Tuesday, October 09, 2012

VISITING HAWAIIAN ISLAND

Travel

Posted on 13 Sep 2012

We had a FOUR DAY trip to Hawaii island group from September 08 to September 11, 2012. It was SIX HOUR flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu, capital of Hawaiian Island. We went by Hawaiian Airlines--smooth flying. Journey was long and ardous but it was satisfying. We stayed at a Hotel in WAIKIKI suburb of Honolulu---Known for its world famous beach. Waikiki stands for "land of spouting water". It was an area of swamps till 1920 but reclaimed and converted into a wonderful place on earth. Tulsi Gabbard, an indian origin lady, is the Senator from Hawaii.

A BANYAN TREE in the International Market at WAIKIKI, HONOLULU SUBURB

Returning to Hotel from Waikiki beach through International Market---Hardly 500 Meters

A view of famous DUKE Market at WAIKIKI at night

A white pigeon at our Hotel room Balcony----There are white pigeons aplenty here

Hawaii islands is the 50th state of USA located in the Pacific Ocean some 4130 Kms from Los Angeles, California, USA and around 3900 Kms from Tokyo, Japan. It comprises of FIVE islands. They are :- KAULAI, OAHU (Second largest--- Honolulu-capital of Hawaii here), MOLOKAI, MAUI, KALLUA KONA (Biggest but Volcano prone)

OAHU-ISLAND MAP----HONOLULU CITY in the SOUTH WEST. It is the second largest Island of Hawaii

The Hawaiians were a people without writing, who preserved their history in chants and legends. Much of the early history has disappeared with the death of the kahunas and other learned men whose function it was to pass on this knowledge, by means of chants and legends, to succeeding generations.

Are you reminded of your own BHATS, PANDAS and BRAHMINS , who acquired knowledge and history by words of mouth from generation to generation, in the times when written script did not exist? Were KAHUNAS, HawaIian Brahmins? Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha ! I won't be surprised if Indian connection to POLYNESIAN CULTURE through FIJIAN LAND is claimed by some Indian Indologist of VEDIC CULTURE---POLYNESIAN CULTURE spreads through five groups of island in the Pacific and Indian ocean--ie. from Fiji Island group through Samoa, Tahiti, Aotearoa (Newzealand) to Hawai----but Sanskrit is NOT their language -----I know these SANSKRIT-WALAS would skin me alive because they think SANSKRIT SCRIPT existed even before evolution of man! And their rantings continue on Sekhar's blog---- What says Dr DMR Sekhar?

SNAP SHOTS OF WAIKIKI BEACH

Waikiki in Hawaiian Language means 'Sprouting Water" OR simply put it is a SWAMP---reclaimed in 1920 and converted into a posh locality today

Waikiki Beach--Posh location on HONOLULU, OHAU Island

In the far distance, on the left of the beach is a rocky feature-----it is DIAMOND HEAD----a crator created by a meteroite strike

HONOLULU THROUGH PICTURES!----ALL PICS FROM THE RUNNING CAR. Write ups on some pics are my notations through editing on Picassa

Some of the high rise buildings of HONOLULU SUBURBS along Freeway H-1---Sky scrappers second only to New York City

Area is known as ALA MONA CENTRE----A famous shopping complex

Modern Hawaiian history begins on January 20, 1778, when Captain James Cook’s expedition made its first contact with the Hawaiian people on the islands of Kauai and Niihau. Captain Cook was not the first man to “discover” the Hawaiian Islands. He was the first known European to arrive.

AT DIAMOND HEAD CENTRE

Self at DIAMOND HEAD CRATOR ENTRY-

----SOME SNAP SHOTS

The language of Hawaii and archaeological discoveries indicate that Hawaii was settled by two distinct waves of Polynesian migration. Cook himself knew that the original Polynesian discoverers had come from the South Pacific hundreds of years before his time. First, from the Marquesas, came a settlement as early as 600 or 700 AD, and then from the Society Islands, another migration about 1100 AD.

Lacking instruments of navigation or charts or any kind, the Polynesians sailed into vast oceans. They staked their knowledge of the sky and its stars, the sea and its currents, the flight of birds and many other natural signs. They were superior seamen of their time.

