Acceptance of false attitude perpetrated by monotheistic colonial powers

A good deal more information than one expected, that too in so short an article, and it includes some archaeological tidbits too!

One may not agree with some of the things - for example, why kowtow to this negative attitude about images of Deities, calling it "idol worship", when everyone really does know it's an image portraying the Deity? The whole negative attitude belongs to abrahmic faiths, amongst which Catholics don't quite have it either - after all their churches do rever the mother and son in full form images. And why not? European deities prior to domination by church were, after all, worshipped in images, as were Egyptian and others around the world, from Chinese to Mayan.

And those that bow to the negative attitude about what they call "idol worship" then go on to rever images and icons of their not officially worshipped icons such as political leaders, stars, and so forth.

After all, when someone shows a passport and the photograph is bad, and the officer says "is this you?", who replies "no, moron, it's an image made up of points on paper, it can't be me, I'm right here before you,  how could you think the little picture could be a full human?"

So one might not agree with everything here, and possibly on reflection this writer too would agree with this point about images of Deities, but very worth reading all the same.

Responding to a comment below the original page:-

Greek and Latin have roots in Sanskrit. Try looking at words for numbers, family relationships, etc, and more. The term Indo-Europeean is used for the group of languages that evolved from these roots, and it covers most languages of Eurasia except Turkic ones.

http://postcard.news/historian-and-soldier-in-netaji-boses-army-claims-with-proof-that-hinduism-is-the-root-of-all-religions-including-christianity-and-islam/?utm_source=shimla-facebook&utm_campaign=shimla-facebook-utm&utm_medium=cpm

Gravity Waves, Big Bang, Universe ...

Gravity Waves, Big Bang, Universe ...


One looks at the headline, it seems reasonable and plausible. One goes through the article, and ends up wondering, what makes humans think reason and ideas, built on the edifice so far, is all it takes to comprehend everything across time and space through universe? If direct perception were possible,  it could all be completely different  - and why not? Every time knowledge of universe took a quantum leap, it was only because a new theory went at an angle so at odds to the older one, it threw all science till date into turmoil, with reactions ranging from minds agape to hostility to downright inquisition! Think Galileo, Newton and Kepler, Einstein and his relativity theory,  and his own reaction to quantum theory. So could it be about the singularity of the big bang too, and has anyone considered it seriously that the big bang might just be a recurring phenomena? Not the absolute moment zero, that is? 

·Monday, 25 December 2017

"Gravitational Waves --"May Prove That Black Holes Existed Before Birth of Stars in the Early Universe""

http://www.dailygalaxy.com

Re Merit Equations

Take another look, and the statement by Ms r implies "all Brahmins have merit, nobody else has any", which is too stupid for a Brahmin to think or say.

Go deeper, and the statement from Ms r exposes the following - while conversionist religions demand faith in institutions and book that control mind of the followers of those religions, demanding that followers stop independent thinking and absolutely no arguments allowed, on the contrary Hindu thinking only offers knowledge without asking people to stop thinking, and in fact one is not only told one can become one with the Divine, one is celebrated if one finds a new path.

Only Hinduism has and can produce great spiritual beings such as Buddha,  Vivekananda, and hundreds more, of every caste - and yes, not restricted to male gender either. Because no stop is put on greatness being born or blossomed into its full extent of greatness.

Reflect on this - while priests and teachers have been Brahmin, Gods and Goddesses and saints and generally spiritual persona were of various castes. And do the worshippers care what caste Gods and Goddesses  are when incarnated? Ridiculous.

This is just one facet of the larger picture. Indian castes are different from the castes elsewhere. The former are categorisation of works of males, while the latter, castes everywhere outside India, are about power, wealth and race. And women aren't on par except in Hinduism, in India.

