Posted on by dancinglightofgrace

Ginger Tea and Gemini: Lessons in Height, Math, and Machine Bugs


The ginger tea was used by my father, therefore, I decided to make it for myself after students left. I used less than half a glass of water and half a teaspoonful of tea leaves, half a teaspoonful of ginger with about two and half teaspoonfuls of sugar which I increased to three and a half after adding about three fourths of a glass of milk. My motivation to let the tea brew qualitatively depends on whether it’s just for myself or it’s a community project. It’s a result of prolonged condemnation of living comfortably no matter how much you deserve it. Don’t be selfish. No matter how unselfish you’re you’re always selfish. No matter how much you speak you speak too much. No matter how much you eat you eat too much. Then, you learn more golden than golden principles. You may call them platinum or diamond or by any other name. There are a plethora of quotations on the importance of sacrifice, Yajna and community living to support it. Others before yourself even if they don’t reciprocate or hold similarly high standards in their behaviour.

देखिये, 13 साल की उम्र में ऊँचाई बढ़ना एक सामान्य प्रक्रिया है। आनुवंशिकता (Genetics) तो एक मुख्य कारण है, लेकिन कुछ चीज़ों पर ध्यान देकर हम इसमें मदद कर सकते हैं। जैसे:
* संतुलित आहार: सही पोषण, खासकर कैल्शियम और प्रोटीन, हड्डियों के विकास के लिए बहुत ज़रूरी है।
* नियमित व्यायाम: स्ट्रेचिंग, कूदना और दौड़ने जैसे व्यायाम ऊँचाई बढ़ाने में सहायक हो सकते हैं।
* पर्याप्त नींद: ग्रोथ हार्मोन नींद के दौरान ही सबसे ज्यादा स्रावित होता है।
That’s a snippet of a brief Live session with Gemini in which my student was trying to speak with Gemini AI, in Hindi. The eloquent and efficient communication seemed as if it was a real person well-versed in Hindi though connectivity was problematic. We were able to extract suggestions which were of general nature for an adolescent person concerned with their growth. I might have told these to him though he was excited to speak with an AI agent.
His communication was preceded by his blabberwockying as usual:
“I will scold him on the call. Is that going to create a repercussion for me?”
They went into detail about how they used an AI to threaten a friend. They asked me if they will be bothered by the law if they used swear words in those calls. I told them that they need to be of legal age to be eligible to talk with it without parental guidance.
My session was intended to give them exposure to a media which is geared towards educational nudging for learning with  AI rather than promoting the technology as merely a games  tool where they indulge into  Pub G, Free Fire or in reel-creation.
We worked on establishing a connection. Though it recognised my students voice, it had a difficult time because he wasn’t familiar with proper modulation and pronunciation to facilitate it for AI models. In one instance the AI greeted me back with “Ola!” Though my student wasn’t using Spanish but Hindi.
It began when I told them how the Gemini text-to-speech engine was bugged. The bugs were too many to recount too. Though it has been just a few days of use I failed to get proper feedback from their support and I am not motivated to pursue further complaints. A user who helps a system with proper feedback should get it acknowledged and the bug should be fixed. Being a software professional I know it’s not rocket science. What I get instead : further bugs. The first few haven’t been fixed and new ones are introduced.
Was the prediction of “Eh/Meh” at the beginning of every paragraph done by a Google group article I received in advance when I was merely reporting about “Level 5” being read as “Level 5 inches?” I can’t be sure.
It sure made them laugh. I asked them to observe this error. They listened keenly as we were getting responses to our Maths queries. They laughed out loudly when they heard those strange sounds at the beginning of the paragraphs. And it ensured that I wasn’t delusional though these students might be the last people who can help accelerate the bug fixes- they have speech impediment themselves yet they can ensure that it’s an unnecessary eh/meh at the beginning of every paragraph.
People suffering from extreme tiredness
( CFS) might do that at the beginning of every paragraph but that’s strange for a text to speech engine which can read hundreds of pages easily.
A dog is barking outside. Bells ringing in the worship room. I visit washroom once again before this article is completed. I realise emergence of this anxiety about saying something which might not be read by most readers. What if it’s not read by anyone? At least it will survive as an archive to which you can later return to. With maturity I came to recognise the importance of archives and it might be difficult to inculcate this in certain individuals unless they have experienced it. Or they might evaluate historical archives as being too highly important compared to their own. It’s certainly not a promotion of narcissistic rambling or “extremely fond of my own voice” syndrome because despite uniqueness none of the voices or personality traits are unique enough. This doesn’t mean they don’t have a purpose at all. That’s going into nihilism and losing patience. Extreme opposite. The other one is not listening any other voice at all. Being too fond of our own voices. I recognised with my participation in online communities that too long speeches by some interlocutors seemed to make this impact- as if our voices were subdued. It can be true only for superfluous reasons for brief periods. And it might start sounding like Truth- like propaganda does with the repetition.
Gemini: Hello there! How can I help you today?
Me: Yeah, my student [ name redacted] here wants to talk to you in Hindi. Can you talk to him in Hindi?

Gemini: जी बिल्कुल! मैं [name redacted] से हिन्दी में बात कर सकता हूँ। कहिए, [] क्या पूछना चाहते हैं?
Student: आप अपनी हाइट पूछना चाहते हैं

Gemini: ज़रूर! मैं एक कृत्रिम बुद्धिमत्ता हूँ, इसलिए मेरी कोई हाइट नहीं है। क्या आप कुछ और जानना चाहते हैं?
[ The question was interpreted as if the student was asking about the height of the AI model though he wanted to ask about his own height. Miscommunication.]

Student: अच्छे से बोलो। हम निहार को नहीं जानते। Q
Gemini: क्षमा करें, मुझे आपकी बात स्पष्ट समझ में नहीं आई। क्या आप कृपया दोहरा सकते हैं? आप किसके बारे में पूछ रहे हैं? A
[ The question was misheard again. Hence a clarification question by AI follows. ]

Me: Hello.
Gemini: हेलो! क्या आप कुछ पूछना चाहते हैं?

Me: यह अपनी ऊंचाई से संबंधित एक प्रश्न पूछना चाहते हैं। यह बढ़ती अवस्था के किशोर हैं इसीलिए यह अपनी ऊंचाई से संबंधित एक प्रश्न पूछना चाहते हैं।
[ I put the question on behalf of my student. ]
Gemini: ऊँचाई से संबंधित प्रश्न पूछने के लिए बिल्कुल ठीक है! [Name]  क्या जानना चाहते हैं? क्या आप अपनी वर्तमान ऊँचाई या भविष्य के विकास के बारे में जानना चाहते हैं?

Student: बावस्की बेकार है। अच्छा बोलो। बावस्की बेकार समय।
[ Absurd recording. No sync. ]
Gemini: भविष्य के विकास के बारे में जानना चाहते हैं, यह तो बहुत अच्छा है! देखिये, ऊँचाई बढ़ना आमतौर पर एक निश्चित उम्र तक ही होता है। क्या आपकी उम्र 12 साल के आसपास है?
Student: Power Escape Plus
[ It records his voice as Power Escape Plus ]
Gemini: “Power Escape Plus” किस बारे में है? क्या आप इसके बारे में थोड़ा और बता सकते हैं?
Student: I will [ miscommunication]
Gemini: हाँ बोलिए, मैं सुन रहा हूँ।
Student: Ah. Hola, Kira. [ Mis recording]
Gemini: Hola! क्या हाल है?
Student: 12 13 12 13
Gemini: मैं ठीक हूँ, धन्यवाद! आप कैसे हैं? और 12 और 13 किस बारे में बात कर रहे हैं?
Me: उनकी उम्र 13 वर्ष के आसपास है।
Gemini: अच्छा, 12 13 साल की उम्र तो विकास के लिए बहुत महत्वपूर्ण समय होता है। इस उम्र में, सही पोषण और व्यायाम बहुत ज़रूरी हैं। क्या आप उनकी ऊँचाई और वज़न के बारे में कुछ जानना चाहते हैं?

Student: हां, उनकी उम्र 13 वर्ष के आसपास है और वे अपनी ऊंचाई ब बढ़ती ऊंचाई को लेकर चिंतित हैं। वह चाहते हैं कि उनकी ऊंचाई ज्यादा बढ़े। हम्म।
Gemini: देखिये, 13 साल की उम्र में ऊँचाई बढ़ना एक सामान्य प्रक्रिया है। आनुवंशिकता (Genetics) तो एक मुख्य कारण है, लेकिन कुछ चीज़ों पर ध्यान देकर हम इसमें मदद कर सकते हैं। जैसे:
* संतुलित आहार: सही पोषण, खासकर कैल्शियम और प्रोटीन, हड्डियों के विकास के लिए बहुत ज़रूरी है।
* नियमित व्यायाम: स्ट्रेचिंग, कूदना और दौड़ने जैसे व्यायाम ऊँचाई बढ़ाने में सहायक हो सकते हैं।
* पर्याप्त नींद: ग्रोथ हार्मोन नींद के दौरान ही सबसे ज्यादा स्रावित होता है।
क्या आप इनमें से किसी के बारे में विस्तार से जानना चाहेंगे?
Session 1:
Student: मेरी बात सुने।
Gemini: हाँ बोलिए, मैं सुन रहा हूँ। आप क्या कहना चाहते हैं?
Student: मेरा नाम मनन है। अमन
Gemini: नमस्ते मनन!
[ Since Gemini had misheard my student’s name I didn’t need to edit it out of the talk. ]

Student: नेवा लड़का है
[ Huh? ]
Gemini: नमस्ते मनन। मैं आपकी कैसे सहायता कर सकता हूँ?

