Almost everybody knows that Wellington’s final battle against Napoleon was fought at Waterloo. And that bulls see red. But, like a lot of other things we know, these “facts” just aren’t so. The battle of Waterloo was really fought four kilometers away from Waterloo, between the villages of Plancenoit and Mont St Jean. And investigations have established that bulls are actually “colour-blind” – they cannot distinguish one colour from another. This article is an attempt to set the record straight on some more such misinformation.
Moth-eaten: Moths, contrary to the popular notion, do not eat clothes. Some, as a matter of fact, don’t eat anything at all during their adult lives, which are (not surprisingly) brief. It’s the larvae that do the damage; by the time moths are flying out of the cupboard, it’s too late.
Sherlock Holmes: At no point in any of the 56 short stories and four novels that Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about his famous detective does Holmes say, “Elementary, my dear Watson.”
S.O.S.: The universal symbol requesting aid, contrary to what is often said, doesn’t stand for “Save Our Ship,” or “Save Our Souls.” It doesn’t, in fact, stand for anything. It was selected because it is very simple, both to remember and to transmit in Morse code – three dots, three dashes, three dots.
The bagpipe: While the bagpipe is considered to be the national instrument of Scotland, historically it is hardly more Scottish than Irish. It is a very ancient instrument – as old as ancient Persia – which was introduced into the British Isles by the Romans. Surprisingly enough, some form of the bagpipe is found in Spain, Italy, France, the Balkans, and even Czechoslovakia.
Frankenstein: A common misconception is that the name of the monster in Mary Shelly’s book: Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, is Frankenstein. Frankenstein was not the name of the monster but the name of the person who created the monster.
Steam: You just think you can see it. Like most other gases, steam is invisible. Only when it cools enough so that minute droplets of water condense, is it visible. If one looks closely at the spout of a boiling kettle, one can observe a small space of what looks like air between the spout and the mist. That is steam.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Talking about the weather...
I live and work in New Delhi - which is known for its extreme weather conditions: very hot summers and chilly winters. Yet, we who live in and around Delhi, really don't have much to complain about. If you want to know what a blistering summer can really be like, you should visit Al' Aziziyah in Libya.
Al' Aziziyah holds the world record for the highest temperature ever authoritatively registered when, on September 13, 1992, the mercury soared to a fiery 58 degrees centigrade. Death Valley, California, follows close behind, with a reading of 56.7 degrees centigrade on July 10, 1913. Both Amose and Mamoth Tank, also in California, have recorded a temperature of 54.4 degrees centigrade on the historic day of August 17, 1885.
However, the weather, as it occurs in different parts of the globe, shows a mercurial range of difference.
Thus, at the other end of the scale, is Vostok, Antarctica, where the lowest temperature reading ever of -83 degrees centigrade was made on August 24, 1960.
For those who feel that thermal variety is the spice of life, Browning, Montana, USA is just the place to suit their taste. On January 23-24, 1916, Browning experienced a temperature variation of 37.8 degrees centigrade (100 degrees fahrenheit) when, within a matter of hours, the thermometer dropped from 44 degrees fahrenheit to -56 degrees fahrenheit! In Olekminsk in Siberia, the annual temperature variation has gone up to 105 degrees centigrade, ranging from a broiling 45 degrees centigrade, in summer, to a biting -60 degrees centigrade in winter. Verkhoyansk, also in Siberia, is said to have fluctuated 106.9 degrees centigrade from 36.7 degrees centigrade in the summer to -70 degrees centigrade in the winter.
Al' Aziziyah holds the world record for the highest temperature ever authoritatively registered when, on September 13, 1992, the mercury soared to a fiery 58 degrees centigrade. Death Valley, California, follows close behind, with a reading of 56.7 degrees centigrade on July 10, 1913. Both Amose and Mamoth Tank, also in California, have recorded a temperature of 54.4 degrees centigrade on the historic day of August 17, 1885.
However, the weather, as it occurs in different parts of the globe, shows a mercurial range of difference.
