236 items in this section. Displaying page 14 of 24
The Office Where Records Are Made
. .265. . .puff! gasp!! 310. . 311. . . this is James Joseph of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, doing his squats in a corner of the Limca Book of World Records office. His aim? – setting a world record in squats. In front of James a large stopwatch ticks away the minutes. Behind him stands Kuldeep Monga with a score sheet keeping a tally of the number of squats. A doctor sits on a chair nearby, looking bored....
A Salty Life
It is one of the most common scenes in Bollywood films. There has been a jewel robbery in the house of a rich man. He comes walking down a long staircase and asks all the servants to gather. Then his eyes fall on the oldest servant. The servant falls on his knees and says Sarkar aapka namak khaaya hai (My lord, I have eaten your salt). Remember the dreaded dacoit Gabbar Singh in Sholay, one of the biggest hits in the history of Bollywood, released in 1977?...
The Magic Carpet
October 21: Meet Sheikh Tayyab Mahajan. This resident of Nagpur has a dream – he wants to create a carpet in which he can weave the complete cultural pattern of India. Ambitious? But possible, thinks Tayyab. That is why he started weaving a durrie or rug seven years ago. At that time, he wanted to make it to the Guinness Book of Records for weaving the longest carpet in the world. Now he is aiming higher having already woven 900 feet of the durrie....
Eleven-year-old Eco-ambassador
July 31: Somya Ahuja does not like the way people treat their environment. So she wrote an essay about it. And that essay led to her becoming India’s Eco-ambassador at a children’s conference in England recently. Eleven-year-old Somya lives in Delhi – a city which has the distinction of being one of the most polluted cities in the world. The city’s roads are choked with cars, lorries, buses, tempos and three wheelers. Most of these vehicles belch poisonous gases....
Chetak's Descendents
September 9: Rajasthan’s Maharana Pratap was a legendary warrior who fought many battles astride his favourite horse, Chetak. The beautiful Chetak was loyal, brave and extremely fast. Chetak is probably one of the few animals famous in history for their legendary qualities. Chetak belonged to a special breed of horses called Marwari or Rajasthani. These horses are known for their loyalty and battle-worthiness. They are handsome and tall and have long flowing manes. The fame of these horses has spread far and wide....
Do You Know What You are Eating?
June 5: When you think of a cold drink, you think of its sweet taste, the fizz, and the sparkling bubbles under your nose. But not for a moment do you imagine animal parts being mixed in it. And yet that is what seems to be happening, says a report in The Hindu newspaper. The use of animal ingredients in ‘vegetarian’ food products is more common than you can ever dream of. According to the report, an organisation called the Animal Welfare Board of India has brought out a list of vegetarian food products containing disguised animal supplements....
Street Cricket in Calcutta: Out, Caught!
July 1: Calcutta. A city without playgrounds. But still, a city that has learnt to have fun with what there is – the streets. And street or ‘para’ cricket is one of those inventions. Cricket during the day, under the sun, and cricket under streetlights and floodlights once the sun is down. Cricket played to the cheers of the neighbourhood — the family, the pet, the neighbours, their domestic helps — in short, all. This is nothing unusual for Indians who have always spent a large part of their lives outdoors, sitting on a ‘charpai’ or stringed cot under a tree or playing games according to the season, be it ‘gulli danda’ in summer or throw a stick in mud and let it hold, during the rain....
Web of Financial Scandal
August 18: The recent arrest of P S Subramanyam, chairman Unit Trust of India, has sent shock waves through the country, among the 20 million people who had invested their lifetime savings in India’s oldest public mutual fund company. What exactly happened? A mutual fund company has one main function: to take in or mobilise people’s savings and invest them on their behalf, to maximise the returns. Most of us put our savings in banks. Banks are seen to be solid and safe but they do not give more than 9 per cent returns (interest)....
Gandhi's Belongings Auctioned for Millions
Where: New York, USA March 6, 2009 : Indian industrialist Vijay Mallya bought Gandhi’s belongings at a New York auction for $1.8 million (Rs 9 crore). The trademark wire frame spectacles, pocket watch, brass bowl and plate set and a pair of leather sandals had belonged to Mahatma Gandhi, India’s most revered national leader. They were owned by American James Otis, and he put them up for sale at the auction house Antiquorum. The Indian government had tried to prevent the auction, as it wanted the items to be returned to the country....
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....