India is a land of immense talent and there are many people whose contribution to their respective fields has earned them recognition both nationally and internationally. With their excellence and expertise in areas such as literature, cinema, science and politics, these Indians are as popular abroad as they are in their homeland. Celebrating & honouring their talent, there are several places abroad that are named after them.
Here are 11 such places outside India that have been named after Indians:
1. A.R Rahman Street, Canada
A R Rahman's music transcends all boundaries, and we know that the Oscar winning music composer is not only popular in India but also abroad. Canada showed its love for the Mozart of Madras by naming a street after him, called the 'Allah-Rakha Rahman st',in Ontario.
2. Gavaskar Place, New Zealand
Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, honoured little master Sunil Gavaskar by naming a street after him, calling it 'Gavaskar Place'. Interestingly, the name of the locality where this street lies is called Khandala. Seems like New Zealand is quite smitten with India!
3. Mahatma Gandhi Road, Netherlands
We have a Mahatma Gandhi road in almost every city in India and with his popularity as the leader who propagated non-violence, he's revered in many other countries too. There are many roads named after him in Netherlands, USA, Germany, Philippines, Iran, Canada and several other countries.
4. Swami Vivekananda Way, Chicago, USA
Who can forget the historic speech given by Swami Vivekananda in 1893 at the Parliament of Religions, in Chicago, which still fills us with pride? In his honour, a street was named after him in Chicago, which is called the Swami Vivekananda Way.
5. Indira Gandhi Street, Tanzania
India's high commission in Nicosia, the only Indian representation in Cyprus, is located on the street named after India's first woman Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. There's also an Indira Gandhi street in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
6. Rabindranath Tagore Street, Berlin, Germany
Profound Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore visited Germany thrice, where he met one of the brilliant scientific minds of 20th century, Albert Einstein, at his Berlin home in 1926. Commemorating Tagore's 100th birth anniversary in 1961, a street was named after him in the city of Tel Aviv. Interestingly, the street intersects with the one named after Einstein.
7. Jawaharlal Nehru Square, Moscow, Russia
India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru admired USSR and it's a known fact that he's quite popular in that country. There is a Jawaharlal Nehru square in Moscow’s Vernardsky Prospekt. The square is know as 'Ja square', as it's difficult for Russians to pronounce Nehru’s first name.
8. Bhagat Singh Chowk, Lahore, Pakistan
The place where Bhagat Singh was executed, now known as Shadman chowk, was officially named as 'Bhagat Singh Chowk', after the revolutionary leader. However, due to the opposition met by some Islamic jihadists, the court stayed the decision.
9. Raj Kapoor Crescent, Canada
Legendary film actor and India's ultimate showman has a street named after him in the city of Brampton, Canada. It's called the Raj Kapoor Crescent.
10. Mt. Sinha, Antarctica
The United States named a mountain in Antarctica honouring Akhouri Sinha, the Indian-American scientist, who pioneered biological research expedition providing important data about animal populations.
11. Dwarkanath Kotnis Statue, Shijiazhuang, China
Dwarkanath Shantaram Kotnis was one of the 5 Indian physicians who was sent to China by the Indian government to provide medical assistance during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938. He is widely respected by the Chinese. Which is why an entire south side of the Martyr's Memorial park in Shijiazhuang city, one of the major tourist attractions, is dedicated to Dr Kotnis. A statue has also been erected in his honour.
Hollywood has been churning out numerous sequels in recent past but 2016 is going to see the mother of all sequel sprees. In fact, it has pretty much become customary to follow up a hit movie with a sequel. Interestingly, such has been the craze of these movies in India that Hollywood movies are beginning to threaten the collections of domestic movies. And with the alarming success of Deadpool and Spectre, Bollywood has the writing on the wall - Get your act together.
Meanwhile, here are 18 sequels of Hollywood movies that will be releasing in India this year:
1. Jason Bourne (US release date: July 29)
This action spy thriller is the fifth installment in the Bourne franchise and the sequel to The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). The film stars Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Alicia Vikander, Tommy Lee Jones, and Vincent Cassel. Bourne escaped unscathed in the previous one and is all geared up for the next adventure.
This horror film is the sequel to the 2013 film, The Conjuring. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson will reprise their roles as Lorraine and Ed Warren. The first one was quite scary so we can only hope that this installment will be even better.
3. London Has Fallen (India release date: March 4)
Gerard Butler! Need I say more? This is a sequel to Antoine Fuqua's 2013 film, Olympus Has Fallen. Directed by Babak Najafi, also stars Aaron Eckhart, and Morgan Freeman. The secret service team has to save the American President after several world leaders are attacked in London. By the way, that release date is tomorrow.
It is the sequel to Now You See Me (2013) and stars Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Sanaa Lathan, Dave Franco, Daniel Radcliffe, Jay Chou, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Lizzy Caplan. The Four Horsemen resurface for a comeback performance in the hope of exposing the unethical practices of a tech-magnate. Their only hope is to perform one last unprecedented stunt to clear their names and reveal the mastermind behind it all.
