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“She was told to meet the great Sage to get endure her fear!

It was so profound that none could bear!

The Sage used to live in a mountain near the clouds you can spy!

Little did the sage know that she had the fear of the sky!” 

Aries (incidentally my sun sign!); was the Greek God of war! A formidable God and powerful one at that! So imagine how his son would have been! Now when I say imagine, I do not mean take up your phone and do a Google image search since this is not about him but his son!

Well his son was a frightening and formidable guy! In fact he was so scary or fear inducing that warriors would paint his picture on their shields to give their enemies a real fright and to get them to run away in terror!

Sounds familiar! Not yet? Well, his name was Phobos!

Yes! The above reaction resembles someone terrified of something! Or as we commonly call it; PHOBIA!

Apparently the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates in one his works called The Seventh Book of Epidemics described a condition in a man named Nicanor.

Whenever Nicanor went out drinking, he would get terrified of the flute played by the musicians. As Hippocrates wrote, “When the piper began to play, the music immediately threw him into such a great fright, that he was not able to bear the disorder of it.” Now whether he was scared of the flute music or the shape may not be known since he used to be scared on it only at night or maybe he was just scared of 

But as we saw above since Hippocrates did not meet the God Phobos he didn’t actually come up with the term!

It took a Roman doctor to name that after the Greek god! The Roman was Celsus, who used the word hydrophobia (literally, water fear) to describe someone who seemed to have a horror of water! This is commonly seen in a particular disease and may not be that common now but any medical student who sees this one case would never forget it in his or her life! The pathognomic feature of this is that water or even cole air would induce severe painful spasm so much so that the patient would be terrified of it! The trademark of the dreaded Rabies!

Now, you will also think about Celsus and wonder if the unit of temperature in named after him! Well no! This temperature scale was invented and named after Swedish scientist Anders Celsius! ‘I’ is very important sometimes! But that is a story and blog for another day and I to save you from the phobia of blogs I would not overwhelm you with more details on Celcius!

Coming back to Phobia! It was of course left to dear Sigmund to give it some psychoanalysis. 

In 1895 he noticed that while some things squick (gross out) most people at least a little (such as snakes, death, or getting sick), other things only bother a few people!

Years later, Freud wrote about a little boy named Hans who, after being terrified by a horse in the street, developed a strong fear of horses! 

Other researchers of the time also began to speculate that phobias were distinct mental condition and of course they all had the phobia of not been taken seriously!

The first relatively modern use of the word phobia wasn’t until 1786, when (according to the Oxford English Dictionary) an unknown writer in the Columbian Magazine defined the word as meaning “A fear of an imaginary evil, or an undue fear of a real one.”

But it wasn’t until 1947 that phobias became a separate diagnostic category in the International Classification of Diseases and finally in the 1960s, it was observed that phobias basically divide themselves into three rather different kinds or categories: agoraphobia, social phobia, and specific phobias. 

Of course if you take a list of the most common phobias there will be so many lists that you will develop a phobia of lists! One such list states how Glossophobia is the number one phobia in America and is the fear of public speaking, with 25% saying they’d prefer to avoid speaking in front of people! Now look at this; Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is one of the longest words in the dictionary — and, in an ironic twist, is the name for a fear of long words.

Also in case you are not yet phobic, Sesquipedalophobia is another term for the phobia! All right then, settle down; if you have phobia see a doctor but I am sure it will be the nursing assistant who will comfort you more! Talking of Nurse reminds me of Lalitha Pawar! Then again am sure after her eye injury she would have had a phobia of injury which in case you want to know is called traumatophobia!

Now turn off the light if you do not have fear of the dark and sleep!

Shubh ratri!

“He reached the top and was told to stop for a while!
He looked back contended and said with a smile!
This mountain was the tallest one and so high!
But my dear, my limit is not this hill but the sky!”

There are some who have already done great stuff or invented an amazing thing or even won the Nobel prize! Surprisingly just when you thought that they would take the win and get on, they try to get another Nobel! Or at least work for it!

