ramadocblog

“Just a sketch Not great by any stretch!
Still it’s something we all can draw at par!
All you need is a open mind then a paper!
Cross the vees and lo! You have a star!”

One of the commonest ‘doodles’ which everyone used to draw was the star! The two V and then joining them! It was a very easy one to draw and anyone could draw them!

Did you know that there is a beach where the sand grains are not only unique but they are all shaped like stars!

Intrigued!?

read on!

So in every painting competition which we used to have every other quarter the morning session was blocked!

I used to love getting the water colours since they were cheap and good and easy to use!

Many of our ‘serious’ painters had their assortments of paints like the oil colours or acrylic and what not!

They even had so many different brushes and ‘palettes’!

I used to use the one with the water colours!

Occasionally I used to paint some cartoons or sometimes it would be some ‘educational’ material till I found out that my paintings were renamed as those done by my art teacher’s son and sent to competitions!
I should feel proud that she used to select only the ‘good’ ones to put her son’s name!

Of course the moment I realised this, I stopped painting seriously and that’s that. Whatever sketch I do right now is pure practice and there is no inbuilt talent there whatsoever…

But I still remember how my friends used to finally fill the spaces with doodles! The most popular ones were the ‘star’ and if the painting was of a landscape then it would be a curved ‘v’ which would look like birds flying in the distant sky!

The stars were also used in posters and cards! Even when we had to decorate a project or art work the stars came to the rescue to fill the page! Another most popular doodle in the later years was the heart! But the star was always a star!

The best thing about it was you can make it any way you want and it will always come out well! No one cares about symmetry which is the best thing about the stars!

Now did you know that there are beaches where the sand colour is green! Well that is another blog! For now read about this amazing beach which is the rarest beach in the world!


The star sand, is both a beautiful sight and a scientific marvel. Found on the Taketomi, Hatoma, and Iriomote islands of Japan, star sand is exactly what the name implies — small, millimeter-sized pieces of sand in the shape of stars!

At first glance, the beaches look like any other. Only when you take a closer look at the beach they stand on does it become clear that this is a unique beach!

Despite the small size of the sand particles,you would have no problem seeing this incredible five-pointed star shape with the naked eye!

Unlike most beaches, the sand on Hoshizuna Beach and other surrounding Japanese beaches is made up not of rocks and minerals, but rather of the remnants of previous organisms. Each little star is the exoskeleton of small, single-celled organisms known as Foraminifera!

As the waves roll in on the beach, the water carries with it the shells and exoskeletons of these tiny organisms, constructing the unique shoreline.
This particular, star-shaped species of Foraminifera, known as Baculogypsina sphaerulata, is found only in the coral reefs of East Asia, making this special sand shape one of the rarest in the world!

Maybe if we doodle star a lot then one fine day would get to see this amazing beach of stars!
A star of a different kind of course is birthday celebrity Matthew McConaughey!

Now try to sketch a star and sleep!
Shubh Ratri!

“The group had a code the lingo was known!
Listen and understand don’t need no phone!
Then the pair came and went off the mark!
What they spoke kept everyone in the dark!”

You are with a bunch of people and suddenly couple of them start talking in their native language! If they know that you do not know that language then rest assured; you are being excluded!

Imagine this happening and then I will tell you about FB’s greatest secret (open that is!); names Alice and Bob!

Rest assured, it is interesting!

read on!

The advantage of being a polyglot is that even if people want to exclude you it is difficult!

When I joined the Medical College, during our initial interactions with the seniors I used to tell them that I was a Tamilian which is true of course! But the added point is that I am a Palakkad Tamilian which is actually a mixture of Tamil and Malayalam!

So I may not able to speak like a malayalee but I could understand everything! Even when I pretended to have a cough spasm on their smoking and they were discussing whether I was ‘acting’ or not!

In school also, when kids get to know that I am from south or a ‘madrassi!’ and speak in Hindi so that I do not understand! It never worked!

Then a couple of friends used to chat in Marathi which I used to find difficult to understand but still could manage!

The very fact that you have a group of people and if couple of them start talking in a language that only they understand is of course rude! When this happens it is natural that the ones who are being excluded would have the feeling that they are the ones who are being targeted!

It is natural to think that when they cannot understand the lingo, the whole world is talking about them! This is because the most important person in the world for you is…drum roll please!…YOU!

Now imagine this happening to the engineers who actually invented these chatbots!

