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A Brief History of Intelligence by Max S Bennet is an interesting novel about the development of Intelligence (not only human mind you!)!

One interesting thing (there are many!) you can see is that the average Fish has got this inbuilt capability which even the most important and really clever species; the bee does not have!

It knows the passage of time! It can tell time would have been more dramatic but that is not technically true!

In this novel he traces the development of the intelligence from the first ‘brain’ to the complex one we see in most of your skulls!

This is of course the base of explaining how the development leads to the development of AI! Now just like many computers; some people have the hardware but do not use it! Instead they read a ‘manual’ and follow the rules!

In the case of fish listen (sorry I heard it on the audible so that is stuck to my mind! Nothing fishy! You can READ!) to the experiment first.

You keep the fish in a tank and once in a while you test for this ‘conditioned’ reflex! In one experiment; the researcher puts on the light over a dark tank and gives a ZAP! Which is a short electric charge which shocks the fish! Very fishy and shocking! Now it does not harm the fish but it does feel the shock which is not pleasant!

So the next time the researcher puts on the light, sure enough; the fish escapes before the shock!

Now what is so great about this you say!?

Glad to see you are using your ‘hardware’!

Apparently the fish does not escape immediately after the light is switched on! But after some time!

At this point you must know that there is a time interval of around 5 seconds after the light is put on and the ZAP is delivered!

The fish escapes exactly FIVE seconds AFTER the light is switched on!

The fish and the time to zap! Like the meme goes! IT KNOWS!
Like always what we know is a DROP in the OCEAN of knowledge!

But who would have thought that fish would have time intelligence!

Now intelligence is the hallmark of a country! And the one who is the legend when it comes to intelligence and secret service is Ajit Kumar Doval!

That’s not fishy!

Shubh ratri!

In Technology of the Gods: The Incredible Sciences of the Ancients, author David Hatcher Childress highlights the Iron Pillar of Delhi as a prime example of “impossible” ancient Indian metallurgy.

He argues that this 1,600-year-old, rust-resistant pillar is evidence that ancient civilizations possessed advanced, lost knowledge of iron-working and chemical engineering, rather than being primitive.

Childress points to the pillar’s ability to withstand corrosion for over a millennium as evidence of a specialized, almost alchemical, manufacturing process.

In another book called Ancient Hindu Science: Its Transmission and Impact on World Cultures, Alok Kumar positions Charaka, Shuśruta, and Kauṭilya as foundational, intellectual, and scientific figures rather than merely religious or mythological ones.

All medical students need to read history and most of the history begins with the mention of the earliest physicians and surgeons of the world!

Charaka and Shuśruta!

Kumar highlights that Charaka (medicine) and Shuśruta (surgery) developed a highly sophisticated, empirical system of medicine.
He states that these texts provide evidence of advanced understanding of the human body, anatomy, and surgical techniques (such as plastic surgery) that was later transmitted to the Arab world and subsequently to Europe!

He uses Kauṭilya’s writings to illustrate how the state supported technological advancements like “Wootz” (Damascus) steel, which was highly advanced for its time!

In fact there are countless such examples all over our country!

Sometimes what sounds of looks primitive is only one’s opinion or ignorance!

One opinion is also that Feluda was a combination of Sherlock Holmes and Tintin! I used to love reading his adventures! The first actor to play him was the legendary
Soumitra Chatterjee or Soumitra da!

Now if you want to know about him start with Apur Sansar! It is slow so don’t sleep!

Shubh ratri!

A lucky ‘man’ gets a great mother though all mothers are great! A luckier man gets a great wife in addition to a great mother! The luckiest though are those who get a daughter!

The father daughter bond is one of the most purest and sacred!

When I first held my very pink just born daughter in my trembling hands I was so overwhelmed to have been chosen to be the father of this angel!

I simply held her and exclaimed that, “She looks like my mother!” and ran out to ‘show’ off to everyone!

My mother in law ran behind me saying, “Do not forget your wife who is still in recovery!”

A Man is thus known by how he treats three women of his life; mother wife and daughter!

In Bengali culture (I have a close association with that!); daughters, especially from a father, are often affectionately called “Maa” (mother) as a term of deep respect, seeing them as embodiments of the divine mother (Maa Durga)

Now the formal word for daughter is “meye” (মেয়ে) or “konnya” (কন্যা).

This affectionate naming reflects honor, not burden, with fathers calling their daughters “Maa” and sometimes even “Baba” (father) to show love and respect, similar to how sons might be called “Baba” or “Khoka”!

