‘Lionhearted’ Girl Bikes Dad Across India, Inspiring a Nation
A 15-year-old migrant girl pedaled hundreds of miles to bring her injured father back to their home village. India’s cycling federation has taken notice.
NEW DELHI — She was a 15-year-old with a simple mission: bring papa home.
Jyoti Kumari and her dad had nearly no money, no transport, and their village was halfway across India.
And her dad, an out-of-work migrant laborer, was injured and could barely walk.
So Jyoti told her dad: Let me take you home. He thought the idea was crazy but went along with it. She then jumped on a $20 purple bike bought with the last of their savings. With her dad perched on the rear, she pedaled from the outskirts of New Delhi to their home village, 700 miles away.
"Don’t worry, mummy,” she reassured her mother along the way, using borrowed cellphones. “I will get Papa home good.”
During the past two months under India’s coronavirus lockdown, millions of migrant laborers and their families have poured out of India’s cities, desperate and penniless, as they try to get back to their native villages where they can rely on family networks to survive.
Many haven’t made it. Some have been crushed by trains; others run over by trucks. A few have simply collapsed while trudging down a long, hot highway, dead from exhaustion.
But amid all this pain and sadness now emerges a tale of devotion and straight-up grit. The Indian press has seized upon this feel-good story, gushing about Jyoti the “lionhearted.”
And a few days ago, the story got even better.
While resting up in her village, Jyoti received a call from the Cycling Federation of India. Convinced she had the right stuff, Onkar Singh, the federation’s chairman, invited her to New Delhi for a tryout with the national team.
Photo and more...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/worl ... 778d3e6de3
AMAZING STORIES
Mother Goose Takes Care Of 47 Babies And Keeps Them All Safe
Mike Digout has never been a big fan of Canadian geese. But this spring his views changed after meeting one remarkable mother goose caring for a very large family.
Since work from home started, Digout has been taking walks along the Saskatchewan riverbank near his home in Saskatoon and bringing along his camera to capture the wildlife that lives there. That's where he first met the geese.
"I was out every night walking on the riverbank looking for beavers and, of course, there was a lot of geese activity as they were coming from the south and looking for a place to nest,” Digout told The Dodo. “It got to be quite entertaining to watch the geese fighting over places to nest and protecting their nests.”
In May, Digout noticed the first batch of goslings had hatched. “They’re so cute when they’re little — like little tennis balls with legs,” Digout said. “So I started taking pictures of the goslings while I was waiting for the beavers to come around.”
One night, Digout was sitting near some reeds along the riverbank when he saw a mother goose with an unusually large group of goslings. One by one, the babies started crawling under her feathers to go to sleep for the night, until he counted 16 fluffy bodies crowded under their mom's protective wings.
“I was stunned that this mom had 16 babies, so I started going back every night looking for this mom and her goslings,” Digout said. “And every day it seemed like she had a bigger group.”
Photos and more...
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/lifestyle/lif ... ailsignout
Mike Digout has never been a big fan of Canadian geese. But this spring his views changed after meeting one remarkable mother goose caring for a very large family.
Since work from home started, Digout has been taking walks along the Saskatchewan riverbank near his home in Saskatoon and bringing along his camera to capture the wildlife that lives there. That's where he first met the geese.
"I was out every night walking on the riverbank looking for beavers and, of course, there was a lot of geese activity as they were coming from the south and looking for a place to nest,” Digout told The Dodo. “It got to be quite entertaining to watch the geese fighting over places to nest and protecting their nests.”
In May, Digout noticed the first batch of goslings had hatched. “They’re so cute when they’re little — like little tennis balls with legs,” Digout said. “So I started taking pictures of the goslings while I was waiting for the beavers to come around.”
One night, Digout was sitting near some reeds along the riverbank when he saw a mother goose with an unusually large group of goslings. One by one, the babies started crawling under her feathers to go to sleep for the night, until he counted 16 fluffy bodies crowded under their mom's protective wings.
“I was stunned that this mom had 16 babies, so I started going back every night looking for this mom and her goslings,” Digout said. “And every day it seemed like she had a bigger group.”
Photos and more...
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/lifestyle/lif ... ailsignout
MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN - Official Trailer (ft. Jennifer Garner)
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CldGTG6iVrU
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CldGTG6iVrU
Mom gives birth to child aboard plane
Video:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/lifestyle/fam ... ailsignout
A woman went into labor while aboard a flight from New Delhi to Bangalore on Wednesday. Luckily, a gynecologist was present to help deliver the baby.
Video:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/lifestyle/fam ... ailsignout
A woman went into labor while aboard a flight from New Delhi to Bangalore on Wednesday. Luckily, a gynecologist was present to help deliver the baby.
Stunning field patterns seen from above
30 mysterious field patterns seen from above
Modern-day crop circles first appeared in the English countryside in the 1970s, with their intricacy and number steadily increasing over the years. Were they made by aliens, time travellers, strange vortices, or the wind? Are they simply an elaborate hoax created by humans or impressive works of art?
Read on and decide for yourself!
Slide show at:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/photos/s ... ut#image=1
30 mysterious field patterns seen from above
Modern-day crop circles first appeared in the English countryside in the 1970s, with their intricacy and number steadily increasing over the years. Were they made by aliens, time travellers, strange vortices, or the wind? Are they simply an elaborate hoax created by humans or impressive works of art?
Read on and decide for yourself!
Slide show at:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/photos/s ... ut#image=1
Woman Swallowed By Python As She Checked On Her Cornfield
The Editors
Women's Health Sun, April 25, 2021, 5:00 AM
Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images
A woman in Indonesia was swallowed whole by a python as she checked on her cornfields last week.
According to The Washington Post, citing the Jakarta Post, the woman's name was Wa Tiba, and lived on Muna Island off the coast of Sulawesi.
100 villagers from Persiapan Lawela searched the area and found a 23 foot-long snake with a very swollen belly. The villagers killed the snake, cut it open, and found Wa inside.
A woman in Indonesia was swallowed whole by a python as she checked on her cornfields last week. According to The Washington Post, citing the Jakarta Post, the woman's name was Wa Tiba and lived on Muna Island off the coast of Sulawesi. She left her home Thursday night to visit her cornfield about a half mile from her home.
Reticulated pythons are common in the area, but it was actually wild boars that Wa had been worried about initially because they'd be destroying her crops, according to the Jakarta Post's report.
When Wa didn't return, her sister went out to find her and found Wa's footprints, flashlight, slippers, and machete. On Friday, 100 villagers from Persiapan Lawela searched the area and found a 23 foot-long snake with a very swollen belly. The villagers killed the snake, cut it open, and found Wa inside intact. She probably didn't die inside the snake: A reticulated python secures its prey with a bite, then wraps its body around the victim, squeezing down until the victim cannot breathe, before consuming, according to the Associated Press.