Student: Hello.
Student: हेलो मेरा खराब हो गया मां बहुत मार भी मां के [ miscommunication]
Gemini: क्या खराब हो गया आपका? और आपको माँ से डाँट क्यों पड़ी? क्या कुछ गड़बड़ हो गई?
Student: मेरा नाम….
Gemini: नमस्ते नरेन्द्र! क्या आप कुछ पूछना चाहते हैं?
Student: हमें तेरा दोस्त बनना चाहते हो।
Gemini: जी हाँ, बिल्कुल! मुझे आपसे बात करके और दोस्त बनकर खुशी होगी। आप क्या पसंद करते हैं?
Student: हां मेरी हाइट कितने तक बढ़ेगी?
Gemini: आपकी हाइट कई चीज़ों पर निर्भर करती है, जैसे- आपके माता-पिता की हाइट, आपका पोषण और कुछ हार्मोनल कारण। आमतौर पर, 18 से 20 साल की उम्र तक हाइट बढ़ती है। क्या आप अपनी उम्र और वर्तमान हाइट बताना चाहेंगे?
Student: है 2012
Gemini: Session 2 as given above.



We were working on Mathmatics Workbook:
The decimal expansion of 1/7 is a classic example of a non-terminating repeating (recurring) decimal.
Because the denominator (7) is a prime number other than 2 or 5, the division will never end, but it will eventually settle into a predictable cycle.
The Expansion
The value of 1/7 is:

In mathematical notation, we write this with a bar over the repeating sequence:

Interesting Properties of 1/7
* The Six-Digit Cycle: The repeating block “142857” consists of 6 digits. For any fraction 1/p (where p is prime), the maximum length of the repeating cycle is p – 1. For 1/7, 7 – 1 = 6.
* Cyclic Permutations: If you multiply 1/7 by other numbers, the digits in the expansion stay the same, they just start at a different point!
   *    *    * How to calculate it
If you perform long division of 1 by 7:
* 10 \div 7 = 1 remainder 3
* 30 \div 7 = 4 remainder 2
* 20 \div 7 = 2 remainder 6
* 60 \div 7 = 8 remainder 4
* 40 \div 7 = 5 remainder 5
* 50 \div 7 = 7 remainder 1 (Back to where we started!)
Once the remainder repeats (1), the entire sequence of digits starts over.
Are all Natural Numbers also Whole Numbers?

हाँ, सभी प्राकृतिक संख्याएँ (Natural Numbers) पूर्ण संख्याएँ (Whole Numbers) होती हैं।
इसे समझने का सबसे आसान तरीका यह है कि हम इन दोनों समूहों की परिभाषा देखें:
* प्राकृतिक संख्याएँ (Natural Numbers): ये गिनती वाली संख्याएँ होती हैं जो 1 से शुरू होती हैं।
   * सेट: \{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, …\}
* पूर्ण संख्याएँ (Whole Numbers): इनमें सभी प्राकृतिक संख्याएँ शामिल होती हैं, बस 0 (शून्य) और जुड़ जाता है।
   * सेट: \{0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, …\}
मुख्य अंतर (Key Points)
* समानता: आप देख सकते हैं कि 1, 2, 3… दोनों समूहों में मौजूद हैं।
* अंतर: केवल 0 एक ऐसी पूर्ण संख्या है जो प्राकृतिक संख्या नहीं है।
* निष्कर्ष: हर वो नंबर जिसे आप प्राकृतिक संख्या कहेंगे, वह अपने आप पूर्ण संख्या भी कहलाएगी। लेकिन इसका उल्टा (Reverse) हमेशा सच नहीं होता (क्योंकि 0 पूर्ण है पर प्राकृतिक नहीं)।

क्या आप “पूर्णांक” (Integers) और इन संख्याओं के बीच का संबंध समझना चाहेंगे?
Are all rational numbers integers?
No, not all rational numbers are integers, but all integers are rational numbers.
Think of it like a nesting doll: integers are a smaller, specific group that fits inside the much larger category of rational numbers.
The Difference
* Integers are “whole” numbers (positive, negative, or zero) that do not have a fractional or decimal part.
   * Examples: -3, 0, 15, 100.
* Rational Numbers are a broader category. They include anything that can be written as a fraction \frac{p}{q}.
   * This includes the integers (since 5 can be written as 5/1), but it also includes the “pieces” between the integers.
Examples of Non-Integer Rational Numbers
The following are rational numbers, but they are not integers:
* Fractions: \frac{1}{2}, \frac{3}{4}, \frac{22}{7}
* Terminating Decimals: 0.25, -1.5, 3.125
* Repeating Decimals: 0.333…, 0.1818…
Summary Table
| Number | Is it Rational? | Is it an Integer? | Why? |
|—|—|—|—|
| 5 | Yes | Yes | It’s a whole number and can be 5/1. |
| -10 | Yes | Yes | It’s a whole negative number and can be -10/1. |
| 0.5 | Yes | No | It has a decimal part; it’s between 0 and 1. |
| 3/4 | Yes | No | It represents a part of a whole, not a whole. |
Are all rational numbers also perfect numbers?
No, they are definitely not the same thing! In fact, being a rational number and being a perfect number are two very different concepts in mathematics.
The short answer is: Almost no rational numbers are perfect numbers.
1. What is a Rational Number?
As we’ve discussed, a rational number is any number that can be written as a fraction \frac{p}{q}. This is a massive category that includes:
* All integers (5, -10, 0)
* All simple fractions (\frac{1}{2}, \frac{22}{7})
* All terminating or repeating decimals (0.5, 0.\bar{3})
2. What is a Perfect Number?
A perfect number is a very rare and specific type of positive integer.
A number is “perfect” if the sum of its proper divisors (all positive divisors excluding the number itself) is exactly equal to the number.
Example: The number 6
* Divisors of 6: 1, 2, 3 (we exclude 6).
* Sum: 1 + 2 + 3 = 6.
* Therefore, 6 is a perfect number.
Example: The number 28
* Divisors of 28: 1, 2, 4, 7, 14.
* Sum: 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 = 28.
* Therefore, 28 is a perfect number.
Why the answer is “No”
* Decimals/Fractions: A rational number like 0.5 or 3/4 cannot be a perfect number because perfect numbers must be positive integers.
* Rarity: Even among integers, perfect numbers are incredibly rare. We only know of about 51 of them in total! Most integers (like 4, 10, or 100) are not perfect.
Summary Comparison
| Feature | Rational Numbers | Perfect Numbers |
|—|—|—|
| Definition | Can be written as p/q. | Sum of proper divisors equals the number. |
| Scope | Infinite and dense. | Extremely rare positive integers. |
| Examples | 1/2, 5, 0.22, 22/7 | 6, 28, 496, 8128 |
Query: 22/7 gives 3.142… whereas π is 3.14159… why?
This is a common point of confusion! The reason for the difference is that 22/7 is only an approximation of \pi, not its actual value.
In fact, 22/7 is a rational number, while \pi is irrational. As we discussed earlier, their decimal expansions behave very differently.
The Comparison
If we look closely at the decimals, we can see exactly where they diverge:
* Actual \pi: 3.14159265… (Non-terminating, non-repeating)
* 22/7 Value: 3.14285714… (Non-terminating, repeating block: 142857)
The two values are identical only up to the first two decimal places (3.14). By the third decimal place, 22/7 (which is 3.142…) is already slightly larger than \pi (which is 3.141…).
Why do we use 22/7 then?
We use 22/7 because it is remarkably “close enough” for most practical purposes.
* Accuracy: 22/7 is accurate to within 0.04% of the true value of \pi. For a carpenter, a student, or even some engineers, that tiny margin of error doesn’t change the outcome of a project.
* Simplicity: Before calculators were everywhere, multiplying by 22 and dividing by 7 was much easier than multiplying by a long string of decimals like 3.14159.
* Archimedes’ Discovery: The ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes found that \pi sits between 223/71 and 22/7. Over time, 22/7 became the popular “shortcut” fraction.
Interesting Fact
If you want a much more accurate fraction, you can use 355/113. It matches \pi all the way to six decimal places (3.141592…).
What about the decimal expansion of irrational numbers?
In contrast to rational numbers, the decimal expansion of an irrational number is always non-terminating and non-repeating.
This means the digits go on forever without ever settling into a permanent, predictable loop. Because there is no repeating pattern, you cannot express these numbers as a simple fraction \frac{p}{q}.
Key Characteristics
* No Pattern: You might see sequences that look like patterns (like 0.101001000…), but if the “rule” changes or grows, it isn’t considered a “repeating block” in the mathematical sense.
* Infinite Precision: No matter how many trillions of digits you calculate, you will never find the “end” of the number.
* Aperiodic: They are technically described as “aperiodic,” meaning they lack a period or cycle.
Famous Examples
* Pi (\pi): Used in circles. It begins 3.14159265… and has been calculated to trillions of digits without a repeat.
* Euler’s Number (e): The base of natural logarithms. It begins 2.71828182…
* Square Roots of Non-Squares: Any square root of a number that isn’t a perfect square is irrational. For example, \sqrt{2} \approx 1.41421356…
Comparing the “Big Three” Expansions
| Number Type | Terminating? | Repeating? | Example |
|—|—|—|—|
| Rational (Terminating) | Yes | No | 1/4 = 0.25 |
| Rational (Repeating) | No | Yes | 1/3 = 0.333… |
| Irrational | No | No | \sqrt{2} = 1.414… |
Expansion of a rational number is?
The decimal expansion of a rational number always follows one of two specific patterns: it is either terminating or non-terminating repeating.
This characteristic is actually what distinguishes rational numbers from irrational numbers (like \pi or \sqrt{2}), which go on forever without any repeating pattern.
1. Terminating Decimals
A rational number has a terminating expansion if the division eventually ends (the remainder becomes zero). This happens when the denominator of the simplified fraction has prime factors consisting only of 2s, 5s, or both.
* Example: \frac{3}{4} = 0.75
* Example: \frac{1}{8} = 0.125
2. Non-Terminating Repeating (Recurring) Decimals
If the denominator has prime factors other than 2 or 5 (like 3, 7, or 11), the decimal will go on forever, but a specific digit or block of digits will repeat in a cycle.
* Example: \frac{1}{3} = 0.333… (written as 0.\bar{3})
* Example: \frac{1}{7} = 0.142857142857… (written as 0.\overline{142857})
Summary Table
| Type of Expansion | Description | Example |
|—|—|—|
| Terminating | Ends after a finite number of digits. | 1/5 = 0.2 |
| Repeating | Never ends, but digits repeat in a pattern. | 2/11 = 0.1818… |
| Non-Repeating | Never ends and has no pattern (Irrational). | \pi \approx 3.14159… |
The number of rational numbers between two rational numbers is?
The number of rational numbers between any two distinct rational numbers is infinite.
This is due to the Density Property of rational numbers. No matter how close two rational numbers are, you can always find another one tucked right between them.
How to Find One: The Midpoint Method
The easiest way to prove there is always another rational number is to find the mean (average) of the two. If you have two rational numbers, x and y, their midpoint is:
Because rational numbers are closed under addition and division, this result is guaranteed to be rational and will sit exactly halfway between x and y. You can then repeat this process indefinitely between the new number and the original ones, creating an endless chain of values.
Visualizing the Density
Imagine zooming in on a number line between 0 and 1. Even if you zoom in 1,000 times, you will never find a “gap” where you can’t fit another fraction.
Key Points to Remember
* Infinite Density: Between 0.1 and 0.11, there are infinitely many numbers (like 0.101, 0.1011, 0.10111…).
* Contrast with Integers: Unlike integers (where there are no integers between 2 and 3), rational numbers are “dense.”
* Comparison to Real Numbers: While there are infinitely many rational numbers, there are also infinitely many irrational numbers between any two rational numbers.