This practice highlights the elevated status of daughters in Bengali families, viewing them as goddesses. It’s a term of endearment, signifying love and reverence, not a literal role reversal!

Now although it is a reference to Ma Durga; it is also a reference to your own mother! Father many times treats their daughter as they treat their mother while the daughter when she gets old, treats her father like a mother!

Which is why they are called MA!

Then again you treat your mother with pure respect and you treat your daughter with pure love! Then what about the wife  you say?

Well, it is an amalgamation of both love and respect! The percentages differ every other day!


Lucky are those who still can call up their mother!

My calls are one way for some time now…

A sketch of a Ma! Durga Khote ji…

Shubh ratri…

An observant chemist made this discovery reach almost all households all over the world!

You can apply if over intact skin or dry ones or even your lips!

The chemist used to even eat it!

The chemist was Robert Chesebrough (1837–1933) who was a British-born American chemist

In 1859, Chesebrough visited oil fields in Titusville, Pennsylvania, where he observed oil workers using a waxy residue called “rod wax” to heal cuts and burns.

He then spent a decade refining the waxy residue into a clear, odorless gel using vacuum distillation and filtration through bone char.

The name he gave to the ‘mix’ was a combination of German word for water and Greek word for oil! Now that is a combination!

He opened his first factory in Brooklyn, New York and later on merged with Pond’s Extract Company to form Chesebrough-Pond’s!

As late as 1987; the brand was acquired by Unilever, which continues to own and manufacture it today!

What is interesting is that Chesebrough was a fervent believer in the medicinal properties of his invention, leading to several famous claims!

He reportedly ate a spoonful of his product every morning and attributed his longevity—he lived to the age of 96—to this practice!

During a severe bout of pleurisy in his later years, he had his body completely covered in his product and credited his recovery to the treatment.

To prove the product’s effectiveness to skeptics, he would publicly burn his skin with acid or fire and then apply his product to the wound to show its healing power!

Even now many use this for its healing and moisturising properties!

No household is complete without it and the trade name is as well known as Coke!

The German word for water is wasser and the Greek word for oil is elaion!

Did you get the name of the product now?

It is wasser plus elaion or VASELINE!

The one stop solution for everything from cuts to burns! Giving solution to many problems also was the role of many great leaders like MGR!

Now apply some Vaseline over your dry lips and sleep!

Subh ratri!

Many of you would have played Snakes and Ladders or as the Americans know it; Chutes and Ladders!

The worst is above 90 when you get a big Chute or Snake and you are almost back to the starting point!

It has been played all over the world since 1960s! While Indians have been playing the ‘original’ version for centuries!


Yes! You read that right!

That original game was called the Moksha Patam!

This is the ancient Indian precursor to the modern game of Snakes and Ladders and was a series of moral lesson disguised as a board game, teaching virtues (ladders) uplift you towards enlightenment (Moksha), while vices (snakes) lead to downfall, reflecting Hindu philosophy on karma and spiritual journey.

It was originally designed to illustrate concepts from the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita, helping players understand the consequences of their actions as they race to the top square, representing liberation from the cycle of rebirth.

Developed in ancient India, possibly around the 2nd century BC or later by saints like Sant Dnyaneshwar.

The game had deep spiritual meaning with a metaphor for life, where good deeds (ladders) and bad deeds (snakes) influence one’s spiritual progress!

The Moksha Patam features a grid board with ladders (virtues like generosity, faith) and snakes (vices like lust, anger).

Of course the final goal was to reach the final square, symbolizing Moksha or  (liberation).

The game powerfully illustrates that virtuous actions lead to spiritual ascent, while vices lead to moral descent, guiding players on their path to self-realization.

The modern version of course is simply fun!

The game was brought to the United Kingdom in the 1890s by colonial rulers and introduced as “Snakes and Ladders”, where the moral and religious aspects were diminished and the number of snakes and ladders were equalized.

It was later introduced in the United States by Milton Bradley in 1943 as Chutes and Ladders, which used a playground theme instead of snakes!

Now that is history! You must look into the future but do remember your history! A brief lesson in history that was! A brief history of time though was the classic novel written by the one with a sharp mind; Stephen Hawking!

Now you may be old to play snakes and ladders; you are never old to play Moksha Patam in real life! Think about it!

Shubh Ratri!

A Brief History of Intelligence by Max S Bennet is an interesting novel about, well Intelligence! Not necessarily human!

When you see the raw feeling then it is really simple!

