Monday, June 25, 2007

Wonder Blunder

The Seven Wonders of the World, ancient or middle-age, I can’t name one. Actually I can do pretty well on the ancient wonders (I remembered 5 out of 7 correctly), but not so well the middle-age wonders. So I wiki’d it. But what the fuck, there is no middle age list that can comprehensively clear my query.

But that isn’t the point of this. I seriously doubt too many people know all the seven wonders, whichever age. Sure, historians will know. I doubt even a fraction of the world population has visited them all. So the New Seven wonders Project, where we imbeciles are allowed to vote from a list of 20 (formerly 21, before Egypt made a big deal of it) for the 7 we deem fit.


And how does this voting occur. Well the internet and Cellular Phones of course. No way to reach the masses than the internet right? Wrong. Under 1 billion people have an internet connection from the top 20 countries. And the disparity is large. USA has 2 times more internet users than the next, China. And chances are these 1 billion people that get to decide which are the greatest wonders of our time, probably have no authority, not to mention the skewed demographics. How the fuck does Russia’s Kremlin stand a chance when it has not even 10 percent of internet users. The whole exercise is absurd. Yet, it has gained so much popularity that it might just be regarded as the new list.

So, if I wasn’t as lazy as I am, who would I vote for? Well the Taj for sure. Not because I love the monument so much or am in total awe of it but because people visit it. It brings in money, other people’s money. And for that reason alone, I would love for it to be in Social Studies textbooks around the world. I’d vote for the Kremlin. No need to guess why there.

The rest would have to be:


Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany


Petra, Jordan


The Pyramid at Chichén Itzá, Mexico


The Acropolis of Athens, Greece


Angkor, Cambodia




The list is far from popular, and I am sure most of them won’t make it into the Top 7. But who the fuck cares? It is bound to be fucked up if it is left to the people. Take your cue from democracy.

Oh, and thank you Air India for a free dinner and stay! Perfect way to start off a perfectly useless weekend, whose highlight was The Fountain, which I highly recommend. Which is more than I can say for the other “seven wonders” that I watched before it.


3 comments:

Aditi said...

n y is it 7 wonders why cant it b 10?
this whole seven wonder exercise is totally pointless!
even if dere is a list who will recognise it? n who cares?

The Depressed Doormat said...

unfortunately, thats not what I see around me. Loads of people care enough to spend money to vote! And if you visit the site you realise it is nothing more than a commercial investment. Sad.

Mustafa Quilon said...

It is a very Sick and cold commercial exercise....I jus don't understand why people would spend their money on this stupid thing...even if it is 50 paise or whatever...

Is their anyway we can sue them..... :)

Wish I was a lawyer in America...:p