Think Tank

By RK Narayan
Nelson publication 
The Bachelor of Arts (1937) by RK Narayan is another masterpiece which I feel lucky to have read. RK Narayan is one of the few writers who truly represent India and Indian ethos in his writings. Characters in his books are real - they can be from any one of us. The [...]

“Deshis suck big-time!” this is how he began. And then he went on saying, “Indian migrants show little willingness to integrate with the local culture and to mix with the other country’s people. On the other hand, migrants from many other nations do mix with locals and adopt their ways of living. For example, why [...]

I felt it in some of my colleagues during my MBA. Narcissism can be defined as an exceptional interest and admiration for oneself. A study presented at the Academy of Management in Montreal approves that it is present in MBA students more than in others.   
http://alturl.com/erz4i (Redirects to Business Week website) 
The researchers measured the narcissistic tendencies [...]

Someone asked if there is any difference between killing a hen (chicken) or a cow (beef) for our food. His underlying challenge was to prove both were equal because both have souls. Here is my reply: 
“No one justifies killing hens for food. But when you are forced to eat non-veg because nutritious veg food is [...]

Recently I was in Delhi. The amount of construction work half-completed for Commonwealth Games is startling. The whole of Connaught Place is dug up and gives the image of a war-wrecked area. Given the pace, it will take more than two months to paint the under constructed buildings, leave alone finishing them. And then we [...]

I have been appointed as a class representative in most of my schools and colleges. I think it was because I was always a more sincere student than most others. In school, my important role was limited to maintaining the attendance register and making some announcements. But in the high school, perhaps my role reached [...]

Father Sergius is a wonderful story of human dilemmas in front of divine expectations. It is the story of an ordinary man on which greatness and sainthood was thrust upon. He continuously faced dilemmas of life, also because he had a genuine and pure heart which always did introspection. At the end, he found the [...]

A disturbing trend has developed in Kerala.  
Taliban-style courts in God’s Own Country 
‘Hotbed of terrorism’ is not the usual label for Kerala. But intelligence gathered by disparate agencies over the last few years suggests the description may not be far off the mark. Confirmation of this came with the horrifying incident of July 4, when a [...]

Recently I read someone saying that he preferred a particular piece of software over the other because the former was more ‘robust’. That made me think for a moment about ‘robustness’ of software. Robustness of a tangible thing is easy to comprehend, but how do we understand robustness of software? And more importantly, how do [...]

Yesterday a question came to my mind. We had noticed since childhood that whenever a fan is run slowly through what we call a ‘regulator’, the regulator gets heated. Why does it get heated? I knew the difference between AC and DC motors and difference between variable speed vs. fixed speed drives, but I was [...]

Many times our friends and relatives ask us for suggestions. I hope we give suggestions without any hidden intentions or bias and our suggestions are made to only benefit our friend from our knowledge of the matter. It is up to the seeker whether to accept or discard the suggestion.  
But I have observed a new [...]

I could listen to parts of Sushma Swaraj’s speech in the Parliament on the issue of price rise (or high inflation) yesterday (Aug 3). And I was thoroughly impressed by her vision and her awareness to the ground realities. I would quote two very good points she made.  
In the rural areas, previously when the women [...]

Today I happened to read some of my two years old conversations with some other fellow bloggers. And I was surprised at what I read and understood.  
What one of them tried to make me understand in her writing, was really useful and so true. And my subsequent reply to her also appeared ‘wise’ and interesting. [...]

There are some universal laws which apply so perfectly to the human nature irrespective to the variations in culture or in background. One of them is that we value less what comes easily to us. To some extent we capture it in the Hindi anecdote “Ghar ki murgi daal barabar”. It can also be described [...]

In those days I was studying in the 12th. I and another cousin (brother) used to stay in the same room. It was winter at that time. One morning, while he was heating bathing water with an electrical heating rod, we had a discussion about the device. I said that I would check if the [...]