Cyber Greetings
Sunday, 28 December 2008
On Cyber Greetings, 'Ka writes this "Since not many people do that anymore, somehow those kinda cards/gifts that I cherish the most... I kept them very nicely," hence I am pulling this post up here.
I miss letters and greeting cards. A letter delivered by a postman, with its lines of handwriting, loops and angles that give a reflection of personality and, perhaps, secrets tucked inside the letters. Waiting for the postman to find a letter is old fashioned but many cherish still. Then opening letters, reading, and reading them again. There is a romance in writing and receiving letters that seems almost entirely lost to people particularly those who inhabit the cyberspace in this information era.
The switch to email and instant messaging has created an entirely new kind of language - of shorthand, emoticons (term coined by joining two words emotions and icons), graphics, and poor or nonexistent grammar, and missing punctuation, computer slang. It has also given birth to another kind of greetings: cyber greetings. This is about that.
Emails, instant messaging and text messaging (through cell phones) are quick and easy. Even person like me writes more of shorthand letters now than I ever did on paper. Granted, that they have increased contact with family, friends and colleagues than ever before. They provide eases and convenience. What would any day be like without a message window popping up mid-afternoon with a little emoticon sent by a dear and near one? Indeed, online communication is doing wonders for human relationship. A little goes a long way.
With rather longer prelude, the idea of cyber greetings is undeniably relevant to today, and it is intriguing. Information communication technologies provide an anonymity that allows people to reveal more than they ever would face to face. It also allows temptation to overcome good sense, and the results sometime can be overwhelming. Imagine two persons who came across each other after any one of them seeing online profile of the other and finding it "interesting" makes an endeavor and reaches out to the other online. Both are easily drawn to each other in online exchange of messages, too predictably, and without enough explanation as to why. The whole exchange takes in "real time". And before too long, the causal exchange turns into witty flirtation and may be into full-blown romance between those who have yet not met face to face. Clever combinations of e-mails, live chat lines, explicit emoticons and computer shortcuts, give way to the situation where 'the headstrong-girl-meets-self-sufficient-boy' and the urge to meet may becomes very strong.
So what is the point? Would you, like 'Ka, be more happy if the cards are written personally and directed to us the old way or are you prefer the cyber way of greetings?
The switch to email and instant messaging has created an entirely new kind of language - of shorthand, emoticons (term coined by joining two words emotions and icons), graphics, and poor or nonexistent grammar, and missing punctuation, computer slang. It has also given birth to another kind of greetings: cyber greetings. This is about that.
Emails, instant messaging and text messaging (through cell phones) are quick and easy. Even person like me writes more of shorthand letters now than I ever did on paper. Granted, that they have increased contact with family, friends and colleagues than ever before. They provide eases and convenience. What would any day be like without a message window popping up mid-afternoon with a little emoticon sent by a dear and near one? Indeed, online communication is doing wonders for human relationship. A little goes a long way.
With rather longer prelude, the idea of cyber greetings is undeniably relevant to today, and it is intriguing. Information communication technologies provide an anonymity that allows people to reveal more than they ever would face to face. It also allows temptation to overcome good sense, and the results sometime can be overwhelming. Imagine two persons who came across each other after any one of them seeing online profile of the other and finding it "interesting" makes an endeavor and reaches out to the other online. Both are easily drawn to each other in online exchange of messages, too predictably, and without enough explanation as to why. The whole exchange takes in "real time". And before too long, the causal exchange turns into witty flirtation and may be into full-blown romance between those who have yet not met face to face. Clever combinations of e-mails, live chat lines, explicit emoticons and computer shortcuts, give way to the situation where 'the headstrong-girl-meets-self-sufficient-boy' and the urge to meet may becomes very strong.
So what is the point? Would you, like 'Ka, be more happy if the cards are written personally and directed to us the old way or are you prefer the cyber way of greetings?
posted by S A J Shirazi @ Sunday, December 28, 2008,
, links to this post
Bolan Pass
Saturday, 20 December 2008
One of the greatest Engineering feats of British rule in India was to lay a railway track through the famous Bolan Pass. More than a century old, this railway track still generates an awe among rail enthusiasts all over the world.