Polynesian Cultural Centre on Highway 83 West

You can see the Pacific in the rear-----Highway 83 is between Polynesian Centre and the Ocean

TAHITI Playing Musical instruments at POLYNESIAN CULTURAL CENTRE on Highway 83 West along Pacific Ocean on OHAU Island of Hawaii

Hawaiian dancer performing at the polinesian cultural Centre

Hawaiian dancer performing at the Hawaiian village in the Polinesian Centre

SOME SNAPS OF DRIVE ALONG PACIFIC OCEAN ON HIGHWAY 83 WEST & NORTH SHORE ON OHAU ISLAND---WINDWARD SIDE---all shots through running car at 80 MPH (128 KMs/hour)

In 1820, the first Protestant missionaries arrived on Hawaii Island filling the void left after the end of the kapu system. Hawaii became a port for seamen, traders and whalers. The whaling industry boom flourished in Lahaina Harbor in Maui. Throughout these years of growth, western disease took a heavy toll on the Native Hawaiian population.

Western influence continued to grow and in 1893, American Colonists who controlled much of Hawaii's economy overthrew the Hawaiian Kingdom in a peaceful, yet still controversial coup. In 1898, Hawaii became a territory of the United States.

In the 20th century, sugar and pineapple plantations fueled Hawaii's economy bringing an influx of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino and Portuguese immigrants. Lanai, under the leadership of James Dole, became known as the “Pineapple Island,” after becoming the world’s leading exporter of pineapple. This mix of immigrant ethnicities is what makes Hawaii’s population so diverse today.

Toy rail & rail station in DOLE PLANTATION---House of PINEAPPLE CULTIVATION SINCE 1900 ---Good 20 mins ride thru plantation.

PEARL HARBOR MEMORIAL

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on Oahu. Four years later, on September 2, 1945, Japan signed its unconditional surrender on the USS Battleship Missouri, which still rests in Pearl Harbor today. In 1959, Hawaii became the 50th State of the United States.

Memorial on sunken US battleship Arizona

Pearl Harbor Map

Memorial on Battleship Arizona, destroyed on Dec 07 1941

We went there by a ferry and returning via a ferry

Memorial Park & Recreation Area

On the right side behind the trees is battleship Missouri

SELF WITH A SURVIVOR OF PEARL HARBOR ATTACK ON

DEC 07,1941----EVITT HYLAND----Born March 07, 1923--

ENROLLED in NAVY in November 1940

SELF & SELFNI

HISTORY OF CONFLICT

JAPANESE PLAN OF ATTACK and EXPANSION into ASIA

COSMIC AGE---- PART ONE

There is a lot of hue and cry about Governmental decision on FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) in the retail sector in India. I see those who oppose it as skewed up philosophers of "SWADESHI' who do not see the march of times. They are swimming against the tide of the current times. Give the devil his due, for once, Man Mohan has taken a wise decision.

And those who cry for the nation must know that "Nation-state concept" is almost at the verge of extinction as the "Globalised world" turns into a BIG MICRO CHIP, with inter connected self sustaining economic Micro dots, in the form of city states of a GLOBALISED WORLD. Yes, we are almost knocking at the doors of COSMIC ERA, past the "information era". Move on the cry babies!

In "Power-Shift", Alvin Toffler discusses three pillars of Power i.e Force, Money and Knowledge. He then goes on to describe that mankind has passed through three waves of growth and development i.eAgricultural wave, Industrial wave and Knowledge wave/Information wave. The First wave of Agriculture, flourished from 1st Century AD to 15th Century, the second wave of Industrial growth lasted till mid 20th century and since then mankind has been slowly moving in Third wave of Information.

In the Agricultural wave, FORCE was the real base of power and other two were just supporting pillars. In the industrial wave, wiegtage shifted to MONEY and in the Information Wave, it is KNOWLEDGE, which describes power and other two are just supporting pillars. While the First wave lasted 1500 years; second wave just about 500 years. Information age is just about 60 years old and we see signs of its passing away and coming of the FOURTH WAVE i.e. COSMIC WAVE in another 40 years or so.

I will talk about them in detail a little later. Let me first touch upon two aspects of RELIGION and NATIONALISM. Both have been "opium of the masses." ‘RELIGION’ has often been wrongly equated with ‘SPIRITUALITY’ and similarly ‘NATIONALISM’ has been synonymous with ‘PATRIOTISM’. This dual synonymy has always been the real cause of human conflict and confrontation.

Religion had been basically designed to perform certain TEMPORAL RITUALS/ PRACTICES which had become utmost necessary as part of human faith and belief to live life in a particular manner. Religion ‘regulates’ daily human life.

As against this, ‘SPIRITUALITY’ guides, motivates and drives human beings to rise above narrow and parochial personal motives to synthesize human soul and the Nature. It upholds man’s quest for ‘INNER PEACE’ with self and supports his inquisitive search for ‘Moralistic Answers’ to ‘Humanistic Questions’.