Read about one who got Gold and still persisted to discover diamond!

Leo Hendrik Baekeland was a young lad at the time who received his doctorate maxima cum laude from the University of Ghent at the age of 21 and taught there until 1889, when he went to the U.S. and joined a photographic firm.

Then he invented Velox! This was a photographic paper that could be developed under artificial light! Velox was the first commercially successful photographic paper.
It was a slow, silver chloride paper which could be handled before exposure even under weak electric light or yellow gaslight. In a photographic darkroom it could be handled under a bright yellow safelight! This was gold for the photography industry and how! Later in 1899 Baekeland sold his company and rights to the paper to the U.S. inventor George Eastman for $1,000,000!

So now you will think he took the money and enjoyed! He of course did but then he went on to invent another material which has changed the course of tech and created a whole industry!

During that time, chemists had begun to recognize that many natural resins and fibers were polymers!
So Baekeland’s initial intent was to find a replacement for shellac, a material in limited supply because it was made naturally from the secretion of lac insects.
HIs first attempt was a soluble phenol-formaldehyde shellac called Novolak, but it was not a market success, even though it is still used to this day!

He then began experimenting on strengthening wood by impregnating it with a synthetic resin rather than coating it!
By controlling the pressure and temperature applied to phenol and formaldehyde, he produced a hard moldable material that he named Bakelite deservedly after himself!

It was the first synthetic thermosetting plastic produced, and Baekeland speculated on “the thousand and one … articles” it could be used to make!
Bakelite is manufactured in several forms to suit varying requirements. In all these forms the fundamental basis is the initial Bakelite resin!

Bakelite has a number of important properties. It can be molded very quickly, decreasing production time. Moldings are smooth, retain their shape, and are resistant to heat, scratches, and destructive solvents. It is also resistant to electricity, and prized for its low conductivity. So basically if you think of a thermosetting plastic then the first one is the Bakelite which is a dependable and strong material! Dependable also is the sobriquet of birthday celebrity Sanjay Suri!

Now set the temperature to a comfortable setting and sleep!
Shubh ratri!

This poem inspired by the very soulful song by the Journey called, “Still she cries!”

“All she wanted was to see him before she left!
Keeping her emotions in check she was adept!
She remembered all about him, all the joy and tear
He may not remember anything was her greatest fear…”


This effect is so part of our lives that it will blow your mind away!

Fiona Broome a well known writer and researcher told about her experiences and thoughts about Nelson Mandela and how he dies in the prison in the 1980s. So what you would ask?

Well, Nelson Mandela did not die in 1980! After serving 27 years in prison, Mandela became president of South Africa from 1994–1999 and he actually died for real this time in 2013!

For many people the first thing was true for a long time! This collective false memory is called the Mandela effect! The way we remember things in one way while the truth is something else!
In psychology it is called a collective false memory!

This is a phenomenon where someone recalls something that did not actually happen or recalls it differently from the way it actually happened. Suggestibility, activation of associated information, the incorporation of misinformation, and source misattribution have been suggested to be several mechanisms underlying a variety of types of false memory.

There are several examples in the net which you can search in your leisure but these are ones which absolutely amazed me!

The main one which even I remember as everyone does is the Monopoly man the official mascot of Monopoly! I had written a blog on this couple of days back and I distinctly remember him to have a monocle! While in truth, the official picture and images do not have him with any monocle! Mind blowing!

Remember the famous line from Snow White: ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?’” Grab a chair and sit! The actual line is, “magic mirror on the wall!”

Remember Bugs Bunny and the cartoon logo called Looney Toons!?; well; it has always been spelled as Looney “Tunes.”!

Now the shoe brand which is very famous and known! Called the sketchers! Well, it has no “T”! It is written as “Skechers”!

Now remember the Pokeman character, Pikachu and his black tail which is like lightning!? Well, there is no black end! LIke the cold play song goes; “It is all yellow”!

Just a couple of more to make you question reality!

Did you ever notice that there is no hyphen in between “Kit” and “Kat,”! It’s just Kit Kat!

