The Mystique: Mystery

Showing posts with label Mystery. Show all posts

                  By its very nature, the deep web constitutes about 99% of the internet. While there are hundreds of stories about the "Red rooms" on surface web, the deep web doesn't fail to terrify us with more darker shades. Not the entire deep web is creepy, but here is the list of a few (Stories are from experiences shared by different users across the internet).

To about what deep web is, read Everything You Need to Know About Deep Web

1. The Cook Book

                         What's creepy about a cook book? It surely is creepy unless you've Hannibal Lecter as your guest. Yes, the cook book is about cook women. At first, this website might seem like a joke, but later, it will be evident that it's deadly serious, starting from which organ to cut to where to cut in order to make her live long, how to clean your victim etc. Among all the cannibal sites, this certainly is a gruesome one.

                  It doesn't end there. There have been reports from people revealing about the cannibal forums in which the members share their first time experiences of eating human flesh. Also, a few people offer themselves to eat their flesh describing "I need someone to eat my flesh. I'm juicy and tender".

2. The Silk Road

                Those who know about deep web and Tor, Silk road isn't a new name. 'The Silk Road' is a popular illegal dark market which sells drugs and arms. This market has started in 2011 and was later busted by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2013. Ross William Ulbricht (under the name dread pirate roberts), the founder was sentenced to life imprisonment without a parole. The FBI report noted that approximately 1,229,465 transactions were performed in 9,519,664 bitcoins. That involves $1.2 billion in revenue.

                       Interestingly, after a month, Silk road 2.0 was launched by its former administrators and this too was closed by FBI under the name "Operation Onymous". It is said that Silk road 3.0 is successfully being operated under shadows. Adversely, silk road is not the only illegal drug market on deep web. Who knows the count?

3. Citadel Children

                This is an example of how brutal a human can become. There has been a website reported to use orphan and abandoned children for their tormental and blood-thirsty experiments. The website boasts itself with a tagline that all are not born equal, few are born superior to others. Those innocent children are tested with the new drugs and surgeries. Experiments range from fluid restriction/starvation to exposing infants to harmful radiation.

4. Hitmen

                 Hitmen are overrated in movies, while they're not so costly to hire in deep web market. Jokes apart, these hitmen are deadly. There are many website which offer hitman services in US, Canada and Europe. However, the rate varies as per the social status of the target. In this world of brutal cold-blooded hitmen, there will be no value for human lives; there is a value only for the cash inflow. More savagely, these services allow the members to bet when the victim dies. The closest guess wins.

5. Human Leather

                 The deeper you go into the deep web, the creepier it gets. There are many websites which sell you products based on human leather, claiming that the leather produced from human skin is qualitative than any other leather. How weird the world is !

6. The Organ Market

                 Yep, that's right. Not of dead. They kill the destitute and homeless people and then trade them. There are markets in which they sell human organs for bitcoins with utmost secrecy.

7. The Warehouses

                  Perhaps, it's the sickest place you can ever find. As per the incidents reported, the members who participate in it register by paying a few bitcoins to hundreds of bitcoins. These warehouses are the barbaric creep fest in which the victim is tied with a rope and then tortured as per the wishes of the registered members. The higher the people pay, that many chances are given to them. If someone claims to slice the victim's stomach, the hood guy in the warehouse will do that to the victim. This process continues till the victim dies. Do you think these guys have the right to live?

8. The Unborn Child Gallery

In this spooky forum, mothers share the photographs of their stillborn children. Although, such kinda sites are available on the surface web, this forum is surely creepy as it includes video footages of women giving birth to their stillborns.

9. Child Abuse

                 It is estimated that nearly 30-40% of the deep web is filled with such websites. The less said about these snuff films and pornography, the more better it is. There had been instances of police busting these traders. Australian Peter Scully is one of them; notorious for multiple videos on child abuse and pedophiliatic videos. His videos got exposed to surface web, and was arrested later in Philippines. The thought that he's not the only person who does such things make me lose faith in humanity.

Also read Everything You Need to Know About Deep Web

Popularly known as Netaji (the leader), Subhash Chandra Bose is one of the true legends who battled heroically in Indian independence struggle. Started as a radical wing in Indian National Congress (INC), he founded Indian National Army (INA) and thus played an exceptional role in driving out British forces.

Starting from the disputes between him and Gandhi & Nehru to his death, everything remains a mystery. According to the official explanation, Bose died in an overloaded plane crash during WW 2. Though the West Bengal government declassified the Bose's files, the files are yet to be publicly revealed by the Central government.