Orders or a feasibility survey of Bolan Pass Railway were first issued by the British Government in 1876. Work on the construction of railways through the Pass started in 1880 but was stopped after laying of only 31 km track due to the occurrence of famous 'battle of Maiwind' in the area. Work restarted in 1885 by rapidly laying a rail track in the bed of river Bolan and finally a steam locomotive rolled into Quetta via Bolan Pass in August of 1886.
The present day railway track through Bolan Pass is actually the third attempt of laying railways through the pass. In 1889 torrential floods destroyed the track which was first laid on Bolan River bed. A new track was laid at a higher altitude but that also got washed away. In 1890 orders were issue for laying an all season track through Bolan Pass. This new track was inaugurated on April 15, 1897 and it is still operational. At some places along the track one can see the abandoned tunnels and the rail bed of earlier two attempts of laying railways through Bolan.
Traveling westward from Sibi, the railway line quickly gains altitude. Following table shows distances and altitude of different stations between Sibi and Quetta. To get a better perspective of Bolan Pass distances I have considered Sibi as 0km.
0km Sibi 435ft
17km Mushkaf 469ft
50km Peshi 1456ft
63km Ab-i-Gum 2157ft
75km Mach 3246ft
89km Hirok 4552ft
101km Kolpur 5874ft
117km Spezand 5858ft
141km Quetta 5499ft
From Ab-i-Gum to Kolpur the gradient of rail track is 1 in 25 which means the track climbs 4 vertical feet in every 100 feet it travels horizontally. For most trains two locomotives in push-pull configuration are used to bring a train from Ab-i-Gum to Kolpur which is also the highest station (5874ft) on Pakistan Railway network.
Many of us may know the local habit of people climbing in and getting out of a moving train. Well, during steam days when 2 steam locomotives used to push a train up Bolan Pass, the acceleration generated was so high that railways had to put a notice on stations warning general public from refraining to board and step-out of a moving train. One such warning was at display at Mach station until 1980s.
While going up the Bolan Pass requires extra power and hence two locomotives, coming down the pass requires extra braking power. To get this extra braking power freight trains are sometimes coupled with 5 to 10 empty wagons just to have extra brakes available.
To get another idea of how much effort is needed to bring a train into Quetta imagine that a single 2400 hp diesel locomotive can pull 70 freight wagons up to Sibi. From Sibi one locomotive pulls only 14 wagons up to Ab-i-Gum and from Ab-i-Gum two locomotives pull these 14 wagons up to Quetta.
The locomotives that are used in Bolan Pass are also special and come equipped with Dynamic Braking. Dynamic brakes work on reverse principal. The traction motors that drive the locomotives in up direction become generators in down direction and provide extra drag on the locomotives in addition to the regular brakes.
In down direction, all stations on Bolan Pass are provided with a catch siding (track) which ends steeply in a nearby hill. This is done to make sure runaway trains do not enter a station and can be stopped by a raised track in a hill. By default the track coming into a station is switched to these catch sidings. When a train approaches a station, it has to stop completely to make sure its brakes are working properly. Only then the track is switched from siding to mainline and a train is allowed to enter a station.
There are 17 tunnels en-route from Sibi to Quetta and the track crosses River Bolan numerous times in a criss-cross journey through Bolan Pass
For a tourist who wishes to travel through Bolan Pass by rail, a variety of trains and accommodation are available to choose from. As of summer 2006, there are two daily trains available between Quetta and Karachi (Bolan Mail and Baluchistan Express). One between Quetta and Peshawar via Lahore (Quetta Express), One between Quetta and Rawalpindi via Lahore (Jaffar Express) and one between Quetta and Faisalabad (Chiltan Express). At least three of the above five trains have Air-conditioned accommodation available on them.
