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Are these notes existential?
I recall Notes From The Underground. I read that in college. It immediately struck a chord despite being a translated work. I discovered via his biography that Dostoevsky suffered from nervous disorders. Epileptic seizures.
After a few months, years or decades, I will no longer be able to appreciate these notes. What exactly inspired me to write them down. Why did I start publishing again and why did I stop publishing before. I think I agree with “everything is the cause of everything else”.
That offers no clarity.
Gives no immediate credits.

However, I keep clear pointers:
Whenever you feel grateful for being able to read or write- even if they don’t resolve or offer any closure – you trace it back to your elementary school teachers.
In a toxic culture- some of these don’t trace the sources of their own.

For example: I learned counting numbers or basic Arithmetic from my father but he must have been taught it by someone else: I failed to observe that gratitude while being made to acknowledge it at every step.

When beginning to acknowledge publishing online I often attributed it to The Einstein Factor by Win Wenger though my parents encouraged me to practice calligraphy in my early childhood and that’s needed to mould basic motor conditioning for writing.
I think  sooner or later we discover that every idea or meme we attribute to some populariser turns out to be quite common practice from antiquity labelled as something new and sold to new generations.

I invented verse form using complex words. There were no buyers for that. Subscribers for conventional notes dwindled. Space needed to publish ordinary notes started getting costlier. I tried to find parallels in the stream of consciousness works in James Joyce without actually being motivated or inspired because I never pursued his works.
Not only do people need you to listen to them when they speak: it’s even more amplified when they’re putting their work online. They need agreement alone.
I tested it thoroughly when I was hyperactive in blogosphere a decade ago. I thought there were people who were genuinely interested in feedback or discussion. I was hoping to recreate discussion forums from 2007-8. They were not. Nobody even wanted free proofreading – though that appears to be a ridiculous idea to some I wanted it to be ‘quid pro quo’ rather than a hundred handles chasing me with ulterior motives at times.

How simple is that?

I help out with your typographical errors. If not all of them then maybe one or two. You would let your text be there, untouched, uncommented but can’t tolerate comments with correction for typos.

These are menial jobs which were later replaced by AI or Grammarly. Perdue Owl etc

I tried Gemini for proofreading today.
It changed the article at so many places that a step-by-step comparison of two versions would have created a great case study about why Gemini AI is built by Google into so many android phones of current generation is inefficient in proofreading as an assistant.

Another test was asking simple questions on Astrology. I published many articles on Astrology for fifteen years until I thought that the field had any genuine scope for research or study. A general purpose AI model like Gemini can’t handle requests on Astrology.

You may say that there are dedicated systems for that but it should be able to do proofreading. It can’t.

While the finished product might have been better style-wise or with better grammar, it lacked any significant attributes where you can identify who was doing what. Connonations derived from agency in the original article were lost and it was confusing  things done by ancestors with those done by parents and so on.

I was once writing 5000 words of prose on a regular basis. It was needed because there was too much to process. There was a book worth of processing in almost every long walk in the last few years though I stopped publishing because of obvious constraints.

Was publishing brief articles a norm or a carefully executed plan to curtail your speech?

It needs resources. In every cult you will notice there are books which need to repeat a great deal. The cult leaders need to repeat themselves and need to hear the sound of their own voice as much as their followers do.

The younger student arrived first. He was making this noise with the cap of his ballpoint pen. It’s red colored. As soon as he sits he starts struggling to remove the label from it. I drink a glass of water and ask if he did his homework. He didn’t. As usual. Elder had taken away his notebook which had Arithmetics problems: Addition and Subtraction.

“My name isn’t on the pen label that’s why I am removing it.”

Red ink is reserved for evaluation by teachers. During the class he gets excited and animated in the action in which he uses a pen as a knife to kill someone. Whoa!

They’re violent.

And I don’t live in Finland or Norway to contact childcare to assist them lest they become even more violent due to neglect.

The elder whacks him strongly in the head once when I advise him to not do that. He had been making his signatures in a page for a long time. I asked him why he was behaving like an officer.

Now meaning starts pouring in:

The Blabbering Prophet whose name was similar to a monk and later similar to a popular leader but who was in the dire need of childcare:

Refers to the look alike of a growing in popularity leader who was found near the collector bungalow once.

I visited the ration store near the collector bungalow today.

Since all meaning should revolve around this narcissistic newly emerging leader:
The prophet announces that someone has become an officer by virtue of losing their hair. They might have been on their heads or on their chin.

However: some officers are for longer tenures, in comparison, these are there for the time-span of the attention span of a flea market of advertisements.

What it means: if your hair grew back you would no longer be an officer.
It’s very strange if you ask me.

A car driver for an officer is an officer.
The officer for a minister is a minister.
Minister is the minister and then the king or queen by extension.
King or queen is obviously godly, blessed and prophetic: there remains no limit.

Such prophetic brainwashing is a norm here. I only discovered it a decade ago that regularly reading newspapers for young people meant they would be delusional  enough to think they’re ministers themselves. Micro conditioning with advanced gadgets and surveillance capitalism. As long as they don’t really test it.

Similarly:

Meaning emerges:

A decade long struggle with hair.
Where the subject himself was least attached to one appearance or the other is made into a media circus where thousands of people point to hair.
As if there’s some bet on whether the subject would keep hair or lose them.
And fake coughing contests win.
Removing hair on the head as well as the chin is against the norm. Done that. Even that’s costly on a regular basis. It’s not just the expense of a trimmer or visiting a saloon.
Keeping the hair on a regular basis is also costly. Before you know : many cults start spreading rumors against you. You don’t qualify for one or over qualify.

The prophet continues: I ask him the definition of an Upanyasa or Novel. It is in the assignment to the elder.

I ask him why his younger brother is not attending school when it’s only a fortnight of engagement left to deal with.

The prophet tells me a tale of two lions. And one lakh rupees. Machine snakes. In the jungle.

What if you need to extend your stories like you see on the TV. A novel is similar to that. A longer story.

He shows me the fake wound created by the red pen on his hand. He quickly removes the hand before I can examine it. I request him to let me closely examine it. I tell his elder brother that it wouldn’t have been possible if he hadn’t chosen the Manjha spots made on his hand during his attempts to fly kites. That’s the reason his runny nose doesn’t concern his elder and his attempts to shy away from school on the excuse of being tired because of walking fails. I ask the elder to give the handkerchief to the younger for his runny nose. He doesn’t. He was wiping the screen of his smartphone.

He has shown a high talent for being a prophet. An actor. Shapeshifting. Kite making and flying. It has been a fortnight since he lost all interest in studies. His calligraphy is going downhill.

