India’s Dangerous Human-Powered Ferris Wheels
How do you keep the fun going at fairs in a country affected by frequent power cuts and blackouts? Simple, just hire a bunch of workers to dangle from the bars of manual ferris wheels to keep it in motion. India’s human-powered ferris wheels recently made headlines in Western media after a video of one […]
Indian City Introduces Cardboard Traffic Policemen
They work seven days a week regardless of weather condition, never go on breaks, don’t take bribes and best of all, they require no pay. They are – wait for it – Bangalore’s new lifelike cardboard traffic policemen, and they’re watching you! India’s tech-city of Bangalore has been facing serious difficulties dealing with traffic violations. […]
The Indian Coin Divers of Yamuna River
It sometimes amazes me how humans are able to find a source of livelihood in almost any type of environment, in accordance with their surroundings. Case-in-point, the coin divers of the Yamuna River, in Delhi, India’s capital city. This unique group of men works around the year, braving the bone-chilling cold waters even during winters, […]
Indian Sculptor Makes Creepy Bust of Favorite Politician from His Own Blood
An Indian man known only as Hussaini has recently unveiled a shocking work of art – a bust of J. Jayalalitha, Chief Minister of the Tamil Nadu state, made from 11 litres of frozen human blood, donated by him and 32 of his students. Apparently, nothing shows admiration for a person like making a creepy sculpture of them […]
Golden Baba – Indian Holy Man Tells Followers to Live Frugally But Drapes Himself in Gold
His real name is Bittu Bhagat, but his fascination with gold earned him the nickname “Golden Baba”. Claiming to be a living saint, this Indian holy man tells his followers to live in poverty, while he covers himself in gold clothes and accessories worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Golden Baba has apparently been in […]
Education Anywhere – Underprivileged Indian Children Attend Outdoor School under a Bridge
40-year-old Rajesh Kumar Sharma, from New Delhi, started a makeshift school under a metro bridge, where he teaches children from the city’s slums too poor to attend regular schools. He believes education is the most important weapon for India’s youth, and if they don’t have it, they are doomed for life. Mr. Sharma is not a […]
Gold-Obsessed Man Shows Off Solid Gold Shirt, Takes Pimping to a Whole New Level
Datta Phuge, a chit fund businessman from Pimpri, India, refers to himself as “The Gold Man of Pimpri” and in order to live up to this image, he has recently commissioned a 22-karat gold shirt weighing 3.2 kilograms that’s bound to make some Western rappers green with envy. According to India Today, gold-obsessed businessmen and […]
Indian Believers Roll in Food Scraps of Higher Caste to Cure Their Illnesses
A century old ritual in India dictates that those considered low-caste Hindus must roll in the remains of food eaten by members of a higher caste. But it’s not the ritual itself that’s strange. The strange part is that while social activists are actually seeking to outlaw the practice, the ‘low-caste’ Hindus don’t want to […]
The Gulabi Gang – India’s Pink-Wearing Female Vigilantes
The women of Bundelkhand, in Uttar Pradesh, India, do not need superheroes to come to their rescue. They depend on a group of their own clan – The Gulabi Gang – during times of distress. The gang members are vigilantes who go above and beyond the duties of a local neighborhood crime watch. Their chosen […]
Indian Men Get Trampled by Cattle in Traditional Ritual
In villages around the Ujain region, in India’s central state of Madhya Pradesh, men lay down on the ground and have their cattle trample all over them, as part of a bizarre centuries-old ritual. There are a many things people will do in order to have their prayers answered by their gods, but until today, I […]
Dashrath Manjhi – The Man Who Moved a Mountain
Dasrath Manjhi, a landless farmer from India, made history after he spent over two decades chiseling away at a mountain with rudimentary tools, in order to create a road for his community, when the Government refused to. If you’re looking for some motivation, stories don’t get much more inspirational than that of Dasrath Manjhi. 53 years […]
Gotmar Mela – India’s Centuries-Old Stone Pelting War
For over three hundred years, the residents of Pandhurna and Sawargaon, two Indian villages located on the banks of the river Jaam, have been engaging in a bizarre stone-pelting ritual called Gotmar Mela that leaves hundreds critically injured and even dead. The stone war of Gotmar Mela, as its sometimes referred to, takes place every […]
World’s Smelliest Man Hasn’t Bathed in 38 Years
A lot of people can’t imagine going through a day without taking at least one shower, but 66-year-old Kailash Singh, from India, hasn’t taken a bath in over 38 years, and says he’s happier than a lot of people who wash their bodies every day. But what can possibly make a man give up the daily […]
Banking Is Child’s Play – Indian Street Kids Create Efficient Financial System
They say the banking system is very complicated, but try telling that to a bunch of Indian street kids who set up a model bank with tens of branches all over South-East Asia. In order to save money for a brighter future, a group of Indian children have created their own bank, where they can […]
Dining with the Dead at India’s New Lucky Restaurant
In a land like India, where life and death intertwine so naturally, and reincarnation is such an important part of religion, what better place to build a restaurant than in the middle of an old Muslim cemetery? They say the milky tea and buttery rolls at the New Lucky restaurant in Ahmedabad, India, are to die […]