The capital of the country is Wellington and the largest city is Auckland – a metropolis. Tourist can get a new zealand car hire during their visit for their convenience of transport. The official languages of New Zealand include English so conversation would not be a big problem for most of the tourists from throughout the world. They even have an interesting and official NZ sign language for the deaf people which has its roots in the British sign language. Majority of the people in New Zealand are of the European ethnicity, others include Māori, Asians and Pacific people.

Costa Concordia and the port of the Island of Giglio, where he failed, on January 13.

The deafening chaos that had invaded the small island of Giglio after the sinking of Concordia, on January 13, has slowly faded to leave now that the background of hammers and electric saws, rituals disorders renovation prepare for the peak tourist season. But the crossover, still important, the civil protection teams, firefighters, military and police technicians with pumping fuel from the boat freezes the reality of the tragedy still present.

No one here is ready to forget. “He was stranded there in the screams and death and, towed or not, it will remain anchored in our memories,” says Giorgio, a resident of the island. To date, seven bodies have still not been found.

Morbid tourism that was improvised in the aftermath of the tragedy has not stopped. Taking the day to come and see the recumbent figure of 115,000 tonnes gutted it poses for the photo. Italians and tourists of all nationalities. “The Eiffel Tower lying!” Exclaim the French by multiplying the photos. School groups come by the hundreds, sandwich in one hand, the other sunscreen.

On the ferry approaching the wreckage, coaches warn: “Nobody goes up on deck if one of you is not creamy!” “To believe that the visit is on the agenda of the National Education! “jokes Francesca, a resident of the island, he disembarked in which nearly every day. A show that disgusts Mylene’s mother, the 23 year old French girl whose body has been finally identified by the DNA results. “I rage when I see the indecency of all these people who picnic beside the boat and pose for a picture with your family! The dead are still stuck below, “protested she.

While tourism is usually very low until May, the island of Giglio recorded “jumped 200%” in January and February, cartoon barely Elizabeth Nanni, vice president of the tourist office. “We regret that, because we do not seek this kind of tourism to our beautiful island,” she says.

“The local economy is unusually well”

Among the few hotels requisitioned for response teams and security and restaurants raided by the curious, “the local economy is unusually good,” observed the municipal authorities. Summer about the prospects, if the Office has recorded several cancellations, they should be offset by “the many people who discovered the island with its media,” predicts Elizabeth Nanni. Usually, the small island, with about 700 residents in winter 3400 and summer 4000 receives sedentary type in July and August and save 50 000 passages, according to figures from companies that provide ferry crossing the continent to island.

Forecasts reinforced by the lack of impact of the wreck on the environment, despite some minor pollution mentioned by Greenpeace last week. But the threat was high before the start of pumping operations and during the first phase. Today, “70% of fuel was removed,” says not without relief Vice President of Costa Crociere, Norbert Stiekema. As for removing the wreck, he said it should not affect the flow of tourists in the summer, and vice versa. “The 10 to 12 months that will dismantle and towing should be required,” said he. Six proposals are under consideration in the bidding process, and the choice will be known “late March and early April,” says the head of the cruise in Genoa. Port, in cafes, GameCafé of Islanders and dissect tirelessly rescue drama, fueled by recent articles in the local press. But if spend all angles, towing at trial, it is above the figure of Schettino, the commander of Concordia, which perpetually re-surface. Island resident, Salvatore Francesco Schettino rubbed time a cruise on the Costa Atlantica, in 2010. “I immediately saw, this guy is not a sailor, he is a showman, he assures her experience as a former commander of the navy. No wonder it will be done like that! “

Globally there are strange events happening every year, like  the annual tomato fight at Bunol, in Spain, but the following are among  the oddest annual festivals you might ever visit, and maybe worth, one day aiming to go and  see.

The Chinese Festival of the Hungry Ghosts – Yue Lan -n is celebrated to mark the day when, according to Chinese belief, a doorway to the underworld opens, letting restless spirits wander the earth freely. In an effort to appease the spirits, fake money is burned as well as paper models of possessions, so passing these luxuries on to the spirit world. The festival is celebrated over two or three days, streets lit with paper lanterns, incense burned to deter ghosts, and fireworks set off in some areas

Thailand is home to the Songkran Festival – a real fun event happening during Thailand’s hottest month of  April. Songkran is actually nothing more than the biggest water fight on earth friends, and strangers, splashing each other with hoses, water balloons , or anything other water carrier. This dousing with water was originally more ceremonial in nature, but has gradually become nothing more than a wild, wet celebration,  lasting from 3 to 10 days, depending on which in Thai region you are.