Thus, at the other end of the scale, is Vostok, Antarctica, where the lowest temperature reading ever of -83 degrees centigrade was made on August 24, 1960.
For those who feel that thermal variety is the spice of life, Browning, Montana, USA is just the place to suit their taste. On January 23-24, 1916, Browning experienced a temperature variation of 37.8 degrees centigrade (100 degrees fahrenheit) when, within a matter of hours, the thermometer dropped from 44 degrees fahrenheit to -56 degrees fahrenheit! In Olekminsk in Siberia, the annual temperature variation has gone up to 105 degrees centigrade, ranging from a broiling 45 degrees centigrade, in summer, to a biting -60 degrees centigrade in winter. Verkhoyansk, also in Siberia, is said to have fluctuated 106.9 degrees centigrade from 36.7 degrees centigrade in the summer to -70 degrees centigrade in the winter.
Pictorial letters of the English alphabet
The letters O, B, P and F are pictorial in origin. O is the open mouth in the act of uttering the sound. B shows the profile of the sealed human lips pronouncing it. P is the lips partly open and F is a P with the air escaping.
500 years of the toothbrush
The year 1998 marked the 500th anniversary of the toothbrush.
A 17th century Chinese encyclopedia says that the toothbrush was invented in China in 1498. This prototype toothbrush is said to have had bristles set at right angles in the handle and appears to have been basically of the same design as its modern counterpart.
The earliest English reference to toothbrushes, as claimed by the Shell Book, is contained in a letter addressed to Sir Ralph Verney in 1649, asking him to purchase, during his forthcoming visit to Paris, some of those "little brushes for making clean of the teeth."
By the end of the 17th century toothbrushes were available in Britain. The diary of Anthony A. Wood for 1690 records that they could be bought in London from one retailer called J. Barret. According to Messrs. Floris of Jermyn Street, it was customary in the 18th century to sell toothbrushes in sets containing 5-6 different sizes; the reason is unknown. They were supplied to Floris by a company founded in 1780 by William Addis, a company which claims to have been the first toothbrush manufacturers in Britain.
By the beginning of the 20th century, toothbrushes were readily available in Europe and America, but they were expensive items made of bone or ivory, expected to last for a long time. The shape of the handle was much the same as the standard one used today, but the bristles were nearly twice as long as modern versions.
In the 1930s plastic toothbrushes were first produced, though on a small scale. The shape of the head was retained, this time in plastic with natural bristles. The first one with nylon bristles was called 'Miracle Tuft Toothbrush', which had Du Pont Exton bristles. It was first marketed by the company Dr. West in the USA, exactly 70 years ago.
However, it was not until the plastic handle and nylon bristle were married in 1953 that the toothbrush as we know it today was born. With plastic handled, nylon bristled toothbrushes being mass-produced, prices fell and brushes became affordable to the common masses for the first time. Natural bristles continued to be used, marketed as "pure" and "healthy", while the cheaper and more durable nylon bristled toothbrush started becoming much more popular.
A 17th century Chinese encyclopedia says that the toothbrush was invented in China in 1498. This prototype toothbrush is said to have had bristles set at right angles in the handle and appears to have been basically of the same design as its modern counterpart.
The earliest English reference to toothbrushes, as claimed by the Shell Book, is contained in a letter addressed to Sir Ralph Verney in 1649, asking him to purchase, during his forthcoming visit to Paris, some of those "little brushes for making clean of the teeth."
By the end of the 17th century toothbrushes were available in Britain. The diary of Anthony A. Wood for 1690 records that they could be bought in London from one retailer called J. Barret. According to Messrs. Floris of Jermyn Street, it was customary in the 18th century to sell toothbrushes in sets containing 5-6 different sizes; the reason is unknown. They were supplied to Floris by a company founded in 1780 by William Addis, a company which claims to have been the first toothbrush manufacturers in Britain.
