Prajna Nagarjuna

On trust: Who?

This world of ours has evolved rapidly, from handy guidebooks to the internet’s opinions, there has been no shortage of ways to get guidance from someone. But can you really trust them? It’s an important question really. Reading a book or looking at some internet post is something, but is that something valid? Well, first we’d have to look at the center of this, experts, they are the most knowledgeable and objectively the most trustworthy, but people still fail to put faith or trust in them. Could it be that experts seem too unapproachable, perhaps? Yet the internet is the complete opposite of these experts, they can seem welcoming and all, but perhaps not the most knowledgeable.

Personally, I feel that experts are obviously the most trustworthy. Their language could seem almost self-centered or it can seem like they’re showing of, but it shouldn’t bother one person to ask for clarification, right? Judging a book by its cover seems to be too common nowadays, a person can be kindhearted below their almost scary surface. Plus, you’d rarely need a google search right after learning from a true expert!

Although, it is pretty easy to see why people mistrust them sometimes. I said it before that they could seem unapproachable, and that their language isn’t the most welcoming, you can see this in their complicated words. It’s almost impossible to understand as a person who’s learning all of this for the first time. It’s encumbering enough that you’ve got to keep all the knowledge in your head, but now you also have to understand the words being said? It’s tiring. It’s probably why people wish to hear from more welcoming people, forums on the internet and what not.

In the end though in the end it all falls on you, the reader, to choose on which one you prefer, the welcoming, understandable, yet unreliable at times internet, or on the intelligent, reliable, and unwelcoming nature of the experts.

The Factory

Settled in North America, it lies in the fields, almost ominously. Surrounded by trees of pine, the factory lies, dead, yet it’s skeleton still poses a significant effect on its surroundings, darkening the sky, and the pine trees around it. This, is SCP 001, the start, of a truly anomalous era. Its exterior is dark and grey, much like everything around it, but where it differs is in the wall itself, look closer and one might just find evidences of a fight, from scratches on the walls, to bullet holes, revealing the aged bricks beneath the paint and cement. Oddly modern for a factory made in the 1800s to be able to withstand what seemed to be a vicious battle. Even stranger though would be the lack of windows…or the lack of anything special with the walls and its closed front doors, no reinforcement, no graffiti, nothing, it appeared as if it were stuck in time itself.

Opening it’s rusted doors, you find that its interior is disproportionate to its exterior, with the interior being much wider and longer than the exterior, despite having no change in height levels. Congealed blood stain the concrete floor, and the inner walls itself seem to follow, except for the fact that the walls are the sources for this congealed blood, bleeding from the spaces made by marks that are consistent with the outer walls of this factory. Machinery line the interior, rusted and shiny ones alike, despite its commercial death, perhaps the factory’s skeleton wishes to fulfill its own desire.

Past what would be the known boundaries of the factory, the ‘normals’ of the world we live in ceases to exist, machines spin, run, and operate alone despite it clearly requiring people. It is past these boundaries that the workers’ quarters are located, tiny beds, tiny rooms, cruel in nature it perfectly shows the state of living whilst the factory was running. Everything past the ‘normal’ tells a story, from the many journal entries found beside these beds to the torturing rooms beside the quarters, losses of limbs are common, and death is merely an interference in business to the owners.

The warehouse is even stranger, filled with anomalous items, it possesses great danger to those who dare wield them. Even touching one could change the body, mind, and everything around you. Strange, it appears that the stockpile is increasing every time one loses sight of it, how odd. Perhaps the factory that was once known as dead, is still alive, and ready to fulfill its purpose.

Technology: How Far, How Fast?

We as people have grown so quickly in the past century, and with us, technology has certainly not lagged behind in speed. You would've never guessed it in terms of how far we came, from huge computers with the power of computing kilobytes, to the tiny smart phones capable of going through gigabytes. However, many questions could be asked about these developments. Just how far should one keep up with technology, and at what rate?

