That's a beautiful hand

"Hey Tanzeel, want to listen to a story?", my friend asked. And I was thinking aloud, "Why do you  even want to ask? Just amuse me." And he heard me and all the others too who were waiting patiently  or biryani to arrive. That night was my treat night. Just a day before I was recruited by Cognizant and  my friends wouldn't stop hitting me until I give them a good biryani treat.
We were at Arsalan and biryani was yet to arrive. I asked him to start his story. He said he will but but also added, "Don't share it with others". I was surprised, "But you are doing the same, you are telling me and others here (there were 4 other friends) and you want me not to share it with others, what difference does it make?" he justified, "I mean to say, do not tell this to unknown, you are a blogger and if you share the story with your readers, it will do no good to me and my sister." "Okay" I said, "I won't share it with others and if i will I won't reveal names". "Then it's okay" And he continued...

"Once my sister went on a excursion with her college friends, they were six of them. Their trip was not far from Kolkata, it was in Murshidabad a six hour journey from
the city."

Someone interupted, "What happened there?"

My friend continued, "Well, that may not be of interest to you. What may excite you is what I am going to tell you now. So, as I was saying they went to Murshidabad and had spent a day or so collecting all the informations they needed to regarding some palaces and historical places. They had a return journey by train starting late night at 11 PM. They choose this train because it carried less number of passengers and it will bring them back to the city early in the morning and hence they can go to the college that very day.

"So, they all were seated, their luggages all arranged beneath the seats. they were done with the dinner and all were ready to go to sleep. The train was rather empty and the ones present there were not making much noise. It so happened that one of my sister's friend quitely went to the toilet and when she came back, she was rather shivering with fear. Everyone asked her what is the matter? She didnt say anything in the beginning but slowly when she calmed down, she said that she saw a person
sitting near the gate. Nobody seemed amused. They said he must be a beggar and so she must not worry about him. But she defended herself asking why is he sitting near the gate? The train is not full,
he can come in and sit or sleep in his choice of seat. Her reasoning were logical but they were unable to think as to why is she so much concerned about that beggar.

"Then she said something that really got everyone interested. She said that beggar didn't seemed normal to her. On a day when the temperature was touching more than 35 degree celsius, he was wearing a dark colored shawl. She told them that she even had the guts to ask that guy if he wasn't feeling well then ahe and her friends could help him. That guy hesitated and ask her to simply leave him alone. As she was leaving that place, her eyes caught red colored liquid around his feet. She immediately understood that this was his blood and he is in trouble. She asked if she could really get help from her friends. The man then yelled at her and scolded her to mind her own business. She ran from that place and here she was trembling and shivering and sharing with everyone what she saw.

"The group got perturbed. They decided that they should go and check what was wrong. They hustled inside the moving train which was approaching a station, and indeed they found the man sitting there. The train stopped at a desolate station. They were astonished to see the man standing up slowly while holding his shawl. If they were to believe my sister's friend's words then there was something wrong as the beggar started to get down the train. The situation was turning into a nightmare for the group. They were unable to think as what to do, that man was already moving on the platform, the train would start any moment, should they get down and get hold of this man? But that would be too risky.

"They decided to let him go but one of them shouted to him, "What is wrong with you? Whay are you wearing a shawl in this hot night? Why are you bleeding? And why are you running away from us?" The man started to laugh and slowly he lifted his hand which was hidden beneath his shawl all this while and showed his priced possession to everyone, he couldn't wave it as it was too heavy for him to do so. Everyone was shocked to see what he was holding. Nobody moved, the groupe was numb, they turned around to see one of the girls fainted. The train was gaining speed, but they could still see the man standing there holding another person's mutilated hand, blood dripping from it. Two gold rings on the finger and a bangle could still be seen from the distance glittering under the station light and slowly faded away as the train took speed.

"Nobody spoke to one another, they were concerned about the girl who fainted. Slowly they took their place and tried to sleep, praying that nothing of that sort would happen to them.

"They reached the station early morning. Generally Howrah station is too crowded even at the early morning hours. They tried to move out of the station strolling their luggage around the people sitting there. Some were sleeping and there was one such woman who was sleeping with her hand beneath her head, pointing at her one of  my sister's friend shouted, "That's a beautiful hand". My sister hit him with her handbag and called him stupid. But that broke the ice and they went home with a light heart and not discussing on the events that happened to them last night."

We were all listening to my friends story. For one full minute we couldn't believe that the story was over and it happened for real. Our eyes were wide and mind still unable to digest what we heard. but my freind insisted that it really happened and why would he make up a story. Nevertheless on our way back home there was only one topic in discussion and you know what.

