摔跤爸爸

 我想讲的故事是一部印度电影的情节。这部电影叫Dangal (中文叫摔跤爸爸)。这部电影 的主人公是个普通的印度人,叫 Mahavir Singh。他从小的时候就对摔跤很兴趣，可是他很贫穷，因此不能实现自己的目标：为自己的国家拿到国际比赛的金牌。

 他很希望能有儿子，所以儿子也能变成很出色的摔跤选手。结果呢？他生了三个女孩子。刚开始他感到很失望，觉得必须抛弃自己的梦，不过有一天他发现他的女儿把欺负她们的男孩子打败了。从这个时候开始，他开始培训她们摔跤。

   Mahavir 住在印度既传统又贫穷的地方叫Haryana。他所有的邻居（包括他妻子）都觉得他疯了，他收到很多的白眼儿。可是他相信自己女儿的能力，所以他全力以赴地坚持下去。因为他是个农民，没有钱让他的女儿参加女性摔跤比赛，所以只好让他的女儿参加本地男生的比赛。她们赢了很多比赛后被印度国家摔跤队选中了。

 吃过不少的苦，克服过各种各样的困难，最后他的两个女儿终于拿到了国际比赛的金牌。

When love is truly unconditional

I remember that unassuming and cool evening as well as if it happened yesterday. Another all-day long shift, taking charge of different rides of the amusement park where I was employed during my summer vacations, only to get a chance to visit the United States again. Only to breathe that air again. Only to experience more of the world and people sharing it with me.  

Source: https://qwrad.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/nt1a0949.jpg

It was almost the closing time and a fireworks display was well underway nearby and as a result the attraction I was in charge of operating was deserted. At some point, seemingly stepping directly out from the darkness, a black father came up to me asking if his disabled daughter could take a ride. After making sure that it wouldn’t be harmful to her I agreed and helped him to put the girl on the ride. Little did I know that meeting him would leave a firm imprint on my personality.

Almost mechanically, I pressed the red button and with the first movements of the sluggish machinery something more beautiful than the greatest movie scene imaginable began unfolding just in front of my eyes. The girl’s mother was standing peacefully in the background, while the father was shouting his daughter’s name all the time not being able to take his eyes of her, in a state reminiscent of a deep trance. You could tell that if a bomb suddenly exploded next to him, he certainly wouldn’t have noticed that.

In the meantime, his physically and possibly also mentally impaired daughter was smiling and laughing her heart out loud hearing her name repeatedly shouted by her father, but her happiness was nothing compared to the ecstasy that was experienced by that man. He was seeming to have been going through the best moment of his life, literally-the world’s happiest, most optimistic, satisfied and fortunate man. Despite the tragedy of his daughter, he didn’t show that anything could pull him down or that he was in any way less lucky than any other person around him.

Being a witness to such a mighty display of unconditional love, this whole situation was almost too much for me to bear and I was close to getting too emotional myself and only with the greatest of efforts was I able to maintain my composure.

When the ride was over, and the father came to pick his daughter up I wanted to let him know that unwillingly he has provided me with one of the most precious lessons of my life, but I was so emotional that the words got stuck up halfway my throat, but I don’t regret that, because people like him don’t do anything to attract the attention of bystanders or support of onlookers. They are the people who bring the light to the world.

Nowadays, we are constantly bombarded with cheap emotionality of TV series and movies, but the ordinary, harsh life often happening far away from the spotlight of the media, while all the others are “busy watching the fireworks” offers more true emotions than any artificial scene of love.       

Where love of gardens heals the scars of war

  "The gardeners of Kabul" represents BBC's Documentary series at its absolute best. Following the stories of the brave Afghan people putting their lives at peril to maintain their beloved gardens - the very symbols of their resolve to lead existence free from fear is undoubtedly one of the most inspiring stories about Afghanistan I have ever seen. It’s one of those documentaries that make you believe that there is still a flicker of hope for this world, when there are individuals ready to persevere even in face of the biggest adversities conceivable.The world would have been a much better place if more people could only believe that their perseverance can change lives of their own and of people around them.

  “I’ll never forget that feeling. We didn’t care about the rockets. We drew the water up and put it on the vines and the flowers. I’ll never forget how happy we felt”.

For the impatient: start at 11:30

WHERE THE GODS STATUES DO ACTUALLY DRINK MILK

Followers of different religions all over the world often allege to witness various supernatural occurrences, which are afterwards interpreted as signs of divine interventions and used to justify the “righteousness” of the religious doctrines.

