During the peak of the cold war between the USA and the USSR, USSR early warning systems detected that the USA had launched 5 nuclear warheads towards Russia. Had the higher authorities been informed of this, Russia would have retaliated with hundreds of warheads of their own. This would have triggered a full-scale retaliation from USA and the NATO countries, resulting in an obliterated USA, Canada, all of western Europe and western Russia. The entire world would have plunged into a nuclear winter for centuries.

(Fallout would have been real)

Stanislav Petrov was the man in charge of monitoring Soviet Air Defense Forces. He was supposed to report the incoming nuclear attack to his superiors but decided not to. He believed it to be a system malfunction, which it turned out to be. The system had indeed detected clouds over North Dakota to be a nuclear launch. Petrov’s instincts saved the world that day. He later recollected that he did not really know if the alarm was false or not. He had acted purely on instinct.

On 26 September 1983, Petrov saved humanity. In countless interviews thereafter, Petrov has stated that he does not know if he should be considered a hero because he was indeed “just doing his job.” Although later western media criticized Russia for having punished Petrov by removing him from the position, Petrov says that he was neither rewarded nor punished and simply moved to a less sensitive position and took an early retirement. Initially General Yury Votintsev did promise a reward; although if Petrov was to be officially rewarded, it would have meant that his superiors and influential scientists who designed the alarm system would be at fault and had to be persecuted.

Many organizations have later recognized him as a hero and given him awards and such, but the incident reminds us that even small and relatively easy to make mistakes could have plunged us into a nuclear winter and the threat is only slightly minimised now. The fact that North Korea and USA are increasing tensions doesn’t help.

Could humans survive a nuclear winter? Watch this video from Life Noggin:

Featured image: Fallout Minimal Poster on Rebrn. Not linked to Petrov in likeness or otherwise.

The post Petrov: Thank the Russian who saved humanity appeared first on OutFocus.

Before you move on to skip this post, this is not about more whining about all social media. I’ve been in social media for a long long time. Facebook for 7 years and Orkut before that. Yet it was always about making and sharing memories for me. I like to look back at my best and worst moments. Some might say social media (and technology in general) is ruining our lives but I’d say that’s the same as photographs do. They don’t take away our memories, they’re a way to extend them, to keep them safe.

I’m not going in to how going overboard with it will prove detrimental, but the rising trend that worries me is that not only are people no longer being in the moment (taking selfies for Instagram) but that social media itself has become amnesic. It started with the brilliant idea of Snapchat. You could say it’s useful for young teen girls who want to share photos but have it deleted, but if you can’t take responsibility why share in the first place?

Snapchat has begun a revolution in social media like PPAP in the YouTube music industry. It’s going out in ripples so fast that I wish and pray Snapchat sues these companies – not for the good of Snapchat, but to save all the other social media. First I noticed this in hike, India’s own messaging and social media app. The familiar, easy UI gave way to some fancy stuff and had a new feature – stories. Stories would last only 3 seconds and move on to the next. They can be seen again within 24 hours of posting. My first reaction was – what the actual heck is this! And yet few days later, I saw Instagram introduce their own ‘stories’.

I couldn’t understand this at all. Instagram, which had been trying to become Facebook for a long time with likes, comments and private messages, now suddenly wanted to be Snapchat – the new cool kid in town. A lot of my friends have jumped on this wagon of temporary, of responsibility-free-posting. I can’t remember the number of times someone wanted to show me a photo and they don’t have it on their device so they dive into insta to find it. With Instagram stories, be sure to forget what you posted so you don’t have to recollect it later. And guess what I saw yesterday morning on my newly updated WhatsApp?

Now we only need dog filters and WhatsApp is the new Snapchat. Apart from the user being responsibility-free, the social media itself becomes responsibility-free in these cases. Since stories last for seconds and rarely are viewed again, companies like Snapchat and Facebook will have to worry less about inappropriate content and spam.