Pythons are the longest snake in the world and usually only eat smaller mammals. However, a similar incident happened last year to a farmer from the nearby village of Salubiro on Sulawesi Island, according to The Washington Post.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/lifesty ... 00564.html
The Editors
Women's Health Sun, April 25, 2021, 5:00 AM
Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images
A woman in Indonesia was swallowed whole by a python as she checked on her cornfields last week.
According to The Washington Post, citing the Jakarta Post, the woman's name was Wa Tiba, and lived on Muna Island off the coast of Sulawesi.
100 villagers from Persiapan Lawela searched the area and found a 23 foot-long snake with a very swollen belly. The villagers killed the snake, cut it open, and found Wa inside.
A woman in Indonesia was swallowed whole by a python as she checked on her cornfields last week. According to The Washington Post, citing the Jakarta Post, the woman's name was Wa Tiba and lived on Muna Island off the coast of Sulawesi. She left her home Thursday night to visit her cornfield about a half mile from her home.
Reticulated pythons are common in the area, but it was actually wild boars that Wa had been worried about initially because they'd be destroying her crops, according to the Jakarta Post's report.
When Wa didn't return, her sister went out to find her and found Wa's footprints, flashlight, slippers, and machete. On Friday, 100 villagers from Persiapan Lawela searched the area and found a 23 foot-long snake with a very swollen belly. The villagers killed the snake, cut it open, and found Wa inside intact. She probably didn't die inside the snake: A reticulated python secures its prey with a bite, then wraps its body around the victim, squeezing down until the victim cannot breathe, before consuming, according to the Associated Press.
Pythons are the longest snake in the world and usually only eat smaller mammals. However, a similar incident happened last year to a farmer from the nearby village of Salubiro on Sulawesi Island, according to The Washington Post.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/lifesty ... 00564.html
These Twins Lived Together. In Covid, They Died Together.
The story of Joefred and Ralfred Gregory has resonated widely as India suffered the most virus deaths in a single day of any country during the pandemic.
NEW DELHI — Joefred and Ralfred Gregory moved through life as one.
They went to the same college. They studied the same thing. They wore matching clothes. They trimmed their beards the exact same way.
Identical twins, they were two handsome young men in northern India who above all else really loved each other. And when they both were struck by Covid-19 last month and hospitalized, it was like they shared one sick body.
Hours after Joefred died, Ralfred’s mother told him that his brother was still alive, to keep his spirits up.
But Ralfred sensed his brother was no more and said, from his hospital bed, “Mummy, you’re lying.”
The next day, on May 14, Ralfred died too.
The touching story of the twins who lived and died together has spread fast and wide on Indian social media, puncturing this nation’s numbing statistics — the daily Covid-19 case numbers, the death counts, the infection rates.
This is a country that has suffered so much and keeps suffering. Though India’s overall case numbers have dropped this past week, the deaths keep going up.
On Wednesday, India broke a world record for the most reported Covid deaths in a single day: 4,529. However alarming that number is — three Indians dying every minute because of the coronavirus — experts say that it is just a small fraction of the true toll and that the real numbers are far higher.
Joefred and Ralfred, 24, had a special bond. Though their parents gave them similar names, they said they didn’t raise the twins to copy each other. Still, neighbors said that where you saw one, you saw the other, even after they reached adulthood.
They grew up, along with an older brother, in a one-story bungalow in Meerut, a satellite town of New Delhi. Their parents were teachers at a Christian school. The family was among the few Christians in a mixed, middle-class neighborhood.
As boys, they batted cricket balls together in a vacant lot. Together they hunched over the carrom table, a popular Indian game played on a wooden board.
Joefred was three minutes older. But there were none of those older brother-younger brother issues.
“They were equals,” said their father, Gregory Raymond Raphael. “They argued, yes. But I never saw them hurt each other.”
They went by nicknames: Joefi and Ralfi.
As young men, they studied together: same year, same university in southern India, same subject, computer science. They wore their hair in the same style. They looked like mirror images.
Few people, besides their parents, could tell them apart. They were the same height, around six feet, with the same muscular build. Friends said that at weddings, birthday parties and just about all community events, Joefred and Ralfred not only dressed the same but also stuck together in a crowd.
“It was like they were merged,” said Manoj Kumar, a neighbor and family friend.
“There was immense love between the two of them,” he added.
Both were computer engineers, most recently working from home in Meerut, and on April 24, they came down with fevers at the same time, their father said. The family treated them at home, with some over-the-counter medicine, but began to worry as their condition worsened.
In late April and early May, India was suffering the worst surge of infections that any country had seen since the pandemic began.
So many people were getting infected at the same time, especially in northern India, where Meerut is, that hospitals couldn’t cope. Sick people were being turned away. They were dying in the streets, in the back seats of cars parked in vain outside hospital gates, at home, gasping for air.
There was a deadly shortage of lifesaving oxygen and medicine. It was the Covid nightmare that all nations have feared since the pandemic began, exploding with a fury.
A week into their sons’ illness, the family decided to seek help and found space in Anand Hospital, a private facility with a good reputation not far from their house. Both sons tested positive for Covid and a doctor at the hospital said that by that point, the disease had progressed frighteningly fast.
Both sons had very dangerous lung infections. Both were put on ventilators in the intensive care unit a few beds apart, Joefred in Bed 10, Ralfred in 14.
On the morning of May 13, Joefred, the older twin, was losing his battle. His blood oxygen levels dropped to 48 percent, his father said. Nothing could save him.
The twins’ mother, Soja, was visiting the I.C.U. at that moment. The doctors told her to leave. A few minutes later, around noon, they broke the news that Joefred had died.
The mother, overwhelmed with grief, then went back into the I.C.U. to check on Ralfred, who kept asking, “Where is Joefred? Where is Joefred?”
His mother told him that his brother had been transferred to a bigger hospital. “We thought his condition would get worse if we told him what happened,” his father said.
But Ralfred knew.
He said to his mom, “Mummy, you lied. You tell me the truth.”
But she didn’t.
Ralfred then went into depression, his doctor said. And the next morning, less than 24 hours after his brother died, so did he.
As word spread, leading Indian newspapers ran stories, showing the two brothers side by side in identical suits. Television stations jumped in as well, with their doctor talking about how thoroughly the virus had destroyed their lungs.
Joefred and Ralfred in matching suits.
