BIZARRE* & WEIRD+ - Instalment I

OUR WORLD HAS ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THAT - AND IT CONTINUES TO BE SO

* eccentric, grotesque
+ strange, incomprehensible

(With the advent of newspapers/magazines/ TV/internet/websites, news of such behaviour and incidents reach everywhere, unlike in the earlier period when information spread was localized).

This write up is not confined to Bizarre & Weird incidents and behaviour of human beings. It looks at some of the present world tricksters. Unusual happenings, traditions colliding with modern concepts/beliefs, actions which go against established norms and twists in anecdotes, animal behaviour, etc., form part of it.


( I still vividly remember the central theme of some of the incidents in this genre ( unbelievable yet true ) which happened in the distant past, though my memory fails in recalling the details. A few of these are:

1. A clever guy sold Manhatten Island in USA to greedy estate agents. Of course the trickster had to spend months in planning his operation. He had to gain confidence of the estate agents. He had to ensure that the estate agents whom he approached would not tip off Government on the proposal. He had to visualize their questions and apprehensions and answer / clear the same.

2. There was yet another guy who sold to greedy rich people Eiffel Tower in Paris, and, presto, not once but twice, with an intervening period of ten years or so. It is his greediness and self confidence which made him to repeat the scam. He had to work for over two years in planning the details, gaining the confidence of buyers. The second time he was caught by authorities.

3. Two tricksters decided to hoodwink people of a county with the assurance that they have found diamond mines just 20 miles from the township. They came to a country, stayed in a lodge, kept aloof from local people, went out each morning on their horses with empty sacks and came back in the evening with half full sacks. In about a fortnight the curiosity level of the local folk on their activities reached the zenith. They tried to befriend the two guys. After a lot of persuasion, they reluctantly revealed the secret. They showed the people the rough diamonds they have been able to get after digging the area they had located. Now a number of people in the county wanted to partake in this venture. After a lot of persuasion two tricksters agreed to take them to the place where the diamond mine was located. After seeing the rough diamonds the people were convinced. The two people floated a company, the shares of which were bought by the people from the county. And one night both the tricksters fled with the money and rough diamonds.

After some time two geologists happened to visit the county and when they were told of the above episode they became skeptical as according to them there cannot any diamond mine in that place or its vicinity. The geologists were taken to the place where diamonds were found. Since the geologists were extremely skeptical they made a thorough search and then they found one diamond in the bush and another polished diamond. It later transpired that the two tricksters have been buying rough diamonds from various parts of the world for executing the scam. One of the investor from the county after a long search traced one of the tricksters and shot him dead. The other one was not found.

4. Spy catching is an extremely difficult task, since the spies are experts in their field and are extremely careful. Much more difficult is to extract from them admission that they are indeed spies. Two such real incidents happened in Britain during the Second World War are enumerated below:

· A young lady was brought to the spy-catcher by the police who thought that she was a spy. She had a story of fleeing from her place, which was likely to be taken over by the enemies, and walking over 100 miles to the safety of London. The spy catcher interrogated her for hours but could not find even an iota of flaw in her story to suspect her. Yet his sixth sense told him that she was a spy. After interrogation one day, fed up with lack of progress in the matter, the spy catcher walked out of the room in a terrible mood. In the verandah without his being fully aware, he kicked a concrete flower pot and cursed. For a moment he felt excruciating pain in the leg. Suddenly an idea occurred to him and he went back to the woman and asked her to remove her shoes and stockings. She complied. He found no blisters in the feet. The skin was extremely smooth. Then he confronted her with this evidence. How was it that there are no blisters in the feet when she had claimed that she walked over 100 miles. And then she admitted that she was a spy.

· A German was caught by the Police and interrogated him for hours and hours. But they could not break his story. The interrogator also tried his best without any success. Then he had an idea. He hung a picture of Adolph Hitler on the wall and the suspect was made to sit in a chair facing the photo. Then the interrogator picked up a few arrows and started throwing the arrows at the picture of Hitler. But whenever the arrow found the mark, he loudly cursed Hitler. He used various taunting expletives at Hitler, such as, ‘ Got you buster, next time it is the firing squad, your hangman is ready, etc., ‘ After some time the prisoner jumped from his seat and shouted, ‘ Hail Hitler. He will destroy England. All of you will be killed. You can only pierce his eyes in the photo. He is an Aryan. And so am I.’ End story.

