A Dream Class

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Of Moon beams and Twinkling stars

On that day in mid-June, in a "state of heightened reality," with all the other elements of the painting in place, Van Gogh threw himself into the painting of the stars, producing, "a night sky unlike any other the world had ever seen with ordinary eyes." write biographers Naifeh and Smith in 2011. He painted this magnum opus when he was 36, just a year before he committed suicide.

In Service of Mathematics II

Tracing our paths back to Polya story further, in 1987 the London Mathematical Society (LMS) established the Pólya Prize for "outstanding creativity in, imaginative exposition of, or distinguished contribution to, mathematics within the United Kingdom." Interestingly,  it is awarded in the years that are not divisible by three.

In Service of Mathematics I

The profound abstractness and enticing beauty of the 'queen of sciences' that is mathematics always deserved its spokespersons. Bhaskara II's LIlavati did it in the text form in the 12th century. Though it is the first volume of his masterly treatise Sidhanta Siromani, Lilavati introduces mathematical puzzles on arithmetic and measurement in verse form in Sanskrit. When social media consumers wake up from their stupor once in a while and share some math puzzles that helps scratch your school level understanding of mathematics, highly likely that it is a direct/derived/corrupted Lilavati puzzle.

Monkeying around Physics

Mario Miranda had his cats, R K Laxman his crows. Monet his lilies and Chaplin his tramp look. For those who seek pleasure in physics, H C Verma's monkeys were no less iconic. They were the sign of unbridled force, irrepressible energy and the epitome of work under pressure. The induce awe, reflect shifts, and propel you into a projectile where the learning graph is anti-gravity.

As Djokovic Joins them, Here is a Case When Even Seven is Not a Crowd at the Top!

They say two is company and three is crowd. Binary categorization is for lazy folks amongst us. For every Bjorn Borg there was a McEnroe. For every Karpov there was a Kasparov. with the latter having a significant edge. There were solo geniuses like Bobby Fischer with no comparable peers during their time. It is easy to engage in a debate with two protagonists and take sides. In a week when Djokovic joined the rare club of 19+ Grand slams following his win at Roland Garros, I was wondering at the instances of 'one and only's and 'first among the equals' in sports and beyond. A quick memory recall tells that in sporting circles not too long ago, world did notice, felt awed and blessed to have not three, not four but five at the same time for the same nation. I am referring to the time when Rahul, Laxman, Sourav and Sachin served their nation on a cricketing field.

N.E.W.S of a Song

A maverick composer, a mellifluous voice, a maharani of grace and poise and a maestro of iconography. This song is a celebration of all four regions- Salil Chowdhury, Lata Mangeshkar, Suchitra Sen, Maharani Gayatri Devi and Raja Ravi Varma.

Keeping it still shorter

In the spirit of 'less is more', here are some alternatives/answers that may come handy.

Our choices

"We are our choices." ~ Jean-Paul Sartre

Life of Pie

This image is more to Khushwant Singh's credit than to Ang Lee's! Singh in one of the interviews mentioned what makes a good article. His answer was simple. It should inform, it should provoke and/or it should entertain.

Helen of Pi

"The beauty of pi, in part, is that it puts infinity within reach. Even young children get this. The digits of pi never end and never show a pattern. They go on forever, seemingly at random—except that they can’t possibly be random, because they embody the order inherent in a perfect circle. This tension between order and randomness is one of the most tantalizing aspects of pi".

Munna bhai Lectures on Education

Remixed from Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006), a Vidhu Vinod Chopra Productions.

Rereading Dr. Seuss

Master of nonsense rhymes and creative word play, children's favorite author Dr. Seuss needs no introduction. 'One fish, Two fish' is one of those introductory books which a parent can read it aloud. Wikipedia entry on this 1960 classic says:

Evolution of Indian National Flag

R K Laxman's Science Cartoons

A chronicler of contemporary Indian pastimes & eccentricities and a keen observer of piquant humor, Laxman's brush captured the essence & effervescence of daily life in India for decades. A tiny little passport sized You Said It column (& a mute Common Man) is all he needed to put his point across where a long editorial often failed.

Image Matters for an EVS debate

Environmental Science/Biology teaching deserves an evocative starting point to rally around. Say, a moving quote, a stirring speech or an impressionable photograph.. something that even a good quality textbook misses. Kalyan Varma's treasure trove of world class images which go by a Creative Commons license. Which means he made it free to use, free to share, and free to remix in whatever way you feel like!

History of Science in the movies 'Baahubali I and II'

A Replug from a 2017 article

Thinking Learning Materials 1

Look at the possibilities within and around you, what can be a next manipulative, toy, model to explore learning.

Number, Shape and Colour Symmetry

Take umbrella and check the possibilities.