This is what happened in Facebook! Alice and Bob were actually Facebook’s artificially intelligent chatbots that were shut down after they started talking to each other in a language that they invented!

So Facebook challenged its chatbots to try to negotiate with each other over a trade – a reasonably benign task that we will probably assign to machines in the near future!

Quickly, the bots, Alice and Bob, appeared to chat at each other in a strange language that was mostly incomprehensible to humans!

The dialogue was not simply a glitch in the way the messages were read out. The way the chatbots kept stressing their own name appeared to have mathematical significance, making it part of their negotiation method!

The bots managed to cut some deals which indicated that they might have formed a kind of shorthand that allowed them to talk more effectively – good for the task at hand, but creepy for the rest of the engineers who could not figure out this interesting mutation in language skills that Bob and Alice seemed to have invented in no time at all!

I have reproduced the chats as it was!

Bob: i can i i everything else . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Alice: balls have zero to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to Bob: you i everything else . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Alice: balls have a ball to me to me to me to me to me to me to me
Bob: i i can i i i everything else . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Alice: balls have a ball to me to me to me to me to me to me to me
Bob: i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Alice: balls have zero to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to Bob: you i i i i i everything else . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Alice: balls have 0 to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to Bob: you i i i everything else . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Alice: balls have zero to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to me to

Of course the engineers reached out the kill switch and shut them down!
If you could understand what they were speaking about then please let us know! Also if you could understand them then there is a high possibility that you are also an AI! If you are not then try to tell the original song of the birthday celebrity Anu Mallik called Roop Suhana lagta hain!

Now try to speak to humans and sleep!
Shubh ratri!

They may be your uncle or aunt albeit a little far!
Then again course they may not be a star!
So when they stun you with that query you shiver you see!
The dreaded question, “Do you remember me!”

I have never answered this question correctly!

When someone closes your eyes from behind and asks; “Guess who!?”

A recent movie called Meiyazhagan made everyone including me nostalgic! If you have not seen it yet; well, do it after you read the blog!

One of the few movies of recent times which you can see with family sans the ‘drink’ part which I would never approve!

Nostalgia, family and being open!

read on!

I love weddings! The fun and the planning and the food!

There are many groups of people in a wedding who are attendees!
One group would get a center prime spot and everyone would come to them! They would get up only for food and their circle slowly goes on increasing!
They would either be the eldest of the family or the most ‘influential’! The weight and the age also are important factors here! They are usually serious looking and smile only when you approach them!

The other group would move around! They are like a river who would have a round! They would know everyone! They are always full of smiles and they are usually happy or at least look happy!

The ones who sit in the front are usually the close relatives who would be the ones in case you need any help! It can be taking care of the changing or storage room key or keeping the ‘important bag’ safe!

The ones who sit in the end are the ones who have come only to give ‘attendance’ and may come only for the reception and stay away from the actual wedding!

The kids would be running around while the older ‘kids’ would group together for snaps! The amount of efforts girls and ladies put to their attires would be so much while the boys would be just the opposite!

This was good for me since all I had to do was wear a clean new looking dress! No fuss!

The most dangerous would be those ‘aunties’ who would then suddenly corner you and ask, “Remember me!?”

Oh how I would dread those words!

If mom was nearby then it was easy since she would always give the answer! Otherwise it was tricky!

If the auntie was smiling and she approaches you then rest assured she is from your mother’s side! Dad’s side would ‘allow’ you to approach them!
Then you have to see the approximate age! In all probability she had to be one of the many cousins of your mother or father!

All you have to say is “oh yes! you are Mom’s…” Just that start is enough most of the time since even the auntie sometimes may not really know you!

I would usually say that and escape!

Of course this is an open secret since many do not know each other in a big wedding! So all you have to do is smile and carry on!

If you know someone well then increase the smile which is encouragement to talk and if you do not remember someone then simply reduce the smile intensity, fish out your phone and scoot!

Luckily you must also know that most of the time people would like to announce themselves! Like do you know who I am is usually followed by, I used to take care or your Mother or Father as a kid! Or words like I know your mother or father when she or he were so little or young like you! In that case you really do not have to know them! It would be lucky if your parents themself remembered those old aunties and uncles!

The most important rule is that there is a long time to be spent while having food so make sure you have food only with those people whom you know well! Or else you are trapped! Then the only way out is to go on stuffing your mouth with food or cough!

