Xi's visit.
When i read in the news paper that AIDMK was mobilizing its cadres to receive the Chinese President , it amused me.Do people need to be mustered to receive one of the most powerful leader in the world?
I guess that it is the reality that people have to be mustered to accord a warm reception to certain visiting foreign dignitaries.I myself was not in the least interested in this visit of the Chinese President , it was due to the great show put up by the TV channels that got me interested. .
Would it be necessary to round up party men to line the roads if US president or the Queen of England paid a visit ?I guess not .People would be thronging the roads They may have even been restricted lest they cause a security problem .Am i being petty and prejudiced and that people may actually be curious to have a glimpse of this powerful leader who was paying a visit to our country, state and our city and that it was the direct live TV relays by innumerable English and Tamil news channels with minute by minute second by second relays for the entire visit kept people off the roads?
The roads were deserted , probably owing to security reasons , yet there was hardly any curious onlookers on the roads either from the airport to the hotel of the Presidents stay or from the hotel to Mahabalipuram, the venue of the meeting between the Chinese President and the our Prime minister.though we are a nation of curious onlookers.Poor chap , though powerful he is not popular or as glamorous as a U S President .
I remember that in my college days , Jimmy carter paid a visit to India ,Since he was taking a route near my house in Delhi I and my friends and my siblings waited for long time to have a glimpse of the US President .There were lots of others on that road who all waved cheerfully and naturally at the passing dignitary.who drove slowly in his black car with a security guard crouching on its foot board , holding a gun ,typically James bondish .It was quite a amusing sight.Of course in those days there were no private TV Channels and DD wasn't bothered about telecasting such visits live .Probably live telecast was not available those days.
Yet when Brezhnev the USSR President who was then considered to be a very powerful leader in the world equivalent to US President ,and who had a close relation with India unlike the US , visited none of us were interested to rush to the very same road to have a glimpse .None of us did .
Few decades back the Polish Pope of Vatican visited Chennai.I accidentally happened to be on the very road he was passing by .I saw many people thronging the route.One woman amazed by his white bright colour and his rosy red cheeks asked me innocently whether the Pope used make up and applied rouge on his cheeks.Had a good laugh .Explained to her that Europeans were all naturally white skinned and that many were rosy cheeked , so he had not applied any make up .He had a pleasing demeanour but his speech later on was unpleasant and distasteful when he gave a call to evangelists to convert the populace of India and South Asia , that to his fold right from Indian soil ! The soil that has been sanctified by the footsteps of Rama and innumerable rishis and yogis down the ages . It irked me no end.
I wasn't all that interested in the Chinese President's visit to Chennai, but the TV channels constantly mentioning his visit , giving tidbits about the cultural show that would be put up for the guest and the a bevy of ex diplomats giving their views on Sino Indian relations etc made me take interest.Why not watch the visit from my arm chair that to when the Chinese President is visiting my home town ?
The TV channels had drummed up the visit to such a pitch that i was waiting with a uncalled for urgency for the Chinese President to emerge from his air craft like as if i was one of his reception committee .He was taking his time to do so and it made me impatient !
Folk dancers , classical dancers and drummers were present at the airport.Even Brahmin priests from a ancient and famous temple from Chennai Mylapore were present to accord the guest a welcome with waters sanctified by recital of Vedas.A reception reserved only for kings in ancient times .A religious reception for a atheist party's chief !
The state govt had really smeared all its local flavours , that are centuries old ,to receive the visitor .It was like a mini cultural show that reminded me of the opening ceremony of our first Asiad games that had impressed me greatly.
After several nail biting minutes the president finally got off his plane and took note of the colourful and boisterous and noisy [typical of tamilians] reception , patiently with a warm smile.
He looked nice .He looked like a kind and a patient man.I couldn't believe that this kindly looking gent was the man who was sending panic waves in his country's neighbourhood with his aggressive claims on territorial waters and land!
Next watched his convoy leave for Mahabalipuram and also watched the convoy of our PM.A black van behind our PM's car looked monstrous with antennas , aerials and what not on its top .It was like a mini tank .ugly and menacing.The security needs of our times.
When the PM got off his car at Mahabalipuram we nearly whistled at his get up .He was in sparkling white dhoti and snow white half sleeved shirt and a angavastram/ a thundu/ thrown across his shoulders .He was unrecognizable in this de- glamourised traditional outfit of Tamilians.He looked like any other elderly Non Brahmin Tamilian on a important social outing, wearing his best.
