The History of the Taj Mahal

The History of the Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal is a beautiful white marble mausoleum in the city of Agra, India. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest architectural masterpieces in the world  and is listed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Every year, the Taj Mahal receives visits from between four and six million tourists from all over the world.   Interestingly, less than 500,000 of those visitors are from overseas; the vast majority are from India itself. UNESCO has designated the building and its grounds as an official World Heritage Site, and there is much concern that the sheer volume of foot traffic may have a negative impact on this wonder of the world. Still, it is hard to blame people in India for wanting to see the Taj, since the growing middle class there finally has the time and leisure to visit their countrys great treasure. Why the Taj Mahal Was Built The Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan  (r. 1628 - 1658) in honor of the Persian princess Mumtaz Mahal, his beloved third wife. She died in 1632 while bearing their fourteenth child, and Shah Jahan never really recovered from the loss. He poured his energy into designing and building the most beautiful tomb ever known for her, on the southern banks of the Yamuna River. It took some 20,000 artisans more than a decade to build the Taj Mahal complex. The white marble stone is inlaid with floral details carved from precious gems. In places, the stone is carved into delicate vined screens called pierce work so that visitors can see into the next chamber. All of the floors are inlaid with patterned stone, and incised painting in abstract designs adorns the walls. The artisans who did this incredible work were supervised by an entire committee of architects, headed by Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. The cost in modern values was about 53 billion rupees ($827 million US).  Construction of the mausoleum was completed around 1648. The Taj Mahal Today The Taj Mahal is one of the loveliest buildings in the world, combining architectural elements from across the Muslim lands. Among the other works that inspired its design are the Gur-e Amir, or the Tomb of Timur, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan; Humayuns Tomb in Delhi; and the Tomb of Itmad-Ud-Daulah in Agra. However, the Taj outshines all of these earlier mausoleums in its beauty and grace. Its name literally translates as Crown of Palaces. Shah Jahan was a member of the Mughal Dynasty, descended from Timur (Tamerlane) and from Genghis Khan.  His family ruled India from 1526 to 1857.  Unfortunately for Shah Jahan, and for India, the loss of Mumtaz Mahal and the construction of her amazing tomb utterly distracted Shah Jahan from the business of governing India.  He ended up being deposed and imprisoned by his own third son, the ruthless and intolerant Emperor Aurangzeb.  Shah Jahan ended his days under house arrest, lying in bed, gazing out at the white dome of the Taj Mahal.  His body was interred in the glorious building he had made, beside that of his beloved Mumtaz.

Annotated Bibliography Strategic Management Literature review - 1

Annotated Bibliography Strategic Management - Literature review Example The author credits that business plan and a business idea will make a company or business achieve its goals. A personal conclusion is that cost leadership or product differentiation, which would result in added value to the product or good offered to the buyer creating room for high incomes and profit. The author tries to show how people critically think to build a successful business and that is the author gives a hint on the successful ways and that is by having a business plan. The author classifies management as the school of thoughts that show management in different institutions. Mintzberg own proposal for the basic values of strategic management is criticized by using the identical criterion. The intended audience by the writer is business and people who intend to get into the business venture. The author’s purpose of the work was the show strategy paradigm where the typical planning focus for the firm prepares the financial budget with a time perspective of 12 months. The credibility of the author is that strategic management aim is to create, affirm aim and do data analysis in order to identify issues arising in the organization (Hill, et.al 2009). Special features include the collection of data entails making efforts of collecting data from other organization and even carrying out reviews from the outside environment and this is quite unique. The author concluded that survival, practical goals and operational goals must be enhanced by stakehol ders. The author’s conclusion of the work was the strategy paradigm creates good financial management.A personal conclusion is that strategic paradigm is a way of performing financial management that grows the company’s economy and growth. A theme of the study was to focus on how business is run by the microcomputer and these are the relationships that are accorded in business. Weaknesses are the challenging factors that an organization will face, altering the smooth flow of production strategies.  