Of all the thousands of deaths in recent days, these two seemed to really unsettle people, perhaps because the twins were just in their 20s and had looked so healthy, or maybe it was simply their closeness. Their story is as much about love as it is about death. Across social media, people exchanged messages such as “This is so heartbreaking!” and “How devastating it must be for the parents. So young …”
Their father says he feels as if his heart has been torn from his body.
“I keep thinking that maybe I shouldn’t have brought them to the hospital,” he said. “Maybe I should have kept them at home. There is a parental love that the hospital can’t give.”
“But there’s no use of saying, ‘If this could have happened, or that could happened,’” he said. “My children are gone now.”
Every day, he said, he visits the graveyard.
Beneath a young neem tree, Joefred and Ralfred Gregory are buried in two coffins but one grave.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/19/worl ... 778d3e6de3
The story of Joefred and Ralfred Gregory has resonated widely as India suffered the most virus deaths in a single day of any country during the pandemic.
NEW DELHI — Joefred and Ralfred Gregory moved through life as one.
They went to the same college. They studied the same thing. They wore matching clothes. They trimmed their beards the exact same way.
Identical twins, they were two handsome young men in northern India who above all else really loved each other. And when they both were struck by Covid-19 last month and hospitalized, it was like they shared one sick body.
Hours after Joefred died, Ralfred’s mother told him that his brother was still alive, to keep his spirits up.
But Ralfred sensed his brother was no more and said, from his hospital bed, “Mummy, you’re lying.”
The next day, on May 14, Ralfred died too.
The touching story of the twins who lived and died together has spread fast and wide on Indian social media, puncturing this nation’s numbing statistics — the daily Covid-19 case numbers, the death counts, the infection rates.
This is a country that has suffered so much and keeps suffering. Though India’s overall case numbers have dropped this past week, the deaths keep going up.
On Wednesday, India broke a world record for the most reported Covid deaths in a single day: 4,529. However alarming that number is — three Indians dying every minute because of the coronavirus — experts say that it is just a small fraction of the true toll and that the real numbers are far higher.
Joefred and Ralfred, 24, had a special bond. Though their parents gave them similar names, they said they didn’t raise the twins to copy each other. Still, neighbors said that where you saw one, you saw the other, even after they reached adulthood.
They grew up, along with an older brother, in a one-story bungalow in Meerut, a satellite town of New Delhi. Their parents were teachers at a Christian school. The family was among the few Christians in a mixed, middle-class neighborhood.
As boys, they batted cricket balls together in a vacant lot. Together they hunched over the carrom table, a popular Indian game played on a wooden board.
Joefred was three minutes older. But there were none of those older brother-younger brother issues.
“They were equals,” said their father, Gregory Raymond Raphael. “They argued, yes. But I never saw them hurt each other.”
They went by nicknames: Joefi and Ralfi.
As young men, they studied together: same year, same university in southern India, same subject, computer science. They wore their hair in the same style. They looked like mirror images.
Few people, besides their parents, could tell them apart. They were the same height, around six feet, with the same muscular build. Friends said that at weddings, birthday parties and just about all community events, Joefred and Ralfred not only dressed the same but also stuck together in a crowd.
“It was like they were merged,” said Manoj Kumar, a neighbor and family friend.
“There was immense love between the two of them,” he added.
Both were computer engineers, most recently working from home in Meerut, and on April 24, they came down with fevers at the same time, their father said. The family treated them at home, with some over-the-counter medicine, but began to worry as their condition worsened.
In late April and early May, India was suffering the worst surge of infections that any country had seen since the pandemic began.
So many people were getting infected at the same time, especially in northern India, where Meerut is, that hospitals couldn’t cope. Sick people were being turned away. They were dying in the streets, in the back seats of cars parked in vain outside hospital gates, at home, gasping for air.
There was a deadly shortage of lifesaving oxygen and medicine. It was the Covid nightmare that all nations have feared since the pandemic began, exploding with a fury.
A week into their sons’ illness, the family decided to seek help and found space in Anand Hospital, a private facility with a good reputation not far from their house. Both sons tested positive for Covid and a doctor at the hospital said that by that point, the disease had progressed frighteningly fast.
Both sons had very dangerous lung infections. Both were put on ventilators in the intensive care unit a few beds apart, Joefred in Bed 10, Ralfred in 14.
On the morning of May 13, Joefred, the older twin, was losing his battle. His blood oxygen levels dropped to 48 percent, his father said. Nothing could save him.
The twins’ mother, Soja, was visiting the I.C.U. at that moment. The doctors told her to leave. A few minutes later, around noon, they broke the news that Joefred had died.
The mother, overwhelmed with grief, then went back into the I.C.U. to check on Ralfred, who kept asking, “Where is Joefred? Where is Joefred?”
His mother told him that his brother had been transferred to a bigger hospital. “We thought his condition would get worse if we told him what happened,” his father said.
But Ralfred knew.
He said to his mom, “Mummy, you lied. You tell me the truth.”
But she didn’t.
Ralfred then went into depression, his doctor said. And the next morning, less than 24 hours after his brother died, so did he.
As word spread, leading Indian newspapers ran stories, showing the two brothers side by side in identical suits. Television stations jumped in as well, with their doctor talking about how thoroughly the virus had destroyed their lungs.
Joefred and Ralfred in matching suits.
Of all the thousands of deaths in recent days, these two seemed to really unsettle people, perhaps because the twins were just in their 20s and had looked so healthy, or maybe it was simply their closeness. Their story is as much about love as it is about death. Across social media, people exchanged messages such as “This is so heartbreaking!” and “How devastating it must be for the parents. So young …”
Their father says he feels as if his heart has been torn from his body.
“I keep thinking that maybe I shouldn’t have brought them to the hospital,” he said. “Maybe I should have kept them at home. There is a parental love that the hospital can’t give.”
“But there’s no use of saying, ‘If this could have happened, or that could happened,’” he said. “My children are gone now.”
Every day, he said, he visits the graveyard.
Beneath a young neem tree, Joefred and Ralfred Gregory are buried in two coffins but one grave.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/19/worl ... 778d3e6de3
BBC
Ganges river: India boatman praised for saving baby girl floating in a box
Thu, June 17, 2021, 5:01 AM
The baby girl found in the wooden box
The 21-day-old baby girl has been taken to hospital
A boatman in India's northern Uttar Pradesh state is being praised after he rescued a baby girl found floating in a wooden box in the Ganges river.
Gullu Chaudhary said he was alerted by the cries of the 21-day-old and found her wrapped in a red scarf in the box decorated with images of Hindu deities.
The baby has been taken to hospital and her health is being monitored. She will be sent to a shelter home later.
Officials are investigating how the baby ended up in the river.
