JAN - MAR 2012

Hello Readers,

MInd is back! Thanks to the trust of Mensans

across the country who have been sending across

articles over the years in the hope of reviving

our magazine and also to the dogged determina-

tion and pursuit of this issue by Nirav Sanghavi

and Geetanjalee Naniwadekar, we see the rebirth

of MInd.

It gives me immense pleasure to have our mouth-

piece relaunched.We hope this lends a fresh start

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To all those Mensans who have been spearhead-

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your persistence and patience. To the new

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the fraternity: welcome home!

Rukmini IyerEditoreditor.mensaindia@gmail.com

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Editorial

2

Sent: Tue, 24 November, 2009 10:58:47

Subject: A rant on the nature of intelligence

Hey everyone,

I guess I have a few questions to ask regarding

the nature of intelligence. I'm sorry if this sounds

whiny and if you get annoyed at any moment

while reading this, I highly recommend deleting

this from your inbox and any other place where

this may have been since stored.

We admit people into our fine organization on

the basis of Intelligence Tests. Yet, I wonder if

they are the true measure of an individual's in-

telligence. Is intelligence a function of the speed

with which one can solve abstract problems or

make connections or is it a function of the depth

of an average thought? Or is it the ability to take

the best course of action in any situation after

weighing the pros and cons in a rational man-

ner?

I cleared the Mensa test around March 2007 and

was very happy to be accepted with an IQ Per-

centile of above 99%. Yet I look at my life now

and wonder whether I should even be in this or-

ganization.

My academic performance has been sub-par for

a long period of time. My Amity University ID

Card is an indication of how horrible my stan-

dard 12 and engineering entrance exams went.

And even in Amity I rarely, if ever, attended

classes. An intelligent person would have been

capable of realizing that despite my loathing for

the college and everyone in it, I need to attend

and pay attention in class if I have to make my

life amount to anything. Instead, I spent my time

sleeping 12-14 hours a day, watching movies or

reading books with the occasional quiz or de-

bate thrown in.

I'm currently 19th in a class of 31. Despite my

best attempts at maintaining a semblance of regu-

larity this semester, my attendance in 3 courses

is still short. As a consequence, with this being

my final year and all, I will have to wait for 6-7

months after the rest of my batch graduates to

get my degree. This negates any chance of ad-

mission to any course at the graduate level in 2010

and probably even afterward.

I've been thinking about my situation and how

paradoxical it will appear to people who, when

they look at resume, will see I had to drop 6

months in college and have a GPA of around

5.9 and yet am a member of Mensa with an IQ

better than 99% of the world. If I am really so

smart, why did I get myself into such a situation.

It's not that I am pathologically lazy. I worked

for 4 nights and 3 days on a research project I

wanted to do which was eventually shot down

by my institute authorities for having no relevance

to the syllabus being taught. It's quite simply a

matter of not doing what I don't like to do. And

only a fool would take pride in not doing some-

thing that is necessary, but very unpleasant for

him.

Intelligent people would be able to look at the

situation they are in, infer the causes behind why

they are where they are and figure out the most

effective way to emerge from it. I dwelt upon

how my entire family forced me to join a college

I did not wish to join and thus, decided to just

stop going there. That's blaming other people

for my mistakes and compounding them. Not

the course of action one would expect a person

from Mensa to take.

I guess we need to re-evaluate the definition of

intelligence before we take the next batch of

Mensans in. I feel anything but intelligent right

now and my Mensa membership appears to be

some sort of cruel joke.

Regards,

Harish AlagappaMensa India (Delhi/NCR)

A Conversation for MInd

3

The Response

Dear Harish,

I read your email with interest and a sense of

deja vu. I qualified for Mensa International with

a score of 160 (they have these numerical IQ

scores rather than percentiles. A score of 160 is

above 99.9 percentile). In my high school exam I

had a middle level second division, in my inter-

mediate I repeated the same performance. Then

I failed to qualify for the IITs. My big break came

when I was fortunate to have Prof. Mukherji as

one of my teachers in the second year of my

Engineering course at REC Durgapur. He

watched my mediocre performance for a month

or so and, one day, took me aside and said (words

to the effect), "You are the most intelligent stu-

dent I know. You can do definitely do better if

you wanted to."

Something switched on inside me and I realised

that my mediocre performance was the result of

a combination of laziness, lack of application,

overconfidence (an unrealistic I-Know-Every-

thing syndrome) and, last but not the least - dif-

fidence (I used to feel that coming first is for the

more studious students and I was not good

enough, so why try). Having realised this, I de-

cided to address these issues - Prof. Mukherji's

words took care of the diffidence part - this was

validation from someone I respected. The other

things were in my hand. Thereafter, except for

one year, I came first, financed most of my stud-

ies through merit scholarships, won the Univer-

sity Gold Medal in the final year, qualified for

IIMA and IIMC, won the Air India Merit Schol-

arship at IIMA and then joined the Tata Admin-

istrative Service, which, at that time was consid-

ered the best job going at IIMA and for which

the competition was fierce.

Now, in retrospect I realise that I always had it in

me in terms of intelligence. What I lacked was

insight into my own actions and wisdom. This

lack prevented me from actualising my potential.

I have mentioned the above, because in your aca-

demic record till now I see a parallel to what my

own academic record was. It appears you haven't

been fortunate enough to find your own Prof.

Mukherji. However, you really do not need one,

if you would just look into the mirror and tell

yourself that you are among the best brains in

your generation and, if you are serious about

making something of yourself you only have to

try. Indeed, like Obama, "Yes You Can!"