Viewed as such, religion might seem to be part of ‘SPIRITUALITY’ but never a holistic canvas covering spirituality. It might be ‘one of the means’ and ‘not the only mean’ to seek inner peace. In a world abounding in ignorance, illiteracy and little-knowledge of not-too-distant past, religion had sought to provide answers to man’s spiritual queries. In the days bygone, knowledge of man was so limited both in extent and depth that religion sought to fill the vacuum by satisfying human curiosity. In other words, where knowledge had failed to provide answers, ‘Religion’ had stepped in with ‘symbolic’ answers.

But answers provided by religion were always stereo-typed and revolved around its ‘Singularity of only Truth’. This became belief and unshakeable faith and anyone suggesting any deviation became the cause of HATRED and CONFRONTATION. RELIGION had left no space in the human mind for alternative and better knowledge. It exploited illiteracy and unawareness of its subjects. Merely acquiring academic knowledge is not the empowerment of human mind.

It is the understanding and application of this academic knowledge which enables one to break free of ‘RELIGIOUS-SINGULARITY-OF ONLY-TRUTH’. Those, who still believe in the religious singularity of only truth, are as illiterate as were the people in the medieval periods. Knowledge has many truths about itself which the bigots can hardly understand. But, today, the scene has changed many times over and the onrushing DELUGE OF KNOWLEDGE is pushing religion now into background.

Similarly, “Nationalism” was a product of Industrial revolution in the 18^th Century. The coming of the machines had standardized production and enhanced human capacity to produce more consumable goods in a lesser time period. Standardized processes led to production of goods in bulk. MASS PRODUCTION became the order of the day and this unleashed a competition for more raw material and resources. More and more groups of people merged into one ‘key social mass’ to produce larger socio-geographical identities.

This ‘Massification’ of people and societies led to bigger socio-politico communities. This gave birth to the concept of a ‘NATION STATE’—where geography, ethnicity, military prowess, lingual similarities and cultural affinities played greater role in defining national boundaries. This emotional sense of belonging to something supreme generated a feeling of ‘SUPERIORITY’ and greatness.

It became the duty of every single man within the borders of such geographic descriptions to protect its territorial integrity at all costs—even with supreme sacrifice. This came to be called PATRIOTISM. Thus, man had acquired different national identities—each one claiming superiority and greatness. Such competitive thoughts had to spark hatred and dislike amongst humans. Industrial revolution gave rise to organized CONFLICTS and WARS between nations as ‘expansionist interests’ clashed.

Both ‘Religion’ and ‘Nation State’ had divided humanity into different ‘GHETTOES’—always hating and fighting against one another. Ignorance and ‘Lack of Awareness’ had often made man his own worst enemy.

Man fought for GERMANY, ENGLAND, AMERICA, RUSSIA, ITALY, JAPAN, CHINA, INDIA, FRANCE and PAKISTAN etc. Man even fights for ISLAM, CHISTANITY, HINDUISM, BUDDHISM, SIKHISM, COMMUNISM and CAPITALISM et al. All this he resorts to because he was given these identities at the time of his birth.

These “BIRTH-TAG’ identities had pushed man far away from the basic tenets of ‘HUMANISM’. But all this is now going to change as KNOWLEDGE REVOLUTION has FLATENED THE WORLD and there is no scope for emotional frailties of IGNORANCE and UNAWARENESS.

‘Man’ has been ‘individualized’ because of rising awareness level and sky-rocketing aspirations. Societies and families have broken up under the pressure of ‘INDIVIDUALISATION’. Zeal for ‘Self-promotion-at-all-costs’ has sent ‘individualized man’ globe-trotting to serve personal interests better. Societies and polities are getting tailor-made for globe-trotting man.

Such a ‘Globalised man’ views ‘NATIONALISM’ and ‘RELIGION’ as outmoded philosophies which put him at a utter disadvantage because they narrow down his sphere of activities and opportunities in an otherwise leveled playing field of a FLATENED WORLD.

A school of thought is emerging that those who do not join the band wagon will lose out. The message is clear: either HOOK ON or be LEFT BEHIND in the IGNONIMITY of the ‘Grand Canyons of Times’, when your other contemporaries elsewhere were now moving past the last stage of KNOWLEDGE AGE and knocking on the doors of the COSMIC ERA.