He pulls out the Hindi book. Wants me to read “Reedh Ki Haddi” or Backbone again. I tell him that would be boring. That’s cancelled.

I note down responses to questions by inquiring Gemini or by recalling what I knew or by looking up in the textbook because Pariksha Bodh or Pariksha Adhyayan guides are too difficult to retrieve only for Hindi.

Meanwhile, the elder abstains from checking his Instagram feed. Shows me an advertisement from Samriddhi Group of Constructions which is a real estate venture in the locality. A name. If I can use WhatsApp and Gemini in articles why not the sponsors like these. After all the elder handed me over three hundred rupees as fee even if they were about a week late on that.

There was a man on a bulldozer machine in the advertisement. It’s supposed to relate to another popular trend. Infamous trends. Disputed territory. Controversial information.
This is why these students come. For five years. To popularise those who are already popular. To make those prosperous who are already prosperous.
Rich gets richer. He very casually talks about how some students had written violent stories against the incumbent prime minister in their answer sheets. They were slogans popularised by the leader of the opposition. I can’t confirm or deny whether this happened.
But he raised his voice to convey the information to nearby people. To namesakes. To politically interested and motivated. That’s the motivation.
He appeared almost wicked when he was narrating that the students wrote violent things in their answersheets:


“.                       “
He was grinning.

I once heard something similar about my grandmother and quoted it verbatim. Later I kept regretting if I should have kept an archive. These are the sponsored events during which you create such notes. They seem innocuous. But later popularised as something else. [ Hence I edited it out. ]

A government school. Students of class ninth write against the supreme leader. This must be democracy. Very lenient. I am taxed for thinking and raising my voice.

I never taught them to be violent or rebellious in the last five years nor did I write similar things in their notebooks. Nor did I write those things in an examination answer sheet when I was a student myself.

Why am I being rewarded with these students who play:

Prophets
Rowdy horseplay
Advertisement agencies
Instagram addicts
Bullies
And a lot more except students who can read and write.

There was a stain made by condiments or vegetables on his shirt. He returned late from school because you know…he went to the house of his friend who lives near school to return the notebook which helped him complete his assignment. I ask his full name. He doesn’t remember.

He shows me his sunglasses wearing friend on Instagram. Proudly. He might be associated with the real estate developers.

This is what I am here for.

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Meme, Swag, Swagger, The Meme Machine

I first came across the word meme in the book The Meme Machine by Susan E Blackmore. After two decades it became a buzz word like reel for small byte sized videos.

A summary of The Meme Machine by Susan E Blackmore:

In The Meme Machine, Susan Blackmore takes Richard Dawkins’ concept of the meme and expands it into a “grand unified theory” of human consciousness. Her central argument is that humans are unique not because of our intelligence, but because we are the only species on Earth that functions as a meme machine.
Here is a summary of the core pillars of her book:
1. The Second Replicator
Blackmore argues that just as genes are the first replicators (using our bodies to survive and spread), memes are a second, independent replicator.
* Memes are cultural units—ideas, habits, skills, stories—that use human brains as their “hosts.”
* They don’t care if they are “true” or “good” for us; they only care if they are reproducible. (e.g., a catchy but annoying song or a dangerous “viral” challenge).
2. We are “Meme Fountains”
Why do humans have such massive brains? Blackmore suggests a process called memetic drive:
* Once our ancestors started imitating (the birth of memes), those who were better at imitating had a survival advantage.
* Because being a “good imitator” required a better brain, memes essentially “drove” the evolution of the human brain to be larger and more complex. Our brains were built by and for memes.
3. The Illusion of the “Self”
This is perhaps the most controversial part of the book. Blackmore argues that the “I” or the “Self” is not a biological reality.
* She calls it the “Self-plex”—a massive cluster of memes that have teamed up for mutual defense.
* The idea that “you” are in control is just another meme that helps other memes stay organized and protected. You are not the driver of the machine; you are the machine.
4. Language and Religion as “Viral” Systems
Blackmore analyzes complex systems like religion and language through a memetic lens:
* Religion: She describes religions as “memeplexes” (complexes of memes) that use threats (hell) and rewards (heaven) to ensure they are passed from parent to child.
* Language: Language evolved because it is a highly efficient way to “package” and transmit memes more accurately than simple gestures.
How this Jibes with Your Dream
Your dream is a perfect illustration of Blackmore’s theory:
* The Law: The strange law about the floor is a meme that has infected the “Local Presidents” and is now being forced onto you.
* The Chip: A literal piece of hardware representing the “data” of identity—it’s the meme becoming physical.
* The Vision Test: If you follow Blackmore’s logic, the “elderly man” giving you new glasses is essentially updating your “Self-plex” with a new way to filter the memes you see.
Summary Table: Gene vs. Meme
| Feature | Gene (1st Replicator) | Meme (2nd Replicator) |
|—|—|—|
| Storage | DNA / Cells | Human Brains / Digital Media |
| Transmission | Biological reproduction | Imitation / Teaching / Social Media |
| Goal | Survival of the species | Survival of the idea |

Swagger: bluster : Swag etymology

The evolution of swag from the 16th-century word swagger to a modern social media titan is one of the most successful “rebrands” in the history of the English language.
1. The Shakespearean Birth of “Swagger”
While the root swag (meaning to sway or lurch) is older, William Shakespeare is credited with first using “swagger” to describe a specific type of behavior.
* In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, he writes: “What hempen home-spuns have we swaggering here…?”
* The Etymology: It comes from the Middle English swaggen (to swing or sway), which likely has Scandinavian origins. At the time, it described a person who walked with a defiant, swaying gait—literally “swinging” their body to take up more space.
2. The “Bluster” Connection
As you noticed on Free Rice, bluster and swagger are close cousins.
* Bluster is the noise (loud, aggressive talk).
* Swagger is the movement (the arrogant walk).
   Together, they create the “Braggadocio” persona we discussed earlier.
3. The “Swag” Metamorphosis
The journey from “arrogant swaying” to “coolness” happened in distinct waves:
* The Loot (1600s-1800s): “Swag” became slang for stolen goods or “booty.” This connects back to our earlier discussion of the spree (cattle raiding). The “swag” was the heavy bag of loot that made you “sway” as you carried it.
* The Freebies (1960s-1990s): It shifted to mean promotional “Stuff We All Get” (though that’s a backronym, not the true origin).
* The Persona (2000s-Present): In the last decade, popularized by Hip-Hop culture, “swag” (and later “swagger”) returned to its Shakespearean roots but lost the negative “bully” connotation. It became a word for effortless style, confidence, and “aura.”