Then I guess it is all worth it when the plantain leaf meal is served! The taste is something well worth the trouble of going through ‘remember me’ relatives and friends! Just remember that everyone is finally a distant relative to you! By the way did you know that the birthday celebrity Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman or V V S Laxman is the great-grandnephew of India’s second President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan!

Now even if you forget or do not remember whose that person is in the wedding, like one of my friend please do not forget whose wedding it is!

On that note remember to set the alarm and sleep!
Shubh Ratri!

“The lights oh the lights! They make you smile!

To even look at them snacks it takes a while!

Burn them crackers even if a few!

I Wish happy deepawali to your family and you!”

Lights, sweets and sound!

That’s deepawali in three words!

For more read on!

Growing up we had only two Deepawali; the badi and the choti!

In the choti or smaller Deepawali the chief function or duty for everyone was to clean the house!

While the badi was for the big bangs! 

Since we used to be in army quarters which used to change so frequently that we never got attached to one house; cleaning was only superficial at least for me!

Later on when we got our own house, cleaning became a chore! The dusting and the cleaning of the hidden areas of the house used to start one week before!

Temple was the last to be cleaned and the lamps used to get their regular bath with the tamarind or one special powder made for them!

The making of the sweets and savouries or bhakshanam used to start one week before and the whole house used to have the aroma of hot ghee!

I used to love coming home to the smell of ghee, camphor and incense stick! One of my most favourite odours after the Petrichor is the smell of burnt wood after puja! Whenever we used to do Satyanarayana Puja in our house, the smell of charcoal and the ‘Havan’ used to be there in everything for at least some days! I love that smell!

Then the most famous Mysore Pak made by my mother used to be the last thing she used to make with fresh besan and Ghee brought to her specifications and place! It was not soft but hard! That was the way I like my Mysore pak! Even now wherever I see Mysore pak, I buy some only to taste it and waste them! No shop has come close to the ones my mother used to make…I do not think any other Mysore Pak would taste like my mother’s…

Evening time was lighting the amazing earthen lamps which used to be so cheap to buy! We used to go to the nearby market and be amazed at how many of those we could buy with so little money!

Then arranging them all over the house was a special joy! My mother always used to say that it will rain! And it did! Maybe it was to make sure we do not burn our fingers while lighting the lamp or the crackers! But then it used to be a drizzle and that would never dampen our enthusiasm!

I have never been a foodie so all the snacks were a waste for my dad and me! My brother used to enjoy gobbling those and so did my cousins! 

It was usually our house for the grand get together of the family cousins and uncles and we used to have a blast for deepawali in all sense!

And lighting the crackers and those special bombs was our favourite!

We initially used to go to our club to see the great spectacular cracker show and then our ‘Jeweller’ ‘seth’ neighbour would burst his thousand crackers and we used to have our own stocks! Like an ECG the enthusiasm to burst them used to go up and down!

Some bigger bombs used to go first and mom and others would light the sparklers and flower pots and the zameen chakras! The way they used to turn and sparkle was a treat to watch!

In between my dad and sometimes me would try to show off with the bijli bombs! Light them with our hand and throw them! They used to be so cheap and so many but half of them would not light so it was pure luck!

Some of them would burst so close which used to stun us for a while but then we were Professionals you see!

Then my brother would dig up some old bottle and start his rocket show!

It used to be fun to see many times rockets ending up in odd places! Luckily though we never had any major accidents!

In the end me and my brother used to simply go to the terrace and watch the amazing rockets with their amazing colours! Just sit there and marvel at the marvel!

After the whole neighbourhood used to get quite we used to collect all the papers and left overs and have a nice little bonfire! 

The last light of the Deepawali! An escaped Bijli bomb would then become alive and show his mettle with a sound much to our delight! 

In our apartment also we had this mega celebration! Everyone used to get their crackers and we used to have so much fun! In the beginning everyone would have a candle or match! Then everyone used to share the one candle which used to bravely stay lit!

With so many varieties all we had to do was burst ours and watch the amazing spectacle! We also had fire and other safety services in site! Luckily we never had to use them!

Like the way I used to spend my time in the terrace with my brother looking at the rockets; me, wife and kids now used to have a nice walk of the neighbourhood! The colourful lights from the balcony used to be one of the most beautiful sights ever!  

Coming home to a house full of sweet and snacks was the norm! Even the son papdi was welcome and eaten with relish! At least on that day! Deepawali is simply a celebration of life and unity! Unity reminds me of the birthday celebrity Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel or Sardar! 