Thaipusam,  popular in Singapore and Malaysia, but nowhere near as enthusiastically as it is celebrated in South India, is a really odd festival which originated among the Tamil community as a Hindu festival, in either January or February on the day of a full moon. Thaipusam means Star, at the highest point in literal translation, celebration marking the day Goddess Parvati gave Murugan  a spear that he might defeat Soorapadman the evil demon, festivities kicking off with begin with devotees cleaning  themselves thoroughly bathing. Mortification of flesh is the biggest aim of this festival, the more pain endured by the devotee, the greater the blessing of God. This ensures that devotees pierce faces and bodies, with sharp skewers, and try to pull heavy weights via flesh-tugging hooks, so not for the squeamish tourists out there.

The Japanese, Shinto fertility festival Kanamara Matsuri  , held each year, sees people creating giant images, representing the male penis, from anything they have to hand . The worship of these huge penis idols comes about because, in Japanese culture, the penis is regarded as a symbol of fertility, and the gateway to the next generation. First Sunday of April is when the celebrations take place each year penis models made mostly  from  candles, candy, and vegetables are paraded through the city.  The local prostitute girls offer sacrifices to  giant penises, at the same time praying to safeguard themselves from various sexually transmitted diseases.

Weird festivals are commonplace in Japan, one of themore bizarre Hadaka Matsuri,  when people simply strip off in public, thousands of men appearing on the street of their various Japanese cities, naked, except for  pieces of loin cloth around their organs in some cases. This freaky festival is nearly 500 years old, and  based on the belief that naked men have more potential for absorbing bad evils and omens, so  anybody touching them gets freed from all bad spirits, and evils haunting them, making this a very tactile celebration.

El Colacho, is celebrated in Spain – also dubbed the Devil’s Jump, in which people put their very young babies onto a mattress, then sit back and watch happily as others jump across them. Anybody can jump over this infant-laden mattress, in spite of of social activist outrage at the offensiveness and potentially deadly consequences of such actions. Spanish people believe that the jumping drives off  sin committed in previous lives, guarding the hapless babes babies against future illness, and evil spirits. How weird is that?

Possibly the most, certainly the messiest, most fantastic and fun-filled celebration of life itself is the South Korean Boryeong mud bath annual festival.  Getting dirty is the whole point of this glorious wallow, messing everyone around you up, this gooey mud, considered very effective at treating any skin problems, showing that fun can be of medical benefit, in more ways than one, even if it does mean getting down and dirty.

LANUGAGE

The Korowai language belongs to Awyu-Dumut family which is the language of South East Papua. An English linguistic expert has now prepared its grammar and dictionary.

HABITATATION

The majority of Korowai people lives on houses prepared on the trees. There residential area is totally separate from the rest of the village. They do not like to go any where from their residential area. But, when they related to the civilized world and especially the European people established many villages from the residence where they provided all the possible facilities, even then they did not move from their place. But from 1980s few Korawai people started shifting to these new villages in Yaniruma. But there number was very less. These villages are been established at the shores “Mu” and “Mbasman” of River Becking, which is not very far away from their own area.

In 1987 a village was established at Manggel, in 1988 second village was established at Yafufla, in 1989 a village named Mabul was established at the shores of River Eilanden and in 1998 another village was established at Khaiflambolup. In short these villages were prepared for Korowai people but in response they did not show the enthusiasm that was expected. This is due to this indifferent attitude that many villages are still shown empty.

The basic reason for that may be that these colonies are situated far away from the resources of food (Sago). In the local language the word “Sago” is used for food.

ECONOMY

The Korowai people are basically hunters and fulfill their appetite by hunting. They also do gardening and now gradually diverting towards yielding crop. The Korowai people are conscious of the importance of protein from the beginning and therefore they hunt animals and are very expert in fishing. They fulfill their requirements of proteins from the above-mentioned food.

What business Korowai people do? And what they sell or buy? The information regarding this is very little and not enough. There are special ways in Korowai tribe to carry out the daily chores of life for instance “Sago” means the responsibility of preparing food is of adult youngsters. They not only collect food but also prepare it. Likewise whatever religious ceremonies they celebrate according to their beliefs, youngsters also play their role in these ceremonies. There is no role of women in these types of ceremonies.

