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In a book called THE ONE THING; by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan; the author talks about the harms of multi tasking and the need to focus on just one thing at a time!

He says that one of the chief mantras of Success is to learn how to say NO!

You cannot do everything! You cannot see everything and you cannot have everything!

Even on a trip if you have a lot of things to do on the list; you must finally realize that you cannot see and do everything! Even if you manage to cross off everything on the list then it is no longer a vacation but just a work with a change in location!

Say no to something and just maybe enjoy the one important thing!
Say no to seeing everything and maybe sit and enjoy the sunset or the sunrise for a while!

You cannot help everyone and you cannot be everywhere!

The moment you realize this very important fact you can be rest assured that you are on the path to success!

The author says that the only way you can have success of focus is to start saying NO!

In fact the famous comedian Bill Cosby once said that “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”

Even if you are the richest person in the world then also you must say no whenever you can! Saying no is the only way you can stay rich or at least a little happy!

The biggest issue is that people are generally good. They are human and humane! Now while saying no comes easy to some people, those who are generally helpful or more kind and thus easily accessible; are the ones who have the greatest difficulty in saying no!

People try to take advantage of this fact and ask those who never say no! Unfortunately, NO one is happy with that interaction! To help someone is good but you cannot help everyone!

My chief always used to make this statement and I have really understood it only recently the weight it carries!

“You can learn any surgery in a month or so! You can say yes to any surgery after that! But real experience is when you can say NO to a surgery!”

In the book mentioned above the author mentions that there are Four Thieves of Productivity or four obstacles that can steal focus!

The last three are the fear of chaos which happens when you are focusing on one priority and this may cause less important tasks to pile up! Another major issue is poor health habits and the neglect of physical and mental health will drain energy.! And the third thing is to maintain good habits which is very crucial for peak performance!

But the most important thief of productivity and the lack of your success is the inability to say “no”! If you want to be successful then you must yes to your ONE Thing and say no to almost everything else!

Remember that it takes more courage to say no and NO means NO! Courage also is required in making off beat movies like the ones made by Vishal Krishna!

Now say NO to REELS and phone and sleep!

Shubh ratri!

Life is a cup of tea!

Do you stir the tea cup or do you allow it to stay like that!

Strong or light is not the issue! Or even the point of discussion.

The issue is also not whether the tea is black or white!

The norm here is that most of the time the sugar is placed in the end since some like more sugar while some like less. Of course the fact is that everyone likes sugar in their tea but you need to be careful how much sugar you take!

So when the sugar is in the bottom; it takes a while to become sweet and when the sugar is mixed then you have the sweet tea albeit a little less sweet even at the beginning!

Life can also be like that! Either you have a moderately sweet life to begin with but it is the same taste throughout! No major surprise! No major spoilers! You are just enjoying the moderately sweet routine tea! The regular taste which you know and like and are familiar with and are comfortable with! The regular status quo life which is actually not a bad thing at all! Having a steady job with routine work is the dream of most! Just make sure the milk is boiled first and then you add the tea leaves and do not overcook your tea and there is no bitterness! A regular tea and life!

Or you have the anticipation of sweetness! If you do not mix the sugar well, the initial part of the tea would not be that sweet! In fact it may be even bitter! But as you go on drinking, the sweet gets into the stream slowly and it gradually gets sweeter! Finally at the end; the tea is the sweetest! You simply lick it like nectar! Your anticipation and expectation of the sweet ending drives you to even accept the bitter taste in the beginning or even the fact that it is not that sweet!


By your experience you know that it will finally be sweet in the end and that hope itself is enough to keep you going! Just like life!

Then again if the milk is spoilt or burnt then all this does not matter! There is no life…I mean tea to begin with!

If you drink it too fast and hot then you will not enjoy the taste of life or tea and simply burn your tongue!

If you wait for a long time, even then the tea is tasteless and cold!

Or you can simply drink coffee! Sugar less!

A glass of tea is life! Then again life is a mixture of memories! Like the amaizng life of Chadwick Boseman aka Black Panther aka  T’Challa!

Now do not drink tea in the night if you want to sleep well!

Shubh ratri!

History is really amazing! When you forget or do not understand history then you tend to repeat the mistakes of the past!

Everyone knows the proverb about APPLES!

