On July 2nd, 1972, Indira Gandhi and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto signed the Simla Accord, committing their warring nations (India and Pakistan) to respect a cease-fire line called the Line of Control. The success of the famous agreement was relayed to Indian authorities with the coded words: "A boy has been born! A boy has been born!"
The code to be transmitted had the agreement failed? "A girl has been born! A girl has been born!"
[Indian widows were once held in such low regard that they were often encouraged (or forced) to immolate themselves on their husbands' funeral pyres. Though this practice ("suttee") was officially abolished by law in British India in 1829, voluntary suttee is still occasionally practiced (supposedly to expiate the sins of both husband and wife and to ensure the couple's reunion beyond the grave). Suttee has been found all over the world and was common among the Thracians, Scythians, ancient Egyptians, Scandinavians, Chinese, and various peoples in Oceania and Africa.]
Sources
Karnataka Quiz Association
