Some time back Srik asked me “Whats the difference between a Kerala communist and other communists? Well, Kerala communism is a philosophy by itself. It is “take policies as time changes and completely forget where they started”. In my opinion it is a complete hypocrisy. Infact, communism in India has lost its meaning. If Karl Marks was alive today, he would have definitely taken rat poison.
      For example, there was “Anti Coke Pepsi” campaign few months back. Kerala assembly discussed it for length and finally decided to ban those products. Next day none of the college campuses had Coke and Pepsi but Sprite, Seven-up, Mirinda, Fanta …were available. A curious journalist asked one of the ministers “Why two products alone, why not ban all the products which are proved to have chemicals”. Minister happily said, “Oops … In assembly we did not discuss other drinks at all … he he”.
Another instance is where they have done blunder in their party name itself (my previous post).

Coming to the point of me being called a Kerala communist when I was a kid, was because of the way I used to argue. Here is an instance I remember –

“Hey mom, Bro is eating curd”
“So???”
“Why am I was not served curd for lunch”
“Alright … take how much ever you want”
“Gee..!! You know I don’t eat curd”
“I know that … that is why I did not serve you”
“But why did you give it to him, all are equal isn’t it”
“You don’t eat, I did not give it to you. Your brother eats, so he is eating”
“There is no equality in this house, if all are equal how come some are served more??”
Soon after my statement there was political oppression on me.
Now when I look back, I feel it’s kinda cute. Thatz me!!!

If you want to know where you fall in the political map, here is a political compass. Answer all the questions and find what political nature you have.

I am slightly authoritarian and neo-liberal (Oops … against Gandhi?).

Technorati Tags: political, compass, gandhi, hitler, views, facism, left, kerala, india

There are several Jokes on Adam and Eve, the first prophets. This political joke is my favorite among them. I read many versions of it , with Russians , Egyptians and Indians also. Pakistani version is very apt for the context. No offense .. but truth

A German, a Frenchman, an Englishman, and an Pakistani went to an Art museum and were spending some time in front of the painting of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. After observing the painting for a while an intrigued observer asked the four men where they thought Adam and Eve’s origins could be from.

The German said: “Look at the perfection of their bodies. She with her slender and well-formed figure and he with that athletic body and bulging muscles. There is no doubt they must be of German origin.”

Immediately the Frenchman reacts! “C’est Impossible! One can clearly see the eroticism that is exuding from both figures… She so feminine? He so masculine… And both so aware of the impending temptation… They must be French!”

Shaking his head in disagreement, the Englishman comments: “Oh No, Chaps it can’t be! Note the serenity on their faces, their delicate pose, the sobriety in their gestures. They could only be English.”

After a few more seconds of contemplation, the Pakistani exclaims: “I do NOT agree with ANY of your theories! Look closer, they do not have clothes, they do not have shoes, and they do not even have shelter. All they have is ONE apple to eat and to top it all off it is prohibited, there is fatwa on it! They don’t protest and they STILL think they are in Paradise!?? Clearly, these two can only be Pakistanis!!!”

And this is latest controversy on Adam and Eve, the first prophets – A Pakistani version. This cartoon was published in a Pakistani Magazine some time back. As expected there was a fatwa on the editors. And Guess what was the complaint ? Cartoonist painted the couple “naked”. Guess I need to read holy books again , these guys questioning my memory

clipped from www.flickr.com

Technorati Tags: adam, eve, pakistan, joke, fatwa, cartoon

To all commi organizations who paint him in their pamphlets ,to all yo-young college kids wearing his T-shirts without knowing who is he ,

Che is dead , Get over it !!!!

Technorati Tags: Che, Guerra

The story Ramayana* is his entire life journey starting from his innocent youth, his mastery over skills in winning Sita, his role as dutiful and obedient son to adhere to his father’s words while aware of the flagitious intensions of his step mother. He gives up all the worldly richness and sets away to spend 14 years in jungle. Sita being his wife accompanies him followed by Laxman, Ram’s younger brother.

They spend quite an adventurous and romantic** life in the forest. Sita finds her world in her husband Ram and experiences an unspelled love for him. Everything works fine when one day, Sita gets abducted by Ravana while Ram is away to fulfill one of her impossible wishes. Ram does everything possible to get back his love. He gathers a huge army, builds a bridge across an ocean, does all that he could. Finally, he succeeds to kill Ravana and gets her back. With this they complete 14 years of stay in jungle and they return to their kingdom after which they should have lived happily ever after.

