Mehrunisa is haunted by recurring nightmares of her father's beheading in Kashmir six years prior. She wakes from one of these nightmares and reflects on her father's secret past as an undercover intelligence agent. Meanwhile, in the Dras Valley of Kashmir, the Indian Prime Minister arrives at an army outpost to meet with the Pakistani General and sign a peace deal, with Harry and Aziz acting as their aides. However, during the meeting, a soldier attempts to assassinate the General by detonating a grenade in his jacket, and Harry shoots the soldier but is injured in the resulting explosion.
Many decades have passed since the peace ended between the People and the Dragons. It's been decades since Drax the Fearsome, the Emperor of Dragons, has seen the battlefront. In this time, he hasn't been doing anything else than taking care of his two sons.
But everything changed once Hans – the first Yellow Dragon – was born.
He brings only trouble to his family. He learns to be so evil that a war with the People seems to be imminent. But up to the war, Hans tries to help the Good Sorceress by fighting the hounds of the Grizzled Wolves. There he learns that being at war with other creatures, isn't exactly the Dragon's way of life...
Many decades have passed since the peace ended between the People and the Dragons. It's been decades since Drax the Fearsome, the Emperor of Dragons, has seen the battlefront. In this time, he hasn't been doing anything else than taking care of his two sons.
But everything changed once Hans – the first Yellow Dragon – was born.
He brings only trouble to his family. He learns to be so evil that a war with the People seems to be imminent. But up to the war, Hans tries to help the Good Sorceress by fighting the hounds of the Grizzled Wolves. There he learns that being at war with other creatures, isn't exactly the Dragon's way of life...
The Arabian Nights: The Art of StorytellingCraig Carey
Slideshow introducing The Arabian Nights, frame stories, and the art of storytelling. Designed for "World Literature," an undergraduate course taught by Professor Craig Carey, University of Southern Mississippi, Fall 2014.
Visit the course website at: http://www.craigcarey.net/f14rr
Slideshow is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
These slides will help grasp the overview of novel 'Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini. Summary points, analysis, and alternate endings have been mentioned in these slides.
This is a PDF of the creative PowerPoint Presentation of Ancient Chinese folktales. It features the popular Butterfly Lovers, Madame White Snake, Dragon Princess, and Journey to the West (or Monkey King). Unfortunately, I can't seem to upload the actual presentation with video clips, but you can email me if you want a copy of those clips for educational purposes.
Mocomi TimePass The Magazine - Issue 43Mocomi Kids
What would math be without the number zero? Would decimals exist? What about computers? Find out in Mocomi TimePass Magazine Issue 43. Every issue has something fun for everyone! In each magazine you will find folktales, trivia, puzzles, health tips, jokes and much more!
The Earth on Turtles BackFrom the Onondaga-Northeast Woodland.docxarnoldmeredith47041
"The Earth on Turtle's Back"
From the Onondaga-Northeast Woodlands tribe, Retold by Michael J. Caduto & Joseph Bruchac
Before Earth was here there was only water as far as one could see in all directions, with birds and animals swimming around in it. Up above in the clouds there was Skyland. In Skyland was a great and beautiful tree with four white roots stretching to the four sacred directions. Every kind of fruit and flower grew from its wide spreading branches.
The Chief of Skyland's young wife was expecting a child. One night she dreamt she saw the great tree uprooted. The next morning she told her husband her dream. "This is very sad," he said, "for it is a dream of great power and we must do all we can to make it come true." Then the chief called all the men together and told them they must uproot the tree. But the roots were so deep and strong they couldn't budge it. So the ancient chief himself wrapped his arms around the tree and strained and strained, until with one last great effort he uprooted it. Now there was a great hole where the tree's roots had been. The chief's wife came and leaned over to look down, holding the tip of one of the uprooted tree's branches to steady herself. Far below she thought she saw something glittering like water. Leaning out further, she lost her balance and fell into the hole. Her hand slipped from the tip of the branch, leaving her only a handful of seeds as she fell.
Far, far below in the waters some of the animals looked up. "Someone is falling from the sky," said one.
"We must help her," said another. Then two Swans flew up and caught her between their wings, and brought her gently down to the water where the birds and animals were watching.
She is not like us," said one of the animals. "She doesn't have webbed feet. I don't think she can live in the water."
"What shall we do?" said another of the water animals.
