Towel Day

May 25: Has nothing to do with Ranbir’s towel dance in Saa-wariya. Since 2001, on this day, fans of author Douglas Adams innovate around the towel as a tribute to his literary genius. Why towel? Because, in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Adams holds forth on the many virtues of the towel, which he dubs “the most massively useful thing an 
interstellar hitchhiker can have”. 

Rededicated to: Kohli, for becoming the highest run-getter in Tests in a home season. Not understanding? Arre, sweat connection!

Cities For Life Day

November 30: In the 18th century work, Of Crimes and Punishments, Italian Enlightenment writer Cesare Beccaria argued against dea-th penalty. Soon after, Tuscany abolished it becoming the first civil state in the world to do so. On this day, world cities celebrate the first abolition by illuminating a symbolic monument — Colosseum, etc. 

Rededicated to: Ahmedabad and Gurgaon, for being home to those who lease their wombs and some heart to bring forth new life.

Engineer’s Day

September 15: It is celebrated across India as a tribute to M. Visvesvaraya who was born on this date. Upon the Nizam’s invitation, Visvesvaraya took up the post of chief engineer at Hyderabad in 1909. He designed a system to protect the city from floods.

Rededicated to: Indian parents and parents-in-law, for whom this species makes for the ideal offspring or offspring-in-law. Beta engineer ka kaam karega…

Tau Day

June 28: Pi is the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter. It is equal to 3.14, so March 14 is Pi Day. Tau, the double of Pi, equals 6.28. That should explain the date chosen to celebrate it. Someone even launched a Tau Manifesto. There’s a debate about which is the better constant; but we didn’t get that one.

Rededicated to: You got it. Haryana.

Valentine’s Day

February 14: There was not mush there, initially. In fact, many early Christian martyrs were known as Valentine. The romance bit crept in in the 14th century. The first mention of St. Valentine’s Day is to be found in Chaucer’s Parliament of Fowls. The chunk of it is a dream sequence and at the centre of it — a female eagle who cannot choose from three suitors. 

Rededicated to: Awww Panneerselvam!