But the story takes turmoil instead, Ram’s story ends here and Sita’s story begins. This happens when a subject of Ram’s kingdom whispers “how could Ram trust Sita, who been with Ravana for so long”. Ram wants a test now, Agni-Pareeksha – A test to check purity of a woman, by entering into fire. Exactly this part of the story becomes hard to digest. This is where so many questions arise and is left unanswered.

• Did it serve right for a person like Ram ‘the so called God’ to come down to such a cruel act?
• Is he setting example for all men or rather his followers to commit such an act?
• Or is he doing right by following well set example from his predecessors?
• Ram must have done justice to his kingdom? But why not to his wife? Had he really loved her he wouldn’t have banished her at such a crucial moment.

Did it serve her right to undergo another painful punishment after she had been a victim and had already suffered years of pain in the evil’s custody?

Why anywhere in the whole epic Sita does not have any views? Why didn’t she refuse when they were to leave for jungle (her sister Urmila does that)? Why didn’t she not ask back “why should I jump into fire?” “Don’t you trust me?”

We often come across people stating ‘Ram jaisa pati mila hai’. Can we really consider Ram as an ‘example for perfection’?

If these questions are answered they can be called as Sitayana. It should contain the entire possible thing Sita would have had in mind, but not presented in Ramayana. Nina Paley an Indian born professional animation moviemaker is releasing Santayana. She says:

“We never really know why Rama banishes Sita. Common interpretations resemble rationalizations and apologies: Rama “had to” abuse Sita to maintain the traditional order of his kingdom, in which the opinion of the lowliest man ranked higher than the life of any woman. As literature, Rama’s behavior towards Sita makes no sense…except it’s so realistic. It is the Ramayana’s ambiguities that make it so compelling.”

I strongly feel, movie is going to make some level of controversy and protest. If you are planning to participate, please make sure you have answers to all the questions Ms. Paley is asking.
Some clips of the movie have already reached youTube reservoir. I have posted two of them.

Sita in Love

Ram in Doubt

* Ramayana – the most popular mythological epic dwells around Ram –ninth incarnation of Lord Vishnu as believed by most of the Hindus. Ram is another name for a ‘perfect man’ and is symbolized for loyalty, respect, courage, justice and unbound love.

** Their romantic story in forest is only next best to Kalidasa’s Shakuntala. They sit watching “Kaumauda” near lake cheek to cheek whole night long with “rAtrirEva vyamsIt” (a great literary work in Sanskrit).

Technorati Tags: sita, seeta, seetayana, sitayana, rama, ramayana, ravana, feminism,

I am not good at mythology, I have tried naming cherecters. suggest me good names to the sculptures ( if you dint like my nomenclature). these are the images of walls of cave temples in mahabalipuram.

GovardhanaGiridhari.: To protect a town called “nandagopa”, krishna lifts a mountain called “govardhana giri” with his small finer. All living creature take protection under that.

Gopika/gopalaka : These are the subjects of the town. Krishna used to be very naughty with them, specially gopikas. continuation of above image.

Balaram : elder brother of krishna. partner in all activities. continuation of above images.

anantashayana/ padmanabha : image of vishnu with his wife lakshmi. he has a lotus coming out of his naval and brahma is sits in that. Located below light house

mahishasuramardhini : Goddess durga comes down to earth to kill an evil demon mahishasura. Located below light house

• India’s oldest light house
• Photos: Mahabalipuram
• Gods, demons, dancers, soldiers etc.
• Mahabalipuram – ‘Pallava’ remains.
  

Technorati Tags: mahisharuramardhini, mahish, Vishnu, Krishna, krisna, gopika, govardhana, wall+sculptures, ananta, shayana, padmanabha

During the days where church and kings were above science, everything works with their opinion. That is the way they go “permanent” into history. You have read Story behind U.S. standard railroad gauge. There are some more of them, how measurement of units originated

In ancient times, the body ruled when it came to measuring. The length of a foot, the width of a finger, and the distance of a step were all accepted measurements.

Inch: At first an inch was the width of a man’s thumb. In the 14th century, King Edward II of England ruled that 1 inch equaled 3 grains of barley placed end to end lengthwise.

Foot: In ancient times, the foot was 111/42 inches. Today it is 12 inches, the length of the average man’s foot.