"I know," said one of the birds. "I have heard there is Earth far below the waters. If we dive down and bring up Earth she will have a place to stand. So the birds and animals tried to bring up Earth. First Duck dove far down beneath the surface, but he couldn't reach the bottom and floated back up. Then Beaver tried. He went even deeper, so deep that it was all dark, but he couldn't reach the bottom either. Then Loon tried and was gone a long, long time, but he too failed to bring up Earth. Soon it seemed that all had tried and failed. Then a small voice spoke.
"I will bring up Earth or die trying." They all looked to see who it was. It was little Muskrat. She dove down and swam and swam. She was not as strong and swift as the others, but she was determined. She went so deep that it was all dark, and still she swam deeper. Her lungs felt ready to burst, but she swam deeper still. At last, just as she was becoming unconscious, she grasped at the bottom with her little paw and floated upwards, almost dead. When the other animals saw her break the surface, they thought she had failed. Then .
The Arabian Nights: The Art of StorytellingCraig Carey
Slideshow introducing The Arabian Nights, frame stories, and the art of storytelling. Designed for "World Literature," an undergraduate course taught by Professor Craig Carey, University of Southern Mississippi, Fall 2014.
Visit the course website at: http://www.craigcarey.net/f14rr
Slideshow is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
These slides will help grasp the overview of novel 'Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini. Summary points, analysis, and alternate endings have been mentioned in these slides.
This is a PDF of the creative PowerPoint Presentation of Ancient Chinese folktales. It features the popular Butterfly Lovers, Madame White Snake, Dragon Princess, and Journey to the West (or Monkey King). Unfortunately, I can't seem to upload the actual presentation with video clips, but you can email me if you want a copy of those clips for educational purposes.
Mocomi TimePass The Magazine - Issue 43Mocomi Kids
What would math be without the number zero? Would decimals exist? What about computers? Find out in Mocomi TimePass Magazine Issue 43. Every issue has something fun for everyone! In each magazine you will find folktales, trivia, puzzles, health tips, jokes and much more!
The Earth on Turtles BackFrom the Onondaga-Northeast Woodland.docxarnoldmeredith47041
"The Earth on Turtle's Back"
From the Onondaga-Northeast Woodlands tribe, Retold by Michael J. Caduto & Joseph Bruchac
Before Earth was here there was only water as far as one could see in all directions, with birds and animals swimming around in it. Up above in the clouds there was Skyland. In Skyland was a great and beautiful tree with four white roots stretching to the four sacred directions. Every kind of fruit and flower grew from its wide spreading branches.
The Chief of Skyland's young wife was expecting a child. One night she dreamt she saw the great tree uprooted. The next morning she told her husband her dream. "This is very sad," he said, "for it is a dream of great power and we must do all we can to make it come true." Then the chief called all the men together and told them they must uproot the tree. But the roots were so deep and strong they couldn't budge it. So the ancient chief himself wrapped his arms around the tree and strained and strained, until with one last great effort he uprooted it. Now there was a great hole where the tree's roots had been. The chief's wife came and leaned over to look down, holding the tip of one of the uprooted tree's branches to steady herself. Far below she thought she saw something glittering like water. Leaning out further, she lost her balance and fell into the hole. Her hand slipped from the tip of the branch, leaving her only a handful of seeds as she fell.
Far, far below in the waters some of the animals looked up. "Someone is falling from the sky," said one.
"We must help her," said another. Then two Swans flew up and caught her between their wings, and brought her gently down to the water where the birds and animals were watching.
She is not like us," said one of the animals. "She doesn't have webbed feet. I don't think she can live in the water."
"What shall we do?" said another of the water animals.
"I know," said one of the birds. "I have heard there is Earth far below the waters. If we dive down and bring up Earth she will have a place to stand. So the birds and animals tried to bring up Earth. First Duck dove far down beneath the surface, but he couldn't reach the bottom and floated back up. Then Beaver tried. He went even deeper, so deep that it was all dark, but he couldn't reach the bottom either. Then Loon tried and was gone a long, long time, but he too failed to bring up Earth. Soon it seemed that all had tried and failed. Then a small voice spoke.
"I will bring up Earth or die trying." They all looked to see who it was. It was little Muskrat. She dove down and swam and swam. She was not as strong and swift as the others, but she was determined. She went so deep that it was all dark, and still she swam deeper. Her lungs felt ready to burst, but she swam deeper still. At last, just as she was becoming unconscious, she grasped at the bottom with her little paw and floated upwards, almost dead. When the other animals saw her break the surface, they thought she had failed. Then .