There are 3 popular theories encircling Bose's death.

1. The plane crash theory
2. Asylum in USSR
3. Gumnami Baba theory

1. The plane Crash Theory:

On 17th August, 1945, at 2 P.M., Mitsubishi Ki-21 heavy bomber started its flight from Saigon airport. The flight was overcrowded, carrying 13 members including General Tsunamasa Shidei of the Imperial Japanese Army, Col. Habibur Rahman of the Indian National Army, Subhash Chandra Bose and others.

Mitsubishi Ki-21

The flight took a halt at Vietnam for an overnight and then flew to Formosa (Taipei) for refueling. On 18th August, after minutes of takeoff, there was a loud 'bang' sound heard by the passengers and within seconds the plane crashed the ground. The ground crew saw the port side engine falling down from the plane (Subhash Chandra Bose was seated near the port wing). The plane lit up instantly, killing pilot and Gen. Tsunamasa Shidei on the spot. Col. Habibur Rahman survived, fell on the ground unconscious. Bose too survived, with small injuries. But, his clothes which were soaked in gasoline ignited, made him look like a human torch. Within minutes, Netaji died.

From years, this theory remained as an official version. However, there are many invalid points in this theory which are needed to be answered.

Altering Subash chandra bose flight plan

1. Taipei government declared that no such crash occurred from March to September in 1945.

2. Neither death certificate was issued nor his dead body was found.

3. Col. Habibur Rahman, the only witness said that he aided Bose in his last minutes and he was there when Bose died. If that's true, why didn't the Col. receive any burn marks?

4. When the doctors and nurses were interviewed, their explanations didn't cope up with each other.

5. According to Mukherjee's commission, the ashes in Renkoji temple doesn't belong to Subhash Chandra Bose.

Hence, it is clear that Bose didn't die in the plane crash. So, why did he fake his death?

Reason:

1. Bose saw Japan as an ally which could help India to achieve independence. His dreams were shattered when Japan lost the WW2. So, in search of a new ally, INA needed some time to reorganize themselves. Moreover, if Bose stayed in Japan, he would be arrested as a war criminal. So, he had to move to some country (he moved to Russia)

2. He had disputes with prominent leaders of INC (Indian National Congress) like Gandhi and Nehru. It is strongly believed that an agreement was made with the British to return Bose if he were ever found

2. Asylum in USSR theory

After faking his death, Bose moved to Manchuria in China in the hope that USSR might find him. He believed that he can help India by convincing Russia as there was a tussle of cold war between US and USSR.

When USSR found Bose, they mistook him for a spy and imprisoned him. After some time, after confirming Bose's identity, surely, Stalin might have informed Indian government about it. Here, there arises two possibilities.

(i) Indian government might have responded positively and Bose was saved.

(ii) The government responded negatively and as a result, Bose couldn't make it to escape was hanged in USSR.

Did Bose really get an Asylum in USSR?

After independence, Nehru tried to build foreign affairs more strongly by appointing Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit as a foreign affairs minister. Later, she was replaced by Dr.Radhakrishnan. Alleged reports say that Dr.Radhakrishnan and Mrs.Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit had met Subhash Chandra Bose in Moscow. Dr. Goswami, a retired official from anti-corruption department of west Bengal government said that Dr. Radhakrishnan told him that he met Bose at Moscow while attending a philosophical conference as a delegate in 1948. He also said that Dr. Radhakrishnan asked him not to reveal this to anyone until his tenure as a President of India.

From this, we can conclude that if this is true, Bose might not have been imprisoned in Yakutsk by 1948.

BJP's Subramanian Swamy said

"According to the papers that exist with us, Bose had faked his death and escaped to Manchuria in China which was under Russian occupation, hoping Russia would look after him. But, Stalin put him in a jail in Siberia. Somewhere around 1953, he hanged or suffocated Bose to death."

Adding more support to this, when Dr. Satyanarayana Sinha, Indian ambassador was presented before Khosla commission (appointed by Mrs. Indira Gandhi), he said that he met a prisoner named "Kuzlov" who was in the neighboring cell of Bose. When he was asked how Kuzlov could identify Bose, he gave an alleged evidence by saying how Kuzlov met Bose in India and how he knew about Bose.

Here is an article which shows that Gandhi, Nehru and Mohammed Ali Jinnah signed an agreement with British to charge Bose if he were found.

