Author: drsriramnathan

“Orange and blue maybe some cola too!

Sweet like honey, lots of cavities too!

All that juice we used to drink nay a thought! 

Don’t be alarmed if they put ya in a spot!”

Do you remember Rasna!?

Those days having a party means having Rasna!

read on!

The ads for rasna used to be so misleading! The way they used to show that the drink is so easy to make and so tasty!

You had to put insane amount of sugar to make it sweet or else you get this tingly metallic taste!

The concentrate and the mix were two components we were supposed to mix with water and drink!

How the small pack was ok for at least ten people though we would dilute it further and make it twenty!

Of course when someone does not drink it then we would have double taste!

I never liked that drink except for the cola flavour which of course was a competition to the carbonated drinks!

The best part about the drink was that when it used to get left over we used to put it in plastic disposable cups and freeze it! And voila we have instant popsicle! Of course at the time we did not know that was the name!

Then by default the next day all the kids who initially would show off their orange or black tongue instantly would then be having sore throat and cough!

Of course as kids we thought it was worth it!

One of the main issues with rasna was that the thick heavily coloured concentrate was like a dye! Even if one drop leaked out, it would stain your hand and maybe your dress! If any of the kids were making the mix then that is inevitable!

You can tell that the kid has made or drank rasna by just looking at his or her hands!

Party and juice is a dangerous combination because of this! The best juice even now is simple lemon juice with a little salt and plenty of sugar! Maybe add some soda and that is the best!

Unfortunately even that does not suit me now! 

Used to even love the rose sherbet! Mix it with milk and that was the best way to drink milk! Then again it was ridiculously sweet and red! No way that was natural whatever the label says!

It is the same with all the squash which used to go around in shops and everywhere else! You had to put so much water and tons of sugar to make them drinkable! 

Then you have the juice cartons! The real mango or apple or orange ‘juice’! One of my friends who had a farm used to tell us how they used to sell their old rotten overripe and worm infested fruits to the ‘juice’ companies who used to mix them and make the juice! After that I have never had the urge to drink another one!

In our medical college there used to be a famous juice shop who used to make this juice called the combo! It was two glass of lime juice and soda! It used to be a hit since with the price of one, two can share the juice though most liked to drink both!

The best thing about lime juice is that only when it is fresh it does not taste bitter! There are some exceptions but this was more or less the case!

As far as the history goes the first marketed soft drinks appeared in the 17th century as a mixture of water and lemon juice sweetened with honey. 

While the first artificial soft drink was by Schweppe followed by Dr Pepper and Coke! 

In India Coke also came as Parle Cola or the Gluco Cola! 

For a while carbonated drinks were a rage even so much so that some went ahead and got the soda maker to make the drinks at home! Then again after some time it fell flat in all ways!

You like soft drinks only till the time you have a restriction in its use! If you are allowed free access, then you may not have the thrill or the fizz so to speak! In the place I live, soft drink is like water! There is no special thrill or craze since it is always there! 

Of course finally as you grow older you will realise that the tastiest and the best drink which no one had any restriction to use and will always be the best drink, is…WATER! Drink and ok not water but still the glass reminds me of the famous Premnath Malhotra, better known as Prem Nath in Karz who ‘speaks’ by tapping his fingers on the glass! Epic movie you can enjoy!

Now drink warm water and sleep!

Shubh ratri!

“What do you want to be when you grow up?
Asked the father to his lil buttercup!
The kid thought and said future I cannot see!
But all I want is you to be proud of me!”

My son got me this mechanical pencil which I used to skecth when he went on a picnic from his school! Made me happy and proud!

Most of the time the son would always look up to his father (now daughter and mother is a discussion for another day!); and would always want his father to be proud of him! His quest is usually to impress his father since Mother’s are usually easily impressed!

But (he he!) what would someone do if he had a father who had won the Nobel prize!

Well disprove him and win another Nobel!

Yes! That happened!

read on!