In more general terms, we often tend to confuse

intelligence with wisdom (and maturity). Intelli-

gence by itself may help you qualify for mem-

bership of Mensa but it is like a resource, a raw

material. You can use it for your own good or

the community's welfare. You can also use it for

wicked things - most top level criminals are very

intelligent. You can waste it or misuse it like some

of our cleverer politicians are doing. Or, you can

fritter it away by being unwise in your choices as

far as application, attendance in class, studies,

discussions and consultations etc. are concerned.

Mensa invites you to become a member on the

basis of certain criteria which prove that you have

one form of giftedness, namely, the ability to be

logical, the ability to be excellent at finding asso-

ciations and such qualities. despite this gifted-

ness you can become an A+ student or a D- stu-

dent. That choice is entirely dependent on your

wisdom and maturity.

You cannot blame a resource if the resource-

owner is unwise and immature enough to ignore

it and let it lie fallow. Instead of bemoaning the

fact that despite your intelligence you are not

doing well, you should list the reasons why your

academic record is as it is and whether you want

to do something about it.

You use the word "smart" in your email. Indeed,

you are more intelligent than 99% of the world

but, going by what I read in your email, you are

not smarter than 99% - I would put this figure

A Conversation for MInd(contd.)

4

far far lower. Smartness is a combination of in-

telligence, focus and application.

This brings us to the second angst you have. You

have been forced to do something against your

liking and you are rebelling by not doing it well

or not doing it at all. I have experienced this in

my family, too. One of my nephews is one of

the brightest people I know. His father coerced

him into joining an Engineering College, while

he wanted to do something in the film line. This

boy, who had come first all his life before this,

dropped out in the second year and went off to

Bombay, doing whatever it was that was close to

his heart. In Indian families such cases happen

off and on, since, unfortunately, most of our

generation is still under the impression that we

know what is the best for our children.

You should have the courage to focus on what

you want to do and excel at that. However, till

you are doing something, you must do it well,

whether you like it or not. Not attending classes

is like cutting off your nose to spite your face

and just proves that intelligence and wisdom are

two different things.

I have frequently worked with bosses and col-

leagues who were not to my liking. In fact I can

recall one hands-on Chairman cum MD of a

company in Oman, in which I was the Executive

Director, who was one of the meanest, most

small minded people I have ever come across.

There were days I did not feel like going to the

office and facing him. I could have quit but I

decided to do my best as I did not think I was so

fragile that a bit of adversity would put me off.

Eventually, the performance showed results, we

gained countrywide recognition, won many

awards and even he came around. After that I

quit and joined another company.

Being made to do something one does not like

and still doing it well takes a form of rare cour-

age. This courage is special because the adver-

sary is sitting inside you listing the reasons why

you should not be doing what you are being made

to do. Most people succumb to this negativity.

Very few people rise to meet this challenge head

on, but those who do make something of them-

selves.

A wise person does whatever is needed to excel

in whatever life throws at him or her. And, if

what life throws at him is not to his liking, he

still does his best and bides his time and plans

how to change circumstances to his liking.This

realisation is what separates the children from

adults. You have to decide for yourself which

one you want to be. However, do keep in mind

that your intelligence is waiting to help you when-

ever you want it to. This is a boon you have been

granted in preference to 99% of the world and it

is upto you to make the best of it. Feeling con-

fused at its ineffectiveness in advancing your life

is pointless, since to do so is entirely in your hands.

I have written a rather long-ish email in response

to yours because I think that intelligence is a rare

resource and we must not let is be wasted in this

manner. Perhaps what I have said will make sense

or, maybe, it will not. However, do give it some

serious thought.

Best wishes with your introspection.

Kishore AsthanaConvener, Mensa India (Delhi/NCR)

No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while

the legislature is in session.

- Mark Twain

The only difference between a tax man and a taxi-

dermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.

- Mark Twain

A Conversation for MInd(contd.)

5

We sat atop one of the highest points in

Guanajuato, beneath a torch-bearing statue me-

morializing Mexican independence hero El Pipila,

who died fighting the Spanish. Enjoying the spec-

tacular view of the city, we passed around a large

plastic cup containing the Cuba Libré I had made

to toast the sunset. This was the real thing -

Havana Club - aged dark rum mixed with Coke

and fresh lime, ensconced in a politically correct

red cup. Cheryl Frances Ellis, my frequently-

faithful-but-often-misguided honey-pie of sig-

nificance, had enjoyed Cuban rum on previous

visits to Mexico, and this trip was no different

save that we were sharing two weeks of our two-

month sojourn with Cheryl’s unfortunate female

offspring, Fran.

Fran is short for Frances, coincidentally the name

of Cheryl’s mother. With three Franceses in her

family, they have more Frances than Europe.

Mexicans and Mensans, with the exception of

Cheryl, never tire of this story.

We savored the huge drink. As expedition leader

and planner of adult beverages, I had earned the

final swig. What a swig that was! Before I could

swallow, I felt a sharp pain in my tongue. Hap-

less patients of the maniacal dentist in the movie,

The Dentist, likely felt the same way as he mer-

rily stabbed away with his needle. I spat the

mouthful of rum-and-Coke to the stone path-

way, discovering a bumblebee writhing in the

concoction. More inebriated than we, the bee

moved sluggishly. A visit to the inside of my

mouth could have that effect on a living organ-

ism, I supposed. I indicated the creature to my

companions before crushing it underfoot. Let

them see my fury at what I considered a home

invasion.