It is said that Nehru feared that he would lose his place in Congress if Bose returns to India. The relations between India and USSR were very strong during late 40's and early 50's. So, if this theory is correct, there are high chances that Bose was imprisoned is absolutely correct but whether Bose was released or hanged to death remains a conspiracy.

3. The Gumnami Baba Theory:

It is believed that Bose after escaping from the plane crash and returning from USSR, he became a Sadhu in Faziabad. He became popular as Bhagwanji aka Gumnami Baba. He maintained contact with Dr. Pavitra Mohan Roy, the former top secretive agent of INA. After living there for nearly 35 years, he died on September 16, 1985.

However, when he died, his belongings revealed that there are chances that he might be Netaji. He used to wear a golden spectacles, exactly same that of Bose's, possesses a powerful German binoculars, a color photo of Swami Vivekananda, Bengali books, the original copy issued to Subhash Chandra Bose to attend before Khosla's commission and some photographs of Bose's family members.

Apart from this, there are some facts which supported this theory

1. Handwriting match between Bose and Gumnami Baba (confirmed by B. Lal, the top-most Forensic expert who worked with Mukherjee's commission).
2. Descriptions by the locals who talked to him.
3. The sadhu possessed some intriguing books. Gulliver's travels, P.g. Wodehouse's The inimitable Jeeves, the scarcely available International Military Tribunal for the far East, The last days of Raj, Moscow's shadow over West Bengal and Solzhenisteyn's The Gulag Archipelago. This could never be a bed-time read for a typical sadhu.
4. It is said that the sadhu's DNA matched Bose's.

Conclusion:

Since many years, Congress tried to suppress the facts by hiding the files of Subhash Chandra Bose. But, with the increasing pressure, finally, west Bengal government took an initiative by de-classifying the files. However, government is planning to setup a committee to monitor about this. Why the Central government is fearing that it might damage our relations with Russia? Did Nehru with the help of USSR, planned something harmful to Bose ? Whatever may be, it is the right of every Indian to know about the legend who contributed a lot to the Indian independence struggle.

Now, it has been 14 years since the WTC was collapsed killing more than 2977 lives. On the same September 11, the fate of some of the middle East countries was changed. If we explore the facts, it is clear that 9/11 was done by US government, for their own political reasons. What was the true motive?

September 11 2001: It was a sunlit day in the late summer. All of a sudden, at 8:46 (EDT) in the morning (GMT - 12:46 P.M.), a hijacked-plane crashed the North tower of World trade center. 3 more planes which were hijacked and cannoned into South tower and Pentagon (the fourth flight slammed the fields) resulting in a tragic loss of nearly 3000 lives. This is the official story though. It is said that the attacks were precognitive to the higher government officials of US - but does the evidence stack up?

Proof 1: The towers collapsed not because of the plane crash but of controlled demolitions.

Government explanation: The impact of the crash made top floors to collapse onto their bottom ones and because of this, windows bursted out engulfing smoke all over. This sounded like an explosion.

Fact: The alleged use of Thermite in ground zero is the major evidence which contradicts it. The survivors of the attacks reported that they heard many repetitive explosion sounds from the bottom of the building. Some of the samples found the traces of Barium, which accelerates the explosion of Thermite.

Proof 2 : The temperature caused by the combustion of jet fuel is not sufficient to melt the steel structures.

The melting point of steel is 1600 degrees centigrade. Lab reports reveal that the temperature was very low that it couldn't even soften steel. The maximum temperature reached at few points was 800 degrees centigrade. The photograph below clearly shows that the woman was standing at the point where the plane crashed into. That clearly shows that the temperature was not that high. Then, how did the steel melt?

Thermate ( when Barium is added to Thermite) when exploded can reach to a temperature of 1000-1200 degrees centigrade instantaneously. Usually, when Thermite reaction occur, the molten metal would be splashed on all sides and the evidence of the same was found in some of the dust samples.

Moreover, the video footage clearly shows that there were red flames all over. When the oxygen content is high i.e, if the fires were caused due to the combustion of jet fuel, the towers should burn with white color (majorly). This clearly shows the usage of explosives to collapse the building down.

Proof 3: The entire South tower collapsed in 10 seconds

The freely falling time of a body from a height of 415 meters (1360 feet)(approximately the height of South tower) is 9 seconds. Then, how did the entire structure collapsed in 10 seconds though there is a large resistive load from beneath? It should delay the collapse of the building to a large extent.