By the beginning of the 20th century, toothbrushes were readily available in Europe and America, but they were expensive items made of bone or ivory, expected to last for a long time. The shape of the handle was much the same as the standard one used today, but the bristles were nearly twice as long as modern versions.
In the 1930s plastic toothbrushes were first produced, though on a small scale. The shape of the head was retained, this time in plastic with natural bristles. The first one with nylon bristles was called 'Miracle Tuft Toothbrush', which had Du Pont Exton bristles. It was first marketed by the company Dr. West in the USA, exactly 70 years ago.
However, it was not until the plastic handle and nylon bristle were married in 1953 that the toothbrush as we know it today was born. With plastic handled, nylon bristled toothbrushes being mass-produced, prices fell and brushes became affordable to the common masses for the first time. Natural bristles continued to be used, marketed as "pure" and "healthy", while the cheaper and more durable nylon bristled toothbrush started becoming much more popular.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Eyelashes
# There are 90-160 eyelashes on the upper lid and 70-80 on the lower one.
# An eyelash's life is five months.
# Lashes grow for 30 days, rest for three months, then degenerate for the remaining 30 days before falling off.
# At any given time, 60-80 per cent of your eyelashes are growing, while 20-40 per cent are dying off.
# An eyelash's life is five months.
# Lashes grow for 30 days, rest for three months, then degenerate for the remaining 30 days before falling off.
# At any given time, 60-80 per cent of your eyelashes are growing, while 20-40 per cent are dying off.
Musical affair
One of the most famous embarrassing moments to occur in British India was made at Viceregal Lodge in New Delhi. The Viceroy had his own orchestra, which used to play during dinner, and on one occasion the Vicereine, the Viceroy's wife, asked the title of the tune being played. No one could remember, so an aide-de-camp was sent to enquire of the bandmaster.
On his return, the aide-de-camp slipped into his seat and waited for an opportunity to impart his information. At the next silence he leapt forward, looked at the Vicereine, and announced in a penetrating voice: "Your Excellency, 'I will Remember Your Kisses, Even When You Have Forgotten My Name."
On his return, the aide-de-camp slipped into his seat and waited for an opportunity to impart his information. At the next silence he leapt forward, looked at the Vicereine, and announced in a penetrating voice: "Your Excellency, 'I will Remember Your Kisses, Even When You Have Forgotten My Name."
The origin of tea
The earliest mention of tea occurs in a Chinese dictionary, the Erh Y’a, about the year 350 B.C. People say it was first cultivated in Szechwan province of China. Buddhist priests then took tea to Japan where the Japanese soon started growing and using it.
There’s a lovely Japanese legend about the discovery of tea. The story goes that tea first grew in China where the Buddhist priest Bodhidharma meditated for nine years in front of a wall. Once he fell asleep. He was so annoyed with himself when he woke up that he cut off his eyelids and threw them on the ground! There they took root and became a tea plant.
There’s a lovely Japanese legend about the discovery of tea. The story goes that tea first grew in China where the Buddhist priest Bodhidharma meditated for nine years in front of a wall. Once he fell asleep. He was so annoyed with himself when he woke up that he cut off his eyelids and threw them on the ground! There they took root and became a tea plant.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
The Monsoon Comes To Delhi...
For two months the city suffers under the sullen eye of the sun. The heat rises up in clouds of steam from the roads and shimmers down from the skies. The populace swelters and mopes. Tempers run close to the edge, and appetites die.
These are the days of Coke and Pepsi. Heaven is a piece of tinkling ice. Nostalgic thoughts turn to cool fir-covered hill resorts in Himachal.
The pronouncements of weather pundits on Zee TV and Star TV often take precedence over all other news. "Monsoon reaches Bhopal," "Monsoon nears Agra," "Monsoon days away..." Like a tardy bridegroom's party, it advances, tarries and advances again.