 

The odd job men do

May Day, that celeberation of the working man and homage to his chosen profession, is here. Frustated that you don't have any job or your job is not so interesting. Now, most people would take on the odd job to make ends meet. But what are the odds that you'd take up these jobs?

Odor Tester
Odor judges smell nasty morning breath or breath "insulted" with strong scents, like garlic or coffee. They rate the breath on a scale from one to nine, one being the worst. To test odor-reducing products like gum or mouthwash, they smell the breath again and assign it a new rating.
Loves: Axe Perfumes, children
Hates:Nanga Sadhus

Groom of the stool
Yes, the other stool. The son of a nobleman, the groom of the stool of the stool presided over the office of royal excretion, with exclusive access to royal posterior. He wiped the king's botton after his highness took a dump. It must have seemed a crap job on hindsight.
Loves: Toilet paper and health faucets.
Hates: Wind Instruments

Knocker-Up
Back when alarm clocks weren't invented and roosters weren't all that reliable, you paid the knocker-up a few cents a week to knock on your door and keep knocking until you woke up. If you lived on a higher floor, he used bamboo poles to rap windows. But be warned! The flipside is that helping your clients rise tends to get a rise out of them and the incessant knocking could get you knocked down.
Loves: Extended siestas
Hates: 'knock-knock' jokes

Bird Sexer
This job is a lot sexier than the title promises. Your mission, should you chose to accept it, is to separate male chicks from female ones. You get to toss fluffy chicken into giant vats and listen to chirping all day. However, if you're the sort who often wonders the gender of the person in front of you, this job isn't for you.
Loves: Soft toys and down pillows
Hates: Tweety bird cartoons

Crime scene cleaner
Yours would be the show after CSI. Collect debris, fix broken furniture, mend shredded upholstery and mop up bits of victim. Necessary skills are muted sense of smell, obsessive scrubbing and keeping the contents of your stomach down. For advanced courses, contact mummy of 'behind toilet bowl' and 'kitchen stove' classes
Loves: Steel wool and super-strong detergent
Hates: Ketchup

Paint drying watcher
Now this job involves a stop watch, so it must be exciting, right? Decidedly so, if your idea of a nail biting adventure is to sit in one place and well, watch paint dry. Touching is traditionally used as a test, but testers have been known to sit on paint, just to mix things up. It can seem dull but look at the bright side - you get to see some color on the job and even your toughest assignment lasts you till lunch-time.
Loves: To watch the whole IPL atches in ultra slow motion
Hates: Wallpapers

Odd job journalist
Well it's a job too. Someone ought to look for odd jobs and make a list of them, don't you think? Although admittedly, it is suspicious when a journalist does it. He is either looking for alternatibe career options or attempting to find a prifession that is weirder than his. Good luck with that.
Loves: Solitaire and Pac-Man
Hates: Employment

src> The Hindu newspaper


 

I cannot be more (un)lucky

Adventure began. Unlike adventures of kings, dwarves, elves, wizards or hobbits my adventure was an adventure which a common man would love to avoid but there are certain groups in our species who may not love to be a part of this adventure but does this quite often. Well the adventure that I am talking about is travelling in a general compartment of an Indian train and in my case there was an added glamour of 2000 km of distance to cover.
Not that I loved travelling in a general compartment neither do I avoid booking resevration tickets. It all happeed suddenly and I had to make quick decisions. No there was not a matter of life and death neither there was ememrgency situation back home. The thing I wanted was a simple break from work and be with my old friends and families and beloved ones back home.
The routined life was going on as usual and probably i missed booking the ticket by a day or two. When I first booked the ticket it was 215 waiting list, two days before the journey it became 30 W/L, a day before journey it gave hopes, hopes that assure you that what you are hoping of will be reality, and I was hoping of my ticket getting confirmed before journey. My train was at 8.30 PM and I had enough time to wait and watch and I had no role to play to that particular conversion. The situation was very much similar to any intense thriller match, just waiting and watching. The only difference being mine was whole day drama- drama that was going on in my head and not many was aware of. Ocassionally i logged into irctc.co.in to check the status of my ticket. It remained 5 W/L for the first few hours of the day. Whether or not the ticket will get confirmed if not what will I do, a full on conversation and arguments were going on inside my head. I could barely concentrate on what I was working on (yes I was in office that day) and from time to time that conversation from my head came out and were spilled to my teammates. They would assure me that 5 W/L before a day of travel, u needn't even check it will surely get confirmed. Then at afternoon it became 3 W/L and as the progression suggested it became 1 W/L at 1.30 3 hours before the chart will be prepared. I can tell you that it was very interesting to check the status every half an hour, more interesting than any last over cricket match because it was happening directly to me and I couldn't do anything, just play the game waiting and watching.

