धन्यवाद ie dhanyavāda aka Thank you

बदला? उसमे क्या मज़ा है? मुझे तो चुन चुन के धन्यवाद बोलना अच्छा लगता है :)

Backbencher: Wow, this is pretty cool. Totally agree

Astrea: Thanks for the appreciation. Would you like to add your 2 cents worth of wisdom?

BackBencher: Of course. Am glad you asked. 

"Make hay while the sun shines"

Looking back into my all-time favorite Newspaper ...

What is the difference between "intervene" and "interfere"?

                                                             (Sita, Chennai)

"Interfere" has a negative connotation. When you interfere in something, you are poking your nose into other people's business. You are meddling. The word carries with it the sense of obstruction or getting in the way of something. Here are a few examples.

*The slashing of funding interfered with the work on the project.

*The politician tried to interfere in the police investigation.

*I don't want you to interfere in my life.

"Intervene", on the other hand, has a much more positive connotation. When you intervene in something, you are playing a much more constructive role. This probably explains why the Americans talk about their intervention in Iraq, rather than interference. Here are a few examples.

*The lawyer intervened in the dispute and resolved the problem.

*I don't want to intervene in a dispute between a husband and a wife.

*The police intervened when the students started throwing stones at buses.

                                                                ***** ***** *****

"Britain has invented a new missile. It's called the civil servant - it doesn't work and it can't be fired." — Walter Walker

S. UPENDRAN

Source : https://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/edu/2003/08/26/stories/2003082600070303.htm

Quirky teachers Ant and the GrassHopper

Click here for Golden timeless lessons from the ant and "Grass" hopper

                    To be continued .

What women want? err... I meant ..

The answer to a cuckoo's calling

       
backBencher: Sorry Astrea, I left in a hurry the last time we spoke.

Astrea: no, worries, I understand. Happens to me too all the time.

backBencher: Thank you so much for understanding Astrea. You are indeed a godsend!

Astrea: Haha, nothing like that, as you know it's all a matter of perspective. 

backBencher: I lost you there Astrea ...

Astrea: It's a simple but powerful concept. Drawing and Design fundamentals explain these concepts like Perspective, Color Theory, Harmony, etc ...

backBencher: You know I kind of see your point! I am curious about one thing Astrea, may I ask you?

Astrea: Aah backbencher, when did you start being so formal ... Fire away, am all ears. Will do my best, to clarify ... 

backBencher: Have been pondering on this for ages, What do women want?

Astrea: Aah that's a tough one to answer. However, if you like I could clarify as to what women need :)

backBencher: Hmm .. I never thought of this question. Sure do enlighten me, might come handy in my family life :D

Astrea: haha, am glad you are eager to know what women need :)

backBencher: ofc, this might be the question for the Millenials. 

Astrea: :), unlike rocket science, for starters it would be loads of

Love and Fresh Air akin to the Garden of Eden

backBencher: Pretty interesting and insightful. Am sure it would be filled with several breaths of fresh air.

backBencher: So Astrea, do you get that where you live?

....but Astrea was gone already, back to her creative-den, and there went her sweet fragrance too!

Lalbagh botanical garden - Bangalore: 2019

Secret sauce for a beautiful mind in the making

My take on secrets for a beautiful mind

Enrolling in the following course from my alma mater remotely via EdX(utAustinx) prompted me to inscribe this digital post, with the sole hope of leaving behind a digital footprint, that is hopefully useful to chance blog readers.


Effective Thinking Through Mathematics
Understand Deeply 
Don't face complex issues head-on; first, understand simple ideas deeply. Clear the clutter and expose what is really important. Be brutally honest about what you know and don't know. Then see what's missing, identify the gaps, and fill them in. Let go of bias, prejudice, and preconceived notion. There are degrees to understanding (it's not just a yes-or-no proposition) and you can always heighten yours. Rock-solid understanding is the foundation for success.

Make Mistakes

Fail to succeed. Intentionally get it wrong to inevitably get it even more right. Mistakes are great teachers - they highlight unforeseen opportunities and holes in your understanding. They also show you which way to turn next, and they ignite your imagination.

Raise Questions

Constantly create questions to clarify and extend your understanding. What's the real question? Working on the wrong questions can waste a lifetime. Ideas are in the air - the right questions will bring them out and help you see connections that otherwise would have been invisible.

 Follow the Flow of Ideas

Look back to see where ideas came from and then look ahead to discover where those ideas may lead. A new idea is a beginning, not an end. Ideas are rare - milk them. Following the consequences of small ideas can result in big payoffs.

The Quintessential Element 

The unchanging element is change - by mastering the first four elements, you can change the way you think and learn. You can always improve, grow, and extract more out of your education, yourself, and the way you live your life. Change is the universal constant that allows you to get the most out of living and learning.

As always, the sweetest reward of practicing such effective mathematical thinking is to discover your ability to create and nurture a beautiful mind 

~ Quintessentially curious student for life 

On Creativity and Imagination ...

Csikszentmihalyi in his book on Flow observes the lives and psyche of creative people. Below is a brief summary of the same.

                                                          The Myth

That there is one "creative personality". Something all creative people seem to share is complexity-they "tend to bring the entire range of human possibilities within themselves".

The lesson

The author says that it would be too easy to see creative people as a privileged elite. However, their lives are a message that we should all be able to find work that is fulfilling and that we love. In fact, the greatest achievement for them was having created their own lives or careers without recourse to social expectation.

The Intrinsic Reward

We are happiest when we are being creative because we lose our sense of self and get the feeling that we are part of something greater. We are actually programmed to get satisfaction and pleasure from discovery and creativity because its results lead to our survival as a species. New ideas are needed more than ever if the planet is going to survive, and the best ones are likely to come from genuinely creative people.

Tribute to all the elusive creative geniuses

Elizabeth Gilbert

The ultimate intrinsic reward of creative individuals

Creativity is first and foremost a form of expression: it creates a special link between the internal and external worlds. It allows one to get a grasp of our powerful emotions, by molding them into a physical form. In fact, the most important thing for us is to be able to release our emotions. We need to be able to touch them or look at them in concrete form and to do that we have to find a way to make them come alive. This is how our desires and anxieties take shape. Keeping things bottled up creates a tension that can only be resolved once you have expressed how you feel. This means we have to be strong enough not to let ourselves get swept away by chaotic impulses; if we turn our creative urges on everyday life — making a picnic, singing to the baby, choosing what to wear — we can express ourself while staying rooted in reality. Creativity is principally cathartic. It relieves a deep need, an almost primal, archaic impulse. For us, being creative is about having the power to give form to something we feel, to those deep personal issues that are often raw and disorganized. For these reasons, we are usually attracted to art that demands physicality, that allows us to express what’s inside, and that unites spontaneity, strength, freedom, power, and movement.

Pearls of Insipiration