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The laws of human nature by Robert Greene is a book on so many laws that it will feel unlawful!

Then again he talks about the HALO EFFECT!

That is actually a bias but Robert tells how to use the bias for your advantage! All with a story and so many examples! It is a treat to read or listen even though it may become preachy!

So Robert Greene frequently applies the psychological concept of the halo effect—a cognitive bias coined by Edward Thorndike where our overall impression of a person distorts how we judge their specific character traits!

In the novel the 48 laws of power; Greene weaponizes this bias, teaching readers how to either exploit it to project power or guard against it to avoid manipulation!

In the novel Laws of Human Nature though he tells how to deconstruct the bias!
Here Greene shifts from creating the halo to shattering it.

In the Law of Irrationality, he introduces Appearance Bias (his phrasing for the halo/horn effect) as a major flaw in human logic.

He states how we automatically assume people who are physically attractive, charming, or highly confident are also competent, kind, and trustworthy!
This is actually a common trait all over! Just because a person LOOKS good or PLEASANT may not actually make him pleasant!

Because in reality, TOXIC (!!) individuals and master manipulators use this exact bias to mask secret envy, aggression, or self-serving motives!

Which is why Greene urges readers to actively strip away a person’s “halo.”

You must ignore initial charisma and focus strictly on an individual’s long-term patterns, actions, and behavior under stress!

Of course an easier way to say is to say, beauty is skin deep or do not judge a book by its cover!

Like I still remember how in movies like aashiqui or Khiladi or even Kabhi Haan kabhi naa; Deepak Tijori was better even than the heroes!

A busy day with onam celebration; then Gayatri Japam and then Rakshabandhan!

Feeling blissful and loved!

God bless everyone…

Shub ratri…

From a police vehicle to the fetal heart sound; you use this effect or feel this effect!

Christian Andreas Doppler was an Austrian mathematician and physicist.

He observed that the observed frequency of a wave depends on the relative speed of the source and the observer.

He used this concept to explain the colour of binary stars!

Underlying the principles of this effect. In 1848, he predicted the frequency shift of a wave when the source and receiver are moving relative to each other,therefore, being the first to predict blue shifts and red shifts of spectral lines in stars!

Did you get the effect?

If you had read the name properly you would have got it in a heartbeat!

Christian Andreas Doppler! The DOPPLER effect!

So you would have noticed how an ambulance or police car siren sounds high-pitched as it approaches, then suddenly drops to a lower pitch as it passes and drives away!

You can even HEAR this in the horn of a fast moving car! Like how on television or at the track, racing cars make a signature “zooooom” sound because the engine pitch drops rapidly as they speed past the cameras!

That ZOOOM gives us the adrenaline rush is simply the DOPPLER EFFECT at work!

The effect is used in everyday life like how traffic officers bounce radio waves off moving cars to measure the frequency shift, allowing them to calculate your exact driving speed!

Also air traffic control systems use radar frequency shifts to track the precise speed and flight paths of commercial aircraft!

Then you have the usage in medicine in health care! Like how an ultrasound equipment uses the Doppler effect to safely listen to and track a baby’s heartbeat during pregnancy!

All because one guy sat and observed! Pretty good thing to do once in a while eh!? Endra na ne peesarai! That’s Panchaksharam Rangasamy Pillai! You may know him as Vijaykumar!

Now the EFFECT of night is to make you sleepy! Hope it’s happening!

Shub ratri…

The first version of this dip was based on pickled fish and looked more like soy sauce – with a dark and thin texture!

A person like me who can eat this DIP with anything would have revolted at the original DIP!


It was called “keh-jup” or “koe-cheup,” meaning “fish sauce.” Are you getting the name now!?

Thanks to the fermentation, the sauce was easy to conserve and could make a long journey.

So, eventually, at the beginning of the 18th century, British and Dutch merchants brought this to Europe!

In Britain, this dip was based primarily on mushrooms and enriched with oysters, anchovies, and even walnuts.

The first name of “catsup” officially appeared in Britain in 1690!  That is closer to the name of the DIP we use!


American horticulturist James Mease created the first known recipe for this dip ketchup in 1812.

