Random notes

This is a rejoinder to “ I ask therefore I am Hindu ” by Sagarika Ghose. In any comment on an article which deals with both faith and politics (of education), the chances of the discourse being adorned with adjectives like malicious, hateful, divisive, etc., are very high. Hence it is better to start with a story to lighten up, to dilute the bitterness which is likely to develop during the discussion. The question was simple. If ‘A’ is equal to 2 and ‘B’ is also equal to 2, what would ‘A+B’ be equal to?  Four people, a teacher, an accountant, an economist and one MSM anchor were invited to answer it. The teacher came and responded ‘4’, promptly & unequivocally. The accountant came, fiddled with his instruments, created a spreadsheet, referred to some books and finally decided that ‘4 ± 10% would be a safe answer, for the time being. The economist (No, not MMS) came, shut the door and closed the blinds, switched off the reading lamp and whispered in the que...

An old story about the art of living, probably heard by many, needs retelling. A college professor came to the class carrying a large, transparent, glass jar and some bags containing unidentified objects. After setting the jar on the table and demonstrating its emptiness to the class, he announced that he was about to give a very important lesson of ‘their’ lives and set about doing so. He opened one bag, it contained tennis balls. Professor began putting the balls in the jar, one by one. He filled the jar with balls to the brim and asked the students, “Is it full?” The class answered  in affirmative. He opened another bag and it contained marbles. Professor began putting the marbles in the jar. Through the gaps created by round curvature of tennis balls, marbles found their way through. Soon he had put lot of marbles in the jar and as the marbles reached the brim, he repeated his question.  The class was not very enthusiastic this time, wary that professor had a...