obtuse angle

A sage gets a curse that he will be born as a pig in his next birth. And the next birth to that will be as a man. In order not to live the pig's life for long, he tells his son to kill the pig (in the sage's next birth) immediately after he locates the pig. He also gives the 'id' of the pig (like its color of skin and other features; as he is a sage, he knows all that!). In his next birth he is born as a pig as envisaged. The son is able to identify his father in the pigsty. He prepares to kill his father, as advised (pig). But the pig stops the son and says that he wants to live the full pig's life and he does not want to die soon. Even if it is a pig, it wants to live as long as possible and not die sooner..... The same holds good for humans too. No one wants to die even at the very old age. Unless the government enacts a law, whereby all citizens above a certain age (let us say, 80 years, since I am 70 years now...!) will be killed, nobody will be ready to die...

Recently I got a message on 'whatsapp'. It reads as follows : 'One can go to Sabarimala along with his neighbor's wife and both are legal...!!! And the third one: no need to show Aadhar as ID proof too..! And the fourth one : wife can be male which is also legal as per 377..!! In the space of a few weeks the above 4 verdicts were delivered by the Supreme Court, India. I am an ordinary citizen of India, who does not understand the laws or their interpretations. Why then one judge (out of 5 in the bench) rules the other way in Sabarimala verdict? She then clearly states that the court should not poke its nose in religious matters (not affecting the people). It should actually protect the religious sentiments of the majority people following the religion. In the case of 'Sati' (where the wife was forced to fall and die in the funeral pyre of her husband), it was justifiable to amend the law (prohibiting such practice). And adultery is no more a crime punishabl...

A recent news item caught my eyes. A very rich person in India has splashed money like anything to send his daughter to a British University. He has bought a palatial mansion for about 10 crores (just for her stay). He has employed about 12 dedicated staff to assist her in her daily chores. A chef, some people to serve her, a gardener, chauffeurs and the like... Their monthly pay will add up to around 25 lakhs. Not to speak of the other routine monthly expenditure.... I cannot desist myself from knowing the frugal ways of some extremely rich multi-billionaires in the world. Take for example, Warren Buffet, the investment mogul well-known the world over. He still lives in a modest house bought in 1958 (almost 60 years now). He drives his Cadillac (a simple model), whereas he can afford a fleet of the most expensive cars of the world. And the best part is that he has pledged the majority of his wealth to charity. He is neither a miser nor a spendthrift. Bequeathed most of his wealth f...

Knowledge is one's understanding of facts and information about something or someone and it can be acquired by education and experience. Wisdom means, 'the quality of having experience, knowledge and good judgement'. Knowledge alone is not enough and for that matter neither experience alone will do. The world has seen many wise men in its history. They have taken the right decisions at the right moments. There is a huge difference between having knowledge and being wise. King Solomon witnessed a case in his court. Two ladies claimed to be the mother of a baby! How could that be? King Solomon ordered the baby to be brought to the court. In a wise move, to find the real mother, he ordered the baby to be cut into two halves and each half given to the two ladies. The court was stunned! One of the ladies stood nonchalantly and the other lady started crying. It was obvious to Solomon that the lady who cried and begged 'not to cut the baby; rather give the baby to the other...