Tag: cute

Small incidents from history that shaped India

This is a cute, fun article talking about how 4 seemingly small incidents in history ended up arguably having a major effect on the subsequent history of India. Do not look for historical rigor in there – just a quick fun read, and a quick primer on some of the important turning points in India’s history.

For example, he starts with this:

No 4: Iltutmish, with a polite harmless nod, says No to Jalal ad-din Mohammad, Ruler of the Khwarezmian Empire. Unknowingly saves Indian Civilization

And then goes on to argue how if Iltutmish had not refused Jalal ad-din Mohammad, India’s history today could have been far, far different.

(On a side note: I really hate the use of gratuitous images in that article. I understand that humans are more attracted by visuals than text, and that a picture is worth a thousand words, but to use images like a screenshot from the TV serial “Friends” just to illustrate that Genghis Khan wanted to be friends with Jalal-ad-din Mohammad is just ridiculous. And this is not an isolated incident. I see people everywhere – from blogs to Quora answer using this ridiculous technique, just because they heard that they need to put images in their blogs.)

Read the full article

B is for Bad Poetry

Just discovered the (bad) poetry of Pamela August Russell.

Contains such fun verses like:

Security Question (Please Choose One)

A) What is your mother’s maiden name?
B) What is the name of your first pet?
C) What is it with your heart that it breaks so easy?

and

Tea For Two (A Tragedy)

It wasn’t until after
I poured the second
Cup that I realized
I was alone

and also:

You with the stars in your eyes
Put them back in the sky
You are ruining it for the rest of us

This reminds me of Grooks by Piet Hien:

Problems worthy
of attack
prove their worth
by hitting back.

and

Taking fun
as simply fun
and earnestness
in earnest
shows how thoroughly
thou none
of the two
discernest.

and:

We ought to live
each day as though
it were our last day
here below.

But if I did, alas,
I know
it would have killed me
long ago.

and:

A poet should be of the
old-fahioned meaningless brand:
obscure, esoteric, symbolic, —
the critics demand it;
so if there’s a poem of mine
that you do understand
I’ll gladly explain what it means
till you don’t understand it.

and finally:

Here lies, extinguished in his prime,
a victim of modernity:
but yesterday he hadn’t the time —
and now he has eternity.