A Swiss millionnaire, who apparently has too much of money, forms a foundation which decides to take upon itself the onerous and benign task of hunting around the globe for the Seven Wonders of the World. Ofcourse, someone had already 'discovered' the Seven Wonders of the World, and so this noble quest becomes a hunt for the 'New Seven Wonders of the World'.
With adequate hype and advertisement, complemented all the way through by the media's support, nearly a hundred million 'learned' people from around the globe, obviously after a lot of education and research into human history, culture, art and architecture, voted from amongst twenty one sites, the Seven New Wonders of the World.
The Taj Mahal, located in India, no doubt one of the finest illustrations of human creativity and man-made beauty, has gotten selected into this elite list. Now, India's population is a little more than one billion, of which eight percent or, in absolute numbers, eighty million are unemployed. Most of these unemployed persons live in the cities, where there is adequate access to the internet and television. Add to this the fact that Indians decide to vote for the Taj, as evidenced by the Indian media and the numerous e-mail forwards I received myself, more on patriotic grounds, rather than for the heritage, architecture and beauty of the monument.
Now, take the rest of the World population of five and a half billion. The majority of these in China are busy duplicating everything made in the west, at one tenth their prices and selling them back to the west. The Europeans and Japs are busy making economic and industrial progress. The Arabs are busy fighting each other and the Australians are busy playing sports (the Aussies are too few to make any difference anyway). The Americans are busy 'enforcing' peace in the world, while one square meal a day and staying alive are all the wonders the Africans care about. So, was it ever in doubt that the Taj Mahal wouldn't be in this list of the 'New Seven Wonders of the World'?
What I find funny isn't any of this. A newspaper article goes, 'The Agra Mayor Anjula Singh received the award' (on behalf of the Taj Mahal, I guess) 'amid thunderous applause for the monument of marble that is hailed as a symbol of love and passion'. Reading this, I did google to find out if Ms. Anjula happens to be a descendant of Emperor Shah Jahan, (who built the monument in memory of his deceased wife), inspite of the trouble with the surname. Apparently she isn't. Perhaps Ms. Anjula personally visits the monument every morning with soap water and mop.
With adequate hype and advertisement, complemented all the way through by the media's support, nearly a hundred million 'learned' people from around the globe, obviously after a lot of education and research into human history, culture, art and architecture, voted from amongst twenty one sites, the Seven New Wonders of the World.
The Taj Mahal, located in India, no doubt one of the finest illustrations of human creativity and man-made beauty, has gotten selected into this elite list. Now, India's population is a little more than one billion, of which eight percent or, in absolute numbers, eighty million are unemployed. Most of these unemployed persons live in the cities, where there is adequate access to the internet and television. Add to this the fact that Indians decide to vote for the Taj, as evidenced by the Indian media and the numerous e-mail forwards I received myself, more on patriotic grounds, rather than for the heritage, architecture and beauty of the monument.
Now, take the rest of the World population of five and a half billion. The majority of these in China are busy duplicating everything made in the west, at one tenth their prices and selling them back to the west. The Europeans and Japs are busy making economic and industrial progress. The Arabs are busy fighting each other and the Australians are busy playing sports (the Aussies are too few to make any difference anyway). The Americans are busy 'enforcing' peace in the world, while one square meal a day and staying alive are all the wonders the Africans care about. So, was it ever in doubt that the Taj Mahal wouldn't be in this list of the 'New Seven Wonders of the World'?
What I find funny isn't any of this. A newspaper article goes, 'The Agra Mayor Anjula Singh received the award' (on behalf of the Taj Mahal, I guess) 'amid thunderous applause for the monument of marble that is hailed as a symbol of love and passion'. Reading this, I did google to find out if Ms. Anjula happens to be a descendant of Emperor Shah Jahan, (who built the monument in memory of his deceased wife), inspite of the trouble with the surname. Apparently she isn't. Perhaps Ms. Anjula personally visits the monument every morning with soap water and mop.
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