A dedication to him on this bright festival!

Have so much light in your life!

Wish all of you a very happy Deepawali!

Shubh ratri!

“Starts with a puff then life’s rough
Just one time is enough!
Don’t try to use it for cheap thrills!
It’s common sense! Smoking kills!”

The other day, there was this patient who was accepting and nodding his head for every instruction of mine much to my delight!

Normally they would be a little hesitant and confused and take information slowly!

Then cheerfully, he asked; “Doctor, can I smoke occasionally!?”

Happiness down the drain or gone like a puff of…do not say it!

read on!

I put my hands over my head and told him, “Which real doctor would ever tell you that smoking is ok!?”

If the patient was a young kid even then it could have been accepted but I would never expect an adult to ask me such a question!

The more tragic part is that this is not the first time!

In Bharat I guess no one would ask this to the doctor especially if he or she is a smoker because of those photos we see on top of the cigarette packets which have been mandated by the government!

Every movie screened in India also has the tobacco warning and so does any scene with the actors smoking or drinking! Drink will be dealt in another blog!

But in other countries the warning is either not so obvious or not even there which is maybe why these questions come! Smoking and now the horrible Vaping is actually started become a fad with even kids getting on the habit with the parents either not bothered or unable to do anything!

This actually shows the strength of the tobacco industry who are actually giving everyone one of the worst carcinogens in the world and charging the customers for it! Brilliant!

Even when tobacco was actually identified a possible cause of lung cancer in early medical literature of the late 1800s but only by a select few brave physicians!

The first published piece of literature attributing cigarette smoking to the growing incidence of lung cancer was in 1912, when Dr. Isaac Adler opined that as cigarette smoking increased, so did the number of cases of lung cancer! But the intense lobbying by the most powerful industry made sure that this was not highlighted!

It would not be until 1950 that medical research would reveal that tobacco was the most significant cause of lung cancer.

Landmark studies by Doll and Hill in 1950 in the United Kingdom and Hammond and Horn in 1954 in the United States forced the discipline of epidemiology to officially recognize cigarette smoking as the primary cause of lung cancer!

Subsequent lung cancer research demonstrating the link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer prompted the U.S. Surgeon General and Medical Research Council of the United Kingdom to publically issue official public health reports condemning the cigarette habit as dangerous to health!

If you must give Nobel or Peace prize to anyone, it must be for these amazing people who bought the evidence to light and made it as open as possible!

There were times when the tobacco industry had so much power (they still do!) that they had even urged medical personnels to advice smoking to relieve stress! Even women, teens and children were targeted as potential customers with varying degrees of success!

During the World War I as well as World War II, cigarettes were given to soldiers in their ration packages and tobacco use increased 346% by 1920. Soldiers who were abstainers from tobacco came back from both World Wars addicted to cigarettes!
Tobacco companies even expanded their aggressive cigarette marketing to women as early as 1918, as a symbol of “liberation and equality” ! They even had a tagline for that later on called, “You have come a long way, baby!”!

Even in movies, the ‘manly’ guys always used to smoke! The other non ‘manly’ guys like me were shown to cough when asked to smoke!

Even in my hostel, the macho dudes were the ones with the smoke in the hand especially during the exam time! There were some guys whose rooms were not visible because of the smoke! This was also because during the exam times not many could afford cigarettes apparently! Instead they used to get the BIDI! That was a bunch of smoke which was so cheap apparently! Of course you had to smoke more to get the same ‘effect’! Also it had no filter!

During my first week in the hostel my senior took a huge puff and blew the smoke over me during a ‘session’! I held my neck and told him that I am not able to breath! I was fine since I actually tolerate the smell of cigarette really well and can recognise it even in little quantity! But that one ‘act’ spread like, well, ‘smoke!’ and the seniors stopped smoking when they were having a ‘session’ with me!

So, smoking does not make anyone ‘macho’; it only makes them a fool! You are not smoking the cigarette, the cigarette is smoking your life slowly!
Even on gunpoint, I cannot have the heart to tell anyone that smoking once in a while is ok, since it is NOT!
Smoking is worse than a nuclear bomb since nuclear energy can still be used for good! Speaking of nuclear energy brings into mind the birthday celebrity and father of nuclear science in India; Homi Jehangir Bhabha!

Now do the one good habit which is easy to do! Sleep on time!
Shubh ratri!

