rAnDom PoSts bY a rANdoM ThInKeR

Like all students I was in my tenth standard once. I remember an interesting episode from that time. In my final board exam(not CBSE but Maharashtra board) we had a group D question which went like this: If we put an inverted cone in a cylinder full of water, the cylinder being of the same radius and height, how much water will spill..(and the radius and heights were given.) Even then, my memory was like a bowl containing petrol kept in hot summer sun. Things just evaporated out of it. And I could not remember what the formula for the volume of a cone was. I knew it was similar to that of a cylinder but that was the most my hard disc could store. I tried hard but could not reach any corner of my head where i could find even a slightest hint of the formula. Ironically, almost 10 years later, I still remember exactly, that i was trying enough to remember the day when my teacher (Dhond madam) taught us mensuration.So that if not the formula I could remember the day and then get s...

This post may just be the most important post i ever write. I am going to attempt to develop a hybrid model for education in schools in india. <all the things in this post are evolving with time> Inspirations: Ken Robinson's TED talks and the one on RSA Hole in the Wall You tube for school Wikiversity ... The models: 1. Discovery sessions (maths, science) Before a topic is introduced a series of questions are asked by the teacher and answers are sought This session is followed by internet class where students are given 20 minutes to loo 2. Question generation round Everyday students are encouraged to ask questions in the morning. These questions are later answered by the teacher (who uses internet, expertise etc. to find them out) These questions will be filtered and classified according to the subject and a database will be built so that in case of lack of questions one of them can be asked to the students to ponder upon. 3. Show and Tell (for English): Da...

No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. -John Donne http://www.ted.com/talks/paddy_ashdown_the_global_power_shift.html

Music someshwar Lyrics yours truly Saakhi re saacha tera saath hi saacha saakhi Na vakht saacha, na rakht saacha Khuda ke hone ka bhi kyahi bharosa? Saacha tu khud aur saachi khudai hai Saavan saacha, pavan saacha Dhundli hai duniya ki reetein Dono kal kolaahal hi badhate. Par ... khara ya khota, bada ya chota jag jag samajhne ko inhe banaye sab kuch ek ye ek hi sootra hai

Today we had a campus talk by Mr. Hari Kumar, a partner from Deloitte. He talked about various things but a few that left some food for thought were is arrogance good, goal in life and being yourself. I would like to think aloud over the arrogance part over here. We in India have been always taught how not to be boastful, how your work should speak for itself, how it is bad manners if not anything else to be self praising. The western culture ( inferred from the few people I have met, from many series that I have watched and the direction in which India is going in terms of human behaviour when they say westernization) on the other hand prescribes individuality, freedom and presentation. Sell yourself and be self reliant. Where does self reliance come in? I think the arrogance and self reliance are related. I think by nature we humans are animals and hence all wish to be alpha males. Survival and other secondary factors have led us to become civilized and share costs and bene...

I am reading Steve Jobs biography and just yesterday night the last thought that came to my mind before I fell asleep while reading the book was " How would I like my biography to be written? What will be the significant chapters?" Today, I looked watched this inspiring video  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2QZM7azGoA&feature=share  and Amy starts by saying " If your life were a book and you were the author, how would you want your story to go?"

There must be at least a moment in life of each and every human being who has taken birth on this planet, when he feels the awe of coincidences. Generally the more intuitive a person is rather than rational the more he is fascinated by these strange phenomenon. Having said that even the most rational person must have experienced a tinge of "wow!" from coincidences after which his/ her left brain took over and justified everything to him and killed the goosebumps. I also feel that coincidences are the most personal of experiences. Sometimes you do tell whoever you find nearby about how you experienced a coincidence but then as soon as you tell it you understand that you were unable to effect a similar wow in that person as you yourself did. I feel that our languages have not yet evolved to handle this transfer of wow yet. and so I feel that coincidences are also somethings which forms a part of those things in life which are lying inside the imaginary boundary that we dr...