This is a shocking revelation. Social media is getting amnesic. This time though, we will neither be in the moment nor be able to relive it in photographs. This of course is plays well with major companies like Snapchat, because they don’t have to store all your duck faces and smug faces anymore. They don’t need to build immense servers to store all your happy, sad and outright stupid memories. This is an age of social amnesia, and given the amount of support it garners, I don’t think it’s going away any soon.

The post ‘Stories’ and Social Amnesia – Neither in the moment nor after appeared first on OutFocus.

Donald J Trump, the republican candidate for this year’s Presidential Election, and probably the second (or first, depending on whom you’re asking) most powerful man on this planet next to Pope Francis right now, is known for his open verbal attacks against immigrants, the press, gays, women, Hilary Clinton and anyone else who appears to be in his way. His definition of making America great again involves revoking everything that did make it great – diversity and freedom. You’re looking at the candidate who said if any of his violent supporters are arrested, he would pay the legal fees. You’re looking at the candidate who said he would build a wall south of USA to keep immigrants from Mexico out. What are we, in the middle ages now?

Trump’s ascent was a joke at first, until things got serious real fast. This is what happens when you keep a joke going long enough, you have Donald J Trump as the US President. Nevertheless, the results of this Presidential election is not as much a failure of Hilary Clinton as much as America’s. This is not to say that America’s economy will fail, or that America will suffer by becoming a bad place to live in. That may or may not happen, but America has already failed – by letting a man like Donald Trump become the president of the United States, a position they hold to be the protector of the free world.

Whether or not Trump will actually hold up his promises and become Aladeen from The Dictator is yet to be seen, but I’m feeling physically ill at what people are willing to embrace. And to think that they were 0.24% away from not choosing this disaster…

The post Trump’s rise and America’s descent appeared first on OutFocus.

There couldn’t be more truth to this quote.

It was 7 PM on a Sunday – 31st July 2016.

I was lying relaxed on the bed in our hotel room at Madurai as the final day of urban survey was over and I was eager to get back to Ooty and start working. I got a call from my dad. I attended it coolly.

My dad was panting and screamed, “Your mom is not well, don’t go to Ooty. Come home soon!”

I immediately got up and ran to the faculties and told them the situation. They understood and called the Principal to ask if they should let me go. Finally at 7:30 I was asked to write a letter and leave. I got my stuff and ran as soon as possible giving the information to as few people as possible.

I ran to the road and tried to stop a bus to Mattuthavani bus stand. The driver gave me a dirty stare and didn’t stop. A second bus crossed by and I realized that I had to run. I raced towards a signal where the bus would’ve had to stop for the red signal. Within moments I acted on adrenaline and was on the bus and asking for a ticket.

I called dad when I reached Mattuthavani and had boarded the Tirunelveli bus. “I’ve got the bus. I’ll be there soon. How’s mom? Where are you?” I asked. “Come home,” he said, “to Kallidaikurichi.” I got a bad feeling… Why weren’t they at a hospital? What’s going on?

I was tired from the day’s work and was half asleep midway to Tirunelveli. The guy next to me woke me up, “Your phone’s ringing” he said. I picked up the call from my uncle. “Did dad say anything? Where are you?” he asked. “Yes, he said mom is not well. I’m on the way…” I replied. “Oh…” he said hesitantly, “Ok, I can’t reach your dad. Let him know I’m trying to reach.” Again a hit to my gut. Something is definitely wrong. Am I too late?

I reached Tirunelveli and hopped on a bus almost leaving towards Kallidaikurichi. Midway I got another call from dad saying the neighbour boy would pick me up. The time was 12:25 AM and my heart started racing. I reached Kallidai and within moments the boy was there. The rest of the 3 km was silent. I couldn’t hear the bike, or the wind whistling past me… I could hear my heart beating. It was 12:55 AM.

There were villagers sitting outside the door. Adrenaline pumped into my heart again. I couldn’t feel anything. I picked my courage and ran towards the open door. I raced inside and dropped the bag on my shoulder. I dropped to my knees without trying. I couldn’t stand. I couldn’t react to the reality. Tears gushed from my eyes instantly.