Meantime the right tip of my tongue was afire

and becoming numb. Pain continued undimin-

ished. Fran, still somewhat sober herself and

sensitive to my tongue-in-cheek humour, realized

the importance of saving my tongue and recom-

mended we walk the mile back to our hotel,

mostly down the thousand rocky steps of wind-

ing, narrow steep pedestrian lanes, to remove the

stinger. Fran was fortunate she had not been

stung, because severe allergies to insect bites

might have killed her. Then we would have had

to dispose of her body, really complicating our

trip. I wondered if swelling would persist until

my tongue exploded. If I kept my mouth shut, a

challenging task, I would not splatter others with

bloody flesh.

At the hotel Fran held the flashlight and magni-

fying glass while I handled the tweezers. Cheryl

buried her face in an English-language newspa-

per, too squeamish for surgery such as this. She

ignored articles about the President giving Con-

gressmen not following their political party line

a tongue-lashing. Neither did she look at the

paper’s tongue-twister section. She stuck to the

weather page.

I worked the tweezers as I squeezed my tongue,

all the while thinking of how the young Ameri-

can in the movie Midnight Express, languishing

in a Turkish prison for smuggling hashish, had

bitten off the tongue of his Turkish nemesis, a

solution not to my liking. Several tries later and

just when I was considering leaving the stinger

and allowing infection and gangrene to set in, it

appeared on the tweezers. Supper that evening,

penne arrabbiata in a fine Italian restaurant over-

looking illuminated cathedrals of the hilly city,

was not as pleasant as the last time Cheryl and I

had dined there. I had to eat on one side of my

mouth.

Three days later my wound had healed sufficiently

to sample free candy at sweet shops, enjoy hot

sauces, and quaff free tequila and mezcal in the

market. I wondered whether the worm at the

bottom of mezcal bottles was dead when it was

inserted. Could it be that the bee who stung me

had not flown into the cup but instead had been

in the dark brown bottle, perhaps a message from

Getting the Point

6

one of Fidel Castro’s worker bees, punishment

for my country’s boycott of things Cuban? Or

maybe the CIA planted it to punish me for buy-

ing something made in Cuba.

There is much to be said for looking before you

leap. A corollary is to look before you drink.

My consequence for not doing so was a stinging

rebuke.

- Ronald Allan Charles

Quotes from ‘The Dolphin – Story of a Dreamer'

by Sergio F. Bambaren

~ There comes a time in life when there is nothing

else to do but to go your own way. A time to fol-

low your dreams. A time to raise the sails of your

own beliefs.

~ Falling into the deepest desperation gives you

the chance to find your true nature. Just as dreams

come alive when you least expect them to, so will

the answers to questions you cannot unfold. Let

your instinct build a trail of wisdom, and let your

fears be diminished by hope.

~ Most of us are not prepared to overcome our fail-

ures, and because of this we are not able to fulfill

our gifts. It is easy to stand for something that

does not carry a risk.

~ May be part of loving is learning to let go, know-

ing when to say good-bye… not letting our feel-

ings get in the way of what will probably, in the

end, be better for the ones we care for.

~ Discovering new worlds will not only bring you

happiness and wisdom, but also sadness and fear.

How could you value happiness without knowing

what sadness is? How could you achieve wisdom

without facing your own fears? In the end, the

great challenge in life is to overcome the limits

within yourself, pushing them to places you would

never have dreamed they could go.

~ Perhaps dreams are made of lots of hard work.

Perhaps if we try to cut corners, we lose track of

the reason we started dreaming and at the end we

find that the dream no longer belongs to us. Per-

haps if we just follow the wisdom from our heart,

then time will make sure we get to our destiny.

A ribozyme, an enzyme which can be used to kill

the deadly hepatitis-e virus has been designed by

Indian scientists. It was designed by using viral

clones and would kill the virus by cutting the RNA.

The efficacy of the enzyme is being tested at the

cellular levels after which it will be tested on ani-

mals. It can be used for diagnostic purposes by pro-

ducing recombinant viral proteins that are capable

of generating antigen and antibody reactions. The

potential for creating drugs based on information

of viral genome is enormous. Kudos to our Indian

scientists.

How does one differentiate between a normal de-

livery and a Caesarean operation by observing the

new born?

Simple. The normal delivery child had to face the

stresses of negotiating the birth canal and there-

fore immediately after birth , its head is markedly

elongated (looking like a Jewish cap) whereas a

caesarean will have a perfectly normal looking

round head.

A man received a tax rebate and he found that

mistake had been made. The rupees had been trans-

posed for paise and vice versa. Since it was to his

advantage, he cashed the cheque. On spending

Rs.4.50 he realized he now had twice what the

cheque should have been worth. How much ought

he to have received?

Solution:

Rs: 46.98

Getting the Point(contd.)

7

Theorising the emergence of that adorable do-

mesticated animal/food, and issues related.

Academics, scientists and pub bores over the

centuries have debated endlessly, exhausting their

energies in order to find a conclusive answer to

the seemingly tautological question of whether

the domestic chicken (Gallus domesticus) or its

egg (Gallus prezygoticos) first emerged in evo-

lutionary history, commonly put as ‘What came

first, the Chicken or the Egg?’ On the surface it

may seem to be purely a question of empirical

science; of what evolved first. However beneath

that guileless façade it is as much a philosophical

question, as a scientific one.

One might wonder why there is so great a fuss

over such a platitudinous animal as the chicken.