Proof 4: The twin towers were designed to resist the crash of more than one jet planes at a time

The twin towers were designed to resist the impact of more than one jet crashes at a time. Then, how did the towers manage to collapse so easily?

In 2005, Windsor tower of Madrid had a fire accident and was burnt continuously for 20 hours. But, it didn't collapse. Interestingly, it was still under construction then. So, how did the twin towers which were designed better collapse in 1 hour?

Proof 5: How did the Boeing 757 fit in 5 meter hole?

According to the official story, this Boeing 757 disappeared into a hole of 5 meters (16 feet). The overall length of it is 38 meters and the width is 14 meters. So, it should be a magic.

It is claimed that some of the parts of the jet plane like wings and engine were vaporized. The strongest part of an airplane is an engine. It is made of Titanium-steel alloy whose vaporizing temperature is 3500 degrees centigrade. So, the engine parts should have survived the heat. Consequently, out of the two engines, only one was found. So, where did the other one go? The diameter of the engine parts in the wreckage were half of that Boeing 757 engine. So, the official explanation was fallacious.

Also, the wings are made of aluminium alloys which are very tough and light. And clearly, the picture shows that the wings of Boeing didn't even scratch the walls of Pentagon. This is absolutely true as there was no plane involved in the damage of Pentagon.

Proof 6: How did a plane manage to get near to Pentagon?

The area surrounding the Pentagon is highly secured and it is very sensitive. No planes, except the military ones are allowed to fly above it to a radius of 70 miles around it. How did a common civilian airplane reached the world's one of the most secured defense?

From the above proofs, it is clear the entire attacks were staged up killing hundreds of innocents. Why did the government do it?

The true motive behind 9/11 attacks

Recent investigations that unraveled the true motives behind the attacks of 9/11 revealed bitter facts. However, it is a fact that the US government wanted to take control of the oil mines of Iraq and for that matter, it needed to destroy Saddam Hussein. Dick Cheney in 2002 stated that

"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt that he is amassing them to use against our friends, our allies, and against us"

Still, majority of the Americans believe that Saddam Hussein had helped Al-Queda in the 9/11 attacks. But, the government lied. It's not a fact. By 2003, with the repetitive arguments of Cheney that the hijacker of the plane, Mohammed Atta met a Iraqi intelligence officer injected lied to the citizens of America. The decision of war was pre-made. It was just done to gain the public support for the war. An investigation by UNO disclosed the connections of Iraq in 9/11 attacks were absolutely false. Ignoring it, US started a war on Iraq. England, France, Japan and Germany joined later.

In the war on so-called terrorism, 15 lakh people died including 4-5 lakhs of children. US succeeded in destroying Iraq, destroying peace but not terrorism. This war for the greed of some nations gave birth to the deadly terrorist group ISIS.

Terrorism, today resembles that we have failed, as a civilization. It has killed thousands and thousands of people. Vitenam war, 9/11 bombings, Syrian war, 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Peshawar school attack, it left us many uncured wounds and heart-breaking scenes. Al-Queda, Taliban, IS (Islamic State), Indian Mujahideen, Tehrik-i-Taliban, Hamas are the world's deadliest terrorist groups.

How did the Taliban originate?

The story of Taliban dates back to 1979. When Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan in 1973, in the name of improving their crushed economy, the conditions got worsened. Their army pillaged cities, raped women and killed those who revolted. At those conditions, a rebellion was started which resented the Soviet's army. It was called "Mujahideen" (which means ''one who fights for a Jihad" in Arabic). Taliban is a faction of it. Later, Mujahideen was supported by United States and Pakistan. Though the Taliban was started for the aim of eliminating Soviet troops, later, it turned to a "deadly monster".

Is United States responsible for Taliban?

Contemporarily, the cold war between United States and Soviet Union was at peeks. US feared that the USSR may become powerful if it gets hold of Central Asia. To prevent this, it helped Afghan Mujahideen militarily and financially. Under the Reagan's presidency, the Congress and CIA decided to recruit Mujahideen ("holy warriors"). It is said that US spent about $3 billion for the rebellion but never cared about retrieving the arms and how the later funds were spent.

Mujahideen in 1989

Pakistan supported Mujahideen as majority of the Mujahideen were Pashtuns, who are dominant in North-Western Pakistan & military. Moreover, Mujahideen promised that it would restore peace in Afghanistan and Pakistan if it comes to power.