During a talk on well; History of allergy and treatment; our professor told us this very interesting story!

British officers and officials had such bad dry diet that they had difficulty in passing motion in the morning! Not to forget the fact that our diet may not be what they were used to! Surely they would avoid all the spices and masalas which would have solved the ‘motion’ problem!

So anyway the diet was dry and well that was not good for motion which made them to routinley visit the doctor for salt water enema! Just to save themselves from constipation! Because all said and done! You can only have motion of everything if your motion of the GIT is done for the day!

One fine day; maybe because the early morning enema was not something to look forward to or maybe there were some extra fruits available, one official posted in India ate an apple before going to bed!

We do not know how the apple was to taste but the pleasant surprise was that the very next day he had free movement so to speak!

The doctor noting that this particular official did not turn up for his ‘cleaning’ ; enquired and found that the apple relieved his ‘block’! The doctor also was more than happy to suggest the apple instead of the enema! No HARD choice there!

The official letter in the queen’s gazette then stated in similar terms the popular adage, “an apple a day, keeps the doctor away!”

Historically though the saying has roots in the 19th century, with a version from 1866 in Pembrokeshire, Wales, stating, “Eat an apple on going to bed, and you’ll keep the doctor from earning his bread”.

Now I do not know whether the story is true or not but then am sure this was MOTIvating for you to have an apple! In any case an Apples are loaded with important nutrients, including fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants!

Do not eat the seeds though!

A top ‘seeded’ player of all times was Major Dhyan Chand!

Now have some warm water and maybe an apple and sleep!

Shubh ratri…

Just when you thought scoring and ratings are only for your services and apps; there is a rating or scoring system in which every living being is rated!

Here also we humans are pretty low in the ladder! Then again not everything is strength! Use your non muscular brain once in a while!

The toppers of this list are called the APEX! They are the champions! They cannot be defeated and they will be having this post for some time unless humans develops fangs or carnivorous teeth!

The two chief apex predators are the polar bear and the Orca whales!
There is no other living thing which can take them on without specialized equipment! As far as gross strength and killing skills are concerned; they are the literal champs!

An average human cannot think of taking them out with his or her ‘natural’ talents! He or she can only get them by a combination of their cunning skills and technology!

Lets see how the scoring system works for now!

The system is called a food chain “score” which actually refers to an organism’s trophic level, a numerical value indicating its position in a food chain.

Primary Producers (Trophic Level 1): Plants, algae, and phytoplankton that create their own food using sunlight.
Primary Consumers (Trophic Level 2): Herbivores that eat primary producers, such as rabbits and cows.
Secondary Consumers (Trophic Level 3): Carnivores or omnivores that eat herbivores.
Tertiary Consumers (Trophic Level 4): Carnivores that eat secondary consumers.
Apex Predators (Trophic Level 4 or 5): Top predators that eat other consumers and have no natural predators!

Now everyone would be wondering what is the score for an average human?
If you remove all the tech and the AI and what not; Then we have a score of 2.2!

That puts us between pigs and anchovies!😂😂

A big thing is when the first human took a pointed stick and poked an animal! Of course the poking which started thousands of years ago, still continues!
In a series called ZOO; it was explained that when animals start getting organized or communicating and stop fearing humans then even they will realise that we are so low in the chain! For now only we know this scoring system!

If the word gets leaked out then we may be in serious trouble! So SSSHHH!

Of course a wrestler like Dalip Singh Rana, better known by his ring name The Great Khali may have a better score! That’s the hope!

Now don’t worry about score and start to snore!

Shubh ratri!

Have you heard of the Pareto Principle? It was developed by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto in 1896. Pareto observed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by only 20% of the population!

He also witnessed this happening with plants in his garden—20% of his plants were bearing 80% of the fruit! The 80-20 rule maintains that 80% of outcomes comes from 20% of causes! It is also called Law of the vital few and the Principle of factor sparsity.

The 80/20 rule is not a formal mathematical equation, but more a generalized phenomenon that can be observed in economics, business, time management, and even sports and even in nature.
80% of a company’s profits come from 20% of customers that 20% of players result in 80% of points scored! The principle of the 80-20 rule is to identify an entity’s best assets and use them efficiently to create maximum value!