The Hindu Milk Miracle has started in Delhi’s Hindu Lord Ganesha temple on the night of 21 September 1995. The temple’s head priest Radha Krishna Bharadwai was woken at night by one of his neighbors who claimed that the statue of the god Ganesha actually drank the milk, which was offered to it as part of customary Hindu religious ritual.

It has soon unleashed veritable explosion of religious fervor among the India’s Hindu majority population. To the extent that in some parts of the country it became difficult to obtain milk for consumption, since everybody wanted to rush to his nearby temple in order to offer it to the god’s statue and receive much needed blessings in exchange. Interestingly, Indian communities spread all over the world also partook in the Ganesha milk miracle craze.

POSSIBLE EXPLANATION:

The event caused understandable stir in India and soon some of the leading scientists were asked by the government to investigate the matter. It took some time to shed more light on the phenomenon. The scientists claimed that since most of the statues were carved out of stone the natural occurrence called caterpillar effect actually took place[1]. It is characterized by liquids flowing in narrow spaces without the assistance or even in opposition to the forces of gravity[2], It is a common occurrence in everyday life and paint brush absorbing the water is one of its most common examples. Renowned psychologists also asserted that the so called miracle was an example of a mass hysteria.

Not surprisingly, the scientifical proof didn’t convince the most ardent believers. Especially, since the phenomenon ended almost simultaneously in most of the temples just few days later, which was seen by some Hindus as a proof of the superranatural character of the phenomena.

The article was inspired by the BBC World’s Podcast, which can be accessed here:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04kfxxt 

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[1] http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=72699

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capillary_action

WHY THE WORLD IS BECOMING A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE IN

  With terrorist attacks a daily occurrence, other atrocities no less in evidence and the phantom of the war looming over many parts of the word it may not seem likely that the overall living conditions in the world at large have become anything but better. However, millions of people who have finally become literate or were lifted from poverty in the last two decades will doubtlessly reap the benefits of social progress, which may transform their lives. Certainly, the UN is not solely responsible for these substantial improvements, but as the world’s only genuinely international forum with every country represented there, it deserves significant share of praise for these spectacular achievements. Let’s examine some of the humanity’s biggest successes in the past 28 years.

LITERACY:

The literacy rate among youth aged 15 to 24 has increased globally from 83 per cent to 91 per cent between 1990 and 2015. Number of children out of school has been reduced; 1995-120 million; 2015 56 million.

 

What is the most important the biggest changes occurred in the regions most affected by the low literacy, i.e. Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East and South Asia. Despite these changes the world still needs more efforts to achieve the universal literacy, which is defined by the UN as condition when  96 percent of members of a respective population are literate.

POVERTY:

Global number of extreme poor has been significantly reduced from some 1.9 bln in 1990 to less than half that number in 2015 (830 mln).

Source: http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/home/

Two countries accounting for the preponderant share of that stunning uplifting of millions are China and India. In 1990 China had 756 million people living below the poverty line, while India had 338 million. Twenty-five years later China had only 25 million people living below the poverty line, while India 218 million.

Source: http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/home/

Some  other major gains in combating extreme destitution were mostly achieved in other Asian developing countries like Indonesia (change from 100 mln in 1990-25 mln in 2015 ) , Vietnam (39 mln in 1990-3 mln in 2015), Pakistan (62 mln in 1990-12 mln in 2015) or Bangladesh (45 mln in 1990-18 mln in 2015).

Unfortunately, simultaneously the extreme poverty has progressed in some Sub-Saharan African countries: in Nigeria the number of people subsisting below the level of poverty line has skyrocketed from 51 million to 86 million, while in DRC it increased from 24 to 55 million people. This can partly be attributed to the demographic explosion currently taking place in many parts of Africa. For instance, in the time span of the last 26 years Nigeria’s population has increased by 57 million, while that of DR Congo by 46 million. As a rule impoverished people are more likely to have more children as they often constitute the only safeguard for their parents future.

GLOBAL FIGHT WITH HIV/AIDS:

Global fight with HIV/AIDS is one of the fields where results are most tangible. In 1990, close to 3.5 mln people living in developing countries contracted the deadly disease, while in 2015 this number has been significantly reduced to close to 2 mln new infections annually. Unfortunately in the similar period the number of new HIV infections in developed countries has slightly risen from some 170.000 new cases in 1990 to 190.000 new infections in 2015. What is equally important the antiretroviral therapy outreach has been dramatically increased from mere 800.000 in 2003 to almost 14 million people enjoying the treatment by June of 2014.

