Stories of Sandeept

Words!

On September 9, 2015

It’s been three days since I have joined Writing 101 at Blogging University. I have neither written a post on my own, nor their prompts inspired me much. Not even today. It’s not odd, I guess. I enjoy my freedom in writing. I can’t write anything when someone says me to write it. It has to be spontaneous. It needs to flow.

So, when I saw the six words – TREASURE, SECRET, REGRET, HOME, LOVE, and UNCERTAINTY – that Writing 101 provided, it did not inspire a new thought. Not at all. All these words pointed out to a single article I had written about 2 weeks back. I shared it this morning to the commons – however old it might have been.

I am not satisfied, however. It’s been my problem ever since I posted that article. I want to write. All these words have collectively inspired me. I thought I had drained out all my feelings in that post. It took me mere three days to realize how wrong I had been. I REGRETTED writing it that day, no matter how dear it be to me.

It’s something I had written with LOVE. It is a TREASURE I want to be with me – forever. I had taken a week to prepare it and then typing it in had been tedious. Likes and comments flowed in. I have decided to put it into a complete story – I have thought of the possible plots. Yet, there is an UNCERTAINTY that lingers around me, the cause of which I don’t understand.

(I read the lines above. What am I writing? It’s a crazy mess actually. But it’s also the truth. If I am REGRETTING the TREASURE of a letter to intended to someone whose identity I want to keep a SECRET, what am I doing with this post? I am posting this on WordPress, and then on Writing 101. I am staying at my HOME. I am waiting for the comments. I want to know how much I have degenerated since my last post.)

Tianjin Chemical Blast – The Cause and The Concerns

By Sandeept

On September 8, 2015

In Public Interest, science, Science And Society, Tianjin Explosion

A chemical explosion on August 12, 2015 in China’s port-city, Tianjin, released a high amount of toxic wastes. What triggered the explosion has not been found out yet, though a series of chemical reactions that could have intensified the explosion have been worked out. This explosion has also created several concerns in China, and even in other nations, regarding the storage of chemicals near the residential areas. This is what has been discovered until 29th August, 2015.

The Explosion

On the night of August 12, a warehouse owned by Ruihai Logistics in one of the most populated parts of Tianjin caught fire and exploded. According to the news in the BBC, the first explosion was equivalent to that of three tonnes of TNT and the second explosion was much larger – the power equivalent to that of twenty-one tonnes of TNT explosion. It affected 15 million residents of Tianjin.

The first fire of Tianjin Explosion. Source: Wikipedia

The Cause

The definite trigger of the explosion has not yet been understood. Since the warehouse stored hundreds of explosive chemicals, this would be even more difficult for the scientists to work out. According to whatever scientists have understood, it has been said that the water thrown over the already burning warehouse brought up a greater destruction. The reaction of calcium carbide with water forming acetylene is believed to have increased strength of the explosion.

The Effect

The blast was explosive enough to be seen from space and was recorded as seismic activity. At the blast site, a crater was created. According to the Tianjin Tanggu Environmental Monitoring Station, the chemicals stored by the company included sodium cyanide (NaCN), toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and calcium carbide (CaC2), all of which are dangerous to human health. NaCN particular is highly toxic – two teaspoonful of it can kill an adult within two minutes; and CaC2 and TDI react violently with water and produce extremely reactive chemicals, with increasing risk of explosion.

The chemical explosion turned a significant amount of goods stored at and around the port, in the Binhai New District to ashes and dust. According to the BBC, large shipping containers were tossed into the air like matchsticks and were crumpled by the blasts.

A logistics park containing several thousand cars was consumed by the fireball created due to the explosion. Renault says some 1,500 of its cars were lost, while Hyundai said it had around 4,000 cars on the site – although it has not yet assessed the level of damage.

About 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide was reported at the site, the BBC says. Sodium cyanide is soluble in water and, when dissolved or burned, it releases the highly poisonous gas hydrogen cyanide. The rain that came after the explosion was followed by people complaining of rashes and burns. Though meteorologists had assured the public that the rain would not add troubles, Environment Protection Board suggested that the rain could have mixed with cyanide present in the atmosphere and the soil, bringing about hazards.

Concerns for Public Safety

The blast not only destroyed the town, but also exposed negligence of the concerned company over the safety of people. The storage site has to be at least one kilometer away from the residential area – the law China says. The law was challenged by the corrupted officials and the company, who set up a chemical storage site within 200 metres of the major residential area. The most depressing thing in this, is that the people never knew what hazards could be brought about by the chemicals stored in that warehouse.

Was this ignorance among the public deliberate? We are not sure. If they were being hidden from the truth, we can imagine how negligent the concerned authorities had been. The scientific causes of the explosion may point out towards hazardous chemicals, the social causes, however are corruption and ignorance. Since this is not the first chemical blast in China, the Chinese government should work out the ways to reduce corruption. They should also be able to educate people regarding the hazardous effects of things that are being stored around their homes. The Chinese government should set an example to the world which will inspire other countries to prevent such terrible accidents in future.

References:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-33844084

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/tianjin-china-chemical-blast-cyanide/blog/53830/

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/08/21/world/asia/tianjin-china-explosion-hazardous-chemical-sites.html?_r=1

California rising

By Sandeept

On September 6, 2015

In science, Science And Society

Tectonic forces act in such a way that they change the features of the Earth. This article tells how California is increasing in its elevation due to tectonic activities.

Source: California rising

The First Mass Extinction was a Result of Evolution

By Sandeept

On September 3, 2015

In Evolution, Geology, Science And Society

Evolution of organisms can bring about change in the ecosystem which can lead to difficulty in survival of organisms that had thrived well in the past. How were the first unicellular organisms replaced by new organisms that could produce oxygen? How oxygen became the first pollutant? More on the article.

