Dass

One would think that there are enough number (or infinite!) of things to marvel at in this world. Sure but leading them is the confounding - yup, highly perplexing - is the order in chaos:  Like the atoms and the smallest matter ever - quarks - and how everything is made up of the same stuff with the small (vast) difference being in their electron numbers. But that's a piece for another day! Today one would like to talk about Pi and Phi. The Pi or pi is also known as 'Archimedes Constant. Go figure!  The Pi which is a Greek letter was used by Euler in early 1700. But it was discovered by the Babylonians in 200 - 4000 BCE. The Chinese and Indians too claim discovery and the jury is still out on this but it is a a certainty that Pi is true and it is true by 3.17..... with the decimals leading to infinity!   π “Probably no symbol in mathematics has evoked as much mystery, romanticism, misconception and human interest as the number pi”  ~William L. Schaaf, Nature and His...

Richard A. Dumas : A  corollary:  There's many a slip twixt the grasp and the  grip. Many would assume that a corollary is the opposite of something. I thought so too, in school because some theorems had a corollary.   But it's just an assumption, a preposition. It could also be applied as a reciprocal. But hold on. It is not. Anyway, that aside let us look at some of the well known adages: We know that the early bird get the worm. It could also mean the early worm gets caught. I can imagine most smart alecs are smirking thinking they can get away with anything. I have wondered about this adage in particular: The road to hell is paved with good intentions. So does it mean that the road to heaven is paved with bad intentions? I can see that many would be be apt to agree. The world is full of such people. But no! That's a vehement no! We are looking at the sentence as a whole and coming to our own conclusion. What it means is that good intentions are not enough. W...

                            What’s Content Marketing all about? Or why your  Content Strategy  should take precedence over marketing Strategy? As a former journalist I adhered firmly to the belief that content was King. Indeed it was - the better and more value our news had, the better the sales of our newspapers. Content made all the difference between success and failure. That was in the early 1990s. And I now ponder why it took marketers another 20 years to actually come up with the terminology of content marketing. Yes, when Joe Pulizzi formally founded the Content Marketing Institute, in 2010, he was being astute as much as it had to do with common sense. But let’s give credit where it is due and appreciate Joe for his remarkable venture that now is the leader in content marketing consultancy. For those who are feeling left out, let me start from the beginning with a definition by the aforementioned ins...

Its a good thing they are making a movie of Shakuntala Devi. She is a mathematical wiz who understood the magic of numbers. Could be interesting to see her story. There are plenty of geniuses there who have revealed the magic of numbers. Another Indian- Bobby Seagull is, despite his English sounding name (he is a British Citizen!) he is originally or native to Kerala, India.   But first, here's what little I know of numbers. They are magical. One almost believes that there must be God. The advent of the Arabic numbers finally put the Roman numbers to rest. It was easier to say 1,2, 3 then I, II,III, though it is still used. (Remember 2K?) But you who have been welded to numbers since birth what do you get when  you add the numbers 1+2+3 .. till 10. I can see you counting now: Let me make it easier for you. The number is is 55. What do you get when you add 1+2+3 up to 100. Gotcha!  Simple really. Elementary, it always is when explained. The atomic  magic numbers...

The little girl stood afar from the group, clutching her certificate, desolation writ on her face. She was withholding the tears that threatened to breach the dam behind her eyes. Then her father was in front of her and he lifted her and hugged her tightly. The little girl all of eight, heaved a sigh of relief and wrapped her hands around her daddy. "Congratulations  my angel, you did it!" "No, I didn't!" The girl whispered in his ears. The man put her down and looked at her into her eyes. It twinkled with the unshod tears. "Now, now ...  you are being hard on yourself."  The girl was silent looking at the winner who was grinning and smiling. Victory was nice. "What did I tell you about Success?"  Daddy asked her. "It is a road not a destination." "That is brilliant. What is the opposite of Success?" "Fail...  No wait... giving up!" "You are a smart girl.../what is the opposite of that... " "Not gi...

Reta eased her running, slowing the treadmill, as she let her muscles relax in relief. Two minutes later she went back to her mat and continued to do her cooling down stretch exercises, nimbly extending her legs and arms as far as she could. Then she lay still, flat on her back on the yoga mat, the exposed part of her body – only her face and palms, glistening with the sweat she had worked up. When she had started, it had been cold. So she was dressed appropriately. She was wearing a black seamless lurex pullover and a high-waisted legging with her feet ensconced in a Nike running shoes. She lay for a few minutes savouring the rush of the warm blood course through her taut veins as her muscles relaxed after a two hour long onslaught. Her reverie broke only when she heard her phone buzz for the umpteenth time. She never picked up the phone when she was working out and all her contacts knew her routine. She sighed contentedly and stood up and walked over and picked up the phone f...

I must have been 17 when I first coined this principle which I advocated among my friends. Nirmal Kumar was one of them. Today in a phone conversation he reminded me of this and I wondered whether 38 years later I still adhered to the thought. I do. Give it time. Everything turns out good. If it doesn't, you will get used to it. That's the power of time. But, everything .... whatever happens, does happen for good. So believe in it.