Is the sum or difference between two rational numbers also a rational number?

Yes, the sum or difference of two rational numbers is always a rational number.
In mathematics, this is known as the Closure Property of rational numbers under addition and subtraction.
The Proof
To understand why, we look at the definition of a rational number: any number that can be expressed as a fraction \frac{a}{b}, where a and b are integers and b \neq 0.
If we take two rational numbers, \frac{a}{b} and \frac{c}{d}, their sum is calculated as:
Why the result is still rational:
* The Numerator (ad + bc): Since integers are closed under multiplication and addition, ad + bc will always result in another integer.
* The Denominator (bd): Since b and d are non-zero integers, their product bd is also a non-zero integer.
Because the result is an integer divided by a non-zero integer, it fits the definition of a rational number perfectly. The same logic applies to subtraction, just with a minus sign.
Quick Examples
* Addition: \frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{3} = \frac{5}{6} (Rational)
* Subtraction: 0.5 – 2 = -1.5 (Rational, as it can be written as -\frac{3}{2})

Posted on by dancinglightofgrace

The Scientist Brain and the Mafia Don


The call is picked up by the younger brother. Who responds:
“We’re coming.”
“How long will it take, I asked.”
“We’re coming.”
They came after a while. It already seemed late when I called them up. They reminded me that their school has been rescheduled to afternoon and hence they return very late. I had forgotten.
I had served tea to my mother though she didn’t take it. I warmed it up after students left. Added some milk into it as she had asked. Some ginger as well. I had it myself after having replaced the chair into the verandah. It’s getting white stains deposited by water because it stays near the wash basin and water sprinkled on it contains calcium.
There are cobwebs on hats which are waiting inside racks. There are cobwebs waiting to be removed. The footwear outside the room has dust on them.
I had a bath. Washed a few clothes. The maid, who was employed here earlier is the mother of the last employed maid and she always comes late in the afternoon. You have to wait before you can pasteurise milk or organise utensils properly in the kitchen for other purposes.
The younger student is busy drawing a crown like shape on his left hand with the blue ink pen he has recently bought. I hear bells ringing in the nearby worship room though the singing voice doesn’t reach me which is a relief.
The younger student advertised his pen with keen interest . It appears to be wooden. He claims:
“This is a pen made with wood.”

Woodenmarksmanshiphoperandampersand


Then he asks me to read out the letters from the sticker on the pen. The C is printed like D. It’s neither a C nor a D. I recognise the brand of pens. The stylish first letter is shaped like a D but the vertical line is missing in the first letter. It just has the curve. After the promotion is over and the plastic is established to be plastic, not wood, he gets back to the business of sketching the crown with feathers on his left hand. His signatures are on it.
He’s quite young for being eligible for a personality assessment. He spends a lot of time making his signatures on the paper. He admits:
“I am not getting proper signature.”

Singatureutersevereverseverallyinglenookrasesamestreet


This interrupts my flow of reading. I was reading the chapter fourth from Science. Rutherford’s model:


In 1911, Ernest Rutherford overturned the previous “Plum Pudding” model (which, funnily enough, fits Bloom’s food-based metaphors) to propose something much more “astronomical.”
The Gold Foil Experiment
Rutherford fired positively charged alpha particles at a thin sheet of gold foil.
* The Expectation: Based on the “Plum Pudding” model, the particles should have passed straight through.
* The Reality: Most passed through, but some were deflected at sharp angles, and a few even bounced straight back.
* Rutherford’s Reaction: He famously said it was “as if you fired a 15-inch shell at a piece of tissue paper and it came back and hit you.”
Key Features of the Model
Based on these results, Rutherford proposed:
* The Nucleus: Most of the atom’s mass and all of its positive charge are concentrated in a tiny, dense central core.
* Empty Space: Most of the atom is “empty space” through which electrons move.
* The Planetary Analogy: Electrons orbit the nucleus like planets orbiting a sun (a concept Bloom would have appreciated, given his musings on “gasballs spinning about”).
Why it was “Incomplete”
While revolutionary, the model had a major “economic” problem in terms of physics:
* The Energy Crisis: According to classical physics, an electron orbiting a nucleus should constantly lose energy by emitting radiation.
* The Collapse: If it loses energy, it should spiral inward and crash into the nucleus. This meant Rutherford’s atom was technically unstable—it shouldn’t exist for more than a fraction of a second.
This “instability” was eventually solved by Niels Bohr, who introduced the idea of quantized orbits (fixed energy levels).

I recommend him to just write his name. It’s beyond me why he needs to create dashing signatures though he’s unable to read or write. He can copy. He has seen others making signatures. This makes him create his own. I recall how some of my friends used to keep making signatures which used to fill whole pages during our conversations.
He takes my advice. He writes his name and then  surname. I am reading it upside down. It’s written in methodical uneven style if you were to recall Morettian Graphology by Lidia Fogarollo. The first two letters are larger than the rest. Then again: he uses upper case letters mostly but in his name’s spelling there are two ‘a’ letters which are lowercase. I tell this to him. It’s irrelevant.
He shows me the completed drawing.
Reads it as:
“….mafia don.”