Selig Harrison, from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars said that

"The CIA made the historic mistake of encouraging Islamic groups all over the world to come to Afghanistan and the Taliban had been actively encouraged by CIA and ISI"

Though the USSR tried to suppress the pro-Communist movement by sending more troops, the Mujahideen, who has extreme views of Islam fought bravely and were able to bounce back all the troops to Moscow by 1989.

The Taliban Rule

After drawing out Russian troops, Mujahideen tried to impose their stern version of Sharia (Islamic law). They were a bit successful in decreasing the crime rate, improving commerce.

"They executed the convicted publicly, they banned the usage of television, radio and music. Men had to grow beards and those who opposed were severely punished . Women should not come out unless there is a male relative with her. Girls above the age of 10 are not allowed to go to schools."

A person whose did a theft was being amputated in a region of Pakistan

By 1992, the internal conflicts in Afghanistan multiplied. Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was the interim President of Mujahideen failed to control them and subsequently, ended up fighting one another. By Autumn of 1994, with the help of Pakistan military, Taliban movement (Taliban mean "Student") boosted. Mullah Muhammad Omar, the leader of Taliban, instructed to take up arms, capture Kandahar and advance towards Kabul. They occupied Kabul in September 1996. By 1998, they were almost in control of entire Afghanistan,

There were many violations of human rights and power. Taliban combined with Al-Queda, a deadly terrorist group. US, warned Taliban to surrender Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Queda. As the warnings were obdurate, US bombed the suspected sites of Al-Queda in Kenya and Tanzania. Notoriously, in 2001, despite the international requests, they destroyed the 2000 year-old historical Buddha statues of Bamiyan in central Afghanistan packing international outrage. After that, they destroyed World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 killing 3000 people (When Al-Queda was asked to surrender Osama Bin Laden, it questioned the role of him in it and the issue remains a conspiracy).

Bamiyan Buddhas - Before and After Destruction

In October, 2001, NATO led a military operation in Afghanistan. This is popularly called as the largest manhunt ever done. However, these two leaders escaped. Taliban regime shattered by December of the same year. In 2003, when NATO moved to Iraq, Taliban and Al-Queda re-grouped and started their voilent attacks again. In 2006, NATO deployed 40,000 soldiers to eliminate Taliban. Most of the Afghan Talibans were killed but some of them escaped to Pashtun reigns of Pakistan (Waziristan).

NATO in Afghanistan

Pakistan, in order to eliminate Taliban, deployed 80,000 soldiers in the borders of Waziristan. After few wars, it recognized that fighting them would de-stabilize the. So, they signed a pact with Taliban not to attack NATO, Afghan soldiers and Pakistan. However, they crossed it when Taliban had undergone several kidnappings and killings near Red Mosque in 2006. Pakistan military shot down 100 Talibans in the mosque. This agitated Taliban, and they resorted to many suicide bombings and killings.

From then, there were many attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan. After the withdrawal of NATO from Afghanistan, they had increased to a larger extent. An initial encouragement from US and Pakistan had indirectly led to the development of these brutal, inhuman terrorist groups.

Every-day after work, Sahil has to take a bus back home. The ride is usually an hour long which makes Sahil very choosy about his seat. Mostly, he takes the window. The cool breeze and the scenery of the bucolic Maldivian beaches gives him a good feeling. He also has his earphones on most of the time "Music helps me relax" he says.

Sahil rarely talks to anyone on the bus. The passenger sitting beside him might sometimes get Sahil speak a line or two, usually generic bus-travel questions like "Which stop comes next?" or "Is this my stop?". But mostly, Sahil is mute, talking to himself and lost in his own thoughts. Standing for long hours and answering dull questions posed by customers is a regular part of his job. By the time his 10 hr shift elapses, Sahil's feet are throbbing with pain and his energy is fully drained. His mundane and dull job saps the life out of him and makes him feel trapped. Sometimes he wishes how he could just get on a plane to Kashmir and enjoy the beauty of the Himalayas, or go explore jungles of Amazon, or go diving at the coral reef in Australia. But the reality is that Sahil has grown tired of his life, he has no hope of finding a better job.

Right now he's listening to a song named "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay, a popular English band. The deep bass combined with Chris martin's piano has got his heart racing. The tempo of the song and the perfectly synced guitar chords have got his feet tapping, all-in-all Sahil's insides are crying out loud, forcing him to wave his hands around and dance to the tune. Perhaps if this were a night-club or a party he would have given in to his urge, danced and hopped a little.

