Suresh Chandrasekaran's Blog, page 19

Genius?

So, there is this game 'Wordle' which has become a rage on Social media. I suppose you know how it goes but, just in case you time-traveled from the medieval ages, you are supposed to find out a 5 letter word in six guesses. When you type in your first guess, you'll get to know which of the letters in that word are also there in the word you are supposed to guess; and the letters which are also

Monkey Memes

 I don't know where I came across this meme because it would probably stretch out even a supercomputer to keep track of the origins of all the memes that an ordinary person comes across in a few hours on social media. The meme said, "You cannot get a monkey to give up the banana in its paws by promising limitless bananas in the after-life" or something similar attributed to Yuval Noah Harari.

Useless learning?

 Pagaiyakatthup pedikai olvaal avaiyagatthu anjumavan katra nool - ThirukkuralThe wisdom of he who fears his audience is as useful as the shining sword in the hands of a coward in battle - Loose translationTiru makes me happy about my ignorance. I mean, first you need to learn, understand and be able to speak the proper words; then you also need to have the courage to face an audience and speak

Silence not always golden?

Vagai arindhu vallavai vaaisoraar sollin thogaiyarindha thooimaiyavar - ThirukkuralHe who knows his words and subject should not let fear muzzle him in front of the powerful - Loose TranslationYou know the problem with Tiru? He writes what seems like haiku but the blessed man does not allow you any leeway to conveniently interpret his words. I mean, like, if you had 'The bird soars high in the

To show or not to show?

 Oliyarmun olliyar aadhal veliyarmun vaansudhai vannam kolal - ThirukkuralDisplay your wisdom in the company of the wise; with fools, be as blank as white plaster - Loose TranslationAha! I think I can do that second thing rather readily. To appear as blank as white plaster - to appear ignorant, in other words - to the fools. I mean, to seem ignorant, to anyone, is child's play to me. I would not

Wasted advice?

 Unarvadhudaiyarmun sollal valavardhul paatthiyul neer sorindhatru - ThirukkuralTo impart advice to he who understands it himself is akin to watering plants that are capable of growing by themselves - Loose TranslationThere are times when you feel that, perhaps, Tiru lived in times when men had a totally different idea about how to go about living. Yeah, I know, I know, they DID live a different

Suit your audience?

Avai arindhu aaraaindhu solluga sollin thogaiyarindha thooimaiyavar - ThirukkuralThe pure and learned man picks his words to suit his audience - Loose TranslationWow! I knew it! Our ancestors had all the knowledge that the world has ever seen or ever will see. And what foresight! I knew Tiru was one heck of a wise man but to see how far back he had anticipated the necessity to tailor your facts

Superhero

 A Humor Tale, this timeWhen Ritesh jumped tograb his cheque in flight, and went flying up to the ceiling instead, it wasgood fortune that it happened in the air-conditioned room of a hotel. There wasno fan to crash into when he gave his inadvertent imitation of a bird. Goodfortune for the fan that is, as later events proved.Ritesh had certainlyhad no thoughts of defying gravity. He did

Swag vs Sense

Nostalgia caused me to re-watch an old Rajinikanth movie - Priya - after seeing a reference to it on Facebook. There is this scene near the climax where Rajinikanth - essaying the role of Sujatha's lawyer-detective Ganesh - is in a quadrangle of high rise buildings in one flat of which his client - Priya - is held captive. Trying to locate exactly which flat she is in, he disguises himself as a

Tenacious beliefs?

Beliefs are inevitable. You can KNOW things only if you know all the facts and have the ability as well as the knowledge to derive the right conclusions from the facts. Humanity itself does not yet have complete knowledge and you, yourself, do not even have all the facts which humanity has accumulated. And when you consider things as true, you are only believing them or believing those who say