#Kashmir-smoke art

[kashmir-smoke]

Gem and the Scotts!

[frostedmagnolias]

Tea Gown

c. 1891

“This tea gown, composed of a cut-up wool shawl woven in a paisley pattern, imitates a black-centered Indian Kashmir shawl. In fact, the material was probably woven in France during the 1860s or 1870s. On the upper right corner of the bodice is embroidered "Cachemire" in white thread. Such a tea gown, intended for gender-segregated leisure, is the feminine analogue to the man's dressing gown or smoking jacket.”

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

[ashtrayfloors]

Meanwhile, Fred Drake was gathering an ever-growing low-rent boho crowd around him at Rancho de la Luna. It was a place of old carpet and couches, coiled audio cables hanging neatly from nails on the walls alongside his cowboy and matador memorabilia. At one end of the living room was an old cast-iron wood-burning stove and at the other a vintage 1970s sixteen-track mixing board with a one-and-a-half-inch reel-to-reel, in open defiance of the digital turn in the recording industry. Fred became known as the “mayor of Joshua Tree” (the village had no official governing body) as more and more friends from Los Angeles made the trip to record, and then friends of friends.

Fred was dying all the while, but he took his time. He refused AZT, calling it “rat poison.” He consulted personally with Jonas Salk and participated in an unsuccessful clinical trial for a vaccine. There were bouts with lung cancer, brain tumors, and opportunistic infections, all of which meant frequent trips to the hospital “down below,” as locals referred to journeys of necessity on Highway 62 to Palm Springs or other civilized points beyond.

Fred was dying for so long that we thought he was just going on living. Which, in many essential ways, he was. He smoked (first Marlboro reds, then American Spirit blues, and, of course, pot), enjoyed the occasional shot of tequila. He made music, held court, ranted, engineered for the increasing number of bands that booked sessions at the Rancho. Word had spread. Hanging there were the likes of Daniel Lanois, who produced U2’s The Joshua Tree, the band’s biggest critical and commercial success. (The album’s only connection to the Mojave desert was a photo shoot that took place there after recording, which provided cover art and its title, transforming the lyrics and music into an iconic desert sound.) The Louisiana native Victoria Williams, a brilliant, idiosyncratic figure in American roots music, bought a place a few blocks down the road from Fred and recorded one of her finest albums with him.

The Rancho had become a kind of pop shrine, and Fred a bona fide “personality,” a guru for musicians and assorted scruffy creative types. And how could we not bow down before him? The gay cowboy rocker who could sing “Blue Moon” in a sweet croon that was simultaneously ethereal, earthy, and erotic; who rode his regal Arabian stallion, Kashmir, bareback at sunrise or down to the saloon on Highway 62 (Victoria Williams immortalized horse and rider in a song); who led us along a moonlit trail in the Monument, showing us the graves of gunslingers, crouching low to point out rattlesnakes coiled under rocks. —Rubén Martínez, from Desert America (Metropolitan Books, 2012)

[danishkhan786]

perfume

BLOGS

Immerse yourself in the world of fragrance and discover the art of perfumery. From the history of scent-making to the science behind it, we aim to educate and inspire our readers. Whether you are a fragrance enthusiast or just looking for some inspiration, our journal is perfect for you. Get ready to explore the captivating world of fragrance with Quintesscent Perfume.

Fragrances

Step into the universe of the best scents, where each fragrance is an ensemble of smell. From the principal spritz to the dry down, be enthralled by the masterfulness and complexity in each container.

Buy the Best Fragrances for Men and Women to add an enchanting allure to your personality. Let yourself dwell into the ecstasy of Luxury Fragrance

CERIUM

Cerium is a flabbergasting scent which emanates a quality of extravagance from a combination of kashmir concurs. Delighted by this encouraging aroma you will be moved to new skylines as you are encircled by the cheerful mix of elemi, cedarwood and smoke combination.

Open with care! Indium is a rich aroma is injected with traces of Sichuan pepper, jasmine sambac and patchouli. A wanton decision, this heavenly creation will stay with you over the course of the day and hoist your soul.

Gain experiences with the hypnotizing force of Gallium. An energetic and drawing in scent with liberal top notes of cumin blended with an exotic heart of rose, jasmine and base of cedar wood, this cutting edge piece is both enchanting and complex.

A declaration of heartfelt guiltlessness, Erbium is a sensitive flower smell wonderfully created with a mix of blush vanilla sprouts. Take thoroughly enjoy the mix of succulent note of bergamot, rose oil, vanilla musk and patchouli

ERBIUM

A declaration of heartfelt guiltlessness, erbium is a fragile flower smell wonderfully created with a mix of blush vanilla sprouts. Take get a kick out of the blend of delicious note of bergamot, rose oil, vanilla musk and patchouli.

GALLIUM

Gain experiences with the hypnotizing force of gallium. An enthusiastic and drawing in scent with liberal top notes of cumin blended with an erotic heart of rose, jasmine and base of cedarwood, this cutting edge sythesis is both beguiling and complex.

[edwardianchic]

Years of Dresses: 1891

Credits and Image Descriptions under the cut

The first dress is a French silk dress circa 1891-93 from designer Emile Pingat. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The second dress is an American reception dress designed by Kate R. Cregmile of Cincinnati circa 1891-92. It is composed of silk and linen. Courtesy of the Cincinnati Art Museum.

The third dress is an American tea gown. The Metropolitan Museum of Art notes that the paisley-patterned wool shawl “imitates a black-centered Indian Kashmir shawl.” They note that the wool fabric is probably French, woven circa 1860-70. They conclude that these types of tea gowns were “intended for gender-segregated leisure“ and were “the feminine analogue to the man's dressing gown or smoking jacket.“

The following dress is a French afternoon dress circa 1890-91 designed by Maison Félix composed of silk and lace. Courtesy of the Albany Museum of History & Art.

The fifth dress is an American dress circa 1890-91 composed of cotton and silk. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The final dress is an American silk and lace dress circa 1891-92 designed by Jeanne Vouney of New York City. Courtesy of the Albany Museum of History & Art.

[memory-mortis]

Diamond is Unbreakable OC

You can now interact with my new baby! Also I’m gonna tag @mistaeq​ here cause they might be interest in her- I took the concept of ballet dancing and sort of changed it up, because I didn’t want her Stand be a straight up copy of Adonis’s oop

Name: Ava Isogawa Age: 22 Date of birth: 13th March Zodiac sign: Pisces Ancestry: descendant of Japanese immigrants in Australia Sexuality: bisexual Pronouns: she/her Personality: empathetic, usually somewhat quiet and relaxed, her rage is silent, dreamy, creative, distrusting, maladaptive daydreamer, observant Likes: the colors blue and black, sword fighting, fantasy books, bubble tea, Josuke, Jotaro, stargazing, more to be added Dislikes: loud crowded places, ballet, being underestimated, inconsiderate people (aka Rohan) Height: 163 cm Weight: 68 kg Appearance: athletic, very fair skin, light blue eyes, always wears blue lipstick, white shoulder-length hair with black ends in the back (usually worn in a low bun), hand bracelet with a sword pendant, due to old cuts on her fingers she wears bandaids over them Stand name: Kashmir (reference: Led Zeppelin) - tall, muscular woman with a long skirt, bandages around her chest, gloves and a valkyrie-like helmet, long flowing hair that turns into shadowy smoke and dissipates at the ends Stand power: great speed and agility, dances with a one-handed sword, can blind a person for a certain amount of time by swiping a hand in front of their eyes Background:

Ava is the firstborn child of the rich Isogawa family in Sydney, Australia. Ever since she could remember, her parents had very high expectations of her. She was homeschooled, had a generally very strict upbringing and despite her very creative and dreamy nature, she was expected to become the heir of the business. She struggled with focusing on subjects like maths and economy, constantly being punished for zoning out or daydreaming, when such things were to be expected from a child.