Physics is apparently the subject to love and is the subject which is the base for all the universe and matter and everything else!

The force between the molecules and atoms and what not!

The beginning of universe can apparently be only explained by physics and probably the end!

Physics can both create stuff and destroy!

Physics is the final say!

If my classmates and I liked Physics in the 11th and 12th grade then it is only because of our amazing teacher! One of the best teachers to have been part of our life; Usha Madam!

She was a brilliant physicist which is surprising since it was the KV! Her passion to teach was rivalled only by her love for physics!

The best thing was her acceptance of the opinion of minions like me! There was a question in the 11th grade which went something like the ‘work done by friction’ is positive or negative or something similar (my memory was never my most strong point!). The answer madam expected was apparently negative but then afterwards in the discussion I asked her, “but madam, Work is scalar! It can never be negative! is it not!” What I told her is not important but suffice to say that I created enough doubts for her to reevaluate the answer! The question turned out to be wrong! She gave grace marks to everyone!

My only regret in not writing the engineering examinations was that Usha madam would have been happy if I had taken engineering (Of course whether I get it or not is another matter altogether!).

The issue with physics for me was we had to imagine stuff!
The first thing which we had to imagine was the torque! I have never understood that! Then you have momentum! Then the fact that there are so many forces like even the Gravity which you cannot see!

There is not such problem with both mathematics and biology at that time! There was only one solution and there were cells we could see!
Now of course as a hobby and pastime, Physics is beautiful! I can finally see Usha madam and her love for the subject!

Now coming to the father and son!

Sir Joseph John Thomson theorised that Electrons were particles and his experiments and later research proved that! So much so that he was awarded a Nobel Prize in physics in 1906!

Now imagine if you had a father like J J Thomson! What would you do to topple his achievement! Only to make him proud of you of course!

Years later, Thomson’s own son, Sir George Paget Thomson, came in to radicalize the theory even further. These particles, named electrons, weren’t just particles, and they also weren’t just waves. Turns out they were … both? In 1927, George Thomson observed an electron beam pass through a nickel crystal, and watched diffraction patterns occur, which utterly changed what scientists thought of electrons!

Diffraction is when wavelengths bend around an object when they interact with it, and given how George Thomson proved electrons to do this, scientists were fascinated about how these unique particles behaved in this manner !

What this showed, however, was that electrons travel through the universe like a wave, but still somehow interacted with different objects as a particle!

So it was proved that electrons were both wave and particle!
George Thomson was awarded his own Nobel Prize in physics in 1937!

And no, George Thomson’s son did not try to prove that electrons are wavy particles! I think the Nobel committee would have decided to keep the Thomsons away from the electron!

Now Devanesan Chokkalingam, also known as Deva is one composer whose father and child will certainly proud of him!

Now turn off that particle or wave and sleep!
Shubh ratri!

“The light so dim but feels nice!

Keeps the monsters away! 

That’s the light so small!

Use it night or day!”

Do you sleep with your lights completely switched off or do you put on the ‘zero’ watt bulb!?

But practically though, ‘zero’ watt is not actually ZERO!

read on!

In most army houses every room especially the bedroom would have at least two light switches. One would be regular while one would be reserved for the ‘zero’ watt bulb!

Come night and these cute little orange bulbs would come to life and we would be told to sleep!

So by default I have always slept with the light on! Till I went to the hostel and there was not concept of ‘zero’ watt or even more than one switch! Forget that! We also had only a single socket! Forget that, we also had a single light!

Yes, of course it never had the light bulb! There was of course no fun for obvious reasons since there were no hanger for fan! Apparently having a hanger for fan made it easy to hang yourself! That solution to actually handle suicide risk seems dated but then this is not a blog about that!

So anyway initially we would pool in and get one tubelight! The richer kids would get the tube with the slim tube and electric choke or starter! While we would settle for the cheaper mechanical one! Unfortunately that Mechanical choke must be switched on before the drop in voltage in the evening or else the tube would keep on try to start the whole night and fail miserably!

