**Interesting things you should know about**

 1.The scientific term for brain freeze is “sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia”.

2. Back when dinosaurs existed, there used to be volcanoes that were erupting on the moon.

3. The only letter that doesn’t appear on the periodic table is J.

4. If Polar Bear and a Grizzly Bear mate, their offspring is called a “Pizzy Bear”.

5. An estimated 50% of all gold ever mined on Earth came from a single plateau in South Africa: Witwatersrand.

6. Although GPS is free for the world to use, it costs $2 million per day to operate. The money comes from American tax revenue.

7. The color red doesn’t really make bulls angry; they are color-blind.

8. There is an underwater version of rugby, unsurprisingly called “underwater rugby”.

9. 75% of the world’s diet is produced from just 12 plant and five different animal species.

10. Iceland does not have a railway system.

What are some unique things that only happen in Karnataka?

 Karnataka is unique in many things. I will share few points which I know. List would be definitely longer than this.

• Biggest Coffee producer in India

Coffee in India is grown mainly in South Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu with Karnataka alone accounting for 70% of the total coffee production. It is grown in Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Kodagu districts.

Coffee estate

• Hub of Sandalwood

Karnataka has abundance of Sandalwood tress in India. It is for this reason Kannada film industry is also named as Sandalwood. Many sandal products are manufactured and exported all over the world like Sandal soap and oil.

• Highest producer of silk in India.

Karnataka produces 9,000 metric tons of mulberry silk of a total of 14,000 metric tons produced in the country, thus contributing to nearly 70% of the country's total mulberry silk. In Karnataka, silk is mainly grown in the Mysore district.

• The Oriental Research Institute

The oldest surviving manuscript of the Arthashastra is in the Oriental Research Institute, originally set up as the Mysore Oriental Library in 18th century.

It has around 50,000 palm leaf manuscripts.

• Highest number of Tigers in India

Karnataka has the highest number of tigers with more than 408. Other states with significant populations included Uttarakhand (340), Madhya Pradesh (308), Tamil Nadu (229), Maharashtra (190), Assam (167), Kerala (136) and Uttar Pradesh (117).

• Only state where election ink is manufactured.

Mysore Paints and Varnish Limited located in Mysore is the only authorised centres having rights to manufacture the indelible black ink used to cast vote during Elections in India. So when you vote next time and see the ink on your finger, remember Karnataka :P.

• Only state to have an official permission to manufacture and supply Indian flags.

Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukhta Sangha in Hubli is the only unit in India that has an official permission to manufacture and supply Indian flags. It is in Bengeri in Hubli, is the only unit in India that is authorised to manufacture and supply the Flag of India.

official flag manufacturer in India

• Only state which celebrates state formation day in a very grand manner.

Karnataka is the only state which celebrates it’s state formation day in a very grand manner compared to other states with official holiday and numerous cultural activities. It is also called as Karnataka Rajyotsava which literally means festival of state. It is celebrated on Nov 1st every year.

We can see Karnataka flags on almost every vehicle and so many activities.

Karnataka Rajyotsava - Wikipedia

• Only state where a state flag is used.

Karnataka has unofficial state flag and it is used and respected by all. It is very common to see the flag on vehicles, flag polls in many streets.

• Only state where state anthem has the word Bharata.

Karnataka is one of the few states in India to have it’s own state anthem and it is the only state anthem to have the word Bharata (India). The anthem invokes Mother India first and then invokes Mother Karnataka.

ಜಯ ಭಾರತ ಜನನಿಯ ತನುಜಾತೆ,
ಜಯ ಹೇ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಮಾತೆ!

Jaya bharata jananiya tanujate
Jai he Karnataka mate

Victory to you Mother Karnataka, the daughter of Mother India! is the meaning.

• Sanskrit speaking villages

There are two villages in Karnataka, Matturu and hosahalli, where Sanskrit is used for speaking.

• Sanskrit newspaper

Mysore in Karnataka is the only place in India where Sanskrit newspaper is published.

• Has the best quality buses run by the government.

KSRTC (Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation) is the best when it comes to quality of buses in India. It is praised by non Karnataka people also. It has one of the best ticket booking websites.

• IT capital

Karnataka with Bangalore is the IT capital and has the maximum software exports.

• Rave Idli.

Karnataka is the only state where idly is made from both rice and rave. During the world war 2 when there was a lack of rice to prepare the idlis, MTR used Semolina(rave) instead of rice and in that experiment we got this delicious breakfast item called Rave Idli.

What are the most Chinese things in history?

 Intimidating warning signs

Due to the large population and a lack of sufficient police officers, people in China have developed a unique culture of intimidating warning signs:

Traffic signal:

"Drive carefully, there is no hospital nearby."

Office building:

"No parking at the door, violations will result in flat tires."

Construction site:

“My dear workers: when you are working, pay attention to safety, if you have an accident, some other guy will sleep with your wife, beat up your children and spend your death benefits.

Work safely, for your own good.

Neighborhood watch:

“Attention all thieves!”

Once captured, you will be beaten from the front to the back alley.

This alley is 786 meters long.

These are serious warning signs, this is no joke.

What seems like Indian but really isn't?

 There are so many things which seem Indian, but actually aren't.

For instance,

Many people, particularly foreigners have this image of India:

Ew that’s India

Oh! is it? then what is:

This

And

This?

Indian women are like..

No, they are also like:

India is a land of snake charmers!

Oh, come on now…

Familiar faces?

Ok, atleast this is how you were and we ruled you…

No, this is how we were, when you ruled us.

(Swami Vivekananda, Shaheed Bhagat Singh & Rani Lakshmi Bai)

India is too weak to defend itself,

India is submissive politically and diplomatically,

You really believe that? In a country with people like,

You may want to rethink, eh?

Indians are weak.

Wait a minute…

Say that again, please?

And last but not the least, the point that I'm trying to make in this answer,

Indians are not like this:

PS : While I acknowledge that India is not a country rid of all problems mentioned above, it is surely not as bad as stereotypes show it to be and it is definitely not the case with all people/parts of India.

Though not all people are stereotypical of Indians, the ones who are should surely open their eyes now, because we are going to make it BIG!

This answer is just an effort to break the stereotypes that Indians commonly face, though now people can see for themselves where we are in the world.

What are some things that are beautifully made but have few people seen?

 A geological map of the South American continent, complete with reliefs.

This excellent topographic map reveals that before the Andes Mountains—the mountains on the western side of the map—appeared, there was sea where much of present-day Paraguay, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil are located.

What are some things you shouldn't do when you live in New York City?

 

1. Do not stop or park your vehicle under an elevated railway line [railway bridge].
2. Do not drive/walk through Times Square; the locals know the area better and try to stay away from the area between 42nd and 47th Streets and 6th and 8th Avenues

1. Don't stare at people on the subway or they'll startle you with a "What are you looking at?!" and you won't even notice what you were actually looking at.
2. I know you're going to cross the street at the pedestrian crossing because you see everyone else doing it, but don't do it while you're talking to someone on your mobile phone.
3. When you're walking in the middle of the street and you see a car coming toward you, the worst thing you can do is hesitate and run back. If you have to, be confident and walk in a shorter, straight line between the sidewalks. The car saw you and expects you to drive around it while you run across to the other side of the street.
4. I drive a Vespa [Scooter] and we come out of nowhere, so be careful not only with cars, but also with motorbikes and cyclists, especially the latter because even though we get fined and have our licenses revoked if we hit you, they're not really regulated, so they run red lights and break traffic rules.

Welcome to The City and get ready to have a wonderful time!!!