Setiap orang pasti akan mengikuti suatu kebiasaan yang memang dari dulu sudah tercipta di negaranya tersebut. Misalnya saja kebiasaan orang Indonesia, yang dimana sering kali mengejar layangan yang sudah putus (kaum anak kecil, secara turun temurun masih menggunakan kebiasaan ini ), lalu kebiasaan melakukan tindakan seperti ” Salim..” setiap hari ke Orang yang lebih tua […]

The post Indonesia Mah Lewat, Kebiasaan Ini Cuma Ada Di Rusia!! appeared first on anni-sanni.com.

Di mana dunia dipijak, di sana langit dijunjung— begitulah tutur peribahasa. Terdapat banyak perihal yang bisa jadi dikira lazim di Indonesia, tetapi tidak begitu di Rusia. Sebab itu, saat sebelum melambung mengarah Rusia, Kamu butuh mengenali kebiasaan- kebiasaan apa saja yang legal di negeri ini biar tidak terperangkap dalam suasana yang aneh. Rusia memanglah diketahui […]

The post Kebiasaan umum di Rusia yang unik! appeared first on anni-sanni.com.

Gerson Monje holds up his cellphone to proudly show off his online sex shop. A red banner reading "sold out!" is plastered across half of the products.

More than 1,500 people claim asylum in the UK each year, claiming that they are persecuted for being gay. But it's not an easy thing to prove.

The FIFA Futsal World Cup Colombia 2016 saw some superb strikes that will stay in the memory of all who witnessed them live. But which was the most outstanding? Watch the ten goals and choose which one, in your opinion, was the very best?

Javier Lozano is much more than an authority on futsal. With two FIFA Futsal World Cup titles to his name during his time in charge of Spain, the former coach is now one of the sport’s gurus, a status he has attained thanks to his achievements and the legacy he left behind.

Glass containers in which Arora has collected soil from different parts of Aarey. PICS/ABIGAIL D’Souza 

A conversation with artist Vikram Arora throws up a vital piece of insight into the issue of deforestation at Aarey Colony. Arora, along with four artists from Hong Kong and a Serbian national based in Mumbai, is spending a few days living with locals in the city’s jeopardised green cover, and he tells us, “The tribals here have a family that doesn’t include only the people they live with. It includes the trees they planted, the animals and birds that depend on those trees, the leopards around them and so on. So everything is inter-dependent, and the fallout [of deforestation] is ecological in nature, because the birds don’t have those trees any more. And the leopards will confront humans because their habitat has been taken away.”

This is the issue that forms the backbone of a project called Forest Tales: Mysteries Hidden in Concrete. It involves the six people creating individual works of art based on their experience of living in the heart of Aarey Colony, immersing themselves in the local culture by tilling the soil that nurtures the food that their hosts cook for them.

Chim Chi Ho tilling soil

Arora tells us that one of his projects, for instance, requires him to collect 33 types of soil from different parts of Aarey, symbolic of the 33 hectares of land in the area that is lost to the demands of construction work for the disputed Metro project. “I will put these bits of soil into 33 different containers on which I will draw Warli art, a traditional tribal style. The idea is to archive the memory of the soil in case that land is also taken away in the future. I will present the different glass containers as an installation to show how, if we proceed without long-term planning, we will end up building a fragile future for ourselves,” he says.

The other project he has embarked on is called Cut Me a Slice of That. For it, he will bake a pie inspired by savelya, a local sweet dish made with coconut and jaggery, which his host taught him to make. He will then serve that pie cut into different pieces when the various works of art are showcased to the public at an event later this week. “It’s meant to reflect the sentiment of how the land grab is taking place, piece by piece. For example, every time there is an emergency in the city, the NSG commandos are given a space in Aarey. A veterinary college is also given space here if they want it. Now the Metro wants its chunk too for the car shed. So, they keep taking this land away piece by piece, through rampant deforestation,” he explains.

(From left) Michael Leung, Vikram Arora, Gum Cheng, Yip Kai Chun and Chim Chi Ho, the artists living in Aarey. Katarina Rasic is not in the photo

Arora adds, however, that not everyone in the local community is against displacement. A few padas (settlement clusters), he says, are happy because they think they will get a house in a tower, though they eventually might never get to reach this carrot being dangled before them. “They are driven by economic sensibilities, thinking they will be moving into high society when, and if, they get those houses. But the whole idea is not only about them shifting base. Instead, it’s about the trees that are being cut to facilitate that process,” he says, pointing out how unless this urbanisation challenge is managed in a sensitive manner, ecological concerns are bound to be sacrificed at the altar of rampant concretisation.