Plugging in the earphones made Sahil's mood go from 'fed-up with life' to 'I feel awesome!'. The transition taking not more than a few seconds to complete. In the recesses of his imagination he went from being trapped in a cage to flying free like a bird, able to go anywhere he wants. The song gave him a strange feeling of happiness and achievement, it made him feel special, it made him feel really good about himself, right now Sahil is something he never could be for even a minute while working at the supermarket, he is Euphoric!

In another time zone, 3000 miles away in the great city of Moscow lives a boy named Dmitry who is the same age as Sahil. Dmitry works at a hotel as a cleaner and waiter and earns 500 rubels a day, which roughly equals 8 dollars. Although the pay is nowhere commensurate with the arduous 14 hr shifts he works but, the times are bad in Russia. In his village, Dmitry is considered as a well-to-do teen who has managed to support himself, unlike the scores of other boys his age who idle away time still 'looking for a job'.

Dmitry's job is tedious and stressful. At the end of the day, all he wants to do is lay down and go to sleep. But he's got these worries in his head that prevent him from doing so, “Times are bad, I wonder if I can keep my job for long?", "The money I earn is very little, how will I ever manage to have a good life?", "My life's getting boring and dull, I feel like a prisoner in this world!"

These are some of the questions Dmitry has a hard time answering. But living in the big city has exposed him to a few interesting things. One of which was a 'white crystal' that can make all your worries disappear. Or as one of his co-workers more elegantly describes 'Makes you experience Nirvana'. Dmitry tried it once, regretted it later. But something drew him towards it, a longing for the bliss he felt and thus, he tried it once more and since then Dmitry became a meth addict. He has been so for the last couple of months.

Smoking meth makes Dmitry's mood go from 'fed-up with life' to 'I feel awesome!' . In the recesses of his imagination he goes from being trapped in a cage to flying free like a bird, able to go anywhere he wants. Meth gives him a strange feeling of happiness and achievement, it makes him feel special, it makes him feel really good about himself, right now Dmitry is something he never could be for even a minute while working at the hotel, he is high, and he is Euphoric!

I think you almost got the point I’m hoping to make with this story. The point is that music is similar to drugs. Although there is little congruence in the effects of Drugs and Music has on your body and mind, there is definitely a lot of similarity. The same analogy could be applied to Alcohol, Movies, Sitcoms and TV shows, video games, etc.

All these things have the power to make you go away from reality, albeit for a short amount of time. But in that time-span, they make you feel something that doesn't really exist. Is this good or bad? You be the judge, this is just food for thought. And also something I felt I should write a 900 word long blog-post about!

In the history of ancient world, where the power rested in the hands of men, there exists one woman who eclipses all other of her own time. In the prism of popular culture, her name became a byword for beauty, luxury and intelligence. More than that, her story is twined with one of the most powerful historians like Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. She is of course, the last pharaoh of Egypt, "Cleopatra". Cleopatra, though she ruled for a short period, has a strong impression in the public consciousness because she was able to sustain an empire at the peaks of ever-expanding Roman empire. Moreover, the empire she established was very powerful.

From 2 thousand years, from art, history and dossiers, which were too vague and contradictory, we idealized Cleopatra. Since many centuries, she had become a blank canvas on which the successive generations projected whatever they thought of. Since ages, Cleopatra has been portrayed by many names, starting by a stunning beauty, heroine and august leader to the sexual predator and cold-blooded murderer. Exploring facts would surely need us to erase all the conventional false impressions. From the native to her death, everything about her is a mystery. What is her true story?

The Ptolemaic

A painting depicting the war style of Ptolemaic

After the death of Alexander, the great in 323 B.C. , Ptolemy I came to ascension and established a highly powerful Ptolemaic empire in 305 B.C. They declared themselves as the successors of the Pharaohs of Egypt. Inorder to blend with the Egyptian culture, they adopted Egyptian dressing style, constructed monuments in Egyptian style and married their siblings as per Egyptian culture.

There was a constant civil war waged between natives and Ptolemaic kingdom along with the outside war with Romans. In the later years, there developed many internal chaos in the empire and the stability of the empire was at a stake. It was at this time, Cleopatra rose to power in 51 B.C., at the age of 18, along with her brother (and also her husband) Ptolemy XIII.