Even the life and actions of Bhagwan Ganesha can be analysed using the 80-20 principle!

The vital 20 percent in his life was his Wisdom & Intellect since he is known as Buddhi Pradayaka (giver of wisdom). Bhagwan Ganesha agreed to write the Mahabharata for Maharishi Ved Vyasa on the condition that Vyasa would recite it continuously without stopping.

Vyasa countered by requiring Ganesha to understand every verse before writing it, allowing Vyasa to pause and compose the next verses! When Ganesha’s pen broke, he used his left tusk to complete the writing, earning him the name Ekadanta (one-tusked)

He also showed his wisdom when he circled his parents instead of the world, teaching that true wisdom lies in honoring one’s roots!

He is also worshipped first in every ritual as the remover of obstacles (Vighnaharta)!

The other 80 percent is the influence which flows through his actions!

Devotees pray to him before any venture, seeking success and wisdom with the comfort knowing that there is a higher force at work! There is also a cultural significance in that festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi unify communities and brings families together! Along with a feast and prayers which the whole family does together as one!

Finally his stories stories teach humility, duty, sacrifice, and prioritizing wisdom over brute force though he is very powerful!


Here’s wishing a very happy Ganesh chaturthi with a colourful sketch!

May all your obstacles melt away!

Shubh Ratri!

This is a dip which every kid loves!

Having some pakoras or French fries! It does not matter!

The dip can go with both!

I know people who eat this dip with curd rice! Or even Idli!

The pizza is bland! Well, put this dip on top and enjoy the juicy tangy taste!

You can even garnish this dip on your noodles or fried rice and get some nice taste explosion!


Another great combination of this dip is with the green chutney! Just mix them up and the sweet and salty and tangy dip will make any snack taste finger licking good!

The first version of this dip was based on pickled fish and looked more like a soy sauce – with a dark and thin texture. It was called “keh-jup” or “koe-cheup,” meaning “fish sauce.”!

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!  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!

Now of course even though the label says that it is having lots of tomatoes, it may have just a tad bit! The dip now is a mix of chemicals and preservatives!

In fact it is better to make it at home!

Now do not dip your head in confusion soup!

“keh-jup” or “koe-cheup,” or “catsup” !

Of course any one would guess it now! It is your TOMATO KETCHUP! By the way at some point in time, the Ketchup did not even have tomatoes!

Now of course you cannot have them without tomatoes! The tomato revolution started with the Mease’s Recipe made in 1812, by American scientist James Mease who published the first recipe for a tomato-based ketchup, using “love apples,” the early name for tomatoes!

Then you have the most famous sauce brand in the world! The Heinz! By the 1870s, the use of shallots and brandy was replaced by sugar, salt, and vinegar, with Henry J. Heinz introducing his widely successful formulation in 1876!

Finally now this sweetened and vinegary mixture became the standard, forming the basis for the tomato ketchup that is a staple in modern cuisine! Now of course we hesitate to use the average tomato sauce looking at the ridiculous amount of chemicals and sugar! Once in a while though it is ok!

Once in while you can also check out the older FAD movies like Page 3 or Fashion by Madhur Bhandarkar!

Now do not put sauce over that pudding!

Sleep!
SHubh ratri!

Do you know what is a Hibakusha shadow?

It is pertinent to know about Hibakusha first…

Hibakusha are the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, enduring long-term effects like radiation sickness, discrimination, and profound psychological trauma.

Now while Hibakusha are the survivors mainly, the Hibakusha Shadow point to something more grim…

The bombs released during those two dark days of history were some of the most powerful ones ever released.

They actually release energy flows as photon waves of varying lengths, including in long waves, like radio waves, and in shortwaves, like X-rays and gamma-rays. Between long waves and shortwaves lie visible wavelengths that contain energy that our eyes perceive as colors. However, unlike energy with longer waves, gamma radiation is destructive to the human body because it can pass through clothing and skin, causing ionizations, or the loss of electrons, that damage tissue and DNA!

The gamma radiation released by the atomic bombs also traveled as thermal energy that could reach 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit (5,538 degrees Celsius)!
When the energy hit an object, like a bicycle or a person, the energy was absorbed, shielding objects in the path and creating a bleaching effect outside!

