Q: What do Romantic poet Byron and the Strait of Hormuz have in common?
A: Like Byron, the Strait of Hormuz could claim that it woke up one morning to find itself famous. Byron gained overnight celebrity status in 1812 when the first print run of his poem, 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage' was sold out in 3 days. The strait gained overnight fame - or infamy, depending on one's point of view - on February 28, after the US and Israel attacked Iran, which responded by imposing a blockade of the strategically crucial waterway that links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman.
Prior to these events, few beyond West Asia had heard of the Strait of Hormuz. Strait of Hormuz? 'Who's Hormuz, and why is it such a big deal that he's not gay? Not straight, but strait?' Ok. So, what dire strait is the fellow in? Financial? Unfriended on Facebook?
All that has changed, changed utterly, and a terrible duty is born. Today, it's our collective duty to be au courant and in the loop of 'CURRENT AFFAIRS' to know all there is to know. And then to know some more, about the 50-odd-km-long stretch of water that affords passage to 20% of all global oil and LPG shipments, and as such is not only pivotal to the international economy, but also to fossil-fuel-driven civilisation as we know it.
You can't read, or hear of, a single mention of the strait without being informed about that omnipresent 20%. It's like those applications for a sarkari clerkship in which the applicant furnishes qualifications for the same: '10th Standard Pass, by Grace of God.'
Sometimes a single news report will mention that 20% more than once to ensure we're all getting that number right, and, through a momentary bout of amnesia, don't misremember it to be 19.5% on weekdays and 21% when on overtime. And that the percentage is for oil and gas, and not for, say, made-in-China Barbie and Ken dolls, or reject quality Bangladeshi T-shirts inscribed 'I ♥Hasina'.
Hormuz is not to be confused with the Horn of Africa, which currently plays second fiddle to Hormuz, but is fast catching up as a 'Hormuz stand-by'. The Horn of Africa doesn't reference the compacted keratin that forms the protuberance on the snout of the African rhinoceros. Unlike its Asian cousin, the African rhinoceros has not one, but two such outgrowths. If the H of A did, in fact, refer to the creature in question, it would have to be pluralised to 'Horns of Africa'.
The H of A is a large peninsula projecting from the easternmost part of the continent and is so called because it is, well, horn-shaped. It is the 4th most sizeable peninsula in the world and comprises Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, parts of Kenya and Sudan, and Djibouti.
Dj... what? How do you say that? What's that? You don't pronounce the D, as in Djokovic? Similarly, should one refer to Djibouti as 'Booty'? Considering that that term means plunder and, part of the human anatomy called an 'ass'. The good folk of Djibouti might deem taking such undue familiarities with their country's name as a piece of impertinence 'up with which they would not put', as Churchill would have had it - splitting grammatical hairs but not the infinitive.
Houthis, Hezbollah, and Hamas are, strictly speaking, not parts of geography, but of geopolitics, which means they're not really countries as such, but could be called 'wannabe' countries, rather like those stickers on the backs of Volkswagen Beetles: 'When I grow up I wanna be a Merc.'
Geography is said to have been invented by Eratosthenes of Cyrene (c. 276-194 BCE), the librarian-in-chief in Alexandria, who measured Earth's circumference with uncanny precision, and segmented the planet by devising a grid of latitudes and longitudes, earning him the title of 'Father of Geography'.
In that the entire concept of geography, and of geopolitics, is being radically reinvented, a modified version of that appellation might be accorded to that 'Don of Dons', the 'Capo di Capi', as the 'Godfather of Neo-geography', with a marginal PS for his trusty PA who supplies the footnotes, Bibi.
A: Like Byron, the Strait of Hormuz could claim that it woke up one morning to find itself famous. Byron gained overnight celebrity status in 1812 when the first print run of his poem, 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage' was sold out in 3 days. The strait gained overnight fame - or infamy, depending on one's point of view - on February 28, after the US and Israel attacked Iran, which responded by imposing a blockade of the strategically crucial waterway that links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman.
Prior to these events, few beyond West Asia had heard of the Strait of Hormuz. Strait of Hormuz? 'Who's Hormuz, and why is it such a big deal that he's not gay? Not straight, but strait?' Ok. So, what dire strait is the fellow in? Financial? Unfriended on Facebook?
All that has changed, changed utterly, and a terrible duty is born. Today, it's our collective duty to be au courant and in the loop of 'CURRENT AFFAIRS' to know all there is to know. And then to know some more, about the 50-odd-km-long stretch of water that affords passage to 20% of all global oil and LPG shipments, and as such is not only pivotal to the international economy, but also to fossil-fuel-driven civilisation as we know it.
You can't read, or hear of, a single mention of the strait without being informed about that omnipresent 20%. It's like those applications for a sarkari clerkship in which the applicant furnishes qualifications for the same: '10th Standard Pass, by Grace of God.'
Sometimes a single news report will mention that 20% more than once to ensure we're all getting that number right, and, through a momentary bout of amnesia, don't misremember it to be 19.5% on weekdays and 21% when on overtime. And that the percentage is for oil and gas, and not for, say, made-in-China Barbie and Ken dolls, or reject quality Bangladeshi T-shirts inscribed 'I ♥Hasina'.
Hormuz is not to be confused with the Horn of Africa, which currently plays second fiddle to Hormuz, but is fast catching up as a 'Hormuz stand-by'. The Horn of Africa doesn't reference the compacted keratin that forms the protuberance on the snout of the African rhinoceros. Unlike its Asian cousin, the African rhinoceros has not one, but two such outgrowths. If the H of A did, in fact, refer to the creature in question, it would have to be pluralised to 'Horns of Africa'.
The H of A is a large peninsula projecting from the easternmost part of the continent and is so called because it is, well, horn-shaped. It is the 4th most sizeable peninsula in the world and comprises Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, parts of Kenya and Sudan, and Djibouti.
Dj... what? How do you say that? What's that? You don't pronounce the D, as in Djokovic? Similarly, should one refer to Djibouti as 'Booty'? Considering that that term means plunder and, part of the human anatomy called an 'ass'. The good folk of Djibouti might deem taking such undue familiarities with their country's name as a piece of impertinence 'up with which they would not put', as Churchill would have had it - splitting grammatical hairs but not the infinitive.
Houthis, Hezbollah, and Hamas are, strictly speaking, not parts of geography, but of geopolitics, which means they're not really countries as such, but could be called 'wannabe' countries, rather like those stickers on the backs of Volkswagen Beetles: 'When I grow up I wanna be a Merc.'
Geography is said to have been invented by Eratosthenes of Cyrene (c. 276-194 BCE), the librarian-in-chief in Alexandria, who measured Earth's circumference with uncanny precision, and segmented the planet by devising a grid of latitudes and longitudes, earning him the title of 'Father of Geography'.
In that the entire concept of geography, and of geopolitics, is being radically reinvented, a modified version of that appellation might be accorded to that 'Don of Dons', the 'Capo di Capi', as the 'Godfather of Neo-geography', with a marginal PS for his trusty PA who supplies the footnotes, Bibi.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.)
Jug Suraiya
A prominent Indian journalist, author and columnist.