Did you know that in the Middle Ages in England, one could swing by during lunch to watch a public execution? Or get into the nearby theatre and watch freshly dissected human bodies? Or maybe a visit to the neighbourhood mental asylum to ‘enjoy’ seeing lunatics do their thing? It seems quite ridiculous today, but …
रासभशृगालकथा The story of the donkey and the fox In a village, not so far away from here, lived a donkey named Uddhata (the arrogant one). He belonged to a washerman, and carried huge bundles of clothes every day in the mornings. His evenings were usually free, and so he used to sneak out and wander freely …
आदौ नित्यानित्यवस्तुविवेकः परिगम्यते । इहामुत्रफलभोगविरागस्तदनन्तरम्शमादिषट्कसम्पत्तिर्मुमुक्षुत्वमिति स्फुटम् ॥ १९ ॥ ādau nityānityavastuvivekaḥ parigamyate | ihāmutraphalabhogavirāgastadanantaramśamādiṣaṭkasampattirmumukṣutvamiti sphuṭam from Vivekacūḍāmaṇi, written by Jagadguru Adi Śaṅkarācārya First is enumerated discrimination between the Real and the unreal; next comes aversion to the enjoyment of fruits (of one’s actions) here and hereafter; (next is) the group of six attributes; and (last) is clearly the …
Physics describes patterns in spacetime that correspond to particles moving around. If the particle arrangements obey certain principles, they give rise to emergent phenomena that are pretty independent of the particle substrate, and have a totally different feel to them. A great example of this is information processing, in computronium. But we’ve now taken this …
In around a couple of months from today, Keshav will join his first regular school. He has been attending nursery (or pre-nursery, whatever they call it nowadays) nearby, and it has been a delightful experience. I really wish that Building Blocks had a school to continue the wonderful work that they have been doing with …
One of the Shlokas that I want to teach Rohāmrta is the Deepa Jyothi shloka. I did try hard to search for its original source, but was unsuccessful. But sometimes origins do not matter. Here is a shloka that a child can recite in the evening, after lighting a Deepa. Not a candle, but a …
सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यं वरदे कामरूपिणि ।विद्यारम्भं करिष्यामि सिद्धिर्भवतु मे सदा ॥ sarasvati namastubhyaṃ varade kāmarūpiṇi .vidyārambhaṃ kariṣyāmi siddhirbhavatu me sadā .. Namaskar, O Saraswati, grantor of blessings and embodiment of all wishes. Bless me as I commence my studies, and help me to be successful in the gain of knowledge. Today’s shloka is as relevant for …
“In fact, public speaking anxiety may be primal and quintessentially human, not limited to those of us born with a high-reactive nervous system. One theory, based on the writings of the sociobiologist E. O. Wilson, holds that when our ancestors lived on the savannah, being watched intently meant only one thing: a wild animal was …
Status-quo bias – The tendency for people to stay committed to current situations, for fear of changing to the unknown. Status quo bias is also caused by laziness, aversion to complexity, unnatural learning style demands, reading small print, etc. I have been reading this book – Nudge – by Richard H Thaler and Cass R Sunstein. The crux of the …
Had a chance meeting with an elderly gentleman today, at the Arte Market at Times Square Mall. A grandfather of many, John Felton retired 17 years back and settled in Dubai – he now writes delightful rhymes for kids packaged with beautiful illustrations. I found Keshav responding to his way of narrating stories and we …