Hoping to somehow sate her creative needs, when she was 6 years old, her parents signed her up for ballet classes. Ava hated every second of it, not only because it was incredibly boring to her, but also because she was forced to have a very strict diet, causing her to become dangerously thin. She was constantly tired, which made it even harder for her to concentrate on studying. 

At the age of 12, however, she found a new passion: books, more specifically of the fantasy genre. Tolkien quickly became her favorite author, and as she got more and more consumed by the fantasy world, she grew enamored by the image of a strong, powerful warrior woman. Often she would stand in front of her mirror, studying her frail features. This wasn’t who she wanted to be. Becoming a businesswoman was not her calling, and she would rather die than get stuck in an office staring at a computer five days a week.

As her other 2 siblings were born, she could feel her parents’ attention on her slipping. She began to have more freedom, more space to get away with things. She used that to her advantage and started skipping ballet classes. With the help of her closest friend, her maid, she instead started going to the gym, took up martial arts and gained some weight. She also got a secret job, and finally by the age of 22 she had enough money to escape her family.

She moved to a small, friendly town named Morioh Cho in Japan. Thanks to half of her family speaking Japanese, there was no language barrier, and she could fit right in. The small town was perfect for her - somewhat quiet, or at least on the surface. One day while she was people watching at a park, gathering some material for her possible future book, she was shot with an arrow. Yet to her surprise, she didn’t die. Quite the opposite, something within her awoke and she soon stood face to face with a strange being, her Stand. A blonde man named Nijimura Keicho and his younger brother Okuyasu approached her and tried to persuade her into using her Stand on their sick father, but she refused to and even won a fight with them, quickly learning how to use her new powers.

She soon got to meet Kishibe Rohan, another creative soul like hers, though he was very different and very unbearable. He used Heaven’s Door on her and she took away his sight in return, making him swear not to do that again. Their relationship is somewhat neutral now, though she doesn’t really hang out with him unless she has to. Thanks to Rohan she met Josuke and Jotaro, who were much more likeable, and she even grew some sort of admiration for Jotaro.

Currently she works at a bakery.

[giforu0]

Best Places to Visit in Dec in India | List of Tourist Places

In this blog, I will tell you that you should be told during the winter season. You can plan for the best places to visit in December in India with Friends or Family.

Best Places to Visit in India with Friends and Family

Because nowadays coronavirus is spread. And the whole country is closed. Sub people, you are imprisoned in the house. To avoid the coronavirus. If you sit on a cake, you must have agreed to the smoke, then you make a pre-plan that you have to go to the fog in winter. For that, you need to know about that place. So you can get all the information on this website where you want to go during the winter season.

List of Tourist Places in December And January in India

You can read about the very best place given below. Where you like to go Particularly in winter. Such as Auli, Manali, Shimla, etc.

1. Auli, Uttarakhand, 2. Nainital, Uttarakhand, 3. Binsar, Uttarakhand, 4. Manali, Himachal Pradesh (Kasol, Kullu, Rohtang pass,), 5. Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, 6. Narkanda, Himachal Pradesh, 7. Gulmarg and Sonamarg, Jammu & Kashmir, 8. Goa, 9. Kerala, 10. Shillong, Meghalaya

11. Rajasthan:-

Rajasthan is a state which is a form of culture, art, dress, faith, and culture of the country. Rajasthan has famous Raj Mahals, Temples, Folk Art, Tiger Resorts which are visited by people. The famous places of Rajasthan are Jaipur, Bharatpur, Jodhpur, Sawai Madhopur.

Jaipur is famous for its magnificent forts, palaces, and beautiful lakes, and there are many more that you can see. Keoladeo is a dense national park in Bharatpur, which is very rich. Jodhpur is known as the Rathore chief dynasty.

12. Orchha, Madhya Pradesh

Even today, Lord Rama is worshiped as King (Ram Raja Sarkar) in this temple of Orchha. It is located in the Niwari district of Madhya Pradesh. It is a small island formed at the confluence of Betwa River and James River. The temple is located in Orchha in the Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh where Rama is worshiped as a god.

Orchha is a small town in Madhya Pradesh. Where all the modern facilities can be easily accessible to tourists. During the time of Mughal Emperor Akbar, the king of this place was Madhukar Shah. Orchha is also a witness to the courage of the Bundelas.

Source:- Best Places to Visit in December in India with Friends

[solacekames]

If anyone would like a non-Tulsi-Gabbard-related explanation of what Hindutva is, why it’s fascist, and why it should not be confused with Hinduism itself:

Hindutva – Fascism, Indian Style  - by Nandakishore Varma

As a student, I was attracted towards the BJP: in an aggressively secular democracy which stressed non-religiosity of the government to the extent of purposefully rejecting the common Hindu culture, fearing that it might hurt the sentiments of the minority, perhaps it was only natural. At that time, I understood Hindutva to mean the common inclusive culture of India, which was rejected by many aggressive Muslim clerics. I was upset at this, and did not want the rich literature, art and culture of our country (which is Hindu in nature) to be abandoned to favour minority sentiments.

However, as the ruling centrist-right Indian National Congress weakened, the BJP grew in power: and its cries of Hindu pride grew shriller. Riots started happening sporadically across the country. In 1992, the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, a centuries-old Muslim Mosque was destroyed by a Hindu mob, alleging that it was built by the Mughal emperor Babur on the site of a destroyed temple of the Hindu deity Rama. Atrocities against minorities increased in frequency and ultimately peaked in the mindless carnage of Gujarat in 2002. As I watched, I slowly moved away from the party which contained the Hindu fanatics responsible for this atrocities.

The writing was on the wall, however. The Indian National Congress, lacking any coherent political ideology or leadership was thrashed soundly in the recent parliamentary elections. The BJP swept to power under the man who was Chief Minister of Gujarat during the 2002 riots. For all practical purposes, the ideology of Hindutva had triumphed.

In this context, I thought I should read the slim book which is the root of it all – Hindutva by V. D. Savarkar. Understanding a fascist philosophy is the first step in defending oneself against it.

————————————————– For Savarkar, Indian civilisation starts with the arrival of the Aryans. In fact, he dismisses all those existing in the Indian subcontinent at the time of their arrival as “scattered tribes”, whose languages were the “Prakrits” (uncultured tongues) which evolved from the immigrants’ Sanskrit, which means “cultured”. He is also at pains to establish that these original inhabitants were also most probably known as Hindus because Hindu is derived from “Sindhu”, the river Indus. Thus, at the outset itself, he establishes Hindutva as tied inseparably to the land. He also makes the astonishing statement that it is certain to have predated Egypt and Babylonia!

