The last two weekends have both taken me to historical sites, one in Delhi and the other in Jaipur. Now India is a very rich culture, and the amount of history on display here is staggering. Every town, every city has one or the other monument. When I was in school, I thought my home town of Bhopal didn’t have a lot of monuments. But as I grew up, I came to know that Bhopal was probably the only city(correct me if I am wrong here) ruled by female rulers, known as begums, and that it had the Taj-ul masjid, one of the largest mosques in Asia. Even the sleepy little town where I went to college had Maratha forts, and a rich historical background. Almost every city I have been to has its share of history. (more…)

I was reminded of this Samuel Taylor Coleridge classic today morning, quite rudely I must say, by my housekeeper. Intentional or not, she ended up emptying almost a litre of water on my bed. I found this out almost half an hour after she left, when I was about to plant my rear on the bed to write a post(that comes up next).

And my bed is usually where my laptop, camera, wireless keyboard, my books, all co-exist. Thankfully my laptop and camera were spared from the watery deluge. The keyboard is really wet, and now I am using the laptop keyboard after a while.

And I type this sitting on the hard wooden board of the bed. The mattress, the pillows, the sheets, everything is soaked.

I guess my Sunday is going to be more fun than I thought!

Author’s Notes: The poem referred in the title is called The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

With nothing much to do on a lazy Saturday afternoon, I present a collection of weird facts from around the world.

1. People spend about two weeks of their lives at traffic lights!
2. The original name of Bank of America was Bank of Italy.
3. Topless saleswomen are legal in Liverpool, England, but only in tropical fish stores. (Now I know why “fish” n chips is so popular there)
4. Turtles can breathe through their butts.
5. A snail can sleep for three years.
6. Walt Disney was afraid of mice.
7. The ant, when intoxicated, will always fall over to its right side.
8. In Hong Kong, a betrayed wife is legally allowed to kill her adulterous husband, but may only do so with her bare hands.
9. Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

And finally…

10. Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour. Sex burns 360 calories per hour.

If these ten didn’t satisfy your desire for funny facts, visit www.stunning-stuff.com

Happy Reading

“They knew that there is no point in asking the generals for freedom. They knew that they don’t have guns and can’t beat the army. All they wanted to do was show the world what their situation is and that they are prepared to die.”

These are brave words coming from a nation under oppression. A nation under great political distress, where the military regime is pulling out all stops to suppress a cry for freedom and democracy. Burma needs help, its common man needs help. And the help needs to be more than bureaucratic handshakes and discussion behind closed doors. Action needs to be taken by the international community to force the military regime(also referred to as junta) to step back, release all political prisoners and let people have a say in running of their country.

As a blogger, I do my bit by being a part of the One Post for Burma campaign.

Please visit www.free-burma.org by clicking on the link, or the image above and support the Burmese who are fighting for their freedom, without any guns, but with a lot of guts.

But when they hear that support for the demonstrations is dwindling and time passes by without help from anyone, they lose hope. They are getting disillusioned and eventually they’ll give up.

Please do not let these people lose hope. My request to the entire international community is to stand up, and act. Actions always speak louder than words.

But till we see any action, let us keep spreading the word. And show solidarity for the oppressed masses of Burma.

Free Burma!!

References:
1. Image courtesy Free burma flickr pool
2. Quotes from BBC World : Account from a monastery