The electric one would start effortlessly though and when even it could not start then the problem was real! We would then have seniors who actually by that time would have become trained electricians who would repair the junction box! The sparks would fly but they did not care! Even now I wonder how we survived in between those junctions boxes who constantly used to spark and make sound the whole night! 

But, coming to the night! The first room we all had would be a common hall which like I mentioned had only one switch and light! So it is either off or on! If you want to read then you had to go out of the room and read in the corridor!

That was the time when we or rather I, got used to sleep without light! Since we were so tired with the classes and the dissection and the practicals, sleep was a necessity and it used to come without any effort!

Still I fondly remember those zero watt bulbs! 

Now since my dad is an engineer he had already told us that ZERO watt does not mean that they do not consume any power, but the term stayed put!

The term “zero-watt” dates back to an era when energy meters in households were less sensitive to very low-power devices!

Back then, energy meters used to measure the electricity consumption in homes had a minimum power threshold, below which the device’s usage would not register!

Traditional incandescent bulbs of around 10 to 15 watts often fell below this sensitivity limit, which meant that when used alone, their power consumption did not show up on electricity meters. As a result, these bulbs were perceived to consume “zero” power, leading to the nickname “zero-watt bulbs.”!

This naming convention stuck, even though the bulbs actually consumed a small amount of energy. The main reason for this persistence was the convenience of using a term that suggested low energy usage. Zero-watt bulbs provided enough light for visibility without significantly affecting electricity bills, which made them attractive to people seeking cost-effective lighting for limited purposes!

Technically, there is no such thing as “zero-watt” bulbs. These bulbs generally consume 12-15 watts of power! 

They work on the same principle as standard incandescent bulbs, using a tungsten filament that heats up and emits light when an electric current passes through it. The low wattage of these bulbs means the filament doesn’t produce as much light or heat, resulting in the gentle glow characteristic of zero-watt bulbs.

With advances in lighting technology, LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs have largely replaced incandescent bulbs, including zero-watt bulbs, due to their energy efficiency and longer lifespan. LED bulbs can achieve the same level of dim lighting as a zero-watt incandescent bulb while using only a fraction of the power—sometimes as little as 0.5 to 1 watt! In factual terms then the LED bulbs are the true ‘ZERO’ watt bulbs! 

Now because of the double training, when I have to sleep; I can sleep with or without the light! But if there is a racing car of thoughts going in my brain then even in complete darkness and silence, the sleep eludes me! It is like my sleeps is roaming around free and independent! Mention independent and that reminds me of Lakshmibai Newalkar, the Rani of Jhansi; the fighter and leader of the independence movement! 

Now turn on the ‘zero’ watt bulb or not! And sleep!

Shubh ratri!.

“It’s a point of view not a fact!
Hope you get this and that!
Tis not your or my story!
It’s just a complicated history!”

Did you know that one of the most favored classification system in history or archaeology was actually the given by one who had no knowledge of them at first!?

read on!

Growing up one of the most boring subject those days was the History!

Give me some mathematics or chemistry or even physics and I would drool! But the parrot like memorisation of History was so boring and lifeless!

I used to think why must we know history! Now my favourite is history! I guess that is growing up! Of course when I start hating history again then I would have become one!

On top of all that the history we would be taught those days would be the comfortable history! The compromise which we have been allowed to read!

But the dull names and the places and the wars used to give me migraine those days! To cover the stages and age of so many people and time was a big task! Even now the things like first battle of or the second war between gives me the chills! I used to think all the kings would ever do was fight! Most would die young!


The time they reach the peak of their life and most probably die or get killed by another to start the cycle all over again!

Early thirties we would have started out career and these ‘Historical’ figures by that time would have completed their lifetime!

In an Archie comic story the gals finally cracked the history code when they started reading about it like ‘gossip’! Which in fact it is! Since what actually happened no one knows! All we know even if there are proofs and data for support, are only speculative!