Although it would be hazardous at the present stage of oriental research to state definitely the period when the foremost band of intrepid Aryans made it their home and lighted their first sacrificial fire on the banks of the Sindhu, the Indus, yet certain it is that long before the ancient Egyptians, and Babylonians, had built their magnificent celebration, the holy waters of the Indus were daily witnessing the lucid and curling columns of scented sacrificial smokes and the valleys resounding with the chants of Vedic hymns – the spiritual fervour that animated their souls.

Emphasis mine.

Savarkar conveniently forgets the Indus Valley civilisation which had a settled city life, apparently some kind of government, and complex art and religious belief; and which was born, thrived and perished much before the nomadic Aryans ever reached anywhere near India!

(Also, India had a rich collection of Dravidian languages which was in no way linked to Sanskrit. A language of Dravidian origin, Brahui, is still existing in modern-day Pakistan! So the claim that all the languages of India are uncultured versions of Sanskrit is offensive and silly.) Thus at the outset itself, the intention is clear – the falsification of history to create a false identity for the “Hindu” – the purposeful rejection of pluralism in favour of an identification based on a fabricated story of a mythical “fatherland”. And Savarkar says that he is treading on the “solid ground of recorded facts”!

But it is when the author veers off into areas of conjecture that the whole thing becomes seriously eccentric. He first of all sets out to discredit the Maurya civilisation as the first great Indian civilisation: for him, a great Hindu civilisation as delineated in the Hindu myths preceded it. Recorded history means nothing to Savarkar: he considers it all misreadings (at best) or outright fabrications (at worst) by the West. Rather, he considers the Buddhist era a period of decadence (!) when Hindus were totally enervated by the concept of Ahimsa which left them easy fodder for the Muslim invaders.

(For his examination of the “history” of the Hindu people, Savarkar uses dubious sources like the “Bhavishya Purana”. It seems that he accepts any text which is supportive of Vedic Brahmanism as the gospel (!) truth. Whether this is due to genuine belief or political agenda, we can only conjecture.)

Now the author goes on to establish that, in spite of all the differences of caste, creed and colour, Indians are one people – which is true and what is beneficial for the country, anyway – but then, puts the final spin on the ball when his fundamentalist agenda suddenly comes out baring its claws and teeth, casting aside its mask of patriotism. Savarkar writes:

But can we, who here are concerned with investigating into facts as they are and not as they should be, recognise these Mohammedans as Hindus? Many a Mohammedan community in Kashmir and other parts of India as well as the Christians in South India observe our caste rules to such an extent as to marry within the pale of their castes alone; yet, it is clear that though their Hindu blood is thus almost unaffected by alien adulteration, yet they cannot be called Hindus in the sense in which that term is actually understood, because we Hindus are bound together not only by the tie of love we bear to a common fatherland and by the common blood which courses through our veins and keeps our hearts throbbing and our affections warm, but also by the tie of common homage we pay to our great civilisation – our Hindu culture, which could not be better rendered than by the word Sanskriti suggestive as it is of that language, Sanskrit, which has been the chosen means of expression and preservation of that culture, of all that was best and worth preserving in the history of our race.

In short – Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains are in: Christians and Muslims out. Why? Because they don’t consider India as their “Holy-land” (Punyabhumi) in addition to their fatherland: for them, the Holy Land is Jerusalem or Mecca. So, as long as they remain tied to their Abrahamic religion which traces their origin from the Levant, they cannot be accepted as Hindus.

(Interestingly, Savarkar leaves the Jews and Farsis out of it. Jews mostly, I think, because the RSS have been supporters of Zionism since day one, and vice versa: also because Jews and Farsis were not proselytising religions so he did not perceive them as threat.)

Now Savarkar launches into his real agenda. He says that he is not criticising or lamenting, but stating a simple fact. Christians and Muslims cannot be accepted as Hindus (according him, this means Indians) unless they accept India as their Holy Land, by forswearing their allegiance to their “foreign” origins – this effectively means abandoning their religion in the current format.

————————————————-

Thus, the philosophy strikes at the roots of secularism. If India adopts “Hindutva” as its guiding principle and starts rewriting the constitution, Hinduism may not become its official religion: minorities may be allowed to practice their beliefs in private. But the nation will be governed by laws based on the principles set forth in this venomous tract. All people who do not toe the “Hindutva” line will have to live as second class citizens.

From that to the concentration camps is only a minor step.

Think I am overreacting? The events of the past two years should set every intelligent Indian thinking.

https://nandakishorevarma.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/hindutva-fascism-indian-style/

[happyhollow-mellowmarsh]

Spanish Bombs | Kashmir | Trial 4.2 | RE: Kanade, Tomi | ATTN: Kanade

Kashmir really didn't want to make his throat any worse than it was already, but he'd underestimated how much it made him bristle to try and just sit there quietly. It would be a waste this time, anyway, right? After how they'd wrapped up their investigation?

He winced a bit at every flinch of Kanade's, too. Not really anything he could do about that, though...? He checked his pockets and asked Mallory something. Coughing into his hand, he looked back to Kanade. He wasn’t speaking up at the moment, but it sounded like he said something like “block” before watching her hopefully.

"Uh, like an art project 'r magic project 'r what? What all'd you need for that? If you don't remember sh-t don't strain yourself 'r whatever, but anything's prob'ly good to know."

He cleared his throat, which helped absolutely nothing. Maybe no more of that. "Not sure 'xactly what emotion I got today, like, sad...ish? Not really? Just felt like sh-t 'n didn't wanna do anything." Shrug. He didn't have a dang psychology degree.

He let out a long breath with a few hitches and prodded one finger near his temple. "So for Blakeley, we got her in the kitchen sometime either before 'r after Kit was there, then off to the lake at 3:30, prob'ly went to the shipping crate to get envelopes 'n pens if the tupperware was to keep those dry, back to the kitchen at 5:00 with stuff acquired, then prob'ly to the lounge to drop off the basket since Natalie saw her 'round there somewhere, then down towards the lake-ish at 5:30. If I survived smoke-breathing for 20 minutes 'nd my lungs 're sh-t, I'd guess whatever made the smoke woulda been like 5:50 at the latest."

Yeah, this was definitely more talking than he needed to be doing, especially when half of it was just spitballing. He took a swig of water and went on anyway. If anyone was sympathetically pained at the sound of his voice right now then RIP to them but he's different.

"Dunno how the f-ck 'xplosion magic works, but kinda weird to have the card in there if anything woulda had to come from the outside for all the rubble to fall inside. Otherwise 's like... the opposite of an explosion." There was probably a word for that, but whatever. " 'N what was up with the little pieces, like, half through Blakeley? Does not seem like a normal thing. Could that be from the Space card, 'r. Feel like you could argue for a lot of elements but that might be good to know."

And now it was back to trying not to cough.

