Nanjing - The Purple Mountain

Many of Nanjing's famous sites are clustered around Zijinshan ("Purple Mountain"). By sites, I mean tombs. The Dr. Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and the Ming Tombs are the headliners. Dr. Sun founded the Kuomintang party based on the Three Principles of the People - nationalism, democracy, and social welfare. He went on to become the first president of the Republic of China, naming Nanjing the capital.

Although he died in Beijing, the Father of Modern China was laid to rest in Nanjing. Construction of the mausoleum was completed in 1929, four years after his death. About four hundred steps have to be climbed to reach the main hall at the top. A fat child complained loudly to his mother as he approached the halfway mark. A magnificent music stage near the base of the mausoleum is home to hundreds of doves, elegantly blending in with the natural surroundings.

Purple Mountain is very green. A lush canopy covers the roads winding around the mountain. I took a taxi to Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and then a bus to the nearby tombs of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty. The scenic burial ground is made in the traditional manner, with a long pathway leading to the tombs, accompanied by a lake, parks, and hills. Nanjing's Ming Xiaoling shares its World Heritage status with similar tombs from the same dynasty in Beijing and Shenyang, but was still worth a visit.

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“The Revolution has not yet succeeded. Comrades, you must carry on!” — Sun Yat-Sen 

The Headshot Controversy: ArnabSen.com

My namesake website was relaunched, coinciding with the initiation of my job hunt after my return to Canada from China. ArnabSen.com features information about the companies I worked at and types of projects I was responsible for handling, as well as a link to this blog.

The website content is pretty standard, apart from a controversial head shot which steals the show. The background photo of me is so deliciously sinful, that a few nations immediately moved to block access to the website. As always, my friends provided positive feedback on the vivid imagery:

The website seems like a temple to yourself

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Some constructive advice... kindly  remove the 'masturbatory' statements.. and your handsome pics  ... and let your work talk for themselves...

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Holy crap!! That's the only word i can think of. The height of it all is the face profile pic....

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Can't even open the page it's taking so long to load! is there arnaboner in the site hence the block? must be the purported intensity of the profile pic.

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Whao a Bollywood movie star!

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Have posted this picture of you on craigslist with your email address.

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MY EYES!!! BUT MY EYES!!!

Arnab what the hell is up with the bigass picture. that was utterly unnecessary and your potential employer might balk at such blatant display of handsomeness. ur practically bragging. tone it down would ya. or better yet do without it.

Inside the Mind of a Chinese Woman

Although love can never be broken down logically into a set of discrete and measurable characteristics, a noble scientist nonetheless attempts to do so after using himself as a guinea pig for the experiments. The ideal man in the mind of an Indian mother had been studied previously, but the intricacies of the Chinese female brain are an altogether different matter.

1) Categories

Let us begin with ten distinct traits a beautiful Chinese woman would find desirable or undesirable in a man.

Desirable: Is he Chinese, funny, handsome, honest, hygienic, kind, rich, smart, and well-mannered?
Undesirable: Is he scary?

2) Test candidates

Two archetypes, the Indo-Canadian Temptation and the Rich Chinese Guy, will act as the objects of desire on whom the experiment will be performed.

3) Scoring mechanism

The two candidates will be given scores of 1 or 0 for each trait, with 1 going to the man who wins that category. No ties will be accepted, so each category will have a clear winner. If neither candidate merits a win in a particular category, there shall still be a loser. Scores of 0 and -1 will be given with the stronger, though still weak, candidate getting a 0 in this scenario.

4) Test Data

After sorting through real world data, the results were compiled. The Indo-Canadian Temptation secured 7 categories, while 3 were claimed by the Rich Chinese Guy.

Exhibit 1 - Raw Data



4) Weighting

Now that we know who the participants are, the characteristics that will be measured, and the ranking methodology to be used, only one other variable remains. The relative importance of each characteristic must be determined. A weighting must be assigned to see how much impact each trait has in winning a beautiful Chinese girl's heart.

Two tables are henceforth displayed. The first shows the results if an equal weighting is given to all categories. The second shows the results with weightings matching the importance of each trait.

Exhibit 2 - Equal Weighting



As expected, the Indo-Canadian Temptation's strength and consistency across most categories allows him to win the girl's heart with a score of 30. The Rich Chinese Guy hangs his head in shame with a -10 performance.

Exhibit 3 - Relative Weighting



When relative weighting is used according to the preferences of a Chinese girl the Rich Chinese Guy scores an unbeatable 80 by putting all his eggs into the highly weighted baskets of being rich and Chinese. Despite dominating 7 of 10 categories, the Indo-Canadian Temptation falls short of his goal with a lousy -20 rating.