History is always MADE up! There will be a narrative and we would follow it that is all! What actually happened would be known only to those who were present there and even then what they see or feel is their own point of view!

This complexity of history makes it so interesting to read and know nowadays!

Now the biggest classification of the history which we all have read over and over again was actually done by a guy who was doing a free internship!


The story as said in one of Carl Sagan’s books is that the Danish country in an attempt to uplift the country image wanted to build a museum and so collected artifacts all over the country and dumped them in a big room!

Then an an unpaid intern with no knowledge of archaeology was given the task of organizing them!

After one year of breaking his head he divided them into stone, bronze and iron! Little did he know that he accidentally stumbled upon the classification which historian use to this day!

Yes! The stone, bronze and the iron age!

The intern who later was regarded as a great historian because of this was C. J. Thomsen! Thomsen also wrote one of the first systematic treatises on gold bracteates of the Migration period. Thomsen’s study of artifacts within the Copenhagen museum were based on associations between stylistic change, decoration and context; he recognised the importance of examining objects from “closed finds”, allowing him to determine the associations of common artifacts for various periods (stone – bronze – iron). His results were published in the Ledetraad til Nordisk Oldkyndighed (Guideline to Nordic Antiquity) in 1836!

Very soon all over the world, museums and historians picked up this classification and now this is the standard classification used to describe the three ‘ages’! That is historical! Historical also was the contribution of celebrity V. Shantaram or Shantaram Bapu!

A quick sketch with another historical piece! A hero pen! This pen was reserved for special occasions only and how it used to drink ink like a thirsty camel! Done without any correction in less than five minutes since it was a busy day!

Now historically you may say Shubh ratri and sleep!

“They can be black or blue!
Even marigold or red too!
Just write and also right an ready to go!
Ball point pens work! An not just for show!”

The case of the missing ball point pen!

You would have bought so many pens in your lifetime but do you remember where they disappear?

Ball pens are alive is my theory!
Ok now before you refer me to a psychiatrist just…
read on!

The amount of ball pens we buy can be countless! Every visit to the magic shop which is the stationary shop you end up buying a pen or a set!

My daughter and me can spend hours in the stationary shop now much to the chagrin of my wife! It is like a dream land for us!

Stationary shop previously was a small shop in the corner with the smell of books and some pens hanging in the corner!

Those day we used to actually buy the pen only once in the year and other times we always used to buy the refills! I do not remember the last time I bought a ball pen refill! Occasional though I do buy the ink pen refills which are so cool! You just snap it in!

The amazing thing about ballpoint pens and even the now gel pens is that they last so long! You can simply write on and on and they would still write some more!

Though I always prefer either an ink pen or even a Pilot pen, ball pens are a necessity! You cannot live without them! In an emergency you need only the ball point pens! The ink pens would not do!

The days of reynolds and Rotomac were so good! The thin tip and the bold one!

But (yeah! What is a blog without a but!); now when we buy any ball pen, rest assured that it will be there with you for less than a week! If your pen is premium or even an Ink pen or a premier fountain pen then of course it may be with you for a while without getting lost but a regular ballpoint pen’s tendency of getting lost is remarkable that it feels they are alive!

If the pen is the click type then it takes longer for them to ‘escape’ while the ones with the cap have it more easy!
The first step is removing the handcuffs which is the cap! Once you lose the cap of a pen then rest assured that the pen will be ‘escaping’ soon!

In college I remember how many would take a slim roll of paper and write their names in the pen! That is tagging! If that happens then also the chances of ‘escape’ of the pen is less!

But the moment you put the pen in either your shirt or pant pocket, they start their plans to escape! Initial plans would be just jumping out and falling on the ground or on the table corners! Those places sometimes they are still found and ‘captured’ again! Then one fine day you have an important write up to do or you have to sign some important paper and lo! The pen has escaped!