[zombiiesque]

Nocturne Alchemy Summer Limited Reviews

Originally published on 7/2/2019

Yikes. So I never finished my Vaults, did I? Well, I'll have to come back to it! Right now, I have a few reviews I wanted to get posted from the Nocturne Alchemy Summer Limited Collection release. I'm also including a brief review of the PC Eternal Egypt, for reference purposes! I chose three perfumes, and they sent me one of their choice because I won a giveaway on their business FB page. So what I have here, in the picture, is Eternal Egypt Summer, Eternal Egypt Ambre, Chamomile, Vanilla & Spice Tea, and Apricot Sugar. The sample is Kashmir, which is the free sample while available, that they send along with orders. Any of you who have been following me for a while know that Kashmir is one of my favorites! Let's hop right to it, shall we?

First off, I want to talk about one of my desert island scents - Eternal Egypt. I'll be brief, but I think it's helpful for comparison to the two special versions I picked from the Summer LC. The NA site has this description: Eternal Egypt (Signature Blend): White Amber, Red Egyptian Musk, Egyptian Amber and the sands of Egypt.

I started off with a sample of this many moons ago, and at first I was a little leery - I had ridiculously bad luck wearing ambers. Smelled like baby powder on my skin. I think I wound up putting the sample in my box for about six months, and one day I dug it out and waved it in front of Jody's nose. Win. He was instantly a fan, and he remains one to this day - it's one of his favorites on me and he can name it when I wear it. I think it's the only one he knows, even though he has others he loves, too. It truly is a signature scent. I graduated from the sample, to a 5ml, and now I have a 10ml I'm flying through. The white amber gives this almost a coconut vibe? This is very bright and fresh, and that sandy note, I don't know how they do it, but this is just such a classy scent. It feels like a high end perfume, but at the same time, it's very easy to wear. I must say this is pretty perfect to represent Egypt - when I wear it, I am transported. I feel like the red musk gives this just the slightest bit of sexiness. If you've tried Crimson, I think that's the red musk here, or something similar, as it's not the bold red musk style of Kashmir. It's clean and a little spicy, and very appealing. The combination of the musk and amber is just totally perfect.

I've added a picture of Eternal Egypt Summer and Eternal Egypt Ambre side by side, so you can see the height difference. Ambre isn't as big as my 10ml original EE, but it's definitely larger than the standard 5ml.

One thing I want to mention, about a lot of Nocturne Alchemy perfumes, and particularly Eternal Egypt: these do get travel shocked. So a little caution note, a little imploring: Please do not judge these by what they smell like when you first get them - and please, please try them on your skin before you dismiss them. They change quite a lot with some rest, and what you smell in the bottle can be very different once it melds with your skin and warms up. Eternal Egypt variations in particular seem to do a lot of "filling out" with age; they get richer, more beautiful - the notes seem to meld and really reach their full potential with a little time in your possession. So my initial reviews will stand, but it's like they're amplified TL;DR? Give these some time. It's summer, it's hot, they've traveled a distance to get to you.

Eternal Egypt Summer is part of the sub-collection Eternal Summer. Notes are: White Amber, Labdanum, Crystalline, a little eNVie saphir Amber, Copal, Guaiac wood, Lavender, NA Chypre accord. I opened this fresh out of the mail (not advised, ever, I have to say, but I have no self-restraint) and I swooned a little. This is pretty different than the original. It's got a cool feel to it. I gave it a few days to rest before I tried it on my skin, but I could kind of tell right away I was going to love this. Converse to the cool feel, there's a warmth here from the copal, a sweetness from the guaiac. The lavender isn't a star, but I think rather blends with the chypre, which is absolutely lovely. I usually like chypres, and this is no exception. You can definitely tell that there's an essence of Eternal Egypt to this, but if you're worried you might be getting a dupe, you're definitely not. How does this make me feel? Like I'm at the beach. It's a perfect, sunny day, the water is a sparkling turquoise, and there's a cool sea breeze on my sun-warmed skin. Yes, this feels like summer to me.

Eternal Egypt Ambre is a part of the 13th anniversary collection. NA says this: Eternal Egypt Anniversary Collection – a reinterpretation with exclusive notes, beautiful blue pearl bottles but most importantly celebrating thirteen years of the original perfume blend from Nocturne Alchemy in four new iterations and limited to 75 bottles each. From the elegant label art to the carefully chosen bottle and the exquisite ingredients, the owner & creator of Nocturne Alchemy (Emerson Hart) wanted the create something to honour the first perfume created at Nocturne Alchemy thirteen years ago. Aging these perfume will bring out the resins and natural notes.

The notes for Eternal Egypt Ambre are: Bastet’s Amber Absolute, Labdanum, Cedar essential, Palo Santo essential, Black Patchouli, Benzoin, Heliotrope, Smoked Balsam of Peru, Italian Lavandin, Black Pepper and White Amber Absolute. Oooof. Well, y'all already know how much I adore Bastet Amber, and here we have my two desert island scents? Okay, that was an obvious gimme. This, too, is pretty obviously different from the original Eternal Egypt. The bottle is GORGEOUS, as is the label! When I first got this, it was far more travel shocked than Eternal Egypt Summer. I couldn't really tell what was going on, and there was almost a black licorice note in the bottle sniff. What? Turns out, that's the palo santo note. It can smell like anise, or minty...but I gave this a good bit of rest before I tried it on my skin. Four days. The anise had calmed down, and I could get an idea of what this was going to be like on my skin, I thought - except, it was so much better than I could have imagined! It absolutely transformed once it warmed up and melded with my skin. Wow. This is more complex, and sexier, than Summer. I'm having a hard time picking out individual notes, that's how well blended this one is. If Summer is bright and fun, a day at the beach - Ambre is a sultry summer night, a slinky black dress, and low slung heels. The palo santo gives this a cool feel, as does the white amber.

Honestly just so glad I chose both of these, I have several variations of Eternal Egypt, because I love it that much, and these are two wonderful additions to my collection. Backup worthy, really.

One of my favorite things Nocturne Alchemy does for their Summer Collections are the Summer Tea and Tea Service. You can read my reviews here, although I've added more that I haven't reviewed from previous collections. The Summer Tea Service reviews are separate, you can find them here. Y'all, it's hot in Florida. And it's hot from April right through December these days. I find myself craving the Summer Teas as soon as it warms up, so they get a lot of wear from me. Green Tea Crimson is easily in my top five all time favorites, ever.