But all the arithmetic progression failed, all my friends and teammates assurance went down the drain, my mom's prayer were not answered, the status of my ticket remained 1 W/L and the chart was prepared. That instance a realisation was renewed in me. It was like this - that whatever we plan, whatever we think of, whatever assurance we give, however close we are to our finishing mark nothing is possible against the will of Allah as HE is the best of planners, HE has something else planned out.
W/L 1 meant couldn't travel with that ticket now as it was automatically cancelled because it was booked online. But I know Allah has planned my journey, how? I don't know. Train would start at 7.30 from its first station and at 5.45 I was still in the Office. There I decided I will go, I will tell the TT that my ticket was W/L 1 even if it didn't serve the purpose or I will take the general ticket but the thought of suffocating in that crowd made me feel uneasy. What will I do? I didn't know while leaving my place for the station but I just left probably play my favorite game of waiting and watch but for me there is a plus point and that is wait and watch keeping full trust in Allah. And here I would like to mention that Allah has given everyone that particular friend who will always be ready to help and I am gratefull HE gave me Ibrahim (my office collegue), he acted as a catalyst in helping me make my decision and other things which we would later see.
I reached the train's first stop, I decided going to the starting station maybe because that was too far or the ticket counter will have large queues. This station where I reached was a small one and had few people at the counter and I felt glad that I will not have rush and push everyone to get inside. Bought the General ticket and hence began the waiting game but now we were discussing as well that how to talk to TT, what requests to make and how much money to give all in all it was like making the TT a rockstar after whom everyone runs around to get his autograph on their ticket.
Now the train comes, I was standing on the platform where general compartment will stand. There I could see through the window the place where a person can hardly stretch his legs in that place 5 persons were seated, squeezed as it looked to me. The floors were full of people and now the gate, the gate through which I would enter were totally crowded. I somehow put a foot on the footboard of the gate, a bag hanging behind my back and my suitcase holding it well above my head and others head as well. Not 10 seconds and I decided against going through this, again all plans went down the drain. I got down the coach and decided I will go back to my room and book ticket for another day. Just then when I moving towards exit I saw a TT outside AC compartment and a moment of awesomeness flashed into my mind. If I had earlier got through the super server website irtctc.co.in a day before I would have been seating in this AC coach but that was not how my Allah has planned for me. However I asked the TT can I get the seat? mine was W/L 1? he nodded his head...."No! AC is full, go to coach S7 probably you will get a seat there." Hearing this we started to run. S13 crossed us. 6 more coaches to go. Hufffing and puffing we reached towards my ray of hope. The coach was yet to be occupied by passengers, probably they will do it in the next station. I kept me luggage, made myself comfortable even though it was for sometime it didn't matter to me. And now again the waiting game began, this time I decided to write this so that I can share it to others who would find this story full of struggle or funny and amusing or lessons to be learnt or like what's new-this happens everyday. While I was writing the TT passed by me twice and each time he said he will be back. Then at 1.30 AM he came back. At that point I was barely in my control my head was falling over my shoulders while I was keeping an eye to my luggage I was arguing with myself as to why I shouldn't be sleeping on the floor and how that will make my clothes dirty. But then TT comes and takes me to the gate. He started to make a ticket for me so that I can travel in sleeper coach, he took extra 100 rupees from me and then gave me a berth to sleep. It was like I was drowning and then given a twig to save myself and indeed it was enough. It was 2 AM and there's no explanation I need to give to make you understand my situation. I decided to continue writing this the next day. As of now I would love to get as much sleep as I can.

Here I am again. The next day I woke up with chitting chatting of men's and womens' in the coach early in the morning. Obviously I wasn't expecting a sleep that I use to get back at my room. But I have a task to do. I have decided to finish this post and it will only be finished once I reach Kolkata. Now is the first day of my travel, the first night a day before was quite okay. Another half a day and a full night of waiting and watching and including writing this and reading the book The Hobbit is yet to come.