Other birds too lay eggs. Compared to eagles,

hawks, kites, vultures – chickens do appear to be

a pretty listless bunch. The answer is not appar-

ent but, in good humour, I shall attempt to give

one. Most people respect the female chicken

(hen) as a matriarchal figure for her gentle, nur-

turing qualities as a mother to her eggs (thus the

term ‘Mother Hen’). Another reason is that we

don’t understand the chicken (‘Why did the

chicken cross the road?’). Why would any animal

primitively capable of flying, evolve into an res-

tive creature barely capable of flying a few feet

at a time? What we don’t understand, we are in-

terested in. Interest is sometimes converted to

reverence, and this resulted in our obsequious-

ness to the chicken (on that account, ‘hen-

pecked’!). Hence the chicken has such a high sta-

tus in the world – despite it being placed so low

on the food chain!

So what did come first? Ostensibly, this question

is easy to understand but eggs-cruciatingly diffi-

cult to answer. In fact, it has baffled experts to

such an extent that it has been simply described

as “notoriously difficult” and hence most inter-

esting answers are controversial. Some popular

theories:

*Argument: The chicken possibly evolved from

some flightless mammal, dinosaur, or some bird;

eventually the Red Junglefowl (‘half-chicken’).

This half-chicken then adapted to lay the first

true chicken egg, which hatched to form the first

true chicken.

Conclusion: The Egg came first.

Argument: There is no definite line of distinction

between the last half-chicken and the first true

chicken, as evolution is a slow, tedious process.

So one must assume that the chicken existed all

along.

Conclusion: The Chicken came first.

*Argument: In the life of a chicken, chronologi-

cally speaking, the egg comes before the chicken,

as the chicken hatches from an egg. Therefore, it

can be said for semantic purposes that the egg

possesses the new genetic information before the

chicken, simply because the egg precedes the

chicken.

Conclusion: The Egg came first.

Argument: When the first egg hatched into the

chicken as we know it, is critical. A chicken only

became a ‘chicken’ once it was so named. Once

so labelled, all that followed, including chicken

eggs, necessarily came after.

Conclusion: The Chicken came first.

Argument: The first chicken must have hatched

from a non-chicken egg. This is because chick-

ens lay chicken eggs, and therefore the egg could

not have come before the chicken.

Conclusion: The Chicken came first.

Questioning and even disparaging these lines of

reasoning are lucid tasks and do not require the

greatest intellectual ability. The arguments

marked with an asterix [*] are, in my opinion,

the most plausible of the lot. I’m a pro-eggist,

that is to say that if I did not have my own theory,

I would be among those who believe that the

Egg came first.

The Chicken or The Egg

8

Amidst all this confusion, there is another set of

individuals – theologians and religious scholars

– who have distinct mystical theories of theistic

evolution and creationism.

Quote Genesis 1:20 and 1:21:

“And God said, Let the waters bring forth abun-

dantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl

that may fly above the earth…”

“And God created… every winged fowl after his

kind…”

As a result God created “every winged fowl” in-

cluding chicken, which thus came first, but of

course. Ancient Hindu scriptures such as the

Puranas and Dharmasastras are full of similar

ideas. But what of the egg, that zygotic carrier

of DNA of the chicken? That is, per contra,

conveniently omitted. No one really cared for a

good omelette back then.

The Paradox Explained

We must start with a divergent question, which

holds the key to the paradox. What is a chicken

in relation to an egg? The causal relationship they

share is significant to truly understand what fol-

lows. Technically, a chicken is to an egg as a baby

is to a mother’s womb; however, in philosophi-

cal terms this relationship is inaccurate. A chicken

is to an egg, as yin is to yang, as heaven is to

earth, as 0 is to 1 in binary, and as cos2x is to

sin2x in trigonometry: a contradiction in terms.

The universal principle of duality in philosophy,

of two mutually correlated opposites, is abso-

lute when applied to the chicken and the egg.

One cannot exist without the other.

Therefore, hold your breath, the scientific an-

swer is this: neither came first! At some point in

evolutionary history the chicken along with the

chicken egg emerged. Possibly during the life-

time of a half-chicken a genetic mutation oc-

curred in the half-chicken itself – transforming

it into a true chicken, or alternatively, this half-

chicken imparted the new genetic data (that of a

true chicken) into its egg. It is impossible to tell

what occurred first without having been around

at the time to conduct an exact survey on each

and every half-chicken and its eggs in existence,

and even then each might have emerged first in

different instances!

“How extremely stupid for me not to have

thought of that!” was Thomas Huxley’s first re-

flection after mastering, in 1859, the central idea

of Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’. If your response

to the above was similar, do not fret. Often it has

been seen that the most obvious of hypotheses

elude us till the very end. Ahem. Thus I hope

you are sufficiently fulfilled. Now we must move

on to more pressing matters, such as why the

chicken crossed that darned road.

1. On a side note, one may assert that the ques-

tion is itself ambiguous, badly framed. For in-

stance the answer to the question ‘What came

first, the Chicken or the Egg?’ would be ‘the

Chicken came first’, as in this sentence the word

‘chicken’ precedes the word ‘egg’ (if the ques-

tion was framed differently, the egg could come

first). Alternatively the question is equivocal as it

does not specify what kind of egg. Surely the

egg came first, as fish were producing eggs much

before the chicken ever came into existence!

2. An eggs-pert once whimsically argued, “A

chicken is an egg’s way of creating another egg.”

Accordingly, the intelligent life form is in fact

the egg, which has a vested interest in hatching

into a chicken.

-Anirudh Harianianirudhhariani@gmail.com

The Chicken or The Egg(contd.)