No glass, no heart, no dawn breaks as the monsoon does upon Delhi. A sudden whiplash of lightning. A salvo of thunder. Old Connaught Place buildings rock on their heels. A crash, a peal and an echoing reverberation beyond the arrayed clouds shatters into a trillion prancing drops. Soothing, healing rain at last on the festering sores of summer.
Cloud upon cloud growls up to puncture itself on the jagged edge of lightning. The rumbling dies, decibel by decibel, as the rain comes pouring down. It flirts with the grass at India Gate. It sweeps into open windows, drenching those who have the audacity to be asleep during this moment when the orchestra of nature is playing to full glory. It leaks into ramshackle shanties and laughs to see Nehru Place office-goers scurry for shelter. It bathes the metro rail coaches on the elevated tracks until they appear like gleaming metal gods streaking through the grey and angry sky. A cluster of jubilant umbrellas blossom out and nod their welcome to the rains.
Next morning, the earth, newly washed, basks in the filtered sunlight. There is water 30 centimetres deep in parts of the city. The road below Minto Bridge is once again a lake...and is featured in front page photographs in both The Hindustan Times and the Times of India. Cars splutter, trains and buses run late, and at Palam flights are cancelled wholesale.
The monsoon has taken Delhi by storm again.
These are the days of Coke and Pepsi. Heaven is a piece of tinkling ice. Nostalgic thoughts turn to cool fir-covered hill resorts in Himachal.
The pronouncements of weather pundits on Zee TV and Star TV often take precedence over all other news. "Monsoon reaches Bhopal," "Monsoon nears Agra," "Monsoon days away..." Like a tardy bridegroom's party, it advances, tarries and advances again.
No glass, no heart, no dawn breaks as the monsoon does upon Delhi. A sudden whiplash of lightning. A salvo of thunder. Old Connaught Place buildings rock on their heels. A crash, a peal and an echoing reverberation beyond the arrayed clouds shatters into a trillion prancing drops. Soothing, healing rain at last on the festering sores of summer.
Cloud upon cloud growls up to puncture itself on the jagged edge of lightning. The rumbling dies, decibel by decibel, as the rain comes pouring down. It flirts with the grass at India Gate. It sweeps into open windows, drenching those who have the audacity to be asleep during this moment when the orchestra of nature is playing to full glory. It leaks into ramshackle shanties and laughs to see Nehru Place office-goers scurry for shelter. It bathes the metro rail coaches on the elevated tracks until they appear like gleaming metal gods streaking through the grey and angry sky. A cluster of jubilant umbrellas blossom out and nod their welcome to the rains.
Next morning, the earth, newly washed, basks in the filtered sunlight. There is water 30 centimetres deep in parts of the city. The road below Minto Bridge is once again a lake...and is featured in front page photographs in both The Hindustan Times and the Times of India. Cars splutter, trains and buses run late, and at Palam flights are cancelled wholesale.
The monsoon has taken Delhi by storm again.
Friday, June 29, 2007
The Story Of Noah's Ark Retold (A Modern Fable)
And the Lord said unto Noah: "Where is the ark which I had commanded thee to build?"
And Noah said unto the Lord: "Believe me, O Lord, three of my carpenters have reported sick. The gopher wood supplier has let me down - yes, even though the gopher wood has been on order for nigh upon 12 months. "What can I do, O Lord?"
And God said unto Noah: "I want that ark finished within seven days and seven nights."
And Noah said: "It will be so."
And it was not so.
And the Lord said unto Noah: "What seems to be the trouble this time?"
And Noah said unto the Lord: "My subcontractor has gone bankrupt. The pitch which Thou commanded me to put on the outside and on the inside of the ark has not arrived. The plumber has gone on strike. Shem, my son who helps me on the ark side of the business, has formed a rock group with his brothers Ham and Japheth. Lord, I am undone."
And the Lord grew angry and said: "And what about the animals, the male and female of every sort that I ordered to be put in the ark to keep their seed alive upon the face of the earth?"
And Noah wrung his hands and wept, saying: "The parcel service has delivered them unto the wrong address. And some animals are discontinued lines; thou cannot get them for love nor money. Lord, Lord, Thou knowest how it is."