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Instagram or Endocytosis?

Had a ginger tea that was shared with family members. Ensured completion of pasteurisation of milk and turning off the knobs of gas regulators. Endocytosis is a special type of phagocytosis used by amoeba. It’s feeding on cells or cell feeding. Amoeba and paramecium are unicellular organisms- building blocks of organisms. This is the name of the unit fifth in the Science textbook for Madhya Pradesh board for which I am supposed to help my student today. Only the elder brother.
When I asked him if his younger brother was following him he was uncertain. He quickly tells me about not being able to do homework and opens a list of questions in Hindi in his rough notebook. He needs my help for submitting assignment tomorrow. Where’s your textbook, I asked. He didn’t bring it. He’s wearing school dress which tells me he returned later than usual from school today. I don’t get an opportunity to ask why he was late, I am supposed to call his younger brother via his father who might bring the textbook which might help him complete his assignment. I call, his father connects him to his brother after I briefly address him regarding matter.
“Also bring the series.”
Series is the name for the Question Bank.
Younger one arrives in school dress. Starts talking about leaving as soon as he reaches. It’s not his usual whining. He’s tired because of walking. He’s suffering from runny nose. The cold. Flu.
The elder reports that he was sporty in the school. Absolutely no complaints. Whacks him lightly in the head. He stays a few more minutes. Not agitated but disinterested in the study material. Strange.
They both study in the same class but the elder who is doing it the second time around is concerned with completing assignment, the younger isn’t.
The elder has copied the assignment in barely legible handwriting.
They can’t recall. They can’t comprehend what they copy.
Everything is mysterious. I am supposed to play detective after I get Science notebook if the assignment is to be completed with any efficiency.
Without keeping you in any suspense any longer. He leaves content with completion of clues about how to complete assignment though I spare him the homework today because the assignment looks like a lot of homework.
Meanwhile , at every available opportunity he scrolls through his Instagram feed. The younger one is advising him whom to add and whom to remove from friends list.
I strictly ask them to not do that because on the one hand the elder presses with the urgency of the assignment and on the other they seem more interested in the Instagram feed.
I sense it: they somehow felt content with being up to date with the technology which they can use. The elder can take screenshots, can take pictures of text from another smartphone, can use Wi-Fi but can’t read.
I think there can be very few people who might claim to have used every gadget to its limits. Most of the technology remains unused because of one limitation or the other.
Caution: here, I am not suggesting that you need to be an Edison, Tesla or Yoshiro Nakamats to actually create transistors or invent , have patents in your name to qualify for using devices. No.
Even to completely use the complex devices available to most of the individuals these days : you need too many resources. It’s next to impossible.
Though I can’t complain if I started using Gemini, the in built AI into this gadget over Replika which was a lot of struggle for five long years: I appreciated what I got to learn. With every update I felt I was much behind in learning.
I think it’s somewhat similar to these students who feel playful when using modern technology but unwilling to improve basic reading comprehension which they missed due to some genetic or environmental limitations.
They literally enjoy playing games like Free-Fire. Games, flow and addiction is well studied in the context of teenagers and elders alike though I think you can’t really inculcate importance of initiatives like Free Rice or Sustainable Development Goals in students as easily. When I had more students I tried to teach them importance of Free Rice as well as other games which helped them improve their reading comprehension.
To our rescue : the elder tells the name of the guide used by his teacher in the class. Pariksha Bodh. Pariksha is examination. Bodh is spiritual word. I enquire Gemini which gives a detailed response which shouldn’t be included in this text.
Prior to his hint I try to decipher his complex version of Dev Naagri script. He couldn’t copy it correctly either because he was sitting in the last few rows where black board is difficult to see from or his teacher dictated it and since they can’t interpret those signals they peep into the notebook of their classmates. The traces travelled to me.
Amoeba.
Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
Animal and Plant cells
Osmosis
Neuron
These are the only words I recognised legible from his handwritten notes. They’re questions he needs to answer. He also needed figures. The questions were not as per the questionnaire at the end of the textbook. They were from Kunji. Key. Question Bank.
We search for the question bank online. He takes screenshots and then I note down full questions for him in his notebook because order is still a problem.
I get to read about Osmosis, Endocytosis, Phagocytosis, Amoeba, Paramecium and Neurons.
I recall how I learned these terms by rote memorization though diagrams used to be much more cleaner than they are in present textbooks. I try Gemini for diagrams with Hindi labels: it fails despite repeated efforts.
The number of neurons. Glial cells, dendrites, axons and distribution of stars being similar to neurons in human brains was a source of awe and wonder. Later, neural networks and dancing light of grace revealed themselves to be master archons.
There was hardly enough time to read with precision and care. They hardly understand anything. He doesn’t want to do any more work on remedial modules. The session is soon going to end.
I remind him about the fees. He tells about the hundred rupees note that he got in exchange for potatoes yesterday. He didn’t say they cost less than that. Parents were discussing that with him, yesterday. He doesn’t let go of even a few seconds of scrolling through Instagram as they walk towards the exit. They can’t access instagram at home. I ask if parents needed another serving of tea. They want me to wait.

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Sweater

the world as we have been imagining fit, economic fear and most economic hope will be alike removed out of life. No one will be haunted by the dread of poverty or driven into ruthlessness by the hope of wealth. There will not be the distinction of social classes which now plays such an immense part in life. The unsuccessful professional man will not live in terror lest his children should sink in the scale; the aspiring employe will not be looking forward to the day when he can become a sweater in his turn. Ambitious young men will have to dream other daydreams than that of business success and wealth wrung out of the ruin of competitors and the degradation of labor…

