A list of curious facts

One: The Police (the band, not aamchi Mumbai cops) performed at their first and only India concert in 1980. They were invited to the country by hip Parsi ladies of the Time & Talent Club—to be part of their Jazz Festival (?!). The venue: the Rang Bhavan in Dhobi Talao. As you can see, The Police mania rivalled the so-called Beatles mania:

And behold the lovely young gentlemen:

FYI: Sting came back to perform at the Lollapalooza this January—but it wasn’t quite the same. Mid-Day has loads more backstory on the historic 1980 event.

Two: Danish scientists have ranked types of paper—based on whether they are most likely to cause a nasty paper cut. Surprisingly, the thinnest kind is, in fact, among the safest—as is the thickest. The worst of the lot: paper used in dot matrix printers. When they connected a small piece of it to a scalpel, it became a “papermachete”—“slicing through vegetable skin and even some meats.” Eeks! For more PSA gyaan on paper cuts, see the graphic below, or head over to Phys.org.

Three: At sports stadiums in South Korea, women vastly outnumber men—unlike the rest of the world. One reason: the arenas are very safe. Another reason: hot male athletes—who are nearly as adored as those BTS pretties. One delightful fallout of this reverse ‘gender gap’: unique, super-chill cheerleading routines. The most popular is known as the “Pikki Pikki” dance—and is performed by cheerleaders for the Kia Tigers. You can see why:) (New York Times via Yahoo News)

Four: Silicon Valley has long been famous for its storied employee perks—fancy gyms, gourmet food, acupuncture sessions etc. But among the most unusual benefits are reserved for women. Example: Both X and Johnson & Johnson employees get free baby milk shipping—to send refrigerated breast milk home to their children. Also: Did you know that tech giants like Google, Netflix, and Meta pay for women to freeze their eggs for over a decade? A feminist perk that comes with some downsides. What’s interesting: These benefits have survived the sweeping cost cuts at tech companies—which have cancelled other goodies like on-site laundry and free food. (Business Insider)

Bonus fact: This is usually our excuse to throw a cool bit of artwork at you. This sculpture by French-Moroccan artist Bruno Catalano is called ‘Les Voyageurs’ (The Travelers)—and is a tribute to the immigrant. There are 10 of them installed in Marseilles—each a different kind of traveller placed at a different location (park, beach etc.) This one is our favourite. Daily Art magazine has some of the others.