Both the leaders looked cool, calm and natural.It amazes me as to how these terribly busy people with heavy responsibilities and jet hopping and forever in limelight always appear to be lively and energetic and at same time relaxed and clear headed at all times!
Some of the anchors were giving wrong information regarding the stories from the epics that the stone panel carvings depicts !They hadn't done their home work properly.
Amidst this when the two leaders were deep in talks at front of the epic panel with aides at a distance a country dog, a brown stray trotted by the two leaders in a nonchalant manner .,
I read that the Chinese intelligence had descended long back to sanitize the area.our security people were also working in full steam , so this stray being allowed to venture in where no one was allowed or dared to , could be deliberate as i have seen dogs , squirrels, cats and birds to trot or stop or fly or scratch themselves or coo or twitter as per the will of the under covers .Even human beings , how so ever tall and hefty and in prime of youth, they may be, their bodily movements are also controlled like as if they are toys.So i suspect that ,it was made to cross deliberately for some reason or the other .
Any way it was a comic interlude .
The day mellowed into a fairy tale night intersped with a nice dance recital by Kalakshetra.Co existence, non violence, peace and harmony was the theme behind their recital.Was it aimed at the Chinese President? Was a message being delivered in a subtle manner? Did he get it?He sat smiling through it all and in his next stop at Nepal a day later this kindly looking gent gave such a violent speech that it made my throat go dry.He proclaimed that any one encroaching on his land will have his shoulders crushed and so on .His words were more creepy than what i have written.
The shore temple with the blue sea at its back drop has a ethereal beauty .Time and tide has not dented it.OK why was this place chosen for the visit?There are numerous equally beautiful world heritage sites across India , in Orissa, Karnataka, Maharashtra , MP ,etc.Is it a reminder to Tamilnadu people that they are not separate from rest of India?That we all share common memory and history? That Tamilians beliefs and history that has been etched in stone by a Tamil ruler 1200 years back is a living testimony to the common thread that binds us all?
This made me think about BJP or Modi not clicking in Tamilnadu.Is it language barrier ?Or is it the wide spread permeation of Periyaar's influence , that of resentment against Brahmins has also got attached to National parties?In here resentment against Brahmins tops the list of peeves.Whilst a Muslim will be fondly called as a Bhai and Christians considered as one of us a Brahmin is to be viewed as worse than a poisonous snake who has to be crushed and eliminated.
Speaking from personal experience would people around been indifferent if an Non - Brahmin woman in their midst was ought to be converted forcibly ?Wouldn't there be riots if a non Brahmin woman's house and life is constantly invaded with audio transmitters and psyche ravaged non stop by sundry Muslims, Christians , SC's and Hindus with perverted messages the way I, a Brahmin woman am being subject to?It is a open secret and nobody gives a damn.Up North it is the reverse .Elderly Bihari woman bend and touch a young man's feet merely becuase he is a Brahmin .He was a Tamil Brahman.!That youth wasn't a priest only a tutor .They think that by doing so they would be blessed . The mere fact that he belonged to Brahmin caste was suffice to make them offer their respects The language he spoke at home or which ever part of India he hailed from didn't matter to them.I have seen this in Ranchi.
Maybe BJP has to start eulogizing the great social reformer --Periyaar the Brahmin hater who freed the docile non brahmins who are the' true Tamilians' -the sons of this soil from the vile clutches of Brahmins who are all invaders from up North, adapt his teachings, bash Brahmins and Brahminical ways and even confer Bharta ratna on him to click in here.An Brahmin is the common enemy who unites all castes and communities in here.Is it all that hard for a party to do so when they have special cell in their party solely dedicated to appease Christian missionaries in Mizoram?Be a Roman when in Rome.
Recently there were protests from green warriors over felling of trees in Mumbai which was being done to make way for construction of Metro.I remember a similar protest by a political party ,maybe PMK.several decades back when the govt of Tamilnadu wanted to build an airport in Moulivakkam and other areas near Porur where i lived then , who claimed that prime agricultural lands would be taken away affecting livelihood of farmers and that all the areas around would be polluted with noise .Buckling under this pressure the idea was dropped .A decade back every inch of that' prime agricultural land' over which there was such a big hue and cry was completely sold to property developers and buyers who have built houses and flats over the green fields .There is not even one ground of open plot in that area, now it is sea of houses ,offices, heavy traffic congestion's and a lot of toxic pollution.!An new large airport within Chennai, so near at hand then , can never be envisioned now.
