When the United United States election campaign commenced Donald Trump was not expected to win. Everybody including the political pundits had forecast that the winner would be Hillary Clinton. However, it did not happen that way and the Dark Horse Donald Trump stormed and won the election. He did not have the popular vote when he became president but that is because of the convoluted system of votes in America. This set the rumor mills churning full time and political stalwarts made forecasts that Donald Trump would be impeached. They also send he was unfit to be the president of The United States of America. Water flows down the river and like the Amazon it doesn't flow back.  Donald Trump has surprised many people by taking decisions which previous us presidents had not touched with a pole.

Important decisions

   The decisions that Donald Trump took are going to place Donald on a different footing than the earlier presidents. He has shown that he is a man made of a different metal as he has taken decisions that nobody else took.  To start with he took the historic decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. This was a momentous decision and now orders have been passed to shift the US Embassy to Jerusalem.  Earlier American presidents all would put this shifting in their election manifesto but when it came to brass tacks developed cold feet and never carried out the shifting.  One reason was they were scared to antagonize the Muslim world and the Arabs in particular. Donald, as I have said, taking the decision and though he angered the Arab world, he has not changed it.  This shows that Donald has honored the pledge that he made during the election campaign

Another important point which needs to be mentioned here is that he has stopped the free lunches for the Palestine Arabs. The Palestine leader Mohammad Abbas was using American funds and paying them to the next of kin of terrorist killed in combat. Donald's put a stop to and now there are no free lunches. He hs said that no aid from the USA would be coming in case it was being paid to terrorists.  This is another major step which the previous American presidents were scared to take. This is a lesson to India where something similar is happening in Kashmir.

Terrorism and Islam

Another major decision Donald Trump took is identifying the source of terror. Terrorism, as we know, is the biggest danger in the globe today. Donald Trump has been the first man to identify Islam as a source of terror. He has repeatedly used the word "Islamic terrorism". This word was an anathema to the previous American presidents, who were scared to use the word and identify terrorism with Islam. No such inhibition with Trump, as he has clearly identified Islam as a source of terror. He has followed up with the travel ban on Muslims from a few countries associated with terrorism to travel to the USA. This ban was challenged in court but now has been upheld by the US Supreme Court. Donald Trump has done a great service to mankind by identifying the terror groups as drawing sustenance from Islamic scriptures. Obviously, this is not to the liking of the Arabs and the Muslims but it is only a  man like Trump who will call a spade a spade

Trump also identified Pakistan as a source of terror. This is something which was be overlooked by  American presidents, even when the Pakistan army had given shelter to the notorious terrorist Osama Bin Laden for close to 6 years. Trump has accepted that Pakistan needs to do much more to fight terrorism

  One of the most reaching decisions of Trump in case it goes through is his slated meeting with the Korean Dictator Kim Jong. No American President had met any North Korean leader for the simple reason they could not look beyond their nose. Trump has broken the shackles and even earlier he had said that he would have no objection to meeting Kim Jong in the right circumstances

Great president

 All this happens just after one year of Donald Trump rule. There are many more points which will not be part of this article which puts Trump as something apart from early American presidents. There is no doubt that in that in case he completes his full term as the President of the USA he may very well be considered a great president for giving a new direction to the world, more for identifying Islam as a source of terror.

Joseph Stalin was the president of the Communist Party, also referred to as the first secretary of the Russian Communist Party and the supreme ruler of Russia from 1924 to 1953. Stalin died of a brain stroke and people around him were so scared to touch him that he was taken to hospital very late. He passed away by then,  nevertheless, during his 29 years in power in Russia, he was instrumental in taking the Russian state out of the clutch of obscurantism and backwardness to a modern age where Russia became the rival of the United States of America as a global power.

WWII and Stalin

Stalin also is instrumental in winning the Second World War against Hitler. This is no mean achievement as Hitler had built up a formidable war machine and the western powers had been unable to counter it. One cannot forget that he was almost a military genius, who planned the battle of France and occupation of Norway. France was destroyed in 40 days and Hitler landed troops in Norway at 5 places to completely outfox the English. He also mustered 3 massive Army groups that invaded Russia and almost brought Russia to its knees. If at that time Russia had surrendered then the West would have no choice but to accept Hitler as the most powerful person on earth. The man who stood between Hitler and Glory, Hitler and victory was Joseph Stalin. 

Though Western historians are reluctant to acknowledge or concede that the victory of the allies was due to Russia and Stalin yet many eminent military historians like Major General JFC Fuller and Liddel Hart have said that if Stalin was not there, the war was as good as lost. One will remember that in the winter of 1942, with the German Army just 30 miles short of Moscow, Stalin was advised to escape beyond the Urals and continue the battle against Nazi Germany from there. True to his character he refused and he took a decision to hold a victory parade in Red Square where he himself took the salute of Russian troops marching to the front to fight the Germans.

Victory

One can well imagine how this affected the common Russian.The word spread, Stalin their leader will stay in Moscow and then we must fight for Stalin. History records that the German Army was halted at the gates of Moscow and then in the counter-invasion, Hitler's army was pushed back into Germany. Victory in the great war is enough to guarantee the title "great".But Stalin did a lot more.He was the man who conceived of the five-year plan to Industrialize Russia.

Russia had always been the laggard of Europe but Stalin changed all that as Russian scientists and engineers began making great advances in science. This resulted in the first man-made satellite Sputnik 1 which was launched in 1957. Russian army and Airforce were modernized and this so alarmed General Eisenhower,  the US President that he ordered Russia to be ringed by bases.