So if Ms r thinks merit is Brahmin, there is a germ of truth there,  which us the following. It's not that anyone thinks brains or merit is equated with or restricted to Brahmins. It's a greater picture in the sense of Indian system as different from caste systems elsewhere. India did establish a far superior system in not putting power and wealth, gender and race as criteria, and such thought is superior to the more primitive structures of other cultures and faiths, where it's about "have faith, stop questioning, arguing is sin, bow down to power, bow down to wealth, women are less, lighter colours of physical parts such as skin or hair or eyes is superior not only in beauty but in every other quality, ..."!!!!

No, India never had such stupid diktat.

And one more thing common outside India but never part of Indian culture, is "droit de seigneur", the landlord's absolute right to every female in his domain.

India on the contrary has the great epics where a woman can refuse a powerful man in Ramayana; a king in Mahaabhaarata goes to the woman's father to ask for her hand even though they are poor and not high caste, and the father refuses until promised his daughter's children will rule, and they do.

So much for those who denounce Hinduism, India, for Indian caste system.

Look into your own hearts and ask, who would rather be a poor Brahmin than a powerful king, a wealthy trader? For Brahmins have generally been poor, since they aren't allowed to charge for services as priests or teachers (unlike people in trade or plying crafts), and must accept only what is offered.

The anti Brahmin drive was the colonial regimes' drive to break the spine of Indian culture, set in words by Macaulay and followed thereafter with more righteousness assumed fraudulently,  but used before too by other regimes. But fraud it was and is.

https://scontent-sin6-2.xx.fbcdn.net/...

Cliveden Set, Indian congress?

"Rajdeep Sardesai thrashed by GVL Narasimha Rao for being a Congress "apologist"" was an article, re the furore about the secret meeting held between congress and some pakis, with congress demanding PM Narendra Modi apologise for implying such meeting was improper.

Reminds one of the Cliveden set, known for their sympathy with the third Reich, and disdain amounting to contempt for the then British government - not because the latter were not standing up to the Nazi onslaught, quite au contraire,  but because the Cliveden set was advocating friendship with the nazi regime. One of them even went so far as to go live in Germany to be near the leader she hero worshipped,  and tried to kill herself when Britain and France declared war on Germany as Germany had invaded yet another nation after Czechoslovakia and Austria. 

Sardesai claims M S Aiyer had no alternative to hosting a dinner, because someone from the terror export nation went to college with aiyer!
Then again, a security professional did openly inform the nation about their full knknowledge of who in Delhi receive trucks of mangoes and other gifts from across the border. So sardesai or others on their side, politicians or media or whatever, screeching against those that would not tolerate terrorist attacks against India is not surprising. 

http://theindianvoice.com/rajdeep-sardesai-congress-apologist/

Living Tulasi vs Plastic Xmas

Recent spate of thinly veiled attacks against Hindu festivals and generally Indian culture, with environment or some such plausible reason put forth, has left a bad taste in minds where it has registered that such plausible reasons are not being applied to stop other, far more obvious, practices, whether of other faiths or of modern life. The post that points it out by illustrating the fraudulent attitude of the so called seculars compares treatment of two different cultural practices. Gulabi on one hand as traditionally worshipped in India, vs Xmas as blazing across most metropolises in India, and the attitude if the said secular related to them.  

Xmas belongs to Nordic latitudes, where snow and darkness of short days combine to make it a much needed coming together of families, with rich food, and gifts-bearing visitors from further north arriving on sleigh adding to joys.

The tree brought in, in those lands of Nordic latitudes, is from the abundant forest around, and it's decorated for a while as it gives a fresh scent, before it's chopped for firewood for much needed warmth, which is natural too, in those cold months.

Celebration on shortest day of the year, as it must have been long ago, is very natural too, feeling happy that now on days will get longer.

For those unaware, even in Southern Germany days can be very short in winter, and are on the other hand quite as long in summer, with sky still clear pale blue at 11 p.m.!

So Xmas is natural - in Nordic lands.