5) Analysis


Exhibit 4 - Average Score and Margin of Victory



When an average of these two measures is taken, the Rich Chinese Guy still comes out on top 2-1. He also has a larger margin of victory over his opponent when he wins. At first glance, the equally weighted index seems to indicate a landslide victory for the Indo-Canadian Temptation based on his across the board excellence. Further investigation reveals that their are some hidden variables that have to be taken into consideration. This tilts the game of love heavily in favour of the Rich Chinese Guy. Although the Indo-Canadian Temptation has delved inside the mind of a beautiful Chinese girl, he still remains outside of her heart.

*****

“He who studies books alone will know how things ought to be, and he who studies men will know how they are.” — Charles Caleb Colton

Vancouver Riots 2011

They were the best hockey team throughout the season by a large margin. They never trailed a series in the playoffs, and leading 2-0 in this one. Yet, the Vancouver Canucks lost in the 7th game of the Stanley Cup Final. Soon after the lovable losers failed to secure Lord Stanley's Cup for the 41st consecutive year, the rioting began. The crowds that had gathered on the streets to watch the game became unruly.

Although no stranger to danger, I was not involved in this particular riot. The mob consisted primarily of young white males. They set cars on fire, hurled insults and garbage at police officers, engaged in fisticuffs, and looted stores. The police methodically cleared out the streets of rioters as quickly as they could. As darkness fell in a city, it was clear that it had lost a lot more than a championship.

The world's most livable city showed its better side the next morning. Hundreds of volunteers helped to clear the streets of the debris left behind from the mayhem of the night before. Outside the Bay's flagship store, which had been pillaged by the Vancouverioters, an "Apology Wall" came into being. The shattered windows of the storefront had been boarded up with plywood, and Vancouverites had started writing messages on the wooden planks. The notes stated how sorry the people were for the behaviour of the rioters and expressed dismay and anger at the ugly turn of events in the Olympic city.

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Gone the city, gone the day,

Yet still the story and the meaning stay:

Once where a prophet in the palm shade based,

A traveler chanced at noon to rest his mules.

“What sort of people may they be,” he asked,

“in this proud city on the plains o’erspread?”

“Well, friend, what sort of people whence you came?”

“What sort?” the packman scowled; “why, knaves and fools!”

“You’ll find the people here the same,” the wise man said.

Another stranger in the dusk drew near,

And pausing, cried, “What sort of people here

in your bright city where yon towers arise?”

“Well, friend, what sort of people whence you came?”

“What sort?” the pilgrim smiled, “Good, true, and wise.”

“You’ll find the people here the same,” the wise man said.

-— from Edwin Markham's "The Right Kind of People"

Founding of a Republic

On October 1st, 1949, the People's Republic of China was founded. Fast forward sixty years from the days of Mao to now and a lot has changed. China is or is on its way to becoming the statistical leader in almost every measureable quality, positive or negative. A single party governs a population that has more than doubled to 1.4 billion people under its rule. There are 171 cities that have populations over one million. Now the world's second largest economy, China's growth rates have averaged around 10% every year for two decades. The confidence and pride of the Communist government in its abilities and accomplishments was on display during the spectacular parade to mark the 60th anniversary of the birth of a nation.

One Friday in September, everyone was ordered to vacate from Beijing's central business district after lunchtime. A security clampdown was in place for the practice run of the parade. Roads were cleared of any bystanders or unofficial vehicles. Armoured personnel vehicles patrolled the streets and well armed troops kept watch at each intersection. I had a train to catch that night, so I had to go to Beijing Railway Station eight hours in advance. It was jam packed by the time I arrived, with the overflow having set up camp in the square in front. The square provided a perfect vantage point to see the trial run of the parade.

My invitation to see the actual parade was lost in the mail, so I was lucky to catch a dress rehearsal. A stream of 100,000 marching youth, 60 colourful floats, and tonnes of heavy weaponry completed the circuit. For the high security spectacle, many precautionary measures had been taken. Businesses and tourists sites in the general vicinity of Tiananmen Square were closed. Residents were warned not to peek out of their windows or go out onto their balconies. Commercial flights were delayed temporarily. Most importantly, knives were taken off store shelves and kites and birds were removed from the air. Without a ticket to the invite-only extravaganza, I watched the parade at home on October 1st, 2009.

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"I have witnessed the tremendous energy of the masses. On this foundation it is possible to accomplish any task whatsoever." — Mao Zedong