Horror movies are designed to scare you. And people watch them intentionally to get scared. What is this allure of horror that makes people watch them even though they get frightened? How do horror movies work with visuals, sounds, costumes and other elements to create this effect? These and more are the topics Nina Nesseth explores in this book using psychology and neuroscience.
Cities need water for their inhabitants and today this is usually pumped by nondescript water pumping stations run by electricity and modern technology. Go back 165 years and imagine how these pumping stations used to look? How did they run? These questions and many others are answered by the Museum of Steam Technology in Hamilton.
In 2018, I wrote about a stepwell in ruins: forgotten, overgrown and slowly fading away. I posted it on my blog and moved on, assuming it would vanish into the void of the internet. Six years later, I got a message out of the blue that stopped me in my tracks. A famous water conservation activist had come across my post, and it had played a part in the stepwell’s restoration. I was invited to the opening ceremony, as a guest, at the very site I had once called forgotten. It still doesn’t feel real.
Standing on the upper floor of the abandoned guesthouse, my dad and I looked at the view in front of us. As my dad excitedly recounted tales of his childhood around these parts, I stared out at the beautiful and serene Pocharam Lake as it shimmered in the afternoon sun. My mind wandered back to the 70s and 80s and what this place might have looked like back then and slowly further back to the days of the Nizam when this building was used as a hunting lodge. Now, all that remains are the decaying walls and the stillness of its solitude.
What do Ottoman Cairo, Istanbul, Edirne, Mughal Delhi and Qutub Shahi Hyderabad have in common? In the 1600s, they were all home to some of the best hospitals in the world. Remarkably, Hyderabad’s Dar-ul-Shifa still stands today, though in a fairly neglected state. On a bright Sunday morning earlier this year, I joined a heritage walk through the Dar-ul-Shifa locality, the area which takes its name from this very building.
In the early 16th century the mere rumor of spotting Ottoman ships off the coast of an enemy city would send shivers down other empires. During this time and at several other points in history, the Ottoman Empire was arguably the world’s most powerful empire, distinguished by its vast territorial extent, military might, economic strength, and extraordinary cultural achievement. One person most responsible for this was Sultan Selim who ruled from 1512 to 1520. This book traces his life, his conquests, the prevailing conditions in Europe and the New World before and during his reign and how the equations between Muslims and Christians played out from the world-changing events of the 1490s.
The longest river in the world travels a distance of around 7000s kms in north east Africa before it empties into the Mediterranean Sea. 95% of Egypt’s population lives within just a few kilometers of the this river and its delta. The ancient Egyptians considered it divine, a gift from the gods. This is Nile, River of the Gods. For the longest time nobody knew where this massive river originated from. This book traces the journeys of explorers who finally uncovered this mystery in the 1850s.
One of my main reasons for visiting Tofino was to indulge in an activity called ‘Storm Watching’, which is when you go to a beach during a storm and watch the rough seas with huge waves. Some do it from the safety of a hotel near the beach and some from the beach itself. I was interested in the latter as it’s more adventurous as well as more affordable.
Few characters receive immediate and warm praise from Holmes as Dr. Mortimer does in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Of the four novels, The Hound of the Baskervilles remains my top favorite and this opening scene with Dr. Mortimer is a big reason why. In this post I will be briefly sharing my thoughts on the four novels featuring Sherlock Holmes.
Mohammed Iqbal, a famous Urdu philosopher-poet, wrote, in one of most famous poems, the following lines
Sitaro se aagey jahan aur bhi hai
Abhi Ishq ke imtihaan aur bhi hai
Meaning, there are more worlds beyond the stars, more battles awaiting you in life.