In the summer of 1980, a maverick young doctor gave it all up, to hitchhike around the world.
The first arc he carved with his thumb stopped a little red pickup that took him over the horizon. Like his mythical hunter companion, Orion, he was on a vision quest, propelled toward the dawn to have his sight restored.
This is the story of that five-year odyssey to discover his Destiny.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
Synthetic Fiber Construction in lab .pptxPavel ( NSTU)
Synthetic fiber production is a fascinating and complex field that blends chemistry, engineering, and environmental science. By understanding these aspects, students can gain a comprehensive view of synthetic fiber production, its impact on society and the environment, and the potential for future innovations. Synthetic fibers play a crucial role in modern society, impacting various aspects of daily life, industry, and the environment. ynthetic fibers are integral to modern life, offering a range of benefits from cost-effectiveness and versatility to innovative applications and performance characteristics. While they pose environmental challenges, ongoing research and development aim to create more sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives. Understanding the importance of synthetic fibers helps in appreciating their role in the economy, industry, and daily life, while also emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and innovation.
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
Macroeconomics- Movie Location
This will be used as part of your Personal Professional Portfolio once graded.
Objective:
Prepare a presentation or a paper using research, basic comparative analysis, data organization and application of economic information. You will make an informed assessment of an economic climate outside of the United States to accomplish an entertainment industry objective.
How to Make a Field invisible in Odoo 17Celine George
It is possible to hide or invisible some fields in odoo. Commonly using “invisible” attribute in the field definition to invisible the fields. This slide will show how to make a field invisible in odoo 17.
Instructions for Submissions thorugh G- Classroom.pptxJheel Barad
This presentation provides a briefing on how to upload submissions and documents in Google Classroom. It was prepared as part of an orientation for new Sainik School in-service teacher trainees. As a training officer, my goal is to ensure that you are comfortable and proficient with this essential tool for managing assignments and fostering student engagement.
Francesca Gottschalk - How can education support child empowerment.pptxEduSkills OECD
Francesca Gottschalk from the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation presents at the Ask an Expert Webinar: How can education support child empowerment?
1. The Hunt for Kohinoor
IT SNAKED UP THE CHARCOAL MOUNTAIN, A SEEMINGLY
endless zigzag etched on rock, straight out of her
sketchbook. Papa had told her about the hulking range
that dwarfed everything and she had drawn from his
telling and her imagination. Now that she was on the
road it was rather real and grey and gravelly. When she
stretched out an arm she could touch the sharp granite
and feel its teeth, or hover her hand over a void that
made strange sucking sounds.
It was one of the highest motorable roads in the world,
tunnelling its way through hard rock one moment – to
sight the summit she had to bend her neck so far back
it hurt – and gliding on thin air the next as it hugged
a cliff face – which was when she closed her eyes tight.
Was it a colossus, she asked Papa. Multiple times over,
he laughed. Rent from the earth it had hurtled skywards
when the subcontinent of India sailed into Eurasia and
forgot to brake. Fifty million years after the collision the
mountain still seemed angry as it whistled and shrieked
around them. But Papa loved the mountain.
The Himalayas is not just pretty hills and bubbling
brooks, he instructed, as they departed the picturesque
1
2. hamlet of Sonamarg and headed up north to appreciate
the true nature of the world’s foremost elevation, sacred
to three religions.
Himalaya, the abode of snow, was the chosen spot
of Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist divinities – Mehrunisa was
beginning to understand why. The narrow road hugged
the mountain tightly on one side. On the other was the
deepest drop, dotted with painted shells. To Mehrunisa’s
query, Papa informed that those were vehicles that had
tumbled over at some point during the ascent. No wonder
every person on this road needed his god perched at the
mountaintop to watch over him. She squeezed her eyes
and quickly recalled the gods of both her parents.
Papa was at the wheel, his back tensed in concentration.
Mehrunisa wished they were back where they had begun,
a picnic in a flower-strewn meadow, sharing tea and
parathas, green hills all around them. This barrenness
was such a contrast to the green meadow of bluebells
and daisies they had left behind. There the sky was
cerulean with fluffy white clouds, exactly as she sketched
it – what Papa called ‘picture-postcard Kashmir’. She
had beamed her delight, happy to be transported to the
land of Papa’s stories.