It looks silly even in CA where it's bright sunny all year round mostly, but in England with its cold and dark where the festival is lit by lights around houses, it's beautiful with lights. Germany has people also put up wreaths on front doors, in this season usually from the same pines, a decoration with scents of nature around, which adds to loveliness.

Copying it with every t crossed and i dotted In tropical lands such as India is the colonial subject mindset folly.

Those that call themselves liberal or secular in India are often far from so, and are in reality merely obedient to powers North West of India with an ever kowtowing pose, as proved by their attitudes on various topics and events.

Tulasi, and its benefits, are universal, and growing the plant where possible outdoors, or attempting it indoors if in not so tropical a land, is good universally.

https://scontent-sit4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/fr/cp0/e15/q65/24993144_1087423194730661_829473939710764300_n.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoibCJ9&oh=15b580177fa06b6d6622d2c1b4b3459b&oe=5AD67F8B

Shaming The Victim

Recent incident about a young woman complaining of physical harassment on a flight by a co passenger, strangely, has provoked a virulent campaign against her, since she has no proof of the said harassment,  and afterwards did not register an FIR with the law. Posts after posts and comments on those posts are either pelting her with abuse, or demanding she be arrested. Would it be different if she had been harrassed in country where sharia rules, and if the perp were of that faith? Well, in that case she might be physically stoned to death, on his word, as an immoral person with unsuitable conduct in public. Does India and her people intend to compete with that primitive level of existence, where power is all that matters?

Arrests are made to begin with by police, and proving of crime is thereafter in courts. Moreover, unless the aircraft has non stop video surveillance, there can be no evidence except if someone filmed the harassment. So it is, yes, her word. Usually this is never taken as good enough, for a simple reason  - a guy who can harass a woman can do it to the sympathisers and their families too, why go to trouble! Much easier blaming the female, shaming the female, ... with few exceptions such as a Nirbhayaa when miraculously the nation came together in condemnation and fighting for justice.  Then, too, Ms dutt argued to let the chief perp go free, because his mum needed him to pay for her daughters' weddings. Ms dutt might care more if the victim were her own baby boy, but a dead stranger female, raped and murdered because she took a bus, mouthing pious platitudes is good enough. Anyone return awards when that perp was let go free?

Shame, the comments below this and other similar posts going after the female victim, does remind one of the Delhi mindset! This whole fraud about blaming victims if they are women, blaming those that speak up, or claim human rights despite being the "other" gender. As for the incident involving the young girl in photograph here, such things do happen, slimy males attempt this or worse against - believe it or not - old and obviously married women accompanied by spouse. Why don't women speak up, is because the males that do this, if the woman complains, go on attack more, publicly aggressively, and most women are brought up to think this is shame for the woman. What's worse, the male might be accompanied by females that join the attack. For example, a male demands that an old woman remove the handbag that separates his butt from her body, and when she explains why this won't do, his wife attacks saying "This is a public place, not your own house." No, there is no video. But witnesses, there were. As for the male foot bothering a female seated in front, yes, that too is common, especially in theatres or transport. One hasn't yet experienced it personally on flight, hope one doesn't. When one attempts to avoid the said foot by moving one's seat, it was the male that went on attack mode, with heated argument about his foot being bothered and it being impossible his foot touched one. He was stupid enough due to being in the "let's attack this woman for resisting this foot" mode, so much so he didn't realise his two statements contradicted one another!

https://scontent-sin6-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/fr/cp0/e15/q65/25399038_1394796070631337_2426435289256644429_n.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoibCJ9&oh=e19d668f2a509da8dcc0f64a2b21e253&oe=5AD4272E

Heritage - And The Double Helix Of DNA

""I'm more Sicilian than Indian. Indians like to be kicked" ...Sonia Gandhi once said to Dr Subramanian Swamy  ....Dr Swamy responded by saying "this is my last meeting with you ..."".

http://postcard.news/sonia-gandhi-announced-retirement-from-politics-heres-what-she-said/?utm_source=shimla-facebook&utm_campaign=shimla-facebook-utm&utm_medium=cpm

The fireworks that were firmly declared illegal by supreme court but still went on for better part of an hour, the speech by the now ex president of the party about the family she had married into, the sweets distribution and above all, the folk daces going on outside the main area along the entry path, all spoke of a coronation rather than a political party leadership change, however "grand old" the said political party. The celebration party was vying with the political party in taking away the adjective "grand".