MALARIA PREVENTION:

The areas highlighted in red still report malaria cases, the ones highlighted in blue have eradicated malaria; Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/10/daily-chart-7?fsrc=scn/fb/te/bl/ed/theshrinkingmalariamap

Similarly to global fight with many other widespread diseases, global fight with malaria is ripe with significant (although often unreported) achievements. Since 2000, the incidence of malaria has been cut in almost half to 90 million new cases per year in 2015. It is partly a result of increased consciousness of the disease and handing over of millions of anti-mosquito nets in Africa that allow members of local populations to enjoy healthy sleep, while contributing to the decreased occurrence of the disease. It is projected by the scientists that malaria can be totally wiped out by 2040. On the other hand, we are witnessing rise of various drug resistant types of malaria, which must be combated in a more efficient manner.

ACCESS TO CLEAN DRINKING WATER :

What deserves attention is the fact of close to 1.9 bln people gaining access to piped drinking water during the recent years and the overall figure of humans enjoying access to clean, piped drinking water presently stands at 4.2 bln. Moreover, 91 percent of people are now using water of better quality.

Alarmingly, if no new actions are to be undertaken, by 2040 the world’s water scarcity may be further enlarged by some 40 percent and the brunt of that will be especially borne by the most vulnerable communities of Western Asia, Northern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia.

EQUAL  ACCESS TO EDUCATION FOR WOMEN:

Although equal access to education for girls is still a distant dream in many parts of the world (mostly least developed countries), however the situation has improved dramatically over the past years and now 64 percent of developing countries have achieved parity of boys and girls at the level of primary schools. The prospects of reaching equality at the level of secondary education are still relatively dim (only 3 percent of the countries managed to achieve it).  

One of the biggest success stories in improving equal access to education took place in South Asia where in 1990 primary school enrolment ratio for women was close to 74 (for 100 boys), in 2015 reaching ratio of 103 girls for 100 boys.

What is interesting, in 2015 women in many regions have not only achieved equal access to education, but in some parts of the globe number of female students has by far exceeded that of males; for instance Eastern Asia, Latin America, Northern Africa, South-Eastern Asia all have more female than male students at a university level. It has tipped the scales in imbalance yet again with boys now being severely underrepresented at the university level (close to 120 women for 100 men), especially in Northern Africa and Latin America.

SOME OF LARGELY UNRESOLVED WORLD-WIDE ISSUES INCLUDE:

• International Terrorism, the rise of international terrorism is mostly visible in Western Europe, but in fact countries mostly affected by it lie in Africa and South Asia
• Refugees related problems, including both external refugees and internally displaced persons (Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, South Sudan, DRC, CAR, Somalia,Ukraine), due to numerous ongoing conflicts the number of refugees has decidedly risen in the past 5 years to the levels not witnessed since the times of WW2. Contrary to common belief the bulk of the refugees reside in Northern Africa.
• Climate Change- a question which threatens the very existence of human race  
• Gender equality-women earn on average 25 percent less than their male counterparts doing the same work and their promotion prospects are often limited
• Lack of sustainable development model in many countries- this includes lack of access to electricity in many parts of Africa, reliance on fossil fuels in the production of electricity,  or lack of commitment to combat the negative effects of climate change from many developing and developed countries alike

CONCLUSION

Appreciating numerous successes witnessed by the last quarter of a century doesn’t necessarily indicate that the world as we know it today has been miraculously transformed into the Garden of Eden. Seemingly never ending conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Palestine, South Sudan, people dying on an almost daily basis in terrorist attacks, refugees desperately trying to save their lives and to search for opportunities of a dignified life elsewhere, this is also the present reality. But in the boundless ocean of human misery and sorrow the UN is still one of the brightest beacons of hope and light in these tumultuous times we happen to live in.

SOURCES/FURTHER READING; unless stated otherwise all the numerical data in this articles is based on the below sources:

The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015

http://datatopics.worldbank.org/sdgatlas/SDG-01-no-poverty.html

http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/

Other sources:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-27921938 

德里打车记

  Dear friends, this blog is mainly written in English, but I have decided to provide at least part of the content in Mandarin Chinese, which is one of the languages I am fluent in. In order to view below post in English (or for that matter any other language), please use the Google Translate add-on available on the right side of this website. The post, concerns my experiences in using autorickshaws in India's capital Delhi. I really hope you can enjoy it. 