Let me explain (Or try to at least!)

Why does a hungry person steal? Duh! Because he or she is hungry!

So whether or not anyone would steal is a simple matter of proportion!

If one person is very hungry and the risk of getting caught is medium to high then he or she would still steal! He or she would anyway steal if he or she is hungry and the risk of getting caught is very less! In fact he or she may steal even if he or she is not hungry if the risk of getting caught is less or nil!

If the risk of getting caught is high and the hunger or motivation is less then he or she will not steal!

This is only one simple example!

This is true even in the case of an investment!

If the risk is low then you or anyone would invest provided he or she had enough money! If the risk is high and the money is low or not there then no one would invest!

Most confusion happens only in the middle ground!

Risk is moderate and so is the money! Then you may have some variations though most of the time it is static in that case! Like your hunger is mild and risk to getting caught is very much present though just moderate; you will not steal in most cases!

This is the attitude of the most intelligent species in the universe!

It is always a matter of risk versus benefit!

Now let me tell you about the Nematode! It is a worm with a single opening for both food and well, excreta! The brain is just as small!

It does not have eyes or ears!

If you place a nematode in a dish with food on one side then it will slowly wriggle towards it! But if you place it along with copper which it does not like or is bad for it then it will not go towards it!

Now in the scenario of the human and food! If you place both food and copper together just imagine what it would do? Copper here is akin to the risk of getting caught!

The result is the same! If the worm is starving then even if the copper is high, it will still go for the food! If the worm is well fed then it will not! Only variation is when it is moderately fed and the copper levels are medium!

Then the simplest creature with a rudimentary brain does what every human would do!

Risk versus benefit analysis!

So the next time you feel proud writing the pros and cons list! Just know that even a nematode does that!

Then again an average nematode may not go to the space! That only some special talented humans can do like Rakesh Sharma!

Now understand the pros of sleeping on time and do!

Shubh ratri!

The seven habits of highly effective people by Stephen Covey talks about one of the most effective way of doing a job or completing a work!

The best thing to do is to tabulate the work!

Now you can do this mentally or physically! But that is only the first part!

Or if you have a paucity of time and patience then you can divide the work into major, medium and small or minor task!

After that you can simply follow the 1-3-5 rule!

This is a new trend which of course is a remix of several old trends but then if it works do not disturb the system!

So the 1-3-5 Rule is a productivity method for creating a balanced daily to-do list!

Everyday you have to do this task; One major, 3 medium and at least 5 small!

By doing this you prevent overwhelming of tasks by focusing on manageable chunks and ensuring progress on high-impact items.

It provides structure, reduces procrastination by tackling the biggest item first and offers flexibility by mixing quick wins with larger goals, applicable for freelancers, students, and professionals alike!

The first step of course is to identify you task! You can either use the Stephen Covey table of just a to do list!

Then zoom in on the one big task! This is a high-priority, time-consuming, or mentally demanding item (e.g., finish a project report).

Then find three important but lesser critical tasks and complete them!

Finally the five small tasks would then be easy quick wins (e.g., reply to emails, tidy desk, make a quick call!)

It is similar to answering questions on a paper! You must tackle the questions with the highest marks first! Once that is done you can do your own assessment and carry on! You can actually finish the smaller tasks before medium or vice versa!

This is because you tackle the big task first when you have the most energy, then move to medium, and finish with small tasks for momentum!

The benefit is that the list breaks large lists into a manageable nine items.

It also builds momentum and the finishing of small tasks provides quick wins, while the big task gets the most important work done!

You can also mixes challenging tasks with easy ones to keep the day varied and productive!

There are couple of tips and some flexibility though!

You have to be realistic and adjust the scope if tasks change, but try not to exceed nine total items; you can add a couple of smaller items though!

Like mentioned above, even though finishing the big task gives a big momentum you can still adapt to your day! You might do your medium tasks before your big one, or shift priorities as needed!

Like in an examination as before; answer a couple of easy questions to get a confidence boost and momentum and jump on to the big Guns…I mean ones!

All said and done, anytime you see someone who is as busy as you but still manages to do so much work; there is always a measure of organization involved!


Great people are amazing time managers!
Great and incredibly amazing was also Swamy Vivekananda

Now plan your tasks for tomorrow and sleep!

Shub ratri…

The Bitcoin Standard is a NOVEL novel!

Mainly because it tells about the different currencies of the past and then some!
One interesting currency was a block of Limestone!

It was called the Limestone currency!

