Mark, Gents:

Sorry for the radio silence but I'm in the middle of a month of hectic
work-related travels to various parts of the world.

On Thugees, I'd vote against the name (and lest it be thought that I've
resurfaced only to be negative, I will find time - over the next one week,
no more - to come up with either some new suggestions or with endorsements
from within the amazing, exhaustive list that has been circulated).

By the way, the cop who solved the Thuggee problem was a person called
Sleeman (first name Henry or William or something else) and how he did it is
a great story in its own - highlights being the use of intelligence
gathering techniques and, as mentioned below, speedy dispensation of
'justice'.

More later.

Nikhil







----Original Message Follows----
From: Srifx <no_reply@...>
Reply-To: sherlockholmessocietyofindia@...
To: sherlockholmessocietyofindia@...
Subject: [sherlock holmes society of india] Re: Society Names
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 15:30:13 -0000

How about "The Baker Street Thugees"

Some background....
In the 1800s, in English occupied India, there was one of the worst
gangs of murdering thieves the world has ever known, the Indian
hoodlum band known as the Thuggees. Through the course of their
existence, dating back to the 1550s, the Thuggees were credited with
murdering more than 2,000,000 people, mostly wealthy travelers. The
killer secret society plagued India for more than 350 years. The
Thuggees traveled in gangs, sometimes disguised as poor beggars or
religious mendicants. Sometimes they wore the garb of rich merchants
to get closer to unsuspecting victims. One of their principles was
never to spill blood, so they always strangled their victims. Each
member was required to kill at least once a year in order to maintain
membership in the cult.

The ruling British government worked very hard to stop the Thuggee
religion and its murderous practices. Between 1829 and 1848, the
British managed to suppress the Thuggees by means of mass arrests and
speedy executions. Indeed, rows and rows of Thuggees were left
hanging from the gallows along the roads by the dozens. This not only
established a zero recidivism rate, but it also greatly discouraged
new membership into the cult. The most lethal practitioner of the
cult of Thuggee was Buhram. At his trial it was established that he
had murdered 931 people between 1790 and 1840. All had been strangled
with his waistcloth. Burham was executed in 1840. Appropriately
enough, he was hanged until he strangled. In 1882, the British
government deemed the problem solved with the hanging death of the
last known Thuggee. Good riddance.

SriFX
--- In sherlockholmessocietyofindia@..., Srifx
<no_reply@y...> wrote:
> Hi Anand, fellow Sherlockians,
>
> Good going with the names. I was out for the weekend and missed the
> flurry of activity. I too would like to take a shot at the name.
> However for now I like the "Great Indian Sherlockian Society". I'd
> like to think there may be a reference to an secret indian
> tribe/society of the Victorian era like the "Thugees" in the canon
> somewhere. (BTW that is the Indian origin of the English
word "thug").
>
> Kudos to you on the proactive letters you sent which evoked the
> responses. Looking forward to chatting when I'm online.
>
>
> SriFX
>
> --- In
sherlockholmessocietyofindia@..., "anandpillai6"
> <anandpillai6@y...> wrote:
> > Nice comments... shows your good SH (Sense of Humour), Mark!
> > :-)
> >
> > Yeah, even I prefer the "Great Indian Sherlockian Society".
> > It has a nice ring to it which many other names does not have.
> >
> > My second choice is actually "The Gloria Scott Survivors Club".
> Indeed :-)
> >
> > If the other people in the list does not come alive, I am going
> > to send individual mails to all of them. I hope Mark will help
> > me in that...
> >
> > Mihir Lochan, please reply.
> > SriFX, what happened to you?
> > Nikhil, come to the list...
> > Sumal, I need your opinion!
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > -Anand
> >
> > --- In
> sherlockholmessocietyofindia@..., "watsonjh2002"
> > <watsonjh2002@y...> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > 1. The Great Indian Sherlockian Society =>> THIS ONE MIGHT
BE
> > > ALRIGHT
> > >
> > > > 2. The Indian Holmesians =>>I like the earlier one better
> > >
> > > > 3. The Jezail Bullet Society =>> But Watson got shot by the
> jezail
> > > bullet in Afganistan
> > >
> > > > 4. The Dancing Men of India =>>Hey dol Merry dol the merry
men
> of
> > > India
> > >
> > > > 5. The Elementary Indians =>>Elementary my dear Indians
> > >
> > > > 6. The Retired Tri-Colormen (Reference to Indian Flag here)
> =>>
> > > Retired?? I haven't even started working yet!
> > >
> > > > 7. The Indian Boswells =>> Ding dong bell. Hey you Natthu,
> bhes
> > > kuve me gir gayi, bos(buffalo) in the well.
> > >
> > >
> > > > 8. The Indian BeeKeepers =>> That really sounds as if we are
> > > starting a cottage industry
> > >
> > >
> > > > 9.Indian Sherlockians Online =>>I still like the first one
> better
> > > > 10. Indian Holmesians Online =>>Same here
> > >
> > > > 11. The Noble Batchelors of India =>> I don't know how many
> > > bachelors there are here but considering that I'm here too, can
> we
> > > call it the nobel bachelors and spinsters of India??
> > >
> > > > 12. The Noble Indian Batchelor Society =>> Another bachelor
> party
> > >
> > >
> > > > 13. The Dying Detectives of India =>>Oh no hum makkhan
vakkhan
> > > khate hai, we are well and healthy.
> > >
> > > > 14. The Indian Holmes Club Online
> > > > 15. Indian Sherlock Holmes Club Online
> > > > 16. Indian Holmes Society Online
> > > > 17. Indian Holmesians On The Net
> > > > 18. Sherlockians of India Online
> > > > 19. The Great Indian Sherlockians =>>Still on the first one
> > >
> > > > 20. The Indian Stapletons =>> Our staple diet is wheat and
> rice
> > > and we eat that in tons.
> > >
> > > > 21. The Maiwands Online
> > > > 22. The Maiwand Bullets =>>My 'Wand'! I thought we weren't
> doing
> > > Harry Potter
> > >
> > > > 23. The Gloria Scott Survivors Club =>> Oh we are survivors
> indeed
> > >
> > > > 24. The Amateur China Collectors =>> This name should be for
> any
> > > chinese societies there might be hanging around
> > >
> > > > 25. The Mary Morstan Suitors Club =>> Hell no. That would
not
> > > include me
> > >
> > > > 26. The Stolen Goose Society =>> you steal it, we find it.
> > >
> > > > 27. The Greek Tutors of India
> > > > 28. The Indian Greek Interpreters =>>Should start taking
greek
> > > classes!!
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Manraviel

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