Photo's source: https://www.rentautobus.com/upload/images/tinymce/12669/Delhi-181AutoRickshaw.jpg

    我在印度学习的一段时间很有可能是我生活中最重要的经历之一。我想写一下我在印度打车的三段经历。介绍印度给我的印象。

    我大概3点到达德里。没有人来接我，所以我只好坐出租车去我在印度的大学。那是我第一次去亚洲，只会说三句印地语。我从机场出来以后找到了出租车站。幸亏司机认识我的大学，我坐上了他的车。这个时候我还不知道在印度坐车之前应该跟司机讲价。我们到了我的大学以后，我问他价格的时候他说30美元。他说：“价格那么低，是因为你是我的朋友。”老实说，我到印度之前听说过印度的出租司机经常骗老外。我给了他14美元。后来我知道这段路的价格应该是3美元左右。

    德里人对坐三轮车很感兴趣。可以说三轮车是德里文化的一个重要部分。有一次我晚上10点坐三轮车回大学的宿舍。这次已经知道该提前跟师傅讲价。他同意了40卢比的价格。我预先给了他100卢比，等他找给我60卢比，可是他拒绝把我的钱找给我。他让我感到十分生气。我再三地对他说：“你把我的钱还给我。”他最终给了我30卢比。我们到了大学，我下车以后去看他车的后面，在德里每个三轮车的后面有一个提意见的电话号码。我打算假装要给他的公司打电话。不是因为我真的需要30卢比（3块钱左右），而是我不喜欢被欺骗。这个时候我听到他从他三轮车的袋子里拿了一个东西，然后对我说：“我错了，快来拿你的30卢比”，不过他的表现给了我不好的感觉。我不知道为什么，可是我下意识地感到要出事，所以赶快离开了那里。到宿舍就意识到了：有可能他拿的东西是刀。这个时候我流出了冷汗。

    第三个故事也是晚上时发生的。我在德里的时候对这个城市很有感情，所以经常去看名胜古迹。有一次下午我没太注意时间，所以晚上的时候还没回到大学。另外我在陌生的地区迷路了。这个地方是德里的郊区，所以很难找到三轮车。很长时间不能找到三轮车我感到很失望。不想终于来了一辆三轮车。我对司机直接说：“大哥，我迷路了，价格不是问题，只要能到达我的大学。” 他说：“别着急，你是我们国家的客人，让你安全到达宿舍是我的责任。”我们到了我的大学他不想收我的钱说：“帮助遇到困难的人是每个人的职责。”说完 这句话他走了，我感到很惊奇。

    我们经常比较注意以前遇到过的倒霉事。说实话我不知道世界上善人多还是坏人多，可是我的深夜经历让我发现了人性的亮点。

Joseph Conrad-more than the Heart of darkness.

  Writer, traveler, sailor and above all deeply tormented artist. Almost exclusively known for his authorship of the Heart of Darkness (this only as a result of it being adapted for the movie script of Apocalypse Now), which in my humble opinion isn’t even his most brilliant novel. But well, the digital age and mass culture are ruled by their own rights. Another interesting fact is that Conrad who regularly makes it to the list of 100 best British authors of all times [i]rarely makes it to any list of best Polish writers, even though in his everyday life he has always markedly stressed his links with homeland. Owing to multiple misunderstandings and often bare ignorance shrouding his person it may be useful to shed some more light on the writer's life.

Difficult beginnings of a brilliant career

  Joseph Conrad (as he is known to the bigger part of the world) was born in Russian occupied part of the erstwhile Commonwealth of Poland in 1857 as Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski[ii]. After experiencing the harsh realities of life in which both Polish language and culture were strongly persecuted by the tsarist state apparatus Conrad had left the country at the age of 19 in order to take up employment in a sailing company operating from France (succumbing to the trend of his times Conrad was fluent in French, which undoubtedly influenced his life choices). There are not many references to Poland and his personal life in his works. On the other hand, strong character and restless spirit are well illustrated by his many attempts  to renounce the Russian citizenship, which finally bore fruit in 1889. What deserves further attention, some members of the staff of Russian embassy in London are portrayed in one of his novels “The Secret Agent” as supporting revolutionaries operating in Europe of his times.

    One of the most extraordinary things concerning Conrad's life is the fact of him gaining fluency in English only in his middle 20’s, which didn’t stop him from becoming one of the most distinguished British writers of all times. Most of his novels cover exotic topics and examine life in distant lands, representing the way in which the Europeans perceived the so called Orient at the brink of the 20^th century. They are thoroughly permeated by the spirit of adventure and exploration. Interestingly, Conrad didn’t use any disparaging words (save from the N word, which until recently was commonly used in everyday English) when talking about cultures and civilizations the western world of his times still held in deep contempt and his characters (often with striking easiness) assimilate into foreign cultures.

  Most of his characters are extraordinary in some respect: like Nostromo full of bravado, others like a Dutch trader Almayer who decides to settle down in colonial Indonesia, but doesn’t go on well with his local wife - remarkable in their own ignorance and seclusion. Humans as portrayed by Conrad are full of deeply contradictory qualities ranging from selflessly sacrificing themselves for others to utter contempt and disregard for the life of other human beings. Whether exhibiting positive or negative traits many of them seem to somehow function out of the mainstream of society and live their respective lives on their own terms. What deserves further attention, humans portrayed by Conrad are largely dependent on the whims of the Fate, which holds many dramas up its sleeve.