COMING COSMIC AGE - PART TWO

In Part One, I discussed the scenario clamoring for Cosmic age and world becoming a globalised community with interconnected economic nodes. I shall now dwell upon this theme, both philosophically and empirically. I am NOT predicting, lest you misunderstand me, I am peeping into the likely trends which would shape mankind and the future track it might tread upon..

Thomas R Friedman has postulated three stages of GLOBALISATION in his book, “THE WORLD IS FLAT”. The first stage he says started around 1492 AD when COLUMBUS hit the coast of AMERICA. This was GLOBLISTION 1.0. It was spearheaded by countries trying to turn the LARGE world into MEDIUM. It lasted around 300 years till about 1800AD.This was the time when INDUSTRIAL revolution had galvanized EUROPE and the concept of NATION STATE was born. Industrial Revolution gave rise to MULTI NATIONAL COMPANIES or MNCs.

The GLOBALISATION 2.0 was sparked by the MNCs and it turned the world from MEDIUM to SMALL. It ended around 2000 AD.

The GLOBALISATION 3.0 was spearheaded by INDIVIDUAL who had been empowered by COMPUTERS, INTERNET and WEB to be his own player in a FLATENED WORLD—where everyone was having a level playing field to do what he wants to do. The world had been turned from SMALL into a TINY nodes in the universe.

Alvin Toffler ( I referred to him in Part One, too) in his trilogy of books, namely, “Future Shock”, “Third Wave” and “Power Shift” talks at length of the THREE WAVES of growth and development mankind has undergone since its inception. Each wave had a dominating philosophy.

FIRST WAVE was dominated by AGRICULTURE or physical force. SECOND WAVE, which coincided with GLOBALISATION 1.0 and GLOBALISATION 2.0 of FRIEDMAN, was dominated by MONEY or mass production. THIRD WAVE, almost synonymous with GLOBALISATION 3.0, is associated with INFORMATION or the KNOWLEDGE.

Accordingly, each wave described the society as such i.e. AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY and the INFORMATION SOCIETY. The First Wave lasted around 1500 years--- up to the start of Industrial Revolution in Europe. The Second Wave began around 15th Century and it carried on for almost four hundreds and fifty years and it lasted till mid Twentieth Century.

The Third Wave or the ‘Information Age’ began around the end of Second World War and it unleashed an era of ‘Total Transformation of the Society’. As the mankind entered 21st Century, the THIRD WAVE was also seemingly moving towards drawing curtains on itself. We would enter a new era in the near future i.e. the FOURTH WAVE ---‘THE COSMIC WAVE’.

The process of GLOBALISATION and KNOWLEDGE REVOLUTION has shrunk the world to a level where the world is heading into borderless landmass of free- flowing GLOBAL CITIZENS. At the same time, man has ventured into space. He is now looking beyond the earth. There are tell-tale signs of some form of intelligent life in the outer space. 'Mars orbitte'r has already raised hopes of water on the planet Mars. Many astronomers believe that "WE WERE NOT ALONE" in the universe.

We are sure heading into the COSMIC AGE where man could think of ‘GALAXY-HOPPING’ in the not-too-distant-future. We are now capable of imagining the mythical characters of VEDIC PEOPLE who could move into THREE WORLDS with the twinkling of an eye. Man would become a TIME TRAVELER.

We have been able to identify EARTH-II which lay at some 20.5 LIGHTS YEARS away from us. It could have some form of life. May be in next 50 years manned mission could be sent to this planet to find if there were any homosapiens there.Man would be interactive with ETs (Extra Terrestials)---or other forms of INTELLIGENT LIFE in the universe.

We are sitting at the edge of a revolutionary change in our ‘Ways of Life’—when ‘Religion and Nations’ would become irrelevant in our daily chores. We will THINK GLOBAL and ACT GLOBAL in everyway.

THIRD WAVE and GLOBALISATION 3.0 are shaping the future of the COSMIC MAN who is looking beyond the mundane frontiers of the EARTH and thinking of enmeshing into the SPACE. In such a scheme of things, RELIGION and NATION STATE would have NO PLACE. Some of us have already leapfrogged into the FOURTH WAVE of COSMIC AGE. The transient period is of GLOBALISED MAN and he has already hit the economical fabric of the GLOBE.

Nixon Bostorm, Director of FUTURE OF HUMANITY INSTITUTE at OXFORD University has postulated that the day was not far when a robotized man could actually become a reality. In other words, activities of a ‘BIO-TECH’ man could be simulated.

This is heralding characters of the movie MATRIX in reality for you, when you could be doing things in a ‘Virtual World’. Bostorm even goes to the extent of saying that 20 percent chance exists when ours could be a SIMULATED WORLD.