Last year I missed out, but my good friend Heather grabbed Apricot Sugar, and absolutely adored it. So I promised myself if it came back in the Resurgence, I would for sure have to nab it - it seemed like everything she wore it with was perfect, and of course, it was wearable alone. So I chose that for my third bottle, and as I mentioned, I won a giveaway (thanks, y'all, SO much!) on the Nocturne Alchemy business page, for a free bottle of their choice from the LCs. They chose Chamomile, Vanilla & Spice Tea for me. I had already eyed it, because it sounded delightful. The notes for this are: Blue German Chamomile, Bastet’s Ice Cream Accord, Vanilla Bean, Vanilla essence, Black Tea, Cardamom Spice and a little sugar. I love chamomile tea. I have one that's chamomile and vanilla, and it's so soothing, puts me right to sleep! And Jody's mom grows chamomile. This is very realistic. I guess this could possibly go a little floral, but they are such masters at blending, that never happens here. It's got a bit of a floral/herbal tinge to it, for sure, but it's reigned in beautifully by the vanillas. The cardamom is more of a supporting note on my skin, just a slightly spiced warmth, honestly, it's perfection. The balance here is superb. The black tea is something I utterly love, and it adds a little strength to this. Unfh. I've mentioned before, I didn't use to like tea notes, they would go bitter on my skin, but that's never happened with NA, and this is no exception. This is just so appealing! I could not be happier with what they chose for me, I adore it. The ice cream accord adds a tiny bit of foodiness, and it's at the perfect amount. Yum. Obviously, you can easily wear this alone, but I love to layer my Summer Teas with the Tea Service, it just is the perfect compliment. The first time I wore this, I added a little dab of Apricot Sugar, because that's what I had on hand, and it was delightful! I wasn't sure if it was going to wear well with this one, but I have to say if you have both of these you really should try this, it was a wonderful surprise. I've since tried Rice Milk and Sugarcube, and those are both easy winners, too. I haven't tried Sweet Santalum Milk or Coconut Milk, but I suspect those will work well, too - or even my original Bastet's Ice Cream Accord, if you want your tea to be a little creamier/more foodie.

Apricot Sugar: Apricot stone essence, Apricot Skin, Egyptian Sugar accord, Papaya skin and Vanilla fleck. Oh, how much do I love NA's sugar note. It's just so dang good! I have a couple of bottles of the original Sugarcube, and I have worn it alone, because I love it so much. There's almost a freshness to it, and of course sweetness - but it's not tooth-achingly sweet, if that makes sense. That base is pretty present here, more so than it is with Lemon Sugar. The apricot is bright, juicy and just a little tangy, and extremely realistic. I think the papaya skin is more of a supporting note, I've had it in other blends and enjoyed it, but I don't really notice it here. It may be adding to that juiciness. This is a simple blend, but it was meant to be layered, and it really shines when you do that. As I mentioned above, I wore it with Chamomile, Vanilla & Spice Tea, and I've also worn it with White Tea Vanilla, and Crystal, so far. I'm going to try it with Santalum White and White Ambre Ombre, because I feel like those will be great pairings, too. I think this is a very versatile layering perfume, and would be lovely with so many perfumes. Anything with vanilla, for sure. Bastet Ice Cream Accord, some Dinos, Eternal Ankh, really I think anything you think might work. I bet it would be pretty with Egyptian Musk, and definitely Diamond. I'm so happy I grabbed this! If you were a fan of, or yearning for, Love of Bastet: Pink Vanille, I think you should definitely get this.

I have Dimetrodon from last year, but I've run out of time, today, so I'll post that separately. It's currently available in the Summer LC Resurgence, in the Prehistoria collection.

What did you choose from this release? What are you looking at? I'm eyeing a Dino or two, and more Teas....always more Teas! I hope y'all enjoyed these reviews, and they helped you to make some decisions. As always, thanks for reading!

[kashmir-smoke]

ETOILES DESIGN

[sciencebulletin]

An India-Pakistan nuclear war could kill millions, threaten global starvation

A nuclear war between India and Pakistan could, over the span of less than a week, kill 50-125 million people—more than the death toll during all six years of World War II, according to new research. A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder and Rutgers University examines how such a hypothetical future conflict would have consequences that could ripple across the globe. Today, India and Pakistan each have about 150 nuclear warheads at their disposal, and that number is expected to climb to more than 200 by 2025. The picture is grim. That level of warfare wouldn't just kill millions of people locally, said CU Boulder's Brian Toon, who led the research published today in the journal Science Advances. It might also plunge the entire planet into a severe cold spell, possibly with temperatures not seen since the last Ice Age. His team's findings come as tensions are again simmering between India and Pakistan. In August, India made a change to its constitution that stripped rights from people living in the long-contested region of Kashmir. Soon after, the nation sent troops to Kashmir, moves that Pakistan criticized sharply. "An India-Pakistan war could double the normal death rate in the world," said Toon, a professor in the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics. "This is a war that would have no precedent in human experience." It's a subject that Toon, also of the Department of Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences, has had on his mind for decades He came of age during the height of the Cold War when schoolchildren still practiced ducking-and-covering under their desks. As a young atmospheric scientist in the early 1980s, he was part of a group of researchers who first coined the term "nuclear winter"—a period of extreme cold that would likely follow a large-scale nuclear barrage between the U.S. and Russia. Toon believes that such weapons are still very much a threat—one that's underscored by current hostilities between India and Pakistan. "They're rapidly building up their arsenals," Toon said. "They have huge populations, so lots of people are threatened by these arsenals, and then there's the unresolved conflict over Kashmir." In his latest study, Toon and his colleagues wanted to find out just how bad such a conflict could get. To do that, the team drew on a wide range of evidence, from computer simulations of Earth's atmosphere to accounts of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in 1945. Based on their analysis, the devastation would come in several stages. In the first week of the conflict, the group reports that India and Pakistan combined could successfully detonate about 250 nuclear warheads over each other's cities. There's no way to know how powerful these weapons would be—neither nation has conducted nuclear tests in decades—but the researchers estimated that each one could kill as many as 700,000 people. Most of those people wouldn't die from the blasts themselves, however, but from the out-of-control fires that would follow. "If you look at Hiroshima after the bomb fell, you can see a huge field of rubble about a mile wide," Toon said. "It wasn't the result of the bomb. It was the result of the fire." For the rest of the globe, the fires would just be the beginning. The researchers calculated that an India-Pakistan war could inject as much as 80 billion pounds of thick, black smoke into Earth's atmosphere. That smoke would block sunlight from reaching the ground, driving temperatures around the world down by an average of between 3.5-9 degrees Fahrenheit for several years. Worldwide food shortages would likely come soon after. "Our experiment, conducted with a state-of-the-art Earth system model, reveals large-scale reductions in the productivity of plants on land and of algae in the ocean, with dangerous consequences for organisms higher on the food chain, including humans," said study coauthor Nicole Lovenduski, an associate professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences and a fellow of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR). Toon recognizes that the scope of such a war may be hard for people to wrap their heads around. But he hopes that the study will show people around the world that the end of the Cold War didn't eliminate the risk of global nuclear war. "Hopefully, Pakistan and India will take note of this paper," he said. "But mostly, I'm concerned that Americans aren't informed about the consequences of nuclear war." Provided by: University of Colorado at Boulder More information: O.B. Toon el al. Rapidly Expanding Nuclear Arsenals in Pakistan and India Portend Regional and Global Catastrophe. Science Advances (2019). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aay547 Image: Global biological productivity is lowered significantly by nuclear war between India and Pakistan. Credit: Cheryl S. Harrison, Lili Xi and Nicole Lovenduski Read the full article

[kashmiresims]

Brother’s Keeper

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He could imagine that anyone else would find the task of manually sorting a musical library as dull as watching paint dry but Cypress had taken it upon himself to re-arrange and catalog all of the station's music. He'd already imported all songs from old albums into a digital format into the computer system. Re-filed all songs and made sure they had correct titles, artists, and genre attributes. Now he was just finding a way to put away all the albums in the studio's collection to protect them instead of always seeing them piled on the tables and spread out in a scene of disarray. This to him, was actually enjoyable. It was more engaging than college lectures and coursework at least.  