His version of sauce included brandy but lacked regular vinegar and sugar!

Later farmers primarily prepared this dip and were happy to find another way of conserving tomatoes!

Did you get to know the DIP?

The Tomato ketchup!

Early tomato recipes struggled with spoilage, but in 1876, the H.J. Heinz Company popularized a shelf-stable formula using tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, and spices!

This is the ketchup which we use now and is the most popular DIP in the world! You can pair it with anything! I have paired ketchup with even idli! Apart from the routine pairing like noodles or fried rice; you can try to pair it with vermicilli! It really elevates the taste!

Now I do prefer the hot and sweet tomato chilli sauce though! Its better and different and since I only have it once in a while, it is special!

So you may wonder what is the difference between a tomato sauce and ketchup? Well, ketchup is a sweet, cold condiment made with vinegar and sugar, while tomato sauce is a savory cooking ingredient made from tomatoes, herbs, and oil without added vinegar!

The vinegar makes all the difference! Now do not pair the sauce or ketchup with the Onam sadya though since that does not need any enriching or flavouring agent!

Then again full of flavours and freshness were movies by Madhur Bhandarkar!

Now have that Sadya and sleep after some time though the payasam may make you sleepy!

Happy onam!

Shub ratri…

Did you know that the smallest things cause the biggest problems!?

First you have the infections caused by microbes and then you have the issue which keeps most allergologists like me busy!

The whole gamete (that is a clever pun if I say so myself!) is only because these plants are not that capable of attracting insects!

If you thought the plants produce the smell and the sweet nectar for you then you  need a reality check! They are for the insects!

And when they cannot do that; they resort to other ways to spread their SEED!

This is why you get the POLLEN ALLERGY!

The first ACT is Anemophily or wind pollination which is a form of pollination whereby pollen is distributed by wind.

Almost all gymnosperms are anemophilous, as are many plants in the order Poales, including grasses, sedges, and rushes.

Almost all pollens that are allergens are from anemophilous species.
People allergic to the pollen produced by anemophilous plants often have symptoms of allergy!

These plants either have flowers which are small, dull, and lack bright colors or there is no reward! Which means that these plants do not make scent or nectar because they do not need to attract animals or more truly they cannot!

So these Plants make huge amounts of pollen so some will reach the right spot!

So you may ask what is a POLLEN!? Well pollen is a collection of microspores or tiny grains containing male gametes.

Once it lands on a compatible female part, it germinates and grows a microscopic tube to deliver sperm, creating seeds and fruit!

Unfortunately though since they are protein they can cause immunological reactions on the eyes nose throat and skin! What you commonly call the  Allergies!

Airborne pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds enters the nose and eyes, causing allergic reactions. Which of course can lead to sneezing, runny noses, itchy eyes, and asthma flare-up and a myriad of other skin issues!

All because the poor plant wanted a child!

That’s nature by the way! Then again do remember that allergy actually means HIGHER level of immunity! Not lower! Which is why it must only be controlled!

Are you GAME(te!)! Then again if it’s pun (ch) you are looking for you can watch a Vijaykanth movie!

Take some warm water to keep your allergen trigger at bay and sleep!

Shub ratri…

Do you know what is the similarity between Leonardo Da Vinci and Ambulance!?

Or the link between Leonardo Da Vinci and Bill Gates!

To crack those CODES, you must know what is Codex leicester!

Then finally you must know or at least become aware of what you already know!
Mirror writing!

So let us go in order!

The Codex Leicester (also briefly known as the Codex Hammer) is a collection of scientific writings by Leonardo da Vinci.

The codex is named after Thomas Coke, Earl of Leicester, who purchased it in 1719. The codex provides an insight into the mind of the Renaissance artist, scientist and thinker, as well as an exceptional illustration of the link between art and science and the creativity of the scientific process!

When the manuscript was last sold to Bill Gates at Christie’s auction house on 11 November 1994 in New York for US$30,802,500 (equivalent to $67 million in 2025[4]), it was the most expensive manuscript ever sold!

So I went through the digital images but could not understand the way it was written since it was not in English! But there was another reason which was surprising!