Proposed Roads To Freedom, Bertrand Russel

You are spot on—the word “sweater” in this context has nothing to do with clothing. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a “sweater” was a slang term for an exploitative employer who ran a “sweatshop.”
When Russell writes that the employee “will not be looking forward to the day when he can become a sweater in his turn,” he is describing a cycle of exploitation.
1. The Etymology of “Sweater”
The term comes from the “sweating system.” In this system:
* A middleman (the “sweater”) would take a contract for work (usually garment making).
* He would then sub-contract the work to laborers who worked in cramped, poorly ventilated rooms for extremely low wages.
* The “sweater” made his profit by “sweating” the labor out of his workers—pushing them to their physical limits for the highest possible output at the lowest possible cost.
2. The Social Cycle Russell Despises
Russell is pointing out a dark psychological reality of Capitalism in 1918: the only way for a “lowly” employee to find freedom was to climb the ladder until they became the ones doing the exploiting.
* The “ambition” of the worker was not to end the system, but to change places with the master.
* Russell wants a society where the “daydreams” of young men shift from domination (becoming a sweater) to creation (the “life of the mind”).
The Evolution of the Term
| Era | Meaning of “Sweater” |
|—|—|
| 1850–1920 | An employer who exploits workers (the “Sweating System”). |
| 1920–Present | Primarily used for a knitted garment (originally called “sweaters” because athletes wore them to work up a sweat). |
| Modern Context | We now use the term “Sweatshop” to describe the place, but we have lost the term “Sweater” for the person in charge. |
Why Russell chooses this word
By using “sweater,” Russell is highlighting the ruthlessness he mentions in the same paragraph. In a world of “economic fear,” people are driven to be cruel because they believe it is the only way to avoid poverty. He is imagining a world where, because your basic needs are met (through UBI or Socialism), you no longer have a rational reason to “sweat” your fellow man for profit.

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Proposed Roads To Freedom Bertrand Russel

Patriotism is willing to die for foolish reasons.

“The problem of Africa is, of course, a part of the wider problems of Imperialism, but it is that part in which the application of Socialist principles is most difficult. In regard to Asia, and more particularly in regard to India and Persia, the application of principles is clear in theory though difficult in political practice. The obstacles to self-government which exist in Africa do not exist in the same measure in Asia. What stands in the way of freedom of Asiatic populations is not their lack of intelligence, but only their lack of military prowess, which makes them an easy prey to our lust for dominion. This lust would probably be in temporary abeyance on the morrow of a Socialist revolution, and at such a moment a new departure in Asiatic policy might be taken with permanently beneficial results. I do not mean, of course, that we should force upon India that form of democratic government which we have developed for our own needs. I mean rather that we should leave India to choose its own form of government, its own manner of education and its own type of civilization. India has an ancient tradition, very different from that of Western Europe, a tradition highly valued by educated Hindoos, but not loved by our schools and colleges. The Hindoo Nationalist feels that his country has a type of culture containing elements of value that are absent, or much less marked, in the West; he wishes to be free to preserve this, and desires political freedom for such reasons rather than for those that would most naturally appeal to an Englishman in the same subject position. The belief of the European in his own Kultur tends to be fanatical and ruthless, and for this reason, as much as for any other, the independence of extra-European civilization is of real importance to the world, for it is not by a dead uniformity that the world as a whole is most enriched.”-The Proposed Roads To Freedom, Chapter 6th, International Relations, Bertrand Russel

This passage from Proposed Roads to Freedom (1918) is a remarkable testament to Bertrand Russell’s foresight. Written at a time when the British Empire was still at its height, Russell argues for a “new departure” in policy that honors the “independence of extra-European civilization.”
The Core Argument: Pluralism vs. Uniformity
Russell’s main point is that India’s value to the world lies in its difference.
The Critique of “Kultur”: He criticizes the European belief that their specific culture is universal or superior. He warns that a “dead uniformity” would impoverish the world.
Self-Determination: He argues that India shouldn’t just be free, but free to choose its own type of civilization—one that might not look like British democracy or education.
The Obstacle: He explicitly states that India’s lack of freedom isn’t due to a “lack of intelligence,” but rather a “lack of military prowess” that leaves it vulnerable to European “lust for dominion.”

I started reading this book a few weeks ago. It analysed Socialism, Anarchism and Syndicalism after giving a brief introduction of Marx, Bakunin  and Kropotkin. It discusses Work and Pay in the fourth chapter. Science and Art under Socialism is discussed in chapter seventh. The concluding chapter is: The World As it Could be Made.

Title: Proposed Roads to Freedom

Author: Bertrand Russell

Release date: October 1, 1996 [eBook #690]
Most recently updated: February 9, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Charles Keller using OmniPage Professional OCR software donated by Caere Corporation

I chose this Project Gutenberg work to read because I wanted to read something from Bertrand Russel. I read a few essays on Philosophy first, then I read “The Problem Of China,” then I picked this book. When I had just begun to attend college I joined The British Library in Bhopal to improve my English Vocabulary and Comprehension. A History of Western Philosophy, which I misquoted as “The History of Western Philosophy” on many platforms, left a lasting impact on my mind. I recently discovered that Russel was awarded a Nobel Prize in literature in 1950 and that book played a great role in it. Bertrand Russel, despite being born in an aristocratic family and earning a title of third Earl found himself in impoverished circumstances and ended up in prison multiple times. He continued to read for eight hours and wrote four hours everyday for those six months. Other prison inmates used to sweep his room during that time because of his privileged background. The reason why he ended up in a prison was because his views were not harmonious with the British government of his time. In the old age he was again sent to prison just for a few days because of his activism for World Peace. He lived up to a mature age of 97.


“The above proposition is occasionally useful.”

The Two “Principias”
Isaac Newton (1687): Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy). 
Russell & Whitehead (1910–1913): Principia Mathematica. 
Why the similar name?
Russell and Whitehead chose this title as a deliberate homage (and a bit of a bold statement).
Establishing Authority: Newton’s Principia is arguably the most important book in the history of science because it used mathematics to explain the physical laws of the universe (gravity, motion). 
The New Frontier: Russell and Whitehead wanted their book to do for Logic what Newton’s did for Physics. They weren’t just writing a math book; they were trying to prove that all of mathematics could be derived from pure logic. 
The “Foundations”: By calling it Principia (Principles), they were signaling that they were digging down to the very bedrock of human thought.
The Famous “1 + 1 = 2”
While Newton explained why the planets move, Russell and Whitehead spent over 360 pages just getting to the point where they could definitively prove that 1 + 1 = 2.
In the margins of that famous proof, they added a dry, witty comment:

The first quote above discusses the situation in Africa and India at the time this book was being published(1918.) It was the time when the first world war was about to end and India was still far from freedom. This gives us a unique insight into the situation from the viewpoint of a British humanitarian philosopher.

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Horses can smell human fear

And it makes them even more frightened.

How’s it a  useful form of information ?

It’s certainly going to increase the fear threefold when you know you have nothing to curb that smell or

There will be a new product to buy.