I highly recommend a rail journey through Bolan Pass. It is one of a kind rail experience anywhere in the world.
Orders or a feasibility survey of Bolan Pass Railway were first issued by the British Government in 1876. Work on the construction of railways through the Pass started in 1880 but was stopped after laying of only 31 km track due to the occurrence of famous 'battle of Maiwind' in the area. Work restarted in 1885 by rapidly laying a rail track in the bed of river Bolan and finally a steam locomotive rolled into Quetta via Bolan Pass in August of 1886.
The present day railway track through Bolan Pass is actually the third attempt of laying railways through the pass. In 1889 torrential floods destroyed the track which was first laid on Bolan River bed. A new track was laid at a higher altitude but that also got washed away. In 1890 orders were issue for laying an all season track through Bolan Pass. This new track was inaugurated on April 15, 1897 and it is still operational. At some places along the track one can see the abandoned tunnels and the rail bed of earlier two attempts of laying railways through Bolan.
Traveling westward from Sibi, the railway line quickly gains altitude. Following table shows distances and altitude of different stations between Sibi and Quetta. To get a better perspective of Bolan Pass distances I have considered Sibi as 0km.
0km Sibi 435ft
17km Mushkaf 469ft
50km Peshi 1456ft
63km Ab-i-Gum 2157ft
75km Mach 3246ft
89km Hirok 4552ft
101km Kolpur 5874ft
117km Spezand 5858ft
141km Quetta 5499ft
From Ab-i-Gum to Kolpur the gradient of rail track is 1 in 25 which means the track climbs 4 vertical feet in every 100 feet it travels horizontally. For most trains two locomotives in push-pull configuration are used to bring a train from Ab-i-Gum to Kolpur which is also the highest station (5874ft) on Pakistan Railway network.
Many of us may know the local habit of people climbing in and getting out of a moving train. Well, during steam days when 2 steam locomotives used to push a train up Bolan Pass, the acceleration generated was so high that railways had to put a notice on stations warning general public from refraining to board and step-out of a moving train. One such warning was at display at Mach station until 1980s.
While going up the Bolan Pass requires extra power and hence two locomotives, coming down the pass requires extra braking power. To get this extra braking power freight trains are sometimes coupled with 5 to 10 empty wagons just to have extra brakes available.
To get another idea of how much effort is needed to bring a train into Quetta imagine that a single 2400 hp diesel locomotive can pull 70 freight wagons up to Sibi. From Sibi one locomotive pulls only 14 wagons up to Ab-i-Gum and from Ab-i-Gum two locomotives pull these 14 wagons up to Quetta.
The locomotives that are used in Bolan Pass are also special and come equipped with Dynamic Braking. Dynamic brakes work on reverse principal. The traction motors that drive the locomotives in up direction become generators in down direction and provide extra drag on the locomotives in addition to the regular brakes.
In down direction, all stations on Bolan Pass are provided with a catch siding (track) which ends steeply in a nearby hill. This is done to make sure runaway trains do not enter a station and can be stopped by a raised track in a hill. By default the track coming into a station is switched to these catch sidings. When a train approaches a station, it has to stop completely to make sure its brakes are working properly. Only then the track is switched from siding to mainline and a train is allowed to enter a station.
There are 17 tunnels en-route from Sibi to Quetta and the track crosses River Bolan numerous times in a criss-cross journey through Bolan Pass
For a tourist who wishes to travel through Bolan Pass by rail, a variety of trains and accommodation are available to choose from. As of summer 2006, there are two daily trains available between Quetta and Karachi (Bolan Mail and Baluchistan Express). One between Quetta and Peshawar via Lahore (Quetta Express), One between Quetta and Rawalpindi via Lahore (Jaffar Express) and one between Quetta and Faisalabad (Chiltan Express). At least three of the above five trains have Air-conditioned accommodation available on them.
I highly recommend a rail journey through Bolan Pass. It is one of a kind rail experience anywhere in the world.
posted by S A J Shirazi @ Saturday, December 20, 2008,
, links to this post
