It is a sad day in the world of football. Alas, truly a sad day indeed.
John Walker Motson, OBE (10 July 1945 – 23 February 2023) was an English football commentator, who had an illustrious 50-year career with the BBC sadly passed away today at the age of 77 years old.
In my humble opinion, he was not just a football commentator because he was a legend and THE quintessential sports commentator 💯
I will never ever forget his commentary during the 2002 World Cup because his lexicon was second to none and his humour during commentating was on point. An absolute genius. ⭐️
My Favourite John Motson Commentary Moments
1. Germany 1–5 England (01/09/2001)
Oh, this is getting better and better and better!
2. England 2-2 Greece (06/10/2001)
Everybody, bar the Greece supporters, are praying for a goal. Beckham to take it… The 93rd minute at Old Trafford… BeckkHAM! Yes! Yes! He’s done it! Fantastic! It’s 2-2!
3. Germany 1-1 Ireland (05/06/2002)
Oh, surely this time for Keane – and Ireland do it! Robbie Keane, in the second minute of stoppage time, has scored the equaliser. Look at these scenes! Just look at these scenes! And you can’t say they don’t deserve it. This has been a spirited second-half performance, and it has brought its reward in dramatic fashion!
4. Argentina 0-1 England (07/06/2002)
Hold the cups and glasses at home … You can smash your glasses now because Beckham has scored!
5. West Ham 3-3 Liverpool (13/05/2006)
Riise’s cross… GERRARD! He’s done it! And what a way to do it! It’s surely the best cup final of modern times!
R.I.P to the legend that made Match of the Dayenjoyable to watch! 🙌🏼
India has a long, varied history and rich history. However, over the past 1000 years it has been:
Ruled by the Muslims for 800 years.
Subjugated by the British Empire for 150 years.
A democracy for 70 years.
The population of India is in the region of 1.4 billion and can be broken down into the following :
80% are Hindus.
15% are Muslims.
5% are Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists & others.
Hinduism
As a unique religion, Hinduism is professed to have existed for over 4000 years. One billion of its people within India are ardent and diehard followers – but also, in substantial numbers in countries such as Nepal and Sri Lanka – and also in countries of the Islamic faith such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and Pakistan. The religious texts of Hinduism are known as Vedas, Purana, Ramayana, and Geeta plus its worship is concentrated on a polytheistic tradition involving millions of ‘Gods’. However, with the utmost respect, Hinduism is not the same as Hindutva.
What is Hindutva?
As I said in the last line in the previous paragraph, Hinduism is not the same as Hindutva and Hindutva is NOT Hinduism. Hindutva can be simplified as a nationalistic ideology based on the fact that Hindus were subjugated, degraded as well as forced to live in fear by oppression by the sanctimonious , as I will explain below.
When did Hindutva originate?
From 1881 to 1931, there was a sharp decline of Hindus in India from 75% to 68%. This alarming statistic strengthened the newly developed inferiority complex amongst the neo-nationalists. In addition, the atrocities by the British Empire were at its peak in 1919 and the Muslims of India assembled to preserve the Ottoman Caliphate, which developed an attitude towards the anti-imperialist/anti-British sentiment. This in return resulted in some Indian Hindus developing an inferiority complex, which began to allow the extremists to initiate nationalistic ideas. By brainwashing the community via fear-mongering language, the ideology came to fruition and the emergence of Hindutva began after years of being dormant.
How did Hindutva originate?
Vinayak Savarkar – an atheist, who supported the atrocities of Hitler and was influenced by the fascism of Nazi Germany as well as Italy – was the first person to conceive the term ‘Hindutva’. Savarkar not only took advantage the identity of Hindus, but he also took advantage of the ancestry as well as the culture to ostracize the Christians and the Muslims. In addition, he was a staunch member of the Hindu Mahasabha – a nationalist party of Hinduism as well as being implicated and charged for being the co-conspirator in the assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi.
RSS -Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
The National Volunteer Organisation also known as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is a right-wing paramilitary group. Deeply influenced by Sarvakar, Keshav Baliram Hedgewar founded the organization in 1925 by individuals from the Brahmin caste (the top caste in their hierarchy).