“The baby is all smiles since ignorance is bliss!
But when ‘it’ goes then you will surely feel something amiss!
It is everyone’s property not yours or mine!
Tis not money or gold! But your precious time!”


The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey is like the go to reference book for many self help gurus and motivators!

There is a table in the book which is both the secret of success and a key to time management!

read on!

As you grow older and your life becomes a ‘schedule’ you would finally realise that the most important commodity in the world is something everyone has but in limited quantity!

This does not differentiate between gender or race or even your bank balance!

If you have it then you can do everything and can get anything if you try!

But if you do not have it or have less of it then even if you are the richest person in the world, you cannot do anything!

As the sage introduces this wheel in the amazing serial Mahabharat which is floating in the sky! He calls himself; SAMAY!

Yes! Time!

We all know time and tide wait for none, but remember that the ‘tide’ can still come back as another tide! But time once gone is lost forever!

Which is why managing your time is one of the most important things in the world! You cannot play with time!

In the seven habits, Stephen tells about this table! This tries to make you more prepared to handle your task.

Covey talks about what is important versus what is urgent.
Imagine this table has four quadrants;

Priority should be given in the following order:

Quadrant I. Urgent and important – important deadlines and crises; this is the work which HAS TO BE DONE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

Quadrant II. Not urgent but important– long-term development; this work must feature in your future PLAN!

Quadrant III. Urgent but not important – distractions with deadlines; This work can be done by anyone else so it is better to DELEGATE!

Finally Quadrant IV. Not urgent and not important constitute work which are simply frivolous distractions! These must be ELIMINATED!

The order is important, says Covey: after completing items in quadrant I, people should spend the majority of their time on II, but many people spend too much time in III and IV. The calls to delegate and eliminate are reminders of their relative priority!

Now similar to this distribution; the guides to time management also have a table based on what is called the “Eisenhower Method” or “Eisenhower Principle”. This utilizes the principles of importance and urgency to organize priorities and workload!

This method stems from a quote attributed to Dwight D. Eisenhower: “I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent!

Though this was his quote, the original was by a colleague of Eisenhower who has been uncredited or unrecognised for now!

However using this same principle time management is developed by evaluation of tasks! The table is similar to the one described by Stephen and the boxes are called “Eisenhower Box” or “Eisenhower Decision Matrix”!

The classification and handling is similar and goes like this;

Important/Urgent quadrant tasks are done immediately and personally like crises and deadlines

Important/Not Urgent quadrant tasks get an end date and are done personally like relationships, planning and recreation.

Unimportant/Urgent quadrant tasks are delegated like interruptions, meetings and activities. and finally

Unimportant/Not Urgent quadrant tasks are dropped like time wasters! These can include stuff you can say NO to! Even if it is your own Boss’s marriage! Remember that he or she will get married if you are there or not!
Time management would have been an apt skill for birthday celebrity Tiruchirapalli Srinivasan Rangarajan, professionally credited by his pseudonym Vaali since he had written over 15000 songs!

Now night TIME is to sleep!

Shubh ratri!

“Got a parcel today; no! it was not food!
Just getting a post nowadays feels good!
They deliver happiness and dats a fest!
Those cool people who deliver are da best!”

When we were young (er!) We used to listen to this story of Nala Damayanti! It was one of the stories my grandmother used to tell when she was in the mood and the way she used to narrate it was so nice!

Birds who delivered messages! Seems like a magical fantasy!

Then again if you think the messenger was a pigeon instead of ‘Talking swan’, it may still be possible!

Did you know that one of the biggest secrets in the country and a messenger service are both related to this bird!?

Read on!

So Damayanti was the daughter of King Bhima of Vidarbha (Nagpur region in Maharashtra). She was very beautiful and clever. Nala, King of Nishada, was a brave and handsome person. He was learned in Vedas and virtuous!
He had great skills in arms, management of horses and cooking! In the end he would be recognised by his cooking skills!

His only weakness was addiction to gambling and here the problem was that he was bad at it!

Nala and Damayanti loved each other, though they had never met.
Nala sent a message using swans!

You can read this story or watch the whole movie and series which are so many and in so many languages! My mother used to watch this series in Telugu which was one of the best depictions of this story!

Then again these stories are to inform you or give you wisdom by means of experience! Remember that if you learn from other’s experiences and stories then you will be successful!

So I would assume that the messengers sent by Nala were actually Pigeons who have been used for ages to send messages! Even if it is a swan, it could be many other birds which have been used to send messages all over the world!