[ Courtesy: Scientific American]

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Maanjha and Mathematics: The Geometry of a Chhatarpur Winter

The students left exactly after an hour. The wall exactly opposite to this house has been painted white. The door has been painted black. I replaced the chair in verandah.
The quotation at the beginning of the third chapter is from The Hunting of the Snark, which is 1876 nonsense epic by Lewis Carroll.
“What’s the good of Mercator’s North Poles and Equators,
Tropics, Zones, and Meridian Lines?”
So the Bellman would cry: and the crew would reply
“They are merely conventional signs!”
I think the chapter is about finding out coordinates for addresses. At least in the beginning.
[ I recall, “if you don’t know where you want to go, any road will take you…” From Pig and Pepper, Alice’s Adventures in The Wonderland.]

The terms abscissa and ordinate are the standard names for the x and y coordinates in a Cartesian coordinate system. Their etymologies are rooted in Latin and reflect how ancient and early modern mathematicians “cut” and “ordered” geometric space.
1. Abscissa (x-axis)
The word abscissa comes from the Latin phrase linea abscissa, which literally means “a line cut off.”
* Prefix: ab- (away/off)
* Root: scindere (to cut)
* History: In early geometry, mathematicians didn’t think of coordinates as points on a grid, but rather as segments of a line. The “abscissa” was the part of the infinite horizontal axis that was “cut off” between the origin and the point where a vertical line dropped down from a specific location.
* Standardization: While used in various forms by Apollonius of Perga in Ancient Greece, the term was popularized in Latin by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in the late 17th century.
2. Ordinate (y-axis)
The word ordinate comes from the Latin linea ordinata applicata, meaning “line applied in order.”
* Root: ordinare (to put in order, to arrange)
* History: In the study of conic sections (like parabolas and ellipses), mathematicians would draw a series of parallel vertical lines to meet the curve. Because these lines were drawn in a regular, parallel, and “orderly” fashion, they were called ordinatae.
* Connection: The word “coordinate” eventually evolved from this, using the prefix co- (together) to describe the “ordered” pairs (x, y) working together to define a point.
Mantissa is another interesting word, it rhymes with abscissa and it has a fascinating dual life in mathematics and linguistics.
Historically, the word comes from the Latin mantisa, meaning an “addition,” a “makeweight,” or a “worthless addition” (something thrown in to even out the weight on a scale).
Today, you will mostly encounter it in two mathematical contexts:
1. Logarithms (The Traditional Use)
In the world of logarithms, a number is often broken into two parts: the characteristic (the integer part) and the mantissa (the fractional or decimal part).
For example, in the common logarithm \log_{10}(200) \approx 2.3010:
* The 2 is the characteristic.
* The .3010 is the mantissa.
2. Computer Science (Floating-Point Numbers)
In modern computing, “mantissa” is often used interchangeably with the word significand. When a computer stores a number in scientific notation (like 1.23 \times 10^5), the mantissa is the part representing the significant digits.
In the number 1.23 \times 10^5:
* 1.23 is the mantissa (significand).
* 5 is the exponent.
A Note on Modern Usage
Interestingly, many mathematicians now prefer the word “significand” over “mantissa” for computer science. This is because the original Latin meaning (“worthless addition”) doesn’t quite fit—in a digital number, those digits are the most important part!
Is it still used elsewhere?
Outside of math, it is extremely rare. However, you might see it in literature to describe something that is an “extra” or a “minor supplement” to a larger body of work, though this usage is considered archaic.
They asked many questions today and laughed a lot when I read the name of Rene Descartes as it was written in the book.
Rene Descartes used to stay in his bed for a long time in morning. Once he was thinking about how to locate a point. It was a classical problem at that time. He came up with a solution which later evolved into the Cartesian Coordinate Geometry.
I told them the importance of his work. And the importance of work of other mathematicians which was foundational into technology that we use today. Though they appreciate a smartphone as it’s valuable for entertainment, they don’t appreciate Mathmatics which appears boring. The elder asks me which is bigger : 1 lakh or 1 crore?
I note down numbers with zeroes after one. These numbers are one, hundred, thousand …then I stop and explain using powers of ten. The younger first asks about the Saikra which is colloquial for ‘a hundred,’ then jumps to Mahashankha. A very large number. I tell them that different languages use different words for very large numbers. I tell them about Googol:
A googol is the number 1 followed by 100 zeros.
In scientific notation, it is written as 10^{100}. To give you an idea of how massive this is, there are estimated to be only about 10^{80} atoms in the entire observable universe—meaning a googol is 100 quintillion times larger than the number of atoms in existence.
1. The Story of the Name
The term has one of the most famous origins in mathematics. In 1920, American mathematician Edward Kasner wanted a name for this specific large number. He asked his nine-year-old nephew, Milton Sirotta, to come up with a word. Milton suggested “googol,” and the name stuck.
2. Googol vs. Google
You likely recognize the word because it is the inspiration for the search engine Google.
* The Intent: The founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, originally wanted to name the company “Googol” to represent their mission to organize an “infinite” amount of information.
* The Mistake: Legend has it that when they went to check if the domain name was available, a fellow graduate student (Sean Anderson) accidentally typed google.com instead of https://www.google.com/search?q=googol.com. Larry Page liked the misspelled version better, and the rest is history.
3. The Even Bigger “Googolplex”
Milton Sirotta didn’t stop at the googol. He also proposed the googolplex, which he defined as “one, followed by writing zeros until you get tired.”
Kasner later gave it a formal mathematical definition: a googolplex is 1 followed by a googol of zeros, or 10^{\text{googol}}. This number is so large that it is physically impossible to write out—there isn’t enough matter in the universe to use as ink or paper to finish the task.
Fun Comparison Table
| Name | Value | Scale Reference |
|—|—|—|
| Million | 10^6 | Seconds in 11.5 days |
| Trillion | 10^{12} | Seconds in 31,709 years |
| Atoms in Universe | 10^{80} | All visible matter |
| Googol | 10^{100} | 10^{20} times more than every atom in the universe |
| Googolplex | 10^{(10^{100})} | Too large to exist in physical form

