Suresh Chandrasekaran's Blog, page 68

Vexing Colors

Never have I been let down as badly as when I was taught about VIBGYOR in school. There I was thinking once I knew to distinguish between Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red, I would be all done with learning about colors. True, there is this strange omission of White and Black but then I could accommodate two more readily. After all, even a rainbow is not perfect.



True that

The seven of music

I have always loved listening to music but never had the ear to appreciate the nuances. Ever since I took up listening to Carnatic Music I have longed to join that throng of people who listen to the first three notes of the rendition and exclaim knowledgeably, "Ah! Abheri" or some such name of a raga. Sadly for me, all I can manage is "I liked it" thereby labeling myself that most crass of

The days of the week

Another product of my non-productive curiosity is the reason for the names of the days of the week. I mean I can understand that Sunday is probably Sun's day and Monday is probably Moon's day as is Saturday Saturn's day. But, where do Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday come from?



All these four days are named of the Germanic Gods. Thanks to the recent spate of myth-based movies, people

A seven day week?

All through school I have been remarkable for my lack of curiosity. If education is the process of stimulating the curiosity of the student, I qualify among the most uneducated people that has been the misfortune of any school to turn out. Yet, I am periodically afflicted by curiosity about the most absurd of things.



Why is it that a week has seven days? In a world remarkable for people

Sweet and Sour

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 41; the forty-first edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The theme for the month is "SWEET AND SOUR"




Nita was smiling as she exited her boss' room along with her colleague Vinay.



"I don't understand you, Nita. Up to now

Save this sinner

So this is what death was all about? Standing in front of a white-clad radiant being, I was wondering what would come next.



"You shall now be judged and sent to Heaven or Hell based on how you fare on the Seven deadly sins"



"Here! Hey! Wait a minute. I am Hindu and I do not think I am covered under these statutes"



The being morphed into a dark god bearing a mace sitting on an immense

P&M IX - I may be wrong

There are these nice and humble people who are ever willing to admit the possibility that they may not be infallible and can make be wrong sometimes - or so people say. If so, I am yet to come across one who says "I may be wrong but..". In the normal course, a person who seriously considers the possibility of his being wrong starts off diffidently saying things like, "Is it possible that.." or

Heritage under threat

A temple thirteen centuries old; Inscriptions on stone portraying a history of centuries; deities that have been sung about in the ancient - and still living - literature of the language and being worshiped even today and a temple situated in the capital of the state. What is the image that strikes your mind of a renovation of such a temple by an organization purportedly in charge of

P&M VIII - Nobody understands me

Of all the things a person says nothing is meant with every fiber of one's being as much as "Nobody understands me". As usual, there are times when this is nothing more than an ordinary phrase. For example, I was in Paris for a day and trying to take in the city all by myself. Unfortunately, speaking English was no help. Whether I spoke it confidently in a basso profundo or in nervous

P&M VII - Let us agree to disagree

I strongly feel that whoever invented this "Let us agree to disagree" must have been an optimist. I think of him as an ivory tower type with a belief that real people actually could see that there was some validity in the other person's point of view and, though they believed in the opposite, they needed to be open-minded about the issue. As we all know, real people are incapable of seeing