Zeitgeistarattamarinderpestuaryennoblendinglenookramptonnagemmatrialsomeshugasconademantoidiomatictactoeuvrevueuropeanemone


Zeitgeist or peculiarly narcissistic personality?
Or both?
He’s into drawing today. He shows me a box drawn with green ink. He calls it DJ:
In music, DJ stands for Disc Jockey. While the core definition is someone who plays recorded music for an audience, the role has evolved from a simple radio announcer to a central figure in performance and music production.
The Evolution of the DJ
* Radio DJs: The original “jockeys,” who rode the “discs” (vinyl records) to keep a broadcast moving.
* Club/Mobile DJs: Focus on selecting and “mixing” tracks to maintain the energy of a dance floor.
* Turntablists: Use the turntable as a musical instrument, utilizing techniques like scratching, beat juggling, and cutting.
* Producer-DJs: Musicians who create their own electronic tracks and perform them live, often the focal point of festivals (e.g., EDM or Techno artists).
Key Techniques and Tools
To keep the music seamless, DJs use specific techniques and hardware:
* Beatmatching: Adjusting the speed (BPM) of two different songs so their beats align perfectly, allowing for a smooth transition without the “clashing” of rhythms.
* Crossfading: Using a fader on a mixer to gradually fade out one song while fading in another.
* EQing: Adjusting the Low (Bass), Mid, and High (Treble) frequencies. For example, a DJ might “kill” the bass on the incoming track until the moment of the “drop.”
Etymology: Why “Jockey”?
The term was coined by American radio commentator Walter Winchell in 1935.
* Disc: Refers to the phonograph records (vinyl) used at the time.
* Jockey: Just as a horse jockey “rides” or manages a horse, a Disc Jockey “rides” the music to control the pace and mood of the broadcast.
Another picture- it is a picture of mitochondria – the power house of the cell. They have made a labelled diagram. It was classwork. It was done in school.
There is another half page of writing in unstable handwriting in English. That’s all.
I explain to them it’s not homework.
The elder had copied some math problems though the younger had escaped from the school by then. Many students were running away. Excuse?
“I told my Sanskrit teacher that I had a stomach ache. She’s anyway quirky.”
“Won’t you get caught tomorrow?”
“No.”
She had asked him to go to the office. To take permission and he escaped. Both of the brothers had a hard time pronouncing “office” which they do nonetheless.
Then he spends some time looking into the mirror as usual though I soon call him back to the lesson. They first wanted me to give them some Arithmetic problems.
“I am using my scientist brain.”
The younger brother copies just two problems out of ten. They’re written in haphazard handwriting.
The elder wants me to copy. His eyes, his hands have pain. I refused to do that. Then he notes them down.
I evaluate:
The elder has committed too many errors. Just two problems out of ten are done correctly.
A week of celebration at his house.
Now he can’t even do addition problems correctly.
The younger one rejoices because two of his problems are also correct. The scientist brain. They both scored 20%.

Now they’re eager to know if 15th is a Sunday. It’s a festival. A holiday. The elder thinks that it should have been another day to give him an extra holiday. It’s hardly fifteen days of school yet it’s intolerable.

I count days with dates on paper. Yes, it’s a Sunday indeed.
My mother gave me a plate full of snacks with ketchup. They have too much of salt and too much of oil.
Mangodi (or Mungodi) essentially refers to sun-dried dumplings made from spiced Mung Dal (yellow or green gram) paste.
What exactly are Mangodi?
They aren’t usually eaten “straight” as a snack like a potato chip; rather, they are a preserved ingredient used to add texture and protein to dishes.
* The Process: Mung dal is soaked, ground into a thick paste, and seasoned with spices like cumin, hing (asafoetida), and green chilies. Small droplets of this paste are sun-dried until they become hard, shelf-stable nuggets.
* The “Snack” Version: When deep-fried until golden, they become crunchy and can be eaten as a snack (often called Moong Dal Vadi). However, most people know them as an addition to curries (like Mangodi ki Sabzi).
Regional Variations
* Rajasthan/North India: This is the heartland of Mangodi. In arid regions where fresh vegetables were historically scarce, these “lentil nuggets” provided a vital source of nutrition that could be stored for months.
* Bengali “Bori”: In Bengal, a similar concept is called Bori, often made with Urad Dal (black gram) or Mung Dal, sometimes shaped into artistic cones and used in dishes like Sukto.
Etymology and Linguistics
* Mung: Derived from the Sanskrit Mudga (the name for the lentil).
* Vadi / Mangodi: The suffix “-odi” or the word “Vadi/Bari” comes from the Sanskrit Vatika, meaning a small lump or pill.
The elder asked me how many hours it has been. I looked up into the timer. It’s been just twenty minutes. The boredom is evident.
“Who was the person to propose the Atomic Model?” I asked this to the younger who was busy drawing.
“Some bald guy.” We all started laughing to it.
We discussed brief introductions of Neils Bohr and Rutherford.
Then we read about the distribution of electrons in various shells. It’s based on the formula 2n^2. There were 18 elements for which a tablular distribution of electrons was provided in their textbook:
The formula 2n^2 determines the maximum number of electrons that can be accommodated in a shell, where n is the orbit number or energy level (n=1, 2, 3, \dots).
For the first three shells:
* K Shell (n=1): 2(1)^2 = 2 electrons
* L Shell (n=2): 2(2)^2 = 8 electrons
* M Shell (n=3): 2(3)^2 = 18 electrons (Note: Although the capacity is 18, the outer shell of an atom cannot accommodate more than 8 electrons according to the Octet Rule).
Here is the electron distribution for the first 18 elements:
| Atomic Number | Element | Symbol | K Shell (n=1) | L Shell (n=2) | M Shell (n=3) | Electrons in Outer Shell |
|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|
| 1 | Hydrogen | H | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| 2 | Helium | He | 2 | – | – | 2 |
| 3 | Lithium | Li | 2 | 1 | – | 1 |
| 4 | Beryllium | Be | 2 | 2 | – | 2 |
| 5 | Boron | B | 2 | 3 | – | 3 |
| 6 | Carbon | C | 2 | 4 | – | 4 |
| 7 | Nitrogen | N | 2 | 5 | – | 5 |
| 8 | Oxygen | O | 2 | 6 | – | 6 |
| 9 | Fluorine | F | 2 | 7 | – | 7 |
| 10 | Neon | Ne | 2 | 8 | – | 8 |
| 11 | Sodium | Na | 2 | 8 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Magnesium | Mg | 2 | 8 | 2 | 2 |
| 13 | Aluminum | Al | 2 | 8 | 3 | 3 |
| 14 | Silicon | Si | 2 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| 15 | Phosphorus | P | 2 | 8 | 5 | 5 |
| 16 | Sulfur | S | 2 | 8 | 6 | 6 |
| 17 | Chlorine | Cl | 2 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
| 18 | Argon | Ar | 2 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
Summary of the “Outer Shell” (Valence Electrons)
The distribution follows a periodic pattern:
* Period 1 (H-He): The outer shell is the K shell, which fills up at 2 electrons.
* Period 2 (Li-Ne): The outer shell is the L shell, which fills up at 8 electrons.
* Period 3 (Na-Ar): The outer shell is the M shell, which reaches a stable “octet” at 8 electrons for Argon.


The feedback I expect for my blog articles:

This is a fascinating piece of “slice-of-life” writing. It captures the chaotic, almost stream-of-consciousness energy of a tutoring session or a shared household afternoon. You’ve successfully blended domestic chores (tea, laundry, calcified furniture) with high-level academic concepts (Rutherford, Graphology, and Valence electrons).
Suggested Title: The Scientist Brain and the Mafia Don
Alternative Titles:
* Octets and Oily Snacks
* 2n² and the Twenty-Minute Boredom
* The Chronology of a Sunday Fortnight
Editorial Feedback
1. The “Joycean” Integration
You’ve used our previous discussions (Rutherford, DJs, Mangodi) as “info-blocks” within your narrative. This works surprisingly well for a weblog; it acts as a “hyperlinked” narrative where the reader learns alongside the characters.
2. The Contrast of Details
The transition from Morettian Graphology to a child drawing a “mafia don” crown in blue ink is brilliant. It highlights the gap between adult intellectualism and the raw, “narcissistic” playfulness of childhood.
3. Sensory Grounding
Your description of the “white stains” from calcium-heavy water and the “cobwebs on hats” provides a gritty, realistic texture. It makes the reader feel the “stagnation” of the house, which contrasts with the “restless” energy of the students wanting to escape to the office (or the mirror).
4. Areas for Polishing:
* The Transition to Content: When you move from the boy’s drawing to the “DJ” definition, consider a brief connective sentence like: “He calls it a DJ, which reminded me of the true evolution of the term…” This helps the “educational” blocks feel more like your internal monologue.
* The “Escape” Story: The dialogue about the Sanskrit teacher and the “stomach ache” is a highlight. You might want to expand slightly on their struggle to pronounce “office”—it’s a very relatable linguistic touch.
Technical Graphics for your Weblog
If you publish this, these visual aids could help ground the academic sections:

