The river tour was almost over when their guide, Singh, pointed to impressive ruins. “This was the castle of Prince Prakash in 1034 AD. He studied the secrets of time and space.”
“Ooh,” snickered Lydia. “Did he achieve Oneness?”
“No,” grinned Singh. “But he designed a working spaceship.”
“Right,” groaned Barry.
“He shared his invention with everyone. He made them promise to keep the secret away from foreigners forever. If we shared the secret – he warned – we’d lose our culture.”
“C’mon!” said Lydia.
“I don’t believe that,” said Singh.
“That’s better,” said Barry.
“I think we should share the secret!”
“Well it’s a nice story,” said Barry. The two Americans off-boarded quickly.
“I can prove it!” protested Singh.
“Sure you can,” said Barry. “C’mon Lydia. Let’s find some Pakora.”
Behind them, Singh shrugged. “No one ever believes.” He hovered his boat above the water on counter-gravity beams, and engaged the stardrive.
________________________________
Written for “What Pegman saw:” https://whatpegmansaw.com/2017/01/07/burhanpur/
Author’s Notes: Pakora is deep fried vegetables from India. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakora
Love it! Always fun getting the best of skeptics.
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Isn’t it , though? Something awesome right under their noses. Whoever stops to listen will become a trillionaire, easily. Thanks so much! 🙂
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Nice post!
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Thanks bunches, Ted! 🙂
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Love the science fiction twist!
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Oh yeah, lots of science fiction here. Stay tuned. Thanks kindly! 🙂
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Ah, so India knows the secret of space and time. Finally, a scientific explanation how everything in India takes forever, but Bollywood can make 10,000 movies a year.
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Are you referring to India’s new Tejas fighter plane? Took 30 years in development? Yeah, if all the effort that goes into Bollywood went into fighter development, they’d finish in a month!
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Did i hear you snigger there? If so i should say that is highly inappropriate. As an Indian i can say a lot of good as well as bad things about my country but i hope you shall be mindful of your tone in future. Minimum courtsey is after expected and the norm as well.
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No, sir. There was no “snigger” there. Bear in mind that I could poll 10,000 Americans on the street and I’d be lucky if 2 of them had ever heard of the Tejas. The fact that I know about it at all should tell you something positive. I’ve been following the aircraft’s development a very long time and have been looking forward to it. It’s a major deal because it’s India’s first domestically designed and produced fighter, and it would mean good things for India’s economy if they can sell it abroad. HAL (if you’re unfamiliar is: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) has been around a long time, so they know aircraft. One of my favorite Indian aircraft is the Ajeet, which is an Indian-produced version of the Folland Gnat. They upgraded it and made a front-line fighter out of it. So perhaps you can imagine I have high hopes for the Tejas. It’s just disappointing that the development took so long, especially considering the wealth of aviation experience at HAL. Keeping all this in mind, I hope you can now understand that my thoughts were never intended to insult or demean. They are more akin to wishing a favorite sports team would make it to the championship “sooner,” because you want your favorite team to win. Make sense?
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Your clarification is well appreciated. It feels better especially considering the fact that a lot of people have made it almost a fashion statement to deride others and that includes people and places and even countries without understanding even the basic facts of the issue.
I hope they do remember that as no one is perfect at best we can strive towards perfection and hence a positive attitude is always essential. Have a nice day, my friend.
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Really funny. And damn, but I want Pakora now!
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That was exactly what I was going to say. Mmm, pakora.
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The whole time I was writing this, I was thinking about Indian food. Very hungry by the time I finished!
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I try to remember to only write about food when I have that food available to satisfy my predictable craving. Then I forget anyway.
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Thank you! And yeah, I could go for some pakora now, and some mint chutney to dip it in. Yum!
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I’d believe you Singh; anything is possible. Oh yeah, count me in for the Pakora!
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I think Singh would accept anyone who’s willing to listen, and his wife would serve you pakora while you heard the story! 😉
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Yes!!!
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Dear Eric,
I love Indian food! Now I’m hungry. Leave it to you to turn an Indian tour into sci-fi. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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You know me. I need to get my sci-fi on. And, it’s true that smart and beautiful people love Indian food. 😉 Thanks so much, Rochelle! 🙂
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I think we would be amazed if we truly knew all of the innovations that came centuries before. The imagination can be a powerful tool. Love the story! 🙂
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Yeah, it’s things the ancients knew that inspired me. The Egyptians conducted brain surgery. Wow! Lots of other things are surprising. Glad you enjoyed this one. Thanks much! 🙂
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A spaceship and food porn, what else could a girl want?
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Haha! Food porn is a common theme here at Momus News, spaceships too. Thanks very much! 🙂
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