Cleopatra- character

Since ages, Cleopatra has been immortalised as a seductress and an imposing beauty. The 2000 year-old coins found recently (have Cleopatra image on them) rules out all our assumptions of goddess-like appearance. She was not as attractive as the conventional folk praised but she was a bit plain-looking with a pointed chin, thin lips and a beak-like nose.

However, unlike the common image of seductress applied on her name, she is not so. She was a great scientist and much more than that, a very eminent administrator and leader. Most of the history of her which is available today was written by Romans and Arabs. Interestingly, Romans delineate her as a charismatic and sexual predator while Arabs characterized her as a great administrator and an appreciable scientist. It is noteworthy Arabs never mentioned about her appearance while Romans put their records mostly on the same. This might be because Romans hated her for loving Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.

Arabs she was a great sage, philosopher and an author. It is said that the early Arabs had access to the books written by the queen herself on medicine, charms and cosmetics. They wrote that "She elevated the ranks of scholars and scientists and always enjoyed the presence of them".

Caesar and Cleopatra

The meeting of Cleopatra with Caesar was sudden and unexpected. During 48 B.C., a civil war broke out in Rome between Caesar and Pompey (a military General of Rome). After series of attacks, Pompey was forced to leave to Alexandria hoping for the support of Ptolemy XIII. Instead, he was killed by Ptolemy XIII and his head was presented to Caesar when he arrived there.

At the meanwhile, the conflicts between Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII became worse. Ptolemy XIII hoped that he could win the throne (According to the will of Ptolemy XII, both of the heirs should distribute their power) and barred his relations with Caesar. Cleopatra sensed this and was able to present her case to him. Impressed by her keen intelligence and beauty, eventually, he fell in love with her and a child was born named Caesarion.

With the support of Ptolemaic kingdom, Roman empire became more powerful. With the support of Caesar, Cleopatra almost grabbed the entire power of Egypt and also declared Caesarion as the co-ruler.

Cleopatra and Mark Antony

In 44 B.C., with the assassination of Caesar, Cleopatra returned to Alexandria with depression. Also, there also begun internal mayhem in the empire. Antony and Octavian, who arranged the assassination of Caesar, incepted a civil war in Rome. Antony took the control over Eastern Rome whereas Octavian (later became popular as Augustus Caesar) occupied the Western part.

This is where Cleopatra found herself in awkward position. Egypt needed the support of Rome to succor and she therefore supported Antony. When she was asked about the lack of her support to Antony during the civil war, she replied him that the battle forces she sent were not just in time. Surmised, he was awed by her yearning intelligence. In the later years, they fell in love with each other and Cleopatra gave birth to 3 children.

Battle of Actium

It is said that Antony after meeting Cleopatra lost all the interest in every other things and indirectly, she controlled the empire. When Octavian and Antony relations were frayed, they waged war on each other and finally, Octavian killed Antony. Octavian killed Caesarion but spared the 3 children of Cleopatra with Antony (who were brought up in Rome later). Cleopatra committed suicide after that being bit by an Egyptian Cobra to death.

There is an interesting theory why Cleopatra chose an Egyptian Cobra. According to the Egyptian mythology, a Cobra is a sacred creature and is a symbol of immortality and divinity. They believed that if a Cobra kills a person, he/she would have a good afterlife.

With the end of her life, the 300 year supremacy of Ptolemaic kingdom has come to an end and the legacy of the great queen is marked in the history of this world.

The titanic before its voyage

For more than a decade, Titanic stood as a great mark of love, glory, disaster and sacrifice. It was popularly called as the "Unsinkable ship" with the tagline "Not even God can sink this ship". Unfortunately, this gigantic ship was engulfed by the ocean on her maiden voyage killing 1,517 people. With the movie Titanic, made in 1997, James Cameroon was extolled for his great depiction of the facts. Later investigations contradicted Cameroon in many aspects. Robin Gardiner pointed many facts in his book "Titanic: the Ship that never sank? What happened to this Unsinkable ship? Let us move to the true bottom.

The words'MP' on the sunk Titanic

The three sisters

White Star line, inorder to dominate the North-Atlantic passenger market, decided to build 3 prodigious ships The Olympic, The Titanic, The Britannic. Of the three, Titanic and Olympic were almost identical. White star line spared no expense in assuring their luxury. On 14th June 1911, Olympic set its maiden sail from Southampton coast under the captaincy of Edward J. Smith.