9

Civilization, with every passing decade becomes

more complex. Instead of moving towards be-

coming homogenous, we are becoming increas-

ingly heterogonous. Diversity continues to grow

and percolate every nook and corner of society.

Complexity arises from the fact that while we

want to belong, we also want to be unique.

While life becomes more comfortable, it also

tends to be more stressful. Depleting resources

and increasing population continue to fuel the

increasingly competitive human life across the

globe.

So what is the current currency of power?

Money? Knowledge ? Military power? Not any

more… it is unifying people under one idea. In

this landscape of diversity, the emerging currency

of power seems to be hinged on one’s ability to

bring various stakeholders to a consensus.

All around us, married partners and families

struggle with consensus on key issues and deci-

sions in everyday life. Employees struggle to win

the consensus of their bosses, management, col-

leagues and even external stake holders such as

customers and suppliers to create a win-win situ-

ation for all. Businessmen have to deal with the

same struggle.

While the only thing constant in the world is

change, it is becoming increasingly difficult to

bring about change – be it infrastructure, poli-

cies, laws or social outlook.

In India, municipal authorities struggle to bring

about consensus for improvements in their dis-

tricts. State governments and their agencies are

unable to achieve consensus on infrastructure

projects such as building highways, roads and

bridges to improve commutes. They are unable

to bring about tax reforms and improvements in

our legal infrastructure.

The Indian government has it even tougher to

generate consensus in the Indian landscape of

social, geographical, and cultural diversity. In fact

it has a tougher time these days to bring consen-

sus within the various state governments, the

ruling coalition and even its own ruling party. Its

best we leave out the Opposition party out of

this conversation…

Then if we move higher up, international diplo-

matic communities and even countries are find-

ing it more and more difficult to arrive at con-

sensus on various key issues such as the environ-

ment and international security.

Then again when I look back at the revolution

that is sweeping the Middle East, the social and

political movements started by a Freedom Fighter

in India, I wonder who is more powerful the side

that has the power to unleash military or politi-

cal aggression? Or can the simple people with-

out weapons, political backing or money emerge

more powerful? In the modern world, while Vic-

tory loves Preparation, I think it loves unity

more…

Corporate head honchos may be able to influ-

ence politicians and even government policies

to their advantage. They may even able to exert

their influence on small geographical areas of

the world. But even their power pales in com-

parison to that of simple people who are able to

unify an entire population to bring about a real

change...

Bring about consensus and be the change… Per-

haps the Italian Proverb captures it best – “Voice

of one, voice of none.”

-Amish Modyamishmody@gmail.com

The New Currency of Power

10

In this article we aim to discuss the ideals behind

Open Source - not just Open Source Software

(OSS) but the general ideal which relates to OSS.

Think of open source as you would think of sci-

ence. How was science perceived a few centu-

ries ago? It was perceived to be something dan-

gerous, which challenged everything we had dog-

matically believed in & the church believed it

would curb its influence. But science had no urge

to undermine the church, it was born to open

mans eyes & help man progress. Open source

similarly has no urge to do away with all soft-

ware firms, it is just the belief that basic soft-

ware like Operating Systems should be free &

should be flexible so that the avarage 'charlie'

with his PC doesn't have to shell out a bomb just

to have software on his PC & so that the devel-

oper has power in his hands to customize the

system he is running, everyone wins! Open

Source is just like a platform that any developer

can build on, it offers ample opportunities just

like science does for momentary gains, like Sir

Isaac Newton had describes it 'Riding on the back

of a giant'. Today using OSS an average devel-

oper can write say an entire Instant Messenger

protocol (just an example), with technologies like

GTK+, TCL-TLK & QT for GUI's & can inte-

grate the power of (say) per as the backend to

manage sockets.

Open Source is basically about the right to

choose. The source is there for you to examine,

improve or refuse! It gives everyone the right to

compete and that is where developers gain.

It's pretty much like a democracy, why do we

bother having an election every five years, spend

so much money, waste our time, and why not

just keep one party in power? Because we want

the right to choose to keep politicians our slaves

and not be slaves to them, similarly software

should be our slaves. Just like we have the right

to chuck out a political party, we should have the

right to chuck out software that we don't want

or like.

You will say why the big deal just do away with

the software you don't like migrate to OSS, shut-

up & stop bothering us. But you are not exercis-

ing your right, you are happy in your world where

you use your pathetic M$ Windows machines &

use M$ Office every single day of your life be-

cause you don't know the alternative & you don't

care enough. It's like saying the current govern-

ment is a dictatorial one that oppresses people &

you have the right to oust the government but

you just don't care! It is time you to exercise your

right. Time you know all your options & have

the right to choose, time to stand up to those

totalitarian bullies.

But why do we call M$ a bully, people prefer the

software & use it. We are exercising our right.

Isn't it a bit harsh calling M$ 'totalitarian bullies'?

M$ is nothing short of a 'totalitarian bully' take

for example M$ Word, the Office 97 format is

barely compatible with Office 2000! Why? Be-

cause other software vendors like Sun (for Star

Office) decrypted their code & now you could

type .doc documents on another platform & us-

ing a different Office Suit. M$ uses its position

to wipe out competition, it tries to take away your

right to choose from you. Who would use Star

Office when no one could read the documents

Ideally Open Space

What is FUD?

FUD stands for Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt.

It is a marketing technique used when a com-

petitor launches a product that is both better

than yours and costs less, i.e. your product is

no longer competitive. Unable to respond

with hard facts, scare-mongering is used via

'gossip channels' to cast a shadow of doubt

over the competitor's offerings and make

people think twice before using it.

