CULTURALQA 07-2023-20 Q1 What made you smile today?
A1 Ashok Suraj, Former Senior ResearchFellow at Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (2020–2021) Updated 5y I was at a “Policestation” in Coimbatore for my passport verification. I approached the cop who was attending to a caseof four elderly women, he politely asked me to be seated which I did so. After 5min theladies left and it was my turn, but suddenly he got an emergency call and he had to leave.Thus, asking me to stay back in his chamber. Which I did for 30–45minwhile browsing the news feed on quora and also wrote few answers for somequestions which were asked. The cop was back but before entering intohis chamber he realised that I was waiting for him and turned back again andwent out. I thought he was going to make me wait again but guess what??? Hewent out just to get me a “Velan Coffee” which is quite a brand for filter coffee in this part of the city andasked me to have coffee while he was verifying my records. This is whereI literally burst into happiness which truly made my day. Never could have experiencedsuch hospitality anywhere else. Hats off to you sir, you really made my day andalso a huge respect grown towards cops with it. My note- About11 years back I had to go with my wife to an extension office of Selaiyurpolice station for police verification of our re-new pass port. Since the concernedpolice officer was very busy on phone, he took his papers and asked a young traffic police manto fill up by the time by the time he finish the call. The youngpolice constable filled up details in his form while we were sitting in achair, he sitting on a small bench in the conjested room and filled up the form,After finishing the call, the concerned official saw forms are filled up, hesigned, and told us, the pass port will come in 3 days. It was received in five days. About a year back we had the next renewal,all formalities completed. At that moment, I was called by a senior officer of pass port, most probablythe pass port officer, asked me to get seated, just confirmed my age,own residence and made a note-“No police verification is required”I received the passport on the third day itself. There aresmelling flowers everywhere. Q2 What is the difference betweenTirupati Balaji and other idols of Lord Venkateshwara? Manorama C, SriVenkateswara Swami iladaivam and Kuladaivam 3h In Tirumala, Srinivasa becameHimself as statue, telling to Tondaman Chakravarthi, “from now onwards, I don'tto speak to human beings. I remain statue. Otherwisehuman beings think that I encourage doing faults like you.” But even now, TheLord is present to the persons having deep devotion and dedication and talkingwith them. So, in Tirumala the Lord Venkateswara is called Swayambhuas He manifested Himself. In the otherhand, many Venkateswara Swami temples were and are being constructed by themankind.Some old constructions of Srinivasa temples, Srikrishna, Srirama, Lakshmi andSiva temples were made by The great sages. Srirama temple in Tirupati wasconstructed by Jambavantha. Tirukkannangudi by Vasishta, Pancha (5) Madhavatemples by Indra (like Bindu Madhava temple in Varanasi, Kunthi Madhava templein Pithapuram, Veñi Madhav in Prayaga…), many Vishnu and Siva temples by PanchaPandava etc…. But anyway, it is our mind that makes usfeel Swayambhu Swami everywhere. As Tirumala is very busy with lakhs ofdevotees, it is better to do Kalyanothsava Seva like many Sevas, in theVenkateswara Swami temple in our premises. We feel very happy by watchingSukravaraasbhisheka in the temple held on the early mornings of Fridays, thoughthe temple is old or latest. Q3 How can the maturity of a person bedefined? A3 Elia Juniana,Jul 1 When you try tosmile infront of your parents despite having worst day of your life. When you prefer silence over unwanted arguments. My note- Irecollect Mr Markandeyalu advise recently to me on reading this. Still I ammade to outburst by two members response. When you starttaking care and responsibilities of your parents. When you areexhausted but you still choose to offer a seat to old lady, pregnant ladystanding beside you. When you prefernutrition over taste. When the fear ofbeing average triggers you hard. When your addictionfor quora is more than facebook. When you realisecomments like “your answer made my day.” on quora brings bigger smile than“nice photo” on Facebook. When you realise gawkingand passing lame comments at random girls isn't a sign