<p>Sms was born with mobiles but messages shorter than the 160-letter-sms have changed history, politics, science, etc. In Mahabharata, Yudhishthira stakes his possessions one after the other and every time that Shakuni takes the dices, shouts: ‘Jitam’ (meaning won), to tell Duryodhana.<br /><br />Shift to Syracuse, 3rd century BC: Hiero-II, Greek tyrant suspects his goldsmith of replacing some gold with silver in a crown for gods; so contracts polymath Archimedes to detect fraud. Archimedes accepts the challenge.<br /><br />At the public baths, it strikes archimedes that the more his body sinks into the water, the more water is displaced: making the displaced water an exact measure of his volume. Because gold weighs more than silver, he reasons that a crown mixed with silver would have to be bulkier to reach the same weight as one composed only of gold. Realising he has hit upon a solution, the young Greek math-whiz leaps out of the bath and rushes home naked crying “Eureka! Eureka!” (I’ve found it). The test is conducted later, proving that silver had indeed been mixed.<br /><br />In 1842 at the age of 60, appointed as major general to command Bombay Presidency Army, Napier is ordered by Lord Ellenborough to Sindh (now in Pakistan), to quell Muslim-insurrection. Orders are only to put down the rebels, but by conquering the whole Sindh province, he greatly exceeds his mandate. He despatches a short message to his superiors: ‘Peccavi,’ (Latin for ‘I have sinned’). His ‘noble rascality’ is appreciated! Later he is made British Army’s commander-in-chief in India.<br /><br />“My dear Abdullah. I am here. The game is up. Suggest you give yourself and I will look after you,” wrote major-general Gandharv Singh Nagra in a note to Lt Gen Niazi, GOC-in-C, Pakistan eastern command, soon after Indian troops had entered Dacca on December 16, 1971. Rest is history, when almost a lakh soldiers surrendered and Bangladesh was born.<br /><br />Coming to sms: “Yup, same as in the past, no questions” read a text from Governor Eliot Spitzer. He could have been referring to pizza toppings, but instead he was talking about a different indulgence! After his repeated text messages to an escort service were turned over, and his alter-ego as Client 9 was revealed, Spitzer stepped down as New York’s governor.<br /><br />After Levi Johnston texted Bristol Palin, with: “I miss you. I love you. I want to be with you again,” nothing was ever be the same — at least for mom, Sarah Palin! How can I not mention ‘ILU’ from a Hindi movie long before the sms era!</p>
<p>Sms was born with mobiles but messages shorter than the 160-letter-sms have changed history, politics, science, etc. In Mahabharata, Yudhishthira stakes his possessions one after the other and every time that Shakuni takes the dices, shouts: ‘Jitam’ (meaning won), to tell Duryodhana.<br /><br />Shift to Syracuse, 3rd century BC: Hiero-II, Greek tyrant suspects his goldsmith of replacing some gold with silver in a crown for gods; so contracts polymath Archimedes to detect fraud. Archimedes accepts the challenge.<br /><br />At the public baths, it strikes archimedes that the more his body sinks into the water, the more water is displaced: making the displaced water an exact measure of his volume. Because gold weighs more than silver, he reasons that a crown mixed with silver would have to be bulkier to reach the same weight as one composed only of gold. Realising he has hit upon a solution, the young Greek math-whiz leaps out of the bath and rushes home naked crying “Eureka! Eureka!” (I’ve found it). The test is conducted later, proving that silver had indeed been mixed.<br /><br />In 1842 at the age of 60, appointed as major general to command Bombay Presidency Army, Napier is ordered by Lord Ellenborough to Sindh (now in Pakistan), to quell Muslim-insurrection. Orders are only to put down the rebels, but by conquering the whole Sindh province, he greatly exceeds his mandate. He despatches a short message to his superiors: ‘Peccavi,’ (Latin for ‘I have sinned’). His ‘noble rascality’ is appreciated! Later he is made British Army’s commander-in-chief in India.<br /><br />“My dear Abdullah. I am here. The game is up. Suggest you give yourself and I will look after you,” wrote major-general Gandharv Singh Nagra in a note to Lt Gen Niazi, GOC-in-C, Pakistan eastern command, soon after Indian troops had entered Dacca on December 16, 1971. Rest is history, when almost a lakh soldiers surrendered and Bangladesh was born.<br /><br />Coming to sms: “Yup, same as in the past, no questions” read a text from Governor Eliot Spitzer. He could have been referring to pizza toppings, but instead he was talking about a different indulgence! After his repeated text messages to an escort service were turned over, and his alter-ego as Client 9 was revealed, Spitzer stepped down as New York’s governor.<br /><br />After Levi Johnston texted Bristol Palin, with: “I miss you. I love you. I want to be with you again,” nothing was ever be the same — at least for mom, Sarah Palin! How can I not mention ‘ILU’ from a Hindi movie long before the sms era!</p>