There are also a lot of analysis around Congress's decline in the country as a whole with plenty of advise from journalists,doing the rounds.Having tasted and enjoyed Congresses power when it was at its zenith in the decades following Independence, it does sadden me to see it thus.Have they come to this pass owing to decades of appeasement and cultivating only the minority vote bank and was the death knell administered by the Gandhi's open and virulent appeasement in past few decades which makes only the minorities specially Muslims to identify with them?The recent elections in Wayanaad confirmed my suspicion .Rahul Ghandhi was voted to Parliament with a whopping 7 lakh Muslim votes and was rejected by Hindus up North in his safe ancestral constituency!What ever Rahul says is against the beliefs of Hindus like running down Yoga or claiming to read Gita only to thwart RSS and not because he believes in it to guide him through life.It is like as if he is playing to a gallery that is against Hindus,but he hopes to rule over Hindus!.
When Sonia Gandhi was in helm i often wondered at the strange combination of A Christian woman that to an Italian without any knowledge of ancient India or natural reverence to sentiments of Hindus and her political adviser a Muslim who would be partial only to his ilk ,who may also have antipathy to Hindus the majority of the population, ruling the roost!I guess the majority of the populace showed its ire in the polls 2014 saying enough is enough.
The fact is that it is Muslims who are identifying with Congress , specially with its leaders the Gandhi's who is seen as one of them.So they better stick to their loyal vote banks as well as to the Gandhi's.It is like the blind leading the blind but that is how it is .
OK back to the visit. Saw the video of PM picking plastic and rubbish strewn on the beach off Mahabalipuram .His black garb would have resonated with the youth in here , who wear this colour often as a mark of solidarity.Don't know as to exactly with whom , maybe Peiryaar and his political off springs.
Our PM picked the litter on the beach patiently without any revulsion and slung the sack on his shoulders exactly in the manner , i have seen rag pickers do .!
Yes our beaches in here are full of muck and trash.Marina beach which is touted as the second largest beach in the world is one long open defecation piece of prime land abutting the sea.If a person has the romantic ideas of walking in sandy beaches with sea lapping at his feet early in the morning and watch the sunrise he must have a strong stomach to brace up to the muck in store .Since the entire stretch is taken up for public defecation no one ever dares to walk in the rim .Nearly all morning walkers walk on a road parallel to the beach and that is half a km away from the sea
.
Since the bodies of several departed leaders[CM's] are buried on the beach in another half of its stretch making it a graveyard it could be queasy in the mornings for those wanting fresh pure air and scary to many at nights.
But i guess that the trash dumped on the beaches by people or waves would have been cleared before hand for the PM ,since his every itinerary would have been well known to the organizers, security etc , but was allowed to remain so that the PM could deliver the message of Switch Bharat to the nation.
This concept has not caught up in the street i live though there is no dearth of political aides living in this area.Its turn at the corner is a open public toilet to the pavement dwellers who have occupied the pavements with tin huts , shops and eateries.So is the space behind cars and vans parked on the street . The sweepers do their job daily but the defecators seem to outnumber them.There are no public toilets built for these defacators who are nastying this residential area in a revolting manner . Shouldn't the concept of Swach Bharat be applied to pet dogs as well? The streets i walk in the mornings in well off localities, it is pet dogs who dirty the roads with their poop.These pet dogs are all foreign breeds and are taken out every morning for its constitutional.It delivers it on the side of roads that have been swept and cleaned by sweepers , whilst its owners watch its bowel movements with paternal affection and care .It is pet dogs feces that is dirtying the roads of residential areas of our cities , be it Chennai or Bangalore.
Why can't these dog owners pick it up with paper or a shovel and dump it in garbage bins? Don't they treat their pet dogs as a child ? By not doing so ,these dog lovers with several toilets in their houses for self and family are the prime cause for dirtying their own neighbourhood streets with excrement's.
Whilst Marina beach has become one large, long ,free public toilet for humans, the residential streets and corners of Chennai have become a long, open ,free and clean toilet for pet dogs.