One of the most famous lines in the star wars was a line which is remembered wrongly! And enacted like that! It was not Luke, I am your father! “No, I am your father,” is the correct line!

Now the penultimate! The famous line by Hannibal Lecter which we all know! In fact Will in Will and Grace also tells it like how we remember! We remember Hannibal Lecter saying, “Hello, Clarice,”! Hold your horses! The actual dialogue spoken by him was, “Good morning.”!

The final one is something I always believed in! The mandela art! I used to think it is named after Mandela because it used to make him pass time in prison! I am not alone! It is not! In fact it is Mandala!
In Sanskrit language, mandala means “circle.” Traditionally, a mandala is a geometric design or pattern that represents the cosmos or deities in various heavenly worlds. “It’s all about finding peace in the symmetry of the design and of the universe,”!

Well, at least the finding of peace in art is true! Which I do by my sketch and blogs however busy the day was! That makes me a good boy and not bad boy! Bad boy reminds me of Birthday celebrity Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence! Another Mandela effect for me was that I remember Martin as War Machine in the first Iron man while in fact it was Terrence Dashon Howard! Say what!?

Now forget all these and listen to Still She cries! Lovely song and lyrics which may put you to sleep!
Shubh Ratri!

“The proof was there for everyone to see!

He was as guilty as one can be!

Red handed was the way he was caught!

That is the power of a screenshot!”

The other day I was supposed to upload a photo on my kid’s ID card portal and I had to send that snap! Unfortunately the snap was high resolution and size and the web was not accepting it! Then all I did was open the photo in my gallery and take a screenshot! That reduced both the resolution and size!

Screenshot to the rescue once again! I have lost count of the number of times the screenshot has saved me! Bills, photos or text which I need in an instant, I take a screenshot and access it immediately!

One of the best inventions of the mobile era is definitely the Screenshot! This is a tool which is indispensable now and one of the most commonly used command in the phone! 

If you like a particular image or web page just shoot it! Of course it is used for screen grabbing pieces of text and other communications which may be used for evidence or blackmail! I use the screenshot when I get a bill or make a payment or a transfer of money. The best thing about screen shot is the ease and availability and the situation now is that you cannot imagine using the phone without taking a screenshot!

Many apps do warn you when someone takes a screenshot while many apps freeze the screen so that you cannot take the screenshot! 

This is so similar to the Print screen of the desktop computers!

This option was so useful and the fact that most computers had a shortcut key to this function will tell you of its fame and use!

Initially of course Print screen or screen shots were used to take a screen grab as a proof for gamers of their high scores! So when these functions were not available many used to use an external camera! So the first screen shot was actually shot by an external camera! Of course many cameras were not able to ‘read’ the screen so you needed special ones or good ones to do the job!

The first keyboard historically that had a dedicated Print Screen key was for the keyboard for the original IBM PC which was in the 1980s! The camera were with an oscilloscope camera – a special polaroid camera with a hood that fitted over the screen on a storage scope!

In the mobile world in a deviation of sorts; Apple introduced the first screen shot in their iPhones first in the year 2007 and it took the Androids four years to get this important function in their phones in 2011! Now of course the standard volume key and power button keys screenshot is the norm! 

In addition to this you can use you can use three finger screenshot in most Android phones including one plus! The path to activate this is Settings – additional settings – screenshot – three finger swipe.

In iPhone you can simply tap the back of the phone two times for screen shot and three taps for camera! Works mainly with iPhone 14 and later and this path is Settings-Accessibility – touch and back tap. 

Samsung phones and tabs have a nifty swipe screenshot which is really cool! 

You can say hi Bixby and tell to take screenshot or simply swipe with your palm right to left on the screen👍 and you can activate this by Settings -advanced- motion and gestures- palm swipe!

Now talking about screenshots; one of the guys who ‘shot’ to fame in the ‘screen’ for all the right reasons in birthday celebrity Remo D’Souza!

Now delete those screenshots which you took of those ‘chats’ and sleep and let others sleep peacefully!

Shubh ratri!

