Hoorray!

One of the first news report I read this morning is this - http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/muslim-techie-beaten-to-death-in-pune-7-men-of-hindu-outfit-held/#.U46d2V4S8zI.twitter It immediately elicited a flurry of responses along expected lines from the usual, useful idiots. Even the basic courtesy of expressing condolences for the dead person and the bereaving family was seen to have been forgotten, in their haste to tie their favorite punching bags to the conspiracy. They did not stop to think that the outfit named here had as much probability to be NOT related to RSS or any other parivar organizations, and could be floated by anyone, and funded by anyone. Not that the useful idiots ever demonstrated an ability to think. Now they are also demonstrating their insensitivity to loss - because it is a loss only to someone else and not to them. Without digging back on their 1400 year history, and with events of only the 21st century, we can conclude that the follow...

Sometime back, I encountered a puzzle posted by a member in a LinkedIn group. It was called a Million Dollar Suitcase . A scenario with a challenge was described and we had to find a solution. It went like this: Three suitcases are all labeled incorrectly, and you must get the labels right in order to find the million dollar suitcase (the one full of hundred dollar bills).  The labels on the suitcases read as follows: $100 Bills $1 Bills Both ($100 & $1 Bills) You are allowed one test. You may remove only one bill from a single suitcase, after which you must make your determination. You can’t peek into the suitcases. Can you find the million dollar suitcase? The Solution I read about it and devised a solution before checking it out on the site. My explanation was: Assuming all of the suitcases are definitely mislabeled - we can safely remove one (i.e. the $100 suitcase) from the game and consider only two suitcases: $1 and Both.  If we select the one ...

Concrete is not cool. You understand that when you get a shock of green. A shock. That’s what you will get first when you travel to Anaikkatti, unprepared. Green is cool. The Arsha Vidya Gurukulam is like the centre of a forested valley on the Nilgiri moutains. Anywhere you turn, there’s a peak. There is always a lingering feeling that a giant, invisible hand manicures the woods inside the campus. But they are so naturally tranquil that, as you begin to drink in the scenery, you automatically dive into yourself. The boundary between that external greenery and your internal self are somehow blurred. The sounds of Rudram-Chamaka chanting that you hear in the distance only heighten the blur. Doubts, questions that you never knew you had, never knew you could even think up, creep in to your mind. Doubts only Vedanta could answer. Correct that - only a Teacher of Vedanta can answer. Strike even that out - only a Guru who has spent his entire lifetime enlightening people through Ve...

I ask a lot of questions. No, I change a lot of my statements to questions. Why? It induces people to respond. As a rule, questions beget more responses than statements. That way, I'm sure to elicit an answer - from myself or from someone else - most of the time. I naturally do ask a lot of questions - to myself. Even if it were intended to another person, I wait to ask. May be in the course of a talk or speech, my questions will be answered, instead of me jumping the gun. And many a time, I downplay my questions and don't ask them in public. I find it easier to approach someone and ask them questions face-to-face. This is also to create an opportunity to personally know someone. Asking questions crystallizes ideas or problems. It is then easier to express or execute the idea and find solutions to problems. Asking the right question, to the right person, at the right time is an art. It comes to a few people naturally; to a lot of others, with practice. So, if you need som...