.
I guess that it is the reality that people have to be mustered to accord a warm reception to certain visiting foreign dignitaries.I myself was not in the least interested in this visit of the Chinese President , it was due to the great show put up by the TV channels that got me interested. .
Would it be necessary to round up party men to line the roads if US president or the Queen of England paid a visit ?I guess not .People would be thronging the roads They may have even been restricted lest they cause a security problem .Am i being petty and prejudiced and that people may actually be curious to have a glimpse of this powerful leader who was paying a visit to our country, state and our city and that it was the direct live TV relays by innumerable English and Tamil news channels with minute by minute second by second relays for the entire visit kept people off the roads?
The roads were deserted , probably owing to security reasons , yet there was hardly any curious onlookers on the roads either from the airport to the hotel of the Presidents stay or from the hotel to Mahabalipuram, the venue of the meeting between the Chinese President and the our Prime minister.though we are a nation of curious onlookers.Poor chap , though powerful he is not popular or as glamorous as a U S President .
I remember that in my college days , Jimmy carter paid a visit to India ,Since he was taking a route near my house in Delhi I and my friends and my siblings waited for long time to have a glimpse of the US President .There were lots of others on that road who all waved cheerfully and naturally at the passing dignitary.who drove slowly in his black car with a security guard crouching on its foot board , holding a gun ,typically James bondish .It was quite a amusing sight.Of course in those days there were no private TV Channels and DD wasn't bothered about telecasting such visits live .Probably live telecast was not available those days.
Yet when Brezhnev the USSR President who was then considered to be a very powerful leader in the world equivalent to US President ,and who had a close relation with India unlike the US , visited none of us were interested to rush to the very same road to have a glimpse .None of us did .
Few decades back the Polish Pope of Vatican visited Chennai.I accidentally happened to be on the very road he was passing by .I saw many people thronging the route.One woman amazed by his white bright colour and his rosy red cheeks asked me innocently whether the Pope used make up and applied rouge on his cheeks.Had a good laugh .Explained to her that Europeans were all naturally white skinned and that many were rosy cheeked , so he had not applied any make up .He had a pleasing demeanour but his speech later on was unpleasant and distasteful when he gave a call to evangelists to convert the populace of India and South Asia , that to his fold right from Indian soil ! The soil that has been sanctified by the footsteps of Rama and innumerable rishis and yogis down the ages . It irked me no end.
I wasn't all that interested in the Chinese President's visit to Chennai, but the TV channels constantly mentioning his visit , giving tidbits about the cultural show that would be put up for the guest and the a bevy of ex diplomats giving their views on Sino Indian relations etc made me take interest.Why not watch the visit from my arm chair that to when the Chinese President is visiting my home town ?
The TV channels had drummed up the visit to such a pitch that i was waiting with a uncalled for urgency for the Chinese President to emerge from his air craft like as if i was one of his reception committee .He was taking his time to do so and it made me impatient !
Folk dancers , classical dancers and drummers were present at the airport.Even Brahmin priests from a ancient and famous temple from Chennai Mylapore were present to accord the guest a welcome with waters sanctified by recital of Vedas.A reception reserved only for kings in ancient times .A religious reception for a atheist party's chief !
The state govt had really smeared all its local flavours , that are centuries old ,to receive the visitor .It was like a mini cultural show that reminded me of the opening ceremony of our first Asiad games that had impressed me greatly.
After several nail biting minutes the president finally got off his plane and took note of the colourful and boisterous and noisy [typical of tamilians] reception , patiently with a warm smile.
He looked nice .He looked like a kind and a patient man.I couldn't believe that this kindly looking gent was the man who was sending panic waves in his country's neighbourhood with his aggressive claims on territorial waters and land!
Next watched his convoy leave for Mahabalipuram and also watched the convoy of our PM.A black van behind our PM's car looked monstrous with antennas , aerials and what not on its top .It was like a mini tank .ugly and menacing.The security needs of our times.
When the PM got off his car at Mahabalipuram we nearly whistled at his get up .He was in sparkling white dhoti and snow white half sleeved shirt and a angavastram/ a thundu/ thrown across his shoulders .He was unrecognizable in this de- glamourised traditional outfit of Tamilians.He looked like any other elderly Non Brahmin Tamilian on a important social outing, wearing his best.