So the surprising thing about the CODEX is that the whole book is written in mirror writing!

Mirror writing is writing that runs in the reverse direction of a normal language. Individual letters are also flipped. It looks normal only when you view it in a mirror.



One of the most common use is in the emergency and important vehicles! Like the word “AMBULANCE” is printed backward on the front hood so drivers see it spelled correctly in their rear-view mirrors!

Leonardo da Vinci wrote most of his personal notes in mirror writing, likely to prevent smudging ink with his left hand or to keep his ideas secret!

In fact it has served as a basic and primitive form of secret code or cipher!

It has also been seen that kids between ages three and seven often write letters backward while they learn spatial direction and letter shapes!

Also some left-handed individuals find reverse writing easier or more natural to pull off!

Finally if someone practices Mirror writing it can occasionally link to dyslexia or specific neurological conditions, though many healthy people do it easily with practice!

Of course some times it is just fun! One thing is that you can do mirror writing only with your hands! You may not be able to type it via the key board!

Though AI can later convert it into a mirror writing!

Then again it’s not code when you know that Sankaramanchi Janaki was an amazing artist!

You may know her as Sowcar Janaki!

She will be missed!

Om Shanti…

Shubh ratri…

Since I love tech! My check in bag is usually full of electronic gadgets! Which is why it normally takes so much time in the security of the airport! I have to use at least four to five trays! Even then I usually get called for some wire or the other!

A speaker which looks like a mini TV or a mini camera which looks like a stick! Which is why I go well ahead for the boarding! Then comes my kindle and then the Tab and if the visit is longer then maybe the Mac! Many times the security officer would simply look at them and play with them sometimes and tell me to carry on!

But I love the security folks at the Bengaluru airport! They are really thorough and extremely professional! Not to mention the fact that the new Bengaluru airport is one of the best!

But did you know that only a few Indians do not have to go through the mandatory security check in the Indian airports?

In fact most politicians and even the most famous cricketers have to undergo the security check but not our Sachin!

Also do you know what is common between Sachin tendulkar and Nelson Mandela!?

It is also the reason why Sachin does not have to undergo any security check at the Indian airport!

They both are Bharat Ratna recipients! In fact Sachin is the youngest recipient of this prestigious award!


The Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. While it does not include a financial cash grant, the honor comes with high-ranking national precedence, VIP protocols, and specific state-backed privileges!

The recipients are placed at the 7th position in the Indian Table of Precedence and they receive VVIP treatment and protocol status comparable to a Union Cabinet Minister within the country.

Awardees are treated as state guests when traveling across different Indian states, ensuring government-provided accommodation and transport!

Recipients are entitled to a special maroon-colored Indian diplomatic passport, granting them official dignitary status abroad!

They also have Access to VIP airport lounges and preferential treatment or separate immigration counters globally through diplomatic channels!

They also get state-funded security such as Z-category protection!

Indian embassies and consulates extend full protocol assistance and official facilities during the recipient’s foreign visits!

Then you have the national Invitations! Which are special lifetime invitations to attend key national ceremonies, such as Republic Day parades and official state functions!

So if you want to skip the security check; you can try to win a Bharat Ratna!

Or you can be humble and open and they will be kind and it will be all over! Kind and compassionate reminds me of the amazing judge Frank Caprio!

He will be missed!

Now stop dreaming about the Ratna and sleep or sleep and dream about it!

Shubh ratri!!

Shattered lands by Sam Dalrymple

Audiobook!

A fifteen hour long behemoth!

Read by Sam himself which gives it an amazing original feel!

He talks about the great Indian Partition but not just of India but of the Indian Raj!

The British India actually included Burma Qatar and even Kuwait!

The book reframes the geopolitical history of South Asia and the Middle East by showing how the single, massive British Indian Empire—which once stretched from Yemen to Myanmar—was fractured into 12 modern nation-states over a fifty-year span!

Dalrymple challenges the common misconception that modern borders in South Asia represent ancient, inevitable ethnic or religious divides.

