The UK trip has been a memorable one, and I’ll be sharing some reflections over the next couple of weeks.

In this one, I talk about the importance of traditions in the UK.

And now, on to the newsletter.

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Welcome to the one hundred and sixty-eighth edition of ‘3-to-1 by Story Rules‘*.

A newsletter recommending good examples of storytelling across:

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A Vacation note from the week

Let’s dive in.

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The AI factory rolls on…

Fascinating. Especially to see words like Horror, which have the full stack!

Interesting development!

📄 Vacation note of the week 🙂

Notes from the UK

We are on a family holiday in the UK, and I have been observing some cool things that are striking about this country.

Today I would like to talk about one of them: Tradition

Tradition is BIG in the UK.

The Brits are mental about their traditions and culture. Here are a few examples:

1. Changing of the Guards: The famous Changing of the Guard ceremony, which happens at Buckingham Palace thrice a week, has been happening for 520 years! That’s like from Shivaji’s time till today!

2. The Black Rod rituals: Apparently, there’s a Parliamentary officer called ‘Gentleman or Lady Usher of the Black Rod’ (or ‘Black Rod’), whose job is to maintain protocol and order in the chamber (must not be an easy job). One weird tradition dating back to (surprise, surprise) around 500 years is the slamming of the door of the House of Commons (Lok Sabha equivalent) on the Black Rod’s face. Here are some details from Wikipedia:

Motioned by the monarch, the Lord Great Chamberlain raises his white staff of office to signal the official known as Black Rod to summon the House of Commons. Black Rod turns and, under the escort of the Door-keeper of the House of Lords, proceeds to the Members’ Lobby of the House of Commons, and reaches the doors of the Commons.

On Black Rod’s approach, the Doorkeeper of the Commons orders that the doors are slammed shut against them, symbolising the rights of parliament and its independence from the monarch. The Usher of the Black Rod then strikes with the end of their ceremonial staff (the Black Rod) three times on the closed doors of the Commons Chamber, and is then admitted (there is a mark on the door of the Commons showing the repeated indentations made by Black Rods over the years).

3. Searching Westminster for… explosives! Another fun tradition is when the royal guards (known as Yeomen Warders or Beefeaters) ”search the Palace of Westminster for explosives” before the King or Queen gives a speech there. Why? Because in 1605, a bunch of Catholics had tried to assassinate the Protestant King James I of Britain by blowing up the palace. The attack was foiled when an anonymous letter warned the officials about the plot and they discovered a whole lot of gunpowder in the vaults beneath Parliament. And so, even till TODAY, in the 2020s (did I mention in the present day), the royal guards still inspect the cellars of parliament before the King or Queen visit. (and don’t get me started with this obsession that a modern democracy has with the monarchy… I mean what’s up with that?!)

4. Houses in many neighbourhoods all look the same. Houses in the UK have a storybook feel about them. Brick-lined exteriors. Sloping tiled roofs. Lovely, large white-paneled windows. Chimneys from every roof. Remember the house that everyone in India draws—with one door, two windows, a sloping roof and one chimney? That house is certainly not from India—it is from the UK. (well, at least a much more fancier and charming version of what we used to draw).