Thoughts in HD

I have lived in a hostel since childhood. When I was younger, I would often hear my peers and hostel mates blame the administration for some failure - bad rooms, intermittent water, power cuts, mismanagement, etc. The administration consisted of some from the school administration and some elected members - who were elected by the students from amongst themselves. It was a belief that the administration has a responsibility to provide our needs, and since we have voted them to and pay our fees regularly (well, then only about 4% of the students would have the right to complain - the others were exempted from paying the fees for various reasons, or some who manipulated their financial condition to fit within the exemptions, and some who simply did not pay the fees), they have to be our caretakers. Hence, speaking against the hostel administration was normal, and widely acceptable. The administration, on the other hand, would not act against everyone who speaks against it. Maybe, dissen...

Mythology is a collection of myths and fictional stories that has been generated throughout time. They may have religious or cultural connotations. Relevance for children The first stories that children hear are mostly sourced from mythology. These time tested stories, passed on through centuries by word of mouth, are a great way to have animated conversations with babies who rely more on the non-verbal cues. This helps create a familial bond between the storyteller (usually a family member) and the baby. As the child begins to understand words, mythological stories are a gateway to imagination. Inanimate objects like trees, celestial objects, etc come to life, animals - both domestic and wild - seem friends of humans in mythological stories. This helps create a bond between the baby and nature. The stories that have developed through the ages, have filtered out the negatives and magnified the positives. Thus, the morally and ethically good actions are glorified and bad vili...

Disruptions 5000 years ago, 50 humans set out with sacks of grain on their back, transporting them from farm to godowns. Some years later, with the discovery of wheel, the same work could be done by 5 people. The 45 who lost the job of transportation could now work in different sectors like cutting wood for the wheel, making the wheel, making the carts, etc. 300 years ago, when hundreds protested against the use of spindle as it took away their livelihood, the opportunities arose in the factories to make needles for the spindles. 30 years ago, many rose to protest against the use of computers, fearing that it would render them jobless, children of those protesters then used the same computers to bring in the Information Technology Revolution. 30 months ago, a young researcher demonstrated how Artificial Intelligence could be used to detect and analyse sugarcane cultivation. Though they may reduce human interventions in surveying, Such technologies could help set in the chain of...

In school, I learnt that History glorified warriors, spoke volumes of warmongers, but rarely mentioned peacemongers who might have stopped many wars. While studying Hindu mythology, I learnt that Ram taught about good governance and good life 7000 years ago. Vedas written 3000 years ago taught me the path of righteousness. Eightfold path given by Gautam Buddha 2500 years ago showed me the right path to live. The life of Jesus, 2000 years ago taught me to love one another. Prophet Muhammad, 1500 years ago, taught us the Halal (correct) way to live. Civics taught me that in a democracy, the voice of the majority is the voice of the group. Statistics taught me to accept the mean and median as representative of the sample set. And when a criminal turned politician visited my school, my teacher taught me to speak highly about his character and his works and touch his feet to show my respect. As I gave an introductory speech highlighting how the Member of Parliament is a role model for us...

26th November - A challenging day. Two important events occurred on this day. One, the adoption of the Constitution of India and second, the mayhem in Mumbai. This day will always silence certain sections of Indian society. The believers of the Constitution of India will remember the ideals of Justice, Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity that the Constituent Assembly envisaged in the country that they were building. Mumbai will not forget this day very soon. This day, in 2008, showed how easy it is to kill approximately 166 people in the financial capital of India and catch India by the throat.