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Acting Colour Blind?
October 6: England’s world-famous Royal Shakespeare Company has made a break with tradition. It has cast a black Nigerian actor, David Oyelowo, in the lead role of Henry VI, whose insanity unleashed a 30-year bloody civil war between two ruling parties, called the War of the Roses. Acting Colour Blind? [Illustration by Anup Singh] The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is one of the oldest and most prestigious theatre companies of the world....
Romance of Postage Stamps
In earlier days the stamps of British Guiana were printed by a British printer, Waterlow & Sons. In 1856, the stock of stamps was exhausted but a fresh supply had failed to arrive. So the postmaster hurriedly had 4-cent stamps printed locally using the existing designs, the seal of the colony – a ship and the motto ‘Damus Petimusque Vicis sim’ (We give and we seek in turn). These new stamps were printed on magenta paper in black ink but the quality was so poor that the postmaster, to prevent forgery, asked the postal officials to initial each stamp before selling it....
Indian Shooters Combat Racism
The Indian squad that just won the Commonwealth Shooting Championships in the UK, has brought back more than just 13 gold, six silver and eight bronze medals. They’re also carrying some bad memories. According to the Indian shooters, who included Jaspal Rana and Mansher Singh, the behaviour of their British hosts bordered on racism. In a report in The Hindustan Times, the Secretary General of the National Rifle Association of India, Baljit Sethi recalled the day when India won all four gold medals....
Three Nations or One?
August 19: Tang Weijiang is an angry man. He is suing the famous Japanese company Canon for causing him mental distress! Reason – Tang, a Chinese, was furious that the company making a particular brand of printer, in its publicity video, had given the impression that China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were three separate countries. He is demanding $12 million in compensation. Three Nations or One? [Illustration by Sudheer Nath] While the island of Hong Kong has come back to China after being under British control for almost 100 years, Taiwan broke away from China more than 50 years ago to declare independence....
Jumbos have some oily fun
August 9: It’s a slippery situation that has officials of the Oil India Limited (OIL) in Assam religiously muttering the Ganesh Mantra. The public sector company owns and operates the world’s oldest oil producing wells here and they’re helpless against the antics of wild elephants who love the swooshing sound of oil spurting in Digboi’s oil fields. Jumbos have some oily fun [Illustration by Shinod AP] According to a report in The Indian Express, the wild tuskers move around freely in the oil fields, often opening crucial valves in the pipelines that connect the oil wells to the refineries....
Eastward Ho!
Britain wants Indian engineers to help modernise their London-Glasgow railway link, and that’s a real about turn! Nearly 150 years ago, Britain was the first country to use steam locomotives. The British also built the first rail tracks in India and set up India’s railway network with one purpose – they wanted to collect raw material such as cotton from different parts of the country so that they could be shipped to Britain. And later, when the ready-made products came back to India, they used the rail network to sell them by reaching different corners of the country....
This Park Bench has an Address
November 18: Park Bench, Portland Square, Bristol. No, this is no cute address given by some children to their favourite bench. Rather, in the latest demonstration of just how finicky the British can be to minor details, a humble park bench in the town of Bristol, is soon going to have an address. And given its own postcode to boot. This means that if someone sends a letter to the above address, it will reach the Park Bench....
The Empire Strikes Back
October 28: The roots of the present-day education system in India lie in British attempts, more than one and a half century ago, to raise a breed of English-speaking Indians who were ‘babus’ or clerks and could manage the affairs of the British rulers. That is why the study of English has always been stressed in India, even if it is at the expense of the country’s languages. And why English is India’s first language today....
Smart Future
August 12: Do you know that there’s a possibility you may live forever? And that you will have computers that are 1,000 times more intelligent than Albert Einstein, generally known as the smartest scientist ever! That all these miracles may happen in 15 years or more? These are the predictions of Ian Pearson, a top British futurologist. A futurologist is a person who tells what life will be in the future. He is a kind of professional day-dreamer....
Teachers who Ticked Correct Answers Wrong
August 19: Do you know what a universal truth is? It is a truth that never changes, wherever in the world you might wish to test it. For example, we all know that the earth goes round the sun. It’s a truth that will never change, at least not until the solar system lasts. Another universal truth we’re told to believe is that our teachers know more than us. It’s a non-scientific universal truth, for sure....