And the Lord in His Wisdom said: "Noah, my son, I knowest. Why else do you think I have caused a flood to descend upon the earth?"
And Noah said unto the Lord: "Believe me, O Lord, three of my carpenters have reported sick. The gopher wood supplier has let me down - yes, even though the gopher wood has been on order for nigh upon 12 months. "What can I do, O Lord?"
And God said unto Noah: "I want that ark finished within seven days and seven nights."
And Noah said: "It will be so."
And it was not so.
And the Lord said unto Noah: "What seems to be the trouble this time?"
And Noah said unto the Lord: "My subcontractor has gone bankrupt. The pitch which Thou commanded me to put on the outside and on the inside of the ark has not arrived. The plumber has gone on strike. Shem, my son who helps me on the ark side of the business, has formed a rock group with his brothers Ham and Japheth. Lord, I am undone."
And the Lord grew angry and said: "And what about the animals, the male and female of every sort that I ordered to be put in the ark to keep their seed alive upon the face of the earth?"
And Noah wrung his hands and wept, saying: "The parcel service has delivered them unto the wrong address. And some animals are discontinued lines; thou cannot get them for love nor money. Lord, Lord, Thou knowest how it is."
And the Lord in His Wisdom said: "Noah, my son, I knowest. Why else do you think I have caused a flood to descend upon the earth?"
The Tourist's Prayer
Heavenly Father, look down on us, your humble, obedient, tourist servants, who are doomed to travel this earth, taking photographs and videos, mailing postcards and e-mailing shopping expedition stories to uninterested friends, buying souvenirs and walking around in drip-dry underwear. We beseech you, O Lord, to see that our plane is not hijacked, our luggage is not lost and that our overweight baggage goes unnoticed.
Give us this day divine guidance in our selection of hotels. We pray that the phones work, and that the operators speak our tongue, that there is mobile phone connectivity wherever we go, and that there are no letters and sms messages from our children which would force us to cancel the rest of our trip.
Lead us to good, inexpensive restaurants, where the wine is included in the price of the meal. Give us the wisdom to tip correctly in currencies we do not understand. Make the natives love us for what we are and not what we can contribute to their worldly goods.
Grant us the strength to visit the museums, the cathedrals, the palaces, and if, perchance, we skip a historic monument to take a nap after lunch, have mercy on us for our flesh is weak.
Dear God, protect our wives from "bargains" they don't need or can't afford. Lead them not into temptation for they know not what they do.
Almighty Father, keep our husbands from looking at foreign women and comparing them to us. Save them from making fools of themselves in nightclubs. Above all, please do not forgive them their trespasses for they know exactly what they do.
And when our voyage is over, grant us the favour of finding someone who will look at our home movies and photographs, and listen to our stories, so that our lives as tourists will not have been in vain.
Amen.
Give us this day divine guidance in our selection of hotels. We pray that the phones work, and that the operators speak our tongue, that there is mobile phone connectivity wherever we go, and that there are no letters and sms messages from our children which would force us to cancel the rest of our trip.
Lead us to good, inexpensive restaurants, where the wine is included in the price of the meal. Give us the wisdom to tip correctly in currencies we do not understand. Make the natives love us for what we are and not what we can contribute to their worldly goods.
Grant us the strength to visit the museums, the cathedrals, the palaces, and if, perchance, we skip a historic monument to take a nap after lunch, have mercy on us for our flesh is weak.
Dear God, protect our wives from "bargains" they don't need or can't afford. Lead them not into temptation for they know not what they do.
Almighty Father, keep our husbands from looking at foreign women and comparing them to us. Save them from making fools of themselves in nightclubs. Above all, please do not forgive them their trespasses for they know exactly what they do.
And when our voyage is over, grant us the favour of finding someone who will look at our home movies and photographs, and listen to our stories, so that our lives as tourists will not have been in vain.
Amen.
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