The pigeons who act as couriers of messages are called the Homing pigeons! Now homing pigeons are a type of domestic pigeon descended from the rock pigeon. Wild rock pigeons have an innate ability to find their way home from long distances. Today’s homing pigeons have been carefully bred to do the same, including carrying messages over those long distances!

These pigeons can usually find their way back home no matter the distance so If taken away from home, they can find their way back home in a remarkably short period of time!
In fact, homing pigeons have been known to find their way home from as many as 1,100 miles away, and they can travel an average of 50 miles per hour with bursts of up to 90 mph!

This ability has made them valuable as messengers since at least the time of the ancient Egyptians. Homing pigeons were used extensively in both World War I and World War II. Several birds even received medals for their service in delivering critical messages during wartime!

But how do they find their way home over such long distances?

Despite many scientific studies over the years, no one yet fully understands how homing pigeons navigate home across long distances and when no one understands there usually are many theories!

Scientists now believe that homing pigeons have both compass and map mechanisms that help them navigate home. The compass mechanism helps them to fly in the right direction, while the map mechanism allows them to compare where they are to where they want to be!

A homing pigeon’s compass mechanism likely relies upon the Sun. Like many other birds, homing pigeons can use the position and angle of the Sun to determine the proper direction for flight. The map mechanism, however, remains a bit of a mystery.

Though some researchers have suggested that homing pigeons use magnetoreception, which involves relying on Earth’s magnetic fields for guidance. Researchers have found that homing pigeons have concentrations of iron particles in their beaks that would allow them to detect magnetic fields easily!

Some have also suggested that homing pigeons may instead rely upon low-frequency infrasound to find their way home. These low-frequency sounds are inaudible to human ears, but they’re created by nearly everything, including the oceans and Earth’s crust!Homing pigeons may listen to these sounds until they recognize the signature sounds of their home roost.

Finally once these pigeons are close, they have a bird’s view of familiar landmarks just like the Homo sapien and get home!

The courier service using pigeons was established in Orissa in 1946 and was maintained and well used especially during emergencies like flood and quakes. There have been many stories of how these prime pigeons have saved the day!

Now the Orissa police in India had established regular pigeon posts at Cuttack, Chatrapur, Kendrapara, Sambalpur and Denkanal and these pigeons rose to the occasion in times of emergencies and natural calamities!

During the centenary celebrations of the Indian postal service in 1954, the Orissa police pigeons demonstrated their capacity by conveying the message of inauguration from the President of India to the Prime Minister!

Unfortunately though the last of the pigeon post services in the world which is the one in Cuttack was closed in 2008!

In spite of this about 150 pigeons continue to be maintained for ceremonial purposes in Cuttack and at the Police Training College in Angul!
Now that is historical! Historical and amazing also was birthday celebrity M. G. Soman! His smart appearance with the moustache maybe because he was an air force officer before he became a famous actor in Malayalam!

Now admire the birds from your balcony and sleep!
Shubh Ratri!

“Two men climbed the highest hill!
They did it again just for thrill!
You would think that’s so cool oh my!
Fact is they didn’t climb! T’was a lie!”

Deceiving, lying and cheating are typical human behaviour! You must not be surprised at this!

In many movies we have seen Guys trying to woo a girl by either upgrading themselves or reducing or distracting competition!

This act is called Tactical deception!

Intentional tactical deception, the employment of a tactic to intentionally deceive another animal, is apparently a complex behaviour based on higher-order cognition, that has rarely been documented outside of primates and corvids!

or is it!…

read on!


With the amount of scams happening all over the world, you would never be safe!

It has been said that the moment money was invented, the very next moment a thief was born!

Of course stories of those great thief’s like Robin Hood and others have always been told to justify the fact that what they were primarily doing was wrong!
No matter what the justification is, the hard earned money of someone belongs to him or her!

What is surprising though is that starting from the earliest times, you actually need more brains to steal than to earn! In one movie Thalai Rajni used to say that a robber needs to have all his or her alert all the time! Only then he or she can become ‘successful’!

Even now, a thief has to be very clever and intelligent to escape getting caught and must always be one step ahead!
Being a thief or a robber or a person who deceives, needs more talent and smartness! You would then think why not use these talents the proper way!


Tactical deception is a type of deception which occurs when an individual is able to use an “honest” act from his normal repertoire in a different context to mislead familiar individuals. We see this frequently when people pretend to have lost their wallet or try to ‘trick’ you with their stories.