Yard: A yard was originally the length of a man’s belt or girdle, as it was called. In the 12th century, King Henry I of England fixed the yard as the distance from his nose to the thumb of his out-stretched arm. Today it is 36 inches.

Cubit: In ancient Egypt, a cubit was the distance from the elbow to the fingertips. Today a cubit is about 18 inches.

Lick: A Lick was used by the Greeks to measure the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the index finger.

These are all fine, at least they are defined. Some of them change depending on king’s mood. I got an interesting mail, did not try it. Those who are UNIX fans try it and tell me. I have no difficulty to believe this at all, very much possible

Have u ever seen the calendar for September 1752???
If you are working in Unix, try this out. At $ prompt, type: cal 9 1752 See the explanation for what you see.

Isn’t the output queer? A month with whole of eleven days missing. This was the time England shifted from Roman Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar, and the king of England ordered those 11 days to be wiped off the face of the month of September of 1752. (What couldn’t a King do in those days?!) And yes, the workers worked for 11 days less, but got paid for the entire 30 days. And that’s how “Paid Leave” was born. Hail the King!!!

Technorati Tags: King, Europe, measurement, standards, foot, inch, paid, leave, calendar,

Do you recognize this song? (Hint: tomorrow is his death anniversary.)

Load up on guns Bring your friends its fun to lose and to pretend
She’s overboard myself assured I know I know A dirty word

Still dint get it? Listen to some more…

Here we are now Entertain us I feel stupid and contagious

A mulatto An albino A mosquito My libido

Hello hello hello how low

When this song released, Kurt Donald Cobain was lying (supposedly) high on streets (with normal dose of heroin). Cops gave him roof that night, while radio stations repeatedly playing this song “Smells like teen spirit” a new genre altogether. Within no time song was topping the charts, and teen found a new god.

Kurt Cobain defined “grunge rock” as a genre to the world, and this song (and another “come as you are” in the same album) became anthem for mass hysteria. He was 27 when he died, a suicide. But he is biggest teen icon even today (may be second biggest, after “che guevara”

My room mate fasts on the day April 5, the day God of grunge rock died. But I don’t. I am very religiously intolerable person. I believe my god is best and “there is no god except David Gilmore”

Suicide notes and other stuff

Technorati Tags: Nirvana, kurt, cobain, death, anniversary, smells, like, teen, spirit, punk, rock, alternative, grunge

Nobody needs to teach Indian hypocrisy and stereotyping; it’s a gift in their blood. We love to laugh at another person’s mole on his nose, while we are standing in a pit full of cow dung. South Indians disliking north Indians, North Indians don’t like south Indians and both together dislike north-east Indians. In fact North-east Indians itself is new usage, for the rest of India they are just “Chinkis”. It’s not racist, just sense of humor.

One more thing common among all of them is “my daddy … Strooongest!!!’. We have the best culture, language, community and nature; we are best analyzers, psychologists and of course rest of them live in a fish pond. Those people don’t like Mohanlal to be hero in this age are O.K with Rishi Kapur dancing with girl of his grand daughter’s age. We are O.K with Salman Khan’s pink trouser but Vijaykanth’s yellow shirt is so funny.

One of the most general and popular “happy to be ignorant” story is about a place called Madras in India. People live there are madarassis. For south Indians it is one metropolitan city which is now named as Chennai. But unfortunately for north Indians it is a wide unexplored area comes in south to Maharashtra and Orissa. (For north east Indians it does not matter. Geographically south India has four different states and six to seven different languages, for north Indians it is just madras. The rest of the India thinks whole madras speaks one language Tamil and they survive with Idly Sambar Vada. We made a big deal when Celebrity big brother’s sister did not learn Shilpa’s name isn’t it?

Knowing Hindi is one more misconception around. People worried why rest of the world not bothered learn Hindi. Well why should they? States are organized as linguistic regions. Every state has its own language; they are official and national language as Hindi. Why complain people over there don’t understand my language?

This kind of assumptions and misconceptions works other way round also. Kashmiri’s don’t love India, Bengali’s don’t take bath, Assamee’s are extremists etc. Generally this or any of such issues are fought in mails and posts. One starts and there will be avalanche of mails/comments, cause it’s easy to write offending mails/posts.

This post ( This is Indian Racism) I can mention here is a person who is pissed off with the terrorism panic in Bangalore. People of North Indian origin is asked to register details in nearby police station (to be sure he has no records) and this guy goes Fs ad Bs. There was an analysis and it was found any of south Indians did not participate in freedom fights.