They have not speculated on possible motives for the abandonment, but India's gender ratio is one of the worst in the world. Women are often discriminated against socially and girls are seen as a financial burden, particularly among poor communities.
Although most unwanted female foetuses are aborted with help from illegal sex determination clinics, cases of baby girls being killed or abandoned after birth are not uncommon either.
The baby girl in the wooden box
The infant was found in a wooden box decorated with images of Hindu deities
Police said the box had a birth horoscope card which had the time and date of the baby's birth, and mentioned her name as Ganga - the Hindi name for river Ganges.
The state government said it would bear the costs of the baby's nurturing. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced that the boatman would be rewarded with government benefits, including a house, for showing a "matchless example of humanity".
Officials in Ghazipur district, where the baby was rescued, told reporters that District Magistrate MP Singh had checked on the baby and that officials were also sent to meet the boatman.
Mr Chaudhary told local reporters that when people on the river bank heard the baby girl's cries, no one stepped forward to help. "But I rushed to rescue her. When I opened the wooden box, I found her."
The incident created a stir as a crowd gathered on the banks of the river. Videos shot at the scene showed the boatman picking up the box from the water and cradling the newborn in his arms.
He then took the baby to his house from where police picked her up and the child welfare officials took her to hospital.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/ga ... 49172.html
Ganges river: India boatman praised for saving baby girl floating in a box
Thu, June 17, 2021, 5:01 AM
The baby girl found in the wooden box
The 21-day-old baby girl has been taken to hospital
A boatman in India's northern Uttar Pradesh state is being praised after he rescued a baby girl found floating in a wooden box in the Ganges river.
Gullu Chaudhary said he was alerted by the cries of the 21-day-old and found her wrapped in a red scarf in the box decorated with images of Hindu deities.
The baby has been taken to hospital and her health is being monitored. She will be sent to a shelter home later.
Officials are investigating how the baby ended up in the river.
They have not speculated on possible motives for the abandonment, but India's gender ratio is one of the worst in the world. Women are often discriminated against socially and girls are seen as a financial burden, particularly among poor communities.
Although most unwanted female foetuses are aborted with help from illegal sex determination clinics, cases of baby girls being killed or abandoned after birth are not uncommon either.
The baby girl in the wooden box
The infant was found in a wooden box decorated with images of Hindu deities
Police said the box had a birth horoscope card which had the time and date of the baby's birth, and mentioned her name as Ganga - the Hindi name for river Ganges.
The state government said it would bear the costs of the baby's nurturing. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced that the boatman would be rewarded with government benefits, including a house, for showing a "matchless example of humanity".
Officials in Ghazipur district, where the baby was rescued, told reporters that District Magistrate MP Singh had checked on the baby and that officials were also sent to meet the boatman.
Mr Chaudhary told local reporters that when people on the river bank heard the baby girl's cries, no one stepped forward to help. "But I rushed to rescue her. When I opened the wooden box, I found her."
The incident created a stir as a crowd gathered on the banks of the river. Videos shot at the scene showed the boatman picking up the box from the water and cradling the newborn in his arms.
He then took the baby to his house from where police picked her up and the child welfare officials took her to hospital.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/ga ... 49172.html
Herd Of Elephants March For 12 Hours To Attend Saviours Funeral
A herd of elephants marched a whole 12 hours to the house of Lawrence Anthony, a man who saved them, after he had died and stayed there, silent for two days.
Preciscley one year after his death, the same herd marched to his house again to pay there respects, this is something science cannot explain.
Lawrence Anthony was a great man, he created the Thula Thula Game Reserve in South Africa and opened its doors to wild elephants.
He was known as ‘The Elephant Whisperer’ and took it in his stride to nurture these huge intelligent animals. He began treating them like children, using words and gestures to let them know they were safe with him.
He focused on the matriarch, since elephant herds are always headed up by one, this was a good way to connect with the rest of the elephants.
He connected very well with one Matriarch called Nana, she and the herd grew very fond of Lawrence and his wife, they would even spend time in their house.
After years of great conservation work as well as building strong bonds with the local elephant herds and other animals, Lawrence, unfortunately, passed away.
Upon his passing, Nana led two elephant herds on a 12-hour journey to Lawrence’s house to pay their respects. They remained outside of the house for two full days as they stood vigil before returning to their lives.
What’s even more amazing is that nobody told the herds about his death, they just knew.
http://35.173.120.241/of-elephants-marc ... s-funeral/
A herd of elephants marched a whole 12 hours to the house of Lawrence Anthony, a man who saved them, after he had died and stayed there, silent for two days.
Preciscley one year after his death, the same herd marched to his house again to pay there respects, this is something science cannot explain.
Lawrence Anthony was a great man, he created the Thula Thula Game Reserve in South Africa and opened its doors to wild elephants.
He was known as ‘The Elephant Whisperer’ and took it in his stride to nurture these huge intelligent animals. He began treating them like children, using words and gestures to let them know they were safe with him.
He focused on the matriarch, since elephant herds are always headed up by one, this was a good way to connect with the rest of the elephants.
He connected very well with one Matriarch called Nana, she and the herd grew very fond of Lawrence and his wife, they would even spend time in their house.
After years of great conservation work as well as building strong bonds with the local elephant herds and other animals, Lawrence, unfortunately, passed away.
Upon his passing, Nana led two elephant herds on a 12-hour journey to Lawrence’s house to pay their respects. They remained outside of the house for two full days as they stood vigil before returning to their lives.
What’s even more amazing is that nobody told the herds about his death, they just knew.
http://35.173.120.241/of-elephants-marc ... s-funeral/
BBC
Quan Hongchan: Chinese teen diving star's village mobbed by fans
Waiyee Yip - BBC News
Mon, August 9, 2021, 2:41 AM
Gold medalist Quan Hongchan of China poses with a Chinese national flag during the medal ceremony for the Women 10m Platform Final.
Many people have been touched by Quan, who said she took up diving to help pay for her mother's medical bills.
China's teen diving sensation Quan Hongchan's family and neighbours have been harassed by tourists hoping to get social media "likes", local media say.
Ever since the 14-year-old won Olympic gold after delivering three perfect-10 dives, fans have rushed to her Maihe village home to take videos and photos.
Some persistent fans are even climbing trees for a better view.
Quan has received massive support online after she said she took up diving to pay her sick mother's bills.
Her story touched many people when she told reporters that she dedicated her Olympic win to her mother, who has been admitted to hospital many times after getting into a traffic accident years ago.
"I want to make enough money to support her," Quan had said in Tokyo.