Vikram Arora

ON May 20 AT Keltipada, Adivasi Pada, Unit no 18, Aarey Milk Colony, Goregaon East.
LOG ON TO artoxygen.org

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If you are in the mood for some jokes or just want to take a break from mundane life, then this stand-up comedy act is for you. Featuring two boys and girls Shaad Shafi and Joel D'souza, and Sumaira Shaikh and Urooj Ashfaq respectively, the evening will see the four crack some of their favourite jokes and also try out new material.

ON April 27, 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm
AT The Habitat, 1st and 4th, Hotel Unicontinental, road number 3, Khar West
CALL 9833358490
LOG ON TO insider.in
Cost Rs 200

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Illustration/Devdutt Pattanaik

In the beginning, people said homosexuality is unnatural. Then scientists showed them that hundreds of species of animals do indulge in homosexuality. So people started saying homosexuality may be natural, but it is best restricted to animals. Amongst humans, it is a social disease. This unscientific understanding is popularised by many religious leaders, who are clueless about science, though they insist that the Vedas/Quran/Agama/Tripitaka/Talmud are essentially scientific.

These religious leaders fall into two categories. The first category is the 'liberal' guru who says sex is great for spirituality, provided it is heterosexual. The second category is the 'conservative' guru who says sex is not great for spirituality, and if you must indulge in it, do it for babies.

A gay man heard how a broad-minded Indian guru presented sexuality as an integral part of spirituality, and so decided to read a bit more of the guru's writings. He was suitably impressed, there was a lot of talk of how exploring sexual desires authentically enhances spiritual growth. But then came the horror! When the guru spoke of sexuality, he was referring only to heterosexuality and was essentially promoting orgies as a tool to liberate yourself. He saw homosexuality as a social disease resulting from heterosexuality being suppressed when men are locked with men in monasteries and prisons and women are locked with women in nunneries. This was his fantasy, which he marketed as mystical knowledge of the East!

A lesbian woman came upon a guru who gave her a sympathetic ear, and who confidently asserted that ancient mystical sages (all male, of course) had revealed to him that natural sexual activity is for making babies only, and that pleasure is just nature's way of incentivising you to make more babies. It is the human perversion to bypass the baby-making and focus on pleasure. Such value placed on pleasure comes from stress, hormones, and a lack of spiritual grounding. He insisted that homosexuality is a social pathology, not a natural physiology. She could stay a single woman if she did not wish to be a man's wife, but she had to engineer her life towards spirituality rather than sexuality if she sought fulfilment and happiness. Her libido, he insisted, was in dire need of fixing!

Most of these gurus do oppose the criminalising of homosexuality, and so appear to be modern. However, they do see homosexuality as a deviance (or its Sanskrit equivalent), or a 'fluidity' that needs explanation, management and re-alignment. They mirror the homophobia directed at queer people (pandakas, napunsakas) that we find in ancient monastic orders such as Buddhism and Jainism. Their discomfort with queerness is similar to their well-disguised discomfort with gender equality: 'Women are as good as men, provided they put the man's needs first.' Essentially, these gurus preach qualified equality, where their personal comfort zone (heterosexuality, celibacy, masculinity) remains privileged.

It is important to recognise gurus as political figures. They are today clearly political vote banks, with a vast number of followers who do whatever the guru tells them to do. Hence the power of their spiritual discourses to influence social and political direction needs to be acknowledged.

We must also recognise the power of followers over gurus. Gurus are expected to be superhuman, and 'pure and pious'. We don't mind them dancing to Bollywood songs or playing golf. But if they were to talk too much in favour of sex and pleasure, we will see them as less than spiritual. In our hearts, many of us are convinced spirituality is an adversary of sexuality. We see Shiva who burnt Kama to ash. We refuse to see Shiva who was enchanted by Kamakshi and Mohini.

The author writes and lectures on the relevance of mythology in modern times. Reach him at devdutt@devdutt.com

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Baby Olive ridley turtles all set to embrace the sea in Velas.

Turtles - female Olive ridley turtles in particular - have a phenomenal memory. In their lifespan of about 50 years, where they swim for thousands of miles in the underwater world, they never forget one route. The females return to the same beach where they hatched to give birth to new life. The creatures are also communal in nature - they arrive at their native beach in thousands to lay eggs. The phenomenon, which makes for a stunning sight, is called Arribada.