It was enough, when you thought it over, to give you the idea of an immense, potent, and invisible hand thrust into the ant-heap of the earth, laying hold of shoulders, knocking heads together, and setting the unconscious faces of the multitude towards inconceivable goals and in undreamt-of directions.

Joseph Conrad "Typhoon"

  Looking at the wild plethora of his characters one can hardly escape the conviction of Conrad speaking himself through the actions of at least some of them as Conrad’s personal life was by no means free from disappointments and problems shared by many of them-to the extent that at the age of 20 he attempted a suicide , which attempt was fortunately unsuccessful. Some, personally familiar with the writer claim that Conrad had suffered from bipolar disease, characterized by swings of mood, ranging from severe depression to bouts of elation and which interestingly enough also seems to be the ailment of at least few of his characters.

Conrad, racist or not?

  He has been repeatedly accused of racism[iii] by modern publicists, however in my humble opinion this claim is fired at him quite randomly or rather Joseph Conrad doesn’t really stand out in this regard, for one would have to judge 80% of the authors writing before the 1970’s in the same light.    It is the case that he looks on some of non-European characters of his books through the prism of “the burden of the white man”, but simultaneously he shows a way more respect and even empathy towards the foreign cultures than almost any other author writing in his lifetime. The problems also lies in the fact that the majority of people discussing Conrad’s works are merely familiar with The Heart of Darkness and utterly oblivious to strikingly positive way in which he portrays non-European cultures in some of his other works (for instance Lord Jim). What deserves further attention, he had refused the offer of knighthood made to him by the British Prime Minister in 1924 as a protest against vicious colonial policy of the country that provided him with shelter, but whose own heart of darkness he deeply opposed. 

You can access most of Conrad’s published books and novels here for free (legal source): http://gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/125  

REFERENCES/FURTHER READ:

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[i] http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20151204-the-100-greatest-british-novels

[ii] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Conrad

[iii] https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/feb/22/classics.chinuaachebe