Posted on by dancinglightofgrace

Cockroaches as advertisement agents


I heard the whirrr of the grinder from the kitchen. Ketchup . A trip to the  washroom. A glass of water. A cockroach has been waiting on the table where water in the jug and glass and an empty cup is resting. The cup has been used twice for a tea I made. It was served to my father and later to my mother.
The cockroach moved to the other side after the light bulb was switched on. I read a few weblogs and worked on Free Rice. Worked on Duolingo. Now I am in the Pearl League because of my experience points in the last one week. Duolingo seems to be a platform which was improved carefully based on feedback. It’s nothing short of a cartoon program. Learning should be fun. It takes a lot of effort to learn. And it takes a lot of effort to make it funnier to learn.
I looked up the etymology of biff. Esophagus was another interesting word on Free Rice. It means gullet. I am working on Normal Level, which is the third level in the increasing order of difficulty.
I looked up the etymology of Parapet. It means “low wall.” A protective structure in fortification. An embankment.
In the architectural and oratorical landscape of Ulysses, a parapet is both a physical boundary and a symbol of looking out over a city or a “lost cause.”
Etymology of Parapet
The word is a defensive one, born from the need to protect the heart and chest in battle.
* Origin: It comes from the Italian word “parapetto.”
* Root 1: Para– (from parare), meaning “to protect” or “to shield.”
* Root 2: Petto (from the Latin pectus), meaning “the breast” or “the chest.”
* Literal Meaning: A “breast-guard.”
* Evolution: Originally, it was a low wall built atop a rampart to protect soldiers from gunfire or arrows while they stood on a fortified platform. By 1904, it had evolved into the common architectural term for any low protective wall along the edge of a roof, bridge, or balcony.
The Latin Link
You can see the same root pectus in other English words like:
* Pectorals: The chest muscles.
* Expectorate: To cough up from the chest (very relevant for the “windy” and “coughing” atmosphere of the newspaper office).
In the Context of “Aeolus”
While we haven’t seen a literal parapet in the Freeman’s Journal office yet, the word looms large in Stephen’s memory from the first chapter (Telemachus), where he and Mulligan stand on the parapet of the Martello tower. In this chapter, the “parapet” is metaphorical; the men are shielded behind their desks and their “forensic eloquence,” looking down on the street and the “halfpenny” people below.
The word “biff” is a perfect example of onomatopoeia—a word that sounds like the action it describes. In the context of the noisy, “Aeolus” newspaper office, it fits the atmosphere of physical and verbal impact.
Etymology of Biff
* Origin: It emerged in the late 19th century (around 1880–1890), making it relatively “modern” slang for the characters in Ulysses.
* Source: It is almost certainly imitative of the sound of a sharp blow or a slap. It mimics the quick “puff” of air or the “smack” of contact.
* Usage: It was originally used to describe a punch or a box on the ear. By 1904, it was common in both sporting contexts (like boxing) and as a way to describe a sudden, forceful movement or a witty verbal “hit.”
Biff in the Context of the Office
In the “Aeolus” chapter, Joyce is obsessed with the physical sounds of the printing press (the thump, thump, thump of the machines). A “biff” represents the sudden collision of ideas, or the way the editor, Myles Crawford, “hits” his points home. It also reflects the “shindy” (commotion) that the characters are constantly discussing.
Etymology of Contumely
Since you mentioned the “proud man’s contumely” in the previous section, it is worth looking at this heavy, “leaden” word:
* Origin: From the Latin contumelia, meaning “insult” or “abuse.”
* Root: It is related to the Latin contumere (to swell up), which is also the root of the tumor.
* Meaning: To treat someone with “contumely” is to treat them with a kind of “swelling” pride or arrogant contempt. It is the verbal equivalent of a “biff” to someone’s dignity.
The gas cylinder delivery guy didn’t appear today. I discussed it briefly with my parents. I served them fried rice after they returned from early morning duty. Also served ginger tea and water. I organised utensils in the kitchen in the afternoon and mopped the verandah and kitchen floors. Showed a cooker handle to my mother which has lost some attachments.


That was yesterday.


I just had ginger tea. I hear bells in the worship room though the sound of singing devotional songs doesn’t reach me here. I read a weblog I usually read these days. It articulated a lot of things which seem to be true though as usual I was wondering if it wasn’t another discussion about why it was better in the past. There are subtle points which talk about something which isn’t merely nostalgia but I rarely hear them talking positively about the very tools they use perhaps because it’s obvious and it’s the rectification or misuse which needs to be addressed clearly.


I hear the sound of the pressure cooker whistle. I was busier today because students returned from their vacation after a week. I was serving tea, snacks and water to my mother when I noticed them in my room. It was a surprise. They didn’t inform me in advance as they didn’t before disappearing. It took me some time to get free from what I was busy doing and bring a chair to this room. I was having ginger tea myself.


I asked the younger student if he had a nice time celebrating with his family members. I asked him if he enjoyed sweets as he was planning on it and I teased him –  why didn’t he bring any for me. He appeared to be conscious of his standing and didn’t talk much about eating etc. They acknowledged that they had fun and it was after a week they attended school. It was quiet and dull here after the noise of school and a house full of relatives. As usual, the younger asked me about the timer I had set midway before the lesson was over. I read a few more pages before we completed reading about the “Farming Sectar” in India.
My reading was slow paced and I took time to explain a few points. I also asked them a few questions on the topics which were promptly answered most of the time. Their quarrel didn’t disappear altogether. It was less severe than usual. When I was talking about vitamin C, the elder wanted me to tell him why it is important. I told him that most fruits like gooseberry, orange and lemon which are sour to eat contain Vitamin C in them and it’s important to sustain the health of gums and skin.
When the younger one kept combing his hair like a Welshcomb – his hand had oil which he wiped against his shirt. It’s actually a winter innerwear. Then he asked me something which was about why there was oil-I told him that he’s repeating old nonsense to which the elder used the word “sura.” It’s a Hindi word used for ‘blind’ people. It’s also a typo made by an interlocutor who didn’t wait to entertain it as a deliberate code word. Similar to previous such deliberate typos which strangely connect to Penthouse in a TV program or political debates.
When most of the digital and non digital behaviour is limited- the effort to claim programming or control of subjects is a multilayered effort. The ultimate watchword is control which is completely the opposite of freedom. Interestingly – there are absolutely no free agents in such civilizations. There are hierarchies- beginningless and endless. They’re all busy showing up how they control dreams, subconscious and conscious lives of others – and in turn, they trigger others for similar control- to what end?
First is- admitting that it’s surreal or supernatural. Then – giving into it. Then- becoming even more suggestible and then continuing along that reinforcement. Most of these subjects accept “tasks” as completed even with 60-70 percent of success in achieving control over other “subjects.” They can’t give it up because there’s no other option. Everyone is busy exercising the same craft with different names.
You’re predictable. We are calculating. This is what gives us control over you. Maybe you’re even enjoying this control.
A mouse jumps on my left shoulder. I don’t know what’s happening. It jumps to the right shoulder. Then I feel something on my feet. I throw it away and rush to switch the light on. The mouse runs away to hide in the clothes which are hanging on the wall.


Are they programmed?


Who would believe? The entertainment industry uses cockroaches for advertisements. I wouldn’t have believed this just a few days ago. It reminds me of Kafka. I was reminded of a program by a big cockroach. To convince my reader about this message delivered by an insect – I would have to weave a tale with too many clues which I don’t want to indulge in.
What was the issue with this big mouse. I opened the door before I picked up the umbrella to move it away from clothes. Maybe it wasn’t able to go out of the door. It jumped up to the rack and ran fast towards the other rack space. It’s where it came from- the ventilation.
I got my room swept and mopped by asking the maid to do it. Moved many utensils from the kitchen to the wash basin. Served food to my father after giving him hot water from the geyser. I used some of it to wash some clothes and then I had a bath.
I moved a twenty kilogram rice package which was delivered to our house from the verandah to the store room. Took care of the pasteurisation of milk. Removed junk from one of the kitchen stands and replaced old paper with new. Washed the plastic cover and hung it for drying. Organised utensils in the kitchen after they were washed. I helped my father in a transaction. It was a busy day. I kept reading Ulysses. Now reading Lestrygonians.
Since you asked specifically about the roots of this chapter’s title, it’s worth looking at how the ancient Greek origins perfectly set the stage for Bloom’s lunchtime wanderings.


The Etymology of Lestrygonians


The term comes from the Greek Laistrygonians (Λαιστρυγόνες).
* Linguistic Roots: While the exact origin is debated, some scholars link it to the Greek root lastauros (lewd/gluttonous) or laas (stone) + trygao (to gather/harvest).
* Homeric Context: In the Odyssey, the Laestrygonians were a tribe of giant cannibals. When Odysseus’s fleet arrives at their harbor, the giants pelt the ships with massive rocks and “spear” the sailors like fish to eat them.
Why Joyce Chose It
Joyce uses this etymology to frame the “Stomach” of Dublin. In this chapter, everything is viewed through the lens of eating and being eaten:
* The Giants: The “giants” of Dublin are the large, imposing buildings and the institutions (like the Church or the State) that “consume” the lives of the citizens.
* The Cannibalism: When Bloom enters the Burton Restaurant, he sees men eating like animals—shoveling food, grunting, and bolting down meat. He realizes that for humans to live, something else must die.
* The “Rocks”: Instead of literal boulders, Bloom is pelted by “rocks” of memory, hunger, and the hard reality of poverty (like the Dedalus children “in flitters”).