Via unverified claims, the aims were to defend Hindus and to ensure their control over India. As previously mentioned, the inferiority complex was born out of the hate towards Muslims. In simpler terms, they were jealous of their neighbours as they wanted some of their characteristics and qualities because they perceived those as being vital to the strength of the Muslims. For example, the community is intense, close as well as unified, however the Hindus feared them because the Muslims existed across Europe, Africa and Asia.
The RSS became a pan-India organisation under M.S Golwalkar. He popularised the term ‘Hindu Rashtra’ (Hindu Nation) and perceived that the society of Hindus was under threat from the west via progressive ideas and believed that society functioned better via caste lines. He defined India as a holy nation from the oceans to the Himalayas. By amalgamating religion with nationalism, he referred India as ‘Bharat Mata’ (Mother India). During his tenure, his quest for racial purity advanced and his nefarious concepts towards the Muslims and Christians increased as he perceived them as impure and not proper Indians. Thus, he came to the conclusion that partition is like slaughtering up your own mother.
As time progressed, the grotesqueness escalated, spilling into education, farmer/labour unions and in due course – politics.
BJP – Bharatiya Janata Party
After the collapse of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and then the Janata Party, the BJP was founded in 1980 by people who had been influenced by Hedgewar (the founder of the RSS) and Sarvakar (the chief ideologue of the Hindutva).
At the beginning, the BJP were modest and localised. However, they capitalised on the shortcomings of the commanding Congress Party which had led India since partition and they have always maintained a close association with the RSS.
Escalating violence against Muslims under the BJP
With assistance from the political elite, the ideology increased its might against Muslims.
An example would be that a campaign was started by the BJP in 1992 to demolish an ancient mosque in Ayodhya in order to gain the crucial votes to fuel the movement. A few years on, the BJP leader – L.K. Advani – led a march on the mosque in order to provoke and instigate violence on Muslims.
During an inquest, it came to light that BJP politicians like Vajpayee (a later prime minister of India) and Advani were incriminated for the disaster. The perpetrators – who killed an estimated 2000 people – were all later exonerated by the Indian courts in 2020 as the BJP had firmly established itself in government.
Under BJP rule in Gujarat, led by Narendra Modi, there was mass violence against Muslims in 2002. The total people to have been killed were estimated to be at 2000 and approximately 150,000 displaced. Eyewitnesses claim that the preparators committed heinous crimes ranging from torture to mutilation to rape and even the police were in on it by giving out addresses of Muslims to be attacked by the orders of Narendra Damodardas Modi.
Things went from bad to worse in 2014 when Narendra Modi secured power. Muslims have been attacked with quintessential bias all over the country. Like any other person, Muslims consume meat, however the cow is extremely sacred in Hinduism. Supporters of Modi have been roaming various states on personal vendettas searching for people, who have killed and sold meat of the cow, which has been labelled as ‘Cow vigilantism’ has spread with impunity.
The status of Jammu and Kashmir – a disputed area between India and Pakistan – was changed by Modi in 2019, which exponentially increased Indian state oppression within the region. Religious leaders and politicians have been indulging their perverse lust for power and control by killing and displacing Muslims as well as raping their women with no shame.
Journalists have been targeted after exposing the ongoing shenanigans by the extremists. Women in the southwest region state of Karnataka have been prohibited to wear the hijab whilst attending college resulting in other states to follow suite. Homes of Muslim protestors have been tarnished because of their opposing views to the BJP policies. Courts frequently reinforce hostile policies and actions, choosing to interpret India’s secular constitution in the most heinous way possible.
Hindutva spreading to Britain
By a variety of ways, the ideology of Hindutva has spread like wildfire in the United Kingdom.
It has spread via parliamentarians through their affluent political links. Priti Patel, the former Home Secretary, sent a hospitable memo to the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh UK for hosting an event titled ‘RSS: A Vision in Action – a new Dawn’.
Back in the 1980’s and 1990’s, a number of voluntary sector organizations flourished via Hindutva, which allowed them to gain momentum.
