This must be the ultimate ignominy for the former rulers of the British Empire. All the more so since the British have never adjusted themselves to the bygone era of ‘Rule Britannia’. Occupying an archipelago of tiny islands (the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas) and being paid subservience by another large island (Australia), both in the Southern Hemisphere, still fools them into acting like lords of an empire.
:-D
By mid twentieth century, at the end of the 2nd World War the British were literally slapped with the smaller colonies lead by the ‘Jewel of the Empire’ liberating themselves from the Colonial yoke.
A few years before that they were put to shame by two of their biggest former colonies, the United States and Canada (though the latter was still a dominion) without whose resources the British would have gone down to the Nazis to become a colony themselves.
In the new millennium, the British had to eat crow when their famed British Steel was taken over by the Indian Tata Steel in 2007. What a change in exactly 40 years. British Steel itself was constituted as a Nationalised company in 1967 and was privatised in 1987/88 to be owned by an Indian company 20 years later.
The blue bloods must have been boiling when the mark of the the British Car making industry Jaguar-Land Rover was taken over by, would you believe, the Indian Tata Motors in 2008.
If the former lords thought that they can briefly revel in the bygone glory of the Empire by celebrating the London Olympics between 27 July and 12 August 2012, the ArcelorMittal Orbit observation tower would be twisting its way into the stubborn British hearts. It must be heart wrenching to remember that L.N. Mittal was born in 1950 and the ancestor company of ArcelorMittal, Ispat International was formed only in 1978.
If that thrust to the heart isn’t enough, the fact that the ArcelorMittal Orbit was designed by an Indian-born Anish Kapoor, (who subsequently became British subject), must be squeezing it out.
Another punch in the face was given by their erstwhile former ‘sepoys’, when the Indian Air Force rejected the primarily British Eurofighter Typhoon and plumped for the French Dassault Rafale.
:-P
In between the Blackburn Rovers were taken over by Venky’s in November 2012 and the Rovers have been run over, burned and blacked by now.
And now comes the news that later today the International Cricket Council (ICC) will take a hard look at the Duckworth-Lewis method of calculating batting targets in a rain truncated cricket match and decide the winner. The ICC will consider the alternate method used by the BCCI in local matches in India - called the V.JayaDevan (VJD) method [http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/513596.html], which its supporters claim is more fair.
If the ICC decides to even trial VJD instead of D/L method, it would be the last but one insult to the injury. The ultimate insult (which I don’t think will happen till the next Venus transit) would be when India thrashes England in a football and rugby field.
/LOL/
:-D
By mid twentieth century, at the end of the 2nd World War the British were literally slapped with the smaller colonies lead by the ‘Jewel of the Empire’ liberating themselves from the Colonial yoke.
A few years before that they were put to shame by two of their biggest former colonies, the United States and Canada (though the latter was still a dominion) without whose resources the British would have gone down to the Nazis to become a colony themselves.
In the new millennium, the British had to eat crow when their famed British Steel was taken over by the Indian Tata Steel in 2007. What a change in exactly 40 years. British Steel itself was constituted as a Nationalised company in 1967 and was privatised in 1987/88 to be owned by an Indian company 20 years later.
The blue bloods must have been boiling when the mark of the the British Car making industry Jaguar-Land Rover was taken over by, would you believe, the Indian Tata Motors in 2008.
If the former lords thought that they can briefly revel in the bygone glory of the Empire by celebrating the London Olympics between 27 July and 12 August 2012, the ArcelorMittal Orbit observation tower would be twisting its way into the stubborn British hearts. It must be heart wrenching to remember that L.N. Mittal was born in 1950 and the ancestor company of ArcelorMittal, Ispat International was formed only in 1978.
If that thrust to the heart isn’t enough, the fact that the ArcelorMittal Orbit was designed by an Indian-born Anish Kapoor, (who subsequently became British subject), must be squeezing it out.
Another punch in the face was given by their erstwhile former ‘sepoys’, when the Indian Air Force rejected the primarily British Eurofighter Typhoon and plumped for the French Dassault Rafale.
:-P
In between the Blackburn Rovers were taken over by Venky’s in November 2012 and the Rovers have been run over, burned and blacked by now.
And now comes the news that later today the International Cricket Council (ICC) will take a hard look at the Duckworth-Lewis method of calculating batting targets in a rain truncated cricket match and decide the winner. The ICC will consider the alternate method used by the BCCI in local matches in India - called the V.JayaDevan (VJD) method [http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/513596.html], which its supporters claim is more fair.
If the ICC decides to even trial VJD instead of D/L method, it would be the last but one insult to the injury. The ultimate insult (which I don’t think will happen till the next Venus transit) would be when India thrashes England in a football and rugby field.
/LOL/
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