Now tactical deception was something very close to humans when this group of researchers found this test in lab mice!

In the study they placed laboratory-style test chambers with a single entrance near a forest outside Warsaw, where they observed the social interactions of two territorial murids, black-striped and yellow-necked mice, under food competition for seven months!

They video-recorded 21 instances of deceptive pursuer evasion!
In the most obvious cases, an individual inside the chamber, to avoid an incoming mouse, hid by the chamber opening (the only means to enter or exit), paused until the pursuer entered and passed by, and then exploited the distraction of the back-turned pursuer by fleeing through the opening in a direction opposite to the one the pursuer came from. This deceptive dodging is the first evidence of a behaviour suggestive of intentional tactical deception among mice!

Now do not be surprised that this is only the beginning! In fact there is an animal which used tactical deception in a way which would make a human proud!

So these Squid-like cuttlefish are known for their amazing camouflage abilities, thanks to specialized skin cells that allow them to change color in the blink of an eye. Now research finds that these clever mollusks use their color-changing abilities in creative ways: by pretending to be the other gender! Mrs Doubtfire or Chachi 420!

So apparently when a male cuttlefish is wooing a lady, he often “cheats” by painting typical female patterns on one side of his body, while the other side — the one facing the female — shows off typical male patterns!
This gender-bending disguise fools rival males into thinking they’re seeing just a couple of ladies hanging out!
That means more of an opportunity for the cheater cuttlefish to be successful in his endeavour!

By using this sneaky display, the males are buying more time to convince and ‘get’ the girls before they are discovered by other males!

Of course this behaviour occurred only in groups where there were two males and one female! Competition really gives rise to, well, deceptors and charlatans and not originals!
Original and amazingly talented though is birthday celebrity Anuradha Paudwal!
The way she came and simply blew away all competition is, well another blog!

Now be happy that there is no competition for you and sleep! Of course there may be competition but then no point losing your sleep over it right!?

Shubh Ratri!

“Everyone can create it, even a ton!
But cleaning it is frankly no fun!
Would think it reduces with age!
Nah! Tis not gold! But garbage!”

Practically if you ask which is going to be one of the most important profession or duty for our future and the future of the earth then I would say that it is waste management!

We are slowly converting Earth into the biggest garbage dumping ground in the universe!

At one point the only option would be to get a huge rocket and fill it with garbage of a few billion ton and fire it into space out of the solar system!
Or like Interstellar put all the people in Rockets and inhabit some other planet!

Follow this dictum below before it is too late!

“माता भूमि पुत्रुहान पृथ्व्या”


read on!

“माता भूमि पुत्रुहान पृथ्व्या”

“Earth is my mother and I am her son.”

The Sanskrit shloka indicates the relationship of humans with the earth comparing it to a mother and child inferring that one should not harm either the environment or its flora and fauna!

For instance, Kautilya’s Arthashastra also contains comprehensive guidelines for managing forests, with a focus on their preservation for future generations. Similarly, the Chola, Solanki, and Asaf Jahi dynasties were among the ancient leaders who used creative and long-lasting methods to manage the resources at hand. Advanced irrigation and water management systems developed by the Indus Valley Civilization are examples of innovations!

In ancient India, waste was not seen as waste. It served as a source for compost, an organic farming manure. The recycling of waste products was the primary goal of the waste management techniques.

We have always been respectful of the nature even in our habits but somewhere down the lane, we have got lost!

In terms of the generation of garbage which is not only of talk and otherwise! We are very efficient! No other species in the world can generate this much garbage in any way!

Over two billion metric tons of unsustainable, human-generated waste are thrown away globally every year, entering our environment and polluting every ecosystem around the world. If we continue practicing waste management strategies as we do today, the total waste generation for 2050 is projected to be around 3.78 billion metric tons, representing a 1.66 billion metric ton increase in waste since 2020!

Every beautiful street and photo hides the bare truth! The garbage! In fact this must be the first thing to be highlighted!

This is because the most beautiful person in the world and the most handsome must answer the call of the nature anyway! There is no hiding that! Everyone likes to keep his or her area clean but that must be after proper management of waste and not by dumping your garbage on the neighbour!

Overall it has been estimated that around sixty percent or so of global waste is collected in controlled municipal facilities, with the remaining 38% dumped, burned, or discarded!

