A BYTE ON 'BOOKS'

Books spread knowledge silently. For some they are an invaluable treasure and for some they are merely printed papers. A few sentences by Gilbert Highet nicely describe the importance of BOOKS.

These are not books, lumps of lifeless papers, but the minds alive on the shelves. From each of them goes out its own voice...and just as the touch of a button on our set will fill the room with music, so by taking down one of these volumes and opening it, one can call into range the voice of a man far distant in time and space, and hear him speaking to us, mind to mind, heart to heart.

SURPRISING FACT ABOUT CALENDAR

What can be surprising about the calendar ? I, too, had the same question in my mind but the disclosure really surprised me. Here it is...

THE FIRST DAY OF A CENTURY NEVER FALLS ON
A SUNDAY
A WEDNESDAY
A FRIDAY !!!

THE IMAGE OF MOTHER

For a child the image of mother keeps on changing with the increasing age. How a child rates a mother at different ages ? Here is the answer !!!

• At 4 years : My mummy can do anything.
  
• At 8 years : My mom knows a lot ! A whole lot !
  
• At 12 years : My mother does not know quite everything.
  
• At 14 years : Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.
  
• At 16 years : Mother ? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.
  
• At 18 years : That old woman ? she's way out of date !
  
• At 25 years : Well, she might know a little bit about it.
  
• At 35 years : Before we decide, let's get mom's opinion.
  
• At 45 years : Wonder what Mom would have thought about it ?
  
• At 65 years : Wish I could take it over with Mom...
  

A BITE ON 'POEM'

Edgar Allan Poe termed poetry as 'the rhythmical creation of beauty in words'.

For a poet his poems are reflections of his soul and everything he/she writes comes from a special corner of heart. We all have that corner but we hardly realise the existence of that corner and therefore we are not poets.

The following words of T. S. Eliot about poetry tell us a lot.


POETRY IS NOT AN ASSERTION Of TRUTH, BUT THE MAKING OF THAT TRUTH MORE FULLY REAL TO US.

MATHEMATICS : A FUNNY FACT

India's Ramanujan was a genius personality in mathematics though he did not get proper education in an organised manner. He had discovered a surprising and funny fact about 'cubes of numbers'.

There is only one possible case
in which one can equate the sum of cubes
of two different positive integers
with the sum of cubes of two
altogether different positive integers.
There is no other such case known till now.

The sum of cube of 1 and cube of 12
is equal to the sum of cube of 9 and cube of 10.
The sum is 1729 for both.
Try to find out if there be any
possibility by which you can relate
four different positive integers
in the similar fashion.

MORE HUMOUR

An anxious patient asked the doctor : "Are you sure my illness is not serious ? I have heard that doctors sometimes give wrong diagnosis and treat patient for pneumonia who later dies of typhoid fever."

"That's sheer nonsense," replied the doctor, "If I treat a patient for pneumonia he dies of pneumonia !!!"

SOME HUMOUR

The young school teacher took her class
to the zoo but was surprised to see that
all the monkey cages were empty. Thinking
how disappointed the children would be,
she went to ask the head keeper where the
monkeys were. He explained that it was
mating time and the monkeys were at the back.

"Do you think they would come out for
some peanuts ?" she asked.

"I don't know, miss. Would you ?"

GEOMETRICAL PUZZLE : SOLUTION

I had posted a geometrical puzzle in my post on May 13. Its solution is as follows :

Divide one of the diameters of the circle in four equal parts and draw three curved boundaries as shown in figure to divide circle into four parts having equal area. The figure explains it better.

RELIGION : SOME THOUGHTS

1. The world is proof that God is a committee.
   .............................-Bob Stokes
   
   
2. Religion:A daughter of Hope and Fear,explaining
   to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable.
   .......................... -Ambrose bierce
   
   
3. The God of the Christians is a father who is
   a great deal more concerned about his apples
   than he is about his children.
   ................................-Diderot
   
   
4. If God were suddenly condemned to live the
   life which he has inflicted on men,He would
   kill himself.
   ..........................Alexandre Dumas.
   
