The Great Indian Story

A narrative account of an ordinary man who witnessed something extraordinary... " Hello, my name is Sanjay. I live in Pali, Rajasthan. Pali is situated near Pali-Jodhpur highway, which is one of the most treacherous roads of India. I will tell you about an incident that changed my outlook towards this world. It was the year 1996. I had shifted to Pali with my family just 3 months ago. My wife was pregnant and admitted to a hospital since the doctor told us that we could expect our child anytime that week. On an auspicious night, I got a call from the hospital. On the other side of the line were my parents informing me that my wife's labour had begun. At that time, I was at Rohat, which is 33 km away from Pali. The distance didn't bother me. So I took my bike and rushed away to the highway. After some distance, my bike's tyre got flat and I had to halt. I looked at my wrist watch, it was 12:30. To add to my miseries, there was no one nearby- no comm...

You must have heard about 'Romeo & Juliet', written by William Shakespeare. Two lovers caught up in the feud among their families and met a tragic end. India too has its share of love stories that can give old William a tough competition! 'Mirza & Sahiban' is one of the four well known and tragic romances of the state of Punjab in India, and is celebrated in both India and Pakistan. The other three are those of 'Heer & Ranjha', 'Sohni & Mahiwal' and 'Sassi & Punnu'. They all follow the same pattern of attraction, total devotion, family persecution and death by murder or suicide as 'Romeo & Juliet'. After their death the lovers were idealised and made the subject of folk songs and poetry, and in some case even worshipped. Mirza and Sahiban were cousins. Mirza was a handsome youth and a noted archer. Sahiban was so beautiful, farmers stopped work to stare her when she walked past. They fell in love when Mirza w...

If you live in India or atleast been there, then you must have seen lemon and chillies hanging at front of shops and places of business. This "Nimbu Mirchi", as we call it, is also found hanging in our houses and even on our vehicles!!! And whenever we try to ask somebody the reason behind this, we would be told "It's for good fortune." But there is no one to tell us how it does so or is there any other reason behind this. We always do various things (however silly!!) without knowing the real reason for them, as long as we believe it will bring us good fortune. So I searched for it on the internet and found something. Superstitious Belief In India we pray to Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity. It is believed that wherever Lakshmi goes wealth and prosperity follow there. And if for some reason Lakshmi do not come to your house, you may suffer from financial crisis. So for each and every businessman or occupation, Lakshmi is very...

Taj Mahal, considered to be a symbol of love, holds some unsolved mystery put forth by the well known historian Mr. P.N. Oak (2 March 1917 - 4 December 2007). In his book 'Taj Mahal: The True Story', Oak claims that the Taj Mahal was originally a Shiva temple and a Rajput palace named 'Tejo Mahalaya' , seized by Shah Jahan and adopted as a tomb.   He says that 'Mahal' is a word to describe a royal palace and not a tomb and after seizure by Shah Jahan, the name was changed to Taj Mahal. Oak discovered that the Shiva temple palace had been usurped by Shah Jahan from then Maharaja of Jaipur, Jai Singh . Shah Jahan then remodeled the palace into his wife's memorial. In his own court chronicle, Badshahnama , Shah Jahan admits that an exceptionally beautiful grand mansion in Agra was taken from Jai Singh for Mumtaz's burial. The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur is said to retain in his secret collection two orders from Shah Jahan for the surrender of the...

Riddle me this: Where does the boy vanish? The great Indian rope trick, like snake charmers and elephants walking the streets of busy, crowded markets, used to be a part of a list of stereotypes about India during colonial times ( and probably even now!! ) You might see an elephant now and then, but these days there is barely a snake charmer around; and as for the rope trick, it has become extinct now ( even I heard about it recently ). No one seems to practice it these days, but the mystery behind the astonishing ability of men to perform this trick still lingers ( Oh la la!! I love mysteries... ) The rope trick has never been documented in detail, or captured by video cameras, although several people have, over the years, claimed to have seen it being performed. The trick is as follows:- The head magician, with some trademark incantations, sends up a rope till it hangs stiff in mid-air. He then sends his assistant, usually a boy, up the rope till the boy disappears...

Kohinoor isn't the only diamond from India that had stirred the world. The Hope diamond seems to be the exact opposite of its name. Objects have power, whether real or appearing to be real. It is widely accepted that the more precious an object, the more powerful it appears to become. Some objects even carry with themselves an aura of mystery. One such object is the Hope diamond , which brought very bad luck to whoever owned it. It was mined in the famous Golconda diamond mines in India , although the exact date for this is not known. What is known is that it appeared in Europe in 1642, after it was bought by the French traveler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier . In 1668, he sold it to King Louis XIV for a large amount of money, but lost the fortune because he had to pay off his son's debts. Tavernier returned to India to recover his fortune, but was mauled to death by dogs. King Louis XIV , the Sun King, almost from the moment he had the diamond, started losing his emp...