The Express Tribune hi five - September 2

e n u b i tr THE

EXPR

ESS

T

NE R IB U

, SEP

TEM

BER

2, 20

12

e d i s in

rriors in a w n e Wom history PAGE 2

lying s n a e j me old Have so ake a purse!

M about?

PAGE 4 edding w e i b m !

Zo op-cycle o p a d an PAGE 5 ! a what f o d n ong e The wr Gross!

PAGE 6

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

Hi light

Sayyida al-Hurra the Pirate Empress You’ve probably heard of Barbarossa and Blackbeard but did you know that one of the most famous pirates in the 16th-century was a woman? Though records of the time are strangely silent about her, Sayyida al Hurra, the Muslim pirate queen was a powerful force of the time and an equal ally of the famous pirate Barbarossa. Her real name is unknown; the title Sayyida al Hurra means “noble lady who is free and independent.”

Sayyida was from the Kingdom of Granada, the last Muslim-ruled state in Spain. After the death of her husband in 1515, she sent a message to Barbarossa of Algiers, who controlled the eastern Mediterranean Sea and assembled her own fleet to control the west. She wreaked havoc on Spanish and Portuguese shipping lines, and was the undisputed leader of the pirates in the region.

Sayyida later married the king of Morocco and to show that she had no intention of giving up her power and position, she refused to leave her city, forcing the king to come to her.

After ruling for 30 years, Sayyida was removed from power by her son-in-law in 1542. She was stripped of property and power and her ultimate fate is unknown.

Queen Boudicca the Celtic Warrior In 43AD the Romans invaded Britain. They divided up Britain into kingdoms and each kingdom had its own leader. The Romans quite liked the idea of these kingdoms fighting each other because it meant they were less likely to join together to fight the Romans!

Boudicca married King Prasudagus and they lived in a part of England now known as East Anglia. Prasudagus was quite friendly with the Romans but when he died, the Romans stole all of his land and kicked Queen Boudicca out. Now while other women might have sulked in a corner, but Boudicca didn’t back down. She raised an army of 120,000 men and marched towards Colchester, then the Roman capital.

At that time most of the Roman army was far away and no one was there to protect the capital. What made her job easier was that the crazy Romans, instead of building walls, moats or castles, were building a large temple dedicated to Emperor Claudius. With no defences in their way, Boudicca stormed in, killed everyone and set fire to the town.

By the time Paulinus Suetonius, the Roman military leader, got word of Boudicca’s army — she and her army had burnt London to the ground, where a layer of the old buildings still lies thirteen feet beneath the surface of the city. When the final battle

took place in 61 AD. Boudicca was leading 230,000 men while the Romans had 10,000 men — but the Romans won because they were well organised and used special military tactics. Boudicca thought it would be better to die than become a prisoner of the Romans and when she realised her army was going to lose the battle, she killed herself by drinking poison.

Tomoe Gozen the Female Samurai What’s the only thing cooler than a samurai? You guessed it: a female samurai. And Tomoe Gozen was not just a female samurai, she was valued above all others by her husband, Minamoto no Yoshinaka. She was Yoshinaka’s first captain, which meant she was the first person to go forth and scope out a battle before it started.

Aside from being known for her beauty, she was also known to be lethal with a longbow, unparalleled at breaking in untamed horses, and an excellent broadsword wielder.

Tomoe helped Yoshinaka win countless wars but in 1184, Yoshinaka’s clan fought his cousin’s clan and lost. Yoshinaka sent Tomoe away, refusing to die in the presence of a woman. Legend has it that Tomoe galloped into the distance, bearing only her sword and the decapitated head of one of the many men she killed in battle.

Queen Manduhai the Wise While all the women on the list are fierce warriors, none of them can even come close to Manduhai! She was so dangerous that the Chinese actually expanded the Great Wall of China, just to keep her out!

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

3

Hi light Hi light

When most people think of war and warriors, they think of Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan. Well, what about the great female warriors of old? Lots of women fought alongside the men and that too with gusto. Think women can’t change history with a sword? Then you need to check our top six legendary female warriors.

Manduhai Khatun was a Mongolian Empress. The word “Khatun” is the female form of the title “Khan”, as in Genghis Khan. She married Manduul Khan when she was 18 years old. Soon after the death of her husband, Manduhai adopted the 7-year-old orphan Batmunkh, then the last living direct descendant of Genghis Khan.

Manduhai named him “Dayan Khan”, meaning “Great Khan” or “Khan of whole universe”.

When Dayan Khan turned 19, Manduhai married him, again becoming the Khatun or Empress. Older and more experienced than the Khan, she had more control over the court and military. Manduhai fought in battles herself and instead of hiring a babysitter for her children, she would actually carry them while fighting!

Rani Lakshmi Bai the Fighting Queen Rani Lakshmi Bai was born in India in 1835, and since her father worked for a prime minister, she was raised in a royal setting. But unlike most princesses, Lakshmi Bai didn’t want to just learn needlework and other princess things!

