Thursday, March 27, 2008

KinG of DEMOCRacy:

BHUTAN, the land of thunderbolt is now the youngest democracy in the world.
Democracy -- as well as state-of-the-art Internet and cell phone service/etc -- are arriving more or less simultaneously this week to the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. Just wish that it would be a positive step for the nation who cherish and measure success by their GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS. and the man who invented the term and also ushered in democracy is their king, Jigme wangchuk.
in this same world filled with examples of people who are obsessed with power and mostly misutilise it , however also has a king who is nothing short of a great visionary and nothing short of a demi-god.
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (born February 21, 1980) is the fifth Dragon King of Bhutan and head of the Wangchuck dynastyHe is the world's youngest head of state.
hISTORY WILL have to invent words to describe his greatness, intellect and his love for his people.
Though theoretically he will cease to be the king of Bhutan, inhabited by one of the world's simplest people..... he truly will be remembered as the king of Democracy.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Vellore and Vellore fort

Once You manage to get out of the Katpadi rAILway sTation after negotiating the TTEs, the more than average friendly autowallah will literally take ur luggage burden and for a mere cost of around rs100 transport u from there across a bridge over a dreadedly dry Palar river basin and deposit u in the center of the Vellore town, which is mainly located today around the CMC Hospital. People from all over India know Vellore as their last hope to get a cure for many a disease. Not far away from the hospital stands the Vellore fort that once controlled regions including Chennai and Tirupathi as its provinces.The fort was built by a chieftain under the Vijayanagar empire. Bommi simha(Chinna Bommi Nayak ) around 1556. It has transferred hands from the Vijayanagar empire to Bijapur sultanate, annexed by the Marathas, captured by the British and many others. In 1806, the fort witnessed a Sepoy Mutiny but the British managed to keep this a secret for many years. Tipu Sultan's FAMILY was kept cative here by the British.the last king to rule over the fort was the king of KANDY(srilanka), who according to sources was of telegu origin.
The fort contains a temple, a mosque and a church.

Jacques de CoutrĂ© was a European traveller in the region during 1610's and noted the Vellore Fort as following…
“We arrived in the city of Belur(vellore), which is also walled, with two walls of stone, and is more than two leagues in circuit, with very deep moats full of water. It seemed to be almost two cities. I have never seen a city that was so fortified and which had such lovely walls and bastions as this one. We prize the cities of Antwerp and Flanders, but neither can compare in their fortifications or loveliness to this city”