During the leadership campaign in which Rishi Sunak stood. there appeared to be a significant Indian diaspora lobby within the Conservative Party. Hence, via social media campaign, there was a lot of encouragement for UK Hindus to vote for the Tories. The reason was because apparently the Labour Party was anti-Indian and anti-Modi policies in Kashmir. In addition, the same Indian diaspora lobby added its voice to claims of anti-Semitism against the Labour Party.The same lobbies appear to offer donations to police-related charities in the UK, so spreading their influence and neutralising criticism.
India is a huge market for trade/business, therefore the high and mighty British government is unlikely to undertake actions that risk its trade relationships in a post-Brexit world.
Playing a direct role is the Indian High Commission. The Leicester community were flabbergasted and ruffled by the acts of Hindutva violence and intimidation over months of Summer (2022). The City of Leicester consists of Hindus, Muslims and White British citizens. However, instead of lambasting the violence, the IHC issued a statement claiming that the Hindu places of worship in Leicester were being violated and demanding immediate ramifications. The statement was shut down by a number of Hindu organisations condemning the Hindutva-inspired offence, despite making no mention of the alleged attacks invoked by the High Commission.
Conclusion
Nazism, Italian fascism and even Zionism were borne out of secular ideas via nationalism and uses the respective religions for its own agendas. However, Hindutva was not borne out of religion. It was borne out of fear of being degraded and overwhelmed by the majority – indomitable will of Muslims – as well as the untapped calibre of the Muslim conglomeration.
Thousands of years on, the ideology has evolved from a philosophy to an establishment that has gained popularity amongst the younger generation. It has sky rocketed to new heights and achieved a power in politics that was not imagined by Chandranath Basu and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar – who coined, formulated and progressed the idea that India should only be consisting of Hindus and only Hindus. Lock, stock and 100 barrels.
Thus, this ideology known as Hindutva has now a prominent segment of the nationalistic dominion in New Delhi as a key element in the foreign policy of India.
What has happened in Leicester seems to suggest that the nationalistic government of India are endeavouring to instigate disorder between communities abroad.
I used to like going to Hypocritical Republic of Pakistan for a short holiday, but thanks to COVID–19, I was stuck in the country from the 19th of September 2020 until the I7th of October 2021.
Due to the year of quintessential hell, where not only I was bullied mentally & emotionally, but I was also subjugated & emasculated. Sadly, I ended up missing the wedding of my brother in November 2022.
With the utmost pleasure, I am happy to announce that I have come to the decision that I have excommunicated myself – just like my Grandmother – from the nation because the family are not just quintessentially toxic, but are also pious MANAFUCKS!
Holiday (Western Definition):
A period of time spent by an individual away from the stress & tribulations of work.
When an individual is on a holiday, they are free to do what they want such as:
• Mentally recuperate.
• Go travelling.
• Experience things outside of their comfort zone.
• Learn new things about life.
• Broaden your horizons.
Holiday (Pakistani Definition):
A period of time spent in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, where expats/overseas Pakistanis must “abide” by the rules of the sanctimonious, be controlled & be subjugated at all times like a dog.
When an individual is on holiday in the nation, they are told the following:
• You cannot talk to person A or person B.
• You cannot be yourself.
• You cannot go where you want or even go out in the evening without being interrogated.
The reason? The ridiculous fear of being gossip or labelled as too western.
GET A GRIP, STOP TAKING LIFE TOO SERIOUSLY & JUST BE YOURSELF INSTEAD OF LIVING LIKE SHEEP!
Why would I want to go to Pakistan for a holiday when disagreements, petty arguments & quarrels are rife?!
I want to relax with people who have an open mind, share life experiences, interact in meaningful conversations with plenty of banter instead of either being in the house sitting in a sofa or listening that certain family members are no longer interacting with one another due to egos, feuds or jealousy.
Why would I want to go to Pakistan for a holiday when plastic gangsters with deluded, elevated egos are loose on the streets shooting people left, right & centre over lands & plots.
All the melodrama & verbal fights stems from competition & jealousy as well as inheritance from great-grandfathers, grandfathers & parents.