I am sure one fine day one news item would announce that a secret world or island has been discovered which has all the escaped pens in the world!
I still remember in our medical college entrance there was a guy who was selling these cheap pens and for fifteen bucks you get fifteen pens!

I once got that whole set happily thinking that I do not have to buy any pen for the rest of the year! I thought that maybe the pens may not write well or may leak! In fact they wrote pretty well and no leaks! But at the end of the month I was left with no pens! I had lost each and every one of them!

Like the brick and ball game of computer, the more balls you have, the faster you lose! It is the same with the pens! When you have a lot of pens, there is a greater probability of losing them!

This in spite of being very possessive of my pen! I never borrow pen from anyone as much as possible and I do not like to give my pen to anyone! I am basically a very generous person even if I do say so myself but do not ask me for my pen! In spite of this I frequently lose pens! And after enquiry I have found out that it is a universal phenomenon!

Which is why I often wonder where do these pens we have lost (which is of course going to be a big number) end up! Or maybe you can refer me to a good neuro doctor or  psychiatrist! Speaking of a doctor reminds me of birthday celebrity and doctor and that too an ENT! Dr. Shriram Lagoo!

Now safely tuck your pen in your bag and sleep!
Shubh ratri!

“Oh don’t harm him he is trying to help
He spent sleepless nights for you
If the treatment doesn’t work you are sad!
But rest assured your doctor is also in the blue…”

Every other day when I read about the attack on the doctors I get so scared and sad.

On one side you have the distressed patient and his or her relatives who are high on emotions while on the other side you have the poor doctor who is simply trying to make you better.

Then a radical solution is maybe required for doing this very important job in the medical profession; Breaking bad news…

How about an AI?

In the novel Homo Deus by Yuval he says how the major thing AI cannot do is breaking bad news. The chief difference between an AI and human is being human or more importantly being Humane!

Unfortunately, the Human is not without issues. He or she may have seen so many patients, he or she would be so stressed himself, there may be a million things running in his or her mind!

The essence here is INTENT. No doctor would ever make mistake by choice or no doctor will make an intentional mistake.

How about the fact the day in and day out he or she sees suffering and pain and may be it is too much for him or her! How about the consideration that he or she did not get a wink of sleep the other night or the night before and that thing is vexing his or her mind!

Then again he or she is simply another human with flaws and imperfections. Patience is not something which is common or usual when you have to see so many patients! For every bad news you need to tell the patient or the relative, he or she needs to prepare and get composed and do the same over and over again!

It is never easy! No one likes bad news and everyone likes to blame or “shoot” the messenger and healer!

I have often seen reviews of doctors; one common thing is that when the patient gives a negative review he or she would say, “he or she was so busy that he or she did not spend enough time with me!”

No one stops to think for a minute that the only reason you went to that doctor is because he or she is busy or famous! Then there can be no doubt that his or her time would also be limited! Of course there are some who have decided to simply give everything to this profession and they can go on and on and answer your questions and repeat with each and every patient! When this also happens the common complaint is that; “We had to wait for a long time to see the doctor!”

The biggest thing which you must always remember is that your doctor is a hundred percent HUMAN! Nothing more or less! Do not expect miracles! But rest assured no doctor would ever want his or her patient’s health to NOT improve!

When you recover just remember that the doctor also recovers a little from the stress which is medical profession! When you feel sad or do not respond to his or her treatment, a part of him or her also literally becomes sad and depressed or is lost in the deep abyss of medical failure!

So the solution can be found when they can add empathy program to the machine and there can be a AI doctor specifically for breaking bad news!

So accordingly we must have an AI doctor with emotions who is never tired! It will ALWAYS talk to you with compassion coolness and without any fatigue! You can go on asking the same question over and over again! You can ask the questions from anyone! Any number of relative can get access to IT and ask the same or any questions and IT will only be to happy (do not know the proper emotion here though since that will be a complex algorithm!) to answer your question again and again!