of masculinity. Maturity is whenyou realize age is just a number. So don’t just become old, people! Becomemature. Edit: Try toappreciate other's work. Q4 What happened to Lord Krishna'sfriend Sudama that he had to lead a poor life, what incident happened due towhich he had to live in poverty? A4 Surendra Kumar Kumawat, Apr 21 To saveKrishna from the curse, Sudama had accepted the poverty of life… There was a Brahminwho was very poor living with his wife. Theyused to live by begging. A time came when they did not get alms for five days. She used to drink water everyday and go to sleep chanting the name of God. On the sixth day shegot two handfuls of gram in alms. It was night by the time she reached the cottage. Brahmin thought that nowshe will not eat these gram in the night, she will eat it after offering food to Vasudev in themorning. Thinking of this, the Brahmin tied the gram in a cloth and fell asleep chantingthe name of Vasudev. Some thieves cameto the Brahmin's cottage to steal after she slept. Thieves searched a lot here and there and found thatbundle of gram, the thieves thought it had gold coins, so the Brahmin woke upand started making noise. All the people of the villageran to catch the thieves. The thief ran away with that bundle. Fearing being caught, all thethieves hid in Sandeepan Muni's ashram. (Sandipan Muni's hermitagewas near the village where Lord Shri Krishna and Sudama were taking education) Gurumata felt thatsomeone has come inside the ashram, Gurumata went ahead to see. The thieves got scared and ranaway from the ashram! While running away, the thieves left that bundle there.Here, when the Brahmin who was distraught with hunger came to know! When the thieves took away her gram bundle, the Brahmincursed her that Whoever eats the gram of my poor helpless will become poor. On the other side,Guru Mata started sweeping the ashram in the morning while sweeping, Guru Matafound the same gram bundle. Guru Mata opened the bundle and saw that there weregram in it. Sudama ji andShri Krishna were going to bring wood from the forest. Guru Mata gave that gram bundle to Sudama ji.Where else son! When you feel hungry in the forest, both of you should eat thisgram. Sudama ji was a born Brahmagyani. As soon as Sudama ji tookthe gram bud in his hand, he came to know the whole secret. Sudama ji thought!Guru Mata has said that both the people should eat this gram equally. But if Ifeed this gram to Tribhuvanpati Shri Krishna, then the whole world will becomepoor. I will not do such that my Lord becomes poor while I amalive, I will never do such a thing. I will eat these gram myself butwill not let Krishna eat it and Sudama ji himself ate all the gram.Sudama himself took the curse of poverty. But did not give even a single grainof gram to his friend Shri Krishna. Jai Shri Krishna……..JaiShri Krishna……. My note- This legend I am reading first time. Q5 What is the most abundant chemicalelement found on Earth? A5 Dr. Balaji Viswanathan, CEO atInvento (2016–present)17h Iron. I would not haveanswered such a simple question if the other answers were not wrong. About 90% of earth’s core is Iron.Overall, a third of earth’s mass is just Iron. While Nitrogen is the most abundant in the atmosphere andOxygen is the most abundant in the earth’s surface, people ignore the fact thatwe are sitting on an iron planet. Earth’s mass isabout 100,000X more than the mass of earth’s atmosphere. The thin layer ofearth’s crust [where silicon and oxygen are more abundant] is much smaller thanthe size of earth’s core. Q6 How cruel were the Mughals? HrishikeshNaramparambath, History Buff | Cinephile | Bookworm5y Very cruel. I can give you alist of atrocities committed by them if you want. Let us start fromthe beginning. This……is Babur. Theguy who started it all. He is the firstMughal king. This innocent man,who apparently introduced secularism (yeah, right) in India, was pretty much ofa scumbag towards Hindus and Sikhs: Babur's campaign in northwest India targetedHindu and Sikh civilians as well as non-Sunni sects of Islam. Immense numbersof people were killed, with the Muslim camps being described as building"towers of skulls of the infidels" on hillocks. Baburnama, similarly records massacre of Hinduvillages and towns by Babur's Muslim army, in addition to numerous deaths ofboth Hindu and Muslim soldiers in the battlefields. I can understand aking getting people killed. All kings do that. But getting innocent people's skulls