On China's Twitter-like platform Weibo, the hashtag "how to view Quan Hongchan's home becoming an internet photo hotspot" was viewed more than 25 million times.
There was criticism over the actions of these influencers, who reportedly staked out the rural village in Guangdong province to livestream videos even after midnight.
Others knocked on the door to take selfies with her family members, while some tried to steal jackfruit from her home as souvenirs, local media said.
"If people are going to her house just to get followers, that's despicable. Her mother is sick, she shouldn't be disturbed," one Weibo comment read.
The village has now been closed to visitors as the large crowds violated Covid control measures, reports say.
Due to her years of training, the farmer's daughter said she had never been to a zoo or amusement park.
Her comments prompted a safari and amusement park in Guangzhou to announce free annual membership cards to all Chinese diving team members.
Other businesses and donors have come forth offering cash and gifts, including her favourite spicy street snack latiao - made from flour that is cooked and seasoned. Her father has reportedly declined cash gifts, and thanked donors for their "kind hearts".
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/qu ... 54524.html
Quan Hongchan: Chinese teen diving star's village mobbed by fans
Waiyee Yip - BBC News
Mon, August 9, 2021, 2:41 AM
Gold medalist Quan Hongchan of China poses with a Chinese national flag during the medal ceremony for the Women 10m Platform Final.
Many people have been touched by Quan, who said she took up diving to help pay for her mother's medical bills.
China's teen diving sensation Quan Hongchan's family and neighbours have been harassed by tourists hoping to get social media "likes", local media say.
Ever since the 14-year-old won Olympic gold after delivering three perfect-10 dives, fans have rushed to her Maihe village home to take videos and photos.
Some persistent fans are even climbing trees for a better view.
Quan has received massive support online after she said she took up diving to pay her sick mother's bills.
Her story touched many people when she told reporters that she dedicated her Olympic win to her mother, who has been admitted to hospital many times after getting into a traffic accident years ago.
"I want to make enough money to support her," Quan had said in Tokyo.
On China's Twitter-like platform Weibo, the hashtag "how to view Quan Hongchan's home becoming an internet photo hotspot" was viewed more than 25 million times.
There was criticism over the actions of these influencers, who reportedly staked out the rural village in Guangdong province to livestream videos even after midnight.
Others knocked on the door to take selfies with her family members, while some tried to steal jackfruit from her home as souvenirs, local media said.
"If people are going to her house just to get followers, that's despicable. Her mother is sick, she shouldn't be disturbed," one Weibo comment read.
The village has now been closed to visitors as the large crowds violated Covid control measures, reports say.
Due to her years of training, the farmer's daughter said she had never been to a zoo or amusement park.
Her comments prompted a safari and amusement park in Guangzhou to announce free annual membership cards to all Chinese diving team members.
Other businesses and donors have come forth offering cash and gifts, including her favourite spicy street snack latiao - made from flour that is cooked and seasoned. Her father has reportedly declined cash gifts, and thanked donors for their "kind hearts".
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/qu ... 54524.html
The Guardian
Hansle Parchment thanks woman who paid for taxi to race where he won Olympic gold
Guardian sport
Wed, August 11, 2021, 11:52 AM
Jamaican hurdler Hansle Parchment has tracked down and thanked a Tokyo 2020 volunteer who paid for his taxi to the Olympic Stadium, where he subsequently won a gold medal.
Parchment told the story in a video posted to social media last weekend, which ended with him meeting the volunteer, whom he called Tiana. He thanked her, showed her the gold medal, gave her a Jamaican Olympic shirt and paid her back the money she had lent.
“You were instrumental in me getting to the final that day,” he told her before they posed for a photo.
Related: Highs, lows and burritos: the Guardian’s standout Tokyo moments
Tiana’s biggest prize may be yet to come though: the Sunday Gleaner reported Jamaica’s minister for tourism intends to host her on a trip to the Caribbean island.
“No matter where in the world she is, we want to reciprocate the kindness shown to one of our own,” Jamaica’s minister for tourism, Edmund Bartlett, told the Sunday Gleaner.
Parchment feared he would miss last Thursday’s 110m hurdles final when he got on the wrong coach and ended up at what he believes was one of the aquatics venues. All the official Tokyo 2020 cars were booked and taking a bus back to the Olympic village and then another to the stadium would have left him struggling to make the start of the final.
“If I had done that, I wouldn’t get there in time to even warm up. I had to find another way. I was trying to get one of the branded cars for the Games to take me, but these people are very strict and adhering to the rules, and I would have to have to book the car from beforehand to get it to leave,” he said on the video posted to social media.
That is when he saw Tiana. “I saw this volunteer and I had to beg, ‘cause of course she is not allowed to do much, and she actually gave me some money to take one of the taxis. And that’s how I was able to get to the warm-up in time, and had enough time to compete,” Parchment said.
Parchment won bronze at the 2012 Olympics but missed the Games in 2016 due to injury. The 31-year-old only finished third in the Jamaican trials for Tokyo and did not win either his heat or semifinal on his way to the final. However, once there he beat a high-quality field in a season-best time of 13.04 seconds to take the Olympic title.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/sports/ ... -165259243.
Hansle Parchment thanks woman who paid for taxi to race where he won Olympic gold
Guardian sport
Wed, August 11, 2021, 11:52 AM
Jamaican hurdler Hansle Parchment has tracked down and thanked a Tokyo 2020 volunteer who paid for his taxi to the Olympic Stadium, where he subsequently won a gold medal.
Parchment told the story in a video posted to social media last weekend, which ended with him meeting the volunteer, whom he called Tiana. He thanked her, showed her the gold medal, gave her a Jamaican Olympic shirt and paid her back the money she had lent.
“You were instrumental in me getting to the final that day,” he told her before they posed for a photo.
Related: Highs, lows and burritos: the Guardian’s standout Tokyo moments
Tiana’s biggest prize may be yet to come though: the Sunday Gleaner reported Jamaica’s minister for tourism intends to host her on a trip to the Caribbean island.
“No matter where in the world she is, we want to reciprocate the kindness shown to one of our own,” Jamaica’s minister for tourism, Edmund Bartlett, told the Sunday Gleaner.
Parchment feared he would miss last Thursday’s 110m hurdles final when he got on the wrong coach and ended up at what he believes was one of the aquatics venues. All the official Tokyo 2020 cars were booked and taking a bus back to the Olympic village and then another to the stadium would have left him struggling to make the start of the final.
“If I had done that, I wouldn’t get there in time to even warm up. I had to find another way. I was trying to get one of the branded cars for the Games to take me, but these people are very strict and adhering to the rules, and I would have to have to book the car from beforehand to get it to leave,” he said on the video posted to social media.