The 3 sisters - Olympic (left), Titanic (middle) and Britannic (right)

The Olympic story

Since its voyage, Olympic was known as the unlucky ship with spotty service record. On its debut voyage, it hit a tug in New York. Barely after 3 months, it collided with a UK Naval war ship HMS Hawke. The collision was so massive that it damaged Olympic beyond repair.

Olympic was fitted with a huge ram under the waterline. The smash drilled holes, both above and below the water line and also popped out thousands of rivets. The heavy and complex steel frames were buckled, the hull plating was gashed and above all, the starboard propeller and crankshaft were distorted. To make the matters worse, the keel was bent giving a permanent damage to the ship. This almost sealed the fate of Olympic.

Later, UK Navy investigated the crash and found that the mistake was on the side of Olympic. This means that the insurance company would never pay for the White Star line company. Inorder to repair the ship, it would need large sums of money which would surely lead them to bankruptcy as they were in huge losses by then.

The Olympic was sent to the Belfast for some nominal repairs. However, for more permanent repairs, it was sent to New York. To make the ship sea worthy, the ship must be cut to half, a new keel and frame inserted in-between and then it should be stitched back. This was a nigh impossible for the company. So, some repairs were done and it was then returned to Belfast. Supporting its spotty record, it lost a propeller blade during its travel when it hit an underwater object in the sea.

The Switch Theory

On 22nd March, Olympic was returned to the Thomson dry rock alongside with Titanic and this was the point where decision was made to switch them!!!

When Olympic returned to Belfast with Titanic on its side

As both Titanic and Olympic were almost identical, it would be easy to switch the game if the name plates are changed. The following are the proofs which support the fact.

The absence of V.VIP's

At the last moment of sailing, many of the first class passengers cancelled their voyage, most of them very close friends of JP Morgan, the major shareholder in the company. Interestingly, he himself cancelled his ticket claiming that he was ill. But, after 2 days, he was found in a French resort with his mistress sounding like a nut. Many of his bronze statues which were meant for trade were removed from the ship at the last minute.

Florence Ismay, the wife of the chairman of the White star line also rejected the invitation of sailing in the so-called Titanic for the reason of being ill. Instead, she went on a motoring holiday! Why would someone reject such an offer of voyage in Titanic, a proud human achievement, for no reason?

More interestingly, the workers who worked for the Olympic repairs refused to sail in the Titanic despite their immense poverty. Did they know the truth?

The Californian

The SS Californian

During early 1920's, there was a severe coal strike which stopped many ships from voyaging. Contrarily, under these drastic conditions, a ship called California was able to get large amounts of coal just for carrying a bunch of woolen rugs and coats leaving a large space to carry men. (It had all the goods that were needed to have a rescue mission).

It sailed to the icy fields of North Atlantic and dead stopped there. Why would a ship of cargo would be anchored in a region of icebergs without any danger occurring to it? Moreover, Captain Stanley Lord (Captain of the Californian) slept fully clothed in his chart room in a 5 and half foot couch. Was he expecting any sort of emergency? Very oddly, Captain Edward J. Smith did the same while sailing in the ice fields. Was the danger precognated?

The Secret Plan

It was planned that the Titanic would hit an iceberg, then the alarm signal would be sent to the Californian, life boats would be launched, rescue will be obtained from the Californian, passengers would be saved, the ship will sink and the White star line would claim the insurance money. It is for this reason, just 5 days before the voyage, the insurance has been increased from $5 million to $12.5 million!!!( this would be much more than amount they could gain by selling or scrapping it). Also, as the Californian is meant to save them, there were not enough life boats in the ship. In simple words, Titanic is not a disaster, but a greedy insurance fraud.

The Plan Failed

Everything didn't go as per plan. When the Titanic hit the iceberg, they sent alarm signals to the Californian. Here the navigators of Titanic made a terrible mistake. The position of the Californian was wrongly calculated by a 12 miles. Because of this, Californian never received any panic signals from the Titanic. As the expected rescue didn't turn up, the life boats which were half-filled then were later overloaded. But, the action was too late. The ship sank into the ice-cold waters of North Atlantic far beneath the waves killing over 1500 lives.

A picture (imaginary) of how the Titanic sank

Conclusion

The turning radius of the ship is 3 quarters of a mile. It is easy for the navigators to spot an iceberg even from a distance of 10 miles. The ship could have avoided the collision easily even if it was turned before a mile. The game of money killed 1517 lives including many women and children. Titanic was never an accident but an incident which was done for the benefit of few fatcats.

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