Employees would like to improve the value of their work using the 7 Essay

Employees would like to improve the value of their work using the 7 stage Checkland Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) - Essay Example In the end, the conclusion summarizes the findings and their applicability in the real world. Soft Systems Methodology was developed by Peter Checkland and is a seven step methodolgy to construe models to solve organizational problem situations. It provides a comparison of the current world with certain focused models that can solve ‘soft’ problems. The approach is deemed to be participative and can be carried out by organization members with the support of a facilitator who is familiar with the methodology. It is of most use for people who work and involves drawing rich pictures to expand on different models and systems (Hersh & Hamburg, 2006). The problem under consideration is how can employees improve the value of their work. There are many factors that can accrue to overall improvement in work performance. More importantly, factors that are impeding improvement strategies from being implemented need to be addressed. The value of work done by employees depends partly on the working environment and partly on the employer. Therefore, in order to bring about de finitive change, the employer’s support and cooperation is of great importance. This paper identifies the problems faced by employees in order to improve the value of their work. The first part of the SSM inquiry deals with identification of the problem. The later part deals with root definitions of the systems and the development of potential models; the last steps expound on the efficacy of the proposed recommendations in the real world. For a business organization to function successfully, the value of work of the employees plays a very critical role. It is as much the responsibility of the employees as it is the duty of the line manager to ensure that optimum employee performance is achieved. However, due to any reason, if the employees are not able to put in their best performance, the value of their work is

African American Essay Example for Free

African American Essay Working with African American men as a counselor its necessary to have a strategic plan to be able to work around there ego. African American men in no way wants to feel belittled or not in control. African American men wants to play the â€Å"head of the household role†. According to this case study I would like to do role playing so both individuals can have a better understanding how the other feel. Majority of the therapy sessions would be role playing with some talk sessions. I would like to play the mediator role in this specific case and give homework assignments to the couple. Given that I don’t see Sue as the issue the session would mostly be geared towards Jeremy. Given the Chinese culture I am more worried about how therapy will work for Jeremy. Chinese culture †¢Small numbers of close, lifelong friends who feel deeply obligated to give each other whatever help might seem required. †¢Relationships with other people involve reciprocal obligations. †¢Avoid direct confrontation, open criticism, and controversial topics. †¢maintain harmony †¢Faith in personal relationships than in written rules and procedures for structuring interactions. Questions I would like to address 1. Prior to marriage how did Jeremy about an interracial child? 2. What has influenced Jeremy thinking on having a child? 3. Why has the dynamics of the relationship changed since Sue parents moved to the same city? 4. Has Sue parents been an influence on their relationship? 5. Has Sue discussed her concerns to Jeremy about their marriage? 6. How was Jeremy and Sur relationship prior to marriage? 7. How does Jeremy family feel about his marriage? 8. Besides the issue with having a child, what other issues is the marriage facing? 9. Jeremy working more hours, is that optional or mandatory? 10. What are some of Jeremy concerns about having a bi-racial child?

The Biological and Psychological Drives Behind Consumerism Essay

Most of us like to think that we are reasonable, rational, and independent thinkers and actors. Thus, we believe that we have a good enough reason for our choices. However, we often erroneously buy products succumbing to strange compulsion. It is a power of consumerism. The term consumerism is defined as the tendency of people to identify strongly with products they consume, particularly of name brands and status-enhancing appeal. Then, how does the power of consumerism win over our rationality? In this situation, we pretend to regard the primary cause of the impulse consumerism is the commercial seductions. The truth, however, is that the shopping indulgences does not originate from a manipulation of the commercial advertisements, but rather a biological and psychological drive planted in every one of us. The biological and psychological drives for our consumerism are evidenced by: in order to show off, to get rid of stress, and to follow the fashion. Virginia Postrel explains about a reaction of Afghans when they get liberated after the Taliban fell. Although they are not been exposed of any â€Å"ubiquitous advertising or elaborate marketing campaigns† at all, consumerist impulses expressed as if they were â€Å"celebrating the end of tyranny by buying consumer electronics† (301). This reaction well shows the human desire aesthetic value and also the power of consumerism. In my case, the power of consumerism comes to the surface when I get to choose a product of between famous brand and no-name. I often make a decision to afford the cheaper one; and then with the profit –actually not a real profit– that I earn from buying the cheaper one, I tend to make a reasonable excuse to spend the remained money for the rest of the shopping. It i... ...ver us than we realize. I think this quotation strongly describes beyond what I have said about the internal drives of people: "I can imagine it, therefore I want it. I want it, therefore I should have it. Because I should have it, I need it. Because I need it, I deserve it. Because I deserve it, I will do anything necessary to get it." Before your consciousness being attacked directly by "imagin[g] it," first try to recognize what your internal needs are and set your limits rationally. Wanting things is perfectly human desire. However, buying material things doesn’t lead us to have a happier and more fulfilling life. The more you rely on superficial things to satisfy your needs for belonging and identity, the more dissatisfied you’re likely to be over the long run. If we cannot control ourselves, we can easily surrender to worship of consumerism and materialism.

