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Where Did Numerals Originate?
We deal with numbers all the time. Not just while doing math lessons at school, but also while counting money at the shop, memorising the numbers of our favourite TV channels or even keeping tabs on the number of hours we spend in front of the Internet! But we are so used to numbers that it has never occurred to us to find out where these numbers come from. For that, we must travel back in time....
The Birth of Christ
Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Everyone knows that. Do you know the entire story of his birth? Let me narrate it in brief. Over 2000 ago, Roman emperor Caesar Augustus, issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. So everyone went to his or her hometowns to register. A carpenter called Joseph, who was in Nazareth in Galilee in the Middle East (which was also part of the empire), went to nearby Bethlehem....
Roman Holiday
Suitcase – checked. Diary – checked. I am writing my last lines before I take off in the time machine. Time machine – checked! This time it’s going to ancient Rome at the height of its empire. Only this morning I read somewhere that when in Rome, do as the Romans do. If you want to accompany me, sit in your seat, hold the mouse firmly, and whatever you do, don’t press the escape key on your keyboard....
Girl Power in Gaul!
Girl Power in Gaul! [Illustration by Shinod AP] March 27: Over 40 years ago, Belgian artist Alberto Uderzo and French scriptwriter Rene Goscinny, created a new comic series. It was all about the ‘mis’adventures of a diminutive warrior Asterix, his giant of a friend Obelisk, and their dog, Dogmatix as they battle the invading armies of the Romans in Gaul, as ancient France was known. Uderzo and Goscinny set the story in the year 50 BC, over 2000 years ago....
The Day Christ Died
As a child, I did not know the significance of Good Friday for Christians. For me, all it meant was a day off from school. One evening, I let it slip to a friend that I thought ‘Good’ Friday meant something good must have happened on this day. My friend Lorraine stared at me in astonishment. Then she told me that Good Friday is actually a day of mourning as Christ was crucified on that day....
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?...
First Pope To Set Foot in Mosque
May 11: Pope John Paul II created history by setting foot in the Omayyad mosque in Damascus on his historic visit to Syria recently. He is the first Pope in Christianity’s 2000 year history to enter a mosque. First Pope To Set Foot in Mosque [Illustration by Shinod AP] And it isn’t just some ordinary mosque that the Pope stepped into, reports the Hindu newspaper. The site of the Omayyad mosque has a religious history predating Christianity, and goes back more than 3000 years....
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