and building atower out of it? Not so innocent, is it? Now let me talk about Saint Akbar. The idolized,hyped, worshipped guy who killed. In early years of his reign, religious violence includedthe massacre of Hindus of Garha in 1560 AD, under the command of Mughal ViceroyAsaf Khan. Other campaignstargeted Chitor and Rantambhor. A historianNizamuddin Ahmad recorded the violence during the conquest of Nagarkot (modernHimachal Pradesh), as follows, “The fortress of Bhun, which is an idol templeof Mahámáí, was taken by valor of the (Muslim) assailants. A party of Rajputs,who had resolved to die, fought till they were all cut down. A number ofBrahmins, who for many years had served the temple, never gave one thought toflight, and were killed. Nearly 200 black cows belonging to the Hindus, duringthe struggle, had crowded together for shelter in the temple. Some savageTurks, while the arrows and bullets were falling like rain, killed these cowsone by one. They then took off their boots and filled them with the blood, andcast it upon the roof and walls of the temple.” – Nizamuddin Ahmad, Tabakat-i Akbari Yeah… that's Akbarfor you. Now let me talkabout Aurangzeb. This guy wasdownright sadistic. He killed Hindusand Sikhs like no other Mughal did. He went on a killing spree throughout hisreign. No respect towards other religions. He even tortured and killed Guru TegBahadur just because he did not agree to convert to Islam. And I have onlywritten about a few of the Mughals. You can imagine the amount of violenceunder the reign of others like Humayun, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. I guess that'senough for you to decide. Q7 What is the actual reason forenlargement of prostate in males? A7 Dr James Hewitt,Urologist - MD atHospitals (2004–present)Sun Hi ! Dr James Hewitt here Theenlargement of the prostate in males, also known as benign prostatichyperplasia (BPH), occurs due to a combination of factors related to hormonalchanges and aging. It is important to understand thatBPH is a commoncondition that affects many men as they get older. The primaryreason for prostate enlargement is the hormonal changes that occur with age.As men age, the levels of testosterone, the male hormone, tend to decrease while the levels of estrogen, a female hormone, remain relativelyconstant. This hormonal imbalance can lead to an increase in theproduction of a hormone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT is known to promote the growth of prostate cells, which can result inthe enlargement of the prostate gland. Other contributing factors to prostate enlargementinclude genetics, family history, and lifestyle factors.Some studies suggest that there may be a genetic predisposition to developingBPH, meaning that ifyou have a family history of prostate enlargement, you may be at a higher risk.Additionally, certain lifestyle factors such as obesity, lack of physicalactivity, and a diet high in fat and red meat may contribute to the developmentof BPH. It is importantto note that prostate enlargement is a benign condition and not directly linkedto prostate cancer. However, the symptoms of BPH, suchas urinary difficulties, can have a significant impact on a man's quality oflife. If youexperience symptoms of BPH, it is recommended to consult with a healthcareprofessional for an accurate diagnosis and appropriate management. There arevarious treatment options available for prostate enlargement, ranging fromlifestyle modifications to medication and surgical interventions.Lifestyle changes such as maintaining a healthy weight,regular exercise, and avoiding bladder irritants can help alleviate symptoms. Medications,such as alpha-blockers and 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors, may be prescribed torelax the prostate and reduce its size. In more severe cases, surgical procedures liketransurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) or minimally invasive techniqueslike laser therapy may berecommended. My note- Informative simple answer. As ageincrease development of estrogen in men is a new information. Lasor therapy isalso a new information. I have read medicalinformation testosteronedevelopin women in old age. All the above QA are from Quora websiteon 20 -07-2023. Quora answers neednot be 100% correct answers. Compiled and posted by R. Gopala Krishnan, 79, on 20-07-2023. -- 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/324815787.2103894.1689864870202%40mail.yahoo.com.