For the full explanation visit http://

www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Hills/

9267/fuddef.html

11

you typed in it. The only way you can exercise your

right is to look beyond the FUD M$ is creating.

(Let’s not forget the latest SCO case where SCO

funded by M$ is causing FUD in the minds of

potential converters, for those who know the

SCO case has no basis, the code which they claim

is stolen was put up under POSTIX & anyone

had the freedom to use it.)

I hate Open Source

Well a lot of developers think that open source

will cost them their jobs. This is not true (unless

you are a M$ developer) as Open Source pro-

vides the platform you can build from, no com-

pany is going to stop custom made software for

Open Source software, instead they tend to pre-

fer to migrate to Linux where the developer has

even more freedom.

Footnote:

For those of you who don't know or haven't

understood M$ stands for Microsoft abbreviated

MS but since MS has this undiminished urge of

cheating the average 'Charlie' of his hard earned

$ we write it as M$.

-Urvaksh Rogersuvrogers@yahoo.co.uk

The IT revolution & your PC is based

on the ideal of Open Source

In the words of Linus Torvalds "IBM is a

company wit a history of screwing people

over. It made its money by getting a captive

audience and making sure nobody else got a

foothold".

Then IBM developed the PC & unintention-

ally opened its technology for anyone to rep-

licate (Which is what Open Source believes

in doing). That single act spurred the entire

IT revolution with people having access to

their own computers at competitive rates due

to healthy market competition.

Getting Linux CDs

If you want cheap Linux CDs from me

visit http://user.deluxnetwork.com/

~urvaksh/cds/

On consuming the well marketed baby food prod-

ucts , the babies tend to look healthier (by Indian

standards - plumper) and the parents are content.

But recent studies show that these food products

cause retention of the osmotically active sodium

ions which leads to water retention and the swell-

ing is mistakenly perceived to be a sign of health.

In fact, this swelling may have adverse effects on

the kidney function and the hormonal axis of

thebody . Therefore breast-feeding will always be

the best means of nourishing a baby.

A close up with your breath and you could be your

own doctor.? Recent research indicates that the lev-

els of nitric oxide are 10 times more when your body

is waging a war against infections than when you

are hale and hearty. This is explained by the fact

that the body produces nitric oxide to help fight of

infections - particularly viral infections and the lev-

els show a steep rise if you are feeling ill . So, work

is being done to invent a device that could read your

nitric oxide levels and ring a siren if there is a prob-

lem.

Ideally Open Space(contd.)

12

While examining an emergency case one of the

most important clinical parameter the clinician

has to assess is the level of consciousness. To

elicit a response in the grade three type of pa-

tient a painful stimulus is to be applied. Can you

believe it - the most painful stimulus which is

relatively harmless is rubbing ones knuckles on

the sternum ( the bone where all the ribs attach

in the front.) and is preferred over pressing ones

eyeballs which is less painful and more harmful.

Did you know that a contact lens user has con-

gested blood vessels around the iris - the dark

coloured circular area of the eyeball. This is be-

cause the cornea of the eye helps in oxygen dif-

fusion and supplies this oxygen to the blood ves-

sels of the eyes. Contact lenses prevent absorp-

tion of oxygen by acting as a mechanical barrier

and therefore the blood vessels around the iris

dilate, in a attempt, to increase their surface area

of exposure and get access to that much needed

oxygen. This also explains why one should peri-

odically remove contacts after a continuous use

exceeding 8 hours and provide our hungry eyes

with the much needed "Food for Vision".

Today's surgeon is best identified by his Spartan

green scrubs and his face mask and cap. Well,

tracing back medical history (sources - college

talk), one finds a rather interesting evolution of

face masks. In the olden days, unskilled midwives

used to aid pregnant women deliver. They had a

rather nasty habit of chewing tobacco and an

even nastier habit of spitting it out periodically -

in particularly long labours (a rather frequent oc-

currence) they would inadvertently spit it on the

thighs of the wriggling mother and the neonate

would suffer from sepsis which would even lead

to a premature death. In order to curb such mis-

haps - the people provided the midwives with

cloth to cover their face for I guess they lacked

the willpower to stop chewing - these cloths fi-

nally evolved into today's face masks.

- Nishaki Mehta

You might be a Mensan if...

(Extract from an article by Judith Newkirk

published in the Spirit of 76)

~ You play Scrabble with your Cheerios.

~ You have trouble understanding words with less

than five syllables.

~ You speak at least two languages: Latin and Ara-

maic.

~ You can take your computer apart and put it back

together again in 30 minutes but you?re up all Christ-

mas Eve night trying to put your kid?s bicycle to-

gether.

~ You know the names and populations of all the

Indonesian Islands but you have trouble with your

ZIP code.

~ You can?t cook any dish with less than 10 ingre-

dients.

~ You can find anything on the Internet in five min-

utes but it takes 45 minutes to find two matching

socks.

(contd. from the previous column)

~ Your children are named after planets or philoso-

phers.

~ It will take three pages to write your epitaph.

~ Your favorite food is alphabet soup.

~ You mailed your Christmas cards on Valentine’s

Day.

~ You could probably build a working model of a

space ship in your garage but you can?t change a

tire on your car.

~ You speak French to your poodle and German to

your shepherd.

~ You spend more time in bookstores than you do

at work.

~ You think ?going to the store? means going to

Borders or Barnes and Noble.

~ When you have a little money you buy books. If

there is anything left you buy a little food.