Now my message to those living out in their ponds like the frogs who never knew what it is like being outside….

You guys ever knew how a war is fought (65, 71, Kargil )? None from South Indian community was ever engaged in Struggle for Freedom

The stupids of North India fight for India, die for India and u guys say they all are terrorists and you are different coz they are Northies. huh!!! Thanklessness Personified!!!! God forbid, if anything like Tsunami occurs again, from North Indian people’s side, nothing will change. These Pseudo Indians will ask for Rice from North Indians. And then we North Indians will donate it and don’t worry we will not poison it then.

Grow up you South Indians…I wish u cud…

Update: all Fs and Bs are deleted in his post.

Strange analyses and may be it explains lot of things. Biharis getting kicked in Assam can be argued right back since Battle of Plassy ( seventeen hundreds I guess ), don’t ask me connection . And of course why marathi’s hate kannadiga’s in belagam ( currently Belagavi I guess ) is because kannadiga’s did not fight for Shivaji against Aurangazeb five hundred years back. May be they did but that is not a point.

One mails also I want to mention here. Some techie living in Chennai, has lot of complaints. Some of them may be valid, the others I tried to answer here (and send him a link to this post )

Language – Tamil, Tamil and Tamil. Even if they know Hindi, they dont speak up.

Aren’t there any place where India where Hindi Hindi and only Hindi , or Bengali Bengali and only Bengali ? When you are not learning a local language when you are living in it , why are you expecting them to learn a language which is rarely used in their town. and about “even if they know Hindi they dont speak is highly exaggerated. There are some proud , conservative people but they are exceptional cases. Why would an auto driver or a cigarette shop owner ( Most of the time you interact with only these ) does not talk to you in Hindi ( even if he knows ) . There is life he has and he needs to earn to live.

Food – Idly, sambhar, rice, dosa, vada, pongal We have to cook our food ourselves (unbelievable naa). “Even dogs eat curd rice ,”

Once we saw a girl in the food court, she was looking and acting like a north Indian. My friend became exited and planned to talk to her, but just then we noticed her breakfast and then “dil ke armaan aansuon mein beh gaye”, she was having pongal. (disguise!!)

What about places where only roti, naan, alu parantha? Dude what will you do if you go to Italy ? eat pizza / pasta or complain that you don’t get Tanduri items

We asked an auto driver, “Hindi aati hai”?. He replied in Hindi “Hindi nahi aati”.

At least that. If a tamilian comes to Delhi or Mumbai and asks “Tamil terima ?/kannada barutta ” will he reply as ” teriyad/gottila ” . He will say ” go to hell / bhad me jao ” isn’t it ?

The most common suffix here is ‘a’, e.g. straight – straighta 2 cup tea – 2 cupa tea

Local language influence. Have you ever defined “Istyle ” and “Iskool “

When there is a ‘t’ in any name, they add ‘h’ to it. jayant – jayanth bharat – bharath . Here is a culture of adding mystical alphabets after ones’s name, like Mahesh R, Sandeep T etc.

Why do always people think their language is best and according to UNICODE standards ? Does people here write ” athal ” for ” atal bihari “. I have written about it here as What’s wrong with your name

Some more of them I don’t want to answer(and which also doesn’t need one ).

Here you cannot buy a needle after 6 PM (strange) No life after 9 PM.

Weather - summer from October to feb and rest of the year it’s deadly summer.
Cable connection is of no use here as only tamil channels are broadcasted on cable TV, if anyone wanna watch hindi channels then you need to buy a set up box (Rs.4000).

People – We never heard anyone laughing here (I wonder if they ever laugh or shout) So conservative, that noone talks even in the bus

Technorati Tags: south-india, north-india, stereotyping, debate, mails, issues, language

Technorati Tags: cup, mahabalipuram, mamallapuram,

Related photos : patten, Gods, demons, dancers, soldiers etc. Halebidu – An Architectural beauty.

Technorati Tags: patterns, stone, carvings, sculpture, shila, temples

Technorati Tags: pallava, caves, pandava, remains, corridor,

Jaya and Vijaya were twins who worked in a security company. They guard almost all Hindu temples.

Some five hundred years ago General of Aurangazeb army mallikafur who was running a demolition drive, stopped by. That time he had an assignment to demolish illegal building from India’s map. The criteria were, the building is illegal if it was hindu/Jain/Buddhist places of worship. Technologies ten was not advanced then, or may be they dint import a bulldozer or a land mover. He used to manage with hammer.

