The durable dictator

You have heard of “Indira is India”. In the same way “Mugabe was Zimbabwe”.

He was effectively the only leader of independent Zimbabwe and did improve the conditions of the common people in the early years of his rule. Later things did not go well and he faced widespread opposition before the armed forces deposed him in 2017, after 37 years in power.

You can read an overview of his life here:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-49604152

And he features in many lists of durable leaders:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest-living_state_leaders

He is only 98th on this list, as he lived to be 95 years and 195 days.

Many of those higher in this list are little-known or from little-named countries.

The longest-living well known persons here would be

Y Nakasone, PM of Japan in the 1980s, still living at 101+

Perez de Cuellar, PM of Peru and UN Secretary-General, still living at 99+

Prem Tinsulananda, PM of Thailand, lived to be 98+

The Indian duo of Gulzarilal Nanda and Morarji Desai both crossed 99.

Also see this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_state_leaders_by_age

Note Mahathir Mohammad, serving as PM of Malaysia at 94+

followed by Queen Elizabeth 2 at 93+

Robert Mugabe was President until he was deposed at 93+

However, Malawi’s Hastings Banda was President for Life until 1994 when he was deposed at 96+

In contrast, the oldest US President was Ronald Reagan who was 77+ at the end of his second term. The longest lived US President is Jimmy Carter (born Oct 1, 1924 and presently 94+. Earlier this year he overtook George Bush (senior) who lived to be 93+

 

National anthems of WC 2015

So the festivities have begun. Since the practice of singing the national anthems seems to have picked up in recent tournaments, here is a quick run through the anthems which you are likely to hear over the next month:

AFGHANISTAN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs9y-P0FdOo

AUSTRALIA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8tswkr25A0

BANGLADESH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVjbVPFeo2o

ENGLAND: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKRHWT6xdEU

INDIA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yMvU73Wr7Q

IRELAND: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVoWUnKA18k

NEW ZEALAND: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT9k_7_jP8A

PAKISTAN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d41Ld1-8Mbo

SCOTLAND: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0MklIdTiaU

SOUTH AFRICA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr0414FrN7g

SRI LANKA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1f4VYi9uE8

U. A. E.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8ArIT7u4Fg

WEST INDIES: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbcbsmeRYC8 

(also see http://www.angelfire.com/ks/davincy/windies.html)

ZIMBABWE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKJOZ44Ec9k

This has a lot of disclaimers and peculiarities, as we will see. There is no country called the West Indies, so this “anthem” is purely used for cricket. I have been able to get the English lyrics or English translations for all the anthems.

As usual in such matters, the United Kingdom is on its own trip.

“God Save The Queen” : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppIomb3r_3Q is the national anthem of the United Kingdom. Scotland has a separate song which is not an official anthem, but is played at sporting events. That is given above. England sticks with the U.K. anthem for soccer but uses another song called “Jerusalem” for cricket, which is what you hear above. Ireland here includes Northern Ireland (which comes under the U.K.) and the Irish Republic (which is another country whose anthem is given here).

Several countries have versions of their anthems in different languages: New Zealand’s includes Maori followed by English in the same anthem. South Africa’s has five languages, one after another: Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans and English. Sri Lanka’s has Sinhala and Tamil versions, but the former is more commonly used. Zimbabwe’s has versions in three languages: Shona, Ndebele and English. Similarly Ireland has it in Gaelic and English. Scotland’s unofficial anthem also has  Scots and  Scots-Gaelic versions, though it is unclear if these are unofficial or even un-unofficial.

The UAE anthem might remind Brits of the term “Blighty”, said to be derived from Urdu: According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word derives from “bilayati”, a regional variant of the Urdu word “vilayati”, meaning “foreign”, “British”, “English” or “European.”

Parting shot: Supporters of one of India’s main political parties might find the Sri Lankan anthem particularly inspiring 🙂