What connects Shah Rukh Khan, Gaddafi & Chandragupta Maurya | #133
Also, how did Ashoka really look? ➡️ ➡️
Hello friends
The honourable Home Minister of India - Amit Shah is sometimes given the nickname ‘Chanakya’ based on his political maneuvering skills. The OG Chanakya was a polymath who also happened to be the chief advisor to Chandragupta Maurya and later his son Bindusara. Historians believe that Chanakya played a vital role in the development of the Mauryan empire across the Indian sub-continent.
In this week’s newsletter we look at some Fun Facts™️ about the Mauryan Empire that you probably didn’t learn in school.
Things we learnt this week 🤓
What connects Muammar Gaddafi, Shah Rukh Khan and Chandra Gupta Maurya? Minus points if you say they were all Badshahs. The connection is that all had women bodyguards. Gaddafi hired women bodyguards because he felt his Arab enemies would not fire at women. Shah Rukh Khan has women bodyguards to specifically deal with women in his fanbase. Chanakya installed an all-woman cadre of personal bodyguards for Chandragupta Maurya. He considered them to be superior warriors, less emotional than men and far more loyal. Well said.
Since we’re talking about Shah Rukh Khan - one of his most (in)famous roles was Ashoka. If you think Ashoka was a looker like SRK, you’d be mistaken. Buddhist texts indicate that Ashoka had a skin disorder and it made his skin rough and tough to touch. His father Bindusara was disgusted with it and exiled him from Patliputra. The one to ascend the throne was perhaps the next of skin…err kin.
Chanakya had interesting ways to protect Chandragupta Maurya. He would add small amounts of poison to the emperor’s food in order for him to develop immunity against poisoning attempts. But once, the pregnant queen ate that food and died. Chanakya didn’t want the baby to die, so he cut open the queen and took out the baby. A drop of poison (bindu) had passed to the baby’s head and hence Chanakya named him Bindusara. Yes, this definitely happened.
From IWTK, with love 💌
This really happened! India kicked out Coca Cola and the government decided to start a Sarkari cola.
Bollywood films are known for their running times and sometimes require an intermission. But there are a few cases of films without an intermission.
Only In India 🇮🇳
Are the police trained to handle such disputes? Maybe the groom needed to know more about grooming.
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❤️ IWTK