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Binge-watching 📺 shows is something we’ve been doing long before we had OTT platforms. Way back in the early 2000s, we used to watch crime shows (the three CSI franchises, Criminal Minds, etc.) a bunch of episodes at a time. While the source of the content was questionable, this practice left us pretty much unable to go back to watching shows any other way. Now, of course, binge-watching is the norm and no one can go back to watching shows at the rate of an episode a week.
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We have, in the meantime, been binge-watching a different kind of series. Movie series 🎞️. We watched all the James Bond movies. Then we watched the Marvel movies – we watched them in the order of events, rather than in the order in which they were released. We were able to connect a lot more dots and enjoy the Marvel universe much more.
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One of the more epic binges we have engaged in was a hybrid one of several movies and a bunch of seasons – Battlestar Galactica took us about 3 months, and we were kept immersed in that universe for all that time. No wonder it is one of our favourite series ever!
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What have you been bingeing on lately?
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We had talked about assembling the ingredients for making Sol kadhi last time – we ended up making it several times. The kokum-y tangy drink 🥤 holds us in thrall so much that we have a bottle of it chilling in the fridge at all times. We take a shot of it every now and then because, why not! Here's a picture of the Sol kadhi we made. If that is tempting, here's the recipe we used to make it.
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A reminder: To ensure you don't miss any of our newsletters, move this email to your inbox. We always send all our newsletters from happystuff@sigamany.in – add it to your contacts so that you always get it in your inbox.
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Here's a Photo
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...instead of a thousand words
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A monk undergoing cupping therapy | Tonle Sap, Cambodia, 2015
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Cupping therapy is a practice where suction is applied to the skin using heated cups. Here the cups are heated with a burning firebrand before being applied to the skin. You can also see the cupping marks on the back of the monk applying the cups.
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Interesting Stuff
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Fun things we'd turn around and share with you if we were in the same room as you
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We’ve been great fans of Maru 🐈 for the longest time. Ever since he pushed his way through a box in the video that made him an internet sensation in late 2007, we have been following him on YouTube. We even bought Maru merchandise – a picture book in our case!
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Even if you have been a birder 🐦 for the shortest period of time, you are bound to come across a senior birder solemnly pointing out to you the incredible shock absorption system that protects a woodpecker’s brain from the bruising impact of bashing its head against a tree ten times a second. It is common sense, easy to see and imagine, and a fantastic nature nugget. Only thing is, it’s completely false, and it took till 2022 for scientists to figure it out. Read all about it in this entertaining piece in the Atlantic – How to Successfully Smash Your Face Against a Tree
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Navin: When we were kids, my brother and I were once taken to an air show at Sulur Air Force base. My memory of the actual event is fuzzy, but I remember vividly my mom later recounting how low the MiG 21s were flying – “If we had the cobweb duster in our hands we could have touched them.” Cobweb dusters – called ottarakuchi in Tamil – were typically about six or seven feet long and were used to clean (you guessed it right!) cobwebs from the ceiling, and were a fixture in pretty much every household that had a ceiling. Ever since then the image of my mom clearing the cobwebs from the bottom of a low-flying MiG 21 with an upraised ottarakuchi has been stuck in my head!
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All this rambling is just to introduce something interesting I came across. Apparently, in the 1970s, it was all the rage for the Indian Air Force to dress up their helicopters 🚁 as elephants whenever they did fly-pasts at events like the Republic Day parade. No, I am not making this up. You can read all about it and see the photos: The time when India had dancing elephant helicopters
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Fun Poll!
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What's a newsletter without a survey!
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The fun poll is truly revealing indeed! 80% of us are dunkers – clearly, it is the thing that separates us from the animals. 10% of us don’t eat anything, preferring a 100% liquid diet – we guess it takes all kinds. 5% find the idea of dunking disgusting – I would like to introduce you to good Queen V, who is responsible for all of our dunking habits but you would not be amused.
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And to the 5% who wanted the next question – here it is:
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Does exercising make you feel happy?
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We guess what we're asking is whether all the boffins who go on about endorphin highs are talking through their Harley Street hats, or if there's any truth in the saying that the more you run the happier you are. We just made that up, but do tell us what you think.
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Nostalgia Kick
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This 1986 ad for Maltova featuring Krishnamachari Srikkanth as a star fielder is all our childhoods. Can’t you hear the jingle, “…with malt, wheat, cocoa and barley” in your head right now?
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Navin's Atrocious Translations
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Tamil movie song lyrics translated for comic effect
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Last week’s song was Ale Ale from Boys – a sitter one would have thought, but only Vibhu managed to crack it.
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This week’s song is a classic example of the genre. Very catchy, easily becomes an earworm, and completely meaningless! See what you think about it – and if you can identify it :)
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Something something
Thoughts are crowding my mind
Colours are crowding my thoughts
Eyes are darkening in thought
Something something
Is sprouting in my mind
At the time of cutting and throwing away
The bud is untied from the creeper
Why
A blurry illusion
An unformed tomorrow
Why
A blurry illusion
My day dawns half-heartedly
Something something
Glitters and disappears from my vision
Approaches and moves away from my path
Spills and scatters in my sight
Something something
Is trapped and distressed in my mind
Spreads its wings in my dreams
Leaves me and flies in the distance
You and me
Are we machines
Are we someone else’s magic
Oh flower!
Exposed to the breath of a kiss, I was spoilt
When you came and stood near me
I planned and moved away
Don’t come near girl
My heart will become poison
Don’t call me girl
My fears will become sealed
It’s enough if you destroy me with your laughter
[Some ‘rap’ that is better left untranslated]
Why the hurry for my eyes to search for you everywhere?
In a crowd of noises
Why the miracle of my ears recognizing your voice
Did I bring my eyes only to dream dreams
To see a question and then an answer
Did I bring forth tears
Am I a baby who steals shadows?
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Recycled Happiness!
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A fun post from one of our blogs
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Under attack by villainous winged vermin and thwarted at every turn, I have to dig deep into my fighting reserves to face the flying scum that desecrates all that we hold dear. Do I rise to the occasion? Or do the birds have the last cackle? Find out this and more in this thrilling post!
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That's it for this issue, folks! Feel free to write to us at happystuff@sigamany.in or just fill out the form here with your thoughts, ideas and good wishes :)
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See you in the next issue!
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Disclaimer: We have no affiliation, commercial or otherwise, with any products and services we mention in the newsletter.
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