This musical project he had undertaken had been a long road. He'd started at the station last year, but as a radio broadcast assistant—someone who kept quiet and behind the scenes, helping any producers run a show that didn't overlap with his class schedule. It also, annoyingly, consisted of him making runs downstairs to the café to pick up coffee for the DJs and musical guests. However, that changed this year when he was granted a later time slot where he could present and produce his own two hours of air time.  

He finished filing away albums by artist V through W and took a moment to stand as he'd been crouching for a while. His calves ached and the left one had even fallen asleep. He stood and hopped a bit as all his weight shifted to his right leg to avoid the needle-like sensation in the other one.

It was about time for a smoke break anyway.

Since no one was at the station, or at least he hadn't seen anyone else around-– it was a holiday weekend and even the café was closed—he took the narrow stairwell to the roof to light up.

He liked the view from the station roof anyway—he could see all the campus buildings--across the quad and toward the library and the gym. He could even see the place he lived a few blocks down on the other side of some apartments.

He fished out a cigarette from the pack in his back pocket and lit it, shielding it from the wind so the flame would take.  

He kept telling himself he'd stop but had yet to find the will to ignore the craving.Maybe I'll quit next week, he leaned against the roof's edging and thought, 

Suddenly the door to the roof exit swung open and a woman came walking through it, nearly strutting her way over next to Cypress as she said, "What the hell are you doing here on a Sunday?"

He almost swallowed his cigarette at the abrupt invasion, his eyes grew wide—she was the station's director.

Instead of swallowing the cigarette, he'd inhaled a lot of the smoke he had been trying to initially exhale and started coughing. She swung her purse onto the roof ledge and seemed satisfied at his unexpected response, "Mind if I join you?"

Cypress was still coughing but managed to shake his head, no—as he swallowed gulps of fresher air.

She dug through her purse and produced her own pack of cigarettes. She extracted one and pushed it between her lips and mumbled, "My question still stands, Cypress," before she lit it.

"I was filling in the gaps of the station's music library," he finally answered.

"You know it's a holiday weekend right? You aren't getting paid for extra hours."

Gabriella Lavillos had only been the station's director for a few months, being promoted after the previous director retired. Before that, she had been the assistant director and Cypress used to get her coffee along with the rest of the other upper management. She was the one who had granted him his current position as a Thursday night DJ. He hoped that his project would be the thing that would get him onto be a midday producer so he'd have to stop talking to the public but yet still could create programs for a wider audience.

"I know—it's just—I really wanted to get my project done." Cypress explained and then narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Why are you here on a holiday weekend?"

"My family is all too busy to do anything together so I figured I'd catch up on some paperwork. Didn't realize I wasn't the only workaholic in this place," she answered, took a drag and released a puff of smoke while eyeing him.

"The same could be said for me too," Cypress flicked some ash off the end of his cig over the edge of the roof. His parents surely would be working and his brother probably had plans with friends.

"You're a good-looking guy; you don't have any dates lined up?" She wondered.

Cypress gave a small, amused laugh, "No, not really the dating type."

"So, a one-night-stand type then," she teased and took another drag.

He shook his head and then swiped some of his loose, dark hair back behind his ear, growing a bit uncomfortable with the topic of his non-existent love life, especially discussing it with his boss. It had never been a priority and never would be. Though most people acted as though it should.

"Your family—what are they so busy with?" Cypress asked to change the subject. His own parents barely had time to spend with him as a child and his poor brother had the same fate—though Cypress had been there for Cedar, practically raising him.

"My mother said she was entering a quilting competition, and my brother threw me over to go to Kashmire Point with some frat buddies," Gabriella lamented and tossed her hair with a huff.

"You have a little brother too?"  

She made a wistful half smile,"Yeah, though he's taller than me now so I guess not so little anymore."

Cedar had yet to reach Cypress's height, although he was growing fast. It had been at least a month since Cypress had last seen his brother, so who knows how tall the kid was now?

Cypress tossed his cig to the ground and stepped on the tip with his toe to put it out. Gabriella did the same and then picked it up carefully between her two fingers as she grabbed her purse. He followed her lead and also snatched up his, figuring it was technically littering if he left it on the roof though he usually threw it off the building and into the bushes below after it was extinguished.

"How did you know I was here?" Cypress asked as they made their way back into the building.

"I heard you stomping on the roof," she stated as she unlocked her office door, walked in, and threw her cigarette butt in the trash. 

"Come on, I wasn't stomping," he protested as he threw in his after though he didn’t follow her all the way inside.

"Well I heard you from down here so let's just chalk it up to your heavy footsteps."

Her office was very cool. It was modern and fun, dressed in mostly slick whites with pops of color. She had a large pop-art canvas on one of her walls that looked like it could have been one giant album cover, hanging plants, and a sort of bean bag chair to relax in.

"By the way I wanted to ask you about something," Gabriella said as she took a seat at her desk and wiggled her mouse to wake up her computer.  Cypress remained near the doorway, unsure of what she wanted exactly.

"We've been getting calls since Thursday of people requesting some song I have never heard of before. I've looked it up in our system but can't find it. I did some digging and found out that you aired it during your last shift."

Cypress crossed his arms, knowing he'd been caught—he'd have to explain where it came from, and the fact was that he'd had people hanging around at the station after hours that weren't scheduled guests.

"So, that song was played live by one of my friends..."

Gabriella's gaze snapped sharply to him with surprise. She had told him before not to have extra people hanging around during his time slot!

"...Sorry! It's just that he's a really good musician and no one ever gives him enough credit."

"Come here and see something," she demanded in a stern tone and Cypress shuffled around the desk, and leaned on the top of it waiting to see whatever she wanted to show him. She nodded at her computer screen where there was a form of logged song requests and whether or not they had been played. If they were, the cell would highlight green and if not, it would be red.  

There was a lot of red on the log, and mostly associated with a song titled 'unidentified jackass love song'

She sat back and crossed her arms, "We can't meet standards if you air songs we don't have in our library."

Cypress bit his lip with regret, but then smiled at realizing he shouldn’t have any, "But it could be."

The station director grinned, anticipating his solution. Cypress didn't always follow the rule book but he made up for it in his passion, knowledge, and ingenuity when it came to music. Cypress motioned for Gabriella to follow him as he went across the hallway and into the tiny technical studio where he worked. He pulled out the chair for her to sit on and then handed her a pair of headphones.

She put them on without question and Cypress flipped a switch on the board.

A pretty acoustic melody floated out and into her ears.

"This is it?"

"I recorded it," Cypress said proudly and leaned back against the table.

"Can you add it to our library so we can keep on playing it?"

Cypress nodded enthusiastically. He didn't add it originally because it was proof of his misconduct but if the station director wanted Orion's song to play, Cypress would happily let her play it. Orion should be credited as the great musician that he was.

It's just a pity his break was with a love song about Cain Nova.

"Great!" Gabriella smiled and continued to listen to the song, bobbing her head from side to side. When it was over she took off the headphones, stood, and patted Cypress on his shoulder--"No more unscheduled folks in the studio during your shift though—I'm not going to ask again—and I'd hate to have to fire you before your next promotion."

