The BBC news website today had two very contrasting news items in its "Most Read" news list, both of them about India, the "incredible India"!
1. "Man MARRIES BITCH to beat curse (which made it to the top of the list)
and 2."India ENTERS SUPERCOMPUTING race".
After reading the articles, I began to muse over the question "can you tell something about India?". I have faced this question so many times here in the US and every time, I floundered pathetically. I could not help it, and I believe neither can others. India is just too big to be accommodated into a finite verbal description which covers its most important aspects, let alone all the aspects. Even if one fills pages and pages of words there will still be some aspect or other which demands mention but left out. The list will be endless and its items so full of interesting contrast with each other. When I first saw the news about the guy marrying a bitch, yes the same word is used in the piece of news, I was shocked while assuming that the BBC has relegated to such mean levels that it has used such a derogatory word for a bride. But I was wrong, the guy apparently married a female dog. I wouldn't delve into the details here, but to cut the story short, he did it out of his superstitious beliefs. And interestingly, he had the blessings of the local temple priest and other village folks!
Anyways, I moved to the next piece of news about the successful assembling of the fourth fastest supercomputer in the world, named "EKA". I began to wonder about the possibility of the laboratory where it was assembled being adjacent to the temple where the nuptial vows were exchanged between the man and the bitch. This was not the case, but yes, it is very much possible.
For newspapers and reporters, there is always something "Amusing" to thrive in India.
1. "Man MARRIES BITCH to beat curse (which made it to the top of the list)
and 2."India ENTERS SUPERCOMPUTING race".
After reading the articles, I began to muse over the question "can you tell something about India?". I have faced this question so many times here in the US and every time, I floundered pathetically. I could not help it, and I believe neither can others. India is just too big to be accommodated into a finite verbal description which covers its most important aspects, let alone all the aspects. Even if one fills pages and pages of words there will still be some aspect or other which demands mention but left out. The list will be endless and its items so full of interesting contrast with each other. When I first saw the news about the guy marrying a bitch, yes the same word is used in the piece of news, I was shocked while assuming that the BBC has relegated to such mean levels that it has used such a derogatory word for a bride. But I was wrong, the guy apparently married a female dog. I wouldn't delve into the details here, but to cut the story short, he did it out of his superstitious beliefs. And interestingly, he had the blessings of the local temple priest and other village folks!
Anyways, I moved to the next piece of news about the successful assembling of the fourth fastest supercomputer in the world, named "EKA". I began to wonder about the possibility of the laboratory where it was assembled being adjacent to the temple where the nuptial vows were exchanged between the man and the bitch. This was not the case, but yes, it is very much possible.
For newspapers and reporters, there is always something "Amusing" to thrive in India.
