Ethereal Insights

Ethereal Insights Logotype 🙏 जब जागो तब सवेरा 🙏 My Last Day in Türkiye | Saturday – August 15, 2026 H ave I had a blast here in Türkye? Have I created memories that will last? Will I return, read my " Vacation series "? Well, since I have engaged in the anti-art of photography, read " My Views on Photography and the Camera Obscura ", I can assure you that if my memory were to fail me then I have no problems recreating those memories through the hundreds of photographs that I have taken. This stated, I should say that I still consider photography an anti-art, for it essentially does the very opposite of what a true art is supposed to do, and I will even go so far as to proclaim my own guilt in the current solidification of the world. Is a photograph not very still, full of potential but void of life? What is that enchanted essence that the artisan is able to capture in his true images: in his portraits and in his paintings, in his capacity and in his talent, read ...

Photograph of Greek engraved in marble stone, by M. C. Dutt My Last Two Days... Friday – August 14, 2026 F olks, people, and everyone of interest, my journey in Türkiye is coming to its inevitable end and my life seems rather sad, a point that I shall return to later, but in the meantime I must say that I do feel regret having to leave with a feeling that I did not quite get to explore enough of this country, but then again I have not really explored that much, which is why I am writing much of this post in a somewhat sorrow way. I do not much fancy returning to my humble abode as I do not prefer the country and the state that I live in and under, and for reasons of personal safety I continue to refuse to reveal this part about myself, read " Who Am I ". At any rate, I am sad because I know that I cannot remain in the Near East forever, but I actually much fancy many aspects of the Near East, and of course there are certain aspects that I do not fancy as much, for more on t...

Photograph of the Turkish flag featuring Mustafa Kemal Atatürk By M. C. Dutt In The End | Thursday – August 13, 2026 I n the end there was to be a Republic, and the old Empire was but a memory, and so on the sands of history was imprinted the footstep, the memory, of Atatürk and the newly inaugurated state, today a century old. Indeed, Türkiye is approaching the fate of France, the United States, Britain, Germany, etc fast, and on top of this there is today a movement calling for Türkiyes admission into the European movement, and there are even men who are going further still, by calling on Türkiye to be considered a part of Europe. What would these fever dreams of liberal democracy among the youth do to the core of the Turkish nation, that which has been set apart, declared, and defined as the Turkish nation? Is it the intention of the European friendly people to seek to abolish the Turkish identity and to allow for such things as mass migration, read " The Problem of Immigrat...

Photograph of the Apollo Temple at Side By M. C. Dutt Surviving the Test of Time | Wednesday – August 12, 2026 T ime is a real menace, O' Lord... But do not fear. Do not fear, for in the end only confrontation with our perceptions may provide insight and pain. Yes, becoming me , becoming you, is painful and you will resist, your brain, as the profane scientist would put it, will resist, as it should, and some would even go as far as to assert that this is for your own good. But one thing is clear: some people, some ideas , some cultures , and some conditions survive the test of time, while others simply perish – this is perhaps the best case for conservatism . The Apollo Temple in Side featured in the picture in the upper right corner has thus far survived the test of time but barely. Whatever happened to most ideas of say the previous century? Almost none of them survived, as should have been the case and as will be the case with whatever monsters that will emerge out of this epo...

Local Masjid ( مَسْجِد ) (Mosque) in Side, by M. C. Dutt Observations About Türkiye | Tuesday – August 11, 2026 D ays hitherto, I have not mentioned my personal observations, beyond general observations of course , about Türkiye, and I do have some thoughts and reflections to share about this emerging economy in the Near East.      Before I begin I would like to once again reiterate the fact that the Near East must be separated from the Middle East, for what most people refer to as "the Middle East" is actually quite erroneous; by "Middle East" it is actually tradition to refer to India, the entire Indian subcontinent, and instead assign the label Near East to what is now seemingly name praxis; most moderns would today refer to Türkiye as "the Middle East", when in fact and again Türkiye is located in the Near East. I actually find it quite sad and discouraging that this term should have lost its usage in everyday vocabulary, and I suppose too that this is...

