The Great Indian Story

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...