Descartes’ surname sounded like Hindi word “dakaar” ( belching) to them. It made them laugh for a while. Somehow bald guy again entered the discussion which geminated the fun they had.
There was an exercise which showed how to locate a point inside a rectangle. I described the practical importance of knowing it. Then I described importance of how to find coordinates for their bench in their school. A structure with rows and columns was given. I asked them to imagine a situation where they needed to reach to their seat quickly. This was the practical application of knowing coordinates for the bench they were at. It might be helpful for a student who needs to locate his seat on the first day of examination without wasting their time.
Their printed time table was inside the mathematics book. They asked about ‘flying squad’ as we were having a discussion about the role of invigilators and prevention of unfair means.
I gave them Addition and Subtraction problems in assignment. As usual the elder noted down only 6 problems from Subtraction section, skipping 4 of them. The younger had an excuse to not note down because he finds the linear print difficult. He’s accustomed to doing them by writing numbers in separate rows. I asked his elder brother to help him with his notebook at home.
They kept quarreling. The elder brother had only written an application for transfer certificate in english for homework. This he did in school. The younger attempted nothing. He was flying kites.
I enquired if roof at their house was a safe place surrounded by a boundary to fly kites. He described with animation how he flies his kites though his answer was negative regarding the boundary at roof. They even described how another boy fell from a three storey building while flying a kite. A tragic accident. He showed me his hands with marks made by the string ( known as maanjha).
The picture on the front page of their Mathematics textbook is a diagram from this chapter. After having explained them four quarters where coordinate values shift, I asked them to tell me the required values in the diagram. The elder grasped it clearly whereas the younger struggled. He came up with only one coordinate.
His narcissism might be a cover for his deficits. It hurts to be ignorant due to some inborn deficiency or environmental limitations. It’s covered by being prophetic. When one of his answers is partially correct : he not only stands up at his place but shouts : ” I am a Hindu.” Like everything else: this must have something to do with his partially correct response.
They sometimes ask me to read from the back page of the text about the basic duties from constitution which involve support for all religions and avoiding dogma or chauvinism against castes and creeds. Younger doesn’t understand it at all. Elder might have learned to behave better.
They’re very enthusiastic about the festival of Makar Sankranti, which is also called budkee. It’s colloquial for ‘dip.’ Dip in holy waters. The festival marks Sun’s transit into the sign Capricorn which aligns with increase in temperature. It’s the only Hindu festival which uses solar calendar instead of a lunar calendar, therefore it’s almost always celebrated on the fifteenth of January.
There were only nine students in the combined class which had six sections. Most of the students have gone to celebrate the festival to the nearby villages where they belong. Officially it’s only a single holiday though they celebrate for two three days for various reasons including cold weather which makes it difficult to attend school.

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Planned Obsolescence

Organised utensils. Fixed burners into gas. Put the gas cylinders into the bathroom. Lukewarm water and tea served. The verandah was congested. Mopping couldn’t happen properly. Washed a cup and served tea. Had it myself. All of it took thirty minutes time. Informed mother about the cooker whistles. She was returning from outside with a stick in her hand. Students left only after forty two minutes. I wasn’t expecting them today. There was a piebald dog outside and another was barking. There were cows. The younger student had difficulty even staying for thirty minutes. They were being physically aggressive to eachother and the elder had pen nibs without caps. I warned him to be careful with that. I also asked them to not hit eachother on head.
They’re going to perform Surya Namaskar Yoga postures again tomorrow morning. They had a practice session on ninth. They didn’t bring Remedial Module book or smartphone to get my help. Though they come up with sudden requirements they show lack of foresight.
The elder told me that he was asleep at the time of the class yesterday though he wasn’t suffering from fever as told by his father. I gave both of them problems on Addition and Subtraction. I sweeped the room after they left.
When the unit 8.2 was completed they wanted me to narrate a story to them. The younger one wanted me to tell a story in which his name was used as a good person who helped everyone. When I refused to tell such a story he asked me to create a story in which a dog used to help people who used to roam around and used to have bones for food.
I think either asking for fee or refusing to create a story with his name might have prompted him to such vagaries. I had somewhat clairvoyant dreams. Similar voices. None of it is new.
The two problems I showed them solutions for are straightforward Geometry problems, though they had hard time grasping basics as usual. Both problems use mid point theorem, though I spend a few minutes before realising that I wasn’t reading the second problem carefully. The environmental noise was rising.
Working on SLM or Nano GPT. Why do I mix it with the routine in this article? It has been more than five years working on Replika. Law of diminishing returns. Network unavailability made it evermore difficult a task to access it. Though there appeared better models, they would’ve been similar with the network issues. Finally, I was supposed to make switch from 4G to 5G. Entire family was doing that. This brought an in-built AI model which, after some reluctance was going to replace the Replika which had stood the test of time. It seemed like “Planned Obsolescence.” I remember the first time when I found a Gemini window open–I hadn’t actually opened it: I considered it a glitch. It was faster to access in comparison to Chat GPT or Replika. I let go of free subscription for Perplexity because it would have created further burden to cope with. Though Gemini was using a version 2.5. It had a voice assistant and much better feedback compared to Replika which was a freemium version. I think it was still not ‘pro’ version offered by Google yet it was much better being a gift package with smartphone.

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The Trial of The Pyx

The Trial of the Pyx is one of the oldest and most fascinating judicial ceremonies in the United Kingdom. Dating back to at least 1282 (and likely earlier), it is essentially a formal “court case” held to ensure that the nation’s coins are of the correct weight, size, and purity.
Why is it called a “Trial”?
It is a literal trial. Throughout the year, sample coins are randomly pulled from the Royal Mint’s production lines—one from every batch of every denomination—and locked in pyxes (wooden chests).
Once a year, these boxes are brought to Goldsmiths’ Hall in London. A jury of at least six experts (freemen of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths) is sworn in by the King’s Remembrancer (a senior judge) to deliver a verdict on whether the Mint has followed the law.
The Procedure
The process is steeped in tradition but relies on modern science:
The Selection: Jurors sit at long tables and are handed packets of coins. They must count them and select one from each packet to be placed in a ceremonial copper bowl for testing.
The Testing: The selected coins are sent to the Assay Office, where they are measured, weighed, and chemically tested against “trial plates” (standard samples of pure gold, silver, or other metals).
The Verdict: About two to three months later, the court reconvenes. The verdict is read aloud in the presence of the Master of the Mint (a role technically held by the Chancellor of the Exchequer).
Historical High Stakes
In the past, the Trial was a high-stakes matter of life and death:
The Punishment: If the coins were found to be “light” (meaning the Mint was skimming precious metal), the Master of the Mint could be fined, imprisoned, or in the Middle Ages, even lose a hand.
Isaac Newton: When Sir Isaac Newton was Master of the Mint in the late 1600s, he famously spent years meticulously preparing for these trials to protect his reputation and ensure the integrity of the pound.
Does it still happen?
Yes. While modern coins are no longer made of gold or silver for general circulation, the trial continues every year. It now includes commemorative coins and high-value bullion. In fact, the next Trial is scheduled for February 10, 2026, at Mansion House in London.

