The Infallible Indians

The autumn months in the northern hemisphere are called Fall.

Why? Do things actually fall?

Let us see…. what does fall – leaves fall, in some parts of the world rains fall, kids fall, in nursery rhymes characters fall and in India, multiple things fall! 

Lets examine some “falls” in our all-time favourite nursery rhymes….

London bridge is falling down…. No no…
    “The Commonwealth Games Bridge has Fallen Down,
         Fallen down, Fallen Down,
          It is all so shady”!!!                                           

A few days before its October inauguration, an overhead bridge at the Games village came crashing down. Rapidly, the participation of athletes started falling. And our reputation too took a hard fall.
London Bridge too fell many times – It was broken and reconstructed, each time with different materials, and hence the rhyme.
Was Delhi indeed a worthy successor to London??
After all, the Commonwealth of Nations was founded on the fall of the British empire!

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall??
     “Men in saffron sat on a Mosque,
      Men in saffron made the Mosque fall!”

If you remember, after Humpty Dumpty had his great fall, no one could put him back together, not the King’s horses, not his men.

This could very well be the case with the Babri dispute too. Not all the judgements in the world we think will heal the long-festering wound, especially after 17 years. Someone said this marks the fall of the judiciary!

Rightly said, even terrorist Kasab has not fallen to the hangman’s noose… yet.
 




"Folly”wood?

While a lot of our movies are filmed around such hard hitting realities, the lead actors always manage to fall into a dreamy sequence right after an intense scene…

Lets take a cue and drift from realities into the world of Windfalls, Waterfalls, Rainfall, Snowfall, Falling Star and the most desired, Falling in Love!

And some facts on these “Falls” that make us really happy…

• Angel Falls in Venezeula is the World’s Highest Waterfall. But Niagara Falls, on the border of the US and Canada is the most popular. It attracts more than 14 million visitors every year!
• Cherrapunji & Mawsyngram, both in Meghalaya, India, record the highest rainfall in the world . But did you know that these places also face severe water shortage in the non-monsoon months!
• Every snowfall is unique, in fact, each snow flake is made up of snow crystals and each crystal is different except in one thing – it is six-sided.
• Fall River is not a river at all! It is a city in Massachusetts, USA.

 Falling Stars are tiny bits of dust and rock called meteoroids that fall into the earth’s atmosphere. The short-lived trail of light these burning meteoroids produce is called a meteor or a Shooting Star. Many people believe making a wish in its presence comes true!

And if you are crying over your Hairfall, this one is for you. Upto 200 a day is normal!
Hope you don’t pull out 200 while you rack your brains…..

Guess the “fall” that falls into place:

1. A raptor that can live in mountains, deserts, forests, sea cliffs and cities.
2. Residual radiation of radioactive dust from a nuclear explosion
3. Capital of Manipur
4. Migrating birds blown off course by the autumn winds while in flight.
5. Set of meteors moving through the earth’s atmosphere.
6. Flowing water rapidly dropping in elevation as it flows over a steep region used to generate hydroelectric power.

Identify the fall-o-ing rhymes

 

Leaving you with a little thought…
“If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.” – Falvia Weedn

Answers :
1. Falcon  2. Nuclear Fallout   3. Imphal   4. Bird Fallout   5. Meterorite Falls  6. Waterfall
Jack & Jill    b) Rock-a-bye-baby   c) Ring-a Ring-a roses  d) Five little monkeys jumping on the bed