It is the sequel to Finding Nemo (2003) and will be about Dory trying to re-unite with her family. It has also been confirmed that characters from the first film will appear in the sequel, including Dory, Nemo, Marlin and the Tank Gang. The film will take place six months after the events of Finding Nemo and will be set off the coast of California.
6. Alice Through the Looking Glass (US release date: May 27)
Johnny Depp will reprise his role as the Mad Hatter in the sequel of Alice in Wonderland(2010). The Mad Hatter has to be saved in this one and only Time (a peculiar creature who is part human, part clock) can do that. The sequel is based on the novel, 'Through the Looking-Glass' by Lewis Carroll. The film stars Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska, Rhys Ifans, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen and features the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, and Timothy Spall.
7. The Purge: Election Year (US release date: July 1)
This is a sequel to The Purge: Anarchy (2014) and the third installment in The Purge series. The Purge event is an annual event in which all crime is legal and all police, fire, and medical emergency services remain unavailable for 12 hours. Although, it is thought to be used as an act of catharsis for the U.S. populace, it is in reality used as a method of artificial population control as the unemployed poor in slum neighborhoods are usually the main targets. Frank Grillo will reprise his role in the film but will have to survive the final purge event before the new anti-purge government comes into place.
8. Underworld: Next Generation (US release date: October 14)
It is the fifth installment in the Underworld film series and the sequel to Underworld: Awakening (2012), with Kate Beckinsale reprising her role as Selene. In the last film, Selene was determined to reunite with Michael and take back the world from the humans and lycans, which will probably be the plot of this film.
9. Ice Age: Collision Course (US release date: July 22)
This is the fifth installment in the Ice Age film series and a sequel to 2012's Ice Age: Continental Drift. Denis Leary, Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, John Leguizamo, Keke Palmer, Jennifer Lopez and Chris Wedge are set to reprise their roles from the previous installment. Scrat's adventure into space sets off a series of events that threaten Manny and the rest of the herd down on Earth, forcing them to leave behind their home. On their journey, they discover an exotic place, led by its spiritual leader Shangri Llama.
10. Independence Day: Resurgence (US release date: June 22)
This is a sequel to the 1996 film, Independence Day. Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet. The aliens were able to send a distress signal to their other battalions before their final defeat while others went into hiding elsewhere around the world. The aliens in deep space receive the signal and send a larger battle fleet, threatening the human race once more.
11. Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (US release date: May 20)
It is a sequel to the 2014 film Neighbors. Seth Rogen, Zac Efron and Rose Byrne will reprise their roles in this film. Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly Radner (Rose Byrne) are expecting their second child. They soon reunite with Teddy (Zac Efron) to help battle the sorority sisters of Kappa Kappa Nu led by Shelby (Chloë Grace Moretz) who moved in to their neighboring house after they branched off from Phi Lamba Phi led by Madison (Selena Gomez).
12. Mechanic: Resurrection (US release date: August 26)
This film is the sequel to the 2011 film The Mechanic. After the demise of his partner-turned-enemy, Steve McKenna; Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) retires his status as a contract killer. But when his most formidable foe kidnaps the love of his life, he is forced to travel the globe to complete three impossible assassinations, and do what he does best, make them look like accidents.
13. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (US release date: October 21)
It is a sequel to 2012 film Jack Reacher. Tom Cruise will be reprising his role as Jack Reacher, a former U.S. Army Military Police Corps officer, in the film. The films also stars Cobie Smulders, Danika Yarosh, Aldis Hodge, Patrick Heusinger, and Holt McCallany.
14. The Huntsman: Winter's War (US release date: April 22)
This film is a sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman (2012). As two evil sisters prepare to conquer the land; two renegades - Eric the Huntsman - who previously aided Snow White in defeating Ravenna, and his forbidden lover, Sara set out to stop them. Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron will be reprising their roles as Eric and Ravenna.
It is the sequel to the 2003 film Bad Santa. The con men from the first film will probably reprise their roles in this one too and Brett Kelly will be back in this one as Thurman. The film also stars Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Kathy Bates, and Christina Hendricks.
16. Barbershop: The Next Cut (US release date: April 15)
It is a direct sequel to the 2004 film Barbershop 2: Back in Business and the fourth film in the Barbershop film series. The gang must work together to save the shop and the neighborhood from gang members that roam the streets. Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer will be reprising their roles from the previous one in this film.
17. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (US release date: March 25)
It is the sequel to My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which was released in 2002. The big, crazy Greek family is back and there's another wedding. Nia Vardalos is back as Toula and John Corbett will be back playing Ian.
The film is the sequel to Angels & Demons, and stars Tom Hanks, reprising his role as Robert Langdon. It is the third film of the series. In this one, Robert Langdon awakens in a hospital room in Florence, Italy, with no memory as to what has transpired over the last few days. He suddenly finds himself, again, the target of a major manhunt. Inferno also stars Irrfan Khan.
Before he created Facebook, a teenaged and “slightly intoxicated” Mark Zuckerberg live-blogged his way to fame when he launched Facemash with his Harvard roommates. But guess what, he's not the only one who found his entrepreneurial spirit over a few drinks. It turns out that alcohol, especially beer, is more than just a lubricant for socialization. It's magic potion that helps people come up with earth-shattering million dollar ideas!