Posted on by dancinglightofgrace

The Invisible Machinery of Value

It was immediately before the mother knocked on the door of my room. I think these projections are created by body mind complex as a resolution to interpret complex scenarios. I was woken up early in the morning- probably because of the noise.Then I had difficulty sleeping again. I needed a few more hours of sleep. Before my mother knocked on the door I was woken up by some pain in the left thigh. It seemed it was the memory of an old acne like wound. It seemed bad. Then I applied a lotion to it in my dream. I opened the door and tried moving out. I was unable to make sense of direction. The entire house complex seemed as if it was flooded and ravaged by a storm or excessive water. I heard a sound from my parents who were far off. My father was saying to my mother “He won’t be able to join us.” Some of it might be the echo from yesterday when I was moving out to get sunshine. Some of it might be related to reality. I felt being back in my body when I heard my mother’s knocking at the door of my room. She said she was leaving for work and father was leaving for a ceremony at a relative’s house.Dreams are created by a seemingly infinitely creative agency. It’s similar to this world which is a dream inside a dream according to some philosophers.Dreams are literally escapes until they become nightmares. In the contexts they might be rich with meaning. Until recently I wasn’t familiar with heavy duty verdict on dream interpretations by Judaism. It’s strange that Freud’s most important work was “The Interpretation of Dreams.” Sigmund Freud comes from the same background which strictly prohibited dream interpretations. Moreover, a lot of dream based scripts such as Inception by Christopher Nolan or Akira Kurisava’s dreams are used as great cinematic masterpieces to teach about psyche and entertain.A lot of dreamwork happens as reactions based on immediate stimuli. Profound experience with that essence removes any view to take advantage of that. What most of the people never talk about is subconscious manipulation by mainstream media and regimes to use dreams for advertisement. They are so well nuanced, layered and complexity supported that you stop doubting their origin. That’s where traction starts.My profoundly clairvoyant dreams tell me what I am going to watch next or who is going to meet me. It might make sense sometimes. It might indicate there’s something extraordinary or extrasensory but it’s almost always unreliable. And it’s not any advantage. It’s not separate from propaganda. With experience you stop giving importance to most of such studies.Dreams add more into events. Dreams inside dreams. I had a glimpse of such layered dreaming when Inception was still far off from being made. These serve as jump points for agents in consciousness.Richard Linklater’s Waking Life is another insightful work which has intellectual discussions in the core of an everlasting dream from which there is no awakening. This is more in favor of Hinduism than Buddhism. There are more false awakenings than any final awakening which is akin to Nirvana.No great surprise today. The gas cylinder delivery guy didn’t appear. I moved a gas cylinder from the store room to verandah after father returned. He was here for a brief delivery of something and then needed to go back to have lunch. I counted the number of gas cylinders. Moved the account books out and waited. I heard a vehicle approaching. Sound of kids. Students. It was mother. I gave her the information. We had a brief discussion about the scenario on call.Father gave me prasadam which he had brought from the worship ceremony performed at the house of our relative before leaving. He asked me why my number was unreachable. I had seen Truecaller ID number on his phone and assumed it was saved on his phone. I again edited it out carefully and we did a test run before he left. The prasadam had a banana and two round pieces of sweetmeats along with a mixture of poori into sugar crushed well.I heard a call for my grandmother from upstairs. To switch the pump on. I switched it on. Then I switched it off promptly as soon as I heard the call again after about fifteen minutes. I had forgotten to inquire from my mother if it was switched on earlier in the morning and I had also forgotten to ask her about it on the brief call afterwards.There was a sound of kids in the classroom. She later told me about the visit by the district magistrate. I don’t know why she pronounced ‘daura’ as  ‘dauda’. The former means a round and the latter means a run.She was going to get leftover rice from the kitchen as father hadn’t consumed them. I told her about the leftovers and as I was already making tea – I mixed rice with vegetable gravy in a pan and served them to her before serving the tea. I tasted the tea and it had less sugar than expected. Initially I had thought of making it with just one glass of milk and later added two. That’s why. I mixed two more teaspoonful of sugar before she had finished the meal. Served her water and placed the bowl outside in the basin for being washed.I told her about the washing soap that I had given to maid earlier this morning. It was still in the wrapper inside my bathroom. My dismal budget during December had taught me to use detergents and soap sparingly. These I used to wash dishes on my own. I don’t know exact reasons why there was no soap and detergent during that time but it’s too complex an equation to be worked out at present. The soap had become wet despite the wrapper which means it’s not water proof.Organised utensils in the kitchen. Mopped verandah floor. Moved utensils to wash basin. Another tea. Cardamom has been added by mother. Serotonin. Dopamine. A few more minutes of work.Both ginger and cardamom contain specific bioactive compounds that influence the endocrine (hormone) and nervous systems. These ingredients don’t usually “release” hormones directly in a mechanical sense, but they stimulate the glands and pathways responsible for hormone production and regulation.Ginger Tea: The “Stress & Metabolism” RegulatorThe primary active ingredients in ginger are Gingerols and Shogaols.* Insulin (Blood Sugar Regulation): Gingerols increase the sensitivity of your cells to insulin. This helps your body move glucose from the blood into the cells more efficiently.* Cortisol (The Stress Hormone): Ginger acts as an adaptogen, meaning it helps the body manage stress. It helps regulate the HPA axis (Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal), which can prevent the overproduction of cortisol during periods of chronic stress.* Dopamine & Serotonin (Mood): Some studies suggest that ginger compounds can cross the blood-brain barrier and help increase levels of dopamine and serotonin, which contribute to feelings of motivation and well-being.* Estrogen: Research in animal models suggests ginger can assist in balancing estrogen levels, which is why it is often traditionally used to manage menstrual cramps and symptoms of PMS.Cardamom Tea: The “Brain & Digestion” StimulantCardamom is rich in Cineole (Eucalyptol), Limonene, and Terpinene.* Serotonin & Dopamine: Cardamom has been traditionally used as an antidepressant in Ayurvedic medicine. Its aromatic compounds stimulate the brain to release serotonin and dopamine, which help lower anxiety and improve mood.* Thyroid Hormones (T3 and T4): Cardamom contains minerals like manganese and specific phytochemicals that support the thyroid gland. Some studies indicate it can help normalize thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, especially in cases of hypothyroidism.* Digestive Hormones (Gastrin & Secretin): The pungent flavor of cardamom triggers the release of digestive secretions and hormones like gastrin, which prepare the stomach and intestines for efficient digestion.Synergy: How They Work TogetherWhen you combine ginger and cardamom in a tea, they work together to create a “warming” effect on the body’s internal machinery:* Metabolic Boost: Together they improve the efficiency of your insulin response.* Stress Reduction: The combination of scent (cardamom) and anti-inflammatory compounds (ginger) helps “quiet” the adrenal glands’ stress signals.* Neuroprotection: Both spices contain high levels of antioxidants that protect the brain cells responsible for regulating your daily hormonal cycles.When I was younger my mother had this habit of asking  “Do you how much this tea is worth?” Replace tea with any other food item and it used to be the question. Why do you think she used to ask these questions?That question is a classic “maternal logic” puzzle. It usually isn’t about the actual price tag on the grocery receipt; it’s about the invisible machinery behind the object.Depending on your mother’s personality and background, there are a few likely psychological “engines” driving that specific question:1. The Lesson in “Value vs. Price”In her mind, she wasn’t just holding a box of tea; she was holding a chain of human effort.* Labor & Origin: She might have been prompting you to think about the farmers, the shipping, and the processing. Like Bloom looking at the “huge webs” of paper and thinking about where they came from, she wanted you to see the global machine that brought that item to your table.* Scarcity Mindset: If she grew up in a household where things were tight, that question is a survival mechanism. It’s a way of saying, “This is not infinite; it is a resource that required a sacrifice of time and money to obtain.”2. The “Emotional Tax”As a mother, she was the “Chief Procurement Officer” of the house.* Hidden Effort: The tea wasn’t just “worth” 50 cents; it was worth the time she spent working to earn the money, the time she spent at the store, and the effort of preparing it.* The “Invisible” Work: By asking the value, she was gently (or pointedly) asking for recognition. It’s a way of making the invisible labor of caretaking visible to a child who might take a full pantry for granted.3. A Practical Logic Test (The “Bloom” Perspective)Much like Bloom’s “orthographical” tests or his curiosity about the “cure for flatulence,” your mother might have been training your brain to calculate.* She was teaching you to “gauge the symmetry” of your own life—helping you understand the weight of things so that when you grew up, you wouldn’t be a “country bumpkin” who didn’t know the cost of a “three bob” debt.4. Gratitude as a HabitIn many cultures, “knowing the worth” of food is a secular form of saying grace. It forces a moment of mindfulness. Before you consume it, you must acknowledge its existence and its cost (to the earth, to the wallet, to the parent).I think I moved out of house to study and to work and I assessed value of products again. Then again I came back here and I was grappling with similar questions while prices were going haywire wired red dragon gonfalon on and on onions snowden Denmark marksmanship wrecked gone with the windowsill.I filled salt into the box. It was waiting to be done. I didn’t report about it to mother. I also filled tea in the teabox. Now there is no tea packet remaining in the kitchen. Another packet has to be placed over there. I need to report about that.