Both the leaders looked cool, calm and natural.It amazes me as to how these terribly busy people with heavy responsibilities and jet hopping and forever in limelight always appear to be lively and energetic and at same time relaxed and clear headed at all times!
Some of the anchors were giving wrong information regarding the stories from the epics that the stone panel carvings depicts !They hadn't done their home work properly.
Amidst this when the two leaders were deep in talks at front of the epic panel with aides at a distance a country dog, a brown stray trotted by the two leaders in a nonchalant manner .,
I read that the Chinese intelligence had descended long back to sanitize the area.our security people were also working in full steam , so this stray being allowed to venture in where no one was allowed or dared to , could be deliberate as i have seen dogs , squirrels, cats and birds to trot or stop or fly or scratch themselves or coo or twitter as per the will of the under covers .Even human beings , how so ever tall and hefty and in prime of youth, they may be, their bodily movements are also controlled like as if they are toys.So i suspect that ,it was made to cross deliberately for some reason or the other .
Any way it was a comic interlude .
The day mellowed into a fairy tale night intersped with a nice dance recital by Kalakshetra.Co existence, non violence, peace and harmony was the theme behind their recital.Was it aimed at the Chinese President? Was a message being delivered in a subtle manner? Did he get it?He sat smiling through it all and in his next stop at Nepal a day later this kindly looking gent gave such a violent speech that it made my throat go dry.He proclaimed that any one encroaching on his land will have his shoulders crushed and so on .His words were more creepy than what i have written.
The shore temple with the blue sea at its back drop has a ethereal beauty .Time and tide has not dented it.OK why was this place chosen for the visit?There are numerous equally beautiful world heritage sites across India , in Orissa, Karnataka, Maharashtra , MP ,etc.Is it a reminder to Tamilnadu people that they are not separate from rest of India?That we all share common memory and history? That Tamilians beliefs and history that has been etched in stone by a Tamil ruler 1200 years back is a living testimony to the common thread that binds us all?
This made me think about BJP or Modi not clicking in Tamilnadu.Is it language barrier ?Or is it the wide spread permeation of Periyaar's influence , that of resentment against Brahmins has also got attached to National parties?In here resentment against Brahmins tops the list of peeves.Whilst a Muslim will be fondly called as a Bhai and Christians considered as one of us a Brahmin is to be viewed as worse than a poisonous snake who has to be crushed and eliminated.
Speaking from personal experience would people around been indifferent if an Non - Brahmin woman in their midst was ought to be converted forcibly ?Wouldn't there be riots if a non Brahmin woman's house and life is constantly invaded with audio transmitters and psyche ravaged non stop by sundry Muslims, Christians , SC's and Hindus with perverted messages the way I, a Brahmin woman am being subject to?It is a open secret and nobody gives a damn.Up North it is the reverse .Elderly Bihari woman bend and touch a young man's feet merely becuase he is a Brahmin .He was a Tamil Brahman.!That youth wasn't a priest only a tutor .They think that by doing so they would be blessed . The mere fact that he belonged to Brahmin caste was suffice to make them offer their respects The language he spoke at home or which ever part of India he hailed from didn't matter to them.I have seen this in Ranchi.
Maybe BJP has to start eulogizing the great social reformer --Periyaar the Brahmin hater who freed the docile non brahmins who are the' true Tamilians' -the sons of this soil from the vile clutches of Brahmins who are all invaders from up North, adapt his teachings, bash Brahmins and Brahminical ways and even confer Bharta ratna on him to click in here.An Brahmin is the common enemy who unites all castes and communities in here.Is it all that hard for a party to do so when they have special cell in their party solely dedicated to appease Christian missionaries in Mizoram?Be a Roman when in Rome.
Recently there were protests from green warriors over felling of trees in Mumbai which was being done to make way for construction of Metro.I remember a similar protest by a political party ,maybe PMK.several decades back when the govt of Tamilnadu wanted to build an airport in Moulivakkam and other areas near Porur where i lived then , who claimed that prime agricultural lands would be taken away affecting livelihood of farmers and that all the areas around would be polluted with noise .Buckling under this pressure the idea was dropped .A decade back every inch of that' prime agricultural land' over which there was such a big hue and cry was completely sold to property developers and buyers who have built houses and flats over the green fields .There is not even one ground of open plot in that area, now it is sea of houses ,offices, heavy traffic congestion's and a lot of toxic pollution.!An new large airport within Chennai, so near at hand then , can never be envisioned now.