The fascinating world of Chinese movies

Despite the universal popularity of referring to the 21st century as the century of China, the Middle Kingdom' s cinematography is still often associated by an average foreigner merely with names such as those of Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan while simultaneously the ordinary Westerner can hardly name out one or two China-made movies. This lack of recognition is rather startling and hardly deserved in the face of multitude and diversity presented by the PRC' s cinematography. Why Chinese movies?  First of all, because more often than not they are utterly unpredictable. Watching Western movies after getting acquainted with  the very first scene, the viewer can quite often foresee the usually joyous ending. That' s how a bulk of contemporary Western blockbusters are constructed, while in Chinese movies, the storyline is not only jaw - dropping, but also follows own traits distinctive to the Far East making it original. Contrary to the common belief, although, deeply imbued with Chinese concepts, the movies coming from this great country are not so difficult to understand in terms of culture and as some elementary knowledge about China won' t do harm, it is not necessary. In a place imbued with such a long history, culture and population as China it is close to impossible to minutely present the multitude of home - grown cinematography. Under the heaven of heterogenous styles and genres, there exists a genre of Hong - Kong set unending triad-police encounters movies, that despite the passage of time still invariably arrest the interest of the spectators. Historical motion pictures are also held in high esteem, often mixed under another genre known as wuxia ( martial arts/history ). As per my own experience with Chinese movies, up to date, I still haven’t seen a single Chinese film that left me dissatisfied . In the subsequent lines, I will aim at making you acquainted with some of the most influential Chinese filmmakers, all mature enough to know the joys and sorrows of life, all creating the pure art, the art genuinely deserving to get its share of global recognition. Wong Kar  Wai - the grandmaster of improvisation                                         Wong Kar Wai ( 王家卫 ) is my favorite Chinese film director.  Interestingly enough this mastermind of creativity is not a graduate of a movie academy, but owing to spending the bulk of his childhood in numerous Hong Kong cinemas, juggling with different styles comes to him naturally.  Based in Hong Kong, Kar Wai' s movies have a deep touch of surrealism, are profoundly oneiric and employ a magnificent play of colors as befits a graphic design course graduate. The plot itself is often a second tier affair while personal encounters   (often centered around man - female relations) are in the limelight. While following the unraveling plot, it' s easy to lose your track of the storyline, but this dynamism rather skillfully portrays Hong Kong with its fiercely independent, diverse and at the same time free of any templates pace of life. As it happens, Wong is not afraid of experimenting and improvisation has always played a prominent part in his movie career. To the extent that one of his best-known movies Chongqing Express was, as he later himself confessed directed without any precise plan in mind, in line with his expressed convictions: Each production has certain circumstances that will bring you to a certain way of making it. It is not intentional, it is not an artistic decision, the way we make films, it is the way we address to our problems. Wong' s movies are often set in the city where blurred neon - lit night streets appear somehow unearthly and altogether unrealistic. The style employed in his films is profoundly elusive and filled with both positive emotions and feelings of nostalgia and anxiousness, often beset by a creeping  shadow of  loneliness. It' s impossible to tell the illusion from the fact, or maybe it is rather an apotheosis of life that follows on a pace as swift as a flicker of lights? As is the pattern with many other Chinese directors Wong Kar Wai also has some favorite actors, with Tony Leung Chiu - wai ( 梁朝偉 ) being the most prominent. Zhang Yimou - the master of imposing forms  Movies of Zhang Yimou ( 张艺谋 ) are altogether different in character from those of aforementioned Wong Kar Wai. China presented in them is majestic and splendid, often fictional, but at the same time tied to its both glorious and dismal history. His motion pictures portray personal dramas of characters, deeply placed within the historical context. Above all, Yimou' s movies depict the sublime beauty of Chinese culture and, although mainstream as they are, the director doesn' t refrain in them from asking difficult questions. Director' s favorite muse Gong Li ( 巩俐 ), featured in a plethora of roles is most noted for the portrayal of strong female characters confronted with almost hopelessly swift and tumultuous currents of events. There is not much place in Zhang' s movies left for frivolous and light - hearted dialogues since for the most part the main protagonists very survival is put at stake or rather at a point of a sword. Bending before the crude logic of events and Fate even emperors can' t be sure of tomorrow. As a rule, his films are enriched by a state of art music of Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi.               I genuinely encourage you to search for it in Baidu Music for instance.   China of Yimou' s movies is often rich with colors, full of grandeur and imperial splendor, but at the same time ripe in dramatic turns of action and, by and large, unexpected endings, that will tear your heart to pieces, to invoke House of Flying Daggers as an example, one of the very few movies that left me (positively) speechless. As it happens, splendor even when seemingly fictional, requires real money, so Zhang' s movies employ monstrous size budgets. One of his films, The flowers of war is the third most expensive non - English feature film ever made, with a budget close to 94 million USD, however, it seems that his anticipated movie The Great Wall (2016) with a budget close to 140 million USD will skyrocket the bar even higher. What is more, mind - boggling special effects employed in his films are characterized by a great degree subtlety. Chen Kaige - the master storyteller    Chen Kaige( 陈凯歌) is another name of his own standing in Chinese movie industry. The most notable of his early works - Yellow Earth is regarded as a trendsetter in Chinese movie industry,  but I decided to put him on the list, because of his notable work Farewell My Concubine, which is a must see for every foreigner interested in Chinese culture. The movie met with an astounding reception at the Cannes Festival of 1993 receiving the main prize there. Kaige' s characters are often confronted with a merciless hand of history that in blind fervor not only aims at sweeping them away but steals what is the dearest in their lives - as behooves the merciless power of destiny, often leaving them in the positions of passive spectators. What truly distinguishes Kaige is the fact that he often engages himself in the preparation of scripts of his films. The scripts that are no less important than effects adorning his movies and contribute to the overall finesse of his pictures. Apart from Gong Li who also often starred in Kaige' s movies the other actor truly valued by the director was Leslie Cheung ( 张国荣 ), whose own life story somehow followed in the footsteps of  Farewell My Concubine' s scenario and ended to a great outcry of his fans by a suicide. What is interesting, Kaige' s The Promise (2014) briefly enjoyed the status of the most expensive Chinese movie ever made, with a gross budget close to 40 million USD. Where to search for the movies?  The answer to this question unsurprisingly depends on your fluency in Mandarin. Most of the Chinese movies screened in mainland China' s cinemas have both Chinese and English subtitles, so there is no barrier stopping you from giving them a try. Moreover, you can easily find some Chinese movies with English subtitles at https://www.youku.com or           (especially if you know Chinese) at https://www.iqiyi.com. Will Chinese movies ever become globally distinguished?  As for now (February 2017), only one Chinese director Ang Lee (nota bene living in the West) managed to win an Academy Award for the best director, who and when will follow in his footsteps?  With every passing year, Chinese movies are becoming increasingly expensive, at the same time bagging increasing amounts of money, but will they soon become truly global? It' s a question that  only passing time can answer. Luckily our splendid times leave us free handed. Whether you want to draw some water from the ancient, but still surprisingly fresh spring of Chinese stories in order to quench your thirst for the unknown or not, the choice is yours.