That is when he saw Tiana. “I saw this volunteer and I had to beg, ‘cause of course she is not allowed to do much, and she actually gave me some money to take one of the taxis. And that’s how I was able to get to the warm-up in time, and had enough time to compete,” Parchment said.
Parchment won bronze at the 2012 Olympics but missed the Games in 2016 due to injury. The 31-year-old only finished third in the Jamaican trials for Tokyo and did not win either his heat or semifinal on his way to the final. However, once there he beat a high-quality field in a season-best time of 13.04 seconds to take the Olympic title.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/sports/ ... -165259243.
‘Satan works in mysterious ways’: Newscast on Australian TV interrupted by devil-worshipping ceremony (VIDEO)
20 Aug, 2021 08:36 / Updated 12 hours ago
Australian TV channel ABC has accidentally shown its viewers footage from a Satanic ritual during the middle of a routine newscast. The blunder was linked online to a current court case about teaching Satanism in schools.
The excerpt from the news broadcast, posted by ABC Media Watch on Twitter, begins with anchor Yvonne Yong introducing a story about Queensland’s proposal to make it a criminal offense to injure or kill police dogs and horses.
As Yong pauses awkwardly, the audience sees silent footage of masked officials in suits. The broadcast then unexpectedly cuts to what appears to be the middle of a satanic ritual. A person donning a black robe proclaims “Hail, Satan,” while flanked by a large illuminated upside-down cross.
The broadcast cuts back to Yong, who, after a brief moment of silence, switches to a different story as if nothing had happened.
It is not clear whether the Satanic footage was part of another story, or had come from elsewhere, and ABC has not commented on the matter.
Several people online linked devil-worshippers with members of the Noosa Temple of Satan, which is currently suing Queensland’s Education Department to have religious instruction classes taught in schools.
According to Australian media, the Satanists, led by Robin Bristow, also known as Brother Samael Demo-Gorgon, want the federal government to scrap its religious discrimination bill and replace it with a human rights act.
The Noosa Temple of Satan retweeted the clip, adding that “Satan works in mysterious ways.”
Commenters on social media, meanwhile, joked that the newscast was an “unfair slight on Satanists,” and hoped for the clip to stay with 666 retweets, which it has now surpassed.
https://www.rt.com/news/532575-australi ... orship-tv/
20 Aug, 2021 08:36 / Updated 12 hours ago
Australian TV channel ABC has accidentally shown its viewers footage from a Satanic ritual during the middle of a routine newscast. The blunder was linked online to a current court case about teaching Satanism in schools.
The excerpt from the news broadcast, posted by ABC Media Watch on Twitter, begins with anchor Yvonne Yong introducing a story about Queensland’s proposal to make it a criminal offense to injure or kill police dogs and horses.
As Yong pauses awkwardly, the audience sees silent footage of masked officials in suits. The broadcast then unexpectedly cuts to what appears to be the middle of a satanic ritual. A person donning a black robe proclaims “Hail, Satan,” while flanked by a large illuminated upside-down cross.
The broadcast cuts back to Yong, who, after a brief moment of silence, switches to a different story as if nothing had happened.
It is not clear whether the Satanic footage was part of another story, or had come from elsewhere, and ABC has not commented on the matter.
Several people online linked devil-worshippers with members of the Noosa Temple of Satan, which is currently suing Queensland’s Education Department to have religious instruction classes taught in schools.
According to Australian media, the Satanists, led by Robin Bristow, also known as Brother Samael Demo-Gorgon, want the federal government to scrap its religious discrimination bill and replace it with a human rights act.
The Noosa Temple of Satan retweeted the clip, adding that “Satan works in mysterious ways.”
Commenters on social media, meanwhile, joked that the newscast was an “unfair slight on Satanists,” and hoped for the clip to stay with 666 retweets, which it has now surpassed.
https://www.rt.com/news/532575-australi ... orship-tv/
Archaeologists find skeleton, evidence of Greek in Pompeii
Tue, August 17, 2021, 4:53 AM
ROME (AP) — Archaeologists in the ancient city of Pompeii have discovered a remarkably well-preserved skeleton during excavations of a tomb that also shed light on the cultural life of the city before it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in AD 79.
A skull bearing tufts of white hair and part of an ear, as well as bones and fabric fragments, were found in the tomb in the necropolis of Porta Sarno, an area not yet open to the public that is located in the east of Pompeii’s urban center. The discovery is unusual since most adults were cremated at the time.
An inscription of the tomb suggested that its owner, a freed slave named Marcus Venerius Secundio, helped organize performances in Greek in Pompeii. Experts said it was the first confirmation that Greek, the language of culture in the Mediterranean, was used alongside Latin.
“That performances in Greek were organized is evidence of the lively and open cultural climate which characterized ancient Pompeii,” the director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, said in a statement announcing the discovery.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Zuchtriegel said Marcus Venerius clearly had been able to make a living for himself after he was freed as a slave, given the “monumental" size of his burial tomb. “He didn't become super rich, but certainly he reached a considerable level of wealth," Zuchtriegel said.
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD destroyed Pompeii. Excavations over the years have yielded remarkable discoveries of tombs, chariots and brilliantly frescoed homes.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/ar ... 11714.html
Tue, August 17, 2021, 4:53 AM
ROME (AP) — Archaeologists in the ancient city of Pompeii have discovered a remarkably well-preserved skeleton during excavations of a tomb that also shed light on the cultural life of the city before it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in AD 79.
A skull bearing tufts of white hair and part of an ear, as well as bones and fabric fragments, were found in the tomb in the necropolis of Porta Sarno, an area not yet open to the public that is located in the east of Pompeii’s urban center. The discovery is unusual since most adults were cremated at the time.
An inscription of the tomb suggested that its owner, a freed slave named Marcus Venerius Secundio, helped organize performances in Greek in Pompeii. Experts said it was the first confirmation that Greek, the language of culture in the Mediterranean, was used alongside Latin.
“That performances in Greek were organized is evidence of the lively and open cultural climate which characterized ancient Pompeii,” the director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, said in a statement announcing the discovery.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Zuchtriegel said Marcus Venerius clearly had been able to make a living for himself after he was freed as a slave, given the “monumental" size of his burial tomb. “He didn't become super rich, but certainly he reached a considerable level of wealth," Zuchtriegel said.
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD destroyed Pompeii. Excavations over the years have yielded remarkable discoveries of tombs, chariots and brilliantly frescoed homes.
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/ar ... 11714.html
-
swamidada786
- Posts: 69
- Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2025 8:56 pm
Re: AMAZING STORIES
Who is "Akka Mahadevi"? Why is she famous?