After gaining their “precious” inheritance, nefarious egos are developed. These people people get too big for their own boots after they watch gangster films, which then leads to killing sprees by pistols or an AKA-47 Kalashnikovs.
Your “holiday” is ruined as you have to attend a funeral. When you enter the vicinity of the funeral, you hear cacophonic sounds of women shrieking along with men sitting eerily.
Why would I want to go to Pakistan for a holiday when you are strictly given a curfew by people who are so fucking comfortable emasculating men & are happy in their comfort zone?!
Why? Why would I?!I don’t want to add more damage or strain to my mind & increase more trauma to my mental state of mind.
Conclusion
I have come to realise that in Pakistan, whoever has got the money … they are revered as Gods.
In Pakistan, there is no concept of hard work. It is the poor people – gareeb logh – who do all the hard work in the scorching sun as they are hired by the corrupt/rich & treated like absolute dogs.
Those corrupt & rich people – also known as RAHEES AZAMS – wake up at random times, have their luxurious breakfasts, order cups of tea during the day, gossip about money, mock other rich people they don’t like & laugh as if they are better than the rest.
Karma will deal with them in one way or another as those people are not immune & not untouchable especially those women who love emasculating men.
Congratulations to Lionel Messi & Argentina for winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final at the Lusail Stadium in Doha, Qatar 😒
For personal reasons, experiences in France as well as interacting with good people, I was rooting for France all the way plus La Marseillaise is one hell of an awesome anthem, but …
The Herds Caught My Attention!!!
Now, that being said, this post is actually about something that caught my eye on Twitter & is making its usual rounds by the herd mob, who are spewing absolute nonsense.
The thing that caught my eye on twitter this morning was the moment the Emir of Qatar aka Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani draped Lionel Messi with a traditional Arab robe before he lifted the World Cup to celebrate with his fellow comrades caused controversy.
I am at a genuine loss with the over the top reactions from people on Twitter regarding the cape.
What’s the Deal With The Cape?
The cape has got nothing to with the religion of Islam.
It has also got nothing to do with the interpretation of the faith by the media/politicians – Islamic Terrorism/Radical Islam – or to do with influencing people to the religion or to do with those grotesque, degenerate HIJACKING scumbags known as Daesh, ISIL or ISIS. Nothing!
Just like the Shagwar Kameez is significant in Indian/Pakistani culture or the Kimono in Japanese culture as well as the Bikini in the culture of the West. In other words, this cape is equivalent like the black-tie tuxedo in the West.
Yes, the cape was black & yes, an Arab – who happens to be Muslim – placed it on Lionel Messi on for the world to see another aspect of the Arab culture.
It was not disrespectful at all to cover his Argentina shirt as it was simply gifted to him as a a ‘mark of honor’ & as a symbol of appreciation & respect in the Arab culture. Simple.
With all due respect, I am all up for equality in society – regardless of it being for religious people, the LGBT community, black people, minorities, gypsies etc or for whoever – but I will never condone imposition.
The same people & nations that were passionately crying for wearing the LGBT armband are the same people whining since yesterday because of Messi wearing the Arab robe.
CONTRADICTION, HYPOCRISY & SANCTIMONIOUS SHENANIGANS AT ITS FINEST!
It’s called a …..!
That all being said, the cape that he wore – being lambasted on Twitter as if it is abhorrent – is called a Bisht.
A Bisht is basically a traditional men’s cloak popular in the Arab world & is worn during the winter season as well as during momentous occasions, such as at receptions, celebrations & for wedding ceremonies.
A Bisht can be black or brown, which signifies that a person – in this case, Messi – belongs to a noble family.
Yes, Lionel Messi does belong to a noble family – like all of us – from Argentina, but now he belongs to a family that is of a different status: A World Cup winning family of legends aka the World Cup Elite – Pele, Zidane, Rossi & Maradona.
To be fair, the only thing the Bisht did do to Lionel Messi is that it made him stand out from the rest of the squad like a king & rightly so 👌🏼 Sometimes, an additional colour or a flair of colours adds that tiny bit of excitement in life or in couples lives – Leh leh teh goosa leh GANDOOOO kanjaroh 😉
To be honest, people need to do research or use their minds to make sense before jumping on the bandwagon of brutal negativity that goes beyond the boundaries of nefarious thinking.