Of the total municipal waste that is collected, 19% is recycled and 30% ends up in sanitary landfills. Sanitary landfills essentially try to keep the trash “out” of the environment, away from water sources, for example. They also use landfill gas collection systems to keep greenhouse gasses (GHGs), created by decomposing trash, from being released directly into the atmosphere!

Americans make up less than 5% of the global population but create nearly 20% of the world’s garbage, producing over 250 million tons of trash annually!

In fact they are even in the Guiness books because of garbage landfill! Located near the famous city of Las Vegas, USA, the Apex Regional Landfill holds the Guinness World Record as the world’s biggest landfill covering an area of 2,200 acres (890 hectares) which can be compared to 1,250 football pitches. Opened in 1993 its anticipated life expectancy is 250 years!

Of course there are innovations in the management of waste like the AI waste management, solar waste management, pneumatic waste management and waste level sensors and many more!

But like most things which the Homo sapiens does, they are too little and too late! If anyone discovers a solution for garbage which is fast, efficient and feasible then he or she would definitely win the Nobel prize! Even the mount Everest, the tallest mountain also has the distinction of being the tallest garbage dump of the world! The path to the summit is apparently laid with so much garbage that the Nepal government has mandated that every climber must take some garbage with him or her back to the base!

Tall and naturally gifted also is the birthday celebrity Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar!

Now properly separate the wet and dry waste and keep in the thrash and sleep!
Shubh ratri!

“The cell was not guarded the guard was asleep!
Only one inmate was held in the keep!
He had the choice between key and food!
He chose the latter for his own good!”

Do you know the commonest fear or question asked in conferences about AI or robotics is not about safety or protection! But, “What will happen to jobs?”

This is apparently based on a law!

Mo Gawdat is an ex Google employee and writer of a novel called Scary Smart! Among the many things he warns about AI and he tells about this interesting law!

Read on!

So when the AI revolution really comes, an average human is simply worried about his or her job!

Another meme had this statement where the person always used to tell please after her command Google or Alexa to either play music or tell the time! Later on it is shown how when the AI uprising occurs, they would spare her! The AI leader would say, “Let her live! She always used to say Please!”

So the law mentioned is called Maslow’s hierarchy of needs!

According to Maslow (1943, 1954), human needs were arranged in a hierarchy, with physiological (survival) needs at the bottom, and the more creative and intellectually oriented ‘self-actualization’ needs at the top!

This is actually a short summary of even human evolution! The creative needs only come in the last!

Maslow argued that survival needs must be satisfied before the individual can satisfy the higher needs. The higher up the hierarchy, the more difficult it is to satisfy the needs associated with that stage, because of the interpersonal and environmental barriers that inevitably frustrate us!

Our most basic need is for physical survival, and this will be the first thing that motivates our behavior. Once that level is fulfilled, the next level up is what motivates us, and so on. This is because Maslow considered physiological needs the most important as all the other needs become secondary until these needs are met.

Once an individual’s physiological needs are satisfied, the need for security and safety becomes the next step.

Safety needs can be fulfilled by the family and society (e.g., police, schools, business, and medical care).

For example, emotional security, financial security (e.g., employment, social welfare), law and order, freedom from fear, social stability, property, health, and well-being (e.g., safety against accidents and injury).

After physiological and safety needs have been fulfilled, the third level of human needs is social and involves feelings of belongingness!

The examples of belongingness needs include friendship, intimacy, trust, acceptance, receiving and giving affection, and love.

This need is especially strong in childhood and can override the need for safety, as witnessed in children who cling to abusive parents.

And finally the last goal is reached!

Self-actualization! These needs are the highest level in Maslow’s hierarchy, and refer to the realization of a person’s potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth, and peak experiences!

This level of need refers to what a person’s full potential is and the realization of that potential!

Individuals may perceive or focus on this need very specifically. For example, one individual may have a strong desire to become an ideal parent.

In another, the desire may be expressed athletically. For others, it may be expressed in paintings, pictures, or inventions!

Even while settling down in a new place you would first seek security and only when you have a good and stable job would you ever start thinking about creative needs or ambitions!

This could also be the reasons why many times you would see people who are older and settled in life start having new hobbies in which they are actually good! Then again the best thing about the homo sapien is his or her unpredictability! Which is why we have so many laws to explain human behaviour and none which can be completely true! Unpredictable also was Ryan in the movie deadpool! A quick sketch of the birthday celebrity!

Now there is actually no law that you have to sleep in the night but then…

Shubh ratri!