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Twilight of the Taj Mahal

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Twilight of the Taj Mahal

#61

Post by ihtjmbbc123 »

ameen wrote: post #59
ihtjmbbc123 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this completely ignores the massive progress made by india mostly in the last four years on the cleanliness drive, making toilets available to most households to prevent open defecation, electricity and internet link up to all villages, massive jump in mobile data consumption, doubling the road length laid per day, switching the poor from coal and wood stoves to gas, switching massively to led lights, huge push in so…

Your handle says it all - I hate Taj Mahal BBC, and your comment reads like a bullet list from a government apologist. Addressing basic needs are not massive progress, the government is expected to do these things in response to the growing taxation, it's not a favor but their duty. India's whole problem is mismanagement and corruption, and the current culture placing profiteering over everything else and the parent…

ih is internet hindu

a label created for us by marxists

Re: Twilight of the Taj Mahal

#62

Post by kamaal »

osrec wrote: post #52
kamaal wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>My personal situation, on a relative scale, is rather more tragic. Everybody's is. Imagine what goes in the mind of a boy, who is living and watching crores of people starving in his country. Unless you have abundance for everyone, every ones gathers what they can for themselves.

You are ratifying my point, especially in your deleted comment. The rest of this response was originally for your deleted comment. I think it makes sense here as well: A poorly funded school is a governmental/societal failing. As is the inability to afford basic necessities. It should simply never be that way. We produce enough food to feed c. 10bn people, yet parts of the world go hungry. We can cheaply disseminate…

None of this is happening in India because the problem isn't restricted to just money alone. There are huge social problems to solve.

People here still fight elections on the basis of religion and caste.

Re: Twilight of the Taj Mahal

#63

Post by eesmith »

kamaal wrote: post #45
mc32 wrote: post #3

Though maintenance is an issue, I’ve been told another issue is craftsmanship. It was slapped together by slaves to serve as a tomb for the third wife of an emperor who had a harem of 2000 women yet saw it fit to drag his favorite into the battlefield for his comfort (she succumbed to complications bearing no. 14 in the 19th year of her marriage). They might as well let it crumble. It's a grotesque monument which tou…

>>It was slapped together by slaves >>They might as well let it crumble. It's a grotesque monument which tourists adore. How do you think they built the Pyramids of Giza or the Colosseum of Rome?

Regarding the Pyramid of Giza, the current best understanding is:

> .. that they were paid laborers who took great pride in their work and were not slaves, as was previously thought. Evidence from the tombs indicates that a workforce of 10,000 laborers working in three-month shifts took around 30 years to build a pyramid. Most of the workers appear to have come from poor families. Specialists such as architects, masons, metalworkers and carpenters, were permanently employed by the king to fill positions that required the most skill. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giza_pyramid_complex#Tombs_of_...

Re: Twilight of the Taj Mahal

#64

Post by pramit »

ihtjmbbc123 wrote: post #54
osrec wrote: post #10

"Incredible India", as the country's tourism slogan claims, is fast disappearing. I know this may get downvoted by fans of India, but I'm just saying it as I see it. If it matters, I'm of Indian origin too. First of all, India has everything it needs to be amazing. A young workforce, driven, technical people, a nice selection of flourishing industries, bucket loads of natural resources and abundant sources of renewab…

this completely ignores the massive progress made by india mostly in the last four years on the cleanliness drive, making toilets available to most households to prevent open defecation, electricity and internet link up to all villages, massive jump in mobile data consumption, doubling the road length laid per day, switching the poor from coal and wood stoves to gas, switching massively to led lights, huge push in so…

Did you copy all this from some govt. website?

Re: Twilight of the Taj Mahal

#65

Post by osrec »

kamaal wrote: post #60
osrec wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what you mean? Being naturally rich in resources is pretty much what makes you rich in the material sense. Other countries would kill/have killed for India's resources.

Oil has been there under the earth for thousands of years now. But it takes some work to put it use. Human resources are the most important natural resource any country will by and far ever own. That's also the reason why the 60 mile radius around Bay Area, a barren desert, has an economic output higher than several countries.

I don't think you're quite right. The Bay Area is not a nation! It benefits from being part of the United States.

I also see no cogency in your oil example. Just because you need to process oil to put it to use, are you suggesting it has no value!? That seems wholly incorrect!

Anyway, I'm not here to argue. My bottom line is, India can and should be run better, because currently, it's run badly.