All will be done with the perfect amount of compassion as calculated by its data analysis of the patient or the bystander’s state of mind!

Another important thing is that IT is available at any time of the day or night and anywhere! You call and IT will be there to tell you the news!

But I unfortunately feel the MOST important advantage is that if you do not like the treatment or cannot take the bad news, IT can handle your assault!
You can show your anger in any way to IT and it will not get angry or heart broken! Even if you damage it, the spare parts would be made available or even a new one would be ordered and it will start without any issue! In fact it may even learn why or how the attack happened and try to make sure it does not happen again!

With the way things are going, I am sure that this is not a far future, in fact these repeated attacks would only hasten the HUMAN to AI transformation.
Only God can help US or AI!

This Guru Nanak jayanti I pray to the holy Guruji to shower you with peace and joy on this sacred day and hope every patient understand that his or her doctor is your friend when you are not well…

Shub ratri…

Wahe guru…

“Oh the road ahead so tortous and long!
Test you always weak or strong!
Course your quest is to reach the end
But do stop and admire each turn, every bend…”

There was this story I heard which used to be both funny and with a moral!

In fact the story in some ways is actually similar to a theory given by a prominent economist!

The theory is called Easterlain Paradox!

read on!

So the story is how I have heard it while the original versions or other versions may be there! This one my dad used to narrate to me in his Army style!

Once a King hell bent on conquering the world was going through a forest and he saw a Sage resting on the shade of a tree oblivious to everything around him!

The king saw the Sage resting without a care of the world!

He asked him “don’t have any work to do”

S-To which he replied with another question, “What work do you have?”

The King-“I have to conquer the world!”

S-“After then, what are you planning to do?”

K-“Then I have to become the greatest king in the universe!”

S-“After that, what are you planning to do?:

K-“Then I’m going to use my wealth and construct a big Palace!”

S-“After that, what are you planning to do?”

K-“Then I will use all my wells and get a place very close to the river!”

S”After that”

K-“Well, then I will lie down under a tree and rest satisfied that I have done so much with my life!”

Then the sage finally replied, “Well, you can see that I am doing exactly that! You however have a long way to go! Please carry on!”

We used to love this story since it actually told us in many ways that material wealth is not important! But peace of mind!

It has been said that even the richest of the rich are not happy like the king above! They are constantly searching for peace! This unhappiness in spite of wealth is called the Easterlain paradox!

The Easterlin paradox was a finding in happiness economics formulated in 1974 by Richard Easterlin, then professor of economics at the University of Pennsylvania, and the first economist to study happiness data!

The paradox states that at a point in time happiness varies directly with income both among and within nations, but over time happiness does not trend upward as income continues to grow: while people on higher incomes are typically happier than their lower-income counterparts at a given point in time, higher incomes don’t produce greater happiness over time.

That is, in the short run, everyone perceives increases in income to be correlated with happiness and tries to increase their incomes. However, in the long run, this proves to be an illusion, since everyone’s efforts to raise standards of living lead to increasing averages, leaving everyone in the same place in terms of relative income!

Of course this is only one theory and wealth is very important so do not think that finance is not important! Just remember that it is not the only important thing! Once in a while stop being a King chasing after money and like the sage sit below a tree and maybe sketch or maybe write a blog!

Or Just do what you love and then you will be happy, Paradox or not! Maybe sketch, blog or even cook something you like for others! Now cooking reminds me of celebrity chef Vikas Khanna!

Time for the daily relaxation in the dark waiting for sunlight! Or in simple words; sleep!
Shubh Ratri!

“A shop in some place has books!
The shop is open tis never locked!
The owner says a reader doesn’t rob
A Robber doesn’t read so don’t be shocked!”

Some of the most competitive examinations in the world (or even universe!) can be said to be conducted in India like the IIT or the Medical entrance examination!

Getting into institutions like these are a matter of great pride simply because the entrance is so tough!