Instead, she spent her youth studying swordsmanship, ar-

Chand Bibi the Invincible Lady Known as the Invincible Lady of Ahmadnagar, Chand Bibi was married to the Sultan of Bejapur, Ali Adil Shah. However, after her husband was murdered she was kicked out of Bejapur. She returned to her home of Ahmadnagar where her brother was a ruler but discovered that the men were all cowards and conspired behind her brother’s back. After the death of her brother in 1594, Chand Bibi decided to defend Ahmadnagar against the Mughal army. Thanks to Chand’s leadership and courage, the Mughal army’s efforts failed. According to the peace treaty, Chand Bibi was named as queen but the men who had left Chand Bibi to defend Ahmadnagar by herself returned. Rejecting the terms of the treaty, they declared war on Chand Bibi but she triumphed again. Unfortunately, Chand’s servant didn’t like her treaty with the Mughals and he raised a small army and killed her.

chery and how to use guns. Lakshmi Bai was married to the Raja at age 12 and they lived a happy life. But when her husband died, the British government seized their lands and kicked Lakshmi out While others would have just walked away, Lakshmi Bai instead became a freedom fighter. Her first move was to recruit an army that allowed female soldiers. She took her role so seriously that she reportedly went into battle with her adopted son strapped to her back, just like Manduhai!

Rani Lakshmi Bai, called the most dangerous of all the rebel leaders by the British, was eventually killed during the Battle of Gwalior. According to a British report of the battle, she died “firing at the man” who had shot her in the back!

What would you like to see in Hi Five? Send an email to hifive@tribune.com.pk and let us know!

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

Activity Corner

4 Jeans Bottom Purse

: d e d e e n s e li p p u S • one bottom of a pair of jeans • needle and thread • old necklace (optional) • wool or ribbon

1.

2.3.

4.

Instructions: Cut the bottom off a pair of jeans (bellbottoms work best). Please ask your parents before you start cutting up jeans!

Turn it inside out.

Sew the unfinished edge together.

Sew a loop of wool or ribbon on each side of the jeans.

Optional: Attach an old necklace to the loops of wool or ribbon to form a strap for the purse.

Use wool or ribbon as the strap. If you want to make the strap fancier, you can braid it — adding beads every inch or two.

Remember kids, always get permission from your parents before you start.

It’s always a good idea to have a helper nearby.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

World wide weird Get your weekly dose of the unusual and funny from across the globe!

Bitter relief This bathroom break turned into a life threatening act as a construction worker fought off a crocodile which bit him during a toilet break in a river in Malaysian Borneo.

Pai punched the twometre (6.5-foot) crocodile in the eye after it bit him just above his right buttock, and despite being in incredible pain and soaked in blood managed to summon help.

The attack happened when the 32-year-old decided to take his chances in the river in Sarawak state despite knowing it was infested with crocodiles.

“Fortune favoured me when the crocodile let go after I punched it in the eye,” he said.

“After being freed from the jaws of the crocodile, I found extraordinary strength to run and call for help even though my waist was extremely painful,” he added. AFP

Signed, sealed, undelivered

5

When you are in love you act spontaneously. That is what can be said for this romantic prankster who almost suffocated when he mailed himself to his girlfriend in a sealed box — and got lost in the post.

Hu Seng, from Chongqing city, southern China, paid a courier firm to deliver him to his girlfriend Li Wang as a joke.

Unfortunately for him, things didn’t work out as planned when the couriers mixed up the address and instead of 30 minutes in the sealed box, gasping Seng was trapped for nearly three hours.

By the time the package finally arrived at his girlfriend’s office, where a friend was waiting to record her surprise on camera, Seng had passed out and had to be revived by paramedics.

“I didn’t realise it would take so long,” admitted Seng. “I tried to make a hole in the cardboard but it was too thick and I didn’t want to spoil the surprise by shouting.”

SOURCE: WEB.ORANGE.CO.UK

Till death do us apart The word “wedding” brings to mind a bright, cheerful atmosphere that’s full of life. But Jesse Embry and Jennifer Wilson wanted a wedding that’s just the opposite.

The two wed during Louisville, Kentucky’s annual Zombie Attack on August 29. The bride and groom — and their bridal party — wore zombie-fied clothes covered in holes, burns and mud to play along with the idea that the couple was “killed” in a car accident on their way to the ceremony.

The undead are pretty unromantic but for Embry and Wilson they have a special meaning: he asked her on their first ‘official’ date at the Zombie Attack in 2011.

This isn’t the first time zombies have crept into marriage-related festivities over the last year. One Los Angeles couple staged a zombie attack for a super-creative engagement shoot in August 2011.

SOURCE: HUFFINGTONPOST.COM

Robot against robot

It’s metal versus metal as the Robot World cup starts up!

Twenty six teams of robotics experts have converged on Bristol, England, to test the mettle of their metal men in the Federation of International Robotics Association (FIRA) Robo World Cup, an annual event now in its 16th year.