Beijing subway: how to manage public transportation system in an efficient way?

According to the official survey, Beijing has the world's second longest (after Shanghai) subway track line and simultaneously the planet's highest daily ridership subway system, allowing almost 9 million people daily to enjoy the blessings of the technological progress!  What is equally important, not too many of the world's greatest metropolitan areas stand any chance in comparison with Chinese cities when it comes to the scale and scope of infrastructural projects. What in even most developed countries took sometimes a century in Beijing was largely accomplished within 20 year period, when the two up to date existing lines were significantly extended and new connections added.   As the city sprawls through a seemingly never ending, ever expanding area, while residing in Beijing you need to get used to occasionally spending as much as 2 hours in subway when traveling one way. I can't even imagine how the life in Beijing looked like before the advent of a subway, as even despite the increasingly strict traffic limitation the city is marred by the phantom of traffic jams and air pollution. What is more, the city administration considers toughening existing (generally speaking already strict ) regulations, introducing policies further restricting the use of private cars resembling policies adopted in many of the world's biggest cities (for instance London). As a matter of fact, it seems that the further development of the urban transportation system is to a large extent dependent upon the improvement of suburban and urban railway and bus systems. EVOLUTION OF BEIJING SUBWAY SYSTEM: The extent of Beijing subway system 1971-2002 The extent of Beijing subway system February 2017   After protracted analysis of even more ambitious plans for the future, one can certainly say "China is the new US" when it comes to the scope of its infrastructural projects and doubtlessly the world's best work market if you are an engineer. In the next decade or so, every provincial level city in China is about to get a way more extensive subway system than most of the European capitals or the vast majority of the other developed countries major cities. Not to mention that already extensive subway system in Beijing will get a few hundred kilometers more of tracks. In the face of that, it's hardly sensible to say that China is challenging the old way in which the issue of transportation was perceived, but rather it's ahead of the times, therefore, putting an altogether new lens through which the question of the public transportation is perceived.   These problems are easily noticeable and painfully felt in everyday life. Sometimes travel by subway  resembles a journey through the very heart of all the seven hells of Dante's. I have never in my life experienced anything comparable to travelling by metro in Beijing around 6 p.m., as sometimes there is hardly any more space on the train! To add to the daily struggles, unfortunately, Beijing subway is also often characterized by a challenge to get off, typical for many Asian countries as people waiting at the platform are often too impatient to let the other passengers leave the train, which often literally leaves you no other choice, but to fight your way out!   Despite at times grim scenes accompanying travelling by the means of public transportation in Beijing, there are many positive sides of the city's subway system. One of the brighter aspects of them are children. "Mom, mom, foreigner", sometimes whispered, at other times almost shouted in astonishment can brighten up even the gloomiest day. Especially, if the occasion is favorable for a conversation. Once, I've had a chance to overhear a conversation in Chinese between a boy, most likely around 8 years old and his mother: "Mom there is a foreigner there. I would like to talk to him". Noticing the smile on my face, his mother encouraged him to actually speak to me. However, exhibiting shyness common to some children of his age, he seemed to be a bit reluctant. Finally, I've decided to make the first step and I definitely don't regret that. We've only had some basic conversation, but you can't imagine how happy it made the boy.   Another peculiarity of Beijing's subway system is its simplicity. I clearly remember how on my first subway ride in Beijing I had absolutely no problems whatsoever with finding the way to get to the Tiananmen Square, even though I was totally unfamiliar with Chinese language at that time and I had to transfer some three times. Moreover, many of the stations, exhibit very interesting motifs directly representing the rich cultural heritage of China with themes ranging from the Peking opera to politics.   To sum up, impressive as the development of the subway system in Beijing has been, the process brings into the forefront some essential problems, as it seems that no matter how enhanced or improved, the public transportation system will always be deemed insufficient in a city of Beijing's size, but does there exist any truly efficient way to satisfy the needs of the city's urban communication requirements? Double decked subways? Twice as long carriages, or 40 more subway lines? Whichever the solution (if any), undoubtedly the future of Beijing's public transportation will influence the way people view and deal with this issue globally.

FURTHER READ: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/29/beijing-subway-expansion_n_6389002.html https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2014/sep/10/-sp-history-metro-pictures-london-underground-new-york-beijing-seoul http://en.trackingchina.com/metro/beijing/ http://www.chinanews.com/cj/2016/05-01/7854979.shtml

CAN A WRESTLING MOVIE AIM TO TRANSFORM A COUNTRY ?