Maadar had gone to visit her family in Iran and
Mehrunisa was happy to vacation with her father, a
rare treat. His work at the Indian Consulate in Dubai
involved travel, tons of it. In the two days since the start
of the holiday, Papa had given Mehrunisa her first golf
lesson, on the highest golf course in the world, Gulmarg.
2
3. Then they had driven to Sonamarg, where the sun
reflecting off the snowy peaks created golden tiaras.
Papa was restless, though: the pristine Himalayas was
best savoured where the rugged terrain deterred tourists.
Thus they had departed for Zoji La – it sounded like a
Manga character but was a high mountain pass – which
would soon shut down due to heavy snowfall. The road
from Sonamarg had been long and winding, bordered by
dense forest. Now they were inside a giant rock crucible.
They rounded a bend. A grey cliff towered over
them. What if it sprung loose and slammed down upon
them? Would they become one of those painted shells in
the ravine? Or would they squish like ants? She shot a
glance at Papa. His genial face had hardened. The quiet
was eerie, only car tyres scrunching.
Then gravel came hurtling down the cliffside. A
group of men in shalwar kameezes rolled down upon
them. Their faces obscured by turban ends wrapped
around, they cradled big guns in their hands. Gunshots
rang. Whooosh! The jeep slumped. Tyres whimpered.
Then stopped. Yanking her down, Papa whipped out a
pistol from the glove compartment.
More gunshots filled the air. And echoes resounded
in the rock crucible. The passenger door was wrenched
open, cold metal thrust against her temple. Papa was
being dragged out, his pistol fell to the floor. One man
slapped the butt of a gun against his head. A splintery
sound. Blood trickled down the side of his face. A shrill
cry in the cold air – hers. He slumped, unconscious.
3
4. Two men grabbed him under his arms and hauled him
out of sight around the bend while a couple remained to
man the jeep’s doors.
She wanted to chase her father’s captors, instead
her hands were clawing the leather of the car seat. She
wanted to move her head but it was glued to the bend
around which Papa had disappeared. She wanted to do
something, but her body was inert, leaking out instead
in wails.
Then Papa reappeared, supported by one man. Why
was he wearing a full-length robe, only his head visible,
as he lurched forward? His sneering escort had buried
one hand into her father’s caftan, the right held a gun
aloft. Her eyes swivelled with her father’s jerky progress
to the passenger side of the jeep, her hand extended to
touch him. His eyes were open but glazed, the blood had
dried and his neck –
The rising wail curdled in her chest. In one swift
move, the turbanned escort had snatched the gown
away. It revealed an upright bamboo shaft, atop which
sat the severed head of her father.
4
5. New Delhi, India
S un d a y 2 : 2 2 a . m .
MEHRUNISA KHOSA SAT UP IN BED, PERSPIRING PROFUSELY
despite the cold winter night. In the quiet her breath
was raspy. She dropped her jaw and sucked the night
air greedily, filling her lungs. In a corner a night lamp
glowed reassuringly – she was in her room. The house
was quiet, she hadn’t screamed aloud, the tightness was
still in her throat.
A few moments of deep breathing as she collected
herself. She rolled her shoulders backwards. It was the
same nightmare. The Beheading. That was her epithet
for the trauma from the unexpected loss of her father.
Kashmir was where Papa took her when she was eight.
Six years later, when posted in Rome, he disappeared off
the face of earth. Poof! Vanished.
However, since her mother revealed the truth to her
two years back – that her father, the suave ex-diplomat
businessman, had actually been an undercover agent –
this nightmare had haunted her. Papa was captured by
the Pakistanis once, she said, and tortured – the threat
was to behead him and display his head on the Line of
Control. Now with the approaching anniversary of her
5
6. father’s disappearance, presumed death, The Beheadings
had gathered frequency.
It was her subconscious acting out her guilt –
Mehrunisa had enough acquaintance with Freud to
know that she blamed herself for not preventing her
father from disappearing. If she had loved him enough,
he never would have left.
Maadar’s disclosure was prompted by her desire to
see Mehrunisa shake off the past, find a man, marry and
settle down.
A tall male swam into mind, eyeing her intently.
Maadar would have enjoyed meeting Pratap. He had
that quality she liked in men, rocklike. That was what
she said of her husband: he is my rock.
The Beheadings, however, had rendered her an
emotional wasteland; intimacy with another man stood
no chance... Pratap would just have to wait.
6
7. Kashmir, India
Su n d ay 4 : 0 6 a . m .