"My next promotion...?" Cypress was befuddled and his gaze followed her as she stepped back into the hallway.

She didn't elaborate but gave him a wink before disappearing. She wasn't playing when she said she would fire him for another breach of conduct, and he was only slightly unsure if she was dangling the hint of a promotion next semester as truth or as a means to keep him in line.  

She popped her head back inside the studio and said, "Also, get out of my radio station."

He openly laughed because the way she said it was playful but the way she meant it was serious, "I will, just let me finish adding the song to the digital library and put away these albums."

She raised a quizzical brow, "How long will that take?"

"Like five more minutes, tops."

She held out her hand with all of her fingers extended and said pointedly, "Five. Minutes."

"I promise," Cypress assured. He quickly woke the studio's main computer up, and then transferred Orion's song from the sound board's recording storage. He still didn't know what Orion had meant to call it so typed in:

In Love with a Raging Jackass  By Orion Loche

He applied it to the library, then quickly maneuvered to the other side of the room to finish filing the albums. What would he even do the rest of the day if he wasn't finishing his project here? He thought he remembered Orion saying he was running errands, if so then Orion wouldn't be home. Nick was all over the place lately, ever since he got that email from the finance office.

Something Gabriella had said struck Cypress about her brother being too busy to spend time with her. He had been waiting around for Cedar to call him and reach out but maybe Cedar was the one waiting for him to be available. He placed the last album of the pile into the crate and pushed it under the table with the rest. He locked up the studio and waved goodbye to Gabriella so she would he had left.

While he was walking back to his place, he decided to call Cedar and see what he was up to. Cypress assumed he had plans, after all his brother was a social, teenage boy and had a three-day weekend.  

"Hey bro," he heard Cedar greet him after a few rings.

"Hey kid, what are you doing?"

"Just sitting around and binge-watching TV shows, why?" Cedar responded, his voice sounded strangely far away.

"Do you have me on speaker phone?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" 

"This is the cool way to answer phones now. Jeez, get with the times old man," Cedar taunted.

"Anyway, you don't have any plans then?"

"I plan to finish season 5 of Fashionista Fury," Cedar sounded determined, and his answer made Cypress laugh. “I’m serious, they made a bomb ass dress out of literal trash.”

"You mind if I come over?"

"Not at all. I mean, it's kind of your home too, right? Mom and Dad are working though, so it's just us."

"I figured. Okay cool, I'll be there in like a half hour."

"You should stay over too since there's no school tomorrow."

Cypress agreed and smiled after he hung up because unlike poor Gabriella, his little brother actually still wanted to hang out with him.

It was even more evident that Cedar had missed having his older brother around because before Cypress even walked through the front door to his parents' house, Cedar busted out and grabbed Cypress into a tight hug which momentarily startled him.

"Hey there, miss me much?" Cypress chuckled in question and patted Cedar's shoulder.

"You need to come around more often, it gets pretty lonely," Cedar told him before letting go.

"Don't you ever have friends over?" Cypress wondered. He remembered Cedar to have quite a social circle--enough that Cypress couldn't keep their names straight when Cedar came home from school and told him about his day as a child.

"Yeah but that's not the same—they come and go. We're bros for life," Cedar said and Cypress felt uncommonly emotional at hearing that. He'd made countless bowls of Mac and Cheese to satisfy Cedar's hunger, spent countless hours playing drums for Cedar's entertainment, had told Cedar a countless number of times to go to bed by 9:00 and had their parents come home a countless number of times to the sight of both boys jumping on the sofa because Cypress figured that was the quickest way to expend his little brother’s energy.

Cypress followed Cedar into the living room, and Cedar picked up a controller to the video game system, "I got this new game. Watch me play and then you can try to challenge me when you see what it’s all about!"

“What about Fashionista Fury?”

“That can wait,” Cedar began to flip through the screen options, choose a character and begin the game.

Cypress was decent at video games—that was always more of his cousin's hobby but Cypress had learned a lot from watching Nick as they grew up. He was actually glad now that the director had told him to leave the radio station—because hanging out with Cedar was long overdue and Cypress realized he had missed his brother too.

[sachkaro2017-blog]