But (he he!) did you know that there was another university in India which was the world’s first Residential university where the entrance was more tough that any at a time when people in other places were trying to simply learn basic words!?

read on!

I have never attempted or written an engineering examination since I had the resolve only to be a doctor and nothing else! There was no ‘take what you get’ attitude!

But I know that some of the engineering examinations at least at that time was so tough! The amount of preparation required is so much!

Even examinations like the UPSC are big mountains to climb!

Now this particular University of the ancient times has such high levels of rejection rates! So much so that apparently even the gate keeper at the entrance would be so wise that if you fail to ‘pass’ his test or questions even there itself you would be sent out!

The university used to get applications from all over the world but only very few were even considered!

The training was intense and there was no distractions! You get up, you read, you discuss, you debate, you refer from the huge library and sleep a little and repeat!

Of course when it comes from an ‘angrezi’ author it has more credibility! It is unfortunate that when we were departing education to the whole world even when people had trouble grasping simple things and now the so called ‘civilized’ nations try to teach us!

In the novel ‘The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World’ by William Dalrymple, the author’s description of the greatest University of that time gives you goosebumps!

The university had a library almost as big as the Alexandria and was about nine stories high!

Of course those Illiterates who do not know the value of knowledge or education burnt and destroyed this treasure!

The famous libraries were called Ratnasagar, Ratnadadhi and Ratnaranjak. All these libraries were located in a complex called ‘Dharmaganj’.

And yes! The famous university was Nalanda!

Incidentally I did my LKG in a school called Nalanda but I am sure that it was not the same!

So Nalanda was a renowned Buddhist mahavihara (great monastery) in ancient and medieval Magadha (modern-day Bihar).

Operating from 427 CE until around 1400 CE, Nalanda played a vital role in promoting the patronage of arts and academics during the 5th and 6th century CE, a period that has since been described as the “Golden Age of India” by scholars!

Nalanda was established by emperor Kumaragupta I of the Gupta Empire around 427 CE, and was supported by numerous Indian and Javanese patrons – both Buddhists and non-Buddhists.
Nalanda continued to thrive with the support of the rulers of the Pala Empire (r. 750–1161 CE). After the fall of the Palas, the monks of Nalanda were patronised by the Pithipatis of Bodh Gaya.

Nalanda University was destroyed by Bakhtiyar Khilji which he had proudly reclaimed in his court records. Bakhtiyar khilji was a Turkish Afghan general of Muhammad Ghori.


Over some 750 years, Nalanda’s faculty included some of the most revered scholars of Mahayana Buddhism.

The faculty and students associated with the monastery included Dharmapala, Nagarjuna, Dharmakirti, Asanga, Vasubandhu, Chandrakirti, Xuanzang, Śīlabhadra and Vajrabodhi.

The curriculum of Nalanda included major Buddhist philosophies like Madhyamaka, Yogachara and Sarvastivada, as well as other subjects like the Vedas, grammar, medicine, logic, mathematics, astronomy and alchemy.

The mahavihara had a renowned library that was a key source for the Sanskrit texts that were transmitted to East Asia by pilgrims like Xuanzang and Yijing.
Many texts composed at Nalanda played an important role in the development of Mahayana and Vajrayana. They include the works of Dharmakirti, the Sanskrit text Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra of Shantideva, and the Mahavairocana Tantra!

In the novel William describes the arduous journey of a monk from China who started on a journey of close to six years from China to Nalanda across deserts, rivers and all sorts of trials and troubles to reach this great place of education and was received with lots of adulation and open arms! An honour given to very few!

Education is thus what we have always given importance to and that is how it will be! So is the importance to art and literature. Only a humane human can actually appreciate art and music and creativity! One such amazing artist is Pulapaka Suseela! Listen to her songs and think of our glorious past and future!

Shubh Ratri!

“Got a new dress everyone said it’s too good!
I should be happy I know I would!
But little did they know t’was the old one!
Just told em it’s new for fun!”

