Facts of Life

Time travel is a very abstract concept and very difficult to explain without complex mathematical equations and concepts, which is understood by a minuscule portion of the population. I will attempt to explain the concept of time travel in a simplistic manner.  We will take the example of a fictitious murder for our understanding - just to add some spice to this drab topic. Whodunnit John was found, shot dead, in his room. You are the detective to whom this problem has been presented but despite using all the known methods, you are not able to crack the case. One Mr. Albert meets you outside the scene of the crime and suggests that you travel very fast to find out who murdered John. You wonder how this escapist attitude can get you to solve the problem, but this is what he has to say: John was murdered in a well-lit room. It is clear that there was a murderer who fired the bullet from inside the room, at point-blank range, to kill John. The light from the bulbs wo

Everything should be made as simple as possible but not simpler - Albert Einstein My friends have often asked me why do we have dropped calls in mobile networks. I have used Spider man's analogy to explain this: most have found it interesting and sufficient to satiate their curiosity. For your perusal. The technology behind the mobile phones is a bit complicated for a non-technical person to comprehend -  Hence this analogy. How does the Spider-man navigate the city?   1. He makes a link with a tall building ahead of him, swings down and past the building. 2. At the farthest end of the swing, he makes a link with the building ahead, shedding the previous link and swings past this building. 3. This goes on and on till he gets to the 'scene of the crime'  - the cycle ends there. Mobile phones move around the networks in a similar fashion Here the buildings are Towers (or Base Stations / Radio Base Stations / Node B ...), the Spider-man the mobile

Palmists read the lines on your hand and many of us believe that they can not only tell you the past and present but also the future. I will try to explain what enables them to do so scientifically, but will not go into the actual palmistry, as this subject has been treated very well by others. Scientifically, these lines are the folds in the skin of our palms to ensure that our skin does not hang loose when we fold our palm. The shape or the contours of these lines depend upon how we fold our hands. If you observe people how they hold a pen or how they handle other tools, you will notice that we all do this in different ways. If two people hold pen in the same way they will hold the door handle in different ways and so on. More than this, the way we fold our hands while sleeping is definitely unique. The way we fold our hands is controlled by our sub-conscious brain and it leaves the imprint of it's condition on our palms.  Examples are, Any health condition,

Many readers would have had the pleasure of enjoying puffed Roti's. This is perhaps one of the best form of breads that can be eaten for a lifetime, multiple times in a day. Our mothers have learnt the art of making Roti's, and they are expert in doing this activity - every single roti gets puffed to the right level. However, most if not none are aware of the science behind making the roti. Here is a simple yet scientific explanation of the Roti making technique. Roti is made from atta dough (coarsely grounded wheat). The dough must have the right water content, neither less nor more (as I will explain later). We make small portions of the dough and then roll them into circular shape. The baking process starts from here. We put the roti on the Pan ( Tava ) and I will refer to the surface that was first put on the Pan as surface 1. The whole roti is a bit soft and we must be careful not to distort its contours by pressing hard on the surface. Once this surface is slig

As a small kid, before giving up search of something which I had lost, I would go to my grandmother to seek help. If not successful in the normal course, she would point me to unconventional corners. Upon asking if it was logical to spend time looking there, she used to say - "When you lose your elephant, you search everywhere - even your pockets..." --------------------------------------------------------------- This post is about Perseverance. One of the virtues that separates successful people from those who are not. Many a times we give up when we are very close to our success. We might just run out of ideas or strength at a very critical juncture. In my business, there have been multiple occasions where we felt that we  have come to the end of the road.  Surprisingly, in every single instance we have been able to find out a way. It seems - as if there is a path next to every cliff! Take a look at Napolean Hill's book, 'Think and G

Human beings have one interesting attribute. We all have our own point of views about the subjects that concern us. Often the source of these differences is our current situation, upbringing, past experiences and other factors.  These differences generate great ideas, create chaos – even wars. All of us have travelled by trains. You would have observed that the town which looked so familiar to you when travelling in a car looks so different from the train. We even find it difficult to recognize some of the most common localities. It is due to the different points of views in the two cases. The same place appears differently from different vantage points – both correct, yet different. Imagine a car driver being guided by a person in a Helicopter. The person on the Helicopter can guide the car to the roads that appear free. From his position (hopefully high up in the sky), the person in the Helicopter cannot see if the free road has potholes or has any other issues. It