Introduction To Duty Of Care In Health Essay

I heard you were thinking of working in the Care Profession which is excellent, I just wanted to fill you in on a few things which would help you. Health and Social Care work places have what is called a duty of care which means that you have a duty of care towards the people that you are looking after that means you must do everything you can to keep the individuals you look after safe from harm. It is not only the work place that has to prioritise the safety, welfare and interests of the individuals using the service but also the care staff. Care workers must also have a duty of care towards other staff members to ensure that all working conditions are safe and suitable to deliver the best service they can. It also means being a responsible care giver for other individuals who could be too ill or physically unable to care for themselves and requires another person to assist them on a daily basis, this could include assisting the individuals with their personal hygiene, safety, meal preparation or other medical and physical needs until they are met to the highest standards that the individual is happy with. Duty of Care affects the way people work as the employer provides policies and procedures and ways of being aware of any dangers by carrying out Risk Assessments. Social Care workers and Care organisations must do as much as possible to keep individuals safe from harm, we do these Risk Assessments by looking for either a hazard which is an actual or potential such as a chemical or process that may lead to an accident, also risks a situation that can lead to a hazard and carry the possibilities of something serious happening.

Essay on The Relevance of Logic in Our Everyday Lives

BABCOCK UNIVERSITY ILISHAN-REMO OGUN STATE AN ASSIGNMENT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT OF THE COURSE PHILOSOHY AND LOGIC TOPIC: THE RELEVANCE OF LOGIC IN EVERYDAY LIFE. DEPT: BUSINESS ADMIN AND MARKETING COURSE: BUSINESS ADMIN MATRIC NO: 06/0388 SUBMITTED TO: MR FILADE SUBMITTED BY: FOLARIN ABISOLA 400LEVEL. TOPIC: THE RELEVANCE OF LOGIC IN OUR EVERYDAY LIFE WHAT IS LOGIC ALL ABOUT? Logic can be seen as the basic structure of reasoning. According to Karl Marx, he defined logic as the money of the mind. Also according to Steven layman he find logic as the basis method of evaluating arguments. Logic is a way of learning to think and communicate clearly and coherently. In daily living, clear and coherent communication is†¦show more content†¦Logic, is a deductive reasoning that results when the human brain calculates the most rational and acceptable outcome of any given situation and recognizes that answer as the most constructive, and consequently the most desirable. When faced with any situation you can divide the reactionary decision into two groups; rational or irrational, instinctual or improve, emotional or logical. Emotional responses tend to be the strongest desire in the moment, when followed outcomes like crimes of passion or moments of extreme passion. I tend to think that acting on an emotional paradigm feels better, and tends to be more rewarding but it also tends to precede more danger. Logical responses happen when the individual looks at a situation from a third party and recognizes the moral obligation or larger demographic of opinion that would rationally decide the correct decision. Logic: * Enables clear thought through a rigorous demand for truthfulness; * Because thought processes are clarified, the use of logic enables consideration of all available options for opinion and action, and decreases the persuasive power of popular opinion; * Because available options have been fairly considered, the use of logic increases the likelihood that subsequent opinions and actions will adhere most closely toShow MoreRelatedThe Manipulative Nature of Propaganda Essay615 Words   |  3 Pagesawareness of propaganda, writers George Orwell, Newman and Genevieve Birk, as well as D.W. Cross, explain the various ways in which a targeted audience may succumb to the manipulation of language and logic. Orwell Newman and Genevieve Birk focus on the slanted information that we receive in our everyday lives. In fact, much of the information we read and hear slants towards audiences having a specific response (Birk and Birk). What take from that information is screened, slanted by selected facts, emphasisRead MoreEthical And Ethical Implications Of Unethical Behavior889 Words   |  4 Pagestherefore, it is not surprising that in our media the level of unethical behaviors has become part or parcel of everyday lives. While the current population has resounding aired their frustrations via Gallop poll about the decline in public confidence in our various media forums, little has been done to improve the ethics in human communication. Many media forums have upheld the status quo that ratings matters over ethics. We have seen over and over that our contemporary ethical landscape is plaguedRead MoreThe Funeral Of Julius Caesar863 Words   |  4 Pagesthe townspeople to believe his was in the ri ght, and did it solely for their benefit. The reasons for the assassination were stated clearly and in a mechanical sense, it seemed none could argue with his logic. He offered to commit suicide and a citizen promptly shouted, â€Å"Live, Brutus! live, live!