One Final Note
PS:
With the utmost respect to the people of Argentina as well as to all fans of the wizard … Lionel Messi is not the G.O.A.T! 🥱
Cristiano Ronaldo is & ALWAYS will be the G.O.A.T! 💯
I patiently waited for Thor: Love & Thunder for 6,134,400 seconds, which is 102,240 in minutes, 1704 in hours, an approximation of 71 days & roughly 2 months.
If you had asked me a year ago if I thought I would ever give such a low rating for an MCU film, I probably would have laughed in your face, and yet, here we are … 3 out of 10.
Humour 🤦🏻♂️
Where do I start? In my opinion, there was so much humour in this film that made the humour redundant. They – the director as well as the writers of the film – took the serious moments as well as the humour from Thor: Ragnarok and mixed the two together, which they thought would succeed but, as expected, failed miserably. You CAN’T degrade the tone of a film with too many funny moments. With the utmost respect, Taika Waititi should take lessons from the Russo Brothers, who balanced out humour with the serious moments in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016) as well as Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
Natalie Portman 🥰
As a major fan of her work since her debut in the Star Wars prequel saga, Paris, Je T’aime, No Strings Attached as well as her performance in Black Swan, I was extremely over the moon that she was returning as Jane Foster and as New Thor. All that excitement at Comic-Con. All that hype via the media and the hierarchy at Marvel. All that happiness as well as excitement of her returning to the MCU and they just kill her character off. This was an absolute major disappointment for me. MIND-BOGGLING!
The God Butcher 🤣
Apart from killing a God at the beginning of the film, what others did the so called “GOD BUTCHER” actually butchered? I mean, it would have been awesome to have seen some Gods being butchered, BUT OFF SCREEN!? Were Marvel scared or were they saving screen time? They have done wrong here as they did with the decimation of Xandar in Avengers: Infinity War (2018). To be blunt, Original Thor, King Valkyrie and Jane AKA new Thor never seemed afraid of him in the least despite Christian Bale playing the character to the T.
CONCLUSION 🏁
I really hope the future of the MCU is not going to be similar to this film as not only from a viewing point, but also from a passionate point, how the mighty have fallen 💔
Overall, not only was this movie a substantial disappointment, it was horrible and this is coming from a HARDCORE Marvel Cinematic Universe fan, who has been there since Iron Man was released on May 2, 2008.
The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral, Scotland at 4:30pm on the 8th September, 2022.
A truly sad day – for the U.K. and the world – regardless if you love the monarchy with ardent passion or abhor it with quintessential zeal.
She devoted her life to the institution she was born into and served her nation with dignity and honour. A truly remarkable woman.
With the utmost respect, I have lived in Scotland and have never took an interest in the Royal Family.
However, the values and virtues of The Queen made me take an ardent interest in her life as the years rolled by. Not only was she warm and loving, but she had a cracking sense of humour as witnessed during her public appearances as well as with her Grandsons – Prince William and Prince Harry.
I never thought that the death of Queen Elizabeth II would affect me, but it has made me melancholic.
Elizabeth Alexandra May … May you Rest In Peace.
PS: I am neither a Monarchist nor a Republican as I am a human being. All the ugly scenes in Scotland especially in Edinburgh and in Glasgow as well at certain football games is a shame and in no way represents myself as a person.
After the initial success of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? (1969), The New Scooby-Doo Movies premiered on September 9, 1972, and ended on October 27, 1973, running for two seasons.
I remember watching this as a kid in the 90’s and immediately fell in love with the show. I mean, who doesn’t love Scooby-Doo!? My dad criticises me on a daily basis just for my lifestyle choices– anime, languages, music, researching about India and Israel as well as travelling – but I let it be because I am who I am – I am unique. With the utmost respect, you would have to be a right eejit not to have watched the show as a kid.
As a teenager, I was put under house arrest as I was not allowed to socialise or hang out with my fellow peers as I was bullied, compared, degraded, emasculated and subjugated, so I purchased “The Best of the New Scooby-Doo Movies” on the 17th of July in 2005.