Limestone currency refers to Rai Stones (or fei), large, circular, carved limestone discs from the island of Yap in Micronesia, used for centuries as a unique form of money, valuable not just for size but also for their difficult history of quarrying in Palau and perilous sea transport!

The value of the stone was determined by size, quality, and the dangerous journey (storms, lives lost) involved in bringing them to Yap!

The way it was used is very interesting!

The stone would be placed in the middle of a street or wherever it was and it remained there! Only the ownership changed!

It was used for significant social transactions like marriages, inheritances, and payments, though smaller ones traded for goods!

The ownership only used to get transferred through community consensus and oral history, with stones sometimes staying in place for generations! One fine day a big guy would come and tell that the stone is his while the next day he would ‘give’ it to another for some other material or even as a ‘payment’ to marry his or her daughter! All the while the STONE would simply stay there without a care of the world! Only the ‘owner’ moved!

This is actually a powerful symbol of wealth, history, and cultural identity for the Yapese people!
The limestone currency demonstrates a sophisticated, non-centralized economic system!

In fact one of the ‘latest’ currencies to have a similar character is the Bitcoin!
You do not actually have the bitcoin when you ‘buy’ it! It stays there! All you have is ownership!

So for all the ‘modern’ tags to the coin, we are still using a system which is centuries old!

Centuries old are also the great amazing musical history of India! And also the musicians like santoor specialist
Shivkumar Sharma!

Now stop thinking about your immovable assets like limestone and sleep!

Shubh ratri!

The Glitch in the Glitz by Dr Subbroto Ghoshal

Book review

Fictional stories based on real life experiences of an HR professional and a close friend!

Since I know Subbu (I call him that!) for some time now, this was a mighty drift from his routine!
He has already written or rather sketched two book on cartoons based on his corporate and family life! They were very well received and pretty hilarious!

So a serious novel on corporate politics and some romance was a big change!

The book is a simple collection of short stories with his added ‘life’ inputs! Most stories are inspired by his own interactions while some are the stories he would have heard!

I could relate to all his stories since I was a part of that messy corporate world of office politics some eons back!

My personal favorite was the beautiful love in office story told in a very tactful way while am sure many would find the ‘Life in Africa’ story really surprising and even scary!

There is a sense of being too ‘personal’ in the CEO story which Subbu confirmed to be true! Then the story of that pseudo hard worker was so relatable since there is always one in every office!

The language is simple and straightforward without any complication and you can finish the short and really true to life story in a short time indeed!

By keeping many of the stories open ended Subbu is telling us that life just continues! Every other day only a chapter gets over!

Overall an amazing light read! Do check it out!

According to British bacteriologist Ernest Hanbury Hankin the rivers Ganga and Jamuna were found to have natural healing properties!

Of course when anyone else would have said this they would have been summarily rejected! But when a ‘Gora’ ‘angrez’ says it then the words get heavy!

Now now! Do not start jumping yet!

This was way back in 1896!

Ernest first observed in 1896 that the Ganges (Ganga) and Jumna rivers in India possessed a mysterious, heat-labile substance that killed cholera bacteria, linking this antibacterial property to local beliefs about the river’s healing powers!

He noted the water’s natural ability to destroy bacteria and noticed significantly fewer gastrointestinal infections, particularly cholera, in villages along the Ganges, despite common belief in the river’s sacred, self-purifying properties!

He of course scientifically confirmed that water from the Ganges and Jumna actively killed Vibrio cholerae (cholera bacteria).

His chief crucial finding was that this antibacterial activity was heat-labile (destroyed by boiling in open containers) but could pass through fine filters, suggesting a very small, non-bacterial agent!

This was not magic! But scientific! Enter a phenomenon later understood as the action of bacteriophages, which attack and lyse bacteria, leading to modern phage therapy!

Hankin’s work provided early evidence for bacteriophages, though he didn’t name them.

Years later, scientists like Félix d’Hérelle built on these findings, isolating and naming the “bacteriophage” (bacteria eater) and developing phage therapy, which is seeing renewed interest today due to antibiotic resistance!

In essence, Ernest Hankin’s pioneering bacteriological work on the Ganges river waters provided some of the first scientific clues to the existence and properties of bacteriophages, linking ancient beliefs with modern microbiology!

Which goes to prove that the ‘Magic’ of today is simply the undiscovered ‘science’ of tomorrow!

Of course it was magical watching Arun Govil as Bhagwan Ram in the serial Ramayan!

For now take some warm bacteria free water and sleep!

Shubh ratri!