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Showing posts from August, 2008

As we rush through life!

In Washington, DC, at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.  During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. About 3 minutes: The violinist received his first dollar.  A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk. At 6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again. At 45 minutes: The musician played continuously.  Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while.  About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace.  The man collected a total of $32.  After 1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over.  No one noticed and no one applauded.  There was no recognition at all. No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world.  He played one of the most intricate pieces eve
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Compensation in Italian Style

Not many remember, in late 60s or early 70s, three movies from Hollywood in a series brought Italy in the forefront of cine-goers mind. They were “Marriage in Italian Style”, “Divorce in Italian Style” and “Ghost in Italian Style”. I remembered them with a recent development of dispensing compensation in Italian style. News of Associated Press suggested that Italy agreed to pay Libya $5 billion as compensation for its 30-year occupation of the country in the last century. This has been to by Libyan foreign minister Mr Abdel-Rahaman Shalgam. He further claimed that Italian Prime Minister Mr Silvio Berlusconi, who is visiting Libya at present, is set to sign a memorandum pledging a $5 billion compensation package involving construction projects, student grants and pension for Libyan soldiers who served with the Italians during the Second World War (too late to consider!). He further said “It is a material and emotional recognition of the mistakes that our country has done to yours duri
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LOVE LETTER

Perhaps the present generations would laugh at ; exchanging love letters or mailing them to distant lovers at our times. The e-mail, SMS, cellular phones have made those things obsolete. With mobile phones they feel they are always in touch with each other. I feel pity for them, why you know? They never come to know after dropping the first love letter in the mail box, how we kept waiting for its reply for days. How those intermediate days use to lose its pace with every passing days. Looking at letter box , off and on, in odd hours when usually there use to be no chance of mail delivery, with a hope against hope for the desired mail. Intense the wait, intense the love that usually got projected in the next letter that followed the previous one`s reply. There is no account how many hearts might have broken for the missing mail that contained the first lover letters of the lovers. Obviously they were never responded, frustrating their writer, who always took it granted she was not for h
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CATCH THE LIAR

If you are a teacher or anyone associated to grill the pupil or public as a matter of routine job, you must surmise how to separate them who lie at ease than who speak the truth. Truly it is a tough task. In a school where hundreds of students throng, one comes up with specific complaints alleging other for the sin. But the guy looks so innocent and narrates his story so naively that it is hard to think that he ever could commit such follies. I remember a story of Mogul style of detecting the criminals by some courtesan on Mogul empire. Some suspects were brought to the court for alleged thefts. All denied having committed the crime. The courtesan, Bribal (Emperor Akbar`s court) came forward and sought permission to find the thief from the emperor. The permission was granted. He asked for some flour. That he distributed everybody one or two spoonful and put that on their palm. Asked them to make paste of flour, with their spit instantly, all did except one. He could not spit a drop, hi
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Small Bird.. Magpies Have the Best Brain !

We all know that other that human, few other mammals have intellectual prowess to recognize self. This faculty is gifted by nature to apes, elephants and dolphins were known so far. Surprisingly recently it has been observed that a small species, non mammal, a bird, the magpies have the same prowess. They too can recognize themselves in a mirrors or where ever their image is reflected. Self recognition is considered to be one of the skills of highly developed brains. It is observed that these birds can recognize themselves like chimpanzee despite being separated from mammals from 300 million years of evolutionary history. Helmut Prior, of Goethe University in Frakfurt, says the findings demonstrate that the ability to recognize a reflection as you self, rather than seeing it as another individual, does not necessarily depend on the sophisticated mammalian brain. “Our findings provide the first Malian species” he says. “They suggest that essential components of human self-recognition ha
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HAD THEY BEEN ALIVE !

Every year the month of August is august to every Indian. It was in this month on 15th day of 1947, we won our independence. We celebrate with much pomp and show every year this day, the other being the 26th January, the republican day. The history of Indian freedom struggle is a long one. Many parties with various ideas sprang up all over Indian subcontinent, all with the one goal to end the British rule. Smaller parties favored the rout of arms struggle, the bigger chose more safe, wise rout and off course the never heard before non-violence rout. What actually made British to leave this country in a hurry is a matter debate now. However, Congress, Muslim league and the Prince`s Club (consisting 30 Maharajas of erstwhile States during Raj) were together on the same side of negotiation table. Later only those who were at the helm of affairs in these parties remembered most and applauded by this country as the heroes of masterminding India`s independence. Many like Netaji Subhas Bose,
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Valley of Bandits turns to bio-fuel hub

It is reported that the famous or ill famous Chambal Valley is going to transform a great national energy hub. How! Having liquidating several gangs of robbers and eliminating the most wanted few, the Madhya Pradesh government is mulling with the idea to let out the valley to corporate on lease to cultivate jatropha. This jatropha seeds are used for making bio diesel; what is on top most national agenda. Mr. Shivraj Singh, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh said “Most of the infamous dacoits of the area have been eliminated. I`s time to convert Chambal into a future energy hub. I am glad that several private companies have shown interest in developing the area and cultivation jatropha under our wasteland development policy”. The global energy crisis reached it`s zenith, has sent a shock wave with the threat of impending food crisis. Since most of the farm lands diverted to cropping bio-diesel, thus creating a shortage of cereals. The food grains price have sky rocketed too all over
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