The Bengalis wake up at 4 am on the morning of the day of Mahalaya. They listen to the voice of Birendra Krishna Bhadra and Pankaj Kumar Mullick. It plays on All India Radio, reciting hymns from the scriptures or from Devi Mahatmyam or Chandi Path. The Pujas get into a rhythm from Saptami, the seventh day. The kola-Bou Snan is worshipping a banana plant draped in clothes. The extravaganza already starts from Maha Sasthi, the sixth day. The Bodhan and Chokkhu Daan give life to the mud idol. The Kumari Puja follows. The Sandhi puja and Dhunuchi Naach takes place on the midnight of Maha Ashtami and Maha Navami. These are the eighth and ninth day. 108 lamps would be lit near the goddess along with a hypnotizing dance performance by the smokes. On Ashtami, the crowd gathers in the morning. They offer Anjali or Pushpanjali with flowers and sweets. It continues till Bijaya Dashami tenth and the final day. With a remorse heart, people give a grand farewell to the goddess in the form of Thakur Baran. The Sindur Khela takes place where married women play with Vermillion. People offer sweets to each other and finally embrace each other in the form of a kola-kuli. The songs, the fragrance brings exuberance in the atmosphere. Millions of people in a milieu of sorts bring out the opulence and the sheer grandness of this festival. And it's not the puja but the preparations that begin since a month before. It is another celebration of sorts. It is the time when every Bengali will have a new set of clothes for the festive fervor. They wear them in the evening when the family goes to see the Pandals. To catch on this excitement shops would stay open till late at night and usual holidays. They attract as many customers as possible. People would come shopping with their family even after office hours. And it is not about purchasing for yourself but also for your near and dear loved ones. The Durga Puja has all the intricacies of human nature embedded in it. From unbound emotions, sheer madness, pure love and an eerie excitement. The city of Calcutta becomes a magical fairyland. Tiny lights glow all over to the rhythms of traditional music. The houses fill with the smell of new clothes. There is the Pujabarshiki, Sharadiya Sankhya or Sharadiya Patrika. These are special magazines published during the time. People hum the Bengali Adhunik Pujor Gaan special music releases. These contain stories of many writers, already established or newcomers. And have many extra pages. Some notable examples are Anandamela and Shuktara. Wherever there is a bit of space, people mount elaborate structures or Pandals. These are temporary structures made of cloth, bamboos, jewels and other precious items. For this, the budget would almost run beyond millions. The theme of the Pandals come from anything and everything in this entire world. There are religious motifs and famous landmarks. Major world incidents get portrayed with minutest of details. The Puja committees decide on a particular theme, the elements of which are in the pandal and the idols. Popular themes include ancient civilizations like the ' ancient Egypt or Inca. Contemporary subjects like Titanic and Harry Potter have been the object of pandals. It is similar with the lighting too. There are dazzling creations of illusions of national and international events. The deafening sound of the dhakis makes the entire atmosphere effervescent. The smoke of the Dhunuchi with the sweet fragrance of incense sticks waft in the air. In the rest of the world, the Puja is within Bengali communities. Today the Puja goes far beyond religion. One could say that the Durga Puja is the largest open-air art show in the world. In the nineties, a large number of architectural models were on the outer parts of the pandal. Today the architectural motifs extend to the elaborate interiors, executed by skilled artists. There are consistent stylistic elements, executed and signed by the artist himself. The idol sculpture also evolved. Once the five figures were in the same framework, called Pata. Since the eighties, the tendency is to depict each idol. The oldest puja is in north Kolkata in Baghbazar Sarbojonin, Kumartuli Park. There is Ahiritola, Md. Ali Park and College Square. Some of the newest ones are at Behala, Bosepukur Sitala Mandir, Santosh Mitra Square. There is Babubagan, Maddox Square, Sealdah Athletics, Jodhpur Park, Selimpur Palli. There is Suruchi Sangha, Badamtala Ashar Sangha, Mudiali, Ekdalia Evergreen. Adjacent is Singhi Park, Hindustan Park, Ballygunge Cultural. Notable Durga Puja's outside Kolkata are at Siliguri. Durga Puja also takes place in Kashmir, Kerala, Chittaranjan Park in New Delhi. Then there is Orissa, Punjab, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Goa. Outside India, it is in Bangladesh, Singapore, United States, Switzerland, London and Australia. Durga Puja is also a time for a reunion with family, friends and alike. It is also getting lost in countless hours of fun with your loved ones. From the long informal chat sessions (Adda) to pandal hopping. More than 3000 of them vie for your attention for the four days for the Pratima darshan. People go out with friends in the latest ethnic and western wear. And an occasional stare into a beautiful girl, dressed especially for the occasion. It’s all an integral part of the Pratima darshan. Millions throng the sleepless streets and bylanes of their city. Each pandal almost attracts a million people every day. People return with the swelling feet and blisters created from the new shoes. Still, the mind starts planning for the next day. There are also elaborate food preparations in most households during the four days. Breakfast serving includes Luchi and Alu dam, a special potato curry. The lunch consists of khichuri, Phool Kopir Dalna, Beguni, Papad, and Chutney. There are sweets and Mishti Doi as dessert. But as all good thing comes to an end so is the Durga Puja with the Bijaya Dashami on the final day. It is the time when you can spot a drop of water from the cheeks of one an all for it is the time for Maa Durga to leave. The Baron takes place where women offer sweets and betel to Maa Durga. The idol goes in procession amid chants and drumbeats to the river or other water bodies. It is also known as Bishorjon, Bhashan, and Niranjan. People chant Bolo Durga Mai Ki Jai (glory to Mother Durga) and Asche Bochor Abar Hobe (next year again). After the immersion people wish each other Subho Bijoya. Young ones touch the feet and take blessings from their elders. Durga Puja is a festival which may have all the flavors of religion but is beyond religion. It is about encompassing basic human values, of the celebration of life. There are culture and love for the Goddess. The main essence here is the creativity of life which tries to go beyond our thoughts. People create something which they admire and remember for years to come. The vibrant atmosphere beckons you to be a part of it and be one with the feeling.

[sharmaheena850]

Tobacco gives 'smoking capital' J&K its highest tax revenue, and a crisis

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), among the four Indian states with the highest prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), recorded tobacco sales worth Rs 5,530 crore over seven years to 2017-18, according to state sales tax data exclusively accessed by IndiaSpend. This is the equivalent of the funds needed to construct four state-of-the-art hospitals along the lines of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Jammu.

COPD, typified by coughing, wheezing and breathlessness, is the second most frequent killer disease in India, responsible for the death of almost 1 million Indians in 2017, IndiaSpend reported in March 2018, citing the Global Burden of Disease study by the University of Washington, US. Caused by the inflammation of the lung’s airways, it destroys the air sacs that extract oxygen and expel carbon dioxide.

Air pollution and smoking have been established as the primary reasons for COPD in India, according to a 2018 study published in The Lancet.

J&K witnesses widespread burning of biomass fuel for cooking and heating, as well as widespread smoking, which together cause a 16-18% prevalence rate for COPD in the state, while the national average is 5-7%, said Sundeep Salvi, director of the Pune-based Chest Research Foundation in this interview to IndiaSpend on March 3, 2019.

J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Haryana report COPD figures equal or greater than 4,750 per 100,000 population -- the highest across India. Read More

Article Source -> Business Standard

[kashmir-berlin-kashmir-blog]

07.04.2019. Sunday.

I woke up this morning and had my moment of blankness. I lay in bed this morning wondering what feeling would flood in. I made sure to not touch my phone and waited. I didn’t feel that usual sinking feeling and neither was I motivated. I felt nothing, I had nothing to do today, I wanted to do nothing, there was no friend to go out and I couldn’t find a reason to get out of my bed. But I knew if I didn’t quickly trick my brain and find a reasons my demons would pin me down to myself. 

I tried to think of a friend I hadn’t met and was in town. I knew I couldn’t call my women friends because they all had to be with family over the weekend, the few men I liked being around were not in town, the rest I had no patience for. I didn’t want to read or write today. I was in the mood to laugh, and meet friends and would ahve loved to go dancing. “Great place you chose to work”, I told myself.  So, I woke up, made myself a strong cup of coffee, video called a close friend and cooked an elaborate lunch. There wasn’t anything else to do. I did consider going back to Badamwari to pick some more flowers but I was bored of running from one garden to another. Despite my resolve to not work today, I went out to the usual cafe, did some writing. I didn’t realize the waiter there works all seven days. He told me that he had done his MBA and then showed me pictures of him and his friends in sonmarg. The cafe was filled with 9 young men and me. I played “It’s raining men” on my laptop while trying to write. They were so fucking loud.

After sun down, I sat by the river Jhelum for a good 20mins. I love the river and in the evening light it looks so decievingly clean. In the dark, the men struggle to see who the smoking woman is and I can’t see their perverse eyes, so works well for us. Then I walked home and bought much needed shampoo. I also bought some tea, not for the tea but for the pretty bottle it came in. My housemate and I went out for cake once she was back. She whined about politcs and I whine about not having bought vegetables for tomorrow.  I met some journalists I knew in the cafe. Now that I’m not a journalist, nobody is interested in me anymore. It’s so easy to become insignificant, so easy to become a wallflower. I can see their face resigning the moment I say I’m a researcher. I’m not an interesting, fierce, Indian young woman to them anymore. I am a boring woman, pouring over books and capitalizing the conflict for my CV.

“My life has become so monotonous”, I thought on the way back. I like it and I don’t. I played some EDM music once we got home and did the dishes instead of dancig while my housemate packed for a political rally she had to attend. Then she sat on my bed doing some art work while I read out something to her. Eventually we both figured that the pastry we ate at the cafe was bad and we had to run to our respective toilets. 

I came back to the kitchen to wash more dishes and as I rinsed off the soap with warm water, I thought about what my (not-so-nice) grandfather once very sarcastically and hurtfully said “Good, atleast after going to Kashmir you have learnt to become a good housewife if nothing else”. I smiled and I thought “Damn right you are. I’m pretty damn good at this”.