He stopped by here

Malli: Dude … who is inside??

Jaya: “God…!” (In “mere pas ma he” style)

Malli: no way…Man..!! he ain’t no here…( he used his 7 th scene here, he supposedly had 8 scenes and also IQ number 8 )

Vijaya: “he is, name’s keshava… Chenna keshava. (Bond style)

Malli: That’s bullshit man…!!! There is no god except mine… Guys lets have a party…This building is illegal.

Jaya: All gods are same.

Malli: Guys… first cut these two hands….

Over. Remaining photos are here and here. Jaya-Vijaya lost their jobs here. Their decedents are teaching India secularism. Mallikafur got a great reward, later he had similar assignments for a long. His decedents are working with Taliban. Aurangazeb was best emperor ever in India. The secularism defined by him is widely adopted in India, even after 500 years. Some time later Mohammed bin tughalak (IQ 4) gave a tough competition in terms of taking important decision.

Fact: this place is badly butchered. Every person embedded in wall lost any one of their body part. Main Idol had public execution. Ornaments, money, valuables etc are taken away.

Please note : I dont have any sentimental attachment towards any religion and faith. They are all same stuff for me. But i hate someone tries to prove ” my shit smells better that your shit “. Please call yourself pseudo-secularism ( exmples by sandeep) .

Technorati Tags: jaya+vijaya, india, karnataka, sculpture, doorkeepers, secular, taliban, temples, aurangajeb, mallikafar, hoysala

I finished watching 4 seasons of South Park, including their one and a half hour movie. Not so surprisingly I liked it. (Review shall come up some time soon) my favorite character is no surprisingly Eric Cartman . 2D animation of 5 kids in a small town called south park, Colorado US. Though its kids cartoon, definitely not watch able by kids under 18 (may be 25). The language is so abusive. They take every one into their insult list religious characters, prophets, saddam Hussein, George bush, Bryn Adams, Gandhi… You name it…. Views presented very similar to uncyclopedia.

So I was wondering what kind of pervert I am to find fun such an insulting movie. Took a online test for what historic lunatic are you? I knew whatever I answer result will be a lunatic character. Here it is. I am Gaius Caesar Germanicus – known as Caligula!

Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.

and my test results.

You are Gaius Caesar Germanicus – better known as Caligula!

Third Emperor of Rome and ruler of one of the most powerful empires of all time, your common name means “little boots”. Although you only reigned for four years, brief even by Roman standards, you still managed to garner a reputation as a cruel, extravagant and downright insane despot. Your father died in suspicious circumstances, you were not the intended heir, and one of your first acts as Emperor was to force the suicide of your father-in-law. Your sister Drusilla died that same year; faced with allegations that your relationship with her had been incestuous, you responded, bafflingly, by declaring her a god.

You revived a number of unpopular traditions, including auctions of properties left over from public shows. When a senator fell asleep at one such auction, you took each of his nods as bids, selling him 13 gladiators for a vast sum. You attempted to have your horse, Incitatus, made into a consul and hence one of the most powerful figures in Rome. It was granted a marble stable with jewels and a staff of servants. At one point you forced your comrade Macro to kill himself – in much the same vein as your father-in-law – accusing him of being his wife’s pimp. You, of course, were having an affair with said wife at the time.

Things went from bad to worse. When supplies of condemned men ran short in the circus, you had innocent spectators dragged into the arena with the lions to fill their place. You claimed mastery of the sea by walking across a three-mile bridge of boats in the Bay of Naples; kissed the necks of your lovers, whispering sweet nothings like “This lovely neck will be chopped as soon as I say so,”; dallied with your sister’s lover and made her pull her unborn child out of her womb prematurely. Towards the end of your reign, you had a golden statue of yourself made and dressed each day in the same clothes you yourself wore. When you eventually died, the terrified people of Rome refused to believe that such a cruel reign could ever end, and believed you to be alive for years afterwards.

Technorati Tags: Gaius, Caesar, Germanicus, Caligula, historic, lunatic, online,

This video tries to give a complete picture on history of religions. It covers five major religions, major events which changed course of history, and how they spread/vanish in last 5000 year. It’s a beautiful video.

But few questions on it…

They start first religion to be around 3000 BC, started with birth of Krishna. What was there in India before him? (Rama is not a Hindu??? What about Veda’s). Historians are very much fond of including Ramayana and Mahabharata into history. I really don’t know how they justify all the events happened in those epics.