Around nine hundred years ago in southern India, there lived a female mystic called Akka Mahadevi. Akka was a devotee of Shiva. Ever since her childhood, she has regarded Shiva as her beloved , her husband .It was not not just a belief;for her it was a living reality.
A King saw this beautiful young woman one day, and decided he wanted her as his wife. She refused . But the king was adamant and threatened her parents, so she yielded.
She married the man, but she kept him at a physical distance. He tries to woo her,but her constant refrain was, “Shiva is my husband”. Time passes and the King’s patience wore thin. Infuriated,he tried to lay his hands upon her. She refused. “I have another husband. His name is Shiva. He visits me, and I am with him. I cannot be with you.”
Because she claimed to have another husband, she was brought to court for prosecution. Akka is said to have announced to all present, “Being a Queen doesn’t mean a thing to me. I will leave.”
When the king saw the ease with which she was walking away from everything, he made a last futile effort to salvage his dignity. He said, “Everything on your person— your jewels, your garments— belongs to me. Leave it all here and go.”
So, in the full assembly, Akka just dropped her jewelery, all her clothes, and walked away naked. From that day on, she refused to wear clothes even though many tried to convince her.
It was unbelievable for a woman to be walking naked on the streets of India at that time — and this was a beautiful young woman. She lived out her life as a wandering mendicant and composed some exquisite poetry that lives on to this very day.
In a poem(translated by A.k Ramanujan), she says:
People,
male and female,
blush when a cloth covering their shame
comes loose.
When the lord of lives
live drowned without a face
in the world, how can you be modest?
When all the world is the eye of the lord,
onlooking everywhere, what can you
cover and conceal?
Devotees of this kind may be in this world but not of it. The power and passion with which they lived their lives make them inspirations for generations of humanity. Akka continues to be a living presence in the Indian collective consciousness, and her lyrical poems remain among the most prized works of South Indian literature to this very day.
source: INNER ENGINEERING :A Yogi’s Guide to Joy ~SADHGURU
https://www.quora.com/
Around nine hundred years ago in southern India, there lived a female mystic called Akka Mahadevi. Akka was a devotee of Shiva. Ever since her childhood, she has regarded Shiva as her beloved , her husband .It was not not just a belief;for her it was a living reality.
A King saw this beautiful young woman one day, and decided he wanted her as his wife. She refused . But the king was adamant and threatened her parents, so she yielded.
She married the man, but she kept him at a physical distance. He tries to woo her,but her constant refrain was, “Shiva is my husband”. Time passes and the King’s patience wore thin. Infuriated,he tried to lay his hands upon her. She refused. “I have another husband. His name is Shiva. He visits me, and I am with him. I cannot be with you.”
Because she claimed to have another husband, she was brought to court for prosecution. Akka is said to have announced to all present, “Being a Queen doesn’t mean a thing to me. I will leave.”
When the king saw the ease with which she was walking away from everything, he made a last futile effort to salvage his dignity. He said, “Everything on your person— your jewels, your garments— belongs to me. Leave it all here and go.”
So, in the full assembly, Akka just dropped her jewelery, all her clothes, and walked away naked. From that day on, she refused to wear clothes even though many tried to convince her.
It was unbelievable for a woman to be walking naked on the streets of India at that time — and this was a beautiful young woman. She lived out her life as a wandering mendicant and composed some exquisite poetry that lives on to this very day.
In a poem(translated by A.k Ramanujan), she says:
People,
male and female,
blush when a cloth covering their shame
comes loose.
When the lord of lives
live drowned without a face
in the world, how can you be modest?
When all the world is the eye of the lord,
onlooking everywhere, what can you
cover and conceal?
Devotees of this kind may be in this world but not of it. The power and passion with which they lived their lives make them inspirations for generations of humanity. Akka continues to be a living presence in the Indian collective consciousness, and her lyrical poems remain among the most prized works of South Indian literature to this very day.
source: INNER ENGINEERING :A Yogi’s Guide to Joy ~SADHGURU
https://www.quora.com/
-
swamidada786
- Posts: 69
- Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2025 8:56 pm
Re: AMAZING STORIES
Trump look-alike sings to sell pudding in Pakistan
Reuters
Tue, January 14, 2025 at 2:31 AM CST·
Saleem Bagga seen by some as a lookalike of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Sahiwal
1 / 3
Trump look-alike sings to sell pudding in Pakistan
SAHIWAL, Pakistan (Reuters) - In a bustling market in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, a food vendor who locals say bears an uncanny resemblance to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump gets more business - and attention - than others.
"We feel as if Trump has come here to sell kheer (pudding)," said Mohammad Yaseen, a local resident who prefers to buy the dessert from Saleem Bagga, the look-alike vendor who also sings to draw customers.
"When he sings to sell kheer, we come down to him," Yaseen said.
Bagga, 53, pushes his colourful wooden cart along the road delivering the milky pudding, a black jacket over his beige shalwar kameez tunic to keep out the winter cold.
A crowd gathers as Bagga, who sports a distinctive blond quiff because of his albinism, sings the lyrics to a Punjabi song: "Now you come down to me my love, don't delay, my eyes are tired of waiting."
Local resident Imran Ashraf takes a selfie with Bagga.
"His kheer is really delicious ... we talk to him and we take selfies with him and we tell our friends that we have taken these pictures with Trump," Ashraf said.
Bagga is unfazed by the stream of attention and cameras that follow him throughout the market and even in his home neighbourhood in the district of Sahiwal.
"My face resembles Donald Trump, that is why people take selfies with me...I feel very good," he said, before extending an invitation.
"Donald Trump sahib (sir), you have won the election, now visit here and eat my kheer, you will really enjoy it," he said.
(Reporting by Reuters TV in Sahiwal, Pakistan; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/tr ... 24096.html
Reuters
Tue, January 14, 2025 at 2:31 AM CST·
Saleem Bagga seen by some as a lookalike of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Sahiwal
1 / 3
Trump look-alike sings to sell pudding in Pakistan
SAHIWAL, Pakistan (Reuters) - In a bustling market in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, a food vendor who locals say bears an uncanny resemblance to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump gets more business - and attention - than others.
"We feel as if Trump has come here to sell kheer (pudding)," said Mohammad Yaseen, a local resident who prefers to buy the dessert from Saleem Bagga, the look-alike vendor who also sings to draw customers.
"When he sings to sell kheer, we come down to him," Yaseen said.
Bagga, 53, pushes his colourful wooden cart along the road delivering the milky pudding, a black jacket over his beige shalwar kameez tunic to keep out the winter cold.