The frightening part however, was the smiling facade used for the lies of the speech of the new leader whose one quarter of heritage has been proclaimed as the reason he is handed over this position on a silver platter, and is staking his claim to the top political position of India, while fully three quarters of his remaining heritage is never discussed - a quarter that is known somewhat to India is simply ignored, another quarter is partly admitted but not discussed, and a quarter is shrouded in complete mystery.

This speech by the so called young leader (of an age when most people begin to expect grandchildren) was delivered with the practiced show of teeth and dimples as advised by his party, and talked of love for everyone, but was so filled with not too hidden hatred, it was more reminiscent of the missionaries out to conquer a continent by conversion, softening it for the conquering colonials who can then loot safely.

Heaven keep the claws of a regime that includes a heritage of fascist and worse from taking over India!

Funny, the party leaders interviewed by media before the coronation party arrival, all spoke of his heritage claim. They seem to not find it inconsistent, obviously, to apply completely opposite rules and logic to this heritage when it comes to this son, from what was applied to the father. For the late ex PM,  it was his mum and her father, both ex PM of India, that mattered,  while for this son, the heritage of mum or her qualification et al is not to be mentioned, and questions her father is a matter even more so, not at all to be mentioned. Other not to be questioned matters include the citizenship of the current and the now ex leader, their education related mystery, and more. Yes, they mention he has a high degree from a reputed old university,  but why this thus certified mental capability does not show yet, ever, in a speech - or even more so in any conversation with public or media, is key part of the mystery.

Dr Subramanian Swamy is owed thanks for much by the nation for his exposing various frauds in context of UPA regime and its high command as it's referred to. This includes some frauds re questions of citizenship and education of the said high command,  apart from financial scam, DNA and more. As per information that he exposed, but isn't secret, the Sicilian part is only half, while the other is likely SS; Mr Maino was a POW in Siberia, making it impossible he was the other half.

Beyond doubt, no child should be penalised for even crimes, much less follies or compelling circumstances, of the parents. But that applies both ways, in that any child being given undue credit for an illustrious heritage is something that can only go so far. When the said child exhibits no sign of ability or achievement personally when almost at half a century, and is being celebrated for a quarter of his heritage, to the extent he is expected to rule a nation like India,  his hidden heritage ought to be taken into account, and not only thatrelated to his name but the rest as well.

After all his late father, an ex PM of India,  was given credit due to his mother's father; now, nation is asked to give the son credit for his dad's mum, another late PM of India,  and forget about questions related to identity and ideology of his mum's dad! DNA does not work in a singular line, much less in a line changed to suit such twisted logic.

http://postcard.news/sonia-gandhi-announced-retirement-from-politics-heres-what-she-said/?utm_source=shimla-facebook&utm_campaign=shimla-facebook-utm&utm_medium=cpm

Legendary Bridge, profit concerns - and short memories, of the tsunami!

A team of scientists, perhaps only the latest one amongst many, has taken another look at the 35 miles long bridge submerged under ocean now, joining India with Sri Lanka, and pronounced it man made. There is more, about its construction. Which brought up the UPA regime attempting to declare that it wasn't the legendary bridge constructed by Raama as believed in India, that Raama never existed, thst it's all myth, etc, so that the UPA ally then in power in TN could destroy it wuth impunity and have ships go a shorter route.