Stalin and Russia

Stalin was no ordinary man one can see he was not an intellectual like Lenin but he was a man with a lot of horse sense who even Winston Churchill praised after meeting him at the Yalta conference. Stalin had his faults, he was a megalomaniac and many persons were sent to the concentration camps which was the brainchild of Leon Trotsky and Lenin. Many writers have written that life in Russia during the time he was in power only human-robot were created. This really does not stand to reason as Stalin was the first man who allowed the flowering of science. He was harsh on literature and so sent Boris Pasternak into exile. Yet the greatest advances in science and latest aircraft and bombers were produced because of the policy of Stalin. Robots cannot produce anything.

Assessment

 Stalin is no more and despite his faults, the Russians are nostalgic about him. They remember him with respect and I have no doubt that he deserves the title "the Great" in world history. The only ones who differ with this assessment are men like Gandhi and western historians who focus not on his achievements but on the negatives adduced to his name.

 Age is a number, yet most don't think so and in India just a decade and a half back, a woman thought to have touched 40 was thought of as "written off". Times are changing and a great example is that of Christie Brinkley who has adorned the latest issue of "Sports Illustrated", which will hit the stands on 16 February 17.

Christie is 63 having been born in 1954. She also has been married 4 times with 3 children including 2 daughters.I wonder if this is also part of the recipe for her success-yet at this age she has posed in a bikini including a gorgeous red color two-piece and is on the front of "Sports Illustrated". Along with her, 2 daughters aged 31 and 18 are also in bikinis and it is to the credit of Christie that she holds more than her own against competition from the younger girls.

Christie last modeled for the magazine in 2004 and its a while to come back and pose for the journal. She was on the cover of the magazine for 3 consecutive editions, 35 years back in a bikini. At that time she had decided not to pose in a bikini again, but when her daughters insisted she gave in and gave the photo shoot to sports illustrated.

Christie is a super model and reportedly is worth over $ 80 million.One of her husbands was the singer Billy Joel. She has one daughter from him, who took part in the photo shoot with Christie.  She dabbled in films as well as the stage but her mark has been modeling and walking the ramp. She has modeled all over the globe and advertised all sorts of dresses from gowns to skirts. She has not ever modeled any Indian dress. That is understandable as Indian dresses are not a global or universal choice.

For the last 100 years the bikini has become the epitome of the assessment of a woman's beauty and no beauty pageant or contest can be held without a swim wear event. The bikini parade is also apart of the pageant. This harks back to Greek philosophy which talked of perfection and chiseled bodies. A look at any museum containing Greek art and paintings will help confirm this. India after independence and the liberation of the woman from dogma and obscure thoughts has also marched ahead. There are many beauty contests held and many Indian girls have won world titles. Obviously they wore bikini's as well and won.

Modeling and giving a shoot displaying a flawless body at 63 is a feather in the cap of the  Christie. it is also a great morale boost for a women. But now the example is before them and they should not think that they cannot emulate the super model.

Christie lives in New York. She has made big money in modeling and is ranked 3rd in the world among models in terms of financial worth by "the Daily Mail". 

One wonders what is the recipe of Christie for success. She is a vegetarian and eschews all types of meats. She exercises daily and leads a healthy life. Maybe she follows the advise of the sage of the Kamasutra, Vatsyayana who advocated a sexual relationship all through life for good health, preferably with a younger partner. One of Christie's husband was 7 years younger to her. In the meantime fans can hold their breath and await the latest issue of Sports Illustrated which will hit the stands shortly.

Deepti Naval is a well known Indian actress with immense talent and versatility. She is popularly known for her image of girl next door. She contributed to Indian cinema with her critically acclaimed and close to life characters.  Her simple appearance on screen proved to be her strength while portraying women of different eras. 

Deepti naval was born on 3rd February 1957 in Amritsar. Later her father moved to New York due to her father’s job and there she completed her studies at Hunter College. She made her debut in 1978 by the movie Junon directed by Shyam Benegal. By 1980’s she became the lead actress of parallel cinema with her lead role in movie Ek Baar Phir alongside Smita Patil and Shabana Azmi. 

Deepti naval was very close to actor Farookh Shaikh both on screen and off screen. Their on screen chemistry began with movie Chashme Baddoor in 1981. The both acted in several movies like Sath Sath, Katha etc .  They both shared a great rapport and bond with each other and were the most decent and iconic pair of their time. 

She also acted in movies of several other Indian languages and won award for best movie in Panjabi and Kannada. She also won several international awards for her role in movies Leela and Listen------Amaya.  She is no doubt a versatile actress but she is also interested in film making. Her debut movie as a director was Do Paise Ki Dhoop Char Aane Ki Barish starring Manisha Koirala.  The film was critically acclaimed at international level and has also won several awards at International film festivals along with its premiere at Cannes Film Festivals in 2009. 

Deepti married Prakash Jha for two years and the couple also adopted a daughter named Disha. Disha worked as a costume designer for her father’s movie Rajneeti. She is also learning music from Archana Shaha. Deepti’s marriage with Prakash Jha ended after two years but post their split they continued to be friends. They are still spotted together watching movies and dinning along with their daughter. Deepti was then engaged to Vinod Pandit but his untimely death ended their relationship.

Besides an actress she is also a painter, photographer and writer. Her father wanted her to be a painter but she continued to pursue both acting and painting. She has her hands in painting portraits and faces with lonely and morbid expressions.  She also conducted several exhibitions. She also wrote poems in Hindi of which Lamha Lamha was published in 2004. She also wrote a collection of short stories, The Mad Tibetan in 2011. She is also engaged in social activities and runs a charitable trust called Vinod Pandit charitable Trust for education of girl child.

Source: Wikipedia