Some Korowai people started works which provided them little cash income. But this income was so-called. Such local inhabitants started work with tourist companies. They guided the tourists and serve them in every way. It means they can get both financial and materialistic benefits from their touring industry. These opportunities are on very limited scale for now. Local guides makes the tourists visit these villages and host them quite well. They also organize local “Sago” invitations for tourists, take their wares from one place to another and simultaneously show them traditional and ancient shows, which they perform themselves.

In the history of Korowai tribe, once for limited time (from around 1996 to 1999) anarchy prevails there. The basic reason was that the very precious wood (Agarwood) of this village, which is also called (gaharu) in the local language was started moving outside illegally. Actually the thing was that some outsiders or smugglers, who were aware of the value of this wood, started cutting the valuable wood of this jungle. Innocent Korowai people could not do anything against them and silently watched their valuable natural resource looting by looters. The value of this wood can be guessed by the fact that any buyer used to pay around 4 dollars for one kilogram of gaharu wood. Likewise this valuable “gaharu” wood reached the markets of Europe and Middle East, where one thousand dollars per kilogram of this valuable wood were also sought. The smuggling of this wood was also carried out by way of Southern shore “Agats” and also from “Jayapura” at the Northern shore.  Help from missionary planes was also sought for this purpose which used to arrive and depart from “Yaniruma” and “Boma”. The control of “Gaharu” trading was under the army and army was running this business.

The valuable wood of Papua jungles was sent outside. Along with this loss, there was greater loss that the trading of “body selling” increased to greater extents, which played an important role in prevailing Aids in the whole Papua.

MARRIAGES

Here also like other civilized nations of the world, a parental system is established, in which father is the leader of the house and he runs the entire social, economical and political affairs.  The polygamy tradition is also established in this tribe but normally they do not marry with the blood relations. Now they started preferring marriage with cousins from maternal side.

SOCIAL LIFE

Here the leadership structure based on ancient times i.e. any powerful person becomes the leader of the tribe with respect to his personal traits and capabilities. There is no role of any organization in this leadership. The fighting among tribes starts specifically due to disputes related to casting magical spells.

RELIGIOUS LIFE

The belief of Korowai tribe is that this whole universe is full of every type of spirits, in which some spirits are more special and harmonious to each other as compared to other spirits. Especially homage is paid to spirits of forefathers. According to Korowai tribe belief, the “Ginol Silamtena” is the spirit of the creator of this universe. But Korowai people neither give any importance to it in their daily lives nor do they accept that there is any role of it in their daily lives. It is essential for each and every person of Korowai tribe to arrange a special dinner once in his life time. According to their faith prosperity and growth occurs due to this dinner party.

In order to evade the difficult time these people altar the pet pig for their forefather’s spirits.

Korowai people are keepers of extraordinary and valuable customs, which includes their ghostly stories, folk tales, magical sayings and spells and ancient customs of natural feats.

In respect to death and life after death, Korowai people believe that in return of the acts of a person, he has to come again in this world. The people, who have gone from their tribes after death and now living in the world of spirits, any one of those spirits can sent his relative again in this world and that person will rebirth in the shape of any new born in their tribe.

COORDINATION WITH EUROPE

In the end of the 1970 decade, few Christian (Protestants Missionaries) started living with Korowai people. In the decade of 1980 an Indonesian human expert Dea Sudarman prepared many documentaries for Japanese Television.

In 1993 a film crew had arranged a research study in the “Dio Village”. The main theme of this study was “The houses made on trees and man-eating”. The Korowai people were presented negatively in this case study, which led to the creation of film “Lords of Garden”.

In 1996 a local Christian Community was established, which consists of members from the neighborhood tribe “Kombai”. For the long time it has been thought that Korowai people are fundamentalists in their beliefs and will never divert to any other religion and will resist against such efforts. Hence many people accepted Christianity in the end of 1990 decade and formally entered in this religion.

In the autumn of 2003 a small team of Bible Translators reached in Yaniruma and started their work.