“The wise owl should have just looked away!

But the zeal to teach is a big sway!

If only he could have thought without a doubt

Do not try to teach those who cannot be taught!”

The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labors by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the intelligentsia consists of scholars, academics, teachers, journalists, and literary writers!

Later on sociologists derived the term mass intelligentsia to describe the populations of educated adults, with discretionary income, who pursue intellectual interests by way of book clubs and cultural associations, etc. 

A group of Intelligentsia who are like the top and who create new revolutionary ideas are called avant-garde! Since the 20th century, the art term avant-garde comprises of that comprises novelists and writers, artists and architects et al. whose creative perspectives, ideas, and experimental artworks challenge the cultural values of contemporary bourgeois society. 

The French military term avant-garde (advanced guard) identified a reconnaissance unit who scouted the terrain ahead of the main force of the army. In 19th-century French politics, the term avant-garde (vanguard) identified Left-wing political reformists who agitated for radical political change in French society. 

In the mid-19th century, as a cultural term, avant-garde identified a genre of art that advocated art-as-politics, art as an aesthetic and political means for realizing social change in a society. 

So intelligent radical and almost military group of people who like to bring change in a society are Avant- Garde!  Ultimately, despite criticism, avant-garde works are often considered necessary to break new ground and move the needle in the long run in terms of artistic expression and creative freedom! These are the group of people who come up with new revolutions and new limits! One intelligent and brilliant scientist is birthday celebrity Sivan Kailasavadivu who is recognized for his groundbreaking efforts in developing cryogenic engines that are crucial for launching massive payloads into space. He is also known as the Rocket man! 

Now do the intelligent thing and sleep!

Shubh Ratri!

“The gun was shocked at that order to shoot

It had seen no threat to boot

All it saw was the killer with the animalistic zeal

Then it felt happy that it did not have a heart to feel”

He was born in Murree, in the Punjab province of British India, which is now in Pakistan on 9 October 1864.

He spent his childhood in Murree and Shimla and received his early education at the Lawrence College Ghora Gali, Murree and Bishop Cotton School in Shimla!

He also briefly studied medicine, at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

He was also fluent in a number of Indian languages as well as Persian.

With all these qualifications you would assume that the person would love India and Indians or at least have some compassion to the country in which he was born.

Even if that was not there since he was in army, every human being however bad or strict or following orders; would never harm any person who is unarmed.

Now some army folks can still think of unarmed people as a risk, but even then no human would ever harm women and helpless children who were at his mercy when he actually had no risk to his or any one else’s life.

The thought process which would have gone in his mind when he ordered his battalion to shoot a peaceful gathering of unarmed men, women and innocent children actually makes him more worse than many dictators of his time. 

The only reason the number  of people killed even though is more is in the range of 400 to 1000s is that the ammunitions were over. The more concerning factor was that he did not even allow the injured to be treated or rescued by declaring martial law. 

One of the most despicable acts in the history of India was done today several years back by one born in India. And to think that this rank was actually a temporary post given to him and if he had not shot a single person, no one would have said a thing! 

In the list of most cruel people ever to have lived, his name must always be there at the top;  R. E. H. Dyer…Jallianwala Bagh massacre still hurts…

Sorry for the melancholy; maybe you can lift yourself and feel a little better if you see some movies starring the birthday celebrity Dinesh Hingoo! And follow my mantra for all these; FORGIVE but never FORGET!

Say a prayer for those brave women who tried to protect their kids with their body and life.

Shubh Ratri…

“It was an odd gathering of people who wander

They had the look of a highlander!

Screams And laughter filled the air!

’twas not a movie but just the town fair!”

When we were young (er!) going to these exhibitions were a big thing! The best things were the cotton candies and the spicy fried fritters! Not to mention those split decision purchases made like the boat which worked only when the guy shows or the multi blade kitchen knife which used to cut like magic in the show but the moment we tried it at home; it could not even cut a tomato! Another often bought and never used contraption were the famous vegetable mincers or slicers! Out kitchen would have dozens of shapes and sizes and color but none of them have seen a vegetable in its life! My mother always used to say that cutting is made easy with them but to wash the mincer later was a big and irritating task! 