   
5. A religion, even if it calls itself the religion
   of love,must be hard and unloving to those who
   do not belong to it.
   ....................................Freud
   
   
6. Many people believe that they are attracted by
   God, or by Nature,when they are only repelled
   by man.
   ..................................W.R.Inge
   
   
7. I cannot admit that any man born...has either
   the knowledge or authority to tell other men...
   What God's purposes are.
   ...................Judge BEN B. Lindsey
   
   
8. A God who let us prove his existence would be
   an idol.
   .........................Dietrich Bonhoeffer
   
   
9. The cosmic religious experience is the strongest
   and the noblest driving force behind scientific
   research.
   ..............................Albert Einstein
   
   
10. I often ask myself uneasily: Is religion indeed a
    blessing to mankind? Religion,which is meant to
    save us from our sins, how many sins are commited
    in thy name?
    .................Raden Adjeng Kartini
    
    
11. Man is certainly stark mad; he cannot make a flea,
    and yet he will be making Gods by dozens.
    ..................Michel De Montaigne
    
    
12. A religion that is afraid of science dishonours God
    and commits suicide.
    ................Ralph Waldo Emerson
    
    
13. I have no objection to churches so long as they do
    not interfere with God's work.
    ..........................Brooks Atkinson
    
    
14. In all ages, hypocrites, called priests, have put
    crowns upon the heads of thieves, called kings.
    .......................Robert G Ingersoll
    

I regret my absence for three consecutive days as I was
out of station. I will post the answer of geometrical puzzle
later as the diagram necessary for it is yet to be prepared.

DEFINING A TRUE FRIEND...

YOUR FRIEND IS THE ONE WHO KNOWS ALL ABOUT YOU.............AND STILL LOVES YOU.

One of my students was showing me her COMMENTS BOOK. Generally, when the last year at the school is nearing the end, students exchange their feelings by making small notes in one another's COMMENT BOOKS which they keep as sweet memories of their teenage time.

Coming back to the main point, a friend of hers had written above sentence in her book.Perhaps this is a proverb. Whatever it is, it carries a deep message in it. It truly defines a friend. In today's materialistic world it is very difficult to have a true friend.

When I was a teenager, one of my elders had told me " A true friend is the one who stands beside you even after knowing that you are guilty."

What impressed me is the level of maturity that a teenager had shown by writing that message.I wish I had at least one TRUE FRIEND.

The answer to the mathematical puzzle posted on May 8 is : THE SUM OF THE TWO NUMBERS IS 1. Check it yourself.

MEDICINE AND MAGIC

With the advancement in medical science our expectation of medical miracles has got inflated and we wish that the modern medical treatments could get us rid of any disease. Thomas Szasz compares olden times with modern ones indicating what has gone wrong with us.

Formerly, when religion was strong and science weak, men mistook magic for medicine, now, when science is strong and religion weak, men mistake medicine for magic.

FAMILY - A PRICELESS TREASURE

We all have a 'family' but only a few are able to realise what a 'family' is and what it contributes, directly or indirectly, in shaping our life. Agnes Smedley has his confessions in the following words which I think suffice to describe the significance of FAMILY.

But there were years when, in search of what I thought was better, nobler things I denied these, my people, and my family. I forgot the songs they sung-and most of those songs are now dead; I erased their dialect from my tongue; I was ashamed of them and their ways of life. But now-yes, I love them; they are part of my blood; they, with all their virtues and their faults, played a great part in forming my way of looking at life.

GEOMETRICAL PUZZLE

Until now we had some arithmatical puzzles. This time I give one interesting geometrical puzzle.

I have a circular piece of land which I want to divide into four equal pieces but I want to use only three fences to separate the smaller pieces from one another. Help me to do so.


The answer to this problem can be posted as a comment to this post. I will post the answer on May 21.

The answer to the puzzle given on May 5 is :The two numbers are 12 and 10.


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DO YOU KNOW ?

...that the 'BLACK BOX' of an airplane is not black in colour ? Yes, it's colour in fact is ORANGE as it is easier to locate orange coloured box in case of an accident. Then why is it called BLACK BOX ? THe reason is that it is sealed in such a way that nobody on board can open it !!!

OPTIMISM

Have you seen a man looking both the ways before crossing a one-way street ? Laurence Peter calles him a pessimist. We usually struggle to find an optimist around us. Optimism is a positive driving force- a force sometimes found to have done miracles. Pessimism has depressing force which kills the fighter within us without reason and induces a negative attitude in everything we don't want to do. Optimism works as a stimulant which keeps both the heart and the brain positively active. Bill Vauhan compares an optimist with a pessimist by saying :

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure (that) the old year leaves.



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INTERESTING FACTS !!!