What are your potential options of leaving your mark if you happen to live in a tiny village in India’s most conservative state sometime in the 1990’s? Seemingly there are not many chances there open for you. You can become a farmer, a local official or simply leave to look for better life elsewhere. There is also one more possibility. You can train your daughters to reach for the gold medals in international wrestling competitions while proudly representing their home country.

The movie “Dangal”, released in December of 2016 is based on the life of Mahavir Singh Phogat an accomplished Indian wrestler who because of his insufficient means has never gotten a chance to fulfill the dream of representing his country on an international stage.  Mahavir as portrayed in the movie may appear to be somewhat harsh on his daughters, but one needs to keep in mind equally harsh conditions of life in the Indian countryside of 90’s.

Living in a village of Balali in the most conservative part of India Mahavir was struggling to make his ends meet, while meanwhile supporting his daughters in realization of his somehow quixotic dream in India where wrestling (known in its local pehlwani form) is one of the traditional sports, Mahavir decided to train his two daughters in the arcana of wrestling. It initially made the entire family to bear the brunt of incredulousness of the conservative village community whose elders accused Mahavir of bringing shame upon the whole community, where wrestling was perceived as exclusively men’s sport and woman’s place firmly established in a kitchen rather at a wrestling pit. But despite the initial problems Mahavir  always told himself that, "Everyone said I was bringing shame to our village by training my girls, but I thought, if a woman can be Prime Minister of a country, why can't she be a wrestler?"   

His home village having no proper facilities he has decided to build a rustic gym on his own and persisted in his choice even despite his wife’s pleadings.  What is more, he put his daughters onto a really deep sea, making them face boys in traditional Indian mud wrestling tournaments, what initially elicited salves of heartily laughter, contempt and rude remarks towards him and his daughters, however with the passage of time allowing them to gain essential experience and prowess and finally win the national championship in wrestling which was a ticket for the further training.

The turning point for his daughter Geeta was winning gold medal in national women’s wrestling competition after which point she has finally got a green light for her international match preparations. Movie's final part is centred on Commonwealth Games of 2010, which took place in India and allowed Mahavir's daughter Geeta to reach for the highest laurels thus fulfilling his deep felt dream. What deserves noting even despite knowing the finale of the movie it was still quite a thriller to watch Geeta's final fight. 

The movie is set in real, rural India where people need to work their best to achieve success. All the success doesn’t come here as a matter of luck, but is a result of blood, sweat and countless setbacks.

The deeper significance of the movie lies in its avowed promotion of women’s rights, especially in states like Punjab or Haryana where Mahavir stems from and which have an acute shortage of females owing to common feticide. The nation-wide program of Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao  purports to change this state of affairs for instance by financially supporting families with daughters. Thanks to its strong message the movie has somehow become an advocate of the program and its makers received tax exemptions in few Indian states as a result of that.  

RECEPTION

Everything about the movie beginning with the original plot is immensely beautiful and captivating. The storyline (unlike in many other high-budget Indian movies) has no flaws and is remarkably coherent and deeply takes from rich Indian storytelling traditions.  However the most captivating thing about the movie are the genuine emotions expressed by the actors (especially girls impersonating Mahavir's children  in the early stage of their life).

Dangal has absolutely deserved its unbelievable popularity in India and reaching for the mantle of the highest grossing movie in Indian history. The movie's high artistic quality stands in sharp contrast with another wrestling movie “Sultan” recently released by another Indian superstar Salman Khan.

The motion-picture has met with astounding reception both from the side of critics and audience and has been dubbed the best movie creation of Aamir Khan in his career by the leading English-language magazine India Today. It has also receive an aggregated score of 9.1/10 (based on close to 25 thousand votes) at the leading movie website IMDB.

THE REALITY EVEN MORE CAPTIVATING THAN THE MOVIE

As is often the case real life is even more spectacular than the movie as despite two Phogat sisters, there are three more women of the Phogat family who reached for various world titles in wrestling under the guidance of Mahavir. What may also be interesting real Mahavir was supposed to be ten times stricter than his movie portrayal.

The village of Balali now houses a modern wrestling complex for women and the sport has been firmly established as the

Making long story short Dangal is up to the rank of Aamir Khan whose movies are demanding and full of intelligent remarks. An absolute must see.

REFERENCES:

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/28/sport/india-female-wrestlers-olympics/

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/dangal-box-office-collection-day-24-aamir-khan-film-stands-strong-inches-close-to-rs-375-cr/articleshow/56595023.cms

http://www.hindustantimes.com/other-sports/mahavir-phogat-10-times-stricter-than-aamir-s-character-in-dangal-vinesh-phogat/story-QbijRZDsgdqdNwBIQAjs5O.html