him allnight so we could safely sleep. And this is MYfamily. We are wealthy and highly educated. I did not expect this to be so difficult for us. But it was HARD. It was harder than we could do. My girlfriendliterally had to have an intervention for me and she personally took me to a nursing home and madeall the arrangements for me to get them out of my house. I have the utmostrespect for people who are not as well off as I am who manage to pull offcaregiving with much fewer resources—which would be much worse thanwhat I experienced. All the above QA are from Quora website on 30 -07- 2022. Quora answers need not be 100% correct answers . Compiled and posted by R. Gopala krishnan on 31-07-2022 -- 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/1794575011.1988223.1659240320720%40mail.yahoo.com.
