obtuse angle

"You should have seen that movie.... If you have not seen, you are missing something in life...." "These are the 10 books one should read in his lifetime...... Haven't you read any of that?" "Have you still not visited Switzerland? What a lovely country! In your lifetime, you have to visit at least once" "There is a restaurant in Hyderabad. You have not heard of it! What a waste... You should taste their 'biriyani'... It is heavenly...." (Since I am in India, I give this example!). "What are you saying? You don't use an iPhone? I mean, how could you live without it...?" All of us must have come across at least one of these dialogues spoken to us, at some point of time or the other. Am I right? There are billions of movies made in all the languages spoken in the world. May be, around 10% of the movies are worth watching. Even that will work out to millions of movies. It is obvious that no one can see all the good movies i...

These days most of us need a calculator, even to find the answer for 1 + 1. That is a different point altogether! Those days (sigh again...!) we used to do multiplication of big numbers using logarithmic tables (based on the mathematical subject, 'logarithm'). Based on logarithm, a device called 'slide-rule' was used by us in college for assisting us in calculations. That was before the advent of calculators. Now we have in-built calculators in smart phones, our PC / Laptop / Smart watches. In schools those days, the moment we assembled, the first thing we were subjected to was, memorizing the multiplication tables, by repeating them loudly. We used to recite the tables up to 16, by heart (ex: 12 X 16 = 192). But we were nothing compared to the generation earlier to us. My father used to recite multiplication tables using 'fractions' (ex: 1/8 X 1/8 = 1/64). He used to tell the name (in Tamil) for 1/64. I do not remember it now. Abacus (an instrument with...

Thomas Alva Edison's teacher once wrote a note to Edison's mother. Edison handed over the letter to his mother. She read the 'note' and told Edison that his teacher had written that 'he being a very brilliant boy and since his school did not have suitable teachers to educate him, it was better for him to be trained at home'. So he was taken out of school and his mother educated him and he later became the renowned inventor of the century. When his mother died, Edison went to his mother's home and started clearing the things, when he found the 'note' written by his school teacher. He unfolded it carefully and read the contents and was awestruck! The 'note' read, 'Your son is so very stupid, we cannot accommodate him in our school. Please be informed that we are removing him from our school'. His mother did not reveal the real contents to the boy at that time and did what was best for him. A lady's son got married to a girl. The d...

A recent whatsapp video brought out a very valid message, which I want to share with you. "A blind boy sits in a busy road corner with a placard reading, 'I am blind. Please help'. He could collect only a few coins in a day. One day a man walked by and saw the writing on the placard. After throwing some coins in the boy's hat, he changed the wordings in the placard and went away. The boy's hat was filling up fast from then on and the boy was taken by surprise. The very next day the same man happened to walk by the road. The boy could recognize him by his footsteps. He asked the man what he did the previous day, which resulted in him collecting more coins. The man said that he changed the writing in the placard as follows: 'Today is a beautiful day; but I cannot see". This made a whole lot of difference. The boy told the man, that the meaning is the same. Yes,  the earlier message in the placard proclaimed that the boy was blind but the second message co...

My wife recently, quipped jokingly, "the body parts where we do not apply some ointment, or pain reliever have become very minimal now". Very true! Senior citizens start getting pain and ailment all over the body, without any exemption. It starts with 'headache' to 'pain in the heal'. Like any engine getting rusted over it's lifespan, the body parts of human beings too get worn out, over a period. That is how God has designed us. The pain and ailment are the results of the sedentary life that we live now (compared to our forefathers). Most of the time we cannot avoid such lifestyle, but we can do amends for this, by resorting to 'work-outs'. It need not necessarily be in 'gym'. There are so many 'easy-to-do' exercises (that can be carried out at our homes). But most of the time we invent excuses for not doing any exercise. Helping the spouse in house-hold chores is another 'important and pleasant exercise'. This way, we can...

சமீபத்தில் வலைத்தளத்தில் வாசித்த செய்தியுடன் ஆரம்பிக்கிறேன். ஒட்டகச்சிவிங்கி (giraffe), தன் குட்டியை ஈனும் போது, நின்று கொண்டுதான் பிரசவிக்குமாம். சுமார் 8 அடி உயரத்திலிருந்து குட்டி கீழே விழுமாம், அப்போதுதான் பிறக்கும் குட்டிக்கு அடி பட்டு நன்றாக வலிக்கும், இல்லையா? சிறிது நேரம் தாய் ஒட்டகச்சிவிங்கி தன் குட்டியின் பிரசவ ஈரத்தை நாக்கால் நக்கி கொஞ்சுமாம். பின்னர், தனது காலால், குட்டியை எட்டி உதைக்குமாம். குட்டி தூரத்தில் சென்று விழுமாம். வலியுடன், தட்டுத்தடுமாறி எழுந்திருக்க முயலும் குட்டியை, தாய் மறுபடியும் மறுபடியும் காலால் உதைக்குமாம். சில பல முயற்சிக்குப் பின், குட்டி, தனது கால்களினால் எழுந்து நின்று, நடக்க ஆரம்பிக்குமாம்; பின்னர் ஓடவும் பழகுமாம். ஏன் அப்படி தாய் ஒட்டகச்சிவிங்கி செய்கிறது. குட்டி பாவமில்லையா என்று நாம் நினைக்கலாம். தனது குட்டியை கூடிய சீக்கிரம் நடக்கவும் ஓடவும் பழக்கப்படுத்துவதற்காகவே அப்படிச் செய்கிறதாம் தாய். அதற்குக் காரணம், வனத்தில் இருக்கும் சிங்கம், புலி, ஓநாய் இவைகளுக்கு குட்டி ஒட்டகச்சிவிங்கியின் மாமிசம் மிகவும் ருசியாக இருக்குமாம்!. அந்த மிருகங்களிடமிருந்து...

I am not talking about the Will Smith movie (The pursuit of Happyness) A beggar in the street feels much happier than a person going around in a car. For the beggar, if he gets his food for that day, he is 'satisfied'. He does not bother about tomorrow. He is contented with what he could get today. He is damn happy. On the other hand, the person in the car would be worrying about the finance he has to arrange to pass his cheque. Once he arranges the funds, he starts worrying about the cheque that would be presented the next day, and the next.... It is a never-ending process. He can never be happy, in his life. So, who is luckier? I leave it to your guess. I am not suggesting that one has to be a beggar to be happy. I am comparing the 'state of mind' of both the beggar and the other man. Happiness is not about getting all you want, it is about enjoying all you have. Every human being's sole aim in life is to live a happy life. All of us relentlessly work towards t...