CAESAREAN BIRTH

It is said that Julius Caesar had been delivered that way.In those days in Rome if a woman was dead or dying with an unborn child in her womb,then it would be rescued by the method now known as Caesarean Section. In Latin Caedere means to cut-hence Caeser got his name after being delivered by this method and the method began to be known as Caesarean Section.

SIAMESE TWINS

Siamese Twins are twins born with their bodies joined together and in some cases having an organ common to both.Siam is the old name for Thailand.The term SIAMESE TWINS came in to use after the birth of twins Chang and Eng on May 11,1811 in Siam.In the local language their names mean "left" and "right" respectively.

GEORGE v/s GEORGE

I am referring to George Bush and George Washington. Both George Bush, Sr. and George Bush, Jr. have spent much of their presidential tenure in interfering with the affairs of other countries and have paid less attention to bringing comforts to the Citizens of America. Contrary to their politics, George Washington believed in sovereignty of Nations. His words better explain his mature attitude in politics.

I have always given it as my decided opinion that no nation had a right to intermeddle in the internal concerns of another; that everyone had a right to form and adopt whatever government they liked best to live under themselves.


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MATHS ONCE MORE !!!

Many of the readers have suggested that more mathematical puzzles and problems be given. Here is one more mathematical problem.


There are two numbers. The sum of the first number and the square of the second number is exactly equal to the sum of the second number and the square of the first number. This is possible in two situations. One is when the two numbers are equal. If the two numbers are not equal what is the condition for which the statement still holds ?

[If you find the answer - post it as your comment to this post. You require google account for that. I will post the answer on May 17.]

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A THOUGHT FOR TODAY(WAR)

We condemn war in totality but the bloodshed does not come to an end. The history has more pages spent on war than on peace and progress. The words of H. L. Mencken tell us the reason :

War will never cease until babies begin to come into the world with larger cerebrums and smaller adrinal glands.


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A Mathematical Puzzle

Solve the following puzzle. It is not difficult. I will post its answer on May 13. If you get the answer write a comment to the post.

When the square of the first number is added to the second number the answer is 154. When the square of the second number is added to the first number the answer is 112. Which are these two numbers ?





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THE SECRET OF WINNING

You must have the will to win. It could be sports, business or politics-all demand that you have a killer instinct within you to emerge ultimate winner. What one-time Billiards player Danny Mcgoorty (1901-1969) has said in following quote is the truth of winning.

Try to hate your opponent.
Even if you are playing your grandmother,
try to beat her fifty to nothing.
If she has already three,
try to beat her fifty to three.

Let's Laugh

Here is a joke to bring you back in mood.

Sunny was accused of assault and battery.
He said to his attorney : "I have got two million bucks.
Can you get me off ?"
"You have my word," Said the attorney,
"you will never go to jail with that much money".

WE MUST MAKE THE WORLD HONEST...

Thoughts of great people and philosophers have a long-lasting impression on shaping our lives.Here are some useful thoughts :

• All animals except man know that the ultimate of life is to enjoy it.
  ____________Samuel Butler



• I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the great pope, Self.
  ____________Martin Luther



• Where god hath a temple, the devil will have a chapel.
  ____________Robert Burton



• Our worst enemies here are not the ignorant and the simple, however cruel; our worst enemies are the intelligent and the corrupt.
  ____________Graham Greene



• Duty is what one expects from others, it is not what one does one's self.
  ____________Oscar Wilde



• Troubles, like babies, grow larger by nursing.
  ____________Caroline Holland



• We must make the world honest before we can honestly say to our children that honesty is the best policy.
  ____________George Bernard Shaw



• When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is.
  ____________Oscar Wilde

ANSWER TO PUZZLE OF APRIL 24

The ages of nine children are 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23 and 26 years whereas the father's age is 48 years.

LAUGHTER : YES, LAUGH...IT'S GOOD FOR HEALTH

• Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects.
  _____________Arnold Glasow



• If you are not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don't want to go there.
  _____________Martin Luther



• Laughter restores the universe to its original state of indifference and strangeness : if it has a meaning it is a divine one, not a human one.
  _____________Octavio Paz



• It is a good thing to laugh at any rate; and if a straw can tickle a man, it is an instrument of happiness.
  _____________Dryden



• Both laughter and weeping are sudden motions, customs taking them both away.For no man laughs at old jests; or weeps for an old calamity.
  _____________Hobbes