A load of crap from an idle brainPersonal, Movies, Music, IT, India, Singapore, Politics, Fun

Ignore the negativity, celebrate the miracle that we survived 64 years

Picture courtesy: Santabanta

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Will be back in Singapore on 22nd August.

Meanwhile, hearty National Day wishes to everyone in Singapore and Independence Day wishes to everyone in India.

Hope to have lots of Haleem this time around.   Yay Hyderabad, here i come.

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Picture source: Santabanta

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Am sure, you would have received chain mails which propagate myths about the Indian civilization, the number of doctors and scientists working in USA and NASA etc.   Outlook magazine has gone around asking people with authority and knowledge on the subject and debunks almost all the myths that get propagated around by some stupid NRI sitting in some corner of the world.

Claim: India never invaded any country in her last 10,000 years of history.

Fact: This is not fully true, as the Cholas conquered Sri Lanka and took its ruler prisoner. In AD 1025 the Chola navy of Rajendrachola I (r.1012-1044) conquered Sri Vijaya in the Malayan archipelago.

-Pius Malekandathil, maritime history specialist at JNU, Delhi

Claim: Taj Mahal predates Shah Jahan’s era, and was a temple dedicated to Shiva, worshipped by Rajputs.

Fact: The Taj was built by Shah Jahan. Every single brick and stone purchased has been documented in the Taj Mahal archives. so is the land deed. Travellers from different periods also saw it being constructed.

- Mushirul Hasan, Vice-Chancellor, Jamia Milia Islamia

Claim: Times Group is owned by Bennett & Coleman. ‘World Christian Council’ does 8- per cent of the funding, and an Englishman and an Italian equally share the balance 20 per cent.

Fact: Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL) is largely owned by the Jain family and some subsidiaries, such as ENIL are listed. All details of the holding company, BCCL, are available in ENIL’s prospectus at the time of listing.

- Vanita Kohli-Khandekar, author of The Indian Media Business

Claim: The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 5,000 years ago. The very word ‘navigation’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘navgatih’.

Fact: It is absurd. All river-valley civilisations like the ancient Egyptians, the Mesopotamians and the Chinese resorted to riverine navigation and coastal navigation. The English word ‘navigation’ is derived not from Sanskrit ‘navgatih’, but from two Latin words navis (ship) and agere (to drive). It is from them that English and Latin family languages, like Portuguese, got the word.

- Pius Malekandathil, maritime history specialist at JNU, Delhi

With Independence Day round the corner, get ready to receive more such bullshit in your mailbox.  To read more about all the myths, click here and here.

Now, am waiting for some member of the chaddi gang to call me a commie

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Singapore celebrates its 43rd National Day today.  Its been my home for the past 7 years now. Have met some great people during this period, made some great friends for life.  A country and her people to whom i owe so much. A tiny but extremely efficient, safe and clean country in South East Asia.  An economic powerhouse that has not only sustained itself, but also re-invented itself every few years to keep itself ahead of the competition.  A country who’se exports is much much larger than its GDP.  A country that tops the charts when it comes to a clean government, safety, business efficiency and overall quality of life.

Best wishes to her and all her residents.

Above pictures courtesy: NDP Website & Wikipedia

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