Instead, he highlights that as recently as the late 1920s, a vast network of territories—including modern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait—operated under the unified banner of the Raj, utilizing the Indian rupee and shared imperial passports!

With notes from several stories and sources and a plethora of investigations he compiles a huge story in the lines of Freedom at Midnight and does a decent enough job!

Apart from the chief partition he ask focusses on other partitions!

Starting with the Separation of Burma (1937): Cutting off British Burma from the rest of the administration in British India.

Then the Partition of the Arabian Peninsula (1937–1947): Beginning with the separation of Aden and concluding with the transfer of the Persian Gulf protectorates.

The Great Partition which is of course the primary partition of 1947.
The chaotic, violent split creating independent India and Pakistan, resulting in the largest forced mass migration in human history.

Then his own views on the Partition of Princely India: The absorption and fragmentation of more than 550 nominally independent princely states into the new republics! With special emphasis on Hyderabad and the nizams!

Finally ending up with the Secession of East Pakistan (1971)! The bloody civil conflict and political rupture that split Pakistan apart and birthed the nation of Bangladesh!

It is a good effort but unfortunately the narrative feels biased in many points! It is sad that a Scot though born in India had to write about India! Then again some bias will always be there when the sources are secondary!

For a change he does not hold back on the spicy details of the Mountbattens! (Do read or hear by yourself! I do not have the guts to repeat them for you!)

He also gave a good description on the formation of Bangladesh which was new and different and a little neutral!


Then again history is not a story! It’s a point of view and an amalgamation of the hearsays and the truth!

Which is which is your choice!

Do listen if you want another point of view!

Travels in small town America

Audiobook!

If it is Bill then you know that you are in for a thrilling ride! The comedy is polished but it hits you like a cool breeze on a warm sunny day!

The whole book is a travelogue and a pretty famous one at that!

First bill starts by saying how he practically ran away from the US to go as far as the UK in between talking about his neighbour who thought that US is the best and UK is tribal!

Then Bill would mention about his vacation or trips taken by his father with the whole family! The very big station wagon where the kids used to do naughty things and how they always used to go to small motels!

Or have bad roadside picnics! Or get into hotels with bad room and a single TV which was at the reception and currently occupied by a guest who usually had a limb or something missing! Then they would find that person more interesting that the TV which anyway would not have much going on!

So one fine day when mid life crisis hits Bill and he loses his father, he takes his mother’s old car and embarks on a road trip all over the US! This was the pre mobile time and you can feel the fun!

His stops at the ghost towns! Or the almost constant bad visitor centers! Or the monuments and famous places which are way over rated expect for the Grand Canyon which is apparently just as grand as you have heard!

The journey moves along old roads with nothing to see or towns with old people or diners with limited food! Once in a while though he would get a place where he would eat till he vomit!

All the while the journey goes in a nice pace! Your imagination and Bill’s very comic narration would make you SEE the places as if they are right in front of you!

I love Bill’s subtle humour and then the occasional obvious ones! In fact it is more funny when the place is dull!

Since I usually listen to him while on my drive to and from work; I have spent hour laughing in the car by myself! Many sections I would rewind and then laugh again!


So in summary

After living in England for years, Bryson returned to his home state of Iowa following his father’s death.

His self depreciating humour about his own town is simply hilarious! Hear or read it to believe it!

He borrowed his mother’s Chevrolet Chevette and embarks on a 13,978-mile road trip across 38 states!

The Goal was to find “Amalgam,” a mythical, idyllic small town with tree-lined streets, friendly neighbors, and a thriving local diner which he of course did not find!

The key observation was the Commercialization of America where Bryson laments the rise of strip malls, fast-food chains, and neon signs that make every American town look identical!

He contrasts the gritty reality of late-1980s small towns with his idealized memories of 1950s family road trips.

He offers sharp, often biting observations about regional eccentricities, tourist traps (like Carhenge and Elvis’s Graceland), and the habits of everyday Americans!

In between all these he tells about Mount Rushmore, Las Vegas and the unlimited Casers buffet and the gambling trap! And about his connection with sports!

If you have read his other novels then you must simply get done with this too!

You may have to spend 10 hours though! But believe me the drive would be worth it!