Evidence that Earth’s first mass extinction was caused by critters not catastrophe

Reblogged :Use your senses in your writing

By Sandeept

On August 27, 2015

In Uncategorized

This article describes how a plain direction can be used in a story. The transformation is interesting. While the direction can be straight-forward, the story is much more creative and involves our senses as well.

Source: Use your senses in your writing

संविधान आउनुअघि अप्रिय खबर : कैलालीमा अञ्चल प्रहरी प्रमुखसहित सुरक्षाकर्मी मारिए

By Sandeept

On August 25, 2015

In Uncategorized

अब बन्ने संबिधानमा सङ्घीयता राख्ने कि नराख्ने भन्ने बहस भइरहेका बेला भएको यस्तो दुःखद घटनालाई जति विरोध गरे पनि पुग्दैन | वीर प्रहरीका आत्माले छिट्टै शान्ति पाओस् भन्ने तर्फ सबैले सोचौं |

संविधान आउनुअघि अप्रिय खबर : कैलालीमा अञ्चल प्रहरी प्रमुखसहित सुरक्षाकर्मी मारिए.

This one’s for YOU!

By Sandeept

On August 25, 2015

In Inspirational, Love, Philosophical, Story

Dear SOUL-MATE,

We know each other – at least by our names. YOU may never recognize me and as I will never mention YOUR name, YOU may also never realize that this message is for YOU. So, why am I writing this? I asked this to myself several times. I thought and thought and thought and finally came to a conclusion that this is not just about YOU, it is about Me as well. If I don’t express these things somewhere or to someone, I think I’ll go crazy. I don’t want that to happen. If I go crazy and if people somehow find out that my feelings towards YOU are to be blamed, I will never be able to forgive myself. Yes, I seem a little selfish, but it’s for the good of us.

YOU might ask, “If we already know each other, why no mention of names?” My answer is that I want YOUR name discreet. I don’t want others to know that it is really YOU. While others will be reading this, they will never know that I am telling this only to YOU. If I reveal your name, you might fall into trouble. People may mock YOU. Even YOU may feel bad that I did not tell this to YOU directly, but write it down on a letter that can be read by anyone. To save YOU from any stigma that YOU might face, I will try maintaining the secrecy as much as possible.

The day I met YOU was special. It was a fine spring morning with the Sun shining brightly. We were headed to different destinations, but our roads had merged somehow. YOU may not agree, but I think our souls had been planning to meet each other for long. The moment YOU talked with me is still fresh in my mind. I had felt stupefied and I had not known at that time, that I would know YOU as someone I have been calling YOU now. How that feeling came up might sound like a story to YOU (if I can tell it in future). But isn’t every life in this world a story with fascinating details?

Waiting for YOU on that route was difficult. It was a fifty percent chance that YOU would show up on a particular day. When YOU did not come, I just thought of that fine day, musing with myself. That moment gave me happiness no one can ever think of. Not a single moment has passed without the remembrance of that moment and YOU. It’s like my mind has been programmed to loop the same thing over and over – something that will never end until the end of my life. The best thing YOU did was to make me know myself. Before meeting YOU, I had very little interest in philosophy. Every time I met YOU, I felt that I had to have a good knowledge of life and death, of the world and its ways, of humans and love. I took an interest in these philosophical subjects to improve myself. The basic philosophy I followed was to love myself. If I did not love myself, I could not love YOU and could never expect YOUR love towards me. It’s been difficult. The transformation is slow. But it is not invisible. I have changed myself in a lot of ways. I have started seeing everything differently. I have got rid off the prejudices I had on people because they differed from me. I have started respecting each and every life on the Earth, the Earth herself, the Souls and the Creator. Above the Creator, I place YOU on the highest throne, respect, and love YOU. That’s because YOU made me contact with my Soul after a long time and it was during such sessions that I had understood the Creator.

As I communicated with my soul more, I could seek for YOUR Soul as well. Whenever YOU were not in front of my eyes, I would look into my Soul to search YOURS. You might not have realized but our Souls have been communicating. When YOU are happy, I feel a surge of happiness. When YOU do not, I feel the world has gone sad, unhappy. YOUR problems have become mine. The Mother Nature signals me of these feelings. If Nature can not, my soul makes a contact with YOU and transmits YOUR state into my dreams so that I can find out ways to help YOU. So far, I have not been able to do anything except provide YOU with some words of suggestions. However, that makes YOU happy and if such small tasks of mine makes you happy, I will be doing such things again and again.

YOU may think that these feelings towards to originated out of lust and not off Love. That’s not the case at all. Had it been only a crush or physical attraction, I would have forgotten YOU long ago. It was not about carnal pleasures – never has that been the case. YOU have attractive looks and YOU are more beautiful than average, but that was not the first thing I had noticed about YOU. The first thing I had noticed was YOUR presence of mind and the way YOU could notice small details from the past. Then I saw YOUR good heart and then I could see YOUR Soul. From the beginning itself, YOUR abilities and Pure Heart have attracted me, YOUR physique – never. There is no desire, there is no fear. Our Souls are Eternal friends and that will keep us close forever, though we might never meet again in our bodily forms.

Words are insufficient to describe my feelings towards YOU and I am finding it difficult to go on with this letter. Before I wrap off, I need to tell YOU something important. YOU might have been disillusioned by the ways people behave. YOU might have given importance to what others want to see from YOU. I know YOU are much different from what YOU have been showing to the World. No matter what YOU do, do not let anyone corrupt the Purity of YOUR Heart. If such a thing happens, I am with YOU forever and I will rescue YOUR Heart no matter what problems I might have to face.

Your Soul-Mate

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