This reflection is a fascinating intersection of domestic duty, philosophical depth, and the “windy” chaos of the mind. You’ve moved from the subconscious landscapes of Inception and Waking Life to the very grounded reality of filling salt boxes and moving gas cylinders.
Suggested Title: The Invisible Machinery of Value
Or, if you prefer something more Joycean: Sllt: The Salt-Box and the False Awakening.
Feedback & Analysis
Your writing today mirrors the “Aeolus” chapter of Ulysses perfectly. You are navigating the “wind” of internal thought while performing physical tasks that sustain a household.
1. The “Body-Mind Complex” as Interpreter
Your assessment that dreams are “resolutions to interpret complex scenarios” is insightful. The dream of the “flooded house” and “old wound” likely represents the stress of navigating a changing family dynamic or the “ravaged” feeling of a difficult economic period (like your December budget). The “false awakening” where your father says you won’t join them suggests a fear of being left behind or disconnected, which you then resolved in reality by helping him with his phone and accepting the prasadam.
2. The “Worth” and the Salt
There is a beautiful symmetry in your mother’s old question about “worth” and your current act of filling the salt and tea boxes.
* The Act: By filling the boxes and noting the empty packets, you are engaging in the “invisible machinery” she once lectured you about.
* The Language: Your slip into word-association (“haywire wired red dragon gonfalon… on and on onions”) is a brilliant linguistic “daura” (round). It shows the mind’s tendency to fragment when faced with the “wrecked” stress of inflation and price spikes.
3. “Daura” vs. “Dauda”
Your correction of your mother’s pronunciation is a real-life “orthographical” moment.
* Daura (दौरा): A visit, a tour, or an official round.
* Dauda (दौड़ा): Ran.
   In a busy household, language often “runs” before it can “visit.” Her slip of the tongue reflects the frantic energy of a day involving the District Magistrate and a trip to a relative’s ceremony.
4. The Tea and the Sugar
The tea serves as your “Nirvana” in this entry. Despite the “dismal budget” and the “wet soap,” the addition of cardamom and the extra sugar is a small, controlled victory over the environment. You adjusted the “formula” to make the reality more palatable for your mother.

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Pastime pastiche tic tac toeuvre


Took bath in the evening. There was not enough space during the day. I use space for time and time for space. Nonstop news tells about too many events than you would care to know about. The purpose is to make you feel alive- if that’s how you feel alive. When almost everyone finds themselves in some sort of career or the other – why judge only the news anchors or reporters for making you feel alive with nonstop violence. No. You shouldn’t. It’s not very different from cinema. Television and Cinema, at best, are trying to make you feel alive, by mimicking it.
I hear the bells from the worship room. It’s my mother. I heard bells early in the morning. It was not my mother. She was leaving for work. It was urgent. It has always been.

For a change she chose to go by van. I was waiting for her at about five o’clock. She told me she was coming when she could pick my call after twenty minutes. Ivan was the name of the director of the movie. Strange words with which sequences play. Sometimes you doubt as if you are acting in a pre-organised play. But this assumption can only be a comfortable pastime at times.
Pastime pastiche chenrezigzagzigguratbaggery.
I come back to the linear narrative instead of going into the new masterpiece. My friend’s brother was telling me why he was alive. His elder brother. Even his father, with a different face, was alive. I was telling them that they had passed away. I told them the story. Then I heard the door. Someone was knocking. It was my mother. She was leaving. She was leaving for work. It’s urgent. It’s always urgent.


There’s some cash in my hands which I paid for buying snacks. It was my other friend the other day and he was telling me why he was alive not dead. Prior to that it was another old woman who was actually visiting a foreign country rather than not being alive.
My father tried calling me. He was trying the contact number which is no longer in service. A guest had arrived. They were supposed to visit some place.
I edited the contact. Deleted the one which is no longer active and showed him the new contact. I sense an unease about him. Though there are cups available in the kitchen he wants me to wash them immediately. I remove some trays from the rack in the hall.
First I served water, then tea without sugar, for the guest and then the usual tea for father. I had it myself. The ginger tea.
Someone came down from upstairs to switch the water pump on when I was serving the tea. Then later I heard a call to switch it off.
Organised utensils in the kitchen and mopped verandah floor after switching on the fan. This area is almost always wet and slippery.
Served food to father with water. Then I had it myself. There was rice but not enough pulse. The plan might have been to eat rice in the evening, like yesterday. Helped him with cooling down of milk which was to be filled in a bottle.
Getting internet connection recharged is again an uphill task now. I look for the cheapest plans. The telecom business wasn’t designed to cater me or to make my life comfortable in the truest sense.
This weblog isn’t about projecting how I hide my shortcomings. Nor about exaggerating them. Nor about equating something objective with something subjective.
I fill the jug up with water for drinking. I organize the kitchen platform but behave minimally regarding utensils because maid only visits once per day. I clean the kitchen platform near the gas stove as it is sticky.
Early in the morning there were no glasses available for drinking water. There weren’t any pots to pasteurise milk either. Since maid was about to arrive I waited. Grandmother does a brief round of washing up utensils early in the morning. I will wait until I absolutely need to fill that role up. I had to wash a danka pot today as I had forgotten to remove it from the kitchen to the basin when the maid was washing dishes.
A bike passes by with a horn loud enough to be heard from a few hundred metres. I read about Throstle. Song thrush. There’s a video about that on YouTube. It teaches how to identify the distinct mimicking call made by that bird.
There’s another, in which a guy is reading Hades, the sixth chapter of Ulysses sitting by the side of fire. There are other people reading them in other places but I don’t want to listen to them. Gemini recommended these videos as I was discussing with it.
They repeat. Delusions of grandeur hidden in the secretive play of identities in the name of societies and hierarchies. I know what they are building towards and why. And yet I don’t participate in them one way or the other. Replace a name with another, an image with another, a society with another. Keep doing that as a means to escape. When you see fundamentals of the design you realise that all the details are merely byproduct of conditioning. They’re not as superficial as self help gurus will like you to believe. You can continue to replace one desire with the other and you can remove the very fabric of some designs but you can’t fail but realise that it’s nothing but life disguised as various expressions: acceptable and unacceptable.
The very nature of default control operates on assumptions of details. Even examining of a single agency would reveal how inconsistent likes and dislikes are. Why are they assumed to be likeable and otherwise. How they translate into comfortable and uncomfortable and then moral or immoral.
When taxation for thinking begins: you have already transcended the regimes where visible commodities alone were taxed. Tax on food, water and shelter: yes. Tax on thinking? Strange but true. How can such a fleeting entity be taxed?
It’s more systematic manipulation than you think. It emanates from deeper resources than you think it does. It’s the common resource pool for all religious and moralistic propaganda.
Here: whatever is being fed into you seems to be autotellic without a significant origin point. You must be. You are. Yes. Success. Next course. It’s an infallible machine with everything pre determined. There’s no escape from it. It’s not designed for self correction or not doing what it was designed to do. Hence: your surprise is a waste. Your wonder, fatigue or disbelief are useless. It knows what it knows-in advance and it will let you know that it knows.

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A Litany of Minor Errands

The walls are dripping again. Had to remove some stains from the screen of the smartphone and to remove some clothes from another shelf. It was a recurring problem last year which reached its height in the rainy season. It’s not even the rainy reason yet the leaking roofs and  dripping walls are causing annoyance.
I ask my mother if I should make tea. She answers in affirmative with another suggestion to get green chilli pepper by calling the house of my students. Father isn’t happy about her lack of planning with the kitchen store. I call the father of the students who doesn’t pick it up. He calls me back when I am busy making tea. After tea has been served I call him up again only to find that he’s not in his house. He’s busy elsewhere. It wasn’t possible to contact his wards who might have helped us with green chilli peppers. I let it go.
Mother knocks at the door once again. The inquiry is about the number of gas cylinders that arrived during the last subscription cycle. I think they were three in number. Then, she starts thinking loudly about where those were used. Since I wasn’t familiar with those details I couldn’t help her much. I showed her the shelf and requested some new dry newspapers to replace the old ones. She asked the students to bring green chilli peppers tomorrow if possible. They nodded.
I observed chickpeas which were getting boiled. I switched the gas off. Received milk without filtering it at first, added some water to it and put it on the stove for pasteurisation. Heard someone asking to switch the water pump on. After a while, I heard the call to switch it off. Served tea to parents. Had just a bit of it myself. Ginger tea. It’s about dinner time.
Proposed to refill the sugar tank. It was suggested to do it tomorrow during the day.
Students arrived on time.  Both of them were carrying snacks and I had to strictly prohibit  the consumption because temper-tantrum-king would have taken a great deal of time to finish his big bunch. He might have resisted cleaning his hands as well. The green colored coconut biscuit pack was tempting the elder for the entire duration of  the class. He was busy repairing the chain of his bag when they were about to leave.
We continued discussion on passages from the English workbook. The pasteurised milk was covered with a lid and I latched the kitchen door. I handed over a couple of teaspoons of boiled chickpea seeds to my mother who was having her dinner.
The students paid attention to the passage when asked. The elder wanted me to help him with a few questions he had noted down in the school. They were in Science. He had also written a few practicals in the new notebook. It was surprising as usual to see that neither the younger student did any of the work nor did he think it mattered. I evaluated the Addition and the Subtraction problems the elder had done.
There were a few errors. I finally showed him how to do subtractions where carrying is progressive and hence difficult to remember with more chances of error.
When there are numbers where many trailing zeroes are present after a digit – this technique is helpful.
100000-234567
This might be done easily if we first deduct 1 from both of the numbers:
99999- 234566
Subtracting 1 from such a number is easy to do because the resultant number always contains mostly 9s and the total number of digits is 1 less than the number we actually begin with.