Soccer is the main sport of interest, but the robots — including one named “Usain Volt” in homage to the Jamaican runner — also compete in sprinting, basketball and weight lifting.

According to Peter Gibbons from Plymouth University, the team with the Usain Volt robot, just like human athletes, spend a lifetime preparing for an event that may last a few moments at most, so do the scientists who put their blood, sweat and gears into their robot racers.

“We have been developing our humanoid robot for the last five years, so we’re old hands at these games — we’ve travelled the world with our robots,” he said.

Some teams build their robots from scratch, while others buy them from stores and modify them for the competition.

SOURCE: HUFFINGTONPOST.COM

Killer bite A Nepali farmer’s reaction after a snake bit him wasn’t to head straight to the hospital but to exact revenge on a cobra by biting the snake back and killing it.

Mohammed Salmodin was working in his rice paddy field in a village about 125 miles south of Kathmandu when he came upon the snake.

He explained: “A snake charmer told me that if a snake bites you, bite it until it is dead and nothing will happen to you.”

Family members later convinced Salmodin to go to a hospital for treatment of his bite, but he has since been released.

Perhaps surprisingly, this is not the first time a person has bitten a snake in defense.

In 2009, a Kenyan farmer struggled with a 13-foot python for three hours. The python dragged the man up into a tree, but the man ended up biting the snake on the tail. He was later able to call for help on his cell phone as the snake eased its grip. SOURCE: HUFFINGTONPOST.COM

‘Gross’ profits

Poop-Cycle

An 8-year-old boy in Bournemouth, Great Britain, may have some gross profits after finding a piece of whale vomit that may be worth $63,000 (Rs5,965,155).

Charlie Naysmith was walking on the beach of Hengistbury Head when he came across a big chunk that looked like a yellowish beige rock with a waxy finish and picked it up. With the help of his parents, he discovered it was not a rock, but a piece of ambergris, a substance barfed by sperm whales.

As disgusting as that sounds, the substance is actually in demand with perfume makers as it helps prolong the scent of perfume. That’s why a pound of the whale waste sells for as much as $10,000 (Rs947,000).

His father, Alex Naysmith, said: “He is into nature and is really interested in it. We have discovered it is quite rare and are waiting for some more information from marine biology experts.”

That isn’t stopping him from dreaming about how to spend his newfound riches. Currently, he is considering building some kind of a shelter for animals. SOURCE: HUFFINGTONPOST.COM

If there is a competition for the world’s most unusual bikes, this “poop-powered” motorcycle will win hands down.

It is the world’s first potty-powered vehicle that can travel as far as 300km on a tank filled with animal droppings! Moreover, the three-wheeler has a toilet in place of a regular seat and huge paper roll at the back.

“The biogas it uses as fuel is not made from human waste. It’s made from livestock waste and sewage,” Kenji Fujita, a company spokesman, said. “We hope to raise awareness among customers about our green campaign through development of environmentally-friendly products such as water-saving showerheads and water-saving toilets,” he added. SOURCE: TRIBUNE.COM.PK

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

Did you know?

6

s n i g i r O d r o W Wrong End Of The Stick The most popular story about the origins of this phrase comes from the ancient Roman times when there were no flushing toilets. The Romans used to use a sponge on a stick instead of toilet paper to clean themselves. s.

The person in the next stall may have asked for their neighbour to “pass the stick” and if the recipient grabbed the wrong end, they’d be seriously grossed out! Most definitely unpleasant!

There is also an incident which occurred in the 7th or 8th centuries, which might be related to this phrase. Saint Patrick, while enthusiastically converting a local king to Christianity, accidentally pierced the king’s foot with the pointy end of his staff. The king presumed this was part of the process and bore the pain without saying anything. It was only afterwards, ards, when Patrick tried to bless the king by ‘dubbing’ him with the other end that they b both king h had h realised li d that h the h ki d got the wrong end of the stick first.

How to say 'Black' in different languages?

Afrikaans Arabic Bengali Bulgarian Chinese (Cantonese) Estonian Filipino Finnish French German Gujarati Hawaiian Hungarian Indonesian Japanese Malay

swart aswad kalo cheren hak must itim musta noir schwarz kaaro ‘ele’ele fekete hitam kuro hitam

Cool facts Dogs have sweat glands in between their paws.

We share 70% of our DNA with a slug.

We share 98.4% of our DNA with a chimp.

Fireflies do not bite or have pincers. Fireflies are harmless, they don’t even carry diseases.

Chocolate, macadamia nuts, cooked onions, or anything with caffeine is harmful to dogs.

No two tigers ever have the same stripes, and this is how individual tigers can be identified.

The longest recorded life span of a slug was 1 year, 6 months.

A whale’s heart beats only nine times a minute.

Elephants are covered with hair.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

7

Fun & games

Want to be hi five’s artist of the week?

Send your drawing with your name and age to: hifive@tribune. com.pk

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

Make your way through the maze

SOURCE: CARTOONCRITTERS.COM

From Our Readers

Raja Saif

Age: 10 Simra Aleem

Age: 6