If one has experienced roads in India, the story above might remind one of the umpteen drivers of all sorts of vehicles driving in a lane against the traffic direction, just so they could save a few pennies worth of fuel.

"The sand bar might be natural, but what's sitting on top of it (string of rocks) is not. There are stones that have been brought from far and set on top of the sand bar. The rocks on top of the sand actually predate the sand, so there is more to the story. The rocks are 7,000 years old." Pretty close to the estimate one heard from elders, which was 10,000 years. 

Dr Subramanian Swamy is owed thanks for much by the nation for his exposing various frauds in context of UPA regime and its high command as it's referred to. This includes some frauds re questions of citizenship and education of the said high command,  apart from financial scam, DNA and more.

About the bridge, the morons hell-bent on destroying it for pennies forgot the current history, namely, that the tsunami was much less devastating in coastal TN then in other parts of Asia - which might just have been because of the said bridge, stopping it from going around Sri Lanka as it did in Southern Ocean.

Responding to a comment below the original fb post about proof of existence of Raama:-

History and archaeology don't have mathematical proofs. New evidence often changes presumptions held reasonable for centuries. Moreover, India is still living mostly where her history occurred so archaeological proofs are harder (For example about Varanasi being more ancient than Jerusalem), and since Indian culture was and is cremation with ashes flown down a river, it would be hard enough to "prove" existence of any Hindu that lived before photographs existed - and those photographs can be questioned too, by simply calling them theatrical! In short, try finding a watertight proof of identities and so forth of anyone not physically present, and convincing someone who can simply point out that you are believing a myth or claim you are lying.

Anyone who thinks history was impartial during colonial era is simply adhering to the colonial subject mindset. Conquistadors always destroy the history of conquered and rewrite it, pretty much like a rapist either murdering or defaming (or threatening, in case of boys) his victims -and most get away with it.

See Spotlight, Primal Fear, et al.

Church was getting away with it, and still is. So did the colonial masters and settlers from Europe and other regions, in the old and in the new world both.

Citizenship and Responsibilities

Canada chooses to not deport convicted terrorist jihadist to home countries, which implies Canada accepts responsibility for consequences of their acts! Was this choice made with consent of those whose consent was not asked in the first place for the terrorism, never given to the said terrorist acts?

Recall the German reaction to Versailles treaty terms, resulting in WWII with all its horrors. Now ask if Canada held responsible for an act of terrorism could be asked to make reparations by the victim nation. The difference is, most of Germany was united in standing with their warmonger leaders, each time, WWI and WWII. 

So the leaders of Canada might, as duty of leaders of a democracy, have asked their citizens to vote in a referendum about taking responsibility for the terrorist acts of such jihadists and other terrorists who happen to have migrated to Canada and taken citizenship. 

And just how would anyone make up for the lives lost in such an act? For example in the flight blown up a few decades ago over the Atlantic ocean? 

http://torontosun.com/2017/06/27/america-and-india-tackle-terror-while-canada-plays-identity-politics/wcm/fc657b41-6245-457c-8405-1414e31241b8 

Re Merit Equations

Take another look, and the statement by Ms r implies "all Brahmins have merit, nobody else has any", which is too stupid for a Brahmin to think or say.

Go deeper, and the statement from Ms r exposes the following - while conversionist religions demand faith in institutions and book that control mind of the followers of those religions, demanding that followers stop independent thinking and absolutely no arguments allowed, on the contrary Hindu thinking only offers knowledge without asking people to stop thinking, and in fact one is not only told one can become one with the Divine, one is celebrated if one finds a new path.

Only Hinduism has and can produce great spiritual beings such as Buddha,  Vivekananda, and hundreds more, of every caste - and yes, not restricted to male gender either. Because no stop is put on greatness being born or blossomed into its full extent of greatness.

Reflect on this - while priests and teachers have been Brahmin, Gods and Goddesses and saints and generally spiritual persona were of various castes. And do the worshippers care what caste Gods and Goddesses  are when incarnated? Ridiculous.

