On a lighter note...

General John Nicholson

I am sometimes asked how many religions there are in the world. Frankly, that is an impossible question to answer. I am sure it would be quite feasible for anyone to come up with his own idiosyncratic set of beliefs and to devise his own set of ethics to live by and term it a `religion'. However, when considering known and documented religious groups which have very few adherents, one of the most obscure and bizarre has to be the Nikalsaini (Followers of General John Nicholson, the Deputy Commissioner of the District of Rawalpindi in the mid nineteenth century). This sect consisted of just three erstwhile Sikhs and seems to have arisen following the victory of the British over the Sikh army in the battle of Gujarat in 1849. At the time, a great panic was said to have prevailed among the Sikhs: very many cut off their long hair and were in great fear of being forcibly converted to Christianity. It was against this backdrop that three men were seen going about Rawalpindi, dressed up in the cast-off clothes and hats of Europeans, and with shaven heads and faces. The eldest gave himself out to be the mahant or chief of a sect, and the others to be his chelas or disciples. The mahant played upon a two-stringed instrument and he and his disciples sang hymns in praise of the English in general, and of John Nicholson (whom they seem to have conceived of as some sort of divine figure) in particular. Apparently, they came before Nicholson under the idea that the Deputy Commissioner would feel flattered at being associated with a new sect, whose Guru he was acknowledged to be. However, Nicholson was less than impressed and had them flogged and sent away. Quite understandably, their enthusiasm seems to have waned after this and they were neither seen nor heard of thereafter.

Bone Idle