Oddity Central |
- India’s Controversial Baby Dropping Ritual Is Back
- Obsessed Man Collects over 20,000 Bird Ornaments
- The Coromoto Ice-Cream Shop – 900 Weird Flavors and Counting
| India’s Controversial Baby Dropping Ritual Is Back Posted: 09 Apr 2012 05:56 AM PDT
The devotee scales the high walls of the religious shrine on a rope, a bucket dangling off his back. Once he is at the top (typically about 30ft high), he miraculously retrieves a baby from the bucket, handing it over to a bunch of men standing on the balcony. One of these men takes hold of the baby's hands and feet, holding the child as though it were a basket. He swings the kid back and forth in the air, exclaiming a chant in the praise of the Lord. And then, shockingly, the baby is dropped. Baby dropping could be India's most bizarre ritual. Screaming, wailing babies are dropped from several meters into the air, and there are a group of 14 to 15 men standing right below, holding a blanket that breaks the baby's fall. Just as it bounces on the blanket once, it is caught by one of the men and handed over to the mother. Understandably, it takes several minutes before the baby recovers from the shock. Photo:YouTube The local name of this baby throwing ritual remains unknown, but it has apparently been in practice for the past 700 years by Hindu and Muslim Indians alike in the states of Karnataka and Maharashtra. The ritual happens only once per year, and is believed to bring good luck to the baby, keeping it safe and healthy. It also ensures prosperity for the entire family. The ritual is generally meant for babies less than 2 years of age, and is so absurd that it seems to blatantly defy all reason and logic. However, locals are pretty staunch in their belief and in spite of all the hue and cry raised by human rights activists, and even a ban on the ritual in 2011, this year's ceremonies were carried out as usual. The most recent baby dropping event was held, last week, at the Digameshwara temple in Nagrala village, Karnataka.
Lov Verma, from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, says he is utterly shocked by this controversial tradition. "It's not simply the government's job. We need to educate all those who take part in this barbaric practice – the temple priests and the community." However, participants remain undeterred. According to one temple-goer, "Our religious beliefs pull many of us to this ceremony every year." In fact, temple authorities believe that, "by doing this, kids will be healthy, strong and live longer."
I watched footage from a 2009 baby dropping ceremony. The callous manner in which the babies are handled, I must say, is truly horrifying. Although no child has been harmed so far, the practice seems extremely unsafe, since mistakes can happen at any moment. India’s Controversial Baby Dropping Ritual Is Back was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Obsessed Man Collects over 20,000 Bird Ornaments Posted: 09 Apr 2012 05:00 AM PDT
It all started when Lawrence Cobbold was 9 years old, after he purchased a picture of a bird . Today, at age 38, his home is so filled to the brim with bird ornaments. His place is so full of bird memorabilia that he has to wash up, do his laundry and have his meals at his parents' house. In the past 25 years or so, Lawrence has managed to collect over 20,000 ornaments related to birds. His treasures could all be worth about £40,000 ($63,000) according to his own estimation. Lawrence's amazing bird collection consists of 15,000 ornaments, 4,800 thimbles, 1,000 fridge magnets and 300 plates. Apart from these, he has about 300 pictures, 150 mugs and 100 jigsaw puzzles that are in some way, related to birds. Each and every room in his house, every cupboard, loft and shelf is completely covered with bird-related items. Each room, in fact, has a theme of its own. The three-bedroom property belongs to his father Tony. Lawrence moved there after his previous residence, a two-bedroom house, was no longer sufficient for his ever-growing collection. Four hours of Lawrence's day are spent rearranging and cleaning his collection– two hours before work and two hours after. When he's not busy with his collectibles, he works full time as a warehouse attendant at the Co-op Retail Distribution Center in Plympton, England. He usually buys the ornaments at Plympton, Plymstock, Mutley Plain and Elburton, where he is constantly on the prowl for new items to add to the collection. Photo: This Is Plymouth Lawrence says his unique hobby was inspired by his father’s habit of keeping birds as pets. "It's a combination of things that got me interested in collecting birds," he says. "My dad used to keep live birds and my godparents had ornaments." Tony has a bit of a bird-obsession himself; he used to own about 300 budgies, canaries, cockatoos and finches. He had them all for about 20 years. "It's a lovely, a great hobby," says Tony of Lawrence's obsession. "His house is like one big car boot sale except no one is buying or selling. It's harmless, it's not like he does drugs. My son is completely normal," asserts Tony. Photo: This Is Plymouth Of course, there are times when Tony does admit that his son's hobby is sort of bizarre. "I just hope I die before him. I don't want to clear all this out," says Tony. Lawrence is perfectly all right with the arrangement. "If he dies before me I'll have his garage as well," he says. This Is Plymouth via Boing Boing Obsessed Man Collects over 20,000 Bird Ornaments was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| The Coromoto Ice-Cream Shop – 900 Weird Flavors and Counting Posted: 09 Apr 2012 04:02 AM PDT
Coromoto, an ice cream shop in Merida, Venezuela, is probably the closest you can ever get to Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans from Harry Potter's wizarding world. The place sells ice creams of virtually every flavor you can think of. Granted, you won't get vomit or earwax, but you're sure to come across a few strange flavors like onion, chili, mushrooms, wine and even garlic. The ones you'd probably never want to try are egg, sardines-in-brandy and macaroni-and-cheese flavored ice creams. Of course, for those who don't like experimenting much, regular flavors like vanilla and strawberry are available as well. Manuel da Silva Oliveira, a Portuguese immigrant, worked for years at large ice cream companies, before he realized the potential that exotic and unusual flavors held. He then proceeded to perfect an avocado-flavored ice cream, after wasting about 50 kg in his attempts. In 1980, he opened the Heladeria Coromoto, where the Avocado ice cream is now one of the most popular, and is paired with sweet corn, black bean, mango or coconut flavors. The shop sells the largest number of flavors in the world, holding a Guinness World Record for it. There are around 900 flavors to choose from, with 60 of them being served on any given day. Changes are made according to the season. Photo: Chef’n Blog The house special served at Coromoto is the Pabellon Criollo. It is modeled after the traditional Venezuelan meal of beef, rice, plantain, cheese and black beans. Some people prefer to stay away from the cheese flavored one, while beef ice cream is surprisingly liked by quite a few. Apart from the flavors, some of the ice creams have very unique names as well, like 'British Airways', 'I'm Sorry Darling' and 'Andean Kisses'. 'Viagra Hope' doesn't really contain any Viagra; it's made of honey and pollen. But it's blue, just like the pill.
Mr. Oliveira apparently doesn't come into the shop anymore, so it is being taken care of by Jose Ramirez. Jose is in his forties and is perfect for the role of ice cream man. He says that his personal favorites are the fruit flavors. However, according to Jose, many customers prefer alcoholic ones like vodka-and-pineapple, cognac or Cointreau. Given that the shop is in Venezuela, rum is the most popular of all. But if I ever happened to visit the shop, I'd like to try the Avocado, the flavor that started it all. How about you? The Coromoto Ice-Cream Shop – 900 Weird Flavors and Counting was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
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