Which brings us to the Hibakusha shadow…

When the atomic bomb detonated over Hiroshima the morning of Aug. 6, 1945, a resident was seated on the stone steps outside of Sumitomo Bank. But seconds later, they were gone in the flash of boiling light. In their place was a shadow that served as a horrifying relic.

The intense heat and radiation instantly vaporized those near the epicenter. Objects and bodies blocked the thermal rays, leaving behind dark silhouettes etched onto stone, concrete, and other surfaces.

You can find these photos online and see for yourself…
The surrounding stone lightened under the blast’s scorching heat, but the area shielded by the individual remained darker, preserving their outline long after their body was gone.

These shadows became grim symbols of the bomb’s destructive power, serving as silent memorials to lives erased in an instant. It is unimaginable to even think about the destructive power of the bombs!

The more scary thing is that now the world has bombs which are many times more powerful than the ones which made Hibakusha shadows! Those with the control of these bombs must have a look at the Hibakusha shadows and then hopefully a light of sanity would prevail over the shadow…

A light of sanity in the midst of the shadow of ignorance also was our Chinna Gounder aka Vijayaraj Alagarswami aka Captain Vijaykanth!

Think about the shadows and sleep without one…

shubh ratri…

There is a force which you cannot see but is one of the most important! It holds you and keeps you grounded! Literally!

This is the force which which is truly equal to everyone in the planet! The force gives the same attraction to living and non living thing alike!

NO! It is not love! Although that is sometimes stronger!

In the ancient Indian scriptures it was known as Gurutvakarshan!

You may know it by its English name! Gravity! 

Sir Isaac Newton is credited with developing the scientific theory of gravity, which he conceptualized in 1666 during a period of time when the plague forced him to stay at his home! But even as early as 600 BCE Gurutvakarshan was a known and well described phenomenon!

On Earth, gravity gives weight to physical objects, and the Moon’s gravity causes tides in the oceans. Gravity also has many important biological functions, helping to guide the growth of plants through the process of gravitropism and influencing the circulation of fluids in multicellular organisms.

Investigation into the effects of weightlessness has shown that gravity may play a role in immune system function and cell differentiation within the human body.

Bharatiya scriptures describe gravity primarily through the term Gurutvakarshan, meaning “attractive pull of mass” or “attraction by the big”. Key texts, like the Vaisheshika Sutra (c. 600 BCE) and the writings of astronomers Aryabhata and Brahmagupta, explain the fall of objects, the Earth’s rotation without objects falling off, and the attraction between celestial bodies.

The philosophy of Vaisheshika, founded by Rishi Kanada, explicitly discusses this phenomenon, with the Vaisheshika Sutra detailing the reason objects fall when released!

The Sutra explains why an object falls when released from the hand! It also notes that when the conjunction with the hand is absent (i.e., the object is released), falling occurs due to gravity!

In c. 476–550 CE; Aryabhata after whom many space missions have been named, Identified a force that explained why objects on Earth don’t fall off when the planet rotates. Later Brahmagupta (c. 598–670 CE): Further expanded the concept, describing gravity as an attractive force and using the term Gurutvakarshan.

Later Bhaskara II, in his treatise Siddhanta Shiromani describes gravity as an inherent property of the Earth to attract objects.

In fact ancient Indian texts, including the Vedas and Puranas, describe the Earth as spherical (Bhu-gol)! That is when the apparent ‘civilized’ parts of the world used to think that the Earth is flat! Some think that even now!

Sages understood planetary motion and celestial bodies’ movement, with the ancient texts describing Earth being tied to the sun by attraction, similar to a trainer controlling horses with reins!

Gravity is sometimes so strong like in a black hole that even light cannot escape!
Just like when the pull of ignorance is too much, common sense cannot escape! Much like gravity is the pull of real talent! Steady and constant! Like the talent of Krishnakumar Kunnath or KK! You went too soon! But your legacy and memorable songs will continue to pull us like Gurutvakarshan for ages!

SHubh Ratri…

Isaac Newton could be called as one of the father of Modern Physics while Robert Boyle is Known as the father of modern chemistry!

But did you know that both of them also had one more similarity!?

They both believed that you can make gold from base metal!

Which means that they believe in Alchemy!