This is just one facet of the larger picture. Indian castes are different from the castes elsewhere. The former are categorisation of works of males, while the latter, castes everywhere outside India, are about power, wealth and race. And women aren't on par except in Hinduism, in India.

So if Ms r thinks merit is Brahmin, there is a germ of truth there,  which us the following. It's not that anyone thinks brains or merit is equated with or restricted to Brahmins. It's a greater picture in the sense of Indian system as different from caste systems elsewhere.

India did establish a far superior system in not putting power and wealth, gender and race as criteria, and such thought is superior to the more primitive structures of other cultures and faiths, where it's about "have faith, stop questioning, arguing is sin, bow down to power, bow down to wealth, women are less, lighter colours of physical parts such as skin or hair or eyes is superior not only in beauty but in every other quality, ..."!!!! 

No, India never had such stupid diktat.

And one more thing common outside India but never part of Indian culture, is "droit de seigneur", the landlord's absolute right to every female in his domain.

India on the contrary has the great epics where a woman can refuse a powerful man in Ramayana; a king in Mahaabhaarata goes to the woman's father to ask for her hand even though they are poor and not high caste, and the father refuses until promised his daughter's children will rule, and they do.
So much for those who denounce Hinduism, India, for Indian caste system.

Look into your own hearts and ask, who would rather be a poor Brahmin than a powerful king, a wealthy trader? For Brahmins have generally been poor, since they aren't allowed to charge for services as priests or teachers (unlike people in trade or plying crafts), and must accept only what is offered.

The anti Brahmin drive was the colonial regimes' drive to break the spine of Indian culture, set in words by Macaulay and followed thereafter with more righteousness assumed fraudulently,  but used before too by other regimes. But fraud it was and is.


https://scontent-sin6-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/fr/cp0/e15/q65/23844648_1374995252611419_1175379700707803483_n.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoibCJ9&oh=07b331addf02d15ec415fe57ff2b8e47&oe=5A8E702D

Choices - Mind vs Matter

An article one came across on fb, very interesting for several reasons is

https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/11/21/john-urschel-nfl-ravens-mit-mathematics


Well written and interesting except for one thing - it looks upside down when not seen from point of view of what seems to constitute an average mindset of US,  due to the preference and almost a reverence for physicality, for physical power, and consequently for sports and jocks, which latter includes too the regard that amounts to almost reverence for money - albeit its respect for earned rather than inherited money in case of US, unlike UK and Europe and rest of the world outside India, where inheritance acquires the patina of class.

All this is upside down when seen from the world view that holds preference for world of mind as normal as looking up to mountains, and consequently an academic choice over sport jock life as an intelligent one beyond question. When it comes to mathematics, moreover, it's a no-brainer - if one is capable of doing it, any other choice is not merely dumb,  it's out of question. Having seen this work out in life with several young men, pushed by their parents into choices considered safe from earning point of view, who turned around at some point to nevertheless drop the parent's preferred path and go on to mathematics, this man's choice is quite obvious, especially since the supposedly safe alternative was not engineering or medicine as in India but the US one, sport, that too, what US calls football!

For, when mind is seen as more important - as indeed it is when seen from the view of world of mind - one's brain is the most prized and precious possession, faculty, and not to be traded for a risky exchange for say millions of bucks, even if it is per year. And US football (what the rest of the world normally calls football is named soccer in US, hence the necessity of added caution) is now definitely known to cause brain damage to players, what with head butting being a norm, apart from other risks via various physical assaults normal to the game of US football. 

Here in this story, written for the US readership and by someone who is obviously born, brought up and never been out of US, this last point is treated almost with the same caution that normally applies to the so called left liberal world view re terrorism of mostly jihadist Islamism - that is, it's not only known but glaring in face, yet must not be mentioned, must be ridiculed, challenged if mentioned, contested with any possible arguments however outlandish, because - in both cases - not only tremendous power groups support the life risky thing, US football and terrorism respectively, but also if someone doesn't play the expected mute about it that person is risking reputation, possibly career, and quite possibly injury, or even life.