5. Two thieves broke into a posh house in the night when the occupants were away. They packed all that they wanted to steal. Then their eyes fell on the bar of the owner of the house, full of expensive liquors. The thieves thought that they will have a peg or two of finest whisky and then scam with their loot. The whisky was so divine and one peg to another peg continued for too long that they fell asleep. And they were caught.

6. Two thieves wanted to break into a posh house for stealing valuables. They had earlier observed that the main door was made of thick wood. Breaking it was not possible. They were also not adept in picking door locks. So they attached a dynamite on the door knob and blew it. The sound brought the neighbours and police and the thieves were arrested. Then the police told the thieves that the owners of the house had forgotten to lock the door and if only they had twisted the handle and pushed the door, they would have got easy entry to the house.


End old incidents. Now let us look into the present day anecdotes and tricksters.



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1. IN A FIRST, A NUDIST-ONLY HOTEL TO OPEN IN GERMANY

In what is claimed to be probably the world's first, a nudist-only hotel is all set to open in Germany.

Yes, you have heard it right. All the hotel guests will be required to leave their clothes at the reception while checking in and must be naked at all times when on the premises - ' or they will be required to leave.' the Daily Telegraph reported.

' We hope to open as soon as possible. It will be the first comprehensively nudist hotel in Germany,' a staff member of the planned Hotel rosen-garten, Silvia Probsthain said.

The hotel rules state that all guests must put towels on chairs and lounges before using them, that there would be no sexual harassment and that all sexual activity in ' commonly accessible rooms' is strictly forbidden.

Nude hiking is proving increasingly popular in Germany and two villages plan to mark special forest hiking routes for naked ramblers. The practice is frowned on in neighbouring Switzerland, however, where authorities plan to fine such behaviour.

My comments: Eons back, i.e., for millions and millions of years human beings lived with their birthday suites. Then they started draping certain parts of the body, either out of shame or to exhibit modernity or for reasons we cannot fathom after all the time that has gone by. As time went by human beings started covering their body more and more. Then in some places started the reverse trend, i.e., discarding one by one garments or shortening the size of the garments. And then the next stage happened of having nudist colonies. The recent development is short of culmination of the last chapter, i.e., man back in his birth suite all the time. It is too early to say what is there in store out of the latest development. A wag said that ' neckline has been coming down with passage of time and hemline has been going up. The question is will they meet. ‘


2. MODEL-BOXER BANNED FROM RING OVER FAKE BREASTS

Model Sarah Blewden is the first Briton to be banned from competing as an amateur boxer because of her breast implants.

Boxing chiefs barred Sarah, 25, after being warned that repeated blows could damage breast tissue. The fighter, who hoped to compete in the 2012 Olympics, had a boob operation in 2003 taking her from a 32B to 32C.

Sarah, who runs a hair salon, only turned to boxing two years ago to keep fit. But she had talent and was stunned when the Amateur Boxing Association refused her permission to compete. Medics insisted her boobs were at risk of contraction or distortion if hit. Cells in tissue pushed forward by the implants could also be harmed.

Sarah, of Poole, Dorset, said: ' It is ridiculous. My surgeon said they make me no more vulnerable than any woman. They are not enormous and they are gel so won't burst.' She asked to wear a breast protector, but she was told it might not work.

ABA's Tony Atwood said: ' International rules forbid anyone with breast implants continuing to box.'


My comments: It started with Olympics and various athlete meets and probably in boxing, i.e., participants taking drugs and other substances to artificially enhance their performance. Agreed, the current story is not exactly in the same league. In the times to come various ingenious methods would be tried by sportsmen and women and artists to out perform others. There would be tricky situations. International agreements would have to be worked out.