In May 2006 a tour guide Paul Riffle led the crew team of Australian T.V. Show “60 Minutes” in order to prepare a special report on this tribe and their people. After few days of filming a man reached the crew team and claimed that his six year nephew “Wa-Wa” had been accused of becoming a sorcerer (Kakua). He was in great danger, since he could be killed and eaten. But the crew team of “60 Minutes” refused to help that person. But afterward Paul Riffle contacted his opponent “Seven Network”, who agreed to send a “Today Tonight” crew in order to take “Wa-Wa” out of this area.

But, before these people could reach this area, the Indonesian higher authorities deported all the officials from “Jayapura” on the issue of Visa.

MAN-EATING

One of the reports about Korowai people was received that they still eat human flesh. But human experts say that it does not happen now, since these people are in constant coordination with outer people and it is also revealed in the latest reports that false stories has been spread in order to proliferate tourism.

In 2006 a T.V. show “60 Minutes” claimed that when anybody is accused of becoming a sorcerer “Khakhua” in the Korowai society and on proving the crime he was beaten harshly, hanged and afterwards eaten. In this regard many uncertified claims were also made that the brain of a person is eaten immediately while the corpse is still hot and that pregnant women and children are not involved in this eating.

WAY OF CONTSTRUCTION

Korowai houses are made on height, for which higher wood pillars are fixed on the land initially. This way has been going on since past, in order to keep the houses safe from water and flood. Secondly these houses remain away from the reach of the invaders. This step is specifically taken for the safety of children and women; otherwise the conqueror tribe either makes women and children their slave or kills and eats them.

The thick, high and strong pillars of iron wood in one way keep the houses safe from fire too, otherwise the strategy of invader is to fire the houses made of wood, grass and straw, which compels the residents to come out of their houses due to smoke and suffocation and thus invaders arrest them. Iron wood is that hard and solid wood, which does not catch fire easily.

These people are living in the ancient past in spite of living in the present and are not ready to change themselves. But efforts are going on and it is hopeful that soon these people will change their present state by entering in the present.

By Muhammad Irfan Zafar

Content Writer

Woman Murdered After Refusing Sex

A French woman named Stephanie Foray has been murdered in Kuala  Lumpur after she refused to have sex with a man.

The 30-year-old French tourist is believed to have been murdered by a 36-year-old orchard owner. According to police reports, the woman is believed to have been struck on the head with a bottle after she refused to have sex with her assailant.

Police say that after Stephanie was murdered, her body was buried in a cave.

According to police, the suspect and Stephanie had been drinking copiously and was murdered upon refusal to have sex with the man after he initiated it. Investigations are still on the way to find out if the woman was raped before she was murdered.

Sources close to the investigations revealed that police arrested the 36-year-old orchard owner after finding Stephanie Foray’s belongings on him.

Stephanie worked as a communication officer in France. She travelled to Asia alone.

Most of the focus is on Japan and the radiation hazard emanating from the breakdown of its nuclear plants. There is a fear that the nuclear contamination may spread even to neighbouring countries. Indonesia seems to be deeply worried. Niccobar Island is only a few kilometres from Indonesia. If radiation spreads to Niccobar, then it may not take longer to spread to the mainland Andaman Island. From there, Kolkatta or Chennai are nearby. One can go on imagining such dreadful things and confuse one’s minds. But look at the way Hawaiian people live.

Image via Wikipedia

Hawaii is nearby Japan but its people are not confused. People live without bothering about possible radiation effects even though the government monitors it carefully. The US President Obama has assured Hawaiian people that no harmful effects of radiation are likely to reach the Hawaiian shores and the mainland is completely safe. The President has even encouraged tourists to visit Hawaii unmindful of what is happening in the neighbouring country. Hawaii Tourism Authority President and CEO Mike McCattney and Board Chairman Ron Williams inspected Hawaii islands which included important tourist spots like Aiii Drive in Kona and Hualalai. They examined to what extent tsunami had ravaged the islands. After their visit, they proclaimed that the tsunami impact on the island was minimal and that the tourists could continue to visit the islands. King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel has not closed down and continues to provide accommodation and facilities to tourists. Almost all business establishments in Aiii Drive have reopened after briefly closing.

Look and contrast it with what happened when tsunami affected Andaman Islands on December 26 in India. Our government hardly made any effort to reassure the people and foreign tourists. No effort was made to normalise tourist operations in Andaman and Nicobar islands. As a result, much tourist income was lost. The bureaucracy simply slept.