Hence this whole farce of surprise about this bright young man's choice of career, when in fact it's obvious the opposite is true- if one gets into a doctoral program of MIT for mathematics, if one is capable of doing the work in spare hours between games of brain risking US football and qualifying, why, one has no other choice! Any other choice is simply dumb, since it not only gives up the highest peaks of world of mind, but risks one's brain through playing a game known to cause injury, almost on par with risk a young woman incurs in marrying a wife beater sadist.

Yes, in the latter case too most of the world sees it normally as the woman's duty to nevertheless not only marry the guy but stick to him despite his beating her to pulp, every now and then, horrendously, and every other sadistic treatment of the wife and children - usually of daughters, of course - as well, this sticking to him considered virtue so much so any deviation - such as protecting a child by sending the child out to safety for saving it's life - is considered a blot on said virtue, and the child persecuted through life by society aiding the sadist in his pursuit of destroying the lives of the child and mother.

When and how did this perverse defence, nay, glorification, come about, of a sadist who destroys wife and children,  a game known to cause brain injury and damage, jihadist mindset that seeks to wipe out civilisation and annihilate not only thousands or millions of lives but preaches it as superior glory? When did these diverse manifestations of death cult worship, so false, so fraudulent, happen to rise?!!!!

If life exists, it can only be because it's the Will, whether one says of Nature or of Divine. It's the precious gift, and civilisation is how it's earned by humanity.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/11/21/john-urschel-nfl-ravens-mit-mathematics

The House in Prague - How a Stolen House Helped an Immigrant Girl Find Her Way Home, by Anna Nessy Perlberg.

The House in Prague - How a Stolen House Helped an Immigrant Girl Find Her Way Home, by Anna Nessy Perlberg. 

Reading any memoirs of the holocaust, or for that matter a book based on those times and those events, is hard enough. This one is by someone who was a little girl of ten by the time the horrors began, and the book begins with memories of the home of the family in Prague by the little girl, albeit written and published much later. The memories are of a beautiful life in a beautiful home, a large house on the hill in Prague, filled with music and more, with wealth of the educated, accomplished  and the connoisseur, rather than  wealth of the aristocracy which may or may not exercise their choice of ability to accrue all those qualities. The family moreover is of a mixed marriage, with a Catholic mother and a Jewish father, with much love and complete harmony.

This somehow makes for more horror for the reader who knows and dreads the subsequent events that will affect this family, their beautiful home and beautiful life filled with music, concerts, friends and family. Fortunately this family survived, by selling much of their prized possessions or using some to bribe whoever needed to be, to emigrate on the eve of the horrors descending on the world, centred on the continent. They managed to survive, do well, educate the children well, and live, in US.

But this only makes for a contrast when viewed in context of the family and friends and more that were lost due to not being able to, or in some cases, not choosing to, migrate as they did. A very moving moment is when the author, then still a young girl coping with high school in the new land, is asked by her father to accompany him to a synagogue for the first time - she is brought up Catholic - and mentions how the Rabbi asked if anyone lost a family member in the holocaust. She raises her hand, and looks around to see the whole congregation doing the same. They rise, sing prayers for the dead, all weeping.

It's a tale of life, survival and prospering of a few on the background of the six million or more that did not, and as such all the more poignant - for, obviously, if these people did so well, so could a large part of those that did not survive, and this loss of human potential and of quality was all because the lumpen that the perpetrated the events intended to wipe out human civilisation and all its achievements, in name of racial supremacy.

That another ideology in name of equality of all did much the same to a large proportion of the world population behind respective curtains of the totalitarian nations, only makes it worse. One is, of course, happy these good people did survive and did well.