Body Basics

13

“Teaching children to become effective thinkers

is increasingly recognized as an immediate goal

of education.

If students are to function successfully in a highly

technical society, then they must be equipped with

lifelong learning and thinking skills necessary to

acquire and process information in an ever-

changing world” – Robinson, 2006.

“It is widely accepted that the development of

controlled movement has a part to play in the

intellectual development of children. Children

need to experience movement in order to learn

about themselves, the relationship to the envi-

ronment and the interaction between the two.”

– French and Lee, 1996.

An alien, in science fiction movies, is quite fre-

quently depicted as an entity with a large head

and spidery limbs and a torso indicating that the

alien’s activities are largely cerebral and physical

activity is nearly non-existent.

Given what we know today, that scenario seems

to be improbable because movement plays a very

important part in the development of the intel-

lect and therefore the spidery limbs and torso

would be responsible for a much smaller head!

The current scenario with children however,

seems to tend to one similar to where the alien

comes from. Entertainment and activities for

children consist more and more of static actions

like computer games, games on the ipad/ ipod/

mobile phone, Wii Sports and other gaming sys-

tems and a whole lot of TV viewing.

Children who do not get enough of physical play

time may develop trouble with sequencing, or-

ganizing, with fine and even gross motor move-

ment which in turn impedes their ability to learn

and creates a tremendous sense of frustration in

an otherwise intelligent mind.

Nowadays, youngsters have a very limited op-

portunity to play. They do not run, jump and

climb as much as they should. The daily routine

of the child consists of going to school, going

for extra classes and doing homework. If a

youngster is regularly involved in a physical ac-

tivity, as soon as exams are round the corner,

the physical activity is stopped to make more

time for sitting at a desk and studying. This not

only does not serve the purpose, it is detrimen-

tal to the productivity of the young learner.

The stimulation the brain receives with one hour

of football, basketball or any other game involv-

ing controlled movement, is more or less the

same it would receive, by doing one hour of

math.

Children should accumulate at least 30 minutes

of structured physical activity and 60 minutes

of unstructured physical activity every day.

Movement, especially controlled movement

helps in the development of the intellect, in the

development of the ability to think. The organi-

zation that goes into the successful execution

of a simple movement is one of the most com-

plex processes.

Sometime back, news filtered in from the United

States, that they had discovered the extreme ben-

efits of an exercise with respect to the stimula-

tion of the brain. This exercise is where the left

hand holds the right ear lobe, the right hand holds

the left ear lobe and the individual sits (upright

by bending at the knees) and stands, several times.

Very popular in the Indian context, this exercise

is beneficial because the hands cross the body

midline and there is a simultaneous up and down

movement. Several signals go to the brain and

the brain sorts all the information out and the

movement is performed.

The Development of ThinkingSkills Using Movement

14

It may now be time to redefine the goal of edu-

cation from what it has been for the last many

years. Facts that we once memorized are now

available at the click of a mouse. In this age of

the explosion of information, the learner has to

be taught how to sift, classify and strategize, how

to adapt, how to make use of new information

that is pouring in from all directions, how to

manage information that changes before one has

had time to fully comprehend it.

The only way to make this happen is to train the

learner so that thinking skills get sharpened.

Most people believe that an intelligent person

possesses thinking skills by default. This is not

true. Possessing intelligence without the ability

to use it productively; that is, without the intel-

lect that can put the intelligence to use, is like

owning a beautiful, powerful, sleek sports car

without knowing how to drive!

- Bela Rajabelaraja@yahoo.com

The Development of ThinkingSkills Using Movement

(contd.)

Quotes from ‘The Dolphin – Story of a Dreamer'

by Sergio F. Bambaren

~ Never forget: When you’re just about to give

up, when you feel that life has been too hard on

you, remember who you are. Remember your dream.

~ There are some things you cannot see with your

eyes. You have to see them with your heart, and

that is the hard part of it. For instance, if you

find the spirit of the youngster inside of you, with

your memories and his dreams, you two will walk

together, trying to find a way through this adven-

ture called life. Always trying to make the best of

it. And your heart will never become tired or old…

~ Decisions are a way of defining ourselves. They

are the way to give life and meaning to words, to

dreams. They are the way to let what we are… be

what we want to be.

~ Where you are headed, there are no trails, no

paths, just your own instinct. You have followed

the omens, and have finally arrived. And now, you

have to take the great leap into the unknown and

find out for yourself: who is wrong, who is right

and who you are.

~ Some things will always be stronger than time

and distance. Deeper than languages and ways.

Like following your dreams, and learning to be

yourself. Sharing with others the magic you have

found…

~ If an obese individual and a muscle man were

subjected to starvation (a metabolic condition which

imposes stress on the body systems) the obese person

would be at an advantage because fat is an impor-

tant storehouse of energy which would help him meet

the basic amounts of energy. On the other hand, the

muscle man would have more of proteins which

would be mobilized for energy in the early stages

but later this process cannot continue since proteins

form the structural framework of the body.

~ When we take in 160 grams of glucose, 120 grams

of it is used by the brain. Half of this 120 grams is

used in maintaining the excitable cells of the brain

called neurons in proper condition so that they may

efficiently conduct electrical signals. To send elec-

trical signals, an optimum environment is required

in terms of the ion concentration. To giving it a

thought - we expend 50% of our energy in main-

taining a favourable environment for conducting

nerve impulses. This simply makes us understand

how very important it is to have a working nervous

system.