In terms of my opinion, it would really depend on who you are as a person and what your job is, but most of the time it's best to keep it simple. Do you need a laptop for work? Then keep it simple, there's really not a need to keep up that far, just so as long you don't lag extremely far behind. Even then, it's not too bad since if someone doesn't really need the internet keeping with the classics should work just fine. Like I said keeping it simple and knowing just the basics is good enough for the average person. The cons against this though are rather obvious, you wouldn't really know where to start when finding a replacement or finding something new. Not keeping up would also make the exploitation of such tools difficult or impossible, cutting off a significant aspect to the modern life.

But of course situations differ per person, if one were a professional gamer or anything like that, then keeping up pretty closely to new tech can help with getting the best performance. Or even if you were a fanatic of technology, having the newest means you're able to do so much with it. Televisions of the new age could have the power of sending and receiving information that rivals the computers and laptops, but it's main drawback would be the recent public rumours of safety and privacy with these new devices, could "smart" devices really be safe with all that information? That is for you, reader, to decide.

"The Smartphone isn't For Photography"

Is it true? or is it merely another baseless opinion?

“Photography has always depended on technology, and every change in technology has affected the history of photography, but the smartphone, in its nature, is a device that is not for photography. It’s a device that is for communication,”. This is a quote from Henry Jacobson, a photographer and film-maker who told this to TIME. It certainly is a very interesting statement, and a very bold one at that. The smartphone has to be one of the most impactful of all inventions in the world, with Steve Jobs' iPhone revolutionizing it even further, and along with it, the built in cameras also developed, both in quality, and size. These days it's pretty much impossible to separate a phone with it's a camera, since people deem it as a necessity.

However, in terms of the statement, I disagree. This is because it is likely based on outdated and biased thinking, when the phone was merely a device fixed to the wall or table, only for calling and nothing more, or based on the portable, but still limited in possible uses, phones of the Nokia era. Even games were limited on these devices and people only used them for calls or texts. While the quote states that of smartphones and not of the more primitive renditions, It is easy to distinguish that it is based on the old phones as people from that era has likely gotten used to the phone being just that, a communication machine. But simply dismissing the phone as incapable of anything else is quite unfair. As is seen the phone can be used for entertainment and even photography to a degree with possible evolutions in the future.

In all that though, I can see where he is coming from, as said before, the phone was originally made for communication and nothing more. With this in mind one can deduce that phones are more of a "Jack Of All Trades" rather than a specialist. In this cameras have better quality in picture taking as they are made specifically for picture taking. The phone seems to be better in entertainment purposes or communication, which circles back to it being made for communication, "it" being the smartphone. The compact nature of the phones make it seem ill-fitted for high quality photos as the lens/camera seem to be too small. It simply may not be ignored that the phone wasn't made for photography

Picking a side in this case is difficult, those of the most faithful photographers may despise the phone for its lack of quality, whilst some praise it for its duality. The phone is certainly universal, but would it be suited to take on the cameras of old? Could the camera outdo the smartphone in one aspect? Or will the smartphone reign supreme with it's functionality and flexibility? Cameras are heavy, phones are light, camera's give quality, phones provide duality, whichever one is better? It is not for me, but for you to decide yourself. I shall not be the one to persuade you to join any side, only in presenting whatever information I can get, for your mind mustn't be tainted by anyone.

Dear supporters,

We, at Never-ending Wonder, have long been helping those who've lived their lived impartially, those who have done so without having a choice, by being disabled. We help these people to find joy in their lives, to teach them that they really can achieve something no matter who they are.

We help unsupported disabled adults by training them with practical skills that would allow them to find jobs and financially support themselves.

Take Fanny Evrita, the Head of Product Development in the beauty care business of Thisable Beauty Care. She started out as a humble office worker in Pontianak, Kalimantan, a place already known for the lack of opportunities for disabled persons at the time. Her contract was terminated by the company due to her disability.

Determined, she moved to another city to find a job, to quote "(I was) sort of looking for an adventure", and an adventure was what she found. After years of determination and hard work, she reached the point of Head of Product Development in the beauty care business, and is living a wonderful life.

For lives to be successful like Miss Evrita's we would need support from all of you to sustain our efforts. Even a humble donation of Rp 50.000,00 would help greatly in our cause to support these people who aren't supported by the world.

Help us, and we will in turn, help those of the disabled to live their lives fully and independently.