Re: Twilight of the Taj Mahal

#66

Post by yumraj »

osrec wrote: post #55
yumraj wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair enough, mea culpa . However, my argument (stated differently) that passion is a luxury that not everyone can afford , still stands.

I don't think you understand what I'm saying. In a sense, I'm agreeing with you. Passion is a luxury in India, yes, but because of the way society has been set up. We need to change things so as to nurture the passions of our people, rather than have them scrambling for basic necessities. I believe we have all the ingredients to make it happen, but seem to lack the will or a plan.

I think where I'm disagreeing with you is I believe passion is a luxury due to economic constraints rather than an artifact of societal setup, at least in the modern times.

In historic times, and to a lesser extent even now, careers were decided based on family, so there yes societal setup led to suppression of passion. However, even then how much of that was due to economic reasons and how much societal if a difficult question to answer, at least for me.

But, OTOH, I do agree that India has all the ingredients to become much greater - how do we get there is a much more complicated topic.

Re: Twilight of the Taj Mahal

#67

Post by neilsense »

msiyer wrote: post #44

The monument is being neglected. The current government has an attitude which is very similar to ”not invented here" whereby anything not created by Hindus is not to be valued: https://www.firstpost.com/india/yogi-adiyanath-govt-in-uttar... Hinduism is not a religion like Islam or Christianity. People in India behave as if it is. Our past was glorious. It, however, cannot guarantee a similar future unless people wake…

> Hinduism is not a religion like Islam or Christianity

What do you mean by this?

Re: Twilight of the Taj Mahal

#68

Post by msiyer »

drieddust wrote: post #57
osrec wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree with you, however, the individual in my story was not "poor" - he was part of India's middle class. His father was being paid reasonably well at my dad's firm for the last 20+ years.

It is easy to moralize when you don't know where the shoe bites. It might look decent to you from the outside but even decently paid struggle to keep up because of the following factors: 1. India does not have a social safety net so every man or family is for themselves. This just forces people to give first priority to accumulation of money. 2. Even a decent life style in India is not affordable unless you are a bus…

> You salary is taxed at 35% effectively

This is what is directly visible. Less than 3% of the population pays income tax while tax is deducted at source for the salaried class:

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/why...

If you dare to save, the interest earned is taxed. If you try to spend, the spending is taxed - buy a house or a car or a motorcycle, all luxury items by Indian government's standards, you are taxed heavily. The bribes collected by the government officials increase the tax burden. By the way, bribes are now expected and people refusing to take or give are looked down upon: https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/21111...

All this while the mega rich are enjoying tax breaks.

> rent seekers who will push for a 10% increases Y-o-Y unless

The landlords are fleecing tenants. However, it is the tenants' responsibility to make sure the landowner pays tax: https://www.livemint.com/Money/hfutqMoI7miJYiIidCNV4M/If-mon...

Re: Twilight of the Taj Mahal

#69

Post by neilsense »

ameen wrote: post #59
ihtjmbbc123 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this completely ignores the massive progress made by india mostly in the last four years on the cleanliness drive, making toilets available to most households to prevent open defecation, electricity and internet link up to all villages, massive jump in mobile data consumption, doubling the road length laid per day, switching the poor from coal and wood stoves to gas, switching massively to led lights, huge push in so…

Your handle says it all - I hate Taj Mahal BBC, and your comment reads like a bullet list from a government apologist. Addressing basic needs are not massive progress, the government is expected to do these things in response to the growing taxation, it's not a favor but their duty. India's whole problem is mismanagement and corruption, and the current culture placing profiteering over everything else and the parent…

But you realise that actually doing things like this versus the expectation that it is their duty to do it is progress right? For a country like India where a million things need to be balanced every day, and governments of both parties have come and gone without tending to these basic needs, it's a good thing that there as been progress.

Life isn't black and white, you can't discount some good because of something you don't like on the other side (whether you're right or wrong).

Re: Twilight of the Taj Mahal

#70

Post by jhacker123 »

msiyer wrote: post #44

The monument is being neglected. The current government has an attitude which is very similar to ”not invented here" whereby anything not created by Hindus is not to be valued: https://www.firstpost.com/india/yogi-adiyanath-govt-in-uttar... Hinduism is not a religion like Islam or Christianity. People in India behave as if it is. Our past was glorious. It, however, cannot guarantee a similar future unless people wake…

> government has an attitude which is very similar to ”not invented here" whereby anything not created by Hindus is not to be valued

Curious, what are list which is created by Hindus which is well maintained and valued by government?

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