Mensa is for the benefit of its members too. IfMensa is for the benefit of its members too. IfMensa is for the benefit of its members too. IfMensa is for the benefit of its members too. IfMensa is for the benefit of its members too. If

you need to rent a new house, want guidance inyou need to rent a new house, want guidance inyou need to rent a new house, want guidance inyou need to rent a new house, want guidance inyou need to rent a new house, want guidance in

biomechanics, or simply like playing chess butbiomechanics, or simply like playing chess butbiomechanics, or simply like playing chess butbiomechanics, or simply like playing chess butbiomechanics, or simply like playing chess but

have no one to survive you, you can make thathave no one to survive you, you can make thathave no one to survive you, you can make thathave no one to survive you, you can make thathave no one to survive you, you can make that

request here. Write to the Editor.request here. Write to the Editor.request here. Write to the Editor.request here. Write to the Editor.request here. Write to the Editor.

15

A well-respected and well-liked Aunt passed away

recently. She was 94. Today I got an email in-

forming me that an associate's father had died.

Amidst all the formal condolences, my thought

turned towards how I would like my family and

friends to treat my own demise. This poem is

meant to be read as my will and testament in this

regard.

Make no tombstones for me

For I will live on in you,

Just gone to change my body now

Will soon be back - good as new

Let there be no rituals

All these are past their 'use-by' date

There's no way they affected my life

There's no way they'll affect my fate

Dates of life and death are pointless

The dash between them was great

It was a colourful, curlicued pattern

The line definitely was not straight

Some you shared, the rest I lived

Boisterously, just in my mind

Both dances were a lot of fun

And fate, too, was very kind

That's how I'd like to be remembered

With joy and laughter, food and wine

While I revel in blessed freedom

In my other world divine

Drown my joy in no tears

No sombre faces I want to see

Do not even feel sad for yourself

And never, ever, feel sad for me

- Kishore AsthanaConvener, Mensa India (Delhi/NCR)

During the civil wars in feudal Japan, an invading

army would quickly sweep into a town and take

control. In one particular village, everyone fled just

before the army arrived - everyone except the Zen

master.

Curious about this old fellow, the general went to

the temple to see for himself what kind of man this

master was.

When he wasn't treated with the deference and

submissiveness to which he was accustomed, the

general burst into anger.

"You fool," he shouted as he reached for his sword,

"don't you realize you are standing before a man

who could run you through without blinking an

eye!"

But despite the threat, the master seemed unmoved.

"And do you realize," the master replied calmly, "that

you are standing before a man who can be run

through without blinking an eye?"

~ The world's smallest country, Coral Sea Islands,

is one of 13 states considered to have no economic

activity.

~ The top 5 energy consumers are all cold countries.

The next 6 are mostly oil producers.

~ Most Zambians don’t live to see their 40th birth-

day.

~ Mexico has the most Jehovah’s Witnesses per

capita in the OECD.

~ Guatamalan women work 11.5 hours a day,

while South African men work only 4.5.

~ The top 8 most developed countries all speak

Germanic languages. Every such country is in the

top 20.

~ American adults have been educated the longest.

After I Pass Away

16

1. The History and rules of which sport are de-

scribed in a book by Kenilworthy Whisp?

2. Which organization's official anthem is "La

Cour des grands" roughly translated as "The

beauty of the world at play". Which organization?

3. What is a penny-farthing?

4. Who founded the multi-national conglomer-

ate, the General Electric Company?

5. What sporting event was first held at the

Longwood Cricket Club, Boston, USA at the turn

of the 20th century?

6. Whose controversial biography is "The Poly-

ester Prince"?

7. Who wrote for the National Geographic un-

der the pseudonym H A Largelamb because he

felt that the magazine was printing his articles

because of his fame?

8. This Hollywood actor's name in Hawaiian

means "Cool breeze over the hills". Who is he?

9. In Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, during

Gulliver's last tour, he came across an uncivilized

race. What is was it called?

10. How do better know Mrs. R. K Puri (hint:

fashion)?

1. Quidditch

2. FIFA

3. A kind of bicycle

4. Thomas Alva Edison

5. Davis Cup

6. Dhirubhai Ambani

7. Alexandar Graham Bell

8. Keanu Reeves

9. Yahoo

10. Shahnaz Hussain

Solutions

11. Conveyed through the telegraph machine.

12. Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew

13. Feni

14. The Simpsons

15. The Full Monty

16. Viagra

17. Catcher in the Rye

18. Aramaic, Latin

19. Chhota Rajan

20. MP3

11. What was significant about the message

"What hath god wrought" conveyed in 1844?

12. Edward Stratemeyer wrote two entire series

of books for children, under two different pseud-

onyms. Which series?

13. Which drink gets its name from the Sanskrit

for 'froth'?

14. Which famous American family resides at

742, Evergreen Terrace?

15. Which film was released in Mandarin as 'Six

Naked Pigs'?

16. "Let the dance begin" - which product's by-

line?

17. Which book was Mark David Chapman car-

rying when he shot John Lennon?

18. Mel Gibson released a movie about the life

of Jesus Christ. In which two languages was it

made?

19. How do we better know Rajendra Sadashiv

Naikhalje?

20. Which was the most widely searched for 3-

letter string on the Internet in 2002?

When half of the people get the idea that they do

not have to work, because the other half is going to

take care of them, and when the other half gets the

idea that it does no good to work, because some-

body else is going to get what they work for, that is

the beginning of the end of any nation.

Government's view of the economy could be summed

up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it

keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving,

subsidize it.

- Ronald Reagan (1986)

The Top One Percentile