Why not go back to 10000 BC and include all the epics and holy texts (all of them ) into history? I heard they are interesting, like “Adam, Eve and dinosaurs walking side by side”.

I started loving history and geography only after I stopped studying them. Text books say Buddhism was propagated by ashoka’s sons to Srilanka, south-east Asian islands trade path. I could not see Lakshadweep Islands till 2007, how could they do with 100 BC technologies. Some of the other examples are: Big chunk of population in all those countries are of Tamilians. how ? Precedents (only those names I get to here) names are Suhardo, Sukarno, Meghavathi Sukarno-Putri etc which are almost Sanskrit. why ? One of biggest Indian temple is there in Cambodia. how ?

Some of the proofs that actually saw were in mahabalipuram. There were remains of a port, through which south Indians supposedly did trading and also exchanged culture and language. The other thing I am showing you was a light house.

Light house, of course is carved beautifully as any of other structures. It has a store room (which is not locked for avoiding illegal activities) for keeping wood dry. Burning woods (or may be coal) used to show direction for traders. It is located in such a place that entire city also can utilize light.

• Wall sculptures
• Photos: Mahabalipuram
• Gods, demons, dancers, soldiers etc.
• Mahabalipuram – ‘Pallava’ remains.

Technorati Tags: light, house, old, pallava, oldest

Some of the remaining photos of Mahabalipuram – ‘Pallava’ remains

• Wall sculptures
• Photos: Mahabalipuram
• Gods, demons, dancers, soldiers etc.
• Mahabalipuram – ‘Pallava’ remains.

These are rest of the photos of Halebidu. Reference to my previous post Halebidu an architectural beauty

Halebidu karnataka travel photography

Related posts :

• Halebidu – An Architectural beauty.
• Narasimha’s devorce
• Mahabalipuram – ‘Pallava’ remains.

Previous post : Our Bangalore to Namma Bengalooru

Next Post : Just imagine .. If you were here !!

Technorati Tags: halebeedu, halebidu, hoysala, karnataka, hassan, temples, architecture, sculpture, god, demons, soldiers, carving, stone, art,

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The story behind measuring standards is most of the time really funny and weird. For example One “foot” is supposed to be average of the distance walked by a king (someone help me … I don’t remember his name) in seven steps. One pound is a metal ball kept in some museum (again I forgot the place and name of the museum) under some temperature and pressure condition. Here is one story how railroad gauge standard is evolved. I got it in a mail forwarded by one of my friends.

The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails)is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That is an exceptionally odd number.

Why was that gauge used? Because that’s the way they built them in England, and the U.S.Railroads were built by English expatriates.

Why did the English build them that way? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that’s the gauge they used.

Why did “they” use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing. So why did the wagons have that particular odd spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that’s the spacing of the wheel ruts.

So who built those old rutted roads? The first long distance roads in Europe (and England) were built by Imperial Rome for their legions. The roads have been used ever since.

And the ruts in the roads? The ruts in the roads, which everyone had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels, were first formed by Roman war chariots. Since the chariots were made for (or by) Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. The U.S. standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Specifications and bureaucracies live forever!!!

So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse’s ass came up with it, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back end of two war horses. Thus we have the answer to the original question. Now the twist to the story…….

When we see a space shuttle sitting on its launching pad, there are two booster rockets attached to the side of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRB’s. The SRB’s are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRB’s might have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRB’s had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site.

The railroad line from the factory had to run through a tunnel in mountains. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track is about as wide as two horses’ behinds. So, the major design feature of what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse’s ass!!!

Don’t you just love engineering?

Technorati Tags: rail, train, roade, guauge, US, standards

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This is the most favorite place on the face of the earth for me. I love sitting there for a long time and daydreaming. I do not have the count how many times I been there. Halebeedu (search in net for: halebeedu, halebeed, halebid or dwarasamudra) is one of the very skilled works I have seen.

There are many reasons why I go there. One is its uniqueness; it is built in Hoysala style – very different from any other south Indian temples (tamilnadu is kingdom of temples; most of all other state temples are built in the same of architectural style, except few historical ones). Second is it is very calm – only Pease lovers come here, god lovers go to the other similar temple nearby belur. And third reason is the surrounding, it’s green.

Technorati Tags: Halebeedu, halebidu, karnataka, hassan, temples, remains, ruins, hoysala, invasion, architecture, sculpture, idols

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