More than the tsunami and earthquake, people are worried about the aftermath of nuclear radiation. For this, President Obama assured the Americans that no harmful radiations are expected to affect the West coast of USA, Hawaii, Alaska or US territories in the Pacific. To back up the President, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko also confirmed it. Forgetting the Japanese bombing of Pearly Harbour and killing of more than 3000 American soldiers in the Second World War, the Hawaiian people have swung into action to maximum help their Japanese brethren. Hawaiian business leaders have also launched “Aloha for Japan’ scheme with strong backing from Lt. Governor of Hawaii Brian Schatz and Japan Consul General Yoshihiko Kamo. Cultural programmes like music, dance and performances are being enacted to collect money. Banks are serving as collection points to help the tsunami victims. It is also unbelievable that no Japanese tourist who had visited Hawaii before the tsunami had preferred to stay back. Instead all the Japanese tourists have vacated their hotel rooms and returned to Japan to share the sorrow with their fellow beings. I only imagine, had it been Indians, what would have been their attitude……

Lalbagh is the ideal place to while away your time in the midst of nature for the city-dwellers as well as tourists and to enjoy peace and bliss in the otherwise bustling city. Here you could stroll around and watch a variety of flora and fauna in leisure sitting under the shade of a tree. The vast Lalbagh Lake with a small island, Kempe Gowda Tower and Glasshouse are some of the great attractions to the visitors.

The replica of the Baha’i temple in New Delhi, done in white flowers, is the greatest crowd-puller of the Horticultural Show this time. It is made of two lakh white flowers and is 22’ in height. More than 500 varieties of flowers and fruits from different climates are showcased in the exhibition, which is a rare visual treat.

Glimpses of Horticultural Show at Lalbagh:

The venue of Independence Day Horticultural Show at Lalbagh, Bangalore. All pics by author.

A replica of the Baha’i temple in New Delhi, designed in flowers.

Dr. M.H. Mari Gowda Rose Garden, Lalbagh, Bangalore.

Lalbagh lake, established in 1760 A.D.

Pigeons flying over Birds Colony at Lalbagh. Birds Colony was established in 2007.

Riot of colours: part of Lalbagh Horticultural Show.

Flowers smiling. Lalbagh, Bangalore.

Crotons.

Flowers galore.

Flowers of various hues. 

Cacti at Lalbagh Horticultural Show. 

A flower peeping through stems: Lalbagh, Bangalore.

A close-up of the flower. 

Beehives in Lalbagh.

Beetroot grown in a pot: part of Horticultural Show.

During the mid-nineties, it was a common sight to see men hang precariously on the edge of BMTC bus doors. When the bus navigated sharp bends, the cumulative weight of such foot-boarders would cause the mud guard of the bus to scrape against the wheel. There have been several mishaps due to the callous attitude of passengers yet their attitude never seemed to change. Today, most of the BMTC buses are equipped with automated doors which open only at a bus stop or upon the driver’s discretion, thus eliminating the foot-board menace.

Most buses are also air conditioned which makes it an ideal mode of road transport especially within the city. AC buses are definitely more preferred than autos today.

The most recent change to BMTC buses is the automated stop announcement system. This is a bilingual (English-Kannada) announcement system and has been set up in most new buses. This is a very commuter friendly feature as Bengaluru has a large migrant population and is also frequented by a large number of tourists.

Finally, the ever growing array of Volvo and Marcopolo buses has significantly eased bus travel. Most of these buses are painted in vibrant blue, orange and red which is a pleasant sight for public. Also, these new-age buses are less polluting than the old fleet of BMTC buses. Kudos to BMTC.

 (Photo by Google)

Did you know…

1) 1/3 of the world’s pineapples come from Hawaii

2) There are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet: A, E, I, O, U, H, K, L, M, N, P, and W

3) The only royal palace in the United States in located on Oahu Island and called Iolani Palace

4) There are more than 100 famous beaches in the Honolulu area

5) Abba, a famous musical group from Sweden, sang a groovy song called Happy Hawaii

6) Volcanoes deep under the Pacific ocean have erupted thousands of years ago and formed the Hawaiian islands

7) The Hawaiian island of Oahu has the world’s largest wind generator

The Hawaiian island of Molokai receives a whopping 240 inches of rainfall a year!

9) There are several languages which are spoken in Hawaii: English, Hawaiian, Samoan, Tongan, and Pidgin

10) Hawaii’s state motto is Ua mau ke ea o ka aina I ka pono; this means “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness”