"Who likes to fire crackers during Diwali?" asked the teacher.

About half of the nine-ten year olds in the classroom raised their hands.

"You should be ashamed," chided the teacher. "Crackers are harmful to our environment!"

The ones who did not raise their hands felt proud.

"We are social creatures, and we don't go alone."

Somewhere inside a jungle, under the cover of lush trees, was gathered a curious collection of animals, and an old wolf was addressing the others.

"What in the whole wide world is a lone-wolf then?"

The other animals nodded.

"As if that were not enough," said another wolf, "we don't wear sheep's clothing either."

From the sheep that had gathered, a black one bleated, "What is wrong with a black sheep, eh?"

"Whoa!" exclaimed a rabbit, "say sheep of color."

They all agreed and threw the rabbit out.

The gathering was called by some animals in protest against being abused and insulted by figures of speech of humans.

Someone suggested they block roads in protest, but they did not want to stoop to that level. "We are better than Yogendra," they claimed.

So, here they were.

"When one of my pups bit our neighbors," said the wolf that had first spoken, "we justified by calling him a lone-human."

"It's funny," laughed a hyena.

"We told the other wolves," said the wolf, "that the lone-human does not represent our ideology, our beliefs, our wolfity."

"Give it back to the humans," guffawed the hyena.

"You #LLRC," tittered a monkey, at which the hyena felt insulted and there was a scuffle.

"Silence!" roared a fat lion, but the beasts had lost respect for him after he kept criticizing his own leader and supported the hyenas.

1. Which politician in the post-Independence era do you most associate with vile, sinister destruction?

(A very positive, optimistic thread on politics in the post-Independence era. You can be frivolous or serious in your replies, but in either case, think before you answer.)

2. What was the single most important reform in the post-Independence era that never happened?

3. What has been the worst foreign policy disaster in the post-Independence era?

4. If you have to pick the worst decade (47-56, 57-66, 67-76, 77-86, 87-96, 97-06, 07-16, 17-now) for politics, what would that be?

5. When defining religious minorities at the state level, which state is the worst when it comes to persecution of religious minorities?

The Greeks gave us democracy,
The Romans gave us numbers;
If not for their presence, you see,
We'll all be dumb-and-dumbers.

The French taught us revolution,
And gave us Left and Right;
Imagine our evolution,
Without this great divide.

The Germans gave maths and machines;
Philosophies galore;
If not for half-moustache obscene,
They would've given us more!

The British, too, gave us in spate,
They built all roads and tracks;
Without knowing their language great,
What worth our thoughts and acts?

Of course they gave us sins and priests,
To wake us up from stupor;
Before, we were uncivilized beasts;
After, we became super!

Italians, their gestures grand,
Taught us cooking and wine;
The world elsewhere was raw and bland,
We knew not how to dine.

The Spaniards, in their own way,
An inquisitive crowd;
Gave us dances and omelettes fey,
And tomatoes flung around.

The Swiss, even, from mountains cold,
Gave us chocolates and knives;
If not for them, let truth be told,
Will Hindi flicks survive?

Europe, the land of Arts and Science,
And Culture and Refinement;
If not for their exquisite lines,
We'll be in dark confinement!

Europe, they found out tail and head,
From fairy tales to bacillus;
So what in some places they spread,
A new disease like syphilis?! //

Since Tharoor has let the feline out of the Fendi, here are some of his daily routines that we know now.

* Perform Surya Namaskār so that the Sun has to rise
* Survey land to find out patches where not even a blade of grass grows
* Concoct new dishes by adding paneer to them

On the last one there's an adorable legend about Nehru that even Nehru would be surprised if he hears about it.

Nehru, rooted to the ground beneath his feet, was a nationalist at heart. While toying with green peas in his salad, he had an idea about national integration. Paneer.

Nehru, using his tremendous knowledge while discovering India (this was post-Independence, so no need to use _____), said that paneer could bind the nation together.

So he suggested adding paneer to dishes across India: paneer parantha, paneer pakoda, paneer idli, paneer khaman.

In an era when culinary creativity was a flatland, it was Nehru who raised the lone peak by adding paneer to biriyani, bisibele bath, basundi, uthappam, undhiyu, and sambar.

Soon, paneer began to proliferate with a culinary concupiscence (Tharoor's own words) not seen elsewhere.

Nehru, ever the international man of history, also realized the importance of paneer against the growing Chinese influence of tofu.

In a courageous display of cultural takeover through culinary conquest, Nehru added paneer to dumplings, fried rice, noodles. India 1. China 0.

The morning was glorious like no other, for the August Sun was shining on Nehru-ji as it had never done before.

Wearing his trademark jacket, not a crease or a spot, and a lusty rose in the buttonhole, Nehru-ji looked as fresh as the morning dew, and this despite the midnight.

For, at the stroke of midnight, Nehru-ji had stepped on the podium, and had eloquently orated his speech, Tryst with Destiny.

Just like his intellectual descendant, Shashi-ji, Nehru-ji had spoken in English about India because his audience, like Shashi-ji's, was elsewhere.

As Nehru-ji basked in the morning Sun, he was envisioning - a man like Nehru-ji does not think, he envisions - the audience for the day, a day dedicated to his achievements since the speech.

Nehru-ji took out his Air Pods and instructed Siri in his clipped accent to play a song.

The title song from the movie Golmaal soon vibrated into his ears - no, not the one by Kishore Kumar for that was still far into the future, but the more contemporary one by Vishal Dadlani.

Unlike the blockheaded protagonists of the movie, Nehru-ji did not dance to the song.

Later, Nehru-ji was seated on a massive throne like that king of ancient India who he admired, Great the Akbar, and was flanked on both sides by celebrities he had personally known.

A Congress worker tied a pigeon to a rocket and launched it, signaling the start of celebrations.

The story of Indian Legion or Legion Freies Indien

Netaji's lost army.

An army which was assembled to win India's freedom eventually fading somewhere in the pages of history. They were our bravehearts who dreamt of an independent India.
Jai Hind ki sena!

(Elaborate Thread)

Raised in Germany, this force never found its place in the hall of fame like the Indian National Army (INA). The Indian legion became tainted due to its association with the German army. Soon the legion was cornered by allies and French resistance.(1)

The survivors who made it to India never received the recognition which troopers of INA did. When netaji arrived in Berlin on April 3, 1941, the Germans wanted to weaken the British and welcomed him given his status as a pan India leader.(2)

The Germans recognised a provisional "independent India govt" in exile under netaji. They also promised him an army to help liberate India. The British Indian army prisoners of war captured from Rommels north Africa campaign were the nucleus of the this army.(3)

The legion would have acted as a pathfinder force for the planned German campaign into India. This seemed feasible as Rommel’s Afrika Korps was sweeping across north Africa with west Asia as the next target.(4)

This is an English translation of @Shiva__1's pinned thread in Marathi. Was thinking of doing this for sometime. Think this is the right time as events which happened the other day have been really triggering, and this is exactly how I feel. Here goes. 1/19

I've honestly had enough, so now it's about time I said this out loud.

•We as a society have routinely backstabbed our fellow citizens belonging to the Muslim community.• 2/19

When I was a kid, dad used to take me to Sambhaji Brigade and Seva Sangh meetings. It was in these meetings that we learned the real history of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

So far, the Brahminists have always distorted this history and spread falsehoods to 3/19

sow Islamophobia for their personal benefit, when the real story is completely different.

A lot of Muslims used to speak at and attend these meetings. And whenever I listened to or interacted with them, I sensed a very apologetic tone in their voice. 4/19

It was almost as if they were trying to say, "We Muslims are good people. Look at our contributions in history. Please don't misunderstand us. Please see us as your own people." 5/19

This day was inevitable. Indian Muslims always lived in La La Land. They bad mouthed real well wishers & slept with the enemy who never considered them as part of them. In Gulf, Indian Muslims were busy with Javed Akhtar & Sonu Nigam. Never interacted with South Asian diaspora

Now when Indian Muslims are thrown to wolves it’s Pakistani & Bangladeshi Muslims with whom they kept distance are the only ones feeling their pain. None of the people who they invited for Eid Milan. Qawali & Mushaira are there for them. Such people invoke wrath upon themselves

Indian Muslims never spoke for Kashmiri Muslims. Distancing from separatist was understandable but we never even bothered to highlight their human rights violation & rapes carried out by forces. We could have sent them humanitarian help we didn’t. Our silence made us complicit.

When Sania Mirza married Shoaib Malik it was something legal. A Muslim married another Muslim. Entire Hindutva media went after her. They launched a witch-hunt for months. No Indian Muslim stood by her. All were silent. Now days come when Muslims are arrested for marrying a Hindu

Indian Muslims particularly the elite downplayed communalism in India by saying it will pass or Hindu majority is good. Fringe are bad. They misguiding others. Muslims were always others. Indians were happy to see Muslims sing & dance & eat their food but never considered as own

#FarmReforms
#FarmBills

Who Is Protesting and Why?

Reforms have proved controversial. In Sept, BBC wondered whether they were a “death warrant” for farmers.

Some worry whether reforms might lead to the end of wholesale markets and guaranteed

Currently, the government offers a minimum support price that acts as a safety net for farmers. Even though the government has promised to retain such a price, farmers fear its withdrawal over time.

There is an added fear that big private players will offer good money to farmers in the beginning, kill off their competition and then pay little for agricultural produce.

Farmers might go from the local monopsonies of APMCs to the national oligopoly of Amazon-like behemoths.

It is important to remember that the government offers price support only for the staple crops of the Green Revolution.

Other crops do not qualify, nor do fruits and vegetables.

Unsurprisingly, the overwhelming number of protesters are farmers from India’s northwest, the region that has benefited most from the old system. In particular, they belong to Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, the birthplace of the Green Revolution.