Do you know what Raskolnikov’s theory is?

It is both a disturbing and also revealing theory of how some justify crime! Or even the fact that they have broken the law!

Most of the times when a crime is committed; the justification happens in that the situation FORCED them or that THEY had no choice!

One such justification is the Raskolnikov’s theory!

The name and the theory is from one of the most famous novels which many have actually confessed to have read only a little and left half way! Luckily you have Google now so you can read the summary!

The protagonist here commits a crime and the whole novel is then based on how he finally accepts his crime! The initial part is of course leading to the crime and the justification is that he is poor and apparently the situations force him to the crime! But when he does the crime which is scary to say the least; he feels intense guilt and fear.

Then in between you have the Raskolnikov’s theory!

So Raskolnikov’s theory divides all human beings into two distinct groups: the “ordinary” and the “extraordinary.”

The author here argues that ordinary people must live under society’s laws, while extraordinary individuals have an inherent right to break those laws to achieve a greater good or introduce a new idea!

This is just like how a super man or a super villain says that “the laws of the mere mortals do not apply to me!”

Anyway, because of this theory the society is apparently divided into two groups!

One section is the Ordinary People like you and me! Raskolnikov viewed them as conservative, obedient, and meant to live in submission to established rules!


Then you have the Extraordinary People! The author views them as innovators and leaders—such as Napoleon Bonaparte or Isaac Newton—who possess the right to transgress standard morality and shed blood if it serves their grand vision!

Of course in this case Raskolnikov uses this framework to convince himself that murdering an unscrupulous pawnbroker would prove he was an extraordinary man destined to improve humanity with her stolen money!

Then again after doing the crime he realises that he was not that extraordinary!

In the end he does accept that and surrenders both to life and to the authorities!

That was a spoiler but then again, the novel was written in 1866! So if you have not read it yet; it does not take an extraordinary person to assume that you may not read it ever!

It is not my theory! Its Raskolnikov’s!

So did you get the novel and the author!? Do lemme know!

He is a mega star among the authors by the way! Which reminds me of Mega start Chiranjeevi!

Now don’t lose sleep over it! Just Google it!

Shub ratri…

Do you know what is cedilla? 

We will come to it soon!

Connections is a tricky game by the NYT team! You are supposed to form groups of four similar words or select a group which have some similarity!

Most of the times it is not a straight forward derivation!

Like one of the pairing or rather grouping (which I after excluding others!) is the link that the ends of these words contain human body parts! Sometimes it may be the beginning! Or the words may begin with a common theme while the words themselves are different in meaning!

It can also be that the words end in colours!

So You start with a grid of 16 mixed-up words and then select four words that share a common thread and press “Submit”!

The game purposely includes “red herrings”—words that seem to fit into multiple categories, but there is only one unique solution that solves the entire board!

It really challenges your brain and many times you get words whose meaning may elude you! Like you may get all the words in a saying but they would actually not be in a group! The relation is something different than what you thought!

Couple of days back there was this word which stunned me and after completion I had to get to the bottom of it!

That was cedilla!
So apparently A cedilla is a small hook or tail mark (¸) placed under a letter—most commonly the letter c to make ç!
It apparently changes a hard “k” sound into a soft “s” sound before the vowels a, o, and u!

One common usage is in French (façade), Portuguese (coração), Catalan, and other languages! So the placement of cedilla makes the C sound like S!

Placed only under a c that comes before a, o, or u! Then you may wonder why not after e or I? This is because because a normal c is already soft there!

It is also sometimes used under an s or other letters in non-Romance languages like Turkish to change sounds! So when it is used under the letter S (ş) to make an “sh” sound!

It came from Spanish where cedilla, meant “little z”!

Apparently long ago, a small z was written under a c to show it sounded like an s, which slowly shrank into the small tail we use!

So now you know CEDILLA! Hope the connections do not stun you like me!

Then again I was really stunned by Radhika’s role in Thaai Kizhavi!

Better to sketch a woman on Vara mahalaxmi Vratham day!
May goddess Laxmi bless you with prosperity and happiness…

Shub ratri…