As I was watching the show with a steaming bucket of fried chicken from KFC with a 2L bottle of Irn-Bru … all my memories as a kid came flooding back – the weather, the atmosphere, the surroundings etc. Nostalgia at its best.
However, just before the 4th episode, I began to read the title back to myself numerous times and my intuition told me that something was not right.
As a result of my intuition, on the 13th of October in 2005, I began to read about the history of the show on Wikipedia and discovered that there were 8 episodes missing from the DVD set. Me being me, I looked on the internet for them via Limewire – May it Rest In Peace.
Alas, after 3 long excruciating years, I managed to acquire 4 of the 8 missing episodes, but I was still not content because I ardently wanted to possess all the episodes in my ownership on my portable hard drive. It would be a while before I acquired the rest …
During the summer of 2009, I hit the jackpot. Someone, based in New Zealand, was uploading the remaining 4 episodes in parts of 5 onto YouTube.
I got in contact with the owner of the YouTube account and it took me 3 days to download the videos from YouTube to my computer in the MP4 format.
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To achieve the outcome of possessing the missing episodes, I had to use Any Video Convertor that allowed me to convert the video files and go through the following process:
Convert the 5 files of an individual episode into the WMV format.
Import the videos into Windows Movie Maker.
Amalgamate the 5 files into a single file and then save into the mp4 format.
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From 2009 until 2020, I had all the missing episodes saved on 3 USB sticks and 3 portable hard drives just because I didn’t want to lose the episodes I had acquired with determination and patience.
Sadly, due to fate or kismet or whatever malarkey you want to believe in, the portable hard drives and memory sticks were corrupted or erased.
As they say in the French speaking world …
Today, I want to give a shout out to Warner Bros. for making the episodes available – bar one – on DVD as well as Blu-Ray for me – along with millions – to enjoy this classic Scooby Doo series.
There are 24 episodes in total. Sadly, one episode – Scooby-Doo meets The Addams Family – did not make it due to the shenanigans over an issue regarding copyright and rights, hence the release earns it’s title “Almost” Complete Collection.
The 23 episodes are spread over 6 discs, each running at 45 mins with a combined total time of 986 mins.
As I am munching on a drumstick from good old Colonel Sanders, I cannot put it in words that the image quality is in pristine condition as it looks fantastic on the 55 inch TV and thankfully in it’s original 4:3 aspect ratio with original mono soundtrack.
Food is great when you arrive home after a long day at work. It is also great when you are famished after a long hike and walk. However, food is satisfying when you deliberately think of something so scrumptious in order to get yourself horny, so that you can enjoy the quintessential taste.
Whole Leaf UK was opened in 2022 by a team of individuals, who have pushed the boundaries of hard work. They are seasoned professionals in their respective careers and they know the ins and outs when it comes to dealing with business.
Yesterday, I went to check the place out and visit the individuals after a long time. They were still the same people – friendly, welcoming as well as exuberant.
We chatted about old times before deciding on what to order. There was plenty of options from legendary Pizzas to tempting Donner Kebabs to mouthwatering, succulent Burgers. I am not a major fan of Donner Kebabs, so I had to flip a coin to make a decision between the Pizzas and the Burgers. In the end I went for the Mad Coo Burger!
Look at that stack !!! I mean, just feast your ever so jealous eyes on this janut (heaven) of a burger, which consists of two beef patties, halloumi cheese, a hash brown, a fried egg, cheese sauce and a slice of red onion under a piece of lettuce.
Worshipping this irresistible burger with my eagle eyes, I picked it up and took the first bite as if I was biting the neck of my first girlfriend – Sophie.
I cannot emphasise how awesome the Mad Coo Burger tastes. This burger is extremely flavoursome! It is one of a kind and it is recommended for those people, who have a big appetite. Absolutely mega!!!