Day passed as if I was with a genuine reserved ticket. But the real tough task was to spend the night. I had a seat to myself till 11 PM until someone with a reserved ticket came and politely asked me to make way for him. Untill then sleep didn't come to me, I just kept moving my sides. Standing near the gate I looked at my watch, it was 11.30 PM. Only 8 hours to go, i know counting the numbers of hours left brought happiness in me but to spend those remaing hours was a tough job to do.
The game of wait and watch began again. I didn't know what I was waiting for. But I watched people just sitting on the floor some even sleeping on it. I was just standing and writing this post. Once I am done with writing this I will read another chapter of Hobbit (I was close to finishing that book). I was wishing that the train stops at more number of stations so that I may get a chance to divert my attention to something new. Standing near the gate I read all the texts that were written there and suddenly all of them seemed very interesting and important too. I got to know the number of seats in one coach and how it will be very irresponsible of one if he accepts any eatery from another and then he gets robbed and how an individual can serve Indian railways. I can say that the mirror at the washing basin needed some cleaning and I demanded to no one in proper. Everyone had their own style of sleeping which they do not know of. I know it is very innapropriate to look at passengers with so much attention but I was helpless. Some keep their mouth open as if he is sure to eat a rosugullah. Some even go to the extent of carrying a pillow so as to make themselves feel at home with pillow, lungi and what not. I have mastered the art of not sleeping with pillow even if I am at home I avoid that. I saw parents getting up late at night to nurse their young ones which reminded me of my childhood and also giving me heads up as to what awaits me in future. Whatever happens I will definitely not travel with my family like this.
Then I realised I had my earphone with me, why not listen to the saved Ted talks. Will be back after sometime.
Ted Talks was very difficult to listen to. It was very hard to grasp what they were saying when the only thing I wanted was to stretch myself and sleep for few moments. God granted me that wish and I sat down near the gate at around 1 AM. I had my share 10-15 minutes of sleep with a lot of breaks in the next 3 hours. At 4 AM we reached a station where it was announced that the train was running 2.30 hours late. I stood and tried to look out of the window. The outside was getting ready to welcome the Sun. The transition period was on. I was glad that now my time will pass soon as I will keep myself busy alongwith the twilight. Around 30-40 minutes must have passed, the process was still on as the Sun was still not out, then suddenly a kind hearted man tapped me on my head and asked me to get some sleep, he was offering me his seat. How could I refuse that offer which I was so despearately waiting to come my way. I had still some time before my destination would reach. I slept and slept like a child, I am sure it was like child because I woke every now and then. At 7.30 my head was feeling okay and I could now not feel that I was deprived of sleep. It rained outside so weather was cooler, I decided to enjoy the scenery, continue with this post and play the game of wait and watch untill my destination is reached.

The importance of Pi

not everything about pi

Why is the 'x' unknown?

I have the answer to the question that we all ask. The question is "Why is the 'x' known?" We all know that we learned that in Mathematics class in our elementary school but this question is everywhere now; the 'x price', 'x files', 'x projects', 'x number things'. Where did that come from? Why is only 'x' unknown? Why not anything else?

It will surprise you if I say that it came from Arabic. Arabic is a supremely logical language, to write a phrase or word or sentence in Arabic is like crafting an equation because every part is very precise and carry a lot of information. This is one of the reason that so much of what we have come to think as Western Science and mathematics and engineering was really worked out in the first few centuries of the common era by the Persian and Arabic and Turkish. This includes the little system in Arabic called Al-Jebr and Al-Jebr which roughly translates to the system for reconciling disparate parts. (Al-Jebr finally gave inspiration to the English word "Algebra")

The Arabic text containing these Mathematical wisdom finally made way to Europe through Spain in the 11th and 12th century. And when they arrived, there were tremendous interest in translating this into the European language but there were problems. There are some sound in Arabic which do not make into European language without lots of practice. Those sound cannot be represented by any of the existing characters present in the European vocabulary. Here is one example: the letter sheen (as seen in the image below) makes a sound as 'sh'. It is also the first letter of the word Shayan(pronounced Shaa - yon as in Boron) which means 'something" just like in English meaning some undefined, some unknown thing.

letter sheen pronounced as 'sh' 

Now in Arabic we can make this definite by adding definite article 'Al' so it becomes 'Al-Shayan' which meant 'the unknown thing' and this word is used through the early Mathematics equations and problems such as in this 10th century derivation of roots.

word 'shayon' as seen in the derivation of the roots in in 10th century

The problem with the medieval Spanish scholars who were entrusted with translation of these materials is that the letter Sheen and the word Shayan cant be rendered in Spanish because Spanish doesn't have that 'sh' word or anything which sounded like 'sh'. So by convention they borrowed the 'ck' sound as the 'kkeh' sound from the classical Greek as in letter 'kai' later when this material was translated into the more common European language so as to say in Latin language they simply replaced the letter 'kai' with Latin letter 'x' and once that happened it formed the basis of mathematics text book for almost 600 years.

Greek letter 'Chai'

letter 'x' in English

Now we have the answer to our question "Why is the letter 'x' unknown?" And the answer is that it is unknown because you can't say 'sh' in Spanish.








src>>>> ted.com