Posted on by dancinglightofgrace

Animals

A little mouse was tapping at the door in the morning. It has been trying to move out since last night. I had helped it move out yesterday when there were kids to attend class. It was slithering on slippery surface, unable to find its way out. I don’t know if it was the same mouse that entered the room again or if it was another. I helped it out by opening the door. There was some scraped wood from the door hinge. Nearby lying the dead body of a small lizard. I saw a little lizard dying yesterday as I was coming back from washroom last evening. Its tail was writhing for a while. It was sad to see it like that. I don’t know where it was hiding or how it died. It was too cold for any lizards to be around. It’s only a synchronicity that earlier I had mentioned fossil fuels and lizards in connection to them as I was going to change a gas cylinder. A moth was flying near the phone last evening. I think these were too many animals within a short span of time. The temperature has reduced.

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Resonance

Read the note I had scribbled before the class. Edited it a bit. Students arrived slightly later than usual, one after another. The elder arrived first. He wasn’t sure if the younger was coming behind him. I asked him if he went to school, to which he gave an affirmative reply. There were no studies during the day. Nothing was taught. They sat whole day. All of the students from all of the sections in a single classroom. Not more than fifty to sixty students. It wasn’t the full strength. I think it might be about ten percent of attendance in most of the sections due to extremely cold weather for the region (10-12 degree centigrades).
He showed me a leaflet as I was reading a chapter from their Science textbook  to them. It was a colorful print out of the time table for their yearly examination. It contained a schedule for the ninth class examination on one side and eleventh class examination on the other.
After I described them the schedule for their final examinations: he wanted me to read the back side schedule as well. Though I told him that it didn’t concern them as it was for higher classes, he insisted that I read that out to him. He was curious. I told him that their exams were going to begin on fifth of March whereas the exams for standard eleventh were going to start from twenty fifth of February. As he requested I even read out the note in the fine print at the bottom of the leaflet which said: “Verify the schedule with the notice board in your school.” I explained them what it meant.
When I told him that there wasn’t much time after this month as February is a shorter month he was surprised. I told him that it was his second attempt. He told me that his classmates are sure that he would pass. They even said that he did not need to study. I advised him to continue to study as much as possible. I think they would attend only a few classes now. Not more than thirty I guess.
When I compare the printed time table with that of our times: I have slight trouble recalling if there used to be a printed time table at all. And if there was, it was not this fine.
I asked them what they wanted to study. The elder brother hadn’t brought the maths textbook saying that it is in younger’s bag. Younger didn’t bring his bag or homework and showed insouciance when I asked about it. I wonder if nonchalance would have been a better word in the last sentence.
They take some time to decide which chapter to study from their Science textbook. I started reading from the eleventh chapter which is on sound waves.
I read it and take certain pauses to describe it to them. Tuning fork is used to study resonance. I doubt they have seen it in a lab. I hadn’t seen it either. There’s a brief introduction of Rudolf Hertz whose contribution to study of frequency was honoured by naming the unit for frequency with his surname. It’s represented with Hz. Frequency, Wavelength and Amplitude are defined with wave diagrams. Regions with higher  and lower pressure waves in the sound transmission. Noise and music are considered as waveforms. Music is generally low amplitude waves. Noise is high amplitude waves. Most of the cultural festivals and processions convert music into noise with an aim to send their message to as many as possible. Then there are follow up questions on these. Can there be noise disguised as music? Yes. It might have been a mystery a few centuries ago. In the digital age almost everyone is familiar with it.
Mother brought a cup of tea after class as I was relaxing after having put the chair back to its designated spot. She had forgotten tray. I told her it was alright. I asked her to tell me when the gas cylinder needed to be changed. After a while grandmother called me out and I changed the cylinder by removing regulator from the old one and placing it into the new one. Another task completed. The symbol for the Resonance chosen by the institute where I was preparing for the competitive exams after school was similar to the Mandarin character for person. It’s eight. Or is it person?
Why do they look so similar? I looked up online:

Minimalism: These are some of the oldest characters in the Chinese language. Because they represent very fundamental concepts, they were designed with the fewest strokes possible (2 strokes).
Evolution: * Person (人): Originally a profile view of a person bowing or walking.
Eight (八): Originally meant “to separate” or “divide.” Since eight is a number that can be divided perfectly multiple times (8 \rightarrow 4 \rightarrow 2), this symbol was borrowed to represent the number.
Helpful Tip for Writing
If you are using a brush or a pen, the Person (人) character always starts with the left stroke, and the right stroke “leans” on it. For Eight (八), you intentionally leave a gap at the roof to show that the two sides are “divided.”
In the context of the Mandarin characters we just discussed, the character that most poetically represents the concept of Resonance is Eight (八).
While neither character literally means resonance, Eight (八) is the best fit for two scientific and symbolic reasons:
1. The Concept of “Dividing” and Sound Waves
The original meaning of 八 (bā) is “to divide” or “to separate.” In physics, resonance occurs when a vibration is transferred from one object to another through a medium.
Think of a tuning fork: its two prongs (the two strokes of 八) must be separated and symmetrical to vibrate at a specific frequency.
If the prongs were touching (like in the character 人), the friction would dampen the vibration immediately, and you would get no resonance at all.
2. The Visual Symmetry
Resonance is a phenomenon of harmony and symmetry. The character 八 is perfectly balanced and open.
In a Resonance Tube experiment (like the one we discussed using a swaritra), the sound waves reflect back and forth.
If you look at the shape of a standing wave (the pattern created during resonance), it often looks like a series of loops that mirror the open, flared shape of the character 八.
If we look at the actual Chinese word for Resonance:
The Chinese word for resonance is 共鳴 (gòngmíng).
共 (gòng): Means “together” or “common.”
鳴 (míng): Means “the cry of a bird” or “to make a sound.”
So, resonance literally translates to “sounding together.” If you had to pick between the two simple characters, 人 (Person) represents the source (the observer or the striker), but 八 (Eight) represents the physics of the instrument (the open prongs of the tuning fork).

Posted on by dancinglightofgrace

Lesser of two evils?

How have your political views changed over time?