The most (debatable) irritating answer you can get from anybody is ... "whatever." A one letter word that takes down your attack and defence without much ado. Whatever. So my advice (who's asking/) is that you never use it.  But you can use it against yourself. Yes. In your thoughts. Say to yourself. When in doubt. Whatever.    

It is very difficult to tell the truth.  - Leo Tolstoy It's not true I had nothing on. I had the radio on.  - Marilyn Monroe If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.  - Abraham Maslow Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level - then beat you with experience.  Everybody should believe in something. I believe I'll have another drink.  - W. C. Fields (Me too if you don't mind!)  Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.  - Nikita Khrushchev A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.  - Joseph Stalin I'd rather be vaguely right than precisely wrong.  - John Maynard Keynes Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.   - Leonardo Da Vinci I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.   - Bill Watterson When I'm good...

(Originally written in 2016) Why do I call this the second dimension? Because this is a reality in that it is as much an extension of the string theory of multiverse. (Big Bang Theory is quite educative on that with loads of fun!). Physicists would have us believe that there are parallel universes. And they might be true or not but one parallel universe that is very visible and real is the secondary universe of the internet with a multiple identities for everyone.  Unlike the other parallel universes where either do not meet, in this arena, the parallel universes not only interact and co-exist, they influence each other drastically. Our identities in the other universe - the virtual world of the internet - which I term the second dimension, is now getting more powerful influencing decisions. In more ways then one, the internet is not just a medium, or a channel it is a second dimension of our lives creeping into effecting real life in a big way.  Me thinks that in the ...

I am neither a mathematician or a physicist (or anything close!) but I can appreciate the great things people have done - 100s even 1000s of years ago when they stared at a dark abyss of ignorance. There are arguments on some formulae's discovery but that is left for posterity. (It's a magical world and your children better learn to love numbers - and you can be instrumental in making them love maths!) The greatest - also because it is the simplest - is the one by Pythagoras. (570 - 495 BCE)  (It is also credited to the Babylonians as it is to Indians' way back in 1000 BCE etc.) a 2 +b 2  = c 2 Wow!  The greatest can always be argued. But few will disagree that Einstein 's theory of relativity is there at the top! e = mc 2 In school when we were explained this formula - it was simply "energy can neither be created or destroyed!" Nothing about the speed of light. But then we are too naive... Simply put it means that energy is equal t...

In the words of Sarah Margaret Fuller, Journalist, Critic, and Women's Rights Activist, " 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 , 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭 ." ⁣ Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli (May 23, 1810 – July 19, 1850) was an American journalist, editor, critic, translator, and women's rights advocate. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/04/01/an-unfinished-woman

None for me. Please.

If he has changed for the better he deserves to live. He was 23 when he committed a abominable crime. His well wishers used the system to get him away but failed. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Of course, the interest in him and the case waned as time passed. He was already suffering for his crime. But he was only 23 when he killed a human being. Today he is 44. He is probably a different person. Perhaps. 21 Years in prison. He was granted parole now and then. He was allowed open prison facilities a few years ago. But he remains under parole now too. But what is three more years?  He was sentenced till 2023. But he is free. He got his education. He even did his MA from jail. Is he repentant? He is. So reports the media. Is he forgiven? By the system, yes, but not by the many he has wounded. Can we forgive him. All I can say is that forgiveness liberates us to move forward. We can hate and carry anguish but it is necessary to forgive. Forgiveness hel...

Whether or not you can observe a thing depends upon the theory you use. It is the theory which decides what can be observed. - Albert Einstein That’ so true. It can also mean that you decide to observe and absorb what you like. Take Trump for example. The 45 th President of America who will be 74 this month, is a case that requires much study. As somebody who has changed by 54, I expect that that many others will also wizen up when age catches up with them. But one of my friends told me, not everyone changes. Some get  e ven very childish. Trump is one of them. But then that is what indoctrination does to you. When he was elected, the world – or at least the media – wept. One magazine even had a cover of the Statue of Liberty weeping. Oh, they predicted the worst! Four years away, he is still in power. 74 and still reckless. But as it is said, you get the government you deserve. So Trump was elected by the Americans. He lost the popular v...

For Suzanne in Lebanon Shall I compare thee to a pretty qasida or a lingering sonnet? Thou art lovelier than either and yet, a poetic puzzle: Perhaps you are a Shadorma or a Sestina in a cute bonnet; No, you must be more than a poem, a song, a lovely ghazal… Poor time, splits hairs in despair, as pretty lasses have fallen In high towers cowering before their limpid mirrors blue; The seasons too have a bone to pick, for you have stolen Their thunder, as sunshine seems to have been smitten by you. Are you a dream, a vision, an illusion or a vixen dear, Many are wont to ask - Is there one so heavenly divine walking on this earth in plain sight of humans mere? To them I say – These eyes have seen this angel fine From up, close: I’ve heard her speak, smile and engulf worlds -and this pretty picture is a poor shadow of her true self…. With due apologies to Shakespeare ----- To Sarai M Shah When you can read … Every day of your life, he is here.  Your father...