Everything about the Niagara Falls screams "TOURIST TRAP!". The teeming populations of Indian and Chinese tourists overrunning the area confirm that the trap is working perfectly. The Canadian side of the Indo-China Falls, as I call them, seems especially over-commercialized with ugly, garish casinos and hotels right on the water's edge.
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The area around the Falls has been developed so that everyone and their grandma can enjoy the grandeur of the views. Unfortunately for those seeking to enjoy the power of the Falls in the quiet and solitude it deserves, everyone and their grandma does.
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Despite this criticism, yours truly has been there 4 times (once to see it, the other 3 times to show it), and being a citizen of one of those countries accused of the tourist gluts, I shouldn't be casting aspersions on my fellow countrymen. I must add it's a 900 odd mile round trip from Boston, so not exactly a short drive either.
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The incessant crowds might bother some people, but I don't feel as bothered myself.
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Ignore minor bugaboos like a screaming toddler running rough-shod over your toes or having to shift a little every few seconds to stay out of someone's "Romantic gaze in front of a waterfall" photo-frame. Once the zen-like state of calm is acquired, it becomes fully possible to appreciate the scale of the show put on by nature.
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In my mind's eyes, the majesty of the Falls overwhelms every other distraction. The sheer volume of water that the Niagara river carries over the plunging edge is impressive no doubt but even more so is the sound. The roar of the currents, understandably distressed at being tossed off a high cliff, dominates the soundscape.
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The hundreds of birds circling through the spray, squawking and wheeling around in search of their next meal, are like mid-air whirlpools. The transient little rainbows that flicker to life through the mist only to disappear in a few milliseconds are more incentive to keep the memory film rolling.
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There is another oft-ignored aspect to the American side of the Niagara Falls, which keeps bringing me back to visit it over and over again, nerd that I am. At this site of nature's grand spectacle, is also a monument to one of science's greatest innovations and its innovator.
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On Goat Island, near the elevator that plunges down to the Cave of the Winds section of the Falls, there happens to be a giant statue of a giant of a man. For this was a genius of such calibre that he could assemble complex machines within his mind and run accurate thought experiments to check their viability. The name of that genius was Nikola Tesla.
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Besides being the most popular destination within (too) easy reach of hordes of tourists, Niagara Falls is also the location of the world's first Alternating Current hydroelectric power plant. Inventing a way to transmit AC electricity over great distances was Tesla's greatest gift to the world.
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All those devices that make us 'modern' - computers, TVs, artificial lighting and the industries that build every mass-manufactured product that sustain our existence would have never come to be if this man hadn't discovered a way to pump the energy that feeds them.
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Tesla, a once-in-a-species grade scientist would end up dying alone, broke and insane as some ill advised financial investments towards the end of his life would lead to his downfall. The world did appreciate him in retrospect, putting up his statue at the site of his greatest triumph but in his lifetime, it saw him off with cruel criticism and bitter ridicule.
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In the universe's weak attempt to address that sort of lingering injustice, today his statue seems to be quite popular. Children clamber onto his lap; adults pose in front flashing their pearly whites - with understanding I hope of who this person they are taking pictures in front of is.
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I realize popularity may not have been his thing - he was much too much of a geek to seek that. His likeness set amidst a sea of visitors from far off lands is a very well chosen one. All the fuss by these new-age admirers crowding around him, does not bother the metal Tesla.
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He is too busy reading a book.
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[http://virtual-inksanity.blogspot.com/2013/09/tourists-and-mad-scientists.html]
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In my mind's eyes, the majesty of the Falls overwhelms every other distraction. The sheer volume of water that the Niagara river carries over the plunging edge is impressive no doubt but even more so is the sound. The roar of the currents, understandably distressed at being tossed off a high cliff, dominates the soundscape.
-
The hundreds of birds circling through the spray, squawking and wheeling around in search of their next meal, are like mid-air whirlpools. The transient little rainbows that flicker to life through the mist only to disappear in a few milliseconds are more incentive to keep the memory film rolling.
-
There is another oft-ignored aspect to the American side of the Niagara Falls, which keeps bringing me back to visit it over and over again, nerd that I am. At this site of nature's grand spectacle, is also a monument to one of science's greatest innovations and its innovator.
-
On Goat Island, near the elevator that plunges down to the Cave of the Winds section of the Falls, there happens to be a giant statue of a giant of a man. For this was a genius of such calibre that he could assemble complex machines within his mind and run accurate thought experiments to check their viability. The name of that genius was Nikola Tesla.
-
Besides being the most popular destination within (too) easy reach of hordes of tourists, Niagara Falls is also the location of the world's first Alternating Current hydroelectric power plant. Inventing a way to transmit AC electricity over great distances was Tesla's greatest gift to the world.
-
All those devices that make us 'modern' - computers, TVs, artificial lighting and the industries that build every mass-manufactured product that sustain our existence would have never come to be if this man hadn't discovered a way to pump the energy that feeds them.
-
Tesla, a once-in-a-species grade scientist would end up dying alone, broke and insane as some ill advised financial investments towards the end of his life would lead to his downfall. The world did appreciate him in retrospect, putting up his statue at the site of his greatest triumph but in his lifetime, it saw him off with cruel criticism and bitter ridicule.
-
In the universe's weak attempt to address that sort of lingering injustice, today his statue seems to be quite popular. Children clamber onto his lap; adults pose in front flashing their pearly whites - with understanding I hope of who this person they are taking pictures in front of is.
-
I realize popularity may not have been his thing - he was much too much of a geek to seek that. His likeness set amidst a sea of visitors from far off lands is a very well chosen one. All the fuss by these new-age admirers crowding around him, does not bother the metal Tesla.
-
He is too busy reading a book.
-
[http://virtual-inksanity.blogspot.com/2013/09/tourists-and-mad-scientists.html]
4 comments:
I have been to Niagara once..when u are on the maid of the mist boat..n it approaches the falls..the feeling is so overwhelming..just remembered it.
Long time..no post..I hope you have not quit blogging..
@Srirupa: Have a lot of drafts... need to get around to closing them out one by one. Too many things to blog about, not enough time.
ThenmI'm sure it'll be worth the wait.
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