One of the things which kids used to love during those days were the rides! Since I was not too much into those rides though, I have never appreciated them! But now when you think about it, they were the center of attraction! The different colors and blinking lights used to look so magical! In fact the fair was a big affair if the chief ride was big and imposing! The bigger the ride, the better the deals! 

In fact if you can see the big ride in the center from very far then the deal is done!

Did you know that there are at least two structures now which are actually world famous but are the direct result of such fairs and exhibition!

One such fair was held long back called the Exposition Universelle of 1889, better known in English as the 1889 Paris Exposition, and was a world’s fair held in Paris, France, from 5 May to 31 October 1889!

It was the fifth of ten major expositions held in the city between 1855 and 1937.

It attracted more than thirty-two million visitors.

Of course that is a great number but what was remarkable is that there was a structure built for the fair which stood 

This tower was 330 metres (1,083 ft) tall!

During its construction, the Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest human-made structure in the world and it was the first structure in the world to surpass both the 200-metre and 300-metre mark in height!

You may know this tower as the Eiffel Tower!

When such an imposing structure was made in Paris, how can Chicago be far! So in one fair an engineer George Washington Gale was given the task of making a big ride to rival the Eiffel tower and this one must move!

So George designed a big ride which was around 80 meters was an large imposing structure and an instant hit! Plus the added bonus is that it could be dismantled and built in other fairs of the world! It later became the center ride of most fairs all over the world! 

The full name of the engineer was  George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr!

And yes! The name of the ride of the wheel is The Ferris Wheel!

Ferris thus got the task of coming up with something “daring and unique.” This kind of amusement park wheel had been designed before, but not at this scale. Ferris’s wheel was 250 feet in diameter and it carried 36 cars, each with a capacity of 60 people! History is strange indeed! Strange (r) also is the amazing series Stranger things starring birthday celebrity David Kenneth Harbour! 

Now think about the upside down in stranger things and lie down!

Shubh ratri!

“No one understood him ’cause what he said was esoteric!
Then again his words were also eclectic!
His ideas were too grand for anyone to deny!
Of course only he knew, it was all a lie!”


A casual conversation between some pretty intelligent minds leads to a great theory and then a tsunami of theories and stories and hypothesis to either support or explain or refute the original theory! Confused!? That is the Paradox! Fermi’s Paradox!

During one such high ‘spirited’ talk he actually blurted out, “But where is everybody?”

He was of course talking about the extraterrestrials who are supposedly out there but have still not contact us!

This latest show called the 3 body problem (a good watch but it starts really slow!); is a
direct result of trying to explain the Fermi Paradox!

Now properly speaking, the Fermi paradox is the discrepancy between the lack of conclusive evidence of advanced extraterrestrial life and the apparently high likelihood of its existence. Basically in simple terms it means that if there are intelligent beings out there who may have developed before Humans and who have the tech and the means of travel and communications, then why have they not made contact with us!?

Now the assumption that there may be intelligent life out there (sometimes I even doubt about intelligent life out here!) can be made since as Carl Sagan says in his book The Pale blue dot, that there are billions of galaxies and billions of stars and billions of even universe so the chance happening of life is not that improbable!

So the valid question of why they have not contacted you has been explained by many including one called the zoo hypothesis!
The hypothesis states that alien life intentionally avoids communication with Earth to allow for natural evolution and sociocultural development, and avoiding interplanetary contamination, similar to people observing animals at a zoo! Basically it can mean that the alien life does not want to have any conflict with us! Or maybe they just do not want to talk to us in which case they may actually be more intelligent than us!

Another hypothesis is called the “laboratory” hypothesis, in which humanity is being subjected to experiments, with Earth serving as a giant laboratory! Well, if someone is experimenting on us then they are in for some disappointment soon! Because as the 3 body aliens find out rather shockingly about us! Human beings lie! Not the sleeping kind but the opposite of truth one! And that is something which no actually intelligent life can ever understand! Of course an intelligent wife can! Talking of wife and intelligence brings to mind birthday celebrity Jyotirao Govindrao Phule and his efforts for women’s rights!