Sincerely,
Arjuna

A Memoir.

“And a Wedding on The Way There”

Memoir by Prajna Nagarjuna

It was a very early morning on the 22nd of December, 2018. I had just settled into the new life of a Junior High School student, and in the mid-semester holidays, my family had decided to go for a holiday. It was 6 AM, the bright start to the day was perfect to what would be an incredibly long first day. Our first journey was Rantauprapat, a relatively large town with a mall and a few hotels. Being 10 hours away, the route there was destined to be long and draining. But of course, with every negative comes a positive whilst traveling, and the views and sights of the countryside were stunning, as the sun faded away behind the appearing clouds, the grey sky that soared above the green, fertile land sparked its beauty upon my brown eyes. The hills and cliffs were lovely, and the town itself was a nice place to be in. The hotel we slept in was equally as nice, but we didn’t get a good view since our rooms were on the inner side of the building, and what we could only see was the interior. Throughout all of this, I was amazed for I had never seen so much green before.

23rd of December, dawn had broken, we greeted the new day and continued on with the journey. The next stop was to be Simalem Resort, but we stopped by the side of Lake Toba to have some food and also to enjoy the sights of the wonderful and famous lake Toba. There we also met up with my uncles and cousins whom we were to travel with. The lakeside was odd, it was scorching hot with the sun practically roasting the skin of those who dared to challenge it, but the wind below was cool and helped with the war of the sun. We then went on past the lake and headed for the hills, where the luxurious Simalem Resort resided. The path there was on the side of a mountain, and it was certainly treacherous. To add to it all I went on both complaining and also complementing the scenery on the way up. Once we had made the safer roads, the path was incredibly smooth with soaring views over the countryside. Though it would be a further 40 minutes until we would reach the resort itself, and once we did, it was magnificent. The resort resided in a high area, on the side of a towering hill, surrounded by other hills. Nearby was a Buddhist temple, and a very high up place named “The hill of the Lone Tree”, there was a singular tree atop a hill, covered in clouds it grew and grew and its size is enormous. The views from the Resort were nothing short of breathtaking, the Resort had a clear overview of Lake Toba and it was also cold considering the height. The rooms we were in had a balcony facing the Lake. After we had dinner there, we headed straight to sleep.

On the morn of the 24th, it was an amazing and beautiful sunrise, however, I had missed it since I woke up later than my parents. We got ready and headed to the breakfast area of the Resort, and had a filling breakfast. Although it was a wonderful experience there, it was time to continue our journey, this time to the crowded and busy city of Medan, with heavy traffic almost 24/7. We left the resort around 12 PM, the way to Medan was more tiring than ever, merely because by the time we had reached Medan, it was the late evening, and we reached my uncles and cousin’s house at around 6 or 7 PM. It had been a very long time since I had met my cousins, and meeting them again was great! We talked on and on for a while, sharing our experiences throughout the night. I thoroughly enjoyed their company in Medan, it reminded me of how I should keep my friends close, but my family closer.

The next day was pretty mundane, it was actually fun but we spent most of the time in the house since we were pretty tired of traveling. My cousins had a PlayStation 2, which had old, nostalgic games like Medal of Honor, Driver, Contra, and so on, which really brought back a ton of memories. Overall, it was a very fun experience playing the games with them. Other than that, it was mostly just resting and chilling out with my family. The food that my auntie cooks was very high quality, it was one of the best-homecooked dishes I’ve ever had, and the street food of Medan is almost unrivaled in all of Riau. We had also purchased clothing for the upcoming event, which was held tomorrow. A fancy blue shirt for the formal part, and another red and black shirt which wasn’t as formal. These shirts I would keep even until the present day.

Compared to the day before, the 26th of December was quite eventful, as it was a wedding day. The start was held at around 10 AM, and so in the early mornings, we went to a temple in Medan before anything else. When it was time, of course, we headed to the house of my other relatives who were to be wedded. It was simply a starting ceremony and the actual main event would be around 7 PM. The starting ceremony was enjoyable, and a lot of pictures were taken. It would be a long break until the main event though. When I saw everyone line up, smiles on their faces, overjoyed at this marriage, it really showed me how family members could have your back, and that at some point, they may be the only people you can count on.

