Mallakhamb Gymnastics pole

Mallakhamb or Malkhamb is a traditional Indian sport in which a gymnast performs feats and poses in concert with a vertical wooden pole or rope. Mallakhamb also refers to the pole used in the sport.

The word "Mallakhamb" is composed of malla which denotes a gymnast or a man of strength and khamb which means a pole. Mallakhamb can therefore be translated to English as pole gymnastics.

The earliest recorded references to Mallakhamb is found in the 12th century classic Manasollasa (1135 AD) by Somesvara Chalukya, although the relationship between the "Mallastambha" of the Manasollasa and the more recent Mallakhamb sport is disputed. However, the sport does not become visible in practice and well recorded until it was revived or invented in the 19th century by Balambhatta Dada Deodhar, the fitness instructor of Peshwa Bajirao II during the reign of the Peshwas.

29 states in India participate in mallakhamb competitions at the national level. National Level mallakhamb tournaments were first organized more than 25 years ago. From 2010 the national level tournament will be organized in four separate groups.

Originally mallakhamb was introduced as a supporting exercise for wrestlers. "Pole mallakhamb" was started by Balambhattdada Deodhar sometime between 1800 and 1810. Later on, his student Damodarguru Moghe realized that only major grips can be developed with a pole and used cane instead of a pole. Subsequently, the unavailability of cane resulted in rope mallakhamb. Almost 25 to 30 types of mallakhamb apparatus were tried and tested over the years.

Competitively there are three main variations of mallakhamb.

Pole or fixed mallakhamb

In this variation, a vertical wooden pole is fixed in the ground and the participant performs various acrobatic feats and poses while hanging on the pole.

The mallakhamb pole used in competitions is a straight pole made of teak or sheesham wood, standing 2.6 metres (8.5 ft) in height with a circumference of 55 centimetres (22 in) at the base. It gradually tapers to a circumference of 35 centimetres (14 in) at the top.

Hanging mallakhamb

Similar to the pole mallakhamb, the hanging mallakhamb is a wooden pole that is shorter in length than the standard Pole Mallakhamb and is hung from chain and hooks, leaving a gap between the ground and the bottom of the mallakhamb.

Rope mallakhamb

In this variation, the participant performs exercises while hanging from a rope suspended from a support.

In recent Indian talent shows like India's Got Talent and Dance India Dance mallakhamb has been used in dance acts, but Mallakhamb is not a form of dance and it should not be confused with pole dancing.

image credit Reuters
 text: wikipedia.org

Red-Nosed Reindeer found in brain scan

An image of a blood vessel in the brain has left scientists amazed because of it likeness to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Newcastle University boffins were studying the inner workings of neurons in the hippocampal region of the brain and when they looked at the picture they were stunned by what they found.

The image looks just like a reindeer with antlers flying through the starry sky, with its eye and tail clearly visible.

The red nose was said to have happened by chance when the scientists were labelling the image. The image was then overexposed to make it show up red.

Claudia Racca, who performed the experiment with colleague David Cox at the Institute of Neuroscience at Newcastle University, said: 'Biology can throw up things like this, but it was a nice surprise to find this image.

'We were looking at a section of the tissue and noticed this strange but familiar shape.

'It was intriguing and we noticed the similarity to a reindeer.

'We then took an overexposed picture of it and the red blob for the nose and the white antlers showed up even better.

'We got distracted from the science at that point and had a bit of fun with the pictures of Rudolph instead.

'It may not be very valuable scientifically but it looks nice on the eye.'

Funny and Creative Snowman designs

Santa arrested in pub for 'possessing drugs'

The amateur Father Christmas had been called in by the owner of the Rockingham Arms for its annual Christmas gathering after its normal Santa was double booked.

A Santa in Corby has gone on the naughty list after being arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs A Santa in Corby has gone on the naughty list after being arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs

However, after shedding his disguise and returning to the bar, police officers and sniffer dogs arrived as part of a week of action on alcohol, arresting him on suspicion of being inebriated and having drugs, the Evening Telegraph reported.

Jimmy Brown, landlord of the pub on Studfall Avenue in the town, told the newspaper pubgoers were unwilling to let the police arrest the festive figure.

'Unfortunately, Santa got a bit mouthy when the police came in. There were a couple of hundred people in the bar and they were all shouting "don't take our Santa!"' he said.

Mr Brown added that he didn't have 'any problems with [the police operation] if it helps keep my pub clean'.

A police spokesman confirmed: 'After indication from the drugs dogs, a man was arrested at around 7.55pm on suspicion of drugs offences. We believe he was intoxicated.'


Earlier this month, a video appeared on the internet showing a man dressed as Saint Nick in Germany staggering around drunk before urinating in a car park.

An Indian woman has discovered that her husband is actually a woman, after being married for six months

Minati Khatua, from Orissa, allegedly found out the hidden truth after walking in on her spouse taking a bath.

Her husband, known as Sitakant Routray, had originally said that he was not willing to consummate the pair's marriage as 'he' was observing a religious ritual.

Police have now launched an investigation into the marriage, with investigators believing that the groom could have gone through with the ceremony in order to receive the dowry which is presented on these occasions, with a car, gold ornaments and £350 in cash part among the gifts.

'I thought he was devout and respectful of me. But when I walked into the bathroom there was no mistaking that my husband was 100 per cent a woman.

It is also being reported that Routray has now vanished with a car and a jeep, which were bought with loans taken from a bank account in Ms Khatua's name.

'I always try and unpack that he was a man, but failed many times. What was feared has been proved; she is a woman,' Ms Khatua added.

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Naked postman gets arrested

A postman who delivered mail while completely naked has been arrested despite his claims that he only wanted to inject a spot of seasonal cheer into customers' lives.

According to a police report, David Goodman said he was attempting to cheer up a 21-year-old female employee of the Wisconsin law firm he was servicing.

The 52-year-old explained that the lady in question 'seemed to be stressed out' during a previous visit.

Upon realising that the postie was starkers when she opened the door to him, the employee reportedly turned away, held out her hand and told him: 'Give me the mail and get out of here.'

David, who explained to officers that he had taken off his clothes and laid them next to the doorway before knocking, immediately clocked that he'd upset the woman and 'felt bad and stupid'.

More: Nude model was not illegally naked, says judge

He then apologised, left the office and got dressed.

A few days later, police arrested him for lewd and lascivious behaviour.


source: metro.co.uk

World War I. Darth Vader and C-3PO

DID George Lucas get inspiration for Star Wars heavy breather and stuff shirt Darth Vader and C-3PO, respectively, from Vajen-Bader-style helmets for German (menacing black one) and French (flashy golden one) firefighters?

The masks are from between the mid-1800s and World War I.

Someone on a pair of bellows would pump air into the mask through 13 meters of flexible tubing. It’s what you don’t see in the movies…

Heidi the cross-eyed opossum

The opossum looks either confused, incensed or incredulous - or perhaps a combination of all three.

Given the creature's crazed expression, one can only imagine what scenes it is viewing from the ramp it is perched on, presumably bleakness of Dostoevskian proportions.

The marsupial's bewilderment can perhaps be forgiven though, as it was being moved to a new tropical house in the zoo and was out of its comfort zone.


It's been a while since our paths were graced with some possum fun - back in March Metro.co.uk brought you the tale of the American man who tried to revive a dead one on a highway... with his mouth.

Donald Wolfe was charged with public drunkenness after his close encounter with the roadkill, during which witnesses reported seeing him gesturing 'as though he were conducting a séance'.


source: metro.co.uk

Cat versus Internet

source : http://theoatmeal.com/comics/cat_vs_internet