As a school kid , I have always wondered, why are Daman & Diu grouped together as a single Union Territory inspite of being so far from each other, especially when Daman & and other Union Territory of Dadra & Nagra Haveli were just 20 kilometres apart. And Dadra & Nagar Haveli had its own one day Prime Minister in 1961.

This month, a bronze statue is being unveiled in a medical school campus in Northern China. This statue is that of Dr. Ke Dihua, a heroic medical practitioner who died in 1942. Multiple Chinese top leaders - Zhou Enlai, Li Peng, Hu Jinato, Le Keqiang & Xi Jingping have met and honoured the living family members of Dr. Ke Dihua - even 75 years after his death. Now, why is this significant? Isn't it common for heroes to be remembered with statues and their memories honoured? This is significant because Ke Dihua wasn't Chinese. Ke Dihua is the Chinese name of an Indian doctor.

In this episode of Masala History by Siva,  join me in a treasure hunt that promises at least $22 billion, and some more.

I am not a fan of alternative history, or what-if history - imagining scenarios of what could have happened. But there are some watershed moments, that will pause you to think - If only this had happened; or not!.... and today we are going to see one such moment, one that would leave you thinking if this could have altered the course of history of India.

We are back to talking about the Springing Tiger.

On August 15, 1947 India made its tryst with destiny. Jawaharlal Nehru was sworn in as the first Minister of Free India in Red Fort by Lord Mountbatten.  What is the significance of the word 'Free' here. Were their other PMs (or Heads of Government of India) before?

First let me take time to thank everyone who has been supportive since our launch, am happy to state that we have hit more than a 1000 regular readers + listeners across multiple channels. I want to take this opportunity to thank all the folks who keep encouraging me by sending articles & books, feedback, topics to explore. I also want to thank Anu, Arshdeep and the Kwazi team that have breathed life into my hobby with their design and consulting on channel and content type strategies.

A few days back one of my friends asked to me to tell her a history that is unbelievable & outrageous.. and in this edition am narrating that story for everyone's benefit. 

History is always filled with remarkable journeys that changed the course of the world. Be it the Hijra of Mohammed from Mecca to Medina or Netaji Subash Bose's escape from Calcutta to Berlin or Mao Zedong's long march across China - they have all been very critical and timely. And in 1917, there was one such very significant homecoming trip. This is the train journey of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov or better known as Lenin and 30 of his followers from Zurich to Petrograd, the capital of Russian empire then.

The COVID 19 pandemic has throws lives of many people into disarray across the world. And sadly, in India, migrant worker communities have become like refugees in their own country. As we continue to grapple with the situation and come to terms with how to help rebuild the lives of those affected by this calamity, it will be timely to see how, several decades back, this country and one of its Kings welcomed with open arms refugees from a different nation, created a home for them (and not a camp), while they were themselves dealing with drought and famine.