Many individuals like them, often at the forefront of scientific inquiry, dedicated significant time and effort to alchemical pursuits, seeking the philosopher’s stone for transmuting metals into gold and finding elixirs for medicine!

Basically though Alchemy was a proto-scientific and philosophical practice in ancient and medieval times, aiming to transmute base metals into gold, find a cure for all diseases (the elixir of life), and achieve immortality. It was a multifaceted field that combined experimental techniques with mystical and philosophical ideas about the cosmos, matter, and the human body!

Now you may think that it is absurd but actually in the quest of finding the  philosopher’s stone, Alchemists made significant contributions to early chemistry and pharmacology through their experiments and developed a range of laboratory methods, even though they never achieved their primary goals!

The central concept of Alchemy is The Philosopher’s Stone which is supposed to be a legendary substance believed to facilitate the transmutation of metals and cure diseases!

The specific practice of turning base metals, such as lead, into noble metals, especially gold is called Chrysopoeia. Then you have within alchemy the concept of Panacea and Elixir of Life which is the search for a universal medicine to cure all illnesses and a potion to prolong life indefinitely!

In the late 1960s, Judith Temperley, a physicist studied properties of various metals by bombarding them with high-energy neutron and in one experiment, the target metal was mercury, an element with 80 protons!

Under these conditions, a neutron enters the nucleus, which ultimately causes destruction of a proton by a process called “electron capture.” The result is an atom with only 79 protons, making it an atom of gold! So the alchemists were correct: A base metal can be turned into gold, but only with extreme patience!

Accumulate a penny’s worth of gold from mercury in this fashion, says Barry L. Berman, a physicist at George Washington University, will take about 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years! Or if you invest in mutual funds for so many years then you can buy all the Gold you want!

Then again you could just have a rich life! Like Tanguturi Prakasham!

Now have a golden sleep!

Shubh ratri!

In his latest Novel called the Ayodhya Alliance by Ashwin Sanghi he talks about the Kailasa temple!

The amount of carvings and that too intricate ones done by the artisans is simply mind blowing!

Did you know that it is a monolithic structure?

Which means that it is a single big piece of rock! 

The temple is about 145 feet wide, 195 feet long and 90 feet high, which makes it bigger than twice the size of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece!

This 1300 year’s old architectural marvel is carved out of a single volcanic basaltic rock of the Charanandri hills and is considered as the largest monolithic piece of art in India as well as in the world! 

By the way, that is not even the most interesting point!

The architecture of Kailasa Temple is notable for its vertical excavation, the work started at the top and moved downwards, rolling down the large boulders split from the mountain using steel rod drills. One can see the drill marks on the surrounding walls that are still visible. A megalith carved out of a single rock, the Kailasa Temple is the only structure in the world that is craved from the top to bottom!

Again that is not even the most interesting part!

Every single design and measurement was planned very accurately as once its cut there was no chance to change it by adding any extra stone or piece of rock!

The most interesting thing about this marvel of Indian Architecture is that nearly 200,000 tonnes of rock was removed to construct this monolithic structure!

No one even knows where and how this was done! It is simply amazing to even imagine! Getting so many tonnes of rock out and away with no traces of it even now can make you literally scratch your head!

Even with modern machineries and equipment and designers and professionals working round the clock may take years to even come up with a plan for this! 

With all these, do you know how much time it took for this construction?

The archaeologists had calculated that it would have taken more than a hundred years to finish the temple construction. But, in reality it took only 18 years to complete it!  

Everyone is trying to understand how the temple was built, cut out of the rocks, by using ancient traditional methods without using any modern technology with in that short period of time.

Now lets see what story Ashwin has come up with on how it was done! Apparently Aurangzeb who destroyed thousands of Hindu temple, also tried to destroy Kailasa temple and sent 1000 people to do it! 

They worked for 3 years but they could break and disfigure a few statues only. Aurangzeb finally gave up on this task and realizing that it was impossible to completely destroy the temple as the rock was simply too hard to demolish, even though artisans used only hammers, chisels and picks to construct it!

In any case, only structures can be destroyed by vain narrow minded people! The legacy and history will stand the test of time!

That is a legacy to cherish! Legacy also is of Santeshivara Lingannaiah Bhyrappa and his amazing work!

Do check out both the temple and Bhyrappa’s works when you can!

Shubh ratri!