There are also a lot of analysis around Congress's decline in the country as a whole with plenty of advise from journalists,doing the rounds.Having tasted and enjoyed Congresses power when it was at its zenith in the decades following Independence, it does sadden me to see it thus.Have they come to this pass owing to decades of appeasement and cultivating only the minority vote bank and was the death knell administered by the Gandhi's open and virulent appeasement in past few decades which makes only the minorities specially Muslims to identify with them?The recent elections in Wayanaad confirmed my suspicion .Rahul Ghandhi was voted to Parliament with a whopping 7 lakh Muslim votes and was rejected by Hindus up North in his safe ancestral constituency!What ever Rahul says is against the beliefs of Hindus like running down Yoga or claiming to read Gita only to thwart RSS and not because he believes in it to guide him through life.It is like as if he is playing to a gallery that is against Hindus,but he hopes to rule over Hindus!.
When Sonia Gandhi was in helm i often wondered at the strange combination of A Christian woman that to an Italian without any knowledge of ancient India or natural reverence to sentiments of Hindus and her political adviser a Muslim who would be partial only to his ilk ,who may also have antipathy to Hindus the majority of the population, ruling the roost!I guess the majority of the populace showed its ire in the polls 2014 saying enough is enough.
The fact is that it is Muslims who are identifying with Congress , specially with its leaders the Gandhi's who is seen as one of them.So they better stick to their loyal vote banks as well as to the Gandhi's.It is like the blind leading the blind but that is how it is .
OK back to the visit. Saw the video of PM picking plastic and rubbish strewn on the beach off Mahabalipuram .His black garb would have resonated with the youth in here , who wear this colour often as a mark of solidarity.Don't know as to exactly with whom , maybe Peiryaar and his political off springs.
Our PM picked the litter on the beach patiently without any revulsion and slung the sack on his shoulders exactly in the manner , i have seen rag pickers do .!
Yes our beaches in here are full of muck and trash.Marina beach which is touted as the second largest beach in the world is one long open defecation piece of prime land abutting the sea.If a person has the romantic ideas of walking in sandy beaches with sea lapping at his feet early in the morning and watch the sunrise he must have a strong stomach to brace up to the muck in store .Since the entire stretch is taken up for public defecation no one ever dares to walk in the rim .Nearly all morning walkers walk on a road parallel to the beach and that is half a km away from the sea
.
Since the bodies of several departed leaders[CM's] are buried on the beach in another half of its stretch making it a graveyard it could be queasy in the mornings for those wanting fresh pure air and scary to many at nights.
But i guess that the trash dumped on the beaches by people or waves would have been cleared before hand for the PM ,since his every itinerary would have been well known to the organizers, security etc , but was allowed to remain so that the PM could deliver the message of Switch Bharat to the nation.
This concept has not caught up in the street i live though there is no dearth of political aides living in this area.Its turn at the corner is a open public toilet to the pavement dwellers who have occupied the pavements with tin huts , shops and eateries.So is the space behind cars and vans parked on the street . The sweepers do their job daily but the defecators seem to outnumber them.There are no public toilets built for these defacators who are nastying this residential area in a revolting manner . Shouldn't the concept of Swach Bharat be applied to pet dogs as well? The streets i walk in the mornings in well off localities, it is pet dogs who dirty the roads with their poop.These pet dogs are all foreign breeds and are taken out every morning for its constitutional.It delivers it on the side of roads that have been swept and cleaned by sweepers , whilst its owners watch its bowel movements with paternal affection and care .It is pet dogs feces that is dirtying the roads of residential areas of our cities , be it Chennai or Bangalore.
Why can't these dog owners pick it up with paper or a shovel and dump it in garbage bins? Don't they treat their pet dogs as a child ? By not doing so ,these dog lovers with several toilets in their houses for self and family are the prime cause for dirtying their own neighbourhood streets with excrement's.
Whilst Marina beach has become one large, long ,free public toilet for humans, the residential streets and corners of Chennai have become a long, open ,free and clean toilet for pet dogs.
.
posted by K.C. Sujata at
6:57 AM
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