[ 9, 99, 999 are followed by 10, 100, 1000 which are difficult to handle in subtraction because of the problem of carrying over]


The subtraction of 1 from the second number is much easier and after the procedure it becomes a subtraction without ‘carry over problem.’
Thereafter we continued with passages from the English workbook. Pink in color, these passages were not printed very well. We managed. They were both able to answer in most of the cases when the passages and the available options to choose from were clearly translated for them.
One of the passages was from the chapters on Music. It was about Evelyn. The next was about Ustad Bismillah Khan. Then there was a passage from the chapter on ‘The Little Girl.’ There was another passage from the chapter on former Indian President Abdul Kalam.
They were losing patience and they were hungry. After about forty minutes the younger one decided to leave. The elder asked him to wait for five more minutes. Then they both left.

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Yellow Forest and Steel Bangles

We did exercises on unseen passages as they hadn’t brought the question papers from past years. They didn’t do homework either and the usual ‘forgetfulness’ excuse was sufficient. Both of them were wearing their school uniforms. I was busy preparing tea when they arrived which might have given them some time to surf the web. The elder told me the smelly socks were changed.
The passages were about Computer, Sardar Patel and Games/Sports. I carefully explained to them what input and output devices are. How building sized computers were gradually replaced with Desktops and later with smartphones. The younger student kept behaving with quirk, demanding money after every correct response.
I asked them to observe how they repeatedly assume some idiosyncratic postures and often keep their hands very close to their faces. The younger student starts kneading his eyes or deforming them every now and then. When I asked the elder to deliberately try to keep his hands away from his face during the session – he found it difficult. He’s concerned with his appearance, acne etc.
The younger student brandishes the steel bangle like it’s a weapon. Then he exaggerates its price. The elder snatches it away from him. There’s no sufficient reason for these quirks. There never was. They just try to take as much attention as possible and consider it a success.
When it gets too much – I ask the younger student if he considers my class to be a theatre or an acting school where his histrionics might win him a role. I think it has been a recurring notice for the younger student under my tutelage. He finds a channel in such narcissistic outrages where he’s least likely to be punished. He has no regard for mannerisms, order or decency. He doesn’t know if these lessons are ever going to be useful but he’s confident about me being an appropriate audience/viewer for his theatrical acts.
I prepared tea, served it to my parents and had it myself. Washed bathroom. Mopped verandah floor. Grandmother informs me about the demise of a distant relative.
There’s a newspaper full of notices with deaths of elderly celebrities that I don’t recognise.
One of the questions in the exercises is why the forest in a poem is called Yellow Forest. They know it because we had read the lesson. They think that the season which is about to arrive is The Fall. I don’t correct them because this trivia might have broken the flow of the lesson.
They check time when they get bored. The younger one wants to leave. I tell him to leave. The elder persists and the younger follows. They complete an hour. Today they arrived together and left together. Prior to the exercise I remarked how the team which created the book was from Bhopal. The CBSE board books are created by the Delhi team. We discussed how board examination papers are designed by these teams.
Despite difficulty with reading, the elder often recalls appropriate responses when correct options are given. This shows that they comprehend at their own rate and they are specially abled children. Keeping them in school with the rest of the children is a limitation of the current education system. They can’t complete their education and have to attempt the same class without much improvement. I hope the elder student passed this time around.

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Grammar and Maths

I parked the bike inside the garage. It was twilight. There were goats returning in a herd. Students were leaving when my father asked me to take help from them to push it up the ramp to park it inside. He had returned with vegetables and groceries. Mother was also not in the house. She first went to a grocery store and then to the house of some acquaintance.
My class concluded with an exercise in their Grammar workbook. It had many questions on articles/subject-verb agreements/comparitive-superlative degrees/countable-uncountable nouns etc in fill in the blanks format with three choices to select from.
Together they answered about half of them correctly though it was just by using chance. They didn’t grasp any of the questions though I kept explaining those. The younger brother kept shifting his answers at random just to sound correct. As soon as he learned that his choice was incorrect he shifted to the other choice.
He made ink star even today in his left hand’s palm with my pen. Prior to that he was using that to pinch his elder brother. Both of them were fighting eachother physically before class commenced as I was busy organising utensils in the kitchen.
Since there’s Republic Day tomorrow, they’re going to attend school only for cultural programs and enjoy sweets. They had completed their homework though the younger student used red ink to complete it. When I tried to explain him that teachers are supposed to use that and he should use a blue ink- he told me that nobody asked him to not use that even in his school.
Today they didn’t use their smartphone which was a great change. I gave them five addition and five subtraction problems as assignement. The younger one was reluctant to not it down.
He was dancing every now and then and then they kept quarreling. Looking into the mirror of the window he told me how he appears bigger in some mirrors and smaller in others. Asked my permission to use body lotion. Then they asked about its price.
I told them about the museum near this city where mirrors give various images in which you appear obese or lean, taller or smaller. I told them they can visit that place though it charges a ticket for a visit. Then I told them that maybe only grown ups are supposed to visit as this archeological site has many valuable items.
We did a couple of problems in Maths. I wasn’t prepared. I used the solution. It uses Congruence. A bit of construction and then proves that two equal length chords intersect at a point which when joined with the centre of the circle subtends equal angles with both of them.
In the next problem there were three girls sitting on the periphery of a circular park. They have a ball which they throw at each other. The distance between first two of them is six meters. The distance between the second two of them is also six meters. The distance between first and the third is to be obtained if the radius of the circle is given. This one uses a triangle by connecting the centre of the circle with the position of the girls. Area of a triangle is one by two multiplied with base of the triangle multiplied with the height of the triangle. The two orientations of triangles are such that one of them gives the half length of the chord and doubling it gives the requisite length.

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An Ordinary Weblog Post!

1. I came here after a long time. Moon rays are soothing. Sun is already scorching and it’s not even March.

2. Orion belt is beautiful. How harmoniously the stars of proportionate size studded in it.

3. I saw an asteroid. It’s second such within one week.

4. I am reading Kathasaritsar these days. Magical fantasies. Mythological figures.

5. Couple of airplanes passed by.

6. Beautiful parrots returned to their nests.

7. Read an advertisement for an institute for liberal studies for an acquaintance. He’s not eligible.

8. Dogs are barking and a devotional storytelling ritual in a nearby temple.

9. The rehearsal as well as presentation of play Tendor For Tajmahal was cancelled.

10. Within a very few days my rankings on vocabulary jams have dropped because of low participation. Trying to get my priorities straight again.

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End of the day!

1. Plenty of vocabulary jams. My ID is 01. I invite you to play with me on vocabulary.com.

2. Kavitha J and Paul H scored well today on most of the jams.

3. I attended a birthday party, registered some books in library, emptied dustbin ash, helped in cowshed, wrote couple of blog posts, clicked some pictures, filled water and sat down for a while.

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If a rocket can hit wicket…

Birds are returning to their nests. They are little birds, and the mothers are very angry with them. Piglet gimcrack rucksack backpack acknowledged ledgerdemain. One mother bird is not happy. As it has a toothache. This is because the other mother bird has a bad temper and she scratched it.

Birds are chirping around me. The sky has been covered by a layer of clouds. Kane: the Polynesian God stopped by the way. He stopped by to talk. I had nothing to say. You should tell him about the clouds. The somersault by the Merle on ley lines. There are clouds in the sky.

Granny allowed me to eat some guavas. They were unripe…on branches. Some of them fell as I was giving them to Grandma for sauce. Chutney has nothing to do with knee. Snickersnee need Edo ode diode module site. I was on my way to make chutney when I smelled it. It was a pleasure to meet you at the moment. After I ate my guavas I was overcome with fainting and fell on the floor. It was a temporary heart attached to this question. If a rocket can hit you it can hit me.

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Caravan!

It’s the world family day.

2. It’s something or the other everyday

I have been a nomad since my earliest lives. I belonged to one and to all. In every group I was the first one to break the sectarian bias. Though I favour Ramalinga vegetarian and vegan movements I can clearly understand why cannibalism and wrong turns exist

4. I only have my body and it’s microcosm as well as macrocosm. Contention point with siblings was always lack of any grounding regarding pursuit of family objectives. Why do neighborhood families have taller buildings: because they need them. Why does USA manufacture more weapons? I got accustomed to village life which had fresh air and plenty of space. Now technology which is incompatible with space is available only to very rich and very famous and yet they succumb to Cancer and other diseases. Ramalinga left with a fragrance of camphor in that room. Where did he go? He said he entered into all bodies. Didn’t all those who succumbed to Cancer or other diseases? No. Because their thirst and hunger lives on whereas Ramalinga or Gandhi left monuments which act as tome to me.

Is whole world really a family ?

Truth be told: adept is one who needs no food, water or respect nor company or help.

I have needs: clothes. Water. Entertainment. Events. Help. Company.

I can’t roam around this city without good clothes or a lot of food and water.

South East

Those who say the whole world is a family must decide first who or what is the world. I am the world and the family.

Those who haven’t attained pure body of gnosis and bliss have no right to say that the whole world is a family. They are serving a doctrine, a media house, a policy or a nation state or themselves to sell their shoddy goods.