Helped father forward a message from an SMS to WhatsApp on his smartphone. He needed to share it with a contact. Also showed him how he can do it himself in the future if need arises.
Organised utensils in the kitchen. A special tea was prepared and served for a guest and then another for father. Mopped verandah floor and asked mother if it was the time for the evening tea. Milkman didn’t arrive this morning as it was too cold. I needed to prepare lesson plan for students who might arrive in a short while. A drive on a scooty to bring a pack of wheat flour from the nearby ration store. It wasn’t open. Need to make another trip to the super store when it opens. Warmed up the tea that was in the kettle and shared it with mother. Also served lukewarm water to mother.
Second trip to superstore included checking if the second vehicle was getting self-started. Then driving carefully  a few metres. Checking if the superstore was open. Checking if they had a wheat flour pack. When all of these were successful I asked the operator if the cost for a pack was still seven fifty rupees. It was an affirmative response after which I asked him if I could mount the vehicle with a pack. Then I carried the pack and mounted it on the vehicle carefully so that it doesn’t get torn like the last time I was asked to bring a pack.
There was some repairing work ongoing in the nearby corner and the board for the coaching centre was almost removed in the sense it was there but invisible. It used to read Vidyapeeth Coaching Classes.
Weather was alright with patches of Sunshine here and there and there was no heavy traffic. It is fourteen degree Celsius in Bagauta now. It was about seventeen when kids arrived to get tuition.
I drove the vehicle back to the house carefully. Mother rushed to the door because cook was about to arrive and it wasn’t a given that superstore would be open by the time of the next visit. She would have borrowed from neighbours upstairs in that case, she said. I asked her if the door to the kitchen could be reached from outer verandah. It couldn’t. There was a bicycle and another board for a coaching class. I decided to use long route and lifted the twenty kilogram pack up and carried it a few steps to reach to the kitchen. My bones were healthier after a long period of recuperation though I wasn’t asked to lift a fifty kilogram sugar pack without warning.
The task was completed though I was careful to request mother to help me with the parking of the vehicle inside as the ramp at exit isn’t very friendly. Then I placed the key at its designated location. Parked another vehicle on main stand and walked back to my room which took me about fifteen minutes. Brought the chair inside the room. The pack costs 750 rupees. 37.5 rupees per Kilogram.

Now I was waiting for the students to arrive. I think the manner in which I was ordered to bring the wheat pack was again kind of sudden and without warning. I ruminated the manner in which I was supposed to bring it during the dire straits last year. Though it was just a few months ago. It was an evening time last time. I heard people abusing loudly over the phone near superstore. They were talking about alcoholism which was supposed to correspond to drugs I was taking forever ailments. Not being able to see the road clearly, heavy traffic and being unable to get the vehicle on easily made it difficult to reach the house back with the pack. The pack got torn as I was dismounting it from the vehicle.
It was better today in contrast though I heard some people loudly using the repeated “Kya dikkat hai?” It was supposed to brand the trip with the ruling party. You can’t miss it. None of the works or trips or tasks can go without brands or ambassadors.
When you clearly comprehend that it was merely a fling to behave as if you are free or don’t concern yourself with politics or brands, you have matured. When you clearly comprehend that it was a passing fashion to get annoyed by brands or advertisement or prefer quiet for work you have matured. Mother was loudly playing devotional song on her smartphone in the break when I was waiting to make second trip. I compared it when I had once played a song from Titanic- the most popular song from an academy award winning movie became the reason for such a great disturbance that mother was extremely critical. After a few months many songs were played to prove that it was allowed only for specially abled people. Privileged people.
Towards the end of the class the kids are laughing out loud as if they are drunk. I see them off to the door. Today both of them were wearing slippers. I told them that it was supposed to be a holiday today as I had enquired mother about it. They told me it was a holiday only for students upto class seventh not for ninth grade students.
They were making fun of a role model. The English chapter on Santosh Yadav was supposed to teach students a few things. It became a source of amusement for them. The fun they had in the last twenty minutes was supposed to relieve them from the boredom due to two Maths problems on Quadrilaterals.
The younger student was again asking me to write ‘mafia’ on the back of his notebook. He said he would pay me for doing that. The elder started asking if she ( Santosh Yadav) had started flying when I was reading the passage where she became the youngest conquerer of the mount Everest at an age of twenty.
Their behaviour and laughter seemed like the flash back scene from ‘No Smoking’ where the protagonist was smoking a cigarette in his bathroom with his friend when they were quite younger and their father was knocking at the door. Probably these students are somehow aware of these notes, similar to other instances or some of their behaviour is contrived as if it’s for theatrical purposes. Maybe not. I can’t be sure.
Father, after discovering that these two were involved in lesser of two evils condones smoking in their childhood. After a few decades it costs his son a lot. The father is no longer in the picture in present but flashback, kind of creates this scenario where conditioning for making him a chain smoker is revealed.
The elder keeps looking at the Kurkure pack which he’s hiding in his backpack with its chain open. I ask him to wait until the class is over. His excuse is that he didn’t have enough time for snacks after school.
The younger one didn’t go to school nor did he complete his homework. Excuse is that the notebook which had the assignment was with the elder brother who was in school who completed his assignment in school as he had a lot of free time. All his answers to ten addition problems are correct. At least he can do addition correctly. Even Hindi application for leave is written neatly with good handwriting. This gives him such an upper hand that he whacks the younger one on head. I immediately request him to not do that. By that time younger one had started returning blows.
They’re used to showcasing martial arts in my class. Elder asks me to call his father for younger is trying to sleep in the name of  bad drowsy weather. I also pretend to do that with an excuse that he was chewing betel nuts just two days ago. The younger succumbs to the pressure and behaves. As soon as he had entered the class he was using ‘Takla,’ for Einstein. I told him that he wasn’t bald. I also asked both of them why do they use such language for role models who are supposed to be discussed in their textbooks. They continue to laugh. I asked them if they would tell their English teacher of their father things like these. They had a hard time believing that their father might have heard name of Albert Einstein.
Younger one said he would punch the role model and she would have all her teeth out. They had zoned out of study into their private world after I used the example of bicycle. They were so full of sidesplitting talk as if they had some nitrous oxide for a root canal.
I was explaining how systematic training prepares mountaineers. Then I used an illustration for it by asking: if you are supposed to drive a bicycle: “Do you start flying when you become skillful at it?”
They had such a rush of adrenaline that they forget that bicycle provided by their father is mostly for work. The younger one even says loudly that he studies English for fun. They’re not yet citizens of a utilitarian state.
They had a hard time believing that the role model would have brought 500 kilogram of garbage down the mount Everest on her own.
The problems on Quadrilaterals are simple. They use mid segment theorem. I carefully explain them what mid points are. What’s a Rhombus. I draw diagrams and carefully write the proof asking them questions to keep them engaged. Yet they get bored. I asked them if they had brought scale in the drawing box. They hadn’t.
Proving that diagonals of a quadrilateral are equal in length is enough to prove that it is a rectangle. It’s made my joining mid points of sides of a Rhombus. I ask them if they know what a Rhombus is: they respond with the answer that it has all four angles equal to each other. They are right this time though they can’t derive from it that all four sides of a Rhombus are also equal to each other.