IN THE SNOWY REACHES OF NORTHERN INDIA IS A TOWN
that, after Siberia, is the coldest inhabited place on earth:
Dras. Situated on the Line of Control between India
and Pakistan, the sleepy town last saw action during
the Kargil war. The Dras valley is strategic to India’s
security. Starting from the base of the Zoji La, it is the
Himalayan gateway to Ladakh, the northernmost part of
Indian Kashmir.
In 1999 Pakistan infiltrated India, setting off the
fourth war between the two countries. Pakistani soldiers
occupied the strategic Tiger Hill that overlooks Dras
town and the lone national highway linking the region
to the rest of the country. Intending to sever that link,
the enemy shelled repeatedly from above. A final assault
by 18 Grenadiers Regiment of India led to the recapture
of the hill, which was to prove a turning point in the war.
After the war ended, a wiser Indian army increased
the number of soldiers at Gurkha Post, the high-altitude
base in Dras, and invested in its support infrastructure.
A small cement plaque at the Post commemorates the
construction of the first rock bunker on Gurkha Post.
7
8. On this freezing December day in the early hours of
morning, the ghost of Kargil still hung over the military
outpost. Mercury had plunged to minus five degrees
centigrade, yet soldiers patrolled through the flurry of
snow. Dressed in thick jackets, snow shoes and goggles,
they were keeping vigil despite – or because of – the
inclement weather.
Deep inside the bunker, the soldier assigned to the
kitchen was enjoying the warmth from a fire that had
been blazing for two hours – the time it took to boil a
bucket of water. Elaborate breakfast was not the norm,
but this was not a normal morning.
The Indian army Cheetah helicopter had landed ten
minutes back with the Prime Minister. He was escorted
right away to the shelter. Meanwhile, from his position
at the mouth of the bunker, Harry once again surveyed
Gurkha Post and its surrounding. Dressed in an Italian
wool suit, his six-foot four frame towered over the two
soldiers flanking him at the entrance. The soldiers were
shaven and dressed in crisp olive uniforms, for even at
that height and temperature there was no relaxing of
standards.
Beyond them, the helipad was clear and lit up,
and with low wind and light snow, ready for landing.
Any minute now, Harry reckoned, as he examined the
sky with his night-vision binoculars. He nodded to the
captain on duty outside the bunker. A faint whirr could
be heard as a Pakistan Air Force helicopter appeared in
the sky and began its descent. From within the bunker,
8
9. the Prime Minister, informed by the captain, watched
the approach of the aircraft that carried his Pakistani
counterpart.
The chopper made a vertical descent and a smooth
touchdown. A Pakistani soldier stepped out first, bending
low. Next, the General emerged from the copter, bowing
as he ran forward. The chopper’s rotor blades were
spinning. It was imperative to keep the engine running
to prevent it dying from snow. The General’s aide-decamp, Aziz Mirza, followed him crouching. The General
had the briefcase in his hand, Harry noted.
In the couple of years that he had got to know the
man, he had never seen him release that case into
another’s care. Today, of course, the General was
carrying precious cargo in that case, evidence of his
good intentions. The architect of the Kargil war was
making peace overtures, but India had learnt that trust
in the General had to be built on concrete proof. Today,
the ex-hawk would deliver that evidence and seal the
deal that Harry and Aziz Mirza, aides-de-camp to the
premiers of the two nations, had pursued for two years.
The Prime Minister made to move forward in greeting.
Harry watched the General and the escorting soldier
straighten up as they moved out of the circumference of
the rotating chopper blades. Some distance behind, Aziz
Mirza was still hunching forward. The soldier stayed
close to the General, shuffling along as if he were in a
three-legged race with an asynchronous partner. Harry
watched his progress with narrowed eyes. The next
9
10. instant Harry thrust the Prime Minister back into the
bunker with his right hand. He took off like a sprinter,
legs pumping pistons, gesticulating with his left arm to
Aziz to back off. A gun was in his right hand as he
bounded down the hundred-odd metres separating the
General from the bunker.
His shout was lost in the chopper’s noise. A perplexed
Aziz cocked his head towards the General who had come
to a nonplussed halt. The soldier now held a grenade in
his hand. As he made to pull the pin, Harry had him in
his crosshairs. He pulled the trigger as the soldier was
depositing the live grenade in the pocket of the General’s
military jacket.
A ball of flames erupted in the snowy landscape,
lighting up the darkness. The impact flung Harry
backwards. As his body arced through the air, his head
hit the ground first on landfall. He blacked out.
10