Now give your intelligence a rest by doing the lie of the sleeping kind!
Shubh ratri!

“This is not something which you can tether!
It can go everywhere all weather!
Now don’t make the plans came to nought!
It’s not something you can see, it’s just your thought!”

Do you know what’s common between The Mafia and the werewolf!?

Apart from the fact that they are both scary especially in the night!

The other commonality is that they are the names of a a Russian social deduction game created by Dimitry Davidoff in 1986!

The game models a conflict between two groups: an informed minority (the mafiosi or the werewolves) and an uninformed majority (the villagers). At the start of the game, each player is secretly assigned a role affiliated with one of these teams.

The game has two alternating phases: first, a night-phase, during which those with night-killing-powers may covertly kill other players, and second, a day-phase, in which all surviving players debate and vote to eliminate a suspect.
The game continues until a faction achieves its win-condition; for the village, this usually means eliminating the evil minority, while for the minority, this usually means reaching numerical parity with the village and eliminating any rival evil groups!

With a small minority of people with information fighting a majority of people who have no information and only can do guess work, the usual outcome is that the Mafia or the werewolf win most of the time!

In fact the game is based on a mathematical model! So most analyses of optimal play have assumed both (a) that there are only townsfolk and Mafiosi and (b) that the townsfolk never have a probability of identifying the Mafia that is better than chance!


The game also has been told to have shared roles and Hidden Agendas!
Similarly, within an organization, leaders and employees play distinct roles. Just as werewolves hide their true identity, leaders often have hidden agendas or strategic decisions that impact the team!

Those few people with information can make the uninformed majority bend or move according to their convenience and will! The conclusion is that uninformed majority always lose a battle of information against an informed minority!

And you thought life is a game! Here’s a game which is literally; life! Game was also how it felt when birthday celebrity Satish Kaushik used to deliver his dialogues so effortlessly!

Now stop thinking about games and play the game of life! The latest mission of that now is to sleep!
shubh ratri!

“It went so fast that it was gone the moment his lips were ajar!

He never realized that it could get so far!

The damage it could do was spread north and south!

After all they were the hurtful words coming from his mouth!”

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a brain scientist and author of “Whole Brain Living” and “My Stroke of Insight” but he is most well known because of his now famous 90 second rule!

The rule is that, ““When a person has a reaction to something in their environment, there’s a 90-second chemical process that happens; any remaining emotional response is just the person choosing to stay in that emotional loop.”

Basically this means that when you react to something in your environment that is if you are having a stimulus like anger or fear; there’s a 90-second process where your brain fires a signal and a stress hormone is released in your body to stimulate a fight, flight, or freeze response! That is the trigger point in simple terms. 

Like the 3 body problem, this is like a beginning of a chain reaction or starting of a domino! If you can hold your emotion and let the firing for 90 seconds, the stimulus is lost and you will have a reset point! 

Any remaining emotional response is caused by staying in that emotional loop by ruminating on a thought or event and creating ongoing emotional and physiological responses in the brain and body!

In the book called 30 days to a more powerful vocabulary by Dan Strutzel; the author tell about this rule and give a suggestion on how to make use of the hack of 90 second rule!

The author states how the moment you enter a new place, like say from work to home and you are stressed with the issues at work and all you want to do it put everything on someone; you simply reach home and for the first 90 seconds do not do anything! Simply stare at the clock and wait for 90 seconds! Basically this means that we must try to observe our response rather than engage with it! The better able we are to do this, the more power we have over what we express in the world when we’re under pressure!

After 90 seconds, the trigger or volcano has been extinguished and apparently you can have a controlled reaction! Alternatively you can simply listen to a soft song like that sung by birthday celebrity Bhupinder Singh for 90 seconds or more and have the same result! 

If you are not feeling sleepy you can also read my blog for 90 seconds and am sure you will sleep well!

Shubh Ratri!