There she was – in an ice box, the one woman who would’ve given the world to see me live, was lying there without life. She wasn’t in a hospital because she wasn’t sick – she was dead! The reality was too much for me and suddenly I could feel a darkness surround me. My dad cried out loud for hours but I couldn’t. I just sat motionless with tears flowing down my cheeks.

While I was busy making plans for my future and how I would become a businessman and build a house like my mom always wanted, she had passed away and I wasn’t with her when it happened. Pangs of sorrow hurt me like I’ve never felt before. I was paralyzed.

Three days after it happened and her ashes were flowing with the holy Thamirabharani river, I was back In college. I had to get back to work because that’s what she would’ve wanted. Her only wish was for me to be successful. That’s all! How could a woman be so selfless till the end? I couldn’t fathom the loss I had encountered. I chose not to think of her as gone. It was the only way.

In the next few days my dad got orders for the product he was unsuccessfully trying to market the entire year; he was able to sell his jeep that he had been trying for 4-5 months; I got my results for the last sem and was an astounding success; my aunts had come together to help me and I even got some enquiries for freelance projects.

All of this happened too late. If only they had happened a week back, my mom would’ve been the happiest person I know of. But maybe this is all her doing. Maybe it is her aura that surrounds us and makes us successful.

“O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet!

Thy spirit walks abroad and turns our swords

In our own proper entrails.”

      – Brutus.

OutFocus was dormant for the last one month. We are sorry for the absence and have decided to start publishing again. You can send in any queries to outfocus@thefeathers.in

-Editor.

The post Life and the other side appeared first on OutFocus.

While the World was sleeping on the night of 14th August 1947, India was burning its midnight oil. Nearly 100 years of struggle and thousands of martyrs later, came the freedom. Freedom from the British Raj. Or Atleast that’s what we thought. While it’s true that India has its freedom, it shared a common allegiance to the Crown. The Indian Independence Act of 1947 mentions India and Pakistan as two independent Dominions. India obtained its independence on 15 August 1947 as a constitutional monarchy – George VI was head of state and the Earl, Lord Mountbatten, was governor-general.

Yet, we celebrated. Jawaharlal Nehru, who had become the first Prime Minister of India, raised the Indian national flag above the Lahori Gate of the Red Fort in Delhi. While in many places sweets were distributed, there were severe violent riots in other places. Nearly 15 million people displaced due to sectarian violence. Some wished Pakistan to be separate and others to be one among us!

We did not yet have a permanent constitution; instead, our laws were based on the modified colonial Government of India Act 1935 which was proposed by the British. A draft constitution was prepared by the committee and submitted to the Assembly on 4 November 1947. The Assembly met, in sessions open to the public, for 166 days, spread over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days before adopting the Constitution.

After many deliberations and some modifications, the 308 members of the Assembly signed two hand-written copies of the document (one each in Hindi and English) on 24 January 1950. And on this day, it come into effect throughout the nation. 26 January was selected because it was when the Indian National Congress proclaimed Purna Swaraj (Complete Independence) on 1930. Today is India’s first republic day.

This day is more important than 15th August 1947. Today, we honor the Constitution of India coming into force replacing the Government of India Act as the governing document of India. We have our own laws. We are now sovereign; free from all the nations and are truly independent. If our nation had its birth on August 1947, it now could speak on its own. It has its own voice. Not only must its voice be heard across the nations but also within its own territories.

India is a huge nation. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, several diverse cultures exist. The voice should reflect this diversity. There is huge famine in many places. People are dying. Planning is urgency here. Many children are dying of unknown fever. Sanity is an issue here. Domestic violence is still growing. Women Empowerment is a right that needs to be addressed. Caste based Discrimination is still unchecked. Education is a necessary here. And there are many more! It is now time we build this nation for a transforming future. Let us all abide by the voice of nation!

Army vehicles and battle tanks, part of the India’s First Republic Day Parade, pass through Chandni Chowk in the Walled city (India’s First Republic Day Celebrations, Jan 26, 1950 Rare Photos)

Photos courtesy of Merepix.

——————————————————————————————————-

Written by S G A Thomas

The post Republic Day – 26th January 1950 appeared first on OutFocus.