Photograph of the Side Apollo Temple, by M. C. Dutt Side | Monday – August 10, 2026 I am not heading out to the Seaside... I am not heading out to the Seaside... But folks, I am heading out to the countryside, and with that I am hopefully able to take some more pictures. Of course, my stay here in Türkiye is nearing its end, and I am wondering about the future , but that is something that I will cover at another time. I must say that it has been a wonder to look at all of the ancient buildings here and as I stated the other day : I can feel where the romans would have walked and where they would have paved the roads, and you can still follow the old roman paths. Yes, even though the Roman Empire fell many centuries ago , the Roman Empire is still here, if you are in the right mood that is, and of course the later days of the Roman Empire and the decadence of the ruling class, of the revolutionary elite . To some extent these are not new developments in human history and what is true ...

Photograph of the Side amphitheatre By M. C. Dutt Modernity Breaking Through | Sunday – August 9, 2026 S ide, like many other port cities here in the Near East, the Mediterranean to be specific, is filled with tourist life and youngians in every other corner, and of course I will say no more than that I approve of this. Yes, I understand modernity, read " Modern Civilization ", because I understand the fate of us all, or at least God has granted me this knowledge but for a moment in time, and this has enabled me to speak on behalf of God , read my " About me " page, again only for a moment.      Is God located in Side, is he located in the corners and in the shadows of the old temple, or perhaps in the corners and in the shadows of the old amphitheatre? Partly yes, but it is also the case that God is everywhere at the same time, but perhaps I should put it this way: God is more palpable in the corners of the old, not because the old in and of itself carries more sa...

Photograph of the old amphitheater in Side, by M. C. Dutt A Civilization in Ruins | Saturday – August 8, 2026 T here is a lot of talk about the Roman Empire and really the Roman civilization these days, and indeed here in Türkiye the old Roman Empire is still felt, through the old Apollo Temple, pictures and updates to come, and the old amphitheater pictured to the right, and yes I am still the "photographer". These buildings would have been constructed in the 2nd century anno domini , around the time of Marcus Aurelius and the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Of course, while we still feel the Roman Empire in every step, some of us also feel sorrow over the eventual, and may I add inevitable, collapse about 2 to 3 centuries later. Of course, the Roman Empire collapsed over a long period of time, just like these old buildings must have slowly dilapidated over time, read " The End of History ", but the Roman Empire is still significant of how a collapse occurs: these things ...

A Turkish Minaret ( مئذنة ) on the streets of Side By M. C. Dutt Islam in Türkiye | Friday – August 6, 2026 I s Islam on the decline in Türkiye (frm. Turkey)? Are the Madrasa  ( مدرسة ) being suppressed by the state? First of all, we must consider the modern Turkish language and compare it with the old Ottoman Turkish language, read " Kemalism ", for it is the case that Kemalism lead by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk advocated the complete overhaul and Europeanization of the Ottoman Turkish (Ottoman-Turkish) language: where in the past Arabic had filled the gaps of meaning and provided form to the Turkish language, today the Latin alphabet in true European fashion has replaced Arabic, for better and for worse. Of course, most young people here in Türkiye still appear to prefer to refer to the country in English as Turkey, in my experience—even though one could argue that President Erdoğan has designated the name Türkiye in honour of Atatürk, an honour that I am not so sure he would a...

Photograph of a statue depicting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk By M. C. Dutt Kemalism | Thursday – August 5, 2026 H ere in Türkiye (fmr. Turkey), the vision and ideology of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is still redolent on every street and in every home, for what Atatürk achieved in the early 20th century, following WWI and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, was nothing short of spectacular—note the man (Atatürk) himself in the image that I have attached to this post, and yes I took that picture on my trip to the small port city of Side, located about 46 miles outside of Antalya. Like him or not, Atatürk was the founder of the modern nation-state that is today Türkiye, and his vision of the six arrows—an integral part of Kemalism—has really made a profound impact on this land, read " The Law Of The Land ". It was not until the actions and the advocacy of what was Türkyies founding father, that the formation of an assortment of different ethnic groups into Türkiye as a nation-state became...