Inhabitants of warm waters, the species has two haunts on the Indian coastline: Rushikulaya in Odisha and Velas in Ratnagiri. Over the years, Olive ridley turtles have borne the brunt of human activities and are now recognised as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. Conservation measures have been underway to ensure the eggs hatch in a conducive environment and the hatchlings safely take their first steps to the sea. If Arribada has piqued your interest, a two-day eco-tour organised by Mumbai Travellers will take you to the Velas beach where you can watch the phenomenon unfold before your eyes.

"The baby turtles trek to the sea in early mornings and evenings, so we take travellers straight to the beach as soon as we arrive in Velas," shares Karishma Joshi, eco-tours division head of the travel group. The trip includes a visit to the Bankot Fort and Harihareshwar. "In the evening, travellers will be taken to conservationist Mohan Upadhye's home, where they will watch a documentary on the turtles. This will be followed by a skit presented by local children on turtle conservation," shares Joshi.

Bianca Belair, WWE's NXT superstar, has now made it to the main roster on WWE Raw and is bringing the house down. Bianca Belair has performed for two matches on WWE Raw in the past 2 weeks and seems to be making her way to the top in the women's division. In an interview, she discusses how she was discovered, why she calls herself the 'EST', creating her own ring gear and more.

How did Mark Henry first discover you? And what is the most useful piece of advice he’s given you from your tryout and beyond?
“After my track career I wanted to find something I could still be competitive in, so I was doing Crossfit and I really stood out…all the other girls were just wearing regular shorts and t-shirts and I was coming out in tutu’s and big bows and just really standing out. At a lot of Crossfit competitions I was getting on the mic and, without even knowing it, cutting promos. Mark Henry came across a video of me at a Crossfit event on the internet and he contacted me and asked me if I’d ever thought of being in the WWE… He got me in the door but he made it very clear from the very beginning that “this is all going to be on you”… It gave me a lot of confidence and it really pushed me. Ever since then he has always been someone I can go to for advice”

You famously declared yourself the ‘EST of NXT’, and now the ‘EST of WWE’. Can you explain to people who don’t know, what that means?
“The ‘EST of WWE’ means that I am a hybrid athlete. I’m not just good in one area, I’m not just good at one thing, I’m not just strong, I’m not just someone who can go in there and do flips and be a showcase athlete. I’m someone who can do it all. I’m not just average in different areas, I’m the best in every single area. I’m the strongEST, the fastEST, the quickEST, the roughEST, the greatEST, the smartEST, I’m the bEST. All those end in EST. I just see myself as being the absolute best in every single area that you can think of.”

You’re a Superstar with a host of skills, one of which is making your own gear. Has that always been a passion for you? Which ring gear have you designed that means the most to you, and why?
“I have been pretty creative and pretty hands on my whole life. I get it from my dad who is always doing something, always making something. My mum is the same way. They are super creative and I just grew up in that environment. I used to sew when I was younger, my mum had this little Christmas cookie jar that had everything in it but cookies. At first I started sewing pillow cases together, I didn’t even know what I was doing, but it carried over into High School and I used to sew and make my own outfits… It carried over into WWE because I do everything the best and I do everything myself, it’s a huge part of my character. Probably my favourite gear is my Black History Month gear that I wore at NXT TakeOver: Portland. Black History Month is really important to me because I really feel that Black history is American history is World history, and I’m very passionate about that. So that’s probably my favourite gear that I’ve made and it has the most sentimental value to me.”

Do you see your position as a WWE Superstar carrying a responsibility to set an example for young girls and women around the world?
“The further along I get in my career the more I see that I do have a responsibility and I take that very seriously. Especially with women and young girls we are often taught to shrink ourselves, and that is a big part of my character is to never shrink yourself to soothe anyone’s insecurities, you never dim your light for anyone. You go out there and you shine bright, it’s even in my theme song: “watch me shine now”. It’s something that I really want to stress to young girls, especially within the community that I come from… Go out there and show them who you are and don’t hold back. I hold that responsibility very close to my heart and it’s not just for young girls or for women, it’s for everyone. You have to be your biggest supporter, you have to be your biggest cheerleader.”

What are Bianca Belair’s future WWE ambitions?
“The cliché answer is to be RAW Women’s Champion, or if I’m on SmackDown to be SmackDown Women’s Champion, or to eventually be NXT Women’s Champion. Of course, I want to be the Champion on all three brands at some particular time but, honestly, I just want to go out there and leave an impact no matter where I’m at. I feel like I did that with NXT, I left an impact. When people think back to this era in WWE history I want to be one of the names that pops up as one of the key players regardless of if I’ve won one match or one hundred matches. I want to leave a legacy, I want to leave an impact.”

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