A crowd gathers as Bagga, who sports a distinctive blond quiff because of his albinism, sings the lyrics to a Punjabi song: "Now you come down to me my love, don't delay, my eyes are tired of waiting."
Local resident Imran Ashraf takes a selfie with Bagga.
"His kheer is really delicious ... we talk to him and we take selfies with him and we tell our friends that we have taken these pictures with Trump," Ashraf said.
Bagga is unfazed by the stream of attention and cameras that follow him throughout the market and even in his home neighbourhood in the district of Sahiwal.
"My face resembles Donald Trump, that is why people take selfies with me...I feel very good," he said, before extending an invitation.
"Donald Trump sahib (sir), you have won the election, now visit here and eat my kheer, you will really enjoy it," he said.
(Reporting by Reuters TV in Sahiwal, Pakistan; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/tr ... 24096.html
Re: AMAZING STORIES
image:swamidada786 wrote: Thu May 15, 2025 9:03 pm
Saleem Bagga seen by some as a lookalike of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Sahiwal
1 / 3
Trump look-alike sings to sell pudding in Pakistan
Re: AMAZING STORIES
How the Man in Seat 11A Became a Plane Crash’s Sole Survivor
Viswash Kumar Ramesh was one of 242 people on the 787-8 Dreamliner that went down shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad, India. Somehow, he walked away.
Video: https://nyti.ms/3ZXUwKY
Viswash Kumar Ramesh was one of 242 people on the 787-8 Dreamliner that went down shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad, India, and the only known survivor.CreditCredit...Narendra Modi Youtube Channel, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Mujib Mashal
By Mujib Mashal
Mujib Mashal
By Mujib Mashal
Reporting from New Delhi
June 13, 2025
Only the passenger in Seat 11A on Air India Flight 171 lived to tell the tale, a survival nothing short of a miracle.
When the Air India plane with 242 people onboard crashed into a building moments after taking off from the international airport in Ahmedabad, it burst into flames. The impact, heat and smoke were so intense, officials said, that escape was impossible.
Except for Viswash Kumar Ramesh, 38.
In the hours after the crash, grainy footage of a man with wounds on his face and blood on his shirt went viral on social media. He walked himself to an ambulance with a slight limp, and told a crowd around him that he had come “from inside” the plane.
Mr. Ramesh’s story initially appeared too good to be true; the crash was so severe that the bodies of most victims were charred beyond recognition, officials said. But by late evening, Air India confirmed that there had been one survivor, who was getting treatment at the hospital. Amit Shah, India’s home minister, said he had visited the survivor, and Indian media ran photos of Mr. Shah standing at Mr. Ramesh’s bedside.
“I still can’t believe how I got out alive,” Mr. Ramesh said on Friday in an interview from his hospital bed with India’s state broadcaster, Doordarshan. “I thought I was also about to die.”
Mr. Ramesh, who was seated in an exit row, said the plane had felt “stuck five or 10 seconds after takeoff,” and it seemed to be trying to accelerate when it crashed.
The front of the plane, after hitting buildings, crashed into an open area, he said, while the tail was stuck in a building, which was later identified as the dining facility of a medical college.
Mr. Ramesh said he unbuckled his seatbelt after the crash when he saw a chance for escape. He did not make clear whether he had to open the emergency exit he was sitting next to, or if the impact had caused it to open.
“When my door broke, I saw there was some space — that I could try to get out,” he said in the interview. “The other side, people couldn’t get out, as it was crushed against a wall.”
Mr. Ramesh, who is a British citizen, was returning to England after vacationing in India along with his brother Ajay, their younger brother Nayan said. Ajay, who the passenger list showed was seated in 11J on the right side of the plane, did not survive.
Shortly after the crash, Mr. Ramesh made a video call from near the wreckage to his family in Leicester to confirm he was safe, the younger brother said. There, the family home was a scene of both mourning for Ajay and stunned amazement that Viswash had somehow walked away.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/worl ... amesh.html
Viswash Kumar Ramesh was one of 242 people on the 787-8 Dreamliner that went down shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad, India. Somehow, he walked away.
Video: https://nyti.ms/3ZXUwKY
Viswash Kumar Ramesh was one of 242 people on the 787-8 Dreamliner that went down shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad, India, and the only known survivor.CreditCredit...Narendra Modi Youtube Channel, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Mujib Mashal
By Mujib Mashal
Mujib Mashal
By Mujib Mashal
Reporting from New Delhi
June 13, 2025
Only the passenger in Seat 11A on Air India Flight 171 lived to tell the tale, a survival nothing short of a miracle.
When the Air India plane with 242 people onboard crashed into a building moments after taking off from the international airport in Ahmedabad, it burst into flames. The impact, heat and smoke were so intense, officials said, that escape was impossible.
Except for Viswash Kumar Ramesh, 38.
In the hours after the crash, grainy footage of a man with wounds on his face and blood on his shirt went viral on social media. He walked himself to an ambulance with a slight limp, and told a crowd around him that he had come “from inside” the plane.
Mr. Ramesh’s story initially appeared too good to be true; the crash was so severe that the bodies of most victims were charred beyond recognition, officials said. But by late evening, Air India confirmed that there had been one survivor, who was getting treatment at the hospital. Amit Shah, India’s home minister, said he had visited the survivor, and Indian media ran photos of Mr. Shah standing at Mr. Ramesh’s bedside.
“I still can’t believe how I got out alive,” Mr. Ramesh said on Friday in an interview from his hospital bed with India’s state broadcaster, Doordarshan. “I thought I was also about to die.”
Mr. Ramesh, who was seated in an exit row, said the plane had felt “stuck five or 10 seconds after takeoff,” and it seemed to be trying to accelerate when it crashed.
The front of the plane, after hitting buildings, crashed into an open area, he said, while the tail was stuck in a building, which was later identified as the dining facility of a medical college.
Mr. Ramesh said he unbuckled his seatbelt after the crash when he saw a chance for escape. He did not make clear whether he had to open the emergency exit he was sitting next to, or if the impact had caused it to open.
“When my door broke, I saw there was some space — that I could try to get out,” he said in the interview. “The other side, people couldn’t get out, as it was crushed against a wall.”
Mr. Ramesh, who is a British citizen, was returning to England after vacationing in India along with his brother Ajay, their younger brother Nayan said. Ajay, who the passenger list showed was seated in 11J on the right side of the plane, did not survive.
Shortly after the crash, Mr. Ramesh made a video call from near the wreckage to his family in Leicester to confirm he was safe, the younger brother said. There, the family home was a scene of both mourning for Ajay and stunned amazement that Viswash had somehow walked away.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/worl ... amesh.html