Don’t think so? Well, here are a few reasons that will convince you to take your next tipsy brainstorming session a little seriously:
1. Ben Lerer and Adam Rich were drinking beers on their roof when they came up with the idea for Thrillist.
Thrillist Media Group founders Ben Lerer and Adam Rich were buddies living in New York in 2004 when they single-handedly started the first Thrillist blog. In an interview with Mashable, Lerer recounted the day Thrillist was conceptualized:
"We were sitting on my roof six years ago hanging out having a beer (you know), half complaining that we were unhappy with our jobs or felt sort of under-utilized and a little bit lost, and the other half, Adam was getting ready to take a girl out to dinner. We were trying to find a place and both sort of started talking about how frustrated we were with the city guides that we were reading, and we had also been talking about how we just wanted to go and do something else. And that sort of sparked it."
2. Tinder was actually launched at a college party.
The Huffington Post has reported that co-founders, Sean Rad and Justin Mateen actually launched Tinder at the University of Southern California during a birthday party for one of the founder's brothers while he was at school there. The guests had to show they’d downloaded the app, and downloads jumped from 400 users on the first day to over 4,000 by the end of the first week!
3. The founders of Reddit, Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman, won over their venture capitalist over a few beers.
Ohanian revealed in an episode of the ‘A Total Disruption’ web-series that they got their funder's attention by offering to buy him a beer. Originally, both Ohanian and Huffman had set out to develop a food-ordering app. But after a conference in Boston, the two approached Y Combinator's Paul Graham and took him out for a few beers. Later, Paul Graham suggested them to develop "the front page of the Internet" instead of the app they were thinking about. Now, that's what you REALLY call a life-changing advice.
4. Anirudh Gupta, co-founder of Tripoto, got an investment proposal from his IIT-Delhi senior, Nikunj Jain in a bar.
According to anET Tech interview, this is how their meeting panned out:
On a balmy Sunday afternoon, after a few mugs, both started talking about their common interest: spiritual teacher Osho.
Exhausted after discussing spiritualism for an hour, the conversation inevitably veered around to the materialistic path: Gupta started sharing his business plans about Tripoto; Jain was listening. "It was then that he proposed to invest," recalls Gupta, who got angel funding from Jain in October 2014. This March, the Delhi-based startup raised its second round of funding led by IDG Ventures India.
5. Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp came up with the idea of Uber while they were partying in Paris.
"Jamming on ideas, rapping on what's next is what entrepreneurs do. Garrett and I would get some good music, good drinks, and jam until 5 AM. Garrett's big idea was cracking the horrible taxi problem in San Francisco - getting stranded on the streets of San Francisco is familiar territory for any San Franciscan. Garrett's m.o. fits the Uber brand. He likes to roll in style, comfort, and convenience. His over-the-top idea in Paris that winter started as a limo timeshare service."
6. The founders of Southwest Airlines, Rollin King and Herb Kelleher, sketched out legendary triangular flight route on a cocktail napkin.
In 1966, lawyer Herb Kelleher’s client, Rollin King, owned a small commuter air service in San Antonio. King and his banker had been discussing the idea of running a quick commuter service between San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston. They pitched the idea to Kelleher, and the triangular flight route was sketched out on a cocktail napkin in a bar.
7. PopSugar started after founder Lisa shared celebrity gossip with a friend at a party.
According to a Mashable story, in February 2005, Om Malik, founder of GigaOm,suggestedthat Lisa and Brian Sugar should start an online blog network after hearing Lisa rattle off celebrity gossip over wine at their Oscar party. Today, Sugar Inc. is an entire freakin' media group.
8. Elias Bizannes came up with the idea of StartupBus while downing a few with his friends in Australia.
In 2010, Elias Bizannes was having farewell drinks with his friends before leaving Australia for Silicon Valley when he thought of the concept for StartupBus. In a few weeks, buses left from 8 different regions for SXSW, and "buspreneurs" had 72 hours to conceive, build and launch their startups.
9. The founders of Alma Mater, Varun Aggarwal & Rohan Malhotra wrote their business idea on a piece of tissue paper after a "heady" brainstorming session.
What did they write? "Make merchandise for every school and college in India."
10. The idea for the Ironman Triathlon was born during an after-awards party.
According to Wikipedia, this is how John and Judy Collin’s brainstorming session panned out at the medal ceremony for the Oahu Perimeter Relay in 1977:
Collins calculated that by shaving 3 miles (4.8 km) off the course and riding counter-clockwise around the island, the bike leg could start at the finish of the Waikiki Rough Water and end at the Aloha Tower, the traditional start of the Honolulu Marathon. Prior to racing, each athlete received three sheets of paper listing a few rules and a course description. Handwritten on the last page was this exhortation: "Swim 2.4 miles! Bike 112 miles! Run 26.2 miles! Brag for the rest of your life", now a registered trademark.
With a nod to a local runner who was notorious for his demanding workouts, Collins said, "Whoever finishes first, we'll call him the Iron Man.