When it had reached 6 PM, we departed from the house we were staying in and went to the Hotel the event was taking place in. It was there when I wore my blue shirt with my brother. It was evidently a very formal event, with it being a wedding and all. The huge room was filled with chairs and tables, it was evident that a lot of people had been invited to this wedding, and that a lot of effort had gone into this. At the start, the room was quite empty, and it was eerily quiet except for the music. When the room had been filled though, it was quiet, this is likely due to it being a formal event, and shouting in one would probably be embarrassing. Whilst waiting, I decided to play on my phone to pass the time. The table was all prepped, with handkerchiefs, chopsticks, bowls, and glasses of water. The stage was almost littered with flowers, and the lights were blinding. You could see projectors lighting up the walls, and everyone looking excited at what’s about to happen. It wasn’t until around 8 20 when the event started, and it was pretty nice. I was happy for one of my cousins, for it was them who were to be wedded today. The food that was provided was also high quality, with fish soup, fried prawns, and much more. I had a great time there, and I congratulated the two on their marriage.

Time was passing quickly, for the next journey was to be the island in the middle of a very large lake, Lake Toba. The island itself is named Samosir, an island of a relatively large size, and very few ways of getting on the island. It really taught me how special Indonesia could really be, from the largest eruption the world had ever seen to the landmass that formed from that eruption itself, this country does have its fair share of gems, and this drove me to appreciate being here more.

Much like the other trips, the process of actually getting to the island was complicated. You can either use the car-carrying ships from the harbors nearby or use the bridges on the other side of the lake. Although it took about 2 hours just to get on the boat, considering the 100-car queue that formed, the actual boat ride ended up being great, it was gloomy, but above the seas, I loved it even more. It’s almost comedic how the queue to get onto the boat took hours, yet the boat ride to the island ended up being mere minutes away. The hotel we stayed in was actually pretty nice, with it residing beside the water, the view was great. We ate, we rested, we went out and ate again. Eventually, the day ended with me getting food poisoning and enduring what felt like the most painful night of my life. Food poisoning really isn’t great.

It was only the next day that we went off to explore the island, and the island had a lot to offer. From traditional cultures to great tourist spots. It once again showed me how special this country could really be, with all the cultures residing in it, the trip to this island as a whole reminded me of why I should appreciate being here. It was a wonderful experience, and unfortunately, it was the last destination before going back home.

I had an amazing time traveling around, it was an incredibly refreshing experience going around with my family, cousins, and uncles alike. The whole holiday has reminded me of a lot of ideals that I should keep and also how appreciative I should be. Although of course, the journey had some negatives, it would be followed up with a positive, an example would be that right after my food poisoning, I had some good food to follow it up with. The long travel time in between the destination was coupled with beautiful sceneries and allowed me to start pondering. It is certainly a very memorable trip, as it has shaped me by reminding me key things of which I had lost in the years that had passed, things of which will be forgotten in time but will also be reminded in time. The final destination of the trip had been reached, with a wedding on the way there.

The Discovery of Tamriel

Tamriel is a large supercontinent, one that resides in the planet of Nirn. It consists of several Human and Humanoid races, that coincide within our universe. With the help of a couple colleagues, we managed to find a way to get into the planet of Nirn. Soon after the development of space travel, me and my colleagues discovered a planet that is in the safe zone, and it looked very similar to our own Earth, which we called “Nirn”, since we all thought it was a cool name. Though it took some persuasion, a team of space travelers (including us) were tasked with travelling to this planet and to explore it.

Before this, nobody had discovered aliens or living things on the several habitable planets. Though everyone was determined to do so. Nirn was by far the furthest away from Earth, being several hundred lightyears away from Earth, which was cut to just a few weeks due to the new discoveries in space travel. We never switched names, so I only knew two out of four guys in our search party, the two being my friends, of course, Damien and Timo.

