Beyond the human jungle

Tragedy strikes close home! Of late, I have been hearing weird screeches and cries of birds at nights; assumed it was the pigeons and mynas in our apartment. Today, discovered the myna nest opposite my flat has been 'invaded' by an owl; and the mynas have settled outside my window sill, 'protesting' against the owl every night. The owl seems the least bothered, and continues its nocturnal gaze over the nearby fields, hardly worried thanks to its ghastly looks and overpowering physique.

Encroachments, muscle-flexing, protests, agony, pain! Life isn't any different outside the human jungle!

Chaos is Beautiful

For once, I chose to follow Robert Frost - I took the road not taken - well, the road I hadn’t taken before. It turned out I was not the only one. The street was swarmed - never before had I seen such a motley of a crowd plying on the narrowest of streets I’ve ever been - pedestrians, bikes, rickshaws, taxis, trolleys - all crawling about on all directions. Ruing my decision, I resolved to stick it out. Inching slowly, I’d to be at my lapidary best to avoid a nasty dent or a scratched up side on my moto. The intensity of the ordeal got to my nerves and I almost hooted at a teen trying to hop across squeezing into the space in front - but my coy nature reined me and let myself seethe within. That’s when I noticed something - a  behavior not seen even on the better avenues of the city - there was no honking; and there were no tempers flying. These humble commuters on the sidelined by-lanes of the city’ periphery have made peace with their predicament. They smile at the crossing commuter, pass a light-veined comment on the odd pedestrian attempting a Jesse Owens across the street, and move along. There was harmony amidst all the chaos. When, we appreciate the limitations of the circumstances, and accept it with all our heart, we realize that chaos is sweeter than the dreariness of monotony - Chaos is Beautiful.

Knowledge vs Wisdom

The chemistry teacher walked in to the class; holding a beaker filled with a transparent liquid. He placed the beaker on his desk; pulled his ring from his finger and dropped it into the beaker.

Teacher: Students! I’ve dropped my 99.9% pure KDM gold ring into this solution of hydrochloric acid treated to 300K temperature. Will the ring melt?

First Bencher: No Sir! . Gold (Au) needs an oxidizing agent to dissolve it. To oxidise Gold should be stripped of 3 electrons (Au3+); for which a reduction potential of greater than 1.50V is required. But, Hydrochloric acid (HCl) can provide only H+ ions; H+ ions have a reduction potential of 0.00V. So HCl cannot dissolve gold

Teacher: Any other answers?!

Last Bencher: No! it won’t melt. If it would, you wouldn’t have dropped the ring into the container!


- Inspired by a joke on Adithya TV

A Sweet Little Story

There is this little wave, bobbing up and down.. and having a grand time.. just enjoying the sunshine. Until he sees the other waves crashing into the shore.. This little wave gets scared..."Oh My God! Is it gonna happen to me!!"

Another wave asks, "Why do you look so sad?"... and the little wave says,, 'because we are gonna crash... all of us are gonna be nothing... don't you understand?"

The other wave says," You don't understand... you are not a wave... you are part of the ocean..."

WE ARE ALL PART OF THE OCEAN!!

-- Excerpt from 'Tuesdays with Morrie'