Did Harappans speak Tamil ??

 It was a fine morning in Harappa in 2398 BCE. Sun was shining brightly when a joyous procession of people proceeded towards a local temple. A lean man appeared out of the temple and people shouted ‘Muruga.. Muruga’. A man and woman wearing ceremonial dress moved towards the lean man standing in front of the crowd. The lean man performed a religious rite and asked the woman to look northwards. She said ‘ Vada Meen Pol Naan Iruppen’ (I shall remain as firm as the northern pole-star).

If the Dravidian hypothesis of Indus script as proposed by Professor Asko Parpola of Helsinki University were to be true, the above scene could have happened in Harappa and Mohenjadaro. 

Spelling Bee Champs

It is a hat-trick for Indian-Americans in the Scripp's National Spelling Bee Championship. Anamika Veeramani (seen seated in the photo with last year's champ Kaavya Shivashankran) is the winner of the 83rd edition of the event. Anamika (14)  finished fifth in the last year event and was the bookers' favourite this year. Anamika, a composed and confident girl, crossed nine rounds of hurdles before clinching the title by spelling 'stromuhr' ( An instrument for measuring the quantity of blood that flows per unit of time through a blood vessel). The different words she spelled to win this coveted championship are Exacerbate (increase in severity of a disease), Foggara (I couldn't find its meaning), Osteomyelitis ( an infection of bone), Mirin (a japanese condiment), Nahcolite ( a mineral of sodium),  Epiphysis (end portion of a long bone), Juvia ( a Brazilian nut).