It means it could be switched off like our computer screen goes off when we log off. This view could be strengthening the “ID THEORY” of the creation of universe as against the “BIG BANG THEORY”. I leave it at this.

But the fact remains BIO-TECH BRAINS, as in the movie MATRIX, could be created who would be able to simulate a physical body and move around in a simulated world. Time and space to such VIRTUAL HUMAN BEINGS would be a matter of no significance. They would move from place ‘A’ to place ‘B’ with the twinkling of an eye.

Technologies are advancing so fast that TIME TRAVELLING won't be a mystery of VEDIC CULTURE. Digitalised Human beings could recreate them selves and relive their past ( read my piece on "Digitalised humans"--I shall dwell upon such technological advances in the next part)

We are heading into the age of COSMIC TRAVELLERS who would go ‘GALAXY HOPPING’ as the modern man goes ‘CONTINENT HOPPING’ today. ‘Cosmic travelers’ would provide us real time information on outer space. Where would, then, be the time for EARTHLY BOUNDARIES of MIND and Physical SPACE? Religion and Nation State would have no identity in the COSMIC WORLD of tomorrow.

The advent of FLATENED WORLD has already produced a class of ‘CONTINENT-HOPPING-CITIZENS’ who have hardly any strong affiliation or ties with one particular nation. They are a class of ROVING HUMAN BEINGS who are more inspired and fired by ECONOMIC zeal.

In a level-playing field, they look for opportunities to find cheapest ways of wealth creation. BPOs, KPOs and IT industry have revolutionized the concept of manufacture and production at the global level. Borders have begun to disappear and the walls separating people are collapsing everywhere.

The day is not far when the NATIONAL BOUNDARIES WOULD merge into one another and the concept of NATION STATE would be consigned to dustbin of human history. The world is likely to be broken into thousands of interdependent and interconnected economic nodes with no predominant political ideology as the governing philosophy.

Alvin Toffler has predicted the rise of some 5000 City States with their own economic agenda. Their emergence would really not spell a death knell for the religion but it would push it into insignificance. Religion might not play as significant a role in man’s spiritual life as it does today. It would become a private affair.

The recent upsurge of the RELIGION and the NATIONALISTIC EMOTIONS are the clear-cut signs of dying philosophies. The desperation is to protect the banishing identities in a GLOBALISED WORLD. A churning process is on in the form of religious violence and resulting revulsion to it. More the religious fundamentalists tryu to protect themselves by waves of violence, more they destroy themselves.

We see the OFFICIALDOM everywhere is trying to use FORCE to keep the ‘breaking unit’ under its wings. Nations after nations are falling prey to thi inner explosions. Call it insurgency, militancy, terrorism or what have you? The fact remains: NATIONS ARE UNDER ATTACK FROM WITHIN.

The GLOBE is currently transiting through a PROCESS of POLITICO-RELIGIOUS ‘Fission’ and ‘Fusion’ at the same time. While geo-politically, ‘LARGE’ is breaking into ‘SMALL’—it is leading to tension and violence in these nations. The process of FISSION is on.

Slowly and slowly all big or small nations will splinter into small economic nodes. This is the call of the GLOBALISED WORLD. While on one hand process of FISSION is on, on the other hand, the process of FUSION at the GLOBAL LEVEL is also working simultaneously, where these tiny economic nodes will be sewn into one big GLOBAL UNIT. These will be interconnected, interdependent and synchronized dots on the GLOBAL CHIP. Global dynamism will ensure that none could exist in a vacuum—they will exist with each other—supplementing and supporting.

It may sound funny but it is a truism that a dying insect grows wings and flutters more. Same is true of religious fundamentalism. Its sound and fury is basically to preserve its banishing identity in the wake of on-going globalization. It is true of all religions.

I reckon Twenty First Century will pull the curtains on religion once for all. The coming of the COSMIC AGE is sounding of the LAST POST for Religion and the Nation State. Witness their demise in the coming decades.

Thus, in conclusion what would a COSMIC MAN be? Let us sum up:-

1, A digitalised Human being---bereft of social emotions of present day. (Humans might become product of factories---Advent of Stem Cell and Genetic engineering has so advanced that Man-woman copulation might not be required---see next part)

2. A Galaxy-Hopping TIME TRAVELER.

3. COLONISER of the Outer Space.

4. Interactive and perhaps, in conflict with other ETs or other intelligent beings in the outer space.

I shall discuss these scenarios in Part Three.

STEM - Save The Earth Movement

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Tuesday, October 09, 2012