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Ditties from Dilli

 Ditties from my childhood Jungle din bajawe been, ghari mein baj gaye sade-teen Ganju Patel teri khopdi mein tel Ek do teen buddhe ki machine, buddha gaya Dilli, wahan se laya billi, Billi ne mara panja, Buddha ho gaya ganja ...and some learnt later  Pigeon-kabutar udan-fly look-dekho aasman-sky Sardar ji change ratiyan sowe nange

5 Paisa Firecracker

 How to make a firecracker from a 5 Paisa coin (ok any other coin should do just fine - I used to use 5paisa coins when I made them in my childhood) 1. 4 matchsticks making a + sign with their lighting ends in the centre of the '+' 2. Matchbox rubbing paper - what you strike the match against, tear off a piece and place on top of the '+' 3. Place 5 paisa coin on top of the paper. 4. Strike it hard with a brick. 5. If all goes well it should go bang!

The Bin Laden

The 500 euro note is one of the most expensive denominations of currency out there. Very handy for money launderers and drug traffickers alike. Its on its way out I believe for this very reason, the 200 Euro note will remain the highest denomination euro note their is. This banknote has a nickname - its called a Bin Laden. When OBL was captured by the US - it seems he had a rolled up 500 Euro note and some phone numbers sewn into his shirt. 

whats in a name

An Indian doctor couple, a cardiologist and gynaecologist had two daughters, they named them. Anjina and Vajina. This is an anecdote I heard some time ago. There is tremendous importance of having a male child in Indian families. There was a couple in Bombay who decided after marriage that when they have a son, he would be called Arthur. When they did have children, turns out they were all girls so they named them Belinda, Catherine, Doris, Ethel, Francesca until finally, they had Arthur! Another anecdote heard during my time in Bombay (now Mumbai) - A couple called Gloria and Rodger, decided to call their child.... Glodger! There are crazy names adopted by people in southern India, lots of them after communist era leaders, not unusual therefore to find Stalin, Lenin as common names. I had a colleague who was called Winston Churchill, knew a Newton in college. They often go for roman characters as well, I remember a magazine article mentioning someone called Clitorius!
Saw an amazing documentary on the Barkley 100. An extremely tough race which involves a number of skills, running, climbing, navigation and extreme endurance - all while being sleep deprived. People who attempt this race are competing against themselves. Only 15 people have completed this race so far amongst the thousands who have competed in it. Definitely worth a watch. (Personally the most I have ever run is about 5K. Have been on some 50km walks and I thought they were tough...) This all first started when I saw this article on the BBC on extreme ultra marathons https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/56720358 This bit is particularly good - "Proctor, a 40-year-old massage therapist, says: "Later on you need somebody to tell you what to do - eat this, drink this, go to the bathroom and don't forget to wipe your bum. It sounds stupid but certain parts of your brain stop functioning." Here's the link to the documentary WHERE DREAMS GO TO DIE - Gary Robbins and The Barkley ...

List of Great Movies based on Published books

 A list of great movies/TV series from India which are based on published books Movie/TV Series Book  Year (Book) Guide The Guide, R.K. Narayan ? Malgudi Days The Vendor of Sweets, R.K Narayan The Tiger of Malgudi, R.K. Narayan others ?      Sacred Games Sacred Games, Vikram Chandra ?      Serious Men Serious Men ?      Pinjar Pinjar, Amrita Pritam ?      Train to Pakistan Train to Pakistan, Khushwant Singh 1956 Fire Ismat Chughtai      ?      Earth: 1947 Ice Candy Man, Bapsi Sidhwa ?      Tamas Tamas, Bhisham Sahni ?      The Perfect Murder ?, H R F Keating ?   Pataal Lok The story of my Assassination, Tarun Tejpal ?