†(), demonstrating that his justification had quickly won their support. He spoke with few interruptions, excluding when he asked a question warranting a response from the crowd. He had no preamble, justRead MorePluralism As An Ethical Imperative For A Democratic Communication1126 Words   |  5 PagesTaylor, the importance of my self relies upon the principle of originality: â€Å"each of our voices has something unique to say† (Taylor, 1994: 29). Indeed, the idea of authenticity rises at the same time hierarchical society -in which identity was fixed by social position-, declines. This doesn’t mean neither actual inequality ceased to play a role in social reproduction, nor social positions didn’t de fine people’s lives, but defined the conceptual lenses through which modern individual has been definedRead MoreHow Far Do The Media Influence Your Own Sense Of Personal Identity And Self Definition?1306 Words   |  6 PagesHow far do the media influence our opinions and contribute to our own sense of personal identity and self-definition? Introduction Everyday our minds get filled with new information, images and sounds. Enormous amounts of information streams give us certain idea of the world we live in. Of course media consumption is personal and sometimes very selective for each individual. Even though we cannot build a wall between us and information that is spreading all over the world. What is really interestingRead MoreAnalysis Of Talk Them Dead, House Wife Advertisement1524 Words   |  7 Pagesand guarantee the message is being send out. In this advertisement, the blood coming out from the phone which â€Å"the wife† is holding, represents the death, injury or accident of the second character, who is over the phone. However, from a realistic logic, the blood would not be spraying from the phone and reaching â€Å"the wife† on this side. This manifestation creates an imagination spatial to the audience and linked together with the story. It is hard to create a scene which represents the accident thatRead MoreThe Price that Comes with Diversity is Racism1048 Words   |  4 PagesI pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation Under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all. Everyday of our pre-college educational lives, we stand and recite this pledge as a routine instead of an actual pledge. We go through school not knowing the actual meaning and not caring if we did. But for some people, the pledge is a forbidden text, not to be said through their lips even if forced for they feel the pledgeRead MoreWhat Is A Good Life?1463 Words   |  6 Pagestranslated a work on ethics called â€Å"Nicomachean Ethics†, to where he states â€Å"there is some end to the things we do, which we desire for its own sake, and if we do not choose everything for the sake of something else (the process would go on to infinity, so our desires would be empty and vain)†. Meaning happiness can come from completing a task, having a task, or working towards the next task. But if we do not choose a desired thing or feel as if we have worth we cannot find happiness. Aristotle is a philosopherRead MoreJean Jacques Rousseau And The Discourse On Inequality1546 Words   |  7 Pagesthat the savage lives within himself, whereas the citizen, beside himself, knows only how to live in the opinion of others; in so much that it is, if I may say so, merely from their judgement that he derives the consciousness of his own existen ce,† (Rousseau) The quote deriving from one of history’s most powerful and opinionated critique to ever be written, The Discourse on Inequality. This harsh critique is also something that many historians still look back on due to its relevance. Years after Rousseau’sRead MoreRacism, Violence, And Violence1659 Words   |  7 PagesRacism has been relevant in our country for several decades, and it is still one of the largest issues within our country. With us watching and hearing about racism within the news almost everyday, it is becoming something we just expect to see and hear about. Racism has ruined many people s lives, which causes the victims to want to express their feelings in a way that gains the attention of others. The main ways that racism is relevant within our everyday lives is within sports, music, news,