When we were on the outskirts of the planet, it looked very bright, with one large supercontinent taking up most of the space there. The team decided to land in a “normal” spot, or at least the most normal. To our surprise, there are trees and you can breathe. We made quite a ruckus while landing, injuring one of us, luckily it was just a small scratch. It took a while until we found a road, which made us think that there s life. We weren’t armed, so we had to stay hidden from anything.

As soon as we saw a village, with living humans on it, we immediately sent a message back to base, and we managed to call for reinforcements. Before they could arrive though, we were attacked by some aggressive aliens, which looked like the trolls of those mythical stories everyone'd heard of when they were children. I managed to escape, though it seemed like the same couldn't be said for those who had joined me. Not long after my lucky escape, i came across a village, the sign was impossible to read however, since they have different writing languages. Luckily the locals weren’t aggressive and welcomed me to their humble abode

As it turns out, they speak English but write in a completely separate language. They introduced me to their land, or what they would call their Earth, and gave me a map with everything in it. It seems I reside in the province or country of Cyrodiil, the land of the Imperial race, or what I would normally associate with the British in my planet. The Imperials seem to be the type to colonise other lands, and have great skills in persuasion and negotiation. At this time, i was in the village of Honeywood, and Greg (their leader) helped me cope into everything. Not long after that, the reinforcements arrived, I got my weapons and the soldiers do their own thing like negotiations and to meet the emperor.

Thanking the villagers for their help, I then travelled to the capital city of Cyrodiil, which is the Imperial City. I then talked to what would be their president there, High Chancellor Ocato, a humanoid of the high elf race, and who is also a "mage". All of the races in this world have their own magical powers and skills, with each race being good and bad at certain things, like magic or persuasion. He brought us into contact with the emperor, which is when my team and I decided to connect Nirn with Earth and everything went from there.

That is also when we had learned a great number of things about Nirn. The way people fight, the wars that had happened, the rivalries between races, the origins of some races, and the multitude of guilds in the world. I found Nirn to be unbelievably complex, with several layers of stories behind everything. Logically, after contacting the emperor, we would contact the Mages guild, since they are the only ones able to connect our Earth to Their earth "Nirn".

Our Earth would then be Allies with that of Nirn, and the newspapers called me a hero, "a brave man who ventured into the unknown, fearless of death" they said, I merely laugh and jest at their overreaction. However I would never forget those who helped me, and those who perished while doing so. As of now I still reside within this planet, hoping to uncover the secrets that evaded even that of it's inhabitants...

INTERVIEW WITH MESAYA ANGELO PASAKA

WRITING AN INTERVIEW – ANIME

Interviewer: Prajna Nagarjuna, Male Journalist

Interviewee: Mesaya Angelo Pasaka, 15-year-old student of Harapan Bangsa Integrated Christian School (HBICS)

Prajna Nagarjuna: Welcome to the show, Mesaya Angelo Pasaka.

Mesaya Angelo Pasaka: Thanks.

Prajna Nagarjuna: Considering your experience with anime, do you have any recommendations for those who are fairly new?

Mesaya Angelo Pasaka: It depends on their favourite genres. If a person likes action and supernatural genre, I would recommend for them to watch Kimetsu no Yaiba and/or Tokyo Ghoul (most action genre animes are 13/15+ years old rated). If a person likes comedy genre, I would recommend “Sakamoto desu ga?” and Asobi Asobase.

Prajna Nagarjuna: When you watched anime for the very first time, how did you feel while going through it?

Mesaya Angelo Pasaka: I felt amazed, since I had never known that drawings can be animated to look as if they were real. It was a very surreal experience and it felt like I was in the anime itself. Like if I were sucked in and witnessed the story and plot right then and there.

Prajna Nagarjuna: What made you decide to start watching anime?

Mesaya Angelo Pasaka: I started watching anime with because of a feeling that I was left with from a conversation my family back at the seventh grade. My older cousin had recommended me to watch Tokyo Ghoul, which was a rather famous anime at that time, and that was the first-ever anime that I had completely watched from start to end.

Prajna Nagarjuna: Were there any points in time where you were displeased/disinterested in anime as a whole?

Mesaya Angelo Pasaka: I never displeased in anime as a whole, but there is at one time where I was disappointed with some of the fandoms of animes, where they mocked animes and the animators for not doing their job well and saying it as if they were “criticizing” them, but it was far from being an actual critique of their work, and it was just all about mocking and not respecting the ones who were working at that particular anime.