This naughty delight might have set me back £14.95, but it was worth every penny as it is luscious & immaculate. Just like any mad coo in Scotland … no wonder it’s called the Mad Coo Burger 😂
I hope you enjoyed this post because I shall have to get back to my burger because I want to munch this out 😈
As some of you may know, I have an ardent desire when it comes to learning languages. I speak native English and can converse in Spanish, Italian and Hebrew to a relative level as well as speak some Arabic and French. I had also attempted to learn Vietnamese for my duration in Vietnam, when I was an English instructor, but I gave up as I came to realise that tonal languages – Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean etc – are not my cup of tea.
I had a stupendous time in Vietnam, where I overcame my notorious shyness, my fear of talking to people outside of my comfort zone as well speaking in front of a full audience. To be honest, I have a lot of gratitude towards Vietnam for their generosity as well as hospitality. However, with the utmost respect to Vietnam and its people, Vietnamese is one hell of a hard language.
To be honest, I was frustrated as I could not grasp the basics due to the fact that I was suffering culture shock for the first time in my life and to be honest, it had a detrimental effect on my passion for languages.
However, after being ostracized, I quit my job in August 2020 and made the foolish decision to visit a country – where hypocrisy is rife and where the majority of the minority of the people mix their ludicrous cultural norms with their lambasted faith – and I was stuck abroad during the pandemic. Hence, I took an interest in Russian in October 2020 to keep my sanity in check as well as keep away from the constant drama.
Now, you might be thinking “Why I chose to learn Russian?”
To be honest, there are multiple reasons to why I am learning Russian, but I have narrowed it down to three reasons and the reasons are:
History.
Communication.
In Remembrance Of That Special Person.
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Anyway, without any further ado, Allons-y!
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Reasons
1. History
I personally believe there is so much to learn about a country and Russia is no exception. It offers so much to learn about from the Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721) to the Russian Empire (1721–1917) to Soviet Union (1922-1992) and I am 100% adamant that knowing the language will make me appreciate it even more.
Take it this way, when I was learning Spanish, Italian and Hebrew, my curiosity and intrigue for Latin America and Italian-Spanish culture as well as Israeli history became an obsession to improve my language skills. As for learning Russian, I know for a fact that – without any doubt – my journey for the language will exponentially rise.
2. Communication
To be honest, I was extremely shy when I was young when it came to conversing with people because I would always be shut down or told to be quiet and it caused a lot of problems for my self-esteem, which then affected me in my mid-teens and adult life until the age of 25.
A “friend” who turned out to be a snake asked me why I love learning languages and I told them the following quote:
I have to be honest that whenever I converse with someone in a different language – be it Spanish, Italian or even Hebrew – I do become someone else. How do I know? It’s the way I speak with passion as well as the body language changes.
Spanish – I speak the language in a boisterous, yet respectable manner and it also depends on the person I am chatting to in South America or the United States.
Italian – I speak the language in a serious, yet friendly manner because I either speak with the elderly on a regular basis when on holiday in Milan/Rosolini.
Hebrew – I speak the language in a respectable manner all the time and it depends on who I am interacting with when I am in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.
3. In Remembrance Of That Special Person.
I will not go too much into it but sometimes people touch your damaged and sensitive hearts in unexpected ways and they make you feel special as well as worthy.
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Two years on, my progress with the Russian language with the help of a certified Russian teacher has not only made me regain my confidence, but also my passion for languages. The vocabulary along with the short phrases are two aspects of the language I feel comfortable with, but the grammar is not easy. With the utmost respect, I can proudly say that Russian is much easier than Vietnamese, but not as easy as Spanish, French or Italian.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope this was informative to you as it has been for myself going down memory lane when typing this on my brand new Apple MacBook Pro on the Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond.
Update (March 2022)
With the utmost respect, I – as a human being with heritage from the Indian Subcontinent as well as the Middle East – have enough problems that I deal with on a daily basis from discrimination to jealousy from others for my achievements to racism. Basically, I do not involve myself with politics unless it is to do with the ongoing struggle of Scotland gaining independence from the United Kingdom.
Alas, the ongoing drama occurring to the East of Europe is sad, but I ardently and profusely believe that it is extremely important to recognise that one can appreciate the culture of the country as well as the history, when learning the language without taking sides. I have pride, but not as much as Hubris.
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