Remember the tale of the Emperor’s new clothes!? It was a hilarious tale in which you had all the sympathy for the crooks who made a fool of the vain!
The story was inspired by a Spanish tale.

Or was it!?
In the In the novel ‘The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World’ by William Dalrymple; the author tells about a similar tale but Indian this time!

read on!

Clothes are the major draw for anyone! many would spend so much to cover themselves! Fashion shows and parades are there for new designs and to show you ways to cover you!

Being the son of an army officer, I have always been taught to dress decently and not for show! Even stepping out of the house just for a while you will not find me in casual dress! But (expected!), that of course does not mean that you need costly clothes!

Even now one of my best shirts which looks and feels so rich and good and is wrinkle free for more than ten years now was less than 500 INR while the super costly ones lie in a corner gathering dust! Those were of course the ones gifted by my wife since I would never spend too much money on clothes! If it was a gadget then of course there is no limit!

Even socially you have some rules! If you are rich then you do wear rich, branded and shiny clothes! While if you are super rich then you wear simple but decent clothes!

Then again, you will never find a girl who would say the she has enough clothes even when her clothes wardrobe is full! It is an argument you can never win! It is always, “I do not have any clothes to wear!”

The more exclusive the clothes, the better the deal apparently! Which is whey the story of the emperor’s clothes is so famous!

The tale as we all have read or seen goes like this; There was an an emperor who used to have an obsession with fancy new clothes, and used to spend lavishly on them, at the expense of his public and ignore the other matters of the rule or the state!

One day, two con-men visit the emperor’s capital.
Posing as weavers, they offer to supply him with magnificent clothes that are invisible to those who are incompetent or stupid. The gullible emperor hires them, and they set up looms and pretend to go to work.
A succession of officials, starting with the emperor’s wise and competent minister, and then ending with the emperor himself, visit them to check their progress. Each sees that the looms are empty but everyone pretends to see the clothes and weave more bigger stories about them since they do not want to left out or called a ‘fool’!

Finally, the weavers report that the emperor’s suit is finished. They acts as if dressing him and he sets off in a procession before the whole city!
The townsfolk uncomfortably go along with the pretense, not wanting to appear inept or stupid, until a child blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all!
The people then realize that everyone has been fooled. In various versions the King either runs away embarrassed or still continuous in vain!
The fate of the con-men is not revealed in the initial stories though in later versions they are shown to have escaped with the payment!

The tale was first written by Andersen and his tale is based on a 1335 story from the Libro de los ejemplos (or El Conde Lucanor), a medieval Spanish collection of fifty-one cautionary tales with various sources such as Aesop and other classical writers and Persian folktales, by Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena.

Andersen did not know the Spanish original but read the tale in a German translation titled “So ist der Lauf der Welt” (“That’s the way of the world”)!

Now the Indian version as mentioned by William appears in the Līlāvatīsāra by Jinaratna (1283), a summary of a now-lost anthology of fables, the Nirvāṇalīlāvatī by Jineśvara (1052)!

In this story, the dishonest merchant Dhana from Hastināpura swindles the king of Śrāvastī by offering to weave a supernatural garment that cannot be seen or touched by any person of illegitimate birth.
When the king is supposedly wearing the garment, his whole court pretends to admire it. The king is then paraded about his city to show off the garment; when the common folk ask him if he has become a naked ascetic, he realizes the deception, but the swindler has already fled!

Now of course these stories may or may not be true or real but the message what they try to convey is the essence of these stories!
The message here is that it is best to trust oneself and be honest; Speak up for the truth and what is right. Without honesty, people often end up looking very foolish! But of course see the time and place to show your honesty! Now speaking of emperors, you must recognize the emperor or King Ornithologist!

If you are a bird watcher or even a passing photographer you would have surely read his book!

Now put on your night ‘clothes’ and sleep!
Shubh Ratri!