Prajna Nagarjuna: Other than the storyline or characters, what would be, for you, an attractive trait of anime, like music or art style?

Mesaya Angelo Pasaka: The art style will usually be the main attractive trait of an anime. Then, the music they put for the opening and the ending makes it more enjoyable to watch the whole show and it would give you an incentive to watch the whole introduction, ending, and every single scene.

Prajna Nagarjuna: In anime there are a variety of genres, which one do you think is your favourite?

Mesaya Angelo Pasaka: My favorite genres are: action, supernatural, psychological, romance, comedy, and slice of life. These genres give me the most fulfilment from watching them, and the animes which are in them usually have great storylines, battle scenes, etc. The music from these genres, if not any and all genres, are also great.

Prajna Nagarjuna: Do you know any new Animes which are really good?

Mesaya Angelo Pasaka: There is this one anime with the title “Tokyo Revengers”, and it is categories as one of the newer animes released. I would recommend to watch it. It’s about this guy who loses everything to a gang, and is sent back into the past to stop them. It’s a really interesting story and again, I’d really recommend it.

Prajna Nagarjuna: Anime has really saved/entertained a lot of lives in this pandemic, what are your views of this?

Mesaya Angelo Pasaka: I can actually relate with the statement. Many animes usually will give many important messages and motivation that we can apply in our life, and with that people will be reminded and, somehow, get motivated to keep on living.

Prajna Nagarjuna: Thank you for taking this interview! Many thanks to you, and may the pandemic end as soon as possible, for all our sakes.

Mesaya Angelo Pasaka: You’re welcome, and hopefully the pandemic will end soon!

IT ISN’T JUSTIFIED TO KEEP WILD ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY

Keeping animals in captivity is a very controversial topic recently, as several charities/groups speak out against it, but there are also several companies/groups that speak with it, and picking a side is rather difficult as both sides make good arguments supporting themselves. But I have picked one side, and it is against it, though groups like PETA make it hard to stay on this side, as they spread several hoaxes and lies which divide the people. Morally though, it is a much different story, it’s obvious that speaking against animal captivity is the more morally correct decision, no matter your religion or beliefs.

As I said before, each side presents solid and valid arguments. The reason I am against it is not only because of the moral side of things, but also because keeping them in zoos or parks removes the wild animals’ freedom. This is bad because if the animal grew up in a zoo, it is unable to learn survival skills which can lead to deadly results when or if it is eventually released. The people on the other side uses this as a reason to keep the animals in a zoo, as it is safer here, but the reason why this happens in the first place is because the animals were kept there in a zoo.

Although you could say that the animals are usually well-fed in a zoo, the animals eventually get very used to the ‘premium’ food there, and will struggle to get used to the wild food which may lead to starvation. Along with the last one, the arguments from the other side also uses this as a reason to keep the animals in the zoo, as they will be well fed there, but once again, this happened because the animals grew up in a zoo.

Of course, sometimes it is acceptable to keep some animals in captivity, like bees for example, since the beekeepers take care of them well and give the bees freedom to live life, in this case, they’re sort of given a home and a nice environment. However, this is where PETA made me think of going to the other side, as there are liars on the argument, much like PETA, who claimed that beekeepers are doing horrible things to bees. These types of people are the reason some people are on the other side.

So, it isn’t always bad inside, but sometimes letting animals out is bad too. Let’s use the arguments the other side used. If we let out the animals in the zoo, without proper training, they won’t survive for long, as they do not know how to defend themselves and also get food. This can lead to them being extremely vulnerable in the wild. Though the zookeepers could at least try to train them when possible to make sure they survive.

In a way, it’s like being kept in a safe, you are the safest that you can be, but you cannot grow or have freedom once in the safe. Or instead, it’s like being out of the safe, where you have all the freedom you want, grow up, live a life, but it’s just that the life you want could be easily taken, whether you like it or not. That’s the dilemma in this argument, would you trade safety for freedom? Or are you willing to be safe, but never get a chance to live your life?