Word: fakir
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...Fakir was the most exciting thing seen in Mexico since a poor farmer's field at Paracutin split wide open and disgorged a little volcano. A lively row had sprung up between two powerful newspapers, El Universal and Novedades, over whether El Fakir's crucifixion was sacrilege. Universal, which sponsored El Fakir's show, finally overcame objections by getting from Archbishop Luis Martínez a statement: "I have nothing to say about this spectacle . . . because it is nothing that has to do with religion." Religious or not, many awed Mexicans gave El Fakir medals...
...Fakir, whose real name is Harry von Wickede (he claims Swiss parentage and studied yoga in India), had left one hand free-partly to avoid the blasphemy of complete duplication of the crucifixion, partly to smoke mentholated cigarets (three packs a day) and to drink countless bottles of soda pop. The table had a built-in toilet...
...something over 70,000 people paid one peso each to view El Fakir. They included 25 doctors (a vacationing U.S. doctor tried to wiggle El Fakir's toes, caused him much pain), five bull fighters, 65 Mexican cinema actors, one ex-President (Portes Gil), two boxers, two wrestlers, and a lady editor from the erstwhile antagonist Novedades, who wrote: "After knowing him I have been enchanted." A radio station broadcast reports of El Fakir's condition and a movie theater combined a newsreel of El Fakir with Disney's Bambi...
...Fakir of Ipi has not popped up now for over a year, but last week the British reported that Waziristan tribesmen were again shooting at stray Indian soldiers. At New Delhi it was quickly concluded that the Fakir had gone on the warpath once more. Matters became so serious that regular Army communiqués were issued. "Our casualties were light," read one which might well have described the Western Front. "The second of two columns encountered considerable opposition...
What worried the British more than usual this time was the suspicion that the Fakir, although a fanatical religious leader, has been "encouraged" to rebellion by atheistic Soviet Russia. This, the British knew, was no time to have serious trouble near the Khyber Pass. While they hunted the Fakir, they also started building good military roads right up to the Afghanistan border...